Medieval Chroniclers

HIST 5216 Reflections

From reading the assigned works for this week, I noticed two predominant but contrasting themes running along the literature. Half of the readings viewed the church in a positive light, seeing the church and Christianity as a saviour, while the other readings took the role in more of a judgemental way, showcasing how authoritarian, repressive, and problematic the church could be.

Looking at how the church is looked at favourably, the 5th Overview and the Book of Revelations see society as corrupt, in total disarray, with religion as its saviour. With the 5th century overview, the Roman Empire has been severely weakened and the provinces have come to be ruled by “barbarians”, non-Romans who led a heavy militarized band of followers. This is especially true of the Western dynasty, following the schism into two separate dynasties- East and West. The resulting succession of various barbarians and warlords destroyed the Western kingdom as whole regions would be ruthlessly looted, and cities would be taken and ravished by brute force. However, it seemed as though Christianity was the only restraint on their actions, and the saviour of the people, as seen in the tale of the wealth hungry barbarian Goar being turned back from his pillaging ways by the bishop Germanus of Auxerre. The 5th Century, which had been destructive in many ways, also saw the immense growth of Christianity throughout the country. Churches developed rapidly in both the East and West, and paganism became almost extinct. For many Romans, adhering to Christian principles was seen as a way of achieving group solidarity in a country that had become so decisive. The bishops of the church could also diffuse states of emergency through pleas, and higher positions, prestige and power could be found through the church. So in more than one way, Christianity was seen as a saviour for people through protection, group unity, and ways to prestige and positions of power.

In the 5th Century, Leo the Bishop of Rome, saw the devil as raging fiercer against humankind, and foresaw an eventual showdown. That view, is the basis of the Book of Revelations, and like the 5th Century Overview, sees the world as immoral, and in need of Christian saviour. The world is rampant with sexual immorality, as seen with Jezebel, and humanity is guilty of worshipping false idols, murdering, stealing and conducting sorceries. As Leo stated, the world was moving away from God and into the Devils arms, so the Book of Revelations tells of the inevitable battle and possible apocalypse. Three Plagues struck the world, which killed one-third of mankind, seven thousand more plundered in a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. This was the sign of the apocalypse that was predicted in 11:7, where it states the beast will come out and kill the people. Only the good Christians were seen as being able to expel the beast and send him back to Hell. Michael and his angels were able to expel the Devil from the sky and onto the earth, and only the one hundred forty-four thousand people who restrained from sin and vice were able to learn the song sung before the throne. Eventually the heavens opened and the Word of God, the holiest of holy, spewed the Devil into the lake of fire for a thousand years. Those who had relished in sin and vice would also be thrown into the lake of fire, until everyone had been freed from such deeds, and everyone lived in virtue.

The 6th Century Overview and The Middle Ages both gave a view of Christianity as being oppressive and problematic in my opinion. The 6th Century saw its population decline due to the bubonic plague, and the new rulers were less powerful than any of their predecessors, as they were unable to collect taxes, tributes and other beneficiaries. Christianity during the 6th Century was seen as a way for rulers to accumulate more wealth, acceptance and power for personal greed. The Frankish King Clovis accepted Christianity purely so he could be seen as more legitimate in the eyes of his subjects. But nowhere is this seen as evidently as it is with Justinian. Justinian sought to have an unchallenged authoritarian state, created the Code of Justinian and sought to have a uniform religion among his people. In order to have a uniform religion among his people, Justinian targeted and persecuted people of other religions. Pagans and Jews were oppressed due to their religious beliefs, and religious conflicts took place on a grand scale. His reign witnessed many times of troubles, and they all stemmed from religion. Due to his ethnic persecutions, farmers revolted, the King of Himyar closed Roman access to the Indian Ocean, and Justinian countered by having the Christian ruler in Ethiopia launch a crusade across the Red Sea. While religion was seen as a saviour in the 5th Century, it was seen greatly as a divider in the 6th. Justinian’s ruthless pursuit of Christianity can also be seen as a downfall for the Roman state, as his compromises with other religious ethnic groups satisfied nobody, and had him seen as selling out to heresy, and as a result, the church began to be isolated within the empire. Due to his Christian pursuits, Rome was sacked three times by the Persians and Goths, and added with the bubonic plague, Rome crumbled once again. The 1100 year old Roman Senate fell, and pre-Christian society disbanded, with bishops and priests emerging as the new leaders in society, and the bible as the unheralded Truth.

In R.W. Southern`s The Middle Ages the Christian Church is depicted as the authoritarian state, complete with laws, taxes, administration and power of life and death over Christians and other religious minorities. The church is at times depicted as an oppressive state as Popes had the right to launch wars against non-believers, and there was no liberalism for people to practise. Their lives were chosen for them, and they had to consent to the rule or be persecuted for non-conformity. With the crumbling of the Roman Empire, the political unity had disbanded and replaced by religious authority. Starting in the Primitive Age (700-1050), Western Europe was inferior to its Greek and Muslim neighbours, and Christianity survived only because Muslim conquering had reached its zenith, and its other enemies only cared for plundering and rooting. The Christian religion during this time through its rituals and symbols instilled the notions that men were completely powerless and could only find peace and prosperity through their complete adoption of the Christian religion. Individualism was completely shattered during this age, as the church controlled daily life. With the Age of Growth (1050-1300) capital, population, and Western control elevated the status of Western Europe, which had been severely weakened following the demise of the Roman Empire. With the Age of Growth, power and a hunger for more power took place in Western Europe with heightened military aggression, and divine belief began to take a backdoor to rational thought and intelligence

Jordan