The Church1000 - 1300 CE

Mission:

Develop a civilization based on Christian ideas

I. Influences

A. Government

1. Religious ceremonies: King, Knight, vassal

2. Owned large tracks of land

3. Advisors to Kings & nobles

B. Law

1. Holidays - honor saints / religious events

2. Peace of God: can’t attack churches or church goers

3. Truce of God: Ban on fighting from early Saturday until Monday

4. Canon Law: Church courts & Law

5. Excommunication: thrown out of church

6. Interdict: region’s churches closed, no sacraments performed

C. Art

1. Paintings of Biblical scenes

2. Sculptures of holy figures

D. Community

1. Kept records: birth, marriage, death

2. Run schools & Churches

3. Care for sick & Poor

4. Forbade divorce

E. Economy

1. Opposed gaining wealth by exploiting people

2. Monks develop techniques for making alcoholic beverages

3. Monasteries: centers for trade

II. Church Hierarchy

A. Secular Clergy

1. Priest

a Head of local church (parish)

b Supervised moral & religious instruction

c Administered sacraments

1) Baptism

2) Communion

3) Confirmation*

4) Penance (confession)

5) Taking of holy orders*

6) Matrimony

7) Extreme unction (last rights)

2. Bishop

a Oversees diocese (group of parishes)

b. Cathedral: official church in major city

c. Selection controlled by king/noble

1) Political power

2) Family connections

3. Archbishops

a. Managed archdiocese

b. Powers of Bishop

4. Cardinals

a. Pope’s curia: advisors

b. (1059) Elect Pope

5. Pope

a. Oversees entire church

B. Monastic Clergy

1. Monks & Nuns

2. Withdraw from temptation

3. Prayer, fasting, self-denial

4. Benedictine Rule: vow of poverty

5. Intellectual need fulfillment

a. Scholars of the time

b. Libraries preserved literature

1) Illuminated texts

2) Copied books by hand

C. Missionaries: teach & spread Christianity

1. Ireland (432): Patrick

a. Monastic schools provide culture

b. Center & preservers of ancient & Christian culture in w. Europe

2. England (597): Augustine

a. Sent by Pope Gregory I

b. Christianity established in England

c. Archbishop of Canterbury

III. Corruption

A. Lay investiture

1. Nobles reward friends/relatives by appointed bishop or abbot

2. Grant bishop or abbot fief making him a vassal

3. Church objected

B. Worldly clergy

1. Living wealthy

2. More interested in $ than holy living

C. Simony

1. Paying for high position in church

2. Expected to make $

a. Church income

b. Fees for religious ceremonies

D. Heresy

1. Denying truth of basic principles

2. preaching unauthorized doctrine

3. Unpardonable sin: eternal damnation

IV. Reforms

A. Friars (/Ln/ frater: brother)

1. Franciscans (St. Francis of Assisi in 1209)

2. Dominicans (St. Dominic in 1216)

3. Lived & preached among people

B. Inquisition: court system of church

1. Goal: eliminate heresy

2. Guilty until proven innocent

3. Accused:

Confession= allowed to return

Heretic = tortured, burned at stake

C. Monks of Cluny (e. France)

1. Devout, deeply religious nobles

2. Only recognized rule of Pope

3. Only church should choose church leaders

5. Daily life

Matins: (Midnight) 1/2 hr service in church

Prime: (6am) 1/2 hr service followed by wash, breakfast, work

Mass (9am) service followed by chapter meeting

High Mass: (11am) public service midday dinner, rest, reading

Nones: (2pm) 1/2 hr service followed by work

Vespers: (4pm) 1/2 hr service followed by work, light supper

Compline: (7pm) evening prayer

D. Pope Gregory VII

1. Pope had courts of justice & gov’t officials

2. Ruled Rome w/ College of Cardinals

3. Goals:

a. Rid church of control by kings

b. Incr. Pope’s power over Church officials

1) Positions no longer bought or sold

2) Bishops & Priests forbidden to marry

E. 1075 - Popes declared above Kings

1. Only Pope chooses bishops & church officials

2. Gov’t officials not obeying removed

V. Education

A. Cathedral schools

1. Headed by bishop

2. Prepare sons of nobles for church, gov’t, lawyers, teachers

3. 7 subjects: grammar, logic, rhetoric, geometry, astronomy, music

4. Costly fee

5. Dark, cold rooms

• 6. Memorized explanations

• B. University

• 1. Unions - people join together for a common cause

• a. Students & teachers devoted to learning

• b. Chancellor - church official heading university, granted permission to teach

• 2. Classes & teachers

• a. Specific subjects: Latin grammar & rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music, natural science according to Aristotle

• b. 21 y.o. & studying for 6 yrs

• 3. Students

• a. Lived in boarding houses

• b. Strict rules

• 1) Must attend mass

• 2) Must not disturb peace

• 3) No sword play

• C. Thomas Aquinas

• 1. Scholar: faith & reason are gifts of God

• 2. Wrote: Summa Theologica - A Summary of Religious Thought

• a. Presented different opinions on religious questions

• b. Offered answers

• C. Adopted by the church