Miles Christianus

"Miles Christi" redirects here. For other uses, see Miles Christi (disambiguation).
"Militia Christi" redirects here. For the rock band, see Militia Christi (band).
An early example of the miles christianus allegory in a manuscript of the Summa Vitiorum by William Peraldus, mid 13th century. The knight is equipped with a detailed Armour of God, including an early depiction of the Shield of the Trinity, and he is crowned by an angel holding the gloss non coronabuntur nisi qui legitime certaverint "none will be crowned but those who truly struggle" and in the other hand a list of the seven beatitudes, matched with the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and the seven heavenly virtues which in turn are set against the seven cardinal vices.
The Christi milites to the left of the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb in the Ghent Altarpiece (c. 1430)

The miles Christianus (Christian soldier) or miles Christi (soldier of Christ) is a Christian allegory based on New Testament military metaphors, especially the Armor of God metaphor of military equipment standing for Christian virtues[1] and on certain passages of the Old Testament from the Latin Vulgate.[2] The plural of Latin miles (soldier) is milites or the collective militia.[3]

By the 5th century, the Church had started to develop doctrines that allowed for Christian participation in battle, though this was limited by a requirement that the fighting must be undertaken to convert infidels or spread the glory of Christ. Christians were not to fight for conquest or personal glory.[4]

  1. ^ Ephesians 6:14–17
  2. ^ Job 7:1 (Vulgate): Militia est vita hominis super terram...
  3. ^ Brian A. Catlos, "Militia Christi", Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages (Oxford, 2010), defines militia Christi as the "idea of service to the church, with military connotations derived from crusading ideology and Bernard of Clairvaux's writings."
  4. ^ Iwanczak, Wojciech (2012). "Miles Christi: the medieval ideal of knighthood". Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association. 8 (Journal Article): 77–. ISSN 1449-9320.