Chapter 12

Christianity and the Medieval Mind

(ca. 1000–1300)

The Christian Way of Life and Death

Personal salvation through church sacraments Administered through the clergy

Seven sacraments BaptismConfirmationOrdinationMatrimonyPenanceEucharistExtreme unction

Purgatory – an intermediate realm of the soul just after death for levels of punishment

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The Literature of Mysticism

Didactic religious literature Served to teach and instruct versus visionary literature

Hildegard of Bingen The leading mystic of the twelfth century, a Benedictine abbess and scholar who produced a prodigious amount of visionary literature

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Sermon Literature

Pope Innocent III, On the Misery of the Human Condition

Considered the classic standard medieval sermon focusing on the sinfulness of humankind and the terrors of Hell

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The Medieval Morality Play

Open-air theaters adjacent to the cathedral

Mystery play, miracle play, morality play

Everyman – example of medieval morality play in which the inherent evil of humankind is the focus

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Dante’s Divine Comedy

Divine promise of deliverance and eternal bliss Spiritual pilgrimage of the Christian soul Aristotelian divisions of the human psyche

Reason Will Love

Sacred numerology and symbolism The “Inferno”

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The Medieval Church

The church as a political institution The College of Cardinals

The Curia

The Camera

The Inquisition Established in 1233, this was a special court designed to stamp out heresy

The rise of mendicant orders Franciscans, Dominicans, Benedictines, etc.

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The Medieval University

Liberal Arts curriculum Bachelor of arts, master of arts, and doctoral degrees

First university: Bologna in 1159

University of Paris became intellectual melting pot of the medieval West

Education was for men only

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Medieval Scholasticism

Aristotle – translated versions of the Greek philosopher filtered down into the hands of the medieval universalities, challenging some basic beliefsPeter Abelard

Teacher at the University of Paris, supporting the freedom to question authority

Thomas Aquinas Considered the greatest of the medieval thinkers; produced many works on many issues

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