List of Illustrations ix Preface to the Tenth Anniversary Revised Edition xi Preface to the Second Edition xlviii Introduction 1 Part I Empire and Aftermath: A.D. 200–500 35 1 “The Laws of Countries”: Prologue and Overview 37 2 Christianity and Empire 54 3 Tempora Christiana: Christian Times 72 4 Virtutes sanctorum . . . strages gentium: “Deeds of Saints . . . Slaughter of Nations” 93 5 On the Frontiers: Noricum, Ireland, and Francia 123 Part II Divergent Legacies: A.D. 500–600 143 6 Reverentia, rusticitas: Caesarius of Arles to Gregory of Tours 145 7 Bishops, City, and Desert: East Rome 166 8 Regimen animarum: Gregory the Great 190 Part III The End of Ancient Christianity: A.D. 600–750 217 9 Powerhouses of Prayer: Monasticism in Western Europe 219 10 The Making of a Sapiens: Religion and Culture in Continental Europe and in Ireland 232 11 Medicamenta paenitentiae: Columbanus 248 12 Christianity in Asia and the Rise of Islam 267 13 “The Changing of the Kingdoms”: Christians under Islam 295 14 Christianities of the North: Ireland 321 15 Christianities of the North: The Saxons of Britain 340 16 Micro-Christendoms 355 Part IV New Christendoms: A.D. 750–1000 381 17 The Crisis of the Image: The Byzantine Iconoclast Controversy 383 18 The Closing of the Frontier: Frisia and Germany 408 19 “To Rule the Christian People”: Charlemagne 434 20 In geār dagum, “In Days of Yore”: Northern Christendom and its Past 464 Notes 490 Coordinated Chronological Tables 573 Bibliography 578 Primary Sources 578 Secondary Sources 589 Index 632 

The publication of this revised edition of a masterwork by Princeton University's celebrated scholar of late antiquity marks the book's tenth anniversary. A central volume in the Wiley-Blackwell series The Making of Europe, the book has undergone a thorough redesign and includes a new preface covering academic developments in the last ten years, revised common opinions, a fully updated bibliography, and additional color images. As a superbly realized account of the compelling history of Christianity's evolution in its tumultuous first millennium, it is the essential general survey of the subject. Brown charts the rise to prominence of a religion that began as an obscure sect in Roman Judaea and developed into Europe's dominant religious – and political – institution. Christianity played a pivotal role in the making of Europe, as well as the delineation of its boundaries: the political gulf between Europe and its eastern neighbors was also a religious divide. This volume offers students of religious history unmatched depth of analysis by the leading academic authority on the period.

"This book remains a classic, easily the most fascinating introduction to the field for anyone new to it, and also capable of forcing experts into taking on new ideas; a summation of Peter Brown's mould-breaking work."—Chris Wickham, University of Oxford "Interpretations of late antiquity and of western Christendom have changed dramatically in the last decade. This anniversary edition explains the changes with Peter Brown's characteristic brilliance and range of learning."—Gillian Clark, University of Bristol