A Source Book for Ancient Church History Part 65

While the doctrinal system of the Church was being wrought out in the disputes and councils of Rome and the East, the foundations of the Germanic national churches were being laid in the West. In the British Isles the faith was extended from Britain to Ireland and thence to Scotland ( 96). Among the inmates of the monasteries of these countries were many monks who were moved to undertake missionary journeys to various parts of Western Europe, and among them St. Columba.n.u.s. But even more important for the future of Western Christendom was the conversion of the Franks from paganism to Catholic Christianity. At a time when the other Germanic rulers were still Arian, Clovis and the Franks became Catholics and, as a consequence, the champions of the Catholic faith. The Franks rapidly became the dominant power in the West, and soon other Germanic races either were conquered or followed the example of the Franks and became Catholics ( 97). The State churches that thus arose were more under the control of the local royal authority than the Catholic Church had previously been, and the rulers were little disposed to favor outside control of the ecclesiastical affairs of their kingdoms ( 98). Toward the end of the sixth century the greatest pontiff of the ancient Church, Gregory the Great, more than recovered the prestige and influence which had been lost under Vigilius. By his able administration he did much to unite the West, to heal the schism resulting from the Fifth Council, and to overcome the heresies which divided the Arians and the Catholics. At the same time he advanced the authority of the see of Rome in the East as well as in the West ( 99). Of the many statesman-like undertakings of Gregory none had more far-reaching consequences than the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons and the establishment in England of a church which would be in close and loyal dependence upon the Roman see, and in consequence of that close connection would be the heir of the best traditions of culture in the West ( 100).

96. The Celtic Church in the British Isles

Christianity was probably planted in the British Isles during the second century; as to its growth in the ante-Nicene period little is definitely known. Representatives of the British Church were at Arles in 314. The Church was in close connection with the Church on the Continent during the fourth century and in the fifth during the Pelagian controversy. The Christianity thus established was completely overthrown or driven into Wales by the invasion of the pagan Angles, Jutes, and Saxons _circa_ 449-500. (For the conversion of the newcomers, _v. infra_, 100.) Early in the fifth century the conversion of Ireland took place by missionaries from Britain. In this conversion St. Patrick traditionally plays an important part.

Additional source material: Bede, _Hist. Ec._, Eng. trans. by Giles, London, 1894; by A. M. Sellar, London, 1907 (for Latin text, _v. infra_, _a_); Ad.a.m.nani, _Vita S. Columb_, ed. J. T.

Fowler, 1894 (with valuable introduction and translation); St.

Patrick, _Genuine Writings_, ed. G. T. Stokes and C. H. H. Wright, Dublin, 1887; J. D. Newport White, _The Writings of St. Patrick_, 1904. For bibliography of sources, see Gross, _The Sources and Literature of English History_, 1900, pp. 221 _f._

(_a_) Bede, _Hist. Ec. Gentis Anglorum_, I, 13. (MSL, 95:40.)

The Venerable Bede (672 or 673-735), monk at Jarrow, the most learned theologian of the Anglo-Saxon Church, was also the first historian of England. For the earliest period he used what written sources were available. His work becomes of independent value with the account of the coming of Augustine of Canterbury, 597 (I, 23).

The history extends to A. D. 731. The best critical edition is that of C. Plummer, 1896, which has a valuable introduction, copious historical and critical notes, and careful discrimination of the sources. Wm. Brights _Chapters on Early English Church History_ is an elaborate commentary on Bedes work as far as 709, the death of Wilfrid. Translation of Bedes History by J. A.

Giles, may be found in Bohns _Antiquarian Library_, and better by A. M. Sellar, 1907.

In the following pa.s.sage we have the only reference made by Bede to the conversion of Ireland, and his failure to mention Patrick has given rise to much controversy, see J. B. Bury, _The Life of St. Patrick __ and his Place in History_, 1905. This pa.s.sage, referring to Palladius, is a quotation from the _Chronica_ of Prosper of Aquitaine (403-463) ann. 431 (MSL, 51, critical edition in MGH, _Auct. antiquiss_, 9:1); from Gildas, _De excidio Britanni liber querulus_ (MSL, 69:327, critical edition in MGH, _Auct. antiquiss_, 13. A translation by J. A. Giles in _Six Old English Chronicles_, in Bohns _Antiquarian Library_), is the reference to the letter written to the Romans; from the Chronica of Marcellinus Comes (MSL, 51:913; critical edition in MGH, _Auct.

antiquiss_, 11) is the reference to Blda and Attila.

In the year of the Lords incarnation, 423, Theodosius the younger received the empire after Honorius and, being the forty-fifth from Augustus, retained it twenty-six years. In the eighth year of his reign, Palladius was sent by Celestinus, the pontiff of the Roman Church, to the Scots(212) that believed in Christ to be their first bishop. In the twenty-third year of his reign (446), Atius, the ill.u.s.trious, who was also patrician, discharged his third consulate with Symmachus as his colleague. To him the wretched remnants of the Britons sent a letter beginning: To Atius, thrice consul, the groans of the Britons. And in the course of the letter they thus express their calamities: The barbarians drive us to the sea; the sea drives us back to the barbarians; between them there have arisen two sorts of death; we are either slain or drowned. Yet neither could all this procure any a.s.sistance from him, as he was then engaged in a most dangerous war with Blda and Attila, kings of the Huns. And though the year next before this, Blda had been murdered by the treachery of his brother Attila, yet Attila himself remained so intolerable an enemy to the republic that he ravaged almost all Europe, invading and destroying cities and castles.

(_b_) Patrick, _Confessio_, chs. 1, 10. (MSL, 53:801.)

The call of St. Patrick to be a missionary.

There is much dispute and uncertainty about the life and work of St. Patrick. Of the works of Patrick, two appear to be genuine, his _Confessio_ and his _Epistola ad Corotic.u.m_. The other works attributed to him are very probably spurious. The genuine works may be found in Haddan and Stubbs, _Councils and Ecclesiastical Doc.u.ments relating to Great Britain and Ireland_, vol. II, pt. ii, 296 _ff._

I, Patrick, a sinner, the most ignorant and least of all the faithful, and the most contemptible among many, had for my father Calp.o.r.nius the deacon, son of the presbyter Pot.i.tus, the son of Odissus, who was of the village of Bannavis Tabernia; he had near by a little estate where I was taken captive. I was then nearly sixteen years old. But I was ignorant of the true G.o.d(213) and I was taken into captivity unto Ireland, with so many thousand men, according to our deserts, because we had forsaken G.o.d and not kept His commandments and had not been obedient to our priests who warned us of our salvation. And the Lord brought upon us the fury of His wrath and scattered us among many nations, even to the end of the earth, where now my meanness appears to be among strangers. And there the Lord opened the senses of my unbelief, that I might remember my sin, and that I might be converted with my whole heart to my Lord G.o.d, who looked upon my humbleness and had mercy upon my youth and ignorance, and guarded me before I knew Him, and before I knew and distinguished between good and evil, and protected me and comforted me as a father a son.

And again after a few years(214) I was with my relatives in Britain, who received me as a son, and earnestly besought me that I should never leave them after having endured so many great tribulations. And there I saw in a vision by night a man coming to me as from Ireland, and his name was Victorinus, and he had innumerable epistles; and he gave me one of them and I read the beginning of the epistle as follows: The voice of the Irish. And while I was reading the epistle, I think that it was at the very moment, I heard the voice of those who were near the wood of Fochlad,(215) which is near the Western Sea. And thus they cried out with one voice: We beseech thee, holy youth, to come here and dwell among us.

And I was greatly smitten in heart, and could read no further and so I awoke. Thanks be to G.o.d, because after many years the Lord granted them according to their cry.

(_c_) Bede, _Hist. Ec._, III, 4. (MSL, 95:121.)

St. Ninian and St. Columba in Scotland.

In the year of our Lord 565, when Justin the younger, the successor of Justinian, took the government of the Roman Empire, there came into Britain a priest and abbot, distinguished in habit and monastic life, Columba by name, to preach the word of G.o.d to the provinces of the northern Picts, that is, to those who are separated from the southern parts by steep and rugged mountains. For the southern Picts, who had their homes within those mountains, had long before, as is reported, forsaken the error of idolatry, and embraced the true faith, by the preaching of the word to them by Ninian,(216) a most reverend bishop and holy man of the British nation, who had been regularly instructed at Rome in the faith and mysteries of the truth, whose episcopal see was named after St.

Martin, the bishop, and was famous for its church, wherein he and many other saints rest in the body, and which the English nation still possesses. The place belongs to the province of Bernicia, and is commonly called Candida Casa,(217) because he there built a church of stone, which was not usual among the Britons.

Columba came to Britain in the ninth year of the reign of Bridius, the son of Meilochon, the very powerful king of the Picts, and he converted by work and example that nation to the faith of Christ; whereupon he also received the aforesaid island [Iona] for a monastery. It is not large, but contains about five families, according to English reckoning. His successors hold it to this day, and there also he was buried, when he was seventy-seven, about thirty-two years after he came into Britain to preach. Before he came into Britain he had built a n.o.ble monastery in Ireland, which from the great number of oaks is called in the Scottish tongue(218) Dearmach, that is, the Field of Oaks. From both of these monasteries many others had their origin through his disciples both in Britain and Ireland; but the island monastery where his body lies holds the rule.

That island always has for its ruler an abbot, who is a priest, to whose direction all the province and even bishops themselves are subject by an unusual form of organization, according to the example of their first teacher, who was not a bishop, but a priest and monk; of whose life and discourses some writings are said to have been preserved by his disciples.

But whatever he was himself, this we regard as certain concerning him, that he left successors renowned for their great continency, their love of G.o.d, and their monastic rules. However, they followed uncertain cycles(219) in their observance of the great festival [Easter], for no one brought them the synodal decrees for the observance of Easter, because they were placed so far away from the rest of the world; they only practised such works of piety and chast.i.ty as they could learn from the prophetical, evangelical, and apostolical writings. This manner of keeping Easter continued among them for a long time, that is, for the s.p.a.ce of one hundred and fifty years, or until the year of our Lords incarnation 715.

97. The Conversion of the Franks. The Establishment of Catholicism in the Germanic Kingdoms

Chlodowech (Clovis, 481-511) was originally a king of the Salian Franks, near Tournay. By his energy he became king of all the Franks, and, overthrowing Syagrius in 486, pushed his frontier to the Loire. In 496 he conquered a portion of the Alemanni. About this time he became a Catholic.

He had for some time favored the Catholic religion, and with his conversion his rule was a.s.sociated with that cause in the kingdoms subject to Arian rulers. In this way his support of Catholicism was in line with his policy of conquest. By constant warfare Chlodowech was able to push his frontier, in 507, to the Garonne. His death, in 511, at less than fifty years of age, cut short only for a time the extension of the Frankish kingdom. Under his sons, Burgundy, Thuringia, and Bavaria were conquered. The kingdom, which had been divided on the death of Chlodowech, was united under the youngest son, Chlotar I (sole ruler 558-561), again divided on his death, to be united under Chlotar II (sole ruler 613-628).

In Spain the Suevi, in the northwest, became Catholic under Carrarich in 550. They were conquered in 585 by the Visigoths, who in turn became Catholic in 589.

(_a_) Gregory of Tours, _Historia Francorum_, II, 30. 31. (MSL, 71:225.)

Gregory of Tours (538-593) became bishop of Tours in 573. Placed in this way in the most important see of France, he was constantly thrown in contact with the Merovingian royal family and had abundant opportunity to become acquainted with the course of events at first hand. His most important work, the _History of the Franks_, is especially valuable from the fifth book on, as here he is on ground with which he was personally familiar. In Book II, from which the selection is taken, Gregory depends upon others, and must be used with caution.

The baptism of Chlodowech was probably the result of a long process of deliberation, beginning probably before his marriage with Chrotechildis, a Burgundian princess, who was a Catholic.

While still a pagan he was favorably disposed toward the Catholic Church. About 496 he was baptized, probably on Christmas Day, at Rheims, by St. Remigius. The place and date have been much disputed of late. The earliest references to the conversion are by Nicetus of Trier (_ob. circa_ 566), _Epistula ad Chlodosvindam reginam Longobardorum_ (MSL, 5:375); and Avitus, _Epistula_ 41, addressed to Chlodowech himself. (MSL, 59:257). A careful examination of all the evidence may be found in A. Hauck, _Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands_, fourth ed., I, 595 _ff._ Hauck concludes that the date, December 25, 496, may be regarded as almost certainly the date of the baptism of Chlodowech. The connection as to time between the first war with the Alemanni and the baptism may have given occasion to seek for some actual connection between the two events. The selection is therefore given as the traditional version and is not to be relied upon as correct in detail. It represents what was probably the current belief within a few decades of the event.

Ch. 30. The queen (Chrotechildis) ceased not to warn Chlodowech that he should acknowledge the true G.o.d and forsake idols. But in no way could he be brought to believe these things. Finally war broke out with the Alemanni. Then by necessity was he compelled to acknowledge what before he had denied with his will. The two armies met and there was a fearful slaughter, and the army of Chlodowech was on the point of being annihilated. When the king perceived that, he raised his eyes to heaven, his heart was smitten and he was moved to tears, and he said: Jesus Christ, whom Chrotechildis declares to be the Son of the living G.o.d, who says that Thou wilt help those in need and give victory to those who hope in Thee, humbly I flee to Thee for Thy mighty aid, that Thou wilt give me victory over these my enemies, and I will in this way experience Thy power, which the people called by Thy name claim that they have proved to be in Thee. Then will I believe on Thee and be baptized in Thy name. For I have called upon my G.o.ds but, as I have seen, they are far from my help.

Therefore, I believe that they have no power who do not hasten to aid those obedient to them. I now call upon Thee and I desire to believe on Thee. Only save me from the hand of my adversaries. As he thus spoke, the Alemanni turned their backs and began to take flight. But when they saw that their king was dead, they submitted to Chlodowech and said: Let not, we pray thee, a nation perish; now we are thine. Thereupon he put an end to the war, exhorted the people, and returned home in peace. He told the queen how by calling upon the name of Christ he had obtained victory. This happened in the fifteenth year of his reign (496).

Ch. 31. Thereupon the queen commanded that the holy Remigius, bishop of Rheims, be brought secretly to teach the king the word of salvation. The priest was brought to him secretly and began to lay before him that he should believe in the true G.o.d, the creator of heaven and earth, and forsake idols, who could neither help him nor others. But he replied: Gladly do I listen to thee, most holy Father, but one thing remains, for the people who follow me suffer me not to forsake their G.o.ds. But I will go and speak to them according to thy words. When he met his men, and before he began to speak, all the people cried out together, for the divine power had antic.i.p.ated him: We reject the mortal G.o.ds, pious king, and we are ready to follow the immortal G.o.d whom Remigius preaches. These things were reported to the bishop, who rejoiced greatly and commanded the font to be prepared. The king first asked to be baptized by the pontiff.

He went, a new Constantine, into the font to be washed clean from the old leprosy, and to purify himself in fresh water from the stains which he had long had. But as he stepped into the baptismal water, the saint of G.o.d began in moving tone: Bend softly thy head, Sicamber, reverence what thou hast burnt, and burn what thou hast reverenced.

Therefore the king confessed Almighty G.o.d in Trinity, and was baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and was anointed with the holy chrism with the sign of the cross. Of his army more than three thousand were baptized. Also his sister Albofledis was baptized. And another sister of the king, Lanthechildis by name, who had fallen into the heresy of the Arians, was converted, and when she had confessed that the Son and the Holy Ghost were of the same substance with the Father, she was given the chrism.

(_b_) Gregory of Tours, _Hist. Francorum_, II, 35-38. (MSL, 71:232.)

Clovis at the head of the anti-Arian party in Gaul.

Ch. 35. When Alarich, the king of the Goths, saw that King Chlodowech continually conquered the nations, he sent messengers to him saying: If my brother wishes, it is also in my heart that we see each other, if G.o.d will. Chlodowech was not opposed to this and came to him. They met on an island in the Loire, in the neighborhood of Amboise, in the territory of Tours, and spake and ate and drank together, promised mutual friendship, and parted in peace.

Ch. 36. But already many Gauls wished with all their heart to have the Franks for their masters. It therefore happened that Quintia.n.u.s, bishop of Rhodez, was driven out of his city on account of this. For they said to him: You wish that the rule of the Franks possessed this land. And a few days after, when a dispute had arisen between him and the citizens, the rumor reached the Goths who dwelt in the city, for the citizens a.s.serted that he wished to be subject to the rule of the Franks; and they took counsel and planned how they might kill him with the sword. When this was reported to the man of G.o.d, he rose by night, and with the most faithful of his servants left Rhodez and came to Arverne.

Ch. 37. Thereupon King Chlodowech said to his men: It is a great grief to me that these Arians possess a part of Gaul. Let us go forth with G.o.ds aid, conquer them, and bring this land into our power. And since this speech pleased all, he marched with his army toward Poitiers, for there dwelt Alarich at that time. King Chlodowech met the king of the Goths, Alarich, in the Campus Vocladensis [Vouill or Voulon-sur-Clain] ten miles from Poitiers; and while the latter fought from afar, the former withstood in hand to hand combat. But since the Goths, in their fashion, took to flight, King Chlodowech at length with G.o.ds aid won the victory. He had on his side a son of Sigbert the Lame, whose name was Chloderich. The same Sigbert, ever since he fought with the Alemanni near Zulpich [in 496], had been wounded in the knee and limped. The king killed King Alarich and put the Goths to flight. From this battle Amalrich, Alarichs son, fled to Spain, and by his ability obtained his fathers kingdom. Chlodowech, however, sent his son Theuderic to Albi, Rhodez, and Arverne, and departing he subjugated those cities, from the borders of the Goths to the borders of the Burgundians, to the rule of his father. But Alarich reigned twenty-two years.