a recap of religious influence on the middle ages in Europe

1. Religion in Europe in the Middle
Ages

2. Here is an example of pages 4-5 in the IA Notebook

3. Life in the Middle Ages
 Social
structure
mirrored the
church
structure.
Both were a
pyramid.

4. A little refresher
 Christianity was adopted as the official religion of
the Roman Empire in AD 392.
 The church set up its leadership much like the
hierarchy of Roman empire
 Germanic Invaders were not Christians. Clovis I,
in AD 476, converted to Catholicism
 Missionaries were sent all over to spread
Christianity.
 Eventually all Europeans were Christians

5. Roman Catholicism in the Middle Ages
 The word Catholic comes from the Latin word
catholicus, which means “universal”
 The Church, with the Pope as its head, was the only
recognized religion. Anything else, even other forms
of Christianity, were considered heretical.
 Heresy: belief in something other than official
church doctrine.
 There was only the Catholic Church in the early
Middle Ages. (the great schism didn’t happen until
1054)

6. Roman Catholic doctrine in the Middle Ages
 When a person died, they went to Heaven or Hell.
 People were too low on the ladder to talk to God.
People had to talk to God through the clergy
(priests).
 People were forgiven their sins by the Church.
 Step 1: confession to a priest
 Step 2: priest issues a penance
 Penance could include prayer, actual action, or Indulgences
 Indulgences: payment made to the church for penance.
 So: the church got to decide if a person went to
Heaven or Hell.
 This gave the Church a GREAT amount of power.

7. A few notes
 There was no mass printing available, only
handwritten copies of the Bible
 (most people couldn’t read anyway)
 People’s interpretation of the Bible came directly
from the Church.
 Stained glass windows in churches were used to tell
the stories of the Bible.

8. Now for page 4 of the IA Notebook

9. Conflict between the Church and the State
 Divide your paper into an upside down T with the cross
bar in the center of the page.
 In the top left box draw a pyramid chart showing the
hierarchy of the church which lists the believers
people, the priests/monks, the pope, and the
cardinals/bishops/archbishops. Explain how it works.
 In the right box, read page 251 and summarize the
conflict between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV
 In the bottom portion, write a response to the
following prompt: How did the Catholic Church
influence life in early medieval Europe?

10. In the top left box
draw a pyramid
chart showing the
hierarchy of the
church which lists
the believers
people, the
priests/monks, the
pope, and the
cardinals/bishops/
archbishops.
Explain how it
works.