Throughout the twelfth century, the identity of heretics became increasingly more specific and with that came a lawful system that those accused of heresy had to adhere to. During these times an increasingly growing population fell under the umbrella title known as a heretic, as there were many different systems of belief that were not Catholicism, which was the religion that was backed by the ruling system. Because of the multitude of different kinds possible heretics, they were, at first, hard to track down, which possibly could have added to the urge to flush them out. As stated in Deane and Kolpacoff’s A History of Medieval Heresy and Inquisition “By the mid-twelfth century, therefore, it was already difficult for church leaders to distinguish …show more content…
A man named Valdes preached a message of giving up riches as he had done and relying instead on God. This appealed to many people, and these followers were called many names, such as Friends, the Known, Valdesi or most commonly the Poor. This group threatened the church because of their public dismissal of material riches, which the Church made use of. Additionally, the Poor could be identified by being very liberal about which among them could preach, and in the past the Church only allowed clergy approved men to preach. Eventually Pope Lucious III had the group excommunicated. Another example of a group that were considered heretic were the Good Men and Women. This group was identifiable through their beliefs which were very different from Catholicism. These included the notion that one could be baptized through the laying of the hands (versus that of water), they believed that souls were angels trapped in flesh and that the only way to end the cycle of eternal rebirth for angels was for procreation to end entirely. Because of this they didn’t wed or have sex. They wouldn’t eat any meat as it was produced from beings that had had sex. They had a group within the religion known as the “Elected” who had been cleansed and could never sin again. Per the Good Men and Women, God could only hear the Elected’s prayers and therefore those were who were not the Elected frequently …show more content…
During this time, there was a struggle for power between the Pope and the Emperor, and the supposed just crusade against heretics was a convenient excuse for Pope Innocent to war against political enemies. “Although deeply entangled with the notion of heresy, the Albengensian Crusade was at heart a crusade of conquest, firmly linked to political ambitions and territorial concerns” (pg. 47). Once the crusading had taken its toll, many of those in positions of authority had been killed, and those who filled those seats were committed to finding and reforming heretics. This event combined with the Treaty of Paris in 1229 set the stage for the beginning of heretic
They did not want to separate from their church. Thy wanted to make themselves, and their church pure, or free of fault.
Foss explains, “What Urban needed was an enterprise, clearly virtuous in serving the ends of Christiandome… in these moments of reflection, the popes mind turned towards Jerusalem.” Urban II reflects back on the first taking of the Holy City after the defeat of the Byzantine Empire in 1071, and begins to question what his people know about the Turkish race and really the ideology of Islamic thought. Foss goes on to examine the ignorance of westerners and needed to be “reminded [by the pope] of the infamous heathens, their cruelty and hatred of Christians,” hoping this would justify the first Holy Crusade. However, Foss identifies the creativity of the Pope’s language to persuade the knights and army of the people to embark on the Holy Crusade based on the Muslims cruel actions turned onto their fellow Christians. Claiming the Muslims “Killed captives by torture…poor captives were whipped…and others were bound to the post and used as a target for arrows.” Foss examines the Popes words as an effective effort of persuasion in creating an army of crusaders to help clean “…Holy places, which are now treated with ignominy and polluted with Filthiness” and any sacrifice in Jerusalem is a “promise of a spiritual reward… and death for
The First Crusade is often cited as one of the most damnable consequences of religious fanaticism. A careful inspection of the circumstances and outcomes, however, will reveal a resultant political restructuring of Europe under the banner of Christendom. The purpose of this investigation is to investigate Pope Urban II’s motives in initiating the First Crusade, with a particular focus on the consolidation of the Western Church’s influence in Europe. Among the primary sources that will be consulted are the letter sent by Patriach Alexios of Constantinople to Urban, and an account of Urban’s speech at Clermont. Relevant excerpts from both of these primary sources, as well as contextual evidence and a wide array of historiography, will be taken
Kings often struggled with the Church over power and land, both trying desperately to obtain them, both committing atrocities to hold onto them. Time and time again, the Popes of the postclassical period went to great extremes to secure the Church’s position in the world. Both the Crusades and the Inquisition are examples of this. D...
The Crusades were the first tactical mission by Western Christianity in order to recapture the Muslim conquered Holy Lands. Several people have been accredited with the launch of the crusades including Peter the Hermit however it is now understood that this responsibility rested primarily with Pope Urban II . The main goal of the Crusades was the results of an appeal from Alexius II, who had pleaded for Western Volunteers help with the prevention of any further invasions. The Pope’s actions are viewed as him answering the pleas of help of another in need, fulfilling his Christian right. However, from reading the documents it is apparent that Pope Urban had ulterior motives for encouraging engagement in the war against the Turks. The documents and supporting arguments now highlight that the Pope not only sought to recruit soldiers to help but also to challenge those who had harmed the Christians community and annihilate the Muslims. He put forth the idea that failure to recapture this lands would anger God and that by participating, God would redeem them of their previous sins.in a time of deep devoutness, it is clear this would have been a huge enticement for men to engage in the battle. Whether his motives were clear or not to his people, Pope Urban’s speeches claiming that “Deus vult!” (God wills it) encouraged many Christians to participate and take the cross.
The Crusades were one of the most prominent events in Western European history; they were not discrete and unimportant pilgrimages, but a continuous stream of marching Western armies (Crusaders) into the Muslim world, terminating in the creation and eventually the fall of the Islamic Kingdoms. The Crusades were a Holy War of Roman Christianity against Islam, but was it really a “holy war” or was it Western Europe fighting for more land and power? Through Pope Urban II and the Roman Catholic Church’s actions, their proposed motivations seem unclear, and even unchristian. Prior to the Crusades, Urban encouraged that Western Europe fight for their religion but throughout the crusades the real motivations shone though; the Crusaders were power hungry, land coveting people who fought with non Christian ideals and Morales.
In the perspective of the Pope if the land is won over he gains more authority, wealth, and property. The Crusade for the Pope was more of the land then the ideology. The spiritual preference was the way of manipulating the people into agreeing and joining.
This promise of guaranteed eternal life in heaven blinded people against the true horrors of war and the irrationality of traveling far lengths to kill entire populations of people. Followers would do anything for their pope, their god, and their salvation. Additionally, the call of “Let those...who are accustomed to wage private wars wastefully even against believers, go forth now and to be finished in victory” was common, but not rational (Source 40). It shows the primitive thought of people during the time as they took preexisting violence and transferred it to a new conflict rather than looking for a more amicable resolution, while also giving a direct excuse from god to behave violently towards fellow men. As expected from humans, ensuing actions were evil, and accounts of crusades describe the Christians as savages, “Within this temple about ten thousand were beheaded. If you had been there, your feet would have been stained up to the ankles with the blood of the slain...Not one of them was allowed to live. They did not spare the women and children” (Source
With the decline of the Western Roman empire Western Europe was a disjointed land that had no true unifying structure till the rise of Christianity. In Roman antiquity people used the State or empire of Rome to define themselves and give them a sense of unity despite having a diverse group of people within the empire. When Western Rome fell this belief based on a Roman cultural identity disappeared and no longer were people able to identify themselves with any particular group as they once have. The Christian religion was able to fill this vacuum by having the people associate themselves to a religion instead of a given state or cultural group. During Medieval Europe Christianity became the unifying force that would define what it meant to be European. Christianity gave political leaders legitimacy by showing that they have been favored by the gods. The clergyman that recorded the histories surrounding the kings of the Medieval Europe also provided a link to the Roman Empire to give the Kings a link to Roman empire of antiquity. Christianity became the center of the cultural life in western Europe and created a new social elite in Europe which would dominate literacy and knowledge within Europe for centuries. Christianity provided Europe with an escape from the disorder of the Medieval ages and give them a spiritual outlet for their fears and desires for a better life, whether in the physical life or in the spiritual world after death.
The Cathars were a very peaceful group that adopted a life of extreme devotion. Both men and women could become "parfaits". "Parfaits" referred to people who were seen by the Catholic Church as "perfect heretics". They renounced the world and abstained from eating meat and having any sexual contact. The Cathars lived in poverty. The men would travel and preach, and they earned money by cloth making, and shepherding. Followers were not expected to abide by the same ascetic standards as the parfaits, and they were permitted to eat meat and engage in sex. Catharism, or Albigensianism, was a religion which originated in the Balkans long before it made its appearance in the southwestern region of France , around the 12th century. It was a religion like any other, based on good versus evil. Albigensianism was a heretic religion and the catholics were not very fond of this new and upcoming religion. Its creed stated that god never created Earth, Jesus never existed nor did he suffer on the cross. The only ceremony practiced by the Cathars was the consolamentum or baptism of the Holy Spirit. For the Cathars, this was the only means of salvation. The Cathar clergy were those who had already received the consolamentum as part of the ritualistic ordination and had already been saved. The lay Cathars, or Believers, were obliged to receive the same sacrament before death in order to be saved as well. By the early thirteenth century Catharism was a very quickly growing religion in the area of Languedoc. It was supported by the nobility as well as the common people. This was yet another annoyance to the Roman Church. Even in open debates, Ca...
Heresy, as defined by the medieval church, is 'an opinion chosen by human perception, found on the scriptures, contrary to the teachings of the church, publicly avowed and obstinately defended' (Moore ix). The word 'Heresy' originates from the Greek word, 'Hairesis', meaning 'choice' (George xi). During the Medieval time period, which stretched from the 700's to the 1400's, heresies became sought out as religious alternatives to the constraining Catholic Church (George 342, Roach 11). The common people began to become increasingly more educated (Roach 52). With this came the ability, the need, to question authority (Moore 3, Roach 59). Because of the Church's religious monopoly and the laity's demand for knowledge, heresy became a widespread practice across Europe during the Middle Ages, causing the Church to reconsider their methods of controlling the spread of heresy and devise new ways to appease the opposing heretical factions.
In several ways, Christians and Muslims in the Middle Ages shared in their approach to dealing with the infidels living in their lands, particularly in their proclamation of legal edicts defining the level of toleration and the protection offered those nonbelievers. Yet, however similar the two society's legislative relations were in managing minority faiths, there still existed minor fundamental differences stemming from disparities in their societal structure.
For example, those of who showed any sign of not agreeing with an aspect of the bible were nearly immediately condemned as a heretic automatically.
Heresy in general refers to a doctrinal belief held in opposition to the recognized standards of an established system of thought. Theologically it means an opinion at variance with the authorized teachings of any church, notably the Christian, and especially when this promotes separation from the main body of faithful believers. By the time Irenaeus wrote Against the Heresies the word became fixed to designate a group cut off from the Church by reason of false doctrine.
Persecution was viewed by those of the early church as a declaration of one’s ultimate allegiance with Christ and martyrdom was considered a privilege with some even believing they were appointed for these horrendous sufferings by God himself. Because Jesus had warned his followers that they would be hated just as he was because their standard of living would be at odds with the earthly government and its worldly population, “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:14, KJV). Being considered unacceptable by a secular governmental entity was one mark of the early church’s separation from the profane things of the mortal realm. While the church was scripturally obligated to respect civil laws and principals, at the same time it was to abstain from any mandate that would steer it away from the principles and doctrines of the Word of God, “And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar 's, and unto God the things which be God 's” (Luke 20:25,