The Medieval Church

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THE CATHOLIC CHURCH Catholicism was the only recognised Christian religion in Medieval Europe.

The Pope was head of he Catholic Church and the ruler of the Papal States.

One way in whichthe Pope exercised this autority was through excommunication, he could exclude a person from membership of the Church.

If the Pope excommunicated a king he would lose much of his authority over his subjects.

The Church acquired wealth through the tithe (diezmo), which was a special tax that required peasants to give the Church one tenth of their production .

Religion affected the lives of everyone in the Middle Ages (births, marriages, funerals‌)

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THE CRUSADES The crusades were a series of military expeditionsled by monarchs and nobles, at the request of the Pope.

Their objective were to take control of the Holy land from the Muslims.

The word “crusade”comes from “cross”, because they attached a cross to their clothing.

Pope Urban III preached the First Crusade in 1095.

During the First Crusade, the christians conquered Jerusalem and other territories.

There were more expeditions to defendor reconquered the region after the Muslims had won victories.

In totally there were 9 crusades..

The Christians lost their territories in 1291

5. MEDIEVAL CHURCH THE ORGANISATION OF THE CHURCH - The Church was divided into two branches: 1. The secular clergy: - They were the members of the Church who directed religious services for the rest of society.

- They were organised into a hierarchy: - Archbishops and bishops were the Church leaders.

- Parish and priests worked at a local level.

- Each area was called a diocese.

2. The regular clergy: - They were members of religious orders who lived in separate communities.

- Each religious order had to follow its own rule, which established what its members did.

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THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS Many different religious orders were created during the Middle Ages.

One of them was the Order of Saint Benedict, founded in the 6 th century. This Rule had great influence on later religious orders.

Some orders, like the Order of Cluny and the Cistercians became very influential in this time and their Abbots were advisers to kings.

Other like the Franciscans required their members to go out and live alongside the population in poverty.

Monks lived in monasteries, where hey dedicated their lives o prayer and mediation.

Monks played an important role in the survival of classical culture by copying manuscripts.