A View Of The Medieval Christian Church free essay sample

Essay, Research Paper Subject: English 243TITLE: # 8220 ; The Canterbury Tales: A position of the Medieval Christian Church # 8221 ; In discoursing Chaucer # 8217 ; s aggregation of narratives called The CanterburyTales, an interesting pictureor illustration of the Medieval Christian Church is presented. However, while people demanded morevoice in the personal businesss of authorities, the church became corrupt # 8212 ; thiscorruption besides led to a morecrooked society. However, there is no such thing as merely churchhistory ; This is because thechurch can neer be studied in isolation, merely because it has alwaysrelated to the societal, economicand political context of the twenty-four hours. In history so, there is a two wayprocess where the church has aninfluence on the remainder of society and of class, society influences thechurch. This is of course becauseit is the people from a society who make up the church # 8230 ; .and those samepeople became thepersonalities that created these narratives of a pilgrimmage to Canterbury. The Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England was to take topographic point in arelatively short period of clip, but this was non because of the success of the Augustinian attempt. Indeed, the early old ages of thismission had an ambivalency which shows in the figure of people who hedgedtheir stakes bypracticing both Christian and Pagan rites at the same clip, and in thenumber of people whopromptly apostatized when a Christian male monarch died. There is surely noevidence for a large-scaleconversion of the common people to Christianity at this clip. Augustine wasnot the most diplomaticof work forces, and managed to antagonise many people of power and influence inBritain, non least amongthem the native British clerics, who had neer been peculiarly eager tosave the psyche of theAnglo-Saxons who had brought such acrimonious times to their people. In theirisolation, the British Churchhad maintained older ways of celebrated the major festivals of Christianity, and Augustine # 8217 ; s attempt tocompel them to conform to modern Roman use merely angered them. WhenAugustine died ( sometime between 604 and 609 AD ) , so, Christianity had merely a unstable holdon Anglo -SaxonEngland, a clasp which was limited mostly to a few in the nobility. Christianity was to becomefirmly established merely as a consequence of Irish attempts, who from centres inScotland and Northumbriamade the common people Christian, and established on a steadfast footing theEnglish Church. At all degrees of society, belief in a God or Gods was non a affair ofchoice, it was a affair of fact. Atheism was an foreigner construct ( and one dating from the 18th century ) . Populating in the in-between ages, one would come into contact with the Church in a figure of ways. First, there were the everyday church services, held daily and attendedat least one time a hebdomad, and thespecial festivals of Christmas, Easter, baptisms, matrimonies, etc.. In thatrespect the medieval Churchwas no different to the modern one. Second, there were the tithes that theChurch collected, usuallyonce a twelvemonth. Tithes were used to feed the parish priest, maintain the fabricof the church, and to help the hapless. Third, the Church fulfilled the maps of a # 8216 ; civil service # 8217 ; andan instruction system. Schoolsdid non be ( and were unneeded to a mostly peasant society ) , but theChurch and the governmentneeded work forces who could read and compose in English and Latin. The Church trainedits ain work forces, and thesewent to assist in the authorities: authorship letters, maintaining histories and so on. The words # 8216 ; cleric # 8217 ; and # 8217 ; clerk # 8217 ; have the same beginning, and every Lord would hold at least onepriest to move as a secretary. The power of the Church is frequently over-emphasized. Surely, the latermedieval Church was rich andpowerful, and that power was frequently misused # 8211 ; particularly in Europe. Bishopsand archbishops wereappointed without any preparation or clerical background, church officeschanged custodies for hard currency, and so on. The authorization of the early medieval Church in England was no different tothat of a ny other landholder. So, the inquiry that haunted mediaeval adult male was that of his ain redemption. The being of Godwas neer questioned and the heart-cry of mediaeval society was a desire toknow God and achieveintimacy with the Godhead. Leading a life delighting to God was the uppermostconcern, and the widediversity of mediaeval piousness is merely because people answered the inquiry, # 8217 ; How can I best lead a holylife? # 8217 ; in so many different ways. Get downing with # 8220 ; The Pardoner # 8217 ; s Tale # 8221 ; , thetheme of redemption is trulyparamount. Chaucer, being one of the most of import medieval writers, usesthis prologue and taleto make a statement about purchasing redemption. The character of the forgiver isone of the mostdespicable pilgrims, apparently # 8220 ; along for the drive # 8221 ; to his following # 8220 ; gig # 8221 ; as theseller of relics. # 8220 ; For mynentente is nat but for to winne, / And no thing for correccion of sinne, # 8221 ; admits the forgiver in hisprologue. As a affair of fact, the forgiver is merely in it for the money, asevident from this transition: I wol none of the Apostles countrefete: I wold have moneye, wolle, cheese, and whete, Al were it yiven of the pooreste page, Or of the pooreste widwe in a small town # 8212 ; Al sholde hir kids sterve for dearth. Nay, I drinke licour of the vine And have a joly wenche in every town. In his narrative, the Pardoner slips into his function as the holiest of sanctums andspeaks of the direconsequences of gluttony, gaming, and lechery. He cites Attila the Hunwith, # 8220 ; Looke Attila, thegrete conquerour, / Deide in his slumber with shame and dishonor, / Bleeding athis olfactory organ indronkenesse # 8221 ; . The personification of the deathly wickednesss, along with his storyof the three greedymen that finally perish at the custodies of their wickedness is a distinguishable medievaldevice. The amusing turn thatChaucer adds to the device, though, is t hat the Pardoner in himself is asthe personification of wickedness, as isevident from the transitions of his prologue. At the decision of his narrative, the Pardoner asks, # 8220 ; Allas, mankinde, how may it bitide/ That to thy Creatour which that thee wroughte, /And with his preciousherte blood boughte, / Thou art so fals and unkinde, allas? # 8221 ; . He so goes onto offer eachpilgrim a topographic point # 8230 ; for a monetary value, of class. The Pardoner # 8217 ; s topographic point in Chaucer # 8217 ; s thought of salvation becomes apparent inthe epilogue of the narrative. After offering the host the first forgiveness ( # 8221 ; For he is most envoluped insinne # 8221 ; and, purportedly, theequivalent of Chaucer ) , the host berates the forgiver, stating, # 8220 ; I wolde Ihadde thy coilons inmyn hond, / In stede of relikes or of saintuarye./ Lat cutte him of # 8221 ; . Bythis, the thought of thepardoner as the most of import adult male on the pilgrims journey is bro ught to fruitionand Chaucer makes themain point of this narrative: Redemption is non for sale. Another illustration of themedieval compulsion withredemption. However, some did non accept this and questioned the church # 8212 ; It waswhat they wanted otherthan # 8220 ; a holy life with a Old-Testament God # 8221 ; ; That manner of thinkingevenually lead to a # 8220 ; more soft, mother-figure # 8221 ; as a goddess # 8212 ; The Cult of the Virgin. The eminent questionthen becomes, # 8220 ; Whywould people change from a durable, Old-Testament God to a mother-likegoddess? The answeris merely because they thought their # 8220 ; new found Goddess # 8221 ; would neer be asharsh on people as theoften criticized male like facet of God. In both current Catholicism andthat of the mediaeval period, Mary is worshipped with more ardor than even God or Jesus. Church afterchurch was ( and still is ) erected in her name. Her similitude graced statues and stained glass with asmuch frequence a s Jesus # 8217 ; bloody caput. The worship of Mary is ardent, institutionalised, and approvedof by the Christian church. Is she non a goddess? Mary merely took the topographic point of the female facets ofthe spirit that were onceworshipped as Roman or Anglo-Saxon goddesses. The mediaeval period, stretching about from the late seventhcentury to the early sixteenth, was bound together under one changeless # 8211 ; Roman Catholic Christianity. Butbeneath this # 8220 ; drape ofChristianity # 8221 ; many fables were being formed and passed down, as old pagantraditions becameassimilated into a freshly Christian society. The two spiritual signifiers werebecoming intertwined. Theyseemed at this clip to be tolerant of each other, non wholly distinguishable. Apeoples wonts and thoughtprocesses are non easy changed, and being that the Anglo-saxons of Britainwere non Christians untilthe mid-600 # 8217 ; s, a period of passage can be expected. At least, afascination with their heathen ance storsexisted, at most, the pattern of the old ways. Examples of a fascinationwith thaumaturgy, idolizing morethan one god-like figure, and a go oning love for idolizing goddesses, exist in many texts written inthis period. Yet, this does non intend that every small town had a sorceress intheir thick, but literature normally reflects the society within which it emerges. At the clip of TheCanterbury Tales, many of apeople who were Christians officially, politically, and in most instances atheart, saw that there were elementsof pagan religion and black magic which is tolerated and respected. The society inwhich Chaucer writes thesestories is Chris tian as well, politically and spiritually–could it be thatthey tolerated and respectedpaganism and magic? Perhaps the separation of the two is not necessary andwas not complete at thispoint in time. Not only was magic a pagan tradition that persisted throughout theMiddle Ages..another tradition,changing at the time, reflected the transition from worshipping the unseenforces in the world as manygods, to one, omnipotent God. Although the people were Christians, they tookthe separation of spiritualpowers far beyond the creation the Trinity. The specific powers or emphasisgiven to each saintcarries on even into today’s Catholic tradition. The medieval period mayhave had some of this(although many of the saints were not even born yet†¦) but in theirliterature, many immortal andpowerful creatures are found. This form of Paganism existed in Britain ofthe Middle ages, full ofspiritual beings, full of magic, alive with heavenly power existing onEarth. It has been the natu re of theChristian men in power through the ages to, for fear, deny their people theknowledge of the un-Christianrichness in their ancestry, and so the traditions that were not masked asChristian are lost to studentsof Christian history and literature. But it seems this period had not seensuch extensive discrimination. The two ways of the world were not quite so separate then, and matters ofthe occult were not yetlabeled as evil. This again implies that perhaps the two forms of religiousthought do not have to becompletely separate. There are strong similarities for them to coincide andcomplement eachother, and for an entire people trying to make the Christian transition,maybe this complementing wasnecessary. However, the age of forceful patriarchy and witch-burning wouldnot come about for severalhundred years. Each new way of leading a â€Å"holy life† was thought to be progressivelymore acceptable to Godby its proponents than the ones that had gone before. Such ‘new wa ys’ werenormally inspired by adesire to break away from the corruption and worldliness which was percievedin the older or moreestablished forms of Godly living. These new ways often became corruptthemselves and over timebreakaways from them were hailed as a newer and more perfect way offollowing God. Thisroller-coaster ride of corruption and reform is basically the story ofpopular medieval religion as manbattled to define and discover what it really meant to be a Christian. In an effort to escape persecution, but to also flee the evil, prevalent inthe world and to seek Godfree from many ‘ worldly ‘ distractions, monks began to assemble ascommunities of Christians . Thesecommunities, although they had little organization, were regarded aspossessing the best Christian lifeby having a solitary, ascetic, celibate existence where the ‘ world ‘ hadbeen totally renounced and hadbeen entirely replaced with heavenly contemplation. These ‘ new ‘ mart yrswere usually just calledmonks: theirs was a life of daily martyrdom as they constantly died to selfand lived totally for God. The monks paid particular veneration to the physical remains of the martyrs(relics) and were thereforeconnected to the martyrs who they replaced. The rise of ascetic monasticismand relic worship howeverwas quite controversial — Both the worship of relics and asceticmonasticism however becamemainstays of this Medieval religion, and the idea that monks were a new formof martyr persistedover time. Both monks as well as martyrs were looked upon as holy men. In relating this solitary world to readers, there is also a monk inChaucer’s work — He is someonewho combined godliness and worldliness into a profitable and comfortableliving. He was theoutrider or the person in charge of the outlying property†¦.which lead himto enjoy hunting, fine foods,and owning several horses. Monks renounced all their worldly belongings andby taking vows of p overty,chastity and obedience, joined a community of monks. Their lives were spentin communal worship,devotional reading, prayer and manual labour all under the authority of theabbot of the monastic house. Particular monks often had particular jobs- the cellarer or the infirmarerfor example, and these like every aspect of monastic life were laid down inthe ‘Rule’. Monks were nearly always of noble extraction (onehad to have wealth in order to give it up) but could also be given to themonastery as children (calledoblates) to be brought up as monks. Hindsight has blurred our vision of the Medieval monk and the result isthat the modern Christianmindset has condemned him for his selfish escapism from the world and forhis apparent neglect of thosewho needed Christ outside of the cloister. The Medieval mindset was verydifferent. The monastery wasan integral part of the local community — it probably owned most of thefarming land in the area- and thefortunes of the peopl e in any area were bound up with the spirituality ofits monastic house. The monkswere on the front line of the spiritual battle-it was they who did battle inprayer for their community, whowarded off devils and demons and who prayed tirelessly for the salvation ofthe souls of those in theircommunity. Rather than being the cowards of Christianity unable to take thestrain of living a Christianlife in the real world, the monks were like spiritual stormtroopersinterceeding for an area against itssupernatural enemies in mudh the same way as a local lord in his castleprotected an area against itsphysical enemies. The people gave gifts to both lord and abbot in return fora service. The Pardoner also represents the tradition of faith — in respect tothe church of his time. The Pardoner isrepresentative of the seamy side of the corrupt church and a broken ortwisted (if you will) faith. Thefaith of a bureaucracy, which is what the church had become. The Pardonerwas a church official whoh ad the authority to forgive those who had sinned by selling pardons andindulgences to them. Although,the Pardoner was a church official, he was clearly in the â€Å"church† businessfor economic reasons. ThePardoner, a devious and somewhat dubious individual had one goal: Get themost money for pardons byalmost any means of coercion necessary. A twisted and ironic mind, hasbasically defined himself throughhis work for a similarly corrupt church. In contrast, the Plowman hasnothing but a seeminglyuncomplicated and untwisted faith. The Plowman has the faith of a poorfarmer, uncomplicated by thebureaucracy of the church. The Pardoner is probably on this journey becausehe is being required to goby the church or he sees some sort of economic gain from this voyage, mostlikely from sellingforgiveness to the other pilgrims. The Plowman on the other hand is probablyon this voyage because ofhis sincerity and faith in its purpose. While this was the story of religion at ‘grass-roots ’ level, at theorganisational and hierarchical level,the church developed along a different line. It became more organized, morebureaucratic, more legal,more centralized and basically more powerful on a European scale. Thisprocess was spearheadedby the papacy and reached its pinnacle under Pope Innocent III in the early13th Century. He embodiedwhat became known as the ‘papal monarchy’ – a situation where the popesliterally were kings in theirown world. The relative importance of spiritual and secular power in theworld was a constant question inthe middle ages with both secular emperors and kings, and the popesasserting their claims to rule bydivine authority with God’s commands for God’s people proceeding out oftheir mouths. The power of thechurch is hard to exaggerate: its economic and political influence was huge,as its wealth, movementslike the crusades, and even the number of churches that exist from thisperiod truly show its greatness. B y the early 10th century, a strange malaise seems to have entered theEnglish church. There arecomments from this time of a decline in learning among churchmen and anincrease in a love forthings of this earthly world. Even more of these lax standards had begun adecline in the power structureof the church which included a decrease in acceptable behavior amongstchurchmen and a growing useof church institutions by lay people as a means of evading taxes. Christianity affected all men in Europe at every level and in every way. Such distances however, ledto much diversity and the shaping of Medieval religion into a land ofcontrasts. One can also see how man’s feelings of extreme sinfulness and desire for God are quite evidentin these tales. Still, we are told that history repeats itself because nobody listens to it,but more realisticallyhistory repeats itself because man is essentially the same from onegeneration to the next. He hasthe same aspirations, fears and flaws; yet the way that these are expresseddiffers from age to age. This is why each period of history is different. The fact that man is thesame yet different is whatmakes the study of the people who formed the medieval church directlyapplicable to Christians’ lives and experiences today.