Paul at Rome, waiting for his trial on account of the things which the Jews had laid to his charge. John had lived many years at Ephesus, where he governed the churches of the country around.
ST. IGNATIUS (AD 116)
In the Roman history, Trajan is described as one of the best among the emperors; but he did not treat the Christians well. All the misfortunes that took place, such as rebellions, defeats in war, plague, and scarcity, were laid to the blame of the Christians; and the emperor himself seems to have thought that they were in fault, as he made some new laws against them.
ST. POLYCARP (AD 166)
Then he and the others who had been brought up for trial with him were asked whether they would offer sacrifice to the gods of the heathen, and as they refused to do this, and to forsake their faith, they were all beheaded (AD 166). The magistrate tried to persuade Polycarp to sacrifice to the gods; but finding that he could make nothing of him, he pushed him out of the chariot so roughly that the old man fell and broke his leg.
THE MARTYRS OF LYONS AND VIENNE (AD 177) Many other martyrs suffered in various parts of the empire under the
Among the martyrs was a boy from Asia, only fifteen years old, who was taken every day to see the tortures of the rest in the hope that he might be frightened into denying his Saviour; but he was not shaken by the terrible sights, and for his constancy he was cruelly put to death on the last day. The heathen were not content with putting the martyrs to death with tortures, or allowing them to die in prison.
TERTULLIAN; PERPETUA AND COMPANIONS (AD 181- 206)
He implored her to think of her mother and her brothers, and of the disgrace which would fall on all the family if she were to be put to death as an evil-doer. The prisoners were kept for some time after their condemnation, that they might be put to death at some great games which were to be held on the birthday of one of the emperor's sons; and during this.
ORIGEN (AD 185-254)
And it seemed to the good bishop, that for the present it would be best to go out of the way of his. Rome was the greatest city in the whole world, and the capital of the empire.
FROM GALLIENUS
When he sacrificed, the insides of the victims (as the beasts offered in sacrifice were called) were said to look in such a way as to show that the gods were angry. Although there is no room to give any particular account of the martyrs here, there is one of them who especially deserves to be remembered, because he was the first who suffered in our own island.
CONSTANTINE THE GREAT (AD 313-337) It was a great thing for the Church that the emperor of Rome should
Licinius, the emperor of the East, who had joined with Constantine in his first laws,. Sapor then sent forth a second order, that the bishops, priests, and deacons of the Christians should be put to death, that their.
THE COUNCIL OF NICAEA (AD 325)
Constantine desired Athanasius to receive him back into the Church, saying that he was not guilty of the errors which had been laid to his charge. Although Constantine in his last years was very much in the hands of the Arians, we must not suppose that he meant to favour their.
THE MONKS
The second visit was in the time of the Arian disturbances, when his appearance had even a greater effect than before. But when he went to the cathedral on the festival of the Epiphany, and saw Basil at the head of his clergy, and witnessed their solemn service, he was struck with awe.
ST. AMBROSE (AD 374-397)
Martin, Bishop of Tours, who was called "The Apostle of the Gauls", did all that he could to prevent it. And when they were all gathered together in the place, instead of the amusement which had been. This letter brought the emperor to feel that he had done very wrongly; but Ambrose wished to make him feel it far more.
THE TEMPLE OF SERAPIS (AD 391) In the account of Constantine, it was mentioned that the emperors
It was in the year 391 that an old heathen temple at Alexandria was given up to the bishop of the city, who wished to build a church on the spot. The idol of Serapis was of such vast size that it reached from one side of the temple to the other. But the stout soldier first made a blow which 079 struck off one of the idol's cheeks, and then dashed his axe into.
CHURCH GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER XVIII: CHRISTIAN WORSHIP, PART I 085 In the early days of the Gospel, while the Christians were generally. Antioch; and soon after this he was ordained to be one of the clergy, and was appointed chief preacher of the city (AD 386). But he refused all thanks or credit on account of the /success of his mission.
ST. AUGUSTINE (AD 354-430) PART I The church in the north of Africa has hardly been mentioned since
Thus they remained until the death of the emperor Constantius (AD 361), and Donatus had died in the mean time. Augustine did all that he could to make something of the Donatists, but it was mostly in vain. Marcellinus, who had been sent by the emperor to hear both parties, gave judgment in favour of the Catholics.
COUNCILS OF EPHESUS AND CHALCEDON (AD 431- 451)
This council, which was the fourth of the general councils, was attended by six hundred and thirty bishops. CHAPTER XXIII: FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE (AD 451-476) The empire of the West was now fast sinking. The last emperor of the West, Augustulus, was put down in the year 476, and a barbarian prince named Odoacer became king of Italy.
CONVERSION OF THE BARBARIANS;
The Britons had been long under the power of the Romans; but, as the empire grew weaker, the Romans found that they could not afford to keep up an /army here; and they 135 had given up Britain in the year 409. Two bishops, German of Auxerre, and Lupus of Troyes, were sent accordingly by a council to which the petition of the Britons had. A great number of the soldiers were baptized at Easter, and German put himself at their heads.
SCOTLAND AND IRELAND
It is said that he then travelled a great deal; /and he 138 became a presbyter of the Church. But Patrick broke through all difficulties, and was consecrated bishop of the Irish in the year 432. And at Mount Cassino he drew up his Rule in the year 529; so that the beginning of /the monks of St.
END OF THE SIXTH CENTURY (PART I) We must not suppose that the conversion of the western barbarians
And the patriarchs at Constantinople seemed likely, with the help of the emperor's favour, to be dangerous rivals to the popes of Rome. This fondness appears in the titles of the emperors and of the officers of their empire, and it was by it that the patriarchs were led to style themselves "Universal Bishop.". A little way outside the city they found a small church which had 165 been built in the days of the old British Christianity, and in which.
MAHOMETANISM; IMAGE-WORSHIP (AD 612-794) Within a few years after the death of Gregory the Great, a new
I have mentioned that before Gregory the Great's time almost all Europe had been overrun by the rude nations of the North (Part I, Chapter XXIII). There is but little to tell of the history of those times; for, although in the Greek. There were, then, some of the Greek emperors who /tried to put down 171 the superstitious regard for images, and they were the more set on.
Hence it is said that the Greeks may not worship anything of which one can take the tip of the nose between his finger and his thumb. Even those who met them on the road used eagerly to ask their blessing, and, whenever one of them came to any village, the inhabitants flocked to hear from him the message of the Gospel. We must not suppose that these differences were of any real importance; for they were only about such small matters as the reckoning of the day on which Easter should he kept, and the way in which the hair of the clergy should be clipped or shaven.
ST. BONIFACE (AD 680-755)
And, while the kings had sunk into this pitiable state, the real work of the kingly office. He founded bishoprics, and held councils of clergy and laymen for the settlement of the Church's affairs. Pipin afterwards went into Italy for the help of the pope, and 178 bestowed on the Roman Church a large tract of country which he had taken from the Lombards.
DECAY OF CHARLES THE GREAT'S EMPIRE (AD 814-887) Lewis, the son of Charles the Great, was a prince who had very much
They made fortified camps, often on the islands of the great rivers, and did all the mischief they could within a large circle around them. Another set of enemies were the Mahometan Saracens, who got possession of the great islands of the Mediterranean and laid waste its coasts. Rome and Naples; others in the neighbourhood of Nice, /and on that 183 part of the Alps which is now called the Great St.
MISSIONS OF THE NINTH AND TENTH CENTURIES It will be pleasanter to tell you something about the missions of
Lord gave,. and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!". Olave was at first a heathen, and had long been a famous sea-rover, when he was converted and baptized in one of the Scilly islands (AD 994). These were strange ways of spreading the Gospel; but they seem to have had their effect on the rough men of the North.
But when the popes called themselves "Universal Bishops," they meant that they were bishops of the whole Church, and that all other bishops were under them. And in these letters it was made to appear that the pope had been appointed by our Lord Himself to be head of the whole Church, and to govern it as he liked; and that the popes had always used this power from the beginning. On arriving at Rome, he told the Romans that he did not consider himself to be pope on account of the emperor's favour, but that if they should think fit to choose him he was willing to be pope.
THE FIRST CRUSADE (AD 1095-1099) PART I
They were to wear goatskins next to the flesh, and their dress was. altogether to be of the coarsest and roughest sort. We shall see by-and-by how it was that the order of the Temple came to ruin. Bernard was chosen to be head of one of the swarms which went forth from Citeaux.
ADRIAN IV; ALEXANDER III; BECKET;
No doubt he believed many things which we should think superstitious or altogether wrong; and in his conduct we cannot help noticing some tokens of human frailty--especially a jealous love of the power and influence which he had gained. In order to get out of the king's way, the archbishop secretly left England (AD 1164), and for six years he lived in France, where King Lewis treated him with much kindness, partly because this seemed a good way to annoy the king of England. In 1185, when Urban III was pope, tidings reached /Europe that 217 Jerusalem had been taken by the great Mussulman hero and conqueror, Saladin; and at once all Western Christendom was stirred up to make a grand attempt for the recovery of the Holy City.
INNOCENT THE THIRD (AD 1198-1216) PART I The popes were continually increasing their power in many ways,
They declared themselves to be above any councils of bishops, and claimed the power of assembling general councils, although in earlier times this power had belonged to the emperors, as was seen in the case of the first great council of Nicaea. And he forced John of England to accept Stephen Langton as archbishop of Canterbury, although Langton was appointed by the pope without any regard to the rights of the clergy or of the sovereign of England. It so happened that the most famous of the preachers, whose name was Fulk, arrived there just as a number of nobles and knights were met for a tournament (which was the name given to the fights of knights on horseback, which were regarded as sport, but very often ended in sad earnest).
