An Introduction to the History of Christianity, A.D. 590-1314 (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III THE SO-CALLED DARK AGES The Dark Ages a misnomer ? Strength of the Papacy ? Rapid decay of Charles' Empire ? Character of Louis the Pious ? Two Teutonic Nations, the Germans and the French ? Feudalism ? Influences on the early development of the Church ? Persecution ? Church law ? Organization ? The Church Divine ? The Church and letters ? Intellectual stimulus of theology ? Feudal influences ? The Churches of East and West ? Nicolas I (the Great) ? Ignatius and Photius ? Splendid but precarious position of the Patriarch of Constantinople ? Election of Ignatius as Patriarch ? Ignatius opposes Bardas ? Moral depravity at Constantinople ? Photius supplants Ignatius ? Nicolas I excommunicates Photius ? Ignatius ? Nicolas and Lothair's adultery ? Hincmar of Reims ? Character of Nicolas I ? The False Decretals ? Universal employment of Latin ? Controversy stimulates the intellect ? Devotional literature ? The Dark Age of the Papacy ? Formosus ? The counts of Tusculum ? Anarchy in Europe ? The Saxon Dynasty ? Accusations against John XII ? Insecurity of the Popes ? Crescentius ? Papacy dependent of Tusculum ? Influence of the Papacy outside Rome ? Canute's letter ? Results of the Dark Ages. The term "Dark Ages"is:not a misnomer, though it covers a period of decay, disorder, and confusion. At the same time there are not wanting signs to show that the light of reason was by no means extinguished. On the contrary, especially in the Church, great conservative and creative forces were at work which preserved much of the older civilization and also brought new conceptions of social order into being. The period from the opening of the ninth to the middle of the eleventh century was characterized by the inextinguishable vitality of the Church, and especially the Roman Churc...