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Weapons of Reform: Gregory VII, Armenia, and the Liturgy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2012

Kriston R. Rennie
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Abstract

This paper examines Gregory VII's (1073–85) evolutionary efforts to unite the Armenian Church with Rome in the 1070s and 1080s. The pope's changing attitude towards Armenian liturgical practices, it is argued, illustrates a broader and visionary papal outlook, revealing in turn many social, cultural, political, and doctrinal dynamics at work during his pontificate. As a consequence of this interplay, Gregory's vested interest in the world beyond Latin Christendom becomes manifest, contributing ultimately to a more nuanced portrait of this pope and a broader historical understanding of his papacy and its governance.

Type
Research Article
Information
Church History , Volume 81 , Issue 2 , June 2012 , pp. 328 - 347
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 2012

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References

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31 See canons 32, 33, 56, 99 in Conciliorum Oecumenicorum Generaliumque Decreta, 251–53, 267–68, 290.

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40 Redgate, The Armenians, 253.

41 Tellenbach, The Church in Western Europe from the Tenth to the Early Twelfth Century, 22.

42 Matthew of Edessa, Part II, c.13, 96.

43 Ibid, c.14, 97.

44 Ibid.

45 Ibid, c.30, 109–10.

46 Ibid, 110.

47 Ibid.

48 Ibid.

49 Ibid.

50 Ibid, 113ff.

51 Reg. VIII, 1.

52 Cowdrey, Pope Gregory VII, 487.

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60 Reg. V, 5.

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72 Ibid, vol. IX, cols 773–80.

73 Ibid, vol. IX, cols 1063–66 and 1069–70.

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75 Reg. I, 64.

76 Reg. IX, 2.

77 Ibid.

78 Cowdrey, “Pope Gregory VII (1073–85) and the Liturgy,” 78.

79 Ibid, 79.

80 Reg. IV, 28.

81 Ibid.

82 Cf. Cowdrey, “Pope Gregory VII (1073–85) and the Liturgy,” 55–83.

83 Reg. VII, 11.

84 Reg. II, 51; cf. Cowdrey, Pope Gregory VII, 440.

85 Cowdrey, Pope Gregory VII, 489.

86 Ibid.

87 See note 1 for some good literature on this subject.

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89 Reg. VIII, 1.

90 Cowdrey, Pope Gregory VII, 487–88.

91 Ibid.

92 Matthew of Edessa, Part II, c.63, 140.

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