The Church and the Dark Ages (430-1027): St. Benedict, Charlemagne, and the Rise of Christendom

by Phillip Campbell, Mike Aquilina (Editor)

Overview

What if the Dark Ages weren’t really dark after all?

You may have learned in world history class that the fall of the Roman Empire led to centuries of violence, ignorance, and barbarism in Europe. But that’s not all that happened during that time! The period between the fall of the Roman Empire and the High Middle Ages also was characterized by institutional, spiritual, and cultural advancements such as the rise of monasticism with St. Benedict of Nursia and the first encyclopedia by a Christian writer, St. Isidore of Seville.

In The Church and the Dark Ages (430–1027), author Phillip Campbell explains that the Dark Ages were not only a period of great political and cultural transition but also an era of great transformation in the Catholic Church. Campbell highlights key personalities of the Dark Ages such as St. Gregory the Great, Charlemagne, King Alfred the Great, St. Patrick, and St. Brigid.

You will learn that:

• Benedictines were responsible for technical and scientific advancements such as the mechanical clock, human flight, and eyeglasses.
• The Dark Ages was a period of great evangelization throughout Europe.
• Christianity elevated the status of women, particularly through mutual consent in the Sacrament of Marriage.
• The Church preserved literacy—and literature—throughout the chaotic centuries of early medieval Europe.

Books in the Reclaiming Catholic History series, edited by Mike Aquilina and written by leading authors and historians, bring Church history to life, debunking the myths one era at a time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781646800360
Publisher:	Ave Maria Press
Publication date:	12/17/2021
Series:	Reclaiming Catholic History
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	394,330
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Phillip Campbell is an author of several books, including Story of the Church, and the four-volume Story of Civilization series. He has also contributed to and edited a number of books and wrote two history textbooks. He is an instructor at Homeschool Connections and previously served two terms as mayor of Howell, Michigan.

Campbell has a bachelor’s degree in European history from Ave Maria University and a certificate in secondary education from Madonna University. Campbell has appeared on EWTN television, Ave Maria Radio, Radio Maria, Good Shepherd Catholic Radio, Mater Dei Radio, and on the Crawford Broadcasting Network.

Campbell and his children live in southern Michigan.

Mike Aquilina is a Catholic author, popular speaker, poet, and songwriter who serves as the executive vice president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. He is the editor of the Reclaiming Catholic History series.

Table of Contents

Reclaiming Catholic History: Series Introduction ix

Chronology of The Church and the Dark Ages (430-1027) xiii

Map xvi

Introduction: Anything but "Dark" xix

Chapter 1 Our Roman Heritage 1

Up Close and Personal: St. Augustine of Hippo 2

You Be the fudge: Did Christianity cause the collapse of the Roman Empire? 9

Chapter 2 The Church among Gauls and Goths 11

Up Close and Personal: The Cloak of St. Martin 14

You Be the Judge: Did St. Augustine invent the doctrine of original sin? 18

Chapter 3 The Age of St. Benedict 29

Up Close and Personal: The Dialogues of St. Gregory the Great 32

You Be the Judge: Did Christianity cause a decline in education and literacy in the early Middle Ages? 40

Chapter 4 Missionary Monks 45

Up Close and Personal: Sts. Cyril and Methodius 53

You Be the Judge: Were monks "useless"? 57

Chapter 5 The Church of Rome 59

Up Close and Personal: Pope Gregory the Great and Gregorian Chant 65

You Be the Judge: What really happened when Pope Leo the Great met Attila the Hun? 70

Chapter 6 East and West 73

Up Close and Personal: St. Maximus the Confessor 84

You Be the Judge: Did the Eastern churches ever affirm the primacy of Rome? 87

Chapter 7 The Carolingian Renaissance 89

Up Close and Personal: The Faith of Charlemagne 92

You Be the Judge: Wasn't the Church consumed with worry over the spread of Islam? 99

Chapter 8 Imperium and Sacerdotium 101

Up Close and Personal: King Alfred the Great 111

You Be the Judge: Do bad popes disprove papal infallibility? 115

Chapter 9 Sacramental Controversies 117

Up Close and Personal: St. Paschasius Radbertus 126

You Be the Judge: Is the dogma of the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist a late medieval invention? 136

Chapter 10 The Cluniac Reform 139

Up Close and Personal: St. Berno 140

You Be the Judge: Was priestly celibacy an innovation of the late Middle Ages? 148

Conclusion: Transformation and Continuity 151

Notes 155

Index 159

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“The so-called Dark Ages engenders images of a bloody, barbaric, and illiterate age without the light of civilization and progress. The Church and the Dark Ages (430–1027) refutes this erroneous notion, illustrating a time period of monasteries, missionaries, reform, and renewal. Phillip Campbell’s worthy addition to the Reclaiming Catholic History series presents the five hundred years from the end of the classical age to the beginnings of the high Middle Ages in a compelling and positive light. The story of the Church is expertly told in an engaging manner and is a necessary addition to every Catholic home.” —Steve Weidenkopf, author of The Church and the Middle Ages (100–1378)

“The Reclaiming Catholic History series is a boon and a blessing. It allows us to remember the past in an age of amnesia. Philip Campbell’s volume in this splendid series on the so-called Dark Ages shows us that they were anything but dark, but were instead the very dawn of Christendom, heralding the civilization of the Risen Son.” —Joseph Pearce, editor of St. Austin Review

“Engaging, instructive, and eminently enjoyable. Phillip Campbell sheds a bright light on the Dark Ages, exposing many of the myths that still cling to the centuries following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. From the death of St. Augustine in 430 to the peace of God established by the Synod of Elne in 1027, the ages were not as dark as commonly believed, and it was the Church who carried the light, above all in the hands of her saints.” —John P. Joy, senior theologian to Most Rev. Donald Hying, bishop of Madison

“Read this book to gain a greater awareness of the pivotal role the Catholic Church played in spiritually bridging the challenging yet eternally productive span of time between the fall of Rome and the intellectually enriching Middle Ages. Then share it with your students. After all, it was during this key stretch of human history that heroically sanctifying figures oriented our gaze ever heavenward.”—Justin McClain, Catholic author and high school theology teacher