Download Christians of the Early Middle Ages A.D. 476 -1054

Christians of the
High Middle Ages
A.D. 1046-1305
8th Grade
Chapter 10
Gothic Cathedrals
St. Stephens, Vienna
Reims Cathedral, France
Built on the site of the basilica where Clovis was baptized
Milan Cathedral
Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore
Cruciform, or cross-shaped, floor plan
Stained Glass Windows
Illustrated stories from the Bible or lives of the Saints
The Church Fights to Recover the Holy
Land
• Many early Christians would go on a
pilgrimage, a journey to a shrine or other holy
place for spiritual reasons, to the Holy Land
• The Holy Land is the land where Jesus lived,
died and was resurrected (modern day Israel)
contains Jerusalem
The Church Fights to Recover the Holy
Land
• 1000 to 1200 A.D. the Holy Land fell to the
Muslim armies
• This caused great anxiety in the Christian
world
The Church Fights to Recover the Holy
Land
The Church Fights to Recover the Holy
Land
• In 1095, Pope Urban calls on Christian rulers
to organize a crusade
• They acted out of faith, hoping to save
Christianity
Four Major Crusades
Between 1097 and 1204 A.D.
The First Crusade
• Most successful
• Christian armies take control of Jerusalem in
1099
General Saladin
Subsequent crusades were not as successful for the Christians.
Jerusalem Falls Again
• 1187 A.D. Jerusalem falls under Muslim
control, defeated by a great Muslim general
named Saladin
• Jerusalem remains under Muslim control until
1917, when it is captured by the British during
World War I
A Misguided Faith
• Many crusaders used their religious
commitment as an excuse to kill Muslims,
Jews, or others not considered followers of
Christianity.
Lessons from the Crusades
• Using force to spread the Gospel is contrary to
everything Christ stands for
• They forgot God’s commandment to protect
human life
Christians and Non-Christians Hurt
• 1204 A.D., crusaders sack Constantinople
• Deepened the ill-will between the Eastern and
Western churches
A Changing Society
• People began to question the medieval
practice of feudalism, a strict social
organization based on class
– SERFS - peasants
– VASSALS – held land but had to be soldiers
– OVERLORD – most powerful
• Crusaders brought back new ideas, promoting
expansion of non-agrarian businesses
• Knights – volunteered to “take back the cross”
The Church struggles with corruption
• During the Middle Ages the Church deals with
a great deal of corruption
• Secular leaders– laypeople, not ordained
bishops, began appointing bishops and abbots
within their kingdoms (sons, other family)
• Lay investiture – laypeople investing Church
leaders with authority
• Even the papacy became corrupted
The Church struggles with corruption
• Authority comes from God
• “Apostolic succession” structures the life of
the Church
• All Popes and Bishops are to be named
through the power of the Holy Spirit, not laypeople
Pope Gregory VII
Pope Gregory VII
• Was Pope from 1073-1085
• Started what we now call the “Gregorian
Reforms”
– Forbade lay investiture
– Insisted on the celibacy for priests
– Banned simony – the buying and selling of spiritual
things, services or offices
– Excommunicated Henry IV, a severe penalty that
brings exclusion from participation in the Church’s
sacramental life
Fearing heresy, the Church launches
the Inquisition
• This period of time is referred to as The High
Middle Ages
• Also referred to as the period of Christendom
– Cultural and political atmosphere that came to be
during the High Middle Ages
– Nearly everyone was Catholic
– Catholicism influenced every aspect of people’s
lives
Pope Innocent III
Pope Innocent III
• High point of papal power
• Calls the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215
– Catholics must receive Communion at least once a
year
– Transubstantiation – changing bread and wine
into body and blood of Christ by the power of the
Holy Spirit and actions of the priest; happens
during the consecration at mass; real presence of
Christ
The Inquisition
• Church and state were so closely related
• Any threat to faith was seen as a threat to all
society
• Protect against heretics, those who taught
false doctrines about the Church
• Pope Gregory IX establishes the Inquisition, an
official court that investigated people who
were accused of heresy
The Inquisition
The Inquisition
• Had the authority to impose fines
• Imprison people
• Condemn them to death
The Spanish Inquisition
• Launched by King Ferdinand and Queen
Isabella in 1497
• Particularly vicious
• Targeted Jewish and Muslim converts,
accusing them of secretly practicing their old
religions
Friars witness to Christ
• Friars, a new form of religious life
• Comes from Latin word frater meaning
“brother”
• Friars were mendicant, which comes from the
Latin word for “beggar”
• They worked directly with the poor, travelled
from town to town, and relied on the
generosity of other people for their daily
needs
Friars witness to Christ
• They were well educated in their faith
• “Sell all that you have and distribute it to the
poor.”
• To great orders of friars began at this time,
Franciscan and Dominicans