Download The Middle Ages to the Reformation

The Middle Ages
through the
Reformation
Part One
The Church in the Middle
Ages
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands
forever.” Isaiah 40:8
Disclaimers…
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Not a comprehensive
history of middle ages
A personal view
A Protestant view
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands
forever.” Isaiah 40:8
But first…
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What are the middle ages?
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Was there a “dark age”?
A brief introduction – a quick timeline
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Constantine and a Christian state
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The great Church Councils of
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Nicaea – Christ is God
Constantinople – The Holy Spirit is God,
Ephesus – Man is totally depraved,
Chalcedon – Christ is both man and God.
Church Fathers
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The role of the emperor
Ambrose
Augustine of Hippo
Jerome
The fall of Rome
A brief introduction – a quick timeline
AD 300
350
400
450
500
550
600
312 Conversion of Constantine
451 Council of Chalcedon
313 Constantine signs Edict of Milan
431Council of Ephesus
540 Benedict's Rule
325 Council of Nicea
363 Julian the Apostate defeated
545 Columba mission
to Scots
496 Clovis King of Franks converted
381Council of Constantinople
432 Patrick's mission to Ireland
406 Jerome's Vulgate
Pope Gregory I
Jerome
Emperor Justinian
Augustine
476 End of Roman Empire in West
Ambrose
410 Rome sacked by the Visigoths
622 Birth of Islam
451 Attila the Hun defeated
456 Rome sacked by Vandals
570 Birth of Muhammad
650
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands
forever.” Isaiah 40:8
But first… (cont.)
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Developing Church Organization
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Centralized structure developed to determine and state orthodox
views
Bishops of large cities became archbishops. Archbishops
assumed authority over Bishops
Rome became known as Chair of St Peter and claimed headship
over church - Conflict with Eastern Empire over Leadership and
division between east and west
Initial development of new doctrines not found in scripture, but
developed by the Church
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These views were influenced by the paganism of Rome (no
longer a Jewish sect centered in Jerusalem).
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All had sacrifices
All had priests
All had rituals
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands
forever.” Isaiah 40:8
But first… (cont.)
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Growing wealth and power of Church polluted
leadership
Beginning of struggles between Church and King
By 500 AD we find:
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Purgatory developed
The Lords Supper (communion) as a sacrifice (the Eucharist)
The Priest as mediator between God and man. The
development of Clergy v. Laity
The veneration of saints and relics and adoration of Mary
Development of ritual and de-emphasis of preaching.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands
forever.” Isaiah 40:8
The Fall of Rome
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The Fall of Rome
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Barbarian attacks in the eastern
empire failed, but over a 100 year
span, eventually succeeded against
the west
Rome was sacked by Visigoths in 410
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Was the church responsible?
Was the empire worth saving?
This is the same time as Jerome and
Augustine
Augustine’s great City of God largely a
response to these days of terror.
Barbarian Invasions Of The 4th And 5th Centuries
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands
forever.” Isaiah 40:8
Meanwhile….
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The Eastern Church under Emperor
Justinian was briefly able to take back part of
Italy around 550 AD
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However, they had their own issues with the
Persians, barbarians and later the Muslims
The eastern church begins its tradition of
being strongly controlled by the emperor
(unlike in the west).
Barbarian Kingdoms About 600 AD
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands
forever.” Isaiah 40:8
The Fall of Rome
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Ironically the winner out of the
Barbarian attacks and fall of Rome
was, over time, the Roman Church
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The Barbarians are eventually converted
Clovis – leader of the Franks around 500
No more Roman emperor to deal with
Patrick’s mission to Ireland in 426
Columba founds monastery on island of
Iona and begins missions to Scotland and
Picts
Timeline for the Middle Ages 600-1500 AD
AD
600
700
800
900
1000
Iconoclastic
Controversy in East
1100
1200
1300
1400
Height of the Papcy
England & Ireland evangelize Europe
transubstantiation
adopted as orthodox
Romanesque
architecture
Universities developed
Donation of Constantine
written
1417 Council of
Constance
Great Papal Schism
Popes at
Avignon
Major Crusades
John Wycliffe
Emperor Charlemagne
Dante
John Huss
Pope Innocent III
Thomas Becket
Thomas Aquinas
Vikings invade Europe
Francis of Assisi
732 Battle of Tours
622 Birth of Islam
1066 Norman conquest of
England
1050 Turks Occupy
Holy Land
1095 First Crusade
Plague - The Black Death
1500
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands
forever.” Isaiah 40:8
Pope Gregory the Great
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By 600 AD the effective leadership of Western Europe was provided
by the Christian Clergy.
Gregory I is considered the model for all Popes of the Middle ages to
follow
First Pope to assume broad political power
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Upheld Rome’s authority over all of the Christian Church
Sent missionaries to England and Ireland
Gregorian chant
Taught that:
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communion was a repetition of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross (see Heb
10:11-14)
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Saint’s and Mary were intercessors for sinners (see 1 Tim 2:5)
Purgatory (see 2 Cor 5:6-8)
After Gregory, European Catholicism went through a difficult period
and decline.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands
forever.” Isaiah 40:8
The Rise of Islam
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Mohammed dies in 632.
By 718, Islam had conquered Arabia, Persia,
North Africa and Spain up to the Pyrenees Mts.
In 732 Muslims crossed Pyrenees and were
defeated at the Battle of Tours by Charles
Martel, Leader of the Franks.
Islam became Christianity’s greatest global
opponent throughout the rest of the middle
ages.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands
forever.” Isaiah 40:8
Charlemagne and the Carolingian Renaissance
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The son of Charles Martel was Pepin the
Younger (Pepin the Short).
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Pepin had two sons Carloman and Charles.
Carloman died in 771 and Charles ruled alone
Christmas day 800 Pope Leo III crowned
Charles Emperor
Charles later became Charlemagne (Charles
the Great) and stood for 3 things:
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He sought the approval of the Pope and was
crowned king in 751.
Law and Order
Civilization and culture (education)
Christianity
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands
forever.” Isaiah 40:8
Charlemagne and the Carolingian Renaissance
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Charlemagne tirelessly warred against
Barbarians in the North and Muslims in
the South.
Although his empire barely outlived
Charlemagne, the period of time from
Charles Martel to Charlemagne is
known as the “Carolingian
renaissance”
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A great resurgence in learning and theology
English and Irish missionaries came in
great numbers to convert Northern
Europe’s barbarians
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Boniface “Apostle to the Germans”
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands
forever.” Isaiah 40:8
The Papacy is strengthened
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The conquests of Islam in the 8th century ironically
strengthened the position of the Pope in Rome.
Around 800 AD there appeared the “Donation of
Constantine”
Later in the 800’s another document called the “Isidorian
Decretals” was discovered.
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It claimed that neither the Pope nor the Bishops were subject to
secular governments.
In 1440 documents were proven to be fakes.
No Pope ever made greater claims to papal power than
Nicolas 1 from 858-867.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands
forever.” Isaiah 40:8
Europe falls into disorder
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The successors of Charlemagne were not able to hold the empire
after his death in 814.
The Norsemen or Vikings began raiding Northern Europe, England
and Ireland.
Out of the disorder a decentralized way of life developed called
feudalism.
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Some Norsemen settled in Northern France and were called
Normans in what is now called Normandy.
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This was a structured social and government order that went from
King, to Noble, to lesser noble, to serf.
The idea of nations disappeared into smaller principalities.
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In 1066 the Normans invaded England and defeated the English at the
Battle of Hastings.
They also conquered southern Italy.
The West Under Threat: 700-900AD
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The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands
forever.” Isaiah 40:8
The Papacy Falls Into Disgrace
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Between 891 and 955 there were 20 Popes
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Italian feudal lords fighting each other for supremacy controlled
the Papacy.
In 962 the strong German King Otto I came to the aid of
Pope John XII and was rewarded by being crowned
emperor of what was now called the Holy Roman
Empire.
Again, between 1033 and 1054 the Papacy fell into
scandal and there were at one time 3 popes claiming
authority.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands
forever.” Isaiah 40:8
Monasticism and the Cluny Reform
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Monasteries were a reaction to deterioration and
corruption of the outside world.
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In the late 500’s Bennedict of Nuresia provided the
definitive rule for monasteries in the west. This
became known as Bennedict’s rule.
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People did not return to the scriptures, but to asceticism and
mysticism.
However, the monasteries saved western learning from the
tide of barbarism.
It is based on two primary activities – work and prayer.
Established the governing order of monasteries.
William the Pious, Duke of Aquitaine founded a new
monastery at Cluny in Eastern France in 910.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands
forever.” Isaiah 40:8
Monasticism and the Cluny Reform
(cont.)
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Focused on asceticism, a powerful force for reform of
the clergy
The Cluny reformers led synod’s that deposed all 3
Italian popes and caused a German to be named Pope
(Clement II).
Leo IX (1049), a strong supporter of Cluny reform
cleaned up the college of Cardinals
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However, he totally broke with the Eastern Church
The reform party eventually came under control of Rome.
The method of electing Popes was moved into the college of
Cardinals.