History of Christianity Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Regional developments (300–600) === {{See also|Christianization|Byzantine Empire|Justinian I|Byzantine Papacy}} Christianity had no central government, and differences developed in different locations.{{sfn|Hartog|2015|p=242}}{{sfn|Robinson|1988|p=36}}{{sfn|Sanmark|2004|p=15}} [[Donatism]] developed in North Africa. Some Germanic people adopted Arian Christianity while others, such as the Frankish King [[Clovis I]], (who was the first to unite the [[Franks|Frankish tribes]] under one ruler), converted to Catholicism.{{sfn|Brown|2003|p=137}}{{sfn|Nelson|1996|p=100}}{{sfn|Clark|2011|pp=1–4}}{{sfn|Cameron|2015|pp=39, 52}} [[Migration Period|Various Germanic peoples]] in the West — many of whom had [[Arianism#Among medieval Germanic tribes|already converted to Christianity]] — sacked Rome, invaded Britain, France, and Spain, seized land, and disrupted economies. For multiple and various reasons, the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|Western Roman Empire]] began to split into separate kingdoms.{{sfn|Cameron|2015|pp=10, 17, 42, 50}}{{sfn|Matthews|Platt|1992|p=163}} [[File:StAnthony.jpg|thumb|[[Coptic Orthodox Church|Coptic]] [[icon]] of St. [[Anthony the Great]], father of Christian monasticism and early [[anchorite]]. The [[Coptic language|Coptic]] inscription reads {{lang|cop|Ⲡⲓⲛⲓϣϯ Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ⲁⲛⲧⲱⲛⲓ}} ('the Great Father Anthony')|alt=picture of icon of St.Anthony]] Though dates and details are disputed by a minority, archaeology supports the slow conversion of the Irish as beginning in the early fifth century.{{sfn|Harney|2017|p=103; 122}} [[Pope Gregory I|Pope Gregory the Great]] sent a long-distance mission to Anglo-Saxon England.{{sfn|Schäferdiek|2007|p=abstract}} The [[Gregorian mission]] landed in 596, and converted the [[Kingdom of Kent]] and the court of Anglo-Saxon [[Northumbria]].{{sfn|Wood|2007|pp=20–22}} However, archaeology indicates Christianity had become an established minority faith in some parts of Britain in the second century. Irish missionaries went to [[Iona]] (from 563) and converted many [[Picts]].{{sfn|Sharpe|1995|pp=30–33}}{{sfn|Thomas|1997|p=506–507}} A "seismic moment" in Christian history took place in 612 when the [[Visigoths|Visigothic]] [[Sisebut|King Sisebut]] declared the obligatory conversion of all Jews in Spain, overriding Pope Gregory who had reiterated the traditional ban against forced conversion of the Jews in 591.{{sfn|García-Arenal|Glazer-Eytan|2019|pp=5–6; 15}} Christian monasticism had emerged in the third century, and by the fifth century, was a dominant force in all areas of late antique culture.{{sfn|Crislip|2005|p=3}}{{sfn|Rubenson|2007|p=abstract}} [[Basil of Caesarea|Basil the Great]] was the central figure in the East, founding the first public hospital ([[History of hospitals|the Basiliad]]) in 369.{{sfn|Crislip|2005|pp=103-106}} In the West, [[Benedict of Nursia|Benedict]] wrote the [[Rule of Saint Benedict]] which would become the most common rule throughout the Middle Ages and the starting point for other monastic rules.{{sfn|Dunn|2003|p=137}} Monastics developed an unprecedented [[Health system|health care system]] which allowed the sick to remain within the monastery as a special class afforded special benefits and care by those dedicated to that care.{{sfn|Crislip|2005|pp=8-9, 38-39}} This [[Social stigma|destigmatized]] illness, transformed health care in Antiquity, formed the basis of public health care in the Middle Ages, and led to the development of the [[hospital]].{{sfn|Crislip|2005|pp=99-103}} ==== Heresy and the Ecumenical councils (325–681) ==== {{Main|First seven ecumenical councils}}{{See also|Arianism|Arian controversy|Nestorian schism|Monophysitism}} {{Further|Diversity in early Christian theology|Germanic Christianity|Gothic Christianity}} [[File:Ariusz.JPG|thumb|Imagined portrait of [[Arius]]; detail of a [[Cretan School]] [[icon]], {{circa|1591}}, depicting the [[First Council of Nicaea]]|alt=this is a photo of a detail from an icon by the Cretan school, painted around 1591, depicting Arius at the First Council of Nicaea holding his head as if in pain]] From the fourth century on, [[seven ecumenical councils]] were convened to resolve theological controversies.{{sfn|Lyman|2007|p=298}} The first major disagreement was between [[Arianism]], which said the divine nature of Jesus was not equal to the Father's, and [[Trinity|orthodox trinitarianism]] which says it is equal. Arianism spread throughout most of the Roman Empire from the fourth century onwards.{{sfn|Berndt|Steinacher|2014}} The [[First Council of Nicaea]] was called by Constantine in (325) to address it and other disagreements. Representatives of some 150 episcopal sees in Asia Minor attended along with many others.{{sfn|Trombley|2007|p=abstract}} Nicaea and the [[First Council of Constantinople]] (381) resulted in a condemnation of Arian teachings and produced the [[Nicene Creed]].{{sfn|Berndt|Steinacher|2014}}{{sfn|Kohler|Krauss|1906}} The [[Council of Ephesus|Third]] (431), [[Council of Chalcedon|Fourth]] (451), [[Second Council of Constantinople|Fifth]] (583) and [[Third Council of Constantinople|Sixth ecumenical councils]] (680{{Endash}}681) are characterized by attempts to explain Jesus' human and divine natures.{{sfn|Sabo||2018|p=vii}} The category of ‘[[schism]]’ developed as a middle ground, so as not to exclude all who disagreed as ‘heretic’.{{sfn|Lyman|2007|pp=297–298}} Schisms within the churches of the Nicene tradition broke out after the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451.{{sfn|Löhr|2007|p=abstract}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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