The Church
Content Goals and Objectives:
Goal 5 – The Church in the Middle Ages
The student will evaluate the role of the Christian church in the culture of medieval
Europe.
5.01 Evaluate the civil role of the Christian church in medieval Europe.
5.02 Describe the nature of the sacraments of the Christian church and their role in the
culture of medieval Europe.
5.03 Summarize the nature of canon law of the Christian church and its role in the culture
of medieval Europe.
5.04 Detail the various monastic movements including but not limited to the
Benedictines, Augustinians, Cluniacs, Cistercians, Dominicans, and Franciscans of
medieval Europe and their impact on the culture of the Christian church and Europe.
5.05 Trace the Christian Crusades including but not limited to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th
Crusades.
5.06 Assess the causes and effects of the Christian Crusades on medieval Europe and the
Middle East.
The Church
During the early Middle Ages the institution of Roman Catholic Church was developing
at a rapid and powerful rate. When Rome fell people looked to the Church not only for
spiritual guidance but for political and social support. With that the Church became a
major power and prime mover in Europe. At the head of the Church was the bishop of
Rome or the Pope who became, sometimes over emperors and kings, one of the strongest
political leaders in Europe. In part, this power came because of the spiritual authority that
he held over Christians.
The Church’s Religious Role and Organization
In order to take care of the spiritual well-being of the Christian laity of Europe, the
Church needed to administer the sacraments, rituals associated with teachings of Jesus,
and conduct church services. The sacraments included baptism, penance, the Eucharist,
confirmation, matrimony or marriage, anointing of the sick, and the holy orders. The
church services or Mass incorporated the sacrament of the Eucharist and were performed
in the traditional language of the church, Latin.
All of the spiritual, political, and social work of the church was performed by the clergy.
The clergy was divided into two groups: the secular and the regular clergy. The secular
clergy included the pope, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and priests. They were
involved with things of the world which is why they received the designation secular,
meaning worldly. The regular clergy included abbots or monastery heads, abbesses or
nunnery heads, monks, and nuns. They worked and lived on monasteries which were
generally separated from the world.
The work of the monasteries, even though separated and sheltered from the world, was
very important to the culture of Europe. The monastic tradition of Christianity developed
in the deserts of Egypt and Syria. Gradually, the movement made itself known in Europe.
At a monastery at Monte Cassino, a former Roman official and monk named Benedict
took the desert monastic tradition and transformed it into something quite new creating
the Benedictine Rule. The rule was much like a constitution for monks and their
monasteries to follow. And it wasn’t just a rule; it was a list of rules for monks to follow
at the monastery. The rules included obligations to perform manual labor, to meditate,
and to pray. Also included in the rule were vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to
the monastery head. The Benedictine Rule and monastic movement became very popular
and soon monasteries spread across Europe during the early Middle Ages.
The monastic movement made a large impact on the culture and society of Europe. The
monasteries transmitted learning by creating schools for young people including schools
for peasants to learn trades. They also provided food and shelter for the poor and
hospitals and medical treatment for the sick. Culturally the monasteries preserved
classical religious and pagan writings. The great writings of antiquity would have been
lost if they had not copied the ancient texts. Thus the learning of antiquity was preserved
and transmitted to future generations of Europe. Also starting with Pope Gregory I in
597, monks were used to spread the message of Christianity throughout Europe. Because
of these efforts by the mid 11th century, most Europeans were Catholic Christian.
As the Middle Ages progressed so did the power of the Church. The Church was a part of
the feudal system so it acquired land through the feudal exchange. Many Church officials
were nobles, meaning that they actually fought like all the other vassals in the feudal
system. In addition, the Church received many donations of land from Christians
concerned about the state of their soul in the afterlife. By the end of the Middle Ages, the
Church became one of the largest land owners in Europe and a very powerful voice in
politics. Of course with great power comes great responsibility and also abuse and
starting in the 900s people within the Church began to call for reform.
The Church reform movement started at one of the major spiritual centers of Europe, the
monastery at Cluny. It was there that the clergy called for the Church to be free from the
feudal system. That wish was a long time coming but other reforms were made. In 1059,
Cardinals began to choose the Pope rather than kings or mobs. Later in 1073, Pope
Gregory VII criticized and fought the German Holy Roman Emperor over the practice of
lay investiture. In addition, the Church started to combat heresy, denial of basic church
teachings, in earnest with the threat of excommunication or expulsion from the Church.
Also wandering preachers called friars inspired reform in the Church. These men moved
from town to town preaching the teachings of Jesus found in the Bible and living a simple
life. The best known of these holy orders were the Franciscans and the Dominicans that
were started by St. Francis of Assisi and St. Dominic.
Beyond the sacraments, the power, and the reform, the Church inspired the people
visually with Church architecture. There were two types of Church architecture that were
created in the Middle Ages. First in development from around 900 to 1050 was
Romanesque architecture which was very similar to Roman architecture in style. In
general it exhibited several important features including thick walls and small windows
with rounded arches and barrel vaults. Next in development was the Gothic style which
emerged during the mid 11th century. Gothic churches were considered to be a prayer in
stone and glass. In addition to the large beautiful stained glass windows, Gothic
architecture featured flying buttresses which held up thin walls, pointed arches, and
ribbed vaults.
Let’s Go Crusading
There have been many debates over the reasons and the results of the Crusades of the
Middle Ages. In general, the centralization of the monarchy and the power of the church
combined to produce a mass migration of people to the Levant. When they finally left the
Palestine, they connected isolated Europe with the global civilization of Islam which had
a major impact on the history of the world.
The major reason for the European Crusades involved the city of Jerusalem which is a
holy city not only for Christianity but Judaism and Islam. Jerusalem and the region of
Palestine left Christian hands and fell to Arab invaders in the 600s. These Arabic
invaders tolerated Jews and Christians in the city so there was little problem with this
new development; but later in the early 11th century, Seljuk Turks who were also Islamic
took control of the city and region. In an overzealous act, they closed the city to the
religious traditions of Christianity and Judaism. Once news of the closing of Jerusalem
reached Christian Europe, the Crusades were underway.
In 1095 the Byzantine Emperor wrote Pope Urban II. In the letter the emperor asked for a
few armored knights to help open the Holy Land and defend against the Seljuk Turks
who had taken the Levant from Byzantium. So Pope Urban II made his official plea to a
large crowd at Clermount, France. In his impassioned speech, Urban II called for a
crusade or holy war against the Islamic forces in the Holy Land promising penance for
the crusaders. As a result, three armies of crusading knights and peasants traveled to the
Holy Land. In 1099, the crusading armies besieged and captured the city of Jerusalem to
create a crusader kingdom. Other crusades followed (There were ten crusades including
the Children’s Crusade) after the city of Jerusalem was recaptured by Islamic forces led
by Saladin in 1187. Eventually the crusading movement died out as interest waned and it
became too expensive. Not before they helped to precipitate the decline of the Byzantine
Empire and create a host of bad feelings between Muslims and Christians.
The Crusades had several other long-term effects on the development of Europe. They
helped increase the authority of kings by speeding up the break down of feudalism. The
Crusades also renewed interest in learning and the demand for luxury goods of the East
including spices, sugar, and silk as knights returned to Europe with goods from the
Middle East. Finally, the crusading movements help to advance technology including
more accurate maps, magnetic compasses, and improvements in military techniques.
The Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism
Two events related to the politics of the Church also took place during the Late Middle
Ages which tore at the fabric of medieval culture. The first was the Babylonian Captivity
which lasted from 1305 to 1377. It started when Pope Clement V, under the influence of
the French king, moved the papal court from its traditional home of Rome to Avignon,
France. It remained at the location until 1377. Many feared that French monarch had to
much influence on the Pope because of this new geographic location. In fact, their fears
were correct. The popes elected during the Babylonian Captivity were always French and
seemed to represent French interests very well indeed. Finally people became fed up with
the situation. When the pope died in 1378, a Roman mob forced the College of Cardinals
to elect an Italian pope who would keep the papal court in Rome. This started the Great
Schism which lasted from 1378 to 1414. The schism deepened when the same College of
Cardinals called their election of the Italian pope invalid and elected a French pope who
then moved the papal court back to Avignon. Both popes claimed to be the real pope. So
in 1409, the Council of Pisa tried to eliminate the problem and unite the Church and
elected another pope. Now there were three popes because all of the men claimed to be
the “real” pope. This left many asking the question: would the real Pope please stand up?
Finally the crisis ended when another council convened and forced all three popes to
resign and elected Pope Martin V. He and his court were sent to Rome to rule over the
Church ending the Great Schism. But the damage from these two episodes was not as
quickly resolved. The Church’s authority over political and spiritual matters was severely
tarnished.