Pre-Reformation Flashcards
What is Conciliarism?
The belief that the supreme authority of a church resides in the ecumenical council, not the pope.
What was the Western Schism tied to?
There were two rival popes; one in Avignon and one in Rome. It took two more elections of popes; one in Piza and another one in Rome to restore organization in the church.
What is anti-clericalism? Why did it grow?
A distrust in the clergy; due to simony, pluralism, absenteeism, corruption in the clergy and the charging for indulgences.
What is Simony?
The ability to become a bishop (and gain a bishopric) by paying a high enough price.
What is pluralism?
When a bishop purchased more than one bishopric.
What is absenteeism?
Bishops who owned multiple bishoprics couldn’t be present in all of them, thus leaving most of them empty. Sign of lack of dedication.
What is the Treasury of Merit?
The idea that there was a trove of righteousness from which the clergy could draw on for the laypeople.
What were Indulgences?
The “prices” of sin - in order to get the priest to draw from the Treasury of Merit, the lay person had to perform penance, pray, or, eventually, pay a fee.
What was Purgatory?
Afterlife for people who were too good for Hell but not good enough for Heaven; a period of suffering prior to paradise.
How did one get one’s loved ones out of purgatory?
You could buy indulgences for loved ones who had passed on.
