Feudalism 2 - Summary Old Europe, New Europe and the Us PDF

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The Medieval Church...

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The Medieval Church  Church Dominates Medieval Life o During middle ages the church’s most important achievement was converting the diverse peoples of Western Europe to Christianity o By late middle ages Western Europe has become a Christian civilization o Anyone who did not belong to the church community was viewed with suspicion o Rituals and faith were part of the fabric of everyday life o In villages the priest of the parish (local region) was often the only contact people had with the church o The priest celebrated the mass and administered the sacraments (the sacred rites of the church) o Christians believed participation in the sacraments would lead them to everlasting life with god o Priests taught teachings in bible, only in Latin o Bible – guided people on moral issues and offered assistance to the sick and needy o In late middle ages, some parish priests ran schools o The church was a social center as well as a place for worship, it was the largest building in the village

o Life revolved around the Christian calendar: holiday (Easter) and local holy days dedicated to saints o Main event of people’s lives took place at the church (baptism) o People decorated church, some housed relics which could be possessions of saints, people made pilgrimages (religious journeys) to pray before relics o Church required Christians to pay a tithe (tax equal to one tenth of their income), tithe supported the local parish, later increasing amounts of money was sent to Rome o Bishops, who supervised parish priests, managed larger churches (cathedrals) o By 1100’s people-built cathedrals in gothic style, people all over Europe competed to build the grandest cathedrals o The church’s doctrine (something taught as the principle of a religion) taught men and women were equal before god, church fine men who seriously injured their wives but they punished women more harshly for similar offenses  Monasteries and Convents o During the early middle ages some men and women withdrew from the worldly life to the monastic life –

they became monks and nuns, they devoted their lives to spiritual goals o Benedictine Rule – a monk named Benedict organized the monastery of Monte Cassino in central Italy. He created rules to regulate monastic life o In time, the Benedictine Rule was used by monasteries and convents across Europe o Monasteries were places where monks lived, prayed, worked, and studied o Many monasteries housed self-contained communities that grew their own food and made many of the objects they used o Monks worked in fields, in workshops, scriptoria (writing rooms) where they copied and decorated manuscripts o Music was important to monastic life; chants marked the canonical hours (religious divisions) of the day o Under the Benedictine Rule, monks and nuns took 3 vows 1. obedience to the abbot or abbess who headed the monastery or convent 2. poverty 3. chastity or purity o Monks and nuns experimented with crops, so they developed better agricultural methods to improve the

economy of the middle ages which was based on farming o Monasteries and convents often provided basic health and educational services o Monks and nuns looked after the poor and sick and set up schools for children, gave food and lodging to travelers, especially to Christian pilgrims traveling to holy shrines o Some monks and nun s became missionaries – missionaries spread Christianity throughout western and central Europe during early middle ages o Monasteries and convents kept learning alive, their libraries contained Greek and Roman works which monk and nuns copied as a form of labor o Educated monks and nuns taught and wrote Latin, language of the church and educated people o In Britain, the Venerable Bede wrote the earliest known history of England o Women were not allowed to become priests, many entered convents (a Christian community under monastic vows, especially one of nuns), there capable women could escape the limits of society o In later middle ages, the church withdrew rights that nuns had once enjoyed like preaching the Gospels and

placed most independent convents under the control of Church officials. It frowned on too much learning for women, preferring them to accept Church authority  Church Power Grows o After the fall of Rome, the church hierarchy carved a unique position in Western Europe, it controlled the spiritual life of Christians and gradually became the most powerful secular (worldly force in medieval Europe) o Pope – a spiritual leader of the Western Christian Church, based in Rome o Pope was the representatives of god on earth, medieval popes eventually claimed papal supremacy (authority over all secular rulers) including kings and emperors o The pope headed an army of churchmen who supervised church activity o High clergy like bishops and archbishops were usually nobles, like other feudal lords they had their own territories and armies o The pope held vast lands in central Italy later called the Papal States o Some monasteries also held large tracts of land, which gave them considerable economic and political power

o Church officials were closely linked to secular rulers (kings and emperors) o Churchmen were often highly educated so feudal rulers appointed them to government positions, church officials were often relatives of secular rulers o Christians believed that all people were sinners and that many were doomed to eternal suffering o To avoid hell one had to do good works, believe in Christ and participate in the sacraments o Sacraments could deny them as punishment, it had absolute power in religious matters o Church developed its own body of law called canon law as well as its own court o Canon law – based on religious teachings, governed aspects of life including wills, marriages, and morals o People who disobeyed church law faced a range of penalties. The most severe was excommunication – people could not receive the sacraments or a Christian burial which condemned them to hell o A powerful noble who opposed the church could dace the interdict (an order excluding an entire town, region, or kingdom from receiving most sacraments and Christian burial), even the strongest rulers have in rather than face the interdict which caused revolt by common people o Church tried to use authority to end warfare between nobles, declared Truce of God (periods of temporary

peace), demanded fighting stop between Friday and Sunday each week & religious holiday. Caused a decline in warfare in Europe during 1100s  Corruption and Reform

As success, wealth, and power of church grew, discipline weakened o Pious Christians left their wealth and lands to monasteries and convents, leading some monks and nuns to ignore their vows of poverty o Priests could marry, but some spent more time on family matters than on religious duties, come treated priesthood as a family inheritance o Throughout the middle ages there were calls for reform in the church o Two movements for reform – o In 900s Abbot Berno set out to reform his monastery of Cluny in eastern France. First, he revived the Benedictine Rule of obedience, poverty, and chastity. Then he refused to allow nobles or bishops to

interfere in monastery affairs. Over the next 200 years monasteries and convents copied these reforms o In 1073, Gregory VII, a former monk, became pope and wanted reform. He wanted to limit secular influence on the church, the church officials alone chose bishops. That policy sparked a bitter battle of wills with the German emperor. He outlawed marriage for priests and prohibited simony (the selling of church offices o Friars (monks who did not live in isolated monasteries) reformed differently. They traveled Europe growing towns, preaching to the poor. First order of Friars, the Franciscans, founded by wealthy Italian St. Francis of Assisi. He devoted himself to the Gospels and teaching his own example of good works. He preached poverty, humility, and love of God o St. Dominic a Spanish priest founded the Dominican order of Friars. They dedicated themselves to teaching official Christian beliefs in order to combat heresies, religious doctrines that differed from church teachings o Women supported the reforms too, some became the Dominican nuns and others joined the poor clares, linked to the Franciscans

o Often these orders welcomed only well-born women whose families have a dowry or gift tot eh church o Another group, the Beguines, welcomed poor women who could not be accepted by other religious orders  Jews in Medieval Europe o Jewish communities existed all across Europe o Jews flourished in present-day Spain, where Muslim rulers were tolerant of both Jews and Christians. Spain became center of Jewish culture and scholarship, and Jews served as officials in Muslim royal courts o In other parts of Western Europe, Christians and Jews lived side by side in peace for centuries o Early German kings gave educated Jews positions at court o In Europe they valued the Jewish communities, but they taxed them heavily o By late 1100s, western Europe had become more Christianized and prejudice against Jews increased o When there was illness or famine, they could not explain they blamed it on Jews o Jews were not part of the Parish structure that regulated Christian lives, so they had little interaction

with the Christians who were suspicious of the culture they did not understand o As the church grew more powerful, they issued orders forbidding Jews to own land or practice more occupations o But popes and rulers still turned to educated Jews as financial advisers and physicians o Jews migrated to Eastern Europe. There rulers welcomed the newcomer's’ skills and knowledge. Jewish communities thrived in Eastern Europe until modern times...