Christendom

The Triumph of a Religion, AD 300-1300

By: Peter Heather

Narrated by: Peter Heather

Length: 23 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

'A fascinating story about a religion in a surprisingly precarious position' Dan Jones, Sunday Times

'Superb storytelling ... captivating and profound' Literary Review

'A page-turner' The Spectator

*A major new reinterpretation of Christendom, by one of our foremost medieval historians*

In the fourth century AD, a new faith exploded out of Palestine. Overwhelming the paganism of Rome, and converting the Emperor Constantine in the process, it resoundingly defeated a host of other rivals. Almost a thousand years later, all of Europe was controlled by Christian rulers, and the religion, ingrained within culture and society, exercised a monolithic hold over its population. But, as Peter Heather shows in this compelling new history, there was nothing inevitable about Christendom's rise to Europe-wide dominance.

In exploring how the Christian religion became such a defining feature of the European landscape, and how a small sect of isolated and intensely committed congregations was transformed into a mass movement centrally directed from Rome, Peter Heather shows how Christendom constantly battled against both so-called 'heresies' and other forms of belief. From the crisis that followed the collapse of the Roman empire, which left the religion teetering on the edge of extinction, to the astonishing revolution of the eleventh century and beyond in which the Papacy emerged as the head of a vast international corporation, Heather traces Christendom's chameleon-like capacity for self-reinvention and astounding willingness to mobilize well-directed force.

Christendom's achievement was not, or not only, to define official Christianity, but—from its scholars and its lawyers, to its provincial officials and missionaries in far-flung corners of the continent—to transform it into an institution that wielded effective religious authority across nearly all of the disparate peoples of medieval Europe. This is its extraordinary story.

'Sweeping and engaging history ... a non-triumphalist history of the triumph of Christianity, and all the more powerful for it' Financial Times

©2023 Peter Heather (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

*Financial Times Best Books of 2022: History*

"Magesterial . . . A bold reinterpretation of faith's nascent days . . . Adequately covering a thousand years of ecclesiastical governance and personal piety demands prodigious scholarship, and Heather answers the call admirably . . . A learned, exhaustive, and spritely account of the religious goings-on wherever Masses were celebrated." —Bob Duffy, Washington Independent Review of Books

"Fresh, prodigiously researched . . . Takes readers on a wide-ranging journey through eight centuries and across the length and breadth of Europe (and beyond) to understand the rise of Christendom . . . Throughout, the author finds ways to turn conventional wisdom on its head [and] introduces a host of little-known characters who played an outsized role in Christianity’s spread." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Students of the ancient world will find refreshing new perspectives on post-Roman Empire European history that challenge the received wisdom." —Mark Knoblauch, Booklist

Comprehensive & Accessible

A comprehensive and accessible read covering the indicated period. For a 5-Star review I would have appreciated a little bit less focus on the period around the fall of the Roman Empire in the West (it being understood that this is the Author’s special field of expertise) and less use of counterfactuals (in particular the one concerning Julian the Apostate was not really convincing).

Excellent read

Great comprehensive analysis of the history of human christhreanity. A through study of how this led to today’s circumstances.

Comparative perspective

This excellent work is a complete and coherent explanation of how a small and despised religion became one of the great world religions. The author’s gravitas is leavened by lithe writing and the reader hits the perfect tone. It’s dense and cutting edge but still accessible if you put your back into it :-)