1. History of the Church I: Week 15

2. Christianity in Middle Ages  Cathedral of Notre Dame, laying on an island in the Seine River in Paris, reflects the spirit of the Middle Ages  In France only, 500 cathedrals were built in the 12 th and 13 th centuries  This reflected the belief that Church tried to build the perfect society on earth

3. Christianity in Middle Ages  The power of the Papacy could be seen in this increased power. The immediate result was the Crusades  The zenith of Papal power came during Pope Innocent III’s reign  The Pope exerted his power in two ways:  Fear of excommunication – a person could not buy and sell if he was not a part of the church  Fear of interdict which was excommunication for a nation

4. The Crusades  After Islam spread through out the Middle East by the end of 7 th century, Christians were still able to visit the Holy Land on pilgrimages  When the Seljuks Turks took Jerusalem from their fellow Muslims in the 11 th century they moved north to invade the Byzantine Empire  In 1095, Emperor Alexis I asked the western part of the church for help  This is all Pope Urban II needed to bring the perfect Christian society to earth

5. The Crusades  The First Crusade (1096-1099) was the most successful. It captured Jerusalem and created a Christian kingdom in the Holy Land

6. The Crusades  The seven crusades lasted from 1095-1289  The crusades resulted in horrible attacks against Muslims and Jews

7. The Results  The goals of the crusades were to win the Holy Land, stop the advance of Islam and help the western and eastern parts of the Church unite. All of these failed  What we should learn from the Crusades is this:  Christian satisfaction can’t come from possession of some special place  The sword should not be used to extend Christ’s church