Download Church in Crisis

The Roman Catholic Church
on the Eve of the Reformation
Manuscript illumination
of pilgrims leaving
Canterbury, c. 1420.The
British Library, MS. Royal
18 D II, folio 148
(1305−1378 )The Avignon Papacy
or “Babylonian Captivity”
In 1305, the king of France
pressured the pope to move
the church headquarters to
Avignon near southern
France. The pope complied,
saying that the move was
because of a breakdown of
law and order in Rome.
An artist’s rendering of the meeting of the new
Pope and the King of France,
In Avignon, the papal court fell
deeper under French
influence and found itself cut
off from the traditional
source of revenues the pope
had used to operate the
church: taxes from the
Papal States. With the pope
gone, these states declared
independence.
Papal Fiscalism
To finance the church, the Pope resorted to charging fees and
dues for services provided to ordinary churchgoers; exploiting
church appointments, indulgences, and dispensations for
revenue; and setting up an elaborate new bureaucracy to collect
taxes.
Many people came to see the papacy as greedy and materialistic.
A wave of anti-clericalism arose. Rulers resented the flow of tax
money out of their kingdoms to the papacy, as well as the
French influence over the pope. When a new Papal Palace was
built, there was mass resentment .
This is the building created for the Avignon Popes, still a tourist attraction.
The Great Schism (1378−1415)
 In 1378, Pope Gregory XI finally decided that
the church must move back to Rome or risk
total loss of public confidence. He successfully
moved the church back but died shortly
thereafter.
Apparently Urban VI was pretty tough on those
Cardinals who didn’t support him. But then
torture was pretty much the order of the day.
The cardinals, many of whom were French,
went into session and elected a new pope,
the Italian Urban VI. But Urban turned out
to have ideas about church reform that the
cardinals were not aware of at the time of
his election; thus, the French cardinals
returned to session, declared Urban
deposed, and elected a new French pope.
When Urban refused to recognize his
deposition, the French pope and cardinals
moved back to Avignon, leaving Urban and
the Italian cardinals in Rome. Each pope
claimed to be the true pope, and each
group, the true church. The Great Schism
had begun.
Then there were Three Popes!!!
Everyone in Europe, from kings to university scholars to ordinary people,
was forced to choose sides in this dispute and declare loyalty to one pope
or the other. Church bureaucracy and taxes were duplicated. The Roman
Catholic church was humiliated, its public image sinking even further.
Meanwhile, because of national and factional rivalries, the schism
continued after the deaths of both initial claimants. Both Boniface IX,
crowned at Rome in 1389, and Benedict XIII, who reigned in Avignon
from 1394, maintained their rival courts. When Boniface died in 1404,
the eight cardinals of the Roman conclave offered to refrain from
electing a new pope if Benedict would resign; but when his legates
refused on his behalf, the Roman party then proceeded to elect Pope
Innocent VII…..
A contemporary artist, Kyle Farley, has his own
take on this bizarre chapter of Papal history.
The “1 twice refers to the confusion of their
being two Clement VII’s because later the
Avignon Papacy was not recognized.
The Conciliar Movement
Out of this disaster arose A group of prominent cardinals who decided that only a
council of all the church’s bishops deliberating together could decide which pope was
the true leader of the Church.
The Council of Constance in 1414 secured
the resignations of John XXIII and the
successor in Rome of Urban VI, Pope
Gregory XII (who had abdicated in 1415, but
not before formally empowering the Council
of Constance to elect the new pope, thus
ensuring the legitimacy of the Roman line),
and excommunicated the claimant who
refused to step down, Avignon Pope Benedict
XIII. The Council then elected Pope Martin V.
The idea that the Church would be run by
committee gradually died out.
a procession of clergymen attending the Council of Constance (1414-1418),
from the Chronicle of the Council of Constance by Ulrich Riechental
(c1360-1436/1437), the scribe of the city of Constance. Source: UNESCO
Memory of the World Program
.
Pope Martin V
The election of Martin V
served to end the Great
Schism of the West. Martin
also made extensive use of
both diplomacy and military
might to reestablish papal
authority over the Papal
States.
But the damage to the
Church’s legitimacy was
incalculable.

Chronicle of Council of Constance
(1414 - 1418) is Ulrich Riechental
(1360's - 1436/1437), the scribe of the
city of Constance
15th century Popes were strong, but not very spiritual.
After the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism and the re-conquering of
most of the Papal States, Fifteenth century popes focused on ruling the church
and lands rather than spiritual leadership. They became immersed in Italian and
European politics, were always in search of revenue, and became patrons of the
arts and humanism, just like other rulers.
Pope Sixtus IV
(1414−1484) spent his
time on re-conquering
the remaining Papal
States, and he put his
relatives in charge of
them.
Detail of a large painting by Melozzo da Forli of
Pope Sixtus IV meeting with the future prefect of
the Vatican Library, Bartolomeo Platina. Between
them, in the red robes of a cardinal, stands
Guiliano dela Rovere, the pope's nephew and the
future Pope Julius II .Painted in 1477, it is in the
collection of the Vatican Museums in Rome.
.
Handmade oil
painting
reproduction of
Pope Julius II
ordering
Bramante,
Michelangelo
and Raphael to
construct the
Vatican and St.
Peters, 1827 2,
a painting by
Horace Vernet.
Pope Alexander VI (1431−1503) used bribes to
secure his election, then moved into the
Vatican with his wife and seven children.
While there, he had a child with his daughter
Lucretia. He put his Borgia family in charge
of the Papal States. His son Cesare ruled with
such ferocity that he became the model for
Machiavelli’s prince.
Pope Julius II (1443−1513) was called the
warrior pope because he spent his time at the
head of his armies fighting such powers as
France, Spain, and Venice.
Pope Clement VII and Pope Leo X, who reigned
in the 1520s, were both sons of the house of
Medici. They had all the political interests of
the Medicis, helping the family back to
power in Florence after the fall of Soderini.
They were patrons of the arts and learning,
true Renaissance princes.
Popular Religion in an Age of Adversity
While Popes came and went interest grew in making
pilgrimages and securing relics, and in
performing acts of charities.
Relics are fragments of bone, coffin, etc from Saints-- above are relics from some aspect
of the lives St Crispin and St Joseph. In the middle is a piece of the True Cross.
Destinations for Pilgrimages often involved Relics.
 An important shrine at Walsingham in
Norfolk was said to hold a sealed glass jar
said to contain the milk of the Virgin Mary.
There was also a spring with waters thought
to be curative.
 Other shrines held the teeth, bones, shoes,
combs etc. that were said to have once
belonged to important Christian saints, or
nails and pieces of wood said to be from the
cross used to crucify Jesus.
 Pilgrims would pay money to be allowed to
see, touch, kiss these holy relics. the pilgrim
usually received a metal badge stamped
with the symbol of the shrine.
This cover is adapted from a Manuscript illumination of pilgrims
leaving Canterbury, c. 1420 from the British Library. The
cathedral and walls of Canterbury appear in the background of
Christian Humanism
 “Northern” Humanists”, scholars in England and the
Netherland influenced by the Italian Humanism,
sought a revival and renewal of religious life.
 They felt that most of the church’s problems
came from the medieval period, so they called for
a return to what they called the apostolic church,
the first church of Christ and the apostles. This
ancient church had been pure and uncorrupted,
they felt, and by following its example, the church
of the present could be purified and reformed.
 The key was to read the classics of the early
church, including the writings of the church
fathers, such as Augustine, Ambrose, and
Jerome, but also, and especially, the Bible itself.
The Humanists believed that new translations of
all these classics were needed, purified of
had crept in during the
Erasmus of Rotterdam istranslation
the most famous of errors
the Christianthat
Humanists--Gravure
van Desiderius Erasmus door Hendrik Bary
Middle Ages as monks copied and recopied the
works.
 A recent book, Sisters
and Brothers of the
Common Life by John
Van Engen of Notre
Dame.
 "The Devotio Moderna, or Modern
Devout, puzzled their contemporaries.
Beginning in the 1380s in market towns
in the Netherlands they formed
households organized as communes and
forged lives centered on private
devotion. They defended their selfdesigned style of life as exemplary and
sustained it in the face of opposition. Yet
the movement grew, drawing in women
and schoolboys, priests and laymen, and
spreading outward toward Minister,
Flanders, and Cologne.-- from a
description of the book at the Notre
Dame faculty website
Many People Strove to Live in Imitation of Christ
 The Brothers of the Common
Life and Sisters of the
Common Life lived like a
monastic order.
 Imitation of Christ, by
Thomas á Kempis and other
such books were widely
read.
 Books of Hours, which
allowed people to say
prayers as if they were in a
monastery were widely sold.
The Brotherhood was influential
 In 15th and 16 century Europe dozens
of Brotherhood schools enrolled as
many as two-thousand students apiece.
 Erasmus of Rotterdam attended the
Deventer school.
 Brotherhood houses produced twentyfive percent of Europe’s preReformation books. In fact Johann
Gutenberg was close to the
Brotherhood. The Brotherhood had
developed a tradition of copying books- particularly classsics, so it was natural
that he trained fifty Brotherhood
laymen in printing, and from 1460 to
1500. According to the Schiller
Institute 450 books were printed at
Deventer, a sort of headquarters for the
Brotherhood.

A sixteenth century printing press. Reproduced in
J.R.Green, A Short History of the English People
http://www.schillerinstitute.org/fid_9196/942_bro_common_life.html
Religious Mystics Were Widely Admired
 Catherine of Siena
 Lived on cold water, herbs and
Communion wafers, to encourage a
mystical union with Christ.
 She had many imitators.
Relics live! St Catherine’s
head is preserved as a
article of veneration in her
hometown of Siena, 630
years after her death.
This is a contemporary Icon
drawn by Donna Rathert.
Many Mystic Christians were Women
The medieval period produced many
people who claimed visions of Christ
and Mary, uttered prophecies, gave
voice to ecstatic experiences, recited
poems and songs said to emanate
directly from God and changed their
ways of life as a result of these special
revelations. Many recipients of these
alleged divine gifts were women:
Richeldis de Faverches (founder of the
Holy House at Walsingham), the
learned Hildegard of Bingen,
Hadewijch of Brabant), charismatic
traveller and pilgrim Margery Kempe,
Julian of Norwich all challenged
traditional male scholastic theology.
--paraphrased from publisher’s book description. Professor Dickens,who teaches at
UTS in Ohio.
Wealthy People Built and Furnished Private Chapels
The famous Ghent altarpiece or ‘The adoration of the
Mystic Lamb’ was painted by the van Eyck brothers to
decorate the private chapel of a rich couple, Judocus
(Joost) Vijd and his wife Elisabeth Borluut. Both
influential citizens of Ghent. Still a huge tourist
attraction The inside panels are only shown to the
public on Sundays and religious holidays.
Wealthy People Founded Hospitals and other Charities
 Bishop Walter Suffield founded
St Giles' hospital in Norwich,
England around 1249, the 14th
and 15th century saw much more
of this sort of charity. When the
sick entered the sacred
environment hospital, it was
believed that their burden of sin
would be erased. Yet, more
importantly for rich men like
Bishop Suffield, founding a
hospital was thought to guarantee
their own spiritual health. In fact,
a patron, by supplying the
necessary funds, hoped to ease his
or her passage through Purgatory.
Rules of St Giles Hospital, not changed until the 16th century
* There was to be a master to take good care of the hospital, and to
work for the remission of Bishop Suffield's sins (3).
* There were to be at least three or four women, aged over fifty,
who were to change the sheets and take care of the sick (5)
* Everyone had to get up at the crack of dawn to say prayers (7)
* There was to be a weekly mass in honour of St Giles (9)
* There were to be thirty beds or more (11)
* Thirteen poor men were to fed daily (14)
* There was to be a poor box from which poor people passing by
could receive alms and charitable assistance (15)
* The sisters were to sleep in a separate dormitory (24)
* No women were allowed to stay in the hospital as patients (32)
* There was to be a free chantry in the chapel of the hospital (42)
Livre de Vie Active, Musée de l'Assistance Publique, Paris.
The Waldensians

Waldo (Valdes or Valdesius), a rich
merchant of Lyons, decided to dedicate
himself to the preaching of the gospel to
the lower classes of society. At the Third
Lateran Council (1179), Valdes and his
followers sought ecclesiastical
recognition. The pope expressed approval
of Valdes' vow of voluntary poverty, but he
and his companions were forbidden to
preach except by invitation of the clergy.
Valdes and his community refused to
obey, and the Council of Verona (1184)
placed the "poor of Lyons" under the ban
of excommunication. The Waldensians
grew rapidly and spread, first in southern
France, then in Piedmont, Lombardy and
Germany. Despite persecution over the
centuries, there are still Waldensians
around today in Switzerland and Italy, as
well as North and South America
Where’s Waldo?
This Statue of Peter Waldo is at the Luther
Memorial at Worms, Germany
John Wyclif and the Lollards
 John Wyclif, educated at Oxford.
He rejected the Roman church,
preferring a church comprising the
body of the elect with all authority
derived from the scriptures (
'lordship depended on grace’).
Also, he denied transubstantiation
and believed in the spiritual
Eucharist rather than the physical
one. Because of his beliefs, Wyclif
wanted the church reformed and its
wealth removed. He translated the
Bible into English.
 Followers of Wyclif came to be
known as "Lollards." The sect was
driven out of Oxford in 1382, but
stricter suppression drove the
movement underground, where it
survived until the 16th cent.
The Pope Condemns Wyclif
This is what a
Papal Bull looks
like, but this one
is not a
condemnation of
Wyclif
...it has come to our ears that John de Wyclif,
rector of the church of Lutterworth, in the
diocese of Lincoln, professor of the sacred
scriptures (would that he were not also
Master of Errors), has fallen into such a
detestable madness that he does not
hesitate to dogmatize and publicly preach,
or rather vomit forth from the recesses of
his breast certain propositions and
conclusions which are erroneous and false.
He has cast himself also into the depravity
of preaching heretical dogmas which strive
to subvert and weaken the state of of the
whole Church…..He has polluted certain of
the faithful of Christ by besprinkling them
with these doctrines, and led them away
from the right paths of the aforesaid faith
to the brink of perdition.
Wyclif’s bones were burned in the late 16th century.
Jan Huss and the Hussites
 Jan Huss, Czech, born 1372, as
Diebold Schilling
the Older,
Spiezer Chronik
(1485): Burning
of Jan Hus at the
stake
dean of Charles University in
Prague, he criticized church
practices such as selling
indulgences. Finally, Jan Hus was
invited to the Council in Constance
and he was asked to renounce his
ideas. He refused, and he was
burnt at the stake as a heretic on 6 th
July 1415.
 People in the Czech Kingdom were
outraged by Hus’s death
provoking a rebellion (Hussite
Wars)The Hussites held out for
several years, but. the movement
was finally defeated because the
rebels quarreled among
themselves.
Statue completed in Prague about 1910
 Question to think about:
 Jan Hus said most of the
same things Martin
Luther did, but Hus was
burned at the stake and
Luther lived a long,
happy life. What
happened in the hundred
years that intervened to
make that difference?