The Church in the High Middle Ages - Amazon Web Services · 2019-03-01 · and non-Islam. Islam could be spread by jihad, conquered people paying tax. ... Sins forgiven in Confession

The Church in the High Middle Ages

HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDFaith Transforms Arabs: The Arabs had been a group of warring pagan tribes –but the Islamic faith in one God united them in a way never seen before.

Theocracy of Early Islam: A belief in one God carried with it a belief in one political-religious people (ummah). The universal Islamic state was called the caliphate, led by a caliph, the world divided into Islam and non-Islam. Islam could be spread by jihad, conquered people paying tax.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Leadership in Early Islam: Coming out of Arabia, Arabs were the first leaders. One Arab family, the Umayyads, established a caliphate under their leadership. As the Umayyad family took power, a split occurred between Sunni Umayyads and the Shia (Partisans of Ali – Ali was a more direct heir to Muhamad and his religious/political authority).


Expansion of Islam to AD 750: Islam emerged from Arabia as the Byzantines and Persians had waged a long war. Persia was conquered and much of the Byzantine Empire as well. The Holy Land, Egypt, North Africa, and Spain also fell, and by AD 732 Islamic forces were in the French heartland. In the far east, Islamic armies pushed into Afghanistan, central Asia, and even battled Chinese armies.


THE ABBASID CALIPHATE

Persian-Iranian Overthrow: Having been treated as second class citizens, the Persians/Iranians overthrew the Umayyads and established the Abbasid Caliphate.

Islamic Golden Age: The Abbasids began an Islamic renaissance, with great advances made in philosophy, literature, mathematics, and the sciences.



Abbasid Decline: The Abbasids discovered ruling an empire as large as Rome was too big to handle from Baghdad. Power gradually began to decentralize while sections of the empire broke away entirely.



Caliphate of Cordoba: A remaining heir of the Umayyads established his own caliphate in Spain. Though small, Cordoba would play an important role in transferring ideas from Islam to Europe.

COMPETING CALIPHATES

Shia Fatimids: The Shia established their own caliphate in Egypt, creating for iteself a new capital city: Cairo.



Fatimid Conquests: The Fatimids were able to expand across much of north Africa. The also conquered Mecca and Medina and later, Jerusalem.


Buyids, Figureheads: Another group, the Buyids, managed to essential overthrow the Abbasids yet kept them on the throne as figureheads.




Steppe Nomadic Tribes: The Turks lived as horse-riding herders on the semi-arid grasslands of central Asia. Turkic tribes warred with each other while raiding established land empires (like the Islamic caliphates).

THE SELJUK TURKS




Expert Horsemen: The Turks grew up riding the best horses in the world, a skill and resource others often lacked. They could also ride and shoot arrows, and they perfected the tactical use of hit-and-run archery in large waves.

THE SELJUK TURKS




Tughril Beg: Leader of the Seljuk Turks, a confederacy of several Turkic tribes. His people embraced Islam and freed the Abbasids from Buyid control. Much the like the Normans, the Seljuks militarily reinvigorated the Abbasids.

THE SELJUK TURKS




Seljuk Expansion: The Seljuk Turks used their military power to attack the Fatimids, turning the Holy Land into a war zone, and the Byzantines. Their warfare disrupted pilgrimage routes and threated the existence of the Byzantine Empire – two causes of the Crusades.

THE SELJUK TURKS

TRADITION OF CHRISTIAN PILGRIMAGE

Holy Land, Santiago de Compostela: The two great pilgrimage sites of the time, the latter in Spain and both either under Islamic control or under Islamic threat.

Plenary Indulgences: Sins forgiven in Confession still require penance (prayer, fasting, almsgiving) for healing. An indulgence lessens the amount of penance needed and a plenary indulgence satisfies all required penance.


Relics: In addition to receiving an indulgence for pilgrimage, pilgrims also encountered relics of the saints during their pilgrimage. These belongings or fragments of the saints put us in contact with the heroes of our faith and the holiness they lived.


DEVELOPING JUST WAR THEORY

Just War Theory: A philosophical approach to war and peace that was adopted by Christianity in the early Church and developed in the middle ages.

Development: Though better articulated as the high middle ages ensued, constant war-making by the nobility meant the Church had a renewed interest in limiting the fighting through rules of war.


DEVELOPING JUST WAR THEORYHoly War: An early articulation of just war theory in the high middle ages was the Christian notion of holy war. Holy wars could be fought on behalf of the pope or Church and could also be fought to defend the faith or even spread the faith (though what exactly was meant by spreading the faith needed further articulation).



Reconquista: Islam conquered much of Spain after AD 711, but a small kingdom began fighting to reconquer the peninsula for Christianity. After a dramatic military victory attributed to Marian intercession and the discovering of the bones of St. James the Greater, many knights across Europe joined in to fight for Spain.

CRUSADES BEFORE CRUSADES



Genoese, Pisans: Italian city on the west coast began clearing the western Mediterranean of Islamic forces while also learning important tools for naval warfare and trade.


Normans: The Normans joined the battle by retaking Sicily from Islam and expanding into southern Italy.



Dress Rehearsal: Many of the barons and knight who fought in the First Crusade had participated in some way in Spain or the Mediterranean. All learned the ways of medieval warfare and siegecraft while discovering Islamic battle tactics. These early victories gave them the confidence needed for the great Crusade ahead.


Request from Alexius I: The Byzantine emperor requested help across Europe, but to Pope Urban II he hinted at an end to the Great Schism of AD 1054.

POPE URBAN II

Council of Clermont: Urban convened a gathering of religious and lay leaders, imploring potential pilgrims to “take the cross” and go on Crusade. “Deus vult!” –“God wills it!” he declared. The Crusade would begin August 15, 1096.

Holy War & Pilgrimage: The crusades would have all the benefits of a pilgrimage while also being an expression of holy war. Those dying in battle would still receive the pilgrim’s indulgence.

POPE URBAN II

Taking the Cross: Urban expected 300 or so knights to swear the oath and go, but what he got was 100,000+. Many took loans or mortgaged fiefs. Many went due to feudal loyalty or family honor.

POPE URBAN II

THE PEOPLE’S CRUSADE

Medieval Peasants: Most people of the time were peasants, free or unfree. The unfree could be slaves, owing their lords unlimited labor obligations, or serfs, owing less time but paying more in taxes. Free peasants could own their own land, but were often pressured to “commend” themselves to a lord, losing their land and becoming a serf.

POPE URBAN II

THE PEOPLE’S CRUSADEPeasant-Lord Relationship: Peasants could be expected to work a lord’s land in addition to their own, pay taxes, access goods, materials through a lord’s mono-poly, and be tried/fined by their Lord.

Early Departure, Pillaging: A group of peasants went early, pillaging for supplies and money. Many Jewish communities were destroyed.

POPE URBAN II


Crossing to Asia Minor: Alexius I was shocked at the wave of peasants arriving early and needing provisions. At first it appears he asked them to wait for the baron’s to arrive, but the People’s Crusade crossed to Asia Minor… and were quickly slaughtered by Turkic forces. It was an inauspicious start to the crusade.

POPE URBAN II


Crusader Barons: Kings did not go on the First Crusade, but many of the barons below them and the vassals did. Bohemond led Normans from Sicily, the brothers Godfrey and Baldwin led knights from France, Raymond, another French-man, was a devout, elder leader. The pope sent Bishop Adhemar as his legate.

THE BARON’S CRUSADE

POPE URBAN II


Arrival in Constantinople: Neither the barons nor Alexius I trusted each other. Alexius forced them to take an oath promising to give him conquered lands.


Siege of Nicaea: Nicaea was the first city for major siege. Byzantines assisted in a naval blockade, but then secretly worked out the surrender of the city.

POPE URBAN II


Siege of Antioch: The march to Antioch was long and this time the crusaders were besieging on their own. The siege lasted months and only ended when Bohemondarranged its betrayal by an insider. Just as the crusaders entered the city, an Islamic army arrived. The crusaders emerged from Antioch and defeated them.


POPE URBAN II


County of Edessa: Edessa had been the first town to convert to Christianity in the early Church and Baldwin couldn’t resist a request from Edessa for freedom from the Turks. Their ruler, a Christian, married his daughter to Baldwin and Baldwin would go on to establish Edessa as a County –the first of the Crusader states.


POPE URBAN II


Interregnum: With the death of Adhemar, the creation of Baldwin’s crusader state, and Bohemond declaring Antioch as his possession, division began to set in.


Jerusalem: A year later the crusaders marched on Jerusalem. Assisted by reinforcing siege towers, the city fell on July 15, 1099 (~3 years into the crusade).

POPE URBAN II



Crusader States of Outremer: The title “Outremer” (French for overseas) became a common name for the area. In addition to Edessa and Antioch, Raymond became the first Count of Tripoli while Godfrey declared himself the Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre.

CRUSADERS STATES OF OUTREMER

POPE URBAN II



Economic/Political Impact: the barons brought merchants and trade to the Holy Land, along with free peasants, assisting it develop economically. The states were relatively stable – and after years of Turkic-Fatimid wars, was welcome to the local Muslim population.


POPE URBAN II



Rise of Monastic Military Orders: Many crusaders returned home after, but more knights were needed to hold the land. From this came military monastic orders. Knights who joined donated their lands to the order then served as holy warriors, workers, and medical teams in Outremer.


Documents

The Church in the High Middle Ages - Amazon Web Services · 2019-03-01 · and non-Islam. Islam could be spread by jihad, conquered people paying tax. ... Sins forgiven in Confession