5A - The Church Faces New Challenges Flashcards
events that led to the Protestant Reformation
- the Bubonic Plague shocked Europe – causing millions of deaths and a great questioning of the importance of the Church.
- -The Renaissance’s renewed interest in humanism and rediscovery of ancient culture led to art and literature that did not focus on Christian themes.
- The invention of the printing press allowed for the wide-spread distribution of religious texts, and with them came multiple interpretations that questioned the traditional structure and function of the Church.
Much trouble began in 1492 when the Italian nobleman ________ used intrigues and bribes to secure his election as pope and named himself Alexander VI
Rodrigo Borgia
Rodrigo Borgia
main goal was advancement of his family in Church and political affairs, utilizing the Church for income.
- -Uninterested in being a proper Christian bishop,
- – he fathered several children, before and after becoming pope, despite the rule of celibacy
- – He hosted lavish parties in his Borgia apartments in the Vatican and had any opponents arrested and/or murdered. He eventually died hated for abuses of power, with a grotesque burial in a coffin too short and too narrow for his body and is ranked near or at the top in any list of corrupt popes.
Interestingly, since the 8th century, the pope had been serving not only as a spiritual leader of Christians in the West but also as a territorial leader, with lands to govern, tax and protect – this was known as
The Papal States
Pope Boniface VIII had attempted to use his role as King of the Papal States to broker peace to end the ongoing disputes within Europe; however,
King Philip IV of France refused to acknowledge the Pope’s authority over the Church in his country or over himself. Philip’s taxation and punishment of French clergy eventually led Pope Boniface to issue a papal bull, Unum sanctam, whose purpose was to reassert papal authority over any temporal ruler.
Philip IV retaliated by sending an army to Rome, though it would not arrive before Boniface’s death. Even though Boniface was dead, Philip decided to kidnap the next pope, Clement V, and actually moved the papacy to Avignon, France where he could effectively control the pope and the Church.
Referring to the Babylonian captivity of the ancient Israelites, Petrarch coined the term Babylonian captivity to describe the papacy at Avignon, which would remain there for seventy years, encompassing the terms of 7 different popes.
Babylonian captivity
During this time, there was a lot of discussion about secular involvement in the Church, though it would be the public denunciations of two visionary women that would return the papacy to Rome. ____managed to broker the short-lived return of one pope while ________- had more permanent success with ______-
Bridget of Sweden, Catherine of Siena,
Pope Gregory XI.
When pope Gregory died there were three people who declared to be the new pope - what was the council that resolved this issue called and who was the next pope
Council at Constance, that all three would be deposed and Martin V elected to preside again over a united Church based in Rome
Popes like Boniface VIII and Alexander VI had both elevated members of their family to
Church offices, favouring family ties over true religious vocation. Such a practice was known as _____
Popes like Boniface VIII and Alexander VI had both elevated members of their family to
Church offices, favouring family ties over true religious vocation. Such a practice was known as nepotism
The elaborate pieces of art and architecture produced during the Renaissance were enormously expensive. To raise money to pay for these cultural artifacts, many popes and bishops engaged in ______-, or the sale of church offices to those willing to pay the most money for them.
simony
simony
the sale of church offices to those willing to pay the most money for them.
pluralism,
purchasing the right to hold more than one office.
Normally, indulgences were certificates that gave instructions to someone who wished to perform actions in penitence for their sins. These documents were to be accompanied by a proper confession and sincere atonement and were not bartered for money or donations. But corrupt popes such as Alexander VI simply
used their position as head of the Church to have sinners that wished for forgiveness pay for the service. Several members of the clergy attempted to stop corrupt families from controlling the Church and end the increasingly unethical practices such as indulgences, simony and nepotism but their power was limited. For example, _____ (1452-1498), a Dominican preacher, exerted influence on his Florentine contemporaries with his fiery sermons against such corruption. In 1497, he organized a bonfire into which the citizens burned their splendid garments, furniture, books, paintings and other luxury items as a sign that they rejected materialism and the evil influence of money. However, when Savonarola attacked the corruption and immorality of the court of Alexander VI, he was banished from Florence. In 1498 he was accused of heresy, publicly strangled, and burnt at the stake.
Savonarola
_____, a lecturer at Oxford University, criticized the Church for not embracing poverty in accordance with biblical teachings. He encouraged others to understand why the Church was in need of reform by translating the Bible into English and emphasizing its authority over corrupt Church officials.
John Wycliffe
–
who translated the bible to English
John Wycliffe
