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Medieval Religion
Religion in the medieval period is frequently depicted as a "time of ignorance and superstition," defying reason and logic. While Christianity and its denominations made up the majority of medieval religion, Germanic paganism and Islam also existed.
956 Questions
How were the Franciscans and other new orders different from older monastic orders?
Although the friars lived together in a religious community, they did not follow the Rule of St Benedict like monks and their work was mainly outside in society, among the poor and the sick. For this reason most communities of friars were established within towns and many English towns and cities today have streets or areas called "Greyfriars", "Blackfriars" or "Whitefriars" as a result.
Monks could rarely leave their monastic precinct and many never set foot outside the cloister.
Friars were all mendicant, meaning that they survived on donations and by begging. Monks were fairly-self-sufficient by contrast, growing their own food crops and running extensive farming granges.
The colours of the habits worn by the friars also distinguished them from monks, who from the early 12th century wore either black habits (for Benedictines and Cluniacs) or undyed natural white wool habits (for Cistercians and Carthusians). The medieval friars wore the following:
- Franciscans: brown or grey
- Dominicans: black cloaks over white habits
- Praemonstratensians: white
- Austin friars: black cloaks over white habits
- Carmelites: white cloaks over brown habits
Other distinctions were that friars always wore cord belts with three knots to remind them of their vows (monks did not need this reminder); they also wore sandals (monks wore shoes).
In what cathedral did Thomas becket die?
Canterbury cathedral was the location of the martyrdom of St Thomas Becket.
Why were there three popes in 1414 AD?
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from A Catholic Dictionary, edited by Donald Attwater, Second edition, revised 1957The Great Schism, otherwise know as the Schism of the West was not strictly a schism at all but a conflict between the two parties within the Church each claiming to support the true pope. Three months after the election of Urban VI, in 1378, the fifteen electing cardinals declared that they had appointed him only as a temporary vicar and that in any case the election was invalid as made under fear of violence from the Roman mob. Urban retorted by naming twenty-eight new cardinals, and the others at once proceeded to elect Cardinal Robert of Geneva as Pope Clement VII, who went to reside at Avignon. The quarrel was in its origin not a theological or religious one, but was caused by the ambition and jealousy of French influence, which was supported to some extent for political reasons by Spain, Naples, Provence, and Scotland; England, Germany, Scandinavia, Wales, Ireland, Portugal, Flanders and Hungary stood by what they believe to be the true pope at Rome. The Church was torn from top to bottom by the schism, both sides in good faith (it was impossible to know to whom allegiance was due), which lasted with its two lines of popes (and at one time three) till the election of Martin V in 1417. It is now regarded as practically certain that the Urbanist popes were the true ones and their names are included in semi-official lists; moreover, the ordinal numbers of the Clementine claimants (who, however, are not called anti-popes,) were adopted by subsequent popes of the same name.
from
Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980
The Great Schism, otherwise known as the Western Schism, 1378-1417, when there was controversy over the true succession to the papacy. It began with the writings of Marsilius of Padua c. 1275- 1342), who claimed that a pope is subject to a council of bishops, priests, and laymen. Urban VI was elected Pope on April 8, 1378, following the seventy-year Avignon residence of the papacy. He was a stern reformer and also harsh. The French cardinals in retaliation declared that Urban had not been validly elected and proceeded to elect Robert of Geneva as the antipope Clement VII (1378-94). Clement withdrew to Avignon and the Great Schism was in full swing. France, Scotland, and Spain gave their allegiance to Clement; England, Italy, Flanders, Hungary, Poland, and most of Germany followed Urban, who died in 1389. There followed a succession of lawful popes at Rome and antipopes at Avignon. The universities of Paris, Oxford, and Prague disputed how the impasse should be resolved. Finally pope and antipope were invited to a council at Pisa (1409); both decline and were declared deposed by the council, which proceeded to elect yet another antipope, Alexander V (1409-10). In desperation, Emperor Sigismund of Germany appealed to the antipope John XXIII of Pisa, to call a general council at Constance, a German city on the Rhine. John agreed, and the council, later legitimized, was convened in 1414. It lasted four years and finally resolved the schism. The Pisan antipope John XXIII abdicated. Gregory XII, the true Roman Pontiff, having formally convoked the Council of Constance, sent his representatives, and then, for the good of the Church, freely resigned his office. The claim of Benedict XIII of Avignon was no longer worthy of serious consideration. The chair of Peter, vacant at last was filled by the election, November 11, 1417, of Pope Martin V. The Great Schism was ended.
What is a cardinal in a medieval church?
Cardinals, sometimes called 'Princes of the Church,' are usually bishops or archbishops who have been granted an elevated status by the pope. They are responsible for electing a new pope after the death of a reigning pontiff. Most cardinals have additional duties, such as leading a diocese or archdiocese or running a department of the Roman Curia.
What wass the significance of the tritone interval during the middle ages?
what does a 18 year old boy need to look for in a relationship or looking for a girl to start a relationship with
What role did the church have in medieval society?
The Roman Catholic Church dominated life in medieval society. It was important to people for spiritual reasons and thought to be necessary for people to go to heaven. It also demanded much of people in their everyday lives including the requirement that peasants work church land for free and also tithe to the church in money or in kind. The huge cathedrals built at this time were a constant reminder of the place of the church in people's' lives.
Thomas Becket's mother was a woman named Matilda who came from Normandy. She seems to have been called Rosea by people who knew her well. She was the wife of a many who sold expensive cloth and got some income from rent.
In what ways were the christian monasteries and convents important to medieval Europe?
First, people believed in God and the church. Second, people saw monastic life as a way to life in peace and security in a chaotic world.
During the first four hundred years of the middle ages, people in western Europe were badly exposed to armed groups of people who were migrating or raiding. The Germanic tribes were a type of such groups, and the Vikings were another. People who lived in the countryside needed protection, and this could come if they moved to walled cities or organized themselves under local, able leadership. Both of theses routes provided some security, but at a price. In those days things were so bad that many people literally sold themselves into slavery in exchange for security.
One alternative to this exposure was living in a monastery. Monasteries were sacked and destroyed, just as towns and cities were, but they were not as tempting as targets in most places. People in them had a better chance than many in the countryside, also.
How did the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages help the common man?
During the Middle Ages, the Church provide a number of important services for the common people. Clearly, the most important service of the Church, as far as the people of that time were concerned, was the business of providing spiritual support, saving souls. But there were other important church functions, as well.
The Church provided an alternate justice system, to which people who qualified could appeal, in order to avoid secular courts. Originally, this system was for clergy, but the question of who constituted the clergy was so vague that in time anyone who could read qualified. The usual test was whether the person could read the 51st Psalm.
The Church provided sanctuary for refugees. These were mostly individuals who had run into some kind of trouble, with the law, with abusive husbands, or with people they owed money. Appeal to sanctuary was nearly always respected, even by kings. There are records of queens who fled their husbands and went into sanctuary for the remainder of their lives, and there is one case of a woman who tried to assassinate a King of France being allowed to live out her life in a convent because it had provided sanctuary.
The Church was an arbiter between nations, and prevented wars from time to time.
The Church built and ran hospitals.
The Church provided shelter for travelers, originally pilgrims, but quickly anyone who came along.
Monastic organizations also provided security on the pilgrim roads.
Monasteries and Cathedrals built, staffed, and maintained schools and universities. During much of the Middle Ages, most people who were educated got their teaching from church organizations.
The Church was itself an institution in which the common people could rise in rank.
Why was Christianity so important in medieval society?
It is a 1,000 years of time in human history and many things we do today are because of events and people that were alive in that time. History is connected and each thing that is done, invented, or created leads to the next event, war, invention, or creation. Nothing is done apart or alone. It may take 20 years or a hundred years before the first event or thing is felt, but it is connected. All of it is cause and effect.
How did the Catholic Church impact the politics of the Middle Ages?
As the Church and State were closely tied during the Middle Ages, all authority figures such as kings and queens were duty bound to nurture, promote and reinforce the authority of the church. The belief that kings were sacred because of their office came from and was continuously upheld by the church, encouraging people to blindly obey the dictates of their sovereigns. Rulers understood that it was essential they had the approval of the Church for most of their political moves since disfavor or excommunication could be the kiss of death for a monarchy.
What problems were identified by Church reformers during Middle Ages?
Corruption within the papacy, and the teachings of the church going astray.
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Catholic Answer.reasons given by Fr. Hardon in his Modern Catholic Dictionary:
weakening of papal authority through long residence in France
worldliness of some popes
disloyalty to Rome of many bishops who were really temporal rulers
excessive reservation of ecclesiastical appointments to the roman Curia
intellectual and moral unfitness of many priests
wealth of some of the monasteries and dissension in their ranks
superstition and ignorance among the laity
social unrest brought on by the disintegration of the feudal system
support given by political power to dissenters in the Church
unrest and secularism brought on by the new geographical discoveries
the use of the printing press to to propagate the new views
How did the role of the church develop and change during the early middle ages?
In the beginning of the Middle Ages the Catholic Church was seen as absolutely central to everything in existence. This was at odds with kings and rulers of the Middle Ages, and the kings and rulers appointing their own churchmen. This was the issue of investiture. Bishops were important statesmen; they had important roles beyond their religious responsibilities. They were involved in local economics, educating people and administering justice. Rulers, in order to maintain their power, wanted to be able to fill the roles with their own choices. The kings could literally make people loyal to them by this patronage whereby nobles and supporters sons were rewarded with religious offices. Pope Gregory VII opposed this, because to him the Pope was the absolute authority, closer to God than any secular monarch. It ended up with the greatest of all medieval monarchs - the Holy Roman Emperor
Not only monks - men wore knives at their belts in civilian life for the same reasons. A monk's knife was used at table for cutting up food, it was used when working as a handy utility tool for a wide range of tasks and in the scriptorium it was used for cutting quills to the correct length (about 8 inches) to make pens. A smaller, more delicate "pen knife" was used to shape the end of the quill and special curved knives were used to prepare parchment or vellum.
Knives had been worn for all of these reasons for hundreds of years before the first Order of monks was established, so carrying a handy and useful knife was simply a tradition that continued. Boy Scouts around the world carried knives until fairly recent times for exactly the same kinds of tasks.
Before the 14th century only the host and favoured guests at a meal would expect to find a knife set before them on the table; everyone else used their own.
The rule of Saint Benedict states that monks should sleep fully dressed except for their knives, in case they might be accidentally injured in their sleep - a sensible precaution.
Very few illustrations of the 12th century (as an example) show knives being carried by monks or civilians. That they really did so is clear from archaeological and documentary evidence; artists simply did not consider these knives worth including in their pictures.
How did priests dress in in the Middle Ages and why?
many of the monks and priests usaully wore black/brown robes
answer: priest's did not wear black clothing. Monks wore black. Priests usually wore white
What activities do monks do in the medieval monastery?
Each monastery or order chooses their own thing for monks to do.
Some make fruit preserves, some make wine. One in New York state trains dogs. Pretty much any honest trade that allows adequate time for prayer and contemplation is possible.
What was the most famous church in the middle ages?
The Roman Catholic Church was the important Church in England during the Middle Ages.
In the geographical area of present England, there was a Church referred to as the Celtic Church before the mission of St. Augustine of Canterbury. This Church was in conflict with the Roman Catholic Church about two very important issues. One was the date of Easter, and the other was the tonsure (haircut) of the monks. The Council of Whitby met to decide these vital issues, and ruled in favor of the practices of the Roman Catholic Church, which decided the whole things as far as Northumbria was concerned. The Celtic Church leaders gradually took on the practices of the Roman Catholics after that.
What were the effects of the plague on Europe?
>Social upheaval
>Europe economy brought down
>Church faced opposition and reform efforts
Who were important people in the Middle Ages Church?
The priests who are ordained to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and give absolution in the Sacramento of Penance.
Priests can have different titles and position within the hierarchy of the Church founded by Jesus Christ including bishop, archbishop, cardinal and Pope but first and foremost they are all priests.
Foreign travelers in India in medieval period?
1.Marco polo 2. Niccolo conti 3.Nikitin 4.Duarte Barbose 5.Domingo Paes 6.Father Monserrate 7.Ralph Fitch 8.Father Xavier 9.Father Guerreiro 10.Captain William Hawkins 11.Thomas Coryat 12.Edward
Why did Christians go on crusades in 11 century?
The Muslim Empires Conquered Jerusalem which was considered Holy to the Christians also.
Where did Medieval archbishops live?
Archbishops were each based at an important cathedral which had private chambers attached for the use of the archbishop.
In the case of Archbishop Becket at Canterbury, there was a great hall, chamber, oriel, chapel and kitchen attached to the west end of the cathedral, with stairs and a corridor leading directly into the cloister and the cathedral itself.
An "oriel" was a private hall or chamber on the first floor, above the great hall.
These buildings would have been furnished like a palace and probably with painted designs all over the interior walls and ceilings.
Sadly no trace of these buildings remains today.
