Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Note and acknowledgements
- Maps
- 1 Introduction: did Central Europe exist in the Middle Ages?
- 2 The history of the region and the question of origins
- 3 The formation of polities and Christianization
- 4 Political life and government, c. 1050–c. 1200
- 5 Society and the economy, eleventh–twelfth centuries
- 6 Ecclesiastical history, eleventh–thirteenth centuries
- 7 New developments of the thirteenth century
- Select bibliography
- Index
- References
6 - Ecclesiastical history, eleventh–thirteenth centuries
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Note and acknowledgements
- Maps
- 1 Introduction: did Central Europe exist in the Middle Ages?
- 2 The history of the region and the question of origins
- 3 The formation of polities and Christianization
- 4 Political life and government, c. 1050–c. 1200
- 5 Society and the economy, eleventh–twelfth centuries
- 6 Ecclesiastical history, eleventh–thirteenth centuries
- 7 New developments of the thirteenth century
- Select bibliography
- Index
- References
Summary
While Byzantine influence played a role, especially in Bohemia and Hungary, it was the Latin Church which mainly came to define ecclesiastical life. Ecclesiastical institutions developed, albeit at varying rates, in all three polities. By the thirteenth century, adoption and adaptation from western Europe were complemented by local ecclesiastical initiatives.
CATHOLIC (LATIN) AND ORTHODOX (GREEK) CHRISTIANITY
While the newly Christianized lands became part of Latin Christendom, Byzantine influences were not negligible in Bohemia and Hungary and reached Poland in the early period, although such influences were fading at the latest by the thirteenth century.
Still open for debate is the extent to which the Great Moravian Slavonic legacy persisted within the Bohemian Church, for evidence is scarce. The first Bohemian church, founded in Levý Hradec, was dedicated to St Clement. Later, other churches in ducal strongholds shared this dedication. This indicates that Clement’s cult remained significant during the tenth and eleventh centuries; it is even claimed that his relics were once brought from the Black Sea area by St Constantine/Cyril and St Methodius. We also find evidence for the use of Slavonic script, although no proof for the use of double liturgy.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Central Europe in the High Middle AgesBohemia, Hungary and Poland, c.900–c.1300, pp. 315 - 407Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2013