Joliet Catholic Academy

For as long as the Roman Catholic Church has been around, it has tried to solidify its control by strengthening its orthodoxy. One way the Church did this was through persecuting the populace for heresy. It is then ironic to find out that one of the churches most influential organizations, the Jesuits, were disbanded by the pope on rumors of heresy. The pope, Clement XIV, did not suppress the Jesuits for heresy but for more political reasons. After losing the support of Portugal, he dispersed…

Robert Elliot’s Our World Our Music gives an elaborate answer to the question what is music? Elliot focuses on the history of music and the social changes that were the catalyst for all these unique sounds we hear today. He defines music as “the universal language (1)” continuously implying how impactful and connecting music has been throughout time. The first instrument was discovered in 41,000 B.C and it resembled the flute (1). Although the instruments that make the musical sounds are…

Indulgences are one of the most controversial traditions in the Catholic Church. They have impacted the Church for hundreds of years and were a major factor in the Protestant schism within Christianity. Indulgences have had positive results but are often abused. The Church’s Confession of Faith (CCF) is a reliable source for a detailed explanation of what indulgences are and how they work, but fails to capture the importance of indulgences in a historical context and their impact on Christianity…

Ninety-Five Theses of 1517, created the anti-Catholic rebellion. His perspective on religion was against everything that Catholicism taught. He believed that if a person imagines that they are going to be saved by good deeds, “falls as uneasily as he who falls from the true service of God to idolatry.” Good works, such as ceremonies and attendance to Mass, are idolizing God. To Martin this was the wrong way to approach religion. The main problems with the Roman Catholic church are the popes and…

Throughout medieval times, variables such as wealth, gender roles and the growing concern of witchcraft challenged the authority of the Church. Because each of these themes are unique to their circumstances and elicited different if not similar responses from both those involved and those observing, it is relevant to detect and understand why these different events took place, and what became of the people who drove these actions. In chapters four, five and six of Deane’s A History of Medieval…

How did religion affect medieval literature? Well it can be thought of as a set of rules, ideas and beliefs. This affected the everyday life of individuals and communities and in turn affected the literature of the time as well. If someone believes a certain thing and acts in the way they believe and thinks in the way they act then more than likely they will have influences of what they believe in their literature. So in turn religion was used as a tool to control people and the literature of…

The Catholic Counter Reformation was the Catholic Church’s series of reforms in a response to the spread of Protestantism. The Council of Trent reaffirmed doctrine practices. It also issued condemnations on heresies to threaten them to have them baptized to be truly faithful in the church practices. The Jesuits was founded to spread Catholic doctrine around the world. The Catholic Church of the Counter Reformation era grew more spiritual and…

The puritan settlers were not the first colonists arriving in the Americas; Columbus’ discovery had paved the way for them the new land. The first pilgrims also known as puritans set out in the early 1600 from England to claim a new land where they can freely exercise their religious beliefs and according to social scientists, as the study material states some puritans left England because social changes occurred. Besides the social changes there was tension between the poor and the wealthy…

The Counter-Reformation, or the Catholic Revival was a period in church history from 1600 AD to 1960 AD and it was a response to the Protestant Reformation. The Protestant Reformation was a split from the Roman Catholic Church which began with Martin Luther followed by John Calvin and others (The Reformation - Facts & Summary - H...). It is said that the Protestant Reformation had begun with the publication of the “95 Theses” by Martin Luther(The Reformation - Facts & Summary - H...). The…

It is amazing to see how religion has made such an impact on music and dancing. As far back as the Renaissance religion had an enormous impact on both. During the Renaissance it was mostly the Roman Catholic Church that had powerful control. If you were a troubadour or trouvères participating in secular music and not in the office or mass participating in Gregorian Chant than you were considered part of the lowest social class. However, if it was not for the troubadours and trouvère we probably…