Year 9 Unit 11 The Church Estate

The Medieval Church and its role in the history of Europe

Christianity became the state religion in the Roman Empire, but the emperor had more power
than the church. The church hierarchy had no single head, there were more religious centres,
for example in Alexandria, Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem and Rome.
When the Roman Empire split into two, in the West the emperor’s power was not so strong,
so he could not overwhelm the power of the church. At the same time, in the East, the
emperor became more influential, so he could overcome the power of the church.
The bishops of Rome became to be called the Pope, and papal power gained strength when in
751 Pepin the Short was crowned king in return for protecting Rome from the
Longobards. Pepin gave the territory around Rome and Ravenna to the pope, which resulted
in the birth of the Papal State in 756. The Papal State was not only a religious but also a
worldly power, which meant that the popes ruled as secular rulers as well. Secular and church
power existed side by side, and this coexistence was reinforced by the Muslim advance in
Europe.
As the eastern centres of Christianity were occupied by the Muslims, the centre moved
towards the west. Also, the pagan barbarians accepted Christianity (Germanic tribes, the
Magyars, the Vikings, the Slavic people)
As a result of this process there was a drift apart between the Western and the Eastern Church
in the early Middle Ages
Main differences:
Western Eastern
Language Latin Greek /national languages
Rituals using unleavened bread using leavened bread
Dogmas Holy Trinity (divine nature of all) Holy Trinity (Holy Spirit only
from God not from Jesus)
Purgatory Yes No
Status secular and religious power equal secular power over
religious
power

As a consequence of these differences, the two churches separated. In 1054, the Pope of
Rome and the Patriarch of Constantinople excommunicated each other and their followers

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from the church. The outcome of this so-called Great Schism was the birth of the Roman
Catholic Church in the west and that of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Monasticism
It was a movement of a certain group of people who wanted to love like hermits following the
ideals of the ancient Christians. It was a kind of reaction to the organised life of the church.
(Saint Paul the First Hermit in Egypt, Saint Anthony, Saint Basil)
Monks were a group of religious people living in monasteries/cloisters according to certain
rules and taking vows of poverty, chastity (celibacy) and obedience.
Monasticism came into being both in the west and the east but western monasticism was
more practical, whereas the eastern one was more abstract.

The Order of Saint Benedict of Nursia

It was established in Monte Cassino, Italy in 529 AD.
Slogan: Pray and work! (Ora et labora)
The monks following the regulations of Saint Benedict carried out missionary work, dealt
with culture (farming, gardening, new technologies, architecture) and copying manuscripts
(kódex), teaching.
Later, from the 11th-12th centuries, new monastic orders were allowed by the popes,
(Cistercian, Augustinian, etc.)
In the emerging towns of Western Europe, the so called mendicant orders started to work.
(Dominican, Franciscan, the Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit, a Hungarian foundation in
the 13th century, Pálos rend in Hungarian)
The position of the church in the 10th -11th centuries
By the end of the 10th century, the position of the church had become less stable than before.
Problems that occurred were the following:

● The balance of power between the empire and the church seemed to be tilted towards
the empire, because by that time the emperor had managed to get the right of
investiture (the right to appoint church officials into their offices)
● As a result, church officials became the vassals of the emperor

● Church members turned to worldly things: secularisation process (priests married,

higher clergy lived in luxury, et.)
Solution to these problems was offered by a Benedictine community living in Cluny, France

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 ● they turned back more to spiritual life

● they condemned the practice of simony (buying and selling church offices)

● they required celibacy for lay priests as well, that is not only for monks

One of the members of the Cluny community became a pope by the name Gregory the VII
(1073-1085)
He issued a document in 1075 entitled Dictatus Papae (Solemn Declaration of the Pope)
In this document he stated the position of the Catholic Church as higher than that of the
empire. He wanted the cardinals to elect the pope, to increase the power of the pope, the right
of investiture for the pope instead of the emperor.

This document started an investiture struggle between the pope and the emperor, which
lasted for centuries.
The immediate reaction of the emperor (Henry IV, 1056-1105) to the document was to
convene an imperial diet, where he wanted to discuss the problems. He supported church
reforms but he was against papal investiture. With the help of his vassals, he deprived
Gregory VII of his power as pope. In return, Gregory excommunicated the emperor, which
meant that his vassals did not owe loyalty to him anymore, and his life was in direct threat, as
he was excluded from the community of Christians.
(Excommunication is against one person, interdict is against a whole community, country)
Henry IV had no other choice but show penance and go to Canossa where the pope was
staying and beg for his forgiveness. For three days he was waiting, when finally, the pope
forgave him and took him back to the Christian community. (1077, Forgiveness of Canossa-
Canossa-járás)
In the 12th century, the struggle continued with changing success, but in 1122 the Concordat
of Worms was concluded between the empire and the papacy: according to this agreement,
the pope invested the church members into their church offices, while the emperor invested
them as lay vassals (világi hűbéres)
As a result, the church remained independent of secular power and reached the peak of its
power under the papacy of Pope Innocent III in the early 13 th century. By that time, the
Northern Italian city states (Milan, Padua, Bologna, Parma,) managed to loosen their ties with
the Holy Roman Empire and started to become independent city states. The Lombard League
was created by these city states to defy the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick I (Barbarossa) in
1176. The Italian territories did not become a united country until the late 19th century.
Innocent III (1198-1216)

● educated in law, theology, Church discipline

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 ● successful

● regarded himself as the leader of Europe both politically and spiritually

● he was ruler of the Papal State, protector of the Lombard cities, feudal overlord of
Sicily: an absolute monarch of Europe
● major problem he had to face as church leader: heresy
o two solutions:
1. mendicant orders: Franciscan and Dominican Order, whose
members lived in towns and lived on alms. They helped the poor,
the sick and those in need, healed and taught
2. persecution of heretics: creation of the inquisition in 1215 (a church
court to deal with heretical people and condemn them by applying
torture if needed, ordeal by water, fires, etc.)

Position of Jews in the Middle Ages

● they lived in diaspora: they were scattered in different parts of Europe

● they kept their religion in Muslim and Christian environments as well

● they were tolerated members of society, lived with restrictions (no land ownership,
e.g.)
● there was a sense of anti-Judaism: they were regarded as the murderers of Jesus Christ

● one activity they did was money exchange which was forbidden for Christians, it
resulted in good income and envy, and finally pogroms (Russian word: an act of
organised cruel behaviour or killing done to a large group of people because of their
race or religion)