History quiz

Exercises on the power of the Catholic Church in the feudal world

question 1

(UFSCAR) The Fourth Lateran Council, in 1215, decreed measures against secular lords if they protected heresies in their territories, even threatening them with the loss of domains. Even before the Council and as a consequence of it, the secular authorities decreed the death penalty to prevent the spread of heresies in their territories, starting with Aragon in 1197, Lombardy in 1224, France in 1229, Rome in 1230, Sicily in 1231 and Germany in 1232. (Nachman Falbel. Medieval Heresies, 1976.)

Regarding medieval heresies, it is correct to say that:

a) the term heresy designated a doctrine contrary to the principles of the faith officially declared by the Catholic Church.

b) heretics were philosophers and theologians who rationally debated the divine and human nature of the Trinity in the 13th century.

c) the Church had tolerant attitudes towards heretics of popular origin, who proposed a new ethical vision of the ecclesiastical institution.

d) the first heretics appeared in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and defended ancient doctrines spread by the Ottoman empire.

e) the heresy was reconcilable with the temporal power of the Pope, but caused the rupture of relations between Church and State.

question 2

Read the following snippet:

The rule transferred the Hellenic ideal of the polis as a self-sufficient community to a Christian community. The monastery was to be isolated, surrounded by land and walls; it should be of sufficient length to satisfy the material and spiritual needs of the group through division and cooperation. Everyday life was balanced between work, religious service and study.” “[...] The spiritual polis of São Bento, as part of the Christian Empire, is the symbol of the transition from the ancient Mediterranean civilization to Western civilization:from the polis to the territorial empire (and, later, the state territorial); from urban civilization to feudal agricultural civilization; from pagan myth to the spirit of Christ”. (VOEGELIN, Eric. History of Political Ideas (vol. II) . São Paulo:É Realizações, 2012. p. 75.)

About the role of the Rule of Saint Benedict for the medieval world, it is correct to say, taking into account Eric Voegelin's text, that:

a) was of secondary importance in the context of the transition from the Ancient Ages to the Middle Ages.

b) offered a model of civilizational construction for the Middle Ages.

c) developed a critical conscience in the monks, who rebelled against the papacy.

d) prevented the monks from studying and fulfilling their priestly activities.

e) didn't matter.

question 3

(MACKENZIE) “The conflict between the time of the church and the time of the merchants thus asserts itself, in the Middle Ages, as one of the greatest events in the mental history of these centuries, during which the ideology of the modern world is elaborated under the pressure of changing economic structures and practices. Jacques Le Goff - Towards a new concept of the Middle Ages .

Among the differences in mental conceptions between bourgeois and clergymen during the Middle Ages, we can highlight that:

a) time was considered by men as a commodity that belonged to God and, therefore, it was not up to the bourgeois to attribute an economic value to it. Such a conception was antagonistic to the thought of the medieval church, which privileged the practice of usury.

b) in the face of an intense ruralization of social and economic life, the merchants were responsible for preserving and disseminating the knowledge of Christian Western civilization, while the clerics were responsible for maintaining social cohesion.

c) the time of the bourgeoisie was that of business and work, full of practical meanings. The time of the clerics was marked by mystical meanings, related to the memory of the Savior, reaffirming the salvific meaning of human history.

d) commerce, which for a long time played the role of the main economic activity of the period, was harshly repressed by the Church, despite the efforts of the bourgeois to obtain the support of the kings in order to institutionalize the practices mercantilists.

e) the Church considered that man was condemned to eternal damnation because of Adam's original sin, and humanity did not have the possibility of remission of its sins. The bourgeoisie considered that good deeds served as a basis for the search for Salvation.

question 4

In the Middle Ages and also in the Modern Age, the Holy Roman Empire gave political unity to Europe. This unity was closely articulated with the Catholic Church and the papacy, which held spiritual authority. Regarding the relationship of the Church with the structure of the Holy Empire, we can say that one of the consequences was:

a) the clerical dictatorship of Gregory VII.

b) Western caesaropapism.

c) the Investiture Quarrel.

d) the end of indulgences.

e) the end of the ordination of priests.

answers Question 1

Letter A

The word heresy comes from the Greek “hairesis”, which means “deviation”. Heresies are deviations from Catholic doctrinal orthodoxy, built up over the centuries, since the Church fathers. The first heresies are still from the apostolic time, that is, from the time when the apostles of Christ, like Peter and John, were still alive.

Question 2

Letter B

The Rule of Saint Benedict, as the philosopher and political scientist Eric Voegelin highlights in the excerpt above, played an essential role in the construction of medieval society. Despite being a rule intended for life within abbeys and monasteries, its precepts, over the years, ended up spreading to feudal society as a whole, guiding the way of spiritual life, work and daily life.

Question 3

Letter C

The bourgeoisie rose in the Middle Ages around the 14th century. Life in the boroughs was associated with commercial activities and intense urban movement, as well as the contact with other peoples and cultures stimulated by the travels of merchants. Thus, this effervescence of life in the cities contrasted with the slow time of meditations, prayers and rural work of the monks in the monasteries and abbeys.

Question 4

Letter C

The Investiture Quarrel was the episode in which the conflict between the authority of the Pope (spiritual) and the authority of the Emperor (secular) was present. This conflict concerned the function of “investing”, that is, appointing clerics to important posts such as bishop, for example. This was a function reserved for spiritual power, but the emperors also intended to make use of them, confronting the power of the Church.