Transcript Slide 1

The Medieval Church
The Most Stable Authority in Medieval
Times
Organization of Church
The Ultimate Goal
• Everyone went to church
• Catholic Church was the only Christian church
in Europe
• Only the Church could help people achieve
salvation
• All people wanted salvation, SO
• Many would leave all their property to Church,
hoping it would get them into Heaven
• Many would buy pardons or go on pilgrimages
Importance of Parish Priests
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After lord of manor, priest most important man in village
Mass was in Latin, the language of the Church
During Mass, priest described Heaven and Hell
Since almost no one could speak Latin, or read and write,
icons, statues and Doom paintings helped depict horrors
of Hell and joys of Heaven
Duties of Parish Priest
• Say Mass in Latin every
Sunday
• Perform weddings and
baptisms
• Hear confessions
• Bury the dead
• Heal the sick
• Teach children of the
wealthy
• Visit villagers to listen
and help with problems
• Tend to Church land,
including growing and
harvesting crops and
herbs
• Collect tithes
• Keep all village records
The Power of the Church
• Only the Church could offer salvation
• Members of Church were usually the
only ones who could read and write
• Many important government positions
were held by Bishops and Archbishops
• Had great influence over common
people, knights and kings
Why so much influence?
The Church owned land
• Owned a great deal of farmland
• Anyone who grew crops on Church
land had to give 10% of all they grew to
the Church - Tithe
Why so much influence?
The Church controlled people’s beliefs
• Told people they would either go to
Heaven or Hell when they died
• Hell was a place of great suffering and the
idea frightened most people
• Church gave them hope that they at least
might go to Purgatory instead, if they
followed Church rules
Why so much influence?
The Church could influence behavior
• Returning knights - difficult time adjusting
to peace
• Often terrorized villages
• Church could influence their behavior –
make them swear on relics to
• Enforce the Peace of God
• Enforce the Truce of God
Why so much influence?
The Church was rich
• Since people didn’t want to go to Hell, they
were willing to do what the Church
suggested, such as:
• Attend Church and live a good life
• Go on a pilgrimage
• Buy pardons, called Indulgences
• The Church made a lot of money through
people trying to buy their way to Heaven
Why so much influence?
The Church was not controlled by the King
• The Church was Roman Catholic and
therefore controlled by the Pope
• The King could not tell anyone from the
Church what to do
• Church officials could not be tried in
normal court
• Could only be tried in Church court
• Church officials were often very lenient
on their peers
Reform of the Papacy
• Since 5th century, Church claimed rule over all
business of the Church
• Also gained control of territories in Italy – Papal States
• Also maintained involvement in feudal system
– Secular rulers chose local church officials; bishops and
abbots received the symbols of authority from noblemen –
they were invested with a ring and a staff (investiture)
– Pope Gregory VII decided to change this practice
The Investiture Controversy
• Gregory claimed he was God’s “Vicar on Earth” and
had authority over all Christian world, including its
rulers
• Church should appoint all church officials
• If rulers refused to accept this change, the Pope
would remove the rulers
• Henry IV tried to fight this and was excommunicated’
all of his subjects were absolved from any allegiance
to him
Concordat of Worms
• A year later, Henry IV humbled himself before the
Pope, who removed the excommunication
• However this continued to be a point of contention
until 1122 – Concordat of Worms
• Under this agreement, German bishops elected by
Church officials
• Then paid homage to German king as his feudal lord
and invested him with symbols of earthly office
• Then a representative of the Pope invested him with
symbols of his spiritual office
New Religious Orders
• Franciscans:
– Founded by Francis of
Assisi
– Followers took vows of
poverty, agreed to reject
all property, and lived by
working and begging
– Very popular with
common people, whom
they lived among and
aided
– Undertook missionary
work
• Dominicans:
– Founded by Dominic de
Guzman
– Believed his calling was
to drive out heresy – the
denial of basic Church
doctrines/policies
– Believed that a new
religious order who lived
in poverty and could
preach effectively could
best attack heresy
The Inquisition
• The Church court set up to deal with heresy
• Dominicans became well-known for their part in
examining people accused of heresy
• At first, those who confessed performed public
penance and received punishment
• In 1252, Inquisition added torture as a method of
getting confessions
• Those who didn’t confess but were believed guilty or
those who had done penance and relapsed were
executed
Relics and Pilgrimages
• People believed saints,
because of their holiness,
could advocate for them in
heaven
• Relics, the bones of saints
or objects connected to
them with saints, were
worshipped because the
provided a link between the
earthly world and God
• Many believed relics could
heal people or produce
miracles
• Many also believed a
pilgrimage to a holy shrine
could produce spiritual benefit
• Greatest shrine was Jerusalem
• Other popular shrines were
Rome, Santiago de
Compostela, and Canterbury
• Pilgrims were to be
“protected”
• Uproar when Jerusalem was
taken over by Muslims who
allegedly prohibited pilgrims
from completing pilgrimage to
Holy Land