History
Posts in The Copybook tagged ‘History’
A widow cast her precious icon into the sea rather than see it dishonoured by government agents, but that wasn’t the end of the story.
In the days of the Byzantine Emperor Theophilus (829-842), it was illegal to possess religious art depicting people. Houses were searched, and offenders saw their precious icons destroyed with dishonour.
Following an appalling atrocity in fourth-century Thessalonica, two strong and determined men refused to back down.
Theodosius I ruled the Roman Empire from 379 to 395. He was the first to adopt Christianity as the State religion, and an Orthodox believer who rejected Arianism, a heresy that Bede described as a ‘high-road of pestilence’ for every other. But Theodosius was also an absolute ruler, whose word was law, and to be a Bishop in his Imperial Church demanded a great deal of courage.
The young monk taught some hard-hearted pagans a lesson they’d never forget.
The historian Bede (c.672-735) was a monk at Jarrow, a short distance up the River Tyne from Tynemouth in North East England. It was at Jarrow that Bede heard this story, as told by one of those who had seen it a few years earlier.
St Wilfrid finds comfort during his tussle with the King of Northumbria
St Wilfrid was made Bishop of York, capital of the ancient Kingdom of Northumbria, in 665. He was involved in constant controversy as he resented King Ecgfrith’s interference, but he was also a key figure in keeping the English Church in close contact with the Orthodox churches of Rome and Greece, for which Bede praises him.