Priest blessing people who have the plague Very soon after the crucifixion of Jesus, by around 40 or 50 AD, the early Christians began to choose leaders from among themselves. The Christians called these [...]
Peter and Paul, in a mosaic from Ravenna (500s AD) In the later Roman Empire and the Middle Ages, the Pope was the leader of the Catholic Church. Whenever there was a question [...]
A Nestorian cross on a tombstone from Kazakhstan (1300s AD) In 428 AD, when Pulcheria and Eudocia were running the Roman Empire, a bishop named Nestorius became the Patriarch of Constantinople. That's like being the Pope but for people [...]
Catholic priests celebrating Christian Mass The central Christian ritual The central part of Christian life in antiquity and the Middle Ages was the Christian Mass. That was when you went to church and the priest went through a [...]
The Gnostics - Books of Roman Gnostic writings from Nag Hammadi in Egypt (300s AD) When were the Gnostics? About the time of Jesus, about 100 BC-100 AD, people living in the Eastern [...]
Sacrifice certificate on papyrus from Oxyrhynchus, in Egypt, dating to the Decian persecution (about 3 inches wide) Rome celebrates 1000 Years About 249 AD, the situation of the Christians took a sharp turn for the worse. The [...]
A bishop from medieval Iceland (in the form of a chess piece). Now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York What is a bishop? A bishop was a man who was [...]
The Roman theater at Thagaste (Souk Ahras), in Algeria, where Augustine of Hippo grew up. Where was Augustine from? Augustine of Hippo was born in a small town in North [...]
Bishop Ambrose of Milan Who was Bishop Ambrose? By the later 300s AD, the Roman emperors were all Christians. So more and more of the people of the empire converted to Christianity. One of [...]
Gregory of Tours: This reading desk belonged to a nun, St. Radegund, who was Gregory's friend. Do you see the chi-rho symbol near the top? Who was Gregory of Tours? [...]
