After Augustine, after Markus: the problem of the secular at the end of antiquity

Whelan, Robin ORCID: 0000-0001-6664-3381 (2021) After Augustine, after Markus: the problem of the secular at the end of antiquity EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE, 29 (1). pp. 12-35. ISSN 0963-9462, 1468-0254

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Abstract

This article revisits Robert Markus's account of the de-secularization of the Latin West between Augustine and Gregory the Great. It uses letters of advice for rulers written by early sixth-century clerics to contest his narrative of a ‘grand simplification’ of Christian thought. Multiple overlapping conceptions of the secular were still in play after the fall of Rome, articulated, not in the absence of, but in dialogue with robust political institutions. By uncoupling Christian ideas of secularity from the actual degree of religious pluralism or tolerance in a given society, historians can better capture the continued complexity of early medieval secularities.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	4303 Historical Studies, 43 History, Heritage and Archaeology
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	19 Jan 2021 16:48
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2026 09:09
DOI:	10.1111/emed.12447
Open Access URL:	https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/e...
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3114204
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