DOCSLIB.ORG

A ROMAN INSTITUTION in a POST-ROMAN WORLD* a Gallo-Roman Institution in the Year AD 742, Saint Boniface

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A ROMAN INSTITUTION in a POST-ROMAN WORLD* a Gallo-Roman Institution in the Year AD 742, Saint Boniface INTRODUCTION A ROMAN INSTITUTION IN A POST-ROMAN WORLD* A Gallo-Roman Institution In the year AD 742, Saint Boniface (ca. 675–754) composed a letter to the newly elected Pope Zacharias (r. 741–52), in which he informed the pontiff that “old men report that the Franks have not held a synod for eighty years.”1 Although the English bishop was exaggerating by a good four decades, he communicated an unambiguous message: it was reprehensible that the Frankish bishops were so lax in their duties as to neglect meeting collectively with their brethren for the better part of a century. Such an appalling state of aff airs could only suggest a serious state of degeneration among the Frankish episcopacy. For Boniface, the solution to the problem was obvious: new ecclesiastical councils needed to be held in order to correct the abuses of the past decades, with himself, naturally, presiding.2 It was the good fortune of Boniface that the sons of the Frankish maior domus Charles Martel (688–741), Carloman (d. 755) and Pippin III (ca. 714–68), agreed, and enthusias- tically sponsored a series of “reform” councils beginning in the 740s.3 * A diff erent version of this introductory chapter was published before as “Cum Consensu Omnium: Frankish Church Councils from Clovis to Charlemagne” in History Compass, Volume 5, February issue (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2007). It has been reprinted with the permission of the publisher. 1 Boniface, S. Bonifatii et Lulli Epistolae, MGH Epistolarum III, ed. Ernst Dümmler (Berlin: Weidmann, 1892), no. 50. 2 In this same letter (no. 50), Boniface tells the pope that he already has received permission from Carloman to hold a council in the eastern half of the Frankish kingdom. 3 Timothy Reuter, “Kirchenreform und Kirchenpolitik im Zeitalter Karl Martells: Begriff e und Wirklichkeit,” in Karl Martell in seiner Zeit, ed. Jörg Jarnut, Ulrich Nonn, and Michael Richter (Sigmaringen, Germany: Jan Th orbecke Verlag, 1994), 35–59, has argued that it would be anachronistic to apply the word reform to the eighth-century councils. C.f. M. A. Claussen, Th e Reform of the Frankish Church: Chrodegang of Metz and the Regula Canonicorum in the Eighth Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), who employs the term liberally. Peter Brown, Th e Making of Western Christendom, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Blackwell, 2003), 437–40, prefers the more precise term correctio. On the idea of reform in early medieval Europe, see Julia Barrow, “Ideas and Applications of Reform,” in Th e Cambridge History of Christianity, vol. 3, ed. Th omas F. X. Noble and Julia M. H. Smith (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008), 345–62. 2 introduction In doing so, the two principes were addressing the immediate concern of consolidating their political positions in the wake of their father’s death.4 But in their convocation of church councils they also were fol- lowing a long tradition that characterized secular involvement in church aff airs in the regnum Francorum. Certainly, ecclesiastical councils had been held in Gaul prior to the establishment of Frankish royal power. Between 314 and 506, more than thirty synods were convoked in the Gallic provinces.5 Nor were the Franks innovators in permitting the princeps a role in their convoca - tion and discussions. Th is practice dated back to the reign of the fi rst Christian Roman emperor, Constantine I (r. 306–37), under whose watchful eye the ecumenical Council of Nicaea met in AD 325. Constantine also was responsible for the convocation of the fi rst Gallo- Roman synod, held in Arles in 314 at the will of the piissimus imperator, who intended for it to settle the Donatist controversy tearing apart the African church at that time.6 Neither Constantine nor his imperial or Frankish successors hesitated to instigate conciliar business and, indeed, viewed it as their prerogative. What is more, the majority of ecclesiastics in both the Roman and Frankish eras did not question this privilege.7 4 Paul Fouracre, Th e Age of Charles Martel (Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd., 2000), 169–70. 5 Th ey were Arles (314), Cologne (346), Arles (353), Béziers (356), Paris (360–1), Valence (374), Bordeaux (384), Unknown (385/6), Trier (386), Nîmes (394/6), Turin (398), Beziers (ca. 421), Unknown (429), Riez (439), Unknown (440), Orange (441), Vaison (442), Unknown (ca. 444), Arles (449), Arles (449/50), Unknown (450), Lerins (ca. 451), Arles (451/2), Vienne (451/2), Angers (453), Tours (461), Unknown (463), Vannes (ca. 465), Lyons (ca. 469), Arles (ca. 470), Lyons (ca. 470), Agde (506), and pos- sibly the so-called Second Council of Arles (442/506), on which see Ralph Mathisen, “Th e Second Council of Arles and the Spirit of Compilation and Codifi cation in Late Roman Gaul,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 5, no. 4 (1997): 511–54. Discussion of all of the preceding councils can be found in Ralph Mathisen, Ecclesiastical Factionalism and Religious Controversy in Fift h-Century Gaul (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1989). For a quantitative analysis of the Gallo-Roman councils, see Peter Gassmann, “Der Episkopat in Gallien im 5. Jahrhundert” (Ph.D. diss., Rheinischen Friedrich Wilhelms Universität zu Bonn, 1977), 260–3. On the continuity between the fourth- and fi ft h-century Gallic councils with those held under the Franks, see Hans Barion, Das fränkisch-deutsche Synodalrecht des Frühmittelalters (Bonn: Ludwig Röhrscheid Verlag, 1931), 202; J. M. Wallace-Hadrill, Th e Frankish Church (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983), 107; William M. Daly, “Clovis: How Barbarian, How Pagan?” Speculum 69, no. 3 (1994): 657. 6 Arles (314), Preface. All citations of the Gallo-Roman councils (pre-511) are from Concilia Galliae A.314–A.506, ed. Charles Munier, CCSL 148 (Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 1963). 7 Jean Gaudemet, La formation du droit séculier et du droit de l’Eglise aux IVe et Ve siècles (Paris: Sirey, 1957), 136, notes that not even Pope Leo the Great contested the right of the Roman emperors to convoke councils..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Complete Dissertation
    University of Groningen The growth of an Austrasian identity Stegeman, Hans IMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite from it. Please check the document version below. Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Publication date: 2014 Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research database Citation for published version (APA): Stegeman, H. (2014). The growth of an Austrasian identity: Processes of identification and legend construction in the Northeast of the Regnum Francorum, 600-800. Copyright Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). The publication may also be distributed here under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the “Taverne” license. More information can be found on the University of Groningen website: https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/self-archiving-pure/taverne- amendment. Take-down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons the number of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum. Download date: 02-10-2021 The growth of an Austrasian identity Processes of identification and legend construction in the Northeast of the Regnum Francorum, 600-800 Proefschrift ter verkrijging van het doctoraat aan de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen op gezag van de rector magnificus dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Sharers in the Contemplative Virtue: Julianus Pomeriusʼs Carolingian Audience
    6KDUHUVLQWKH&RQWHPSODWLYH9LUWXH-XOLDQXV3RPHULXV૷V &DUROLQJLDQ$XGLHQFH Josh Timmermann Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Volume 45, 2014, pp. 1-44 (Article) 3XEOLVKHGE\&HQWHUIRU0HGLHYDODQG5HQDLVVDQFH6WXGLHV 8&/$DOI: 10.1353/cjm.2014.0029 For additional information about this article http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/cjm/summary/v045/45.timmermann.html Access provided by Universitats-und-Stadtbibliothek Koeln (26 Aug 2014 02:59 GMT) SHARERS IN THE CONTEMPLATIVE VIRTUE: JULIANUS POMERIUS’S CAROLINGIAN AUDIENCE Josh Timmermann* Abstract: Sometime between the end of the fifth century and the early sixth, the priest, grammarian, and rhetorician Julianus Pomerius composed a hortatory guidebook for bishops entitled De vita contemplativa. In the centuries following its composition, this paranetic text became erroneously attributed to Prosper of Aquitaine, the famous defender of Augustine’s doctrine of grace in mid-fifth-century Gaul. Consequently, Pomerius’s text was lent discernible authority, both through Prosper’s well-known connection to Augus- tine as well as through the apparent Augustinianism of the text itself. The De vita contem- plativa was also often paired closely with the work of Gregory the Great, which served to further enhance the importance of the text for Carolingian bishops. As this article argues, Pomerius’s contention, that not only monks, but also worldly bishops could achieve an earthly form of perfection through a rigorous adherence to their duties as “watchmen,” proved remarkably appealing, and useful, to the Carolingian episcopate. Keywords: Julianus Pomerius; Augustine of Hippo; Prosper of Aquitaine; Gregory the Great; Carolingian bishops; Carolingian church councils; episcopal authority; Jonas of Orléans; the contemplative life; the active life.
    [Show full text]
  • Hildemar of Corbie's Expositio Regulam Sancti Benedicti and the Community of Monks in Ninth-Century Civate
    Rebellion in Speech and Monks in Seclusion: Hildemar of Corbie's Expositio October 3 regulam Sancti Benedicti and the Community of Monks in Ninth‐ Century Civate Sponsored by Dr. Gretchen Starr‐LeBeau, University of By Melissa Kentucky History Department, for KATH’s 2015 George C. Herring Graduate Student Writing Award Kapitan 1 Rebellion in Speech and Monks in Seclusion: Hildemar of Corbie's Expositio regulam Sancti Benedicti and the Community of Monks in Ninth-Century Civate Melissa Kapitan University of Kentucky 2160 Fontaine Rd Apt 127 Lexington, KY 40502 [email protected] 913-636-7126 2 The adoption of the seventy-three chapters of the Rule of St. Benedict as the standard guide for Western monasticism may seem like a foregone conclusion, yet, the Rule's alleged normativity was not inevitable. As Albrecht Diem and other historians of early monasticism have shown, the decision to place the Regula sancti Benedicti (RB) above all other monastic rules came some two hundred years after the Rule's creation, at the hands of another Benedict entirely.1 Situating the RB as the monastic rule for all Western monasticism came at the hand of the Carolingians. For much of the early middle ages, monasteries on the continent were governed by a variety of monastic rules, such as the Regula Magistri (c.500-525), the Regula monachorum of St. Columbanus (c. 600), Isidore of Seville's regula (c. 615), or any number of anonymous or pseudo-attributed rules. To borrow a phrase from Lynda L. Coon, early medieval monasticism was orthopractic rather than orthodox;2 across the Continent, there were certainly commonalities, but an individual monastery's daily life and discipline was shaped more by local tradition than any singular regula.
    [Show full text]
  • Tracey-Anne Cooper, Monk-Bishops and the English Benedictine
    Francia-Recensio 2016/3 Mittelalter ± Moyen Âge (500±1500) Tracey-Anne Cooper, Monk-Bishops and the English Benedictine Reform Movement. Reading London, BL, Cotton Tiberius A. iii in Its Manuscript Context, Turnhout (Brepols) 2015, XVII±368 p., 5 col. pl. (Studies and Texts, 193), ISBN 978-0-88844-193-5, EUR 85,00. rezensiert von/compte rendu rédigé par Julia Barrow, Leeds At some point after 1020 a compilation of over ninety monastic, liturgical, educational and other texts was put together at Christ Church Canterbury (Canterbury cathedral). Several items in the compilation concern pastoral care and one is a set of guidelines for the examination of a new bishop before his consecration; some items are charms, highlighting the miscellaneous nature of the collection. Unsurprisingly, the manuscript (now British Library, Cotton Tiberius A xiii) has proved hard to define and hitherto there has been no assumption that there was an agenda behind the process of selection of materials. The task of analysing the collection has been undertaken by Tracey-Anne Cooper, who sets out in this monograph to explain the manuscript as the product of the third generation of the tenth-century English Benedictine reform movement and in particular to interpret it as a vade mecum for an archbishop faced with the diverse duties of coping with a monastic cathedral community and training men about to become bishops in the supervision of pastoral care. A prominent part of Cooper's argument is that by the reign of Cnut (1016±1635) »almost the entire episcopate was monastic« and that these monastically-trained bishops had received no experience of pastoral care before their elevation.
    [Show full text]
  • The Bishop in the Latin West 600–1100
    This is a repository copy of The bishop in the Latin West 600–1100. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/94465/ Version: Accepted Version Proceedings Paper: Barrow, J (2018) The bishop in the Latin West 600–1100. In: Höfert, A, Mesley, M and Tolino, S, (eds.) Celibate and Childless Men in Power: Ruling Eunuchs and Bishops in the Pre-Modern World. The Gender of Authority. Celibate and Childless Men in Power: Ruling Bishops and Ruling Eunuchs, 400-1800, 28-30 Aug 2013, Zurich, Switzerland. Routledge , pp. 43-64. ISBN 9781472453402 © 2018 the Author. This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in Celibate and Childless Men in Power: Ruling Eunuchs and Bishops in the Pre-Modern World on 15 August 2017, available online: http://www.routledge.com/9781472453402. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request.
    [Show full text]
  • MIXED CONTENT TALES in LEBOR NA HUIDRE Eric Patterson
    John Carroll University Carroll Collected Masters Theses Theses, Essays, and Senior Honors Projects Summer 2016 OLD AND NEW GODS IN AN AGE OF UNCERTAINTY: MIXED CONTENT TALES IN LEBOR NA HUIDRE Eric Patterson Follow this and additional works at: http://collected.jcu.edu/masterstheses Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation Patterson, Eric, "OLD AND NEW GODS IN AN AGE OF UNCERTAINTY: MIXED CONTENT TALES IN LEBOR NA HUIDRE" (2016). Masters Theses. 16. http://collected.jcu.edu/masterstheses/16 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Essays, and Senior Honors Projects at Carroll Collected. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of Carroll Collected. For more information, please contact [email protected]. OLD AND NEW GODS IN AN AGE OF UNCERTAINTY: MIXED CONTENT TALES IN LEBOR NA HUIDRE A Thesis Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences of John Carroll University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts By Eric A. Patterson 2016 The thesis of Eric A. Patterson is hereby accepted: _________________________________________ ________________________ Reader – Paul V. Murphy Date _________________________________________ ________________________ Reader – Brenda Wirkus Date _________________________________________ ________________________ Advisor – Valerie McGowan-Doyle Date I certify that this is the original document _________________________________________ ________________________ Author – Eric A. Patterson Date No, not angelical, but of the old gods, Who wander about the world to waken the heart, The passionate, proud heart – that all the angels, Leaving nine heavens empty, would rock to sleep. - William Butler Yeats, The Countess Cathleen Acknowledgements I would like to thank Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • AN INTRODUCTORY HISTORY of the ORTHODOX CHURCH in BRITAIN and IRELAND from Its Beginnings to the Eleventh Century
    1 AN INTRODUCTORY HISTORY OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN BRITAIN AND IRELAND From its Beginnings to the Eleventh Century By Aidan Hart PART I (until 600 AD) “In all parts of Spain, among the diverse nations of the Gauls, in regions of the Britons beyond Roman sway but subjected to Christ... the name of Christ now reigns.” (Tertullian in “Adversus Judaeos” Ch. 7, circa 200 AD) Introduction There is a saying on Mount Athos that it is not where we live that saves us but the way we live. This is a play on the Greek words topos and tropos . One could add that neither is it when we live that saves us. And yet on reading the lives of saints who lived in other epochs and other lands it is easy to feel that it is impossible for us, in our circumstances, to approach their level of repentance and humility. This is one reason why many British and other English speakers are being attracted to the saints of the British Isles: although these saints lived over a millennium ago they lived on our own soil, or at least on that of our ancestors. It is as though these local saints are not only supporting us from heaven, but are also with us here, on the same soil where they once struggled in the spiritual life. How eagerly the saints of Britain must await our prayers that the land in which they so mightily laboured should again become a garden of virtue! It is difficult to be inspired by saints about whom we know little.
    [Show full text]
  • “A Benedictine Reader Is an Exciting Volume of Sources That Includes Key Texts from the Order’S Inception in 530 Through the Sixteenth Century
    “A Benedictine Reader is an exciting volume of sources that includes key texts from the Order’s inception in 530 through the sixteenth century. These ‘Benedictine Centuries’ demonstrate the rich and varied contributions that knit together the religious, political, social, and cultural fabric of European society throughout the Middle Ages and into the Early Modern period. Translated into fresh and readable English, each text contains a concise introduction that has an almost intuitive quality. This is a welcome addition to the field and is an excellent resource for both scholars and students alike.” —Alice Chapman Associate Professor of History Grand Valley State University “Perfectae Caritatis invited religious to enter into their original sources and primitive inspirations. A Benedictine Reader achieves this by creating a fascinating world of medieval monastic doctrine. This anthology opens up for any interested person ancient sources that fashioned monastic aggiornamento through the centuries. With quite remarkable scholarship, the wealth of footnotes in this volume introduces contemporary authorities promoting this renewal. Together these ancient monastics and contemporary scholars form a valuable treasure for a rebirth in monastic wisdom and insight.” —Thomas X. Davis, OCSO Abbot Emeritus, New Clairvaux Abbey “A Benedictine Reader brings together in a single volume the Venerable Bede, John of Fécamp, Abelard, Hildegard of Bingen, and other well-known figures of Western medieval monasticism. Also included are lesser known authors and works by anonymous voices. This virtual library of medieval Benedictine texts fills a gaping hole in monastic libraries and will be an excellent resource in monastic formation programs.” —Mark A. Scott, OCSO Abbot of New Melleray Peosta, Iowa 48 42 49 44 47 46 45 50 43 41 2 17 19 18 15 51 3 40 14 16 38 1 39 20 52 13 37 21 12 9 10 11 36 22 8 32 33 34 35 53 23 7 4 6 6 30 31 5 25 27 29 24 26 28 The Plan of St.
    [Show full text]
  • Het Woord Als Zwaard
    KU LEUVEN FACULTEIT LETTEREN BLIJDE INKOMSTSTRAAT 21 BUS 3301 3000 LEUVEN, BELGIË Het woord als zwaard. De relatie tussen de bisschoppen van Metz en de abdij van Sint-Truiden in de vroege en hoge middeleeuwen. Winand Van Meerbeek Masterproef aangeboden binnen de opleiding master in de Geschiedenis. Promotor prof. dr. Brigitte Meijns Academiejaar 2012-2013 204.907 tekens Inhoudsopgave Inleiding: vita felicissimi patris Trudonis presbiteri ................................................................ 1 1. Het theoretische kader .............................................................................................. 1 2. Probleemstelling en opzet van het onderzoek .......................................................... 4 I. De belangen van Metz ................................................................................................... 8 1. Het woord als zwaard: de Vita prima Trudonis Hasbaniensis ................................ 8 1.1. De Vita prima Trudonis: datering, auteurschap en ontstaanscontext ...................... 8 1.2. De proloog: een blijk van nederigheid… of toch niet? .......................................... 16 1.3. De belangen van Metz: analyse van de Vita prima Trudonis ................................ 18 2. Het zwaard afgevlakt? De Vita sancti Chlodulphi ................................................. 31 2.1. De Vita Chlodulphi: datering, auteurschap en ontstaanscontext ........................... 33 2.2. Cultus of politiek middel: analyse van de Vita Chlodulphi ..................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Reform of the Frankish Church: Chrodegang of Metz and the Regula Canonicorum in the Eighth Century M
    Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-06537-5 - The Reform of the Frankish Church: Chrodegang of Metz and the Regula Canonicorum in the Eighth Century M. A. Claussen Frontmatter More information THE REFORM OF THE FRANKISH CHURCH Chrodegang of Metz (c. 712–766) was a leading figure of the late Merovin- gian and early Carolingian church. Born to one of the principal aristocratic families in Austrasia, he served as referendary of Charles Martel, and was appointed bishop of Metz in the 740s. As bishop, Chrodegang became one of the foremost churchmen in Francia, chairing councils, founding monasteries, and beginning a reform of the lives of the canons of the Metz cathedral. This book, the first major study in the English language on Chrodegang, examines his preoccupation with the creation of commu- nities of faith and concord modeled on the early church. It explores his attempts to unite the Frankish episcopacy, his rule for the cathedral clery in Metz – the Regula canonicorum – and his introduction of new liturgical practices that sought to transform his see into a hagiopolis, a holy city which provided a model for later Carolingian reform. m. a. claussen is Professor of History at the University of San Francisco and the author of articles on church history. © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-06537-5 - The Reform of the Frankish Church: Chrodegang of Metz and the Regula Canonicorum in the Eighth Century M. A. Claussen Frontmatter More information Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought Fourth Series General Editor: rosamond mC kitterick Professor of Medieval History, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Newnham College Advisory Editors: christine carpenter Reader in Medieval English History, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of New Hall jonathan shepard The series Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought was inaugurated by G.
    [Show full text]
  • The Emergence of Human Agency in Christian Apocalyptic
    Final Preparations: The Emergence of Human Agency in Christian Apocalyptic Speculation in the 10th and 11th Centuries A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA BY BAILEY R. POLETTI IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY KATHRYN REYERSON, JOHN WATKINS, ADVISERS November 2020 Bailey R. Poletti, 2020 © i Acknowledgements In an age when people throughout the world are asked to share the burden and responsibility of staving off a threat to all humanity, and when access to resources for academic pursuits can no longer be taken for granted, it is only right to remember those who have made this dissertation possible. Even in ideal circumstances, there is no end to the assistance necessary for a project like this to come together. At the University of Minnesota, I would like to thank in particular my advisors, Kathryn Reyerson and John Watkins, for their unending help and encouragement over the years; my committee, who had to appraise this work in rather unusual and far from ideal circumstances; the university librarians, who saw too much of me over the years; the Goodwin family and the Noonan Award in Medieval Studies, for their much appreciated generosity; the Pre-Modern Workshop, for valuable aid in helping me steer this project at an early stage in its development; my fellow graduate students, whose innumerable insightful and supportive conversations cannot be overstated; and the staff in the UMN history department, who made navigable the tedious, opaque, but necessary
    [Show full text]
  • Craig Haggart
    The cili De and ecclesiasticalgovemment in Ireland in the eighth and ninth centuries. Craig Haggart Submitted for the degreeof Ph.D. in the Department of Celtic, University of Glasgow, March 2003. C Craig Haggart 2003 Abstract This thesisexamines the CjU Dj, individual ecclesiasticswho constitutedthe intellectualand spiritualelite in the early medievalIrish church.The period covered by the thesisis restrictedto A.D. 700-900and focussesmost fully on the late eighth and early ninth centuries.A distinction is drawn betweenthose individuals referred to as cili Dj during this period under study and those 'communities within communities',concerned for the welfareof the sick and the poor, to whom the name is later attested.The thesisexamines the primary sourcematerial, considers past and presenttheories regarding these ecclesiastics and refutes the consensusof opinion that the c8i Dj were a reform movementwho emergedin reactionto a degenerate clergy in a church under secularinfluence. It discusseswhat was intendedby the designationcili Dj and proffersthe opinion that the c8i Dj were insteadconcerned with advancingall aspectsof the dutiesand responsibilitiesof the church.Particular developmentsin ecclesiasticalorganisation during the period under study are discussedand the extentof the role of individual cile Dj in theseare examined,but will concludethat it shouldnot be assumedthat thesedevelopments, or concernfor their introduction,was wholly restrictedto the cili De. Therewas a changein the basisof the sourceof royal authority from popular to
    [Show full text]