Transcript 13.4 The Church Wields Power - mrs

The Church Wields Power
Chapter 13 section 4
Pg. 332
Because of weak governments in feudal
Europe, Church becomes a powerful
institution
 Church starts expanding its role in
politics
 Rulers start to question the pope’s
authority

Two Swords
Pope Gelasius I knew problems would arise
between the Church and state
 Suggested an analogy to solve conflicts: God

created 2 symbolic swords, the pope held
the spiritual one, and the emperor held the
political one
Pope should bow to emperor in political affairs,
and the emperor should bow to pope in spiritual
affairs
 This way, 2 leaders can share power in harmony

Church Structure
The Church created its own organization
system
 Structure was made up of different ranks
of clergy (religious officials)
 Pope headed the church in Rome, had
authority over all clergy
 Bishops supervised the priests, who were
the lowest rank, but were the main
contact with the church

Feudalism system caused divisions among
people
 But shared beliefs in church was bonded people
together
 During a time of constant warfare and political
chaos, the Church gave Christians something to
believe in and sense of security
 Middle Ages in Europe also known as the Age of
Faith

Sacraments
Priests and clergy
administered
sacraments
 These were important
religious ceremonies
(baptism,
confirmation, etc)
 Without the necessary
sacraments,
Christians believed
they would not enter
heaven

Church Justice



The Church created a
system of justice to guide
people’s conduct
All Christians-kings and
peasants- were subject to
cannon law (law of the
Church)
Crimes that were tried by
the church included
adultery, blasphemy,
slander, heresy (opposition
to official religious views),
money lending, and
gambling.
Excommunication
Courts were set up to try people accused
of breaking the law
 The 2 harshest punishments were
excommunication and interdict
 Popes used the threat of excommunication
(banned from church) to use power over
rulers
 A disobedient king’s argument with the
pope might result in excommunication

Excommunication meant the king’s vassals
were free of all duties and obligations to
him
 The king would also be denied salvation

Interdict
If the excommunicated king continued to
disobey the pope, an even bigger consequence
could happen
 Under an interdict, sacraments and religious
ceremonies couldn’t be performed in king’s land
 King’s subjects believed they would go to hell
without sacraments
 A king would possibly be overthrown if faced
with an interdict

Holy Roman Empire
After death of
Charlemagne, the
Holy Roman Empire
was the strongest
kingdom left
 The Holy Roman
Empire was located in
the region of presentday Germany

Otto I






The most effective ruler of Germany was
Otto I, known as Otto the Great, who was
crowned king in 936
He copied the policies of Charlemagne
formed a close alliance with the church
Received help from the Church to reduce
noble power
He dominated the church in Germany
Used his power to defeat uncontrollable
princes in Germany





Otto also invaded Italy on the pope’s behalf
The pope reworded Otto by crowning him
emperor
This empire was first called the Roman Empire
of the German Nation
Later became known as Holy Roman Empire
Remained the strongest state in Europe until
1100
Resentment
Italian nobles resented German rule
 Popes soon came to fear the political
power the German emperors held over
Italy

Holy Roman Emperor Clashes with
Pope
The Church began to resent the control
that kings like Otto used over clergy
 Mainly upset with lay investiture- a
ceremony where kings and nobles
appointed church officials
 This meant kings could choose bishops
 Church reformers felt bishops should not
be under the power of the king

Oh No, He Didn’t!
In 1075, pope Gregory VII banned lay
investiture
 Henry IV, the young German emperor
called a meeting of bishops (that HE had
appointed) and sent a letter to the pope
calling him a “false monk-not a pope” and
ordered the pope to step down
 Pope Gregory fired back and
excommunicated Henry

The German princes and bishops felt
obligated to side with the pope
 Determined to avoid an interdict, and to
save his throne, Henry tried to win the
pope’s forgiveness
 In January 1077, King Henry traveled over
the snowy Alps to the Italian castle the
pope was visiting in Canossa, Italy

King Henry begged, bare feet in the snow,
covered in wool, at the castle wall for 3 days
 Finally the pope agreed to end his
excommunication in one of the most dramatic
meetings of the Middle Ages
 The meeting really accomplished nothingHenry rushed home to punish the nobles who
betrayed him
 But the pope was satisfied that he had
humiliated the proudest ruler in Europe

The Walk to Canossa
Lay Investiture Solution
Successors still fought over lay investiture
until 1122
 That year representatives met in Worms,
Germany
 Decided the Church alone could grant the
bishop his ring of staff, but the emperor
had veto power to prevent the
appointment of the bishop

By 1152, the German
princes who elect
kings realize they
need a strong ruler to
keep peace
 Choose Fredrick I, his
red beard earned him
the nickname,
Barbarossa
 He was the first ruler
to call his lands Holy
Roman Empire

Frederick I
Dominated German princes with his strong
personality
 Strong military skills kept empire in order,
but whenever he left the country, disorder
returned
 He focused on invading rich cities in Italy
instead of building royal power in
Germany

Frederick’s brutal tactics scare
merchants and they unite against him
 He also angers the pope, causing the
pope to join merchants and creating an
enemy alliance known as the Lombard
League

Battle of Lagnano
In 1176, foot soldiers of the Lombard
League battle Frederick’s well trained
knights at the Battle of Lagnano
 In an astonishing victory, these foot
soldiers used crossbows to defeat feudal
knights for the first time in history

Battle of Lagnano
The End of Barbarossa
In 1177, Frederick made peace with the
pope and returned to Germany
 Due to the defeat, he lost the respect of
German princes, whose power was
increasing
 On his way to fight in the crusades in
1190, Frederick drowned
 After he died, his empire dissolved into
smaller feudal states

German States Remain Separate
German kings continued their attempts to
revive Charlemagne’s empire and his
alliance with the Church
 This leads to wars with Italian cities and
more clashes with the pope
 These conflicts are some reasons why
Germany didn’t unify during the Middle
Ages

England and France Gain Strength
The system of German princes electing
the king weakens royal authority
 German rulers were controlling less land
than English and French kings, who were
gaining more central authority
 Feudalism in France and England spurred
the rise of powerful leaders who would
create long lasting nations
