Sources of Support for the
Papacy
Key source: F. W. Mattox, The Eternal
Kingdom: A History of the Church of
Christ, Delight, Arkansas: Gospel Light
Publishing Company, 1961.
Constantinople
• In 300, Constantine moved his seat of
government to Byzantium.
– The move was partly prompted by pressure
from the Northern Barbaric tribes.
– The city was completely rebuilt and renamed
Constantinople.
– This left a lesser official in Rome.
The Barbaric Tribes
• Coming in hordes, the Northern Barbaric tribes
were successful in overrunning Western
Europe.
– In 476 the last of the Western Empires was
overthrown.
– Visigoths (415-711) controlled Spain and Southern
France.
– Ostrogoths (493-544) controlled Italy, while the
Lombards (586-774) controlled Northern Italy.
– Burgandians (443-534) controlled Southeastern
France.
– North Africa was controlled by the Vandals (429533).
Paganizing the Church
• All of these Teutonic tribes accepted some
form of Christianity either before or after
coming into the Roman Empire.
• Clovis, king of the Franks (481-511),
decided to be baptized and then
commanded his whole army to be
baptized.
• In this way, pagans were “Christianized”
and the church “paganized.”
Influencing the Tribes
• These Germanic tribes had accepted the
Arian type of Christianity.
– They found themselves in conflict with the
theology of the Roman church upon conquering
the Empire.
– They felt inferior to the Romans because of their
lack of culture and learning.
– Gradually they came under the influence of the
Roman church.
– The Franks accepted Roman ideas and
influenced other tribes as they became more
powerful.
The Need for Learning and
Centralized Authority
• The invaders were illiterate.
– The average person, even priests, could not
read or write.
– Learning was kept alive in some monasteries.
• People longed for strong centralized
authority to restrain lawlessness and
restore order.
– The Roman Bishop was a stabilizing influence
in society.
The Moslem Invasion Increased
the Pope’s Power
• The Moslem invasion of Western Europe
necessitated a unification of forces.
– Charles Martel (714-741), with the aid of the
pope, repulsed them.
• The pope used his position to achieve
political unity and the ruler increased the
pope’s spiritual power.
– In 741, the pope blessed Charles’ son Pepin III.
– Pepin III protected the pope and gave him the
territory of the Lombards (756) marking the first
time a pope had temporal rule, leading to the
pope being called the Duke of Rome.
Charlemagne
• In 768, the kingdom was divided between
Charlemagne and Carloman.
– In 771, Carloman died.
• Charlemagne defeated the Lombard king
who had invaded Italy and went to Rome to
enlarge the pope’s territory.
– On Christmas day, 800, Pope Leo III crowned
Charlemagne, proclaiming him crowned by God,
Augustus.
– In return, Charlemagne expanded the pope’s
territory and assured his continuation as a
secular ruler.
Charlemagne
• Charlemagne assumed active leadership in the
church by: directing missions, sponsoring
ecclesiastical legislation, strengthening church
government, supervising election of bishops,
establishing schools and monasteries (large grants)
and formulating educational standards.
• He opposed the pope on worship of images.
• He adopted a system of metropolitans.
• He divided the empire into twenty-one chief districts,
each with an archbishop.
• He provided property for support of parish priests,
made church property tax free and decreed church
matters should be resolved in ecclesiastical courts.
The Holy Roman Empire of the
German Nation
• At his death, Charlemagne’s empire was divided
between his three grandsons.
• In 962, Otto the Great reunified the empire and was
crowned Emperor of the Romans.
• He donated large estates to the church and
elevated certain bishops to feudal lordship.
• He attempted to restore the Holy Roman Empire by
relying on the church’s power.
• Bishops gladly received appointments (investiture)
from the emperor because he increased the
church’s temporal territory and they reigned in both.
The Holy Roman Empire of the
German Nation
• The Emperor was claiming to be God’s
representative on earth.
• During this period the Emperors appointed the
popes.
• In 1046, Henry III deposed 3 rival popes and
appointed a German bishop head of the church.
• The German Emperor following this procedure
also appointed the next three popes.
• The popes would not acknowledge subservience
to the Emperor as the head of the church.
Feudalism
• During the 11th, 12th and 13th Centuries,
feudalism was the dominant social, political and
economic order and no effective central
government could be maintained.
• Vassals gave service to their lords, who were
vassals to kings, who were vassals to emperors,
who were God’s vassals.
• The pope claimed he was God’s vassal on earth
and the emperor should receive authority from
him.
The Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals
• During the 7th Century, a Spanish
Archbishop named Isidore made the
church in Germany acquainted with a
number of important classical and patristic
writings.
• After his death (636), his reputation was
used as authority for a forgery favoring the
authority of the Roman bishop over
political rulers.
The Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals
• The forger set forth alleged decrees of
unknown councils.
• He also quoted letters supposedly written
by Clement of Rome and Anacletus, who
were bishops at Rome contemporary with
the Apostles.
The “Donation of Constantine”
• The document exalts the pope above all
religious officials in the world.
• It sets forth the Roman bishop as successor of
Peter and Paul and grants him temporal
authority.
• The palace and jurisdiction over Rome and all
Italy as well as the regions of the west were
among the “donations.”
• Its authority was unquestioned until the 15th
Century when its authenticity was questioned by
many eminent scholars and its falsity finally
proved by Lorenzo Valla.
Nicholas I
• It is believed Nicholas I (858-867) was the
first pope to use the Decretals to increase
the spiritual authority of the papacy in the
world.
– He claimed supremacy, deposing and
excommunicating Photius, the patriarch of
Constantinople.
– He humbled John, the archbishop of Ravenna, to
complete submission.
– He humbled Archbishop Hinkmar of Reims,
forcing him to reinstate a deposed bishop.
– He was successful in demanding King Lothair II
of Loraine take back his divorced queen.
Holding on to Power
• The 17th Century reformed theologian
Blondel proved the Pseudo-Isidorian
Decretals were false.
• Scholars of the Roman church
acknowledged that they were false
documents.
• The Catholic Church refused to surrender
the power gained though the papers were
proven to be false.
Excommunication
• By excommunication the priest could cut off
any individual from receiving divine grace.
– As the pope was God’s representative he could
use the keys to bind or loose man’s sin.
– Since this power came from the pope down
through the hierarchy, each parish priest could
prevent the disobedient from reaching God.
– During the medieval period there was no
question in the mind of the average person but
that this was according to God’s will.
– It also made one a social outcast and removed
all privileges of citizenship.
Papal Power Over Temporal Rulers
• The pope could use an interdict which required
priests to refuse to serve in their priestly
capacities.
– If a king or prince was displeasing to the pope, the
pope could retaliate by requiring all the priests in his
territory to refuse to serve mass, perform marriages
or bury the dead until the ruler repented.
• The people were taught the sacrament had no
value unless performed by properly ordained
administrators.
– Since ordination only found meaning through the
pope, sacraments received their validity through
papal authority.
Regular Clergy Under Papal
Authority
• The monastic orders were chartered by
the pope.
– Each monk was made to feel his dependence
upon papal authority.
– Obedience to superiors was strongly
emphasized.
– Gregory the Great became pope after serving
as a Benedictine monk.
– He strengthened that order, unified the
monasteries and brought them together under
his will.
Cardinals and Legates
• The college of cardinals grew from a small
committee of priests in churches of Rome
to an international organization.
– By 1059, the Lateran council approved the
expansion and cardinals are found in any
country where the Catholic church is strong.
• Papal legates helped form formal alliances
with kings and feudal lords, further
expanding the pope’s power.
The Hierarchy
• The hierarchy has set forth a literary
defense of papal claims.
– Scholasticism goes back to the schools as
founded in the monasteries.
– It is a system of philosophy which emanated
from these schools and became the
expression of faith for several centuries.
– The Scholastics defended the truth of Catholic
Christianity by cold logic.
– They did not question Catholic dogma.
The Scholastics
• Most of the Scholastics were monks from the
various monasteries.
• They spent their time systematizing and
organizing the faith and doctrine of the church
on the basis of Scripture interpreted in the light
of tradition.
• They analyzed grace as it is manifested through
the sacraments and worked out a system of
legalistic emphasis.
• They strongly maintained the service of the
priest was essential to the efficacy of the
sacrament, thus making them serve in the
mediatory position between God and man.
Results of Scholasticism
• The Lateran Council (1215) gave official
sanction to the doctrine of transubstantiation
and the requirement that every individual
must make confession to the priest at least
once per year.
• They reorganized and systematized canon
law to give absolute power to the pope.
• They brought common people into strict
adherence to the laws of the church,
obedience to clergy and regular use of the
sacraments.