Benedict noted, “All who arrive as guests are to be wel-
comed like Christ.” Monks and nuns also took care of
the sick, planting herb gardens so that they could pre-
pare the plant remedies used in medieval medicine and
also running hospitals, especially for poor people who
could not receive care elsewhere. Unlike modern-day
hospitals, medieval hospitals were primarily residences
for the elderly, the terminally ill, or the blind. Separate
quarters were provided for lepers. There were about
two thousand leper houses in France in the thirteenth
century, a good indication of the widespread nature of
the disease.Popular Religion in the High Middle
Ages
We have witnessed the actions of popes, bishops, and
monks. But what of ordinary clergy and laypeople?
What were their religious hopes and fears? What were
their spiritual aspirations?
The sacraments of the Catholic Church ensured that
the church was an integral part of people’s lives, from
birth to death. There were (and still are) seven sacra-
ments, administered only by the clergy. Sacraments—
such as baptism and the Eucharist (the Lord’s
Supper)—were viewed as outward symbols of an inward
grace (grace was God’s freely given gift that enabled
humans to be saved) and were considered imperative for
a Christian’s salvation. Therefore, the clergy were seen
to have a key role in the attainment of salvation.Other church practices were also important to ordi-
nary people. Saints, it was believed, were men and
women who, through their holiness, had achieved a
special position in heaven, enabling them to act as
intercessors before God. The saints’ ability to protect
poor souls enabled them to take on great importance
at the popular level. Jesus’s apostles were recognized
throughout Europe as saints, but there were also
numerous local saints who had special significance.
New cults developed rapidly, particularly in the intense
religious atmosphere of the eleventh and twelfth centu-
ries. The English introduced Saint Nicholas, the patron
saint of children, who remains instantly recognizable
today through his identification with Santa Claus.
Of all the saints, the Virgin Mary, the mother of
Jesus, occupied the foremost position in the High Mid-
dle Ages. Mary was viewed as the most important me-
diator with her son Jesus, the judge of all sinners.
Moreover, from the eleventh century on, a fascination
with Mary as Jesus’s human mother became more evi-
dent. A sign of Mary’s importance was the growing
number of churches all over Europe in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries that were dedicated to her, includ-
ing the cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris.
Emphasis on the role of the saints was closely tied
to the use of relics, which also increased noticeably in
the High Middle Ages.Relicswere usually the bones of
saints or objects intimately connected to saints that
were considered worthy of veneration by the faithful.
A twelfth-century English monk began his descriptionA Group of Nuns.Although still
viewed by the medieval church as
inferior to men, women were as
susceptible to the spiritual fervor of
the twelfth century as men, and
female monasticism grew
accordingly. This manuscript
illustration shows at the left a group
of nuns welcoming a novice
(dressed in white) to their order. At
the right, a nun receives a sick
person on a stretcher for the
order’s hospital care.ª
Musee de l’Assistance Publique, Hopitaux de Paris//Archives Charmet/
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