Las primeras iglesias hispanas y sus estrategias de regulación de conflictos y de proyección social

This paper analyses the social assistance, mediation and conflict resolution activities carried out by the Iberian churches in the final centuries of the Roman Empire’s rule in the West. The sources used for its elaboration, mainly ecclesiastical, date from the mid-third to the fifth century. This study highlights how the charitable prerogatives offered by the Church provided greater spiritual, political and economic well-being to the Hispanic-Roman population. It also shows that, in order to act with authority, to impose discipline and to put an end to irregularities and disagreements of various kinds, the Iberian Church and her leaders had the support of civil legislation. The Church had also at her disposal own instruments, such as the episcopal audience, councils and external charismatic authorities, e.g. the Roman papacy. Thanks to the application of these strategies, most of the conflicts that arose within the Iberian churches were able to be regulated peacefully.