Mid-term Flashcards
Merovingians
Founder was Clovis 481-511 and in 496 he converted to Nicene Christianity.
The Merovingians eventually created an empire called Francia
Their power was limited in that they had no capital and wandered from place to place. They had to rely on lay aristocrats and bishops at the local level.
They are called the do-nothing kings
The Merovingians were not sympathetic to Irish and British monks. Columbus criticized the king for his concubines and was then refused entry into Francia
It was attempted to Christianize Francia but it remained mainly pagan.
Why were they so weak?
The size of their kingdom
Friction between the king and the bishops who wielded power
Paganism
Weak kings
Rural aristocracy in the Northern Francia was the real power behind the throne
Christianity in Spain
By 560 the Visigoth controlled most of Spain
In 589 the Visigoth king converted from Arianism to Nicene Christianity
Visigoth contributions:
Filoque- approved in the Council at Toledo in 633
Anointing of Kings- an elective monarchy
Columbanus 543-621
He was a monk in an Irish monastery.
The Irish monks were big promoters of Private Confession and Absolution. They reintroduced with this practice the Canonical books on satisfactions for various sins.
He and 12 brothers went on a mission to France, Switzerland, and Italy. He founded at least 60 monasteries
He wrote his own Rule which was different from the Benedict’s Rule. It was stricter.
Theodore of Tarsus 668
He was made archbishop of Canterbury in 668 by Pope Vitalian
He organized the English Church convoking the synod of Hertford in 673
His policies included private confession and absolution, adoption of the Benedictian Rule and promoted learning by founding two monasteries which stressed scholarship: Wearmouth and Jarrow
Amand 590-675
He was a French monk inspired by Columbanus
He continued the same mission work on the continent establishing 230 monasteries in Northern France
He began the evangelization of Flanders
Venerable Bede 672-735
He was the leading scholar and theologian of the time
He was the first English historian writing Ecclesial History of the English People
He was an outstanding exegete culling passages from the patristic exegetes laying the groundwork for the commentary Glossa Ordina
He was an excellent homolitician
He translated the Gospel of John into Anglo-Saxon and was interested in evangelism and creating new bishoprics
He illuminated Codex Amiatinus in the Scriptorium of Jarrow
Wynfrith or Boniface 680-754
- Was a monk in Exeter, England and called the apostle to the Germans
- He went to Rome twice in 718, 722. Pope Gregory II commissioned him as a missionary to Germany and gave him the name Boniface.
- Had four goals:
- Recover the land of the church
- Establish bishops and archbishops
- Establish monasteries
- Theological Education
- Boniface tied together the English and Irish missions
- He collaborated with the Carolingian dynasty and started the practice of archbishops to be ordained needing a pallum which can only be gotten in Rome
- He had success in Thuringia and Hesse from 723-737 where he felled a sacred Oak and had many conversions.
- He was sent to Bavaria where he organized three bishoprics and a monastery of Fulda
- In 754 he went to Frisia to proclaim the gospel and was ambushed and killed by angry pagans
Abd-al-Malik
Umayyad Caliph of Damascus from 692-705
Ushered in the High Caliphate golden age of Islamic Culture 692-945
John of Damascus 675-750
Was the chief spokesmen of the Iconodules from 726-787
Wrote a treatise on icons-
He distinguished between veneration and worship of icons
Arguments largely Christological-
God is the original maker of the universe and the Son is the image of the Father (Hebrews 1:3; Col. 1:15; 2 Cor. 4:4).
The Holy Spirit is the image of the Son and man was made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26)
An icon is an image of the Image Jesus Christ.
Also, spiritual and invisible realities are conveyed through visible things such as the sacraments. See also Rom. 1:20.
High Caliphate 692-945
Arabic became the official language
Coins were minted with Quran verses
Islam developed a distinctive art and architecture
New Islamic cities were built
Mosques had open patios, marble, and mosaics. The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem was being constructed in 692.
The Umayyad Caliphate ended in 750 and was replaced with the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad. They continued this golden age.
Christians living under the High Caliphate-
Most adopted Arabic
Along with Jews payed the Jizya a poll tax to the government
Could use their church buildings but couldn’t make new ones. Monasteries could be built.
Couldn’t ring bells or wear crosses
Could use wine in the Lord’s Supper but couldn’t have weapons
Had to wear distinctive clothing and live in their own ghettos
Emperor Leo III the Isaurian 717-741
Was the military governor of Anatolikoi the eastern most province
Was used to fighting the Arabs and spoke Arabic and Greek
Theodosius in 717 renounced the throne and Leo III was crowned Emperor. He saved Constantinople by calling on the Bulgars for help and using Greek Fire.
He was a capable administrator creating new laws and taxes, repairing roads and fortresses.
He built the University of Constantinople
He started the iconoclastic controversy from 726-843 by ordering the taking down of icons. He split the empire between iconoclasts and iconodules.
There are different theories why he did this:
To imitate Islam
Where he came from there were many heretics and non-Christians who disapproved of icons
He wondered if God was punishing the Empire for idolatry
He may have thought icons were getting too superstitious
It enhanced the power of the emperor over the church
He gained revenue by confiscating assets of monasteries that opposed him
Charles Martel
Lived 714-741
With the help of the Lombards he defeated the Arabs at the battle of Poitiers in 732. Pope Gregory III wanted to become an ally with him but he refused because the Lombards had helped him.
Pope Gregory II (715-731)
He was one of the four Popes of the 8th century who helped the papacy grow
He wanted to project the papacy’s power over all of Western Christendom
Commissioned the English missionary Boniface to go to Germany in 723
Promoted pilgrimages to Rome
A good administrator
Rebuilt churches in Rome
Fought against the iconoclast Emperors by refusing to send taxes or men for their army. He reacted against the iconoclasts for two reasons:
Laymen can’t decide doctrine
It was a negation of the incarnation
Pope Gregory III 731-741
One of the four influential popes
Pope Zecharias 741-752
Was one of the four popes that helped the papacy grow
During his reign the Donation of Constantine was forged
He authorized the deposition of the last Merovingian Monarch and the crowning of Pepin the Short as king of the Franks. This was the beginning of the alliance between the Papacy and the Frankish Kingdom.
The Pope saw this as showing that the papacy was superior to any temporal authority
The Advantages to this alliance:
Popes gained temporal power
Could influence society more readily
Disadvantages to this alliance:
Papacy became dependent on secular power
Church abandoned her prophetic role and was subservient to the state
