Download or read book The Popes and the Church of Rome in Late Antiquity written by John Moorhead and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-11-27 with total page 389 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the past few decades there has been an explosion of interest in the period of late antiquity. Rather than being viewed within a paradigm of the fall of the Roman Empire, these centuries have come to be seen as a time of immense creativity and significance in western history. Popes and the Church of Rome in Late Antiquity places the history of the papacy in a broader context, by comparing Rome with other major sees to show how it differed from these, evaluating developments beyond Rome which created openings for the extension of papal authority. Closer to home, the book considers the ability of the Roman church to gain access to wealth, retain it in difficult times, and disburse it in ways that enhanced its authority. Author John Moorhead evaluates patterns in the recruitment of popes and what these suggest about the background of those who came to papal office. Structured around a narrative of the papacy’s history from the accession of Leo the Great to the death of Zacharias II, the book does more than tell what happened between these years, applying new approaches in intellectual, cultural, and social history to provide a uniquely deep and holistic study of the period.
Download or read book The Bishop of Rome in Late Antiquity written by Geoffrey D. Dunn and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-09 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At various times over the past millennium bishops of Rome have claimed a universal primacy of jurisdiction over all Christians and a superiority over civil authority. Reactions to these claims have shaped the modern world profoundly. Did the Roman bishop make such claims in the millennium prior to that? The essays in this volume from international experts in the field examine the bishop of Rome in late antiquity from the time of Constantine at the start of the fourth century to the death of Gregory the Great at the beginning of the seventh. These were important periods as Christianity underwent enormous transformation in a time of change. The essays concentrate on how the holders of the office perceived and exercised their episcopal responsibilities and prerogatives within the city or in relation to both civic administration and other churches in other areas, particularly as revealed through the surviving correspondence. With several of the contributors examining the same evidence from different perspectives, this volume canvasses a wide range of opinions about the nature of papal power in the world of late antiquity.
Download or read book The Formation of Papal Authority in Late Antique Italy written by Kristina Sessa and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-11-21 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the first cultural history of papal authority in late antiquity. While most traditional histories posit a 'rise of the papacy' and examine popes as politicians, theologians and civic leaders, Kristina Sessa focuses on the late Roman household and its critical role in the development of the Roman church from c.350–600. She argues that Rome's bishops adopted the ancient elite household as a model of good government for leading the church. Central to this phenomenon was the classical and biblical figure of the steward, the householder's appointed agent who oversaw his property and people. As stewards of God, Roman bishops endeavored to exercise moral and material influence within both the pope's own administration and the households of Italy's clergy and lay elites. This original and nuanced study charts their manifold interactions with late Roman households and shows how bishops used domestic knowledge as the basis for establishing their authority as Italy's singular religious leaders.
Download or read book The Formation of Papal Authority in Late Antique Italy written by Kristina Sessa and published by . This book was released on 2014-05-14 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Early Reception and Appropriation of the Apostle Peter 60 800 CE written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-03-17 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The apostle Peter gradually became one of the most famous figures of the ancient world. His almost undisputed reputation made the disciple an exquisite anchor by which new practices within and outside the Church could be established, including innovations in fields as diverse as architecture, art, cult, epigraphy, liturgy, poetry and politics. This interdisciplinary volume inquires the way in which the figure of Peter functioned as an anchor for various people from different periods and geographical areas. The concept of Anchoring Innovation is used to investigate the history of the reception of the apostle Peter from the first century up to Charlemagne, revealing as much about Peter as about the context in which this reception took place.
Download or read book The Invention of Peter written by George E. Demacopoulos and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2013-06-26 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By emphasizing the ways the Bishops of Rome first leveraged the cult of St. Peter to their advantage, George E. Demacopoulos constructs an alternate account of papal history that challenges the dominant narrative of an inevitable and unbroken rise in papal power from late antiquity through the Middle Ages.
Download or read book The Invention of Peter written by George E. Demacopoulos and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2013-05-29 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the first anniversary of his election to the papacy, Leo the Great stood before the assembly of bishops convening in Rome and forcefully asserted his privileged position as the heir of Peter the Apostle. This declaration marked the beginning of a powerful tradition: the Bishop of Rome would henceforth leverage the cult of St. Peter, and the popular association of St. Peter with the city itself, to his advantage. In The Invention of Peter, George E. Demacopoulos examines this Petrine discourse, revealing how the link between the historic Peter and the Roman Church strengthened, shifted, and evolved during the papacies of two of the most creative and dynamic popes of late antiquity, ultimately shaping medieval Christianity as we now know it. By emphasizing the ways in which this rhetoric of apostolic privilege was employed, extended, transformed, or resisted between the reigns of Leo the Great and Gregory the Great, Demacopoulos offers an alternate account of papal history that challenges the dominant narrative of an inevitable and unbroken rise in papal power from late antiquity through the Middle Ages. He unpacks escalating claims to ecclesiastical authority, demonstrating how this rhetoric, which almost always invokes a link to St. Peter, does not necessarily represent actual power or prestige but instead reflects moments of papal anxiety and weakness. Through its nuanced examination of an array of episcopal activity—diplomatic, pastoral, political, and administrative—The Invention of Peter offers a new perspective on the emergence of papal authority and illuminates the influence that Petrine discourse exerted on the survival and exceptional status of the Bishop of Rome.
Download or read book Rome and the African Church in the Time of Augustine written by J. E. Merdinger and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 1997-01-01 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This groundbreaking book examines the vibrant North African Christian Church of the 4th and 5th centuries and its relationship to Rome. Merdinger provides a lively account of cases of canon law that arose in Africa but were adjudicated in Rome-including the notorious Apiarius affair-and shows how African Christians gradually became dependent on the papacy for enforcement of church discipline. A tour de force. Engagingly readable, full of lively details, it provides both an accessible introduction to the development of papal and episcopal authority in the West and a challenging new reading of the evidence for the initiated scholar. Merdinger's use of the recently published 'Divjak letters' of St. Augustine to re-interpret the relations of the Roman and North African Churches in the early fifth century is particularly exciting. Clearly this is the fullest and most sophisticated treatment available in English of a crucial period in the growth of Church life and structures.-Brian E. Daley, S. J., University of Notre Dame Merdinger's book achieves the seemingly impossible task of making the subject not only of wide general interest but actually a gripping read: the excitement of the cases which illustrate her central thesis often read like a very good historical novel...Her gift for telling a good story holds together a complicated and often protracted plot in an engaging way: characters breathe, emotions are stirred, circumstantial details beguile, complexity lends richness rather than confusion. This is history at its best.-Carol Harrison, Church Time
Download or read book Rome and Religion in the Medieval World written by Valerie L. Garver and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-08 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rome and Religion in the Medieval World provides a panoramic and interdisciplinary exploration of Rome and religious culture. The studies build upon or engage Thomas F.X. Noble’s interest in Rome, especially his landmark contributions to the origins of the Papal States and early medieval image controversies. Scholars from a variety of disciplines offer new viewpoints on key issues and questions relating to medieval religious, cultural and intellectual history. Each study explores different dimensions of Rome and religion, including medieval art, theology, material culture, politics, education, law, and religious practice. Drawing upon a wide range of sources, including manuscripts, relics, historical and normative texts, theological tracts, and poetry, the authors illuminate the complexities of medieval Christianity, especially as practiced in the city of Rome itself, and elsewhere in Europe when influenced by the idea of Rome. Some trace early medieval legacies to the early modern period when Protestant and Catholic theologians used early medieval religious texts to define and debate forms of Roman Christianity. The essays highlight and deepen scholarly appreciation of Rome in the rich and varied religious culture of the medieval world.
Download or read book The Restoration of Rome written by Peter Heather and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-02-21 with total page 505 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 476 AD, the last of Rome's emperors, known as "Augustulus," was deposed by a barbarian general, the son of one of Attila the Hun's henchmen. With the imperial vestments dispatched to Constantinople, the curtain fell on the Roman empire in Western Europe, its territories divided among successor kingdoms constructed around barbarian military manpower. But, if the Roman Empire was dead, Romans across much of the old empire still lived, holding on to their lands, their values, and their institutions. The conquering barbarians, responding to Rome's continuing psychological dominance and the practical value of many of its institutions, were ready to reignite the imperial flame and enjoy the benefits. As Peter Heather shows in dazzling biographical portraits, each of the three greatest immediate contenders for imperial power--Theoderic, Justinian, and Charlemagne--operated with a different power base but was astonishingly successful in his own way. Though each in turn managed to put back together enough of the old Roman West to stake a plausible claim to the Western imperial title, none of their empires long outlived their founders' deaths. Not until the reinvention of the papacy in the eleventh century would Europe's barbarians find the means to establish a new kind of Roman Empire, one that has lasted a thousand years. A sequel to the bestselling Fall of the Roman Empire, The Restoration of Rome offers a captivating narrative of the death of an era and the birth of the Catholic Church.
Download or read book The Restoration of Rome written by Peter Heather and published by Pan Macmillan. This book was released on 2013-07-04 with total page 505 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 476 the last of Rome's emperors was deposed by a barbarian general and the imperial vestments were sent to Constantinople. The curtain fell on the Western Roman Empire, its territories divided between kingdoms constructed around barbarian military manpower. But if Rome was dead, the dream of restoring it refused to die.
Download or read book Old Saint Peter s Rome written by Rosamond McKitterick and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-11-07 with total page 523 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: St Peter's Basilica in Rome is arguably the most important church in Western Christendom, and is among the most significant buildings anywhere in the world. However, the church that is visible today is a youthful upstart, only four hundred years old compared to the twelve-hundred-year-old church whose site it occupies. A very small proportion of the original is now extant, entirely covered over by the new basilica, but enough survives to make reconstruction of the first St Peter's possible and much new evidence has been uncovered in the past thirty years. This is the first full study of the older church, from its late antique construction to Renaissance destruction, in its historical context. An international team of historians, art historians, archaeologists and liturgists explores aspects of the basilica's history, from its physical fabric to the activities that took place within its walls and its relationship with the city of Rome.
Download or read book Rome and the Invention of the Papacy written by Rosamond McKitterick and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-06-25 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The remarkable, and permanently influential, papal history known as the Liber pontificalis shaped perceptions and the memory of Rome, the popes, and the many-layered past of both city and papacy within western Europe. Rosamond McKitterick offers a new analysis of this extraordinary combination of historical reconstruction, deliberate selection and political use of fiction, to illuminate the history of the early popes and their relationship with Rome. She examines the content, context, and transmission of the text, and the complex relationships between the reality, representation, and reception of authority that it reflects. The Liber pontificalis presented Rome as a holy city of Christian saints and martyrs, as the bishops of Rome established their visible power in buildings, and it articulated the popes' spiritual and ministerial role, accommodated within their Roman imperial inheritance. Drawing on wide-ranging and interdisciplinary international research, Rome and the Invention of the Papacy offers pioneering insights into the evolution of this extraordinary source, and its significance for the history of early medieval Europe.
Download or read book The Early Modern Invention of Late Antique Rome written by Nicola Denzey Lewis and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-09-03 with total page 445 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new look at the Cult of the Saints in late antiquity: did it really dominate Christianity in late antique Rome?
Download or read book Holy Bishops in Late Antiquity written by Claudia Rapp and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2013-05-01 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between 300 and 600, Christianity experienced a momentous change from persecuted cult to state religion. One of the consequences of this shift was the evolution of the role of the bishop—as the highest Church official in his city—from model Christian to model citizen. Claudia Rapp's exceptionally learned, innovative, and groundbreaking work traces this transition with a twofold aim: to deemphasize the reign of the emperor Constantine, which has traditionally been regarded as a watershed in the development of the Church as an institution, and to bring to the fore the continued importance of the religious underpinnings of the bishop's role as civic leader. Rapp rejects Max Weber’s categories of "charismatic" versus "institutional" authority that have traditionally been used to distinguish the nature of episcopal authority from that of the ascetic and holy man. Instead she proposes a model of spiritual authority, ascetic authority and pragmatic authority, in which a bishop’s visible asceticism is taken as evidence of his spiritual powers and at the same time provides the justification for his public role. In clear and graceful prose, Rapp provides a wholly fresh analysis of the changing dynamics of social mobility as played out in episcopal appointments.
Download or read book The Restoration of Rome written by Peter J. Heather and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2014 with total page 505 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "First published in 2013 in Great Britain by Macmillan."--Title page verso.
Download or read book Leadership and Community in Late Antiquity written by Young Richard Kim and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout a distinguished career, Raymond Van Dam has contributed significantly to our understanding of Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages with ground-breaking studies on Gaul, Cappadocia, and the emperor Constantine. The hallmarks of his scholarship are critical study of a wide variety of written and material sources and careful historical analysis, insightfully rooted in sociological and anthropological methodologies. The essays in this volume, written by Van Dam's former students, colleagues, and friends, explore the dynamics between leaders and their communities in the fourth through seventh centuries. During this period, people negotiated profound religious, intellectual, and cultural change while still deeply enmeshed in the legacy of the Roman Empire. The memory of the classical past was a powerful and compelling social and political force for the denizens of Late Antiquity, even as their physical surroundings came to resemble less and less the ideals of the Greco-Roman city. These themes - leadership, community, and memory - have been central to Van Dam's work, and the contributors to this volume build on the legacy of his scholarship. Their papers examine how leaders exercised their authority in their communities, at times exhibiting continuity with ancient patterns of leadership, but in other cases shifting toward new paradigms characteristic of a post-classical world. Taken together, the essays produce a fuller picture of the Mediterranean world and add further nuance to our understanding of Late Antiquity and early Middle Ages as a time of both continuity and transformation.
