´Making sense´ of the Estates system´Making sense´ of the Estates system

Providing services to societyProviding services to society

Preserving knowledgePreserving knowledge

Economic- powerful landowner Political-

Kings had divine power, so they needed Popes´ support

Estates system was ´supported/explained´ by religion

Power

Clergy

Secular Took care of secular

people daily Churches Celebrated Mass Celebrated rites

(baptism, weddings,ect)

Regular Were secluded (monks &

nuns) away from secular people

Monastries & Abbeys Followed rules of their order

(some independence from the Pope) : clothes, tasks, daily timetable.

Studied Prayed Copied texts (amanuensis)

The Church was divided functionally into the ordinary clergy, who are referred to as secular because they minister to the needs of secular people, and the monastics, who are referred to as regular because they are regulated by monastic rules. Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_the_social_structure_of_medieval_times#ixzz1daELc4k2

Hierarchies in the Church

Secular Pope in Rome or Patriarch of

Constantinople Cardinals (Roman Church), archbishops who could elect a new pope Archbishops (Roman Church), senior bishops Bishops, heads of dioceses, which consisted of geographical groups of churches Priests of local churches Deacons, lower order in local churches

Regular Pope or Patriarch

Grand Master, heads of monastic order, which could be worldwide in scope Abbots, heads of local monasteries Monks, who were the members of monasteries Novices, training to become monks

The daily life of Medieval monks in the Middle Ages were based on the three main vows:

The Vow of Poverty The Vow of Chastity The Vow of Obedience

vow: voto

Monastic Rule:Monks lifestyle (1)

The life of medieval monks were filled with the following work and chores: Washing and cooking for the monastery Raising the necessary supplies of vegetables and grain Reaping, Sowing, Ploughing, Binding and Thatching, Haymaking and

Threshing Producing wine, ale and honey Providing medical care for the community Providing education for boys and novices Copying the manuscripts of classical authors Providing hospitality for pilgrims

The times of these prayers were called by the following names - Matins,Lauds,Prime,Terce,Sext,Nones,Vespers andCompline.

Matins : the night office; the service recited at 2 am in the divine officePrime : The 6am serviceVespers : the evening service of divine office, recited before dark (4 - 5pm)Compline : the last of the day services of divine office, recited before retiring (6pm)

Any work was immediately ceased at these times of daily prayer. The monks were required to stop what they were doing and attend the services.

The food of the monks was generally basic and the mainstay of which was bread and meat. The beds they slept on were pallets filled with straw.

Monks lifestyle (2)

Copying religious and scientific

texts (Bibles, prayer books, astronomy texts)

Preserving knowledge (from the Classic Era: Greek and Roman discoveries)

Copying important works by contemporary religious thinkers (phylosophy)

Amanuensis monk

Where did the regular clergy live?

The monastery was the religious home of a group of monks. Many monasteries were built across Europe in medieval times.

A nunnery was the religious home for a group of nuns.

An abbey is simply another name for a monastery where the head person was called an abbot (male) or abbess (female).

A priory is another name for a monastery where the head person was called a prior.

Religion- regulating daily life

Religion was important for people in medieval times and was part of the daily structure for many of them. Each village had a church and many monasteries were built all across Europe.

Kings, Queen and nobles of the time gave donations to the Church in exchange for blessings and for forgiveness for their wrong-doings.

The Church looked after the poor and the sick were taken care of in monasteries.

Without books and the ability to read, preachers were the only source of information about God and the scriptures.

The insides of churches were not white as we see them today but would have been covered in brightly coloured pictures showing stories from the Bible. It was common for people to choose to dedicate their lives to the Church.

Benedictine Monks-an important medieval order

Saint Benedict founded several monasteries in Italy in the early sixth century (A.D. 500 ? A.D. 550). Benedict devised a series of rules that had to be followed by his monks.

These rules became known as the Benedictine Order. The rules were easy to follow and were adopted in many other countries as well. The monks had to obey three vows; poverty, chastity and obedience. This protected them from the deceits of the World, the lust of the flesh and the snares of the devil. Their day was divided into three parts.:

1st devoted to services in the church; 2nd devoted to work in the cloisters, reading, writing and meditation 3rd devoted to manual labour, to help in the gardens or the infirmary. The Benedictine monks were known as the 'Black

Monks' because of the colour of their clothing.

Key dates:476—Fall of Rome814—Death of Charlemagne1215—Magna Carta & 4th Lateran Council1347-1349—Great Plague1517—Martin Luther publishes 95 theses1492—Columbus

What happened when?