THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN

• The only institutional expression of Christian feelings during the High Middle Ages was the Roman Catholic Church– All Western European Christians

belong to it– Although fragmented politically

and socially, all Europeans had a consciousness of belonging to the international commonwealth of the Catholic Church

– It was a powerful unifying force

PROGRESS• Complex parish system

brought sacraments and rudiments of Christian instruction to even the most remote village

• New bishop and archbishop districts were established and old ones were revitalized

• Papacy had more authority than ever over the activity of bishops

• Growing bureaucracy made sure Church’s taxes, rules, and rulings were enforced

SHIFT IN ATTITUDES

• Strong shift in religious attitudes away from earlier awe and mystery towards a new emotionalism and dynamism– Seen in shift from

Romanesque to Gothic church architecture

– Change in portrayal of Jesus in art

– Virgin Mary becomes compassionate figure who intercedes on behalf of lost souls

• Christianity became a doctrine of love, hope, and compassion

Romanesque

Gothic

JESUS

VIRGIN MARY

PROBLEMS• Church often fell short of its ideals– Lines of communication sometimes became

clogged with lesser officials trying to escape control of their superiors

– Immense gulf separated the religious beliefs of popes and theologians from ordinary people• Ordinary people tended to infuse religion

with an unorthodox supernatural aspect• Saw God as a divine magician who could

protect his favorites from hunger, pain, and sudden death

• Popular practice of religion very different then than now– Much more emphasis on acquiring divine

favor through charms, pilgrimages, holy images, and the relics of saints

RELICS

• Most cherished relics were those associated with Christ and Virgin Mary– Pieces of clothing,

fragments of the cross, vials of Christ’s blood and Mary’s milk, Jesus’ baby teeth, his umbilical cord, etc.

• Many other relics too– Virtually every town and

rural parish in Europe had a relic of some saint

Relicquary for Crown of Thorns in Notre Dame

SAINTS

• Saint for everybody – Each trade had its own particular

saint– Special saint for every known

disease• Miraculous healing powers of these

saints satisfied popular longing for supernatural protection

• Theologians argued against all this but no one listened– Popular demand wanted saints

and relics and there was little church leaders could do about it

St. Blaise

St. Roch

POPULAR BELIEFS• Popular beliefs received innocent

encouragement from ill-educated parish priests who didn’t know any better– And also not-so-innocent

encouragement from certain bishops and abbots who wanted to attract pilgrims to their churches and monasteries

• Such practices became embedded in the fabric of medieval Christianity– Thus a residue of lost days of

pagan magic continued to live in the popular belief in the supernatural powers of material objects Relicquary for the hand of

Sr. Gregory

CORRUPTION

• High medieval Church also suffered from corruption– Byproduct of the unfortunate

necessity of staffing the Church with human beings

• Largest fault of the Church was not gross corruption but a creeping complacency that often resulted in a mechanical attitude towards religious life and an obsession with Church property– Ambition and greed got in the way of

many clergymen’s real job of ministering to the spiritual needs of their flock

BENEDICTINES I• St. Benedict had regarded his Benedictine

order as a means for a religious individual to withdraw from the world and devote himself to God

• But his order also became involved in teaching, evangelism, and church reform—deeply immersed in worldly affairs

• Benedictine monasteries also controlled huge amounts of land, operated schools, supplied knights to feudal armies, and worked closely with secular rulers

• But new schools of the cities decreased demand for Benedictine trained scholars and traditional Benedictine contribution to society declined

BENDICTINES II

• Benedictine monasteries were scarcely sanctuaries from worldly concerns by the 12th century– Large ones only accepted novices from the aristocracy

• In return for large gift of land• Sons of aristocracy entered monasteries when they were 8 or 9

–Had no say in the matter–Most went through the motions of being a monk, caring little and

understanding less about what they were doing• Benedictine movement ceased to be a vital force in Christianizing Europe

NEW RELIGIOUS ORDERS• New religious orders founded during

High Middle Ages in response to decline of vitality and mission of Benedictines– Founded by ardent reformers and

peopled by men and women who joined as adults• Were not forced into it as

children• Joined out of free choice and

after serious self-examination–Gave these new orders a

spiritual intensity that was absent from Benedictines

CISTERCIAN ORDER

• Mother house at Citeaux was set up by a small group of Benedictine dissenters in 1098– In 1115, it had four daughter houses, but by 1200

it had 500– All built in remote wilderness areas like Citeaux

CISTERCIAN ORDER II

• No children were allowed to join– Only adults who were certain

of their religious decision• Refused all gifts

– Except for undeveloped land which the monks then developed by their own labor• Not by the labor of serfs• Much labor was done by

conversi–Peasant lay brothers

CISTERCIAN ORDER III

• Tried to revive simple, austere life of the early Benedictines– Houses were unheated– Diet limited to black

bread, water, and a few vegetables

– Monks were forbidden to speak except when it was absolutely essential

• Numerous houses bound together by an annual council of all abbots at Citeaux– Not by a head abbot

GROWTH OF WORLDLINESS

• As the 12th century progressed, Cistercians became more involved with the outside world– Their emphasis on austere

living and hard work resulted in an accumulation of wealth and a corrosion of their spiritual simplicity

– Abbeys became more elaborate and the austerity of live relaxed

– By end of the Middle Ages, new orders had broken off in an attempt to get back to fundamental values• Trappists Trappist monks

HERESY• Criticism of Church was not based on the fact that churchmen had gotten

worse; it was founded on the fact that laypeople began to judge them by more rigorous standards– Sometimes dissatisfaction manifested itself in the formation of new

monastic orders– But most Christians expressed their dissatisfaction in certain new

heretical doctrines• Heresies of High Middle Ages flourished in towns and cities of southern

Europe– New towns became centers of growing and intense religious devotion

but the Church seemed unable to minister to the needs of the new burgher class• A minority of discontented townspeople therefore turned to new

anticlerical sects–Some were mild reform movements but others crossed the line

into heresy by preaching without Church approval and denying the exclusive right of ordained priests to administer the sacraments

WALDENSIANS• Lyon merchant, Peter Waldo, gave

away all his property to the poor in 1173 and took up life of complete poverty– He and his followers asked

permission from Church to preach• But the Church refused

because it wanted only ordained priests to preach

– Waldo and followers preached anyway and became critical of the special spiritual status of the priesthood• Church condemned them and

branded them as heretics

CATHARI (ALBIGENSIANS)• Fused two religious traditions into one

unique doctrine– Anticlerical protest against

ecclesiastical wealth and power– Zoroasterianism from Persia

• Believed that there were two gods– God of good who ruled over the

universe of the spirit (Jesus)– God of evil who ruled over the material

world (Old Testament God who created the material world)

• Also believed in reincarnation and their ultimate goal was to escape the cycle of being born over and over again and enter a purely spiritual world– To achieve this they rejected all material

things

A THREAT

• Severe behavior was only practiced by a small elite of spiritual men and women called “perfects”– Rank-and-file led normal lives and only vicariously rejected

material world by criticizing the affluence of the Church• Heresy spread rapidly and posed threat to unity of Christianity

and the authority of the Church– Pope Innocent III therefore tried everything within his power

to stamp it out

CHURCH STRIKES BACK• Innocent III:

– Reformed clergy in southern France by getting rid of everyone who was incompetent and/or corrupt

– Sent missionaries to the region to teach the heretics the errors of their ways

– Urged nobles to suppress the heresy among their dependents

• Finally, in 1208, he ordered a full-fledged crusade against the Albigensians– After they murdered one of his

personal representatives

ALBIGENSIAN CRUSADE

• Savage affair• Succeeded only after 20 years

of bloodshed and destruction– Over by 1229 and all that

was left was to mop up isolated enclaves of hard-core survivors who had fled to mountain-top castles

• To ensure that the region remained orthodox, the pope established the Inquisition– Grim symbol of the medieval

Church at its worst

THE INQUISITION• Papacy established a central tribunal for the

purposes of standardizing procedures and increasing efficiency in the job of reconverting and/or punishing heretics– Procedures included torture, secret

testimony, conviction on the testimony of only two witnesses, denial of legal counsel to the accused

• Aroused strong opposition in southern France– Not on humanitarian grounds– But on the fact that papal officials were

usurping rights of local bishops• Most of those convicted received prison

sentences or lesser punishments– Only a minority were actually executed

FRANCISCANS AND DOMINICANS

• Both devoted to a life of poverty, preaching, and performing charitable acts

• Both rejected life inside the monastery and devoted themselves to religious work in the real world– Especially the towns

• Both pledged to personal and corporate poverty– Would not accept any gifts at all– Drew their members from the lower levels of society

• Not from the nobility• Known as the “mendicants”

– Through their work of charity and their humble lifestyle, they drained urban heresy of its former support by demonstrating that orthodox Christianity could be both relevant and compelling

FRANCIS OF ASSISI• 1182-1226• Son of a wealthy merchant from Assisi• Loved a good time and was leader of a

rowdy teenage gang• Underwent religious conversion and

devoted rest of his life to solitude, prayer, and service to the poor– Now wandered around Assisi in rags

and gave everything he had to the poor and sick

– Former friends ridiculed him and father disinherited him

– Moved to outskirts of Assisi, lived in total poverty, and devoted the next three years to helping lepers and social outcasts

BIRTH OF THE FRANCISCANS• Began preaching to the poor in 1209

– Began to attract disciples• Went to Rome to ask Innocent III to officially

sanction this work– The pope did

• To act as a counterweight to the heretical groups who had been winning converts from the Church by the example of their poverty and simplicity

• Also might have been influenced by the powerful and sincere spirituality of Francis

• Francis took over run-down chapel outside of Assisi as his headquarters– But Franciscans did not use it as a monastery– Dressed like peasants or beggars, they

wandered around in pairs preaching to and serving the poor

GROWTH• Franciscans missions established

in Italy, France, England, Hungary, Spain, Morocco, Turkey, and Holy Land by 1226– Thousands of friars

• Charisma and sincerity of Francis itself was crucial factor in popularity– But the movement also

harmonized well with the highest religious aspirations of the age• Urban heresy actually

declined as Franciscans spread their message and example

PRINCIPLES• Franciscan ideal was based on the imitation of

Jesus– Fundamental to this was emphasis on

poverty• Refused all gifts to the order and lived by

working and serving in return for food and necessities

– Humility was also important– Preaching also important• Answered need in cities where the Church

had responded inadequately to the growing religious hunger of urban people

– Overwhelmingly cheerful• Sang and laughed• Joyfully immersed themselves in the

world because they saw it as the handiwork of God

EVOLUTION• Movement eventually became too large

to retain its original disorganized simplicity

• Problems popped up, which centered on how could Franciscan ideal be practical on a large scale

• Francis asked Cardinal Hugolino to be protector of the order– He agreed but insisted that a formal

rule be drawn up for the order– Done in late 1220– Established a degree of

administrative structure to the order– Gradually, the movement then

evolved from the ideal to the practical

Cardinal Hugolino

DEATH OF ST. FRANCIS• Francis resigned from leadership

of the movement in 1220 and died in 1226

• After his death, the Franciscans became modified by the demands of practicality– While some pushed for more

lax interpretation of the Franciscan rule, others insisted on preserving the evangelical poverty and idealism of Francis• Became known as

“spiritual Franciscans” and became major critics of the organized Church

COMPROMISE• Majority of Franciscans were willing to meet

reality halfway– Even though Francis thought formal

education was a waste of time, they began to devote themselves to learning and started to teach at the early urban universities• Franciscan scholar Roger Bacon played

a vital role in reviving science• St. Bonaventure was the leading

theologian of the late 13th century• Practical compromises diminished the radical

idealism that Francis had instilled in his order– Franciscans would continue to serve

society but, by the end of the 13th century, they had ceased to inspire it

Roger Bacon

SUMMARY• Pattern of religious reform throughout the Middle Ages was one

of ebb and flow– A reform movement such as the Cistercians would electrify

society for a time and then give way to complacency• And thereby eventually launch a new and different wave of

reform• But spiritual vigor of orthodox Catholicism began to run out by

end of High Middle Ages– Caused by decline of Constantinople, the closing off of the

Holy Land, onset of economic depression, population decline, plague, peasant rebellions, and horribly destructive wars

• Popular devotion remained strong in the north but in the south a more secular attitude began to emerge– Church in general experienced a steady decline in overall

influence