Christians: 4 -- Faith and Fear

Examines the dichotomy of medieval life as great art treasures and a strong religious philosophy coexisted with poverty, ignorance, and fear. Presents such examples as extravagantly wealthy feudal and cathedral architecture versus abject peasant poverty; communal expressions of faith demonstrated by building ornate Gothic cathedrals as opposed to singular expressions of faith through pilgrimages; the status afforded shrines housing important holy relics and the unscrupulous methods often employed to obtain them. Directs attention also to other contradictory aspects of medieval religion and philosophy: the need for undergoing penance to avoid the devil, and the purchase of indulgences for the remission of sins; the religious materialism juxtaposed with the natural poverty and simplicity philosophized by the Franciscans; and spiritual obsession with the afterlife due to daily contact with sickness and squalor. Presents works of art, architecture, jeweled caskets housing relics, and tapestries inspired during the medieval era.