Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2000 12:01:16 -0700

The McManners book is good, but has some irritating features. For example, too many figures are introduced with adequately placing them in time and space. Here is some material to correct that deficiency for this week:

b. AD 339, Gaul

d. 397, Milan; feast day December 7

bishop of Milan, biblical critic, and initiator of ideas that provided a model for medieval conceptions of church-state relations. His literary works have been acclaimed as masterpieces of Latin eloquence, and his musical accomplishments are remembered in his hymns. Ambrose is also remembered as the teacher who converted and baptized St. Augustine of Hippo, the great Christian theologian, and as a model bishop who viewed the church as rising above the ruins of the Roman Empire.

b. c. 250,, Libya

d. 336, Constantinople [now Istanbul, Tur.]

Christian priest of Alexandria, Egypt, whose teachings gave rise to a theological doctrine known as Arianism, which, in affirming the created, finite nature of Christ, was denounced by the early church as a major heresy. An ascetical, moral leader of a Christian community in the area of Alexandria, Arius attracted a large following through a message integrating Neoplatonism, which accented the absolute oneness of the divinity as the highest perfection, with a literal, rationalist approach to the New Testament texts. This point of view was publicized about 323 through the poetic verse of his major work, Thalia ("Banquet"), and was widely spread by popular songs written for labourers and travelers.

b. c. 293,, Alexandria

d. May 2, 373, Alexandria; feast day May 2

theologian, ecclesiastical statesman, and Egyptian national leader; he was the chief defender of Christian orthodoxy in the 4th-century battle against Arianism, the heresy that the Son of God was a creature of like, but not of the same, substance as God the Father. important works include The Life of St. Antony and Four Orations Against the Arians.

b. Nov. 13, AD 354, Tagaste, Numidia

d. Aug. 28, 430, Hippo Regius

also called SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, Augustine also spelled AUGUSTIN, original Latin name AURELIUS AUGUSTINUS, bishop of Hippo in Roman Africa from 396 to 430 and the major Christian theologian of the early Western Church. His best known works are the Confessions and The City of God.

Augustine is generally recognized as having been the greatest thinker of Christian antiquity. His mind was the crucible in which the religion of the New Testament was most completely fused with the Platonic tradition of Greek philosophy; and it was also the means by which the product of this fusion was transmitted to the Christendoms of medieval Roman Catholicism and Renaissance Protestantism.

This unique significance would have belonged to Augustine had he never written the famous Confessions, in which at the age of about 45 he told the story of his own restless youth and of the stormy voyage that had ended, as he believed, 12 years before he put it in writing, in the haven of the Catholic Church. It is easy to forget that the real work of Augustine's life did not begin until the last scene of the Confessions was already receding for him into a remembered past. Moreover, the Confessions themselves are not so much autobiography as they are devotional outpourings of penitence and thanksgiving. Augustine's conscientious memory generally can be trusted for the facts: his reflections upon them are those of the bishop on his knees. This is not to say that, in any attempt to understand or appreciate the mind of the bishop, the Confessions can be neglected. The picture must, however, be drawn in proper proportion; it is essential to avoid giving undue prominence to what should be no more than its background.

His dates are uncertain, but he was clearly 4th century. Basil was born of a distinguished family of Caesarea, the capital of Cappadocia, which was a province of Asia Minor of special importance in the 4th century due to its position on the military road between Constantinople and Antioch. The family had been Christian since the days of the persecutions of Christians, which ended early in the 4th century. One of Basil's uncles was a bishop, as later were two of his brothers (Gregory and Peter of Sebaste). He received a literary education, however, which would have fitted him to follow in his father's footsteps as lawyer and orator. He studied at Caesarea and Constantinople and, finally (c. 351-356), at Athens, where he developed his friendship with Gregory of Nazianzus. On returning home he began a secular career, but the influence of his pious sister Macrina, later a nun and abbess, confirmed his earlier inclination to the ascetic life. With a group of friends, he established a monastic settlement on the family estate at Annesi in Pontus. In 357 he made an extensive tour of the monasteries of Egypt, and in 360 he assisted the Cappadocian bishops at a synod at Constantinople. He had been distressed by the general acceptance of the Arian Creed of the Council of Ariminum the previous year and especially by the fact that his own bishop, Dianius of Caesarea, had supported it. Shortly before the death of Dianius (362), Basil was reconciled to him and later was ordained presbyter (priest) to assist Dianius' successor, the new convert Eusebius. Basil's abilities and prestige, as well as Eusebius' dislike of asceticism, led to tension between them, and

Basil withdrew to Annesi. In 365 he was called back to Caesarea, when the church was threatened by the Arian emperor Valens. His theological and ecclesiastical policy thereafter aimed to unite against Arianism the former semi-Arians and the supporters of Nicaea under the formula "three persons (hypostases) in one substance (ousia)," thus preserving both unity and the necessary distinctions in the theological concept of the godhead. On Eusebius' death in 370, Basil became his successor, although he was opposed by some of the other bishops in the province.

BEDE (The Venerable)

b. 672/673, traditionally Monkton in Jarrow, Northumbria

d. May 25, 735, Jarrow; canonized 1899; feast day May 25

Bede also spelled BAEDA or BEDA, Anglo-Saxon theologian, historian, and chronologist, best known today for his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum ("Ecclesiastical History of the English People"), a source vital to the history of the conversion to Chri stianity of the Anglo-Saxon tribes. During his lifetime and throughout the Middle Ages Bede's reputation was based mainly on his scriptural commentaries, copies of which found their way to many of the monastic libraries of western Europe. His method of dating events from the time of the incarnation, or Christ's birth--i.e., AD--came into general use through the popularity of the Historia ecclesiastica and the two works on chronology. Bede's influence was perpetuated at home through the school founded at York by his pupil Archbishop Egbert of York and was transmitted to the Continent by Alcuin, who studied there before becoming master of Charlemagne's palace school at Aachen.

b. c. 480,, Nursia, Kingdom of the Lombards

d. c. 547, ; feast day July 11, formerly March 21

founder of the Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino and father of Western monasticism; the rule that he established became the norm for monastic living throughout Europe. In 1964, in view of the work of monks following the Benedictine Rule in the evangelization and civilization of so many European countries in the Middle Ages, Pope Paul VI proclaimed him the patron saint of all Europe.

Representatives of the Merovingian dynasty continued to hold the royal title during most of the first half of the 8th century. They were captive monarchs, according to a contemporary biographer of Charlemagne. In actual fact, effective power was in the hands of the Pepinids, who, thanks to their valuable landholdings and loyal retainers, maintained a monopoly on the office of mayor of the palace. Because of their familial predisposition for the name Charles and because of the significance of Charlemagne in the family's history, modern historians have called them the Carolingian dynasty.

b. April 2, c. 742

d. Jan. 28, 814, Aix-la-Chapelle, or Aachen, Austrasia

also called CHARLES I, byname CHARLES THE GREAT, French CHARLES LE GRAND, Latin CAROLUS MAGNUS, German KARL DER GROSSE, king of the Franks (7768-814), king of the Lombard (774-814), and emperor (800-814). As king of the Franks, Charlemagne conquered the Lombard kingdom in Italy, subdued the Saxons, annexed Bavaria to his kingdom, fought campaigns in Spain and Hungary, and, with the exception of the Kingdom of Asturias in Spain, southern Italy, and the British Isles, united in one superstate practically all the Christian lands of western Europe. In 800 he assumed the title of emperor. (He is reckoned as Charles I of the Holy Roman Empire, as well as Charles I of France.) Besides expanding its political power, he also brought about a cultural renaissance in his empire. Although this imperium survived its founder by only one generation, the medieval kingdoms of France and Germany derived all their constitutional traditions from Charles's monarchy. Throughout medieval Europe, the person of Charles was considered the prototype of a Christian king and emperor.

b. c. 543,, Leinster [Ireland]

d. Nov. 23, 615, Bobbio [Italy]; feast day November 23

abbot and writer, one of the greatest missionaries of the Celtic church, who initiated a revival of spirituality on the European continent. Educated in the monastery of Bangor, County Down, Columban left Ireland about 590 with 12 monks (including Saints Attala, Gall, and Columbanus the Younger) and established himself in the Vosges Mountains at Annegray, then in Gaul. For the disciples who came to follow his rule, Columban built the nearby monasteries of Luxovium and Fontaines.

Unpopular because of his attacks on degeneracy in the Burgundian court and among local clergy, he was indicted before a synod of French bishops (603) for keeping Easter according to the Celtic usage, whereupon he wrote Pope Gregory I for aid. A powerful conspiracy was organized against him at the court of King Theodoric II. Forcibly removed from his monastery at Luxovium (610), he went with Gall and other monks to Switzerland, where he preached to the Alemanni, a pagan Germanic people. Compelled to leave, he went to Italy and founded the monastery of Bobbio (c. 612-614).

b. Feb. 27, after AD 280?, Naissus, Moesia [now Nis, Yugos.]

d. May 22, 337, Ancyrona, near Nicomedia, Bithynia [now Izmit, Tur.]

by name CONSTANTINE THE GREAT, Latin in full FLAVIUS VALERIUS CONSTANTINUS, the first Roman emperor to profess Christianity. He not only initiated the evolution of the empire into a Christian state but also provided the impulse for a distinctively Christian culture that prepared the way for the growth of Byzantine and Western medieval culture.

Constantine was born probably in the later AD 280s. A typical product of the military governing class of the later 3rd century, he was the son of Flavius Valerius Constantius, an army officer, and his wife (or concubine) Helena. In AD 293 his father was raised to the rank of Caesar, or deputy emperor (as Constantius I Chlorus), and was sent to serve under Augustus (emperor) Maximian in the West.

In 289 Constantius had separated from Helena in order to marry a stepdaughter of Maximian, and Constantine was brought up in the Eastern Empire at the court of the senior emperor Diocletian at Nicomedia (modern Izmit, Tur.). Constantine was seen as a youth by his future panegyrist, Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, passing with Diocletian through Palestine on the way to a war in Egypt.

b. 634/635, probably Northumbria, Eng.

d. March 20, 687, islet of Inner Farne, or House, off Northumbria; feast

day March 20

bishop of the great Benedictine abbey of Lindisfarne (or Holy Island

one of the most venerated English saints, who evangelized Northumbria and was posthumously hailed as a wonder-worker. After a divine vision, Cuthbert, a shepherd, entered (651) the Northumbrian monastery of Melrose (Mailros) under Abbot St. Eata. In 661 Melrose was struck by the plague, afflicting Cuthbertand killing the prior, whom he succeeded. Thereafter, he aided plague victims while missioning throughout the countryside, reportedly performing miracles.

When in 663/664 at the Synod of Whitby the Northumbrians decided to adopt Roman rather than Celtic church customs, Abbot-Bishop St. Colman of Lindisfarne, one of the leaders of the Celtic party, resigned his see in opposition to Whitby. In 664 Eata and Cuthbert--who, although trained in the Celtic tradition, firmly supported the synod's decisions--were transferred to Lindisfarne, Eata as bishop and Cuthbert as prior. Thence, Cuthbert maintained reforms decreed by Whitby, instituted a severe rule, and extended his apostolate south, to Durham. A hermit by nature, Cuthbert retired in 676 to Inner Farne, where he devoted himself to prayer and where he built an oratory and cell. His fame for holiness grew. His successful efforts to protect birds (hence St. Cuthbert's [eider] duck) made him one of the earliest wildlife conservationists.

In 684 King Ecgfrith of Northumbria made him bishop of Hexham, a see that he exchanged with Eata in 685 for that of Lindisfarne. In 687 he again retired to Inner Farne. A small 14th-century chapel stands on the site of his final hermitage. He was buried at Lindisfarne, but his body was removed in 875 to protect it from Viking raids; after many moves in northeastern England, it was finally deposited (999?) in Durham Cathedral, which, until its destruction by King Henry VIII in 1538, was a great pilgrimage site. Numerous churches and monuments are dedicated to him.

CYPRIAN (d. 258), native of Carthage, converted 246, two years later

elected Bishop of Carthage.

b. c. 304, Rome

d. Dec. 11, 384, Rome; feast day December 11

pope from Oct. 1, 366, to Dec. 11, 384. During his rule the primacy of the Roman see was asserted. Damasus was a deacon during the reign of his predecessor, Pope Liberius, and accompanied him when Liberius was exiled by the Roman emperor Constantius for his opposition to Arianism, a belief that denied Christ's divinity. Later, however, Damasus returned to Rome and acknowledged Antipope Felix II, a pro-Arian placed on the papal throne by the emperor. After Felix' death (Nov. 22, 365), Damasus became reconciled with Liberius, but the enemies he made during this period of shifting allegiance troubled his entire pontificate. The election of Damasus as pope was immediately challenged by a minority who supported a rival claimant, Ursinus. The civil authority sided with Damasus, and Ursinus

and his partisans were banished. Damasus was active in suppressing heresy. In two synods (368 and 369) the unorthodox teachings of Bishop Macedonius of Constantinople and of Bishop Apollinaris (the Younger) of Laodicea were condemned. Among Damasus' literary remains are 24 anathemas against various 4th-century heresies. With a view to the elimination of Arianism in the East, he entered into lengthy negotiations with St. Basil, who, as bishop of Caesarea, was head of the church throughout most of Anatolia (Turkey). Their dealings were not a success: though united against Arianism, they failed to agree on policies.

Damasus was the first pope to refer to Rome as the apostolic see, to distinguish it as that established by the apostle St. Peter, founder of the church. In 380 the emperors Gratian in the West and Theodosius in the East declared Christianity as preached by Peter to be the religion of the Roman Empire and defined orthodoxy as the doctrines proclaimed by the bishops of Rome and Alexandria. Rome's primacy was officially pronounced by a synod called in Rome in 382 by Damasus, who was perhaps wary of the growing strength of Constantinople, which was already claiming to be the New Rome. The synod decided which scripturall writings were canonical.

St. Jerome (c. 342-420) attended the synod and stayed on to become Damasus' secretary, close adviser, and friend. Damasus commissioned him to revise the Latin translations of the Bible for what subsequently became known as the Vulgate. Latin was introduced as the language of the mass during Damasus' pontificate. He was notable also for his work in discovering the tombs of martyrs, for which he wrote many verse inscriptions, and was responsible for the restoration of Rome's catacombs. Damasus was an active builder and restorer of churches.

b. AD 245,, Salonae?, Dalmatia [now Solin, Croatia]

d. 316, Salonae

Latin in full GAIUS AURELIUS VALERIUS DIOCLETIANUS, original name DIOCLES Roman emperor (284-305), who restored efficient government to the empire after the near anarchy of the 3rd century. His reorganization of the fiscal, administrative, and military machinery of the empire laid the foundation for the Byzantine Empire in the East and temporarily shored up the decaying empire in the West. His reign is also noted for the last great persecution of the Christians.

4th century Caesarea Palestinae, Palestine

also called EUSEBIUS PAMPHILI, bishop, exegete, polemicist, and historian whose account of the first centuries of Christianity, in his Ecclesiastical HistorUS OF y, is a landmark in Christian historiography.

b. c. 540,, Rome

d. March 12, 604, Rome; feast day March 12 architect of the medieval papacy (reigned 590-604), a notable theologian who was also an administrative, social, liturgical, and moral reformer. Drawing upon St. Augustine of Hippo's City of God for his views, Gregory formulated ideas of a Christian society that became formalized in the Middle Ages. Among his accomplishments were a reform of the mass from which came the Gregoriann chant. Since the 8th centur he has been regarded as a doctor (teacher) of the church.

b. Nov. 30, 538/539, Augustonemetum, Aquitaine

d. 594/595, Tours, Neustria; feast day November 17

original name GEORGIUS FLORENTIUS, bishop and writer whose History of the Franks is a major source for knowledge of the 6th-century Franco-Roman kingdom. The complicated political situation of that period actively involved Gregory himself in numerous political events and in open dispute with the king. He also wrote Lives of the Fathers, seven books of miracles, and a commentary on the Psalms.

HIPPOLYTUS (c.170-c. 236)

native of Rome, presbyter in Rome.

b. c. 560,, Cartagena or Seville, Spain

d. April 4, 636, Seville; canonized 1598; feast day April 4

Latin ISIDORUS HISPALENSIS theologian, last of the Western Latin Fathers, archbishop, and encyclopaedist, whose Etymologies, an encyclopaedia of human and divine subjects, was one of the chief landmarks in glossography (the compilation of glossaries) and was for many centuries one of the most important reference books.

b. c. 347,, Stridon, Dalmatia

d. 419/420, Bethlehem, Palestine; feast day September 30

Latin in full EUSEBIUS HIERONYMUS, pseudonym SOPHRONIUS, biblical translator and monastic leader, traditionally regarded as the most learned of the Latin Fathers. He lived for a time as a hermit, became a priest, served as secretary to Pope Damasus, and about 389 established a monastery at Bethlehem. His numerous biblical, ascetical, monastic, and theological works profoundly influenced the early Middle Ages. He is known particularly for his Latin translation of the Bible, the Vulgate.

IRENEUS (c. 130-c. 200)

native of Smyrna, studied at Rome, became presbyter in Lyons, became bishop c. 178.

b. AD 347,, Antioch, Syria

d. Sept. 14, 407, Comana, Helenopontus; Western feast day September 13; Eastern feast day November 13

early Church Father, biblical interpreter, and archbishop of Constantinople; the zeal and clarity of his preaching, which appealed especially to the common people, earned him the Greek surname meaning "golden-mouthed." His tenure as archbishop was stormy, and he died in exile. His relics were brought back to Constantinople in about 438, and he was later declared doctor (teacher) of the church.

b. AD 331/332,, Constantinople

d. June 26/27, 363, Ctesiphon, Mesopotamia

JULIAN THE APOSTATE, Latin JULIANUS APOSTATA, original name FLAVIUS CLAUDIUS JULIANUS Roman emperor (361-363), nephew of Constantine the Great, and noted scholar and military leader who was proclaimed emperor by his troops. A persistent enemy of Christianity, he publicly announced his conversion to paganism (361), thus acquiring the epithet "the Apostate."

b. 380, Eclanum, Italy

d. c. 455,, Sicily

bishop of Eclanum who is considered to be the most intellectual leader of the Pelagians. Julian was married c. 402, but upon the death of his wife he was ordained and c. 417 succeeded his father, Memorius, as bishop by appointment of Pope St. Innocent I. An early supporter of Pelagius, he and several other bishops refused to sign the document issued by Pope St. Zosimus excommunicating Pelagius and his disciple Celestius. Julian demanded that a general council of the church consider the problem. His appeal was rejected, and he was deposed and banished from Italy in 421. He was condemned at the Council of Ephesus in 431, and all his attempts to regain his see failed. He eventually settled in Sicily as a teacher.

Julian systematized Pelagian theology and wrote several works(most of which are now lost). His writings are known primarily through long quotations from St. Augustine, who refuted them.

JUSTIN (c. 100-c. 165)

native of Neapolis, converted c. 130, moved to Rome and opened a Christian School.

LEO I (The Great)

b. 4th century,, Tuscany?

d. Nov. 10, 461, Rome; Western feast day November 10 ([formerly April 11], Eastern feast day February 18

pope from 440 to 461, master exponent of papal supremacy. His pontificate--which saw the disintegration of the Roman Empire in the West and the formation in the East of theological differences that were to split Christendom--was devoted to safeguarding orthodoxy and to securing the unity of the Western church under papal supremacy.

MARCION (d. c. 160)

native of Synope, son of a Bishop who excommunicated him on the grounds of immorality, became a wealthy shipowner, moved to Rome about 140 and became a member of the local church, excommunicated there in 144.

MONTANUS

native of Phrygia, began teaching about 172.

NICEA(325)

the first ecumenical council of the Christian church, meeting in ancient Nicaea (now Iznik, Tur.). It was called by the emperor Constantine I, an unbaptized catechumen, or neophyte, who presided over the opening session and took part in the discussions. He hoped a general council of the church would solve the problem created in the Eastern church by Arianism, a heresy first proposed by Arius of Alexandria that affirmed that Christ is not divine but a created being. Pope Sylvester I did not attend the council but was represented by legates.

The council condemned Arius and, with reluctance on the part of some, incorporated the nonscriptural word homoousios ("of one substance") into a creed (the Nicene Creed) to signify the absolute equality of the Son with the Father. The emperor then exiled Arius, an act that, while manifesting a solidarity of church and state, underscored the importance of secular patronage in ecclesiastical affairs.

The council also attempted but failed to establish a uniform date for Easter. But it issued decrees on many other matters, including the proper method of consecrating bishops, a condemnation of lending money at interest by clerics, and a refusal to allow bishops, priests, and deacons to move from one church to another. Socrates Scholasticus, a 5th-century Byzantine historian, said that the council intended to make a canon enforcing celibacy of the clergy, but it failed to do so when some objected. It also confirmed the primacy of Alexandria and Jerusalem over other sees in their respective areas.

ORIGEN (c.185-c.254)

native of Alexandria, head of Catechetical School.

b. c. 354,, probably Britain

d. after 418, , possibly Palestine

monk and theologian whose theological system known as Pelagianism emphasized the primacy of human effort in spiritual salvation. Coming to Rome c. 380, Pelagius, though not a priest, became a highly regarded spiritual director for both clergy and laymen. The rigorous asceticism of his adherents acted as a reproach to the spiritual sloth of many Roman Christians, whose moral standards greatly distressed him. He blamed Rome's moral laxity on the doctrine of divine grace that he heard a bishop cite from the Confessions of Saint Augustine, who in his prayer for continence beseeched God to grant whatever grace the divine will determined.

Pelagius attacked this teaching on the grounds that it imperilled the entire moral law and soon gained a considerable following at Rome. Henceforth his closest collaborator was a lawyer named Celestius. After the fall of Rome to the Visigoth chieftain Alaric in 410, Pelagius and Celestius went to Africa. There they encountered the hostile criticism of Augustine, who published several denunciatory letters concerning their doctrine, particularly Pelagius' insistence on man's basically good moral nature and on man's own responsibility for voluntarily choosing Christian asceticism for his spiritual advancement.

Pelagius left for Palestine c. 412. There, although accused of heresy at the synod of Jerusalem in 415, he succeeded in clearing himself and avoiding censure. In response to further attacks from Augustine and the Latin biblical scholar Jerome, Pelagius wrote De libero arbitrio ("On Free Will") in 416, which resulted in the condemnation of his teaching by two African councils. In 417 Pope Innocent I endorsed the condemnations and excommunicated Pelagius and Celestius. Innocent's successor, Zosimus, at first pronounced him innocent on the basis of Pelagius' Libellus fidei ("Brief Statement of Faith"), but after renewed investigation at the council of Carthage in 418, Zosimus confirmed the council's nine canons condemning Pelagius. Nothing more is known of Pelagius after this date.

TERTULLIAN [Quintus Septimus Florens Tertullian] (c. 160-225)

native of Carthage, received education in literature and rhetoric, converted to Christianity in the 190s, argued against Gnostics and Marcion.