Sens 1141 - Background

November 7th & 9th

This week, we jump ahead sixty or so years after the events at Canossa, to see new developments in Church authority and the development of Christian learning. The foundations laid during the Investiture Controversy led to a long term centralization of the Latin Church around the power of the bishop of Rome – a power that increasingly was supported by a bureaucracy (curia) seeking to unify ideas of Christian belief. A part of this centralization and standardization of the Church was influence over new concentrations of scholars and students at the cathedral schools that would later develop into the first universities of Europe.

Goals

• to discern the major events and currents preceding and following the Council of Sens

• to learn about the major characters present at the Council of Sens

• to understand the historical significance of the council of Sens

Read/Watch/Listen

Verbaal, Wim. “The Council of Sens Reconsidered: Masters, Monks, or Judges?” Church history 74, no. 3 (2005): 460–493. (On Perusall)

Mews, Constant J. “The Council of Sens (1141): Abelard, Bernard, and the Fear of Social Upheaval.” Speculum 77, no. 2 (2002): 342–382. (On Perusall)

Do

• sign up for a team for the game development project

• You will need to use your Google account to first request editing privileges for the following Game Design Document. Sign-ins will allow us to track work completed by each individual.