(1079-1142)

Eldest son of a minor noble of Brittany. Gave up inheritance rights to younger brothers, roamed France to sit at the feet of the great masters. Lectured in Paris. Wrote Sic et Non. A couple quotes:

"By doubting we come to inquiry, and by inquiry we arrive at the truth."

And...

"Faith has no merit with God when it is not the testimony of divine authority that leads us to it, but the evidence of human reason."

At the age of 36, Abelard was a leading intellectual in Paris when he began an illicit love affair with one of his students, 17-year-old Heloise. The affair produced a child, Astrolabe. Heloise refused to marry Peter because she knew how precious his genius was and she feared their marriage would hinder his career. Subsequently, Heloise entered a convent but her uncle accused Abelard of denying his responsiblity. Heloise's uncle hired men who attacked Abelard and castrated

In 1147, this mystic called for the Second Crusade while the kingdom of Jerusalem faced its first crisis. As one of Christendom's most influential churchmen and abbot he pursued Peter Abelard as devoutly as he preached the Second Crusade. Felt that faith brooked no dispute and worked to have Abelard condemned at a church council at Sens in 1140.

[tags]Abelard, Bernard, Bernard-of-Clairvaux, BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Peter[/tags]

A Pope (1294-1303) who declared, on February 22, 1300 a Jubilee — a Holy Year — to celebrate the new centenary of Christ's birth granting pardon for all the sins of those who reverently visited the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul during the Holy Year. He had a noted flair for pomp and circumstance. In 1296 Boniface had issued a "Clericis laicos," a document threatening excommunication for any lay ruler who taxed the clergy and any churchman who paid those taxes without papal consent. Boniface eventually backed down due to the resistance of Kings Edward and Phillip. He later earned even greater opposition from the king of France when he issued the "Unam Sanctum," a decree stating that all men were ultimately subject to the Roman pontiff. This adversarial relationship eventually led to his death at 86 when he was severely humiliated by French troops in his own hometown.

[tags]BlogRodent, Boniface,

A former slave, who later became the Bishop of Rome (217-222). He was the first to accept repentant sinners as a matter of policy. He argued that the church is like Noah's ark. In it unclean as well as clean beasts can be found. He defended his actions by insisting that the Church of Rome was heir to Peter and that the Lord had given keys to Peter to bind and to loose the sins of men. This marks the first time a bishop of Rome claimed this special authority.

[tags]BlogRodent, Callistus, church-history, Church-of-Rome, ChurchRodent, history, Peter[/tags]

Driven by religious fervor, love of adventure and dreams of personal profit, crusaders from western Europe for 200 years attempted to expel the Muslims from the Holy Land. All the great and colorful figures of this era were caught up in the consuming cause, from Peter the Hermit, who inflamed the First Crusade, to the saintly Louis IX, King of France, who inspired the Sixth and Seventh.

For centuries peaceful pilgrims had been traveling from Europe to worship at the birthplace of Christ. The rise and spread of Islam in the Near East during the seventh century did not interrupt this traffic. By the tenth century bishops were organizing mass pilgrimages to the Holy Land. During the eleventh century, however, Christian pilgrims encountered persecution, and when the Seljuk Turks, new and fanatical converts to Islam, came sweeping and plundering into the Near East, the situation became especially tense. The

In 1377 the aged Pope Gregory XI re-entered Rome, and shortly passed away. In haste the College of Cardinals elected a new pope, Pope Urban VI. In August the cardinals suddenly informed all Europe that the people of Rome had forced the election of an apostate to the chair of Peter and that the proceedings were invalid. A new College of Cardinals then elected another pope a month later, Pope Clement VII. Clement moved about Italy and eventually sailed for France and Avignon. Thus, with Urban ruling from Rome and Clement from Avignon the Great Schism began, lasting for 39 years. Each pope had his own College of Cardinals, and each pope claimed to be the true Vicar of Christ with the power to excommunicate those who did not acknowledge him. France went with Clement; Italy with Urban. The empire went with Urban; so did England. Scotland went with Clement.

(540-604)

When for six months no pope ruled in St Peter's basilica in early 590 AD, a monk named Gregory was elected to the papal office. He refused, fled the city for the forest and was eventually dragged back to Rome and was consecrated on 3 September 590. In terms of intellectual powers alone, Gregory probably doesn't belong in such company as Augustine, Ambrose and Jerome as one of the "Latin Fathers of the Church." But he combined great executive ability with a warm sympathy for human need, and if goodness is the highest kind of greatness, then the church moved rightly in according him the title "Great." He contributed no new ideas and created no epoch in theology, but he formulated the common faith of his day and handed it on to the Catholic Church of the Middle Ages. Subsequently, Gregory stands as the prime example of the Church in

The first Pope, from 440-461. In June of 452, was sent as an emissary to negotiate for peace with Attila the Hun as he advanced on Rome. When Attila withdrew, probably for reasons of his own, the Bishop of Rome assumed a new role regardless. And again on June 2, 455, he met Gaiseric, King of the Vandals from Scandinavia. Gaiseric also spared Rome, even though the imperial army had fled, at the imploration of Biship Leo. He did not destroy Rome, but only pillaged it for fourteen days, hen left. Leo was credited for saving Rome. Leo provided for the first time the biblical and theological basis of the papal claim. On his acceptance of the office of the bishop of Rome, Leo raised the status of the bishop's office to that of "Supreme Head of all Christendom." Christ built his church on Peter, the bishops are successors to

Pope from 795-816. He was the victim of mutiny on April 25, 799 when armed men loyal to the previous pope, Adrian I, kidnapped Leo and rushed him to a Greek monastery. Perjury and adultery were among the charges leveled at Leo. He was rescued and brought back to St. Peter's, but fighting continued in the streets and he called on the traditional protector of the papacy, the King of the Franks, Charles the Great, who restored the papacy to Rome.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Peter, Pope-Leo-III[/tags]

King of France. In 1789 he convened the Estates-General, a national assembly representing the three traditional divisions — or Estates: the clergy, the nobility, and the common people. Controversy sprang up immediately over how the assembly should conduct its business. It had not met for 175 years, and its powers had never been clearly defined. As Peter Gay describes it, "The aristocracy and the clergy, seeking to preserve their traditional privileges, wanted each Estate to vote as a unit. This could have left control of the assembly with the upper classes. The common people comprising the Third Estate, wanted each man to vote as an individual. silence their representation in the assembly had recently been enlarged to 50 percent of the total membership, and they figured on the support of liberals in the other two Estates, this could have given them numerical control. Popular agitation grew intense, and revolutionary sentiments spread.

Nero — In A.D. 64, fire ravaged Rome under the leadership of Emperor Nero. To direct the hatred of the people away from him, Nero blamed the fire on the Christians, thus sparking an intense, bloody persecution, probably resulting in the martyrdom of Peter and Paul.

Decius — In A.D. 250, the most violent persecution the church had yet faced was instigated by the emperor Decius (249-251). A general from the Danubian frontier, Decius was determined to have no nonsense from Christians. In his eyes, they were enemies of the empire. Their atheism was responsible for the many troubles in the realm. Thus, Decius commanded all citizens of the empire to sacrifice to the traditional Roman gods. Those who did so were given certificates (libelli) as evidence that they had obeyed the order. Those who refused to obey and were unable (or unwilling) to obtain false libelli faced death. An unknown

A Jew, one of Jesus' twelve disciples, preached to multitudes on the Day of Pentecost, when the Baptism of the Spirit was given, and thousands were saved. Peter was arrested shortly afterwards. It is possible that he was martyred at the hands of Nero, in Rome.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Jesus, Nero, Pentecost, Peter, martyr[/tags]

When Luther experienced his profound conviction of faith, he began to criticize the theology of indulgences in his sermons. His displeasure increased noticeably during 1517, when the Dominican John Tetzel was preaching throughout much of Germany on behalf of a papal fund-raising campaign to complete the construction of St Peter's basilica in Rome. In exchange for a contribution, Tetzel boasted, he would provide donors with an indulgence that would even apply beyond the grave and free souls from purgatory. "As soon as the coin in the coffer rings," went his jingle, "the soul from purgatory springs." Luther promptly drew up 95 propositions for theological debate and on 31 October 1517, following university custom, he posted them on the Castle Church door at Wittenberg.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, John-Tetzel, Peter[/tags]

In AD 380, Emperor Theodosius made belief in Christianity a matter of imperial command: "It is Our Will that all the peoples We rule shall practice that religion which the divine Peter the Apostle transmitted to the Romans." Once, when Theodosius ordered 7,000 Thessalonians killed, Ambrose threatened to excommunicate him, and Theodosius eventually apologized publicly for what he had done.

[tags]Ambrose, BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Peter, Theodosius[/tags]

(1179)

Held in Rome under Pope Alexander III. A hearing was granted to Peter Waldo, who was being threatened with Excommunication for his teachings on poverty. Waldo faced ridicule by an Englishman, Walter Map, but the Pope ruled that Waldo could preach, but only at the invitation of a local Bishop.

[tags]Alexander, BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Peter, Third-Lateran-Council[/tags]

Upon the death of the aged Pope Gregory XI in 1377, Pope Urban VI was elected by the College of Cardinals in a rush. By August the cardinals suddenly informed all Europe that the people of Rome had forced the election of an apostate to the chair of Peter and that the proceedings were invalid. A month later a new College of Cardinals selected another pope, Clement VII.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Peter, Pope-Urban-VI[/tags]

(1870)

This council represented the culmination of a movement called "ultramontanism," standing for devotion to Rome (across the mountains, the Alps. Go figure.). The council opened in Rome on 8 December 1869. The question of the definition of papal infallibility the item on the agenda. The Catholics had little doubt that the pope as successor of Peter possessed special teaching authority. The only question was how far this authority extended (completely), whether it could be exercised independently from councils (yes) and the college of bishops (again, yes), and what special preconditions would have to be met (none, except that he be alive and breathing when exercising said authority. After all, he might be infallible, but he's not immortal. Yet. We'll wait on that vote in a future council. Unless, of course, the Pope ex cathedra infallibly declares he indeed is immortal.).

The vote for the record, on 18 July 1870,

A voice for poverty arose in eastern France with Peter Waldo (1140-1218). Waldo sought to live like Christ, in so doing he provided income for his wife, place his two daughters in a cloister and gave the rest of his estate to the poor. He applied the life of poverty and discipleship to all true Christians, not just monks, and as he gained followers he would send them out two by two into villages and market places to teach and explain the Scriptures. they called themselves the "Poor in Spirit." The Waldenses wanted to purify the church by a return to the simple life of the apostles. This meant the surrender of worldly power. This brought them into great conflict with the Roman Church. The Waldenses came to feel that no teaching except Christ's was binding. The Scriptures must rule. The Waldenses were so clearly a back-to-the-Bible movement that over

By the time of King Oswy of England, in the late seventh century, the two missionary thrusts converged (one working toward the south, and one toward the north). Oswy's queen was from the south and followed the Roman practices, but Oswy had received his Christian beliefs from the north and observed the Celtic way. Among the points of dispute was the date for Easter. At the Synod of Whitby in 664, Oswy brought the matter to a decision. The Celtic advocate appealed to the authority of Columba, the Romans to that of Peter, to whom Christ gave the keys. "Is that really so? Does Peter guard the gates to heaven?" Oswy asked the Celtic defender. He, of course, agreed. Oswy resolved to take no chances of alienating the doorkeeper of heaven and he promptly agreed to follow the Roman practices. After Whitby the British Isles moved relentlessly into the orbit