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World History
Chap 7, Sec 3 & 4
The Medieval Church
As Europe converted to Christianity, the Church became
the most powerful force. Kings ruled kingdoms, but
Popes ruled Kings!
I.
The Center of Everyday Life- The church was usually the
most important building in a village. The region governed by
each church was known as a parish. The parish priest was the
villagers’ only contact with Heaven. His main role was to
conduct the Mass, and administer the sacraments (sacred rites
such as marriage and baptism). The Bible and all church
services were in Latin, a foreign language to most Europeans
(who were mostly illiterate anyway). The Priest preached the
teachings of Christianity, tended to the sick, and sometimes ran
schools. Village social life revolved around church services and
holidays. A local church could gain status by acquiring relics
(bones of a saint, a splinter of the true cross, etc.). Pilgrims
traveled to pray before the relics. Christians were expected to
tithe, paying a tenth of their income to support the church.
II. Cathedrals- Bishops supervised the priests. They employed
new advances in architecture and technology to build huge stone
cathedrals in the gothic style. Towns all over Europe competed
to build the biggest, most elaborate cathedrals.
III. Monks and Nuns- Benedict founded an Italian monastery,
where religious men could permanently retreat from worldly
concerns. He required monks to take three vows: obedience,
poverty, and chastity. Nuns followed Benedict’s rules when
establishing convents. The monks and nuns began schools and
hospitals, and expanded their libraries by copying ancient Greek
and Roman texts.
IV. Mixed Motives- sometimes the decision to enter a convent or
monastery had less to do with godliness than ambition. Lords
would give their children (often against their will) to the church
to secure a place in heaven. Many entered the church because it
was the only way to achieve education or power (not to mention
three meals a day, usually accompanied by rather nice wine).
Medieval women were seen as saintly virgins like Mary, or else
weak, foolish sinners, and had little chance of an education.
Many entered the church to escape a forced marriage, or were
dumped there by fathers who were unable to marry them off for
a decent profit. These personal and decidedly unchristian
motives often caused corruption.
V. Who’s in Charge? - Kings could use armies to establish
empires, but the Pope in Rome held the big gun:
excommunication. Defy the Pope, and he would throw you out
of the church and damn you to hell (literally! Medieval people
believed fervently in heaven and hell). A noble who angered the
pope could get his whole village condemned through an
interdict, which denied the sacraments to the entire town.
Declaring papal supremacy over kings, popes began to exercise
political power and acquire vast territories. Church law (canon
law) oversaw wills, marriages and morals.
VI. Attempts to Reform- as the church grew wealthy and
powerful, greedy and ambitious men were attracted to the
priesthood. They acquired personal fortunes and political
power. A French monk, Abbot Berno tried to stop the
corruption by refusing to allow anyone other than the pope to
interfere with monastery affairs. In 1073, Pope Gregory VII
declared that only the church could name its officials, and
outlawed marriage for priests.
Section 4
Economic Improvement
I.
New Farming Technology- Wooden plows were replaced
by more efficient and durable iron plows. The invention of
a new harness allowed peasants to use horses for plowing
(much faster than oxen!). The three- field system was
adopted. Farmers would plant grain in one field, legumes
in another, and allow the third to rest unplanted. They
rotated the fields each year. This allowed soil to regain
nutrients and increased food production.
II. More Food=More People- Lords set their peasants to
clear forests and drain fields to grow crops. The increase
in food led to an increase in population. Between 1000
and 1300, Europe’s population increased almost 300%.
III. Trade- instead of ravishing their own countries, knights
were encouraged by the church to go on crusade. This cut
down on wars, making travel safer for others. Plus, the
crusaders brought back cool stuff from the east which
encouraged merchants to set up trade routes. With all this
trading, common merchants began small fortunes. They
held trade fairs, which attracted artisans who turned the
silks, wools and tin into products the merchants could sell.
Towns grew at the sites of trade fairs and evolved into
cities equaling the size of ancient Roman cities.
IV. Towns and Cities- merchants of a growing town would
ask the lord or king for a charter, a document that granted
official recognition of the town’s status, rights and
privileges. An annual tax was paid in exchange for the
charter. Merchants invented new ways of doing business,
forming partnerships to raise capital and creating letters
of credit. The use of money replaced the barter system,
which strengthened the banking system. Insurance
protected the merchant’s investments. Even peasants were
using money, paying rent to the Lord (tenant farmers).
V. A New Middle Class- To protect their new wealth,
merchants and artisans formed guilds. There were
separate guilds for each profession. Even women started
guilds. The guilds controlled prices, passed laws and
basically ran the towns. They kept membership low, to
keep prices high. Guild Masters were the most powerful,
wealthy members. They took young children as
apprentices, and taught them the trade while providing
room and board. After seven years, an apprentice became
a journeyman, and worked for pay. Only very talented or
well-connected journeymen ever became Guild Masters.
VI. Cities Grow Up- as cities became crowded, home owners
added second and third stories to their homes, building up
now that they could no longer build out. The bustle of
cities can be exciting, but all those people crowded
together create problems, especially in an age that hadn’t
invented streetlights or toilets! Medieval cities were
smelly, dark, and dirty. But hey, they were making more
money than their fathers had ever imagined, so it’s all
good right? NOT!
Stay tuned for
The Plague