*
*Main Idea:
*The Catholic Church spread Christianity through
Western Europe
*
*Lecture Focus:
*Do you have a goal that you would devote your life
to reaching?? Lets look at the goals of the Catholic
Church in the early Middle Ages.
*
*Both religion and geography played an important role
in shaping life in Europe.
*By the time the Western Roman Empire collapsed,
Christianity had become the official religion of Rome.
*
*After the Roman government fell apart, the Roman
Catholic Church began to play an important role in
the growth of a new civilization in Western Europe.
*
*At the time Rome Fell, much of Northwestern
Europe was not yet Christian.
*The one exception was Ireland.
*
*In the 400’s C.E., a priest named Patrick traveled to
Ireland, where he spread the Christian message and
set up various churches and monasteries.
*
*For several hundred years, Irish monks played an
important role in preserving Roman learning and
passing it on to the people of Europe.
*
*Patrick’s success inspired others, including Pope
Gregory I, or also known as Gregory the Great.
*Gregory I was pope from 590 C.E. to 604 C.E.
*
*He wanted all of Europe to become Christian and
he asked monks to become missionaries.
*Missionaries – Are people who are sent out to
teach their religion, in this case Christianity.
*
*In 597 C.E. Gregory sent 40 monks to southern Britain
to teach Christianity.
*The monks converted Ethelbert, the ruler of the
kingdom of Kent.
*
*Ethelbert allowed the missionaries to build a church
in his capital city of Canterbury.
*Meanwhile, Irish monks brought Christianity to
northern Britain and eventually much of Europe.
*
*Most people in Western Europe had become
Catholic by 1050 C.E.
*
*Monasteries played an important role in Medieval
Europe… (The ruins of the monastery, Glastonbury
Abbey)
*Monastery - A community of monks or nuns, living
under religious vows.
*
*Monks schooled people, provided food, provided
rest for travelers and offered hospital care for the
sick.
*
*They taught carpentry, weaving and developed
better methods of farming.
*Monks also helped to preserve knowledge and the
histories of Europe.
*
*Many monasteries had Scriptoria, otherwise known as
“writing rooms” where monks made hand written
copies of important works.
*The monks copied Christian writings, including the
Bible, as well as works from Roman and Greek
authors.
*
*The literary efforts of these monks helped to not
only preserve the history of Europe but the Latin
Language as well.
*
*Over time, monasteries began to play a role in
Europe’s politics.
*Monks took a vow of poverty, wore simple clothing,
and ate very simple food, but their monasteries
could make money.
*
*Each monastery produced goods, owned land and over
time became wealthy.
*The leader of a monastery is called an Abbot, and
many Abbots became involved in politics.
*
*These Abbots served as advisors to Kings and acted
as rulers of the land located near monasteries.
*
* Questions:
* 1) What was the name of the priest that traveled to Ireland, to
spread Christianity?
* 2) What is a Missionary?
* 3) What is a Monastery?
* 4) Every Monastery had a Scriptoria, what does this mean?
* 5) What is an Abbot?
*
*Questions:
*1) What was the name of the priest that traveled to Ireland,
to spread Christianity?
*Patrick
*2) What is a Missionary?
*People sent out to teach their religion
*3) What is a Monastery?
*A community monks or nuns, living under religious vows.
*4) Every Monastery had a Scriptoria, what does this mean?
*Writing room
*5) What is an Abbot?
*The leader of a monastery
*
*The growing role of Abbots and other Church leaders in
politics caused many arguments over who was in charge.
*Kings wanted Church leaders to obey them, while the Pope
claimed that he could crown kings.
*
*In 1073 C.E. Gregory the VII was elected Pope.
*He wanted to stop nobles and kings from
interfering with church affairs.
*
*Gregory VII issued a decree, forbidding kings from
appointing high ranking church officials.
*Decree - An official order issued by a legal authority.
*
*The Pope’s decree angered Henry IV, the Holy
Roman Emperor at the time.
*For many years, the Holy Roman Emperor had
appointed bishops in Germany…without this power
Henry IV risked losing power to the nobles.
*
*Henry refused to obey Gregory VII. He declared
that Gregory VII was no longer Pope…Gregory then
stated that Henry was no longer emperor.
*
*Pope Gregory excommunicated Henry.
*Excommunicated – means to exclude a person from
church membership…kicked out…Catholics believe that
if they were excommunicated, they could not go to
Heaven.
*
*When the German nobles defended the pope,
Henry backed down. He traveled to Italy and stood
barefoot in the snow outside the pope’s castle
asking to be forgiven.
*
*Gregory forgave Henry, but the German nobles still
chose a new king. When Gregory accepted the new
king as emperor, Henry went to war.
*
*Henry captured Rome and named a new pope.
*Gregory drove out Henry's forces, but the dispute
was not resolved.
*
*In 1122 C.E. a new pope and the German king
finally agreed that only the pope could choose
Bishops and that only the emperor could give them
government jobs.
*
*This deal, called the Concordat of Worms, was
signed in the city of Worms.
*Concordat – An agreement between the pope and a
ruler of a country.
*
*By the time Innocent III became pope in 1198 C.E.,
the Catholic Church was at the height of its power.
*Innocent III was actually able to control kings
because of the Churches power.
*
*If a ruler did not obey, Innocent III would
excommunicate his or issue and interdict against
the rulers people.
Interdict – An issue that forbids priest from
providing Christian rituals to a group of people.
*
*The pope hoped that by using an interdict, local
people would pressure their ruler to obey.
*
*Questions :
*1) How did Gregory VII and Henry IV disagree?
*Gregory wanted Kings to not be able to appoint
church officials and Henry disagreed with this.
*2) What does the term excommunicated mean?
*Exclude a person from church membership
*3) What does the term concordat mean?
*An agreement between the pope and a ruler of a
country
*4) Why were monasteries important in Europe?
*Provided food, rest for travelers and scriptoria.