Apr 19, 2021
The High Middle Ages had taught that Christians were involved in an exalted but highly complex, hierarchically-organized pilgrimage to God. Obstacles to completion of that pilgrimage came from all segments of Christendom. Dr. Rao explains that the Second Council of Lyon in the late 1200s was designed to tackle all of...
Apr 19, 2021
One obstacle to the organized pilgrimage to God was, Dr. John Rao argues, failure to recognize papal guidance of the line of march. Opposition came from the Eastern Churches, led by the restored Byzantine Emperors and the Patriarchs of Constantinople, as well as from Holy Roman Emperors, Kings, and many bishops in...
Apr 19, 2021
Another obstacle to the thirteenth century pilgrimage to God was, Dr. John Rao indicates, intellectual disunity, something that the university "think tanks" were supposed to overcome. Supporters and opponents of Aristotle battled one another ferociously. Differing interpretations of Aristotle clashed. Many...
Apr 19, 2021
Holy Roman Emperors like Frederick II, the Kings of France and England, and even some noblemen saw themselves as having religious responsibilities in the political realm. When this was combined together with an exaggerated love for pagan Roman Law and Aristotle, it could lead to the idea that religion and the Church had...
Apr 19, 2021
Philip the Fair of France and his pagan-minded legal advisors were the chief examples of the problem that could develop by the late 1200s. They began to use the prestige of the monarchy of St. Louis to demand a complete and proto-totalitarian control over all aspects of religious and social life. Pope Boniface VIII...