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The Development of Medieval Culture

 

OverviewDevelopment of the Church’s beliefs, practices, and organization

New cultural achievements

Education

Two features: Bitter internal disputes Attacks on religious foes, Crusades

The Medieval ChurchThe Sacraments Direct and intimate relationship with members of the

Christian Commonwealth Holy rituals through which God’s grace (divine aid)

was made available to the human race. Seven sacraments

Ordination Baptism Confirmation Eucharist Penance Extreme unction (last rights) Matrimony Christian Devotional Life

Christian Devotional LifeReligious observances followed the clock and calendar Mass

Attendance required on Sunday Holy communion Cult of the Crucifixion

Jesus as God Emphasis on Jesus’ human

experience Cult of the Virgin

Mary personified the Christian ideals of womanhood, love, and sympathy

Threat of the Marian cult Saints were the heroes of the

Middle Ages Veneration should not become

worship Perform miracles after death

Relics

Monastic Reform Movements Secular clergy

Counselors and administrators for rulers

Regular clergy Lived in monasteries

Wealth, Power, and Corruption Abbot

Held monastery’s property as a fief from an overlord

Granted land to knights as vassals Bishops and archbishops

controlled by powerful nobles

Cycles of Reform: Cluny, Cîteaux, and the Friars

Burgundian monastery of Cluny Reform movement sought restoration of the power of the Church

through discipline

“Daughter” houses and “mother” houses Cluniac movement spreadsAbbey at Cîteaux Bernard of Clairvaux Cistercians

Francis of Assisi Franciscans

Appeal to the heart of people Francis was a mystic (inner inspiration and revelation)

Dominic Dominicans Appeal to the mind of people

The Papal MonarchyThe Independent Papacy: Gregory VII Hildebrand, archdeacon of Rome College of Cardinals Hildebrand became Gregory VII in 1073 Papal curia

The Popes and the Church Constant correspondence Gregory sends out papal legates Revenues

Peter’s pence in England Indulgences

Power of excommunication Interdict

Heresy and the InquisitionManichaeans from Gnostics, proclaiming a dualistic universe of matter and spirit

Albigensian heresy Albigensian Crusade Finally suppressed the Albigensian rebellion, 1226

Pope Gregory IX established the Inquisition Excommunicated and turned over to civilian authority Heresy was treason

Thomas Aquinas held extreme punishments necessary to protect the souls from contamination

The Struggle for Supremacy Over the State

Pope Gregory VII Desired to place the Church over the state

Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, the vassal of Gregory Use of investiture for bishops

Conflict between Henry and Gregory Gregory insists that bishops are spiritual officers and can be vested with the

symbols of religious authority, the ring and staff, only by the pope Gregory tries to bring Henry down

Canossa, northern Italy Resolution in 1122 whereby the pope can invest the symbols but the emperor

has influence over selection of the German bishopsInnocent III struggles with King John of England Archbishop of Canterbury England granted as a fief from Rome

King Philip (the Fair) of France Taxes levied on church properties in 1296 Unam sanctam by Pope Boniface – declared all secular rulers were subject to

the pope and that the pope could be judged by God alone Philip seized Boniface in 1303 who died shortly thereafter

Christian Art Great architecture for churchesNot replication of pagan templesThe Romanesque Style Architecture

Round arch and the vault served as basis structural elements Earliest churches had been molded on the Roman basilica Cruciform plan Barrel vault Bays Round dome Tower

Sculpture Religious purposes Illumination Natural and the supernatural

The Gothic StyleFirst appeared around 1150 and reached its prime by 1300Flourished in the townsA church that represented the image of a vast universe designed to be perfectly harmonious in every detailFramework of stoneGabled roof, soaring roofsPointed archButtresses, flying buttressesStone sculpturesStained glass

Thought and EducationMedieval education dominated by the ChurchMonasteries still provided elementary education, and cathedral schools responded to the need for education in the townsThe Rise of Universities Medical instruction started at Salerno, Italy, before the twelfth century Training in law began at Bologna Universitas University at Paris Four faculties: medicine, law, theology, liberal arts Universities operate under a charter Organization of the university like a guild

Liberal arts consisted of: trivium:grammar, rhetoric, logic AND quadrivium: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music

Degrees granted by comprehensive oral examination Higher degrees were teaching degreesStudent lifeRobert de Sorbon

Religion and Intellectual Centers in Western Europe,

1300

Scholastic PhilosophyContact with Constantinople and the Muslim world prompted Latin translations from Greek, Arabic or HebrewAverroës (Ibn-Rushd)Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon) Scholasticism interested in religious matters Anselem

Reason and Faith, Words, and Things Abelard Contradictions of Authorities of the church Sic et Non (“Yes and No”) Universals Realists

Gave little importance to individual things Sought to know the universals through sheer logic or divine revelation Nominalists See only specific objects and refused to admit the existence of unifying

relationships among particular things

Harmony of Faith and ReasonThomas Aquinas Abelard’s conceptualism

Only particular things have an existence in and of themselvesThe universals exist as concepts in individual mindsModerate realist Sought to harmonize various approaches to truth and to bring all

knowledge together Summa Theologiae (Theological Summary) Each major subject divided into a series of questions Pro and contra arguments Arguments generally in deductive form, scant attention to observation and

induction and none to experimentationClarified Church teachings about the nature of God and humanityDivine law is never in conflict with logic, properly exercisedMedieval Science Medieval scholars not scientists Albert the Great Robert Grosseteste

Language and LiteratureLatin Writings Prayers and hymns Passion plays Wandering scholars, Goliardic poetry

Vernacular Writings Germanic, Romance, and Slavic tongues

Epic and Romance Song of Roland (Chanson de Roland) Troubadours sang of courtly manners and romantic love Arthurian romances

Realism and Satire Christine de Pisan, The Book of the Duke of True Lovers Fabliaux (fables)

Chaucer and Dante Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales Dante Alïgnïerï, The Divine Comed

West and East: The Crusades The Western Counteroffensive Feudal warriors Sicily, Spain, Sardinia, and Corsica

Religious faith

Holy War

The Crusades, 1096-1213

Triumph and Tragedy in the Holy Land

Western Christendom, Byzantium, and the Turks Seljuk Turks Rivalry between Latin and Greek Churches

Patriarch excommunicated by Latin Church representatives Patriarch excommunicates the representatives

Byzantine army defeated by Muslims in 1071

The First Crusade Appeal of Alexius, the eastern emperor Pope Urban II at the general Council of Clermont, 1095 French noblemen answer the call, 1096 Turn back a Turkish threat to Constantinople Establish dukedoms in Asia Minor Jerusalem captured in 1099 Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem

Later CrusadesSecond Crusade, 1147-1148Children’s CrusadeThird Crusade, 1187-1192Fourth Crusade, 1204Latin Empire of ConstantinopleChildren’s Crusade, 1212Anti-Semitic feelings Fourth Lateran Council Medieval Jews forbidden to hold land, serfs, or slaves and were a class

separate from the Christian social order Jews congregated in own quarter of medieval towns Tolerance of Spanish Jews by Muslim rulers Fourth Lateran Council of the Church, 1215 Expulsion of the Jews: England, 1290; parts of Germany, 1298; France,

1306; Spain, 1492; Portugal, 1498

Discussion QuestionsDescribe the development of the early medieval Church and the impact it has upon the people and governmental systems. Why was reform needed and how was that reform accomplished? Why difficulties existed in completing reform?How did art and architecture change during the medieval period? What influences existed?What changes were made in thought and education in medieval times? Who were the educational leaders and what did they contribute? How did the educational process change?What were the causes of the Crusades? What was the impact? What were the consequences?