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The typical local church in the southern Europe was an urban church.
This was especially true for the population of Italy, the Adriatic coast, and to a degree the French Riviera. On the other hand the typical church in the central and northern regions of Europe was a country church. There were churches in many locations of ancient cities in the north, but some of these did not reemerge as medieval cities. Other medieval cities frequently fell within the parish of a church now surrounded by a village of farmers. Worship in the local villages and lesser urban communities of Europe was provided through the parish (local community) church. The clergyman in a small isolated parish church was normally a canon.
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The next larger administrative area was made up of several small parish churches served by canons who were members of a college under the general supervision of a canon who held the title of dean, decanus, or in other areas that of ruling elder, archipresbyterus, i.e. archpriest. The dean or archpriest gathered his scattered canons for a local collegiate synod periodically. The church where the dean himself ministered (often called a deanery or archipresbyteriate) was not typically greater in size or significance than those served by the members of his college.
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In northern and central Europe where the bishops were relatively few and far between there was still another subdivision between the archpriest and the diocese of the bishop. This was a collection of deaneries or archipresbyteriates under the supervision of the archdean or archdeacon, archidecanus. It was the largest subdivision within the bishop's diocese. The canon who held this responsible position generally did not serve in a correspondingly large ministerial capacity. He might well serve as the dean of a college of canons in a medium sized archipresbyteriate, but his responsibilities extended to the administration of all the other deaneries in his archideaconate. As an assistant to the bishop he sometimes conducted visitation. In some cases this priest is referred to as a "chorbishop"--a term that means "country bishop"--even though he did not have a bishop's orders.
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The dioceses of that part of Europe which had once been part of the Roman Empire were quite small by comparison with those in the territory never under Roman jurisdiction. In particular those in Italy and southern France were the smallest, followed by those in England, northern France, and Spain. The largest dioceses were east of the Rhine and north of the Danube. The diocesan bishop's headquarters was the cathedral church, or the sedes bishopae, the bishop's see. Literally, the "throne (i.e., office) church" or the bishop's "dwelling" or "seat (i.e., office)." Although in the region east of the Rhine River and south of the Danube River these buildings had once been parts of ancient urban settlements, they were not necessarily now located in urban centers. Many ancient urban sites were, by 1000, nothing more than agricultural villages. In some cases that remained unchanged by 1275. The few that once again became urban centers, were not now the hub of economic and political activity they once had been. The canons attached to the cathedral were organized as a chapter under a dean or archpriest.
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The dioceses were grouped together into provinces, each under the supervision of an archbishop. Like the dioceses, the provinces were much smaller in the south and larger in the northeast. England had two provinces: Canterbury and York. Scotland had one: St. Andrew. Ireland had four: Cashel, Dublin, Tuam, and Armagh. The Sacandinavian countries had three provinces: Trondjen, Uppsala and Lund. Germany had five: Bremen, Cologne, Mainz, Salzburg and Magdeburg. Eastern Europe had four: Riga, Gnesen, Gran and Kalocsa. The Iberian Peninsula had five provinces: Tarragona, Toledo, Seville, Braga and Compostella. France had fourteen provinces: Tours, Bordeaux, Auch, Brouges, Rouen, Sens, Rheims, Treves, Besancon, Arles, Embrun, Vienne, Aix and Narbonne. Northern Italy and the Adriatic coastline had twelve: Tarentaise, Genoa, Lodi, Milan, Ravenna, Pisa, Zara, Spalato, Ragusa, Cattaro, Antivari and Durazzo. Southern Italy, Siciliy and Sardinia had twenty-three ecclesiastical provinces: Torres, Oristano, Cagliari, Palermo, Monreale, Ressina, Reggio, Cosenza, Rossano, San Severino, Otranto, Brindisi, Taranto, Bari, Trani, Nazareth, Conza, Siponto, Salerno, Amalfi, Sorrento, Naples, and Capua.
The cathedral of the archbishop (metropolitan bishop of the Province) was usually found in an ancient and important location. Most but not all these locations retained a status as urban centers, especially in the south.
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The clergy without orders were still considered part of the bishop's household at the cathedral. The clerical tonsure (hair cut) was still the sign that the individual had become part of the clergy. In England such clergy were known as clerks. Once a clerk took orders as a priest he was no longer referred to as a clerk, but as a priest, or more typically, a canon. The life of a canon, i.e., a priest, in the Middle Ages displayed a number of notable characteristics. While many of the canons continued to remain a part of the resident cathedral chapter, the practice of requiring the chapter membership to adhere to a rule had fallen into disuse during the crisis of the ninth and tenth centuries. It was now, after 1000, much more customary than in the earlier periods for canons to reside individually in the vicinity of their assigned local parish and exercise episcopal powers of dispensing the sacraments. The First Lateran Council (1059) made a uniform type of organization mandatory on all secular (non-regular) priests.
Although the assignment of canons to their places of service was theoretically the responsibility of the bishop, in the eleventh century there were still cases where local seigneurs and warlords in Italy or western Frankland were guilty of manipulating the church's rules to suit themselves. Churches were still very lucrative institutions for seigneurs and warlords to lay claim to. And not all clergy observed the inconvenient regulations when tempted. Gross cases of simony as well as the passage of bishoprics from father to son were still to be seen. This condition was largely eliminated by the early twelfth century, as we shall see.
In any case the canons at the cathedral church carried on the ministry there during vacancies or during the absence of the bishop, sometimes for very extended periods. They also carried on the administration of the diocese during these times. When canonical elections of the bishop were established early in the twelfth century, it was typical for the selection to fall on a member of the cathedral chapter.
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Colleges of secular canons might be attached to a collegiate church and totally responsible for its entire ministry. Other colleges were attached to chantries, i.e., chapels where prayers and masses were performed for the benefit of the patron founder. Sometimes such chapels were attached to a large church where other canons served in the ordinary ministry. Other colleges of seculars in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were dedicated to academic pursuits and had no regular responsibilities for ministry. In the latter part of the period secular canons were sometimes confusingly referred to as "Black" canons, a title properly belonging to some groups of regular canons. Both cathedral and collegiate church canons as well as the canons scattered individually in several parishes were now under the headship of an official called either a dean or an archpriest.
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All the canons discussed above came to be known as secular canons to distinguish between them and those who lived under a semi-monastic rule (regula) and are consequently called "regular" canons. The ancient ideal of vita communis, collective living, began to be rejuvenated beginning in the second quarter of the eleventh century with the establishment of the canonry of St. Ruf at the cathedral of Avignon in 1039. The next appearance was the canonry of the church of St. Martin des Champs at Paris, founded in 1048. Regular canon chapters and colleges practicing the vita communis and were found in some of the same places that secular canons have been noted--cathedral churches and collegiate churches. However, in addition, regular canonries are sometimes found totally apart from churches functioning as independent ministry centers in towns, beside castle walls, and in rural villages associated with proprietary chapels.
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There are several orders of regular canons. The Augustinian (Austin or Black) canons were founded about 1090 when some chapters of secular canons adopted the Rule of St. Augustine. An Austin canonry could survive on a much smaller endowment than a Benedictine monastery. Most of the priests were from the lower classes; many were only marginally literate but not unintelligent.
The Fourth Lateran Council (1215) required all Black canons whether Austin or Secular to organize provincial chapters and subject themselves to its rulings as well as those of their so-called General Chapter that was to meet every four years.
There were numerous other regular canon organizations (usually using some version of the Augustinian rule but not using the Austin or Augustinian name). These included, among others, the Canons Regular of the Lateran at Rome founded c.1050, and the Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulcher at Jerusalem founded in 1114. Other significant orders include the Congregation of Saint Victor at Paris organized in 1108, the Gilbertines, organized in England in 1140, and the Crozier Canons established in the Netherlands in 1221. Some of these include an indication of their purpose in their names. For example, the Hospitallers of St. Anthony (1297) from southeastern France, and the earlier Hospitallers of the Holy Ghost (1180) founded in Montpellier, both operated health care facilities in many parts of Europe. The Humiliati of northern Italy as reorganized in 1201 included houses of regular ordained canons as well as regulated cloisters for both lay men and women, and Tertiaries. The Bridge-Builders of Avignon an organization of laymen living under canonical and Augustinian rule that actually built a bridge over the Rhone River at Avignon after 1177. Thereafter they operated inns for travelers and repaired bridges across south France.
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The Praemonstratensians or Norbertines was an order of canons regular that was founded in 1119. They are often called White canons to differentiate them from the Austin canons. Their rule was an amended Augustinian Rule with elements drawn from the Cistercian monastic rule. Norbert of Xanten (1080-1134) a lay preacher in northeastern France was the founder of the original house at Praemonstratum. The general chapter meetings of the order were held annually at Praemonstratum and attended by the heads of all the White canonries. In the north the White canons emphasized priestly ministry, while in the south of Europe they were more monastic and contemplative in spirit. Indeed, in the south they were recognized as a monastic order and considered almost as important as the Cistercians. Heads of their houses are referred to as abbots or as praepositi. Norbert became Archbishop of Magdeburg (in Germany) in 1126 and founded a number of other similar houses in northeast Germany as well as houses for Praemonstratensian Canonesses.
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Ranking above the canons were the bishops (Greek: episkopos). Each bishop is responsible for a diocese as discussed above. Early in this period the episcopal clergy were generally selected by the king or other warlord traditionally recognized as ruler of the diocesan region. This of course had been a tradition since the days of Charlemagne. In some cases this might involve some transactions identified as simony by the end of the eleventh century. Early in the twelfth century the church regained partial control over the selection of the bishops when the kings and other rulers agreed the rule of canonical election. By canonical election they meant more than doing it according the canon law, they meant restricting the voting to the canonical personnel of the diocese alone. Lay involvement at any level was then interpreted as simony.
The bishop's responsibilities included the temporal administration of the lands and buildings belonging to the diocese, together with the revenues of the diocese. Theoretically this involved an on-site examination of all buildings and grounds every three years. Such a tour of inspection was called the visitation. The temporal duties were delegated largely to the archdeacons in their several parts of the diocese.
The spiritual duties of the bishop included presiding over the local ecclesiastical courts and the supervision of the clergy in their pastoral duties through synods (for instruction) and during visitations (for counseling the clergy and hearing complaints from the parishioners). The bishop's head administrative assistant in charge of spiritual matters was a canon who carried the title of vicar general or vicar officialis. In the large dioceses the bishop might also secure the assistance of a "titular bishop," if his archbishop and the Pope both agreed. Such a bishop was not assigned any diocesan jurisdiction but was allowed to serve under the supervision of the ordinary bishop. The "title" of such a bishop derived from some area that had been over run by the Muslims.
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See the notes above on the distribution of ecclesiastical provinces in Europe. The archbishops were subject to the same political and economic influences as the rank and file bishops were during the preceding period. The recognition of canonical elections did not remove the pressures but did provide at least a guarantee that clerical judgement would have input. The archbishop is concerned not only with provincial lands and property, he must be on a constant lookout for any mishandling by his bishops of their temporal responsibilities. The enormous land areas and distances involved with the northeastern provinces made them particularly demanding. The Pope's direct involvement with the administration of the bishops may have lessened somewhat the responsibilities of the archbishops. The archbishop's pastoral obligations at his cathedral church were usually assigned to a chapter of canons or to a vicar general.
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The three orders of Cardinal clergy emerged as the highest-ranking secular churchmen during this period. These were made up of the bishops, priests and deacons serving in the historic churches of the Roman metropolitan area. Rome had five famous cemetery church buildings: Saint Peter's, Saint Paul's, Saint Lorenzo's, Saint Maria Maggorie's, and Saint John's Lateran. In addition there were twenty-eight "titular" churches and eighteen deaconal churches all within the city walls. Finally, there were seven suburban churches in the immediate Roman vicinity: Ostia, Albano, Porto, Silva Candida, Palestrina, Sabina, and Tusculum.
The three orders of cardinal clergy constitute what was known as the College of Cardinals. Although cardinal clergy appear in the records as early as the sixth century, the organization of the College began in the eleventh century under Pope Leo IX, 1049-1054. At that time the seven cardinal bishops were assigned to the suburban bishoprics, although since the eighth century they had shared in the ministry at St. John's Lateran, the Pope's cathedral church. The twenty-eight cardinal priests belonged to the titular churches, but provided worship services in all the cemetery churches including the Lateran. The eighteen cardinal-deacons were actually priests in charge of the deaconal churches in Rome.
The theoretical number of fifty-one cardinals seems to have been seldom realized. Indications point to a number between twenty and thirty for the entire college during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The Cardinal Bishop of Ostia has since the thirteenth century served as the dean of the college of cardinal clergy.
Cardinal clergy as a group were progressively drawn deeper and deeper into the operation of the papal administration during this period. When the cardinals were required to serve in the papal curia, the papal chaplains took over the cardinal's ministry posts. Eventually all the important posts in the papal administration were filled by cardinals. As a group called the Consistory, the cardinals became the supreme court of the Church. Individual cardinals served as the closest advisors of the Pope and were often sent on sensitive diplomatic missions as legates of the Pope. Cardinal legates acted in the person of the pope and were invested with extraordinary powers.
When the papal office was vacant the cardinals administered all the affairs of the church. Typically, but not always, from the middle of the eleventh century the new pope was selected from among the cardinals--frequently the cardinal archdeacon. The body of cardinal clergy meeting in Consistory gained full control over the election of the papacy as a result of the action of the Third Lateran Council in 1179. The cardinal clergy alone must meet behind closed doors in strict secrecy to elect the new Pope.
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Architecture as seen primarily in the church and monastic structures erected in this period utilized some innovative techniques. Romanesque architecture that had predominated in the tenth and eleventh centuries had massive, thick, windowless, masonry walls necessary to support lateral thrust of the barrel vaulted roof. Windows were feasible only in the ends of such structures; hence their interiors were very dark.
Gothic architecture utilized very thin wall structures supporting a newly designed roof. The roof was now cross-vaulted utilizing pointed instead of round arches to minimize lateral thrust. This concentrated the weight and thrust of each roof section on four points. Each of these thrust points was supported on a pier that was built into the sidewall of the nave. These rib-like piers in the wall were braced up the outside by a series of braces anchored against massive pillars setting out in the yard. These braces are called flying buttresses. The thin walls stiffened by piers and braced by flying buttresses rested on foundations of pillared arches separating the nave and the side aisles. The nave wall between each pier above the roof of the side aisles was a window made of glass. The net effect of the height and the light within the narrow interior was awesome.
The prototype structure for this style was the Royal Chapel at the Monastery of Saint-Denis near Paris erected under the direction of Abbot Suger. Suger was the chief advisor for the Capetian king Louis VI (The Fat) 1108-1137. Also keep in mind that all glass made before the thirteenth century was cloudy or colored--stained, if you prefer. Venetian craftsmen had perfected the skills of stained glass making and window building beginning a century earlier. These windows at the Royal Chapel, completed in 1144, were the first ones built in northern Europe. The Cathedral at Chartres added three huge windows by 1150. When Chartres was rebuilt in the thirty years after the fire in 1194 173 huge windows graced the new Cathedral.
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Drama began in the Church with the gradual development of visual enactments of events mentioned in the now elaborate liturgy of corporate worship. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries the dramatic staging of scenes from the Bible and from the lives of the saints emerged from the Church buildings to be staged in the churchyard, the market places or any convenient open-air location. Often a series of scenes would be staged, sometimes simultaneously, so the crowds could move from one to another. At other times we hear of sets being arranged side by side so the actors and the onlookers could move through the story. In some towns an annual cycle of dramatic scenes were enacted on the various feast days. The various guilds would take the responsibility for staging one or another of the scenes or segments. In the earliest examples the lines were in Latin, but by the end of the twelfth century typically in the vernacular. Costumes were completely unhistorical but elaborate and colorful, and sets were likewise more symbolic than realistic.
The Virgin Mary, the saints, and the angels also wear the white costume of divinity. God wears a blond (or gilt) wig and beard; Christ, in addition, wears red shoes. Angels have gilt wings and the saints gilt wigs. The Virgin always wears a crown. The damned are dressed in black or yellow. Satan and his demons are dressed in shaggy suits covered with black horsehair. They wear monstrous masks and often sport horns and forked tails. Some of the little demons may roam through the crowd mocking and pestering various onlookers adding to the entertainment.
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In connection with the development of Christian piety in the everyday life of Western Europe there were some rather unedifying consequences. As the intensity of religiosity increased in Europe so did the bigoted conviction that among all peoples the Europeans were the only true Christians. Cardinal Humbert could excommunicate the Patriarch of Constantinople because he would not admit the orthodoxy of the pope's allegations. St. Bernard of Clairvaux could label rational inquiry as heresy only because he thought he knew precisely what orthodoxy was. This growing attitude of arrogant intolerance toward people who differed with them in attitude or style of life came first of all to be focused on the Muslims and the Jews. It spread from that focus to all heretics within the confines of Western Europe.
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Prior to the middle of the eleventh century the thousands of Jews living in Europe had been accepted without much question. During the last half of the eleventh century and through the twelfth century, the Jewish population of Europe suffered repeatedly from the religious intolerance of European fanatics. Bernard of Clairvaux, however, could and did condemn those that persecuted the Jews as heretics themselves, but this did not make the persecution cease.
The Jews had often been landholders and farmers until the eleventh century. The development of piety in the vassalage customs now required that every vassal pronounce a Christian oath in his act of homage. Jewish seigneurs were forced to surrender their fiefs and positions as vassals because they would not so swear. The Jewish population then began to crowd into the towns and swell the populations of the free communities. This shift to the urban pattern of life was probably one of the key factors in the development a thriving urban life in Western Europe. Here the Jews became leaders in medicine and in many of the crafts. Gradually, however, Christian piety also invaded the craft guilds and required that all practicing guildsmen must be Christians. Driven from the crafts, the Jews took up commerce and money handling.
By the end of the eleventh century the majority of Jews in Europe had isolated themselves in ghettos and they were holding to their ancient customs in spite of the growing pressure from the Christian community. They continued to teach that they were a special race chosen of God and that the Christians were apostates and heretics. Since they possessed tremendous wealth they were able to exert awesome power over many Christians. Reports of popular massacres of the Jews appear by the middle of the eleventh century. By the end of the century these pogroms were being planned openly. They Jews were being accused of every possible atrocity--many largely imaginary in the minds of the Christians. They were accused of poisoning wells, kidnapping Christian children, stealing the bread and wine of the Lord's Super, etc. Contingents of crusaders on their way to Jerusalem in 1096 stopped off in some of the Rhineland towns for the express purpose of massacring Jews. A century later, in 1180, the King of France ordered the confiscation of all property and wealth of the Jews. In the following century both England and France expelled Jews from their borders and other countries commenced requiring them to wear special clothing or badges.
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