Western Christianity in the Middle Ages

1. Timeline.2. ‘Dark Ages’: barbarian invasions 3. Papacy4. Piety5. Crusades6. Gothic architecture7. St. Anselm of Canterbury

Middle Ages: Timeline

6th-10th c. The Early Middle Ages 11th-13th c. The High Middle Ages 14th- 15th c. The Late Middle Ages

Barbarian invasions

Moslem Empire in 656

Moslem Empire in 750

The Rise of the Papacy

• Gregory accepted the bishopric of Rome at the time of famine and epidemic

• Rebuilt the infrastructure of the city

• Effectively acted as the ruler of Rome

• Instituted penitential system in the Church

Pope Gregory the Great (590-604 A. D.)

The Father of Western Monasticism: St. Benedict of Nursia (480-547)

Monastic vows:• Poverty• Chastity• Obedience• (Stability)

Monastic reforms

• Original rule: St Benedict• Cluniac reform 910 AD• Cistercian reform 1098 AD• Mendicant orders: Franciscans

(1209) & Dominicans (1221)

Remains of Cluny monastery. France.

                                    

Citeaux monastery

Monasteries in the US Today:• Cistercian (Trappist) Assumption

Abbey for men in Ava, Missouri: http://assumptionabbey.org

• Cistercian (Trappist) New Melleray Abbey for men in Dubuque, Iowa: http://www.newmelleray.org/index.html

• Our Lady of the Mississippi monastery for women in Dubuque, Iowa: http://www.mississippiabbey.org

Cult of the Saints

• Pilgrimages to holy places

• Intercession of the saints

• Veneration of relics

St. Martin of Tours (d. 397).

St. Martin of Tours shares his cloak with a beggar

Pope Urban II preaches the first Crusade (1095)

Jerusalem in the center of the world

Gothic architecture. Chartres Cathedral (1194-1260).

St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)

• the forerunner of scholasticism• Fides querens intellectum: faith

seeking understanding• Harmony of faith & reason• Ontological argument for the

existence of God• Meditation on human redemption