Section 4 The Church and Society

Chapter 15 Medieval Europe Section 4The Church and Society

I. Religion and Society (pgs. 544-552) • The Catholic Church played an important role in Medieval Europe and used its powers to uphold its teachings. • Between 1050 and 1150, more monasteries were built and new religious groups were started.

New Religious Orders • The Cistercian (sihs-thur-shuhn) order of monks was founded in 1098. • The most famous Cistercian monk was Bernard of Clairvaux(klar-voh). • Clairvaux helped promote the Second Crusade and defended the poor against the rich.

In the 1200s, several new religious orders were created. • The men in these orders were called friars – comes from the Latin word “brother.” • Friars were different from monks in that they traveled around preaching. • They could not own property or personal wealth and lived by begging.

Francis of Assisi founded the first order of friars in 1209 who became known as Franciscans. • A Spanish priest named Dominic de Guzman founded another group of friars called Dominicans.

The Role of Religion • In medieval Europe, daily life revolved around the Catholic Church. • MASS – Catholic worship services (Sundays/holy days) • SACRAMENTS – rituals done in church (communion) • SAINTS – holy men and women who had died (Mary) • RELICS – bones/personal belongings of Saints (power/healing)

What Was the Inquisition? • The Catholic Church was very powerful in medieval times and wanted everyone to accept the Church’s teachings. • Heresy (hehr-uh-see) is having religious beliefs that conflict with Church teachings. • To combat heresy, the pope established a court called the Inquisition (ihn-kwuh-zih-shuhn).

People brought before the Inquisition were urged to confess their heresy and ask for forgiveness. • Those who confessed were punished and allowed to go back to the Church. • Those who did not were considered guilty and tortured and turned over to political leaders , who could execute them.

How Were the Jews Treated? • Many Europeans hated Jews for: 1) Refusing to become Christians 2) Being moneylenders who charged interest, which was considered a sin. • Hatred of Jews is known as anti-Semitism (she-muh-tih-zuhm) • Christian mobs killed thousands of Jews and many were forced out of their homes.

II. Medieval Culture

Medieval Art and Architecture • Architecture in the Middle Ages reflected the importance of religion. • People built large churches, called cathedrals. • Two popular architectural styles of that time are: • 1) Romanesque – rectangular buildings with long, rounded roofs, huge pillars, and thick walls • 2) Gothic – ribbed vaults, pointed arches, flying buttresses, large stained glass windows.

The First Universities • Oxford University in Oxford, England was founded in 1231 and was one of the first universities established in Europe. • Universities were also opened in Bologna (buh*loh*nyuh), Italy and Paris, France.

Who Was Thomas Aquinas? • Thomas Aquinas (uh*kwy*nuhs) was a Dominican friar who began a new way of thinking and studying theology called scholasticism (skuh*las*tuh*sih*zuhm). • Scholasticism combined Church teachings with reason and the teachings of Aristotle. • Aquinas also emphasized the idea of natural law. • He claimed that natural law gave people certain rights that the government should not take away: 1) right to live 2) right to learn 3) right to worship 4) right to reproduce

Medieval Literature • During the Middle Ages, people generally spoke and wrote in Latin. • In addition, each region developed its own vernacular (vuhr*na*kyuh*luhr), or everyday language. • During the 1100s, new literature was written in vernacular: • 1) troubadour (troo*buh*dohr) poetry – love poems, often about a knight and lady • 2) heroic epic – stories of brave knights fighting for kings/lords

Section 4 The Church and Society