At the beginning of lesson

• Complete CLOZE passage • Activity One:• How did Christianity spread through Europe?

ANSWERS to CLOZE• Christianity started about 2000 years ago and

is based on the teachings of Jesus, who lived in Galilee during the time of the Roman Empire. Christianity was spread by Jesus’s followers, who travelled to many parts of the empire and set up churches. Christians did not believe that the Roman emperor was a god, so Christianity became illegal and many Christians were put to death.

ANSWERS to CLOZE• This did not stop the early Christians from

practising their faith in secret. During the rule of Emperor Constantine, Christianity was allowed to be practised. In AD 391 it became the official religion of the empire. From this time on the power and influence of the Christian Church began to grow and spread. People such as St Patrick, who converted most of Ireland to Christianity from AD 450, helped to spread the teachings of the Church.

ANSWERS to CLOZE

• Monks, nuns and friars travelled to spread their faith and so were very important in spreading Christianity throughout Europe.

Introduction: • During the Middle Ages the Christian Church

was very powerful. • The Church influenced almost every part of a

person’s life.• Hardly anyone knew anything about science

and only a few went to school. • People looked to their religious leaders, the

clergy, to help explain their world.

What do you see?

The image you saw on the previous slide is based on a real medieval image. There were many like it; they were called doom paintings.

Many churches had doom paintings to remind people of the potential rewards of leading a good Christian life – and also of the terrible torments that awaited sinners

The vast majority of medieval people could not read and write. Even if they could read English or French, the Bible was only available in Latin.

Doom Paintings

Why use images and not words to teach the lessons

of the Church?

Medieval beliefs- Heaven and hell• The Church influenced everybody's life. • Those who followed God’s teachings would go

to heaven and those who did not would go to hell.

• People showed that they honoured God by going to Mass on Sundays and not working on this day.

• They supported their church leaders by paying them the tithe: a tax of 10 per cent of the crops they grew

Medieval beliefs- Heaven and hell• In the Middle Ages, the Church made a lot of

money by selling indulgences (money people paid to reduce their stay in purgatory (half way between heaven and hell)

To Consider. WHAT was it about the

Church that was so important to medieval people?

COMPLETE ACTIVITY TWO-SOURCE STUDY QUESTIONS.

Power Structure of the Church

The head of the Church—the pope—was a very powerful person. •He had the power to excommunicate (expel) anyone from the Church—even the greatest king. A person who was excommunicated had no means of reaching heaven. This was the Pope’s greatest weapon.•Beneath the pope were cardinals (who elected the pope), bishops, parish priests, monks and nuns.

Power and functions of theChurch

• Kings and nobles supported the Church; mainly because it was able to help keep order in society through its rules about people’s behaviour.

• The Church taught people that their place in society was decided by God. This was called the ‘Order of Being’.

Church HierarchyThe Church had its own

hierarchy.

The Pope at the top was in charge of the Church all across Europe. The Catholiccountries of Europe were called Christendom.

In medieval Europe, religion was run by the Roman Catholic Church.

.

If you were going to get to heaven, you needed to be baptized, go to confession, take holy communion and have a Christian burial.

All these activities required a consecrated priest. Only the Church could provide these services.

The Church-Positive Role

The Church gave the common people a system of belief that helped them cope with their difficult lives. Religious feast days and regular church rituals provided colour and entertainment in an otherwise drab existence.

Many were very poor.

Some priests were unable to read or write – they learned the Latin services off by heart.

They spent a lot of time working in the fields, just like the villagers.

Many farmed land called the ‘glebe’.

Villagers had to give a tenth of what they produced to the Church. This was called a tithe. Most of the tithe was taken by the church official; the priest got very little.

For most people, the parish priest was their main contact with the church.

The Parish Priest

The priest had an important role in the village. He gave the Sunday services, heard confessions, gave penances, visited the sick and gave shelter, clothing and food to the

poor. He was also expected to keep the church in good repair.

The priest also performed the three most important ceremonies of any villager’s life:

Christening Marriage Burial

Was the parish Priest important?

The parish church was the center of village life. People went there nearly every day.

Villagers went there to pick up news.

People had lessons with the priest.

Markets, festivals and games were held there.

The things going on in and around the church often entertained and amused people as villagers’ lives

could be quite dull!

People believed strongly in heaven and hell. They hoped that by going to

church they’d get to heaven.

Criminals could seek sanctuary in a church.

How is this similar or different from today?

The importance of the Church

To Consider. WHAT was it about the

Church that was so important to medieval people?

COMPLETE ACTIVITY FOUR QUESTIONS.

Monasteries-set up by groups of men who had joined religious orders

• These blossomed in Middle Ages• Men were called monks, Tonsure-shaven crown.• Vows-poverty,not to marry,obedience• Monasteries- Accomodation for travellers, care

for the sick, help for the poor,provided schooling for a lucky few,

• Most important part of a monastery-its library-monks carefully copied and wrote new books.

• Before the printing press in 15th century, Europe was reliant on monk’s copying books.

Religious faith inspiration

• Religious faith inspired the sort of artistic expression that created the magnificent cathedrals , with their stained-glass windows and sculptures, and spires reaching to heaven.

Milan Cathedral, built c.1385±1485

Lincoln Cathedral, largely built between 1075 and 1300, was

the first major Gothic building in England.

CompletionTaskGather pictures which show different medieval manuscripts. Allocate a letter from the alphabet to each member of your class, then draw, colour and decorate your letter in medieval style. Create a medieval manuscript paragraph on anything that you have learnt so far.

Combine everyone's letters and stories into an alphabet wall chart foryour classroom.