Essay Medieval Europe - Papal Reformation

Pope Innocent III began a sequence of changes that influenced the face of secular and ecclesiastical Europe through careful use of law and political manipulation. It has been remarked that the papacy acquired and retained the most power under the leadership of Pope Innocent III during the late 12th and early 13th centuries. I plan to examine sources primarily pertaining to the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 and secondly to a collection of Innocent III’s papal letters. In my analysis, I hope to draw a correlation between Innocent III's actions and these actions influence on medieval society and why this period is considered to be the height of papal power since its inception.

The Catholic Church is the oldest major religion in the Western world. Littered with peace, love, and humility, along with violence, turmoil, and controversy this institution has seen, heard, led, and had influence over the majority of everything and everybody that there was in the last two millennia. This has included ordinary people, Kings, Queens, Generals, Nobleman, Royalty, and everything in between, and has endured since the beginning of the modern era, Anno Domini. They great spiritual and monetary machine created a powerful reign over the entire world’s Catholics, and remains so to this day. For the purpose of background for my visit to a Catholic Church, being Presbyterian, I did historical research before I visited. I

Alongside the Black Death, a diminishing view of the Church’s performance contributed heavily to the disappearance of medieval society. As early as 1324, Marsilius wrote in his Defensor Pacis, “the truths of the holy Scripture… which explicitly command or counsel that neither the Roman bishop called pope nor any other bishop or priest… ought to have any rulership… over any ruler, community, group, or individual…” He informs the reader that Christ in fact did not come to the material world to rule over men, and even excused himself and his religious seats of power from coercive authority. Moreover, Marsilius goes on to question if all this is true, then why does the pope have so much power. This question led to many others, including Petrach,

Sometime in the late 1100s to the early 1200s, the church’s fought for and rose to a higher power. Pope Innocent III was responsible for the new church law, called the canons, and church reform that was established during this time. Pope Innocent III’s time as the pope was really the main turning point for the powers that the church had. This is evident in the canons that were established and written by him and a council of the estimated over 1000 church officials of different titles, during his time as pope. The canons are a clear representation of some of the exertion of new found powers that the church had. The canons show how the rules and laws of religious related things were passed on in a delegation from nobles and kings to church officials.

Religion in general was controversial during the Late Medieval Ages in Europe. During this time the Catholic Church faced one of its biggest problems, the Western Schism. The Western Schism lasted from 1378 to 1417 as the validity of the prestigious Papacy was at stake because a rift within the Catholic Church developed, a rift that politics had created. While Pope Innocent III created the rift in the church by putting a mission of political dominance before the spiritual mission of the church, the rift began to grow during the reign of Urban IV(Kagan). Urban IV created the Rota Romana to deal with the Catholic Church’s legal procedure and under his reign, clerical taxation became a staple within the church. With an increasing amount of economic revenue, a central bureaucracy and legal authority, the Catholic Church was becoming more and more of a political entity, rather than the religious institution it was before. This trend continued with the election of Pope Boniface VIII. Boniface VIII was more of a politician than a holy man and his papal reign saw the power of the Catholic Church diminish(Kagan). The first major dilemma that he faced was when

Finally, the last concept that is crucial to the change in Europe during 14th century Europe is the Great Schism. The Great Schism represented a division between the church due to 3 individuals each claiming papacy and accusing the others of heresy. There were significant reforms that occurred in the church due to this event. Initially, to solve the of having multiple popes an agreement was made at the Council of Constance to practice conciliarism. However, this concept was ultimately undermined by Pope Martin. The major result of the Great Schism was the growth of national churches. Before the Great Schism, the pope had more power over the rulers and their domains. However, after the Great Schism, Popes were forced to surrender their power

It is important to understand the reformation and mechanism of religion in the making of European history. As Christianity was expanding a hierarchy was established around 312 to 540 B.C.E in the church with male bishops as the powerful leaders of the church. Over time the bishops took over some of the emperor’s rule and eventually bishops went against one another, outranking each other. The bishop or Rome eventually became the church’s supreme leader and gave himself the title of pope, the head of the Roman Catholic Church. The same concept that occurred in the earlier centuries was now seen amongst popes in the eleventh century. The church wanted a separation between secular powers and the pope but the movement was subtle and did not create

In the hundred years that had passed in between the Council of Constance and the one he was summoned to at Worms, there had been an effective “failure to enact a decree on indulgences” Luther thought of the Council of Constance as a “conference of devils presided over by the Antichrist.” The indulgence market itself had lasted for so long because Rome always needed money for the building of churches and the maintenance of a lavish clerical lifestyle. Rome would “sell offices to ambitious civilians, pardons to criminals, and marriage dispensations for couples.” In a time of heavy superstition and little enlightenment, it was especially the poor who would buy these indulgences. The Church promised a better afterlife for a price; “he who bought an indulgence from the Church simply bought his way out of punishment, here or hereafter for his sins.” This monetary system within the Church changed the position of the pope, from being a religious figure to one with power among the European monarchy. It was during this time that popes would “immerse themselves in politics and refashioned themselves as Italian princes concerned with the aggrandisement of the Papal States.” This would explain the relationship that popes began to have with members of the Holy Roman Empire. Members such as Elector Frederick of Saxony would “frequently deal with the popes as fellow rulers rather than spiritual leaders,” and as a result, Luther would

The Avignon cardinals did the same when Pope Clement died, when they elected Benedict XIII. Trying to find a solution the University of Paris suggested that the two Popes should resign with judgment by a summoning of a general council. Pope Boniface IX died and another Roman Pope was elected, Innocent VII, and after him Gregory XII, both who promised to resign simultaneously with the French Pope but they never went through with it. Eventually cardinals from both Rome and Avignon abandoned their Popes and agreed to summon a great council to end the schism On March 28, 1409. Neither Pope showed up at this council meeting where they were both deposed as Pope on Jane 5, 1409. The cardinals of the council elected a new Pope, named Alexander and after his death John XXIII, which didn’t work because both Rome and Avignon Pope would officially step down from their

Dictatus Papae, inserted in the pope’s official Register in 1075, can be considered the most important document involved in the lay investiture controversy. The document outlines 27 statements of power under the Catholic Church, and it is the first time that a document grants the pope power to depose an Emperor. The document most likely written, or influenced, by Pope Gregory VII came in wake of the lay investiture controversy between the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII. Lay investiture is when lay, or worldly, kings and emperors invests in bishops, appointing them to bishops of the area in which they rule. It was extremely common for the bishops that were chosen to also be the Emperor’s vassal as well. In return the bishop would encourage and help the Emperor’s rule over their territory. There had hardly been any push back from the papacy in regards to this practice (Jordan p. 85-87). The bishops would take the sides of the emperors because most owe them for giving them their position. The height of the controversy started when a monk named Hildebrand, who believed strongly in reforming the papacy and the church, was swept into office. Hildebrand would take on the name Gregory becoming Pope Gregory VII. Gregory would first forbid married priests to perform sacraments in December 1074, then two months later, he prohibited lay investiture (Jordan p. 91). Henry IV and most of the German bishops would denounce these papal decrees declaring that since the

During the medieval period, debates over the pope’s power created significant tension between the Papacy and Europe’s kings. These tensions manifested themselves in the Investiture Crisis of the late-11th and early-12th centuries, a quarrel between Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII over the appointment of bishops. This controversy came to a head when Henry used his army to force Gregory VII out of Rome to install his anti-Pope Clement III. While the Concordat of Worms resolved the crisis, the impacts of the Investiture Crisis continued to affect the Papacy. One of the Investiture Crisis’ most notably facets was its demonstration of how the Papacy could not prevent ambitious kings from trying to infringe on Papal power. Despite

In Western Europe during the early 16th century, there was one church, the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church has a hierarchical system which is headed by the pope and subsequently the cardinals, bishops, and priests respectively; the pope being seen as infallible as God himself. This was, however, not the case because the pope is after all, human. Often times, popes and cardinals lived as kings rather than spiritual leaders. Simony and nepotism were also major problems among the clergy. Indulgences that insured quick passage to heaven were also sold by church leaders. Some popes commanded armies and waged war. The corruption of the Church was well known, and several attempts at reform had been made before, but none of these efforts

As time constantly presses forward and the earth continues to revolve, the world will never stop progressing and adapting to better suit the needs of mankind. The evolution of religion has greatly enhanced the quality of life for humanity by providing individuals with a strong belief system that is now the foundation of many peoples’ core values. One universal religion that has undergone extensive amounts of reform is Christianity. In particular, the Catholic church is well-known for the development of their famous ecumenical council meetings that help determine the future of the church. Numerous Councils have been conducted throughout the course of history, but none more significant than the most recent, the Second Vatican Council or Vatican II. The Catholic church was operating as if it was still the medieval period and desperately needed to be modernized. Consequently, the following will reveal the Second Vatican Council and the ramifications of the agenda, history and theology evolution, significant texts, and new developments.

Second, the Church was a noteworthy political power amid this time. Lords and rulers needed and desired papal permission, especially when they were considerably powerless. This, in addition to other things, permitted the Church to practice political force, as it could figure out who would be considered satisfactory to

The Papacy is the office of the Pope. The word pope comes from the Latin form of the word “Papa” which means father. The office of the Pope or rather the papacy is responsible for a wide variety of things. Specifically the Papacy’s main responsibility is the spiritual well being of the members of the Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church rose to power in the 6th century and lasted throughout the 9th century. There were several different circumstantial and also coincidental factors that contributed to the high regard of the church by the 6th century. The beginning was the church’s unsolicited popularity. This could be linked to its relationship with the early apostles. The Roman Church was the first in the empire