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Rise of western europew
1000-1700 European changes and continuities
1000-1700 European changes and continuities
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Western European people had endured a series of changes during the late medieval period. Changes can be categorized into two aspects: politically and socially. On politics, Popes were not as strong as they were due to conflicts between the state and the church. Socially, people began to live a religion- dominated life, and experienced active sexism towards women. These changes, either positive or negative, have become an undivided part of European History.
People faced the rise and the fall of the Catholic Church during the medieval time. The Popes used to hold the final authority for the church and over the state. Pope Gregory VII asserted the Pope had granted the divine power from God because Saint Peter was the first of getting this honor. Pope Gregory VII also suggested people and royals of a kingdom should all look upon Churches because they are the heads of the government. Their decision and opinion should not be questioned and must be followed. On the other hand, Gregory VII has also mentioned the kings and princes were “raised by pride, plunder, treachery, murder” (Perry, 227), which implied churches were the ultimate virtue and people should worship God. Pope Gregory VII had outlined the rules of the Pope in order to protect their rights, including Pope had the right to reform the church by proposing new laws and creating new bishoprics, princes (royals) should kiss the foot of the pope, and the pope had the power to depose emperors. These rules belittled the princes but raised the status of the Pope (1). Thus, Pope held the absolute authority over state. However, Churches had experienced several attempts from the nobles to challenge the authority due to Churches’ unlimited power over the state between 1000 and 1500C...
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...eople started living a religion-dominated life, and experienced active sexism towards women. These changes, both positive and negative, have become a significant part of European History.
Works Cited
1. Pope Gregory, VII. “The Second Letter to Bishop Herman of Metz and The Dictatus Papae.” Sources of Western Tradition Volume 1. By Marvin Perry. Boston: Wadsworth, 2006. 226-229. Print.
2. Aquinas, Thomas, Saint. “Summa Thelogia.” Sources of Western Tradition Volume 1. By Marvin Perry. Boston: Wadsworth, 2006. 239-241. Print.
3. Perry, Marvin. “On Love and Marriage.” Sources of Western Tradition Volume 1. Boston : Wadsworth, 2006. 259-261. Print.
4. Pisan, Christine de. “The City of Ladies.” Sources of Western Tradition Volume 1. By Marvin Perry. Boston: Wadsworth, 2006. 256-258. Print.
McKay, John. History of Western Society. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 291-396. Print.
Kings often struggled with the Church over power and land, both trying desperately to obtain them, both committing atrocities to hold onto them. Time and time again, the Popes of the postclassical period went to great extremes to secure the Church’s position in the world. Both the Crusades and the Inquisition are examples of this. D...
Also, the monarchs or Europe challenged the church and the pope’s power, since church was even more powerful than some of the European kingdoms and monarchies. European monarchies did not like that the church was wealthy and had influence upon people, so they got against the church and its pope.
Smith, Bonnie G. Changing Lives: Women in European History Since 1700. Lexington; D.C. Heath and Company, 1989. Print.
French, Katherine L., and Allyson M. Poska. Women and Gender in the Western past. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2007. Print.
...ook III)." CHURCH FATHERS: De Principiis, Book III (Origen). http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/04123.htm (accessed May 1, 2014). Read about 5p (It was online)
MacCulloch, Diarmaid. A History of Christianity: the First Three Thousand Years. London: Penguin, 2010. Print.
The relationship of “ordinary” medieval people and their churches - the local parish churches during the decline of papal prestige is an indication of the prestige as well as loyalty to the church. Unfortunately, due to the decline in prestige by means of the papacy moving from rome as well as the belief the church was under the influence of the french monarch, the public began to lose faith in the church as a whole and question its legitimacy. Not only did this derive from the listed reasons above, but also from the fact that at one point, there were two popes.This lead to confusion among Catholics due to the fact that two popes meant they had to obey one and ignore the other meanwhile the word of the pope is meant to be divine order, so it contradicted the legitimacy of what they were saying.
The ruler Otto controlled the church during his reign by making bishops and abbots royal princes and agents to him (425). The revival of the church however, began as the German empire weakened in the eleventh century (425). During this time, the Church declared its independence from the governments’ control by embracing a reform movement, The Cluny Reform Movement (425). The reform established at the Cluny monastary in France, aimed at “freeing the church from secular political influence and control” (425). The reformers were supported in their efforts by popular respect for the church as people admired clerics and monks (425). During this time, any man had the opportunity to become Pope; the Pope was supposed to be elected by the people and clergy of Rome (425). The church also promised a better life to peoples whose current was relatively harsh (425). The reformers condemned the state’s contemporary mixing of religions and secular institutions as well as the clergy’s subservience to royal authority (425). They taught that the Pope alone commanded the clergy and they demanded separa...
Kerr, Fergus. Thomas Aquinas: a very short introduction. Oxford University Press, USA, 2009. 19, 27, 29 102. Print
The Roman Catholic Church’s reputation in wealth and power furnished them with the ability to have a major impact over feudal society. Their wealth earned them great power and loyalty from the royals and citizens. Their power was used to restrict not only peasant folk but also nobles and the monarch in following the Catholic faith. This influenced everyone’s daily life and morals. The Church was similar to a government institution where it sustained its own laws and rights. This provided stability to the land as people have benevolent morals with the assistance of religion. Education from the Church has initiated structural learning which made a gradual end to the barbaric era (Dark Ages). The Church’s legacy gained them the medieval reputation from society and this has influenced the reputation of the Church today.
8 "Library : The Faith and Reason of Father George ... - Catholic Culture." 2009. 7 Dec. 2013
The Roman Catholic Church reached its peak around the thirteenth century but, was soon to decline to separate monarchies forming. One of the first major issues leading to this decline was the falling out of Pope Boniface and King Phillip IV. “Excommunicated by Boniface VIII in 1296, evidently reconciled in 1297 and at odds again for arresting the papal legate on a trumped-up charge in 1300, Philip was instrumental in engineering the election of Pope Clement V and keeping the curia out of Rome, thus beginning the Avignon Papacy” (historymedren.com) King Phillip had a desire to find new revenues, by creating a new tax. The Pope did not consent to this so it created the pathway for other conflict. Before the conflicts, the Pope usually controlled the Church and State, with the exception of the king or queen. As times progressed and empires grew bigger this started to take a turn starting with King Phillip IV and Pope Boniface. The King Phillip IV believed in Christianity to the fullest but, he believed that he was God’s chosen one thus giving him the right to create this tax. With the pope’s disapproval of the king’s decision, this sparked major conflict ending with bad results that soon led to the death of the pope. With the Pope dead this made it possible for the king to reign and take
St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province (New York: Benziger Bros., 1922).
European society drastically changed from the 14th through the 16th centuries. The Thirty Year’s War was drastically significant to reformation and it winded great majority of European Powers involved in constant warfare. In times like these, struggles were of course inevitable, thus igniting a rebellion of religious controversy that eventually led to political complications, clashes between dominating powers, along with the raised spike of conflict due to greed. Wars of religion and the clash of worldviews also ignited rapid social changes along with a just as rapid rapid population increase; these reformations convicted the changes in religion, economic conditions, and the overall disposition of the populace were the main substantial factors
Bainvel, Jean. The New Catholic Encyclopedia. New York City: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15006b.htm (accessed September 23, 2011).