The Medieval Era of Church History (590 to 1417 AD)

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The Medieval era of church history ran from 590 to 1417 AD. It had three subunits: Missionaries; Popes and Scholars; and Papal Schisms.

 


CONTENTS

Missionaries. From 590 to 1049 AD

Popes and Scholars. From 1049 to 1294 AD

Papal Schisms. From 1294 to 1417 AD


 

MISSIONARIES
590 to 1049 AD

 

Gregory I the Great (died 604 AD)

Doctor of the Catholic Church

WROTE:

40 Gospel Homilies

The Book of Morals

Isadore of Seville (died 636 AD)

Doctor of the Catholic Church

WROTE:

Ety­mologiae

Maximus the Confessor (died 662 AD)

Tortured for the faith

WROTE:

Life of the Virgin

Third Council of Constantinople (680-681 AD)

Ecumenical Council. In Turkey. Attended by 160 bishops. Restated the teaching of the Council of Chalcedon (451), and condemned some false teachings.

Bede the Venerable (died 735 AD)

Doctor of the Catholic Church

WROTE:

On the Song of Songs

Ecclesiastical History of the English People

Homilies on the Gospels

John of Damascus (754 to 787 AD)

Doctor of the Catholic Church

WROTE:

On Divine Images

Fountain of Wisdom

Second Council of Nicaea (787 AD)

Ecumenical Council. In Turkey. Declared that images could be set up and could be given honor or veneration, but not worship. Worship belongs to God alone. Iconoclasm (image-breaking) was condemned.

John Scotus Eriugena (died 840 AD)

WROTE:

His translation of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite

Fourth Council of Constantinople (869-870 AD)

(Ecumenical) Council. In Turkey. Attended by more than 100 bishops. Excommunicated Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople, which caused further tension between East and West.

Cyril of Alexandria (died 885)

WROTE:

On the Unity of Christ

Gregory of Narek (died 1003)

Doctor of the Catholic Church

Armenian mystical and lyrical poet, monk, theologian

WROTE:

Book of Lamentations

Commentary on the Song of Songs

 

POPES AND SCHOLARS
1049 to 1294 AD

 

Peter Damian (died 1072 AD)

Doctor of the Catholic Church

WROTE:

The Letters of Peter Damian

Anselm of Canterbury (died 1109 AD)

Doctor of the Catholic Church

Father of Scholasticism

WROTE:

The Proslogion

Cur Deus Homo

The Procession of the Holy Spirit

First Council of the Lateran (1123 AD)

(Ecumenical) Council. In Rome. Ended the custom of investiture. The State could invest bishops and abbots with symbols of temporal authority, but had no right to invest them with spiritual authority.

Second Council of the Lateran (1139 AD)

(Ecumenical) Council. In Rome. Condemned the anti-pope, Anacletus II.

Bernard of Clairvaux (died 1140 AD)

Doctor of the Catholic Church

WROTE:

Sermons

The Steps of Humility and Pride

On Loving God

Abelard of Paris (died 1140 AD)

WROTE:

Historia Calamitatum

Hugh of St. Victor (died 1141 AD)

WROTE:

De Doctrina Christiana

On the Sacraments of the Christian Faith

Gratian (died 1160 AD)

WROTE:

Decretum

Peter the Lombard (died 1160 AD)

The first ever to compose a systematic theology

WROTE:

Four Books of Sentences

Richard of St. Victor (died 1173 AD)

WROTE:

De Trinitate

Hildegard of Bingen (died 1179)

Doctor of the Catholic Church

German Benedictine abbess, writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, visionary, and polymath

Third Council of the Lateran (1179 AD)

(Ecumenical) Council. In Rome. Decreed that the votes of two-thirds of the Cardinals were required for the election of a pope.

Joachim of Florie (died 1202 AD)

Fourth Council of the Lateran (1215 AD)

(Ecumenical) Council. In Rome. It declared the necessity of yearly Confession and Holy Communion, and the doctrine of Transubstantiation.

Dominic (died 1216 AD)

Francis of Assisi (died 1226 AD)

Anthony of Padua and Lisbon (died 1231 AD)

Doctor of the Catholic Church

First Council of Lyon (1245 AD)

(Ecumenical) Council. In France. Discussed the Schism with the Byzantines, and the immorality of the clergy. Deposed Emperor Frederick II because of sacrilege, suspicion of heresy, perjury and disturbing the peace.

Clare of Assisi (died 1253 AD)

Second Council of Lyon (1274 AD)

(Ecumenical) Council. In France. Attended by 500 bishops, and such dignitaries as Bonaventure and Albertus Magnus. Thomas Aquinas died on his way to the Council. The Council established union between Eastern and Western Churches.

Thomas Aquinas (died 1274 AD)

Doctor of the Catholic Church

WROTE:

Summa Theologiae

Summa Contra Gen­tiles

Bonaventura (died 1274 AD)

Doctor of the Catholic Church

WROTE:

A Life of St. Francis

Albert the Great (died 1280 AD)

Doctor of the Catholic Church

 

PAPAL SCHISMS
1294 to 1417 AD

 

John Duns Scotus (died 1308 AD)

WROTE:

Philosophical Writings: A Selection

Council of Vienne (1311-1312)

(Ecumenical) Council. In France. Suppressed the order of Knights Templar, and dealt with matters related to the clergy.

Dante Alighieri (died 1321 AD)

WROTE:

The Divine Comedy

Meister Eckhart (died 1328 AD)

William of Ockham (died 1347 AD)

Founder of nominalism.

Anonymous

WROTE:

The Cloud of Unknowing

Catherine of Siena (died 1380 AD)

Doctor of the Catholic Church

WROTE:

Dialogue

John Wycliffe (died 1384 AD)

John Hus (died 1415 AD)

The first reformer. The Catholic church burned him at the stake.

WROTE:

De Ecclesia

Julian of Norwich (died 1416 AD)

WROTE:

Revelations of Divine Love

Council of Constance (1414-1418 AD)

(Ecumenical) Council. In Germany. Ended the Great Schism, when three men were each claiming to be the pope, and it was causing division in the Church. Condemned John Wycliffe and Jan Hus.

 


CHURCH HISTORY

The Patristic Era (33 to 590 AD)

The Medieval Era (590 to 1417 AD)

The Reformation Era (1417 to 1648 AD)

The Modern Era (1648 to 1962 AD)

The Postmodern Era (1962 AD to present)

The Ecumenical Councils

The Doctors of the Catholic Church


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