Medieval Europe

The 13th Century

Overview 1202: pope Innocent III claims extensive papal

power 1204: Constantinople looted by Crusaders

Fourth Crusade

1209: Francis of Assisi founds the Franciscan religious order

1212: Iberian Muslims crushed in Spanish Crusade 1215:

English king John seals the Magna Carta Fourth Lateran Council meets in Rome

1217: Dominic’s order of wandering preachers, the Friars Preacher (aka “Dominicans”) given papal recognition

Overview (cont.)

1227: Ulrich von Lichtenstein’s Venusfahrt 1241: beginning of the Hanseatic League 1250: death of Frederick II of Hohenstaufen

Stupor Mundi

1255: the Church approved use of torture in the hunt for heretics

c. 1280: Marco Polo at the Great Khan’s court c. 1290: the invention of spectacles

in Italy

Pope Innocent III

R. 1198-1216 The most powerful of the

medieval popes well educated in both

canon law and theology the dominant figure in

Europe during his papacy

Francis of Assisi

1182-1226 Founder of the Franciscan Order and one of the most

honored saints of the Catholic faith Below: trying to convert the Egyptian sultan

St. Francis (cont.)

The patron saint of ecology

The Franciscans

The order was founded in 1209 by St. Francis

Poverty and the Regula primitiva “primitive rule”

c. 1300: violent disputes between the Spirituals and the Conventuals

St. Dominic

1170-1221 Founder of the Order of

Friars Preachers the “Dominicans” express purpose: to preach

against and otherwise combat heresy

right: Dominic oversees the burning of unacceptable books

Dominican friars

Like the Franciscans, they sought to challenge the wealth and laxity of the older monastic orders

The Courtly Lover

Below: the remarkable Ulrich von Lichtenstein

Stupor Mundi

Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen

1194-1250 De arte venandi cum avibus

The great dispute

Right: a representation of God with the pope and the emperor

Whose authority is hereby greatest?