The Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 400’s AD, and the breakup of
it’s lands into Feudal kingdoms, many people of Western Europe found themselves as
serfs, stuck alone on a Fiefdom in which they would work and fight for their knight and
vassal until they died. There was no movement of people or trade. Infrastructure was
limited to fiefdoms, and most places were behind walls for fear of attacks by barbarians
and all the kings and lords wanted more land. Life was very secluded and advancements
and cultural diffusion came almost to a standstill.
The only consistent thing all throughout Western Europe, was the Roman
Catholic Church. It’s bureaucratic infrastructure of Pope, Cardinals, Archbishops,
Bishops, Monks and Priests made sure that although the Roman Empire was gone, its
religion would not go away. With the new social, political and economic system of
Feudalism, the Roman Catholic Church grew into a government, not simply a religion.
The Roman Catholic Church had power over all Kings and Lords. If a King or a Lord
would not listen to them, they would throw them out of the church (excommunicate) and
divide up their lands.
The Roman Catholic Church often used “God’s will” (what God would want) to
make people do things. They sold things called indulgences in which a rich King, Lord
or Vassal could give the Roman Catholic Church a large sum of money or land in
exchange for forgiveness of sins and a place in heaven. The Roman Catholic Church
made many laws and rules during the Middle Ages, and people followed them because so
few people could read, they assumed that the rules were in the Bible and made by Jesus
and God - - not people.
Since so few people could read, pictures and relics became popular. Around 800
AD the cross became the symbol of the Roman Catholic Church. The people in charge
assumed that even though people could not read the Bible, pictures and statues could tell
the story. Also, the Roman Catholic Church started discovering “relics” like pieces of the
cross Jesus died on, pieces of Noah’s Arc etc. The Roman Catholic Church spread these
around Europe and convinced people that they had powers - - many people believed in
these relics and their powers and the Roman Catholic Church grew stronger and stronger.
Since the Roman Catholic Church was the only institution still widespread
throughout all of Europe, they also did some great things. They mended peace between
kingdoms, controlled the rich, gave hope to the poor and most importantly ran schools
and priests were often the most educated people in Western Europe.
1.) Why was the Roman Catholic Church the only widespread institution in Western Europe after the fall
of the Roman Empire?
2.) Why did the Roman Catholic Church have power over the rich and the poor?
3.) Why did people believe the laws of the church were the laws of God or Jesus?
4.) How did the church use relics? Why do you think pictures and relics worked so well to inspire the
people of Western Europe?
5.) How do you feel about the growth of the Roman Catholic Church during the Middle Ages? Do
you think that they were filling a necessary role, or just greedy?
Charlemagne and the Frankish Empire
In 768 AD a man named Charlemagne became king of the Franks. The Franks
came from a region in Western Europe that is now France and Germany. Charlemagne
was very smart, tough, charismatic (people were drawn to him) and a strict Roman
Catholic. His father Pepin the Short, and his grandfather Charles “The Hammer” Martel
had changed the Franks. Instead of having a bunch of small kingdoms, Charlemagne’s
grandfather and father had fought the Muslims in Spain and unified a large kingdom that
is today France and Germany.
When his father, Pepin the Short had died, he split the kingdom into two halves –
half went to Charlemagne, and the other half went to his brother Carloman. The two did
not get along and both thought that they should rule the Frankish Empire, but they got
along so they did not upset their mother, who was still alive. When their mother died
however, Carloman mysteriously died soon after from an unknown cause…. and
Charlemagne declared himself as king of all the Frankish Empire.
Once he became king of all the Frankish Empire he began to expand it in the
name of the Roman Catholic Church, he always kept in close touch with the pope. At
first he conquered all of the remaining Pagan/Non Catholic barbarians in western and
central Europe. As his armies of knights cut through Europe, he told the armies he
defeated that he would spare their lives if they abandoned their Pagan/Non Catholic ways
and became Catholic. Very often the defeated armies refused to abandon their culture
and religion, and they were all killed. By doing this throughout Europe, Charlemagne:
1.) Built a large Empire, 2.) Spread Christianity and the power of the Roman Catholic
Church, 3.) Ended Pagan beliefs in Western Europe.
and
vs.
and
After putting Western and Central Europe under his and the Roman Catholic
Church’s control, Charlemagne set out to fight the fast growing Islamic Empire. He
fought them in Spain and in the Mediterranean. These were the first battles between
Christians and Muslims, and there would be many more. In 800 AD, Charlemagne was
crowned Emperor of The Holy Roman Empire by the pope. In other words he was seen
as the protector of Christianity.
During his 47 years in charge of the Frankish Empire, Charlemagne tried his best
to reconnect Western Europe. His empire used feudalism, and remained united only out
of fear of Charlemagne. His largest contributions to history are his spread of Christianity
and unification of Western Europe.
1.) What were some achievements of Charlemagne?
2.) What were some of the things he did that weren’t so “great”?
3.) Do you think Charlemagne was a great leader (like in the video), or do you think he
was a brutal religious fanatic (like in the article)? Why?
The Crusades
In 1095 AD, Western and Central Europe had been carved up into many different
rival kingdoms. These kingdoms (Frankish, Anglo-Saxon, etc.) practiced the social,
economic and political system of Feudalism. There was little movement and contact
between fiefs and kingdoms unless there was war between them. The only thing that was
consistent throughout the region was the Roman Catholic Church. East of these
kingdoms, the Eastern Roman Empire (or the Byzantine Empire) still existed. The
Byzantines were also Catholic, but they did not really listen to the pope, and practiced the
religion their own way without all of the new rules of the Roman Catholic Church. They
practiced what is called Orthodox Catholic, which means “Original Catholic”. The
Byzantines traded with Asia, practiced cultural diffusion and were much more advanced
culturally and economically than the Western and Central Europeans. The Byzantines
and the Roman Catholics were never at war, but had never really gotten along.
HOWEVER, in 1095 the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I sent a letter to the pope
asking him for military help against the Muslims which had taken over much of the
Byzantine Empire, and he feared would soon take over the whole thing.
Pope Urban II received the letter and saw his chance to give the Roman Catholic
Church more power than they ever had before. Urban II have the famous “Sermon at
Clermont” where he asked all able knights and serfs in the Roman Catholic Church to
create a great army to take back Jerusalem from the Muslim. Even though Muslims had
controlled Jerusalem for a very long time without it being a problem, Urban II convinced
the men of Europe that Jerusalem had to be controlled by Christians. (Even though
Muslims allowed people of any faith to live there freely.) By doing this he created an
army that was made up of many different kingdoms and he showed the kings and queens
of Europe that they had little power when it came to the Roman Catholic Church. ALSO,
Urban II convinced so many men to join because he promised them something: He
promised them that no matter what they had done in their past or future, they would go to
heaven if they took part in the Crusade to take back the Holy Land.
In 1096, many armies from all over Europe had assembled, the amount of soldiers
that answered the pope’s call was more than even he expected. Over 100,000 troops
began their journey east to take back the Holy Land.
When they arrived at Constantinople, Alexius I had no idea what to make of the
Crusader Army, he had just asked for a few hundred skilled knights to protect his lands!
He did not even let the Crusaders inside of his city’s walls. He gave them supplies and
told them to move on.
At this point, many crusaders, after having traveled so long and so far, began to
look for trouble. Once they entered Muslim lands, they began to take over cities,
slaughter the people inside, and then take anything of value. Many crusaders gained a
small fortune and turned around, many others declared themselves owners of land, and
thousands and thousands died from fighting the Muslims, disease and hunger.
They did not reach Jerusalem until 1099, and only 7,000 knights remained.
Eventually they took the city because the Muslims had not anticipated this massive
attack. Since many of the Crusaders had wanted it so bad for so long, and put up with
such a brutal journey, they slaughtered everyone inside, even the many Christians and
Jews that lived there.
After taking the city, many crusaders went back to Europe, and eventually the
Muslims took it back over. When they did, they proclaimed that Jerusalem was a free
city again to all who wanted to live there. For the next 300 years popes ordered another
11 Crusades, but none of them took Jerusalem and all they did was create hatred between
Christians and Muslims.
1.) The Crusades began as a holy journey to take back Jerusalem, what did they turn in
to?
2.) Would you consider the Crusades a victory or defeat for the Roman Catholic Church?
3.) The Crusades helped the Europeans with cultural diffusion, explain.
The Black Plague (Black Death)
The Black Plague was a disease that arrived in Europe in _________. It came
from fleas on ___________ and was brought to Europe by the __________ that had
traveled with the ______________ on foot and on ___________. The first places that
were struck were along _______________.
When first infected with the disease, large painful swellings known as
__________ began to appear all over an infected person’s body. The person would get a
fever, cough up blood, and die within 4-5 days. What the people of Europe did not know,
was that it was very ________________ . they did not yet understand microscopic
disease, and therefore they could not stop the diseases spread. Within 4 years it had
killed over __________ of Europe’s population.
The results of the Plague on Europe were many. First off, many people lost faith
in the ________________________________ for their inability to stop the spread of the
disease. Also, monarchs became more powerful because of the outbreak of
_______________ (lack of food) and war, when kingdoms began to compete for
_____________. ________________ also changed. With so few people left to farm,
knights, lords and vassals had to pay ___________ for their work.