Unit: Medieval Europe
Lesson Title: Christianity and Medieval Society
(See textbook pages 269 – 275)
Thousands of churches were built across Europe
in the Middle Ages. Christianity was a key factor
in shaping medieval society.
Nearly everyone in Europe was Christian. Life evolved
around the local church, including markets, festivals and
ceremonies.
Church officials, called clergy, were very influential
in European culture and politics.
Of all the clergy, bishops and abbots (heads of
monasteries) were most involved in political matters.
They often advised local rulers and settled disputes.
The Church gained political power in the Middle Ages.
Many people left their land to the church when they
died, increasing the church’s power and wealth. The
Church became one of the largest landowners in
medieval Europe.
Why would people leave land to the Church?
How would land make the Church powerful and wealthy?
The Church also influenced medieval Europe
through education.
In class reading activity:
Read “Universities are Built” on page 273.
Answer these questions:
1. Name two ways universities were created in medieval
Europe.
2. Who were most of the teachers at the universities?
3. What language was used to teach courses?
Read “School Days” in the box above:
1. What school customs originated in the Middle Ages
that we still have today?
Education changes societies. As people began to study
different subjects in the Middle Ages, they wondered
how human reason and Christian faith were related.
In the past, people believed that religious truth
depended upon faith. Reason was used for other
truth, such as how the world worked.
Most university teachers were priests like the great
scholar Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). Aquinas argued
that human reason (rational thought) could be used to
support Christian belief.
Aquinas taught at the University of Paris in France.
He wrote several arguments using logic and reason
(science) to prove the existence of God, instead of
solely using faith.
The Church especially had influence on art and
architecture in medieval European society.
In class reading activity #2
Read “The Church and the Arts” on pages 274-275.
Answer these questions:
1. What is a cathedral?
2. How did Gothic churches differ from earlier churches?
3. Why do you think so much of the art created in the
Middle Ages was religious?
The Church used cathedrals to influence society in
many ways. Cathedrals were not just churches and
places of prayer; they were also symbols of the
Christian faith itself in medieval Europe.
Chartres Cathedral in France
(built in the 1200s)
How could cathedrals be symbols of Christian faith?
How did they represent religious belief?
Look at Chartres Cathedral in France for answers.
Chartres is 112 feet tall.
1. What idea about the Christian religion would the
height of this cathedral have suggested to medieval
people?
Chartres seems to touch the sky, as if reaching up to
God and heaven which are above.
Chartres was, and still is, the largest building in its
area.
2. What did the size of Chartres suggest about the
the role of the church in medieval Europe?
The great size of Chartres suggested to the people of
medieval Europe that the church had great authority.
The art of Chartres also held messages for people of
medieval Europe—especially its stained glass windows.
Most people could not read in medieval Europe. Church
ceremonies were said in Latin which few people
understood. The windows showed the stories of the
Bible and church teachings so people could learn them.
Not all the pictures on the windows of Chartres have
religious figures. Look at the window below with kings
and knights.
3. Look at the picture on top. What is the king doing?
What does the picture teach about the relation of
kings to the Church?
The art on the outside of Chartres is very different. Look at
these scary sculptures of monsters called gargoyles.
4. What message did the builders try to give by adding
these monsters to the outside?
Could the message be that it is safer inside the church—
meaning that the teachings and guidance of the Church
protect people from the evils in the world?
There is another very unusual artistic feature about
Chartres. It is on the floor of the cathedral at its very center.
Who knows what this is?
The design on the floor of Chartres is called a labyrinth. A
labyrinth is a twisting and complex pathway leading to the
center of the design—similar to a maze.
But why would there be a labyrinth in a church?
What was its purpose or message?
People would walk the path of the labyrinth and reflect on
how the journey of life was difficult and confusing.
The message of the exercise was that one could only find
their way on the difficult journey of life if they
remained inside the Church—meaning to accept its
guidance and teachings.
Right side notebook activity
Labyrinths were used in cathedrals to teach people that
they could only find their way—accomplish the
difficult and confusing journey of life—under the
guidance and teachings of the Church. In this way ,
labyrinths reinforced the authority and influence of the
Church on society in medieval Europe.
Read the Labyrinth exercise handout. Design your own
labyrinth to illustrate the structure and power of the
Church in the late medieval society of Europe.
Lesson Wrap-up:
What was the main purpose or function of art in medieval
Europe? Was this purpose different than from today?