Dark Ages Midterm IDS

Crisis of the Third Century

DEFINITION: A period of political instability in the Roman Empire between 235 and 284 CE. It was marked by political fragmentation into rival zones (Gallic, Palmyrene, Core empire), military anarchy, external threats (barbarians and Persians), economic collapse, and the Cyprian plague

SIGNIFICANCE: Led to centralized autocracy of military and political fusion, normalized invasions that allowed for non-Roman rule to exist within borders, led to rise of Christianization that provided moral support in a time of political stability, plague led to economic problems with loss of market-base

Barracks Emperors

DEFINITION: Roman military leaders that typically seized power through force and troop proclamations over legal/dynastic succession. B/t 235 and 284 CE, over 26 emperors ruled in rapid succession, relying on army loyalty over institutional legitimacy as well as violent and brutal rule.

SIGNIFICANCE: Normalized regional autonomy and charismatic military leadership over centralized authority would pave way for Gothic tribes, eroded civic institutions including the senate and Augustan law (little law and order), led to rise of bishops and holy man as a source of stability

Dioclentian 

DEFINITION: Career soldier considered one of the barrack emperors that rule during Third Century crisis b/t 284 to 205 CE. Believed strong centralized authority was necessary and introduced the Tetrarchy, reoganized provinces into smaller units,  introduced the Price Edict, and introduced Great Persecution of Christianity because he saw it as a threat to imperial authority.

SIGNIFICANCE: Promoted hierarchial model of governance that helped w/ succession issues but promoted meritocracy, decline of civic autonomy with imperial rule of bishops promoted ruralization (bishops creating councils, little attention to infrastructure. SHIFT TO PRACTICALITY IN ART)

Tetrarchy

DEFINITION: System of government introduced by Dioclentian that enforced rule of four (two seniors Augusti’s and two junior Ceasars). Each tetrarch ruled over a distinct geographic region.

SIGNIFICANCE: System stopped succession and usurpation by promoting a system of systematic decentralization, switch from principate (senatorial legitimacy) to dominate (divine legitimacy), each tetrarch was a military and admnstrative power (fusion), set stage for imperial church due to religious legitimacy through tetrarchs desire for divinity/religious centralization to restore order

Debasement of currency

DEFINITION: Caused by reduction in precious metal content in coins due to need. to meet military needs (meet soldier loyalty). Economic symptom of imperial instability during the 3rd-century crisis.

SIGNIFICANCE: Barter in-kind payments replaced monetary economy (ruralization contribution), land and labor became primary sources of wealth (agricultural production/production = later feudal lords), monasteries and churches became economic centers

Maximum, Philip the Arab, Decius, Valerian

DEFINITION: 4 Barracks emperors that rose through military ranks over dynastic succession

SIGNIFICANCE: Religious and cultural shifts (Philips Christianity and Decius’s persecution) were highlighted by differing treatements of Christianity, erosion of Roman military supremacy with rulers ultimate mortality

Aurelian Reforms

DEFINITION: Last ditch effort for pragmatic (not visionary reforms) to stabilize empire from 270-275 CE including military reconquest of Gallic/Palmyrene Empire, Aurelian walls built around Rome, attempt at new coinage, cult of Sol Invictus increased to unify imperial religion

SIGNIFICANCE: Concentratrion of power/military rule set stage for Tetrarchy/Dominate system, Aurelian Walls ended Rome expansion, fusion of rleigiona nd rulership set stage for imperial church

Dioclentian’s Price Edict and Overall Legacy

DEFINITION: Price Edict of 301 CE was ultimately unsuccessful but created fixed maximum prices , wage ceilings, and harsh penalties for violating these ceilings

SIGNIFICANCE: Ultimately showed a disconnect between imperial ambition and local enforcement

Gallic and Palymyrene Empire

DEFINITION: Breakaway states created during 3rd Century Crisis in 260 CE. Gallic Empire created by Postumus that aimed to protect roman provinces from Germanic invasions while Palmyrene Empire created by Palmyra led by Queen Zenobia that aimed for eastward expansion. Both reconquests under Aurelian. 

SIGNIFICANCE: Normalized idea that would hold true during Gothic invasions of military leaders ruling military regions, revealed limits of Roman centralization (regional secession), fusion of Roman, Persian, and Arab traditions in Palmyrene Empire

New Mood

DEFINITION: Cultural and ideological shift during Third Century of shift to authoritarianism, spiritual introspection, and cosmic justification of power

SIGNIFICANCE: Reflected desire to restore order through divine hierarchy not civic consensus, emperors became semi-divine individuals (Tetrarchy institutionalized this idea), pagan cults restructured to serve imperial unity (solar monotheistic symbols) and gave way to Christianity as a way towards moral salvation, as well as Christianity gifting imperial power

Rise of Christianity > Paganism

DEFINITION: Christianity’s evolution to the dominant religious sector as opposed to Greco-Roman paganism from the 1st century CE to 5th century CE. Gradually achieved through Edict of Milan, Council of Nicea, Edict of Thessalonica, and rooting out of pagan practices.

SIGNIFICANCE: Christianity in 3rd century offered spiritual certainity, moral discipline, and community support, emperors would reform locan cults to be imperial religion (uplifting Christianity), Christianity emphasized doctine, universality, and inclusivity (counter to paganism), led to Church becoming political authority, conversions, and Gothic Christian kingship

Persecution of Christianity

DEFINITION: Periodical targeting of Christians for atheism (rejection to pagan gods), subversion (refusing civic rituals), and social disruption (forming exclusive communities). Attacked by Decius through mandating public sacrifice, Valerian targeted clergy and confiscated Christian property, Diocletain launched Great Persecution

SIGNIFICANCE: Decius’s reforms led to martyrdom, persecution did not stop formation of organization showing power of church w/o imperial support

Martyrdom

DEFINITION: Voluntary suffering of death completed by Christians that did not want to renounce their faith 

SIGNIFICANCE: Symbol of imperial persecution of Christianity that went against imperial unity, helped form a Christian identity (became saints), gave church moral legitimacy, Martyr shrines became centers for pilgrimage, reinforced ecclesistical networks

Religious syncretism 

DEFINITION: The blending of different religious symbols, traditions, and practicesthat invovled merging local dieties with Roman gods, adapting Eastern cults into Roman religious life

SIGNIFICANCE: Allowed for imperial flexibility by promoting universal religion, gradual conversion of rural pagan populations, allowed the church to inherit pagan authority

Other religions

DEFINITION: Growth of Gnosticism (salvation through secret knowledge), Neoplatonism (Plotionius founded religion about ascension through reason and virture), Judaism (monothestic religion based in Hebrew bible), and Manichaeism (dualistic struggle between light and darkness

SIGNIFICANCE: Became marginalized systems in light of Christianity’s rise, showcased desire of certainty from religion, competed with Christianity, and promoted orthodoxy and heresy

Christian apologists

DEFINITION: Intellectual defenders of Christian faith who composed reasoned defense for the religion (apologia) that addressed Roman criticism, philosophical critiques, and internal heresies. Key figures included Tertullian that defended martyrdom and Origen that refuted pagan critiques

SIGINIFICANCE: Use of Greco-Roman philosophy to explain beliefs helped educated Roman intellectuals, Apolegetic literature helped define orthodoxy by ridding of misconceptions/ consolidate doctrine, helped legitimize the Church as guardian of truth and justice

Dioclentian’s Great Persecution

DEFINITION: State-sponsored campaign by Dioclentian attempting to eradicate Christianity and restore traditional roman religion involving destruction of churhces, confiscation of churches, imprisonment and execution, and mandatory sacrifice. This continued under Dioclentians successor Galerius

SIGNIFICANCE: Coordinated effort by Tetrarchs creflected new centralization, promoted martyrdom and organization despite lack of imperial authority, discredicted pagan imperial ideology because persecution did not suppress religion (emerged as moral counterweight to imperial power)

Overall Strengths & Weaknesses of Constantine’s Rule

DEFINITION: Ruled during aftermath of 3rd Century Crisis during “New Mood” (cosmic order, divine kingship, and moral reform) maintaining Dioclentians christianized state, Christianized the Empire (supported church/built structures), defeated rivals to become the sole emperor, established Constantinople as new imperial capital, portrayed himself as Gods chosen ruler BUT left paganism to create ambiguity, Constantine dynasty lacked cohesion, expanded power of aristocracy/bureaucracy which alienated local elites, reliance on taxation and ignoring of currency issue left economic instability, disrupted relations with Persia which hurt international relations

SIGNIFICANCE: Empowered church officials who increased the Church’s authority, Constantinople symbolized a shift towards Eastern power, support for Christianity left a legacy of religious orthodoxy

Battle of the Milvian Bridge

DEFINITION: Decisive military confrontation b/t Constantine and Maxentius for control of the Western Roman Empire. Constantine apparently had encountered with Chi-Rho symbol and ordered troops to paint the symbol on shields. Constantine then entered Rome as victor after Maxentius drowned

SIGNIFICANCE: Showcased broader struggle b/t Tetrarchs but marked Constantine as “sole ruler of the West”, invocation of Christian symbol marked public alignment w/ Christianity and move towards legalization, symbol became universal Christian emblem used victory to reframe rule as divinely sanctioned

Edict of Milan

DEFIITION: Political and religious proclamation that legalized Christianity, restored confiscated Church property, affirmed freedom of worship for all religions, promoted religious pluralism for imperial unity. This was a join agree b/t Constaintine (West) and Licinius (East) leaders issues after Constaine’s victory at Milvian and Dioclentian’s Great Persecution

SIGNIFICANCE: Reflected Constantine’s use of Christian symbols/alliances to consolidate power, gain support with tolerance, created a church-state partnership, legitimized idea of rulers governing w/ divine sanction > civic authority, institutional empowerment of Church to build structures and have a civic religion, 

Council of Nicea

DEFINITION: Gathering of over 300 bishops to resolve theological disputes and unify Christian doctrine that included condeming Arianism (denied full divinity of Christ), formulation Nicene Creed affirming Jesus as true God from true God, precedent for imperial involvement in Church doctrine, and and agreement on date of Easter, promoting liturgical unity

SIGNIFICANCE: Nicene Creed became core statement of faith for medevial Christianity that began to increase heresy, Constaine’s role became model of Christian kingship, consolidated authority of bishops and patriarchs

Constantinople as New Rome

DEFINITION: A alr est. Greek city built on site of Byzantium and inagurated by Contatine as the imperial capital of the Eastern RE. It was considered the “new Rome” because it preserve Roman imperial authority while distancing Constantine from instabiillity of old capital, it was invisioned as a Christian city , and it was located to tax/control key trade routes and military frontiers near Black sea(was along Bosporous strait)

SIGNIFICANCE: Modeled how cities could be organized around Christian worship because Constantine decorated it with basilicas, relics, and episcopal authority, was located in the wealthy east

Imperial Patronage of Christianity

DEFINITION: Active support, protection, and promotion of the CC by Roman emperors that began with Constantine I through Theodosian dynasty. It legalized and protected christianity through legisation, funded church construction, elevated bishops to executive roles, convened councils to define orthodoxy, and used Christian symbols to legitimize their rule

SIGNIFICANCE: Christianity offered a universal, disciplined, and hierarchial belief system that could reinforce imperial authority, the Church inherited imperial functions over law, education, welfare, and diplomacy, allowed ecclesiastical infrastructure to become the site of liturgical life, relic venetation, and theological debate, also allowed emperors to define orthodoxy with councils and edicts

Religious freedom

DEFINITION: Imperial policies that permitted leglal right to worship without persecution typically as a tool of political control. This included the Edict of Milan in 313, the Edict of Thessalonica (Nicene Christianity became official religion w/ pluralism revoked) 

SIGNIFICANCE: Religious freedom enabled Christians to build institutions, reinforced social hierarchy/political loyalty w/ orthodoxy vs. heresy

Constantius II

DEFINITION: ½ Constantine’s sons who inherited empire. He was a devout Christian but aligned with Arianism, known for autocratic style and suppression of dissent, and maintained imperial unity through military campaigns and bureaucratic control

SIGNIFICANCE: Would emerge as sole ruling following father’s death, faced doctrinal divisions b/t Nicene and Arian Christianity (held councils exemplifyibg imperial enforcement of religious doctrine), 

Julian the Apostate

DEFINITION: Nephew of Constatine that became emperor who converted to Neoplatonism and Hellenism (ostentatiously pagan), attempted to revive pagan cults and culture after seeing Church as politically intrusive and culturally corrosive

SIGNIFICANCE: Death and failure to reinstate paganism showed how Christianity had become the dominant religion force due to Bible being readily available and Christianity as an inclusive religion

Arian Controversy

DEFINITION: A theological dispute intitated by Arius, priest from Alexandria who taught that Jesus was a create being subordinate to God the Father. Nicene Orthodoxy saw Christ as begotten and same as the Father. This led to major debates with the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE, Arianism under emperors, and the Council of Constantinople in 381 CE reaffirming Nicene orthodoxy

SIGNIFICANCE: Emphasized how doctrinal unity relied on imperial stability and statecraft, showed how Arianism typically appealed to Eastern non Roman traditions that deepened regional tensions, forced church to define core doctrine like Trinity and Christology, and shaped medieval views on heresy, athority, and divine order

Imperial Church-state relations & Christianization of the court

DEFINITION: Emperors had an evolving partnership and power dynamics with bishops to patronize/regulate/enforce Christian doctrine as bishops gained authority, Church became state-support institution. Christinization allowed court to adopt Christian symbols, rituals, and personnel with emperors portraying God’s chosen rulers, bishops became de facto governors, suppressors of dissent by defining orthodoxy 

Persian Problem

DEFINITION: Long-standing conflict between the Christian/Roman Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire centered on territorial disputes, religious competition, and imperial legitimacy

SIGNIFICANCE: Reinforced Byzantine emperor’s role as defender of the fith, influenced spread of Christianity in East

Anthony the Great 

DEFINITION: Christian eremitic (hermit) monk who withdrew into Egyptian desert to live solitary life. He practiced radical asceticism, became a spiritual father to later hermits and monks, and opposed arianism

SIGNIFICANCE: Presented new counter-culture idea. of retreat from wordly power and ecclesiastical politics, isnpired formation of cenobitic monastic communities, became archetype of the holy man,

Cenobitic monasticism & Pachomius

DEFINITION: Communal monastic living under shared rule that was founfded by Pachomius. These structured communities were selfr-sufficient and produced food, goods, and manuscripts. 

SIGNIFICANCE: Offered structural alternative to solitary hermits that set moderate rules (abstention to fivolous living), became centers of charity, refuge, and manual labor, also reinforced Nicene orthodoxy and were closely tied to episcopal networks

Basil of Caesarea

DEFINITION: Bishop of Caesarea who defended Nicene orthodoxy, architect of communal monasticism in East, and advocated for Christian philanthropy. 

SIGNIFICANCE: Defense of Nicene orthodoxy, communal monastic rule, and integration of charity into ecclesiastical life shaped imperial function with Church as well as monasticism’s guidance

Ambrose of Milan

DEFINITION: A roman aristocrat turned Christian leader by being appointed as bishop. He defended Nicene orthodoxy and had the opportunity to directly influence emperors like his excommunication of Theodosius

SIGNIFICANCE: Confrontation with imperial power showed how church had extended moral authority beyond private interest

Simeon the Stylite

DEFINITION: Radical Christian ascetic that became infamous by livng atop a pillar in Syrian desert for nearly 4 decades that attracted crowds of pilgrims, bishops, and imperial envoys

SIGNIFICANCE: Dramaticized tension between wordly power and spiritual transcendence, showed rise of holy men that gained social/political influence through spiritual charisma, stylitism inspired imitators, operated outside of episcopal structures showing spiritual authority of monastic independence, served as spiritual mediator that advised emperors/bishops on Nicene orthodoxy

Ascetic authority and differences b/t Western states

DEFINITION: Spiritual, moral, and even political influence exercised by Christian ascetics granted by extreme self-discipline, poverty, celibacy, and prayer that made them be viewed as living martyrs. They came in the form of hermits/stylites, monastic founders, and holy women that led convents

SIGNIFICANCE: Collapse of Roman civic structure allowed ascetics to fill in to mediate disputes, heal the sick, and advise rulers (MORAL ARBITERS), differed in structure across western states (rule based in papl structures, monasterial, wandering ascetics, etc.), laid groundwork for monasteries, gave leverage in doctrinal disputes/social reform

Holy Man

DEFINITION: A Christian ascetic/spiritual figure that renounced wordly life and saw that their closeness to God gave them extraordinary authority. They typically lived in isolation, attracted attention, performed miracles/healings/exorcisms, mediated conflicts. They were caused by the counter-culture of post-Constantine Christinization that desired non-wordly compromise

SIGNIFICANCE: They became spiritual judges that often undermined the power of bishops/kings, inspired rise of monasteries as center, they served as an arbitrary figure 

Nestorious of Constantionople & Cyril of Alexandria

DEFINITION: Class between Patriarch Nestorious that advocated for distinctness of Christ’s human and divine nature while Cyril believed Christ was one person with both united divine and human natures

SIGNIFICANCE: Led to the formation of imperial orthodoxy of Christology that confirmed Cyril’s beliefs, formed imperial enforcement of doctrine and councils as tools of political theology 

State funding of churches & Christian architecture

DEFINITION: Allocation of imperial/royal resources (labor, labor taxes, treature) to construction cathedrals, shrines, monasteriesk, episcopal complexes, mosaics that was supported by emperors, local governors and aristocrats, and converted kings/tribal leaders

SIGNIFICANCE: Churches funded by Constantine and others set precedent for imperial patronage, empperore’s used architecture to visualize divine order and portray themselves as God’s chosen rulers, spaces were reoriented around Christian sacred spaces which redefined public ritual and communal identity (INSTITUTIONALIZATION), monasteries became centers, and architecture helped anchor Christianity in diverse landscapes

Valentian I

DEFINITION: Emperor of Western RE during from 364 to 375 CE. He was a Nicene Orthodox Christian but did not aggressively enforce orthodoxy, allowed pluralism, and refused to persecute pagans. He emphasized separation of church and imperial authority 

SIGNIFICANCE: Tension b/t E & W during ruling because Valens supported Arianism and was more doctrinally aggressive, set the stage for later church-state confrontations due to attempted seperation, helped institutionalize Christianity without enforcing uniformity which support groundwork for episcopal autonomy and monastic expansion in West

East v. West Episcopal Authority

DEFINITION: Power and influence and bishops within Christian Chruchs like overseeing doctrine/othodoxy, sacraments, philanthropy, and relations with rulers. In the East, bishops were part of. hierarchical system that was centralized and appointed by emperors while in the West bishops were more moral leaders and administrators, especially following Roman collapse. Eastern bishops were typically more involved with Christiological debates while Western bishops focused on pastoral care and moral reform. Lastly, in the West bishops often founded or governed monasteries while in the East monasticism was more independent/charismatic (like w/ Simeon)

SIGNIFICANCE: Western bishops preserved Roman functions after crumble, Eastern bishops helped to define orthodoxy, and Western bishops would help to later legitimize new Christian kings 

Peter Brown and the Late Roman West

DEFINITION: Rejects decline and fall thesis and sees Late Roman West as “golden age of transformation” and sees class as being redefined through religious capital

ARGUMENTS:

1. Fluidity of class as new elites gain status through capital > imperial office

2. Barbarian invasions were seen as gradual integration where Germanic elites adopted Roman-Christian norms (catalyzed cultural fusion)

3. Ascetics became social brokers outside formal institutions

4. Roman aristocrats converted to preserve status

5. Brown argues that Late Antiquity was a creative period where Christianity was reimagined under a new identity

6. Patronage shifted from civic to ecclesiastical spaces

7. Bishops, monks, and holy men gained influence that rivaled/surpassed political power

Ward-Perkins and the Post-Roman West

DEFINITION: Argues for the discontinuity thesis that emphasizes the discontinuity thesis with violent, material, and economic collapse

ARGUMENTS:

1. Economic collapse with sharp decline in trade, taxation, and monetary circulation with substinence economies replacing long=distance, institutionalized roman economic complexity

2. Loss of urban life due to economic collapse that led building and populations to be abandoned and declined leading to rural fragmentation and isolation

3. Decline of craftsmanship as post-Roman creations became cruder and localized with less specialization (ex. roof tiles and pottery shards deteriorated with fewer ingravings)

4. Violent transition with invasions, massacres, and forced migrations where fall of Rome marked by military defeat, political fragmentation, and widespread suffering

5. Breakdown of Roman infrastructure as evidence of systematic collapse where artifacts became rare, irregular, and poorly made

6. Invasions were a “catastrophe” that displaced populations and collapsed centralized governance

7. Perkins acknowledges accommodation but insists it was limited and uneven - subordination not partnership with Church surviving but adapting to barbarian rule and ruralization

Early Germanic Society

DEFINITION: Used tribal organization to bolster community loyalty that gave fidelity to a leader over a state, prestige came from military success, law was customary and oral, justice base on wergild (man-price) and oath/fued system, most were semi-nomadic agriculturalists with cities being Roman ruins or administrative centers, initially polytheistic 

SIGNIFICANCE: blend of Roman administration with Germanic leadership characterized post-Roman kingdoms, germanic law codes fused Roman principles and customary law, society contributed to ruralization of Europe, Germanic oral traditions shaped medevial identity and literarature

Theoderic the Great

DEFINITION: King of the Ostrogoths from 454 - 526 CE that established a Gothic kingdom centered in Ravenna and preserved Roman institutions. Styled himself as king of the Romans and Goths maintaining Roman law, administration, and infrastructure by preserving Senate, respecting Roman elites, and ruling Goths under their own laws. HAD MOUSTACHE.

SIGNIFICANCE: Showed Germanic kings could govern within Roman frameworks but also had a moustache that signaled barbarian masculinity and Germanic warrior culture and martial prowess as opposed to clean-shaven Roman visual culture showing dual heritage (Roman in governance, Gothic in heritage)

Assimilation w/ Germanic Tribes

DEFINITION: Mutual adaptation with Germanictribes adopted Roman law, Christianity, and administrative practices, while Roman society absorbed Germanic leadership, kinship structures, and warrier culture

SIGNIFICANCE: Produced post-Roman polities fusing Roman & Germanic traditions like Ostrogothic Italy under Theoderic and Frankish Gaul under Clovis

Ireland’s relationship with barbarian world

DEFINITION: Ireland remained ouside Roman Empire but still developed a sophisticated Christian culture. It was never conquered by Rome and did not have any Roman infrastructure. It relied on peaceful elite-led christianization w/ missionaries through a Latin culture with no mass invasions

SIGNIFICANCE: impact of missionaries led to re-christinization with non-imperial decentralized Christianity

Clovis King of the Franks

DEFINITION: Leader of the Franks when thet were on the rise who converted to Nicene Christianity after being forced to covert at the Battle of Tolbiac after he vow to convert if he won the war

SIGNIFICANCE: Clovis’s conversion showed how royal authority could drive religious changethrouhg Top-down conversion, how Christian women like Clotilde (Clovis’s wife) who acted as intercessors to pushing conversion, conversion’s drama gave him legitimacy to unify his realm, gain allies, and sanctify conquest

Edwin of Northumbria

DEFINITION: King of Northumbria, a powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom from 613 to 633 CE that also converted to Christianity in 627 CE. He did not convert immediately and required consultation from royal advisors and pagan priests. He also had a prophetic dream about being promised future kingship and divine protection that linked Edwin’s political destiny to Christian truth. The sparrow analogy also showed how Christianity was viewed as an answer to life’s mysteries.

SIGNIFICANCE: Showed how religious decisions were made in council showing kingship over imperial singularity, dream served as legitimation of kingship, sparrow incident shows how Christianity adddressed existential anxieties showing how edwins conversion was thoughtful, EDWIN WAS MADE A SAINT

Monastic expansion (germanic tribes)

DEFINITION: Monasteries replaced civic churches as centers of worship and administration to legitimize rule of Germanic kings

SIGNIFICANCE: Rules were central to monastic structure that was focused on cenobitic communities due to need to address climate/food issues

Benedictine Monasticism

DEFINITION: Benedict of Nuursia was a Roman noble that withdrew to live as a hermit and eventually founded monastery of Monte Cassino where he composed Rule of St. Benedict that prioritized prayer and work, obedience to the abbot, discipline, manual labor, etc. 

SIGNIFICNCE: Much more Romanized because it drew from Roman ideals c(Latin legal code, built near former Roman cities, used Roman ideals of hierarchy etc._than other communities that allowed for it to become to dominant monastic code

Gregory I

DEFINITION: Pope Gregory the Great was a monk that ascended to papacy that became the first important Bishope of Rome. He cared about converting Christians and people leading a Christian life, rooted in Benedictine monasticism. He also used a missionary strategy with sending Augustine of Canterbury to convert Ango-Saxons 

SIGNIFICANCE: Shows how he cared more about handling Roman intolerance through social pressure than violence, used top-down conversion of elite-baptism and monastic foundation to spread Christianity in tribal societies

Missionary activity and Patrick in Ireland

DEFINITION: Christians traveled to convert through freelance travels that focused on preaching. Typically done by monks. Patrick was an Roman Briton captured by Irish raiders and enslaved there and, afterwards, returned to Ireland as a missionary bishop

SIGNIFICANCE: Patrick showed how unsantionced/personal approachindividuals had an impact although there was intital resistance to Christianity because there were no invaders in Ireland/first experience w/ major religious change, and no top-down conversion had happened, motivated later missionaries MADE IT MORE IDFF TO EST. RULES BC ALL MISSIONARY’S WERE DIFFERENNT

Religious syncretism and paganism

DEFINITION: Germanic religions were originally polytheistic, local, and transmitted through oral tradition. Syncretism allowed for the blending of these elemnts with Christian elements through reframing of pagan symbols

SIGNIFICANCE: Showed that paganism was truly present and kings needed to convert first to have any hope at converting public, after top-down conversion religious minorities were not as respected because the king expected all-round conversion

Eastern v. Western religion in Post-Roman West

DEFINITION: Fragmrntation in West led to Christian conversion through missionaries, bishops, and tribal kings (personal monasticism) while East maintained centralized imperial Church tied to emperor/bureaucracy

SIGNIFICANCE: East preserved imperialism with emperor divinity that contradicted Western monasticism and kingship leading to tensions and divergence

Eastern Superiority

DEFINITION: Natural defenses with water on three sides and foritified walls allowed for control of trade and military security, proximity to wealthier provines less exposed to invasion with denser populations like Egpyt and Syria, eastern cities remained vibrant centers of commerce and maintained coinage/long distance trade, as well as imperial continity and church-state integration, also continued classical philosophy/education

SIGNIFICANCE: Did not fall to fragmentation, evolved under imperial authority, maintained classical texts

Contrasting N. vs. S. regions of post-Roman areas

DEFINITION: Northern regions like Britain were less urbanized w/ rapid decline, heavy invasion, ealry fragmentation, some but little assimilation, missionaries and monasticism Christianization, and hybrid cultures which Southern regions like Italy typically had more structure with later and more gradual invasions, retention of imperial order and Christinaity

SIGNFICANCE: Showed how Roman assimilation allowed for the creation of structure (ex. Clovis adoption of Nicene Christianity under Frnaks)