Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Church and State in the Middle Ages
As Vidmar (2005) makes plain, a vigorous "spiritual energy" had taken over Europe, which had "come of age" so to speak by the time of the Middle Ages, 11th century AD (p. 119). This spiritual energy was directed not only at art, architecture, science and music but also in way in which the state viewed the Church and vice versa. Since Charlemagne had been crowned Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas day in 800 AD by Pope Leo, after protecting the Pope and Rome from the marauding Lombards, a special relationship had developed between the head of Christendom and Europe's most prominent Christian defender. As the faith spread, so too did the sense among statesmen that the heads of state owed a duty to the head of their spiritual faith -- and while this came by way of cultural consent, it was, as the late Middle Ages showed, a relationship that was tenuous and reliant upon mutual respect: once the respect went, so too did the relationship (the excommunication of Henry VIII of England is one such example).
Prior to Charlemagne's unification of the Germanic realm, Europe had been plagued by division among and attack by the barbarian...
Charlemagne waged war against them and won the approbation of Pope Leo in the process, bringing back into the European consciousness the unification of the idea of kingship and religious/spiritual principle or impetus. Constantine had done the same in the 5th century AD upon his "in this sign you shall conquer" conversion, which led to his winning of the throne of Rome and his patronage of the early Church. Now by 1000, the unification under the protecting arm of the state and the ideology of the Church allowed Europe to flourish in a new, creative, artistic, scientific and militaristic way. The Crusades became a rallying point for the newness that was Christendom: the mission to do to the Moors what Charlemagne had done to the Lombards. However, as Vidmar notes, the Crusades were by and large a great disappointment as they accomplished little in military terms -- but in cultural terms, they fostered the spirit that was being manifested in the creation of the great cathedrals -- and they also impacted and helped establish new trade routes, the success of which would ultimately flood Europe with so much money that it would change the face, spiritual condition,…
References
Vidmar, J. (2005). The Catholic Church through the Ages. NJ: Paulist Press.
Philosophers such as John Locke and the Founding Fathers of the American Revolution demanded that the rights of the individual be acknowledged by the leading social governing body. But even today, the balance between the rights of the individual and the state is an imperfect one: to what degree do individuals have a right to critique the government, to set their own moral terms of the private behavior, and
Middle Age Crusade: The Middle Ages Crusades were a succession of holy wars initiated by the European Christian states against the Saracens i.e. The Moslem during this period. These holy wars were known as crusades because the term was derived from a French old word that means the cross. While the crusades are classified into two major categories, they began in 1095 when Pope Claremont preached at the council of
living in the Middle Ages. What new things are available for you to experience? The prelude to modernism The history that establishes origin and evolution of the modern society has its basis from the ancient time. Initially, the world and society featured various practices that today we may perceive as being barbaric and outdated. However, it is essential to acknowledge that it is through the various ages of revolution that the
Civilization in the High Middle Ages It is said that the University of Oxford was not created, that rather it emerged. Universities in general, and the University of Oxford in particular, are among one of the many contributions of Medieval civilization to the present day. The University of Oxford was not the earliest university in the world - Paris and Bologna were founded before it - but it is the oldest
Pope Urban II and the First Crusade Pope Urban II and his influence in developing and promoting the First Crusade in the 11th century Christianity during the Middle Ages has been characterized by numerous conflicts that focus on the struggle for religious and political dominance, particularly in Europe and other Western societies. Of particular interest in the study of the history of the Christian religion are the events that surround European civilization
Europe is, to a large extent, the crucible of world development. Certainly, Asia and the regions of the Middle East are significant too, but Europe is the birth of a Western culture that has spread throughout the globe and affected the world in numerous ways. For this reason, European studies are central to any academic curriculum program. As specific to the U.S., Europe is particularly important since not only has