Christendom

The Triumph of a Religion, AD 300-1300

By: Peter Heather

Narrated by: Peter Heather

'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

Well organized and incredibly researched

Loved how easy it was to follow the scope of changes Christianity has gone through. Peter Heather does a fantastic job exploring all of the societal and political pressures that shaped and organized the faith through ten pivotal centuries. Really pulls you into the historical reality of conversion as a cultural process that shapes itself even as it shapes the world around it.

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).

What I Thought I Knew…

This book was an experience. A journey into the past that opened a bit of an understanding what led us to this day. Thank you!

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 :-)

Excellent read

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

Excellent, detailed history with analysis

I have been curious about this time period for a long time. Constantine has always fascinated me. This is an excellent walk through a very important time in human history. I enjoyed the book very much.

One of the finest works of history I have ever

This book is revelation. One of the finest I have ever read. I am a retired historian of American history, but I have dabbled in Western Civilization and Oriental Studies all my life. This book helped me see and appreciate what we have called the "Middle Ages"--and the origins of modern Western Civilization--far more fully than any other work I have ever read. It makes the big points about major changes and transitions with clarity--and they are big and important--and then it developes them with rich illustrations that are interesting, illuminating, and apt. Ranging from late Roman, to Byzantine, to Germanic, and Islamic up through the resurgent life of the 1200s, its mastery of each era and culture is astounding. I will be reflecting on and re-reading this book with pleasure for the rest of my life.

Fistful of Salt

Peter Heather manages to bring certain illuminating themes to the fore, to make sense of the development of Christianity: post-Constantine, the system of incentives of the empire facilitated the conversion of high status individuals.

The centrality of the Roman church was something developed over the long term, with the ebbs and flows of secular power influencing it.

But overall, even though he is forced to admit the power of faith and piety in many cases, he can’t help himself from defaulting to ridiculous Reddit atheist positions, which just can’t fathom how the power of faith to shape the soul is the main causal factor (without denying that material causes matter too)

Even in the context of small business, trying to enforce a simple policy change involves repeated emphasis at the very least: without buy in from the employees, simple forced changes do not work.
Yet Heather wants us to believe that on the scale of the entire Europe, Christianity developed without the power of faith as the main factor.
His arguments and evidence do not justify that conclusion.

He provided a meal with excellent ingredients and cooking—but added a fistful of salt at the end, spoiling the meal.

Not great.

Better name eould be "Constantine and the Rise of the Roman Church".
Christendom is a misleading name, it truly does not cover that. Granted, it begins 300AD, but little to no back mention to the earliest of the church.
it begins with Constantine, and basically ends in 1300AD with Constantine.
No mention of the Coptic church, Ethiopian church.
Rome, and Constantine.
Little mention of the Eastern Orthodox, just a snip bit of the schism.
Follows a very monolithic line. Augustin barely mentioned. Aquinas just as a side.
Good detail to Saint Francis of Assisi and Dominique.
Author professes as I believe agnostic, he is Aldo the author. Very monotone, standard British voice, no emotion or depth.
I would argue, should a book be written by a believer, narrator should be at best on the fence.
And vice versa.
Finally, quite frankly you cannot cover true Christendom from 300-1300.
You must start 100AD to at least 1600AD. Preferably 1900AD.
That encompasses Christendom, before modernity.
Detailed, accurate, fair. Just not a book I'd personally read again.

about twice as long as it should be

this Is an interesting topic and the author is wonderfully erudite .. But after 6 hours We're still talking about constantine..