The Tenor of Late Medieval Christianity

Textbook Readings: Lindberg, 2. For reference, also consult the Primer: Reforming the Holy Roman Empire; and the Primer: The Institutional Structure of the Holy Roman Empire
Read and prepare for discussion in class:

• Tuesday: Anon., Reformatio Sigismundi (c. 1438) (Canvas)
• Thursday: Eamon Duffy “The Mass” (Canvas)

I. Religion & Reform in Fifteenth-Century Europe
A. A Priest of One's Own: Communal Endowments in Fifteenth-Century Europe
B. Embracing Christianity
1) Mass Pilgrimage
2) Parochial Appointment
C. The “Spiritual Economy”

Image: St. Leonhard im Pitztal

Map: The pilgrimages of Margery Kempe
Image: The ostensio reliquarum in Aachen
Image: Einsiedeln Monastery (c. 1650)
Artifact: Pilgrim Badge, Aachen, 14th C. 
Artifact: Pilgrim Badge, Canterbury  14th C.
Artifact: Pilgrim Badge, Cologne, 14th C.
Image: André Haller (c. 1470-1530), St. Rochus (1513)
Map: Margery Kempe's Last Voyage (1433)

II. Discussion: The Reformatio Sigismundi (c. 1438)

Map: Central Europe in 1400
Map: Central Europe in 1547
Map: Imperial Cities
Map: Ecclesiastical States in the Holy Roman Empire, c. 1500

III. Body Politics: Reforming the Church 
A. Reforming Bishops
B. Observantine Orders
C. Reforming Institutions: The Great Western Schism and the Conciliar Movement  

Image: Johann Geiler von Kaysersberg (1445-1510)
Image: The "Council Building" in Constance (Konstanz)
Image: Pope John XXIII at the Council of Constance (Richental Chronicle)
Image: A Session of the Council of Constance (Richental Chronicle)
Image: The Consecration of Martin V (1417)

IV. A Crisis of “Secondary Responsibilities”?
1. Church Incomes—Spiritual and Temporal
2. Structural Contradictions
3. The Abuse of Priestly Status  

Map: Papal States, c. 1500

V. Discussion: Eamon Duffy, “The Mass” (1992)

Image: Rood Screen, Strasbourg/St. Pierre-le-Jeune
Image: Rood Screen, Albi

VI. Religion, Protest, Rebellion
A. Rebellious Pilgrimages
1) The Bleeding Host of Wilsnack (1383)
2) The Niklashausen Pilgrimage (1476)
B. Wars of Religion: The Hussite Movement

Image: The 'Fair Maria' Shrine in Regensburg (1519)
Image: The Drummer of Niklashausen Preaching (Schedel Chronicle)
Image: Execution of the "Drummer of Niklashausen" (Lorenz Fries Chronicle)
Image: Jan Hus preaching (Jena Codex)
Image: The Execution of Jan Hus (1415)
Image: The Hussite Wars (Jena Codex)

VII. Interpretions: Narratives of “Spiritual Decay”
A. “Symbolic Inflation”
B. Entanglement of Sacred with the Profane
C. A Case in Point: Indulgences

Image: Hieronymus Bosch, The Seven Deadly Sins (c.1485), Prado, Madrid. The Seven Deadly Sins is a painted rectangle with a central image of the eye of God, with Christ watching the world. The Seven Deadly Sins -- pride, envy, anger, avarice, gluttony, sloth, and lechery -- are depicted through scenes of worldly transgression, arranged around the circular shape. The circular layout represents God's omniscience: no sin goes unnoticed. In the corners of the image appear the "Four Last Things" mentioned in late medieval spiritual handbooks: Deathbed, the Last Judgment, Heaven, and Hell. Source: ibiblio.org.

VIII. Reforming the Empire
 A. A Convergence of Interests: The Perpetual Peace (1495)
B. The Imperial “Diet” (Reichstag)
C. Imperial Courts: the Imperial Chamber Court and the Imperial Aulic Council

Image: Hans Burgkmair, "Quaternion" (1510) 

Image left: Matthias Grünewald (c. 1470-1528), Isenheim Altarpiece (c. 1512-1516). The Isenheim Altarpiece was executed for the hospital chapel of Saint Anthony's Monastery in Isenheim in Alsace and is now at the Unterlinden Museum in Colmar, a nearby town. It is a carved shrine with two sets of folding wings and three views. The first, with the wings closed, is a Crucifixion showing a harrowingly detailed, twisted, and bloody figure of Christ on the cross in the center flanked, on the left, by the mourning Madonna being comforted by John the Apostle, and Mary Magdelene kneeling with hands clasped in prayer, and, on the right, by a standing John the Baptist pointing to the dying Savior. At the feet of the Baptist is a lamb holding a cross, symbol of the "Lamb of God" slaughtered for man's sins. The drama of the scene, symbolizing the divine and human natures of Christ, is heightened by the stark contrast between the vibrantly lit foreground and the dark sky and bleak landscape of low mountains in the background. Image source: CGFA.

Identifications:

Examples of Christ-centered devotion:
Mass of Saint Gregory (Gregormesse)
Corpus Christi Processions
Bleeding Host Shrines (e.g. Wilsnack in Saxony, 1383)