Lesson 6: The Early Middle Ages: A.D. 590-1054

By the end of this lesson, the student should:

(1) Understand the development of the power of the Roman Catholic pope.

(2) Recognize the contributions and dangers of monasticism.

(3) Understand the growth of power of the Roman Catholic Church.

(4) Learn the roots of the conflict between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

The dates of the Middle Ages are difficult to define. No newspaper published a headline, “Today is the beginning of the Middle Ages!” Books often begin the Middle Ages with Constantine’s Edict of Milan in 313, the Council of Nicaea in 325, the fall of Rome in 410, or the fall of the last Roman Emperor in 476. For this lesson, I am beginning with the rise of Pope Gregory “the Great” in 590, because Gregory’s rule marked a dramatic change in the influence of the Roman Catholic Church.

Books also disagree about the end of the Middle Ages. Some end with the Crusades in 1095 and others with the fall of Constantinople in 1453. I have chosen 1517 because Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses marks the weakening of the power of the Roman Catholic Church.

Not only are the dates difficult, it is difficult to limit the events to be studied. Rather than a complete survey, I have selected topics that show the development of the church during the Middle Ages. Because of this approach, this lesson is not in exact chronological order. The timeline below will help you to place events from this lesson in order. This lesson will cover the early Middle Ages. Lesson 7 will cover the late Middle Ages.

Just as there is disagreement about the dates of the Middle Ages, there is disagreement about the first pope. The Roman Catholic Church claims that Simon Peter was the first “Bishop of Rome” or Pope. However, most historians consider two later bishops, Leo I (served 440-461) and Gregory I (served 590-604), as the first bishops to hold a position similar to the modern papacy.

Leo claimed a succession from the Apostle Peter, making him the Head of all Christendom. From this point, the Bishop of Rome was no longer seen as one among all the bishops; now the Bishop of Rome claimed authority over all other bishops. As we saw in Lesson 3, Leo’s Tome defended orthodoxy at the Council of Chalcedon. Western bishops accepted Leo’s claims of primacy.

In addition to support within the church, Leo gained power because of the political weakness of Rome. In order to gain Leo’s political support, Emperor Valentinian III gave the Empire’s stamp of approval to Leo’s claim of authority. When Attila the Hun attacked Italy in 452, Leo rather than the emperor met Attila on the road outside Rome and convinced him to retreat. In 455, Vandals conquered Rome (again). Again, Pope Leo negotiated with the king of the Vandals, gaining a promise not to kill civilians.

The other Bishop who is often called the first pope is Gregory “the Great.” Gregory was born in Rome and became a powerful politician, eventually serving as prefect (mayor) of the city. In his thirties, God called him to ministry. Gregory gave away his possessions and became a monk.

In 590, Rome suffered a series of disasters: floods, attacks by barbarians, and plague. Instead of hiding in the monastery, Gregory risked his life to serve the sick. When the bishop died during the plague, Gregory was appointed bishop of Rome, against his own wishes. While Gregory never called himself pope, he claimed the power that is now associated with the Roman Catholic Pope. Because of this, he is often considered the first modern pope.

► If you live in a country where the Roman Catholic Church is a strong influence, assign members of your class to study the Catholic church in your community. Look at two questions:

1. Why is the Catholic church popular in your community?
2. What can evangelical Christians do to bring Roman Catholics to a personal saving knowledge of Jesus Christ?

Gregory’s Contribution to Missions

As a child, Gregory saw slaves from England being unloaded at the docks. From that time, he had a burden to evangelize the people of Britain. Britain had been evangelized in the fourth century. However, in the fifth century, Anglo-Saxon barbarians invaded Britain and destroyed the churches. In 596, Gregory sent a group of forty Benedictine monks to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons. They established a Christian mission, and one of the monks, Augustine, became the Bishop of Canterbury. Canterbury became the center of English Christianity.

Gregory’s Contribution to Church Music

Gregory is best known for his reforms of church music and organization of the liturgy. Until the late twentieth century, most music sung in Roman Catholic churches was called “Gregorian chant” after Pope Gregory.

Gregory’s Leadership of the Church

Although Gregory was not an intellectual leader like Augustine or Jerome, he was probably the most gifted leader to ever hold the office of pope. In addition, he had a great sympathy for human need. Unlike Leo who took the title Pontifex Maximus (“Supreme Pontiff”), Gregory called himself the “Servant of the Servants of God.” Gregory’s great reputation is based largely on his desire and ability to organize the church bureaucracy to serve the needs of people.

Gregory’s Theology

Sadly, Gregory’s theological teachings led the Catholic Church away from Scripture. He influenced some of the most destructive doctrines of Roman Catholicism.

• Gregory put tradition on an equal basis with Scripture.
• Gregory proposed the doctrine of purgatory, a place where Christians are purified after death.
• Gregory taught that God’s forgiveness requires acts of penance rather than simple faith in the atoning work of Christ.
• Gregory taught that the intercession of departed saints benefits believers today. As a result, he encouraged the collection of relics associated with martyrs and saints of the past.
• Gregory taught the doctrine of transubstantiation, the teaching that the elements of the Lord’s Supper are transformed into the actual body and blood of Christ. The mass became a reenactment of the death of Christ on behalf of the worshiper.

…From Then to Now… Contextualization of the Gospel

Gregory’s mission to Britain mission provides valuable lessons for the church today.[1] Augustine and his fellow monks found a receptive audience. Within a year, King Ethelbert and 10,000 Anglo-Saxons were baptized. Augustine was concerned about how to bring these new converts into the church. He would not settle for superficial conversion. When Augustine wrote Gregory for advice, Gregory responded in 601 with one of the classic letters of mission history.

Gregory advised Augustine to contextualize the gospel for the Anglo-Saxon people. Particularly, he said: "The idols must be destroyed. But, if the temples are well built, it is a good idea to detach them from the service of the devil, and to adapt them for the worship of the true God."

The sacrifices to false gods (“devils”) should be replaced with festivals “in honor of God…. They must give thanks to the giver of all good things. If we allow them these outward joys, they are more likely to find their way to the true inner joy.”

He advised Augustine to be patient with new converts while guiding them in their new way of living. “The man who sets out to climb a high mountain does not advance by leaps and bounds, but goes upward step by step.”

Timothy Tennent suggests three lessons regarding contextualization from this letter:

(1) When possible, cultural forms should be adapted to the Christian message. Gregory told Augustine to destroy the pagan idols, but to convert the temples into churches rather than destroying the buildings.

(2) When possible, exchange new practices for the old pagan practices. Gregory understood that a missionary cannot simply condemn pagan practices; the missionary should also bring new practices that represent the gospel. While we may not agree with Gregory’s specific advice, his principle has been followed by many missionaries.

For instance, “Tomb-Sweeping Day” is a day on which Chinese pagans go to their family graves and pray to their ancestors. Many churches in Taiwan hold a special service on that day in which Christians can honor their family heritage without participating in ancestor worship. They are exchanging a Christian family recognition for a pagan practice.

(3) New converts must be patiently taught to transform their daily lives. Gregory recognized that it would take time for Saxon converts to fully understand all aspects of Christian faith and practice. He encouraged Augustine to be patient with new believers.

A New Testament example is seen in Paul’s letters to believers at Ephesus. These new believers live in a pagan environment and have a lifetime of pagan practices that must be changed. Paul writes to guide them in how to live out their new Christian faith. In strong terms, he commands them to live as God has called them to live. Paul commands them

"…to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."[2]

Paul in no way makes provision for continuing in willful sin. However, in the following verses, he patiently explains how this transformed life will look in their ethics, family life, and daily behavior. As evangelists, we must never excuse sinful lives. Instead we must patiently instruct new believers in Christian living. It is not enough to preach a conversion message and then leave new “infants in Christ” alone. We must invest the time to disciple new Christians to maturity.

[1] This section is adapted from Timothy C. Tennent, Invitation to World Missions (MI: Kregel Publications, 2010), 236-240

[2] Ephesians 4:22-24

In Lesson 3, we saw the beginnings of the monastic movement. Gradually, the monastic movement changed from isolation to community.

In the 3rd century, an Egyptian named Antony sold his possessions, gave the money to the poor, and moved into a cave where he spent the rest of his life. Bishop Athanasius’ Life of Antony inspired many to follow Antony’s example. Simon (the Stylite) spent thirty years living on a platform twenty meters above ground. The desert monks placed great emphasis on isolation and asceticism.

Around 520, Benedict of Nursia established a monastery in Monte Cassino. He wrote a guide called the Rule, which inspired the growth of the monastic movement. Rather than isolation, the Rule of Benedict emphasized a daily regimen of Bible reading, prayer, and work. Benedictine monasteries emphasized community, learning, mission, and physical labor rather than extreme asceticism.

In 589, barbarian attackers burned Benedict’s monasteries. The monks fled to Rome, where Gregory was just taking his position as Bishop of Rome. Gregory was impressed with Benedict’s Rule. Seeking missionaries for England, Gregory chose forty-one Benedictine monks. Throughout the Middle Ages, the monasteries had a great influence on the Roman Catholic Church.

The errors of the monastic movement are easy to see:    

• Attempts to earn favor with God through works rather than justification by faith.
• Unbiblical requirements for celibacy led to one standard of morality for the monks and a different standard for ordinary Christians.
• Monasteries sometimes collected great wealth, resulting in pride and laziness. By the late Middle Ages, monks were caricatured as fat, lazy clerics feeding on the poor. Sadly, this caricature was sometimes true to life!

It is more difficult for us as Protestant evangelicals to see the strengths of this movement. However, the monks made a number of significant contributions to the world of the Middle Ages. It can be argued that civilization was preserved during this thousand year period primarily through the monks. Among their contributions:

• Between 500 and 1000, monasteries preserved scholarship. Many monks devoted their lives to copying ancient manuscripts. Much ancient literature (including the Greek classics and many Bible manuscripts) would have been lost if they had not been hand copied by generations of monks.
• Monks served their communities. Education for children was often provided by the monastery. In the eighth century, Charlemagne ordered that every monastery have a school. Travelers could expect a place to stay in a monastery. The sick came to monasteries for care. Farms on monastery lands often served as a model to local farmers, teaching area farmers to grow better crops.
• Monks were the primary missionaries of the Middle Ages. Columba, a monk from Ireland, evangelized the Scots. Aidan, also from Ireland, won the people of northern England. Boniface traveled from England to preach in what is now France and Germany. He is known as the “Apostle to Germany” and is recognized as one of the most influential people in the history of Europe. Two brothers Cyril and Methodius were monks who translated the Bible into Slavonic and evangelized Moravia and Bohemia. Historian Mark Noll says that nearly all cross-cultural evangelism in the Middle Ages was done by monks.[1]
• The Reformation was born in the monasteries. The spiritual fervor of monks like Bernard of Clairvaux, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, and Thomas a’ Kempis encouraged faithfulness to Christ in a time when much of the church was consumed with the pursuit of political power and temporal wealth.

► There were many aspects of monasticism that contradict the biblical message. However, the best of the monks were attempting to obey Christ’s instruction to be in the world but not of the world.[2] What lessons for today’s church can we learn from the monks of the Middle Ages? Does the monastic pattern of spiritual discipline offer lessons for contemporary Christians?

[1] Mark Noll, Turning Points: Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity, 3rd ed. (MI: Baker Academic, 2012), 92

[2] John 17:14-19

With the final collapse of Rome in 476, western civilization appeared doomed. In the following centuries, there would be no central government, few schools, little law, and no universal system of money. A feudal system arose by which wealthy landowners (“lords”) provided protection for peasants (“vassals”) who farmed the land. These vassals received food for survival but little more.

Modern Europe grew out of this devastation, largely through the influence of Christianity. After the fall of Rome, the Christian church was the primary unifying force in Europe.

The Franks were a political force originating in what is now western Germany. Although they had been pagan, their leader Clovis converted to Christianity in 496. When Clovis was baptized, 3,000 of his army joined him in baptism. By 600, the Franks controlled much of central Europe.

In 324, Constantine had established an eastern capital for the Roman Empire at Byzantium, renaming the city Constantinople. The Eastern Roman Empire (also called the Byzantine Empire) would survive until 1453 when it was destroyed by Muslim armies. After the fall of Rome, conflict soon arose between emperors in Constantinople and popes in Rome. As the Eastern emperors expanded their territory to the west, the pope looked for political allies. The Franks’ support of the Roman church gave great political power to the popes.

Unfortunately, Christianity among the Franks became a political tool more than a spiritual movement. The Franks admired the apostle Peter for his willingness to use the sword; this became the model for “evangelism” in much of the Middle Ages. They saw Jesus as a glorified warlord, similar to Clovis. When one German tribe refused baptism, Clovis beheaded 4,500 people in a single day. He then returned to his camp to celebrate Christmas. As you can imagine, most people under Clovis’ control agreed to baptism. Mass conversions were determined by a political leader, not by personal commitment to Christ.

Many lay people who were converted in this manner knew little of the gospel. For many, the supposed benefits of the “saints” meant more than Christ himself. Many lay people believed that each of the saints provided some special benefit: St. Anthony protected the farmers’ pigs; St. Genevieve cured fevers; St. Gaul caused hens to lay more eggs. Christianity became a “magic potion” to solve earthly problems, rather than a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Some key names you should know include:

Charles Martel (the Hammer)

Charles Martel (the Hammer) ruled from 688-741. Charles defeated the Muslims at the Battle of Tours in 732, stopping their spread into Europe.[1] He encouraged the evangelization of tribes east of the Rhine (modern Germany).

Pepin III

Pepin III ruled as King of the Franks from 741-768. In 756, Pepin granted most of central Italy to Pope Stephen. The “Donation of Pepin” (along with a forged “Donation of Constantine”) became the basis for the political power of the Roman Catholic Church in the late Middle Ages.

Charlemagne

Pepin’s son, Charlemagne,[2] was crowned “Emperor of the Romans” on Christmas Day, A.D. 800 by Pope Leo III. What is remarkable about this event is that the Pope now had sufficient power to crown a political ruler over the Roman empire. The relationship between the church and state was closer than at any time since the days of Constantine.

This alliance between Leo III and Charlemagne unified the western Roman Empire for the first time since the fall of Rome. Charlemagne was known as the Holy Roman Emperor, an emperor who saw himself as the guardian of the church.  Leo III was the Pope, a bishop who saw himself as the ultimate authority in the empire.

During his early reign, Charlemagne conquered new territories and forced all those who lived in these areas to convert to Christianity. Eventually, he controlled more territory than any ruler after the fall of the Roman Empire. He was seen by many people as a “new Constantine” who would restore the glory of a Christian empire.

Charlemagne believed that the state was responsible for the body and the church was responsible for the soul. Instead of Augustine’s vision of “Two Cities” (the City of Man and the City of God), Charlemagne proposed one Kingdom of God with “two arms.” The spiritual arm was controlled by the pope; the temporal arm was controlled by the emperor.

However, in practice, Charlemagne often had more power over the church than did the pope. He appointed and removed bishops; he ordered changes in the liturgy; he set rules for the monasteries; he even assigned one of his deacons to publish sermons that would be used throughout the kingdom. Like his predecessor Constantine, Charlemagne shows both the political advantages and the spiritual dangers of a close relationship between church and state.

Otto I

Otto I ruled 962-973. After Charlemagne’s death, his successors could not maintain the empire he had created. However, the ideal of a unified Roman Empire supported by the emperor and the church appealed to popes and political leaders. In 962, a German ruler, Otto I, reestablished the Holy Roman Empire, based on Charlemagne’s model.

From a human standpoint, it appeared that the medieval church was successful. The church of Rome gained political power and social status. However, this success came at a spiritual cost. For the next several centuries, there would be recurring conflict as emperors and popes battled for political power. Financial prosperity and political power became more important than the gospel.

During these centuries, popes tried to control the choice of emperors, and emperors tried to control the election of popes. Marozia, an Italian noblewoman, controlled the election of popes for sixty years. She murdered one pope, was the mother of another, and was the mistress of a third. When her grandson was elected Pope John XII, he made a toast to the devil to celebrate. Political power had corrupted the spiritual life of the church. The “marriage” between church and state was a forced marriage that failed to further the cause of the gospel.

► Discuss the relationship between the empire and the church under the rule of Charlemagne. What is one specific lesson we can learn from this period of church history?

[1] We will survey the rise of Islam in Lesson 7.

[2] His name was “Charles Augustus.” In recognition of his power and expansion of Roman territory, he became known as “Charlemagne” (Latin for “Charles the Great”).

In 1054, Cardinal Humbert, a representative of Pope Leo IX entered the Church of Holy Wisdom in Constantinople and placed a letter of excommunication on the altar.[1] Excommunication meant that the Roman Catholic pope no longer recognized the members of the Eastern Church as members of the true church. This schism between Roman Catholicism in the west and Orthodoxy in the east was the culmination of centuries of conflict. Since the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the eastern and western churches had moved in opposite directions.[2]

The Council of Chalcedon recognized Bishop Leo of Rome as the primary authority over the Western church and the bishop of Constantinople as the “bishop of New Rome,” with authority equal to Leo. From that point, there were two recognized church heads, the Roman Church in the Western Empire and the Greek Church in the Eastern Empire. Repeatedly, issues arose between the two halves of the church.

Conflict over Icons

In the Eastern Church, many Christians used two-dimensional “icons” in worship. John of Damascus, the greatest theologian of the Eastern Church, insisted that worshipers did not worship the icons. The purpose of the icons was to give worshipers a visual reminder that the saints of the past join in our worship today.[3]

But in practice, many ordinary Christians did not make the theological distinction that John of Damascus made. They did not distinguish between the icon and the spiritual reality it was intended to represent. Muslims accused eastern Christians of idol worship because of their use of icons.

In 726, Emperor Leo III of the Eastern Empire outlawed the use of icons. For Leo, this was largely a political issue. Icons were promoted (and made) by monks who had become a threat to Leo’s political power. Conflict broke out between supporters of the icons and the “iconoclasts” (icon-breakers) who followed the emperor’s orders to destroy the icons.

In the West, the pope supported the use of visible symbols in worship. Eventually, the Second Council of Nicaea (787) met to discuss this issue. They ruled that icons were acceptable as long as the icon itself was not worshiped. They said that icons could be “revered,” but not worshiped. The interference of the Western church caused resentment among many in the Eastern church.

The Filioque Controversy

In 598, the Council of Toledo added the Latin word filoque to the Nicene Creed. The original creed confessed, “The Spirit proceeds from the Father.” The revised creed said, “The Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.”

The Roman Catholic Church argued that John 16:7 supported this change. The Eastern Church reacted strongly. They argued that since the entire church (western and eastern) had approved the Nicene Creed at the Council of Chalcedon, it could not be changed without another council of the entire church.

Western theologians believed that speaking of the Spirit proceeding from the Father “and the Son” emphasized the deity of the Son, protecting against Arianism. Eastern theologians believed that this phrase changed the relationship between the members of the Trinity. The West emphasized the unity of the Godhead; the East emphasized the individual persons of the Trinity. In 867, Bishop Photius of Constantinople condemned the change. The filoque controversy became one of the primary reasons given for the final division between the two churches in 1054.

The Schism of 1054

The popes who led the church during the tenth century were far from the ideals of the early Popes Leo I and Gregory the Great. They were often ethically corrupt and morally degraded. However, a series of emperors of the Holy Roman Empire began to seek to bring reform to the church. In 1039, Henry III was crowned emperor. He was a committed Christian and resolved to revive the Catholic church.

Henry III worked to gain the election of a German bishop as pope to avoid the local politics that had allowed powerful Italian families to control the papacy. In 1048, a German monk named Bruno was elected Pope Leo IX.[4] Leo shared Henry’s desire for reform. Together, they opposed the moral carelessness of the bishops and stopped the practice of simony.[5] Leon IX fought to free the church from political control. In order to prevent priests from passing church positions to their children, he banned priests from marrying.

Leo decided that the way to ensure lasting reform was to claim power over all Christians, including those in the East. He wrote the Bishop of Constantinople claiming that the “Donation of Constantine”[6] gave the pope authority over both halves of the church.

The Bishop of Constantinople refused to recognize Leo’s authority. In response, Leo sent his friend, Cardinal Humbert, to negotiate peace. Instead of finding a peaceful solution, Humbert excommunicated the Eastern a, Cerularius, declaring him a heretic. Cerularius, in turn, condemned Pope Leo IX and the Roman church.

This division, called the Schism of 1054, has never been repaired. At least twice between 1274 and 1439, there were meetings to reunite the churches. Both times, the meetings ended without resolution.

Today’s differences between the Roman and Eastern churches are geographical, historical, and theological. Geographically, the Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, and thirteen smaller churches make up the Eastern Church. Orthodox churches are strongest in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Russia. The historical differences date back to the Schism of 1054. Theologically, the Eastern churches recognize only the first seven ecumenical councils and reject the authority of later councils such as the Council of Toledo, which added the filioque clause.

► The schism of 1054 was influenced by cultural differences (between the East and the West), by theological differences (such as the filioque controversy), and by personality conflicts (between Cerularius and Humbert). What lessons can we learn from this schism to avoid division in the church today?

[1] A document or letter from the pope is called a Bull. This was a Bull of Excommunication.

[2] To study historical and theological differences between Catholicism and Orthodoxy, see Chapter 15 of Bruce L. Shelley, Church History in Plain Language, 3rd ed. (USA: Thomas Nelson, 2008).

[3] Eastern theologians pointed to Hebrews 12:1 for support.

[4] Since the 10th century, popes have taken new names when they are elected pope.

[5] Simony is the sale of church offices. It is called “simony” because of Simon the Magician’s attempt to purchase the power of the Holy Spirit in Acts 8:18-19.

[6] This document was later proved to be a forgery.

The greatest missionary outreach of the Orthodox Church was in Russia.[1] Orthodox Christianity has been Russia’s national religion, although the Soviet Communists destroyed 98% of all the Orthodox churches after 1917. As in the cases of Constantine and Charlemagne, the conversion of Russia to Christianity came through a powerful political leader.

In 980, Prince Vladimir inherited the crown of Kievan Rus (present-day Ukraine). At first, he followed his father in pagan worship. However, he soon sent emissaries to study the great religions – Islam, Judaism, Roman Catholicism, and Eastern Orthodoxy. The emissaries were overwhelmed by the beauty of the cathedral in Constantinople and the elaborate Eastern liturgy. After seeing the Eastern Orthodox service, they wrote, "We knew not whether we were in Heaven or on Earth.… We only know that God dwells there among the people, and their service is fairer than the ceremonies of other nations."

In 988, Vladimir was offered the sister of the Byzantine emperor as a bride, on condition of converting to the Eastern Orthodox faith. Already drawn to the Eastern liturgy, Vladimir converted. He brought Eastern missionaries into the country and promoted Christianity as the official religion of the country. As we saw with the conversion of Clovis, the conversion of a ruler was soon followed by mass baptism among his subjects. Although his conversion was a political decision, Vladimir himself seems to have been a genuine Christian.

For centuries, the Russian Orthodox Church was the only church available for Russians. Many members of the Orthodox Church know little of its teachings or practice; they become Orthodox when they are baptized as babies, or they join out of political or social pressure, without any true relationship with Christ. Many follow the customs of Orthodoxy without ever reading Scripture for themselves.  

Until the late 19th century, there was very little evangelical presence in Russia. All Christians worshiped in Orthodox churches. However, even within a formal and often empty church structure, God had a people. Although the rituals of Orthodoxy provide no assurance of personal salvation, there were many sincere believers within the Russian Orthodox Church. During the persecution of the church by Josef Stalin, faithful Christians within the Orthodox Church remained true to Christ.

[1] Much of the content of this sketch was provided by Rev. Richard Grout, a veteran missionary to Russia.

The struggles of the early Middle Ages show some of Satan’s tools in his efforts to lead the church astray. Pope Gregory did much to serve the people of his day, but he taught false doctrines such as purgatory. Many monks sincerely believed that extreme fasts and ascetic practices would earn merit with God. Through such false doctrines, Satan led the church of the Middle Ages away from the message of the New Testament.

Today, we must guard against Satan’s attacks. Evangelicals are not likely to return to a doctrine of purgatory. However, many evangelicals are drawn to false teachings regarding spiritual gifts, the prosperity gospel, and unbiblical ideas about the last days. The history of the church in the Middle Ages shows the danger of false doctrine.

The struggles between the Western and Eastern churches also show the tendency to division. While we must separate from those who teach heretical doctrines, the divisions between the Eastern and Western churches were often motivated not by a commitment to truth, but by personal conflicts, political agendas, and power struggles. We must not allow personal conflicts to divide the church of Jesus Christ. The Kingdom of God is bigger than my personal agenda!

Augustine of Canterbury (died between 604 and 609). Missionary to England sent by Pope Gregory the Great; converted King Ethelbert of Kent and became the first Archbishop of Canterbury.

Charlemagne (ca. 742-814). First “Holy Roman Emperor.” He encouraged education, ecclesiastical reform, and unity in the Empire.

Gregory the Great (ca. 540-604). Expanded the power of the pope. He sent the first missionary force to England under Augustine of Canterbury.

Leo the Great (died 461): Bishop of Rome from 440 to 461. His Tome in 449 upheld orthodox Christology and was affirmed by the Council of Chalcedon in 451.

(1) Take a test on this lesson. The test will include dates from the “Key Events in Church History” timeline (590-1024).

(2) Prepare a biographical sketch of one of the following leaders: Charlemagne, John of Damascus, or Bede. Your sketch should include three parts:

• Biography: When did he live? Where did he live? When and where did he die?
• Events: What are the most important events in his life?
• Influence: What was his lasting influence on the Christian church?
• Application: What is one lesson for today’s church from this leader?

You have two options for presenting this sketch:

• Submit a 2 page written paper to your class leader.
• Give a 3-5 minute oral presentation to your class.

(1) For this course, the term Middle Ages refers to the period from AD _______ (the rise of Gregory the Great) to AD ___________ (the date of Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses).

(2) The first Bishop of Rome to claim authority over all Christendom was _____________.     

(3) Gregory the Great sent missionaries to evangelize England. ________________ became the first bishop of Canterbury.                          

(4) According to the doctrine of ____________________________, the elements of the Lord’s Supper are transformed into the actual body and blood of Christ.

(5) The Rule that guided the growth of monasticism in the Middle Ages was written by __________________________.              

(6) _____________ was crowned “Holy Roman Emperor” on Christmas Day, 800. This unified the Western Roman Empire for the first time since the fall of Rome.         

(7) ________________________ (icon-breakers) rejected the use of icons in worship.

(8) In ______________ (what year), the Eastern and Western churches officially divided.        

(9) The Latin word ______________________ means “and the Son.” This was one of the primary causes of conflict between the Eastern and Western churches.

(10) List which wing of the church (Roman or Orthodox) is linked with each characteristic:

         Teaches Purgatory: __________________ 
         Allows married clergy: __________________ 
         Ruled by the pope: __________________
         Guided by a Patriarch: __________________                 

(11) After the conversion of ____________________, the official church of Russia was Eastern Orthodox.