[Sidenote: The right spirit in which to regard the Mediaeval Church.]
But whatever imperfections may have clung to the Visible Church in the Middle Ages, whether owing to external hindrances, or to the human frailties of her members, we have no right to doubt that she was still the one great instrument in God's Hands for the salvation of souls. Neither should we dwell so exclusively on what is often an exaggerated estimate of the extent and duration of these blemishes, as to ignore the zeal and self-devotion which grudged neither expense nor labour in the service of God and the adornment of His House and Worship, the charity which truly "cared for the poor," the faith and holiness which shone forth in the public and private lives of such men as St. Ferdinand of Spain, St. Louis of France, and Rudolf of Hapsburg, Emperor of Germany, and were, doubtless, not wanting in the case of countless numbers of their fellow-Christians, whose names, little known and soon forgotten on earth, are for ever written in God's Book of Remembrance.
[1] Especially the Cluniacs, founded by Berno, Abbot of Clugny, A.D. 910, and the Cistercians, founded by Robert of Citeaux, A.D. 1098, and rendered illustrious by St. Bernard, afterwards Abbot of Clairvaux (A.D. 1113-A.D. 1153).
[2] The order of Franciscan Friars was founded by St. Francis of Assisi, A.D. 1207, and that of the Dominicans by St. Dominic of Castile, A.D. 1215. They were originally intended to supplement the real or supposed defects of the Clergy and the regular orders, and to aid in the suppression of heresy.
[3] See "Key to the Prayer Book," pp. 1-8.
[5] The practice of communion in one kind made its way very slowly, especially in England, where it was perhaps never universal. A decree of the Council of Constance in A.D. 1415 gave its first authoritative sanction.
The Mediaeval History of Continental Churches
[Sidenote: No Mediaeval Church history in Asia or Africa.]
Before proceeding to the consideration of the different European Churches in Mediaeval times, it may be well to remark that from the year 500 the Christian history of Asia and Africa is almost a blank. Arianism, partly imported into Africa by the Vandals, who crossed thither from Spain, and partly of native growth, as well as the opposite error, Eutychianism, took from the African Church all spiritual life and vigour, so that the apostasy of Mahomet met with no formidable obstacles when in the seventh century it swept like a flood over what had been Christian Africa. It is true that the Copts in Egypt and the native Christians of Abyssinia appear to have preserved the Apostolic Succession, but both these Churches are in a state of great depression, and the Faith they profess is mingled with much ignorance and superstition, as well as with positive error.