14 March 2013

 Women in Roman Empire  Women and Wealth in Antiquity  Widows in the New Testament  Church Fathers and Women  Women in Politics and Economics  A sidebar on Augustine and Jerome on Virginity and Marriage  Jerome’s “Letter to Eustochium”  Augustine’s “Letter to Proba”

 Women were under strict control of the paterfamilia or her husband if the paterfamilia transferred control to the husband ◦ Marriage in manu: under husband’s complete control ◦ Marriage sine manu: under father’s control  Marriage sine manu usually meant a woman had much more control over her business affairs, especially after death of father  However, a woman with 3 or 4 children became sui iuris or independent in her own right

 Very complex, and change often  At times there were extremely harsh tax confiscation of inheritances  Evolving definitions of marriage, legitimate heirs and variations in social status ◦ Roman practice of adult adoption  Important Constantinian change: Church can inherit property from men or women ◦ Some limits placed on extent Church can ‘disinherit’ rightful heirs

 See  An Alexandrian, having no children by his wife, may not bequeath to her more than one quarter of his estate; if he does have children by her, her share may not exceed those of each son. 23. It is not permitted to Romans to marry their sisters or their aunts; it is permitted in the case of the daughter of brothers.  After death, the fiscus takes the dowry given by a Roman woman over 50 to a Roman man under 60.  And when a Latina over 50 gives something to one over 60 it is likewise confiscated.  What is inherited by a Roman of 60 years, who was neither child nor wife, is confiscated. If he have a wife but no children and register himself, the half is conceded to him.  If a woman is 50 years old, she does not inherit; if she is younger and has three children, she inherits; but if she is a freedwoman, she inherits if she has four children.  A free-born Roman woman who has an estate of 20,000 sesterces, so long as she is unmarried, pays a hundredth part annually; and a freedwoman who has an estate of 20,000 sesterces pays the same until she marries.  The inheritances left to Roman women possessing 50,000 sesterces, who are unmarried and childless, are confiscated.  It is permitted a Roman woman to leave her husband a tenth of her property; if she leaves more, it is confiscated.  Romans who have more than 100,000 sesterces, and are unmarried and childless, do not inherit; those who have less, do.  The children of a woman who is a citizen of Alexandria and an Egyptian man remains Egyptians, but inherit from both parents.  When a Roman man or a Roman woman marries a citizen of Alexandria or an Egyptian, without knowledge (of the true status), the children follow the lower class.  Egyptian women married to ex-soldiers come under the clause of misrepresentation if they characterize themselves in business transactions as Roman women.

 Jesus preached and ministered to women ◦ BVM as the most important human person in salvation history ◦ Mary Magdalene as the ‘apostle to the apostles’  St. Paul notes prominence of women supporting his ministry in several letters ◦ And some who overstep their authority as in Philippians  Widows in New Testament ◦ Wealthy widows a source of support ◦ Poor widows need to be cared for within the Church  Read 1 Timothy 5

 Women Martyrs ◦ Women independently of paterfamilia or husband join Church ◦ Perpetua and Felicity  Story of Paul and Thecla ◦ Against her parents objects, Thecla, wealthy young woman, is baptized and dedicates herself to virginity ◦ Wants to join Paul on his missionary journeys; family imprisons her ◦ Eventually she escapes, and helps Paul in his ministry ◦ Very popular 4 th C story  Although not PC; record is clear Church Fathers had strong and enduring friendships with women

 By the 4 th C, some of the wealthiest people in Empire were women ◦ Common for women to be married sine manu, and to attain sui iuris ◦ Large landowners, usually inherited  Wealthy women attracted to Church ◦ Church evangelized women of all social levels ◦ Encouraged Education ◦ Stories of the Importance of women in early Church ◦ All made Christianity a welcoming place for women

 Daughter of a very wealthy, prominent Christian family in Rome ◦ Probably among the most wealthy people in Western Empire  Grandmother, Melania the Elder ( ), convert and also honored as a saint ◦ Family opposed her conversion ◦ Family owned extensive tracks of land in Spain, Sicily and North Africa ◦ After Constantine, entire family converts  Melania the Younger married at age 13-14; has two children who die in childhood  Melania and her husband Pinianus decide to lead a life of continence as brother and sister  Give most of their money to establish monasteries in Italy, Sicily, North Africa, Jerusalem  Dies as a semi-hermit in a cave on Mt of Olives

 Letters between her and Augustine, Alypius, Jerome, Paulinus of Nola  Vita by Gerondus (c. 450) who knew Melania in her later life  Venerated as a saint in Greek Church from 5 th C; in Roman Church in 20 th C

 Born into a wealthy pagan family; baptized in 365; ordained in Antioch, good friends with Gregory Nazianzus  Along with Origen, greatest Biblical scholar of Patristic era  Pope Damasus commissions Jerome to produce an authoritative Latin translation of Bible  Jerome uses Origen, plus additional materials, especially Hebrew.  Jerome does not accept Septuagint as most authoritative  His prickly character led him to disputes with almost everyone, including Augustine ◦ Forced to leave Rome, goes to Bethlehem to live as a semi-hermit ◦ St. Paulina follows him and establishes a convent in Bethlehem  In addition to authoritative Latin translation of Bible, Jerome wrote lengthy commentaries on almost all books of Scripture; many letters; Lives of Illustrious Men  Nowhere is Jerome’s prickly character more evident than in his battle with Jovinian over sex and marriage

 Control of passions was important aspect of all philosophical schools of time, including Epicureanism  Manichees (like many gnostic sects) opposed to sex because part of evil, corporeal world  Jovinian, priest in Rome, contemporary of Jerome ◦ Virgins and married women are of same merit after Baptism if they do the same works ◦ Everyone born again in Baptism cannot be overthrown by devil ◦ No difference in abstaining from food and receiving it in thanksgiving ◦ There is one reward in heaven for all who are baptized  Jerome writes a refutation of Jovinian that is so anti-marriage that Jerome’s friends in Rome try to confiscate it  Jerome (NOT AUGUSTINE) “ The only reason to marry and have sex is to create more virgins”

 Augustine wrote On the Goods of Marriage as the middle way between Jerome and Jovinian  While viewing virginity as the better way of life, Augustine also recognized several types of ‘goods’ in marriage: ◦ Procreation ◦ Good of fidelity ◦ Sacrament  Sexual lust is a result of Fall  Sin of Adam and Eve infected human nature  Set stage for Pelagian controversy

 From earliest time in the Church evangelical counsels or the counsels of perfection were viewed as the ultimate effort to live the Christian life  Especially linked were poverty and chastity ◦ Giving of physical, material aspects of this life  Raised issues of the place of marriage and wealth in Church ◦ Can the married (rich) be saved?  Comes to a head in Rome between Jovinian and Jerome

 Letter 22 (c. 384) probably most famous of all Jerome’s letters  Eustochium is a young teenager ◦ Jerome trying to reinforce her commitment to virginity and holy poverty  Eustochium was a daughter of a friend of Jerome, Paula  Written just before the issues with Jovinian

 Proba was a wealthy widow ◦ 3 sons ◦ Family was an old established Roman family ◦ Proba and her family gave large sums and lands to the Church ◦ Her husband was buried in old St. Peter’s ◦ Proba in Rome during the sack of 410; escaped to North Africa where she was buried  Proba was in communication with many of the well-known bishops of the time ◦ John Chrysostom (Letter 169) ◦ Jerome (Letter 130) ◦ Augustine  Proba is concerned with how to lead a devout life as a lay person with wealth  Augustine’s Response, Letter 130, is one of his most important and widely read letters

 Read Jerome, Letter 22, “To Eustochium;” available in NPNF Series 2 Vol. 6 and at html html  Augustine, Letter 130, “To Proba;” available in NPNF Series 1 Vol. m m  Brown, Through the Eye of a Needle, Chapter 16, 17, 18  Compendium of Catholic Social Doctrine,  Write Short Paper: Br. Michele