Bellwork
Why do you think the Church had so much
power in medieval Europe?
World History
Middle Ages pt. 1
The Authority of the Church
Objectives
• Describe the extent of power by the church
in medieval Europe.
• Identify role the Church took in medieval
Europe, such as handling certain laws.
• Describe the relationship between the Holy
Roman Empire and other authority figures.
• Identify the region that made up the Holy
Roman Empire
The Church
• While weak central
governments took over
in feudal Europe, the
Church emerged as a
powerful institution.
• It shaped the lives of
all people and united
them together under a
single belief system.
The Church
• In crowning Charlemagne in 800 A.D., the
Church sought to influence both spiritual
and political matters.
• Some Pope’s prior to this had hoped for
such a union between church and state.
– However, clashes erupted between the two
throughout Europe’s history as both the Church
and various European governments competed
for power.
The Church
• Like the feudal system,
the Church
established it’s own
organization.
• The distribution of
power was based on
status.
• Church structure
consisted of different
ranks of clergy–
religious officials.
The Church
• At the top of the Church was the Pope.
– All clergy fell under his authority.
• Below the pope was the bishops, who
supervised priests, the lowest ranking
members of the clergy.
– Bishops also settled disputes over Church
teachings and religious practices.
– For most people, however, it was their local
priest who served as their main contact with the
church.
The Church
• Feudalism and the manor
system separated people
from one another.
• However, shared beliefs in
the Church united people.
– In a time of warfare and
turmoil, the Church was a
stable institution for
people.
– The Church gave Christians
with a sense of security and
a religious community.
The Church
• While the Church was important to early
Christians, their everyday lives were still harsh.
• However, regardless of their lives, all people
followed the same path to “salvation”–
everlasting life in heaven.
• People were even able to enjoy certain
holidays– Christmas and Easter– and become a
part of their community through the Church.
Church Justice
• The scope of the
Church’s authority was
both religious and
political.
• The Church provided a
unifying set of
spiritual beliefs and
rituals and even
created a system of
justice to guide
people’s conduct.
Church Justice
• All medieval Christians– no matter their
social class– were subject to canon law or
the law of the church.
• The Church also established courts to try
people who were accused of violating canon
law.
– Two of the most serious punishments were
excommunication and interdict.
Church Justice
• Excommunication was
the banishment from
the Church.
• For example, if a king
opposed the Pope, he
could be
excommunicated.
• A king, in this instance,
would fear their
salvation and would lose
power over their vassals.
Church Justice
• However, if a king continued to be
disobedient, a pope could threaten him
with the interdict.
• An interdict not only punishes the king, but
also punishes all those in his lands.
Church Justice
• An interdict blocks all
religious services from
being performed in a
king’s lands meaning
the subjects would fear
for their own salvation.
• With this, the king
would fear the loss of
their power to their
people and would bow
to the pope’s demands.
The Holy Roman Empire
• After the death of Charlemagne, the Holy
Roman Empire was the strongest kingdom
that arose from the ruins of his empire.
• When Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne
emperor in 800, he unknowingly set the
stage for future conflicts between the pope
and emperors.
– As we will see, the rise of the Holy Roman
Empire was filled with conflicts.
The Holy Roman Empire
Keep in mind
that the Empire
is made up of
many more
territories.
We’ll discuss
more in a
moment.
Otto I
• The most effective
medieval ruler of
Germany was Otto I or
Otto the Great.
• He was crowned king in
936 and copied the
policies of Charlemagne.
• For example, he created
a strong alliance with
the Church such as by
supporting the bishops
and abbots– leaders of
monasteries.
Otto was not directly related to
Charlemagne’s grandchildren, but his
family were power nobles who were elected
into their positions.
Otto I
• Following in Charlemagne’s footsteps, Otto
invaded Italy on the pope’s behalf.
– The pope was concerned about the growing
power of the Italian kingdom, who he feared he
could not control.
• When Otto successfully attacked Italy, the
pope crowned him the new Holy Roman
Emperor.
Otto I
• The German-Italian emperor created the
Roman Empire of the German Nation.
• It later became known as the Holy Roman
Empire and continued to be the strongest
state in Europe until around 1100.
• However, Otto’s attempt to revive
Charlemagne’s empire caused trouble for
future German leaders.
Before we continue
• Lets review:
1.
2.
3.
The Holy Roman Empire is, as
mentioned before, a larger
territory made up of smaller
territories.
The Kingdom of Germany
(dark blue to the right) is just
one kingdom that is part of
the whole empire.
The Emperor of the Holy
Roman Empire is only
Emperor when the Pope
appoints him and rules over
the whole of the empire
(including territories within).
a)
So there may be many kings,
but only one emperor and one
Pope at any given time.
Otto I
• Otto’s rule in Italy
created resentment
among Italian nobles.
• Pope’s too began to
fear the power of
Germans in Italy.
Clashes
• The Church began to resent the control that
kings exercised over clergy and their offices.
• The focus of their resentment was lay
investiture– a ceremony in which kings and
nobles appoint church officials.
• Whoever controlled lay investiture wielded
the real power in naming bishops.
Clashes
• Bishops were the
powerful clergy in
which kings sought
and church reformers
felt that the bishops
should not be under
the power of any king.
• In this, in 1075, Pope
Gregory VII banned
lay investiture.
Clashes
• In this, a young German emperor, Henry IV,
immediately called a meeting of the
German bishops he appointed.
• With their approval, the emperor sent a
vicious letter to Gregory, calling him a “false
monk” and ordered him to step down from
the papacy.
Clashes
• Gregory fired back and
excommunicated
Henry.
• Afterward, German
bishops and princes
sided with the pope.
• Determined to save his
throne, Henry sought
the pope’s forgiveness.
Clashes
• Henry journeyed over
the alps into the town of
Canossa (kuh-nas-uh)
where he went to the
castle which the pope
resided.
• The Pope was obliged to
forgive any sinner, but
Gregory kept Henry
waiting for three days
before ending his
excommunication.
Clashes
• While Henry was forgiven, the issue of lay
investiture was unsolved.
• Henry went back to his land to punish those
who opposed him and Gregory gained a
victory by humiliating a proud ruler.
• In other words, the situation solved
nothing.
Clashes
• Henry and Gregory’s successors continued
to fight over lay investiture until 1122.
• That year, the representatives of the church
and the emperor met in the German city of
Wurms.
• There, they reached a compromise called
the Concordat of Wurms.
Clashes
• This agreement stated only
the Church could grant
bishops their ring and staff–
symbols of church authority.
• However, the emperor had
the veto power to prevent the
appointment of the bishop.
• With this, the investiture
crisis was over, but
strengthening the German
states would be another
challenge for the churchly
kingdom.
Frederick I
• By 1152, seven German
princes who elected
the German king
realized that Germany
needed a strong ruler
to keep the peace.
• The princes chose
Frederick I.
Note: In the Kingdom of Germany, unlike
most other kingdoms, becoming king
was not necessarily hereditary; it was just
one of many factors considered.
Frederick I
• Frederick was the first ruler to call his lands
the Holy Roman Empire.
• However, this region was actually a
patchwork of feudal territories– around
1600 individual territories each with its own
prince.
• When he was in the lands, peace reigned.
However, when he left, disordered returned.
Frederick I
• Like Otto I, Frederick did not focus on
building royal power in Germany. Instead,
he had risen to power through his deals
with the pope.
• He was originally called to Italy to help
manage the growing Italian states (or
enemies of the Pope) and put down
rebellions– an act that allowed him to
become emperor in 1155.
Frederick I
• However, due to religious
disputes (one in which
Frederick did not recognize
the authority of the pope at
the time), Frederick began
to expand his power
further by invading the
rich cities of Italy who
supported the pope.
• His brutal tactics, however,
turned the Italian
merchants and the pope
against him.
Frederick I
• Together, the pope and the merchants
formed the Lombard League.
• In 1176, the foot soldiers of the Lombard
League faced Frederick’s army of mounted
knights in the Battle of Legnano.
– Astonishingly, the foot soldiers used their
crossbows to successfully defeat feudal knights–
the first time in history.
Frederick I
• In 1177, Frederick made peace with the pope
and returned to Germany.
• Fredericks military defeat, though,
undermined his authority with the German
princes, whose power grew.
• After he drowned in 1190, his empire
dissolved into an array of fragmented feudal
states.
German Feudal States
• Due to the weakening of
the Holy Roman
Empire, along with the
unification of the Italian
state with the Church,
the German states did
not reunify during the
Middle Ages.
• However, as we will see,
feudalism continued to
rise in other nations,
such as England and
France.
*Essentially, the Holy Roman Empire existed until 1806, but there was a
stark separation of power between the Emperor and the German kings.
Review Objectives
• Describe the extent of power by the church
in medieval Europe.
• Identify role the Church took in medieval
Europe, such as handling certain laws.
• Describe the relationship between the Holy
Roman Empire and other authority figures.
• Identify the region that made up the Holy
Roman Empire
Questions
• If you have any questions, please ask now.
Next lesson
• In the next lesson we will be discussing the
a change in Church organization and the
Crusades.
Review
Read the handout “Medieval Church” and
answer the question at the bottom:
In one page, provide evidence from the
reading that illustrates the power of the
church in medieval Europe.