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Great Schism (1054)

The Crusades (1095-1272)

Heresy-Inquisition

High Middle Ages (1000-1300)

Holy Roman Empire• Society, Nobility & the Church grew stronger• Feudal System became organized• Political entity of lands in western and central Europe,

founded by Charlemagne in the year 800 and dissolved by Emperor Francis II in 1806. The extent and strength of the empire largely depended on the military and diplomatic skill of its emperors, both of which fluctuated considerably during the empire’s thousand-year lifetime. However, the principal area of the empire was the German states. From the 10th century, its leaders were German kings, who usually sought but did not always receive coronation as emperor by the popes in Rome.

• In Europe, the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were marked by the gradual passing of the culture that is thought of as typically "medieval."

• In the years of the High Middle Ages, European civilization had reached a pinnacle of development.

• But after 1300, the nature of civilization during the High Middle Ages began to change. • In thought and art, a rigid formalism replaced the creative forces that had given the Middle Ages

such unique methods of expression as scholasticism and the Gothic style. • Economic and social progress yielded to depression and social strife, with peasant revolts a

characteristic symptom of instability.• Church government in Rome experienced a loss of prestige, and a series of challenges

weakened its effectiveness after 1300. • The church was gravely weakened from within by would-be reformers and dissidents as well as

by external factors, chiefly political and economic. • By the sixteenth century these forces would be strong enough to bring about the Protestant and

Catholic reformations.• Despite the desolation and death brought about by the Hundred Years’ War between France

and England, the process of nation-making continued during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

• In western Europe the contrasting political trends clearly evident at the end of the thirteenth century - unification in England, France, and Spain, and fragmentation in Germany and Italy - reached their culmination.

• In much of Europe by the end of the fifteenth century, the conflicting aims of what are sometimes called the "new monarchies" were superseding the quarrels of feudal barons.

High Middle Ages (1000-1300)

The Great Schism (1054)

• History of Christianity has been marked by feuds and divisions.• The first permanent severing of the Christian community. Its

beginnings lay in the division of the Roman Empire at the end of the third century. Thereafter, the Greek (Eastern) and Latin (Western) sections of the Roman world were administered separately. Their cultural and economic differences intensified. When the political institutions of the Latin empire collapsed in the fifth century, the Greek empire, centered in Constantinople, continued to flourish. The sustaining institution during this period was the Christian church. Its theology dominated all forms of though in both the united East and the disintegrating West. Important issues, even worldly ones, were transposed into theological questions.

• 1054CE- a major division occurred within the church that split the church into the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

• This schism rooted in doctrinal differences was also fueled by the political situations in the Roman Empire.

• The two centers of Christianity, Rome and Constantinople, drifted further apart during the early middle ages. Eastern Christians enjoyed political stability and tolerated a wide range of religious discussion. Western believers supported many different kingdoms, but they insisted on concrete agreement over doctrine. Disagreements over the pope’s authority in the east produced Schism (split) in 1054 between the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Roman Catholic Church. The Schism still exists today.


The catalysts of the Great Schism included: • the insertion of the filioque clause into the Nicene Creed by the Roman

church in direct violation of the command of the Council of Ephesus, an action called non-canonical by the Eastern church.

• disputes in the Balkans over whether the Western or Eastern church had jurisdiction.

• the designation of the Patriarch of Constantinople as ecumenical patriarch (which was understood by Rome as universal patriarch and therefore disputed).

• disputes over whether the Patriarch of Rome, the Pope, should be considered a higher authority than the other Patriarchs. All five Patriarchs of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church agreed that the Patriarch of Rome should receive higher honors than the other four; they disagreed about whether he had authority over the other four and, if he did, how extensive that authority might be.

• the concept of Caesaropapism, a tying together in some way of the ultimate political and religious authorities, which were physically separated much earlier when the capital of the empire was moved from Rome to Constantinople. There is controversy over just how much this so-called "Caesaropapism" actually existed and how much was a fanciful invention, centuries later, by western European historians.


The catalysts of the Great Schism included: • certain liturgical practices in the west that the East believed represented

innovation: use of unleavened bread for the Eucharist, for example. Eastern innovations, such as intinction (dipping) of the bread in the wine for Communion, were condemned several times by Rome but were never the occasion of schism.

• This conflict led to the exchange of excommunications by the representative of Pope Leo IX and the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius, in 1054 (finally rescinded in 1965) and the separation of the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox churches, each of which now claims to be "the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church." It should be noted that at the time of the mutual excommunications, Pope Leo IX was dead. Therefore, the authority of Cardinal Humbertus, the Pope's legate, had ceased; therefore he could not legitimately excommunicate Patriarch Cerularius.

• The final breach is often considered to have arisen after the sacking of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204. This Fourth Crusade had the Latin Church directly involved in a military assault against the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople, and the Orthodox Patriarchate. The sacking of the Church of Holy Wisdom and establishment of the Latin Empire in 1204 is viewed with some rancor to the present day. In 2004, Pope John Paul II extended a formal apology for the sacking of Constantinople in 1204; the apology was formally accepted by Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.


Great Schism - Reconciliation

• Thereafter, efforts were made at reunion. As the Muslim Turks advanced on the Byzantine Empire in the high Middle Ages, Eastern Christians were in desperate need of relief from their Western brethren. However, all such hopes ceased when, in 1204, an army of crusading knights from the West sacked Constantinople. Eastern Christians never recovered from this outrage. In recent years effort to reconcile the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches have failed. In 1965, Pope Paul VI lifted the ban of excommunication against Michael Cerularius. However, the problem of papal rule has been rendered more difficult by nineteenth century Roman declarations of papal infallibility. The wording of the creed has not been settled.

• On November 27, 2004, in an attempt to "promote Christian unity", Pope John Paul II returned the bones (relics) of Patriarchs John Chrysostom and Gregory Nazianzen to Istanbul. The former of the two relics was taken as war booty from Constantinople by Crusaders in 1204, and many believe the latter was taken then as well. However, the Vatican says the bones of the second saint were brought to Rome by Byzantine monks in the 8th Century.

• Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I together with other heads of self-governed Eastern Churches were present at Pope John Paul II funeral on April 8, 2005. This is the first time for many centuries that an Ecumenical Patriarch has attended the funeral of a Pope and is considered by many a serious sign that dialogue towards reconciliation might have started.

The College of Cardinals (1059)

• After Charlemagne, disputes arose over the distribution of power between the Church and the state. Many kings and nobles insisted on the right to appoint church officials (Lay Investiture). The desire for an independent clergy led Pope Nicholas II to establish the Sacred College of Cardinals in 1059. The college assumed responsibility for electing a pope. In 1075, Pope Gregory VII announced that the pope would appoint clergy free from outside interference. He also outlawed simony, the practice of buying and selling church posts.

• 11th Century- pope Gregory VII placed the papacy above emperors/ princes- who were required to kiss the pope’s feet.

• Pope’s powers were only limited by the requirement that he should be elected by a council of cardinals- The papacy was subject to abuse.

Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085)

• The monk Hildebrand is famous for the conflict about the lay investiture with the German Emperor Henry IV. The emperor was forced to submit to the pope’s authority, at the castle of Canossa. On another level, Pope Gregory prepared the way for the powerful papacy of the next century, by establishing the judicial structure of the church.

Gregorian Reform (1073-1085)

• Gregory VII, who ruled from 1073 to 1085. Gregory gave his name to the church reform movement: the Gregorian Reform. Even before Gregory’s time, however, the papacy had succeeded in depriving the emperor of his traditional power to name the pope. In 1059, a few years after the death of Henry III, the papacy took advantage of the weakness and youth of Henry’s successor, Henry IV, to decree that henceforth popes would be elected by the cardinals—the chief clerics that surrounded the pope in Rome. However, Pope Gregory VII was not content with just free papal elections; he was determined to make the church completely independent from the emperors. He believed that independence could be achieved only if regional rulers, princes, and emperors stopped appointing all churchmen.

• The chief point of Gregory's reform program was to end lay investiture. Investiture was the ritual by which a priest or bishop became a churchman and received his office. Lay investiture meant that a layman—a man who was not a churchman—controlled the ritual. Gregory wanted to end the power of emperors to invest churchmen, a power that they had exercised since the time of Charlemagne.

• Gregory's goal struck at the very heart of the imperial office and royal power as it had developed up until his time. The emperor was anointed just as churchmen were, and he had always played a key religious role, but Gregory denied him any place in church leadership. Both emperor and pope gathered their supporters and went to war over the issue. Their struggle, known as the Investiture Controversy, was the beginning of the idea for the separation of church and state. In the West the idea that the church and the state were separate entities developed gradually. The Gregorian Reform and the Investiture Controversy were important steps in this process.

• In both the Byzantine and Islamic worlds, the ruler remained (and in the Middle East remains even today) a religious figure.

• The conflict broke out over the appointment of the bishop of Milan. Emperor Henry IV defied Gregory's decree against lay investiture and appointed his own man to be bishop. The two sides denounced each another. Henry called a council that asked Gregory to resign. In response, Gregory excommunicated Henry, expelling him from the church and its promise of eternal salvation. This was a rarely used penalty and was shocking at the time. Gregory also forbade anyone to serve Henry as king, cutting him off from his supporters. Henry had no choice but to find the pope, do penance, and be received back into the church. Gregory and Henry met at Canossa, high in the Italian Alps. The emperor stood in the snow for three days, begging for forgiveness. Now it was the pope who had no choice—as a priest, he had to pardon a penitent sinner. He lifted the excommunication.


• In the end, however, Canossa did not resolve the question. War raged in Germany and Italy as the two sides fought for supremacy. In 1122 the struggle ended in a compromise with the Concordat of Worms. The emperor was permitted a small role in investiture: He was allowed to give the worldly trappings—the lands and physical churches—that belonged to the church office. The pope got the right to give the spiritual symbols of the office, the ring and staff, which were the most important. As a result of the Investiture Controversy, the papacy gained recognition as the head of the Christian church.


Monastic Reforms (1098)

• Monastic Reforms in the Twelfth and Thirteenth CenturiesThe founding of the Cistercian order in 1098 marked one of the most important monastic reforms in history. One of its champions, Bernard of Clairvaux, famously denounced the excesses of contemporary monasticism in a twelfth-century letter, criticizing the Church because it "clothes its stones in gold" but "leaves its children naked." Though the Cistercian movement advocated a return to strict asceticism by reducing all forms of material life to the bare minimum, the manuscripts its monks produced did not necessarily scorn rich decoration. The mendicant orders, such as the Franciscans and Dominicans, brought about more reforms in the thirteenth century. Drawn to universities and large cities, Franciscan and Dominican friars lived and preached among the people, supporting themselves by working and begging for food (mendicare, to beg).

Bernard of Clarevaux- (1090-1153)• 1115 he became abbot of a monastery at Clairvaux,

north of Dijon. Under his rule the monastery at Clairvaux became the most prominent of the Cistercian order. Reputed miracles and the eloquent preaching of Bernard attracted numerous pilgrims. Between 1130 and 1145, more than 90 monasteries were founded under the auspices of the one at Clairvaux, and Bernard's influence in the Roman Catholic church spread throughout the world. He is reputed to have established the rule of the Order of Knights Templar, and in 1128 he obtained recognition of the order from the church. In 1146, at the command of the pope, Bernard began his preaching of the Second Crusade. His sermon, delivered at Vézelay, aroused enthusiasm throughout France; Louis VII, king of France, was persuaded to join the Crusade.


• 12th-13th century, great universities developed in Europe where theology was studied.

• Monasteries became centers of western civilization.

• 1215- Dominican order began to teach faith and refute heresies.

• Thomas Aquinas, a famous Dominican scholar wrote Summa Theologica- the Rationalization of science and spiritual revelation.


• Mysticism – contemplation of the meaning of life and scripture for the soul became common practice.

• 13th century- Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) and his followers were mystics who lived in poverty.

• Monasteries were centers of learning throughout the middle ages. In the 1200’s, members of new religious orders, called friars, began to work among the people. Franciscan friars followed the selfless example of St. Francis of Assisi who founded their order in 1209. Franciscans were noted for their loving service to others. The Dominican order, founded in 1216 by Saint Dominic, became noted for its scholarship.


Scholastism• Medieval religious scholars called scholastics

expanded Christian doctrine into a complete body of thought that included science and philosophy. The scholastics wished to reach to reach a better understanding of Christian faith through reason. Saint Anselm, an early scholastic, attempted to prove God’s existence through logic. In the 1200’s, Saint Thomas Aquinas produced the most important scholastic work, the Summa Theologica. In it, he brought Christian Faith into harmony with the teachings of the ancient Greek Philosopher, Aristotle.


Crusades (1095-1272)

Decline of Byzantium

• In 1071, Muslim Saljuqs won an important victory at Manzikert

• Byzantine factions turned them on each other in civil war, allowing the Saljuqs almost free rein some of Byzantine territories.

• The Byzantine Emperor asks Pope Urban II to help him against the Muslims

Pope Urban II

• Urban responded to Byzantium’s request with a rousing speech in Clermont, France in 1095 in which he called upon Christians to “Enter upon the road to the Holy Sepulcher; wrest that land from the wicked race, and subject it to yourselves…”

• Urban’s speech would help launch the first of several Crusades

Reasons for the Crusades

• The Pope hoped to unite the entire eastern Mediterranean and the divided Christian faith under the banner of the Latin Church

• Italian city-states, with the large navies, hoped for commercial gains and were therefore keen supporters of the Crusades

• The Byzantine Empire was in severe decline and no longer could act as a buffer between the Muslim East and the Catholic West

• Christian pilgrims visiting the holy sites in Jerusalem began experiencing increased harassment and danger

A New Concept of War

Concept that could justify War

• Augustine’s Just War Theory– Waged under the auspices

of the state– Vindication of justice

(defense of life and property)

– Restrained conduct with regard to the enemy, non-combatants, and prisoners

Concept that could Justify• The Crusades

– At behest of the Pope, but under operational control of the kings

– Defense of the faith– No restraint in dealing with

the infidel

• The change was justified based on the Biblical accounts of the conquest of Canaan by Joshua

Mobilization of the Crusades

• Pope Urban traveled to various cities for nine months preaching the Crusade and offering extraordinary inducements to include a plenary indulgence remitting all punishments due to sin for those who died on the Crusade

• Serfs who would serve the crusade were allowed to leave the land to which they were bound

• Citizens supporting the crusade were exempted from taxes

• Debtors were given a moratorium on interest• Prisoners were freed and death sentences were

commuted by a bold extension of Papal authority to life service in Palestine

The Crusaders

• The variety of motivations resulted in a varied assembly– Men tired of hopeless poverty– Adventurers seeking action– Merchants looking for new markets– Lords whose enlisting serfs had left

them laborless– Sincerely religious individuals

wanting to rescue the land of Christ

The First Crusade (1095-1099)

• The word “crusade” comes from the Spanish cruzade which means “marked with the cross”– Crusaders wore red

crosses on their chests to symbolize their purpose

• Urban had appointed August 1096 as the time of departure, but many of the impatient peasants, who were among the first recruits, could not wait

• Led by such personalities as Peter the Hermit and Walter the Penniless, they set out in three groups and quickly devolved into disorder, hunger, and ill-discipline

• They were all but annihilated by a force of Turks at Nicea

"Alexius Comnenus, Emperor of the East, receives Peter the Hermit at Constantinople, August 1096"by Gillot Saint-Evre


• The more organized Crusaders, under the divided leadership of various feudal leaders, moved by various routes to Constantinople

• There the Emperor Alexius gave them provisions and bribes in exchange for a pledge of fealty– Alexius was somewhat

afraid the Crusaders had designs on Constantinople as well as Jerusalem

Duke Godfrey of Bouillon was among the most brave, pious, competent, and fanatical of the First Crusade leaders


• The First Crusaders met an even more divided Muslim force, won victories at Nicea on June 19, 1097 and Antioch on June 3, 1098

• By June 7, 1099, after a three year campaign, 12,000 of the original 30,000 Crusaders reached Jerusalem

Siege of Antioch


• On July 15 the Crusaders went over the city walls and unleashed unbridled carnage– Blood reportedly ran

knee-deep– 70,000 Moslems were

slaughtered– Jews were herded into

a synagogue and burned alive


• Administrative rule of Jerusalem proved problematic

• Eventually the kingdom was parceled into practically independent fiefs and barons assumed all ownership of land, reducing the former owners to the condition of serfs

• The kingdom was further weakened by the ceding of several ports to the Italian city-states in exchange for naval support and seaborne supplies

• The native Christian population came to look back on the era of Moslem rule as a golden age Godfrey served as

the first ruler of Jerusalem


Knights

• The establishment of new orders of military monks partially offset these weaknesses

• The Knights of the Hospital of Saint John and the Knights Templar began by protecting and nursing pilgrims but gravitated to active attacks on Moslem strongholds

• Both orders would come to play prominent roles in the battles of the Crusades and earned great reputations as warriors

Seal of the Knights Templar

Moslem Counterattack

• Most of the Crusaders returned to Europe after freeing Jerusalem, creating a manpower shortage

• Moslem refugees retreated to Baghdad and demanded a force retake Jerusalem

• In 1144, Moslems under Zangi retook the Christian’s eastern-most outpost at al-Ruah and then Edessa

• Such developments would spur the Second Crusade

The Second Crusade (1147-1148)

• St. Bernard appealed to Pope Eugenius II to call for another Crusade, but Eugenius begged Bernard to undertake the task himself

• Bernard persuaded King Louis VII of France and then Emperor Conrad III of Germany to accept the Crusade

• At Easter 1147 the Germans set out and the French followed at Pentecost

Conrad approaching Constantinople

• This time the Moslems were ready• At Dorylaeum, the Germans were defeated so badly that barely one in

ten Christians survived• At Attalia, nearly every Frenchman was slaughtered• Eventually the Crusaders joined forces and lay siege to Damascus,

but were soundly defeated


• News of the defeat of the Second Crusade shocked Europe– Christians wondered how God could allow them to be

so humiliated by the infidel– Bernard explained that the defeat must be

punishment for sins– Enthusiasm for the Crusades waned rapidly

• While the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem continued to be torn by internal strife, its Moslem enemies were moving toward unity


Saladin

• In 1175, Saladin brought Egypt and Moslem Syria under one rule

• In 1185, he signed a four-year truce with the Latin kingdom but the Christians violated it by attacking a Moslem caravan and capturing Saladin’s sister

• He declared a holy war against the Christians and captured Jerusalem in 1187– His terms were much more

generous than those of the Crusaders in 1099

Saladin: one of the few Crusade personalities generally described favorably by both Eastern and Western sources

The Third Crusade (1189-1191)

• The Christians were able to retain Tyre, Antioch, and Tripoli and the Italian fleets still controlled the Mediterranean

• William, Archbishop of Tyre, returned to Europe to call for a Crusade

• Frederick Barbarossa of Germany set out with his army in 1189 but had little success

“March of the Crusaders” by George Inness

• Then Richard I the Lion Heart of England took up the cause and took Philip Augustus, the French king, with him to ensure the French didn’t encroach on English territory in his absence

• The Christians captured Acre and an ill Philip Augustus returned to France, leaving Richard in sole charge of the Third Crusade

• Still Richard would face divisions as the German troops returned to Germany and French troops repeatedly disobeyed orders


• Richard and Saladin embarked on a “unique campaign in which blows and battles alternated with compliments and courtesies” – (Durant, 599)

• The two executed enemy prisoners they held• Richard proposed his sister marry Saladin’s brother• They signed peace treaties then rejected them• Richard conferred knighthood on the son of a

Moslem ambassador• Richard got sick and Saladin sent him his own

physician and some fruit• Saladin saw Richard unmounted in battle and sent

him a horse


• In the end Richard and Saladin signed a peace for three years beginning Sept 2, 1192– Richard would keep the coastal

cities he had captured from Acre to Jaffa

– Moslems and Christians could pass freely into and from each other’s territory

– Pilgrims would be protected in Jerusalem

– But… Jerusalem would remain in Moslem hands


• Richard had possessed superior brilliance, courage, and knowledge of the military art, but Saladin’s moderation, patience, and justice had carried the day

• The relative unity and fidelity of the Moslems had once again triumphed over the Christians’ divisions and disloyalties


The Fourth Crusade (1199-1204)

• Acre was free but Jerusalem was still in Moslem hands• Europe was in turmoil with problems such as renewed

fighting between France and England, but the death of Saladin and the breakup of his empire renewed hope for another Crusade

• In exchange for its financial support, Venice exacted a promise that the Crusaders would capture the important port of Zara and turn it over to her– Zara belonged to Hungary and was stiff competition to

Venice’s maritime trade– Pope Innocent III denounced the scheme but to no

avail– The Fourth Crusade would be marked by avarice

• Part of the avarice was the temptation to capture Constantinople which had derived much profit from the Crusades

• Seizing Constantinople would not only provide financial benefit, it would also restore it to the Western Church

• In 1204 the Crusaders captured and looted Constantinople


• The Byzantine Empire was divided into feudal dominions, each ruled by a Latin noble

• Most Crusaders returned home, perhaps thinking that by securing Constantinople they now had a stronger base against the Moslems

• Only a handful continued to Palestine and had no effect there

• The Byzantine Empire never recovered and the Latin capture of Constantinople served to prepare it for capture by the Turks two centuries later


Collapse of the Crusades

• The scandal of the Fourth Crusade and the failure of the Third quenched the greater fire for Crusades but several half-hearted efforts would continue until 1291

• In 1291, the Moslems seized Acre

• Tyre, Sidon, Haifa, and Beirut fell soon afterward

Among the ineffective latter crusades was the “Children’s Crusade” of 1212 in which thousands of children ended up drowning or being sold into slavery

Crusades

Albigensian Crusade• The Albigensian Crusade was launched in 1209 to eliminate the heretical

Cathars of Occitania (the south of modern-day France). It was a decade-long struggle that had as much to do with the concerns of northern France to extend its control southwards as it did with heresy. In the end, both the Cathars and the independence of southern France were exterminated.

Children's Crusade• The Children's Crusade is a series of possibly fictitious or misinterpreted

events of 1212. The story is that an outburst of the old popular enthusiasm led a gathering of children in France and Germany, which Pope Innocent III interpreted as a reproof from heaven to their unworthy elders. The leader of the French army, Stephen, led 30,000 children. The leader of the German army, Nicholas, led 7,000 children. None of the children actually reached the Holy Land: those who did not return home or settle along the route to Jerusalem either died from shipwreck or hunger, or were sold into slavery in Egypt or North Africa.

Fifth Crusade 1217–1221

Fifth Crusade 1217–1221• By processions, prayers, and preaching, the Church attempted to

set another crusade afoot, and the Fourth Council of the Lateran (1215) formulated a plan for the recovery of the Holy Land. In the first phase, a crusading force from Austria and Hungary joined the forces of the king of Jerusalem and the prince of Antioch to take back Jerusalem. In the second phase, crusader forces achieved a remarkable feat in the capture of Damietta in Egypt in 1219, but under the urgent insistence of the papal legate, Pelagius, they then launched a foolhardy attack on Cairo in July of 1221. The crusaders were turned back after their dwindling supplies led to a forced retreat. A nighttime attack by the ruler of Egypt, the powerful Sultan Al-Kamil, resulted in a great number of crusader losses and eventually in the surrender of the army. Al-Kamil agreed to an eight-year peace agreement with Europe.

Sixth Crusade 1228–1229

Sixth Crusade 1228–1229• Emperor Frederick II had repeatedly vowed a crusade but failed to

live up to his words, for which he was excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX in 1228. He nonetheless set sail from Brindisi, landed in Palestine, and through diplomacy he achieved unexpected success: Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem were delivered to the crusaders for a period of ten years.

• Louis IX attacks Damietta• In 1229 after failing to conquer Egypt, Frederick II of the

Holy Roman Empire, made a peace treaty with Al-Kamil, the ruler of Egypt. This treaty allowed Christians to rule over most of Jerusalem, while the Muslims were given control of the Dome of the Rock and the mosque. The peace brought about by this treaty lasted for about ten years. Many of the Muslims though were not happy with Al-Kamil for giving up control of Jerusalem and in 1244, following a siege, the Muslims regained control of the city.

Seventh Crusade 1248–1254

Seventh Crusade 1248–1254• The papal interests represented by the Templars brought on a

conflict with Egypt in 1243, and in the following year a Khwarezmian force summoned by the latter stormed Jerusalem. The crusaders were drawn into battle at La Forbie in Gaza. The crusader army and its Bedouin mercenaries were completely defeated within forty-eight hours by Baibars' force of Khwarezmian tribesmen. This battle is considered by many historians to have been the death knell to the Kingdom of Outremer. Although this provoked no widespread outrage in Europe as the fall of Jerusalem in 1187 had done, Louis IX of France organized a crusade against Egypt from 1248 to 1254, leaving from the newly constructed port of Aigues-Mortes in southern France. It was a failure, and Louis spent much of the crusade living at the court of the crusader kingdom in Acre. In the midst of this crusade was the first Shepherds' Crusade in 1251.

Eighth Crusade 1270

Eighth Crusade 1270• The eighth Crusade was organized by Louis IX

in 1270, again sailing from Aigues-Mortes, initially to come to the aid of the remnants of the crusader states in Syria. However, the crusade was diverted to Tunis, where Louis spent only two months before dying. For his efforts, Louis was later canonised. The Eighth Crusade is sometimes counted as the Seventh, if the Fifth and Sixth Crusades are counted as a single crusade. The Ninth Crusade is sometimes also counted as part of the Eighth.

Ninth Crusade 1271–1272

Ninth Crusade 1271–1272 • The future Edward I of England undertook another

expedition against Baibars in 1271, after having accompanied Louis on the Eighth Crusade. Louis died in Tunisia. The Ninth Crusade was deemed a failure and ended the Crusades in the Middle East.

• In their later years, faced with the threat of the Egyptian Mamluks, the Crusaders' hopes rested with a Franco-Mongol alliance. The Ilkhanate's Mongols were thought to be sympathetic to Christianity, and the Frankish princes were most effective in gathering their help, engineering their invasions of the Middle East on several occasions.

• Although the Mongols successfully attacked as far south as Damascus on these campaigns, the ability to effectively coordinate with Crusades from the west was repeatedly frustrated most notably at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260. The Mamluks eventually made good their pledge to cleanse the entire Middle East of the Franks. With the fall of Antioch (1268), Tripoli (1289), and Acre (1291), those Christians unable to leave the cities were massacred or enslaved and the last traces of Christian rule in the Levant disappeared.

•The very last Frankish foothold was the island of Ruad, three kilometers from the Syrian shore, which was occupied for several years by the Knights Templar but was ultimately lost to the Mamluks in the Siege of Ruad on September 26th, 1302.

Northern CrusadesNorthern Crusades (Baltic and Germany) • The Teutonic Knights in Pskov in 1240 as depicted

in Sergei Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky (1938).• The Crusades in the Baltic Sea area and in

Central Europe were efforts by (mostly German) Christians to subjugate and convert the peoples of these areas to Christianity. These Crusades ranged from the 12th century, contemporaneous with the Second Crusade, to the 16th century.

• Contemporaneous with the Second Crusade, Saxons and Danes fought against Polabian Slavs in the 1147 Wendish Crusade. In the 13th century, the Teutonic Knights led Germans, Poles, and Pomeranians against the Old Prussians during the Prussian Crusade.

• Between 1232 and 1234, there was a crusade against the Stedingers. This crusade was special, because the Stedingers were not heathens or heretics, but fellow Roman Catholics. They were free Frisian farmers who resented attempts of the count of Oldenburg and the archbishop Bremen-Hamburg to make an end to their freedoms. The archbishop excommunicated them, and Pope Gregory IX declared a crusade in 1232. The Stedingers were defeated in 1234.

•The Teutonic Order's attempts to conquer Orthodox Russia (particularly the Republics of Pskov and Novgorod), an enterprise endorsed by Pope Gregory IX, can also be considered as a part of the Northern Crusades. One of the major blows for the idea of the conquest of Russia was the Battle of the Ice in 1242. With or without the Pope's blessing, Sweden also undertook several crusades against Orthodox Novgorod.

Other CrusadesCrusade against the Tatars• In 1259 Mongols led by Burundai and Nogai Khan ravaged the principality of Halych-Volynia

, Lithuania and Poland. After that Pope Alexander IV tried without success to create a crusade against the Blue Horde.

• In the 14th century, Khan Tokhtamysh combined the Blue and White Hordes forming the Golden Horde. It seemed that the power of the Golden Horde had begun to rise, but in 1389, Tokhtamysh made the disastrous decision of waging war on his former master, the great Tamerlane. Tamerlane's hordes rampaged through southern Russia, crippling the Golden Horde's economy and practically wiping out its defenses in those lands.

• After losing the war, Tokhtamysh was then dethroned by the party of Khan Temur Kutlugh and Emir Edigu, supported by Tamerlane. When Tokhtamysh asked Vytautas the Great for assistance in retaking the Horde, the latter readily gathered a huge army which included Lithuanians, Ruthenians, Russians, Mongols, Moldavians, Poles, Romanians and Teutonic Knights.

• In 1398, the huge army moved from Moldavia and conquered the southern steppe all the way to the Dnieper River and northern Crimea. Inspired by their great successes, Vytautas declared a 'Crusade against the Tatars' with Papal backing. Thus, in 1399, the army of Vytautas once again moved on the Horde. His army met the Horde's at the Vorskla River, slightly inside Lithuanian territory.

• Although the Lithuanian army was well equipped with cannon, it could not resist a rear attack from Edigu's reserve units. Vytautas hardly escaped alive. Many princes of his kin—possibly as many as 20—were killed (for example, , Prince of Moldavia and two of his brothers, while a fourth was badly injured[citation needed]), and the victorious Tatars besieged Kiev. "And the Christian blood flowed like water, up to the Kievan walls," as one chronicler put it. Meanwhile, Temur Kutlugh died from the wounds received in the battle, and Tokhtamysh was killed by one of his own men.

Other Crusades

Aragonese Crusade• The Aragonese Crusade, or Crusade of Aragón, was declared by

Pope Martin IV against the King of Aragón, Peter III the Great, in 1284 and 1285.

Alexandrian Crusade• The Alexandrian Crusade of October 1365 was a minor seaborne crusade

against Muslim Alexandria led by Peter I of Cyprus. His motivation was at least as commercial as religious. It had limited success.

Hussite Crusade• The Hussite Crusade(s), also known as the "Hussite Wars," or the

"Bohemian Wars," involved the military actions against and amongst the followers of Jan Hus in Bohemia in the period 1420 to circa 1434. The Hussite Wars were arguably the first European war in which hand-held gunpowder weapons such as muskets made a decisive contribution. The Taborite faction of the Hussite warriors were basically infantry, and their many defeats of larger armies with heavily armoured knights helped affect the infantry revolution. In the end, it was an inconclusive war.

Other Crusades

Swedish Crusades• The Swedish conquest of Finland in the Middle Ages has traditionally been

divided into three "crusades": the First Swedish Crusade around 1155 AD, the Second Swedish Crusade about 1249 AD and the Third Swedish Crusade in 1293 AD.

• The First Swedish Crusade is purely legendary, and according to most historians today, never took place as described in the legend and did not result in any ties between Finland and Sweden. For the most part, it was made up in the late 13th century to date the Swedish rule in Finland further back in time. No historical record has also survived describing the second one, but it probably did take place and ended up in the concrete conquest of southwestern Finland. The third one was against Novgorod, and is properly documented by both parties of the conflict.

• According to archaeological finds, Finland was largely Christian already before the said crusades. Thus the "crusades" can rather be seen as ordinary expeditions of conquest whose main target was territorial gain. The expeditions were dubbed as actual crusades only in the 19th century by the national-romanticist Swedish and Finnish historians

Other Crusades

Crusades in the Balkans• To counter the expanding Ottoman Empire,

several crusades were launched in the 15th century. The most notable are:

• the Crusade of Nicopolis (1396) organized by Sigismund of Luxemburg king of Hungary culminated in the Battle of Nicopolis

• the Crusade of Varna (1444) led by the Polish-Hungarian king Władysław Warneńczyk ended in the Battle of Varna

• and the Crusade of 1456 organized to lift the Siege of Belgrade led by John Hunyadi and Giovanni da Capistrano

Results of the Crusades

• Failures– Jerusalem was in Moslem hands– Christian pilgrims became fewer and more fearful

than ever– The Moslem powers, once tolerant of religious

diversity, had been made intolerant by attack– The effort of the popes to bring peace and unity to

Europe had been thwarted by nationalistic ambitions, avarice, and internal dissension

– The influence of the Catholic Church and the position of the pope declined and the schism between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church widened


• Failures– Moslem civilization had been victorious over Christian

civilization– Indigenous eastern Christians were caught in the

middle between Crusaders and Moslems, and many who were outraged by the excesses of the Crusaders or who wanted to avoid persecution by Moslem leaders who saw them as collaborators with the Crusaders converted to Islam

• In fact, the Crusades ironically proved instrumental in making the eastern Mediterranean predominantly Moslem


• Successes– Serfs had used the Crusades to leave their

lands and many found new opportunities– The Turkish capture of Constantinople was

delayed until 1453– The Moslems, even though victorious, had

themselves been weakened, and fell more easily when the Mongols attacked

– Trade and exploration were enhanced

Other Effects of Crusades

Fatal weakening of Byzantine Empire Vast increase in cultural horizons for many

Europeans. Stimulated Mediterranean trade. Need to transfer large sums of money for

troops and supplies led to development of banking techniques.

Rise of heraldic emblems, coats of arms

Romantic and imaginative literature.

Knowledge introduced to Europe Heavy stone masonry, construction of

castles and stone churches. Siege technology, tunneling, sapping. Moslem minarets adopted as church spires

Weakening of nobility, rise of merchant classes

Enrichment was primarily from East to West--Europe had little to give in return.

Other Effects of Crusades

Trade

• Italian traders obviously benefited from supplying the Crusades while they were going on, but they also saw an opportunity to expand their market by establishing direct trade with the Moslem world

• The lucrative trade provided great profit to the Italian city-states and ultimately provided the economic basis for the Italian Renaissance.

Lorenzo de Medici was part of a family that ruled Florence and served as bankers for the Crusades and patrons of the Renaissance

Trade

• The most important trade item were spices– Other items included

cotton, linen, dates, coral, pearls, porcelain, silk, and metal goods

• Damascus was a key center for industry and commerce and a stopping point for pilgrims on their way to Mecca

Egyptian scarf or garment fragment ca 1395

Trade

• European Christians also became exposed to new ideas as they traveled throughout the Mediterranean basin– The works of Aristotle– Islamic science and astronomy– “Arabic” numerals which the Moslems had borrowed

from India– Techniques for paper production which the Moslems

had learned from China• While the Crusades may have largely failed as military

adventures, they helped encourage the reintegration of western Europe into the larger economy of the western hemisphere

The Reconquista of Spain

• The Christians did have better success wresting Sicily and Spain from the Moslems in actions separate from the Crusades

• Sicily was regained relatively easily– Moslems had conquered it in

the 9th Century but in the 1090, after about 20 years of fighting, Norman warriors returned it to Christian hands

• Spain would be a bit more of a challenge


• Moslems invaded the Iberian Peninsula in the early 8th Century and ruled all but small Christian states such as Catalonia

• In the 1060s Christians began attacking outward from these toeholds


• By 1150 Christians had recaptured Lisbon and controlled over half the peninsula

• These successes lured reinforcements from England and France and a new round of campaigning in the 13th Century brought all but Granada into Christian hands

• In 1492, Christian forces conquered Granada and the Reconquista was complete

Immediate Impact of the Reconquista

• After the successful Reconquista, the devoutly Christian rulers of Spain and Portugal were eager to dominate the Islamic states in North Africa and to convert non-Christians

• The desire to spread Christianity would be one of the motives for the European explorations.

1492 was the year of both the completion of the Reconquista and Columbus’ voyage to the New

Heresy and Inquisition (1184-1542)

• Heresies throughout Christian history have often begun as church correctives for church practices that needed to be challenged. However, a legitimate challenge to church practice or belief sometimes turn into an overreaction. It becomes heresy when some essential of the faith is denied.

• Heresy was not just a religious error but a treason. Thus civil authorities became involved in punishing heretics.

• Papal inquisition begun in about 1232 by Pope Gregory IX was centrally run from Rome in an attempt to be systematic.

• The purposes of inquisition were, first to find out who the heretics were and second, to persuade them to give up to heresy.

• An "Inquisition" is a legal inquiry. Historically there were three major Catholic Inquisitions:– The Medieval Inquisition started around 1184 in response to the

appearance of popular heretical movements throughout Europe, in particular Catharism and Waldensians in southern France and northern Italy.

– In 1478 Pope Sixtus IV reluctantly authorized the Spanish Inquisition under pressure from King Ferdinand of Aragon. Initially it investigated charges against Jewish and Muslim converts to Christianity of secretly practicing their former religions. It acted under the control of the kings of Spain. The early excesses of the Spanish Inquisition were condemned by Popes Sixtus IV, Leo X, Paul III and Paul IV.

– The Roman Inquisition began in 1542 when Pope Paul III established the Holy Office as the final court of appeal in trials of heresy and served as an important part of the Counter-Reformation. It was tightly controlled by strict procedural rules but was made infamous by the trial of Galileo.


The First Inquisition - The Cathars• In 1208, there was the "Cathars" heresy in southern France. The teachers of this heresy

abandoned their Christian faith for multi-gods, good gods and bad gods. Those of us who are Christian can understand the concern of the Church.

• The Cathars had a disdain for scientific innovation and were a serious stumbling block to economic development in the region. The northern Lords also had a bone to pick with the Lords of southern France who were harbouring the heresy. They wanted to assert their authority and expand their empire. They felt that religious unity was the only way to maintain the political unity of a country.

• The Cathars were waging war on Christians and many were killed in sourthern France. A legate to the Pope was sent to southern France to assess the situation with the Cathar heresy. The Cathars made the mistake of killing him. The Pope talked to the King in northern France and asked what could be done. The King launched a crusade in 1209 that destroyed the Cathar's military might in southern France. But the Cathars went underground and continued to pull many from the Faith.

• The first Inquisition was instituted in 1231 as a response to the Cathars influence in southern France. An Inquisition consisted of two religious judges who would go into an area where a heresy was being spread. They would interview people and find out who was propagating the heresy. Then they would contact the heretics, and give them a grace period of 48 hours to cease their teaching and retract. After that time, if the heretic didn't stop, they would hold court. At this session the two inquisitors would be present, along with the Lord of the region, and some community leaders etc. They would bring forth evidence and seek a confession. Then the heretic would be handed over to the local authorities. Under Roman law, an offense against the faith was considered an offense against the state, so the state would do the discipline. The Church only passed the verdict, not the sentence. The Inquisition could not have happened without collaboration and alliance with the civil power of the time.


• The Inquisition was also an attempt to stop Catholic lynch mobs that went around punishing heretics. If the Church didn't step in, the Catholic lay people would gather together in search of heretics and they sometimes got the wrong guy. It was a mess. These mobs would go around doing violence to people who were teaching heresy. For example, a Cathar preacher made a bonfire and drew a large crowd. He preached against Jesus and threw a crucifix on the bonfire. This enraged the townsfolk and they rushed the Cathar preacher and threw him on the bonfire.

• Strange as it may seem, in a very wrong way, the Inquisition brought some order to communities who were glad to see the Inquisitors because it meant that lynch mobs stopped. The Inquisition was actually much more civilized than the uncontrolled lynch mobs. Another thing that is exaggerated by the press is the use of "torture" (1) to bring about a confession. Torture was never used more than once on an accused and it was quite rare among Church inquisitors. Secular Inquisitors on the other hand were quite harsh. Torture was a standard practice in the secular courts of the time.

• Christians of the Middle Ages were genuinely afraid that souls were going to go to hell if they were lured from Christianity. They thought it was worth it that some teachers of heresy died so that thousands would not be led astray by heretics who were preaching and drawing many from Christianity towards an eternity of darkness. Unfortunately, they were wrong. The ends does NOT justify the means.

• The medieval Inquisition flushed out the Cathar heresy. It is where we got the word "Catharsis".

The Spanish Inquisition• In the late 15th century, a new branch of the Inquisition was formed in Spain. The

Spanish Inquisition was founded on the somewhat ludicrous notion that Jews and Muslims were pretending to covert to Catholicism in order to undermine the church in Spain.

• Since the determination of what someone secretly believes in their heart is complicated by the lack of external and incontrovertible evidence, the Spanish Inquisition quickly became notorious for a) extremely creative use of torture and b) its tendency to be unleashed on just about anyone at any time, for any reason, or for no reason at all (thus the "nobody expects" element).

• the Spanish Inquisition went on for THREE HUNDRED YEARS, lasting well into the 1800s. The first five years of the Spanish Inquisition were basically rampant mayhem with no appreciable diminishment of the "threat" from the fake Catholics. As a result, Tomas de Torquemada was appointed to whip the Inquisition into shape.

• He succeeded beyond the Church's wildest nightmares. Thousands and thousands of "heretics" were burned at the stakes throughout the duration of the Spanish Inquisition (the exact numbers are unknown). There was no such thing as an "alleged" heretic under the Inquisitions reign of terror; there were only "repentant" and "unrepentant" heretics.

• "Repentant" heretics were those who confessed their heresy and agreed to shell over big bucks to the Church. Poor people accused of heresy (who were relatively fewer) could only save themselves with full confessions and by naming the names of other heretics.



• To assist people in repenting, the Inquisitors used any torture method they could think of, with the theoretical restriction that they couldn't break the skin. The Inquisitors came up with numerous gadgets to work within this restriction. They included:

• The Judas Chair: This was a large pyramid-shaped "seat." Accused heretics were placed on top of it, with the point inserted into their anuses or genitalia, then very, very slowly lowered onto the point with ropes. The effect was to gradually stretch out the opening of choice in an extremely painful manner.

• The Wheel: Heretics are strapped to a big ol' wheel, and their bones are clubbed into shards. Not very creative, but quite effective.

• The Stake: Depending on how unrepentant a heretic might be, the process of burning at the stake could vary wildly. For instance, a fairly repentant heretic might be strangled, then burned. An entirely unrepentant heretic could be burned over the course of hours, using green wood or simply by placing them on top of hot coals and leaving them there until well done.

• The Head Vice: Pretty straightforward concept. They put your head into a specially fitted vice, and tighten it until your teeth are crushed, your bones crack and eventually your eyes pop out of their sockets.

• The Pear: A large bulbous gadget is inserted in the orifice of choice, whether mouth, anus or vagina. A lever on the device then causes it to slowly expand whilst inserted. Eventually points emerge from the tips. (Apparently, internal bleeding doesn't count as "breaking the skin.")

• Methods of execution weren't much better. Since death was the eventual outcome, the skin-breaking point was rendered largely moot. While burning at the stake was the most widely used method, being cost-effective and providing a fun spectacle for the whole family, there were other approaches used in special cases:

• Sawing: Heretics were hung upside-down and sawed apart down the middle, starting at the crotch.

• Disembowelment: Not the nice kind of disembowelment, where a samurai slits you wide open like a fish and you die in moments. No, that's not good enough for the Inquisition. A small hole is cut in the gut, then the intestines are drawn out slowly and carefully, keeping the victim alive for as much of the process as possible.


• Based in Vatican City, the Holy Office of the Inquisition is still one of the most powerful branches of the Church hierarchy. In 1965, the P.R.-sensitive Pope Paul VI rebranded the Inquisition as the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, but it was still basically the Inquisition.

• The modern church lacked the political power to institute wide-ranging reigns of terror and torture around the world, so the Congregation has to settle for sternly admonishing its targets these days. What a comedown!

• Instead of being the most feared institution in the entire civilized world, the Congregation had to settle for making obscure theological pronouncements — in Latin, no less. So just in case you actually wanted to care about what they had to say, you wouldn't be able to read it anyway. In 1966, Paul VI even revoked its ability to ban books, leaving the Inquisition toothless and largely irrelevant going into the 21st century.

• The Congregation did have a few brief moments of shining glory in recent years, such as the pronouncement that yoga was a tool of the devil and revealing the Third Secret of Fatima, as well as endless commentaries on why Homosexuality as evil.

Inquisition Redefined (1965)

The Decline Of The Medieval Church• The history of the medieval church divides roughly into three periods - dissemination,

domination, and disintegration. • In the initial period, which lasted from about the fifth through the eleventh centuries,

Roman Catholic Christianity spread throughout the West. The advent of feudalism in the tenth century hindered the development of the church’s administrative structure dominated by the papacy; but late in the eleventh century, the church, directed by strong popes, became the most powerful institution in the West.

• The period of the papacy’s greatest power - the twelfth and thirteenth centuries - reached its height with the pontificate of Innocent III, who exerted his influence over kings and princes without challenge. The church then seemed unassailable in its prestige, dignity, and power.

• Yet that strength soon came under new attack, and during the next two centuries the processes of disintegration were to gain in influence. Papal power was threatened by the growth of nation-states, which challenged the church’s temporal power and authority. Joined by some of the local clergy, rulers opposed papal interference in state matters and favored the establishment of general church councils to limit papal power.

• In addition, the papacy was criticized by reformers, who had seen earlier reform movements and the crusades transformed from their original high-minded purposes to suit the ambitions of the popes, and by the bourgeoisie, whose realistic outlook was fostering growing skepticism, national patriotism, and religious self-reliance.

• During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries these challenges to papal authority were effective, and papal influence rapidly declined.

Decline of Papal Authority (1304-1517)

Boniface VIII• A century after the papacy’s apex under Innocent III, Pope Boniface VIII (1294-

1303) was forced to withdraw his fierce opposition to taxes levied on the great wealth of the church by Edward I in Britain and Philip IV in France.

• Modeling his actions after Innocent, Boniface threatened to depose the "impious king," as he termed Philip, but he gave way when Philip with the support of the Estates-General prohibited the export of money to Rome. A final and more humiliating clash with the French king had long-term implications for the papacy.

• When Boniface boldly declared, in the papal bull, Unam Sanctam (1302), that "subjection to the Roman pontiff is absolutely necessary to salvation for every human creature," Philip demanded that the pope be tried for his "sins" by a general church council.

• In 1303 Philip’s henchmen broke into Boniface’s summer home at Anagni to arrest him and take him to France to stand trial. Their kidnapping plot was foiled when the pope was rescued by his friends. Humiliated, Boniface died a month later, perhaps from the shock and physical abuse he suffered during the attack.

• After Boniface's death, the papacy itself was brought under French power and after the short rule of Benedict XI, the French king secured a pope, Clement V favorable to his own interests. In 1306 he moved to Avignon in France and exempted Philip from the Bull, "Unam Sanctum". This move began the fall of the papacy.


The Avignon Papacy• The success of the French monarchy was as complete as if Boniface actually

had been dragged before Philip to stand trial. • Two years after Boniface’s death, a French archbishop was chosen pope.

Taking the title of Clement V, he not only excused Philip but praised his Christian zeal in bringing charges against Boniface. Clement never went to Rome, where feuding noble families created turmoil in the city, but moved the papal headquarters to Avignon in southern France, where the papacy remained under French influence from 1305 to 1377.

• During this period, the so-called Babylonian Captivity of the church, papal prestige suffered enormously. All Christendom believed that Rome was the only suitable capital for the church. Moreover, the English, Germans, and Italians accused the popes and the cardinals, who were also French, of being instruments of the French king.

• The Avignon papacy added fuel to the fires of those critics who were attacking church corruption, papal temporal claims, and the apparent lack of spiritual dedication. Increasing their demands for income from England, Germany, and Italy, and living in splendor in a newly built fortress-palace, the Avignon popes expanded the papal bureaucracy, added new church taxes, and collected the old taxes more efficiently. Such actions produced denouncements of the wealth of the church and a demand for its reform.



• In 1309, a French pope moved the papacy from Rome to Avignon in southern France. The papacy remained in Avignon until 1378. French kings and nobles exerted influence on the papacy and greatly reduced its prestige. This decline in the institution of the papacy made many members of the clergy impatient for reform.

• In 1309, a disagreement among the cardinals resulted in the election of two rival popes who excommunicate each other. For a time, three men opposed one another as the rightful pope (Avignon, Rome and Pisa). Finally in 1414, the Council of Constance elected a pope who was accepted by all the rival groups.

Western Schism• In 1316 after Clement's death, a fierce struggle between French and Italian cardinals began

which resulted in the election of pope John XXII, who in 1322 excommunicated Louis of France for exercising the powers of emperor without papal sanction and summoned the German princes to depose him. Unfortunately these anathemas were disregarded and John's troubles began. John also experienced successful attacks by scholars on papal authority which further undermined his prerogatives.

• In Clement VI's rule Europe groaned under the extortions and avarice of papal taxes and began to criticize the Avignon popes who were characterized by boundless wealth and immorality. England likewise resisted in the 1350's. The 1380's witnessed the great schism in which both Avignon and Rome claimed a pope having the full scope of pontifical authority, jurisdiction and taxation. This spectacle of rival popes - Clement VII resting in inglorious ease at Avignon and Urban VI heading a partisan warfare in Italy - each imprecating curses on the other, stirred up a man called Wycliffe who declared the papal office as poisonous to the church.

• The only workable solution which could be found was the introduction of a General Council of Cardinals in 1409 who were given the authority by the temporal princes to elect a pope. In 1417 the Council deposed the rival popes and elected Martin V who immediately began to sanction the abuses of past popes and asserted papal supremacy in the terms of his predecessors. Bringing a new prosperity back to Rome he undertook to restore its last prestige but was denounced by John Huss who appealed to the Bible as alone authoritative.

• On the death of Martin V the Council. reassembled and began to reform the church. It considered itself superior to the pope it had elected and in succeeding ages the struggle between Council and pope took place. Finally the French monarch took the opportunity with this dispute and subjected the papacy to his rule. The pope however continued to attempt to organize disputes between Germany and France.


Late Middle Ages (1300-1400)Time of Tragedy and Hope• 100 years of war between England and France

• Black Death, outbreak of bubonic plague that struck Europe and the Mediterranean area from 1347 through 1351. It was the first of a cycle of European plague epidemics that continued until the early 18th century that took many lives. The last major outbreak of plague in Europe was in Marseilles in 1722. Doctors and theologians agreed that the epidemic had both religious and physical causes. The first and most important was God’s judgment on a sinful humanity; the second was a lack of balance in the body’s humors, or fluids. As with earthquakes, floods, and fires, medieval Christians assumed illness was a call to repentance. In response, some Christians, known as flagellants, began to ritually beat themselves as penance for their own and for others’ sins. Although groups of flagellants had existed since the 10th century, the outbreak of the plague radically increased their numbers.

• The Church was fighting. Hope began to rise when working people began to rise.

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Spiritual