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Medieval Monasticism
The words “monk” and “monasticism” are derived from the Greek “monachos,” meaning “one
alone.” Monks were motivated into a life of solitude by their search for a purer life. They
withdrew from human contact to gain mastery over their material bodies (flesh and desire).
St. Anthony of Alexandria (251?-356? A.D.), the founder of Christian monasticism, fasted and
lived in solitude in the desert.
St. Jerome (340?-420 A.D.) translated the Bible into Latin from Hebrew (Old Testament) and
Greek (New Testament) in the 4th century. His translation, known as the Vulgate, became the
authorized version of the Roman Catholic Church.
Medieval Monasticism
In 529 A.D. Benedict of Nursia founded a new monastic order in Montecassino, Italy: the
Benedictine Order.
Benedictine monks strictly observed the Benedictine Rules (of particular significance: chastity,
poverty & obedience). The monasteries and cathedral schools of the Middle Ages were centers
of literacy, education and culture.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476 A.D.), the pope became the de facto ruler of
Rome, especially under Gregory the Great, a Benedictine monk who became pope. During the
reign of Pope Gregory the Great (590-604 A.D.), prayers were organized and assigned to certain
days of the year. The Church developed fixed prayers to be used in conjunction with Church
rites, i.e. certain chants were to be used for specific prayers throughout the Church calendar (in
effect until Vatican II, 1956).
The Gregorian Chant is the earliest body of song preserved in notated form. Pope Gregory
organized about 3000 melodies within the context of the Roman Catholic worship at churches
and monasteries, e.g. certain chants during Mass, certain chants which remained the same week
after week, certain chants which varied according to the Church calendar (Easter, Christmas,
etc.), and certain chants to be used during canonical hours, i.e. sung eight times a day. The
chants were sung in Latin, with tones set according to the syllables of each word. A system of
note value did not yet exist at the time. The chants were sung by a male choir, since women
could not be priests, and sung “a capella” (unaccompanied by instruments) and in unison, i.e.
without harmony.
For the following several hundred years, however, the Church faced a number of problems with
its clergy. There existed clergy who lived according to strict religious rules (regular clergy) and
those who lived in the world, so to speak, (secular clergy). The behavior of the secular clergy
was perceived as particularly troublesome. They often married, had concubines, were accused of
immorality, or of passing on their ecclesiastical offices to their sons.
Two of these practices were of grave concern:
► simony, the buying and selling of ecclesiastical offices (derived from the story of Simon
Magnus in the New Testament, Book of Acts, Chapter 8)
► the issue of investiture; In an effort to build up a loyal power base, Frankish kings often
simply chose bishops and give them land to administer, i.e. they would invest bishops with
secular power symbolized by the ring, and with religious power symbolized by the pastoral staff.
Thus these bishops held dual allegiance as both bishop (who was supposed to obey the pope) and
vassal (as someone who was indebted to the king who gave him both land and secular power).
This practice was an important stage in the development of feudalism, but it created much
conflict between the state and church in the 11th century.
►In response to the growing perception that the Church had become corrupt and in a state of
decay, a new monastic reform movement emerged with the founding of the monastery of
Cluny in 910 A.D. The construction of the Abbey at Cluny stimulated a boom in church
building in the early middle ages and set the tone for the introduction of the Romanesque style of
architecture.
This monastery was organized according to the Benedictine Rules and grew to include almost
2000 monastic houses by the 12th century. Monasteries created by the cluniac reform
movement required that their abbots were to be subject to no authority other than that of Rome,
and that they would not accept donations of land from secular rulers which might compromise
their obedience to the Papacy in Rome.
Medieval Struggle between State and Church Authority
1075-1122
"Investiture Struggle" between Emperor and Pope (between State and Church)
1076
Henry IV is excommunicated for his attempt to depose Gregory VII as pope. Pope
Gregory VII was a Cluniac monk by the name of Hildebrand who attacked
simony and lay investiture.
1077
Henry IV travels to Canossa to meet Gregory VII and is absolved from the ban of
excommunication.
1084
Henry IV is excommunicated a second time; he in turn deposes Gregory VII again
and has Clement II elected as anti-pope. Clement III (1084-1100) in turn crowns
Henry IV emperor.
1122
"Condordat of Worms": bishops and abbots were to be invested with their fiefs as
a symbol of their worldly office by the emperor, but they were to receive the ring
and staff (the symbols of their spiritual authority) from the pope.