March 9, 2915

 People wanted to visit the Holy Land, Rome or the tombs of Earl martyred Saints.Also, the places visited by Christ and the Apostles.  Was a major expression of faith.  Pilgrimages were highly illegal.  Chaucer wrote about them (Cantubury Tales) and Erasmus and Martin Luther spoke out against them.

 Comes from the Latin Cathedra, which means chair.  Officially the church of the bishop of a diocese.  Incorrectly known as a big church.  Before the 12 th Century, cathedrals were made in the Romanesque style.  In 1124, Abbot Sugar developed a higher, lighter wall design that used stained glass windows to create a rainbow of light inside.  Became known as Gothic Architecture.

 Theologians used reason to investigate the teachings of the Church.  Saint Anslem defined theology as “faith seeking understanding”.  His use of philosophical tools to understand and organize Christian teachings became known as scholasticism.  St. Thomas Aquinas was the most renowned theologian of this time.  He wrote “Summa Theolgica” which used reason to prove the existence of God.

 Islam controlled much of the Holy Land.  Charlemagne forged a peace with the Muslims so that Christians could visit the Holy Land.  In 1071, Seljuk Turks conquered the Holy Land and prevented Christians from living in or visiting the Holy Land.  When they began attacking Constantinople, the Emperor sent word to the Pope to send Western Christians to come to the aid of fellow Christians.

 Pope Urban II convened a council in Clermont in 1095 to address the issues of the Eastern Church and the Holy Land.  He asked the nobility of Europe to take up the cross, not to aid the Eastern Christians, but to free the Holy Land.  Used the cry “Deus Vult”, or “God wills it” as the battle cry.

 Urban sold the Crusades on the nobility of Europe by promising: 1.) that it was the will of God to free the Holy Land; 2.) that fighters would receive “remission of sins” by joining; and 3.) that fighters would receive gifts for joining.  About 150,000 pledged to fight (only about 40,000 showed up).  Fighters wore a red cross on their chest (crociati), and thus they were called crusaders.

 Urban appoints a French Bishop to lead.  The First Crusade was from and resulted in the recapture of Jerusalem.  Second Crusade commenced in 1147 after the Turks reclaimed some of the land lost in the 1 st Crusade.  A monk, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, preached in favor of the 2nd Crusade.  Conflicts between the French and German leaders made the 2 nd Crusade a dismal failure.