The Papacy

What was the position of the medieval papacy in theory?
1. Christian tradition
  1. 5 great centres of ecclesiastical power on earth
    1. Rome
2. Medieval popes saw themselves as the world’s foremost spiritual power and so were entitled to absolute control over the Latin Church of Europe
What was the position of the medieval papacy in reality?
1. The pope struggled to manage the spiritual affairs of central Italy, let alone all western Christendom
  1. For centuries, the papal office was mired in localised interests and abuse
    1. any attempts to break free faced massive obstacles
2. wielding absolute ecclesiastical power was unrealistic as the dividing line between the Church and the temporal world of kings, lords and knights was troublesome
  1. Kings believed they were empowered by divine mandate and so felt responsible for caring for or even governing the Church.
  2. the Latin Church was in disarray and any attempts to control it were being made by kings, not the pope
How did things change from the mid-11th century?
1. A ‘Reform Movement’ emerged
  1. Papal empowerment
  2. Clerical purification
2. Successes
  1. Established a rigorous new process for electing popes
  2. Launched public attacks on vices e.g. clerical marriage, buying and selling ecclesiastical office

Resource summary

	Created by jemma08 almost 12 years ago