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. 600author 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

Christianity was a book

religion

Codex Amiatinus

c. 700

Monastic scribes

Cross page from the Lindisfarne Gospels, British Museum

Lindisfarne Lindisfarne GospelsGospelsc. 700c. 700

Book of Kellsc. 800

Artistic Revival

How did Germanic people react to the introduction of writing?

Rituals &

Processions

Strengthened Collective

Identity

Benedictine Monasticism

included communal

prayer

Christian Monasticism Started

in the Egyptian desertc. 300

It tended to be hermetic

St. Simeon Stylites c.430

Faith = Loyaly to God

Hope = Bravery

St. Bonifaceconverts the continental

Saxons c. 720

Charity

St. Martin of Tours

316-397 CE

Archbishop Turpin in Song of Roland

St. John’s Eve Bonfire

The Anglo-Saxonsc. 450-1066

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