Attempts at Reform   
Last Updated 12/9/2007     12/8/2007

The Church Becomes Wealthy
The church became rich during the Middle Ages.
Members gave the church 10% of their income.
Rich members gave money to build churches and gave land to the monastaries.
Many churches had stained glass windows.
Windows were one way of communication that people could understand.
The wealtheier the monarchies became, the more careless monks became in carrying out their duties.

Non-Religious Leaders
When a bishop died the noble took over the office and the land.
The noble could choose a relative to be the new bishop.
The noble could also sell the office for money.
Men who were not religious often held church jobs.
They did not keep the Church rules.
They did not help the poor.
In the early 1000s, western Europeans worked to return the Church to Christian ideals.

The Monks of Cluny
Deeply religious nobles founded new monasatries that followed the Benedictine Rule.
In 910, the Cluny monasatry was founded.
Cluny was an important monastary in eastern France.
At that time, it was the largest church in the world.
The monks led simple lives.
They won the respect of the people.
The monks of Cluny only recognized the authority of the Pope.
They said the Church, and not kings or nobles, should choose Church leaders.
Monasatries connected to Cluny spread across Europe.

Pope Gregory VII
1020, born.
1073-1085, Gregory elected Pope.
Pope Gregory continued the reforms began by the monks.
The Pope was a powerful politician, as well as a religious leader.
He ruled from Rome with the help of the College of Cardinals.
Gregory had two goals.
He first wanted to rid the Church of control by kings and nobles.
He also wanted to increase the Pope's power over Church officials.
Gregory had Church leaders who bought or sold offices removed.
Bishops and priests could no longer marry.
In 1075, Gregory stated that the Pope was above all kings and nobles.
Only the Pope chose bishops and other Church leaders.
If you did not obey the Pope you were removed from office.
Some kings resisted his changes.
The kings lost some power to the Pope.

Friars
During the 1200s, reforms were carried out by friars.
Friars had sold all of their possesions.
The depended on gifts of food and money from the people.
Friars were different from monks.
They did not marry.
They did not shut out the rest of the world by isolating themselves.
They lived in towns and brought Christianity directly to the people.

Orders of Friars


Franciscan Order
Founded in 1200, by Francis of Assisi
Known for cheerfulness and confidence that God would take care of them.
They loved nature.
Francis blessed animals.

Dominican Order
Started in 1216, by a Spanish monk named Dominic.
Dominicans lived a life of poverty.
They studied different languages so they could preach everywhere.
They kept people loyal to Church teachings through their words and deeds.

Bibliography
"Cluny Abbey." 8 Dec. 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluny_Abbey.

Greenblatt, M. and Lemmo, P.S. "Human Heritage." Glencoe McGraw-Hill, New York, New York  2001.

"St. Dominic." Wikiprdia On Line Encyclopedia. 5 Dec. 2007. 9 Dec. 2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Dominic.

"St . Francis of Assisi." American Catholic.org. 9 Dec. 2007. http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Francis/default.asp.