Papacy

Papacy

1. Origins -- Rome was the capital of the Empire so after the Empires fall, the pope was the only power left. It was where Peter and Paul were martyred. Gelasius I, 492-6, formulated the 'Two Swords Doctrine'

2. 6th CENTURY-BYZANTINE PAPACY -- This is a period of papal eclipse, expect for Gregory the Great and his promotion of Benedictine monasticism. With Rome in disappear and the conquer of the Byzantine empire by Islam, the papacy turned to France for protection against the Lombards. King Pippin and his son, Charlemagne defeated the Lombards and gave the conquered land to the papacy, thus beginning the papal states. In 800 Charlemagne in crowned Holy Roman Emperor, causing the papacy and emperor to be intertwined.

3. 14th C

   • He clashed with King Edward I of England and Philip the Fair of France over the taxation of clergy. In 1296, Boniface issued Clericis Laicos, which restated the legal position of the taxation of clergy. He also stated that the kings and any clergy who paid the tax would be excommunicated. The French agreed to royal taxation. In 1301, Philip breached canon law again by arresting a bishop. Under canon law all clergy were under the jurisdiction of the pope. As customary, he appealed to the Pope, but Philip refused to recognise the popes jurisdiction. An infuriated Boniface released unam sanctum. In which he reiterated the Two Swords Doctrine and stated that that not only do the monarchs of Europe derive their authority directly from the pope and to defy the pope was to defy God himself. In response, Philip released fraudulent pamphlets and he sent Knights to kill the pope, but the locals revolted. This showed that monarchs could successful deify the pope
   • The Avignon Papacy-- Philip was instrumental in securing the election of Clement V, a Frenchman, to the papacy in 1305. This was an unpopular outcome in Rome, and the instability of the city caused the papacy to move to Avignon in 1309. This move, by a French pope, with the majority of French cardinals to French territory, damaged the Papacy’s reputation of fairness, along with angering any French enemies. After the move, the papacy did not give up the papal states in Italy, Papal bureaucracy expanded (further settling in Avignon) and pious chs from all over Christendom were concerned with the popes abandonment of the tomb of St Peter. Its reputation as a fair and reforming body had gone, the papacy itself needed reforming
   • The Great Schism 1378-1417
     • Avignon was corrupt & could only be reformed by moving back to Rome. Urban V attempted this in 1367 but failed. Gregory XI relocated in 1377 & his death in '78, Italy revolted & demanded an Italian pope in Rome. Urban VI was elected but he was an ardent reformer & publicly criticised the corruption at Avignon. Non-Italian Cardinals withdrew their support, declared his election null & void & relocated to Avignon, declaring Clement VII as pope. Urban VI refused to acknowledge this & from 1378-1409 Christendom had 2 popes. In 1409, all cardinals withdrew their support & the Council of Pisa was called. Both were deposed and Alexander V was elected. Both popes ignored this & there was now 3 popes. Sigismund, the HRE, persuaded the Pisian pope, John XXII to call the Council of Constance 1414-18. All 3 popes were deposed & Martin V was elected, ending the schism. This allowed Christendom to see a ÷ church, decline in papal reputation. Monarchs powers grew, matching the p

4. 11th Century Reforms

   • The power struggle between Gregory VII and Henry IV, over who had the right appoint senior clerics and simony led to the Investiture Controversy. In 1075, Gregory VII issued Dictatus Papae, and he drew on the Two Swords Doctrine to argue that the Pope alone had universal authority and so alone, had the authority to appoint and dismiss senior churchmen. Henry reacted by withdrawing his support from Gregory VII, In response Gregory excommunicated Henry IV. This led to a rebellion from Henry's enemies and in 1077 Henry went as a pilgrim to Gregory's residence in Canossa where he begged for forgiveness.
   • In 1122, The Concordat of Worms between Pope Calixtus II and Henry V ended the 50 year matter of lay investiture in a compromise. The king agreed not to invest churchmen with the symbols of their offices and he permitted canonical election. Also, in Germany the king had to be present at the election of bishops and abbots, but the electors were technically free. This meant that Bishops now have two lords In the regions of the kingdom of Burgundy and north and central Italy, Henry V agreed that the bishops were to be elected canonically and within six months were to be invested with their temporal rights and properties by the king. In England and France, similar agreements had been made in the first decade of the 12th C and the lay rulers power in the church had been limited.
   • CONSEQUENCE OF REFORM This reform posed the question of who was to control the church and secular society? Laity shifting their favour towards the spiritual not secular. They realised that the papacy and clergy were bodies of Christendom, which transcended politics and the pope was acknowledged as the head of Christendom. However on issues which affected the political and economic interests of lay rulers, compromise was the rule. Kings were forced to relax their iron grip on high church appointments but not to give up a major role in such appointments. The attack on lay control of parish churches and tithes at the local level failed because the lower nobility wouldn’t give up control because they needed the income

5. 12th/13th Century- The papacy at its height

   • Characteristcs
     • CANON LAW- law of the church. Important because it regulated all aspects of church life and was the key to the enhanced power of the papacy. In the 12th C, canon law needed clarification. Gratian was successful in doing this in his work Decretum, and this became the standard compilation of law. Canon law grew through papal decretals, which was classified as the second element of canon law, which were eventually complied into the Corpus iuris canonici (The Body of Canon law).
     • DEVELOPMENT OF THE CURIA (central bureaucracy of the pope) This was run by the cardinals and had a high level of expertise because all members were highly educated. This system gave the papacy great power, even to the point that there were complaints that the pope had become a creature of the bureaucracy.
     • PAPAL PLENITUDE The pope was under no other authority than that of Gods. All power within the church derived from the Pope, and with the Two Swords Doctrine, so does Royal power
     • PAPAL STATES In Italy they were expanded, largely through warfare. This created an increasingly large tax base for the papacy and so was no longer as reliant on outside sources of income
     • PAPAL PROVISIONS When litigants weren't willing to accept their verdict, they would appeal their case to the pope. Because of the 11th c reforms to make 'elections in accordance with the canons' & eliminate the influence of powerful laymen. The governance of elections to make them just became complicated & elections were, intentionally and unintentionally violated. By the 12th C, the papacy was receiving so many appeals that it had to appoint judges delegate on its behalf. The papacy’s authority was exercised through the legeates and could be felt all over Christendom. The papacy had the right to dismiss one or all candidates and replace them with one of his own.
       • In the early MA, bishops had control over their dioceses, but as the MA progressed, the papacy gained more control. An example of this is benefices. These were elected positions who were traditionally appointed by bishops, abbots and lay patrons. When someone wanted a position but did not have strong ties to those in charge of 'providing' the role, they petitioned to the pope. In 12th C, the popes response to these were to request benefices but by the 13th C, the commanded that their nominees be given the role. In 1265, Clement IV declared that if a role became vacant whilst the predecessor was at the papal court, then the pope had the right to fill it. Over the next 50 years these categories grew until the popes were providing the all the benefices of Christendom. However, there were careful rules which were followed e.g. proof of age and education were required. By the 14th C, most positions owed their appointment to pope in some way
   • church council -- The 12th and 13th C saw an influx of councils. As the papacy grew, the pope became the source of power and this power stripped diocesan and provincial councils of their power. The greatest rivalry to a popes power was a general council. The Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 called by Innocent III was arguably one of the most influential in the MA. It issued concerns with heresy, forbade the establishment of new religious orders and proclaimed papal primacy. The types of councils were under the control of the pope. He summoned
   • Papal problems
     • 5. the plenitude of power, because as people began to recognise the papacy needed reforming, there was no way to go about it, because you needed a self reforming pope. And no pope was willing to tackle the structures of the papacy itself.
     • 4. During the 13th C, the papacy kept intervening in politics. Innocent III intervened in political disagreements in Europe but generally as a neutral observer trying to bring about peace. However his successors, kept getting embroiled in power struggles with the emperor. They would try to use their papal authority to bring the rest of Europe behind them in their political battles. They continually got involved in expensive and dangerous diplomatic games, in order to stop Italian powers becoming too powerful. This began to bring the papacy in to disrepute
     • 3. The Curia: the cardinals themselves were powerful and were responsible for electing new popes, and they would either continually contest with the pope over control and power, or more often they fought amongst themselves as mass vendettas of Italian politics
     • 2. Finances: This was the papacy’s greatest long term weakness and the papacy, although it was not poor, was continually in debt. The papacy needed money to support construction and wars The papacy's main income was through taxation. By canon law they were the only body allowed to tax clergy. (introduced a crusaders tax in 1199 Innocent III set this as 2.5% and in 1228 Gregory IX levied this at 10% ). They also had an income from monastery (Cluny) and kingdoms who were under papal protection (England paid Peter's Pence)
     • 1. The centralisation of the church in the early MA benefited the church, but there was nothing to stop this from going too far. For instance, due to the appeals to the pope, it took the role away from the bishop