medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Gary Macy wrote:
>
> I am sorry to jump into the discussion so late, but on the West Coast,
> when I read my mail, it was morning and some of us were still
> caffeinating. Without responding to the all of the issues raised here,
> I would at least argue that first of all, the church(es) of the Middle
> Ages were quite diverse. There were at least two quite different forms
> of church polity particularly before and after the reforms of the
> eleventh century consolidated at Lateran IV. So, secondly, these
> churches were not "Catholic" in the sense that "Roman Catholic" is used
> now. Late medieval Christianity was the origin out of which all of
> Western Christianity emerged. This is not a new point, of course. I
> as well as others have written on the subject often enough. However
> the point is worth repeating because from this perspective, there are
> no longer any late medieval Christians. Certainly the church that
> emerged from Trent and became Roman Catholicism is no more "medieval"
> than some other Western Christian groups. Therefore explaining late
> medieval Western Christianity should not be seen as necessarily
> "defending" or "attacking" any present Christian group. The
> identification of Roman Catholicism as it came to exist after Trent
> with the "medieval Church" (as if that were somehow an identifiable
> unity) was a political move of some complexity, but one of very
> questionable historical value. From this perspective, the medieval
> inquisitions, for example, were not "Roman Catholic" nor was the rise
> of the universities .
>
However, the Roman Inquisition (which still exists) pre-dated the Council of
Trent. As did the Spanish Inquisition - but you would expect that :-)
John Briggs
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html
|