RELG 330 - History of Christianity
Course Notes
Chapter 22
Page 307 - Luther in Rome - what shocked Luther most about his visit to Rome was not so much the sexual immorality, but the buying and selling of positions within the Church. He was very blunt, and said (in German) "If that's not a whorehouse, then I don't know what a whorehouse is.".
Page 308 - the Black Death (Bubonic Plague) spread from central Asia, through the Mediterranean, through the whole of Europe, and into Britain, Scandinavia, Russia. The Black Death gets its name from bleeding under the skin, which turns black. It is estimated that about a third to a half of the population of Europe was wiped out - whole villages were left completely uninhabited. The consequences were that labor was suddenly scarce - the Feudal system broke down completely. People lost their trust in the Church, anti-Semitism increased, trade broke down, surviving peasants migrated to the towns or rose in rebellion against their overlords. Many of the monasteries lost a large number of their monks, because they had been ministering to the victims, and caught the plague themselves. Some people thought that the end of the world was coming, and formed groups of fanatics such as the Flagellants.
Bubonic Plague still exists - in 1994 there was a major outbreak in India. It is a bacterial infection, spread by infected fleas from rodents to humans. Treatment with antibiotics such as streptomycin is effective. Left untreated it can result in death. In New Mexico and Arizona there are colonies of prairie dogs which carry the disease, leading to several cases of the Plague in humans every year.
Page 308 - "geological discoveries" must be a typo for "geographical dicoveries"
Page 308 - The three most powerful Western monarchies were the Tudors in England (founded when Henry VII killed Richard II in 1485), the Valois of France, and the Hapsburgs of the Holy Roman Empire.
Page 315 - Devotio Moderna stressed the inner life of the individual Christian, and encouraged meditation on the Life and Passion of Christ.
Copyright © 2005 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
