Download Christianity in Late Antiquity/Early Middle Ages

Christianity in Late
Antiquity/Early Middle Ages
Western Civilization
Ms. Tully
The Middle Ages

Western history
divided up into
roughly 3 eras:
◦ 1. Ancient/classical era
(aka. Antiquity)
◦ 2. The Middle Ages
◦ 3. Modern era
The Middle Ages

Middle Ages: 5th – 15th
century
◦ Early Middle Ages: 5th cent.
(fall of Rome)  1000 CE
◦ High Middle Ages: 1000 –
1300 CE
◦ Late Middle Ages: 1300 –
1500 CE
Church/State Relations

after fall of Western Roman Empire, 2
sources of continuity:
◦ Eastern RE/Byzantine Empire
◦ Christian church

worked closely together in 4th-5th
centuries
Church/State Relations

312 CE: Constantine makes
Christianity legal, encouraged
◦ no Roman taxes for clergy
◦ made Sunday a public holiday, day
of rest
◦ built Christian churches, Lateran
Palace (Pope’s home until 14th
cent.)
Lateran Palace
Lateran Palace
Church/State Relations

380 CE: emperor Theodosius
makes Christianity official religion
of empire
◦ practicing old Roman religion =
treason!
◦ allowed church to make own courts
for clergy/religious issues (canon law)

***church becoming
independent, powerful political
entity***
Church/State Relations Get Nasty

political tension
between church and
state
◦ Theodosius orders
Bishop Ambrose of Milan
to hand over cathedral
to empire
Bishop Ambrose’s Response
 At
length came the command, “Deliver up the basilica”; I reply,
“It is not lawful for us to deliver it up, nor for your Majesty to
receive it. By no law can you violate the house of a private
man, and do you think that the house of God may be taken
away? … But do not burden your conscience with the thought
that you have any right as Emperor over sacred things … It is
written, God’s to God and Caesar’s to Caesar. The palace is the
Emperor’s, the churches are the Bishop’s. To you is committed
jurisdiction over public, not over sacred buildings.
Bishop Ambrose, cont.

Statement served as cornerstone of
Christian theory of civil-ecclesiastical
relations for centuries
◦ Church independent of state jurisdiction
◦ Bishops judge of emperors
◦ Church ultimately the superior power

Orthodox church (Byzantine) less
independent of secular control than
Western church
Church/State Relations
empire
becoming a
Christian society
church ultimately more
powerful entity, because
everyone (even the
emperor) answers to
God
Organization of Church


Church filled power vacuum after fall of
Rome
Diocletian (284-305) divided empire into
“dioceses” for administrative purposes
◦ Bishops est. headquarters in dioceses
◦ Central of authority = cathedral (Latin cathedra)


Bishop of Rome = Pope (Latin papa)
Church leaders capitalized on Roman imperial
method of organization and adapted it to
ecclesiastical purposes
Monasticism
Rejected immorality of society – first real
nonconformists
 Began in Egypt in 3rd century

◦ Individuals and small groups withdrew from
city

Eremitical life – hermitism
◦ Hidden life

Coenobitic monasticism
◦ Communal living in monasteries
St. Benedict

Benedict of Nursia (480-543) established
regulations for monks – The Rule of St.
Benedict
◦ Influenced all forms of religious life in Roman
church
◦ Regularity, discipline, moderation, silence
◦ Balance between asceticism and activity

Became dominant form of Western
monasticism
Christianity & Classical Culture

Hard-lined piety
◦ “The wisdom of the world is foolishness, we
preach Christ crucified.” – St. Paul
◦ “We have no need for curiosity since Jesus
Christ, nor for inquiry since the gospel.” –
Tertullian
Others argued acceptance of Greco-Roman
(pagan) culture
 Result = compromise

◦ The best ancient literature should be interpreted
in light of the Christian faith
Christian Notions of Gender and
Sexuality

Jesus was a feminist!
◦ Believed women equal
to men – no
disreputable qualities,
not inferior

Women some of Jesus’
earliest and most
faithful converts
◦ Active role in early
spread of Christianity

“Virgins in the service
of Christ”
◦ Worried Roman officials

Paul’s Influence
◦ Forbad women to preach, hold offices in church
◦ Saw celibacy as superior to marriage


Jewish and classical Mediterranean culture
viewed female subordination as natural and
proper
Superiority of celibacy
◦ Mind superior to body
◦ Self-denial led to misogyny
◦ Women and female sexuality chief obstacles to
preferred existence
◦ Same-sex relations esp. evil/unnatural

The church fathers’
misogyny and
hostility toward
sexuality had a
greater influence on
the formation of
later attitudes than
did the relatively
egalitarian actions
and words of Jesus.