Skip to content
Register Sign in Wishlist

The Formation of Papal Authority in Late Antique Italy
Roman Bishops and the Domestic Sphere

  • Date Published: July 2014
  • availability: Available
  • format: Paperback
  • isbn: 9781107423480

Paperback

Add to wishlist

Other available formats:
Hardback, eBook


Looking for an inspection copy?

This title is not currently available on inspection

Description
Product filter button
Description
Contents
Resources
Courses
About the Authors
  • This book is the first cultural history of papal authority in late antiquity. While most traditional histories posit a 'rise of the papacy' and examine popes as politicians, theologians and civic leaders, Kristina Sessa focuses on the late Roman household and its critical role in the development of the Roman church from c.350–600. She argues that Rome's bishops adopted the ancient elite household as a model of good government for leading the church. Central to this phenomenon was the classical and biblical figure of the steward, the householder's appointed agent who oversaw his property and people. As stewards of God, Roman bishops endeavored to exercise moral and material influence within both the pope's own administration and the households of Italy's clergy and lay elites. This original and nuanced study charts their manifold interactions with late Roman households and shows how bishops used domestic knowledge as the basis for establishing their authority as Italy's singular religious leaders.

    • The first cultural history of papacy and pope in late antiquity
    • An original history of ancient Christianity and private life
    • Provides a new interpretive paradigm for studying bishops and their authority in late antiquity
    Read more

    Customer reviews

    Not yet reviewed

    Be the first to review

    Review was not posted due to profanity

    ×

    , create a review

    (If you're not , sign out)

    Please enter the right captcha value
    Please enter a star rating.
    Your review must be a minimum of 12 words.

    How do you rate this item?

    ×

    Product details

    • Date Published: July 2014
    • format: Paperback
    • isbn: 9781107423480
    • length: 340 pages
    • dimensions: 229 x 152 x 19 mm
    • weight: 0.5kg
    • availability: Available
  • Table of Contents

    Introduction: household management and the Bishop of Rome
    1. The late Roman household in Italy
    2. From dominion to dispensatio: stewardship as an elite ideal
    3. Primus cultor: episcopal householding in theory and practice
    4. Overseeing the overseer: bishops and the lay household
    5. Cultivating the clerical household: marriage, property and inheritance
    6. Mistrusting the bishop: succession, stewardship and sex in the Laurentian schism
    7. The household and the bishop: authority, competition and cooperation in the gesta martyrum
    Conclusions.

  • Author

    Kristina Sessa, Ohio State University
    Kristina Sessa is Assistant Professor of History and Associate Director for the Center of the Study of Religion at Ohio State University. She was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Rome in 2001 and a Fellow of the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America at Columbia University in 2006–7. She is the author of several articles on bishops, Christianity and the domestic sphere and edited a special volume of the Journal of Early Christian Studies.

Related Books

also by this author

Sorry, this resource is locked

Please register or sign in to request access. If you are having problems accessing these resources please email lecturers@cambridge.org

Register Sign in
Please note that this file is password protected. You will be asked to input your password on the next screen.

» Proceed

You are now leaving the Cambridge University Press website. Your eBook purchase and download will be completed by our partner www.ebooks.com. Please see the permission section of the www.ebooks.com catalogue page for details of the print & copy limits on our eBooks.

Continue ×

Continue ×

Continue ×
warning icon

Turn stock notifications on?

You must be signed in to your Cambridge account to turn product stock notifications on or off.

Sign in Create a Cambridge account arrow icon
×

Find content that relates to you

Join us online

This site uses cookies to improve your experience. Read more Close

Are you sure you want to delete your account?

This cannot be undone.

Cancel

Thank you for your feedback which will help us improve our service.

If you requested a response, we will make sure to get back to you shortly.

×
Please fill in the required fields in your feedback submission.
×