Ekklesia: Christian Communities
300-1000
Overview
• Background
• How did Christianity unify Western European
culture?
– Through the establishment of Christian communities
– A long term process
• What was the role of monasticism in this process?
– Islands of intense commitment to Christianity
– Authors of hagiography: Christian heroes
– Preservers of classical and Christian texts
Background
• With the collapse of the political authority of the
Roman Empire, political power fragmented into
local centers, such as
– chieftains or feudal lords
– priests and bishops
• During the early Middle Ages (500-1000 CE)
missionaries, kings, queens, and monasteries
established Christianity as the dominant religion
of Europe
How did Christianity unify Europe?
• Identification of a common
–
–
–
–
–
belief in the nature of God and attainment of the afterlife
Heroes: martyrs and saints
enemies: non Christians or heretical Christians
ruler/leader: bishops; Christian kings and princes
history/mythology: the Bible provided a view of the
distant past
• God intervenes on behalf of his people
– way of life - ethics, sexual mores, social relations
– set of rituals - group activities that often reinforce or
explain social relations
Christian Heroes:
Age of Martyrs, 100-312
• Key features of Christianity during this formative
period:
–
–
–
–
–
cult
underground
believers often endured torture
unwilling to accept the Emperor as God
the heroism of martyrs provides basis for Christian
solidarity
Beowulf
What was the religious relationship between
the poem’s main characters and its audience
around 800-1000?
A. Both the characters and the audience were pagans
B. Both the characters and the audience were
Christians
C. While the audience was mostly pagan, the
characters were quasi-Christian
D. While the audience embraced Christianity, the
characters were depicted as likeable but flawed
pagans.
Which of the following was true about
Beowulf the king?
A. He prepared his son to assume a position
of leadership
B. He ruled for 50 years
C. His kingdom had nothing to fear from its
enemies upon his death
D. He deliberately engaged in a program of
building loyalty and teamwork among his
thegns
Why was Beowulf a failure as a
king? What caused his failings?
How well did Beowulf listen to
Hrothgar’s advice?
Based on the story, how could
Christianity strengthen kingship?
Layout of an Irish Monastery
The
Proliferation of
Irish/Celtic
Monasticism
500-800 CE
Christian
Evangelism
among the
English
550-700 CE
Pope Gregory
the Great
c. 600
author of the life
of St. Benedict
Augustine of
Canterbury
c. 600
St. Benedict
writing his rule
c. 530 CE
Roman
Tonsure
Synod of Whitby - 664
The Origins of Christianity were in the eastern
Mediterranean
Christianity
was a book
religion
Codex
Amiatinus
c. 700
Monastic scribes
Lindisfarne
Gospels
c. 700
Cross page from the Lindisfarne
Gospels, British Museum
Book of Kells
c. 800
Artistic
Revival
How did Germanic people react
to the introduction of writing?
How did Christianity promote
centripetal or unifying tendencies?
Features of Early Medieval
Christianity
• Ascetic: It discouraged materialism
• Literate among the elite: Book Religion
• Evangelical: Duty to Spread the faith
• Hierarchical: more structure, less chaos
-------------------------------------------------• Heroes & Legends: Lives of Saints
• Rituals: Collective Identity
Discuss Early Medieval Christianity
• How did it influence Germanic culture?
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Kingship
Kinship
Intellectual activity
----------------------------Fused with existing rituals
Hero worship
Government
Rituals
&
Processions
Strengthened
Collective
Identity
Benedictine
Monasticism
included
communal
prayer
The beating of the bounds was a medieval ritual
that survived the Protestant Reformation
St. John’s Eve
Bonfire
Hagiography promoted shared vales
Faith = Loyalty to God
Archbishop Turpin in Song of Roland
Hope =
Bravery
St. Boniface
converts the
continental
Saxons c. 720
Charity=Hospitality
St. Martin of Tours
316-397 CE
The Anglo-Saxons
c. 450-1066
Christian
Monasticism Started
in the Egyptian
desert
c. 300
It tended to be
hermetic
St. Simeon Stylites
c.430
St. Boniface c. 680-754
• Born in Devonshire and joined Benedictine
monastery in Exeter
• Migrated to Germany where he engaged in
conversion of the pagan Saxons
• Martyred in modern Holland
Hagiography – General Overview
• Literally means writings about holy things but generally
applies to written accounts of saints lives
• Not written for purpose of historical accuracy but rather
to perpetuate their memory among the faithful
– Edification and emulation not information
– To reflect Christ like qualities
– All saints are one: the communion of saints
• Originated with the veneration of martyrs
–
–
–
–
Christian heroism
Annual commemoration on the martyr's birthday
Relics worshipped for spiritual powers
Prayers to martyrs
The Definition of Orthodoxy 312-451
(standardization of beliefs)
• Standardization of canonical texts
• Councils
– Nicaea (325)
– Chalcedon (451)
• Church Fathers
– Augustine, Jerome, Gregory
• Controversies
– Hierarchical purity (Donatism)
– Trinitarian (Arians)
– Christological (Monophysites)
The Common Enemy: Heretics
• Before 500, the institutional Church persecuted
–
–
–
–
–
Donatists
Arians
Monophysites
Heresy of the three languages
Pagans
• After 1000
–
–
–
–
–
Muslims & Jews
Cathars/Albigensians
Lollards
Hussites
Protestantants
A Common Enemy: Donatism
• Donatus
– associated with anti-corruption
– the persecution of 303
– organizes rival hierarchy in N. Africa
• Donatism (c. 300 - c. 700)
– sacraments performed by corrupt priests are null
and void
– refuted by St. Augustine c. 400
– remains influential until Muslim conquest
– reinforced by cultural differences
A Common Enemy: Arians
• Arius (250-336)
– denied divinity of Christ
– excommunicated in 321
• Arianism (c. 300-c.550)
– sympathizers in Syria, Palestine, barbarian
Europe
– viewed as a pagan heresy
– most influential c. 350
– independence from imperial domination
– attacked by Emperor Theodosius c.380
A Common Enemy: Monophysites
(430-650)
• One nature of Christ: divine was the common
assumption
• Cultural fissures played a huge role in the spread
of this schism
– Aramaic language - Syrian monophysites
– Egyptian language - Coptic monophysites
– monophysitism was particularly strong in rural society
• Underlying issue
– Competition for power between Byzantine patriarch
and patriarchs of Syria and Alexandria
– Control of orthodoxy
Authority and the Church
• Where does authority reside? Several views:
– ceasaropapism - unified temporal and spiritual authority;
in other words, the emperor exercises religious authority
– papal authority - plenitudino potestas: unlimited authority
of a single spiritual leader who is superior to the temporal
authority
– Church Councils - gathers of bishops and clerical princes
– Saints - Holy men who exercised authority beyond their
institutional position e.g. St. Bernard
– Bishops - exercised spiritual and temporal authority at the
local level, where it really mattered
Christian History/Mythology
• Shared beliefs about the past unified Christians
• Life of Christ and The New Testament
– the Gospels were the word of God; indisputable
– early compilers: Irenaeus c. 180 CE
– the Christian canon of gospels is essentially finalized
by 360 CE
• Hagiography
– lives of martyrs were the first instances of hagiography
– lives of other saints, such as Anthony, Patrick, and
Benedict, proliferate in early Middle Ages
– miracles
– hagiography begins c. 360 and continues into late
Middles Ages
Western Monasticism
• Communities of devout Christians who exercized
enormous influence over European civilization
– Early Period: 400-800
• Proliferation of orders
– Standardization: 819-1100
• Benedictines continually grappled with reform
– New Orders Emerge after 1100
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cistercians
Franciscans
Dominicans
Carmelites
Carthusians
Augustinians
The Benedictines
•
•
•
•
Established by St. Benedict (c.480- c.547)
Tonsure - the monastic haircut
Clothing - unity through a similar appearance
Code of Conduct
– poverty, chastity, & obedience were vows all monks took
– stability & consensus were guiding principles of
organization
• Rituals/Liturgical hours - opus Dei
– matins
– vespers
– 5 others
Benedictines 800-1100
• Increasing wealth
• Periodic Reforms
– 816-819: Benedict of Aniane
– Cluny
– Citeaux
• Literary contributions
–
–
–
–
Monastic schools
scriptoria
hagiography
history
Rituals for the Laity and Clergy
• Christian Rituals: Sacraments
– baptism
– eucharist
– penance
– ordination
– extreme unction
– confirmation
• By sharing in these rituals, Christians developed a
common identity
Summary
• Christianity provided a powerful force for community
building during the Early Middle Ages
– on the macro level it united Europeans across social
and political boundaries
– on the micro level, it provided the basis for the
establishment of Christian devotional communities:
monasteries
• As missionaries, such as Patrick, spread Christian
beliefs, it sometimes challenged and other times
reinforced existing social identities across Europe
Summary
• The establishment of monastic communities
across western Europe between 600 and 800 CE
created an institutional framework for the
consolidation of Christian beliefs and culture
across areas that had previously been both inside
and outside of the Roman Empire
• In many ways Christianity promoted the fusion of
barbarian and Greco-Roman cultures while adding
its own distinct cultural elements