This thesis extends recent scholarly interest in the practical processes of Late Antique Roman law and on the integration of the episcopate into Roman power structures in the fourth century, the first century of imperial patronage of Christian communities. It confirms the "minimalist" model of Roman governance and provides a non-medieval example of the persecution of minorities as a contingent effect of competing claims to authority. This thesis argues that fourth-century elite Roman men disputing episcopal status via the Roman courts led to a transformation of episcopal polity, and that this development has been obscured by a subsequent paradigm shift in the norms concerning episcopal use of Roman law towards the end of that century. This paradigm shift identified by this thesis has three important aspects:1. With the change in imperial dynasty from the Valentinians to Theodosians, imperial favour moved from non-Nicene to Nicene bishops. Disparity of access to imperial favour during the fourth century required Nicene-identified bishops to invent tools to succeed in spite of their poor position. After the Theodosian-Nicene takeover, the Nicene-identified bishops retained these tools while also inheriting the legal framework that the non-Nicene bishops had crafted during their mid-century period of patronage.2. The power structures through which imperial favour was granted also changed. The typical fourth-century use of Roman law to resolve inter-episcopal disputes was different from that which would become established as a more enduring precedent in the Theodosian era. 3. The episcopal rhetoric used in claiming imperial favour changed from a focus on affirming one's own privilege to a focus on the proscription of others. The terminology of orthodox versus heretical is significant but must be understood as relational: even once heretics were proscribed by law, orthodoxy remained a status granted by the emperor. The methodology of this thesis argues for the importance of interpreting the relevant fourth-century sources in the context of their own time and norms, rather than in the light of the significantly different fifth-century practice as previous scholarship has done. This thesis first discusses two case studies before the paradigm shift: in Chapter One, Athanasius of Alexandria, as an example typical of the fourth century, and in Chapter Two, Priscillian of Avila, as an example at the cusp of the transition in the 380s who still demonstrates conformance with earlier practice. The thesis then describes the transition to the Theodosian-Nicene mode with an extended focus on Ambrose of Milan. Chapter Three shows Ambrose, contemporary with Priscillian, refusing to engage with existing episcopal legal practices and inventing a new strategy to survive the threat of Roman law. Chapter Four shows how Ambrose further refined this strategy in other conflicts and in doing so created a new place for bishops within the power structures of the Roman Empire.

The intention of this study is to investigate the role St. Augustine has contributed as a North African Church Historian. In order to archive the intention of this study one of the most significant works that Augustine wrote the City of God is going to be used as a literature review. The City of God is originally written to defend the church against charges of being responsible for the destruction of the city of Rome in 410 CE; the City of God has come to stand as a monument to theological reflection on the history of God’s creation. Though not primarily a historian, Augustine has made a significant contribution to the study of Christian history. He raises scripture to become the source of the meaning of history and defines the only true history as sacred history. This study considers Augustine’s critique of the Church catholic, the meaning of history, the origins of the City of God, Augustine’s views on the philosophy and theology history and the prophetic nature of biblical history. The first part of the study will trace the early life struggle of Augustine in his quest for knowledge and the truth. He learnt rhetoric studies; he examined the Holy Scriptures and found them unworthy. Then he was a follower of the Manicheans, but he was disillusioned when he met their sophistical leader Faustus. Finally, bishop Ambrose of Milan in his allegorical interpretation and explanation of scripture and the influence of Christian Neoplatonism helped Augustine to find an approach to the Bible and to overcome his difficulties with his childhood religion. Ambrose led him to the verge of conversion. Augustine’s impact on Reformation is considered. He is a father of the Church who has exerted an unparalleled influence on more than the thousand years that separated him from the birth of Protestant churches, but that long period is not an empty space because his historical work was influential throughout this period. In a movement to renew and reform the Church the various Reformers of the sixteenth century like Martin Luther and John Calvin studied Augustine in order to challenge abuses within the Catholic Church. The influence and the legacy that Augustine had on other people is discussed as the final conclusion of the study. The ideas, which he phrased with great skill, were to be accepted by almost all the leading thinkers of Europe until after the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century. Augustine had made much of being the Catholic bishop of Hippo. / Dissertation (MTh (Church History))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Church History and Church Policy / unrestricted

The intention of this study is to investigate the role St. Augustine has contributed as a North African Church Historian. In order to archive the intention of this study one of the most significant works that Augustine wrote the City of God is going to be used as a literature review. The City of God is originally written to defend the church against charges of being responsible for the destruction of the city of Rome in 410 CE; the City of God has come to stand as a monument to theological reflection on the history of God’s creation. Though not primarily a historian, Augustine has made a significant contribution to the study of Christian history. He raises scripture to become the source of the meaning of history and defines the only true history as sacred history. This study considers Augustine’s critique of the Church catholic, the meaning of history, the origins of the City of God, Augustine’s views on the philosophy and theology history and the prophetic nature of biblical history. The first part of the study will trace the early life struggle of Augustine in his quest for knowledge and the truth. He learnt rhetoric studies; he examined the Holy Scriptures and found them unworthy. Then he was a follower of the Manicheans, but he was disillusioned when he met their sophistical leader Faustus. Finally, bishop Ambrose of Milan in his allegorical interpretation and explanation of scripture and the influence of Christian Neoplatonism helped Augustine to find an approach to the Bible and to overcome his difficulties with his childhood religion. Ambrose led him to the verge of conversion. Augustine’s impact on Reformation is considered. He is a father of the Church who has exerted an unparalleled influence on more than the thousand years that separated him from the birth of Protestant churches, but that long period is not an empty space because his historical work was influential throughout this period. In a movement to renew and reform the Church the various Reformers of the sixteenth century like Martin Luther and John Calvin studied Augustine in order to challenge abuses within the Catholic Church. The influence and the legacy that Augustine had on other people is discussed as the final conclusion of the study. The ideas, which he phrased with great skill, were to be accepted by almost all the leading thinkers of Europe until after the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century. Augustine had made much of being the Catholic bishop of Hippo. / Dissertation (MTh)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Church History and Church Policy / MTh / Unrestricted

The study is going to analyse Ambrose's treatise De paenitentia and evaluate its importance for the theology of penance. After presenting the evolution of the practice of penance in early Church till 4th century, especially in West and with focus on the Novatian crisis as a milestone, the study is further dealing with Ambrose of Milan's personality and works, namely with his treatise De paenitentia; not only in the context of the contemporary polemics with Novatian heresy, but mainly as a first formalized and structured theology which will be later developed into the understanding of penance as one of the Church's sacraments. Keywords Ambrose of Milan, Church Fathers, 4th century, Novatian, sin, penance, repentance

[pt] A revalorização da Sagrada Escritura na celebração litúrgica foi uma das grandes conquistas no tocante à reforma dos ritos promovida pelo Concílio Vaticano II. A partir desse evento, tanto o Magistério como a reflexão teológica amadureceram essa temática, inclusive rumando para uma perspectiva da Palavra de Deus sob a ótica da sua sacramentalidade nas ações litúrgicas. A presente tese, então, inicia-se com esta abordagem suscitada pelas intuições da Constituição Sacrosanctum Concilium. Em vista de aprofundar o tema da sacramentalidade da Palavra, o estudo em questão recorre à teologia patrística, mais precisamente, a de Ambrósio de Milão, com enfoque nas suas duas renomadas obras mistagógicas: De Sacramentis e De Mysteriis. Nelas, há o recurso à tipologia bíblica, cuja finalidade é conduzir os neófitos à experiência do mysterium. O método tipológico de Ambrósio procura demonstrar aos recém-batizados que a palavra eficaz de Deus, manifestada na história salvífica, continua realizando sua missão de resgatar a humanidade. À luz das instruções pós-batismais de Ambrósio, a pesquisa buscou encontrar elementos teológico-pastorais em relação à sacramentalidade da Palavra de Deus nas celebrações litúrgicas. A pregação mistagógica de Ambrósio, com efeito, se revela profundamente atual e se apresenta hoje como fonte de inspiração para que as nossas comunidades – ainda em processo de recepção das propostas do Concílio – façam a experiência litúrgico-assembleal das Escrituras. A contribuição ambrosiana, nesse sentido, tem a potência de fazer com que os cristãos descubram a eficácia salvífica da Palavra proclamada nas celebrações da Igreja e se tornem capazes de responder a essa mesma Palavra no culto e na vida. / [en] The revaluation of Holy Scripture in the liturgical celebration was one of the great achievements regarding the reform of the rites promoted by the Second Vatican Council. From this event, both the Magisterium and theological reflection have matured this theme, including moving towards a perspective of the Word of God from the viewpoint of his sacramentality in liturgical actions. The present thesis then begins with this approach raised by the intuitions of the Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium. In order to deepen the theme of the sacramentality of the Word, the study in question uses patristic theology, more precisely, that of Ambrose of Milan, focusing on its two renowned mystagogical works: De Sacramentis and De Mysteriis. In them, there is the use of biblical typology, whose purpose is to lead the neophytes to the mysterium experience. Ambrose s typological method seeks to demonstrate to newly baptized that God s effective word manifested in saving history continues to fulfill its mission of redeeming humanity. In light of Ambrose s post-baptismal instructions, the research sought to find theological-pastoral elements in relation to the sacramentality of the Word of God in liturgical celebrations. Ambrose s mystagogical preaching, in fact, is profoundly current and is today a source of inspiration for our communities – still in the process of receiving the Council s proposals – to make the liturgicalassembly experience of Scripture. The ambrosian contribution, in this sense, has the power to make christians discover the salvific efficacy of the Word proclaimed in the celebrations of the Church and to be able to respond to that same Word in worship and life.

Cette nouvelle édition critique du De fuga saeculi d’Ambroise de Milan repose sur la collation de nouveaux témoins manuscrits et sur la révision de ceux utilisés par C. Schenkl, dont les valeurs respectives sont évaluées à l’aide d’un stemma absent de son édition de 1897. Le texte ainsi édité est assorti d’une traduction originale en langue française. Le De fuga saeculi, œuvre spirituelle et morale publiée par Ambroise avec trois autres textes au sujet proche, est replacé dans le contexte milanais de la fin du IVe siècle : mutations des modes de vie chrétiens, intérêt pour la vie monastique, concurrence avec les partisans du néoplatonisme et devoir pastoral de guider et former la communauté d’une capitale impériale. L’enquête sur les sources révèle que le De fuga saeculi est à la fois l’héritier des traditions philosophiques platoniciennes et stoïciennes relues au prisme de la pensée de Philon d’Alexandrie, et le promoteur d’une fuite du monde spécifiquement chrétienne inspirée d’épisodes et de préceptes de l’Ancien et du Nouveau Testament. Le commentaire éclaire les enchaînements d’une pensée kaléidoscopique, mettant en évidence les thèmes principaux, leurs reprises et leurs variations. Est ainsi soulignée l’originalité ambrosienne de la fuga saeculi sur un sujet d’actualité à la fin du IVe siècle et au début du Ve siècle : une fuite intra-mondaine qui est différente de celle encouragée par ses contemporains, Jérôme, Paulin de Nole et Augustin. / This new critical edition of De fuga saeculi by Ambrose of Milan is based on the collation of new witness manuscripts and the revision of those used by C. Schenkl (their respective worth was examined thanks to a missing stemma in the 1897 edition). The edition is accompanied by an original French translation. A spiritual and moral work published by Ambrose along with three other texts on a similar topic, De fuga saeculi is placed in its Milanese context of the end of the 4th century : transformations in Christian ways of living, an interest in monastic life, competition with advocates of Neo-Platonism and a pastoral duty to guide and train the community of an imperial capital. An enquiry into the sources reveals that De fuga saeculi both inherits the Neo-Platonician and Stoic philosophical traditions – reinterpreted through the thought of Philo of Alexandria –, and advocates a specifically Christian escape out of the world, inspired by events and precepts from the Old and New Testaments. The commentary displays the sequences of a kaleidoscopic thought and highlights its majors themes, re-uses and variations. Inner-wordly escape is a topical issue of the late 4th and early 5th centuries, but Ambrose’s conception expressed in De fuga saeculy is original given that it differs from those of contemporary writers such as Jerome, Paulinus of Nola and Augustine.

La tesi prende in considerazione i tre trattati dallo stesso titolo, De corpore et sanguine Domini, sull’eucaristia composti nel IX secolo da Pascasio Radberto, Gotescalco d’Orbais e Ratramno di Corbie, analizzandoli sotto due diversi aspetti. In una prima parte se ne ricostruiscono i rapporti interni e i loro legami con le controversie teologiche e filosofiche dell’epoca, soprattutto con quella della predestinazione e della nascita verginale di Maria. A conclusione di questa analisi viene proposta una datazione relativa della composizione dei trattati differente da quella comunemente accolta, valorizzando un frammento del trattato di Gotescalco testimoniato da un solo manoscritto nella Biblioteca Reale di Bruxelles. In una seconda parte, a partire da una rilevazione sistematica di tutti i passi biblici e patristici citati nei tre trattati (riportata nelle tabelle in appendice), si prendono invece in considerazione le pratiche esegetiche in essi attuate, cercando di mettere in luce la metodologia di lavoro degli autori nei confronti delle fonti patristiche. In particolare viene svolta l’analisi dell’interpretazione di un passo di Ambrogio, presente nel De Mysteriis e nel De sacramentis, che risulta cruciale per l’argomentazione di ciascuno dei testi in causa. / The thesis considers three treatises of the same title, De corpore et sanguine Domini, on the Eucharist composed in the ninth century by Paschasius Radbertus, Gottschalk of Orbais and Ratramnus of Corbie, analyzing them under two different aspects. In a first part the internal relations and their ties with the theological and philosophical controversies of the period are reconstructed, above all with that of predestination and the virginal birth of Mary. At the end of this analysis a different date, relative to the composition of the treaties, is proposed from the one commonly accepted, valuing a fragment of the Gottschalk treaty testified by a single manuscript in the Royal Library of Brussels. In a second part, starting from a systematic survey of all the biblical and patristic passages mentioned in the three treatises (shown in the tables in the appendix), the exegetical practices implemented in them are taken into consideration, trying to highlight the methodology of authors' work towards their patristic sources. In particular, the analysis of the interpretation of a passage by Ambrose, present in De Mysteriis and in the De sacramentis, which is crucial for the argumentation of each of the texts in question, is carried out.

Au VIe siècle, dans le royaume des Burgondes, Avit de Vienne compose une lettre pour sa sœur, la moniale Fuscine. Cette œuvre consolatoire et élogieuse se nomme De consolatoria castitatis laude. Ce texte permet de comprendre la situation particulière dont bénéficie la virgo dans la société chrétienne tardo-antique. Au niveau de son contenu, l’objectif de ce livre sert à montrer à la monacha que le choix virginal représente une forme d’échappatoire et de liberté. Il s’agit d’une réalité que ne connaît pas l’épouse. Les devoirs du mariage, les dangers de la maternité, les tracas du siècle, le veuvage, le deuil, tout cela est inconnu à la vierge parce qu’elle s’écarte des obligations terrestres. L’utilisation de la Bible et de plusieurs références patristiques constituent l’héritage des mentalités religieuses dont s’inspire Avit dans la construction d’un discours orienté sur la distinction socioreligieuse de la virgo. / In the 6th century, in the kingdom of the Burgundians, Avitus of Vienne composes a letter for his sister, the nun Fuscina. This consoling and eulogistic artwork is called De consolatoria castitatis laude. This text generates in us an understanding of the particular context of the virgo in the Christian society of Late Antiquity. Regarding the text, the purpose of the book is to show to the monacha that the virginal choice represents a way of escape and freedom, a reality that the spouse is unaware of. The duties of marriage, the dangers of motherhood, the troubles of the century, the widowhood and the mourning are all unknown to the virgin because she excludes herself to worldly obligations. The use of the Bible and several patristic references shape the legacy of religious mentalities which inspires Avitus in making an oriented speech on the virgo’s socio-religious distinctness.