The Role of the Bishop in Late Antiquity Conflict and Compromise

Late Antiquity witnessed a major transformation in the authority and power of the Episcopate within the Church, with the result that bishops came to embody the essence of Christianity and increasingly overshadow the leading Christian laity. The rise of Episcopal power came in a period in which drastic political changes produced long and significant conflicts both within and outside the Church. This book examines these problems in depth, looking at bishops' varied roles in both causing and resolving these disputes, including those internal to the church, those which began within the church but had major effects on wider society, and those of a secular nature.

Andrew Fear is Lecturer in Classics, University of Manchester, UK.
José Fernández Ubiña is Professor of Ancient History, University of Granada, Spain.
Mar Marcos is Senior Lecturer in Ancient History, University of Cantabria, Spain.

Introduction

Pacifiers and Instigators: Bishops in Interreligious Conflicts in Late Antiquity
Maijastina Kahlos (Finnish Academy, Finland)

Preaching and Mesmerizing. Christian Rhetorical Delivery and the Resolution of Conflicts
Alberto Quiroga Puertas (Universidad de Granada, Spain)

'Holy Bishops': Strategies of Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution Purificación
Ubric Rabaneda (Universidad de Granada, Spain)

Councils as Political and Ecclesiastical Conflicts in Late Antiquity: the Role of Bishops
Silvia Acerbi (Universidad de Cantabria, Spain)

Controversy and Debate over Sexual Matters among Western Churches
Teresa Sardella (Università di Catania, Italy)

The Donatist Conflict as Seen by Constantine and the Bishops
José Fernández Ubiña (Universidad de Granada, Spain)

Ius et religio: The Conference of Carthage and the End of the Donatist Schism
Carlos García Mac Gaw (Universidad de La Plata, Argentina)

Arians and Nicenes in Conflict: Gregory of Nazianzus in Constantinople
Ramón Teja y Juana Torres (Universidad de Cantabria, Spain)

Bishops, Judges and Emperors: CTh 16, 2, 31, CTh 16, 5, 46 and Sirm. 14 (409).
Victoria Escribano Paño (Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain)

Papal Authority, Local Autonomy and Imperial Control: Pope Zosimus and the Western Churches
Mar Marcos (Universidad de Cantabria, Spain)

East and West, Emperor and Bishop: Hormisdas and the Authority of the See of Rome.
Alexander Evers (Loyola University Chicago, John Felice Rome Center)

Bishops, Imperialism, and the Barbaricum
Andrew Fear (University of Manchester, UK)

The Bishops and the Byzantine Intervention in Hispania
Francisco Salvador Ventura (Universidad de Granada, Spain)

Conflict and Compromise: the Spanish Catholic Bishops and the Arian Kingdom of Toledo (from Vouillé to Leovigild)
Pedro Castillo Maldonado (Universidad de Jaén, Spain)

Index