Church Matters: Retrieving the Great Tradition

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Chur ch Mat ter s : Ret r i ev i ng the Great Trad i t i on

e. Pilgrimage to Mecca

3. Amazing growth through holy war, jihad : Mohammed flees from Mecca in 622, 630 re-conquers Mecca, and by 732 Islamic warriors control most of Northern Africa, Spain, and Palestine, only to be halted from advance at the Battle of Tours in France

4. Key turning point of Middle Ages: the coronation of Charlemagne, 800 A.D., December 25th. Pope Leo III advances and crowns Charles, king of the Franks (in modern France and much of Germany).

a. Rome’s assertion of dominance even over the state

b. A distinct and dramatic symbol of the Church’s new, permanent relationship change, replacing the relationship of the Church with Constantine, and even the Benedictine renewals

c. Revealed a distinct and clear connection between the pope, head of the Western Church, and the great kings of Europe which would shape the church-state relationships for the next seven or eight centuries

5. The rise of the papacy (“pope” taken from the Greek word papas [father] had much use, as early as 640, but later came to be reserved for the bishop of Rome, with the more strict use of the term at least from Leo the Great [440-61])

a. From the 11th century, the title papa was used exclusively for the bishop of Rome.