Germanization of Western Christianity?

[Stratiotes]

An EO friend of mine asked me to read a book by James Russell, The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity. I kind of have an idea what its about from our previous discussions. But, I’m just curious if anybody here has read it and what you think. I requested it through the library but haven’t received it yet.

 

[Aelred_Minor]

I haven’t read it, but of course Medieval Western civilization largely came about through the fusion of the Roman and Germanic cultures (though with greater survival of Roman elements), so it’s reasonable to suppose some degree of affect on the Church.

Certainly there was a partial Gallicization of the Roman Rite, but despite the presence of the Franks in Gaul that Gallican liturgical tradition was really Romano-Celtic in origin.

That said, a quick internet search on this author and this book does not look promising. A bit of anti-German hysteria and pseudo-history from a fringe personality, designed to take down the Catholic Church, possibly. Or maybe not, but I would proceed with caution and check the facts in this kind of book, if you read it at all. There are so many myths and bizarre theories about the Middle Ages and the history of Christianity out there, generally motivated by very modern prejudices.

 

[Stratiotes]

I had the same impression from what little I had gleaned googling that book and author. I’m a very discerning reader when it comes to that kind of history…it sure smells like the conspiracy theory genre and I have little patience with such books in my amazon reviews .

 

[UnumCorpus]

I think I can help you more directly since I have actually read this book. It was required reading for a seminar I was taking, and I did not regret reading it. Now while I enjoyed the book overall, I did not agree with Russell’s viewpoints. He claims, among other things, that the warrior and whole knighthood aspect of medieval Christianity was in fact taken from the Germanic tribal culture. However, I had issues with this claim considering there is much warrior-like rhetoric in the Old Testament, especially concerning the Israelites fighting against the Philistines, and the Roman culture itself (another significant influence on Christianity which Russell overlooks) was hardly non-violent.

This book though did not strike me as being very radical in its thinking, and I would not classify the author as a conspiracy theorist. It is well-researched and his arguments are fairly solid even though I do not agree with them. One stylistic critique I have though is that Russel does depend too much on quotes from other people, in fact much of the book consists of quotes.

Despite that though, it is an interesting read. Like I said, it doesn’t strike me as being a “way out there” sort of book. It will at least help to broaden your understanding of the factors that were influencing early medieval Christianity. There was a Germanic influence, but I do not think it was as big of an influence as Russell is claiming.

 

[Fr_of_Jazz]

An EO friend of mine asked me to read a book by James Russell, The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity. I kind of have an idea what its about from our previous discussions. But, I’m just curious if anybody here has read it and what you think. I requested it through the library but haven’t received it yet.

I would suggest that your friend read Peter Brown, The Rise of Western Christendom.

His points are:
(1) both the Eastern and Western worlds developed ancient Christianity along distinct paths into their present “precipitates”–his word.

(2) What is distinctive about the West is not just from Germanic tribes it is also and earlier from the new cultural zone that developed in Northwest Europe involving Ireland, Britain and Northern France.

The essence of it, according to Brown (which in my opinion largely agrees with Dawson on these points), is this.

In the Late Antique period Christians in the East and those in the West inherited the same ancient Christianity, i.e., Christianity in Classical Antiquity. In the West with the collapse of the RE, its isolation from the Eastern Empire, and the barbarian tribes, the Christian imagination took on its uniquely Western form. This unique Western “precipitate” of ancient Christianity was forged in the years between 550 and 650 AD. This precipitate arose in a new cultural zone in northwestern Europe involving at the beginning Christian West Britain, Ireland, and Frankish Northern Gaul. The Irish Sea became a kind of “Mediterranean of the North.” Later, with the conversion of Saxon Britain, eastern and southern England were involved.
Likewise the East developed the material of ancient Christianity along its lines forming its own “precipitate.” In the East the RE survived. By the end of Justinian’s reign (565) it was a fully Christian empire. Add to this the ending of classical civilization in the Middle East and North Africa due to the Islamic conquests, the constant threat of Islam from the 7th c. on together with the controversy over icons in the 8th century and they all worked together to form the unique cultural character of Byzantine Christianity.
So by the 8th c. we have the Carolingian West and the Byzantine East–very different expressions of the one Christian faith. “Hence, as a result of the rise of the Frankish empire and the mutation of East Rome [eastern RE], two new and contrasting forms of Christendom emerged in the course of the eighth century. Eastern and Western Christendom began to look very different from each other.” (Brown, 379)

 

[Stratiotes]

Thanks for all the comments. Good to hear from someone who had read it and the Western Christendom recommendation. Peter Brown’s book has been on my to-read list as well. Russell’s book is still on my waiting list at the library - some books come right away and others seem to take forever.

 

[Stratiotes]

The essence of it, according to Brown (which in my opinion largely agrees with Dawson on these points), is this.

Are you referring to John David Dawson or a different Dawson?

 

[tomarin]

Thanks for all the comments. Good to hear from someone who had read it and the Western Christendom recommendation. Peter Brown’s book has been on my to-read list as well. Russell’s book is still on my waiting list at the library - some books come right away and others seem to take forever.

Even if the Church hadn’t been “germanized,” whatever that means in this context – your EO friend still wouldn’t like it, as it is influenced by Roman legalism.

 

[levinas12]

So by the 8th c. we have the Carolingian West and the Byzantine East–very different expressions of the one Christian faith. “Hence, as a result of the rise of the Frankish empire and the mutation of East Rome [eastern RE], two new and contrasting forms of Christendom emerged in the course of the eighth century. Eastern and Western Christendom began to look very different from each other.” (Brown, 379)

What does Brown think are the specific differences?

 

[Credo_ergo_sum]

Reminds me of the funny theory of Fr. John S. Romanides that the Franks grabbed power from the Orthodox Popes of Rome in one big conspiracy theory to become the sole world power or something.