Monasticism grew steadily and the monasteries quickly became major landowners with a large population of peasants living on their estates. It developed further under the reign of Emperor Peter I, accompanied by the augmentation of their properties. Many high-ranking nobles and members of the ruling family tonsured and died as monks, including Boris I, his brother Doks, Peter I, the ichirgu-boila Mostich, etc. The growing opulence of monastic life led to an increase of asceticism among more pious monks. One of them, John of Rila, became a hermit in the Rila Mountains and his virtues soon attracted a number of followers, who founded the renowned Rila Monastery after his death. He preached about living in harmony and stressed the value of manual labour and the need the monks never to aspire to riches and power. John of Rila was revered as a saint while he was still alive and eventually became patron of the Bulgarian people.