History of the Church
3 – Early Medieval Christianity
The New Order
Just as the church had settled to the point of establishing the contents of the Bible in 397, chaos struck. Rome
fell in 410 AD. The barbarian tribes brought chaos to the land from the fifth to the eighth centuries. Many
basic Christian controversies had to be resolved again, including paganism and Arianism (the heresy that the
Son of God was created by the Father.) The Roman Empire (basically the Byzantine Empire at this point)
shown in the dark areas below, was now limited to Greece, Turkey, the Middle East, and north Egypt.
The Vandals crossed the Rhine in 407 and wandered across France and Spain, crossed the straits of Gibraltar,
and became masters of North Africa. As Arian Christians, they persecuted both the orthodox Nicenes and the
Donatists, so the church there was devastated. The Greek-speaking Christians from the Byzantine Empire to
the east later invaded the area, and the splintered Christians groups fell to the Moslem conquest early in the
seventh century.
The Visigoths, who conquered Rome in 410, ended up in Spain and ruled that country until the Moslem
conquest early in the eighth century. Originally Arian, the king converted to orthodox Nicene Christianity, so
Arianism faded in Spain. Christianity in Spain, which included anti-Semitic overtones, was deeply rooted, so
the Moors were eventually expelled.
During the fifth century, Gaul was divided between the Burgundians, who were Arian, and the Franks, a group
of pagan tribes. Unlike the Vandals, the Burgundians did not persecute Nicenes; the king converted in 516, so
the Burgundians became orthodox Catholics. Similarly, Clovis, leader of the Franks, promised to convert if
God granted him a battle victory, so he was baptized on Christmas Day, 496. The Franks subsumed the
Burgundians and pushed the invading Moors back into Spain. (Gaul became France.)
Great Britain had never been fully in the Roman Empire; the Picts and the Scots remained independent to the
north of Hadrian’s Wall, the wall built by Emperor Hadrian to make the boundary of the Roman Empire.
When Roman troops withdrew, southern Britain was dominated by the Angles and Saxons, both pagan groups.
Ireland was a Christian nation, traditionally credited to St. Patrick. An Irish monk named Columba took the
Gospel to Scotland, establishing the Iona community in 563. The Anglo-Saxon area to the south was
addressed by Scotch-Irish missionaries as well as a mission sent there by Pope Gregory in the 590’s. The
mission headed by a monk named Augustine who had been at the same monastery as Pope Gregory eventually
succeeded. Augustine became the first bishop of Canterbury, the ecclesiastical center of England. There were
organization and ritual differences between the Scotch-Irish tradition (monastic communities) and the bishop
structure of the Roman church; at a council meeting (Synod) in Whitby, the English chose the Roman plan.
The scene in Italy was chaotic. The headquarters of the Roman church still existed under the Ostrogoths, but
had no power. The Ostrogoths were Christian, but Arian. Church leaders were persecuted, suspected of
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treason. Pope John was imprisoned and died there in 526. Byzantine forces under Justinian’s general
Belisarius invaded Italy and ultimately ended the kingdom of the Ostrogoths. When the Lombards invaded
Italy in 568 and the power from Constantinople was waning, the popes looked north to the Frankish kingdom
for help, an alliance that would later result in the crowning of Charlemagne as emperor of the West.
Columba, the missionary to Scotland at Iona, as well as Augustine, the missionary to England, and Gregory,
the Pope who sent him, were Benedictine monks, the order established by the Italian founder, Benedictine, in
the early 500’s. Western monasticism differed from Eastern in three basic ways. First, it did not punish the
body for penance, but rather trained it for service. Second, the focus was not on solitude but on organized and
disciplined communities. Third, as seen from the examples above, monasticism was a strong ally of the popes
and other ecclesiastical leaders. The commitment to a monastic order was permanent, providing stability
during the unstable times. Benedict produced a structure for monasticism in his Rule, the basis for western
monastic discipline and order for centuries.
Another institution which gave some stability and order to the western church during the new order of
barbarian rule was the papacy. During the early Christian centuries, the churches of Antioch and Alexandria
were stronger and more important than Rome. With the invasions of the Germanic tribes in the West, the
bishop of the church in Rome was the guardian of what was left of the ancient civilization. Furthermore, as
church leader in the largest city and consultant to the emperors, his position grew to preeminence. Although
the term “pope” had applied to major church bishops, in the sixth century it was applied to the bishop of
Rome. One of the first of the “modern” popes, Pope Leo (440-461) was the one who negotiated to spare the
destruction of Rome by first the Huns and later the Ostrogoths. After Leo, the Ostrogoths as Arians put in
place their own pope in opposition to the orthodox successor to Leo, so for a time there were two popes.
From 590 to 604, the Benedictine monk Gregory was named Pope. An able leader, Gregory dealt with
numerous civic issues, from sanitation in the midst of the plague to failing aqueducts to food supplies. As a
religious leader, Gregory was instrumental in converting the Visigoth king in Spain to Nicene Catholicism. He
established the mission to England which ultimately came under the authority of Rome. The writings of Pope
Gregory were important in the development of orthodox Catholicism. He set aside the Augustinian principles
of predestination and irresistible grace in favor of a focus on penance. It was Gregory who solidified the
concept of purgatory and that the mass was a renewed sacrifice for sins by the Christ.
After Gregory the Byzantine Empire began to exert more influence over Rome, including the ability to
confirm or deny new popes. The power of the Byzantines waned in the eighth century, so when the invading
Lombards threatened Rome, the pope turned to the Franks for help. The alliance between the Franks and
Rome grew closer, and on Christmas Day 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frank King Charlemagne emperor of
the West. With this papal endorsement, the western kingdom became the Holy Roman Empire.
A major factor in seventh century Christianity was the Arab conquests. Mohammed, an Arab merchant,
claimed revelations from Gabriel which culminated what God had revealed to the Hebrew prophets and to
Jesus, also a prophet in this view. The first Moslem community was established in 622. Within a hundred
years the Christian centers of Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem, and Damascus were under Moslem control; the
Byzantine Empire was limited to Turkey and holdings in Europe.
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Eastern Christianity
During the early medieval years the beginnings of a split between the Eastern Church (Constantinople) and the
Western Church (Rome) occurred. There were obvious cultural differences between the Latin-speaking West
and the Greek-speaking East. In the West, the leadership vacuum caused by the barbarian conquests raised the
power and prestige of the church. Political leadership in the East was more stable, and the rulers exerted
power over the church, including theological disputes. Theological decisions based somewhat on political
considerations can clearly lead to division since they affect the whole church.
Much of the controversy in the East was Christological, stemming from the difficulty in understanding how
humanity and divinity can be combined in Jesus. There were two basic schools of thought: in Alexandria the
focus was on the divinity of Christ, Who could therefore teach divine truth with authority; in Antioch the
emphasis was on the humanity of Christ, Who could be the atoning sacrifice for all. For the West, tied up in
the chaotic changes of the new order, the Tertullian explanation that in Christ the two natures are combined
seemed to suffice.
Church leadership in the East was headquartered in Constantinople, and the Alexandrian and Antiochene
schools both tried to maneuver so that their candidates were selected. The stand for or against a doctrine was
influenced by whoever the bishop of Constantinople was. One bishop discarded a proposed doctrine and the
proponent as heretical, and the succeeding bishop from the other school of thought would reverse it. One
council was planned to endorse a controversial position, and the opposing view from the Roman pope was not
even allowed to be heard. Pope Leo in Rome called the council a “robbers’ synod.” At the behest of Pope Leo,
the new Constantinople emperor called a fourth ecumenical council, the Council of Chalcedon, in 451; both
the extreme Alexandrian and Antiochene positions were rejected. A Definition of the Faith was published
which affirmed the positions taken at previous ecumenical councils (Nicea in 325, Constantinople in 381, and
Ephesus in 431). The Definition states that Jesus is of “one substance with the Father in his divinity, and of
one substance with us in his humanity.”
The attention to the Christological controversy waned as the Arab conquests in the East began. Pope Honorius
in the East, however, supported the notion that Jesus was of two natures but only one will (630). The Sixth
Ecumenical Council convened in Constantinople in 680 determined that this position and the pope who
supported it were heretical. The idea of a pope being infallible was a significant discussion point later.
With Arab conquests from the east, the Byzantine Empire could only expand to the north and west. The largest
success of Byzantine missionaries was the conversion of Russia to Christianity. Two brothers, Cyril and
Methodius, were selected to witness to the Russians. Cyril invented a way to write the Slavic language and
translate the Bible into it. The resulting alphabet is known consequently as the Cyrillic alphabet. Around 950,
Queen Olga was converted and baptized.
Relations between the Byzantine Church, called the Orthodox Church, and the Western Church worsened. In
the East, there was resentment because in the west some amendments had been made to the Nicene Creed.
Adding that the Holy Spirit proceeds not just from the Father but “and from the Son” had Trinitarian
implications to all Christians. The Roman pope began to use the old Apostles’ Creed to avoid the
Christological issues of the East. The West was concerned that the Eastern emperor was leading the church too
directly; he forbade the use of icons, for example. Other “major” issues were the celibacy of the clergy
mandated in the West and the use of unleavened bread in communion. Pope Leo IX in Rome eventually
excommunicated the patriarch of the Byzantine church, so on June 16, 1054, the schism between East and
West was complete.
Imperial Restoration and Continuing Decay
After three hundred and four years without an emperor, the church of the West got one on Christmas Day, 800;
Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne, King of the Franks, Emperor of the ancient empire. Almost all of
Western Christendom, except for Great Britain and parts of Spain, were under his control, sponsored by the
church. After bloody battles, Charlemagne extended his control into the land of the Saxons, forcing those
captured to be baptized. Charlemagne felt called to rule his people not only in civil affairs but also in
ecclesiastical matters. He mandated preaching in the language of the people, appointed bishops based on
merit, directed that Sunday be a day of worship and rest, and had tithes collected as taxes. Charlemagne
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appointed a man named Theodulf to be bishop of Orleans, who began establishing a school at each church
available to all.
The Arab conquests to the east had blocked much of the commerce from Europe, so land became a prime
source of wealth. This promoted the feudal system of buying services by granting land. Since the church had
vast holdings of land, who had the authority to fill positions of church leadership became significant.
One of the theological controversies of the Carolingian (Charlemagne) dynasty period was the presence of
Christ in communion. A movement began which stated that when the bread and wine were consecrated for
communion, they became the body and blood of Christ, although not able to be perceived as such. This was
the forerunner of the doctrine of transubstantiation which was proclaimed in 1215.
The revival of learning promised by the Charlemagne dynasty was cut short by divisions within
Charlemagne’s successors as well as new invasions which brought more chaos to the Western church. During
the eighth century as the power of Carolingians waned, the Scandinavians began to loot castles, monasteries
and churches. The Norsemen began to conquer some areas and settle there. One such area was northern France
which became Normandy. By the eleventh century King Canute of the Danes was master of all England.
Eventually the northern invaders became Christian.
The Magyars from the east invaded and settled the area known as Hungary (stemming from the fact that they
were descendants of the Huns.) Missionaries from both the Byzantine Empire and Germany went into
Hungary. When King Steven was baptized, he forced the conversion of all his subjects.
The struggle between the church authorities and the civil authorities intensified. When a pope was displaced
warring factions moved to have their man chosen to replace him. The peaceful process of choosing a church
leader became violent and scheming. Pope John VIII was murdered. A rapid succession of popes ensued.
Some were strangled on died of starvation in dungeons. At times there were two or even three popes, each
advanced by a different faction.
The papacy hit a low point in the tenth century. In 904 Sergius III had his two rivals imprisoned and killed.
After his death, his former lover and her husband captured the papal palace and killed the new pope, ultimately
placing the son of Sergius on the papal throne as John XI. After his death the grandson of Sergius became
Pope (John XII), and then a nephew of Sergius’ lover became John XIII. In this chaotic state, Emperor Otto
III named the next pope, his own twenty three year old nephew, Gregory V. In 1033 Benedictine IX was
named pope at fifteen years of age. With three popes in place in 1046, King Henry III of Germany intervened.
He called a church council which deposed all three popes and named Clement II the successor. That council
also enacted decrees against corrupt ecclesiastical practice, including simony – the practice of buying and
selling church positions.
In 1094 Henry III, at the death of Pope Clement II, offered the papacy to Bruno, bishop of Toul, known for his
reforming zeal. Bruno would only take the post if the people and the clergy elected him. He walked barefoot
to Rome, entering as a pilgrim. Acclaimed by both the people and the clergy, he became Pope Leo IX. Two
reforms which the new pope initiated were clerical celibacy and preventing simony (buying and selling church
positions.) To solidify a proper procedure for selecting popes, reformers under the leadership of Pope
Nicholas II (1058-1061) called the Second Lateran Council, named after the palace in Rome where the council
took place. It was determined that popes would be elected from that time on by the cardinals of the church.
The effort to reform continued, but by attacking clerical marriage and simony, the popes gained powerful
enemies. This led to continuing conflicts between the emperors and the popes for the balance of the Middle
Ages. When riots over clerical celibacy occurred in Milan, Emperor Henry IV (156-1106) deposed the local
bishop and appointed a replacement. The kings felt they should be able to select the bishops to keep their
kingdoms under control. Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) excommunicated the emperor and the emperor
retaliated by electing a new pope to replace Gregory. The feud between emperors and popes continued until
1122. Pope Calixtus II (1119-1124) was a kinsman of the emperor, Henry V (1106-1125), and they decided
that a longer term solution to the conflict was needed. After military campaigns and long negotiations, an
agreement was reached. In the Concordat of Worms (1122), it was determined that the church would elect its
leaders, and the civil authorities would retain feudal rights and privileges. Reform had eventually worked.
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