Project Worldseizer

In the 12^th century the relationship between the pope and the Holy Roman Emperors was very strained. The king of the HRE (Holy Roman Empire) from the Hohenstaufen family was Frederick Barbarossa. He wanted to fight against the decentralizing that was happening in the HRE but to do that he needed the funds to control the provincial princes. The north of Italy was called Lombardy at that time and ruled by the former Lombard barbarians. It was very wealthy so Frederick decided to take control of Lombardy to use the funds. The pope disagreed with this and Lombardy did not want to be under German rule either. Frederick also supported anti-popes who were popes who were not elected by the college of Cardinals but also felt they had a claim to the title. At one time Frederick declared that if the people of the HRE did not support the anti-pope that their goods would be taken away then they would be hanged and drawn and quartered. He burned the city of Milan but eventually Lombardy pushed back on German rule and the pope and Frederick made up.

Frederick died in 1190 because he drowned while on crusade. At first a king from the opposing family, the Welfs, came to power but the pope, Alexander the third, soon deposed him because of his conquests in Italy. Then Frederick Barbarossa’s son, Frederick the second came to power. He had promised the pope to not unite the HRE with Sicily, because at that time Sicily was also under Hohenstaufen rule. Frederick the second quickly broke this promise and wanted to unite all of Italy under German rule because the Holy Roman Empire should contain the central part of the old Roman Empire. Frederick the second made continual conquests in Italy and eventually the pope deposed him at an ecumenical council due to killing clergy and robbing sees along with many other crimes.

The medieval Gothic style was a departure from the former Romanesque style. The Romanesque style had thick walls to support the stone ceilings and so windows were small and thin. But in the high middle ages people wanted high ceilings with lots of windows to reflect what they thought of God. So to support the walls without them being to thick for windows cathedrals were made with the flying buttress. They took the weight from the ceiling and threw it out to the side to make room inside for large spaces and windows. People in the middle ages thought of God as a great mathematician so the cathedrals were constructed in a very geometric shape. The middle cross section of the church is called the transept, the curved part the chancel and the bottom part the nave.

The number three was important in cathedrals because of the trinity, such as the transept could have a length of thirty three feet. Large, high windows were also an important part of Gothic architecture providing large beams of light as a symbol of Gods glory.

In the high middle ages the rise of towns was also of great importance. They were centers of trade and every town had its own trades guild. If serfs ran away to a town and remained there undetected for a year and a day that serf would be free from their feudal lord. If after that time the lord tried to take the serf back the townspeople would chase the lord out of the town. The lord in the area would allow towns to do this and give the towns other liberties since they wanted it to be a nice place live so people would move there and they would receive more tax money. In the middle ages the difference between a town and a city was not population, but if a bishop lived there or not. Cities were where bishops would stay and have their cathedrals. Towns contributed to the economy of the middle ages and because of them great advances were made.

The just war theory is a guideline that has developed over many years about how you can justify a war. This theory has existed since ancient times though it was really developed in the Christian middle ages. St. Thomas Aquinas was one person who really contributed to this theory. He stated that you had to have three guidelines to enter into a war. The first was that you had to have a cause and that you could not declare war just to seize power and wealth. Second on the list was that it had to be declared by the proper authority. The third and final is that you had to have good intentions and want peace as an end result. Over time people have added other reasons to the just war theory such as not attacking civilians, burning property or that you should have a chance at success before you declare war. The church also added certain days of the week or seasons of the year such as lent where there could be no fighting or you would be excommunicated.

Thomas Aquinas also wanted to prove that there was a God not just through the bible but also through reason. Following Aristotle he used the concept of potency and act to prove that there is a God. He used the analogy of the unmoved mover or that of a stick pushing a stone. Your hand holds the stick that pushes the stone but that does not mean that the stick has an independent power to move the stick on its own because your hand is pushing the stick. But even your hand does not have an independent power to push the stick because if you cut off your hand it would not continue to still push the stick. Aquinas’s reasoning is that if you go far back enough in the chain you would have to get to something that is complete actuality and that there would be no potential unactualized. He then says that this must be God and therefore you can prove that there is a God through pure reason without even reading the bible.

In the renaissance of the 12^th century there was more interest in classical literature and the ancient philosophers. More and More works of Cicero and Horace began to be translated from Greek yo Latin or from Arabic to Latin. This would be the last Renaissance where people all over Europe would be able to read the same language, Latin. A particular interest in the ancient Greek philosophers was formed and scholars just referred to Aristotle as, “The philosopher.” This did cause a lull in actual scientific experimentation however because scholars thought so highly of the ancient thinkers. Instead of studying physics you would just read Aristotle, instead of learning about and studying medicine you would just read Hippocrates. But out of this Renaissance you got great thinkers such as Peter Abelard and St. Thomas Aquinas who believed that you didn’t have to believe in just reason or religion but they could work together and combine.

In 1225 Thomas Aquinas was born to a well to do influential family in the castle Roccasecca in Italy. At the age of fourteen he started his studies at the university of Naples. When he was nineteen he resolved to join the Dominicans and lead a life of poverty. According to the story his family imprisoned him in a castle for a year to try and dissuade his decision. After a year they let him go where he traveled to the university of Paris to study where some of his fellow students called him a, “Dumb ox.” His teacher however proclaimed,”You call him the dumb ox, but in his teaching he will one day produce such a bellowing that it will be heard throughout the world.” He went on to write over four million words and write works such as Suma Theologica, Summa Contra Gentiles and Contra Errores Graecorum.