Heresy and Dissent in the Carolingian Empire

The Case of Gottschalk of Orbais

Nonfiction, History, Medieval, Religion & Spirituality
Cover of the book Heresy and Dissent in the Carolingian Empire by Matthew Bryan Gillis, OUP Oxford
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Matthew Bryan Gillis ISBN: 9780192518286
Publisher: OUP Oxford Publication: February 9, 2017
Imprint: OUP Oxford Language: English
Author: Matthew Bryan Gillis
ISBN: 9780192518286
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Publication: February 9, 2017
Imprint: OUP Oxford
Language: English

Heresy and Dissent in the Carolingian Empire recounts the history of an exceptional ninth-century religious outlaw, Gottschalk of Orbais. Frankish Christianity required obedience to ecclesiastical superiors, voluntary participation in reform, and the belief that salvation was possible for all baptized believers. Yet Gottschalk-a mere priest-developed a controversial, Augustinian-based theology of predestination, claiming that only divine election through grace enabled eternal life. Gottschalk preached to Christians within the Frankish empire-including bishops-and non-Christians beyond its borders, scandalously demanding they confess his doctrine or be revealed as wicked reprobates. Even after his condemnations for heresy in the late 840s, Gottschalk continued his activities from prison thanks to monks who smuggled his pamphlets to a subterranean community of supporters. This study reconstructs the career of the Carolingian Empire's foremost religious dissenter in order to imagine that empire from the perspective of someone who worked to subvert its most fundamental beliefs. Examining the surviving evidence (including his own writings), Matthew Gillis analyzes Gottschalk's literary and spiritual self-representations, his modes of argument, his prophetic claims to martyrdom and miraculous powers, and his shocking defiance to bishops as strategies for influencing contemporaries in changing political circumstances. In the larger history of medieval heresy and dissent, Gottschalk's case reveals how the Carolingian Empire preserved order within the church through coercive reform. The hierarchy compelled Christians to accept correction of perceived sins and errors, while punishing as sources of spiritual corruption those rare dissenters who resisted its authority.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Heresy and Dissent in the Carolingian Empire recounts the history of an exceptional ninth-century religious outlaw, Gottschalk of Orbais. Frankish Christianity required obedience to ecclesiastical superiors, voluntary participation in reform, and the belief that salvation was possible for all baptized believers. Yet Gottschalk-a mere priest-developed a controversial, Augustinian-based theology of predestination, claiming that only divine election through grace enabled eternal life. Gottschalk preached to Christians within the Frankish empire-including bishops-and non-Christians beyond its borders, scandalously demanding they confess his doctrine or be revealed as wicked reprobates. Even after his condemnations for heresy in the late 840s, Gottschalk continued his activities from prison thanks to monks who smuggled his pamphlets to a subterranean community of supporters. This study reconstructs the career of the Carolingian Empire's foremost religious dissenter in order to imagine that empire from the perspective of someone who worked to subvert its most fundamental beliefs. Examining the surviving evidence (including his own writings), Matthew Gillis analyzes Gottschalk's literary and spiritual self-representations, his modes of argument, his prophetic claims to martyrdom and miraculous powers, and his shocking defiance to bishops as strategies for influencing contemporaries in changing political circumstances. In the larger history of medieval heresy and dissent, Gottschalk's case reveals how the Carolingian Empire preserved order within the church through coercive reform. The hierarchy compelled Christians to accept correction of perceived sins and errors, while punishing as sources of spiritual corruption those rare dissenters who resisted its authority.

More books from OUP Oxford

Cover of the book Work and Object by Matthew Bryan Gillis
Cover of the book Good Faith and International Economic Law by Matthew Bryan Gillis
Cover of the book Words Alone by Matthew Bryan Gillis
Cover of the book Kidney Disease: From advanced disease to bereavement by Matthew Bryan Gillis
Cover of the book Black Beauty by Matthew Bryan Gillis
Cover of the book Introduction to Company Law by Matthew Bryan Gillis
Cover of the book The Oxford Handbook of Law and Economics by Matthew Bryan Gillis
Cover of the book Myths of the Underworld in Contemporary Culture by Matthew Bryan Gillis
Cover of the book Globalization: A Very Short Introduction by Matthew Bryan Gillis
Cover of the book EU Employment Law by Matthew Bryan Gillis
Cover of the book Blackstone's Police Operational Handbook 2019: Law by Matthew Bryan Gillis
Cover of the book Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas by Matthew Bryan Gillis
Cover of the book Contributory Negligence in the Twenty-First Century by Matthew Bryan Gillis
Cover of the book Geriatric Medicine: an evidence-based approach by Matthew Bryan Gillis
Cover of the book Contestants, Profiteers, and the Political Dynamics of Marketization by Matthew Bryan Gillis
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy