| CODE | HPA5000 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Church History: From Medieval to Contemporary | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Church History, Patrology and Palaeochristian Archaeology | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study-unit in Church History, covering the periods from medieval to modern and contemporary Church History, delves into a wide range of topics, which highlight the main events in the long history of Christianity and the Catholic Church. The historical period spans from c. 610 (The Islamic conquests in North Africa to the close of Vatican Council II in 1965). The journey into Church History during the early Middle Ages leads one from Islam’s conquests of the North African States and the fate of Christianity; the Carolingian Empire and the Ottonian Empire; the monastic reforms and reforming Popes from Leo IX to Gregory VII; The relation between the Church in the East and in the West until the 1054 Eastern Schism; the High Middle Ages saw Innocent III ‘s reforms, and the rise of the mendicant and military religious Orders, the crusades, as well as dissidence and heresies and the origin of the medieval Inquisition; themes such as the rise of the nation-state and lay autonomy in matters of state, the tassel between Boniface VIII and the King of France, Henry II of England and Archbishop Thomas Beckett, come into focus; the papal monarchy at Avignon and the Great Western Schism and the Councils which led to its healing, Constance, Basil-Ferrara-Florence as well as conciliarism are dealt with; the Modern era introduces the age of discoveries, the Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Reformation and counter (Protestant) Reformation and their aftermath, for example the Council of Trent and its consequences; the rise of clerical religious Orders and the various spiritual movements which peppered the religious scene; the evangelizing and missionary activity of the Church and its struggle with colonialism. From the sixteenth century onwards the study of the classical period of Church- State relations are studied within the age of Absolutism and the particular manner in which the absolute monarchies controlled the Churches, Catholic and Protestant, this after the wars of religion and the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, brought the supposedly wars of religion to an end in Europe; the Enlightenment and the French revolution provided a new challenge to the Church during the last phase of the eighteenth century, as did the nationalism and the industrial revolution in an age of Liberalism during mid nineteenth century and early twentieth century, with the separation of Church and State, the end of the Papal States, the Roman Question and the development of the Church’s social teaching. In what can termed the contemporary period, the Church confronted militarism and WWI and later the totalitarian states and ideologies of Communism, Fascism and Nazism and WWII; post WWII period, saw the end of what some call the “ long nineteenth century” and the ushering of the contemporary and postmodern Church, with Vatican Council II and its aftermath. Study-Unit Aims: To present the development and progression of events in the history of the Church from medieval times to the contemporary era. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Obtain a deeper understanding of the dynamics within the Church as she lived through the different challenges which both her own inner life and the secular world faced her with. Within the hard historical facts, the student would have learnt how to read deeper into the events and see the long thread of development in doctrine, Church- State relations; crossing of new pastoral frontiers, among others; - Integrate the confluence of historical events concerning the Church and society, and analyze their impact on the lives of Christians; - Arrive at an unbiased judgment of historical events, entailing a mature reading of the signs of the times, while merging them with dynamics in the Church and its context. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Identify key figures in the history of the Church and their lasting influence on the Church and the cultural context in which they lived; - Evaluate intelligently the various movements within the Church and Society and the former’s response; - Appreciate how events have shaped the Church, moulding it gradually into what it is today. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Cabezon, Jose` Ignacio, ed., Scholasticism: Cross-Cultural and Comparative Perspectives (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1998). - Evans, G.R., The Language and Logic of the Bible: The Earlier Middle Ages (Cambridge: CUP, 1984). - Levi, Anthony, Renaissance and Reformation: The Intellectual Genesis (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002). - MacCullogh Diarmuid, Reformation: Europe’s House Divided, 1490-1700 (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 2003). Supplementary Readings: - Kramnick, Isaac, ed., The Portable Enlightenment Reader (New York; Penguin, 1995). - Ward, W.R., Christianity Under the Ancien Regime: 1648-1789 (Cambridge: CUP, 1999). - Amaladoss, M., Making All Things New: Dialogue, Pluralism and Evangelization in Asia (Maryknoll, 1990). - Faggioli, Massimo, Vatican II: The Battle for Meaning (New York: Paulist, 2012). |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Pre-requisite Qualifications: BA. Hons. Theology with a subsidiary area. Pre-requisite Study-unit: HPA1100 - Early Christian History |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture and Tutorial | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Nicholas Joseph Doublet |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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