The Religious Economics of Crisis : the Papal Use of Liturgical Vessels

Michele Renee Salzman The Religious Economics of Crisis : The Papal Use of Liturgical Vessels as Symbolic Capital in Late Antiquity Abstract This paper explores the multiple meanings of the restoration of liturgical silver plate by the bishops of Rome after the sacks of Rome in 410, 455, and 472. The author argues that this act was of primary importance to the bishops of Rome as a key means of reestablishing their hegemony over Christian communities in the city after periods of upheaval. By replacing lost liturgical plate, the bishops of Rome performed the role of patron in lieu of the emperor or wealthy private donor. Certainly, the donation of silver and gold in sacred contexts in the classical pagan world provides prec- edents for this practice and for its interpretation. But the donation of liturgical vessels must be understood within its specific Christian context. Because the donation of liturgical vessels was part of the foundation of a late antique church, their replacement by the bishop was an act of refoundation of the community of the faithful. And owing to the centrality of sacralised eating and drinking in the Christian rite of the Eucharist, the bishop’s replenishment of liturgical silver also offered the individual and the community the promise of salvation. Thus the donations of silver and gold liturgical plate by bishops demonstrate the multiple ways in which the wealth of the church operated as symbolic capital, allowing the bishops to reinforce their author- ity over the community of the faithful in response to crisis. Keywords: Berthouville Treasure, bishops, Christianity, liturgical silver and gold plate, Rome, salvation, foundation rites, papacy In scholarship on late antique Rome, the religious power of the bishop of Rome is most often assessed by focusing on his building of churches, residences and monasteries.1 This gauge of papal power is shaped in part by 1 For the seminal work on churches in Rome, see Krautheimer 1977. Many scholars have discussed the building of episcopal churches and residences as manifestations of the power of the bishop; see, for example, Brown 2012; Moorhead 2015; Ward Perkins 1984; Volpe 2007, 131–168 and for Northern Italy, Cantino Wataghin 2006, 287–309. For a critique of RRE 5 (2019), 125–141 DOI 10.1628/rre-2019-0008 ISSN 2199-4463 © 2019 Mohr Siebeck 126 Michele Renee Salzman RRE our extant sources; the Book of the Pontiffs, a sixth-century compilation of ancient biographies of the bishops of Rome that was continued into the eighth century, records papal buildings as praiseworthy acts of patronage, following the precedent set by ancient biographies of Roman emperors.2 Consequently, scholars who look at the role of the bishop in responding to crisis similarly focus on the building and repairing of church properties, noting for instance, Pope Leo’s repair of the apse-vaults of St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s after the Vandal fire and sack of 455.3 However, my study of religious responses to the military and political crises that overtook Rome in the fifth century – based not only on the Book of the Pontiffs (LP from here on) but on a wider range of texts – suggests that another, more immediate and more fundamental concern of the bishops of Rome has been largely overlooked by scholars. This was the bishops’ provisioning and replacing of mostly silver, but sometimes gold, liturgical vessels.4 After the sacks of Rome in 410, 455, and 472, the restoration of liturgical silver plate was of primary importance to the bishops of the city intent as they were on reestablishing their hegemony over Christian communities after these periods of upheaval. But the replacement of liturgical vessels served more than a merely functional purpose. By donating liturgical plate, the bishops performed the role of patron in lieu of the emperor or wealthy private donor (compare Rives on euergetism, this volume). Replacement of plate thus asserted the bishop’s status in a revived city. However, such donations also demonstrated his central role in re-establishing the Chris- tian community since donations of luxurious sacred silver and gold vessels were both real and symbolic components in the foundation of late antique churches at a time when there was no standardised ritual of dedication for a church beyond the celebration of a mass.5 Since liturgical plate, donated as part of the foundation of a church, was sacralised by its use in the mass, its replacement by the bishop carried profound religious meaning for the Christian communities of the city. To fully appreciate the resonances of papal replacements of sacred silver in fifth-century Rome, I begin in part 1 of this paper with a brief discussion of the pagan Mediterranean usage of sacred silver and gold. In a world in these material assessment of the social importance of Italian bishops, see Izdebski 2012, 168–170. 2 McKitterick 2011, 19–34. 3 Duchesne 1955, 1:47, p. 239. 4 This is a point that is not explored in the very helpful work by Allen and Neil 2013, which focuses on pastoral care, nor is it addressed by Leader-Newby 2004, 61–122, whose fine study provides an important overview of sacred silver. 5 Repsher 1998, 11–28; Duchesne 1912, 404; and Cohen, unpublished paper. 5 (2019) The Religious Economics of Crisis 127 which elites paraded their, mostly silver, votive offerings in pagan temples, the donations of silver liturgical plate to Christian churches, beginning in large quantities with Constantine, emerged quite naturally as a manifesta- tion of the status and piety of the donor, as also discussed by Digeser, this volume. The display and utilisation of such luxury items in church ser- vice similarly enabled bishops to be ‘perceived and recognised as legitimate’ high-status members of society in the eyes of contemporary elites, be they senatorial, provincial, imperial, or ecclesiastical.6 Moreovery, the donation of Christian liturgical plate, like votive offerings, conveyed the piety of the worshiper. However, because sacralised eating and drinking was a central part of the Christian liturgy, the silver and gold plate used during the ritual themselves became sacred objects, powerful visual reminders of the central Christian promise of salvation. The loss and replacement of Christian liturgical plate thus became an act of piety on the part of the bishops that was similarly tied to the hope of redemption. Hence, in part 2 of this paper, I discuss the papal replacement of silver and gold plate by fifth-century popes as a very important religious response to the crises faced by Rome. Bishops who replaced liturgical plate were, in essence, offering the faithful the possi- bility of redemption, even as they adopted the mechanism that matched the status concerns of wealthy donors and rulers (compare Rives, this volume). In part 3, I focus on how episcopal expenditures on, or sale of, liturgical vessels were part of a broader discourse among late antique Christians about the proper uses of wealth by the Church and its leaders. This discourse was more explicit and more contentious in times of crisis. Indeed, the dialogue about the use of sacred silver and gold by the bishops of fifth-century Rome in response to crises highlights what was a central tension within Chris- tian communities about the proper use of wealth by bishops and lay people alike. The question of how the church should use its wealth – for the benefit of people or for ritual display or church building – was one of the most vex- ing issues facing the bishops of Rome, and elsewhere through the tumultu- ous times of the fifth century. Indeed, it remains a central issue for religious communities even today. 6 I am referencing here Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of symbolic capital as ‘the form that the various species of capital assume when they are perceived and recognised as legitimate’. Bourdieu 1989, 14–25. 128 Michele Renee Salzman RRE 1 Pateras and patens: sacred silver in Roman ritual7 A leading expert on late antique silver, Leader-Newby, has astutely observed that, ‘While Christian uses of silver represent a significant late antique inno- vation, it should not be forgotten that the use of silver (and other precious metals) in sacred contexts was as much a feature of the classical world as it was of the late antique one’.8 Well into the late fourth century ce, pagan temples and sanctuaries functioned as treasure houses for wealth, both private and public, just as Biella (this volume) has suggested was the case for a much earlier period. Although most of the sacred silver and precious metals from pagan temples has been scattered or reused, we can get some sense of its function and meaning from one of the very few silver hoards that can be securely associated with a pagan cult site in the Roman Empire; the Ber- thouville hoard of Roman silver from Roman Gallia Lugdunensis, modern Normandy, provides a rare instance of a carefully documented temple treasure. Inscriptions to pagan gods on the objects found in the hoard provide evidence for dating and religious intent, and a 2005 field survey has pro- vided important insights for understanding its earlier nineteenth century excavation.9 The Berthouville hoard, excavated from an extramural temple complex and theatre in Roman Gallia Lugdunensis includes some 93 items that date from the late-second or early-third century ce. Most are bowls, cups, and jugs, but the Berthouville Treasure also includes two silver statuettes of Mer- cury and a bust of a female figure, identified as his mother Maia, who was equated with the Celtic goddess Rosmerta.10 It seems most likely, based on the dedications and the iconography (bowls with relief medallions that represent Mercury), that a number of these were dedicated by visitors to the shrine.

Load more