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Growing in a Crumbling Era Spreading the Faith, Bringing Order to Chaos. In-class read left column of page 103 In-class read timeline on right column of page 103 In the Western Empire, the Church was strong and the state weak In the Eastern Empire, the Church was weaker
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Growing in a Crumbling EraSpreading the Faith, Bringing Order to Chaos In-class read left column of page 103 In-class read timeline on right column of page 103 In the Western Empire, the Church was strong and the state weak In the Eastern Empire, the Church was weaker but the state was stronger
The Eastern rulers were so strong that in effect they dominated the church • Many of these Eastern Emperors were Arians (who denied the divinity of Jesus) and they appointed Arian bishops • Barbarians in the East who converted to Christianity usually converted to Arianism • As the barbarians moved West to conquer the Western Empire their took Arianism with them
After the fall of the Western Empire due to barbarians from the East, the West was ruled by a series of barbarian chieftains in the name of the Eastern Empire. • The empire in the East is now known as the Byzantine Empire • The name came from the original name of Constantinople, which was Byzantium • Read together in-class the bottom paragraph on page 106 up to the top paragraph on page 107
The Rise of a New Key Figure: Clovis • A group on non-Christian barbarians arose in the West named the Franks • Their leader was named Clovis • This group of Franks was more acceptable to Christians as the hostility between Arians and Christians had risen to new highs • Clovis converted to Christianity as he conquered the Arian West and began the decline of Arianism
Switch to video “The Dark Ages – Part 3” in re Clovis
In-class read together “Arianism on the Wane, Christendom on the rise” on bottom of left column of page 108 and continuing on the top of the right column of the same page • “Justinian: The Last Strong Emperor”: • Developed a civil code – read together pg 108 • This code was similar to that of Hammurabi many centuries earlier in that it gave rights to all members of society • Justinian continued and expanded the persecution of Jews: the “murderers” of Jesus
Switch to video “Dark Ages – The Plague of Justinian”
At that time Christians were forbidden to practice usury, lending money to fellow Christians at interests, just as Muslims are forbidden to practice usury today • To keep business functioning some form of banking with interest was needed and the Jews were forced to become money-lenders since they could not own land and were forbidden many other professions • Interestingly, it was the role of money-lender that stigmatized Jews as bad people in the centuries to come
For example, the Nazis blamed the Jews as money-lenders for their failure to win WWI • The “pogroms” which plagued Jewish communities throughout Eastern Europe and Russia, as well as during the Crusades, had their beginnings in Justinian’s code and the forcing of Jews into the profession of money-lending – money-lending was seen as “beneath” the dignity of Christians • In class, read together all the text on page 110
The dome is 180 ft. high. The uppermost dome, 108 ft. in diameter, has a series of 40 windows to catch the sunlight from practically every angle.
How the Irish Saved Civilization • You know about the evolution of monasteries and how they provided safe havens for scholarship even as barbarians ravaged Europe • St. Patrick was sent to convert the Celts to Christianity
St. Patrick introduced a new approach to spreading the faith: he established monasteries all over the island of Ireland • Because of the ravages of war on he continent of Europe, Irish Christianity became somewhat isolated and it developed a unique style • Irish monasteries became the roots for the spread of Christianity not only within Ireland but also eventually throughout all of Europe • St. Patrick was the initial driving force behind this movement
Because of its inaccessibility, Irish monasteries were generally immune from the destruction barbarians, even the Vikings, brought to monasteries on the continent and the British Isles • The oldest bible in the Vatican, indeed probably the oldest known bible in all of Christendom [shown below], was written/copied in a monastery on an island off the west coast of Ireland
Monasteries for Women • Brigid was a slave who eventually founded monasteries for women all over Ireland • Up to 13,000 women joined as celibate nuns • She also founded Kildare, a joint monastery for both men and women (pg 112-113 in textbook)
St. Benedict – The Father of Western Monasticism Go to video “Saint Benedict”
An Almost Lost Form of Music Go to “Sample Gregorian Chant”
Muhammad & the Rise of Islam Go to video “Islam Empire of Faith Part 1” Go to video “Islam Empire of Faith Part 2”
Chapter 6 – Conclusion & Implications Entanglement of church & state was heightened Monasteries set pattern for much of Christian creativity Church became the primary social safety net for the poor Gregorian Chant would develop into a major musical form Standards were set for training clergy Islam challenged the religious & political map of the known world
