Despite all of Innocent’s lofty views of himself he still maintained a pious and clear mind. Innocent also believed that the Pope should have ultimate control over the crusades and did not want state governments or the Kings to get too much involved in the crusades. Hans Eberhard Mayer tells of Innocent III and his involvement (or un-involvement, as we later find out) in his book The Crusades. He tells how Innocent sent letters to the clergy instead of kings and governors to help rally support for the crusades. This prompted the clergy to preach that the crusades were for the poor and lowly and no longer for just anybody.
Introduction For Augustine, the Roman church was the seat of Peter to whom the Lord after his resurrection entrusted the feeding of his sheep and the church in which the primacy of apostolic chair developed and remained successful. The fall of the Western Roman Empire and its invasion by the barbarians created a number of independent kingdoms each of which was of great significance for the latter history of the church in its territory. It also gave new functions and power to two institutions that had began to develop earlier the monastic and the papacy. More invasions posed new challenges to the church and were very disastrous. This condition raised diverse reasons for papal power from different popes who contributed differently to its growth.
While Pope Gregory VII did not introduce the celibacy of the priesthood into the Church, he did take up the fight against the indecency with greater energy unlike his predecessors. The image most often used to describe the role of the priest is one of marriage to the Church. Just as marriage is the total gift of self to another, the priesthood requires the total gift of self to the Church. One of the most powerful advocators of priest celibacy came from St. Augustine, the renowned philosopher of western thought, as he
Jeff Kaetzel Fall 2012 Alexander II and the Emancipation of the Serfs Alexander II emancipated the serfs in 1861 primarily because of his deep religious convictions. Religion played a key role in Alexander II’s decision to emancipate the serfs because it served as an avenue through which he could address the pressures he faced from both his advisors and the sociopolitical developments in Russian society. The emancipation of the serfs was not a new concept in Russia. Alexander II used the previous autocrats’ push towards emancipation as a platform to launch his own emancipation efforts. He was able to utilize the previous autocrats’ work as a springboard for his reign to complete the act of emancipating the serfs.
The crusades affected western culture because of their biblical practices that threatened it. By 1905, Urban II’s call for a crusade was only part of a larer shifting in theological interpretations and justification of warfare: the Reconquista in Spain, for instance, had been under way for over two centuries and was rooted in a re-fashioned understanding of just war theory. The explicit pilgrimage and warfare gave the First Crusade a unique potency that triggered widespread enthusiasm across feudal social boudaries. Pilgrimage was a common practice during Middle Ages and, given the perils of travel, pilgrims often armed themselves for defense. The ideology of the crusade, however, was one rooted in the practice redemptive pilgrimage as well as conquest.
Therefore by reforming the English Church and removing the Pope and making Henry VIII the Supreme Head of the Church in England, there was a revolution in the relationship between Church and State. Also as Thomas Cromwell, who masterminded this manoeuvre, had used parliament to enforce the reformation the principle that King-in-parliament was the highest form of authority. This sat very well with Henry VIII and appealed far more to those who lent to the positive and idealistic though secular form of anti-clericalism. This is one reason why the English Church did need to be reformed in the 16th century. Another reason the English Church may have needed reforming would be that many people lost enthusiasm for religious orders and religious images in the 16th century.
Revolutionary Protestant Changes During the Times of Martin Luther Imagine experiencing the constant feeling of being taken advantage of by a more powerful force. Imagine what it has felt like to not have a say or movement in the areas surrounding you. Everyday life in the majority of Europe became submerged in these feelings because of the Roman Catholic Church which during the 1500s had an over extensive amount of power. The Roman Catholic Church had not only immense religious authority because it remained as the main religion of Europe, but in addition had a vast political influence in Europe. Its political power mainly came from the excessive expanse of wealth and economic success.
The Turks attempted to expand their reign and began to invade the Byzantine Empire. The Christian emperor of Byzantium decided to seek help from the Pope, who in turn sent Christian forces from Western Europe to go to war with the Muslim armies and to stop the spread of Islam in the Holy Land. These wars left an everlasting legacy medieval society, Islam, Europe and the Jews. The effects of the Crusades on these aspects can still be seen in the world we live in today. The Crusades aided the movement towards a new way of government.
A new benefit that came from this was a more effective collection of royal taxes. Monarchy revived the urban police which helped keep bandits and crime to a minimum. When Ferdinand and Isabella conquered Granada they said that all must convert from their Jewish or other faith to Christianity. In order to ensure that the followers were converting faiths as told the Spanish Acquisition was created. The Spanish Acquisition was created by the monarchs and consisted of a church court authorized to examine the genuineness of people’s Christian faith.
This changed in the Second Millennium under Islamic influence, as people such as Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas inspired a turn to Aristotle. Theology, as with everything else, was determined by political, papal, and monastic patronage. So for example, one of England's greatest theologians, William of Ockham, was revered within his Franciscan order, imprisoned by the Pope John and after his escape from prison protected by Emperor Lewis of Bavaria. Theological debates were often staged affairs between religious orders with Dominicans favouring Aquinas, Franciscans Bonaventure (a scholarly successor to Francis), and Augustinians Augustine. Indeed, the German Reformation began as a debate between Thomist Dominicans (e.g., Cajetan) and Augustinian Augustinians (e.g.,