Christian History - Alister E. McGrath - E-Book

Christian History E-Book

Alister E. McGrath

0,0
26,99 €

-100%
Sammeln Sie Punkte in unserem Gutscheinprogramm und kaufen Sie E-Books und Hörbücher mit bis zu 100% Rabatt.
Mehr erfahren.
Beschreibung

A major new introduction to the global history of Christianity, written by one of the world's leading theologians and author of numerous bestselling textbooks. * Provides a truly global review by exploring the development of Christianity and related issues in Asia, Latin America and Africa, and not just focusing on Western concerns * Spanning more than two millennia and combining elements of theology, history, and culture, it traces the development of all three branches of Christianity - Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox - providing context to Christianity's origins and its links to Judaism * Looks beyond denominational history at Christianity's impact on individuals, society, politics, and intellectual thought, as well as on art, architecture, and the natural sciences * Combines McGrath's acute historical sensibility with formidable organizational skill, breaking the material down into accessible, self-contained historical periods * Offers an accessible and student-oriented text, assuming little or no advance theological or historical knowledge on the part of the reader

Sie lesen das E-Book in den Legimi-Apps auf:

Android
iOS
von Legimi
zertifizierten E-Readern

Seitenzahl: 934

Bewertungen
0,0
0
0
0
0
0
Mehr Informationen
Mehr Informationen
Legimi prüft nicht, ob Rezensionen von Nutzern stammen, die den betreffenden Titel tatsächlich gekauft oder gelesen/gehört haben. Wir entfernen aber gefälschte Rezensionen.



Table of Contents

Cover

Endorsements

Also by Alister E. McGrath from Wiley-Blackwell

Title page

Copyright page

Maps and Illustrations

Maps

Illustrations

How to Use This Book

Source of Quotation

1 The Early Church, 100–500

1.1. Setting the Context: The Origins of Christianity

1.2. Early Christianity and the Roman Empire

1.3. Early Christianity and the Hellenistic World

1.4. The Imperial Religion: The Conversion of Constantine

1.5. Orthodoxy and Heresy: Patterns in Early Christian Thought

Sources of Quotations

2 The Middle Ages and Renaissance, c. 500–c. 1500

2.1. Setting the Context: The Background to the High Middle Ages

2.2. The Dawn of the High Middle Ages

2.3. Medieval Religious Thought: The Scholastic Achievement

2.4. The Later Middle Ages

2.5. The Renaissance: Cultural Renewal and Christian Expansion

Sources of Quotations

3 Competing Visions of Reform, c. 1500–c. 1650

3.1. Setting the Context: The Background to the Reformation

3.2. Protestantism: An Overview of a Movement

3.3. The Mainstream Reformation: Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin

3.4. Reformations across Europe: The Bigger Picture

3.5. The Post-Reformation Era

Sources of Quotations

4 The Modern Age, c. 1650–1914

4.1. The Age of Reason: The Enlightenment

4.2. An Age of Revolution: The Long Nineteenth Century in Europe

4.3. The Long Nineteenth Century in America

4.4. An Age of Mission

Sources of Quotations

5 The Twentieth Century, 1914 to the Present

5.1. Setting the Context: Post-War Turbulence

5.2. Shifts in Western Christianity since the Second World War

5.3. The Sixties and Beyond: Western Christianity in an Age of Transition

5.4. The Shift from the West: The New Christianity

Where Next?

A Glossary of Christian Terms

Index

"This is a wonderful introduction to the history of Christianity. It pays the most attention to the rise and spread of the Christian faith in the ancient near east and the medieval and modern west. But it also tells the story of this faith's rapid shift to the global south and far east during the past 100 years − and does so with the kind of clear and compelling English prose that will be recognized as vintage McGrath by experts in the field. I strongly recommend it, and look forward to using it frequently with students and other readers."

—Douglas A. Sweeney, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

"As Christianity expands around the globe, this intelligent introduction introduces key figures, ideas, and developments in Christian history, balancing illuminating generalizations with engaging detailed examples. The mutual interactions of churches and cultures are highlighted, and theological developments are clearly articulated. McGrath succeeds in whetting the reader’s appetite for further study."

—Anne T. Thayer, Lancaster Theological Seminary

Also by Alister E. McGrath from Wiley-Blackwell

Historical Theology: An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought, Second Edition (2012)

Reformation Thought: An Introduction, Fourth Edition (2012)

Theology: The Basic Readings, Second Edition (edited, 2012)

Theology: The Basics, Third Edition (2012)

Luther’s Theology of the Cross: Martin Luther’s Theological Breakthrough, Second Edition (2011)

Darwinism and the Divine: Evolutionary Thought and Natural Theology (2011)

The Christian Theology Reader, Fourth Edition (edited, 2011)

Christian Theology: An Introduction, Fifth Edition (2011)

Science and Religion: A New Introduction, Second Edition (2009)

The Open Secret: A New Vision for Natural Theology (2008)

The Order of Things: Explorations in Scientific Theology (2006)

Christianity: An Introduction, Second Edition (2006)

Dawkins’ God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life (2004)

The Intellectual Origins of the European Reformation, Second Edition (2003)

Christian Literature: An Anthology (edited, 2003)*

A Brief History of Heaven (2003)

The Blackwell Companion to Protestantism (edited with Darren C. Marks, 2003)

The Future of Christianity (2002)

Reformation Thought: An Introduction, Third Edition (2000)

Christian Spirituality: An Introduction (1999)

Historical Theology: An Introduction (1998)

The Foundations of Dialogue in Science and Religion (1998)

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Thought (edited, 1995)

A Life of John Calvin (1990)

Note

* out of print

This edition first published 2013

© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Wiley-Blackwell is an imprint of John Wiley & Sons, formed by the merger of Wiley’s global Scientific, Technical and Medical business with Blackwell Publishing.

Registered Office

John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK

Editorial Offices

350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA

9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK

The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK

For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services, and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell.

The right of Alister E. McGrath to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available

HB: 9781118337790

PB: 9781118337806

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Cover image: Cathedral of Brasilia at night, architect Oscar Niemeyer. © imagebroker.net / SuperStock

Cover design by Nicki Averill

Maps and Illustrations

Maps

1.1

 

Paul’s first missionary journey

1.2

   

The Roman Empire under Trajan, c. 117

Illustrations

1.1

 

The Martyrdom of St. Peter

, Florence, by P. Brancacci and F. Lippi

1.2

 

Detail of Plato and Aristotle, from

The School of Athens

, by Raphael

1.3

 

The third-century Catacombs of Calixtus

1.4

 

The Benedictine monastery at Montecassino (or “Monte Cassino”), Italy

1.5

 

Ruins of the historic north African city of Carthage

1.6

 

Constantine I, the Great

1.7

 

The great eastern city of Constantinople

2.1

 

Coronation of the emperor Charlemagne

2.2

 

The Benedictine Abbey of Cluny

2.3

 

The teaching of philosophy at the medieval University of Paris, from the fourteenth-century French manuscript

Great Chronicles of France

2.4

 

St. Francis of Assisi Preaching to the Birds

, predella painting from

The Stigmatization of St. Francis

, by Giotto di Bondone

2.5

 

Thomas Aquinas

2.6

 

An illuminated medieval biblical manuscript, showing the construction of the temple of Jerusalem

2.7

 

The medieval papal palace of Avignon

2.8

 

The icon of the Trinity by Andrei Rublev

2.9

 

Erasmus of Rotterdam

2.10

   

Monument to the Discoveries, Lisbon, Portugal

3.1

 

Portrait of Leo X

3.2

 

An early modern printer’s workshop

3.3

 

Title page of William Tyndale’s New Testament

3.4

 

Martin Luther

3.5

 

Portrait of John Calvin

3.6

 

Henry VIII

3.7

 

Ignatius of Loyola

3.8

 

Johann Kepler

3.9

 

Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre

4.1

 

Jonathan Edwards

4.2

 

William Wilberforce

4.3

 

Napoleon Bonaparte

4.4

 

Karl Marx

4.5

 

Charles Robert Darwin

4.6

 

Otto Von Bismarck

4.7

 

View of federal soldiers relaxing by the guns of an unidentified captured fort, Atlanta, Georgia, 1864

4.8

 

World Missionary Conference, Assembly Hall, New College, University of Edinburgh, 1910

5.1

 

A convoy of horses and wagons pass by the ruins of St. Martin’s Church and the Cloth Hall of Ypres during the Great War

5.2

 

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin addressing the crowd in Red Square, Moscow

5.3

 

Karl Barth

5.4

 

Sigmund Freud

5.5

 

American evangelist Dr. Billy Graham addressing the congregation at Earl’s Court, London, June 1966

5.6

 

A session of the Second Vatican Council at St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome

5.7

 

C. S. Lewis

5.8

 

Pope John Paul II among a crowd of people, Vatican City, Rome, June 1, 1979

5.9

 

Crowd leaving Yoido Full Gospel Church, Seoul, Korea, after Sunday services

How to Use This Book

This book is designed to be an accessible, interesting, and reliable introduction to two thousand years of Christian history. It has been written on the assumption that you know little about the history of Christianity, and aims to make studying it as easy as possible. Every technical term and key theological debate is introduced and explained. You should be able to use this book on your own, without needing any help, although it will work best when used as part of a taught course.

It’s not easy to provide a survey of two thousand years of Christian history in such a short book. A lot of thought has been given about how to pack as much useful information as possible into so small a space, and break it down into manageable sections. You will get the most out of this book by bearing five key points in mind:

1. This book is about Christian history, not just church history.
2. The material has been broken down into historical periods which link up with many college and university courses.
3. The principle of “selective attention” has been used to manage the amount of historical material presented.
4. The text is grounded in the best recent scholarly literature, which often corrects older literature on points of detail, and occasionally forces us to see things in quite different ways.
5. This book is deliberately designed as an introduction, and does not aim to be comprehensive or detailed.

Each of these points needs a little more explanation.

First, this book is about Christian history. It’s not another history of the church, which tend to be preoccupied with the institutional history of denominations. This book is about the development of Christianity, and its impact on culture. We’ll make sure that we cover all the key themes in church history, but will go beyond these, considering such matters as the interaction of Christianity with the arts, literature, and science. We will consider both the importance of the Second Vatican Council for the shaping of Catholicism in the late twentieth century, and the importance of C. S. Lewis for more personal approaches to Christianity in the same period.

Second, we need to remember that all division of history into “ages” or “eras” is a little arbitrary. The great Cambridge historian George Macauley Trevelyan (1876–1962) made this point well two generations ago.

Unlike dates, periods are not facts. They are retrospective conceptions that we form about past events, useful to focus discussion, but very often leading historical thought astray.

Trevelyan’s point is well taken. Furthermore, there is a healthy debate over the points of detail of any attempt to divide history into periods. For example, just when did the Middle Ages begin? Or end? Does it really matter?

Nevertheless, we still need to try and organize the material into workable blocks or sections, rather than rambling aimlessly through the centuries. In practice, there is widespread agreement over the broad division of the history of Christianity for teaching purposes. If you’re using this book alongside a taught course, you ought to be able to work out how to get the most from it very easily. This work divides the history of Christianity into five broad sections, corresponding to courses taught at many colleges, seminaries, and universities.

1. The period of the early church, sometimes still referred to as the “patristic period,” during which the Christian faith began to gain a significant following throughout the Mediterranean world.
2. The “Middle Ages,” a period of Christian history in western Europe which witnessed significant cultural and intellectual development. The movement generally known as the “Renaissance” is included in this period.
3. The age of Reformation in western Europe, which witnessed the birth of Prot­estantism, and the consolidation of Catholicism, eventually leading to the Wars of Religion.
4. The Modern Age. This chapter looks at the development of Christianity in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Although the scope of our discussion is global, we focus particularly on developments in western Europe and North America, culminating in the outbreak of the Great War of 1914–18.
5. The Twentieth Century. This final chapter looks at the dramatic changes in the shape of global Christianity in the century following the end of the Great War, including discussion of important developments in Africa, South America, and Asia.

Third, you need to appreciate that this work is based on the principle of selective attention. It recognizes that it is impossible to do justice to everything that happened in two thousand years of history. It sets out to try and see beyond a mass of historical detail, and identify broader historical patterns. As a result, this work tries to help you track some of the significant changes in Christian history, illustrating these wherever possible with interesting examples or important episodes.

The work thus aims to be representative in its coverage, rather than comprehensive, allowing you to build on the basic structure it provides. Each of its 160 sections is roughly the same length (about 1000 words), designed to be read in ten minutes, and assimilated in twenty.

The object is to help you work out what is really going on, rather than bombarding you with facts. This means that you will get to hear about all the landmarks of Christian history – the major figures and events that everyone (rightly) talks about. And while we’ll explore a few interesting byways off the main tourist routes, the main object of this textbook is to hit the high points and make sure you’ve seen what everyone expects you to have seen. Once you’ve got a good idea of what’s on the map, you can explore things further in your own time.

Fourth, this book is based on the best recent literature, most of it published within the last two decades. This research often forces correction of material found in older textbooks – sometimes over points of detail, and sometimes over larger issues. Some of the global assertions that were common in older works – such as the “decline of late medieval religion” – have been discarded or radically modified by recent research. This book brings you up to speed, aiming to give you a reliable overview of the present state of scholarship.

Fifth, and finally: this book is an introduction. It’s a sketch map of a fascinating landscape. It’s like a tourist guide to a strange country or a new city. It can’t tell you everything about the place – but it will help you find your way around, make sense of what you see and hear, and (hopefully) make you want to explore more on your own. There are lots of excellent more advanced studies that will be well within your reach, once you’ve worked your way through this textbook.

You will get the most out of this book by reading it right the way through in the order in which it is written. Yet each chapter has been designed to stand on its own. This means that you will be able to start your reading anywhere. Each chapter opens by setting the context for the material it contains. It gives you the background material you need to make sense of what follows. Sometimes, you’ll need to go back to an earlier chapter, to refresh your memory over exactly who someone like Augustine of Hippo was (as you’ll discover, he’s an early church writer who is important for the religious history of the Middle Ages and the Reformation period). And we’ll explain terms that you need to know and use – like “patristic.”

That’s all you need to know to get the most out of this book. We’re ready to start.

Alister E. McGrathKing’s College LondonJuly 2012

Source of Quotation

p. xvi: G. M. Trevelyan, English Social History: A Survey of Six Centuries from Chaucer to Queen Victoria. London: Longman, 1944, 92.

For Further Reading

The following are recommended as excellent overall accounts of the development of Christian history. Those with marked with one asterisk (*) are especially recommended as interesting and up-to-date accounts of Christian history. Those marked with two asterisks (**) focus particularly on the development of Christian thought.

Chidester, David. Christianity: A Global History. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2000.

Ferguson, Everett. Church History. Grand Rap­ids, MI: Zondervan, 2005.

*González, Justo L. The Story of Christianity. 2 vols. San Francisco: HarperOne, 2010.

Hastings, Adrian. A World History of Christianity. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999.

Hill, Jonathan. Handbook to the History of Christianity. Oxford: Lion Hudson, 2009.

*MacCulloch, Diarmaid. Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years. New York: Viking, 2010.

**McGrath, Alister E. Christian Theology: An Introduction. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.

McManners, John, ed. The Oxford History of Christianity. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Noll, Mark A. Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000.

Nystrom, Bradley P., and David P. Nystrom. The History of Christianity: An Introduction. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2004.

**Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine. 5 vols. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989.

Shelley, Bruce L. Church History in Plain Language. Dallas, TX: Thomas Nelson, 2008.

Vidmar, John. The Catholic Church through the Ages: A History. New York: Paulist Press, 2005.

1

The Early Church, 100–500

2

The Middle Ages and Renaissance, c. 500–c. 1500

With the collapse and gradual disintegration of the western Roman Empire in the fifth century (1.4.6), the face of Europe began to change. A patchwork of regions and city-states began to emerge, each competing for territory and influence. Yet during this period of fragmentation, the Christian church gradually began to develop a political and temporal role that placed it at the heart of western culture. As some degree of political and economic stability emerged around the year 1100, the church was poised to exercise a major role in shaping the culture of the Middle Ages. In this chapter, we shall explore some aspects of the development of the church in western Europe in this fascinating period, taking our story to the eve of the European Reformation.

By the year 600, Christianity had established itself throughout much of the region of what we now know as the Middle East, including the coastal regions of western North Africa. To the north, Christianity had established its presence up to the Danube and the Rhine. Christian expansion had also taken place to the east of the Roman Empire in Persia, where a form of Christianity that came to be known as “Nestorianism” had gained influence. Christianity is also thought to have become established in India by the end of the third century.

The situation of Christianity in the Mediterranean region changed significantly through the rise of Islam (2.1.3) – the religious belief system based on the teachings of Muhammad (570–632). After Muhammad’s death, Islam was spread by military conquest throughout much of the Middle East, including the Roman colonies of North Africa. Islam established itself in Spain, and began to expand into France in the eighth century, until military defeat checked this development.

Christians were regarded by Islam as “People of the Book,” and allowed a degree of religious freedom. Yet while they were not forced to convert, they were obliged to pay special taxes, and to wear clothing that distinguished them from Muslims. While Muslims were permitted to marry Christian women, Christian men were not permitted to marry Muslim women.

Fear of further Islamic expansion in Europe, whether from Spain in the southwest to Turkey in the southeast was a constant concern throughout the period of the Middle Ages, and extended well into the early modern period. The fall of the great Byzantine city of Constantinople to Islamic armies in 1453 caused concern throughout Europe (2.4.7), as some believed it represented a tipping point, marking the possible end of a Christian Europe.

The emergence of the Middle Ages is a complex and fascinating story, involving the political and social renewal of western Europe, the slow decline and fall of the great Byzantine empire in the east, the rediscovery of the philosophical and scientific writings of the ancient world preserved by Arabic scholars, and the great renewal of letters that we know as the “Renaissance.” All of these shaped the narrative of Christian history, as we shall see in what follows.

2.1. Setting the Context: The Background to the High Middle Ages

The terms “Middle Ages” and “medieval” were invented in the sixteenth century. The European Renaissance (2.5.2) was then at its height. It had captured the hearts and minds of many in western Europe with its program of a return to the cultural glories of ancient Rome and Athens. The term “Middle Ages” was created by humanists to refer disparagingly to what they considered to be the rather uninteresting and dull period in western European history between antiquity and its rediscovery in the Renaissance. Partly because it was a term of abuse, the term is not historically precise. Yet the phrase “the Middle Ages” is so widely used that it cannot be avoided.

So how are the Middle Ages to be defined? When did this period begin? And when did it end? History is continuous; historical periods are the invention of historians. There is no “right” definition of the Middle Ages. In its broadest sense, the period can be said to have begun in 476, with the forced resignation of the emperor Romulus Augustus, and the end of the western Roman Empire. Various markers might be proposed for signaling its end – such as the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453 (2.4.7), the invention of moveable type by the printer Johann Gutenberg in the 1450s (2.5.1), or the opening up of the great era of maritime exploration, especially Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the Americas in 1492 (2.5.7).

If this generous definition of the “Middle Ages” is accepted, it is a period which is over a thousand years long. Although some courses in church history tend to focus on the period 1000–1500, there are many developments of importance in the history of Christianity in western Europe during the period 500–1000, which set the context for the “High Middle Ages.” The first section in this discussion (2.1) deals with these important developments, especially during the reign of Charlemagne, which help us understand the later development of Christian history in Europe. We therefore begin by reflecting on how western Christianity adapted to meet the situation which resulted from the decline and fall of the western Roman Empire.

2.1.1. Western Christianity after the Fall of Rome

The forced abdication of the western Roman emperor Romulus Augustus in 476 led to the fragmentation of the Roman administrative system (1.4.6). What had hitherto been a regulated and centralized system of government began to break down, with power passing to local rulers. The church, however, retained its episcopal system, which had been significantly influenced by Roman imperial practices.

Whereas a bishop appears originally to have been the leader of a local congregation, the church increasingly adopted a “monoepiscopal” model, by which a single bishop had authority over Christian priests and congregations in a specified area. Bishops now exercised spiritual authority over specific geographical areas (“dioceses,” derived from the Greek word dioiksis, referring to an “area of administration” or “province”), in much the way as a Roman governor ruled provinces. The recognition of Christianity as the state religion of the empire inevitably led to bishops possessing both political (often referred to as “temporal”) and spiritual authority, leading to the church developing organizational structures which paralleled those of the state. But the collapse of western imperial structures in the late fifth century was not paralleled by a failure on the part of their ecclesiastical counterparts.

By the middle of the fourth century, the metropolitan bishops of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch had come to be recognized as possessing a dignity and authority which allowed them to take primacy over other bishops. This authority was formalized by a number of councils, most notably the Council of Chalcedon. The metropolitan bishop of Rome was the only western Christian leader to be given precedence in this way.

In the western church, the bishop of Rome began to be treated as an arbitrator in disputes between bishops and churches, reinforcing the perception that he stood above other bishops – not necessarily by rank, but by convention. A number of factors led to this development during the third century. Some were pragmatic. Rome was, after all, the “eternal city,” the capital of the Roman Empire. Others were spiritual. The apostles Peter and Paul were both held to have been martyred and buried in Rome. The term “pope” (Latin: papa) was originally used to refer to any revered Christian bishop. Gradually, however, the title came to be seen as especially appropriate for the bishop of Rome. Siricius, who was bishop of Rome from 384–99, formalized this practice, and ruled that the title “pope” should now be used only to refer to him and his successors. The first known papal “decretal” – that is, a letter giving binding rulings on disputes within the church – dates from his reign. While the emperors abandoned Rome in the face of the Visigoth threat in the first decade of the fifth century, the popes remained in Rome, coming to play an important role in negotiations with the invaders.

This centralization of religious authority in Rome continued under Innocent I, pope from 402–17. In January 417, Innocent wrote to the African bishops about religious controversies that had arisen in their region, insisting that:

Nothing that has been determined even in the most remote and distant provinces should be taken as finally settled unless it has come to the notice of this See, that any correct pronouncement might be confirmed by all the authority of this See, and that other churches might learn from this what they should teach.

This increasing concentration of spiritual and political power in Rome was made possible by the absence of any alternative power structures, following the collapse of the central imperial administration in the late fifth century. Strong popes imposed their authority. Leo the Great, pope from 440–61, played a particularly important role in solidifying the authority of the papacy at both the theoretical and practical levels.

Leo introduced the use of the term pontifex maximus (the Roman term for the chief priest of the city in pagan times, and later transferred to the emperor) to refer to the pope. He also framed some of the traditional arguments that subsequently became normative for papal claims to authority. For example, Leo argued that Jesus of Nazareth had made Peter and his successors the rock on which his church would be built. Since the bishop of Rome was the successor of Peter, who had been martyred in the city, it followed that the pope was the ultimate foundation of the church.

Although the Roman Empire had collapsed in the west, the eastern empire was unaffected by the invasions in the west (1.4.7). During the sixth century, emperors based in Constantinople began a military campaign to recapture Italy, and incorporate it into the eastern empire. These campaigns were not totally successful. Nevertheless, by the seventh century, Byzantium had established authority over a large area of territory, which took the form of a diagonal band running roughly from Ravenna in the northeast of Italy to Rome and Naples in the southwest. Yet the emperor found it difficult to assert authority in the western area of Italy, allowing the pope to exercise considerable political and social influence in these regions.

By the end of the sixth century, the church was the only international organization in western Europe to have survived the collapse of the Roman Empire. Increased missionary activity under the reign of Gregory the Great, pope from 590 to 604, and other popes both increased Christianity’s reach and influence, and added further to the importance of the church as an agent of social cohesion. Gregory the Great laid the foundations for establishing papal control of the church outside of Italy by sending a mission of Benedictine monks to convert the pagan Anglo-Saxons.

Gregory established a system of church government in England which gradually became standard within the western church. The country was divided into dioceses (analogous to classic Roman provinces), each of which was ruled by a bishop. These bishops were accountable to an archbishop, who was in turn accountable to the pope. Gregory’s intention was originally to locate his archbishop in the city of London; in the end, political wrangling with local rulers led him to choose the Kentish town of Canterbury instead.

Christianity had remained a presence in England since Roman days, and had undergone a minor renaissance in the north as a result of Irish missionaries. However, the form of Christianity that Gregory introduced would not be subject to local control, but would be under the authority of the pope in Rome. Despite its evangelistic intentions, the mis­sion of Augustine of Canterbury to England ended up by establishing a new centralized model of ecclesiastical government that could be adapted for use elsewhere in Europe in succeeding centuries.

The task of establishing papal control of the church and extending the Pope’s tem­poral authority was continued by Gregory’s successors. In the eighth century, English missionaries brought with them the new English pattern of church government to Germany and France, consolidating the authority of the pope over the western European church. A further development of importance was the “Donation of Pepin” (754–6), which created the “Papal States” – lands owned and controlled by the papacy. The Frankish ruler Pepin the Short had conquered some territories in northern Italy, which he gave to the Pope, thus establishing a region over which the pope had both temporal and spiritual power.

2.1.2.