Lived ancient religion: A new theoretical tool for the study of christian rural spaces in hispania in late antiquity (ivth-vth)

Abstract

It was traditionally argued that the Christian worship in the countryside was shaped by episcopal authority from the city. The most provocative response considers Christianization as a "fissiparous"process: It was the dominus, not the episcopate, which played an active role and sponsored the first Christian buildings in the countryside without ecclesiastical supervision or intervention. I propose analyze the evidence and the dialogue between text and archaeology apparently inconsistent from another perspective, using the concept of "lived religion"borrowed from the Sociology of Religion in order to perceive the richness of Christianity and its diversity in Hispania.