Student Number: 24780731 Why were friars so important to the later medieval Churchs campaign against sin?

The thirteenth century has, according to David Knowles, been rightly described as being the age of the Friars.1 During a time of crisis for the medieval church, the order of the Friars filled a vacuum that aided the western church in its campaign against sin and the growing number of heretics.2 In order to analyse what made the Friars key players in the Churchs efforts against sin, it is first important to discuss the context of the church during that period. One of the most notable changes in the thirteenth century was the rise of the urban lifestyle and the growth of cities.3 Western Europe had experienced great economic and demographic expansion, which facilitated profound social change.4 Growth of international trade and the colonising of forests to make way for towns sustained the rising population.5 The isolation that had been a part of local communities beforehand began to break down, resulting in an ever-moving community.6 Within this urbanised community there was a growing receptiveness to new ideas.7 With the influx of travelling merchants, entrepreneurs and artisans, societies were better equipped to David Knowles and Dimitri Obolensky, The Christian Centuries: A New History of the Catholic Church 2nd edn (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1969), p. 345. 2 Ibid. 3 C. H. Lawrence, The Friars: The Impact of the Early Mendicant Movements on Western Society (London: Longman, 1994), p. 2. 4 C. H. Lawrence, Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe In the Middle Ages (New York: Longman, 1984), p. 193. 5 C. H. Lawrence, The Friars: The Impact of the Early Mendicant Movements on Western Society (London: Longman, 1994), p. 1. 6 C. H. Lawrence, Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe In the Middle Ages (New York: Longman, 1984), p. 193. 7 C. H. Lawrence, The Friars: The Impact of the Early Mendicant Movements on Western Society (London: Longman, 1994), p. 3.
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Student Number: 24780731 challenge established concepts, teachings and authorities.8 Essentially the Church was facing a crisis of new concepts in regards to the way of life.9 The traditional assumptions of what a Christians life was to be like was challenged by the new urban societies and the Church found that it was not equipped for the religious needs that changed over this period.10 As a result heretical movements who understood the new dynamics of the urban population had more access to the laity within the cities than the Church had. The church was also faced with the rising number of people who were becoming increasingly more literate. Until the eleventh century literacy amongst Christians had been restricted to the clergy.11 As a result of the new relationships within the cities, there was an expectation of a level of literacy.12 The laity could no longer be purely described as the idiota.13 Another result of the literate laity was the rise of the universities. The universities signified an articulate population who revolutionised the way in which people learned, as well as the content of what was being taught.14 The clergys programme of learning was not fitted to these new methods.15 Jacques de Vitry speaks of the laici litterati who had gained the authorisation of the Pope to preach.16 If it was the case that there were laymen educated enough to take on preaching, then it makes sense to

Ibid., p. 3. Ibid., p. 1. 10 Ibid. 11 C. H. Lawrence, Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe In the Middle Ages (New York: Longman, 1984), p. 194. 12 Ibid. 13 C. H. Lawrence, The Friars: The Impact of the Early Mendicant Movements on Western Society (London: Longman, 1994), p. 8. 14 Ibid., p. 11. 15 Ibid. 16 D. L. dAvray, The Preaching of the Friars: Sermons Diffused from Paris before 1300 (Oxford: Clarendon, 1985), p. 29.
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Student Number: 24780731 assume that they themselves would have expected high standards from the clergy.17 The clergy and the monasteries themselves were put under scrutiny as the articulate laity, who were growing more openly critical of established traditions, began leaning towards personal religion.18 Due to the fact that most educated elite in the clergy were absorbed into the higher roles within the Church or were drawn towards the schools, parish priests were usually local and were by no means educationally superior to their parishioners.19 They were recruited from the peasant class and therefore received little to no specific training.20 According to David Jones it is doubtful that the majority of parish priests received the training or had the linguistic skills to effectively turn Latin sermons materials into a useful sermons.21 There is much evidence through the works of satirists and chroniclers that there were a wealth of rectors who did not hold residence within their parish communities.22 There seems to be a pattern of discontent towards rectors who only visited their parishes during the period of harvest in order to collect revenues.23 Another important factor that added to the crisis that the Church faced in terms of dissatisfaction with the clergy was the

Ibid. C. H. Lawrence, The Friars: The Impact of the Early Mendicant Movements on Western Society (London: Longman, 1994), p. 18. 19 Ibid., p11. 20 Margaret Deanelsy, A History of the Medieval Church 590-1500 (London: Routledge, 1969), p. 151. 21 David Jones, Friars Tales: Thirteenth-Century Exempla From the British Isles (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2011), p. 2. 22 Michael Robson, The Franciscans in the Middle Ages (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2006), p. 48. 23 Ibid.
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Student Number: 24780731 influence of papal reform.24 The Gregorian reform resulted in creating further criticisms towards the clergy.25 In welcoming the assistance of the laity in opposing candidates for bishoprics who were deemed unsuitable, Pope Gregory VII created an atmosphere of criticism amongst the laity.26 This then provoked a degree of vocal anti-clericalism and helped create an environment for heretics.27 After looking at the context of the Church it would appear that the friars filled a vacuum amongst the laity that the Church authorities were not equipped to fill. In contrast to the monastic life, the friars followed the apostolic life.28 It was the idea of modelling ones life upon how Jesus had lived on Earth, vita apostolica meaning that friars lived in voluntary poverty, and were dedicated to preaching.29 With the monasteries becoming increasingly identified with the growing wealth of the Church and rich landlords, this simple life of poverty was appealing. St. Dominic argued that the reason behind why the laity were turning towards heresy was due to the obvious contrast between the wealthy Church and the poverty of the heretical preachers.30 However the reason why the friars differed from the heretics who also favoured the vita aposilica, is that they

Bernard Hamilton, Religion in the Medieval West (London: Edward Arnold, 1986), p. 172. 25 Ibid. 26 C. H. Lawrence, The Friars: The Impact of the Early Mendicant Movements on Western Society (London: Longman, 1994), p. 7. 27 Bernard Hamilton, Religion in the Medieval West (London: Edward Arnold, 1986), p. 172. 28 C. H. Lawrence, Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe In the Middle Ages (New York: Longman, 1984), p. 195. 29 Ibid. 30 Bernard Hamilton, Religion in the Medieval West (London: Edward Arnold, 1986), p. 32.
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Student Number: 24780731 maintained a strong fidelity to the Church and its orthodoxy.31 Other aspects of the friars also differed from those of the monasteries. The twelfth century had brought challenges to the reclusiveness that made up the monastic life.32 The monastic schools had increasingly excluded outsiders, instead only admitting novices.33 Monasticism emphasisedwithdrawal from the world this further making it a great commitment.34 The monks also came from the upper classes and as a result had upper class sympathies.35 When looking at the friars, however, it is clear that they worked through being engaged with the laity, particularly the lower classes. This stance towards including the laity brought a fresh and dynamic aspect to the twelfth century.36 The friars continued engagement with world and its pastoral care made them accessible to the people, with their efforts against sin more widely heard. 37 This is further evident in the creation of the third orders, which allowed both men and women to live out a semi-monastic life without having to abandon their everyday lives.38 The preaching of the friars against sin is also an important factor as to why the friars were important to the Church. Jacques de Vitry, a contemporary Michael Robson, The Franciscans in the Middle Ages (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2006), p. 69. 32 C. H. Lawrence, The Friars: The Impact of the Early Mendicant Movements on Western Society (London: Longman, 1994), p. 14. 33 Herbert B. Workman, The Evolution of the Monastic Ideal: From the Earliest Times Down to the Coming of the Friars (London: The Epworth Press, 1927), p. 159. 34 Colmn Clabaigh, The Mendicant Friars in the Medieval Diocese of Clonfert, Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, 59 (2007), 25-36. 35 Margaret Deanelsy, A History of the Medieval Church 590-1500 (London: Routledge, 1969), p. 150. 36 C. H. Lawrence, The Friars: The Impact of the Early Mendicant Movements on Western Society (London: Longman, 1994), p. 14. 37 John A. F. Thompson, The Western Church in the Middle Ages (London: Arnold, 1998), p. 119. 38 Williston Walker, A History of the Christian Church (England: Forgotten Books, 2012), p. 236.
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Student Number: 24780731 chronicler, argued that the preaching of the friars played a vital role in the reinvigoration of the Church and its campaign against sin.39 Linking back to how the Church was not able to reach the urban populations affectively, the fact that the friars travelled to the very centre of the urban communities made them important to the Church.40 From early on the friars were identified as an order that travelled a great amount throughout Christendom.41 The friars were effective in identifying good preaching opportunities which led them to differing venues such as town squares, churchyards, parish churches and in later years urban churches that had been built by the friars.42 This is important when looking at how the friars worked against heresy, as heretical opinions flourished in part due to the way it worked within the dynamics of a town. It was through a train of merchants and free-lance preachers that these opinions travelled along arteries of commerce, finding their way into markets and inns.43 The secular clergy had been bound to the area of the parish, whereas the friars pastoral mandate was not restricted to one geographical area, which led to one contemporary to state that the whole earth was their cell and the ocean their cloister.44 However it is important to note that without the continual support of the papal letters, the order would not have been able to travel as widely as it had Michael Robson, The Franciscans in the Middle Ages (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2006), p. 50. 40 Michael Robson, A Ministry of Preachers and Confessors, in A History of Pastoral Care ed. G. R. Evans (Trowbridge: Cromwell Press, 2000), pp. 126-149 (p. 126). 41 David Jones, Friars Tales: Thirteenth-Century Exempla From the British Isles (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2011), p. 5. 42 Ibid. 43 C. H. Lawrence, The Friars: The Impact of the Early Mendicant Movements on Western Society (London: Longman, 1994), p. 3. 44 Michael Robson, A Ministry of Preachers and Confessors, in A History of Pastoral Care ed. G. R. Evans (Trowbridge: Cromwell Press, 2000), pp. 126-149 (p. 126).
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Student Number: 24780731 and still have been beneficial to the Church.45 Michael Robson argues that without the insight and strong support of Pope Innocent III, the way in which the two orders developed would not have been possible.46 Pope Honorius III and Pope Gregory IX continued to protect the orders with permissions and privileges.47 In regards to the close relations between the Papacy and the orders it is important to note that without the obedience of the orders they would be significantly less beneficial to the Church. The way in which the friars preached was also an important factor in what made the friars significant. When looking at early constitutions of the Dominican order it is clear that great importance was put upon preaching as a way to help with the salvation of souls.48 Their success amongst the laity is in part due to the fact that preachers of the order were supplied with theological training as well as being guided with how to deliver the sermons to an audience.49 Another aspect of the friars that aided the church in combatting sin was its use of the exempla. Essentially the exempla was a composition of moral anecdotes that were derived from popular tales in traditional folklore.50 When using the exempla

Michael Robson, The Franciscans in the Middle Ages (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2006), p. 69. 46 Michael Robson, A Ministry of Preachers and Confessors, in A History of Pastoral Care ed. G. R. Evans (Trowbridge: Cromwell Press, 2000), pp. 126-149 (p. 137). 47 Ibid. 48 David Jones, Friars Tales: Thirteenth-Century Exempla From the British Isles (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2011), p. 5. 49 Jens Rhrkasten, The Mendicant Houses of Medieval London: 1221-1539 (Great Britain: Lit Verlag, 2004), p. 451. 50 Jacques Le Goff, The Birth of Purgatory, trans. by Arthur Goldhammer (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983), p. 14.
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Student Number: 24780731 the friars were able to seize and retain the audience.51 According to Stephan of Bourbon, the exempla was the most affective way of driving home the truths of religionespecially to simple folk. 52 In contrast to what was offered by the clergy, these fresh, vivid narratives made the moral teachings within the sermon more palatable and more memorable.53 The friars also incorporated exempla not only into their sermons but also into their moral treatises, confessional handbooks and biblical commentaries.54 The production of such preaching aids existed centuries before the friars, however during the thirteenth century there was a revival of popular preaching in which the friars produced preaching aids on an almost industrial scale.55 When looking at the treatises it is clear that the friars aimed to improve understanding of preaching techniques, with detailed literature on confessions, virtues and vices.56 The Dominican tienne de Bourbons prologue, in his Treatise on various materials for preaching, states that his aim was to organise the material from educated men.57 Further collections of model sermons helped improve the quality of preaching that the laity received. The numerous preaching tours that the friars embarked on also ensured that the preaching aids were distributed throughout Christendom.58 In ensuring that the order contained theologically educated preachers, the friars were also developing a workforce competent

David Jones, Friars Tales: Thirteenth-Century Exempla From the British Isles (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2011), p. 6. 52 William A. Hinnebusch, The Early English Friars Preachers (Romae: Ad S. Sabinae, 1951), p. 300. 53 Ibid., p. 8. 54 Ibid., p. 7. 55 Ibid., p.5. 56 Ibid., p.6. 57 D. L. dAvray, The Preaching of the Friars: Sermons Diffused from Paris before 1300 (Oxford: Clarendon, 1985), p. 68. 58 David Jones, Friars Tales: Thirteenth-Century Exempla From the British Isles (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2011), p. 2.
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Student Number: 24780731 enough to debate against the heretics.59 As a result of the quality of pastoral care as well as the theological education provided, the friars were the chosen instruments by the papacy to combat heresy.60 It is evident that the Church saw the Friars as an important tool to use against the heretics when the Dominicans, or the Order of the Friars Preacher were given the roles of inquisitors. The friars offered the Church preachers who were the product of the urban society, who understood its language and mental habits.61 An example of this is the way in which the friars were able to take control of the waves of religious excitement that was frequent amongst the cities, even if they had not initiated it.62 This is evident during the Great Devotion, where the friars took control of the masses and preached.63 As well as this the friars were able to tailor their sermons to be group specific.64 The fact that the friars flocked to the universities towns is further evidence of their ability to adapt to the context and needs of the time as well as understand more productive ways to reach a wider audience. The preachers were there to learn and give lectures and the friar minors put their efforts into calling souls to christ.65 The speed at which the mendicants gained entry to the structure and workings of the universities is also

Michael Robson, The Franciscans in the Middle Ages (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2006), p. 48. 60 C. H. Lawrence, The Friars: The Impact of the Early Mendicant Movements on Western Society (London: Longman, 1994), p. 188. 61 Ibid., p. 102. 62 Ibid., p. 116. 63 Ibid., p. 117. 64 Jens Rhrkasten, The Mendicant Houses of Medieval London: 1221-1539 (Great Britain: Lit Verlag, 2004), p. 451. 65 David Knowles and Dimitri Obolensky, The Christian Centuries: A New History of the Catholic Church 2nd edn (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1969), p. 341.
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Student Number: 24780731 evidence of the fact that the orders themselves were well organised bodies of professional students.66 In conclusion the importance of the friars against sin and heresy lay with their ability to reach the laity and preach to them in a way that the Church had not been. Due to their accessibility and education, the friars sermons and moral teachings were available to the laymen of any class. With papal approval and the orders obedience to the Church, the friars were able to effectively travel throughout Christendom and preach in an educated manor, which was more suitable to the new urban class. As a result the friars strengthened the role of the Church amongst the lower levels of Christian society, which in turn combatted the drift towards heresy and sin.

Bert Roest, Franciscan Educational Perspectives: Reworking Monastic Traditions, in Medieval Monastic Education, ed. by George Ferzoco and Carolyn Muessig (London: Leicester University Press, 2000), pp.168-181 (p. 168).
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Student Number: 24780731 Bibliography dAvray, D. L.,The Preaching of the Friars: Sermons Diffused from Paris before 1300 (Oxford: Clarendon, 1985) Clabaigh, Colmn ., The Mendicant Friars in the Medieval Diocese of Clonfert, Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society, 59 (2007), 25-36 Deanelsy, Margaret, A History of the Medieval Church 590-1500 (London: Routledge, 1969) Hamilton, Bernard, Religion in the Medieval West (London: Edward Arnold, 1986) Hinnebusch, William A.,The Early English Friars Preachers (Romae: Ad S. Sabinae, 1951) Jones, David, Friars Tales: Thirteenth-Century Exempla From the British Isles (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2011) Knowles, David and Dimitri Obolensky, The Christian Centuries: A New History of the Catholic Church 2nd edn (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1969) Lawrence, C. H., The Friars: The Impact of the Early Mendicant Movements on Western Society (London: Longman, 1994) Lawrence, C. H., Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe In the Middle Ages (New York: Longman, 1984) Le Goff, Jacques, The Birth of Purgatory, trans. by Arthur Goldhammer (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983) Roest, Bert,Franciscan Educational Perspectives: Reworking Monastic Traditions, in Medieval Monastic Education, ed. by George Ferzoco and Carolyn Muessig (London: Leicester University Press, 2000) Robson, Michael, The Franciscans in the Middle Ages (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2006) Robson, Michael, A Ministry of Preachers and Confessors, in A History of Pastoral Care ed. G. R. Evans (Trowbridge: Cromwell Press, 2000) Rhrkasten, Jens, The Mendicant Houses of Medieval London: 1221-1539 (Great Britain: Lit Verlag, 2004) Thompson, John A. F., The Western Church in the Middle Ages (London: Arnold, 1998) Walker, Williston, A History of the Christian Church (England: Forgotten Books, 2012)

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Workman, Herbert B., The Evolution of the Monastic Ideal: From the Earliest Times Down to the Coming of the Friars (London: The Epworth Press, 1927)

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