period of the Church, is,
not unnaturally, longer in proportion than the others. To Volume VI.,
which deals with the Reformation, will be allotted a similar extension.
The authors, again, use their own discretion in such matters as
footnotes and lists of authorities. But the aim of the series, which
each writer sets before him, is to tell, clearly and accurately, the
story of the Church, as a divine institution with a continuous life.

W. H. HUTTON

PREFACE

It has seemed to me impossible to deal with the long period covered by
this volume as briefly as the scheme of the series required without
leaving out a great many events and concentrating attention chiefly
upon a few central facts and a few important personages. I think that
the main results of the development may thus be seen, though there is
much which is here omitted that would have been included had the book
been written on other lines.

Some pages find place here which originally appeared in _The Guardian_
and _The Treasury_, and a few lines which once formed part of an
article in _The Church Quarterly Review_. My thanks are due for the
courtesy of the Editors. I have reprinted some passages from my
_Church of the Sixth Century_, a book which is now out of print and not
likely to be reissued.

I have to thank the Rev. L. Pullan for help from his wide knowledge,
and Mr. L. Strachan, of Heidelberg, of whose accuracy and learning I
have had long experience, for reading the proofs and making the index.

W. H. H.

S. JOHN'S COLLEGE, OXFORD,
_Septuagesima_, 1906.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I PAGE
THE CHURCH AND ITS PROSPECTS IN THE FIFTH CENTURY . . . . 1

CHAPTER II
THE EMPIRE AND THE EASTERN CHURCH, 461-628 . . . . . . . . 6

CHAPTER III
THE CHURCH IN ITALY, 461-590 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

CHAPTER IV
CHRISTIANITY IN GAUL FROM THE SIXTH TO THE EIGHTH CENTURY 41

CHAPTER V
THE PONTIFICATE OF GREGORY THE GREAT . . . . . . . . . . . 60

CHAPTER VI
CONTROVERSY AND THE CATHOLICISM OF SPAIN . . . . . . . . . 72

CHAPTER VII
THE CHURCH AND THE MONOTHELITE CONTROVERSY . . . . . . . . 83

CHAPTER VIII
THE CHURCH IN ASIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

CHAPTER IX
THE CHURCH IN AFRICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

CHAPTER X
THE CHURCH IN THE WESTERN ISLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

CHAPTER XI
THE C