A History of The Medieval Church (590–1500) - SP 02 | The Complete History of The Medieval Church

The son of Pepin king of the Franks, patron of Boniface, was Charles the Great, who ruled from 768 till 814. He not only united under his rule all the Frankish dominions, but extended his realm by conquest over the Pyrenees into Spain, and over the unconquered Old Saxons and Slavs. The Lombards of north Italy acknowledged his sway, and the pope, after appealing to him for protection against them, crowned him emperor in Saint Peter’s on Christmas Day, in the year 800. His empire included so large a part of western Europe that his intervention in ecclesiastical affairs was of particular importance, for the measures taken were not only binding legally within the empire but affected by their example the lands without. The renaissance of letters which Charles the Great inspired marks the end of the dark ages.

This renaissance was prepared for and made possible by the canonical renaissance, or revival of interest in the canons of the church, under Boniface and Pepin, and particularly by the work of one of Boniface’s disciples, the Frankish bishop Chrodegang of Metz. Boniface’s concern was for the observance of all the canons: Chrodegang’s the narrower and yet immense one of the observance of all those affecting the personal life of the clergy. Chrodegang founded with his own possessions, for he was the son of a great Frankish noble, two abbeys where the Benedictine rule was most strictly observed: and his admiration for monks could not but affect his conception of what the “vita canonica,” the life of the secular clergy according to the canons, ought to be. In churches which had endowment for a familia of clergy, these should live in common, particularly in the case of the familia of a bishop; in small, outlying churches such a life was, of course, impossible. Bishops should supply to the familia of their cathedral church sufficient for its common maintenance, and should build for it a cloister like those of Benedictine monasteries. This theory as to what was the “canonical” life for the clergy was not the view of Chrodegang alone, but probably of all the bishops appointed by Boniface. Rigobert of Reims, “restored the canonical religion to his clerks, and appointed them sufficient victuals and estates which he conferred on them, and he instituted a common chest for their use,” as probably did other bishops. The notable point of Chrodegang’s work was that he wrote a rule for the life and government of his family at Metz. This rule is of importance, because it gradually became the norm for the life of all cathedral and collegiate churches in Charles’s empire: and in the council of Aix-la-Chapelle, held in 817, it was made solemnly binding upon them all. The version of Aix-la-Chapelle has a few additional chapters, and deals with life within the monastery and the cure of souls exercised by the clerks over their parochia, which was often that of the cathedral church, and always large. The canons were to range themselves, in church or refectory, in the lawful grades of their orders; some of the canons would be “small children and youths” in the grade of lector or acolyte. Provosts and prelates must not admit more clerks than the endowment of their churches could support. Clerks might retain their own property, or receive the stipend for some office in the church; those who had neither of these means of support must receive food and clothing in the congregation, and part of the alms; rich and poor clerks must fare equally in the congregation. The archdeacon, or the provost, must train the clergy wisely and set a good example in his own life. None must enter the monastery save by the door of the cloister, and all must sleep in one dormitory. The clerks must say night office and the canonical hours, not pompously, or in a slovenly manner, but standing and chanting religiously.

[Thaneoftranmere]

Finished watching/listening to the account. I thought it was very good, tying together a number of threads. Particularly liked the references to the role of iconoclasm.
Excommunication and counter anathema was interesting in the schism between Eastern and Western churches.
Similarly, the references to the slow rise to primacy of the papacy. The start of the long road to Canossa.

[Thaneoftranmere]

Morning (UK time). I've just start listening to this opus.
I'm not sure why the work starts with Charlemagne's time. Presumably, there is reference to the stated earlier period elsewhere.
So far, the reading is clear and informative. I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the work. I'll try and write something constructive when I've heard the whole reading.
Thank you very much for your efforts and making it available.

[PierreKadomtzeff-un]

De Grégoire le Grand à la naissance de Charles de Gand