Hy 476, Spring, 2011

Reformist movement within
monastic tradition, Cluny
founded 909. Goal: rid the
Church of abuses (,for
instance, simony, the buying and
selling of clerical offices, etc.)

insistence on clerical
celibacy, poverty and
obedience.
Rising conflict between
Papacy and Emperor of
Holy Roman Empire.
 Pope
Urban II, 1095
 Recapture the Holy Land
 Open it to pilgrims
 Stop Islam’s advance
 Promises of forgiveness of sins, straight
ticket to heaven, bypassing Purgatory, etc.
 Good place for warring knights and feudal
nobility.
 Jerusalem
captured 1099, and held until
1187.
 Seven different crusades, included such
romantic and chivalrous figures like King
Richard the Lionhearted, etc.
 Even a Children’s Crusade
 Reconquista of Spain.
 Caused
commerce to flourish, cities grew,
and a renewed commitment to reform within
the Church.
 St. Francis of Assisi
 St. Dominic of Guzmán
 Rise of universities and “scholasticism” St.
Thomas Aquinas
 Ancient knowledge (Aristotle, etc.)
reentered Western society through Moorish
scholars of Spain.
 The




Papacy in Decline
Avignon, 1309-1377
Then, Great Schism (two Popes! 1378-1423)
Conciliar movement given impetus by Papacy
weakened by the schism.
Popes became imbued with materialism of the
Renaissance. Wanted to embellish and build splendid
palaces and churches.
 Greater
and greater resources needed to
enjoy life and turn Rome into the artistic and
intellectual capital of the world.
 Early reformers, such as John Wycliff of
England and Jon Huss of Bohemia, challenged
the secularization of the Church, the
corruption of the clergy, the distance from
Scripture. Began to call on the authority of
the Bible to
 Reform
the life and teachings of the Church.
Both Huss and Wycliffe executed for heresy.
 Humanists devoted themselves to study of
ancient texts and wanted to bring about
reformation by returning to original texts of
Christianity. Erasmus of Rotterdam the
greatest of the humanists.
 Others embraced mysticism
 Church
weakened by the residency in
Avignon, the Great Schism, while the Popes
became “more moved by the glories of the
Renaissance than by the message of the
cross.”
 Popes and their lives became involved in
wars, intrigue, bribery and licentiousness.
 Corruption,
concubinage, simony (buying and
selling offices), all set the stage for reform.
 Teachings of Church also had gone astray.
New translations (Greek, ancients through
Arabic and Moorish Spain, etc.), new
knowledge of original sources contrasted
with traditions, canon law.
 Expressions of modern nationalism (writing in
the vernacular, centralizing monarchies,
search for national unity) contributed to
breaks


With the old hegemony and
unity of the Church,
especially now so much
perceived as being corrupt.
Book Cover, 1343
Italian; Siena
Tempera on wood; H. 16 1/8 in. (41 cm), W. 9 3/4
in. (24.8 cm)
Rogers Fund, 1910 (10.203.3)
This painted wood panel once covered an account
book compiled by the biccherna of Siena, a
committee who served as administrators and
treasurers of the commune. The scene at the top
shows three of the five committee members, all of
whose names are listed in the inscription below.
The carmarlingo, or secretary, wearing the white
robes of a Cistercian monk, counts a bag of money
before two officers with record books.
 Rise of the humanists.
Return to the original
sources of Christianity, a
love for classical letters
of antiquity, promoting
the reformation of the
Church. Erasmus of
Rotterdam the principal
humanist. Of a modest
home. Studied scholastic
theology, turning instead
to classical literature,
and then to study of
Scripture.
Erasmus of Rotterdam


Then mastered Greek, wrote
Enchiridion Militis
Christiani, or Handbook of
the Christian Soldier,
expounded on the Christian
life for “soldiers of Christ.”
Combined in his teachings
the commandments of Jesus
with the best precepts of
Stocism and Platonism.
Subject passion to reason.
He rejected the pomp and
vices and search for earthly
glories of the popes of the
Renaissance.
 Also
was critical of monks and monasteries
which had become havens of idleness and
ignorance.
 His goal was inward change and purification.
“Erasmus convinced that the Christian
warfare was an inner one.”
 He sought “the reformation of customs, the
practice of decency and moderation, an
inner devotion shaped by learning and
meditation, and a church than encouraged
these things” (p. 11)
 Generally
agreed, Luther, along with John
Calvin, the two leaders of the Reformation.
 Huldrych Swingli, a Swiss, generally regarded
as the “third man” of the Reformation.
 Luther born in Eisleben, Germany. Father a
miner and small manufacturer, wanted
Luther to become a lawyer. Luther started at
university in Erfurt in 1501.
 Father very strict. The source of much
personal anguish.