Medieval Christianity: From Charlemagne to the Western Schism
Key Figures and Concepts
Early Middle Ages (c. 800-1050)
Leo III:
Pope who assumed the papacy in 795 and crowned Charlemagne on December 25, 800, restoring the Holy Roman Empire of the West.
Charlemagne:
Holy Roman Emperor of the West in the 9th century, who consolidated political authority within the empire.
Christian Politics:
Policy based on the good order of the Church and society.
Religious Institutions:
Institutions that included monasticism, cathedral and convent schools, and assistance to the faithful.
Donations:
Testamentary dispositions that nobles left to the Church for prayers to ensure their favor after death. These were the main source of wealth for European monasteries.
Debate:
Works of Saint Augustine, who proposed a government of public affairs based on the Gospel, justice, and good governance.
Feudalism:
Governance and management of properties based on feudal contracts, in which vassals provided services, land, or money (the enfeoffed) in return for protection and social order (from feudal lords).
Investiture:
Disputes caused by the intrusion of feudal lords in the appointment of clergy by secular powers.
Simony:
The buying and selling of Church offices, services, and domains.
Secular Investiture:
Provision of ecclesiastical offices by emperors, kings, and various feudal lords.
High Middle Ages (c. 1050-1300)
Gregory VII:
Pope who led the Gregorian Reform, based on the establishment of a society according to the Gospel.
Nicholas II:
One of the first reformer popes who convened the Ecumenical Council of Lateran in 1059.
Council of Lateran:
Council that established papal elections by the College of Cardinals, without external political intervention.
Roman Rite:
The liturgical rite of Rome, which spread throughout Latin Christendom.
Gregorian Chant:
The official liturgical chant of the Catholic Church that developed during the Middle Ages, characterized by monophony and free rhythm.
Monastic Secularization:
A process whereby Church property passed to state power, initiated by King Philip.
Cluny:
The monastery that initiated monastic reform in 910 AD.
Saint Bruno (910 AD):
Founder of the Carthusian Order in the 11th century.
The Carthusians:
Order based on the synthesis of solitude and monastic life.
Cistercian Order:
Order founded in the 12th century by Saint Robert in 1098, marking the peak of monastic reform.
Saint Bernard:
Leader of the Cistercian Order, who founded the monastery of Clairvaux.
Monastery of Clairvaux:
Monastery founded by Saint Bernard in 1115 AD.
Eastern Schism:
Separation of the Eastern Churches from the Catholic Church for doctrinal, disciplinary, and jurisdictional reasons, which was consummated in the 11th century.
Michael Cerularius:
Elected Patriarch of Constantinople in 1043, who, along with Pope Leo IX, played a key role in the East-West Schism.
Pilgrimage Routes:
Pathways used by the faithful to travel to religious sites as a means of sanctification or expiation of sins.
The Crusades:
Warrior pilgrimages carried out by Christians in the Middle Ages to conquer the Holy Land.
Pantocrator:
Representation of Jesus or God the Father as lord of the universe, often with a mystical halo symbolizing transcendence or divinity, and surrounded by the Tetramorph, representations of the four evangelists.
Tetramorph:
Iconographic representation of four elements, highly representative of Christian culture.
Alexander III:
12th-century pope who oversaw the culmination of monastic reform, maintaining Christianity at its peak.
Universities:
Institutions designed to create and disseminate science and high culture. The first universities were created during the medieval Christian period and spread throughout Europe in the 13th century.
Scholasticism:
Movement of Christian thought that developed in medieval monastic, episcopal, and palace schools, based on classical teachings.
The Liberal Arts:
Fundamental disciplines of classical education, conceived in the Middle Ages as a means to understand the Scriptures. They were divided into two groups: the trivium (the arts of language) and the quadrivium (the arts of science).
Thomas Aquinas:
Disciple of Saint Albert the Great, who brought his teacher’s Aristotelian philosophy to its peak.
The Mendicant Orders:
Religious institutions that relied on the practice of the evangelical counsels, dedicated their lives to preaching, and whose members lived solely on alms.
Saint Francis of Assisi:
Founder of the Order of Friars Minor, which would eventually become known as the Franciscans, who sought identification with Jesus Christ through total detachment from earthly goods.
Saint Dominic:
Founder of the mendicant Order of Preachers, approved by Pope Honorius III, whose purpose was to create a group of priests prepared to preach the true doctrine to the people.
Albigenses:
Followers of the Albigensian heresy, which did not recognize a visible Church and rejected spiritual and temporal authority. This heresy was condemned by the Fourth Lateran Council.
Dualists:
Followers of a doctrine that posits existence as an eternal struggle between good and evil, between matter and spirit. Of Eastern origin, it influenced Gnostic movements and the Albigensian heresy.
The Inquisition:
A universal institution in the medieval period that sought to combat heresies. It created two inquiries: the episcopal Inquisition in the 12th century and the Papal Inquisition in the 13th century.
Late Middle Ages (c. 1300-1500)
Guelphs:
Supporters of the pope in the clash between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, which emerged from the crisis of Christianity in the 14th century.
Ghibellines:
Supporters of the emperor in the clash between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, which emerged from the crisis of Christianity in the 14th century.
Western Schism:
Period in Catholic Church history in which several popes vied for papal authority.
Martin V:
Elected pope at the Council of Constance, convened in 1414, when two of three rival popes accepted his nomination.
Council of Constance:
Council convened in 1414, which elected Pope Martin V.