818–855

Carolingian Theological Disputes: the Eucharist, Predestination, and John Scotus Eriugena

In the Frankish kingdom in the 9th century three theological disputes unfolded. In 818 Paschasius Radbertus advanced a new doctrine of the Eucharist; Rabanus Maurus and Ratramnus opposed him. At the same time the monk Gottschalk of Orbais put forward double predestination; he was condemned by the councils of Mainz (848–849) and Quierzy (853), while the council of Valence (855), by contrast, partly defended him.

The Irishman John Scotus Eriugena, head of Charles the Bald's palace school, took part in both disputes. His work "On the Division of Nature" was condemned as pantheistic in the early 13th century.