An Increase in Eucharistic Devotion - Essay Example

An increase in Eucharistic devotion contributed to a narrowing of medieval society The development of the medieval society in Europe came about mainly because of the crumbling influence of the Roman Empire over European society. As a result, during this period, there was almost a complete stagnation in the development of the society as it took on a more feudal aspect, where individuals no longer looked beyond the lives which they lived, believing that it was God’s will that they continue living as they did. The lack of social mobility in the medieval period meant that ideas could not be transmitted from one class to another, and this helped in the maintenance of the status quo. As a result of such circumstances, where individuals in the society were content with their lot, most of the population of medieval Europe could neither read nor does write, leaving these to the higher rank of the priesthood. In addition, this period saw the growth of the power of the Church, where almost all of the activities of the Christians in the whole of Western Europe was dictated from Rome, thus solidifying the authority of the Church hierarchy.1 Therefore, the Church established the doctrine, which was followed by medieval Europe, and this more often than not was developed in the Church’s favour, since it worked towards the promotion of its power. While these situations often worked in favour of the church, they had the negative impact of ensuring that there was little development of independent thought within the populace, meaning that the society became narrowed. Among the major causes of the narrowing of medieval society was the practice, instituted by the Church, of Eucharistic devotion, which was a requirement for all of those people who professed the Christian faith during this period. The practice of Eucharistic devotion was a church tradition, which was based in the exhibition of the Blessed Sacrament by a priest so that it could be adored by the faithful. The adoration of the sacrament was considered a sign of the devotion that individuals felt towards Jesus Christ as their saviour. The faithful believed that Christ was present in the form of the consecrated altar bread and their adoration of it meant that they were opening their hearts to receive him. Furthermore, the faithful in medieval Europe, through their devotion to the sacrament, were able to meditate by looking directly at it, adding to the belief that they were participating in the continuation of the Eucharist. The Eucharistic devotion was considered to be a form of the worship of Christ as the saviour, which involved his being present in the Blessed Sacrament. There has developed the argument in recent years that the practice of Eucharistic devotion may have been among the factors that led to the narrowing of medieval society, so that it was not able to move beyond its status at the time to further advancement.2 Because of the common belief in the Eucharist, the medieval society was not able to see the abuses, which the church and the feudal hierarchy committed against them, and how dreary their lives really were. It deprived them of independent thought, mainly because of the fact that it was the same priests, who handled the Blessed Sacrament that they adored, that also taught them how to live their lives. The blind belief that the people of medieval society had in the church as well as the Eucharist meant that they were slow in the development in independent thought, resulting in its narrowing down and eventual stagnation. Eucharistic devotion during the medieval period can be said to have been a means through which the church could not only maintain its moral, but also its political authority over the society. This devotion was so well founded in the church doctrine as well as the myths related to it that medieval society followed it blindly.3 As a result, there was the narrowing of the society as the people living within it completely accepted what they were told by the church without raising any challenge or opposition towards it. Eucharistic devotion was a uniting factor of the disparate groups of people and cultures that made up medieval society, and since it was conducted in Latin, which was the lingua franca of the church, all of the faithful were united in communion. This union, however, also meant that their society would remain the same, because new ideas such as the participation of the masses in government as well as the abolition of the feudal structure were discouraged.4 In addition, because most individuals within the society did not have and education and could not read or write, they slavishly devoted themselves to the Eucharist, without first confirming whether this practice was based on any teachings from the scriptures. The maintenance of the status quo in medieval society was based on the observance of common religious observances such as the Eucharist and this was the norm until the beginning of the protestant reformation. Education in medieval Europe, especially among those outside the higher nobility and clergy was discouraged because it meant that there would be a challenge to the church doctrine of the Eucharistic devotion, thus its authority. While, in the modern world, it would be unthinkable not to be able to read or write or to have access to books, this was not the case in the medieval society. The practice of a common doctrine meant that medieval society had a common perspective on education; that it was not necessary except for the clergy.5 This resulted in the lack of access to mass education in the medieval period, so that the populace could neither read nor write. This deficiency of literacy in medieval society meant that people had no access to books, were and still are the most credible source of academic information for centuries, and without books, thus they did not know their own history as well as the origins of the religious doctrines that they practiced. There was no means of teaching individuals in this society to understand the orderly unfolding of arguments, which is a critical part of education. There was no realization among the populace that the study of arguments is only possible through books and because of the development of a lack of interest in arguing for or against church practices such as Eucharistic devotion, slowly but surely, the medieval society ended up without a culture of analysing their environment.6 This can clearly be seen when most of the people of this society often chose to concentrate on attaining martial prowess and working the land to having intellectual discussions. The power of Eucharistic devotion had become so great that many of the people in medieval society did not have the will, or the inclination, to live a different sort of life. Because of the immense focus of Eucharistic devotion, many in medieval society were not aware of what was happening in their world, instead concentrating on their religious devotions and local situations. In fact, individuals did not seem to show any more interest in the religious and social politics of their societies despite the fact that these were supposed to be among the most important occurrences in their lives. Their obsession with the celebrating the Eucharist and the belief that it would help them attain salvation ensured the damage of their intellectual ability hence leading to a stagnation of their development.7 The amount of time that people in the medieval society spent on Eucharistic devotions among other religious observances was most detrimental to their mental development because it made them become less creative. It can be said that individuals increasingly concentrated so much on their Eucharistic devotions that they ended up not paying too much attention to their social development. There was no shift in the way of thinking as well as the perception of the world during this period, since the church reigned supreme and its authority was beyond reproach. Without focus, these people were not able to develop the skills necessary to develop and improve themselves so that they could thrive. Instead, they ended up becoming too involved in their religious observances without the guidance and patience that would have helped them become more developed than the Roman Empire, which had preceded them. It is a fact that Europe during the medieval period was almost completely dominated by the Church, with the pope practically being the emperor of Western Europe since all the monarchs within it owed their allegiance to him.8 Through various ecclesiastical declarations, the church was able to build its power over secular authorities by giving itself the right to intervene in the internal affairs of the various feudal European states. The governments of Europe before the Reformation were characterized by high political instability due to the power and influence exercised by the Church over the medieval political system, which prevented the formation of stronger and more capable central governments.9 The Church domination in the affairs of the medieval governments was brought about by the desire to protect its interests, which were not only centred in the spiritual lives of the faithful, but also in the secular realm, since it was among the largest landowners in Europe. Consequently, many people in the medieval society found themselves caught between the Church, which had gained a lot of influence as a spiritual as well as a temporal power, and the nobility, which propagated the feudal system that kept the peasants tied to the land. The writings from the church dominated medieval period seem to show that the society was extremely conservative about the many aspects of life. Medieval society was true to its age, being greatly devoted to the doctrines of the church and looking forward to salvation more than anything else is. While some individuals during this age were known, from time to time, to deviate from what the norm was concerning religious beliefs in their societies, these instanced remained very few. Many scholars of the medieval period, despite being great devotees of the Eucharist, displayed a characteristic, which was particularly common among the writers of that age; they were liberal to a certain extent and their opinions were openly stated.10 However, when it came to doing something about changing their societies so that they would conform to their liberal views, they took no action. It can, therefore, be said that although medieval scholars in their works, showed several instances of being liberal concerning certain aspects of their societies, they remained remarkably conservative in their actions. There was a continued advocating for a male dominated society as well as subservience of the people in the society to the church. In conclusion, it can be said that the Eucharistic devotion was one of the most sacred events in the medieval world, and as one of the mainstays of western Christendom, was among the most observed spiritual obligations. The Eucharistic devotion was practiced throughout the medieval period and because of this; it came to have a political, economic, and social impact on those people who are involved in it. While this event was one that was based on religion, it tended to have some serious political and social impacts on medieval society since it encouraged the subservience of the population towards the Church. Despite the fact that individuals in the medieval society were greatly devoted to their religion, they did not set out to speculate concerning the type of government in which they could live. The society seemed to be content with the type of government that it had, not even considering an alternative where there would be representation for all strata of the society. Instead, the people of this age concentrated on matters concerning their salvation; thinking mainly of the relationship between humankind and God, thus celebrating the Eucharist. Matters concerning other aspects of social development were secondary and this ensured that the people of the medieval society remained in a state which was characterized by little development, with the society being worse off than in previous ages. Bibliography Abdi, Kamyar. "War and Society in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds: Asia, the Mediterranean, Europe, and Mesoamerica." Comparative Studies in Society and History 44.1 (2002): 207-8. Becker, C. H. "Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Medieval World." Choice 46.6 (2009): 1060, 1060, 1062. Bossy, J. 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