The bishop’s church — the cathedral Many European cities have at least one cathedral , some built in the Middle Ages. The word ‘cathedral’ comes from the Greek word ‘kathedra’, meaning seat, referring to the bishop’s seat or throne. The bishop ran his diocese from the cathedral, which was divided into parishes. The cathedral’s importance was reflected in its size and magnificence, towering over other buildings. Many cathedrals took over a hundred years to build and were completed long after their architects had died. 3.8 SkillBuilder activity HISTORICAL QUESTIONS You have learnt about the power of the Catholic Church and the Pope in the medieval period. However, you know that, whilst there are still many people who follow the Catholic religion today and the Pope is still the head of the Church, it does not govern our lives in the same way that it did for the people of the Middle Ages. Some of this can be traced back to the growing concern of medieval people about corrupt practices they saw in some of the clergy. Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) was an Italian scholar and poet of the fourteenth century. He was a devoted
Catholic himself and visited Avignon to stay with a mentor of his, a cardinal. Read the extract from his letter and answer the guiding questions below.
SOURCE3 Petrarch, Letter to a friend, 1340–1353
...Now I am living in France, in the Babylon of the West. The sun in its travels sees nothing more hideous than this place on the shores of the wild Rhone, which suggests the hellish streams of Cocytus and Acheron. Here reign the successors of the poor fishermen of Galilee; they have strangely forgotten their origin. I am astounded, as I recall their predecessors, to see these men loaded with gold and clad in purple, boasting of the spoils of princes and nations; to see luxurious palaces and heights crowned with fortifications, instead of a boat turned downward for shelter. 1. List the words and phrases that show he hates Avignon.
2. Find evidence to show that he thinks the clergy in Avignon are corrupt. 3. Draw conclusions about what he thinks they should be like instead. Source: from J. H. Robinson, Readings in European History (Boston: 1904), p. 502.
Write a list of questions that Petrarch might have for the Pope and then share your ideas on why people began to doubt the overwhelming power of the Church.
3.8
Exercise
Learning pathways LEVEL1 1, 2, 4
LEVEL2
LEVEL3
3, 5, 6, 10
7, 8, 9
REMEMBER AND UNDERSTAND 1. No particular religious institution dominated western Europe during the Middle Ages. True or False? 2. Latin/Italian/vernacular/English was used in the medieval Mass. 3. Recall who was the head of the Roman Catholic Church and what power he had.
TOPIC3 Medieval Europe 77
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