The Middle Ages
A.D. 570 to A.D. 1095

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Five Key Events You Should Know

A.D. 570 --	The birth of Muhammad, the founder of Islam. His followers, called Moslems, have fought Catholics for centuries. All of the crusades were battles for control of the Holy Land.
A.D. 754 --	The Donation of Pepin. Pepin III, a Frankish battle-chief, gave part of Italy (the papal states) to the pope. In return, the pope granted Pepin the church's approval and a royal title.
A.D. 800 --	Charlemagne crowned "Charles Augustus, supreme and peaceful Emperor" by Pope Leo on Christmas Day, A.D. 800. This emperor of the church, called Charles the Great, became the first Emperor crowned by a pope. This became known as "The Holy Roman Empire."
A.D. 1054 --	The Roman Church excommunicates (officially) the Eastern Church.
A.D. 1095 --	The crusades begin.

Six Key People to Remember

Muhammad (also spelled Mohammed) (A.D. 570 - 632): the founder of the Islam religion.

Gregory (A.D. 540 - 604): He is the sixty-fourth pope for the Roman Catholics and the music sung during this time is called "Gregorian." More than likely a devout Christian, but after him there begins to be a shift among the popes to one of worldliness, power, and prestige.

Augustine of Canterbury (died A.D. 605): A monk, sent by Pope Gregory I to found new churches in England after barbarians destroyed previous missionaries' work. The monk Bede the Venerable (A.D. 673 - 735) who wrote a history of English Christianity and King Alfred the Great of England (A.D. 849 - 899) were both influenced and converted through the lingering effects of Christianity in England among the Anglo-Saxon people.

Charles Martel (A.D. 690 - 741): The Frankish battle-chief who stopped the Muslims from conquering central Europe. He was the father of Pepin III.

Pepin III (Born ? Died A.D. 768): Also known as Pepin the Short. He was the leader of the Franks after the death of his father Charles. Many of the Franks had converted to Christianity under their leaders Clovis and Clotilde in A.D. 496. Pepin led the Franks to give the church the papal states (what we know as "The Vatican") to Italy in A.D. 754. Pepin's son, Charles the Great, followed him on the throne.

Charlemagne (A.D. 742 - 814). Son of Pepin, and leader of the Frankish Empire which he expanded to include all of what we know as Germany, France, and Italy -- the Holy Roman Empire.

Three Key Terms You Should Know

Feudalism - the former Western Empire of Rome in the Middle Ages had no central government to mint coins, so land became the key form of wealth. Landowners (lords) set up self-sufficient plantations (manors). To protect their manors, lords maintained mounted bands of knights. In one area several lords might unite their knights under one king. Peasants (vassals), needing food, would till the lords' land for basic sustenance. Priests were appointed by the "lords" to oversee the "vassals." The priests became more loyal to their earthly lords than to their heavenly Lord. This system is known as Feudalism.

The Holy Roman Empire - the title, in theory, made someone the heir of the ancient Roman emperors and the ruler of the Western Empire. In reality, the Holy Roman Emperors only ruled portions of Central Europe. German kings (Franks) possessed this position of power from Charles the Great in A.D. 800 until 1806 when Napoleon abolished the Holy Roman Empire.

The East-West Split of 1054 - The Roman Catholic Church split with the Eastern Church (The Eastern Orthodox Church) and officially condemned the Eastern Church ("as heretics"). The split might have been repaired had it not been for the beginning of the Crusades in 1095.

By way of review . . .

A.D. 30 - the death of Christ	A.D. 100 - the death of the Apostle John
A.D. 313 - Christianity declared Rome's religion	A.D. 410 - the collapse of Rome

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Rome fell under the attack of the barbarians. These barbarians were from Europe and there were different tribes (Anglos, Saxons, Franks, Vandals, etc. . .). After a few years of intertribal struggle, the Franks became the primary tribe of barbarians. They held the most land, they ruled over Italy, and they were the tribe in charge of Europe.

1. The Franks Are Top Dogs . . .

   The Franks originated in the area now known as western Germany (Frankfurt), and around A.D. 496, Clovis the Frankish battle-chief led his people to turn to the Christian God. So when the Franks began their conquest of what was once the Western Empire, few church members resisted them. In fact, the Franks and the church at Rome got along so well, Frankish King Pepin III gave all of central Italy to the church in A.D. 754 (the Vatican).

   Around 780 Pepin's son, King Charles invaded other tribal lands and forced these tribes to become "Christian." When some refused baptism, Charles slashed off 4,500 heads in one day and then went to celebrate Christmas. Christianity had grown to a political, military identity in the kingdom rather than a spiritual relationship with God.

   How did Rome respond to these political leaders' efforts at turning the world "Christian?" Largely in silence. In A.D. 799 several Italian nobles wanted to control the Roman church. Their candidate for pope was rejected in favor of Leo III. The nobles were sore losers and hired thugs to gouge out Leo's tongue. Two Franks brought the injured bishop to Charles' palace. The nobles had written letters to Charles accusing Leo of financial fraud against the church. Normally, Leo III would have appealed to the emperor, but the West no longer had an emperor. The Empress Irene ruled the east (and Leo would not have a woman judge him). How could he clear his name?

   On December 23, 800, King Charles declared Pope Leo III innocent of all charges. Two days later, during a candlelight Christmas communion service, Leo III placed a crown on Charles' head and dubbed him "Charles Augustus, crowned by God as supreme and peaceful Emperor." For the first time, the church had created an Emperor. Charles would become known as Charles the Great (Charlemagne). This was the revived Western Empire also known as "The Holy Roman Empire" which lasted until the 1800's when defeated by Napoleon.

2. From Multiplication to Division . . .

   Whereas the first five centuries of Christian growth were both remarkable and for the most part, genuine in nature, beginning after the death of Pope Gregory there was a general decay of morality within the church and her leadership. In 882 Pope John VIII was assassinated. In 896 Pope Stephen VII had the body of his predecessor, Pope Formosus, disinterred from its grave and put on trial. After being convicted, the dead pope's blessing fingers were cut off and the body thrown into the Tiber. Examples of this decadence included the Italian heiress Marozia who controlled the bishops for 60 years -- was one bishop's mother, another's murderer, and another's mistress. In 955 her grandson, John XII, became the new pope. Before he took office he made a toast to the devil and continued his devilish lifestyle. Immorality, pride, power, and envy led to the official split of east and west when in 1054 Pope Bruno sent his envoy, Humbert, to Constantinople, with a bull (bulletin) flung into the Church of Sophia (Holy Wisdom) which accused the eastern church of:

   1. Allowing priests to marry (True).
   2. Re-baptizing Roman Christians (Untrue in most cases).
   3. Had deleted "and the Son" from the Nicene Creed (certainly untrue!).
   When Hubert threw the bull he shouted "Let God look and judge!" Rome excommunicated the Eastern Church.

3. The People Turned to the Feudal System . . .

   The former Western Empire had no central government to mint coins, so land became the key form of wealth. Landowners (lords) set up self-sufficient plantations (manors). To protect their manors, lords maintained mounted bands of knights. In one area several lords might unite their knights under one king. Peasants (vassals), needing food, would till the lords' land for basic sustenance. Priests were appointed by the "lords" to oversee the "vassals." The priests became more loyal to their earthly lords than to their heavenly Lord. This system is known as Feudalism. This sounds so bleak! What about "true" Christians? Were there any? Of course. People like the Waldensians (we'll study them later) and others showed great evidence of grace.