A Source Book for Ancient Church History - Mirrors

The Second Division Of AncientChristianity: The Church Under TheChristian Empire: From 312 ToCirca 750The second division of the history of ancient Christianity, orChristianity under the influence of the Græco-Roman type ofculture, begins with the sole rule of Constantine, A. D. 324, orhis sole reign in the West, A. D. 312, and extends to the beginningof the Middle Ages, or that period in which the Germanic nationsassumed the leading rôle in the political life of western Europe.The end of this division of Church history may be placed, at thelatest, about the middle of the eighth century, as the time whenthe authority of the Eastern Empire ceased to affect materiallythe fortunes of the West. But it is impossible to name any year orreign or political event as of such outstanding importance as tomake it a terminus ad quem for the division which will commandthe suffrages of all as the boundary between the ancient and themediæval epochs of history.The second division of ancient Christianity may be subdividedinto three periods:I. The Imperial State Church of the Undivided Empire, or untilthe Death of Theodosius the Great, or to 395.II. The Church in the Divided Empire until the Collapse of theWestern Empire and the Schism between the East and the Westarising out of the Monophysite Controversies, or to circa 500.III. The Dissolution of the Imperial Church of the West andthe Transition to the Middle Ages. [273]