Christianity in the Middle Ages

Christianity began to spread among the Germanic tribes in Europe from the 4th century; Clovis accepted it, and monks from the monasteries of England and Ireland carried it to remote lands. Kievan Rus accepted the Orthodox form from Byzantium in 988 and Bulgaria in the 9th century. The division of the Roman Empire into West and East led to a division of the church: in 756 a state of the Roman popes, the Papal States, was set up in Italy, while the Byzantine church, led by the patriarch of Constantinople, was subordinate to the state. In the mid-11th century the church formally split into Western (Catholic) and Eastern (Orthodox): among Catholics the services (liturgy) were held in Latin and priests did not marry; among the Orthodox services were held in Greek and other languages (for example Church Slavonic) and only monks did not marry. The church and monasteries owned a large share of arable land, collected the tithe (1/10 of the harvest) and took part in legal matters. One of the severe punishments was the interdict, a temporary ban on worship and rites in an area. Under Pope Innocent III (1198–1216) the Catholic Church reached the peak of its power. Monasteries served learning by copying books and running schools. Those who opposed church teaching were called heretics; against them a church court, the Inquisition, was set up in the 13th century, later used especially widely in Spain, and some of those condemned were burned at the stake. The selling of indulgences — certificates of “forgiveness” of sins — was later widely criticized.