High Middle Ages

==Religion==
===Christian Church===
{{Main|Christianity in the Middle Ages}}
The [[East–West Schism]] of 1054 formally separated the Christian church into two parts: [[Roman Catholicism]] in Western Europe and [[Eastern Orthodoxy]] in the east. It occurred when [[Pope Leo IX]] and [[Michael Cerularius|Patriarch Michael I]] [[excommunication|excommunicated]] each other, mainly over disagreement over the [[filioque]], an addition to the creed concerning the origin of the Holy Spirit, as well as disputes as to the existence of papal authority over the four Eastern [[patriarch]]s, use of unleavened bread in the liturgy, and fasting days.

===Crusades===
{{Main|Crusades}}
[[File:Godefroi1099.jpg|thumb|After the successful siege of Jerusalem in 1099, [[Godfrey of Bouillon]], leader of the First Crusade, became the first ruler of the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]].]]
The Catholic Crusades occurred between the 11th and 13th centuries. They were conducted under papal authority, initially with the intent of reestablishing Christian rule in ''The Holy Land'' by taking the area from the Muslim [[Fatimid Caliphate]]. The Fatimids had captured Palestine in AD 970, lost it to the [[Seljuk Turks]] in 1073 and recaptured it in 1098, just before they lost it again in 1099 as a result of the [[First Crusade]].

====Military orders====
{{Main|Military order (religious society)}}
In the context of the crusades, monastic military orders were founded that would become the template for the late medieval [[chivalric order]]s.

The [[Knights Templar]] were a Christian military order founded after the [[First Crusade]] to help protect [[Christian pilgrimage|Christian pilgrims]] from hostile locals and highway bandits. The order was deeply involved in banking, and in 1307 [[Philip IV of France|Philip the Fair]] (Philippine le Bel) had the entire order arrested in France and dismantled on charges of alleged heresy.

The [[Knights Hospitaller]] were originally a [[Christianity|Christian]] organization founded in [[Jerusalem]] in 1080 to provide care for poor, sick, or injured [[pilgrimage|pilgrims]] to the [[Holy Land]]. After Jerusalem was taken in the First Crusade, it became a [[religious order|religious]]/[[Military order (society)|military order]] that was charged with the care and defence of the [[Crusader states]]. After the Holy Lands were eventually taken by Muslim forces, it moved its operations to [[Rhodes]], and later [[Malta]].

The [[Teutonic Knights]] were a German religious order formed in 1190, in the city of [[Acre, Israel|Acre]], to aid Christian pilgrims on their way to the Holy Lands and to operate hospitals for the sick and injured in [[Outremer]]. After Muslim forces captured the Holy Lands, the order moved to [[Transylvania]] in 1211 and later, after being expelled, invaded pagan [[Prussia]] with the intention of Christianizing the [[Baltic region]]. Yet, both before and after the Order's main pagan opponent, [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuania]], [[Christianization of Lithuania|converted]] to Christianity, the Order had already attacked other Christian nations such as [[Novgorod Republic|Novgorod]] and [[Kingdom of Poland (1025–1385)|Poland]]. The Teutonic Knights' power hold, which became considerable, was broken in 1410, at the [[Battle of Grunwald]], where the Order suffered a devastating defeat against a joint Polish-Lithuanian army. After Grunwald, the Order declined in power until 1809 when it was officially dissolved.  There were ten crusades in total.

===Scholasticism===
{{main|Scholasticism}}
{{multiple image| align = right | direction = horizontal | header_align = left/right/center | footer = Left: [[Albert Magnus]]. Right: [[Thomas Aquinas]]| footer_align = left | image1 = Vicente salvador gomez-san alberto.jpg | width1 = 132 | caption1 = | image2 = St-thomas-aquinas.jpg| width2 = 117 | caption2  = }}
The new [[Christianity|Christian]] method of learning was influenced by [[Anselm of Canterbury]] (1033–1109) from the rediscovery of the works of [[Aristotle]], at first indirectly through Medieval Jewish and Muslim Philosophy ([[Maimonides]], [[Avicenna]], and [[Averroes]]) and then through [[Aristotle]]'s own works brought back from [[Byzantine]] and Muslim libraries; and those whom he influenced, most notably [[Albertus Magnus]], [[Bonaventure]] and [[Peter Abelard|Abélard]]. Many scholastics believed in [[empiricism]] and supporting Roman Catholic doctrines through secular study, reason, and logic. They opposed [[Christian mysticism]], and the Platonist-Augustinian belief that the [[Dualism (philosophy of mind)|mind]] is an immaterial substance. The most famous of the [[Scholasticism|scholastics]] was [[Thomas Aquinas]] (later declared a "[[Doctor of the Church]]"), who led the move away from the [[Platonism|Platonic]] and [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustinian]] and towards Aristotelianism. Aquinas developed a [[philosophy of mind]] by writing that the [[mind]] was at birth a ''[[tabula rasa]]'' ("blank slate") that was given the ability to think and recognize forms or ideas through a divine spark. Other notable scholastics included [[Averroes|Muhammad Averroes]], [[Roscellinus|Roscelin]], Abélard, [[Peter Lombard]], and [[Francisco Suárez]]. One of the main questions during this time was the [[problem of universals]]. Prominent opponents of various aspects of the scholastic mainstream included [[Duns Scotus]], [[William of Ockham]], [[Peter Damian]], [[Bernard of Clairvaux]], and the [[Victorines]].

===Golden age of monasticism===
* The late 11th century/early-mid 12th century was the height of the golden age of [[Christian monasticism]] (8th-12th centuries).
** [[Benedictine Order]] – black-robed monks
** [[Cistercian Order]] – white-robed monks
*** [[Bernard of Clairvaux]]

===Mendicant orders===
{{Main|Mendicant orders}}
* The 13th century saw the rise of the [[Mendicant order]]s such as the:
** [[Franciscan]]s (Friars Minor, commonly known as the Grey Friars), founded 1209
** [[Carmelite]]s (Hermits of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Carmel, commonly known as the White Friars), founded 1206–1214
** [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]] (Order of Preachers, commonly called the Black Friars), founded 1215
** [[Augustinians]] (Hermits of St. Augustine, commonly called the Austin Friars), founded 1256

===Heretical movements===
Christian [[Heresy|heresies]] existed in Europe before the 11th century but only in small numbers and of local character: in most cases, a rogue priest, or a village returning to pagan traditions. Beginning in the 11th century, however mass-movement heresies appeared. The roots of this can be partially sought in the rise of urban cities, free merchants, and a new money-based economy. The rural values of monasticism held little appeal to urban people who began to form sects more in tune with urban culture. The first large-scale heretical movements in Western Europe originated in the newly urbanized areas such as southern France and northern Italy and were probably influenced by the [[Bogomilism|Bogomils]] and other [[Dualistic cosmology|dualist movements]]. These heresies were on a scale the Catholic Church had never seen before and as such the response was one of elimination for some (such as the [[Cathars]]). Some Catholic monastic leaders, such as [[Francis of Assisi]], the founder of the [[Franciscans]], had to be recognized directly by the Pope so as not to be confused with actual heretical movements such as the [[Waldensians]].

====Cathars====
[[File:Cathars expelled.JPG|thumb|Cathars being expelled from [[Carcassonne]] in 1209]]

{{main|Catharism}}

'''Catharism''' was a movement with [[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] elements that originated around the middle of the 10th century, branded by the contemporary [[Roman Catholic Church]] as [[heresy|heretical]]. It existed throughout much of [[Western Europe]], but its origination was in [[Languedoc]] and surrounding areas in southern France.

The name ''Cathar'' stems from [[Greek language|Greek]] ''katharos'', "pure". One of the first recorded uses is [[Eckebert|Eckbert von Schönau]] who wrote on heretics from Cologne in 1181: "Hos nostra Germania catharos appellat." ([In] our Germany [one] calls these [people] "Cathars".)

The Cathars are also called '''Albigensians'''. This name originates from the end of the 12th century, and was used by the chronicler [[Geoffroy du Breuil]] of Vigeois in 1181. The name refers to the southern town of [[Albi]] (the ancient Albiga). The designation is hardly exact, for the centre was at [[Toulouse]] and in the neighbouring districts.

The [[Catharism|Albigensians]] were strong in southern France, northern Italy, and the southwestern [[Holy Roman Empire]].

The [[Bogomilism|Bogomils]] were strong in the [[Southeastern Europe]], and became the [[Bosnian Church|official religion supported by the Bosnian kings]].
* [[Dualistic cosmology|Dualists]] believed that historical events were the result of struggle between a good (spiritual) force and an evil (material) force and that the world was of the evil force, though it could be controlled or defeated through [[asceticism]] and good works.
* [[Albigensian Crusade]], [[Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]], [[Montségur]], [[Château de Quéribus]]

====Waldensians====
{{Main|Waldensians}}
[[Peter Waldo]] of [[Lyon]] was a wealthy merchant who gave up his riches around 1175 after a religious experience and became a preacher. He founded the Waldensians which became a Christian sect believing that all religious practices should have strictly scriptural bases. Waldo was denied the right to preach his sermons by the Third Lateran Council in 1179, which he did not obey and continued to speak freely until he was excommunicated in 1184. Waldo was critical of the Christian clergy saying they did not live according to the word. He rejected the practice of selling indulgences ([[simony]]), as well as the common saint cult practices of the day.

Waldensians are considered a forerunner to the [[Protestant Reformation]], and they melted into [[Protestantism]] with the outbreak of the Reformation and became a part of the wider [[Reformed tradition]] after the views of [[John Calvin]] and his theological successors in [[Geneva]] proved very similar to their own theological thought. Waldensian churches still exist, located on several continents.