Editing Middle Ages (section)

=== Church and monasticism ===
{{Main|Christianity in the Middle Ages}}

[[File:Gregory I - Antiphonary of Hartker of Sankt Gallen.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|An 11th-century illustration of [[Gregory the Great]] dictating to a secretary]]

Christianity was a major unifying factor between Eastern and Western Europe before the Arab conquests, but the conquest of North Africa sundered maritime connections between those areas. Increasingly, the Byzantine Church differed in language, practices, and [[liturgy]] from the Western Church. The Eastern Church used Greek instead of Western Latin. Theological and political differences emerged, and by the early and middle 8th century, issues such as [[Byzantine Iconoclasm|iconoclasm]], [[clerical marriage]], and [[Caesaropapism|state control of the Church]] had widened to the extent that the cultural and religious differences were more significant than the similarities.<ref name=Collins218>Collins ''Early Medieval Europe'' pp. 218–233</ref> A formal break known as the [[East–West Schism]] came in 1054, when the [[papacy]] and the [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|patriarchy of Constantinople]] clashed over [[papal supremacy]] and [[excommunicated]] each other, which led to the division of Christianity into two Churches—the Western branch became the [[Roman Catholic Church]] and the Eastern branch the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]].<ref name=Davies328>Davies ''Europe'' pp. 328–332</ref>

The [[Hierarchy of the Catholic Church|ecclesiastical structure]] of the Roman Empire survived the movements and invasions in the West mostly intact. Still, the papacy was little regarded, and few of the Western [[bishop]]s looked to the bishop of Rome for religious or political leadership. [[Byzantine Papacy|Many of the popes]] before 750 were more concerned with Byzantine affairs and Eastern theological controversies. The register, or archived copies of the letters, of Pope [[Gregory the Great]] (pope 590–604) survived. Of those 850 letters, most were concerned with affairs in Italy or Constantinople. The only part of Western Europe where the papacy had influence was Britain, where Gregory had sent the [[Gregorian mission]] in 597 to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity.<ref name=WIckham170>Wickham ''Inheritance of Rome'' pp. 170–172</ref> [[Irish missionaries]] were most active in Western Europe between the 5th and the 7th centuries, going first to England and Scotland and then on to the continent. Under such [[monk]]s as [[Columba]] (d. 597) and [[Columbanus]] (d. 615), they founded monasteries, taught in Latin and Greek, and authored secular and religious works.<ref name=Colish62>Colish ''Medieval Foundations'' pp. 62–63</ref>

The Early Middle Ages witnessed the rise of [[Christian monasticism|monasticism]] in the West. The shape of European monasticism was determined by traditions and ideas that originated with the [[Desert Fathers]] of [[Egypt]] and [[Syria]]. Most European monasteries were of the type that focuses on the community experience of the spiritual life, called [[cenobitism]], which was pioneered by [[Pachomius]] (d. 348) in the 4th century. Monastic ideals spread from Egypt to Western Europe in the 5th and 6th centuries through [[Hagiography|hagiographical literature]] such as the ''[[Life of Anthony]]''.<ref name=Lawrence10>Lawrence ''Medieval Monasticism'' pp. 10–13</ref> [[Benedict of Nursia]] (d. 547) wrote the [[Benedictine Rule]] for Western monasticism during the 6th century, detailing the administrative and spiritual responsibilities of a community of monks led by an [[abbot]].<ref name=Lawrence18>Lawrence ''Medieval Monasticism'' pp. 18–24</ref> Monks and monasteries had a profound effect on the religious and political life of the Early Middle Ages, in various cases acting as [[land trust]]s for powerful families, centres of propaganda and royal support in newly conquered regions, and bases for missions and proselytisation.<ref name=Wickham185>Wickham ''Inheritance of Rome'' pp. 185–187</ref> They were the main and sometimes only outposts of education and literacy in a region. Many of the surviving manuscripts of the Latin [[Classics#Classical Rome|classics]] were copied in monasteries in the Early Middle Ages.<ref name=Hamilton43>Hamilton ''Religion in the Medieval West'' pp. 43–44</ref> Monks were also the authors of new works, including history, theology, and other subjects, written by authors such as [[Bede]] (d. 735), a native of northern England who wrote in the late 7th and early 8th centuries.<ref name=Colish64>Colish ''Medieval Foundations'' pp. 64–65</ref>