The Church in the High Middle Ages

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Missions: Adam and his sons were to settle the world and fight the Devil – Adam’s sin put this mission on hold. Jesus came as the New Adam and the Apostles/bishops rally the sons of God to complete the Original Mission. The Church is Jesus’ body and Church history is the story of how that body is brought to completion.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Early/Late Antique Church History: The story of how the Church first and survived persecution. Late Antique history is the story of the Church in the waning days of the western Roman Empire.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The Middle Ages: In the 1330s Petrarch, the father of the Renaissance and humanism, called pre-Christian history “antiqua” (ancient) and Christian history “nova” (new).

Historians following Petrarch began to use a tripartite division: ancient, middle, modern.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The Early Middle Ages: The period of time (AD 500-1000) between the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the rise of stable kingdoms in Europe.

The High Middle Ages: The period (1000-1350) which saw the full flowering of Medieval civilization.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

The Late Middle Ages: The period (1350-1500) during which many challenges confronted medieval civilization witnessed the gradual overthrow of the medieval world.

The “Dark” Age: The earliest period of the Early Middle Ages immediately following the fall of the western Roman Empire.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

CENTRAL THEMES

The Church in Western Europe: The High Middle Ages is often regarded as the apex of the Christian middle ages. During this time the faith shaped all aspects of life and culture. New monastic orders, the first univerisities, and continued mission work were its hallmark.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

CENTRAL THEMES

The Church in the Byzantine Empire: Despite its territories ebbing and waning, the eastern Roman Empire continued in Constantinople. The Byzantine combined Roman imperial traditions with Christianity and Greek culture in the face of encroaching foreign threats.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

CENTRAL THEMES

The Church of the East: This period marks a steady decline of Christianity in areas outside of Europe.

The Church under Islam: Islam was experiencing its own period of fragmentation. By the end of the period, however, Turks reinvigorated new expansion.

WESTERN FEUDALISM

Charlemagne’s Empire: The Franks had established a large empire by AD 814. Known as the Holy Roman Empire, its goal was to reestablish a universal Christian empire.

Treat of Verdun: Civil war broke out among Charlemagne’s grandsons. Their AD 843 peace treaty became the nucleus of later France and Germany.

WESTERN FEUDALISM

Vikings, Magyars: On top of civil war, Vikings from the north began raiding and invading France and Anglo-Saxon England. Magyars from the east steppes invaded Germany.

Knights and Nobles: Heavily armed knights were key in fighting off the invasions. Knights were lowest level nobles (considered warrior rulers).

WESTERN FEUDALISM

Fiefdoms and Fragmentation: The cost of knightly equipment were high. Often men would pledge allegiance to a higher noble in exchange for lands and peasants that could provide him income needed to acquire and maintain his equipment. This arrangement created localized political units, fragmenting society and larger kingdoms.

WESTERN FEUDALISM

Serfs and Slaves: Many peasants of the period were bound to their local noble as either a serf or slave. While it was slightly more advantageous to be a serf, both had great disadvantages.

Free N. Italy Cities: Caught between competing powers, cities of north Italy increasingly became independent and were a source of new economic life.

WESTERN FEUDALISM

CLERGY & MONASTICISM

Corruption and Reform: Worldly prestige and power had been creeping into the clergy and monasteries, prompting reform.

Cluny and Citeaux: Benedictines of Cluny and Cistercians at Citeaux practiced a more rigorous monasticism independent of lay control.

WESTERN FEUDALISM

CLERGY & MONASTICISMMonastic Reforms, Papacy: The monastic reforms led to a reform of the papacy, with many important popes coming from reform monasteries.Lay Investiture: The practice of lay ruler selecting and investing popes, bishops, and abbots. Ending the practice was a significant battle of the period.

WESTERN FEUDALISM

CLERGY & MONASTICISM

Cathedral Schools: The earliest schools of the period from which universities arose.

EARLY SCHOLASTICISM

Faith and Reason: Medieval scholasticism is rooted in an early debate on faith and reason, both a philosophical and theological issue.

WESTERN FEUDALISM

CLERGY & MONASTICISM

Scholastic Dialectic: The dominant form that Scholastic issues were debated. It put forth a question to be determined, and one would argue both sides before coming to a decision and taking one side over the other.

EARLY SCHOLASTICISM

WESTERN FEUDALISM

CLERGY & MONASTICISM

EARLY SCHOLASTICISM

Viking Missionaries: Religion became an important part of halting the Viking advances. Eventually it was the conversion of the Vikings that led to their peaceful integration into Christendom.

MISSIONARY ACTIVITIES

St. Olaf, King of Norway

WESTERN FEUDALISM

CLERGY & MONASTICISM

EARLY SCHOLASTICISM

Normandy: Vikings Norsemen (called the Normans) were given Normandy in AD 911 by the King of France, becoming his vassals. The Normans had a decisive impact at this time, both religiously and militarily.

MISSIONARY ACTIVITIES

WESTERN FEUDALISM

CLERGY & MONASTICISM

EARLY SCHOLASTICISM

Magyar Conversion: Like the Vikings, the conversion of the Magyars under St. Stephen brought peace.

MISSIONARY ACTIVITIES

Kievan Rus: Early Russia had also by this time adopted a Greek form of Christianity. Sts. Stephen, Vladimir

INTRODUCTION

Byzantine Empire: The remaining eastern half of the Roman Empire. It merged a Greek outlook, Roman imperial rule, and the Christian faith.

Constantinople: Built by Constantine, it became the new capital of the Roman Empire and remained capital after losing control of Rome.

INTRODUCTION

External Threats: Despite the rich area it controlled, it faced many external threats: Bulgars, Slavs, Magyars, and Islamic Arabs, Persians, and Turks.

Christian Faith: The mighty walls of Constantinople and the strong Christian faith of the people kept the empire alive and intact until AD 1453.

INTRODUCTION

Caesaropapism: A union of church and state wherein church leaders are subservient to the emperor, viewed as the episcopus externus, even in theological matters. Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria: Three ancient centers of Christianity and liturgy dating to first century.

CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS

INTRODUCTION

Christian Demographic Core: For centuries, the Byzantine Empire was home to the majority of Christians along with the Holy Land. During this period, Christian demography moves westward and western pilgrims to the Holy Land increased considerably.

CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS

INTRODUCTION

Multiplicity of Rites: Different cultures emphasized different aspects of Mass. Though Mass structure was the same, some things looked different in different places. Different rites included: Roman, Byzantine, Antiochene, Alexandrian, Melkite, Armenian, Maronite.

CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS

INTRODUCTION

Eastern Monasticism: Christian monasticism originally began in the east and spread west. Monks were seen as the exemplars of faith. Eastern monasteries housed important icons and relics, defended Church teaching, and served the sick, poor, and uneducated.

CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS

St. Pachomius and Anthony the Great – Fathers of Christian Monasticism

INTRODUCTION

CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS

Ecumenical Councils: Meeting of bishops to determine course of the Church. The first 7 ecumenical councils were all held in the east.

History of Heresy: The major-ity of major early heresies, however, were also in the east, many held by Patriarchs.

INTRODUCTION

Mounting Tensions: Papal support for the Holy Roman Empire and differing liturgical practices divided east-west.

CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS

THE GREAT SCHISM (AD 1054)

Pope, Filioque: The primacy of the Pope and the Pope’s addition of filioque to the creed added to the tensions.

INTRODUCTION

Mutual Excommunication: In AD 1054, after Latin liturgies were shut down in the east, a papal ambassador excommunicated the Byzantine church.

CHURCH-STATE RELATIONS

THE GREAT SCHISM (AD 1054)

Manzikert: Defeat by the Turks led the Byzantines to call for help, open to healing the schism

Syriac-Speaking Christians: The Christians that lived around Antioch spoke Syriac. They developed their own theological schools and liturgical rites.

CHURCH OF THE EAST

Nestorianism: These Christians largely embraced Nestorianism, the heretical belief that in Christ there are two persons, not one.

Syriac-speaking Nestorian Christians took the faith all the

way to China.

CHURCH OF THE EAST

Coptic-Speaking Christians: The Christians that lived in the rural areas of Egypt spoke Coptic. The first Christian monks were among them.

Monophysitism: These Chris-tians largely embraced Mono-phystisim the heretical belief that Jesus is not fully man.

Coptic Christians are today under threat

CHURCH OF THE EAST

Ethiopia: Received the faith from Coptic missionaries. Ethiopia is sub-Saharan Africa’s oldest Christian nation. India: Received the faith from St. Thomas the Apostle. Christianity has been in India longer than in Ireland. Christians in India lived in the south and were fairly disconnected from those in Europe.

CHURCH OF THE EAST

ISLAM IN AD 1000

Arab Umayyads: The successors of Muhammad established their own universal empire called the caliphate. The first rulers came from an Arab family called the Umayyads. Despite the multi-ethnic character of Islam, they gave precedence to their family and to Arabs.

The substantial growth of the Umayyad Caliphate

from AD 632-750

CHURCH OF THE EAST

ISLAM IN AD 1000

Persian Abassids: In AD 750 the Umayyads were overthrown and all but one of the ruling family members were killed. The new rulers focused on Persia and were called the Abassids. They built a new capital at Baghdad and inaugurated Islam’s golden age.

CHURCH OF THE EAST

ISLAM IN AD 1000

Shia Fatimids: Abbasid rule was not universal. The Shia, a smaller offshoot denomination of Islam, established its own caliphate in Egypt in 921, building a capital at Cairo in 969.

Spanish Cordoba: The last surviving Umayyad ruled in his family’s name in Spain.

A map of the Shia Fatimid Caliphate

CHURCH OF THE EAST

ISLAM IN AD 1000

Peoples of the Steppes: Eurasia is home to dry grasslands called the steppes. Those who lived there were nomadic herds with access to the worlds strongest horses. Huns, Turks, and Mongols became some the greatest invaders from this area.

THE RISE OF THE TURKS

CHURCH OF THE EAST

ISLAM IN AD 1000

Seljuk Turks: A group of Turkish-speaking steppe nomads who became Muslim and entered into the Abbasid caliphate.

THE RISE OF THE TURKS

Expansion: The Turks were given lands in northern Mesopotamia but raided Byzantine lands. They would overrun central Turkey.