HRE33 - Final Exam

Terms and Concepts

• Great Schism

  • Was the result of emerging differences and rising tensions between the East and the West

    • In the first Iconoclasm, the Eastern emperor bans icons, which the Pope declares are okay, and the emperor ignores him, causing a temporary rift between the East and West

    • In the second Iconoclasm, the Eastern emperor removed the patriarchs who supported the acceptance of icons by the Council of Nicaea, showing how the power of the Church differed between East and West

    • There were disagreements over the jurisdiction of the Church (Eastern and Western vs. Universal Church), the status of the Bishop of Rome (Patriarch vs. Pope), the relationship between throne and altar (Caesaropapism vs. Christendom)

    • The filioque controversy, with the addition of “and the Son” to the Nicene Creed in the West, led to the East denouncing it due to the lack of an Ecumenical Council

    • The Photian Schism, where the Eastern Emperor replaced a patriarch who did not agree with him, the Western Church denounced the replacement, and the East excommunicated the Western Church

  • An anti-Rome patriarch named Michael Cerularius objected many practices of the West

  • The West responded, and when the East refused to be in communion with the papacy, the Church denounced Cerularius, and the East and the West both excommunicated the other

  • This resulted in the official schism in 1054 AD

• Christendom

  • The belief held in the West for the majority of the Middle Ages that the state should be at the service of the Church, as spiritual matters were far more important than the temporal

  • The law should be in accordance with Christian moral teachings, and the Church had moral authority over the state

• Lay Investiture

  • The appointment of Church offices by someone (often nobility or a monarch) who does not have the authority to do so within the Church.

  • It was a way for people higher in the state to gain power over the Church and its land

  • Also became a problem with Henry IV, settled in the Concordat of Worms

• Feudalism

  • The division of the Charlemagne Empire, increased amounts of invasion, and conflict between states led to the collapse of the Carolingian Empire

    • This gave way to the corruption of the Church structure, the rise of feudalism, and simony, nepotism, and lay investiture

  • Amidst increasing viking attacks, feudalism emerged as a means to protect land

    • The lords would own the land and give protection to the vassals, and the vassals would provide the lords with military service and farm labour

  • The monarchs were the greatest lords, followed by nobles, knights, and peasants

    • This allowed the monarchs to easily raise an army

  • Because the Church had a temporal presence, it became both a lord and vassal in the ownership of land

  • Because land was tied to power and wealthy, the Church being a land owner meant that opportunists began seeing Church offices as a way towards personal gains

    • This caused a decay and corruption of the Church and Papal offices

      • They were still infallible in matters of Church teaching, but they would fail in temporal matters

    • People would try to gain power over the Church to have power and influence in Papal states

    • Many worldly and unfit popes were appointed

• Cluniac Reform

  • Originated in a monastery in Cluny that followed the Rule of St. Benedict (Ora et Labora)

  • Saw a lack of holiness in the Church, and responded through a strict spirituality that inspired the rest of the Church

  • They worked to prevent the abuses in the Church that arose through feudalism, such as simony and nepotism

  • They responded to simony by making the abbot in control of all monasteries, which would dissuade insincere abbots

  • They responded to nepotism through clerical celibacy

  • Their reforms began to spread throughout the Church and to the papacy

  • Pope Leo IX was a Cluniac monk who brought reform to Rome

• Crusades

  • The increasing Muslim occupations and invasions were threatening Europe

  • The pilgrims travelling to the Holy Land faced dangers from the Muslims

  • Pope Urban II called the crusades as a religious pilgrimage, a defensive war, an act of devotion, and an act of penance

  • The first crusaders were nobles, and then lower classes joined in

  • The crusades helped to unify a Christian Europe

  • 1st Crusade - 1095 AD

    • The Turks were not very unified, so the Christians were easily able to conquer them

    • Jerusalem was sacked

    • The crusaders decided to stay in Jerusalem to prevent the Turks, but not enough soldiers stayed, and it was eventually recaptured

  • 2nd Crusade - Reinforces the first Crusade, but it does not have the same success

  • 3rd Crusade - Monarchs supported it, but soon quit when it did not go well

  • 4th Crusade

    • A Byzantine emperor called for help from the Church to claim the throne, but when he could not fund the Crusaders, they sacked Constantinople

    • Pope Innocent III had objected, as the initial plan was to attack Islam in Egypt, but was ignored

    • This solidified the Great Schism between East and West

  • The Crusades also led to a greater desire for learning and knowledge

• Medieval Inquisition

  • The secular state had a vested interest in the unity of the state, which was often shown through the Christian faith, meaning enemies of the Church were enemies of the kingdom

    • Heretics were a threat to Christianity and its unity

  • Because it was a Christendom, it was the divine duty of the state to protect the Church

  • The Inquisitions were called to bring about order and combat heresy, giving heretics the opportunity of repentance and salvation

  • Heretics who would not repent were given the capital punishment

  • Inquisitors were often bishops or religious orders, as they were well-educated in the faith

  • The process was as follows:

    • A grace period was given for a voluntary confession

    • The accused were asked to swear innocence

    • A confession was extracted, and at least two witnesses presented evidence

    • The accused could provide a list of enemies and appeal to a higher authority

    • A jury was also present

    • The accused were imprisoned, and only killed in some cases

  • It was historically acceptable for this to happen, as religion was seen as a serious matter that held society together

• Spanish Inquisition

  • A part of the Reconquista that promoted Spanish unity

  • Operated independently of Rome, and the inquisitors were loyal to the state

  • It also tried to clear the names of Jewish and Muslim converts who were accused of being “false Christians”

  • It strengthened the Church in Spain

• Scholasticism

  • Learning is central to the mission of the Church, and faith and reason can work together to understand God

  • Much of the clergy was educated

  • As the population grew, the Church opened more schools, and there was a demand for specialized learning, universities emerged

    • There were guilds of teachers, basic and specialized learning (trivium and quadrivium), and debates

  • This learning had God at the centre of teaching, where learning about the world was also learning about God, and a means of furthering the Church’s mission

  • As the crusades led to cultural exchanges, more classical works were obtained, and universities grew

  • It is a system of reasoning that states there should be no conflict between faith and reason, as both uphold the truth

    • If they contradict, then human reason is wrong or the faith is misinterpreted

    • It was developed out of the university system

    • It is not apologetics, but rather a use of reason to understand revelation

  • Some feared that reason was relied upon too much

  • St. Anselm provided the ontological argument for the existence of God

  • Peter Lombard defined logos

  • Contradicted the Platonic worldview that stated the material nature is less than the eternal nature

  • Exemplified through St. Thomas Aquinas

• The Mendicants

  • Wandering monks that responded to the need of a more authentic faith by living in poverty

  • They addressed worldliness, corruptions within the Church, the care for the poor, and heresy

  • They spread the gospel to towns and cities

  • They initially owned nothing to avoid financial temptation, but the lack of structure was impractical, so the Church would own things, and the Mendicants were reliant on the Church

  • The Mendicants were a source of guidance and reform for the Church, especially amidst heresy and the inquisitions

• The Avignon Papacy

  • 1309 -1377 AD

  • There was a vacant papacy, and the cardinals eventually decided on Pope Celestine V

  • He resigned, and Boniface VIII is elected, who tried to restore the authority of the papacy

  • Philip IV taxed the Church, and the Pope published Clericis Laicos

  • Philip cuts of the Pope from the money coming from France and wins the “revenue battle,” and then asserts his authority over the Church in France

  • The Pope published Unam Sanctam, and Philip arrested the Pope

  • Following the death of Boniface and his successor, Philip has his friend elected as Pope Clement V, who then moves the Papal Court to Avignon

  • Here, in the “Babylonian Captivity,” the Church and papacy are subject to French influence

    • The Church and French cardinals become more worldly and corrupt

  • Philip tried to have Boniface condemned as a heretic, but Clement refused, so Philip had the Knights of Templar disbanded and collected their money

  • The papacy experiences a decline during this period

  • The Avignon papacy also results in the nationalization of churches, where the King of an area had authority over the Church, as shown through Gallicanism and Defensor Pacis

    • This causes a decline in Christian unity

  • The papacy was returned to Rome by Pope Gregory XI at the behest of St. Catherine of Siena

• Gallicanism

  • The belief that that a national identity is greater than Church influence, and the French Church should obey the French king

  • This is problematic because the Church is meant to be universal

  • It also leads to simony and lay investiture

• Hundred Years War

  • 1337 AD - 1453 AD

  • Began over disputes between English and French over land

  • First instance of Christian on Christian fighting, showing the lack of Christian unity

  • Caused and causes a rise in national identity as people identify with their leaders, rather than faith

  • The rulers gain power over the Church, and the Church loses the ability to be the centre of power

  • The peasants see it as a matter of France against England

  • Cities swelled with people, making them ideal places for disease to spread

  • France is severely weakened by the fighting

  • Then Joan of Arc helped France succeed and became a national icon

  • The power of the state and nationalism caused the prestige of the papacy to decline

• Western Schism

  • 1378 AD

  • After the death of Pope Gregory XI, Urban VI was freely elected

    • He was a strict moralist and criticized the worldly cardinals, which the French cardinals did not like

  • The Avignon cardinals claimed he was elected under duress, so they gathered independently and elected Clement VII

    • At this point, the Avignon Popes become antipopes

  • Europe becomes divided over who they believe the rightful pope is, and the lay people often followed who their ruler supported

    • This created a Church dependence on the state for support, ass well as a national identity of the Church

  • The Church had no strong, central leadership, so it weakened the Church

  • Attempted to resolve this first in the Council of Pisa, and then in the Council of Constance

• Proto-Protestants

  • In the 14th century, there was a breakdown of society due to plague and war, as well as an anti-Church sentiment rising

  • From this, the proto-Protestants emerged

  • William Ockham

    • Critiqued scholasticism and suggested that faith and reason should be separated because human reason was too limited to properly think about the truths of God

    • The Bible is authoritative, not people or the Church authority

    • The Church should be subject to the state

  • John Wycliffe

    • Advocated for the secular seizure of the Church’s property

    • Rejected Papal authority and scholasticism, and he only believed religious knowledge should come from the Bible

    • Believed in predestination and denied transubstantiation

  • Jan Hus

    • Proclaimed the supremacy of private judgement, public confession, and the Bible

    • Denied Sacred Tradition, purgatory, relics, and Sacraments

    • He was condemned as a heretic and burned at the stake

• The Renaissance

  • There was a shift away from feudalism and scholasticism towards humanism because of the development of the nation-state and a return to the classics

  • Italian city-states were run by noble families, and it became a flourishing place for trade, wealth, and intellect

  • The Church became wealthy, and began funding art, architecture, and education

  • The Church became more immersed in politics as well

  • The Medici family had a lot of influence over the papacy during this period, involving it in politics

• Constantinople

  • Fell in 1453 AD to the Ottoman Turks when the papal help did not arrive in time

  • This solidified the East-West split

  • It benefits Italy, because many had fled to Italy, increasing the cultural and intellectual capacity

• Humanism

  • An intellectual movement of the Renaissance in reaction to scholasticism that reduced the emphasis of theology, and instead moved towards the classics, the individual, and virtues

  • Not necessarily secular - Christian Humanism saw that humans were made in the image of God, so it was faith put in a more earthly/humanly context

  • Secular humanism separated God from humanity and questioned the role of faith

    • This led to the development of Enlightenment thinking

  • The focus shifted from heaven to the present, temporal reality

    • It emphasized the power of the individual and human reason

  • Following the plague, people lived in luxury, so it was seen as progress

  • The focus on the classics allowed pagan writers and worldviews to return

    • Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio were all writers of this period

• Renaissance Popes

  • A series of popes who were often worldly and occupied with temporal matters, such as the Turkish threat

  • Nicholas V attempted reforms of the clergy and saved ancient texts because he embraced education

  • Alexander VI was especially worldly, although he was a good temporal leader

  • Leo X had to raise money through simony to replace the funds that the previous popes spent

  • The over fixation with geopolitics prevented the Church from being reformed during the Renaissance

    • The moral teachings of the Church still never changed

• Protestant Reformation

  • Emerged from a society with clerical abuses, misguided and ignorant clergy and lay people, and an increased power of the state that used religion as a tool

    • Religion had become politicized

  • Luther had a hard time reconciling the sinfulness of man and the state of grace, and he does not like the fact that humans can forgive sins, rather than God

    • He became very ascetic and pious

  • Luther first criticized the selling of indulgences, as it is bad theology, but then he starts to interpret theology for himself, and criticizes Church authority

  • Luther posted the 95 Theses in 1517 AD, which were spread widely due to the printing press, and began to influence those already questioning the Church

  • When the archbishop’s delegates responded, Luther was not satisfied, and became more resolute in his view

  • He appeals directly to Rome, showing how he doesn’t want a schism, but is stopped

  • The Church gave his two months to repent as a heretic, and he burned the papal announcement, calling for a revolt against Church authority

  • His theology believed people could be saved through scripture, faith, grace, and Christ alone, and denied sacraments except Baptism and the Eucharist, transubstantiation (became consubstantiation), and clerical celibacy

  • He is condemned at the Diet of Worms, but escapes execution thanks to a German Duke

    • The support from the German nobles was used so that they could use Luther as a pawn in the peasant revolts

    • They supported his rejection of the Church authority because they had wanted to claim Church property, but made him use religion to stop the peasants who were also attacking state property

    • The Augsburg Confession was the first accepted Lutheran theology, and it was outlined in a council that sought an allegiance between Lutherans and Catholics against the Turks

    • The Peace of Augsburg decided that the religion of the prince would be the religion of the people in his realm

• Theocracy

  • When the religion of an area is also the governing state (throne and altar are one and the same)

  • There is no opportunity for religious freedom or pluralism

• Post-Reformation Europe

  • The Reform had diminished the role of Sacred Tradition, and faith became more political

  • Religion was used as a function of the state, and sometimes uses against the expansion of other religions

  • People began connecting their national identity with different religious denominations

  • People began questioning the role of religion and the Church in society, so it had to become defensive

  • The Pope lost political influence in Europe

• Church of England

  • To allow himself to get a divorce, King Henry VIII used his Parliament and the Act of Supremacy to legitimize his authority over the Church of England, and he was proclaimed as the supreme religious leader

  • All were required to swear an oath of allegiance, and those who refused, such as St. Thomas More, were seen as an enemy of the state

  • This resulted in the confiscation of Church property and monasteries were shut down

• Act of Supremacy

  • The act that proclaimed the King as the supreme head of the Church of England, and the Pope no longer had any religious authority in England

• The Counter-Reformation

  • The Church’s response to the Protestant Reformation

  • It firmly rejected Luther’s teachings through the reforming popes, saints, religious orders (Jesuits) and the Council of Trent

  • It reformed Church doctrine and the clergy to prevent further abuses and heresy

  • It also helped move the Church away from the State

  • Later on, the Church had to become more defensive in response to the ideas perpetuated by the Protestant Reformation

• Reforming Popes

  • Adrian VI wanted to bring reform to Rome, but died early in his efforts

  • Clement VII focused less on reforming doctrine, and more on reforming the clergy and orders to help guide the Church

    • He was distracted by political disagreements and Henry VIII

    • He needed the state to support the Church’s reform, but the state leaders wanted to maintain their power

  • Paul III took strong actions to reform the Church

    • He called the Council of Trent

  • Pius V lived a monastic life and affirmed the independence of the Church and clerical celibacy

• The Battle of Lepanto

  • Pope Pius V and a Catholic League of Defense fought against the Ottoman Turks who had threatened Venice and Spain

  • The Pope called the Christians to pray the Rosary on the Eve of the battle, and the Christians were victorious on October 7, 1571 AD

    • This became the Feast of Mary and the Holy Rosary

  • This was a significant end to the Turkish threat to Europe

• Wars of Religion

  • Thirty Years War

    • Philip II had absolute rule in Spain, and he tried to expand his rule to the rest of the Holy Roman Empire

    • There were divisions and borders drawn along religious lines (mainly Protestants and Catholics) because of the Peace of Augsburg

    • The Lutherans were losing standing because of an increase in Calvinism and Catholicism, and Philip II started using military attempts to unify the Empire

    • Most of Western Europe began fighting, and it soon became more political than religious

      • France, a Catholic country, allied with Protestants, because they didn’t want to be beside a strong and united Holy Roman Empire

  • The Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 was a political compromise that divided Europe in to Protestants and Catholics

  • These wars signified the end of Papal influence in the politics of Europe

• Missionary Activity

  • As the New World was discovered, the Church established a missionary office in the 17th century

  • They wanted to spread the Gospel, but they also imposed European sensibilities on the Americas

  • They faced challenges as the new local authorities were not interested in spreading the Gospel, but rather gaining wealth and resources for themselves

  • Fr. Bartolome de las Casas would write about the injustices of the treatment of the natives

  • In India, the caste system was a larger obstacle

  • In China, the missionaries such as Matteo Ricci would live as scholars and engage with local philosophy and culture

    • They had the liturgy translated to Chinese

    • The leaders soon became suspicious of Catholic missionaries

  • In Japan, paranoia about Western expansion led to the persecution of missionaries

  • The Philippines were the most successful, as Christianity improved their standards of living

  • Africa was the least successful, as the tribal style of leadership and Muslim expansion made conversions difficult

  • Missionary activity in the Americas started with conquerors, and then the missionaries moved in

    • They were faced with practices, such as human sacrifices, that the Europeans heavily criticized and used as an excuse to treat them worse

    • Priests, such as De Las Casas, and Jesuits worked to protect the natives

      • It was a struggle for the Church, because religion was now a tool of the state

    • Our Lady of Guadalupe helped convert native Mexicans

    • Syncretism emerged as the indigenous converts still maintained their pagan beliefs

  • The Popes condemned slavery, including Pope Paul III in Sublimus Dei

  • The Jesuits had set up early Catholic colonies in the Americas

    • They had to adjust to the many different tribes

    • St. Jean de Brebeuf had worked to translate the Gospel with new vocabulary

    • They were eventually persecuted when colonialism got worse

• Inculturation

  • The method of conversion where missionaries would offer simple charity, learn the native tongue, and engage with local culture to find access points with communities to share the Gospel

• The Enlightenment

  • Humanism and Protestantism triggered the separation of faith and reason

  • Some began to use reason alone and reduce the role of religion

  • In the 1600s, the belief was that religion was stupid and pointless, and its only purpose was to control the masses

  • This was continued by individuals such as Descartes, Bacon, and Voltaire

  • New theories of science and government emerged

  • Because religion had been used by the state as a tool for oppression, the Enlightenment thinkers eventually believed that religion was dangerous to society

    • The Church had to go on the defensive, but it did give the Church the opportunity to respond with reason

• Science and Faith

  • Science came from scholasticism, because God was the inspiration for scientific development

  • However, with the Enlightenment, the Church was portrayed as an enemy of scientific progress

  • Francis Bacon published the Scientific Method in 1620 AD

    • This involved observing first, and then drawing conclusions based on the observations

  • Copernicus’s development of the heliocentric model was hard for the people at the time to grasp with their limited knowledge of science

    • Therefore, the Church was hesitant to accept it as a full truth

    • Galileo proved it, and he wanted everyone to accept his model as fact, but the Church was hesitant until he could further prove it

  • This increased the belief that humans could understand the universe

    • This is not necessarily contradicting the Church, because the Church supports the truth

    • Some saw the Church as the new monarchy that was controlling the progress of society

• Papal Supremacy

  • The central authority of the Pope serves as a unifying factor

  • When the authority is lost, many divisions in the faith occur

• Martyr

  • One who dies for their faith

  • The saints were venerated because it emphasized holiness, Heaven, and hope

People and Councils

• Charlemagne

  • His father Pepin sought the blessing of the Church, and St. Boniface anointed him as king

    • This created the expectation that the Franks will protect the Church and the Church had authority in the West

  • He would act in the best interest of the Church, but would also interfere with Church matters and appoint Church officials as a part of his state

  • Crowned as emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in 800 AD

  • His empire was run under Christian law and policy, which helped maintain unity throughout the whole empire and allow the Church to fulfill its mission

  • This led to the Carolingian Renaissance of art, literature, education, and faith

• Pope Gregory VII

  • Papacy began in 1073 AD

  • A Cluniac monk

  • Published the Dictatus Papae, which entailed strict reforms and canon law, especially in regards to the authority of the Pope and lay investiture

    • Only the Pope can call councils

    • The Pope is the final authority in defining matters of faith

    • Only the Pope can appoint and transfer bishops

    • The Church had influence over state leaders on moral grounds

• Henry IV (HRE)

  • Holy Roman Emperor

  • Appointed his own bishop (lay investiture), so he was excommunicated by Pope Gregory VII

  • He appointed an antipope

  • Later repented on his walk to Canossa in 1077 AD

• Pope Innocent III

  • Height of papal power, the Vicar of Christ

  • Established the moral authority of the Pope in spiritual matters

  • Criticized the morals of leaders and established interdicts against them and their domains and

• Knights Templar

  • An order of knights that rose to protect the Holy Land, but also followed a monastic life and took vows

  • They would protect pilgrims

  • They set up the first banking system, where soldiers could deposit money in France and withdraw it in Jerusalem

    • This led to them becoming very wealthy

  • Eventually disbanded by Philip IV in the 1300’s

• Albigensians

  • One group of heretics targeted by the Inquisitions

  • They believed that the soul was good, and the physical world was evil

  • They rejected Church authority, sacraments, and civil authority, and would take extreme measures, such as suicide by starvation

• St. Thomas Aquinas

  • A Dominican that would systematically examine all the questions pertaining to Christianity

  • Wrote the Summa Theologica in 1265 AD, explaining matters of the faith (such as the existence of God) through reason

  • His writings were heavily influential in philosophy and Church theology

  • He would use both faith and reason, but would rely on revelation more

• St. Francis of Assisi

  • Born in 1181 AD

  • In response to the excessive worldliness and corruption in the Church, he was instructed to “go and build my house again” by God, and committed himself to “lady poverty”

  • He gave up everything he had to help the poor, and he only had the rags on his back, as well as whatever others would donate

  • He would embrace the poor and marginalized, and spread the Gospel

  • With the eventual approval of the Pope, he started the Franciscans, who lived the Gospel through a simple life of poverty and reverence for the Eucharist

  • In the crusades, he preached and worked towards the safe passage of Christians

• St. Domenic

  • A priest who adopted a life of poverty and would correct heresy

  • He highly prized education, as it helped in religious debates against Albigensianism

  • Because he lived in poverty, he was able to connect with the ascetic heretics, and explain why the temporal world is not evil

  • He founded the Dominicans, who were well-educated, and served as exceptional teachers and preachers

  • He spread the use of the Rosary, so that people could say 150 prayers to imitate the 150 monastic prayers, allowing them to live a more holy life

• Pope Boniface VIII

  • Published Clericis Laicos, which states that the Church should not surrender resources (taxes) to the state

  • Published Unam Sanctum in 1302 AD, which stated that all are subject to papal authority

  • Tries to restore the authority of the papacy

• Philip IV (France)

  • The King of France

  • Clashes with Pope Boniface VIII

  • Is responsible for the Avignon Papacy

• St. Joan of Arc

  • She had visions of St. Michael that she would be the liberator of France

  • She was initially accepted by the French king and led France to military success

  • The King wanted to stop the fighting, but Joan was a nuisance to them because she insisted that they go on

  • When she was captured by the Burgundians, France did not pay to save her, so the English captured her instead

  • They tricked her into signing a false confession, she was tried for heresy, and was burned at the stake

• St. Catherine of Siena

  • An Italian mystic who joined the Dominicans to live an ascetic life

  • She had a “mystical marriage” to Christ and had visions to heal the wounds of the Church

  • She served the poor and the sick

  • She corresponded with many leaders, including Pope Gregory XI, who she implored to return the papacy to Rome

  • She worked for the reformation of the mission and the clergy

• Council of Pisa

  • 1409 AD

  • Conciliarism emerges, which claims that councils have more authority than the Pope

  • The bishops called the council to try and resolve the two pope issue, and ended up electing a third pope

  • This council was not universally accepted

• Council of Constance

  • The state stepped in and had the three popes agree to a council to resolve the Western Schism

  • The Roman pope agreed to resign so that the Roman Popes were accepted as the legitimate line

  • Many councils were called afterwards to establish the prestige of the papacy

    • A council is only valid if it is called, presided over, and accepted by a Pope

  • Also condemned Jan Hus

• Council of Basel-Ferrara-Florence

  • Initially about heresy, but then it addressed the East/West issues

  • The East wanted a military alliance, but the theological differences dominated

  • There was a temporary reunification in 1439 (Laetentur Coeli)

  • Eventually decided to send support

• Machiavelli

  • In the context of humanism, he prioritized the "here and now”

  • Believed the ends justified the means, and morality was secondary

  • Influenced popes

  • Questioned Christianity as a function of the state

• Erasmus

  • Thought that education could make you a better person

  • Critiqued the worldliness of Church leaders and emphasized the need for spiritual reform

  • Does not reject Church authority

• St. Thomas More

  • An English chancellor and friend of King Henry VIII

  • Wrote about a utopia where people were immersed in religion and embraced the Christian message

  • Eventually killed for refusing to swear allegiance to the Church of England

• Pope Alexander VI

  • He had a scandalous personal life, women, children, and participated in nepotism

  • He was a good temporal administrator, restored law in Rome, and negotiated peace

  • He tarnished the moral authority of the Church with laxity

  • He published Inter Caetera on the “New World”

• Martin Luther

  • An Augustinian scholar that was very concerned about earning God’s favour, and believed that humans could not forgive sins

  • He saw God as a righteous judge who passed sentences

  • Influenced by the proto-Protestants, he believed that humans have a reduced capacity and cannot overcome sinfulness, so he concluded that faith in God alone would make humans righteous

• John Calvin

  • He read the teachings of Luther and further concluded that the souls was rotten and the sacraments did not give grace

  • He reformed Protestantism and fled to Switzerland

  • He had a militant rejection of Catholicism, and a strict iconoclasm that resulted in the destruction of Churches emerged

  • He became obsessed with double predestination, where the good and evil would be sent to Heaven and Hell due to God’s just nature

  • He started an anti-Catholic, Calvinist theocracy in Geneva, which had strict reforms and no religious toleration

  • From him and Luther, Zwingli and the Anabaptists emerged

• Henry VIII (England)

  • The leader of England who was first married to Catherine of Spain, but wanted it annulled by the Church because it was his dead brother’s wife (and she produced no male heirs)

  • The Church had refused, so he appointed a new archbishop (a secret Lutheran) who arranged the annulment against Church teaching

  • He made himself the head of the Church of England

  • He also published the Six Articles about the Church of England, which maintained some Catholic teaching

• Elizabeth I

  • She was a Protestant and considered an invalid heir, but the Parliament and nobles changed the laws to make her queen

  • Those who would not swear an oath, including Catholics, were condemned and persecuted

  • Catholicism was outlawed in England, and the new Protestant theology became the religion

• Pope Paul III

  • He was first a Renaissance Pope, but then took reform seriously

  • He excommunicated Henry VIII, mediated peace between France and the Holy Roman Empire, and encouraged the Germans to resist Protestantism

    • However, many leaders, including lavish cardinals and Charles V, wanted to maintain their power, so they did not want reform

  • He eventually called the Council of Trent in the jurisdiction of Charles V to appease him

• Council of Trent

  • Began in 1545 AD, and occurred over 18 years

  • It affirmed the central ideas of Catholicism in response to Lutheran teachings

    • It clarified Original Sin and Baptism, and it affirmed all seven sacraments

    • It addressed Justification and Faith

    • It aimed to reform clergy through increased education and better appointments

    • It clarified doctrine to avoid heresy and problems in the Church

    • It affirmes both Sacred Scripture and Tradition - not just one

      • It also confirmed the official Canon of the Bible after the Protestants started removing books

    • The Protestants wanted to be recognized at the council

    • The Pope reformed the Curia of Cardinals and stopped collecting money for the Church to prevent abuses

    • This was a shift towards the restoration of the Papacy

  • It established a seminary system where the clergy could be educated

  • It established forbidden books and a new catechism

  • The role of the Bishop was renewed as the primary guarantor of the faith

• St. Peter Canisius

  • An influential part of the counter-Reformation that worked within Protestant Germany to reach out to those leaving the Church

  • He wrote and translated doctrine to make teaching it more accessible

  • The “Second Apostle of Germany”

• St. Charles Borromeo

  • An influential part of the counter-Reformation that actively participated in Trent

  • Appointed as the Bishop of Milan

  • He established schools and worked to enforce the reforms

• St. Ignatius of Loyola

  • He converted to be a Soldier for Christ, and after a year of seclusion and Spiritual exercises, he took a vow of obedience to the Pope and Church

  • His spiritual example attracted others, and he founded the Jesuits

• Jesuits

  • There was a revival of religious orders following the Counter-Reformation, seeing the likes of St. Philip Neri and St. Teresa of Avila that focused on spiritual formation

  • The Jesuits were founded by Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier

  • Thew would go wherever they were needed, so they played a large part in the missionary activity of the New World

  • They spread widely in response to Protestantism

  • Suppression began in 1773 AD

• St. Francis Xavier

  • A founder of the Jesuits who traveled to India for missionary activity

  • He found the Hindu caste system, which contradicted Christian teaching

    • It was easier to reach lower castes with the teaching and engage the nobles philosophically

  • He enforced inculturation when working with local peoples to spread the Gospel

• Descartes

  • A mathematician that tried to apply the mechanical method of maths to philosophy

  • He believed everything should be doubted, and come to understanding based only on what human reason can achieve

    • Systematic Doubt

  • His approach was not anti-religious, but some people adopted his approach and used it against matters of faith

• Galileo

  • He had new discoveries that seemed to contradict scripture

  • He had made some mistakes, and because of a lack of knowledge at the time, they couldn’t really prove or disprove it

  • The Church wanted to leave it as a theory until it was proven as a definitive truth, but Galileo insisted that he was right and everyone should accept his teachings

  • Arrested for heresy in 1633 AD under suspicion of heresy, and was placed under house arrest

  • He wrote a book about a smart heliocentrist and a foolish geocentrist that represented the Pope

• Voltaire

  • A father of the Enlightenment who had a disdain for the Catholic Church

  • He believed that religion was a creation of man that was imposed to maintain unity and caused intolerance and division

  • He accepted Enlightened Despotism, which suggested that rulers gained their power from a social contract where they were entrusted with the power to govern

• Philosophes

  • An intellectual movement against Divine revelation and the Church

  • They used the many denominations of Christianity as a sign that religion is subjective, and reason and religion are not compatible

  • The Deists formed, who logically concluded that there is a God who created the universe, but could not reasonably conclude that that God cared or that religion should exist

Chronological Events

Documents

Gregory VII

• Correspondance about lay investiture with Henry IV

• Dictatus Papae reemphasized the authority of the pope and the problem with lay investiture

Boniface VIII

• Unam Sanctam - The authority of the Pope to Philip IV, everyone is subject to the Pope on spiritual matters, the temporal Church cannot be interfered with

• Clericis Laicos - Philip IV cannot tax the Church and treat it like a vassal

Henry VIII

• Six articles about the Church of England

• Act of Supremacy

Pope Paul III

• Sublimus Dei (Response to Inter Catera) - cannot deprive the natives of their liberty or property (no enslavement)

Martin Luther

• Letters to Pope Leo X about the theology of indulgences and Church teachings, and called many Church teachings errors

• Response to Leo X’s Papal Bull - It was written by the delegate John Eck, and Luther was not satisfied

St. Catherine of Siena

• Letters to Pope Gregory XI telling him to return the papacy to Rome

Thematic Concepts

East-West Conflict and the Great Schism

Christendom, Crusades, and Inquisitions

Scholasticism, Humanism, and the Renaissance

Reformation

Enlightenment and Revolution