Transcript Medieval Religion

Medieval Religion
Pages 501-502
and 524-539
Medieval Religion Vocabulary
• Clergy – church officials
• Convent – a community of nuns
• Crusades – a long set of wars between
Christians and Muslims. They were fighting
over the Holy Land.
Medieval Religion Vocabulary
• Excommunicate –to cast out from the church
• Friar – a member of the religious order who
lived and worked among the people
• Holy Land – the region on the eastern shore of
the Mediterranean Sea where Jesus lived,
preached, and died.
Medieval Religion Vocabulary
• Missionaries –someone who works to spread
religious beliefs
• Monastery – a community of monks
• Monks –a religious man who lived apart from
society in an isolated community
Medieval Religion Vocabulary
• Nuns – a woman that devotes her life to
religion and lives in a convent
• Pope – Leader of the Roman Catholic Church
• Religious Order – a group of people who
dedicate their lives to religion and follow
common rules
Early Religion
• At the beginning of the
Middle Ages religion was only
found in areas of the Roman
Empire.
• Monks and missionaries
spread the religion to the
North.
• The pope was in charge of
sending out the missionaries
to teach people about
Christianity.
Early Religion
• Britain was one of the first places that was
converted.
• France and Germany followed.
Early Religion
• Patrick was a monk that turned
missionary.
• He took it upon himself to
travel to Britain and convert
people to Christianity. From
there he traveled to Ireland.
• Legend has it that Patrick drove
all the snakes into the sea.
• After Patrick’s death the Irish
declared him a Saint. - St.
Patrick!
Early Religion
• Life centered around the church in the Middle
Ages.
Markets
Religion
Ceremonies
Festivals
Monks
• Monks were a major part of the religion
– Their lives revolved around prayer, work, and
meditation.
– They were strictly organized. It was believed that the
many rules helped them lead good Christian lives.
– Monks in different areas had different rules.
Monks
• Monks could provide basic services
such as:
– Healthcare
– Help for the poor or needy
– Schools
– Copied Books
– Collected and Saved ancient Greek and
Roman writings
– Served as Scribes and Advisors to Rulers
– Spread Religion by building monasteries
in remote regions
• Since Religion was a big
part of life, many
people would leave
their land to the church
when they died. The
church then turned the
land into feudal lands.
• Some of the monks and
clergy got too
consumed with taking
care feudal lands. Their
time was taken up
more with politics than
religion.
Monks
Monks
• There were groups of monks that thought the
religious orders should focus on religion and
not politics.
• Cluny Monks were one of the groups of monks
that set stricter rules to keep their Christian
lifestyles.
Other Religious Orders
• Women could also devote
their lives to religion. These
women would be called
nuns.
• The nuns lived in
communities similar to the
monks. Nuns’ communities
were called convents.
Other Religious Orders
• Friars -
Monks
•Lived apart from people
•Built Monasteries
•Collected, stored, and
copied Christian texts
•Unhappy with
politics in the
church
•Members of
Religious Orders
•Lived Simply
•Owned no
property
Friars
•Lived and worked among
the people
•Preached and begged
•Two Orders – Dominicans
and Franciscans
Church Achievements
• The church created the first universities.
– The goal was to teach people about religion.
– They also taught law, medicine, and astronomy.
– Everything was taught in Latin. Latin is the language of
scholars and the church.
• As a result of being educated, people became
able to develop new ideas.
• This will lead to less dependence on the church
and kings. Also, many new governments,
inventions, and ways of life will result from the
new ideas.
Church Achievements
• Thomas Aquinas believed that
reason and faith could work
together. He would use reason to
try and explain parts of his faith.
• Natural Law was created by
Thomas Aquinas. This idea was
that it was a law created by God
that governed how the world
operated.
Church Achievements
• Cathedrals were the enormous
churches built in the Middle
Ages.
– They used Gothic Architecture
– They were a symbol of the
Christian Faith
– Taller than other churches
– Huge stained glass windows
Church Achievements
• Religious Art:
– Paintings and Tapestries decorated the walls of the
cathedrals
– The priest clothing could have silver and gold thread
sown into them for decoration
– Monks illuminated the pages of a book with thin pieces
of gold or silver that seem to make it glow.
Religion VS. Politics
• Nobles and Knights   Popes and Kings
POWER
• Popes and Kings end up controlling society.
Religion VS. Politics
• At this time
everyone
belonged to one
church.
• They believed
that the Pope was
God’s
representative on
Earth.
Religion VS. Politics
• The Pope’s responsibilities:
– Tell people how to live and pray
– Decide what the church will teach
– Write a bull, or a letter to explain religious
teachings or church policies.
– Decide when someone has acted against the
church
– Excommunicate anyone who was against the
church
Religion VS. Politics
• To be excommunicated
from the church was
considered the worst
thing that could happen
to you.
• The people feared that if
they died while being
excommunicated that
they would not get into
heaven.
Religion VS. Politics
• Popes also had political power.
– When Rome collapsed the people looked to the
Pope as a leader.
– Popes started to live like kings
• They became rich, built big palaces, and had conflict
with other kings.
Religion VS. Politics
• In the 700’s Charlemagne was crowned by the
pope to be the Holy Roman Emperor.
• In the 900’s a new emperor was crowned and it
was again considered a rebirth of the Holy Roman
Empire.
• The emperor was elected by the nobles. This
would sometimes mean there were fights that
had to be solved by the Pope.
• Other countries of this time had kings that would
pass the crown on to their son.
Religion VS. Politics
• 1000’s Western Europe is under the
Pope’s control. Eastern Europe is not so
the Pope tries to reign in the people
under his control.
• Pope Leo IX thought that the Pope
should be the leader of the Christian
Church.
• The Bishop of Constantinople disagreed.
• The Pope excommunicated the Bishop.
• The church divided into the Orthodox
Church that followed the Bishop and the
Roman Catholic Church that followed the
Pope.
Religion VS. Politics
• Kings and Popes eventually started to argue
over who would chose the bishops.
• Pope Gregory VII didn’t like a bishop that
Emperor Henry IV picked.
Religion VS. Politics
• The Emperor tried to get the
Pope removed.
• The Pope excommunicates the
Emperor and tries to get the
nobles to overthrow him.
• Desperate to stay in power,
Henry stood for 3 days outside
the Pope’s Palace. He was
barefoot and waiting in the
snow because the Pope refused
to see him.
• Eventually the Pope let the
Emperor back into the church.
Religion VS. Politics
• This showed that the
Pope was more
powerful than the
King!
• Later a different Pope
and King reached an
agreement that the
Pope would pick the
bishops but that the
bishops must follow
the Emperor’s rule.
Crusades
• Christians and Muslims would visit the Holy Land to
see sites that were holy to each religion.
• This worked fine until Turkish Muslims captured
Jerusalem.
• The Christians that had been there at the time came
back and told everyone that the Holy Land was no
longer safe.
Crusades
• Before long the Eastern part of Europe was being attacked by
the Turkish Muslims.
• The Eastern part of Europe was the Byzantine Empire. These
people were Orthodox.
• They asked the Pope, who is Roman Catholic, for help.
• He agreed. Both Orthodox and Roman Catholic are Christians,
so they would be teaming up against the Muslims.
Crusades
• Pope Urban II calls for Christians to retake the
Holy Land.
• The people would be fighting for God so they
adorned their clothing with crosses.
• The word “Crusade” is Latin for “ Marked with
a Cross”
• The rally cry of the Crusade was “God wills it!”
• Reasons why people fought in the Crusades:
–
–
–
–
–
Save their souls
What God wanted
God would look favorably on them
Land and Treasure
Something to do - Adventure
Crusades
• 1st Crusade – 1096
– 5,000 People
– Mostly Peasants were the first to leave for the Holy
Land.
– The Peasants attacked the Jews on their way to the Holy
Land. The Peasants blamed the Jews for Jesus' death.
– Many Peasants were killed by Turkish Muslims before
they even reached the Holy Land.
Crusades
• 1st Crusade
– The Nobles reached the Holy Land later and found
disorganized Muslims.
– They fought for about a month before the
Christians retake Jerusalem.
Crusades
• 2nd Crusade - 1147
– About 50 years passed and the Muslims started
taking back the Holy Land.
– French and German kings lead men in for the 2nd
Crusade.
– This Crusade lasted one year.
– Poor planning and loss of men on the way to the
Holy Land made this Crusade unsuccessful.
Crusades
• 3rd Crusade - 1189
– The rulers of England, France, and the Holy Roman
Empire led their people in the 3rd Crusade.
– The German King (Holy Roman Emperor) died and the
French King left.
– Only England’s King Richard I was left.
– He faced off against Saladin ruler of the Muslims.
Crusades
• 3rd Crusade
• Each side respected the leader of the other side. The
Muslims thought Richard, also known as The Lionheart,
was brave. The Christians couldn’t believe the Saladin’s
kindness toward a fallen enemy.
– For months they fought but in the end Richard was only
able to secure safe passage for the Christian pilgrims.
Saladin and the Muslims kept control of the Holy Land.
Crusades
• 4th Crusade – 1201
– French knights set off on the 4th Crusade.
– They have no money so they ransack Christian towns
including Constantinople.
– They never even made it to the Holy Land.
• There were many other Crusades following but
none was successful.
Crusades
• 1291 – The Muslims control the Holy Land and the
Crusades have ended.
• The Crusades failed because:
– Christians had to travel far distances to get to the Holy Land.
Many men would die on the journey.
– Christians were not prepared for the desert climate in the Holy
Land.
– Christians were outnumbered by well organized Muslims.
– There was fighting amongst the Christians and poor planning.
Crusades
• The Results of the Crusades:
– Trade increases due to the traveling of the knights.
– Kings gained power because they took the land of the
knights and lords that died in the Crusades.
– Jews disliked Christians because of the attacks carried out
against them.
– Eastern Christians (Orthodox) disliked Western Christians
(Roman Catholics) because of the ransacking of towns like
Constantinople.
– Christians were considered invaders by the Muslims. Muslims
were considered unbelievers by the Christians.
Crusades
• This has been the evolution of Religion in the
Middle Ages.
• Next we will look at changes in society that
bring about the end of the Middle Ages.