Terms for Midterm 1 Flashcards
Augustine
St; highly intelligent; greatest of Latin church fathers; placed little value on the study of nature, because the world as a sinful place from which people tried to escape in order to enter heaven; thought that reason by itself was an inadequate guide to knowledge without faith; believed God was the source of all truth
Latin Christendom
The communities of Western Europe (Western Christendom)
Engaged in crusades to reclaim the Holy Land from Islam. During and after the rein of Charlemagne
Byzantine Empire
one of the heirs of Rome; Emperor was Heraclius; Eastern Christendom
Islamic Empires
7th century, take over Spain, culture of honor, generosity; ruler was Abd al-Malik; Islamic caliphate; coinage, legal systems/philosophy from Romans are adopted; Muslims viewed Jesus as a prophet, but not a divine one
Peterine Doctrine
the belief that Saint Peter was given special authority by Christ that has since passed on to each Pope.
Carolingian Renaissance
under the patronage of Charlemagne, the great Frankish emperor; this was a revival of classical Greek and Roman learning and the visual arts; Charlemagne sponsored a number of reforms designed to improve the educational institutions/quality of literacy and learning in his realm; aimed to restore classical learning to serve the needs of the new Christian culture
Great Schism of 1054
church splits into Roman Catholic West and Greek Orthodox East; Patriarch of Constantinople vs Pope Gregory I; political and cultural differences furthered this separation between the church; started when the Bishop of Rome in the West excommunicated the Bishop of Constantinople in the East, who then issued an excommunication
Monasteries
encouraged literacy, promoted learning, and preserved the classics of ancient literature Charlemagne issued orders to monasteries aiming to improve education because he wanted to use monasteries as schools for training future clergymen in grammar, writing, and rhetoric
Tripartite Society
three different groups in society who each had their own responsibilities: the clergy, the lords, and the serfs; clergy to guide souls of the faithful; lords to protect the people and society from enemies; serfs are the backbone of society who provide sustenance to everyone as a result of their labor
Feudalism
people were given land and protection by people of higher rank, and worked and fought for them in return. lords and vassals; knights and fiefs; clerks and benefices; chivalric code; the lord’s need for military support was the principal reason for the practice of vassalage; a knight pledged loyalty to a lord; lord granted a fief (any object of value like a warhorse, suit of armor, public office) to his vassal; serfs worked on the manors for their lords, and were not free persons
Chivalry
code of honor; skill and bravery in combat bring honor, the highest human virtue; a knight shouldn’t flee even if he knows he might get slain; knighthood seen as an honorable profession
“Domesday” Book
England’s oldest public record; comprehensive survey and record of all the landowners, property, tenants and serfs of medieval Norman England; gives us insight into how people lived in the middle ages, and how much things were and the things they bought
Urbanization
political stabilization, increasing population led to new agricultural advances and urbanization; water mill developed (more efficient way to grind wheat); wind mills; rotate corn across 3 different fields; development of cities; economies based on trade; need for coins; development of books
Heresy
deemed a heretic if you promoted a belief that was against the teachings of the Catholic Church; burned at the stake; heretical movements became a problem for the church in the post-Roman period; example is Thomas Aquinas, who said that unrepentant heretics should be executed; Emperor Frederick II said that heretics who were found guilty should lose their lives and their property
First Crusade
started when Pope Urban II urged Frankish lords to take up the sword against the Muslims; effort to regain the Holy Land from Islam; Christian army mobilized by the papacy to defend the Christian faith with the papal concept of a just war; Pope Urban promised glory, wealth, new lands; demonstrated the strength and confidence of Latin Christendom; demonstrated Christian fanaticism
Gothic
style of architecture that originated in the middle ages; very ornate; characterized by lancet arch, ribbed vault, flying buttress; gothic cathedrals were an enduring testament to the creativeness of the religious spirit and were erected throughout Eruope throughout the twelfth century
Universities
part of a response to developing a professional education; to understand church law; students have the power (pay the teacher/are in charge of administration)
Anti-Semitism
anti-Jews; belief that they controlled banking; Jews blamed for everything (ex: causing Black Death); Pope Innocent III’s decree on the Jews said that they should be barred from public office and should wear a distinguishing badge on their clothing; massacre of Jews at the beginning of the First Crusade; Jews banished from France and false belief that they participated in ritual murder
Fanaticism
extremist viewpoint; ex: during the plague, Jews were blamed
Magna Carta
document which placed limits on royal authority of King John I and that the king/government weren’t above the law; landowners were fed up with being so heavily taxed by King John I; significance is its idea of rights; this document was about the rights of the nobility and clergy, not the people; ex: no free man shall be outlawed/dispossessed without the judgement of his peers and the law of the land; guarantees rights of church, nobles, royal gov; standardizes weights and measures; steps towards beginning of Parliament
Black Death
deadly plague that ravaged through Europe; leads to decline of serfdom; Jews blamed for this; others believe this is God’s punishment for their sins; lots of pessimism
Great Schism of 1378
started when there was rumors that the French king interfered with the Pope’s election; pope flees from Rome and is protected by the king in France; Pope Gregory came back to Rome when when they elected another pope and he died; a period in European history between 1378 and 1417 during which two and sometimes three people claimed to be the legitimate pope; this embarrassed the Catholic church
Patronage
nobles sponsored the arts/viewed it as their duty to contribute towards society
Vernacular
common language; Luther wrote his 95 theses in Latin because he wanted to exclude the common/uneducated people, and only wanted to continue a religious conversation with other educated figures
Humanism
how you can enrich your own life; focused on being a well-rounded person and focused on the free-will of people to decide their own fate; promoted active involvement in public affairs, study of different subjects and languages
Renaissance Artists
Michelangelo (sistine chapel); Shakespeare (celebrated the infinite capabilities of humans in his works); Francois Rabelais celebrated the worldly life and free will
Conciliar Movement
reform movement in the Catholic church; deals with problems of church having more than one pepe; Council of Constance to deal with the Great Schism;
Secularism
about living that Christ life now, and not necessarily for a future life; one of the examples of Renaissance influence on the Reformation along with secularism
Christian Humanism
advocates for the self-fulfillment of humanity within the framework of Christian principles; ex is Erasmus because he wanted to fix church from the inside
Protestantism
“protest against the catholic church”; demanded reform of the church and religious life; the Protestant reformation led to a split in political/intellectual/spiritual camps: Protestant and Catholic; the Protestant movement in Germany was sparked by Martin Luther; help set up state school systems; ex of a Protestant is John Calvin who promotes the belief of predestination; meanwhile Luther believes salvation is achieved through faith, rather than good works; Luther wanted people to interpret the Scripture
