The Life of Saint Neilos of Rossano

"There is no consensus among scholars about the authorship of The Life of Saint Neilos. According to the monastic tradition of Grottaferrata the Life was written by Saint Bartholomew the Younger, otherwise known as Saint Bartholomew of Grottaferrata. Other scholars disagree with the attribution to Bartholomew. However, there is consensus that Saint Neilos's Life was written in Grottaferrata or in a nearby Latin region and the anonymous hagiographer was probably a Calabrian monk, one of Saint Neilos's early disciples. The unidentified author was an eyewitness of the historic events of the period and a faithful disciple of the saint who practiced first-hand the teaching of his spiritual father and teacher. A phrase in the prologue (chapter 1.1), "these last times of the last centuries," suggests that the Life may have been written early in the eleventh century, soon after Neilos's death, as it implies millenarian concerns that were common in this era. In comparison to the Lives of other Italo-Greek saints who were born and active in southern Italy and Sicily, the biography of Saint Neilos not only is documented in the hagiographic text and in the religious hymns dedicated to the saintly monk, but can be traced independently in other sources, as well. For example, the year of Neilos's death is documented in a Grottaferrata inscription which indicates the year 6513 (1004) according to the Byzantine calculation"--