Episcopal Elections 250-600: Hierarchy and Popular Will in Late Antiquity

by Peter Norton

Overview

Peter Norton covers a topic of great relevance to students of early Church history and late antiquity alike. He challenges the conventional view that after the adoption of Christianity by the Roman empire the local community lost its voice in the appointment of bishops, and argues that this right remained in theory and practice for longer than is normally assumed. Given that bishops became important to the running of the empire at the local level, a proper understanding of how they came into office is essential for our understanding of the later empire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191525872
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	02/22/2007
Series:	Oxford Classical Monographs
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	669 KB

About the Author

Peter Norton teaches at the Dragon School, Oxford.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations     x
Introduction     1
Legislation and theory     18
The electorate: local communities and public disorder     52
Imperial intervention     81
Provinces and patriarchs: organizational structures     118
The metropolitan system in the West     145
The Eastern metropolitans     162
Corruption, constraint, and nepotism     177
Three disputed elections     215
Conclusion     239
Greek and Latin texts of canons relating to episcopal elections     246
Bibliography     260
Primary Sources     260
Secondary literature     262
Index     267

Editorial Reviews

""[R]eaders, who come to this study to learn more about the sometimes bumpy roads leading to the episcopacy, will find their horizons broadened."
—Church History

From the Publisher