Literature of the High

Middle Ages

Notes Set #7

Objective

• After viewing the powerpoint, students will demonstrate understanding of the social and political influences of the literature of the High Middle Ages by summarizing the main points in their Cornell notes.

Objective

• You will:

– Understand the social and political influences of the literature of the High Middle Ages

• Show me by:

– Taking notes.

– Summarizing the main ideas in your Cornell notes.

When were the High Middle Ages?

• Between 1000-1300

• Primarily in Western Europe

What were the High Middle Ages?

• Western Europe between 1000-1300

• Crusades were over

– Crusaders brought home works of classical Greek philosophers (Aristotle)

• Economic growth

– population increase

– increased trade and production

– art, architecture, literature

What were the High Middle Ages?

• Universities founded across Europe and England

–Scholasticism

• Thomas Aquinas

• Combined ideas of Aristotle with Christian theology

–Reason + Faith

What key issues affected thought in

the High Middle Ages?

• Dualistic tensions:

– Faith vs. Reason

– Spiritual vs. Carnal

– Religion vs. Politics

What key issues affected thought in

the High Middle Ages?

Faith vs. Reason

• Faith

– belief that is not based on proof

• Reason

– Man can only know what he experiences

What key issues affected thought in

the High Middle Ages?

Faith vs. Reason

So here’s the problem…

• “By doubting we come to inquiry; and through inquiry we perceive truth.”

– We can’t learn unless we ask questions

• Why should we inquire when the Scriptures are truth?

– Why should we ask questions when everything in the Bible is absolute truth?

What key issues affected thought in

the High Middle Ages?

Spiritual vs. Carnal

• Spiritual

– relating to the spiritual body (soul)

• Carnal

– relating to the physical body

What key issues affected thought in

the High Middle Ages?

Spiritual vs. Carnal

So here’s the problem…

• Sure we all want to go to Heaven

– The Church required strict discipline and self-denial

• But can’t we have some fun while we’re on Earth?

– Growth in trade

– Universities (worldly knowledge)

What key issues affected thought in

the High Middle Ages?

Religion vs. Politics

(aka: who’s in charge here???)

• The Church controlled EVERYTHING

– Political

– Cultural

– Economic

– Spiritual

What key issues affected thought in

the High Middle Ages?

Religion vs. Politics

(aka: who’s in charge here???)

So here’s the problem…

• Church leaders had become corrupt

– They were in everybody’s business • Appointing rulers that they could control

• Excommunicating (or even deposing) rulers and people who opposed them

• Embezzling tax money (tithes)

• Breaking vows (celibacy, poverty, etc…)

What key issues affected thought in

the High Middle Ages?

Religion vs. Politics

(aka: who’s in charge here???)

So here’s the problem…

• Many people (especially in Italy) wanted a secular government

– Separation of Church and State • The emperor leads people to Earthly happiness

• The pope is in charge of guiding men’s eternal souls

What key issues affected thought in

the High Middle Ages?

Religion vs. Politics

(aka: who’s in charge here???)

• Dante believed in the separation of Church and State

– The Church was supposed to be God’s spiritual and ethical arm

– The Empire executed God’s political and temporal will on earth

What is heresy?

• A belief or teaching considered unacceptable by a religious group

– So…when people either

• Don’t believe in what the Church tells them to

• Believe something different than what the Church teaches

– This includes:

• The actual belief in something

• The method of practicing their beliefs

What is heresy?

• Religion (Christianity) was NOT questioned nor abandoned.

• What was challenged, however, was the authority of the Church.

What is a heretic?

• Heretics were religious groups whose

beliefs did not wholly conform with

Medieval Church doctrine

– they sought their own Christ

– not the Christ manufactured by Rome

Why become a heretic?

• Peasants:

– lost all confidence in the highest Church authorities

• popes, bishops, etc.

– dissatisfied with a monastic form of life

• wanted to enjoy what life had to offer rather than live with rigors and denials of life in the monastery

– did not relate to the Church’s methods

• mostly they didn’t speak Latin

Why become a heretic?

• Nobility:

– To combat papal authority

– To attack the authority of secular powers

– To improve their chances of salvation

• They wanted to get closer to the Church but…

– They could not join monasteries

– They could not enter Church government since those positions were hereditary

How did the Church deal with

heresy?

• The inquisition!

– Torture

– Burning at the stake

– Turning in your friends and family…

• No, not really

– This is a very common misconception

How did the Church deal with

heresy?

• They handed heretics over to the secular governments.

• Then, the secular governments executed the heretics for them.

– Because that’s so much better…

What does all this mean?

• Scholars were struggling to reconcile their new found knowledge with their religious faith

– We want to ask questions, but the Church teaches us that faith is the only way to salvation…

• The Church did not like to be questioned or challenged

– We have all the money and power, thus we are correct because we say so…

• The regular people couldn’t find God in any of it

– What does all this drama have to do with my soul? Doesn’t anybody care if I go to Heaven…

What is contrapasso?

• Contra = Latin for “against”

• Patior = Latin for “suffer”

• So…sinners are punished by

– a process either resembling or contrasting with the sin itself

– Divine Retribution

• Similar to Code of Hammurabi

– An eye for an eye

What types of sins are discussed

in the Inferno?

• Level 1

– Incontinence

• Level 2

– Violence

• Level 3

– Fraudulent and Traitorous

Which sins are punished in

level 1?

• Level 1: Incontinence • People who give in to their physical or

emotional urges without regard to rational thought or moral consequences

So…they lack of self control

Which sins are punished in

level 1?

• Sinners include: • Lust

• Gluttony

• Greed and wasting

–without malice

• Wrath (anger)

• Sullenness (gloomy and unsociable)

Which sins are punished in

level 2?

• Level 2: Violence • Conscious violation of God’s will

• Commits a sin with malice

–Malice: evil intent on the part of a person who commits a wrongful act that injures others

Which sins are punished in

level 2?

• Sinners include:

• Heretics

• Tyrants

• Murders – of strangers and acquaintances

• Suicides

• Blasphemers

• Usurers – people who profit from the work of others

» like loan sharks

Which sins are punished in

level 3?

• Level 3: Fraudulent and Traitorous • Fraud: an act of deliberate, knowing evil, those

who use lies and deception for personal gain.

• Treachery: fraudulent acts between individuals who share special bonds of love and trust

Which sins are punished in

level 3?

• Fraudulent sinners include:

– Murders

• of family members

– Liars of all kinds

• False profits

• Hypocrites

• Thieves

• Corrupt politicians

• Etc…

Which sins are punished in

level 3?

• Traitorous sinners include:

– People who have betrayed

• A family member

• Their guests

• Their country

• Their lords and benefactors – Benefactor: a person who helps or supports another

person

Closure

• Write your summary for your Cornell notes.

–Things to include:

• Evolution of thought and priorities in the High Middle Ages.

– (The dualistic tensions)

• Contrapasso and types of sins