Alexander Pope

reputation as the leading school of theological and philosophical studies, and Wycliffe stood out for his intellect and reasoning. Much of Wycliffe’s adult life was influenced by the Avignon papacy controversy; which began in 1309 when the French Pope Clement V chose the city of Avignon for the seat of the papacy instead of Rome. It remained in France under…

The papacy has stretched over the course of 1982 years from the first pope Peter the Apostle to the current pope Francis I. There have been popes who have wielded great amounts of power like Innocent III and those who did not wield much power like the modern day popes. There were those who were immoral like Alexander VI and those who were kind hearted with a servant attitude like John Paul II. Throughout the reigns of the 256 popes from Peter to Francis, they were seen as spiritual leaders. For…

nuns affiliated with the Church taught reading and writing and ran hospitals for the needy. Pope Gregory I used Benedictine monks as diplomats/missionaries. He sent them to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons. The Byzantine Empire had a very strong military. He used his military and his best commander Belisarius to reconquer Northern Africa circa 533 CE. Most of Belisarius’ success was because of his superior tactics in battle. The Byzantines used the kantos, an overhand thrusting spear, before…

In the two primary documents noted earlier, both made use of harsh terms towards the Church. Colot referred to Rome as being foul and deformed. The ‘Death of Alexander VI’ created a clear description of the hierarchy of the church, describing the former Pope as being cruel and being fond of poison to advance his own means. The unjust nature of the sixteenth century Church paints a picture of serfdom and other uses of unfair treatments towards the poor. However…

turned the renaissance into the blissful era that it was. This enormous wheel turned under the guise of pious reverence, and the spokes were the small psychological manipulations divvied out by the enormous world power. The help of indulgences, corrupt popes, and even lack of faith in the upper ranks of the church were the pillars to the parthenon of the church. Faith at this time became a leash, the dominant power of the church was the controlling master, as the general population became the…

The Italian Renaissance in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italy was the upbringing of several new ideas and concepts that many Europeans were not familiar with at the time, as well as the transition from medieval to modern times. As stated by a Swiss historian in the nineteenth-century, the Renaissance was the “prototype of the modern world.” Humanism was introduced and spread by Francesco Petrarch, the “father of humanism,” as well as several other humanists. Platonism was briefly revived,…

from his burial ground and burned his remains and works. In juxtaposition to the church’s persecution of Wycliffe, the church’s persecution of Hus was severer. Instead of simply losing his job as Wycliffe had lost his, through the authority that Pope Alexander V empowered the archbishop of Prague to eliminate heresy in the archbishop’s diocese, the archbishop excommunicated Hus in 1410. However, this did not hinder Hus’s message. Hus continued preaching his message. Eventually, in 1414, he…

Becket did not react well to the King’s attack on his power. As the British historian W. L. Warren recounts, “Becket protested vigorously, and was given strong support by the pope, who repeated his prohibition with stern threats of the suspension or even deposition of any bishop who ignored it” (502). Becket, supported by the pope, felt threatened by his loss of power. The attack on Becket’s power was part of the greater struggle for power between the King and the archbishop. Acting upon his…

The pope was very strict when handing out punishments. Too many people were being put into the dungeons that, as a form of punishment, people were forced to take pilgrimages across Europe. “Offenders were ordered to shave their heads, abandon their families…

Through this council, the Church enforced celibacy, provided education and training seminaries for priests and stopped the sale of indulgences. Celibacy was enforced by the Church in an attempt to restore integrity because many clerics, including Pope Alexander VI, had children (The editors of encyclopædia britannica). This benefited the Church because Catholics noticed the Church fixing their issues and returning to traditional values again. Also, the Council of Trent had the church’s clergy…