What are some of the big misconceptions that you'd most like to clear up?

What do we know about how Christianity ever got off the ground? That is, after the death of Jesus, why did the religion survive until Constantine?

I would like to know just how and why Constantine converted to Christianity. I know the story of he saw a cross before a battle, vowed that if he win, he'll take up the cross as his religion. It there any fact base on this?

Also, what is the populace's reaction of converting to Christianity. Was there any unrest/protest for abandoning the gods??

Where were the major Christian theological schools in the 4th century, and what evidence do we have of disagreements between them (if any)?

Was the crowning of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor by the Vatican as directly antagonistic as it seems against the Orthodox church? It has always seemed strange that the West would ignore the fact that there were Christian Romans with a direct link to the old Empire still in existence. Is this the "line of no return", so to speak, of the East-West Schism?

On a related note, I'd also love to hear about how much of an effect this had on the Crusades a couple years later, particularly the siege of Constantinople. Thanks for the AMA!

I have three questions, all revolving around (roughly) Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. I have listed them from most ridiculously open ended to least (ha ha ha).

1. It is hard to conceptualize the idea of Western Christianity (as we know it) outside the influence of Scholasticism and Thomism. Is it possible to give an 10,000 foot view of the popular modes of Christian thought/discourse before that?

2. It's my understanding that "common" people in the Middle Ages did not take Communion nearly as often as modern Christians do -- maybe as little as once a year. So how often did a "commmon" person attend Mass? How catechized were they really?

3. What's the earliest version we have of a (complete) Western Christian liturgy? When did the Western and Eastern Rites diverge? Did Crusaders or other travelers to the East ever bring Byzantine influences back with them?

What was the balance of political power between monasteries vs bishoprics/diocese with regards to the level of influence they held with the king or chief authorities of a kingdom in the medieval era? What interests would they typically represent?

I'm assuming it varied greatly in scope, depending upon time and geography, but I was also wondering if there were any commonalities.

Why did people go on pilgrimages. Who whent, when did it began and become "popular"?

I have a few questions about the Hussite Revolt, if you don't mind.

1. What was it about Jan Hus and his teachings that inspired so many followers, and what specifically pushed them into revolt five years after his execution?

2. Were there many priests in Bohemia who joined the revolt? Did they have priests of their own?

3. I know Joan of Arc was threatening to get involved before her capture and execution, but was there any other significant international support for the crusades into Bohemia?

When it comes to medieval monasteries, I have two questions.

First, did they have the same social distinction as more modern ones have: as in, they were either situated close to a community and assisted their fellow man, or they were isolated and kept far from normal communities?

And second, if community based monasteries existed, what exactly would the monks do? In terms of helping the lay person or otherwise.

1. What's your favorite heretical sect?

2. I know /r/AskHistorians/ tends not to do counterfactuals, but... what do you think would have happened if Valentinus the gnostic had become bishop of Rome as he tried to do?

3. Is the influence of Christianity waning or waxing? Is there any era of Western history that was more Christian or less Christian in a way that we'd be surprised about today?

How different were the Celtic Catholics of Britain and the Latin Catholics (for lack of a better term) who arrived later to convert the Anglo-Saxons? I know they had some differences regarding Easter and their monks had different tonsures.

Also, was the Papacy in Rome aware that Catholic religion and monasteries persisted in Britain after the Anglo-Saxon invasion, or was Augustine surprised by the presence of Celtic christianity?

Did works of literature like Dante's Inferno or Paradise Lost have an impact on the canon or theology of the Catholic or Anglican churches?

I am a newbie Lutheran, and so I'm getting into much of the German Reformation era, and have a question. The bull issued by the Pope (I can't remember which), Exsurge Domine, officially excommunicated Martin Luther from the Roman Catholic Church. Are there any historical documents or evidence that showed that the Pope had this type of authority before the Reformation era? (I guess a similar question would be if the office of the Papacy as it is today has always been like this since the beginning of its existence?)

Excellent timing!

I've been attempting recently to get my head around the Thirty Years War, and I think I'm going to need to rewind a little and refresh my memory on the Reformation and the German Wars of Religion first to understand the context better. So I have a couple of specific questions, but also if anyone can recommend me a good, readable source on this I'd be obliged.

1. As I understand it, the two major factors that prevented Luther from being just another dead heretic were the rapid spread of his ideas thanks to his use of printing, and the unique political situation of the HRE which offered him protection via lords wishing to cock a snook at the Emperor. Is this about right?

2. How does the Peasants' War of 1526(?) tie in with Luther and the Reformation? ISTR he wrote strongly against the peasants, which our school suggested was a rather cynical tactic to keep onside with his noble protectors.

3. Was the spread of Lutheranism (and later Calvinism) more a bottom-up or a top-down movement, or was it both?

4. Inasmuch as we can ever know, do the noble converts to protestantism seem to have been motivated more by genuine religious conviction, or by political motivations in asserting independence from the Emperor and avoiding paying tithes etc?

I always wondered about the early Popes that succeeded Saint Peter (such as Linus, Anacletus, Clement...etc) - How were Popes treated by the state and by Christians in Pagan Rome? Were they as revered and recognized as the highest authority in religion as they are today? When exactly did Popes start to wield political power and influence?

I have plenty of questions, so I will post them as I think of them. To start:

• Why did early church leaders go to such lengths to reconcile Christian theology with prior pagan philosophies? I am think mainly of Aquinas' efforts to reconcile it with Aristotle's views. Was this so the religion would gain more legitimacy?

• Were there any serious threats to Christianity's supremacy after the fall of the western empire? I know it was the official religion after Constantine and, with the exception of a few emperors afterwards, faced no real persecution. Did this change with the collapse of the empire?

• To what extent did the papacy tolerate dissenting views? Obviously they were very tough during the counter reformation, but in the earlier middle ages was there any room for dissenters?

• The papacy used to be extremely powerful and influential, holding authority over many of the kingdoms in Christendom. How did they maintain this authority? Was the threat of interdiction enough to make a wayward king fall in line? Did they ever enforce their authority through military action? What led to the decrease in power held by the papacy?

• How was it that the position of the Pope developed? There is no mention of it in the bible, yet it seems to have been recognized and adopted very early on in the religion's history?

• What is the connection between the different churches nowadays? There have been schisms in the past, but to my understanding the Eastern Church is still more closely related to the Roman Church than, say, some protestant ones.

I will post more questions if I think of them.

After the Council of Chalcedon 451, why did the Western Church not face the kinds of Christological issues that became so problematic in the East with the Eastern emperor's inability to enforce Chalcedonian orthodoxy?

So something I talked about in an old Jewish history AMA were ways in which Christianity influenced Judaism over time. Obviously Judaism influenced Christianity in its formative years in antiquity, but to what extent did Judaism influence Christianity in the Middle Ages? Are there theologies or practices which may derive from a Jewish source? I've heard of Christians using Jewish commentaries during the era, particularly Radak since he was translated to Latin. How often would connections like that take place?

On the flip side, were there any particular Christian practices developed in reaction to Judaism, i.e. in a drive to not have anything resembling Jewish theology?

How common was religious learning among the laity? I've heard vague references to Jews being more literate than Christians during this period. Would it be entirely unrealistic to expect to find some literate and reasonably well-read people in a typical church? I suspect that'll probably vary with time and place, but some particular examples that happen to be referenced in evidence would be good.

Thanks!

What was the first "heresy" of christianity?

Taking this idea from /u/Mediaevumed (thanks!). I don't know if this question has already been asked and answered, so if it is, kindly point me in the right direction. How has the office of the Papacy changed over time?

When did "Christianity" form and begin to break off from its Jewish roots and why? Why was there such a strong push to cut any and all ties with Judaism (we can see the effects of this with the NIV translation)

/u/idjet /u/talondearg

I was reading through Sulpitius Severus' Life of St. Martin last week and the the episode where Martin quits the military service during Emperor Julian's visit and it has been rattling around in my head. When Martin is to receive the donative the night before the battle:

Then, indeed, judging it a suitable opportunity for seeking his discharge--for he did not think it would be proper for him, if he were not to continue in the service, to receive a donative--he said to Cæsar, "Hitherto I have served you as a soldier: allow me now to become a soldier to God: let the man who is to serve thee receive thy donative: I am the soldier of Christ: it is not lawful for me to fight."

I know popular readings tend to paint Martin as an early Christian conscientious objector, and I am tangentially acquainted with some of the Patristic writings on the subject, but what does current scholarship have to say about the relationships between Christian communities and the Roman military apparatus during the late Empire, and how did that relationship change (if it did) given the increasing association between Christianity and the Roman state post-Constantine?

Also, the fact that Severus names the emperor that Martin meets with as the one and only Julian the Apostate, makes me wonder if there is something else going on here. Thoughts?

Why has Western Christianity spread so well? It doesn't seem particularly different from any other religion, yet its various denominations make up a large portion of the world. What set Christianity apart from other religions in Europe?

Okay, questions for /u/Bakuraptor particularly.

What would you say was new about Methodism that contributed to its success? I get the impression that a lot of religious disputes in the 18th/19th century, particular in America, are more about style than doctrine: the fired up evangelists vs. the more respectable churchgoers; I don't know how accurate that is.

What's your favorite incident or figure from Methodist history?

How were heretics treated during Charlemagne's rule, and how did it differ from other catholic country's at the time?

When did celibacy become the norm for priests and monastics in the Roman Catholic church [and other sects? I know about the limitations on Orthodox bishops re: marriage but not aware of others]? Was/is there a purpose beyond removing things that would be distractions from their holy vocation?

I have read before that kidnapping the Pope was one way to get his blessing. My question is wouldn't the fact that he was kidnapped taint the support he gives to his kidnappers?

I was reading about the Pelagian controversy recently, and Augustine's views sounded very very Calvinistic (he seemed to at least agree with TULI, and P didn't come up). Do you think Augustine was basically a Calvinist, or were my sources just Calvinists filtering him through their framework?

Did heresies have separate canons, or just drastically different readings of the same text?

I'd be interested in any really, but specifically Nestorian and Arian Christianity.

Perhaps for /u/bix783 but also for anyone else: top recommended books on the Anglo-Saxon conversion? (And anything to do with Anglo-Saxon churches/early mediaeval Christian period)

When did the Catholic mass as we see it today take form? In other words, when did the max begin its format of readings from old and new testament, followed by a gospel reading and a homily and ending with communion?

Is there any non-biased sources about the origins of the Papacy?

During the era of 476 - Charlemagne do we have any records of how the latin church saw themselves in relation to the (Western) Roman Empire? Did they see themselves as a kind of "caretakers" of the imperial legacy (since they obviously could confer imperial status) or as the last vestiges of the empire perhaps?

When i read Gregory of Tours it seemed like he really expected the apocalypse would happen soon. He even calculated the end of the world would come between 799 and 806. Did many people take this seriously? How widespread was this thought among the regular population?

What are the reasons for the Catholic Church's ban on Freemasonry?

Was Adomnán's Vita Columbae read outside of Britain and Ireland, like in Rome perhaps? I know there may not be solid answers to this question but I was wondering if there was a general sense of how popular celtic saints were outside of of north-western Europe in the early Middle Ages.

Was lay investiture an issue in Spain?

Before Trent, what was the prerequisite to being a priest? How have clerical vestments changed in the past thousand years? And what about clerical dress (not used in mass/service)?

A question I've had on my mind for a few days: Did the Pope ever travel like the Pope today? If so, where would he go and what would he do?

Considering that the French Revolution neutralized the Church's power in France, how did the Church react to the French Revolution?

I apologize if this is a loaded or difficult question.

What evidence do we have showing the accuracy or historicity of Jesus Christ?

Again I apologize if this is beyond the scope of this AMA. Any link or references would be appreciated!

When and why did the Irish church bring the dates of Easter into line with Rome? Were there any other aspects of the Irish church that were divergent and corrected?

Here's a controversy-- the First Great Awakening in America, real or not? I had a question on this a while back, and the response was that it is now thought by many historians to be largely a construct of those who would attempt to explain and control the Second Great Awakening. Can I get a pro and con on this?

What do you think of the idea that the Lollards foreshadowed the Reformation?

From what I know of it, there seem to be many similarities, such as Wycliffe's translation of the Bible into the vernacular, complaints about the corruption of the Church and involvement with temporal matters, a belief in the Bible as the ultimate authority, lay priesthood, etc. Even the posting of the Twelve Conclusions foreshadows Martin Luther's 95 Theses (albeit more succinctly).

How did Poland end up overwhelmingly Catholic if, during the period of the Commonwealth, it was religiously tolerant?

What were some of the more interesting heresies and sects of the Catholic Church before the advent of Protestantism?

I don't know if you guys are still fielding any questions, but I do have one. That is, what are some of the primary historical factors in understanding contemporary American evangelicals, particular those involved in the religious right? I understand on one hand the role of slavery and the lack of epistemological constraints on interpretation, but I don't understand why some of the later organizations had so much influence, particularly looking to the 80s with the Moral Majority et al. What is the appeal they had, and what made them so successful?

I know this is all fairly recent history, but it's still history.

Where exactly did pentacostalism come from, and why does it have the stereotype of being popular most among poorly-educated and superstitious folk? Official pentacostal theology is not terribly innovative; where did all the weird cultic rituals and charismatic-based leadership come from?

Just how powerful was a pope at a given time? What would you liken their influence to in the modern world? I hear every now and then about there being political strife between the papacy and this regent or that but in the end just how much influence/power did the Pope have in the medieval era?

Given that before the Reformation services were held in Latin and the laity were almost entirely illiterate, how much would the average person have known about the Bible and theology?

So, with regards to the investiture controversy, is it confusing or is it confusing?

[Seriously, I had to write an essay on it, and I did a shocking job because I had no idea how to argue my question]

But really, just wondering, how did the papacy manage to, essentially, get so in bed with the HRE that Henry III could depose popes in the first place?

My understanding was that as of the fall of the Frankish Empire, the church essentially, for want of a better phrase, needed to "team up" with lay lords and nobles, coming under their control in exchange for protection, gradually integrating and intermingling the two to the point where Lay Lords could appoint people to ecclesiastical offices under their control.