Church Reform and the crusades  

Slide 1:

1. Period between 500 and 1000 is considered to be a dark age in Europe
2. Different groups, such as the vikings, were raiding many western European churches monasteries and destroyed many centers of learning
3. There were problems in the church, such as priests being nearly illiterate and barely able to read their prayers.
4. Some had questionable morals:
5. Some village priests married and had families (which is against church code)
6. Bishops sold position in the church, a practice called simony (sy-muh-nee)
7. Kings appointed church bishops. church reformers believed the church alone should appoint bishops

Slide 2: 

1. Pope Leo IX and Gregory VII will enforce church laws against simony and the marriage of priests
2. Church was reformed to resemble a kingdom with the pope as the head
3. Pop’s advisers were called the papal Curia. Curia acted as a court and developed canon law (law of the church)
4. Curia would judge cases based on these laws.

Slide 3: 

1. Church collected taxes in the form of tithes. Consumed 1/10th of your yearly income.
2. Church used some of this money to perform social services for the sick and poor.
3. Church also operated most hospitals in medieval Europe.

Slide 4:

1. During the medieval period most people worshipped in small churches near their homes
2. Larger churches and cathedrals were built in city areas.
3. Cathedrals were considered Cities of God and were decorated with all the riches christians could offer.
4. Churches were built in a romanesque style.
5. They had round arches and a heavy roof held by thick walls and pillars.
6. Thick walls have tiny windows that let in little light.

Slide 5: 

1. When the church gets more money from the expansion of towns and trade a new style takes hold.
2. Known as gothic. Term comes from a Germanic tribe known as the goths.
3. Instead of the heavy roofs and gloomy romanesque buildings the gothic cathedrals thrust upward as if reaching toward heaven.
4. Light streamed through huge stained glass windows.
5. Sculpture, wood carvings and stained glass windows were meant to inspire the worshipper with the magnificence of God.

Slide 6:

1.  In Paris, France the ceiling of Notre Dame rose higher than 100 ft
2. Structures would later beat that one later on
3. 500 gothic churches built in a 100 year period between 1170-1270 AD

Slide 7: 

1. During this period known as “the Age of Faith” by historians the Byzantine emperor Alexius Comnenus asked for help because his empire was being threatened by the Muslim turks.
2. wrote:

Come then, with all your people and give battle with all your strength, so that all this treasure shall not fall into the hands of the Turks...Therefore act while there is still time lest the kingdom of the Christians shall vanish from your sight and, what is more important, the Holy sepulchre shall vanish. And in your coming you will find your reward in heaven, and if you do not come, God will condemn you.

Slide 8: 

1. Pope Urban II will read the letter and call for what is known as a holy war. a Crusade to gain control of the Holy Land
2. The crusades had economic, social and political goals aside the religious motives.
3. Muslims controlled palestine (the holy land) and threatened Constantinople.
4. Pope wanted to reclaim possession of Palestine

slide 9:

1. Kings and the Church saw the Crusades as an opportunity to get rid of knights who were fighting one another. their fighting threatened peace and church property
2. Soldiers that made up the army in the crusaders were the younger sons of families who were not going to inherit land from their fathers.
3. They were looking for land and a position in society, or just adventure

Slide 10: 

1. Merchants profited by making cash loans to finance the journey or lending their ships for a hefty fee to transport armies over the Mediterranean Sea
2. Merchants were hoping to win control of key trade routes to india, southeast Asia and China from muslim traders.

Slide 11:

1. Pope’s call for the crusade was met with enthusiasm and support, especially since the pope promised those who died in the Crusade were assured a spot in heaven.
2. Soldiers wore red crosses sewn on tunics over their armor.

slide 12:

1. 1097 three armies of knights of all people and classes had gathered outside of Constantinople.
2. Most were French, but some were Germans, Englishmen, Scots, Italians, and Spaniards

Slide 13:

1. Crusaders were ill-prepared for war and knew nothing of the geography, climate, or culture of the Holy Land
2. Also did not have a plan to capture Jerusalem.
3. Nobles argued amongst themselves and could not agree on a leader

Slide 14:

1. When they did agree they took an army of 12,000 to Jerusalem. This was 1/4th the size of the original army.
2. Besieged the city for over a month. Captured it in 1099.

Slide 15:

1. All the Crusaders won was a narrow strip of land that stretches 650 miles from Edessa to Jerusalem.
2. Four Feudal Crusader states were created and ruled by a European Noble.

Slide 16: 

1. Edessa was reconquered by the Turks.
2. A second Crusade was organized to recapture the city, but it failed.
3. Jerusalem had fallen to a Kurdish warrior and Muslim leader Saladin

Slide 17: 

1. Third crusade to capture Jerusalem was led by Europe’s most powerful monarchs
2. Philip II (Augustus) of France
3. German Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) and
4. English king, Richard the Lion-Hearted.
5. Philip got in an argument with Richard and went home.
6. Barbarossa drowned during the journey

Slide 18:

1. Richard and Saladin engage in multiple battles, but both are brilliant and come to a stalemate.
2. Agree to a truce in 1192
3. Jerusalem remains under Muslim control, but unarmed Christian pilgrims could freely visit holy cities

Slide 19:

1. Fourth Crusade fails. Knights end up looting Constantinople instead.
2. Four more Crusades after this also fail.
3. They tried a different approach for two more Crusades and attack Egypt instead to try and weaken Muslim control. These fail too.

Slide 20:

1. Children’s Crusade takes place in 1212.
2. Two different movements where 30,000 children under the age of 18 set out to conquer Jerusalem led by Stephen of Cloyes
3. They were armed with the belief that God would give them Jerusalem.
4. Many die on the march south from cold and starvation. The rest drown or were sold into slavery.

Slide 21:

1.  In Germany, Nicholas of Cologne gathered 20,000 children and young adults who marched on Rome.
2. Thousands die in the cold crossing the alps.
3. They met the Pope, who told them to go home and wait until they’re older. 2000 survive the trip home to Germany.
4. Some would0 board ships to the Holy Land and would never be heard from again.

Slide 22: 

1. In Spain, Muslims, called Moors controlled the country until the 1100s.
2. The Reconquista was a long effort by the spanish to drive the Muslims out of Spain.
3. By 1400 the Muslims only held Granada, which fell to the Christian army under Ferdinand and isabella

Slide 23: 

1. To unify their country under christianity isabella and ferdinand make use of the inquisition, a court held by the Church to suppress heresy.
2. Heretics were people whose religious beliefs differed from the teachings of the church.
3. Many jews and muslims that converted to christianity were suspected of heresy.
4. If you’re suspected of this you may be questioned, possibly for weeks or even tortured.
5. If you confessed you were often burned at the stake.
6. 1492 monarchs expelled all practicing Jews and Muslims out of spain

Slide 24:

1. Crusades show the power of the church in the medieval period. Call to take the holy land made thousands take up arms.
2. European merchants expanded trade between Europe and Southeast Asia. they imported spices, fruits and cloth.

slide 25:

1. Failures of later crusades lessened the power of the pope and feudal nobility while increasing the power of kings.
2. Thousands of knights lost their lives and fortunes.
3. Fall of constantinople weakened the Byzantine empire.

Slide 26:

Intolerance and prejudice from christians in the holy land left a legacy of bitterness and hatred which continues to this day.