Ch. 10.1: Role of the Catholic Church EQ: What role does the Catholic Church have in the lives and politics of the people and Monarchies of Medieval Europe?

Power of the Catholic Church Roman Catholic Church and European monarchies gained power as Middle Ages progressed Efficient organization of Catholic church gave it enormous influence in almost all aspects of everyday life

Organization of the Catholic Church All clergy (“workers” in the church) had a rank:

The Pope Supreme head of the Roman Catholic Church Bishop of Rome Highest ranking clergy member within the church Pope Francis 266th Pope -Current Pope Gregory VII Pope Leo III

Cardinals Assisted the Pope Appointed by the Pope Helped watch over the clergy below him

Bishops Governed areas called dioceses from/with great cathedrals

Priests Served local communities called parishes Each parish had its own church building with a Priest

Monks and Nuns (Monastic Orders) Lived in isolated communities, grew own food Monastic Orders learned to read Latin and copied, translated, and preserved ancient and religious texts

FYI: Why might working for the church be attractive to non-nobles? Working for the church might be attractive to non-nobles because you are able to advance your station and move up the ranks based on merit.

Power of the Church Church had great wealth, and large influence in European politics, making it more powerful than any individual monarch Papacy’s authority often greater than a kings European monarchs often built strong relationships with Church because the Church had such a huge influence over so many people in Europe

Political System (Worldly) Religious System (Spiritual) GOD No opportunity for advancement GOD King Titled Nobility Craftsmen, Merchants Free Peasants Serfs Men of War Men of Prayer Religious system offers more opportunity for advancement making it attractive to non-nobles & 3rd+ born sons Order was determined by God Order was determined by God Pope Religious Nobility Monks & Priests Believers & Lay People Men of Work 3 Groups of People – Men of Work, Men of War, & Men of Prayer

Kings want an “inside” man During 800’s Kings appointed people to become Bishops and Cardinals Kings wouldn’t always put religious men in these positions King’s choices were sometimes greedy and immoral This created many problems in the Church, and led to increased corruption in Catholic Church

Popes Oppose Lay Investiture Monarchs having the power to appoint church officials was called lay investiture Popes opposed, or were against, lay investiture Popes believed that it gave Monarchs too much power and control over the Church

Pope Gregory VII One pope, Gregory VII, became angry that kings were allowed to hire people for church positions Pope felt he should be only one to appoint people in the Church Pope Gregory decided to pass a church law declaring kings had no right to appoint any one into the church!

Henry IV Fights Back! King Henry IV, did not believe pope could tell him what to do Henry wrote letter to Pope Gregory telling him that a monarch’s power was independent from the pope’s authority and he didn’t have to listen to the pope!

Pope Gregory Reacts Pope Gregory became angry with King Henry IV, decided to excommunicate him from church When pope excommunicated someone from church that was pope’s way of telling them they could not get into Heaven Excommunication also meant that king no longer could tell his subjects, or people, what to do!

Henry Fights Back, Again! King Henry tried to get help from friends and nobles to back him up and stand up against pope. Nobody wanted to make the pope angry so Henry was on his own. Finally Henry gave up. He went to Rome and begged the pope to forgive him. Pope Gregory created a treaty called the Concordat of Worms saying that ONLY the pope could select church leaders

Check Point: The church had to power to excommunicate. What does this mean? Excommunication means not allowing someone to become a member of the church. Because the church was central to your spiritual and social life, it was a harsh punishment - like removing someone from society.

Check Point: How would the church’s power of excommunication affect the way people lived their lives? Through excommunication, people were removed of their hope for salvation along with being shunned in society. This serves as both spiritual and social control by the church over the people.

Catholic Church’s Role in Education Schools established at cathedrals, which eventually became the first universities in Europe (Oxford University in England: Founded 1096 or 1100s) Instructors taught students Latin Church worked to preserve Latin and religious texts Muslim scholars had preserved and interpreted ancient Greek texts and were now being translated into Latin by Church scholars giving Europeans access to ancient Greek works

Thomas Aquinas Italian scholar Thomas Aquinas studied writings of Greek philosopher, Aristotle Aquinas argued that classical philosophy could exist in harmony with Christian faith Published work that is now considered a historical landmark showing that Greek philosophy could be combined with Christian values and ideas

Interesting Facts:

Flying Buttresses Domes and arches exert a horizontal component of force on their supports. So to build big ones, you have to counter that component. Big cathedrals have either very thick walls or big external piers pressing their sides toward the middle; these are called buttresses. A flying buttress is a buttress with a large section missing to reduce weight without compromising strength too much. The introduction of the flying buttress enabled builders to both make the walls of cathedrals much higher and to install large stained glass windows in the walls

Summary Answer the EQ questions by completing a 6-9 sentence summary! Remember PROVE your answer using DETAILED FACTS and EDUCATED opinions! The EQ was: What role does the Catholic Church play in the lives and politics of the people and Monarchies of Medieval Europe?