Download The Middle Ages Continued!

The Middle Ages
Continued!
The Medieval Church
The rise of the monarchies
The height of the Middle
Ages
The Medieval Church
Catholic Church was
the ONLY choice in
Europe 400s –
1400s.
 The POPE (leader of
the Church) had
many duties.
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Spiritual leadership
Political duties
Social tasks
Religious Role
All people were
sinners
 Dependent on God’s
grace for salvation.
 The only way to get
salvation was
through the Church.

BUT:
Most Church rituals
were done in Latin –
a language few
people knew.
 MANY priests were
poorly educated and
didn’t preach well.

SO:

Most people learned
their Christianity
from Church
paintings, statues,
and cathedrals.
Church Organization

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Parish priests were
what most people knew
of the Church.
Occasionally bishops
would visit
Archbishops watched
what bishops did.
Cardinals were in
charge of countries.
Church Organization

THE POPE oversaw
all.

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Rome’s First Bishop
Bishop of Rome
Shoes of the
Fisherman
Chosen of Peter the
Apostle
Two types of religious people

Saeculo (secular – or of
the real world)


Priests, bishops, cardinals
Regula ( kept apart
from the real world)
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Nuns and monks in
monasteries or
nunneries.
Hermits
Cloisters
Benedict’s Rule: The monk’s
way
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520 CE Benedict
founded a monastery at
Monte Cassino.
Created book of rules
for monks to follow.
Manual work,
meditation, prayer,
never marry, never own
personal goods,
tonsured hair.
OBEDIENCE to the
abbot.

Leader of the monastery.
Monastic Life
Wore plain and
coarse clothes.
 Ate only 1 – 2 meals
a day.
 Rules of Silence for
many hours a day.


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Listen to the voice of
God.
Listen to the
scriptures.
For Women: Convents

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Nuns wore simple
clothes and WIMPLES to
cover heads and necks.
Prayer, spinning,
weaving, embroidering.
Taught noblemen’s
daughters medicinal
herbs and sewing.
Led by the ABBESS.
Influence of the Monastics
Monks and nuns
lived apart from
society.
 But they were
visited by those
seeking to learn to
read and write.
 SCRIBES copied
Bibles and Roman
documents

Influence of the Monastics

Illuminated Texts


Told the stories
Pictures helped those
that couldn’t read.
Influence of the Monastics
Provided schools
(kind of)
 Provided hospitals
(kind of)
 Hotels for the
traveling (kind of)

Power of the Church

The Church received a
lot of land and “gifts” in
exchange for “forgiving”
a lot of noblemen,
noblewomen, and
kings’ sins.


Hmmmm. Kind of
suspicious!
Remember Pepin the
Short?
Power of the Church
The Church became
quite wealthy.
 MAYBE a bit careless
about carrying out
their religious
duties?
 Played politics rather
than religion.

Church Reform
By 1057: Church
declared that only
cardinals – not kings
– could chose the
pope.
 1073: Pope Gregory
VII declared kings
had no right to
judge any member
of the Church.

Fighting Heresy

Heresy – denial of
the Church’s
teachings.

Viewed as Treason.
Fighting Heresy
Condemned heretics
– those who spread
heresy and
challenged the
Church.
 Excommunication

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Denial of any Church
sacraments.
Sent kings / knights
to crush heresy.
The Inquisition

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1222 Church set up a
“court” to find heresy.
Brought people before
the court to “confess”
their sins.

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Rarely had real proof
Used torture to get
confessions
Terrified people.
Imprisonment / banished
/ execution
Friars Inspire Reform

1200s a new type of
Churchman –
FRIARS.

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Wandering
preachers.
No personal
possessions.
Depended on gifts
from people to eat,
have shelter.
Franciscan Friars
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Francis of Assisi started
the order.
Live the simple life of
Jesus.
Poor Claires were the
female equivalent.
Dominicans were more
educated to try to
“reeducate” the
heresies.
The Church’s Inquisition was
not liked by many kings.

How dare the church
take the citizens of
any country and
make them
confess??
The Rise of European
Monarchy

Three main powers
at that time:
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England
France
The Holy Roman
Empire
English Kings: The AngloSaxons
Ruled 500s – 1066.
 Germanic tribes that
invaded and took
over pushing the
native Celts to
Scotland, Wales or
Cornwall.

Anglo-Saxon Kings

Alfred the Great
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871 – 899
Like Charlemagne –
built schools and
appreciated learning.
Kept the Vikings
from taking over in
England.
Anglo-Saxon Kings

The last was Edward
the Confessor
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Died in 1066
No children
Promised the throne
to two men:
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Harold Godwinson –
Anglo-Saxon
William the Bastard –
Norman (Vikings in
France) duke.
Both Harold and William
wanted to be king!

Battle of Hastings:
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Harold had first
crushed a Viking
attempt to take
England.
When he heard that
William was arriving
with 6,000 knights –
he rushed off to
meet him at
The Battle of Hastings
Harold lost.
 William the Bastard
became William the
Conqueror.

William the Conqueror:
Changes in England
The Bayeux Tapestry
Told the story of the
Battle of Hastings.
The Domesday Book –
the first census to
count every person,
every farm, town,
house, pig, etc.
William the Conqueror:
Changes to England

Made his wife
Mathilda the ruler
when he had to go
back to Normandy in
France.
William the Conqueror’s Heirs:
The Angevins:
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William Rufus (died
under “mysterious”
circumstances)
Henry I (youngest son)
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Happened to be hunting
with William Rufus when
he died.
Imprisoned his 2nd eldest
brother Robert when he
arrived in England.
Henry I’s problem: NO SON
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Daughter Mathilda?
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Had a personality
like her grandfather
William the Bastard.
Widowed Empress of
Holy Roman Empire.
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Had a son
Nephew Stephen?

Was a male
After Henry I’s death

WAR between
Mathilda and
Stephen.
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Finally compromised:
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Stephen got to be
king
BUT Mathilda’s
(Maud) son Henry,
not Stephen’s, got to
be the next king.
The Plantagenants: Henry II
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Great king! Always on
the move and highly
intelligent.
Consolidated power and
got rid of “rogue”
nobles.
Established COMMON
LAW
Set up first jury system
for trials.
Henry II’s Problem? Too Many
Sons and his Wife!
Eleanor of Aquitaine
 Sons:
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William (The Young
King) died.
Richard the
Lionheart (1189 –
1199)
Geoffrey (died)
John (1199 – 1215)
Richard the Lionheart
Romantic ideal of a
king.
 Took time from
slaughtering people
to write poetry and
music.
 The real power of
ruling was with his
mother.

King John – the king so BAD no other
king has had the name of John!
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The Magna Carta
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Means BIG Charter
Made King John
promise to follow the
laws his father had
made.
First limits on King’s
Powers
John had choice –
sign or die.
Rise of Parliament
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John died in 1215.
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No one tried to find
out how he really
died.
Only English king not
to be buried either in
France or in London.
His 3 year old son
took over.
Rise of Parliament
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A group of nobles said
they’d rule for the boy
until he came of age.
People in the city were
gaining power and also
wanted a say in
government.
Parliament was created
to advise a king.
The Rise of Parliament

1400 – Parliament
divided into two
houses to advise the
king
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House of Lords –
nobles and clergy
House of Commons –
knights and
burgesses (city
business people)
France
After Charlemagne –
France went to
pieces.
 987 – Hugh Capet
seized the throne
from Charlemagne’s
descendent.
 Capetian dynasty
lasted for 300 years.

Beginnings of Central
Government in France

Louis VI used
townspeople to
support him rather
than the nobles.

Towns were more
loyal to the king than
to feudal lords.
Strengthening the Monarchy

Philip II ruled 1180 –
1223.
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“special” relationship
with Richard the
Lionheart.
Through marriage, war
and some dirty politics –
took all the French land
that England had.
Made his army loyal to
him and not feudal lords.
By the time of Philip IV in
1314:
France had taken over
parts of Flanders
(Holland)
Philip could tax even
the Church.
Kings in France had
absolute control in
comparison to
England.
The Holy Roman Empire
Germany stayed
weak while England
and France grew
strong.
 1000 – 1100s –
German kings tried
to restore
Charlemagne’s
empire.

The Holy Roman Empire
Otto the Great –
helped the Pope
with some
troublesome Italian
nobles.
 Was crowned Holy
Roman Emperor for
his support.

Problems of the Holy Roman
Empire
Otto and his
successors said they
had the right to help
pick the next popes.
 Kept popes weak
militarily.
 Who had the power
– the Pope or the
Kings?

Emperor and Pope Collide
1077: Pope Gregory
VII and Henry IV.
 ROUND ONE: Pope
won when he
excommunicated
Henry until he
begged forgiveness
at the gates of
Rome for three
days.

Emperor and Pope Collide

ROUND TWO: Henry
had the upper hand and
forced the pope to
accept that the king
could appoint bishops.
Pope could only veto if
the candidate was
REALLY bad.
THE FIGHTS CONTINUED
FOR 300 years!
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