The Christianization
of the West

English adaptation of LA CHRISTIANISATION DE L'OCCIDENT

Setting the context

The West refers to both a territory and a civilization. By studying the Middles Ages and its institutions from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the Renaissance, students grasp the influence of Christianity in the development of the Western world. The Church had hegemony over the feudal powers and the values of Western society and contributed to the development of knowledge. Religion is still an important characteristic of identity for many societies today.
(HCE. Progression of Learning. p 14)

Progression of Learning

Program

Concepts under consideration

1. a) Situate in time

Timeline of Antiquity and Middle Ages by M. Univers social.
English version available here as Google Drawing.

The Western Middle Ages are traditionally situated between the fall of the last Western Roman emperor (476) and the discovery of America (1492), although both dates are arbitrary and debatable. Source : Encyclopédie Larousse

1. a) Situate in Space

Christian World. Large view only available at https://commons.princeton.edu/

Moslem World. Large views and other dates only available at https://commons.princeton.edu/

The main Christian and Muslim territories around the year 1000

2. Christianity and the Roman Empire

A light-hearted overview of the beginnings of Christianity

John Green teaches you the history of Christianity, from the beginnings of Judaism and the development of monotheism, right up to Paul and how Christianity stormed the Roman Empire in just a few hundred years. Along the way, John will cover Abram/Abraham, the Covenant, the Roman Occupation of Judea, and the birth, life, death, and legacy of Jesus of Nazareth.

Christianity from Judaism to Constantine: Crash Course World History #11

The beginnings of Christianity

Christianity was founded with the birth and death of Jesus of Nazareth in the first century. After his death, his followers wrote the Gospels, which are very important documents in the Catholic religion as they tell of the teachings and existence of their Saviour. They set about spreading his message throughout the Roman Empire, which continued to expand its borders. However, Christianity had a long way to go before it became the most widely practised religion in the world.

Source : Allo Prof

The persecution of Christians

With the rapid conversion of people to this new religion, Christianity spread rapidly throughout the Roman Empire. However, this growing popularity worried the Roman rulers who saw it as a threat to their authority.

To curb the spread of this new religion, Christians were persecuted (treated cruelly). Many Christians died during these difficult years.

Source : Allo Prof

2.1. The conversion of Constantine and the Edict of Milan

The Edict of Milan is closely linked to the conversion of Constantine to the Christian religion. A surprising event indeed, and one due to a mystical phenomenon, Constantine, while at war against an enemy, saw a cross in the sky. He then supposedly received a vision telling him that he would win if he put a Christian sign on the banners and flags of his legion. In hoc signo vinces", the vision would have told him, "By this sign you will win" and the sign was the Greek monogram of Christ known as "the chrism".

Also known as the "Edict of Constantine", the Edict of Milan was published in 313, following just after the Edict of Toleration. (References for both edicts)

Promoted by the Roman emperors Constantine I and Licinius, it proclaimed freedom of worship for all religions and essentially freed Christians from persecution.

Battle at Pons Milvius. This is where Constantine was said to have seen a vision. Information at Battle_of_the_Milvian_Bridge. Image under Public Domain.

The Emblem of Christ Appearing to Constantine / Constantine's conversion, oil on panel painting by Peter Paul Rubens, 1622. Philadelphia Museum of Art.. Public Domain https://www.worldhistory.org/

Icon depicting Constantine I, accompanied by the bishops of the First Council of Nicaea (325), holding the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381 https://en.wikipedia.org/ Public Domain.

Roman Emperors Theodosius I, Gratian, and Valentinian II made Nicene Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire, stating in the Edict of Thessalonica of 380 that all their subjects should profess the faith of the bishops of Rome and Alexandria.

Edict of Milan of 313

Tolerance of Christianity in the Roman Empire

Edict of Thessalonica of 380

Christianity is now the official religion of the Roman Empire

3. The fall of the Western Roman Empire

Many causes led to the fall of one of the greatest empires of antiquity!

A loss of identity and the expectation of paradise

Roman citizens gradually lost their civic virtues. They would have finally forgotten to defend the empire against barbarian intrusions.

The British historian Edward Ribbon also considers the rise of Christianity to be one of the causes of the fall. Religion would have distracted the people from the daily life of the empire in favour of the expectation of the rewards of paradise.

The Romans in their Decadence, Thomas Couture. Public Domain wikipedia.org

Romanisation of the Barbarian peoples

From the 3rd century AD, Rome began to be threatened by barbarian peoples. ("Barbarians" means savage or uncivilized, or just a community outside of Greek and Rome). Moreover, some of these barbarian peoples began to live within the empire and allied themselves with the Romans.

At this time, there were even barbarian mercenaries paid to defend Rome. This was very detrimental to the security of the Empire: for example, a barbarian person could bribe these mercenaries to let them enter the Empire.

Ex. For centuries thereafter, the Roman army employed Numidian light cavalry in separate units.
Screenshot from "The Numidian Cavalry" by Invicta at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tv7EbkrX38

Barbarians invade the Roman provinces

The size of the Western Roman Empire made administration increasingly difficult. Moreover, enemies attacked on all fronts: the Vandals conquered North Africa, Corsica and Sardinia, while in continental Europe, the Visigoths and Suevi gained new territories.

Rome suffered multiple barbarian assaults. In 410, it was invaded by Visigoths. But it was in 476 that the city fell definitively into the hands of the German Odoacer. He dethroned the last Western Roman emperor: Romulus Augustus.

Gaiseric Sacking Rome, a painting by Karl Briullov https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaiseric

Image source: Invasions of the Roman Empire https://commons.wikimedia.org/

4. The baptism of Clovis I in 498

A defining act for the Christian West

Battle of Tolbiac. Fresco at the Panthéon (Paris) by Joseph Blanc, c. 1881. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tolbiac Public Domain

According to Gregory of Tours, Clovis (the king of the Franks) converted at the request and insistence of his wife Clotilde. During a difficult battle at Tolbiac (in 496), the Franks fought off an Alamanni attack with difficulty. During the battle, Clovis is said to have implored God's help in exchange for his conversion.

At the same time, the Franks were attracted to the very rich Aquitaine, which was in the hands of the Visigoths (who were not Christians). This would give them the support of the Christian population of the region and would probably make them more acceptable as new rulers.

Baptism of Clovis, from Chroniques de France ou de St Denis, 14th century . Full version by levanrami at https://flickr.com Public Domain

5. Medieval society

The three orders and the bond of vassalage

The three orders in the Middle Ages

Medieval society is a society organized around three orders:

Those who prayed: the men of the Church or the clergy.
Those who make war: the nobles (prince, lords, knights).
Those who work: the peasants.

This classification is similar to that of the three orders of the Ancien Régime society: clergy, nobility and Third Estate.

These three orders were redefined by Adalberon of Laon around 1020, and then by Gerard of Cambrai, who wanted this type of social organisation when France was experiencing a political crisis around the year 1000.

Source Mister Univers Social. For English larger version Click to open as Google Drawing

Feudalism and vassalage

Between lord and vassal there is a network of rights and duties. The suzerain protects his vassal, the vassal helps and advises his suzerain. These terms cover precise notions.

The vassal's help and advice are carefully codified: help can be a financial contribution, but it is almost always military, with a forty-day service. Advice meant being present at the lord's court and sometimes sitting on his tribunal.

The protection granted by the lord was military, but it was also economic, through the granting of a fief.

A fief is generally a piece of land with all the rights attached to it: it can range from a whole kingdom to a quarter of a village. Sometimes it will be a mill, or a church, or even an annuity in money. The important thing is that the fief remains the property of the suzerain, which the vassal has the use of.

Videos on Feudalism Structures, including the Church

6. The seigneury in the Middle Ages

Organization

In the Middle Ages, the seigneury was organised around a castle or an abbey. On it were a lord and his family, peasants who worked in the fields and craftsmen who produced many tools and everyday objects. Peasants and craftsmen live in villages, where the church also stands.

Retrieved from heleneseguin.net Original source unknown. English variation as Google Drawing here.

Peasants preparing the fields for the winter ..., from The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry, c. 1410 https://commons.wikimedia.org/ Public Domain. (See many other images at Très_Riches_Heures)

Peasants dependent on the lord

Peasants have several obligations towards their lord. Indeed, they must :

Pay the cens (renting of land);
Pay the taille (tax levied when the lord wishes);
Pay the banalités (taxes levied on the use of the mill, the oven, the press, etc.);
Carrying out chores (maintenance of the castle, roads and bridges, cleaning of ditches, etc.);

In exchange for this, the lord undertakes to grant land to the peasants and to protect them in the event of an attack.

The example of St. John Baptist Day

"On St. John's Day (24 June), the peasants of Verson must mow the grass of the lord's meadows and bring the hay to the manor. Afterwards, they had to clean the canal. In August, they must harvest the lord's wheat and take it to his barn. They have to collect the champart (tax) on their land. They load it onto their carts and take it to the lord's barn. Then comes the beginning of September, when they pay the porçage: the tennant will keep two out of three pigs. Then comes Saint-Denis (9 October), when the tenants are astonished that they have to pay the cens. Afterwards, they still owe the corvée: when they have ploughed the lord's land, they will fetch the wheat from his granary and they must sow it. At Christmas, they owe chickens. At Easter, they have to do the chore again. (From la Complainte des Vilains de Verson, 13th century.)

Videos on Life in Medieval Times!

7. The OrganiZation of the Clergy

Secular and regular clergy

Source Unknown. Click to open as Google Drawing.

Types of clergy

The secular clergy is the clergy who live "in the 'century'" (from Latin: sæcularis) among the laity.

Secular clergy have religious commitments, but their main characteristic is that they are engaged in secular* life not in the community. The term secular clergy generally includes priests, canons, etc.

Regular clergy live "according to a 'rule' of life" (from Latin: regularis) of an order, abbey, convent or priory.

Regular clergy commit themselves to the three vows of chastity, poverty and obedience.

* Secular - note that today secular often means activities outside of religion, but in the Catholic church it meant of the clergy, but not those who were bound by a rule of life like the Monks, etc.

For English drawing see and read also: 02 Fourteenth-Century Europe II: Christianity, the Church, the Papacy https://web.sas.upenn.edu/

7.1. Video clips - EDPUZZLe (Plus ENGlish Equivalents!)

MD5 - Capsule 3 - La Chrétienté au Moyen Âge

This video, produced by Mr. Mathieu Beauséjour (teacher at Collège Saint-Sacrement), explains :

The Structure of the Catholic Church
The role of the Catholic Church
The types of power of the Catholic Church (temporal and spiritual)
The importance of pilgrimages
The dominant architectural styles

The whole thing has been adapted on the Edpuzzle platform to allow students to watch the film while answering comprehension questions. Feel free to create a copy for yourself!

On the Church's structure...a few videos to check out!

3MC - Episode 55 - What is the structure of the Church? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHEzyxxIktY

Catholic Church Hierarchy, Ranks & Structure https://study.com/ (Possible to view once without signing up!

On the Church's role... including artwork!

Catholic Church Role in Middle Ages https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld8dWkJCmLY

Religion in the Middle Ages https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLLY0A3cLIo

On the Church's power!

5 Reasons Why the Medieval Church Was So Powerful https://www.historyhit.com/reasons-why-the-medieval-church-was-so-powerful/

On Pilgrimages!

Pilgrimages https://www.coursera.org/lecture/western-christianity-200-1650/pilgrimages-JxgNP

Medieval Travel and Pilgrimage DOCUMENTARY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPul5aQUkyE

What Was A Medieval Pilgrimage Like? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtuCV6uV5Kc

8. The Cathedrals

Architectural drawing of a Neo-Gothic flying buttress for the late 19th-century Votive Church, in Vienna. Public Domain https://commons.wikimedia.org/

Cathedrals
A cathedral, in the Middle Ages as today, is not radically different from a large church: it is a church where a bishop in charge of a diocese sits. The word "cathedral" refers to the cathedra, a chair with armrests on which the bishop sits.

Cathedrals are shaped like a cross. The faithful stand in the nave, between the main walls. Attached to the wall or to a pillar is the pulpit (synonym of cathedra), from which the bishop delivers his sermon. The choir is located to the west with the altar, a monumental table behind which the priest says mass.

The Rib Vaults
A ribbed vault is an architectural element in the form of a diagonal reinforcing arch (rib formerly called ogive) banded under the Gothic vault, which facilitates its construction and whose thrust is transferred to the angles, allowing the side walls to be opened wide. A fundamental element in Gothic architecture, it appeared between 1180 and 1220, and first covered the cathedrals of Île-de-France.

The flying buttresses
The flying buttresses were built to take over from the tie rods and hold the vaults in place. Unfortunately, the vaults sometimes fell down after a few years. This is why the use of flying buttresses came into being.

Based on file by Hill. Public Domain via File:Gotic3d2.jpg and File:Architecture-gothique-infographie.jpg (Click for large version as a Google Drawing.)

9. The Crusades

Map with the First through Fourth Crusades, from Atlas of the Middle East (Central Intelligence Agency, 1993)

via What were the crusades? – Smarthistory Also via Early crusades by Norman B. Leventhal Map Center | Flickr under CC License /2.0/

What is a crusade?

The crusades of the Middle Ages were military expeditions organised by the Church to deliver the Holy Land. They were preached by the Pope, by a spiritual authority of the Christian West such as Bernard of Clairvaux, or by a ruler such as Frederick Barbarossa.

They were launched to regain access to Christian pilgrimage sites in the Holy Land.

Eternal life

In 880, Pope John VIII made a statement that was to become very important during the Crusades. He declared that warriors who died fighting pagans would surely have eternal life. This conviction encouraged young knights, nobles and peasants to fight the pagans with vigour. (Alloprof)

Taking of Jerusalem by the Crusaders, 15th July 1099 https://commons.wikimedia.org.

Religious fanaticism

In the 11th century, the Christian Church was becoming stronger and more structured. The Church's powerful leaders dreamed of extending their power. These dreams were amplified by the victories of the Western Christians, including the one that had driven the Muslims out of Spain. (Alloprof)

Pope Urban II preaching at the Council of Clermont https://commons.wikimedia.org/

Call for a crusade

In 1095, several representatives of the Church met in Clermont. At the end of the Council, Pope Urban II made an appeal to the population in which he invited the knights to go and deliver the holy lands and the tomb of Christ. In his speech, Urban II promised to grant indulgences (remission of all sins) to all those who would lose their lives in these battles. All Christians were thus invited to take up arms in the service of their faith. This is why the crusaders (Christian knights who took part in the Crusades) wore clothes with a cross sewn on them. (Alloprof)

9.1. The results of the crusades

Cultural

The Crusades increased the resentment of Westerners. Because of the attitude of the Franks, Muslims became suspicious of Christianity (both Eastern and Western), which only increased Muslim discrimination against Christians. (Alloprof)

Economic

Throughout the Crusades, merchants never stopped trading with foreign peoples. These exchanges favoured the supply of various commodities. These merchants came from Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Salerno or Palermo. The Italian peninsula enjoyed an advantageous position for sea travel.

Trade was not affected to any great extent by the Crusades. Moreover, the Crusades did not have a major impact on the economic development of the West. They facilitated the development of the first banks, but they were not the only cause of this development. (Alloprof)

10. An anecdotal court case

In the Middle Ages and long afterwards, pigs, sows and cows were condemned to the gallows or the stake. Similarly, the Church extended its excommunications from humans to animals: rats, flies, grasshoppers, moles, fish; any member of the fauna could be sentenced. (Source: Procès d'animaux https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procès_d%27animaux)

Trial of a sow and pigs at Lavegny https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Trial_of_a_sow_and_pigs_at_Lavegny.png Public Domain.

Illustration showing a sow and her piglets on trial for the murder of a child. The trial is said to have taken place in 1457, with the mother being found guilty and the piglets acquitted.