Christianity in Gaul
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Gaul was an important early center of
Establishment of Christianity in Gaul
The first mention of Christianity in the context of Roman Gaul dates to AD 177 and the persecution in Lyon,[1] the religious center of Roman Gaul, where the Sanctuary of the Three Gauls was located.
The forty-eight martyrs of
and Ponticus.The sole account of the persecution is a letter preserved by
How or where Christianity first gained a foothold in Gaul is purely a matter of conjecture. The firm establishment of Christianity in Gaul was undoubtedly due to missionaries from
Eusebius speaks of letters written by the Churches of Gaul, of which Irenaeus is bishop.
Local legends
A series of local legends trace back the foundation of the principal
Such claims were flattering to local vanity. During the
Gregory of Tours
More faith can be placed in a statement of
Extent of Christian belief
By the middle of the 3rd century, as St. Cyprian bears witness, there were several churches organized in Gaul. They suffered little from the great persecution. Constantius Chlorus, the father of Constantine, was not hostile to Christianity, and soon after the cessation of persecution, the bishops of the Latin world assembled at Arles (314). Their signatures, which are still extant, prove that the following sees were then in existence:
- diocese of Vienne,
- diocese of Marseilles,
- diocese of Arles,
- diocese of Orange,
- diocese of Vaison,
- diocese of Apt,
- diocese of Nice,
- diocese of Lyon,
- diocese of Autun,
- diocese of Cologne,
- diocese of Trier,
- diocese of Reims,
- diocese of Rouen,
- diocese of Bordeaux,
- diocese of Gabali,[9] and
- diocese of Eauze.
Also:
- diocese of Toulouse,
- diocese of Narbonne,
- diocese of Clermont,
- diocese of Bourges, and
- diocese of Paris.
This date marks the beginning of a new era in the history of the Church of Gaul. The towns had been early won over to the new Faith; the work of evangelization was now extended and continued during the 4th and 5th centuries. The cultured classes, however, long remained faithful to the old traditions. Teacher and humanist Ausonius was a Christian, but gives so little evidence of it that the fact has been questioned. His pupil Paulinus entered the religious life, at which, however, the world of letters was deeply scandalized; so much so, indeed, that Paulinus had to write to Ausonius to justify himself. At the same period there were pagan rhetoricians who celebrated in the schools, as at Autun, the virtues and deeds of the Christian emperors. By the close of the 5th century, however, the majority of scholars in Gaul were Christians. Generation by generation the change came about. Salvianus, the fiery apologist (died c. 492), was the son of pagan parents. Hilary of Poitiers, Sulpicius Severus (the Christian Sallust), Paulinus of Nola, and Sidonius Apollinaris strove to reconcile the Church and the world of letters. Sidonius himself is not altogether free from suggestions of paganism handed down by tradition. In Gaul as elsewhere the question arose as to whether the Gospel could really adapt itself to literary culture. With the inroads of the barbarians the discussion came to an end.
It is nonetheless true that throughout the Empire the progress of Christianity had been made chiefly in the cities. The country-places were yet strongholds of what the Christians viewed as idolatry, which in Gaul was upheld by a twofold tradition. The old Gallic religion, and Graeco-Roman paganism, still had ardent supporters. Among the Gallo-Roman population the use of spells and charms for the cure of sickness, or on the occasion of a death, was still commonplace; the people worshiped spirits in springs and trees, believed in other nature spirits such as the Graeco-Roman nymphs, observed days of solar and lunar significance as sacred, and practiced divination. Some of these customs were survivals of very ancient traditions; they had come down through the Celtic and the Roman period, and had no doubt at times received the imprint of the Gallic and Graeco-Roman beliefs. The Gallic folk beliefs and practices dated back into the obscurity of pre-Roman times.
Gallic monasticism
The Christianization of the lower classes of the people was greatly aided by the newly established monasteries. In Gaul as elsewhere the first Christian ascetics lived in the world and kept their personal freedom. The practice of religious life in common was introduced by Saint Martin (died c. 397) and Cassian (died c. 435). Martin established near Tours the "grand monastère", i.e. Marmoutier, where in the beginning the monks lived in separate grottoes or wooden huts. A little later Cassian founded two monasteries at Marseilles (415). He had previously visited the monks of the East, and especially Egypt, and had brought back their methods, which he adapted to the circumstances of Gallo-Roman life. Through two of his works "De institutis coenobiorum" and the "Collationes XXIV", he became the doctor of Gallic asceticism. About the same time Honoratus founded a famous monastery on the little isle of Lérins (Lerinum) near Marseilles destined to become a centre of Christian life and ecclesiastical influence. Episcopal sees of Gaul were often objects of competition and greed, and were rapidly becoming the property of certain aristocratic families, all of whose representatives in the episcopate were not as wise and upright as Germanus of Auxerre or Sidonius Apollinaris. Lérins took up the work of reforming the episcopate, and placed many of its own sons at the head of dioceses: Honoratus, Hilary, and Caesarius at Arles; Eucherius at Lyons, and his sons Salonius and Veranius at Geneva and Vence respectively; Lupus at Troyes; Maximus and Faustus at Riez. Lérins too became a school of mysticism and theology and spread its religious ideas far and wide by useful works on dogma, polemics, and hagiography. Other monasteries were founded in Gaul, e.g. Grigny near Vienne, Ile Barbe at Lyons, Réomé (later known as Moutier-Saint-Jean), Morvan, Saint-Claude in the Jura, Chinon, Loches etc. It is possible, however, that some of these foundations belong to the succeeding period. The monks had not yet begun to live according to any fixed and codified rule. For such written constitutions we must await the time of Caesarius of Arles. Monasticism was not established without opposition.
Theological strife
The Church of Gaul passed through three dogmatic crises. Its bishops seem to have been greatly preoccupied with Arianism; as a rule they clung to the teaching of the Council of Nicaea, in spite of a few temporary or partial defections. Athanasius, who had been exiled to Trier (336-38), exerted a powerful influence on the episcopate of Gaul; one of the great champions of orthodoxy in the West was Hilary of Poitiers, who also suffered exile for his constancy.
Priscillianism had a greater hold on the masses of the faithful. It was above all a method, an ideal of Christian life, which appealed to all, even to women. It was condemned (380) at the Synod of Saragossa where the Bishops of Bordeaux and Agen were present; nonetheless it spread rapidly in Central Gaul, Eauze in particular being a stronghold. When in 385 the usurper Maximus put Priscillian and his friends to death, Saint Martin was in doubt how to act, but repudiated with horror communion with the bishops who had condemned the unfortunates. Priscillianism, indeed, was more or less bound up with the cause of asceticism in general. Finally the bishops and monks of Gaul were long divided over Pelagianism.
In the final struggle Rome intervened. We do not know much concerning the earlier relations between the bishops of Gaul and the pope. The position of Irenaeus in the Easter Controversy shows a considerable degree of independence; yet Irenaeus proclaimed the primacy of the See of Rome, which he based on the Apostolic Succession and, equally importantly, right teaching, orthodoxy (whereas the Gnostics whom he opposed were mere itinerant preachers without authority). About the middle of the 3rd century the pope was appealed to for the purpose of settling difficulties in the Church of Gaul and to remove an erring bishop (Cyprian, Epist. lxviii). At the Council of Arles (314) the bishops of Gaul were present with those of Brittany, Spain, Africa, even Italy; Pope Sylvester sent delegates to represent him. It was in a way a Council of the West. During all that century, however, the episcopate of Gaul had no head, and the bishops grouped themselves according to the ties of friendship or locality. Metropolitans did not exist as yet, and when advice was needed Milan was consulted. "The traditional authority", says Duchesne, "in all matters of discipline remained always the ancient Church of Rome; in practice, however, the Council of Milan decided in case of conflict." The popes then took the situation in hand, and in 417 Pope Zosimus made Patrocles, Bishop of Arles, his vicar or delegate in Gaul, and provided that all disputes should be referred to him. Moreover, no Gallic ecclesiastic could have access to the pope without testimonial letters from the Bishop of Aries. This primacy of Aries waxed and waned under the succeeding popes. It enjoyed a final period of brilliancy, under Caesarius, but after his time it conferred on the occupant merely an honorary title. In consequence, however, of the extensive authority of Arles in the 5th and 6th centuries, canonical discipline was more rapidly developed there, and the "Libri canonum" that were soon in vogue in Southern Gaul were modelled on those of the Church of Aries. Towards the end of this period Caesarius assisted at a series of councils, thus obtaining a certain recognition as legislator for the Merovingian Church.
The invasions
The barbarians, however, were on the march. The great invasion of 407 across the Rhine disrupted Gaul for almost 3 years until they passed over into Spain in September or October 409. Gaul was free of invaders but subjected to civil wars between imperial contenders until 413, when the imperial government of Emperor
Gradually the necessities of life imposed a policy of moderation. The
Between 410 and 413 the Burgundians had settled near Mains and were settled in Savoy in 443. In 475 they moved farther south along the Rhône, and about this time became Arian Christians. The Franks, soon to be masters of all Gaul, left the neighbourhood of Tournai, defeated Syagrius, the last representative of Roman authority in central north Gaul, in 486, and extended their power to the Loire. In 507 they defeated the Visigoth Kingdom in the Battle of Vouillé, confining their domain to Spain, except for a strip of territory along the Mediterranean coast. In 534 the Burgundians were defeated; in 536 by the conquest of Arles they succeeded to the remnants of the great state created by King Theodoric the Great.
The transition from one regime to another was eased by the bishops of Gaul. The bishops had frequently played a role as intermediaries with the Roman authorities. It was long believed that they had been invested with special powers and the official title of defensores civitatum (defenders of the states). While this title was never officially borne by them, the popular error was only formal and superficial. Bishops like Sidonius Apollinaris, Avitus, Germanus of Auxerre, Caesarius of Arles, upheld the social fabric. The bishops were guardians of the classical traditions of Latin literature and Roman culture, and long before the appearance of monasticism had been the mainstay of learning.
Christianity in Merovingian Gaul
Throughout the 6th and 7th centuries manuscripts of the Bible and the Church were copied to meet the needs of public worship, ecclesiastical teaching, and Catholic life. The only contemporary buildings that exhibit traces of classical or Byzantine styles are religious edifices.
Regional synods had been held regularly in the Church of Gaul, more than thirty of them between 314 and 506.[11] Under Merovingian rule, a number of "
An early important churchman is Caesarius of Arles, who organized regional synods, which were mostly concerned with conforming the canons and practices of the Church of Gaul to those of other Churches. At Orange, for instance, he had earlier (Pelagian) practices of the Gallic church anathematized, and at the ensuing council in Vaison liturgical conformity with other Churches (Italy, Africa, the East) was established.[14] A model for the following Frankish synods was set by Clovis I, who organized the First Council of Orléans (511); though he did not himself attend it, he set the agenda and followed the proceedings closely (at stake was "the unification of the Roman church under Frankish rule").[15] After the waning of Caesarius's influence and the establishment of Merovingian rule, the focus of the soon-to-be Frankish Church shifted north, to deal with the growing problem of adjusting to "deeply embedded Germanic practices"; rather than Pelagianism or Predestinatarianism, bishops now had to deal with problems involving "marriage, the relations between a warrior aristocracy and clergy, or monks and nuns, the conflicts born of royal influence and control, or of property rights".[14] By the eighth century, the regular organization of synods had largely disappeared, and when Boniface complained to
See also
References
- ^ a b c Lejay, Paul. "Christian Gaul." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 6 Aug. 2020 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Kirsch, Johann Peter. "St. Blandina." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Historia Ecclesiastica, V, i-iv.
- ISBN 9780521812399
- ^ Hist. Eccl., V, xxiii.
- ^ See also Roman Catholic Diocese of Autun: History.
- ^ Ep. lxviii.
- ^ Lejay, Paul. Le rôle théologique de Césaire d'Arles, p. 5.
- diocese of Mende.
- ^ "The religious beliefs and practices of the ancient Celts". Archived from the original on 2015-10-30. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Halfond, Gregory I. (2009). Archaeology of Frankish Church Councils, AD 511-768. p. 2.
- ^ Rahner, Karl (1975). Encyclopedia of theology: a concise Sacramentum mundi, 301f.
- ^ Halfond, Gregory I. (2009). Archaeology of Frankish Church Councils, AD 511-768, pp. 4-6.
- ^ a b Markus 155-56.[full citation needed]
- ^ Halfond, Gregory I. (2009). Archaeology of Frankish Church Councils, AD 511-768, pp. 8f.
- ^ Hartmann 59.
- ^ Schuler, Matthias (1947). "Zum 1200jähr. Jubiläum des fränkischen Generalkonzils vom Jahre 747. Der Höhepunkt der Reformtätigkeit des hl. Bonifatius". Trierer Theologische Zeitschrift 56: 362–70.
Sources
This article has an unclear citation style. (August 2016) |
- Attribution
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Christian Gaul". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. The entry states:
- "After the writings of EUSEBIUS OF CAESARIA, SULPICIUS SEVERUS, PAULINUS OF NOLA, SALVIANUS, GREGORY OF TOURS, etc., our principal source of information is the epigraphic material published by LE BLANT, Inscriptions chrétiennes de la Gaule antérieures au VIIIe siècle (Paris, 1858–85), with a supplement (1897);
- ____, Les sarcophages chrétiens de la Gaule (Paris, 1896). SIRMOND AND LALANDE, Concilia Antigua Galliae (4 vols., fol., 1629–66);
- "also the catalogues or lists of bishops preserved in many dioceses and edited by DELISLE in Histoire littéraire de la France, XXIX."
- "General works devoted to the history and study of Christianity have chapters on the Church in Gaul. Special reference works:"
- DUCHESNE, Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule, I (1894; 2nd ed., 1907), II (1900);
- HOUTIN, La controverse de l'apostolicité des églises de France au XIXe siècle (Paris, 1901);
- Analecta Bollandiana, XIX, 354;
- MORIN, Saint Lazare et saint Maximin in Mémoires de la société des antiquaires de France, LIX (Paris, 1898);
- AUBÉ in Revue historique, VII (1878) 152-64;
- DUCHESNE, Origines du culte chrétien (Paris, 1889), 32, 84;
- ____, La première collection romaine des décrétales in Atti del secondo congresso d'archeologia cristiana (Rome, 1902), 159;
- "After the writings of EUSEBIUS OF CAESARIA, SULPICIUS SEVERUS, PAULINUS OF NOLA, SALVIANUS, GREGORY OF TOURS, etc., our principal source of information is the epigraphic material published by LE BLANT, Inscriptions chrétiennes de la Gaule antérieures au VIIIe siècle (Paris, 1858–85), with a supplement (1897);