New Short History of the Catholic Church

NORMAN TANNER

Published by Burns & Oates

A Continuum imprint

The Tower Building 80 Maiden Lane

11 York Road Suite 704

London New York

SE1 7NX NY 10038

www.continuumbooks.com

Copyright © Norman Tanner, 2011

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission from the publishers.

First published 2011

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: HB: 978-1-4411-6212-0

Designed and typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions

Contents

Acknowledgements

Notes and Abbreviations

Map: The Mediterranean World

Introduction

Chapter 1 Pentecost to the Fourth Century

i. The Apostolic Age

ii. Second and third centuries: continuing persecution

iii. Establishment of Christianity

Chapter 2 Early Middle Ages: 400–1054

i. Expansion

ii. Contraction

iii. Ecumenical councils

iv. Theologians

v. Rome and Constantinople

vi. Institutional developments

vii. Popular religion

Chapter 3 Central and Late Middle Ages

i. Contraction and expansion

ii. Popular religion

iii. Popes, councils and princes

iv. Religious orders and beguines

v. Intellectual developments

vi. Liturgy, prayer and mysticism

vii. Art, architecture and music

viii. Challenges to western Christendom

Chapter 4 Early Modern Catholicism: 1500–1800

i. Extent of Catholicism within Europe

ii. Papacy

iii. Council of Trent

iv. Religious orders

v. Missionary work and Catholicism outside Europe

vi. Popular religion and artistic developments

vii. Conclusion

Chapter 5 Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

i. Introduction

ii. Intellectual challenges

iii. Popular religion

iv. Saints and sinners

v. Vatican I and II

vi. Recent developments: 1965–2010

Conclusion

Appendix: List of Ecumenical Councils

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

Nihil obstat and Imprimatur

Francisco J. Egana SJ, Vice-Rector, Gregorian University, Rome

Dedication

For Angela and John,

Gerard and Jenny,

with many thanks

Acknowledgements

History, especially church history, has for long been a passion in my life. So I take this opportunity to thank all who have encouraged and helped me in this charism: teachers of history at the schools of Woldingham Convent and Avisford; those at Ampleforth College, especially Thomas Charles-Edwards, William Price (headmaster), W. A. Davidson and Basil (later Cardinal) Hume; teachers and colleagues at Oxford University, especially James Campbell, Peter and Jill Lewis, James O’Higgins, and the supervisor of my doctoral thesis William Pantin; most recently, my colleagues at the Gregorian University in Rome. I am grateful to my Superiors in the Society of Jesus for fostering my studies in Church History, for the opportunities to teach in many different countries—opportunities which have greatly enriched my appreciation of the Catholic church ...