Download The Christian Church in Medieval Europe

The Christian Church in
Medieval Europe
From spiritual to secular power
The Early Years
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The biggest achievements of the Christian Church in the Early Middle Ages was the conversion of
powerful Germanic Tribes.
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FOR A MEDAL! – What was the name of the first Frankish king to be converted to Christianity?
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Clovis!
On the Local Level
 Villages on manors typically included a church.
 Each church was the center of Christianity for a particular parish, or local region.
 The parish priest was often the only contact the average person had with the Christian Church.
 This priest had jobs to perform
 They administered the sacraments, or sacred rituals of the Church.
 They were also the person responsible for instructing the Manor in the teachings of the
Church.
 To pay for church expenses, Christians were responsible for paying a tithe, which is a special tax
equal to 1/10th of their income.
Seeking a More Spiritual Life
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In the Early Middle Ages, groups of men and women decided that they would withdraw from life in
the world to focus their mind and energy on spiritual goals.
These individuals came to be known as monks (men) and nuns (women)
Benedict of Nursia, organized a monastery in 530 in southern Italy and established his
Benedictine Rule.
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The Benedictine Rule was meant to regulate life in monasteries.
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It stressed three vows:
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Obedience to the abbot or abbess of the monastery.
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Poverty
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Chastity (Purity)
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Monasteries would sometimes end up serving a local community by caring for the sick or
providing basic education. Some monks and nuns were missionaries, who attempted to
convert non-Christians.
Centers of Learning
 Of great importance was how monasteries and convents spent many years hand copying ancient
works.
 They saw this as part of their spiritual training.
 In doing this, they preserved a great deal of the ancient learning (particularly Roman).
 One monk, the Venerable (aged and sacred) Bede, introduced the ideas of AD and BC to history.
The Political Power of the Church Rises
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In Catholic lore, the Pope is the Vicar of Christ, meaning he is the representative of Jesus on
Earth.
Eventually, medieval popes would begin to claim papal supremacy, or authority over all secular
(no religious) rulers.
Many of the highest level churchmen were at the same time nobles.
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This means they had manors and fiefs of their own.
Since church clergy were often the only educated and thoroughly literate people in society,
government rulers would appoint them to important government positions.
The Authority of the Church
 To help ensure their power, popes developed a body of law for the Church and Christian community,
called canon law.
 Anyone who disobeyed canon law, risked possible excommunication.
 This was very serious, it meant that no Christian, anywhere was to have ANY communication
with you.
 If important individuals displeased high church officials, they were sometimes threatened with an
interdict, a mass excommunication that effect entire regions, even kingdoms.
Church Reforms
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As the power of the church grew, so did its wealth.
Some priests, monks and nuns ignored their vows of poverty.
Priests, who were still allowed to marry, would spend more time on family affairs than
church ones.
The Reforms of Berno, Abbot of Cluny
 Abbot Berno set out to end abuses by the clergy.
 The revived the use of the Benedictine Rule
 Nobles would no longer be allowed to interfere with the affairs of a monastery
 Only monks who proved they were devoted to their vows were allowed into the
monastery at Cluny.
These reforms were called the Clunaic Reforms and were widely adopted.
 In 1073 AD, Pope Gregory VII, a former monk himself, extended these reforms to the entire
church.
 He outlawed marriage for priests.
 Church offices could not longer be sold, a practice that was called simony.
 The pope will also demand that Church officials, not kings or nobles, must choose church
officials.
This demand will spark a bitter conflict between the Pope and an Emperor.
The Role of Jews in the Medieval World
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Ever since the Roman’s scattered the Jews from Judea, there have been Jewish
communities throughout Europe.
Jews had a long tradition of maintaining the oral and written laws that were important
to their faith. Thus, Jews tended to be well educated by the standard of the times.
However, around the late 1000s, persecution of Jews increased throughout Europe.
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Ironically, one of the main occupations left open to Jews was money lending.
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Among the limitations were restrictions placed on occupations Jews could have.
Christians were forbidden from loaning or borrowing money by Church teachings.
The Church considered loaning money for profit, usury. It was a forbidden practice.
Later, when anti-Semitism, or hatred for Jews, increased, people began to blame
Western Europe’s economic troubles on Jews.
Many Jews fled to Eastern Europe where they found much greater freedoms and
Jewish communities thrived until modern times.