Transcript The Decline of Church Power

The Decline of
Church Power
The Role of the Church in the
Middle Ages

Only 1 Christian Church: The Catholic Church
+

Church has its own laws, land (1/3 of all the land in
Western Europe), and taxes
+

People who disagreed with church law or criticized the
church were called heretics and were severely punished
=
The Catholic Church is a very powerful institution!

In the centuries after the
fall of Rome, the Church
carved out a unique
position in Western
Europe.

It not only controlled the
spiritual life of Christians
but gradually became
the most powerful secular
force in medieval Europe.
middle-ages.org.uk
During the Middle Ages, the
pope was the spiritual
leader of the Roman
Catholic Church. As
representative of Christ on
Earth, medieval popes
eventually claimed papal
supremacy over all secular
rulers.

What does this mean in
your own words?
stsmarthaandmary.org
The medieval Christian Church was
dedicated to the worship of God. The
only way to avoid the tortures of hell was
to believe in Christ and participate in the
sacraments. Because the medieval
Church administered the sacraments, it
had absolute power in religious matters.
english.cam.ac.uk
Church officials were closely linked to
secular rulers. Because churchmen were
often the only educated people, they
were often appointed to high
government positions –
giving the church even
more power.
forum.paradoxplaza.com
Seeing a need for reform, in 1703
Pope Gregory VII, a former monk,
outlawed marriage for priests and
prohibited simony, the selling of
Church positions. He insisted that
the Church, not kings or nobles,
choose Church officials.
medievalfamilyck.blogspot.com
In the early 1200s, Francis of Assisi and
Dominic took it upon themselves to
change the church as well. They set up
orders of friars, monks who did not live in
isolated monasteries but traveled
around Europe’s growing towns
preaching to the poor.
conservation.catholic.org
Francis of Assisi set up the Franciscan
Order, preaching poverty, humility, and
love of God. Soon after, Dominic set up
the Dominican Order. Its chief goal was
to combat heresy, the denial of basic
Church beliefs.
freerepublic.com
THE INQUISITION

The Church created their own solution to deal with
heretics: The Inquisition

A court designed to find and try heretics

Dominican monks served as examiners of people suspected of
heresy

The church utilized public penance, physical punishments,
torture, and even execution

Shortly after the Inquisition is founded, the Church’s power
declined…
King Philip IV

Pope Boniface VIII
Claims he has the right to
tax the clergy.


Philip rejects the pope,
sends French forces to
Italy to bring him in for
trial. Boniface escapes,
but dies shortly after.
Boniface says Philip
cannot do this without
pope’s consent, since the
pope is supreme over
both Church & state.

Philip IV engineered the election of a
Frenchman, Clement V, as the new pope.
Clement resides in Avignon, France, rather
than Rome.
 From
1305 to 1377, the popes continued to reside in
Avignon
 The
pope is the bishop of Rome, and the city was
the traditional capital of the church  the pope’s
residency in France led to an increase in antipapal
sentiment.
The Great Schism 
2 popes as head of 1 church

Papacy returned to Rome in 1377 with Gregory XI

Italian/English cardinals elect Pope Urban VI - Rome

French cardinals elect Pope Clement VII – Avignon
IMPACT OF THE GREAT SCHISM

Divided Europe

Damaged Christians’ faith in the Church and the papacy

Despite being resolved in 1417, the Church lost much of
its power and prestige