Influence of the Aquileian Church on the East-Alpine and Surrounding Territory from the 4th to the 8th Century

Abstract

The influence of the Aquileian Church on the East and pre-Alpine territory was explicit in the 4th and in the beginning of the 5th century. It reflected in development of the church organization, architecture and art in common, in winning recognition of specific theologic conceptions, in relic veneration, in monkhood development and in spreading of the works of the Aquilelan Christian literature. That influence, however, rather weakened ln the period from the middle of the 5th century till the middle of the 6th century, but afterwards gained even more explicit form in the time of the Aquilleian schism. With arrival of the Langobards to Italy and settllng down of the Slavs in the East and pre-Alpine territory the Influence of the Aquileian church, which has been devided into the Aquilelan and gradoan patriarchates from the beginning of the 7th century, weakened to a great extent. The development in the 7th and in the most of the 8th century was affected by internal commotions of the Aquileian church which vvas again capable of spreading her Influence by Christianization of the neighbouring Slavic world not earlier than from the end of the 8th century onward. Demarcation with Salzburg along the river Drava in 811 was the result of limited possibilities of Aquileian in that time.