The Medieval Church

HIS 101

Problems facing the Church

• 9th century raids devastated many churches & monasteries

• Lay investiture & simony turned abbots & bishops into vassals of nobles

• Clerical marriage & concubinage increasingly common

Monastic Reform Movements

• Cluniac reform movement spread from abbey at Cluny - emphasized work & communal worship

• Cistercians founded in 1098 by dissatisfied monks who wanted return to strict discipline & simple lifestyle– rejected wealthy trappings, but success of farms

worked by lay brothers ironically made them wealthy

– St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) urged emotional love for Jesus, but also promoted 2nd Crusade

Abbey of Cluny - Interior

More Monastic Reform Movements

• Franciscans founded by St. Francis of Assisi (1186-1226)– disowned wealthy merchant father & tried to live

exactly like Jesus– viewed all created things as equal before God – attempted to convert Muslims & end Crusades

• Dominicans founded by St. Dominic de Guzman (1170-1221)– focused on combating heresy– became inquisitors in Holy Office

Sainte ChapelleBuilt by Louis IX, 1248

Investiture Controversy

• Gregory VII (1073-1085) claimed to be “Christ’s Vicar on Earth”– Investiture controversy with Holy Roman

Emperor Henry IV (1056-1106)• excommunicated Henry IV (1056-1106) after

Henry tried to depose him• Henry went to Canossa to reconcile (1077), but

deposed & exiled Pope in 1080

– Concordat of Worms (1122): bishops elected by church, invested with secular authority by king and spiritual authority by Pope

Reform Popes

• Urban II (1088-1099) reorganized bureaucracy– organized papal curia (court) into specialized

divisions

– made cardinals (who elect popes) his advisors

– called for 1st crusade in 1095

• Innocent III (1198-1216) used interdiction (withholding of sacraments) to force Philip II Augustus to take back his wife & John to accept Archbishop of Canterbury

The Babylonian Captivity of the Church & the Great Schism

• King Philip IV of France (1285-1314) began taxing French clergy – tried to arrest Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303)– arranged to have Pope Clement V (1305-1314) elected &

moved papacy to Avignon– Pope Gregory XI (1370-78) moved back to Rome in

1377

• Great Schism (1378-1417) saw rival popes compete for power

• Council of Constance (1417) resolved differences & agreed upon single Pope – Martin V (1417-31)

Medieval Church Theology

• Sacraments = outward signs of inward grace, but often viewed as magical

• Saints used as intercessors due to special holiness, & their relics became tokens

• Virgin Mary seen as chief intercessor, in part due to new emphasis on Jesus’ human side

• Purgatory = place to complete punishment for sin before moving on to Heaven

• Indulgences (granted for good works or pilgrimages) reduced time in Purgatory

The Church & Education

• 200 universities & cathedral schools by 1100– universitas = corporation of teachers or students– professors read lessons from scarce books (lectures)– oral exams only for degree

• Scholasticism emphasized liberal arts– A.B. (Artium Baccalarius) granted after 4 or 6 years– A.M. (Artium Magister) for completed curriculum– could seek doctorate in law, medicine or theology

• St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)– Summa Theologica addressed 600 topics – used Aristotle to reconcile faith & reason

St. Thomas Aquinas

Combating Heresy• Inquisition est. to try those accused of heresy

– goal = save their souls or protect other souls from them– used torture to get confessions; executed unrepentant

• Innocent III called crusade against Albigensians– Albigensians believed in matter/spirit dualism, rejected

Rome’s authority & practiced strict asceticism– thousands of heretics slaughtered in southern France

• Jews increasingly persecuted, too– Crusaders killed them as well as Muslims– 4th Lateran Council encouraged them to wear

distinguishing clothing & live in separate, walled communities (ghettoes)

Christian Reconquest of the Spanish Kingdoms

• Iberian peninsula controlled by Muslims since 700s

• Offensive by Christian Kingdoms begun in eleventh century:– Castile

– Navarre

– Aragón

– Portugal

• Alfonso X (1252 – 1284) encouraged toleration of Muslims & Jews

©20

03 W

adsw

orth

, a d

ivis

ion

of T

hom

son

Lea

rnin

g, I

nc.

Tho

mso

n L

earn

ing ™

is a

trad

emar

k us

ed h

erei

n un

der

lice

nse.

The Crusades: Background• Western Europe resurgent, and

Middle East in turmoil• Seljuk Turks conquered Abbasid

caliphate (1055) & crushed Byzantine army at Battle of Manzikert (1071)

• Emperor Alexius Comnenus (1081-1118) requested financial assistance from Pope Urban II to recruit mercenaries

• Instead, Pope called for 1st Crusade at Council of Clermont (1095)

Emperor AlexiusComnenus

The First Crusade (1097-1099)

• 3 Crusader armies (12,000 - 15,000) arrived in Constantinople in 1097 & acknowledged imperial authority

• Captured Antioch in 1098• Massacred inhabitants of Jerusalem in June 1099,

after 5-week siege• Est. feudal Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, with

Principality of Antioch and Counties of Edessa & Tripoli

Map: The Early Crusades©

2003

Wad

swor

th, a

div

isio

n of

Tho

mso

n L

earn

ing,

Inc

. T

hom

son

Lea

rnin

g ™ is

a tr

adem

ark

used

her

ein

unde

r li

cens

e.

The 2nd & 3rd Crusades

• Second Crusade (1147-1149)– Prompted by fall of Edessa in 1144– Led by Louis III of France & H.R. Emperor Conrad III – failure partly due to lack of cooperation from Latin

Kingdom

• Third Crusade (1189-1192)– Saladin’s Sunni army conquered the Fatimid caliphate

(Egypt) in 1169 & captured Jerusalem in 1189– Led by H.R. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, English

King Richard the Lion-Hearted & French King Philip II Augustus

– King Richard negotiated safe passage for pilgrims after failing to retake Jerusalem

Interior of Sainte Madeleine – VézelaySite of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux’s

Sermon Preaching the Second Crusade

The Later Crusades

• Innocent III called for 4th Crusade (1202-1204), but Venetians diverted them to Constantinople – Crusaders sacked Constantinople in 1204 & made

Count Baldwin of Flanders emperor– Michael Paleologus restored Greek control in 1259, but

Byzantium finished as a great power

• Children’s Crusade (1212) resulted in 20,000 kids dying at sea or being sold as slaves in Africa

• 6th Crusade (1228-1229) resulted in Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II being crowned King of Jerusalem without a fight– Turks reestablished control soon after he left

Map: The Crusades of the Thirteenth Century©

2003

Wad

swor

th, a

div

isio

n o f

Th o

ms o

n L

e arn

ing ,

In c

. T

hom

s on

Lea

rni n

g ™ i s

a tr

ade m

a rk

u se d

he r

e in

u nd e

r li

c en s

e .

©20 03 W

a dswo rth

, a d ivision of Th om

son Learni ng, Inc . T

ho mson L

earnin g™

is a trademark us ed her ein und er lice nse.

Krak-des-ChevaliersHospitallers, Syria, 1142