Showing posts with label 12th Century. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 12th Century. Show all posts

Sunday, June 28, 2020

Basilica of Saint-Denis


We just learned about the Notre-Dame de Paris.

Another part of early Christianity is the building of the Basilica of Saint-Denis, built in 1144 AD in France.

One of the church leaders in France named Abbot Suger was upset that the churches were not big enough to handle all of the people coming to worship, and he also believed that having a beautiful church filled with light and color was a way to show worship to God.

The church that he had people make was the first one that was later called "Gothic" style.
This type of building had 5 special things that made it gothic:

Pointed Arches - The ceilings, windows or roofs would have an arch shape that was pointy at the top.

Ribbed Vaults - The tall hallways in the churches had large supporting beams going back and forth along the ceiling that looked kind of like ribs.

Flying Buttresses - The outside supports that helped hold the building up are called buttresses. For these buildings, they had long buttresses that stuck way out from the church, so they called them flying buttresses.

Tracery - The windows or doors used stone or metal to make shapes.

Stained Glass Windows - Glass that was colored and then framed into windows for artwork and light.


(from: wikipedia - basilica of saint-denis)



(from: wikipedia - basilica of saint-denis)



(from: wikipedia - flying buttress)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Holy Tunic

Sunday, June 21, 2020

Notre-Dame de Paris


We just learned about the Decretum Gratiani.

Another part of early Christianity is the cathedral Notre-Dame de Paris.

In 1160 AD in Paris, the leader of the church there was Maurice de Sully.
He thought that they should build a really big nice church in a style called "Gothic style", and dedicate it to Jesus' mother Mary.

The cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris became very famous in Paris, and it was made even more famous later in 1831 when someone wrote a story about a hunchback who rang the bells in the tower.


(from: wikipedia - notre-dame de paris)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Holy Nails

Sunday, June 14, 2020

Decretum Gratiani


We just learned about the Teutonic Order.

Another part of early Christianity is the Decretum Gratiani.

We've learned before that "Biblical Canon" means the things that are approved or agreed by the church.
And the word comes from the Greek word "κανών" which means rule or measuring stick.

Through the years many people were arguing about which writings about Jesus were real and which were fake.
They also argued about what all of the real and true writings meant, and what was the best way to live your life.

Like was it ok to make paintings of Jesus or famous people from church history?
How should people be baptized, and how should churches be built?
These decisions and a lot more rules had been made in the time over a thousand years since Jesus was born.

Around 1150 AD, a man named Gratian decided to try and put together all of the different rules and laws that the Catholic church had written down.

He put them into what he called the "Decretum Gratiani" which means "The Decree of Gratian".
People believe this to be the first real law book that listed all of the laws for how to live.

He listed them out in a very organized way, so that later on if someone was talking about a certain law of the church, they could talk about "Decretum c. 1. d. XI". Instead of writing out over and over what the law said, they could just basically say "Go look it up in the law book, at this spot."
This book of law put together by Gratian was the first part of what would become the Canon Law used by the church to rule if someone was guilty of breaking a church law or not.


(from: wikipedia - decretum gratiani)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: True Cross

Sunday, June 7, 2020

Teutonic Order


We just learned about the Knights Templar.

Another military group in the Catholic church was the Teutonic Order, also called the Order of the Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem.

Just like the Knights Hospitaller and the Knights Templar, these were soldiers who wore armor and worked for the church.

The job of the Teutonic Order was mostly to protect Christians that were traveling to the Holy Land of Jerusalem, and to also help set up some hospitals.

This group is actually still around but the people are not soldiers anymore, they are just a group of people who try to do good things for the world.


(from: wikipedia - teutonic order)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Church of Holy Sepulchre

Sunday, May 31, 2020

Knights Templar


We just learned about the Knights Hospitaller.

Another part of early Christianity is the Knights Templar.

Just like the Knights Hospitaller, this was a group of people who fought battles for the church, usually for the Crusades.
They were known for the outfits they wore with a white background and a red cross on it.
Part of the meaning of the red cross was that they would go to war and kill people in the name of God, and he would reward them in heaven.

Some of the people in the Knights Templar did not fight battles, they were more like farmers or bankers.
Because a lot of people knew about them, people would give them money to help fight the Crusades that people thought were good.
With this money they built a lot of buildings and churches across all of Europe.

Later on one of the kings of France did not like the knights, so he said a lot of bad things about them, had many of them killed, and later on the church decided the knights should either quit or join the Knights Hospitaller and there would be no more Templars.


(from: wikipedia - knights templar)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Saint Catherine's Monastery

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Knights Hospitaller


We just learned about the Third Crusade.

Another part of early Christianity is the Knights Hospitaller, also called the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, the Knights of Malta, or the Order of Saint John.

During the Crusades, the Catholic church started making groups of people to fight battles for them.
The first one they started was in Jerusalem, and then moved to Rhodes, then Malta and later on Saint Petersburg Russia.



(from: wikipedia - knights hospitaller)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Church of Pater Noster