Building a Church: Christianity and Imperium in the First Millenium

CH1002Z / 8002Z

The first millennium of the Church saw the greatest expansion of the Roman Empire, its collapse in the west, the rise of competing centres of power from Rome to Constantinople to Aachen. During the same period, Christianity developed from a small and persecuted Jewish cult to an expansive monotheistic state church, before being internally divided and threatened in the East by the rise of the Golden Horde and Islamic Caliphates. In this unit students will travel from the early eastern cave churches to the centre of Roman power, to monasteries from Nitria in North Africa, to Kiev and Iona. From the splendour of the Byzantine Hagia Sophia to the Carolingian renaissance of Charlemagne’s court at Aachen. In this unit, students will discover how the early Church went from the periphery to the centre of power, and then as the millennium approached was confronted by the rise of a new monotheistic evangelising religion that threatened the Eastern Church’s very survival.

Duration

One Semester

Availability

Second semester

Core/Elective

Core

Delivery Mode

Mixed Mode - onsite or online

Prerequisites

None

Should you want information about the readings for this unit, please contact your lecturer. Otherwise, all readings will be available through the unit ARK site two weeks prior to the beginning of the semester.

Prescribed Texts

Assessments

  1. Wiki - Online Project and Participation. Weighting 20%

    Participation in an online project and classroom discussions.

  2. Skeleton Argument - Essay Plan and Annotated Bibliography. Weighting 20%

    Short essay plan and a brief annotated bibliography.

  3. Written Examination - Short Exam. Weighting 30%

    Multiple-choice quiz and short answer primary source analysis.

  4. Essay. Weighting 30%

    Short essay.

TEACHING & LEARNING PLAN

This subject will involve:

  • One 2 hour lecture per week

  • One 1 hour tutorial per week

  • Online preparation & reading 2 hours per week

Learning Outcomes

Students completing this unit will:  

  • Participate in discussions about historical events, figures, or texts from the period covered in this unit, c.100-1000 C.E.

  • Articulate the historical context of some historical events, figures, or texts in the history of the Church in the first millennium, c.100-1000 C.E.

  • Identify and analyse ideas from primary and/or secondary sources to support a coherent argument.

  • Write a coherent and well-structured argumentative essay.

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