CHRISTIANITY IN THE MIDDLE AGES
and transubstantiation, which is the doctrine that the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist. One person involved in these debates was Gottschalk (ca. 808-868). Gottschalk had thoroughly studied Augustine and was convinced that the church had distorted his teachings.
One area where this distortion was particularly important was Augustine's teachings on predestination. Augustine had speculated that God had chosen some people for salvation from before the world was created. Their selection depended entirely on God's grace. No human effort could cause a person to be saved or lost When Gottschalk presented these views, he was quickly attacked, condemned as a heretic, severely beaten, and imprisoned in a monastery until his death. One of the reasons that the opposition to Gottschalk's understanding of Augustine was so strong was its impact on the church. If salvation depended entirely on the grace of God operating through predestination, the church would have no role in the salvation process. The authority of the church as the "dispenser" of grace would be undermined.
Another debate in which Gottschalk was also involved concerned what would later be called transubstantiation. The monk Paschasius Radbertus (ca. 790—865) wrote a book in 831 called The Body and Blood of the Lord. In it he claimed that when the priest spoke the words of consecration ("This is my body . . . this is my blood") in the Eucharist, the bread and wine became the actual body and blood of Christ. This transformation held true only for the believer who accepted the body and blood in faith The elements remained bread and wine for nonbelievers who lacked the necessary faith. It was a miracle of God produced through the priest. To the eye, the elements remained bread and wine But to the believer they really were the same flesh that was born to Mary and had suffered on the cross and the same blood spilled on the cross. When believers ate this flesh and drank this blood, they became a part of the mystical body of Christ, the church. Others opposed this view of transubstantiation Some held to the teachings of Augustine that the bread and wine were symbols by which Christ was made present.
The debate that followed illustrates several points. For one, the idea of a real presence of Christ in the Eucharist was popular and had been gaining ground for some time There were still many, however, who held to a symbolic presence of Christ Transubstantiation would not become official doctrine until the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, and it would be debated until the Reformation Almost two hundred years after Radbertus started the debate, transubstantiation would become a powerful tool in the hands of the church in its conflicts with secular rulers. Many held the belief in the real presence and a ruler who was denied the Eucharist was seen as outside the church This rejection by the church had powerful implications for leaders in a Christian society, as will be seen in the next chapter. Finally, because so many believed they were eating the body and blood of Christ, the sense of magical awe of Chris-
tians increased. The status of the priest also was enhanced as he had the power to make this awesome change happen.
THE CHURCH AT THE CLOSE OF THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES
In some ways the church at the close of the early Middle Ages was more divided than at the beginning of the period. Differences in thinking, styles of worship, and political situations had caused Eastern and Western Christianity to take different paths. In the East, older patterns of church organization and thought prevailed. The church tended to be dominated by the state and resisted changes in theology. The political power vacuum in the West caused the church to take on a different form. The papacy assumed a more active role in both secular and religious realms. Theological development continued as important doctrines emerged. All of these contributed to a growing schism within the Christian community. The Eastern and Western halves of Christianity were held together by a slim thread.
Missionary expansion had occurred. Such far-flung places as Ireland, Scotland, Moravia, Serbia, and Romania were under Christian control. Headway had been made in converting Russia. Still, because of the Muslim conquests in North Africa and Asia Minor, the faith held less land than it had when the Roman Empire had first collapsed. The Muslims in the south, the Norse in the north, and assorted groups in the east were threats to the existence of Christian societies.
In the West, the feudal system divided Europe into numerous competing fiefdoms. The church's involvement with the feudal system corrupted its spirit. Bishops and popes acted like feudal warlords. Morals were at a low level and spiritual matters were often neglected Almost no one, including priests, could read Some of the knowledge of ancient Rome was lost. Religion often was simple, superstitious, and magical Such trends as the worship of relics added to the shallow character of faith As the year 1000 approached, many became convinced the Lord was returning soon. They became involved in strange activities and movements.
Yet there were positive signs. Many people were deeply religious. There was a real concern for being Christian. Secular leaders, church persons, and common people wanted a Christian society. Some scholars argue that common people were more dedicated than either their secular or religious leaders. This dedication is shown by the fact that some powerful individuals gave up their positions to become monks. Some dedicated people gave large sections of land to the church or to a monastery, which is one way the church came to hold so much land in western Europe.
_ V22 _
CHRISTIANITY IN THE MIDDLE ACES
The church itself did show signs of genuine spiritual vigor Many local priests and monks were dedicated Christians. The church exhibited concern for the needs of society, it founded hospitals and orphanages and fed the poor. It often tried to halt the disorder and violence that characterized much of western Europe Most of the art, literature, and music of the period rested on Christian themes The parish church was the center of life for most medieval people.
The Latin Mass was becoming the standard liturgy in western Europe. The Christian calendar, prayer books, and hymns gave the faith a common basis. Many people looked to the pope as the spiritual head of the church The pope was able to assert some central authority through his bishops and monks. Emerging doctrines such as transubstantiation gave the church new power.
CONCLUSIONS
In the West, the early Middle Ages were a time of chaos, which has led some scholars to call them the Dark Ages. Yet the struggles that occurred were the pains by which a new order came into being Central political control collapsed, but in its place the feudal system developed. Despite its limits, the feudal system was remarkably good for the times. Much of the trade that had characterized the Roman Empire had disappeared, but the large manors associated with the feudal system supplied basic needs. Formal education was often lacking, but crafts and skills were abundant Systems had been created to train new people in these skills. Life was nasty and often cut short by disease and war Yet people survived. The population of western Europe actually increased significantly.
In some ways, the religious faith of popes and common people was shallow and superstitious. The commitment required of the martyrs was absent The deep theological concerns of the patristic period were replaced by more practical problems The morals of clergy and ordinary Christians often were questionable Priests, bishops, and popes acted more as feudal lords than as spiritual leaders At the same time, the church had many positive effects on society and missionary expansion did occur. Paganism, Arianism, and other forms of heterodox beliefs disappeared The type of Latin Christianity taught by Rome came to be generally accepted in the West
The papacy rose as a powerful spiritual and political force that helped to unify the region People in the West gradually began to conceive of themselves as distinct from other parts of the old Roman Empire They had a common political and economic system in feudalism as well as a common faith in Roman Christianity Thus, it was during this period that Europe emerged as a separate
cultural and political unit. Toward the late tenth century, reform movements were felt in the church, a new central political structure gained power, and a fresh, hopeful spirit began to spread in the West. The time was right for the flowering of medieval society.
1. It's important not to carry these distinctions too far Remember the Eastern and the Western churches were united well into the Middle Ages. The Eastern church certainly recognizes the price of sin and the cross The Western church believes in the "restoring of divinity" and the Resurrection The point here is that the two halves of Christianity have somewhat different concerns in their common faith
2. The dates in this case are when the two men served as mayors of the palace The mayor of the palace technically served the king but ended up administering the kingdom
3. For a good discussion of the early Middle Ages, see John B F3arrison, Richard E Sullivan, and Dennis Sherman, A Short History of Western Civilization, 6th ed (New York: Knopf, 1985), 175-225 Also see Donald Kagan, Steven Ozment, and Frank M Turner, The Western Heritage, 3d ed. (New York: Macmillan, 1987), 201-236.
4. The story of the spread of Christianity is much more complicated than indicated here For a good discussion of the early expansion, see Kurt Aland, A History of Christianity, vol 1, From the Beginnings to the Threshold of the Reformation, trans. James L. Shaaf (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1980), 216-251
5. The fact that F3onorius was found to be a heretic became an important argument against papal infallibility when it was debated in the nineteenth century
6. The Seven Ecumenical Councils are Nicaea (325), Constantinople (381), Ephesus (449), Chalcedon (451), Constantinople (553), Constantinople (680-681), and Nicaea (787).
The important council at Chalcedon established five major cities to lead Christianity: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. The bishops of these cities were called patriarchs. Other bishops who exercised control over a province (state or region) were called metropolitans. Through the years, the cities have changed, but the Orthodox world is still led by patriarchs Ideally, the patriarchs and metropolitans have no special authority over other bishops. Even the bishops of small cities are equal to the great patriarchs and metropolitans.
Belief in this structure has caused an ongoing conflict between the Orthodox and the Roman Catholics In Orthodox thought, there is a special place for the pope (bishop) of Rome F3 e is "first among equals," but no more than that F3e has no authority for the church at large.
Because of this definition of the pope's authority, the East rejected the growing trend for the pope of Rome to claim he was the leader of the church The pope and the patriarch of Constantinople often were at odds These conflicting understandings of the church were aggravated by the political rivalries between Rome and Constantinople and, later, by the troubles between the Byzantine Empire and western Europe
7. For an excellent discussion of the history and character of the Orthodox church, see Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church, reprint ed (Baltimore: Penguin, 1973).
8. The other three Latin doctors of the Church are Jerome, Ambrose, and Augustine
9. These instances of mass conversion give some idea of religion at the time People who converted in this way had a very limited understanding of Christianity There is little
CHRISTIANITY IN THE MIDDLE AGES
wonder that there was a decline in the depth of the faith from the period of the martyrs to when Christianity became fashionable under Constantine to the era of the mass conversions of pagans
It also is interesting that God was understood as a "warrior God" constantly doing battle for his causes The battle between a Christian king and a pagan leader often was seen as a battle between their gods If the Christians won, mass conversion would follow, which had many results. For one, the converts were still pagan in many of their ways and practices. In their religion, their pagan gods were replaced by an almost equally pagan Christ.
The "warrior God" of the Old Testament was more suited to the early Middle Ages than was the suffering God of the New Testament Kings, nobles, bishops, and popes often did battle convinced that God was on their side The warrior God found a place at all levels of life: a common way of proving one's innocence came to be trial by combat. A person accused of some crime would fight his accuser with religious and secular officials observing If he won, he was innocent
Bede, [Venerable]. The History of the English Church and People. Translated by Leo Sherley- Price New York Dorsey Press, 1985
Benedict, St. Rule of St. Benedict In Documents of the Christian Church. Selected and edited by Henry Bettenson 2d ed Oxford: University Press, 1973 Bloch, Marc Feudal Society. Translated by L. A Manyon. Vols. 1 and 2 Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964
Boethius. Consolation of Philosophy. Translated by V. E Watts. Classics series. New York: Penguin, 1976
Cohn, N. R C The Pursuit of the Millennium. New York: Oxford University Press, 1970. Coulton, G G Life in the Middle Ages. Cambridge University Press, 1928-1930. Daniel-Rops, Henry The Church in the Dark Ages. New York: Dutton, 1959.
Davis, R H C. A History of Medieval Europe: From Constantine to St. Louis. 2d ed. London: Longman, 1988
Decarreaux, Jean Monks and Civilization. From the Barbarian Invasions to Charlemagne. Translated by C Haldane Garden City, N.J.: Doubleday, 1964 Gregory the Great Pastoral Care. No 1 1 , Ancient Christian Writers. Translated by Henry Davis Westminster, Md : Newman, 1950
- Dialogues. Translated by Myra L. Uhlfelder Library of Liberal Arts Series Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1967
Hodgson, Marshall G S The Venture of Islam Vol. 1 , The Classical Age of Islam. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974
John of Damascus Selected Works Vol 37, Fathers of the Church Series. Washington: Catholic University Press, 1958
Leclercq, Jean The Love of Learning and the Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture. Bronx,
N Y : Fordham, 1985
-, Francois Vandendroucke, and Louis Bouyer The Spirituality of the Middle Ages.
Vol 2, A History of Christian Spirituality. Reprint New York: Harper, 1982 Leff, Gordon Medieval Thought. St. Augustine to Ockham Baltimore: Penguin, 1958 Lewis, Bernard The Arabs in History Rev ed San Bernardino, Calif : Borgo, 1991 Moss, H., St L B The Birth of the Middle Ages-. 395-814. Oxford: University Press, 1935 Pirenne, Henri Mohammed and Charlemagne Translated by Bernard Maill Reprint New York Barnes-Noble, 1983
CHAOS, DARKNESS, AND EMERGING ORDER (500 - IOOOc e )
Richards, Jeffrey Consul of God: The Life and Times of Gregory the Great. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1980
Runciman, Steven Byzantine Style and Civilization. New York: Penguin, 1975
-. The Byzantine Theocracy. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1977
Sawyer, Peter. The Age of the Vikings. 2d ed New York: St Martins, 1972 Volz, C A The Church of the Middle Ages. St Louis: Concordia, 1970
CHAPTER SIX
THE CHURCH IN THE HIGH
MIDDLE AGES
Flowering of Christian Society (1000-1500 C.E.)
_ V28 _
CHRISTIANITY IN THE MIDDLE AGES
A S THE YEAR 1000 approached, a tremendous surge of pent-up energy was ready for release. In the East the church had begun its spread into the vast expanse of Russia In the West new political structures were arising Religious zeal was set to lead to church reform, holy pilgrimages, cathedral building, and the Crusades against the Muslims. The papacy moved to consolidate its control New educational structures and a renewed vigor in theological and philosophical thought were about to burst on the scene
This chapter and the next review one of the most creative periods in Christian history This chapter first looks at the political and cultural background in which the rise and decline of medieval civilization occurred We then examine the many trends that inspired the high Christian society of the West. The increasing power of the papacy, monastic reform, the Crusades, and Scholasticism are discussed Finally we examine the effects of Aristotelian thought on the West.
WESTERN EUROPE IN THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES
Between 1000 and 1500 a new Christian society emerged in western Europe. The High Middle Ages reached its peak in the thirteenth century and then began a slow decline. This section looks at some of the important trends of the era
During the High Middle Ages, western Europe was relatively secure from external invasions The foundations were laid for the emergence of modern nations in England, France, and Germany as separate monarchs came to rule in these regions. The Holy Roman Empire came to power in Germany. This heightened political presence was challenged by the papacy, leading to newly defined roles for both pope and emperor. By the end of the era, France and England resembled modern nation-states. To a lesser degree, this process of nation building was underway in Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands. In a series of steps, the Muslims had been driven from Spain and Portugal The European Continent, with its emerging nations, was under Christian control
Agricultural improvements led to an increase in the population of western Europe Improved trade resulted in the rise of a new rich, the merchant class, which would vie with the traditional nobility and clergy for power The merchant class revitalized town life Manufacturing and trade gave urban centers a new position of importance As monarchs sought to assert their control over "nations," national assemblies and parliaments formed to defend the rights of
FLOWERING OF CHRISTIAN SOCIETY (1000 - 1500 c.E.)
nobles, clergy, and townspeople. Documents such as the Magna Carta (1215) helped maintain the balance of power between people and kings. In turn, these documents became the basis for later recognition of human rights.
Towns became a new source of freedom as the nobility was forced to recognize their power and grant them a measure of independence. The wealth of towns was based on manufacturing and trade. Both of these were furthered by the reopening of contacts with sections of the world closed since the days of the Roman Empire The religious Crusades brought Europe back into contact with the Muslim world and also created new opportunities for commerce Merchants from western Europe opened trading posts on the Black Sea and began to expand into Asia. These endeavors were stimulated by accounts of travels such as those written in the late thirteenth century by the Venetian Marco Polo. Increased trade generated more exploration of distant lands for new markets and products that could be sold in Europe This cycle of trade and exploration resulted in the European discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in the late fifteenth century.
Manufacturing and trade meant an increased importance for money. The necessity to accumulate funds for trade resulted in the creation of a banking system. It also made money, not land, the basis of the European economy. This change to a money-based economy radically altered the whole European social system. It shifted the control of the region away from feudal lords to those who were able to accumulate forms of wealth other than land.
A money-based economy also meant that kings and others were now able to pay mercenaries to fight for them. They did not have to depend on the services of their vassals. Taxation became an important issue for any lord who sought to assert control or fight a war. The control of money gave the townspeople additional power. Towns, especially the Italian city-states, began to assert tremendous power in European affairs. The land owned by the church became less important. The church also began to depend on money to defend its interests and extend its influence. Fundraising became a prime concern for church officials. All these trends led to a slow decline in the feudal system and to a reordering of European society.
Around 1300 the population growth, which had continued since 1000, was beginning to strain the food supply and other resources of western Europe. A devastating plague began in the mid-fourteenth century. The Black Death (bubonic plague) swept through the Continent between 1347 and 1350 All classes of people were affected. As much as one-third of the total population may have died in three years. Outbreaks of the Black Death would continue throughout the century, which disrupted the social and economic order