ROLE OF THE CHURCH Two swords of God Pope and King—his

representatives on earth Church saw itself above

Kings Kings always trying to

assert his authority over church and vice versa

– Many upper level religious posts were filled by aristocratic sons/daughters whose wealthy parents “bought” the post

Great Chain of Being Hierarchy of all things. Your place in the chain determines your distance from

God. Within each level, there are further breakdowns

– Kinglordsknightspeasants (freemenserfs)– Menwomenmale childrenfemale children – Horses above Dogs– Pure breeds above half breeds

Not entirely lineal—religious ranks paralleled secular ranks in many ways

Trying to change your place upsets the chain Idea: if everyone stays in his or her place, life will be

perfect

Christian Beliefs Believed the second coming of Christ was imminent people were focused on the afterlife.

– the world that man lived in now was unimportant in comparison to the world to come

Christian Beliefs Fear of Judgement day

– Focus on sins vs. virtue, but it was often more of a “guideline” than a rule.

– The belief was always that

Christ’s death on the cross

absolved people from sin, as long as they were repentant for those sins.

Christian Beliefs Repentance required

reparation of sins– making up for the sin through

charitable deeds, prayers, vigils, fasting, virtuous teaching

– increasingly became a monetary-dispensations/indulgences

Limbo: for righteous non-christians and unbaptized babies

Purgatory: If people die with sins on their soul, they must be “purged” of their sins here

Hell: for unrepentant sinners

Christian Beliefs fear of punishment kept people close to the church confession

Corruption in the Church Selling of dispensations

– An exemption from a law or doctrine– Essentially a forgiveness for sin– Formal document issued by the pope

Corruption in the Church Relics - a piece of the body or a personal item of a

saint Corrupt people would show off the “relics” at a

price, but there was no way of determining if the relics were real

In the Canterbury Tales, the pardoner is carrying questionable relics

Modern Relics St. Bernadette of Lourdes

Modern Relics The Shroud of Turin

Great Schism (Eastern)--1054

Separation of Eastern Orthodox Church from Western

Catholic Church

Disagreement over the true seat of church– Rome

– Constantinople

Disagreement over key lines in the Nicene Creed

The disagreement weakened peoples’ faith in the

Church as an authoritative source of God’s Word

Papal Schism (Western)--1378

1309--Seat of RCC moved to Avignon, France

1378--Cardinals attempt to elect a Roman pope but

are “forced” to elect a French pope.– They contested the election, reconvened and elected a

Roman pope

– Two popes (one in Avignon, one in Rome) until 1417

– A church council tried to fix it by electing a different pope

(which made three)

Further weakened peoples’ faith in the church

Pilgrimage Destination: holy places taken for religious purposes

– to repent for their sins– to ask to be cured of an

ailment– or to offer thanks

Canterbury Tales--on Road from Southwark to the Canterbury Cathedral

Thomas A’Becket Archbishop of Canterbury

– Head of Church in England

Childhood friend of King Henry II

Archbishop of York sided with the king against the pope (a sin in the eyes of the church)

Becket asked the pope to excommunicate York

Henry - furious “will no one rid me of this

meddlesome priest?”

Crusades

Importance of Jerusalem

Judaism– Abraham almost sacrificed his son in

obedience to God

– King David built first temple hereDestroyed and rebuilt twice

Christianity– Judaism is the root of Christianity

– Also the location of Christ’s crucifixion on the cross

Importance of Jerusalem

Islam Where Mohammed

ascended to Heaven

same location as the near-sacrifice

“Dome of the Rock”

Crusades begin

The Turks – had begun to conquer

Muslim lands, – converted to Islam– began to persecute

Jews and Christians

– Christian leaders in Middle East appealed to the pope for help

– Pope Urban II saw the situation as a chance to bring the Holy city under Christian control. He called for a holy crusade in 1095

First Crusade 1099—thousands of

knights took up the call

Once the crusaders overtook the city, they slaughtered thousands of Jews and Muslims

Many knights stayed to guard the land and built castles

Crusades 1144—Muslims

regained Jerusalem 1147—second crusade

driven out by Muslims Over 12 crusades, but

none of them successfully recaptured the city.

Even a Children’s Crusade—50,000 children

– most slaughtered or captured and sold as slaves (pied piper)

The Crusades Over all the Crusades failed to achieve

their purpose BUT…

– Strengthened the churchPeople fighting and sacrificing for the faith

– helped trade and economy grow. Knights experienced the lifestyle of the middle

east and brought desire for those goods back home with them.

– They helped to end feudalism.People tired of taxation