Hermit or hermit is an individual who lives in a desert place, isolated, usually for reasons of penance, religiosity, or simple love of nature, and the place of his abode is called a hermitage.
In the history of the Catholic Church there is an important chapter on the hermits and the development of monastic life, with emphasis on Santo Antao do Deserto. Hermitism has two important moments: the first in the third and fourth centuries and the second in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The first is about the emergence of the spirituality of the Desert Fathers, who sought union with God in the desert of Egypt.
In the twelfth century, hermitism developed through three strands: the first comes from preaching, generally directed to the most spiritually needy groups, such as lepers and women, emphasizing the issue of poverty, the second that the hermits established bonds with a monastery, and the last, required a life of penance and isolation strict.
Hermits sought refuge in remote and uninhabited places such as mountains and forests, their appearance was horrible, they were dressed very poorly, their legs were half uncovered, they wore a long beard and walked on their feet barefoot.
Two examples of hermits are the American writer Henry David Thoreau, and the German Manfred Gnädinger in sculpture.