Mediaeval Church History # 1
SPREAD
OF CHRISTENDOM
The Christianization
of the 'Barbarian' Tribes
A) Introduction: The Context and the New Challenge:
Long before the official date of the
barbaric occupation into the
However, few years after, their threatening presence could not anymore be controlled; so that by 410 AD, the Visigoths under Alaric were now ready to destroy not just any great city of the Empire, but Rome itself. One such event was the famous encounter between Pope Leo I and Attila, the leader of the Huns. In 452 AD, Leo I convinced the fearsome Attila to leave Rome and thus spared the city from any destruction. Nevertheless, that was not the end of all the advances. The Vandal king Geiseric and Totila the Ostrogoth followed suit. This time, there was little to be spared for the Roman people.
This situation went on until it finally broke the might of Emperor Romulus Augustus of the West-Roman Empire. He ended up his reign in 476 when Odoacer, a Sciri prince replaced him on the throne. With that historic event, Rome was now under the rule of the Germans.
During this time, we can paint a picture of history wherein marauding tribes were invading a once powerful and culture society of people. There were the Vandals, the Lombards, the Goths, the Alemannis, the Burgundians, Gepids, the Rugians and many other tribes trying to have a piece of the Roman pie. No wonder, the elite Roman people called these tribes 'barbarians'. For they were not only illiterate and uncultured, they were also destroyers of their civilization.
Despite of these maligning descriptions, the Germanic tribes had already heard about Jesus Christ. Unfortunately though, it was the Christ of the Arian religion. A certain Arian adherer, Ulfilas, preached Arianism to the Germans way before 341 AD. Consequently, most of the known German tribes became Arians before the invasion. This fact posed a great threat to the Catholic Church in the West and in the East. Precisely because Theodoric the Great (493-526), king of the german tribe, was hostile to the Catholic population. In addition to it, he wanted to unite all Arians barbarians and overthrow the Catholic Greek and Romans and found an Arian Germanic Empire.
With this political context at the background, the Church must take action! How? Her one and only move is to accommodate these German tribes into the Church, which was not easy at all.
B) Content: The
Conquerors by force were conquered by persuasion
B.
1 - the Crucial Conversion of Clovis, king of the Franks:
The Catholics under the Visigoths suffered confiscation of churches and prohibition from assembly. Moreover, Theodoric the Great planned the total obliteration of the Catholics from the empire. Such was the action were Clovis, the ruler of Salian Franks, not enter the scene. He married a Catholic princess, Clotilda, who was instrumental to his conversion to the Catholic Faith in 496. He subjugated almost the whole of Gaul (France today) and foiled Theodoric's intention. He and his three thousand men were baptized. By 'subjugating' these German tribes in Gaul, he made the first amalgamation between Germanic tribes and the Christian - antique civilization, possible. How is this so? It was through the zealous missionary efforts of the monks who went through the towns of subjugated Alemmanis, Burgundians, Ostrogoths, and many other tribes.
Thus, we can say that Clovis' conversion was very crucial. He gave protection to the Church, while the bishops gave him the esteem as the new governor of the Imperium Romanum.
B.
2 - Missionary works of the monks:
With the people going away from the cities and stayed in the provinces at the turning of events, the main livelihood of the people was farming. While the Western Church thrived in cities, she had less influence on the rural people. What served as the reaching arms of the Church to these people were the missionary monks.
In Ireland - as
early as the first half of the 4th century, monastic movements were
already existing. From being a hermit, then to a cenobite with no contact to
the outside world, they took a new monastic development. They started going out
from their cloister for the purpose of preaching from the first half of the
fifth century onwards. The monks had there pioneering activities in one of the
earliest converted Celtic lands, the land of the Irish people. Christianity, as
many would comment, was brought by the missionaries of St. Martin of Tours,
then guided by deacon Palladius, sent by Pope
Celestine I in 431. Later, St. Patrick, a once Briton slave, became the bishop
of the Irish people until his death in 461.
St. Patrick became the patron of Ireland until today.
When
he died, Ireland was not only Christianized but also became an ecclesiastical
center (an organized church) producing saints and monastic founders like
Brendan, Comgall of Bangor, Columban
the Younger. Ireland produced many missionary monks who went around the
countryside preaching the Word of God and ministering to the people as priests.
Monks were under an abbot. Aboots were not bishops
but possessed a power equal to that of the bishops. These itinerant preachers
were called in history as the 'perigrinatio por Christo' (Holy Pilgrims for Christ).
The
best contribution of the Irish monks to the Church is their 'private
confession', e.g. confession of the private sins in private way, to the
monk-priest who served as the spiritual guide of the ordinary people. The
monks' ascetical practices shown in their rugged appearances won the hearts of
the many people and became opportunity for them to win souls for Christ.
In Great Britain - as the early as the time of the strong
Roman Empire, there were already Christians in the Britain. Unfortunately, at
the onslaught of the barbaric tribes, Britain was not spared. The Pics, the Angles, and the Saxons invaded the land and established
great cities like Sussex (South), Essex (East), Wessex
(West), Lincoln, Kent and Northumbria.
The
pope who took initiative in converting the pagans was Gregory the Great (590 -
604). He was coming from a noble Roman family, who converted his mansion into a
Benedictine monastery. His encounter with the youthful Angles sold as slaves in
the marketplace, pushed him to do something for these people. He sent
Augustine, together with other 40 Benedictine monks, to evangelize Britain.
Later, he became the first bishop and settled in Canterbury. Christianity was
immediately welcomed by the leaders of the tribes. Augustine baptized King Ethelbert of Kent and
10, 000 of his people. After he was baptized, other kingdoms such Wessex, Northumbria and later the
whole Anglo-Saxon people followed.
Similar
to the Irish, Britons who received the faith became themselves bearers of the
faith to other people. This time, it was personified by Winfrid
(d. 754), who was later called Boniface, and considered the 'Apostle of
Germany'. Boniface, together with his monks and nuns, he converted pagan
Germany and many other towns of Gaul for Christ and for the Church. He became
instrumental too, in reforming the Frankish Church and in linking the Franks
with Rome.
Gregory the Great had another success story with other tribes. In Spain, he maintained a close contact with Recared, the Visigothic King. He later embraced the Catholic faith after being an Arian. Gregory also paved the way for the eventual conversion of the Lombards by his diplomacy and his close friendship with Theodolinda, the Queen of the two successive Lombard rulers, Authari and Agilulf.
In the Scandinavian and Slavonic
Countries - while conversion of the
Angles, Lombards, Visigoths, Saxons and the Franks
happened in sixth and seventh centuries, the Slavonic and Scandinavian
countries followed in ninth, tenth and eleventh centuries. If Ireland had its
great apostle, Patrick, Augustine for England, and Boniface for Germany, the
Scandinavian countries (now Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland) had St. Ansgar. Again,the Scandinavian
kings were instrumental in the Christianization of these countries. The Danish
King Sven (d. 1014), the Norwegian king Olaf were the
famous rulers who accepted the Christian faith.
The
Slavonics countries(Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovac Poland, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia) too had their share of
great apostles: Cyril (d. 869) and Methodius (d. 885). They came from the Eastern Church at
the request of Ratislav, king of Moravia. They were
both famous for translating the Holy Scriptures into Slavic language and for
creating an individual Slavic liturgy.
In
Russia - Russia is founded as the Kievan state in
the ninth century by Viking traders. She started receiving missionaries fro
both East and West as early as ninth century. Under Vladimir, Christianity was
officially adopted. Russia's situation was different and exemplary. After
listening to both emissaries of the Pope and the Patriarch, he weighed the pros
and cons and finally decided to accept baptism in the Byzantine Church. Later,
she followed Constantinople into the schism from Rome in the next century.
C: CONCLUSION:
1) Clovis is the 'New Constantine' for the Church. As Theodoric the Great planned for the subjugation of the whole Catholics in the West and in the East, it was not materialized because of Clovis' conversion to the Catholic faith. Clovis' conversion was influenced by his Catholic wife Clotilda and his great victory over the Alemannis.
2) Christendom spread through the initiatives of the popes, initial acceptance of the kings, and the widespread missionary works of the monks. The Catholic Church owed so much from the zeal and holiness of Pope St. Gregory the Great in terms of converting the pagan tribes. Notwithstanding the popes' effort, the kings of the different tribes were also instrumental. Though their conversion to the faith was not really deeply motivated, the faith at least had found no political resistance. However, without the tireless efforts of the monks, these seeds of the Christian faith sown by the bishops and popes and accepted by the rulers would not grow and flower.
3) The 'barbarian invasion' is a blessing in disguise for the Catholic Church. At first glance, it was a disgrace for the old system had crumbled down. However, it gave the Church opportunities to go out from the frontiers of the Roman Empire and reach out to those who have not yet heard of Christ. The barbarians had invaded the bulwark of the Church (old Roman empire) and the Church went through the wall of their ignorance. The conquerors by the sword were conquered by the cross.
D: Guides for
Reflections:
1) For the Catholic Church, the onslaught of the barbarians did not become a loss, but a gain. Specify a certain loss in your life (it could be trials and problems) and find out how would you turn this as an opportunity for growth.
2) The Christian faith of the Irish, of the Britons, and of the Germans was always received from people who wished to share their faith. Recall those people who were instrumental in the growth of your Christian faith. Are you grateful to them for that privilege? If not, is it because you do not appreciate their gift and thus it does not matter to you whether you have faith or not?
3) To be a leader means to give your people the best you can. Recall the time when you lead a group (no matter how small or big it is). What is that thing which you think best for them? Why?
4) What do you mean by this saying: "God writes a straight line in a crooked way"?
E: Sources
Bokenkotter, Thomas. A Concise History of the Catholic Church. New York: Doubleday Image Books, 1990.
Franzen, August and John P. Dolan. A History of the Church, trans. Peter Becker. Montreal: Palm Publisher, 1965
Notes on the Mediaeval Church History (unpublished). Don Bosco Center of Studies, 2001.