Sign in or 
Share this
History of the Catholic Church to the Renaissance
Borgias Home |History of the Vatican |Renaissance Popes I 15th Century Italy
The Fifth Lateran Council issued some but only minor reforms in March of 1517. A few months later, October 17, 1517, Martin Luther (pictured left) issued his Ninety-Five Thesis in a letter to several bishops, hoping to spark debate. His theses protested key points of Catholic doctrine as well as the sale of indulgences. Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin, and others further criticized Catholic teachings. These challenges, supported by powerful political forces in the region, developed into the Protestant Reformation. In Germany, the reformation led to war between the Protestant Schmalkaldic League and the Catholic Emperor Charles V. The first nine-year war ended in 1555 but continued tensions produced a far graver conflict, the Thirty Years War, which broke out in 1618. In France, a series of conflicts termed the French Wars of Religon was fought from 1562 to 1598 between the Huguenots and the forces of the French Catholic League. A series of popes sided with and became financial supporters of the Catholic League. This ended under Pope Clement VIII, who hesitantly accepted King Henry IV's 1598 Edict of Nantes, which granted civil and religious toleration to Protestants.
History of the Vatican
 | History of the Catholic Church to the Renaissance |
 | |
History
The history of the Catholic Church is traced to apostolic times. Its history is an integral part of the history of christianity and of Western civilization.
Catholics believe as a point of faith that their Church was founded by Jesus Christ. Catholic doctrine asserts that it is the continuation of the Church that was founded at the Confession of Peter. It interprets the Confession of Peter as Christ's designation of Apostle Peter (pictured left) and his successors in Rome to be the temporal head of his Church. Thus, it asserts that the Bishop of Rome has the sole legitimate claim to Petrine authority and the Primacy of the Roman Pontiff. The Catholic Church claims legitimacy of its bishops and priests via the doctrine of apostolic succession and authority of the pope via the unbroken line of popes, successors to Simon Peter. The authority of the Apostle Peter and his successors is thus viewed as a continuous history from Jesus Christ. The institution of the papacy as it exists today developed through the centuries. Church tradition records that Peter became the first leader of Christians in the Imperial capital of Rome.
The Apostles and many Christians traveled to Northern Africa, Asia Minor, Arabia, Greece, and Rome to found the first Christian communities. Christianity spread quickly through Roman Empire, and by the second century there were many established bishoprics within the Empire including Northern Africa, France, Italy, Syria, and Asia Minor, and twenty bishoprics outside the empire, mainly in Armenia. Irenaeuss (d. 202) defended the apostolic tradition.
In 313, the struggles of the Early Church were lessened by the legalisation of christianity by the Emperor Constantine I (pictured right). In 380, Christianity became the state religon of the Roman Empire by the decree of the Emperor, which would persist until the fall of the Western Empire, and later, with the Eastern Roman Empire, until the Fall of Constantinople.
During this time (the period of the Seven Ecumenical Councils) there were considered five primary sees according to Eusebius: Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria, see also Pentarchy. After the destruction of the western Roman Empire, the church in the West was a major factor in the preservation of classical civilization, establishing monastries, and sending missionaries to convert the peoples of northern Europe, as far as Ireland in the north. In the East, the Byzantine Empire preserved Orthodoxy, until the massive invasions of Islam in the mid-seventh century. The invasions of Islam devastated three of the five patriarchal sees, capturing Jerusalem first, then Alexandria, and then finally in the mid-eighth century Antioch. The whole period of the next five centuries was dominated by the struggle between Christianity and Islam throughout the Mediterranean Basin. The battles of Poitiers, and Toulouse preserved the Catholic west, even though Rome itself was ravaged in 850, and Constantinople besieged. In the eleventh century, already strained relations between the primarily Greek church in the East, and the Latin church in the West, developed into the East-West Schism, partially due to conflicts over Papal Authority.
The fourth crusade, and the sacking of Constantinople (pictured left) by renegade crusaders proved the final breach. In the sixteenth century, in response to the Protestant Reformation, the Church engaged in a process of substantial reform and renewal, known as the Counter-Reformation. In subsequent centuries, Catholicism spread widely across the world despite experiencing a reduction in its hold on European populations due to the growth of religious scepticism during and after the Enlightment. The Second Vatican Council in the 1960s introduced the most significant changes to Catholic practices since the Council of Trent three centuries before.
Renaissance Church
In Europe, the Renaissance marked a period of renewed interest in ancient and classical learning. It also brought a re-examination of accepted beliefs. Cathedrals and churches had long served as picture books and art galleries for millions of the uneducated. The stained glass windows, fresccoes, statues, paintings and panels retold the stories of the saints and of biblical characters. The Church sponsored great Renaissance artists like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, who created some of the world's most famous artworks (Sistine Chapel pictured right). The acceptance of humanism had its effects on the Church, which embraced it as well. In 1509, a well known scholar of the age, Erasmus, wrote The Praise of Folly, a work which captured a widely held unease about corruption in the Church. The Papacy itself was questioned by councilarism expressed in the Councils of Constance and the Basel. Real reforms during these ecumenical councils and the Fifth Lateran Council were attempted several times but thwarted. They were seen as necessary but did not succeed in large measure because of internal feuds within the Church, ongoing conflicts with the Ottoman Empire and Saracenes and the simony and nepotism practiced in the Renaissance Church of the 15th and early 16th centuries. As a result, rich, powerful and worldly men like Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander Vi) were able to win election to the papacy.
Catholics believe as a point of faith that their Church was founded by Jesus Christ. Catholic doctrine asserts that it is the continuation of the Church that was founded at the Confession of Peter. It interprets the Confession of Peter as Christ's designation of Apostle Peter (pictured left) and his successors in Rome to be the temporal head of his Church. Thus, it asserts that the Bishop of Rome has the sole legitimate claim to Petrine authority and the Primacy of the Roman Pontiff. The Catholic Church claims legitimacy of its bishops and priests via the doctrine of apostolic succession and authority of the pope via the unbroken line of popes, successors to Simon Peter. The authority of the Apostle Peter and his successors is thus viewed as a continuous history from Jesus Christ. The institution of the papacy as it exists today developed through the centuries. Church tradition records that Peter became the first leader of Christians in the Imperial capital of Rome.The Apostles and many Christians traveled to Northern Africa, Asia Minor, Arabia, Greece, and Rome to found the first Christian communities. Christianity spread quickly through Roman Empire, and by the second century there were many established bishoprics within the Empire including Northern Africa, France, Italy, Syria, and Asia Minor, and twenty bishoprics outside the empire, mainly in Armenia. Irenaeuss (d. 202) defended the apostolic tradition.
In 313, the struggles of the Early Church were lessened by the legalisation of christianity by the Emperor Constantine I (pictured right). In 380, Christianity became the state religon of the Roman Empire by the decree of the Emperor, which would persist until the fall of the Western Empire, and later, with the Eastern Roman Empire, until the Fall of Constantinople.During this time (the period of the Seven Ecumenical Councils) there were considered five primary sees according to Eusebius: Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria, see also Pentarchy. After the destruction of the western Roman Empire, the church in the West was a major factor in the preservation of classical civilization, establishing monastries, and sending missionaries to convert the peoples of northern Europe, as far as Ireland in the north. In the East, the Byzantine Empire preserved Orthodoxy, until the massive invasions of Islam in the mid-seventh century. The invasions of Islam devastated three of the five patriarchal sees, capturing Jerusalem first, then Alexandria, and then finally in the mid-eighth century Antioch. The whole period of the next five centuries was dominated by the struggle between Christianity and Islam throughout the Mediterranean Basin. The battles of Poitiers, and Toulouse preserved the Catholic west, even though Rome itself was ravaged in 850, and Constantinople besieged. In the eleventh century, already strained relations between the primarily Greek church in the East, and the Latin church in the West, developed into the East-West Schism, partially due to conflicts over Papal Authority.
The fourth crusade, and the sacking of Constantinople (pictured left) by renegade crusaders proved the final breach. In the sixteenth century, in response to the Protestant Reformation, the Church engaged in a process of substantial reform and renewal, known as the Counter-Reformation. In subsequent centuries, Catholicism spread widely across the world despite experiencing a reduction in its hold on European populations due to the growth of religious scepticism during and after the Enlightment. The Second Vatican Council in the 1960s introduced the most significant changes to Catholic practices since the Council of Trent three centuries before. Renaissance Church
In Europe, the Renaissance marked a period of renewed interest in ancient and classical learning. It also brought a re-examination of accepted beliefs. Cathedrals and churches had long served as picture books and art galleries for millions of the uneducated. The stained glass windows, fresccoes, statues, paintings and panels retold the stories of the saints and of biblical characters. The Church sponsored great Renaissance artists like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, who created some of the world's most famous artworks (Sistine Chapel pictured right). The acceptance of humanism had its effects on the Church, which embraced it as well. In 1509, a well known scholar of the age, Erasmus, wrote The Praise of Folly, a work which captured a widely held unease about corruption in the Church. The Papacy itself was questioned by councilarism expressed in the Councils of Constance and the Basel. Real reforms during these ecumenical councils and the Fifth Lateran Council were attempted several times but thwarted. They were seen as necessary but did not succeed in large measure because of internal feuds within the Church, ongoing conflicts with the Ottoman Empire and Saracenes and the simony and nepotism practiced in the Renaissance Church of the 15th and early 16th centuries. As a result, rich, powerful and worldly men like Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander Vi) were able to win election to the papacy. Reformation
The Fifth Lateran Council issued some but only minor reforms in March of 1517. A few months later, October 17, 1517, Martin Luther (pictured left) issued his Ninety-Five Thesis in a letter to several bishops, hoping to spark debate. His theses protested key points of Catholic doctrine as well as the sale of indulgences. Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin, and others further criticized Catholic teachings. These challenges, supported by powerful political forces in the region, developed into the Protestant Reformation. In Germany, the reformation led to war between the Protestant Schmalkaldic League and the Catholic Emperor Charles V. The first nine-year war ended in 1555 but continued tensions produced a far graver conflict, the Thirty Years War, which broke out in 1618. In France, a series of conflicts termed the French Wars of Religon was fought from 1562 to 1598 between the Huguenots and the forces of the French Catholic League. A series of popes sided with and became financial supporters of the Catholic League. This ended under Pope Clement VIII, who hesitantly accepted King Henry IV's 1598 Edict of Nantes, which granted civil and religious toleration to Protestants. |
Kittywake09 |
Latest page update: made by Kittywake09
, Aug 15 2011, 3:32 AM EDT
(about this update
About This Update
Editing Image borders
- Kittywake09
5 images added 5 images deleted view changes - complete history) |
|
Keyword tags:
Alexandria
Apostle Peter
Apostolic
Arabia
Asia
Bishop of Rome
Byzantine Empire
Catholic Doctrine
Christianity
Confession of Peter
Constantinople
Council of Basel
Council of Constance
Council of Trent
East-West Schism
Edict of Nantes
Erasmus
Europe
Eusebus
Fifth Lateran Council
Fourth Crusade
France
Greece
italy
Jesus Christ
King Henry IV
Leonardo da Vinci
Martin Luther
Michelangelo
Northern Africa
Ottoman Empire
Papacy
Pope Alexander VI
Protestant Reformatikon
Protestant Reformation
Renaissance
Rodrigo Borgia
Roman Empire
Rome
Second Vatican Council
Syria
Vatican
More Info: links to this page
|
| Started By | Thread Subject | Replies | Last Post | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| poncianito | Roman Catholic Church | 1 | Nov 11 2010, 5:01 AM EST by Kittywake09 | ||
|
Thread started: Nov 11 2010, 2:23 AM EST
Watch
Is it thus possible that the reason the Roman Catholic Church was so vituperative in its condemnations of Jews and Judaism, constantly reiterating their role in the murder of Christ, was because they wanted to eradicate the connection between this act of deicide and a Church that lies in the hart of the Roman Empire, at whose head stands a descendent of those Roman Citizens?
Before Pope Paul IV, the Jews in the Papal State's had lived much like the rest of t he population, with relative freedom to travel and earning their livelihood as they saw fit. All that all change however in 1555, with the promulgation of the first papal bull which prohibited Jews from owning land or property and taking part in any economic activity other than selling rags. Furthermore they were to be confined within the bounds of a ghetto, with high walls and gates that were locked at night. Not only were this ghettos cramped and overcrowded with narrow streets and ramshackle houses, they were often built in noisy parts of the city, near meat markets and sewers, and in the case of Rome's ghetto on banks of the Tiber which regularly flooded. It may surprised the reader to know that the Nazis were not the first to make the Jewish population wear a badge of identity. Under the terms of the 1555 dict, "Jews of both sexes must wear a yellow-colored sign, which they are distinguished from other, and they must always wear it at all times and places, both in the ghettos and when they are outside them". Needless to say Paul IV was not the must popular of Popes and when he died in 1559 Jews and Christians united in celebration.
2
out of
2 found this valuable.
Do you?
Keyword tags:
Papacy
Roman Catholic Church
Rome
Vatican
|
||||
| poncianito | The Crusades | 12 | Nov 6 2010, 12:17 PM EDT by Kittywake09 | ||
|
|
Thread started: Nov 5 2010, 2:02 AM EDT
Watch
Hi: the Crusades had and unexpectedly deleterious impact on the church. Although this holy wars were instigated to reclaim the Holy Lands from the Muslims, they did many others things.
Preparations for the Crusades stimulated commerce and industrial crafts, as merchants and moneylenders equipped and transported the Christian army. The shipbuilding industry benefited from others for fleets, Pope Alexander, who sponsor the last, meager Crusade, had "nine cannon of various dimensions"and other artillery cast. Italian, French, and Spaniards merchants established communications and commercial relations with the enemy, and the trade gradually overshadowed the conflict. For a ordinary knight, the Crusades represented the chance to steal with religious approval. "Churches, shops, palaces, homes were sacked by the gold-crazed Men of the Cross." The Crusades open the western soldiers eyes to ways of life they had never imagined possible.Coming from their dim, drafty huts and houses, the East was one big wonderland. Just seeing it must have aroused their appetites, and they brought home with them, among many items, silk and furs. Probably no single event contributed as much to the moneymaking impulse of the Middle Ages as the Crusades. By Alexander's reign, it was becoming more difficult to rally troops from European states. While the pope was putatively the commander in chief of the Christians armies, monarchs regularly meddled and disobeyed him. |
||||
Showing 2 of 2 threads for this page
