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From Augustine to Charlemagne. Turmoil and Survival. Background (Political). Late in the third century, Diocletian divided the Roman Empire into two main divisions: East and West. The line of division ran north-south just to the east of the Italian peninsula.
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From Augustine to Charlemagne Turmoil and Survival
Background (Political) Late in the third century, Diocletian divided the Roman Empire into two main divisions: East and West. The line of division ran north-south just to the east of the Italian peninsula. The split became permanent with the East becoming Greek speaking while Latin was the language of the West.
East-West In the East, the church went its own way where it came to be known as the “orthodox” church. The western church was ruled from Rome. Rome never accepted the split, but always claimed the supremacy over both parts (in vain). Rome called itself the head of the entire Christian world (katholou [Gr.]). So it called itself the Catholic Church, supreme over all Christendom.
Constantine (emperor 306-337) Ruled the entire Roman world from the new capital of Constantinople. Wanted Christianity to be the state religion of the Empire, but only on condition that it could settle its doctrinal disputes. Summoned bishops from all parts of the Empire to a meeting at Nicaea where the thorny question of Christ’s true nature was settled.
Where was the nerve-centre…? Constantine had seemingly made his eastern capital the cultural and administrative centre of Christianity. But the Romans demurred.
The Apostolic succession… The bishops of the church claimed authority by virtue of a succession of ordination going back directly to Christ and his disciples/apostles. But Rome claimed that Peter was named by Christ as the head of the twelve apostles and Peter, they said, was buried under the church in Rome.
Background: Christians oppose Paganism 305 Arnobius writes a work entitled “Against the Heathen.” Its purpose is to show the superiority of Christian belief. 335 Athanasius produces a more sophisticated work with the same title. In general Christians did not attack Jewish beliefs, but they did blame them for having Jesus put to death.
Time line 1 • 410 Visigoths sack Rome. • 413-427 Augustine writes City of God. • 439 western empire overrun by barbarians. • 529 Justinian closes Plato’s Academy. Benedict of Nursia founds monastery in Monte Cassino.
Time line 2 • 590-604 Papacy of Gregory the Great. • 622 beginning of Islam. • Through this time (from the fifth century) until 1054 the eastern and western churches grew apart. In 1054, the separation (schism) became formal. • Already, the western scholars had lost contact with Greek.
Pope (Saint) Gregory the Great • Born c. 540 C.E. in Rome. • C.552 Justinian, the Roman Emperor based in Constantinople, retook Italy from the Goths. • The Goths largely destroyed Rome in 547 before being driven out by the forces from the east.
More Gregory… • After his father’s death, Gregory converted the family home into a monastery. • Located beside the ruins of the old Roman Forum it was close to the heart of the city. • This was the beginning of the monastic phase of his life (c. 574-590).
Yet more… • In 579, Gregory was appointed ambassador to the court of the emperor in Constantinople. • He hated courtly life and spent as much time as he could in monkish study and contemplation. • He never took the opportunity to learn Greek.
Pope Gregory 590-604 • Set out rules for Bishops to follow. • Made changes to Church liturgy, which took hold in the west but not necessarily in the east. • Actively centralized Church wealth and influence. • In a dispute with the eastern Church, he pressed his claim to full authority as head of the Catholic Church.
1. Rules for Bishops • # only one skilled already as a physician of the soul is fitted to undertake the "supreme rule" of the episcopate (Bishop). • # he describes how the bishop's life should be ordered from a spiritual point of view; • # how a bishop ought to teach and admonish those under him, • #how, in spite of his good works, he ought to bear in mind his own weakness, since the better his work the greater the danger of falling through self-confidence (Catholic Encyclopedia).
2. Liturgy • His changes had to do with the order of the mass and what was sung and said at which times. • From about this time, the liturgies of the eastern (orthodox) Church and the western (catholic) Church diverged.
3. Church Wealth • Church lands are estimated at 1300-1800 square miles. • The Catholic Encyclopedia estimates revenue from these lands at $1,500,000 a year. • Gregory seems to have micromanaged this vast estate.
4. External Relations • Gregory claimed that the Pope at Rome was the head of all Christendom, including the Church centered at Constantinople, in the east. The eastern Church remained aloof. • Gregory accepted the separation of Church and state, but assumed the right to interfere with rulers on moral grounds and demanded that they protect the Church.
Tarnas ( 151, on the Augustinian Legacy): “Since The Church and its sacred institutes were Divinely established vehicles of God’s grace, The Church was suprahumanly significant, its Hierarchy absolutely authoritative, its laws Definitive. Because human beings were intrin- Sically prone to sin and lived in a world of Constant temptation, they required stern Church-defined sanctions against uninhibited Actions and thoughts, lest their eternal souls Fall to the same fate as their temporal bodies. Especially in the west, under the historical Exigencies of the church’s responsibilities for the Newly converted (and from the Church’s…
…perspective), morally primitive) barbarian Peoples, a pervasive verticality in the in- Stitutional church was established, with All spiritual authority flowing downward From the supreme papal sovereign.” Sources: Tarnas, Passion of the Western Mind. The Catholic Encyclopedia (on line).
