The Rise and Decline of the

Medieval Church
Reporter:
Mary Donnah Galgalan
Aaron Factor
Jaquelyn Aleno

The Church dominated and preserved

Medieval Civilization
The overthrown Roman Empire left two heirs:
Byzantine Empire in the East
Roman Catholic Church in the West

The church rose to become the strongest and most stable

during the Middle Ages. It inspired and directed medieval
culture and preserved Western civilization.
The Germanic invaders were
converted to Christianity
Germanic tribe who invaded the declining of Roman Empire
contributed to the Empire's ultimate decline, except the Church.
Ulfilas, a Goth, translated the Bible into Gothic language.
King Clovis of the Franks was baptized upon the request of
Clotilda, his wife, who was Christian.
It was said that the "barbarians" conquered the Roman Empire by
the sword but the Church conquered the barbarians by the cross.
St. Boniface St. Augustine St. Patrick
"Apostle of "Apostle of "Apostle of
Germany" Germany" Ireland"
The Church cooperated
with kings
At the beginning the Church was chiefly concerned
with spiritual matters, in due time it acquired temporal
powers as it cooperated with kings and governments.
The Church particularly helped the Franks establish a
great kingdom. It began as early as 496 when Clovis
ordered the mass conversion of his subject.
Charles Martel battled the Moslems in Tours in 732.
In 800 Charlemagne was crowned by the Pope as the
Roman Emperor of the West.
Charlemagne's coronation marked the height of
cooperation between the Church and the state. It also
signified the approval of the Pope of Charlemagne's
power and authority to rule.
 The Church dominated the life of
the medieval man
The chaotic situation that followed the Germanic invasions led the medieval
man to look upon his faith for comfort and salvation.
Religion rather than political loyalty united the medieval men so that they
thought themselves as Catholics, Orthodox Christians or Moslems rather than
an Englishmen, Freshmen, Greeks, Germans or Egyptians.
As no authority existed in Europe after the Fall of Rome, the Church became the
source of authority; bishops and priests replaced the Roman officials in many
towns.
The Church established parochial schools and controlled education. Priests
served as their teachers in the parochial school.
The acquisition of more lands further strengthened the church to take an active
role in the politics of the Western Europe.
 Monasteries strengthened the powers
of the Church
During the early years of the Christian Era the feeling for the religious life was so intense
There were men who preffered to live in solitude apart from society
These men were ascetic who led contemplative lives inside the caves away from civilization
These people were later on called monks and the communities they organized were called monasteries.
Inside the monastery the monks lived in separate cells and came together only for meals, prayers, religious ceremonies and spiritual
encounters

In 1519, St. Benedict founded the first monastery in Europe, it was located in Monte Cassino, Italy.
He formulated a code of regulations for the conduct monks which became known as the Rule of Benedict.
The Rule was a triple vow of poverty, chasity and obedience.

The monks engaged primarily in missionary work, they converted the Teutonic invaders.
Many left their monasteries and travelled far
St. Augustine spread Christianity to England, St. Boniface to Germany and St. Patrick to England

The educated monks established schools and taught children, others improved farming methods
They copied ancient religious books like the Bible and also Latin classics
 The church acquired
temporal powers
When feudalism was established the church began to acquire more
lords.
As the church acquired more lands loyalty became an intensified
problem.

As the temporal wealth of the church increased, its temporal

problems also multiplied. Gradually conflicts developed and the
church became involved in politics and wars.
The papacy rose to power as the bishop
of Rome became head of the church
The church until the fourth century had a highly efficient organization but one
conflict remained-it had no head.
Five bishops claimed equal power and importance. These were the bishops of
Rome in the West and Constantinople, Jerusalem, Antioch and Alexandria in
the East
The prestige of the Bishop of Rome who had adapted the title Pope became
greater after the empire was divided ion 395.
One of the early popes, Leo the Great (440-461) persuaded Attila not to burn the
city during the invasion of the huns

Gregory the Great (590-604) became Pope when the Lombards invaded the
city.

Pope Gregory VII instituted church

reforms

When the Italian Hil'debrand became the pope (1073-1085),

he assumed the title of the Pope Gregory VII
Churchmen realizes that the church should become
independent of the nobility.
New monastic orders imposed stricter rules and regulations.
About 1000 A.D. the Truce of God prohibited knights to fight
during certain periods like Lent, Christmas, Easter and from
Wednesday evening to Monday morning each week
Popes and rulers struggled for
supremacy
In the practice of lay investiture the lord appointed the new bishop
When Pope Gregory issued a decree to stop it, most of the kings and nobles ignored it.
The German king, Henry IV who was in need of loyal vassals to help him suppress the
rebellious German nobles openly defied the pope
Immediately the German nobles sided with the pope. Henry penitently begged for the
pope's forgiveness, and after three days Pope Gregory lifted the ban.
The pope's action created disappointment among the German nobles. who believed that
Henry was not punished enough. Many of them transferred their loyalty to Henry. Strength-
ened by the new support of the nobles Henry reasserted his right to lay investiture. He went
further by invading Italy and driving Pope Gregory from his papal throne.
The investiture question was later on settled in 1112 in the Council of Worms on the
Rhine. A compromise was agreed upon wherein the clergymen would elect bishops
and abbots but the choice must be acceptable to the ruler or feudal lord.
The church began to decline in power
For many centuries the church ruled over Europe. It reached the summit of its power by the
year 1200 when popes were generally stronger and more powerful than kings and emperors.
After 1200 their power and influence gradually declined.

Factors contributed to the decline of the church:

political
religious
economic
intellectual
church itself
forces outside the church

People remained loyal to the church and continued to believed in spiritual leadership while
believing in their government running the political affairs of the state.
 The growth of power of kings made
them independent from the popes

In due time, kings who lost their power to the nobles gradually regained
their authority.
People solicitated the kings' protection and in return pledged their
allegiance to the sovereigns.
With the peoples' support the kings emboldened to defy the popes.
The kings gradually persuaded the people that their power to rule came
directly from God and not through the popes.
The French, English and German kings soon triumphed over the popes.
 The Greek schism permanently separated
the Christian church into the Western and
Eastern churches
When the Empire was divided into the West and the East the bishop of Rome
claimed leadership over the Western churches while the Patriarch of
Constantinople assumed leadership over the Eastern churches.
When Leo the Great declared the authority of the Bishop of Rome over
Christendom the Patriarch of Constantinople openly disagreed.
The final split came in 1054 in what was referred to as the Greek schism.
The Eastern church did not recognize the Petrine Doctrine.
Greek was the language of the Eastern church while Latin became the language of
the Western church. Both churches too differed in some doctrines and practices.
Emperor Leo III denounced the use of icons in the Eastern churches and ordered
their destruction.
From 1438 and 1964 there was no meeting between the Pope of the Roman Catholic
Church and the Patriarch of Constantinople.
 The clergy became corrupt and
lacking in self-discipline
While the early clergy were true and loyal to their religious
vows the later clergy lacked self-discipline.
Many became lax, indifferent and lazy, and simply ignored
their vows.
Corruption and abuses became widespread.
Wealth was coveted.
Positions in the church were sold.
Instead of simple living some enjoyed lives of comfort and
abundance.
People started to question the authority
of the pope
People then accepted the popes pronouncements without doubt.
Later developments, however, change the unquestioning minds of
the people.
People claimed that since a pope was a human being like them. He
was also fallible and capable of committing errors and mistake.
The materialism coupled with prosperity had affected the church
and it also weakened the spiritual values of the people.
Today the papacy enjoys the prestige and spiritual leadership among
the Christian and respect among non-Christian countries
 Islam threatened the
Christian world
The coming of Islam shook the foundations of the Catholic Church in particular and
European civilization in general.

The struggle was not only in religion but also in the political and economic fields.

Islamic civilization differed from the Christian civilization of Medieval Europe.

Even the kings had to face the menace of Islam in their kingdom
 The church sponsored the crusades

Since the seventh century Arab expansion had reached over Syria, Palestine, Egypt,
North Africa, Spain and the islands of the Western Mediterranean.
The threat of Moslem conquest endangered Christendom including Constantinople.
This motivated the church to sponsor holy wars known as the Crusades.
Although not all the crusades were successful there were far-reaching results
 Christians made
pilgrimages

Every Christian desired to go on a pilgrimage in his lifetime.

A pilgrimage was a religious journey to a sacred Christian shrine where a saint or martyr had died
or where some relic such as a saint's bones or piece of the cross on which Jesus was crucified has
been preserved.
Here the pilgrim prayed to atone for his sins, to give thanks for a blessing or to seek a cure for illness
Among the places of interest for the pilgrims were Canterbury in England, Tours in France,
Campostella in Spain, Rome in Italy, and the Holy Land in Palestine.
Although Moslems had conquered the Holy Land, the Christians have been allowed to make their
pilgrimages.
However, during the 11th century, the Turks conquered the Arab Moslems.
The Turks were fierce tribes and they persecuted the Christians from making their pilgrimages
Pope Urban II launched the crusades
The atrocities committed by the Moslem Turks against the Christians
and the fear that the attacks would reach Constantinople led
Emperor Alexius 1 of the Byzantine Empire to seek the aid of the
Roman Pope Urban II. The pope then called a Council at Clermont in
France in 1095.
Pope Urban II pleaded for the people to take up arms in order to
rescue the Holy Land from the Moslem Turks. An enthusiastic crowd
composed of knights, peasants, monks and women, children and
cripples responded to people's called.
The people served crosses of red cloth in front of their robes to
symbolize their intention. They were then called the "Crusaders"
from the Latin word crux which means cross.
 Several crusades were organized
There were seven major crusades and many smaller ones that were organized.

Thousands of men, women and children joined the crusades. They came from all walks of life
kings, lords and nobles, serfs, debtors, adventurers and even criminals. As their backgrounds
and social status were varied so were their aims in joining the crusades.

Majority of the crusaders were devout Christians who felt that joining the crusades was a noble
opportunity of serving God and saving one's soul. There were also crusaders who wanted to
promote their own selfish interests. There were crusaders who hoped to gain lands and riches.
The knights saw a good opportunity to fight. Others, like the serfs, wanted to escape from their
duties and obligations. Those with debts wanted their debts to be cancelled while the criminals
pleaded pardon for the crimes they committed.
The crusades had significant results
Many crusaders lost their lives either the in the battlefield or of disease or starvation.
Unofficial sources gave an estimate of 5,000,000 casualties.
The crusaders failed in their objective to drive away the Turks from the Holy Land.

EFFECTS OF CRUSADES
First, it paved the way for the decline of feudalism.
Many lords who joined the crusades did not return home
The slaves became free
The kings regained their power

Second, the crusades brought about trade and commerce between the East and the West.

Third, the prosperity arising from commerce and trade created a new, free and enterprising
class for the merchants and traders became responsible for the development of towns and
cities.

Fourth, the crusaders increased the circulation of money over Europe.

 The church made important
contributions to civilization
Aside from religion and its related aspects, the medieval church contributed much
to civilization. The church organization and hierarchy provided a semblance of
organized life.

The monks particularly the Benedictine Rule instilled the love for manual labor.
The motto, "to work is to pray" made them the agriculturists of Europe at that time
as they improved agricultural methods to achieve self sufficiency. The church
encouraged education. Schools were maintained in the monasteries, Schools for
poor boys were established in the parishes and communities. Although the
monasteries did not have libraries at the beginning, the cupied books and
manuscripts which were carefully preserved yielded volumes of invaluable
materials at the end of the medieval period. Larger and well- arranged libraries
with writing rooms became common by the 15th century.