Religion, Superstition & Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe
|HIST208-13B (HAM) |
|Religion, Superstition & Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe |
Early Medieval Period:
Mid-5th – mid 9thC (c.450-850CE)
Augustine died in 430 as the Vandals were besieging his city of Hippo. Some 20 years before, Rome had fallen. In the West the ancient empire was a thing of the past; in its place a variety of `barbarian kingdoms’, although for the most part considering themselves a part of the Roman Empire.
New circumstances called for re-appraisal of the church: its position and purposes. A pragmatic response to changed circumstances was called for. Theological speculation may be a past-time in the East: in the West attention turned to converting the pagan invaders. Thus we embark on period of little original development in (western) Christian thought: “Theology became a matter of compilation and commentary rather than of reflection and adventure” (Gonzalez). A period of consolidation had begun.
The major and most immediate influence out of the period of the evolution, or developmental formation, of Christian orthodoxy, was that of Augustine, although for the most part there was much of his theology that did not, in fact, find immediate favour and acceptance.
The Church Triumphant: The Primacy of Rome
The 4th & 5th centuries constituted the epoch of the emergence of the great Patriarchates: Rome, Alexandria & Antioch [all recognised at the Council of Nicea (325)]; Constantinople [recognised at the Council of Constantinople in 381] and Jerusalem [recognised at Chalcedon (451)]. However, all through the patristic era Rome's prestige & pre-eminence was undisputed.
After Constantinople (381) the predicates ‘one’, ‘holy', ‘catholic’ and ‘apostolic’ came to be regularly applied to the idea of ‘Church’.
The Roman Church had become
|Religion, Superstition & Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe |
Early Medieval Period:
Mid-5th – mid 9thC (c.450-850CE)
Augustine died in 430 as the Vandals were besieging his city of Hippo. Some 20 years before, Rome had fallen. In the West the ancient empire was a thing of the past; in its place a variety of `barbarian kingdoms’, although for the most part considering themselves a part of the Roman Empire.
New circumstances called for re-appraisal of the church: its position and purposes. A pragmatic response to changed circumstances was called for. Theological speculation may be a past-time in the East: in the West attention turned to converting the pagan invaders. Thus we embark on period of little original development in (western) Christian thought: “Theology became a matter of compilation and commentary rather than of reflection and adventure” (Gonzalez). A period of consolidation had begun.
The major and most immediate influence out of the period of the evolution, or developmental formation, of Christian orthodoxy, was that of Augustine, although for the most part there was much of his theology that did not, in fact, find immediate favour and acceptance.
The Church Triumphant: The Primacy of Rome
The 4th & 5th centuries constituted the epoch of the emergence of the great Patriarchates: Rome, Alexandria & Antioch [all recognised at the Council of Nicea (325)]; Constantinople [recognised at the Council of Constantinople in 381] and Jerusalem [recognised at Chalcedon (451)]. However, all through the patristic era Rome's prestige & pre-eminence was undisputed.
After Constantinople (381) the predicates ‘one’, ‘holy', ‘catholic’ and ‘apostolic’ came to be regularly applied to the idea of ‘Church’.
The Roman Church had become