This course considers the evidence for the presence of early Christian believers in the so-called "Celtic" areas of western Europe. Students will examine how the Celtic peoples received Christianity in the context of native (pagan) religion; they will look specifically at how the Roman Church doctrine influenced the doctrinal stands of the early Celtic church(es), and vice versa, with particular attention to the Pelagian controversy, the date of Easter, the monastic tonsure, and the use of penitentials. The period covered is approximately 70 CE to 800 CE.

“My name is Patrick. I am a sinner, a simple country person, and the least of all believers” (trans. McCarthy, confessio.ie). These are the words of Saint Patrick, preserved in his Confessio, a document that sheds light not only on the man himself but on Christianity in Britain and Ireland in the fifth century more generally. His are some of the works that will be used in this class to explore the history and development of Christianity in Britain and Ireland from the earliest evidence of conversion through to the later middle ages, when written sources become more readily available. Attention will be paid to the ways in which the practice of Christianity may have differed in Britain and Ireland from other places in the Christian world, but the idea of a specifically “Celtic” form of Christianity will be interrogated. In addition to the writings of Saint Patrick, primary sources, read in translation, will include the work of Gildas, saints’ lives and other hagiographic literature, monastic texts, penitential literature, and religious verse in Irish and Welsh.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills