The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, A.D. 200-1000

The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, A.D. 200–1000......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 9
List of Illustrations......Page 11
Preface to the Tenth Anniversary Revised Edition......Page 13
Preface to the Second Edition......Page 50
Introduction......Page 51
Western Europe in a Wider World......Page 52
The Making of Europe: “A History of European Unity”?......Page 54
Barbarians and Missionaries......Page 56
A Mediterranean Unity? The “Pirenne Thesis”......Page 59
After Empire: A World without a Center......Page 62
“Micro-Christendoms”: Center and Periphery in Christian Europe......Page 63
Early Medieval Christianity: A “Barbarized” Religion?......Page 67
“Background Noise”: Dark Age Christian Culture......Page 70
“Directly Ancestral”: The End of Ancient Christianity......Page 73
An Applied Christianity......Page 75
“Portions of Paradise”: Art, the Sacred, and Gift-Giving in Early Medieval Europe......Page 79
Part I Empire and Aftermath: A.D. 200–500......Page 85
One World, Two Empires......Page 87
Who are the Barbarians? Nomads and Farmers......Page 93
A Middle Ground: The Rise of the Frontier......Page 98
The New Empire: Crisis and Reform in the Roman Empire in the Third Century......Page 104
Religiones: The Ancient Religion......Page 108
New Religion in a New Empire: Christianity before Constantine......Page 110
“All malice will be wiped out”: Salvation, Martyrdom, and Penance in the Christian Church......Page 115
The Church and Society: Almsgiving......Page 119
From religiones to Religion......Page 120
“The religion of the Greeks … has vanished from the earth”: The End of Paganism, Official Version......Page 122
The Conquest of the Cities......Page 127
The Call of the Wild: Monasticism......Page 131
The Power of the Saeculum : The New Aristocracy and its Values......Page 134
A Generation of Converts......Page 136
Grace, Free Will, and the Church: The Pelagian Controversy......Page 138
The “Glorious City”: Augustine’s City of God......Page 141
A World without Empire......Page 143
Guests of the State: The Barbarian Settlements......Page 151
Defending the Cities: Bishops and Patron Saints......Page 156
Bishops as Aristocrats......Page 160
Bishops as Monks......Page 161
A View from Rome: Leo the Great and Church Order......Page 163
“New Rome”: The View from Constantinople......Page 165
Emmanuel: “God with Us”: Christological Controversy in the Eastern Empire......Page 166
A Saint of the Open Frontier: Severinus of Noricum......Page 173
An Age of Tyrants: The End of Roman Britain......Page 176
“From the ends of the earth”: Patricius in Ireland......Page 180
Northern Gaul: Clovis (481–511) and the Rise of the Franks......Page 183
Kingdoms without Rome: North Africa and Axum......Page 188
“This latter-day Israel”: A New History for New Kingdoms......Page 189
Part II Divergent Legacies: A.D. 500–600......Page 193
The Battle for the Mundus: The Natural World between Paganism and Christianity......Page 195
Triumph or Bad Habits: Narratives of Christianization in East and West......Page 198
“The unceasing voice”: Caesarius, Bishop of Arles (502–542)......Page 201
Reverentia: the Gaul of Gregory, Bishop of Tours (573–594)......Page 204
Gregory’s World: Reverentia, Justice, and Peace......Page 209
“A Touch of Paradise”: Gregory and the Spiritual Landscape of Gaul......Page 211
“To maintain good order”: Bishops and their City in the Eastern Empire......Page 216
“The Church of Satan”: Secular Traditions in the City......Page 220
“Sustained by their prayers”: Asceticism and Society in the Eastern Empire......Page 222
“The fortunate race of the Romans”: Justinian (527–565) and his Empire......Page 226
The Plague of 543 and its Consequences......Page 230
The Quest for Unity......Page 233
New Solidarities: From Imperial Church to Dissident Communities......Page 235
“The Holy Commonwealth”: Italy and the East Roman Empire......Page 240
Roma invicta, “Unconquered Rome”: The Senatorial Aristocracy of Italy......Page 244
Antiquarius Domini: “Book-producer of the Lord” – Cassiodorus and the Vivarium......Page 246
The Young Gregory: From the Clivus Scauri to Constantinople......Page 248
“Thundering forth … hidden meanings”: Gregory’s Moralia in Job......Page 252
“The giants groan beneath the waters”: Pope Gregory (590–604)......Page 255
“The art to end all arts”: The Regula Pastoralis......Page 257
Part III The End of Ancient Christianity: A.D. 600–750......Page 267
The End of Ancient Christianity......Page 269
Monasticism in Mediterranean Western Europe......Page 271
“A school of the Lord’s service”: The Rule of Benedict (ca.480–ca.547)......Page 274
“The cool refuge of chastity”: The Convent of Caesaria at Arles (508)......Page 276
“To pray for the peace of the kingdom”: Radegund of Poitiers (520–587)......Page 278
The “Rustic Roman Tongue”......Page 282
The Decline of the Schools......Page 283
“Worldly wisdom”: The Classics and the Christian Church......Page 284
“Subtlety of words”: Secular Culture in the “Barbarian” West......Page 287
The Making of a Sapiens: Sixth-century Ireland and West Britain......Page 289
“Medicine for sin”: The World of the Penitentials......Page 291
Prelude to Exile: Columbanus at Bangor (570–590)......Page 296
“Coming from the world’s end”: Columbanus in Europe......Page 298
Disciplina disciplinarum: The Training of All Trainings: Columbanus’ Monasticism......Page 299
Medicamenta paenitentiae : The Medicines of Penance......Page 301
Frankish Society and the New Monasticism......Page 302
Districtio: “a strict accounting”: Sin and Penance in the Western Church......Page 305
Journeys of the Soul......Page 308
The Rise of the Other World......Page 310
The Christianization of Death......Page 312
“All the Inhabitants of Europe”......Page 315
“A kingdom which shall never be destroyed”: East Rome in Asia......Page 317
“Two powerful kingdoms who roared like lions”: East Rome and Persia: 540–630......Page 322
At the Crossroads of Asia......Page 324
“The patrimonial faith”: Armenia between Persia and Rome......Page 326
“The Church of the East”: Persian Christians and the School of Nisibis......Page 329
From Mesopotamia to China: The “Church of the East” in Asia......Page 333
“Trapped on a rock between two lions”: The Arabs between Two Empires......Page 335
“My servants, the righteous, shall inherit the earth”: Muhammad and the Preaching of Islam......Page 339
“The fourth kingdom … greater than all other kingdoms”: Responses to the Arab Conquests......Page 345
“Justice flourished in his time and there was great peace”: The Ummayad Empire, 661–750......Page 348
An Empire Gains its Public Face: Language, Coinage, and Mosques......Page 351
Cities, Segregation, and Control: Muslims and their Subjects......Page 354
Christian Attitudes to Islam......Page 357
The New Hellenism: History and Learning in the Syrian World......Page 360
“Walking the roads to China”: The Church of the East under Islam......Page 363
Taxes and Language: The Beginning of Islamization and the Triumph of Arabic......Page 364
Islam, East Rome, and the West......Page 367
The New North......Page 371
A New Religion for the Elite: Sixth-Century Ireland......Page 375
“In the terrible clashing of battles”: Saint Columba (521–597) and the Hegemony of Iona......Page 377
Competition and the Lives of the Saints......Page 380
“The sewing together of church and people”: Christian Communities in Ireland......Page 382
“The blessed white language”: Christian Literacy and Pre-Christian Tradition in Ireland......Page 385
“A barbarous, fierce and unbelieving nation”: Saxons and the Christianity of Britain......Page 390
Christianity and Overlordship: Ethelbert of Kent (580–616)......Page 392
Screening and Acceptance: From Ethelbert of Kent to Edwin of Northumbria (616–633)......Page 397
A History for the English: Bede (672–735)......Page 399
“A boundless store of books”: Benedict Biscop (628–690) and the Library of Wearmouth......Page 405
“First of the English race to introduce the Catholic way of life”: Wilfrid of York (634–706)......Page 408
“To restore the monumental fabric of the Ancients”: Encyclopedias and Autonomy in Seventh-Century Europe: Visigothic Spain 589–711......Page 414
“The philosopher … the archbishop of far-away Britain”: Theodore of Tarsus at Canterbury (668–690)......Page 418
“The work of angels”: Lindisfarne, the Book of Kells, and Northern Art......Page 421
“Now must we praise Heaven-Kingdom’s Keeper”: Caedmon, The Dream of the Rood, and Anglo-Saxon Religious Poetry......Page 423
Part IV New Christendoms: A.D. 750–1000......Page 431
An Empire under Siege: From an East Roman to a “Byzantine” State......Page 433
“If only I see his likeness, I shall be saved”: Images and East Roman piety, 550–700......Page 437
“Inanimate and speechless images … which bring no benefit”: Images and Their Critics, 600–700......Page 439
To Purge the Temple: The First Iconoclasm, 730–787......Page 441
“Why is it that the Christians all experience defeat?” The Balkan Crisis and the Second Iconoclasm, 787–842......Page 443
“Led by visible images”: John of Damascus and the Theology of Images......Page 445
“As she has appeared in visions”: The “Triumph of Orthodoxy” (843) and the Training of the Christian Visual Imagination......Page 450
Byzantium and the West: Charlemagne and the Council of Frankfurt (794)......Page 455
A New Political Order......Page 458
Center and Periphery in Christian Europe......Page 461
What is the Frontier? From Roman Limes to Mission Territories......Page 464
“So much barbaric lack of order”: Boniface in Germany......Page 468
 Paedagogus populi, Educator of the People: The Legacy of Boniface......Page 475
“To preach with a tongue of iron”: Charlemagne and the Conquest of Saxony......Page 478
Monarchy Making: Aachen and the Court......Page 484
 Let us return to the Lord (Isaiah 55:7): Carolingian Correctio......Page 487
“And he read in their ears all the words of the book” (2 Chronicles 34:30): Imposing the Christian Law......Page 490
Admonitio generalis: “A General Warning” and the Problem of Communication......Page 496
Toward Medieval Christianity: Tithes and Godparents at Liège......Page 502
“Persons of low intelligence”: Agobard of Lyons and the Thundermakers......Page 505
Res sacratae, “Consecrated Things”: Sacred and Profane in the Carolingian Empire: Theodulph of Orléans......Page 506
The World of the Northmen......Page 514
The Viking Raids in Western Europe......Page 518
“Let us enquire whether Christ will be on our side”: Christianity in Denmark and Sweden......Page 520
“Let us all have one law and one faith”: The Conversion of Iceland, A.D. 1000......Page 522
The Past in the Present: Pre-Christian Gods and a Christian Social Order......Page 524
“In days of yore”: Epic and Social Status: The World of Beowulf......Page 527
A Past for Germany......Page 529
Keeping the Past in the Past......Page 531
“The paths where outcasts go”: Monsters, Marginals, and the Triumph of Christianity......Page 533
Notes......Page 540
Coordinated Chronological Tables......Page 623
Primary Sources......Page 628
Secondary Sources......Page 639
Index......Page 682
Supplemental Images......Page 712