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Grace Community Church of Martin
Church History
Middle Age Muddle
I.
INTRODUCTION
A. The stage had been set for the complete development of the papal system which dominated
western civilization for almost 950 years, from 590 to 1517.
B. Apart from the providence of God, there were many secular and religious events in history
which gave the Roman See such great power.
II. THE CONDITION OF THE CHURCH IN THE WEST AFTER THE FALL OF ROME
A. There was political chaos in western Europe, for the influence of the Roman culture was
lessening and new forms of thought were becoming prominent because of the intermingling of
Teutonic and Roman ideas.
B. War and famine were commonplace and the Lombards, Germanic barbarians, were threatening
to capture all of Italy, which had just been captured by the Goths. The Lombards had very little
respect for the Bishop of Rome and used him mainly for political purposes.
C. The Church outside of Italy had lost much prestige. The influence of the Roman pontiff had
become very weak in Spain, Gaul and Illyria, and almost vanished in Africa.
D. Arianism and other heresies were rampant in the state formed by the barbarians.
III. GREGORY THE GREAT (590-604)
A. Introduction: Gregory was the first pope in reality. Leo I (440-461) made the claim of “pope,” but
did not have the authority to carry out this claim. Gregory stands out as one of the chief
architects of the papal system which has influenced so greatly the history of the world.
B. Rise To Power: Gregory was born in 540 to a rich, senatorial family in Rome. At an early age he
entered into governmental service. He had keen mental and administrative gifts, and when the
Lombards were threatening to take Italy, it was Gregory who organized the state into an
effective political and military organization to push back the Lombards.
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He later felt the call of God, entered the clergy, sold all his possessions, and became a monk of
the Benedictine Order. His governmental diplomacy was recognized by the Bishop of Rome,
and he was sent on diplomatic missions to deal with the emperor and bishop of the eastern
section of the Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire). In 590 he became Bishop of Rome. Gregory
never called himself “pope,” but he exercised all the powers of later popes. However, he did call
himself “the servant of servants,” believing that he was supreme among all bishops. Gregory
had a great conflict with John the Patriarch of Constantinople, who also claimed to be the
universal bishop.
Gregory believed in the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church and that there was no
salvation outside of this religious organization. He was a devoted man who had great respect for
the Scriptures and looked for the speedy coming of the Lord to judge the wicked world. Gregory
may be described as monastic, ascetic, and devout; as well as superstitious, hierarchical,
haughty and ambitious, yet humble before God. His diplomacy in government gave him special
advantages over the Lombards, and he became the most potent political force in all Italy.
C. His Missionary Zeal: Gregory bent his ceaseless energies towards increasing the prestige of his
See in lands where it had fallen low, for more than two thirds of Europe was still pagan. He
literally pushed the Roman Catholic system on many on the continent, and had an impact on
most of England (the Celtic Church held out for independency from Rome until the seventh
century). The missionaries to England were able to gain a strong foothold in Canterbury in the
Church of St. Martin. There grew up the great cathedral of Canterbury which has been so
deeply tied up with the history of English religion.
D. Heresy Introduced: (1) He transformed the bishopric of Rome into a papal system. (2) He
formalized ritual and placed great emphasis upon the altar and a re-sacrificing of Christ in the
mass. (3) He pushed the concept of purgatory. (4) He gave impetus to the worshiping of saints
and martyrs. (5) He enforced celibacy of the clergy and monastic discipline whenever he could.
IV. MONASTICISM
A. Monasticism was another force that gave great impetus to the papal system. Literally multiplied
thousands of men went into these monkish orders, giving real numerical as well as spiritual
strength to the Roman Catholic Church.
B. These orders were all founded during the medieval period of the history of the church: (1)
Benedictines; (2) Cluniacs; (3) Cistercians; (4) Franciscans; (5) Dominicans; and (6) the military
orders: Knights, Templars, Teutonic Knights, etc. At their best, the monasteries did a great work
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in forwarding agriculture, providing schools of learning, caring for the poor, and giving hospitality
to the sick and needy. After the founder had died, however, and the first enthusiasm had waned
with the growth of wealth and power, it generally happened that they fell into spiritual decadence
and in time moved far from their early ideals.
V. LOMBARDS AND FRANKS
A. In 568, the Lombards, a barbarian tribe, conquered the northern section of Italy. They were
converted from heathenism to Arianism, and were later brought to an understanding of orthodox
Christianity.
B. The Franks were another German tribe who were converted to orthodox Christianity when King
Clovis made his profession to the Christian religion. The Franks settled in the area that is now
France.
C. The history of the church, and especially of the papacy, became intertwined with the history of
the Lombards and the Franks. The presence of the Lombards in Italy was a constant threat to
the popes. At no time were they certain of their safety. The eastern Roman Empire was in no
position to help the Bishop of Rome, so the papacy was forced to turn to the Franks for help
against the Lombards. It was the Lombards that drove the popes into the protective arms of the
Franks. This strengthened the position of the pope politically, for the most powerful nation in
Europe was allied with the pope.
D. Most of the Frankish kings after Clovis were very weak, and the nation was really governed by
Charles Martel, who was mayor to the place. The son of Charles Martel, Pepin the Short,
obtained the same high office as his father upon Charles’s death. Pepin was not satisfied with
his position and wanted to be king. So Pepin banished the king Childeric to a monastery, and
placed himself on the throne. But he felt for this act he should have the sanction or approval of
the pope. So, Pope Zachaias gave his approval and Pepin was crowned king. This was a very
significant event, for from this act the Roman Catholic Church has drawn the conclusion that
she has a right to take away and to give kingdoms. This was also the first step in trying to put
back together the Roman Empire which had fallen in 476.
VI. MOHAMMEDANISM
A. Background: The inhabitants of Arabia were descendants of Ishmael, son of Abraham and halfbrother of Isaac. They were heathen, worshiping idols and believing in many gods. In the year
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570 at the city of Mecca, a boy named Mohammed was born. He lost his parents at an early
age, and as a merchant came into contact with Jews and Christians, from whom he learned
something of their religions. He would meditate and pray much, fall into trances and claim to
hear the voice of Allah. Mohammed was impressed with the idea of the monotheism of Jews
and Christians, but was terribly unimpressed with their lives. In fact, he called the Christians,
“bone worshipers.” The Koran is the sacred book of Islam, and is supposed to contain the divine
revelation made to Mohammed by the angel Gabriel.
B. Teachings of Mohammedanism; (1) their creed is “There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is
his prophet”; (2) prayer five times a day toward Mecca; (3) making a pilgrimage to Mecca at
least once during one’s lifetime; (4) giving alms for pious and charitable purposes; (5) fasting
from sunrise to sunset throughout the sacred month of Ramadan; and (6) the sword in holy war
is a means of spreading the Islam religion.
C. The Rise of Mohammedanism: In 622, Mohammed was forced to flee Mecca because the
population was not ready to accept his teachings. He fled to Medina and there his teachings
were warmly received. With the help of his converts, in ten years time he made himself master
of Arabia. By 711 the Islam religion had conquered Persia, penetrated into India and China, and
overrun Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and North Africa. It had conquered Spain, and was
threatening to move into all of Europe. This meant the end of Christian culture in the west. The
Muslims were never able to take the Byzantine Empire, but they certainly took much of the
territory of this empire. Constantinople, while attacked and under siege numbers of times by the
Muslims, did not fall until 1453 when it was conquered by the Turks.
D. Causes For The Rise of Mohammedanism:
1. A positive, fanatical monotheism which promised positions of leadership and booty to
those who would engage in world conquest was an incentive in obtaining followers. Also
those that die by the sword for Allah are guaranteed heaven.
2. The eastern section of the Roman Empire was decaying from within and using most of
its resources to fight off the Persians. Neither the Persians nor the Byzantines were any
match for the fanatical Arabs.
3. The development of image worship in the Catholic Church made the Christianity of the
day look polytheistic to both the Mohammedans and many Catholics. Therefore,
Mohammedanism with its monotheistic emphasis seemed to be superior.
E. The Halting of Mohammedanism in the West: It seemed as if no one could stop the armies of
Islam, for they had pushed through Spain and into lower France. The Muslims had to be
stopped, for the whole future of Europe and the church were at stake. The Franks, under the
leadership of Charles Martel, came forward to stop the onrushing invaders from Mecca.
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Charles’s army was called a “Christian” army, for most of the Franks gave assent to Christian
teaching. The battle for Europe and the Christian church in the west was to be settled on the
plain of Tours. In 732, the Battle of Tours took place, and it was a bloody battle indeed. Until this
time the Muslims had not lost one battle for over one hundred years. Why should they not also
win this battle? The Arabs had many experienced cavalrymen and the Frank’s army was mainly
on foot. The Franks drew up their army in close order. Nowhere was there a gap in their ranks.
All day long, in charge after charge, the wild expert Arab horsemen swept down headlong and
furiously upon the Frankish army. When night fell, both sides retired exhausted to their camps.
Heaps of dead covered the bloody field to Tours, and the Arabs had been turned back. Early the
next morning the Franks again drew up in battle array, but no Arab horsemen appeared.
Fearing ambush the Franks sent out searching parties. No enemy could be found. The Arabs
had retreated behind the Pyrenees into Spain. Tours was the highwater mark of the
Mohammedan tide. The once heathen and barbarian tribe of the German Franks had saved
western Europe for Christianity.
F. The Effects of Mohammedanism on the Church: The church was weakened spiritually and
territorially from 632 to 732 because of the Muslims. Many explanations can be given for this
crushing defeat to the church, but the best explanation, from a divine perspective, is that this
was judgment from God. Christians in the eastern section of the church had failed to evangelize
— they were salt without savor. Thus, this destruction of the ancient and illustrious church east
and south of the Mediterranean was nothing less than a removing of the candlestick from its
place (Rev. 2:5). The church in Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria suffered terribly under the
Muslims. In Syria alone, 10,000 churches were destroyed or became mosques. The church of
North Africa, with its memories of Tertullian, Cyprian and Augustine, was practically obliterated.
Only small Christian communities survived here and there.
A.
Western History from 800 to 1073 was truly the dark ages, for there was political, economic and
religious chaos. It may well be described as the medieval muddle.
B.
The amazing thing is that the true church survived at all during this period, for the professing,
external church (Roman Catholic Church) was sick, corrupt and ungodly. This is a period in
church history that all church historians would like to strike from the pages of history.
VII. CHURCH AND STATE
The Holy Roman Empire
1.
It was called “Roman” because it was to succeed and restore the power of Rome in the
west. It was called “holy” because it was to be supreme over Christendom. This was an
alliance between the pope and emperor in which each was to have worldwide dominion
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within his own sphere, and in which each was to cooperate with the other and promote
the interests of the other. One Christmas day in Rome, Leo III crowned Charlemagne the
first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. For the next thousand years, one European
ruler or another tore up the countryside with his armies in an effort to establish himself
as successor of the Caesars. Finally, in 1806 Napoleon abolished the Empire.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Charlemagne (Charles the Great), in theory, stood for the same things that the Roman
Empire had stood for: law and order; civilization and Christianity.
Charlemagne put a great emphasis upon learning, especially among the clergy, which
set the scene for the great scholastic movement of the Middle Ages.
Charlemagne was able to control the vast territory of France, Germany, Switzerland and
Italy. In the days of Charlemagne, the alliance worked well, but he was always careful to
maintain his position as emperor over the pope as well as over everyone else.
At his death, his kingdom was divided among his three sons who were not capable
rulers. The popes were able to be their own masters, and lands around Rome that had
been ruled by the emperor fell into the hands of the popes.
The Feudal System
1. Charlemagne had created some order out of chaos, but his death brought a progressive
deterioration that was worse than anything known previously in western history. Out of the
disorder of these times arose feudalism.
2. The Holy Roman Empire broke up into many small kingdoms, and the chief source of
wealth was the land. There were no large cities and most people lived in the country.
Feudalism was a system based upon a peculiar way of holding land. Kings would divide
their kingdoms among leading warriors, on the condition that these warriors give military
aid to the kings whenever called upon to do so. These princes then would divide their
portions of the kingdom to lesser nobles. These nobles in turn granted sections of land
to still lesser tenants, and so on down. In the feudal system one was a lord or a vassal.
Lords were under obligation to give protection to their vassals, and vassals were obliged
to give service, especially in war, to their lords. Feudalism was in effect a system of
mutual aid.
NOTE: In this system power was decentralized, and there was no strong central
government. Also, no king was ever safe, for there was always the possibility of several
princes combining forces against him.
 Sometimes people gave land to churches or monasteries. Thus, bishops or archbishops,
who were the heads of churches or monasteries, became landowners. This brought the
clergy into the feudal system. Kings and lords looked upon the popes, bishops and
clergymen as their vassals, which resulted in serious trouble for the church.
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The Act of Lay Investiture

The feudal system brought the clergy under the power of the feudal kings and
lords. These lords would appoint the clergy they wanted in their kingdoms. The lords
were supporting the clergy, and thus felt they had a right to choose the clergy whose
salaries they were paying. Lords, of course, would choose clergymen who would support
them. Thus, investiture was political, not religious, and led to corruption. Lay investiture
was the specific practice of appointing laymen to clerical posts. By lay investiture, men
who were not already clergy were appointed to offices in the church, sometimes to very
important offices.

The investiture system produced chaos and anarchy in Italy. The princes were
constantly at war with one another. Whenever a noble family would gain control, it would
appoint its own clergy and could affect the appointment of the pope. The church was in
bondage to secular rulers. Between the death of Stephen VI in 891 and the accession of
John XII in 955, there were no less than twenty popes.
The Practice of Simony
 Simony is the sinful practice of giving or obtaining an appointment to a church office in
exchange for money. This was a common practice in the Middle Ages, even in the
obtaining of the office of pope.
 In Italy the Tuscan family appointed Benedict IX pope in 1033. Benedict was only twelve
years old at the time, and he turned out to be one of the worst characters ever to occupy
the papal seat. The nobles of the Crescenzio family opposed Benedict and the Tuscan
family, and in 1045 were able to drive Benedict from Rome. The Crescenzio family then
appointed Sylvester III as pope. Soon, however, Benedict came back into power and
resumed his pontificate. But Benedict grew tired of his office and sold it for one thousand
pounds of silver to a man named Gregory VI. Later, Benedict refused to surrender the
papal office which he had sold. There were then three men all claiming to be the pope:
Benedict IX, Sylvester III and Gregory VI. What a tragic situation!
The Church Extends Her Power and Territory
Despite the corruption of the papacy, the church was still able to extend her territory
during the period from 800 to 1073. The influence of the Roman Catholic Church was felt
in Hamburg, Norway, Iceland and Greenland in the north, and Bohemia, Hungary and
Poland in the east. Meanwhile, the eastern church. was evangelizing to the north;
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Bulgaria was Christianized in the ninth century and Russia in the tenth.
The Roman Catholic Church also extended her power. With the fragmenting of Europe
politically, the pope often stood a better chance of bringing princes, particularly the
lesser ones, to terms. As Christianity spread, and with it the idea that salvation came
only through membership in the church, the threat of excommunication was often
enough to bring rulers to terms.
VIII. THE CHURCH DIVIDES (1054)
 Since the fourth century, there had been a slowly developing division between the
western and eastern sections of the church. The eastern church by 1000 still spoke
Greek and had an oriental flavor. The western church spoke Latin and the majority of its
members were Germanic people who had been recently brought out of barbarism. The
bishops of Rome and Constantinople were in constant debate and controversy, each
claiming to be supreme over the other.
 The reasons for the schism were all rather insignificant, but their combined weight
produced a large result. The reasons for the division were:
 The debate over images, or the inconoclastic controversy, in which the eastern church
wanted all images done away with to ward off the charges of the Muslims that
Christianity was polytheistic, contributed to the division.
 The conflict over the procession of the Holy Spirit (either from the Father and the Son, or
just from the Father) known as the Filioque (“and the Son”) Controversy was also
instrumental in separating the two bodies.
 There was an unwillingness on the part of the patriarch of Constantinople and the pope
of Rome to be subservient to each other.
 There was no sharp definition of boundaries of territories to be ruled by Rome and
Constantinople, and frequent struggles arose over administration of border areas.
 There were basic differences in cultural background and influence between East and
West — differences which hindered understanding and cooperation.
 The East was subservient to the emperor while the West insisted on independence from
the state and the right of moral superintendence of rulers of state.
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Conclusion
Finally, in 1054 a Roman delegation laid the bull of excommunication on the altar of St. Sophia in
Constantinople. Of course the Greek patriarch retaliated in kind. Thus the schism was complete. Often
Roman Catholics speak of the one, universal church of Rome until the Reformation when the reformers
broke from the church but, this is a misnomer. The first division of the church came in 1054, and in
many ways it was much more serious than the break that came in the Reformation.
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