THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH World HistoryMarch 25, 2014

THE CHURCH AND MEDIEVAL LIFE  The Church’s goal was to spread their religion  Women helped spread Christianity  Priests were the only contact people had with the Church  The Church was the social center of life  The church collected money to support it  Tithe = 1/10 of a person’s income  Women had rights but were not equal to men  Church said women and men were equal  On each women were seen as “weak” and “vulnerable” and needed protection from men

MONKS AND NUNS  Monk/Nun = a man/woman who devotes his/her life to his/her religion  Monks = Monasteries  Nuns = Convents  Monasteries operated under Benedictine Rule  This rule had 3 parts Obey the Abbot Poverty Chastity  Monks/Nuns had to devote their lives to service  Monasteries helped preserve education

THE POWER OF THE CHURCH GROWS  The Church became the most important aspect of medieval life  Papal Supremacy = the Pope has power over all other leaders  Because Church leaders were educated they often were granted a role in the government  The Church claimed all people were sinners  The only way to be saved was to practice the sacraments  The Church developed its own laws called “canon law”  Disobedience = excommunication  “Peace of God” put a stop to warfare  No fighting Friday-Sunday

REFORM MOVEMENTDS  Problems started to come about in the church  Members of the church lacked discipline  Cluniac Reforms were a strict set of changes to stop corruption  Developed by the Abbot Berno of Cluny  Pope Gregory VII extended these rules to all of the Christian Church  This took power away from the government and gave it to the church  Francis of Assisi created the idea of friars  Friars traveled preaching Christianity  The Dominican Order wanted to combat heresy  Heresy = going against the Catholic Church

JEWS IN EUROPE  Jewish communities still existed in Europe  Spain was one country that welcomed Jews  Here, Judaism flourished in the privacy of people’s homes  For many years Christians and Jews lived in peace  In the late 1000s Christians persecution of Jews increased  Some Christians claim the Jews killed Jesus  Many Jews were not allowed to hold jobs  Thousands of Jews migrated to Eastern Europe to escape persecution  The persecution of Jews lasted for hundreds of years to come