What was the position of the
medieval papacy in theory?
Christian tradition
5 great centres of
ecclesiastical power on
earth
Rome
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?
The pope struggled to manage
the spiritual affairs of central
Italy, let alone all western
Christendom
For centuries, the papal
office was mired in
localised interests and
abuse
any attempts to break free
faced massive obstacles
wielding absolute ecclesiastical power
was unrealistic as the dividing line
between the
Church and the temporal world of kings,
lords and knights was troublesome
Kings believed they were
empowered by divine mandate and
so felt responsible for caring for or
even governing the Church.
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?
A ‘Reform Movement’ emerged
Papal empowerment
Clerical purification
Successes
Established a rigorous new
process for electing popes
Launched public attacks on vices e.g. clerical
marriage, buying and selling ecclesiastical office