The Christian Church in the Middle Ages played the role of a connecting factor for European states. At the same time, the church also performed an identification function. After 1054 (the break with the Byzantine Patriarchate), the church turns into the center of political life in Europe (Vatican City, Rome, Italy).
According to the doctrine of St. Augustine, the church asserted and defended its priority over secular power. No king could challenge the privileges of the pope, interfere with political life own state. Of course, secular rulers were looking for ways to neutralize strong and unnecessary influence catholic church. But these victories were rather the exception to the rule.
The main weapons in the fight against rebellious monarchs were the financial press and the institution of anathema. During the period of feudal irritability, kings were most dependent on the will of the Pope. The struggle for the integrity of the state required considerable funds, because the rebellious feudal lords were often richer than the overlord. Monetary assistance was provided in exchange for expanding the pope's influence in the region.
If the king turned out to obey the head of the Vatican, then the anathema mechanism was activated. Anathema is a church curse, eternal excommunication from the church of an objectionable person. Anathema entailed terrible, irreparable consequences.
The French king Henry VII fell into this trap, infamous for his campaign in Canossa, where after incredible humiliations he was nevertheless forgiven by the Pope.
Unlike secular power, the Catholic Church had a solid financial income - church tithes from peasants, generous gifts from powerful feudal lords and benefits provided by the monarch.
During the early and middle Middle Ages, the Catholic Church controlled all spheres of human life: from politics to the spiritual world of the individual. The person took every step with the permission of the clergy. This position led the church to a double morality. The church demanded strict adherence to all moral standards from parishioners, but allowed itself the impossible.
Education was controlled by “black and white cassocks”; everything that contradicted official morality was removed from the programs of schools and universities.
The natural development of science was hampered by dogmatism: for example, among the victims of the geocentric model of the world was D. Bruno, who was declared a heretic. Another talented scientist, G. Galileo, who was more diplomatic, had to beg for forgiveness for a long time.
But these circumstances do not negate everything positive that was done by the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. Monasteries were the center of culture; many of them contained evidence of the great deeds of the Roman Empire. Literate monks painstakingly copied ancient scrolls.
The Church encouraged the development of such genres as all kinds of lives of saints and chronicles “from the Nativity of Christ.” Let us note that the Orthodox Church calculated chronology from the Creation of the world.
To dominate the minds, hearts and souls of its contemporaries, the church practiced various methods of monitoring changes in society. Of course, the methods chosen were not the cleanest, although they were effective. The arsenal includes surveillance, denunciations and good job Inquisition. There was an ongoing witch hunt. As a result, hundreds of thousands of “witches” were burned at the stake. Mass executions were practiced; up to 500 women were burned at the stake per day. Inquisitors, who are also the dark instruments of the Dominicans (Order of St. Dominic), in their search for heretics, were guided by the instructions of the treatise “The Hammer of the Witches.” The charges were absurd, the punishments were inhumane and cruel. Torture was used to force the victim to sign his own sentence. The most popular are the “iron maiden” hug, the Spanish boot, hanging by the hair, water torture. As a sign of protest, no less terrible “black masses” took place throughout Europe, which caused a new surge in “witch hunts.”
The influence of the Catholic Church began to decline sharply in the late Middle Ages, with the end of the centralization process. Secular power noticeably pushed the clergy away from accepting government decisions, which resulted in some liberalization of all aspects of life.
The church's position proved to be stable in those European countries where the rate of economic growth noticeably lagged behind the leaders (Italy, Spain).
1. Holy Inquisition
1.1 Goals and means
1.2 Main historical stages
1.2.1 Persecution of heretics until the 12th century
1.2.2 Dominican period
1.2.3 Spanish Inquisition
1.2.4 Other countries
2. Religious tourism
2.1 Orthodox pilgrimage
2.2 Rules for the pilgrimage
2.3 Shrines of Ecumenical Orthodoxy
2.4 Tour description
Conclusion
List of used literature
Application
Introduction
Catholicism (from the Greek katholikos - universal, universal) is a Christian (Roman Catholic) church, formed in the last centuries of antiquity and the Middle Ages, mainly in Western Europe and led by the popes. The term “Catholic Church” was used by Christian leaders back in the 2nd–3rd centuries, reflecting the unity of faith, ritual, and organizational structure of Christian communities (churches) scattered throughout the Roman Empire. Over time (especially after the division of churches in 1054), the name “Catholic Church” was assigned to the Western Church, although the Orthodox Church considers itself universal.
The object of the course work is the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages in Europe.
The subject of the study is the church and heretics in Europe in the Middle Ages.
The purpose of the course work is to identify the role of the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages in Europe.
Research objectives:
1. Consider the main theological trends and dogmas in the Roman Church of Western Europe;
2. Consider the goals and means of the Holy Inquisition, its main stages.
Unlike the Orthodox (Byzantine) Church, strictly subordinate imperial power, the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages often played an independent political role, especially in the context of the feudal fragmentation of Western Europe.
Already in the Early Middle Ages, the Catholic Church became one of the largest feudal lords. According to some estimates, it owned up to a third of all cultivated land in Western Europe. Thus, the Benedictine monastery in Fulda (Germany) had more than 250 thousand hectares of land, the Saint-Germain monastery (France) - more than 100 thousand dependent people.
During the period of feudal civil strife in Western Europe, the Catholic Church tried to limit their scope and the damage they caused to society by adopting decrees on the Peace of God and the Truce of God. True, they did not produce a significant effect. In conditions of political fragmentation, the papacy in the 13th century. reached the zenith of its power, when many European monarchs recognized their vassal dependence on the popes, and the position and will of the latter largely determined the political situation in Europe. Creating strong centralized states(primarily England and France) led to a decline in the political power of the papacy, which was clearly shown by the so-called Avignon captivity of the popes and the subsequent “Great Schism” in the Catholic Church (1378–1414). In the 15th century, England and France actually formed their own national churches, which obeyed not so much the popes as their kings.
The Catholic Church played a huge role in the cultural development of Europe, especially in the Early Middle Ages. Almost all famous figures cultures of the Early Middle Ages (Gregory of Tours, Isidore of Seville, Bede the Venerable, etc.) - clergy. Among the architectural masterpieces of the Middle Ages, the buildings of cathedrals and monasteries dominated. Religious subjects predominated in painting. There were schools at monasteries and churches. At the same time, the Catholic Church zealously fought against dissent; Many scientists, thinkers, and cultural figures fell victims of this struggle. The conservative model of the world and man in the world, implanted by the Catholic Church, at the end of the Middle Ages aroused opposition in the form of humanism.
1. Holy Inquisition
The Holy Inquisition - common name a number of institutions of the Roman Catholic Church to combat heresy. From lat. inquīsītiō, in the legal sense - “search”, “investigation”. The term was widespread in the legal sphere even before the emergence of medieval church institutions with this name, and meant clarifying the circumstances of a case by investigation, usually through interrogation, often with the use of force. Over time, the Inquisition began to mean spiritual trials of anti-Christian heresies.
Heresy (Greek αἵρεσις - “choice, direction, opinion”) is a conscious deviation from the tenets of faith, offering a different approach to religious teaching; separation of a new community from the church. The word “heresy” first acquires a negative meaning in the New Testament epistles. The logic of this transformation is such that since a person can find truth and life only in Christ, any alternative automatically dooms a person to destruction.
Accordingly, the Apostle Peter speaks of “pernicious heresies,” and the Apostle Paul places “heresies” on a par with the sins of sorcery and idolatry. Following the example of the apostles, the early Christian church used the term “heresy” to refer to a teaching that diverged from Christian orthodoxy, or a group of people who broke away from the Church because of their adherence to such a teaching.
It was equally charged to submit to any monetary punishment that would be legally imposed on the deceased. Chapter 4. Activities of the Inquisition in different countries Europe Despite the seeming ubiquity of inquisitorial tribunals in Medieval Europe, its effect was unequal in different European countries. First of all, it should be noted that the most vigorous activity of the Inquisition...
After the assassination, Mauritius was elevated to the throne. It seems to me that in this way, Gregory I sought not only to become a secular ruler, but also to strengthen the authority of the Catholic Church in Europe. The struggle between the pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople revealed the only head of the church - the Pope. Now that the authority of the church is at its height, Rome needs to establish communication...
Love is “stronger than death,” which overcomes all obstacles, even traditional ideas about sin. The secular principle as a whole, of course, did not destroy the Christian worldview in that era; but in the value system of the Western European Middle Ages, earthly ideals steadily won their place. - Lady, will you give me an answer? Here is my question... Death will swallow everything in its mouth. We will die: I will die soon...
Middle Ages) are important for this work, because. scattered remnants of the sect existed until the end of the 14th century. The Christian sect of the Albigenses became widespread in the 12-13th centuries. in Western Europe. It is an ascetic religious movement. The adherents of the sect were called Albigensians (after the city of Albi, the center of the movement), as well as Cathars (Greek katharos, “pure”) from the name...
The social role of the Christian religion and the church in feudal society
Christianity stood at the cradle of feudal society as an established religious ideology. Already in last centuries During the existence of the Roman Empire, it turned from a religion of the oppressed into an instrument of enslavement of the working masses in the hands of the ruling class of slave owners.
Christian preaching instilled in the working people the mystical belief that justice and goodness, which cannot be realized in the earthly world, would triumph in the afterlife for all followers of the new religion. With the fantastic idea of the equality of all people before God, Christianity sought to cover the gaping abyss of social contradictions in real existence. With religious consolation for the “suffering and burdened,” it sought to extinguish the social protest of the exploited, promising them reward for suffering in the “other life.” Thanks to this social and ideological function, Christianity was able to survive the collapse of the slave system and remained an important means of spiritual enslavement of workers in feudal society.
The ruling class of this society, adapting Christianity to the conditions of the new feudal system throughout the Middle Ages, sought to strengthen the church in every possible way economically, politically and ideologically. The church and the clergy serving it became part of the feudal system, its most important ideological support. The Christian religion in Western Europe - Catholicism - was the dominant form of ideology in the Middle Ages. She dominated in all areas of social, ideological, cultural life, subjugated morality, science, culture, education, clothed it in its forms and permeated all aspects of the medieval worldview.
The exceptionally large role of religion and the church in feudal era, their strongest impact on the minds of people was determined by the fact that the worldview of medieval man was predominantly theological. The ideas of all people in that era, regardless of their social affiliation, were permeated with a religious spirit.
Ideological foundations of medieval Christianity
Christian doctrine arose from the struggle and at the same time from the mutual influence of many philosophical and religious movements, among which the ideas of the Jewish philosopher - the Neoplatonist Philo of Alexandria and the Roman Stoic Seneca - were of particular importance. However, later the philosophical foundations of Christianity, although greatly simplified, were overgrown with a dense fabric of more primitive religious ideas, adapted to the understanding of the “barbarians” who flooded the Western Roman Empire.
The foundations of the feudal-ecclesiastical worldview of the Middle Ages were laid at the turn of the 4th and 5th centuries. Bishop of the city of Hippo ( North Africa) Augustine (354-430). To the dogmatic provisions of Christianity, mainly approved at the Nicene and Constantinople church councils in 325 and 381, he added the doctrine he developed “about the only saving role of the church.” Augustine led a fierce struggle against various heretical movements, dogmatically substantiated the right of private property, and declared wealth and poverty “a divine institution.” In his main work, “On the State of God” (“De civitate Dei”), Augustine gave a Christian idea of world history. According to his concept, the “earthly state” - the world (civitas terrena), which is the creation of the devil, opposes, although intertwined with it in real life, “state of God” (civitas Dei). The representative of the latter is the church; its task is to overcome the “kingdom of the devil” by spreading the Christian faith, eradicating heresies and converting all humanity to the “true faith.” Augustine believed that history progresses according to a divine plan and ultimately in an ascending line toward the beatific state of humanity.
Providentialism in history, put forward by Augustine, served as the theoretical basis for all church historical literature of the Middle Ages. Declaring non-Christians and heretics to be victims of the devil, Augustine preached the need not only to convince, but also to force them to accept the teachings of the church. He also developed a position according to which the church is the only custodian of “divine grace,” with the help of which it can give people atonement for sins and thereby grant them “eternal salvation.” This teaching raised the general significance of the church and dogmatically substantiated the deep difference between the clergy and the mass of believers, which was especially characteristic of the Western Christian church of the Middle Ages.
At the same time, there were many contradictions in Augustine’s theological and philosophical-historical views. This explains the fact that supporters of views hostile to the official church, in particular Wycliffe, Jan Hus and others, tried to rely on some of its provisions.
Strengthening the economic base of the church and its feudalization in the VI-XI centuries.
The Church not only managed to preserve its possessions and property during barbarian invasions and revolutionary uprisings, but also significantly increased its wealth. She actively contributed to the process of feudalization and played a significant role in it. Already in the early Middle Ages, in most countries of Western Europe, a significant part of the land area was concentrated in the hands of monasteries, bishops, and cathedral chapters; the church cruelly exploited the labor of dependent peasants. Church feudal lords occupied a prominent place in the emerging feudal hierarchy. Being vassals of kings and other secular sovereigns, they themselves had numerous not only spiritual, but also secular vassals. Large church feudal lords had broad immunity rights. Great importance in strengthening the economic and social influence churches had monasteries. Founded around 529 by Benedict of Nursia, the monastery of Montecassino (Italy) marked the beginning of the first monastic order - the Benedictine Order. Its charter was widely used in the further organization of early medieval monasteries, most of which belonged to the Benedictine order. Monasteries and episcopal possessions already in the 7th-8th centuries. were usually the focus economic life— fairs were held next to them, and extensive farming was carried out on the lands that belonged to them through the labor of dependent peasants—colons and serfs. As they grew richer, they expanded their economic activity, rounding up the possessions at the expense of the ruined community members, as well as through the development, of course with the help of their peasants, forests, swamps and wastelands. The largest and richest monasteries (abbeys) also influenced the political life of Western European countries.
The Church increasingly acquired the character of a powerful centralized and at the same time hierarchical organization. The lowest cell of the church organization in the West and in the East was the parish led by the parish priest (presbyter). Presbyters were part of a hierarchy headed by a bishop. The bishop, who became the sole head of the “community of believers” of each diocese, acquired special significance in the church. A number of dioceses were united into a metropolitanate, headed by a metropolitan in the East and an archbishop in the West. In the East, back in the 5th century. Church associations of a higher level arose - the patriarchate (in Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem). In the West, the bishop of Rome, the pope, received equal recognition with the patriarchs (and then even higher than them).
Councils (congresses) of bishops acquired great importance in the governance of the church. Bishops of a separate province or several provinces gathered at local (or local) councils; “Ecumenical councils united all the bishops of the church; issues of dogma, cult, and church organization were resolved at them (until the 9th century they were convened by the Byzantine emperor).
The emergence of the papacy played a major role in strengthening the church in Western Europe. At the end of the 4th - beginning of the 5th century. The Roman bishops arrogated to themselves the exclusive right to be called pope, that is, the head of the church. The popes based their claims to supremacy in the church on the fact that they were “successors of the Apostle Peter,” who, according to legend, was the first list - the vicar of Christ in Rome. Taking advantage of the absence in the West, particularly in Italy, of strong secular power, the pope in the 5th-6th centuries. quickly rose to become the de facto secular rulers of the Roman diocese. With the growth of church land ownership in Western Europe, the pope began to receive various payments from church lands. The totality of lands in the hands of the pope came to be regarded as the “patrimony of St. Peter” (“patrimonium S. Petri”), and he himself as their supreme lord. The organization of the church increasingly acquired a feudal-hierarchical structure; at its head was the pope, and at its lowest levels were the parish clergy. By the end of the 6th century. The papacy in Western Europe began to put forward claims to complete supremacy in the Christian church. Pope Gregory I (590-604) vigorously opposed the Patriarch of Constantinople, denying him the right to the title of “universal” ruler.
Union between church and state
These advances by the papacy, as well as the popes' claims to political influence in Italy and the rest of Western Europe, encountered resistance both within the church and on the part of secular sovereigns. Both in this and in a later period, they had to reckon with the Byzantine emperors and the Patriarch of Constantinople, with the Lombard kings, later with the Frankish, and even later with the German empires.
In general, however, there was a close alliance between church and state in Western Europe during the early Middle Ages. The church acted "as the most general synthesis and the most general sanction of the existing feudal system." In the fight against the enemies of this system, as well as against those who in any way encroached on the authority of the church, she used a carefully developed system of church punishments: “excommunication,” which placed a person outside the church; “interdict”, when all worship was prohibited on the territory of a region or even an entire country; “anathema” - a solemn public curse; various kinds church repentance, etc. All these measures for the superstitious people of that time were no less terrible and effective than the punishments imposed by secular authorities. Deprivation of church patronage, according to the ideas of that era, took away a person’s hope for “salvation” and threatened him with hellish torment in the other world.
The early feudal state, in turn, protected and supported the interests of the church. Pepin the Short actively participated in the creation of the Papal State in Italy. Charlemagne legitimized the church tithe (decima) as a compulsory tax, which was levied on the entire population. Its main burden fell on the peasantry, who paid tithes in three types: “big tithe” - from grain; “small” - from vegetables, fruits and poultry; "tithe of blood" - from livestock.
The enormous influence of the church in early medieval society was determined not only by its wealth and alliance with the state, but also by the monopoly it enjoyed in the intellectual life of society. At that time, elementary things were completely concentrated in the hands of the church. school education, literature, production and rewriting of books, the selection and preservation of those extremely reduced elements of the ancient cultural tradition, which it needed to achieve its ideological goals, depended entirely on it. Mostly from the ranks of the clergy at that time came all somewhat educated people, poets, writers, historians, and teachers.
Eastern expansion of the papacy and division of churches
In the middle of the 9th century. under Pope Nicholas I (858-867), clashes between the Western and Eastern churches became especially acute. The territorial advances of the papacy and the appearance of papal legates in Bulgaria caused a conflict between Pope Nicholas I and the Patriarch of Constantinople Photius. At the church councils convened by both sides, dogmatic, canonical and ritual differences emerged between the Eastern and Western churches, which have survived to this day. In the West, the “holy spirit” was believed to come equally from “God the Father” and from “God the Son” (Latin filioque), while in the East the procession of the “holy spirit” was recognized only from “God the Father.” The Western Church adhered to the doctrine of the “extraordinary merits” of saints before God, which created an allegedly sacred reserve of “grace”, through which the church, at its discretion, can forgive people’s sins and give their souls “eternal salvation” and even sell letters of such absolution - indulgences. In the East this teaching was rejected. The main ritual differences were that among Catholics, clergy received communion with bread and wine, and laity - only with bread; among the Orthodox, all believers, without distinction, received communion with both wine and bread. In the West, the sign of the cross was made with five fingers, in the East - with three. In the Western Church, services everywhere were conducted only on Latin, in the Orthodox - in local languages. In the West, the church required celibacy from all clergy; in the East, celibacy was required only from monks. The Western Church, unlike the Byzantine Church, did not allow exit from the clergy, forbade the laity to read and interpret the Holy Scriptures, asserted the primacy of the pope in the Christian Church and the institution of cardinals, which is not recognized in the East.
The real basis of the ongoing disputes between the churches was, however, not dogmatic, canonical and ritual differences, but very real practical interests. The papacy strenuously sought to expand the scope of its religious political influence to the East. The Eastern Church strongly opposed this expansion.
In the fight against the Eastern Church, Pope Nicholas I for the first time used a collection of papal epistles falsely attributed to Bishop Isidore of Seville (VI-VII centuries). This collection (“False Isidore’s Decretals”) included over a hundred fictitious papal messages, vodka documents on the decisions of church councils, the “Donation of Constantine” and other forgeries, the purpose of which was to substantiate papal primacy in the church and the world-power claims of the papacy. From then on, the “False Isidore Decretals”, later officially included in the code of canon law, became the generally accepted basis of papal rule in the Middle Ages, until in the 15th-16th centuries. their falsity has not been proven.
In the summer of 1054, the legates of Pope Leo IX sent to Constantinople cursed the Byzantine patriarch Michael Cerullarius. The latter, in turn, convened a church council and cursed the papal legates. This is how the final division of the previously formally united Christian Church took place into the Western - Roman Catholic, and the Eastern - Greek Catholic, or Orthodox. The division of churches and the further development of each of them was determined by the peculiarities of the socio-political development of Byzantium and Western European countries. In Byzantium, the church was completely subordinated to imperial power; in the West, in the course of the struggle against secular power, it defended its independence and for a long time maintained its claim to political supremacy.
Decline of the papacy in the 9th-11th centuries. Cluny movement
From the second half of the 9th century. An almost two-hundred-year period of decline of the papacy begins. After the division of the Carolingian Empire, Italy found itself politically fragmented. As a feudal sovereign, the pope was far from the most powerful among the Italian feudal lords. Unable to subordinate them to his influence, he became a tool, and sometimes a victim, in the internecine struggle of various feudal factions. Decay Frankish Empire temporarily disrupted the connections between the papacy and the clergy in other countries and regions of Europe that had not yet been sufficiently strengthened in the previous period. This partially undermined the pan-European influence and financial base of the papacy.
Taking advantage of the decline of the papacy, large feudal lords stopped taking it into account and seized lands that belonged to the popes. After the formation of the so-called Roman Empire under Otto I, the papal throne was occupied for almost a century by proteges of the German emperors. Locally, the church found itself increasingly dependent on individual secular rulers.
The decline of the papacy contributed to the strengthening of the power of bishops and archbishops, who turned into feudal princes who subordinated the general church interests to their political goals and desire for enrichment. The Church became more and more “worldly,” moving further and further away from the ideal of poverty and asceticism, which undermined its authority and influence on the masses.
In this regard, a movement arose among monasticism aimed at strengthening the moral prestige of the church and its independence in relation to secular authorities, at creating a strong church organization, in particular at strengthening papal power. This movement began at the beginning of the 10th century. headed the monastery of Cluny (French Burgundy), which soon became the center of a large association of monasteries (by the end of the 12th century, the Cluny congregation included about 2 thousand monasteries in France, Germany, Italy, England and Spain). The abbot of Cluny was subordinate directly to the pope: the strict charter excluded the subordination of monasteries not only to secular authorities, but also to local bishops. He demanded from the monks strict adherence to the vow of celibacy (“celibacy”). The Clunians also opposed the sale of church positions (“simony”) and the appointment of bishops and abbots by secular sovereigns. For the success of sermons, libraries and schools imbued with the church spirit were created in monasteries. Monks were forbidden to engage in physical labor.
The Cluny movement was also used by part of the large feudal nobility as a means in the struggle against royal power and the bishops who supported it, on the one hand, and against popular uprisings and heretical movements that were intensifying at that time, on the other. Many feudal lords of the X-XI centuries. generously donated lands to the Cluny monasteries, often went to these monasteries themselves and energetically supported the Cluny reform.
In 1059, at the Lateran Council in Rome, one of the main leaders of the Clunian movement, monk Hildebrand (later Pope Gregory VII), achieved a decision on a new procedure for electing popes: the pope was to henceforth be elected by cardinals without the intervention of emperors or other secular authorities.
Having become pope (1073-1085), Gregory VII, in his treatise “The Dictate of the Pope,” launched a program of papal theocracy, asserting the supremacy of papal power over the power of secular sovereigns. This decisive and unyielding politician directed all his activities towards the implementation of his program. He waged a fierce struggle with the German king (later emperor) Henry IV, the reason for which was a dispute over investiture. They took the oath of fealty to him and gave him as a “gift of St. Peter" their lands, the Norman dukes of Southern Italy. He demanded the same from the Hungarian king and the English king William the Conqueror. Gregory VII pursued a similar policy in Spain and the Czech Republic, Denmark and Dalmatia, Corsica and Sardinia. Taking advantage of the internecine struggle of the sons of the Russian Grand Duke Yaroslav the Wise, the pope promised one of them, Izyaslav, his help on the condition that he, having become the prince of Kyiv, recognizes himself as a vassal of the Roman throne.
Gregory VII achieved a significant strengthening of the authority of the papacy and the Catholic Church. However, his theocratic ideas and plans for creating a universal papal monarchy were not implemented. His policy was defeated in France and England, and was not crowned with complete success in Germany. At the end of his long struggle with Emperor Henry IV, the pope was even forced to leave Rome and flee to the south of Italy, where he died.
Social and political prerequisites for the rise of the papacy in the 12th-13th centuries.
In the XII-XIII centuries. there is a further strengthening of the influence of the Catholic Church and the papacy. This process was due to the fact that at that time most of the countries of Western Europe were experiencing a state of feudal fragmentation. In the absence of strong centralized states, the church, which by this time had strengthened its power, turned out to be for some time the only force whose authority was recognized in all countries. According to Engels, during this period the Catholic Church was “a major international center of the feudal system.”
The papacy successfully used feudal fragmentation to its advantage. Its main support is individual countries Western Europe was made up of representatives of the church hierarchy, primarily bishops and monasteries, who usually had very broad immune privileges. However, being at the same time vassals of both the king of their country and the pope as head of the church, and being dependent in many respects on both, they occupied different positions at different periods. Many of them supported the strengthening of central secular power in their countries and therefore did not sympathize with the extreme theocratic claims of the papacy; others, on the contrary, zealously pursued papal policies in their countries, preventing the strengthening of central power there and willingly supporting feudal-separatist uprisings.
Papacy in the XII-XIII centuries. used all the most important political events of the time to strengthen its influence. It acted as an organizer crusades to the East; gave the Reconquista in Spain a religious character of “protection Christendom from the infidels"; under the slogan of spreading Christianity among the pagans, the church sanctified the predatory campaigns of German knights against the Slavic and Baltic peoples. The papacy was actively involved in suppressing popular anti-feudal movements and heresies. The political influence of the church and its head, the pope, also relied on the financial power of the Roman Curia. Significant sums of money flowed here annually from all the Catholic countries of Europe - income from the land holdings of the church, from church tithes, from collections for the crusades and other church taxes. Having enormous funds at their disposal, often far exceeding the financial resources of the secular sovereigns of Europe, the popes had the opportunity to pursue an active foreign policy. The strengthening of the power of the church and papacy in Western Europe was also facilitated by the fact that it continued to maintain power over the entire mental and ideological life of society.
In 1123, Pope Calixtus II, after a long break, convened the First Lateran Ecumenical Council in Rome, which approved the Concordat of Worms concluded in 1122. Since then, such councils began to be convened regularly.
The 13th century was the time of the greatest power and international influence of the papacy. This became apparent already during the pontificate (reign) of Pope Innocent III (1198-1216), who, even more actively than Gregory VII, defended the idea of the supremacy of church power over secular power and put forward claims to world domination. He completely restored his possessions in the Papal States and significantly expanded its borders; at one time he was even the ruler of the Kingdom of Sicily. He gave the papal curia the significance of the highest judicial authority in the entire Catholic world. He managed to get the English king John the Landless and the kings of Aragon and Portugal to recognize themselves as his vassals. Innocent III and his successors, through their legates, constantly interfered in the internal affairs of Western European states, claiming the role of a pan-European arbiter.
In order to stop the long struggle over the election of the pope, which often dragged on for a long time, the Second Council of Lyon in 1274 established that the cardinals who had gathered to elect a new pope should be in complete isolation from outside world- “turnkey” (cum clave), hence the election session of cardinals received the name “conclave”. If the cardinals have not completed their elections within three days, their meals should be limited to one dish for lunch and dinner. After another five days, the cardinals were left on only bread and water, and for the entire subsequent period of the conclave they were deprived of income from their churches.
The popes sought to present themselves as fighters against the “Tatar danger” that loomed in the middle of the 13th century. over Western Europe, having made a decision at the First Council of Lyon (1225) on the need for a common struggle against the Mongols. However, in reality the pope did not try to lead the struggle of the European peoples against this invasion. He and his successors were only looking for ways to negotiate with the Mongol khans, hoping with their help to spread Catholic influence in Rus'.
Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303), trying to further raise the prestige of the papacy, organized the celebration of the “jubilee of the church” in 1300, on the occasion of which he announced “absolution of sins” to all those present at this celebration and issued special indulgences - letters of absolution, which were sold for money. Since that time, the very profitable sale of indulgences has become widespread in all Catholic countries.
Boniface VIII did his best to put into practice the reactionary ideas of the papal theocracy. In 1302, he issued the bull “Unam sanctam”, the final clause of which read: “The submission of every human creature to the Roman high priest is an indispensable condition of salvation.” Thus, papal power was declared the highest power on earth. Boniface VIII's bull demanded recognition of the pope as the deputy of God on earth, declared the power of secular sovereigns dependent on the powers of the pope, and proclaimed a universal theocratic (more precisely, hierocratic, i.e., controlled by the clergy) monarchy. But the claims of Boniface VIII, like his predecessors Gregory VII and Innocent III, could not be put into practice, since there were neither economic nor political prerequisites for this. The process of state centralization was carried out during this period by royal authority within the framework of nation states- France, England, etc. Papal policy turned out to be in irreconcilable contradiction with this progressive process. Move historical development showed that the idea of papal supremacy over secular power has always been not only extremely reactionary, but also utopian.
Heretical movements of the Middle Ages
The most important aspect of papal policy was the fight against heresies. Heresies are religious teachings that, to one degree or another, deviate from the dogmas of the official church. Heresies accompany Christianity throughout its existence, starting from its first steps as an independent religion. However, heretical movements gained their greatest scope and significance in the era of feudalism.
The Christian religion in medieval Western Europe determined not only the worldview of the feudal class, but, as the dominant ideology, in many ways the consciousness of the masses. Their feelings, as Engels wrote, “were nourished exclusively by religious food.” Under these conditions, any social teaching and movement, even hostile to official orthodoxy, inevitably had to take a theological form. The basis of heretical movements was social protest against certain aspects of the feudal system or feudalism as a whole. But since the Catholic Church theoretically substantiated and approved the existing order, acted as their “divine sanction,” so “all attacks on feudalism expressed in a general form and, above all, attacks on the church, all revolutionary - social and political - doctrines should have primarily represented are at the same time theological heresies. In order to be able to attack existing social relations, it was necessary to strip them of their aura of sanctity.”
In the early Middle Ages, in conditions when feudal relations had not yet been formed, and feudal exploitation and the instruments for its implementation (including Catholicism as the main form of ideological influence) had not yet assumed a comprehensive character, Western Europe did not yet know mass heretical movements. But even then there was fertile ground for heretical teachings.
On the development of heresies in Northern Italy and Southern France in the 10th-11th centuries. The Bogomil heresy also had a great influence.
The rise of the heretical movement in Western Europe during the high Middle Ages was primarily associated with the emergence and growth of cities. The class-inferior position of townspeople in feudal society, the exploitation of the urban lower classes not only by secular and ecclesiastical feudal lords, but also by the urban merchants and patricians, the severity of social contradictions, and finally, relatively (in comparison with the village) active public life made cities real centers of heresies. It is no coincidence that the areas of the earliest and most rapid urban development - Northern Italy, Southern France, the Rhineland, Flanders, North-Eastern France, Southern Germany - were at the same time the areas of the most active development of heretical movements.
The growth of cities contributed to the spread of heresies in the countryside. The development of commodity-money relations and the associated deterioration in the position of a significant part of the peasantry created the ground for the involvement of the peasant masses in heretical movements. Anti-church, heretical sentiments were intensified by the fact that the church feudal lords were especially zealous in preventing the attempts of the cities under their power to achieve self-government and the personal liberation of peasants in their domains. The religious shell permeated all forms social movement and class resistance of this era. “Revolutionary opposition to feudalism,” wrote F. Engels, “runs through the entire Middle Ages. It appears, according to the conditions of the time, sometimes in the form of mysticism, sometimes in the form of open heresy, sometimes in the form of an armed uprising.”
Social essence and main ideas of medieval heresies
By social orientation We can distinguish two main types of medieval heresies - burgher and peasant-plebeian. The burgher heresy expressed the protest of the townspeople against the feudal shackles that impeded the development of the city economy and the oppression of the burghers by feudal society. Engels called this trend “the official heresy of the Middle Ages.” It was to him that most of the heretical movements of the 12th-13th centuries belonged. The demands of such heresies included the elimination of the special position of the clergy, the political claims of the papacy, and the land wealth of the church. They sought to simplify and reduce the cost of rituals and improve the moral character of the clergy. The ideal of these heretics was the early Christian "apostolic" church - simple, "cheap" and "pure". Heresies of this type opposed only “church feudalism” and did not affect the foundations of the feudal system as a whole. Therefore, entire groups of feudal lords sometimes joined them, trying to use the burgher heresy in their own interests (for the sake of secularizing church property or limiting the political influence of the papacy). This was the case during the era of the Albigensian wars in Southern France, the Hussite wars in the Czech Republic, and during the time of Wycliffe in England.
The peasant-plebeian heresies were much more radical in nature, reflecting the hostile attitude of the dispossessed lower classes of the city and countryside not only to the church and clergy, but also to the feudal lords, the rich merchants and the urban patriciate. Sharing all the religious demands of the burgher heresy, the peasant-plebeian heresy also demanded equality between people. Civil equality was derived from equality before God, thereby denying class differences. Peasant-plebeian heresies, as a rule, also demanded the abolition of serfdom and corvée, and some extreme sects called for the establishment of property equality and community of property. In the XIV-XV centuries. the most radical peasant-plebeian heresies were often combined with popular uprisings (Apostolics, Lollards, Taborites, etc.).
At the same time, throughout the Middle Ages there were also heresies in which the elements of both of these movements - burgher and peasant-plebeian - were not clearly distinguished.
The dogma of medieval heretical teachings was quite diverse, but the main ideas and provisions were common to many sects. These include, first of all, a sharply critical attitude towards Catholic priests of all ranks, including the pope, characteristic of all sects and all their participants, no matter what social class they belong to. The main method of criticism of the clergy was the contrast of the real behavior of the priests with the ideal image of the biblical shepherd, their words and sermons with everyday practice. Indulgences, the requirement to take an oath on the Bible, and separate communion for the laity and for the clergy were also sharply attacked by the majority of heretics. Heretics of many sects called the church the “harlot of Babylon,” the creation of Satan, and the pope—his vicegerent, the Antichrist. At the same time, a certain, more moderate part of the heretics considered themselves true Catholics, striving to help correct the church. Another, no less significant part openly broke with the Catholic Church, creating their own religious organizations (Cathars, Waldensians, Apostolics, Taborites); the most radical among them (especially the apostles and Lollards of the 14th century) transferred their hostile attitude towards the Catholic Church to the entire feudal social system.
The overwhelming majority of heretical teachings were also characterized by the desire to follow the Gospel, recognizing it as the only source of faith in contrast to the writings of the “church fathers”, decisions of councils, papal bulls, etc. This can be explained by the fact that of all Christian literature, only the Gospel has preserved some remnants of the original rebellious -democratic ideas of early Christianity. They served as the basis for many heretical teachings. One of the most popular ideas in heretical circles, gleaned from the Gospel, was the idea of “apostolic poverty,” which attracted the sympathy of people belonging to various strata of society. Many of them sold or gave away their property and led an ascetic lifestyle. But the ideal of poverty was understood by heretics from various social groups in different ways: representatives of the ruling class saw it as a means of weakening the political role of the church and an opportunity to profit from its wealth; burghership is the path to creating a “cheap” church that does not require large funds from the parishioners. The attitude of the broad working masses to the ideal of poverty was contradictory. On the one hand, the idea of poverty, which equalized everyone before God and affirmed the dignity of ordinary poor people, was extremely popular among them; on the other hand, she did not provide a way out of their difficult situation. Therefore, among the participants in the peasant-plebeian heresies, the ideas of community and equality of property, which implied profound social changes, also became widespread. The ideal of asceticism, closely associated with the preaching of poverty, was of great importance. The revolutionary asceticism of the peasant-plebeian masses of that era, which separated the poor and powerless lower classes from the rest of society, was, according to Engels, a means of uniting the oppressed masses and a specific form of their self-awareness.
Mystical ideas also enjoyed influence among heretics. Mysticism in medieval heresies appeared in two main forms. Interpreting biblical denunciations and prophecies, in particular visions of the Apocalypse, in their own way, many heresiarchs - Joachim of Calabria, Dolcino and others - not only predicted an inevitable change in the existing order, but also named the close dates for this revolution. These kinds of prophecies were radical in nature and responded to the revolutionary sentiments of the peasant-plebeian circles of heretics. They were associated with the “millennial” or “chiliastic” ideas characteristic of these circles - about the imminent advent of the “millennial kingdom” of justice, in other words, the “kingdom of God” on Earth. The burgher direction in mysticism, based on the teachings of German theologians of the 14th century, had a different character. - Eckart, Tauler, etc. They and their followers believed that “divine truth” lies in man himself, who therefore has “free will” and must be creatively active. They were characterized by elements of pantheism, which led them to the idea of the uselessness of the church. At the same time, this type of mysticism was characterized by a retreat into the inner world of man, religious ecstasy, visions, etc., which sharply reduced the radicalism of such teachings and took their supporters away from real life and struggle.
The historical role of heresies in the Middle Ages was that they undermined the authority and spiritual dictate of the Catholic Church and the feudal-church worldview it defended, exposed the greed and corruption of the clergy, and objectively contributed to the spread of free-thinking (although the heretics themselves most often did not show free-thinking, they were characterized by fanaticism and intolerance towards dissenters).
Since heresies, even in a religious form, expressed the anti-feudal sentiments of the masses, they undermined the feudal system as a whole. However, most sects, with the exception of the pronounced peasant-plebeian ones, usually did not put forward open demands for radical social transformations and the elimination of feudal exploitation. They limited themselves to advocating more or less radical changes in church dogma or organization. They contrasted the “bad” church and the “false” faith with the “good” church and the “true” faith. Thus, heresies in most cases led the masses into the realm of fantastic fictions and distracted them from solving real problems.
The main heretical movements of the XI-XIII centuries.
Certain sects of heretics became widespread in Western Europe already at the beginning of the 11th century: in Chalons, Orleans, Arras (France), Mont Fort (Italy), Goslar (Germany). In the second half of the 11th century. turned wide popular movements in Italian cities (Milan, Florence). Their participants preached poverty, asceticism, and rejected ritualism. Among these movements, the Milanese Pataria (named after the quarter in Milan inhabited by beggars, ragpickers, etc.) was especially famous. The Patarens, the majority of whom were urban poor, sharply attacked the wealth and morals of the clergy, calling, in particular, for the celibacy of the clergy. At the same time, they opposed rich merchants and nobility. However, these early movements were mainly negative character and did not have a developed positive program. One of the first creators of an independent heretical teaching was Arnold of Brescia, who headed in the middle of the 12th century. antipapal revolt in Rome. Sharply criticizing the contemporary church, he turned to the Gospel, from which he derived the demand for the transfer of power into the hands of secular persons. In the context of the struggle of the burghers with the local episcopate and the papacy that supported it, this demand expressed the political program of the emerging city commune of Rome. The sect he created (Arnoldists), representing the early burgher heresy, continued to exist even after the execution of its leader; only in early XIII V. it dissolved in the mass of other heretical movements. The heyday of heretical movements in a number of Western European countries occurred in the second half of the 12th and 13th centuries. There were especially many of them in these centuries in Southern France and Northern Italy, where heretics made up a significant part of the population. In Lombardy alone during this period there were Arnoldists, Cathars, Waldenses, the “Lombard poor” Fraticelli, Apostolici, Flagellants and many others. Characteristic feature The heretical movements of this time were that although the overwhelming majority were burgher heresies, many of them also included elements of the peasant-plebeian heresy, which had not yet separated from the burgher current. Among the most widespread heretical movements of the 12th century. refers to the heresy of the Cathars (from the Greek “katharos” - pure), in which a peasant-plebeian stream can be traced along with the burghers. The teachings of the Cathars were anti-feudal in nature; they refused to recognize the power of the state, rejected physical violence and the shedding of blood. They considered the Catholic Church, as well as the entire earthly world, to be the creation of Satan, and the pope as his vicegerent; therefore, they rejected the dogma and cult of the official church, its hierarchy and opposed the wealth and power of the church. Their teaching had strong dualistic ideas, close to those of Bogomil, about the eternal struggle in the world between the principles of good and evil. The Cathars created their own church organization, consisting of “perfects” (perfecti), obliged to lead an ascetic lifestyle, and the bulk of “believers” (credentes), to whom severe asceticism did not apply; they were free to engage in different professions. Catharism was widespread in all countries of Southern Europe, where it often merged with other heresies (with the Waldenses in Languedoc, the Patarens in Lombardy, etc.), exerting a radicalizing influence on them.
Great influence among heretics of the 12th-13th centuries. used the ideas of Joachim of Flora (or Calabria) (c. 1132-1202), one of the greatest mystics of that time. He interpreted the three faces of the Christian Trinity as three eras of world history. At first, as Joachim taught, the power of “God the Father” reigned, characterized by severity, slavish submission, which was regulated by the ancient “law of Moses”, embodied in Old Testament. It was replaced by a second, softer era - the power of “God the Son”, based on the Gospel, the New Testament. He interpreted the third era, the era of the “holy spirit”, the “Eternal Gospel”, as the kingdom of true love and complete freedom: then eternal justice will be established. According to the Joachimites, the kingdom of peace and truth on earth should come as a result of a “universal revolution” between 1200 and 1260. The teaching of the Joachimites, although it was imbued with mysticism, had a content hostile to feudalism. In contrast to church dogma, which taught that “heavenly life” is possible only in another world, it promised people a quick deliverance from suffering in real earthly life, affirmed the transient nature of existing orders and the inevitability of their destruction. This chiliastic doctrine was one of the early manifestations of the peasant-plebeian opposition to the feudal system, which linked the idea of social justice with the destruction of this system. Therefore, the ideas of Joachimiteism enjoyed great popularity among the people for a long time and were further developed in the works of the most radical representatives of heretical thought of the Middle Ages: the apostles led by Dolcino and others.
Evangelical ideas were especially widespread among the heretics. Among the many sects that dreamed of reviving the orders of the early Christian church, of particular importance in the 13th century. acquired by the Waldenses.
The son of a wealthy Lyon merchant, Peter Wald (Waldo, Walda), who lived in the last quarter of the 12th century, leaving all his property to his wife, began an active preaching of poverty and asceticism. His followers, the Waldenses, along with sharp criticism of the priests, put forward ideas challenging church dogma: they denied purgatory, most sacraments, icons, prayers, the cult of saints, the church hierarchy; their ideal was the “poor” apostolic church. They also opposed church tithes, taxes, military service, the feudal court and denied the death penalty. These views brought them closer to the Cathars, and at the end of the 12th century. The Cathars and Waldenses in southern France acted together under the common name of the Albigensians. In the 13th century The Waldenses split. Some of them became close to the Catholic Church on the terms of recognition of certain features of their cult and the right to preach (“Catholic poor”). The extreme wing of the Waldenses merged with the Cathars and went to Italy, where a number of new sects emerged from it (“Lombard poor”, etc.). Another part of the Waldensians moved to Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Poland, where in the 14th century. Waldensism spread widely among peasants and small urban artisans. One of the Waldensian groups operated in backward and inaccessible places in Switzerland and Savoy. There, according to F. Engels, Waldensism began to represent “the reaction of patriarchal Alpine shepherds to the penetration of feudalism among them.”
In Italy, evangelical ideas were professed by dozens of different sects and enjoyed exceptional popularity among both urban and rural population. Often the preaching of asceticism and repentance took extreme forms, as was the case in the flagellant movement. The flagellants (“scourges”) went out onto the roads and streets in rags, barefoot and publicly tortured themselves, bringing their supporters to a state of ecstasy. This movement became especially widespread in 1260, during the era of the “divine revolution” predicted by the Joachimites; it later waned.
Heresies in the 12th and 13th centuries. spread widely not only among the lower strata of the population, but also among the educated part of the townspeople - teachers and students of city schools and universities. Thus, Arnold of Brescia was one of the students and successors of the free-thinking philosopher Abelard.
Master of the University of Paris Amaury of Vienne spoke at the beginning of the 13th century. with pantheistic teachings hostile to the church and proclaimed the imminent advent of the “kingdom of God on earth.” This teaching was recognized as heretical in 1210, and its followers, the Amalricans, were captured and burned.
The fight of the church against heretical movements. Inquisition
The church waged the fight against heretical ideas and anti-clerical movements with cruel fanaticism and intransigence. Church cathedrals of the 12th-13th centuries. obligated not only the clergy, but also the secular authorities to take an active part in this struggle. At various times at the councils, the Cathars, Pataraens, Waldenses, and later the Beguins were anathematized. The teachings of Joachim of Flora, Amaury of Vienna, and later Peter Olivi were recognized as heresy and prohibited in the 15th century. — John Wycliffe and Jan Hus. Hundreds of leaders of heretical trends and sects were convicted and burned, and ordinary heretics were subjected to severe persecution. The bloodiest form of reprisal against heretics were the crusades inspired by the church and the papacy: against the Albigenses (began in 1209), against the Apostles (1306-1307), five crusades against the Hussites (1420-1431), etc.
The Inquisition (from the Latin inquisitio - investigation) played a special role in the fight against heresies. Originated at the end of the 12th century. As a form of ecclesiastical court, carried out first by bishops, the Inquisition was gradually removed from the control of bishops and became in the first half of the 13th century. V independent organization, who had enormous powers and was subordinate directly to the pope. Gradually, the Inquisition created a special system of search and judicial investigation in cases of heretics. She widely introduced espionage and denunciations into practice. She extracted confessions from her victims through intricate sophistical tricks, and sophisticated torture was used against those who persisted. The zeal of the inquisitors and their informers was rewarded by the division among them of part of the property confiscated from the condemned. Already in the 13th century. Along with heretics, the Inquisition began to persecute scientists and philosophers who showed freethinking. The Inquisition hypocritically proclaimed the principle of “non-shedding of blood,” so those convicted of heresy were handed over to the secular authorities for punishment. The most common punishment for heretics was burning at the stake, often in groups (the so-called auto-da-fe - from the Portuguese auto-da-fe - a matter of faith).
One of the most tragic pages in the history of mankind is associated with the activities of the Inquisition.
Mendicant orders
The Church tried to undermine the heretical movement from within. To this end, she legalized some sects, directing their activities in the direction she wanted and gradually turning them into ordinary monastic orders. This is exactly how the orders of the Eremites, the Gumilia-Trv and some others arose. Seeing the great popularity among heretics of the ideas of asceticism and poverty, as well as the practice of free preaching, the papacy introduced a new type of monasticism - the order of mendicant monastic preachers. With their help, the papacy tried to counteract the influence of heretical teachings among the masses and keep believers in the bosom of the church.
The first of these orders - the Franciscan - arose as a result of the church’s skillful use of the popular preaching of poverty, led by the Italian Francis of Assisi (1182-1226). The son of wealthy parents, under the influence of the Waldenses he indulged in asceticism and, wandering around Italy, called for the renunciation of property and repentance, demanding from his followers (“minorites” - smaller brothers) simplicity of morals and activities useful work. But Francis did not speak out sharply against the church; he preached humility into obedience. Criticizing, for example, monasticism, he did not deny it as a whole, but only called on the monks to abandon life in the monastery and turn into itinerant preachers living by alms. The Papacy took advantage of this relatively moderate position of Francis and, trying to bring the discontent of the masses under its control, 1210 established the monastic order of the Franciscans (Minorites), and Francis himself was later canonized. Gradually the order moved away from its original ideals of poverty and asceticism. Behind a short time the Minorites, using their popularity, became one of the richest monastic orders; many of their monasteries (the number of which reached 1100 in the middle of the 13th century) began to play a prominent political role. The Order was reorganized along the lines of strict discipline and hierarchy; the entire territory of Europe; was divided into "provinces" governed by "provincials"; At the head of the order was a “general” appointed by the pope. The main goal of the order was the fight against popular heresies: acting in wide circles, the Franciscans sought to limit their influence, winning over those who wavered to their side.
Almost simultaneously with the Franciscans, the mendicant order of the Dominicans (1216), founded by the Spanish fanatic monk Dominic, arose, subordinate directly to the pope. The Dominicans attached particular importance to the art of preaching and scholastic theological debate, which was the basis of the “education” of that time. The “Brother Preachers” (as the Dominicans were called), with the support of the pope, soon captured theological chairs in the largest universities in Europe, from among them came famous theologians and scholastics of the time - Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinecius, etc. The Dominicans soon acquired enormous influence, which they used in the interests of the papacy in its conflicts with monarchs, cities, universities and individual bishops. But they considered their main goal to be the fight against heretics. Their banner depicted a dog with a torch in its mouth; they called themselves “dogs of God” (play on words: domini canes instead of dominicani). The overwhelming majority of inquisitors were Dominicans. The theological faculty of the University of Paris (Sorbonne), headed by the Dominicans, was the final judge in determining the degree of deviation of a particular teaching from orthodoxy.
Also engaged in missionary and diplomatic activities, the “mendicant orders” were an important tool in Catholic expansion to the East; Thus, the Dominicans founded their monastery near Kiev (1233), penetrated into China (1272), Japan and other Eastern European and Asian countries.
Heretical movements of the XIV-XV centuries.
Despite severe persecution and the activities of the mendicant orders, heretical movements did not stop. New heresies arose to replace the old ones. In the XIV-XV centuries. their center moved from Southern France and Lombardy to Northeastern France, the Netherlands, England, Southern and Western Germany, and the Czech Republic. An important feature of the heretical movements of this period was a clear demarcation between the burgher and peasant-plebeian heresies, the transformation of the latter “into a sharply distinguished party view.” These radical heresies now sometimes merge with open peasant uprisings. Thus, the sect of the Apostles led by Dolchino at the beginning of the 14th century. stood out from more moderate heretical movements and played a leading role in the peasant-plebeian uprising, the leader of which was Dolcino. The heresy of the early Lollards, like-minded people of John Ball, merged with the rebellion of Wat Tyler. The most radical groups in the Taborite camp were also closely associated with the anti-feudal peasant-plebeian movement.
At the same time, burgher heresies are further developed and more clearly distinguished. Deepened and formalized theoretical basis their views, especially in the teachings of John Wycliffe and his followers, John Hus and the “Chashniks” during the Hussite wars.
However, even during this period, along with clearly defined peasant-plebeian and burgher heresies, heretical movements developed, in which, under a common name, movements sometimes differing in their social orientation are hidden. This is typical, for example, of a number of newly emerged at the end of the XIV-XV centuries. sects in which a strong peasant-plebeian current is noticeable, although not associated with uprisings.
In the XIV century. The teaching of the “spirituads”, a movement that developed on the basis of the radical wing of the Franciscan order, whose representatives did not reconcile with its degeneration, enjoyed significant influence among heretics. Their leader was the theologian Peter Olivi, whose views intertwined evangelism and mysticism. Sharply criticizing the official church as “carnal” and “sinful” and predicting the imminent death of the papacy, he called for the creation of a new church on the foundations of poverty and love. Olivi's teaching did not go beyond the burgher heresy. But, penetrating into the common people, it was sometimes interpreted in a more radical spirit. This manifested itself in one of the most massive heretical movements of the late XIII-XIV centuries. - in the movement of the Beguins, as well as the Begards and Fraticelli close to them, which swept the Southern Netherlands, the German lands, Austria, the Czech Republic, Italy and France. Big influence the heretics were influenced by the views of Olivi, whom they (especially the Beguins of Southern France) considered their spiritual father. The most radically inclined part of them interpreted Olivi’s prophecies about the death of the Catholic Church and the papacy as a prediction of an imminent “divine revolution” (even its specific dates were determined - 1325, 1330, 1335); its result will be a society in which “no one will offend his neighbor” and all property will be common. At the same time, a significant part of the Beguins remained in the position of the burgher heresy, limiting themselves to criticism of the “church order.” Close to the Beguins and Begards of Germany, Flanders and northern French lands were various mystical sects of the “free spirit”, influenced by the teachings of the already mentioned German mystical theologians of the 14th century. Eckart and others. Supporters of these sects focused their attention on the search for the free “divine spirit” in man himself, on his inner world. These tendencies and the elements of pantheism inherent in them led them to the idea of the uselessness of the church. However, they did not put forward social, anti-feudal demands; as a rule, these sects represented a burgher heresy.
In the 15th century The most significant heretical movements were English Lollardism and Hussism. The Lollards of the 15th century, unlike the earlier followers of John Ball, were overwhelmingly peaceful sectarians of the burgher type, although a significant part of them were simple working people - poor urban and rural artisans and traders, peasants, and even agricultural workers, and also poor parish priests. For the most part, the Lollards relied on the teachings of John Wycliffe. They sharply criticized the clergy, opposed the church hierarchy, most sacraments, icon veneration, church tithes, demanded the secularization of church property, freedom of preaching for everyone, including the laity, and worship on native language, but did not encroach on the existing system. The exception was a small group of Lollards who preached in the 30s of the 15th century. peasant-plebeian ideas of community and equalization of property, but organizationally not separated from the general movement.
The Hussite heresy, which arose in the Czech Republic at the beginning of the 15th century. and, having absorbed many of the heresies that had previously been widespread there, drew into its orbit a variety of social strata. Initially, Husism was based on the moderate burgher teachings of Jan Hus, which also reflected the desire of all layers of Czech society for liberation from German dominance and the dictates of the papacy. But then the movement split into two camps: moderate - Chashnikov, heretics of the burgher type, and radical - Taborist, in which in the early 20s of the 15th century. revolutionary peasant-plebeian, in particular chiliastic, ideas about the imminent establishment of the kingdom of God on earth prevailed.
Decline of the papacy in the 14th century.
Neither the brutal persecution of heretics, nor the Inquisition, nor the clever demagoguery of the “mendicant” orders could, however, prevent the decline of the papacy in the 14th-15th centuries. The general course of historical development led to this feudal Europe. Pope Boniface VIII, who entered into conflict with the French king Philip IV the Fair in 1302, was defeated in this area. The popes were forced to leave the “eternal city” and move their residence under the shadow of the king of France to Avignon. The “Avignon captivity” of the popes began, which lasted about 70 years (1309-1378). During this period, the papacy became a tool for strengthening royal power in France. After the return of the pope to Rome (1378), a forty-year “great schism” (“great schism”) began, when two and then even three contenders fought for the papal throne. By the end of the 14th century. the papacy lost its former authority and power and was forced to forever abandon both theocratic claims.
Decline of the papacy in the XIV-XV centuries. was determined, first of all, by the fact that the formation of national states and the resulting growth of national self-awareness in a number of European countries undermined the former importance of the church and the papacy as the “international center” of feudal Europe. In this regard, in those countries where the process of state centralization was underway, the ideas of strong royal power, independent of the papacy, were increasingly spreading. Relying on them, the kings of these countries successfully pursued policies aimed at further weakening their dependence on Rome. After successful actions in this spirit by Philip IV the Fair, decrees limiting the right of popes to church exactions and prohibiting appeals to the pope against decisions of royal courts, etc., were issued by the king and parliament in England (in 1343, 1351 and 1353) and in some other countries. In Germany, these new ideas were intertwined with ancient imperial claims and received practical embodiment in the struggle of the German Emperor Ludwig IV of Bavaria with the Papist. The idea of a strong secular power independent of the papacy was theoretically substantiated in the 14th century. Marsilius of Padua in the treatise “Defender of Peace” and Jean Jeandin, the French legist Pierre Dubois, the famous English scholastic William Oxnam, and then John Wycliffe. The great Dante pursued this same idea even earlier in his treatise “On the Monarchy”, in poetic form - in the “Divine Comedy”. In some heretical teachings, a significant role was played by the requirement of a national church and worship in a national language understandable to the people, which anticipated the ideas of the future Reformation of the 16th century.
Conciliar movement
At the same time, inside the official church itself in the 14th and 15th centuries. The “conciliar movement” was spreading more and more widely, rejecting the papacy’s claims to complete autocracy and arguing for the need to subordinate the papacy in secular affairs to state power, and in religious matters to the decisions of the ecumenical council. The “conciliar movement” grew especially strongly with the beginning of the “great schism.” In France, it led to the demand for “Gallican liberties”—autonomy of the French church from Rome—which was implemented in Charles VII's “Bourges Pragmatic Sanction” (1438). This act in France established the relative independence of the French, Gallican church and proclaimed the primacy of the church council over papal decisions. The royal power was recognized with special rights in the appointment of the highest clergy, and the jurisdiction of the clergy was established by the secular court (Parisian parliament). A similar movement developed in England. Contributions to the papal curia, established since the time of Innocent III, were paid less and less often, and in 1366 they were finally abolished.
In an effort to strengthen the shaky authority of the church and, above all, to overcome the “great schism,” supporters of the “conciliar movement” demanded the convening of a new ecumenical council. Convened at the insistence of Emperor Sigismund by John XXIII, the council opened in 1414 in the city of Constance and sat until the spring of 1418. It was supposed to put an end to schism, reform the church, and destroy heresies. However, the council was unable to carry out these tasks. True, he adopted a resolution that the decisions of the ecumenical council were binding on the pope, and deposed one of the three popes - John XXIII, who turned out to be a former sea pirate and counterfeiter. But the struggle for the papal throne continued.
The lack of unity at the council prevented the adoption of any decisions on church reform, but its participants showed complete unanimity in condemning the teachings of John Wycliffe and Jan Hus. Hus, in violation of legal and moral norms, deprived of the right to defense, was burned in 1415. A number of subsequent councils - in Pavia in 1423, the Basel Council of 1421-1449 - could not put an end to the schism. and the Ferrara-Florence Council, convened in opposition to the Basel Council by Pope Eugene IV in 1438 and ending in Rome in 1445. The schism was eliminated only in 1449 at the Council of Lausanne, where the last “anti-pope” Felix V refused his claims and Nicholas V was recognized as pope.
At the Ferrara-Florence Council in 1439, after a long struggle, a union was concluded between the Western and Eastern churches. The signing of the agreement was attended by representatives of the Eastern Church, led by the Byzantine emperor and the Patriarch of Constantinople, as well as the Kiev Metropolitan. Catholic propaganda portrayed this union as the most important act of unifying the Christian world and saving Byzantium from the Turkish danger. However, in reality, the union was intended to serve as an instrument of traditional papal policy aimed at subordinating the weakened Byzantium and especially Rus' to papal influence. Both in Byzantium and in Rus' it was rejected by both the people and the majority of the clergy. The Catholic Church managed to impose a union on the population of only those lands of Ukraine and Belarus that were under Polish-Lithuanian rule.
The collapse of the political claims of the lordship in the 15th century.
In the second half of the 15th century. it has become quite certain that the papacy with its theocratic claims is a hindrance further development individual states. Progressive thinkers of this time, especially humanists, representatives of the new progressive ideology, increasingly turned their weapons of criticism against the papacy, in particular against its theocratic claims. In the 15th century the authenticity of the “Donation of Constantine” and the “False Isidore Decretals” - documents that served as the main justification for the political claims of the papacy - was questioned. Losing its international significance, papal power increasingly took on the political character of local princely power. In the 15th century dads had to work hard
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Home > Coursework >Religion and mythology
1. Holy Inquisition
1.1 Goals and means
1.2 Main historical stages
1.2.1 Persecution of heretics until the 12th century
1.2.2 Dominican period
1.2.3 Spanish Inquisition
1.2.4 Other countries
2. Religious tourism
2.1 Orthodox pilgrimage
2.2 Rules for the pilgrimage
2.3 Shrines of Ecumenical Orthodoxy
2.4 Tour description
Conclusion
List of used literature
Application
Introduction
Catholicism (from the Greek katholikos - universal, universal) is a Christian (Roman Catholic) church, formed in the last centuries of antiquity and the Middle Ages, mainly in Western Europe and led by the popes. The term “Catholic Church” was used by Christian leaders back in the 2nd–3rd centuries, reflecting the unity of faith, ritual, and organizational structure of Christian communities (churches) scattered throughout the Roman Empire. Over time (especially after the division of churches in 1054), the name “Catholic Church” was assigned to the Western Church, although the Orthodox Church considers itself universal.
The object of the course work is the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages in Europe.
The subject of the study is the church and heretics in Europe in the Middle Ages.
The purpose of the course work is to identify the role of the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages in Europe.
Research objectives:
Consider the main theological trends and dogmas in the Roman Church of Western Europe;
Consider the goals and means of the Holy Inquisition, its main stages.
Unlike the Orthodox (Byzantine) Church, which was strictly subordinate to the imperial power, the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages often played an independent political role, especially in the conditions of the feudal fragmentation of Western Europe.
Already in the Early Middle Ages, the Catholic Church became one of the largest feudal lords. According to some estimates, it owned up to a third of all cultivated land in Western Europe. Thus, the Benedictine monastery in Fulda (Germany) had more than 250 thousand hectares of land, the Saint-Germain monastery (France) - more than 100 thousand dependent people.
During the period of feudal civil strife in Western Europe, the Catholic Church tried to limit their scope and the damage they caused to society by adopting decrees on the Peace of God and the Truce of God. True, they did not produce a significant effect. In conditions of political fragmentation, the papacy in the 13th century. reached the zenith of its power, when many European monarchs recognized their vassal dependence on the popes, and the position and will of the latter largely determined the political situation in Europe. The creation of strong centralized states (primarily England and France) led to a decline in the political power of the papacy, which was clearly shown by the so-called Avignon captivity of the popes and the subsequent “Great Schism” in the Catholic Church (1378–1414). In the 15th century, England and France actually formed their own national churches, which obeyed not so much the popes as their kings.
The Catholic Church played a huge role in the cultural development of Europe, especially in the Early Middle Ages. Almost all famous cultural figures of the Early Middle Ages (Gregory of Tours, Isidore of Seville, Bede the Venerable, etc.) were clergy. Among the architectural masterpieces of the Middle Ages, the buildings of cathedrals and monasteries dominated. Religious subjects predominated in painting. There were schools at monasteries and churches. At the same time, the Catholic Church zealously fought against dissent; Many scientists, thinkers, and cultural figures fell victims of this struggle. The conservative model of the world and man in the world, implanted by the Catholic Church, at the end of the Middle Ages aroused opposition in the form of humanism.
1. Holy Inquisition
The Holy Inquisition is the general name for a number of institutions of the Roman Catholic Church to combat heresy. From lat. inquīsītiō, in the legal sense - “search”, “investigation”. The term was widespread in the legal sphere even before the emergence of medieval church institutions with this name, and meant clarifying the circumstances of a case by investigation, usually through interrogation, often with the use of force. Over time, the Inquisition began to mean spiritual trials of anti-Christian heresies.
Heresy (Greek αἵρεσις - “choice, direction, opinion”) is a conscious deviation from the tenets of faith, offering a different approach to religious teaching; separation of a new community from the church. The word “heresy” first acquires a negative meaning in the New Testament epistles. The logic of this transformation is such that since a person can find truth and life only in Christ, any alternative automatically dooms a person to destruction.
Accordingly, the Apostle Peter speaks of “pernicious heresies,” and the Apostle Paul places “heresies” on a par with the sins of sorcery and idolatry. Following the example of the apostles, the early Christian church used the term “heresy” to refer to a teaching that diverged from Christian orthodoxy, or a group of people who broke away from the Church because of their adherence to such a teaching.
1.1 Goals and means
The main task of the Inquisition was to determine whether the accused was guilty of heresy. From the end of the 15th century, when ideas about the massive presence of witches who entered into an agreement with evil spirits among the ordinary population began to spread in Europe, witch trials began to fall within its competence. At the same time, the overwhelming majority of witch convictions were made by secular courts in Catholic and Protestant countries in the 16th and 17th centuries.
While the Inquisition did persecute witches, so did virtually every secular government. By the end of the 16th century, Roman inquisitors began to express serious doubts about most accusations of witchcraft. Also, from 1451, Pope Nicholas V transferred cases of Jewish pogroms to the competence of the Inquisition.
The Inquisition had to not only punish pogromists, but also act preventively, preventing violence. The Inquisition did not allow extrajudicial killings. In addition to ordinary interrogations, torture of the suspect was used, as in secular courts of that time.
Lawyers of the Catholic Church attached great importance to sincere confession. If the suspect did not die during the investigation, but admitted to his crime and repented, then the case materials were transferred to the court.
1.2 Main historical stages
Chronologically, the history of the Inquisition can be divided into three stages:
1) Pre-Dominican (persecution of heretics until the 12th century);
2) Dominican (since the Council of Toulouse in 1229);
3) Spanish Inquisition.
In the 1st period, the trial of heretics was part of the functions of episcopal power, and their persecution was temporary and random; in the 2nd, permanent inquisitorial tribunals are created, under the special jurisdiction of Dominican monks; in the 3rd, the inquisitorial system is closely associated with the interests of monarchical centralization in Spain and the claims of its sovereigns to political and religious supremacy in Europe, serving as a weapon in the struggle against the Moors and Jews, and then, together with the Jesuit Order, being a fighting force of the Catholic reaction of the 16th century against Protestantism.
1.2.1 Persecution of heretics until the 12th century
We find the germs of the Inquisition back in the first centuries of Christianity - in the duty of deacons to seek out and correct errors in the faith, in the judicial power of bishops over heretics. The episcopal court was simple and not distinguished by cruelty; the strongest punishment at that time was excommunication.
Since the recognition of Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire, civil punishments have been added to church punishments. In 316, Constantine the Great issued an edict condemning the Donatists to confiscation of property. The threat of the death penalty was first uttered by Theodosius the Great in 382 against the Manichaeans, and in 385 it was carried out against the Priscillians.
In the capitularies of Charlemagne there are instructions obliging bishops to monitor morals and the correct profession of faith in their dioceses, and on the Saxon borders to eradicate pagan customs. In 844, Charles the Bald ordered the bishops to confirm the people in the faith through sermons, to investigate and correct their errors (“ut populi errata inquirant et corrigant”).
In the 9th and 10th centuries. bishops reach a high degree of power; in the 11th century, during the persecution of the Patarens in Italy, their activity was distinguished by great energy. Already in this era, the church more willingly resorted to violent measures against heretics than to means of exhortation. The most severe punishments for heretics even at that time were confiscation of property and burning at the stake.
1.2.2 Dominican period
At the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries. The literary and artistic movement in Southern France and the associated teaching of the Albigensians threatened Catholic orthodoxy and papal authority with serious danger. To suppress this movement, a new monastic order is called into existence - the Dominicans (X, 862). The word inquisition, in the technical sense, was used for the first time at the Council of Tours, in 1163, and at the Council of Toulouse, in 1229.
Even at the Synod of Verona, in 1185, precise rules were issued regarding the persecution of heretics, obliging bishops to audit their dioceses as often as possible and choose wealthy laymen who would assist them in finding heretics and bringing them to the episcopal court; secular authorities were ordered to provide support to bishops, under pain of excommunication and other punishments.
The Inquisition owes its further development to the activities of Innocent III (1198–1216), Gregory IX (1227–1241) and Innocent IV (1243–1254). Around 1199, Innocent III authorized two Cistercian monks, Guy and Renier, to travel, as papal legates, to the dioceses of southern France and Spain to eradicate the heresies of the Waldenses and Cathars. This created, as it were, a new spiritual authority, which had its own special functions and was almost independent of the bishops. In 1203, Innocent III sent two other Cistercians there, from the Fontevrault monastery - Peter Castelnau and Ralph; Soon the abbot of this monastery, Arnold, was added to them, and all three were elevated to the rank of apostolic legates. The injunction to deal more strictly with heretics led, in 1209, to the murder of Peter Castelnau, which served as a signal for the bloody and devastating struggle known as the Albigensian Wars.
Despite the crusade of Simon Montfort, the heresy continued to persist until Dominic Guzman (X, 959), the founder of the Dominican order, spoke out against it. Inquisitorial courts everywhere came under the authority of this order after the latter were removed from episcopal jurisdiction by Gregory IX. At the Council of Toulouse in 1229, it was decreed that each bishop should appoint one priest and one or more lay persons to secretly search for heretics within a given diocese. A few years later, inquisitorial duties were removed from the competence of bishops and specifically entrusted to the Dominicans, who had the advantage over bishops that they were not connected by personal or public ties with the population of a given area, and therefore could act, unconditionally, in papal interests and not give mercy for heretics.
The same Gregory IX introduced the Inquisition in Catalonia, Lombardy and Germany, and Dominicans were appointed as inquisitors everywhere. From Catalonia the Inquisition quickly spread throughout the Iberian Peninsula, from Lombardy to various parts Italy, not everywhere, however, differing in the same strength and character.
So, for example, in Naples it never enjoyed great importance, due to the incessant strife between the Neapolitan sovereigns and the Roman Curia. In Venice, the Inquisition (council of ten) arose in the 14th century. to search for Tiepolo's accomplices and was a political tribunal.
The Inquisition reached its greatest development and strength in Rome. The degree of influence of the Inquisition in Italy and the impression it made on the minds is evidenced by the famous fresco by Simon Memmi, preserved in the Florentine church of S. Maria Novella, entitled “Domini canes” (a pun based on the consonance of these words with the word dominicani), depicting black -white dogs driving away wolves from the herd. The Italian Inquisition reached its greatest development in the 16th century, under Popes Pius V and Sixtus V.
Of the Slavic states, only Poland had an Inquisition, and then only for a very short time. In general, this institution took more or less deep roots only in countries inhabited by the Romanesque tribe, where Catholicism had a deep influence on the minds and formation of character.