692 Theodulf of Orléans
source, and much therefore had to be assembled and
discovered in dispersed regional and personal archives.
Indexes were planned, and wording was only amended
for the sake of textual clarity. Modern research has
exposed an error rate as high as 35 percent in transcrip-
tion; the dating necessary for the validity of the laws and
applied to many entries is unreliable, and not all of the
texts originally collected have survived except in other
collections.
Further reading:Clyde Pharr, trans., The Theodosian
Code and Novels and the Sirmondian Constitutions(Prince-
ton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1952); this transla-
tion, unreliable in tenor and meaning, it must be used
with care; Jill Harries and Ian Wood, eds., The Theodosian
Code (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1993);
John Matthews, Laying Down the Law: A Study of the
Theodosian Code (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University
Press, 2000).
Theodulf of Orléans(ca. 750–821)bishop of Orléans,
abbot of Fleury
Originally a Visigoth from Spain, Theodulf moved to the
court of CHARLEMAGNEin 788 and soon became highly
respected for his theological and learning. He was a legate
in FRANCEin 798 and took part in the council examining
the false charges made against Pope LEOIII (r. 795–816)
in ROMEin 800. A skilled poet, he was interested in edu-
cational and diocesan reforms. He wrote theological trea-
tises on the HOLYSPIRITand on Baptism. Charlemagne
appointed him bishop of Orléans, where he founded what
was to become a famous school. He also constructed and
restored churches, was active in promoting pastoral care,
and is now considered to be the author of the LIBRI CAR-
OLINI,whose focus was the ICONOCLASMdispute then
dividing East and West. Implicated in the revolt of
Bernard of Italy in 817, Theodulf was deposed by LOUIS
THEPIOUSand sent into exile. He died in 821.
See alsoCAROLINGIANRENAISSANCE.
Further reading: Carl I. Hammer, Charlemagne’s
Months and Their Bavarian Labours: The Politics of the Sea-
sons in the Carolingian Empire (Oxford: Archeopress,
1997); Lawrence Nees, A Tainted Mantle: Hercules and the
Classical Tradition at the Carolingian Court(Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 1991); Lawrence Nees,
Early Medieval Art (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2002); Luitpold Wallach, Diplomatic Studies in Latin and
Greek Documents from the Carolingian Age(Ithaca, N.Y.:
Cornell University Press, 1977).
theology, schools of Theology is a Greek concept of
study taken over by Christian thinkers to provide an
intellectual framework for the correct knowledge and
understanding of GOD. From at least the fourth century
theology encompassed almost constant conflicts over
many and varied issues. In the fourth century, many of
these concerned the question whether MARY was the
mother of Christ, or God, and the relationship between
the human and divine natures of Christ. By the 11th cen-
tury, with the application of principles from grammar and
dialectic to Christian doctrine, theological questions had
evolved into discussions about the presence of the body
and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, why humankind
needed to be redeemed by Christ, the union of God with
human nature, the reconciliation of faith and reason, the
Trinity, the conflict between belief and understanding,
and the exercise of free will.
The 13th century was marked by the profound and
questioned influence of the newly translated writings of
ARISTOTLE. This led to questions about causation, form,
matter, essence, existence or being, potency, and act. All
this was compounded by a new knowledge of other non-
Christian writers such as IBNSINA(Avicenna), IBNRUSHD
(Averroës), and MAIMONIDES. In the university environ-
ment of the 14th and 15th centuries, theology was
shaped by the rival influences of AUGUSTINEof Hippo
and Aristotle, as well as by the standard practice of com-
menting on the Sentencesof PETERLOMBARD. There were
debates about whether theology was a science or simply
a consideration of the given truths of FAITH. Greater
attention to logic and language provoked discussion
about whether human beings could define God or his
power in any way.ISLAM
In ISLAMdogma was sometimes the object of intense
speculation and controversy in KALAM.In the Middle
Ages, the fundamental opposition was between SUNNIS
and Mutazilites on two points, the nature of God and the
relations between God and human beings. They both
assumed that their theologians could be rationalist and
believed that most of the truths of faith could be estab-
lished by reasoning, without recourse to revelation,
which would merely confirm them. Both schools gener-
ally admitted one and the same world system, based on
the theory of atomism and the distinction between sub-
stance and accident. They differed over the attributes of
God; the nature of the QURAN—whether it was created or
eternal; and ideas about God’s JUSTICE, the GRACEof God,
and rewards and punishments in the afterlife.
See alsoABÉLARD,PETER;ALBERTUSMAGNUS;ANSELM
OFLAON;AQUINAS,THOMAS,SAINT;ARIANISM;BASIL THE
GREAT; BERNARD OFCLAIRVAUX, SAINT; BOETHIUS, ANICIUS
MANLUS TORQUATUS SEVERINUS;DIONYSIUS THE ARE-
OPAGITE;GILBERT OFPOITIERS;GREGORY OFNAZIANZUS,
SAINT; GREGORY OFNYSSA, SAINT; HUGH OFSAINTVICTOR;
JEWS AND JUDAISM;JOHN SCOTTUS ERIUGENA; MONO-
PHYSITISM; MYSTICISM;NESTORIANISM; NOMINALISM;PALA-
MAS, GREGORY; REALISM; SCHOLASTICISM AND SCHOLASTIC
METHOD.
Further reading:David N. Bell, Many Mansions: An
Introduction to the Development and Diversity of Medieval