This thesis argues that the origins and evolution of Christian communities inNorthern Italy between c. 250 and 381 are comprehensible only within the region'ssocial environment. Whereas previous studies of early Christianity in Italy havesought to explain its origins in terms of modern diocesan structures, this thesisshows that the evidence for this view is untrustworthy and that a new methodologyis needed to explain the rise of the church. To this end, the thesis describes the'north Italian human environment', which consists not just of the physicallandscape, but of the social networks within it. This environment allows anunderstanding of why Christian communities had developed in some places and notin others by c. 300.The development of the church continued to be influenced by this humanenvironment in the fourth century. Christian diffusion remained a partial andvariable phenomenon. In the cities Christians found themselves confronted by theadherents of other religions, notably Judaism. Thus, in the fourth century,Christians did not yet dominate the communities in which they lived. Moreover,the active participation in ecclesiastical affairs of emperors after Constantine - particularlythe intervention of Constantius II in Italy during the 350s - added a newdimension to the human environment. Such interventions defined how north ItalianChristianity came into contact with ecclesiastical and theological affairs throughoutthe empire. In sum, the history of early Christianity in northern Italy iscircumscribed by the social environment within which it developed. This thesisargues that for northern Italy - indeed for the rest of the Mediterranean - a properunderstanding of Christian growth can only come from an appreciation of theparticular social context of the region within which it occurred.
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Communities of the blessed : the origins and development of regional churches in Northern Italy, c.250 - 381 C.E.
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