The adoptive son of God, the pregnant virgin, and the fortification of the true faith: Heterodoxy, the cult of the Virgin Mary, and Benedict of Aniane in the Carolingian age

James B Williams, Purdue University

Abstract

At the turn of the ninth century, the Virgin Mary was under assault from multiple fronts. Adherents to an alternative Christology called Felicianism agitated complex problems within the Christian church concerning the contribution of the Virgin Mary to Christ's birth, at least according to Carolingian church officials and the pope who opposed their Christology. At the same time, another form of Christianity in the Byzantine East grew in popularity. Known as Paulicianism, this “heresy” called into question Mary's status as Theotokos, or the bearer of God. This dissertation examines the impact of these controversies on Carolingian thought and cultural creation during the late eighth and early ninth centuries to see how they transformed the cult of the Virgin Mary. Heterodoxy ignited new modes of investigation into the nature of Mary’s contribution to Christ in the womb, the importance of Mary’s lineage, and the relationship of Mary to royal devotion. One of the more striking aspects of the new cultural creation that emerged from heterodoxy was the need to discuss more openly the moment of Christ’s conception in Mary's womb, as this was the primary division between Felician thought and Carolingian “orthodox” thought. In order to satisfactorily address this division, defenders of orthodoxy utilized contemporary theories of human reproduction to articulate their argument, all the while debating the nature of Mary’s contribution to the creation of Christ. Another aspect of Mary that Carolingian scholars explored was Mary’s crucial role in the fulfillment of divine prophecy, specifically her link between Jesus and the Christ as a descendent of King David. In promoting Mary’s Davidic heritage, those in Carolingian Europe responding to Felicianism drew from apocryphal literature to justify their own orthodoxy. These intellectual endeavors designed to rationalize the importance of Mary to Christianity were coupled with cultural efforts to elevate the status of the cult of the Virgin Mary. Those cultural efforts came from the court of Charlemagne, who actively supported the intellectual pursuits of his court with a number of public measures. Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Emperor of the Roman West, dedicated a group of his most important churches to the Virgin Mary, acquired Marian relics to enrich the altars of those churches, and enacted legislation designed to secure her place in churches throughout his empire. Charlemagne shaped this new vision of Mary, but he did not accomplish it alone. Many modern historians are familiar with the anti-Felician work of Alcuin of York and Paulinus of Aquileia, both of whom served as intellectual luminaries at Charlemagne’s court. Few have placed Benedict of Aniane in this company. This dissertation broadens our understanding of the Carolingian response to the Felician movement by mining Benedict as a new resource through his little known Munimenta verae fidei, or Fortifications of the True Faith. I argue that his compilation of both original and borrowed texts presented a response to Felician thought and served as a bulwark in defense of the “orthodox” Christianity constructed by Charlemagne, Alcuin, Paulinus, and Pope Hadrian. Carolingian orthodoxy developed and matured through conflict with heterodoxy, as Benedict demonstrated in his own work. This study challenges the perception that limits Benedict of Aniane’s career to monastic reform and provides a new context for interpreting the Munimenta verae fidei and its anti-Felician themes.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Contreni, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Religious history|European history|Medieval history

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