Europe in the Age of the Reformation

Discussion  •  Syllabus  •  Classroom  •  Site Home

The Roman Catholic Church

at the End of the Middle Ages

It's ironic that at the very time when reformers were about to split forever the religious unity of western Christendom, the Roman Catholic Church was at its most glorious and most vigorous. This was not a church in decline, in decrepitude, or in disarray. It was a church that was confident and ambitious, fully cognizant of its shortcomings, and with the means and even the will to effect change. Before one can begin to analyze the issues surrounding the reform movement, however, one must understand the Roman Catholic Church itself. For many readers, much about the medieval Church is unknown or mysterious, and much more is assumed incorrectly. This essay is a description of the basics of the Church: how it was organized and what were its essential tenets of belief.

One disclaimer: the reader must understand that what follows concerns specifically the late medieval Church. The Church in the earlier Middle Ages was noticeably different--in general, in being less fully-articulated and less detailed in its claims, and so allowing for greater variation in practice. As for the Church in later centuries (after 1700), this author knows very little. Nothing said here should be construed as applying (or not applying!) to current Roman Catholic practice.

Hierarchy

Priests

The priest was the foundation of the Catholic Church. They were the most numerous, and they were recognized in theology as the most basic and important. The word comes from the Greek, presbyter, and appears in the New Testament. The priest was the Church member closest to ordinary folk and is the Church official with whom they had the most frequent contact. Being a priest meant being in "holy orders."

There were several levels of holy orders, with priest being at the top end. The exact number varied a bit, with certain minor offices included or excluded depending on which writer is being read. The Council of Trent set the number at seven, so that's the list I give here: doorkeeper (janitor), reader, exorcist, acolyte, subdeacon, deacon, priest. In the medieval Church, holy orders was one of the seven sacraments, so this hierarchy, and the powers attendant upon it, was at the absolute core of what it meant to be Catholic.

Other orders that were sometimes included were tonsure, cantor, bishop (being considered separately from priest, though all bishops were priests), psalmist. In most cases, the lower orders were simply offices, specific duties carried out by youngsters (usually, but not always) who were one their way to becoming full priests. In the Greek Orthodox Church, by way of comparison, there were five orders: bishop, priest, deacon, subdeacon, and reader.

The orders were usually grouped into two main divisions: minor orders and major orders. With the Tridentine (Council of Trent) ordering, priest, deacon and subdeacon were major orders, and the others were minor. Only those in the major orders had full priestly powers.

Minor Orders

Taking minor orders was easy. It could be done by anyone and the restrictions placed on the major orders did not apply. Thus, you could be in minor orders and not be required to be celibate. And you could leave minor orders if you chose. The great advantage of being in minor orders was that you were technically a member of the clergy, so you had those privileges.

The minor orders had by the late Middle Ages developed into an important role in the Church and in society at large. For example, just about everyone who entered any university anywhere entered minor orders. A great many "clergymen" in secular government had in fact only taken minor orders. Thus the Church had a tremendous influence in lay society, but by way of a body of men who were not particularly religious or interested in becoming religious. Minor orders had become for many a convenient doorway into a career in public service.

Priestly duties

The priest main duty in theory was to care for his flock. This meant first and foremost the administration of sacraments. Instruction was provided at the point of catechism and not all priests were preachers. The sermon was not yet a regular part of church services, so the priest did not necessarily preach the Word of God or instruct his parishoners in proper practice of their religion. The actual relationships between the local priest and his flock were actually rather complex.

Parish priest

Some priests were attached directly to a cathedral, or to a noble family, but most were assigned to a parish, the smallest and most basic physical division in Christendom. The parish was, typically, a single church serving a single community or neighborhood, staffed by a priest, plus one or more deacons, acolytes, etc., depending on size and wealth. This is also the level at which the Church's tithe was levied, so the parish priest was also in part a tax collector.

The parish itself was expected to provide the living for the priest. This is where part of the tithe went. Sometimes the parish church had attached lands that could be worked to provide food and perhaps a few items to sell.

Vicars

Not all priests were resident. Some were posted to a cathedral, working for a bishop, or were teaching at a university. The parish still had its needs, though, so a "vice-priest" - a "vicar" - was named. This person was typically only in minor orders and might be not at all well educated. He might, indeed, be little more than a local peasant who'd been packed off to a local monastery to learn the Latin elements of the Mass and sacraments by rote.

The vicar was given a portion--sometimes a very small portion--of the income from the parish. The rest was sent off to the priest. Since life at an episcopal court in a big city could be very expensive, some were given care of multiple parishes, so they could collect a greater income. This doling out was in the hands of the bishop and was a powerful perquisite of the office. Holding "pluralities" was widely held as a serious abuse within the Church, but it proved nearly impossible to get rid of the practice.

Bishops

Almost from the beginning of the Christian Church, the bishop (Greek, episcopos) was the key to organization and government. The Church reflected the quintessentially urban nature of ancient civilization in that a bishop was always associated with, and resided in, a city. The city had authority over a surrounding region, and the episcopal organization of the Church followed this practice, which persisted right through the Middle Ages.

Cathedral

The bishop's seat was both literally where he sat and was the symbolic center for his authority, both worldly and spiritual. The Greek word is cathedra, which is where we get the word cathedral. A cathedral is simply the structure that houses the bishop's throne. There are many churches in Europe, but only some are cathedrals, because those churches are the home of bishops.

See

The physical region over which a particular bishop has authority is called the "see". The etymology is a little confusing, since it comes from the Latin for seat, sedes, and so actually has the same origin as cathedra. But the late medieval usage is consistent: a "see" is the geographical area encompassed by a particlar bishop. He has no authority outside his see.

Archbishops

An archbishop was simply a special form of bishop. As certain cities in the late Roman Empire were of especial importance, certain bishops gained special authority. A great city like Milan, for example, had administrative authority over a number of towns in northern Italy. Many of these towns had their own bishops, so the Bishop of Milan naturally acquired an authority over them. This is how the title of archbishop developed.

Episcopal duties

A bishop was in fact a priest and had priestly duties toward his own congregation. Most bishops were busy men, though, and left the job of administering sacraments to the local parish around the cathedral to various deacons and "chapter priests"--a staff of priests attached to the cathedral. The bishop might, however, very likely perform services for ranking nobility, important visitors, and perhaps the wealthy patricians of the town.

Beyond these immediate priestly duties, the bishop was charged with supervising the clergy in his see. It was the bishop who ordained (or approved the ordination) of the parish priests in his see. He was supposed to hold reviews and investigations (failure to do this was one source of criticism from reformers).

As a higher authority, the bishop had his own ecclesiastical court, which heard complaints and petitions. Also, the clergy were exempt (to varying degrees in different countries) from prosecution in secular courts, so all sorts of cases that we would think of as being civil or criminal would up in the bishop's courts, if a clergyman were involved. As you might guess, this too was a sore point with reformers.

The bishop also was a great landowner, for over the centuries pious Christians had donated estates to the Church. As such, he had to collect taxes, supervise villages, and even raise armies, for some estates came complete with castles and knights. In fact, in some highly urbanized areas, a bishop had entire towns under his jurisdiction. This made bishops

The bishop was the supervisor of the monks and monasteries in his see. He either appointed abbots, or approved their election. He adjudicated disputes among them. Actual powers varied with the type of order. For example, the Franciscans were supposedly responsible only directly to the pope himself, whereas the Benedictines had for a long time been under the authority of bishops. A bishop typically never interfered with the internal activities of a monastery, but he controlled in a more general way. For example, he had to approve the foundation of a new monastery.

A bishop had many other duties as well, but one in particular is relevant to this course: the bishop was the primary person responsible for the suppression of heresy in his see. That is, it was the bishop who enforced orthodoxy, to the extent that it was enforced at all. In this respect, as in many others, the bishop was very like a secular prince. What he chose to tolerate was tolerated. What he chose to persecute was persecuted. How effective all of this was varied considerably with time, circumstance, and the competence of the bishop himself, but he was the one who set the tone.

Monks

What is a monk? In the beginning, monks were laymen who desired to lead a religious life but who did not want to become priests. The Benedictines were the first great order in Western Europe, founded in the 5th century. Later orders of note are the Cistercians and the Premonstratensians. The monastic orders had a long tradition, going all the way back to Cluny in the 10th century, of being leaders of movements for reform of the Church and clergy.

The friars

Friar comes from the Latin for brother (frater). They are simply another kind of monk. The two principal orders are the Franciscans and the Dominicans, both founded in the early 13th century. In both cases, the basic values were similar to any other monastic order. The chief difference was the friars took preaching as a central mission. Instead of retreating from the world, as other monks did, the friars went into the world, to preach the Word of God. Under the influence of St Francis, the Franciscans placed an especial emphasis on poverty, relying only on begging for income, for which reason they are sometimes called a mendicant order (mendicant=beggar). The emphasis of the Dominicans was, from very early, on teaching, and they became the leading scholars of the late Middle Ages. Because they were authorities on theology and doctrine, they also tended to get tangled up in efforts to repress heresy, including the Inquisition.

Ironically, the friars quickly grew wealthy as the nobility showered them with lands and other gifts. This produced a split within the Franciscans, between those who wished to keep to Francis' original vision of poverty (the Spiritual Franciscans) and those (the Conventuals) who believed that wealth owned by the order rather than the individual did not corrupt the order's principles. This split was especially bitter in the 15th century.

The third order that should be mentioned here is the Augustinians. Older than the Dominicans, the Augustinians--called the Austian Friars in England--likewise took teaching and learning as a primary mission. This is worth noting mainly because Martin Luther was an Augustinian monk.

Monastic orders in the late Middle Ages

The monks of the 15th century had fallen into general disrespect. If you want a feel for the popular perception, think of Friar Tuck (who was a Franciscan). He was fat (only the wealthy could grow fat) and he drank a lot. And he sure didn't do much preaching. Only his association with Robin Hood gives him any shade of respectability. Most monks were regarded as lecherous and lazy, too fond of food and wine, and protected by their status from the rules that bound other folk.

Popes

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome. Period. He's not even an archbishop. He's the bishop of the city of Rome. How the bishop of Rome developed into being the leader of the entire Roman Catholic Church (and claiming leadership of the Greek Orthodox and other churches as well), is beyond the scope of this course. I have a separate essay over in my Western Civ site that you can read if you wish.

Government of the Church

Bishops

The bishop had his own court, where he heard any number of cases involving matters of religion. The episcopal, or consistory court also heard cases that pertained to temporal matters. A bishop typically held lands and might have authority over estates, villages and even towns. He could levy taxes there, exactly like a nobleman, and could even raise armies. There was a good deal of tension between the bishop as a lay authority and the princes and great towns, especially in Germany.

College of Cardinals

The College of Cardinals held special powers, the most crucial of which was the power to elect the pope. Only the College of Cardinals could do this. Beyond this, the cardinals had become the upper administrative staff of the Roman Catholic Church. They headed up high courts of appeal, administered its financial wealth, corresponded with bishops all across Europe, and even acted as papal representatives to royal courts.

Papal Curia

The Papal Curia is the "government" of the Roman Catholic Church. As just stated, the highest positions were generally held by cardinals, but each area employed a large staff of secretaries and other clerks. This central government had two focal points. One was the administration of the Church, particularly in regard to finance, law, and doctrine. The other was administration of the Papal States, a band of territories running across central Italy. In this latter capacity, the papacy was much like any other Italian principate. In the former capacity, it was a government unlike any other in Europe.

The major areas of papal government are set forth below.

Penitentiary

This was a court concerned with the imposition of penances and with hearing appeals concerning penances. Actually, it was not the orginal imposition of the penance (this was normally done by a local bishop), but appeals cases asking for absolution from a penance already imposed.

Rota

This was a court that heard criminal cases involving clerics, and served as a court of appeals for such cases heard at the episcopal level. It also heard other sorts of disputes, such as disputes between bishops, multiple claimants to a bishopric, etc.

Signatura

The Signatura dealt with appeals cases deriving from the business of the Rota.

Chancery

The papal chancellor was one of the most powerful of all offices. As with other chancellors, the papal chancellor began simply as a secretarial office, handling correspondence, but grew to importance because he developed into the primary point of contact, both in-coming and out-going.

Datary

The datary was important because this office oversaw benefices. All the bishoprics and other offices over which the pope had direct control were administered through this office. In the Middle Ages, the chief of the datary was called the "eye of the pope" because of this oversight funciton. This is also the office that "sold" benefices and reservations of benefices, and received much scorn and condemnation from the reformers.

Doctrinal positions

Sources of Religious Authority

There were three sources of authority for the medieval Church: Scriptures, the Church Fathers (Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, and Pope Gregory I), and the councils. The Scriptures were authority because they were the direct word of God. The writings of the Fathers were authority because each of these men were saints and were held to have a privileged position in the development of Church doctrine. The councils had authority because they were representatives of the Church as a whole, the Body of Christ, and as such could not err.

The pope was not a source of authority in doctrine or practice, at least not in theory. When the pope spoke formally, issuing a decree, then his words held much authority, but it was as yet only one faction of the Church that claimed that the pope when speaking formally (ex cathedra) had the same authority as a council and could not err. That doctrine came to be more widely promoted after the Council of Trent, but it did not become formal Church doctrine until the 19th century.

The Sacraments

There were seven sacraments, or at least there were seven generally recognized (the number was not set formally until Trent): baptism, catechism, marriage, confession, communion, holy orders, and last rites. These had developed into general use over the centuries; as the reformers were to note, only some of these can be found in the Bible. It was finally at Trent that the Catholic Church declared these seven were necessary to salvation.

Besides the sacraments, there were sacramentals. These were rituals and practices that had a sacred aura or sacred aspect about them, but which were not necessary to salvation. Blessing a place or an object, for example, is a sacramental, but not a sacrament. It was, of course, quite easy for ordinary folk to be a bit vague about what was required and what was merely admirable.

Trinity

The three-fold nature of God is central to Catholicism and was one of the key issues in the heresies of the late Roman Empire. Belief in the Trinity is part of the Nicene Creed, a statement of faith recited by most Christians around the world, regardless of sect (there are some exceptions).