1. The Church
1000 AD – 1300 AD

3. Catholic Influence
(1) The Roman Catholic Church had great influence during the Middle Ages.
(2) Center of every village and town
(3) Important part of political life

5. Daily Life (1) Daily life revolved around the Church
(2) Most holidays were in honor of saints or religious events.
On Fridays, people followed the Church’s rule not to eat meat.
(3) On Sundays, they went to mass (worship service) held by the parish priest.
Sacraments

6. Political Life
The Church played an important role in the political life of the Middle Ages.
(1) Together with kings and nobles, Church officials helped govern Western Europe.
(2) The Church told people to obey the king’s laws unless they went against canon laws, or laws set up by the Church.
(3) People who disobeyed the Pope or canon laws were excommunicated, or lost their membership in the Church. They also lost their political rights.

7. The Inquisition
(1) Despite its power, the Church faced the problem of heresy.
(2) In 1129, a council of bishops set up the Inquisition, or Church court, to end heresy by force.
People suspected of heresy had one month to confess and if they did not appear they were seized and brought to trial.
(3) The trial’s purpose was to get a confession.

8. Attempts at Reform (1) The Church became rich during the Middle Ages.
Tithes - offerings equal to 10 percent of their income
Rich nobles donated money to build large churches and gave land to monasteries.

9. Attempts at Reform
(2) The wealthier the monasteries became, the more careless many monks grew about carrying out their religious duties.
When a bishop died, his office and lands were taken over by the local noble who often chose a close relative as the new bishop or sold the office.
(3) During the late 900s and early 1000s, some western Europeans worked to return the Church to Christian ideals.

10. The Monks of Cluny
(1) To fight corruption in the Church, devout, or deeply religious, nobles founded new monasteries that strictly followed the Benedictine Rule.
Cluny was an important monastery in eastern France where monks led simple prayerful lives, recognized only the authority of the Pope, and said that the Church, not kings or nobles, should choose all Church leaders.

11. Pope Gregory VII
(1) Pope Gregory VII continued the reforms begun by the monks of Cluny.
(2) Two Goals:
To rid the Church of control by kings and nobles
To increase the Pope’s power over the Church officials

12. Learning
(1) During the late Middle Ages, the rise of governments brought more security, the economy grew stronger, and there was more time for learning.
(2) Learning was in the hands of the Church.

13. Cathedral Schools
(1) The parish clergy set up schools in cathedrals, or churches headed by bishops.
The cathedral schools taught grammar, geometry, astronomy, and music.

14. Universities
(1) After a while, students complained that teachers held few classes and did not cover enough subjects, and teachers complained that untrained people were teaching. So they initiated changes by forming unions, groups of people joined together for a common cause.
(2) These unions became universities, or groups of teachers and students devoted to learning.

15. Universities
By the 1200s, universities, headed by church officials called chancellors, had spread all through Europe.

16. The Crusades
(1) 1071 – Seljuq Turks (Muslim) conquered Jerusalem and took control of Christian shrines.
(2) A series of holy wars called crusades went on for about 200 years.

18. Effects of the Crusades
Economic Changes
Historic evidence of trade between Muslims, Byzantines, Europeans prior to Crusades
Crusades enhanced existing trade
Returning Crusaders brought more goods, spices, textiles, to Europe
Increase in trade added to changing European economy during Middle Ages
Crusades led to deaths of many knights, nobles
Lands left vulnerable
Other ambitious nobles took control of unoccupied lands
Nobles then had more power, influence in Europe
Political Changes
Some Europeans respected other cultures, others intolerant
Many viewed non-Christians as enemies, persecuted Jews
Holy Land Jews saw Crusaders as cruel invaders
Relations strained for centuries
Social Changes