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ChurchChurch HistoryHistory ChurchChurch HistoryHistory

IntroductionIntroduction toto ChurchChurch HistoryHistory st rd TheThe AncientAncient ChurchChurch AD 11st-3-3rd centuriescenturies th th TheThe RiseRise ofof ChristendomChristendom AD 44th-5-5th centuriescenturies th th TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges AD 66th-10-10th centuriescenturies The “Dark Ages” Overview Flagrant Abuses of Authority: Zeno, Theodoric, and Clovis Auctoritas Sacrata Pontificum: Gelasius The Rise of the Monk: Benedict, Brendan, and Dennis The Politics of Death: Justinian and Columba Kingdoms of God Streamlining the Church European Empires: The Carolingians European Empires: The Northmen Centuries of In-Fighting (part 2) TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges EvenEven thethe ChurchChurch waswas miredmired inin in-fightingin-fighting 903903 NewNew PopePope LeoLeo VV camecame toto powerpower ConsideredConsidered corrupt,corrupt, hehe gavegave specialspecial privilegesprivileges toto Church-friendlyChurch-friendly leadersleaders (such(such asas thatthat theythey nono longerlonger shouldshould havehave toto paypay taxes,taxes, etc.)etc.) WithinWithin twotwo months,months, aa cardinalcardinal priestpriest NOTE: That's a “hinge” (i.e.; “crucially important”) priest within the Catholic hierarchy: Laypeople Deacon (ordained) Priest Pastor (“Parish Priest”) Monsignor (“My Lord...”) Vicar / Archpriest Bishop Archbishop Cardinal Deacon Cardinal Priest Cardinal Bishop Pope TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges EvenEven thethe ChurchChurch waswas miredmired inin in-fightingin-fighting 903903 NewNew PopePope LeoLeo VV camecame toto powerpower ConsideredConsidered corrupt,corrupt, hehe gavegave specialspecial privilegesprivileges toto Church-friendlyChurch-friendly leadersleaders (such(such asas thatthat theythey nono longerlonger shouldshould havehave toto paypay taxes,taxes, etc.)etc.) WithinWithin twotwo months,months, aa cardinalcardinal priestpriest inin RomeRome namednamed ChristopherChristopher forciblyforcibly deposeddeposed himhim andand hadhad himhim thrownthrown intointo prison,prison, declaringdeclaring himselfhimself toto bebe thethe realreal popepope The Catholic Church now considers Christopher to actually be an “antipope” TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges EvenEven thethe ChurchChurch waswas miredmired inin in-fightingin-fighting 903903 NewNew PopePope LeoLeo VV camecame toto powerpower 904904 NewNew PopePope SergiusSergius IIIIII camecame toto powerpower byby murderingmurdering bothboth LeoLeo andand ChristopherChristopher toto solidifysolidify hishis powerpower basebase HeHe alsoalso re-exhumedre-exhumed Formosus'Formosus' corpsecorpse andand re-re- affirmedaffirmed thethe condemnationcondemnation ofof thethe formerformer PopePope byby thethe CadaverCadaver SynodSynod ofof 897897 HeHe alsoalso hadhad severalseveral affairs,affairs, includingincluding oneone thatthat producedproduced aa sonson whowho wouldwould laterlater becomebecome knownknown asas PopePope JohnJohn XIXI HeHe waswas alsoalso thethe firstfirst PopePope toto wearwear thethe officialofficial “Papal“Papal tiara”tiara” ((AKA crown)crown) apingaping secularsecular kingskings withwith hishis coronationcoronation As we said last week, this period of the Papacy has come to be known by historians as the Saeculum Obscurum—the “Dark Age” TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges InIn otherother worldworld news...news... 909909 InIn NorthNorth Africa,Africa, thethe MahdiMahdi roserose toto powerpower ImamImam AbuAbu MuhammadMuhammad AbdullahAbdullah al-Mahdial-Mahdi BillahBillah oror “guided“guided one”)one”) ledled aa ,,مهدي—”AKA “the“the Mahdi”—Mahdi)) ي revoltrevolt againstagainst thethe rulingruling AbbasidAbbasid dynastydynasty andand ,,الفاطميون)) establishedestablished thethe FatimidFatimid CaliphateCaliphate sincesince thethe MahdiMahdi claimedclaimed thethe rightright toto rulerule byby beingbeing descendeddescended fromfrom Muhammad'sMuhammad's daughter,daughter, Fatimah)Fatimah) TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges FunkyFunky littlelittle teachingteaching moment—moment— TheThe title,title, “Mahdi,”“Mahdi,” isis roughlyroughly equivalentequivalent inin IslamIslam toto thethe termterm “Messiah”“Messiah” inin JudaismJudaism (or(or “Christ”“Christ” inin Christianity),Christianity), andand signifiessignifies aa greatgreat leaderleader whowho isis toto comecome inin thethe futurefuture toto conquerconquer thethe EarthEarth onceonce andand forfor allall In fact, in the Ḥadīth known as the Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, verse 41:7023, Jesus is said to be coming back with the Mahdi to help him destroy the false Messiahs and unite mankind under the banner of Islam In the Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 3:43:656, teacher Abu Hurairah said, Allah's Apostle [Muhammad] said, “The Hour will not be established until the son of Maryam [Jesus] descends amongst you as a just ruler; he will break the cross, kill the swine, and abolish the Jizya tax. Wealth will be in abundance so that nobody will accept it.” TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges FunkyFunky littlelittle teachingteaching moment—moment— TheThe title,title, “Mahdi,”“Mahdi,” isis roughlyroughly equivalentequivalent inin IslamIslam toto thethe termterm “Messiah”“Messiah” inin JudaismJudaism (or(or “Christ”“Christ” inin Christianity),Christianity), andand signifiessignifies aa greatgreat leaderleader whowho isis toto comecome inin thethe futurefuture toto conquerconquer thethe EarthEarth onceonce andand forfor allall MultipleMultiple leadersleaders havehave claimedclaimed toto havehave beenbeen ““thethe Mahdi”Mahdi” overover thethe centuriescenturies Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah is at least the fourth one that I'm aware of, and other claimants to the title include 19th century leaders Alí Muḥammad Shírází, known as or “the Gate”)—founder of what would باب) the Báb ultimately become the Bahá'í Faith—and the Sudanese leaderleader namednamed MuḥammadMuḥammad Aḥmad,Aḥmad, whowho ledled aa siegesiege against the city of Khartoum, and the modern Mahdi named Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi, who claimed to have met with Jesus in His home in America, but who has not been seen publicly since 2001 TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges InIn otherother worldworld news...news... 909909 InIn NorthNorth Africa,Africa, thethe MahdiMahdi roserose toto powerpower 911911 TheThe VikingsVikings gotgot aa footholdfoothold inin EuropeEurope LouisLouis thethe Pious,Pious, thethe sonson ofof Charlemagne,Charlemagne, waswas succeededsucceeded inin FranceFrance byby hishis son,son, CharlesCharles thethe Bald—whoBald—who waswas succeededsucceeded byby hishis ownown son,son, LouisLouis thethe Stammerer...Stammerer... whowho waswas succeededsucceeded byby hishis son,son, CharlesCharles thethe SimpleSimple The Viking, Hrólfr (AKA “Rollo”), was so much tougher than this pitiful line of in-bred monarchs that Charles the Simple was forced to give him Normandy as his own possession in France TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges InIn otherother worldworld news...news... 909909 InIn NorthNorth Africa,Africa, thethe MahdiMahdi roserose toto powerpower 911911 TheThe VikingsVikings gotgot aa footholdfoothold inin EuropeEurope AtAt aroundaround thethe samesame time,time, thethe VikingViking Rus'Rus' tribetribe putput pressurepressure onon thethe growinggrowing KhazarKhazar KhaganateKhaganate (remember(remember them?)them?) The Jewish-led Khaganate that had opened its doors to all religions—an openness that the Catholic Church had tried to send Cyril and Methodius as missionaries to suppress TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges InIn otherother worldworld news...news... 909909 InIn NorthNorth Africa,Africa, thethe MahdiMahdi roserose toto powerpower 911911 TheThe VikingsVikings gotgot aa footholdfoothold inin EuropeEurope AtAt aroundaround thethe samesame time,time, thethe VikingViking Rus'Rus' tribetribe putput pressurepressure onon thethe growinggrowing KhazarKhazar KhaganateKhaganate fromfrom thethe North,North, forcingforcing thethe TurkicTurkic MagyarMagyar andand VikingViking VarangianVarangian peoplespeoples toto migratemigrate westwardwestward intointo EasternEastern EuropeEurope NOTE: In 921, the Abbasid Caliph al-Muqtadir of Baghdad sent a delegation north to study and open trade with the Rus' and other tribes The notes made by Ahmad ibn Fadlān teach us a great deal about Viking life and culture TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges InIn otherother worldworld news...news... 909909 InIn NorthNorth Africa,Africa, thethe MahdiMahdi roserose toto powerpower 911911 TheThe VikingsVikings gotgot aa footholdfoothold inin EuropeEurope AtAt aroundaround thethe samesame time,time, thethe VikingViking Rus'Rus' tribetribe putput pressurepressure onon thethe growinggrowing KhazarKhazar KhaganateKhaganate fromfrom thethe North,North, forcingforcing thethe TurkicTurkic MagyarMagyar andand VikingViking VarangianVarangian peoplespeoples toto migratemigrate westwardwestward intointo EasternEastern EuropeEurope ButBut realistically,realistically, byby thisthis time,time, EuropeEurope waswas alreadyalready brokenbroken upup intointo multiplemultiple pettypetty kingdomskingdoms —the—the veryvery conceptconcept ofof aa “Roman“Roman Empire”Empire” waswas becomingbecoming aa jokejoke TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges InIn otherother worldworld news...news... 909909 InIn NorthNorth Africa,Africa, thethe MahdiMahdi roserose toto powerpower 911911 TheThe VikingsVikings gotgot aa footholdfoothold inin EuropeEurope 936936 OttoOtto II becamebecame KingKing ofof GermanyGermany OneOne ofof thethe firstfirst thingsthings thatthat hehe diddid waswas toto stopstop thethe paganpagan MagyarMagyar advanceadvance intointo Europe,Europe, earningearning himhim thethe titletitle “Defender“Defender ofof thethe Faith”Faith” fromfrom thethe PopePope But his younger brother, Heinrich, desired the throne himself, and led a revolt against Otto...... which he summarily lost, fleeing to France...... where Otto pursued him, taking over France...... and soon, Burgundy...... and Bohemia... TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges FunkyFunky littlelittle teachingteaching moment—moment— OnceOnce uponupon aa time,time, KingKing BerengarBerengar ruledruled ItalyItaly (and(and waswas technicallytechnically thethe EmperorEmperor ofof thethe RomanRoman Empire—butEmpire—but remember,remember, that'sthat's kindkind ofof aa jokejoke byby now)now) HeHe waswas deposeddeposed andand murderedmurdered byby aa factionfaction whichwhich includedincluded hishis ownown grandson,grandson, alsoalso namednamed BerengarBerengar SoSo LothairLothair II,II, sonson ofof thethe powerfulpowerful DukeDuke ofof France,France, becamebecame thethe newnew KingKing ofof Italy,Italy, andand waswas marriedmarried toto thethe youngyoung andand beautifulbeautiful PrincessPrincess AdelaideAdelaide ofof BurgundyBurgundy (next(next inin lineline ofof thethe rulersrulers ofof Italy)Italy) toto cementcement thethe dealdeal TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges FunkyFunky littlelittle teachingteaching moment—moment— ButBut that'sthat's whenwhen BerengarBerengar IIII roserose upup andand poisonedpoisoned Lothair,Lothair, takingtaking thethe crowncrown forfor himselfhimself He demanded that Adelaide marry him (she was the cute, twenty-year-old daughter of the King of Burgundy and the widow of the former King of Italy—all of which made her a hot commodity in Medieval Europe) But she refused, so he locked her in a keep at Lake Garda, in Italy, until she relented But she was able to get word out to someone to come save her from her loveless marriage to Berengar...... King Otto... TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges FunkyFunky littlelittle teachingteaching moment—moment— ButBut that'sthat's whenwhen BerengarBerengar IIII roserose upup andand poisonedpoisoned Lothair,Lothair, takingtaking thethe crowncrown forfor himselfhimself DashingDashing downdown toto Italy,Italy, OttoOtto andand hishis son,son, Liudolf,Liudolf, camecame andand rescuedrescued herher Even though he couldn't completely conquer Italy, he was nonetheless able to marry Princess Adelaide and to force Berengar to become a vassal king of Germany TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges FunkyFunky littlelittle teachingteaching moment—moment— ButBut that'sthat's whenwhen BerengarBerengar IIII roserose upup andand poisonedpoisoned Lothair,Lothair, takingtaking thethe crowncrown forfor himselfhimself DashingDashing downdown toto Italy,Italy, OttoOtto andand hishis son,son, Liudolf,Liudolf, camecame andand rescuedrescued herher ThatThat didn'tdidn't makemake LiudolfLiudolf happy,happy, sincesince he'dhe'd plannedplanned onon becomingbecoming KingKing ofof Italy,Italy, soso hehe triedtried toto makemake useuse ofof thethe MagyarsMagyars toto riserise upup inin rebellionrebellion againstagainst hishis father,father, OttoOtto That rebellion ended badly, and Liudolf died of fever But Berengar used that as an opportunity to grow his kingdom, and he attacked the Papal States... TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges FunkyFunky littlelittle teachingteaching moment—moment— OttoOtto ledled hishis troopstroops backback intointo ItalyItaly andand defendeddefended thethe PapalPapal States,States, takingtaking NorthernNorthern ItalyItaly forfor himselfhimself Pope John XII then crowned him Emperor of a new, “Holy Roman Empire” (though that name didn't really come into common use until 1157 and Frederick I) —but German kings now ruled the Empire for the next thousand years... TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges FunkyFunky littlelittle teachingteaching moment—moment— OttoOtto ledled hishis troopstroops backback intointo ItalyItaly andand defendeddefended thethe PapalPapal States,States, takingtaking NorthernNorthern ItalyItaly forfor himselfhimself Pope John XII then crowned him Emperor of a new, “Holy Roman Empire” (though that name didn't really come into common use until 1157 and Frederick I) —but German kings now ruled the Empire for the next thousand years... NOTE: Otto's relationship with Pope John XII wasn't really a very good one, however John ruled Rome as a secular prince: gambling, partying, raping female pilgrims to the Holy Land, and maiming and/or excommunicating anyone who dared to oppose him And, according to one contemporary historian, “he had fornicated with the widow of Rainier, with Stephana his father's concubine, with the widow Anna, and with his own niece, and he made the sacred palace into a whorehouse” In fact, he died while having sex with another man's wife—either from a stroke, or at the hands of the husband, who'd just walked in on them TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges InIn otherother worldworld news...news... 962962 OttoOtto II becamebecame HolyHoly RomanRoman EmperorEmperor HeHe quicklyquickly becamebecame veryvery involvedinvolved inin thethe ChurchChurch Seeing himself as the Defender of the Faith, he gave lands and money to the Church—especially those of secular rivals He also began taking on a “divine right” as king, claiming the authority to ordain and invest clergy with their emblems of office in ceremonies where they swore fealty to God and to the Emperor (Of course, he also filled the clergy with friends, relatives, and supporters, making them “counts” and allowing them to levy their own taxes) TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges BackBack toto ChurchChurch news...news... 950±950± ClunyCluny reformsreforms beganbegan toto catchcatch onon UnderUnder itsits abbot,abbot, Odo,Odo, thethe monasterymonastery atat ClunyCluny (in(in CentralCentral France)France) beganbegan aa seriesseries ofof reformsreforms regardingregarding bothboth thethe monksmonks ofof aa monasterymonastery andand itsits placeplace withinwithin thethe feudalfeudal structurestructure Because a monastery required land, that required patronage of the local lord That gave the lord power over the monastery, and that led to the abbots having to make deals and do commerce with the local lords And that led to all sorts of abuses within the monastic system Religious orders were bought and sold (an act called “simony”—why?) Local lords decided who got to be monks and abbots (taking a cue from Emperor Otto) Abbots began keeping concubines brought in from the local townsfolk which led to monasteries ultimately becoming “safe brothels” (this was even legitimized by Pope Clement II in 1046) TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges BackBack toto ChurchChurch news...news... 950±950± ClunyCluny reformsreforms beganbegan toto catchcatch onon UnderUnder itsits abbot,abbot, Odo,Odo, thethe monasterymonastery atat ClunyCluny (in(in CentralCentral France)France) beganbegan aa seriesseries ofof reformsreforms regardingregarding bothboth thethe monksmonks ofof aa monasterymonastery andand itsits placeplace withinwithin thethe feudalfeudal structurestructure Because a monastery required land, that required patronage of the local lord So Odo petitioned Rome, and Pope John XI (the illegitimateillegitimate sonson ofof PopePope SergiusSergius III)III) authorizedauthorized reforms that swept through Europe Monasteries would now report directly to the Pope, and not to the local lord Local lords could no longer either reward or hinder the monasteries—nor could they investinvest clergyclergy oror bribebribe themthem Concubinage was frowned upon (but not officially condemned) There was a call back to the austere beginnings of the Benedictine movement—an intenseintense self-sacrificeself-sacrifice TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges BackBack toto ChurchChurch news...news... 950±950± ClunyCluny reformsreforms beganbegan toto catchcatch onon 963963 DunstanDunstan becamebecame ArchbishopArchbishop ofof CanterburyCanterbury DunstanDunstan waswas thethe sonson ofof aa noblemannobleman inin WessexWessex whowho waswas desperatelydesperately inin lovelove withwith aa locallocal girl,girl, butbut hishis uncle,uncle, Ælfheah,Ælfheah, thethe BishopBishop ofof Winchester,Winchester, wantedwanted himhim toto becomebecome aa monkmonk insteadinstead When he tumors began to grow all over his body, he saw that as a sign from God that the relationship was evil, and broke it off In fact, later, as an abbot, when he found the young king of England, Eadwig, cavorting with a young girl, he had the youth forcibly dragged out of her room and made him publicly denounce her as a “strumpet” to the populace Once that girl became the queen, that made Dunstan's political situation... awkward... TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges BackBack toto ChurchChurch news...news... 950±950± ClunyCluny reformsreforms beganbegan toto catchcatch onon 963963 DunstanDunstan becamebecame ArchbishopArchbishop ofof CanterburyCanterbury DunstanDunstan waswas thethe sonson ofof aa noblemannobleman inin WessexWessex whowho waswas desperatelydesperately inin lovelove withwith aa locallocal girl,girl, butbut hishis uncle,uncle, Ælfheah,Ælfheah, thethe BishopBishop ofof Winchester,Winchester, wantedwanted himhim toto becomebecome aa monkmonk insteadinstead Dunstan'sDunstan's wholewhole purposepurpose asas aa monk,monk, abbot,abbot, andand laterlater ArchbishopArchbishop ofof CanterburyCanterbury waswas toto presspress towardtoward self-sacrificeself-sacrifice andand self-abasementself-abasement asas anan actact ofof worshipworship He built a cell 5-foot by 2½-foot to live and work in,in, specificallyspecifically because it was so uncomfortable He denounced simony because it was born from greed, and greed from the desire for comfort, and that desire was itself a sin (NOTE: in the process, he also denounced the nepotism that promoted friends and relatives to high and important offices) He was also thus one of the first major Church leadersleaders toto demanddemand absoluteabsolute celibacycelibacy onon thethe partpart of clergy, since sex and sexual desire were by their nature sinful