Contents
Preface to the Tenth Anniversary Revised Edition
A New Frontier: the Christianities of the East
Civilization and the Fall of Rome
Before and After Rome: States, Taxes, and Societies
“Local Romanness” against “Central Romanness”: Regionalism and the End of Empire
Soldier and Civilian in a Changing World
Christianity: a History of Change
Religion and the Household: the Creation of the Private
Christian Identity: Drawing the Frontier
The Destruction of the Temples
Barbarian Identity: Re-Fashioning the Past
History and Christian Identity
The Seventh Century: Change and Renewal
Western Europe in a Wider World
The Making of Europe: “A History of European Unity”?
A Mediterranean Unity? The “Pirenne Thesis”
After Empire: A World without a Center
“Micro-Christendoms”: Center and Periphery in Christian Europe
Early Medieval Christianity: A “Barbarized” Religion?
“Background Noise”: Dark Age Christian Culture
“Directly Ancestral”: The End of Ancient Christianity
“Portions of Paradise”: Art, the Sacred, and Gift-Giving in Early Medieval Europe
Part I: Empire and Aftermath A.D. 200–500
1 “The Laws of Countries”: Prologue and Overview
Who are the Barbarians? Nomads and Farmers
A Middle Ground: The Rise of the Frontier
The New Empire: Crisis and Reform in the Roman Empire in the Third Century
Religiones: The Ancient Religion
New Religion in a New Empire: Christianity before Constantine
“All malice will be wiped out”: Salvation, Martyrdom, and Penance in the Christian Church
The Church and Society: Almsgiving
3 Tempora Christiana: Christian Times
“The religion of the Greeks … has vanished from the earth”: The End of Paganism, Official Version
The Call of the Wild: Monasticism
The Power of the Saeculum: The New Aristocracy and its Values
Grace, Free Will, and the Church: The Pelagian Controversy
The “Glorious City”: Augustine’s City of God
4 Virtutes sanctorum … strages gentium: “Deeds of Saints … Slaughter of Nations”
Guests of the State: The Barbarian Settlements
Defending the Cities: Bishops and Patron Saints
A View from Rome: Leo the Great and Church Order
“New Rome”: The View from Constantinople
Emmanuel: “God with Us”: Christological Controversy in the Eastern Empire
5 On the Frontiers: Noricum, Ireland, and Francia
A Saint of the Open Frontier: Severinus of Noricum
An Age of Tyrants: The End of Roman Britain
“From the ends of the earth”: Patricius in Ireland
Northern Gaul: Clovis (481–511) and the Rise of the Franks
Kingdoms without Rome: North Africa and Axum
“This latter-day Israel”: A New History for New Kingdoms
Part II: Divergent Legacies A.D. 500–600
6 Reverentia, rusticitas: Caesarius of Arles to Gregory of Tours
The Battle for the Mundus: The Natural World between Paganism and Christianity
Triumph or Bad Habits: Narratives of Christianization in East and West
“The unceasing voice”: Caesarius, Bishop of Arles (502–542)
Reverentia: the Gaul of Gregory, Bishop of Tours (573–594)
Gregory’s World: Reverentia, Justice, and Peace
“A Touch of Paradise”: Gregory and the Spiritual Landscape of Gaul
7 Bishops, City, and Desert: East Rome
“To maintain good order”: Bishops and their City in the Eastern Empire
“The Church of Satan”: Secular Traditions in the City
“Sustained by their prayers”: Asceticism and Society in the Eastern Empire
“The fortunate race of the Romans”: Justinian (527–565) and his Empire
The Plague of 543 and its Consequences
New Solidarities: From Imperial Church to Dissident Communities
8 Regimen animarum: Gregory the Great
“The Holy Commonwealth”: Italy and the East Roman Empire
Roma invicta, “Unconquered Rome”: The Senatorial Aristocracy of Italy
Antiquarius Domini: “Book-producer of the Lord” – Cassiodorus and the Vivarium
The Young Gregory: From the Clivus Scauri to Constantinople
“Thundering forth … hidden meanings”: Gregory’s Moralia in Job
“The giants groan beneath the waters”: Pope Gregory (590–604)
“The art to end all arts”: The Regula Pastoralis
Part III: The End of Ancient Christianity A.D. 600–750
9 Powerhouses of Prayer: Monasticism in Western Europe
The End of Ancient Christianity
Monasticism in Mediterranean Western Europe
“A school of the Lord’s service”: The Rule of Benedict (ca.480–ca.547)
“The cool refuge of chastity”: The Convent of Caesaria at Arles (508)
“To pray for the peace of the kingdom”: Radegund of Poitiers (520–587)
10 The Making of a Sapiens: Religion and Culture in Continental Europe and in Ireland
“Worldly wisdom”: The Classics and the Christian Church
“Subtlety of words”: Secular Culture in the “Barbarian” West
The Making of a Sapiens: Sixth-century Ireland and West Britain
“Medicine for sin”: The World of the Penitentials
Prelude to Exile: Columbanus at Bangor (570–590)
11 Medicamenta paenitentiae: Columbanus
“Coming from the world’s end”: Columbanus in Europe
Disciplina disciplinarum: The Training of All Trainings: Columbanus’ Monasticism
Medicamenta paenitentiae: The Medicines of Penance
Frankish Society and the New Monasticism
Districtio: “a strict accounting”: Sin and Penance in the Western Church
“All the Inhabitants of Europe”
12 Christianity in Asia and the Rise of Islam
“A kingdom which shall never be destroyed”: East Rome in Asia
“Two powerful kingdoms who roared like lions”: East Rome and Persia: 540–630
“The patrimonial faith”: Armenia between Persia and Rome
“The Church of the East”: Persian Christians and the School of Nisibis
From Mesopotamia to China: The “Church of the East” in Asia
“Trapped on a rock between two lions”: The Arabs between Two Empires
“My servants, the righteous, shall inherit the earth”: Muhammad and the Preaching of Islam
13 “The Changing of the Kingdoms”: Christians under Islam
“The fourth kingdom … greater than all other kingdoms”: Responses to the Arab Conquests
“Justice flourished in his time and there was great peace”: The Ummayad Empire, 661–750
An Empire Gains its Public Face: Language, Coinage, and Mosques
Cities, Segregation, and Control: Muslims and their Subjects
The New Hellenism: History and Learning in the Syrian World
“Walking the roads to China”: The Church of the East under Islam
Taxes and Language: The Beginning of Islamization and the Triumph of Arabic
Islam, East Rome, and the West
14 Christianities of the North: Ireland
A New Religion for the Elite: Sixth-Century Ireland
“In the terrible clashing of battles”: Saint Columba (521–597) and the Hegemony of Iona
Competition and the Lives of the Saints
“The sewing together of church and people”: Christian Communities in Ireland
“The blessed white language”: Christian Literacy and Pre-Christian Tradition in Ireland
15 Christianities of the North: The Saxons of Britain
“A barbarous, fierce and unbelieving nation”: Saxons and the Christianity of Britain
Christianity and Overlordship: Ethelbert of Kent (580–616)
Screening and Acceptance: From Ethelbert of Kent to Edwin of Northumbria (616–633)
A History for the English: Bede (672–735)
“A boundless store of books”: Benedict Biscop (628–690) and the Library of Wearmouth
“First of the English race to introduce the Catholic way of life”: Wilfrid of York (634–706)
“The philosopher … the archbishop of far-away Britain”: Theodore of Tarsus at Canterbury (668–690)
“The work of angels”: Lindisfarne, the Book of Kells, and Northern Art
Part IV: New Christendoms A.D. 750–1000
17 The Crisis of the Image: The Byzantine Iconoclast Controversy
An Empire under Siege: From an East Roman to a “Byzantine” State
“If only I see his likeness, I shall be saved”: Images and East Roman piety, 550–700
“Inanimate and speechless images … which bring no benefit”: Images and Their Critics, 600–700
To Purge the Temple: The First Iconoclasm, 730–787
“Led by visible images”: John of Damascus and the Theology of Images
Byzantium and the West: Charlemagne and the Council of Frankfurt (794)
18 The Closing of the Frontier: Frisia and Germany
Center and Periphery in Christian Europe
What is the Frontier? From Roman Limes to Mission Territories
“So much barbaric lack of order”: Boniface in Germany
Paedagogus populi, Educator of the People: The Legacy of Boniface
“To preach with a tongue of iron”: Charlemagne and the Conquest of Saxony
19 “To Rule the Christian People”: Charlemagne
Monarchy Making: Aachen and the Court
Let us return to the Lord (Isaiah 55:7): Carolingian Correctio
Admonitio generalis: “A General Warning” and the Problem of Communication
Toward Medieval Christianity: Tithes and Godparents at Liège
“Persons of low intelligence”: Agobard of Lyons and the Thundermakers
20 In geār dagum, “In Days of Yore”: Northern Christendom and its Past
The Viking Raids in Western Europe
“Let us enquire whether Christ will be on our side”: Christianity in Denmark and Sweden
“Let us all have one law and one faith”: The Conversion of Iceland, a.d. 1000
The Past in the Present: Pre-Christian Gods and a Christian Social Order
“In days of yore”: Epic and Social Status: The World of Beowulf
“The paths where outcasts go”: Monsters, Marginals, and the Triumph of Christianity
Preface to the Tenth Anniversary Revised Edition
Chapter 1: “The Laws of Countries”
Chapter 2: Christianity and Empire
Chapter 4: Virtutes sanctorum …
Chapter 6: Reverentia, rusticitas
Chapter 7: Bishops, City, and Desert
Chapter 9: Powerhouses of Prayer
Chapter 10: The Making of a Sapiens
Chapter 11: Medicamenta paenitentiae
Chapter 12: Christianity in Asia and the Rise of Islam
Chapter 13: “The Changing of the Kingdoms”
Chapter 14: Christianities of the North: Ireland
Chapter 15: Christianities of the North: The Saxons of Britain
Chapter 16: Micro-Christendoms
Chapter 17: The Crisis of the Image
Chapter 18: The Closing of the Frontier
Chapter 19: “To rule the Christian people”: Charlemagne
Chapter 20: In geār dagum: “In Days of Yore”