II. Catholic Church during the Crusades
153. The power of the Catholic Church in the XII-XIII centuries
In the XII and XIII centuries, i.e. in the eracrusades catholic church reached its greatest power. Papal power, raised to unprecedented heights in the middle of the 11th century. Gregory VII, remained at this height until the beginning of the 14th century. The independence of the national churches of the West was broken. The spiritual power of the popes spread to new countries along with the conquests of the Crusaders in Asia and the Balkan Peninsula. Many sovereigns at this time, through special acts, recognized their dependence on the papacy, which began to seriously dispose of the royal crowns, and in the fight against the empire in the middle of the 13th century. won a complete victory. The triumph of spiritual power over secular power was accompanied by expansion of the rights of the clergy in relation to other classes of society. Catholic clergy different countries, united under the authority of the pope, one possessed of education and strong in its material resources, was accustomed to distinguish itself from secular society And identify the church mainly with oneself. The laity were therefore deprived of all independence in church life. Folk languages were excluded from worship, and non-clergy were forbidden to read the Holy Scriptures. In the same way, the right to receive communion under both types (i.e., bread and wine), left to the clergy alone, was taken away from them, and communion began to be given to them only under the guise of oblates (i.e., consecrated bread). The church became at this time make a habit of giving away indulgences, that is, forgiveness of sins for the living and the dead for monetary donations or any services. Gregory VII also declared forgiveness of sins to all who would help him in the fight against Henry IV, and Urban II, proclaiming a crusade, also ordered to preach that participation in it would be rewarded with forgiveness of sins. A special theory was formed according to which the church was the manager of the great treasury of the merits of Christ and the saints who save people despite their sins. Not content with excommunicating individuals as a spiritual punishment, the Catholic Church began to resort to further interdicts, i.e. imposing on entire countries the cessation of all sacraments, with the exception of baptism. In the fight against rebellious sovereigns, it was a powerful weapon in the hands of the popes of the period under review. She became another instrument of spiritual power inquisition , engaged in the search and investigation of heresies and trial of heretics, who, if guilty, were executed by burning at the stake. Finally, popes declared crusades not only against Muslims, but also against heretics, and even against their political enemies.
154. Monastic orders
The main support of papal power was monasticism. Originated in the 6th century. Order of St. Benedict had many monks who, in the first half of the Middle Ages, worked a lot on draining swamps, clearing forests and various agricultural improvements on lands given to monasteries by pious laymen. As the wealth of the monasteries increased, monastic morals fell into decline. The Cluny reform, however, brought monasticism out of this sad situation, and many monasteries returned to their former severity of ascetic life. In the 12th century. The Abbot of Clairvaux became especially famous for the strict fulfillment of monastic vows and his enormous influence on the improvement of monastic morals Saint Bernard, who is also known as an eloquent preacher of the second crusade. In the 13th century there arose two new monastic orders - Franciscans and Dominicans, called mendicant orders.
Benedictines, from which both the Clunians and Saint Bernard came, gave a meal of non-covetousness only in the sense of renouncing personal property, but their monasteries themselves were very rich. Mendicant monks renounced all property and lived on alms. The founder of one of these orders was an Italian saint , in whose name the order itself began to be called Franciscan. Francis, distinguished in his youth by his cheerful character and luxurious life, was a true embodiment of the ascetic ideal of the Middle Ages, but in addition to his deeds of piety, he became famous for his deeds of mercy, which he was ready to pour out on every living creature. He provided all kinds of help, whatever was in his power and means, to all the unfortunate, especially the sick and poor. When many supporters of such service to God and neighbors gathered around Francis, Pope InnocentIII (1198 - 1216) allowed him to found a new monastic order in 1209 minorities, i.e. lesser brethren(fratres minores), as the Franciscans were otherwise called. The main responsibility of minorities. began to teach the people, preaching faith and morality to them, and to alleviate the suffering of the poor, sick, etc. The Franciscans were real representatives of the idea renunciation of the world and despised secular science.
Lifetime image of Francis of Assisi. XIII century
On the contrary, another order of mendicant monks, the Dominicans, became famous for their learning and represented rather another idea of medieval Catholicism, the idea power over the world. This order was founded by a contemporary of Francis, a Spaniard Saint Dominic. He was a learned monk who lived at one time in the south of France, where in the 12th and early 13th centuries. Bela is common so-called Albigensian heresy. To combat it and heresies in general, Dominic decided to found a special order. preaching brothers(fratres praedicatores), for which he soon received papal consent (1220). Having adopted the Minorite Rule, the Dominicans set themselves the task of maintaining the purity of Catholic doctrine, becoming teachers in lower and higher schools for this purpose and taking the Inquisition under their jurisdiction.
Saint Dominic. 14th century fresco in the Basilica of St. Dominic, Bologna
Through their voluntary poverty, their close participation in all those who work and are burdened, as well as through their learning, the mendicant monks acquired great influence on the people and their liberation from the authority of local bishops made them direct instruments of papal power, to which their superiors (generals) living in Rome were subordinated without any intermediate authorities.
155. Church science
The dominant position of the clergy in society was also facilitated by the fact that it one mastered the mental tools of education and learning. Some revival of education occurred in the West under Charlemagne, but schools of that era existed only under episcopal churches ( cathedrals) and in monasteries. During the era of the Crusades, higher schools arose, called universities. In Italy, the universities of Salerno and Bologna became famous, in one of which medicine was studied, and in the other jurisprudence, but the most famous became University of Paris, where the teaching of philosophy and theology flourished. It was founded, or rather transformed from an earlier school, at the beginning of the 13th century. Students from all Western European countries flocked here, and universities began to be established in other places, following the model of the University of Paris, as the common mother-nurse (alma mater) of higher schools. King Philip II Augustus freed the entire Parisian community (universitas) of teachers and students from the jurisdiction of the local prevot (administrative and judicial officer of the king), and the pope Innocent III - from submission to the cathedral chapter(college of so-called canons at the cathedral church). Medieval universities were approved by the popes, and professorships were held by clergy. Theology was considered the main subject, and philosophy was looked upon as to the handmaiden of theology(philosophia est ancilla theologiae). The task of the then school philosophy or scholastics, as it was called, it was to confirm church teachings from reason. In the middle of the 13th century. one of the representatives of this philosophy, Dominican Saint Thomas Aquinas, in his work “Summa theologiae” he developed in detail and presented in a systematic manner the then teaching of the Catholic Church on issues of faith and morals, law and public life. Thomas was nicknamed the angelic teacher (doctor angelicus), and his “Summa” still enjoys enormous authority among the Catholic clergy.
156. The fight of the Catholic Church against heresies
At this time of the greatest prosperity of Catholicism, he had, however, fight heresies, arose in the depths of the church. Among the scholastics themselves there were people who reached theological and philosophical positions with which the church could not agree and which they therefore subjected to persecution. But they created especially a lot of trouble for the pope and the clergy religious sects that found followers among the masses. At the turn of the XII and XIII centuries. the entire south of France was engulfed in two heresies - Albigensian And Waldensian The first heresy was of Eastern origin. It was Manichaeism, revived in Bulgaria in the form Bogomilism and from there it passed through Illyria and Italy into southern France. The heresy received the name Albigensian from the city of Albi, but the sectarians themselves called themselves Cathars, i.e. pure or perfect. They believed in the existence of two world principles - good and evil, saw the revelation of the devil in the Old Testament and preached asceticism, recognizing life by the flesh and worldly interests as tantamount to serving the devil. Next to this sect in the south of France another, purely Christian, developed. reminiscent of modern Protestantism.Waldenses They found that the Catholic Church had departed from the purity of the original Christian community, and they wanted to reform the faith and church life, guided by St. writing. The heretics made a great impression on the people with their strict life and denunciation of the greed and vices of the clergy.
Pope Innocent III entered into a fight with the southern French heretics. Against them and the Count of Toulouse who supported them a crusade was declared with absolution for participation in the suppression of heresy. The knighthood of northern France rushed to southern France and began to ruin it. The papal legate demanded from them, when taking one city, that they kill everyone indiscriminately, because “God will then recognize his own.” At the same time, to combat heresies, the Dominican Order was founded and the Inquisition was introduced, which came under the authority of this order. The torture of those suspected of heresy, the burning of convicts at the stake, and the confiscation of their property began. Actually, church courts only sentenced to execution “without shedding of blood.” », execution was carried out by secular authorities. The scholastics tried and theoretically justify the execution of heretics, even referring to one incorrectly translated text of the Gospel (in the parable of the king who invited guests to a feast and, when they did not come, sent to call the poor; in Latin translation it was said: « make me come in"). Despite persecutions and executions, heresies, however, did not stop. In the 13th century, for example, it was in use sermon Eternal Gospel , which stated that Old Testament was the revelation of God the Father, the New - of God the Son, and that the time of revelation of the Holy Spirit is coming, when the whole life of mankind will be based on new principles. It is remarkable that this teaching captivated many Franciscans, who were ready to see in the founder of their order the forerunner of the future kingdom of the Holy Spirit.
Question 1. What ideas about the structure of society, about exemplary behavior, about poverty and wealth did the church affirm? Did the church itself follow these statements?
Answer. According to the teaching of the church at that time, it was fair to divide society into those who pray, those who fight and, finally, those who work. Following the commandments of the New Testament was considered exemplary behavior. In particular, those who renounced earthly goods were considered saints. As an example to people, they set, for example, hermits who went into the desert and lived there alone for years, eating poorly and constantly praying to the Lord. But the church itself did not strive for poverty. She concentrated significant wealth in her hands, sometimes the most significant in the country.
Question 2. What happened main reason division of churches?
Answer. The reason was a dispute about who should be in charge in the Christian world: the Pope or the Patriarch of Constantinople. And they found many reasons, mainly discrepancies in rituals, accusations from Catholics that the Orthodox patriarch forces priests not to shave their beards, etc.
Question 3. Give facts that indicate that under Innocent III the power of the pope reached its greatest power.
Answer. Facts about Innocent III:
1) expanded the boundaries of the Papal States to the greatest extent in its history;
2) in the confrontation with the King of England John the Landless, he won a complete victory and forced the king to accept all his conditions;
3) organized the first crusade in history on the territory of Western Europe - in Languedoc (today the southern part of France);
4) not only organized the IV Crusade, but was also the first pope to organize the collection of money for the needs of the campaign;
5) organized the Lateran IV Ecumenical Council, which made many important decisions;
6) his vassals were England, Poland and some states on the Iberian Peninsula.
Question 4. What did the heretics preach?
Answer. There were many heretical teachings, they preached different things. But there was often criticism of the pomp of the church’s rites, their high cost, the wealth of the church and the power of the Pope. Also, many (and not only among heretics, but also in the church itself) argued that a person who sins cannot be a priest.
Question 5. How did the Catholic Church fight heretics?
Answer. Heretics were fought harshly. Those who repented were imprisoned and forced to make long and dangerous journeys to holy places. Those who did not repent were excommunicated from the church. The Pope could excommunicate an entire region, or country. It was a tool political struggle. Then usually the vassals rebelled against the lord of that area or the king of that country. A individuals excommunicated for heresy fell into the hands of secular authorities who sentenced them to be burned at the stake.
Question 6. What are mendicant orders?
Answer. Some people renounced earthly goods in order to live according to the commandments of Christ. They united into monastic orders in order to live by the same rules and have their own organization. Members of such orders took vows (that is, made oaths) usual for monks, but their rules of life differed from ordinary monastic ones.
Question 7. Which of the monastic orders especially helped the Pope in the fight against heresies? What did this mean?
Answer. The Dominican Order helped the Pope. The monks of this particular order carried out investigations of the papal inquisition (besides it, there were other types of inquisition, where the investigation was carried out by other people). But at the same time they tried to protect from heresies and sermons.
Question 8. Draw a diagram of the “Sources of Wealth of the Church.”
Answer. Sources of Church Wealth:
1) tithe from all believers;
2) payment for all church ceremonies;
3) sale of indulgences;
4) gifts from kings and feudal lords (in the form of large sums of money and land with peasants).
In the 4th century AD e. Emperor Constantine turned the persecuted Christian religion into an official one, accepted everywhere in the vast expanses of the Roman Empire. After this, the persecuted and oppressed supporters of Christianity themselves began to reject and persecute their enemies, attributing to them unorthodox, non-generally accepted beliefs. At the same time, the Roman bishops developed a system of views and concepts, which later became the basis of Catholicism. Everything that did not fall under this system began to be despised, and later cruelly persecuted. People who disagreed with generally accepted religious views were called heretics, and the teachings themselves began to be called heresies.
Social causes of heresies
The emergence of heresies in Christianity is usually associated with the social and ideological changes that arose in the lives of Christians during the period of persecution. The poorest segments of the population sought reconciliation and equality in the new religion. Therefore, the gradual process of enriching the clergy, strengthening the administrative principle, and apostasy during the period of persecution could not but cause condemnation from ordinary believers. The ideals of a modest and simple early Christian life continued to live in the poorest segments of the population. The contradictory moods of the masses, varied interpretations of Christian teaching and general dissatisfaction with the well-fed life of the higher clergy gave impetus to the emergence and spread of ideas preached by heretics, with whom the Catholic Church waged a long and bloody struggle.
Council of Nicaea
In 313, he issued the Act of Tolerance, according to which all citizens were granted freedom of religion. This document, later called the Edict of Milan, essentially designated Christianity as a full-fledged religion. After this, in 325, it took place in Nicaea, where the word “heresy” was used for the first time. The first heretic was Bishop Arius, who until then was considered one of the pillars of Christianity. Arius preached the creation, the secondary nature of Jesus Christ in comparison with God. Orthodox was the equality between God and Jesus Christ, which later formed the basis of the dogma of the Trinity. Arius and his followers, called Arians, became the first bearers of the ideas that the heretics preached.
Centuries without heretics
In 384, Priscillian was executed, the last of those officially condemned for his faith in the Roman Empire. But the political vision and methods of strengthening power left as a legacy by this powerful state were accepted and actively applied by the Catholic Church. For centuries, Catholicism did not pay attention to the discrepancies in the New Testament, but actively converted European peoples to Christianity. And only after the establishment of the Carolingian empire - that is, with the strengthening of secular power, at the turn of the millennium, Catholicism became a generally accepted religion, and the word “heresy” reappeared in the chronicles and annals of that time.
Causes
Monks who lived at the beginning of the second millennium often described the healing abilities of holy relics and various miracles happening to believers. In these same records there is also an extremely disapproving mention of those who treated holy relics with ridicule; perhaps the first heretics were those people who did not recognize “holy miracles.” These ridicule resulted in protests that took place in the name of the Gospel - the Gospel of meekness, justice, poverty and humility, the Gospel of the first Christians and the apostles. The views that the heretics preached were based on evangelical concepts, which, in their opinion, reflected the very essence of Christianity.
The beginning of the persecution
According to medieval annals and chronicles, those who were called heretics denied the authority of the Councils, refused to baptize children, and did not recognize the sacraments of marriage and confession. The first example of how the church fought against heretics that reached historians dates back to 1022. The sentences of the dissidents burned in Orleans conveyed to posterity the essence of what the heretics preached. These people did not recognize the sacrament of communion, baptism was performed with one laying on of hands, and they denied the cult of the Crucifixion. It cannot be assumed that heretics came from low strata of the population. On the contrary, the first victims of the fires were educated confessors of that time, using theology to justify their dissent.
The execution in Orleans opened the way to the most severe repressions. The fight against heretics lit fires in Aquitaine and Toulouse. Entire communities of other faiths were brought to the bishops, who appeared before church courts with the Bible in their hands, proving and explaining with quotes from Holy Scripture the correctness of what the heretics preached. How it fought against heretics is clear from the verdicts of church judges. The condemned were sent to the stake in their entirety, which spared neither children nor the elderly. Bonfires in Europe are a vivid example of how the church fought against heretics.
In the 12th century, fires began to burn in the Rhineland. There were so many heretics that the monk Everwin de Steinfeld requested help from the Cistercian monk Bernard, who had a reputation for consistent and cruel persecution of infidels. After large-scale pogroms and raids, fires burned in Cologne. Judicial investigations and sentences of dissidents were no longer a set of unfounded accusations of witchcraft and debauchery, but contained clear points of disagreement between heretics and orthodox church concepts. The convicted and sentenced “apostles of Satan” accepted their death so steadfastly that they caused concern and murmur of the crowd present at the burning.
Pockets of heresy
Despite the fierce repression of the church, pockets of heresy arose throughout Europe. The popular concept of dualism, as the struggle between good and evil, found a second wind in heretical movements. The principle of dualism was that the world was created not by God, but by the rebel angel Lucifer, which is why there is so much evil, hunger, death and disease in it. At the end of the 12th century, dualism was considered one of the most serious heresies. The concept of the battle between good and evil, angel and dragon, was widespread in the world, but the church began to fight this idea much later. This was explained by the fact that in the 12th century, royal and church power strengthened in Europe, life became relatively stabilized, and the principle of dualism - struggle - became unnecessary and even dangerous. The power and might of God, and therefore the Church, is what the heretics opposed, and what was dangerous for the strengthening of Catholicism.
Spread of heresies
In the 12th century, the lands of Southern Europe were considered the main centers of heresies. Communities were built in the image and likeness of Catholic churches, but, unlike the orthodox clergy, women were also given a place in the management of the church. Heretics in the Middle Ages were called “good men” and “good women.” Later historians began to call them Cathars. This name comes from the Middle Ages, the word cattier is translated as a sorcerer who worships a cat.
It is known that the Cathars had their own church institutions, held their own councils, and attracted more and more adherents to their ranks. If France and Germany destroyed dissent in the bud, then in Italy and Languedoc the Cathars expanded and strengthened their influence. Many noble families of that time accepted new faith and gave food and shelter to persecuted fellow believers and spread the teachings that the heretics preached.
How the Catholic Church fought heretics
At the beginning of the 13th century. ascended the papal throne whose goal was to unite the entire European world and return the southern European lands to the monastery of the church. After a series of failures, the Catholic Church, having assumed full powers to eradicate heresies and entered into an alliance with the king of France, led a crusade against dissidents. Twenty years of incessant wars, mass burnings of people led to the complete capture of Languedoc and the planting catholic faith. But there remained entire families and communities of people who secretly preserved the customs of their ancestors and resisted the conquerors. It was with the goal of identifying and eradicating the rebellious that the Inquisition was created.
Inquisition
In 1233, the papacy created a special body that had the power to impose penance and punish the disobedient. The power of the Inquisition was transferred to the Dominicans and Franciscans, who carried Southern lands new sermon based on the dogmas of the Catholic Church. Instead of open armed terror, the Inquisition used denunciations and slander as a tool to identify and destroy the disobedient. Compared to mass executions In the past, the Inquisition killed a few, but it was all the more terrible to be in its hands. Simple repentants could get away with public repentance; for those who defended their right to faith, the sentence was the fire. Even the dead were not spared - their remains were exhumed and burned.
Thus, the Catholic Church and the heretics fought an unequal battle for the same faith, for the same God. The entire history of the formation of Catholicism is illuminated by the fires of those who died for their faith. The extermination of heretics served as further proof of how one powerful Church, in the name of Christ, destroyed another, weaker Church.
Answers:
Answer. Heretics were fought harshly. Those who repented were imprisoned and forced to make long and dangerous journeys to holy places. Those who did not repent were excommunicated from the church. The Pope could excommunicate an entire region, or country. It was a tool of political struggle. Then usually the vassals rebelled against the lord of that area or the king of that country. And individual people, excommunicated from the church for heresy, fell into the hands of secular authorities, who sentenced them to be burned at the stake.
Those suspected of heresy or disobedience to church authorities were excommunicated. For a believer, this was a terrible punishment. His soul was doomed to destruction and found itself in the power of the devil. Sometimes entire countries were subject to punishment: here, by order of the pope, worship was stopped, it was forbidden to baptize children, marry newlyweds, perform funeral services and bury the dead. The Church could also release from the oath of allegiance the vassals of a lord who opposed the faith or the Church.
Innocent III organized a crusade against the Albigenses, a heretical movement in France. With the help of chivalry this heresy was destroyed. Heretics were burned at the stake, killed and persecuted. To combat heresies, the papal throne created the Inquisition. Throughout Western Europe Inquisition courts were organized. They used secret investigations, informers, and torture to identify heretics. The ultimate punishment for heretics was burning at the stake. The Dominican Order was created to combat heresies. He was entrusted with leading the Inquisition.
A heretic is a supporter of a teaching declared heresy. Heresy is a teaching rejected by the church and declared false and harmful to faith. They organized crusades against heretics and put them on trial by the Inquisition.
The most famous and bloody “achievement” of the Catholic Church on the religious front is the defeat of the Cathars or Albigensians (after the name of the town of Albi in France). They were a much more serious threat to the Church than the Waldenses and other sects. They were generally its most dangerous enemy until the emergence of Protestantism and the 30 Years' War. Firstly, they openly opposed themselves to the Church; the differences between their doctrine and the Catholic one were too great. Secondly, the teaching of the Albigenses received medieval Europe huge distribution. They created their own shadow hierarchy with parishes, priests and bishops. The practical struggle developed when the papacy gained serious political influence in Europe. Important events in this sense became the Third (1179) and Fourth (1215) Lateran Councils. The Council of 1179 ordered secular rulers to fight heretical sects. The first in line were the Waldenses and Cathars. The council of 1215 sadly sanctioned the famous Inquisition and officially established the orders of the Dominicans and Franciscans to combat heresies.
In the province of Languedoc in southwestern France it became the predominant faith in the early 13th century. Many noble people sympathized with the Albigensians, for example, the powerful nobleman Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse.
The doctrinal differences between Christianity and the teachings of the Albigensians were so great that many researchers do not consider the Albigensians to be a Christian sect at all. This is due to the fact that their dark beliefs, according to a number of scientists, have much in common with the ancient Persian religion - Manichaeism. For example, the most radical of the Albigensian communities believed that there were two equal principles of the world: good and evil, and the outcome of their struggle was by no means predetermined. And, as you know, no Christians would ever recognize the devil as equal to God.
The papacy's unsuccessful attempts to return the Albigensians to the fold of the church through the preaching of missionaries and political pressure on unreliable feudal lords lasted more than half a century. In the 13th century, Pope Innocent III continued the glorious tradition. He excommunicated Raymond VI (he was the main figure of the Albigensian resistance) several times in order to force him to defect to the side of the papacy. The Count of Toulouse repented several times and promised to improve, but, having received forgiveness, he betrayed the pope. Innocent III's patience finally ran out, and in 1209 he declared a crusade against the Albigenses. Large-scale hostilities began, devastating the beautiful and rich province of Languedoc. The reprisal against the Albigenses sect resulted in a war that lasted 20 years and claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. Papal troops sometimes showed unimaginable cruelty, slaughtering everyone in the captured city, regardless of gender, age, and even religion, based on the formula: “Kill everyone, the Lord in heaven will recognize his own.”
