The Origin of Zealous Intolerance: Paulus Orosius and Violent Religious Conflict in the Early Fifth Century
In: Vigiliae ChristianaeSearch for other papers by Victoria Leonard in
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This article explores the origins of religious intolerance in two episodes from the early fifth century ad: the forcible conversion of 540 Jews in Minorca by Bishop Severus, and the failed attempt by the monk Fronto to uncover heterodox belief in Tarragona, north-east Hispania. With the newly discovered relics of St Stephen, the presbyter Paulus Orosius brought a peculiarly vehement and absolute intolerance of non-orthodox Christianity to Minorca. Intolerance was facilitated and communicated through a trans-Mediterranean network of Christians connected through letter-writing and the exchange of visitors, of which Orosius was a particularly mobile and dynamic participant. In contrast to previous criticism, this article identifies Orosius as a point of intersection within the controversies, and, in the dissemination of his ideology of intolerance, as a catalyst for conflict.
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Orosius, Liber apologeticus contra pelagium de arbitrii libertate, 3.2 (Zangemeister, 606): latebam ergo in Bethleem, traditus a patre Augustino, ut timorem Domini discerem sedens ad pedes Hieronymi. In csel 5, ed. by K. Zangemeister, Vienna, 1882, 603-666. Trans. by C. L. Hanson, ‘Book in Defense against the Pelagians’, in The Fathers of the Church: Iberian Fathers 3. Pacian of Barcelona and Orosius of Braga, Washington, 1999, 115-167. Kelly understands Orosius’s journey to the Holy Land as an integral part of the Pelagian controversy, a deliberate move on the part of Augustine designed to alert Jerome and the church at Jerusalem to the dangers of Pelagius’s teachings. J. N. D. Kelly, Jerome. His Life, Writings, and Controversies, London, 1975, 318. For a full description of Orosius’s involvement in the synod of Jerusalem, see Hanson, Iberian Fathers 3, 97-111.
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W. H. C. Frend, ‘A New Eyewitness of the Barbarian Impact on Spain, 409-419’, Antigüedad y Cristianismo, vol. 7 (1990) 333 and fn. 2, considers it probable that Consentius lived on Minorca, and that Consentius and Severus were on good terms. See J. Wankenne, ‘Lettre de Consentius à S. Augustin’, Les Lettres de Saint Augustin découvertes par Johannes Divjak, ed. by C. Lepelley, Paris, 1983, 228, for a similar conclusion.
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Augustine, Ep. 166, 1.2: Ecce venit ad me religiosus iuvenis, catholica pace frater, aetate filius, honore compresbyter noster Orosius, vigil ingenio, promptus eloqui, flagrans studio . . . .
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The Origin of Zealous Intolerance: Paulus Orosius and Violent Religious Conflict in the Early Fifth Century
In: Vigiliae ChristianaeSearch for other papers by Victoria Leonard in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
This article explores the origins of religious intolerance in two episodes from the early fifth century ad: the forcible conversion of 540 Jews in Minorca by Bishop Severus, and the failed attempt by the monk Fronto to uncover heterodox belief in Tarragona, north-east Hispania. With the newly discovered relics of St Stephen, the presbyter Paulus Orosius brought a peculiarly vehement and absolute intolerance of non-orthodox Christianity to Minorca. Intolerance was facilitated and communicated through a trans-Mediterranean network of Christians connected through letter-writing and the exchange of visitors, of which Orosius was a particularly mobile and dynamic participant. In contrast to previous criticism, this article identifies Orosius as a point of intersection within the controversies, and, in the dissemination of his ideology of intolerance, as a catalyst for conflict.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 745 | 150 | 10 |
| Full Text Views | 325 | 4 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 146 | 10 | 0 |
