On this episode of five minutes in church history, we'll be heading to Milano Italia.

And there in the city of Milan we will be meeting with Ambrose.

Ambrose was the Bishop of Milan. He died in 39 397 but Ambrose did not start off being a bishop he was

actually a political figure and he comes from a political family

Ambrose was born around 340 up in the city of Trier in Germany, the Rhineland region.

In fact, Trier might have been one of the earliest cities in Germany

and it was an established Roman city there.

Ambrose's father was a Praetorian Prefect.

He oversaw a number of cohorts of that elite force in the Roman army,

the Praetorian Guard.

Ambrose comes to us from a very established family.

When he was a young man, he was sent back

to study at Rome, and after his studies he began his political career.

By the age of 34 he was governor of Northern Italy and he was seated there at Milan. The Bishop at Milan at the time

was an Arian. He favored the Arian view rejecting the deity of Christ and

rejecting what had been agreed upon at the Nicene Council in 325 in the Nicene Creed.

And when that Bishop died, there was a dispute between what were the Arian's in the city of Milan and the non-Arians, and both groups

came together and started chanting for Ambrose.

This is probably one of the most unique elections of a bishop in the early church.

Ambrose was elected bishop by popular acclaim as both sides wanted him.

The non-Arians liked that Ambrose was not an Arian and the

Arian thought that he was a good ruler and a fair governor and that he would

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