1. Medieval Christian Europe (330–1450)
Lesson 3 The Medieval Christian Church

2. Medieval Christian Europe (330–1450)
Lesson 3 The Medieval Christian Church
Learning Objectives
Explain how the Christian Church shaped medieval life.
Understand monastic life and the influence of medieval monks and nuns.
Analyze how the power of the Church grew during the Middle Ages and how reformers worked for change in the Church.
Describe the situation of Jews in medieval Europe.
Analyze how Christianity in the Byzantine empire differed from Christianity in the West.

3. Medieval Christian Europe (330–1450)
Lesson 3 The Medieval Christian Church
Key Terms
sacraments
Benedictine Rule
secular,
papal supremacy,
canon law,
excommunication.
interdict,
friars
St. Francis of Assisi.
anti-Semitism,
usury,
schism,
icons,
Great Schism,

4. The Church Shapes Everyday Life
Religion was woven into the fabric of the medieval world. Indeed, the Middle Ages has often been called Europe's 'age of faith.' The commanding force behind that faith was the Christian Church.

5. The Church Shapes Everyday Life
The Spread of Christianity
The Parish Priest
The Village Church
The Rise of Cathedrals
Women and the Church

6. The Church Shapes Everyday Life
Analyze Maps Name three areas of Europe that became Christian between 476 and 1050.

7. The Church Shapes Everyday Life
Analyze Charts How did the sacraments affect daily life in medieval Europe?

8. The Church Shapes Everyday Life
Pilgrims, like these characters in an illustration from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, were a common sight on the roads of medieval Europe.

9. Life in Monasteries and Convents
During the Middle Ages, some men and women withdrew from worldly life to become monks and nuns. Behind the walls of monasteries and convents, they devoted their lives to spiritual goals.

10. Life in Monasteries and Convents
The Benedictine Rule
A Life of Service
Centers of Learning
Convents Offer Opportunities for Women

11. Life in Monasteries and Convents
This Spanish painting from the 1500s shows a scriptorium, a room in a monastery used for writing.

12. Life in Monasteries and Convents
Medieval monasteries were centers of religious, educational, and community life in medieval Europe.

13. The Growth of Church Power
During the Middle Ages, the Church became the most powerful institution in Western Europe. The Church not only controlled the spiritual life of Christians but also exercised enormous influence over secular, or nonreligious, affairs.

14. The Growth of Church Power
A Spiritual and Worldly Empire
Church Law and Authority
Working for Peace
The Legacy of Judeo-Christian Teachings

15. The Growth of Church Power
This illustration of Pope Sylvester II, who reigned from 999 to 1003, shows the power and pomp of medieval European popes.

16. The Church Faces Calls to Reform
The very success of the medieval Church brought problems. As its wealth and power grew, discipline weakened. Powerful clergy grew more worldly, and many lived in luxury. Monks and nuns often ignored their vows. Priests, who were allowed to marry during this time, sometimes devoted more time to the interests of their families than to Church duties. The growing corruption and decay led to calls for reform.

17. The Church Faces Calls to Reform
Reform Movements
Preaching Orders

18. The Church Faces Calls to Reform
Analyze Charts Which criticism do you think common people felt most strongly? Why?

19. The Church Faces Calls to Reform
Francis of Assisi, shown in this stained glass window, abandoned a life of wealth and privilege to devote himself to preaching and performing good works.

20. Jewish Communities in Medieval Europe
Medieval Europe was home to numerous Jewish communities. During Roman times, Jewish communities had sprung up all around the Mediterranean. After Rome put down the Jewish uprising in a.d. 70, Jews scattered farther afield. In their new homes, Jews preserved the oral and written laws that were central to their faith.

21. Jewish Communities in Medieval Europe
Communities in Spain and Northern Europe
Persecution

22. Jewish Communities in Medieval Europe
A Jewish religious procession winds its way through a medieval European street in the 1400s.

23. The Christian Church Is Divided
During the Middle Ages, a growing divide split Christendom, as the Christian world was sometimes called. The divide opened up differences between Byzantine Christians in the east and Roman Catholics in lands to the west.

24. The Christian Church Is Divided
Differences East and West
Dispute Over Icons
The Great Schism

25. The Christian Church Is Divided
Analyze Charts Which church branch used icons? Which professed papal supremacy?

26. The Christian Church Is Divided
Analyze Maps What part of Europe was influenced by both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches?

27. Quiz: The Church Shapes Everyday Life
Which of the following contributed to unifying the diverse peoples across Europe?
A. Payment of tithes
B. Use of Latin, which everyone understood
C. A shared religious calendar
D. Pilgrimages and holy relics

28. Quiz: Life in Monasteries and Convents
How did Christianity spread through western and central Europe during the early Middle Ages?
A. Missionaries traveled across the continent, preaching the Gospels.
B. The Gospels were translated into Latin, the language peasants used.
C. The Benedictine Rule forced everyone to pay a tithe to support new churches.
D. Monasteries provided education and care for the poor.

29. Quiz: The Growth of Church Power
How did the Church gain secular power?
A. Monks forced massive numbers of people to convert through fear of punishment.
B. Canon law established secular courts under the control of the Church.
C. The Church issued interdicts, laws passed by the Church regardless of secular law.
D. The Church's power to deny the sacraments gave the Church power over Christians.

30. Quiz: The Church Faces Calls to Reform
Why did people call for reform in the Church?
A. They rejected the idea of papal supremacy.
B. They wanted to stop abuses of power and corruption within the Church.
C. They wanted to worship and celebrate their faith with holy icons.
D. They no longer supported the ideas of excommunication and purgatory.

31. Quiz: Jewish Communities in Medieval Europe
How were Jews treated in medieval Europe?
A. At first they were persecuted and heavily taxed, but eventually they were accepted as equals in Christian communities.
B. At first they were required to serve as financial advisers and physicians to a community, but eventually they were permitted to hold any job available.
C. At first they were wealthy landowners within a community, but local secular authorities seized their property and forced them to flee.
D. At first they were treated relatively well, but persecution became severe in the late 1000s.

32. Quiz: The Christian Church Is Divided
What actions did the patriarch and the pope take following the Great Schism?
A. The patriarch banned the use of icons and changed the Nicene Creed.
B. The patriarch rejected papal supremacy and banned the use of icons.
C. The pope and the patriarch excommunicated each other.
D. The pope banned the use of icons and excommunicated the patriarch.