Medieval Church

1.) The Middle Ages were known as Europe’s

• Age of Faith

Sacraments

• The sacred rituals and rites of the Church.

Canon Law

• The law of the Church.

Excommunication

• To banish someone from participating in the sacraments of the Church.

Interdict

• To banish an entire town or community from receiving the Church sacraments.

Tithe

• A church tax equal 10% of one’s income.

Tithes• As peasants had

little money, they paid in seeds, grain, and animals.

• Below is one the tithe barns, still standing today.

A Waste…• The Church was

wasteful, as much of the goods in the tithe barn were eaten by rats or poisoned with their urine.

So..In order to get the grain nutrition,

people did the following:

Just kidding , but the peasants did

fear the idea of not going to heaven so

much that they gave 10% of their crops to the Church. And what did the church do with the money/

crops?

• The Church built elaborate cathedrals, monasteries, and churches.

3.) Protecting women

• The Church handed out harsh punishments to husbands who mistreated their wives.

4. ) St. Benedict started

reforming the church and set up one the 1st monasteries.

5.) Characteristics of Benedictine Rule

• Oath of poverty• Chastity, purity, obedience

6.) Role of the monk in medieval times.

• Provided basic social services• Tended the sick, alms to poor

Life of medieval monk• A monk's day began with the ringing of bells, some

time between midnight and two a.m., signaling the first prayers of the day. After a short nap, prayers were again held at sunrise, and then at three-hour intervals throughout the day. Communal prayers averaged about five hours per day, while private prayer and contemplation could take up to four more hours. Meals were served once a day in winter, twice in summer, with meat forbidden except in case of illness. Monks were required to be silent while eating, and developed a sign language to communicate. At least three hours per day were spent in manual labor, with remaining hours not spent in prayer devoted to study, especially of Latin, and sacred reading.

St. Patrick

• Brought the Church to Ireland.

St. Augustine

• The 1st Archbishop of Canterbury; missionary to the Angles and Saxons.

Hildegard

• Nun and advisor to famous European kings.

8.) Gregory VII 1073 A.D.

• Reformed the church by prohibiting simony (the selling of Church positions)

• Outlawed priests from marrying.

Franciscans

• Found by St. Francis of Assisi, lived in poverty preaching to the poor.

Dominicans

• Order of monks who educated people about the Church and its beliefs.

Class Work• Read about St. Benedict and answer

the comprehension questions at the conclusion of the reading.