Middle Ages Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Church reforms=== [[File:Maria Lach 02.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|alt=A large rectangular stone church with six towers|The [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] Church of [[Maria Laach Abbey]], built mainly between 1130 and 1156]] In the early 11th century, [[Papal selection before 1059|papal elections]] were [[Tusculan Papacy|controlled by]] Roman aristocrats, but Emperor [[Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry III]] (r. 1039–56) broke their power and placed [[Gregorian Reform|reform-minded]] clerics on the papal throne. Through popular support, they achieved the acknowledgement of their supreme jurisdiction in church affairs in many parts of Europe.{{sfn|Backman|2022|pp=298–300}} In contrast, the [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|head of the Byzantine Church]] Patriarch [[Michael I Cerularius]] (d. 1059) refused [[papal supremacy]] for which a [[papal legate]] excommunicated him in 1054. Eventually, after a string of mutual excommunications, this event, known as the [[East–West Schism]], led to the separation of the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]es.{{sfn|Hamilton|2003|pp=140–143}}{{sfn|Backman|2022|p=309}} Lay [[investiture]]—the appointment of clerics by secular rulers—was condemned at an assembly of bishops in Rome in 1059.{{sfn|Backman|2022|p=301}} Henry's son and successor [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry IV]] (r. 1056–1105) wanted to preserve the right to appoint his own choices as bishops within his lands but his appointments outraged Pope [[Pope Gregory VII|Gregory VII]] (pope 1073–85). Their quarrel developed into the [[Investiture Controversy]], involving other powers as well because kings did not relinquish the control of appointments to bishoprics voluntarily. All conflicts ended with a compromise, in the case of the Holy Roman Emperors with the 1122 [[Concordat of Worms]].{{refn|group=note|Most compromises were based on a distinction between a [[prelate]]'s spiritual and temporal responsibilities. This allowed the bishops and abbots to swear an oath of fealty to the emperor or king in return for their investment in the [[temporalities|possessions]] of bishoprics and abbeys without formally sanctioning the monarch's claim to control [[canonical election|their election]].{{sfn|Barber|2004|pp=93–94}}}}{{sfn|Barber|2004|pp=87–94}}{{sfn|Hamilton|2003|pp=7–8}} The High Middle Ages was a period of great religious movements.{{sfn|Barber|2004|p=137}} Old pilgrimage sites such as Rome, Jerusalem, and [[Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela|Compostela]] received increasing numbers of visitors, and new sites such as [[Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo|Monte Gargano]] and [[Basilica di San Nicola|Bari]] rose to prominence.{{sfn|Morris|2001|p=199}} Popular movements emerged to support the implementation of the church reform but their [[anticlericalism]] sometimes led to the rejection of [[Dogma in the Catholic Church|Catholic dogmas]] by the most radical groups such as the [[Waldensians]] and [[Cathars]].{{sfn|Barber|2004|pp=162–172}}{{sfn|Morris|2001|pp=199–203}} To suppress heresies, the popes appointed special commissioners of investigation known as [[Medieval Inquisition|inquisitors]].{{sfn|Hamilton|2003|pp=133–134}} Monastic reforms continued as the Cluniac monasteries' splendid ceremonies were alien to those who preferred the simpler [[hermit|hermetical]] monasticism of early Christianity, or wanted to live the "[[Apostles in the New Testament|Apostolic]] life" of poverty and preaching. New monastic orders were established, including the [[Carthusian]]s and the [[Cistercians]]. In the 13th century [[mendicant orders]]—the [[Franciscan]]s and the [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]]—who earned their living by begging, were approved by the papacy.{{sfn|Hamilton|2003|pp=45–48, 116}} Individuals who were thought to receive divine [[revelation]]s might present a challenge to clerical monopolies but most of them respected official doctrines. The [[veneration]] of popular [[Christian mysticism|mystics]], such as [[Francis of Assisi]] (d. 1226), was often [[canonization|sanctioned]] by church authorities.{{sfn|Jordan|2002|p=324}} Many popular mystics were women.{{sfn|Hamilton|2003|p=32}} Among them, the nun [[Hildegard of Bingen]] (d. 1179/80) was a prolific and highly respected scholar, who proudly stated that "no man can be made without a woman".{{refn|group=note|Often facing [[misogyny]], Hildegard endorsed the traditional view of the women's fragility in her early works but later she emphasised that men and women were dependent on each other. Although a nun, she provided the first description of [[female orgasm]].{{sfn|Ramirez|2022|pp=188–191}}}}{{sfn|Bitel|2002|pp=287–288}}{{sfn|Ramirez|2022|pp=188–191}} [[Jewish mysticism]] culminated in the compilation of the {{lang|he|[[Zohar]]}} ('The Book of Illumination'), a 13th-century summary of [[Kabbalah|kabbalistic]] teaching.{{sfn|Chazan|2006|p=105}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page