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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