The Age of Innocent III 2000 Years of Christ’s Power: Volume 2: The : Ch.8 contents 1. The papacy in Italy and Europe 2. Internal Church affairs 3. The Church, its adversaries and the inquisition 1. The 2. The Cathars 3. The Albigensian Crusade 4. The Petrobrusians 5. Joachiam of Fiore (1135-1202) 6. The inquisition 7. The Eastern Orthodox Church 4. New religious movements within the Church 1. The Franciscans 2. The Dominicans 3. The Carmelites and Augustinians 4. The Beguines and Beghards 5. Missionary Expansion Extracts Further reading 1. The Papacy in Italy and Europe p.325-330

 Lothario Conti, born 1160, became Pope 1198

 ‘vicar of Christ,’ ‘vicar of God,’ ‘universal vicar’  The Pope’s ‘plenitude of power’

 Political opportunist and bully

 Germany – c.1214 Frederick v Otto

 England – c.1213 King John v Archbishop Langton

 France – c.1200 King Philip and Ingeborg

 Died 1216 2.Internal Church Affairs p.330-32

 Ecclesiastical reforms

 Papal legate system expanded

 Authority to appoint disputed Bishoprics

 General income tax on all Catholic clergy

 1215 Fourth Lateran Council

 412 Bishops, 800 Abbots & Priors etc., etc. present

 Transubstantiation officially defined

 Condemned teaching of the Waldensians and Cathars

 Anti-Judaism (over money-lending) 3. The Church, its adversaries and the Inquisition p.332-34

 1150 on – religious dissent and increased

 Social and economic change in Europe led to a loss of security and belonging The Waldensians

 d.1205 - Valdes (Peter) – rich young ruler  ‘The poor men of Lyons’  Preached without approval of the Bishop – excommunicated & expelled

 Rejected many RC teachings

 Many martyred

 ‘Protestants before the Reformation’ in some ways

 Became a significant, influential movement Waldensian regions 3. The Church, its adversaries and the Inquisition p.335-36

The Cathars

 Gr. = ‘pure ones’ – a Gnostic movement - Patarenes / Albigensians  1140 – began – strong in northern Italy ()  1200 – had become a powerful force in southern France

 Political support

 Teachings -

 Gnostic = early Church Gnostics, Bogomils

 2 classes: ‘believers’ and ‘the perfect’

 Catholic Church = prostitute of Rev.17

 Papacy = the Antichrist Cathar- from N Italy 3. The Church, its adversaries and the Inquisition p.336-37

The Albigensian Crusade

 1208 Innocent’s legate in Southern France murdered  1209-29 – Innocent used northern France nobility to crush southern France Albigensians and Waldensians

 Crusaders caused horrific and savage destruction

 Albigensians wiped out

 Languedoc and surrounding regions desolated

 Waldesnians restricted to Alpine valleys Languedoc, (Occitane) France 3. The Church, its adversaries and the Inquisition p.337-38

The Petrobrusians

 1105 founder: Peter de Bruys (southern France) – reform movement

 1126 burned at the stake (replaced by Henry of Lausanne)

 Teaching:

 Denied infant

 Denied holiness of church buildings and altars

 Refused to venerate the sign of the cross

 Denied transubstantiation and sacrifice of the mass

 Denied prayers and works for the dead

 Opposed clerical celibacy

 Rejected singing as a true act of worship 3. The Church, its adversaries and the Inquisition p.338-39

Joachim of Fiore (1135-1202)

 1192 founded monastery at Fiore (N Italy) - became new Order of St John

 Writings: The Everlasting – world history viewed in 3 parts

 OT – age of the Father – under law – characterized by fear

 NT – age of the Son – under grace – characterized by faith

 New age – age of the Holy Spirit – ‘golden age’ - characterized by love (begin 1260)

 Spiritual Franciscans saw themselves as the monastic Order predicted by Joachim to purge the Papacy of corruption

 Significant influence on Reformers and Puritans – cf. postmillennial view of history Joachim of Fiore monastery at San Giovanni 3. The Church, its adversaries and the Inquisition p.339-40

The Inquisition

 1227 Inquisition = ‘holy office’

 An organization within the RC Church accountable only to the Pope

 Aim: to uncover and punish heretics in catholic Europe

 Became the most feared organization of later Middle Ages Europe

 Effect on dissenting voices

 Church used the state – the ‘civil sword’ - to punish physically those judged spiritually by the ‘spiritual sword’

did not approve the use of force against heretics 3. The Church, its adversaries and the Inquisition p.341-42

The Eastern Orthodox Church

 1204 Fourth Crusade captured Constantinople

 Set up a Western Catholic Patriarch

 Byzantine population forced to follow Western Church practise

 1261 End of Western control of Constantinople

 Widened gulf between East-West Churches

4. New Religious Movements within the Church p.342-46

The Franciscans  1182-1226 Francis of Assisi (N Italy)  1209 called to be a preacher through Matthew 10:7-10  Emphasised childlike simplicity of faith  Wrote a rule for his followers – who married ‘Lady Poverty’ – called mendicants  1210 Papal support - became large monastic movement – ‘Grey Friars’  Struggled to maintain simplicity and ideals – liberty of conscience  Mission to Muslims  Stigmata  1270-1349 Nicholas of Lyra ‘the most brilliant Bible scholar the Western medieval Church ever produced’ p345  Literal, grammatico-historical interpretation of Scripture  ‘If Lyra had not played his lyre, Luther would never have danced.’p345  Conventual v spiritual/observant Franciscans 4. New Religious Movements within the Church p.346-48

The Dominicans

 1171 1221 Dominic Guzman (N Spain)

 1214 gathered followers and trained them to preach (as mendicants) to outperform the lives and preaching of dissenters

 1217 Papal support – ‘the Order of Friars Preachers’ – ‘Black Friars’

 Evangelism and teaching theology (scholastic)

 Focus on scholarship

 Thomas Aquinas

 Rivalry with Franciscans 4. New Religious Movements within the Church p.348-49

The Carmelites and Augustinians

 1247 Carmelites

 first established 1154 on Mt Carmel

 Mendicants

 ‘White Friars’

 1256 Augustinians

 Originally hermits

 Became mendicant order like Dominicans

 Martin Luther

 Mendicant Friar v traditional monk - differences

4. New Religious Movements within the Church p.349-50

The Beguines and Beghards

 Beguines

 Lambert de Begue d.1177 – founded hospital and house for women

 Spiritual communities of female laypeople in Netherlands, Germany, France

 Partly mendicant, no monastic rule, vow of celibacy, or obedience to superior

 Beghards

 Dutch for ‘beggars’

 All-male counterpart of Beguines

 Suspected of heresy and dissent

 Famous Beguine: Mechthild of Magdeburg 1212-80

 Spiritual poetry influenced Dante (1265-1321) and his The Divine Comedy 5. Missionary Expansion p.350-54

Missionary Peoples Evangelised

Raymond of Penafort Muslims in Spain

William of Tripoli Muslims in Palestine

Conrad of Ascoli Muslims in Lybia John of Plano Carpini & William of Pagan Mongols Ruysbroeck John of Monte Corvino Pagan Mongols (Peking)

 Missionary contraction:

 Chinese Ming dynasty (1369-)

 Mongol leader Tamarlane (1360-1405)

 Black Death plague (1347-c.1400) John of Mont Corvino sent in response Black Death Plague p.354 Extracts p.355-363

 Letter 1 (1198), Innocent III: on Church and State

 Letter to King John of England (1214), Innocent III: receives England

 The Everlasting Gospel, Joachim of Fiore: the end of this present age and dawn of the new

 Canticle of the Sun, Francis of Assisi: Glory to God for nature

 Later Rule of 1223: The Franciscan Rule

 The Mirror of Perfection, ch.95,99, Leo of Assisi: spiritual joy, temptation

 Third Letter to Agnes of Prague, Clare of Assisi: Christ-bearers

 Mechthild of Magdeburg: Christian Behaviour Further reading

1. Austin, Bill, Austin’s Topical History of Christianity, p.190-95

2. Ferguson, Sinclair B., Beeke, Joel R., Haykin, Michael A.G., Church History 101: The Highlights of Twenty Centuries: ‘Ninth Century: Struggle for Power in the Church; Ratramnus and Gottschalk;’ ‘Thirteenth Century: Francis of Assisi and Thomas Aquinas,’ Kindle p.447-482 3. Miller, Andrew, Miller’s Church History: From the First to the Twentieth Century, p422-508.

4. Renwick, A.M., Harman, A. M., The Story of the Church, p.93-94

5. Shelley, Bruce L., Church History in Plain Language 4th Ed., ch.21: ‘A Song to Lady Poverty.’

6. Walker, Williston, A History of the Christian Church 4th Ed., p359-372.