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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/22366-8.txt b/22366-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f9fcaef --- /dev/null +++ b/22366-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7541 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Church and the Barbarians, by William Holden Hutton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Church and the Barbarians + Being an Outline of the History of the Church from A.D. 461 to A.D. 1003 + +Author: William Holden Hutton + +Release Date: August 21, 2007 [EBook #22366] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHURCH AND THE BARBARIANS *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +THE CHURCH AND THE BARBARIANS + + + BEING AN OUTLINE OF + THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH + FROM A.D. 461 TO A.D. 1003 + + +BY THE REV. + +WILLIAM HOLDEN HUTTON, B.D. + + + +FELLOW AND TUTOR OF S. JOHN BAPTIST COLLEGE, OXFORD + +EXAMINING CHAPLAIN TO THE BISHOP OF ROCHESTER + + + + +RIVINGTONS + +34 KING STREET, COVENT GARDEN + +LONDON + +1906 + + + + +[Transcriber's note: Page numbers in this book are indicated by numbers +enclosed in curly braces, e.g. {99}. They have been located where page +breaks occurred in the original book, in accordance with Project +Gutenberg's FAQ-V-99. For the book's Index, a page number has been +placed only at the start of that section.] + +[Transcriber's note: Footnotes have been renumbered sequentially and +moved to the end of their respective chapters. The book's Index has a +number of references to footnotes, e.g. the "96 n." entry under +"Assyrians." In such cases, check the referenced page to see which +footnote(s) are relevant.] + +[Transcriber's note: The original book had side-notes in its pages' +left or right margin areas. Some of these sidenotes were at or near +the beginning of a paragraph, and in this e-text, are placed to precede +their host paragraph. Some were placed elsewhere alongside a +paragraph, in relation to what the sidenote referred to inside the +paragraph. These have been placed into the paragraph near where they +were in the original book. All sidenotes have been enclosed in square +brackets, and preceded with "Sidenote:".] + + + + +EDITORIAL NOTE + +While there is a general agreement among the writers as to principles, +the greatest freedom as to treatment is allowed to writers in this +series. The volumes, for example, will not be of the same length. +Volume II., which deals with the formative period of the Church, is, +not unnaturally, longer in proportion than the others. To Volume VI., +which deals with the Reformation, will be allotted a similar extension. +The authors, again, use their own discretion in such matters as +footnotes and lists of authorities. But the aim of the series, which +each writer sets before him, is to tell, clearly and accurately, the +story of the Church, as a divine institution with a continuous life. + +W. H. HUTTON + + + + +PREFACE + +It has seemed to me impossible to deal with the long period covered by +this volume as briefly as the scheme of the series required without +leaving out a great many events and concentrating attention chiefly +upon a few central facts and a few important personages. I think that +the main results of the development may thus be seen, though there is +much which is here omitted that would have been included had the book +been written on other lines. + +Some pages find place here which originally appeared in _The Guardian_ +and _The Treasury_, and a few lines which once formed part of an +article in _The Church Quarterly Review_. My thanks are due for the +courtesy of the Editors. I have reprinted some passages from my +_Church of the Sixth Century_, a book which is now out of print and not +likely to be reissued. + +I have to thank the Rev. L. Pullan for help from his wide knowledge, +and Mr. L. Strachan, of Heidelberg, of whose accuracy and learning I +have had long experience, for reading the proofs and making the index. + +W. H. H. + +S. JOHN'S COLLEGE, OXFORD, + _Septuagesima_, 1906. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER I PAGE + THE CHURCH AND ITS PROSPECTS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY . . . . 1 + +CHAPTER II + THE EMPIRE AND THE EASTERN CHURCH, 461-628 . . . . . . . . 6 + +CHAPTER III + THE CHURCH IN ITALY, 461-590 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 + +CHAPTER IV + CHRISTIANITY IN GAUL FROM THE SIXTH TO THE EIGHTH CENTURY 41 + +CHAPTER V + THE PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY THE GREAT . . . . . . . . . . . 60 + +CHAPTER VI + CONTROVERSY AND THE CATHOLICISM OF SPAIN . . . . . . . . . 72 + +CHAPTER VII + THE CHURCH AND THE MONOTHELITE CONTROVERSY . . . . . . . . 83 + +CHAPTER VIII + THE CHURCH IN ASIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 + +CHAPTER IX + THE CHURCH IN AFRICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 + +CHAPTER X + THE CHURCH IN THE WESTERN ISLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 + +CHAPTER XI + THE CONVERSION OF SLAVS AND NORTHMEN . . . . . . . . . . . 123 + +CHAPTER XII + PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN GERMANY . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 + +CHAPTER XIII + THE POPES AND THE REVIVAL OF THE EMPIRE . . . . . . . . . 143 + +CHAPTER XIV + THE ICONOCLASTIC CONTROVERSY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 + +CHAPTER XV + LEARNING AND MONASTICISM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 + +CHAPTER XVI + SACRAMENTS AND LITURGIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 + +CHAPTER XVII THE END OF THE DARK AGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +. 191 + +APPENDIX I + LIST OF EMPERORS AND POPES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 + +APPENDIX II + A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 + +INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 + + + + +{1} + +THE CHURCH AND THE BARBARIANS + + +CHAPTER I + +THE CHURCH AND ITS PROSPECTS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY + +[Sidenote: The task of the Church] + +The year 461 saw the great organisation which had ruled and united +Europe for so long trembling into decay. The history of the Empire in +relation to Christianity is indeed a remarkable one. The imperial +religion had been the necessary and deadly foe of the religion of Jesus +Christ; it had fought and had been conquered. Gradually the Empire +itself with all its institutions and laws had been transformed, at +least outwardly, into a Christian power. Questions of Christian +theology had become questions of imperial politics. A Roman of the +second century would have wondered indeed at the transformation which +had come over the world he knew: it seemed as if the kingdoms of the +earth had become the kingdoms of the Lord and of His Christ. But also +it seemed that the new wine had burst the old bottles. The boundaries +of the Roman world had been outstepped: nations had come in from the +East and from the West. The {2} system which had been supreme was not +elastic: the new ideas, Christian and barbarian alike, pressed upon it +till it gave way and collapsed. And so it came about that if +Christianity had conquered the old world, it had still to conquer the +new. + +[Sidenote: The decaying Empire.] + +Now before the Church in the fifth century there were set several +powers, interests, duties, with which she was called upon to deal; and +her dealing with them was the work of the next five centuries. They +were,--the Empire, Christian, but obsolescent; the new nations, still +heathen, which were struggling for territory within the bounds of the +Empire, and for sway over the imperial institutions; the distant tribes +untouched by the message of Christ; and the growth, within the Church +itself, of new and great organisations, which were destined in great +measure to guide and direct her work. Politics, theology, +organisation, missions, had all their share in the work of the Church +from 461 to 1003. In each we shall find her influence: to harmonise +them we must find a principle which runs through her relation to them +all. + +[Sidenote: The need of unity.] + +The central idea of the period with which we are to deal is unity. Up +till the fifth century, till the Council of Chalcedon (451) completed +the primary definition of the orthodox Christian faith in the person of +the Lord Jesus Christ, Christians were striving for conversion, +organisation, definition. All these aims still remained, but in less +prominence. The Church's order was completed, the Church's creed was +practically fixed, and the dominant nations in Europe had owned the +name of Christ. There remained a new and severe test. Would the {3} +Church win the new barbarian conquerors as she had won the old imperial +power? There was to be a great epoch of missionary energy. But of the +firm solidity of the Church there could be no doubt. Heresies had torn +from her side tribes and even nations who had once belonged to her +fold. But still unity was triumphant in idea; and it was into the +Catholic unity of the visible Church that the new nations were to be +invited to enter. S. Augustine's grand idea of the City of God had +really triumphed, before the fifth century was half passed, over the +heathen conceptions of political rule. The Church, in spite of the +tendency to separate already visible in East and West, was truly one; +and that unity was represented also in the Christian Empire. "At the +end of the fifth century the only Christian countries outside the +limits of the Empire were Ireland and Armenia, and Armenia, maintaining +a precarious existence beside the great Persian monarchy of the +Sassanid kings, had been for a long time virtually dependent on the +Roman power." [1] Politically, while tyrants rise and fall, and +barbarian hosts, the continuance of the Wandering of the Nations, sweep +across the stage, we are struck above all by the significant fact which +Mr. Freeman (_Western Europe in the Fifth Century_) knew so well how to +make emphatic:--"The wonderful thing is how often the Empire came +together again. What strikes us at every step in the tangled history +of these times is the wonderful life which the Roman name and the Roman +Power still kept when it was thus attacked on every side from without +and torn in pieces in every quarter from within." And the reason for +this indubitably was that the {4} Empire had now another organisation +to support it, based on the same idea of central unity. One Church +stood beside one Empire, and became year by year even more certain, +more perfect, as well as more strong. In the West the papal power rose +as the imperial decayed, and before long came near to replacing it. In +the East, where the name and tradition of old Rome was always preserved +in the imperial government, the Church remained in that immemorial +steadfastness to the orthodox faith which was a bond of unity such as +no other idea could possibly supply. In the educational work which the +emperor had to undertake in regard to the tribes which one by one +accepted their sway, the Christian Church was their greatest support. +In East as well as West, the bishops, saints, and missionaries were the +true leaders of the nations into the unity of the Empire as well as the +unity of the Church. [Sidenote: The Church's conquest of barbarism.] +The idea of Christian unity saved the Empire and taught the nations. +The idea of Christian unity was the force which conquered barbarism and +made the barbarians children of the Catholic Church and fellow-citizens +with the inheritors of the Roman traditions. + +If the dominant idea of the long period with which this book is to deal +is the unity of the Church, seen through the struggles to preserve, to +teach, or to attain it, the most important facts are those which belong +to the conversion, to Christ and to the full faith of the Catholic +Church, of races new to the Western world. The gradual extinction in +Italy of the Goths, the conversion of the Franks, of the English, of +many races on distant barbarian borderlands of civilisation, the +acceptance of Catholicism by the Lombards and {5} the Western Goths, do +not complete the historical tale, though they are a large part of it: +there was the falling back in Africa and for a long time in Europe of +the settlements of the Cross before the armies of the Crescent. There +were also two other important features of this long-extended age, to +which writers have given the name of dark. There was the survival of +ancient learning, which lived on through the flood of barbarian +immigration into the lands which had been its old home, yet was very +largely eclipsed by the predominance of theological interests in +literature. And there was the growth of a strong ecclesiastical power, +based upon an orthodox faith (though not without hesitations and +lapses), and gradually winning a formidable political dominion. That +power was the Roman Papacy. + + + +[1] Bryce, _Holy Roman Empire_, p. 13, ed. 1904. + + + + +{6} + +CHAPTER II + +THE EMPIRE AND THE EASTERN CHURCH + +(461-628) + +When the death of Leo the Great in 461 removed from the world of +religious progress a saintly and dominant figure whose words were +listened to in East and West as were those of no other man of his day, +the interest of Church history is seen to turn decisively to the East. + +[Sidenote: Character of the Greek Church.] + +The story of Eastern Christendom is unique. There is the fascinating +tale of the union of Greek metaphysics and Christian theology, and its +results, so fertile, so vigorous, so intensely interesting as logical +processes, so critical as problems of thought. For the historian there +is a story of almost unmatched attraction; the story of how a people +was kept together in power, in decay, in failure, in persecution, by +the unifying force of a Creed and a Church. And there is the +extraordinary missionary development traceable all through the history +of Eastern Christianity: the wonderful Nestorian missions, the activity +of the evangelists, imperial and hierarchical, of the sixth century, +the conversion of Russia, the preludes to the remarkable achievements +in modern times of orthodox missions in the Far East. + +Throughout the whole of the long period indeed {7} which begins with +the death of Leo and ends with that of Silvester II., though the Latin +Church was growing in power and in missionary success, it was probably +the Christianity of the East which was the most secure and the most +prominent. Something of its work may well be told at the beginning of +our task. + +[Sidenote: The Monophysite controversy.] + +The last years of the fifth century were in the main occupied in the +East by the dying down of a controversy which had rent the Church. The +Eutychian heresy, condemned at Chalcedon, gave birth to the Monophysite +party, which spread widely over the East. Attempts were soon made to +bridge over the gulf by taking from the decisions of Chalcedon all that +definitely repudiated the Monophysite opinions. [Sidenote: The +Henotikon.] In 482 the patriarch Acacius of Constantinople, under the +orders probably of the Emperor Zeno (474-91), drew up the _Henotikon_, +an endeavour to secure the peace of the Church by abandoning the +definitions of the Fourth General Council. No longer was "one and the +same Christ, Son, Lord, only-begotten, acknowledged _in two natures_, +without fusion, without change, without division, without separation." +But it is impossible to ignore a controversy which has been a cause of +wide divergence. Men will not be silent, or forget, when they are +told. Statesmanlike was, no doubt, the policy which sought for unity +by ignoring differences; and peace was to some extent secured in the +East so long as Zeno and his successor Anastasius (491-518) reigned. +But at Rome it was not accepted. Such a document, which implicitly +repudiated the language of Leo the Great, which the Fourth General +Council had adopted, could {8} never be accepted by the whole Church; +and those in the East who were theologians and philosophers rather than +statesmen saw that the question once raised must be finally settled in +the dogmatic decisions of the Church. Had the Lord two Natures, the +Divine and Human, or but one? The reality of the Lord's Humanity as +well as of His Divinity was a truth which, at whatever cost of division +and separation, it was essential that the Church should proclaim and +cherish. + +In Constantinople, a city always keen to debate theology in the +streets, the divergence was plainly manifest; and a document which was +"subtle to escape subtleties" was not likely to be satisfactory to the +subtlest of controversialists. The Henotikon was accepted at Antioch, +Jerusalem, and Alexandria, but it was rejected by Rome and by the real +sense of Constantinople. In Alexandria the question was only laid for +a time, and when a bishop who had been elected was refused recognition +by Acacius the Patriarch of Constantinople and Peter "the Stammerer," +who accepted the Henotikon, preferred to his place, a reference to Rome +led to a peremptory letter from Pope Simplicius, to which Acacius paid +no heed whatever. Felix II. (483-92), after an ineffectual embassy, +actually declared Acacius excommunicate and deposed. The monastery of +the Akoimetai at Constantinople ("sleepless ones," who kept up +perpetual intercession) threw itself strongly on to the side of the +advocates of Chalcedon. Acacius, then excommunicated by Rome because +he would not excommunicate the Monophysite patriarch of Alexandria, +retorted by striking out the name of Felix from the diptychs of the +Church. + +{9} + +[Sidenote: Schism between East and West.] + +It was the first formal beginning of the schism which,--temporarily, +and again and again, healed,--was ultimately to separate East and West; +and it was due, as so many misfortunes of the Church have been, to the +inevitable divergence between those who thought of theology first as +statesmen and those who thought first as inquirers after the truth. +The schism spread more widely. In Syria Monophysitism joined +Nestorianism in the confusion of thought: in Egypt the Coptic Church +arose which repudiated Chalcedon: Abyssinia and Southern India were to +follow. Arianism had in the East practically died away; Nestorianism +was powerful only in far-away lands, but Monophysitism was for a great +part of the sixth century strong in the present, and close to the +centre of Church life. The sixth century began, as the fifth had +ended, in strife from which there seemed no outway. Nationalism, and +the rival claims of Rome and Constantinople, complicated the issues. + +Under Anastasius, the convinced opponent of the Council of Chalcedon +and himself to all intents a Monophysite in opinion, some slight +negotiations were begun with Rome, while the streets of Constantinople +ran with blood poured out by the hot advocates of theological dogma. +In 515 legates from Pope Hormisdas visited Constantinople; in 516 the +emperor sent envoys to Rome; in 517 Hormisdas replied, not only +insisting on the condemnation of those who had opposed Chalcedon, but +also claiming from the Caesar the obedience of a spiritual son; and in +that same year Anastasius, "most sweet-tempered of emperors," died, +rejecting the papal demands. + +{10} + +The accession of Justin I. (518-27) was a triumph for the orthodox +faith, to which the people of Constantinople had firmly held. The +patriarch, John the Cappadocian, declared his adherence to the Fourth +Council: the name of Pope Leo was put on the diptychs together with +that of S. Cyril; and synod after synod acclaimed the orthodox faith. +Negotiations for reunion with the West were immediately opened. The +patriarch and the emperor wrote to Pope Hormisdas, and there wrote also +a theologian more learned than the patriarch, the Emperor's nephew, +Justinian. "As soon," he wrote, "as the Emperor had received by the +will of God the princely fillet, he gave the bishops to understand that +the peace of the Church must be restored. This had already in a great +degree been accomplished." But the pope's opinion must be taken with +regard to the condemnation of Acacius, who was responsible for the +Henotikon, and was the real cause of the severance between the +churches. [Sidenote: Reunion, 519.] The steps towards reunion may be +traced in the correspondence between Hormisdas and Justinian. It was +finally achieved on the 27th of March, 519. The patriarch of +Constantinople declared that he held the Churches of the old and the +new Rome to be one; and with that regard he accepted the four Councils +and condemned the heretics, including Acacius. + +The Church of Alexandria did not accept the reunion; and Severus, +patriarch of Antioch, was deposed for his heresy. There was indeed a +considerable party all over the East which remained Monophysite; and +this party it was the first aim of Justinian (527-65), when he became +emperor, to convince or to subdue. He was the {11} nephew of Justin, +and he was already trained in the work of government; but he seemed to +be even more zealous as a theologian than as a lawyer or administrator. +The problem of Monophysitism fascinated him. [Sidenote: The Emperor +Justinian.] From the first, he applied himself seriously to the study +of the question in all its bearings. Night after night, says +Procopius, he would study in his library the writings of the Fathers +and the Holy Scriptures themselves, with some learned monks or prelates +with whom he might discuss the problems which arose from their perusal. +He had all a lawyer's passion for definition, and all a theologian's +delight in truth. And as year by year he mastered the intricate +arguments which had surged round the decisions of the Councils, he came +to consider that a _rapprochement_ was not impossible between the +Orthodox Church and those many Eastern monks and prelates who still +hesitated over a repudiation which might mean heresy or schism. And +from the first it was his aim to unite not by arms but by arguments. +The incessant and wearisome theological discussions which are among the +most prominent features of his reign, are a clearly intended part of a +policy which was to reunite Christendom and consolidate the definition +of the Faith by a thorough investigation of controverted matters. +Justinian first thought out vexed questions for himself, and then +endeavoured to make others think them out. + +From 527, in the East, Church history may be said to start on new +lines. The Catholic definition was completed and the imperial power +was definitely committed to it. We may now look at the Orthodox Church +as one, united against outside error. + +{12} + +A period of critical interest in the history of Europe is that to which +belongs the difficult and complicated Church history of the East from +the accession of the Emperor Justinian to the death of S. Methodius. + +The period naturally divides itself into three parts--the first, from +527 to 628, dealing with the Church at the height of its authority, up +to the overthrow of the Persian power; the second to 725, the period up +to the beginning of the iconoclastic controversy; and the third up to +its close and the death of S. Methodius in 847. With the first we will +deal in the present chapter. + +[Sidenote: Church and State in the East.] + +But throughout the whole three centuries, from 527 to 847, the +essential character of the Church's life in the east is the same. In +the East the Church was regarded more decisively than in the West as +the complement of the State. Constantine had taught men to look for +the officials of the Church side by side with those of the civil power. +At Constantinople was the centre of an official Christianity, which +recognised the powers that be as ordained of God in a way which was +never found at Rome. At Rome the bishops came to be political leaders, +to plot against governments, to found a political power of their own. +At Constantinople the patriarchs, recognised as such by the Emperor and +Senate of the New Rome, sought not to intrude themselves into a sphere +outside their religious calling, but developed their claims, in their +own sphere, side by side with those of the State; and their example was +followed in the Churches which began to look to Constantinople for +guidance. There was a necessary consequence of this. {13} [Sidenote: +Nationalism of the Churches.] It was that when the nationalities of the +East,--in Egypt, Syria, Armenia, or even in Mesopotamia--began to +resent the rule of the Empire, and struggled to express a patriotism of +their own, they sought to express it also on the ecclesiastical side, +in revolt from the Church which ruled as a complement to the civil +power. Heresy came to be a sort of patriotism in religion. And while +there was this of evil, it was not evil that each new barbarian nation, +as it accepted the faith, sought to set up beside its own sovereign its +patriarch also. "Imperium," they said, "sine patriarcha non staret," +an adage which James I. of England inverted when he said, "No bishop, +no king." Though the Bulgarians agreed with the Church of +Constantinople in dogmas, they would not submit to its jurisdiction. +The principle of national Churches, independent of any earthly supreme +head, but united in the same faith and baptism, was established by the +history of the East. Gradually the Church of Constantinople, by the +growth of new Christian states, and by the defections of nations that +had become heretical, became practically isolated, long before the +infidels hedged in the boundaries of the Empire and hounded the +imperial power to its death. Within the boundaries the Church +continued to walk hand-in-hand with the State. Together they acted +within and without. Within, they upheld the Orthodox Faith; without, +they gave Cyprus its religious independence, Illyricum a new +ecclesiastical organisation, the Sinaitic peninsula an autonomous +hierarchy. More and more the history of these centuries shows us the +Greek Church as the Eastern Empire in its religious aspect. And it +shows that the division between East {14} and West, beginning in +politics, was bound to spread to religion. As Rome had won her +ecclesiastical primacy through her political position, so with +Constantinople; and when the politics became divergent so did the +definition of faith. Rome, as a church, clung to the obsolete claims +which the State could no longer enforce: Constantinople witnessed to +the independence which was the heritage of liberty given by the +endowment of Jesus Christ. + +Such are the general lines upon which Eastern Church history proceeds. +We must now speak in more detail, though briefly, of the theological +history of the years when Justinian was emperor. + +[Sidenote: Early controversy in Justinian's reign.] + +Justinian was a trained theologian, but he was also a trained lawyer; +and the combination generally produces a vigorous controversialist. It +was in controversy that his reign was passed. The first controversy, +which began before he was emperor, was that, revived from the end of +the fifth century, which dealt with the question of the addition to the +Trisagion of the words, "Who was crucified for us," and involved the +assertion that One of the Trinity died upon the cross. In 519 there +came from Tomi to Constantinople monks who fancied that they could +reconcile Christendom by adding to the Creed, a delusion as futile as +that of those who think they can advance towards the same end by +subtracting from it. After a debate on the matter in Constantinople, +Justinian consulted the pope. Letters passed with no result. In 533, +when the matter was revived by the Akoimetai, Justinian published an +edict and wrote letters to pope and patriarch to bring the matter to a +final decision. "If One of the Trinity did {15} not suffer in the +flesh, neither was He born in the flesh, nor can Mary be said, verily +and truly, to be His Mother." The emperor himself was accused of +heresy by the Vigilists; and at last Pope John II. declared the phrase, +"One Person of the Trinity was crucified," to be orthodox. His +judgment was confirmed by the Fifth General Council.[1] + +The position which the emperor thus assumed was not one which the East +alone welcomed. Rome, too, recognised that the East had power to make +decrees, so long as they were consonant with apostolic doctrine. + +[Sidenote: The Monophysites.] + +Justinian now gave himself eagerly to the reconciliation of the +Monophysites. In 535 Anthimus, bishop of Trebizond, a friend of the +deposed patriarch of Antioch, Severus, who was at least +semi-Monophysite, was elected to the patriarchal throne of New Rome. +In the same year Pope Agapetus (534-6) came to Constantinople as an +envoy of a Gothic king, and he demanded that Anthimus should make +formal profession of orthodoxy. The result was not satisfactory: the +new patriarch was condemned by the emperor with the sanction of the +pope and the approval of a synod. Justinian then issued a decree +condemning Monophysitism, which he ordered the new patriarch to send to +the Eastern Churches. Mennas, the successor of Anthimus, in his local +synod, had condemned and deposed the Monophysite bishops. The +controversy was at an end. + +More important in its results was the dispute with the so-called +Origenists. S. Sabas came from {16} Palestine in 531 to lay before the +emperor the sad tale of the spread of their evil doctrines, but he died +in the next year, and the Holy Land remained the scene of strife +between the two famous monasteries of the Old and the New Laura. +[Sidenote: The Origenists.] In 541 or 542 a synod at Antioch condemned +the doctrines of Origen, but the only result was that Jerusalem refused +communion with the other Eastern patriarchate. Justinian himself,--at +a time when there was at Constantinople an envoy from Rome, +Pelagius,--issued a long declaration condemning Origen. A synod was +summoned, which formally condemned Origen in person--a precedent for +the later anathemas of the Fifth General Council--and fifteen +propositions from his writings, ten of them being those which +Justinian's edict had denounced. The decisions were sent for +subscription to the patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, +as well as to Rome. This sanction gave something of an universal +condemnation of Origenism; but, since no general council confirmed it, +it cannot be asserted that Origen lies under anathema as a heretic. +The opinion of the legalists of the age was utterly out of sympathy +with one who was rather the cause of heresy in others than himself +heretical. + +[Sidenote: The "Three Chapters."] + +But the most important controversy of the reign was that which was +concerned with the "Three Chapters." Justinian, who had himself +written against the Monophysites, was led aside by an ingenious monk +into an attack upon the writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret +of Cyrrhus, and Ibas of Edessa. The Emperor issued an edict (544) in +which "Three Chapters" asserted the heresy of the incriminated +writings. Within a short {17} time the phrase "The Three Chapters" was +applied to the subjects of the condemnation; and the Fifth General +Council, followed by later usage, describes as the "Three Chapters" the +"impious Theodore of Mopsuestia with his wicked writings, and those +things which Theodoret impiously wrote, and the impious letter which is +said to be by Ibas." [2] + +Justinian's edict was not favourably received: even the patriarch +Mennas hesitated, and the papal envoy and some African bishops broke +off communion. The Latin bishops rejected it; but the patriarchs of +Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem gave their adhesion. Justinian +summoned Pope Vigilius; and a pitiable example of irresolution he +presented when he came. He accepted, rejected, censured, was +complacent and hostile in turns. [Sidenote: The Fifth General Council, +553.] At last he agreed to the summoning of a General Council, and +Justinian ordered it to meet in May, 553. Vigilius, almost at the last +moment, would have nothing to do with it. The patriarch of +Constantinople presided, and the patriarchs of Antioch and Alexandria +appeared in person, the patriarch of Jerusalem by three bishops. The +acts of the Council were signed by 164 prelates. The Council, like its +predecessors, was predominantly Eastern; but its decisions were +afterwards accepted by the West. The precedents of the earlier +Councils were strictly followed in regard to Rome: no supremacy was +allowed though the honourable primacy was not contested.[3] +Justinian's letter, sketching the history of the controversy of the +Three Chapters, {18} was read, but he did not interfere with the +deliberations. It was summoned to deal with matters concerning the +faith, and these were always left to the decision of the Episcopate. +The discussion was long; and after an exhaustive examination of the +writings of Theodore, the Council proceeded to endorse the first +"chapter," by the condemnation of the Mopsuestian and his writings. +The case of Theodoret was less clear: indeed, a very eminent authority +has regarded the action of the Council in his case as "not quite +equitable." [4] But the grounds of the condemnation were such +statements of his as that "God the Word is not incarnate," "we do not +acknowledge an hypostatic union," and his description of S. Cyril as +_impius, impugnator Christi, novus haereticus_, with a denial of the +_communicatio idiomatum_, which left little if any doubt as to his own +position.[5] When the letter of Ibas came to be considered, it was +plainly shown that its statements were directly contrary to the +affirmations of Chalcedon. It denied the Incarnation of the Word, +refused the title of Theotokos to the Blessed Virgin, and condemned the +doctrines of Cyril. The Council had no hesitation in saying anathema. + +Here its work was ended. It had safeguarded the faith by definitely +exposing the logical consequences of statements which indirectly +impugned the Divine and Human Natures of the Incarnate Son. + +[Sidenote: The need for its decisions.] + +So long as human progress is based upon intellectual principles as well +as on material growth, a teaching body which professes to guard and +interpret a Divine Revelation must speak {19} without hesitation when +its "deposit" is attacked. The Church has clung, with an inspired +sagacity, to the reality of the Incarnation: and thus it has preserved +to humanity a real Saviour and a real Exemplar. The subtle brains +which during these centuries searched for one joint in the Catholic +armour wherein to insert a deadly dart, were foiled by a subtlety as +acute, and by deductions and definitions that were logical, rational, +and necessary. If the Councils had not defined the faith which had +been once for all delivered to the saints, it would have been dissolved +little by little by sentimental concessions and shallow inconsistencies +of interpretation. It was the work of the Councils to develope and +apply the principles furnished by the sacred Scriptures. New questions +arose, and it was necessary to meet them: it was clear, then, that +there was a real division between those who accepted Christianity in +the full logical meaning of the Scriptures, in the full confidence of +the Church, and those who doubted, hesitated, denied; and it is clear +now that the whole future of Christendom depended upon the acceptance +by the Christian nations of a single rational and logically tenable +Creed. This involved the rejection of the Three Chapters, as it +involved equally the condemnation of Monophysitism and Monothelitism. +From the point of view of theology or philosophy the value of the work +of the Church in this age is equally great. The heresies which were +condemned in the sixth century (as in the seventh) were such as would +have utterly destroyed the logical and rational conception of the +Person of the Incarnate Son, as the Church had received it by divine +inspiration. Some Christian historians may seem for a moment to yield +a half {20} assent to the shallow opinions of those who would refuse to +go beyond what is sometimes strangely called the "primitive simplicity +of the Gospel." But it is impossible in this obscurantist fashion to +check the free inquiry of the human intellect. The truths of the +Gospel must be studied and pondered over, and set in their proper +relation to each other. There must be logical inferences from them, +and reasonable conclusions. It is this which explains that struggle +for the Catholic Faith of which historians are sometimes impatient, and +justifies a high estimate of the services which the Church of +Constantinople rendered to the Church Universal. + +It is in this light that the work of the Fifth General Council, to be +truly estimated, must be regarded. It will be convenient here to +summarise the steps by which the Fifth General Council won recognition +in the Church. + +In the first place, the emperor, according to custom, confirmed what +the Council had decreed; and throughout the greater part of the East +the decision of Church and State alike was accepted. In 553 there was +a formal confirmation by a synod of bishops at Jerusalem; but for the +most part there was no need of such pronouncement. African bishops and +Syrian monks here and there refused obedience; but the Church as a +whole was agreed. + +[Sidenote: Pope Vigilius.] + +Pope Vigilius, it would seem, was in exile for six months on an island +in the Sea of Marmora. On December 8, 553, he formally anathematised +the Three Chapters. On February 23, 554, in a _Constitution_, he +announced to the Western bishops his adhesion to the decisions {21} of +the General Council. Before the end of 557 he was succeeded, on his +death, by Pelagius, well known in Constantinople. He, like Vigilius, +had once refused but now accepted the Council. + +When Rome and Constantinople were agreed, the adhesion of the rest of +the Catholic world was only a question of time. But the time was long. +In North Italy there was for long a practical schism, which was not +healed till Justin II. issued an explanatory edict,[6] and the genius, +spiritual and diplomatic, of Gregory the Great was devoted to the task +of conciliation. Still it was not till the very beginning of the +eighth century[7] that the last schismatics returned to union with the +Church: thus a division in the see of Aquileia, by which for a time +there were two rival patriarchates, was closed. Already the rest of +Europe had come to peace. + +[Sidenote: The Aphthartodocetes.] + +The last years of Justinian were disturbed by a new heresy, that of +those who taught that the Body of the Lord was incorruptible, and it +was asserted that the emperor himself fell into this error. The +evidence is slight and contradictory, and the matter is of no +importance in the general history of the Church.[8] But it is worth +remembering that little more than a century after his death his name +was singled out by the Sixth General Council for special honour as of +"holy memory." His work, indeed, had been great, as theologian and as +Christian emperor; there was no more important or more accurate writer +{22} on theology in the East during the sixth century; and he must ever +be remembered side by side with the Fifth General Council which he +summoned. There were many defects in the Eastern theory of the +relations between Church and State; but undoubtedly under such an +emperor it had its best chances of success. + +[Sidenote: The work of Justinian.] + +Justinian has been declared to have forced upon the Empire which he had +reunited the orthodoxy of S. Cyril and the Council of Chalcedon, and +the attempt has been made to prove that Cyril himself was a +Monophysite.[9] The best refutation of this view is the perfect +harmony of the decisions of the Fifth General Council with those of the +previous Oecumenical assemblies, and the fact that no novelty could be +discovered to have been added to "the Faith" when the "Three Chapters" +were condemned. + +With the close of the Council the definition of Christian doctrine +passes into the background till the rise of the Monothelite +controversy. When its decisions were accepted, the labours of +Justinian had given peace to the churches. + +[Sidenote: and his successors.] + +From 565, when Justinian died, to 628, when Heraclius freed the Empire +from the danger of Persian conquest, were years of comparative rest in +the Church. It was a period of missionary extension, of quiet +assertion of spiritual authority, in the midst of political trouble and +disaster. Gibbon, who asserts that Justinian died a heretic, adds, +"The reigns of his four successors, Justin, Tiberius, Maurice, and +Phocas, are distinguished by a rare, though fortunate, vacancy in the +ecclesiastical history {23} of the East"; and the sarcasm, though not +wholly accurate, may serve to express the gradual progress of unity +which marked the years up to the accession of Heraclius. The history +of religion is concerned rather with those outside than those within +the Church. That history we need not follow, and we may pass over this +period with only a brief allusion to the development of independence +outside the immediate range of the ecclesiastical power of New Rome. +[Sidenote: Rise of separated bodies.] Heresies grew as an expression of +national independence. The Chaldaean Church, which stretched to Persia +and India, was Nestorian. The Monophysites won the Coptic Church of +Egypt, the Abyssinian Church, the Jacobites in Syria, the Armenians in +the heart of Asia Minor. In the mountains of Lebanon the +Monothelites--of whom we have to speak shortly--organised the Maronite +Church; and in Georgia the Church was aided by geographical conditions +as well as historical development to ignore the overlordship of the +Church of Antioch. So in Europe grew up with the new States, the +Bulgarian, the Serbian, and the Wallachian Churches. + +[Sidenote: Missions and failures.] + +It was thus that, alike as statesmen and Christians, the emperors were +devoted advocates of missions. Their wars of conquest often--as +notably with the great Emperor Heraclius--assumed the character of holy +wars. Where the barbarians of the East made havoc there too often the +Church fell without leaving a trace of its work. Without priest and +sacrament, the people came to retain only among their superstitions, as +sometimes in North Africa to-day, usages which showed that once their +ancestors belonged to the kingdom of Christ. Much {24} of the +missionary work of the period was done by Monophysites; the record of +John of Ephesus preserves what he himself did to spread Christianity in +Asia. And it would seem that even the most orthodox of emperors was +willing to aid in the work of those who did not accept the Council of +Chalcedon so long as they earnestly endeavoured to teach the heathen +the rudiments of the faith and to love the Lord in incorruptness. + +[Sidenote: Organisation of the Church.] + +The Church of the period was divided into five patriarchates, the +Church of Cyprus being understood to stand apart and autocephalous. +Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch still retained their old +power, while Jerusalem was regarded as somewhat inferior. The +patriarchates were divided into provinces, the capital of each province +having its metropolitan bishop. Under him were other bishops, and +gradually the title of archbishop was being understood,--as by +Justinian in the decree (Novel, xi.) in which he created his birthplace +a metropolitan see,--to imply jurisdiction over a number of suffragan +sees. Besides this there were still sees autocephalous in the sense +that they owned no superior or metropolitan bishop. It would seem from +the _Synekdemos_ of Hierocles (c. 535) that in the sixth century the +patriarch of Constantinople had under him about thirty metropolitans +and some 450 bishops. But the authority which the patriarch exercised +was by no means used to minimise that of the bishops. If the influence +of the Imperial Court on the patriarchate was always considerable and +sometimes overwhelming, Justinian was careful to preserve the +independence of the Episcopate and {25} to order that the first steps +in the election of bishops should be by the clergy and the chief +citizens in each diocese. And, as a letter of S. Gregory shows, the +bishops were elected for life; neither infirmity nor old age was +regarded as a cause for deposition, and translation from see to see was +condemned by many a Council. All the clergy under the rank of bishop +might marry, but only before ordination to the higher orders. In the +East it would seem that the number of persons connected in some way +with ecclesiastical office was very large. Even excluding the +monks,--a numerous and continually increasing body--the hermits, the +Stylites (who remained for years on a pillar, where they even received +Communion, in a special vessel made for the purpose), the different +orders of celibate women--there was still a very considerable number of +persons attached to all the important churches, in different positions +of ministry. The famous poem of Paul the Silentiary on S. Sophia +revels in a recital of the number of persons employed as well as in the +beauty of the magnificent building itself. + +In architecture, indeed, the Byzantine Church of the sixth century was +supreme. No more glorious edifice has ever been consecrated to the +service of Christ than the Church of the Divine Wisdom at +Constantinople; and the arts which enriched it in mosaic, marble, +metals, were brought to a perfection which excited the wonder of +succeeding centuries. Before we end this sketch of the history of a +great age in the life of the Eastern Church, a word must be said about +its most splendid and enduring memorial. Among the most striking +passages in the {26} chronicles of the age are the famous descriptions +by Procopius and by Paul the Silentiary of the splendours of the great +church of Constantinople in the sixth century after Christ. [Sidenote: +S. Sophia at Constantinople.] In the wonderful art of mosaic, as it may +be seen to-day in some of the churches of the New Rome, in S. +Sophia--though much there is still covered--and in the Church of the +Chora, the West, with all the beauty that we may still see in Ravenna, +was never able to equal the East. In solemn grandeur of architecture +fitted for open, public, common worship, expressive of the profoundest +verities of Christ's Church, it would be difficult to surpass the work +of the great age of Byzantine art. Of this S. Sophia, the Church of +the Divine Wisdom, at Constantinople, built by the architects of the +Emperor Justinian in the sixth century, is the most magnificent +example. There the eye travels upward, when the great nave is entered +from the narthex, from the arches supporting the gallery to those of +the gallery itself, from semi-domes larger and larger, up to the great +dome itself, an intricate scheme merging in a central unity. "The +length and the breadth and the height of it are equal" is the +exclamation which seems forced from the beholder: never was there a +church so vast yet so symmetrical, so admirably designed for the +participation of all worshippers in the great act of worship. And the +splendid pillars, brought from Baalbek of the old heathen days, wrought +on the capitals with intricate carvings, with emblems and devices and +monograms, the finely decorated doors, and the gigantic mosaic seraphim +on the walls, still in the twentieth century dimly image something of +the glowing worship of the {27} sixth. Then the "splendour of the +lighted space," glittering with thousands of lights, gave "shine unto +the world," and guided the seafarers as they went forth "by the divine +light of the Church itself." Traveller after traveller, chronicler +after chronicler, records impressions of the glory and beauty that +belonged to the great Mother Church of the Byzantine rite. +Historically, perhaps no church in the world has seen, at least in the +Middle Ages, so many scenes that belonged to the deepest crises of +national life. From the day when the great emperor who built it +prostrated himself before God as unworthy to make the offering of so +much beauty, to the day when Muhammad the conqueror (says the legend) +rode in over the heaps of Christian dead, it was the centre, and the +mirror, of the Church's life in the capital of the Empire. And that is +what the worship of the East has always striven to express. It is +immemorial, conservative beyond anything that the West can tolerate or +conceive; but it belongs, in the present as in the past, to the closest +thoughts, the most intimate experiences, of men to whom religion is +indeed the guide of life. The Church of S. Sophia, the worship of the +East, are the living memorials of the great age of the great Christian +emperor and theologian of the sixth century. + +And the fact that this building was due to the genius and power not of +the Church, but of Justinian, leads us back to the significance of the +State authority in the ecclesiastical history of the East. + +As it was said in England that kings were the Church's nursing fathers, +so in the Eastern Empire might the same text be used in rather a +different {28} sense. The Church was in power before the Empire was +Christian; but the Christian Empire was ever urgent to proclaim its +attachment to the Church and to guarantee its protection. The imperial +legislation of the great lawgiver began always in the name of the Lord, +and the code emphasised as the foundation of society and civil law the +orthodox doctrines of the Trinity and of Christ. And step by step the +great emperor endeavoured, in matters of morality and of gambling, to +enforce the moral laws of the Church. Works of charity and mercy were +undertaken by Church and State, hand in hand, and the noble buildings +which marked the magnificent period of Byzantine architecture were the +works of a society which, from the highest to the lowest member, was +penetrated by Christian ideals. Thus, very briefly, we may epitomise +the work of the first period we have mentioned. A word must be said +later of later times. + + + +[1] Mansi, _Concilia_, ix. 384. The phrase was preserved in the Hymn +'_O onogenês_, which was inserted in the Mass, and the composition of +which is ascribed to Justinian himself. + +[2] Mansi, ix. 181. + +[3] Cf. Nicaea, Canon vi.; Constantinople, Canons ii. and iii.; +Ephesus, Canon viii.; Chalcedon, Canons ix. and xvii. + +[4] Dr. W. Bright, _Waymarks in Church History_, p. 238. + +[5] See Hefele, _History of the Councils_ (Eng. trans.), iv. 311. + +[6] Given in Evagrius, v. 4. + +[7] A.D. 700, Mansi, _Concilia_, xii. 115. + +[8] See Gibbon, ed. J. B. Bury, vol. v. pp. 139, 140, 522, 523; and W. +H. Hutton, _The Church of the Sixth Century_, pp. 204-240, 303-309. + +[9] Cf. Harnack, _Dogmengeschichte_, ii. pp. 396, 396, 399, etc. + + + + +{29} + +CHAPTER III + +THE CHURCH IN ITALY, 461-590 + +[Sidenote: The end of the Empire in the West, 476.] + +The death of S. Leo took place but a few years before the Roman Empire +in the West became extinguished, and political interests entirely +submerged those of religion in the years that followed it. Dimly, +beneath the noise of the barbarian triumph, we discern the survival in +Rome of the Church's powers and claims; but it is not till the rise of +another pope of mighty genius that they claim any consideration as +important. In 461 died S. Leo; in 476 Romulus Augustulus, the last of +the continuous line of Western Caesars, surrendered his sceptre to the +Herul Odowakar. The barbarian governed with the aid of Roman +statesmen: he fixed his seat of rule at Ravenna rather than at Rome: he +showed consideration to the saintly Epiphanius, Bishop of Pavia: +heretic though he was, he desired to keep well with the Catholic +bishops of Rome. After him came a greater man, Theodoric the Goth, +whose capture of Ravenna, March 5th, 493, was followed by the +assassination of Odowakar. [Sidenote: Theodoric the Goth, 493.] +Theodoric, also an Arian, became sole ruler of Italy. He too was +served by Roman officials, and his administration was modelled on that +of the Caesars. A special interest attaches to his {30} dealings with +the Church. The king, indeed, Arian though he was, looked on the +Catholic Church with no unfriendly eye. His great minister, +Cassiodorus, was orthodox: and it is in his writings, which enshrine +the policy of his master, that we must search for the relations between +Church and State in the days before Belisarius had won back Ravenna and +Italy to the allegiance of the Roman Caesar. + +The letters of Cassiodorus supply, if not a complete account, at least +very valuable illustrations, of the position assumed by the East Gothic +power under Theodoric and his successors in regard to the Church. The +favour shown by the Ostrogoth sovereign to Cassiodorus, a staunch +Catholic, yet senator, consul, patrician, quaestor, and praetorian +praefect, is in itself an illustration of the absence of bitter Arian +feeling. [Sidenote: His relation with the Catholic Church.] This +impression is deepened by a perusal of the letters which Cassiodorus +wrote in the name of his sovereign. The subjects in which the Church +is most frequently related to the State are jurisdiction and property. +In the latter there seems a clear desire on the part of the kings to +give security and to act even with generosity to all religious bodies, +Catholic as well as Arian. Church property was frequently, if not +always, freed from taxation.[1] The principle which dictated the whole +policy of Theodoric is to be seen in a letter to Adila, senator and +comes.[2] "Although we will not that any should suffer any wrong whom +it belongs to our religious obligation to protect, since the free +tranquillity of the subjects is the glory of the ruler; yet especially +do we desire that all churches {31} should be free from any injury, +since while they are in peace the mercy of God is bestowed on us." +Therefore he orders all protection to be given to the churches: yet +answer is to be made in the law courts to any suit against them. For, +as he says in another letter, "if false claims may not be tolerated +against men, how much less against God." Again, "If we are willing to +enrich the Church by our own liberality, _a fortiori_ will we not allow +it to be despoiled of the gifts received from pious princes in the +past." + +It was on such liberality that the material power of the Church was +slowly strengthening itself. Similarly, as in the East, clerical +privilege was beginning to be allowed in the law courts: the Church was +acquiring the right to judge all cases in which her officers were +concerned. Theodoric's successors bettered his instructions. +Athalaric allowed to the Roman pope the jurisdiction over all suits +affecting the Roman clergy. + +[Sidenote: Weakness of the Church.] + +But this picture of toleration and privilege which we obtain from the +official letters of Cassiodorus, cannot be regarded as a complete +description of the attitude of the East Gothic rule towards the +Catholic Church. Pope after pope was the humble slave of the Gothic +ruler. They were sent to Constantinople as his envoys, and though they +stood firm for the Catholic faith and in rejection of all compromise +with regard to the doctrine of Chalcedon, they were entirely impotent +in Italy itself. Catholic Italy was at the feet of the Arian Goth. +The cruel imprisonment of Pope John, used as a political tool in 525 +and flung away when he proved ineffective, gave a new martyr to the +Roman calendar; and, in spite of {32} the absence of direct evidence, +it is difficult to regard the executions of Symmachus and of Boethius +as entirely unconnected with religions questions. Both were Catholics; +both, to use Mr. Hodgkin's words,[3] "have been surrounded by a halo of +fictitious sanctity as martyrs to the cause of Christian orthodoxy." +The father-in-law, "lest, through grief for the loss of his son-in-law, +he should attempt anything against his kingdom," Theodoric "caused to +be accused and ordered him to be slain." [4] Boethius, who wrote the +most famous work of the Early Middle Age, _The Consolation of +Philosophy_, a book which became the delight of Christian scholars, of +monks and kings, was translated by Alfred the West Saxon, and formed +the foundation of very much of the Christian thought of many succeeding +generations, met a horrible death in 526 on a charge of corresponding +with the orthodox Emperor Justin. No doubt the main reason for the +butchery was political; but it is impossible in this age wholly to +separate religion from politics; especially when we read, in almost +immediate conjunction with the story of the murder of these men, that +Theodoric ordered that on a certain day the Arians should take +possession of all the Catholic basilicas. It was not until the Gothic +power had finally fallen, and Narses had reestablished the imperial +power, that the life and property of Catholics were absolutely safe. + +The death of Theodoric (August 30, 526) was followed by the downfall of +his power. Within ten years all Italy was won back to the Roman and +Catholic Empire ruling from the East. + +{33} + +[Sidenote: The imperial restoration, 554.] + +With the restoration of the imperial power the Church came to the front +more prominently. So long as Justinian reigned the popes were kept in +subjection; but ecclesiastics generally were admitted to a large share +in judicial and political power. The emperors looked for their +strongest political support in the Catholic party. Suppression of +Arianism became a political necessity at Ravenna. Justinian gave to +Agnellus the churches of the Arians. [Sidenote: The Pragmatic +Sanction.] In 554 the emperor issued his solemn Pragmatic Sanction for +the government of Italy. Of this, Section XII. gives a power to the +bishops which shows the intimate connection between State and Church. +"Moreover we order that fit and proper persons, able to administer the +local government, be chosen as _iudices_ of the provinces by the +bishops and chief persons of each province from the inhabitants of the +province itself." This is important, of course, as allowing popular +elections, but far more important in its recognition of the position of +the clerical estate. Justinian's new administration of Italy was to be +military; but hardly less was it to be ecclesiastical. Here we have, +says Mr. Hodgkin,[5]--whose words I quote because I can find none +better to express what seems to me to be the significance of this +act--"a pathetic confession of the emperor's own inability to cope with +the corruption and servility of his civil servants. He seems to have +perceived that in the great quaking bog of servility and dishonesty by +which he felt himself to be surrounded, his only sure standing-ground +was to be found in the spiritual estate, the order of men who wielded a +power {34} not of this world, and who, if true to their sacred mission, +had nothing to fear and little to hope from the corrupt minions of the +court." This is significant in regard to the rise of the power of the +popes in the Western capital of the Empire and in the whole of Italy. +It was by the good deeds of the clergy, and by the need of them, that +they came forward before long as the masters of the country. + +This rule of the Pragmatic Sanction was not an isolated instance; at +every point the bishop was placed _en rapport_ with the State, with the +provincials, and with the exarch himself.[6] In jurisdiction, in +advice, from the moment when he assisted at a new governor's +installation, the bishop was at the side of the lay officer, to +complain and even, if need be, to control. + +One power still remained to the emperor himself (in the seventh century +it was transferred to the exarch)--that of confirming the election of +the pope. Narses seated Pelagius on the papal throne; but when one as +mighty as the "eunuch general" arose in Gregory the Great, the power of +the exarchate passed, slowly but surely, into the hands of the papacy. +The changes of rulers in Italy, the policies of the falling Goths and +of the rising Roman Empire, found their completion in the effects of +the Lombard invasion. But before this there were thirty years of +growth for the Church, and the growth was due very largely to a new +force, though for a while it remained below the surface. It was the +power of the monastic life, realised anew by the genius and holiness of +S. Benedict of Nursia. {35} [Sidenote: The work of S. Benedict.] Born +about 480, of noble parentage, he gave himself from early years to +serve God "in the desert." At about the age of fifteen he is spoken of +by his biographer, the great S. Gregory, in words which might form the +motto of his life, as "sapienter indoctus." First, a solitary at +Subiaco; then the unwilling abbat of a neighbouring monastery, whose +monks endeavoured to kill him; then again living "by himself in the +sight of Him who seeth all things"; at last, in 529, he founded in +Campania the monastery of Monte Cassino, the mother of all the revived +monasticism of the Middle Age. + +[Sidenote: His rule.] + +The monastery of Monte Cassino became a pattern of the religious life. +S. Benedict was a wise and statesmanlike ruler, to whom men came with +confidence from every rank and every race, to be his disciples, or to +place their boys under him for instruction. The rule which he drew up +was as potent in the ecclesiastical world as was the code of Justinian +in the civil. It had its bases in the root ideas of obedience, +simplicity, and labour. "Never to depart from the governance of God" +was his primary maxim to his monks; and a monastery was to be a "school +of the Lord's service" and a "workshop of the spiritual art." The +beginning of all was to be prayer. "Inprimis ut quidquid agendum +inchoas bonum, a Deo perfici instantissima oratione deposcas." And +though absolute power was left, without appeal, in the hands of the +abbat, and the rule of the whole house was to be "nullus in monasterio +proprii sequatur cordis voluntatem," yet great individual liberty was +left to each monk in the direction of his own religious {36} life. +Everyone, he knew, had "his own gift of God"--some could fast more than +others; some could spend more time in silent prayer and meditation; and +none could do any good, he knew, however strict their outer rule, +without daily enlightenment from God. There was place in his scheme +for those whose work was chiefly manual, those who reclaimed +uncultivated lands and turned the wilderness into a garden of the Lord, +and for those who spent long hours in contemplation and prayer. The +public solemn singing of offices was no more characteristic of his rule +than was the following of the hermits in pure prayer. + +One who would be admitted to the monastery must take oath before the +whole community that he intended constantly to remain firm in his +profession, to live a life of conversion to God, and to obey those set +over him, but the last only "according to the rule." True monks were +his followers to count themselves only if they lived by the labours of +their hands. Idleness, said Benedict, is the enemy of the soul. The +life of the monks was ascetic, but without the extreme rigour of the +earlier "religious"--hermits and coenobites. The rule required +austerities, and gave strict injunction as to food at all times, and +especially in Lent; but it did not encourage voluntary austerities +beyond the rule, and it admitted many relaxations for the old, the +infirm, or those whose labours were especially hard. + +Where all depended so much on a superior it was of especial importance +that he should be wisely chosen and should rule wisely. In three +things he was to be pre-eminent--exhortation, example, and prayer; and +prayer, says the saint, is the greatest of these; for {37} although +there be much virtue in exhortation and example, yet prayer is that +which promotes grace and efficacy alike in deed and word. He was to +recognise no difference of social rank. Good deeds and obedience were +to be the only ways to his favour. Only if exceptional merit required +promotion was there to be any breach of the proper order in which each +should hold his place, "since, whether slaves or free, we are all one +in Christ, and, under the same Lord, wear all of us the same badge of +service." + +In a cell hard by the monastery dwelt Benedict's sister, S. +Scholastica, whose religious life he directed, but whom he rarely saw, +and who became a pattern to nuns as he to monks. + +[Sidenote: Its wide influence.] + +The influence of Benedict was, even in his own lifetime, extraordinary. +There were times when it might almost be said that all Italy looked to +him for guidance; and there is no more striking scene in the history of +the decaying Gothic power than when the cruel Totila, whose end he +foresaw, and the secrets of whose heart lay open to his gaze, visited +him in his monastery and heard the words of truth from his lips. When, +fortified by the Body and Blood of the Lord, he passed away with hands +still uplifted in prayer, he had created a power which did more than +any other to make the Church predominant in Italy. The rule, the +definite organisations, of monasticism came to the world from Italy and +from Benedict. Though the Benedictines were never actively papal +agents, yet indirectly, by their training and by their influence on the +whole nature of medieval religion, they formed a strong support for the +growing power of the Roman see. + +{38} + +But Benedict was not the only leader, though he was the greatest, in +the monastic revival of the sixth century. With another great name his +work may be placed to some extent in contrast. + +[Sidenote: Scholarship and learning.] + +S. Benedict was no advocate of exclusively ecclesiastical study. He +adapted the ancient literatures to the purposes of Christian education. +It is true that the main subjects of study for his monks were the Holy +Scriptures, and the chief object the edification of the individual by +meditation and of the people by preaching; but the monks learnt to +write verse correctly and prose in what had claims to be considered a +style. Yet what he himself did in that direction was little indeed. +Perhaps the most that can be said is that he left the way open to his +successors. And of these the greatest was Cassiodorus. + +[Sidenote: Cassiodorus.] + +Cassiodorus, the statesman, the orthodox adviser and friend of the +Arian Theodoric, lived to become a Christian teacher and a monk. The +friend of Pope Agapetus, he endeavoured with his sanction in 535 to set +up a school in Rome which should give to Christians "a liberal +education." The pope's death, a year later, prevented the scheme being +carried out. But a few years later, in the monastery of Vivarium near +Squillace, he set himself to found a religious house which should +preserve the ancient culture. Based on a sound knowledge of grammar, +on a collation and correction of texts, on a study of ancient models in +prose and verse, he would raise an education through "the arts and +disciplines of liberal letters," for, he said, "by the study of secular +literature our minds are trained to understand the Scriptures {39} +themselves." That was the supreme end at Squillace, as it was at Monte +Cassino; and though Cassiodorus looked at letters differently from +Benedict, his work, too, was important in founding a tradition for +Italian monasticism. + +[Sidenote: Weakness of the papacy under Pelagius, 555-60.] + +While monasticism was transforming Italy and placing Catholicism on a +firm basis in the Western lands of the Empire, the power of the papal +see, when Rome was reconquered by the imperial forces from +Constantinople, seemed to sink to the lowest depths. The papacy under +Vigilius (537-55) and Pelagius (555-60) was the servant of the +Byzantine Caesars. The history of the controversies in which each pope +was engaged, the scandal of their elections, there is no need to relate +here. Suffice it to say that the decisions of the Fifth General +Council were in no way the work of either, but were eventually accepted +by both. The self-contradictions of Vigilius are pitiable; and the +acceptance of Pelagius by the Romans was only won by his rejecting a +formal statement of his predecessor. + +Consecrated only by two bishops[7] on Easter Day, 556, he began a +pontificate which was from the first disputed and even despised. The +Archbishop of Milan and the patriarch of Aquileia would not communicate +with him. In Gaul he was received with suspicion, and he was obliged +to write to King Childebert, submitting to him a profession of his +faith.[8] It is clear that the Gallican Church no more than the Lombard +regarded {40} the pope as _ipso facto_ orthodox or the guardian of +orthodoxy. Even this letter of Pelagius was not regarded as +satisfactory. It was long before the Churches entered into communion +with him; and even to the last, the northern sees of Italy refused. He +ruled, unquietly enough, for four years; and died, leaving a memory +free at least from simony, and honoured as a lover of the poor. + +Under him, as under Vigilius, the papacy had been compelled to submit +to the judgment of the East. "The Church of Rome," says Mgr. Duchesne, +"was humiliated." [9] + +The lives of these two popes cover the most important period in the +ecclesiastical history of the sixth century. After the death of +Pelagius I., and up to the accession of Gregory the Great in 590, the +interest of Italian history is political rather than ecclesiastical. +The emperors tried to rule, through their exarchs at Ravenna, from +Constantinople. The papacy grew quietly in power. Then came the +Lombards and a new era began. + + + +[1] So _Var._, i. 26, ed. Mommsen, p. 28. + +[2] ii. 29, p. 63. + +[3] _Italy and her Invaders_, vol. iii. p. 516. + +[4] _Anonymus Valesii_. + +[5] _Italy and her Invaders_, vol. vi. p. 528. + +[6] Instances are collected by M. Diehl, _Études sur l'administration +byzantine dans l'exarchat de Ravenne_, p. 320. + +[7] Et dum nou essent episcopi qui cum ordinarent, inventi sunt duo +episcopi, Johannes de Perusia et Bonus de Ferentino, et Andreas +presbiter de Hostis, et ordinaverunt eum.--_Liber Pontificalis_, i. 303. + +[8] Migne, Patr. Lat., tom. lxix. p. 402. + +[9] _Revue des Questions Historiques_, Oct. 1884, p. 439. + + + + +{41} + +CHAPTER IV + +CHRISTIANITY IN GAUL FROM THE SIXTH TO THE EIGHTH CENTURY + +A very special interest belongs to the history of Christianity in Gaul. +There is no more striking example of what the Church did to bridge over +the gulf between the old culture and the barbarians. + +[Sidenote: Roman Gaul.] + +Among early Christian martyrs few are more renowned than those who died +in Southern Gaul. Paganism lived on, concealed, in many country +districts, but the life and power and thought of the people became by +the time of Constantine, by the fourth century, entirely Christian. As +the state organised so did the Church. Gaul had seventeen provincial +governments; it came to have seventeen archbishops, and under them +bishops for each great city. On the Roman empire and the Christian +Church the foundations were laid; and they were laid firm. + +[Sidenote: The barbarian invasions.] + +At the beginning of the fifth century a terrible storm swept over the +land. It was the storm of Teutonic invasion. Vandals, Burgundians, +Alans, Suevi poured over the land; the Huns followed them, only to be +beaten back by a union of the other tribes. Then, after the Battle of +Châlons (451), there gradually rose out {42} of the Teutonic conquerors +the conquering power of one tribe, that of the Franks. + +[Sidenote: The Church in Gaul.] + +By the first ten years of the sixth century Gaul was united again, +under the rule of Chlodowech (Clovis), King of the Franks. Till well +on in the Middle Ages it was that title which the rulers of Gaul always +bore, "Rex Francorum," King of the Franks. France to-day still dates +her existence as a nation from the baptism of Clovis. It was that, his +admission into the Catholic Christianity of the Gauls over whom he +ruled, which enlisted on the side of the Frankish power all the culture +and civilisation which had never died out since the Roman days. Under +the fostering care of the Church it had survived. Brotherhood, +charity, compassion, unity, all the great ideas which the Church +cherished, were to work in long ages the transformation of the Frankish +kingship. And when Chlodowech became king under the blessing of the +Church, which had survived all through these centuries since it was +planted under the Romans, the fusion of races soon followed. The +French nation as we now know it is not merely Celtic, or Gaulish, but +Roman too, and lastly Frankish--that is, Teutonic. + +[Sidenote: The baptism of Chlodowech, 496.] + +The history of the baptism of Chlodowech is one of the most dramatic in +the annals of the early Middle Age. His wife, Chrotechild, was the +niece of the Burgundian king, and she was a devout Catholic. Slowly +she won her way to his heart. Never, said the chroniclers, did she +cease to persuade him that he should serve the true God; and when in +the crisis of a battle against the Alamanni he called her words to +mind, he vowed to {43} be baptised if Christ should give him the +victory. The legend adorns the historic fact that Chlodowech was +baptised by S. Remigius at Rheims, on Christmas Day, 496, and that some +three thousand of his warriors were baptised with him. "Bow thy neck, +O Sigambrian," said the prelate, "adore that which thou hast burned and +burn that which thou hast adored." Within a generation all races of +the Franks had followed the Frankish king. + +[Sidenote: The dark days of the Merwings.] + +The years that followed were full of growth. But for long the +Christianity which was nominally triumphant was imperfect indeed. +Chlodowech died in 511; his race went on ruling, Catholic in name but +very far from obedient to the Church's laws. The tale of their +successors, their wars and their crimes, is one which belongs to social +or political history, not to the history of the Church. The Church's +life was lived underground in the slow progress of Christian ideas. +Chlothochar, sole ruler of the Franks, died in 561. How little had the +half-century accomplished. Then came an age of division, murders, +horrors, in which the names of great ladies stand out as at least the +equals of their lords in crime. Predegund, who became the wife of +Chilperich of Neustria, and Brunichildis, the wife first of Sigebert of +Austrasia, and then of Merovech, Chilperich's son, were rivals in +wickedness. The horrors of those days are recorded in the history of +Gregory, who ruled over the see of Tours from 573 to 595. It was an +age in which, while the rulers were Christian in name, and the land was +mapped out into sees ruled by Christian bishops, and monasteries were +springing up to teach {44} the young and to set an example of religious +life, the general atmosphere was almost avowedly pagan. Men said, +tells Gregory, that "if a man has to pass between pagan altars and +God's church there is no harm in his paying homage to both," and the +lives of such men showed that it is impossible to serve God and Mammon. + +Yet for a century and a half the Merwings, descendants of Chlodowech, +had among them strong rulers, great conquerors, men of iron as well as +men of blood. Early in the seventh century, from 628 to 638, there +ruled in Gaul Dagobert, the greatest of the Merwing kings. His rule +extended from the Pyrenees to the North Sea, from the ocean to the +forests of Thuringia and Bohemia. He was "ruler of all Gaul and the +greater part of Germany, very influential in the affairs of Spain, +victorious over Slavs and Bulgarians, and at home a great king, +encouraging commerce and putting into better shape the law codes of his +subjects." + +[Sidenote: Break up of their kingdom.] + +That was the culmination of the Merwing power. The seventh century saw +its decay, and a new step towards the medieval monarchy of the Franks. +Two causes effected the fall of the Merwings--their own vices and the +growth of feudalism with the creation of great local lords. These +threatened to break up the kingdom of Chlodowech into small states, to +disintegrate and thus destroy the united nation of the Franks. + +The first cause is one which it is difficult to exaggerate. We read in +the pages of that great historian and great bishop, Gregory of Tours, +the terrible tale of their crimes, their brutal luxury, their lust for +blood, the {45} unbridled licence of their passions. That was the +record of the days of their decay. There was, however, even at the +best a great change from the times of Roman rule. For civilisation, +literary culture, law, we find substituted in the pages of Gregory of +Tours savagery, scenes of brutality, drunkenness, robbery. Law and +civilisation seem to sleep. It was in this state of the country, when +every man's hand was against his neighbour, when law was unheard amid +the strife, that feudalism arose, a natural development of the desire +for self-preservation, which led to associations to supply the mutual +protection which there was no strength behind the law to enforce. In +all these movements the Church had an active part. [Sidenote: The +influence of the Church.] It was her principles of association which +taught men the idea of unity, of bonds by which personal security +should be based on new guarantees amid the weakness of government and +the neglect of law. The Church held the tradition of a civilisation +the barbarians had never known, and in her own moral teaching she set +forth the way to an ideal state which should combine all the elements +of strength. The growth of the Frankish nation was guided almost +entirely by the Church. + +Feudalism, Roman administration and law, Christian faith and +discipline--these three factors were at work throughout the Dark Ages +from the fifth to the ninth century: and they were all--the last two +most especially--under the direction of the Church. And first and most +obviously the monarchy of the Merwings was a patent imitation of the +Roman Empire. The clergy had maintained the imperial tradition. It +was they who taught the sovereigns to replace the emperors {46} and to +produce around them the illusion of a Roman rule. They employed +officers with the same titles, centred their administration in their +household, claimed and exercised unlimited power. No power above them +did they recognise, save only, when they would listen to their +teachers, the power of the love--more often the fear--of God. The +barbarian invasions that had swept over the land had destroyed the +local, as well as the central administration. At Arles survived the +relics of the old Roman functionaries of the prefecture; but in the +land of the Franks the whole system had to be reconstructed from the +tradition of which the Church was the faithful guardian. + +[Sidenote: Relations with the Eastern Empire.] + +Thus the real aim of Chlodowech and his successors was not to conquer +the Roman Empire, not to substitute a Teutonic power for a Roman one; +but to take the place of the empire in Gaul, to succeed to its +heritage, to re-establish its authority, under Frankish kings. Thus +when the Empire of the West had ceased to be, the Frankish kings sought +titles and alliances from the emperors who still ruled at +Constantinople. It is a significant characteristic, indeed, of the +Merwing monarchy that it kept up close relations with the distant Roman +Empire in the East, that the Frankish kings professed to be the loyal +allies, as they were often the formally adopted sons, of the Roman +emperors and the consuls of the republic. + +The Frankish kings, by their Christianity, imperfect though it was, +were admitted to fellowship with the central power of the Christian +world, with emperor at Byzantium and pope at Rome. + +"Gaul was really independent of the empire in all {47} respects," [1] +and it is not there that we should seek for ecclesiastical relations +with Constantinople. But there can be no question that the Catholicism +of the Franks owed something to Eastern influences. There are points +in the Gallican ritual which are distinctly Byzantine, and must belong +to this period. Chlodowech, as an ally rather than a subject, and not +least, perhaps, because he was a Catholic, received the dignity of the +consulate from Anastasius.[2] And in the reign of the great Justinian +the Merwings looked to the emperor for recognition and support. +Theodebert, his "son," accepted a commission to propagate the Catholic +faith in the imperial name.[3] Bishops, too, who might be in need of +advice and consolation, applied naturally to Constantinople. Nicetius, +Bishop of Trier, that "man of highest sanctity, admirable in preaching, +and renowned for good works," [4] persecuted by Chlothochar and his +men, wrote naturally to the holy and orthodox emperor, "dominus semper +suus." In the midst of barbarities scarce conceivable,[5] the finest +characters were trained by the simple verities of the Catholic faith, +to which they clung with an extraordinary tenacity. Nor is this +anywhere more strongly shown than in the history of the Franks. Of the +meaning of the great struggle of Catholicism against Arianism, and of +its immense personal value, the histories afford many instances. There +is an eloquent passage in {48} [Sidenote: The strength of the Catholic +faith among the Franks.] Mr. Hodgkin's _Italy and her Invaders_[6] +which I cannot forbear to quote. "In the previous generation both +Brunichildis and Galswintha had easily conformed to the Catholic faith +of their affianced husbands. Probably the councillors of Leovigild +expected that a mere child like Ingunthis would without difficulty make +the converse change from Catholicism back into Arianism. This was ever +the capital fault of the Arian statesmen, that, with all their +religious bitterness, they could not comprehend that the profession of +faith, which was hardly more than a fashion to most of themselves, was +a matter of life and death to their Catholic rivals. Here, for +instance, was their own princess, Brunichildis, reared in Arianism, +converted to the orthodox creed, clinging to it tenaciously through all +the perils and adversities of her own stormy career, and able to imbue +the child-bride, her daughter, with such an unyielding devotion to the +faith of Nicaea, that not one of all the formidable personages whom she +met in her new husband's home could avail to move her by one hair's +breadth towards 'the Arian pravity.'" + +It was the strength of the Catholicism of those who were trained in it +and by it, seen in Spain and Gaul as well as in Italy, which drew the +Frankish churchmen naturally towards the great witnessing power of the +Roman bishop. The pontificate of Gregory the Great affords significant +illustrations of this influence. + +From 595 the letters of S. Gregory show a continual interest in Gaul. +A good deal of it is personal, concerned with the management of papal +estates or with {49} the relations of particular persons towards the +pope himself. [Sidenote: Gregory the Great and Gaul.] But Gregory was +careful to assert a very special connection between Rome and the "lands +of the Gauls" in all ecclesiastical matters. The Roman Church was the +mother to whom they applied in time of need.[7] Gregory gave the +pallium to Vergilius, bishop of the ancient city of Arles, and with it +the position of papal vicar within the kingdoms of Burgundy, Austrasia, +and Aquitaine. He recognised the terrible laxity of the Gallican +Church: the clergy were negligent, simoniacal, vicious; laymen were +often consecrated to the episcopate. He gave counsel freely to the +kings: Childebert he warmly commended: Brunichild, whose tenacious +adherence to the Catholic faith he knew, while he probably knew but +little of her personal character, he wrote to with paternal affection, +granted the pallium at her request and that of Gallican bishops to S. +Syagrius, Bishop of Autun, and appealed to her as one who had the will +as well as the power to reform abuses, remove scandals, and destroy +paganism. He set himself determinedly to work against the taint of +money which hung over the whole Church. He earnestly pleaded for the +expulsion of "these detestable evils," for the summoning of a synod +which should reform the whole Church. He pleaded in vain; but his work +was not without lasting results. He founded the alliance between the +papacy and the Frankish kings which was to be so fruitful in later +history. And he founded it not with a political but with an entirely +religious object. Through the court he hoped to reform the Church. He +saw how closely Church and State were {50} linked together, and he +thought that he could make the kings act as rulers who set the Church's +interest always first. It has been well said that his work, though the +Church long remained corrupt, was not in vain. "He succeeded in +establishing a regular intercourse between himself and the churches of +Gaul, especially in the cities of the east and south; he fixed a +tradition of friendship between the apostolic see and the Frank +princes; he held up an ideal of Christianity before a savage and +half-pagan people; and he caused the name of bishop to be once more +reverenced in a land where it had grown to be almost synonymous with +avarice, lawlessness, and corrupt ambition. If Gregory did no more +than this he accomplished enough. Though his work was not rich in +definite results at the moment, yet afterwards, in the reign of +Charlemagne, its effects became manifest." [8] + +[Sidenote: Relations of the Frankish Church with Rome.] + +At the same time the Frankish Church undoubtedly maintained a position +distinctly independent of Rome. Arles never really became a papal +vicariate. Gregory's endeavours were fruitless in practical result.[9] +The Gallican churches continued to be governed by their bishops, with +every degree of local variety, not by the pope. Gregory rather set +forth an ideal than established a subordination. His influence was +personal not constitutional, and it was not strong. Yet in the days +between Gregory and Charles the Great the links connecting Rome with +Gaul were not weakened. Later on they were to be strengthened still +more by the growth of a reformed monasticism, which gave support {51} +to the papacy while yet it looked to the popes for guidance. But +meanwhile the influence of individual ecclesiastics in Gaul must not be +forgotten. As was so often the case in medieval Europe, an age of +wickedness presents, in the chronicles and biographies, a very large +proportion of lives which received the praise of sanctity. Bishops, +anchorites, monks, often, it would seem, rose far above the standard of +their day: men noted their lives with awe and remembered them with +reverence. They moved in a society of curious complexity. + +[Learning at the court of the Merwings.] + +Venantius Fortunatus, who dedicated his poems to Gregory the Great, and +was "the great man of letters of his age," was a poet, but a Christian +poet--a writer of letters, but a close friend of holy souls, and +notably of S. Radegund, the exiled princess and saint.[10] We learn +from him that even in those days of blood there was a literary society +at the Frankish courts, and the savage king Chilperich made pretence to +be a writer, a theologian, and even a poet, though Gregory of Tours +assures us that he had not the least notion of prosody. + +Venantius Fortunatus and his literary friends, Chilperich and his +obsequious courtiers, link us to another and more notable name. To one +bishop, who achieved canonisation, we owe very much of what we know of +the history of those times. + +Gregory of Tours wrote memoirs which "are those of a man who has played +a great part in the State. At the same time he has the sense for +interesting {52} things, miracles, and adventures, which is sometimes +wanting in historians." [11] + +[Sidenote: Gregory of Tours.] + +We learn from his books that he had been trained in classic learning, +and that the bishops of the day did not turn aside from the pagan +classics. It is quite clear that his education was not merely +theological or even exclusively Christian. Other writers he refers to, +but with Vergil he certainly was familiar. And it is difficult to +believe that he stood alone, bitterly though he complained of the +ignorance of his contemporaries. The very fact that Gregory the Great +denounced the custom of bishops studying and teaching classical grammar +and classical fables, shows that the education of those days was not +very closely confined. And of its results, seen also in a goodly list +of clerical men of letters, Gregory of Tours is perhaps the best +example. + +He was before all things a bishop; he wrote indeed, as a French writer +has happily said, "en évêque"; but he was also a statesman and a very +keen observer of life. From his pages we learn how slight had been the +impression that Christianity had yet made on the lives of barbarous +men. We see kings still wondering that God's power could be greater +than their own, yet when they were awoke to terror by the thought of +death flying in craven fear to the feet of the minister of God. The +whole history is a tale of treacheries and murders, of quarrels and of +sins among men and women pledged to God; and yet it is evident that +behind the cruelty and crime there was a new spirit at work, slowly +transforming society by the conversion of individuals. It was a +transformation {53} which was going on all over Europe; nowhere at this +time, perhaps, more conspicuously than in Gaul and in Ireland. There +are many parallels between the Celtic "age of saints" and the Merwing +age of sinners. It is difficult to learn the full truth about either; +but out of the darkness comes the conspicuous witness of individual +saints. Of one or two of these a word may be said. Most notable is +one who served both Ireland and Gaul. + +[Sidenote: S. Columban (540-615).] + +The figure of the great Irish monk Columban is a light in the darkness +of the gross and cruel Merwing age. Born about 540, he died in 615, +after a life of achievement and hardness such as was given to few of +his time. He died at Bobbio, crowned with the halo of heroism and +sanctity; but he was born in distant Ireland, and the main work of his +life had been to introduce into Gaul the monastic movement which was +led in Italy by S. Benedict. During the intellectual and moral +weakness which the barbarian invasions brought upon the West the Church +in Ireland appeared to stand forth resplendent in the security of her +faith and virtue and in the cultivation of learning. In the warm +Celtic nature the Gospel, so late introduced, had found a natural home. +The monasteries which rose all over the land, with the huts of hermits +and the cells of anchorites, were the seed-plots of religion and sacred +lore. The community life of Christian religious was naturally grafted +on to the old Druid stock. The tribes of the Goidels became the +monasteries; the head of the family was the abbat; the country looked +everywhere to the monks for leadership. Thus Armagh and Emly, Clonard, +Ennismore, Clonfert, Clonmacnoise, {54} Bangor, arose to teach and +govern the Church. Their monks lived by severe rule, based, no doubt, +upon the customs of the East, of Egypt or Syria, most strict in the +abasement of the selfish will, in penitence, in work, in prayer. "Good +is the rule of Bangor," said the ancient sequence, "strait, austere, +holy, and just." It was this rule, with the enthusiasm which marked +all classes for religion and for knowledge, which inspired S. Columban +in his great work. It was a work whose keynote was sacred study and +which found its harmony in monastic service. S. Columban was the type, +the representative _par excellence_, of the Irish monk, in his high +idealism, his thirst for self-sacrifice, his adventurous and missionary +spirit. + +[Sidenote: His work in Gaul.] + +He was trained at Bangor, but there he could not stay. He was fired +with the determination to spread the Gospel over sea, among the Gauls +who, under a veneer of Christianity, still often lived a pagan life. +There heathen superstitions still flourished, in worship of the old +gods, in veneration of trees and rocks and idols: the heathen morals +were hardly disguised. The Frankish society over which the Merwings +ruled, the Gaul of Sigebert and Chilperich and Chlothochar, was stained +with blood and lust. Apart from it altogether, it would seem, and +exercising hardly any influence, were a few holy bishops and very many +isolated monasteries, the homes of prayer and renunciation and +penitence. In the sixth century it is said that some two hundred +monasteries were founded in Gaul; but their protest against the vice of +their age was for the most part a silent one. Columban, when he +landed, was to make a more effective protest against the luxury of the +time, {55} the ineffective, unmeaning faith in the forgiveness of sins +apart from renunciation of them, which marked the semi-Christian +society into which he came. + +[Sidenote: Luxeuil and its rule.] + +Guntchramn, king of the Burgundians, gave him a settlement at Annegray, +and afterwards at Luxeuil, where there grew up, on the site of an +earlier Roman township, a monastery of stern and rigid rule. +Eventually he added a third foundation at Fontaine; and he presided +over three houses, governing according to a rule which he himself drew +up, after the examples of Clonard and Bangor. Its characteristic was +the completeness of the self-denial aimed at; its motto the thought, +"Think not of what thou art, but of what thou shalt be"; its government +an autocracy depending wholly on the abbat; its scholarship not only +that of the Bible, but of the Latin classics--of Horace and of Vergil. +Its work was twofold. In the first place, it exemplified a strict life +of obedience, self-sacrifice, and prayer, the home of which was ever +ready to minister to sick souls without; and, secondly, it supplied the +religion of the age with a penitential system--in the penitential based +upon Irish models--which was of great influence in the secular and +ecclesiastical legislation of the future. Columban was not favourably +received by all the episcopate of his new country. They were men of +different ideals, unacquainted with the culture which meant so much to +him; and their acceptance of the general Western custom of observing +Easter caused a warm dispute with the Celtic monks. To Gregory the +Great and to the Gaulish bishops Columban alike appealed on behalf of +the custom he had received; but finally, after more than thirty {56} +years' residence in Burgundy, he consented to observe the Celtic custom +in silence, without endeavour to make converts to it. A more grave +enemy at the beginning of the seventh century was the wicked young +Burgundian king, Theodoric, at whose court was his grandmother, +Brunichild. His stern denunciations of vice, his refusal to recognise +the king's unlawful children, brought on Columban the fury of the +oppressor, and he was ordered away from Luxeuil into a sort of +semi-captivity at Besançon, and thence into exile. Long he wandered +through Gaulish lands, to Nevers, down the Loire to Nantes, whence it +was said that the ship refused to bear him back to Ireland. At last, +after a meeting with Chlothochar, King of Neustria, whose rule over all +the Franks he had prophesied, he found refuge at Bregenz, by the lake +of Constance. With him were several of his monks, among them the S. +Gall whose settlement in those lands has given the name to a canton of +what is now Switzerland. The long journey of the exiled monks, with +their strange tonsure, their holiness, their alms, their works of +healing, was a veritable mission. [Sidenote: Bobbio.] The journey +eventually ended in Italy; the internecine strifes of the Merwings +which ceased for the time in the union of the whole land of the Franks +under Chlothochar, left Columban without interest in Gaul, and the +Lombard sovereigns gave him a home at Bobbio, in the Apennines, where +his monastery, aided by the holiness of Queen Theodelind, was a mighty +influence in the conversion of Lombardy from Arianism. There, in 615, +he died, the prophet of his age, the stern preacher of righteousness, +the wise student, the faithful herdsman of souls. {57} Columban is a +great figure, of the chief facts of whose life there is no doubt. It +is not so with many others. + +[Sidenote: S. Wandrille.] + +S. Patrick belongs, we do not doubt, to true history; but there is no +doubt as to the richness of the legendary element in his life. Much +the same is true of S. Wandrille. Few Englishmen, we suspect, have +heard his name; but he was a great figure in an age which Mabillon +called golden in its religious aspect, the strange, wild time of the +Merwings, the seventh century after Christ. In 648 S. Wandrille +founded the abbey of Fontenelle, in the district of Caux. He lived +till a great age, his death being probably much later than 667, to +which year it has been assigned. His career affords a very vivid +picture of the monastic life of the time, standing out amid the +darkness of crime. He rightly emphasises the holiness and wisdom and +learning of the great bishops of the Merwing age. It was their work as +leaders, missionaries, statesmen in the highest Christian sense which +the monasteries were called upon to continue and perfect. The +monasteries were the refuge and the rallying-ground of those who fought +against the secularisation of the Church at the hands of the +Gallo-Roman aristocracy. S. Wandrille, born of the great Karling +house, was a leader among leaders, statesman among statesmen, monk +among monks. He was one who passed from a great though barbaric court, +where he had been a trusted official, into the strictness of monastic +training, and then into the solitude of secluded communion with God. +Such lives as his were the great attractive forces of the seventh +century; such retreats as the valley of Fontenelle were the centres of +Christian influence of the age. + +{58} + +Between these men and Gregory of Tours it might seem that there was +little in common. But there were others whose lives combined the +interests of the two, the interests of monk and statesman and bishop. + +[Sidenote: S. Didier.] + +Another great clerk of the seventh century who must not be forgotten is +S. Didier (Desiderius) of Cahors, at one time treasurer of Chlothochar +II, and of Dagobert I., the friend of saints like Eloi (Eligius), Ouen, +and Arnulf. Through him we learn something of the religious life of +Southern Gaul. He died probably in 655, and thus he represented the +earlier part of the seventh century. His biographer gives a long list +of the holy bishops who were his contemporaries, and of the churches +and monasteries which were scattered thickly over the land. The whole +tone of his writing--earnest, biblical, spiritual, shows how the +Church, in spite of weakness and sloth and failure in some of her chief +men, yet held up a standard of right and justice, purity and devotion, +which penetrated all over the country, into castles and humble +homesteads, and profoundly affected the whole national life. And this +work was concentrated in the public eye in those good men who at court, +amid good and ill report, lived as servants of Him who went about doing +good. + +But while the Church was thus entering into all the national life, as a +sharer in its interests of every kind, it was the monastic ideal, there +can be little doubt, which ultimately exercised the greatest influence +on the Franks. The saints who won reverence were for the most part +monks. The work of Columban passed into the work of Benedict, and when +Luxeuil accepted {59} the Benedictine rule, and when the Council of +Autun in 670 declared it to be the rule for all monks everywhere, a +great step was taken towards the intimate union of Gaul with the rest +of Christendom in the things on which they had begun to set most store. + + + +[1] Bury, _History of the Later Roman Empire_, vol. i. p. 396. + +[2] Greg. Tur., ii. 38 (Migne, _Patr. Lat._, p. 236). + +[3] Bouquet, _Recueil_, tom. iv. p. 59, epist. 15: cf. Gasquet, +_L'Empire byzantin et la Monarchie franque_, p. 165. + +[4] Greg. Turon., _Hist. Franc._, x. 29 (Migne, p. 560): cf. also his +_Vitae Patrum_, 17. Hontheim, _Historia diplomatica_, i. 47. + +[5] Cf. Greg. Turon., v. 3, on the frightful cruelty of Rauching. + +[6] Vol. v. p. 262. + +[7] S. Greg., _Epp._ v. 58. + +[8] F. H. Dudden, _Gregory the Great_, ii. 69. + +[9] Cf. E. Lavisse, _Hist. de France_, tome ii. p. 219, + +[10] M. Roger, _L'Enseignement des lettres classiques d'Ausone à +Alcuin_, p. 100. + +[11] W. P. Ker, _The Dark Ages_, p. 125. + + + + +{60} + +CHAPTER V + +THE PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY THE GREAT + +[Sidenote: Gregory the Great.] + +About 540 was born in Rome, of a noble family, the great Pope Gregory, +whose work was to place the papacy at the head of Italian politics, and +to lay the lines on which papal action for many centuries was to be +based. When he was a child it might well have seemed that Italy under +a strong Gothic rule would submit to the Arian teaching which the State +supported. Theodoric endeavoured to make an united Italy; but the +Church knew that there could be no compromise on the doctrine of the +perfect Godhead of the Lord Jesus, and her attitude preserved Italy +both for Catholicism and for the Empire. Gregory was taught as a +Catholic, but he was taught also in classical grammar, composition, +rhetoric, and the writings of the great Romans--pre-Christian, as well +as of later days. He began his life's work as a Roman official, and by +the year 573 he is found as prefect of the city. A year later, it +would seem, he became a monk, giving up all his property, all his signs +of rank and wealth, all his power and place. Soon, if not at once, he +came to serve under the rule of S. Benedict, whose life he afterwards +wrote, in the monastery dedicated to S. Andrew on the Caelian hill. + +{61} + +[Sidenote: The Lombard invasion, 568.] + +It was the time when Italy was again at the feet of the barbarians. +The Lombards, the last of the Teutonic nations to settle in the West, +established at Pavia a kingdom which lasted for two centuries +(568-774), and which again rent away much of the fair Italian lands +from the unity of the Empire, leaving the Exarchate at Ravenna in a +state half isolated and wholly perilous. + +[Sidenote: The effect on Italy.] + +Gradually the onward sweep of the new barbarians, who called themselves +Arians, but were not strongly bound by any creed, swept away all power +save their own and the pope's. The destruction of Monte Cassino was +typical of one side of their work--the turning aside from Rome at +Gregory's intercession of another. The Empire struggled to retain its +hold on Italy and to govern the Western world from Ravenna, with +instructions from the New Rome; but it failed. The papacy studied to +be quiet. And the close of the sixth century showed that power would +return in the end to the city which had founded the Empire, and to the +Church which was now claiming to teach and to unite the nations. + +A period of papal insignificance was gradually ended by the progress of +new ideals for the papacy. This came about in three ways. + +[Sidenote: The popes and the exarchate.] + +1. It was the aim of each pope to set up his power against that of the +imperial exarchate, by which Italy was ruled after its reconquest by +Belisarius and Narses. Gradually, step by step, the popes claimed +cognisance of secular matters, intervened in politics, and stood forth +as a leaders in Italian affairs. The imperial administration saw the +danger, and, from time to time, made definite {62} opposition to the +papal pretensions. It endeavoured to restore the unity of the Church, +to secure the universal condemnation of the Three Chapters, but under +sanction of Ravenna rather than of Rome. Thus the exarch Smaragdus, in +587, led Severus, patriarch of Aquileia, before the Ravennate prelates +to make submission;[1] and later the emperor Maurice interfered to +present the pope compelling the patriarch to submission. But these +endeavours were futile; and the great Gregory, statesman and +administrator of the first order, made the papacy the most important +political power in the western provinces of the Empire. In 599 this +was apparent in Gregory's negotiation with the Lombard king, Agilulf. + +[Sidenote: The Benedictines in South Italy.] + +2. The papal influence was increased, and the Greek power diminished, +by the direct replacement of Eastern monks by Benedictines.[2] The +monasteries founded by Greeks during the imperial restoration, no +longer replenished from Constantinople, fell into the hands of the +great papal force founded by the greatest saint, and marshalled by the +greatest administrator of the century. + +[Sidenote: Missions from Rome.] + +3. And, lastly, the power of the papacy was at once evidenced and +increased by the revival of its missionary energy. What Pelagius II. +had stayed, Gregory the Great accomplished--conversion of England by +the mission of Augustine. Spain, too, was won from Arianism by a +personal friend of Gregory's, though without Roman intervention;[3] and +within Italy itself the {63} pope began the great work of the +conversion of the Lombards to the Catholic faith, with the full +teaching both of the Tome of Leo and of the Fifth General Council. +Gregory sent the Acts of the Council to be taught to the little child +Adalwald, the Lombard king. + +Thus in each of these three directions the progress of papal power is +connected with the influence of Gregory the Great. It is of his papacy +therefore that we must speak as the critical point in the upward +movement. Between 574 and 590 Gregory gained experience in many ways. +To a strict monastic training he added, in 579, the employment of papal +apocrisiarius (or envoy) at the imperial court at Constantinople. Here +he became intimate with the chief ecclesiastics, with Anastasius, who +had been deposed from the patriarchal see of Antioch, and who came to +regard him as "the very mouth and lantern of the Lord," with Leander of +Seville, who had come to lay the needs of the Catholic cause in Spain +before the emperors,[4] and with the imperial family. [Sidenote: +Gregory as abbat.] About 586 he returned to Rome, and became abbat of +the monastery in which he had formerly served. It was there that he +completed his commentary, or _moralia_, on the book of Job, which he +had delivered as lectures at Constantinople, an epitome of Christian +theology and morals. It was then that he saw the bright lads from +Deira, who first turned his thoughts to the conversion of England.[5] +The controversy of the Three Chapters was still lingering on in Italy, +and it was Gregory who was given the task of inducing the Istrian {64} +bishops to accept the decisions of the Fifth General Council. +[Sidenote: Gregory elected Pope, 590.] So skilful did he prove himself +as a controversialist, as an administrator, and as an adviser of +Pelagius, that he was elected with enthusiasm to succeed that pope in +590. + +[Sidenote: The pastoral rule.] + +His ideal of the pastoral office is set forth in that golden book, the +_Liber regulae pastoralis_, in which he describes the life of a true +shepherd of the Christian people. A life of absolute purity and +devotion as therein sketched was that which made Gregory's pontificate +notable for its wisdom, its discretion, and its wise governance. The +pastoral office to him was one even more of the cure of souls than of +government, and that idea is shown in all his letters. He wrote to +kings, abbats, individual Christians, with the spirit of direct +encouragement and admonition, as a wise teacher dispensing instruction. +In the Lateran he lived, as he had lived on the Caelian hill, a life of +strict ascetic rule, wearing still his monastic dress, and living in +common with his clerks and monks. [Sidenote: Gregory's life.] John the +Deacon, who wrote his biography nearly two centuries after his death, +says that "the Roman Church in Gregory's time was like that Church as +it was under the rule of the apostles, or the Church of Alexandria when +S. Mark was its bishop." Charity was by him developed into a great +scheme of benevolence organised with the minutest care and recorded in +detail in books that were a model to later times. The political and +ecclesiastical cares of the papacy never prevented Gregory from what he +considered the chiefest duty of his office, that of preaching. His +sermons, which were as famous as those of Chrysostom in Constantinople, +were {65} direct in their appeal, vivid in their illustration, terse +and epigrammatic in their expression. Paul the Deacon sums up his work +by saying that he was entirely engrossed in gaining souls. + +[Sidenote: His statesmanship.] + +At the same time he was a statesman as well as a bishop. He governed +the "patrimony of S. Peter," lands scattered over Italy and even Gaul, +with a careful supervision, entering into minute matters as well as +general policy, freeing slaves, caring for the cultivation of land; and +the intimate knowledge which he thus acquired is shown in his +_Dialogues_, which throw a flood of light on the life, secular as well +as ecclesiastical, of his age. Outside these districts, in purely +spiritual matters, he showed a constant vigilance. Everywhere what was +needed seemed to be known to the pope, and everywhere he was planning +to remedy evils, to build up the Church, to reform abuses, to convert +heretics, to supply new bishops, to encourage the growth of +monasticism. This activity extended not only to what were called the +suburbicarian provinces but to distant lands, such as Spain, Illyricum, +Gaul, Africa, as well as to Northern Italy. Something has been said of +his relations in Gaul, and remains to be said of his intervention in +Africa. His relations with Constantinople may be most significantly +illustrated by the dispute as to the title of the patriarch of New Rome. + +[Sidenote: The title "Universal Bishop."] + +In 588 the acts of a synod of Constantinople were declared by Pelagius +II. to be invalid be-cause the patriarch used the title _oikoumenikos_ +or _universalis_. Just as at the Council of Chalcedon the Alexandrine +representatives styled the pope "oecumenical archbishop and {66} +patriarch of the Great Rome," so the patriarch of Constantinople used +the style and dignity of "oecumenical patriarch." It was one that had +been employed at least since 518, and it seems to have been commonly +used. From the use of this title came grave controversy. In 588 the +acts of a synod of Constantinople were declared by Pelagius II. to be +invalid because the patriarch used the title _oikoumenikos_ or +_universalis_: and in 595 Gregory the Great strongly condemned the use +of such a phrase, at the same time repudiating its use for his own see. +"The Council of Chalcedon," he wrote, "offered the title of universal +to the Roman pontiff, but he refused to accept it, lest he should seem +thereby to derogate from the honour of his brother bishops." [6] And +to the emperor Maurice he said still more distinctly, "I confidently +affirm that whosoever calls himself _sacerdos universalis_, or desires +to be so called by others, is in his pride a forerunner of Antichrist." +But the patriarchs continued to use the title, and before a century had +elapsed, the popes followed their example. + +[Sidenote: The province of Illyricum.] + +The relation of Gregory with the Church of Illyricum gives opportunity +for mention of that anomalous patriarchate. Somewhat apart from the +general Church history of the early Middle Age stands the province of +Illyricum. Its ecclesiastical status was even more ambiguous than its +political. On its borders, or within its limits, the patriarchate of +Rome touched that of {67} Constantinople, and the claims of the two, +sometimes at least conflicting, were complicated by the privileges +given by Justinian to his birthplace. In the tenth century it was +undoubtedly under the jurisdiction of Constantinople, in the seventh it +appears to have been under that of Rome. In the Councils at +Constantinople in 681 and 692, the Illyrian bishops appeared as +attached exclusively to Rome; and so, it has been noticed, did those of +Crete, Thessalonica, and Corinth. In the sixth century there are +instances, though not numerous ones, of papal interference, in the +nature of the exercise of judicial power, in the province of Illyricum; +and at the end of the century Gregory the Great was especially active +in his correspondence with the bishops. It would seem from one of his +letters that he counted even Justiniana Prima as under his authority, +though the intention of the emperor was certainly not to make it so. +This edict--for so it practically is--is interesting also because it +appears to deal with all the ecclesiastical provinces of the empire +which depended immediately on the Roman patriarchate. It omits Africa, +and the fact that the popes did not send the pallium to the Bishop of +Carthage (the North African Metropolitan) shows that the popes did not +claim to confer jurisdiction, but merely to recognise a special +relationship, by this act.[7] On the other hand, it is to be observed +that the code of Justinian contains a law of Theodosius II. which +places the Illyrian bishopric under the jurisdiction of the patriarch +of Constantinople. But this law is beset with many difficulties, and +it has been {68} argued that it was merely the expression of a +temporary rupture between the Empire and the papacy, which in the +schism of 484-519 was gravely accentuated; and there are grounds for +thinking that the bishops of Thessalonica exercised authority in +Illyricum as delegates of Rome--yet rather from their political than +their ecclesiastical associations. However this may be, there can be +no doubt that the position given by Justinian to the city of his birth +was intended to be practically patriarchal, and that the Bishop of +Thessalonica, whether vicar or not of the pope, was practically +ignored. The whole question is indeed a notable example of the +difficulties consequent on the close connection between religion and +politics in the sixth century. + +[Sidenote: Gregory's claim to jurisdiction.] + +Gregory's action was that of a wise but masterful ruler, and it seems +to have been based on the view that all the bishops of the West were +directly under his jurisdiction. Similar cases of interference are to +be found in regard to the churches of Istria, and to the great sees of +Ravenna and Milan. In connection may be seen the claim to grant the +_pallium_, a mark of honour which seems to have been gradually passing +into a sign of jurisdiction.[8] Gregory claimed for the successors of +S. Peter something like an apostolic authority, and he at least +suggested a theory of the papal office which was capable of almost +indefinite extension. Politic and religion here met together. When +Airulf in 592 appeared before Rome the pope made a separate treaty with +him: he stepped into the {69} place of ruler of imperial Italy when he +disregarded the exarch and even the emperor, and entered into +negotiations on his own account; and up to the time of his death he was +practically responsible for the rearrangement of Italy. His letter to +the great Lombard queen, Theodelind, of whom memorials survive to-day +at Monza, show how the two sides of his position mingled; how he was +statesman and diplomatist as well as priest and missionary. + +[Sidenote: His missions.] + +In his missionary interests he passed far outside Italy. The most +conspicuous example is the conversion of the English, which he had in +earlier years been most anxious himself to undertake, and which was +begun in 597 under his direction by Augustine; but it is not the only +one. In Northern Italy, in Africa and Gaul, Gregory was active in +seeking the conversion of pagans and heretics, and in endeavouring by +gentle measures to lead the Jews to Christ. + +[Sidenote: His relations on monasticism.] + +More important still in the history of the papacy was Gregory's work in +spreading, organising, and systematising monasticism. He insisted on +the strict observance of the rule of S. Benedict. Not only did he +reform, but he very greatly strengthened, the monasticism of Italy. +Conspicuously did his _privilegia_, granting or recognising a +considerable freedom from episcopal control, start the monks on a new +advance. While not exempting them from the rule of bishops, he made it +possible for future popes to win support for themselves by granting +such exemptions. + +But Gregory's fame does not lie wholly in any of these spheres of +activity. Great as a ruler and an {70} organiser, he was known also to +later ages, as to his own, for his theological writings. He was not +only a practical ruler and practical minister of Christ; he was also a +leader in Christian learning--the last, as men have come to call him, +of the four great Latin doctors. + +[Sidenote: His relations to learning.] + +The work of Gregory the Great was here as elsewhere far-reaching, but +rather an organising than a formative one. Classical studies, in which +he had been trained, he put aside; and when he did his utmost to spread +monasteries over the length and breadth of Italy, it was not at all of +learning in a secular sense, but wholly of religion that he thought. +Thus his own theology is primarily a biblical theology. The Bible was +to him the word of God. Like the author of the _Imitatio Christi_ in +later days, he did not care to argue as to the authorship of the +different books but to profit by what was in them. He was a great +expositor, a great preacher, and that always with a practical aim. As +he said, "We hear the doctrine words of God if we act on them." +[Sidenote: His doctrine of the church.] In his more general theological +writings he sums up, with the precision of a master, not any new +doctrines or advances in speculation, but the theology of the Church of +his age. And he is able thus to emphasise the crying need of unity in +words which state the claim of the Church for the conversion of the +pagans and heretics of his day: "Sancta autem universalis ecclesia +praedicat Deum veraciter nisi intra se coli non posse, asserens quod +omnes qui extra ipsam sunt minime salvabuntur." Outside this there was +no hope of spiritual health. And this doctrine he based {71} on the +unity of Christ's life with that of the Church: "Our Redeemer showed +that He is one person with the Church, which He took to be His own"; +and thus it was that "The Churches of the true faith set in all parts +of the world make one Catholic Church, in which all the faithful who +are right minded toward God live in concord." Thus he was, in theology +as in ecclesiastical politics, a concentrating and clarifying force; +and when, on March 12th, 604, he passed to his rest, he had laid firm +the foundations of the medieval papacy, and in hardly less degree those +of the theological system of the medieval Church. + + + +[1] _Paulus Diaconus_, iii, 26, ed. Waitz, pp. 105-7. + +[2] Diehl, _op. cit._, gives a list, p. 256. + +[3] Joannes Biclarensis, _Chronicon_ (Migne, _Patr. Lat._, lxxii. 868). + +[4] See below, p. 76. + +[5] The _Vita Antiquissima_ (S. Gall. MS.), by a monk of Whitby, does +not represent them as slaves (pp. 13, 14), ed. Gasquet. + +[6] S. Greg., _Epp._, v. 18. The term _sacerdos_ is commonly used for +bishop at this date. Thus Gregory of Tours calls a bishop _sacerdos_ +during this life, _antistes_ after his death. S. Gregory must not, +however, be understood as disclaiming a papal supremacy. + +[7] The letter is Epp. Greg. (Jaffé), 1497; cf. letter to Syagrius, +Bishop of Autun. + +[8] It does not seem, from Bede i. 39, that, as has been asserted, it +was always necessary to apply for it. + + + + +{72} + +CHAPTER VI + +CONTROVERSY AND THE CATHOLICISM OF SPAIN + +[Sidenote: Pelagian controversy of sixth century.] + +Controversies which belong to this period are those connected with +semi-Pelagianism and with Adoptianism. Faustus, Bishop of Riez, who +died almost at the end of the fifth century, held views which were +opposed to those of S. Augustine as well as to those of Pelagius. His +writings were attacked by many, among them by Caesarius, Bishop of +Arles from 501 to 542, who caused a synod at Orange in 529 to condemn +semi-Pelagian opinions, in a statement which declared that sufficient +grace is given to all the baptized (an expression which had an +important history centuries later). The writings of Faustus were the +subject of much discussion also at Constantinople, and they were +condemned by several of the popes. + +Of a wholly different kind was the heresy originating in the East, and +probably revived through the controversy of the Three Chapters, which +came into prominence in the eighth century in Spain. It has been +thought that the exigencies of anti-Muhammadan controversy had +something to do with the importance which the question now assumed. +The Spanish Church had a long record, in the Councils of Toledo, of +orthodox and {73} strenuous adherence to the Christian faith; but it +showed also a strongly nationalistic spirit, and it was natural that +much should be developed, through antagonism to Muhammadanism and Arian +influences, which would fall into danger of extreme reaction on the one +side or of unwise concession on the other. "Spanish Christianity," it +has been said in a phrase which has become classical, "was a perpetual +crusade." In Spain the Christian contest against sin and unbelief +became more often, or more constantly, than elsewhere an actual +physical struggle against those who distorted or denied the faith of +the Church and those who trampled it under foot. This is, of course, +most true of the ages which followed the Moorish invasions, of the long +strife between Christians and Moors, of the times and the thoughts +which gave birth to the immortal literature of the peninsula, to +Calderon and Cervantes, to Lope de Vega and S. Teresa of Jesus. But it +is also true, though in a less degree, of the earlier times--of those +which extended from the introduction of Christianity--from the +missionary visit, it may be, of S. Paul himself--down to the +destruction of the monarchy of the Wisigoths in 711. Spain was in 589 +won to Catholicism by the conversion of its king Reccared. But this +was the end of a long and critical period, for from the acceptance of +Arianism by Remismond in 466 the country was under the rule of princes +who were pledged to that error. + +The Wisigoths identified their heresy with their nationality. The +general decadence of the Empire spread to Spain. The social system was +in a state of dissolution. The canons of the Councils show a {74} +picture of life which is appalling in its corruption, but at the same +time are evidence of the earnest efforts of the Church for amendment. +[Sidenote: The conversion of Spain.] They show how Christianity had +penetrated into the country districts, and how eager were the bishops +of the sixth century to do their spiritual duty far and wide. Side by +side with the canons of Church Councils is the great Fuero Jusgo (in +process of compilation from the fifth to the eighth century) in +witnessing to the efforts for a better state of things. During the +rule of the West Goths, persecution of Catholics had been frequent, but +when Amalric married Hlothild, daughter of Chlodowech, promising her +tolerance of her religion, a way was opened for a new life to +orthodoxy. But Amalric broke his promise, and an invasion of Spain by +the Franks followed. In the reign of the Arian Theudis (531-48) there +was still more decisive intervention. Childebert and Chlothochar +invaded Spain and besieged Saragossa, but were driven back; and it was +not till Athanagild called in the armies of Justinian that the +confusion and division of Spanish life; between orthodox and heretic, +Roman and Goth, was healed in the slightest degree. The year 560 +witnessed the conversion of King Mir by Martin of Braga, and three +years later, and again in 572, Councils at Braga witnessed to the +Catholic faith of the Church. But it was an era of fightings and +fears. The Roman armies of the Eastern Empire held the cities of the +coast long after Athanagild had come to be recognised as king of all +the Goths in Spain, but gradually unity was springing up under the rule +of that able chieftain. He died in 568, having married his daughters, +Brunichild and Galswintha, to {75} the Frankish kings, Sigebert and +Chilperich. His successor Leovigild established a sway over all the +Wisigothic possessions and ruled from Nîmes to Seville. The wedding of +Brunichild, though sung by Venantius Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers, +was but the beginning of crime and of sorrows; yet it led indirectly to +the conversion of Spain. Brunichild's daughter Ingunthis married +Leovigild's son Hermenigild. She was bitterly persecuted as a Catholic +when she came to Spain, but she clung to her faith with the devotion of +a martyr, and she won over her husband. [Sidenote: Hermenigild.] At +Seville Hermenigild was for some time acting as king, under his father, +and when he was threatened on his conversion with the loss of all he +had he took up arms. After a long contest he was subdued, and he +underwent a long persecution ending eventually in death when he refused +to receive communion at the hands of an Arian bishop on Easter Day, +585.[1] Ingunthis escaped to Constantinople. Then till 587 Arianism +reigned supreme in Spain, and John of Biclaro, Catholic bishop of +Gerona, writes as one crying in a wilderness. But Catholicism in Spain +was scotched, not killed, and when Reccared (586-601) called Arian and +Catholic bishop alike before him, and after two years definitely +accepted orthodoxy under the influence of his uncle Leander, Archbishop +of Seville, it was not long before the whole of Council of Spain +accepted his decision and followed his example. [Sidenote: Council of +Toledo, 589.] This was in 587, and an {76} inscription shows that the +cathedral church of Toledo was then consecrated in the Catholic faith. +With the Council of Toledo (third synod of Toledo), 589,[2] which +accepted the first four General Councils and the Procession of the Holy +Ghost from the Father and the Son, Spain returned to the unity of the +faith. From Reccared's reign, too, dates a civilisation distinctly +traceable to Constantinople and a recognition of absolute equality +between the different races in the peninsula. And to that golden age +belong also the great saint and preacher, Leander, who died in 603, and +S. Isidore of Seville, the encyclopaedic writer, who died thirty-three +years later. S. Leander had at Constantinople come to know Gregory the +Great. He was the chief theologian of Spain in his age, and his words +welcomed and ratified the conversion. Thus the modern history of Spain +and her most Catholic kings begins. The importance of the period +culminates in the compilation, almost final, of the great Wisigothic +Code, the Fuero Jusgo, at once civil and ecclesiastical, the result of +a union between Church and State even more perfect than that +represented in the English Witenagemot. + +The concentration of Spanish interests on theological questions led +before long to new developments, but meanwhile it helped the happy +tendency to unity which Recceswinth (652-72) confirmed by allowing the +intermarriage which had long been forbidden--Recceswinth, whose +splendid gold crown, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, still remains +amongst the most striking memorials of the Christian art of the seventh +century. Wamba, his successor, established his supremacy in {77} +Septimania by the capture of Nîmes from a traitorous vicegerent, and +lived to show the sincerity with which the Wisigoths had accepted the +idea of the sanctity of vows to God. During an illness, when he was +supposed to be incapable of recovery and remained in a stupor, he +received the tonsure that he might die as a monk: when he recovered he +refused to return to the world and abdicated the throne. His +successors were equally strict, it would seem, in obedience to the +Church's laws, often unintelligently interpreted. + +[Sidenote: Persecution of the Jews.] + +To these days, too, belongs one of the first and darkest blots on the +popular Christianity of the Middle Age--the persecution of Jews. The +Jews of Spain had long been restless under a government which was so +strongly ecclesiastical in its sympathies: persecuting laws oppressed +them, and they could hardly even in secret practise their religion. +Plots were constant and natural, and at last it is said that the Jews +incited the Saracens, who had overthrown the imperial power in Africa, +to cross the sea and strip from the weak Wisigoths of Spain the last +remains of their power. In 695 a Council at Toledo (the sixteenth) +determined when the plot was discovered wholly to destroy the Judaic +faith in their land. It was ordered that all grown-up Jews should be +made slaves, and all children brought up as Christians. This was the +very year of the storming of Carthage.[3] It is not to be wondered at +that the Jews gave every help they could to the infidels who, before +long, attacked the kingdom of the Wisigoths. Within twenty years +Spain, up to the very mountains of the {78} Basque land and of the +Asturias, was conquered by the followers of Muhammad, and silence fell +upon the country which had appeared to be the home of an abiding Church. + +The splendid edifice which had seemed to be reared on the solid +foundations of religion and law was shattered by the repeated blows of +the Arab invasion. Why was this? The chroniclers gave answer without +hesitation--"Peccatis exigentibus, victi sunt Christiani." The Goths +(as they proudly called themselves) "have so offended Thee, O Lord, by +their pride, that they deserved a fall by the sword of the Saracen." +It was, in truth, as the great Sancho of Navarre declared in his +charter of foundation to the abbey of Albelda, "Our ancestors sinned +without scruple; they daily transgressed the commandments of the Lord, +and so to punish them as they had deserved and to make them turn to +Him, the Most Just of Judges delivered them to a barbarous people." In +truth, the mass of the land had never been converted to Catholic +Christianity at all, and a heretical society was powerless against +Moslem sincerity and swords. Only in the north was Catholicism +supreme, and thence came in later days the reconquest. But Catholics +lived on all over Spain under their conquerors in comparative peace. + +[Sidenote: The Adoptianist heresy.] + +The Church survived. Persecution made its life strong and vigorous, +and that life found outlet in new varieties of theological expression. +Elipandus, Archbishop of Toledo, within seventy years of the Saracen +conquest, became known outside his own land, with Felix, bishop of the +northern see of Urgel, for his advocacy of the statement that {79} +Christ's Sonship was that of adoption. Asserting the two Natures and +the two Wills of the Lord, the Adoptianists regarded Christ as only in +His divine nature truly the Son of God. Eager to assert the full +Humanity and to rebut the Muhammadan charges of idolatry, the Spanish +theologians taught that "one and the same Person was in two aspects a +Son, in virtue of His relation to two different natures," and that "the +Divine Son of God, begotten from all eternity of the Father, not by +adoption but by birth, not by grace but by nature--that He, when made +of a woman, made under the law, was Son of God, not by origin but by +adoption, not by nature but by grace." [4] It was an attempt to carry +further the decisions adopted at Chalcedon and to account for the +origin of the two Natures, their completeness in distinction, and their +union together. + +[Sidenote: Its condemnation.] + +Adoptianism was condemned at Regensburg in 792, and at Frankfort in +794, and, under the influence of Alcuin, Felix made submission at +Aachen in 799. Elipandus, safe among the Saracens, held out in his +opinions. It would seem that the discussion represented the +eighth-century expression of the age-long conflict between logic and +mystery, the desire for exact definition, and the sense of something +beyond human understanding in what belongs to the nature of God, and to +the divine action in the Incarnation, the union of God and man. + +[Sidenote: Adoptianism in the East.] + +Adoptianism had in the East a greater success and a longer history than +in the West. In Syria and Armenia vast numbers joined the sect +founded, or revived, by one {80} Constantine in the middle of the +seventh century. He lived near Samosata, and probably inherited the +teaching of the earlier heretic, Paul of that place. The sect came to +be called Paulicians. They rejected the real divinity of Christ and +placed themselves in opposition to very much else which belonged to the +earliest Christian tradition, as in their rejection of the Old +Testament and the perpetual virginity of the Lord's Mother. Armenia +became the headquarters of a large and prosperous sect, towards which +emperors alternately were persecuting or favourable. Nicephorus I. +(802-11) was friendly to it, but his successor put it down with +relentless savagery; and after it had led to a formidable rebellion, +its votaries were finally suppressed by the generals of Basil the +Macedonian, 871. But its tenets lingered on in Thrace, whither it had +been transported when some of its disciples were expropriated by +Constantine V., till the eighteenth century, and still later in Armenia +itself. The authoritative book of the Armenian Paulicians, the _Key of +Truth_, has been thought to have been completed by one Smbat, minister +of Chosroes of Persia, whose date is 800-50,[5] but the history of +those days is certainly very confused and may have been distorted. + +The intervention of Charles the Great in this controversy is but one +illustration of the importance of theological questions in the outlook +of the reviver of the Empire in the Catholic West. Other theological +doctrines had a like interest in his view and in that of his house; and +in some of them also Spain was concerned. At Toledo, in 589, Reccared, +when he accepted the Catholic creed, had inserted his belief in {81} +the double procession of the Holy Ghost. This was again discussed in +767 at Gentilly, and at Aachen in 809. + +[Sidenote: The "Veni Creator."] + +Alcuin, as in the Adoptianist controversy, played a great part in +stating the view which the West was coming generally to accept. Leo +III. was consulted, and advised that no addition should be made to the +Creed for fear of widening the breach with the East. It would seem +that the great hymn, "Veni Creator Spiritus," is the expression of this +doctrine by the ninth century, and is the work of Rabanus Maurus, a +monk of the famous house of Fulda. + +[Sidenote: The "Quicunque Vult."] + +While this sums up in devotional form the Christian thought as to one +of the mysteries of faith, the hymn of a character more distinctly +credal, called "Quicunque vult," enshrines it in another aspect. The +"Quicunque" has, indeed, a much earlier history. In 633 the Fourth +Council of Toledo quoted many of its clauses. Leodgar, Bishop of Autun +(663-78), directed his clergy to learn it by heart; and it became a not +uncommon profession of faith to be made by a bishop at his +consecration. At the end of the eighth century it seems to have been +widely recited in church. But it certainly goes back very much +earlier. Caesarius, Bishop of Arles (501-43), the opponent of +semi-Pelagianism, has been proved to have used the creed continually: +it was quoted also by his rival, Avitus, Bishop of Vienne (490-523), +and it is probable that it represents the teaching of the great abbey +of Lerins in the controversies of the beginning of the sixth century. +It was decisively a Western creed: it {82} never came into the offices +of the orthodox Church of the East. In the West it became a popular +means of instruction and a popular confession of the joy of Christian +faith. It was sung in procession, recited in the services, meditated +on by the clergy. It formed a model of orthodox expression of belief +in days of confusion and controversy. + + + +[1] This story is discredited by a recent writer, Mr. Dudden, _S. +Gregory the Great_, i. 407 (following F. Görres), but I see no reason +to doubt that S. Gregory was rightly informed, and I accept what Dr. +Hodgkin (_Eng. Hist. Rev._, ii. 216) states as the facts. + +[2] Mansi, _Concilia_, ix. 977-1010. + +[3] See below, p. 109. + +[4] See B. L. Ottley, _Doctrine of the Incarnation_, ii. 152-4. + +[5] See F. C. Conybeare, _The Key of Truth_, p. 67. + + + + +{83} + +CHAPTER VII + +THE CHURCH AND THE MONOTHELITE CONTROVERSY, 628-725 + +The years of peace that succeeded the death of Justinian ended with the +triumph of the Empire over barbarian foes. Christian philosophy had +seemed to be quiescent, but there were questions which thoughtful men +must have seen would soon come up for solution as the inevitable result +of the Monophysite controversy. Thought in the active Eastern minds +could not stand still; and the West too, as the barbarians were +conquered, assimilated, and converted by the Church, began to enter +keenly into the theology of the East. In Gaul and Britain, as well as +at Milan and at Rome, there arose critics and historians who could +carry on the work of Leo the Great and of the line of chroniclers who +had told in Greek the story of the Church's life. A word at first as +to the general interest of the period. + +[Sidenote: The East in the seventh century.] + +With the victory of Heraclius over the Persians in 628, it might seem +that heresy would be driven from its home in the distant East, that +Nestorianism would die out, and that Sergius I., Patriarch of +Constantinople (610-38), would be able to win back the Monophysites to +the unity of the Church. But this happy result was {84} prevented by +the spread of the Muhammadan conquest, beginning even before the death +of the Prophet in 632, and by the rise of a new heresy--the +Monothelitism which gave to the two Natures of our Lord but a single +will. As the Mussulman arms spread the faith of Islam, the Jacobite +Church of Syria seemed almost to welcome it as a refuge from the +dominance of orthodoxy. In Egypt the Coptic (Monophysite) patriarch +entered Alexandria in triumph with the Muslim force when the Orthodox +patriarch fled with the imperial troops. The Melkite (Orthodox) body +was, however, not wholly unprotected by the conquerors, and at +Jerusalem it was allowed to remain in possession, though at Antioch +there was for long no Orthodox patriarch at all. Of the Monothelite +heresy--condemned at the Sixth General Council, 681--we may for the +moment defer to speak, except to note that in the political +disturbances that swept over the Lebanon the heresy took root there, +under one John Maron, and founded the division, religious and +political, of the Maronites, which still endures. + +[Sidenote: Missionary work.] + +But while the Church was thus suffering in various ways, the Byzantine +missionary energy was far from exhausted. Heraclius sought to convert +the barbarian tribes far and near, the Croats and Serbs, the Bulgarians +and Slavs, and the Church of Constantinople appointed an official to +inspect the districts on the frontiers and to examine candidates for +baptism. Equally he sought to reunite the Armenians to the Orthodox +Church; but after interviews and theological discussions the opponents +of the Greeks triumphed, and the catholicos Nerses {85} III. in 645 +anathematised the Council of Chalcedon--a declaration which, after a +momentary reunion, was renewed early in the eighth century. The +Armenian Church thus remained formally Monophysite. While the orthodox +emperors were thus unsuccessful in reuniting the separated Churches, +the patriarchate of Constantinople was winning a strength within which +she had lost without; the area of her confined jurisdiction was +straitly ruled, and 356 bishoprics towards the end of the seventh +century acknowledged the patriarchal throne. The emperors and the +Church alike recognised no supremacy of Rome--a fact which was +emphasised by the decree of 666 which declared Ravenna free from papal +jurisdiction, and in the condemnation of Honorius by the Sixth General +Council. [Sidenote: The Trullian Council, 691.] So, again, the Council +at Constantinople called _in Trullo_ (691), directed canon after canon +against the customs and claims of the Roman Church. This independence +was emphasised by the compilation of a _Syntagma_, or collection of +canons, parallel to the much later collection in the West. These +canons, it may be remarked in passing, throw most interesting light on +the customs of the Greek Church--on clerical marriage, for example, +which was allowed to be dissolved only by the clergy of the recently +converted barbarous tribes, among whom a return to celibate life might +sometimes be advisable. + +So much for the general characteristics of the period 628-725. We may +now turn to the critical point of theology on which the ecclesiastical +history of the time turned. + +Monophysitism was not dead in spite of Chalcedon {86} or +Constantinople. [Sidenote: The Aphthartodocetic controversy.] The +Fourth and Fifth General Council had still left points of debate for +those within as well as those without the Church. In the form which it +was asserted that Justinian had himself come to accept, it asserted the +Lord's Body to be incapable of sin or corruption, and only subject to +suffering by the voluntary exercise of His divine power. While the +accusations against Justinian in John of Nikiu and Nicetius of Trier +are contradictory to each other, and make it clear that he did not +accept the opinion of Julian of Halicarnassus, they may serve to +illustrate the confusion of thought with which these subjects were +handled. The followers of Julian, whose view has here been summarised, +were nicknamed by those of the famous monk Severus (Monophysite +patriarch of Antioch in 513), "Aphthartodocetes" or "Phantasiasts." +Those who followed Severus, while they were prepared to recognise two +natures in Christ, yet dwelt strongly on their union, and especially on +the "one energy" of the Lord's will. From this a further step was to +be taken. There were some who believed in the transformation of the +human nature into the Divine, and who came to be called _Aktistetes_, +and, in a still further extreme, _Adiaphorites_, when they denied any +distinction between the Godhead and manhood in Christ. The error at +the root of all these contentions seems to have been the dwelling upon +the physical rather than the spiritual effects of the Divine power +revealed in the incarnation of the Son of God. Theologians arose to +controvert it and to develop the theological decisions of the Council; +chief among them was Leontius of Byzantium, a philosophic apologist of +real {87} eminence, whose work was taken up later and completed by John +of Damascus. + +[Sidenote: The Emperor Heraclius as a theologian.] + +It is not to be wondered at that a great soldier, filled with a deep +sense of the necessity of uniting the Empire against its foes, should +be led to accept a theological development which seemed to offer the +hope of a reconciliation. From 622, under the advice of Sergius, as a +Patriarch of Constantinople, a basis of reunion was sought in the +formula that though the Lord had two Natures He had yet only "one +theandric energy." The emperor Heraclius turned unwisely from the army +to the Church, which, like many able military men, he thought might be +coerced or led into opinions which seemed to him to be common sense. +For a time it appeared that he would succeed: three patriarchs of +Constantinople, one of Antioch, one of Alexandria, one of Rome +(Honorius I.), were in agreement, if a little tepidly, favourable to +the phrase. Honorius definitely stated that he confessed "_one_ WILL +of our Lord Jesus Christ." [1] [Sidenote: The Ecthesis, 638.] Only +Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem (634), held out. In 638 the emperor +issued the Ecthesis,[2] or Confession of Faith, drawn up by the +patriarch Sergius. It professed adherence to orthodox definitions, and +continued, "Wherefore, following the Holy Fathers in all things, and in +this, we confess one Will of our Lord Jesus Christ, the very God, so +that never was there a separate Will of His Body animated {88} by the +intellect, nor one of contrary motion natural to itself, but one which +operated when and how and to what purpose He who is God the Word +willed." This statement was repudiated by Rome, and in 649 condemned +in a synod at the Lateran under Martin I., who ended his days in exile +for disobeying the imperial power. The quarrel became one between Rome +and Constantinople, at a time when the popes had recovered their +orthodoxy and the patriarchs were subservient to impetuous emperors. +[Sidenote: The Type, 648.] In 648 the _Type_ issued from New Rome as an +attempt at pacification; but the Old Rome rejected it, with anathemas. +In 680 a synod, under Pope Agatho, at which S. Wilfrith of Ripon was +present and signed for the north part of Britain, rejected as heresy +the doctrine of the two wills, and local councils (as at Hatfield six +months later) agreed with the rejection. + +[Sidenote: Sixth General Council, 681.] + +All this led on to the summoning of the Sixth General Council at +Constantinople, which sat from November, 680, to September, 681. The +temporary schism between Rome and Constantinople was healed. Agatho's +letter condemning the doctrine of the two wills was accepted; anathema +was laid upon those, dead or alive, who had accepted the heresy, and +among them Pope Honorius I., a condemnation repeated by many a pope +after him. The Council declared that the Lord possesses two wills, +"for just as the Flesh is, and is said to be, the Flesh of the Word, so +also His human will is, and is said to be, proper [natural] to the +Word." And also, "just as His holy and spotless ensouled flesh was +taken into God yet not annihilated, so His human will though taken into +God was not annihilated." Again, as so often in {89} the days of +Justinian, the words of S. Leo were appropriated for a definition of +the orthodox belief. The Council was attended by 289 bishops, the +emperor occupying the position which had been common since Nicaea, +while on his right were the bishops of the East, on his left those of +the West. Rightly was the doctrine of one will condemned as contrary +to the Chalcedonian assertion of the Lord's perfect Humanity; and the +condemnation was readily accepted by the Church. Only in Syria, among +the Maronites (followers of John Maro), did Monothelitism linger on for +centuries, till they became absorbed in the Latin Church. + +[Sidenote: The Monothelite controversy.] + +The chief opponent of Monothelitism was Maximus, whose _Disputation +with Pyrrhus_ remains the most important survival of the controversy. +It is a subtle and rational exposition of the orthodox doctrine. The +original phrase, _theandric energy_, from which the Ecthesis of +Heraclius started, seems to have been drawn from the unknown Platonist +who came to be called Dionysius the Areopagite, and whose writings had +a continued influence in the Middle Age. But to all reasonable +thinkers the main question was decided. The truth of Christ's human +nature was an essential verity of the faith, and to deny His human will +would make His nature incomplete, and His goodness in any true sense +impossible. The difficulty would arise again when Luther and Calvin +carried further the dispute concerning the nature of the human will, +but as regards her Lord the Church had come to a decision based upon +her knowledge of His divine life on earth. + +The Council _in Trullo_ (named from the {90} dome-shaped place of +meeting), 691, called also _Quini-sextan_, summoned by Justinian II. +(685-711), was not Oecumenical, and was disciplinary rather than +dogmatic. It condemned many Roman practices, and asserted definitely +that the patriarchal throne of Constantinople should enjoy the same +privileges as that of Old Rome, should in all ecclesiastical matters be +entitled to the same pre-eminence, and should rank as second after it. +The _Liber Pontificalis_, the Roman Church history of the time, states +that the pope's legates gave assent to the decrees, which is unlikely. +But this one was no more than the repetition of many previous +statements, as emphatic in the sixth as in the seventh century. The +position was simply that claimed by the patriarch John when he signed +the formula of Catholic faith drawn up and proposed by Pope Hormisdas. +[Sidenote: Repudiation of Roman claims.] He insisted on prefixing a +repudiation of the Roman claim to supremacy over Christendom. "I +hold," he declared, "the most holy Churches of the Elder and the New +Rome to be one. I define the See of the Apostle Peter and this of the +Imperial City to be one See." By this it is clear that he designed to +assert both the unity of the Church--which, as it has always seemed to +the East, was threatened by the demand of the Roman obedience--and the +equality of the two great churches of the Old and the New Rome. + +Justinian I. spoke of Constantinople as "head of all the churches" +("omnium ecclesiarum caput"), but it is clear that he did not regard +this position as conferring any supreme or exclusive jurisdiction. It +was a title of honour which he would use of other patriarchates; and +that he did not consider the power {91} of the patriarchates as +unalterable is seen by his attempted creation of the new jurisdiction +of his own city Justiniana Prima (Tauresium), a few miles south of +Sofia, over a large district. To the archbishop whom he here created +he gave authority to "hold the place of the apostolic throne" within +his province.[3] + +[Sidenote: Independent attitude of Constantinople.] + +This position, then, of the Byzantine patriarchate, as independent of +the other patriarchates, and equal to that of the older Rome, but +occupying in point of honour a secondary position, was recognised by +Church and State alike; and it was this that the Council _in Trullo_ +reaffirmed. In another point it was divergent from Rome--that of the +marriage of the clergy. Subdeacons, deacons, and priests were +forbidden to marry, but those married before ordination were equally +forbidden, under pain of excommunication, to separate from their wives. + +An attempt of the mad emperor Justinian II. to enforce the acceptance +of the decrees by Pope Sergius I. was a complete failure. Popes were +becoming much stronger in Italy than was the distant Caesar. + +Rome was becoming independent of emperor and of exarch alike. In 711 +the pope Constantine visited Constantinople as an honoured guest, where +he was treated with diplomatic politeness, and where, possibly after +they had undergone modification, he signed the {92} decrees of the +Trullian Council. On this point the papal biographer is silent, but he +asserts with enthusiasm the reverence of the emperor for the pope and +the latter's regret when the bloody tyrant met the reward of his crimes +a few weeks later. With this the ecclesiastical interest of Eastern +history is for a time in the background. + + + +[1] This is spoken of by a recent Roman Catholic writer as "la +déplorable réponse de Honorius, ce monument de bonne foi surprise et de +naïveté confiante." It does not support the notion of papal +infallibility. + +[2] Given in Baronius, A.D. 689. + +[3] See Procopius, _De Aedif._, iv. 1 (ed. Bonn., pp. 266, 267); and +_Novellae_, xi. (de privilegiis archiepiscopi primae Justinianae) and +cxxxi. (de ecclesiasticis canonibus et privilegiis), cap. 3. It is no +alteration of patriarchal powers, but rather the assertion of them. +Still patriarchal jurisdictions are not regarded as unalterable--as is +clear from the creation of the modern national churches of the Balkan +lands. + + + + +{93} + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE CHURCH IN ASIA + +[Sidenote: The Church in Persia.] + +In the East Christianity had spread to Persia from Edessa.[1] The +Parthians seem to have put no obstacle in its way, but when the +Persians came into conflict with the Roman Empire, now Christian, there +was long and bitter persecution. At last toleration was reached, after +Sapor II., and from the beginning of the fourth century the Church in +Persia was organised, and governed by many bishops; the primate took +the title of Catholicos and had his see at Seleucia, and had suffragans +on both sides of the Persian Gulf. In Assyria and Chaldaea the mass of +the population became Christians, and Christians were spread, less +thickly, over Media, Khorassan, and Persia itself. The dignity of the +Persian catholicos was considerable; he might be compared with the +Byzantine patriarchs, and the Church almost occupied the position of an +established religion, related to the civil power. But the distance, +and the constant wars between the Empire and Persia, tended inevitably +to separate the Churches. From the end of the fifth century the Church +in Persia, surrendered to {94} Nestorianism, had begun visibly to +decay. It was controlled by the Persian kings, it was a prey to +endless controversy and intrigue, and when the Persian kingdom was at +war with the Empire it was in grave danger. It held councils +furtively; it passed canons, and, itself heretical, condemned other and +more recent heresies than its own. But often its catholicos engaged in +the dynastic politics of the Persian dynasties, and Christianity, +regarded as one among many religions, and tainted with the same +materialism as the rest, sank into impotence and was torn by schism. +Meanwhile, in the neighbourhood of the Persian realm, Christianity was +spreading. + +[Sidenote: Growth of the Church under Justinian.] + +Many barbarous tribes during Justinian's reign were admitted to the +Christian faith and fellowship. The Tzani dwelling on the border of +Armenia and Pontus, "separated from the sea by precipitous mountains +and vast solitudes, impassable torrent beds and yawning chasms," +[2]--in a land where, Procopius tells us,[3] "it is not possible to +irrigate the ground, to reap a crop, or to find a meadow anywhere; and +even the trees bear no fruit, because for the most part there is no +regular succession of seasons, and the land is not at one time +subjected to cold and wet, and at another made fertile by the warmth of +the sun, but is desolated by perpetual winter and covered by eternal +snows. They changed their religion to the true faith, became +Christians, and embraced a more civilised mode of life." The king of +those Heruls who served in the Roman army, and a Hunnish king, Gordas, +{95} became Christians. The Abasgi (or Albagrians) of the Caucasus +were converted, and for the most part remained associated with the +Armenians and the Iberians of Georgia,[4] "when they were compelled by +the Persian king to worship idols," put themselves under the imperial +protection, and they remained closely in connection with the Armenian +Church till 608 when they accepted the decisions of Chalcedon. They +remained independent and orthodox till their union, a century ago, with +the Russian Church. + +[Sidenote: Separation from the Church.] + +In Armenia, similarly, had grown up a national Church, which had a +catholicos, a hierarchy, a vernacular liturgy of its own. When in the +middle of the fifth century the ancient kingdom was split up between +the Empire and the Persians, the Armenian Church still remained apart. +Its national features were strongly marked even before dogmatic +differences arose. With the Nestorian and Monophysite heresies new +divisions took place. The Persians gradually, between 435 and 480, +accepted Nestorianism, and in 483 definitely separated from the +Catholic Church, and Nisibis became a school of Nestorian theology. +The Armenians survived this danger but were led into Monophysitism, and +in 505 they pronounced against the Council of Chalcedon. Their +theology became tainted with further heresy in the sixth century, and +they are still separate from the orthodox Church of the East. Thus, at +the time with which we have to deal, as we have said, Christianity east +of Antioch and on the borders of Persia was under Nestorian influence. +After 431 Nestorianism became gradually established {96} as the +dominant creed. The Church of the East, as it was officially called, +rejected the Third General Council, and was cut off from the Catholic +Church. It long remained a strong body. The great schools of Nisibis, +Edessa, and Baghdad were centres of religion, learning, and +civilisation. + +[Sidenote: The Nestorians.] + +The Nestorians[5] also sent out missionaries northward among the +wandering Tartar tribes and along the shores of the Caspian; southward +to Persia, India and Ceylon; and eastward across the steppes of Central +Asia into China. The bilingual inscription of Singanfu, in Chinese and +Syriac, relates that Nestorian missionaries laboured in China as far +back as A.D. 636.[6] In the sixth and seventh centuries the Church of +the East could count its twenty-five metropolitans or archbishops; and +the number and remoteness of their sees, stretching from Jerusalem to +China, testifies to her missionary zeal. Those who dwelt nearest to +Baghdad met the catholicos in yearly synod; those farthest off sent +their confession of faith to him every sixth year. + +[Sidenote: Prester John and his conversion.] + +By the Middle Ages the Church of the East had spread over the whole of +Central Asia. The curious legends of the powerful kingdom of Prester +John, somewhere in the heart of Asia, grew out of the conversion, by +Nestorian merchants in the eleventh century, of a certain King of +Kerait, a kingdom of Tartary to the north of China. This king is said +to have requested that missionaries might be sent to him from the +Church {97} of his converters; and, when they were come, these +missionaries baptized him, naming him John,[7] and he was ordained +priest (Presbyter or Prester). Two hundred thousand people of the +nation embraced Christianity; the successors to the kingdom bore the +dynastic name of John, and were ordained priests. However uncertain +this story is, the fact of the conversion of the princes of Kerait in +Tartary is sufficiently well established. [Sidenote: Height of +prosperity.] The prosperity of the Church of the East culminated in the +eleventh century. The khalifs of Baghdad protected their Christian +subjects, and important offices of state were often filled by them. + +The Indian Church, which was believed to date back to the time of S. +Thomas the Apostle, had probably its origin in Nestorian missions, and +accepted Monophysite opinions. + +[Sidenote: Their missions] + +As we have seen, the wider field of missionary work owed much to the +labours of the Nestorians. It is possible that Cosmas,[8] who had +travelled far afield in the first half of the sixth century, may have +been a Nestorian; but the reverence with which he speaks of the +orthodox faith, and his constant use of the Catholic writers, would +seem to show rather that, when he became a monk at any rate, he was +orthodox. From him, however, we obtain knowledge of the wide field of +Nestorian missions. Recent discoveries have largely added to our +knowledge. It is clear that in the sixth century, {98} apparently +before 540, Nestorian bishoprics were founded in Herat and Samarkand. +Monumental inscriptions date back as far as 547. [Sidenote: in the Far +East.] Merv, as early as 650, is spoken of as a "falling church" [9] +amid the triumphs of Islam. China has been already mentioned, and +though it is not clear that only Nestorian missions prospered in the +far land, there is no doubt that their success was the most prominent. +Christian communities existed near the borders of Tibet[10] in the +seventh century; and in the eighth and ninth they were strong in India. +Even in the eleventh century the "Nestorian worship retained a great +hold over many parts of Asia, between the Euphrates and the Gobi +desert." Into the later and fragmentary history of these missions it +is not here the place to enter. Let it only be remembered that the +labours of "those Nestorian missionaries who preached and baptized +under the shadow of the wall of China, and on the shores of the Yellow +Sea, the Caspian, and the Indian Ocean" [11] were made possible by the +diplomatic and military triumphs which radiated from Constantinople in +the sixth century, and by the Christian zeal of orthodox emperors and +patriarchs. + +[Sidenote: Nestorianism in Persia.] + +Meanwhile in Persia the Monophysites contended for supremacy with the +Nestorians, and organised themselves with considerable skill. But the +Nestorians, who founded schools and developed a Christology on lines +different from those on which European thought was {99} proceeding, +became still more rigid in their rejection of the Catholic teaching. +Maraba the catholicos (540-52) and Thomas of Edessa, his pupil, seem to +have drawn very near to orthodoxy; but the controversy of the Three +Chapters widened the breach. Council after council, theologian, +catholicos, monastery, bishop, alike denounced Justinian; and they had +the support of the pagan philosophers whom he had expelled from the +schools of Athens. + +In Persia monasticism and the life of hermits--though the introduction +of either is difficult if not impossible to trace[12]--flourished and +developed on lines of their own. For a long time there was no +distinction between monastic and secular life: it was only gradually +that an organised monasticism grew up out of the coenobitic life for +men and for women. But from the sixth century onward the organisation +of monasticism gave strength to the Church, and enabled it for some +time to resist the Muhammadan invasion. The Church, mapped out into +dioceses and well served by numerous clergy, and having its own canon +law, its own liturgical forms, and its own theology, was able for long, +in spite of the absence of all state support and in spite often of +state persecution, to survive in some appearance of strength till the +Muhammadan invasion. The Mussulman conquest, when once it was +achieved, gave something like security to the Nestorians. Though there +was a time of persecution in the ninth century, it was short. +Christians as teachers, physicians, philosophers, were famous in the +foundation of the learning of the palmy days of the khalifs. But the +whole {100} structure fell before the invasions, in later days, of the +Mongols and the Turks. + +[Sidenote: The Church in Palestine.] + +From the more distant parts of the Persian Empire we may pass to the +land where the Church had its birth. During the period of revived +power in the Empire, Palestine was at peace under Justinian's rule. + +In Jerusalem itself[13] it is chiefly to be said that the emperor +engaged in large restorations and some original church building after +the style of his better known work. He had a severe struggle with the +Samaritans, but it led to many conversions.[14] + +[Sidenote: Conquest by the Persians.] + +But here, as elsewhere, as time went on the encroachments of the +Persians were a perpetual danger to the Christianity of the East. In +615 Jerusalem fell into their hands. The Jews, whom earlier emperors +had, like Justinian, kept in subjection, had grown in the days of +Heraclius to be much more powerful in Syria than the Christians, and it +was they who secured Jerusalem and gave it into the hands of the +Persians; and again, after the Christians had overpowered the garrison, +the city was given back to them and to scenes of pillage and outrage; +the churches, so splendid as early as the fourth century, and described +in glowing language by Procopius in the sixth, were sacked and defiled; +the clergy and the patriarch were made captive; the Holy Cross, +discovered by the Empress Helena, was sent away into Persia; and "all +these things," says the chronicler, "happened not in a year or a month, +but within a few days." The ruined churches were, however, restored +{101} before long by the alms of the faithful, and it was not long +before the Christians themselves were favoured by the Persian king, and +Chosroes, in consequence of a council at Jerusalem in 628, legalised, +it would seem, the Monophysite heresy as the representative of +Christianity. [Sidenote: Reconquest by Heraclius, 622.] The conquest +of Egypt followed on that of Syria; and the union of the Coptic Church +with that of the Syrian Monophysites was a result, natural and almost +inevitable, of the community of suffering between them. Within a few +years--his campaign began in 622--the heroic emperor Heraclius won back +all that had been lost, utterly defeated the Persians, won back the +Holy Rood, restored the patriarch Zacharias to Jerusalem, and returned +in triumph to the imperial city. In 629 he went on a pilgrimage to the +Holy City, and on September 14th--still observed as the feast of the +Exaltation of the Holy Cross--he restored the Rood to the Church of the +Resurrection. + +[Sidenote: Conquest by the Muhammadans.] + +In the year 610 Muhammad began his career as a prophet. It is no part +of Church history to trace the origin of his opinions or his power, to +tell how he learnt from Jews and Nestorians, or how he established a +marvellous organisation on a basis of theocratic militarism. The +migration from Meccah to Medinah in 622 was the beginning of his active +ministry, of religious teaching carried forward by sword and fire. The +capture of Meccah, the submission of Arabia, the extinction of the +Christian (Monophysite) communities in the peninsula, were followed +before long by the invasion of Syria and the capture of Jerusalem by +the Khalif Omar in 637. The year before, Heraclius {102} had taken +away the Holy Rood and the treasures of the churches to Constantinople. +Two years later the Muhammadans seized Egypt, from which the Persians +had not so long been driven out by the armies of the Empire. The fatal +policy of the Monothelite emperors had opened the way to the triumph of +Islam. Of this we shall see more, in Africa and in Southern Europe, in +later days. + + + +[1] See _The Church of the Fathers_ (vol. ii. of the present series), +chapter xxix., for the earlier history. + +[2] Bury, _History of the Later Roman Empire_, i. 441. + +[3] _Aedif._, iii. 6. + +[4] Joannes Biclarensis, p. 853. + +[5] I quote from the admirable summary in the Reports of the +Archbishop's Mission to the Assyrian Christians. + +[6] See an interesting account in Williams's _Middle Kingdom_. + +[7] His name was Ung; his title Khan; Ung Khan was Syriacised into +Yukhanan, i.e. John. + +[8] The _Christian Topography_ was written between 535 and 537. +Beazley, _Dawn of Modern Geography_, p. 279. + +[9] Assemani, _Bibl. Orient_, iii. i. 130, 131. + +[10] See Waddell, _Buddhism in Tibet_, pp. 421, 422. + +[11] Beazley, _Dawn of Modern Geography_, p. 211. + +[12] Cf. Budge, _The Book of Governors_, i. cxvi., and Labourt, _Le +Christianisme dans l'empire perse_, 303. + +[13] Cf. Procopius, _Aedif._; and John Moschus, _Pratum Spirituale_ +(Migne, Patr. Groec., lxxxvii. [3]). + +[14] Procopius, _Aedif._, v. 8. + + + + +{103} + +CHAPTER IX + +THE CHURCH IN AFRICA + +[Sidenote: The Church in North Africa.] + +In the middle of the fifth century the Christian power in North Africa +fell under the domination of the Arian Vandals. S. Augustine died in +430 while the foe was at the gates of his city. In 439 Carthage fell, +and Roman civilisation was extinguished. The rule of the Vandals was +not only Arian but barbarous. It is not unlikely that their victory +was won with the aid of the remaining Donatists and the heathen Moors. +With the reign of Gaiseric some degree of toleration was allowed to the +Catholic Church, but the persecution which had marked the earlier days +of the Arian power now took the form of confiscation and the +suppression of public worship. The Church suffered grievously, and not +least in the class of persons ordained to the ministry and consecrated +to the episcopate. But still the Catholics were the great majority, +and it was seen that the Arian Vandals were in danger of absorption by +the subtle influence of the truth. It was a last effort of Gaiseric's +to deprive the Catholics of their leaders, which eventually brought +about their restoration. The Bishop of Carthage and several of his +clergy were put on board a ship and told to escape whither they could. +They reached Naples, {104} and their piteous plight and the news they +brought helped to direct the attention of the imperial power to its +lost heritage. [Sidenote: The Vandal persecution.] Meanwhile the +suffering Church, enjoying now a scanty toleration, now suffering a +severer persecution, continued to make converts and to produce martyrs. +In 477 Gaiseric died. A year before his death he had allowed the +Catholics to reopen their churches and to bring back their bishops and +clergy from exile. And still their missionary efforts had never been +relaxed. Church life still continued; inscriptions remaining to-day +preserve the epitaphs of men buried in the darkest days with Catholic +rites; and in the interior ancient monasteries remained undisturbed. +Hunneric, the next Vandal king, though nominally an Arian, set himself +to extirpate heresies which he did not accept: Manichaeans under his +sway received treatment more severe than Catholics. Indeed, the +Catholics began to raise their heads under the leadership of Eugenius, +who was elected in 479 to the see of Carthage, the only bishopric in +the country which held metropolitan rank. The Bishop of Carthage was +the spiritual head of the whole province, held a superiority over the +bishops outside the limits of Proconsularis, and was, as it were, the +patriarch of the African Church. For twenty-three years the see had +had no pastor, and the restoration marked a distinct step towards the +ending of the Vandal domination. But there was a final effort; +Hunneric, unable to decoy the Catholics, determined to exterminate +them; a writer of the time tells that nearly five thousand clergy were +banished to the desert, where their fate was a practical martyrdom. A +conference was {105} summoned in 484, at which it was endeavoured to +make the Catholic clergy abate the strictness of their orthodoxy, but +Eugenius stood firm. Persecution again followed. The writer already +mentioned, Victor Vitensis, says, "The Vandals did not blush to set +forth against us the law which formerly our Christian emperors had +passed against them and other heretics for the honour of the Catholic +Church, adding many things of their own as it pleased their tyrannical +power." Thus evil deeds bring their necessary consequences. A bitter +persecution swept over the land, and till the death of Hunneric, at the +end of the year, atrocities of the most terrible kind were perpetrated. +It was a brief age of martyrs, and rooted the Church more firmly in the +affections of its children. It was an age, too, of saints, and +Fulgentius shines out by the side of Eugenius as a pattern of Christian +devotion and asceticism. In the years that followed king succeeded +king, and the condition of the Church became gradually more tolerable, +till under Hilderic much of the old organisation was restored and the +monastic houses were established in a condition of considerable +independence. When Gelimer usurped the Vandal throne, the power of +Justinian was able to intervene, and in 533 Belisarius recovered North +Africa for the Empire. [Sidenote: Reconquest of Africa by Belisarius, +533.] The restoration of the direct rule of the emperors was of +necessity the restoration of Catholicism to dominance. But materially +the Church had received blows from which she never fully recovered. +Her possessions, buildings, treasures had for the most part passed from +her hands: and many sees, many parishes, {106} still remained without +pastors. Such was the result of "the violent captivity of a century." + +[Sidenote: The revival of the North African Church.] + +Justinian aimed at restoring all things to their first estate. "We +would be the guardians and defenders of the ancient traditions," he +wrote in 542 to the primate of Byzacene. He confirmed the Bishop of +Carthage in his metropolitan dignity; he restored sees, allowed synods +to meet, gave special privileges to the clergy. An era of church +building set in, and fine monasteries were erected, in all the +impressive solidity of the Byzantine style, even in distant parts of +the Roman territory. Tebessa remains a marvellous example of the +wealth and dignity which came anew to the North African Church. The +literary power of the Church revived with her material prosperity: a +school of writers arose again in the land of Augustine. Primasius, +Facundus, Liberatus, Victor of Tonnenna, were among those who restored +the activity and knowledge of the Church in history, theology, and +apologetic. Over all the emperor Justinian kept his watchful eye, +directing, interfering, exhorting, as seemed to him good. The +controversy of the Three Chapters had its echoes in Africa, and the +deacon Ferrand, a learned theologian, represented a very wide feeling +when, in his _Defensio_, he deprecated any condemnation of the dead +theologians; and in Facundus, Bishop of Hermiane, the unhappy +hesitating pope Vigilius found an adviser who, if anyone, might have +given him firmness. In the result, the emperor, by the pen at least as +much as the sword, overpowered resistance, and Africa accepted the +decisions of Constantinople. Reparatus, Bishop of Carthage, who +resisted, was deposed, Liberatus {107} preserves the record of bitter +persecution, and Victor of Tonnenna, who equally refused to accept the +decision against the Three Chapters, is especially bitter in his +denunciation of Justinian. But the pope Pelagius was able, in 560, to +announce the assent of Africa to the statements of the Fifth General +Council. The Church from the death of Justinian settled down in +peaceable habitations, strong in the imperial support and the affection +of the people. But as, in the relaxation which set in as time went on, +the power of the imperial administration decayed, the power of the +popes in Africa was gradually strengthened, and the power of the +bishops rose equally. But this was not all. In time relaxation set in +in the Church as well as in the State. There are tales of immoral and +corrupt bishops, of disobedience to authority, of a recrudescence, from +591 to 596, of Donatism. It was the pope Gregory the Great who took in +hand the needed reformation. [Its relation to Gregory the Great.] His +letters are full of African affairs: his keen attention, his +instructions to Hilarus, the administrator of the Roman Church's +possessions in Italy, his minute knowledge, his wise understanding of +the many difficult problems which beset the Church, are prominent in +his correspondence. It was he who reversed the conception of Justinian +in regard to the Church of North Africa. The emperor had striven for +orthodoxy, without the supremacy of the pope. Gregory was determined +to secure the latter, and the history of North Africa affords an +excellent example of how the papal power grew. It was by continual +intervention, in affairs small as well as great, and by constant +solicitude: it was by the use of prudent {108} and sympathetic agents, +and the firm adherence to a policy of charity, orthodoxy and +discretion, that the great pope enforced his views on the bishops, the +Church, the imperial representatives. While he sternly rebuked all +abuse of the political authority which had fallen into the hands of the +bishops, he tenaciously clung to the right of hearing appeals in cases +between churchmen and public officials which circumstances had placed +in his hands. From a right of control he passed to a right of direct +intervention; and in State as well as Church the administrators felt +the power of his indomitable will. While disorganisation was spreading +in the civil order the Church was growing in concentration and +authority. + +[Sidenote: The Monothelite controversy.] + +But the Monothelite controversy went far to shatter the power which the +labour of Gregory had built up, and with it the Christianity of +Northern Africa. The orthodox felt less and less bound to emperors who +supported heresy, and the Arab invasion drew near without the people +perceiving the full extent of their danger. Fortunatus, Bishop of +Carthage, declared himself a Monothelite, but in every other province +besides his the Church formally repudiated the heresy. In 646 +Fortunatus was deposed and Victor succeeded him; and this is almost the +last recorded incident in the history of the North African Church. As +the Arab invader advanced, refugees from Syria and Egypt poured into +the land, and, since many of them were heretical, added to the +religious diffusions of the country. The abbat Maximus upheld the +banner of orthodoxy against all comers. The victory which he won over +the heresiarch Pyrrhus in 645, followed by the declarations of {109} +provincial synods in 646, was the last expression of African orthodoxy. + +John, the Jacobite bishop of Nikiu, whose contemporary account of the +Saracen conquest is of the first value, declares that "everyone said +that the expulsion of the Romans and the victory of the Mussulmans were +brought about by the tyranny of the emperor Heraclius and the troubles +which he made the orthodox suffer." A general discontent with the +Byzantine government arose, and Rome, which was more in sympathy with +the people, was unable to help them. In 646 the patrician Gregory, the +imperial governor, orthodox and a protector of the Church, declared +that the Monothelite Constans II. had forfeited the throne, and assumed +for himself the title of emperor. Within a year he was defeated and +slain by the Saracens at Sbeitla, and Byzantine Africa was placed at +the mercy of the Muhammadan invader. The Copts long resisted, but +their resistance was overcome in the autumn of 646. Alexandria fell a +second time and finally into the hands of the Arabs. + +[Sidenote: The conquest by the Muhammadans.] + +For fifty years the Byzantine power maintained a foothold, precarious +and nominal. Inch by inch, and with intervals of repose and even of +reconquest,--as when John the Patrician, under Leo the Isaurian, +recaptured Carthage,--the infidels advanced, and the Berber tribes of +the interior pressed, too, upon the Christians. Carthage was again +taken by the Muhammadans in 698: the native tribes joined the invaders, +and by 708 Roman Africa was wholly in their hands. Toleration was at +first allowed; but from 717 the Christians had only the choice of +banishment and {110} apostasy. Still many held out: Christian villages +remained, Christian communities, as late as the fourteenth century; and +even now it is said that in some parts Christian customs survive. The +Church at Carthage existed certainly in some organised form till the +eleventh century, and it was not till 1583 that the Church of Tunis was +utterly destroyed. + +Meanwhile events in other parts of Africa had run a different course. +The patriarchate of Alexandria had a long and distinguished history, +and from it had spread missions far into the south. + +[Sidenote: The Jacobites.] + +The Monophysite controversy led to the founding of the Jacobite sect. +Secret consecrations at Constantinople by bishops in prison during +Justinian's severe rule sent a bishop to Hira for the Arabian +Christians in Persia, and another to the borders of Edessa, who founded +the Jacobites and with the assistance of Egyptian Monophysite bishops +continued the episcopal succession. In Egypt there arose the division +between the Melkites, who followed the imperial orders and accepted the +decisions of the Councils, and the Copts, who dissented. The +Monophysites of Syria, Egypt, and Armenia, with temporary and +superficial differences, remained practically at one. National +differences confirmed their divergence from the Roman Empire and the +Catholic Church. Thus while in Egypt, Syria, and elsewhere the Church +was still powerfully represented, though side by side with strong +sectarian organisations, there were, when the followers of Muhammad +came to add to the confusion, three nationalistic and heretical bodies, +separate from the Church--those of Persia and Armenia and Ethiopia. Of +the last something must now be said. + +{111} + +[Sidenote: The Abyssinian Church.] + +South of Egyptian territory, properly so called, lay the Ethiopians, +vassals of Egypt, tracing in a dim fashion their Christianity back to +one of those queens who bore the title of _Candace_. These wild and +warring tribes kept up continual conflict, and among the Blemmyes men +still worshipped Isis in the temple of Philae. In 548 began the +conversion of the Nobadae of the Soudan, of whose reception into the +Christian fold the great Monophysite missionary, John of Ephesus, gives +an account. Churches were built, and one inscription at least survives +with the name of a Christian king. Beyond them the Alodaei learnt the +faith from the same preacher, Longinus. Nubia, or Mugurrah, was also +visited by Christian missionaries at the same time. Under Justinian, +the temple of Philae was turned into a church, and the Blemmyes became +Christian. Christian remains long existed, even down to the +neighbourhood of Khartoum; and it was long before the Muhammadan +conquerors swept all the worship of Christ away. Further south +Christianity spread on both sides of the Red Sea. In Arabia Felix was +the kingdom of the Homerites or Himyarites, whose chief city was Safar, +and at different times they were ruled by the same king as the land of +Axum, "the farthest Ind" of the Greek chronicler Theophanes. After the +dispersion, Jewish colonies settled in Arabia, and in the fourth +century Christianity followed. At the end of the fifth century a +bishop is found among the Homerites, and a Trinitarian inscription is +dated 542-3. About the same time the Church in Abyssinia, founded in +the time of S. Athanasius, received the national religion of the +country through the conversion of the Negus at the end {112} of the +fifth century. While the land of Safar at times relapsed into +heathenism and massacred Christians, the Abyssinians remained firm in +the faith. Procopius tells that Ellesthaeos, an Ethiopian king, during +the reign of Justin I., invaded the land of the Homerites to avenge +their persecutions and to suppress the Jewish predominance and set up a +Christian king. With him and his successors Justinian entered into +treaties, as also with the kings of Axum or Abyssinia. While the +Muhammadan conquest swept away the Christianity of the Arabians and +drove those who clung to it northward to the banks of the Euphrates, +the Church in Abyssinia, which had accepted Monophysitism, remained +independent, just as its mother church of Egypt obtained toleration. +It still continues separate, Monophysite, and in communion with the +Coptic Church of Egypt. + + + + +{113} + +CHAPTER X + +THE CHURCH IN THE WESTERN ISLES + +[Sidenote: Christianity in Britain.] + +When Gregory the Great sent Augustine and his brother monks to preach +to the Teutonic tribes which had made Britain their home, there were +already two Churches in the island. There was the Church of the +Brythons, gradually separated by the advance of the Saxons into the +Churches of Cumbria or Strathclyde, Wales, and West Wales or Cornwall. +These stood apart from the English for a long time, were late in +accepting the Catholic customs of the West, and had no influence on the +progress of English Christianity. And there was the Church founded in +North Britain by Celtic missionaries from Ireland. In Ireland there +seems little doubt that Christianity was known by the end of the fourth +century. In the fifth century the progress was extraordinarily rapid. +S. Patrick "organised the Christianity which already existed; he +converted kingdoms which were still pagan, especially in the west; and +he brought Ireland into connection with the Church of the Empire, and +made it formally part of Universal Christendom." [1] + +The subsequent history of the Church in Ireland forms a fit +introduction to that of the Church in {114} England, in spite of the +separation between them. Irish Christianity did not long preserve its +close union with Western Europe. The popes, as well as the emperors, +were too weak to interfere in the distant islands. The Irish relapsed +into the use of what is called the Celtic Easter, and to other +practices which were usual before Patrick's day and which served to cut +them off from the newly-converted Teutons, as well as from the Latin +world in general. [Sidenote: Death of S. Patrick, 461.] Patrick died +in 461. In 563 Columba, trained in the great schools which had sprung +up in the Irish monasteries, crossed to what is now called Scotland to +confirm the faith of the Irish settlers and to convert the heathen +Picts. The organisation of the Church to which he belonged was +essentially tribal and monastic. [Sidenote: The Celtic Church.] Though +S. Patrick had probably consecrated diocesan bishops in large numbers, +the Church soon became "predominantly monastic." Tribal feeling was so +strong that the Church, too, assimilated itself to the tribal idea, and +the Church's monasteries were her tribes. In a land where there were +no cities monasteries took their place, and the bishops naturally came +to dwell in them, and so to seem less prominent in their episcopal than +in their monastic aspect. The monks became the chief power in +Christian Ireland; and in the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries +there were many bishops without dioceses, and it seems probable that +their rank, though not their function, was less important than that of +the abbats, the heads of the tribal monasticism. + +In the seventh century again the Irish Church came back into closer +association with the Church throughout {115} Europe. This union was +due very largely to the influence of learning, and still more to the +influence of missionary zeal. "From Iceland to the Danube or the +Apennines, among Frank or Burgundian or Lombard, the Irish energy +seemed omnipotent and inexhaustible." [2] Into Ireland it would seem +that classical culture was introduced by the first Christian teachers, +and that from the first it was intended to serve as a preparation for +religious teaching.[3] It would seem that it was from Brittany that it +spread to Ireland. [Sidenote: The influences outside Ireland] The +schools of Ireland became famous. Books as diverse as the Antiphonary +of Bangor and Adamnan's Life of Columba show that the teaching in its +different ways was a sound and a liberal one. + +In England the Irish tradition and influence spread. If the Celtic +school of Bangor perished in the stress of the bitter wars between +English and Welsh, Malmesbury, which trained S. Aldhelm, showed that +the Irish love of letters was capable of transplantation into a land +now most prominently Teutonic. But the Roman influence and the +influence of the East were still more effective. [Sidenote: in +learning,] Benedict Biscop brought back with him to Northumbria the +traditions and rules of Italian art and learning, and Theodore of +Tarsus brought a wider influence, which was Greek as well as Latin. He +himself founded a school at Canterbury, and taught it; and in distant +times Dunstan, at Glastonbury and at Canterbury, was his worthy +successor. In the north Bede was at {116} Jarrow a writer of great +power and wide scope, and the school of York was a nursery of classic +studies which produced the great scholar Alcuin. Thus the community of +scholarship brings the Churches together. + +[Sidenote: in missionary work.] + +More prominent was the zeal for the conversion of the heathen. The +work of Columban and of S. Gall had its origin in the Irish schools, +and there was no more fruitful influence on the Europe of the Dark Age. +The work of Columba and his followers was to begin in the north of +Britain what Roman missionaries undertook in the south. For more than +thirty years Columba, who landed in Iona in 563, taught the Picts and +Scots. His Life by his disciple Adamnan is one of the most beautiful +memorials of medieval saintliness that we possess. The monastery which +he founded lasted till the eighth century. His school did a famous +work in North Britain in the seventh; King Oswald of Northumbria was +trained there, and S. Aidan, his fellow-helper, the typical saint of +Northumbria. From the same source came Melrose, the great Scottish +monastery, and S. Chad, the apostle of the Middle English. + +[Sidenote: Scotland.] + +A century of intermittent strife swept over the northern lands. +Scotland became Christian slowly and with little connection with the +south. Heathen onslaughts ravaged the Christian lands, and yet, in +spite of all, monasteries for men and women sprang up in the north. +The influence of S. Aidan (died 651) was continued by S. Cuthbert and +S. Hilda, typical parents of monks and nuns. In 664 (Synod of Whitby) +at last came union with the Church of the English, who appealed to the +authority of Rome and {117} of S. Peter in favour of their customs, and +the Northumbrian king, Oswin, ratified the union of the Celtic and the +English Churches. Early in the eighth century other Celtic Churches +came into the agreement; only Cornwall held out for two centuries more. + +[Sidenote: The mission of St. Augustine, 597.] + +The English Church, which thus came to represent the Christianity of +the whole island, was founded from Rome by S. Augustine in Kent in 597. +It was from the first an active missionary body. It gradually won its +way over the whole island, conquering and assimilating the alien +influences which were at first opposed to it. So when a storm of +heathen persecution swept over England and Scotland at the end of the +eighth century, when "the ravaging of heathen men lamentably destroyed +God's church at Lindisfarne," when the monks of Iona were given to +martyrdom, when English prelates and kings gave their lives to hold the +land for Christ, the Church still endured, with material loss but with, +for the time at least, enhanced glory and virtue. Three names stand +out conspicuously from the seventh and ninth centuries. [Sidenote: +Theodore of Tarsus, 668.] Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury +from 668 to 693, was the great organiser of the English Church. A +scholar, a teacher, a statesman, he knit the different tribes of +English, Saxon, Jute, together in the unity of faith and discipline. +Church councils sprang up under him to rule, and Church laws to guide +men in the way. He kept up a close connection with the Western Church, +but he did not surrender independence to a papal supremacy. Wilfrith +of Ripon, his contemporary, was great also as a teacher and as a +missionary beyond the seas, {118} and among the Saxons of South +Britain. The seventh century was the age in which the foundations of +the English Church were laid on firm bases. + +[Sidenote: Bede.] + +Hardly less important, though in a different way, was the work of the +monk Baeda, the father of English history. He was a man who knew the +history and the theology of the Western Church, and who taught by his +writings and his life. His influence on the development of the Church +in the north, both by his great history, his religious treatises, and +his influence on Egbert, Archbishop of York, is incalculable. + +[Sidenote: Alfred.] + +The age of Alfred, who died in 899, was equally important. It +witnessed a more distinct union with the Church of Wales, whose glories +go back to the time of S. David in the fifth century. It confirmed a +strong union between Church and State in England, and it witnessed a +revival of Christian learning in which Alfred himself and a Welshman, +Asser, whom he made bishop of an English see, were the leaders. Alfred +was a bright example of what Christianity could do for mankind. +Warrior, scholar, saint, pattern king whose heart was given to his +people, he bore himself nobly before the world as one who loved and +worshipped the Master Christ. Under his sway the Church rose again to +instruct and guide the people, and when he died he left the English +land a united Christian nation. The Danes, who after years of +predatory invasion were become settlers over a large part of England, +were brought into the Church; and the British Church in Cornwall was +brought nearer to unity with the English, a union which was complete +from 931. + +{119} + +[Sidenote: Conversion of the north.] + +While in the extreme north, Ross, Cromarty, Sutherland, and Caithness, +the Church remained missionary rather than parochial, in the Scotland +of the south monasticism became prominent again under a new order +called, in Goidelic, "Culdees" (servants of God). In the midlands +years of disturbance caused much of the organisation of the Church to +disappear, bishoprics to cease, monasteries to be destroyed. After the +Danish wars the work of reconstruction was an urgent need, and a great +prelate came to lead it. + +[Sidenote: Dunstan, 924-88.] + +Dunstan (924-88) was a West Saxon who was taught at Glastonbury by +Irish priests, and who rose, through his friendship with leaders in +Church and State, by the holiness of his life, and by the experience +that he won when in exile in Flanders, to be head of the English +Church. As archbishop he was "a true shepherd." He gave up all the +preferments he had before enjoyed, only visiting Glastonbury +occasionally for a time of repose. His friends, Aethelwold, Bishop of +Winchester, and Oswald, Bishop of Worcester, with King Eadgar's help, +did their utmost to introduce the strict rule of S. Benedict into the +monasteries, replacing the clergy of the cathedral churches (secular +canons) by monks. Dunstan sympathised, but he did not actively support +their action. Abroad there was strong feeling against clerical +marriage, and there were many canons passed against it. The danger of +the Church falling into the hands of an hereditary class of officials +was a real one; but it does not seem to have been much felt in England. +Dunstan paid far more heed to the clergy's books than their wives. + +{120} + +[Sidenote: His work as archbishop and reformer.] + +He made rules, and encouraged schools for the training of priests. He +ordered priests to learn handicrafts that they might teach them to +others. He ordered that a sermon should be preached in each church +every Sunday. His zeal for moral reform was seen in many canons passed +against the abuses of the age, and he did not hesitate to enforce them +against the highest in the land. When the pope ordered him to absolve +a great lord whom he had excommunicated for an unlawful marriage, he +refused to obey. + +Early in the tenth century an illustration of the position occupied by +the English Church in relation to Rome, and of the learning of its +clergy and their style of preaching, is afforded by the writings of +Aelfric, who described himself in his early years as "a monk and a +mass-priest," and was later on abbat of Eynsham. Of his work, besides +educational treatises, eighty sermons, chiefly translated from the +Latin, remain. In them he shows clearly that the claims of the papacy +with regard to S. Peter were not accepted by all in England, and he +taught the spiritual, not corporal, presence of the Lord's Body in the +Holy Communion. The English Church differed also from Rome in the fact +that many of the clergy were married, and though this was not regarded +as lawful, they were not separated from their wives. But in all +essential matters the English Church remained in union with the foreign +Churches and retained her ancient reputation for unbroken orthodoxy. +This reputation was increased by the fame of S. Dunstan, whose sojourn +abroad had served to link English churchmen again to their brothers +over sea. + +{121} + +The last years of the great archbishop were given to prayer and study, +and to the arts of music and handicraft which he had practised in his +youth. He set himself to train the young, to succour the needy, and to +make peace among all men. He died on May 19th, 988, and with him the +new energy he had infused into the Church seemed to pass away. +[Sidenote: The Danish invasions.] New Danish invasions turned men's +thoughts other ways, but still monasteries made progress. The +Benedictine rule was accepted over Southern England, and in the north +the see of Durham rose replacing the older northern see, when it became +the resting-place of the bones of the great missionary, S. Cuthbert. +The Danish invasions were not so barbarous now as in earlier days. +Some of the Danes were Christians, and it was at Andover that Olaf +Trigvason, King of Norway, was confirmed by Bishop Aelfeah, calling +King Aethelred father. He went back to Norway a Christian devoted to +the conversion of his people.[4] + +The English Church at the beginning of the eleventh century was in full +communion with the Western Church, but was practically to a large +extent apart from papal influence. Church and State walked hand in +hand, and the relations between sovereign and archbishop resembled +those of the New rather than the Old Rome. The missionary energy which +had in former years sent forth Wilfrith and Winfrith was now for the +time exhausted. England needed a new religious revival. It came +later, at the time of a political conquest. + +Meanwhile the Irish Church was regaining its learning and its +missionary zeal: both were expressed in {122} the _consuetudo +peregrinandi_ with which the Irish monks were credited in the ninth +century. But from the time of the Danish invasions the Irish Church, +and the Welsh also, suffered severely. Heathen settlements in Ireland +were only gradually converted, as that of Dublin in 943. The disturbed +state of their home encouraged Irish monks to cross the seas. Action +and reaction led Ireland more close than ever to the Roman papacy. + + + +[1] Bury, _Life of S. Patrick_, pp. 212-13. + +[2] R. L. Poole, _Illustrations of the History of Medieval Thought_, p. +10. + +[3] Cf. Roger, _L'Enseignement des lettres classiques_, p. 236. + +[4] See ch. xi. + + + + +{123} + +CHAPTER XI + +THE CONVERSION OF SLAVS AND NORTHMEN + +[Sidenote: Cyril and Methodius, 868.] + +The ninth century was a great age of conversion, and the work is very +largely associated with two great names in the development of +civilisation and learning, those of two brothers, born in Thessalonica, +probably between 820 and 830--Constantine (who changed his name to +Cyril when he was consecrated bishop by Hadrian II. in 868) and +Methodius. Their lives show the connection still existing between Rome +and the East in Church matters, and illustrate the zeal for educational +work which was so conspicuous a feature in the converting energy of the +Church of Constantinople. Cyril was not only a priest and a +missionary, he was a "philosopher." Methodius, it is said, had been a +civil administrator. Both were scholars and linguists, and the +influence which they exercised upon the Slavs is incalculably great. +In missions always it is the personal influence which is the most +striking. But the time is needed as well as the man. So much we see +again and again, however cursorily we study the evangelising work of +this age. + +In missions the ninth century carried out what the eighth neglected or +was unable to accomplish. The {124} wars against the Finnish +Bulgarians from 755 onwards brought the Church as well as the State +into grave danger, or rather were defensive of each. [Sidenote: The +conversion of the Bulgarians.] In the eighth century there were several +isolated conversions, including a whole family of boïars from whom +sprang the recluse, saint Joannicius; but there was no general +movement. The Bulgarians remained enemies of Christianity and +destroyers of all Roman civilisation: S. Theodore of the Studium +declared that it was criminal sacrilege to exchange hostages with them. +But gradually the geographical nearness brought closer connection; +barbarians enlisted in the Roman armies; at last illustrious prisoners +in Constantinople were the cause of light being brought to their own +land. Boris, the Bulgarian king, obtained teachers from the New Rome, +and applied also to Pope Nicolas I. (858-67) for instruction. In 864 +the Bulgarians accepted the faith, and the contest for patriarchal +rights over them was hotly pressed between Nicolas and Photius, +Patriarch of Constantinople (857-86). In the end, after receiving +answers from the pope to 106 questions, and after being treated with +too little consideration by Hadrian II. (867-72), Boris decided to +accept an archbishop from Constantinople in 870, and ten bishoprics +were founded. + +[Sidenote: The conversion of the Slavs.] + +But the great work of Cyril and Methodius was not directly concerned +with the Bulgarian conversion. In Pannonia and Moravia and Croatia +they were the great missionaries to the Slavs. Cyril invented a +Slavonic alphabet, and was able to preach to the Slavs everywhere in +their own tongue; and in Serbia a flourishing Church sprang {125} up +which retained the Slavonic rite. Early in the tenth century many +Slavonian priests were ordained by the Bishop of Nona, himself a Slav +by birth. But these districts were weakened by incessant strife, and +their contests with the East were often fomented by the popes. Their +Christianity was distinctly Byzantine; but they were never able to be a +real strength to the emperor or the Orthodox Church. + +[Sidenote: Poland.] + +Poland, on the other hand, and later, received its Christianity from a +Latin source. There may have been earlier Greek influences through the +Slavonic Christians to the south-east; but it was not till 965 that the +king, Mieczyslaw, was converted, when he married a Bohemian princess. +He became a member of the Empire and the vassal of Otto I. The +bishopric of Posen was founded in 968, and the gospel was preached by +S. Adalbert, already Bishop of Prague. S. Adalbert, who for a short +time held the see of Gnesen, passed on to preach to the heathen +Prussians, by whom he was martyred in 997. Otto III. visited the +Christian king in A.D. 1000, and gave him a relic, the lance of S. +Maurice, still preserved at Cracow. The ecclesiastical organisation of +the country was then consolidated; Gnesen was made the metropolitan +see, and Polish and Pomeranian dioceses were placed under it. The +Latin Church was dominant over Polish Christianity. + +[Sidenote: The Prussians and S. Adalbert.] + +But the pagan Prussians regarded S. Adalbert as a political emissary +and a sorcerer who destroyed their crops, and killed him without +hesitation; Bruno, whom Silvester II. sent to succeed him, perished +within a year, and the attempt to Christianise the Prussians was {126} +abandoned for nearly two centuries. Similar was the course of events +among the Wends. It is not till the tenth century that we know +anything of endeavours for their conversion, and then they were due to +the all-embracing energy of Otto I. Henry I. had borne the royal arms +in victory over the lands watered by the Elbe, the Oder, and the Saale; +and now his successor began the establishment of an ecclesiastical +hierarchy, under the see of Magdeburg. Boso, Bishop of Merseburg, set +himself to learn and preach in the Slav tongue, but it seems that the +German clergy who were introduced were unsuccessful as missionaries, +and won the reputation of greedy political agitators. At the end of +the tenth century a torrent of pagan fury swept over the land, +destroyed the churches, and stamped the growing Christianity under foot. + +[Sidenote: The conversion of Russia.] + +The beginnings of Russian Christianity may possibly be found, as the +patriarch Photius asserted, before the results of the defeat of the +barbarians by John Zimisces. But it was not till nearly a century +later that anything notable occurred. Olga, a "ruler of Russia," +visited Constantinople in 957 and was baptized. Yet the Greek +missionaries made but slow progress. It was not till Vladimir married +the sister of the emperor Basil in 989, and restored the city of +Cherson,--in which Cyril more than a century before had been a +missionary,--where he was baptized, to the Empire, that the +evangelisation of Russia really began. Vladimir deliberately chose the +Greek in preference to the Roman form of Christianity, and acted, it +would seem, with some semblance of national consent. The baptism of +the people of {127} Kiev in the waters of the Dnyepr, as one flock, +"some standing in the water up to their necks, others up to their +breasts, holding their young children in their arms," was typical of +the national acceptance of Christ. Everywhere churches and schools +were built and the Slavonic Scriptures taught the people; at Kiev was +built the Church of S. Sophia by Greek masons, in commemoration of the +debt to the great Church of the New Rome. [Sidenote: S. Vladimir, +989.] Vladimir became the apostle of his people. The Church pressed +forward eagerly, forward over the vast expanse covered by the Russian +power, and, not without martyrdoms and tales of heroic adventure, won +its way triumphantly to Russian hearts. + +[Sidenote: The conversion of the Czechs.] + +The early days of Christianity in Moravia and Bohemia are wrapped in +obscurity. In 801 Charles the Great endeavoured a forcible conversion +of the former country, but with no more than transitory success. Yet +in 836 a church was consecrated at Neutra by the Archbishop of +Salzburg. A little later than this we hear of the beginnings of +Christian faith among the Czechs. Early Bohemian history, when it +emerges from an obscurity lighted by legend, is full of romantic +incident. There are passages again and again in its records which for +weirdness and ferocity remind us of a grim story of Meinhold's. +Paganism lingered there with some of its ancient power, when it had +perished, at least outwardly, in all neighbouring lands. In the +eleventh century Bohemian heathens still went on pilgrimages to the +temple at Arcona on the isle of Eugen, till the practice was stopped by +Bretislav II. Still a beginning had been made. In {128} 845 fourteen +Bohemian nobles, who had taken refuge at the court of Louis the German, +were baptized at Regensburg; but the conversion of the country was to +come from the East. Cyril and Methodius, sent by the emperor Michael +III. from Constantinople, converted the Moravians, and from them the +gospel was handed on to the Czechs. It was Methodius, on whom the pope +had conferred the title of Archbishop of Moravia, who baptized the +Bohemian prince Borivoj. For the history of Bohemian Christianity the +earliest authority is Kristián, brother of Duke Boleslav II., in _The +Life of S. Ludmilla and the Martyrdom of S. Wenceslas_. [Sidenote: S. +Wenceslas.] This is an extremely valuable book, not only as a +biography--hagiological, like so much valuable early material for +history, yet truthful--and as a record of manners in the tenth century, +but as containing the account of the conversion of Moravia to +Christianity, which shows that the conversion came first from the East, +and the Church long retained a special connection with the Eastern +peoples, Bulgarians and Greeks. The account of the murder of S. +Wenceslas is of great interest as showing how close was the connection +of religion with family and dynastic feuds. S. Ludmilla was murdered +in 927 by the orders of her daughter-in-law, who remained a pagan; a +year later,[1] her saintly grandson Wenceslas was slain by the men of +his evil brother Boleslav. "Holy Wenceslas, who was soon to be a +victim for the sake of Christ, rose early, wishing, according to his +holy habit, to hurry to the church, that he might remain there for some +time in solitary prayer before the congregation arrived; {129} and +wishing as a good shepherd to hear matins together with his flock, and +join in their song, he soon fell into the snares that had been laid," +and it was outside the church that he was slain. + +[Sidenote: Restoration of Christianity in Bohemia.] + +It was not till the invasion of the country by the armies of Otto I. in +938 that Christianity was restored even to full toleration, and only +when Otto came himself in 950 that it was secured. Boleslav II., the +nephew of S. Wenceslas, was named the Pious; and Prague, in 973, was +separated from Regensburg and became a bishopric. While among the +Moravians the Slavonic rite introduced by Methodius was still largely +used, in Bohemia the Roman rite was followed. Voytech (Adalbert), a +Czech, was the second bishop, and to him, in spite of failures and +difficulties, the conversion of Bohemia was largely due. He died a +martyr (as we have said), while preaching to the heathen Prussians, and +for a time darkness again settled over the history of the Czechs. + +[Sidenote: The conversion of the Danes] + +Meanwhile the current of conversion had spread northwards. It was in +822 that Ebbo, Archbishop of Rheims, was sent to Denmark in consequence +of a political embassy to Louis the Pious, emperor from 814 to 840. +Harold, the Danish king, had asked aid. The emperor gave him also a +Christian teacher; and in 826 the king and his wife were baptized. +Other missionaries went northwards, but before long the Danes drove out +both their king Harold and his teacher Ansgar. From Denmark, however, +the mission spread to Sweden, and in 831 an archbishopric was +established at Hamburg to direct all the northern {130} missions, and +Ansgar was invested with the pallium by Pope Gregory IV. The missions +had a chequered career. [Sidenote: and of Sweden.] Hamburg was seized +and pillaged by the Northmen in 845, and the Swedish mission was for a +time destroyed. In 849 a new revival took place, when Ansgar was given +the see of Bremen in addition to that of Hamburg; and before long he +won over the king of the Jutes and his people of Schleswig. In 853 +Ansgar returned to Sweden, where he was favourably received by the king +Olaf. The tale of his vast missionary labours, from which he was +rightly called the "Apostle of the north," is told with spirit and +feeling by Adam of Bremen, who wrote in the eleventh century, as well +as by the biographer who commemorated him on his death. He not only +preached, but he "redeemed captives, nourished those who were in +tribulation, taught his household. As an apostle without, a monk +within, he was never idle." When it was said that his prayers wrought +miracles of healing, he said, "If I could but think myself worthy of +such a favour from the Lord, I would pray Him to grant me but one +miracle--that out of me, by His grace; He would make a good man." +[Sidenote: S. Ansgar.] S. Ansgar is, in his work as in his training, a +parallel to S. Boniface. Like him one of the finest fruits of +monasticism, which first taught in solitude and then sent out to work +actively in the world, he was brought up at Corbie. For nearly +thirty-five years he laboured incessantly among the peoples of the +north, and at the very end of his life he gallantly went among heathen +chiefs to rebuke them for buying and selling slaves. He died in 865, +and S. Rimbert, {131} his disciple and biographer, was his successor in +his sees. + +[Sidenote: Norway.] + +Gradually, and in different ways, Christianity spread in the far north. +Haakon, the son of Harold Haarfager of Norway, was sent to be +foster-son to Aethelstan of England, who "had him baptized and brought +up in the right faith," and he became a great king under the name of +Haakon the Good. From England he brought over teachers, and he built +churches; and then at last he addressed all the leaders of his people +and besought them "all, young and old, rich and poor, women as well as +men, that they should all allow themselves to be baptized, and should +believe in one God, and in Christ the Son of Mary, and refrain from all +sacrifices and heathen gods, and should keep holy the seventh day, and +abstain from all work on it, and keep a fast on the seventh day." [2] +But it was long before his people obeyed him. Rebellion and dynastic +war followed in rapid succession; and he died of a wound from a chance +arrow that struck him as he pursued his defeated foes. The first +Christian king of Norway died in a land which was still heathen. But +the seed was sown in the hearts of the men who had seen the brave, +strong, chivalrous life of him who owned Christ for Lord. + +[Sidenote: Olaf Trigvason.] + +In Denmark the conversion begun in the ninth century was long delayed, +and it was not till Otto I. conquered the Danes and sent Bishop Poppo +who instructed King Harold and his army so that they were baptized, +that the land {132} became definitely a Christian kingdom. From +Denmark the gospel spread again to Norway; but it was not till near the +end of the tenth century that Olaf Trigvason was baptized by a hermit +on one of the Scilly Isles, and then in his short reign devoted himself +to converting his people, often forcibly, as a choice between death and +baptism. To Iceland and Greenland too Olaf sent missionaries. He died +at last, like a true Wiking hero, in a sea fight; and it was not until +the next century and the days of Olaf the Saint that the faith of +Christ conquered the North. + +[Sidenote: The conversion of Iceland.] + +There seems no doubt that Christianity in Iceland began by missionary +enterprise from Irish monks. From time to time anchorites sought +refuge in that _ultima Thule_, "that they might pray to God in peace"; +but whether they did any direct work of conversion is doubtful. The +actual conversion came undoubtedly from Norway. A Christian queen +lived in Iceland at the end of the ninth century, the wife of the Norse +Olaf who was king in Dublin; but little if any impression was made on +the heathenism of the people. Nearly a century later an Icelander +called Thorwald Kothransson brought a Christian bishop Frederic from +Saxony, who wrought some conversions and left a body of baptized +Christians behind him. In the year 1000 came a priest Thormod and +several chiefs back from the Norse court of Olaf, and in a meeting of +the Althing--the great assembly of the people--preached to them the One +God in Trinity. The whole people became Christian, and the few heathen +{133} customs that still lingered, as it were by permission, after the +great baptism, soon fell away like raindrops in the bright sun. Among +the last news that came to Olaf Trigvason was that his distant people +had fulfilled the wish of his heart. + + + +[1] According to the chronicle of Kristián. + +[2] The Saturday fast was still observed in many parts of Christendom. + + + + +{134} + +CHAPTER XII + +PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN GERMANY + +[Sidenote: The Lombards in Italy.] + +The acceptance of Christianity and of Catholicism by the barbarian +tribes which conquered Europe was a slow process. The conversion of +the Lombards, for example, whom we have seen as Arians, sometimes +tolerant, sometimes persecuting, was gradual. The Church always held +its own, in faith though not in possessions, in Italy; and from the +pontificate of Gregory the Great the moral force of the Catholic +Society began to win the Lombards to its fold. It was proved again and +again that heresy was not a unifying power. The Catholic Church held +together its disciples in the Catholic creed. It is possible that +Agilulf, the husband of the famous Catholic queen Theodelind, himself +became a Catholic before he died. Paul the Deacon says that he "both +held the Catholic faith and bestowed many possessions on the Church of +Christ, and restored the bishops, who were in a depressed and abject +condition, to the honour of their wonted dignity." Whatever may be the +meaning of this, it certainly expresses the fact that before the middle +of the seventh century the Lombards were passing almost insensibly into +the Catholic fold, and Italy had practically become united in one faith +though far from united in one government. + +{135} + +[Sidenote: The Church in the Frankish kingdoms.] + +With Germany it was different. As the Merwing kingdoms decayed, the +Eastern one, Austrasia, with its capital, Metz, was but a poor bulwark +against heathen tribes on its borders, which were yet, it might seem at +times, little more barbarous than itself. The kingdom of Austrasia +stretched eastwards from Rheims "spreading across the Rhine an unknown +distance into Germany, claiming the allegiance of Thuringians, Alamanni +and Bavarians, fitfully controlling the restless Saxons, touching with +warlike weapons and sometimes vainly striving with the terrible Avars." +[1] Kings of the Bavarian line came to rule in Northern Italy, but +Bavaria was little touched by Christian faith. At last when the +descendants of Arnulf[2] came as kings over a now again united Frankish +monarchy, when Charles Martel made one power of Austrasia, Neustria, +and Burgundy, the time for a new advance seemed to have come. +Theodelind, the Catholic queen of the Lombards, was herself of Bavarian +birth, but a century after her time the people of her native land, it +seems, were still heathen. They were apart from the Roman civilisation +and the Catholic tradition: conversion, to touch them, must be a direct +and aggressive movement. + +At the end of the seventh century S. Rupert began the work. He settled +his episcopal throne at Salzburg. He was followed by Emmeran, and by +Corbinian. Slowly the work proceeded, hindered by violence on the part +of dukes and saints, favoured by popes and making a beginning for Roman +missionary interest in the distant borders of the Empire under the +Germans. + +{136} + +But it was not to these Frankish missionaries, or to Roman envoys, that +the most important work was due. It was due to an outburst of +converting zeal on the part of the newly converted race who had made +Britain the land of the English. + +[Sidenote: Saint Boniface.] + +Of all the great missionaries of the eighth century perhaps the +greatest was Winfrith of Crediton, an Englishman who became the father +of German Christianity and the precursor of the great religious and +intellectual movement of the days of Charles the Great. He followed +the Northumbrian Willibrord who for twenty-six years had laboured in +Frisia, and supported by the commission of Gregory II. he set forth in +719 to preach to the fierce heathens of Germany. He was instructed to +use the Roman rite and to report to Rome any difficulties he might +encounter. He began to labour in Thuringia, a land where Irish +missionaries had already been at work, and where he recalled the +Christians from evil ways into which they had lapsed. He passed on +through Neustria and thence to Frisia, where for three years he +"laboured much in Christ, converting not a few, destroying the heathen +shrines and building Christian oratories," aiding the venerable +Willibrord in the work he had so long carried on. But he felt the call +to labour in lands as yet untouched, and so he determined to go to the +Germans. As he passed up the Rhine he drew to him the boy Gregory +afterwards famous as abbat of Utrecht, and at last he settled in the +forests of Hessen and built a monastery at Amöneburg. From his old +friends in England he received sound advice as to the treatment of +heathen customs and the gentle methods of conversion which befit the +gospel of {137} Christ. [Sidenote: His mission from Rome, 723.] From +Rome he received affectionate support; and in 722 he was summoned to +receive a new mission from the pope himself. On S. Andrew's Day, +723,[3] after a solemn profession of faith in the Holy Trinity and of +obedience to the Roman See--the first ever taken by one outside the +Roman patriarchate--he was consecrated bishop. He set out with letters +from the pope to Christians of Thuringia and to the duke Charles. +Charles Martel accepted the trust and gave to Winfrith (who had assumed +the name of Boniface) the pledge of his protection. The missionary's +first act on his return to Hessen was to destroy the ancient oak at +Geismar, the object of devotion to the worshippers of the Germanic +gods; and the act was followed by many conversions of those who saw +that heathenism could not resent the attack upon its sacred things. +Still there were difficulties. Those who had learned from the old +Celtic mission were not ready to accept the Roman customs. Gregory II. +wrote in 724, exhorting him to perseverance: "Let not threats alarm +thee, nor terrors cast thee down, but stayed in confidence on God +proclaim the word of truth." The work grew: monasteries and churches +arose: many English helpers came over: the favour of Charles Martel was +a protection. As the Benedictines opened out new lands, ploughed, +built, studied, taught, religion and education spread before him. +[Sidenote: Boniface archbishop, 732.] In 732 Boniface was made +archbishop, received a pallium from Rome, and was encouraged by the new +pope Gregory III. to organise the Church which he had founded and {138} +to spread forth his arms into the land of the Bavarians. There +Christianity had already made some way under Frankish missionaries: it +needed organisation from the hand of a master. He "exercised himself +diligently," says his biographer Willibald, "in preaching, and went +round inspecting many churches." In 738 he paid his last visit to +Rome, where he stayed nearly a year and was treated with extraordinary +respect and affection. On his return he divided Bavaria into the four +dioceses of Salzburg, Regensburg, Freising, and Passau, and later on he +founded other sees also, including Würzburg. It was his next aim to do +something to reform the lax morals of the Frankish Church, which had +sunk to a low ebb under the Merwings. The Austrasian Synod, which +bears in some respects a close resemblance to the almost contemporary +English Synod of Clovesho (747), of 742 dealt boldly with these +matters. Other councils followed in which Boniface took a leading +part, and which made a striking reformation. [Sidenote: His missionary +work and martyrdom.] His equally important work was to complete the +conquest of the general spirit of Western Christendom, which looked to +Rome for leadership, over the Celtic missionaries, noble missionaries +and martyrs who yet lacked the instinct of cohesion and solidarity. A +long series of letters, to the popes, to bishops, princes and persons +of importance, shows the breadth of his interests and the nature of his +activity. To "four peoples," he says, he had preached the gospel, the +Hessians, Thuringians, Franks and Bavarians, not to all for the first +time but as a reformer and one who removed heathen influences from the +Church. As Archbishop of Mainz he was untiring even in advanced age: +in politics as well as in {139} religion he was a leader of men. It +was he who anointed Pippin at Soissons in 751 and thus gave the +Church's sanction to the new Karling line. He determined to end his +days as a missionary to the heathen. In 755 he went with a band of +priests and monks once more to the wild Frisians, and at Dokkum by the +northern sea he met his death at the hands of the heathen whom he came +to win to Christ. The day, ever remembered, was June 5, 755. + +Boniface was truly attached to the popes, truly respectful to the Roman +See: but he preserved his independence. His attitude towards the +secular power was precisely similar. He was a great churchman, a great +statesman, a great missionary; but his religious and political opinions +cannot be tied down to the limits of some strict theory. His was a +wide, genial nature, in things spiritual and in things temporal +genuine, sincere; a true Saint, a true Apostle. Through the lives and +sacrifices of such men it was that the Church came to exercise so +profound an influence over the politics of the Middle Age. + +[Sidenote: The Emperors and missions.] + +The work which S. Boniface began was continued by weapons other than +his own. When the Empire of the Romans was revived (as we shall tell +in the next chapter) by the chiefs of the Arnulf house, when a Catholic +Caesar was again acclaimed in the Roman churches, the ideas on which +the new monarchy was to rest were decisively Christian and Catholic. +Charles the son of Pippin was a student of theology, among many other +things. He believed firmly that it was a real kingdom of God which he +was called to form and govern upon earth. The spirit which inspired +the followers of {140} Muhammad inspired him too. He was determined +not to leave to priests and popes the propagation of the faith which he +believed. + +[Sidenote: Charles and the Saxons.] + +For thirty-two years Charles the Great, as his people came to call him, +was engaged in a war which claimed to be waged for the spread of the +Christian faith. Charles was before all things in belief (though not +always in life) a Christian, and it was intolerable to him that within +the German lands should remain a large and powerful body of heathens. +In 772 he marched into the land of the Angarii and destroyed the +Irminsul, a column which was representative of the power which the +Saxons worshipped. It was destroyed, and the army after its victories +returned in triumph. In 774 the Saxons turned the tables and burnt the +abbey of Fritzlar which had been founded by S. Boniface. In 775 +Charles resolved to avenge this loss, but made little progress. In 776 +he was more successful, and a great multitude of Saxons submitted and +were baptized. In 777 there was another great baptism, but, says the +chronicler, the Saxons were perfidious. In 778 when Charles was in +Spain the Saxons devastated a vast tract of land, and even for a time +stole the body of S. Boniface from its tomb at Fulda. Charles crushed +the resistance, and from 780 he set himself to organise the Church in +the Saxon lands, issuing severe edicts which practically enforced +Christianity on the conquered Saxons with the penalty of death for the +performance of pagan rites, and even for eating meat in Lent. A law +was also decreed that all men should give a tenth of their substance +and work to the churches and priests. Still the conquest was not {141} +durable, for a terrible insurrection in 782 slew a whole army of the +Germans and massacred priests and monks wherever they could be found. +Then came years of carnage: once Charles--it is said--caused 4,500 +Saxons to be beheaded in one day. In 793 there was a new outbreak. +The Saxons "as a dog returneth to his vomit so returned they to the +paganism they had renounced, again deserting Christian faith and lying +not less to God than to their lord the king." Churches were destroyed, +bishops and priests slain, and the land was again defiled with blood. +They allied with the Avars, and Charles was thus beset with heathen +foes in Hungary and in North Germany at once. He tried every measure +of devastation and exile; but it seems that by 797 he had come more +clearly to see the Christian way. "Let but the same pains be taken," +he wrote--or the English scholar Alcuin wrote for him--"to preach the +easy yoke and light burden of Christ to the obstinate people of the +Saxons as are taken to collect the tithes from them or to punish the +least transgression of the laws imposed on them, and perhaps they would +be found no longer to repel baptism with abhorrence." But he was far +from always acting up to this view, and he even allied with heathen +Slavs to accomplish the subjugation of his enemies. As he conquered he +mapped out the land in bishoprics and planted monasteries at important +points: he took Saxon boys to his court and sent them back trained, +often as ecclesiastics, to teach and rule. Among such was Ebbo, +afterwards Archbishop of Rheims, the "Apostle of Denmark." From abroad +too came other missionaries, and notable among them was another +Englishman, Willehad of {142} Northumbria, who became in 788 the first +bishop of Bremen. At last Christianity was, at least nominally, in +possession from the Rhine to the Elbe, and in the words of Einhard +"thus they were brought to accept the terms of the king, and thus they +gave up their demon worship, renounced their national religious +customs, embraced the Christian faith, received the divine sacraments, +and were united with the Franks, forming one people." + +Under Charles the organisation of the German Church, begun by Boniface, +received a great extension. It was possible, after his death, to +regard Germany as Christian and as organised in its religion on the +lines of all the Western Churches. + + + +[1] Hodgkin, _Italy and her Invaders_, v. 203. + +[2] See p. 1-14. + +[3] This seems to me the most probable date. Cf. Hauck, +_Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands_, i. 448. + + + + +{143} + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE POPES AND THE REVIVAL OF THE EMPIRE + +[Sidenote: Growth of papal power.] + +The growth of the temporal power of the bishops of Rome was due to two +causes, the withdrawal of the imperial authority from Italy and the +conversion of the barbarians. As the emperors at Constantinople became +more and more busied with affairs Eastern, with the encroachments of +barbarians, heathen and Muhammadan, and the imperial rule in Italy was +destroyed by the Lombards, the popes stood out as the one permanent +institution in Northern and Central Italy. As gradually the barbarians +came to accept the faith they received it at the hands of the great +ecclesiastical organisation which kept together the traditions, so +strangely transformed, of the Old Rome. The legislation of Justinian +also had given great political power to the popes: and this power was +greatly increased when the papacy found itself the leader in the +resistance of the great majority of Christian peoples against the +policy of the Iconoclastic emperors. The history of Rome began to run +on very different lines from that of Venice, Naples, or other great +cities. It became for a while a conflict between the local military +nobility and the clergy under the rule of the pope. The {144} struggle +was a political one, just as the assumption of power by the popes, of +power over the country and a considerable district around it, was a +political act. + +The popes had but very slight relations with the kings of the Merwing +house. It was different when the Karlings came into power. Zacharias, +both directly and through S. Boniface, came into close connection with +Pippin and Carloman. At first he was concerned simply with reform in +the Frankish Church, but before long he found himself able to intervene +in a critical event and to take part in the inauguration of the Karling +House, the revival as it claimed to be of the Empire in the West. + +[Sidenote: The Karling reformation.] + +The growth of the papal power was closely associated with two other +historic events: the growth of the Karling house among the Franks, and +the process of revival in the Church's spiritual activity, showing +itself in missions without and reforms within. The last leads back to +the first. + +Whatever may be thought of the Karling reformation, it cannot be denied +that for the century before Charles assumed the Imperial crown the +Church showed many signs of corruption. The darkness of the picture is +relieved only by the lives of some remarkable saints. + +[Sidenote: The Karling House.] + +The first, of course, is S. Arnulf, Bishop of Metz, the +great-grandfather of Charles Martel. Born about 582, he died in 641, +and the holy simplicity of his life as statesman and priest comes like +a ray of sunshine in the gloom of the days of "half heathen and wholly +vicious" kings. Mr. Hodgkin, with an eye no doubt to modern affairs, +comments thus on the career of the prelate so different from the +greedy, turbulent, and licentious men whom {145} Gregory of Tours +describes: "In reading his life one cannot but feel that in some way +the Frankish nation, or at least the Austrasian part of it, has groped +its way upwards since the sixth century." [Sidenote: S. Arnulf.] Arnulf +was a type of the good bishops of the Middle Ages, strong, able to hold +his own with kings, a friend of the poor, eager to pass from the world +to a quiet eventide in some monastic shade. The tale that is told of +him is typical of the sympathies and passions of his age. Bishop of +Metz, and chief counsellor of Dagobert whose father Chlothochar he had +helped to raise to the throne, when he expressed his wish to retire +from the world the king cried out that if he did he would slay his two +sons. "My sons' lives are in the hands of God," said Arnulf. "Yours +will not last long if you slay the innocent"; and when Dagobert drew +his sword on him he said, "Would you return good for evil? Here am I +ready to die in obedience to Him Who gave me life and Who died for me." +Queen and nobles cried out, and the king fell penitent at the bishop's +feet. Like S. Arnulf's is the romantic figure of his descendant +Carloman, who turned from the rule of kingdoms and the command of +armies to the seclusion of Soracte and Monte Cassino. The "great +renunciation" is a striking tale. The disappearance, the long days of +patient submission to rule, the discovery of the real position of the +humble brother, and then the last dramatic appearance to follow an +unpopular cause, make a story as striking as any which have come to us +from the Middle Age. But before Carloman come many other noble +figures. The fifty years that followed Arnulf's death are but a dreary +tale of anarchy and blood. It is broken here and there {146} by +records of Christian endurance or martyrdom: bishops who tried to serve +the State often served not wisely but too well and met the fate of +unsuccessful political leaders. Leodegar, Bishop of Autun, who helped +Ebroin to raise Theoderic III to the throne of Neustria, was blinded, +imprisoned and at length put to death and appears in the Church's +calendar as S. Leger. + +The crisis came when the long march of the successful Muhammadans was +stayed by the arms of S. Arnulf's descendant Charles Martel, mayor of +the palace to the King of Austrasia 717, to all the kingdoms from 719, +who lived till 741. In 711 the Wisigothic monarchy of Spain had fallen +before the infidels: in 720 the Moors entered Gaul. From then to 731 +there was for Abder Rahman an almost unbroken triumph. The power of +the Prophet reached from Damascus to beyond the Pyrenees. Then Charles +Martel came to the relief of Southern Gaul, and on an October Sunday in +732 the hosts of Islam were utterly routed at Poictiers by the soldiers +of the Cross. [Sidenote: The defeat of the Saracens.] It was a great +deliverance; and there is no wonder that imagination has exaggerated +its importance and thought that but for the Moorish defeat there might +to-day be a muezzin in every Highland steeple and an Imám set over +every Oxford college. Charles had still to reconquer Septimania and +Provence. Arles and Nîmes, the great Roman cities, had to be recovered +from the Arabs who had seized them, and Avignon, Agde, Beziers, cities +whose future was as wonderful as was the others' past, were also won +back by the arms of the Christian chief. + +Charles died in 741. He had refused to help Pope {147} Gregory III. in +739 against the Lombards. It was reserved for his son Pippin to make +that alliance between the papacy and the Karling house which dictated +the future of Europe. [Sidenote: Pippin.] To Pippin came the lordship +of the West Franks, to Carloman his brother that of the East Franks, +when their father died. They conquered, they reformed the Church among +the Franks, with the aid of Boniface, and then came that dramatic +retirement of Carloman in 747 which showed him to be true heir of S. +Arnulf. Four years later the house of the Karlings became the nominal +as well as the real rulers of the Franks. In 751 the bishop of +Würzburg for the East Franks, and the abbat of S. Denis for those of +the West, went to Rome to ask the pope's advice. Were the wretched +Merwings "who were of royal race and were called kings but had no power +in the realm save that grants and charters were drawn up in their +names" to be still called kings, for "what willed the _major domus_ of +the Franks, that they did?" Zacharias answered as a wise man would, +that he who had the power should bear the name. And so, blessed by the +great missionary S. Boniface, Pippin was "heaved" on the shield, and +became king of the Franks, and Childerich, the last of the Merwings, +went to a distant monastery to end his days. + +[Sidenote: The end of the Imperial power in Italy.] + +But this was only a beginning. The pope was threatened by the +barbarians, neglected by the emperors who reigned at Constantinople, +and at last was in actual conflict with those who tried to impose +Iconoclasm upon the Church. In 751 the exarchate, the representation +of the Imperial power in Italy, with its seat at Ravenna, was +overwhelmed by the {148} arms of Aistulf, the Lombard king. The time +had come, thought Pope Stephen II. (752-7), when the distant +barbarians, now orthodox, should be called to save the patrimony of S. +Peter from the barbarians near at hand. In S. Peter's name letters +summoned Pippin to the rescue of the church especially dear to the +Franks.[1] But before this Stephen had made Pippin his friend. In 753 +he left Rome and failing to win from Aistulf any concession to the +Imperial power made his way across the Alps, and on the Feast of the +Epiphany, 754, met in their own land Pippin and his son who was to be +Charles the Great. The pope fell at the king's feet and besought him +by the mercies of God to save the Romans from the hands of the +Lombards. Then Pippin and all his lords held up their hands in sign of +welcome and support. Then Stephen on July 28, 754, in the great +monastery which was to become the crowning-place of Frankish kings, +anointed Pippin and his sons Charles and Carloman as king of the Franks +and kings in succession. + +[Sidenote: The crowning of Pippin.] + +A point of special interest in this event is the title given to Pippin +at his crowning at Saint Denis. The title of Patrician of the Romans +was given by the pope, as commissioned by the emperor, "to act against +the king of the Lombards for the recovery of the lost lands of the +Empire." Pippin was made the officer of the distant emperor, and the +pope would say as little as possible about the rights of him who ruled +in Constantinople, and as much as he could about the Church which ruled +in Rome. It was a step in the assertion of {149} political rights for +the Roman Church. A new order of things was springing up in Italy. +The popes were asserting a political power as belonging to S. Peter. +They were asserting that the exarchate had ceased in political theory +as well as in practical fact. In this new order Pippin was to be +involved as supporter of the protectorate which the papacy assumed to +itself. + +Then the Franks came forward to save Rome from the Lombards. The last +act of the romantic life of Carloman was to plead for justice to +Aistulf,--that what he had won should not be taken from him,--and to be +refused. Twice Pippin came south and saved the pope: and then the +cities he had won he refused to give up to the envoys of the distant +emperor and declared that "never should those cities be alienated from +the power of S. Peter and the rights of the Roman Church and the +pontiff of the Apostolic See." From this dates the Roman pope's +independence of the Roman emperor, the definite political severance of +Italy from the East, and therefore a great stop towards the schism of +the Church. Iconoclasm and the independence of the popes alike worked +against the unity of Christendom. + +[Sidenote: The papal power.] + +Pope Stephen, thanks to Pippin, had become the arbitrator of Italy. +The keys of Ravenna and of the twenty-two cities which "stretched along +the Adriatic coast from the mouths of the Po to within a few miles of +Ancona and inland as far as the Apennines" were laid on the tomb of S. +Peter. The "States of the Church" began their long history, the +history of "the temporal power." + +And this new power was seen outside Italy as well {150} as within. +From the eighth century, at least, the popes are found continually +intervening in the affairs of the churches among the Franks and the +Germans, granting privileges, giving indulgence, writing with explicit +claim to the authority which Christ gave to S. Peter. Into the +recesses of Gaul, among Normans at Rouen, among Lotharingians at Metz, +to Amiens, or Venice, or Limoges, the papal letters penetrated; and +their tone is that of confidence that advice will be respected or +commands obeyed. And this is, in small matters especially, rather than +in great. The popes at least claimed to interfere everywhere in +Christian Europe and in everything.[2] Within Italy events moved +quickly. + +The first step towards a new development was the destruction of the +Lombard kingdom by Charles, who succeeded his father Pippin in 768. At +first joint ruler with his brother he became on the latter's death in +771 sole king of all the Franks. In 772 Hadrian I., a Roman, ambitious +and distinguished, succeeded the weak Stephen III. on the papal throne. +He reigned till 795 and one of his first acts was to summon Charles and +the Franks to his rescue against the Lombards. [Sidenote: Charles the +Great and Rome.] In the midst of his conquests--which it is not here +our part to tell--Charles spent the Holy Week and Easter of 774 at +Rome. Thus the one contemporary authority tells the tale of the great +alliance which was made on the Wednesday in Easter week: "On the fourth +day of the week the aforesaid pontiff with all his nobles both clerkly +and knightly went forth to S. Peter's Church and there {151} meeting +the king in colloquy earnestly prayed him and with paternal affection +admonished him to fulfil entirely that promise which his father of holy +memory the dead king Pippin had made, and which he himself with his +brother Carloman and all the nobles of the Franks had confirmed to S. +Peter and his vicar Pope Stephen II. of holy memory when he visited +Francia, that they would grant divers cities and territories in that +province of Italy to S. Peter and his vicars for ever. And when +Charles had caused the promise which was made in Francia at a place +called Carisiacum (Quierzy) to be read over to him all its contents +were approved by him and his nobles. And of his will and with a good +and gracious mind that most excellent and most Christian king Charles +caused another promise of gift like the first to be drawn up by +Etherius his most religious and prudent chaplain and notary, and in +this he gave the same cities and lands to S. Peter and promised that +they should be handed over to the pope with their boundaries set forth +as is contained in the aforesaid donation, namely: From Luna with the +island of Corsica, thence to Surianum, thence to Mount Bardo, that is +to Vercetum, thence to Parma, thence to Pihegium, and from thence to +Mantua and Mons Silicis, together with the whole exarchate of Ravenna, +as it was of old, and the provinces of the Venetia and Istria; together +with the whole duchy of Spoletium and that of Beneventum." [3] The +donation was confirmed, says the chronicler, with the most solemn oaths. + +Now if this records the facts, and if two-thirds of Italy were given by +Charles (who possessed very little {152} of it) to the popes, it is +almost incredible that his later conduct should have shown that he did +not pay any regard to it. But the question is of political rather than +ecclesiastical interest, and it may suffice to say that there are very +strong reasons for believing the passage to be a later interpolation.[4] + +[Sidenote: The revival of the Empire, 800.] + +Within four mouths Charles had subdued the Lombards and become "rex +Francorum et Langobardorum atque patricius Romanorum." For nearly a +quarter of a century Charles was employed in other parts of his empire: +he dealt friendly but firmly with the pope; but he kept away from Rome. +But in 799 the new pope Leo III., attacked by the Romans probably for +some harshness in his rule, fled from the city and in July came to +Charles at Paderborn to entreat his help. It is probable that the +great English scholar, Alcuin, who has been called the Erasmus of the +eighth century, had already suggested to the great king that the +weakness of the Eastern emperors was a real defeasance of power and +that the crown imperial might be his own. However that may be Charles +came to Rome and made a triumphal entry on November 24, 800. The +charges against the pope were heard and he swore to his innocence. On +the feast of the Nativity, in the basilica of S. Peter, when Charles +had worshipped at the _confessio_, the tomb of S. Peter, Leo clothed +him with a purple robe and set a crown of gold upon his head. "Then +all the faithful Romans beholding so great a champion given them and +the love which {153} he bore towards the holy Roman Church and its +vicar, in obedience to the will of God and S. Peter the key-bearer of +the kingdom of heaven, cried with one accord in sound like thunder 'To +Charles the most pious Augustus, crowned of God, the Emperor great and +peaceable, life and victory!'" + +Thus the Roman pope and the Roman people claimed to make anew in Rome +the Roman Empire with a German for Caesar and Augustus. It was not, if +we believe Charles's own close friend Einhard, a distinction sought by +the new emperor himself. "At first he so disliked the title of +_Imperator_ and _Augustus_ that he declared that if he had known before +the intention of the pope he would never have entered the church on +that day, though it was one of the most holy festivals of the year." +[5] It may well be that Charles, who had corresponded with the Caesars +of the East, hesitated to take a step of such bold defiance. Men still +preserved the memories of how the soldiers of Justinian had won back +Italy from the Goths. Nor was Charles pleased to receive such a gift +at the hands of the pope. He did not recognise the right of a Roman +pontiff to give away the imperial crown. What could be given could be +taken away. It was a precedent of evil omen. + +But none the less the coronation of Charles the Great, as men came to +call him, was the greatest event in the Middle Age. It allowed the +vitality of the idea of empire which the West inherited from the +Romans, and it showed that idea linked to the new power of the popes. +It founded the Holy Roman Empire. Twelve years later the Empire of the +West won some sort of recognition from the Empire of the East. In 812 +an ambassage from Constantinople came {154} to Charles at Aachen, and +Charles was hailed by them as Imperator and Basileus. The Empire of +the West was an accomplished and recognised fact. + +[Sidenote: Results of the revived Empire.] + +Its significance was at least as much religious as poetical. Charles +delighted in the works of S. Augustine and most of all in the _De +Civitate Dei_; and that great book is the ideal of a Christian State, +which shall be Church and State together, and which replaces the Empire +of pagan Rome. The abiding idea of unity had been preserved by the +Church: it was now to be strengthened by the support of a head of the +State. The one Christian commonwealth was to be linked together in the +bond of divine love under one emperor and one pope. That Constantine +the first Christian emperor had given to the popes the sovereignty of +the West was a fiction which it seems was already known at Rome: +Hadrian seems to have referred to the strange fable when he wrote to +Charles the Great in 777. It was a legend very likely of Eastern +fabrication, and it was probably not as yet believed to have any claim +to be authentic; but when the papacy had grown great at the expense of +the Empire it was to be a powerful weapon in the armoury of the popes. +Now it served only, with the revival of learning at the court of +Charles the Great, to illustrate two sides of the great movement for +the union of Europe under two monarchs, the spiritual and the temporal. +The coronation of Charles was indeed a fact the importance of which, as +well as the conflicts which would inevitably flow from it, lay in the +future. But it showed the Roman Church great, and it showed the +absorption of the great Teutonic race in the fascinating ideal of unity +at once Christian and imperial. + + + +[1] _Cod. Car._ in Muratori, _Rer. Ital. Script._, iii. (2) 90. + +[2] Cf. Dr. J. von Pflugk-Hartung, _Acta Pontificum Romanorum inedita_, +1880, 1884. + +[3] _Liber Pontificalis_, i. 498. + +[4] The question may be read in Mgr. Duchesne's Introduction to the +_Liber Pontificalis_, ccxxxvii.-ccxlii.; and Dr. Hodgkin, _Italy and +her Invaders_, vii. 387-97. + +[5] _Liber Pontificalis_, ii. 6. + + + + +{155} + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE ICONOCLASTIC CONTROVERSY + +We have spoken already of two important periods in the history of the +Eastern Church. We must now briefly sketch another. + +[Sidenote: Sketch of the period, 725-847.] + +The third period (725-847) is that of Iconoclasm. Of this, the +originator was the emperor Leo III., one of those soldiers who +endeavour to apply to the sanctuary the methods of the parade-ground. +He issued a decree against the reverence paid to icons (religious +images and pictures), and, in 729, replaced the patriarch S. Germanus +by the more supple Anastasius; a docile assembly of bishops at Hieria, +under Constantine V. (Copronymus), passed a decree against every image +of the Lord, the Virgin, and the saints. A fierce persecution +followed, which was hardly ended before the accession to power of +Irene, widow of Leo IV., under whom assembled the Seventh General +Council at Nicae in 787, a Council to which the West and the distant +East sent representatives. This Council decreed that icons should be +used and receive veneration (_proskuêsis_) as did the Cross and the +book of the Gospels. A persecution followed, as bitter as that of the +iconoclastic emperors, and the troubled years of the first half of the +ninth century, stained in Byzantium by every crime, found almost their +only brightness in the patriarchate (843-7) of S. Methodius, a wise +ruler, an {156} orthodox theologian, a charitable man. In Antioch and +Jerusalem, about the same period, orthodox patriarchs were +re-established by the toleration of the Ommeyads and the earlier +Abbasaides; but on the European frontiers of the Empire conversion was +at a standstill during the whole period of iconoclastic fury and +reaction, while in the north-east of Syria and in Armenia the heresy of +the Paulicians (Adoptianism) spread and flourished, and the +Monophysites still throve on the Asiatic borders. In theology the +Church of Constantinople was still strong, as is shown by the great +work of S. Theodore of the Studium, famous as a hymn-writer, a +liturgiologist, and a defender of the faith. + +Such are the facts, briefly summarised, of the history of rather more +than a century in the East. But we must examine more attentively the +meaning of the great strife which divided the Eastern Church. + +[Sidenote: The orthodox doctrine of images.] + +The orthodox doctrine, as it is now defined, is this--that "the icons +are likenesses engraved or painted in oil on wood or stone or any sort +of metal, of our Saviour Christ, of the Mother of God, and of the holy +men who from Adam have been well-pleasing to God. From earliest times +the icons have been used not only to give internal dignity and beauty +to every Christian church and house, but, which is much more essential, +for the instruction and moral education of Christians. For when any +Christian looks at the icons, he at once recalls the life and deeds of +those who are represented upon them, and desires to conform himself to +their example. On this account also the Church decreed in early times +that due reverence should always be paid {157} by Christians to the +holy icons, which honour of course is not rendered to the picture +before our eyes, but to the original of the picture." This statement +represents the views of the orthodox Eastern theologians of the eighth +as clearly as it does the teaching of the nineteenth century. It +represents also the opinions of the popes contemporary with the +Iconoclastic movement, who withstood the emperors to the face. Leo was +threatened by Gregory II., and the patriarch who had yielded to the +storm, Anastasius, was excommunicated. The pope advocated, in clear +dogmatic language, the use of images for instruction of the ignorant +and encouragement of the faithful. In Greece there was something like +a revolution, but it was sternly repressed. [Sidenote: The acceptance +in the West.] In 731 a council, at which the archbishops of Ravenna and +Grado were present, and ninety-three other Italian prelates, with a +large representation of the laity, under Pope Gregory III., ordered +that if anyone should stand forth as "a destroyer, profaner, and +blasphemer against the veneration of the holy images, that is of Christ +and His sinless Mother, of the blessed Apostles and the Saints, he +should be excluded from the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and from +all the unity and fabric of the Church." The answer to this, it would +seem, was the separation of the Illyrian territories and sees from the +Roman patriarchate, as well as the sees in Sicily and Calabria: the +pope's authority was restricted to the territory of the exarchate, +including Rome, Venice and Ravenna. In Constantinople the resistance +of the people to the Iconoclastic decrees was met by a bitter +persecution, which Constantine V. began in 761. Under {158} his father +Leo III. the virgin Theodosia was martyred, who is revered among the +most popular of the Saints in Constantinople to-day. [Sidenote: The +Iconoclastic persecution.] The position of the people who clung to +their old ways of worship in the eighth century was indeed not unlike +that of those who to-day struggle on, always in dread of active +persecution, under the Muhammadan rule. Muhammadanism, with its stern +suppression of all representation of things divine or human, was +believed to have been one of the suggesting forces which brought about +the Iconoclastic movement. Leo III. had been brought into intimate +association with the Saracens; and it was said in his own day that he +had learned his fury against images from one of them. The tale was a +fable, but it showed how entirely Leo's action was contrary to the +religious feeling of his time. + +[Sidenote: Iconoclastic theology.] + +It is difficult perhaps for a Western, or at least an Anglican, to-day +to form a just estimate of the strong feeling of the majority of the +Eastern Christians in favour of "image-worship." It is easy to see how +the stern simplicity of the Muhammadan worship, which in all the +strength of the creed that carried its disciples in triumphant march +over continents and over ancient civilisations was present to the eyes +of the soldiers of Heraclius and Leo, appealed to all those who knew +the power and the need of stern self-restraint. That Islam should seem +to be more spiritual than Christianity seemed irony indeed, but an +irony which seemed to have facts to prove it. An age of superstition, +an age of credulous limits after the miraculous, an age when +materialism made rapid progress among {159} the courtiers of the great +city, was an age, it might well seem, which needed a protest against +"iconoduly," as the iconoclasts termed the custom of the Eastern +Church. And if the controversy could have been kept away from the +field of pure theology it might well have been that an Iconoclastic +victory would not have been other than a benefit to religion. Leo was +content to replace the crucifix by a cross. But it is impossible to +sunder the symbol from the doctrine, and the Greeks would never rest +satisfied with a definition, still less with a practical change, +without probing to its inner meaning. This feeling was expressed in +form philosophical and theological by one of the last of the great +Greek Fathers, S. John Damascene, and by the united voice of the Church +in the decision of the Seventh General Council. + +[Sidenote: S. John Damascene.] + +S. John of Damascus, who died about 760, was clear in his acceptance of +all the Councils of the Church, clear in his rejection of Monophysitism +and Monothelitism. He described in clear precision the two natures in +one hypostasis, the two wills, human and Divine, with a wisdom and +knowledge related to each; but he was equally clear that the composite +personality involves a _communicatio idiomatum_ (_antidosis +idiômatôn_). The human nature taken up into the Divine received the +glory of the Divinity: the Divine "imparts to the human nature of its +own glories, remaining itself impassible and without share in the +passions of humanity." S. John Damascene taught then that our Lord's +humanity was so enriched by the Divine Word as to know the future, +though this knowledge was only manifested progressively as He increased +in age, and {160} that only for our sakes did He progressively manifest +His knowledge. While he declared that each Nature in the Divine Person +had its will, he explained that the One Person directed both, and that +His Divine will was the determinant will. It might well seem that in +his desire to avoid Nestorianism he did not attach so full a meaning to +our Lord's advance in human knowledge as did some of the earlier +Fathers. But the practical bearing of S. John's writings was in direct +relation to the great controversy of his age, to which he devoted three +addresses in particular. He defined the "worship" of the icons as all +based upon the worship of Christ, and attacked iconoclasm as involving +ultimately an assault upon the doctrine of the Incarnation. On this +ground S. Theodore of the Studium and Nicephorus the patriarch of +Constantinople, who was driven from his see by the emperor, are at one +with S. John Damascene. + +[Sidenote: S. Theodore of the Studium.] + +Theodore of the Studium occupies a place in Greek thought which is, +perhaps, comparable to that of S. Anselm in the Latin Church. If there +never was anything in the East exactly corresponding to the era of the +schoolmen in the West, if the theology of Byzantium throughout might +seem to be a scholasticism, but a scholasticism apart, still it would +not be untrue to describe S. Theodore as the last of the Greek Fathers. +He came at a time in Byzantine history when a great crisis was before +the Church and State, so closely conjoined in the Eastern Empire. Born +in the last half of the eighth century, and dying on November 11th, +826, Theodore lived through the most vital period of the Iconoclastic +struggle, and he left, in his {161} theological and familiar writings, +the most important memorial of the orthodox position which he did so +much to render victorious. + +Theodore of the Studium is a striking example of the influence of +environment, tradition, and _esprit de corps_. His life is +inextricably bound up with the history, and his opinions were +indubitably formed to a very large extent by the influence, of the +great monastery of S. John Baptist of the Studium, founded towards the +close of the fourth century by Fl. Studius, a Roman patrician, the +remains of which still charm the traveller who penetrates through the +obscurest part of Constantinople to the quarter of Psamatia. The house +was dedicated to S. John Baptist, and according to the Russian +traveller, Antony of Novgorod, it contained special relics of the +Precursor. A later description shows the extreme beauty, seclusion, +severity of the place, surrounded by cypress trees and looking forth on +the great city which was mistress of the world. Even to-day the +splendid columns which still remain and the impressive beauty of the +crypt make the church, though in an almost ruinous condition, a +striking object in Constantinople. The monastery first became famous +as the home of the Akoimetai, or Sleepless Monks, (as they were called +from their hours of prayer,) when they withstood the heresies of the +later fifth century,[1] and fell themselves into error, but from the +date of the Fifth General Council to the outbreak of the Iconoclastic +controversy they remained in comparative obscurity. + +The era of Iconoclasm, which did so much to devastate the East, and +which, by the emigration of some {162} 50,000 Christians, cleric and +lay, to Calabria, exercised so important an influence on the history of +Southern Italy, might have cast a fatal blight on the Church in +Constantinople had it not been for the stand made by the Monks of the +Studium. [Sidenote: The Monks of the Studium and the Iconoclastic +Controversy.] The age of the Iconoclasts was the golden age of the +Studite monks. Persecuted, expelled from their house by Constantine +Copronymus, they were restored at his death in 775, but had dwindled, +it seems, to the number of twelve. A new era of power began for them +under their Archimandrite Sabbas, and this was increased by his +successor, Theodore, whose life covered the period of the greatest +theological importance in the history of Iconoclasm. When the +patriarchal see was held for seven-and-twenty years by Iconoclasts, +Theodore upheld the spirits of his brethren, and even in exile +contrived to be their indefatigable leader and support. His was never +a submissive, but always an active resistance to the imperial attempt +to dragoon the Church, and a typical audacity was the solemn procession +with all the monastery's icons, the monks singing the hymn "_Tên +achranton eikona sou proskunoumen_, _agathe_" which caused his +expulsion. His exile produced a series of impressive letters in which, +with every vigour and cogency of argument of which a logical Greek was +capable, he exhorted, encouraged, and consoled those who, like himself, +remained steadfast to their faith. The Studium gave, too, its actual +martyrs, James and Thaddeus, to the traditional belief; and Theodore in +exile, who would gladly have borne them company in their death, +commemorated their heroism and {163} implored their intercessions. +Theodore's whole life was one of resistance, active or passive, to the +attempt of the emperors to dictate the Church's Creed; and though he +did not live to see the conclusion of the conflict, its final result +was largely due to his persistent and strenuous efforts. For a while +after his death there is silence over the history of the Studites, +till, in 844, we find them bringing back his body in solemn triumph +from the island of Prinkipo. Till the middle of the ninth century they +remained a potent force; from that time up to the capture of +Constantinople by the Turks, if they retained their fame, their +activity was diminished. + +[Sidenote: The rule of the Studium.] + +Professor Marin[2] has collected interesting details from many sources +as to the rule of the house, its dress, liturgical customs, learning, +discipline. The liturgy was said at six on days when the fast lasted +till nine, at three on other days; and the monks were expected to +communicate daily. While the house was essentially a learned society, +a community of sacred scholars, Theodore stands out from its whole +annals as a great preacher, and no less for the charm of his personal +character. It was he, fitly, who gave to the house that special Rule, +which stood in the same relation to the general customary observance by +Eastern monks of that somewhat vague series of laws known as "the Rule +of Basil," that the reform of Odo of Cluny stood to the work of S. +Benedict himself. It was an eminently sensible codification of +floating custom in regard to monastic life. All that Theodore did--and +this applies with special force to the sermons which he {164} +preached--seems to have been eminently practical, charitable, and sane. +There is an underlying force of the same kind in the argument of his +three _Antirrhetici_, in which he triumphantly vindicates the worship +of Christ in His Godhead and His manhood as being inseparable and +essential to the true knowledge of the faith as it is in Jesus. There +can be no rivalry between icon and prototype: "The worship of the image +is worship of Christ, because the image is what it is in virtue of +likeness to Christ." + +This was the point on which the orthodox met the theologians who +defended iconoclasm: the iconoclasts in seeking to destroy all images +were seen to strike at a vital truth of the Incarnation, the true +humanity of Jesus. The theologians demanded the preservation and +worship,--reverence rather than worship in the modern English use of +the words,--of the icons as a security for the remembrance of the +Manhood of the Lord. The worship was not _latreia_, which can be paid +to God alone, but _proskunêsis schetikê_. Christ, said S. Theodore, +was in danger of losing the quality of being man if not seen and +worshipped in an image. + +The long dispute ended, as we have said, after the accession of the +Empress Irene, who, unworthy though she was to have part in any great +religious movement, yet had always been attached to the traditional +opinions of the Greek people. The monks of Constantinople had +exercised a steady influence during all the years of disturbance: and +they were to triumph. [Sidenote: The Seventh General Council, 787.] +The Empress Irene replaced the patriarch Paul in 783 by her own +secretary Tarasius, and it was determined at once to reverse the +decrees that {165} had been passed at Constantinople in 754. In 787 +for the second time a council met at Nicaea, across the Sea of Marmora, +which became recognised as the Seventh General Council. To it came +representatives of East and West, and the decision which was arrived at +was practically that of the whole Church. + +The persecution of the orthodox was renewed for a time under Leo V. +(813-20), and it is said that more perished in his time than in that of +Constantine V. Theophilus (829-42) was almost equally hostile. It was +not till his widow Theodora assumed the reins of power in 842 as regent +for her son that the final triumph of orthodoxy was assured; and this +was followed by the five years' patriarchate of S. Methodius, a man of +peace and of wisdom. + +To some the action of the emperors in attacking image worship has +seemed a serious attempt at social reform, an endeavour to raise the +standard of popular worship, and through that to affect the people +themselves intellectually, morally, and spiritually. But history has +spoken conclusively of the violence with which the attempt was made, +and theology has decisively pronounced against its dogmatic assertions. + +The long controversy is important in the history of the Church because +it so clearly expresses the character of the Eastern Church, so +decisively demonstrates its intense devotion to the past, and so +expressively illustrates the close attachment, the abiding influence, +of the people and the monks, as the dominant factor in the development +of theology and religious life. + + + +[1] See above, pp. 8, 14. + +[2] _De Studio Coenobio Constantinopolitano_, Paris, 1897. + + + + +{166} + +CHAPTER XV + +LEARNING AND MONASTICISM + +Something has been said in earlier chapters of the relation of several +great Churchmen towards education, towards the ancient classics, and +towards the studies of their own times. Something has been said, too, +in the last chapter, of Greek monastic life. The period which begins +with the eighth century deserves a longer mention, inadequate though it +be; for there was over a great part of Europe in the days of Charles +the Great a veritable literary renaissance which broke upon the long +period which men have called the dark ages with a ray of light. + +[Sidenote: Learning at the court of Charles the Great.] + +Charles the Great had all the interests of a scholar. He knew Latin +well and Greek passably. He delighted to listen to the deeds of the +past, or to theological treatises, when he dined, after the fashion of +monks. His interest in learning centred in his interest in the +teaching and services of the Church. Most reverently, we are told by +his biographer, and with the utmost piety did he cultivate the +Christian religion with which he had been imbued from his infancy. He +was a constant church-goer, a regular worshipper at the mass. Near to +his religious interest was his interest in education. A famous letter +of his to the abbats of monasteries {167} throughout the Empire, +written in 787, is a salient example of the close connection between +learning and monasticism in his day. He urged that "letters" should be +studied, students selected and taught, that all the clergy should teach +children freely, and that every monastery and cathedral church should +have a theological school. "Although right doing is better than right +speaking," he wrote, "yet must the knowledge of what is right go before +the doing of it." + +What he tried to do throughout his empire was a reflection of what he +did in his own court. He delighted to surround himself at Aachen with +learned men. Most notable among them were Paul the Deacon, the +historian of the Lombards, and Alcuin the Northumbrian whom he had met +in Italy and whom he made prominent among his counsellors. + +Charles, says Einhard, spent much time and labour in learning from +Alcuin, and that not only in religion, but "in rhetoric and dialectic +and especially astronomy"; and he "carefully reformed the manner of +reading and singing; for he was thoroughly instructed in both, though +he never read publicly himself, nor sang except in a low voice, and +with the rest of the congregation." + +[Sidenote: Alcuin of Northumbria.] + +Alcuin connects the learning of England with the revival on the +Continent. He had been trained in the school at York by Archbishop +Egbert, who was himself a pupil of Bede. He had studied the ancient +classics in Greek as well as Latin and knew at least a little of +Hebrew. The library at York is known to have contained books in all +those languages, and Aristotle was among them. Vergil, he said, when +he was a boy he cared more for [Transcriber's note: a line appears to +be missing here] than the vigils of the Church and the chanting of the +{168} psalms. About 782 he took charge of the schools which Charles +had founded at his court, and he became a very close friend and trusted +adviser of the emperor himself. With him (but for a short return to +England) he lived till in 796 he had leave to retire to Tours, where he +was abbat of the great monastery of S. Martin, and where he died in +804. He was a great teacher; a writer of books of education and books +of Church practice, of lives of the saints, of hymns, epigrams, +prayers, controversial tracts; a compiler of summaries of patristic +teaching; a leader in the reform of monastic houses. Among the many +notable points in his career, as illustrating the life of learned +churchmen of his age, are two especially to be observed. The first is +his "humanism." He was a scholar of an ancient type; and the society +in which he lived delighted to believe itself classical as well as +Christian. In a contemporary description of the life at Charles's +court Alcuin is called "Flaccus" and is described as "the glory of our +bards, mighty to shout forth his songs, keeping time with his lyric +foot, moreover a powerful sophist, able to prove pious doctrines out of +Holy Scripture, and in genial jest to propose or solve puzzles of +arithmetic." As a theologian he was most famous for his books against +Felix of Urgel and Elipandus of Toledo, on the subject of the +Adoptianist heresy (see above, ch. vi), and there is no doubt that his +was an important influence in the Council of Frankfort which condemned +them. The second is his attitude towards the monastic life. He +admired the monastic life, but he had not been trained as a strict +Benedictine, indeed he was probably no more than a secular in deacon's +orders. He held abbeys as their superior, just as many {169} laymen +did; but he never seems to have been inclined to take upon him any +strict rule. His example shows how natural was the next step in +monastic history which is associated with the abbey of Cluny. + +[Sidenote: The schools of Europe.] + +In Alcuin England was linked to the wider world of Christendom. This +has been summarily expressed by a great English historian thus: "The +schools of Northumbria had gathered in the harvest of Irish learning, +of the Franco-Gallican schools still subsisting and preserving a +remnant of classical character in the sixth century, and of Rome, +itself now barbarised. Bede had received instruction from the +disciples of Chad and Cuthbert in the Irish studies of the Scriptures, +from Wilfrid and Acca in the French and Roman learning, and from +Benedict Biscop and Albinus in the combined and organised discipline of +Theodore. By his influence with Egbert, the school of York was +founded, and in it was centred nearly all the wisdom of the West, and +its great pupil was Alcuin. Whilst learning had been growing in +Northumbria, it had been declining on the Continent; in the latter days +of Alcuin, the decline of English learning began in consequence of the +internal dissensions of the kings, and the early ravages of the +Northmen. Just at the same time the Continent was gaining peace and +organisation under Charles. Alcuin carried the learning which would +have perished in England into France and Germany, where it was +maintained whilst England relapsed into the state of ignorance from +which it was delivered by Alfred. Alcuin was rather a man of learning +and action than of genius and contemplation like Bede, but his power of +organisation and of teaching was great, and his services {170} to +religion and literature in Europe, based indeed on the foundation of +Bede, were more widely extended and in themselves inestimable." [1] + +[Sidenote: John Scotus.] + +Side by side with the career of Alcuin, of which much is known, may be +placed that of another scholar who was at least equally influential, +but of whose life little is known. John the Scot, whose thought +exercised a profound influence on the ages after his death, was one of +the Irish scholars whom the famous schools of that island produced as +late as the ninth century. He became attached to the court of Charles +the Bald, as Alcuin had been to that of Charles the Great. He became +like Alcuin a prominent defender of the faith, being invited by +Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims, to answer the monk Gottschalk's +exaggerated doctrine of predestination, which went much farther than S. +Augustine, and might be described as Calvinist before Calvin; but his +arguments were also considered unsound, and his opinions were condemned +in later synods. The argument that, evil being the negation of good, +God could not know it, for with Him to know is to cause, was certainly +weak if not formally heretical, and his subtleties seemed to the +theologians of his time to be merely ineptitudes. He was also, it is +at least probable, engaged in the controversy on the doctrine of the +Holy Eucharist which began about this time, originating in the treatise +of Paschasius Radbertus, _de Sacramento Corporis et Sanguinis Christi_. +In 1050 a treatise bearing John the Scot's name was condemned; but it +seems that this was really written by Ratramnus of Corbie. The view of +Radbert was that which was {171} afterwards formalised into +Transubstantiation. The view attributed to John was a clear denial of +any materialising doctrine of the Sacrament. Later writers say that +John returned to England, taught in the abbey school at Malmesbury, the +famous school originated by Irish monks and illustrated by the fame of +S. Aldhelm, and there died. His chief work was the _de Divisione +Naturae_, in which he seems to anticipate much later philosophic +argument (notably that of S. Anselm and Descartes as to the existence +of God) and to have been the precursor if not the founder of Nominalism. + +With John the Scot it is clear that both the old literature and +philosophy survived and were fruitful and that new interests, which +would carry theology into further developments, were arising. A +revival of learning was naturally the growth of the monastic system; +but that system was itself far from secure at the time of which we +speak. + +[Sidenote: The Benedictine rule.] + +The Benedictine rule did not win its way over Europe without some +checks; nor was it always able to retain its hold in an age of general +disorder. Much depended upon the abbat in each particular house. In +Gaul, the rule of S. Columban had made him absolute. But such a +submission was never accepted in central and southern Gaul. From the +end of the sixth century it is clear that monasticism was beginning to +slacken its devotion. The history of the monastery of S. Radegund as +given by Gregory of Tours shows this; so does the letter of Gregory the +Great to Brunichild. Nor did the milder rule of S. Benedict long +remain unaltered in practice. + +A new revival is connected with the names of Odo and Cluny. + +{172} + +[Sidenote: The decay of monasticism in the ninth century.] + +Saint Odo emerges from an age in which the most striking feature was +the reassertion of the imperial power and the imperial idea. The ninth +century, as it began, witnessed a remarkable revival, the revival of a +decayed and dormant institution--the Roman Empire--in whose ashes there +had yet survived the fire which had inspired the rulers of the world in +the past. The great idea of imperialism was reborn in the person of a +man of extraordinary physical and mental power, a sovereign who, while +he had not a little of the weaknesses of his age, had also in a +remarkable degree centred in himself its highest philosophic +aspirations. The early ninth century is dominated by the figure of +Charles the Great. The result was inevitable. Lay power, lay +over-lordship or supremacy, extends everywhere, intrudes into the +recesses of monastic life, and dictates even in things purely +spiritual. And as the new tide of barbarian invasion, Saracen or +Norman, sweeps on in Spain or Gaul, the Church, for very physical +needs, seeks refuge under the protection of lay barons, princes, and +kings. Feudalism is rising. The monastic houses fall often under the +arrogant rule of lay abbats. And the popes, not rarely a prey +themselves to the vices of the age, sink into impotence and become +enmeshed in worldly, often shameful, intrigue and disorder. The canons +of Church councils show that it was below as it was above. Secularity +was general, vice was far from rare. + +The Divine spirit and the past history of Christianity made it certain +that a revival of life must come. The dry bones would feel the breath +and would live {173} again. [Sidenote: S. Odo.] On the borders of the +lands of Maine and Anjou was born in 879, of a line of feudal barons, +Odo, the regenerator of monasticism, the ultimate reviver of the +papacy, the spiritual progenitor of Hildebrand himself. Promised to +God at his birth, he was long held back by his father for knighthood +and the life of a warrior such as he himself had led; a grievous +sickness gave him, on his recovery, to the monastic life. The disciple +alike of S. Martin and S. Benedict, he took inspiration from them to +revive the strict monastic rule. From a canon he became a monk, after +a noviciate at Baume, the foundation of Columban in the wild and +beautiful valley between the Seille and the Dard, in the diocese of +Besançon. For a time he tasted the life of the anchorite and the +coenobite. Then he passed to the abbey of Cluny, founded in 910 by +William of Aquitaine in the mountains above the valley of the Grosne, +and ruled till 927 by Berno, who came himself from Baume. On his death +Odo became abbat; and to him the great development of the revival of +strict monasticism is due. + +[Sidenote: Cluny.] + +Cluny became the type of the exempted abbeys, and the highest +representative of the monastic privileges. It embodied in itself the +best expression of the resistance to feudalism; it became the most +powerful support of the papacy and of the much-needed movement for the +reform of the Church. The first necessity of the new monasticism was +an absolute independence of the lay power. Thus the founder attached +it from the first to the Roman Church, and gave up all his own rights +of property. Its situation, in the heart of Burgundy, {174} removed it +from the power of the king. Charles the Simple permitted its +foundation, Louis d'Outremer confirmed its privileges. When Urban II., +a militant Cluniac, became pope the interests of Cluny and Rome were +more than ever identified. The monks elected their abbat without +exterior interference. To prevent this becoming an abuse, the first +abbats always proposed their coadjutors as their successors. Thus it +was with Berno(910-27), Odo (927-48), Maieul (948-94), Odilo +(990-1049). After that there arose the custom of appointing the grand +prior as successor--as in the case of S. Hugh (1049-1109). From the +confirmation of its foundation in 931 by John XI. Cluny received the +greatest favours at the hands of the papacy, its abbats being created +archabbots with episcopal insignia; and it was made entirely +independent of the bishops. + +[Sidenote: The rule of Cluny.] + +Cluny soon attracted attention, wealth, and followers. Corrupt old +communities or new foundations sought the guidance or protection of its +abbats. When each monastery was independent and isolated it was +impossible to reform a lax community, or for it to defend itself from +feudal violence and the hostility of the secular clergy. Odo, the +saint who saw these evils, therefore started what soon became the +Congregation of Cluny. The daughter-houses were regarded not as +independent, but as parts of Cluny. There was only one abbat, the +arch-abbat of Cluny, who was the head of all. Necessary local control +was exercised by the prior, responsible to and nominated by the abbat. +Some houses resisted annexation to Cluny, such as S. Martial at +Limoges, which kept up the contest from 1063 to 1240. Contact {175} +between the abbey and its dependencies was preserved by visitation of +the abbat; and the dependent houses sent representatives to periodical +chapters, which met at Cluny under the abbat. In the eleventh century +these were merely consultative, but in the thirteenth they had become +political, administrative, and judicial, even subjecting the abbat to +their control. The rule of S. Benedict was followed in the abbey and +its dependencies. The monks did some manual labour, but devoted +themselves chiefly to religious exercises, to teaching the young, to +hospitality and almsgiving. + +But the Cluniacs, protected by the papacy, and enriched by the +offerings of the faithful all over Europe, taught an extreme doctrine +as to the power of the Holy See. Their ideal was the absolute +separation of Church from State, the reorganisation of the Church under +a general discipline such as could be exercised only by the pope. He, +in their ideal, was to stand towards the whole world as the Cluniac +abbat stood towards each Cluniac priory, the one ultimate source of +jurisdiction, the Universal Bishop, appointing and degrading the +diocesan bishops as the abbat made and unmade the priors. + +How much of all this did the great Odo plan? Not very much. But it +was his work to revive the discipline, the holiness, the +self-sacrifice, which, through the reformed monasteries, should touch +the whole Church. + +And thus monasticism at the beginning of the eleventh century was a +wholly new force in the life of Christendom. It was destined to reform +the papacy itself. + + + +[1] Bp. Stubbs in _Dict. of Christian Biography_, vol. i. p. 74. + + + + +{176} + +CHAPTER XVI + +SACRAMENTS AND LITURGIES + +[Sidenote: Baptism.] + +In the centuries with which we deal the importance of Baptism cannot be +overrated. It was everywhere, in all the missions of the Church, +regarded as the critical point of the individual life and the +indispensable means of entrance to the Christian Church. When the +children of Sebert the king of the East Saxons wished to have all the +privileges of Christians, which their father had had, and "a share in +the white bread" though they were still heathen, Mellitus the bishop +answered, "If you will be washed in that font of salvation in which +your father was washed, then you may also partake of the holy bread of +which he used to partake: but if you despise the laver of life you +cannot possibly receive the bread of life"; and he was driven from the +kingdom because he would not yield an inch. The tale however shows +also that there were still on the fringe of Christianity persons who +were not baptized, not catechumens, yet still interested in the +religion and to some extent anxious to be sharers in its life. +Throughout the early history of Gaulish Christianity the same is to be +observed, and it is doubtless the reason why a number of semi-pagan +customs still survived among those who were nominally Christians, {177} +as well as those who still stood outside the Church. Baptism in the +case of many was a critical point in the history of a tribe or nation. +The baptism of Chlodowech was the greatest historical event in the +history of the Franks: it was of critical importance that the Franks, +with him, accepted orthodox Christianity, that he, robed in the white +vesture which West and East alike considered meet, and which was +sometimes worn for the octave after baptism, confessed his faith in the +Blessed Trinity, was baptized in the name of Father, Son and Holy +Ghost, and was anointed with the holy chrism and signed with the sign +of the cross. Baptism not only admitted into the Christian Church, but +was invested with the associations of the human family, and thus had +transferred to it some of the conditions in which students of +anthropology find such interesting survivals, of primitive ideas. The +conception of spiritual relationship was endowed with the results which +belonged to natural kinship. The sponsors became spiritual parents. +The code of Justinian forbade the marriage of a godchild and godparent, +because "nothing can so much call out fatherly affection and the just +prohibition of marriage as a bond of this kind, by means of which, +through the action of God, their souls are united to one another." +This led to the growth of as elaborate a scheme of spiritual +relationships as that which already hedged round among many tribes the +eligibility for marriage among persons even remotely akin to one +another. In the East, as in the West, baptism was most frequently +conferred at the time of the great Christian festivals, Christmas (as +in the case of Chlodowech), Epiphany, and especially Easter; and Easter +Eve became, later {178} on, especially consecrated to the sacred rite. +In the East baptism was often postponed till the infant was two years +old; and everywhere there was for long a tendency even among Christian +parents to hold back children from the laver of regeneration for fear +of the consequences of post-baptismal sin. It was thus that a name was +often given, and a child received into the Church, some weeks or even +months before the baptism took place. The Greek Syntagma of the +seventh century contains interesting information as to the baptism of +heretics. It is ordered that Sabellians, Montanists, Manichaeans, +Valentianists and such like shall be baptized just as pagans are, after +instruction and examination in the faith, and, after insufflation, by +triple immersion. + +[Sidenote: Confirmation.] + +Throughout these centuries baptism was not separated from Confirmation, +except in the case of some converts from heresy. The two rites were +regarded as parts of the same sacrament, or at least the former was not +considered complete without the latter. The sacramental life of the +individual in fact was to begin with his entrance into the Church and +never to be intermitted. Even infants were present throughout the +celebration of the sacred mysteries and partook of the Communion, a +custom which was only abandoned in the West because of the difficulty +of frequent giving of Confirmation and the consequent delay of that +rite till later years. + +[Sidenote: The Holy Communion.] + +Baptism and Confirmation was the gate by which the Christian was +admitted to the Sacrament of the Lord's Body and Blood. The +celebration of that Sacrament was the chief act of the Church's worship +every Sunday and holy day, and in {179} Spain, Africa, Antioch, daily, +in Rome every day except Friday and Saturday, in Alexandria except on +Thursday and Friday: indeed by the end of the sixth century it seems +probable that in most parts of the Church a daily celebration was +usual. From the seventh century the mass of the presanctified, when +the priest communicated from elements previously consecrated, is found +in use on certain days, and in the East throughout except on Saturdays +and Sundays. [Sidenote: Frequent Communion.] It seems clear that at +least up to the sixth century it was usual for all who were confirmed +to communicate whenever they were present, unless they were under +penance; but the custom of noncommunicating attendance was growing up. +In the East a spiritual writer said, "it is not rare or frequent +communion which matters, but to make a good communion with a prepared +conscience"; while in the West Bede's letter to Archbishop Egbert of +York supplies an excellent illustration of custom. [Sidenote: Bede.] +The people are to be told, he advises, "how salutary it is for all +classes of Christians to participate daily in the body and blood of our +Lord, as you know well is done by Christ's Church throughout Italy, +Gaul, Africa, Greece, and all the countries of the East. Now, this +kind of religion and heavenly devotion, through the neglect of our +teachers, has been so long discontinued among almost all the laity of +our province, that those who seem to be most religious among them +communicate in the holy mysteries only on the Day of our Lord's birth, +the Epiphany, and Easter, whilst there are innumerable boys and girls, +of innocent and chaste life, as well as young men and women, old men +and old women, who without any scruple {180} or debate are able to +communicate in the holy mysteries on every Lord's Day, nay, on all the +birthdays of the holy Apostles and martyrs, as you have yourself seen +done in the holy Roman and Apostolic Church." It would seem from this +that frequent communion was inculcated by the first missionaries to +England in the sixth century. Bede tells also how in his day two +Anglian priests went on a mission to the heathen Saxons, and, while +waiting for the decision of the "satrap," "devoted themselves to prayer +and psalm-singing, and daily offered to God the sacrifice of the Saving +Victim, having with them sacred vessels and a hallowed table to serve +as an altar." + +[Sidenote: Fasting Communion.] + +The Sacrament was received in both kinds and fasting, and the priest +was forbidden to celebrate after taking any food; some exception to +this rule may be inferred from a canon of the Second Council of Mâcon +in 585 enforcing it, and the ecclesiastical historian Socrates (whose +History extends from 306 to 439) states that some in Egypt did not +receive "as the custom is among Christians," but after a meal. The +presence of the Lord in the Eucharist was recognised and adored. +[Sidenote: The doctrine of the Sacrifice.] S. Anastasius of Sinai, +probably of the sixth century, writes: "After the bloodless sacrifice +has been consecrated, the priest lifts up the bread of life, and shows +it to all." The Eucharist is continually spoken of as the holy +Sacrifice, the offering of the Saving Victim, the Celestial Oblation; +and it was offered, as the writings of Gregory the Great show, in +special intercession for the dead as well as the living. From the +beginning of the fifth century it seems to have been, at least +occasionally, {181} reserved in church as well as sent to the sick in +their own houses. + +[Sidenote: The Roman mass.] + +During the fifth and sixth centuries it would seem that the Roman mass, +the rite which has slowly superseded the local forms of service in most +parts of Europe, was undergoing the modifications which brought it to +the stereotyped form it now has. The severe, terse, practical nature +of the liturgy, in words, ritual, ceremonial, which is so +characteristic of the Roman nature, was being altered by the admixture +of other elements. This was especially the case, it is said, in France +and Germany, during the ninth century. Earlier changes had been made +by Gregory the Great, partly from Eastern sources. [Sidenote: The +fifth century.] At the middle of the fifth century the rite, in words +and action alike, was a simple one. The choir sang an introit, the +priest a collect, epistle and gospel were read, and a psalm was sung: +the gifts were offered, the prayer or "preface" of the day was followed +by the Sanctus, as in the East, and then came the Canon or actual +Consecration. After this was the Lord's Prayer, communion of priests, +clergy and people, a psalm and a collect and the end. The ceremonial +was equally simple, and was connected almost exclusively with the +entrance of the celebrant and his ministers, at which incense was used, +and with the reading of the gospel, where also lights and incense were +prominent. All else was simple and of dignified reticence. "Mystery +never flourished in the clear Roman atmosphere, and symbolism was no +product of the Roman religious mind. Christian symbolism is not of +pure Roman birth, not a native product of the {182} Roman spirit." [1] +This reticent character is most clearly found in the Gregorian missal, +which has been believed to represent the period of Gregory the Great. +More probably the assertion of John the Deacon that Gregory revised the +Gelasian Sacramentary is an error, and what is called the Gregorian +Sacramentary is simply the book which was sent by Pope Hadrian I. to +Charles I. between 784 and 791. But that S. Gregory did make certain +alterations is certain. They were three in the Liturgy, two in the +ceremonial of the mass. The Alleluia was ordered to be more frequently +chanted than before; and we find it used outside the Easter season +almost immediately after this by S. Augustine in England. He added +words to the "Hanc igitur" in the Canon of the mass, praying for peace +and inclusion in the number of the elect. He inserted the Lord's +Prayer immediately after the Canon. He also forbade the deacons to +sing any of the mass except the gospel and the subdeacons to wear +chasubles at the altar. + +[Sidenote: The eighth century.] + +It is thought that the great change, which made the Roman mass into the +elaborate rite it became, is due to the influence, at the end of the +eighth century, of Charles the Great, who with the determination of a +ruler and the interest of a liturgiologist made one rite to be observed +throughout his dominions, but enriched the Gregorian book with details +and ceremonies derived from uses already common in France. The study +of liturgies became common in the ninth century, and in Gaul additions +were made to the book sent by Pope Hadrian {183} to Charles the Great, +which were finally accepted throughout the greater part of Italy, the +Ambrosian rite in the province of Milan remaining different throughout +the changes. + +It is natural that English readers should desire to know more +particularly of the first English Christian worship. How did the +Church's worship first begin in our own land? + +[Sidenote: The rites of the Western isles.] + +No doubt the Christians who received conversion during the Roman +occupation of Britain, and those of Ireland who were won by the +preaching of S. Patrick, worshipped according to the same rite as the +churches of Spain or the churches of Gaul, following that use which +survived in Spain generally till the eleventh century and in Gaul till +the ninth. Gildas, who wrote during the stress of the conquest of the +Christian Brythons by the heathen English, mentions one custom which +undoubtedly was Gallican, and which is preserved in the Gelasian +Sacramentary and the _Missale Francorum_, the one a Roman collection +which contains Gallican uses, the other a Gallican rite. It is that of +anointing the hands of priests, and perhaps deacons, in ordination, and +the custom was kept up after the conversion of the English, at least in +some parts of England in the tenth and eleventh centuries. But the +influence of the British Church was slight. It is of more interest to +us to know what was the first worship offered in this land by those who +were to convert our own forefathers. + +Bede tells us how first Augustine prayed when he came before the +heathen king of Kent. Some days after their landing Aethelbert +received the monks from {184} Rome. [Sidenote: S. Augustine in Kent.] +They had tarried, it seems probable, under the walls of the old Roman +fortress of Richborough. They had waited, in prayer and patience, for +the beginning of their Mission. It was on prayer that they still +depended when they were summoned before the king. On a ridge of rocks +overlooking the sea sat Aethelbert and his gesiths, and watched the +band of some forty men draw near. Slowly they came, and the strange +sound of the Church's music was wafted to the ears of the heathen +company as they drew near. Before them was borne a tall silver cross, +and a banner which displayed the pictured image of the Saviour Lord, + + The Cross preceding Him who floats in air, + The pictured Saviour. + + +S. Gregory, the great pope who had sent the mission, who had himself +long dwelt at the court of the emperors in Constantinople, had learnt +the value of _icons_, of sacred pictures, as texts for an appeal, or as +stimulants to devotion. Those who cannot read, he said, should be +taught by pictures, but pictures are valuable only because they point +to Him whom we adore as incarnate, crucified, sitting at the right hand +of God. As they came, they sang, and Bede says: "they sang litanies, +entreating the Lord for their own salvation and that of those for whom +and to whom they came." The litany ended when they came to the king, +and then Augustine preached the word. He declared, says an old English +writer of later days, "how the merciful Saviour with His own sufferings +redeemed their guilty world, and opened an entrance into the kingdom of +heaven to all faithful men." + +The king bade them deliver their message, and they {185} sat--for it +was no formal sermon, but rather, as we should say, a meditation on the +things of God--and "preached the word of life to him and all his +gesiths who were present." Bede tells us the answer of the grave +thoughtful Aethelbert--"They are certainly beautiful words and promises +that you bring; but because they are new and unproved, I cannot give my +assent to them and give up those things which I with all the English +race have so long observed. But since you are strangers and have come +a long way, so that--as I think I can see clearly--you might impart to +us that which you believe to be true and most good, I do not wish you +any harm, but rather will treat you kindly and see that you have all +you need, and we will not hinder you from bringing over to the faith of +your own religion all of our people that you can win." And so he gave +them lodging in his own city, the metropolis, as Bede, as it were by +prophecy, calls it, of Canterbury. [Sidenote: The litanies.] Towards +Canterbury they went, still with litany and procession, and thus, Bede +tells us, it is said they sang--still carrying the holy cross and the +picture of the great King, our Lord Jesus Christ.-- + +"We beseech Thee, O Lord, according to all Thy mercy, that Thy wrath +and Thine anger may be turned away from this city, and from Thy holy +house; for we have sinned. Alleluia." + +A tradition that lasted down to Bede's own day thus handed down their +words. There is great interest in this picture of Christian worship in +the heathen land, our own, that was to be won for Christ. It +illustrates the worship of the land the missionaries came from, as well +as serves as a pattern for the worship which the {186} English, under +Augustine's guidance, should follow. What was this litany? Litanies +at Rome were regulated by S. Gregory himself, and he was very likely +only revising and setting in order a form of service already well +known. But this very litany S. Augustine and his companions had most +likely heard during their passage through Gaul. There the Rogation +litanies had been over a hundred years in use; and these words form +part of a Rogation litany used long after in Vienne, through which +doubtless Augustine travelled. Thus the missionaries were using a part +of the Gallican service-books, and not of the Roman; and the legation +procession, which lasted so long in England, which still lingers in +some places in the form of "beating the bounds," and which in late +years has been here and there revived among us, comes to us with +Augustine from Gaul, and not from Rome, where it was not yet in use. +"Alleluia!" too, a strange ending to a penitential litany in modern +ears, was the close of Gallican litanies at Rogationtide, as later in +Christian England itself, and its use outside the Easter season was +especially authorised by Gregory the Great. And if Augustine's own +first public prayers were Gallican, so most probably was the use of the +chapel of the Kentish Queen Bercta, who was daughter of the West +Frankish king, and who had with her a Frankish bishop, Liudhard. But +his own use would be the Roman, just as his own manner of chanting, +long preserved at Canterbury, was after the manner of the Romans. And +thus, with the strong sense of unity natural to a man trained in the +school of the great Gregory, Augustine was startled at the contrast of +customs when it came to him in practical guise. Why, {187} the faith +being one, are there the different customs of different churches, and +one manner of masses in the holy Roman church, another in that of the +Gauls? So he asked the great teacher who had sent him. A wise answer +came from the wise pope, disclaiming all peculiar authority or special +sanctity for the use of Rome. "Things are not to be loved for the sake +of places, but places for the sake of things." "Select, then," he +advises, "from many churches, whatever you have found in Gaul, or in +Rome, or in any other church, that is good; make a rite for the new +church of the English, such as you think pious and best." + +[Sidenote: English uses.] + +All this, when Augustine's position is remembered, will be seen to show +how far Rome then was from arrogating to herself any strange supremacy +such as later days have brought. The first primate of the English was +allowed freedom to make an English rite. But, on the other hand, we +have no evidence that he did so. He preferred, we have every reason to +believe, the Roman rite, with only here and there a few changes or +additions. The Council of Clovesho, presided over by Cuthbert, +Archbishop of Canterbury, in 747, followed in his steps, taking in +regard to rites "the model which we have in writing from the Roman +Church." But none the less later English service-books show very +considerable Gallican influence. Celtic missionaries, and the +connection four centuries later with Gaul and Burgundy, left traces in +the way in which the service was performed; and England, up to the +Reformation, like all other countries indeed, had some distinct customs +of its own. Throughout the long history of conversion which spreads +over the whole island, it is noteworthy {188} that preaching and the +singing of litanies, as at the first coming of Augustine, are +conspicuous in the methods of the saints who won England to Christ. + +[Sidenote: The Eucharist in the sixth century.] + +What then was the service of the Holy Communion, as S. Augustine +celebrated it, and our English forefathers first came to know it? If, +as we suppose, it was the Roman, it would proceed thus. First an +antiphon, which came to be called an introit, or psalm of entrance, +with a verse having special reference to the lesson of the day or +season, was sung, as the priest, wearing a long white surplice or alb +and a chasuble (the robe worn alike by lay and by clerical officials), +entered with two deacons, wearing probably similar garments. In the +Gallican rite, as in the eastern, there followed the singing of the +"Trisagion": and in both Gallican and Roman the "Kyrie Eleeson," as in +our own office to-day, though we now add to it a special prayer for +grace to keep the Commandments. Then in the Roman rite was sung the +"Gloria in Excelsis," while in the Gallican the "Benedictus" took its +place. This was introductory. Now came the collect, the prayer when +all the people were gathered together. Then the Lesson from the Old +Testament, the Epistle, and the Gospel. Between the Old Testament +Lesson and the Epistle was sung the "Gradual," a psalm sung from the +steps of the ambo or pulpit, but gradually the use of Rome was followed +all over Europe, and the Old Testament reading was omitted altogether. +After the Epistle was sung "Alleluia" or the psalm called the Tract. +Then the Gospel was sung, introduced with special solemnity. The +deacon mounted the pulpit, seven candles being carried before him, and +the choir {189} chanting "Glory be to Thee, O Lord." After the deacon +had read the Gospel, a sermon was generally preached, but the Creed was +at this time not said. A short common prayer followed (in the Gallican +rite a litany), and then the mass of the catechumens was over, and +those who were unbaptized or unworthy to remain at that time for the +consecration departed from the church, a custom which has survived in +England under changed conditions. + +Then, when the faithful only remained, the offertory was sung, and the +bread and wine and water were offered (the ceremonial was different and +much longer in the Gallican rite, and included the kiss of peace). S. +Augustine, if he followed the Roman use, would offer the bread and wine +himself, with the laity assisting: the Gallican use was to prepare the +elements beforehand, and now bring them into church in procession. The +priest then washed his hands and said privately a collect, while in the +Gallican rite he read from the diptychs, or tablets of the church, the +names of those departed who were to be especially commemorated. + +Then followed the prayer called the Preface, and the singing of "Holy, +Holy, Holy." After this, in the Gallican rite, came a special prayer, +and then, as still in the Mozarabic, followed the recital of our Lord's +institution of the Sacrament, as in the English Prayer-book now; but +the Roman rite had also prayers for the Church, for the living and +dead, and both united in the prayer (called _paraklesis_) that the +elements might receive consecration from God, which was the +consecration itself until much later. Then the dead and living were +again prayed for, and the fruits of the earth were dedicated by prayer. + +{190} + +The Lord's Prayer, by the order of S. Gregory himself, concluded this +part of the service, which came to be known as the Canon, the +invariable part of the Mass. In the Roman rite the kiss of peace +followed, the faithful kissing each other according to the ancient +custom. Then the priest broke the bread, and said the Lord's Prayer +alone till the last clause. Then he placed a piece of the bread in the +cup, and received the Sacrament himself, afterwards giving it in one +kind to the clergy and laity, while the deacon followed with the +chalice. Before the Communion it was a custom taken from Gaul, which +lasted in England up to the Reformation, that the Bishop, if present, +should bless the people. A hymn was sung during the communion of the +people; the ancient "Draw nigh and take the Body of the Lord" remains +still to us from a Celtic source for use at this time. The service +ended with a "Let us pray" and collect after Communion, closely +followed by the second of the alternative post-communion prayers now in +our English office. Immediately after this prayer the deacon said +"Ite, missa est" ("Go: it is the dismissal"). + +In the English services to-day, while much is changed, and the language +is our own, we can still trace very much that has been used +continuously since the day when S. Augustine first said the whole +office of the Church on British soil. + +Much more might be said; but this may suffice to illustrate the +interest and importance which belong to sacraments and liturgical rites +in the ages of which we speak. + + + +[1] Edmund Bishop, "The Genesis of the Roman Rite," in _Essays on +Ceremonial_, 1904. + + + + +{191} + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE END OF THE DARK AGE + +[Sidenote: The end of the age.] + +As we draw to the close of the long period which, through the +conversion of the barbarian races and the growth of a central power in +the Church at Rome, so profoundly influenced the future of the world, +we are met by some outstanding facts which mark an epoch of crisis and +of reformation. They are--the widening breach in matters religious, as +earlier in matters political, between East and West; the influences +which served to strengthen the theory of the papal monarchy even at the +time of its greatest practical weakness; and the strength of the Empire +under the Saxon Ottos as a power to unite Western Europe and to reform +the Western Church. + +[Sidenote: The papacy of Nicolas I., 858-67.] + +Nicolas, who was elected in 858, was a great pope. He asserted the +moral force of Christianity in a way in which his predecessors very +frequently followed him, by vindicating the indissolubility of the +marriage tie. Chlothochar, King of Lotharingia, separated from his +wife Theudberga, bringing against her foul charges, which a council of +clergy at Aachen accepted. Nicolas intervened: again and again he +endeavoured to control the Frankish clergy and rescind the divorce; but +it was {192} only in 863 by a council at Rome, where the archbishops of +Cologne and Trier were present, that he was able to proceed to +extremities. He excommunicated those two prelates, and deposed them +with all those who had assisted them: he warned Hincmar of Rheims of +what he had done. The emperor Louis, Chlothochar's brother, marched on +Rome and captured the city; but there, through illness it appears, he +completely submitted to the pope. Nicolas enforced his decision on the +Frankish king, the Frankish bishops, on Hincmar, the great archbishop +of Rheims himself. In a letter he developed the theory that the Empire +owed its confirmation to the authority of the Apostolic See, and that +the sword was conferred on the emperor by the pope, the vicar of S. +Peter. Truly it was said of this pope by one who wrote a century after +his death, "Since the days of Gregory to our own sat no prelate on the +throne of S. Peter to be compared to Nicolas. He tamed kings and +tyrants and ruled the world like a monarch: to holy bishops he was mild +and gentle: to the wicked and unconverted a terror; so that truly may +we say that in him arose a new Elijah." + +Of equal though different importance was the action of the papacy in +regard to the East. What is known as the Photian schism is the +divergence between the churches of Constantinople and Rome, which +became critical during the pontificate of Nicolas I. + +[Sidenote: The Photian schism.] + +Photius, a man of great learning and experience, a scholar and +theologian of the familiar Greek type, was elected Patriarch of +Constantinople on Christmas Day, 857. At the time when Michael III. +determined on his appointment he was not even ordained: in six days he +{193} received the different orders and was made patriarch. But his +election was uncanonical. Ignatius the patriarch, who was still +living, was deposed because of his censures of the emperor's evil life. +Photius announced his election to Pope Nicolas, but Ignatius refused to +surrender his rights; both parties excommunicated each other; and the +emperor mocked at both. But he also asked the pope to send legates to +a council which should restore order to the Church. The Council met in +861. It confirmed Photius in his office, and the papal legates +assented. Nicolas refused to accept the decision and took upon him to +annul it, to depose Photius, to declare the orders conferred by him +invalid, and to announce his decision to the other patriarchs and to +the metropolitans and bishops who owed obedience to Constantinople. +Neither the emperor nor Photius would submit; and in 867 Photius +issued, in a council at Constantinople, an encyclical letter, in which +he repudiated the papal claim of jurisdiction (which was complicated by +assertions of supremacy over the Bulgarian Church), and denounced a +number of tenets held by Westerns, [Sidenote: The Philioque +controversy.] and most notably the addition of the word _Filioque_ to +the Nicene Creed, as asserting the procession of the Holy Spirit from +the Father and the Son. He ended by excommunicating the pope. + +In the year 867 Nicolas died, Michael was deposed, Photius followed him +into retirement, Basil the Macedonian ascended the throne, and Ignatius +was restored to the patriarchate. A council was held in 869 at which +papal legates attended, which approved these acts, and which is counted +by the Roman Church as {194} the Eighth Oecumenical Council. This +Council confirmed the Church's decision as to image-worship. Ignatius +held his throne till his death in 877, when Photius was reinstated. +His return was signalised by a new agreement with Rome, in which Pope +John VIII. repudiated the insertion of the Filioque, and declared that +it was inserted by men whose daring was due to madness, and who were +transgressors against the Divine Word. Another council at +Constantinople (879-80) confirmed the reinstatement, declared Photius +to be lawful patriarch, and anathematised the Council of 869. This is +reckoned by the Greeks as the Eighth Oecumenical Council. [Sidenote: +End of the schism.] Then the schism was for the time healed. It made +no difference that a new emperor, Leo VI., the Wise, deposed Photius +again and appointed his own brother. The union remained formally +throughout the tenth century. But though the eleventh century opened +with a nominal agreement, it was not destined to endure. The points of +severance must be dealt with in a later volume. It may here suffice to +say that the position of the Greeks was rigidly conservative, of the +popes aggressively authoritative. + +It was an age of growing papal claims; and the claims had now found a +new basis. + +[Sidenote: The forged decretals.] + +The promises, true and legendary, of Pippin, and the spurious donation +of Constantine, had still further extension in the False Decretals. +These were first used by Nicolas I., who was pope from 858 to 867. +During his pontificate the collection of Church laws, with the canons +of the Oecumenical Councils, the letters of the most important bishops +and the like, with the ecclesiastical laws of the {195} emperors, which +were practically becoming a _corpus juris canonici_, received a notable +addition. The genuine decretals of the popes begin with Siricius +(384-98); but there now (between 840 and 860) appeared fifty-nine more, +professing to date from the second and third centuries, and also +thirty-nine became interpolated among the genuine documents, which +ranged from 386 to 731. These were put forth by a skilful forger as +the collection of Isidore of Seville, and they were incorporated in the +authentic collection made by him. A most remarkable series of +documents was this, in every point supporting the claims now put forth +by the Roman See to political as well as ecclesiastical supremacy, +deciding questions of discipline and right such as were then vexed, and +supplying a veritable armoury for the advocates of papal claims to rule +everywhere, over all persons, and in all causes. The forged decretals, +now known as the pseudo-Isidorian, had their origin among the Franks, +and showed the aims and the needs of the Frankish reformers. They set +forth three great objects--"freedom from the secular power, +establishment of the ecclesiastical hierarchy with a firm discipline, +and centralisation of organisation upon which all could depend." [1] +They represented, in fact, a scheme of reform and the way in which a +somewhat unscrupulous reformer imagined it could best be carried out. +Probably the forged decretals were concocted at Rheims, or possibly at +Mainz, and they were first used in a critical case in 866, when a +bishop of Soissons, deposed by Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims, appealed +to the pope on the ground that the power of deposition by the decretals +belonged to him alone. It is difficult {196} to believe that when +Nicolas I. accepted them he was not aware that they were not the +genuine writings of the popes whose work they professed to be: he can +hardly have thought that Spain (where it was said that they had been +discovered) was more likely to have kept papal documents safely than +the Roman Chancery itself. Their importance was, however, not evident +at first. In the ninth and tenth centuries comparatively little was +made of them. It was in the eleventh and the centuries which followed +that a gigantic edifice of papal assumption was to be built upon them +by popes who were fired with a true zeal to reform the world, and who, +not doubting their authenticity, found in them an instrument ready to +their hands. + +[Sidenote: The decay of the papacy.] + +The weakness of the papacy in the tenth century was indeed such that no +theory could give it respect in Europe. The weakness of the Church was +heralded by that of the Empire. The Carling house expired in contempt +almost as great as that which had fallen on the Merwings. In Gaul the +Norman had won fair provinces on the coast; and the house of the Counts +of Paris came in the tenth century to rule over the Franks. There the +Church remained strong as the State decayed, and it was the great +archbishopric of Rheims which gave the crown to the line of Hugh the +Great. In Germany the dynasty of the Carlings became extinct. In Rome +the power over the city fell into the hands of the local nobility; and +the period was made infamous by the lives of Theodora and Marozia, who +were the paramours of popes. The tale of the age of disgrace which +marks the greater part of the tenth century is of no importance in the +history of the Church. A succession of {197} popes, whom their +contemporaries certainly did not believe to be infallible, followed +each other in rapid procession. John X. alone (914-28) has any claim +to greatness; but he, like the others, was deeply stained with the +vices, political if not moral, of his age. It was not until the Saxon +Otto came to Italy like a knight-errant to redress the wrongs of the +Northern princes, and was crowned at Rome in 962, that the Church in +Italy began to revive from its ashes. He deposed and set up popes; and +he gave to the papacy something of the bracing ideals which the new +life of Gaul and Germany inspired. + +The moral weakness of the papacy, the political weakness of Italy, had +founded the Empire anew, as it had been founded anew in 800. The +revival of the Empire under Charles the Great, and again under Otto, +was not due to political considerations only; it was due also to the +force of religious ideas. + +[Sidenote: The religious revival of the Empire under the Saxons.] + +One great characteristic of the revived Empire in German hands was the +important part played in its policy by missions, and, it must be added, +missionary wars. It was said of Charles the Great by his eulogists +that he converted Saxons and Vandals and Frisians by the Word and the +sword: and this thought was embodied in a series of wars which have +been somewhat fancifully compared to the Crusades of later days. Otto +I. thrice invaded the land of the Slavs and made all the barbarians +from the Oder to the Elbe admit his lordship. Six new bishoprics were +founded as his sway spread, and the bishop of Magdeburg was raised to +be "archbishop and metropolitan of the whole race of the Slavs beyond +the Elbe which has {198} been, or still remains to be, converted to +God." But though it was a real work of civilisation, a work which made +for peace, that the German Caesars undertook, it was not a Crusade. A +Crusade was a war to win back from the infidel what had once been the +patrimony of the Crucified: the wars of the Ottos were directed to +extend their own sway, and, as ever, the true work of the converting +Church was not helped but hindered by the arms and enterprises of +soldiers and statesmen. When the tribes revolted against the +government of the Germans, they often disowned their Christianity and +destroyed their churches. Under Otto III. the Empire did not recover +what she had lost, and the province of Magdeburg remained for nearly +half its extent in heathen hands. [Sidenote: Otto the Great's +endowment in Germany.] The Church suffered from this association. +Where the mission of S. Boniface had been purely spiritual, the work of +his successors was often hampered by the ambition of the emperors. In +the lands alike of Eastern and Western Franks the Church was often led +to lean on the State, and the results, of slackness, corruption, +weakness, were inevitable. The rich endowments which were poured upon +the Church were not always wisely given or wisely used. The Caesars +themselves showered gifts: Otto the Great surpassed all his +predecessors in lavishness,[2] and his dynasty followed in his steps. +But the honours and riches were given quite as much for political as +for religious objects. In the bishops and abbats the sovereigns found +the wisest servants, the most capable administrators. As among the +West Franks under the {199} Merwings, so now among the East Franks, the +great ecclesiastics were the supports of the monarchy, the real +governors of the country. It was thus that they came to owe their +position--if not their election always yet certainly their +confirmation--to the imperial will. As in Rome the emperors were +stretching forth a hand to control the elections to the papacy, so in +Germany there was growing up at the end of the tenth century the +practice of imperial control over the things of the Church. The policy +of the Ottos and the reformation of the papacy were certain ultimately +to lead to the contest concerning investitures. High clerical office +had come too often to be bought and sold, and the churches were +becoming mere appanages of the great principalities. It was wise of +Otto I. to try to win from the dukes the power they had obtained: but +it was not for the good of the Church that the power should be even in +the imperial hands. + +[Sidenote: Otto III. and the popes.] + +Otto I. died in 973. He had begun the reformation of the papacy. His +son and grandson succeeded him, Otto II. in 973, Otto III. in 983. In +996 died Pope John XV., a Roman whom the Frankish chronicler, Abbo of +Fleury, declares to have been lustful of filthy lucre and venal in all +his acts. To Otto the clergy, senate, and people of Rome submitted the +election of his successor. He chose his own cousin Bruno, "a man of +holiness, of wisdom, and of virtue,"--news, to quote the same saintly +writer, more precious than gold and precious stones. His throne was +insecure: the Roman noble Crescentius drove him from it, but he won his +way back and overcame one who had been set up as an anti-pope. He died +in 999. + +{200} + +At the close of the tenth century a pope and an emperor of great ideas +stand forth from the blackness of an age when, according to the +evidence of councils and of monastic chronicles alike, vice was +rampant--"the more powerful oppress the weaker, and men are like fishes +in the sea, which everywhere in turn devour one another"--and the +bishops and clergy alike neglected their duties. Otto III. (983-1002), +the offspring of the German who sat on the imperial throne and the +daughter of the Caesars of the East, made himself a real ruler of the +Empire in Church as well as in State, and after the disputed succession +of his cousin Bruno (Gregory V., 996-99) placed on the papal throne the +first of the great line of later medieval popes. Gregory V. was the +first pope of transalpine birth imposed by the Germans; Gerbert was the +first of the French popes. It needed the imperial army to keep Gregory +on the throne, and to crush the last of the Roman princelets who had +made the papacy infamous; Gerbert (Silvester II., 999-1003) was only +able to remain in the eternal city so long as Otto was there to protect +him. [Sidenote: Gerbert.] But Gerbert's greatness belonged to a sphere +far wider than that of the local papacy. He was a scholar in the +ancient classics, a logician, mathematician, astronomer and musician, a +great collector of books and a great teacher of men. An Aquitanian by +birth, he was brought up at Aurillac, and then passed from one place of +study to another, till, by the influence of the Emperor Otto I., he +settled at Rheims in 972. His school was a famous one: among those +whom he taught were many bishops, Robert the future king of the Franks +and Otto the future emperor. From Rheims he went as abbat to {201} +Bobbio, where the necessary severity of his rule provoked such +opposition that he was obliged to return to Gaul. [Sidenote: In Gaul] +He returned in time to win the influence of the great see of Rheims on +behalf of the child heir of Otto II., who died at the end of 983, and +to take part in the diplomacy which ended in the transfer of the West +Frankish crown to Hugh the duke of the Franks. When Arnulf, of the +very Karling house which had been dispossessed, became archbishop, and +tried to hand over Rheims to his kindred, Gerbert, the steadfast +supporter of the "Capetians," was made his successor. The election was +of more than doubtful legality, and the politics, papal and imperial, +of the time still further complicated the question: it was only settled +by the transference of Gerbert, on the nomination of his old pupil, +Otto III., to the see of Ravenna, From 998 he remained in Italy till +his death. [Sidenote: and in Italy.] In 999 he became pope, and then +he gave himself, heart and soul, to forward the great schemes, +missionary, reforming, imperial, which were indeed as much his own as +those of the enthusiastic genius of the young emperor. The old offices +of the "republic" were revived and harmonised, as in the East, with the +Christian character of the imperial power. Pope and emperor worked +hand in hand for the conversion of the barbarians: it is said that it +was Silvester who gave the kingship to the Hungarian Duke Stephen, as a +son of the Christian Empire and the holy see of the imperial city. In +the unquiet days of his papacy he was yet able to set an example of +wisdom, counsel, godliness, charity, which formed an epoch in the +regeneration of the Roman episcopate. Zealous, loyal, inspired by an +overpowering sense of duty, {202} Silvester II. in a short time +fulfilled a long time and left a mark on the history of the Middle Ages +such as was made by but few even of its greatest men. [Sidenote: Pope +Silvester II.] At his death in 1003 the age of reform had started on +its way; and his was the light which had directed its beginnings. Thus +in the West the end of the period shows the Empire and the papacy of +one mind, eager for a spiritual reform in the Church, for Christian and +missionary ideals in the State, not careful to delimit the provinces of +Church and State, but eager rather for unity of action as well as +sentiment in the cause of Christian extension and endeavour. + +[Sidenote: The end of the Dark Age.] + +Though the contest was not yet over, it might be said with confidence +that the Church of Christ had won over the barbarians. Missionaries +and martyrs had changed the face of Europe, and the fierce tribes which +were pouring over the Continent in the fifth century, barbarous and +heathen, were now for the most part tamed and converted to the love of +Christ. Out of a land which had been wild and barbarous, and where one +of the greatest of saints and missionaries had met his death, had come +a revival in Christian form of the old imperial idea, and the great men +who had been nourished by it had given new health to the central Church +of Europe. For the moment, the Empire and the Papacy, Germany and the +new temporal State in the hands of the Roman bishop, were united to +lead the Christian nations and to convert the heathen on their borders. +In the East remained the magnificent fabric of the immemorial Empire, +active still in missionary labour and setting an example of the union +of Church and State in {203} agreement to which the West could never +attain. The eleventh century was to bring to East and West alike, with +new responsibilities, new difficulties in action and new problems in +thought. Everywhere it was for unity men strove, the unity which if in +its main aspect it was political, was on its spiritual and ideal side +embodied in the visible Church of Christ. + + + +[1] Dr. O. L. Wells, _The Age of Charlemayne_, p. 434. + +[2] See H. A. L. Fisher, _The Medieval Empire_, ii. p. 65; Hauck, +_Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands_, iii. 57-9. + + + + +{205} + +APPENDIX I + + +LIST OF EMPERORS AND POPES, 461-1003 + + POPES. EMPERORS + WEST EAST + + 457 Leo I. + 461 Hilarus 461 Severus + --------- + 467 Anthemius + 468 Simplicius + 472 Olybrius + 473 Glycerius + 474 Julius Nepos 474 Zeno + 475 Romulus + Augustulus + 483 Felix III. + --------- + 491 Anastasius I. + 492 Gelasius I. + 496 Anastasius II. + 498 Symmachus + 514 Hormisdas + 518 Justin I. + 523 John I. + 526 Felix IV. + 527 Justinian I. + 530 Boniface II. + 532 John II. + 535 Agapetus I. + 536 Silverius + 537 Vigilius + 555 Pelagius I. + 560 John III. + 565 Justin II. + 574 Benedict I. + 578 Pelagius II. 578 Tiberius II. + 582 Maurice +{206} + + 590 Gregory I. + 602 Phocas + 604 Sabinianus + 607 Boniface III. + 607 Boniface IV. + 610 Heraclius + 615 Deusdedit + 618 Boniface V. + 625 Honorius I. + 638 Severinus. + 640 John IV. + 641 ( Heracleonas + ( Constantine III. + 642 Theodorus I. 642 Constans II. + 649 Martin I. + 654 Eugenius I. + 657 Vitalianus. + 668 Constantine IV. + 672 Adeodatus + 676 Domnus I. + 678 Agatho + 682 Leo II. + 683 Benedict II. + 685 John V. 685 Justinian II. + 687 Sergius I. + 694 Leontius + 697 Tiberius III. + 701 John VI. + 705 John VII. 705 Justinian II. + (restored) + 708 Sisinnius + 708 Constantine + 711 Philippicus + 713 Anastasius II. + 715 Gregory II. 715 Theodosius III. + 717 Leo III. + 731 Gregory III. + 741 Zacharias 741 Constantine V. + 752 Stephen II. + 752 Stephen III. + 757 Paul I. + 768 Stephen III. + (or IV.) + 772 Hadrian I. + 775 Leo IV. + 779 Constantine VI + 795 Leo III. + 797 Irene +{207} + + 800 Charles I. + 802 Nicephorus I. + 811 Stauracius + 811 Michael I. + 813 Leo V. + 814 Louis I. + 816 Stephen IV. + 817 Paschal I. + 820 Michael II. + 824 Eugenius II. + 827 Valentinus + 827 Gregory IV. + 829 Theophilus + 840 Lothar I. + 842 Michael III. + 844 Sergius II. + 847 Leo IV. + 855 Benedict III. 855 Louis II. + (in Italy) + 858 Nicolas I. + 867 Hadrian II. 867 Basil I. + 872 John VIII. + 875 Charles II. + (West Franks) + 882 Marinus I. 882 Charles III. + (East Franks) + 884 Hadrian III. + 885 Stephen V. + 886 Leo VI. + 891 Formosus 891 Guido (in Italy) + 894 Lambert + (in Italy) + 896 Boniface VI. 896 Arnulf + 896 Stephen VI. (East Franks) + 897 Romanus + 897 Theodorus II. + 898 John IX. + 900 Benedict IV. + 901 Louis III. + (in Italy) + 903 Leo V. + ---------- + 903 Christopher + 904 Sergius III. + 911 Anastasius III. + 912 Constantine VII. + (till 958) +{208} + + 913 Lando 912 Alexander ) + 914 John X. 919 Romanus I. ) co- + ( Constantine ) emperors + 915 Berengar 944 ( VIII ) + 928 Leo VI. (in Italy) ( Stephanus ) + 929 Stephen VII. + + 931 John XI. -------- + 936 Leo VII. + 939 Stephen VIII. + 942 Marinus II. + 946 Agapetus II. + + 955 John XII. + 958 Romanus II. + 962 Otto I. + 963 Leo VIII. 963 Basil II. ) + [964 Benedict V.] 963 Nicephorus ) + 965 John XIII. II. ) co- + 973 Benedict VI. 973 Otto II. 969 John I. ) emperors + 974 Domnus II. 976 Constantine ) + 974 Benedict VII. IX. ) + 983 John XIV. 983 Otto III. + 985 John XV. + 996 Gregory V. + 999 Silvester II. + 1002 Henry (II.) + 1003 John XVII. + + +NOTE.--This list is for the most part that adopted by Dr. Bryce, _Holy +Roman Empire_; but the dates might be slightly varied by reference to +Duchesne, K. Müller, and Funk (Weltzer and Welte, _Kirchenlexicon_). +It may also be noted that the popes were frequently not elected till +the year after the death of their predecessors. + + + + +{209} + +APPENDIX II + +A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY + +I. A list of original authorities for the whole of the period 461-1003 +would be too long in proportion to the text of this book, but a few of +the most important may be mentioned for the sake of those who wish to +begin to study the period at first hand. Any such study should +include:-- + + + Evagrius, ed. Bidez and Parmentier, 1898. + Zachariah of Mitylene [translation], ed. Hamilton and Brooks, 1899. + Bede, ed. Ch. Plummer, 1895. + Procopius, ed. Haury (in course of publication). + Joannes Diaconus, _Vita S. Gregorii_, ed. Migne, and _Zeitschrift + für Katholische Theologie_, XI., 158-73. + Gregory the Great, _Letters_, ed. Ewald and Hartmann, 1887, etc. + Paulus Diaconus, ed. Waitz, 1878. + _Monumenta Moguntina_, ed. Jaffé, 1866. + Gregory of Tours, ed. Arndt and Krusch, 1884-5. + _Liber Pontificalis_, ed. Duchesne, 1886-92. + _Liudprand_, ed. Dümmler, 1877. + _Letters of Gerbert_, ed. Havet, 1889. + _Regesta Pontificum Romanorum_, ed. Jaffé, 1851, 2nd ed. 1885. + Mansi, _Concilia_, 1759-98. + Einhard, _Vita Caroli Magni_, ed. Pertz and Waitz, 1880. + + +II. Reference to the other authorities can be most easily found through +modern works, from which the following is a selection:-- + + Milman, _History of Latin Christianity_. + Gibbon, _Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_ (ed. Bury). +{210} + Bury, _History of the Later Roman Empire_. + Bryce, _Holy Roman Empire_. + Oman, _The Dark Ages_. + Hodgkin, _Italy and her Invaders_. + Hauck, _Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands_. + Harnack, _Dogmengeschichte_. + Duchesne, _Les Églises Separées_. + " _Les Premiers Temps de L'État Pontifical_. + H. Leclercq, _L'Afrique chrétienne_. + " _L'Espagne chrétienne_. + M. J. Labourt, _Le Christianisme dans l'Empire perse_. + P. J. Pargoire, _L'Église byzantine, de 527 à 847_. + A. J. Butler, _The Arab Conquest of Egypt_. + Diehl, _L'Afrique byzantine_. + " _Justinien_. + " _Études sur l'administration byzantine dans l'Exarchat de + Ravenne_. + F. H. Dudden, _Gregory the Great_. + Hefele, _History of the Councils_. + Gasquet, _L'Empire byzantin et la Monarchie franque_. + Hutton, _The Church of the Sixth Century_. + Besse, _S. Wandrille_. + Du Bourg, _S. Odon_. + Martin, _S. Colomban_. + Hodgkin, _Charles the Great_. + Davis, _Charlemagne_. + Fisher, _The Medieval Empire_. + Hunt, _The English Church, 597-1066_. + Margoliouth, _Mohammed_. + Gardner, _Theodore of Studium_. + Marin, _De Studio Constantinopolitano_. + Lavisse (ed.), _Histoire de France_. + Marignan, _Études sur la civilisation française (la sociéte + mérovingienne)_. + Lützow, _Bohemia_. + Morfill, _Poland_. + Rambaud, _Histoire de la Russie_. + Poole, _Illustrations of Medieval Thought_. + Kraus, _Geschichte der Christlichen Kunst_, I. + Potthast, _Bibliotheca Medii Aevi_. + + + + +{211} + +INDEX + + Aachen, 167; councils at(809), 81; (860), 190 + Abasgi, a Caucasian people, converted, 95 + Abbassides, dynasty of Khalifs, descendants of Muhammad's + uncle Abbas, 156 + Abbats, lay, 168-9, 172; in the Rule of S. Columban, 171; + Cluniac, 174-5 + Abbo of Fleury, Frankish chronicler, 199 + Abder Rahman I., Ommeyad Khalif of Cordova (755), 146 + Abyssinian Church, Monophysite, 9, 23, 111 + Acacius, patriarch of Constantinople, 7, 8, 10 + Acca, bishop of Hexham (709-32), 169 + Adalbert, S. (Voytech), bishop of Prague, 125-6, 129 + Adalwald, Lombard king, 63 + Adam of Bremen, 130 + Adamuan's Life of Columba, 115-16 + _Adiaphorites_, 86 + Adoptianist heresy, 72; in the West, 78-9, 81, 168; + in the East, 79, 80, 156 + Aelfeah (Alphege), bishop, 121 + Aelfric, abbat of Eynsham, 121 + Aethelbert, king of Kent, 183-5 + Aethelred, king of England, 121 + Aethelstan, king of England, 131 + Aethelwold, bishop of Winchester, 119 + Africa, the Church in North, 5, 17, 20, 103-10; increase of papal + power, 65, 67, 69, 107-8; Eucharist, 179; survival of + Christian customs to modern times, 23, 110; Vandals in, 103; + reconquered by Belisarius, 105; Muhammadan conquest, 5, 108, 109 + Agapetus (Agapitus), Pope, 15, 38 + Agatho, Pope, 88 + Agde, 146 + Agilulf, Lombard king, 62, 134 + Agnellus, archbishop of Ravenna, 33 + Agriculture, cared for by the Benedictines, 36; by Gregory + the Great, 65 + Aidan, S., 116 + Airulf, Lombard king, 68 + Aistulf, Lombard king, 148, 149 + _Akoimetai_, 8, 14, 161 + _Aktistetes_, 86 + Alamanni, 42, 135 + Alans, Mongol barbarians, in Gaul, 41 + Albagrians of the Caucasus, converted, 95 + Albinus, abbat of Canterbury (d. 732), 169 + Alcuin, 81, 116, 141, 152, 167-70 + Aldhelm, S., of Malmesbury, 115, 171 + Alexandria, Church and Patriarchate of, 8, 10, 16, 17, 24, + 64, 65, 84, 87, 110; Eucharist, 179; conquered by the Arabs, 109 + Alfred the Great, king of England, 32, 118 + Alodaei, Soudanese people, converted, 111 + Althing, Icelandic assembly, 132 + Amalric, Wisigothic king in Spain, 74 + _Ambo_ (pulpit), 188 + Ambrosian Rite (so called from S. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, + 374-97), 183 + Amöneburg (Hessen), monastery, 136 + Anastasius, emperor, 7, 9, 47 + Anastasius, patriarch of Antioch, 63 + Anastasius, patriarch of Constantinople, (703-53), 155, 157 + Anastasius of Sinai, S., 180. + Andover, 121 + Angarii, tribe allied with the Saxons, 140 + Annegray, S. Columban's settlement at, 55 + Anselm, S., archbishop of Canterbury (died 1109), 160, 171 + Ansgar, S., archbishop of Hamburg, 129-30 + Anthimus, patriarch of Constantinople, 15 + Antioch, Church and Patriarchate of, 8, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, + 84, 87, 156; Eucharist, 179; synod at (541 or 542), 16 + _Antirrhetici_ of S. Theodore the Studite, 164 + _Antistes_ (bishop), 66 + Antony, archbishop of Novgorod (c. 1200), 161 + _Aphthartodocetes_, 21, 85 + _Apocrisiarius_, papal envoy at Constantinople, 63 + Aquilea, patriarch of, 21, 39 + Aquitaine, 49 + Arabia, conquered by Muhammad, 101; Arabian Christians in + Persia, 110; Christianity in S. Arabia, 111 + Arabs. _See_ Muhammadans. + Architecture, Byzantine, 25-8, 100, 106 + Arcona (Isle of Rügen), heathen temple at, 127 + Arianism, extinct in the East, 9; of the Goths in Italy, 29, 30, + 60; its suppression a political necessity, 33; the Frankish + struggle against, 47-8; of the Vandals in Africa, 103-5; of + the Lombards, 56, 61; in Spain, 73, 74, 75 + Arles, 46, 49, 50, 146 + Armagh, monastery, 53 + Armenia, 3; Church of, 13, 84, 85, 95, 156; Monophysite, 23, + 110; Adoptianiats in, 79; Paulicians in, 80 + Arnulf, S., bishop of Metz, 58, 135, 139, 144, 145 + Arnulf, archbishop of Rheims, 201 + Asser, bishop of Sherborne, 118 + Assyria, Christians in, 93, 96 n. + Athanagild, Wisigothic king in Spain, 74 + Athanasian Creed, 81-2 + Athens, 99 + Augustine of Canterbury, S., 62, 69, 113, 117, 182-90 + Augustine of Hippo, S., 3, 72, 103, 106, 170; _De Civitate Dei_, 154 + Aurillac, 200 + Austrasia, Eastern Frankish kingdom, 43, 49, 135, 145-6; + Synod in (742), 138 + Autun, Council of (670), 59 + Avars, Mongol race, 135, 141 + Avignon, 146 + Avitus, bishop of Vienne, 81 + Axum, Ethiopic kingdom, 111-12 + + Baghdad, 96, 97 + Bangor (Ireland), monastery, 54-5; _Antiphonary_ of, 115 + Baptism, 176-8; of Chlodowech, 42; of Borivoj, 128; of the + people of Kiev, 127; of Olaf Trigvason, 132 + Basil the Great, S. (329-79), his Rule, 163 + Basil I. the Macedonian, emperor, 80, 193 + Basil II., emperor, 126 + Baume, monastery at, 173 + Bavarians, 135, 138 + Bede (Baeda), 68 n., 115-16, 118, 167, 169, 170, 179, 180, 183-5 + Belisarius, 30, 61, 105 + Benedict Biscop, 115, 169 + Benedict of Nursia, S., 34-9, 53, 58, 163; his Rule, 35-7, 58-9, + 69, 119, 121, 171, 173, 175; the Benedictines, 35-8, 60, 62, 137 + Bercta, Kentish queen, 186 + Berno, abbat of Cluny, 173-4 + Besançon, 56, 173 + Béziers, 146 + Bishops, their position under Justinian, 24-5; share in the + civil government of Italy, 33-4; without dioceses in the Celtic + Church, 114; "Universal Bishop," 66, 175; bless the + people at the Eucharist, 190 + Blemmyes, Ethiopic tribe, converted, 111 + Bobbio, 53, 56, 201 + Boethius, 32 + Bohemia, Christianity in, 127-9; + Bohemian princess brings about the conversion of Poland, 125 + _Boïar_, title of Bulgarian magnates, 124 + Boleslav I., duke of Bohemia, brother of S. Wenceslas (died + 967), 128 + Boleslav II., "the Pious," duke of Bohemia (967-99), 128, 129 + Boniface, S. (Winfrith), 130, 136-40, 142, 147, 198 + Boris, Bulgarian king, 124 + Borivoj, Bohemian duke, baptized, 128 + Boso, bishop of Merseburg, 126 + Braga, councils at (563, 572), 74 + Bremen, archbishopric, 130, 142 + Bretislav II., king of Bohemia (1092-1100), 127 + Britain, 83, 88; Christianity in, 113 ff; early British Church, + 183; ritual in the British Church, 183. _See_ England + Brittany, 115 + Brunichild, 13, 48-9, 56, 74-5, 171 + Bruno (Pope Gregory V.), cousin of Otto III., 199, 200 + Bruno, missionary to the Prussians, 125 + Brythons, Celts of Britain, their Church, 113, 183 + Bulgarians, a Finnish race, conversion of, 124; they and their + Church, 13, 23, 44, 84, 128, 193 + Burgundians, 41; Frankish kings of, 49, 55-6, 135 + Bury, Dr. J. B., quoted, 21 n., 46-7, 113 + Byzacene, African see, 106 + Byzantine architecture, 25-8, 100, 106; Church and Patriarchate, + 91, _and see_ Constantinople; Empire, _see_ Umpire, Eastern + + Caelian Hill at Rome, 60, 64 + Caesarius, bishop of Arles, 72, 81 + Calabria, 157, 162 + _Candace_, title of the queens of Abyssinia, 111 + Canons, collection of, 85; canon law, 194-5; canon of the Mass, + 181-2, 190 + Canterbury, 115, 185-6 + Capetians, House of Hugh the Great, duke of the Franks, 201 + Carisiacum (Quierzy), 151 + Carling House. _See_ Karlings + Carloman, son of Charles Martel, brother of Pippin the Short, + 114-5, 147, 149 + Carloman, son of Pippin the Short, brother of Charles the Great, + 148, 150-1 + Carthage, taken by the Vandals, 103; by the Muhammadans, + 77, 109; Church of, survival, 110; bishop of, 67, 103-6, 108 + Cassiodorus, 30, 38 + _Catholicos_, primate of the Monophysite Armenian Church, 84, + 95; of the "Church of the East," 96; of the Persian + Church, 93-4, 99 + Celibacy of the clergy. _See_ Marriage + Celtic Church, 113-17, _and see_ Ireland; Celtic Easter, 55, 114; + Celtic influence on the English liturgy, 187, 190; Celtic + missionaries and Boniface, 138 + Ceremonial, 181-90 + Ceylon, 96 + Chad, S., 116, 169 + Chalcedon, Council of (451), 2, 7, 9, 10, 18, 24, 65-6, 79, 85-6, + 89, 95 + Chaldeaecan Church, 23, 93 + Châlons, Battle of, 41 + Charles Martel, Frankish mayor of the palace, 135, 137, 141, 146 + Charles I., the Great, 50, 136, 182, 197; anointed king, 148; + revives the Empire, 152-4; destroys the Lombard kingdom, + 150, 152; supposed donation of, 151-2; theocratic ideas + of, 139; religious wars, 127, 140-2; his share in the + Adoptianist controversy, 80; his learning and piety, 166-70; + aspirations, 172 + Charles II., the Bald, emperor, son of Louis I., the Pious, 170 + Charles the Simple, sole king of the West Franks (898-922), 174 + Cherson, near the mouth of the Dnyepr, 126 + Childebert I., Frankish king, 39 + Childebert II., Frankish king, son of Sigebert and Brunichild, 49 + Childerich III., last of the Merwings, 147 + Chilperich I., Frankish king of Neustria, son of Chlothochar I., + 43, 51, 54, 75 + China, Nestorian missions in, 96, 98 + Chlodowech, king of the Franks, baptized, 42, 177; dies, 43; + his aim, 46; receives the consulate, 47; his daughter, 74 + Chlothochar I., Frankish king, son of Chlodowech, 43, 47, 54, 74 + Chlothochar II., Frankish king, son of Chilperich I. and + Fredegund, 56, 58, 145 + Chlothochar (Lothar), king of Lotharingia, son of the emperor + Lothar I. (855-69), 191-2 + Chora, Church of the, at Constantinople, 26 + Chosroes II., Persian king (590-628), 101 + Chosroes, Persian king (800-50), 80 + Christmas baptisms, 177; communion, 179 + Christology, 98. _See_ Heresies + Chrotechild (Clotilda), wife of Chlodowech, 42 + Church, The, her task in fifth century, 1; organisation, 2, 24; + tendency to separation in East and West, 3, _and see_ Schism; + Churches of Rome and Constantinople held to be one, 10; + East and West differ in use of _Quicunque_, 81-2 + Church, the Eastern, strengthens the Empire, 4; her firm position + in 527, 11; united with the State, 12; history, 6-28, 83-92, + 155-65; conservative character, 165, 194. _See_ Constantinople, + Schism + Church, the Western: Church property and jurisdiction under + the Gothic kings in Italy, 30-1; determines the development + of the Frankish nation, 45; maintains imperial tradition, + 45-6; her aggressive claims, 194; subject in Germany and + Italy to the control of the Saxon emperors, 191, 197-201. + _See_ Papacy, Rome, Schism + "Church of the East," Nestorian, 96-7 + Clonard, monastery, 53, 55 + Clonfert, monastery, 53 + Clonmacnoise, monastery, 53 + Clotilda, Clotilde. _See_ Chrotechild, Hlothild + Clovesho, Synod of (747), 138, 187 + Cluniacs, monks of Cluny, 174-5 + Cluny, monastic reform of, 169, 171-5; abbey of, 173-4; Rule + of, 174-5; congregation of, 174 + Cologne, archbishop of, 192 + Columba, S., 114-16 + Columban, S., 53-8, 116; his Rule, 55, 171; monastery at Baume, 173 + Communion, Holy, 178-90; received by the Stylites, 25. _See_ + Eucharist + Confirmation, 178; of Olaf Trigvason, 121 + _Consolation of Philosophy, The_, by Boethius, 32 + Constans II., emperor, 109 + Constantine I., emperor, 12, 40; donation of, 154 + [Constantine IV.], emperor, 89 + Constantine V., Copronymus, 80, 155, 158, 162, 165 + Constantine, pope, 91 + Constantine of Thessalonica (S. Cyril), 123 + Constantine, founder or reviver of Eastern Adoptianism, 79-80 + Constantinople, theological bent of its people, 8; buildings at, + 25-7; captured by the Turks (1453), 163; modern, 158, 161 + Constantinople, Church of, its growing isolation, 13; a witness + for religious liberty, 14; valuable services to the Church + Universal, 20; quarrel with Rome over the Ecthesis and + Type, 88; missions to Bulgarians, 124; to Russians, 126-7; + to Moravians and Czechs, 128; theology in, 156. _See_ + Church, Eastern; Schism + Constantinople, councils at: Fifth General (553), 15, 17, 18, 20-2, + 39, 63-4, 86, 106-7, 161; synod of 588, 66; Sixth General + (680-1), 21, 84-5, 88; Council of 681, 67; _in Trullo_ (691), + 85, 89-92; Council of 692, 67; iconoclastic synod of 754, 165; + Councils of 861 and 867, 193; Eighth General (869), 193-4; + Council (879-80), 194 + Constantinople, Patriarchate of, 24, 67, 85, 90, 124, 192-4 + Constantinople, patriarchs of, 87-8; claim the title of + Oecumenical, 65. _See_ Acacius, Germanus, Ignatius, John the + Cappadocian, Mennas, Methodius, Nicephorus, Paul, Photius, + Sergius, Tarasius + Coptic Church, 9, 23, 84, 101, 110, 112; Copts resist Saracens, 109 + Corbie (New Korvey), monastery, on the Weser, 130, 170 + Corbinian, S., 135 + Corinth, bishops of, 67 + Cornwall, early British Church of, 113, 117 + Corsica, 151 + Cosmas, sixth-century traveller, 97 + Councils, valuable work of the, 19. _See_ Aachen, Antioch, + Austrasia, Autun, Braga, Chalcedon, Clovesho, Constantinople, + Frankfort, General, Gentilly, Hatfield, Mâcon, Orange, + Regensburg, Rome, Toledo, Whitby + Cracow, relics at, 125 + Creed, at the Council of Chalcedon, 2; proposal to reform, 14; + importance of a logically tenable, 19; Pope Leo III. discourages + additions to, 81; Athanasian, 81-2; Nicene, 193 + Crescentius, John, patrician of Rome, 199 + Crete, bishops of, 67 + Croatia, Croats, 84, 124 + Cross, the Holy, 100-2; tolerated by the iconoclast emperor Leo + III., 159; sign of the, in baptism, 177; used by S. Augustine + in his mission, 184-5 + Crusades, true and false, 197-8 + "Culdees," Celtic monks, 119 + Cumbria (or Strathclyde), early British Church of, 113 + Cuthbert, M., 116, 121, 169 + Cuthbert, archbishop of Canterbury, 187 + Cyprus, Church of, 21 + Cyril, S., patriarch of Alexandria (412-44), opponent of Nestorius, + 10, 18, 22 + Cyril, S. (Constantine), apostle of the Slavs, 123-4, 126, 128 + Czechs, Slav race of Bohemia, 127 + + Dagobert I., Frankish king, son of Chlothochar II., 44, 58, 145 + Danes ravage England and Scotland, 117-19, 121; settle, and + are converted, 118; Danish invasions, 122; conversion of + Denmark, 129, 131 + David, S., 118 + Decretals, false, 194-6 + Deira, northern kingdom of England, 63 + Denmark, conversion of, 129, 131 + Desiderius (Didier) of Cahors, S., 58 + Dionysius the Areopagite, Platonist so called, 89 + Dnyepr (Dnieper), Russian river, baptisms in, 127 + Dokkum, S. Boniface martyred at, 139 + Donation of Constantine, 154; of Pippin, at Quierzy, 149, 151; + of Charles the Great, 151-2 + Donatists, 103, 107 + Double procession of the Holy Ghost, 76, 80-1, 193-4 + Druidism favoured the growth of Christian monasticism, 53 + Dublin, conversion of Danes at, 122; Norse king of, 132 + Duchesne, Mgr., quoted, 40, 208 + Dudden, F. H., quoted, 50, 75 n. + Dunstan, S., 115, 119-21 + Durham, see of, 121 + + Eadgar, king of England, 119 + East, the, large number of ecclesiastics in, 25 + East and West, reunion of, after the quarrel of pope and emperor, + in 519, 10; political severance completed, 149; breach widens, + 191; divergence, Photian schism, 192-4; nominal reunion + throughout tenth century, 194. _See_ Schism + Easter baptisms, 177; communion, 179; use of the alleluia, 182; + Celtic Easter, 55, 114 + Eastern Church, orthodox, securer than the West in its + Christianity, 7; its intense conservatism, 27; dictates + to the papacy under Vigilius and Pelagius, 40. _See_ Church, + Constantinople, Schism + Ebbo, archbishop of Rheims, 129, 141 + Ebroin, mayor of the palace in Neustria, 146 + _Ecthesis_, issued by Heraclius, 87, 89 + Edessa, 93, 96, 110 + Education, 166-7, 175. _See_ Learning + Egbert, archbishop of York, 167, 179 + Egypt, 9; National Church, 13; Monophysite Church, 23; sects, + 110; Church, 112; Holy Communion, 180; Muhammadan + invasion, 84, 108. _See_ Alexandria, Coptic + Einhard, biographer of Charles the Great, 142, 153, 167 + Eligius, S., 58 + Elipandus, archbishop of Toledo, 78-9, 168 + Ellesthaeos, Ethiopian king, 112 + Eloi (Eligius), S., 58 + Emly, monastery, 53 + Emmeran, Emmeram, S., missionary in Bavaria, 135 + Empire, the, becomes a Christian power, 1; obsolescent, 2; + representative of Christian unity, 3; invaded by barbarians, 1, 3; + its vitality, 3 + Empire, Eastern, relations with the Franks, 46-7; its strength + renders the Nestorian missions possible, 98; becomes more + purely Oriental, 113; end of the imperial power in Italy, 147-8; + its recognition of the Western Umpire of Charles the + Great, 153. _See_ Constantinople + Empire, Western, ends with Romulus Augustulus (476), 28; + tradition preserved by the Church, 45-6; revival of the + imperial idea, 172; Charles the Great restores the Empire, + 139, 144, 152; origin of the "Holy Roman Empire," 153; + papal theory of the Empire, 192; weakness of the Empire in ninth + and tenth centuries, 196; revival under the Saxon Ottos, + 191, 197-202 + England, conversion of, 62-3, 69, 117, 183-7; Church of, + 117-21; its independent attitude towards Rome, 117, 120, + 121; kings the nursing fathers of the Church, 27; English + missionaries to Germany, 136-9, 141-2; ritual in, 183-90 + Ennismore, monastery, 53 + Epiphanius, bishop of Pavia, 29 + Epiphany baptisms, 177; communion, 179 + Etherius, chaplain and notary to Charles the Great, 151 + Ethiopian Church, 110-12 + Eucharist, celebration of, in sixth century, 188; doctrine of, + controversy concerning, 170-1; Aelfric's doctrine of, 120; + reservation of, 180-1. _See_ Communion, Mass + Eugenius, S., bishop of Carthage, 104-5 + Eutychian heresy, 7 + Evagrius, ecclesiastical historian (period 431-594), 21 n. + Exarch of Ravenna, 34, 40, 91; the Exarchate, 61-2, 69, 147-9, + 151, 157 + + Facundus, bishop of Hermione, 106 + Fasting Communion, 180; Saturday fast in tenth century, 131 + Faustus, bishop of Riez, a semi-Pelagian, 72 + Felix II., pope, 8 + Felix, bishop of Urgel, 78-9, 168 + Ferrand, African deacon, writer in the "Three Chapters" + controversy, 106 + Feudalism, rise of, 44-5, 172-3 + _Filioque_ ("and [from] the Son"), word added to the Nicene Creed + in the West, leads to controversy with the East, 193-4 + Fontaine, monastery, 55 + Fontenelle, abbey, 57 + Fortunatus, bishop of Carthage, 108 + Frankfort, Council of (794), 79, 168 + Franks in Gaul, 42; conversion of, 4, 43, 177; their imperfect + Christianity, 43-4, 54; staunch Catholicism, 42, 47-8, 177; + break up of their kingdom, 44; formative influence of the + Church, 45; relations with the Eastern Empire, 46-7; alliance + with the papacy, 49; their Church's relations with Rome, + 50; greatly influenced by monasticism, 58; they invade + Spain, 74; laxity and corruption of their Church, 138, 144; + Karling reformation, 144; Frankish missal, 183; relations + with England, 186; Frankish clergy concoct the forged decretals, 195 + Fredegund, wife of Chilperich I., 43 + Frederic, Saxon bishop in Iceland, 132 + Freeman, Edward Augustus, quoted, 3 + Freising, see of, 138 + Frisians, 197; English missionaries to, 136, 139 + Fritzlar, abbey, 140 + Fuero Jusgo, the Wisigothic code, 74, 76 + Fulda, monastery, 81, 140 + Fulgentius, S., African bishop, 105 + + Gaiseric (Genseric), king of the Vandals, 103-4 + Gall, S., 56, 116 + Gallican Church, 39, 41-59, _see_ Franks, Gaul; Gallican liturgy + and ritual, 47, 181-3, 186, 188-90; influence on the English + liturgy, 186-7 + Galswintha, wife of Chilperich I. of Neustria, 48 + Gaul, Roman, 41; Christianity in, 41-59, 83, 176; Gregory + the Great in, 48-51, 65, 69; monasticism in, 171; feudalism, + 172; Normans in, 196 + Gelasian Sacramentary (so named from pope Gelasius I., 492-6), 182-3 + Gelimer, Vandal king, 105 + General Councils, first four, 76; Third (of Ephesus, 431), 96; + Fourth (of Chalcedon, 451), 2, 7, 9-10, 18, 24, 65-6, 79, 85-6, + 89, 95; Fifth (of Constantinople, 553), 15, 17, 18, 20-2, + 39, 63-4, 86, 106-7, 161; Sixth (of Constantinople, 680-1), + 21, 84-5, 88; Seventh (of Nicaea, 787), 155, 165; Eighth + (of Constantinople, 869), 193-4; Eighth, according to the + Greeks (of Constantinople, 879-80), 194 + Gentilly, Council of (767), 81 + Georgia, Church of, 23, 95 + Gerbert of Aurillac (Silvester II.), 200-2 + Germanus, S., patriarch of Constantinople, 155 + Gildas, British historian, 183 + Glastonbury, monastery, 115, 119 + Gnesen, archbishopric of, 125 + Goidels, Celtic stock in Ireland, 53; Goidelic language, 119 + Goths, Eastern (Ostrogoths), in Italy, 4, 29-32; Western, _see_ + Wisigoths + Grado, archbishop of, 157 + _Gradual_, 188 + Greece, iconoclasm causes a rising in, 157; Greek Church, its + character, 6: the Eastern Empire in its religious aspect, 13. + _See also_ Church, Constantinople, Eastern, Schism + Greenland, mission to, 132 + Gregorian Sacramentary, 182 + Gregory I., the Great, S., pope, 21, 25, 34, 40, 55, 76, 113, 134, + 171, 180-2, 184, 186, 190, 192; his life and work, 60-71; his + relations to Gaul, 48-51, 65, 69; to Africa, 107; to missions, 69; + to monasticism, 69; to classical learning, 52, 70; his claim to + jurisdiction, 68; claimed no special authority for the use of + Rome, 187; his theology, 70-1; his writings, 35, 60, 63-5 + Gregory II., pope, 136-7, 157 + Gregory III., pope, 137, 147, 157 + Gregory IV., pope, 130 + Gregory V. (Bruno), pope, 199, 200 + Gregory of Tours, bishop and historian, 43-5, 51-2, 58, 66 n., + 145, 171 + Gregory, abbat of Utrecht, 136 + Gregory, patrician, upstart emperor, 109 + Guntchramn (Guntram), king of the Burgundian Franks, 55 + + Haakon (Hacon) the Good, king of Norway, 131 + Hadrian I., pope, 151, 154, 182 + Hadrian II., pope, 123-4 + Hamburg, archbishopric, 129-30 + Harnack, A., referred to, 22 + Harold Bluetooth, king of Denmark (died 978), 131 + Harold, Danish king in 822, 129 + Harold Haarfager (Fairhair), king of Norway, 131 + Hatfield, Council of (680), 88 + Helena, empress, 100 + _Henotikon_, the, 7, 8, 10 + Henry I., "the Fowler," first German king of the Saxon + House(919-36), 126 + Heraclius, emperor, 22-3, 83-4, 100-1, 109, 158; as a theologian, 87 + Herat, Nestorian bishopric of, 98 + Heresy, not a unifying power, 134; real danger of sixth and seventh + century heresies, 19; heresy akin to patriotism in the East, + 13; an expression of national independence, 23; baptism of + heretics, 178. _See_ Adoptianist, Aphthartodocetes, Arianism, + Donatists, Eutychian, Jacobite, Monophysites, Monothelites, + Nestorians + Hermenigild (Hermenegild), Wisigothic king in Spain, 75 + Heruls, a Teutonic tribe, 29, 94 + Hessen, 136-8 + Hieria, iconoclastic synod at, 155 + Hieroclea, author of the _Synekdemos_, 24 + Hilarus, papal official under Gregory the Great, 107 + Hilda, S., 116 + Hilderic, Vandal king, 105 + Himyarites, Christians in South Arabia, 111-12 + Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims, 170, 192, 195 + Hira (in Persia), Monophysite bishop of, 110 + Hlothild (Chlothildis), daughter of Chlodowech, 74 + Hodgkin, Dr. Thomas, quoted, 32-3, 48, 75 n, 135, 144 + Homerites (Himyarites) in South Arabia, Christian, 111-12 + Honorius I., pope, 87-8; condemned by the Sixth General + Council, 85 + Hormisdas, pope, 9-10, 90 + Hugh the Great, duke of the Franks (923-56), 196 + Hugh Capet, duke (956), and king (987-96) of the Franks, 201 + Hugh, S., abbat of Cluny, 174 + Hungary, 141; received a Christian king, 201 + Hunneric, Vandal king, 104 + Huns, 41, 94 + Hymns, 15 n, 81, 156, 162, 168, 190 + + Ibas of Edessa, 16-18 + Iberians of Georgia, 95 + Iceland, 115; conversion of, 132-3 + Iconoclastic controversy, 12, 143, 147, 155-65, 194 + Ignatius, patriarch of Constantinople, 193-4 + Illyria, Illyricum, 65-7, 157 + Image-worship. _See_ Iconoclastic + Incarnation, doctrine of the, the Church's tenacity of, 19; + endangered by iconoclasm, 160, 164. _See_ Heresies + India, 9, 23, 96-8 + Ingunthis, Frankish princess, daughter of Sigebert and Brunichild, + wife of Hermenigild of Spain, 48, 75 + Iona, 116-17 + Ireland, Christian and outside the Empire, 3; the Church in, 53, + 113-16, 121-2, 183; Irish learning, 169-71; missionaries in + Thuringia, 136; monks in Iceland, 132; priests at + Glastonbury, 115, 119 + Irene, Empress, 154, 164 + Irminsul, the, a column worshipped by the Saxons, 140 + Isidore of Seville, 76, 195 + Isis, worship of, 111 + Islam, 98. _See_ Muhammadanism + Istria, 63-4, 68, 151 + Italy, conquered by Goths, 4, 29; reconquered by Belisarius and + Narses, 32; Imperial restoration, 33; Church in, 29-40; + S. Columban in, 56; saved from Arianism, 60; liturgy, 183; end + of the Eastern Imperial power, 143, 147-8; Charles the Great, + 150-4; the Saxon Ottos, 197-201 + Italy, Northern, long refuses to accept the Fifth General + Council, 21; Gregory the Great's activity, 65, 69; Bavarian + kings in, 135 + Italy, Southern, Benedictines in, 62; effect of iconoclasm on, + 157, 162 + + Jacobite sect, 109-10; in Syria, 23, 84 + James, Studite monk, 162 + Jarrow, monastery, 116 + Jerusalem, Church and patriarchate of, 8, 16-17, 84, 87, + 100-1, 156; councils at (553), 20; (628), 101 + Jews, Gregory the Great tries to convert, 69; persecuted in + Spain, 77; Jews in Syria, 100; influence Muhammad, 101; + Jews in Arabia, 111-12 + Joannicius, S., Bulgarian recluse, 124 + John I., pope, martyred, 31 + John II., pope, 15 + John VIII., pope, 194 + John X., pope, 197 + John XI., pope, 174 + John XV., pope, 199 + John XVI., anti-pope set up by Crescentius (997-8), 199 + John of Biclaro (Joannes Biclarensis), bishop of Gerona, 62 n., + 95 n., 75 + John the Cappadocian, patriarch of Constantinople, 10, 90 + John of Damascus (John Damascene), S., 87, 159-60 + John the Deacon, biographer of Gregory the Great, 64, 182 + John of Ephesus, Monophysite bishop and Syriac writer of + sixth century, 24, 111 + John Maro, 89 + John of Nikiu, Jacobite bishop, 86, 109 + John the Patrician, recaptures Carthage from the Arabs, 109 + John the Scot (Johannes Scotus "Erigena"), 170-1 + Julian of Halicarnassus, 86 + Justin I., emperor, 10, 32, 112 + Justin II., emperor, 21-2 + Justinian I., emperor, 86, 89, 90, 94, 99-100, 107, 110-12, 143, + 153, 177; his birthplace, 24, 67-8, 91; building, 26, 27, 100, + 106; Christian legislation of, 28; controversies of his reign, + 14-22; corresponds with the pope, 10, 14; deals with the + Monophysites, 15; his alleged heresy, 15, 21, 22; summons + Fifth General Council, 17; intervenes in Africa, 105-6; + his relations with the Franks, 47; restores the imperial rule + in Italy, 33; Spanish war, 74; hymn-writer, 15 n. + Justinian II., 90-1 + Justiniana Prima, 67, 91 + Jutes in Britain, 117; of Jutland, converted, 130 + + Karlings, Frankish royal house, 57, 139, 144, 147, 196, 201 + Kerait, Tartar kingdom of, 96-7 + _Key of Truth, The_, book of the Armenian Paulicians, 80 + Khalifs of Baghdad, 97, 99; Khalif Omar, 101 + Khartoum, Christian remains near, 111 + Khorassan, 93 + Kiev, town on the Dnyepr, becomes Christian, 127 + Kothransson, Thorwald, Icelander, 132 + Kristián, tenth-century Bohemian historian, 128 + + Lateran synod (649), 88 + Leander, archbishop of Seville, 63, 75-6 + Learning, 5, 38, 123; survival of, 5; at the court of the + Merwings, 51; classical, taught to Gregory the Great, 60; + yet he opposed classical learning in bishops, 52; classical, + of the Irish Church, 115; in England, 115; of the Irish monks, + 121-2; of the Studite monks, 163; revival of, under Charles the + Great, 154, 166-70. _See_ Aelfric, Bede, Gerbert, Education, + Literature + Lebanon, 84; Monothelites in, 22 + Leger (Leodegar), S., 81, 146 + Lent, 36, 140 + Leo I., the Great, S., pope, 6, 7, 10, 29, 63, 89 + Leo III., pope, 81, 152 + Leo III., the Isaurian, emperor, 109, 155, 157-8 + Leo IV., the Chazar, emperor, 155 + Leo V., the Armenian, emperor, 165 + Leo VI., the Wise, emperor, 194 + Leodegar, Leodgar, (S. Leger), bishop of Autun, 81, 146 + Leontius of Byzantium, 86 + Leovigild, Wisigothic king in Spain, 48, 75 + Lerins, abbey, 81 + _Liber Pontificalis_, 39 n., 151 + Liberatus, sixth-century theological writer in Africa, 106 + Limoges, 150, 174 + Lindisfarne, 117 + Litanies, 184-6 + Literature in North Africa, 106; literary renaissance under + Charles the Great, 166. _See_ Boethius, Cassiodorus, Gregory + the Great, Gregory of Tours, John of Damascus, Learning, + Paul the Silentiary, Procopius, Venantius Fortunatus, + Theodore of the Studium + Liturgies, 181-90 + Liudhard, Frankish bishop in Kent, 186 + Lombards, 40, 147-50, 152; invade Italy, 34, 61; pope negotiates + with, 62; conversion from Arianism to Catholicism, 4, 56, 63, 134 + Lothar (Chlothochar) II., king of Lotharingia, 191-2 + Louis I., the Pious, emperor, son of Charles I., 129 + Louis II., emperor, son of the Emperor Lothar I., 192 + Louis the German, king of Bavaria (840-76), son of Louis the + Pious, 128 + Louis d'Outremer, king of the West Franks (936-54), son of + Charles the Simple, 174 + Ludmilla, S., of Bohemia, 128 + Luxeuil, S. Columban's monastery at, 55-6 + + Mâcon, Second Council of (585), 180 + Magdeburg, archbishopric, 126, 197-8 + Maieul (Majolus), abbat of Cluny, 174 + Mainz, 195; S. Boniface, archbishop of, 137-8 + Malmesbury, abbey, 115, 171 + Manichaeans, 104, 178 + Mansi, G. D., Italian theologian (1692-1769); his Concilia + referred to, 15 n., 17 n., 21 n., 76 + Maraba, catholicos of Persia, 99 + Mark, S., evangelist, 64 + Maron, John, founder of the Maronites, 84 + Maronite Church, 23, 89 + Marozia, paramour of Pope Sergius III., mother of Pope John + XI., 196 + Marriage of the clergy, 25, 91, 119-20; in the Greek Church, + 85; marriage of spiritual relations forbidden, 177 + Martel, Charles, Frankish mayor of the palace, 135, 137, 144, 146 + Martial, S., monastery at Limoges, 174 + Martin, S., monastery at Tours, 168, 173 + Martin I., pope, 88 + Martin, S., bishop of Braga, 74 + Martyrdom of S. Adalbert, 125, 129; S. Boniface, 139, 202; + Pope John, 31; S. Theodosia, 158; S. Wenceslas, 128-9 + Mary, the Blessed Virgin, 18, 80; images of, 156-7 + Mass, the, 15 n.; Mass of the presanctified, 179; the Roman + Mass, fifth to eighth century, 180-2: sixth century, 188-90; + "ite, missa est," 190 + Maurice, emperor, 22, 62, 66 + Maurice, S., 125 + Maximus, orthodox African abbat and controversialist, 89, 108 + Meccah, 101 + Media, 93 + Medinah, 101 + Melkites, orthodox, in Egypt, 84, 110 + Mellitus, bishop, 176 + Melrose, monastery, 116 + Mennas, patriarch of Constantinople, 15, 17 + Merovech, son of Chilperich I., 43 + Merovingians. _See_ Merwings + Merv, Nestorian Church of, 98 + Merwings, Frankish royal house, 43-7, 138, 144, 147, 196, 199; + encourage literature, 51; their sins, 52-4: their age called + golden by Mabillon, 57; decay of their kingdoms, 135 + Mesopotamia, national Church of, 13 + Methodius, S., patriarch of Constantinople (843-7), 12, 156 + Methodius, S., archbishop of + Moravia, 123-4, 128-9 + Metz, capital of Austrasia, 135; bishop of, 144 + Michael III., "the Drunkard," emperor, 192-3 + Mieczyslaw, king of Poland, 125 + Milan, archbishop of, 39; church of, 183 + Mir (Theodemir), king of the Suevi in Spain, 74 + _Missale Francorum_, 183 + Missions, important in this period, 2, 3; Byzantine, 6, 84; + supported by the emperors, 23; missions from Rome, 62, 117, + 183-90; Nestorian, 6, 96-8; Monophysite, 24, 111; missionary + zeal of the Irish Church, 116, 121-2; missions of the + ninth century, 123; to the Bulgarians, 124; to the Slavs, + 124-9; to Northmen, 129-32; to Frisians, 136, 139; missions + checked by the iconoclastic controversy, 156; mission of + S. Augustine, 183-90; missionary wars of Charles the Great, + 139-42, and of the Saxon emperors, 197; zeal of Otto III. and + Silvester II. for missions, 201-2 + Monasticism, in the East, 25, 161-3; its debt to S. Benedict, + 37; to S. Columban, 53; Irish, 53, 114; monasticism in Gaul, + 54, 171; a defence against the secularisation of the Frankish + Church, 57; in Persia, 99; in Scotland, 119; missionary fruits + of, 130; close connection with learning, 167; Alcuin's attitude + to, 168; decay in ninth century, 172; revival at Cluny, 173-5; + the Studium at Constantinople, 161-3; kings become monks, 77, 145 + Mongols, 100 + Monophysites, Monophysitism, 23, 83, 85, 110, 156, 159; + Eastern attempts at compromise rejected by Rome, 7-8; + Justinian studies the question, 10-11, and condemns it, 15; + its condemnation necessary to the acceptance of a logically + tenable creed, 19; Monophysite missions, 24, 111; Monophysitism + in Abyssinia, 112; Arabia, 101; Armenia, 95; India, 97; Persia, + 98-9; Syria, 101 + Monothelites, Monothelitism, 22-3, 84-9, 159; its condemnation + necessary, 19; favoured the progress of Islam, 102; weakened + African Christianity, 108 + Montanists, heretical followers of the second-century fanatic + Montanus, 178 + Monte Cassino, monastery, 35, 39, 61, 145 + Monza, Lombard relics at, 69 + Moors, heathen, of fifth century, 103; Muhammadan, in Spain + and Gaul, 73, 146 + _Moralia_ of Gregory the Great, 63 + Moravia, 124, 127-9 + Mosaics at Constantinople and Ravenna, 26 + Mozarabic rite, Christian liturgy which survived the Moorish + occupation and is still in use in Spain, 189 + Mugurrah (Nubia), visited by missionaries, 111 + Muhammad (Mohammed), the prophet, 101 + Muhammad II., conqueror of Constantinople in 1453, 27 + Muhammadans, Muhammadanism, theocratic ideal of, 139-40; + absorb the attention of the Eastern emperors, 143; + contributes to the iconoclastic movement, 158; conquests, 84; + conquest of Arabia, etc., 112; Merv, 98; Persia, 99; Syria, + 101; Egypt, 102; Africa, 5, 108-9; Soudan, 111; Spain, + 72-3, 77-8, 146; defeated in Gaul by Charles Martel, 146 + + Naples, 143 + Narses, general of Justinian, 32, 34, 61 + Nationalism, a complicating factor in theological controversy, 9; + nationalism of the Spanish Church, 73; nationalism and + heresy, 110 + _Negus_, title of the ruler of Abyssinia, 111 + Nerses III., Armenian "Catholicos," 84-5 + Nestorians, Nestorianism, 9, 23, 83; missions, 6, 96-8; in + Armenia, 95; in Persia, 93-6, 98-9; Nestorianism and + Muhammad, 101; Nestorian "Church of the East" 96 + Neustria, Western Frankish kingdom, 43, 135-6, 146 + Neutra (in modern Hungary), Christian Church at, 127 + Nevers, S. Columban at, 56 + Nicaea, First General Council (325), 89; Seventh General Council + (787), 165 + Nicene Creed, 193 + Nicephorus I., emperor, 80 + Nicephorus, patriarch of Constantinople, 160 + Nicetius, bishop of Trier, 47, 86 + Nicolas I., pope, 124, 191-6 + Nîmes, 75, 77, 146 + Nisibis, Nestorian school of theology at, 95-6 + Nobadae, a people of the Soudan, converted, 111 + Nona, bishop of, 125 + Normans, 150, 172, 196 + Northmen, ravages of, 169; pillage Hamburg, 130; converted, + 129-33. _See_ Danes + Northumbria, 116-17; schools of, 116, 167. _See_ Deira + Norway, conversion of, 121, 131-2 + Nubia, missionaries in, 111 + + Odilo, abbat of Cluny, 174 + Odo, S., abbat of Cluny, 163, 171-5 + Oecumenical Councils, canons collected, 194; the Eighth + disputed, 193-4. _See_ General Councils + Oecumenical patriarch, 65-6 + Olaf, king of Sweden (in 853), 130 + Olaf Trigvason, king of Norway (995-1000), 121, 132-3. + Olaf, S., king of Norway (1017-29), 132 + Olaf, Norse king of Dublin, 132 + Olga, S., a "ruler of Russia," baptized, 126 + Omar, Khalif, 101 + Ommeyads, dynasty of Khalifs, descended from Omeyya, 156 + Orange, synod at (529), 72 + Ordination, anointing the hands at, 183 + Origen, his doctrines condemned, 16; Origenists, 15-16 + Oswald, king of Northumberland, 116 + Oswald, bishop of Worcester, 119 + Oswiu, king of Northumbria, 117 + Otto I., emperor, revives the Empire and reforms the papacy, + 197; ecclesiastical policy in Germany and Italy, 198-9; + patron of Gerbert, 200; overlord of Poland, 125; Slav + missions, 126; intervenes in Bohemia, 129; and Denmark, 131 + Otto II., emperor, 199, 201 + Otto III., emperor, 125, 198-202 + Ouen, S., bishop of Rouen, 58 + + Paderborn, 152 + Palestine, Church in, 15-16, 100. _See_ Jerusalem, Syria + Pallium, its significance, 67-8; sent to S. Boniface, 137; + to S. Ansgar, 130 + Pannonia, 124 + Papacy and the popes: Papacy rises as the Empire decays, 4; + wins political power, 5, 61, 149; acquires rights of jurisdiction, + 31; popes act as envoys of Arian Gothic kings, 15, 31; + papal elections confirmed by the emperor or the exarch, 34, and + controlled by the Saxon emperors, 199; papacy supported + by the Benedictines, 37, as afterwards by the Cluniacs, 173-5; + degradation of the papacy in sixth century, 39; papal + infallibility not dreamt of in sixth century, 39-40, nor in the + early tenth, 197; growth of new ideals, popes begin to intervene + in politics, 61; pope styled "oecumenical archbishop and + patriarch," 65; papal power increases in Africa, 107-8; papacy + preserves the traditions of the Empire, 143; alliance of the + papacy with the Karlings, 147; growth of the temporal power, + 143, 149; beginning of the Papal States, 149; loss of the + Bulgarian Church, 134; papacy foments strife between the Slavs + and Constantinople, 125; popes oppose iconoclastic emperors, + 157; pope crowns Charles the Great emperor, 152-3; Nicolas + I. claims to be the source of the Empire, 192; degeneracy of the + popes in ninth and tenth centuries, 172, 196-7, 199; papal + monarchy grows in theory at the time of its practical weakness, + 191; papacy supports its claims by the forged decretals, 194-6; + papacy reformed by the Saxon emperors, 197, 199-202; list of + popes, 205-8. _See_ Rome + Paschasius Radbertus, abbat of Corbie (died about. 865), 170 + Passau, see of, 138 + Patriarchates, the five, 24; question of supremacy, 90; their + jurisdictions not considered unalterable, 91; patriarchal rights + over the Bulgarian Church, 124; Illyria lost to Rome, 157. + _See_ Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, Jerusalem, Rome + "Patrician of the Romans," title conferred on Pippin the Short, + 148; borne by Charles the Great, 152 + Patrick, S., 57, 113-14, 183 + "Patrimony of S. Peter," 65, 148 + Paul the Deacon, 62 n., 65, 134, 167 + Paul, patriarch of Constantinople, 164 + Paul of Samosata, 80 + Paul the Silentiary, 25-6 + Paulicians, 80, 156 + Pelagius, founder of the Pelagian heresy in fifth century, 72 + Pelagius, I., pope, 16, 21, 34, 39-40, 107 + Pelagius II., pope, 62, 64-6 + Persecution of Catholics by Arians, 32, 74-5, 103-5; of Catholics + by Moslems, 78; in the iconoclastic controversy, 155, 158, + 165; of Jews, 77; of Nestorians by Muhammadans, 99 + Persia, 12, 22-3, 80, 83, 110; the Church in, 93-5, 98-9; kings + of, 93-5, 100, 102 + Peter, S., 117, 120; _Confessio_ of, 152; patrimony of, 65, 148; + Charles the Great's gift of lands to, 151; popes act in the name + of, 148-50 + Peter the Stammerer, bishop of Alexandria, 8 + _Phantasiasts_, 86 + Philae, temple of, 111 + Phocas the Cappadocian, emperor, 22 + Photius, patriarch of Constantinople, 124, 192-4 + Picts, heathens in Scotland, 114, 116 + Pippin the Short, Frankish king, 150; anointed by S. Boniface + (751), 139, 147; by Pope Stephen II. (754), 148; relations + with the papacy, 144, 147-9; donation of, 149, 151, 194 + Poictiers, Battle of, 146 + Poland, conversion of, 125 + Pomerania, 125 + Poppo, bishop, missionary to the Danes, 131 + Posen, bishopric of, 125 + Pragmatic Sanction of Justinian for the government of Italy, 33-4 + Prague, see of (bishopric, 973; archbishopric, 1343), 125, 129 + Primasius, sixth-century theological writer in Africa, 106 + _Privilegia_ to monasteries granted by Gregory the Great, 69; + to the Cluniacs, 173-4 + Procession of the Holy Ghost, Double (i.e. from the Father + and the Son), 76, 80-1, 193-4 + Proconsularis (i.e. Africa Proconsularis, the modern Tunis + and Tripoli), 104 + Procopius, 11, 26, 91 n., 94, 100, 112 + Prussians, missions to, 125, 129 + Pseudo-Isidorian decretals, 195 + Pyrrhus, Monothelite heresiarch, 89, 108 + + _Quicunque vult_, 81-2 + Quierzy (on the Oise), donation of, 151 + Quini-sextan Council at Constantinople (_in Trullo_), 85, 89-92 + + Rabanus Maurus, 81 + Radegund, S., Frankish princess, 51; monastery of, 171 + Ratramnus of Corbie (died 868), 170 + Ravenna, 85, 147, 149, 151, 201; Odowakar's capital, captured by + Goths, 29; recaptured by Belisarius, 30; mosaics at, 26; + archbishopric, 68, 157 + Reccared, Wisigothic king in Spain, 73, 75-6, 80 + Recceswinth, Wisigothic king in Spain, 76 + Regensburg (Ratisbon), Bohemians baptized at, 128; see + of, 129, 138; Council of (792), 79 + Remigius, S., baptizes Chlodowech, 43 + Remismond, Suevic king in Spain, 73 + Reparatus, bishop of Carthage, 106 + Reunion of Eastern and Western Church (in 519), 10; sought by + Justinian, 11; nominal, after the Photian Schism, 194 + Rheims, 195-6, 200-1 + Rimbert, S., archbishop of Bremen, 130-1 + Rome, Church and patriarchate of, 24, 65-6, 157; insists on + obsolete claims, 14; its supremacy repudiated at Constantinople, + 85, 90; quarrel with Constantinople over the _Ecthesis_ + and _Type_, 98; authorises the missions of S. Augustine, 117, + and S. Boniface, 136-9; attitude of S. Boniface to, 139; + connection with Ireland, 113-15, 122; with the East, 123; with + England, 117, 120-1; assumes the political rights of the + exarchate, 148-9; Eucharist, 179; councils at (680), 88; + (731), 157; (863), 192. _See_ Church (Western), Papacy + Rome, city of, its peculiar history, 143; dominated by the local + nobles, 196 + Romulus Augustulus, 29 + Rügen, isle of, 127 + Rule of Bangor, 54-5; of Basil, reformed by Theodore the + Studite, 163; of S. Benedict, 35, 58-9, 69, 119, 121, 171, + 173, 175; of Cluny, 174-5; of S. Columban, 55, 171 + Rupert, S., missionary in Bavaria, 135 + Russia, conversion of, 6, 126-7; modern Russian Church, 95 + + Sabas, S., 15 + Sabbas, archimandrite of the Studium, 162 + Sabellians, followers of the heretic Sabellius (third century), 178 + _Sacramentary_ of Pope Gelasius I. (492-6), 182-3; of Gregory the + Great, 182 + Sacraments, 176-181 + Saints, Celtic "age of saints," 53; Merwing, 51; images of + the, 156-7 + Salzburg, archbishopric, 127, 135, 138 + Samaritans, 100 + Samarkand, Nestorian bishopric of, 98 + Sancho the Great, king of Navarre (970-1035), 78 + Sapor II., king of Persia, 93 + Saracens, 77, 158, 172; in Africa, 109; in Spain and Gaul, 146. + _See_ Muhammadans. + Saxons, 135; forcible conversion by Charles the Great, 140-2, + 197; the Saxons in Britain, 113, 117-18, 176; "Old" + Saxons of the Continent, 180 + Schism between East and West, formal beginning due to + Monophysitism, 8; schism of 484-519, 68; schism of 649-81 caused + by the _Ecthesis_ and _Type_, 88; steps towards, 149; the Photian, + 192-4 + Schleswig, converted, 130 + Scholarship, 5, 38, 55. _See_ Learning + Scholastica, S., sister of S. Benedict, 37 + Scilly Isles, 132 + Scotland, Church in, 114, 116-17, 119 + Scotus, Johannes. _See_ John the Scot + Sebert, king of the East Saxons, 176 + Seleucia, see of, 93 + Semi-Pelagianism, 72, 81 + Septimania, 77, 146 + Serbia, Church of, 124 + Serbian Church, 23, 84 + Sergius I., pope, 91 + Sergius I., patriarch of Constantinople, 83, 87 + Sermons, 64-5, 120, 163, 185, 188 + Severus, Monophysite patriarch of Antioch, 10, 15, 86 + Severus, patriarch of Aquileia, 62 + Sigambrians, a Teutonic tribe, allied to the Franks, 43 + Sigebert (Sigibert), Frankish king of Austrasia, 43, 54, 75 + Silvester II., pope, 7, 125, 200-2 + Simplicius, pope, 8 + Siricius, pope, 195 + Slaves, slavery, 130; freed by Gregory the Great, 65; Jews + enslaved in Spain, 77 + Slavs, 44, 84; Charles the Great allied with heathen, 141; + conversion of, 123-9; attacked by Otto I., 197 + Smbat, supposed author of the Paulician _Key of Truth_, 80 + Soissons, 139, 195 + Sophia, S., the Church of the Divine Wisdom, at Constantinople, + 25-7; Church of, at Kiev, 127 + Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem, 87 + Soracte, monastery, 145 + Spain, 172, 196; Gregory the Great active in, 65; invaded by + the Franks, 74; Dagobert I. influential in, 44; Charles the + Great in, 140; conflict of Arianism and Catholicism in, + 48; Catholicism wins, 62-3, 73, 75; conquered by the + Muhammadans, 77-8; Church has to contend with Islam, 72; + Catholicism survives in the North, 78; Eucharist, 179; Spanish + rite, 183; literature, 73 + Squillace, monastery, 38-9 + Stephen II. (or III.), pope, 148-9 + Stephen III. (or IV.), pope, 151 + Stephen, king of Hungary, 201 + Strathclyde, early British Church of, 113 + Studium, the, monastery at Constantinople, 161-3 + _Stylites_, 25 + Subiaco, S. Benedict at, 35 + Suevi (a Teutonic confederate people) in Gaul, 41. _See_ Mir, + Remismond + Sweden, missions to, 129-30 + Syagrius, bishop of Autun, 49, 67 n. + Symmachus, Senator, father-in-law of Boethius, executed, 32 + _Syntagma_, a collection of canons, compiled, 85, 178 + Syria, 100-1, 156; Syrian Church, Monophysite and Nestorian, 9; + National Church, 13; monks disregard the Fifth General + Council, 20; Jacobites in, 23, 84; Adoptianism in, 79; + Monophysitism, 110; Monothelitism, 89; Muhammadan invasion, 108 + + Tarasius, patriarch of Constantinople, 164 + Tartars, 96-7 + Tauresium, 91. _See_ Justiniana Prima + Tebessa (in modern Algeria), monastery, 106 + Thaddeus, Studite monk, 162 + Theandric energy, 87, 89 + Theodebert I., Frankish king, 47 + Theodelind, Lombard queen, 56, 69, 134-5 + Theoderic III., king of Neustria, 146 + Theodora, empress (842), wife of Theophilus, 165 + Theodora, paramour of Pope John X., mother of Marozia, 196 + Theodore of Mopsuestia, 16-18 + Theodore of the Studium (or the Studite), S., 124, 156, 160-4 + Theodore of Tarsus, 115, 117, 169 + Theodoret of Cyrrhus, 16-18 + Theodoric the Ostrogoth, king of Italy, 29; his tolerant + ecclesiastical policy, 30; executes Symmachus and Boethius, 32; + aims at a united Italy, 60 + Theodoric II., Frankish king of Burgundy, son of Childebert II., 56 + Theodosia, S., 158 + Theodosius II., emperor, 67 + Theology, important in this period, 1; the predominant interest + in the literature, 5; the theology of statesmen and + military men, 9, 87; theology at Constantinople, 8, 156; + iconoclastic, 158-9; theology of S. John Damascene, 159-60 + Theophanes, Greek chronicler (758-817), 111 + Theophilus, emperor, 165 + Thessalonica, 67-8, 123 + Theudberga, wife of Chlothochar, king of Lotharingia, 191 + Theudis, Wisigothic king in Spain, 74 + Thomas of Edessa, 99 + Thormod, missionary priest in Iceland, 132 + Thorwald Kothransson, Icelander, 132 + Thrace, Paulicianism in, 80 + "Three Chapters," controversy of the, 16-20, 22, 62-3, 72, 99, 106-7 + Thuringia(ns), 135-8 + Tiberius II., emperor, 22 + Tithes, 140 + Toledo, cathedral of, 76; councils, 72; Third Synod (of 589), 76, + 80; Fourth (of 633), 81; Sixteenth (of 695), 77 + _Tome_ of S. Leo, 63 + Tomi, monks of, 14 + Tonnenna, Victor of, 106-7 + Totila, Gothic king, 37 + Tours, 168; battle of, _see_ Poictiers. _See also_ Gregory of Tours + Transubstantiation, 171 + Trier (Trèves), archbishop of, 192 + Trullian Council (691) at Constantinople, 85, 89-92 + Tunis, survival of the Church of, 110 + _Type_, issued by Constans II., 88 + Tzani, Asiatic people, converted, 94 + + Unity, the central idea of the period, 2, 154, 203; need of + unity in the Church, 70 + "Universal bishop," title declined by Gregory the Great, 66; + Cluniac ideal, 175 + Urban II., pope (1088-99), 174 + + Vandals, 197; in Gaul, 41; in Africa, 103-5 + Venantius Fortunatus, bishop of Poictiers, 51, 75 + _Veni Creator Spiritus_, 81 + Venice, 143, 151, 157 + Victor, bishop of Carthage, 108 + Victor of Tonnenna (Victor Tununensis), 106-7 + Victor Vitensis, 104-5 + Vienne, 186 + Vigilists, 15. _See_ Akoimetai. + Vigilius, pope, 17, 20, 39-40, 106 + Vivarium, monastery of, 38 + Vladimir, S., of Russia, 126-7 + + Wales, Church of, 113, 118, 122; West Wales (i.e. Cornwall), 113 + Wallachian Church, 23 + Wamba, Wisigothic king in Spain, 76 + Wandrille, S., 57 + Wenceslas of Bohemia, S., 128-9 + Wends, missions to the, 126 + Whitby, Synod of (664), 116 + Wilfrith (Wilfrid) of Ripon, S., 88, 117-18, 121, 169 + Willehad, archbishop of Bremen, 142 + William of Aquitaine, founder of the abbey of Cluny, 173 + Willibald, biographer of S. Boniface, 138 + Willibrord, S., Northumbrian missionary in Frisia, 136 + Winfrith of Crediton (S. Boniface), 121, 136-40, 142 + Wisigoths in Spain, 73-8; corruption of society, 73-4; accept + Catholicism, 5, 62-3, 73, 75; their monarchy falls before the + Moors, 146 + Würzburg, 138, 147 + + York, school of, 116, 167 + + Zacharias, pope, 147 + Zacharias, patriarch of Jerusalem, 101 + Zeno, emperor, 7 + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Church and the Barbarians, by +William Holden Hutton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHURCH AND THE BARBARIANS *** + +***** This file should be named 22366-8.txt or 22366-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/3/6/22366/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Church and the Barbarians + Being an Outline of the History of the Church from A.D. 461 to A.D. 1003 + +Author: William Holden Hutton + +Release Date: August 21, 2007 [EBook #22366] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHURCH AND THE BARBARIANS *** + + + + +Produced by Al Haines + + + + + +THE CHURCH AND THE BARBARIANS + + + BEING AN OUTLINE OF + THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH + FROM A.D. 461 TO A.D. 1003 + + +BY THE REV. + +WILLIAM HOLDEN HUTTON, B.D. + + + +FELLOW AND TUTOR OF S. JOHN BAPTIST COLLEGE, OXFORD + +EXAMINING CHAPLAIN TO THE BISHOP OF ROCHESTER + + + + +RIVINGTONS + +34 KING STREET, COVENT GARDEN + +LONDON + +1906 + + + + +[Transcriber's note: Page numbers in this book are indicated by numbers +enclosed in curly braces, e.g. {99}. They have been located where page +breaks occurred in the original book, in accordance with Project +Gutenberg's FAQ-V-99. For the book's Index, a page number has been +placed only at the start of that section.] + +[Transcriber's note: Footnotes have been renumbered sequentially and +moved to the end of their respective chapters. The book's Index has a +number of references to footnotes, e.g. the "96 n." entry under +"Assyrians." In such cases, check the referenced page to see which +footnote(s) are relevant.] + +[Transcriber's note: The original book had side-notes in its pages' +left or right margin areas. Some of these sidenotes were at or near +the beginning of a paragraph, and in this e-text, are placed to precede +their host paragraph. Some were placed elsewhere alongside a +paragraph, in relation to what the sidenote referred to inside the +paragraph. These have been placed into the paragraph near where they +were in the original book. All sidenotes have been enclosed in square +brackets, and preceded with "Sidenote:".] + + + + +EDITORIAL NOTE + +While there is a general agreement among the writers as to principles, +the greatest freedom as to treatment is allowed to writers in this +series. The volumes, for example, will not be of the same length. +Volume II., which deals with the formative period of the Church, is, +not unnaturally, longer in proportion than the others. To Volume VI., +which deals with the Reformation, will be allotted a similar extension. +The authors, again, use their own discretion in such matters as +footnotes and lists of authorities. But the aim of the series, which +each writer sets before him, is to tell, clearly and accurately, the +story of the Church, as a divine institution with a continuous life. + +W. H. HUTTON + + + + +PREFACE + +It has seemed to me impossible to deal with the long period covered by +this volume as briefly as the scheme of the series required without +leaving out a great many events and concentrating attention chiefly +upon a few central facts and a few important personages. I think that +the main results of the development may thus be seen, though there is +much which is here omitted that would have been included had the book +been written on other lines. + +Some pages find place here which originally appeared in _The Guardian_ +and _The Treasury_, and a few lines which once formed part of an +article in _The Church Quarterly Review_. My thanks are due for the +courtesy of the Editors. I have reprinted some passages from my +_Church of the Sixth Century_, a book which is now out of print and not +likely to be reissued. + +I have to thank the Rev. L. Pullan for help from his wide knowledge, +and Mr. L. Strachan, of Heidelberg, of whose accuracy and learning I +have had long experience, for reading the proofs and making the index. + +W. H. H. + +S. JOHN'S COLLEGE, OXFORD, + _Septuagesima_, 1906. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER I PAGE + THE CHURCH AND ITS PROSPECTS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY . . . . 1 + +CHAPTER II + THE EMPIRE AND THE EASTERN CHURCH, 461-628 . . . . . . . . 6 + +CHAPTER III + THE CHURCH IN ITALY, 461-590 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 + +CHAPTER IV + CHRISTIANITY IN GAUL FROM THE SIXTH TO THE EIGHTH CENTURY 41 + +CHAPTER V + THE PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY THE GREAT . . . . . . . . . . . 60 + +CHAPTER VI + CONTROVERSY AND THE CATHOLICISM OF SPAIN . . . . . . . . . 72 + +CHAPTER VII + THE CHURCH AND THE MONOTHELITE CONTROVERSY . . . . . . . . 83 + +CHAPTER VIII + THE CHURCH IN ASIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 + +CHAPTER IX + THE CHURCH IN AFRICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 + +CHAPTER X + THE CHURCH IN THE WESTERN ISLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 + +CHAPTER XI + THE CONVERSION OF SLAVS AND NORTHMEN . . . . . . . . . . . 123 + +CHAPTER XII + PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN GERMANY . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 + +CHAPTER XIII + THE POPES AND THE REVIVAL OF THE EMPIRE . . . . . . . . . 143 + +CHAPTER XIV + THE ICONOCLASTIC CONTROVERSY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 + +CHAPTER XV + LEARNING AND MONASTICISM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166 + +CHAPTER XVI + SACRAMENTS AND LITURGIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 + +CHAPTER XVII THE END OF THE DARK AGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +. 191 + +APPENDIX I + LIST OF EMPERORS AND POPES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 + +APPENDIX II + A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 + +INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 + + + + +{1} + +THE CHURCH AND THE BARBARIANS + + +CHAPTER I + +THE CHURCH AND ITS PROSPECTS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY + +[Sidenote: The task of the Church] + +The year 461 saw the great organisation which had ruled and united +Europe for so long trembling into decay. The history of the Empire in +relation to Christianity is indeed a remarkable one. The imperial +religion had been the necessary and deadly foe of the religion of Jesus +Christ; it had fought and had been conquered. Gradually the Empire +itself with all its institutions and laws had been transformed, at +least outwardly, into a Christian power. Questions of Christian +theology had become questions of imperial politics. A Roman of the +second century would have wondered indeed at the transformation which +had come over the world he knew: it seemed as if the kingdoms of the +earth had become the kingdoms of the Lord and of His Christ. But also +it seemed that the new wine had burst the old bottles. The boundaries +of the Roman world had been outstepped: nations had come in from the +East and from the West. The {2} system which had been supreme was not +elastic: the new ideas, Christian and barbarian alike, pressed upon it +till it gave way and collapsed. And so it came about that if +Christianity had conquered the old world, it had still to conquer the +new. + +[Sidenote: The decaying Empire.] + +Now before the Church in the fifth century there were set several +powers, interests, duties, with which she was called upon to deal; and +her dealing with them was the work of the next five centuries. They +were,--the Empire, Christian, but obsolescent; the new nations, still +heathen, which were struggling for territory within the bounds of the +Empire, and for sway over the imperial institutions; the distant tribes +untouched by the message of Christ; and the growth, within the Church +itself, of new and great organisations, which were destined in great +measure to guide and direct her work. Politics, theology, +organisation, missions, had all their share in the work of the Church +from 461 to 1003. In each we shall find her influence: to harmonise +them we must find a principle which runs through her relation to them +all. + +[Sidenote: The need of unity.] + +The central idea of the period with which we are to deal is unity. Up +till the fifth century, till the Council of Chalcedon (451) completed +the primary definition of the orthodox Christian faith in the person of +the Lord Jesus Christ, Christians were striving for conversion, +organisation, definition. All these aims still remained, but in less +prominence. The Church's order was completed, the Church's creed was +practically fixed, and the dominant nations in Europe had owned the +name of Christ. There remained a new and severe test. Would the {3} +Church win the new barbarian conquerors as she had won the old imperial +power? There was to be a great epoch of missionary energy. But of the +firm solidity of the Church there could be no doubt. Heresies had torn +from her side tribes and even nations who had once belonged to her +fold. But still unity was triumphant in idea; and it was into the +Catholic unity of the visible Church that the new nations were to be +invited to enter. S. Augustine's grand idea of the City of God had +really triumphed, before the fifth century was half passed, over the +heathen conceptions of political rule. The Church, in spite of the +tendency to separate already visible in East and West, was truly one; +and that unity was represented also in the Christian Empire. "At the +end of the fifth century the only Christian countries outside the +limits of the Empire were Ireland and Armenia, and Armenia, maintaining +a precarious existence beside the great Persian monarchy of the +Sassanid kings, had been for a long time virtually dependent on the +Roman power." [1] Politically, while tyrants rise and fall, and +barbarian hosts, the continuance of the Wandering of the Nations, sweep +across the stage, we are struck above all by the significant fact which +Mr. Freeman (_Western Europe in the Fifth Century_) knew so well how to +make emphatic:--"The wonderful thing is how often the Empire came +together again. What strikes us at every step in the tangled history +of these times is the wonderful life which the Roman name and the Roman +Power still kept when it was thus attacked on every side from without +and torn in pieces in every quarter from within." And the reason for +this indubitably was that the {4} Empire had now another organisation +to support it, based on the same idea of central unity. One Church +stood beside one Empire, and became year by year even more certain, +more perfect, as well as more strong. In the West the papal power rose +as the imperial decayed, and before long came near to replacing it. In +the East, where the name and tradition of old Rome was always preserved +in the imperial government, the Church remained in that immemorial +steadfastness to the orthodox faith which was a bond of unity such as +no other idea could possibly supply. In the educational work which the +emperor had to undertake in regard to the tribes which one by one +accepted their sway, the Christian Church was their greatest support. +In East as well as West, the bishops, saints, and missionaries were the +true leaders of the nations into the unity of the Empire as well as the +unity of the Church. [Sidenote: The Church's conquest of barbarism.] +The idea of Christian unity saved the Empire and taught the nations. +The idea of Christian unity was the force which conquered barbarism and +made the barbarians children of the Catholic Church and fellow-citizens +with the inheritors of the Roman traditions. + +If the dominant idea of the long period with which this book is to deal +is the unity of the Church, seen through the struggles to preserve, to +teach, or to attain it, the most important facts are those which belong +to the conversion, to Christ and to the full faith of the Catholic +Church, of races new to the Western world. The gradual extinction in +Italy of the Goths, the conversion of the Franks, of the English, of +many races on distant barbarian borderlands of civilisation, the +acceptance of Catholicism by the Lombards and {5} the Western Goths, do +not complete the historical tale, though they are a large part of it: +there was the falling back in Africa and for a long time in Europe of +the settlements of the Cross before the armies of the Crescent. There +were also two other important features of this long-extended age, to +which writers have given the name of dark. There was the survival of +ancient learning, which lived on through the flood of barbarian +immigration into the lands which had been its old home, yet was very +largely eclipsed by the predominance of theological interests in +literature. And there was the growth of a strong ecclesiastical power, +based upon an orthodox faith (though not without hesitations and +lapses), and gradually winning a formidable political dominion. That +power was the Roman Papacy. + + + +[1] Bryce, _Holy Roman Empire_, p. 13, ed. 1904. + + + + +{6} + +CHAPTER II + +THE EMPIRE AND THE EASTERN CHURCH + +(461-628) + +When the death of Leo the Great in 461 removed from the world of +religious progress a saintly and dominant figure whose words were +listened to in East and West as were those of no other man of his day, +the interest of Church history is seen to turn decisively to the East. + +[Sidenote: Character of the Greek Church.] + +The story of Eastern Christendom is unique. There is the fascinating +tale of the union of Greek metaphysics and Christian theology, and its +results, so fertile, so vigorous, so intensely interesting as logical +processes, so critical as problems of thought. For the historian there +is a story of almost unmatched attraction; the story of how a people +was kept together in power, in decay, in failure, in persecution, by +the unifying force of a Creed and a Church. And there is the +extraordinary missionary development traceable all through the history +of Eastern Christianity: the wonderful Nestorian missions, the activity +of the evangelists, imperial and hierarchical, of the sixth century, +the conversion of Russia, the preludes to the remarkable achievements +in modern times of orthodox missions in the Far East. + +Throughout the whole of the long period indeed {7} which begins with +the death of Leo and ends with that of Silvester II., though the Latin +Church was growing in power and in missionary success, it was probably +the Christianity of the East which was the most secure and the most +prominent. Something of its work may well be told at the beginning of +our task. + +[Sidenote: The Monophysite controversy.] + +The last years of the fifth century were in the main occupied in the +East by the dying down of a controversy which had rent the Church. The +Eutychian heresy, condemned at Chalcedon, gave birth to the Monophysite +party, which spread widely over the East. Attempts were soon made to +bridge over the gulf by taking from the decisions of Chalcedon all that +definitely repudiated the Monophysite opinions. [Sidenote: The +Henotikon.] In 482 the patriarch Acacius of Constantinople, under the +orders probably of the Emperor Zeno (474-91), drew up the _Henotikon_, +an endeavour to secure the peace of the Church by abandoning the +definitions of the Fourth General Council. No longer was "one and the +same Christ, Son, Lord, only-begotten, acknowledged _in two natures_, +without fusion, without change, without division, without separation." +But it is impossible to ignore a controversy which has been a cause of +wide divergence. Men will not be silent, or forget, when they are +told. Statesmanlike was, no doubt, the policy which sought for unity +by ignoring differences; and peace was to some extent secured in the +East so long as Zeno and his successor Anastasius (491-518) reigned. +But at Rome it was not accepted. Such a document, which implicitly +repudiated the language of Leo the Great, which the Fourth General +Council had adopted, could {8} never be accepted by the whole Church; +and those in the East who were theologians and philosophers rather than +statesmen saw that the question once raised must be finally settled in +the dogmatic decisions of the Church. Had the Lord two Natures, the +Divine and Human, or but one? The reality of the Lord's Humanity as +well as of His Divinity was a truth which, at whatever cost of division +and separation, it was essential that the Church should proclaim and +cherish. + +In Constantinople, a city always keen to debate theology in the +streets, the divergence was plainly manifest; and a document which was +"subtle to escape subtleties" was not likely to be satisfactory to the +subtlest of controversialists. The Henotikon was accepted at Antioch, +Jerusalem, and Alexandria, but it was rejected by Rome and by the real +sense of Constantinople. In Alexandria the question was only laid for +a time, and when a bishop who had been elected was refused recognition +by Acacius the Patriarch of Constantinople and Peter "the Stammerer," +who accepted the Henotikon, preferred to his place, a reference to Rome +led to a peremptory letter from Pope Simplicius, to which Acacius paid +no heed whatever. Felix II. (483-92), after an ineffectual embassy, +actually declared Acacius excommunicate and deposed. The monastery of +the Akoimetai at Constantinople ("sleepless ones," who kept up +perpetual intercession) threw itself strongly on to the side of the +advocates of Chalcedon. Acacius, then excommunicated by Rome because +he would not excommunicate the Monophysite patriarch of Alexandria, +retorted by striking out the name of Felix from the diptychs of the +Church. + +{9} + +[Sidenote: Schism between East and West.] + +It was the first formal beginning of the schism which,--temporarily, +and again and again, healed,--was ultimately to separate East and West; +and it was due, as so many misfortunes of the Church have been, to the +inevitable divergence between those who thought of theology first as +statesmen and those who thought first as inquirers after the truth. +The schism spread more widely. In Syria Monophysitism joined +Nestorianism in the confusion of thought: in Egypt the Coptic Church +arose which repudiated Chalcedon: Abyssinia and Southern India were to +follow. Arianism had in the East practically died away; Nestorianism +was powerful only in far-away lands, but Monophysitism was for a great +part of the sixth century strong in the present, and close to the +centre of Church life. The sixth century began, as the fifth had +ended, in strife from which there seemed no outway. Nationalism, and +the rival claims of Rome and Constantinople, complicated the issues. + +Under Anastasius, the convinced opponent of the Council of Chalcedon +and himself to all intents a Monophysite in opinion, some slight +negotiations were begun with Rome, while the streets of Constantinople +ran with blood poured out by the hot advocates of theological dogma. +In 515 legates from Pope Hormisdas visited Constantinople; in 516 the +emperor sent envoys to Rome; in 517 Hormisdas replied, not only +insisting on the condemnation of those who had opposed Chalcedon, but +also claiming from the Caesar the obedience of a spiritual son; and in +that same year Anastasius, "most sweet-tempered of emperors," died, +rejecting the papal demands. + +{10} + +The accession of Justin I. (518-27) was a triumph for the orthodox +faith, to which the people of Constantinople had firmly held. The +patriarch, John the Cappadocian, declared his adherence to the Fourth +Council: the name of Pope Leo was put on the diptychs together with +that of S. Cyril; and synod after synod acclaimed the orthodox faith. +Negotiations for reunion with the West were immediately opened. The +patriarch and the emperor wrote to Pope Hormisdas, and there wrote also +a theologian more learned than the patriarch, the Emperor's nephew, +Justinian. "As soon," he wrote, "as the Emperor had received by the +will of God the princely fillet, he gave the bishops to understand that +the peace of the Church must be restored. This had already in a great +degree been accomplished." But the pope's opinion must be taken with +regard to the condemnation of Acacius, who was responsible for the +Henotikon, and was the real cause of the severance between the +churches. [Sidenote: Reunion, 519.] The steps towards reunion may be +traced in the correspondence between Hormisdas and Justinian. It was +finally achieved on the 27th of March, 519. The patriarch of +Constantinople declared that he held the Churches of the old and the +new Rome to be one; and with that regard he accepted the four Councils +and condemned the heretics, including Acacius. + +The Church of Alexandria did not accept the reunion; and Severus, +patriarch of Antioch, was deposed for his heresy. There was indeed a +considerable party all over the East which remained Monophysite; and +this party it was the first aim of Justinian (527-65), when he became +emperor, to convince or to subdue. He was the {11} nephew of Justin, +and he was already trained in the work of government; but he seemed to +be even more zealous as a theologian than as a lawyer or administrator. +The problem of Monophysitism fascinated him. [Sidenote: The Emperor +Justinian.] From the first, he applied himself seriously to the study +of the question in all its bearings. Night after night, says +Procopius, he would study in his library the writings of the Fathers +and the Holy Scriptures themselves, with some learned monks or prelates +with whom he might discuss the problems which arose from their perusal. +He had all a lawyer's passion for definition, and all a theologian's +delight in truth. And as year by year he mastered the intricate +arguments which had surged round the decisions of the Councils, he came +to consider that a _rapprochement_ was not impossible between the +Orthodox Church and those many Eastern monks and prelates who still +hesitated over a repudiation which might mean heresy or schism. And +from the first it was his aim to unite not by arms but by arguments. +The incessant and wearisome theological discussions which are among the +most prominent features of his reign, are a clearly intended part of a +policy which was to reunite Christendom and consolidate the definition +of the Faith by a thorough investigation of controverted matters. +Justinian first thought out vexed questions for himself, and then +endeavoured to make others think them out. + +From 527, in the East, Church history may be said to start on new +lines. The Catholic definition was completed and the imperial power +was definitely committed to it. We may now look at the Orthodox Church +as one, united against outside error. + +{12} + +A period of critical interest in the history of Europe is that to which +belongs the difficult and complicated Church history of the East from +the accession of the Emperor Justinian to the death of S. Methodius. + +The period naturally divides itself into three parts--the first, from +527 to 628, dealing with the Church at the height of its authority, up +to the overthrow of the Persian power; the second to 725, the period up +to the beginning of the iconoclastic controversy; and the third up to +its close and the death of S. Methodius in 847. With the first we will +deal in the present chapter. + +[Sidenote: Church and State in the East.] + +But throughout the whole three centuries, from 527 to 847, the +essential character of the Church's life in the east is the same. In +the East the Church was regarded more decisively than in the West as +the complement of the State. Constantine had taught men to look for +the officials of the Church side by side with those of the civil power. +At Constantinople was the centre of an official Christianity, which +recognised the powers that be as ordained of God in a way which was +never found at Rome. At Rome the bishops came to be political leaders, +to plot against governments, to found a political power of their own. +At Constantinople the patriarchs, recognised as such by the Emperor and +Senate of the New Rome, sought not to intrude themselves into a sphere +outside their religious calling, but developed their claims, in their +own sphere, side by side with those of the State; and their example was +followed in the Churches which began to look to Constantinople for +guidance. There was a necessary consequence of this. {13} [Sidenote: +Nationalism of the Churches.] It was that when the nationalities of the +East,--in Egypt, Syria, Armenia, or even in Mesopotamia--began to +resent the rule of the Empire, and struggled to express a patriotism of +their own, they sought to express it also on the ecclesiastical side, +in revolt from the Church which ruled as a complement to the civil +power. Heresy came to be a sort of patriotism in religion. And while +there was this of evil, it was not evil that each new barbarian nation, +as it accepted the faith, sought to set up beside its own sovereign its +patriarch also. "Imperium," they said, "sine patriarcha non staret," +an adage which James I. of England inverted when he said, "No bishop, +no king." Though the Bulgarians agreed with the Church of +Constantinople in dogmas, they would not submit to its jurisdiction. +The principle of national Churches, independent of any earthly supreme +head, but united in the same faith and baptism, was established by the +history of the East. Gradually the Church of Constantinople, by the +growth of new Christian states, and by the defections of nations that +had become heretical, became practically isolated, long before the +infidels hedged in the boundaries of the Empire and hounded the +imperial power to its death. Within the boundaries the Church +continued to walk hand-in-hand with the State. Together they acted +within and without. Within, they upheld the Orthodox Faith; without, +they gave Cyprus its religious independence, Illyricum a new +ecclesiastical organisation, the Sinaitic peninsula an autonomous +hierarchy. More and more the history of these centuries shows us the +Greek Church as the Eastern Empire in its religious aspect. And it +shows that the division between East {14} and West, beginning in +politics, was bound to spread to religion. As Rome had won her +ecclesiastical primacy through her political position, so with +Constantinople; and when the politics became divergent so did the +definition of faith. Rome, as a church, clung to the obsolete claims +which the State could no longer enforce: Constantinople witnessed to +the independence which was the heritage of liberty given by the +endowment of Jesus Christ. + +Such are the general lines upon which Eastern Church history proceeds. +We must now speak in more detail, though briefly, of the theological +history of the years when Justinian was emperor. + +[Sidenote: Early controversy in Justinian's reign.] + +Justinian was a trained theologian, but he was also a trained lawyer; +and the combination generally produces a vigorous controversialist. It +was in controversy that his reign was passed. The first controversy, +which began before he was emperor, was that, revived from the end of +the fifth century, which dealt with the question of the addition to the +Trisagion of the words, "Who was crucified for us," and involved the +assertion that One of the Trinity died upon the cross. In 519 there +came from Tomi to Constantinople monks who fancied that they could +reconcile Christendom by adding to the Creed, a delusion as futile as +that of those who think they can advance towards the same end by +subtracting from it. After a debate on the matter in Constantinople, +Justinian consulted the pope. Letters passed with no result. In 533, +when the matter was revived by the Akoimetai, Justinian published an +edict and wrote letters to pope and patriarch to bring the matter to a +final decision. "If One of the Trinity did {15} not suffer in the +flesh, neither was He born in the flesh, nor can Mary be said, verily +and truly, to be His Mother." The emperor himself was accused of +heresy by the Vigilists; and at last Pope John II. declared the phrase, +"One Person of the Trinity was crucified," to be orthodox. His +judgment was confirmed by the Fifth General Council.[1] + +The position which the emperor thus assumed was not one which the East +alone welcomed. Rome, too, recognised that the East had power to make +decrees, so long as they were consonant with apostolic doctrine. + +[Sidenote: The Monophysites.] + +Justinian now gave himself eagerly to the reconciliation of the +Monophysites. In 535 Anthimus, bishop of Trebizond, a friend of the +deposed patriarch of Antioch, Severus, who was at least +semi-Monophysite, was elected to the patriarchal throne of New Rome. +In the same year Pope Agapetus (534-6) came to Constantinople as an +envoy of a Gothic king, and he demanded that Anthimus should make +formal profession of orthodoxy. The result was not satisfactory: the +new patriarch was condemned by the emperor with the sanction of the +pope and the approval of a synod. Justinian then issued a decree +condemning Monophysitism, which he ordered the new patriarch to send to +the Eastern Churches. Mennas, the successor of Anthimus, in his local +synod, had condemned and deposed the Monophysite bishops. The +controversy was at an end. + +More important in its results was the dispute with the so-called +Origenists. S. Sabas came from {16} Palestine in 531 to lay before the +emperor the sad tale of the spread of their evil doctrines, but he died +in the next year, and the Holy Land remained the scene of strife +between the two famous monasteries of the Old and the New Laura. +[Sidenote: The Origenists.] In 541 or 542 a synod at Antioch condemned +the doctrines of Origen, but the only result was that Jerusalem refused +communion with the other Eastern patriarchate. Justinian himself,--at +a time when there was at Constantinople an envoy from Rome, +Pelagius,--issued a long declaration condemning Origen. A synod was +summoned, which formally condemned Origen in person--a precedent for +the later anathemas of the Fifth General Council--and fifteen +propositions from his writings, ten of them being those which +Justinian's edict had denounced. The decisions were sent for +subscription to the patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, +as well as to Rome. This sanction gave something of an universal +condemnation of Origenism; but, since no general council confirmed it, +it cannot be asserted that Origen lies under anathema as a heretic. +The opinion of the legalists of the age was utterly out of sympathy +with one who was rather the cause of heresy in others than himself +heretical. + +[Sidenote: The "Three Chapters."] + +But the most important controversy of the reign was that which was +concerned with the "Three Chapters." Justinian, who had himself +written against the Monophysites, was led aside by an ingenious monk +into an attack upon the writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret +of Cyrrhus, and Ibas of Edessa. The Emperor issued an edict (544) in +which "Three Chapters" asserted the heresy of the incriminated +writings. Within a short {17} time the phrase "The Three Chapters" was +applied to the subjects of the condemnation; and the Fifth General +Council, followed by later usage, describes as the "Three Chapters" the +"impious Theodore of Mopsuestia with his wicked writings, and those +things which Theodoret impiously wrote, and the impious letter which is +said to be by Ibas." [2] + +Justinian's edict was not favourably received: even the patriarch +Mennas hesitated, and the papal envoy and some African bishops broke +off communion. The Latin bishops rejected it; but the patriarchs of +Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem gave their adhesion. Justinian +summoned Pope Vigilius; and a pitiable example of irresolution he +presented when he came. He accepted, rejected, censured, was +complacent and hostile in turns. [Sidenote: The Fifth General Council, +553.] At last he agreed to the summoning of a General Council, and +Justinian ordered it to meet in May, 553. Vigilius, almost at the last +moment, would have nothing to do with it. The patriarch of +Constantinople presided, and the patriarchs of Antioch and Alexandria +appeared in person, the patriarch of Jerusalem by three bishops. The +acts of the Council were signed by 164 prelates. The Council, like its +predecessors, was predominantly Eastern; but its decisions were +afterwards accepted by the West. The precedents of the earlier +Councils were strictly followed in regard to Rome: no supremacy was +allowed though the honourable primacy was not contested.[3] +Justinian's letter, sketching the history of the controversy of the +Three Chapters, {18} was read, but he did not interfere with the +deliberations. It was summoned to deal with matters concerning the +faith, and these were always left to the decision of the Episcopate. +The discussion was long; and after an exhaustive examination of the +writings of Theodore, the Council proceeded to endorse the first +"chapter," by the condemnation of the Mopsuestian and his writings. +The case of Theodoret was less clear: indeed, a very eminent authority +has regarded the action of the Council in his case as "not quite +equitable." [4] But the grounds of the condemnation were such +statements of his as that "God the Word is not incarnate," "we do not +acknowledge an hypostatic union," and his description of S. Cyril as +_impius, impugnator Christi, novus haereticus_, with a denial of the +_communicatio idiomatum_, which left little if any doubt as to his own +position.[5] When the letter of Ibas came to be considered, it was +plainly shown that its statements were directly contrary to the +affirmations of Chalcedon. It denied the Incarnation of the Word, +refused the title of Theotokos to the Blessed Virgin, and condemned the +doctrines of Cyril. The Council had no hesitation in saying anathema. + +Here its work was ended. It had safeguarded the faith by definitely +exposing the logical consequences of statements which indirectly +impugned the Divine and Human Natures of the Incarnate Son. + +[Sidenote: The need for its decisions.] + +So long as human progress is based upon intellectual principles as well +as on material growth, a teaching body which professes to guard and +interpret a Divine Revelation must speak {19} without hesitation when +its "deposit" is attacked. The Church has clung, with an inspired +sagacity, to the reality of the Incarnation: and thus it has preserved +to humanity a real Saviour and a real Exemplar. The subtle brains +which during these centuries searched for one joint in the Catholic +armour wherein to insert a deadly dart, were foiled by a subtlety as +acute, and by deductions and definitions that were logical, rational, +and necessary. If the Councils had not defined the faith which had +been once for all delivered to the saints, it would have been dissolved +little by little by sentimental concessions and shallow inconsistencies +of interpretation. It was the work of the Councils to develope and +apply the principles furnished by the sacred Scriptures. New questions +arose, and it was necessary to meet them: it was clear, then, that +there was a real division between those who accepted Christianity in +the full logical meaning of the Scriptures, in the full confidence of +the Church, and those who doubted, hesitated, denied; and it is clear +now that the whole future of Christendom depended upon the acceptance +by the Christian nations of a single rational and logically tenable +Creed. This involved the rejection of the Three Chapters, as it +involved equally the condemnation of Monophysitism and Monothelitism. +From the point of view of theology or philosophy the value of the work +of the Church in this age is equally great. The heresies which were +condemned in the sixth century (as in the seventh) were such as would +have utterly destroyed the logical and rational conception of the +Person of the Incarnate Son, as the Church had received it by divine +inspiration. Some Christian historians may seem for a moment to yield +a half {20} assent to the shallow opinions of those who would refuse to +go beyond what is sometimes strangely called the "primitive simplicity +of the Gospel." But it is impossible in this obscurantist fashion to +check the free inquiry of the human intellect. The truths of the +Gospel must be studied and pondered over, and set in their proper +relation to each other. There must be logical inferences from them, +and reasonable conclusions. It is this which explains that struggle +for the Catholic Faith of which historians are sometimes impatient, and +justifies a high estimate of the services which the Church of +Constantinople rendered to the Church Universal. + +It is in this light that the work of the Fifth General Council, to be +truly estimated, must be regarded. It will be convenient here to +summarise the steps by which the Fifth General Council won recognition +in the Church. + +In the first place, the emperor, according to custom, confirmed what +the Council had decreed; and throughout the greater part of the East +the decision of Church and State alike was accepted. In 553 there was +a formal confirmation by a synod of bishops at Jerusalem; but for the +most part there was no need of such pronouncement. African bishops and +Syrian monks here and there refused obedience; but the Church as a +whole was agreed. + +[Sidenote: Pope Vigilius.] + +Pope Vigilius, it would seem, was in exile for six months on an island +in the Sea of Marmora. On December 8, 553, he formally anathematised +the Three Chapters. On February 23, 554, in a _Constitution_, he +announced to the Western bishops his adhesion to the decisions {21} of +the General Council. Before the end of 557 he was succeeded, on his +death, by Pelagius, well known in Constantinople. He, like Vigilius, +had once refused but now accepted the Council. + +When Rome and Constantinople were agreed, the adhesion of the rest of +the Catholic world was only a question of time. But the time was long. +In North Italy there was for long a practical schism, which was not +healed till Justin II. issued an explanatory edict,[6] and the genius, +spiritual and diplomatic, of Gregory the Great was devoted to the task +of conciliation. Still it was not till the very beginning of the +eighth century[7] that the last schismatics returned to union with the +Church: thus a division in the see of Aquileia, by which for a time +there were two rival patriarchates, was closed. Already the rest of +Europe had come to peace. + +[Sidenote: The Aphthartodocetes.] + +The last years of Justinian were disturbed by a new heresy, that of +those who taught that the Body of the Lord was incorruptible, and it +was asserted that the emperor himself fell into this error. The +evidence is slight and contradictory, and the matter is of no +importance in the general history of the Church.[8] But it is worth +remembering that little more than a century after his death his name +was singled out by the Sixth General Council for special honour as of +"holy memory." His work, indeed, had been great, as theologian and as +Christian emperor; there was no more important or more accurate writer +{22} on theology in the East during the sixth century; and he must ever +be remembered side by side with the Fifth General Council which he +summoned. There were many defects in the Eastern theory of the +relations between Church and State; but undoubtedly under such an +emperor it had its best chances of success. + +[Sidenote: The work of Justinian.] + +Justinian has been declared to have forced upon the Empire which he had +reunited the orthodoxy of S. Cyril and the Council of Chalcedon, and +the attempt has been made to prove that Cyril himself was a +Monophysite.[9] The best refutation of this view is the perfect +harmony of the decisions of the Fifth General Council with those of the +previous Oecumenical assemblies, and the fact that no novelty could be +discovered to have been added to "the Faith" when the "Three Chapters" +were condemned. + +With the close of the Council the definition of Christian doctrine +passes into the background till the rise of the Monothelite +controversy. When its decisions were accepted, the labours of +Justinian had given peace to the churches. + +[Sidenote: and his successors.] + +From 565, when Justinian died, to 628, when Heraclius freed the Empire +from the danger of Persian conquest, were years of comparative rest in +the Church. It was a period of missionary extension, of quiet +assertion of spiritual authority, in the midst of political trouble and +disaster. Gibbon, who asserts that Justinian died a heretic, adds, +"The reigns of his four successors, Justin, Tiberius, Maurice, and +Phocas, are distinguished by a rare, though fortunate, vacancy in the +ecclesiastical history {23} of the East"; and the sarcasm, though not +wholly accurate, may serve to express the gradual progress of unity +which marked the years up to the accession of Heraclius. The history +of religion is concerned rather with those outside than those within +the Church. That history we need not follow, and we may pass over this +period with only a brief allusion to the development of independence +outside the immediate range of the ecclesiastical power of New Rome. +[Sidenote: Rise of separated bodies.] Heresies grew as an expression of +national independence. The Chaldaean Church, which stretched to Persia +and India, was Nestorian. The Monophysites won the Coptic Church of +Egypt, the Abyssinian Church, the Jacobites in Syria, the Armenians in +the heart of Asia Minor. In the mountains of Lebanon the +Monothelites--of whom we have to speak shortly--organised the Maronite +Church; and in Georgia the Church was aided by geographical conditions +as well as historical development to ignore the overlordship of the +Church of Antioch. So in Europe grew up with the new States, the +Bulgarian, the Serbian, and the Wallachian Churches. + +[Sidenote: Missions and failures.] + +It was thus that, alike as statesmen and Christians, the emperors were +devoted advocates of missions. Their wars of conquest often--as +notably with the great Emperor Heraclius--assumed the character of holy +wars. Where the barbarians of the East made havoc there too often the +Church fell without leaving a trace of its work. Without priest and +sacrament, the people came to retain only among their superstitions, as +sometimes in North Africa to-day, usages which showed that once their +ancestors belonged to the kingdom of Christ. Much {24} of the +missionary work of the period was done by Monophysites; the record of +John of Ephesus preserves what he himself did to spread Christianity in +Asia. And it would seem that even the most orthodox of emperors was +willing to aid in the work of those who did not accept the Council of +Chalcedon so long as they earnestly endeavoured to teach the heathen +the rudiments of the faith and to love the Lord in incorruptness. + +[Sidenote: Organisation of the Church.] + +The Church of the period was divided into five patriarchates, the +Church of Cyprus being understood to stand apart and autocephalous. +Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch still retained their old +power, while Jerusalem was regarded as somewhat inferior. The +patriarchates were divided into provinces, the capital of each province +having its metropolitan bishop. Under him were other bishops, and +gradually the title of archbishop was being understood,--as by +Justinian in the decree (Novel, xi.) in which he created his birthplace +a metropolitan see,--to imply jurisdiction over a number of suffragan +sees. Besides this there were still sees autocephalous in the sense +that they owned no superior or metropolitan bishop. It would seem from +the _Synekdemos_ of Hierocles (c. 535) that in the sixth century the +patriarch of Constantinople had under him about thirty metropolitans +and some 450 bishops. But the authority which the patriarch exercised +was by no means used to minimise that of the bishops. If the influence +of the Imperial Court on the patriarchate was always considerable and +sometimes overwhelming, Justinian was careful to preserve the +independence of the Episcopate and {25} to order that the first steps +in the election of bishops should be by the clergy and the chief +citizens in each diocese. And, as a letter of S. Gregory shows, the +bishops were elected for life; neither infirmity nor old age was +regarded as a cause for deposition, and translation from see to see was +condemned by many a Council. All the clergy under the rank of bishop +might marry, but only before ordination to the higher orders. In the +East it would seem that the number of persons connected in some way +with ecclesiastical office was very large. Even excluding the +monks,--a numerous and continually increasing body--the hermits, the +Stylites (who remained for years on a pillar, where they even received +Communion, in a special vessel made for the purpose), the different +orders of celibate women--there was still a very considerable number of +persons attached to all the important churches, in different positions +of ministry. The famous poem of Paul the Silentiary on S. Sophia +revels in a recital of the number of persons employed as well as in the +beauty of the magnificent building itself. + +In architecture, indeed, the Byzantine Church of the sixth century was +supreme. No more glorious edifice has ever been consecrated to the +service of Christ than the Church of the Divine Wisdom at +Constantinople; and the arts which enriched it in mosaic, marble, +metals, were brought to a perfection which excited the wonder of +succeeding centuries. Before we end this sketch of the history of a +great age in the life of the Eastern Church, a word must be said about +its most splendid and enduring memorial. Among the most striking +passages in the {26} chronicles of the age are the famous descriptions +by Procopius and by Paul the Silentiary of the splendours of the great +church of Constantinople in the sixth century after Christ. [Sidenote: +S. Sophia at Constantinople.] In the wonderful art of mosaic, as it may +be seen to-day in some of the churches of the New Rome, in S. +Sophia--though much there is still covered--and in the Church of the +Chora, the West, with all the beauty that we may still see in Ravenna, +was never able to equal the East. In solemn grandeur of architecture +fitted for open, public, common worship, expressive of the profoundest +verities of Christ's Church, it would be difficult to surpass the work +of the great age of Byzantine art. Of this S. Sophia, the Church of +the Divine Wisdom, at Constantinople, built by the architects of the +Emperor Justinian in the sixth century, is the most magnificent +example. There the eye travels upward, when the great nave is entered +from the narthex, from the arches supporting the gallery to those of +the gallery itself, from semi-domes larger and larger, up to the great +dome itself, an intricate scheme merging in a central unity. "The +length and the breadth and the height of it are equal" is the +exclamation which seems forced from the beholder: never was there a +church so vast yet so symmetrical, so admirably designed for the +participation of all worshippers in the great act of worship. And the +splendid pillars, brought from Baalbek of the old heathen days, wrought +on the capitals with intricate carvings, with emblems and devices and +monograms, the finely decorated doors, and the gigantic mosaic seraphim +on the walls, still in the twentieth century dimly image something of +the glowing worship of the {27} sixth. Then the "splendour of the +lighted space," glittering with thousands of lights, gave "shine unto +the world," and guided the seafarers as they went forth "by the divine +light of the Church itself." Traveller after traveller, chronicler +after chronicler, records impressions of the glory and beauty that +belonged to the great Mother Church of the Byzantine rite. +Historically, perhaps no church in the world has seen, at least in the +Middle Ages, so many scenes that belonged to the deepest crises of +national life. From the day when the great emperor who built it +prostrated himself before God as unworthy to make the offering of so +much beauty, to the day when Muhammad the conqueror (says the legend) +rode in over the heaps of Christian dead, it was the centre, and the +mirror, of the Church's life in the capital of the Empire. And that is +what the worship of the East has always striven to express. It is +immemorial, conservative beyond anything that the West can tolerate or +conceive; but it belongs, in the present as in the past, to the closest +thoughts, the most intimate experiences, of men to whom religion is +indeed the guide of life. The Church of S. Sophia, the worship of the +East, are the living memorials of the great age of the great Christian +emperor and theologian of the sixth century. + +And the fact that this building was due to the genius and power not of +the Church, but of Justinian, leads us back to the significance of the +State authority in the ecclesiastical history of the East. + +As it was said in England that kings were the Church's nursing fathers, +so in the Eastern Empire might the same text be used in rather a +different {28} sense. The Church was in power before the Empire was +Christian; but the Christian Empire was ever urgent to proclaim its +attachment to the Church and to guarantee its protection. The imperial +legislation of the great lawgiver began always in the name of the Lord, +and the code emphasised as the foundation of society and civil law the +orthodox doctrines of the Trinity and of Christ. And step by step the +great emperor endeavoured, in matters of morality and of gambling, to +enforce the moral laws of the Church. Works of charity and mercy were +undertaken by Church and State, hand in hand, and the noble buildings +which marked the magnificent period of Byzantine architecture were the +works of a society which, from the highest to the lowest member, was +penetrated by Christian ideals. Thus, very briefly, we may epitomise +the work of the first period we have mentioned. A word must be said +later of later times. + + + +[1] Mansi, _Concilia_, ix. 384. The phrase was preserved in the Hymn +'_O onogenes_, which was inserted in the Mass, and the composition of +which is ascribed to Justinian himself. + +[2] Mansi, ix. 181. + +[3] Cf. Nicaea, Canon vi.; Constantinople, Canons ii. and iii.; +Ephesus, Canon viii.; Chalcedon, Canons ix. and xvii. + +[4] Dr. W. Bright, _Waymarks in Church History_, p. 238. + +[5] See Hefele, _History of the Councils_ (Eng. trans.), iv. 311. + +[6] Given in Evagrius, v. 4. + +[7] A.D. 700, Mansi, _Concilia_, xii. 115. + +[8] See Gibbon, ed. J. B. Bury, vol. v. pp. 139, 140, 522, 523; and W. +H. Hutton, _The Church of the Sixth Century_, pp. 204-240, 303-309. + +[9] Cf. Harnack, _Dogmengeschichte_, ii. pp. 396, 396, 399, etc. + + + + +{29} + +CHAPTER III + +THE CHURCH IN ITALY, 461-590 + +[Sidenote: The end of the Empire in the West, 476.] + +The death of S. Leo took place but a few years before the Roman Empire +in the West became extinguished, and political interests entirely +submerged those of religion in the years that followed it. Dimly, +beneath the noise of the barbarian triumph, we discern the survival in +Rome of the Church's powers and claims; but it is not till the rise of +another pope of mighty genius that they claim any consideration as +important. In 461 died S. Leo; in 476 Romulus Augustulus, the last of +the continuous line of Western Caesars, surrendered his sceptre to the +Herul Odowakar. The barbarian governed with the aid of Roman +statesmen: he fixed his seat of rule at Ravenna rather than at Rome: he +showed consideration to the saintly Epiphanius, Bishop of Pavia: +heretic though he was, he desired to keep well with the Catholic +bishops of Rome. After him came a greater man, Theodoric the Goth, +whose capture of Ravenna, March 5th, 493, was followed by the +assassination of Odowakar. [Sidenote: Theodoric the Goth, 493.] +Theodoric, also an Arian, became sole ruler of Italy. He too was +served by Roman officials, and his administration was modelled on that +of the Caesars. A special interest attaches to his {30} dealings with +the Church. The king, indeed, Arian though he was, looked on the +Catholic Church with no unfriendly eye. His great minister, +Cassiodorus, was orthodox: and it is in his writings, which enshrine +the policy of his master, that we must search for the relations between +Church and State in the days before Belisarius had won back Ravenna and +Italy to the allegiance of the Roman Caesar. + +The letters of Cassiodorus supply, if not a complete account, at least +very valuable illustrations, of the position assumed by the East Gothic +power under Theodoric and his successors in regard to the Church. The +favour shown by the Ostrogoth sovereign to Cassiodorus, a staunch +Catholic, yet senator, consul, patrician, quaestor, and praetorian +praefect, is in itself an illustration of the absence of bitter Arian +feeling. [Sidenote: His relation with the Catholic Church.] This +impression is deepened by a perusal of the letters which Cassiodorus +wrote in the name of his sovereign. The subjects in which the Church +is most frequently related to the State are jurisdiction and property. +In the latter there seems a clear desire on the part of the kings to +give security and to act even with generosity to all religious bodies, +Catholic as well as Arian. Church property was frequently, if not +always, freed from taxation.[1] The principle which dictated the whole +policy of Theodoric is to be seen in a letter to Adila, senator and +comes.[2] "Although we will not that any should suffer any wrong whom +it belongs to our religious obligation to protect, since the free +tranquillity of the subjects is the glory of the ruler; yet especially +do we desire that all churches {31} should be free from any injury, +since while they are in peace the mercy of God is bestowed on us." +Therefore he orders all protection to be given to the churches: yet +answer is to be made in the law courts to any suit against them. For, +as he says in another letter, "if false claims may not be tolerated +against men, how much less against God." Again, "If we are willing to +enrich the Church by our own liberality, _a fortiori_ will we not allow +it to be despoiled of the gifts received from pious princes in the +past." + +It was on such liberality that the material power of the Church was +slowly strengthening itself. Similarly, as in the East, clerical +privilege was beginning to be allowed in the law courts: the Church was +acquiring the right to judge all cases in which her officers were +concerned. Theodoric's successors bettered his instructions. +Athalaric allowed to the Roman pope the jurisdiction over all suits +affecting the Roman clergy. + +[Sidenote: Weakness of the Church.] + +But this picture of toleration and privilege which we obtain from the +official letters of Cassiodorus, cannot be regarded as a complete +description of the attitude of the East Gothic rule towards the +Catholic Church. Pope after pope was the humble slave of the Gothic +ruler. They were sent to Constantinople as his envoys, and though they +stood firm for the Catholic faith and in rejection of all compromise +with regard to the doctrine of Chalcedon, they were entirely impotent +in Italy itself. Catholic Italy was at the feet of the Arian Goth. +The cruel imprisonment of Pope John, used as a political tool in 525 +and flung away when he proved ineffective, gave a new martyr to the +Roman calendar; and, in spite of {32} the absence of direct evidence, +it is difficult to regard the executions of Symmachus and of Boethius +as entirely unconnected with religions questions. Both were Catholics; +both, to use Mr. Hodgkin's words,[3] "have been surrounded by a halo of +fictitious sanctity as martyrs to the cause of Christian orthodoxy." +The father-in-law, "lest, through grief for the loss of his son-in-law, +he should attempt anything against his kingdom," Theodoric "caused to +be accused and ordered him to be slain." [4] Boethius, who wrote the +most famous work of the Early Middle Age, _The Consolation of +Philosophy_, a book which became the delight of Christian scholars, of +monks and kings, was translated by Alfred the West Saxon, and formed +the foundation of very much of the Christian thought of many succeeding +generations, met a horrible death in 526 on a charge of corresponding +with the orthodox Emperor Justin. No doubt the main reason for the +butchery was political; but it is impossible in this age wholly to +separate religion from politics; especially when we read, in almost +immediate conjunction with the story of the murder of these men, that +Theodoric ordered that on a certain day the Arians should take +possession of all the Catholic basilicas. It was not until the Gothic +power had finally fallen, and Narses had reestablished the imperial +power, that the life and property of Catholics were absolutely safe. + +The death of Theodoric (August 30, 526) was followed by the downfall of +his power. Within ten years all Italy was won back to the Roman and +Catholic Empire ruling from the East. + +{33} + +[Sidenote: The imperial restoration, 554.] + +With the restoration of the imperial power the Church came to the front +more prominently. So long as Justinian reigned the popes were kept in +subjection; but ecclesiastics generally were admitted to a large share +in judicial and political power. The emperors looked for their +strongest political support in the Catholic party. Suppression of +Arianism became a political necessity at Ravenna. Justinian gave to +Agnellus the churches of the Arians. [Sidenote: The Pragmatic +Sanction.] In 554 the emperor issued his solemn Pragmatic Sanction for +the government of Italy. Of this, Section XII. gives a power to the +bishops which shows the intimate connection between State and Church. +"Moreover we order that fit and proper persons, able to administer the +local government, be chosen as _iudices_ of the provinces by the +bishops and chief persons of each province from the inhabitants of the +province itself." This is important, of course, as allowing popular +elections, but far more important in its recognition of the position of +the clerical estate. Justinian's new administration of Italy was to be +military; but hardly less was it to be ecclesiastical. Here we have, +says Mr. Hodgkin,[5]--whose words I quote because I can find none +better to express what seems to me to be the significance of this +act--"a pathetic confession of the emperor's own inability to cope with +the corruption and servility of his civil servants. He seems to have +perceived that in the great quaking bog of servility and dishonesty by +which he felt himself to be surrounded, his only sure standing-ground +was to be found in the spiritual estate, the order of men who wielded a +power {34} not of this world, and who, if true to their sacred mission, +had nothing to fear and little to hope from the corrupt minions of the +court." This is significant in regard to the rise of the power of the +popes in the Western capital of the Empire and in the whole of Italy. +It was by the good deeds of the clergy, and by the need of them, that +they came forward before long as the masters of the country. + +This rule of the Pragmatic Sanction was not an isolated instance; at +every point the bishop was placed _en rapport_ with the State, with the +provincials, and with the exarch himself.[6] In jurisdiction, in +advice, from the moment when he assisted at a new governor's +installation, the bishop was at the side of the lay officer, to +complain and even, if need be, to control. + +One power still remained to the emperor himself (in the seventh century +it was transferred to the exarch)--that of confirming the election of +the pope. Narses seated Pelagius on the papal throne; but when one as +mighty as the "eunuch general" arose in Gregory the Great, the power of +the exarchate passed, slowly but surely, into the hands of the papacy. +The changes of rulers in Italy, the policies of the falling Goths and +of the rising Roman Empire, found their completion in the effects of +the Lombard invasion. But before this there were thirty years of +growth for the Church, and the growth was due very largely to a new +force, though for a while it remained below the surface. It was the +power of the monastic life, realised anew by the genius and holiness of +S. Benedict of Nursia. {35} [Sidenote: The work of S. Benedict.] Born +about 480, of noble parentage, he gave himself from early years to +serve God "in the desert." At about the age of fifteen he is spoken of +by his biographer, the great S. Gregory, in words which might form the +motto of his life, as "sapienter indoctus." First, a solitary at +Subiaco; then the unwilling abbat of a neighbouring monastery, whose +monks endeavoured to kill him; then again living "by himself in the +sight of Him who seeth all things"; at last, in 529, he founded in +Campania the monastery of Monte Cassino, the mother of all the revived +monasticism of the Middle Age. + +[Sidenote: His rule.] + +The monastery of Monte Cassino became a pattern of the religious life. +S. Benedict was a wise and statesmanlike ruler, to whom men came with +confidence from every rank and every race, to be his disciples, or to +place their boys under him for instruction. The rule which he drew up +was as potent in the ecclesiastical world as was the code of Justinian +in the civil. It had its bases in the root ideas of obedience, +simplicity, and labour. "Never to depart from the governance of God" +was his primary maxim to his monks; and a monastery was to be a "school +of the Lord's service" and a "workshop of the spiritual art." The +beginning of all was to be prayer. "Inprimis ut quidquid agendum +inchoas bonum, a Deo perfici instantissima oratione deposcas." And +though absolute power was left, without appeal, in the hands of the +abbat, and the rule of the whole house was to be "nullus in monasterio +proprii sequatur cordis voluntatem," yet great individual liberty was +left to each monk in the direction of his own religious {36} life. +Everyone, he knew, had "his own gift of God"--some could fast more than +others; some could spend more time in silent prayer and meditation; and +none could do any good, he knew, however strict their outer rule, +without daily enlightenment from God. There was place in his scheme +for those whose work was chiefly manual, those who reclaimed +uncultivated lands and turned the wilderness into a garden of the Lord, +and for those who spent long hours in contemplation and prayer. The +public solemn singing of offices was no more characteristic of his rule +than was the following of the hermits in pure prayer. + +One who would be admitted to the monastery must take oath before the +whole community that he intended constantly to remain firm in his +profession, to live a life of conversion to God, and to obey those set +over him, but the last only "according to the rule." True monks were +his followers to count themselves only if they lived by the labours of +their hands. Idleness, said Benedict, is the enemy of the soul. The +life of the monks was ascetic, but without the extreme rigour of the +earlier "religious"--hermits and coenobites. The rule required +austerities, and gave strict injunction as to food at all times, and +especially in Lent; but it did not encourage voluntary austerities +beyond the rule, and it admitted many relaxations for the old, the +infirm, or those whose labours were especially hard. + +Where all depended so much on a superior it was of especial importance +that he should be wisely chosen and should rule wisely. In three +things he was to be pre-eminent--exhortation, example, and prayer; and +prayer, says the saint, is the greatest of these; for {37} although +there be much virtue in exhortation and example, yet prayer is that +which promotes grace and efficacy alike in deed and word. He was to +recognise no difference of social rank. Good deeds and obedience were +to be the only ways to his favour. Only if exceptional merit required +promotion was there to be any breach of the proper order in which each +should hold his place, "since, whether slaves or free, we are all one +in Christ, and, under the same Lord, wear all of us the same badge of +service." + +In a cell hard by the monastery dwelt Benedict's sister, S. +Scholastica, whose religious life he directed, but whom he rarely saw, +and who became a pattern to nuns as he to monks. + +[Sidenote: Its wide influence.] + +The influence of Benedict was, even in his own lifetime, extraordinary. +There were times when it might almost be said that all Italy looked to +him for guidance; and there is no more striking scene in the history of +the decaying Gothic power than when the cruel Totila, whose end he +foresaw, and the secrets of whose heart lay open to his gaze, visited +him in his monastery and heard the words of truth from his lips. When, +fortified by the Body and Blood of the Lord, he passed away with hands +still uplifted in prayer, he had created a power which did more than +any other to make the Church predominant in Italy. The rule, the +definite organisations, of monasticism came to the world from Italy and +from Benedict. Though the Benedictines were never actively papal +agents, yet indirectly, by their training and by their influence on the +whole nature of medieval religion, they formed a strong support for the +growing power of the Roman see. + +{38} + +But Benedict was not the only leader, though he was the greatest, in +the monastic revival of the sixth century. With another great name his +work may be placed to some extent in contrast. + +[Sidenote: Scholarship and learning.] + +S. Benedict was no advocate of exclusively ecclesiastical study. He +adapted the ancient literatures to the purposes of Christian education. +It is true that the main subjects of study for his monks were the Holy +Scriptures, and the chief object the edification of the individual by +meditation and of the people by preaching; but the monks learnt to +write verse correctly and prose in what had claims to be considered a +style. Yet what he himself did in that direction was little indeed. +Perhaps the most that can be said is that he left the way open to his +successors. And of these the greatest was Cassiodorus. + +[Sidenote: Cassiodorus.] + +Cassiodorus, the statesman, the orthodox adviser and friend of the +Arian Theodoric, lived to become a Christian teacher and a monk. The +friend of Pope Agapetus, he endeavoured with his sanction in 535 to set +up a school in Rome which should give to Christians "a liberal +education." The pope's death, a year later, prevented the scheme being +carried out. But a few years later, in the monastery of Vivarium near +Squillace, he set himself to found a religious house which should +preserve the ancient culture. Based on a sound knowledge of grammar, +on a collation and correction of texts, on a study of ancient models in +prose and verse, he would raise an education through "the arts and +disciplines of liberal letters," for, he said, "by the study of secular +literature our minds are trained to understand the Scriptures {39} +themselves." That was the supreme end at Squillace, as it was at Monte +Cassino; and though Cassiodorus looked at letters differently from +Benedict, his work, too, was important in founding a tradition for +Italian monasticism. + +[Sidenote: Weakness of the papacy under Pelagius, 555-60.] + +While monasticism was transforming Italy and placing Catholicism on a +firm basis in the Western lands of the Empire, the power of the papal +see, when Rome was reconquered by the imperial forces from +Constantinople, seemed to sink to the lowest depths. The papacy under +Vigilius (537-55) and Pelagius (555-60) was the servant of the +Byzantine Caesars. The history of the controversies in which each pope +was engaged, the scandal of their elections, there is no need to relate +here. Suffice it to say that the decisions of the Fifth General +Council were in no way the work of either, but were eventually accepted +by both. The self-contradictions of Vigilius are pitiable; and the +acceptance of Pelagius by the Romans was only won by his rejecting a +formal statement of his predecessor. + +Consecrated only by two bishops[7] on Easter Day, 556, he began a +pontificate which was from the first disputed and even despised. The +Archbishop of Milan and the patriarch of Aquileia would not communicate +with him. In Gaul he was received with suspicion, and he was obliged +to write to King Childebert, submitting to him a profession of his +faith.[8] It is clear that the Gallican Church no more than the Lombard +regarded {40} the pope as _ipso facto_ orthodox or the guardian of +orthodoxy. Even this letter of Pelagius was not regarded as +satisfactory. It was long before the Churches entered into communion +with him; and even to the last, the northern sees of Italy refused. He +ruled, unquietly enough, for four years; and died, leaving a memory +free at least from simony, and honoured as a lover of the poor. + +Under him, as under Vigilius, the papacy had been compelled to submit +to the judgment of the East. "The Church of Rome," says Mgr. Duchesne, +"was humiliated." [9] + +The lives of these two popes cover the most important period in the +ecclesiastical history of the sixth century. After the death of +Pelagius I., and up to the accession of Gregory the Great in 590, the +interest of Italian history is political rather than ecclesiastical. +The emperors tried to rule, through their exarchs at Ravenna, from +Constantinople. The papacy grew quietly in power. Then came the +Lombards and a new era began. + + + +[1] So _Var._, i. 26, ed. Mommsen, p. 28. + +[2] ii. 29, p. 63. + +[3] _Italy and her Invaders_, vol. iii. p. 516. + +[4] _Anonymus Valesii_. + +[5] _Italy and her Invaders_, vol. vi. p. 528. + +[6] Instances are collected by M. Diehl, _Etudes sur l'administration +byzantine dans l'exarchat de Ravenne_, p. 320. + +[7] Et dum nou essent episcopi qui cum ordinarent, inventi sunt duo +episcopi, Johannes de Perusia et Bonus de Ferentino, et Andreas +presbiter de Hostis, et ordinaverunt eum.--_Liber Pontificalis_, i. 303. + +[8] Migne, Patr. Lat., tom. lxix. p. 402. + +[9] _Revue des Questions Historiques_, Oct. 1884, p. 439. + + + + +{41} + +CHAPTER IV + +CHRISTIANITY IN GAUL FROM THE SIXTH TO THE EIGHTH CENTURY + +A very special interest belongs to the history of Christianity in Gaul. +There is no more striking example of what the Church did to bridge over +the gulf between the old culture and the barbarians. + +[Sidenote: Roman Gaul.] + +Among early Christian martyrs few are more renowned than those who died +in Southern Gaul. Paganism lived on, concealed, in many country +districts, but the life and power and thought of the people became by +the time of Constantine, by the fourth century, entirely Christian. As +the state organised so did the Church. Gaul had seventeen provincial +governments; it came to have seventeen archbishops, and under them +bishops for each great city. On the Roman empire and the Christian +Church the foundations were laid; and they were laid firm. + +[Sidenote: The barbarian invasions.] + +At the beginning of the fifth century a terrible storm swept over the +land. It was the storm of Teutonic invasion. Vandals, Burgundians, +Alans, Suevi poured over the land; the Huns followed them, only to be +beaten back by a union of the other tribes. Then, after the Battle of +Chalons (451), there gradually rose out {42} of the Teutonic conquerors +the conquering power of one tribe, that of the Franks. + +[Sidenote: The Church in Gaul.] + +By the first ten years of the sixth century Gaul was united again, +under the rule of Chlodowech (Clovis), King of the Franks. Till well +on in the Middle Ages it was that title which the rulers of Gaul always +bore, "Rex Francorum," King of the Franks. France to-day still dates +her existence as a nation from the baptism of Clovis. It was that, his +admission into the Catholic Christianity of the Gauls over whom he +ruled, which enlisted on the side of the Frankish power all the culture +and civilisation which had never died out since the Roman days. Under +the fostering care of the Church it had survived. Brotherhood, +charity, compassion, unity, all the great ideas which the Church +cherished, were to work in long ages the transformation of the Frankish +kingship. And when Chlodowech became king under the blessing of the +Church, which had survived all through these centuries since it was +planted under the Romans, the fusion of races soon followed. The +French nation as we now know it is not merely Celtic, or Gaulish, but +Roman too, and lastly Frankish--that is, Teutonic. + +[Sidenote: The baptism of Chlodowech, 496.] + +The history of the baptism of Chlodowech is one of the most dramatic in +the annals of the early Middle Age. His wife, Chrotechild, was the +niece of the Burgundian king, and she was a devout Catholic. Slowly +she won her way to his heart. Never, said the chroniclers, did she +cease to persuade him that he should serve the true God; and when in +the crisis of a battle against the Alamanni he called her words to +mind, he vowed to {43} be baptised if Christ should give him the +victory. The legend adorns the historic fact that Chlodowech was +baptised by S. Remigius at Rheims, on Christmas Day, 496, and that some +three thousand of his warriors were baptised with him. "Bow thy neck, +O Sigambrian," said the prelate, "adore that which thou hast burned and +burn that which thou hast adored." Within a generation all races of +the Franks had followed the Frankish king. + +[Sidenote: The dark days of the Merwings.] + +The years that followed were full of growth. But for long the +Christianity which was nominally triumphant was imperfect indeed. +Chlodowech died in 511; his race went on ruling, Catholic in name but +very far from obedient to the Church's laws. The tale of their +successors, their wars and their crimes, is one which belongs to social +or political history, not to the history of the Church. The Church's +life was lived underground in the slow progress of Christian ideas. +Chlothochar, sole ruler of the Franks, died in 561. How little had the +half-century accomplished. Then came an age of division, murders, +horrors, in which the names of great ladies stand out as at least the +equals of their lords in crime. Predegund, who became the wife of +Chilperich of Neustria, and Brunichildis, the wife first of Sigebert of +Austrasia, and then of Merovech, Chilperich's son, were rivals in +wickedness. The horrors of those days are recorded in the history of +Gregory, who ruled over the see of Tours from 573 to 595. It was an +age in which, while the rulers were Christian in name, and the land was +mapped out into sees ruled by Christian bishops, and monasteries were +springing up to teach {44} the young and to set an example of religious +life, the general atmosphere was almost avowedly pagan. Men said, +tells Gregory, that "if a man has to pass between pagan altars and +God's church there is no harm in his paying homage to both," and the +lives of such men showed that it is impossible to serve God and Mammon. + +Yet for a century and a half the Merwings, descendants of Chlodowech, +had among them strong rulers, great conquerors, men of iron as well as +men of blood. Early in the seventh century, from 628 to 638, there +ruled in Gaul Dagobert, the greatest of the Merwing kings. His rule +extended from the Pyrenees to the North Sea, from the ocean to the +forests of Thuringia and Bohemia. He was "ruler of all Gaul and the +greater part of Germany, very influential in the affairs of Spain, +victorious over Slavs and Bulgarians, and at home a great king, +encouraging commerce and putting into better shape the law codes of his +subjects." + +[Sidenote: Break up of their kingdom.] + +That was the culmination of the Merwing power. The seventh century saw +its decay, and a new step towards the medieval monarchy of the Franks. +Two causes effected the fall of the Merwings--their own vices and the +growth of feudalism with the creation of great local lords. These +threatened to break up the kingdom of Chlodowech into small states, to +disintegrate and thus destroy the united nation of the Franks. + +The first cause is one which it is difficult to exaggerate. We read in +the pages of that great historian and great bishop, Gregory of Tours, +the terrible tale of their crimes, their brutal luxury, their lust for +blood, the {45} unbridled licence of their passions. That was the +record of the days of their decay. There was, however, even at the +best a great change from the times of Roman rule. For civilisation, +literary culture, law, we find substituted in the pages of Gregory of +Tours savagery, scenes of brutality, drunkenness, robbery. Law and +civilisation seem to sleep. It was in this state of the country, when +every man's hand was against his neighbour, when law was unheard amid +the strife, that feudalism arose, a natural development of the desire +for self-preservation, which led to associations to supply the mutual +protection which there was no strength behind the law to enforce. In +all these movements the Church had an active part. [Sidenote: The +influence of the Church.] It was her principles of association which +taught men the idea of unity, of bonds by which personal security +should be based on new guarantees amid the weakness of government and +the neglect of law. The Church held the tradition of a civilisation +the barbarians had never known, and in her own moral teaching she set +forth the way to an ideal state which should combine all the elements +of strength. The growth of the Frankish nation was guided almost +entirely by the Church. + +Feudalism, Roman administration and law, Christian faith and +discipline--these three factors were at work throughout the Dark Ages +from the fifth to the ninth century: and they were all--the last two +most especially--under the direction of the Church. And first and most +obviously the monarchy of the Merwings was a patent imitation of the +Roman Empire. The clergy had maintained the imperial tradition. It +was they who taught the sovereigns to replace the emperors {46} and to +produce around them the illusion of a Roman rule. They employed +officers with the same titles, centred their administration in their +household, claimed and exercised unlimited power. No power above them +did they recognise, save only, when they would listen to their +teachers, the power of the love--more often the fear--of God. The +barbarian invasions that had swept over the land had destroyed the +local, as well as the central administration. At Arles survived the +relics of the old Roman functionaries of the prefecture; but in the +land of the Franks the whole system had to be reconstructed from the +tradition of which the Church was the faithful guardian. + +[Sidenote: Relations with the Eastern Empire.] + +Thus the real aim of Chlodowech and his successors was not to conquer +the Roman Empire, not to substitute a Teutonic power for a Roman one; +but to take the place of the empire in Gaul, to succeed to its +heritage, to re-establish its authority, under Frankish kings. Thus +when the Empire of the West had ceased to be, the Frankish kings sought +titles and alliances from the emperors who still ruled at +Constantinople. It is a significant characteristic, indeed, of the +Merwing monarchy that it kept up close relations with the distant Roman +Empire in the East, that the Frankish kings professed to be the loyal +allies, as they were often the formally adopted sons, of the Roman +emperors and the consuls of the republic. + +The Frankish kings, by their Christianity, imperfect though it was, +were admitted to fellowship with the central power of the Christian +world, with emperor at Byzantium and pope at Rome. + +"Gaul was really independent of the empire in all {47} respects," [1] +and it is not there that we should seek for ecclesiastical relations +with Constantinople. But there can be no question that the Catholicism +of the Franks owed something to Eastern influences. There are points +in the Gallican ritual which are distinctly Byzantine, and must belong +to this period. Chlodowech, as an ally rather than a subject, and not +least, perhaps, because he was a Catholic, received the dignity of the +consulate from Anastasius.[2] And in the reign of the great Justinian +the Merwings looked to the emperor for recognition and support. +Theodebert, his "son," accepted a commission to propagate the Catholic +faith in the imperial name.[3] Bishops, too, who might be in need of +advice and consolation, applied naturally to Constantinople. Nicetius, +Bishop of Trier, that "man of highest sanctity, admirable in preaching, +and renowned for good works," [4] persecuted by Chlothochar and his +men, wrote naturally to the holy and orthodox emperor, "dominus semper +suus." In the midst of barbarities scarce conceivable,[5] the finest +characters were trained by the simple verities of the Catholic faith, +to which they clung with an extraordinary tenacity. Nor is this +anywhere more strongly shown than in the history of the Franks. Of the +meaning of the great struggle of Catholicism against Arianism, and of +its immense personal value, the histories afford many instances. There +is an eloquent passage in {48} [Sidenote: The strength of the Catholic +faith among the Franks.] Mr. Hodgkin's _Italy and her Invaders_[6] +which I cannot forbear to quote. "In the previous generation both +Brunichildis and Galswintha had easily conformed to the Catholic faith +of their affianced husbands. Probably the councillors of Leovigild +expected that a mere child like Ingunthis would without difficulty make +the converse change from Catholicism back into Arianism. This was ever +the capital fault of the Arian statesmen, that, with all their +religious bitterness, they could not comprehend that the profession of +faith, which was hardly more than a fashion to most of themselves, was +a matter of life and death to their Catholic rivals. Here, for +instance, was their own princess, Brunichildis, reared in Arianism, +converted to the orthodox creed, clinging to it tenaciously through all +the perils and adversities of her own stormy career, and able to imbue +the child-bride, her daughter, with such an unyielding devotion to the +faith of Nicaea, that not one of all the formidable personages whom she +met in her new husband's home could avail to move her by one hair's +breadth towards 'the Arian pravity.'" + +It was the strength of the Catholicism of those who were trained in it +and by it, seen in Spain and Gaul as well as in Italy, which drew the +Frankish churchmen naturally towards the great witnessing power of the +Roman bishop. The pontificate of Gregory the Great affords significant +illustrations of this influence. + +From 595 the letters of S. Gregory show a continual interest in Gaul. +A good deal of it is personal, concerned with the management of papal +estates or with {49} the relations of particular persons towards the +pope himself. [Sidenote: Gregory the Great and Gaul.] But Gregory was +careful to assert a very special connection between Rome and the "lands +of the Gauls" in all ecclesiastical matters. The Roman Church was the +mother to whom they applied in time of need.[7] Gregory gave the +pallium to Vergilius, bishop of the ancient city of Arles, and with it +the position of papal vicar within the kingdoms of Burgundy, Austrasia, +and Aquitaine. He recognised the terrible laxity of the Gallican +Church: the clergy were negligent, simoniacal, vicious; laymen were +often consecrated to the episcopate. He gave counsel freely to the +kings: Childebert he warmly commended: Brunichild, whose tenacious +adherence to the Catholic faith he knew, while he probably knew but +little of her personal character, he wrote to with paternal affection, +granted the pallium at her request and that of Gallican bishops to S. +Syagrius, Bishop of Autun, and appealed to her as one who had the will +as well as the power to reform abuses, remove scandals, and destroy +paganism. He set himself determinedly to work against the taint of +money which hung over the whole Church. He earnestly pleaded for the +expulsion of "these detestable evils," for the summoning of a synod +which should reform the whole Church. He pleaded in vain; but his work +was not without lasting results. He founded the alliance between the +papacy and the Frankish kings which was to be so fruitful in later +history. And he founded it not with a political but with an entirely +religious object. Through the court he hoped to reform the Church. He +saw how closely Church and State were {50} linked together, and he +thought that he could make the kings act as rulers who set the Church's +interest always first. It has been well said that his work, though the +Church long remained corrupt, was not in vain. "He succeeded in +establishing a regular intercourse between himself and the churches of +Gaul, especially in the cities of the east and south; he fixed a +tradition of friendship between the apostolic see and the Frank +princes; he held up an ideal of Christianity before a savage and +half-pagan people; and he caused the name of bishop to be once more +reverenced in a land where it had grown to be almost synonymous with +avarice, lawlessness, and corrupt ambition. If Gregory did no more +than this he accomplished enough. Though his work was not rich in +definite results at the moment, yet afterwards, in the reign of +Charlemagne, its effects became manifest." [8] + +[Sidenote: Relations of the Frankish Church with Rome.] + +At the same time the Frankish Church undoubtedly maintained a position +distinctly independent of Rome. Arles never really became a papal +vicariate. Gregory's endeavours were fruitless in practical result.[9] +The Gallican churches continued to be governed by their bishops, with +every degree of local variety, not by the pope. Gregory rather set +forth an ideal than established a subordination. His influence was +personal not constitutional, and it was not strong. Yet in the days +between Gregory and Charles the Great the links connecting Rome with +Gaul were not weakened. Later on they were to be strengthened still +more by the growth of a reformed monasticism, which gave support {51} +to the papacy while yet it looked to the popes for guidance. But +meanwhile the influence of individual ecclesiastics in Gaul must not be +forgotten. As was so often the case in medieval Europe, an age of +wickedness presents, in the chronicles and biographies, a very large +proportion of lives which received the praise of sanctity. Bishops, +anchorites, monks, often, it would seem, rose far above the standard of +their day: men noted their lives with awe and remembered them with +reverence. They moved in a society of curious complexity. + +[Learning at the court of the Merwings.] + +Venantius Fortunatus, who dedicated his poems to Gregory the Great, and +was "the great man of letters of his age," was a poet, but a Christian +poet--a writer of letters, but a close friend of holy souls, and +notably of S. Radegund, the exiled princess and saint.[10] We learn +from him that even in those days of blood there was a literary society +at the Frankish courts, and the savage king Chilperich made pretence to +be a writer, a theologian, and even a poet, though Gregory of Tours +assures us that he had not the least notion of prosody. + +Venantius Fortunatus and his literary friends, Chilperich and his +obsequious courtiers, link us to another and more notable name. To one +bishop, who achieved canonisation, we owe very much of what we know of +the history of those times. + +Gregory of Tours wrote memoirs which "are those of a man who has played +a great part in the State. At the same time he has the sense for +interesting {52} things, miracles, and adventures, which is sometimes +wanting in historians." [11] + +[Sidenote: Gregory of Tours.] + +We learn from his books that he had been trained in classic learning, +and that the bishops of the day did not turn aside from the pagan +classics. It is quite clear that his education was not merely +theological or even exclusively Christian. Other writers he refers to, +but with Vergil he certainly was familiar. And it is difficult to +believe that he stood alone, bitterly though he complained of the +ignorance of his contemporaries. The very fact that Gregory the Great +denounced the custom of bishops studying and teaching classical grammar +and classical fables, shows that the education of those days was not +very closely confined. And of its results, seen also in a goodly list +of clerical men of letters, Gregory of Tours is perhaps the best +example. + +He was before all things a bishop; he wrote indeed, as a French writer +has happily said, "en eveque"; but he was also a statesman and a very +keen observer of life. From his pages we learn how slight had been the +impression that Christianity had yet made on the lives of barbarous +men. We see kings still wondering that God's power could be greater +than their own, yet when they were awoke to terror by the thought of +death flying in craven fear to the feet of the minister of God. The +whole history is a tale of treacheries and murders, of quarrels and of +sins among men and women pledged to God; and yet it is evident that +behind the cruelty and crime there was a new spirit at work, slowly +transforming society by the conversion of individuals. It was a +transformation {53} which was going on all over Europe; nowhere at this +time, perhaps, more conspicuously than in Gaul and in Ireland. There +are many parallels between the Celtic "age of saints" and the Merwing +age of sinners. It is difficult to learn the full truth about either; +but out of the darkness comes the conspicuous witness of individual +saints. Of one or two of these a word may be said. Most notable is +one who served both Ireland and Gaul. + +[Sidenote: S. Columban (540-615).] + +The figure of the great Irish monk Columban is a light in the darkness +of the gross and cruel Merwing age. Born about 540, he died in 615, +after a life of achievement and hardness such as was given to few of +his time. He died at Bobbio, crowned with the halo of heroism and +sanctity; but he was born in distant Ireland, and the main work of his +life had been to introduce into Gaul the monastic movement which was +led in Italy by S. Benedict. During the intellectual and moral +weakness which the barbarian invasions brought upon the West the Church +in Ireland appeared to stand forth resplendent in the security of her +faith and virtue and in the cultivation of learning. In the warm +Celtic nature the Gospel, so late introduced, had found a natural home. +The monasteries which rose all over the land, with the huts of hermits +and the cells of anchorites, were the seed-plots of religion and sacred +lore. The community life of Christian religious was naturally grafted +on to the old Druid stock. The tribes of the Goidels became the +monasteries; the head of the family was the abbat; the country looked +everywhere to the monks for leadership. Thus Armagh and Emly, Clonard, +Ennismore, Clonfert, Clonmacnoise, {54} Bangor, arose to teach and +govern the Church. Their monks lived by severe rule, based, no doubt, +upon the customs of the East, of Egypt or Syria, most strict in the +abasement of the selfish will, in penitence, in work, in prayer. "Good +is the rule of Bangor," said the ancient sequence, "strait, austere, +holy, and just." It was this rule, with the enthusiasm which marked +all classes for religion and for knowledge, which inspired S. Columban +in his great work. It was a work whose keynote was sacred study and +which found its harmony in monastic service. S. Columban was the type, +the representative _par excellence_, of the Irish monk, in his high +idealism, his thirst for self-sacrifice, his adventurous and missionary +spirit. + +[Sidenote: His work in Gaul.] + +He was trained at Bangor, but there he could not stay. He was fired +with the determination to spread the Gospel over sea, among the Gauls +who, under a veneer of Christianity, still often lived a pagan life. +There heathen superstitions still flourished, in worship of the old +gods, in veneration of trees and rocks and idols: the heathen morals +were hardly disguised. The Frankish society over which the Merwings +ruled, the Gaul of Sigebert and Chilperich and Chlothochar, was stained +with blood and lust. Apart from it altogether, it would seem, and +exercising hardly any influence, were a few holy bishops and very many +isolated monasteries, the homes of prayer and renunciation and +penitence. In the sixth century it is said that some two hundred +monasteries were founded in Gaul; but their protest against the vice of +their age was for the most part a silent one. Columban, when he +landed, was to make a more effective protest against the luxury of the +time, {55} the ineffective, unmeaning faith in the forgiveness of sins +apart from renunciation of them, which marked the semi-Christian +society into which he came. + +[Sidenote: Luxeuil and its rule.] + +Guntchramn, king of the Burgundians, gave him a settlement at Annegray, +and afterwards at Luxeuil, where there grew up, on the site of an +earlier Roman township, a monastery of stern and rigid rule. +Eventually he added a third foundation at Fontaine; and he presided +over three houses, governing according to a rule which he himself drew +up, after the examples of Clonard and Bangor. Its characteristic was +the completeness of the self-denial aimed at; its motto the thought, +"Think not of what thou art, but of what thou shalt be"; its government +an autocracy depending wholly on the abbat; its scholarship not only +that of the Bible, but of the Latin classics--of Horace and of Vergil. +Its work was twofold. In the first place, it exemplified a strict life +of obedience, self-sacrifice, and prayer, the home of which was ever +ready to minister to sick souls without; and, secondly, it supplied the +religion of the age with a penitential system--in the penitential based +upon Irish models--which was of great influence in the secular and +ecclesiastical legislation of the future. Columban was not favourably +received by all the episcopate of his new country. They were men of +different ideals, unacquainted with the culture which meant so much to +him; and their acceptance of the general Western custom of observing +Easter caused a warm dispute with the Celtic monks. To Gregory the +Great and to the Gaulish bishops Columban alike appealed on behalf of +the custom he had received; but finally, after more than thirty {56} +years' residence in Burgundy, he consented to observe the Celtic custom +in silence, without endeavour to make converts to it. A more grave +enemy at the beginning of the seventh century was the wicked young +Burgundian king, Theodoric, at whose court was his grandmother, +Brunichild. His stern denunciations of vice, his refusal to recognise +the king's unlawful children, brought on Columban the fury of the +oppressor, and he was ordered away from Luxeuil into a sort of +semi-captivity at Besancon, and thence into exile. Long he wandered +through Gaulish lands, to Nevers, down the Loire to Nantes, whence it +was said that the ship refused to bear him back to Ireland. At last, +after a meeting with Chlothochar, King of Neustria, whose rule over all +the Franks he had prophesied, he found refuge at Bregenz, by the lake +of Constance. With him were several of his monks, among them the S. +Gall whose settlement in those lands has given the name to a canton of +what is now Switzerland. The long journey of the exiled monks, with +their strange tonsure, their holiness, their alms, their works of +healing, was a veritable mission. [Sidenote: Bobbio.] The journey +eventually ended in Italy; the internecine strifes of the Merwings +which ceased for the time in the union of the whole land of the Franks +under Chlothochar, left Columban without interest in Gaul, and the +Lombard sovereigns gave him a home at Bobbio, in the Apennines, where +his monastery, aided by the holiness of Queen Theodelind, was a mighty +influence in the conversion of Lombardy from Arianism. There, in 615, +he died, the prophet of his age, the stern preacher of righteousness, +the wise student, the faithful herdsman of souls. {57} Columban is a +great figure, of the chief facts of whose life there is no doubt. It +is not so with many others. + +[Sidenote: S. Wandrille.] + +S. Patrick belongs, we do not doubt, to true history; but there is no +doubt as to the richness of the legendary element in his life. Much +the same is true of S. Wandrille. Few Englishmen, we suspect, have +heard his name; but he was a great figure in an age which Mabillon +called golden in its religious aspect, the strange, wild time of the +Merwings, the seventh century after Christ. In 648 S. Wandrille +founded the abbey of Fontenelle, in the district of Caux. He lived +till a great age, his death being probably much later than 667, to +which year it has been assigned. His career affords a very vivid +picture of the monastic life of the time, standing out amid the +darkness of crime. He rightly emphasises the holiness and wisdom and +learning of the great bishops of the Merwing age. It was their work as +leaders, missionaries, statesmen in the highest Christian sense which +the monasteries were called upon to continue and perfect. The +monasteries were the refuge and the rallying-ground of those who fought +against the secularisation of the Church at the hands of the +Gallo-Roman aristocracy. S. Wandrille, born of the great Karling +house, was a leader among leaders, statesman among statesmen, monk +among monks. He was one who passed from a great though barbaric court, +where he had been a trusted official, into the strictness of monastic +training, and then into the solitude of secluded communion with God. +Such lives as his were the great attractive forces of the seventh +century; such retreats as the valley of Fontenelle were the centres of +Christian influence of the age. + +{58} + +Between these men and Gregory of Tours it might seem that there was +little in common. But there were others whose lives combined the +interests of the two, the interests of monk and statesman and bishop. + +[Sidenote: S. Didier.] + +Another great clerk of the seventh century who must not be forgotten is +S. Didier (Desiderius) of Cahors, at one time treasurer of Chlothochar +II, and of Dagobert I., the friend of saints like Eloi (Eligius), Ouen, +and Arnulf. Through him we learn something of the religious life of +Southern Gaul. He died probably in 655, and thus he represented the +earlier part of the seventh century. His biographer gives a long list +of the holy bishops who were his contemporaries, and of the churches +and monasteries which were scattered thickly over the land. The whole +tone of his writing--earnest, biblical, spiritual, shows how the +Church, in spite of weakness and sloth and failure in some of her chief +men, yet held up a standard of right and justice, purity and devotion, +which penetrated all over the country, into castles and humble +homesteads, and profoundly affected the whole national life. And this +work was concentrated in the public eye in those good men who at court, +amid good and ill report, lived as servants of Him who went about doing +good. + +But while the Church was thus entering into all the national life, as a +sharer in its interests of every kind, it was the monastic ideal, there +can be little doubt, which ultimately exercised the greatest influence +on the Franks. The saints who won reverence were for the most part +monks. The work of Columban passed into the work of Benedict, and when +Luxeuil accepted {59} the Benedictine rule, and when the Council of +Autun in 670 declared it to be the rule for all monks everywhere, a +great step was taken towards the intimate union of Gaul with the rest +of Christendom in the things on which they had begun to set most store. + + + +[1] Bury, _History of the Later Roman Empire_, vol. i. p. 396. + +[2] Greg. Tur., ii. 38 (Migne, _Patr. Lat._, p. 236). + +[3] Bouquet, _Recueil_, tom. iv. p. 59, epist. 15: cf. Gasquet, +_L'Empire byzantin et la Monarchie franque_, p. 165. + +[4] Greg. Turon., _Hist. Franc._, x. 29 (Migne, p. 560): cf. also his +_Vitae Patrum_, 17. Hontheim, _Historia diplomatica_, i. 47. + +[5] Cf. Greg. Turon., v. 3, on the frightful cruelty of Rauching. + +[6] Vol. v. p. 262. + +[7] S. Greg., _Epp._ v. 58. + +[8] F. H. Dudden, _Gregory the Great_, ii. 69. + +[9] Cf. E. Lavisse, _Hist. de France_, tome ii. p. 219, + +[10] M. Roger, _L'Enseignement des lettres classiques d'Ausone a +Alcuin_, p. 100. + +[11] W. P. Ker, _The Dark Ages_, p. 125. + + + + +{60} + +CHAPTER V + +THE PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY THE GREAT + +[Sidenote: Gregory the Great.] + +About 540 was born in Rome, of a noble family, the great Pope Gregory, +whose work was to place the papacy at the head of Italian politics, and +to lay the lines on which papal action for many centuries was to be +based. When he was a child it might well have seemed that Italy under +a strong Gothic rule would submit to the Arian teaching which the State +supported. Theodoric endeavoured to make an united Italy; but the +Church knew that there could be no compromise on the doctrine of the +perfect Godhead of the Lord Jesus, and her attitude preserved Italy +both for Catholicism and for the Empire. Gregory was taught as a +Catholic, but he was taught also in classical grammar, composition, +rhetoric, and the writings of the great Romans--pre-Christian, as well +as of later days. He began his life's work as a Roman official, and by +the year 573 he is found as prefect of the city. A year later, it +would seem, he became a monk, giving up all his property, all his signs +of rank and wealth, all his power and place. Soon, if not at once, he +came to serve under the rule of S. Benedict, whose life he afterwards +wrote, in the monastery dedicated to S. Andrew on the Caelian hill. + +{61} + +[Sidenote: The Lombard invasion, 568.] + +It was the time when Italy was again at the feet of the barbarians. +The Lombards, the last of the Teutonic nations to settle in the West, +established at Pavia a kingdom which lasted for two centuries +(568-774), and which again rent away much of the fair Italian lands +from the unity of the Empire, leaving the Exarchate at Ravenna in a +state half isolated and wholly perilous. + +[Sidenote: The effect on Italy.] + +Gradually the onward sweep of the new barbarians, who called themselves +Arians, but were not strongly bound by any creed, swept away all power +save their own and the pope's. The destruction of Monte Cassino was +typical of one side of their work--the turning aside from Rome at +Gregory's intercession of another. The Empire struggled to retain its +hold on Italy and to govern the Western world from Ravenna, with +instructions from the New Rome; but it failed. The papacy studied to +be quiet. And the close of the sixth century showed that power would +return in the end to the city which had founded the Empire, and to the +Church which was now claiming to teach and to unite the nations. + +A period of papal insignificance was gradually ended by the progress of +new ideals for the papacy. This came about in three ways. + +[Sidenote: The popes and the exarchate.] + +1. It was the aim of each pope to set up his power against that of the +imperial exarchate, by which Italy was ruled after its reconquest by +Belisarius and Narses. Gradually, step by step, the popes claimed +cognisance of secular matters, intervened in politics, and stood forth +as a leaders in Italian affairs. The imperial administration saw the +danger, and, from time to time, made definite {62} opposition to the +papal pretensions. It endeavoured to restore the unity of the Church, +to secure the universal condemnation of the Three Chapters, but under +sanction of Ravenna rather than of Rome. Thus the exarch Smaragdus, in +587, led Severus, patriarch of Aquileia, before the Ravennate prelates +to make submission;[1] and later the emperor Maurice interfered to +present the pope compelling the patriarch to submission. But these +endeavours were futile; and the great Gregory, statesman and +administrator of the first order, made the papacy the most important +political power in the western provinces of the Empire. In 599 this +was apparent in Gregory's negotiation with the Lombard king, Agilulf. + +[Sidenote: The Benedictines in South Italy.] + +2. The papal influence was increased, and the Greek power diminished, +by the direct replacement of Eastern monks by Benedictines.[2] The +monasteries founded by Greeks during the imperial restoration, no +longer replenished from Constantinople, fell into the hands of the +great papal force founded by the greatest saint, and marshalled by the +greatest administrator of the century. + +[Sidenote: Missions from Rome.] + +3. And, lastly, the power of the papacy was at once evidenced and +increased by the revival of its missionary energy. What Pelagius II. +had stayed, Gregory the Great accomplished--conversion of England by +the mission of Augustine. Spain, too, was won from Arianism by a +personal friend of Gregory's, though without Roman intervention;[3] and +within Italy itself the {63} pope began the great work of the +conversion of the Lombards to the Catholic faith, with the full +teaching both of the Tome of Leo and of the Fifth General Council. +Gregory sent the Acts of the Council to be taught to the little child +Adalwald, the Lombard king. + +Thus in each of these three directions the progress of papal power is +connected with the influence of Gregory the Great. It is of his papacy +therefore that we must speak as the critical point in the upward +movement. Between 574 and 590 Gregory gained experience in many ways. +To a strict monastic training he added, in 579, the employment of papal +apocrisiarius (or envoy) at the imperial court at Constantinople. Here +he became intimate with the chief ecclesiastics, with Anastasius, who +had been deposed from the patriarchal see of Antioch, and who came to +regard him as "the very mouth and lantern of the Lord," with Leander of +Seville, who had come to lay the needs of the Catholic cause in Spain +before the emperors,[4] and with the imperial family. [Sidenote: +Gregory as abbat.] About 586 he returned to Rome, and became abbat of +the monastery in which he had formerly served. It was there that he +completed his commentary, or _moralia_, on the book of Job, which he +had delivered as lectures at Constantinople, an epitome of Christian +theology and morals. It was then that he saw the bright lads from +Deira, who first turned his thoughts to the conversion of England.[5] +The controversy of the Three Chapters was still lingering on in Italy, +and it was Gregory who was given the task of inducing the Istrian {64} +bishops to accept the decisions of the Fifth General Council. +[Sidenote: Gregory elected Pope, 590.] So skilful did he prove himself +as a controversialist, as an administrator, and as an adviser of +Pelagius, that he was elected with enthusiasm to succeed that pope in +590. + +[Sidenote: The pastoral rule.] + +His ideal of the pastoral office is set forth in that golden book, the +_Liber regulae pastoralis_, in which he describes the life of a true +shepherd of the Christian people. A life of absolute purity and +devotion as therein sketched was that which made Gregory's pontificate +notable for its wisdom, its discretion, and its wise governance. The +pastoral office to him was one even more of the cure of souls than of +government, and that idea is shown in all his letters. He wrote to +kings, abbats, individual Christians, with the spirit of direct +encouragement and admonition, as a wise teacher dispensing instruction. +In the Lateran he lived, as he had lived on the Caelian hill, a life of +strict ascetic rule, wearing still his monastic dress, and living in +common with his clerks and monks. [Sidenote: Gregory's life.] John the +Deacon, who wrote his biography nearly two centuries after his death, +says that "the Roman Church in Gregory's time was like that Church as +it was under the rule of the apostles, or the Church of Alexandria when +S. Mark was its bishop." Charity was by him developed into a great +scheme of benevolence organised with the minutest care and recorded in +detail in books that were a model to later times. The political and +ecclesiastical cares of the papacy never prevented Gregory from what he +considered the chiefest duty of his office, that of preaching. His +sermons, which were as famous as those of Chrysostom in Constantinople, +were {65} direct in their appeal, vivid in their illustration, terse +and epigrammatic in their expression. Paul the Deacon sums up his work +by saying that he was entirely engrossed in gaining souls. + +[Sidenote: His statesmanship.] + +At the same time he was a statesman as well as a bishop. He governed +the "patrimony of S. Peter," lands scattered over Italy and even Gaul, +with a careful supervision, entering into minute matters as well as +general policy, freeing slaves, caring for the cultivation of land; and +the intimate knowledge which he thus acquired is shown in his +_Dialogues_, which throw a flood of light on the life, secular as well +as ecclesiastical, of his age. Outside these districts, in purely +spiritual matters, he showed a constant vigilance. Everywhere what was +needed seemed to be known to the pope, and everywhere he was planning +to remedy evils, to build up the Church, to reform abuses, to convert +heretics, to supply new bishops, to encourage the growth of +monasticism. This activity extended not only to what were called the +suburbicarian provinces but to distant lands, such as Spain, Illyricum, +Gaul, Africa, as well as to Northern Italy. Something has been said of +his relations in Gaul, and remains to be said of his intervention in +Africa. His relations with Constantinople may be most significantly +illustrated by the dispute as to the title of the patriarch of New Rome. + +[Sidenote: The title "Universal Bishop."] + +In 588 the acts of a synod of Constantinople were declared by Pelagius +II. to be invalid be-cause the patriarch used the title _oikoumenikos_ +or _universalis_. Just as at the Council of Chalcedon the Alexandrine +representatives styled the pope "oecumenical archbishop and {66} +patriarch of the Great Rome," so the patriarch of Constantinople used +the style and dignity of "oecumenical patriarch." It was one that had +been employed at least since 518, and it seems to have been commonly +used. From the use of this title came grave controversy. In 588 the +acts of a synod of Constantinople were declared by Pelagius II. to be +invalid because the patriarch used the title _oikoumenikos_ or +_universalis_: and in 595 Gregory the Great strongly condemned the use +of such a phrase, at the same time repudiating its use for his own see. +"The Council of Chalcedon," he wrote, "offered the title of universal +to the Roman pontiff, but he refused to accept it, lest he should seem +thereby to derogate from the honour of his brother bishops." [6] And +to the emperor Maurice he said still more distinctly, "I confidently +affirm that whosoever calls himself _sacerdos universalis_, or desires +to be so called by others, is in his pride a forerunner of Antichrist." +But the patriarchs continued to use the title, and before a century had +elapsed, the popes followed their example. + +[Sidenote: The province of Illyricum.] + +The relation of Gregory with the Church of Illyricum gives opportunity +for mention of that anomalous patriarchate. Somewhat apart from the +general Church history of the early Middle Age stands the province of +Illyricum. Its ecclesiastical status was even more ambiguous than its +political. On its borders, or within its limits, the patriarchate of +Rome touched that of {67} Constantinople, and the claims of the two, +sometimes at least conflicting, were complicated by the privileges +given by Justinian to his birthplace. In the tenth century it was +undoubtedly under the jurisdiction of Constantinople, in the seventh it +appears to have been under that of Rome. In the Councils at +Constantinople in 681 and 692, the Illyrian bishops appeared as +attached exclusively to Rome; and so, it has been noticed, did those of +Crete, Thessalonica, and Corinth. In the sixth century there are +instances, though not numerous ones, of papal interference, in the +nature of the exercise of judicial power, in the province of Illyricum; +and at the end of the century Gregory the Great was especially active +in his correspondence with the bishops. It would seem from one of his +letters that he counted even Justiniana Prima as under his authority, +though the intention of the emperor was certainly not to make it so. +This edict--for so it practically is--is interesting also because it +appears to deal with all the ecclesiastical provinces of the empire +which depended immediately on the Roman patriarchate. It omits Africa, +and the fact that the popes did not send the pallium to the Bishop of +Carthage (the North African Metropolitan) shows that the popes did not +claim to confer jurisdiction, but merely to recognise a special +relationship, by this act.[7] On the other hand, it is to be observed +that the code of Justinian contains a law of Theodosius II. which +places the Illyrian bishopric under the jurisdiction of the patriarch +of Constantinople. But this law is beset with many difficulties, and +it has been {68} argued that it was merely the expression of a +temporary rupture between the Empire and the papacy, which in the +schism of 484-519 was gravely accentuated; and there are grounds for +thinking that the bishops of Thessalonica exercised authority in +Illyricum as delegates of Rome--yet rather from their political than +their ecclesiastical associations. However this may be, there can be +no doubt that the position given by Justinian to the city of his birth +was intended to be practically patriarchal, and that the Bishop of +Thessalonica, whether vicar or not of the pope, was practically +ignored. The whole question is indeed a notable example of the +difficulties consequent on the close connection between religion and +politics in the sixth century. + +[Sidenote: Gregory's claim to jurisdiction.] + +Gregory's action was that of a wise but masterful ruler, and it seems +to have been based on the view that all the bishops of the West were +directly under his jurisdiction. Similar cases of interference are to +be found in regard to the churches of Istria, and to the great sees of +Ravenna and Milan. In connection may be seen the claim to grant the +_pallium_, a mark of honour which seems to have been gradually passing +into a sign of jurisdiction.[8] Gregory claimed for the successors of +S. Peter something like an apostolic authority, and he at least +suggested a theory of the papal office which was capable of almost +indefinite extension. Politic and religion here met together. When +Airulf in 592 appeared before Rome the pope made a separate treaty with +him: he stepped into the {69} place of ruler of imperial Italy when he +disregarded the exarch and even the emperor, and entered into +negotiations on his own account; and up to the time of his death he was +practically responsible for the rearrangement of Italy. His letter to +the great Lombard queen, Theodelind, of whom memorials survive to-day +at Monza, show how the two sides of his position mingled; how he was +statesman and diplomatist as well as priest and missionary. + +[Sidenote: His missions.] + +In his missionary interests he passed far outside Italy. The most +conspicuous example is the conversion of the English, which he had in +earlier years been most anxious himself to undertake, and which was +begun in 597 under his direction by Augustine; but it is not the only +one. In Northern Italy, in Africa and Gaul, Gregory was active in +seeking the conversion of pagans and heretics, and in endeavouring by +gentle measures to lead the Jews to Christ. + +[Sidenote: His relations on monasticism.] + +More important still in the history of the papacy was Gregory's work in +spreading, organising, and systematising monasticism. He insisted on +the strict observance of the rule of S. Benedict. Not only did he +reform, but he very greatly strengthened, the monasticism of Italy. +Conspicuously did his _privilegia_, granting or recognising a +considerable freedom from episcopal control, start the monks on a new +advance. While not exempting them from the rule of bishops, he made it +possible for future popes to win support for themselves by granting +such exemptions. + +But Gregory's fame does not lie wholly in any of these spheres of +activity. Great as a ruler and an {70} organiser, he was known also to +later ages, as to his own, for his theological writings. He was not +only a practical ruler and practical minister of Christ; he was also a +leader in Christian learning--the last, as men have come to call him, +of the four great Latin doctors. + +[Sidenote: His relations to learning.] + +The work of Gregory the Great was here as elsewhere far-reaching, but +rather an organising than a formative one. Classical studies, in which +he had been trained, he put aside; and when he did his utmost to spread +monasteries over the length and breadth of Italy, it was not at all of +learning in a secular sense, but wholly of religion that he thought. +Thus his own theology is primarily a biblical theology. The Bible was +to him the word of God. Like the author of the _Imitatio Christi_ in +later days, he did not care to argue as to the authorship of the +different books but to profit by what was in them. He was a great +expositor, a great preacher, and that always with a practical aim. As +he said, "We hear the doctrine words of God if we act on them." +[Sidenote: His doctrine of the church.] In his more general theological +writings he sums up, with the precision of a master, not any new +doctrines or advances in speculation, but the theology of the Church of +his age. And he is able thus to emphasise the crying need of unity in +words which state the claim of the Church for the conversion of the +pagans and heretics of his day: "Sancta autem universalis ecclesia +praedicat Deum veraciter nisi intra se coli non posse, asserens quod +omnes qui extra ipsam sunt minime salvabuntur." Outside this there was +no hope of spiritual health. And this doctrine he based {71} on the +unity of Christ's life with that of the Church: "Our Redeemer showed +that He is one person with the Church, which He took to be His own"; +and thus it was that "The Churches of the true faith set in all parts +of the world make one Catholic Church, in which all the faithful who +are right minded toward God live in concord." Thus he was, in theology +as in ecclesiastical politics, a concentrating and clarifying force; +and when, on March 12th, 604, he passed to his rest, he had laid firm +the foundations of the medieval papacy, and in hardly less degree those +of the theological system of the medieval Church. + + + +[1] _Paulus Diaconus_, iii, 26, ed. Waitz, pp. 105-7. + +[2] Diehl, _op. cit._, gives a list, p. 256. + +[3] Joannes Biclarensis, _Chronicon_ (Migne, _Patr. Lat._, lxxii. 868). + +[4] See below, p. 76. + +[5] The _Vita Antiquissima_ (S. Gall. MS.), by a monk of Whitby, does +not represent them as slaves (pp. 13, 14), ed. Gasquet. + +[6] S. Greg., _Epp._, v. 18. The term _sacerdos_ is commonly used for +bishop at this date. Thus Gregory of Tours calls a bishop _sacerdos_ +during this life, _antistes_ after his death. S. Gregory must not, +however, be understood as disclaiming a papal supremacy. + +[7] The letter is Epp. Greg. (Jaffe), 1497; cf. letter to Syagrius, +Bishop of Autun. + +[8] It does not seem, from Bede i. 39, that, as has been asserted, it +was always necessary to apply for it. + + + + +{72} + +CHAPTER VI + +CONTROVERSY AND THE CATHOLICISM OF SPAIN + +[Sidenote: Pelagian controversy of sixth century.] + +Controversies which belong to this period are those connected with +semi-Pelagianism and with Adoptianism. Faustus, Bishop of Riez, who +died almost at the end of the fifth century, held views which were +opposed to those of S. Augustine as well as to those of Pelagius. His +writings were attacked by many, among them by Caesarius, Bishop of +Arles from 501 to 542, who caused a synod at Orange in 529 to condemn +semi-Pelagian opinions, in a statement which declared that sufficient +grace is given to all the baptized (an expression which had an +important history centuries later). The writings of Faustus were the +subject of much discussion also at Constantinople, and they were +condemned by several of the popes. + +Of a wholly different kind was the heresy originating in the East, and +probably revived through the controversy of the Three Chapters, which +came into prominence in the eighth century in Spain. It has been +thought that the exigencies of anti-Muhammadan controversy had +something to do with the importance which the question now assumed. +The Spanish Church had a long record, in the Councils of Toledo, of +orthodox and {73} strenuous adherence to the Christian faith; but it +showed also a strongly nationalistic spirit, and it was natural that +much should be developed, through antagonism to Muhammadanism and Arian +influences, which would fall into danger of extreme reaction on the one +side or of unwise concession on the other. "Spanish Christianity," it +has been said in a phrase which has become classical, "was a perpetual +crusade." In Spain the Christian contest against sin and unbelief +became more often, or more constantly, than elsewhere an actual +physical struggle against those who distorted or denied the faith of +the Church and those who trampled it under foot. This is, of course, +most true of the ages which followed the Moorish invasions, of the long +strife between Christians and Moors, of the times and the thoughts +which gave birth to the immortal literature of the peninsula, to +Calderon and Cervantes, to Lope de Vega and S. Teresa of Jesus. But it +is also true, though in a less degree, of the earlier times--of those +which extended from the introduction of Christianity--from the +missionary visit, it may be, of S. Paul himself--down to the +destruction of the monarchy of the Wisigoths in 711. Spain was in 589 +won to Catholicism by the conversion of its king Reccared. But this +was the end of a long and critical period, for from the acceptance of +Arianism by Remismond in 466 the country was under the rule of princes +who were pledged to that error. + +The Wisigoths identified their heresy with their nationality. The +general decadence of the Empire spread to Spain. The social system was +in a state of dissolution. The canons of the Councils show a {74} +picture of life which is appalling in its corruption, but at the same +time are evidence of the earnest efforts of the Church for amendment. +[Sidenote: The conversion of Spain.] They show how Christianity had +penetrated into the country districts, and how eager were the bishops +of the sixth century to do their spiritual duty far and wide. Side by +side with the canons of Church Councils is the great Fuero Jusgo (in +process of compilation from the fifth to the eighth century) in +witnessing to the efforts for a better state of things. During the +rule of the West Goths, persecution of Catholics had been frequent, but +when Amalric married Hlothild, daughter of Chlodowech, promising her +tolerance of her religion, a way was opened for a new life to +orthodoxy. But Amalric broke his promise, and an invasion of Spain by +the Franks followed. In the reign of the Arian Theudis (531-48) there +was still more decisive intervention. Childebert and Chlothochar +invaded Spain and besieged Saragossa, but were driven back; and it was +not till Athanagild called in the armies of Justinian that the +confusion and division of Spanish life; between orthodox and heretic, +Roman and Goth, was healed in the slightest degree. The year 560 +witnessed the conversion of King Mir by Martin of Braga, and three +years later, and again in 572, Councils at Braga witnessed to the +Catholic faith of the Church. But it was an era of fightings and +fears. The Roman armies of the Eastern Empire held the cities of the +coast long after Athanagild had come to be recognised as king of all +the Goths in Spain, but gradually unity was springing up under the rule +of that able chieftain. He died in 568, having married his daughters, +Brunichild and Galswintha, to {75} the Frankish kings, Sigebert and +Chilperich. His successor Leovigild established a sway over all the +Wisigothic possessions and ruled from Nimes to Seville. The wedding of +Brunichild, though sung by Venantius Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers, +was but the beginning of crime and of sorrows; yet it led indirectly to +the conversion of Spain. Brunichild's daughter Ingunthis married +Leovigild's son Hermenigild. She was bitterly persecuted as a Catholic +when she came to Spain, but she clung to her faith with the devotion of +a martyr, and she won over her husband. [Sidenote: Hermenigild.] At +Seville Hermenigild was for some time acting as king, under his father, +and when he was threatened on his conversion with the loss of all he +had he took up arms. After a long contest he was subdued, and he +underwent a long persecution ending eventually in death when he refused +to receive communion at the hands of an Arian bishop on Easter Day, +585.[1] Ingunthis escaped to Constantinople. Then till 587 Arianism +reigned supreme in Spain, and John of Biclaro, Catholic bishop of +Gerona, writes as one crying in a wilderness. But Catholicism in Spain +was scotched, not killed, and when Reccared (586-601) called Arian and +Catholic bishop alike before him, and after two years definitely +accepted orthodoxy under the influence of his uncle Leander, Archbishop +of Seville, it was not long before the whole of Council of Spain +accepted his decision and followed his example. [Sidenote: Council of +Toledo, 589.] This was in 587, and an {76} inscription shows that the +cathedral church of Toledo was then consecrated in the Catholic faith. +With the Council of Toledo (third synod of Toledo), 589,[2] which +accepted the first four General Councils and the Procession of the Holy +Ghost from the Father and the Son, Spain returned to the unity of the +faith. From Reccared's reign, too, dates a civilisation distinctly +traceable to Constantinople and a recognition of absolute equality +between the different races in the peninsula. And to that golden age +belong also the great saint and preacher, Leander, who died in 603, and +S. Isidore of Seville, the encyclopaedic writer, who died thirty-three +years later. S. Leander had at Constantinople come to know Gregory the +Great. He was the chief theologian of Spain in his age, and his words +welcomed and ratified the conversion. Thus the modern history of Spain +and her most Catholic kings begins. The importance of the period +culminates in the compilation, almost final, of the great Wisigothic +Code, the Fuero Jusgo, at once civil and ecclesiastical, the result of +a union between Church and State even more perfect than that +represented in the English Witenagemot. + +The concentration of Spanish interests on theological questions led +before long to new developments, but meanwhile it helped the happy +tendency to unity which Recceswinth (652-72) confirmed by allowing the +intermarriage which had long been forbidden--Recceswinth, whose +splendid gold crown, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, still remains +amongst the most striking memorials of the Christian art of the seventh +century. Wamba, his successor, established his supremacy in {77} +Septimania by the capture of Nimes from a traitorous vicegerent, and +lived to show the sincerity with which the Wisigoths had accepted the +idea of the sanctity of vows to God. During an illness, when he was +supposed to be incapable of recovery and remained in a stupor, he +received the tonsure that he might die as a monk: when he recovered he +refused to return to the world and abdicated the throne. His +successors were equally strict, it would seem, in obedience to the +Church's laws, often unintelligently interpreted. + +[Sidenote: Persecution of the Jews.] + +To these days, too, belongs one of the first and darkest blots on the +popular Christianity of the Middle Age--the persecution of Jews. The +Jews of Spain had long been restless under a government which was so +strongly ecclesiastical in its sympathies: persecuting laws oppressed +them, and they could hardly even in secret practise their religion. +Plots were constant and natural, and at last it is said that the Jews +incited the Saracens, who had overthrown the imperial power in Africa, +to cross the sea and strip from the weak Wisigoths of Spain the last +remains of their power. In 695 a Council at Toledo (the sixteenth) +determined when the plot was discovered wholly to destroy the Judaic +faith in their land. It was ordered that all grown-up Jews should be +made slaves, and all children brought up as Christians. This was the +very year of the storming of Carthage.[3] It is not to be wondered at +that the Jews gave every help they could to the infidels who, before +long, attacked the kingdom of the Wisigoths. Within twenty years +Spain, up to the very mountains of the {78} Basque land and of the +Asturias, was conquered by the followers of Muhammad, and silence fell +upon the country which had appeared to be the home of an abiding Church. + +The splendid edifice which had seemed to be reared on the solid +foundations of religion and law was shattered by the repeated blows of +the Arab invasion. Why was this? The chroniclers gave answer without +hesitation--"Peccatis exigentibus, victi sunt Christiani." The Goths +(as they proudly called themselves) "have so offended Thee, O Lord, by +their pride, that they deserved a fall by the sword of the Saracen." +It was, in truth, as the great Sancho of Navarre declared in his +charter of foundation to the abbey of Albelda, "Our ancestors sinned +without scruple; they daily transgressed the commandments of the Lord, +and so to punish them as they had deserved and to make them turn to +Him, the Most Just of Judges delivered them to a barbarous people." In +truth, the mass of the land had never been converted to Catholic +Christianity at all, and a heretical society was powerless against +Moslem sincerity and swords. Only in the north was Catholicism +supreme, and thence came in later days the reconquest. But Catholics +lived on all over Spain under their conquerors in comparative peace. + +[Sidenote: The Adoptianist heresy.] + +The Church survived. Persecution made its life strong and vigorous, +and that life found outlet in new varieties of theological expression. +Elipandus, Archbishop of Toledo, within seventy years of the Saracen +conquest, became known outside his own land, with Felix, bishop of the +northern see of Urgel, for his advocacy of the statement that {79} +Christ's Sonship was that of adoption. Asserting the two Natures and +the two Wills of the Lord, the Adoptianists regarded Christ as only in +His divine nature truly the Son of God. Eager to assert the full +Humanity and to rebut the Muhammadan charges of idolatry, the Spanish +theologians taught that "one and the same Person was in two aspects a +Son, in virtue of His relation to two different natures," and that "the +Divine Son of God, begotten from all eternity of the Father, not by +adoption but by birth, not by grace but by nature--that He, when made +of a woman, made under the law, was Son of God, not by origin but by +adoption, not by nature but by grace." [4] It was an attempt to carry +further the decisions adopted at Chalcedon and to account for the +origin of the two Natures, their completeness in distinction, and their +union together. + +[Sidenote: Its condemnation.] + +Adoptianism was condemned at Regensburg in 792, and at Frankfort in +794, and, under the influence of Alcuin, Felix made submission at +Aachen in 799. Elipandus, safe among the Saracens, held out in his +opinions. It would seem that the discussion represented the +eighth-century expression of the age-long conflict between logic and +mystery, the desire for exact definition, and the sense of something +beyond human understanding in what belongs to the nature of God, and to +the divine action in the Incarnation, the union of God and man. + +[Sidenote: Adoptianism in the East.] + +Adoptianism had in the East a greater success and a longer history than +in the West. In Syria and Armenia vast numbers joined the sect +founded, or revived, by one {80} Constantine in the middle of the +seventh century. He lived near Samosata, and probably inherited the +teaching of the earlier heretic, Paul of that place. The sect came to +be called Paulicians. They rejected the real divinity of Christ and +placed themselves in opposition to very much else which belonged to the +earliest Christian tradition, as in their rejection of the Old +Testament and the perpetual virginity of the Lord's Mother. Armenia +became the headquarters of a large and prosperous sect, towards which +emperors alternately were persecuting or favourable. Nicephorus I. +(802-11) was friendly to it, but his successor put it down with +relentless savagery; and after it had led to a formidable rebellion, +its votaries were finally suppressed by the generals of Basil the +Macedonian, 871. But its tenets lingered on in Thrace, whither it had +been transported when some of its disciples were expropriated by +Constantine V., till the eighteenth century, and still later in Armenia +itself. The authoritative book of the Armenian Paulicians, the _Key of +Truth_, has been thought to have been completed by one Smbat, minister +of Chosroes of Persia, whose date is 800-50,[5] but the history of +those days is certainly very confused and may have been distorted. + +The intervention of Charles the Great in this controversy is but one +illustration of the importance of theological questions in the outlook +of the reviver of the Empire in the Catholic West. Other theological +doctrines had a like interest in his view and in that of his house; and +in some of them also Spain was concerned. At Toledo, in 589, Reccared, +when he accepted the Catholic creed, had inserted his belief in {81} +the double procession of the Holy Ghost. This was again discussed in +767 at Gentilly, and at Aachen in 809. + +[Sidenote: The "Veni Creator."] + +Alcuin, as in the Adoptianist controversy, played a great part in +stating the view which the West was coming generally to accept. Leo +III. was consulted, and advised that no addition should be made to the +Creed for fear of widening the breach with the East. It would seem +that the great hymn, "Veni Creator Spiritus," is the expression of this +doctrine by the ninth century, and is the work of Rabanus Maurus, a +monk of the famous house of Fulda. + +[Sidenote: The "Quicunque Vult."] + +While this sums up in devotional form the Christian thought as to one +of the mysteries of faith, the hymn of a character more distinctly +credal, called "Quicunque vult," enshrines it in another aspect. The +"Quicunque" has, indeed, a much earlier history. In 633 the Fourth +Council of Toledo quoted many of its clauses. Leodgar, Bishop of Autun +(663-78), directed his clergy to learn it by heart; and it became a not +uncommon profession of faith to be made by a bishop at his +consecration. At the end of the eighth century it seems to have been +widely recited in church. But it certainly goes back very much +earlier. Caesarius, Bishop of Arles (501-43), the opponent of +semi-Pelagianism, has been proved to have used the creed continually: +it was quoted also by his rival, Avitus, Bishop of Vienne (490-523), +and it is probable that it represents the teaching of the great abbey +of Lerins in the controversies of the beginning of the sixth century. +It was decisively a Western creed: it {82} never came into the offices +of the orthodox Church of the East. In the West it became a popular +means of instruction and a popular confession of the joy of Christian +faith. It was sung in procession, recited in the services, meditated +on by the clergy. It formed a model of orthodox expression of belief +in days of confusion and controversy. + + + +[1] This story is discredited by a recent writer, Mr. Dudden, _S. +Gregory the Great_, i. 407 (following F. Goerres), but I see no reason +to doubt that S. Gregory was rightly informed, and I accept what Dr. +Hodgkin (_Eng. Hist. Rev._, ii. 216) states as the facts. + +[2] Mansi, _Concilia_, ix. 977-1010. + +[3] See below, p. 109. + +[4] See B. L. Ottley, _Doctrine of the Incarnation_, ii. 152-4. + +[5] See F. C. Conybeare, _The Key of Truth_, p. 67. + + + + +{83} + +CHAPTER VII + +THE CHURCH AND THE MONOTHELITE CONTROVERSY, 628-725 + +The years of peace that succeeded the death of Justinian ended with the +triumph of the Empire over barbarian foes. Christian philosophy had +seemed to be quiescent, but there were questions which thoughtful men +must have seen would soon come up for solution as the inevitable result +of the Monophysite controversy. Thought in the active Eastern minds +could not stand still; and the West too, as the barbarians were +conquered, assimilated, and converted by the Church, began to enter +keenly into the theology of the East. In Gaul and Britain, as well as +at Milan and at Rome, there arose critics and historians who could +carry on the work of Leo the Great and of the line of chroniclers who +had told in Greek the story of the Church's life. A word at first as +to the general interest of the period. + +[Sidenote: The East in the seventh century.] + +With the victory of Heraclius over the Persians in 628, it might seem +that heresy would be driven from its home in the distant East, that +Nestorianism would die out, and that Sergius I., Patriarch of +Constantinople (610-38), would be able to win back the Monophysites to +the unity of the Church. But this happy result was {84} prevented by +the spread of the Muhammadan conquest, beginning even before the death +of the Prophet in 632, and by the rise of a new heresy--the +Monothelitism which gave to the two Natures of our Lord but a single +will. As the Mussulman arms spread the faith of Islam, the Jacobite +Church of Syria seemed almost to welcome it as a refuge from the +dominance of orthodoxy. In Egypt the Coptic (Monophysite) patriarch +entered Alexandria in triumph with the Muslim force when the Orthodox +patriarch fled with the imperial troops. The Melkite (Orthodox) body +was, however, not wholly unprotected by the conquerors, and at +Jerusalem it was allowed to remain in possession, though at Antioch +there was for long no Orthodox patriarch at all. Of the Monothelite +heresy--condemned at the Sixth General Council, 681--we may for the +moment defer to speak, except to note that in the political +disturbances that swept over the Lebanon the heresy took root there, +under one John Maron, and founded the division, religious and +political, of the Maronites, which still endures. + +[Sidenote: Missionary work.] + +But while the Church was thus suffering in various ways, the Byzantine +missionary energy was far from exhausted. Heraclius sought to convert +the barbarian tribes far and near, the Croats and Serbs, the Bulgarians +and Slavs, and the Church of Constantinople appointed an official to +inspect the districts on the frontiers and to examine candidates for +baptism. Equally he sought to reunite the Armenians to the Orthodox +Church; but after interviews and theological discussions the opponents +of the Greeks triumphed, and the catholicos Nerses {85} III. in 645 +anathematised the Council of Chalcedon--a declaration which, after a +momentary reunion, was renewed early in the eighth century. The +Armenian Church thus remained formally Monophysite. While the orthodox +emperors were thus unsuccessful in reuniting the separated Churches, +the patriarchate of Constantinople was winning a strength within which +she had lost without; the area of her confined jurisdiction was +straitly ruled, and 356 bishoprics towards the end of the seventh +century acknowledged the patriarchal throne. The emperors and the +Church alike recognised no supremacy of Rome--a fact which was +emphasised by the decree of 666 which declared Ravenna free from papal +jurisdiction, and in the condemnation of Honorius by the Sixth General +Council. [Sidenote: The Trullian Council, 691.] So, again, the Council +at Constantinople called _in Trullo_ (691), directed canon after canon +against the customs and claims of the Roman Church. This independence +was emphasised by the compilation of a _Syntagma_, or collection of +canons, parallel to the much later collection in the West. These +canons, it may be remarked in passing, throw most interesting light on +the customs of the Greek Church--on clerical marriage, for example, +which was allowed to be dissolved only by the clergy of the recently +converted barbarous tribes, among whom a return to celibate life might +sometimes be advisable. + +So much for the general characteristics of the period 628-725. We may +now turn to the critical point of theology on which the ecclesiastical +history of the time turned. + +Monophysitism was not dead in spite of Chalcedon {86} or +Constantinople. [Sidenote: The Aphthartodocetic controversy.] The +Fourth and Fifth General Council had still left points of debate for +those within as well as those without the Church. In the form which it +was asserted that Justinian had himself come to accept, it asserted the +Lord's Body to be incapable of sin or corruption, and only subject to +suffering by the voluntary exercise of His divine power. While the +accusations against Justinian in John of Nikiu and Nicetius of Trier +are contradictory to each other, and make it clear that he did not +accept the opinion of Julian of Halicarnassus, they may serve to +illustrate the confusion of thought with which these subjects were +handled. The followers of Julian, whose view has here been summarised, +were nicknamed by those of the famous monk Severus (Monophysite +patriarch of Antioch in 513), "Aphthartodocetes" or "Phantasiasts." +Those who followed Severus, while they were prepared to recognise two +natures in Christ, yet dwelt strongly on their union, and especially on +the "one energy" of the Lord's will. From this a further step was to +be taken. There were some who believed in the transformation of the +human nature into the Divine, and who came to be called _Aktistetes_, +and, in a still further extreme, _Adiaphorites_, when they denied any +distinction between the Godhead and manhood in Christ. The error at +the root of all these contentions seems to have been the dwelling upon +the physical rather than the spiritual effects of the Divine power +revealed in the incarnation of the Son of God. Theologians arose to +controvert it and to develop the theological decisions of the Council; +chief among them was Leontius of Byzantium, a philosophic apologist of +real {87} eminence, whose work was taken up later and completed by John +of Damascus. + +[Sidenote: The Emperor Heraclius as a theologian.] + +It is not to be wondered at that a great soldier, filled with a deep +sense of the necessity of uniting the Empire against its foes, should +be led to accept a theological development which seemed to offer the +hope of a reconciliation. From 622, under the advice of Sergius, as a +Patriarch of Constantinople, a basis of reunion was sought in the +formula that though the Lord had two Natures He had yet only "one +theandric energy." The emperor Heraclius turned unwisely from the army +to the Church, which, like many able military men, he thought might be +coerced or led into opinions which seemed to him to be common sense. +For a time it appeared that he would succeed: three patriarchs of +Constantinople, one of Antioch, one of Alexandria, one of Rome +(Honorius I.), were in agreement, if a little tepidly, favourable to +the phrase. Honorius definitely stated that he confessed "_one_ WILL +of our Lord Jesus Christ." [1] [Sidenote: The Ecthesis, 638.] Only +Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem (634), held out. In 638 the emperor +issued the Ecthesis,[2] or Confession of Faith, drawn up by the +patriarch Sergius. It professed adherence to orthodox definitions, and +continued, "Wherefore, following the Holy Fathers in all things, and in +this, we confess one Will of our Lord Jesus Christ, the very God, so +that never was there a separate Will of His Body animated {88} by the +intellect, nor one of contrary motion natural to itself, but one which +operated when and how and to what purpose He who is God the Word +willed." This statement was repudiated by Rome, and in 649 condemned +in a synod at the Lateran under Martin I., who ended his days in exile +for disobeying the imperial power. The quarrel became one between Rome +and Constantinople, at a time when the popes had recovered their +orthodoxy and the patriarchs were subservient to impetuous emperors. +[Sidenote: The Type, 648.] In 648 the _Type_ issued from New Rome as an +attempt at pacification; but the Old Rome rejected it, with anathemas. +In 680 a synod, under Pope Agatho, at which S. Wilfrith of Ripon was +present and signed for the north part of Britain, rejected as heresy +the doctrine of the two wills, and local councils (as at Hatfield six +months later) agreed with the rejection. + +[Sidenote: Sixth General Council, 681.] + +All this led on to the summoning of the Sixth General Council at +Constantinople, which sat from November, 680, to September, 681. The +temporary schism between Rome and Constantinople was healed. Agatho's +letter condemning the doctrine of the two wills was accepted; anathema +was laid upon those, dead or alive, who had accepted the heresy, and +among them Pope Honorius I., a condemnation repeated by many a pope +after him. The Council declared that the Lord possesses two wills, +"for just as the Flesh is, and is said to be, the Flesh of the Word, so +also His human will is, and is said to be, proper [natural] to the +Word." And also, "just as His holy and spotless ensouled flesh was +taken into God yet not annihilated, so His human will though taken into +God was not annihilated." Again, as so often in {89} the days of +Justinian, the words of S. Leo were appropriated for a definition of +the orthodox belief. The Council was attended by 289 bishops, the +emperor occupying the position which had been common since Nicaea, +while on his right were the bishops of the East, on his left those of +the West. Rightly was the doctrine of one will condemned as contrary +to the Chalcedonian assertion of the Lord's perfect Humanity; and the +condemnation was readily accepted by the Church. Only in Syria, among +the Maronites (followers of John Maro), did Monothelitism linger on for +centuries, till they became absorbed in the Latin Church. + +[Sidenote: The Monothelite controversy.] + +The chief opponent of Monothelitism was Maximus, whose _Disputation +with Pyrrhus_ remains the most important survival of the controversy. +It is a subtle and rational exposition of the orthodox doctrine. The +original phrase, _theandric energy_, from which the Ecthesis of +Heraclius started, seems to have been drawn from the unknown Platonist +who came to be called Dionysius the Areopagite, and whose writings had +a continued influence in the Middle Age. But to all reasonable +thinkers the main question was decided. The truth of Christ's human +nature was an essential verity of the faith, and to deny His human will +would make His nature incomplete, and His goodness in any true sense +impossible. The difficulty would arise again when Luther and Calvin +carried further the dispute concerning the nature of the human will, +but as regards her Lord the Church had come to a decision based upon +her knowledge of His divine life on earth. + +The Council _in Trullo_ (named from the {90} dome-shaped place of +meeting), 691, called also _Quini-sextan_, summoned by Justinian II. +(685-711), was not Oecumenical, and was disciplinary rather than +dogmatic. It condemned many Roman practices, and asserted definitely +that the patriarchal throne of Constantinople should enjoy the same +privileges as that of Old Rome, should in all ecclesiastical matters be +entitled to the same pre-eminence, and should rank as second after it. +The _Liber Pontificalis_, the Roman Church history of the time, states +that the pope's legates gave assent to the decrees, which is unlikely. +But this one was no more than the repetition of many previous +statements, as emphatic in the sixth as in the seventh century. The +position was simply that claimed by the patriarch John when he signed +the formula of Catholic faith drawn up and proposed by Pope Hormisdas. +[Sidenote: Repudiation of Roman claims.] He insisted on prefixing a +repudiation of the Roman claim to supremacy over Christendom. "I +hold," he declared, "the most holy Churches of the Elder and the New +Rome to be one. I define the See of the Apostle Peter and this of the +Imperial City to be one See." By this it is clear that he designed to +assert both the unity of the Church--which, as it has always seemed to +the East, was threatened by the demand of the Roman obedience--and the +equality of the two great churches of the Old and the New Rome. + +Justinian I. spoke of Constantinople as "head of all the churches" +("omnium ecclesiarum caput"), but it is clear that he did not regard +this position as conferring any supreme or exclusive jurisdiction. It +was a title of honour which he would use of other patriarchates; and +that he did not consider the power {91} of the patriarchates as +unalterable is seen by his attempted creation of the new jurisdiction +of his own city Justiniana Prima (Tauresium), a few miles south of +Sofia, over a large district. To the archbishop whom he here created +he gave authority to "hold the place of the apostolic throne" within +his province.[3] + +[Sidenote: Independent attitude of Constantinople.] + +This position, then, of the Byzantine patriarchate, as independent of +the other patriarchates, and equal to that of the older Rome, but +occupying in point of honour a secondary position, was recognised by +Church and State alike; and it was this that the Council _in Trullo_ +reaffirmed. In another point it was divergent from Rome--that of the +marriage of the clergy. Subdeacons, deacons, and priests were +forbidden to marry, but those married before ordination were equally +forbidden, under pain of excommunication, to separate from their wives. + +An attempt of the mad emperor Justinian II. to enforce the acceptance +of the decrees by Pope Sergius I. was a complete failure. Popes were +becoming much stronger in Italy than was the distant Caesar. + +Rome was becoming independent of emperor and of exarch alike. In 711 +the pope Constantine visited Constantinople as an honoured guest, where +he was treated with diplomatic politeness, and where, possibly after +they had undergone modification, he signed the {92} decrees of the +Trullian Council. On this point the papal biographer is silent, but he +asserts with enthusiasm the reverence of the emperor for the pope and +the latter's regret when the bloody tyrant met the reward of his crimes +a few weeks later. With this the ecclesiastical interest of Eastern +history is for a time in the background. + + + +[1] This is spoken of by a recent Roman Catholic writer as "la +deplorable reponse de Honorius, ce monument de bonne foi surprise et de +naivete confiante." It does not support the notion of papal +infallibility. + +[2] Given in Baronius, A.D. 689. + +[3] See Procopius, _De Aedif._, iv. 1 (ed. Bonn., pp. 266, 267); and +_Novellae_, xi. (de privilegiis archiepiscopi primae Justinianae) and +cxxxi. (de ecclesiasticis canonibus et privilegiis), cap. 3. It is no +alteration of patriarchal powers, but rather the assertion of them. +Still patriarchal jurisdictions are not regarded as unalterable--as is +clear from the creation of the modern national churches of the Balkan +lands. + + + + +{93} + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE CHURCH IN ASIA + +[Sidenote: The Church in Persia.] + +In the East Christianity had spread to Persia from Edessa.[1] The +Parthians seem to have put no obstacle in its way, but when the +Persians came into conflict with the Roman Empire, now Christian, there +was long and bitter persecution. At last toleration was reached, after +Sapor II., and from the beginning of the fourth century the Church in +Persia was organised, and governed by many bishops; the primate took +the title of Catholicos and had his see at Seleucia, and had suffragans +on both sides of the Persian Gulf. In Assyria and Chaldaea the mass of +the population became Christians, and Christians were spread, less +thickly, over Media, Khorassan, and Persia itself. The dignity of the +Persian catholicos was considerable; he might be compared with the +Byzantine patriarchs, and the Church almost occupied the position of an +established religion, related to the civil power. But the distance, +and the constant wars between the Empire and Persia, tended inevitably +to separate the Churches. From the end of the fifth century the Church +in Persia, surrendered to {94} Nestorianism, had begun visibly to +decay. It was controlled by the Persian kings, it was a prey to +endless controversy and intrigue, and when the Persian kingdom was at +war with the Empire it was in grave danger. It held councils +furtively; it passed canons, and, itself heretical, condemned other and +more recent heresies than its own. But often its catholicos engaged in +the dynastic politics of the Persian dynasties, and Christianity, +regarded as one among many religions, and tainted with the same +materialism as the rest, sank into impotence and was torn by schism. +Meanwhile, in the neighbourhood of the Persian realm, Christianity was +spreading. + +[Sidenote: Growth of the Church under Justinian.] + +Many barbarous tribes during Justinian's reign were admitted to the +Christian faith and fellowship. The Tzani dwelling on the border of +Armenia and Pontus, "separated from the sea by precipitous mountains +and vast solitudes, impassable torrent beds and yawning chasms," +[2]--in a land where, Procopius tells us,[3] "it is not possible to +irrigate the ground, to reap a crop, or to find a meadow anywhere; and +even the trees bear no fruit, because for the most part there is no +regular succession of seasons, and the land is not at one time +subjected to cold and wet, and at another made fertile by the warmth of +the sun, but is desolated by perpetual winter and covered by eternal +snows. They changed their religion to the true faith, became +Christians, and embraced a more civilised mode of life." The king of +those Heruls who served in the Roman army, and a Hunnish king, Gordas, +{95} became Christians. The Abasgi (or Albagrians) of the Caucasus +were converted, and for the most part remained associated with the +Armenians and the Iberians of Georgia,[4] "when they were compelled by +the Persian king to worship idols," put themselves under the imperial +protection, and they remained closely in connection with the Armenian +Church till 608 when they accepted the decisions of Chalcedon. They +remained independent and orthodox till their union, a century ago, with +the Russian Church. + +[Sidenote: Separation from the Church.] + +In Armenia, similarly, had grown up a national Church, which had a +catholicos, a hierarchy, a vernacular liturgy of its own. When in the +middle of the fifth century the ancient kingdom was split up between +the Empire and the Persians, the Armenian Church still remained apart. +Its national features were strongly marked even before dogmatic +differences arose. With the Nestorian and Monophysite heresies new +divisions took place. The Persians gradually, between 435 and 480, +accepted Nestorianism, and in 483 definitely separated from the +Catholic Church, and Nisibis became a school of Nestorian theology. +The Armenians survived this danger but were led into Monophysitism, and +in 505 they pronounced against the Council of Chalcedon. Their +theology became tainted with further heresy in the sixth century, and +they are still separate from the orthodox Church of the East. Thus, at +the time with which we have to deal, as we have said, Christianity east +of Antioch and on the borders of Persia was under Nestorian influence. +After 431 Nestorianism became gradually established {96} as the +dominant creed. The Church of the East, as it was officially called, +rejected the Third General Council, and was cut off from the Catholic +Church. It long remained a strong body. The great schools of Nisibis, +Edessa, and Baghdad were centres of religion, learning, and +civilisation. + +[Sidenote: The Nestorians.] + +The Nestorians[5] also sent out missionaries northward among the +wandering Tartar tribes and along the shores of the Caspian; southward +to Persia, India and Ceylon; and eastward across the steppes of Central +Asia into China. The bilingual inscription of Singanfu, in Chinese and +Syriac, relates that Nestorian missionaries laboured in China as far +back as A.D. 636.[6] In the sixth and seventh centuries the Church of +the East could count its twenty-five metropolitans or archbishops; and +the number and remoteness of their sees, stretching from Jerusalem to +China, testifies to her missionary zeal. Those who dwelt nearest to +Baghdad met the catholicos in yearly synod; those farthest off sent +their confession of faith to him every sixth year. + +[Sidenote: Prester John and his conversion.] + +By the Middle Ages the Church of the East had spread over the whole of +Central Asia. The curious legends of the powerful kingdom of Prester +John, somewhere in the heart of Asia, grew out of the conversion, by +Nestorian merchants in the eleventh century, of a certain King of +Kerait, a kingdom of Tartary to the north of China. This king is said +to have requested that missionaries might be sent to him from the +Church {97} of his converters; and, when they were come, these +missionaries baptized him, naming him John,[7] and he was ordained +priest (Presbyter or Prester). Two hundred thousand people of the +nation embraced Christianity; the successors to the kingdom bore the +dynastic name of John, and were ordained priests. However uncertain +this story is, the fact of the conversion of the princes of Kerait in +Tartary is sufficiently well established. [Sidenote: Height of +prosperity.] The prosperity of the Church of the East culminated in the +eleventh century. The khalifs of Baghdad protected their Christian +subjects, and important offices of state were often filled by them. + +The Indian Church, which was believed to date back to the time of S. +Thomas the Apostle, had probably its origin in Nestorian missions, and +accepted Monophysite opinions. + +[Sidenote: Their missions] + +As we have seen, the wider field of missionary work owed much to the +labours of the Nestorians. It is possible that Cosmas,[8] who had +travelled far afield in the first half of the sixth century, may have +been a Nestorian; but the reverence with which he speaks of the +orthodox faith, and his constant use of the Catholic writers, would +seem to show rather that, when he became a monk at any rate, he was +orthodox. From him, however, we obtain knowledge of the wide field of +Nestorian missions. Recent discoveries have largely added to our +knowledge. It is clear that in the sixth century, {98} apparently +before 540, Nestorian bishoprics were founded in Herat and Samarkand. +Monumental inscriptions date back as far as 547. [Sidenote: in the Far +East.] Merv, as early as 650, is spoken of as a "falling church" [9] +amid the triumphs of Islam. China has been already mentioned, and +though it is not clear that only Nestorian missions prospered in the +far land, there is no doubt that their success was the most prominent. +Christian communities existed near the borders of Tibet[10] in the +seventh century; and in the eighth and ninth they were strong in India. +Even in the eleventh century the "Nestorian worship retained a great +hold over many parts of Asia, between the Euphrates and the Gobi +desert." Into the later and fragmentary history of these missions it +is not here the place to enter. Let it only be remembered that the +labours of "those Nestorian missionaries who preached and baptized +under the shadow of the wall of China, and on the shores of the Yellow +Sea, the Caspian, and the Indian Ocean" [11] were made possible by the +diplomatic and military triumphs which radiated from Constantinople in +the sixth century, and by the Christian zeal of orthodox emperors and +patriarchs. + +[Sidenote: Nestorianism in Persia.] + +Meanwhile in Persia the Monophysites contended for supremacy with the +Nestorians, and organised themselves with considerable skill. But the +Nestorians, who founded schools and developed a Christology on lines +different from those on which European thought was {99} proceeding, +became still more rigid in their rejection of the Catholic teaching. +Maraba the catholicos (540-52) and Thomas of Edessa, his pupil, seem to +have drawn very near to orthodoxy; but the controversy of the Three +Chapters widened the breach. Council after council, theologian, +catholicos, monastery, bishop, alike denounced Justinian; and they had +the support of the pagan philosophers whom he had expelled from the +schools of Athens. + +In Persia monasticism and the life of hermits--though the introduction +of either is difficult if not impossible to trace[12]--flourished and +developed on lines of their own. For a long time there was no +distinction between monastic and secular life: it was only gradually +that an organised monasticism grew up out of the coenobitic life for +men and for women. But from the sixth century onward the organisation +of monasticism gave strength to the Church, and enabled it for some +time to resist the Muhammadan invasion. The Church, mapped out into +dioceses and well served by numerous clergy, and having its own canon +law, its own liturgical forms, and its own theology, was able for long, +in spite of the absence of all state support and in spite often of +state persecution, to survive in some appearance of strength till the +Muhammadan invasion. The Mussulman conquest, when once it was +achieved, gave something like security to the Nestorians. Though there +was a time of persecution in the ninth century, it was short. +Christians as teachers, physicians, philosophers, were famous in the +foundation of the learning of the palmy days of the khalifs. But the +whole {100} structure fell before the invasions, in later days, of the +Mongols and the Turks. + +[Sidenote: The Church in Palestine.] + +From the more distant parts of the Persian Empire we may pass to the +land where the Church had its birth. During the period of revived +power in the Empire, Palestine was at peace under Justinian's rule. + +In Jerusalem itself[13] it is chiefly to be said that the emperor +engaged in large restorations and some original church building after +the style of his better known work. He had a severe struggle with the +Samaritans, but it led to many conversions.[14] + +[Sidenote: Conquest by the Persians.] + +But here, as elsewhere, as time went on the encroachments of the +Persians were a perpetual danger to the Christianity of the East. In +615 Jerusalem fell into their hands. The Jews, whom earlier emperors +had, like Justinian, kept in subjection, had grown in the days of +Heraclius to be much more powerful in Syria than the Christians, and it +was they who secured Jerusalem and gave it into the hands of the +Persians; and again, after the Christians had overpowered the garrison, +the city was given back to them and to scenes of pillage and outrage; +the churches, so splendid as early as the fourth century, and described +in glowing language by Procopius in the sixth, were sacked and defiled; +the clergy and the patriarch were made captive; the Holy Cross, +discovered by the Empress Helena, was sent away into Persia; and "all +these things," says the chronicler, "happened not in a year or a month, +but within a few days." The ruined churches were, however, restored +{101} before long by the alms of the faithful, and it was not long +before the Christians themselves were favoured by the Persian king, and +Chosroes, in consequence of a council at Jerusalem in 628, legalised, +it would seem, the Monophysite heresy as the representative of +Christianity. [Sidenote: Reconquest by Heraclius, 622.] The conquest +of Egypt followed on that of Syria; and the union of the Coptic Church +with that of the Syrian Monophysites was a result, natural and almost +inevitable, of the community of suffering between them. Within a few +years--his campaign began in 622--the heroic emperor Heraclius won back +all that had been lost, utterly defeated the Persians, won back the +Holy Rood, restored the patriarch Zacharias to Jerusalem, and returned +in triumph to the imperial city. In 629 he went on a pilgrimage to the +Holy City, and on September 14th--still observed as the feast of the +Exaltation of the Holy Cross--he restored the Rood to the Church of the +Resurrection. + +[Sidenote: Conquest by the Muhammadans.] + +In the year 610 Muhammad began his career as a prophet. It is no part +of Church history to trace the origin of his opinions or his power, to +tell how he learnt from Jews and Nestorians, or how he established a +marvellous organisation on a basis of theocratic militarism. The +migration from Meccah to Medinah in 622 was the beginning of his active +ministry, of religious teaching carried forward by sword and fire. The +capture of Meccah, the submission of Arabia, the extinction of the +Christian (Monophysite) communities in the peninsula, were followed +before long by the invasion of Syria and the capture of Jerusalem by +the Khalif Omar in 637. The year before, Heraclius {102} had taken +away the Holy Rood and the treasures of the churches to Constantinople. +Two years later the Muhammadans seized Egypt, from which the Persians +had not so long been driven out by the armies of the Empire. The fatal +policy of the Monothelite emperors had opened the way to the triumph of +Islam. Of this we shall see more, in Africa and in Southern Europe, in +later days. + + + +[1] See _The Church of the Fathers_ (vol. ii. of the present series), +chapter xxix., for the earlier history. + +[2] Bury, _History of the Later Roman Empire_, i. 441. + +[3] _Aedif._, iii. 6. + +[4] Joannes Biclarensis, p. 853. + +[5] I quote from the admirable summary in the Reports of the +Archbishop's Mission to the Assyrian Christians. + +[6] See an interesting account in Williams's _Middle Kingdom_. + +[7] His name was Ung; his title Khan; Ung Khan was Syriacised into +Yukhanan, i.e. John. + +[8] The _Christian Topography_ was written between 535 and 537. +Beazley, _Dawn of Modern Geography_, p. 279. + +[9] Assemani, _Bibl. Orient_, iii. i. 130, 131. + +[10] See Waddell, _Buddhism in Tibet_, pp. 421, 422. + +[11] Beazley, _Dawn of Modern Geography_, p. 211. + +[12] Cf. Budge, _The Book of Governors_, i. cxvi., and Labourt, _Le +Christianisme dans l'empire perse_, 303. + +[13] Cf. Procopius, _Aedif._; and John Moschus, _Pratum Spirituale_ +(Migne, Patr. Groec., lxxxvii. [3]). + +[14] Procopius, _Aedif._, v. 8. + + + + +{103} + +CHAPTER IX + +THE CHURCH IN AFRICA + +[Sidenote: The Church in North Africa.] + +In the middle of the fifth century the Christian power in North Africa +fell under the domination of the Arian Vandals. S. Augustine died in +430 while the foe was at the gates of his city. In 439 Carthage fell, +and Roman civilisation was extinguished. The rule of the Vandals was +not only Arian but barbarous. It is not unlikely that their victory +was won with the aid of the remaining Donatists and the heathen Moors. +With the reign of Gaiseric some degree of toleration was allowed to the +Catholic Church, but the persecution which had marked the earlier days +of the Arian power now took the form of confiscation and the +suppression of public worship. The Church suffered grievously, and not +least in the class of persons ordained to the ministry and consecrated +to the episcopate. But still the Catholics were the great majority, +and it was seen that the Arian Vandals were in danger of absorption by +the subtle influence of the truth. It was a last effort of Gaiseric's +to deprive the Catholics of their leaders, which eventually brought +about their restoration. The Bishop of Carthage and several of his +clergy were put on board a ship and told to escape whither they could. +They reached Naples, {104} and their piteous plight and the news they +brought helped to direct the attention of the imperial power to its +lost heritage. [Sidenote: The Vandal persecution.] Meanwhile the +suffering Church, enjoying now a scanty toleration, now suffering a +severer persecution, continued to make converts and to produce martyrs. +In 477 Gaiseric died. A year before his death he had allowed the +Catholics to reopen their churches and to bring back their bishops and +clergy from exile. And still their missionary efforts had never been +relaxed. Church life still continued; inscriptions remaining to-day +preserve the epitaphs of men buried in the darkest days with Catholic +rites; and in the interior ancient monasteries remained undisturbed. +Hunneric, the next Vandal king, though nominally an Arian, set himself +to extirpate heresies which he did not accept: Manichaeans under his +sway received treatment more severe than Catholics. Indeed, the +Catholics began to raise their heads under the leadership of Eugenius, +who was elected in 479 to the see of Carthage, the only bishopric in +the country which held metropolitan rank. The Bishop of Carthage was +the spiritual head of the whole province, held a superiority over the +bishops outside the limits of Proconsularis, and was, as it were, the +patriarch of the African Church. For twenty-three years the see had +had no pastor, and the restoration marked a distinct step towards the +ending of the Vandal domination. But there was a final effort; +Hunneric, unable to decoy the Catholics, determined to exterminate +them; a writer of the time tells that nearly five thousand clergy were +banished to the desert, where their fate was a practical martyrdom. A +conference was {105} summoned in 484, at which it was endeavoured to +make the Catholic clergy abate the strictness of their orthodoxy, but +Eugenius stood firm. Persecution again followed. The writer already +mentioned, Victor Vitensis, says, "The Vandals did not blush to set +forth against us the law which formerly our Christian emperors had +passed against them and other heretics for the honour of the Catholic +Church, adding many things of their own as it pleased their tyrannical +power." Thus evil deeds bring their necessary consequences. A bitter +persecution swept over the land, and till the death of Hunneric, at the +end of the year, atrocities of the most terrible kind were perpetrated. +It was a brief age of martyrs, and rooted the Church more firmly in the +affections of its children. It was an age, too, of saints, and +Fulgentius shines out by the side of Eugenius as a pattern of Christian +devotion and asceticism. In the years that followed king succeeded +king, and the condition of the Church became gradually more tolerable, +till under Hilderic much of the old organisation was restored and the +monastic houses were established in a condition of considerable +independence. When Gelimer usurped the Vandal throne, the power of +Justinian was able to intervene, and in 533 Belisarius recovered North +Africa for the Empire. [Sidenote: Reconquest of Africa by Belisarius, +533.] The restoration of the direct rule of the emperors was of +necessity the restoration of Catholicism to dominance. But materially +the Church had received blows from which she never fully recovered. +Her possessions, buildings, treasures had for the most part passed from +her hands: and many sees, many parishes, {106} still remained without +pastors. Such was the result of "the violent captivity of a century." + +[Sidenote: The revival of the North African Church.] + +Justinian aimed at restoring all things to their first estate. "We +would be the guardians and defenders of the ancient traditions," he +wrote in 542 to the primate of Byzacene. He confirmed the Bishop of +Carthage in his metropolitan dignity; he restored sees, allowed synods +to meet, gave special privileges to the clergy. An era of church +building set in, and fine monasteries were erected, in all the +impressive solidity of the Byzantine style, even in distant parts of +the Roman territory. Tebessa remains a marvellous example of the +wealth and dignity which came anew to the North African Church. The +literary power of the Church revived with her material prosperity: a +school of writers arose again in the land of Augustine. Primasius, +Facundus, Liberatus, Victor of Tonnenna, were among those who restored +the activity and knowledge of the Church in history, theology, and +apologetic. Over all the emperor Justinian kept his watchful eye, +directing, interfering, exhorting, as seemed to him good. The +controversy of the Three Chapters had its echoes in Africa, and the +deacon Ferrand, a learned theologian, represented a very wide feeling +when, in his _Defensio_, he deprecated any condemnation of the dead +theologians; and in Facundus, Bishop of Hermiane, the unhappy +hesitating pope Vigilius found an adviser who, if anyone, might have +given him firmness. In the result, the emperor, by the pen at least as +much as the sword, overpowered resistance, and Africa accepted the +decisions of Constantinople. Reparatus, Bishop of Carthage, who +resisted, was deposed, Liberatus {107} preserves the record of bitter +persecution, and Victor of Tonnenna, who equally refused to accept the +decision against the Three Chapters, is especially bitter in his +denunciation of Justinian. But the pope Pelagius was able, in 560, to +announce the assent of Africa to the statements of the Fifth General +Council. The Church from the death of Justinian settled down in +peaceable habitations, strong in the imperial support and the affection +of the people. But as, in the relaxation which set in as time went on, +the power of the imperial administration decayed, the power of the +popes in Africa was gradually strengthened, and the power of the +bishops rose equally. But this was not all. In time relaxation set in +in the Church as well as in the State. There are tales of immoral and +corrupt bishops, of disobedience to authority, of a recrudescence, from +591 to 596, of Donatism. It was the pope Gregory the Great who took in +hand the needed reformation. [Its relation to Gregory the Great.] His +letters are full of African affairs: his keen attention, his +instructions to Hilarus, the administrator of the Roman Church's +possessions in Italy, his minute knowledge, his wise understanding of +the many difficult problems which beset the Church, are prominent in +his correspondence. It was he who reversed the conception of Justinian +in regard to the Church of North Africa. The emperor had striven for +orthodoxy, without the supremacy of the pope. Gregory was determined +to secure the latter, and the history of North Africa affords an +excellent example of how the papal power grew. It was by continual +intervention, in affairs small as well as great, and by constant +solicitude: it was by the use of prudent {108} and sympathetic agents, +and the firm adherence to a policy of charity, orthodoxy and +discretion, that the great pope enforced his views on the bishops, the +Church, the imperial representatives. While he sternly rebuked all +abuse of the political authority which had fallen into the hands of the +bishops, he tenaciously clung to the right of hearing appeals in cases +between churchmen and public officials which circumstances had placed +in his hands. From a right of control he passed to a right of direct +intervention; and in State as well as Church the administrators felt +the power of his indomitable will. While disorganisation was spreading +in the civil order the Church was growing in concentration and +authority. + +[Sidenote: The Monothelite controversy.] + +But the Monothelite controversy went far to shatter the power which the +labour of Gregory had built up, and with it the Christianity of +Northern Africa. The orthodox felt less and less bound to emperors who +supported heresy, and the Arab invasion drew near without the people +perceiving the full extent of their danger. Fortunatus, Bishop of +Carthage, declared himself a Monothelite, but in every other province +besides his the Church formally repudiated the heresy. In 646 +Fortunatus was deposed and Victor succeeded him; and this is almost the +last recorded incident in the history of the North African Church. As +the Arab invader advanced, refugees from Syria and Egypt poured into +the land, and, since many of them were heretical, added to the +religious diffusions of the country. The abbat Maximus upheld the +banner of orthodoxy against all comers. The victory which he won over +the heresiarch Pyrrhus in 645, followed by the declarations of {109} +provincial synods in 646, was the last expression of African orthodoxy. + +John, the Jacobite bishop of Nikiu, whose contemporary account of the +Saracen conquest is of the first value, declares that "everyone said +that the expulsion of the Romans and the victory of the Mussulmans were +brought about by the tyranny of the emperor Heraclius and the troubles +which he made the orthodox suffer." A general discontent with the +Byzantine government arose, and Rome, which was more in sympathy with +the people, was unable to help them. In 646 the patrician Gregory, the +imperial governor, orthodox and a protector of the Church, declared +that the Monothelite Constans II. had forfeited the throne, and assumed +for himself the title of emperor. Within a year he was defeated and +slain by the Saracens at Sbeitla, and Byzantine Africa was placed at +the mercy of the Muhammadan invader. The Copts long resisted, but +their resistance was overcome in the autumn of 646. Alexandria fell a +second time and finally into the hands of the Arabs. + +[Sidenote: The conquest by the Muhammadans.] + +For fifty years the Byzantine power maintained a foothold, precarious +and nominal. Inch by inch, and with intervals of repose and even of +reconquest,--as when John the Patrician, under Leo the Isaurian, +recaptured Carthage,--the infidels advanced, and the Berber tribes of +the interior pressed, too, upon the Christians. Carthage was again +taken by the Muhammadans in 698: the native tribes joined the invaders, +and by 708 Roman Africa was wholly in their hands. Toleration was at +first allowed; but from 717 the Christians had only the choice of +banishment and {110} apostasy. Still many held out: Christian villages +remained, Christian communities, as late as the fourteenth century; and +even now it is said that in some parts Christian customs survive. The +Church at Carthage existed certainly in some organised form till the +eleventh century, and it was not till 1583 that the Church of Tunis was +utterly destroyed. + +Meanwhile events in other parts of Africa had run a different course. +The patriarchate of Alexandria had a long and distinguished history, +and from it had spread missions far into the south. + +[Sidenote: The Jacobites.] + +The Monophysite controversy led to the founding of the Jacobite sect. +Secret consecrations at Constantinople by bishops in prison during +Justinian's severe rule sent a bishop to Hira for the Arabian +Christians in Persia, and another to the borders of Edessa, who founded +the Jacobites and with the assistance of Egyptian Monophysite bishops +continued the episcopal succession. In Egypt there arose the division +between the Melkites, who followed the imperial orders and accepted the +decisions of the Councils, and the Copts, who dissented. The +Monophysites of Syria, Egypt, and Armenia, with temporary and +superficial differences, remained practically at one. National +differences confirmed their divergence from the Roman Empire and the +Catholic Church. Thus while in Egypt, Syria, and elsewhere the Church +was still powerfully represented, though side by side with strong +sectarian organisations, there were, when the followers of Muhammad +came to add to the confusion, three nationalistic and heretical bodies, +separate from the Church--those of Persia and Armenia and Ethiopia. Of +the last something must now be said. + +{111} + +[Sidenote: The Abyssinian Church.] + +South of Egyptian territory, properly so called, lay the Ethiopians, +vassals of Egypt, tracing in a dim fashion their Christianity back to +one of those queens who bore the title of _Candace_. These wild and +warring tribes kept up continual conflict, and among the Blemmyes men +still worshipped Isis in the temple of Philae. In 548 began the +conversion of the Nobadae of the Soudan, of whose reception into the +Christian fold the great Monophysite missionary, John of Ephesus, gives +an account. Churches were built, and one inscription at least survives +with the name of a Christian king. Beyond them the Alodaei learnt the +faith from the same preacher, Longinus. Nubia, or Mugurrah, was also +visited by Christian missionaries at the same time. Under Justinian, +the temple of Philae was turned into a church, and the Blemmyes became +Christian. Christian remains long existed, even down to the +neighbourhood of Khartoum; and it was long before the Muhammadan +conquerors swept all the worship of Christ away. Further south +Christianity spread on both sides of the Red Sea. In Arabia Felix was +the kingdom of the Homerites or Himyarites, whose chief city was Safar, +and at different times they were ruled by the same king as the land of +Axum, "the farthest Ind" of the Greek chronicler Theophanes. After the +dispersion, Jewish colonies settled in Arabia, and in the fourth +century Christianity followed. At the end of the fifth century a +bishop is found among the Homerites, and a Trinitarian inscription is +dated 542-3. About the same time the Church in Abyssinia, founded in +the time of S. Athanasius, received the national religion of the +country through the conversion of the Negus at the end {112} of the +fifth century. While the land of Safar at times relapsed into +heathenism and massacred Christians, the Abyssinians remained firm in +the faith. Procopius tells that Ellesthaeos, an Ethiopian king, during +the reign of Justin I., invaded the land of the Homerites to avenge +their persecutions and to suppress the Jewish predominance and set up a +Christian king. With him and his successors Justinian entered into +treaties, as also with the kings of Axum or Abyssinia. While the +Muhammadan conquest swept away the Christianity of the Arabians and +drove those who clung to it northward to the banks of the Euphrates, +the Church in Abyssinia, which had accepted Monophysitism, remained +independent, just as its mother church of Egypt obtained toleration. +It still continues separate, Monophysite, and in communion with the +Coptic Church of Egypt. + + + + +{113} + +CHAPTER X + +THE CHURCH IN THE WESTERN ISLES + +[Sidenote: Christianity in Britain.] + +When Gregory the Great sent Augustine and his brother monks to preach +to the Teutonic tribes which had made Britain their home, there were +already two Churches in the island. There was the Church of the +Brythons, gradually separated by the advance of the Saxons into the +Churches of Cumbria or Strathclyde, Wales, and West Wales or Cornwall. +These stood apart from the English for a long time, were late in +accepting the Catholic customs of the West, and had no influence on the +progress of English Christianity. And there was the Church founded in +North Britain by Celtic missionaries from Ireland. In Ireland there +seems little doubt that Christianity was known by the end of the fourth +century. In the fifth century the progress was extraordinarily rapid. +S. Patrick "organised the Christianity which already existed; he +converted kingdoms which were still pagan, especially in the west; and +he brought Ireland into connection with the Church of the Empire, and +made it formally part of Universal Christendom." [1] + +The subsequent history of the Church in Ireland forms a fit +introduction to that of the Church in {114} England, in spite of the +separation between them. Irish Christianity did not long preserve its +close union with Western Europe. The popes, as well as the emperors, +were too weak to interfere in the distant islands. The Irish relapsed +into the use of what is called the Celtic Easter, and to other +practices which were usual before Patrick's day and which served to cut +them off from the newly-converted Teutons, as well as from the Latin +world in general. [Sidenote: Death of S. Patrick, 461.] Patrick died +in 461. In 563 Columba, trained in the great schools which had sprung +up in the Irish monasteries, crossed to what is now called Scotland to +confirm the faith of the Irish settlers and to convert the heathen +Picts. The organisation of the Church to which he belonged was +essentially tribal and monastic. [Sidenote: The Celtic Church.] Though +S. Patrick had probably consecrated diocesan bishops in large numbers, +the Church soon became "predominantly monastic." Tribal feeling was so +strong that the Church, too, assimilated itself to the tribal idea, and +the Church's monasteries were her tribes. In a land where there were +no cities monasteries took their place, and the bishops naturally came +to dwell in them, and so to seem less prominent in their episcopal than +in their monastic aspect. The monks became the chief power in +Christian Ireland; and in the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries +there were many bishops without dioceses, and it seems probable that +their rank, though not their function, was less important than that of +the abbats, the heads of the tribal monasticism. + +In the seventh century again the Irish Church came back into closer +association with the Church throughout {115} Europe. This union was +due very largely to the influence of learning, and still more to the +influence of missionary zeal. "From Iceland to the Danube or the +Apennines, among Frank or Burgundian or Lombard, the Irish energy +seemed omnipotent and inexhaustible." [2] Into Ireland it would seem +that classical culture was introduced by the first Christian teachers, +and that from the first it was intended to serve as a preparation for +religious teaching.[3] It would seem that it was from Brittany that it +spread to Ireland. [Sidenote: The influences outside Ireland] The +schools of Ireland became famous. Books as diverse as the Antiphonary +of Bangor and Adamnan's Life of Columba show that the teaching in its +different ways was a sound and a liberal one. + +In England the Irish tradition and influence spread. If the Celtic +school of Bangor perished in the stress of the bitter wars between +English and Welsh, Malmesbury, which trained S. Aldhelm, showed that +the Irish love of letters was capable of transplantation into a land +now most prominently Teutonic. But the Roman influence and the +influence of the East were still more effective. [Sidenote: in +learning,] Benedict Biscop brought back with him to Northumbria the +traditions and rules of Italian art and learning, and Theodore of +Tarsus brought a wider influence, which was Greek as well as Latin. He +himself founded a school at Canterbury, and taught it; and in distant +times Dunstan, at Glastonbury and at Canterbury, was his worthy +successor. In the north Bede was at {116} Jarrow a writer of great +power and wide scope, and the school of York was a nursery of classic +studies which produced the great scholar Alcuin. Thus the community of +scholarship brings the Churches together. + +[Sidenote: in missionary work.] + +More prominent was the zeal for the conversion of the heathen. The +work of Columban and of S. Gall had its origin in the Irish schools, +and there was no more fruitful influence on the Europe of the Dark Age. +The work of Columba and his followers was to begin in the north of +Britain what Roman missionaries undertook in the south. For more than +thirty years Columba, who landed in Iona in 563, taught the Picts and +Scots. His Life by his disciple Adamnan is one of the most beautiful +memorials of medieval saintliness that we possess. The monastery which +he founded lasted till the eighth century. His school did a famous +work in North Britain in the seventh; King Oswald of Northumbria was +trained there, and S. Aidan, his fellow-helper, the typical saint of +Northumbria. From the same source came Melrose, the great Scottish +monastery, and S. Chad, the apostle of the Middle English. + +[Sidenote: Scotland.] + +A century of intermittent strife swept over the northern lands. +Scotland became Christian slowly and with little connection with the +south. Heathen onslaughts ravaged the Christian lands, and yet, in +spite of all, monasteries for men and women sprang up in the north. +The influence of S. Aidan (died 651) was continued by S. Cuthbert and +S. Hilda, typical parents of monks and nuns. In 664 (Synod of Whitby) +at last came union with the Church of the English, who appealed to the +authority of Rome and {117} of S. Peter in favour of their customs, and +the Northumbrian king, Oswin, ratified the union of the Celtic and the +English Churches. Early in the eighth century other Celtic Churches +came into the agreement; only Cornwall held out for two centuries more. + +[Sidenote: The mission of St. Augustine, 597.] + +The English Church, which thus came to represent the Christianity of +the whole island, was founded from Rome by S. Augustine in Kent in 597. +It was from the first an active missionary body. It gradually won its +way over the whole island, conquering and assimilating the alien +influences which were at first opposed to it. So when a storm of +heathen persecution swept over England and Scotland at the end of the +eighth century, when "the ravaging of heathen men lamentably destroyed +God's church at Lindisfarne," when the monks of Iona were given to +martyrdom, when English prelates and kings gave their lives to hold the +land for Christ, the Church still endured, with material loss but with, +for the time at least, enhanced glory and virtue. Three names stand +out conspicuously from the seventh and ninth centuries. [Sidenote: +Theodore of Tarsus, 668.] Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury +from 668 to 693, was the great organiser of the English Church. A +scholar, a teacher, a statesman, he knit the different tribes of +English, Saxon, Jute, together in the unity of faith and discipline. +Church councils sprang up under him to rule, and Church laws to guide +men in the way. He kept up a close connection with the Western Church, +but he did not surrender independence to a papal supremacy. Wilfrith +of Ripon, his contemporary, was great also as a teacher and as a +missionary beyond the seas, {118} and among the Saxons of South +Britain. The seventh century was the age in which the foundations of +the English Church were laid on firm bases. + +[Sidenote: Bede.] + +Hardly less important, though in a different way, was the work of the +monk Baeda, the father of English history. He was a man who knew the +history and the theology of the Western Church, and who taught by his +writings and his life. His influence on the development of the Church +in the north, both by his great history, his religious treatises, and +his influence on Egbert, Archbishop of York, is incalculable. + +[Sidenote: Alfred.] + +The age of Alfred, who died in 899, was equally important. It +witnessed a more distinct union with the Church of Wales, whose glories +go back to the time of S. David in the fifth century. It confirmed a +strong union between Church and State in England, and it witnessed a +revival of Christian learning in which Alfred himself and a Welshman, +Asser, whom he made bishop of an English see, were the leaders. Alfred +was a bright example of what Christianity could do for mankind. +Warrior, scholar, saint, pattern king whose heart was given to his +people, he bore himself nobly before the world as one who loved and +worshipped the Master Christ. Under his sway the Church rose again to +instruct and guide the people, and when he died he left the English +land a united Christian nation. The Danes, who after years of +predatory invasion were become settlers over a large part of England, +were brought into the Church; and the British Church in Cornwall was +brought nearer to unity with the English, a union which was complete +from 931. + +{119} + +[Sidenote: Conversion of the north.] + +While in the extreme north, Ross, Cromarty, Sutherland, and Caithness, +the Church remained missionary rather than parochial, in the Scotland +of the south monasticism became prominent again under a new order +called, in Goidelic, "Culdees" (servants of God). In the midlands +years of disturbance caused much of the organisation of the Church to +disappear, bishoprics to cease, monasteries to be destroyed. After the +Danish wars the work of reconstruction was an urgent need, and a great +prelate came to lead it. + +[Sidenote: Dunstan, 924-88.] + +Dunstan (924-88) was a West Saxon who was taught at Glastonbury by +Irish priests, and who rose, through his friendship with leaders in +Church and State, by the holiness of his life, and by the experience +that he won when in exile in Flanders, to be head of the English +Church. As archbishop he was "a true shepherd." He gave up all the +preferments he had before enjoyed, only visiting Glastonbury +occasionally for a time of repose. His friends, Aethelwold, Bishop of +Winchester, and Oswald, Bishop of Worcester, with King Eadgar's help, +did their utmost to introduce the strict rule of S. Benedict into the +monasteries, replacing the clergy of the cathedral churches (secular +canons) by monks. Dunstan sympathised, but he did not actively support +their action. Abroad there was strong feeling against clerical +marriage, and there were many canons passed against it. The danger of +the Church falling into the hands of an hereditary class of officials +was a real one; but it does not seem to have been much felt in England. +Dunstan paid far more heed to the clergy's books than their wives. + +{120} + +[Sidenote: His work as archbishop and reformer.] + +He made rules, and encouraged schools for the training of priests. He +ordered priests to learn handicrafts that they might teach them to +others. He ordered that a sermon should be preached in each church +every Sunday. His zeal for moral reform was seen in many canons passed +against the abuses of the age, and he did not hesitate to enforce them +against the highest in the land. When the pope ordered him to absolve +a great lord whom he had excommunicated for an unlawful marriage, he +refused to obey. + +Early in the tenth century an illustration of the position occupied by +the English Church in relation to Rome, and of the learning of its +clergy and their style of preaching, is afforded by the writings of +Aelfric, who described himself in his early years as "a monk and a +mass-priest," and was later on abbat of Eynsham. Of his work, besides +educational treatises, eighty sermons, chiefly translated from the +Latin, remain. In them he shows clearly that the claims of the papacy +with regard to S. Peter were not accepted by all in England, and he +taught the spiritual, not corporal, presence of the Lord's Body in the +Holy Communion. The English Church differed also from Rome in the fact +that many of the clergy were married, and though this was not regarded +as lawful, they were not separated from their wives. But in all +essential matters the English Church remained in union with the foreign +Churches and retained her ancient reputation for unbroken orthodoxy. +This reputation was increased by the fame of S. Dunstan, whose sojourn +abroad had served to link English churchmen again to their brothers +over sea. + +{121} + +The last years of the great archbishop were given to prayer and study, +and to the arts of music and handicraft which he had practised in his +youth. He set himself to train the young, to succour the needy, and to +make peace among all men. He died on May 19th, 988, and with him the +new energy he had infused into the Church seemed to pass away. +[Sidenote: The Danish invasions.] New Danish invasions turned men's +thoughts other ways, but still monasteries made progress. The +Benedictine rule was accepted over Southern England, and in the north +the see of Durham rose replacing the older northern see, when it became +the resting-place of the bones of the great missionary, S. Cuthbert. +The Danish invasions were not so barbarous now as in earlier days. +Some of the Danes were Christians, and it was at Andover that Olaf +Trigvason, King of Norway, was confirmed by Bishop Aelfeah, calling +King Aethelred father. He went back to Norway a Christian devoted to +the conversion of his people.[4] + +The English Church at the beginning of the eleventh century was in full +communion with the Western Church, but was practically to a large +extent apart from papal influence. Church and State walked hand in +hand, and the relations between sovereign and archbishop resembled +those of the New rather than the Old Rome. The missionary energy which +had in former years sent forth Wilfrith and Winfrith was now for the +time exhausted. England needed a new religious revival. It came +later, at the time of a political conquest. + +Meanwhile the Irish Church was regaining its learning and its +missionary zeal: both were expressed in {122} the _consuetudo +peregrinandi_ with which the Irish monks were credited in the ninth +century. But from the time of the Danish invasions the Irish Church, +and the Welsh also, suffered severely. Heathen settlements in Ireland +were only gradually converted, as that of Dublin in 943. The disturbed +state of their home encouraged Irish monks to cross the seas. Action +and reaction led Ireland more close than ever to the Roman papacy. + + + +[1] Bury, _Life of S. Patrick_, pp. 212-13. + +[2] R. L. Poole, _Illustrations of the History of Medieval Thought_, p. +10. + +[3] Cf. Roger, _L'Enseignement des lettres classiques_, p. 236. + +[4] See ch. xi. + + + + +{123} + +CHAPTER XI + +THE CONVERSION OF SLAVS AND NORTHMEN + +[Sidenote: Cyril and Methodius, 868.] + +The ninth century was a great age of conversion, and the work is very +largely associated with two great names in the development of +civilisation and learning, those of two brothers, born in Thessalonica, +probably between 820 and 830--Constantine (who changed his name to +Cyril when he was consecrated bishop by Hadrian II. in 868) and +Methodius. Their lives show the connection still existing between Rome +and the East in Church matters, and illustrate the zeal for educational +work which was so conspicuous a feature in the converting energy of the +Church of Constantinople. Cyril was not only a priest and a +missionary, he was a "philosopher." Methodius, it is said, had been a +civil administrator. Both were scholars and linguists, and the +influence which they exercised upon the Slavs is incalculably great. +In missions always it is the personal influence which is the most +striking. But the time is needed as well as the man. So much we see +again and again, however cursorily we study the evangelising work of +this age. + +In missions the ninth century carried out what the eighth neglected or +was unable to accomplish. The {124} wars against the Finnish +Bulgarians from 755 onwards brought the Church as well as the State +into grave danger, or rather were defensive of each. [Sidenote: The +conversion of the Bulgarians.] In the eighth century there were several +isolated conversions, including a whole family of boiars from whom +sprang the recluse, saint Joannicius; but there was no general +movement. The Bulgarians remained enemies of Christianity and +destroyers of all Roman civilisation: S. Theodore of the Studium +declared that it was criminal sacrilege to exchange hostages with them. +But gradually the geographical nearness brought closer connection; +barbarians enlisted in the Roman armies; at last illustrious prisoners +in Constantinople were the cause of light being brought to their own +land. Boris, the Bulgarian king, obtained teachers from the New Rome, +and applied also to Pope Nicolas I. (858-67) for instruction. In 864 +the Bulgarians accepted the faith, and the contest for patriarchal +rights over them was hotly pressed between Nicolas and Photius, +Patriarch of Constantinople (857-86). In the end, after receiving +answers from the pope to 106 questions, and after being treated with +too little consideration by Hadrian II. (867-72), Boris decided to +accept an archbishop from Constantinople in 870, and ten bishoprics +were founded. + +[Sidenote: The conversion of the Slavs.] + +But the great work of Cyril and Methodius was not directly concerned +with the Bulgarian conversion. In Pannonia and Moravia and Croatia +they were the great missionaries to the Slavs. Cyril invented a +Slavonic alphabet, and was able to preach to the Slavs everywhere in +their own tongue; and in Serbia a flourishing Church sprang {125} up +which retained the Slavonic rite. Early in the tenth century many +Slavonian priests were ordained by the Bishop of Nona, himself a Slav +by birth. But these districts were weakened by incessant strife, and +their contests with the East were often fomented by the popes. Their +Christianity was distinctly Byzantine; but they were never able to be a +real strength to the emperor or the Orthodox Church. + +[Sidenote: Poland.] + +Poland, on the other hand, and later, received its Christianity from a +Latin source. There may have been earlier Greek influences through the +Slavonic Christians to the south-east; but it was not till 965 that the +king, Mieczyslaw, was converted, when he married a Bohemian princess. +He became a member of the Empire and the vassal of Otto I. The +bishopric of Posen was founded in 968, and the gospel was preached by +S. Adalbert, already Bishop of Prague. S. Adalbert, who for a short +time held the see of Gnesen, passed on to preach to the heathen +Prussians, by whom he was martyred in 997. Otto III. visited the +Christian king in A.D. 1000, and gave him a relic, the lance of S. +Maurice, still preserved at Cracow. The ecclesiastical organisation of +the country was then consolidated; Gnesen was made the metropolitan +see, and Polish and Pomeranian dioceses were placed under it. The +Latin Church was dominant over Polish Christianity. + +[Sidenote: The Prussians and S. Adalbert.] + +But the pagan Prussians regarded S. Adalbert as a political emissary +and a sorcerer who destroyed their crops, and killed him without +hesitation; Bruno, whom Silvester II. sent to succeed him, perished +within a year, and the attempt to Christianise the Prussians was {126} +abandoned for nearly two centuries. Similar was the course of events +among the Wends. It is not till the tenth century that we know +anything of endeavours for their conversion, and then they were due to +the all-embracing energy of Otto I. Henry I. had borne the royal arms +in victory over the lands watered by the Elbe, the Oder, and the Saale; +and now his successor began the establishment of an ecclesiastical +hierarchy, under the see of Magdeburg. Boso, Bishop of Merseburg, set +himself to learn and preach in the Slav tongue, but it seems that the +German clergy who were introduced were unsuccessful as missionaries, +and won the reputation of greedy political agitators. At the end of +the tenth century a torrent of pagan fury swept over the land, +destroyed the churches, and stamped the growing Christianity under foot. + +[Sidenote: The conversion of Russia.] + +The beginnings of Russian Christianity may possibly be found, as the +patriarch Photius asserted, before the results of the defeat of the +barbarians by John Zimisces. But it was not till nearly a century +later that anything notable occurred. Olga, a "ruler of Russia," +visited Constantinople in 957 and was baptized. Yet the Greek +missionaries made but slow progress. It was not till Vladimir married +the sister of the emperor Basil in 989, and restored the city of +Cherson,--in which Cyril more than a century before had been a +missionary,--where he was baptized, to the Empire, that the +evangelisation of Russia really began. Vladimir deliberately chose the +Greek in preference to the Roman form of Christianity, and acted, it +would seem, with some semblance of national consent. The baptism of +the people of {127} Kiev in the waters of the Dnyepr, as one flock, +"some standing in the water up to their necks, others up to their +breasts, holding their young children in their arms," was typical of +the national acceptance of Christ. Everywhere churches and schools +were built and the Slavonic Scriptures taught the people; at Kiev was +built the Church of S. Sophia by Greek masons, in commemoration of the +debt to the great Church of the New Rome. [Sidenote: S. Vladimir, +989.] Vladimir became the apostle of his people. The Church pressed +forward eagerly, forward over the vast expanse covered by the Russian +power, and, not without martyrdoms and tales of heroic adventure, won +its way triumphantly to Russian hearts. + +[Sidenote: The conversion of the Czechs.] + +The early days of Christianity in Moravia and Bohemia are wrapped in +obscurity. In 801 Charles the Great endeavoured a forcible conversion +of the former country, but with no more than transitory success. Yet +in 836 a church was consecrated at Neutra by the Archbishop of +Salzburg. A little later than this we hear of the beginnings of +Christian faith among the Czechs. Early Bohemian history, when it +emerges from an obscurity lighted by legend, is full of romantic +incident. There are passages again and again in its records which for +weirdness and ferocity remind us of a grim story of Meinhold's. +Paganism lingered there with some of its ancient power, when it had +perished, at least outwardly, in all neighbouring lands. In the +eleventh century Bohemian heathens still went on pilgrimages to the +temple at Arcona on the isle of Eugen, till the practice was stopped by +Bretislav II. Still a beginning had been made. In {128} 845 fourteen +Bohemian nobles, who had taken refuge at the court of Louis the German, +were baptized at Regensburg; but the conversion of the country was to +come from the East. Cyril and Methodius, sent by the emperor Michael +III. from Constantinople, converted the Moravians, and from them the +gospel was handed on to the Czechs. It was Methodius, on whom the pope +had conferred the title of Archbishop of Moravia, who baptized the +Bohemian prince Borivoj. For the history of Bohemian Christianity the +earliest authority is Kristian, brother of Duke Boleslav II., in _The +Life of S. Ludmilla and the Martyrdom of S. Wenceslas_. [Sidenote: S. +Wenceslas.] This is an extremely valuable book, not only as a +biography--hagiological, like so much valuable early material for +history, yet truthful--and as a record of manners in the tenth century, +but as containing the account of the conversion of Moravia to +Christianity, which shows that the conversion came first from the East, +and the Church long retained a special connection with the Eastern +peoples, Bulgarians and Greeks. The account of the murder of S. +Wenceslas is of great interest as showing how close was the connection +of religion with family and dynastic feuds. S. Ludmilla was murdered +in 927 by the orders of her daughter-in-law, who remained a pagan; a +year later,[1] her saintly grandson Wenceslas was slain by the men of +his evil brother Boleslav. "Holy Wenceslas, who was soon to be a +victim for the sake of Christ, rose early, wishing, according to his +holy habit, to hurry to the church, that he might remain there for some +time in solitary prayer before the congregation arrived; {129} and +wishing as a good shepherd to hear matins together with his flock, and +join in their song, he soon fell into the snares that had been laid," +and it was outside the church that he was slain. + +[Sidenote: Restoration of Christianity in Bohemia.] + +It was not till the invasion of the country by the armies of Otto I. in +938 that Christianity was restored even to full toleration, and only +when Otto came himself in 950 that it was secured. Boleslav II., the +nephew of S. Wenceslas, was named the Pious; and Prague, in 973, was +separated from Regensburg and became a bishopric. While among the +Moravians the Slavonic rite introduced by Methodius was still largely +used, in Bohemia the Roman rite was followed. Voytech (Adalbert), a +Czech, was the second bishop, and to him, in spite of failures and +difficulties, the conversion of Bohemia was largely due. He died a +martyr (as we have said), while preaching to the heathen Prussians, and +for a time darkness again settled over the history of the Czechs. + +[Sidenote: The conversion of the Danes] + +Meanwhile the current of conversion had spread northwards. It was in +822 that Ebbo, Archbishop of Rheims, was sent to Denmark in consequence +of a political embassy to Louis the Pious, emperor from 814 to 840. +Harold, the Danish king, had asked aid. The emperor gave him also a +Christian teacher; and in 826 the king and his wife were baptized. +Other missionaries went northwards, but before long the Danes drove out +both their king Harold and his teacher Ansgar. From Denmark, however, +the mission spread to Sweden, and in 831 an archbishopric was +established at Hamburg to direct all the northern {130} missions, and +Ansgar was invested with the pallium by Pope Gregory IV. The missions +had a chequered career. [Sidenote: and of Sweden.] Hamburg was seized +and pillaged by the Northmen in 845, and the Swedish mission was for a +time destroyed. In 849 a new revival took place, when Ansgar was given +the see of Bremen in addition to that of Hamburg; and before long he +won over the king of the Jutes and his people of Schleswig. In 853 +Ansgar returned to Sweden, where he was favourably received by the king +Olaf. The tale of his vast missionary labours, from which he was +rightly called the "Apostle of the north," is told with spirit and +feeling by Adam of Bremen, who wrote in the eleventh century, as well +as by the biographer who commemorated him on his death. He not only +preached, but he "redeemed captives, nourished those who were in +tribulation, taught his household. As an apostle without, a monk +within, he was never idle." When it was said that his prayers wrought +miracles of healing, he said, "If I could but think myself worthy of +such a favour from the Lord, I would pray Him to grant me but one +miracle--that out of me, by His grace; He would make a good man." +[Sidenote: S. Ansgar.] S. Ansgar is, in his work as in his training, a +parallel to S. Boniface. Like him one of the finest fruits of +monasticism, which first taught in solitude and then sent out to work +actively in the world, he was brought up at Corbie. For nearly +thirty-five years he laboured incessantly among the peoples of the +north, and at the very end of his life he gallantly went among heathen +chiefs to rebuke them for buying and selling slaves. He died in 865, +and S. Rimbert, {131} his disciple and biographer, was his successor in +his sees. + +[Sidenote: Norway.] + +Gradually, and in different ways, Christianity spread in the far north. +Haakon, the son of Harold Haarfager of Norway, was sent to be +foster-son to Aethelstan of England, who "had him baptized and brought +up in the right faith," and he became a great king under the name of +Haakon the Good. From England he brought over teachers, and he built +churches; and then at last he addressed all the leaders of his people +and besought them "all, young and old, rich and poor, women as well as +men, that they should all allow themselves to be baptized, and should +believe in one God, and in Christ the Son of Mary, and refrain from all +sacrifices and heathen gods, and should keep holy the seventh day, and +abstain from all work on it, and keep a fast on the seventh day." [2] +But it was long before his people obeyed him. Rebellion and dynastic +war followed in rapid succession; and he died of a wound from a chance +arrow that struck him as he pursued his defeated foes. The first +Christian king of Norway died in a land which was still heathen. But +the seed was sown in the hearts of the men who had seen the brave, +strong, chivalrous life of him who owned Christ for Lord. + +[Sidenote: Olaf Trigvason.] + +In Denmark the conversion begun in the ninth century was long delayed, +and it was not till Otto I. conquered the Danes and sent Bishop Poppo +who instructed King Harold and his army so that they were baptized, +that the land {132} became definitely a Christian kingdom. From +Denmark the gospel spread again to Norway; but it was not till near the +end of the tenth century that Olaf Trigvason was baptized by a hermit +on one of the Scilly Isles, and then in his short reign devoted himself +to converting his people, often forcibly, as a choice between death and +baptism. To Iceland and Greenland too Olaf sent missionaries. He died +at last, like a true Wiking hero, in a sea fight; and it was not until +the next century and the days of Olaf the Saint that the faith of +Christ conquered the North. + +[Sidenote: The conversion of Iceland.] + +There seems no doubt that Christianity in Iceland began by missionary +enterprise from Irish monks. From time to time anchorites sought +refuge in that _ultima Thule_, "that they might pray to God in peace"; +but whether they did any direct work of conversion is doubtful. The +actual conversion came undoubtedly from Norway. A Christian queen +lived in Iceland at the end of the ninth century, the wife of the Norse +Olaf who was king in Dublin; but little if any impression was made on +the heathenism of the people. Nearly a century later an Icelander +called Thorwald Kothransson brought a Christian bishop Frederic from +Saxony, who wrought some conversions and left a body of baptized +Christians behind him. In the year 1000 came a priest Thormod and +several chiefs back from the Norse court of Olaf, and in a meeting of +the Althing--the great assembly of the people--preached to them the One +God in Trinity. The whole people became Christian, and the few heathen +{133} customs that still lingered, as it were by permission, after the +great baptism, soon fell away like raindrops in the bright sun. Among +the last news that came to Olaf Trigvason was that his distant people +had fulfilled the wish of his heart. + + + +[1] According to the chronicle of Kristian. + +[2] The Saturday fast was still observed in many parts of Christendom. + + + + +{134} + +CHAPTER XII + +PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH IN GERMANY + +[Sidenote: The Lombards in Italy.] + +The acceptance of Christianity and of Catholicism by the barbarian +tribes which conquered Europe was a slow process. The conversion of +the Lombards, for example, whom we have seen as Arians, sometimes +tolerant, sometimes persecuting, was gradual. The Church always held +its own, in faith though not in possessions, in Italy; and from the +pontificate of Gregory the Great the moral force of the Catholic +Society began to win the Lombards to its fold. It was proved again and +again that heresy was not a unifying power. The Catholic Church held +together its disciples in the Catholic creed. It is possible that +Agilulf, the husband of the famous Catholic queen Theodelind, himself +became a Catholic before he died. Paul the Deacon says that he "both +held the Catholic faith and bestowed many possessions on the Church of +Christ, and restored the bishops, who were in a depressed and abject +condition, to the honour of their wonted dignity." Whatever may be the +meaning of this, it certainly expresses the fact that before the middle +of the seventh century the Lombards were passing almost insensibly into +the Catholic fold, and Italy had practically become united in one faith +though far from united in one government. + +{135} + +[Sidenote: The Church in the Frankish kingdoms.] + +With Germany it was different. As the Merwing kingdoms decayed, the +Eastern one, Austrasia, with its capital, Metz, was but a poor bulwark +against heathen tribes on its borders, which were yet, it might seem at +times, little more barbarous than itself. The kingdom of Austrasia +stretched eastwards from Rheims "spreading across the Rhine an unknown +distance into Germany, claiming the allegiance of Thuringians, Alamanni +and Bavarians, fitfully controlling the restless Saxons, touching with +warlike weapons and sometimes vainly striving with the terrible Avars." +[1] Kings of the Bavarian line came to rule in Northern Italy, but +Bavaria was little touched by Christian faith. At last when the +descendants of Arnulf[2] came as kings over a now again united Frankish +monarchy, when Charles Martel made one power of Austrasia, Neustria, +and Burgundy, the time for a new advance seemed to have come. +Theodelind, the Catholic queen of the Lombards, was herself of Bavarian +birth, but a century after her time the people of her native land, it +seems, were still heathen. They were apart from the Roman civilisation +and the Catholic tradition: conversion, to touch them, must be a direct +and aggressive movement. + +At the end of the seventh century S. Rupert began the work. He settled +his episcopal throne at Salzburg. He was followed by Emmeran, and by +Corbinian. Slowly the work proceeded, hindered by violence on the part +of dukes and saints, favoured by popes and making a beginning for Roman +missionary interest in the distant borders of the Empire under the +Germans. + +{136} + +But it was not to these Frankish missionaries, or to Roman envoys, that +the most important work was due. It was due to an outburst of +converting zeal on the part of the newly converted race who had made +Britain the land of the English. + +[Sidenote: Saint Boniface.] + +Of all the great missionaries of the eighth century perhaps the +greatest was Winfrith of Crediton, an Englishman who became the father +of German Christianity and the precursor of the great religious and +intellectual movement of the days of Charles the Great. He followed +the Northumbrian Willibrord who for twenty-six years had laboured in +Frisia, and supported by the commission of Gregory II. he set forth in +719 to preach to the fierce heathens of Germany. He was instructed to +use the Roman rite and to report to Rome any difficulties he might +encounter. He began to labour in Thuringia, a land where Irish +missionaries had already been at work, and where he recalled the +Christians from evil ways into which they had lapsed. He passed on +through Neustria and thence to Frisia, where for three years he +"laboured much in Christ, converting not a few, destroying the heathen +shrines and building Christian oratories," aiding the venerable +Willibrord in the work he had so long carried on. But he felt the call +to labour in lands as yet untouched, and so he determined to go to the +Germans. As he passed up the Rhine he drew to him the boy Gregory +afterwards famous as abbat of Utrecht, and at last he settled in the +forests of Hessen and built a monastery at Amoeneburg. From his old +friends in England he received sound advice as to the treatment of +heathen customs and the gentle methods of conversion which befit the +gospel of {137} Christ. [Sidenote: His mission from Rome, 723.] From +Rome he received affectionate support; and in 722 he was summoned to +receive a new mission from the pope himself. On S. Andrew's Day, +723,[3] after a solemn profession of faith in the Holy Trinity and of +obedience to the Roman See--the first ever taken by one outside the +Roman patriarchate--he was consecrated bishop. He set out with letters +from the pope to Christians of Thuringia and to the duke Charles. +Charles Martel accepted the trust and gave to Winfrith (who had assumed +the name of Boniface) the pledge of his protection. The missionary's +first act on his return to Hessen was to destroy the ancient oak at +Geismar, the object of devotion to the worshippers of the Germanic +gods; and the act was followed by many conversions of those who saw +that heathenism could not resent the attack upon its sacred things. +Still there were difficulties. Those who had learned from the old +Celtic mission were not ready to accept the Roman customs. Gregory II. +wrote in 724, exhorting him to perseverance: "Let not threats alarm +thee, nor terrors cast thee down, but stayed in confidence on God +proclaim the word of truth." The work grew: monasteries and churches +arose: many English helpers came over: the favour of Charles Martel was +a protection. As the Benedictines opened out new lands, ploughed, +built, studied, taught, religion and education spread before him. +[Sidenote: Boniface archbishop, 732.] In 732 Boniface was made +archbishop, received a pallium from Rome, and was encouraged by the new +pope Gregory III. to organise the Church which he had founded and {138} +to spread forth his arms into the land of the Bavarians. There +Christianity had already made some way under Frankish missionaries: it +needed organisation from the hand of a master. He "exercised himself +diligently," says his biographer Willibald, "in preaching, and went +round inspecting many churches." In 738 he paid his last visit to +Rome, where he stayed nearly a year and was treated with extraordinary +respect and affection. On his return he divided Bavaria into the four +dioceses of Salzburg, Regensburg, Freising, and Passau, and later on he +founded other sees also, including Wuerzburg. It was his next aim to do +something to reform the lax morals of the Frankish Church, which had +sunk to a low ebb under the Merwings. The Austrasian Synod, which +bears in some respects a close resemblance to the almost contemporary +English Synod of Clovesho (747), of 742 dealt boldly with these +matters. Other councils followed in which Boniface took a leading +part, and which made a striking reformation. [Sidenote: His missionary +work and martyrdom.] His equally important work was to complete the +conquest of the general spirit of Western Christendom, which looked to +Rome for leadership, over the Celtic missionaries, noble missionaries +and martyrs who yet lacked the instinct of cohesion and solidarity. A +long series of letters, to the popes, to bishops, princes and persons +of importance, shows the breadth of his interests and the nature of his +activity. To "four peoples," he says, he had preached the gospel, the +Hessians, Thuringians, Franks and Bavarians, not to all for the first +time but as a reformer and one who removed heathen influences from the +Church. As Archbishop of Mainz he was untiring even in advanced age: +in politics as well as in {139} religion he was a leader of men. It +was he who anointed Pippin at Soissons in 751 and thus gave the +Church's sanction to the new Karling line. He determined to end his +days as a missionary to the heathen. In 755 he went with a band of +priests and monks once more to the wild Frisians, and at Dokkum by the +northern sea he met his death at the hands of the heathen whom he came +to win to Christ. The day, ever remembered, was June 5, 755. + +Boniface was truly attached to the popes, truly respectful to the Roman +See: but he preserved his independence. His attitude towards the +secular power was precisely similar. He was a great churchman, a great +statesman, a great missionary; but his religious and political opinions +cannot be tied down to the limits of some strict theory. His was a +wide, genial nature, in things spiritual and in things temporal +genuine, sincere; a true Saint, a true Apostle. Through the lives and +sacrifices of such men it was that the Church came to exercise so +profound an influence over the politics of the Middle Age. + +[Sidenote: The Emperors and missions.] + +The work which S. Boniface began was continued by weapons other than +his own. When the Empire of the Romans was revived (as we shall tell +in the next chapter) by the chiefs of the Arnulf house, when a Catholic +Caesar was again acclaimed in the Roman churches, the ideas on which +the new monarchy was to rest were decisively Christian and Catholic. +Charles the son of Pippin was a student of theology, among many other +things. He believed firmly that it was a real kingdom of God which he +was called to form and govern upon earth. The spirit which inspired +the followers of {140} Muhammad inspired him too. He was determined +not to leave to priests and popes the propagation of the faith which he +believed. + +[Sidenote: Charles and the Saxons.] + +For thirty-two years Charles the Great, as his people came to call him, +was engaged in a war which claimed to be waged for the spread of the +Christian faith. Charles was before all things in belief (though not +always in life) a Christian, and it was intolerable to him that within +the German lands should remain a large and powerful body of heathens. +In 772 he marched into the land of the Angarii and destroyed the +Irminsul, a column which was representative of the power which the +Saxons worshipped. It was destroyed, and the army after its victories +returned in triumph. In 774 the Saxons turned the tables and burnt the +abbey of Fritzlar which had been founded by S. Boniface. In 775 +Charles resolved to avenge this loss, but made little progress. In 776 +he was more successful, and a great multitude of Saxons submitted and +were baptized. In 777 there was another great baptism, but, says the +chronicler, the Saxons were perfidious. In 778 when Charles was in +Spain the Saxons devastated a vast tract of land, and even for a time +stole the body of S. Boniface from its tomb at Fulda. Charles crushed +the resistance, and from 780 he set himself to organise the Church in +the Saxon lands, issuing severe edicts which practically enforced +Christianity on the conquered Saxons with the penalty of death for the +performance of pagan rites, and even for eating meat in Lent. A law +was also decreed that all men should give a tenth of their substance +and work to the churches and priests. Still the conquest was not {141} +durable, for a terrible insurrection in 782 slew a whole army of the +Germans and massacred priests and monks wherever they could be found. +Then came years of carnage: once Charles--it is said--caused 4,500 +Saxons to be beheaded in one day. In 793 there was a new outbreak. +The Saxons "as a dog returneth to his vomit so returned they to the +paganism they had renounced, again deserting Christian faith and lying +not less to God than to their lord the king." Churches were destroyed, +bishops and priests slain, and the land was again defiled with blood. +They allied with the Avars, and Charles was thus beset with heathen +foes in Hungary and in North Germany at once. He tried every measure +of devastation and exile; but it seems that by 797 he had come more +clearly to see the Christian way. "Let but the same pains be taken," +he wrote--or the English scholar Alcuin wrote for him--"to preach the +easy yoke and light burden of Christ to the obstinate people of the +Saxons as are taken to collect the tithes from them or to punish the +least transgression of the laws imposed on them, and perhaps they would +be found no longer to repel baptism with abhorrence." But he was far +from always acting up to this view, and he even allied with heathen +Slavs to accomplish the subjugation of his enemies. As he conquered he +mapped out the land in bishoprics and planted monasteries at important +points: he took Saxon boys to his court and sent them back trained, +often as ecclesiastics, to teach and rule. Among such was Ebbo, +afterwards Archbishop of Rheims, the "Apostle of Denmark." From abroad +too came other missionaries, and notable among them was another +Englishman, Willehad of {142} Northumbria, who became in 788 the first +bishop of Bremen. At last Christianity was, at least nominally, in +possession from the Rhine to the Elbe, and in the words of Einhard +"thus they were brought to accept the terms of the king, and thus they +gave up their demon worship, renounced their national religious +customs, embraced the Christian faith, received the divine sacraments, +and were united with the Franks, forming one people." + +Under Charles the organisation of the German Church, begun by Boniface, +received a great extension. It was possible, after his death, to +regard Germany as Christian and as organised in its religion on the +lines of all the Western Churches. + + + +[1] Hodgkin, _Italy and her Invaders_, v. 203. + +[2] See p. 1-14. + +[3] This seems to me the most probable date. Cf. Hauck, +_Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands_, i. 448. + + + + +{143} + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE POPES AND THE REVIVAL OF THE EMPIRE + +[Sidenote: Growth of papal power.] + +The growth of the temporal power of the bishops of Rome was due to two +causes, the withdrawal of the imperial authority from Italy and the +conversion of the barbarians. As the emperors at Constantinople became +more and more busied with affairs Eastern, with the encroachments of +barbarians, heathen and Muhammadan, and the imperial rule in Italy was +destroyed by the Lombards, the popes stood out as the one permanent +institution in Northern and Central Italy. As gradually the barbarians +came to accept the faith they received it at the hands of the great +ecclesiastical organisation which kept together the traditions, so +strangely transformed, of the Old Rome. The legislation of Justinian +also had given great political power to the popes: and this power was +greatly increased when the papacy found itself the leader in the +resistance of the great majority of Christian peoples against the +policy of the Iconoclastic emperors. The history of Rome began to run +on very different lines from that of Venice, Naples, or other great +cities. It became for a while a conflict between the local military +nobility and the clergy under the rule of the pope. The {144} struggle +was a political one, just as the assumption of power by the popes, of +power over the country and a considerable district around it, was a +political act. + +The popes had but very slight relations with the kings of the Merwing +house. It was different when the Karlings came into power. Zacharias, +both directly and through S. Boniface, came into close connection with +Pippin and Carloman. At first he was concerned simply with reform in +the Frankish Church, but before long he found himself able to intervene +in a critical event and to take part in the inauguration of the Karling +House, the revival as it claimed to be of the Empire in the West. + +[Sidenote: The Karling reformation.] + +The growth of the papal power was closely associated with two other +historic events: the growth of the Karling house among the Franks, and +the process of revival in the Church's spiritual activity, showing +itself in missions without and reforms within. The last leads back to +the first. + +Whatever may be thought of the Karling reformation, it cannot be denied +that for the century before Charles assumed the Imperial crown the +Church showed many signs of corruption. The darkness of the picture is +relieved only by the lives of some remarkable saints. + +[Sidenote: The Karling House.] + +The first, of course, is S. Arnulf, Bishop of Metz, the +great-grandfather of Charles Martel. Born about 582, he died in 641, +and the holy simplicity of his life as statesman and priest comes like +a ray of sunshine in the gloom of the days of "half heathen and wholly +vicious" kings. Mr. Hodgkin, with an eye no doubt to modern affairs, +comments thus on the career of the prelate so different from the +greedy, turbulent, and licentious men whom {145} Gregory of Tours +describes: "In reading his life one cannot but feel that in some way +the Frankish nation, or at least the Austrasian part of it, has groped +its way upwards since the sixth century." [Sidenote: S. Arnulf.] Arnulf +was a type of the good bishops of the Middle Ages, strong, able to hold +his own with kings, a friend of the poor, eager to pass from the world +to a quiet eventide in some monastic shade. The tale that is told of +him is typical of the sympathies and passions of his age. Bishop of +Metz, and chief counsellor of Dagobert whose father Chlothochar he had +helped to raise to the throne, when he expressed his wish to retire +from the world the king cried out that if he did he would slay his two +sons. "My sons' lives are in the hands of God," said Arnulf. "Yours +will not last long if you slay the innocent"; and when Dagobert drew +his sword on him he said, "Would you return good for evil? Here am I +ready to die in obedience to Him Who gave me life and Who died for me." +Queen and nobles cried out, and the king fell penitent at the bishop's +feet. Like S. Arnulf's is the romantic figure of his descendant +Carloman, who turned from the rule of kingdoms and the command of +armies to the seclusion of Soracte and Monte Cassino. The "great +renunciation" is a striking tale. The disappearance, the long days of +patient submission to rule, the discovery of the real position of the +humble brother, and then the last dramatic appearance to follow an +unpopular cause, make a story as striking as any which have come to us +from the Middle Age. But before Carloman come many other noble +figures. The fifty years that followed Arnulf's death are but a dreary +tale of anarchy and blood. It is broken here and there {146} by +records of Christian endurance or martyrdom: bishops who tried to serve +the State often served not wisely but too well and met the fate of +unsuccessful political leaders. Leodegar, Bishop of Autun, who helped +Ebroin to raise Theoderic III to the throne of Neustria, was blinded, +imprisoned and at length put to death and appears in the Church's +calendar as S. Leger. + +The crisis came when the long march of the successful Muhammadans was +stayed by the arms of S. Arnulf's descendant Charles Martel, mayor of +the palace to the King of Austrasia 717, to all the kingdoms from 719, +who lived till 741. In 711 the Wisigothic monarchy of Spain had fallen +before the infidels: in 720 the Moors entered Gaul. From then to 731 +there was for Abder Rahman an almost unbroken triumph. The power of +the Prophet reached from Damascus to beyond the Pyrenees. Then Charles +Martel came to the relief of Southern Gaul, and on an October Sunday in +732 the hosts of Islam were utterly routed at Poictiers by the soldiers +of the Cross. [Sidenote: The defeat of the Saracens.] It was a great +deliverance; and there is no wonder that imagination has exaggerated +its importance and thought that but for the Moorish defeat there might +to-day be a muezzin in every Highland steeple and an Imam set over +every Oxford college. Charles had still to reconquer Septimania and +Provence. Arles and Nimes, the great Roman cities, had to be recovered +from the Arabs who had seized them, and Avignon, Agde, Beziers, cities +whose future was as wonderful as was the others' past, were also won +back by the arms of the Christian chief. + +Charles died in 741. He had refused to help Pope {147} Gregory III. in +739 against the Lombards. It was reserved for his son Pippin to make +that alliance between the papacy and the Karling house which dictated +the future of Europe. [Sidenote: Pippin.] To Pippin came the lordship +of the West Franks, to Carloman his brother that of the East Franks, +when their father died. They conquered, they reformed the Church among +the Franks, with the aid of Boniface, and then came that dramatic +retirement of Carloman in 747 which showed him to be true heir of S. +Arnulf. Four years later the house of the Karlings became the nominal +as well as the real rulers of the Franks. In 751 the bishop of +Wuerzburg for the East Franks, and the abbat of S. Denis for those of +the West, went to Rome to ask the pope's advice. Were the wretched +Merwings "who were of royal race and were called kings but had no power +in the realm save that grants and charters were drawn up in their +names" to be still called kings, for "what willed the _major domus_ of +the Franks, that they did?" Zacharias answered as a wise man would, +that he who had the power should bear the name. And so, blessed by the +great missionary S. Boniface, Pippin was "heaved" on the shield, and +became king of the Franks, and Childerich, the last of the Merwings, +went to a distant monastery to end his days. + +[Sidenote: The end of the Imperial power in Italy.] + +But this was only a beginning. The pope was threatened by the +barbarians, neglected by the emperors who reigned at Constantinople, +and at last was in actual conflict with those who tried to impose +Iconoclasm upon the Church. In 751 the exarchate, the representation +of the Imperial power in Italy, with its seat at Ravenna, was +overwhelmed by the {148} arms of Aistulf, the Lombard king. The time +had come, thought Pope Stephen II. (752-7), when the distant +barbarians, now orthodox, should be called to save the patrimony of S. +Peter from the barbarians near at hand. In S. Peter's name letters +summoned Pippin to the rescue of the church especially dear to the +Franks.[1] But before this Stephen had made Pippin his friend. In 753 +he left Rome and failing to win from Aistulf any concession to the +Imperial power made his way across the Alps, and on the Feast of the +Epiphany, 754, met in their own land Pippin and his son who was to be +Charles the Great. The pope fell at the king's feet and besought him +by the mercies of God to save the Romans from the hands of the +Lombards. Then Pippin and all his lords held up their hands in sign of +welcome and support. Then Stephen on July 28, 754, in the great +monastery which was to become the crowning-place of Frankish kings, +anointed Pippin and his sons Charles and Carloman as king of the Franks +and kings in succession. + +[Sidenote: The crowning of Pippin.] + +A point of special interest in this event is the title given to Pippin +at his crowning at Saint Denis. The title of Patrician of the Romans +was given by the pope, as commissioned by the emperor, "to act against +the king of the Lombards for the recovery of the lost lands of the +Empire." Pippin was made the officer of the distant emperor, and the +pope would say as little as possible about the rights of him who ruled +in Constantinople, and as much as he could about the Church which ruled +in Rome. It was a step in the assertion of {149} political rights for +the Roman Church. A new order of things was springing up in Italy. +The popes were asserting a political power as belonging to S. Peter. +They were asserting that the exarchate had ceased in political theory +as well as in practical fact. In this new order Pippin was to be +involved as supporter of the protectorate which the papacy assumed to +itself. + +Then the Franks came forward to save Rome from the Lombards. The last +act of the romantic life of Carloman was to plead for justice to +Aistulf,--that what he had won should not be taken from him,--and to be +refused. Twice Pippin came south and saved the pope: and then the +cities he had won he refused to give up to the envoys of the distant +emperor and declared that "never should those cities be alienated from +the power of S. Peter and the rights of the Roman Church and the +pontiff of the Apostolic See." From this dates the Roman pope's +independence of the Roman emperor, the definite political severance of +Italy from the East, and therefore a great stop towards the schism of +the Church. Iconoclasm and the independence of the popes alike worked +against the unity of Christendom. + +[Sidenote: The papal power.] + +Pope Stephen, thanks to Pippin, had become the arbitrator of Italy. +The keys of Ravenna and of the twenty-two cities which "stretched along +the Adriatic coast from the mouths of the Po to within a few miles of +Ancona and inland as far as the Apennines" were laid on the tomb of S. +Peter. The "States of the Church" began their long history, the +history of "the temporal power." + +And this new power was seen outside Italy as well {150} as within. +From the eighth century, at least, the popes are found continually +intervening in the affairs of the churches among the Franks and the +Germans, granting privileges, giving indulgence, writing with explicit +claim to the authority which Christ gave to S. Peter. Into the +recesses of Gaul, among Normans at Rouen, among Lotharingians at Metz, +to Amiens, or Venice, or Limoges, the papal letters penetrated; and +their tone is that of confidence that advice will be respected or +commands obeyed. And this is, in small matters especially, rather than +in great. The popes at least claimed to interfere everywhere in +Christian Europe and in everything.[2] Within Italy events moved +quickly. + +The first step towards a new development was the destruction of the +Lombard kingdom by Charles, who succeeded his father Pippin in 768. At +first joint ruler with his brother he became on the latter's death in +771 sole king of all the Franks. In 772 Hadrian I., a Roman, ambitious +and distinguished, succeeded the weak Stephen III. on the papal throne. +He reigned till 795 and one of his first acts was to summon Charles and +the Franks to his rescue against the Lombards. [Sidenote: Charles the +Great and Rome.] In the midst of his conquests--which it is not here +our part to tell--Charles spent the Holy Week and Easter of 774 at +Rome. Thus the one contemporary authority tells the tale of the great +alliance which was made on the Wednesday in Easter week: "On the fourth +day of the week the aforesaid pontiff with all his nobles both clerkly +and knightly went forth to S. Peter's Church and there {151} meeting +the king in colloquy earnestly prayed him and with paternal affection +admonished him to fulfil entirely that promise which his father of holy +memory the dead king Pippin had made, and which he himself with his +brother Carloman and all the nobles of the Franks had confirmed to S. +Peter and his vicar Pope Stephen II. of holy memory when he visited +Francia, that they would grant divers cities and territories in that +province of Italy to S. Peter and his vicars for ever. And when +Charles had caused the promise which was made in Francia at a place +called Carisiacum (Quierzy) to be read over to him all its contents +were approved by him and his nobles. And of his will and with a good +and gracious mind that most excellent and most Christian king Charles +caused another promise of gift like the first to be drawn up by +Etherius his most religious and prudent chaplain and notary, and in +this he gave the same cities and lands to S. Peter and promised that +they should be handed over to the pope with their boundaries set forth +as is contained in the aforesaid donation, namely: From Luna with the +island of Corsica, thence to Surianum, thence to Mount Bardo, that is +to Vercetum, thence to Parma, thence to Pihegium, and from thence to +Mantua and Mons Silicis, together with the whole exarchate of Ravenna, +as it was of old, and the provinces of the Venetia and Istria; together +with the whole duchy of Spoletium and that of Beneventum." [3] The +donation was confirmed, says the chronicler, with the most solemn oaths. + +Now if this records the facts, and if two-thirds of Italy were given by +Charles (who possessed very little {152} of it) to the popes, it is +almost incredible that his later conduct should have shown that he did +not pay any regard to it. But the question is of political rather than +ecclesiastical interest, and it may suffice to say that there are very +strong reasons for believing the passage to be a later interpolation.[4] + +[Sidenote: The revival of the Empire, 800.] + +Within four mouths Charles had subdued the Lombards and become "rex +Francorum et Langobardorum atque patricius Romanorum." For nearly a +quarter of a century Charles was employed in other parts of his empire: +he dealt friendly but firmly with the pope; but he kept away from Rome. +But in 799 the new pope Leo III., attacked by the Romans probably for +some harshness in his rule, fled from the city and in July came to +Charles at Paderborn to entreat his help. It is probable that the +great English scholar, Alcuin, who has been called the Erasmus of the +eighth century, had already suggested to the great king that the +weakness of the Eastern emperors was a real defeasance of power and +that the crown imperial might be his own. However that may be Charles +came to Rome and made a triumphal entry on November 24, 800. The +charges against the pope were heard and he swore to his innocence. On +the feast of the Nativity, in the basilica of S. Peter, when Charles +had worshipped at the _confessio_, the tomb of S. Peter, Leo clothed +him with a purple robe and set a crown of gold upon his head. "Then +all the faithful Romans beholding so great a champion given them and +the love which {153} he bore towards the holy Roman Church and its +vicar, in obedience to the will of God and S. Peter the key-bearer of +the kingdom of heaven, cried with one accord in sound like thunder 'To +Charles the most pious Augustus, crowned of God, the Emperor great and +peaceable, life and victory!'" + +Thus the Roman pope and the Roman people claimed to make anew in Rome +the Roman Empire with a German for Caesar and Augustus. It was not, if +we believe Charles's own close friend Einhard, a distinction sought by +the new emperor himself. "At first he so disliked the title of +_Imperator_ and _Augustus_ that he declared that if he had known before +the intention of the pope he would never have entered the church on +that day, though it was one of the most holy festivals of the year." +[5] It may well be that Charles, who had corresponded with the Caesars +of the East, hesitated to take a step of such bold defiance. Men still +preserved the memories of how the soldiers of Justinian had won back +Italy from the Goths. Nor was Charles pleased to receive such a gift +at the hands of the pope. He did not recognise the right of a Roman +pontiff to give away the imperial crown. What could be given could be +taken away. It was a precedent of evil omen. + +But none the less the coronation of Charles the Great, as men came to +call him, was the greatest event in the Middle Age. It allowed the +vitality of the idea of empire which the West inherited from the +Romans, and it showed that idea linked to the new power of the popes. +It founded the Holy Roman Empire. Twelve years later the Empire of the +West won some sort of recognition from the Empire of the East. In 812 +an ambassage from Constantinople came {154} to Charles at Aachen, and +Charles was hailed by them as Imperator and Basileus. The Empire of +the West was an accomplished and recognised fact. + +[Sidenote: Results of the revived Empire.] + +Its significance was at least as much religious as poetical. Charles +delighted in the works of S. Augustine and most of all in the _De +Civitate Dei_; and that great book is the ideal of a Christian State, +which shall be Church and State together, and which replaces the Empire +of pagan Rome. The abiding idea of unity had been preserved by the +Church: it was now to be strengthened by the support of a head of the +State. The one Christian commonwealth was to be linked together in the +bond of divine love under one emperor and one pope. That Constantine +the first Christian emperor had given to the popes the sovereignty of +the West was a fiction which it seems was already known at Rome: +Hadrian seems to have referred to the strange fable when he wrote to +Charles the Great in 777. It was a legend very likely of Eastern +fabrication, and it was probably not as yet believed to have any claim +to be authentic; but when the papacy had grown great at the expense of +the Empire it was to be a powerful weapon in the armoury of the popes. +Now it served only, with the revival of learning at the court of +Charles the Great, to illustrate two sides of the great movement for +the union of Europe under two monarchs, the spiritual and the temporal. +The coronation of Charles was indeed a fact the importance of which, as +well as the conflicts which would inevitably flow from it, lay in the +future. But it showed the Roman Church great, and it showed the +absorption of the great Teutonic race in the fascinating ideal of unity +at once Christian and imperial. + + + +[1] _Cod. Car._ in Muratori, _Rer. Ital. Script._, iii. (2) 90. + +[2] Cf. Dr. J. von Pflugk-Hartung, _Acta Pontificum Romanorum inedita_, +1880, 1884. + +[3] _Liber Pontificalis_, i. 498. + +[4] The question may be read in Mgr. Duchesne's Introduction to the +_Liber Pontificalis_, ccxxxvii.-ccxlii.; and Dr. Hodgkin, _Italy and +her Invaders_, vii. 387-97. + +[5] _Liber Pontificalis_, ii. 6. + + + + +{155} + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE ICONOCLASTIC CONTROVERSY + +We have spoken already of two important periods in the history of the +Eastern Church. We must now briefly sketch another. + +[Sidenote: Sketch of the period, 725-847.] + +The third period (725-847) is that of Iconoclasm. Of this, the +originator was the emperor Leo III., one of those soldiers who +endeavour to apply to the sanctuary the methods of the parade-ground. +He issued a decree against the reverence paid to icons (religious +images and pictures), and, in 729, replaced the patriarch S. Germanus +by the more supple Anastasius; a docile assembly of bishops at Hieria, +under Constantine V. (Copronymus), passed a decree against every image +of the Lord, the Virgin, and the saints. A fierce persecution +followed, which was hardly ended before the accession to power of +Irene, widow of Leo IV., under whom assembled the Seventh General +Council at Nicae in 787, a Council to which the West and the distant +East sent representatives. This Council decreed that icons should be +used and receive veneration (_proskuesis_) as did the Cross and the +book of the Gospels. A persecution followed, as bitter as that of the +iconoclastic emperors, and the troubled years of the first half of the +ninth century, stained in Byzantium by every crime, found almost their +only brightness in the patriarchate (843-7) of S. Methodius, a wise +ruler, an {156} orthodox theologian, a charitable man. In Antioch and +Jerusalem, about the same period, orthodox patriarchs were +re-established by the toleration of the Ommeyads and the earlier +Abbasaides; but on the European frontiers of the Empire conversion was +at a standstill during the whole period of iconoclastic fury and +reaction, while in the north-east of Syria and in Armenia the heresy of +the Paulicians (Adoptianism) spread and flourished, and the +Monophysites still throve on the Asiatic borders. In theology the +Church of Constantinople was still strong, as is shown by the great +work of S. Theodore of the Studium, famous as a hymn-writer, a +liturgiologist, and a defender of the faith. + +Such are the facts, briefly summarised, of the history of rather more +than a century in the East. But we must examine more attentively the +meaning of the great strife which divided the Eastern Church. + +[Sidenote: The orthodox doctrine of images.] + +The orthodox doctrine, as it is now defined, is this--that "the icons +are likenesses engraved or painted in oil on wood or stone or any sort +of metal, of our Saviour Christ, of the Mother of God, and of the holy +men who from Adam have been well-pleasing to God. From earliest times +the icons have been used not only to give internal dignity and beauty +to every Christian church and house, but, which is much more essential, +for the instruction and moral education of Christians. For when any +Christian looks at the icons, he at once recalls the life and deeds of +those who are represented upon them, and desires to conform himself to +their example. On this account also the Church decreed in early times +that due reverence should always be paid {157} by Christians to the +holy icons, which honour of course is not rendered to the picture +before our eyes, but to the original of the picture." This statement +represents the views of the orthodox Eastern theologians of the eighth +as clearly as it does the teaching of the nineteenth century. It +represents also the opinions of the popes contemporary with the +Iconoclastic movement, who withstood the emperors to the face. Leo was +threatened by Gregory II., and the patriarch who had yielded to the +storm, Anastasius, was excommunicated. The pope advocated, in clear +dogmatic language, the use of images for instruction of the ignorant +and encouragement of the faithful. In Greece there was something like +a revolution, but it was sternly repressed. [Sidenote: The acceptance +in the West.] In 731 a council, at which the archbishops of Ravenna and +Grado were present, and ninety-three other Italian prelates, with a +large representation of the laity, under Pope Gregory III., ordered +that if anyone should stand forth as "a destroyer, profaner, and +blasphemer against the veneration of the holy images, that is of Christ +and His sinless Mother, of the blessed Apostles and the Saints, he +should be excluded from the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and from +all the unity and fabric of the Church." The answer to this, it would +seem, was the separation of the Illyrian territories and sees from the +Roman patriarchate, as well as the sees in Sicily and Calabria: the +pope's authority was restricted to the territory of the exarchate, +including Rome, Venice and Ravenna. In Constantinople the resistance +of the people to the Iconoclastic decrees was met by a bitter +persecution, which Constantine V. began in 761. Under {158} his father +Leo III. the virgin Theodosia was martyred, who is revered among the +most popular of the Saints in Constantinople to-day. [Sidenote: The +Iconoclastic persecution.] The position of the people who clung to +their old ways of worship in the eighth century was indeed not unlike +that of those who to-day struggle on, always in dread of active +persecution, under the Muhammadan rule. Muhammadanism, with its stern +suppression of all representation of things divine or human, was +believed to have been one of the suggesting forces which brought about +the Iconoclastic movement. Leo III. had been brought into intimate +association with the Saracens; and it was said in his own day that he +had learned his fury against images from one of them. The tale was a +fable, but it showed how entirely Leo's action was contrary to the +religious feeling of his time. + +[Sidenote: Iconoclastic theology.] + +It is difficult perhaps for a Western, or at least an Anglican, to-day +to form a just estimate of the strong feeling of the majority of the +Eastern Christians in favour of "image-worship." It is easy to see how +the stern simplicity of the Muhammadan worship, which in all the +strength of the creed that carried its disciples in triumphant march +over continents and over ancient civilisations was present to the eyes +of the soldiers of Heraclius and Leo, appealed to all those who knew +the power and the need of stern self-restraint. That Islam should seem +to be more spiritual than Christianity seemed irony indeed, but an +irony which seemed to have facts to prove it. An age of superstition, +an age of credulous limits after the miraculous, an age when +materialism made rapid progress among {159} the courtiers of the great +city, was an age, it might well seem, which needed a protest against +"iconoduly," as the iconoclasts termed the custom of the Eastern +Church. And if the controversy could have been kept away from the +field of pure theology it might well have been that an Iconoclastic +victory would not have been other than a benefit to religion. Leo was +content to replace the crucifix by a cross. But it is impossible to +sunder the symbol from the doctrine, and the Greeks would never rest +satisfied with a definition, still less with a practical change, +without probing to its inner meaning. This feeling was expressed in +form philosophical and theological by one of the last of the great +Greek Fathers, S. John Damascene, and by the united voice of the Church +in the decision of the Seventh General Council. + +[Sidenote: S. John Damascene.] + +S. John of Damascus, who died about 760, was clear in his acceptance of +all the Councils of the Church, clear in his rejection of Monophysitism +and Monothelitism. He described in clear precision the two natures in +one hypostasis, the two wills, human and Divine, with a wisdom and +knowledge related to each; but he was equally clear that the composite +personality involves a _communicatio idiomatum_ (_antidosis +idiomaton_). The human nature taken up into the Divine received the +glory of the Divinity: the Divine "imparts to the human nature of its +own glories, remaining itself impassible and without share in the +passions of humanity." S. John Damascene taught then that our Lord's +humanity was so enriched by the Divine Word as to know the future, +though this knowledge was only manifested progressively as He increased +in age, and {160} that only for our sakes did He progressively manifest +His knowledge. While he declared that each Nature in the Divine Person +had its will, he explained that the One Person directed both, and that +His Divine will was the determinant will. It might well seem that in +his desire to avoid Nestorianism he did not attach so full a meaning to +our Lord's advance in human knowledge as did some of the earlier +Fathers. But the practical bearing of S. John's writings was in direct +relation to the great controversy of his age, to which he devoted three +addresses in particular. He defined the "worship" of the icons as all +based upon the worship of Christ, and attacked iconoclasm as involving +ultimately an assault upon the doctrine of the Incarnation. On this +ground S. Theodore of the Studium and Nicephorus the patriarch of +Constantinople, who was driven from his see by the emperor, are at one +with S. John Damascene. + +[Sidenote: S. Theodore of the Studium.] + +Theodore of the Studium occupies a place in Greek thought which is, +perhaps, comparable to that of S. Anselm in the Latin Church. If there +never was anything in the East exactly corresponding to the era of the +schoolmen in the West, if the theology of Byzantium throughout might +seem to be a scholasticism, but a scholasticism apart, still it would +not be untrue to describe S. Theodore as the last of the Greek Fathers. +He came at a time in Byzantine history when a great crisis was before +the Church and State, so closely conjoined in the Eastern Empire. Born +in the last half of the eighth century, and dying on November 11th, +826, Theodore lived through the most vital period of the Iconoclastic +struggle, and he left, in his {161} theological and familiar writings, +the most important memorial of the orthodox position which he did so +much to render victorious. + +Theodore of the Studium is a striking example of the influence of +environment, tradition, and _esprit de corps_. His life is +inextricably bound up with the history, and his opinions were +indubitably formed to a very large extent by the influence, of the +great monastery of S. John Baptist of the Studium, founded towards the +close of the fourth century by Fl. Studius, a Roman patrician, the +remains of which still charm the traveller who penetrates through the +obscurest part of Constantinople to the quarter of Psamatia. The house +was dedicated to S. John Baptist, and according to the Russian +traveller, Antony of Novgorod, it contained special relics of the +Precursor. A later description shows the extreme beauty, seclusion, +severity of the place, surrounded by cypress trees and looking forth on +the great city which was mistress of the world. Even to-day the +splendid columns which still remain and the impressive beauty of the +crypt make the church, though in an almost ruinous condition, a +striking object in Constantinople. The monastery first became famous +as the home of the Akoimetai, or Sleepless Monks, (as they were called +from their hours of prayer,) when they withstood the heresies of the +later fifth century,[1] and fell themselves into error, but from the +date of the Fifth General Council to the outbreak of the Iconoclastic +controversy they remained in comparative obscurity. + +The era of Iconoclasm, which did so much to devastate the East, and +which, by the emigration of some {162} 50,000 Christians, cleric and +lay, to Calabria, exercised so important an influence on the history of +Southern Italy, might have cast a fatal blight on the Church in +Constantinople had it not been for the stand made by the Monks of the +Studium. [Sidenote: The Monks of the Studium and the Iconoclastic +Controversy.] The age of the Iconoclasts was the golden age of the +Studite monks. Persecuted, expelled from their house by Constantine +Copronymus, they were restored at his death in 775, but had dwindled, +it seems, to the number of twelve. A new era of power began for them +under their Archimandrite Sabbas, and this was increased by his +successor, Theodore, whose life covered the period of the greatest +theological importance in the history of Iconoclasm. When the +patriarchal see was held for seven-and-twenty years by Iconoclasts, +Theodore upheld the spirits of his brethren, and even in exile +contrived to be their indefatigable leader and support. His was never +a submissive, but always an active resistance to the imperial attempt +to dragoon the Church, and a typical audacity was the solemn procession +with all the monastery's icons, the monks singing the hymn "_Ten +achranton eikona sou proskunoumen_, _agathe_" which caused his +expulsion. His exile produced a series of impressive letters in which, +with every vigour and cogency of argument of which a logical Greek was +capable, he exhorted, encouraged, and consoled those who, like himself, +remained steadfast to their faith. The Studium gave, too, its actual +martyrs, James and Thaddeus, to the traditional belief; and Theodore in +exile, who would gladly have borne them company in their death, +commemorated their heroism and {163} implored their intercessions. +Theodore's whole life was one of resistance, active or passive, to the +attempt of the emperors to dictate the Church's Creed; and though he +did not live to see the conclusion of the conflict, its final result +was largely due to his persistent and strenuous efforts. For a while +after his death there is silence over the history of the Studites, +till, in 844, we find them bringing back his body in solemn triumph +from the island of Prinkipo. Till the middle of the ninth century they +remained a potent force; from that time up to the capture of +Constantinople by the Turks, if they retained their fame, their +activity was diminished. + +[Sidenote: The rule of the Studium.] + +Professor Marin[2] has collected interesting details from many sources +as to the rule of the house, its dress, liturgical customs, learning, +discipline. The liturgy was said at six on days when the fast lasted +till nine, at three on other days; and the monks were expected to +communicate daily. While the house was essentially a learned society, +a community of sacred scholars, Theodore stands out from its whole +annals as a great preacher, and no less for the charm of his personal +character. It was he, fitly, who gave to the house that special Rule, +which stood in the same relation to the general customary observance by +Eastern monks of that somewhat vague series of laws known as "the Rule +of Basil," that the reform of Odo of Cluny stood to the work of S. +Benedict himself. It was an eminently sensible codification of +floating custom in regard to monastic life. All that Theodore did--and +this applies with special force to the sermons which he {164} +preached--seems to have been eminently practical, charitable, and sane. +There is an underlying force of the same kind in the argument of his +three _Antirrhetici_, in which he triumphantly vindicates the worship +of Christ in His Godhead and His manhood as being inseparable and +essential to the true knowledge of the faith as it is in Jesus. There +can be no rivalry between icon and prototype: "The worship of the image +is worship of Christ, because the image is what it is in virtue of +likeness to Christ." + +This was the point on which the orthodox met the theologians who +defended iconoclasm: the iconoclasts in seeking to destroy all images +were seen to strike at a vital truth of the Incarnation, the true +humanity of Jesus. The theologians demanded the preservation and +worship,--reverence rather than worship in the modern English use of +the words,--of the icons as a security for the remembrance of the +Manhood of the Lord. The worship was not _latreia_, which can be paid +to God alone, but _proskunesis schetike_. Christ, said S. Theodore, +was in danger of losing the quality of being man if not seen and +worshipped in an image. + +The long dispute ended, as we have said, after the accession of the +Empress Irene, who, unworthy though she was to have part in any great +religious movement, yet had always been attached to the traditional +opinions of the Greek people. The monks of Constantinople had +exercised a steady influence during all the years of disturbance: and +they were to triumph. [Sidenote: The Seventh General Council, 787.] +The Empress Irene replaced the patriarch Paul in 783 by her own +secretary Tarasius, and it was determined at once to reverse the +decrees that {165} had been passed at Constantinople in 754. In 787 +for the second time a council met at Nicaea, across the Sea of Marmora, +which became recognised as the Seventh General Council. To it came +representatives of East and West, and the decision which was arrived at +was practically that of the whole Church. + +The persecution of the orthodox was renewed for a time under Leo V. +(813-20), and it is said that more perished in his time than in that of +Constantine V. Theophilus (829-42) was almost equally hostile. It was +not till his widow Theodora assumed the reins of power in 842 as regent +for her son that the final triumph of orthodoxy was assured; and this +was followed by the five years' patriarchate of S. Methodius, a man of +peace and of wisdom. + +To some the action of the emperors in attacking image worship has +seemed a serious attempt at social reform, an endeavour to raise the +standard of popular worship, and through that to affect the people +themselves intellectually, morally, and spiritually. But history has +spoken conclusively of the violence with which the attempt was made, +and theology has decisively pronounced against its dogmatic assertions. + +The long controversy is important in the history of the Church because +it so clearly expresses the character of the Eastern Church, so +decisively demonstrates its intense devotion to the past, and so +expressively illustrates the close attachment, the abiding influence, +of the people and the monks, as the dominant factor in the development +of theology and religious life. + + + +[1] See above, pp. 8, 14. + +[2] _De Studio Coenobio Constantinopolitano_, Paris, 1897. + + + + +{166} + +CHAPTER XV + +LEARNING AND MONASTICISM + +Something has been said in earlier chapters of the relation of several +great Churchmen towards education, towards the ancient classics, and +towards the studies of their own times. Something has been said, too, +in the last chapter, of Greek monastic life. The period which begins +with the eighth century deserves a longer mention, inadequate though it +be; for there was over a great part of Europe in the days of Charles +the Great a veritable literary renaissance which broke upon the long +period which men have called the dark ages with a ray of light. + +[Sidenote: Learning at the court of Charles the Great.] + +Charles the Great had all the interests of a scholar. He knew Latin +well and Greek passably. He delighted to listen to the deeds of the +past, or to theological treatises, when he dined, after the fashion of +monks. His interest in learning centred in his interest in the +teaching and services of the Church. Most reverently, we are told by +his biographer, and with the utmost piety did he cultivate the +Christian religion with which he had been imbued from his infancy. He +was a constant church-goer, a regular worshipper at the mass. Near to +his religious interest was his interest in education. A famous letter +of his to the abbats of monasteries {167} throughout the Empire, +written in 787, is a salient example of the close connection between +learning and monasticism in his day. He urged that "letters" should be +studied, students selected and taught, that all the clergy should teach +children freely, and that every monastery and cathedral church should +have a theological school. "Although right doing is better than right +speaking," he wrote, "yet must the knowledge of what is right go before +the doing of it." + +What he tried to do throughout his empire was a reflection of what he +did in his own court. He delighted to surround himself at Aachen with +learned men. Most notable among them were Paul the Deacon, the +historian of the Lombards, and Alcuin the Northumbrian whom he had met +in Italy and whom he made prominent among his counsellors. + +Charles, says Einhard, spent much time and labour in learning from +Alcuin, and that not only in religion, but "in rhetoric and dialectic +and especially astronomy"; and he "carefully reformed the manner of +reading and singing; for he was thoroughly instructed in both, though +he never read publicly himself, nor sang except in a low voice, and +with the rest of the congregation." + +[Sidenote: Alcuin of Northumbria.] + +Alcuin connects the learning of England with the revival on the +Continent. He had been trained in the school at York by Archbishop +Egbert, who was himself a pupil of Bede. He had studied the ancient +classics in Greek as well as Latin and knew at least a little of +Hebrew. The library at York is known to have contained books in all +those languages, and Aristotle was among them. Vergil, he said, when +he was a boy he cared more for [Transcriber's note: a line appears to +be missing here] than the vigils of the Church and the chanting of the +{168} psalms. About 782 he took charge of the schools which Charles +had founded at his court, and he became a very close friend and trusted +adviser of the emperor himself. With him (but for a short return to +England) he lived till in 796 he had leave to retire to Tours, where he +was abbat of the great monastery of S. Martin, and where he died in +804. He was a great teacher; a writer of books of education and books +of Church practice, of lives of the saints, of hymns, epigrams, +prayers, controversial tracts; a compiler of summaries of patristic +teaching; a leader in the reform of monastic houses. Among the many +notable points in his career, as illustrating the life of learned +churchmen of his age, are two especially to be observed. The first is +his "humanism." He was a scholar of an ancient type; and the society +in which he lived delighted to believe itself classical as well as +Christian. In a contemporary description of the life at Charles's +court Alcuin is called "Flaccus" and is described as "the glory of our +bards, mighty to shout forth his songs, keeping time with his lyric +foot, moreover a powerful sophist, able to prove pious doctrines out of +Holy Scripture, and in genial jest to propose or solve puzzles of +arithmetic." As a theologian he was most famous for his books against +Felix of Urgel and Elipandus of Toledo, on the subject of the +Adoptianist heresy (see above, ch. vi), and there is no doubt that his +was an important influence in the Council of Frankfort which condemned +them. The second is his attitude towards the monastic life. He +admired the monastic life, but he had not been trained as a strict +Benedictine, indeed he was probably no more than a secular in deacon's +orders. He held abbeys as their superior, just as many {169} laymen +did; but he never seems to have been inclined to take upon him any +strict rule. His example shows how natural was the next step in +monastic history which is associated with the abbey of Cluny. + +[Sidenote: The schools of Europe.] + +In Alcuin England was linked to the wider world of Christendom. This +has been summarily expressed by a great English historian thus: "The +schools of Northumbria had gathered in the harvest of Irish learning, +of the Franco-Gallican schools still subsisting and preserving a +remnant of classical character in the sixth century, and of Rome, +itself now barbarised. Bede had received instruction from the +disciples of Chad and Cuthbert in the Irish studies of the Scriptures, +from Wilfrid and Acca in the French and Roman learning, and from +Benedict Biscop and Albinus in the combined and organised discipline of +Theodore. By his influence with Egbert, the school of York was +founded, and in it was centred nearly all the wisdom of the West, and +its great pupil was Alcuin. Whilst learning had been growing in +Northumbria, it had been declining on the Continent; in the latter days +of Alcuin, the decline of English learning began in consequence of the +internal dissensions of the kings, and the early ravages of the +Northmen. Just at the same time the Continent was gaining peace and +organisation under Charles. Alcuin carried the learning which would +have perished in England into France and Germany, where it was +maintained whilst England relapsed into the state of ignorance from +which it was delivered by Alfred. Alcuin was rather a man of learning +and action than of genius and contemplation like Bede, but his power of +organisation and of teaching was great, and his services {170} to +religion and literature in Europe, based indeed on the foundation of +Bede, were more widely extended and in themselves inestimable." [1] + +[Sidenote: John Scotus.] + +Side by side with the career of Alcuin, of which much is known, may be +placed that of another scholar who was at least equally influential, +but of whose life little is known. John the Scot, whose thought +exercised a profound influence on the ages after his death, was one of +the Irish scholars whom the famous schools of that island produced as +late as the ninth century. He became attached to the court of Charles +the Bald, as Alcuin had been to that of Charles the Great. He became +like Alcuin a prominent defender of the faith, being invited by +Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims, to answer the monk Gottschalk's +exaggerated doctrine of predestination, which went much farther than S. +Augustine, and might be described as Calvinist before Calvin; but his +arguments were also considered unsound, and his opinions were condemned +in later synods. The argument that, evil being the negation of good, +God could not know it, for with Him to know is to cause, was certainly +weak if not formally heretical, and his subtleties seemed to the +theologians of his time to be merely ineptitudes. He was also, it is +at least probable, engaged in the controversy on the doctrine of the +Holy Eucharist which began about this time, originating in the treatise +of Paschasius Radbertus, _de Sacramento Corporis et Sanguinis Christi_. +In 1050 a treatise bearing John the Scot's name was condemned; but it +seems that this was really written by Ratramnus of Corbie. The view of +Radbert was that which was {171} afterwards formalised into +Transubstantiation. The view attributed to John was a clear denial of +any materialising doctrine of the Sacrament. Later writers say that +John returned to England, taught in the abbey school at Malmesbury, the +famous school originated by Irish monks and illustrated by the fame of +S. Aldhelm, and there died. His chief work was the _de Divisione +Naturae_, in which he seems to anticipate much later philosophic +argument (notably that of S. Anselm and Descartes as to the existence +of God) and to have been the precursor if not the founder of Nominalism. + +With John the Scot it is clear that both the old literature and +philosophy survived and were fruitful and that new interests, which +would carry theology into further developments, were arising. A +revival of learning was naturally the growth of the monastic system; +but that system was itself far from secure at the time of which we +speak. + +[Sidenote: The Benedictine rule.] + +The Benedictine rule did not win its way over Europe without some +checks; nor was it always able to retain its hold in an age of general +disorder. Much depended upon the abbat in each particular house. In +Gaul, the rule of S. Columban had made him absolute. But such a +submission was never accepted in central and southern Gaul. From the +end of the sixth century it is clear that monasticism was beginning to +slacken its devotion. The history of the monastery of S. Radegund as +given by Gregory of Tours shows this; so does the letter of Gregory the +Great to Brunichild. Nor did the milder rule of S. Benedict long +remain unaltered in practice. + +A new revival is connected with the names of Odo and Cluny. + +{172} + +[Sidenote: The decay of monasticism in the ninth century.] + +Saint Odo emerges from an age in which the most striking feature was +the reassertion of the imperial power and the imperial idea. The ninth +century, as it began, witnessed a remarkable revival, the revival of a +decayed and dormant institution--the Roman Empire--in whose ashes there +had yet survived the fire which had inspired the rulers of the world in +the past. The great idea of imperialism was reborn in the person of a +man of extraordinary physical and mental power, a sovereign who, while +he had not a little of the weaknesses of his age, had also in a +remarkable degree centred in himself its highest philosophic +aspirations. The early ninth century is dominated by the figure of +Charles the Great. The result was inevitable. Lay power, lay +over-lordship or supremacy, extends everywhere, intrudes into the +recesses of monastic life, and dictates even in things purely +spiritual. And as the new tide of barbarian invasion, Saracen or +Norman, sweeps on in Spain or Gaul, the Church, for very physical +needs, seeks refuge under the protection of lay barons, princes, and +kings. Feudalism is rising. The monastic houses fall often under the +arrogant rule of lay abbats. And the popes, not rarely a prey +themselves to the vices of the age, sink into impotence and become +enmeshed in worldly, often shameful, intrigue and disorder. The canons +of Church councils show that it was below as it was above. Secularity +was general, vice was far from rare. + +The Divine spirit and the past history of Christianity made it certain +that a revival of life must come. The dry bones would feel the breath +and would live {173} again. [Sidenote: S. Odo.] On the borders of the +lands of Maine and Anjou was born in 879, of a line of feudal barons, +Odo, the regenerator of monasticism, the ultimate reviver of the +papacy, the spiritual progenitor of Hildebrand himself. Promised to +God at his birth, he was long held back by his father for knighthood +and the life of a warrior such as he himself had led; a grievous +sickness gave him, on his recovery, to the monastic life. The disciple +alike of S. Martin and S. Benedict, he took inspiration from them to +revive the strict monastic rule. From a canon he became a monk, after +a noviciate at Baume, the foundation of Columban in the wild and +beautiful valley between the Seille and the Dard, in the diocese of +Besancon. For a time he tasted the life of the anchorite and the +coenobite. Then he passed to the abbey of Cluny, founded in 910 by +William of Aquitaine in the mountains above the valley of the Grosne, +and ruled till 927 by Berno, who came himself from Baume. On his death +Odo became abbat; and to him the great development of the revival of +strict monasticism is due. + +[Sidenote: Cluny.] + +Cluny became the type of the exempted abbeys, and the highest +representative of the monastic privileges. It embodied in itself the +best expression of the resistance to feudalism; it became the most +powerful support of the papacy and of the much-needed movement for the +reform of the Church. The first necessity of the new monasticism was +an absolute independence of the lay power. Thus the founder attached +it from the first to the Roman Church, and gave up all his own rights +of property. Its situation, in the heart of Burgundy, {174} removed it +from the power of the king. Charles the Simple permitted its +foundation, Louis d'Outremer confirmed its privileges. When Urban II., +a militant Cluniac, became pope the interests of Cluny and Rome were +more than ever identified. The monks elected their abbat without +exterior interference. To prevent this becoming an abuse, the first +abbats always proposed their coadjutors as their successors. Thus it +was with Berno(910-27), Odo (927-48), Maieul (948-94), Odilo +(990-1049). After that there arose the custom of appointing the grand +prior as successor--as in the case of S. Hugh (1049-1109). From the +confirmation of its foundation in 931 by John XI. Cluny received the +greatest favours at the hands of the papacy, its abbats being created +archabbots with episcopal insignia; and it was made entirely +independent of the bishops. + +[Sidenote: The rule of Cluny.] + +Cluny soon attracted attention, wealth, and followers. Corrupt old +communities or new foundations sought the guidance or protection of its +abbats. When each monastery was independent and isolated it was +impossible to reform a lax community, or for it to defend itself from +feudal violence and the hostility of the secular clergy. Odo, the +saint who saw these evils, therefore started what soon became the +Congregation of Cluny. The daughter-houses were regarded not as +independent, but as parts of Cluny. There was only one abbat, the +arch-abbat of Cluny, who was the head of all. Necessary local control +was exercised by the prior, responsible to and nominated by the abbat. +Some houses resisted annexation to Cluny, such as S. Martial at +Limoges, which kept up the contest from 1063 to 1240. Contact {175} +between the abbey and its dependencies was preserved by visitation of +the abbat; and the dependent houses sent representatives to periodical +chapters, which met at Cluny under the abbat. In the eleventh century +these were merely consultative, but in the thirteenth they had become +political, administrative, and judicial, even subjecting the abbat to +their control. The rule of S. Benedict was followed in the abbey and +its dependencies. The monks did some manual labour, but devoted +themselves chiefly to religious exercises, to teaching the young, to +hospitality and almsgiving. + +But the Cluniacs, protected by the papacy, and enriched by the +offerings of the faithful all over Europe, taught an extreme doctrine +as to the power of the Holy See. Their ideal was the absolute +separation of Church from State, the reorganisation of the Church under +a general discipline such as could be exercised only by the pope. He, +in their ideal, was to stand towards the whole world as the Cluniac +abbat stood towards each Cluniac priory, the one ultimate source of +jurisdiction, the Universal Bishop, appointing and degrading the +diocesan bishops as the abbat made and unmade the priors. + +How much of all this did the great Odo plan? Not very much. But it +was his work to revive the discipline, the holiness, the +self-sacrifice, which, through the reformed monasteries, should touch +the whole Church. + +And thus monasticism at the beginning of the eleventh century was a +wholly new force in the life of Christendom. It was destined to reform +the papacy itself. + + + +[1] Bp. Stubbs in _Dict. of Christian Biography_, vol. i. p. 74. + + + + +{176} + +CHAPTER XVI + +SACRAMENTS AND LITURGIES + +[Sidenote: Baptism.] + +In the centuries with which we deal the importance of Baptism cannot be +overrated. It was everywhere, in all the missions of the Church, +regarded as the critical point of the individual life and the +indispensable means of entrance to the Christian Church. When the +children of Sebert the king of the East Saxons wished to have all the +privileges of Christians, which their father had had, and "a share in +the white bread" though they were still heathen, Mellitus the bishop +answered, "If you will be washed in that font of salvation in which +your father was washed, then you may also partake of the holy bread of +which he used to partake: but if you despise the laver of life you +cannot possibly receive the bread of life"; and he was driven from the +kingdom because he would not yield an inch. The tale however shows +also that there were still on the fringe of Christianity persons who +were not baptized, not catechumens, yet still interested in the +religion and to some extent anxious to be sharers in its life. +Throughout the early history of Gaulish Christianity the same is to be +observed, and it is doubtless the reason why a number of semi-pagan +customs still survived among those who were nominally Christians, {177} +as well as those who still stood outside the Church. Baptism in the +case of many was a critical point in the history of a tribe or nation. +The baptism of Chlodowech was the greatest historical event in the +history of the Franks: it was of critical importance that the Franks, +with him, accepted orthodox Christianity, that he, robed in the white +vesture which West and East alike considered meet, and which was +sometimes worn for the octave after baptism, confessed his faith in the +Blessed Trinity, was baptized in the name of Father, Son and Holy +Ghost, and was anointed with the holy chrism and signed with the sign +of the cross. Baptism not only admitted into the Christian Church, but +was invested with the associations of the human family, and thus had +transferred to it some of the conditions in which students of +anthropology find such interesting survivals, of primitive ideas. The +conception of spiritual relationship was endowed with the results which +belonged to natural kinship. The sponsors became spiritual parents. +The code of Justinian forbade the marriage of a godchild and godparent, +because "nothing can so much call out fatherly affection and the just +prohibition of marriage as a bond of this kind, by means of which, +through the action of God, their souls are united to one another." +This led to the growth of as elaborate a scheme of spiritual +relationships as that which already hedged round among many tribes the +eligibility for marriage among persons even remotely akin to one +another. In the East, as in the West, baptism was most frequently +conferred at the time of the great Christian festivals, Christmas (as +in the case of Chlodowech), Epiphany, and especially Easter; and Easter +Eve became, later {178} on, especially consecrated to the sacred rite. +In the East baptism was often postponed till the infant was two years +old; and everywhere there was for long a tendency even among Christian +parents to hold back children from the laver of regeneration for fear +of the consequences of post-baptismal sin. It was thus that a name was +often given, and a child received into the Church, some weeks or even +months before the baptism took place. The Greek Syntagma of the +seventh century contains interesting information as to the baptism of +heretics. It is ordered that Sabellians, Montanists, Manichaeans, +Valentianists and such like shall be baptized just as pagans are, after +instruction and examination in the faith, and, after insufflation, by +triple immersion. + +[Sidenote: Confirmation.] + +Throughout these centuries baptism was not separated from Confirmation, +except in the case of some converts from heresy. The two rites were +regarded as parts of the same sacrament, or at least the former was not +considered complete without the latter. The sacramental life of the +individual in fact was to begin with his entrance into the Church and +never to be intermitted. Even infants were present throughout the +celebration of the sacred mysteries and partook of the Communion, a +custom which was only abandoned in the West because of the difficulty +of frequent giving of Confirmation and the consequent delay of that +rite till later years. + +[Sidenote: The Holy Communion.] + +Baptism and Confirmation was the gate by which the Christian was +admitted to the Sacrament of the Lord's Body and Blood. The +celebration of that Sacrament was the chief act of the Church's worship +every Sunday and holy day, and in {179} Spain, Africa, Antioch, daily, +in Rome every day except Friday and Saturday, in Alexandria except on +Thursday and Friday: indeed by the end of the sixth century it seems +probable that in most parts of the Church a daily celebration was +usual. From the seventh century the mass of the presanctified, when +the priest communicated from elements previously consecrated, is found +in use on certain days, and in the East throughout except on Saturdays +and Sundays. [Sidenote: Frequent Communion.] It seems clear that at +least up to the sixth century it was usual for all who were confirmed +to communicate whenever they were present, unless they were under +penance; but the custom of noncommunicating attendance was growing up. +In the East a spiritual writer said, "it is not rare or frequent +communion which matters, but to make a good communion with a prepared +conscience"; while in the West Bede's letter to Archbishop Egbert of +York supplies an excellent illustration of custom. [Sidenote: Bede.] +The people are to be told, he advises, "how salutary it is for all +classes of Christians to participate daily in the body and blood of our +Lord, as you know well is done by Christ's Church throughout Italy, +Gaul, Africa, Greece, and all the countries of the East. Now, this +kind of religion and heavenly devotion, through the neglect of our +teachers, has been so long discontinued among almost all the laity of +our province, that those who seem to be most religious among them +communicate in the holy mysteries only on the Day of our Lord's birth, +the Epiphany, and Easter, whilst there are innumerable boys and girls, +of innocent and chaste life, as well as young men and women, old men +and old women, who without any scruple {180} or debate are able to +communicate in the holy mysteries on every Lord's Day, nay, on all the +birthdays of the holy Apostles and martyrs, as you have yourself seen +done in the holy Roman and Apostolic Church." It would seem from this +that frequent communion was inculcated by the first missionaries to +England in the sixth century. Bede tells also how in his day two +Anglian priests went on a mission to the heathen Saxons, and, while +waiting for the decision of the "satrap," "devoted themselves to prayer +and psalm-singing, and daily offered to God the sacrifice of the Saving +Victim, having with them sacred vessels and a hallowed table to serve +as an altar." + +[Sidenote: Fasting Communion.] + +The Sacrament was received in both kinds and fasting, and the priest +was forbidden to celebrate after taking any food; some exception to +this rule may be inferred from a canon of the Second Council of Macon +in 585 enforcing it, and the ecclesiastical historian Socrates (whose +History extends from 306 to 439) states that some in Egypt did not +receive "as the custom is among Christians," but after a meal. The +presence of the Lord in the Eucharist was recognised and adored. +[Sidenote: The doctrine of the Sacrifice.] S. Anastasius of Sinai, +probably of the sixth century, writes: "After the bloodless sacrifice +has been consecrated, the priest lifts up the bread of life, and shows +it to all." The Eucharist is continually spoken of as the holy +Sacrifice, the offering of the Saving Victim, the Celestial Oblation; +and it was offered, as the writings of Gregory the Great show, in +special intercession for the dead as well as the living. From the +beginning of the fifth century it seems to have been, at least +occasionally, {181} reserved in church as well as sent to the sick in +their own houses. + +[Sidenote: The Roman mass.] + +During the fifth and sixth centuries it would seem that the Roman mass, +the rite which has slowly superseded the local forms of service in most +parts of Europe, was undergoing the modifications which brought it to +the stereotyped form it now has. The severe, terse, practical nature +of the liturgy, in words, ritual, ceremonial, which is so +characteristic of the Roman nature, was being altered by the admixture +of other elements. This was especially the case, it is said, in France +and Germany, during the ninth century. Earlier changes had been made +by Gregory the Great, partly from Eastern sources. [Sidenote: The +fifth century.] At the middle of the fifth century the rite, in words +and action alike, was a simple one. The choir sang an introit, the +priest a collect, epistle and gospel were read, and a psalm was sung: +the gifts were offered, the prayer or "preface" of the day was followed +by the Sanctus, as in the East, and then came the Canon or actual +Consecration. After this was the Lord's Prayer, communion of priests, +clergy and people, a psalm and a collect and the end. The ceremonial +was equally simple, and was connected almost exclusively with the +entrance of the celebrant and his ministers, at which incense was used, +and with the reading of the gospel, where also lights and incense were +prominent. All else was simple and of dignified reticence. "Mystery +never flourished in the clear Roman atmosphere, and symbolism was no +product of the Roman religious mind. Christian symbolism is not of +pure Roman birth, not a native product of the {182} Roman spirit." [1] +This reticent character is most clearly found in the Gregorian missal, +which has been believed to represent the period of Gregory the Great. +More probably the assertion of John the Deacon that Gregory revised the +Gelasian Sacramentary is an error, and what is called the Gregorian +Sacramentary is simply the book which was sent by Pope Hadrian I. to +Charles I. between 784 and 791. But that S. Gregory did make certain +alterations is certain. They were three in the Liturgy, two in the +ceremonial of the mass. The Alleluia was ordered to be more frequently +chanted than before; and we find it used outside the Easter season +almost immediately after this by S. Augustine in England. He added +words to the "Hanc igitur" in the Canon of the mass, praying for peace +and inclusion in the number of the elect. He inserted the Lord's +Prayer immediately after the Canon. He also forbade the deacons to +sing any of the mass except the gospel and the subdeacons to wear +chasubles at the altar. + +[Sidenote: The eighth century.] + +It is thought that the great change, which made the Roman mass into the +elaborate rite it became, is due to the influence, at the end of the +eighth century, of Charles the Great, who with the determination of a +ruler and the interest of a liturgiologist made one rite to be observed +throughout his dominions, but enriched the Gregorian book with details +and ceremonies derived from uses already common in France. The study +of liturgies became common in the ninth century, and in Gaul additions +were made to the book sent by Pope Hadrian {183} to Charles the Great, +which were finally accepted throughout the greater part of Italy, the +Ambrosian rite in the province of Milan remaining different throughout +the changes. + +It is natural that English readers should desire to know more +particularly of the first English Christian worship. How did the +Church's worship first begin in our own land? + +[Sidenote: The rites of the Western isles.] + +No doubt the Christians who received conversion during the Roman +occupation of Britain, and those of Ireland who were won by the +preaching of S. Patrick, worshipped according to the same rite as the +churches of Spain or the churches of Gaul, following that use which +survived in Spain generally till the eleventh century and in Gaul till +the ninth. Gildas, who wrote during the stress of the conquest of the +Christian Brythons by the heathen English, mentions one custom which +undoubtedly was Gallican, and which is preserved in the Gelasian +Sacramentary and the _Missale Francorum_, the one a Roman collection +which contains Gallican uses, the other a Gallican rite. It is that of +anointing the hands of priests, and perhaps deacons, in ordination, and +the custom was kept up after the conversion of the English, at least in +some parts of England in the tenth and eleventh centuries. But the +influence of the British Church was slight. It is of more interest to +us to know what was the first worship offered in this land by those who +were to convert our own forefathers. + +Bede tells us how first Augustine prayed when he came before the +heathen king of Kent. Some days after their landing Aethelbert +received the monks from {184} Rome. [Sidenote: S. Augustine in Kent.] +They had tarried, it seems probable, under the walls of the old Roman +fortress of Richborough. They had waited, in prayer and patience, for +the beginning of their Mission. It was on prayer that they still +depended when they were summoned before the king. On a ridge of rocks +overlooking the sea sat Aethelbert and his gesiths, and watched the +band of some forty men draw near. Slowly they came, and the strange +sound of the Church's music was wafted to the ears of the heathen +company as they drew near. Before them was borne a tall silver cross, +and a banner which displayed the pictured image of the Saviour Lord, + + The Cross preceding Him who floats in air, + The pictured Saviour. + + +S. Gregory, the great pope who had sent the mission, who had himself +long dwelt at the court of the emperors in Constantinople, had learnt +the value of _icons_, of sacred pictures, as texts for an appeal, or as +stimulants to devotion. Those who cannot read, he said, should be +taught by pictures, but pictures are valuable only because they point +to Him whom we adore as incarnate, crucified, sitting at the right hand +of God. As they came, they sang, and Bede says: "they sang litanies, +entreating the Lord for their own salvation and that of those for whom +and to whom they came." The litany ended when they came to the king, +and then Augustine preached the word. He declared, says an old English +writer of later days, "how the merciful Saviour with His own sufferings +redeemed their guilty world, and opened an entrance into the kingdom of +heaven to all faithful men." + +The king bade them deliver their message, and they {185} sat--for it +was no formal sermon, but rather, as we should say, a meditation on the +things of God--and "preached the word of life to him and all his +gesiths who were present." Bede tells us the answer of the grave +thoughtful Aethelbert--"They are certainly beautiful words and promises +that you bring; but because they are new and unproved, I cannot give my +assent to them and give up those things which I with all the English +race have so long observed. But since you are strangers and have come +a long way, so that--as I think I can see clearly--you might impart to +us that which you believe to be true and most good, I do not wish you +any harm, but rather will treat you kindly and see that you have all +you need, and we will not hinder you from bringing over to the faith of +your own religion all of our people that you can win." And so he gave +them lodging in his own city, the metropolis, as Bede, as it were by +prophecy, calls it, of Canterbury. [Sidenote: The litanies.] Towards +Canterbury they went, still with litany and procession, and thus, Bede +tells us, it is said they sang--still carrying the holy cross and the +picture of the great King, our Lord Jesus Christ.-- + +"We beseech Thee, O Lord, according to all Thy mercy, that Thy wrath +and Thine anger may be turned away from this city, and from Thy holy +house; for we have sinned. Alleluia." + +A tradition that lasted down to Bede's own day thus handed down their +words. There is great interest in this picture of Christian worship in +the heathen land, our own, that was to be won for Christ. It +illustrates the worship of the land the missionaries came from, as well +as serves as a pattern for the worship which the {186} English, under +Augustine's guidance, should follow. What was this litany? Litanies +at Rome were regulated by S. Gregory himself, and he was very likely +only revising and setting in order a form of service already well +known. But this very litany S. Augustine and his companions had most +likely heard during their passage through Gaul. There the Rogation +litanies had been over a hundred years in use; and these words form +part of a Rogation litany used long after in Vienne, through which +doubtless Augustine travelled. Thus the missionaries were using a part +of the Gallican service-books, and not of the Roman; and the legation +procession, which lasted so long in England, which still lingers in +some places in the form of "beating the bounds," and which in late +years has been here and there revived among us, comes to us with +Augustine from Gaul, and not from Rome, where it was not yet in use. +"Alleluia!" too, a strange ending to a penitential litany in modern +ears, was the close of Gallican litanies at Rogationtide, as later in +Christian England itself, and its use outside the Easter season was +especially authorised by Gregory the Great. And if Augustine's own +first public prayers were Gallican, so most probably was the use of the +chapel of the Kentish Queen Bercta, who was daughter of the West +Frankish king, and who had with her a Frankish bishop, Liudhard. But +his own use would be the Roman, just as his own manner of chanting, +long preserved at Canterbury, was after the manner of the Romans. And +thus, with the strong sense of unity natural to a man trained in the +school of the great Gregory, Augustine was startled at the contrast of +customs when it came to him in practical guise. Why, {187} the faith +being one, are there the different customs of different churches, and +one manner of masses in the holy Roman church, another in that of the +Gauls? So he asked the great teacher who had sent him. A wise answer +came from the wise pope, disclaiming all peculiar authority or special +sanctity for the use of Rome. "Things are not to be loved for the sake +of places, but places for the sake of things." "Select, then," he +advises, "from many churches, whatever you have found in Gaul, or in +Rome, or in any other church, that is good; make a rite for the new +church of the English, such as you think pious and best." + +[Sidenote: English uses.] + +All this, when Augustine's position is remembered, will be seen to show +how far Rome then was from arrogating to herself any strange supremacy +such as later days have brought. The first primate of the English was +allowed freedom to make an English rite. But, on the other hand, we +have no evidence that he did so. He preferred, we have every reason to +believe, the Roman rite, with only here and there a few changes or +additions. The Council of Clovesho, presided over by Cuthbert, +Archbishop of Canterbury, in 747, followed in his steps, taking in +regard to rites "the model which we have in writing from the Roman +Church." But none the less later English service-books show very +considerable Gallican influence. Celtic missionaries, and the +connection four centuries later with Gaul and Burgundy, left traces in +the way in which the service was performed; and England, up to the +Reformation, like all other countries indeed, had some distinct customs +of its own. Throughout the long history of conversion which spreads +over the whole island, it is noteworthy {188} that preaching and the +singing of litanies, as at the first coming of Augustine, are +conspicuous in the methods of the saints who won England to Christ. + +[Sidenote: The Eucharist in the sixth century.] + +What then was the service of the Holy Communion, as S. Augustine +celebrated it, and our English forefathers first came to know it? If, +as we suppose, it was the Roman, it would proceed thus. First an +antiphon, which came to be called an introit, or psalm of entrance, +with a verse having special reference to the lesson of the day or +season, was sung, as the priest, wearing a long white surplice or alb +and a chasuble (the robe worn alike by lay and by clerical officials), +entered with two deacons, wearing probably similar garments. In the +Gallican rite, as in the eastern, there followed the singing of the +"Trisagion": and in both Gallican and Roman the "Kyrie Eleeson," as in +our own office to-day, though we now add to it a special prayer for +grace to keep the Commandments. Then in the Roman rite was sung the +"Gloria in Excelsis," while in the Gallican the "Benedictus" took its +place. This was introductory. Now came the collect, the prayer when +all the people were gathered together. Then the Lesson from the Old +Testament, the Epistle, and the Gospel. Between the Old Testament +Lesson and the Epistle was sung the "Gradual," a psalm sung from the +steps of the ambo or pulpit, but gradually the use of Rome was followed +all over Europe, and the Old Testament reading was omitted altogether. +After the Epistle was sung "Alleluia" or the psalm called the Tract. +Then the Gospel was sung, introduced with special solemnity. The +deacon mounted the pulpit, seven candles being carried before him, and +the choir {189} chanting "Glory be to Thee, O Lord." After the deacon +had read the Gospel, a sermon was generally preached, but the Creed was +at this time not said. A short common prayer followed (in the Gallican +rite a litany), and then the mass of the catechumens was over, and +those who were unbaptized or unworthy to remain at that time for the +consecration departed from the church, a custom which has survived in +England under changed conditions. + +Then, when the faithful only remained, the offertory was sung, and the +bread and wine and water were offered (the ceremonial was different and +much longer in the Gallican rite, and included the kiss of peace). S. +Augustine, if he followed the Roman use, would offer the bread and wine +himself, with the laity assisting: the Gallican use was to prepare the +elements beforehand, and now bring them into church in procession. The +priest then washed his hands and said privately a collect, while in the +Gallican rite he read from the diptychs, or tablets of the church, the +names of those departed who were to be especially commemorated. + +Then followed the prayer called the Preface, and the singing of "Holy, +Holy, Holy." After this, in the Gallican rite, came a special prayer, +and then, as still in the Mozarabic, followed the recital of our Lord's +institution of the Sacrament, as in the English Prayer-book now; but +the Roman rite had also prayers for the Church, for the living and +dead, and both united in the prayer (called _paraklesis_) that the +elements might receive consecration from God, which was the +consecration itself until much later. Then the dead and living were +again prayed for, and the fruits of the earth were dedicated by prayer. + +{190} + +The Lord's Prayer, by the order of S. Gregory himself, concluded this +part of the service, which came to be known as the Canon, the +invariable part of the Mass. In the Roman rite the kiss of peace +followed, the faithful kissing each other according to the ancient +custom. Then the priest broke the bread, and said the Lord's Prayer +alone till the last clause. Then he placed a piece of the bread in the +cup, and received the Sacrament himself, afterwards giving it in one +kind to the clergy and laity, while the deacon followed with the +chalice. Before the Communion it was a custom taken from Gaul, which +lasted in England up to the Reformation, that the Bishop, if present, +should bless the people. A hymn was sung during the communion of the +people; the ancient "Draw nigh and take the Body of the Lord" remains +still to us from a Celtic source for use at this time. The service +ended with a "Let us pray" and collect after Communion, closely +followed by the second of the alternative post-communion prayers now in +our English office. Immediately after this prayer the deacon said +"Ite, missa est" ("Go: it is the dismissal"). + +In the English services to-day, while much is changed, and the language +is our own, we can still trace very much that has been used +continuously since the day when S. Augustine first said the whole +office of the Church on British soil. + +Much more might be said; but this may suffice to illustrate the +interest and importance which belong to sacraments and liturgical rites +in the ages of which we speak. + + + +[1] Edmund Bishop, "The Genesis of the Roman Rite," in _Essays on +Ceremonial_, 1904. + + + + +{191} + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE END OF THE DARK AGE + +[Sidenote: The end of the age.] + +As we draw to the close of the long period which, through the +conversion of the barbarian races and the growth of a central power in +the Church at Rome, so profoundly influenced the future of the world, +we are met by some outstanding facts which mark an epoch of crisis and +of reformation. They are--the widening breach in matters religious, as +earlier in matters political, between East and West; the influences +which served to strengthen the theory of the papal monarchy even at the +time of its greatest practical weakness; and the strength of the Empire +under the Saxon Ottos as a power to unite Western Europe and to reform +the Western Church. + +[Sidenote: The papacy of Nicolas I., 858-67.] + +Nicolas, who was elected in 858, was a great pope. He asserted the +moral force of Christianity in a way in which his predecessors very +frequently followed him, by vindicating the indissolubility of the +marriage tie. Chlothochar, King of Lotharingia, separated from his +wife Theudberga, bringing against her foul charges, which a council of +clergy at Aachen accepted. Nicolas intervened: again and again he +endeavoured to control the Frankish clergy and rescind the divorce; but +it was {192} only in 863 by a council at Rome, where the archbishops of +Cologne and Trier were present, that he was able to proceed to +extremities. He excommunicated those two prelates, and deposed them +with all those who had assisted them: he warned Hincmar of Rheims of +what he had done. The emperor Louis, Chlothochar's brother, marched on +Rome and captured the city; but there, through illness it appears, he +completely submitted to the pope. Nicolas enforced his decision on the +Frankish king, the Frankish bishops, on Hincmar, the great archbishop +of Rheims himself. In a letter he developed the theory that the Empire +owed its confirmation to the authority of the Apostolic See, and that +the sword was conferred on the emperor by the pope, the vicar of S. +Peter. Truly it was said of this pope by one who wrote a century after +his death, "Since the days of Gregory to our own sat no prelate on the +throne of S. Peter to be compared to Nicolas. He tamed kings and +tyrants and ruled the world like a monarch: to holy bishops he was mild +and gentle: to the wicked and unconverted a terror; so that truly may +we say that in him arose a new Elijah." + +Of equal though different importance was the action of the papacy in +regard to the East. What is known as the Photian schism is the +divergence between the churches of Constantinople and Rome, which +became critical during the pontificate of Nicolas I. + +[Sidenote: The Photian schism.] + +Photius, a man of great learning and experience, a scholar and +theologian of the familiar Greek type, was elected Patriarch of +Constantinople on Christmas Day, 857. At the time when Michael III. +determined on his appointment he was not even ordained: in six days he +{193} received the different orders and was made patriarch. But his +election was uncanonical. Ignatius the patriarch, who was still +living, was deposed because of his censures of the emperor's evil life. +Photius announced his election to Pope Nicolas, but Ignatius refused to +surrender his rights; both parties excommunicated each other; and the +emperor mocked at both. But he also asked the pope to send legates to +a council which should restore order to the Church. The Council met in +861. It confirmed Photius in his office, and the papal legates +assented. Nicolas refused to accept the decision and took upon him to +annul it, to depose Photius, to declare the orders conferred by him +invalid, and to announce his decision to the other patriarchs and to +the metropolitans and bishops who owed obedience to Constantinople. +Neither the emperor nor Photius would submit; and in 867 Photius +issued, in a council at Constantinople, an encyclical letter, in which +he repudiated the papal claim of jurisdiction (which was complicated by +assertions of supremacy over the Bulgarian Church), and denounced a +number of tenets held by Westerns, [Sidenote: The Philioque +controversy.] and most notably the addition of the word _Filioque_ to +the Nicene Creed, as asserting the procession of the Holy Spirit from +the Father and the Son. He ended by excommunicating the pope. + +In the year 867 Nicolas died, Michael was deposed, Photius followed him +into retirement, Basil the Macedonian ascended the throne, and Ignatius +was restored to the patriarchate. A council was held in 869 at which +papal legates attended, which approved these acts, and which is counted +by the Roman Church as {194} the Eighth Oecumenical Council. This +Council confirmed the Church's decision as to image-worship. Ignatius +held his throne till his death in 877, when Photius was reinstated. +His return was signalised by a new agreement with Rome, in which Pope +John VIII. repudiated the insertion of the Filioque, and declared that +it was inserted by men whose daring was due to madness, and who were +transgressors against the Divine Word. Another council at +Constantinople (879-80) confirmed the reinstatement, declared Photius +to be lawful patriarch, and anathematised the Council of 869. This is +reckoned by the Greeks as the Eighth Oecumenical Council. [Sidenote: +End of the schism.] Then the schism was for the time healed. It made +no difference that a new emperor, Leo VI., the Wise, deposed Photius +again and appointed his own brother. The union remained formally +throughout the tenth century. But though the eleventh century opened +with a nominal agreement, it was not destined to endure. The points of +severance must be dealt with in a later volume. It may here suffice to +say that the position of the Greeks was rigidly conservative, of the +popes aggressively authoritative. + +It was an age of growing papal claims; and the claims had now found a +new basis. + +[Sidenote: The forged decretals.] + +The promises, true and legendary, of Pippin, and the spurious donation +of Constantine, had still further extension in the False Decretals. +These were first used by Nicolas I., who was pope from 858 to 867. +During his pontificate the collection of Church laws, with the canons +of the Oecumenical Councils, the letters of the most important bishops +and the like, with the ecclesiastical laws of the {195} emperors, which +were practically becoming a _corpus juris canonici_, received a notable +addition. The genuine decretals of the popes begin with Siricius +(384-98); but there now (between 840 and 860) appeared fifty-nine more, +professing to date from the second and third centuries, and also +thirty-nine became interpolated among the genuine documents, which +ranged from 386 to 731. These were put forth by a skilful forger as +the collection of Isidore of Seville, and they were incorporated in the +authentic collection made by him. A most remarkable series of +documents was this, in every point supporting the claims now put forth +by the Roman See to political as well as ecclesiastical supremacy, +deciding questions of discipline and right such as were then vexed, and +supplying a veritable armoury for the advocates of papal claims to rule +everywhere, over all persons, and in all causes. The forged decretals, +now known as the pseudo-Isidorian, had their origin among the Franks, +and showed the aims and the needs of the Frankish reformers. They set +forth three great objects--"freedom from the secular power, +establishment of the ecclesiastical hierarchy with a firm discipline, +and centralisation of organisation upon which all could depend." [1] +They represented, in fact, a scheme of reform and the way in which a +somewhat unscrupulous reformer imagined it could best be carried out. +Probably the forged decretals were concocted at Rheims, or possibly at +Mainz, and they were first used in a critical case in 866, when a +bishop of Soissons, deposed by Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims, appealed +to the pope on the ground that the power of deposition by the decretals +belonged to him alone. It is difficult {196} to believe that when +Nicolas I. accepted them he was not aware that they were not the +genuine writings of the popes whose work they professed to be: he can +hardly have thought that Spain (where it was said that they had been +discovered) was more likely to have kept papal documents safely than +the Roman Chancery itself. Their importance was, however, not evident +at first. In the ninth and tenth centuries comparatively little was +made of them. It was in the eleventh and the centuries which followed +that a gigantic edifice of papal assumption was to be built upon them +by popes who were fired with a true zeal to reform the world, and who, +not doubting their authenticity, found in them an instrument ready to +their hands. + +[Sidenote: The decay of the papacy.] + +The weakness of the papacy in the tenth century was indeed such that no +theory could give it respect in Europe. The weakness of the Church was +heralded by that of the Empire. The Carling house expired in contempt +almost as great as that which had fallen on the Merwings. In Gaul the +Norman had won fair provinces on the coast; and the house of the Counts +of Paris came in the tenth century to rule over the Franks. There the +Church remained strong as the State decayed, and it was the great +archbishopric of Rheims which gave the crown to the line of Hugh the +Great. In Germany the dynasty of the Carlings became extinct. In Rome +the power over the city fell into the hands of the local nobility; and +the period was made infamous by the lives of Theodora and Marozia, who +were the paramours of popes. The tale of the age of disgrace which +marks the greater part of the tenth century is of no importance in the +history of the Church. A succession of {197} popes, whom their +contemporaries certainly did not believe to be infallible, followed +each other in rapid procession. John X. alone (914-28) has any claim +to greatness; but he, like the others, was deeply stained with the +vices, political if not moral, of his age. It was not until the Saxon +Otto came to Italy like a knight-errant to redress the wrongs of the +Northern princes, and was crowned at Rome in 962, that the Church in +Italy began to revive from its ashes. He deposed and set up popes; and +he gave to the papacy something of the bracing ideals which the new +life of Gaul and Germany inspired. + +The moral weakness of the papacy, the political weakness of Italy, had +founded the Empire anew, as it had been founded anew in 800. The +revival of the Empire under Charles the Great, and again under Otto, +was not due to political considerations only; it was due also to the +force of religious ideas. + +[Sidenote: The religious revival of the Empire under the Saxons.] + +One great characteristic of the revived Empire in German hands was the +important part played in its policy by missions, and, it must be added, +missionary wars. It was said of Charles the Great by his eulogists +that he converted Saxons and Vandals and Frisians by the Word and the +sword: and this thought was embodied in a series of wars which have +been somewhat fancifully compared to the Crusades of later days. Otto +I. thrice invaded the land of the Slavs and made all the barbarians +from the Oder to the Elbe admit his lordship. Six new bishoprics were +founded as his sway spread, and the bishop of Magdeburg was raised to +be "archbishop and metropolitan of the whole race of the Slavs beyond +the Elbe which has {198} been, or still remains to be, converted to +God." But though it was a real work of civilisation, a work which made +for peace, that the German Caesars undertook, it was not a Crusade. A +Crusade was a war to win back from the infidel what had once been the +patrimony of the Crucified: the wars of the Ottos were directed to +extend their own sway, and, as ever, the true work of the converting +Church was not helped but hindered by the arms and enterprises of +soldiers and statesmen. When the tribes revolted against the +government of the Germans, they often disowned their Christianity and +destroyed their churches. Under Otto III. the Empire did not recover +what she had lost, and the province of Magdeburg remained for nearly +half its extent in heathen hands. [Sidenote: Otto the Great's +endowment in Germany.] The Church suffered from this association. +Where the mission of S. Boniface had been purely spiritual, the work of +his successors was often hampered by the ambition of the emperors. In +the lands alike of Eastern and Western Franks the Church was often led +to lean on the State, and the results, of slackness, corruption, +weakness, were inevitable. The rich endowments which were poured upon +the Church were not always wisely given or wisely used. The Caesars +themselves showered gifts: Otto the Great surpassed all his +predecessors in lavishness,[2] and his dynasty followed in his steps. +But the honours and riches were given quite as much for political as +for religious objects. In the bishops and abbats the sovereigns found +the wisest servants, the most capable administrators. As among the +West Franks under the {199} Merwings, so now among the East Franks, the +great ecclesiastics were the supports of the monarchy, the real +governors of the country. It was thus that they came to owe their +position--if not their election always yet certainly their +confirmation--to the imperial will. As in Rome the emperors were +stretching forth a hand to control the elections to the papacy, so in +Germany there was growing up at the end of the tenth century the +practice of imperial control over the things of the Church. The policy +of the Ottos and the reformation of the papacy were certain ultimately +to lead to the contest concerning investitures. High clerical office +had come too often to be bought and sold, and the churches were +becoming mere appanages of the great principalities. It was wise of +Otto I. to try to win from the dukes the power they had obtained: but +it was not for the good of the Church that the power should be even in +the imperial hands. + +[Sidenote: Otto III. and the popes.] + +Otto I. died in 973. He had begun the reformation of the papacy. His +son and grandson succeeded him, Otto II. in 973, Otto III. in 983. In +996 died Pope John XV., a Roman whom the Frankish chronicler, Abbo of +Fleury, declares to have been lustful of filthy lucre and venal in all +his acts. To Otto the clergy, senate, and people of Rome submitted the +election of his successor. He chose his own cousin Bruno, "a man of +holiness, of wisdom, and of virtue,"--news, to quote the same saintly +writer, more precious than gold and precious stones. His throne was +insecure: the Roman noble Crescentius drove him from it, but he won his +way back and overcame one who had been set up as an anti-pope. He died +in 999. + +{200} + +At the close of the tenth century a pope and an emperor of great ideas +stand forth from the blackness of an age when, according to the +evidence of councils and of monastic chronicles alike, vice was +rampant--"the more powerful oppress the weaker, and men are like fishes +in the sea, which everywhere in turn devour one another"--and the +bishops and clergy alike neglected their duties. Otto III. (983-1002), +the offspring of the German who sat on the imperial throne and the +daughter of the Caesars of the East, made himself a real ruler of the +Empire in Church as well as in State, and after the disputed succession +of his cousin Bruno (Gregory V., 996-99) placed on the papal throne the +first of the great line of later medieval popes. Gregory V. was the +first pope of transalpine birth imposed by the Germans; Gerbert was the +first of the French popes. It needed the imperial army to keep Gregory +on the throne, and to crush the last of the Roman princelets who had +made the papacy infamous; Gerbert (Silvester II., 999-1003) was only +able to remain in the eternal city so long as Otto was there to protect +him. [Sidenote: Gerbert.] But Gerbert's greatness belonged to a sphere +far wider than that of the local papacy. He was a scholar in the +ancient classics, a logician, mathematician, astronomer and musician, a +great collector of books and a great teacher of men. An Aquitanian by +birth, he was brought up at Aurillac, and then passed from one place of +study to another, till, by the influence of the Emperor Otto I., he +settled at Rheims in 972. His school was a famous one: among those +whom he taught were many bishops, Robert the future king of the Franks +and Otto the future emperor. From Rheims he went as abbat to {201} +Bobbio, where the necessary severity of his rule provoked such +opposition that he was obliged to return to Gaul. [Sidenote: In Gaul] +He returned in time to win the influence of the great see of Rheims on +behalf of the child heir of Otto II., who died at the end of 983, and +to take part in the diplomacy which ended in the transfer of the West +Frankish crown to Hugh the duke of the Franks. When Arnulf, of the +very Karling house which had been dispossessed, became archbishop, and +tried to hand over Rheims to his kindred, Gerbert, the steadfast +supporter of the "Capetians," was made his successor. The election was +of more than doubtful legality, and the politics, papal and imperial, +of the time still further complicated the question: it was only settled +by the transference of Gerbert, on the nomination of his old pupil, +Otto III., to the see of Ravenna, From 998 he remained in Italy till +his death. [Sidenote: and in Italy.] In 999 he became pope, and then +he gave himself, heart and soul, to forward the great schemes, +missionary, reforming, imperial, which were indeed as much his own as +those of the enthusiastic genius of the young emperor. The old offices +of the "republic" were revived and harmonised, as in the East, with the +Christian character of the imperial power. Pope and emperor worked +hand in hand for the conversion of the barbarians: it is said that it +was Silvester who gave the kingship to the Hungarian Duke Stephen, as a +son of the Christian Empire and the holy see of the imperial city. In +the unquiet days of his papacy he was yet able to set an example of +wisdom, counsel, godliness, charity, which formed an epoch in the +regeneration of the Roman episcopate. Zealous, loyal, inspired by an +overpowering sense of duty, {202} Silvester II. in a short time +fulfilled a long time and left a mark on the history of the Middle Ages +such as was made by but few even of its greatest men. [Sidenote: Pope +Silvester II.] At his death in 1003 the age of reform had started on +its way; and his was the light which had directed its beginnings. Thus +in the West the end of the period shows the Empire and the papacy of +one mind, eager for a spiritual reform in the Church, for Christian and +missionary ideals in the State, not careful to delimit the provinces of +Church and State, but eager rather for unity of action as well as +sentiment in the cause of Christian extension and endeavour. + +[Sidenote: The end of the Dark Age.] + +Though the contest was not yet over, it might be said with confidence +that the Church of Christ had won over the barbarians. Missionaries +and martyrs had changed the face of Europe, and the fierce tribes which +were pouring over the Continent in the fifth century, barbarous and +heathen, were now for the most part tamed and converted to the love of +Christ. Out of a land which had been wild and barbarous, and where one +of the greatest of saints and missionaries had met his death, had come +a revival in Christian form of the old imperial idea, and the great men +who had been nourished by it had given new health to the central Church +of Europe. For the moment, the Empire and the Papacy, Germany and the +new temporal State in the hands of the Roman bishop, were united to +lead the Christian nations and to convert the heathen on their borders. +In the East remained the magnificent fabric of the immemorial Empire, +active still in missionary labour and setting an example of the union +of Church and State in {203} agreement to which the West could never +attain. The eleventh century was to bring to East and West alike, with +new responsibilities, new difficulties in action and new problems in +thought. Everywhere it was for unity men strove, the unity which if in +its main aspect it was political, was on its spiritual and ideal side +embodied in the visible Church of Christ. + + + +[1] Dr. O. L. Wells, _The Age of Charlemayne_, p. 434. + +[2] See H. A. L. Fisher, _The Medieval Empire_, ii. p. 65; Hauck, +_Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands_, iii. 57-9. + + + + +{205} + +APPENDIX I + + +LIST OF EMPERORS AND POPES, 461-1003 + + POPES. EMPERORS + WEST EAST + + 457 Leo I. + 461 Hilarus 461 Severus + --------- + 467 Anthemius + 468 Simplicius + 472 Olybrius + 473 Glycerius + 474 Julius Nepos 474 Zeno + 475 Romulus + Augustulus + 483 Felix III. + --------- + 491 Anastasius I. + 492 Gelasius I. + 496 Anastasius II. + 498 Symmachus + 514 Hormisdas + 518 Justin I. + 523 John I. + 526 Felix IV. + 527 Justinian I. + 530 Boniface II. + 532 John II. + 535 Agapetus I. + 536 Silverius + 537 Vigilius + 555 Pelagius I. + 560 John III. + 565 Justin II. + 574 Benedict I. + 578 Pelagius II. 578 Tiberius II. + 582 Maurice +{206} + + 590 Gregory I. + 602 Phocas + 604 Sabinianus + 607 Boniface III. + 607 Boniface IV. + 610 Heraclius + 615 Deusdedit + 618 Boniface V. + 625 Honorius I. + 638 Severinus. + 640 John IV. + 641 ( Heracleonas + ( Constantine III. + 642 Theodorus I. 642 Constans II. + 649 Martin I. + 654 Eugenius I. + 657 Vitalianus. + 668 Constantine IV. + 672 Adeodatus + 676 Domnus I. + 678 Agatho + 682 Leo II. + 683 Benedict II. + 685 John V. 685 Justinian II. + 687 Sergius I. + 694 Leontius + 697 Tiberius III. + 701 John VI. + 705 John VII. 705 Justinian II. + (restored) + 708 Sisinnius + 708 Constantine + 711 Philippicus + 713 Anastasius II. + 715 Gregory II. 715 Theodosius III. + 717 Leo III. + 731 Gregory III. + 741 Zacharias 741 Constantine V. + 752 Stephen II. + 752 Stephen III. + 757 Paul I. + 768 Stephen III. + (or IV.) + 772 Hadrian I. + 775 Leo IV. + 779 Constantine VI + 795 Leo III. + 797 Irene +{207} + + 800 Charles I. + 802 Nicephorus I. + 811 Stauracius + 811 Michael I. + 813 Leo V. + 814 Louis I. + 816 Stephen IV. + 817 Paschal I. + 820 Michael II. + 824 Eugenius II. + 827 Valentinus + 827 Gregory IV. + 829 Theophilus + 840 Lothar I. + 842 Michael III. + 844 Sergius II. + 847 Leo IV. + 855 Benedict III. 855 Louis II. + (in Italy) + 858 Nicolas I. + 867 Hadrian II. 867 Basil I. + 872 John VIII. + 875 Charles II. + (West Franks) + 882 Marinus I. 882 Charles III. + (East Franks) + 884 Hadrian III. + 885 Stephen V. + 886 Leo VI. + 891 Formosus 891 Guido (in Italy) + 894 Lambert + (in Italy) + 896 Boniface VI. 896 Arnulf + 896 Stephen VI. (East Franks) + 897 Romanus + 897 Theodorus II. + 898 John IX. + 900 Benedict IV. + 901 Louis III. + (in Italy) + 903 Leo V. + ---------- + 903 Christopher + 904 Sergius III. + 911 Anastasius III. + 912 Constantine VII. + (till 958) +{208} + + 913 Lando 912 Alexander ) + 914 John X. 919 Romanus I. ) co- + ( Constantine ) emperors + 915 Berengar 944 ( VIII ) + 928 Leo VI. (in Italy) ( Stephanus ) + 929 Stephen VII. + + 931 John XI. -------- + 936 Leo VII. + 939 Stephen VIII. + 942 Marinus II. + 946 Agapetus II. + + 955 John XII. + 958 Romanus II. + 962 Otto I. + 963 Leo VIII. 963 Basil II. ) + [964 Benedict V.] 963 Nicephorus ) + 965 John XIII. II. ) co- + 973 Benedict VI. 973 Otto II. 969 John I. ) emperors + 974 Domnus II. 976 Constantine ) + 974 Benedict VII. IX. ) + 983 John XIV. 983 Otto III. + 985 John XV. + 996 Gregory V. + 999 Silvester II. + 1002 Henry (II.) + 1003 John XVII. + + +NOTE.--This list is for the most part that adopted by Dr. Bryce, _Holy +Roman Empire_; but the dates might be slightly varied by reference to +Duchesne, K. Mueller, and Funk (Weltzer and Welte, _Kirchenlexicon_). +It may also be noted that the popes were frequently not elected till +the year after the death of their predecessors. + + + + +{209} + +APPENDIX II + +A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY + +I. A list of original authorities for the whole of the period 461-1003 +would be too long in proportion to the text of this book, but a few of +the most important may be mentioned for the sake of those who wish to +begin to study the period at first hand. Any such study should +include:-- + + + Evagrius, ed. Bidez and Parmentier, 1898. + Zachariah of Mitylene [translation], ed. Hamilton and Brooks, 1899. + Bede, ed. Ch. Plummer, 1895. + Procopius, ed. Haury (in course of publication). + Joannes Diaconus, _Vita S. Gregorii_, ed. Migne, and _Zeitschrift + fuer Katholische Theologie_, XI., 158-73. + Gregory the Great, _Letters_, ed. Ewald and Hartmann, 1887, etc. + Paulus Diaconus, ed. Waitz, 1878. + _Monumenta Moguntina_, ed. Jaffe, 1866. + Gregory of Tours, ed. Arndt and Krusch, 1884-5. + _Liber Pontificalis_, ed. Duchesne, 1886-92. + _Liudprand_, ed. Duemmler, 1877. + _Letters of Gerbert_, ed. Havet, 1889. + _Regesta Pontificum Romanorum_, ed. Jaffe, 1851, 2nd ed. 1885. + Mansi, _Concilia_, 1759-98. + Einhard, _Vita Caroli Magni_, ed. Pertz and Waitz, 1880. + + +II. Reference to the other authorities can be most easily found through +modern works, from which the following is a selection:-- + + Milman, _History of Latin Christianity_. + Gibbon, _Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_ (ed. Bury). +{210} + Bury, _History of the Later Roman Empire_. + Bryce, _Holy Roman Empire_. + Oman, _The Dark Ages_. + Hodgkin, _Italy and her Invaders_. + Hauck, _Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands_. + Harnack, _Dogmengeschichte_. + Duchesne, _Les Eglises Separees_. + " _Les Premiers Temps de L'Etat Pontifical_. + H. Leclercq, _L'Afrique chretienne_. + " _L'Espagne chretienne_. + M. J. Labourt, _Le Christianisme dans l'Empire perse_. + P. J. Pargoire, _L'Eglise byzantine, de 527 a 847_. + A. J. Butler, _The Arab Conquest of Egypt_. + Diehl, _L'Afrique byzantine_. + " _Justinien_. + " _Etudes sur l'administration byzantine dans l'Exarchat de + Ravenne_. + F. H. Dudden, _Gregory the Great_. + Hefele, _History of the Councils_. + Gasquet, _L'Empire byzantin et la Monarchie franque_. + Hutton, _The Church of the Sixth Century_. + Besse, _S. Wandrille_. + Du Bourg, _S. Odon_. + Martin, _S. Colomban_. + Hodgkin, _Charles the Great_. + Davis, _Charlemagne_. + Fisher, _The Medieval Empire_. + Hunt, _The English Church, 597-1066_. + Margoliouth, _Mohammed_. + Gardner, _Theodore of Studium_. + Marin, _De Studio Constantinopolitano_. + Lavisse (ed.), _Histoire de France_. + Marignan, _Etudes sur la civilisation francaise (la societe + merovingienne)_. + Luetzow, _Bohemia_. + Morfill, _Poland_. + Rambaud, _Histoire de la Russie_. + Poole, _Illustrations of Medieval Thought_. + Kraus, _Geschichte der Christlichen Kunst_, I. + Potthast, _Bibliotheca Medii Aevi_. + + + + +{211} + +INDEX + + Aachen, 167; councils at(809), 81; (860), 190 + Abasgi, a Caucasian people, converted, 95 + Abbassides, dynasty of Khalifs, descendants of Muhammad's + uncle Abbas, 156 + Abbats, lay, 168-9, 172; in the Rule of S. Columban, 171; + Cluniac, 174-5 + Abbo of Fleury, Frankish chronicler, 199 + Abder Rahman I., Ommeyad Khalif of Cordova (755), 146 + Abyssinian Church, Monophysite, 9, 23, 111 + Acacius, patriarch of Constantinople, 7, 8, 10 + Acca, bishop of Hexham (709-32), 169 + Adalbert, S. (Voytech), bishop of Prague, 125-6, 129 + Adalwald, Lombard king, 63 + Adam of Bremen, 130 + Adamuan's Life of Columba, 115-16 + _Adiaphorites_, 86 + Adoptianist heresy, 72; in the West, 78-9, 81, 168; + in the East, 79, 80, 156 + Aelfeah (Alphege), bishop, 121 + Aelfric, abbat of Eynsham, 121 + Aethelbert, king of Kent, 183-5 + Aethelred, king of England, 121 + Aethelstan, king of England, 131 + Aethelwold, bishop of Winchester, 119 + Africa, the Church in North, 5, 17, 20, 103-10; increase of papal + power, 65, 67, 69, 107-8; Eucharist, 179; survival of + Christian customs to modern times, 23, 110; Vandals in, 103; + reconquered by Belisarius, 105; Muhammadan conquest, 5, 108, 109 + Agapetus (Agapitus), Pope, 15, 38 + Agatho, Pope, 88 + Agde, 146 + Agilulf, Lombard king, 62, 134 + Agnellus, archbishop of Ravenna, 33 + Agriculture, cared for by the Benedictines, 36; by Gregory + the Great, 65 + Aidan, S., 116 + Airulf, Lombard king, 68 + Aistulf, Lombard king, 148, 149 + _Akoimetai_, 8, 14, 161 + _Aktistetes_, 86 + Alamanni, 42, 135 + Alans, Mongol barbarians, in Gaul, 41 + Albagrians of the Caucasus, converted, 95 + Albinus, abbat of Canterbury (d. 732), 169 + Alcuin, 81, 116, 141, 152, 167-70 + Aldhelm, S., of Malmesbury, 115, 171 + Alexandria, Church and Patriarchate of, 8, 10, 16, 17, 24, + 64, 65, 84, 87, 110; Eucharist, 179; conquered by the Arabs, 109 + Alfred the Great, king of England, 32, 118 + Alodaei, Soudanese people, converted, 111 + Althing, Icelandic assembly, 132 + Amalric, Wisigothic king in Spain, 74 + _Ambo_ (pulpit), 188 + Ambrosian Rite (so called from S. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, + 374-97), 183 + Amoeneburg (Hessen), monastery, 136 + Anastasius, emperor, 7, 9, 47 + Anastasius, patriarch of Antioch, 63 + Anastasius, patriarch of Constantinople, (703-53), 155, 157 + Anastasius of Sinai, S., 180. + Andover, 121 + Angarii, tribe allied with the Saxons, 140 + Annegray, S. Columban's settlement at, 55 + Anselm, S., archbishop of Canterbury (died 1109), 160, 171 + Ansgar, S., archbishop of Hamburg, 129-30 + Anthimus, patriarch of Constantinople, 15 + Antioch, Church and Patriarchate of, 8, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, + 84, 87, 156; Eucharist, 179; synod at (541 or 542), 16 + _Antirrhetici_ of S. Theodore the Studite, 164 + _Antistes_ (bishop), 66 + Antony, archbishop of Novgorod (c. 1200), 161 + _Aphthartodocetes_, 21, 85 + _Apocrisiarius_, papal envoy at Constantinople, 63 + Aquilea, patriarch of, 21, 39 + Aquitaine, 49 + Arabia, conquered by Muhammad, 101; Arabian Christians in + Persia, 110; Christianity in S. Arabia, 111 + Arabs. _See_ Muhammadans. + Architecture, Byzantine, 25-8, 100, 106 + Arcona (Isle of Ruegen), heathen temple at, 127 + Arianism, extinct in the East, 9; of the Goths in Italy, 29, 30, + 60; its suppression a political necessity, 33; the Frankish + struggle against, 47-8; of the Vandals in Africa, 103-5; of + the Lombards, 56, 61; in Spain, 73, 74, 75 + Arles, 46, 49, 50, 146 + Armagh, monastery, 53 + Armenia, 3; Church of, 13, 84, 85, 95, 156; Monophysite, 23, + 110; Adoptianiats in, 79; Paulicians in, 80 + Arnulf, S., bishop of Metz, 58, 135, 139, 144, 145 + Arnulf, archbishop of Rheims, 201 + Asser, bishop of Sherborne, 118 + Assyria, Christians in, 93, 96 n. + Athanagild, Wisigothic king in Spain, 74 + Athanasian Creed, 81-2 + Athens, 99 + Augustine of Canterbury, S., 62, 69, 113, 117, 182-90 + Augustine of Hippo, S., 3, 72, 103, 106, 170; _De Civitate Dei_, 154 + Aurillac, 200 + Austrasia, Eastern Frankish kingdom, 43, 49, 135, 145-6; + Synod in (742), 138 + Autun, Council of (670), 59 + Avars, Mongol race, 135, 141 + Avignon, 146 + Avitus, bishop of Vienne, 81 + Axum, Ethiopic kingdom, 111-12 + + Baghdad, 96, 97 + Bangor (Ireland), monastery, 54-5; _Antiphonary_ of, 115 + Baptism, 176-8; of Chlodowech, 42; of Borivoj, 128; of the + people of Kiev, 127; of Olaf Trigvason, 132 + Basil the Great, S. (329-79), his Rule, 163 + Basil I. the Macedonian, emperor, 80, 193 + Basil II., emperor, 126 + Baume, monastery at, 173 + Bavarians, 135, 138 + Bede (Baeda), 68 n., 115-16, 118, 167, 169, 170, 179, 180, 183-5 + Belisarius, 30, 61, 105 + Benedict Biscop, 115, 169 + Benedict of Nursia, S., 34-9, 53, 58, 163; his Rule, 35-7, 58-9, + 69, 119, 121, 171, 173, 175; the Benedictines, 35-8, 60, 62, 137 + Bercta, Kentish queen, 186 + Berno, abbat of Cluny, 173-4 + Besancon, 56, 173 + Beziers, 146 + Bishops, their position under Justinian, 24-5; share in the + civil government of Italy, 33-4; without dioceses in the Celtic + Church, 114; "Universal Bishop," 66, 175; bless the + people at the Eucharist, 190 + Blemmyes, Ethiopic tribe, converted, 111 + Bobbio, 53, 56, 201 + Boethius, 32 + Bohemia, Christianity in, 127-9; + Bohemian princess brings about the conversion of Poland, 125 + _Boiar_, title of Bulgarian magnates, 124 + Boleslav I., duke of Bohemia, brother of S. Wenceslas (died + 967), 128 + Boleslav II., "the Pious," duke of Bohemia (967-99), 128, 129 + Boniface, S. (Winfrith), 130, 136-40, 142, 147, 198 + Boris, Bulgarian king, 124 + Borivoj, Bohemian duke, baptized, 128 + Boso, bishop of Merseburg, 126 + Braga, councils at (563, 572), 74 + Bremen, archbishopric, 130, 142 + Bretislav II., king of Bohemia (1092-1100), 127 + Britain, 83, 88; Christianity in, 113 ff; early British Church, + 183; ritual in the British Church, 183. _See_ England + Brittany, 115 + Brunichild, 13, 48-9, 56, 74-5, 171 + Bruno (Pope Gregory V.), cousin of Otto III., 199, 200 + Bruno, missionary to the Prussians, 125 + Brythons, Celts of Britain, their Church, 113, 183 + Bulgarians, a Finnish race, conversion of, 124; they and their + Church, 13, 23, 44, 84, 128, 193 + Burgundians, 41; Frankish kings of, 49, 55-6, 135 + Bury, Dr. J. B., quoted, 21 n., 46-7, 113 + Byzacene, African see, 106 + Byzantine architecture, 25-8, 100, 106; Church and Patriarchate, + 91, _and see_ Constantinople; Empire, _see_ Umpire, Eastern + + Caelian Hill at Rome, 60, 64 + Caesarius, bishop of Arles, 72, 81 + Calabria, 157, 162 + _Candace_, title of the queens of Abyssinia, 111 + Canons, collection of, 85; canon law, 194-5; canon of the Mass, + 181-2, 190 + Canterbury, 115, 185-6 + Capetians, House of Hugh the Great, duke of the Franks, 201 + Carisiacum (Quierzy), 151 + Carling House. _See_ Karlings + Carloman, son of Charles Martel, brother of Pippin the Short, + 114-5, 147, 149 + Carloman, son of Pippin the Short, brother of Charles the Great, + 148, 150-1 + Carthage, taken by the Vandals, 103; by the Muhammadans, + 77, 109; Church of, survival, 110; bishop of, 67, 103-6, 108 + Cassiodorus, 30, 38 + _Catholicos_, primate of the Monophysite Armenian Church, 84, + 95; of the "Church of the East," 96; of the Persian + Church, 93-4, 99 + Celibacy of the clergy. _See_ Marriage + Celtic Church, 113-17, _and see_ Ireland; Celtic Easter, 55, 114; + Celtic influence on the English liturgy, 187, 190; Celtic + missionaries and Boniface, 138 + Ceremonial, 181-90 + Ceylon, 96 + Chad, S., 116, 169 + Chalcedon, Council of (451), 2, 7, 9, 10, 18, 24, 65-6, 79, 85-6, + 89, 95 + Chaldeaecan Church, 23, 93 + Chalons, Battle of, 41 + Charles Martel, Frankish mayor of the palace, 135, 137, 141, 146 + Charles I., the Great, 50, 136, 182, 197; anointed king, 148; + revives the Empire, 152-4; destroys the Lombard kingdom, + 150, 152; supposed donation of, 151-2; theocratic ideas + of, 139; religious wars, 127, 140-2; his share in the + Adoptianist controversy, 80; his learning and piety, 166-70; + aspirations, 172 + Charles II., the Bald, emperor, son of Louis I., the Pious, 170 + Charles the Simple, sole king of the West Franks (898-922), 174 + Cherson, near the mouth of the Dnyepr, 126 + Childebert I., Frankish king, 39 + Childebert II., Frankish king, son of Sigebert and Brunichild, 49 + Childerich III., last of the Merwings, 147 + Chilperich I., Frankish king of Neustria, son of Chlothochar I., + 43, 51, 54, 75 + China, Nestorian missions in, 96, 98 + Chlodowech, king of the Franks, baptized, 42, 177; dies, 43; + his aim, 46; receives the consulate, 47; his daughter, 74 + Chlothochar I., Frankish king, son of Chlodowech, 43, 47, 54, 74 + Chlothochar II., Frankish king, son of Chilperich I. and + Fredegund, 56, 58, 145 + Chlothochar (Lothar), king of Lotharingia, son of the emperor + Lothar I. (855-69), 191-2 + Chora, Church of the, at Constantinople, 26 + Chosroes II., Persian king (590-628), 101 + Chosroes, Persian king (800-50), 80 + Christmas baptisms, 177; communion, 179 + Christology, 98. _See_ Heresies + Chrotechild (Clotilda), wife of Chlodowech, 42 + Church, The, her task in fifth century, 1; organisation, 2, 24; + tendency to separation in East and West, 3, _and see_ Schism; + Churches of Rome and Constantinople held to be one, 10; + East and West differ in use of _Quicunque_, 81-2 + Church, the Eastern, strengthens the Empire, 4; her firm position + in 527, 11; united with the State, 12; history, 6-28, 83-92, + 155-65; conservative character, 165, 194. _See_ Constantinople, + Schism + Church, the Western: Church property and jurisdiction under + the Gothic kings in Italy, 30-1; determines the development + of the Frankish nation, 45; maintains imperial tradition, + 45-6; her aggressive claims, 194; subject in Germany and + Italy to the control of the Saxon emperors, 191, 197-201. + _See_ Papacy, Rome, Schism + "Church of the East," Nestorian, 96-7 + Clonard, monastery, 53, 55 + Clonfert, monastery, 53 + Clonmacnoise, monastery, 53 + Clotilda, Clotilde. _See_ Chrotechild, Hlothild + Clovesho, Synod of (747), 138, 187 + Cluniacs, monks of Cluny, 174-5 + Cluny, monastic reform of, 169, 171-5; abbey of, 173-4; Rule + of, 174-5; congregation of, 174 + Cologne, archbishop of, 192 + Columba, S., 114-16 + Columban, S., 53-8, 116; his Rule, 55, 171; monastery at Baume, 173 + Communion, Holy, 178-90; received by the Stylites, 25. _See_ + Eucharist + Confirmation, 178; of Olaf Trigvason, 121 + _Consolation of Philosophy, The_, by Boethius, 32 + Constans II., emperor, 109 + Constantine I., emperor, 12, 40; donation of, 154 + [Constantine IV.], emperor, 89 + Constantine V., Copronymus, 80, 155, 158, 162, 165 + Constantine, pope, 91 + Constantine of Thessalonica (S. Cyril), 123 + Constantine, founder or reviver of Eastern Adoptianism, 79-80 + Constantinople, theological bent of its people, 8; buildings at, + 25-7; captured by the Turks (1453), 163; modern, 158, 161 + Constantinople, Church of, its growing isolation, 13; a witness + for religious liberty, 14; valuable services to the Church + Universal, 20; quarrel with Rome over the Ecthesis and + Type, 88; missions to Bulgarians, 124; to Russians, 126-7; + to Moravians and Czechs, 128; theology in, 156. _See_ + Church, Eastern; Schism + Constantinople, councils at: Fifth General (553), 15, 17, 18, 20-2, + 39, 63-4, 86, 106-7, 161; synod of 588, 66; Sixth General + (680-1), 21, 84-5, 88; Council of 681, 67; _in Trullo_ (691), + 85, 89-92; Council of 692, 67; iconoclastic synod of 754, 165; + Councils of 861 and 867, 193; Eighth General (869), 193-4; + Council (879-80), 194 + Constantinople, Patriarchate of, 24, 67, 85, 90, 124, 192-4 + Constantinople, patriarchs of, 87-8; claim the title of + Oecumenical, 65. _See_ Acacius, Germanus, Ignatius, John the + Cappadocian, Mennas, Methodius, Nicephorus, Paul, Photius, + Sergius, Tarasius + Coptic Church, 9, 23, 84, 101, 110, 112; Copts resist Saracens, 109 + Corbie (New Korvey), monastery, on the Weser, 130, 170 + Corbinian, S., 135 + Corinth, bishops of, 67 + Cornwall, early British Church of, 113, 117 + Corsica, 151 + Cosmas, sixth-century traveller, 97 + Councils, valuable work of the, 19. _See_ Aachen, Antioch, + Austrasia, Autun, Braga, Chalcedon, Clovesho, Constantinople, + Frankfort, General, Gentilly, Hatfield, Macon, Orange, + Regensburg, Rome, Toledo, Whitby + Cracow, relics at, 125 + Creed, at the Council of Chalcedon, 2; proposal to reform, 14; + importance of a logically tenable, 19; Pope Leo III. discourages + additions to, 81; Athanasian, 81-2; Nicene, 193 + Crescentius, John, patrician of Rome, 199 + Crete, bishops of, 67 + Croatia, Croats, 84, 124 + Cross, the Holy, 100-2; tolerated by the iconoclast emperor Leo + III., 159; sign of the, in baptism, 177; used by S. Augustine + in his mission, 184-5 + Crusades, true and false, 197-8 + "Culdees," Celtic monks, 119 + Cumbria (or Strathclyde), early British Church of, 113 + Cuthbert, M., 116, 121, 169 + Cuthbert, archbishop of Canterbury, 187 + Cyprus, Church of, 21 + Cyril, S., patriarch of Alexandria (412-44), opponent of Nestorius, + 10, 18, 22 + Cyril, S. (Constantine), apostle of the Slavs, 123-4, 126, 128 + Czechs, Slav race of Bohemia, 127 + + Dagobert I., Frankish king, son of Chlothochar II., 44, 58, 145 + Danes ravage England and Scotland, 117-19, 121; settle, and + are converted, 118; Danish invasions, 122; conversion of + Denmark, 129, 131 + David, S., 118 + Decretals, false, 194-6 + Deira, northern kingdom of England, 63 + Denmark, conversion of, 129, 131 + Desiderius (Didier) of Cahors, S., 58 + Dionysius the Areopagite, Platonist so called, 89 + Dnyepr (Dnieper), Russian river, baptisms in, 127 + Dokkum, S. Boniface martyred at, 139 + Donation of Constantine, 154; of Pippin, at Quierzy, 149, 151; + of Charles the Great, 151-2 + Donatists, 103, 107 + Double procession of the Holy Ghost, 76, 80-1, 193-4 + Druidism favoured the growth of Christian monasticism, 53 + Dublin, conversion of Danes at, 122; Norse king of, 132 + Duchesne, Mgr., quoted, 40, 208 + Dudden, F. H., quoted, 50, 75 n. + Dunstan, S., 115, 119-21 + Durham, see of, 121 + + Eadgar, king of England, 119 + East, the, large number of ecclesiastics in, 25 + East and West, reunion of, after the quarrel of pope and emperor, + in 519, 10; political severance completed, 149; breach widens, + 191; divergence, Photian schism, 192-4; nominal reunion + throughout tenth century, 194. _See_ Schism + Easter baptisms, 177; communion, 179; use of the alleluia, 182; + Celtic Easter, 55, 114 + Eastern Church, orthodox, securer than the West in its + Christianity, 7; its intense conservatism, 27; dictates + to the papacy under Vigilius and Pelagius, 40. _See_ Church, + Constantinople, Schism + Ebbo, archbishop of Rheims, 129, 141 + Ebroin, mayor of the palace in Neustria, 146 + _Ecthesis_, issued by Heraclius, 87, 89 + Edessa, 93, 96, 110 + Education, 166-7, 175. _See_ Learning + Egbert, archbishop of York, 167, 179 + Egypt, 9; National Church, 13; Monophysite Church, 23; sects, + 110; Church, 112; Holy Communion, 180; Muhammadan + invasion, 84, 108. _See_ Alexandria, Coptic + Einhard, biographer of Charles the Great, 142, 153, 167 + Eligius, S., 58 + Elipandus, archbishop of Toledo, 78-9, 168 + Ellesthaeos, Ethiopian king, 112 + Eloi (Eligius), S., 58 + Emly, monastery, 53 + Emmeran, Emmeram, S., missionary in Bavaria, 135 + Empire, the, becomes a Christian power, 1; obsolescent, 2; + representative of Christian unity, 3; invaded by barbarians, 1, 3; + its vitality, 3 + Empire, Eastern, relations with the Franks, 46-7; its strength + renders the Nestorian missions possible, 98; becomes more + purely Oriental, 113; end of the imperial power in Italy, 147-8; + its recognition of the Western Umpire of Charles the + Great, 153. _See_ Constantinople + Empire, Western, ends with Romulus Augustulus (476), 28; + tradition preserved by the Church, 45-6; revival of the + imperial idea, 172; Charles the Great restores the Empire, + 139, 144, 152; origin of the "Holy Roman Empire," 153; + papal theory of the Empire, 192; weakness of the Empire in ninth + and tenth centuries, 196; revival under the Saxon Ottos, + 191, 197-202 + England, conversion of, 62-3, 69, 117, 183-7; Church of, + 117-21; its independent attitude towards Rome, 117, 120, + 121; kings the nursing fathers of the Church, 27; English + missionaries to Germany, 136-9, 141-2; ritual in, 183-90 + Ennismore, monastery, 53 + Epiphanius, bishop of Pavia, 29 + Epiphany baptisms, 177; communion, 179 + Etherius, chaplain and notary to Charles the Great, 151 + Ethiopian Church, 110-12 + Eucharist, celebration of, in sixth century, 188; doctrine of, + controversy concerning, 170-1; Aelfric's doctrine of, 120; + reservation of, 180-1. _See_ Communion, Mass + Eugenius, S., bishop of Carthage, 104-5 + Eutychian heresy, 7 + Evagrius, ecclesiastical historian (period 431-594), 21 n. + Exarch of Ravenna, 34, 40, 91; the Exarchate, 61-2, 69, 147-9, + 151, 157 + + Facundus, bishop of Hermione, 106 + Fasting Communion, 180; Saturday fast in tenth century, 131 + Faustus, bishop of Riez, a semi-Pelagian, 72 + Felix II., pope, 8 + Felix, bishop of Urgel, 78-9, 168 + Ferrand, African deacon, writer in the "Three Chapters" + controversy, 106 + Feudalism, rise of, 44-5, 172-3 + _Filioque_ ("and [from] the Son"), word added to the Nicene Creed + in the West, leads to controversy with the East, 193-4 + Fontaine, monastery, 55 + Fontenelle, abbey, 57 + Fortunatus, bishop of Carthage, 108 + Frankfort, Council of (794), 79, 168 + Franks in Gaul, 42; conversion of, 4, 43, 177; their imperfect + Christianity, 43-4, 54; staunch Catholicism, 42, 47-8, 177; + break up of their kingdom, 44; formative influence of the + Church, 45; relations with the Eastern Empire, 46-7; alliance + with the papacy, 49; their Church's relations with Rome, + 50; greatly influenced by monasticism, 58; they invade + Spain, 74; laxity and corruption of their Church, 138, 144; + Karling reformation, 144; Frankish missal, 183; relations + with England, 186; Frankish clergy concoct the forged decretals, 195 + Fredegund, wife of Chilperich I., 43 + Frederic, Saxon bishop in Iceland, 132 + Freeman, Edward Augustus, quoted, 3 + Freising, see of, 138 + Frisians, 197; English missionaries to, 136, 139 + Fritzlar, abbey, 140 + Fuero Jusgo, the Wisigothic code, 74, 76 + Fulda, monastery, 81, 140 + Fulgentius, S., African bishop, 105 + + Gaiseric (Genseric), king of the Vandals, 103-4 + Gall, S., 56, 116 + Gallican Church, 39, 41-59, _see_ Franks, Gaul; Gallican liturgy + and ritual, 47, 181-3, 186, 188-90; influence on the English + liturgy, 186-7 + Galswintha, wife of Chilperich I. of Neustria, 48 + Gaul, Roman, 41; Christianity in, 41-59, 83, 176; Gregory + the Great in, 48-51, 65, 69; monasticism in, 171; feudalism, + 172; Normans in, 196 + Gelasian Sacramentary (so named from pope Gelasius I., 492-6), 182-3 + Gelimer, Vandal king, 105 + General Councils, first four, 76; Third (of Ephesus, 431), 96; + Fourth (of Chalcedon, 451), 2, 7, 9-10, 18, 24, 65-6, 79, 85-6, + 89, 95; Fifth (of Constantinople, 553), 15, 17, 18, 20-2, + 39, 63-4, 86, 106-7, 161; Sixth (of Constantinople, 680-1), + 21, 84-5, 88; Seventh (of Nicaea, 787), 155, 165; Eighth + (of Constantinople, 869), 193-4; Eighth, according to the + Greeks (of Constantinople, 879-80), 194 + Gentilly, Council of (767), 81 + Georgia, Church of, 23, 95 + Gerbert of Aurillac (Silvester II.), 200-2 + Germanus, S., patriarch of Constantinople, 155 + Gildas, British historian, 183 + Glastonbury, monastery, 115, 119 + Gnesen, archbishopric of, 125 + Goidels, Celtic stock in Ireland, 53; Goidelic language, 119 + Goths, Eastern (Ostrogoths), in Italy, 4, 29-32; Western, _see_ + Wisigoths + Grado, archbishop of, 157 + _Gradual_, 188 + Greece, iconoclasm causes a rising in, 157; Greek Church, its + character, 6: the Eastern Empire in its religious aspect, 13. + _See also_ Church, Constantinople, Eastern, Schism + Greenland, mission to, 132 + Gregorian Sacramentary, 182 + Gregory I., the Great, S., pope, 21, 25, 34, 40, 55, 76, 113, 134, + 171, 180-2, 184, 186, 190, 192; his life and work, 60-71; his + relations to Gaul, 48-51, 65, 69; to Africa, 107; to missions, 69; + to monasticism, 69; to classical learning, 52, 70; his claim to + jurisdiction, 68; claimed no special authority for the use of + Rome, 187; his theology, 70-1; his writings, 35, 60, 63-5 + Gregory II., pope, 136-7, 157 + Gregory III., pope, 137, 147, 157 + Gregory IV., pope, 130 + Gregory V. (Bruno), pope, 199, 200 + Gregory of Tours, bishop and historian, 43-5, 51-2, 58, 66 n., + 145, 171 + Gregory, abbat of Utrecht, 136 + Gregory, patrician, upstart emperor, 109 + Guntchramn (Guntram), king of the Burgundian Franks, 55 + + Haakon (Hacon) the Good, king of Norway, 131 + Hadrian I., pope, 151, 154, 182 + Hadrian II., pope, 123-4 + Hamburg, archbishopric, 129-30 + Harnack, A., referred to, 22 + Harold Bluetooth, king of Denmark (died 978), 131 + Harold, Danish king in 822, 129 + Harold Haarfager (Fairhair), king of Norway, 131 + Hatfield, Council of (680), 88 + Helena, empress, 100 + _Henotikon_, the, 7, 8, 10 + Henry I., "the Fowler," first German king of the Saxon + House(919-36), 126 + Heraclius, emperor, 22-3, 83-4, 100-1, 109, 158; as a theologian, 87 + Herat, Nestorian bishopric of, 98 + Heresy, not a unifying power, 134; real danger of sixth and seventh + century heresies, 19; heresy akin to patriotism in the East, + 13; an expression of national independence, 23; baptism of + heretics, 178. _See_ Adoptianist, Aphthartodocetes, Arianism, + Donatists, Eutychian, Jacobite, Monophysites, Monothelites, + Nestorians + Hermenigild (Hermenegild), Wisigothic king in Spain, 75 + Heruls, a Teutonic tribe, 29, 94 + Hessen, 136-8 + Hieria, iconoclastic synod at, 155 + Hieroclea, author of the _Synekdemos_, 24 + Hilarus, papal official under Gregory the Great, 107 + Hilda, S., 116 + Hilderic, Vandal king, 105 + Himyarites, Christians in South Arabia, 111-12 + Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims, 170, 192, 195 + Hira (in Persia), Monophysite bishop of, 110 + Hlothild (Chlothildis), daughter of Chlodowech, 74 + Hodgkin, Dr. Thomas, quoted, 32-3, 48, 75 n, 135, 144 + Homerites (Himyarites) in South Arabia, Christian, 111-12 + Honorius I., pope, 87-8; condemned by the Sixth General + Council, 85 + Hormisdas, pope, 9-10, 90 + Hugh the Great, duke of the Franks (923-56), 196 + Hugh Capet, duke (956), and king (987-96) of the Franks, 201 + Hugh, S., abbat of Cluny, 174 + Hungary, 141; received a Christian king, 201 + Hunneric, Vandal king, 104 + Huns, 41, 94 + Hymns, 15 n, 81, 156, 162, 168, 190 + + Ibas of Edessa, 16-18 + Iberians of Georgia, 95 + Iceland, 115; conversion of, 132-3 + Iconoclastic controversy, 12, 143, 147, 155-65, 194 + Ignatius, patriarch of Constantinople, 193-4 + Illyria, Illyricum, 65-7, 157 + Image-worship. _See_ Iconoclastic + Incarnation, doctrine of the, the Church's tenacity of, 19; + endangered by iconoclasm, 160, 164. _See_ Heresies + India, 9, 23, 96-8 + Ingunthis, Frankish princess, daughter of Sigebert and Brunichild, + wife of Hermenigild of Spain, 48, 75 + Iona, 116-17 + Ireland, Christian and outside the Empire, 3; the Church in, 53, + 113-16, 121-2, 183; Irish learning, 169-71; missionaries in + Thuringia, 136; monks in Iceland, 132; priests at + Glastonbury, 115, 119 + Irene, Empress, 154, 164 + Irminsul, the, a column worshipped by the Saxons, 140 + Isidore of Seville, 76, 195 + Isis, worship of, 111 + Islam, 98. _See_ Muhammadanism + Istria, 63-4, 68, 151 + Italy, conquered by Goths, 4, 29; reconquered by Belisarius and + Narses, 32; Imperial restoration, 33; Church in, 29-40; + S. Columban in, 56; saved from Arianism, 60; liturgy, 183; end + of the Eastern Imperial power, 143, 147-8; Charles the Great, + 150-4; the Saxon Ottos, 197-201 + Italy, Northern, long refuses to accept the Fifth General + Council, 21; Gregory the Great's activity, 65, 69; Bavarian + kings in, 135 + Italy, Southern, Benedictines in, 62; effect of iconoclasm on, + 157, 162 + + Jacobite sect, 109-10; in Syria, 23, 84 + James, Studite monk, 162 + Jarrow, monastery, 116 + Jerusalem, Church and patriarchate of, 8, 16-17, 84, 87, + 100-1, 156; councils at (553), 20; (628), 101 + Jews, Gregory the Great tries to convert, 69; persecuted in + Spain, 77; Jews in Syria, 100; influence Muhammad, 101; + Jews in Arabia, 111-12 + Joannicius, S., Bulgarian recluse, 124 + John I., pope, martyred, 31 + John II., pope, 15 + John VIII., pope, 194 + John X., pope, 197 + John XI., pope, 174 + John XV., pope, 199 + John XVI., anti-pope set up by Crescentius (997-8), 199 + John of Biclaro (Joannes Biclarensis), bishop of Gerona, 62 n., + 95 n., 75 + John the Cappadocian, patriarch of Constantinople, 10, 90 + John of Damascus (John Damascene), S., 87, 159-60 + John the Deacon, biographer of Gregory the Great, 64, 182 + John of Ephesus, Monophysite bishop and Syriac writer of + sixth century, 24, 111 + John Maro, 89 + John of Nikiu, Jacobite bishop, 86, 109 + John the Patrician, recaptures Carthage from the Arabs, 109 + John the Scot (Johannes Scotus "Erigena"), 170-1 + Julian of Halicarnassus, 86 + Justin I., emperor, 10, 32, 112 + Justin II., emperor, 21-2 + Justinian I., emperor, 86, 89, 90, 94, 99-100, 107, 110-12, 143, + 153, 177; his birthplace, 24, 67-8, 91; building, 26, 27, 100, + 106; Christian legislation of, 28; controversies of his reign, + 14-22; corresponds with the pope, 10, 14; deals with the + Monophysites, 15; his alleged heresy, 15, 21, 22; summons + Fifth General Council, 17; intervenes in Africa, 105-6; + his relations with the Franks, 47; restores the imperial rule + in Italy, 33; Spanish war, 74; hymn-writer, 15 n. + Justinian II., 90-1 + Justiniana Prima, 67, 91 + Jutes in Britain, 117; of Jutland, converted, 130 + + Karlings, Frankish royal house, 57, 139, 144, 147, 196, 201 + Kerait, Tartar kingdom of, 96-7 + _Key of Truth, The_, book of the Armenian Paulicians, 80 + Khalifs of Baghdad, 97, 99; Khalif Omar, 101 + Khartoum, Christian remains near, 111 + Khorassan, 93 + Kiev, town on the Dnyepr, becomes Christian, 127 + Kothransson, Thorwald, Icelander, 132 + Kristian, tenth-century Bohemian historian, 128 + + Lateran synod (649), 88 + Leander, archbishop of Seville, 63, 75-6 + Learning, 5, 38, 123; survival of, 5; at the court of the + Merwings, 51; classical, taught to Gregory the Great, 60; + yet he opposed classical learning in bishops, 52; classical, + of the Irish Church, 115; in England, 115; of the Irish monks, + 121-2; of the Studite monks, 163; revival of, under Charles the + Great, 154, 166-70. _See_ Aelfric, Bede, Gerbert, Education, + Literature + Lebanon, 84; Monothelites in, 22 + Leger (Leodegar), S., 81, 146 + Lent, 36, 140 + Leo I., the Great, S., pope, 6, 7, 10, 29, 63, 89 + Leo III., pope, 81, 152 + Leo III., the Isaurian, emperor, 109, 155, 157-8 + Leo IV., the Chazar, emperor, 155 + Leo V., the Armenian, emperor, 165 + Leo VI., the Wise, emperor, 194 + Leodegar, Leodgar, (S. Leger), bishop of Autun, 81, 146 + Leontius of Byzantium, 86 + Leovigild, Wisigothic king in Spain, 48, 75 + Lerins, abbey, 81 + _Liber Pontificalis_, 39 n., 151 + Liberatus, sixth-century theological writer in Africa, 106 + Limoges, 150, 174 + Lindisfarne, 117 + Litanies, 184-6 + Literature in North Africa, 106; literary renaissance under + Charles the Great, 166. _See_ Boethius, Cassiodorus, Gregory + the Great, Gregory of Tours, John of Damascus, Learning, + Paul the Silentiary, Procopius, Venantius Fortunatus, + Theodore of the Studium + Liturgies, 181-90 + Liudhard, Frankish bishop in Kent, 186 + Lombards, 40, 147-50, 152; invade Italy, 34, 61; pope negotiates + with, 62; conversion from Arianism to Catholicism, 4, 56, 63, 134 + Lothar (Chlothochar) II., king of Lotharingia, 191-2 + Louis I., the Pious, emperor, son of Charles I., 129 + Louis II., emperor, son of the Emperor Lothar I., 192 + Louis the German, king of Bavaria (840-76), son of Louis the + Pious, 128 + Louis d'Outremer, king of the West Franks (936-54), son of + Charles the Simple, 174 + Ludmilla, S., of Bohemia, 128 + Luxeuil, S. Columban's monastery at, 55-6 + + Macon, Second Council of (585), 180 + Magdeburg, archbishopric, 126, 197-8 + Maieul (Majolus), abbat of Cluny, 174 + Mainz, 195; S. Boniface, archbishop of, 137-8 + Malmesbury, abbey, 115, 171 + Manichaeans, 104, 178 + Mansi, G. D., Italian theologian (1692-1769); his Concilia + referred to, 15 n., 17 n., 21 n., 76 + Maraba, catholicos of Persia, 99 + Mark, S., evangelist, 64 + Maron, John, founder of the Maronites, 84 + Maronite Church, 23, 89 + Marozia, paramour of Pope Sergius III., mother of Pope John + XI., 196 + Marriage of the clergy, 25, 91, 119-20; in the Greek Church, + 85; marriage of spiritual relations forbidden, 177 + Martel, Charles, Frankish mayor of the palace, 135, 137, 144, 146 + Martial, S., monastery at Limoges, 174 + Martin, S., monastery at Tours, 168, 173 + Martin I., pope, 88 + Martin, S., bishop of Braga, 74 + Martyrdom of S. Adalbert, 125, 129; S. Boniface, 139, 202; + Pope John, 31; S. Theodosia, 158; S. Wenceslas, 128-9 + Mary, the Blessed Virgin, 18, 80; images of, 156-7 + Mass, the, 15 n.; Mass of the presanctified, 179; the Roman + Mass, fifth to eighth century, 180-2: sixth century, 188-90; + "ite, missa est," 190 + Maurice, emperor, 22, 62, 66 + Maurice, S., 125 + Maximus, orthodox African abbat and controversialist, 89, 108 + Meccah, 101 + Media, 93 + Medinah, 101 + Melkites, orthodox, in Egypt, 84, 110 + Mellitus, bishop, 176 + Melrose, monastery, 116 + Mennas, patriarch of Constantinople, 15, 17 + Merovech, son of Chilperich I., 43 + Merovingians. _See_ Merwings + Merv, Nestorian Church of, 98 + Merwings, Frankish royal house, 43-7, 138, 144, 147, 196, 199; + encourage literature, 51; their sins, 52-4: their age called + golden by Mabillon, 57; decay of their kingdoms, 135 + Mesopotamia, national Church of, 13 + Methodius, S., patriarch of Constantinople (843-7), 12, 156 + Methodius, S., archbishop of + Moravia, 123-4, 128-9 + Metz, capital of Austrasia, 135; bishop of, 144 + Michael III., "the Drunkard," emperor, 192-3 + Mieczyslaw, king of Poland, 125 + Milan, archbishop of, 39; church of, 183 + Mir (Theodemir), king of the Suevi in Spain, 74 + _Missale Francorum_, 183 + Missions, important in this period, 2, 3; Byzantine, 6, 84; + supported by the emperors, 23; missions from Rome, 62, 117, + 183-90; Nestorian, 6, 96-8; Monophysite, 24, 111; missionary + zeal of the Irish Church, 116, 121-2; missions of the + ninth century, 123; to the Bulgarians, 124; to the Slavs, + 124-9; to Northmen, 129-32; to Frisians, 136, 139; missions + checked by the iconoclastic controversy, 156; mission of + S. Augustine, 183-90; missionary wars of Charles the Great, + 139-42, and of the Saxon emperors, 197; zeal of Otto III. and + Silvester II. for missions, 201-2 + Monasticism, in the East, 25, 161-3; its debt to S. Benedict, + 37; to S. Columban, 53; Irish, 53, 114; monasticism in Gaul, + 54, 171; a defence against the secularisation of the Frankish + Church, 57; in Persia, 99; in Scotland, 119; missionary fruits + of, 130; close connection with learning, 167; Alcuin's attitude + to, 168; decay in ninth century, 172; revival at Cluny, 173-5; + the Studium at Constantinople, 161-3; kings become monks, 77, 145 + Mongols, 100 + Monophysites, Monophysitism, 23, 83, 85, 110, 156, 159; + Eastern attempts at compromise rejected by Rome, 7-8; + Justinian studies the question, 10-11, and condemns it, 15; + its condemnation necessary to the acceptance of a logically + tenable creed, 19; Monophysite missions, 24, 111; Monophysitism + in Abyssinia, 112; Arabia, 101; Armenia, 95; India, 97; Persia, + 98-9; Syria, 101 + Monothelites, Monothelitism, 22-3, 84-9, 159; its condemnation + necessary, 19; favoured the progress of Islam, 102; weakened + African Christianity, 108 + Montanists, heretical followers of the second-century fanatic + Montanus, 178 + Monte Cassino, monastery, 35, 39, 61, 145 + Monza, Lombard relics at, 69 + Moors, heathen, of fifth century, 103; Muhammadan, in Spain + and Gaul, 73, 146 + _Moralia_ of Gregory the Great, 63 + Moravia, 124, 127-9 + Mosaics at Constantinople and Ravenna, 26 + Mozarabic rite, Christian liturgy which survived the Moorish + occupation and is still in use in Spain, 189 + Mugurrah (Nubia), visited by missionaries, 111 + Muhammad (Mohammed), the prophet, 101 + Muhammad II., conqueror of Constantinople in 1453, 27 + Muhammadans, Muhammadanism, theocratic ideal of, 139-40; + absorb the attention of the Eastern emperors, 143; + contributes to the iconoclastic movement, 158; conquests, 84; + conquest of Arabia, etc., 112; Merv, 98; Persia, 99; Syria, + 101; Egypt, 102; Africa, 5, 108-9; Soudan, 111; Spain, + 72-3, 77-8, 146; defeated in Gaul by Charles Martel, 146 + + Naples, 143 + Narses, general of Justinian, 32, 34, 61 + Nationalism, a complicating factor in theological controversy, 9; + nationalism of the Spanish Church, 73; nationalism and + heresy, 110 + _Negus_, title of the ruler of Abyssinia, 111 + Nerses III., Armenian "Catholicos," 84-5 + Nestorians, Nestorianism, 9, 23, 83; missions, 6, 96-8; in + Armenia, 95; in Persia, 93-6, 98-9; Nestorianism and + Muhammad, 101; Nestorian "Church of the East" 96 + Neustria, Western Frankish kingdom, 43, 135-6, 146 + Neutra (in modern Hungary), Christian Church at, 127 + Nevers, S. Columban at, 56 + Nicaea, First General Council (325), 89; Seventh General Council + (787), 165 + Nicene Creed, 193 + Nicephorus I., emperor, 80 + Nicephorus, patriarch of Constantinople, 160 + Nicetius, bishop of Trier, 47, 86 + Nicolas I., pope, 124, 191-6 + Nimes, 75, 77, 146 + Nisibis, Nestorian school of theology at, 95-6 + Nobadae, a people of the Soudan, converted, 111 + Nona, bishop of, 125 + Normans, 150, 172, 196 + Northmen, ravages of, 169; pillage Hamburg, 130; converted, + 129-33. _See_ Danes + Northumbria, 116-17; schools of, 116, 167. _See_ Deira + Norway, conversion of, 121, 131-2 + Nubia, missionaries in, 111 + + Odilo, abbat of Cluny, 174 + Odo, S., abbat of Cluny, 163, 171-5 + Oecumenical Councils, canons collected, 194; the Eighth + disputed, 193-4. _See_ General Councils + Oecumenical patriarch, 65-6 + Olaf, king of Sweden (in 853), 130 + Olaf Trigvason, king of Norway (995-1000), 121, 132-3. + Olaf, S., king of Norway (1017-29), 132 + Olaf, Norse king of Dublin, 132 + Olga, S., a "ruler of Russia," baptized, 126 + Omar, Khalif, 101 + Ommeyads, dynasty of Khalifs, descended from Omeyya, 156 + Orange, synod at (529), 72 + Ordination, anointing the hands at, 183 + Origen, his doctrines condemned, 16; Origenists, 15-16 + Oswald, king of Northumberland, 116 + Oswald, bishop of Worcester, 119 + Oswiu, king of Northumbria, 117 + Otto I., emperor, revives the Empire and reforms the papacy, + 197; ecclesiastical policy in Germany and Italy, 198-9; + patron of Gerbert, 200; overlord of Poland, 125; Slav + missions, 126; intervenes in Bohemia, 129; and Denmark, 131 + Otto II., emperor, 199, 201 + Otto III., emperor, 125, 198-202 + Ouen, S., bishop of Rouen, 58 + + Paderborn, 152 + Palestine, Church in, 15-16, 100. _See_ Jerusalem, Syria + Pallium, its significance, 67-8; sent to S. Boniface, 137; + to S. Ansgar, 130 + Pannonia, 124 + Papacy and the popes: Papacy rises as the Empire decays, 4; + wins political power, 5, 61, 149; acquires rights of jurisdiction, + 31; popes act as envoys of Arian Gothic kings, 15, 31; + papal elections confirmed by the emperor or the exarch, 34, and + controlled by the Saxon emperors, 199; papacy supported + by the Benedictines, 37, as afterwards by the Cluniacs, 173-5; + degradation of the papacy in sixth century, 39; papal + infallibility not dreamt of in sixth century, 39-40, nor in the + early tenth, 197; growth of new ideals, popes begin to intervene + in politics, 61; pope styled "oecumenical archbishop and + patriarch," 65; papal power increases in Africa, 107-8; papacy + preserves the traditions of the Empire, 143; alliance of the + papacy with the Karlings, 147; growth of the temporal power, + 143, 149; beginning of the Papal States, 149; loss of the + Bulgarian Church, 134; papacy foments strife between the Slavs + and Constantinople, 125; popes oppose iconoclastic emperors, + 157; pope crowns Charles the Great emperor, 152-3; Nicolas + I. claims to be the source of the Empire, 192; degeneracy of the + popes in ninth and tenth centuries, 172, 196-7, 199; papal + monarchy grows in theory at the time of its practical weakness, + 191; papacy supports its claims by the forged decretals, 194-6; + papacy reformed by the Saxon emperors, 197, 199-202; list of + popes, 205-8. _See_ Rome + Paschasius Radbertus, abbat of Corbie (died about. 865), 170 + Passau, see of, 138 + Patriarchates, the five, 24; question of supremacy, 90; their + jurisdictions not considered unalterable, 91; patriarchal rights + over the Bulgarian Church, 124; Illyria lost to Rome, 157. + _See_ Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, Jerusalem, Rome + "Patrician of the Romans," title conferred on Pippin the Short, + 148; borne by Charles the Great, 152 + Patrick, S., 57, 113-14, 183 + "Patrimony of S. Peter," 65, 148 + Paul the Deacon, 62 n., 65, 134, 167 + Paul, patriarch of Constantinople, 164 + Paul of Samosata, 80 + Paul the Silentiary, 25-6 + Paulicians, 80, 156 + Pelagius, founder of the Pelagian heresy in fifth century, 72 + Pelagius, I., pope, 16, 21, 34, 39-40, 107 + Pelagius II., pope, 62, 64-6 + Persecution of Catholics by Arians, 32, 74-5, 103-5; of Catholics + by Moslems, 78; in the iconoclastic controversy, 155, 158, + 165; of Jews, 77; of Nestorians by Muhammadans, 99 + Persia, 12, 22-3, 80, 83, 110; the Church in, 93-5, 98-9; kings + of, 93-5, 100, 102 + Peter, S., 117, 120; _Confessio_ of, 152; patrimony of, 65, 148; + Charles the Great's gift of lands to, 151; popes act in the name + of, 148-50 + Peter the Stammerer, bishop of Alexandria, 8 + _Phantasiasts_, 86 + Philae, temple of, 111 + Phocas the Cappadocian, emperor, 22 + Photius, patriarch of Constantinople, 124, 192-4 + Picts, heathens in Scotland, 114, 116 + Pippin the Short, Frankish king, 150; anointed by S. Boniface + (751), 139, 147; by Pope Stephen II. (754), 148; relations + with the papacy, 144, 147-9; donation of, 149, 151, 194 + Poictiers, Battle of, 146 + Poland, conversion of, 125 + Pomerania, 125 + Poppo, bishop, missionary to the Danes, 131 + Posen, bishopric of, 125 + Pragmatic Sanction of Justinian for the government of Italy, 33-4 + Prague, see of (bishopric, 973; archbishopric, 1343), 125, 129 + Primasius, sixth-century theological writer in Africa, 106 + _Privilegia_ to monasteries granted by Gregory the Great, 69; + to the Cluniacs, 173-4 + Procession of the Holy Ghost, Double (i.e. from the Father + and the Son), 76, 80-1, 193-4 + Proconsularis (i.e. Africa Proconsularis, the modern Tunis + and Tripoli), 104 + Procopius, 11, 26, 91 n., 94, 100, 112 + Prussians, missions to, 125, 129 + Pseudo-Isidorian decretals, 195 + Pyrrhus, Monothelite heresiarch, 89, 108 + + _Quicunque vult_, 81-2 + Quierzy (on the Oise), donation of, 151 + Quini-sextan Council at Constantinople (_in Trullo_), 85, 89-92 + + Rabanus Maurus, 81 + Radegund, S., Frankish princess, 51; monastery of, 171 + Ratramnus of Corbie (died 868), 170 + Ravenna, 85, 147, 149, 151, 201; Odowakar's capital, captured by + Goths, 29; recaptured by Belisarius, 30; mosaics at, 26; + archbishopric, 68, 157 + Reccared, Wisigothic king in Spain, 73, 75-6, 80 + Recceswinth, Wisigothic king in Spain, 76 + Regensburg (Ratisbon), Bohemians baptized at, 128; see + of, 129, 138; Council of (792), 79 + Remigius, S., baptizes Chlodowech, 43 + Remismond, Suevic king in Spain, 73 + Reparatus, bishop of Carthage, 106 + Reunion of Eastern and Western Church (in 519), 10; sought by + Justinian, 11; nominal, after the Photian Schism, 194 + Rheims, 195-6, 200-1 + Rimbert, S., archbishop of Bremen, 130-1 + Rome, Church and patriarchate of, 24, 65-6, 157; insists on + obsolete claims, 14; its supremacy repudiated at Constantinople, + 85, 90; quarrel with Constantinople over the _Ecthesis_ + and _Type_, 98; authorises the missions of S. Augustine, 117, + and S. Boniface, 136-9; attitude of S. Boniface to, 139; + connection with Ireland, 113-15, 122; with the East, 123; with + England, 117, 120-1; assumes the political rights of the + exarchate, 148-9; Eucharist, 179; councils at (680), 88; + (731), 157; (863), 192. _See_ Church (Western), Papacy + Rome, city of, its peculiar history, 143; dominated by the local + nobles, 196 + Romulus Augustulus, 29 + Ruegen, isle of, 127 + Rule of Bangor, 54-5; of Basil, reformed by Theodore the + Studite, 163; of S. Benedict, 35, 58-9, 69, 119, 121, 171, + 173, 175; of Cluny, 174-5; of S. Columban, 55, 171 + Rupert, S., missionary in Bavaria, 135 + Russia, conversion of, 6, 126-7; modern Russian Church, 95 + + Sabas, S., 15 + Sabbas, archimandrite of the Studium, 162 + Sabellians, followers of the heretic Sabellius (third century), 178 + _Sacramentary_ of Pope Gelasius I. (492-6), 182-3; of Gregory the + Great, 182 + Sacraments, 176-181 + Saints, Celtic "age of saints," 53; Merwing, 51; images of + the, 156-7 + Salzburg, archbishopric, 127, 135, 138 + Samaritans, 100 + Samarkand, Nestorian bishopric of, 98 + Sancho the Great, king of Navarre (970-1035), 78 + Sapor II., king of Persia, 93 + Saracens, 77, 158, 172; in Africa, 109; in Spain and Gaul, 146. + _See_ Muhammadans. + Saxons, 135; forcible conversion by Charles the Great, 140-2, + 197; the Saxons in Britain, 113, 117-18, 176; "Old" + Saxons of the Continent, 180 + Schism between East and West, formal beginning due to + Monophysitism, 8; schism of 484-519, 68; schism of 649-81 caused + by the _Ecthesis_ and _Type_, 88; steps towards, 149; the Photian, + 192-4 + Schleswig, converted, 130 + Scholarship, 5, 38, 55. _See_ Learning + Scholastica, S., sister of S. Benedict, 37 + Scilly Isles, 132 + Scotland, Church in, 114, 116-17, 119 + Scotus, Johannes. _See_ John the Scot + Sebert, king of the East Saxons, 176 + Seleucia, see of, 93 + Semi-Pelagianism, 72, 81 + Septimania, 77, 146 + Serbia, Church of, 124 + Serbian Church, 23, 84 + Sergius I., pope, 91 + Sergius I., patriarch of Constantinople, 83, 87 + Sermons, 64-5, 120, 163, 185, 188 + Severus, Monophysite patriarch of Antioch, 10, 15, 86 + Severus, patriarch of Aquileia, 62 + Sigambrians, a Teutonic tribe, allied to the Franks, 43 + Sigebert (Sigibert), Frankish king of Austrasia, 43, 54, 75 + Silvester II., pope, 7, 125, 200-2 + Simplicius, pope, 8 + Siricius, pope, 195 + Slaves, slavery, 130; freed by Gregory the Great, 65; Jews + enslaved in Spain, 77 + Slavs, 44, 84; Charles the Great allied with heathen, 141; + conversion of, 123-9; attacked by Otto I., 197 + Smbat, supposed author of the Paulician _Key of Truth_, 80 + Soissons, 139, 195 + Sophia, S., the Church of the Divine Wisdom, at Constantinople, + 25-7; Church of, at Kiev, 127 + Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem, 87 + Soracte, monastery, 145 + Spain, 172, 196; Gregory the Great active in, 65; invaded by + the Franks, 74; Dagobert I. influential in, 44; Charles the + Great in, 140; conflict of Arianism and Catholicism in, + 48; Catholicism wins, 62-3, 73, 75; conquered by the + Muhammadans, 77-8; Church has to contend with Islam, 72; + Catholicism survives in the North, 78; Eucharist, 179; Spanish + rite, 183; literature, 73 + Squillace, monastery, 38-9 + Stephen II. (or III.), pope, 148-9 + Stephen III. (or IV.), pope, 151 + Stephen, king of Hungary, 201 + Strathclyde, early British Church of, 113 + Studium, the, monastery at Constantinople, 161-3 + _Stylites_, 25 + Subiaco, S. Benedict at, 35 + Suevi (a Teutonic confederate people) in Gaul, 41. _See_ Mir, + Remismond + Sweden, missions to, 129-30 + Syagrius, bishop of Autun, 49, 67 n. + Symmachus, Senator, father-in-law of Boethius, executed, 32 + _Syntagma_, a collection of canons, compiled, 85, 178 + Syria, 100-1, 156; Syrian Church, Monophysite and Nestorian, 9; + National Church, 13; monks disregard the Fifth General + Council, 20; Jacobites in, 23, 84; Adoptianism in, 79; + Monophysitism, 110; Monothelitism, 89; Muhammadan invasion, 108 + + Tarasius, patriarch of Constantinople, 164 + Tartars, 96-7 + Tauresium, 91. _See_ Justiniana Prima + Tebessa (in modern Algeria), monastery, 106 + Thaddeus, Studite monk, 162 + Theandric energy, 87, 89 + Theodebert I., Frankish king, 47 + Theodelind, Lombard queen, 56, 69, 134-5 + Theoderic III., king of Neustria, 146 + Theodora, empress (842), wife of Theophilus, 165 + Theodora, paramour of Pope John X., mother of Marozia, 196 + Theodore of Mopsuestia, 16-18 + Theodore of the Studium (or the Studite), S., 124, 156, 160-4 + Theodore of Tarsus, 115, 117, 169 + Theodoret of Cyrrhus, 16-18 + Theodoric the Ostrogoth, king of Italy, 29; his tolerant + ecclesiastical policy, 30; executes Symmachus and Boethius, 32; + aims at a united Italy, 60 + Theodoric II., Frankish king of Burgundy, son of Childebert II., 56 + Theodosia, S., 158 + Theodosius II., emperor, 67 + Theology, important in this period, 1; the predominant interest + in the literature, 5; the theology of statesmen and + military men, 9, 87; theology at Constantinople, 8, 156; + iconoclastic, 158-9; theology of S. John Damascene, 159-60 + Theophanes, Greek chronicler (758-817), 111 + Theophilus, emperor, 165 + Thessalonica, 67-8, 123 + Theudberga, wife of Chlothochar, king of Lotharingia, 191 + Theudis, Wisigothic king in Spain, 74 + Thomas of Edessa, 99 + Thormod, missionary priest in Iceland, 132 + Thorwald Kothransson, Icelander, 132 + Thrace, Paulicianism in, 80 + "Three Chapters," controversy of the, 16-20, 22, 62-3, 72, 99, 106-7 + Thuringia(ns), 135-8 + Tiberius II., emperor, 22 + Tithes, 140 + Toledo, cathedral of, 76; councils, 72; Third Synod (of 589), 76, + 80; Fourth (of 633), 81; Sixteenth (of 695), 77 + _Tome_ of S. Leo, 63 + Tomi, monks of, 14 + Tonnenna, Victor of, 106-7 + Totila, Gothic king, 37 + Tours, 168; battle of, _see_ Poictiers. _See also_ Gregory of Tours + Transubstantiation, 171 + Trier (Treves), archbishop of, 192 + Trullian Council (691) at Constantinople, 85, 89-92 + Tunis, survival of the Church of, 110 + _Type_, issued by Constans II., 88 + Tzani, Asiatic people, converted, 94 + + Unity, the central idea of the period, 2, 154, 203; need of + unity in the Church, 70 + "Universal bishop," title declined by Gregory the Great, 66; + Cluniac ideal, 175 + Urban II., pope (1088-99), 174 + + Vandals, 197; in Gaul, 41; in Africa, 103-5 + Venantius Fortunatus, bishop of Poictiers, 51, 75 + _Veni Creator Spiritus_, 81 + Venice, 143, 151, 157 + Victor, bishop of Carthage, 108 + Victor of Tonnenna (Victor Tununensis), 106-7 + Victor Vitensis, 104-5 + Vienne, 186 + Vigilists, 15. _See_ Akoimetai. + Vigilius, pope, 17, 20, 39-40, 106 + Vivarium, monastery of, 38 + Vladimir, S., of Russia, 126-7 + + Wales, Church of, 113, 118, 122; West Wales (i.e. Cornwall), 113 + Wallachian Church, 23 + Wamba, Wisigothic king in Spain, 76 + Wandrille, S., 57 + Wenceslas of Bohemia, S., 128-9 + Wends, missions to the, 126 + Whitby, Synod of (664), 116 + Wilfrith (Wilfrid) of Ripon, S., 88, 117-18, 121, 169 + Willehad, archbishop of Bremen, 142 + William of Aquitaine, founder of the abbey of Cluny, 173 + Willibald, biographer of S. Boniface, 138 + Willibrord, S., Northumbrian missionary in Frisia, 136 + Winfrith of Crediton (S. Boniface), 121, 136-40, 142 + Wisigoths in Spain, 73-8; corruption of society, 73-4; accept + Catholicism, 5, 62-3, 73, 75; their monarchy falls before the + Moors, 146 + Wuerzburg, 138, 147 + + York, school of, 116, 167 + + Zacharias, pope, 147 + Zacharias, patriarch of Jerusalem, 101 + Zeno, emperor, 7 + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Church and the Barbarians, by +William Holden Hutton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHURCH AND THE BARBARIANS *** + +***** This file should be named 22366.txt or 22366.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/3/6/22366/ + +Produced by Al Haines + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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