The Christianization of the West

Vocabulary Church/church: comes from the Greek for Lord’s House. Upper case it means the whole Christian community. Lower case it is a building for religious services in Christianity The West: In history it is not the direction but the concept of all the countries that are connected to Europe and influenced by Christianity Bishops: An advisor and defender of the church Diocese: Area administered by a Bishops Monasticism: belief in removing oneself from society to better study god in a monastery

Vocabulary continued Order: means a group when referring to how society is made up Temporal Power: power connected to wealth Tithe: a church tax

Growth of the Catholic Church After Rome fell Rome's political structures fell as well. Territorial structures were compromised due to wars between various kingdoms and warlords The only link uniting the early European nations was Christianity It had a unifying effect as it spread across Europe Throughout the Middle Ages the power of the Church grew until it became the center of daily life

Structure and Power of the Church: Spread of Christianity During the years of Roman dominance, Christians lived in communities or diocese organized around an elected bishop As the meetings grew Christians began to meet in churches In 313 the Edict of Milan allowed Christian to practice their religion freely In 392 it became the official Church of Rome In 400 the bible was translated into Latin and spread the Church across Europe

Structure and Power of the Church: Christianization of the East Christianity celebrated in the Eastern Roman Empire became different than that of the West These differences are 1) Official language was Greek not Latin 2) Priests could marry 3) rituals were different 4) Different days for Holidays In 1054 these differences led to a schism or break in the church It created the Roman Catholic Church in the west and the Orthodox Church in the East

Structure and Power of the Church: Christianization of the West Rulers played a role in making the West a Christian dominated society Often Rulers would convert or change to Roman Catholic and ask their subjects to do this as well They would often use force if required In return the church would support the Ruler who had supported them by telling the people to follow the king The Church became so powerful that even kings had to obey the Pope. As kings grew in power disputes with the Papacy grew frequent

Structure of the Church

Monasticism Many people removed themselves from society and went to live in monastaries to better serve god These people were known as monks and spread the idea of Christianty through many religious orders Some were teachers, farmers, theologians, and many other jobs in the hopes of doing God’s work

Powers of the Church The Church has two powers one temporal and one spiritual The church’s temporal power in the middle ages would come from collected tithes from the people(1/10 of all they had) or donations from wealthy patrons in return for intercession of the church with God The spiritual power came from their power to excommunicate people from God If a Person was excommunicated they were not allowed to participate in Christian Society and would be doomed to go to Hell