Decline in the Mediaeval Church

The Renaissance

As well as the power struggles which racked the Church during the 14th and 15th centuries, the Church itself was going through a time of change and particularly of secularisation. A major influence in this was the Renaissance. The Renaissance was a rebirth of knowledge and science. It brought into focus a rationalistic way of looking at life. The Renaissance coincided with - if it did not cause - the rise of the middle classes. The merchant class with their new wealth chose to spend much of that wealth on education, art, literature rather than on the Church. The spread of the newly invented printing press did much to encourage this thirst for knowledge. It made possible the distribution of the Bible and other Christian literature and at the same time it enabled people to read critical literature which was often anti-church or, at least, anti-clerical.

The Effect of the Crusades

The Crusades also played their part in the decline of the Church. People who had previously hardly travelled 10 miles from their masters' property were now sent to strange and exotic lands far away from their native soil or, in the case of the English, far beyond its shores. People became aware that the whole world was not the same as their local village. Even the common person was in a position to know that the Church was not always right. Many of the Crusaders returned with a respect for the way of life, if not the religion, of their foes. This contributed to a decline in respect for the Church and especially for its hierarchy.

The Secularisation of the Clergy

Even at the highest level of the clergy, the Renaissance was having an effect by the latter part of the 15th century. The Popes themselves became great lovers of art and literature. Pope Nicholas V (1447 - 1455) founded the Vatican Library and spent a great deal of money both on this and on restoring classical buildings in Rome. Julius II (1503 - 1513) encouraged many artists including Michelangelo. It was under his patronage that Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Julius also started the building of St Peter's in Rome.

Leo X (1513 - 1521) continued the building of St Peter's and used Church revenues to fund this and other artistic projects. Indeed, it was his extravagance in these projects that led to a serious increase in the sale of indulgences in order to fund the building of St Peter's. It was the sale of these indulgences that sparked off the row that led to the Reformation.

The Reformers

With the corruption and secularisation of the Church and its clergy there came also many demands for reform. Whether from Francis of Assissi or Bernard of Clairvaux, from Peter Waldo, Wycliffe or Hus, from Savonarola or Thomas a Kempis, there were continual calls for a more spiritual Church. These all undermined the traditional supremacy of the pope and queried the way of life of so many Churchmen, making way for the Reformation - a spiritual revolution which was to change the face of the Church forever.