PRACTICES OF THE CHURCH GOT YA DOWN?

HOW ABOUT A LITTLE CHANGE

POPE

Bishops Bishops Bishops

Priests Priests Priests Priests Priests

Lay People People People People People People

Bishop’s Cathedralsin Major Cities

The Village Parish Churches

The Church Structure (Hierarchy): Clergy – religious

officials

Lay – the common people in the Church

The Village Parish Churches

Diocese Diocese

The Middle Ages are sometimes calledThe Age of Faith.

-While Feudalism and the Manor system created divisions among Medieval people…

-Shared beliefs and the teachings of the Church was a stable force, establishing unity among Europeans.-Everyone (regardless of station) could still follow the same path to Salvation (everlasting life in Heaven). -

This path to Heaven – according to the Medieval Church – was paved by following the Church’s sacraments.

Problems Facing the Medieval Church

Lay Investiture Kings choose clergy positions (bishops)

Simony a position in the church being sold by a

bishop to the highest contributor Greedy clergy / obsession with

wealth; corrupt & pampered bishops; even a few Popes with questionable morals

Illiterate, uneducated priests contributed to conflicting beliefs

Immoral (non-celibate) priests / illegitimate children

CHURCH MAKES EFFORTS TO REFORM• Pope Leo IX & Gregory VII lead the effort to reform• Reorganize the structure of the Church hierarchy• Created the Curia (council of Pope’s advisors)• Extends the power Popes have over clergy• Create the Inquisition (Church court)• Curia clarifies Canon Law• Enforce laws

POPE

The Curia (Cardinals) Bishops Bishops Bishops Priests Priests Priests Priests T h e L A Y P e o p l e

Acted as the Church’s Judicial Branch – served as a Court & to “police” the clergy: traveled through Europe dealing with “bad” bishops and priests.

• Pope Leo IX & Gregory VII lead the effort to reform• Cathedral construction• Convents for women• Preaching Friars (monks)

• The Dominicans founded by a Spaniard, Dominic • The Franciscans founded by St. Francis of Assissi

• The Cistercians practiced an ascetic life (life of hardship) • Benedictine Monastery at Cluny (reform movement began here)• Tithe (church tax) – used to provide social services to people

Nearly 500 Gothic cathedrals were built and decorated between 1170 and 1270.

The Church was very wealthy; cathedrals were meant to represent the City of God on earth and so were richly decorated.

Their construction was also a way to foster unity in the local communities, encourage pride among citizens, and focus people’s attention to “heavenly” matters.

ROMANESQUE Style

• Rounded arches, dome• Short, thick walls• Few windows, creating• Dark interiors• Typical style of Roman / Byzantine period

GOTHIC Style• Pointed arches, steeples, spires,• Tall walls supported by “flying buttresses”• Vaulted ceilings• Many windows creating• Interiors flooded with natural light• Late Medieval period

Cathedral of Laon; France, about 1160-1235

Detail of the buttresses.

Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, France

(construction 1163 – 1250)

• Fundraising, and hard work to build these cathredrals united people in a community into a single purpose.

• The building of cathedrals was designed to pull focus away from the harshness of life, and towards God’s religion.

• Physical construction of gothic cathedrals were designed to draw the eye upward to heaven

4. The Church forbade Christians from lending money at interest.

Jews, who were not allowed to make a living in many occupations, became moneylenders since their own religion did not forbid it and it was a way for them to make income. Usury – lending money and

charging interest.

Anti-Semitism – prejudice and / or hatred toward people who are Jewish.

Because the Jews became the wealthy financiers / bankers in Europe, they were often resented by the poorer Christian population.

This matter contributed to rising Anti-Semitism (persecutions of Jews) in Europe.

What led to the weakening of the Church’s power over people in the Middle Ages?

• The repeated failures of the Crusades [1092-1291]

• its corrupt clergy and greed – insistent demands for tithes from the poor while the church’s upper clergy appeared to be living pampered lives.

• an embarrassing Scandal known as the Great Schism [1305-1378]

• its refusal to condemn the barbarism on both sides in the Hundred Years’ War

• its inability to address the needs of the people during the Bubonic plague • the first appearance of outspoken, critical priests within the Church who began to question the Pope himself

• Scholars / writers use common people’s vernacular language brought criticisms of Church to the ear of the common man

The Black DeathOrigin – Asia (region of Gobi desert north of China.)- Mongol unification of Asia created circumstances making it’s spread possible. - First reports of illness in China in 1333 A.D.- First reports of illness in Middle East in 1346 A.D. - Reports of in eastern Europe (Crimea region) 1346 A.D. - story of bodies being catapulted over walls of Caffa during Muslim siege of city.- Spread: as a result of Trade. - Carrier: the Black Rat. - Transmitter: the flea!

The Bubonic Plague - Pandemic of the 14th c.

Black Rat (Rattus rattus) Like other rats, it carries a number of diseases, including bubonic plague, which is transmitted by its fleas.

4. Where did the plague begin and how did it spread?Began in Asia – spread to Europe through trade. Arriving in port cities on rat-infested trade ships.

Effects of the PlagueIII. On the Church

A. The Church couldn’t save victims. People lose faith in the institution; not God. B. Connection to upcoming Protestant

Reformation:Who would help a plague victim? A good, self-less priest? So then, which priests all died?The good priests?!

Leaving now the more self-centered priests?

A church filled with such self-seeking priests would be in need of Reformation.