The Rise of the Mediaeval Church / And Its Influence on the Civilization of Western Europe from the First to the Thirteenth Century

by Alexander Clarence Flick

a colony planted at Bari (871), Salerno besieged (873), Beneventum and Capua attacked (874), and the Eternal City sacked by Saracens under a Norman leader as late as 1085. In the eleventh century the Saracens still held southern Spain and all northern Africa while the Seljukian Turks had defeated the Saracens and had taken possession of the Holy Land. Thus "Mohammed, with a sword in one hand and the Koran in the other, erected his throne on the ruins of Christianity and of Rome."[483:1] The Bible and the Koran divided the world into two parts, separated by the Mediterranean but touching at the extremities. A conflict between these two great world forces, each one imbued with a fanatical desire to spread its teaching, was inevitable.

The Crusade movement was in a certain sense the high-water mark of the conflict. The causes of the Crusades were both positive and negative:—the latter will be taken up first and enumerated.

1. The spread of Islam and the consequent terror and hatred aroused in the Christians, as shown in Spain, France, Italy, and the Eastern Empire, produced a feeling in Europe that this great foe could be checked and thrust back only by the union of all European nations in a great holy war against their oppressors. This feeling was intensified by the fact that many Christians had been captured and sold into slavery.

2. The fall of the Holy Land, with all its sacred places, into the hands of the "infidels," first the Saracens and then the Turks, called forth a cry of horror and a vow of revenge from all Christendom. Roman paganism had followed the Roman conquest to Palestine early in the Christian era. By the fourth

century, however, the cross had triumphed over polytheism and Christian Emperors and pious persons erected splendid churches on the holy places. Constantine and his mother Helena built churches over the cave where Jesus was born, over the tomb where he was buried, and in other sacred spots. It was not long until the location of every place in the life of Jesus from his birth to his death was marked by a little shrine, or a chapel, or a costly church. At the same time many valuable relics were discovered such as the true cross and those of the two thieves, the lance, the sponge, the cup, the crown of thorns, the basin in which the disciples' feet were washed, the stone on which Jesus stood before Pilate, the manger in which Jesus was born, and many others. It was not long until there was a comparatively large Christian population in Palestine made up of the native Christians, the hermits and their followers, and the devout pilgrims who fairly swarmed to the Holy Land from all parts of Europe. The Persian King Chosroes II. in 611 captured Jerusalem, destroyed many churches, put ninety thousand Christians to death, and carried off the true cross. But Heraclius in 628 defeated the Persians, recovered the true cross and restored it to the Holy City (629).

The Saracens in 637 made a conquest of Palestine. These Mohammedans manifested a peculiar reverence for Jerusalem and gave the Christians perfect freedom on condition that the church bells should merely toll not ring, that converts to Islamism should be unmolested, and that the Christians should pay tribute, have a distinct name and language, acknowledge the political sovereignty of the Caliph, use no saddles and bear no arms, build no new churches, and remove

the cross from the outside of the church buildings. Under these restrictions the Christians lived in comparative security until Hakam, the mad Sultan of Egypt, in 1010 attempted to destroy Christianity in Jerusalem by razing the churches, killing many of the followers of Christ, levying a tax on all pilgrims, and through these acts inciting persecutions of the Jew in Europe where it was believed that he was responsible for this change. Jerusalem was captured in 1076 by the Seljukian Turks who destroyed the churches; robbed, insulted, and killed the Christians; replaced the lawful toll by extortion; brutally interrupted the sacred services; and dragged the holy patriarch through the streets by the hair and put him in a dungeon with the expectation of securing a ransom.

3. The enthusiasm for pilgrimages rapidly increased from the fourth to the twelfth century. This manifestation of religious reverence appears to have characterised all peoples at some stage of their religious history. Jerome says that Christians began to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem directly after the ascension. The desire to visit the scenes of the Saviour's life spread like a contagion—it became the mania of the Middle Ages—so that by the eleventh century a constant stream of pilgrims was going to and from the Holy Land. The journey was made by individuals[485:1] called "Palmers" who carried a staff, wallet, and scallop shell and for whom there was a special ceremony conducted by the local priest or the bishop both at departure and home-coming; by groups of monks, or of pupils under a teacher; and by whole multitudes such as the band of three thousand in 1054 and seven thousand in 1064. Among the pilgrims were found

all classes—kings and beggars, male and female, priests and laity. They went either by routes overland or by sea. They were protected by laws and were cared for in institutions along the way. Through the endowment by pious individuals hospitals were built along the more popular routes. Monasteries served as hotels. The pilgrims were free from tolls and were granted many other privileges.[486:1] Charles the Great had them protected within his Empire and had a large hotel built for their accommodation at Jerusalem. It was believed by the faithful that such a pilgrimage had the efficacy of expiating all sin as a penance. A bath in the river Jordan was called a second baptism. The pilgrim who had braved all the hardships of a trip to the land of the Lord was upon his return a privileged character in the community. His shirt was sacredly preserved to be used for his shroud.

4. In addition to the hardships and difficulties of travel the pilgrim from the seventh to the eleventh century was subjected by the Mohammedan authorities to taxation and many indignities. Under the Turks after the eleventh century, robbery, cruelties of all sorts, and even murder with torture were common experiences. The report of these persecutions produced a marked effect on western Europe,—on the clergy, the ignorant and credulous laity, and the nobles and kings.[486:2]