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The formation of papal authority in late antique Italy : Roman bishops and the domestic sphere / Kristina Sessa.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: New York : Cambridge University Press, 2012.Description: 1 online resource (xv, 323 pages) : mapContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9781139190688
  • 1139190687
  • 1139185772
  • 9781139185776
  • 9781139017336
  • 1139017330
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Additional physical formats: Print version:: Formation of papal authority in late antique Italy.DDC classification:
  • 262/.1309015 23
LOC classification:
  • BX1805 .S47 2012eb
Other classification:
  • online - EBSCO
Online resources:
Contents:
Introduction: household management and the Bishop of Rome -- The late Roman household in Italy -- From dominion to dispensatio: stewardship as an elite ideal -- Primus cultor: episcopal householding in theory and practice -- Overseeing the overseer: bishops and the lay household -- Cultivating the clerical household: marriage, property, and inheritance -- Mistrusting the Bishop: succession, stewardship, and sex in the Laurentian schism -- The household and the Bishop: authority, competition, and cooperation in the gesta martyrum.
Summary: This book is the first cultural history of papal authority in late antiquity. While most traditional histories posit a 'rise of the papacy' and examine popes as politicians, theologians and civic leaders, Kristina Sessa focuses on the late Roman household and its critical role in the development of the Roman church from c.350-600. She argues that Rome's bishops adopted the ancient elite household as a model of good government for leading the church. Central to this phenomenon was the classical and biblical figure of the steward, the householder's appointed agent who oversaw his property and people. As stewards of God, Roman bishops endeavored to exercise moral and material influence within both the pope's own administration and the households of Italy's clergy and lay elites. This original and nuanced study charts their manifold interactions with late Roman households and shows how bishops used domestic knowledge as the basis for establishing their authority as Italy's singular religious leaders.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - EBSCO (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (ebsco)409086

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: household management and the Bishop of Rome -- The late Roman household in Italy -- From dominion to dispensatio: stewardship as an elite ideal -- Primus cultor: episcopal householding in theory and practice -- Overseeing the overseer: bishops and the lay household -- Cultivating the clerical household: marriage, property, and inheritance -- Mistrusting the Bishop: succession, stewardship, and sex in the Laurentian schism -- The household and the Bishop: authority, competition, and cooperation in the gesta martyrum.

Print version record.

This book is the first cultural history of papal authority in late antiquity. While most traditional histories posit a 'rise of the papacy' and examine popes as politicians, theologians and civic leaders, Kristina Sessa focuses on the late Roman household and its critical role in the development of the Roman church from c.350-600. She argues that Rome's bishops adopted the ancient elite household as a model of good government for leading the church. Central to this phenomenon was the classical and biblical figure of the steward, the householder's appointed agent who oversaw his property and people. As stewards of God, Roman bishops endeavored to exercise moral and material influence within both the pope's own administration and the households of Italy's clergy and lay elites. This original and nuanced study charts their manifold interactions with late Roman households and shows how bishops used domestic knowledge as the basis for establishing their authority as Italy's singular religious leaders.