01.01.

08 FOREST & DESERT

OUTLINE

STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS

Constantine and power
Constantine and Christianity
Donatists and schism
Arius and Athanasius
East and West
Darkness and decline
Monks and hermits
Isles of Britain

DARKNESS AND FEAR

Gregory the Great
Celtic church
West and mission
Muhammad and Islam
Charlemagne
East and mission
Towards 1000

Questions
Open Reflection
Reading & Resources

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 SALVATION LANDSCAPE
An opportunity to understand, discuss and reflect upon the story of the people
of God; seamlessly integrating biblical and church history against a
background of world history and applying our observations to the Christian
community today.
LEARNING GOALS:
Main Unit Objective: To enable learners to understand the relationship
between history, mission and eschatology in defining the environment,
inspiration and the purpose of Christians as the people of God.
Module Objective: To enable learners to recognise and understand the
biblical presentation and historical development of Christianity
Learners will:
Review historical events
Analyse different interpretations
Identify the spiritual dimension of world history
Reflect on the relevance to the students own times
Learners will acquire a knowledge and understanding of:
Sequential events
Historical context
Methods of history telling
Influence / impact of events on subsequent events
Session Learning Goal:
Learners will identify the significance of the early Middle Ages till the end
of the first Christian millennium
Session Description:
The early middle ages and the birth of Christendom

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 01.01.08 FOREST & DESERT

STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS1

Constantine and power

When in 311 Galarius declared an amnesty for Christians within the Roman
Empire the church had won the most remarkable victory in the face of terrible
persecutions. The rising star in the political firmament was the vigorous ruler,
Constantine. The fact that he increasingly favoured the church in his attitudes
and edicts would appear to bode well for Christians; however, the events of
his reign were to affect the church in ways from which she has never fully
recovered.

Constantine was born in 280 in Nis in the Balkans, the son of the emperor
Constantius Chlorus2. His fathers mentor, Diocletian, had brought the young
Constantine to Nicomedia in the east to groom him for future office. In 306 he
travelled to visit his sick father who was in Britain. At his death, that July in
York, the Roman troops hailed Constantine as Emperor and began a march
towards Italy. By 310 he controlled all the territory his father had once ruled,
and by the spring of 312 he was ready to attack Rome. He met Maxentius,
one of the challengers for power in the west, at Milvian Bridge, some five
miles north of the capital and defeated him on the 28th October, and took
control of the city and the Roman empire in the west. In 313 he met his
eastern rival, Licinius3, in Milan, where a benevolent policy towards the
Christians and religious tolerance towards all others across the empire was
agreed [called the edict of Milan]. The two men ruled side by side for ten
years, and then there was a dramatic change. Licinius began to persecute
Christians and loose his grip on power. A joint attack against barbarians

1
In all the disputes and schisms among Christians that lie ahead in our story, it is tempting to
dismiss them as nothing to do with us and to take sides against them. It is what other
Christians did. What we must remember is that there is only one church to which all
Christians belong; whether Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant or other group. We share in our
failures and successes.
2
in 284 Diocletian had divided imperial responsibilities between himself [in the East] and
Maximian [in the West], in 293 each appointed a deputy, Galerius [East] and Constantius
[West]. In 305 Diocletian and Maximian both abdicated leaving control, east and west, in the
hands of their respective Caesars.
3
Licinius was the Caesar who had obtained the amnesty for Christians from Galarius which
brought an end to the great persecution in 311; he believed, like Constantine, that favouring
Christians would help to strengthen the crumbling empire.

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crossing the Danube led to Constantine attacking and defeating Licinius. So in
324 Constantine ruled supreme.
Constantine decided to stay in the east and to mark and consolidate the new
era by building a new capital city. He chose a fresh site at the small ancient
town of Byzantium on the Bosphorus, where east touches west; ideal for
communication and protection. Following a solemn consecration of the site in
330, this new Rome, named Constantinople [Constantines town] was built.
He adorned its public places with artistic splendours looted from pagan cities.
Moving capital cities was to have important consequences for the empire. Its
centre of gravity shifted east and the emperors became less interested in the
west. The capital attracted the attention of Christians whose language and
culture was Greek, stretching the already existing tensions between
themselves and the Latin speaking Christians of the west. Here were many of
the seeds for the future division of the church; east and west, Greek and
Latin, Orthodox and Catholic.

Constantine and Christianity

It has been popular to present Constantine as a hero of the Christian church,

but for many reasons this needs to be questioned. His mother Helena was a
Christian, and the earliest records suggest that he was something of a solar
syncretist; a kind of monotheism focused on the imagery of the sun. He was
obviously influenced and impressed by the Christian church and saw it as
means of strengthening the empire. Before the battle of Milvian Bridge [312]
he was said to have had a vision of the Chai-Ro symbol and heard the
words, Conquer in this. He claimed his subsequent victory was due to
Christ; his friend and church historian Eusebius was adamant that this was his
conversion experience. While he was to legislate in favour of Christians he
himself was not baptised till on his deathbed [337]4. At first he did not
distinguish between God the Father and the divine sun, he kept the pagan
priestly title Pontifex Maximus, and he kept pagan imagery on his coinage.
As a man he perpetrated many evils, he even executed his father-in-law,
three brothers-in-law, a son and his wife. The excuse that he was merely a
person of his times simply isnt adequate. The question as to the depth of
Constantines personal Christian commitment simply cannot be answered, but
all the evidence suggests it was shallow. Nevertheless he was to make a
major impact in the way that he used his office to influence and intervene in
the matters of the church.

Constantine began by favouring the church while placating the pagans, but as
his reign progressed he repressed the zeal of pagans and raised the status of
Christians: -

Christians did not have to attend pagan feasts;

Black magic forbidden while white magic allowed;
Christian clergy enjoyed the same status as pagan priests;
Freeing slaves could take place in church or temple;
4
We know that the debate over whether or not post-baptismal sin could be forgiven led to
some people delaying baptism to the last moment.

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 Church could receive legacies as pagan organisations could;
Sunday [day of the sun] was given the same status as pagan feasts;
Christians could accept the office of magistrate;
Part of the corn tax was given to the church;
Bishops could act as judges if both parties agreed;
Tax on celibacy was abolished;
Jews were forbidden to persecute converts to Christianity;
Slaves were no longer to be crucified;
Many savage legal punishments were abolished;
Children were not to be exposed or sold at birth.

As indicated above, Constantine did not simply favour the church in his
legislation and giving them fine buildings [basilicas] and palaces for religious
use; he also directly involved himself in its authority. During his reign the
Church went through a traumatic period of theological dispute, as we shall
see, and to be fair the protagonists invited him to intervene. The Roman
emperor had always been head of the state religion, responsible for
maintaining relationship between the people and their gods; so why not a
Christian emperor, especially when the stability of the empire was at stake?
This unique development; the link between Church and State, the influence of
politics on faith is going to have incalculable consequences into the future.

At Constantines death in 337 his empire was divided between his three sons.
By 353 it was united under one of them called Constantius. He took an even
harder line against paganism, though it still played an important part in the life
of the peasant population. In 361 there was a new emperor in Julian, a
nephew of Constantine whose troubled youth had led him to hold on to
paganism under a veneer of Christianity. Once in power he promoted a revival
in paganism and was given the nickname the Apostate.

The successors of Julian were all Christian, but it was under Theodosius in
380 that the state was formally declared Christian:-

The state supported the orthodox faith;

Heretics were persecuted as much as pagans;
All pagan practices and customs were prohibited;
Temples were destroyed or turned into churches.

These laws were not rigidly enforced and pagan worship continued openly for
some time and secretly for generations; but the death-knell had sounded.
Equally disturbing was the action taken against heretics. Priscillian, bishop of
Avila, was accused of heretical belief and immoral practices. The
ecclesiastical court handed him and six followers to the emperor who had
them executed at Trier. There was strong protest at both the sentence and the
civil authorities involvement by some5. How quickly everything has changed,
what ominous signs of that which is to come.

5
by Ambrose of Milan and Martin of Tours for example.

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Donatist and schism

When Constantine came to power the church in North Africa was

experiencing growing internal conflict in the aftermath of the recent
persecution. There were strong feelings about: -

confessors - those who had suffered in prison;

traditors - those who had handed over scriptures to the authorities.

The bishop of Carthage was accused of being a traditor. He was also

censured for criticising local Christians for giving too much adulation to
confessors, some of whom he believed had encouraged the police to
imprison them so that the memory of their sordid pasts might be forgotten.
This naturally infuriated many. At his death his archdeacon Caecilian, who
shared his opinions, succeeded him as bishop. Anger increased not only
because of his attitude, but because other presbyters had hoped for the
position, and because he was consecrated before many other surrounding
bishops could be present, and because the person who actually consecrated
him was also accused of being a traditor. It all created an explosive situation.
Those who opposed Caecilian held a meeting with seventy bishops and
consecrated a man called Majorinus as a rival bishop of Carthage.

The parties appealed to Constantine and a request to be heard by neutral

bishops from Gaul. There would be five investigations in all between 313-320
all of which found against the schismatic Donatists; called by that name
because a man called Donatus bishop of Casae Nigrae led the defence of
their position. The issues were much more significant than whether the person
who consecrated Caecilian was a traditor; they were fundamental principles
about the validity of the sacraments and the nature of the church: -

Does the unworthiness of a minister invalidate what they do?

Does a sinful minister destroy the value of the sacraments?
Are only good people to be members of the church?
Is the church for saints only or a school for sinners?

Constantine appeared indifferent to the questions but patient in trying to get

agreement. Even though many eminent leaders attended the investigations
no solution was found, and all the decisions condemned the Donatists.
Constantine ordered their churches to be confiscated, and threatened their
leaders with death and then exile.
The history of the Donatist movement reveals social issues in the church
apart from the theological ones: -

It was supported by the poorer peasants against the landowners;

It was supported by the indigenous Berbers against the Romans.

Because the movement drew on social conflicts it eventually led to violence.

Following the death of Constantine bands of wandering Donatists tried to
redress their felt wrongs by force. Armed with clubs they called Israels they

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terrorised the respectable classes. The emperors interventions were met with
the retort, What has the emperor to do with the church? By 348 repressions
had led to troublemakers being driven out or silenced but not won. During the
reign of Julian [361] there was a Donatist revival, and strong by the time
Augustine became bishop of Hippo [396]. He tried persuasion, but worn down
by their violence preached good coercion and finally repression by the
authorities, quoting Luke 14:23, Compel them to come in6. In 411 they were
again condemned and places of worship legally forbidden. This was the
beginning of the end for Donatism; under the Vandals they were broken, by
590 there were few remaining, the Muslim invasions obliterated them.
Whatever the rights or wrongs of the events, the issues raised by the Donatist
schism demand careful reflection as they are still a challenge to the church.

Arius and Athanasius

As Constantine found himself the sole ruler of the Empire [324] he was
confronted with a second theological dispute, this time dividing the churches
in the east, but destined to threaten the Christian community throughout the
empire and beyond. Arius was a presbyter at the church of Baucalis, in the
suburbs of Alexandria in Egypt. He was a tall, slightly round-shouldered,
learned cleric who was known for his piety, though a favourite with the
religious ladies in the congregation. He fell out with his own bishop Alexander
by complaining that he, and others, did not differentiate sufficiently between
Father and Son. He went on to insist that because the Son was begotten he
must be a created being, There was a time when the Son was not7. The
debate among the eastern churches became so heated that Constantine
intervened and summoned a synod at Nicaea, which was to prove to be one
of the most important Christian gatherings ever held.

The council of Nicaea [325] was held in a city in Turkey not far from
Constantinople. There were some 300 bishops present, but only four or five
from churches in the west. Constantine presided over the proceedings
personally, though he was not yet baptised and so not yet a member of the
church! After discussing the charges against Arius they searched for a
formula that would express orthodox truth. The final creed was probably a
conflation of a number of baptismal creeds, especially those from Antioch and
Jerusalem: -

Christ the son is of the being [Gk ousia] of the Father;

He is begotten and not made;
He is one substance [Gk homoousios] with the Father;
He became flesh and was made human.

Most bishops signed the creed, two did not, who along with Arius and his
friends were to be anathematised and banished. However, the Arian
controversy was only just beginning and would rage for a further 56 years,
being finally settled at the council of Constantinople in 381.
6
he will be quoted throughout the Middle Ages to justify using violence against heretics.
7
see notes on Godhead [03.02] for a more complete discussion of the theological issues.

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The next 35 years were dominated by the personality of Athanasius. A small
man with a keen mind, Egyptian by birth and Greek by education, proved to
be one of the great moulders and defenders of Christian thought. Yet he was
wily, brutal and unscrupulous, a skilled theologian with a journalistic style of
writing and a single minded commitment to Nicaea. He took no official part,
but as secretary to Alexander bishop of Alexandria he had an important
influence. When Alexander died in 328 he became bishop by popular demand
though only 33 years old.

Following Nicaea, Arianism became even more popular in the east, and in
337 Constantines son Constantius was very favourable towards it.
Athanasius was the focus of their attacks. Over a period of seventeen years
he faced five exiles, hiding either in the desert or shielded by common people
in the city. Exiled in Rome in 339 his links with the western church found
support for his cause. It has been said of him that: -

... by his tenacity and vision in preaching one God and saviour, he
preserved from dissolution the unity and integrity of the Christian faith8.

East and West

The one hundred and twenty six years that fall between the council of Nicaea
[325] and the council of Chalcedon [451] have been described as a golden
age of Christian writing and thought in both the east and the west of the
empire. These were also days of significant individuals who shaped the story
of the church is distinctive ways. We shall comment briefly on the lives of a
selected few as mileposts on our journey forward.

Among the most creative writers of the time were those of the Greek speaking
church in the east. We have already looked at the life and influence of
Athanasius [295-373], we shall now look at some others who stimulated
thought during this time.

Cappadocian Fathers

These three theologians from Cappadocia in Asia Minor [Turkey] had a

profound influence on the character of Christian theology. They gave final
shape to the Greek doctrine of the Godhead and through their efforts Arianism
was finally defeated.

Basil of Caesarea [329-379] was the eldest son of Christian parents. He

completed his studies in Athens where he was a friend of the future
emperor Julian. Returning home to teach rhetoric his pride was challenged
when his sister Macrina insisted that spiritual values were more important
than worldly success. He determined to devote himself to a life of
asceticism and devotion. Baptised in 357 he visited monastic settlements in
8
GL Prestige quoted in New International Dictionary of the Christian Church Ed JD Douglas
p81

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 Palestine, Syria and Egypt and then retired to a hermitage near his home.
In 364 he became a presbyter, and in 370 became bishop of Caesarea.
With a forceful dignity he defied both the Arians and the emperor in their
attempt impose their doctrines. He died at fifty, made prematurely old by
self-inflicted privations. Basil made contributions in three main areas: -

As an ascetic: introducing monasticism throughout Pontus and

innovating the idea of koinobios, living in community into Asia
Minor9;
As a bishop: leadership in church affairs and meeting the social
needs of people with a hospital and hostels for the poor;
As a teacher: his towering personality and popularity enabled him
to uphold Nicaean doctrine, and mediate between east and west
resolving conflict over terminology.

Gregory of Nyssa [330-395] was the younger brother of Basil; a shy,

gentle studious man who was totally dominated by his forceful brother
whom he sometimes called the Master. Having been a teacher and
monastic, in 371 reluctantly accepted his brothers invitation to become
bishop of Nyssa. He struggled with Arianism to his own hurt but became
increasingly popular and sought after and gave the inaugural address at
the council of Constantinople. Little is known of his later years as he
appears to have travelled extensively. He was probably a more gifted
original and intellectual thinker than his brother, but did not have his
practical ability. Such was his fame that he was referred to as father of
fathers.

Gregory of Nazianzus [330-389] was the son of the bishop of Nazianzum

and close friend of Basil. Initially he was a teacher but spent most of his
time helping his father, he spent time in Basils monastic retreat. At the
council of Constantinople [381] he defended the Nicaean faith, and his
preaching in the city did much to establish the orthodox faith. Though
elected bishop he characteristically stepped down when it was disputed.
While his personal presence was unimpressive Gregory had outstanding
powers of oratory.

John Chrysostom

John [347-407] came from Antioch where he had been a monk in the desert
until ill health forced him to return to the city. He as an eloquent preacher and
keen ascetic he upset the easy-going fashionable church of his day. In 397
his eloquence and piety led him to be appointed bishop of Constantinople,
where he was given the nickname Chrysostom [lit golden mouthed]. Some
people disliked him because he tightened church discipline and expelled
disreputable clergy.

9
see reference to his monasticism on page 12

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Greater tension mounted when the tall brothers, four outstandingly tall men
leading a group of fifty others, arrived in Constantinople. They were escaping
an ecclesiastical persecution in Egypt instigated by the Roman scholar
Jerome who was on a witch-hunt against Origens teaching, supported by
Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria. John was impressed by the men and
interceded for them. Alexandria had always been jealous of the favour
bishops of Constantinople had been shown by various emperors so
Theophilus saw the dispute as an opportunity to gain controlling influence in
the capital. He came to Constantinople, ignored John, stirred up dissent
against him, even using troops to attempt to break up church services, and
then held a synod that deposed him. The empress Eudoxia disliked John and
supported the decision and so he was exiled. Popular pressure brought about
his return. However, a sermon attacking Eudoxias vanities, Again Herodias
raves; again she dances; again she demands the head of John on a
platter.She flew into a rage, and again he was exiled [404], with a violent
deportation to the Black Sea en route to which he died of ill treatment. It is
worth remembering his life long saying, Glory be to God for all things. It is
important to notice the extent to which the eastern church was under the
power of the emperor and the State.

In the west, with the exception of Augustine, the thinking of the Latin speaking
Christians tended to be less original than those in the east, from whom they
borrowed a great deal. Nonetheless, their contributions were important.

Jerome

Jerome [347-420] was born in the Balkans, but studied literature at Rome.
Although a Latin speaker he spent much of his life in the east, which makes
him an important bridge between the two halves of the Christian world of his
day. In the east he not only learned Greek but also Hebrew, a rare
accomplishment in his day. He also encountered monasticism that left a deep
mark on him. In 382 he returned to Rome where the church was both worldly
and strained after years of the struggle with Arianism. This led to street riots
and deaths over the appointment of the new bishop Damasus. Jerome
became friendly with Damasus, who asked him if he would make a new
translation of the scriptures into Latin. This became his great work.

The Latin translations of Jeromes day were very inaccurate and there was no
standardised text. When he had completed the New Testament he went on to
the Hebrew scriptures. This was a formidable undertaking as all previous
translations were based on the Septuagint, and were very unsatisfactory; he
went back to the Hebrew. By 405 his task was complete, but it met strong
opposition. He called his critics, Two-legged donkeys who think that
ignorance is holiness! It was the support of Damasus that won the day, plus
its intrinsic worth. It would be called the Vulgate [common ie the peoples
version], and was to hold authority in the west for well over a thousand years.

Jerome returned to the east to spend his last thirty-five years in monastic
retreat in Bethlehem, devoting himself to biblical learning. An admiring circle

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of friends, mainly notable Roman ladies who devoted themselves to celibacy,
surrounded him. He was a difficult, though versatile, man who could be both
outspoken and unfair, but who nonetheless made an important contribution to
the church of his day.

Ambrose of Milan

Ambrose [340-397] was a small man, with a sharp face and piercing eyes, he
was also a civil servant, the governor of Milan in North Italy. In 373 Ambrose
was present to keep public order at the appointment of a new bishop for the
city. There was tension and disagreement, when suddenly a child cried out,
Ambrose for bishop! It was taken as divine guidance. He was 34 years old,
from a Christian family, but he had not yet been baptised. Because of public
pressure he agreed and was baptised, ordained and then consecrated as
bishop with great speed.

Ambrose proved to be an outstanding bishop. He became not only a scholar

but a great hymn writer10. He also introduced the allegorical method of
interpreting scripture, used in Alexandria, to the west11. However, it was his
relationship with imperial power that was to show how much more freedom
and authority over the State bishops in the west had in comparison with those
in the east. He excommunicated Theodosius for eight months because he
massacred 7000 inhabitants of Thessalonica, and forced him to do public
penance. Yet he misused his power in rescinding an imperial command for
monks to rebuild a synagogue they had vandalised. Arians hoped he would
be neutral to theological dispute, but they were mistaken and found him a
strong opponent, he organised sit-ins to prevent them taking over churches
and withstood even the empress Justina. A mark of the impact Ambrose
made is revealed in the words of Theodosius himself, I have known no
bishop but Ambrose.

Augustine of Hippo

Augustine [354-431] was born in Thagaste in Numidia [Algeria], into a nominal

Christian home. He studied in Carthage, before going on to Rome [383] and
Milan [384] where he taught rhetoric. He loved the pagan classics; he rejected
the Bible as poor literature, and began to look elsewhere for answers. The
Manichees, with their dualistic beliefs about God and matter, good and evil,
provided a spiritual and emotional home. He dealt with his sexual passions by
taking a concubine for fifteen years, they had a son called Adeodatus; but in
anticipation of a suitable marriage he dismissed her in 384, while keeping
their child. With growing skepticism about Manichaeism, he flirted with
agnosticism until he heard the preaching of Ambrose in Milan. Encouraged by
his now pious mother Monica, who had joined him, he attended services.
Impressed by Ambroses spiritualising of morally difficult scriptures, and by his
disciplined celibate life, he was drawn towards the Christian faith. But his
10
The Te Deum is attributed to him.
11
Ambroses use of this method in preaching would prove to be an important factor in
Augustines conversion.

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weak will kept him wrestling. Then in 386, hearing a childs voice cry, Take
and read, he turned randomly to the words, Not in revelling and
drunkenness ... put on the Lord Jesus Christ [Rm 13:13-14]. He was
baptised, with his son, in 387 and returned to North Africa. He became an
assistant to the elderly bishop of Hippo. At his death in 396 he was appointed
in his place and held the post for the remaining 35 years of his life.

Augustine leaves a huge imprint upon church history. In him themes of the
early church and mediaeval church combine, he is a bridge between two eras.
In him the tensions of the reformation of the western church are sown. It has
been interestingly said that, the reformation was the result of Augustines
doctrine of grace being at war with his doctrine of the church; it is simplistic
but poignant: -

His doctrine of the church emerged out of his conflict with the
Donatists. He taught it was a mixed community like wheat and
tares12, the true church only being revealed at the end. Yet the
church was like the Ark, clean and unclean within, but no salvation
outside it.
His doctrine of grace emerged out of his conflict with Pelagius, a
Celtic monk from Britain. He rejected original sin, insisting that
people were responsible for their own rebellion against God and
must choose to change. Augustine, whose whole experience was
dependent upon the grace of God, insisted that without Gods free
grace no one could be saved.

Augustines greatest work,City of God, was born out of the experience of the
collapse of the Roman empire in the west and the pagan accusation that it
was due to Christianitys rejection of the ancient gods. He says that the city of
this world is secular and transient but the city of God is forever. He does not
make a simple link between the city of God and the church; the church is
rather the pilgrim part of the eternal city. It is captive in the earthly city, and
also, membership in the church gives no certain citizenship of the city of God;
only the elect.

Darkness and decline

The year 395, with the death of Theodosius, effectively dates the collapse of
Roman power in the west. Barbarian tribes had been pressing at the borders
for decades, but before the year was out the Danube frontier was irreparably
breached, and 406 saw them across the Rhine. The fateful year of 410 saw
Rome13 itself sacked by Alaric the Goth; the first non-Roman army to attack it
for 800 years. When Jerome heard the news in Bethlehem he summed up the
emotion of the time: -

12
Note that the parable says the field is the world not the church.
13
For some decades Rome had ceased to be the centre for the imperial court in the west;
Justina and Theodosius based themselves in Milan, and moved to Ravenna for greater safety
as a result of the barbarian attacks

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 My tongue cleaves to the roof of my mouth and my voice is choked with
sobs, to think that the city which took the whole world has now herself
been taken.

Alaric only stayed three days as the city was starving and there was no food
for his troops. More damage was done by Roman slaves revolting than by
barbarian troops. But it was a sign: -

The Goths proceeded to settle in southern Gaul and part of Spain;

The Vandals conquered North Africa;
The Suevi held the northern corner of Spain;
The Franks held northern Gaul;
The Saxons were gaining a foothold in Britain;
The Bergundians dominated the upper Rhone valley;
The Ostrogoths held most of the Balkans.

Before these barbarian kingdoms could settle down into their new territories, a
further threat faced all Europe; the horse riding nomadic Huns from the
steppes of central Asia under their fearsome leader Attila. They terrified even
the European barbarians and had been one of the causes of their own
eruption into Roman territory. Not until Attila had threatened Italy in 452 were
the Huns driven back and the west could breathe again.

It is remarkable that the majority of European barbarians who ravaged the

west did not do more damage than they did. One reason was the respect they
had for Roman culture, which represented a civilisation they were hungry for.
An even greater reason was that they were at least nominally Christian at the
time of their attacks. This is a remarkable witness to missionary endeavour
during the proceeding centuries. People like Ulfilas [little wolf] whose
Christian family, from Cappadocia, had been captured by the Goths. He
returned and in 341 he was consecrated as bishop of the Goths and remained
so until his death in 383. He was Arian in his theology. He made a translation
of the scriptures into their tongue first reducing their language to writing; the
first book in any Germanic language14.

The convulsions of the barbarian invasions destroyed the political unity of the
west, but a more fundamental unity survived. Rome was no longer the political
centre of the empire, but was the spiritual and ecclesiastical capital. This
expressed itself in two clear ways: -

With the collapse of the political structure people looked to the church and
its leaders as the only organised institution to fill the gap. Many of the
bishops took over the work of the collapsing imperial administration. Added
to this they received refugees, kept up the morale of the people, supplied
provisions and so much more. This in turn gave opportunity for the prestige
of the bishop of Rome influence the situation in a way that, given time,
would have unprecedented consequences.
14
The fact he did not translate Samuel or Kings was probably due to dying before his work
was complete rather than his fear that they were too warlike!

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 The church and bishop of Rome had always enjoyed a unique position due
to her being the ancient capital, and Peter and Paul being linked to her
foundation. At the council of Chalcedon [451] even the emperor,
recognising the precedence of the Roman church, gave their delegates the
right to preside. The bishop at that time, Leo the Great, argued on the basis
of Mt 16:18-19 that all bishops should be subject to the bishop of Rome,
making significant foundations for the papacy in the years ahead. He
enhanced his authority by seeing his Tome on the person of Christ
accepted as the basis of the council of Chalcedon which met to settle
disputes on this matter. And by leading the delegation that met Attila the
Hun in northern Italy and so helping to avert an attack on Rome.

Another significant event in the reconstruction of power in the west was the
conversion of Clovis the pagan king of the Franks in 496. He attributed a
recent victory to the God of his Christian wife Clotilde. This event had far-
reaching consequences for the church. He, and other Frankish kings, were to
see themselves as militant champions of catholic orthodoxy against heretics
and unbelievers. Clovis extended his realm south subjecting the whole of
Gaul to his political dominance and Romes spiritual dominance.

Under Justinian [527-565] the emperor in Constantinople became the

effective ruler of the west as well as the east15. He attempted to recapture
territory that had fallen to the barbarians; with some success in Africa and
Italy. He also built the church of St Sophia in the capital and in 529 made a
collection of European laws, which were to serve as the legal basis for
European civil and religious society. However following his death the
Byzantine empire went into considerable decline.

Monks and hermits

Our story so far has made repeated reference to monasticism, a phenomenon

that runs parallel to the whole story of the church we have been discussing.
The roots certainly go back to the third century, and some would suggest
earlier, and are complex and fascinating: -

A number of acetic communities arose [eg Qumran] amongst the

Jews in the closing decades BC;
Virginity and chastity for the kingdom of God was increasingly held
in honour in a growing number of Christian circles;
Widows would often remain single, giving hospitality and caring for
the poor and the sick; themes which would always mark out
monasticism;
The single-minded spirituality of the single person was admired
because they could give themselves uniquely to prayer and study;

15
The initial years of the barbarian conquests saw the throne of the western empire at
Ravenna filled by Roman puppets of the Gothic invaders, the fiction ended with the death of
the adolescent Romulus Augustulus in 476.

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 The end of persecution meant that physical martyrdom was no
longer possible, so a way of spiritual martyrdom was sought;
Growing moral laxity in the church following Constantine lead many
to explore more radical expressions of Christian life; spiritual
athletes;
There was the subtle influence of different ideas16 which said that
the material order and the body in particular was evil and needed
rejecting;
They sought the solitude of the desert because the wilderness was
the prophets and Jesus had met with God;
The desert was also believed to be the habitation of demons[eg the
jinn of the Bedouin]; so they were at the frontiers of spiritual
conflict;
Some believed the ascetic life would lead them back to a state
equivalent to before the Fall, hence some living with and taming
wild animals.

This astonishing variety of influences, admirable and questionable, demand

sensitive caution as we chart and assess monasticism. Whatever our
personal feelings about the phenomenon we are looking at something that is
to have a continuing and remarkable impact on the story of the church.
Asceticism of different kinds expressed during the earliest days of the church,
we pick up the story as it emerges as an identifiable movement.

Anthony
Born in Upper Egypt to a Christian family, Anthony [251-356], a Coptic
speaking peasant, is the first known Christian monk17, and the one with the
greatest early influence. As an eighteen year old he gave his possessions to
the poor and lived an ascetic life. A few years later he moved into the desert
where for twenty years he lived a completely solitary life. He act impacted the
Egyptian church and he had to retreat further and further into the desert to
avoid visitors. During Diocletians persecution he returned to Alexandria
encouraging those in prison. On his return to the desert others began to follow
his example, living in other caves in the vicinity, sometimes meeting to pray.
This was to become the pattern over the years, hermits living near each other,
often looking to a mature one for guidance and direction. Anthony became a
friend and influence on Athanasius during his exiles and struggles with
Arianism; it is through him that we know most about Anthony. With Anthony
we also see into the spiritual struggles and temptations many ascetics faced
due to their harsh discipline. This remarkable man was to live to be 105 years
old.

16
Indian, Persian, Greek neo-Platonism, Gnostic and Manichaeism
17
The term monk like monasticism comes from the Gk monachoi - lit people who live
alone; the terms hermit and anchorite also emphasise some one living a solitary life.
Technically monk and monastery should not be used of people living in communities! The
term erimite, from the Gk eremos - desert, is used of someone living a solitary life in the
desert for spiritual reasons.

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 Pachomius
A pagan soldier who was converted while serving in Egypt, Pachomius [286-
346] began the life of a hermit but came to believe that drawing ascetics
together into a community would enhance their spiritual development. Here
we have the beginnings of cenobitic monasticism [from Gk koinobios, lit to
live together]. He established a monastic commune at Tabennisi in the upper
valley of the Nile. He gave its members a code of discipline, or rule, to
organise their daily routines and devotional life by. His sister Mary set up the
first known community for women.

Simon
The desire to be spiritual athletes was always destined to lead people to
extremes, even within the austere world of asceticism; the desire to be more
zealous for God, and sometimes to show more commitment and therefore
more spirituality than other monks. Simon [390-459] began to live on top of a
pillar in Syria. He kept increasing the height of his pillar-cell until it reached
the height of 72 feet. He was given the nickname Stylites [lit the pillar man],
and became a great attraction, preaching fervently to the crowds who came to
see him. Others followed his example and a pillar-cult developed! But this was
only one example of many. Adamites walked around naked, Dendrites lived in
trees. Some stood on one leg for weeks at a time, others had themselves
walled into caves. One wished to be devoured by hyenas but when he
entered their cave they refused to touch him! These were the extremes, and
we must not let them divert our attention from the main development of the
movement.

Basil
We have already spoken of the influence of Basil of Caesarea [330-379]. With
him the monasticism that was born in the sands of Egypt, having now spread
to the deserts of Palestine and Syria finds its way westward into Cappadocia.
He studied monasticism in Egypt and developed it in Asia Minor; building
communities, encouraging useful activities like prayer, Bible study, agriculture
and nursing. His monks staffed the hospital he founded in Caesarea. He sets
a pattern that will be very influential in the centuries to come; not only east but
west. It is important to remember that the rule he gave his monks, the Basilian
order, is the basic order for eastern monasticism today, and the only order of
the Greek Orthodox church.

Monasticism, understandably, began to raise problems for church authority.

Where the leader of a monastery was a bishop like Basil there was no
problem. Many monks were independent and sometimes troublemakers. The
council of Chalcedon [451] ruled that all monks must be subject to their local
bishops.

Athanasius and Jerome

The warm deserts of the east were an obvious place for monasticism to begin,
its ideas moved west primarily through the influence of two men we have
already spoken about. During his visit to Rome in 340, during his second exile

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from Alexandria in the midst of the Arian controversy, Athanasius [295-373]
told the Christians in the city about Anthony and the Egyptian monks and
encouraged them to follow their example. As a result we find communities for
dedicated virgins in Rome from around 350. When Jerome [347-420] left
Rome in 373 to visit Syria he was already cultivating the ascetic life, his four
years in the desert developed that. On returning to Rome he propounded
monasticism with great vigour. Despite his abrasive manner his lasting
contribution to monasticism was encouraging the kind of ascetics who would
devote themselves to Christian culture, and culture generally, after classical
civilisation collapsed under the barbarians.

Martin
The most important name in the early days of western monasticism is Martin
of Tours [316-397]. Born to pagan parents he made a Christian decision at the
age of ten. Legally bound to follow his father in the army, he continued to
nurture his faith. Giving half his cloak to a beggar led to a dream of the man
being Jesus; this led to his baptism. Leaving the army he was influenced by
Hilary of Poitier that led him to found a monastery in 360. In spite of his
asceticism and unkempt appearance, within 10 years his fame had spread
throughout Gaul. His exorcisms, healings and missionary activity led him to be
appointed as bishop of Tours in 371. He founded a new monastery and began
further extensive missionary activity. While honoured by the great he showed
only humility and gentleness, yet like Ambrose condemned the execution of
Priscillian and his followers. His fame spread throughout western Europe and
influenced, among other things, the evangelisation of Britain.

Benedict
Benedict of Nurisia [480-547] whose rule for his monastery at Monte Cassino
was to become both the inspiration and the pattern in the western
monasticism, in the way that Basils did in the east. It commended earlier
monastic traditions, and blended strictness without austerity. It was built on
stability; the monk lived in the monastery, gave absolute obedience to the
abbot who was elected for life and was spiritual master and head of the
community. Obedience led up the ladder of humility. There was sleep,
clothing, food and prayer; there was work, worship and study. Benedictine
monasteries saw themselves as unchanging in a world of flux; gateways to
heaven, replicas of heaven upon earth. They were a major contribution to the
birth of shape of Europe following the collapse of empire. Many of the greatest
figures of the early Middle Ages were Benedictine.

Isles of Britain

The gospel was almost certainly brought to Britain by ordinary traders from
Gaul and other places in the Roman world. Sometime in the early third
century Alban died at Verulam, the first British martyr. During the fourth
century as Roman power weakens the Christian faith spreads; British bishops
attend church councils. Roman army withdrawal about 410 saw Christianity
quite weak, being limited to the large towns in southern Britain. The nation

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divided; with the invasion and settlement of Anglo-Saxon invaders from
Germany, and the Celts being pushed west to be found in Scotland, Wales,
Cornwall and of course Ireland. Society reverted to barbarianism, an
essentially prehistoric warrior culture. There were two very important spiritual
influences during this period: -

Ninian [360-432] was a Romanised Celt, who early in the fifth century
began preaching in the lowlands of Scotland, the centre of his activity being
the monastic centre, Candida Casa [lit pure house], which he founded at
Whithorn. We cannot be certain about the details of his evangelistic
activities, but they seem to have followed the example of Martin of Tours
who influenced him. Archaeological evidence suggests the Christian faith
continued in the areas he worked long after his death.

Patrick [390-461] came from a nominally Christian family in the west of

England. In his teens he was captured by Irish raiders and sold as a slave
in Ireland. The experience led him to firm Christian commitment. Eventually
escaping, and returning to his family, he may have joined a monastic
community and even gone to Europe for some training. A dream begging
him to return led him back to Ireland having been ordained a bishop. He
gained cooperation from local tribal chiefs and preached freely, gathered
converts into groups, some even of noble birth, and ordained clergy to
pastor them. He approved of taking vows of asceticism, but the inspiration
for Irish asceticism seems to have come later from people with contact,
with at least stories, of Egyptian hermits. Patricks deep faith was his sole
support during his struggle of over 30 years.

DARKNESS AND FEAR

Gregory the Great

Gregory [540-604] has been described as the first mediaeval pope, and the
most influential bishop of Rome between Constantine and the Reformation.
He came from an aristocratic family with a tradition of service in politics and
the church. He began his own career in public administration and became the
city prefect in 573. During his childhood and early manhood Rome was
sacked five times. But the real seat of power, however, was the church,
though its civil influence was precarious due to the effects of the Lombard
barbarian invasions that would remain a threat to Rome until the middle of the
eighth century. At the death of his father in 575, Gregory entered a
Benedictine monastery; he would be the first pope who had been a monk.
From this time on, monasticism, especially Benedictine monasticism, would
be closely linked with the papacy; the two institutions together giving
mediaeval Catholicism its distinctive character. He was appointed pope in
590, and the hallmarks of his papacy were: -

Claiming universal jurisdiction over Christendom, rejecting the

Patriarch of Constantinoples title Ecumenical Patriarch;

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 Working to cultivate the rulers of the barbarian kingdoms in western
Europe, so strengthening his relationship west and not looking east
for help;
His writings used allegorical interpretation, interest in the saints,
relics, demonology, and ascetic virtues; typical of the Middle Ages;
He confirmed the hierarchy of the papacy and church and
proclaimed the Christian commonwealth in which the pope and
clergy were responsible for ordering society.

Gregorys interest in the people of the west led to one of his most significant
acts. In 596 he sent a team of 40 monks, led by Augustine, to England, which
led to the evangelisation of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. They landed on the
Isle of Thannet in East Kent and received a courteous welcome from king
Ethelbert who was soon converted and baptised [597]. He was given
permission to set up a monastery at Canterbury. Through Ethelberts
influence Essex and East Anglia embraced Roman Christianity. The success
of evangelism depended on the political and religious competition between
the Anglo-Saxon kings. However, Augustine met a cool response from the
leaders of the Celtic church which was strong in the west of Britain; their
suspicion deepened by his discourtesy in failing to stand when they met him,
they would not accept him as their bishop.

At the death of Gregory in 604 saw the church in the west so changed from
200 years earlier at the death of Theodosius: -

There was little literacy or education, some priests were illiterate;

A lack of biblical and theological knowledge;
There was a sense of powerlessness, survival was the key word;
Insecurity in people, nature and government;
Pagan ideas were mixed with Christian ideas;
In place of knowledge was superstition and an interest in relics;
Sacraments began to be given magical powers;
Church were great landowners, bishops often ministers of state;
Monks rather than priests kept spiritual life alive;
People looked to the bishop of Rome to halt abuses.

The beginning of the seventh century we see that supple forms have calcified
into immovable structures, dogma has replaced enthusiasm, human ambition
and reason have replaced the mind of Christ. It did not happen suddenly, it
was the result of a drift left unchecked.

Celtic church

One bright light at this time was to be found in the Celtic church in Britain.
Many questions remain about its origins amid the turbulence of the Saxon
invasions following the departure of the Romans around 410. Driven to the
west, cut off from the mainstream of the Christian community the Celtic
Christians in Britain and Ireland developed their unique expression of church
life. The close of the fifth and beginning of the sixth centuries are lost in a mist

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of struggle, legend and wandering saints; when the mists clear Britain is a
divided island. The work of the early pioneers, like Ninian and Patrick,
continued to bear fruit enabling the Celts to discover creative and distinctive
expressions of faith during this time. Monasticism appears to have been a
vital source of the energy and vitality we see. There are reform movements in
Wales and the West Country; Ninians old centre Candida Casa became a
focus of life, training many Irish ascetics. Celtic monasticism was influenced
by the ideals of the early Egyptian hermits; it could be harsh and eccentric but
possessed zeal, which was to inspire some of the greatest missionary work in
these dark centuries. However, it was not only zeal that hallmarked the Celtic
church, some of their distinctive characteristics are: -

They demonstrated considerable learning and were formidable at

debate;
They showed very good organisational abilities;
They developed remarkable artistic skill, seen in their manuscripts;
They had a delightful tendency to roam from place to place;
They displayed a simple, gentle, integrating approach to truth;
They emphasised the active participation of people in worship;
They stressed the teaching of John rather than the Roman focus on
Peter;
They saw land ownership as communal rather than individual;
They used different tonsure and dating for Easter than the Roman
church.

In 563, Columba [521-597], left Ireland with twelve companions to go on a

pilgrimage for Christ. Whatever the circumstances of his leaving it was to
prove to be a significant event. They landed on the tiny island of Iona on the
west coast of Scotland, where he established a monastery. This was to
become a base for the evangelisation among both the Picts and Scots on the
mainland, and appears to have been an important influence in bringing their
internal wars to an end.

In 633, Oswald king of Northumbria invited someone from Iona to evangelise

his kingdom. Aidan eventually arrived and settled at Lindisfarne; so began the
first Celtic evangelisation of the Anglo-Saxons. He was a gentle, humble,
Christ-like man who lived in poverty until his death in 651. Along with his
successors like Cuthbert, they spread the gospel throughout the north east of
England.

By 664 Celtic and Roman missionaries were doing extensive evangelistic

work throughout Britain, coming into close contact with one another, and the
difference of emphasis between them could not be overlooked any longer.
The consequence was that Oswy, king of Northumbria, called Roman and
Celtic clergy to Whitby for a synod. The issues of tonsures and dating Easter
were real, but emotions ran much deeper. The tradition and infrastructure of
Rome persuaded Oswy to decide in their favour. There was some dissent in
the Celtic church but Cuthbert agreed to abide by the decision. As a

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consequence the zeal of the Celts inspired the church in England to some
remarkable feats of mission.

West and mission

Following the synod of Whitby Britain was swept by plague with the result that
there was a dearth of leadership and the threat of collapse in the church. An
appeal to Rome resulted in a 66-year-old Greek monk, Theodore of Tarsus,
being sent as archbishop of Canterbury. He proved to be a remarkable man
who worked tirelessly for the next 21 years to put the church in England on a
firm footing and to evangelise widely. The zeal of the Celtic Christians and the
structure of the English church combined to be a vital base for mission
abroad: -

Columban [540-615] is one of the most notable Celtic wanderers for

Christ. Before the Whitby era, already 40 years old, he left Bangor in
Ireland with a company of monks and travelled to Brittany, and then to
Switzerland and finally to northern Italy where he died; at each stage of
his journey doing remarkable missionary work.
Gall [550-640] who was one of Columbans original group, became the
apostle to northern Switzerland. The city of St Gallen is named after him
and still houses one of the finest collection of Irish manuscripts in the
world.
Willibrord [658-739] became a missionary to the Frisians [now Holland
and part of Belgium]. Pepin protected him against the hostility of the local
ruler. He and his eleven companions began work in Utrech, which they
continued through many vicissitudes for the next 40 years.
Boniface [680-754] is the name given to Wynfrith of Crediton, in Devon.
He is reckoned to be the greatest missionary in the early Middle Ages,
and has been described as a man who had a deeper influence on the
history of Europe than any Englishman who ever lived18. He had been a
monk to the age of 40; he then worked in Frisia under Wilibrord. Then in
722 he was consecrated by the pope as bishop for the German border.
Shortly after this he won a great reputation by felling an oak sacred to the
god Thor, the fact he was unscathed proved superior power of his God;
he built a chapel with the wood. In 741 he was called on to bring reforms
into the Frankish church, and in 744 he founded the great monastery of
Fulda, which was to play a special part in Roman Christianity in central
Germany to the present day. As he grew older his missionary spirit
prevailed and he went back to the pagan areas of Frisia. In June 755 he
and his fifty companions were all killed.

These missionaries built monastic houses at the frontline of their work, where
they worshipped and worked at cultivation. This brought them close to the
peoples around them and sensitive to their culture. Added to this, while they
respected native tongues, their use of Latin in liturgy gave the peoples a
language that would greatly help in the unification of mediaeval Europe.
18
C Dawson The Making of Europe quoted in S Neil History of Christian Missions Penguin
1964 p74

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Muhammad and Islam

Amid the sands of Arabia events were shaping that would shake the world,
but Byzantium and the west were oblivious of them. In 571 a boy was born in
Mecca the trading centre of western Arabia. He was Muhammad, soon to be
an orphan reared by a kindly uncle, who developed a deep spiritual hunger,
and a revulsion at the greed and paganism of the city merchants. As a
caravanner he was to meet Jews and Christians in his travels. Their belief in
one God haunted him, but Jews had no time for a young Arab and the
Christians could not give a coherent presentation of their faith. Why had the
Arabs had no prophet like they had had? By the age of 40 he had married a
rich widow Khadijah and now had time to ponder the issues further. Spending
hours in meditation in a nearby cave he began to receive revelations of the
one God Allah. Believing that divine judgment was at hand he began to recite
his inspired messages, which he proclaimed publicly and met a hostile
response, drawing only a few younger people around him. In 622 he migrates
200 miles north to the oasis of Medina where the inhabitants ask him to bring
them his teaching. Here the first Muslim [lit those who submit to Allah]
community is established. He faces strong opposition from the forces of
Mecca but by 630 they are defeated, and by his death in 632 the vast tide of
opinion is turning towards him and the message that has been revealed in the
Quran. The Kabah, with its black stone were consecrated to Allah and
became the focus for prayer and pilgrimage.

By 633 Arabia is Muslim and forces led by his friend Abu Bakar pour out of
the desert on to an unsuspecting world which was spiritually and politically
weak, and which tumbled before their zeal and virility: -

By 638 Palestine and Syria which are conquered;

By 642 Alexandria and Egypt were Muslim;
By 698 Carthage was captured;
By 651 Persia submitted to the invaders;
By 711 the conquest of Spain had begun.

The Arab armies were held at the Taurus mountains in Asia Minor though
three times in the next century they would reach the walls of Constantinople.
In 732 a Muslim raiding forces approached Poitiers in the heart of France but
were defeated by the Frankish leader Charles Martel.

From now on Islam was perceived as the great Christian enemy. Churches in
the east collapsed under them, others struggled to survive. In North Africa
there were 40 bishops at the time of the conquest, five in 1053 and two in
1076. The churches centre of gravity shifted north from the Mediterranean.
Arab presence in the Mediterranean made communication between east and
west by sea difficult, and Slav domination between the Danube and the
Mediterranean formed a land barrier between the Greek east and the Latin
west, with obvious consequences.

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Charlemagne

Circumstances were conspiring to bring about the most fundamental change

to the political and religious structure of western Europe. The Frankish
[Merovingian] kingdoms, descendants of Clovis, were weakening; their kings
were coming under the control of a warrior family from Austrasia, called the
Mayors of the Palace. One of them was Charles Martel; who defeated the
Muslims at Poitiers in 732. His son Pepin the Short asked the pope to
recognise him as the true king of the Franks, and was so crowned by
Boniface, the apostle of Germany, in 751. In return for this honour, the pope
asked Pepin to remove the threat of the Lombards from Italy and restore to
the papacy the territory they had taken. This he did in 756. The result was the
creation of the Papal States over which the pope ruled, which were to last
until 1870. They appealed to The Donation of Constantine19 for their
authority. More fundamental is the emergence of the unique relationship
between the pope and the kings of France. This further increased the tensions
between the pope and the emperor of Constantinople.

In 768 Charlemagne [lit Charles the great], the son of Pepin, came to power
and as a political force strengthened the unity of western Europe: -

He defeated the Lomards;

He converted the Saxons in a 33 year reign of terror;
He pushed the Muslims back into northern Spain;
He incorporated Bavaria into his kingdom;
He destroyed the nomadic Asians, the Avars.

Charlemagne was an expansionist who often used Christianity as an excuse.

He claimed his campaigns were part of extending the kingdom of God, of
which he believed he was the earthly king. His Christian commitment
symbolises the times. He was a huge man, nearly 7ft tall, with a voracious
appetite for food and sex [married 4 times with many mistresses]. Yet he
hated drunkenness and homosexuality, severe on clerical morals. There was
much immorality in his court, yet he was scrupulous about church attendance.
He would also enforce his views on the pope on theological matters.

Charlemagnes court in Aix-la-Chapelle became the centre for a renaissance

of learning. He brought the finest scholars in western Europe there, many of
them monks, the most significant of whom was Alcuin, the Anglo-Saxon
scholar from York: -

Latin, scripture, liturgy and the church fathers were emphasised;

Beautiful manuscripts were produced in the copyists workshops;
Monastic schools to educate the clergy were set up;
A Roman liturgy, steeped in Hebrew imagery, was established;
Reform moved towards ritualism and legalism;
19
His was a document that claimed Constantine, at his death, bequeathed all the land of the
west to the authority of the bishop of Rome in perpetuity; the pope is called the hands of
Peter. In the 14th Century this document was proved to be a forgery from about 750.

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 Monastic discipline was established.

On Christmas day 800 Charlemagne was crowned as Roman emperor by

the pope. The perceptions on both sides are interesting; the pope believed he
was giving something to Charlemagne and creating a deputy, Charlemagne
he was the protector of the church and embracing what was his right. From
now there were two poles around which western society moved; the pope had
a rival, the emperor believed he held a sacred position with almost divine
right. In Constantinople Charlemagne was considered a usurper; increasing
the tension between the two states and two churches. The political empire
[Carolingian] disintegrated soon after Charlemagnes death in 814, but the
spiritual empire continued in the mediaeval church.

East and mission

The eastern Roman empire had lost Syria, Palestine and Egypt to the
Muslims. Slavs and the Bulgars threatened it to the north and east. It had
simply become a Greek speaking Asiatic state, and from now on is known as
the Byzantine empire; after the ancient town Constantinople had been built
upon. The patriarchates of Alexandria, Jerusalem and Antioch weakened
because of their isolation in the Muslim world; this served to strengthen the
role of the patriarch of Constantinople in the eyes of the eastern churches and
increase the rivalry between him and the pope in Rome.

Amid all the political traumas faced by the Byzantine empire, the eastern
church was torn by a dispute over icons for over a century [726-843]. These
silent sermons or books for the illiterate were said by some to capture the
presence they represented, which led to accusations of superstition and
idolatry. The emperor had destroyed a venerated image of Christ above the
palace gate, which led to iconoclasm in favour and riots in opposition. Monks
even suffered martyrdom to defend icons. The second council of Nicaea
defended the legitimacy of icons provided they met rigorous theological
principles, and the storm subsided.

Towards the end of the ninth century Byzantium went into a brilliant period; it
was the greatest city of its day. There was military and literary success. In 863
a university was founded. Most important of all was the blossoming of
monastic life; seen in 963 with the establishment of the famous republic of
monks on Mount Athos, high place of orthodox spirituality.

There was also dissent. A movement called the Paulicians, who had dualistic
views, rose in Armenia and began to challenge the Orthodox churchs
involvement with the physical and material around 650. Its claim that only the
Gospels and Pauls writings were scripture [hence their name], brought hostile
response. Its leaders were stoned and burned, and in the ninth century tens of
thousands were massacred. They formed successful armies, but were driven
into the Balkans where their teachings took hold in the tenth century giving
rise to a movement called the Bogomils [friend of God]. They developed a
strong ascetic life, despising marriage, meat and wine; and rejecting the

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sacraments. Their ideas, which had obvious Gnostic overtones, spread west
and probably influenced the Cathari in southern France later in the Middle
Ages. We see in these movements challenges to the religious status quo.

From the churches in the east missionary activity was taking the Christian
faith in many directions and with significant consequences: -

China: the overland trade routes from the east were exploited by Nestorian
missionaries, who took the gospel as far as China by the seventh century.
In 635 a certain Alopen arrived there from Syria planting a church that had
influence for some 200 years. It was based in monasteries [understood
from Buddhism] with up to 300 monks at times. This cultured and educated
people presented difficulties for missionaries; a monk travelling in China in
987 could find no Christian witness.

Slavs: in 863, in response to an appeal from a Slav prince, the patriarch

sent two brothers, Cyril and Methodius, to Moravia. The invented an
alphabet [Cyrillic] for the language into which they translated scripture and
liturgy. However, missionaries from the west, also working in the area
insisted that only Latin or Greek could be used in worship. The tension led
the imposition of the Latin liturgy after the brothers death. Their disciples
took refuge in Bulgaria where the people adopted the Cyrillic alphabet and
Slavonic liturgy.

Russia: this people of different tribal origins was opened up to

missionaries through the trade routes running from Scandinavia through
Kiev to Baghdad and the Black Sea. Early attempts were abortive. In 988
Vladimir, the ruler of Kiev is said to have sent emissaries to enquire about
the great faiths of Islam, Judaism, Roman and Orthodox Christianity to see
which to invite to Russia. Eastern Orthodoxy was chosen because the
remarkable beauty of the worship in Constantinople. From 1000 the
Orthodox faith spread throughout Russia.

Towards 1000

The golden days in the east, were replaced by increasing darkness as one
moved west. These were terrible times as the year 1000 approached; days
which many, including the church, believed would herald the end of the
world:-

The Frankish empire had divided into three and the office of the
emperor had disappeared;
There were civil wars between a myriad of kingdoms; it was said,
Once we had a king now we have kinglets;
From the south Muslim pirates raided and Italy and Provence and from
the coast plundered the interior for a century;
From the north Vikings attacked the Atlantic coastline, sailing up rivers
killing, plundering and striking terror wherever they went;

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 From the east Hungarian Magyars poured over the Urals, invaded
Germany and laid waste areas as far as Burgundy;
The papacy was morally corrupt, caught in the power struggles of the
Italian nobility, with the result there was spiritual decline;
Church property was devastated, nobility treated bishoprics and
monasteries as their personal property, clergy were indifferent to duty;
There was an almost total collapse of civil order and culture; there was
famine, plague, destruction, poor commerce and depleted population.

In 909 a group of French monks wrote despairingly of the world of their day: -

The cities are depopulated, the monasteries ruined and burned, the
country reduced to solitude ... As the first people lived without law or
fear of God, abandoned to their passions, so now everyone does what
seems good in their own eyes, despising laws human and divine and
the commands of the church. The strong oppress the weak, the world is
full of violence against the poor and plunder the goods of the church ...
people devour one another like fishes in the sea.

There was every reason for despair; western European civilisation must have
appeared to face oblivion. However, from our perspective we can see there
were there also a few faint signs of hope: -

In 910 there were the beginnings of a Benedictine renewal at Cluny;

In 911 Norsemen [Normans] settled in northern France; invasions
abating;
In 962 the German, Otto I, restored restored the position of emperor;
In 966 the ruler of Poland was baptised;
In 1000 the king of Hungary was baptised.

As we view the church at the end of the first millennium it is a sobering

experience. Much of the territory associated with its early expansion has been
lost. In the east there is renaissance in Byzantium and expansion into Russia
but hemmed in by Islam. In the west there is blight. Yet beneath the surface
there were structures in place that within a short time would give birth to what
has been described as, the most elaborate and thoroughly integrated system
of religious thought and practice the world has ever known. The church no
longer saw itself as a community of those who had freely chosen to be
disciple of Jesus, but as a whole human society subject to the will of God; an
ark of salvation in a sea of destruction. A compulsory society where
baptismal promises, made by others on a childs behalf at birth, were a legally
binding contract upon them for the rest of their life and could never be broken.
The church was the state and only fully orthodox believers were full citizens;
outsiders like Jews could survive if they could, all others forfeited the right to
live. All this was the consequence of the gradual but persistent belief that the
kingdom of God upon earth must be an equivalent to a Christianised Roman
empire. As Hobbes put it so well: -

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 The papacy became the ghost of the Roman empire sitting crowned
upon its own grave

Questions

1. To what extent do you think the reign of Constantine involved the church in
a betrayal of its mission?

2. What is your assessment of monasticism and the contribution it has made

to story of the church in this era?

3. In what way can we say that ground was taken and ground was given in
whole period we have been studying?

Open Reflection

Much of this period of history has traditionally been called the Dark Ages on
account of the gradual collapse of the Roman empire in the west. While the
church was caught up in these events, did any things happen that strike you
as being examples of light in the darkness (however small), and why? Can
we learn anything from this period to help the church in facing turbulent times
at other periods of her history?

Reading & Resources

D Attwater St John Chrysostom pub Harvill 1939

Bede A History of the English Church and People pub Penguin 1955
I Bradley The Celtic Way pub Darton Longman & Todd 1993
FF Bruce The Spreading Flame pub Paternoster 1958
P Brown Augustine of Hippo pub Faber & Faber 1967
P Brown The World of Late Antiquity pub Thames & Hudson 1971
J Chryssavgis In the Heart of the Desert: The Spirituality of the Desert
Fathers and Mothers pub World Wisdom Books 2003
H Chadwick The Early Church pub Pelican 1967
J Comby How to Read Church History [Vol 1] pub SCM 1985
C Dawson The Making of Europe pub Shreed & Ward 1953
T Dowley [Ed] Lion Handbook: The History of Christianity pub Lion 1977
J Finney Recovering the Past : Celtic and Roman Mission
pub Darton Longman & Todd 1996
WHC Frend The Rise of Christianity pub Darton Longman & Todd 1984
JND Kelly Early Christian Creeds pub Longman 1972
JND Kelly Early Christian Doctrines pub A&C Black 1977
T Lane Lion Concise Book: Christian Thought pub Lion 1986
KS Latourette A History of Christianity pub Harper 1953
KS Latourette The First Five Centuries [History of the Expansion of
Christianity Vol.1] pub Zondervan 1970
KS Latourette The Thousand Years of Uncertainty [History of the
Expansion of Christianity Vol.2] pub Zondervan 1938
S Neill A History of Christian Missions pub Pelican 1964

Workshop notes are copyright to Anvil Trust and may not be reproduced without permission 01.01.08.27
R Payne The Holy Fire [Eastern Fathers] pub St Vladimirs Seminary 1980
GL Prestige Fathers and Heretics pub SCM 1977
A Richardson Creeds in the Making pub SCM 1935
M Rodinson Mohammed pub Pelican 1971
MA Smith The Church Under Siege pub IVP 1976
J Stevenson A New Eusebius pub SPCK 1957
J Stevenson Creeds, Councils and Controversies pub SPCK 1966
AA Vasiliev A History of the Byzantine Empire pub Blackwell 1952
H Waddell The Desert Fathers pub London 1936
Internet http://www.christianity.net/christianhistory

Workshop notes are copyright to Anvil Trust and may not be reproduced without permission 01.01.08.28