Transcript Chapter 10, Lesson 4 Culture and the Church

Chapter 10, Lesson 4
Culture and the Church
It Matters Because:
Architecture, education, literature, and religion
played very important roles in medieval life.
European Culture
• By 1100s, Crusades and strong monarchies led to growth in trade,
banking
• As cities grew, huge churches, called cathedrals, were built
• Romanesque architecture combined Roman and Byzantine styles
• Gothic architecture featured towering spires and stained glass
• Universities were founded in Europe
• First were in Bologna, Italy; and Paris, France
• Teachers read from a text, students took notes on slate chalkboards
• Students did not have books; books were rare until printing press was
invented
Romanesque Cathedral
Gothic Cathedral
Religion, Language, and
Literature
• New school of religious thought, Scholasticism, changed theology
• Theology – the study of religion and God
• Showed that Christian faith does not contradict science
• Greatest scholastic thinker was Thomas Aquinas
• Aquinas showed that Christianity and Greek philosophy did not contradict each other
• Wrote Summa Theologica, and used logic to explain Christian faith
• Believed people had God-given rights to live, learn, worship, and marry
• Latin was the language of religion and universities
• Local languages developed, called vernacular (early forms of English, French, etc.)
• Poetry and epic tales (Beowulf, Roland, etc.) written in vernacular
Friars and Everyday Religion
• Religious orders before 1200 lived separated from the outside world
• Lived, prayed, and worked in monasteries
• In 1200s, new orders called friars were founded with goal of serving people
•
•
•
•
Took Christianity to towns; preached, served as missionaries, aided the poor
Friars could not own property or keep wealth
Two orders were Franciscans and Dominicans
Took vows of poverty
• Most everyone in Europe attended weekly church service called Mass
• Ceremonies called sacraments were observed at mass
• Communion the most well-known
• Only priests could give sacraments
Heresy
• Even though the Church was powerful, heresy was a problem
• Heresy – ideas that conflict with church teaching; a very serious crime
• 1233, Pope set up the Inquisition, an organization to question and deal
with people accused of heresy
• People found guilty were allowed to confess and receive forgiveness
• Those who refused to confess were banned (excommunicated) from the
church
• Went to prison, lost property, or were executed
Trials by Ordeal
• If a person was accused of a crime before criminal trials existed
• He or she would be subjected to a Trial by Ordeal
• Person would endure a physical test
• God would judge their guilt or innocence
• If person passed the test, he or she was innocent
• Example: The Bishop’s Ring
• Accused would retrieve a ring from kettle of boiling water
• Wound was wrapped, checked in 3 days
• If wound was healing, accused was innocent
• If wound was infected, accused was guilty
Anti-Semitism
• Jews blamed for problems in Europe like famine, plague, economic
trouble
• Anti-Semitism – hostility and discrimination against Jews
• Jews forced to live in separate neighborhoods
• Most banks owned by Jews, because Catholics could not loan money and
charge interest to other Christians
• Jews often forbidden to own land, or practice certain professions
• Many kingdoms drove Jews out, and many settled in Eastern Europe
(Poland, Romania, Ukraine, etc.)