Download Middle Ages Church Power

Do Now: European vs. Japanese Feudalism
Middle Ages Religion - The Power of the Catholic Church
The Church played a far greater role in the Middle Ages than the Church
does today. In Middle Ages, the Church dominated everybody's life. All
Medieval people - be they rich or poor - believed that the Christian God,
Heaven and Hell all existed. From the very earliest of ages, the people
were taught that the only way they could get to Heaven was if the Roman
Catholic Church let them. Everybody would have been terrified of Hell
and the people would have been told of the sheer horrors awaiting for
them in Hell in the weekly services they attended.
All Christians paid 10% of what they earned in a year to the Church (this
tax was called tithes). Tithes could be paid in either money or in goods
produced. As serfs had little money, they almost always had to pay in
seeds, harvested grain, animals etc. This usually caused a peasant a lot of
hardship as seeds, for example, would be needed to feed a family the
following year. People were told by the Church that a failure to pay tithes
would lead to their souls going to Hell after they had died.
Japanese Feudal
Class
European Feudal
Class
Reasons they are similar
(jobs)
In addition to collecting tithes, the Church also accepted gifts of all kinds
from individuals who wanted special favors or wanted to be certain of a
place in heaven. The power of the Catholic Church grew with its wealth.
The Catholic Church was then able to influence the kings and rulers of
Europe. Opposition to the Catholic Church would result in
excommunication. This meant that the person who was excommunicated
could not attend any church services, receive the sacraments and would go
straight to hell when they died.
1. Why did the Church have so much power during the Middle Ages?
2. How did the Church become so wealthy?
3. What could the Church do if you disobeyed them? Why did people
fear this?
4. Where would you put “Church Officials” on the European
Feudalism Chart?
The Background of the
Crusades
What was a crusade?
Crusade comes from the Latin word crux, meaning
a ‘cross’. It referred to the cross on which Jesus
Christ was crucified and to go on a crusade meant
going to fight for Christ. In 1100, it meant going to
fight the Muslims in the Holy Land, around
Jerusalem, where Christ had lived.andlims
Muhammad and Muslims
Muhammad was born in the city of Mecca in AD 570. He founded a great religion and his followers were called Muslims.
Some of his followers were warlike and over the next few hundred years they captured land around the Mediterranean
Sea. In AD 637, the Muslims captured the city of Jerusalem, which was a holy city to Christians because Christ had
lived and died in that area.
Jerusalem
Q1. How does the word crusade get its name?
For a long time, the Muslims allowed Christian to visit
Jerusalem as pilgrims, and many thousands made the journey
from Europe. Then, in 1071, a group of fanatical Turkish
Q2. What was a crusade?
Muslims captured Jerusalem. They would not tolerate
Christians and began to ill-treat them.II call
s for a
Pope Urban II calls for a crusade
Q3. How did Muslims get involved in the
Pope Urban II heard of this and in 1095 called a mass meeting
Christian crusades?
in France of all the knights of Christendom. He made a
passionate speech to them, calling on them to fight against the
evil enemy to regain Jerusalem. At the end of his speech,
Q4. What happened in 1071?
thousands surged forward, shouting that they were ready to
fight and die for Christ.
 Urban appealed to the knight's religious convictions.
Q5. What was Pope Urban II’s response? What
 Urban said Muslim Turks were robbing and torturing
might have motivated him to do this?
Christian pilgrims journeying to the holy land.
 The war offered knights a chance for glory and wealth.
irst Crusade 1096
The First Crusade
Q6. How many soldiers went? How long did it
The next year they set off on the First Crusade. There were
take them to get there?
about 30,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 knights on horseback,
among them Robert, the eldest son of William the Conqueror.
They made their way through Europe and into Turkey, finally
Q7. What was the outcome of the first crusade?
reaching Jerusalem three years after they set off. They took
Jerusalem in 1099, and held the city and the land around it for
the next 87 years.
Q8. How did the Crusades effect Europe?
Effects of the Crusades
European merchants, primarily Italians, established communities in the Crusader states. This encouraged trade and
commerce between Muslims and Europeans. These trade routes will eventually aid in spreading the Plague which results
in the death of 1/3 of the European population.