1. Do Now GET OUT YOUR HOMEWORK:
Your COAT of ARMS:
From Your Notes from the textbook (last week):
What are CLERGY?
What is CANON LAW?
What are SACRAMENTS?
Do Now

2. The Church in the Middle Ages: Those Who Pray

3. Unifying Factor Unifying and dominant factor. Everyone went to church.
Every village had a church, every manor house had a chapel.

4. God, Angels, Devils, Demons
God was real—as was life after death, Heaven, and Hell.
Involved in human affairs, directly.
Rewarded the good—here on earth and in the life to come
He punished evil—disease, plague, poor harvests, war.
People believed in angels, and also the Devil, Satan, demons who were tempted people away from God.
It was easy to “lose your salvation” and end up in Hell.
God was revered with “awe” and life was lived in a certain amount of fear.
However, these beliefs also explained a lot of things about why life is the way it is.
Heaven and Hell

5. Community Gathering Place
The village church was the center of the community.
Here you went to SERVE god through worship (worship service), sometimes daily.
Here you confessed your sins, weekly, to make sure you were forgiven and still going to heaven.
You also worshiped on Holy Days—up to 70 a year—celebrating various saints’ days.
Here were babies baptized, people married, funerals held.
It was a gathering place for community events, news, and announcements.

6. Priests A village church was lead by a PRIEST.
He was the official spokesperson between God and man.
He lead worship (Mass)
He listened to confession of your sins
He gave penance—what you had to do to “make up” for your sins
He performed holy ceremonies called “sacraments”
Baptism, Communion, Confirmation, Weddings, Funerals
He taught “school”—mostly for wealthy boys—in reading and writing, using the Bible

7. Sacraments: Rituals that Symbolize God’s Presence and Grace Initiation
Baptism
Confirmation
Communion
Healing
Confession and Penance
Anointing the Sick
Service
Holy Orders
Matrimony

8. Bishops and Cathedrals
A priest was a “liegeman” to a bishop—someone who directed several priests and their churches.
A bishop’s church was called a cathedral.
Cathedrals were in large cities, or cities grew up around cathedrals.
Archbishops were in leadership over a group of bishops.

9. This map shows the territory of various bishoprics and archbishoprics in medieval France.

10. Church Hierarchy
These church leaders spoke for God—they were God’s representatives on earth. This made them very influential at all levels of the feudal system.
The priest was “God” in the village, the bishop was “God” in the city, the Archbishop was “God” in the county/duchy/kingdom. These churchmen (and they were all men) were vassals of God, spoke for God, and often directed the choices and behaviors of knights and lords. 10

11. Rivalry and Excommunication
There were a lot of power struggles between high-ranking church officials and kings, dukes, and other nobles. The church had the power to EXCOMMUNICATE people—and remember, they REALLY believed—excommunication meant that you would be eternally separated from God and the church—you lost your social community here on earth and you go straight to Hell when you die. 11

12. Manors and Tithes
Similar to manors, the church also controlled property. Nobles would give a portion of their land to the Church as a sign of their devotion to God. They would swear to serve, becoming vassals of the church.
Churches also collected TITHES. A TITHE is 10% of your income. Today if you family donates to the church, they probably write a check or give cash. In the Middle Ages, tithes were paid “in kind”—if you had wheat, you paid in wheat. If you had pigs, you paid in pig. The church then would keep these tithes or sell them. The church, as a whole, in the Middle Ages was an incredibly wealthy organization. Some of these tithes were given as “alms”, or charity to the poor and suffering.
Picture of Tithe Barn—where the church stored the tithes it received.

13. Convents Nuns Monasteries Monks
The church built religious communities called monasteries for men, who were monks, and convents, for women, who were nuns. These people spent their lives in prayer and meditation, serving the church full-time.
Monasteries
Monks

14. “Ideal”Christian Communities
Poverty
Chastity
Obedience
Monasteries and Convents were supposed to be “ideal Christian communities” where God was worshiped without influence of the “world”.
Monks and nuns took vows, much like a marriage or knighting ceremony where they became vassals of God. They would swear to live lives of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
“Ideal”Christian Communities 14

15. inns, hospitals, copying books and manuscripts
Centers of Learning,
inns, hospitals, copying books and manuscripts
They then spent their lives in prayer and service—
--For many years, monasteries and convents were the center of learning and scientific inquiry.
--They served as hospitals and inns for travelers. Monasteries and convents expected donations and offerings, but did not charge for their SERVICES. 15

16. Honorable Influential Second Sons Daughters
Dedication to the Church was considered an honorable (and potentially influential) career for the children of noble families, especially a second son or a daughter.
Second Sons
Daughters 16

17. Those who Fight
1-5%
Those who Work
80-90%

18. Those Who Pray
10-15%

19. The organization of the Church mirrored the feudal system.
Monastery
Convent
Pope
Archbishop
Bishop
Priests
Abbot
Priests
Monks
Lay Brothers
Abbess
Nuns
Lay Sisters

20. Read a primary source: Selections from St. Benedict’s rules for Monks
Read a primary source: Selections from St. Benedict’s rules for Monks. In Outboxes, SWIFT, and Skyward.
Read carefully.
Number the “Concernings” in order of difficulty for you.
Answer the three questions at the end.
Homework