Religious Life Flashcards
what was the impact of church reforms?
- morals
- education
- access to religion
morals:
* sin & confession
* manuals for confessors
* marriage to discourage sin (don’t chase)
* priests had the right to appeal
in what ways was Christianity integral to everyday life?
- children baptized 2-3 days after birth
- kings held important meetings during religious festivals (used as dating system)
- people anxious to please God & saints before death
what was mechanical piety?
- formulaic ways to please God
- donations of land & money to monasteries for prayer
- charity to avoid purgatory → support for poor & sick
- charitable houses
- wealthy delivered food to poor
- decoration of churches & chapels
what were characteristics of the cult of saints?
belief & worship of saints
- please God by pleasing the saints
- ability to perform miracles in life & death
- reliquaries
- Pilgrimage = common penance
- saints lives & miracle stories
God x saints c.f. king x vassal relationship
how was Jesus often depicted?
- calm, serious, & majestic
- new appreciation for his suffering (by 1000)
- shift from majestic to anguished
- eucharistic devotion (transubstantiation)
ordinary ppl used transubstantiation bread in uncommon ways (e.g. fertilizer)
how was Mary often depicted?
- Mater Dolorosa = Mary as the sorrowing mother
- emphasis on breastfeeding (qualities of mother transmitted to child)
- Cult of the Virgin = Mary as the most important saint & miracle worker of high M.A.
Mary thought to have made Jesus human through breatfeeding
what was religious/holy anorexia
- women saints often punished their bodies as proof of devotion
- women held to higher standards of behaviour
- held less autonomy of their bodies
what was the imitation of Jesus?
physical suffering as a way of sharing Jesus’ experience
sometimes the result of illness/injury & sometimes self-inflicted
what were the changes to monasticism following the 9th-10th c. reform movements (cluny)?
withdraw from society to follow a life pleasing to God
- higher standards of monastic life
- decline of child obligation (personal choice)
- spiritual fervour & reform
what were the new monastic options?
military orders:
* templars
* hospitallers
* teutonic
stricter orders:
* cistercians (Benedictine rule)
* conversi
what was the religious role of women?
- fewer options due to growing misogyny
- idea that women needed male supervision
- women as a spiritual threat to men
- abbesses lost authority
