That other time the Church hit rock bottom: the "Saeculum Obscurum"

Part 1 in our exploration of the early medieval spiritual "renaissance"

Jean Paul Laurens, “Pope Formosus and Stephen VI,” 1870. My favourite depiction of the so-called “Cadaver Synod”.

Darkest before the dawn

What is the worst period in the history of the Church that you know about? When was it most faithless, most corrupt, most entangled with secular, moneyed interests, most obsessed with politics, most sexually filthy, most disdainful of the Divine Law?

I know what you’re tempted to say.

Let’s be honest: more and more of us are looking around and starting to wonder if there’s any way forward for the Church at all, so clamped in the claw of Neo-Modernism has it been for most of our lifetimes, and so close to total collapse does it now seem. I hear from people regularly that they feel either personally or collectively on the edge of some precipice, having no idea how to carry on in the face of titanic historic forces totally beyond their control. We all know people who have already jumped off, into Orthodoxy or sedevacantism or outright agnosticism.

I know how annoying pep-talks are, so I’m not going to do that. But I would like to introduce an idea from history, a path through the dark woods toward a light that might seem like just a flicker, as if it’s barely-there, but leads down a path the Church took once before, to a golden age.

There was a time comparable to our own; near total collapse of every aspect of the institution. What was the “saeculum obscurum” and how did it turn out? When were the real “dark ages” and how did it happen?

In today’s post for paid subscribers, we’re going start talking about the great flowering of the western Church of the early and high Middle Ages, the time Church historians still unironically call a golden age. But it didn’t start out well.

This will be the first in a multi-part series.

At first I wanted to dive right into the “12th Century Renaissance” and all its friends and relations - great stuff like the Three Mystics of Helfta, St. Hildegard, St. Bruno and the founding of the Carthusian order, the Cluniac reform of the Benedictines and the foundation of the Cistercians. But I didn’t think it would make the impact it needed to, to look at a golden age, before we took a good look at what went before.

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NB: This post deals with some themes suitable only for adults and mature young people

I know many readers use this material to supplement their homeschool work, but I’d advise caution. The infamous Saeculum Obscurum or the “pornocracy” of the 9th and 10th centuries were times of rampant immorality among the clergy, so talking about it with younger students will require some delicacy and discernment. (Don’t worry, there’s a happy ending coming.)

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At the Sacred Images Project we talk about Christian life, thought, history and culture through the lens of the first 1200 years of sacred art. The publication is supported by subscriptions, so apart from plugging my shop, there is no advertising or pop-ups. It’s my full time job, but it’s still not bringing a full time income, so I can’t yet provide all the things I want to and am planning for.

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I’ve been restocking the online shop with some of the printed items for this year’s Sacred Images Project Christmas market. Like this little Sienese Gothic angel tree ornament:

People tell me all the time - and I’ve found this myself - how difficult it can be to find really nice religious cards and decorations for Christmas. So I’m focusing this year on cards and tree ornaments that will bring some medieval imagery into your holidays.

Enjoy a browse:

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