6 Popular Religion in the Middle Ages & The Crusades

Transcription

1 6 Popular Religion in the Middle Ages & The Crusades How do all these changes affect the average Joe and Josephine Peasant living in the Middle Ages? If you were living in the Middle Ages, what you would notice would be that: Signs of Christendom were everywhere!! Places of gathering Places of protection from the elements - warm Places of refuge - go there during times of war Places of colour. Places of the key moments in a person s life. Places where the community marked the Lord s Day, where the feasts of the Church Year were celebrated, and where ritual structure was carried out. Places for the Seven Sacraments Seven Sacraments These were intersections with people s lives. Not symbolic displays, but believed to change people and things to make them what they had not been before. Baptism - holy water. Indispensable for salvation. Means by which the church mediates the grace of God. Makes a permanent change to whomever received it. Even stillborn babies would be baptized. Confession - private confession. Whisper your sins into the ear of the priests. Marriage - two people become a couple Extreme Unction - anointing the sick especially when they are dying. This sacrament offers grace to help those as they enter into sickness. Confirmation - anointing done by the Bishop. Becomes a separate experience from baptism. Tells us about the importance of the clergy in society. Hold power over the people. They are the gatekeepers of life and death AND the gatekeepers of society as a whole. Wow! They define the boundaries of who is in and who is out!!! Ordination - through a ritual, a man becomes a priest Eucharist - a cup becomes a chalice. Few people took the Eucharist. Maybe once a year. Why? Because of the drama of the event. When it was celebrated, it was a big deal. Central act in the worship service. During this event, the bread and the wine became the body and Blood of Jesus. People tended to be observers rather than participants. What s more, if they did participate, it was only to partake of the bread - and even then, it was a lower level bread -

2 eulogia rather than consecrated bread. The Blood would be too overwhelming for the average person it was thought. Priests and Mass: Something Missing Mass was only available in Latin, a language which most people did not understand. The scriptures were also available only in Latin. Aside from being unable to read the scriptures even if one had a copy of the bible, obtaining such would have been difficult and beyond the means of most people. Many priests of this time received little to no training. A large number could not read Latin, and therefore had no access to the Bible at all. The Consecration Qui pridie quam pateretur, accepit panem in sanctas ac venerabiles manus suas, et elevatis oculis in coelum ad te Deum Patrem suum omnipotentem tibi gratias agens, benedixit, fregit, diditque discipulis suis, dicens: Accipite,et manducate ex hoc omnes: HOC EST ENIM CORPUS MEUM. Who, the day before He suffered, took bread into His holy and venerable hands, and having raised His eyes to heaven to you, God, His Almighty Father, giving thanks to You, He blessed it, it broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying: "Take and eat of this, all of you, FOR THIS IS MY BODY." (The Body of Christ is lifted up for worship). Simili modo postquam coenatum est, accipiens et hunc praeclarum Calicem in sanctas ac venerabiles manus suas. item tibi gratias agens, benedixit, deditque discipulis suis, dicens. Accepite, et bibite ex eo omnes: HIC EST ENIM CALIX SANGUINIS MEI, NOVI ET AETERNI TESTAMENTI: MYSTERIUM FIDEI: QUI PRO VOBIS ET PRO MULTIS EFFUNDETUR IN REMISSIONEM PECCATORUM. Haec quotiescumque feceritis, in mei memoriam facietis. Similarly, when the supper was ended, taking also this goodly chalice into His holy and venerable hands, again giving thanks to You, He blessed it, and gave it to His disciples, saying: "Take and drink of this, all of you, THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT: THE MYSTERY OF FAITH: WHICH IS BEING SHED FOR YOU AND FOR MANY FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS As often as you shall do these actions, do this in memory of Me." The full text of the latin mass is available at:

3 The Growing Separation of Church and Gospel Gospel drift Growing distance between humanity and God God the Father and Jesus the Son quickly became so far beyond the normal person as to be unreachable. Mary Saints Corpus Christi No teaching!!! Discuss: What is the role of the visual story in our own world where the written word is ignored? What aspects of the Gospel and faith do you think we are missing when we gather to worship today? What effects do these omissions have on the church today?

4 The Crusades I say it to those who are present. I command that it be said to those who are absent. Christ commands it. All who go thither and lose their lives, be it on the road or on the sea, or in the fight against the pagans, will be granted immediate forgiveness for their sins. This I grant to all who will march, by virtue of the great gift which God has given me. Pope Urban II Meanwhile: Byzantine Christendom, Islam, and the Crusades - Growth of Islam - Trouble brewing between Latin Christendom, centred in Rome, and Byzantine Christendom, centred in Constantinople. Islam on the Move - Islam had taken control of the Holy Land in the 8 th century by force. Lots of conflict between Christianity and Islam, but for a brief period allowed Christians to make pilgrimages, and to keep their faith (couldn t proselytize) if they lived within these kingdoms. - What tenuous peace there was disappeared with the conversion of the Seljuk Turks to Islam sharpened the conflict between Christianity and Islam. - In 1009, the Fatimid Caliph of Cairo, al-hakim, abandoned the tolerant practices of his predecessor and persecuted Christians and Jews, ordered all of the holy places (including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre) destroyed. - A Sultanate was established at no less of a Christian site as Nicaea. The Crusades, far from being an outrageous prototype of Western imperialism, as is taught in most of our schools, were a mere episode in a struggle that has lasted 1,400 years, and were one of the few occasions when Christians took the offensive to regain the "occupied territories" of the Holy Land. - Paul Johnson - Jerusalem fell in 1071 to the Turks. Huge symbolic power. - Christians who came on pilgrimages were treated more and more harshly and in many ways, access to the Holy Lands was cut off. The Crusades - The Christian response was the crusades ( to carry the Cross forward ). The Crusades were a series of military expeditions into Muslim controlled land and they lasted for two hundred years ( ). - The goals of the Crusades were clear:

5 o To defeat the Muslims who threatened Constantinople and thus save the Byzantine Empire (and in doing so, perhaps even re-unite Christendom between the West and the East). o To reconquer the Holy Land along with other territories that Islam had taken - territories that had Christian significance. o Through this act of reconquering, those participating would gain heaven. - Though there were at least 10 key Crusades which can be dated, it is probably better to describe the Crusades as an ongoing Crusading spirit which run for two centuries. First Crusade the peoples Crusade ( ) - Launched by Pope Urban II at the request for support against the Turks from the Byzantine Emperor Alexius I in Alexius was hoping to taking military advantage of some of the weakness displayed in Islamic lands, but didn t have the troops to take full advantage (ongoing conflicts). At the Council of Clermont in 1095, Urban II laid before his listeners an even more ambitious response that what was being requested. The great enterprise of the Crusades (lit - before the Cross) was put forward as the means by which the Holy Land would be liberated. The crowd, upon hearing this, cried out in unison, "Deus vult!" (God wills it!). - People responded to this call with great enthusiasm. Disputes within Europe were all put on hold (as per the Pope's instruction) and all attention was put towards pushing the infidels out of the Holy Land. Many of the internal problems (crop failures, poverty, famine, wars) were forgotten and both lower classes and nobility took up the cause of the Crusades. Here is a portion of what Pope Urban II said: Let the deeds of your ancestors move you and incite your minds to manly achievements; likewise the glory and greatness of King Charlemagne, and his son Louis, and of your other kings, who have destroyed the kingdom s of the pagans, and have extended in these lands the territory of the Holy Church. Let the Holy Sepulchre of the Lord, Our Saviour, which is possessed by unclean nations, especially move you, and likewise the holy places, which are now treated with ignominy and irreverently polluted with filthiness. Oh, most valiant soldiers and descendants of invincible ancestors, do not be degenerate, but recall the valour of your forefathers. - Peter the Hermit - The more formal Crusade was led by Adhemar, the bishop of Puy. Other leaders included a fellow named Godfrey of Bouillon. Most likely it was an army of around 60, Highly successful in military terms (and the only successful crusade at that!).

6 - A dark side of this venture. Second Crusade ( ) - This crusade was a resounding failure. The goal of this Crusade was to recapture Edessa which had been taken by the Sultan of Aleppo in A Crusader army of almost 200,000 was defeated by Salah al-din, later known as Saladin, a great Kurdish general who quickly became the power in the land and who conquered Jerusalem in Saladin was famously merciful to his foes, and became known as the good infidel. Third Crusade ( ) - Pope Gregory VIII still sent the third crusade out in King s Crusade - They met with no more success than the second crusade.

7 - Still, Saladin made peace with them and guaranteed safe passage of pilgrims to Jerusalem. Fourth Crusade ( ) - Yet, a fourth crusade was sent by Pope Innocent III. On the way, they sacked Zara, a city in the Italian empire of the time, in order to pay Venice for transportation. - They didn t even get to Jerusalem. Unbeknownst to even the Pope, the throne in Constantinople was disputed with two rivals trying to claim it. One of the rivals asked Innocent to send the crusaders to Constantinople and place him on the throne, but Innocent refused. - The crusaders instead sacked Constantinople and installed a Catholic emperor - Baldwin of Flanders and thus established the Latin Empire of Constantinople ( ). Needless to say, this event of the Crusaders sacking Constantinople in 1204 and establishing their own king has negatively affected West-East relations even to this day. "People were fascinated with Christ's suffering. Many used Bonaventure's advice to better identify with it: 'Contemplate the drops of blood, the blows in the face, the persistence of the whip, the crown of thorns, the derision and spitting...' Some people even whipped themselves until they bled." Christian History Journal - Issue 49 Still more ( ) - Most of the rest of the crusades were private, led by kings and emperors, which met with limited or no success. - One of them, the most tragic, was the Children s crusade. - There were two movements, one in Germany and one in France, in which the young and the poor decided to go to the holy land and peacefully convert Muslims to the Christian faith. Neither met with any success; both dissolved. Some of the children from the German group were tricked and sold into slavery. One boat of over 2000 children sank as the children were being taken to Italy to be sold into slavery. The Spanish Reconquista The recapture of Spain from the Muslim Moors is one of the only instances where a military campaign against Islam was permanently successful (though an immigration campaign in recent years in Europe may be accomplishing what military could not). Results of the Crusades 1. Increased mistrust and enmity between Christians and Muslims

8 2. Increased mistrust and enmity between the Roman Church and the Byzantine Christians 3. Increased the power of the papacy 4. Affected Christian piety - people who had experienced the Holy Land began to revisit the stories of the Bible and in particular there grew a greater emphasis on the fact that Jesus was truly human. Therefore a greater emphasis was placed upon the story of Jesus' Passion - his journey to the Cross. Crucifixes began to look more and more realistic. Relics really took off with supposed pieces of the Cross and pieces associated with the Crucifixion (the Holy Lance) being discovered along with the bones of the saints (Saint James in Spain), and other items. In 1223, we come across what was probably the first Christmas creche (and Nativity scene), again to show that Jesus had been a real baby. Establishment of monastic/military orders such as the Templars, the Order of Saint John 5. Development of theology - as the Crusaders visited lands they would not have otherwise visited, they came into contact with Muslim learning (and Jewish learning). They, most importantly, came into contact with the writings of Aristotle which would have an enormous impact on the development of theology in the thirteenth-century. 6. Trade - travel to the new lands opened up new contacts and trade routes that has hitherto not existed or had been discovered. With this, trade increased with the use of money and credit instead of barter. This led to the growth of cities and the emergence of a city class - the bourgeoisie.

9 Dire Straights for Christendom Schisms and Plagues The Great Schism - The Byzantine and Roman churches had been disagreeing over doctrinal issues since the time of Charlemagne. - The most famous disagreement was over the filioque, which is one word in the creed. - The question was, did the Spirit proceed from the Father, or the Father and the Son (filioque). As this and other issues became surrounded with power and authority struggles, they became a big deal. - The official moment of the great schism is complicated, but most agree that it was in Reinforced by the Sacking of Constantinople in The Black Plague - During the 1300 s, the black plague arrived. - In the first epidemic, one of over 100 plague epidemics to sweep through Europe over the next 400 years, the plague swept across northern Africa and Europe, killing somewhere between 75 and 100 million people, most of whom lived in Europe. - It is estimated that the plague killed 30 to 60% of the population of Europe, and reduced the world population from approximately 450 million to 350 million people. - The outcry for salvation and help just kept growing, and the church wasn t making these things easy to find.