Civ IA- PowerPoint text for Lectures 15 and 16
Lecture 15- The Early Church
I)
Early Christianity
II)
Christianity and Empire
III)
Structure
IDs:
Synoptic Gospels
Saul of Tarsus
Ecclesiae
Social mission
Martyrs
Diocletian
Tetrarchy
Great Persecution
Constantine
Milvian Bridge
Bishops
Patriachates
Arianism
Council of Nicaea
Gnosticism
Donatists
St. Augustine
grace
Early Christianity:
“The Historical Jesus”
No direct texts- Greek-language records, 50-150 AD
Sources: Large numbers- about 50 gospels, 21 epistles
Gospels:
Synoptic books:
Matthew,
Mark,
Luke
Book of John
Acts and Epistles
Revelations
Post-Crucifixion Christianity (after 30 AD)
Resurrection
Peter
Jewish context
New elements
Baptism
Eucharist
Saul (Paul) of Tarsus
(c.10-c.63 AD)
Observant Jew
Also a Roman citizen
Universal mission
Debate within early Church
(Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 15)
Spread of Christianity before 200 AD
Ecclesiae
Trading cities
<10,000 by 100 AD
200,000 by 200 AD
But only .3% of total imperial population
(60 million)
Social Mission of Christianity
II) Christianity and Empire
Roman Persecutions of Christians
Reaction to early problems
- ex. Nero
Monotheism as unpatriotic
“Atheism,” etc.
Sporadic
Intensifies during the 3rd-Century Crisis
Saint Perpetua’s martyrdom
(203 AD)
Now dawned the day of their victory, and they went forth from the prison into the amphitheatre as it
were into heaven, cheerful and bright of countenance; if they trembled at all, it was for joy, not for fear.
Perpetua followed behind, glorious of presence, as a true spouse of Christ and darling of God; at whose
piercing look all cast down their eyes. . . . For she said: For this cause came we willingly unto this, that
our liberty might not be obscured. For this cause have we devoted our lives, that we might do no such
thing as this; this we agreed with you. . . . Perpetua began to sing, as already treading on the Egyptian's
head. Revocatus and Saturninus and Saturus threatened the people as they gazed. Then when they
came into [Governor] Hilarian's sight, they began to say to Hilarian, stretching forth their hands and
nodding their heads: You judge us, they said, and God you. . . . Then truly they gave thanks because they
had received somewhat of the sufferings of the Lord.
Christianity and Suffering
Two Major policies of Diocletian (r. 284-305)
Overextended empire
1) Tetrarchy:
East and West sections
Augustus- senior
Caesar- junior
Dominus
2) “Great Persecution”
Constantine (r. 306-337)
Successor to Diocletian
Internal fighting
Battle of Milvian Bridge
Vision
Constantine’s conversion (?)
Expansion of Christianity after 300 AD
Rapid growth
100 AD- 10K
200 AD- 200K
300 AD- 4m
400 AD- 30m
Structurebishops:
dioceses
doctrine
- orthodoxy
East: Arianism
Church and Empire
Imperial orders vs. paganism, 340-360 AD
-
Ban on pagan sacrifice
-
Closing of temples
-
Removing Altar of Victory
Continuing conflicts:
Emperor Theodosius and St. Ambrose (390 AD)
III) The Early Church
Church Structure and Doctrine
Conspiracy?
Gnostic Gospels
Church Councils
Expansion of Christianity after 300 AD
Rapid growth
-4m in 300
-30m by 400
Chiliasts
Structurebishops
dioceses
Major Patriarchates
Jerusalem
Antioch
Alexandria
Constantinople
Rome (Petrine Succession)
Expansion of Christianity after 300 AD
Growth and faith
Consistency?
Doctrine- orthodoxy
East and West
Doctrine and debates- the East
Eastern questions- Christology
Arianism
Arius (c.250-336 A.D.)
Neoplatonism
Emanations
Spirit and Matter
Matter as residue (Inferior)
The Debate over Arianism
Arianism vs. Trinitarianism
Nicene Creed, 325
•
Lecture 16: Monks, Barbarians and Byzantines
I)
Early Church (con’d)
II)
Barbarians !
III)
Eastern Empire
IDs:
Council of Nicaea
Gnostics
Augustine
Donatists/Pelagians
Grace
The City of God
St. Antony
St. Jerome
St. Benedict
The “Dark Ages”
Huns
Visigoths
Romanization
Feudalism
Byzantine Empire
cities and trade
Justinian
•
Arianism vs. Trinitarianism
•
Nicene Creed, 325
•
Arianism vs. Trinitarianism
•
Other debates on doctrine
Eastern:
Gnostics
Western:
Salvation
(Community vs individual)
Donatists
- vs. “collaborators”
Pelagians- purity
•
St. Augustine (354-430)
Born in North Africa
Early life
Gifted convert
Monk
Debate vs. Donatists and Pelagians
•
Augustine’s Confessions
•
St. Augustine and Rome
Attacks on Rome- c. 410)
City of God
Two cities:
City of Man (Material World)
City of God (Spiritual World)
•
Christian Monasticism: East and West
Monk: Greek for “single, solitary”
Reaction against materialism- asceticism
4th century (after Constantine)
•
Spread of Monasticism
•
Eastern Monasticism
•
Western Monasticism
Less involved with visiting pilgrims
More self-sufficient communities
Influenced by St. Benedict of Nursia
(c. 480-547 AD)
- followed “The Latin Rule”: “brevity, flexibility, and moderation”
•
Spread of Monasticism
•
II) Barbarians!
•
General Historiographical Debate:
The Western Empire (5th-6th Century AD)
The “Fall” of Rome?
Edward Gibbon (18th Century)
Barbarians and the end of western civilization
Beginning of “the Dark Ages”
Transition
Conversion of barbarians
Not all was lost
•
Western Empire:
Pre-Invasion Problems
Diocletian’s split- 284 AD
Eastern domination
Frontiers
Networks
•
II) Conquest
•
West Germanic Revolution
Continued organization:
Germans
Goths
•
The Huns
Arrive in Europe c. 370 AD
Feared horsemen
Broke the Gothic confederation
Defeat the Ostrogoths (eastern Goths)
Drove out Visigoths (western Goths)
•
The Visigoths (“Western Goths”)
Refugees in Eastern Empire
Mistreatment
Adrianople- 378
Theodosius and concessions
Westward movement
Rome in 410
•
The Sack of Rome
•
The Visigoths (“Western Goths”)
Continued westward movement
Move to Spain
Settle down
•
The Huns and Rome
Huns –440s AD
Diverted at Troyes
Rome in 451
Break through Roman defenses
•
Attila and Leo I
•
The Vandals
Began in 406 AD
Cut through Gaul and Spain
North Africa by 430
Sack Rome in 455 AD
•
Barbarian retirement?
Ataulf, Leader of the Visigoths:
“At the start I wanted to erase the Romans’ name and turn their land into a Goth empire, as Augustus
had done. But I learned that the Goths free-wheeling wildness will never accept the rule of law, and
that the state with no law is no state. Thus I have more wisely chosen another path to glory: reviving
the Roman name with Gothic vigor. I pray that future generations will remember me as the founder of a
Roman restoration.”
•
“Romanization” of the Barbarians
Non-Arian Christianity
(C. of Nicaea)
Roman Law
Romance Languages
Government
Remaining Romans: lords and knights
•
Clovis the Merovingian
(r. 485-511)
German leader of the Franks
Convert and Patron of Christianity
Later re-named “Louis”
•
The Origins of Feudalism:
5th to 7th Centuries
Breakdown of imperial networks
Cities destroyed by the Vandals
Regional governors
retreat to manors
Local warriors
(“knights”) hired for
Protection
Little help from. Rome
or Constantinople
•
III) The Byzantines
•
Byzantine Empire
Eastern dominance
- after 400 AD
Cities and trade
•
Byzantine Cities
•
Byzantine Empire
Cities and trade
- tax money
- mercenaries
- bribes
“Heirs” of Rome
Justinian and Theodora (ruled 527-565 AD)
•
Emperor Justinian (ruled 527-565) and Empress Theodora
Theodora’s origins and influence
- determination
- pragmatism
- Monophysites
Reunification of the Roman Empire
•
Justinian’s 3-Part Goal for Byzantine Empire
“United by
God
Empire, and
Laws”