Transcript Chapter 13.4

The Power of the Church
Essential Questions:
 Why did popes and political leaders (kings/Emperors)
often clash?
 How was the Catholic Church the stabilizing force in
Western Europe?
 What powers did popes wield over political leaders?
Q1. What institution became the most important
force in unifying European society?
 Answer: The Roman Catholic Church
 After the fall of the Western Roman Empire,
people looked to the Catholic Church to provide
stability out of the midst of chaos
 The Church provided not only spiritual
guidance, but churches and monasteries were
also the centers of commerce, politics and social
interaction
Q2 Why did popes and political
leaders often clash?
 Popes tried to influence the actions of kings;
and kings wanted to ability to appoint
favorable church officials (bishops/popes)
who would support them.
 This led to a struggle for power.
Q3 Describe the hierarchy of the
Church (top to bottom)
 Pope- The Bishop of Rome; considered the
spiritual head of the Roman Catholic Church
 Bishops- Would oversee the priests in a
city/surrounding area. Position often afforded
them great wealth through the collection of
church taxes
 Priests- Led services at local parishes (not wealthy)
 Laity- those people who attended church services;
the average man/woman
Q4 What nickname was given to
the Middle Ages?
 The Age of Faith
 People were bound together by their
common belief in God and Church
doctrines (teachings)
Q5 How did peasants cope with
their hard lives?
 Believed that by obeying God and his
representatives on earth (clergy) they
would earn the reward of salvation and
go to heaven
Q6 What is another name for
church law?
 Canon law
 It set the standards for the conduct of the people
and officials of the Church
 (Q7)To Whom did canon law apply?
 To all Christians, from kings down to peasants
Q8 What were two punishments used by
the pope if someone broke canon law?
 Excommunication
 Banishment from the church
 Could not receive the sacraments (baptism,
confession, communion, last rites, etc.)
 Ostracized by the community
 Would be doomed to hell
 Meant to be medicinal in order to compel the
person to repent (get back into line) and rejoin
the Church
Q8 Continued…
• Interdiction- a population would not get the
usual religious rites.
•
They weren’t banned from the Church like in
excommunication, but the populace would be
understandably in fear of their souls’ futures.
•
It put further political pressure on rulers to repent or
on a population to repent.
•
It was sometimes used just as a temporary punishment
rather than as a corrective measure.
Q10 What is lay investiture and how
was the issue of lay investiture solved?
 lay investiture- the secular authority
(king/emperor) asserting control over the
religious authority (pope), with the
emperor having the ability to appoint
church officials. Liked by kings, not by
popes.
 How was the issue solved?
 The Concordat of Worms
 Pope was given the power to appoint the
bishop, but the emperor/king had the right to
turn down any appointment he did not like
Q9 What did the alliance between Otto I
and the pope lead to the formation of?
 A: The Holy Roman Empire
 Origins seen during the rules of Clovis and
Charlemagne (remember, he was crowned
Emperor of the West by the pope)
 962 AD- 1802 AD: It was comprised mostly of
what is modern day Germany and Italy
 Remember though: it was neither Holy, nor
Roman, nor an Empire. It was mostly a
patchwork of feudal territories; but H.R.
Emperors saws themselves as protectors of the
Church
HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
The HRE in Reality
Q11 After 1200 AD, who held the
real power in the HRE (Germany)?
 Answer: The German nobility/barons, even
though emperors would try to reestablish their
power
 H.R. Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) was a
powerful ruler, but every time he left the country
to go fight, things would fall apart at home (he
liked to invade rich Italian cities). He drowned
in 1190 AD on his way to fight in a crusade.
 Continual conflict between the Germanic
territories was one reason why Germany never
unified like England and France did during this
time