DOCSLIB.ORG

In Search of Legal Transmission

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
In Search of Legal Transmission Department of History and Religious Studies In Search of Legal Transmission Inheritance and Compensation for Homicide in Medieval Secular Law — Miriam Tveit A dissertation for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor – July 2016 In Search of Legal Transmission – Inheritance and Compensation for Homicide in Medieval Secular Law Aknowledgements Several people and institutions have aided me in the process of producing this thesis. First of all, I am greatly indebted to my doctoral supervisor, Professor Lars Ivar Hansen. He provided incomparable advice and encouragement during the project. His knowledge and interest in inheritance and law is both impressive and inspiring. The Department of History at the University of Tromsø provided me with the opportunity and a four-year scholarship to develop this particular research project, for which I am grateful. A particular thanks goes to the multidisciplinary research programme Creating the New North for including me in their group, although my research undoubtedly smacked more of ‘the old south’. Our seminars provided me with valuable critical comments and advice on my chapters. Further, I thank friends and fellows Katri Somby and Elisabeth Librekt Olsen for the inspiring talks we have had about academic issues and, more often, about non-academic issues. I am also grateful to my current employer, North University, for providing favourable conditions under which I could complete this thesis, and I am particularly grateful to the historical research groups for their feedback on my continuous string of papers, and for providing an invigorating academic milieu. The international workshops ‘Encounter of Legal Cultures’ organised by Professor Jørn Øyrehagen Sunde and the Centre of Medieval Studies at the University of Bergen deserve credit for giving me the idea for the thesis and for the initial theoretical and methodological discussions concerning the forming of this project. Jørn also provided comprehensive feedback on both the totality and the details in the last stages of the process. I further owe many thanks Dr Philadelphia Ricketts for excellent copy editing of the manuscript, as well as for stimulating scholarly discussions and comments along the way. All remaining errors are my own. I have very much appreciated the ongoing support of family and friends and their honest attempts to be enthusiastic about medieval law. Particularly, I wish to thank my mother for her interest in my professional development. Finally, thanks to Steinar for being an inspiration and a motivator, as well as a significantly disturbing factor throughout the process. His dinners, proofreading and patience have been vital for this project to reach its end. Bodø, June 2016 Miriam i ii Contents Aknowledgements ................................................................................................................................................i Contents ............................................................................................................................................................. iii Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................................................... v 1. INTRODUCTION: TRANSMISSION OF LAW ........................................................................... 1 1.1 Aim and scope .............................................................................................................................................. 2 Inheritance and compensation for homicide .................................................................................. 6 1.2 Historiography ............................................................................................................................................ 10 Studies on transmission and transnational perspectives .............................................................. 11 Regional studies ............................................................................................................................ 14 Inheritance .................................................................................................................................... 16 Wergild and compensation ........................................................................................................... 17 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................ 18 2. SOURCES AND CONTEXT: MEDIEVAL SECULAR LAW .................................................... 19 2.1 Using normative sources: Law as image of ideal societies ......................................................................... 21 2.2 The legal sources and terminology ............................................................................................................. 24 Roman legal sources ..................................................................................................................... 24 The Germanic legal sources .......................................................................................................... 29 The English legal sources ............................................................................................................... 40 Scandinavian legal sources ............................................................................................................ 46 2.3 Making the law: Legislators and real legislators – the legal elite ............................................................... 52 The king as legislator ..................................................................................................................... 52 The legal elites of medieval Europe .............................................................................................. 53 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................ 60 3. APPROACHING TRANSMISSION OF LAW: THEORIES AND METHODOLOGIES ...... 61 3.1 Theories of legal transmission .................................................................................................................... 61 Transplants and filtration .............................................................................................................. 62 Modes of transmission .................................................................................................................. 69 3.2 Methodological reflections ........................................................................................................................ 71 Large scale comparisons, macro-causal analysis ........................................................................... 71 Comparison along diachronic and synchronic lines ...................................................................... 73 A hierarchy of probability .............................................................................................................. 76 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................ 79 4. LAWS ON INHERITANCE: SYSTEMS AND PRINCIPLES ................................................... 81 4.1 Two models of inheritance system ............................................................................................................ 85 4.2 Principles of inheritance ............................................................................................................................. 88 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................ 92 5. THE INHERITANCE SYSTEM AND PRINCIPLES IN ROMAN LAW ................................ 93 5.1 The basis of the Roman inheritance system ............................................................................................... 95 5.2 Developments through the praetor and imperial legislation ................................................................... 100 5.3 Towards a parentela system in late Roman law ....................................................................................... 102 Conclusion: Roman inheritance laws ............................................................................................................. 106 6. THE INHERITANCE SYSTEMS AND PRINCIPLES IN GERMANIC LAWS ................... 107 6.1 The Frankish legislation on inheritance .................................................................................................... 109 6.2 The inheritance laws of the Burgundian kings ......................................................................................... 116 6.3 The inheritance system in Visigothic law ................................................................................................. 123 iii 6.4 The inheritance laws of the Lombard kings ............................................................................................. 129 Conclusion: Germanic inheritance laws ......................................................................................................... 137 7. THE INHERITANCE SYSTEMS AND PRINCIPLES IN ENGLISH LAWS ....................... 141 7.1 Inheritance in the earliest English legislation ........................................................................................... 142 Legislation from Alfred to
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Cambridge Songs; a Goliard's Song Book of the 11Th Century
    'm )w - - . ¥''•^^1 - \ " .' /' H- l' ^. '' '. H ,' ,1 11 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/cambridgesongsgoOObreuuoft THE CAMBRIDGE SONGS CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS C. F. CLAY, Manager EonDon: FETTER LANE, E.C CFDinburg!): loo PRINCES STREET SriB gotfe : G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS Smnbag, Calrutta anB iWalraa: MACMILLAN AND CO., Ltd. arotonto: J. M. DENT AND SONS, Ltd. Cokjo: THE MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA All rights resenied THE CAMBRIDGE SONGS A GOLIARD'S SONG BOOK OF THE XIth century EDITED FROM THE UNIQUE MANUSCRIPT IN THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BY KARL BREUL Hon. M.A., Litt.D., Ph.D. SCHRODER PROFESSOR OF GERMAN IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE Cambridge: -^v \ (I'l at the University Press j^ ^l^ Cambntgc: PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A. AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS PR nib IN MEMORIAM HENRICI BRADSHAW ET IN HONOREM FRANCISCI JENKINSON HOC OPVSCVLVM DEDICATVM EST PREFACE THE remarkable collection of Medieval Latin poems that is known by the name ' of The Cambridge Songs ' has interested me for more than thirty years. ' My first article Zu den Cambridger Liedern ' was written in the spring of 1885 and published in Volume xxx of Haupt's Zeitschrift filr deutsches Altertkum. The more attention I paid to the songs and the more I corresponded with scholars about some of them, the stronger became my conviction of the importance of having the ten folios of this unique manuscript photographed and of thereby rendering this fascinating collection in its every aspect readily accessible to the students of Medieval literature. It is in truth necessary to invite the co-operation of all such students, whether their subject be Medieval theology, philology, philosophy or music, in the interesting task of elucidating the more difficult poems of what may be regarded as the song book or commonplace book of some early Goliard.
    [Show full text]
  • Christianity &
    CHRISTIANITY & LAW The Influence of Christianity on the Development of English Common-Law By the same author: The Christian Philosophy of Education Explained, 1992 The Nature, Government and Function of the Church, 1997 A Defence of the Christian State, 1998 The Political Economy of a Christian Society, 2001 Common-Law Wives and Concubines, 2003 The Problem of the Gifted Speaker, 2009 Baal Worship Ancient and Modern, 2010 The Great Decommission, 2011 The Christian Passover: Agape Feast or Ritual Abuse? 2012 CHRISTIANITY & LAW The Influence of Christianity on the Development of English Common-Law with an Appendix containing a translation of the laws of king alfred the great STEPHEN C. PERKS KUYPER FOUNDATION TAUNTON • ENGLAND 2012 First published in 1993 by Avant Books Second Edition 2012 Published in Great Britain by THE KUYPER FOUNDATION P. O. BoX 2, TAUNTON, SOMERSET, TA1 4Zd, ENGLAND Copyright © Stephen C. Perks, 2012 All rights reserved ISBN 978-1-909145-00-9 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Printed and bound in Great Britain PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION The following essay on the influence of Christianity on the develop- ment of English common law was originally presented as a paper in the early 1990s at a national conference of Christian organisa- tions concerned about maintaining the relevance and influence of the Christian faith and Christian moral standards in modern British society. It was subsequently published as a monograph by Avant Books in 1993. In the nineteen years since it was originally published the deterioration of the nation’s legal and political in- stitutions and the decline of the moral life of the people has con- tinued to such an extent that we now find ourselves in a situation that can only be described as nothing short of a national apostasy.
    [Show full text]
  • Warfare and Society in the Barbarian West, 450–900
    WARFARE AND SOCIETY IN THE BARBARIAN WEST, 450–900 Warfare was an integral part of early medieval life. It had a character of its own and was neither a pale shadow of Roman military practice nor an insignificant precursor to the warfare of the central Middle Ages. This book recovers its distinctiveness, looking at warfare in a rounded context in the British Isles and western Europe between the end of the Roman Empire and the break-up of the Carolingian Empire. The era was one of great changes in the practice of war. Guy Halsall relates warfare to many aspects of medieval life, economy, society and politics. He examines the raising and organisation of early medieval armies and looks at the conduct of campaigns. The survey includes the equipment of warriors and the horrific experience of battle as well as an analysis of medieval fortifications and siege warfare. Warfare and Society in the Barbarian West uses historical and archaeological evidence in a rigorous and sophisticated fashion. It stresses regional variations but also places Anglo-Saxon England in the mainstream of the military developments in this era. Guy Halsall is lecturer in medieval history at the University of York. He has published widely on the social history and archaeology of Merovingian Gaul and on violence in early medieval society, including Settlement and Social Organisation. The Merovingian Region of Metz (Cambridge, 1995). WARFARE AND HISTORY General Editor, Jeremy Black Professor of History, University of Exeter AIR POWER IN THE AGE OF TOTAL WAR John Buckley THE ARMIES OF THE CALIPHS: MILITARY AND SOCIETY IN THE EARLY ISLAMIC STATE Hugh Kennedy THE BALKAN WARS, 1912–1913: PRELUDE TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR Richard C.
    [Show full text]
  • THE DISCOVERY of the BALTIC the NORTHERN WORLD North Europe and the Baltic C
    THE DISCOVERY OF THE BALTIC THE NORTHERN WORLD North Europe and the Baltic c. 400-1700 AD Peoples, Economies and Cultures EDITORS Barbara Crawford (St. Andrews) David Kirby (London) Jon-Vidar Sigurdsson (Oslo) Ingvild Øye (Bergen) Richard W. Unger (Vancouver) Przemyslaw Urbanczyk (Warsaw) VOLUME 15 THE DISCOVERY OF THE BALTIC The Reception of a Catholic World-System in the European North (AD 1075-1225) BY NILS BLOMKVIST BRILL LEIDEN • BOSTON 2005 On the cover: Knight sitting on a horse, chess piece from mid-13th century, found in Kalmar. SHM inv. nr 1304:1838:139. Neg. nr 345:29. Antikvarisk-topografiska arkivet, the National Heritage Board, Stockholm. Brill Academic Publishers has done its best to establish rights to use of the materials printed herein. Should any other party feel that its rights have been infringed we would be glad to take up contact with them. This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Blomkvist, Nils. The discovery of the Baltic : the reception of a Catholic world-system in the European north (AD 1075-1225) / by Nils Blomkvist. p. cm. — (The northern world, ISSN 1569-1462 ; v. 15) Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index. ISBN 90-04-14122-7 1. Catholic Church—Baltic Sea Region—History. 2. Church history—Middle Ages, 600-1500. 3. Baltic Sea Region—Church history. I. Title. II. Series. BX1612.B34B56 2004 282’485—dc22 2004054598 ISSN 1569–1462 ISBN 90 04 14122 7 © Copyright 2005 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill Academic Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
    [Show full text]
  • Perjury and False Witness in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages
    Perjury and False Witness in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages by Nicholas Brett Sivulka Wheeler A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Medieval Studies University of Toronto © Copyright by Nicholas Brett Sivulka Wheeler 2018 Perjury and False Witness in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages Nicholas Brett Sivulka Wheeler Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Medieval Studies University of Toronto 2018 Abstract This dissertation, ‘Perjury and False Witness in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages’, investigates changing perceptions of perjury and false witness in the late antique and early medieval world. Focusing on primary sources from the Latin-speaking, western Roman empire and former empire, approximately between the late third and seventh centuries CE, this thesis proposes that perjury and false witness were transformed into criminal behaviours, grave sins, and canonical offences in Latin legal and religious writings of the period. Chapter 1, ‘Introduction: The Problem of Perjury’s Criminalization’, calls attention to anomalies in the history and historiography of the oath. Although the oath has been well studied, oath violations have not; moreover, important sources for medieval culture – Roman law and the Christian New Testament – were largely silent on the subject of perjury. For classicists in particular, perjury was not a crime, while oath violations remained largely peripheral to early Christian ethical discussions. Chapter 2, ‘Criminalization: Perjury and False Witness in Late Roman Law’, begins to explain how this situation changed by documenting early possible instances of penalization for perjury. Diverse sources such as Christian martyr acts, provincial law manuals, and select imperial ii and post-imperial legislation suggest that numerous cases of perjury were criminalized in practice.
    [Show full text]
  • The Thistle and the Drone
    AKBAR AHMED HOW AMERICA’S WAR ON TERROR BECAME A GLOBAL WAR ON TRIBAL ISLAM n the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the United States declared war on terrorism. More than ten years later, the results are decidedly mixed. Here world-renowned author, diplomat, and scholar Akbar Ahmed reveals an important yet largely ignored result of this war: in many nations it has exacerbated the already broken relationship between central I governments and the largely rural Muslim tribal societies on the peripheries of both Muslim and non-Muslim nations. The center and the periphery are engaged in a mutually destructive civil war across the globe, a conflict that has been intensified by the war on terror. Conflicts between governments and tribal societies predate the war on terror in many regions, from South Asia to the Middle East to North Africa, pitting those in the centers of power against those who live in the outlying provinces. Akbar Ahmed’s unique study demonstrates that this conflict between the center and the periphery has entered a new and dangerous stage with U.S. involvement after 9/11 and the deployment of drones, in the hunt for al Qaeda, threatening the very existence of many tribal societies. American firepower and its vast anti-terror network have turned the war on terror into a global war on tribal Islam. And too often the victims are innocent children at school, women in their homes, workers simply trying to earn a living, and worshipers in their mosques. Bat- tered by military attacks or drone strikes one day and suicide bombers the next, the tribes bemoan, “Every day is like 9/11 for us.” In The Thistle and the Drone, the third vol- ume in Ahmed’s groundbreaking trilogy examin- ing relations between America and the Muslim world, the author draws on forty case studies representing the global span of Islam to demon- strate how the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Emma of Normandy, Urraca of León-Castile and Teresa of Portugal
    Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Letras The power of the Genitrix - Gender, legitimacy and lineage: Emma of Normandy, Urraca of León-Castile and Teresa of Portugal Ana de Fátima Durão Correia Tese orientada pela Profª Doutora Ana Maria S.A. Rodrigues, especialmente elaborada para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em História do Género 2015 Contents Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………. 3-4 Resumo............................................................................................................... 5 Abstract............................................................................................................. 6 Abbreviations......................................................................................................7 Introduction………………………………………………………………..….. 8-20 Chapter 1: Three queens, three lives.................................................................21 -44 1.1-Emma of Normandy………………………………………………....... 21-33 1-2-Urraca of León-Castile......................................................................... 34-39 1.3-Teresa of Portugal................................................................................. 39- 44 Chapter 2: Queen – the multiplicity of a title…………………………....… 45 – 88 2.1 – Emma, “the Lady”........................................................................... 47 – 67 2.2 – Urraca, regina and imperatrix.......................................................... 68 – 81 2.3 – Teresa of Portugal and her path until regina..................................... 81 – 88 Chapter 3: Image
    [Show full text]
  • Julian of Toledo's Historia Wambae
    Wolfram Drews The Imageofthe Christian Ruler in the Catholic Monarchy of Visigothic Spain: Julian of Toledo’s Historia Wambae King Wamba(672– 680) was arguably the last strong ruler of Visigothic Spainable to assert royal power against aristocratic factions and ecclesiastical authorities alike. He is famous in medievalhistory first and foremost for the ecclesiastical inaugura- tion ritual at the beginning of his reign, which involved the first attested royal unc- tion in medieval Europe. The description of Wamba’sroyal inauguration comes from bishop Julian of Toledo, who was later involved in Wamba’sdeposition. In his Histor- ia Wambae,hedescribes Wamba as an exemplary Christian ruler,aprinceps religio- sus,imbued with Christian virtues. He contrasts the ideal figureusing the usurper Paul as an example of abad, un-Christian ruler,depicted as atyrant supported by hostileforces from the outside. The Historia Wambae mayhavebeen written after Wamba’sdeposition, reflectingpolitical interests of aristocratic elites duringthe reign of his second successor,king Egica.The literary figure of Wambaiscompletely different from the historical Wamba. Julian of Toledo aptlyconstructs the imageofan ideal Christian ruler,following literary models from the Roman past,such as Sallust, and the Old Testament.Christian kingship appears as afusion of both Roman and biblical traditions but geared to the conditions of late Visigothic Spain and, in par- ticular,toits leadingecclesiastical circles,which interestingly had been in opposition to the historical Wamba.
    [Show full text]
  • Pol 214 Course Title: Introduction to Political
    NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES COURSE CODE: POL 214 COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL ANALYSIS POL 214 COURSE GUIDE COURSE GUIDE POL 214 INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL ANALYSIS Course Team Eyene Okpanachi (Developer/Writer) – UI Abdulrahoof Bello(Coordinator) – NOUN NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA iii POL 214 COURSE GUIDE National Open University of Nigeria Headquarters 14/16 Ahmadu Bello Way Victoria Island, Lagos Abuja Office No. 5 Dar es Salaam Street Off Aminu Kano Crescent Wuse II, Abuja e-mail: [email protected] URL: www.nou.edu.ng Published by National Open University of Nigeria Printed 2013 Reprinted 2014 ISBN: 978-058-227-4 All Rights Reserved iv POL 214 COURSE GUIDE CONTENTS PAGE Introduction…………………………………………… iv Course Aim…………………………………………… iv Course Objectives…………………………………….. iv Working through this Course………………………… v Course Materials……………………………………… v Study Units…………………………………………… v Textbooks and References……………………………. vii Assesment……………………………………………... viii Tutor-MarkedAssignment…………………………….. viii Final Examination and Grading ……………………… ix Course Marking Scheme……………………………… ix Course Overview/Presentation……………………….. ix What you will Learn in this Course…………………… x Facilitators/Tutors and Tutorials……………………… xi Conclusion……………………………………………. xi Summary………………………………………………. xi v POL 214 INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL ANALYSIS INTRODUCTION POL 214: Introduction to Political Analysis which is a three- credit unit course offered for students of the undergraduate degree programme in Political Science. There are 21 Study Units in this course. The prerequisite for studying this course is POL 111: Introduction to Political Science. It has been developed with appropriate local and international examples suitable for a student of politics. This course guide is for distance learners enrolled in the B.Sc Political Science programme of the National Open University of Nigeria.
    [Show full text]
  • Alfred the West Saxon, King of English
    Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027953888 /S3 BOUGHT WITH THB«INC FROM th:^ SAGE ENDOWMENT the; gift o^ Benrg HI. %nt 1891 Saintly %ivc8 Edited by R. F. Horton, M.A. Alfred the West Saxon King of the English Frontispiece^. The Traditional Portrait of Alfred the Great. This conception of Alfred's features is probably at least 200 years old. It appears in one of the Bodlean prints with this legend: Alfredus Saxonuvt Rex, Coll. Universitatis Oxon. Fvndalvr. Ciica A. Chr. 877. Hujus Suinmi Regis ^Efigiem a Taiula in Btbl. Bodkiana /ulUuii Reverendo viro Nathan Wciiwri'll, S.T-R. Nathan Wetherell was Master of University :from 1764-1808, but the original to which he refers cannot be traced. Alfred the West Saxon King of the EngHsh DUGALD MACFADYEN, M.A. (J^ametime ExM^itioner in Modem History on ihs Foundation of Merton Colleg4, Ox/orS} WITH PORTRAIT AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS 1901 LONDON: J. M. DENT & CO. NEW YORK : E. P. DUTTON & CO. M ; The Author's Apology This book was undertaken at the request of a friend who found himself prevented under doctor's orders from preparing a Life of King Alfred for this series in time for the millenary celebration of his reign. Though undertaken to oblige someone else, it has been finished to please myself, and to gratify my reverence and liking for the hero of the book.
    [Show full text]
  • Andrej Kokkonen & Anders Sundell: the King Is Dead: Political
    Online supplementary appendix for ”The King is Dead: Political Succession and War in Europe, 1000-1799” This appendix contains both supplementary analyses, references in the main text, and descriptions of the data used in the article. Contents: 1. Supplementary analyses a. Natural deaths b. Jackknife models c. War with alternative coding of natural succession years d. Civil war model with data from Brecke e. Models with late start dates and early end dates for wars f. Linear probability models g. Models that cluster standard errors at country-centuries h. Triple interactions between children, tenures, and primogeniture i. Instrumental variable models j. Description of civil wars that erupted the same year as successions k. Description of interstate wars that erupted the same year as successions 2. Data description a. Principles of succession b. Monarch data c. War data d. Children data 1 1. Supplementary analyses In this section we provide tables and figures for supplementary analyses referenced in the text. This includes both descriptive tables and graphs, further detailing the variables, but also analyses with different codings and estimation techniques. The final two sections lists all wars in which a war broke out the year of a succession, together with a brief description of whether the war broke out before or after the death of the monarch. 1a: Natural deaths Figure A1. Histogram of the age distribution of monarchs’ natural deaths 2 3 Figure A2. Age and the probability of dying of natural causes Note: Based on a model with age, age squared and century dummies, with standard errors clustered at the country level.
    [Show full text]
  • Pope Cornelius
    Pope Cornelius Pope Cornelius (died June 253) was the Bishop of Rome from 6 or 13 March 251 to his martyrdom in 253.[1] 1 Christian persecution Emperor Decius, who ruled from 249 to 251 AD, per- secuted Christians in the Roman Empire rather sporadi- cally and locally, but starting January in the year 250, he ordered all citizens to perform a religious sacrifice in the presence of commissioners, or else face death.[2] Many Christians refused and were martyred (possibly including the pope, St Fabian, on 20 January), while others partook in the sacrifices in order to save their own lives.[3] Two schools of thought arose after the persecution. One side, led by Novatian, who was a priest in the diocese of Rome, believed that those who had stopped practising Christian- ity during the persecution could not be accepted back into the church even if they repented. Under this philosophy, the only way to re-enter the church would be re-baptism. The opposing side, including Cornelius and Cyprian the Bishop of Carthage, did not believe in the need for re- baptism. Instead they thought that the sinners should only need to show contrition and true repentance to be wel- comed back into the church.[4] In hopes that Christian- ity would fade away, Decius prevented the election of a new pope. However, soon afterwards Decius was forced to leave the area to fight the invading Goths and while he was away the elections for pope were held.[3] In the 14 months without a pope, the leading candidate, Moses, had died under the persecution.
    [Show full text]