The Formation of Christendom

by Judith Herrin

Overview

A groundbreaking history of how the Christian “West” emerged from the ancient Mediterranean world

In this acclaimed history of Early Christendom, Judith Herrin shows how—from the sack of Rome in 410 to the coronation of Charlemagne in 800—the Christian “West” grew out of an ancient Mediterranean world divided between the Roman west, the Byzantine east, and the Muslim south. Demonstrating that religion was the period’s defining force, she reveals how the clash over graven images, banned by Islam, both provoked iconoclasm in Constantinople and generated a distinct western commitment to Christian pictorial narrative. In a new preface, Herrin discusses the book’s origins, reception, and influence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691219219
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	10/19/2021
Series:	Princeton Classics , #120
Pages:	568
Sales rank:	670,999
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

Judith Herrin is professor emeritus in the Department of Classics at King’s College London. Her books include Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe; Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire; Unrivalled Influence: Women and Empire in Byzantium; Margins and Metropolis: Authority across the Byzantine Empire; and Women in Purple: Rulers of Medieval Byzantium (all Princeton). She lives in Oxford, England.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations xi
Preface to the Expanded Edition xiii
Preface xv
Introduction 3
PART I: SEIZURE
ONE: Conquest 17
TWO: Elections 71
THREE: The Paradigm of Social Control 114
PART II: CONFINEMENTS
FOUR: Socialization 125
FIVE: Prisons 144
SIX: Deportations 187
EPILOGUE: The Spoiler State 225
HISTORIOGRAPHICAL SUPPLEMENT: A Tangled Web 241
Abbreviations 289
Notes 291
Bibliography 375
Index of Names and Places 383
Subject Index 391

Editorial Reviews

This exceptionally learned, remarkably broad, and lucidly written study represents a milestone in our understanding of the culture of late classical antiquity and of early medieval Europe. Examining both Muslim and Christian heirs of the Roman Empire, Herrrin explores faith as a material force in early medieval society. As the ancient world collapsed, religious faith rather than imperial rule became the feature with which Christians and Muslims defined their worlds. The adaptability of both to local needs provided the dynamism necessary for their expansion. Herrin sees Byzantium as the central force in the development of both Europe and Islam: Byzantium checked the Muslim challenge to Western Christendom but failed to confine Islam to Arabia. Certain to provoke discussion, this fine comparative history is essential for both research and general collections. Bennett D. Hill, St. Anselm's Abbey, Washington, D.C.

Library Journal

"Herrin's scholarship is unerring, her scope is wide and her style fluent. . . . The treatment of the so-called iconoclastic controversy, the dispute over the veneration of images in Christian worship which convulsed the Byzantine world in the eighth century, is sparkling. . . . Debate about where modern Europe came from . . . will be enriched by this civilized and accomplished book."

The Economist

"Herrin follows some magnificent themes with the lucid dispassion of a good detective."—-Thomas D'Evelyn, Christian Science Monitor

"It is [the] binding together of distant past and immediate present which makes Judith Herrin's scholarship so exciting: she can convince the reader that the roots of Western distinctiveness really do lead all the way to forgotten episcopal meetings in small towns in Asia Minor in the fourth century."—-Michael Ignatieff, The Observer

"A learned, challenging, and gracefully written interpretation of the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages."—-Robert L. Wilken, Commonweal

"A serious and powerful book. . . . A grand synthesis on a scale few people would dare now to attempt, ranging across diverse societies with considerable assurance."—-Christopher J. Wickham, International History Review

From the Publisher

This is a serious and powerful book....a grand synthesis on a scale few people would dare now to attempt, ranging across diverse societies with considerable assurance.

The International History Review - Christopher J. Wickham

...it will no longer be possible to hop from pagan antiquity to Carolingian Europe as if nothing had happened in between. Judith Herrin has laid her sheet of paper over the map of that 'dark' age and rubbed and rubbed until the rich web of connections and cracks has shown through.

The Independent - Marina Warner

Judith Herrin has produced an ambitious, learned, lucid, and instructive book.

The Times Literary Supplement - Alexander Murray

...a learned, challenging, and gracefully written interpretation of the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages.

Commonweal - Robert L. Wilken

It is [the] binding together of distant past and immediate present which makes Judith Herrin's scholarship so exciting: she can convince the reader that the roots of Western distinctiveness really do lead all the way to forgotten episcopal meetings in small towns in Asia Minor in the fourth century.

The Observer - Michael Ignatieff

. . . Herrin follows some magnificent themes with the lucid dispassion of a good detective.

The Christian Science Monitor - Thomas D'Evelyn

This is a serious and powerful book....a grand synthesis on a scale few people would dare now to attempt, ranging across diverse societies with considerable assurance.
— Christopher J. Wickham

The International History Review

...it will no longer be possible to hop from pagan antiquity to Carolingian Europe as if nothing had happened in between. Judith Herrin has laid her sheet of paper over the map of that 'dark' age and rubbed and rubbed until the rich web of connections and cracks has shown through.
— Marina Warner

The Independent

Judith Herrin has produced an ambitious, learned, lucid, and instructive book.
— Alexander Murray

The Times Literary Supplement

...a learned, challenging, and gracefully written interpretation of the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages.
— Robert L. Wilken

Commonweal

It is [the] binding together of distant past and immediate present which makes Judith Herrin's scholarship so exciting: she can convince the reader that the roots of Western distinctiveness really do lead all the way to forgotten episcopal meetings in small towns in Asia Minor in the fourth century.
— Michael Ignatieff

The Observer

. . . Herrin follows some magnificent themes with the lucid dispassion of a good detective.
— Thomas D'Evelyn

The Christian Science Monitor