Ecclesiastical history (Catholicism)

Ecclesiastical history, for the Roman Catholic Church, is the history of the Roman Catholic Church as an institution, written from a particular perspective. There is a traditional approach to such historiography. The generally-identified starting point is Eusebius of Caesarea, and his Church History.
Since there is no assumption that contemporary historians of the Catholic Church who are also Catholics adopt this perspective, this “traditional approach” is a chapter of historiography, not yet closed, but applying to a definite area that is not central to the academic history of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
==Approach, traditional Catholic view==
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913, 
:Ecclesiastical history is the scientific investigation and the methodical description of the temporal development of the Church considered as an institution founded by Jesus Christ and guided by the Holy Ghost for the salvation of mankind.” Its scope consists “the life of the Church in all its manifestations from the beginning of its existence to our own day among the various divisions of mankind hitherto reached by Christianity. While the Church remains essentially the same despite the changes which she undergoes in time, these changes help to exhibit more fully her internal and external life.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07365a.htm
Its branches therefore include:
*History of missions, in the widest sense
*History of ecclesiastical polity, of heresies and their opponents, and of the relations of the Church with non-Catholic religious associations
*History of dogma, of ecclesiastical theology, and ecclesiastical sciences in general
*History of liturgy
*History of ecclesiastical art
*History of the Catholic hierarchy, of the constitution and canon law of the Church, 
*History of religious orders
*History of discipline, religious life, Christian civilization.
===Methods===
Critical treatment of the sources requires palaeography, diplomatics, and criticism.
Apart from that, the approach is not that of a skeptic:
:The ecclesiastical historian … can by no means exclude the possibility of supernatural factors. That God cannot intervene in the course of nature, and that miracles are therefore impossible is an assumption which has not been and cannot be proved, and which makes a correct appreciation of facts in their objective reality impossible. Herein appears the difference between the standpoint of the believing Christian historian, who bears in mind not only the existence of God but also the relations of creatures to Him, and that of the rationalistic and infidel historian, who rejects even the possibility of Divine intervention in the course of natural law.
It is based in teleology:
: …the Christian historian keeps in view the fact that the founder of the Church is the Son of God, and that the Church was instituted by Him in order to communicate to the whole human race, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, its salvation through Christ. It is from this standpoint that the Christian historian estimates all particular events in their relation to the end or purpose of the Church. The unbelieving historian on the other hand recognizing only natural forces both at the origin and throughout the development of Christianity, and rejecting the possibility of any supernatural intervention is incapable of appreciating the work of the Church in as far as it is the agent of Divine design.
As well as taking the Church as its subject matter, it is Church-centered, and takes the Church's teachings at their own estimation:
:The Catholic historian insists on the supernatural character of the Church, its doctrines, institutions, and standards of life, in so far as they rest on Divine revelation, and acknowledge the continual guidance of the Church by the Holy Ghost. All this is for him objective reality, certain truth, and the only foundation for the true, scientific pragmatism of ecclesiastical history.
===Universality===
The fact that schisms have occurred in Christian history is subordinated to the claim to universality of the Catholic Church, which is not treated as one church among many:
:The Catholic historian does not admit that the various forms of the Christian religion may be taken, roughly speaking, as a connected whole, nor does he consider them one and all as so many imperfect attempts to adapt the teachings and institutions of Christ to the changing needs of the times, nor as progressive steps towards a future higher unity wherein alone we must seek the perfect ideal of Christianity. There is but one Divine revelation given us by Christ, but one ecclesiastical tradition based on it; hence one only Church can be the true one, i. e. the Church in which the aforesaid revelation is found in its entirety, and whose institutions have developed on the basis of this revelation and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
On the other hand, the effect of churches outside the Catholic Church is factored into the discussion.
==Traditional periodization==
===First Period===
The foundation of the Church and the development of fixed standards of ecclesiastical life within the limits of Græco-Roman civilization.
===Second Period===
The Church as a major force in the new Romanic, German, and Slavic states of Europe, the secession of Oriental Christendom from ecclesiastical unity and the final overthrow of the Byzantine empire.
===Third Period===
The collapse of religious unity among the Western European nations, and the reformation from within of Catholic Church faced with Protestantism. Immense geographical expansion of the Church, with missionaries in South America, part of North America and numerous in Asia and Africa. 
===Turning points===
SomeNeander, Jacobi, Baur, etc. considered the pontificate of Gregory the Great in 590, or,Moeller, Müller more generally, the end of the sixth and the middle of the seventh century as the close of the first period; othersDöllinger, Kurtz took the Sixth General Council in 680, orAlzog, Hergenröther, von Funk, Knöpfler the Trullan synod of 692, or the end of the seventh century; others again close the first period with St. Boniface,Ritter, Niedner or with the Iconoclasts,Johann Karl Ludwig Gieseler, Johann Adam Möhler or with Charlemagne.Hefele, Hase, Weingarten For the West Kraus regards the beginning of the seventh century as the close of the first period; for the East, the end of the same century. 
Similarly, along the line of division between the second and the third periods are crowded events of great importance to ecclesiastical life: the Renaissance with its influence upon all intellectual life, the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks, the discovery of America and the new problems which the Church had to solve in consequence, the appearance of Luther and the heresy of Protestantism, the Council of Trent with its decisive influence on the evolution of the interior life of the Church. Protestant historians have regarded the appearance of Luther as the beginning of the third period. A few Catholic authors (e.g. Kraus) closed the second period with the middle of the fifteenth century.
Nor do authors perfectly agree on the turning-points which are to be inserted within the chief periods. It is true that the conversion of Constantine the Great affected the life of the Church so profoundly that the reign of this first Christian emperor is generally accepted as marking a sub-division in the first period. In the second period, especially prominent personalities usually mark the limits of the several sub-divisions, e.g. Charlemagne, Gregory VII, Boniface VIII, though this leads to the undervaluation of other important factors e. g. the Greek Schism, the Crusades. Recent writers, therefore, assume other boundary lines which emphasize the forces active in the life of the Church rather than prominent personalities. In subdividing the third period the same difficulty presents itself. Many historians consider the French Revolution at the end of the eighteenth century as an event of sufficient importance to demand a new epoch; others see a distinct epochal line in the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), with which the formation of great Protestant territories came to an end.
==Sources==
Sources fall naturally into two classes:
* (A) Remains (reliquiae, Ueberreste) or immediate sources, i. e. such as prove a fact directly, being themselves part or remnant of the fact. To this class belong e. g. liturgical customs, ecclesiastical institutions, acts of the popes and councils, art-products etc.; also monuments set up to commemorate events, e. g. inscriptions.
* (B) Tradition or mediate sources, i. e. such as rest upon the statements of witnesses who communicate an event to others. Tradition may be oral (narrative and legends), written (writings of particular authors), or pictorial (pictures, statues).
===Remains===
The remains of the Church's past, which give direct evidence of historical facts, are the following:
* (1) Inscriptions, i.e. texts written on durable material, which were either meant to perpetuate the knowledge of certain acts, or which describe the character and purpose of a particular object. The Christian inscriptions of different epochs and countries are now accessible in numerous collections.
* (2) Monuments erected for Christian purposes, especially tombs, sacred edifices, monasteries, hospitals for the sick and pilgrims; objects used in the liturgy or private devotions.
* (3) Liturgies, rituals, particularly liturgical books of various kinds, which were once used in Divine service.
* (4) Necrologies and confraternity-books used at the prayers and public services for the living and the dead.
* (5) Papal acts, Bulls and Briefs to a great extent edited in the papal "Bullaria", "Regesta", and special ecclesiastico-national collections.
* (6) Acts and decrees of general councils and of particular synods.
* (7) Collections of official decrees of Roman congregations, bishops, and other ecclesiastical authorities.
* (8) Rules of faith (Symbola fldei) drawn up for the public use of the Church, various collections of which have been made.
* (9) Official collections of ecclesiastical laws juridically obligatory for the whole Church.
* (10) Rules and constitutions of orders and congregations.
* (11) Concordats between the ecclesiastical and the secular power.
* (12) Civil laws, since they often contain matters bearing on religion or of ecclesiastical interest.
===Tradition===
These comprise those sources which rest on tradition alone, and which, unlike the remains, are themselves no part of the fact. They are:
* (1) Collections of acts of the martyrs, of legends and lives of the saints.
* (2) Collections of lives of the popes (Liber Pontificalis) and of bishops of particular Churches.
* (3) Works of ecclesiastical writers, which contain information about historical events; to some extent all ecclesiastical literature belongs to this category.
* (4) Ecclesiastico-historical works, which take on more or less the character of sources, especially for the time in which their authors lived.
* (5) Pictorial representations (paintings, sculptures, etc.).
==Auxiliary sciences==
Special auxiliary sciences (e. g. epigraphy, palaeography, numismatics) deal with certain particular kinds of the above-mentioned sources. 
* (1) The study of the languages of the sources, which necessitates the use of lexicons, either general or special (i. e. for the language of particular authors).Among the general lexicons or glossaries are: Du Fresne du Cange, "Glossarium ad scriptores mediae et infimae graecitatis" (2 vols., Lyons, 1688); Idem, "Glossarium ad scriptores mediae et infimae latinitatis"; Forcellini, "Lexicon totius latinitatis" (Padua, 1771, often reprinted). "Thesaurus linguae latinae" (begun at Leipzig, 1900)
* (2) Palaeography, a methodical introduction to the reading and dating of all kinds of manuscript sources. It was first scientifically investigated and formulated by Mabillon, "De re diplomaticâ" (Paris, 1681).The literature on this subject is to be found in the manuals of de Wailly, "Elements de Paléographie" (2 vols., Paris, 1838); Wattenbach, "Latein. Paläog." (4th ed., Leipzig, 1886) and "Schriftwesen im Mittelalter" (3rd ed., Leipzig, 1896); E. M. Thompson, "Handbook of Greek and Latin Palaeography" (2nd ed., London, 1894); Prou, "Manuel de Paléographie latine et française" (Paris, 1904); Chassant, "Paléographie des chartes et des manuscrits" (8th ed., Paris, 1885); Reusens, "Elements de paléogr." (Louvain, 1899); Paoli, "Paleografia" (3 vols., Florence, 1888-1900). Charts for practice in reading medieval manuscripts were edited by: Wattenbach, "Script. graec. specimina" (3rd ed., Leipzig, 1897); Sickel, "Monum. graph. medil aevi" (10 series, 1858-82); Bond, Thompson, and Warner, "Facsimiles" (5 series, London, 1873-1903); Delisle, "Album paléogr." (Paris, 1887); Arndt and Tangl, "Schrifttafeln" (3 vols., 1904-6); Chroust, "Mon. palaeogr." (25 series, Munich, 1899-); Steffens, "Latein. Paläogr." (2nd ed., 3 parts, Trier, 1907-); Zangemeister and Wattenbach, "Exempla cod. latin." (1876-9); Sickel and Sybel, "Kaiserurkunden in Abbildungen (1880-91); Pflugk-Harttung, "Chartarum pont. Rom. specimina" (3 parts, 1881-6); Denifle, "Specimina palæographica ab Inn. III ad Urban. V" (Rome, 1888), A very useful work is Capelli, "Dizionario di abbreviature latine ed italiane" (Milan, 1899).
* (3) Diplomatics, which teaches how to examine critically the form and content of historical documents (e. g. charters, privileges), to pronounce on their genuineness, to understand them correctly, and to use them methodically. It is usually combined with paleography.The literature may be found in manuals, e. g. Bresslau, "Handbuch der Urkundenlehre für Deutschland und Italien", I (Leipzig, 1889); Giry, "Manuel de diplomatique" (Paris, 1894). See also "Nouveau traité de diplomatique" (Paris, 1750-65).
* (4) Historical Methodology, which enables the student to treat in a correct and critical way all the sources known to him and to combine the results of his researches in a methodical narrative.See Fr. Blass, "Hermeneutik und Kritik" in Iwan Müller's "Handbuch der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft", I (2nd ed., Munich, 1893); Bernheim, "Lehrbuch der historischen Methode" (3rd ed., Leipzig, 1903); Idem, "Das akademische Studium der Geschichtswissenschaft (2nd ed., Greifswald, 1907); Idem, "Einleitung in die Geschichtswissenschaft" in "Sammlung Goschen" (Leipzig, 1906); Zurbonsen, "Anleitung zum wissenschaftlichen Studium der Geschichte nebst Materialien" (Berlin, 1906); "Grundriss der Geschichtswissenschaft", edited by Al. Meister, I (Leipzig, 1906); Langlois and Seignobos, "Introduction aux études historiques" (Paris, 1905); Battaini, "Manuale di metodologia storica" (Florence, 1904).
* (5) Bibliography, the practical science of finding quickly the literature bearing on a given ecclesiastico-historical subject.The most important literature is to be found in ecclesiastico-historical manuals at the end of the various subjects treated, and is given with especial fulness in the fourth edition of Hergenröther's "Kirchengeschichte" by J. P. Kirsch (Freiburg, 1902-9). Among the bibliographical works of special importance for ecclesiastical history must be named: "Bibliotheca hagiographica latina antiquæ et mediae aetatis", edited by the Bollandists (2 vols., Brussels, 1898-1901); Potthast, "Bibliotheca historica medii ævi" (2nd ed., 2 vols., Berlin, 1896); Bratke, "Wegweiser zu den Quellen und der Literatur der Kirchengeschichte" (Gotha, 1890); Chevalier, "Répertoire des sources historiques du moyen-âge: I. Bio-Bibliographie" (Paris, 1877-88, 2nd ed., 2 vols., ibid., 1905); "II. Topo-Bibliographie historique" (2 parts, Paris, 1901-4); Stein, "Manuel de bibliographie generale" (Paris, 1898); de Smedt, "Introductio generalis ad historiam ecclesiasticam critice tractandam" (Ghent 1876); Hurter, "Nomenclator literarius recentioris theologiae catholicae" (2nd ed., 3 vols., Innsbruck, 1890-4; vol. 4: "Theologia catholica medii aevi", ibid., 1899. A third edition comprises the whole of ecclesiastical history, ibid., 1903-). For the history of the several nations see: Wattenbach, "Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im Mittelalter bis zur Mitte des 13. Jahrh." (6th ed., Berlin, 1894, 7th ed. by Dummler, I, ibid., 1904); Lorenz, "Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im Mittelalter seit der Mitte des 13. Jahrh." (3rd ed., ibid., 1886); Dahlmann and Waitz, "Quellenkunde der deutschen Geschichte" (6th ed. by Steindorff, Göttingen, 1894); Monod, "Bibliographie de l'histoire de France" (Paris, 1888); Molinier, "Les sources de l'histoire de France" (6 vols., Paris 1902); Gross, "The Sources and Literature of English History from the earliest times to about 1485" (London, 1900). Among the bibliographical periodicals that treat the history of the Church see : "Theologischer Jahresbericht" (since 1880), in the section "Kirchengeschichte"; "Jahresberichte der Geschichtswissenschaft" (since 1878) in the section "Kirchengeschichte"; "Bibliographie der kirchengeschichtlichen Literatur", in the "Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte". A bibliography of church history is now to be found in "Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique" (Louvain, since 1900).
* (6) Chronology: how to recognize and fix with accuracy the dates found in the sources. The first important chronological investigations were undertaken by Scaliger ("De emendatione temporum," Jena, 1629-), Petavius ("Rationarium temporum", Leyden, 1624; "De doctrinâ temporum", Antwerp, 1703), and the authors of "Art de vérifier les dates des faits historiques" (Paris, 1750-).The most important recent works are: Ideler, "Handbuch der mathem. u. techn. Chronologie" (Berlin, 1825; 2nd ed., 1883); De Mas-Latrie, "Trésor de chronologie, d'histoire et de géographie pour l'étude et l'emploi des documents du moyen-âge" (Paris, 1889); Brinkmeier, "Praktisches Handbuch der historischen Chronologie aller Zeiten und Völker" (2nd ed., Berlin, 1882); Rühl, "Chronologie des Mittelalters und der Neuzeit" (Berlin, 1897); Lersch, "Einleitung in die Chronologie" (Freiburg, 1899); Grotefend, "Zeitrechnung des deutschen Mittelalters und den Neuzeit" (Hanover, 1891-8); Cappelli, "Cronologia e calendario perpetuo" (Milan, 1906); Ginzel, "Handbuch den mathemat. und technischen Chronologie. Das Zeitrechnungswesen den Völker", I (Leipzig, 1906).
* (7) Ecclesiastical Geography and Statistics, the first teaches us to recognize the places in which historical events took place, the other represents the development of the Church and the actual condition of her institutions exhibited synoptically, in tables with corresponding figures, etc.Important works of this kind are: Le Quien, "Oriens christianus" (3 vols., Paris, 1740); Morcelli, "Africa christiana" (2 vols., Brescia, 1816); Toulotte, "Géographie de l'Afrique chrétienne" (Paris, 1892-4); Ughelli, "Italia sacra" (2nd ed., 10 vols., Venice, 1717-22); "Gallia Christiana" by Claude Robert (Paris, 1626), by Denis de Sainte-Marthe and others (new editions, 16 vols., Paris, 1715-); Böttcher, "Germania sacra" (2 vols., Leipzig, 1874); Neher, "Kirchliche Geographie und Statistik" (3 vols., Ratisbon, 1864-8); Idem, "Conspectus hierarchiæ catholicæ" (Ibid., 1895); Silbernagl, "Verfassung und gegenwärtiger Bestand sämtlicher Kirchen des Orients" (2nd ed., Munich, 1904); Baumgarten, "Die katholische Kirche unserer Zeit und ihre Diener", III (Munich, 1902, 2nd ed., vol. II, ibid., 1907); Gams, "Series episcoporum ecclesiae catholicae' (Ratisbon, 1873; Supplem, 1879 and 1886), continued by Eubel, "Hierarchia catholica medii aevi", I-II (Münster, 1898-1901); Spruner and Menke, "Historischer Handatlas" (3rd ed., Gotha, 1880); Werner, "Katholischer Kirchenatlas" (Freiburg im Br., 1888); Idem, "Katholischer Missionsatlas" (2nd ed., ibid., 1885); McClure, "Ecclesiastical Atlas" (London, 1883); Heussi and Mulert, "Atlas zur Kirchengeschichte" (Tübingen, 1905); see also the annual Catholic directories of various nations (England, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, etc.) and the new "Dictionnaire d'Hist. et de Géog. ecclés.", edited by Baudrillart, Vogt, and Rouziès (Paris, 1909-).
* (8) Epigraphy, a guide for the reading and methodical use of the Christian inscriptions on monuments.Works on this science are: Larfeld, "Griechische Epigraphik" and Hübner, "Römische Epigraphik", both in Iwan Müller's "Handbuch der klassischen Altertumskunde", I (2nd ed., Munich, 1892); Reinash, "Traité d'épigraphie grecque" (Paris, 1886); Cagnat, "Cours d'épigraphie latine" (3rd ed., Paris, 1898); De Rossi, "Inscriptiones christianae urbis Romae" I and II, "Introductio" (Rome, 1861-88); Le Blant, "L'épigraphie chrétienne en Gaule et dans l'Afrique romaine" (Paris, 1890); Idem, "Paléographie des inscriptions latines de la fin du III au VII siècle" (Paris, 1898); Grisar, "Le iscrizioni cristiane di Roma negli inizi del medio evo" in "Analecta Romana" (Rome, 1899).
* (9) Christian Archaeology and History of the Fine Arts, from which the student learns how to study scientifically and to use the monuments which owe their origin to Christian influences. 
* (10) Numismatics, the science of the coins of various countries and ages. Since not only the popes but also the numerous bishops, who once possessed secular power, exercised the right of coinage, numismatics belongs, at least for certain epochs, to the auxiliary sciences of church history.See Bonanni, "Numismata Pontificum Romanorum" (3 vols., Rome, 1699); "Numismata Pontificum Romanorum et aliarum ecclesiarum" (Cologne, 1704); Vignolius, "Antiqui denarii Romanorum Pontificum a Benedicto XI ad Paulum III" (2 vols., Rome, 1709; new ed. by B. Floravanti, 2 vols., Rome, 1734-8); Scilla, "Breve notizia delle monete pontificie antiche e moderne" (Rome, 1715); Venuti, "Numismata pontificum Romanorum præstantiora a Martino V ad Benedictum XIV" (Rome, 1744); Garampi, "De nummo argenteo Benedicti III dissertatio" (Rome, 1749). For further bibliography see von Ebengreuth, "Allgemeine Münzkunde und Geldgeschichte des Mittelalters und den neueren Zeit" (Munich, 1904) and in Engel and Serrure, "Traité de numism. du moyen-âge".
* (11) Sphragistics, or the science of seals (Gk. spragis, a seal). Its object is the study of the various seals and stamps used in sealing letters and documents as a guarantee of their authenticity.Besides the works mentioned above under Diplomatics, see Pflugk and Harttung, "Specimina selecta chartarum Pontificum Romanorum", part III, "Bullae" (Stuttgart, 1887); Idem, "Bullen der Päpste bis zum Ende des XII Jahrh." (Gotha, 1901); Baumgarten, "Aus Kanzlei und Kammer: Bullatores, Taxatores domorum, Cursores" (Freiburg, 1907); Heineccius, "De veteribus Germanorum aliarumque nationum sigillis" (Frankfort, 1719); Grotefend, "Ueber Sphragistik" (Breslau, 1875); Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Waldenburg, "Sphragistische Aphorismen" (Heilbronn, 1882); Ilgen in Meister, "Grundriss der Geschichtswissenschaft", I (Leipzig, 1906).
* (12) Heraldry, which teaches the student how to read accurately the coats of arms etc., used by ecclesiastical and secular lords. It frequently throws light on the family of historical personages, the time or character of particular events, the history of religious monuments.The literature of this science is very extensive. See Brend, "Die Hauptstücke der Wappenkunde" (2 vols., Bonn, 1841-9); Idem, "Allgemeine Schriftenkunde der gesammten Wappenwissenschaft"; Seiler, "Geschichte den Heraldik" (Nuremberg, 1884); E. von Sacken, "Katechismus der Heraldik" (5th ed., Leipzig, 1893); Burke, "Encyclopedia of Heraldry" (London, 1878); Davies, "Encyclopedia of Armory" (London, 1904); Pasini-Frassoni, "Essai d'armorial des papes d'après les manuscrits du Vatican et les monuments publics" (Rome, 1906).
==Historians==
The peoples among which Christianity first spread, possessed a highly developed civilization and a literature rich in works of history. Chronicles were compiled in the third century by Julius Africanus and by Hippolytus of Rome, some fragments of which survive. It is only during the fourth century that ecclesiastical history, properly so called, makes its appearance. 
===Church historians during the First Period===
Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine (died 340) is styled the "Father of Church History". We are indebted to him for a "Chronicle"P. G., XIX. and a Church History.ibid., XX; latest scientific edition by Schwartz and Mommsen, 2 vols, in "Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der drei ersten Jahrhunderte", Berlin, 1903-8. The "Church History" was an outgrowth of the "Chronicle", and was the first work to merit fully the name it bore. It first appeared in nine books and covered the time from the death of Christ to the victories of Constantine and Licinius (312 and 313). Eusebius afterwards added a tenth book, which carried the narrative to the victory of Constantine over Licinius (323). He sought to set forth in the most favourable light the Christian sentiments of the imperial convert Constantine and his services to the Christian Church, and has been censured for or his partiality towards Constantine and his palliation of the latter's faults."Vita Constantini" in P. G., XX, 905 sqq.; latest scientific ed. Heikel, "Eusebius' Werke", I, Leipzig, 1902, in "Die griech, christl. Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte". A brief historical treatise of Eusebius, "On the Martyrs of Palestine", has also been preserved.
This major Christian historian found several imitators in the first half of the fifth century, but their works survive partially if at all. The originals of the first two general narratives of ecclesiastical history after Eusebius have been lost, i.e. the "Christian History" of the presbyter Philip of Side, and the "Church History" of the Arian Philostorgius. Three other early ecclesiastical histories written about this period are also lost, from the presbyter Hesychius of Jerusalem (died 433), the Apollinarian Timotheus of Berytus, and Sabinus of Heraclea. 
About the middle of the fifth century the "Church History" of Eusebius was continued simultaneously by three writers. All three continuations have reached us. The first was written by Socrates Scholasticus, an advocate (scholasticus) of Constantinople, who, in his "Church History",P. G., LXVII, 29-842; ed. Robert Hussey, Oxford, 1853. which he expressly (I, 1) calls a continuation of the work of Eusebius, describes in seven books the period from 305 (Abdication of Diocletian) to 439. The author is honest, exhibits critical acumen in the use of his sources, and has a clear and simple style. After him, and frequently making use of his history, comes Hermias Sozomenus (or Sozomen), also an advocate in Constantinople, whose "Church History" in nine books comprises the period from 324 to 425.P. G., LXVII, 834-1630; ed. Robert Hussey, Oxford, 1860 Both these writers are surpassed by Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus (died about 458), who, in his "Church History",P. G., LXXXII, 881-1280; ed. Gaisford, Oxford, 1854. a continuation of the work of Eusebius, describes in five books the period from the beginning of Arianism (320) to the beginning of the Nestorian troubles (428). In addition to the writings of his predecessors, Socrates and Sozomen, he also used those of the Latin scholar Rufinus, and wove many documents into his narrative. Theodoret wrote also a "History of the Monks",P. G., LXXXII, 1283-1496. in which he sets forth the lives of thirty famous ascetics of the Orient. Like the "History of the Holy Fathers" or "Historia Lausiaca", so called from one Lausus to whom the book was dedicated by Palladius, written about 420,Migne, P. G., XXXIV, 995-1278; Butler, "The Lausiac History of Palladius", Cambridge, 1898. this work of Theodoret is one of the principal sources for the history of Oriental monasticism. Theodoret also published a "Compendium of Heretical Falsehoods", i. e. a short history of heresies with a refutation of each.P. G., LXXXIII, 335-556. Together with the similar "Panarion" of Epiphanius,P. G., XLI-XLII it offers material on the earliest heresies.
During the sixth century these historians found other continuators. Theodorus Lector compiled a brief compendium from the works of the above-mentioned three continuators of Eusebius: Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret. He then wrote in two books an independent continuation of this summary as far as the reign of Emperor Justin I (518-27); only fragments of this work have reached us.P. G., LXXXVI, I, 165-228. Zacharias Rhetor, at first an advocate at Berytus in Phoenicia and then (at least from 536) Bishop of Mitylene in the Island of Lesbos, composed, while yet a layman, an ecclesiastical history, which describes the period from 450 to 491, but is mostly taken up with personal experiences of the author in Egypt and Palestine. A Syriac version of this work is extant as books III-VI of a Syriac universal history, while there are also extant some chapters in a Latin version.Laud, "Anecdota Syriaca", Leyden, 1870; P. G., LXXV, 1145-78; Ahrens and Krüger, "Die sogennante Kirchengeschichte des Zacharias Rhetor", Leipzig, 1899. Apart from this history, his inclination towards Monophysitism is also apparent from his biography of the Monophysite patriarch, Severus of Antioch, and from his biography of the monk Isaias, two works extant in a Syriac version.Laud, op. cit., 346-56, edited the "Life of Isaias", and Spanuth, Göttingen, 1893, the "Life of Severus"; cf. Nau in "Revue de l'orient chrétien", 1901, pp. 26-88. More important still is the "Church History" of Evagrius of Antioch, who died about the end of the sixth century. His work is a continuation of Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret, and treats in six books the period from 431 to 594. It is based on good sources, and borrows from profane historians but occasionally Evagrius is too credulous. For Nestorianism and Monophysitism, however, his work deserves careful attention.P. G., LXXXVI, I, 2415-886; edd. Bidez and Parmentier in "Byzantine Texts" by J. B. Bury, London, 1899. 
Among the chronicles that belong to the close of Græco-Roman antiquity, special mention is due to the Chronicon Paschale, so called because the Paschal or Easter canon forms the basis of its Christian chronology.P. G., XCII.About the year 700 the Monophysite bishop, John of Nikiu (Egypt) compiled a universal chronicle; its notitiae are of great value for the seventh century. This chronicle has been preserved in an Ethiopic version ("Chronique de Jean, évêque de Nikiou", publ. par. H. Zotenberg, Paris, 1883). Zotenberg believes that the work was originally written in Greek and then translated; Nöldeke ("Gottinger gelehrte Anzeigen", 1881, 587 sqq.) thinks it more probable that the original was Coptic. To the Alexandrian Cosmas, known as the "Indian Voyager" we owe a Christian "Topography" of great value for ecclesiastical geography (ed. Montfaucon, "Collectio nova Patrum et Scriptor. græc", II, Paris, 1706; translated into English by McCrindle, London, 1897). Of great value also for ecclesiastical geography are the "Notitiae episcopatuum" (Taktika), or lists of the patriarchal, metropolitan, and episcopal sees of the Greek Church ("Hieroclis Synecdemus et Notitiae graecae episcopatuum", ed. Parthey, Berlin, 1866; "Georgii Cyprii Descriptio orbis Romani", ed. Geizer, Leipzig, 1890). The most important collection of the early Greek historians of the Church is that of Henri de Valois in three folio volumes (Paris, 1659-73; improved by W. Reading, Cambridge, 1720); it contains Eusebius, Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoret, Evagrius, and the fragments of Philostorgius and Theodorus Lector. 
The ancient Syrian writings of ecclesiastico-historical interest are chiefly Acts of martyrs and hymns to the saints ("Acta martyrum et sanctorum", ed. Bedjan, Paris, 1890-). The "Chronicle of Edessa", based on ancient sources, was written in the sixth century (ed. Assemani, "Bibliotheca orientalis", I, 394). In the same century the Monophysite bishop, John of Ephesus, wrote a history of the Church, but only its third part (571 to 586) is preserved (ed. William Cureton, Oxford, 1853; tr., Oxford, 1860). Lengthy extracts from the second part are found in the annals of Dionysius of Telmera. His work covers the years 583-843 (fragments in Assemani, "Bibliotheca orientalis", II, 72 sqq.). Among the Armenians we meet with versions of Greek and Syriac works. The most important native Armenian chronicle of an ecclesiastico-historical character is ascribed to Moses of Chorene, an historical personage of the fifth century. The author of the "History of Greater Armenia" calls himself Moses of Chorene, and claims to have lived in the fifth century and to have been a disciple of the famous St. Mesrop (q. v.). The self-testimony of the compiler must be rejected, since the work makes use of sources of the sixth and seventh centuries, and there is no trace of it to be found in Armenian literature before the ninth century. Probably, therefore, it originated about the eighth century. In the known manuscripts the work contains three parts: the "Genealogy of Greater Armenia" extends to the dynasty of the Arsacides, the "Middle Period of our Ancestry" to the death of St. Gregory the Illuminator, and the "End of the History of our Country" to the downfall of the Armenian Arsacides (ed. Amsterdam, 1695; Venice, 1881; French translation in Langlois, "Collection des historiens anciens et modernes de l'Arménie", 2 vols., Paris, 1867-9). In the Middle Ages there was still extant a fourth part. The work seems to be on the whole reliable. The ancient history, down to the second or third century after Christ, is based on popular legends. Another Armenian historian is Eliseus Vartaped (q. v.).
Comprehensive ecclesiastico-historical works appear in the Latin West later than in the Greek East. The first beginnings of historical science are confined to translations with additions. Thus St. Jerome translated the "Chronicle" of Eusebius and continued it down to 378. At the same time he opened up a special field, the history of Christian literature, in his "De viris illustribus"; ("Chronicon", ed. Schoene, 2 vols., Berlin, 1866-75; "De vir. ill.", ed. Richardson, Leipzig, 1896). About 400 the "Church History" of Eusebius was translated by Rufinus who added the history of the Church from 318 to 395 in two new books (X and XI). Rufinus's continuation was itself soon translated into Greek. The latest edition is in the Berlin collection of Greek Christian writings mentioned above in connexion with Eusebius. St. Jerome's Latin recension of the "Chronicle" of Eusebius was followed later by many other chronicles, among which may be mentioned the works of Prosper, Idacius, Marcellinus, Victor of Tununum, Marius of Avenches, Isidore of Seville, and Venerable Bede. In the West, the first independent history of revelation and of the Church was written by Sulpicius Severus, who published in 403 his "Historia (Chronica) Sacra" in two books; it reaches from the beginning of the world to about 400 (P. L., XX; ed. Hahn, Vienna, 1866). It is a short treatise and contains little historical information. A little later, Orosius wrote his "Historia adversus paganos" in seven books -- a universal history from the standpoint of the Christian apologist. It begins with the deluge and comes down to 416. The purpose of Orosius was to refute the pagan charge that the great misfortunes of the Roman Empire were due to the victory of Christianity (P. L., XXXI; ed. Zangemeister, Vienna, 1882). With the same end in view, but with a far grander and loftier conception, St. Augustine wrote his famous "De civitate Dei", composed between 413 and 428, and issued in sections. It is an apologetic philosophy of history from the standpoint of Divine revelation. The work is important for church history on account of its numerous historical and archaeological digressions (ed. Dombart, 2nd ed., Leipzig, 1877). About the middle of the sixth century, Cassiodorus caused the works of Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret to be translated into Latin, and then amalgamated this version into one complete narrative under the title "Historia tripartita" (P. L., LXIX-LXX). Together with the works of Rufinus and Orosius, it was one of the principal sources from which through the Middle Ages the Western peoples drew their knowledge of early church history. Rich material for ecclesiastical history is also contained in the national histories of some Western peoples. Of the "History of the Goths", written by Cassiodorus, we possess only an extract in Jordanis, "De origine actibusque Getarum" (ed. Mommsen in "Mon. Germ. Hist: Auct. antiquissimi", V., Berlin, 1882). Especially important is the "History of the Franks" in ten books by Gregory of Tours, which reaches to 591 (ed. Arndt, "Mon. Germ. Hist: Scriptores rerum Meroving.", I, Hanover, 1884-5). Gregory wrote also a "Liber de vitâ Patrum", a work entitled "In gloriâ martyrum", and the book "De virtutibus (i.e. miracles) S. Juliani" and "De virtutibus S. Martini" (ed. cit., pt. II, ad. Krusch). In the beginning of the seventh century St. Isidore of Seville composed a "Chronicle of the West Goths" ("Historia de regibus Gothorum, Vandalorum et Suevorum", ed. Mommsen, "Chronica Minora", II, 241-303). Several other similar chronicles, from the fourth to the seventh century, were edited by Mommsen in the "Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Auctores Antiquissimi" under the title of "Chronica Minora".
===The Church Historians of the Second Period===
The second period of church history produced a copious specialized historical literature. Its works deal more often with particular nations, dioceses, and abbeys; general histories are rare. Moreover, owing to the dominant position of the Church among the Western peoples, ecclesiastical and secular history are in this epoch closely interwoven.
In the East church history is almost completely identified with the history of the imperial court owing to the close relations of State and Church. For the same reason the Byzantine chronicles from Justinian the Great to the destruction of the empire in the middle of the fifteenth century contain information about the history of the Greek Church.The most important of them are: the "Chronography of Theophanes Isaacius" ed. de Boor, 2 vols., Leipzig, 1885; the "Chronicles" of Georgius Syncellus, George Hamartolus, Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople, Constantine Porphyrogenitus, John Malalas, Procopius, Paulus Silentiarius, the works of Leo Diaconus, Anna Comnena, Zonaras, Georgius Cedrenus, to which we may add Nicetas Choniates, Georgius Pachymeres, Nicephorus Gregoras, and John Cantacuzenus. These Byzantine historical works were first published in a large collection at Paris (1645-1711) under the title, "Byzantinae historiae Scriptores". A new edition, better and more complete, was executed by Niebuhr, Becker, Dindorf, and other collaborators in forty volumes (Bonn, 1828-78) under the title, "Corpus Scriptorum historiae Byzantinae". Most of these writings are also to be found in the Patrologia Graeca of Migne. The major church historian of the Byzantine period is Nicephorus Callistus, who flourished in the beginning of the fourteenth century.
In Syriac we possess the aforesaid chronicle of Dionysius of Telmera. Towards the end of the twelfth century Michael Kandis, Patriarch of the Jacobites (died 1199), wrote a chronicle from the creation to 1196. It is an important source for the history of the Syriac Church after the sixth century, particularly for the history of the Crusades.This work has reached us in a thirteenth century Armenian version; a French translation was published by Langlois, "Chronique de Michel le Grand" (Venice, 1868). Another patriarch of the Jacobites, Gregory Abulpharagius or Bar-Hebraeus, Maphrian (i. e. primate) of the Syro-Jacobite Church (1266-86), also wrote a universal chronicle in three parts. We must also mention the "Bibliotheca" (Myriobiblon) of Photios I of Constantinople (died 891), in which about 280 authors are described and passages quoted from themed. Becker, Berlin, 1834., and the work "On Heresies" of St. John Damascene.
Throughout this period the West was furnishing abundant material for ecclesiastical history, but few genuinely historical works. In the ninth century, Haymo, Bishop of Halberstadt (died 853), undertook to write an ecclesiastical history of the first four centuries, taking Rufinus as his principal authority."De christianarum rerum memoriâ", ed. Boxhorn, Leyden, 1650; P. L., CXVI. Subsequently, with the aid of Latin versions of Georgius Syncellus, Nicephorus, and especially of Theophanes, to which he added his own material, the Roman Abbot Anastasius Bibliothecarius (the Librarian) wrote a "Church History" to the time of Leo the Armenian, who died in 829.Migne, P. G., CVIII. 
About the middle of the twelfth century, Ordericus Vitalis, Abbot of St. Evroul in Normandy, wrote an "Historia ecclesiastica" in thirteen books; it reaches to 1142, and is of especial value for the history of Normandy, England, and the Crusades.ed. A. Le Prevost, 5 vols., Paris, 1838-55. The Dominican Bartholomew of Lucca, called also Ptolemæus de Fiadonibus (died 1327), covered a longer period. His work in twenty-four books reaches to 1313, and was continued to 1361 by Henry of Diessenhofen.ed. Muratori, "Scriptores Rerum Italicarum ", XI. The "Flores chronicorum seu Catalogus Pontificum Romanorum" of Bernard Guidonis, Bishop of Lodève (died 1331), may be counted among the works on the general history of the Church.Partially edited by Mai, "Spicilegium Romanum", VI; Muratori, op. cit., III; Bouquet, "Script. rer. gall.", XXI. The most extensive, and relatively the best, historical work during this period is the "Summa Historialis" of St. Antoninus. It deals with secular and ecclesiastical history from the creation to 1457.
The national histories which appeared towards the end of the last period (of Cassiodorus, Jordanis, Gregory of Tours, were followed by similar works giving the history of other peoples. Venerable Bede wrote his admirable Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, which describes in five books the history of England from the Roman conquest to 731, though treating principally of events after Augustine of Canterbury's mission in 596.ed. Stevenson, London, 1838; ed. Robert Hussey, Oxford, 1846. Paulus Warnefrid (Diaconus) wrote the history of his fellow-Lombards (Historia Langobardorum) from 568 to 733; it still remains the principal source for the history of his people. An unknown writer continued it to 774, and in the ninth century the monk Erchembert added the history of the Lombards of Beneventum to 889.ed. Waitz in "Mon. Germ. Hist: Script. rer. Langob. et Ital.", Hanover, 1877. Paulus wrote also a history of the bishops of Metz ("Gesta episcoporum Mettensium", ad. in "Mon. Germ. Hist: Script.", II) and other historical works. The Scandinavian North found its ecclesiastical historian in Adam of Bremen; he covers the period between 788 and 1072, and his work is of special importance for the history of the Diocese of Hamburg-Bremen."Gesta Hamburgensis ecclesiæ Pontificum", ed. Lappenberg in "Mon. Germ. Hist: Script.", VII, 276 sqq. Flodoard (died 966) wrote the history of the Archdiocese of Reims (Historia ecclesiæ Remensis) to 948, a very important source for the history of the Church of France to that time."Mon. Germ. Hist. Script.", XIII, 412 sqq. 
The ecclesiastical history of Northern Germany was described by Albert Crantz, a canon of Hamburg (died 1517), in his "Metropolis" or "Historia de ecclesiis sub Carolo Magno in Saxoniâ instauratis" (i. e. from 780 to 1504; Frankfort, 1576 and often reprinted). Among the special historical works of this period of the Western Church we must mention the Liber Pontificalis, an important collection of papal biographies that take on larger proportions after the fourth century, are occasionally very lengthy in the eighth and ninth centuries, and through various continuations reach to the death of Pope Martin V in 1431.ed. Duchesne, 2 vols., Paris, 1886-92; ed. Mommsen, I, extending to 715, Berlin 1898. The German, Italian, French, and English chronicles, annals, and biographies of this epoch are very numerous.The more important authors of chronicles are: Regino of Prüm, Hermannus Contractus, Lambert of Hersfeld, Otto of Freising, William of Tyre, Sigebert of Gemblours. Important collections, in which the reader can find the chronicles and annals of the various Christian countries, are the following: for England: "Rerum Britannicarum medii ævi Scriptores, or Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain", I sqq. (London, 1858-); for Belgium: "Collection de Chroniques belges", I sqq. (Brussels, 1836-); "Collection des chroniqueurs et trouvères belges publ. par l'Académie belge", I sqq. (Brussels, 1863-); "Recueil de chroniques publié par la Société d'émulation de Bruges" (56 vols., Bruges, 1839-64); for France: Bouquet, "Recueil des historiens des Gaules et de la France" (Paris, 1738-; new ed. by L. Delisle, Paris, 1869-); for Germany: " Monumenta Germ. historica: Scriptores", I sqq. (Hanover and Berlin, 1826-); for Italy: Muratori, "Rerum Italicarum Scriptores præcipui" (25 vols., Milan, 1723-51); Idem, "Antiquitates Italicæ medii ævi" (6 vols., Milan, 1738-42); for Spain: Flórez, "España sagrada" (51 vols., Madrid, 1747-1886); for Austria: "Fontes rerum Austriacarum: Scriptores" (8 vols., Vienna, 1855-75); for Poland: Bielowski, "Monuments Poloniæ historica" (2 vols., Lemberg, 1864-72; continued by the Academy of Cracow, III sqq., Cracow, 1878-); "Scriptores rerum polonicarum" (ibid., 1873-); for Denmark and Sweden: Langebek, "Scriptores rerum Danicarum medii ævi" (9 vols., Copenhagen, 1772-8); Fant, "Scriptores rerum Suecicarum medii ævi" (3 vols., Upsala, 1818-76); Rietz, "Scriptores Suecici medii ævi" (3 vols., Lund, 1842). Other important collections are: L. d'Achéry, "Spidilegium veterum aliquot scriptorum" (13 vols., Paris, 1655); Mabillon, "Acts Sanctorum ordinis S. Benedicti" (9 vols., Paris, 1668); "Acts Sanctorum Bollandistarum" (see Bollandists). The best guide to the sources of medieval history is Potthast, "Bib. hist. medii ævi: Wegweiser durch die Geschichtswerke des europäischen Mittelalters bis 1500" (Berlin, 1896).
===The Church Historians of the Third Period===
With the sixteenth century a new epoch dawned for ecclesiastical history: historical criticism went hand in hand with the growth of humanist education. The sources of historical events were examined as to their authenticity. I
The religious controversies that followed the rise of Protestantism were also an incentive to historical study. Printing made possible a rapid distribution of all kinds of writings, so that the sources of church history soon became known and studied in the widest circles, and new works on church history could be circulated in all directions. 
====From the Middle of the Sixteenth to the Middle of the Seventeenth Century====
The first large work on church history which appeared in this period was composed in the interests of Lutheranism. Mathias Flacius, called Illyricus (a native of Illyria), united with five other Lutherans (John Wigand, Mathias Judex, Basilius Faber, Andreas Corvinus, and Thomas Holzschuher), to produce an extensive work, that should exhibit the history of the Church as a convincing apology for strict Lutheranism. (See Centuriators of Magdeburg.) In the "Centuriæ", a partisan work, the institutions of the Roman Church appear as works of Satan and darkness. It called forth Catholic refutations, particularly that of Cæsar Baronius. Urged by Philip Neri, he undertook in 1568 the task of producing an ecclesiastical history, which he brought down to the end of the twelfth century and published under the title, "Annales ecclesiastici" (12 vols., Rome, 1588-1607). Numerous editions and continuations of it then appeared.
====From the Middle of the Seventeenth to the End of the Eighteenth Century====
;Catholic Church Historians
From the middle of the seventeenth century French writers were active in ecclesiastico-historical research. The writings of the Fathers of the Church and other ancient sources were published in excellent editions, the auxiliary sciences of history were well cultivated. Antoine Godeau, Bishop of Vence, wrote a "Histoire de l'église" reaching to the ninth century (5 vols., Paris, 1655-78; several other editions have appeared and the work was translated into Italian and German), and to the Oratorian Cabassut for "Historia ecclesiastica" (Lyons, 1685). Although the Jesuit Louis Maimbourg did not write a continuous ecclesiastical history, he published numerous treatises (Paris, 1673-83) on various important phases in the life of the Church (Arianism, Iconoclasm, Greek Schism, struggle between the popes and the emperors, Western Schism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism). 
Among the great ecclesiastical historians of this period, whose works have a permanent value, three names stand out prominently. The first is Noël Alexandre (Natalis Alexander) a Dominican. The second is Claude Fleury, who, in the interest especially of educated readers, wrote a "Histoire ecclésiastique" in 20 volumes, reaching to 1414 (Paris, 1691-1720). He adopts throughout an attitude of moderate Gallicanism. The third, one of the greatest church historians of France, is Louis Sebastièn le Nain de Tillemont. To these must be added Bossuet, who, in his "Discours sur l'histoire universelle" (Paris, 1681), treated the history of the Church as far as Charlemagne. His "Histoire des variations des églises protestantes" (2 vols., Paris, 1688) describes the changes which the Waldenses, Albigenses, Wyclifites, and Hussites, as well as Luther and Calvin, made in the fundamental doctrines of the Church. 
These French church historians of the seventeenth century are far superior to their successors in the eighteenth. Several French writers, it is true, produced elegant narratives, if we consider only external form, but they do compare unfavourably with their predecessors in criticism of their sources and in scientific accuracy. The following are noteworthy: François Timoléon de Choisy, "Histoire de l'Eglise" (11 vols., Paris, 1706-23);Bonaventure Racine (Jansenist), "Abrégé de l'histoire ecclesiastique" (13 vols., Cologne, properly Paris, 1762-7); Gabriel Ducreu, "Les siècles chrétiens" (9 vols., Paris, 1775; 2nd ad. in 10 vols., Paris, 1783). The widest circulation was attained by the "Histoire de l'Eglise" of Bérault-Bercastel.
Next to France Italy during this period produced the greatest number of excellent church historians, chiefly, however, in Christian archæology and special departments of history. The names of Cardinals Noris, Bona, and Pallavicini, Archbishop Mansi of Lucca, the Vatican librarian Zacagni, Ferdinando Ughelli, Roncaglia, Bianchini, Muratori, the brothers Pietro and Girolamo Ballerini, Gallandi, and Zaccaria, indicate the extent of historical research carried on in Italyduring the eighteenth century. Among the general histories of the Church is the "Storia Ecclesiastica" of the Dominican Giuseppe Agostino Orsi. A church history of similarly vast proportions was undertaken by the Oratorian Sacarelli. A third work, of an even more comprehensive nature and reaching to the beginning of the eighteenth century, was written by the French Dominican, Hyacinthe Graveson, resident in Italy, "Historia ecclesiastica variis colloquiia digesta" (12 vols., Rome, 1717-). Mansi continued it in two volumes to 1760. Compendia of general church history, widely read even outside Italy, were written by the Augustinian Lorenzo Berti ("Breviarium historiæ ecclesiasticæ", Pisa and Turin, 1761-8), to whom we are also indebted for three volumes of "Dissertationes historicæ" (Florence, 1753-6); Carlo Sigonio, who treated the first three centuries (2 vols., Milan, 1758), and Giuseppe Zola, who treats the same period in his "Commentarium de rebus ecclesiasticis" (3 vols., Pavia, 1780-), and who also wrote "Prolegomena comment. de rebus eccl." (ibid., 1779).
In Spain, general church history found no representatives among the ecclesiastical writers of the eighteenth century. On the other hand, the Augustinian Enrique Flórez began at this period a monumental work on the ecclesiastical history of Spain the famous "España sagrada", which at the death of the author in 1773 had reached its twenty-ninth volume. Manuel Risco continued it to the forty-second volume, and, since his death, it has been carried still nearer to completion, the fifty-first volume appearing m 1886. The other countries of Europe also failed to produce original works on the general history of the Church. The conditions of Catholics about this time were too unfavourable to permit the undertaking of extensive scientific histories. Some masterly special works appeared in Germany, monographs of particular dioceses and monasteries, but general church history was not cultivated until Joseph II had executed his reform of theological studies. Even then there appeared only small works, mostly excerpted from the great French ecclesiastical histories, superficial, Josephinistic in temper, and hostile to Rome. Among them are Lumper's "Institutiones historiæ ecclesiasticæ" (Vienna, 1790); the "Institutiones historiæ eccl." of Dannenmeyer (2 vols., Vienna, 1788), relatively the best; the "Synopsis histor. relig. et eccles. christ." of Royko (Prague, 1785); the "Epitome hist. eccl." of Gmeiner (2 vols., Gratz, 1787-1803), and similar works by Wolf, Schmalzfuss, Stöger, Becker, all of them now utterly valueless. The Netherlands also produced only compendia, e. g. those of Mutsaerts (2 vols., Antwerp, 1822), Rosweyde (2 vols., Antwerp, 1622), M. Chefneux ("Eccl. Cathol. speculum chronographicum", 3 vols., Liège, 1666-70). Needless to add, in Great Britain and Ireland the sad condition of Catholice made scientific work impossible.
;Protestant Church Historians
It was long after the publication of the "Magdeburg Centuries" (see above) before Protestant scholars again undertook extensive independent work in the province of church history. Their momentous division into Reformed and Lutherans on the one hand, and the domestic feuds among the Lutherans on the other, engrossed the minds of the Protestants. When Protestant scholarship again busied itself with ecclesiastico-historical research, the Reformed Churches took the lead and retained it into the eighteenth century. This was true not only in the domain of special history, in which they issued important publications (e. g. Bingham's "Antiquitates ecclesiasticæ", 1722; the works of Grabe, Beveridge, Blondel, Daillé, Saumaise, Usher, Pearson, Dodwell, etc.), but also in that of general church history. Among their writers on this subject we must mention Hottinger, whose "Historia ecclesiastica Novi Test." (9 vols., Hanover, 1655-67) is filled with bitter hatred against the Catholic Church; Jacques Basnage, the opponent of Bossuet ("Histoire de l'Eglise depuis Jésus-Christ jusqu'à présent", Rotterdam, 1699); Samuel Basnage, the opponent of Baronius ("Annales politico-eccles." 3 vols., Rotterdam, 1706), and Spanheim ("Introductio ad hist. et antiquit. sacr.", Leyden, 1687; "Historia ecclesiastica", ibid., 1701). The Reformed Churches produced moreover a number of manuals of church history, e. g. Turettini, "Hist. eccles. compendium" (Halle, 1750); Venema, "Institut. histor. eccl." (5 vols., Leyden, 1777); Jablonski, "Institut. hist. eccl." (2 vols., Frankfort, 1753). Similar Protestant manuals appeared in England, e. g. Milner, "History of the Church of Christ" (4 vols., London, 1794); Murray "History of Religion" (4 vols., London, 1794), and Priestley, "History of the Christian Church".
During the seventeenth century, the Lutherans produced little of value in the field of church history, other than a much used "Compendium histor. eccl." by Seckendorf and Bockler (Gotha, 1670-6). But a new era in Lutheran ecclesiastical historiography dates from Arnold's "Unparteiische Kirchen- und Ketzerhistorie" (2 vols., Frankfort am M., 1699). This pietist author is friendly to all the sects, but bitterly inimical to the Catholic Church and to orthodox Lutheranism. His standard is neither dogma nor Scripture, but subjective "interior light". Calmer judgment is found in Eberhard Weissmann's "Introductio in memorabilia ecclesiastica historiæ sacræ Novi Test." (2 vols., Tübingen, 1718). Superior to the works of all preceding Lutheran writers, both because of their thoroughness and their dignified diction, are the Latin historical writings of Joh. Lor. Mosheim, particularly his "De rebus christ. ante Constantinum Magnum" (Helmstadt, 1753), and "Institutiones histor. eccles. antiquioris et recentioris" (ibid., 1755). They betray, however, a tendency towards a rationalistic concept of the Church, which appears throughout as an institution of secular origin. His "Institutiones" were translated into German and continued by two of his pupils, J. von Einem and Rud. Schlegel (Leipzig, 1769-; Heilbronn, 1770-). Further progress was made in the works of Pfaff, chancellor of Tübingen ("Institutiones histor. eccl.", Tübingen, 1721), of Baumgarten ("Auszug der Kirchengeschichte", 3 vols., Halle, 1743-), Pertsch ("Versuch einer Kirchengeschichte", 5 vols, Leipzig, 1736-), Cotta ("Versuch einer ausführlichen Kirchenhistorie des neuen Testamentes", 3 vols., Tübingen, 1768-73). Special works, excellent for their time, were written by the two Walchs-Joh. Georg Walch issuing "Eine Geschichte der Reigionsstreitigkeiten innerhalb und ausserhalb der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche" in two parts, each comprising five volumes (Jena, 1733-9) while his son Christian Wilhelm published a lengthy "ketzergeschichte", whose eleventh volume reaches to the Iconoclasts (Leipzig, 1762-85). The latter also wrote a "Religionsgeschichte der neuesten Zeit", beginning with Clement XIV (to which Planck added three volumes) also a "Historie der Kirchenversammlungen" (Leipzig, 1759), and a "Historic der röm. Päpste" (Göttingen, 1758). The most important Lutheran work on general church history is that of J. Mathias Schröckh, a pupil of Mosheim and a professor at Wittenberg: "Christliche Kirchengeschichte bis zur Reformation" in thirty-five volumes (Leipzig, 1768-1803), continued as "Kirchengeschichte seit der Reformation" in eight volumes (Leipzig, 1803-8), to which Tzschirmer added two others (1810-12). The whole work, scholarly but too diffuse and laying excessive emphasis on the biographical element, includes forty-five volumes and closes with the beginning of the nineteenth century. Meanwhile the shallow rationalism of the eighteenth century had spread widely, and soon affected many works on church history. The works of Joh. Salomon Seniler, an unbelieving hypercritic, in this respect hold an undesirable pre-eminence, his "Historiæ eccles. selecta capita" (3 vols., Halle 1767-), "Versuch eines fruchtbaren Auszuges der kirchengeschichte" (3 parts, ibid., 1778), and "Versuch christlicher Jahrbücber" (2 parts, Halle, 1782). Most of his contemporaries were more or less openly rationalistic, and church history became a chronicle of scandals (Scandalchronik). Everywhere the writers saw only superstition, fanaticism, and human passion, while the greatest and holiest characters of ecclesiastical history were shamefully caricatured. This spirit is particularly characteristic of Spittler, "Grundriss der Gesch. der christl. Kirche" and Henke "Allgem. Geschichte der chr. K."
====The Nineteenth Century====
Ecclesiastico-historical studies have fared better in the nineteenth century. The horrors of the French Revolution led to a vigorous reaction and gave birth to a more ideal spirit in literature. Patriotism and religious zeal revived and exerted a favourable influence on all intellectual life. Romanticism led to a juster appreciation of the Catholic medieval world, while in all departments of learning there appeared an earnest desire to be objective in judgment. Finally, the sources of ecclesiastical history were studied and used in a new spirit, the outgrowth of an ever more definite and penetrating historical criticism. The general result was favourable to the science of history.
;Catholic Ecclesiastical Historians
It was in Catholic Germany that these changes were first noticeable, more particularly in the work of the famous convert, Count Leopold von Stolberg (q. v.). His "Geschichte der Religion Jesu Christi" was issued in fifteen volumes, the first four of which contain the history of the Old Testament and reach to 430. Similarly, the less important "Geschichte der christlichen Kirche" (9 vols., Ravensburg, 1824-34) by Locherer, rather uncritical and exhibiting the influence of Schröckh, remained unfinished, and reaches only to 1073. The excellent "Geschichte der christlichen Kirche" by J. Othmar von Rauschen is also incomplete. A useful compendium, serious and scientific in character, was begun by Hortig, professor at Landshut, the "Handbuch der christlichen Kirchengeschichte". He completed two volumes (Landshut, 1821-), and reached the Reformation; a third volume, that brought the work down to the French revolution, was added by his successor Döllinger (q. v.). This scholar, who unhappily later on abandoned the Catholic attitude and principles of his earlier days, excelled all previous writers of this century. Johann Adam Möhler wrote several special historical works and dissertations of exceptional merit. His lectures on general church history were published after his death by his pupil, the Benedictine Pius Gams ("Kirchengeschichte", 3 vols., Ratisbon, 1867). To these larger and epoch-making works must be added several compendia, some of which like Klein ("Historia ecclesiastica", Gratz, 1827), Ruttenstock ("Institutiones hist. eccl.", 3 vols., Vienna, 1832-4), Cherrier ("Instit. hist. eccl.", 4 vols., Pestini, 1840-), were bare summaries of facts; others, like Ritter ("Handbuch der Kirchengeschichte", 3 vols., Bonn, 1830; 6th ed. by Ennen, 1861), and Alzog ("Universalgeschichte der christlichen Kirche", Mains, 1840; 10th ed. by F. X. Kraus, 1882), are lengthy narratives, critical and thorough. Particular periods or epochs of ecclesiastical history soon found careful cultivation, e. g. by Riffel, "Kirchengeschichte der neuen und neuesten Zeit, vom Anfang der Glaubensspaltung im 16. Jahrhundert" (3 vols., Mainz, 1841-6); Damberger, "Synchronistische Geschichte der Kirche und der Welt im Mittelalter" (in 15 volumes, Ratisbon, 1850-63; the last volume edited by Rattinger), which reaches to 1378. With Döllinger and Möhler we must rank Karl Joseph Hefele, the third of the great German Catholic historians, whose valuable "Konziliengeschichte" is really a comprehensive work on general church history;. the first seven volumes of the work (Freiburg, 1855-74) reach to 1448. A new edition was begun by the author (ibid., 1873-); it was carried on by Knöpfler (vole. V-VII), while Hergenröther (later cardinal) undertook to continue the work and published two more volumes (VIII-IX, 1887-90); which carry the history of the Councils to the opening of the Council of Trent. Hergenröther is the fourth great church historian of Catholic Germany. His "Handbuch der allgemeinen Kirchengeschichte" (3 vols., Freiburg im B., 1876-80; 3rd ed., 1884-6; 4th ed., revised by J. P. Kirsch, 1902 sqq.) exhibits vast erudition and won recognition, even from Protestants as the most independent and instructive Catholic Church history. In recent years smaller, but scholarly compendia have been written by Brück, Krause Funk, Knöpfler, Marx, and Weiss. Numerous periodicals of a scientific nature bear evidence to the vigorous activity at present displayed in the field of ecclesiastical history, e. g. the "Kirchengeschichtliche Studien" (Münster), the "Quellen und Forschungen aus dem Gebiet der Geschichte" (Paderborn), the "Forschungen zur christlichen Literatur- und Dogmengeschichte" (Mainz and Paderborn), the "Veröffentlichungen aus dem kirchenhistorischen Seminar München".
;France
In France the study of church history was long in attaining the high standard it reached in the seventeenth century. Two extensive narratives of general church history appeared. That of Rohrbacher is the better, "Histoire universelle de l'Eglise catholique" (Nancy, 1842-9). It exhibits little independent research, but is a diligently executed work, and the author made a generous and skilful use of the best and most recent literature (new ed. with continuation by Guillaume, Paris, 1877). The second work is by Darras (q. v.). In recent years the science of ecclesiastical history has made great progress in France, both as to genuine criticism and thorough scholarly narrative. The critical tendency, aroused and sustained principally by Louis Duchesne, continues to flourish and inspires very important works, particularly in special ecclesiastical history. Among the writings of Duchesne the "Histoire ancienne de l'Eglise" (2 vols., already issued, Paris, 1906-) deserves particular mention. Another important publication is the "Bibliothèque de l'enseignement de l'histoire ecclésiastique" a series of monographs by different authors, of which fourteen volumes have so far appeared (Paris, 1896-), and some have gone through several editions. A very useful manual is Marion's "Histoire de l'Eglise" (Paris, 1906).
;Belgium
Belgium, the home of the Bollandists and seat of the great work of the "Acta Sanctorum", deserves particular credit for the truly scientific spirit in which that noble work is conducted. The Bollandist de Smedt wrote an excellent "Introductio generalis in Historiam ecclesiasticam critice tractandam" (Louvain, 1876). A manual of church history was published by Wouters ("Compendium hist. eccl.", 3 vols., Louvain, 1874), who also wrote "Dissertationes in selecta capita hist. eccl." (6 vols. Louvain, 1868-72). Jungmann dealt with general church history to the end of the eighteenth century in his "Dissertationes selectæ in historiam ecclesiasticam". The serious character of ecclesiastico-historical studies at Louvain is best seen in the "Revue d'histoire ecclésiastique" edited by Cauchie and Ladeuze.
;Italy
Some good manuals have appeared in Italy which evidence a beginning of serious studies in church history, e. g. Delsignore, "Institutiones histor. eccles.", edited by Tissani (4 vols., Rome, 1837-46); Palma, "Prælectiones hist. eccl." (4 vols., Rome, 1838-46); Prezziner, Storia della Chiesa (9 vols., Florence, 1822-); Ign. Mozzoni, "Prolegomena alla storia universale della chiesa" (Florence, 1861), and "Tavole chronologiche critiche della storia universale della chiesa" (Venice 1856-). Balan published as a continuation of Rohrbacher's universal ecclesiastical history the "Storia della chiesa dall' anno 1846 sino ai giorni nostri" (3 vols., Turin, 1886). Special works of great value were produced in various departments, above all by Giovanni Battista de Rossi in Christian archæology. However, certain recent works on general church history -- e. g. Amelli, "Storia della chiesa" (2 vols., Milan, 1877); Taglialatelá, "Lezioni di storia eccles. e di archeologia cristiana" (4 vols., Naples, 1897); Pighi, "Inst. hist. eccl.", I (Verona, 1901) -- do not come up to the present standard, at any rate, from the standpoint of methodical and critical treatment.
;Spain
The ecclesiastical history of Spain inspired two great works, one by Villanueva ("Viage literario a las iglesias de España", Madrid, 1803-21; 1850-2), the other by de la Fuente ("Historia ecclesiastica de España", 2nd ed., 2 vols., Madrid, 1873-5). In the field of general history, only Amat's "Historia ecclesiastica o tratado de la Iglesia de Jesu Christo" (12 vols., Madrid, 1793-1803, 2nd ed. 1807) appeared -- not a very thorough work. Juan Manuel de Berriozobal wrote "Historia de la Iglesia en sus primos siglos" (4 vols., Madrid, 1867). The Dominican Francisco Rivaz y Madrazo published a manual ("Curso de historia ecclesiastica", 3 vols., 3rd ed., Madrid, 1905).
;Holland
The first scientific Catholic manual of church history in Dutch was written by Albers ("Handboek der algemeene Kerkgeschiedenis", 2 vols., Nijmegen, 1905-7; 2nd ed., 1908).
;England
In English-speaking lands general church history has hitherto been but little cultivated; special ecclesiastical history, on the other hand, can point to a multitude of works.Among Catholic productions may be noted Lingard's "History of England" and his "History and Antiquities of the Anglo-Saxon Church", which are reliable works of reference for early and medieval English ecclesiastical history; Butler's "Historical Memoirs of English, Irish and Scottish Catholics since the Reform" (London, 1819; with Milner's "Supplementary Memoirs", ibid., 1820); Flanagan's "History of the Church of England" (2 vols., London, 1850); Reeve's "Short View of the History of the Church". The post-Reformation period is treated in Dodd, "Church History of England, 1500-1688" (ed. Tierney, 5 vols., London, 1839). Other useful works are Gillow's "Bibliographical Dictionary of English Catholics since the Reformation", Allies' "The Formation of Christendom" (q. v.), Digby's "Mores Catholici, or Ages of Faith" (q. v.)
;Scotland
A brief Catholic general account of the history of the Church in Scotland is that of T. Walsh, "History of the Catholic Church in Scotland" (1876). An excellent history is that of Canon Alphons Bellesheim, with a very full bibliography, translated into English by Dam Hunter-Blair, "History of the Catholic Church in Scotland" (4 vols., London, 1887, sqq.). The ablest non-Catholic work is Calderwood's "History of the Kirk" (8 vols., Edinburgh, 1842).
;Ireland
The numerous civil histories of Ireland abound in materials for its church history. The first serious Catholic work on the general ecclesiastical history of Ireland was that of Lanigan, "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland" (4 vols., 2nd ed., Dublin, 1829), reaching only to the beginning of the thirteenth century. A single volume work is that of the Franciscan Brenan, "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland" (Dublin, 1864).Important works dealing with particular epochs and aspects of Irish history: Haddan and Stubbs, "Councils and Eccl. Documents relating to Great Britain and Ireland" (non-Catholic, London, 1873); W. Mazière-Brady, "The Episcopal Succession in England, Scotland and Ireland, 1400-1873" (Rome, 1876); Ware and Harris, "History of the Bishops, Antiquities, and Writers of Ireland" (non-Catholic, 3 vols., Dublin, 1739-1845); Malone, "Church History of Ireland from the Anglo-Norman Invasion to the Reformation" (Dublin, 1882); O'Hanlon's "Lives of the Irish Saints"; Killen, "Ecclesiastical History of Ireland" (Presbyterian, London, 1875). Good Catholic accounts of the early Irish Church are those of Greith (Freiburg, 1867), Moran (Dublin, 1864), Gargan (ibid., 1864), Salmon (ibid., 1900). Protestant views were set forth by Stokes, "Ireland and the Celtic Church to 1172" (London, 1886), Loofs (1882), and Zimmer (1907). For a good bibliography of Irish ecclesiastical history see Bellesheim, "Gesch. der kathol. Kirche in Irland" (3 vols., Mains, 1890-).
;United States
A learned documentary work is that of John Gilmary Shea, "History of the Catholic Church in the United States" (4 vols., New York, 1886). O'Gorman's, "A History of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States" (New York, 1895), contains a useful bibliography.
For Australia see Cardinal Moran's "History of the Catholic Church in Australasia" (Sydney, 1896).
;Protestant Church Historians
Among Protestants, Church history was cultivated chiefly by German Lutherans; their works came to be authoritative among non-Catholics.Planck, the first important Protestant ecclesiastical historian of the nineteenth century, exhibits the influence of the rationalism of the preceding age, but exhibits also more solidity and more Christian sentiment both in his special works on the history of Protestant theology, and in his important "Geschichte der christlichkirchlichen Gesellschaftsverfassung" (5 vols., Hanover, 1803-9). Neander is superior to him in talents and erudition, and moreover retains belief in the supernatural. His "Allgemeine Geschichte der christlichen Religion und Kirche" (5 vols., Hamburg, 1825-45) reaches to the end of the thirteenth century; after his death a sixth volume (to the Council of Basle) was added (1852). He also wrote a history of the Apostolic epoch, "Geschichte der Pflanzung und Leitung der christlichen Kirche durch die Apostel" (2 vols., Hamburg, 1832-). To his school belong Guericke ("Handbuch der Kirchengeschichte", Halle, 1833; 9th ed., Leipzig, 1865-), Jacobi ("Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte", Berlin, 1850), Schaff ("Geschichte der alten Kirche", Leipzig, 1867), Niedner ("Gesch. der christl. Kirche", Leipzig, 1846). They are stricter Lutherans however. A different method is followed by Dante ("Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte", 2 vols., Jena, 1818-26); the text is brief and condensed, but is fortified by lengthy excerpts from the sources. A similar plan is followed by Gieseler ("Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte", 5 vols., Bonn, 1824-57; a sixth volume was added by Redepenning from the author's manuscript). Other manuals were written by Engelhardt (3 vols., Erlangen, 1832, with a volume of sources, 1834) and Kurtz ("Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte", Mitau, 1849). Lindner's "Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte" (3 vols., Leipzig, 1848-54) is strictly Lutheran; less biased are Hasse ("Kirchengeschichte", 3 parts, Leipzig, 1864) and Herzog ("Abriss der gesammten Kirchengeschichte", 3 vols., Erlangen, 1876, sq.). Hase's "Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte" and "Kirchengeschichte" are moderate in views, though frankly anti-Catholic. His diction is elegant, and his character-sketches finely drawn.
Another Protestant school is more in sympathy with Semler's rationalistic views. These writers are Hegelian in temper and spirit and seek to strip Christianity of its supernatural character. Its first leaders were the so-called "Neo-Tübingen School" under Johann Christian Baur, whose ecclesiastico-historical writings are directly anti-Christian: "Das Christentum und die Kirche der drei ersten Jahrhunderte" (Tübingen, 1853); "Die christliche Kirche vom 4. bis zum 6. Jahrhundert" (ibid., 1859); "Die christliche Kirche des Mittelalters" (ibid., 1860); "Die neuere Zeit" (ibid., 1861-3); "Das neunzehnte Jahrhundert" (ibid., 1863-73). Baur himself and his rationalistic adherents, Schwegler, Ritsçhl, Rothe, wrote also special works on the origins of the Church. The "Allgemeine Kirchengeschichte" of Gfrörer (7 parts, Stuttgart, 1841), written prior to his conversion, is a product of this spirit. Though constantly attacked, this school, whose chief living representative is Adolf Harnack, predominates in German Protestantism. Moeller, in his able "Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte" writes with moderation; similarly Müller in his yet unfinished "Kirchengeschichte" (Tübingen, 1892, sqq.).
In the nineteenth century also the Reformed (see above) produced less in the province of general church history than the Lutherans.Among the German authors must be named: Thym, "Historische Entwicklung der Schicksäle der Kirche Christi" (2 vols., Berlin, 1800-); Munscher, "Lehrbuch der christl. Kirchengeschichte" (Marburg, 1801); Ebrard, "Handbuch der Kirchen- und Dogmengeschichte" (4 vols., Erlangen, 1865-); the most important of the Reformed Church historians is Hagenbach, "Kirchengeschichte" who is temperate in his criticism of the Catholic Middle Ages. Among the Reformed Church historians of France must be mentioned: Matter, "Histoire du christianisme et de la société chrétienne" (4 vols., Strasburg, 1829); Potter "Histoire du christianisme" (8 vols., Paris, 1856); Et. Chastel, "Histoire du christianisme depuis son origine jusqu'à nos jours" (5 vols., Paris, 1881-3); Pressensé, "Histoire des trois premiers siècles"; d'Aubigné, "Histoire de la reformation du 16me siècle" (Paris, 1831-). Holland produced: Hofstede de Groot, "Institutiones histor. eccles." (Groningen, 1835); Royaards, "Compendium hist. eccl. christ." (Utrecht, 1841-45).
In the past, England, Scotland, and North America have cultivated for the most part special fields, especially the early Christian period and the ecclesiastical history of particular nations. The most important general ecclesiastical history of England hitherto produced by Anglican scholars is that edited by W. Stephens and W. Hunt -- "A History of the English Church" by various writers (Hunt, Stephens, Capes, Gairdner, Hutton, Overton), of which ten volumes have already (1910) appeared.An exhaustive history of the period since the Reformation is that of Dixon, "History of the Church of England since 1529" (5 vols., 1878-1902). In his "Lollardy and the Reformation in England" (2 vols., London, 1908), Dr. James Gairdner gives an able and impartial account of the genesis of the Reformation in England. A very useful work is the "Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines during the first eight centuries", edited by. William Smith and H. Wace (4 vols., London, 1879-). We might also mention the "History of the Christian Church" by Canon James Robertson of Canterbury, reaching to 1517; C. Wordsworth's "Church History" (4 vols., London, 1885), and the "History of the Christian Church" by Schaff (6 vols., New York, 1882-1909). Other Protestant histories are: Archdeacon Hardwick's "History of the Christian Church, Middle Age" (3rd ed. by Stubbs, London, 1872), and "Reformation" (3rd ed. by Stubbs, London, 1873); French's "Lectures on Medieval Church History" (London, 1877); Milman's "History of Latin Christianity to Nicholas V, 1455" (revised ed., London, 1866); Philip Smith's "History of the Christian Church to the end of the Middle Ages" (New York, 1885); George P. Fisher's "History of the Christian Church" (New York, 1887). Fair and impartial in many ways is Wakeman's "Introduction to the Church History of England" (3rd ed., London, 1907). To these may be added James Murdock's translation of Mosheim's "Institutes" (New York, 1854), and Henry B. Smith's translation of Gieseler's "History of the Church" (New York, 1857-80). For the sources of English Church history in general see Gross, "The Sources of English History to 1489" (New York, 1900), and Gardiner and Mullinger, "Introduction to the Study of English History" (latest ed., London, 1903).
(c) Greek Orthodox Writers
In recent time Greek Orthodox writers have produced two works which indicate a growing interest in general Church history: the Historia Ekklesiastike by Diomedes Kyriakus (2 vols., Athens, 1882), and the Ekklesiastike historia apo Iesou Christou mechri ton kath hemas chronon by Philaretes Bapheides (Constantinople, 1884-).
==References==
*Edward A. Freeman, The Methods of Historical Study (London, 1886); 
*Ernst Bernheim, Lehrbuch der historischen Methods (3rd ed., Leipzig, 1903);
*Meister in Grundriss der Geschichtswissenschaft, vol. I, pt. I (Leipzig, 1906); 
*De Smedt, Principes de la critique historique (Liege, 1883); 
*Charles-Victor Langlois and Charles Seignobos, Introduction aux études historiques (3rd ed., Paris, 1905); Introduction to the Study of History (Full text in English) at gutenberg.org
*Alois Knöpfler, Wert und Bedeutung des Studium der Kirchengeschichte (Munich, 1894; cf. also Schrörs, Hist. Jahrb., 1894, pp. 133-145); 
*Albert Ehrhard, Stellung und Aufgabe der Kirchengeschichte in der Gegenwart (Stuttgart, 1898); 
*De Smedt, Introductio generalis ad historiam ecclesiasticam critice tractandam (Ghent, 1876); 
*Joseph Nirschl, Propädeutik der Kirchengeschichte (Mainz, 1888); 
*Heinrich Kihn, Enzyklopädie und Methodologie der Theologie (Freiburg, im Br., 1892); 
*Karl Rudolf Hagenbach, Enzyclopädie und Methodologie der theologischen Wissenschaften (12th ed., Leipzig, 1889); 
*Hugo Hurter, Nomenclator literarius theologiœ catholicœ (3rd ed., Innsbruck, 1903-);
*Joseph Hergenröther, Handbuch der allgemeinen Kirchengeschichte, I (4th ed. by Kirsch, Freiburg im Br., 1902), Introduction; 
*Hippolyte Delehaye, Les légendes hagiographiques (2nd ed., Paris, 1906); 
*Leopold Fonck, Wissenschaftliches Arbeiten. Beiträge zur Methodik des akademischen Studiums (Innsbruck, 1908).
==Notes==
Category:Historiography
Category:Roman Catholic Church history