Editing History of Christianity (section)

== High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1300) ==
{{Further|High Middle Ages}}
Membership in the Christendom of this age began with baptism at birth.{{sfn|Cantor|1960|p=57}}{{sfn|Rubin|Simons|2009|p=4}}{{sfn|Dawson|2008|p=282}} Every follower was supposed to have some knowledge of the [[Apostles' Creed]] and the [[Lord's Prayer]], to rest on Sunday and feast days, attend mass, fast at specified times, take communion at Easter, pay various fees for the needy, and receive last rites at death.{{sfn|Van Engen|1986|pp=539; 540; 541; 546}}{{sfn|Tolan|2016|p=278}} The medieval papacy gained authority in every domain of European life as it gradually came to resemble the monarchies of its day.{{sfn|Rosenwein|2014|p=185}}{{sfn|Ullmann|1965|pp=80–81}} 

Canon law became a huge, highly complex legal system, and yet these hundreds of laws largely omitted Christianity's earlier principles of equity and inclusivity.{{sfn|Hastings|2000|p=382}}{{sfn|Nelson|2008|pp=305, 324}} The High Middle Ages saw the formation of several fundamental Christian doctrines, such as the seven sacraments, the just reward for labour, "the terms of Christian marriage, the nature of clerical celibacy and the appropriate lifestyle for priests".{{sfn|Rubin|Simons|2009|pp=2-3}} Heresy was more precisely defined.{{sfn|Rubin|Simons|2009|p=5}} [[Purgatory]] became an official doctrine. In 1215, [[Confession (religion)|confession]] became required for all.{{sfn|Wood|2016|p=11}}{{sfn|Van Engen|1986|p=543}} The [[rosary]] was created after veneration of [[Mary, mother of Jesus]] became a central aspect of the period.{{sfn|Rubin|Simons|2009|pp=1–2}}
[[File:Périgueux - Cathédrale Saint-Front 1047 - Romanesque architecture - 'restored' 1852-95 by Paul Abadie (Architect of Basilique du Sacré-Cœur in Paris) 23.jpg|thumb|alt=example of Romanesque architecture from the Sacre Cour in Paris|[[Romanesque architecture]] preserved in the French [[Périgueux Cathedral]]]]
Beginning at [[Cluny Abbey]] (910), which used [[Romanesque architecture]] to convey a sense of awe and wonder and inspire obedience, monasteries gained influence through the [[Cluniac Reforms]].{{sfn|Matthews|Platt|1998|pp=215-216}}{{sfn|Stephenson|2009|p=7}}{{refn|group=note|During this same period, the monk [[Guido of Arezzo]] created the [[music staff]] of lines and spaces and named musical notes, making modern music possible.{{sfn|Hall|Battani|Neitz|2004|p=100}}}} However, their cultural and religious dominance began to decline in the mid-eleventh century when [[secular clergy]], who were not members of religious orders, rose in influence.{{sfn|Cantor|1960|pp=47, 54}} Monastery schools lost influence as [[cathedral school]]s spread,{{sfn|Cantor|1960|pp=52-53}} independent schools arose,{{sfn|Rosenwein|2014|p=197}} and [[Medieval university|universities]] formed as self-governing corporations chartered by popes and kings.{{sfn|Verger|1995|p=257}}{{sfn|Den Heijer|2011|p=65|loc="Many of the medieval universities in Western Europe were born under the aegis of the Catholic Church, usually as cathedral schools or by papal bull as Studia Generali"}} Canon and civil law became professionalized, and a new literate elite formed, further displacing monks.{{sfn|Nelson|2008|p=326}}{{sfn|Cantor|1960|pp=53-54}} Throughout this period, the clergy and the laity became "more literate, more worldly, and more self-assertive".{{sfn|Matter|2008|p=530}}{{refn|group=note| The [[parish]] emerged as one of the fundamental institutions of medieval Europe.{{sfn|Rubin|Simons|2009|pp=2–3}}{{sfn|Van Engen|1986|p=542}}{{sfn|Matter|2008|p=530}} After the eleventh century, education began at home then continued in the parish of one's birth instead of in the monastery.{{sfn|Rubin|Simons|2009|p=3}}{{sfn|Cantor|1960|pp=50, 52}} The parish priest (secular clergy) celebrated the liturgy, visited the sick, instructed the young, gave aid to the poor, ministered to the dying, and monitored and maintained his parish's income from land, livestock, rents and tithes.{{sfn|Rubin|Simons|2009|p=3}}}} 

=== Centralization ===
The [[Gregorian Reform|reform]] of [[Pope Gregory VII]] (1073–1085) began "a new period in church history".{{sfn|Nelson|2008|p=301}}{{sfn|Larson|2016|p=6}} Previously, the power of kings and emperors had been at least partly founded on connection to the sacred.{{sfn|Cantor|1960|p=56}}{{sfn|Nelson|2008|p=326}} Gregorian Reform intended to divest Western rule of its sacramental character, and to establish the preeminence of the church by freeing it from state control.{{sfn|Cantor|1960|p=55}} This reinforced the popes' temporal power, enabling a reorganization of the administration of the [[Papal States]] which brought a substantial increase in wealth. This enabled popes to become patrons in their own right,{{Sfn|Costambeys|2000|pp=367, 372, 376}}{{sfn|Barnish|1988|p=120}}{{sfn|Carocci|2016|pp=66, 68, 76, 79}} consolidate territory, centralize authority, and establish a bureaucracy.{{sfn|Logan|2013|pp=2–3}}{{sfn|Deane|2022|pp=xxiii, 277}}{{sfn|Nelson|2008|p=326}} 
	
The centralization of governance during this period created conflict between church and state officials competing to claim legal and tax jurisdiction over the same populace.{{sfn|Rubin|Simons|2009|p=3}}{{sfn|Matthews|Platt|1998|pp=244–247}} A major example was the [[Investiture Controversy]] in the [[Holy Roman Empire]], a conflict between the Holy Roman Emperor [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry IV]] and Pope Gregory VII over the secular appointment of bishops and abbots and control of their revenues.{{sfn|Garrett|1987|pp=5–7}}{{sfn|Grzymała-Busse|2023|pp=24, 51}}{{sfn|Thompson|2016|pp=176–182}}{{sfn|Dowley|2018|p=159}} For the church, ending lay investiture would support independence from the state, encourage reform, and provide better [[pastoral care]]. For the kings, ending lay investiture meant the power of the Holy Roman Emperor and the [[European nobility]] would be reduced.{{sfn|Grzymała-Busse|2023|pp=24-26, 51–52}}{{sfn|Thompson|2016|pp=176–177}}{{sfn|Althoff|2019b|pp=173; 175}}{{sfn|Eichbauer|2022|p=3}} 

The ''{{lang|la|[[Dictatus Papae]]}}'' of 1075 declared that the pope alone could invest bishops.{{sfn|Grzymała-Busse|2023|p=25}} Disobedience to the Pope became equated with heresy;{{sfn|Althoff|2019b|p=175}} when Henry IV rejected the decree, he was [[Excommunication (Catholic Church)|excommunicated]], which contributed to a [[Saxon revolt of 1077–1088|civil war]].{{sfn|Garrett|1987|p=8}}{{sfn|Grzymała-Busse|2023|p=52}}{{sfn|MacCulloch|2009|p=375}} A similar controversy occurred in England.{{sfn|Vaughn|1980|pp=61–86}}

===Schism, crusade, spread, and retraction===
The Church of the East, which had separated after Chalcedon, survived against the odds with help from Byzantium.{{sfn|Angold|2006|loc=frontmatter}} At the height of its expansion in the thirteenth century, the Church of the East stretched from Syria to eastern China and from Siberia to southern India and southern Asia.{{sfn|Koschorke|2025|p=XXIII}} The second separation between east and west took place in 1054 when the church within the Byzantine Empire formed Byzantine [[Eastern Orthodoxy]], which thereafter remained in communion with the [[Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople]], not the Pope.{{sfn|Ware|1993|pp=11, 33}} 
 
Along with geographical separation, there had long been many cultural differences, geopolitical disagreements, and a lack of respect between east and west.{{sfn|Kolbaba|2008|pp=214; 223}}{{sfn|Meyendorff|1979|loc=intro}} Nevertheless, the Byzantine emperor [[Alexios I Komnenos]] still asked [[Pope Urban II]] for help with the [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuk Turks]] in 1081,{{sfn|Rosenwein|2014|pp=173–174}} and Urban asked European Christians to "go to the aid of their brethren in the Holy Land" in 1095.{{sfn|Folda|1995|pp=36; 141}}{{sfn|Tyerman|1992|pp=15–16}}{{sfn|Bull|2009|pp=346–347}} 

Urban's message had great popular appeal. Drawing on powerful and prevalent aspects of folk religion, the [[First Crusade]] connected [[pilgrimage]], [[Charity (practice)|charity]], and [[absolution]] with a willingness to fight.{{sfn|Bull|2009|pp=346–349}}{{sfn|Van Engen|1986|p=523}} It gave ordinary Christians a tangible means of expressing brotherhood with the East and carried a sense of historical responsibility.{{sfn|Bull|2009|pp=340–342; 346; 349–350; 352}} The [[Crusades]] contributed to the development of national identities in European nations and, eventually, increased division with the East.{{sfn|Kostick|2010|pp=2–6}} The evolving [[Chivalry|cult of chivalry]] of the Christian knight became a powerful social and cultural influence before its decline during the 1400s.{{sfn|Bull|2009|pp=346-348}}{{sfn|Matthews|Platt|1998|p=208}} One significant effect of the Crusades was the invention of the [[indulgence]].{{sfn|Bull|2009|p=351}}

Christianity was declining in Mesopotamia and inner Iran, although some Christian communities continued to exist further to the east.{{sfn|Micheau|2006|pp=373, 378, 381}}{{sfn|Hamilton|2003|p=xi}} As churches in Egypt, Syria, and Iraq became subject to fervently Islamic militaristic regimes, Christians were designated as [[Dhimmi|''dhimmi'']], a status that guaranteed their protection but enforced their legal inferiority.{{sfn|Micheau|2006|pp=373, 403}} Different communities adopted various survival strategies: some withdrew from interaction, others converted to Islam, and others sought outside help.{{sfn|Micheau|2006|p=403}} 

The [[Christianization of Scandinavia]] occurred in two stages: first, in the ninth century, missionaries operated without secular support; then, a secular ruler would begin to oversee Christianization in their territory until an organized ecclesiastical network was established.{{sfn|Sanmark|2004|pp=14-15}} By 1350, Scandinavia was an integral part of Western Christendom.{{sfn|Brink|2004|p=xvi}}

===Renaissance, science and technology===
[[File:Wells Cathedral Lady Chapel, Somerset, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|alt=example of Gothic architecture in England|[[Gothic architecture]] of the [[Lady chapel|Lady Chapel]] of [[Wells Cathedral]] in [[Somerset]], [[England]]]]
The Christian wars of [[Reconquista|reconquest]], which lasted over 200 years, had begun in Italy in 915 and in Spain in 1009 to retake territory lost to Muslims, causing fleeing Muslims in Sicily and Spain to leave behind their libraries.{{sfn|Hamilton|2003|p=37}} Between 1150 and 1200, monks searched those libraries and found the works of [[Aristotle]], [[Euclid]], and other ancient writers.{{sfn|Bauer|2013|pp=46–47}} The West's rediscovery of the complete works of Aristotle led to the [[Renaissance of the twelfth century]]. It also created conflict between faith and reason, resolved by a revolution in thought called [[scholasticism]].{{sfn|Longwell|1928|pp=210; 214; 216}}{{sfn|Matthews|Platt|1998|pp=219-220}} The scholastic writings of [[Thomas Aquinas]] impacted Catholic theology and influenced secular philosophy and law into the modern day.{{sfn|Haskins|1971|pp=4–7; 342; 345}}{{sfn|Longwell|1928|p=224}}{{sfn|Seagrave|2009|p=491}} Monks revived the scientific study of natural phenomena, which led to the [[scientific revolution]] in the West.{{sfn|Noll|2009|p=4}}{{sfn|Lindberg|Numbers|1986|pp=5; 12}}{{sfn|Gilley|2006|p=164}} There was no parallel renaissance in the East.{{sfn|Herrin|2021|p=12}}

[[Byzantine art]] exerted a powerful influence on Western art in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.{{sfn|Weitzmann|1966|p=3}} [[Gothic architecture]], intended to inspire contemplation of the divine, began in the same centuries.{{sfn|Matthews|Platt|1998|pp=228–237}}{{sfn|Stephenson|2009|p=9}} The [[Cistercians|Cistercian movement]] was a wave of monastic reform after 1098; Cistercians became instrumental in [[Medieval technology|technological advancement in medieval Europe]].{{sfn|MacCulloch|2009|pp=376–378}}{{sfn|Hunter|1978|p=60}}{{sfn|Constable|1998|pp=4–5}}

===Challenges and repression===
The twelfth century saw a change in the goal of a monk from contemplative devotion to active reform.{{sfn|Fox|1987|p=298}}{{sfn|Jestice|1997|pp=1, 5–6}} Among these new activist preachers was [[Saint Dominic|Dominic]] who founded the [[Dominican Order]] and was significant in opposing [[Catharism]].{{sfn|Léglu|Rist|Taylor|2013|p=8}}{{sfn|Rubin|Simons|2009|p=4}} In 1209, [[Pope Innocent III]] and King [[Philip II of France]] initiated the [[Albigensian Crusade]] against [[Catharism]].{{sfn|Marvin|2008|pp=3, 4}}{{sfn|Kienzle|2001|pp=46, 47}} The campaign took a political turn when the king's army strategically seized and occupied lands of nobles who had not supported the heretics, but had been in the good graces of the Church.{{sfn|Rummel| 2006|p=50}} It ended in 1229 when the region was brought under the rule of the French king, creating [[southern France]], while Catharism continued until 1350.{{sfn|Marvin| 2008|p=216}}{{sfn|Dunbabin|2003|pp=178–179}}

Moral misbehaviour, such as sexual misconduct, being drunk and disorderly in public, or heresy by either laity or clergy, were prosecuted in [[Inquisition|inquisitorial courts]]. These courts were established when someone was accused, then after prosecution, courts were dissolved. Inquisitorial courts were composed of both church and civil authorities.{{sfn|Arnold|2018|pp=363, 365}}{{sfn|Ames|2009|p=16}}{{sfn|Deane|2022|p=xv}} Though these courts had no joint leadership nor joint organization, the [[Dominican Order]] held the primary responsibility for conducting inquisitions.{{sfn|Peters|1980|p=189}}{{sfn|Mout|2007|p=229}}{{sfn|Zagorin|2003|p=3}} The [[Medieval Inquisition]] brought between 8,000 and 40,000 people to interrogation and sentencing; death sentences were relatively rare.{{sfn|Arnold|2018|pp=363, 367}} The penalty imposed most often was an act of penance which might include public confession.{{sfn|Wood|2016|p=9}} Bishops were the lead inquisitors, but they did not possess absolute power, nor were they universally supported.{{sfn|Rubin|Simons|2009|pp=5–6}}{{sfn|Arnold|2018|p=365}} Inquisition became stridently contested as public opposition grew and riots against the Dominicans occurred.{{sfn|Arnold|2018|p=363}}{{sfn|Ames|2009|pp=1–2; 4; 7; 16; 28; 34}}{{sfn|Given|2001|p=14}} The [[Fourth Lateran Council]] of 1215 empowered inquisitors to search out moral and religious "crimes" even when there was no accuser. In theory, this granted them extraordinary powers. In practice, without sufficient local secular support, their task became so overwhelmingly difficult that inquisitors were endangered and some were murdered.{{sfn|Arnold|2018|pp=365; 368}}

From 1170-80, the Jewish philosopher Moses ben Maimon (commonly known as [[Maimonides]]) wrote his fourteen-volume code of Jewish law and ethics, titled the "[[Mishneh Torah]]".{{sfn|Maimonides|1983|pp=iii-v}} A turning point in Jewish-Christian relations occurred when the [[Talmud]] was [[Disputation of Paris|put "on trial" in 1239]] by the French King [[Louis IX of France|Louis IX]] and [[Pope Gregory IX]] because of contents that mocked the central figures of Christianity.{{sfn|Schacter|2011|p=2}} Talmudic Judaism came to be seen as so different from biblical Judaism that old Augustinian obligations to leave the Jews alone no longer applied.{{sfn|Rosenthal|1956|pp=68–72}}{{sfn|Schacter|2011|p=2}}{{sfn|Shatzmiller|1974|p=339}} A rhetoric with elaborate stories casting Jews as enemies accused of ritual murder, [[blood libel]], and desecration of the Christian eucharist host grew among ordinary folk. The spread of the [[Black Death]] led to attacks on Jewish communities by people who blamed them for the epidemic.{{sfn|Rubin|Simons2009|p=6}}{{sfn|Resnick|2012|p=4}}{{sfn|Mundy|2000|p=58}} Jews often acted as financial agents for the nobility, providing them [[usury|loans with interest]] while being exempt from certain financial obligations. This attracted jealousy and resentment.{{sfn|Moore|2007|p=110}} Count [[Emicho|Emicho of Leiningen]] massacred Jews in search of supplies and protection money, while the [[History of the Jews in England (1066–1290)#Massacres at London, Bury and York (1189–1190)|York massacre of 1190]] also appears to have originated in a conspiracy by local leaders to liquidate their debts.{{sfn|Rose|2015|p=70}}

The nobility of Eastern Europe prioritized subduing the [[Balts]], the last major polytheistic population in Europe, over crusading in the Holy Land.{{sfn|Fonnesberg-Schmidt|2007|pp=23; 65}}{{refn|group=note|These rulers saw crusade as a tool for territorial expansion, alliance building, and empowerment of their own nascent church and state.{{sfn|Firlej|2021–2022|p=121}}}} In 1147, the ''[[Divina dispensatione]]'' gave these nobles indulgences for the first of the [[Northern Crusades]], which intermittently continued, with and without papal support, until 1316.{{sfn|Christiansen|1997|p=287}}{{sfn|Hunyadi|Laszlovszky|2001|p=606}}{{sfn|Fonnesberg-Schmidt|2007|pp=65; 75–77, 119}} The clergy pragmatically accepted the forced conversions the nobles perpetrated despite continued theological emphasis on voluntary conversion.{{sfn|Fonnesberg-Schmidt|2007|p=24}}