This sixth ecumenical gathering of the Persian church at the Sassanian capital of Seleucia-Ctesiphon was related directly to the question of the authority of the Catholicos over other bishops in the Persian church, the acceptance of the Councils of Nicaea I, and Constantinople I, and the security of the bishops from illegitimate entanglements in the Persian state and pagan practices. While long forgotten by western scholars, it represents the first effort of the Church of the East to addre...

The Second Book of Ethiopian Maccabees (II Meqabyan) relates the legend of Maccabeus the Moabite, his sons, and the rise of the king Tseerutsydan, who would persecute the children of Israel. The origins of this text are unknown, but only appear in the biblical canon of the Ethiopian Orthodox church. It consists of twenty-one chapter, and appears to be relatved to the narrative of the First Book of Ethiopian Maccabees.

At various point during the tenure of the Carolingian dynasty, it was necessary to resolve dynastic disputes through the intervention of ecclesiastical synods with the public task of electing a monarch for the realm from the family of Charles the Great. Enclosed in this short volume are the documents relating directly to four of these elections, for the persons of: Boso of Provence, Eudes of France, Louis III the Blind, and Guy II of Italy.

This is a collection of seventeen years from the German king, Louis II, relating to his dealings with the Slavic tribes who occupy his eastern frontier. Most of these letters are works of confirmation, offering church lands and endowments to various missions in Great Moravia. These mission churches appear to have been approved of by the Moravian royal authority, who in time, would accept the Christian faith and incorporate these parishes into the burgeoning Moravian church.

Collected here are two Latin letters, the correspondence between Coenwulf and Pope Leo III regarding the episcopal districts of the Anglo-Saxon church. These letters would lead to the creation of the new archdiocese under royal patronage, the direct result of the formal exchange of letters in 798. Coenwulf asserted in his letter that his predecessor, King Offa, wanted the new archdiocese created out of enmity for Jænberht, a region under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury at ...

This short work by the Italian humanist Poggio Bracciolini deals with the triumph of the Republic of Venice, then its its economic and political zenith. He extols the republic for its industry and for clearing the seas of pirates. He noted of the rights bestowed on average citizens and the antiquity of the state, which by then spanned back until the early Carolingian era. His praises have clear political overtones for the age he lived in, as republican fervor was gripping many Italian city...

The Council of Vladimir was a sentinel synod of the Russian and Ukrainian churches following the Mongol conquest of the region. The Metropolitan of Kiev, Kirill II, sought to clarify church law and discipline via the proper translation of an older Serbian work. Its canons remain in effect in the various churches of Eastern Europe.

Upon the ascension of Edgar to the Anglo-Saxon throne, he immediately sought to reform the English church with the assistance of St. Dunstan, the former bishop of London. He held this council to alter several policies regarding the governance of the English church,and to push the growing centralization of ecclesiastical power into the See of Canterbury. Edgar's reforms would have a long lasting impact on the Church of England, and to some degree, remain active to the current day.

Bruno of Cologne, also known as Bruno von Köln was the founder of the Carthusian Order in the 11th century. He personally founded the order's first two communities. He was a celebrated teacher at Reims, and a close advisor of his former pupil, Pope Urban II. In 1056 he was recalled to the city of Reims, where the following year he found himself head of the Cathedral school, which at the time included the direction of the schools and the oversight of all the educational establishments of th...

This is a tenth century play composed by the Frankish nun, Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim. It entails the conversion of the courtesan Thaïs. The holy monk Paphnutius, following the example of Abraham, goes to find Thaïs under the guise of a lover. He converted her and imposed as penance on her the need to remain confined in a narrow cell for five years. Thaïs by this just expiation is reconciled to the Lord. Fifteen days after having completed her penance, she fell asleep in the bosom of Christ...

This work, frequently misattributed to St. Augustine of Hippo, is a biblical exegesis of the problem of pain and civil collapse. This theme is not arising out of a cultural vacuum. Our author, the 5th century bishop of Carthage, was captured by the Vandal tribesman under King Gaiseric, a devout Arian. By luck or providence he was able to negotiate his deportation to Roman Italy, and avoid a death sentence. This work appears to be the psychological response to the political chaos of North A...

During the Latin presence in the Holy Land in 12th and 13th century, contact was made between papal legates and the Armenian Apostolic Church in Cilicia (Armenia Minor). Among the various doctrinal exchanges that took place, and the brief lived union between Roman Catholics and Armenians, was this document, where common theological ground is specified by the reigning Roman Pope in Avignon. This theological common ground would be revisited during the Council of Florence in the 15th century,...