Medieval History- HIS 1400 (Belmont University, Spring 2025, Dr. Bisson) Exam 2

feudalism (lord/vassal relationship)

Political-military system

Lord gives fief to vassal for military service

-Honorable relationship

-Being vassal is honorable

-Socially equal (lord and vassal)

-Horizontal relationship

truce of god

The idea not to wage war during certain holy days

-Lent

-thursday/ friday/saturday/sunday

at the Council of Clermont in 1095

Pope urban II

Goes along with peace of god

universitas

Gild or association

Used to describe collegiate church, monastery

Many meanings/uses

-Words change meaning according to context

Association of persons

-No dorms, buildings, etc

rector

Student head of the university

-Even today, rector is still law student

In university of bologna, students had to get permission from rector to marry

-Also needed permission to leave

If master didnt share opinion of rector: fired

Controls the licentia docendi

licentia docendi

-license to teach

-oral exam

-Can take as many times as want, but super crazy hard

-Students at bologna apply for it it

-Shows that they have mastered the civil law

-A diploma

-Certifies that you're qualified in a body of knowledge, qualified to teach it

Vita apostolica

The apostolic life

-credentes

-Absolute poverty

-(not involuntary poverty, different)

-Embrace chastity

-Live by mendicity (begging)

-Franciscan, Dominicans, Augustinian

-live off charity of others

-engage in ministries

-They don't eat any meat, or anything that is the product of sexual intercourse

-Vegan diet (DO eat fish)

Consolamentum

a blessing given at death, hoped to gain by those who live vita apostolica

pieces of/description of Consolamentum

-Strengthening: Frees individual from prison of the flesh

-Receive this during lifetime

-Not material )No water, no christening)

-blessing

-Endura: A total fasting of water and food

-Follows the Consolamentum

hairesis

- (“choice”)

- Heresy

-Usually individuals, typically intellectuals/scholars, Not groups

-A belief/action that directly contradicts a belief necessary for salvation

-Teaching or practice that is deemed as dangerous to the Christian faith and those who abide within it

-Not a group of "church police" looking for heretics

-If you accept correction of your belief, you are not a heretic

-Stubbornness to accept correction, persisting in a false belief, is heresy

mortal hatred

-a protection during the papal inquisistion

-First appearance, first question: "Do you know anyone who hates you enough to see you dead? give us their names"

-Being well-hated/well-loved was a protection

homage

Becoming of a man

The part of the ceremony of vassalage in which a vassal recognizes the authority of his new lord to command him.

oath of fealty

On scripture or reliquary of the Bible

The part of the ceremony of vassalage in which a vassal recognizes the authority of his new lord to command him.

feudal obligations

Knight service

-Owed lord 30 days a year

Castle service

Suit to court (court service)

-Must attend lord's court at certain specified times (at his command)

-Christmas court

peace of god

a medieval movement led by the Catholic Church in the 10th and 11th centuries to limit violence, particularly against clergy, peasants, and church property

The popular protests of the mid-tenth to eleventh centuries that triggered the Church reform of the era. Specifically, the term refers to the prohibitions of violence against clerics, women, and pilgrims bestowed by the bishops who took over leadership of the reform movement.

truce of god

The idea not to wage war during certain holy days

-Lent

-thursday/friday/saturday/sunday

at the Council of Clermont in 1095

Pope urban II

Goes along with peace of god

armed pilgrimage

How the crusade is conceived

pilgrims carried weapons and were prepared to fight, often under the justification of defending Christianity. Unlike traditional peaceful pilgrimages to holy sites, these journeys blended religious devotion with military action.

Concordat of Worms (1122)

Settlement/agreement

-To end investiture conflict between empire and papacy

obit

​​Mass celebrated on anniversery of a person's death

-Expensive

-Liber vitae (book of life)

-Names for monks to pray for

-Cluniacs do it a lot

merchet

Payment owed to lord when peasant daughter marries off the manor

-Daughter has to marry off to keep incest from happening

-Lord has lost a worker and someone who could birth more workers

feudal aids

feudal aids

Ordinary Aids (payment):

-Hospitality (Hospitalia)

-Marriage of the Lord's eldest daughter

-Knighting of the Lord's eldest son

-Vigil

-Night before, knight was to kneel and meditate on the word of God, Christian virtues

-Bath

-Ransom of the Lord's body

Extraordinary aids

-Shield money

-Scutage

collegium

Association of masters

Their kind of union

Controls its membership

Rector cannot say whether or not someone is qualified to be a professor/teach

-Controls the Licentia docendi

-Licentia docendi is oral exam

-Can take as many times as want, but super crazy hard

Students keep the salaries very low

Students at bologna began to apply for the Licentia docendi

Masters were hard core

Which pope clashed with the German emperor and compelled his submission at Canossa in 1077?

Pope Gregory VII

Which great Dominican philosopher authored the Summa Theologiae and Summa contra Gentiles?

Saint Thomas Aquinas

The university at Paris emerged out of the ______

cathedral school

A person who performs homage to a lord in return for a fief is known as ______

vassal

homage, fealty

vassal paid _____ and _____

Cluniac order

has abbot

tweaked order of st benedict

had daughter houses

lots of little clunies

- abbotts had to travel and keep other monasteries in check

Opus dei 8 times a day

Sang entire psalter in a single day, 150

Mass, Celebrated by priest

cluniac houses were built in ______ style (Heavy/dark, Sconces, artifical light, No windows; Massive to support the roof)

romanesque

cluniac order had ____ monks; _____

black, affluent

cluniac order founded in ____ by _____ ____ __ _____

909, william count of aquitaine

william count of aquitaine

founded cluniac order, murdered brother

in cluniac order, monks were sustained by

Altar offerings (Money offered on the altar), Rents from land, Tithes

comfortable

life at cluny was ____ (lavish lifestyle, wealthy)

Many monks called from cluny to go out and serve ___ ____ ____

in the world

cistercian

Citeaux (cistrercium)

Rival of cluny

Don't spend all their time praying, Shorter rule, Engaged in manual labor, No oblates, Child monks, Had to be 17 to profess, No stained glass; Chalice is iron, Inside is gold, Holds blood of christ

origins of cistercian order

Monastary in molesme

Abbott: robert

Group of monks wanted more challenging religious life

Eremetical

Recreate desert

Isolation

mother houses of cistercian

La ferte

Pontigny

Montmovres

Clairvaux

Meet annually in great chapter

-Abbotts meet to discuss

cistercian had ____ daughter houses loyal to the _____ house

60, mother

peter abelard

Breton knight

Full of himself, Brilliant

Knew things that no one knows how he learned: Everyone wanted to learn from him

-No books/records about what he knew/how he knew it

"The invincible arguer"

Eventually founds monastic order

-Founds house for Heloise to become nun

St Bernard sees him as a threat

-Thinks Abelard placed Aristotle in place of God

story of Peter Abelard and Heloise

In Paris, his late 30s, employed by Canon Fulbert

-Powerful church, Canonry of Notre dame

-Abelard was asked if he would teach Fulbert's Neice, Heloise: they become lovers, Fulbert finds out gets super angry, feels betrayed

-Hires gang to castrate Abelard, which means he can't be priest, still loves Heloise

scholastic method

Bible

Chruch fathers

-Augustine

-Jerome

-Gregory

-Ambrose

Latin literature, Looking for difficult passages

Looking for contradictions in the text

- aristotle (relying on pagan to understand christiant text)

purpose of the scholastic method

using the best science available (logic of Aristotle) to understand/explain Christianity (best religion available)

- (illuminating the truth of christianity

scholastic method began first in the _____ _____

islamic world

The commentator

scholastic method

Avverroes (d 1198)

avverroes

Arabic theologian and philosopher, Spain (Most was Islamic territory until 15 century)

Not a Christian (Relying upon a Pagan to understand Christian text)

Doesn't believe Jesus is the son of God, but a Prophet

bologna

Where first university was created

More urban life meant more of a need for contracts: More understanding of law

by 1070s, recovered only copy of Corpus Juris Civilis found in the west

Became known as place can study more than legal formulas

Student formed/run

-Take control of the masters, teach the whole Corpus Juris Civilis

-Lots of rules for the masters

-Control the shop-keepers

-Boycotts, etc

Irnerius

glossator at bologna

d 1130

Worked for henry 5 for a while

glossators

Read the Corpus Juris Civilis and gloss it texturally

Glossary, writing commentary in between the lines

peter waldo

d. 1205

Richest man in city of Lyons, Southern France, Merchant prince

Wanted the life of st alexis: wandering preacher (apolistic life), dies unrecognized

Wants to be a true disciple

Not educated, literate in his own dialect

Wants to preach on the moral life

Becomes beggar, wants to preach, didnt have license

-Suspected to heretic (though not one), never granted license

-Becomes heretic, begins waldensian church

Waldensian church was founded by _____ _____, who becomes hostile to the clergy

peter waldo

beliefs of waldensians/peter waldo

Believes only necessary sacraments are: Baptism, Marriage, Eucharist

NOT penance/confession: Believed confessed in public to each other instead

Believed masses for the dead are wrong: Have no purpose

Become pacifist: The taking of a life is a great sin

refuse to take oaths

biblicism: If it is not specifically in the Bible, it doesn't matter/they reject it/can't have it

hostile to clerical authority

survived

the Waldensian church _____

episcopal inquisition

Failed

Bishops, had too much to do

Lot of them don’t know anything about heresy, no experience

Why did the episcopal inquisition fail?

All about how you go about appealing someone on a charge of heresy

-No church police, no district attorney to go to with a church

-Must bring charge yourself to the church board

-Problem: In public (EVERYTHING, proof, witnesses, The accused knows the accuser)

-Problem: Lex talionis

-The law of the claw: Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, life for a life

-If you can't establish your charge (proof), you will suffer the same punishment as the person you accused, had they been guilty , Must have witnesses, proof, etc.

-Often: negotiations take place, so all can avoid the consequences

-As a result: it was rare for people to bring charges of heresy against people

-Sometimes civil authority won't take action and execute those charged

-Imperfect process

PRETTY MUCH: people didn't want to accuse people of heresy cause it was hard and dangerous

succeeded

The papal inquisition ____

papal inquisition was ______ (not run) by the ______

authorized, papacy

papal inquisition was run by

clergies, priests, people trained to identify heresy

papal inquisition

an operation

Started after St. dominic ran into some abbots didnt like how they were acting, explained why heretics didnt listen (too fancy)

Pope Innocent III Sent monks to go do what Dominic and friends did: Debate not argue

Inquisitors go to the largest church and tell the priest that they need the pulpit

-Sermos generalis

Inquisition isn't to kill people, it's to save people: Reconcile, not execute heretics

papal inquisition staffed by ____ _____ (mostly), run by the ____ of the _____

dominican friars, order of preachers

sermo generalis

papal inquisition

"We know there's heresy here, and we're making an offer: expires in 2 weeks, if you come to us on your own and tell us everything you know about heresy in this area (including own involvement), will get off with minimal penance"

process of sermo generalis

questioned

If they don't like your answers, put in jail for a while

They really want the perfecti (the worst heretics)

If they believe you, you get a light penance

-If not, they keep you for a while

-Indefinitely

-Then, brought back, and they ask more questions

-Kind of a loop of actions

-Don’t know who else is also being kept

All about the process (stacked against you)

-Process goes on for months

Torture was not originally a part of the process

-Added in 1252

-Couldn't lead to death

true or false: Most crusaders were land-hungry younger sons desperately eager to

establish lordships in the East.

false

Christine de Pisan

Christine de Pizan was a French-Italian poet and author, considered one of the first professional female writers in Europe. She is best known for her works on feminism, chivalric romance, and political philosophy during the Medieval period.

"The Book of the City of Ladies" (1405) is one of her most famous works. It is a feminist allegory where she defends women’s honor and contributions to society, countering the widespread misogynistic ideas of her time. (Talked about in other class)

lincoln rule

if a woman worked independently (especially outside the home or in some form of business) without the supervision or involvement of her husband, then she could not claim the legal protections or benefits afforded to wives under the husband's authority.

Ex: husband not responsible for her debt

heriot

A sort of tax

In course of lifetime, peasant may acquire wealth,

at death, that wealth/belongings belongs to lord

Banalités

a set of feudal rights in medieval France and other parts of Europe that allowed lords to impose certain duties and charges on the peasants or serfs who lived on their land

boon work

Random things needing to be built here and there

-Work owed by peasants

-Certain times a year, special work; Random one-off things that take time away from main plowing/farming

-Ex. Peasant stop plowing to pick strawberries for a party

-Ex. wall built, pond dug, mill build, women help with spinning

Each household must contribute

week work

Three days per household to work lord's land

-Peasants could work on own land for 3 days

Work split between households

-More sons=less days each works

-Sons preferred over women

order of preachers

The order founded by St. Dominic to spread the faith through education in order to fight heresy; Dominican religion

bernardo gui

Dominican inquisitor and theologian in the 14th century, best known for his role in the medieval Inquisition and his involvement in the suppression of heresy, particularly in the Cathar (Albigensian) regions of France.

His work focused on Catharism

credentes

The "Credentes" (meaning "the Believers") were the lay followers of the Cathar faith who adhered to its teachings but did not live the strict ascetic lifestyle of the Perfecti.

supported and followed the Perfecti, and their salvation was believed to be dependent on the guidance of the Perfecti and the receipt of the consolamentum

Perfecti

were the more devout and ascetic members of the Cathar religious community.

“Perfect”

spiritual elite within Catharism,

fasting, abstinence from meat, and celibacy. They were expected to live in poverty

dualism

Believed in by the Cathars

The Good God: The Good God was believed to be the creator of the spiritual world, which was pure, eternal, and unchanging. This god represented light, goodness, and spirituality.The Evil God: The Evil God was responsible for the creation of the material world, which the Cathars viewed as corrupt, evil, and temporary. This god represented darkness, sin, and materiality.

Cathar/Albigensian beliefs/why they were heretics

heretics

Say Eucharist cannot really be God

-Comes to vile end

-There cannot logically be that much of his body

-Mocking the idea

-"it's all a big sham"

baptism isnt real

Perfecti and credentes

Abbot Suger

French abbot, statesman, and theologian who is often credited with significantly influencing the development of Gothic architecture and monastic reform in the medieval period. He was the abbot of Saint-Denis, a monastery near Paris, and served as a key advisor to the French king, Louis VI and Louis VII.

Durham Cathedral

Romanesque style

England

latin quarter

The Latin Quarter is a historic and vibrant district in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France, known for its rich intellectual, academic, and cultural heritage.

left bank

the southern bank of the River Seine in Paris, France. This area is famous for its intellectual, artistic, and cultural significance and has been home to some of the most renowned artists, writers, and thinkers throughout history

Île de la Cité

Church of our lady

Notre-dame

Cathedral school that emerged from it

cathedral school

type of medieval school that was typically associated with a cathedral or monastery and provided religious and academic education during the Middle Ages. These schools were fundamental in the development of education in Europe, especially in the early medieval period.

Trivium: The foundational subjects of grammar, rhetoric, and logic

Quadrivium: Advanced subjects including arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy.

Determinatio

In the proccess of questiones

-"final answer"

-Done by the master

-Determination

Written

responsio

After the question was posed, the next step was to provide a response to the question. This step was where the scholar (often a theologian or philosopher) would provide their initial answer or position on the issue.

In this phase, the scholar would not only give their own opinion but would also carefully engage with existing authorities, including scripture, church fathers, Aristotle, and other philosophers and theologians.

questiones

Questiones refers to the question or problem posed for examination. This was often a theological, philosophical, or legal issue that required deep analysis.

The process typically began with the formulation of a question that was considered difficult or controversial, often raised in the context of Christian doctrine, biblical interpretation, or philosophical inquiry.

lectio

In monastic schools: "reading" NOT lecture

Takes certain form

referred to the practice of spiritual reading or meditative reading of sacred texts, most notably the Bible and other theological writings.

Bohemond of Taranto

key leader of the First Crusade (1096–1099).

played a crucial role in the capture of Antioch

ater became the first Prince of Antioch.

Clashed with Byzantine Emperor Alexius I, refusing to swear full loyalty to him.

Founded the Principality of Antioch, a major Crusader state

Raymond of St. Gilles

one of the most influential leaders of the First Crusade (1096–1099)

Supported Peter Bartholomew and the alleged discovery of the Holy Lance, which boosted Crusader morale.

Played a major role in capturing Antioch from the Seljuk Turks.

Godfrey of Bouillon

Frankish knight

key leader of the First Crusade (1096–1099).

first ruler of Jerusalem, "Defender of the Holy Sepulchre."

Peter Bartholomew

poor and uneducated Crusader during the First Crusade

During the Siege of Antioch, claimed that Saint Andrew appeared to him in visions, revealing that the Holy Lance (the spear that pierced Christ's side) was buried beneath St. Peter's Cathedral in Antioch

The Crusaders dug where he indicated and allegedly found a piece of metal believed to be the Holy Lance—greatly boosting their morale.

Kerbogha

Antioch in June 1098

Attack during the first crusade to get land back

On June 28, 1098, the Crusaders launched a surprise attack and decisively defeated his forces.

Alexius I Comnenus

1081-1118

diplomat and military leader

helped restore Byzantine strength after years of decline

his interactions with the Crusaders led to long-term tensions between the Byzantine Empire and Western Europe.

I think pretty much urged urban II to like start the crusade (I rlly dont know his significance lol)

pope urban II

1088-1099

Launched the first crusade

clermont

Council of ___ Called for the first crusade

1095

Baldwin of Edessa

prominent figure during the First Crusade

played a crucial role in the establishment of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and was the first ruler of the newly created Principality of Antioch.

tancred

key figure during the First Crusade

notable leader of the Crusader States in the Holy Land.

became famous for his military prowess and his role in the establishment of the Principality of Antioch.

Adhemar of Le Puy

He was the Bishop of Le Puy-en-Velay in France and served as the papal legate for the Crusade, acting as a key spiritual and moral guide for the Crusader army.

lay investiture

formal ceremony in which someone is granted authority over a particular position or office. In the case of bishops and abbots, it included the granting of the spiritual symbols of office, such as the ring, staff, and book.

In the context of lay investiture, secular rulers (like kings) would invest religious officials with these symbols, effectively choosing who would hold important ecclesiastical positions in their territories.

became big controversy

spiritualia

spiritual benefits or spiritual property within the context of the medieval Church and its relationship with secular rulers, particularly in relation to the feudal system. The term can also refer to ecclesiastical income, such as tithes, land grants, and other spiritual assets or privileges that were part of the Church's authority and land holdings.

temporalia

refers to the secular, material, or temporal property and earthly goods of the Church, as distinct from spiritualia, which involves the spiritual or religious authority and benefits the Church offers. In the medieval context, temporalia typically included land holdings, money, and other physical assets that the Church managed, owned, or controlled.

henry IV

Holy Roman Emperor who ruled from 1084 to 1105.

central role in the Investiture Controversy, a significant conflict between the papacy and secular rulers over who had the authority to appoint bishops and other church officials.

gregory vii

best known for his role in the Investiture Controversy

efforts to strengthen papal authority over both the Church and secular rulers.

His papacy marked a pivotal moment in the medieval church's assertion of independence from secular control.