Medieval Europe

- Maurice Keen


I just finished the Penguin History of Medieval Europe by Maurice Keen. This is a good little outline of the religious, intellectual, social and political history of Europe from 800-1453 A.D. The ideas of the middle ages were the assumptions of the Reformation and early modernity. Understanding its background will help us understand our subject itself.

The theme which runs through Keen's Medieval Europe is the idea of Christendom: the unity of Christian Europe. He traces its development, expansion and disintegration.

The foundations of Christendom were the Roman Empire and the Christian Faith. The Germanic invaders who inherited Europe inhabited the Mediterranean world of Rome. They adopted Roman Law and Latin culture and customs. They also took the Latin religion - Christianity. The ecumenical Empire of Rome was seen with religious meaning. The external tranquility of the pax romana was the means of the spread and security of gospel of peace for the soul. The peace in the commonwealth which God had brought in Rome was for (1) the incarnation of the Son of God and the accomplishment of redemption and (2) the application of redemption. The Roman Empire was thus seen with a missionary mandate.

Medieval Europe, as a Christian Republic, faced external and internal challenges. From without she was assaulted by Norsemen, Magyars and finally Mohammedans. The 1st two she subdued and conquered. She was able rally to common cause against Islam but not ultimately able to defeat. The crusade was the ultimate expression of the ideal of the unity of the Christian republic. Within she faced the question of the Commonwealth's authority: Pope or Emperor, and later, the authority of Church Councils.

Finally, the centralization of power in the great princes and the efficiency of their administration of government caused the emergence of national consciousnesses and the destruction of Christian unity. The power of the papacy in the late middle ages destroyed the influence of parochial clergy. When the papacy was disrupted during the Great Schism the secular rulers filled the vacuum of power and took control over the church in their countries.

This was the situation of Europe when Luther nailed his 95 theses. If Europe had not lost the ideal of Christendom to the fragmentation of nationalism she would have been able to withstand the Reformation without the rupture of the body of Christ. But Christendom was already divided by national and political loyalties and churches essentially belonged to the secular king. The Reformation only broke down the facade of unity.