Ecclesiastical history of the Catholic Church

Ecclesiastical history of the Catholic Church refers to the history of the Catholic Church as an institution, written from a particular perspective. There is a traditional approach to such historiography. The generally identified starting point is Eusebius of Caesarea, and his work Church History.

Since there is no assumption that contemporary historians of the Catholic Church who are also Catholics adopt this perspective, this “traditional approach” is a chapter of historiography, not yet closed, but applying to a definite area that is not central to the academic history of the 20th and 21st centuries.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913,

Its branches therefore include:

Critical treatment of the sources requires palaeography, diplomatics, and criticism.

Apart from that, the approach is not that of a skeptic:

It is based in teleology:

As well as taking the Church as its subject matter, it is Church-centered, and takes the Church’s teachings at their own estimation:

The fact that schisms have occurred in Christian history is subordinated to the claim to universality of the Catholic Church, which is not treated as one church among many:

On the other hand, the effect of churches outside the Catholic Church is factored into the discussion.

The foundation of the Church and the development of fixed standards of ecclesiastical life within the limits of Græco-Roman civilization.

The Church as a major force in the new Romanic, German, and Slavic states of Europe, the secession of Oriental Christendom from ecclesiastical unity and the final overthrow of the Byzantine empire.

The collapse of religious unity among the Western European nations, and the reformation from within of Catholic Church faced with Protestantism. Immense geographical expansion of the Church, with missionaries in South America, part of North America and numerous in Asia and Africa.

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