Institution and Society: Church Councils in Early Medieval Europe
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Special Session
Organizer Name
Ralph J. Patrello
Organizer Affiliation
Univ. of Florida
Presider Name
Andrew Welton
Presider Affiliation
Univ. of Florida
Paper Title 1
Eliseus and Johannes of Cabra: A Freedman and His Bishop in Visigothic Spain
Presenter 1 Name
Rebecca A. Devlin
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Univ. of Florida
Paper Title 2
Marcellinus at Carthage: Theology and Imperial Law at the Conference of Carthage in 411
Presenter 2 Name
Laurent J. Cases
Presenter 2 Affiliation
Pennsylvania State Univ.
Paper Title 3
Where Have All the Councils Gone? Conducting Church Business under the Visigoths, 470-506
Presenter 3 Name
Ralph J. Patrello
Paper Title 4
Respondent
Presenter 4 Name
Gregory I. Halfond
Presenter 4 Affiliation
Framingham State Univ.
Start Date
10-5-2013 1:30 PM
Session Location
Schneider 2345
Description
While scholarship has traditionally focused on church councils as a source of information on the development of orthodox Christian theology, Gregory Halfond's recent work, The Archaeology of Frankish Church Councils, AD 511-768 (Brill, 2010) has suggested a different approach, that of institutional history. Taking his work as a starting point, these sessions propose to look at the church councils in early medieval Europe as part of a larger institution that both formed and transformed the social world. As religious institutions, church councils were certainly important in shaping notions of correct belief and practice, but as meeting places for influential and powerful men, they also reflected and indeed altered society more generally. By looking at church councils as both collections of individual bishops seeking to promote their own agendas and as mechanisms for legitimizing both secular and sacred rule, the papers presented here will use the records of these assemblies as a new source for understanding the participants themselves and their communities in local and larger contexts. With papers on Spain, Gaul, and North Africa, this session will thus present new approaches to the study of church councils as integral parts of early medieval social formation.
Ralph J. Patrello and Rebecca Devlin
Institution and Society: Church Councils in Early Medieval Europe
Schneider 2345
While scholarship has traditionally focused on church councils as a source of information on the development of orthodox Christian theology, Gregory Halfond's recent work, The Archaeology of Frankish Church Councils, AD 511-768 (Brill, 2010) has suggested a different approach, that of institutional history. Taking his work as a starting point, these sessions propose to look at the church councils in early medieval Europe as part of a larger institution that both formed and transformed the social world. As religious institutions, church councils were certainly important in shaping notions of correct belief and practice, but as meeting places for influential and powerful men, they also reflected and indeed altered society more generally. By looking at church councils as both collections of individual bishops seeking to promote their own agendas and as mechanisms for legitimizing both secular and sacred rule, the papers presented here will use the records of these assemblies as a new source for understanding the participants themselves and their communities in local and larger contexts. With papers on Spain, Gaul, and North Africa, this session will thus present new approaches to the study of church councils as integral parts of early medieval social formation.
Ralph J. Patrello and Rebecca Devlin