The Celtic Church in Ireland in the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Centuries

What The Celtic Church in Ireland in the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Centuries covers

The Celtic Church in Ireland in the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Centuries is examined in AS 5, one of the two AS units chosen — area of study: Systematic Study of One Religion. Worth 20% of the A level. A student may not take two units from the same area of study.. It covers Ireland before Christianity: politics, society and religion, Christianity before Patrick, and the mission of Palladius, Patrick's Confessio, Patrick's Letter to Coroticus, Patrick's mission and the portrait his writings give, the origins of monasticism in Ireland, the monastic founders, the nature, appeal and distinctive features of Celtic monasticism, monasticism in church and society, and the shift from bishops to abbots, the development of Celtic penitential practice, the penitentials of Finnian, Columbanus and Cummean, the impact and value of the penitentials, Celtic hagiography: Muirchú's Patrick and Cogitosus' Brigit, the purpose, reliability and devotional value of hagiography and human experience: faith, asceticism, sin and the example of the saints.

The 15 subtopics

Each one has its own page. CCEA AS Religious Studies students sit this topic in the first year.

• Ireland before Christianity: politics, society and religionIreland's relationship to the Roman empire, basis of social rank in early Irish society and system of clientship.Open →
• Christianity before Patrick, and the mission of PalladiusEarliest datable evidence for Christianity in Ireland and significance of place names containing the element domnach.Open →
• Patrick's ConfessioOnly writings that can be attributed to Patrick himself and vision of Victoricus.Open →
• Patrick's Letter to CoroticusThe occasion of the letter, what it shows of Patrick's authority and of the slave raids, and the difficulty of identifying Coroticus.Open →
• Patrick's mission and the portrait his writings giveMission do Patrick's writings describe and patrick's sense of his place in history.Open →
• The origins of monasticism in IrelandThree martyrdoms described in early Irish teaching and peregrinatio pro Christo.Open →
• The monastic foundersFinnian's other great contribution and navigatio Sancti Brendani.Open →
• The nature, appeal and distinctive features of Celtic monasticismDaily life of an Irish monk and two customs that distinguished Irish practice from that of Rome.Open →
• Monasticism in church and society, and the shift from bishops to abbotsThe founding of the great monasteries, their role in learning and land, and the scholarly dispute over how far abbots displaced bishops.Open →
• The development of Celtic penitential practiceCanonical penance in the early church, irish innovation in the practice of penance and role of the anmchara in penance.Open →
• The penitentials of Finnian, Columbanus and CummeanDistinctive about Finnian's treatment of sins of thought and offences does Columbanus penalise among monks.Open →
• The impact and value of the penitentialsImportance of the penitentials within the Irish church, importance for the wider church and chief limitation of the penitentials as historical evidence.Open →
• Celtic hagiography: Muirchú's Patrick and Cogitosus' BrigitWhat the seventh-century Lives were written to achieve, the miracle traditions, and the limits of hagiography as evidence.Open →
• The purpose, reliability and devotional value of hagiographySharpest test of the reliability of Muirchú's Life and spiritual value claimed for hagiography.Open →
• Human experience: faith, asceticism, sin and the example of the saintsRisk when a religion adapts closely to its culture, integrity of the religious life and limits of the saints as moral examples.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take The Celtic Church in Ireland in the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Centuries further

The same content, four other ways.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What was Ireland's relationship to the Roman empire?

   Model answer

   Ireland was never conquered or governed by Rome, so it had no provincial administration, no towns and no coinage. Trade, raiding and the movement of slaves nevertheless kept Ireland in regular contact with Roman Britain and Gaul.

2. 2

   Why does Ireland's position outside the empire matter for the shape of its church?

   Model answer

   The Roman church elsewhere organised itself around the city and its territory, with a bishop for each civitas. Ireland offered no such unit, so the church that developed there had to attach itself to kingdoms, kin-groups and eventually monasteries instead.

3. 3

   How was Ireland governed in the fifth century?

   Model answer

   Ireland was divided into a large number of small kingdoms called túatha, each with its own king. Lesser kings owed submission to over-kings and to the rulers of the larger provincial groupings, so power was layered rather than centralised.

4. 4

   What was the basis of social rank in early Irish society?

   Model answer

   Rank was defined by birth, property and the size of a person's following, and every free person had an honour price that fixed the compensation owed for an injury to them. Kings, nobles, freemen with land and the unfree formed a graded order.

5. 5

   Explain the system of clientship.

   Model answer

   A lord granted cattle to a client, who in return owed food render, labour and support. Clientship bound society together vertically and made cattle rather than land or money the working measure of wealth.

6. 6

   Which learned classes held authority alongside the king?

   Model answer

   The filid or poets, the brehons who declared the law, and the druids formed a professional learned order with status independent of the king. Their standing shows that authority in early Ireland was not held by rulers alone.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

The Celtic Church in Ireland in the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Centuries revision questions

Is The Celtic Church in Ireland in the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Centuries examined at AS in CCEA Religious Studies?

Yes. It sits in AS, which you take in the first year, so it is on the AS paper as well as counting towards the full A level.

What does The Celtic Church in Ireland in the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Centuries cover in CCEA AS-Level Religious Studies?

15 subtopics: ireland before christianity: politics, society and religion, christianity before patrick, and the mission of palladius, patrick's confessio, patrick's letter to coroticus, patrick's mission and the portrait his writings give, the origins of monasticism in ireland, the monastic founders, the nature, appeal and distinctive features of celtic monasticism, monasticism in church and society, and the shift from bishops to abbots, the development of celtic penitential practice, the penitentials of finnian, columbanus and cummean, the impact and value of the penitentials, celtic hagiography: muirchú's patrick and cogitosus' brigit, the purpose, reliability and devotional value of hagiography and human experience: faith, asceticism, sin and the example of the saints. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is The Celtic Church in Ireland in the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Centuries organised?

By the CCEA 4610 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.