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Chapter Nine |
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Christendom: Expansion, Challenge and Defense |
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| I. | End of the Eleventh to the thirteenth centuries. | ||||
| Christendom was the foundational structure of society and as such was bound to fight against the enemies outside of itself; i.e., Moslems, and those within it, the heretics. It began to arm itself in this war and began a period of organized repression in the form of the Inquisition. This was not the full solution to the christian problem of evangelization and because of the Inquisition new forms of religious life was born. | |||||
| A. | Crusade and Mission | ||||
| 1. | Armed Christianity--because of the invasions of the Moslems many Christian holy places had been occupied and Christians aware of their own identity and unity and they gathered together to win back those holy places. | ||||
| a. | The pilgrimage to Jerusalem--the origins of crusades began in Jerusalem. This place was first and foremost a place of ritual of purification and penitence. Christians believed that to share in the life and death of Christ on the same ground would assure them a place in heaven. In Spain it was claimed that those who died fighting the infidels, Moslems, were assured of salvation. The Turks threatened Constantinople and the emperor of Greece called to the West for help. | ||||
| See Handout #116 | |||||
| b. | The call to the crusade--at the Council of Clermont (1095 A.D.) Pope Urban II asked the knights of the West to go to the East and win back the holy places. The pope granted plenary indulgences and dispensation from all penances to those who took up the sword in the name of the church. | ||||
| See Handout #117 | |||||
| c. | Rivers of blood and naive piety-Peter, the Hermit, led a group of poor pilgrims to Jerusalem fighting their way until every last one of them were killed. The knights followed them and captured Jerusalem in 1099 A.D. amongst massacres and bloody killings along the way. Several militant religious orders were organized to defend the city; i.e., Knights Templar, Knights Hospitaller etc... Jerusalem was recaptured by the sultan of Eygpt in 1187 A.D. and that was the end of crusades into Jerusalem. | ||||
| d. | Scanty results--the crusades bound Christians together for a common purpose and to affirm the power of the papacy, but the gap between the Western church and Eastern church widened as crusaders invaded Constantinople and began to slaughter everyone, Moslem and Christian alike. The idea of crusades lingered on in the minds of Christians up to the seventeenth century, but had little or no impact on a Christian world. The gospel cannot be imposed! | ||||
| B. | From crusade to mission | ||||
| 1. | The completion of evangelization in Europe--in the l2th century the evangelization of Europe was completed with the conversion of the Scandinavian peoples and the Prussians. | ||||
| 2. | Persuasion and knowledge of others--with the failure of the crusades people re-thought their approach to the Moslems might better be had by trying to persuade them. Francis of Assisi met the Sultan of Egypt in 1218 A.D. and Raymond Lull, (1235-1316 A.D.), a spanish franciscan thought the work of evangelization would be best accomplished through the intellect and established a school to teach friars the language and doctrines of their foreign lands they would be going to. | ||||
| 3. | The first church in China--in the l2th century the Mongols from china sowed terror as far as Europe. Franciscans and Dominicans became pilgrim friars going into Central Asia, Persian Gulf, India and as far as China. Due to the Marco brothers, sons of Marco Polo, the Mongol Khan, emperor of China asked the pope for missionaries. Franciscan John of Monte Corvino became the first Archbishop of Peking. Eventually political difficulties and distance caused the disappearance of this first church in China. | ||||
| See Handout #118 | |||||
| II. | Christendom Challenged | ||||
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Those who were not in agreement with the established church in Europe became known as the enemies. |
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| A. | The Jews Popular violence--Jews were spread all over Europe from Spain to the Rhine River. Anti-semitism. was rampant due in large measure to the Christians blaming the Jews for the crucifixion of the Lord. Jews in Spain were forced to convert Christianity after the Moslems were driven out. Jews in Europe, especially during the crusades, were as much a target of genocide as were the Moslems. | ||||
| B. | Discriminatory legislation--the Third and Fourth Lateran Councils (1179 & 1215 A.D.) created laws that were directed at the Jews; i.e., they had to wear distinctive garb; a piece of yellow material and a pointed hat; allowed only in certain trades; marriage with Christians was forbidden; they were forced to live together in Ghettos and were expelled in certain countries. Certain local customs arose that further humiliated them; i.e., on Good Friday in Toulouse France Jews were expected to appear before the church and have their ears boxed. Jews were not allowed to work or own land so they migrated to the cities and devoted themselves to financial and commercial enterprises. Christians refused to deal in loaning money, usury, so they resorted to Jews in this respect so that they incurred the sin. Although the church was enacting laws against the Jews on the one hand on the other hand they treated Jews far better than many princes did. | ||||
| C. | Gospel and dissent--any dissenter against the church was considered a heretic. | ||||
| See Handout #119 | |||||
| 1. | An evangelical protest--within church circles the protest was loudest against a church that had become too prosperous. Protests erupted against those priests who were too greedy or who took concubines. The middle class reacted against a church that was too powerful in a too feudal society. Monks and secular clergy shut themselves up away from the people and no longer provided for their spiritual needs. | ||||
| 2. | Valdes and the Poor Men of Lyons--in 1173 A.D., Peter Valdes, a rich merchant was uneasy about his wealth and gave it all to the poor and established the Poor Men of Lyons. He preached poverty and lived it. Men and women joined him, prayed together, read scripture in the vernacular and preached in the market places. The church hierarchy became upset with this movement because there were no priests in this movement and they were questioning the wealth of the church. They became known as Waldensians and grew into a large group of heretics. They spread throughout France, Germany and northern Italy and met up with other dissent groups. Rejected by the church they denied the need for an institutional church and claimed the universal priesthood for all. | ||||
| 3. | The hope of a better world--another movement which wanted to return to the gospel and early church drew upon the book of Revelations and the prophetic books to speculate on the future of society. These became known as the apocalyptic or millenarian movements. People were unhappy with the self-satisfied church that supported a church rife with corruption, unjust and they wanted it all reversed. This was the starting point for church revolutions sparked by the Holy Spirit. | ||||
| 4. | The Cathari--this was a doctrine contrary to Christianity. They professed a dualism of body and spirit. The body and the material world as wicked and denied the incarnation of Christ and condemned marriage. They thought that they were the only "good Christians". They had to extinguish all sexual desire and live austere lives. They believed in reincarnation and thought the next life would be better if this one were horrible. | ||||
| See Handout #120 | |||||
| D. | The rise of the Mendicant Orders--the return to the gospels did not just happen in dissenters against the church, but within the church. The rise of the mendicant orders of friars was born. Their founders wanted to respond to the gospel in a more literal and real sense. | ||||
| 1. | Dominic and the Friars preachers--Dominic, born in Spain in 1170 A.D. He believed that the poverty of preachers was the only effective remedy to combat heretics like the Cathari. In 1216 A.D. the pope recognized the Order of Friars Preachers who adopted the Rule of St.Benedict. | ||||
| 2. | Presence in the world--they divided their time between preaching and study. The Order was very democratic. Elections were held and were only temporary and they depended on charity for their existence. | ||||
| 3. | Francis and the Friars Minor--Francis, born in Assisi, was the son of a rich merchant who abandoned his heritage and dedicated his life to Lady Poverty. He met Christ the poor man in the form of a leper. He heard the call to "re-build" my church. With several companions he began preaching the word of God and proclaiming peace to the world. They were very poor and begged for their existence. He preached without being a priest, but he had no wish to judge priests or the church. He asked only to be allowed to live the gospel. | ||||
| See Handout #121 | |||||
| 4. | Peace and joy--in 1209 A.D. Francis had a dozen companions and ten years later there were 3000. In 1212 A.D. Clare followed his example and established The Poor Clares. Francis preached the gospel to whoever would listen and in 1219 A.D. went to evangelize the Sultan of Egypt. From the beginning the Order was at odds with each other about what they were to be. Some wanted strict organization with convents and study houses and Francis did not. He wrote his rule in 1223 A.D. and in 1224 A.D. the marks of the stigmata appeared on his body. He died on October 3,1226 and two years later was canonized. He has always been one of the most favorite saints of the church since The Middle Ages because he has always been the example of the supreme witness to the return to the gospel, rejecting wealth, and loving nature. | ||||
| III. | The Repression of Heresy | ||||
| The Inquisition does not represent the universal attitude of the church in The Middle Ages. There were many hesitations for several centuries before the systematic scheme of repression was organized. | |||||
| See Handout #122 | |||||
| See Handout #123 | |||||
| See Handout #124 | |||||
| See Handout #125 | |||||
| A. | Hesitations and reservations--up until the eleventh century the church had rejected the death penalty for heretics. In spite of its repressive laws the church generally was unwilling to use violence to bring people back to the faith. | ||||
| B. | Popular movements and a progressive hardening--at the end of the eleventh century the number of dissents seemed to have increased. Unity of faith in Christendom was threatened and since it was the safeguard of society, heretics had to be dealt with in order to maintain society's well being. | ||||
| C. | The working out of legislation against heretics--The decree of Gratian (1140 A.D.) envisioned three stages in the procedure to deal with heretics: (1) attempt persuasion; (2) canonical sanctions; (3) finally appeal to the secular justice dispensed by princes. In 1197 A.D. King Peter of Aragon classed heresy as high treason, punishable by death and Pope Innocent III agreed. | ||||
| D. | The Albigensian Crusade--when a papal legate was murdered in Germany, sent there to combat the heretics, Pope Innocent III called for a crusade against the Albigensians. It became a war between the lords of the north and the lords of the south. The most famous episode was the massacre in 1209 A.D. of the whole town of Beziers, who had taken refuge in a cathedral. | ||||
| E. | The Inquisition--came into being in 1220-1230 A.D. and the death stake became the norm for dissenters. Death was not the only punishment though, people were imprisoned, fined or sent on pilgrimages. | ||||
| 1. |
Inquisitions and Inquisitors--three different kinds of inquisitions are presented: (1) The secular Inquisition of Frederic II (1224 A.D.) and Louis IX in (1229 A.D.); The episcopal Inquisition in Toulouse (1229 A.D.); and The papal inquisition (1229 A.D.). Pope Gregory IX made the inquisition a special tribunal responsible directly to him. He enlisted Franciscans and Dominicans. A special procedure for torture was developed. The church took direct responsibility for conducting the punishments in the name of God. It was convinced that its very existence was in danger and took these extreme measures to ensure its continued existence. |
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| See Handout #126 | |||||
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Handouts |
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| 116 | The Council of Clermont (1095 A.D.) A call for crusades against the Moslems. | ||||
| See Full Text | |||||
| 117 | The capture of Jerusalem at the time of the first crusade (15 July 1099 A.D.). A short description of a crusade. | ||||
| See Full Text | |||||
| 118 | The first Archbishop of Pekin. The church in China. | ||||
| See Full Text | |||||
| 119 | The Waldenses, or the Poor Men of Lyons. A heretical group fed up with the corruption in the church. | ||||
| See Full Text | |||||
| 120 | The New Manicheans or Cathari. Another heretical group disillusioned by the corrupt church. | ||||
| See Full Text | |||||
| 121 | Testament of Francis (1226 A.D.). Gives one a flavor of this very popular saint. | ||||
| See Full Text | |||||
| 122 | The escalation of repression. A bishop cannot demand the death of heretics. | ||||
| See Full Text | |||||
| 123 | Legislation of Frederick II against the heretics. Death by stake or tongue cut out. | ||||
| See Full Text | |||||
| 124 | The birth of the episcopal Inquisition: decisions of the Council of Toulouse (1229 A.D.). The oppression begins by the church. | ||||
| See Full Text | |||||
| 125 | Letter of Pope Gregory IX to the Bishops of France, 13, April 1233 A.D. The Dominicans and Franciscans are put to work finding heretics. | ||||
| See Full Text | |||||
| 126 | Theological justification for the repression of heretics. Thomas Aquinas justifies the inquisitor. | ||||
| See Full Text | |||||
