Class 1 (1/27) Introduction
Policies, syllabus, assignments
Video: "Biography: Constantine: The Christian Emperor"
Class 2 (2/3) Imperial Christianity
Lecture 1:
Origins and transformation of Christian institutions (download lecture outline)
Discussion 1: Constantine and conversion (see Assignments page for study questions for all discussions)
Reading: Brown, Christendom, “Introduction,” chapters 1 and 2; Davis, Councils, chapter 2; Eusebius, Church History 9.8-9 (download pdf) and Life of Constantine 1.25-38 (download pdf); Lactantius, On the Deaths of the Persecutors, excerpts (download pdf)
Class 3 (2/10) The Trinitarian Controversy
Lecture 2: Trinitarian controversy and Greek patristic thought (download lecture outline)
Discussion 2: Gregory of Nazianzus, Third Theological Oration
Reading: Brown, Christendom, chapter 3; Davis, Councils, chapter 3; Lim, “Christian Triumph and Controversy” (download pdf); Gregory of Nazianzus, Third Theological Oration (download pdf)
Class 4 (2/17) Monasticism and the holy man
Lecture 3: Rise of monasticism (download lecture outline)
Discussion 3: Syriac Life of Simeon the Stylite
Reading: Brown, "Holy Man" (download pdf); Anthony, Letters (download pdf); Syriac Life of Simeon the Stylite in Doran, ed. Lives of Simeon Stylites
Class 5 (2/24) Latin Christianity 380-430
Quiz 1 on early Christianity, Constantine, Trinitarian controversy, monasticism (see Assignments page for quiz terms and instructions)
Lecture 4: Augustine, Jerome, and friends (download lecture outline)
Reading: Brown, Christendom, chapter 4; Augustine, On Christian Doctrine and City of God (excerpts, download pdf)
Class 6 (3/3) Saints and relics
Lecture 5: Relics and the cult of the saints (download lecture outline)
Discussion 4: Life and Miracles of Martin of Tours
Reading: Sulpicius Severus, Life of Martin in Early Christian Lives; Gregory of Tours, Miracles of St. Martin book 1 (Van Dam, pp. 200-228, view e-book)
Class 7 (3/10) Christological controversy
Quiz 2 on Latin fathers, cult of relics
Lecture 6: The Christological controversy (download lecture outline)
Reading: Davis, Councils, chapter 4; Nestorius, Sermon 27 (download pdf), Bazaar of Heracleides (excerpt, download pdf); Proclus, Sermon 1 (download pdf); Cyril, Letter 96 (download pdf) and Explanation of the 12 Chapters (download pdf)
Class 8 (3/17) The council of Chalcedon
Lecture 7: From Ephesus I to Chalcedon (download lecture outline)
Discussion 5: Acts of the Council of Chalcedon
Reading: Davis, Councils, chapter 5; Chalcedonian Definition (download pdf); Acts of the Council of Chalcedon (excerpts, download pdf)
Class 9 (3/24) The outer reaches of Christendom
Quiz 3 on Christological controversy, including Chalcedon
Lecture 8: From Ireland to Persia (download lecture outline)
Video: "In Search of Ancient Ireland"
Reading: Brown, Christendom, chapters 5, 7; Patrick, Confession (download pdf)
Spring Break (3/28-4/2)
Class 10 (4/7) Gregory the Great and the Benedictine Rule
Lecture 9: The rise of Rome (download lecture outline)
Discussion 6: Benedictine and Pastoral Rules **Note change**
Reading: Brown, Christendom, chapter 8; Benedictine Rule; Gregory the Great, Pastoral Rule, part I (online text)
Class 11 (4/14) The Western churches before Charlemagne
Lecture 10: A church of the nobility (download lecture outline)
Paper 1 due: 5-7 pages on a primary text **Note change**
Reading: Brown, Christendom, chapters 6 and 9; Benedict, Rule; Lives of Radegund by Venantius Fortunatus and Baudonivia in Sainted Women of the Dark Ages
Class 12 (4/21) The impact of Islam
Quiz 4 on Christianity outside the Roman empire, rise of the papacy, Benedict, Merovingian church
Video: "Islam: Empire of Faith," episode 1
Lecture 11: Islam and the new world order (download lecture outline)
Reading: Brown, Christendom, chapters 12 and 13
Class 13 (4/28) Iconoclasm (the East, 630-787)
Lecture 12: Iconoclasm: theology, politics and art history (download lecture outline)
Reading: Brown, Christendom, chapter 17; Definition of the Council of Hieria (online text)
No class 5/5: Prof. Williams will be traveling
Class 14 (5/12) Charlemagne and the Church
Quiz 5 on impact of Islam, iconoclasm
Lecture 12: Western church and imperial expansion (download lecture outline)
Reading: Brown, Christendom, chapters 18 and 19
No discussion or primary reading
Paper 2 due in my office, SCI 267B, between 4-5 pm Thursday May 19 (HIST 329 exam time): 5-7 page book review