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Chapter Eight |
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Christendom: The Foundations of a Society |
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| I. | End of the Eleventh to the Thirteenth Centuries | |||||
| A. | The word Christendom says a
certain thing about the relationship between society at large and the
church of the Middle Ages. The church held the people of Europe together
as one large community. Church and state were not separate entities, but
one in the same thing. This community only had meaning in the context of
fulfilling the Kingdom of God. What is significant was the very important
position the papacy held in mediaeval Europe. If the first half of the
thirteenth century saw the height of the papal power, the last years saw
cracks in that system already beginning to show. We have inherited from this era many Catholic doctrines and customs, as well as some of our most beautiful art in the Church. But this was not a time in Church history when the church was always a christian church. |
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| 1. | The affirmation of the papacy--Reform decrees in 1059 A.D. Pope Nicholas II defined the rules for the election of a pope. The pope would be appointed by cardinals and the rest of the clergy and people would have to be happy over just affirming the appointment. From that proclamation cardinals became a very important element in the church. They became the most important clerics in Rome. The had the biggest churches with the most deacons to help them run it. In 1074 A.D., Pope Gregory VII planned an enormous reform of the church. He attacked simony and those priests living a married life. These were not well received. | |||||
| See Handout #102 | ||||||
| See Handout #103 | ||||||
| 2. | Against lay investiture--this pope believed that all of the evils of the church sprang from lay investiture. In 1075 A.D. he forbade bishops to accept appointments by the laity and forbade it, he wanted to stop Metropolitans (Archbishops) from consecrating any laity installed this way. He wanted church separated from civil authority. He believed that he had the authority himself to do this because he ruled over a world-wide church and over princes by means of (dictatus papae) papal decrees and affirmations and he sent legates to ensure that his decisions were being carried out. | |||||
| See Handout #104 | ||||||
| 3. | The investiture dispute--The German emperor, Henry IV, opposed Gregory's decision which lost him a lot of authority in his own country where bishops were the most powerful. Henry IV deposed the pope. The pope deposed the emperor and released all of his subjects (Henry's) from any obedience to him. Henry recanted at Canossa in 1077 A.D. in order to regain his powers, but Gregory was eventually forced into exile in 1085 A.D. The can of worms between the papal and temporal power struggle had been opened. The Concordat of Worms (1122 A.D.) & Lateran Council (1123 A.D.) saw a return to some peace between the two. | |||||
| 4. | The triumph of papal law--this is a time now of papal reform of the church and the popes had the upper hand in this reform. The pope was the one who now called the councils together in which only the Latin Church was involved in; i.e., The Lateran Councils of 1123 A.D., 1139 A.D., and 1179 A.D. The popes decretals had the same authority as biblical scripture and that describes why the "forged decretals" written in the ninth century in order to strengthen the pope's power had such an impact on Europe. This is a time when Canon Law became so strong in the church. Popes interfered more and more in church affairs. | |||||
| See Handout #105 | ||||||
| 5. | Theocracy-- "papal power". The confrontations between popes and emperors continued throughout these centuries; Emperor Frederick Barbarosa submitted to Pope Alexander III in Venice in 1177 A.D.; Innocent III (1198-1216 A.D.) held the highest position in the land, even over emperors. He appointed his emperor and made the king of England bow to his whim. He held the fullness of paper power in Christendom. He held absolute power over the church and inserted his power into temporal affairs when he felt they threatened Christians. The Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 A.D. describes the pope's power and the assembly legislated all areas of Christian life. | |||||
| See Handout #106 | ||||||
| See Handout #107 | ||||||
| 6. | Crisis, and a desire for reform--because of the church's and pope's involvement in political affairs the church and empire was weakened. In 1245 A.D. Pope Innocent IV deposed the emperor at the Council of Lyons and also through this act lost some of its moral authority. By the end of the 13th century many were calling for a reform within the church. Monasticism was failing and cardinals openly fought over the election of the next pope. The Second Council of Lyons in 1274 A.D. set out to resolve some of the internal problems of the church. The results were scanty at best. There was a brief reconciliation between the Eastern and Western churches because the ground work had been poorly done. In 1294 A.D., the cardinals dragged an eighty year old hermit from his cell to make him pope (Celestine V). It was disastrous. | |||||
| B. | The monastic church--monks played an important part of the reform of the church. | |||||
| 1. | Cluny--the abbey of Cluny, founded in 910 A.D., restored the Rule of Benedict, gave free election of the next abbot and claimed their independence from princes and bishops and affirmed their strict allegiance to the pope. At its peak it became the monastery over every other monastery and the abbot of Cluny claimed authority over every other monastery. At one time they claimed 50,000 monks. It stressed liturgy and continuous prayer at the expense of field labor. Because of their reform and authority they reformed many other monasteries and the church in general. Because of their affiliation with the papal office only bishops and popes came from this monastery. | |||||
| 2. | Hermits--at the end of the 11th century a strong movement towards being a hermit evolved again. Men and women moved into the forests, eaves, and on islands to expiate their sins. Their fame as saints attracted large crowds of people and they often became popular preachers. | |||||
| See Handout #108 | ||||||
| See Handout #109 | ||||||
| 3. | La Chartreuse-- 1084 A.D., a famous hermitage combined a hermit's life with communal life. | |||||
| 4. | The regular canons--(Norbertines) founded the abbey of Citeaux in 1098 A.D., Robert of Molesmes sought to recapture the old Benedictine Rule of austerity and return to poverty, simple food and buildings, a simple liturgy and solitude in the middle of the forest. The Cistercians were good at clearing the land. | |||||
| 5. | Clairvaux and St. Bernard--from the abbey of Clairvaux, Bernard in 1115 A.D. added considerably to the development of the Cistercian order. He founded sixty-six abbeys. During the middle of the l2th century he was considered to be one of the most important people in the church. He worked for the reform of the clergy. He encourage bishops to practice poverty and be concerned for the poor. He ended a schism in the church of Rome and wrote a new Rule for monastic life. He tried to Christianize the feudal world. He proclaimed the sanctity of marriage and condemned the rich for their self-serving ways. In 1146 A.D. he tried to put an end to the persecutions of the Jews that Crusaders would often attack. Attacks on the order of feudalism were beginning to be felt. He was the last of the "Fathers" and he stressed that religion should lead to the practice of charity for all. | |||||
| II. | The Works of Faith | |||||
| A. | Monastic religion and popular religion | |||||
| 1. | The omnipotence and humanity of God--God was at the top of the feudal system with the princes, bishops and laity as his serfs. He was loved, but even more so he was feared. He was the dispenser of pain and pleasure, life and death. However, the evangelical movement came to stress more and more the humanity of God in Jesus Christ. | |||||
| 2. | The Christian ideal--the monk-he was the one who could read and write. His was the ideal way of life and the only saints were those bishops, monks and other religious. St. Bemard described the world as a large sea which had to be crossed in order to attain salvation. Monks did not get wet because they crossed over on a bridge. The secular clergy used St. Peter's boat. Unfortunately, married people had to swim across and many drowned in the process. Laity would often practice monastic style of living and insist on being buried in monk's habits. | |||||
| 3. | Religion as it was lived--Europe was basically Christian, but the kind of Christian that we wouldn't recognize. The theologians of the time understood Christianity in its proper form, but the average farm person in the country struggled to survive from day to day. This Christianity was still linked in great measure to the seasons of the year and the cycles of nature. | |||||
| B. | Daily Life--in the l2th & 13th centuries the church focused all of its attention on the seven sacraments and tried to impose a universal discipline; i.e., | |||||
| 1. | Baptism--children were baptized within a few days after birth by infusion (pouring over the head) and not by immersion which slowly disappeared. Communion was no longer given to the newborn in the form of wine, as was the custom for so many centuries, because the distribution of wine at mass in the West was dropped entirely. | |||||
| See Handout #110 | ||||||
| 2. | Confession and communion--In 1215 A.D. the Fourth Lateran Council imposed on Christians the need to confess their sins and take communion at least once a year at Easter time in their own parishes. The sacrament of penance took on the role now of "confession". Many only took communion once in the year and only the most pious took communion two or three times in a year. The mass had become a sacred and mysterious spectacle. The most important part of attendance at mass was not in taking the communion, but in being there for the elevation and exposition of the blessed sacrament. This "seeing" the host was supposed to have special virtues; i.e., prayer was automatically granted and protection given against sudden death on a journey. Very close to magic. | |||||
| 3. | Marriage--by the 13th century, marriage was clearly defined as one of the seven sacraments and had become the sole prerogative of the church. The ceremony was in Latin and so those getting married did not understand anything going on. The important thing was the great celebration afterwards. | |||||
| 4. | Growing up in the faith and passing it on--a community passed on the faith by osmosis. The parents and godparents taught the children the Our Father and the Ten Commandments. The number seven (perfect number to Jews) became a mnemonic for children; i.e., seven deadly sins, seven cardinal virtues, seven petitions of the Lord's prayer, seven gifts of the Spirit, seven sacraments etc... This was a time when preaching was important to teach the people in their own language. This is when Dominic and Francis of Assisi took to preaching in the streets. Those in the congregation listening asked questions, applauded or contradicted the preacher as they were moved. The priest would interrogate anyone caught sleeping in church or leaving early. | |||||
| C. | The sacred and the profane--religion and daily living were one in the same thing mixing the sacred with the profane. | |||||
| 1. | The church, the people's house--churches were public places and were used for more than just worship. It was place of refuge in war, some lived in the church and others used it as a meeting place for lovers. | |||||
| 2. | Popular festivals--pagan and Christian festivals often were so mixed up that there was no clear line of distinction. Depending on the particular area there were such practices as: a yule log was kept fit on gloomy days; December 28, Holy Innocents day the children took over the church and played in it all day long; January 1, Feast of Fools, there was dancing and card playing in the church with a bishop and pope elected for the day; there was a feast of asses when Balaam's ass was celebrated in church. | |||||
| 3. | Touching the sacred--Christians wanted to touch the sacred. Pilgrims wanted to touch and see the places where Christ and saints lived. St. Francis celebrated Christmas with a live crib. This explains the reason behind the custom of relics in the church. People wanted somehow to touch their most precious of holy men and women. How the faith was lived in daily life-the church layed down many rules, but the common folk hardly followed them all. The clergy preached an inflexible sexual morality on the people and often did not follow it at all. Public opinion was harder on those they judged greedy than on those who practiced fornication. To give alms to the poor was to heap blessings on oneself and to obtain people to intercede for you in prayer. | |||||
| See Handout #111 | ||||||
| III. | Faith as an Inspiration to Intellect and the Arts | |||||
| A. | A culture based on faith. | |||||
| 1. | Monastic and episcopal schools--under the influence of Charlemagne episcopal schools were established to educate the clergy on how to read and write the classical literature and the writings of the Church Fathers. | |||||
| 2. | New Intellectual requirements--Gregorian reform brought with it new interest in legal studies: a return to Roman law and an elaboration of canon law. A new social class wanted access to the intellectual life. Secular schools began cropping up to meet the demands of the secular society and trouble awaited ahead. | |||||
| See Handout #112 | ||||||
| 3. | Claims of the intellectuals--bishops reserved the right to grant teachers the license to teach. This allowed them control over what was taught and who was doing the teaching. However in large cities, like Paris, students came in great numbers and teachers wanted out from under the control of bishops. During the l2th century new texts were made available to scholars; i.e., Aristotle from the Greek and Aramaic translations. Teachers like Abelard, (1079-1142 A.D.) sought to deepen theological truth with the aid of reason. This was disturbing to bishops. | |||||
| 4. | The birth of the universities--bloody conflicts between intellectuals and the bishops finally led to the establishment of universities. These were associations of teachers and students and they obtained autonomy from the church and organized their own curriculum. In 1231 A.D., Pope Gregory IX solemnly conferred privileges on the University of Paris. | |||||
| 5. | The harmonious encounter of reason and faith--Scholasticism came into being. Thomas Aquinas(1225-1274 A.D.) is one of the most famous scholastics. He put forth a harmonious synthesis between ancient Greece science and Christian revelation. Philosophy became the servant of theology. | |||||
| B. | Popular Christian Art | |||||
| 1. | Religious theatre--Christians portrayed their faith through miracle plays. One such story is the play of Theophilus, the story of a clerk who made a pact with the devil and calls upon the Virgin Mary to get him out of it. | |||||
| See Handout #113 | ||||||
| See Handout #114 | ||||||
| See Handout #115 | ||||||
| 2. | A Bible in stone--Romanesque art and buildings born in the Mediterranean area portrayed Christianity in stone. It was characterized by: vaulted roofs, sculptures and frescoes. Gothic art and buildings came from France; i.e., stained glass windows presented the Bible in pictures and served as a sort of catechism. Artists depicted Christians in their anguish and in their hopes with the expectation of glory or hell. | |||||
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Handouts |
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| 102 | The election of the pope: decree of 1059 A.D. ( Nicholas II). This is how it's done. | |||||
| See Full Text | ||||||
| 103 | Decisions of the Council of Rome (1074 A.D.--Gregory VII). The law is layed down against corruption in the church. | |||||
| See Full Text | ||||||
| 104 | The Dictatus (decrees) of Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085 A.D.) He solidifies his power as the Supreme Pontiff. | |||||
| See Full Text | ||||||
| 105 | The two swords (commentary on Luke 22:35-38) | |||||
| See Full Text | ||||||
| 106 | The pontifical conscience of Pope Innocent III (1198-1216 A.D.). A letter on the power of the pope. | |||||
| See Full Text | ||||||
| 107 | The priest and marriage. A short history of celibacy and not so celibate. | |||||
| See Full Text | ||||||
| 108 | The foundation of La Grande Chartreuse (1084 A.D.). A description of a monastary. | |||||
| See Full Text | ||||||
| 109 | Citeaux, or the "new monastery". Another look at the monastery of the times. | |||||
| See Full Text | ||||||
| 110 | The evolution of penitential practice in the church over six centuries. | |||||
| See Full Text | ||||||
| 111 | Discoveries of Relics. Rediscovering the Church's saints who died with the sign of faith. | |||||
| See Full Text | ||||||
| 112 | Reason and faith. Science and theology can come together. | |||||
| See Full Text | ||||||
| 113 | The recognition of the University of Paris by Pope Gregory IX (1231 A.D.) | |||||
| See Full Text | ||||||
| 114 | The beginnings of romanesque art in the eleventh century. | |||||
| See Full Text | ||||||
| 115 | The enthusiasm of the inhabitants of Le Mans for their cathedral. | |||||
| See Full Text | ||||||
