missions and missionaries, Christian 495were for directed to anyone or any group seeking to build
a well-governed state or lead an ethical life in government.
See alsoPOLITICAL THEORY AND TREATISES.
Further reading:Christine de Pisan, The Book of the
Body Politic,ed. and trans. Kate Langdon Forhan (Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994); Gervase of
Tilbury, Otia imperialia: Recreation for an Emperor,ed. and
trans. S. E. Banks and J. W. Binns (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 2002); Charles F. Briggs, Giles of Rome’sDe regimine
principum: Reading and Writing Politics at Court and Uni-
versity, c. 1275–c. 1525(Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1999); Judith Ferster, Fictions of Advice: The Litera-
ture and Politics of Counsel in Late Medieval England
(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996).
missal The missal was the main liturgical book for the
celebration of the MASS. From the 11th century the
missal progressively replaced the SACRAMENTARY, which
had been the essential book for the celebration of the
Eucharist. The missal was created to make all the texts
available in one book. The liturgy had concentrated litur-
gical action in the hands of a clerical celebrant. Such a
celebrant was to recite all the words of Mass, even if they
were also being performed by others in attendance. The
sacramentary, the antiphonary of the mass lectionary or
readings, were collected to form a single book for the cel-
ebration of the Mass. It contained all the texts for feasts,
PRAYERS, readings, and the beginnings or incipitsof the
sung sections. In other words the missal included all the
material necessary for the celebration of the Eucharist, so
that priests could celebrate the Mass alone and correctly.
See alsoLITURGICAL BOOKS.
Further reading:Éric Palazzo, “Missal,” EMA,2.961;
Richard W. Pfaff, Medieval Latin Liturgy: A Select
Bibliography (Toronto: University of Toronto Press,
1982), 18–25.
missi dominici These were agents charged with con-
trolling officials in a local administration and were first
used by MEROVINGIANS. The kings delegated these
temporary controllers with defined political or legal
missions. The practice was not permanent and did not
apply to the whole kingdom. The CAROLINGIANmonarchs
rediscovered the missi dominiciand again made them part
of their much more efficient system of government.
CHARLEMAGNEin the late eighth century, along with
an imposition of a general OATHof loyalty, made these
envoys a regular and permanent means of his control. In
789 a CAPITULARY charged the missi or envoys for
AQUITAINEwith obtaining an oath of loyalty to the king
and his successors. They were, moreover, to find out
whether the capitularies or laws were being applied by
asking a particular set of questions. Those sent on such
missions were to number at least two, sometimes four or
five. They would include a bishop or abbot, a layman,
and always a high noble, with their powers temporary for
a defined region. They were sent outside their home areas
of authority and filed reports when they returned. In the
ninth century they became even more fundamental to
Carolingian government.
See alsoCHARLESI THEBALD; LOUISI THEPIOUS.
Further reading:H. R. Loyn and John Percival, The
Reign of Charlemagne(London: Edward Arnold, 1975);
Heinrich Fichtenau, The Carolingian Empire: The Age of
Charlemagne, trans. Peter Munz (1957; reprint, New
York: Harper & Row, 1964); Rosamond McKitterick, The
Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians, 751–987(Lon-
don: Longman, 1983); James Westfall Thompson, The
Decline of the “Missi Dominici” in Frankish Gaul
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1903).missions and missionaries, Christian Propagating
faith to call all humankind to attain heaven through
belief was a fundamental notion of Christianity and ISLAM
during the Middle Ages. Muslims were much less aggres-
sive in trying to convince people to convert, allowing the
virtues and qualities of Islam to speak for themselves.
Judaism was not interested in missionizing. However,
Christianity sent out emissaries to convert the heathen,
Muslims, and Jews.
Christianity, soon after it became a state church,
started the spread of the gospel among pagans at the
periphery of the Christianized world. This became an
object of a conscious policy of the church. The first suc-
cessful mission was that organized by Pope GREGORYI
the Great at the end of the sixth century to convert the
peoples of Anglo-Saxon England and was led by AUGUS-
TINEof Canterbury. CHARLEMAGNEpursued a similar pol-
icy to convert his pagan Germanic neighbors, but he did
not hesitate to impose baptism by force on the conquered
SAXONSbetween 770 and 800.
From the 10th to the 12th century, missionary efforts
were directed to the SLAVS, Hungarians, and Scandina-
vians. The BYZANTINEEMPIREpushed the spread of Chris-
tianity with diplomatic pressures on the Slavic peoples of
eastern and central Europe. By such efforts, it drew the
BULGARS, Rus ́, and SERBSinto the Orthodox world.
In the 13th century, missionary activity, both warlike
and peaceful, occurred in the Baltic countries of LIVONIA,
PRUSSIA, and FINLAND. The last pagans in the region, the
LITHUANIANS, were only converted in the late 14th cen-
tury as part of a political marriage and agreement with
POLAND. Moreover, in the 13th century the new MENDI-
CANT ORDERStried to spread the Christian faith among
the Muslims and peoples of Central Asia. The friars stud-
ied Arabic and the ideas of Islam and tried in vain to
make headway against Islam. The overthrow of the Mon-
gol dynasty and the establishment of the Ottomans in
Anatolia made missionary activity to the east more diffi-
cult during the final centuries of the Middle Ages. By the