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religion and cosmology: Europe 843 ments on their bodies, such as self-flagellation and fasting, to imitate the suffering of Christ Monasteries were often placed in remote areas, suggesting silence and frugality When they were not in the chapel, monks often were reading in the library or hand-copying manuscripts in the scriptorium All monks studied Latin because the Vulgate, which is the Latin version of the Bible, was the only translation acceptable to the Catholic Church Because monasteries could be expensive to build and operate, they depended on wealthy patrons The motives of these benefactors may have been a mixture of politics and piety They believed that their endowments would safeguard their souls and those of their relatives in heaven Moreover, the monks acted as intercessors for the military elite by praying for them during holy wars The intricate details of the penance, or accounting for sins, in the Middle Ages perhaps explain the eagerness of political leaders to found and fund monasteries It is difficult indeed for the modern reader to imagine the extreme devotion and mental stamina required to execute the routine prayers, liturgical rituals, and long periods of reflection that constituted a medieval monk’s life Novices commonly suffered beatings meant to enforce such discipline, and silence in the church, refectory (or dining area), and dormitory was strictly imposed In 1095 Pope Urban II initiated the First Crusade in an effort to reaffirm papal authority by a series of military expeditions to Jerusalem Because the Saracens (a common medieval term for Muslims) resisted Christianity, many medieval discourses demonized them, condemning them as the enemies of faith The knights who participated in the holy wars against Islam were motivated by a guaranteed salvation Although they were militant, they viewed themselves in the service of the church and therefore equated death in war to martyrdom Presumably the knights were also bound to the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, as were the clerics But knighthood provided the ideal means of salvation for laymen not suited for cloistered life Lay Piety The Latinized literate culture in the Middle Ages, though it was exclusive, nevertheless made Christianity uniform Virtually all laity attended Mass and partook in selected rituals As a rite of initiation, baptism—a ceremonial immersion in water—signifies the consecration of the subject as a follower of Christ The Eucharist, or Holy Communion, was another common ritual in which the laity could participate Medieval Christians believed in transubstantiation, the mystical process in which bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ at the moment the devotee ingests them Priests per- formed the sacrament of marriage for lay couples, because marriage was considered a consecrated act and visible sign of grace All Christians were familiar with the Catholic penitential system, which served as a means for practitioners to atone for their sins It was customary to confess one’s sins in confidence to a priest, who would absolve most transgressions after a period of contrition Despite the laity’s preoccupation with the church, most went to Mass as spectators and listeners Illiterate Christians depended on what they could discern from religious artworks (many of which depicted biblical stories) and comprehend from the priest’s sermons The splendid Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages provided the laity with a glimpse of God’s kingdom that facilitated devotion and inspired piety Sainthood and Magic During late antiquity devout Christians lost their lives by confessing their faith to the Romans In the Middle Ages these early martyrs were venerated for their heroic piety and canonized as saints After the period of persecution ebbed, new criteria for sainthood developed Such traits included the ability to perform miracles, heal the sick, or follow extreme asceticism Biographies of saints became very popular and were just one aspect of the extreme attention paid to saints in the Middle Ages, more than in any other era Early church leaders became apprehensive about the magical and idolatrous elements associated with saint worship, but the church ultimately sanctioned the cult of saints so long as it remained subordinate to devotion to Christ Ecclesiastics had to approve sainthood through the canonization process, which could be a lengthy ordeal The church’s eagerness to collect relics, or the remains of a saint (usually bones, hair, or nails), that people believed had supernatural properties further encouraged the magical aspect of medieval Christianity The search for relics inspired many pilgrimages to Rome, considered the city of martyrs The most important pilgrimage a Christian could make was to Jerusalem in search of relics of Christ, such as fragments from the crown of thorns or wood from the cross Benedictions and baptisms protected Christians from the devil and maladies, and priests performed exorcisms to liberate demon-possessed persons from the evil spirits living within them Most historians agree that superstition was more prominent among peasants in rural communities, because they were more prone to worshipping forces of nature But the religious beliefs of most illiterate people were based on the notion that they could access the divine through material objects Evidence from legal records reveals that women occasionally were accused of witchcraft Despite this kind of
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