RELG 330 - History of Christianity
Course Notes
Chapter 21
Page 286 - Papal Bulls are written documents dealing with serious matters. They are signed by the Pope, sealed, and stamped with the Pope's signet. They get their name from the Latin bulla - "seal"
Page 286 - Pope Clement - there is a typo on page 286. He was Clement V. The textbook gets it correct on page 287
Pages 286-287 - The Avignon Papacy occurred during the period 1309-1376. It started when Pope Clement V, who was French, decided not to go to Rome, but to move the Papal court to Avignon, in France. French politics became very influential in the Papal Court, and several more French popes were elected. Pope Urban V tried to return the Papal Court to Rome in 1367, but was unsuccessful. Pope Gregory XI did manage a return to Rome in 1377, but he died the next year. What happened then was that the next pope, Urban VI, got in a power struggle with some of his cardinals, who elected a new "pope" Clement VII. Urban VI managed to hold control of Rome, and Clement VII fled to Avignon - and Europe had two popes who excommunicated one another. This was the "Western Schism" which lasted from 1378-1417, during which there was a series of two, and sometimes three "popes" simultaneously excommunicating one another and anybody who chose "the other pope". The Council of Constance deposed all three men claiming to be "Pope" and elected Martin V as the single Pope, stationed in Rome.
Page 202 - John Wyclif (also spelled Wycliffe) - see page 298. Wycliffe (ca.1320-1384) wanted everyone to be able to read the Bible for themselves, so he started translating the Bible into English. He was protected by members of the English Royal family, so the Pope wasn't able to have him burned for heresy. He became more and more radical, and wanted to upset the whole authority structure of the Church. Wycliffe was the first person to translate the whole of the Bible into English, but there were others who had translated parts of it even earlier. King Alfred had translated parts of it into Anglo-Saxon around the year 880.
The Lollards were the people who were influenced by Wycliffe, and who did not have academic training, but taught in English rather than in Latin. The term "Lollard" was given to them by their enemies, probably implying that they could not speak properly, and preached like "loll-loll-loll". They criticized Church leaders for their love of wealth, did not believe that the consecrated elements at the Mass became the actual Body and Blood of Christ, and said that Confession to a priest was unnecessary - they tended to a view that all Christian men were priests.
However, the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 in England brought the Lollards into conflict with the nobility, and persecution against them increased. In 1401 Henry IV of England signed a Law prohibiting laypeople from translating or owning a Bible, and making heretics liable to death by burning. In 1410 there was the first burning of a heretic in England - sentenced because of his Lollard beliefs. Lollards continued to be persecuted and sentenced to death until the Reformation in England, then they were absorbed into the general Protestant mainstream.
Page 292 - Jan Hus (1359-1415) was on the faculty of Prague University in Bohemia (what is now the Czech Republic).
At that time there was a close connection between Bohemia and England - Princess Anne of Bohemia, the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, and sister of King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia, had married King Richard II of England in 1382. Members of her court traveled frequently between the two countries, and brought Wycliffe's books and ideas to Bohemia. Jan Hus translated some of Wycliffe's books into Czech, and the University of Prague became a center for Wycliffite ideas. Hus took up Wycliffe's ideas, and pressed for radical reforms of the Church.
King Wenceslaus was initially in favor of Hus, but under pressure from Pope John XXIII he eventually withdrew his protection and expelled Hus from Prague. Hus and his followers were protected by some of the Bohemian nobles. In 1414 Hus was given a certificate of safe conduct to travel to Constance and defend his ideas at the Council of Constance, but was betrayed and was condemned and burned to death during the Council of Constance in 1415.
It didn't stop his followers though - they continued the struggle for reformation, and were known as the Hussites.
Page 295 - Catherine of Sienna (see also page 302) - the textbook does not explain what the picture represents. Catherine of Sienna was a Dominican Tertiary (Third Order - a layperson who is associated with an Order but has not taken the full vows of the Order). She devoted herself to a life of contemplation, service to the sick and the poor, and the conversion of sinners. In 1376 she traveled to Avignon to plead with Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome (shown in the sculpture pictured). The pope responded to her pleas and returned to Rome, but died in the following year.
Pages 296-297 - the Greek Emperor, and references to the "Greeks" - It would be more correct to refer to them as Byzantines. At this time the Eastern Empire contained many people-groups; they were not all ethnically Greek. Their political center was not Athens, but Constantinople (also known as Byzantium)
Page 297 - Tamburlaine (also known as Tamerlane, or Timor the Lame) (1336-1405) was born in what is now Uzbekistan. His people were nomadic Mongol tribes who had been influenced by the Persians and the Turks. Around 1363 he was injured, probably in a raiding party, and was crippled for the rest of his life - which may partly explain his terrible temper. He became ruler of Samarkand and Amir of the Chagatay tribe ca. 1368. In 1380 he set out on a campaign of world conquest and invaded Persia, Georgia, Russia, and Egypt. He conquered Delhi (in India) in 1398. In 1401 he conquered both Damascus and Baghdad, and in 1402 he defeated and took prisoner Bajazet I, Emir of the Turks. Tamerlane destroyed the remains of the Nestorian Church in the East, and was a threat to both the Byzantine Empire and to Western Europe (and also to the Ottoman empire), but died on his way to invade China in 1405. His body was taken back to Samarkand and buried in a great mausoleum.
Page 298 - Leicestershire is pronounced LESS-ter-shur. It is a Shire (county) in England
Page 302 - mystics.
Meister Eckhart (ca 1260-1327) (See also Page 317) was a German Dominican mystic. He became a famous preacher and teacher, but was accused of heresy by the Archbishop of Cologne in 1326. He appealed to the pope, but died before the trial was completed.
Henry Suso (ca. 1295-1366) was a German Dominican mystic. After being a Dominican for fifteen years he experienced a 'conversion'. He then studied with Meister Eckhart at Cologne. When he defended Meister Eckhardt against the accusation of heresy his was deprived of his own professorship at Cologne. He then preached throughout the regions of southern Germany and Switzerland. He wrote several books on mysticism, one of which, the 'Little Book of Eternal Wisdom', became one of the classics of German mysticism. He gave practical instruction on mysticism rather than theoretical discussions.
Julian of Norwich (pronounced NOH-rich) was a laywoman - she was not a nun, but she did live a consecrated life. As a young woman she was seriously ill and expected to die, but recovered, and as a result she dedicated herself to a life as an anchoress. An anchoress was a woman who lived in a small room, or set of rooms, attached to a church, with a small window so that she could see into the church. She spent her days in prayer and adoration; her food and necessities were brought to her - she never left her room(s) until she died. Julian of Norwich became famous as a counselor - people traveled from all over England to ask for her advice and guidance. She had a series of visions, which she described in her book 'Revelations of Divine Love'. She was remarkable for relating to Jesus as if He were her mother and brother.
Copyright © 2005 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
