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Church History

Dark Times



▪- A.D. 496 to 1291

Eastern Christians will frequently kiss icons as they enter their churches. They believe that the past saints are still surrounding them. They welcome these saints into their worship by kissing the icons.

Hebrews 12:1 (NKJV)
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Y1K?

Is all of the hype over Y2K still fresh in your mind? Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes there is nothing new under the sun. In the late 990's, many Christians believed that the first year of the new millennium would bring the release of Satan from his prison, a position based upon Rev. 20:7-8. This release would be followed by a time of tribulation, after which Jesus would return to judge the world. When the year 1,000 came and went without few disasters, a wave of optimism and hope swept the churches.

This period is a continuing time of theological dispute and political unrest. The position of the clergy is solidified, while a new threat to Christianity is born – a threat ever present today.

The Middle Ages, Dark Ages, or Medieval times, is the period following the fall of the Roman Empire.  During this period, much of Europe became the land of feudal kingdoms.  Every man's home was a castle – at least if you owned the land. The landowners became "Lords" and their homes became "manors." Remember the pagan lands of Palestine in the Old Testament. Each city had a king? During the medieval times, each manor had a king!

The Lords hired knights to protect their lands. In some areas, several Lords would unit in forming this private army, appointing a "king" as head of the group. Peasants became servants or "vassals" of the Lords, for this was the only manner in which they could live. Priests were paid by the Lords to serve the manors.  Obedience to Christ took second place to having a bed to sleep in and food on the table. 

Since almost no one could read, the priests resorted to statues, stained glass windows and other icons as teaching tools. The churches became known as "Bibles in stone" as the written word was replaced with artwork. Over time, this would elevate the place of art in both society and the church. 

The Eastern Empire did not turn to feudal systems such as those in Europe, but in the early 600's, the newest, and longest running threat to the church was born. That threat was Islam.

Just as the child of the promise, Isaac, brought forth the twelve tribes of Israel, so Abraham's son of the flesh, Ishmael, was a great father of nations. Although sitting here 4,000 years later it is difficult to be completely dogmatic about the facts, for all practical purposes, the entire world of the Arabs came from the loins of Ishmael. Indeed, in conversations with Muslims, I have been personally told that it was Ishmael whom God directed Abraham to sacrifice, not Isaac (Gen 22)!

In the last fifty years, Islam has been the fastest growing religion in the world. As we recited in the opening chapters, Islam has the third largest presences of significant communities in the world. At the same time, with a total membership claim of close to a billion people, Islam is the world's second largest religion. Islam is a religion of nations and governments. It was the cause of the Crusades of ancient history. For many, it conjures up the thoughts of modern terrorism. It is clearly a religious force to be dealt with.

The early Arabs were polytheistic in religious orientation. 1. They worshiped many gods, of whom the highest was Allah. The religion was very pagan in nature, including gods of nature and people, with the gods being both male and female. It is against these polytheistic gods that Mohammed revolted. Mecca was the center of polytheistic worship. The town boasted some 360 shrines as well as a small temple that housed the Black Stone. The stone was thought to have been given to Abraham by the Angel (djinn) Gabriel.  Most likely, the stone is a meteorite.

As with the Mormons, the Jehovah's Witnesses, and others, the Islamic religion owes its origins and its sacred book to one man -- Mohammed. Born in Mecca in about A.D. 570, Mohammed's birth name was Ubu'l Kassim. His father died shortly after his birth and his mother died when he was six.  Ultimately, his uncle raised him.  Mohammed became a camel driver on caravans, a profession resulting in contact with many peoples and religions.  At the age of 25, Mohammed married his employer, a wealthy widow 15 years his senior. Although not particularly relevant to the development of the religion, none of the couples children survived to adulthood, with the exception of one daughter, Fatima.

As the husband of a wealthy entrepreneur, Mohammed no longer worked on the caravans and, thus, devoted himself to meditation on the meaning and purpose of life. Mohammed's reflections brought him to a dislike of the polytheistic nature of the Arab religion. Mohammed arrived at the conclusion Allah was the one true God. He spent much of his time meditating in caves; particularly one on Mount Hira located a few miles from Mecca.2. Beginning in A.D. 610 and continuing to his death in 632, Mohammed "received" visions from Allah that were accompanied by violent seizures. At the urging of his wife, Mohammed submitted to the revelations and determined Gabriel was bringing them to him. The angel's instructions to Mohammed were to recite the words he received to others. After his death, his followers recorded these revelations in the Qur'an ("Recitation").3. Arguably, "next to the Bible, it is the most esteemed and most powerful book in the world."4.

Mohammed's new religion did not quickly catch on. It was contrary to the entire social and moral order of Mecca, and, most likely, had an adverse effect upon the economics of the region.  Persecution followed and many of Mohammed's followers moved to a nearby city called Yathrib. On July 16, 622, Mohammed barely managed to escape an assassination plot, and he, too, fled to Yathrib. This escape is called the Hegira (Hijrah or flight). This date is considered the official date of the formation of Islam.

Mohammed became the leader of Yathrib and the city's name was changed to Medina, meaning the "City of the Prophet." Mohammed established a theocracy in Median, developing his interrelationship between politics and religion. He also started a harem with some 10-to-12 wives. Mohammed attempted to win the Jewish population of Medina and upon failing in this effort, he turned to persecuting the Jews.

Mohammed helped to finance his government by attacking and plundering caravans going to or from Mecca. This led to continual warfare with Mecca, warfare Mohammed won. He entered Mecca and destroyed the idols, but kept the temple of Kaaba, which housed the Black Stone. Mohammed made Mecca the most holy city of Islam and the Black Stone became the focal point of worship. When the Muslims of today pray, they pray to the Kaaba.

The successors to Mohammed are called caliph. It is under the second, third, and fourth caliphs that Islam's reach was spread, via battles and conquests.  During this time period, Islam spread to Syria, Jerusalem (638), Egypt, Persia, Mesopotamia, India, north Africa, and a part of Europe – Portugal and Spain (711). 

Islam's spread was helped not only by the sword. The Muslims did allow some religious freedoms.  Christians were forced to were special clothing and pay higher taxes but oddly enough all religions that had "holy writings" were protected by the early Muslims. Also, with the rejection of many of the North African Christians by the Eastern Church because of the One-nature theological position of these churches, there were a lot of dissatisfied people and empty church buildings that were easily converted to mosques. 

The defeat of the Islamic armies by Charles Martel at the Battle of Tours in A.D. 732 stopped the spread of Islam in Europe.

Meanwhile, another battle brewed in the East. As mentioned above, the arts were invading Christianity.  Icons, crosses, statues of the saints, and other symbols were prominent. Since many of these icons were used in the worship service, Muslims referred to the Christians as "idol-worshippers." The Muslims found an ally in the form of the new emperor of the Eastern Empire. 

When a volcano rocked Constantinople in 725, the new emperor feared this was God's wrath upon the church for the use of the icon/idols. He ordered that the icons be smashed. Those promoting the use of icons were known as "iconodules" or icon-kissers. The emperor earned the name iconclast or "icon-smasher. A 61-year bloody battle followed.

In 780 Irene became Empress and called a council to resolve the icon issue. In 787, more than 350 overseers gathered in Nicene. This council clearly denounced the "smashers" but was equally clear about banning icon worship. They also banned three-dimensional depictions of Jesus and the saints. The council promoted "icon-reverence" an ill-defined term that allowed a high degree of personal affection for an icon so long as the affection did not turn to worship. A special family Bible might be an example of such an icon.

In the West, Europe remained an issue.  The pagan Franks started the Dark Ages as the strongest Western power. In 496 Clovis, the Frankish battle-chief, accepted the Nicene Creed and led his people to accepted the Christian God. The Franks received a great deal of support from the churches as they conquered Europe. The stronger, more powerful, and wealthier the Franks grew, the more support they gave to the Roman church.

In 754. Pepin III, king of the Franks, gave central Italy to the Roman church.

The Franks' version of evangelism continued. Pepin III's son, King Charles offered conquered countries the choice of converting to Christianity or death. It is not surprising that more than 90% of the conquered people professed Christianity. The story is told that when a group of Germans refused to be baptized, Charles killed 4.500 of them and then went off to celebrate Christmas. By the beginning of the 9th Century, Charles controlled what is now Germany and France.

Meanwhile, the Roman church was busy playing political games.  The Donation of Constantine, a forged document, was used to bolster the church's possessions and lands. The relationship between the church and the Italian nobles was not calm.

When Leo III was elected Pope, the nobles hired thugs to cut out Leo's tongue. The injured Leo was brought to Charles. Charles welcomed Leo, even though he was in possession of letters from the nobles charging Leo with misuse of church funds. Leo found himself between a rock and a hard place. The West had no emperor to whom he could appeal. A woman, Irene, ruled the East and Leo would not allow himself to be judged by a woman.

Leo chose a unique solution to his problems. On December 23, 800, King Charles declared Leo innocent of all charges. Two days later, Leo crowned the King "Charles Augustus, crowned by God as supreme and peaceful Emperor." The church had created its own emperor! Charles is known in history as Charlemagne, a name that means "Charles the Great."

As the Holy Roman Emperor, Charlemagne viewed himself as guardian of Roman Christianity. He built monasteries and appointed bishops. Almost single-handedly Charlemagne assured the church would control central Italy. The Holy Roman Empire would live on past the emperor's death.

As the years rolled past, the popes became worldlier.  Between 880 and 980 corruption and evil lifestyles plagued the Roman church. Along with this evil leadership, the next major crack in church unity appeared.  This was between the West and the East. 

As noted earlier, there were always some differences between the two. During this period, a church in Spain added one Latin Word to the Nicene Creed ("filoque"). The change is biblical, but . . . .

Original: [The Spirit] proceeds from the Father

Revised: [The Spirit] proceeds from the Father and the Son.

The Roman church adopted this revision. In 867 Photius, the bishop of Constantinople denounced the phrase. The dispute continued for five years until the pope offered to drop the phrase (word) if the Eastern churches would accept the Roman pope as supreme over all the churches. The Eastern church declined.

Things continued in this tense state until around 1048.  Bruno became Pope Leo IX.  Concerned about the power the nobles had been exercising over the church, Leo IX banned the priests from marrying under the theory this would prevent the priests from passing their positions to their children. Bruno/Leo's thought was to free the church from outside influences. 

This position was formed, to a great extent, by a sincere belief on the part of Bruno and his successors that God had given the pope authority over the entire worldwide church. The Eastern Church. lead by its new bishop Michael, refused to recognized Bruno's position as pope. To prove his point, Michael closed every Constantinople church that was loyal to the Roman bishop. 

Leo IX sent a delegation lead by Humbert to Constantinople to restore the peace. Humbert arrived on July 16, 1054. He delivered a "bull" (from the Latin we get the English word "bulletin") written in the pope's name. The notice provided the Eastern churches allowed their priests to marry (true), re-baptized Roman Christians (probably untrue), and had removed the words "and the Son" from the Nicene Creed (definitely untrue). 

Humbert arrived during communion and the report is that he flung the papal bull across the communion table. Standing in the doorway, following Jewish tradition, he brushed the dirt from his sandals and exclaimed "Let God look and judge!" Even though one of the Eastern deacons requested Humbert take back the bull, the ambassador refused to do so. 

It should be noted that the East and West had also disagreed over the date of Easter since early in the churches history. This, however, was only another peg in the crack. The final straw took over another hundred years to be shaped. The Eastern Church celebrated Easter during Passover. The Western church celebrated after Passover. Remember the Council at Nicaea. That group created a calendar of fixed dates that would keep Easter on a Sunday. The calendar dates were adjusted from time to time to account for Leap Year and other inaccuracies in the calendars used over the centuries.

The usual statement, that Easter Day is the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs next after the vernal equinox, is not a precise statement of the actual ecclesiastical rules. The full moon involved is not the astronomical Full Moon but an ecclesiastical moon (determined from tables) that keeps, more or less, in step with the astronomical Moon.

The ecclesiastical rules are:

Easter falls on the first Sunday following the first ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or after the day of the vernal equinox;

this particular ecclesiastical full moon is the 14th day of a tabular lunation (new moon); and

the vernal equinox is fixed as March 21.

resulting in that Easter can never occur before March 22 or later than April 25.

The final straw for the Eastern Church was the Crusades, the adventures of well-meaning Europeans to free the Holy Lands from the hands of the pagan Muslims. The Muslims had taken control of Jerusalem in 638. They had not, however, interfered with the "pilgrimages" of travelers to the local Jewish and Christian shrines. In the mid-to-late 1000s Turkish converts to Muslim began to collect tariffs from the Christian pilgrims. This did not sit well with the Church.

In 1095, Pope Urban II preached a sermon in which he urged the congregation to destroy the Turks and Arabs who had invaded the lands of the church's Eastern brothers. The response must have amazed Urban. A cross section of society all agreed with the Pope. The war against the infidels was on. The plans were for the crusaders to meet in Constantinople. 

Peter the Hermit led one group of crusaders. This monk raised an army of 20,000 European peasants.  Upon arriving in Constantinople, the peasants were less than law abiding.  Although the emperor knew the peasants were no match for the Muslims, he removed them from his city by ferrying them across the river. The peasants pillaged the country side for two months before marching into a Muslim ambush. Peter was the only survivor. He was back in Constantinople at the time of the ambush attempting to raise supplies! This is generally called the Peasants Crusade. It is not "counted" in the history books as one of the Crusades.

Peter the Hermit would join another army of Crusaders led by nobles of France, Belgium, and Norman Italy. This group marched through Antioch and captured Jerusalem on July 15, 1099. Reports from the conquest tell of Muslim blood flowing ankle deep on the Temple Mount. In the process, the Crusaders burnt a synagogue and committed wholesale slaughter of Muslim and Jew alike. 

The Second Crusade in 1147 was completely unsuccessful. The Third Crusade (1189-1192) was the Crusade of the "Three Kings" – Richard I of England, Philip II of France, and Frederick I of Germany. Frederick was accidentally drowned and Philip had a quarrel with Richard and went home. This was successful in the sense that the group secured the right of pilgrims to enter Jerusalem safely, although the Crusaders did not actually capture the City. 

The Crusades would continue under the urging of Pope Innocent III who was elected to the position in 1198. Innocent wanted to destroy the Muslim army in Egypt. He convinced the merchants of Venice to supply the Crusaders at a cost of 84,000 silver coins.  The Crusaders arrived in Venice in the summer of 1202 expecting to sail for Egypt. However, only about a third of the expected number were present, while the merchants only raised 50,000 silver coins. An Eastern prince living in the region offered to finance the balance of the campaign if the Crusaders would make a small detour through Constantinople and dethrone the Eastern emperor. This is the fourth Crusade.

Although Pope Innocent objected, no one listened and the Crusaders sailed for Constantinople, arriving July 5, 1203. Christianity has another of its dark moments in history. 

The citizens of Constantinople did not like the intrusion of the outside Crusaders. They placed a new emperor on the throne who was against the Crusades.  The Crusaders were essentially stranded in Constantinople. They retaliated by sacking the City. One priest is reported to have, essentially, offered penance to any Crusader who died conquering the Eastern Church.

On Good Friday, 1204, the Crusaders plundered Constantinople. They wore tunics with red crosses. For three days the Crusaders raped and killed the Christians of Constantinople. Other atrocities were committed. The Crusaders would rule the Eastern Empire for the next 60 years. The Eastern Emperor withdrew to Nicaea and ruled from there until 1261. Many of the Eastern Christians fled to Nicaea with the emperor. 

There were at least two other crusades. The last of these is in 1212. Known as the Children's Crusade, it was mostly a group of young boys led by two pre-teens. Many of this group died before arriving in the Holy Lands. Most of the rest were captured and sold into slavery. By 1244 Jerusalem was in the hands of the Muslims and would remain so until freed by the British in 1917. The Crusade era ended when the Muslims captured Acre (near modern day Haifa) in 1291.

Thereafter Pope Innocent and those who followed him attempted to reunite East and West without success. The Easter (Greek) Orthodox Church was born. Along with this birth, Innocent undertook steps that would shape what would become Roman Catholic theology for the next 300 years.

In 1215 Innocent convened the Fourth Lateran Council in Rome. This council approved the concept of transubstantiation. This concept holds that the bread and wine of the communion are the body and blood of Christ, even though the features of the bread and wine do not change. The official explanation of the council is "[Christ's] body and blood are contained in the sacraments under the outward forms of bread and wine; the bread being transubstantiated by God's power into the body, and the wine into the blood."

We believe that the bread and the wine are – bread and wine.  The Lord's Supper is a memorial service in remembrance of what Christ did for us on the Cross. It is nothing more. Luther proposed an intermediate position, known as consubstantiation, whereby the body and blood are "present" around the elements of the Lord's Supper, but the bread and wine are not the body and blood of Christ.

Innocent's Council also formed the groundwork for the Inquisition.  Starting about 1231, the Inquisition was formed as a tool to destroy heretics. The first group to fall under its punishment was a Gnostic group known as the Albigensians. The Inquisition then spread to exterminating Muslims and Jews. Ultimately, it was a weapon of fear against all peoples.

Footnotes:
1. The word Arab refers to nomads or Bedouins and may be connected with the word for desert or wilderness.
2. Mecca is located on the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula, in what is now Saudi Arabia. 3. A variant or English spelling is Koran. There are also variant spellings of Mohammed's name and of the word Muslim.
4. John Ankerberg & John Weldon, The Facts on Islam, The Anker Series, Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1991, 1998, 5, quoting Dr. J. Christy Wilson of Princeton University.

Seventh Century Events

• 600-636--Isidore, Bishop of Seville. His writings provide invaluable and encyclopedic knowledge for the Middle Ages. He is known for important efforts to resist barbarism and heresy in Spain, found schools and convents and evangelize Jews.

• 609--Pagan pantheon in Rome consecrated as church of St. Maria Rotunda. As part of the dedication, Pope Boniface (609-610) confirmed All Saints& Day.

• Organs begin to be used in churches. Church bells are used to call people to worship and to give the hours to the monks in the monasteries.

• Learning flourishes in Anglo-Saxon monasteries

• 648--Emperor Constans II issues "The Typos" limiting Christian teachings to that defined in first five ecumenical councils. Pope Martin I (d. 655) refuses to sign Typos. Martin is seized and banished to Crimea and dies. He is last pope to be venerated as a martyr.

• 664--After conflict between the original Celtic church and the Roman missionaries, England adopts the Roman Catholic faith at the Synod of Whitby.

• Mohammed (c. 570-629) begins the religion of Islam, which begins to supplant Christianity across the Middle East and North Africa.

• 638--Islamic capture of Jerusalem

• 690--Two Anglo-Saxon bishops, Kilian and Willibrord, carry on extensive evangelistic mission on the continent among the Franks.

AD 700 (TWENTY-TWO GENERATIONS AFTER CHRIST)

Source: David Barrett.

Eighth Century Events

• 731--The "Venerable Bede" (c. 673-735) completes his Ecclesiastical History of the English People.

• Spain is invaded by the Moors, Moslems from North Africa; Charles Martel defeats them at the Battle of Tours in 732--a decisive juncture in Christian resistance to Moslem advance.

• Boniface of England is a missionary to the Germans for 40 years. Finally is murdered by pagans in 754.

• Iconoclastic controversy over the veneration of images divides the Byzantine Emperor and the Pope.

• Papacy asserts its earthly rule and establishes the papal states in Italy. Pope Leo III (d. 816) separates from the Eastern Empire and becomes supreme bishop in the West.

• Charlemagne becomes sole King of the Franks in 771; later is crowned "Holy Roman Emperor," establishing dream of a kingdom with a Christian king.

• Nestorian Christians in China develop missionary activities and build Christian monasteries.

• Schools for church music are established at Paris, Cologne, Soissin, and Metz.

• 781--Alcuin of York, England becomes advisor to Charlemagne and catalyzes the "Carolingian Renaissance."

• 793--The North Men invade Lindisfarne and invade Iona in 795.

AD 800 (TWENTY-SIX GENERATIONS AFTER CHRIST)

Source: David Barrett.

Ninth Century Events

• 800--On Christmas day Charlemagne (Charles the Great, c. 742-814) is crowned the first "Holy Roman Emperor" by Pope Leo at St. Peters in Rome. Charlemagne noted for military conquests, strong central government, ecclesiastic reform and educational patronage.

• 831--Radbertus (c. 790-865) publishes first writing in the West on the Eucharist. It provokes controversy and anticipates later Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation.

• John Scotus Erigena (c. 810-877), one of greatest theologians of early middle ages, helps pave way for scholasticism. Involved in eucharistic controversy with Radbertus and maintains in the supper we partake of the Lord "mentally not dentally."

• Anskar (801-865), "Apostle of the North," lays foundation for Christianity in Scandinavia.

• Significant missionary efforts make further inroads among heathen peoples of Europe. Cyril (826-869) and Methodius (c. 815-885), the "Apostles of the Slavs," work in Moravia and invent an alphabet for the Slavs.

• Photius (c. 820-895), a renowned scholar and layman, made Patriarch of Constantinople in 858. Later deposed and reinstated at least twice. Conflicts with pope and Rome over spiritual jurisdiction and doctrine ("filioque controversy") foreshadow deepening rift and eventual split between churches in East and West.

• Alfred the Great is King of Wessex in England. Translated Christian writings into the language of the common people. Set up a palace school and founded two monasteries. Devoted half his time and money to religious purposes.

AD 900 (TWENTY-NINE GENERATIONS AFTER CHRIST)

Source: David Barrett.

Tenth Century Events

• To the east, Hungarians and Poles begin to convert to Christianity, and Christianity reaches Iceland and Greenland to the west.

• Ecclesiastical leaders were increasingly becoming embroiled in the political struggles of the European continent.

• Benedictine monastery established 909 at Cluny; becomes the center of a reform movement for the church to rid itself of the increasing secularization of its institutions and practices.

• Bohemian people embrace Christianity, but their "Good King Wenceslaus" is soon murdered c. 929 by opposing pagan rivals.

• 988--Vladimir, sole ruler of Kievan Rus is baptized. There people were baptized at Pentecost. That same year Vladimir married Princess Anna, sister of Basil II, Emperor of Byzantium.

• Otto the Great (emperor 936-973) revives Charlemagne&s dream of a Holy Roman Empire among the German people. In some form Otto&s empire continues until the time of Napoleon.

• 993--Saints begin to be officially canonized by the Roman church.

• Private confession develops from public confession in both Eastern and Western Churches. The Roman Church begins the concept of indulgences. (No sure evidence of this before the 11th century.)

• Papacy reaches a low point in morality.

• As the year 1000 approaches, many fear the end of the world and the Last Judgment.

AD 1000 (THIRTY-TWO GENERATIONS AFTER CHRIST)

Source: David Barrett.

Eleventh Century Events

The expansion of Islam continues to occupy Christian thought and activities.

• 1009--Moslems sack Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

• 1071--Seljuks conquer Armenia, ending the Byzantine Empire in Asia Minor.

• 1095--Pope Urban II proclaims the First Crusade to reclaim Jerusalem from the Moslems.

• 1099--Crusaders take Jerusalem.

• A century and a half of weak popes ends by the middle of the century, and papal authority begins to increase. Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085), "Hildebrand," moves to reform the church with emphasis on priestly celibacy and complete freedom of the Church from the State.

• Renewal of church through new monastic orders

• 1098--The Reform-minded Cistercian order founded at Citeaux

• William of Normandy conquers England, appointing Lanfranc Archbishop of Canterbury in 1070. Lanfranc reorganizes and reforms the English church.

• Anselm succeeds Lanfranc as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1093. Wrote Why Did God Become a Man? explaining the reasons for Christ&s death.

• Musical developments: In 1015 Pomposa Monastery near Ravenna introduces sight singing. By the middle of the century, polyphonic singing replaces Gregorian Chant, the harp arrives in Europe, and the first German Christmas carol is written.

AD 1100 (THIRTY-SIX GENERATIONS AFTER CHRIST)

Source: David Barrett.

Twelfth Century Events

• Gothic architecture, with its pointed arches and high, vaulted ceilings prevails in church building.

• 1182--Notre Dame Cathedral consecrated

• 1194--Chartres Cathedral begun

• The medieval papacy, at the height of its power and influence, continues to encourage crusades to liberate the Holy Land from the Moslems.

• 1104--Acre taken by the Crusaders, fell to Moslems again in 1191

• 1147--Second Crusade (supported by Bernard of Clairvaux) fails, with most Crusaders dying in Asia Minor.

• 1187--Loss of Jerusalem by the Crusaders

• 1190--German Hospitalers founded (later becoming the Teutonic Order)

• Belief in immaculate conception of Mary spreads.

• 1170--Pope Alexander III established rules for the canonization of saints, the same year Thomas Becket is murdered in England. Becket is canonized in 1173.

• 1173--Waldensian movement begins in Lyons, seeking truth in Bible rather than medieval tradition. The church persecutes these devout believers sometimes seen as predecessors of Protestant reform.

• Monasticism continues to be main source of reforming church.

• 1115--St. Bernard establishes monastery at Clairvaux. He will become the "greatest churchman of the 12th century."

• 1155--Carmelite Order founded

AD 1200 (THIRTY-NINE GENERATIONS AFTER CHRIST)

Source: David Barrett.

 

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