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.

Religion

Markets

FestivalsCeremonies

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

Monks• 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• 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 Friars•Unhappy with politics in the church

•Members of Religious Orders

•Lived Simply

•Owned no property

•Lived apart from people

•Built Monasteries

•Collected, stored, and copied Christian texts

•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

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.