Outlines of Ecclesiastical History

by B. H. Roberts

[122]. Heb. xiii: 20.

[123]. Rev. xiv: 6, 7.

PART III.
THE REFORMATION

SECTION 1.

The Age of Darkness.—We have not found it necessary to our purpose to dwell upon the particular events of ecclesiastical history from the tenth to the sixteenth centuries. Those were the days of spiritual darkness of this earth. The papal power was supreme, and with an iron hand it ruled the nations. Some idea of its arrogance and power may be conjectured from the fact that in the eleventh century^[[1]] Henry IV, of Germany, the greatest temporal monarch in the world, in that age, stood for three days together in mid-winter, bare headed, and bare footed, and meanly clad, at Canossa (a town in Italy where the pope was temporarily residing), professing himself a penitent in order to obtain absolution from the Roman pontiff, Gregory VII. His offense was persisting to sell ecclesiastical offices in his empire contrary to the edicts of the pope. [See note 1, end of section.]^[[2]]

2. The Revival of Learning.—In the latter part of the fifteenth century occurred that event called by historians the "Revival of Learning." The intellectual stupor of Europe had been as profound as spiritual darkness had been dense. But with the close of the fifteenth century, literature, science and art seemed to spring into active life. The invention of gun-powder^[[3]] had completely revolutionized the modes of warfare; the employment of the mariner's compass made ocean navigation less dangerous; the discovery of a new passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope, by Vasco de Gama [Vas-ko-da-ga-ma], and the discovery of America by Columbus, greatly enlarged the commerce of Europe and increased the comforts of life. Painting in oil came into vogue about this time and filled Europe with masterpieces of art; engraving on copper, invented early in the century, multiplied and diffused them. Paper made of linen also came into common use; and, finally, between 1436 and 1452 A. D. printing was invented, which gave to the modern world the intellectual riches of the ancients.

3. In the middle of this century—the fifteenth—Constantinople was taken by the Turks, and with that event the eastern division of the Roman empire fell. The fall of the great capital drove many of the Greeks into Italy. They took with them a greater knowledge of antiquity than that possessed by the western nations, together with numerous manuscripts; and literature from that time may be said to have commenced its splendid career. [See note 2, end of section.] Intellectual pursuits became not only a pleasure, but a passion; "and it may be regarded as a maxim, that wherever the progress of intelligence is a true pleasure, a desire for liberty is soon felt, nor is it long in passing from the public mind to the state."^[[4]] It was so in Europe; for the "Revival of Learning" preceded, and there can be no doubt that it did much to produce, that struggle for enlarged liberty which convulsed Europe in the following century.

4. Release of the Masses from Serfdom.—The masses, moreover, began to be released, to some extent, from the serfdom of former times, and to be given some share of civil and political freedom. This change was largely due to the breaking up of the old feudal system of land tenure and service. According to feudal principles, all the land of a country belonged to the king, not as representing the community, but as sovereign feudal lord. Out of this land the king granted portions to his subjects, on condition of their paying him homage and fealty, and rendering him active military service a certain number of days in every year. The estates the king granted to his more immediate and distinguished followers, whom he called his barons, were styled baronies, and were of large extent; the barons in their turn made undergrants to their own retainers, on similar conditions to those imposed upon themselves by the king. The relation between landlord and tenant, though at first merely lifelong, soon came to be regarded as hereditary, the heir becoming entitled on the death of the tenant to occupy his land upon the same terms.^[[5]]