The Medieval Church

Presentation created by Robert L. MartinezPrimary Content Source: Prentice Hall World HistoryImages as cited.

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In 597, Pope Gregory I sent Augustine to convert the Anglo-Saxons in England. From

Britain, missionaries went back to the continent to spread their faith among

Germanic tribes.

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.• In manor villages, the

priest of the parish was usually the only contact people had with the Church.

• The priest cared for the souls of his parishioners by celebrating the mass and by administering the sacraments of the Church.

• Christians believed that faith in Christ and participation in the sacraments would lead them to salvation

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Church as part of everyday life.

• Christian rituals and faith were part of the fabric of everyday life. Priests:– married peasants and

nobles, – baptized their children, – buried the dead in

sacred ground.

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Importance of the Church in everyday life.

• The church was a social center as well as a place of worship.– some priests ran

schools.– Villages took pride in

their church buildings and decorated them with care.

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Indulgences in the Middle Ages

• The people in medieval times in Europe were very religious.

• Most believed the Church knew best how they should behave and what they should believe.

Heaven in the Middle Ages• ". The Church also

made it very clear that if you wanted to get to heaven, you had to participate in the sacraments.

This was very comforting to people in medieval times.

• did not understand a word of the mass, – because the mass was in Latin, a

language they did not understand.

• could not read or write. • did understand that if they

followed the sacraments, they would get to heaven.

• The life of most people in medieval times was a harsh one. The thought of escaping to heaven was most attractive.

Indulgences – paying for sacraments

• The Catholic Church charged people money for some of the sacraments and accepted (required) donations to feed the poor and to build new churches.

• The sacraments controlled daily life.

• Some like baptism were done once, others - like penance - were done many times.

• there was a charge for each sacrament– the sacraments

generated enormous wealth for the church

• The local priest and other church officials worked very hard.

• wealth flowed into the church because Christianity was at the core of medieval life.

• Everything revolved around religion.

Relics• Some churches housed relics,

or remains of martyrs or other holy figures.

• Local people, as well as visitors, might make pilgrimages to pray before the relics.

• A holy relic is something that belonged to or was touched by Jesus or a saint. A treasured relic might be bone fragment or a tiny piece of the cross.

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1 OF 3. The tunic of Saint Francis of Assisi is seen during a exhibition in ubbio in this September 30, 2006 file photo. Carbon dating has cast doubt on the authenticity of one of four robes kept by Italian churches as relics of the medieval Saint Francis of Assisi, though another tunic, a belt and a cushion were found to be the right vintage.

• Tales of miracles that supposedly happened because of the presence of a holy relic were very popular.

• Since there were a great many parish churches and cathedrals, some of the relics may not have been real.

• But all relics had a story, and all were treasured.

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Tithe

• To support itself and its parishes, the Church required Christians to pay a tithe, or tax equal to a tenth of their income.

• The tithe had its origins in the Bible.

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women

• The Church taught that men and women were equal before God.

• But on Earth, women were viewed as “daughters of Eve,” weak and easily led into sin.

• Thus, they needed the guidance of men.

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women

• The Church tried to protect women.– set a minimum age for

marriage. – Church courts could fine

men who seriously injured their wives.

– Yet they often punished women more harshly than men for the same offense.

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Monasteries and convents performed a vital role in preserving the writings of the ancient world.

• Monks and nuns copied ancient works as a form of labor.

• Educated monks and nuns kept learning alive.

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• In the centuries after the fall of Rome, the Church carved out a unique position in Western Europe. – It controlled the

spiritual life of Christians

– became the most powerful secular force in medieval Europe.

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• During the Middle Ages, the pope was the spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church.– As representative of

Christ on Earth, medieval popes eventually claimed papal supremacy over all secular rulers.

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• The pope headed an army of churchmen who supervised Church activities. – High clergy, such as

bishops and archbishops, were usually nobles.

• Like other feudal lords, some had their own territories.

• The pope himself held vast lands in central Italy, later called the Papal States. mrgrayhistory.wikispaces.com

• Church officials were closely linked to secular rulers.– Because churchmen

were often the only educated people,

– feudal rulers appointed them to high government positions.

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• The medieval Christian Church was dedicated to the worship of God. – The only way to avoid the

tortures of hell was to believe in Christ and participate in the sacraments.

– Because the medieval Church administered the sacraments, it had absolute power in religious matters.

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• The medieval Church developed its own body of laws, known as canon law, as well as its own courts.

• Canon law applied to:– religious teachings, – the clergy, – marriages, – morals.

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• The most severe and terrifying was excommunication. If excommunicated, people could not receive the sacraments or a Christian burial.

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• A powerful noble who opposed the Church could face the interdict.– an order excluding an

entire town, region, or kingdom from receiving most sacraments and Christian burial.

– Even the most powerful ruler gave in rather than face the interdict.

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• The Church tried to use its authority to end feudal warfare.

• It declared periods of truce, known as the Peace of God.

• It demanded that fighting stop between Friday and Sunday each week on religious holidays.

• Such efforts may have led toward the decline of feudal warfare in the 1100s.

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• As the Church’s wealth grew and power grew, discipline weakened.

• Pious Christians left their wealth and lands to monasteries and convents, leading some monks and nuns to ignore vows of poverty.

• Some clergy lived in luxury

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• Priests could marry– some spent more time

on family matters than on Church duties

– some even treated the priesthood as a family inheritance.

Throughout the Middle Ages, voices called for reform in the Church.

• In 1703, Pope Gregory VII, a former monk, outlawed marriage for priests and prohibited simony– the selling of Church

positions. He insisted that the Church, not kings or nobles, choose Church officials.

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• In the early 1200s, Church reformers Francis of Assisi and Dominic took a new approach. – They set up orders of

friars, monks who did not live in isolated monasteries but traveled around Europe’s growing towns preaching to the poor

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• Francis of Assisi set up the Franciscan Order, preaching poverty, humility, and love of God.

• Soon after, Dominic, set up the Dominican Order. Its chief goal was to combat heresy by teaching official Roman Catholic beliefs.

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Saint Francis of Assisi

• Champion of poor• Model of living spiritual

life of poverty• Vow of poverty – more

as a detachment of material goods rather than living in rags and penniless

• Detachment of material goods we are able to recognize that God’s grace truly sustains us.

• This allows us to share whatever we have with others more freely

• Mendicant order- monks who lived like Christ w/o land or money.

Religious Communities

• Dominicans• Carmelites• Capuchins• Augustinians

– Lived in cities– Benedictines seldom left

monastery– Begged for their food– Guides us spiritually

Prayer of St. Francis

• Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;where there is hatred, let me sow love;where there is injury, pardon;where there is doubt, faith;where there is despair, hope;where there is darkness, light;and where there is sadness, joy.

• Jews flourished in Spain. The Muslims who conquered Spain in 711 were tolerant of both Jews and Christians.

• Muslim Spain became a center of Jewish culture and scholarship.

• These Jews served as officials in Muslim royal courts.

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• For centuries, Christians and Jews lived side by side in relative peace.

• Early German kings gave educated Jews positions at court.

• Many rulers in northern Europe valued and protected Jewish communities, although they taxed them heavily.

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• In bad times, anti-Semitism, or prejudice against Jews, worsened.

• Faced with disasters they could not understand, such as poor economic woes, illness or famine, many Christians blamed the Jews.

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• In response to growing persecution– thousands of Jews

migrated to Eastern Europe. rulers welcomed the newcomers’ skills and knowledge.

– Jewish communities thrived in Eastern Europe until modern times.

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