The Power of the Church

Europe Word Bank

 Ukraine  Ireland  Estonia  Switzerland  Iceland  Sweden  Portugal  Slovakia  Spain Belarus Italy Germany France Turkey Norway Greece UK Russia Austria Netherlands Belgium Latvia Poland Czech Republic Denmark Lithuania Finland

Feudal Europe

 Weak central governments and powerful Church  Result: Tensions between popes and emperors

Middle Ages

 AKA AGE OF FAITH

So, Who Does What???

 Pope Gelasius I theory  The Pope should bow to the emperor in political matters  The emperor should bow to the pope in spiritual matters.

Structure of The Church

 Pope is supreme authority 

Clergy

(religious officials) includes bishops and priests  Bishops supervise priests, settle Church disputes  Priests —main contact with people

Religion Unifies

 Feudalism and manor system created divisions, but Church bonds people  Village church is place of worship and celebration  Clergy administers sacraments (rites to achieve salvation)

Baptism —Another Sacrament

Superstitions

 Preparing a table with three knives  Believing that a person could change into the shape of a wolf  Believing that the croak of a raven or meeting a priest would bring a person good or bad luck

How to Live

 Canon law —Church law  Governs marriages and religious practices  Clergy, nobles, kings, and everyone else subject to canon law  Courts to try people accused of violations

Pope Power!!

 Excommunication -banishment from Church, denial of salvation  Interdict  king’s subjects denied sacraments and services

The Church and the Holy Roman Empire  Otto I Allies with the Church  King of Germany in 936  Limits strength of nobles  Gains support of clergy  Invades Italy on pope’s behalf and pope crowns him emperor in 962  Holy Roman Empire

Voltaire’s Interesting Idea

 The 18 th century French philosopher Voltaire once wrote that the Holy Roman Empire “is neither holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire.” What might Voltaire have meant by this?

 It was neither controlled by the pope nor ruled from Rome, and it wasn’t large or cohesive enough to be an empire.

Problems at the Top

 Lay Investiture —kings appointing Church officials (especially bishops)  Emperor Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII  1075 Pope Gregory VII banned lay investiture  Henry IV (German emperor)-calls Gregory a false monk and orders him to resign

Problems at the Top

 Gregory VII excommunicates Henry  German bishops and princes side with the pope  Henry IV begs for forgiveness  Pope Gregory VII forgives Henry in 1077, but lay investiture problem is not solved  1122 Concordat of Worms — pope chooses bishops, but the emperor can veto person selected

Hmmm…

 Why were the pope and the emperor willing to accept the terms of the Concordat or Worms?

 Each felt he had gained some power.

More Conflicts

 The Reign of Frederick I (“Barbarosa”)  In 1152, elected king by 7 German princes  First to officially call his empire the “Holy Roman Empire”

Frederick I

 Invades the rich cities of Italy which angers the Pope  Frederick’s enemies (merchants and Pope) form an alliance called the Lombard League  Frederick I is defeated because the League has crossbows.

 Empire collapses after Frederick’s death in 1190 (drowning)

German States Remain Separate

 German kings after Frederick try to revive empire  German princes, who elect kings, prefer to keep them weak  German rulers not as powerful as English and French kings.