ROME(S)

Roman Independence

Roman Republic

Roman Imperialism and Empire {Punic Wars}

Roman Civil Wars

Roman Emperors

Diocletian and Division {284 CE}

Constantine and Edict of Milan {313 CE}

Western Collapse {476 CE}

When does Byzantine history begin?

Who else thinks of themselves as a legacy of Rome?

Russians, Nazi’s, America!

BYZANTIUM / EASTERN ROMAN EMPIREFrom _____ to 1453 w/ conquest from Ottoman Turks

Geography matters!

Cultural Blending

Roman, Greek, Hellenistic and Christian {not German}

Justinian

Corpus Juris Civilis

Brief Conquests {pre-Islam}

Hagia Sophia

Caeseropapism and Patriarchs

LAW and Christianity become binding cement

A Buffer Zone / Contraction

WESTERN EUROPE POST-ROMAN EMPIRE“Dark Age” vs. Medieval

Geography matters!

Germans…very un-Roman

The Franks

Clovis in 486 CE

Charles “the Hammer” Martel & the Battle of Tours in 732 CE

Charlemagne as the 1st Holy Roman Emperor 800 CE

WESTERN EUROPE POST-ROMAN EMPIREFeudalism and Invasions

Muslims, Magyars and Vikings!

Feudal Contract: Lords and Vassals

Chivalry, Tournaments and Castles

The Manorial System…a self-sufficient world

VIII. The Roman Catholic Church in Medieval Times

A. Main Idea: Without powerful secular governments to check their

power and because the majority of Europe had been converted to

Christianity by the end of Charlemagne’s lifetime,

VIII. The Roman Catholic Church in Medieval Times

B. As Christianity spread, two original churches were

established and still exist today:

1. the centered in Rome, Italy

○ lead by Popes

2. the Christianity centered in Greece

(Constantinople)

○ led by 5 patriarchs who share power, but who are under the authority of the

Byzantine emperor from 300s to 1453 CE

VIII. The Roman Catholic Church in Medieval Times

C. The Roman Catholic Church & Medieval Life

1. “It is our task with the aid of divine goodness, to

defend the Holy Church of Christ everywhere...and to

strengthen it within through the knowledge of the

Catholic (universal) faith” – Charlemagne

2. from the time of the 1st apostles, Christian

have been

○ a. pagans are non-Christians

VIII. The Roman Catholic Church in Medieval Times

C. The Roman Catholic Church

and Medieval Life

3. every Medieval manor included a

church with a

○ a. some contained – remains

of martyrs and sometimes saints

○ b. all collected a – a tax

collected by the Church

VIII. The Roman Catholic Church in Medieval Times

C. The Roman Catholic Church and Medieval Life

4. the parish priest

○a. most immediate contact Christians had with the “Church”

○b. what the priests said, people believed

i. the Bible for themselves

○c. provided necessary for salvation (going to

Heaven)

i. the sacred rights of the Church

○d. conducted marriages, baptized people, buried the dead in

sacred ground

○d. priests were the only educated people in Medieval Europe

How is the priest supposed to lead his followers? Wyd was his parisshe,

and houses fer asonder,

But he ne lefte nat, for reyn ne thonder,

In siknesse nor in meschief to visite

The ferreste in his parisshe, muche and lite,

Upon his feet, and in his hand a staf.

This noble ensample to his sheep he yaf,

That first he wroghte, and afterward he taughte.

Wide was his parish, houses far asunder,

But never did he fail, for rain or thunder,

In sickness, or in sin, or any state,

To visit the farthest, regardless their financial state,

Going by foot, and in his hand, a stave.

This fine example to his flock he gave,

That first he wrought and afterwards he taught

VIII. The Roman Catholic Church in Medieval Times

D. Monks and Nuns

1. monks live in

2. nuns live in

○ a. some wanted to be there, many did not (remember, there were no “prisons” in

Medieval times

VIII. The Roman Catholic Church in Medieval Times D. Monks and Nuns

3.

○ a. from Benedict, a monk from Monte Cassino, Italy in 530 CE

○ b. a set of rules that all monks and nuns had to follow (3 vows)

i. vow of obedience to abbot and abbess

ii. vow of poverty

iii. vow of chastity

iv. sometimes monks and nuns would take a vow of silence

Question: Why would these three vows be important for being a

good monk/nun?

So one focus on religious duties rather than things “of this world”

VIII. The Roman Catholic Church in Medieval Times

D. Monks and Nuns

4. monasteries and convents were the

○ a. monks and nuns hand-copied important books of ancient learning

5. many become missionaries themselves – ex. St. Patrick who establishes

the Church of Ireland

VIII. The Roman Catholic Church in Medieval Times

E. The Power of the Roman Catholic Church Grows

1. the Roman Catholic Church becomes the most

powerful religious and secular force in Medieval Europe

○ a. = worldly

2. popes claim – authority to rule over

ALL Christians (including those in the eastern Byzantine

Empire)

3. bishops and priests are appointed to in

feudal kingdoms because they are the only ones with

education

VIII. The Roman Catholic Church in Medieval Times

E. The Power of the Roman Catholic Church Grows

4. The Roots of the RCC’s Power

○a. Medieval Christians believed

without the sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church

○b. only the Roman Catholic Church could give these sacraments

○c. ergo (thus) the Roman Catholic Church has power over all Christian souls (now that’s power)

VIII. The Roman Catholic Church in Medieval Times

E. The Power of the Roman Catholic

Church Grows

5. the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox (Byzantine) Church

had

○ a. cannon laws are laws that govern matters of the Church

○ b. – when someone is denied sacraments = eternal

damnation in hell!

○ c. – when a pope excommunicates an entire kingdom!!!

Question: Which of these laws, excommunication or an interdict, gave

members of the Roman Catholic Church and the popes more power?

Why?

○ Interdict; forces even powerful kings to submit to RCC’s power

VIII. The Roman Catholic Church in Medieval Times

F. Reforming the Roman Catholic Church

1. “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” :

VIII. The Roman Catholic Church in Medieval Times

F. Reforming the Roman Catholic Church

2. the wealthier and more powerful the Roman Catholic

Church gets, the more corrupt some become

3.

○a. no marriage for priests

○b. no selling of Church offices (simony)

○c. called for Church officials to appoint priests and bishops

instead of laymen (kings and lords)

VIII. The Roman Catholic Church in Medieval Times

F. Reforming the Roman Catholic Church

4. – traveling monks who fight Church corruption and heresy

○ a. Francis Assisi who later becomes a Saint

○ b. the Franciscans and Dominicans

VIII. The Roman Catholic Church in Medieval Times

G.

1. hatred of Judaism and Jews in general

2. though Jews became influential advisors in many courts of lords,

kings, and even the church, they were often used as a scapegoat in

times of trouble

○ a. a

, though they probably are not the cause