The Church
in the
Middle Ages
The Roman Catholic Church
■Only Church in Europe during Early Middle
Ages
■So important that the time was often referred
to as the Age of Faith
■Unified Western European culture
■Had its own laws and Church leaders such as
bishops and archbishops who sat on the king's
council and played leading roles in
government
■Clergy- Religious leaders of the Church
Church Hierarchy
POPE
Cardinals
Archbishops
Bishops
Priests,
Monks, Nuns
The Church Hierarchy
■The Pope
■representative of Christ on earth
■spiritual leader of the church
■claimed to have authority over secular
(nonreligious) rulers
■Cardinals
■Elected the Pope
■Served as advisors to the
Pope
■Archbishops
■Supervised the Bishops
■Usually younger sons of
the nobility
■ Bishops
■ Supervised priests in a geographic area
■ Settled disputes over church teachings and
religious practices
■ Priests
■ Administered the sacraments
■ Sacrament- Religious ceremonies that will lead
to eternal life (Example: Baptism or Confession)
■ Helped the sick & needy
■ Taught Latin and the Bible to the youth of
the village (if he could read)
■Monks and Nuns
■Men and women could
withdraw from worldly
life to monasteries and
convents
■Cared for the sick and
the poor
■Preserved learning and
set up schools
■Provided food and
shelter to travelers
■Copied ancient books by
hand into Illuminated
(illustrated) Manuscripts
■The Venerable Bede, a monk & historian who
created the concept of B.C. (Before Christ) and
A.D. (Anno Domini = in the year of our Lord) -
now BCE (before the Christian/ Common era) &
CE (Common Era).
■Benedict, a priest in Italy, established the
Benedictine Rule of poverty, chastity, and
obedience which spread across Europe
■Scholastica, his sister, did the same for Nuns &
the Convent
■Missionaries spread Christianity across Europe:
■St Patrick went to Ireland
■St. Augustine went to England
The Church and Daily Life
■Religious life
centered around
the village church –
Mass, baptisms,
marriages, funerals
■Local priests
sometimes
established schools
■All Christians must
pay a tithe (tax) of
one-tenth (10%) of
their income to the
Church
Power of the Church
■Church officials very powerful in
Middle Ages
■Highest church officials were usually
noblemen
■All people born with Original Sin but
could live well and avoid Hell
by participating in the
sacraments (baptism,
communion, confirmation,
marriage, confession,
last rites)
■The Church had its own laws called
canon law.
■Disobeying canon law in very serious
cases could lead to
excommunication-being cut off from
the church, ex: no sacraments, no
burial in Christian ground, shunned
■A nobleman or king could be placed
under interdict, which meant no
sacraments for everyone in an entire
area or kingdom (in effect, they all
Power Grows
■Pope Gregory I- Had great religious
and Secular (Worldly) power.
■Popes & King/Emperors become
rivals
Otto I
■Otto the Great was a German King
■Crowned in 936
■Inspired by Charlemagne
■Allied with the Church to fight Noble power
■Otto invaded Italy on the Pope’s request
■Crowned Emperor in 962 of the Roman
Empire of the German Nation (The Holy
Roman Empire)
■The Holy Roman Empire will be the strongest
state in Europe
■Church leaders & Italian Nobles will resent
Lay Investiture
■Lay Investiture
■Kings & Nobles appoint Church officials like
Bishops
■Whoever controls the Bishops controls the
Church
■Pope Gregory VII banned Lay Investiture
in 1075
■German Emperor Henry IV ordered Gregory
to resign as Pope
■Pope Gregory then excommunicated Henry
■Henry lost support of Bishops & Princes
Showdown at Canossa
■Henry sought Pope Gregory’s forgiveness
so he could save his throne
■1077, Crossed the Alps to the Italian town
Canossa, where Gregory was a guest
■For three days Emperor Henry, in rags &
in the snow, begged the Pope for
forgiveness
■The Pope forgave Henry, who stays in
power.
Concordat of Worms
■The successors of Henry & Gregory
continued to feud
■1122- A compromise is reached
between the Church & the Emperor
at the city of Worms in Germany
■Church has power to appoint Bishop
■Emperor could veto the appointment
Frederick I
■1152- Frederick became the German King
■Nicknamed Barbarossa for his red beard
■Dominated German states and also
invaded rich cities of Italy
■Invasions angered Italian merchants & the
Pope
■Pope & Merchants form an alliance to
fight Frederick called the Lombard League
■1176- Battle of Legnano
■Lombard League defeats Frederick & his
knights
Cathedrals – Cities of God
■ Large churches built in or near cities
■ 800-1100 built in Romanesque style –
round arches, heavy roof with thick walls
& pillars for support, tiny windows up
high
■ 1100’s new Gothic style – pointed arches,
flying buttresses (stone supports outside
the church) allowed for higher walls, tall
spires and huge stained glass windows
Romanesque Church
Romanesque Church -
Interior
Notre Dame Cathedral
Notre Dame - Interior
The National Cathedral
Rose Window of Notre Dame
Stained Glass Windows
Jews in Europe
■Persecuted, victims of anti-Semitism
■Could not own land or practice most
occupations
■Blamed for Jesus’ death, disease,
famine, economic hardship
■To escape persecution, many Jews
migrated into Spain or Eastern
Europe where they built large
communities.
