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REL 231 - History of the Christian Church

Course Notes

 

Week 8

Notes on the Textbook Readings

• Page 204 - The filioque clause.
  The Filioque (pronounced fill-ee-OH-kway, meaning "and the Son") was a word added to the Nicean Creed by a Council at Toledo (Spain) in 589. Its use spread gradually throughout the Western Church.
  The Eastern Church generally does not dispute the doctrine (that the Holy Spirit "procedes" from the Father and the Son), but they do dispute the idea that a Church Council which did not involve the whole Church (Eastern and Western) could decide to add things to a Creed which had been formulated by a General Council of the whole Church.
• Page 207 - "Salah al-Din" - a better equivalent to his name would be "Salah ad-Din" (pronounced sal-AH ad-DEEN). The anglicized version of his name is pronounced sal-ah-din. The author of the texbook probably does not know Arabic and the way some of the words inflect
• Page 207 - The attack and massacre of Constantinople by the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade was caused by the suspicions of the Crusaders that the Byzantine Emperor was conspiring with the Moslems against the Western Christians.
  By this time the inhabitants of the Western and Eastern Empires did not understand one another and were suspicious of each other. The Byzantines had learned to live next to the Moslem Seljuk Turks whom they were unable to conquer, and had begun to trade and work with them. The Westerners saw this as collaboration with the infidel and betrayal of the cause of Christ
• The textbook does not mention the "Children's Crusade" of 1212.
  Groups of children from France and Germany set out for the Holy Land, believing that if they were pure and innocent, the sea would part for them and they would be able to walk all the way. They reached Marseilles and other ports in France and Italy, and were disappointed when the sea did not do as they expected.
  Eventually unscrupulous operators offered them passage aboard ships, and the unsuspecting children were either sold into slavery and prostitution, or perished when ships were wrecked in storms
• Page 209 - The Hospitallers' first headquarters was the Hospital of St. John (the Bapttist) at Jerusalem.
  In 1309, after the Crusaders were defeated in the Holy Land, the Hospitallers moved to Rhodes (in Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean), and continued to fight against the Turks.
  In 1530 the Emperor Charles V gave them the island of Malta, where they remained until Napoleon invaded Malta in 1798.
  The Order has continued in Europe up to the present day.
  In England, their property was seized by Henry VIII in 1540, and the Order was inactive until it was revived as an Order of the Anglican Church in 1831. In 1888 the Order founded the St. John's Ambulance Brigade, to respond to medical emergencies.
  In the town in the North of England where I grew up, we had a "St. John's Ambulance", with the black Maltese Star logo, rather than a Red Cross unit.
• Page 209 - The Teutonic Knights' main sphere of activity was in the region of the Baltic (what is now northern Germany, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Russia).
  They went to defend Western Christians from the pagan Tartars and the Eastern Orthodox Christians of Russia, and stayed to build their own castles and seize territory for themselves. Frederick II of Prussia made their Grand Master a Prince.
  The Poles and Lithuanians rose in revolt (for once they managed to fight on the same side instead of against one another) and won the Battle of Tannenberg (1410) against the Teutonic Knights.
  In 1525 the Grand Master became a secular Prince, renounced his orders, and became a Lutheran. The Order continued under other Grand Masters, but was more and more concerned with secular power. It was suppressed by Napoleon, but continued to exist in Austria, where its main work was organizing schools and military hospitals.
  The Order was revived in 1945 and continues to function in Europe.

Class Notes - Factors leading towards the Reformation

During the period covered by this chapter, there were developments within the Western world which started the movement towards the Reformation :

• The Crusades opened the eyes of the West to aspects of civilization in the East - architecture (eg. the Gothic arch), medicine, literature, languages
• The development of Universities - learning became more accessible. Scholars and students were able to travel all over Europe, and attend any University. All classes were given in Latin, so students could study in any country. There was a free exchange of ideas, and it was less easy for a King or the Church to censor what was taught
• Tensions between the Church (the Pope) and secular leaders such as Kings
• A growing willingness to question authority. With rival Popes, both claiming to be the supreme authority, and both excommunicating each other and anyone who did not acknowledge them, everyone in Europe had been excommunicated at least once, so excommunication had lost its effect
• A call to a simpler life-style, of poverty, chastity, and obedience, as marks of a member of the Church, rather than the great riches and power associated with Archbishops, Cardinals, and the Pope
• A growing recognition of the importance of the Scriptures. More people becoming literate, reading portions of the Scriptures, comparing what they read to the way some of the religious authorities behaved.
• The Black Death, with about one third of the population of Europe dying suddenly. There was a shortage of labor, the feudal system began to break down, laborers moved to the towns where there were better opportunities and higher wages. The Black Death also led to a questioning of religious rites and the authority of the Church - people had prayed, had given money to the Church, but were still struck down by the Plague
• The invention of printing, with moveable type, and the introduction of the Printing Press (1470 in the Sorbonne in Paris, 1474 Caxton printed the first book in English, 1477 Caxton printed Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales"). Books became more accessible. The production of Bibles was no longer under the control of the Church

Copyright © 1999 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved

Dr. Rollinson

Department of Religion
ENMU
Portales, NM 88130

Last Updated: August 28, 2008

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