The Medieval Church
Overview
 The Roman Catholic Church wanted to develop a civilization in western Europe that was
based on Christian ideals.
 Missionaries converted people and built churches and monasteries.
 It took the lead in government, law, art and learning.
 The Church helped preserve and pass on the heritage of the Roman Empire.
 Latin was made the official language of the Church.
 Monks copied ancient Greek and Roman manuscripts.
Influence on Daily Life
 The Roman Catholic Church had a great influence during the Middle Ages.
 In every town and village daily life revolved around the Church.
 To become a king, vassal or knight, a man had to take part in a religious ceremony.
 Holidays were in honor of saints or religious events.
 People obeyed the Church’s rule not to eat meat on Fridays and attended mass or a
worship service on Sundays.
 The Church played an important role in the political life of the Middle Ages.
 The Church told people to obey the king’s laws unless they went against canon laws (laws
set up by the Church).
 People who disobeyed the Pope were excommunicated.
 They lost their membership in the Church and also lost political rights.
 Facing the problem of heresy, a council of bishops set up the Inquisition, or church court.
 People were given one month to confess or a trial was held.
 The reason was to get a confession and heretics were tortured and even burned at the
stake.
Attempts at Reform
 The Church became rich during the Middle Ages through tithes. Members gave offerings
equal to 10% of their income.
 The monks of Cluny strictly followed the Benedictine Rule.
 They led simple lives, spending much time in prayer.
 They recognized only the authority of the Pope.
 Pope Gregory VII ruled from Rome with the help of a group of bishops known as the College
of Cardinals.
 He had two goals as Pope: to rid the Church of control by kings and nobles, and to
increase the Pope’s power over Church officials.
 During the early 1200’s, preachers called friars carried out Church reforms.
 They were different from other monks – they lived in towns.
 They took vows of poverty, depending on gifts of food and money from people.
 The Franciscan order (group) was founded by Francis of Assisi and had a deep love of
nature.
 Dominic started the Dominicans. They studied different languages so they could preach
everywhere.
Learning
 During the Middle Ages learning was in the hands of the Church.
 Clergy set up cathedral schools headed by bishops. Their purpose was to train sons of nobles
for service in the Church, but also to train students to be government workers, lawyers and
teachers.
 Books were few and costly so students memorized teacher’s explanations.
 Unions started universities because students and teachers complained schools had too few
classes, did not cover enough subjects and were taught by untrained people.
 A chancellor headed each university.
 Classes were well-organized and held at set times. Students from all over Europe listened to
lectures while living in boarding houses, and later, sponsor-built buildings.
 Thomas Aquinas was a scholar of the Middle Ages. He believed that reason helped people
lead a good life and faith revealed religious truths to people helping them find life after
death.
 His book Summa Theologica was accepted and promoted by the Church.
The Medieval Church: Influence on Daily Life
A. Introduction
1. The goal of the Roman Catholic Church was __________________________.
2. It took the lead in ____________________________________.
3. The Church helped preserve and pas on the heritage of the _______________.
4. __________ was the official language of the Church.
5. The Roman Catholic Church had great influence during the ______________.
B. Daily Life
1. Daily life revolved around the ____________.
2. Four examples of how this was occurred were:
a.
b.
c.
d.
C. Political Life
1. ___________________ helped govern western Europe.
2. As landowners they were part of the ____________________.
3. They served as ___________ by ___________________________________.
4. Canon laws were ___________________________________.
5. Those who disobeyed were ___________________. They lost ____________
____________ and _____________ rights.
D. The Inquisition
1. Heresy is _____________________________________________.
2. The Church tried to stop heresy by _____________ and _____________.
3. People suspected of heresy _______________________________
_______________________________________________.
4. People were brought to trial to _____________________.
5. A heretic was ___________________________.
6. Those who confessed were ______________, ______________ and
________________________________.
7. Those who refused to confess were _______________, ________________
and ________________.
The Medieval Church: Attempts at Reform
A. Introduction
1. The Church was supported by ___________ which were _________
___________________.
2. Church officials became careless about carrying out their duties as they became
wealthier.
3. Some examples of this were:
a. _______________________________
b. _______________________________
B. Monks of Cluny
1. _____________, or deeply religious, nobles found new monasteries that followed
the ___________________.
2. One of the most important was located in _________________.
3. The monk’s life:
a. ______________________________
b. ______________________________
c. ______________________________
d. ______________________________
C. Pope Gregory
1. The Pope had become ______________________________________.
2. Pope Gregory had two goals:
a. ________________________________________
b. ________________________________________
3. He made the following changes in the Church:
a. ________________________________________
b. ________________________________________
4. The document of 1075 stated _____________________________
________________________.
5. Some kings reacted by ______________________________
The Medieval Church: Learning
A. Learning was in the hands of the ____________.
Cathedral schools
1. Cathedrals were ______________________________.
2. Schools were set up by _____________________.
3. They prepared ___________________________.
4. They also trained __________________________________.
5. Subjects taught were ____________________________________.
6. Because there were few books, students learned by
______________________________________.
B. Universities
1. Unions were ____________________________________.
2. They were established because
a. ___________________________________
b. ___________________________________
3. Universities were ______________________________________.
4. Universities were alike in many ways:
a. ___________________________________
b. ___________________________________
c. ___________________________________
5. Students could not ______________________________________.