history Flashcards
How was the church structured
The Archbishop of Canterbury was the most important member of the clergy in England, then the Archbishop of York, then other Bishops who managed local areas called dioceses. In these dioceses they were responsible for Priests and Monks
How did the church work as part of the feudal system
The main role of the clergy (the collective name for the ‘employees’ of the Church) was to care for the spiritual needs of people. Bishops and Archbishops also held land as vassals of the King and owned about 20% of the land in England. The land could not be taken away from the Church, but Church Services were expected. In addition to this, archbishops, bishops and abbots had to supply a certain amount of Knights just like Lords
Why did the clergy in England have split loyalties?
*Clergy = employees of the Church, for example the Priests that led Church services
The King expected his clergy to be loyal to him and not question his decisions. In some cases, such as the case of King John, the King also expected to be able to manipulate their decision making process. This could be a problem if the King came into conflict with the Pope, as the clergy regarded the Pope and not the King as their ultimate Overlord. The King could not use the punishment of forfeiture against the Clergy.
When would the Pope use his “weapons”/punishments of excommunication and interdict?
Excommunication = Kicking someone out of the Church
Interdict = Putting a block on certain Church related things people enjoyed, for example feast days.
The Pope would use punishments against the King if he felt he was blocking his will too much or if he felt that a serious offence against the Catholic Church had been committed. During the reign of King John it was used once, when King John refused to let the Pope’s personal choice for the job of Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton, into the the country. The Pope use the Interdict and later Excommunication to try to get John to back down and accept his choice
The importance of religion in Medieval England
People saw their life’s purpose as trying to get to heaven. Every major stage of life was influenced by religion. The Church dominated peoples live, socially and financially. People were expected to attend religious services and were eager to do so. Church’s would be full of Doom Paintings (left) that would constantly remind people of the dangers of living a sinful life. People had to participate in feast days and the seven sacraments (rules of being a good Christian as outlined by the Catholic Church) if they wanted to get to heaven
The dominance of the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church had the power of a country and was based in Rome. The Pope was the head of the Catholic Church. As the Pope was regarded as God’s representative on earth, even kings of countries were subject to his authority. The majority of Western Europe were Catholic. The concept of being a different type of Christian (e.g. a Protestant / Methodist etc.) did not exist yet.
The role of the Pope (the Head of the Catholic Church)
Due to the fact the Pope was so powerful and so highly regarded, it was impossible for him to not get involved in the affairs of individual countries. Therefore, there was a strong cross-over between politics and religion. Kings did have some control over the Church in their own country, such as the appointment of key officials like archbishops and bishops, however decisions on these matters sometimes led to conflict with the Pope. This happened with King John and Pope Innocent III during King John’s reign.
How much of a say to do with religion in their own country did King’s have?.
King’s normally just walked a very fine line with the Pope and tried not to have too much disagreement with the Pope. However, during the reign of King John, the Pope - Pope Innocent III - was just as stubborn as King John and eventually, after a brief falling out, John reconciled with the Pope in a way that actually gave England less influence over itself the Pope more influence over matters to do with England.
