Caesarius of Arles (; 468/470 27 August 542 AD), sometimes called "of Chalon" (Cabillonensis or Cabellinensis) from his birthplace Chalon-sur-Saône, was the foremost ecclesiastic of his generation in Merovingian Gaul.Arthur Malnory, Saint Cesaire Évêque d'Arles (503-543), 1894 (présentation en ligne) Éditions: G. Morin, Corp. christ. 103-104 (1953). Traductions françaises : A. de Vogüé - J. Courreau, Sources chrétiennes 345 (1988, * Œuvres monastiques, M.-J. Delage, Sources chrétiennes 175, 243 (1971, 1978, Sermons au peuple).William E. Klingshirn: Caesarius of Arles : The Making of a Christian Community in Late Antique Gaul, Cambridge University Press, 1994).Césaire d'Arles et la christianisation de la Provence, Actes des journées « Césaire » (3-5 novembre 1988, 22 avril 1989), par D. Bertrand, M.-J. Delage, P.-. Février, J. Guyon, A. de Vogüé, Éditions du Cerf, 1994 Caesarius is considered to be of the last generation of church leaders of Gaul who worked to integrate large-scale ascetic elements into the Western Christian tradition. William E. Klingshirn's study of Caesarius depicts Caesarius as having the reputation of a "popular preacher of great fervour and enduring influence".Conrad Leyser, "Authority and Asceticism from Augustine to Gregory the Great" Among those who exercised the greatest influence on Caesarius were Augustine of Hippo, Julianus Pomerius, and John Cassian.
The most important problem for Caesarius was the efficiency of the bishop's fulfillment of his pastoral duties. By that time, preaching had already become part of the standard church service in Gaul; many bishops recognized the importance of such a means of teaching morals and encouraged it. However, Caesarius' enthusiasm was outstanding in its own way, and he urged his clergy to preach as often as possible, in the church and outside it, to the willing and the opposing. Caesarius' sermon topics generally dealt with moral issues.
Life
Caesarius was born at what is now Chalon-sur-Saône, to Roman-Burgundian parents in the last years of the Western Empire. His sister, Caesaria, to whom he addressed his "Regula ad Virgines" (Rule for Virgins), would later preside over the convent he had founded. At the time of his birth, Germanic kings de facto governed Burgundy despite nominal Roman administration. Unlike his parents, Caesarius developed a very strong and intense feeling for religion which alienated him from his family for the majority of his adolescence. Caesarius left home at seventeen and studied under Bishop Sylvester for a few years. Afterwards, he found his way to Lérins (Lerinum), an island monastery, which was known to be a major dynamo for creative forces of work in the Church of Roman Gaul.William Daly, "Caesarius of Arles a precursor of medieval Christendom," Traditio: Studies in Ancient and Medieval History, Thought, and Religion 26 (1970): 6 After training as a monk at Lérins he devoted himself to reading and applying the scripture in hopes of improving the quality and organization of Christian life and serving the poor. He rapidly became master of all the learning and discipline the monastery communicated and was appointed cellarer. However, he proved unpopular at Lérins when, as cellarer of the monastery, he withheld food from monks because he felt they were insufficiently austere. As a result, the abbot Porcarius removed Caesarius from his post, whereupon he began starving himself; the abbot intervened and sent Caesarius to Arles ostensibly for medical care. After living at Lérins for over a decade and his health steadily decreasing from monastic over-exertion, Caesarius sought out a different clerical Christian community in Arles.
Upon arriving in the city, the Vita Caesarii claims that Caesarius discovered, completely to his surprise, that the bishop of Arles - Aeonius - was a kinsman from Chalon (concivis pariter et propinquus - "at once a fellow citizen and a relative"). Aeonius later ordained his young relative deacon and then priest.Shahan, Thomas. "St. Caesarius of Arles." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908 For three years he presided over a monastery in Arles; but of this building no vestige is now left.
At the death of Aeonius the clergy, citizens, and persons in authority proceeded, as Aeonius himself had suggested, to elect Caesarius to the vacant seat, although Klingshirn suggests that there may have been considerable local hostility, that Caesarius' election may have been heavily disputed and that another cleric, Iohannes, who appears in the episcopal fasti of Arles may have been elected bishop. Caesarius was consecrated in 502, being probably about 33 years of age. In the fulfilment of his new duties he was courageous and unworldly, but yet exhibited great power of kindly adaptation. He took great pains to induce the laity to join in the sacred offices, and encouraged inquiry into points not made clear in his sermons. He also ordered the people to study Holy Scripture at home, and treat the word of God with the same reverence as the sacraments. His concern for the poor and sick was famous throughout and beyond Gaul as he regularly provided ransom for prisoners and aided the sick and the poor. He was specially zealous in redeeming captives, even selling church ornaments for this purpose.
By middle age, Caesarius had "become and was to remain the leading ecclesiastical statesman and spiritual force of his age".Daly,Caesarius of Arles, 5 In September 506 he presided over the Council of Agde in Languedoc. Attended by thirty-five bishops, it dealt primarily with church discipline.Shahan, Thomas. "Council of Agde." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907
As bishop, Caesarius lived in a political world whose main theme was competition for Southern Gallic control among the Visigothic, Ostrogothic and Frankish kingdoms which led him to the constant ransoming of victims during these wars. The aftermath of a siege in 507–508 between the Burgundians and Franks and Visigothic and Ostrogothic kingdoms was devastating to its citizens. Peasants had no food supply and were in danger of enslavement, exile and death. Although Caesarius saved and ransomed many countryside citizens, his actions in redeeming captives were quite controversial. Although he ransomed many peasants of his country, he also ransomed numerous barbarians and enemies of the city. He defended himself by stating that barbarians were human beings and therefore had the potential to enter the City of God.
A notary named Licinianus denounced Caesarius to Alaric II as one who desired to subjugate the civitas of Arles to Burgundian rule. Caesarius was exiled to Bordeaux, but on the discovery of his innocence, was speedily allowed to return. He interceded for the life of his calumniator. Later, when Arles was besieged by Theodoric around the year 512, he was again accused of treachery and imprisoned. An interview with the Ostrogothic king at Ravenna the next year speedily dispelled these troubles, and the remainder of his episcopate was passed in peace.
Some rivalry appears to have existed in the sixth century between the sees of Arles and Vienne, but was adjusted by Pope Leo, whose adjustment was confirmed by Pope Symmachus. Caesarius was in favour at Rome. A book he wrote against the semi-Pelagians, entitled de Gratia et Libero Arbitrio, was approved and circulated by Pope Felix IV; and the canons passed at Orange were approved by Pope Boniface II. The learned antiquary Louis Thomassin believed him to have been the first Western bishop to receive a pallium from the pope. François Guizot in Civilisation en France cites part of one of Caesarius' sermons as that of a representative man of his age; while August Neander eulogizes his "unwearied, active, and pious zeal, ready for every sacrifice in the spirit of love," and his moderation on the controversy concerning semi-Pelagianism.
The old Roman political order seemed to have little significance to Caesarius who instead directed his attitude to reflecting and accepting Christian pragmatism.
Religious beginnings According to William Klingshirn, "Caesarius also has the reputation of being the faithful champion of Augustine of Hippo in the early middle ages." Thus Augustine's writings are seen to have profoundly shaped Caesarius' vision of human community, both inside and outside the cloister; and Caesarius' prowess as a popular preacher is understood to follow from his close attention to the example of the bishop of Hippo.Authority and Asceticism from Augustine to Gregory the Great, Conrad Leyser, 1 Caesarius was also highly influenced by his teacher, Julianus Pomerius. Pomerius had been inspired by the life of Augustine of Hippo too and insisted that bishops and members of the clergy live more like monks as opposed to aristocrats. This meant that any luxurious behaviour, such as participating in bountiful banquets, enlarging estates and enjoying "secular" learning, was condemned. Instead Pomerius urged bishops to give away all their riches and personal wealth as well as dress and eat simply. Caesarius's monasticism led him to the movement of church reform and he became one of its most influential spokesmen.William Klingshirn, Caesarius of Arles: Life, Testaments, Letters (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1994), xv According to many of his testaments he stayed true to the teachings of Pomerius and Augustine by rejecting secular learning, shunning comfortable living and organizing his clergy into monastic living.
Christianization in the late Roman and Early Medieval West was a slow, inconsistent and incomplete social and religious change. It required the building of churches, conversion of elites and a widespread adoption of Christian self-identity with a system of Christian values, practices and beliefs. The church was constantly struggling against the survival of superstitions and pagan practices that were widely common among communities and common folk.Rudolph, Arbesmann. "The "cervuli" and "anniculae" in Caesarius of Arles," Traditio: Studies in Ancient and Medieval History, Thought, and Religion 35, (1979): 101 However, it was only with the consent and participation of local populations that these religious changes were able to take effect. Therefore, as Klingshirn so carefully puts it, this process was reciprocal. Although the elites and theologians implemented all of the goals and strategies, it was up to the peasants and townspeople of local communities to accept these practices.
Caesarius composed two rules, one for men ("Ad Monachos"), the other for women ("Ad Virgines"). The rule for monks is based on that of Lérins, as handed down by oral tradition. This rule soon gave way to the Rule of Columbanus.
As a preacher, Caesarius displayed great knowledge of Scripture, and was eminently practical in his exhortations. Besides reproving ordinary vices of humanity, he had often to contend against lingering pagan practices, as auguries, or heathen rites on the calends. His sermons on the Old Testament are not critical, but dwell on its typical aspects.
Several volumes of his sermons have been published in Sources Chrétiennes.
Writings and teachings
Caesarius has over 250 surviving sermons in his corpus. His sermons reveal him as a pastor dedicated to the formation of the clergy and the moral education of the laity. He preached on Christian beliefs, values, and practices against pagan syncretism. He emphasizes the life of a Christian as well as the love of God, reading the scriptures, asceticism, psalmody, love for one's neighbour, and the judgement that would come.DelCogliano, Caesarius, 20