UNIT 7: THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE DAWN OF CHRISTENDOM Flashcards
The Middle Ages
Translated from Latin medium aevum (middle age)
gives us the word mediaeval/medieval
600-1300
When were the Middle Ages?
600-1300
The age of antiquity to the age of the Renaissance (the 5th to the 13th centuries).
This dates the period from the fall of the last Western Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus to the beginning of the Renaissance.
The Humanists of the Renaissance divided history into three periods:
- Greco-Roman times, or the golden age of antiquity.
Before the middle ages (Greco-Roman times) is known as the golden age of antiquity.
Why? People wanted to capture the “glory” of the Greco-Roman period.
Greek world was known for art, philosophy, study and Roman world was known for good government.
- The Middle Ages
Some refer to entire period as “the Dark Ages”
Others write that the high Middle Ages (12th to the 15th century) were far from “dark”, with many rich developments - Their contemporary period, or their age of rebirth
Birth of Islam
already covered
Final Changes to the Ancient Roman Empire*
Byzantium
Consequences of the “Barbarian” West: Feudalism, Ecclesiastical Leadership, Monasteries
Final Changes to the Ancient Roman Empire: *
Byzantium
Secular/Civil Realm: the Eastern Roman Empire had lost Syria, Palestine and Egypt as well as some northern territories.
Became only a Greek-speaking Asiatic state, referred to as “Byzantium” which was the ancient name of Constantinople. Constantinople remained the capital.
There was a great deal of unrest in the East as territory shrunk, and there were problems also in succession.
Religious Byzantium was jockeying for power.
The period saw the decline of the patriarchates of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch because of the jihad. This, in turn, strengthened the position and influence of Constantinople and gave the impression that the patriarch of Constantinople was head of the Eastern Church and a rival to the pope.
Byzantium would remain as this truncated territory until the Muslim Ottoman invasion of 1453 when it was finally overthrown and the city renamed. Constantinople is now Istanbul.
Final Changes to the Ancient Roman Empire: The “Barbarian” West*
The “Barbarian” West
After the move to Constantinople by Constantine I, later emperors set up a chancery in Ravenna to keep a foothold in Italian peninsula . At this point, it had little clout, as papal rule was taking on secular responsibilities
We see in this period a general decline in the West:
City life disappeared
Trading ceased
Farming survived only on big estates
Decline in moral standards
Lack of interest in art and study
Decline in education – one effect: religion easily got mixed with pagan superstition (e.g., Holy Communion given to sick cows)
More migrations and invasions from the North – Normans, the Rus’, and the Norse people, some of whom were Vikings
Final Changes to the Ancient Roman Empire: Consequences of the “Barbarian” West: Feudalism, Ecclesiastical Leadership, Monasteries*
Several Consequences of this Decline (not important):
( 1 ) Feudalism
A political and military system of western Europe which developed during the eighth and ninth centuries because people made themselves vassals, or fiefs, of powerful landlords, giving up their independence
This system was dominant throughout the Middle Ages into the thirteenth century
( 2 ) Ecclesiastical Leadership
Ecclesiastical leaders took up temporal duties in response to peoples’ needs
This is clearly seen in the life and ministry of Pope Gregory the Great
( 3 ) Monasteries
Christianity became a peasant religion of the countryside
More parishes on large estates
Nearness to the land – prayers for the harvest, Rogation days as fasts for good harvests
Cult of saints and relics grew
A taste for the miraculous developed
Some of this gave the Middle Ages its bad name. Monasteries upheld culture and learning. The monasteries kept books which tracked and recorded history. The monasteries in Ireland were safe and helped save history.
The Dawn of Christendom
From the Merovingian Dynasty to the Carolingian Dynasty
Meaning of Christendom
“Christendom”: the word to describe the relationship between Church and State in the Middle Ages.
Emphasized the unity of people of one kingdom in one faith (centred in Europe)
Church and State were seen as two aspects of the same reality .
Two “poles” or central figures: the pope and the emperor…but which emperor???
We’ll see it began with Pepin the Short (King of the Franks) and continued with his son Charles the Great (a.k.a. Charlemagne).
“Christendom”
the word to describe the relationship between Church and State in the Middle Ages
End of Merovingian Dynasty to Frankish Kingdom:
Merovech, Clovis
Clovis, King of the Franks (481 to 511), converted to Christianity at the end of 400s. He brought all of Gaul into the Christian fold because of his conversion.
His grandfather was a chieftain named Merovech, so the dynasty took on the name from him: the Merovingian Dynasty.
Merovech established a dynasty that came to be called the Merovingian kingdom and dynasty. This was a huge expanse of territory…
It eventually stretched from modern Netherlands, Belgium, and western Germany to the whole of France and Switzerland and lasted from the fifth century to late in the seventh century.
That area would later become the Frankish Kingdom (by then, a Christian kingdom with the conversion of Clovis in 486). By late seventh century, the Merovingian dynasty was collapsing…
One strong family surfaced from city of Metz (in modern-day France) and emerged as local leaders called “mayors of the palace” (originally supervisors of the royal household…later recognized as quasi-hereditary chief ministers or Prime Ministers).
One of the mayors, Charles Martel (“The Hammer”), took charge and conducted affairs of the Church and State.
Charles “the Hammer” Martel and and his Control of the Church
Charles Martel was a local leader in Metz (“mayor of the palace”; supervisor of the royal household). He took charge and conducted affairs of the Church and State.
There are 3 key things to note about him:
( 1 ) He gets the name Hammer because he stopped the Muslims at Portiers (732), and pushed them back even further in 737 (He put the Hammer down)
( 2 ) He appointed bishops and abbots (at this time, lay people and clergy elected bishops and got approval from the pope, then later just the pope elected them)
( 3 ) He disposed of Church lands as he saw fit
He was the “virtual king” without the title (de facto not de jure). de facto not de jure: in fact, not in law (he was the king by force, not by law). The real king was Childric III the Stupid.
3 key things to note about Charles “the Hammer” Martel
( 1 ) He gets the name Hammer because he stopped the Muslims at Portiers (732), and pushed them back even further in 737 (He put the Hammer down)
( 2 ) He appointed bishops and abbots (at this time, lay people and clergy elected bishops and got approval from the pope, then later just the pope elected them)
( 3 ) He disposed of Church lands as he saw fit
He was the “virtual king” without the title (de facto not de jure). de facto not de jure: in fact, not in law (he was the king by force, not by law). The real king was Childric III the Stupid.
Pepin III (Pepin “the Short”)
Charles Martel was succeeded by his sons: Pepin the Short and Carloman
They ruled as joint mayors from 741 until 747, but then Carloman entered a monastery
Pepin ruled in the style of his father as sole “mayor” until 751 when he requested legitimation of his true authority from Pope Zacharias (741-752).
The pope agreed…
Childric was forced to resign, and he was sent to a monastery, where his hair was cut off. Childric III (“the Stupid”) was the last of the Merovincians.
Pepin was crowned by Boniface (Boniface: the archbishop of Mainz who was called “the apostle of Germany”). and Pepin became known as Pepin III, King of the Franks, until his death in 768.
Pepin was recognized as succeeding from the last of the Merovingian kings and establishing what came to be known as the Carolingian dynasty…
Actually named for Pepin’s son Charles, who surpassed his father’s accomplishments in many ways
Who was the first Carolingian King?
Pepin III (“the Short”) was King of the Franks from 751 until 768. He was the son of Charles “the Hammer” Martel and the first of the Carolingian kings. He served a significant role in the Carolingian reform, which shaped the beginnings of Christendom.
“Pepin’s Coronation (751/752).”
Pepin and his brother Carloman succeeded their father who was a “Mayor of the Palace” in Metz (modern-day France) under the Merovingian dynasty, and together, they ruled as “mayors” from 741 until 747, when Carloman entered a monastery.
Pepin ruled as the sole “mayor” according to his father’s style of ruling and leadership, until he requested that Pope Zacharias (741-752) proclaim him the King, over Childrin III (“the Stupid”).
“Pepin’s Coronation” describes this account. It states that in the year 751, “Pepin was named king of the Franks with the sanction of the pope, and in the city of Soissons he was anointed with the holy oil by the hands of Boniface” (CP 109).
In 751, Pepin was crowned by Boniface and proclaimed King of the Franks, while “Childrerich, who had the name of King, was shorn of his locks and sent into a monastery” (CP 109).
Thus, the Merovingian dynasty ended and, in its place, the Carolingian dynasty began, and alongside it began Christendom.
Christendom describes the relationship between Church and State in the Middle Ages, whereby the people were unified under one kingdom (centred in Europe) and under one faith (Christianity).
The two central figures in Church State relations are the Pope and the Emperor, and during this time period, the two central figures were Pope Stephen II (III) and Pepin III, King of the Franks.
