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Books > Christianity > Christian institutions & organizations > General
Eusebius's groundbreaking History of the Church, remains the single
most important source for the history of the first three centuries
of Christianity and stands among the classics of Western
literature. His iconic story of the church's origins, endurance of
persecution, and ultimate triumph-with its cast of martyrs,
heretics, bishops, and emperors-has profoundly shaped the
understanding of Christianity's past and provided a model for all
later ecclesiastical histories. This new translation, which
includes detailed essays and notes, comes from one of the leading
scholars of Eusebius's work and offers rich context for the
linguistic, cultural, social, and political background of this
seminal text. Accessible for new readers and thought-provoking for
specialists, this is the essential text for anyone interested in
the history of Christianity.
In The Orphans of Byzantium, Miller provides a perceptive and
original study of the evolution of orphanages in the Byzantine
Empire. Contrary to popular belief and even expert opinion,
medieval child-welfare systems were sophisticated, especially in
the Byzantine world. Combining ancient Roman legal institutions
with Christian concepts of charity, the Byzantine Empire evolved a
child-welfare system that tried either to select foster parents for
homeless children or to place them in group homes that could
provide food, shelter, and education. Miller discusses how
successive Byzantine emperors tried to improve Roman regulations to
provide greater security for orphans, and notes that they achieved
their greatest success when they widened the pool of potential
guardians by allowing women relatives to accept the duties of
guardianship. After a thorough discussion of each element of the
Byzantine child care system, the book closes by showing how
Byzantine orphanages provided models for later Western group homes,
especially in Italy. From these renaissance orphan asylums evolved
the system of modern European and American religious orphanages
until the foster care movement emerged at the beginning of the
twentieth century. Miller's study of these systems can provide
useful models for reforming the troubled child-welfare system
today.
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