Dr. John Rao discusses the collapse of the "Union" to the Council of Chalcedon. The highly confusing and divisive history of the Council of Ephesus seemed to reach a happy conclusion with the "Act of Union" signed by the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch after the end of that synod. Dr. John Rao discusses here the collapse of that hopeful (but temporary) end to the controversy.

Dr. John Rao discusses the reactions to Chalcedom and Monophysite Movement. This and the following two talks by Dr. John Rao cover the controversial Council of Chalcedon and reactions to it from those who could not accept Pope St. Leo's definition of Christ as possessing two natures united in one Divine Person--the so-called Monophysites.

Dr. John Rao discusses the reactions to Chalcedon and the Monophysite Movement. Monophysites were active in both Egypt and Syria. Eventually they developed a parallel hierarchy which split the Church in the Middle East into pro and anti-Chalcedon factions. Dr. John Rao explores the development of a "Monophysite Church" in this second talk.

Dr. John Rao discusses the reactions to Chalcedon and Monophysite Movement. The Emperor Justinian, himself pro-Chalcedon, tried a number of different approaches to resolve the dilemmas posed by two opposing Churches. These brought many problems of Caesaro-Papism, including fights with Rome, in their train.

Dr. John Rao discusses the Lombards, Persians, Moslems and Rome. The situation of the Empire was worsened due to invasions by the Lombards in Italy and the Persians and Arab Moslems in the East. These wreaked havoc with the still strong ancient urban character of the Greco-Roman world. During the all too short period of imperial revival under Heraclius a last attempt to resolve the Monophysite Heresy, that developing Monothelitism, was made.

Dr. John Rao discusses Rome, the East and the Monothelite controversy. Highly gifted intellectual and spiritual exiles from the East, like St. Maximus the Confessor, stirred up the Papacy to a greater sense of its Primacy and its duty to fight Monothelitism. This lead to severe confrontations with the emperors in Constantinople, especially under the reign of Pope St. Martin.

Dr. John Rao discusses Gaul and the background of the Papal-Frankish alliance. Both papal pragmatism as well as frustration with a political/religious order under the authority of the emperors in Constantinople gradually led Rome to contemplate a break with the imperium. That break would bring with it a new alliance, one with the German tribes, especially that of the Franks in Gaul. Here, Dr. John Rao traces the growth of the importance of the Franks in a still quite Roman Gaul under Clovis and the Merovingian Family.

Dr. John Rao discusses Gaul and the background of the Papal-Frankish Alliance. Dr. John Rao continues his discussion of Christianity in Merovingian Gaul. The Kingdom of the Franks under the descendants of Clovis experienced many difficulties dangerous to the Faith and conducive to the growth of another, ultimately more competent family: the Carolingians.

Dr. John Rao discusses the contribution of Britain and Ireland. In three talks, Dr. John Rao discusses the crucial role played in the growth of Christianity in Merovingian and Carolingian Gaul of influences coming from Britain and Ireland. In the first of these conferences, the horror of post-Roman British life is explained, as well as hopeful developments beginning with the work of St. Patrick and Irish monasticism.

Dr. John Rao discusses the contribution of Britain and Ireland. Irish monasticism came to play an essential part in the Christianization of Anglo-Saxon Britain. But so did the influence coming from a different kind of monasticism, that of St. Benedict and the Benedictines. In this talk, by Dr. John Rao the distinctions between these two monastic "rules" are developed.