Chapter 25: The Church

 

¨     Church officials wanted to establish Roman Catholicism all over Western Europe and have it effect government

¨     They did this through the effective use of missionaries.

 

Section 1: Catholic Influence

¨     Church was the center of every village and town

Daily Life

¨     Religious ceremonies were very important in many areas

¨     Almost all people went to mass (worship on Sundays).

¨     Church performed a lot of the record keeping in society

Political Life

¨     Church helped to govern and were big land owners since people sometimes gave their land to the Church on their death

¨     High officials advised kings and lords and lower ones told their people to obey the nobles and government.

¨     Canon laws (laws that were set up by the Church) were different than other laws.         

¨     If a person disobeyed canon laws they could be excommunicated (thrown out of church and lose their rights).

The Inquisition

¨     Some people tried to get others to believe things the church did not want them to and were called heretics. 

¨     Church responded by setting up a Church court were they could have trials called the Inquisition.

¨     If a person confessed they would be punished by whipping and prison, if they did not the Church sometimes tortured and killed people.

 

Section 2: Attempts at Reform

¨     Church members supported church and made it rich by giving tithes (10% of their income).

¨     As they became wealthier church leaders were less concerned about faith.

¨     If a bishop died the noble of the area had the right to appoint someone new and sometimes the appointees paid money or were non-religious friends of the noble.

The Monks of Cluny

¨     Were very devout group of monks who pushed the idea that the pope should appoint important religious officials not the nobles.

Pope Gregory VII (PG7)

¨     While PG7 was in power the pope was not only a religious official but had a lot of land and property.

¨     PG7 banned marriages for bishops and priests and kicked out of office those who had bribed themselves into office.

¨     Despite objections from the nobles and kings, PG7 claimed the pope was above all the kings and should be allowed to chose religious officials.

Friars

¨     Friars (preachers) went out into towns to preach instead of shutting themselves from the world like monks.

¨     Two major orders of friars were Franciscans (FR) and Dominicans (DO).

¨     FR were cheerful and loved nature & DO studied languages so they could preach to all people.

 

Section 3: Learning

¨     Was more time for school since society was more stable than before.

Cathedral Schools

¨     Cathedrals (churches run by bishops) set up schools that helped to educate people about reading & writing so they could serve church or become lawyers, doctors, and teachers.

Universities

¨     Unions (groups of people joined together in a common cause) of teachers believed teachers should be better educated.

¨     The unions started universities (groups of teachers and students dedicated to learning) that were headed by a church official called a chancellor.

¨     These universities became important learning centers.

Thomas Aquinas

¨     Developed a philosophy that faith and reasoning were both important and people should try and determine the answers.

¨     He wrote Summa Theologica which was later used by the Church.

 

Section 4: The Crusades

¨     When the Seljuk Turks took over Jerusalem (JE) it was harder for Christians from W to visit shrines and churches there.

¨     Many people and leaders were upset and this led to the Crusades.

A Call to War

¨     Turks were threatening to take over the Byzantine Empire so the Byzantine Emperor asked for help from Pope Urban II (PUR).

¨     The pope agreed to help thinking this would reunite Christianity.

¨     PUR got the leaders of Europe to send troops to conquer the Turks.

¨     PUR said people who went would get land, not owe debts & taxes, and  would go to heaven if they died.

Peasants’ Crusade

¨     Lords supported 1st Crusade because they would get land and fame and poor thought this was a way out of their miserable lives.

¨     Peasants left before the nobles were ready and they massacred innocent Jews and robbed the countryside on their way to Constantinople.

¨     The Byzantine Emperor was upset by this and gave them boats to go to Palestine where they were wiped out by the Turks.

The Nobles’ Crusade

¨     Nobles came prepared.

¨     Successfully took over the JE by defeating Turks.

¨     However, they massacred lots of people and looted the area.

The Kingdom Beyond the Sea

¨     Most nobles went back home but those who stayed to rule the area they had conquered started to adopt some to the Turkish ways.

¨     Some had trouble adjusting to the new land and others fought among themselves for control of the areas.

Saladin and the Crusade of Kings

¨     Saladin was a Muslim leader of Egypt who took back over JE for the Muslims.

¨     His troops were well trained and behaved better once they won than the Europeans had.

¨     After Saladin took over JE, the Church wanted another crusade that was called the Crusade of Kings (CK).

¨     In the CK, 3 kings tried to take back JE but one died on the way there and the other two did not get along.

¨     They were able to take some land but did not get JE.

The Loss of an Ideal

¨     In another crusade the armies decided to go to Palestine by boat with the help of the Venetians.

¨     When the crusaders could not pay what they had agreed to to the Venetians they agreed to conquer Constantinople for Venice.

¨     Instead of going to conquer Palestine, the crusaders looted Constantinople.

¨     This behavior made people less likely to support future crusades.

¨     Children’s Crusade was also a failure.

¨     Eventually the Muslims retook all of the territory the crusaders had taken.

Effects of the Crusades

¨     Made the split of Christianity permanent and weakened Byzantines.

¨     Kings were able to take more control in their countries since many nobles were away fighting.

¨     New trade routes and opportunities for learning started.