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Gottschalk of Orbais

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Gottschalk of Orbais (Latin: Godescalc, Gotteschalchus; c. 808 – 30 October 868) was a Saxon theologian, monk and poet. Gottschalk was an early advocate for the doctrine of double predestination, an issue that ripped through both Italy and Francia from 848 into the 850s and 860s. Led by his own interpretation of Augustine's teachings on the matter, he claimed the sinfulness of human nature and the need to turn to God with a humility for salvation. He saw himself as a divine vessel calling all of Christianity to repent for decades of Civil War. His attempts of this new Christianisation of Francia ultimately failed, his doctrine was condemned as heresy at the 848 council of Mainz and 849 council of Quierzy. Following his conviction as a heretic Gottschalk remained stubborn to his ideology disobeying the ecclesiastical hierarchy, making him an "actual heretic in the flesh", for this disobedience Gottschalk was placed in monastic confinement; however the shockwaves his ideology sent around Western Christendom refused to stop reverberating, Gottschalk managed to win over more followers and the threat remained up until his death in 868.[1]

Early life

Gottschalk was a son of Saxon count Bernus,[2] child oblate at the monastery of Fulda under the tutelage of the Abbot Hrabanus Maurus of Mainz.[3] Then, he was sent at Reichenau, he became close friends with Walafrid Strabo and Loup de Ferrières. In June 829, at the synod of Mainz, on the pretext that he had been unduly constrained by his abbot, he sought and obtained his liberty, withdrew first to Corbie.[4]

Priesthood

Between 835 and 840 Gottschalk was ordained priest, without the knowledge of his bishop, by Rigbold, chorepiscopus of Reims. Gottschalk's time at the Monastery of Corbie would have been formative in his development in both intellect and missionary ideology, Corbie being the centre for preparing missionaries.[5] Before 840 Gottschalk deserted his monastery and went to Italy, where he preached his doctrine of twin predestination, and entered into relations with Notting, bishop of Verona, and Eberhard, margrave of Friuli.

He was however driven from Italy through the influence of Hrabanus Maurus, now archbishop of Mainz, who wrote two violent letters to Notting and Eberhard. Gottschalk travelled through Dalmatia, Pannonia and Noricum, while continuing to preach and write.

Gottschalk was at Trpimir I of Croatia's court between 846 and 848, and his work De Trina deitate is an important source of information for Trpimir's reign. Gottschalk was a witness to the battle between Trpimir and Byzantine strategos, probably of Dalmatia, when Trpimir was victorious.

Predestination controversy

Gottschalk returned to Francia after a decade of travels throughout Europe, during this time he had gained reputation for his teachings on predestination.[5] The key foundations of this belief are that God had granted grace to a select few while denying it to those destined for Hell. This was a direct split from theological belief that God viewed humans acts with final judgement being based upon a person's nature and willingness to repent for sins, with God being able to deduce sinners and unrepentant.[6] Gottschalk strengthened his ideas throughout the 830s and 840s a period in which the Carolingian Empire was falling continuously into crisis.[7] In this time of uncertainty Gottschalk's teachings were a clear wish for atonement; this message grew from the culture of the 820s–830s that saw Louis the Pious perform public penance, also inspired by Augustine.[8] This state of repentance had to be permanent, the daily prayer for sin and confession of sins that was accepted within [monastic] life had clearly not worked,[9] so a constant state of repentance was needed to keep from enticing God's wrath.

Gottschalk's teachings went unopposed until the 848 synod of Mainz, here his old abbot Hrabanus presided over events now as Archbishop of Mainz, also present was King Louis the German. Gottschalk's libellus to support his theological belief was condemned as heretical.[10] Gottschalk was beaten by those present, before taking an oath never to return to Louis the Germans Kingdom of East Francia.[11] Gottschalk was a priest and monk from the archdiocese of Rheims, so was sent to the Archbishop Hincmar of Rheims for containment. This exposed the diocese of Rheims to the extreme theological issues that Gottschalk brought with him.

Ninth century heresies had largely been foreigners (Spanish or Greek), creating a great other for Carolingian theologians to use to define faith boundaries, the one exception was Gottschalk who continuously refused to renounce his beliefs.[12][13]

From Gottschalk's position of confinement he gained help from the monks at Orbais, where he had been previously contained. From this position Gottschalk sent his doctrine to all forms of ecclesiastical and lay authority. Gottschalk expected this to find support, he did in the scholar Ratramnus who composed ideas on predestination similar to those of Gottschalk.

Theology

Gottschalk was influenced by the Augustinian soteriology,[14] which centered on a divine monergism,[15] and implied a double predestination.[16] However, unlike Augustine, whose argument for reprobation was consequent to his doctrine of federal headship and original sin, Gottschalk argued for double predestination based on the immutable sovereignty of God.[14] He maintained that predestination was absolute, with God's will determining the fate of both the saved and the damned. His teachings attracted significant attention and controversy, ultimately leading to his condemnation as a heretic.[17]

Peter Sammons notes "Gottschalk did not believe in an arbitrary damnation for the reprobate; it was always based on the justice of God and the evil works or merit of the wicked. He rightly clarifies a common misunderstanding: that God’s predestination of the judgment of the wicked is not arbitrary, but is a matter of strict justice on account of their evil merits."[18]

At the heart of the controversy were the five propositions of Gottschalk. These can be summarized as follows:

  1. God foreordains both the elect and the reprobate: Gottschalk argued that God, in his sovereignty, has predetermined not only who would be saved but also who would be damned. This double predestination was a central feature of Gottschalk’s theology.[17]
  2. The certainty of salvation and perdition: Gottschalk asserted that the eternal destinies of individuals were fixed. Those elected by God could not lose their salvation, while the reprobate were inevitably destined for perdition.[17]
  3. God does not will the salvation of all people: Gottschalk contended that God’s will was selective, choosing only the elect for salvation. He argued that when the Bible speaks of God’s desire for all to be saved, this "all" referred exclusively to the elect.[17]
  4. Limited atonement: Consistent with his doctrine of predestination, Gottschalk believed that Christ’s atoning death was intended only for the elect, not for all humanity.[17]
  5. Human freedom is limited to only evil: Gottschalk taught that humanity had no ability to choose good apart. After the fall, human will was bound to sin and incapable of turning to God.[17]

Council of Quierzy, 849

The Council of Quierzy occurred six months after the Council at Mainz, when he was again questioned about his doctrine in an attempt to break his belief making him accept that the other bishops were correct. Gathered at this meeting were many notable including Archbishop Hincmar and King Charles the Bald the council was determined to prove Gottschalk's ideas incorrect and his readings of Augustine being wrong. Gottschalk allegedly burst into abuse following this refusal to accept the ideology of twin predestination.[19] In response to this Gottschalk was stripped of his priestly status, whipped, and held in custody at the monastery of Hautvillers Abbey in silence.[20] Gottschalk was forced to burn the writings that he had taken to the council,[21] and was 'beaten nearly to death' on the command of lower ranking abbots not those in ecclesiastical office.[22]

Writings

From the 17th century, when the Jansenists exalted Gottschalk, much has been written on him. Two studies are F. Picavet, Les Discussions sur la liberté au temps de Gottschalk, de Raban Maur, d'Hincmar, et de Jean Scot, in Comptes rendus de l'acad. des sciences morales et politiques (Paris, 1896); and A. Freystedt, Studien zu Gottschalks Leben und Lehre, in Zeitschrsft für Kirchengeschichte (1897), vol. xviii.

For many years he was believed to be the author of the Eclogue of Theodulus (Ecolga Theoduli) because both Theodulus and Gottscalk both mean "servant of God" in their respective languages, and because Gottschalk is believed to have known some Greek and the use of Greek names in the dialogue. This authorship theory was disputed by Karl Strecker in 1924. Strecker showed the writing style (poetic meter) of Theodulus was different. Most scholars now agree that Gottschalk was not the author of the Ecolga.[23]

Legacy

There are multiple parallels with the views of Gottschalk and the Protestant reformers, which is why some see him as a forerunner of Protestantism. His views share most similarities with John Calvin, his similarities include the doctrine of justification by faith alone, which his views seem to have mirrored.[24] Doctrines similar to his, concerning predestination, have been expounded by many Roman Catholic Scholastics.[25]

The 17th century Anglican Archbishop James Ussher also sided with Gottschalk for his predestinarian views.[26]

See also

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Gottschalk of Orbais — A medieval theologian; b. about 800, d. after 866, probable 30 October, 868 (or 869), in the monastery of Hautvilliers near Reims; son of a noble Saxon count named Berno, who presented him when still a child, as an oblate in the Benedictine monastery of Fulda. When Gottschalk came of age, he felt no vocation for the religious state, and asked to leave the monastery. But his abbot, Rabanus Maurus, following the prevailing opinion of the age, held that a child, who had been presented as an oblate by his parents, was bound to become a religious, and in consequence, Gottschalk was made a monk against his will. Before receiving major orders he fled from Fulda and obtained dispensation from his vows at the Council of Mainz, in June, 829. Rabanus Maurus, however, appealed to the emperor and defended his position in a special treatise: "De oblatione puerorum" (P.L., CVII, 419-440), whereupon Gottschalk was compelled to live the life of a monk but was granted the privilege of exchanging the monastery of Fulda for that of Orbais, in the Diocese of Soissons. In order to make his enforced life in the monastery more bearable, Gottschalk, who had brilliant talents, gave himself to the study of theology. He found great pleasure in the works of St. Augustine whose doctrine on grace and predestination attracted him in an especial manner.

If we may believe his opponents, Gottschalk misinterpreted some difficult some passages in the writings of St. Augustine and developed a false doctrine of double complete predestination for eternal salvation and for eternal reprobation. He left his monastery without permission, and under the pretence of a pilgrimage to Rome, traveled through Italy, spreading his doctrine wherever he went. In 840 Noting, the future bishop of Brescia, informed Rabanus Maurus of the rapid spread of Gottschalk's doctrine in Upper Italy, and asked him to write a treatise against it. The treatise is found in P.L., CIXII, 1530-53. After his return from Italy, Gottschalk had himself ordained priest, not by the bishop of Soissons, to whose diocese he belonged, but by the chorepiscopus Richbold of Reims, and again returned to ltaly. In 846 Rabanus Maurus warned Count Eberhard of Friuli against Gottschalk, who was enjoying the count's hospitality. Gottschalk now returned to Germany by way of Dalmatia, Pannonia, and Noricum. On 1 October, 848, he appeared at the Council of Mainz, where his doctrine on predestination was condemned as heretical and he was delivered for punishment to his metropolitan, Hincmar Of Reims. At a synod held in Quierzy in the spring of 849, he was obliged to burn his writings, was deposed from his priestly office because he had been ordained by a chorepiscopus without the consent or knowledge of his own bishop, and was whipped in accordance with the rule of St. Benedict, which prescribes such punishment for refractory monks. He was then imprisoned for life in the monastery of Hautvilliers where he died obstinate and mentally deranged, after an imprisonment of about twenty years.

Most of Gottschalk's writings have been lost. There still remain two short treatises in defense of his doctrine on predestination, in the form of two confessions of faith (P.L., CXXI, 347-366); some fragments of a work against Rabanas Maurus (P.L. loc.cit. 365-368); and some well-written poems (Traube, loc. cit. below).

It is doubtful whether Gottschalk's doctrine on predestination was heretical. There is nothing in his extant writings that cannot be interpreted in a Catholic sense. He, indeed, taught that God does not wish all men to be saved, and that Christ died only for those who were predestined to be saved; but these doctrines are not necessarily heretical. He may have meant (and certain passages in his extant writings warrant the assumption) that, in consequence of God's foreknowing that that some men will die on sin, He does not wish these to be saved; and that Christ's death was of no avail to those who will be damned for their sins. Gottschalk's doctrine concerning the Trinity scarcely admits a Catholic interpretation. He appears to hold that the one and common nature of the three Persons in God is merely an abstract universal, which becomes individualized and receives concrete existence in the three Persons and that, hence, each Person has its own separate deity (see Hinckmars's "De una et non trina deitate" in P.L., CXXV, 473-618).

References

  1. Back to citation Matthew Gillis, ‘Heresy in the flesh: Gottschalk of Orbais and the predestination controversy in the archdiocese of Rheims’, in Stone and West (eds.), Hincmar of Rheims, Life and Work, pp. 247- 267
  2. Back to citation Genke, Victor; Gumerlock, Francis (2010). Gottschalk and a Medieval Predestination Controversy: Texts Translated from the Latin. Marquette University Press. p. 11. ISBN 9780874622539.
  3. Back to citation Stefanczyk, Andrzej P. (2017). "Doctrinal Controversies of the Carolingian Renaissance: Gottschalk of Orbais' Teachings on Predestination". Roczniki filozoficzne. Annales de philosophie. 65 (3): 53. doi:10.18290/rf.2017.65.3-3.
  4. Back to citation Mayke de Jong, In Samuels Image: Child Oblation in the Early Medieval West, (Leiden, 1996), pp. 77-91.
  5. Back to citation occurrence 5.0 Back to citation occurrence 5.1 Gillis, 'Heresy in the Flesh'
  6. Back to citation Celia Chazelle, The Crucified God in the Carolingian Era: Theology and Art of Christ's Passion, (Cambridge, 2001), pp. 165-209.
  7. Back to citation M. Costambeys, M. Innes and S. Maclean, The Carolingian World, (Cambridge, 2011), pp. 213-223.
  8. Back to citation Mayke de Jong, The Penitential State Authority and Atonement in the Age of Louis the Pious, 814-840, (Cambridge, 2011), pp. 228-34.
  9. Back to citation M. Driscoll, 'Penance in Transition: Popular Piety and Practice', in L. Larson-Miller, ed. Medieval Liturgy: A Book of Essays, (New York, 1997), pp.121-63
  10. Back to citation Gillis, 'Heresy in the Flesh' P 250.
  11. Back to citation Timothy Reuter, 'The Text - The Annals of Fulda', Ninth Century Histories,2.
  12. Back to citation Mayke de Jone, 'Religion', in R. McKitterick, ed., The Early Middle Ages, Short Oxford History of Europe, (Oxford, 2001), pp. 131-164.
  13. Back to citation Matthew Innes, '"Immune from Heresy": defining the boundaries of Carolingian Christianity', in Paul Fouracre and D. Ganz, eds, Frankland: The Franks and the World of the Early Middles Ages, (Manchester, 2008), pp. 101-125.
  14. Back to citation occurrence 14.0 Back to citation occurrence 14.1 Sammons 2020, p. 40. sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFSammons2020 (help)
  15. Back to citation Barrett 2013, p. xxvii,. "[D]ivine monergism is the view of Augustine and the Augustinians."
  16. Back to citation James 1998, p. 103. "If one asks, whether double predestination is a logical implication or development of Augustine's doctrine, the answer must be in the affirmative."
  17. Back to citation occurrence 17.0 Back to citation occurrence 17.1 Back to citation occurrence 17.2 Back to citation occurrence 17.3 Back to citation occurrence 17.4 Back to citation occurrence 17.5 Bromiley, Geoffrey (1978). Historical Theology: An Introduction. pp. 165–170.
  18. Back to citation Sammons, Peter (2020-01-20). Reprobation: from Augustine to the Synod of Dort. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. p. 41. ISBN 978-3-525-56483-7.
  19. Back to citation Florus of Lyon, 'Libellus de tribus epistolis', ed. K. Zechiel-Eckes, Opera Polemica, CCCM 260, (Turnhout, 2014, c. 24, pp. 198-9).
  20. Back to citation 'Council of Quierzy, 849', MGH Conc. III, no. 18, pp. 198-9.
  21. Back to citation Janet L. Nelson,'The Annals of St-Bertin', Ninth Century Histories 1, (Manchester, 2013), P. 67.
  22. Back to citation Florus, 'Libellus de tribus epistolis', ed. Zechiel-Eckes, c. 25, pp. 366-368.
  23. Back to citation Poetry and Exegesis in Premodern Latin Christianity: The Encounter Between Classical and Christian Strategies of Interpretation. (2007). Netherlands: Brill.
  24. Back to citation caryslmbrown (2017-07-18). "Reformation parallels: the case of Gottschalk of Orbais". Doing History in Public. Retrieved 2021-12-19; Lockridge, Kenneth Robert (July 2013). Gottschalk “Fulgentius” of Orbais. Charlotte, NC: REFORMED THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY; Strehle, Stephen (1995). The Catholic Roots of the Protestant Gospel: Encounter Between the Middle Ages and the Reformation. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-10203-3.
  25. Back to citation Luis Le Blanc, Theses theologicae, p. 170-172
  26. Back to citation "Philip Schaff: History of the Christian Church, Volume IV: Mediaeval Christianity. A.D. 590-1073 - Christian Classics Ethereal Library". www.ccel.org. Retrieved 2022-03-15.

Bibliography

Sources

  • Barrett, Matthew (2013). Salvation by Grace: The Case for Effectual Calling and Regeneration. Phillipsburg: P & R Publishing.
  • James, Frank A. (1998). Peter Martyr Vermigli and Predestination: The Augustinian Inheritance of an Italian Reformer. Oxford: Clarendon.
  • Sammons, Peter (2020). Reprobation: from Augustine to the Synod of Dort: The Historical Development of the Reformed Doctrine of Reprobation. Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

Further reading

  • Egon Bondy wrote a study on Gottschalk, published in Bondy, Egon (1988). Gottschalk; Kratés; Jao Li; Doslov (in Czech). Brno: Zvláštní vydání (published 1991). ISBN 80-85436-05-1.
  • Gillis, Matthew Bryan. Heresy and Dissent in the Carolingian Empire: The Case of Gottschalk of Orbais Oxford University Press, 2017. ISBN 978-0198797586
  • Whitbread, Leslie George (intro and tr.). Fulgentius the Mythographer: The Mythologies. The exposition of the content of Virgil according to moral philosophy. The explanation of obsolete words. On the ages of the world and of man. On the Thebaid. Columbus, 1971.
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