Church and State

The Evergreen Forum

CHURCH AND STATE IN THE MIDDLE AGES

The course will focus on Church-State conflicts during the Middle Ages. Beginning with the biblical background, it will cover Constantine’s conversion, the views of St. Augustine, the coronation of Charlemagne as Emperor of the Romans, and the struggles between popes and the Holy Roman Emperors that began in the 11th century with the Investiture Controversy. We will then cross the English Channel and examine the issues between Henry II and Thomas Becket, and will end our survey with the kidnapping of Pope Boniface VIII by the agents of the French king, Philip IV, in 1303.

The textbooks are The Crisis of Church and State 1050-1300 by Brian Tierney and Church and State in the Middle Ages edited by Bennett D. Hill. Unfortunately they are out of print, but there will be copies on reserve and duplicate copies of individual sections will be provided by the PSRC office for a small cost.

Sept. 27, Class 1 Introduction and Early Church

Tierney pp 1-11

Hill Part I and the New Testament selections:

Matthew 16:13-20; 22:15-22; 18:33-40

Romans 13:1-10; 2:11-14

I Peter 2:11-24

- These N.T. selections are to be found in the Hill book and in any copy of the New Testament

Oct. 4, Class 2 Significance of Constantine’s Conversion and Late Antiquity to Charlemayne

Tierney pp 11-14

Hill Parts II and III

Oct.11, Class 3 Investiture Controversy

Tierney pp 24-52

Hill pp 63, 64

Oct. 18, Class 4 Investiture Controversy Continued: Its Significance

Tierney pp 53-95

Hill pp 87-110

Oct. 25, Class 5 Conflict between Popes and Emperors Continues: The Papacy of Innocent III

Tierney pp 97-138

Hill pp 154-164

Nov. 1, Class 6 End of the Papal-Imperial Conflict and the Significance of Thomas Aquinas’s Political Thought

Tierney pp 139-171

Nov. 8, Class 7 Henry II and Thomas Becket

Hill part V

Nov 15, Class 8 Philip the Fair and Boniface VIII: The Defeat of the Papacy

Tierney pp 172-210

Hill pp 165,166, 174-194

Leader: Wayne Allen is retired from The College of New Jersey.

Thursday: 2.00 to 4.00 p.m., 8 weeks beginning September 27

Suzanne Patterson Building