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CHURCH HISTORY OVERVIEW

THE CHURCH IN THE MIDDLE AGES - 12th CENTURY

Thomas Becket (1118-1170) was appointed as the Archdeacon of Canterbury in 1154 about ten years before he was apparently converted to Christ. His conversion later caught King Henry II off guard who made him the archbishop of Canterbury in 1162, because he had served the king well as the Royal Chancellor from 1154, but then publicly opposed many of the royal excesses. This led him into exile in 1164 to France. He returned to England in 1170 where he was soon murdered in Canterbury Cathedral. The Pope venerated him as a saint in 1173.

Perhaps the most famous leader of the Medieval Church was Francis of Assisi (1181-1228). It's very difficult to find anything bad to say about him. He was the son of a rich Italian noble. He commenced his career in the military but was captured by the enemy. He was given up due to illness. A terrifying dream prevented him from re-entering the military. He sought peace. In 1205 he went on a pilgrimage to Rome where he claims to have heard Christ.

He forsook wealth and worldly pleasure and dedicated his early life to helping the poor and sick. While attending a worship service in 1208 he heard the words of Matthew 10:7-19, which he received as his own call. He commenced preaching the Kingdom of God. Others soon gathered to help. He named these workers "brothers" or friars in Latin.

In 1223 he relinquished the leadership of this order. In some respects, Francis marks the beginning of the Church's reformation and the impending end of the Medieval period. In the dark days of the 12th century, there was Francis of Assisi in his brown woollen robe with a rope belt. An ex-soldier and playboy, he had a vision of Christ "with eyes fixed on him in tender love" that utterly freed him from his pleasure-mad ways and made him a radiant apostle of love.

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