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More Pollock than Mondrian

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Overview and Issues

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Abstract

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  • WG150 - Christianity more resembles the art of Jackson Pollock than a Piet Mondrian, no established order in either the Roman church or the Celtic church, a "glorious creative energy of chaos". Centuries 1-6 - Part 1 covers the early emergence of Christianity in various areas of the Eastern and Western Roman Empire and its growth after the conversions of Constantine in Eastern Europe and Clovis in Western Europe, following system influenced by the Empire. It examines the difference between "church" and "kingdom" and discusses the civil roles assumed by literate clerics. It discusses the development of the Celtic church along clan lines and the beginnings of the monastic system.
  • WG151 - Centuries 7-8 - Part 2 focuses on the "micro-Christendoms" relevant to "King Hereafter". It covers the conflicts between Celtic and English/Roman Christianity, including papal authority, St. Columbanus and Benedictine monastic rule and the hierarchy of the monastic houses. It discusses the significant impact of the Carolingian dynasty, most particularly Charlemagne, and the increase in conversions (forced) following wars. Missionary work by Boniface and others to the pagan Germans led to many conversions and a standardization of ecclesiastical law and practices. A change in the vision of rulership and personal responsibility occurs during this period. The "divine right of kings" becomes established.
  • WG152 - Centuries 9-10 - Part 3. Christianity was greatly threatened by Viking, Magyar and Arab incursions. The Vikings and Magyars were eventually settled and converted. The Arabs settled, but were not converted. They were defeated and driven out of Europe, retaining lands and influence in what was the Byzantine Empire. The Arabs disrupted maritime trading and established trade routes and at least one major center of civilization, Córdoba, Spain. The Viking raids in England and Northern Europe targeted churches and monasteries because of the concentration of gold and precious objects. Christianity was ultimately saved because of the settlements which made conversion possible. Rulers converted to Christianity because of the structure and education provided by the church. Monasticism also began a shift during this period with the development of the larger orders such as Cluny. Scandinavia was much slower to convert. The churches of western and southern Europe were controlled by the wealthy and powerful bishoprics of the region. Thorfinn makes a choice for economic and political reasons to align himself with the pope in Rome rather than the impoverished Archbishop of Hamburg who was tasked with the conversion of Scandinavia.
  • WG153 - Turn of the Millennium - Part 4 focuses on the state of Europe at the opening of KH. England, which was united under one king, was stable with strong leadership and a highly-educated clergy and nobility. It had growing ties with the European continent. The Church, on the other hand, was insular and old-fashioned. The Church was linked to Rome and was a blend of Celtic and Roman. Control was in the hands of the king and there was less dependence on monasticism. The country we know as Scotland was split, with little or no influence by Christianity in the north and poor bishoprics and monasteries in the south. Scandinavia was only recently converted and was still subject to pagan influences. Religious connections were with England. West Francia was fragmented by a number of duchies. The churches were highly influenced by the current ruler not by external Christian centers or the Pope. East Francia was held together by much larger duchies. The churches had more in common with the English Church because of the missions from England and Ireland. The Papacy underwent great changes in the second millennium. The Pope was considered ‘the first among equals’. There were many popes and anti-popes during this century and a high degree of corruption. A number of popes attempted reforms, including the demand for celibacy and the end to simony.
  • WG154 - First Millennium - Part 5. During this period, society is divided by rank with access to nobility increasingly set by birth. The laws of primogeniture were more the norm rather than titles being awarded by the king. Power struggles between the church, king and nobility have increased. The king is seen as the head of the church and increasingly responsible for the collective behavior of his flock. The church was to insure salvation, the nobility to sustain and defend Christendom. Much of the arable land was in the hands of the church creating great wealth and power. Bishops controlled much of this land. Depending on the strength of the king and the monasteries, bishoprics could be attained by election, appointment by the king or by buying the position (simony). Politics often controlled these appointments. Slavery was still practiced, even by the Church.
  • WG155 - First Millennium - Part 6. The final installment of this series explores the world of the medieval man and woman. The concept of reality was very different than today, the Christian god vs physical theories. Medieval people believed in fate and free will. Avoidance of Hell or eternal damnation could be earned in a number of ways such as doing penances, goin on a pilgrimage, Paying for masses to be said or by granting land or gifting relics to the church. Relics were a major source of income for a church or monastery. In the early half of the 11th Century, priests could marry and have children. The Georgian Reforms of 1073 instituted clerical celibacy and outlawed simony. This resulted in a more cohesive European Christianity controlled by the papacy which remained virtually unchanged until 1517 with the reformation by Martin Luther.

Author

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Dunnett Book Citations

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Historical People

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WG150, Pt 1

WG151, Pt 2

WG152, Pt 3

WG153, Pt 4

  • Crinan, Abbot of Dunkeld
  • Carl Thorbrandsson

WG154, Pt 5

  • Wulfstan, Archbishop of York

WG155, Pt 6

  • Juhel, Archbishop of Dol

Fictional Characters

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  • (none)

Locations

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  • The Roman Empire, 4th Century
  • Merovingian and Carolingian Empires, 5th-9th Centuries
  • Roman and Celtic Britain, 3rd-6th Centuries
  • England, Western and Southern Europe, the Mediterranean, 9th-11th Centuries

Literature

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  • (none)

Illustrations and Photos

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WG150, Pt 1

  • Scent 1955, Jackson Pollack, 1955. Copyright The Pollack Krasner Foundation ARS, NY and DACS, London 2021, photo credit: James Goodman Gallery, New York, USA/Bridgeman Images
  • Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow, Piet Mondrian, 1930. Credit: Kunsthaus Zurich, donated by Alfred Roth, 1987
  • 'St Simeon Stylites', Williams Burges, 1861. Copyright V&A, London.
  • 'La croix miraculeuse': Constantine sees the Chi Rho appear in the sky. Jean Baptiste Lienard after Peter Paul Rubens. c.1808. Copyright The Trustees of the British Museum
  • Late Carolingian ivory binding, c. 870, with miracles from the life of St. Remigius
  • The Cross of Muiredach at Monasterboice in Co. Louth, Ireland, 9th-10th Century, Image: The National Library of Ireland
  • The female St. Merryn portrayed in the east chancel window of the church of St. Merryn in Padstow, Cornwall. Photo Copyright Dr. Mark Charter

WG151, Pt 2

  • St. Augustine preaching to Ethelbert and Bertha, after John Callcott Horsley, 1847.Copright The Trustee of the British Museum
  • Book of Kells, c. 800<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book of Kells</ref>. Folio 27v, Copyright The Board of Trinity College, Dublin.
  • Charlemagne denier coined in Frankfurt 812-814, Cabinett des Medailles in Paris. Image: PHGCOM, 2009

WG152, Pt 3

  • Viking Longship in the Viking Museum, Oslo, Norway; Photo Copyright, Nickolay Stanev/Dreamstine.com
  • Mosque at Córdoba; Photo Copyright, Boris Breytman/Dreamstine.com
  • Cathedral within the mosque; Photo Copyright, Philippe Halle/Dreamstine.com
  • ‘Budapest, The Fisherman’s Bastion: The Magyar Warriors’, Bill Barber, CC by-NC 2.0 license
  • Emma of Normandy depicted on the opening miniature from the ‘Encomium Emma reginae’, Add MS 33241,f.1v. Image: The British Library
  • Consecration of the main alter of Cluny III by Pope Urban II in 1095, ‘Miscellanea secundum usum Ordinis Cluniacensis, late 12th/early 13th century, folio 91r. Source gallica.bnf.fr/Bibliotheque National de France
  • The Cluny paschal lamb, 12th century carving, Abbey of Cluny

WG153, Pt 4

  • Saxon church in Bradford on Avon, England, with mediaeval-era church in background. Photo Copyright 1000words/Dreamstine.com
  • Silver coin, King Canute. Moneyed:Corinna. Production date 1016-35, minted in York, England, Copyright Trustees of the British Museum
  • ‘Cadaver Synod’, the trial of the disinterred corpse of Pope Formosus in 897, by Gromyko at Deviant Art
  • Henry III at the consecration of the monastery at Stablo, from the Perikopenbuch Heinrich’s III, c. 1039-43. State and University Library, Bremen, Germany
  • Benedict IX and Leo IX, Chronologia Summorum Romanorum Pontificum, 1675. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum

WG154, Pt 5

  • Jackson Pollock (American, 1912–56). Mural, 1943. Oil and casein on canvas, 7 ft 11 ins x 19 ft 10 ins. Gift of Peggy Guggenheim, 1959.6. © University of Iowa Museum of Art. Reproduced with permission from The University of Iowa
  • Knights engaged in a sea battle from The Decretals of Gregory IX, France, 1275–1325. British Library, Royal 10 E IV f. 19.
  • Costume of slaves, from the 6th to 12th centuries. Wikimedia Commons.
  • The Suontaka Sword, National Museum of Finland, c. 1040–1170. Photo: Velivieras, CCA-SA 4.0 licence.
  • Illustration from the Stuttgart Psalter, Cod. bibl. fol. 23, early 9th century. Württemberg State Library, Stuttgart, Germany.
  • Peasants ploughing from The Luttrell Psalter, England, 1325–40. British Library, Add MS 42130 f. 170r.
  • The divine coronation of Roger II of Sicily, Church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio, Palermo, Sicily. © Jozef Sedmak|Dreamstime.com.
  • The multicolumned crypt of Worcester Cathedral: the cushion capitals remain from the original monastic church begun by St Wulfstan of Worcester in 1084. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC-by-SA 3.0.
  • Wulfstan, Archbishop of York, late 18th–early 19th century. National Portrait Gallery, London. ‘Sermo lupi ad Anglos’, 11th-century manuscript of a homily by Wulfstan of York. British Library, Cotton MS Nero Ai, f. 110r.

WG155, Pt 6

  • Pilgrims on the road to Canterbury, from John Lydgate’s Prologue of the Siege of Thebes, London, c. 1457–60. Image: British Library, Royal MS 18 D II, f. 148r.
  • Abbey of Sainte-Trinite, Caen, France, founded in the 11th century. Photo © Boris Breytman | Dreamstime.com.
  • ‘History of Salvation’, detail from a stained glass window by Sieger Köder (1925–2015) in the Church of St Bartholomew, Leutershausen, Germany. Photo 114471181 © Zatletic|Dreamstime.com.
  • Detail of a miniature showing figures of the Seven Deadly Sins outside the walled Garden of Pleasures. Roman de la Rose, Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, France, c. 1380. Image British Library, MS Yates Thompson 21, f. 165.
  • ‘The Death of Simon Magus’, from whom the term ‘simony’ derived (see ‘Christianity in the First Millennium’, WG 154, p. 22). The Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493. Wikimedia Commons.
  • The Brecbennoch (also known as the Monymusk) Reliquary. It dates from around 750 and probably contained a relic of St Columba. © National Museums Scotland.
  • Flagellants, The Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493. Image: Cambridge University Library, Inc.0.A.7.2[888], p. 215r.
  • ‘The Purgatorial Ladder, or Ladder of Souls, with the Seven Deadly Sins’, medieval wall painting, c. 1200. St Peter and St Paul’s, Chaldon, Surrey. Photo © Roy Reed, 2013.
  • A page from an 11th-century book for episcopal use including penitential texts, Worcester, England. Bodleian Library MS. Junius 121. Photo © Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford.
  • Charlemagne pointing the way to Spain, from the Chroniques de France, Paris, 1st half of the 14th century. Image: British Library, Royal MS 16 G VI, f. 166r.
  • Jewelled full-body relic of St Hyacinthus in the former Cistercian church of St Mary’s Assumption, Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany. Photo: Richard Huber.

Maps

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WG150, Pt 1

  • Map adapted from map by Milenioscuro, 'Roman Empire 125 political map, CC by-SA

WG150, Pt 1 and WG152, Pt 3

  • Map by Semhur, based on 'The Growth of Frankish Power, 481-814' from the Historical Atlas by Williams R. Shepherd. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1911, CC by-SA

WG153, Pt 4

  • Map adapted from the Euratlas ‘Europe 1000’
  • West Francia at the turn of the millennium

WG155, Pt 6

  • 14th-century map of the world with Jerusalem, drawn as a castle, in the centre. Winds depicted as blowing animal heads in corners. MS. Tanner 170, Ranulf Higden, d. 1364. © Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford.

Historical Events

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WG150, Pt 1

WG151, Pt 2

Bibliography

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  • 'The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Christianity', John H. Arnold, ed. Oxford University Press, 2107. Pt 1, WG150; Pt 2, WG151; Pt 3, WG152; Pt 4, WG153: Pt 5, WG154; Pt 6, WG155
  • 'The Pre-Conquest Church in England', Margaret Deanesly. A and C Black, Ltd, 1961. Pt 1, WG150; Pt2, WG151; Pt 5, WG154
  • 'Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages', 3rd ed. C.H. Lawrence, Longman, 2001. Pt 1, WG150; Pt 2, WG151; Pt 3, WG152
  • 'History of the Liturgy: The Major Stages', Marcel Metzger, translated by Madeleine Beaumont. The Liturgical Press, 1997. Pt 1, WG150
  • 'Missal', Encyclopedia Britannica. Pt 1, WG150
  • 'Europe and the Middle Ages', 4th ed. Edward Peters, Pearson Education, 2004. Pt 1, WG150; Pt 2, WG151; Pt 3, WG152; Pt 4, WG153; Pt 5 WG154; Pt 5, WG155
  • 'Vatican Catholic Church Statistics 2020'. Agenzia Fides. October 16, 2020. Pt 1, WG150
  • 'The English Church 1000-66', Frank Barlow. Longman, 2001. Pt 2, WG151; Pt 4, WG153; Pt 5, WG154, Pt 6, WG155
  • ‘Córdoba Spain’. Pt 3, WG152
  • ‘Popes and Pornocrats: Rome in the Early Middle Ages’, Lindsay Brook, Foundations 1, no.1 (January 2003): Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. Pt 4, WG153
  • ‘The Year 1000, What Life was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium’, Robert Lacey & Danny Danziger. Abacus 2000. Pt 4, WG153, Pt 5, WG154
  • ‘The Moneyers of England, 973-1086’. Piercy, Jeremy. PhD diss., University of Edinburgh, 2017. Pt 4. WG153
  • 'Gregorian Reform', U. Blumenthal, Encyclopedia Britannica, February 15,2001. Pt 5, WG154; Pt 6, WG155
  • 'Late Anglo-Saxon Slavery - an interdisciplinary approach to the various forms of evidence'. Pelteret, David A.E. PhD diss., University of Toronto, 1976. Pt 5. WG154
  • 'The Routledge History of Medieval Christianity, 1050-1500', Routledge published online April 16, 2015. Pt 6, WG155

Other Topics

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Quotes from Dunnett

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<References>

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