Who were Ratramnus and Radbertus?
Ratramnus and Radbertus were two medieval monks whose writings led to the eleventh-century eucharistic controversy. Paschasius Radbertus was a French monk who became the abbot of the monastery at Corbie, France, in 844. He had written a book in 831 called Concerning Christ’s Body and Blood, which asserted that the elements taken during the Eucharist…
What is Cassianism?
John Cassian was a monk who died approximately 430 years after the birth of Christ. His writings are credited with supporting Western Christianity’s development of themes such as the monastic lifestyle and the infamous Seven Deadly Sins. Cassian’s approach to grace, faith, and free will is a point of controversy, with many Reformed scholars accusing…
What is neo-scholasticism? What is neo-Thomism?
Neo-scholasticism and neo-Thomism are terms used to describe the 19th- and 20th-century revival of Thomistic and scholastic thought within the Roman Catholic Church. In response to the growing philosophical movement known as modernism, the Roman Catholic Church encouraged a rejuvenation of scholastic thought. Scholasticism, particularly the work of Thomas Aquinas, came to be viewed as…
What is the Christian poverty movement?
The Christian poverty movement took shape in the Middle Ages, primarily as a response to the church’s covetousness during that period. The wealth, political power, and growth of the church presented a picture of a power-hungry Jesus. To oppose this view, many disillusioned Christians took the opposite direction, choosing to live in poverty. The Christian…
What impact did Charlemagne have on church history?
The name Charlemagne is Latin for “Charles the Great,” who was king of the Franks from 771 to 814. He is considered one of the most powerful and dynamic kings in history, and he had a profound impact on European culture and on the Catholic Church. Charlemagne was crowned “Emperor of the Romans” by the…
Who was Anselm of Canterbury?
Anselm of Canterbury was a monk, theologian, and archbishop of the 11th century. His work laid the foundation of an approach to theology known as Scholasticism. Anselm is best remembered today for his writings, such as Proslogion (Discourse) and Cur Deus Homo (Why Did God Become Man?), and for what is now known as the…
Who was Peter Lombard?
Peter Lombard was a bishop and theologian in the Middle Ages. He is also known as Peter the Lombard after the place of his birth, although this and much else about his life is uncertain. He was born somewhere in northwestern Italy, probably between 1095 and 1100. He was educated at various schools in Europe…
Who was Peter Abelard?
Peter Abelard (1079–1142) was an influential philosopher, writer, teacher, and abbot in the Middle Ages. His wit was praised, but his unorthodox approach to theology and his criticism of many of his contemporaries kept him in near-constant trouble. Peter Abelard (or Abailard) was born near Nantes, Brittany (in modern-day France), to a knight. Abelard forsook…
What was the Avignon Papacy / Babylonian Captivity of the Church?
The Avignon Papacy was the time period in which the Roman Catholic pope resided in Avignon, France, instead of in Rome, from approximately 1309 to 1377. The Avignon Papacy is sometimes referred to as the Babylonian Captivity of the Church because it lasted nearly 70 years, which was the length of the Babylonian captivity of…
How was the gospel preserved during the Middle Ages?
Throughout the centuries, God has preserved His Word and has raised up men and women for the task. Even during the Middle Ages, sometimes called the “Dark Ages” because of a perceived lack of knowledge during that time, the truth of the gospel was available. It is true that the Roman Catholic Church and the…