Based on the my reading of Sir Richard Southern’s Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages, the ecclesiastical history of the medieval times can be divided into three ages, namely, the primitive age (AD 700 – AD 1050), the age of growth (AD 1050 – AD 1300), and the age of unrest (AD 1300 – AD 1550).
The primitive age started three centuries after the collapse of Western Roman Empire. At that time, the pope in Rome was about to get rid of the Byzantines’ control, and allied himself with the Frankish kings of the Carolingian dynasty. At that time, the Latin West was regarded as inferior than the Greek East, which was a continuity of the Christian Roman Empire with a patriarch in Constantinople being a rival to the pope in terms of ecclesiastical authority, and the Muslims, who offered an alternative religion. Both the Byzantines and the Muslims were stronger in military, economics, academic development, and every other aspects than the Western Europeans. Western Europe had been suffering in poverty, famine, political turmoils, and threats from the Muslims, the Slavs, and the Vikings. The development of theology was slow. The Benedictine Rule became the dominant religious order in monasticism in the West. The rigor of the Benedictine Rule offered to people the tranquility of life like eternity, in contrast with the turbulence outside the monasteries. The collection of relics was common in this age, especially among kings and the nobles, believing that the relics brought about divine grace, blessings, or protection from the evil of the world, revealing their dependence on the supernatural. During this age, the pope in Rome allied with the Frankish kings to compete against the patriarch in Constantinople, while the Frankish kings relied on ecclesiastical staff for the establishment of bureaucracy, because they seemed to be the only educated groups in the West. The letter Donations of Constantine, believed to be forged, granted the pope the authority to crown the Emperor of the Roman Empire, which “justified” the crowning of Charlemagne as the Emperor, and nominally under the pope. However, the relationship between the pope and the Frankish kings was more collaborative, not the submission of one to the other. The bishops were still appointed by the local governments. However, the later decline of Carolingian dynasty changed the situation.
In the 11th century, there was a rapid growth of economy and population in the Western Europe. (The reasons were still uncertain.) The Latin West was not as inferior than the Greek East as in the primitive age. The ongoing conflict between the East and West, aggravated by the increased contact at the beginning of the century, led to the Great Schism in AD 1054. On the other hand, the rise of papal power can be observed during this period. The decline of Carolingian dynasty demanded the bishops and archbishops to participate more in secular affairs. The bishoprics had a much longer history than the contemporary kingdoms, and they looked up to the pope in Rome. This opened the door of papal intervention of local politics through the bishops. The pope could even “appoint” kings and important officials in the kingdoms. To combat disobedience, the pope could utilize excommunication. The papal supremacy made the Roman Catholic Church to be a large business in the Western Europe. Crusades, initiated by the pope in Rome to help the Byzantines and protect the pilgrims to Jerusalem, happened in this period as well. On the other hand, the Benedictine Rule was still influential, but no longer the dominant religious order. In this period, it was observed the emergence of other religious orders, such as Augustinian Order and Cistercian Order. There were also the Dominican friars (who followed the Augustinian Order) and Franciscan friars (who followed their own religious order). In this period, there was new development in theology and the rise of scholasticism. Introduced by the Muslims in Al-Andalus, Aristotelianism became the framework of studying theology in this period of the Middle Ages. Many good universities that are still renowned nowadays were established in this period. Works from theologians such as Anselm of Canterbury and Thomas Aquinas (a Dominican friar) were some of the best classics.
Papal supremacy certainly could not last sustainably. In the 14th century, the age of unrest started. At the beginning of this age, the papacy was moved to Avignon, France. In terms of ecclesiastical business, it might be good because Avignon was closer to most of the places in Europe. But the pope was no longer seated at where the martyrdom of Peter took place, theoretically hurting the supremacy of the pope. The business had grown so huge that it was no longer effective, not to even mention the corruption that came with the huge ecclesiastical machinery. Secular governments became more independent from the pope. Excommunication and interdict were no longer effective in subduing the kings. On the other hand, the growth of urban population outperformed that of rural population. The system of feudalism, which was prevalent in the rural area, started to decline. It had huge consequences because it had been serving as the hierarchical social structure in the medieval times. The social and political stability was no longer maintained by this social order. As a result of easier propagation of knowledge in cities and towns, people started to question the academics established by the church, and even the whole ideal of the ecclesiastical government. It is in this period when various theologians of via moderna, who questioned the methods of doing theology at the times, appeared. These theologians include William of Ockham, Marsilius of Padua, Eckhart, and John Wycliffe. Their philosophies and theologies were very influential among the Reformers.
- Southerm S. W. Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages. London, United Kingdom: Penguin Books, 1970. [Amazon]
reformator: living perspectivally 