Background to the Great Schism: the Roman Catholic Church
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe the reasons for religious reform in the Roman Catholic Church during the 11th century and the impact it had.
Key learning points
- The Roman Catholic Church was led by the pope, who was based in Rome.
- There was a movement to reform the Church in the 11th century.
- Pope Leo IX was an important reforming pope.
- The reforms increased the authority and improved the perception of the Church.
- Pope Leo IX's reforms were continued by later popes.
Keywords
Church - the Church is the organisation of the Christian religion
Pope - the pope is the head of the Roman Catholic Church
Clergy - the clergy are the group of religious officials who are authorised to conduct religious ceremonies
Reform - to reform something means to change something with a view to making it better
Common misconception
Catholic priests have never been allowed to get married.
Catholic priests today are not allowed to get married, but in the past a great many were, even though it went against their rules. Some popes even had wives and children!
Teacher tip
For a starter, relate your school to the Church, with the Head as the pope, SLT as the cardinals, and so on. Ask students to consider how well the school would run if one or more of the different groups were removed in order to help them understand the importance of each group.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.In Western Europe the most important bishop was the pope, based in ---
Q2.The leaders of the eastern church were known as ...
Q3.In order to control the Western Church, the pope acted almost like a ...
Q4.By the 7th century Jerusalem, Alexandria and had been conquered by Muslims.
Q5.Whereas the Eastern Church used in its services, the Western Church used Latin.
Q6.What was the 'Great Schism'?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.The organisation of the Roman Catholic Church is best described as a ...
Q2.Starting with the most important, place the members of the Catholic Church in order of their importance.
Q3.Pope Leo IX wanted to the Roman Catholic Church.
Q4.What was simony?
Q5.With which group of people did Leo come into conflict with in southern Italy?
Q6.Some women who had been married to clergy lost in society.
To help you plan your 7 history lesson on: Background to the Great Schism: the Roman Catholic Church, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 7 history lesson on: Background to the Great Schism: the Roman Catholic Church, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 history lessons from the The Christian Church: how completely did the Great Schism transform Christendom? unit, dive into the full secondary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.