Gottschalk of Orbais

Gottschalk of Orbais (808-867):  His influence upon the transmission of Augustinian theology to the future reformers may make him the de facto source of Protestantism.  His name meant “God’s Servant” (Ussher, Elrington 124) and he was an impressed monk who attained to monastic magister and secular professor (Gillis 154, 156).  He was an accomplished poet and hymnist and missionary among the Balkan Bulgars.  He coined the phrase “the German people (Genke, Lectio 1)” and “confessed that God is sovereign…in election and reprobation (H. Hanko, ‘Martyr’),” “defended by orthodox prelates and provincial synods (Prichard 186).”  Incarcerated for two decades as a yurodivy  hermit forgotten by man, he was “one of the saddest characters of early-medieval German culture (Murdoch, Gottschalk).”  The question whether or not Gottschalk belongs to the category of early reformer hinges upon whether he is more like Fulgentius and Augustine [430 or less years before him] on the one side, or Bradwardine and Rimini [430 years or more after him] on the other (Gumerlock, “Gottschalk” 16).  According to Hans von Schubert , “It is not only our right but also our obligation to regard this German Calvin as one of the first heroes of the history of our faith  (H. Hanko, ‘Martyr’).”

The question of predestination and its nature, which drew strong protests from the monks of Provence in the early fifth century against the teaching of Augustine of Hippo, was initially settled by the Council of Orange in 529. But in the Carolingian renaissance in the ninth century, the Benedictine monk, Gottschalk of Orbais, brought the teachings of the late Augustine to the forefront of theological debate and greatly disturbed the clergy and faithful with his doctrine of double predestination of some to the joy of heaven and of others to the eternal punishment of hell—a doctrine that he claimed was that of Augustine and the Catholic faith. The present volume provides for the first time an English translation of Gottschalk’s key writings on predestination and various reactions and comments from leading theologians of the ninth century, as well as a learned introduction to Gottschalk’s life and controversies.

Quatre siècles après Augustin, Pélage et Julien d’Éclane, la controverse sur la double prédestination (années 840-860), provoquée par la personnalité hors-norme du moine saxon Gottschalk d’Orbais, se ressaisit des rapports entre libre-arbitre et déterminisme avec, au cœur des discussions, l’effrayante perspective d’une prédestination à l’Enfer. Tout au long de ce qui est la plus longue controverse du IXe siècle, le clergé franc multiplie les traités et libelles et, concile après concile, se répand en anathèmes réciproques avant d’enterrer brutalement ce débat sans issue. Dans l’Ecclesia carolingienne, le conflit doctrinal est inextricablement lié aux luttes de pouvoir de la cour, aux tensions entre évêques, clercs, moines et laïcs, à la psychose des falsifications... Pour le décrire, une perspective multiple s’impose : analyse des réseaux à partir des sources diplomatiques, déconstruction du discours théologique à la recherche de sa raison sociale, et finalement survey des manuscrits en quête des notes marginales, réécritures et autres florilèges rassemblés à l’ombre du cloître. On mesure alors combien la controverse est structurée par le problème du contrôle de l’information, de la publicité et de l’opinion – autant de thèmes dont on recule souvent l’apparition à l’ère grégorienne, lorsque s’allument les premiers bûchers d’hérétiques de l’histoire occidentale.

ERAS was founded in 2001 to facilitate interdisciplinary dialogue amongst postgraduate and early career researchers working across all areas of history, archaeology, religious studies, international studies and philosophy. The seventeenth edition of ERAS fully reflects this vision for the journal, with articles relating to heresy, art connoisseurship, Mormonism, Ned Kelly, and music in the military. Appended to this edition is a special themed issue of ERAS dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the end of the American Civil War.

We hope you enjoy this edition of ERAS.

Stephen Joyce
Managing Editor