General Reference
Inquisition, The
The persecution of so-called heretics had unfortunate results. It brutalized the people and destroyed some of the great figures in the Church. It also alienated many Catholics and caused economic loss from the destruction of property and enforced emigration.
Establishment of universities
Though the universities held to accepted philosophy and theology, some of them became centers of progressive thought. Out of the universities came all the great reformers and progressive leaders including John Wycliffe at Oxford, Martin Luther at Wittenberg, John Calvin at Geneva, and John and Charles Wesley at Oxford.
Rise of the Schoolmen
Clergy who became Schoolmen were suspected by the Church of heresy, yet they were only trying to understand the Christian teachings that had been handed down from the ancient Church and to justify it by their reason. Even Thomas Aquinas did not escape the charge of introducing dangerous doctrines, though he became the accepted master of Catholic theology. They did not intend to overstep the bounds of authority, but they mark the beginning of the modern tendency toward critical thought directed toward even the most sacred themes of the Christian tradition.
Crusades, The
The introduction of feudalism into Palestine resulted in the organization of military orders of knighthood of a semimonastic sort. To the Hospitalers, or Knights of St. John, which had been organized earlier, were added the Templars, who had a house near the site of the Temple in Jerusalem, and the Teutonic Knights, who later distinguished themselves in a crusade against the pagan Prussians of northeastern Europe. Out of such knightly orders sprang chivalry, the flower of feudalism in Europe.
Investiture controversy
Once absolved the emperor hurried home, raised an army and marched on Rome. The pope was aided by the Normans but the contest proved disastrous for Gregory and he died in exile. The quarrel continued until Henry V of Germany compromised with Pope Calixtus II in 1122 and the investiture controversy was settled for a time.