Medieval PeriodChristianity:

Conflicts,Schism, and Roles

You should know:Eucharist

transubstantiation

Seven Sacraments (baptism, confirmation, eucharist, marriage, penance/reconciliation (including last unction), healing of sick, holy orders

Church Hierarchy: pope/ cardinals/ archbishops/ bishops/ parish priests

Orders: abbeys, monasteries, etc

relics

Conflict #1: East vs West

The Great Schism

Number One

Political Background

Originally politically Byzantine Empire supreme all over most of EuropeOriginally: equal episcopates/patriarchates of church included Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Rome, ConstantinopleMoslem invasion weakened East so that Constantinople dominated E and Rome W. Patriarch of Constantinople recognized church rule in East; Pope in West, but election of pope had to be approved by Byzantine emperor

Difference #1: Iconoclastic Controversy

Icons: sacred images representing the saints, Christ, Virgin, Crucifixion usually painted on wood, but originally on marble, in mosaic, on ivory, etc ranging from tiny pendants to frescoes covering church walls.Belief: icons offer direct communication to person represented; the individual’s prayers went directly to the saint/Virgin/Christ Icons used for healings, blessings, good fortune in an endeavor, forgiveness for sin, especially in Eastern church

First Iconoclastic Controversy

Byzantine Emperor Leo III issued edict (726) banning any kind of image (icons AND statues) because of fears the devout worshiped the image, not what the image represented (vs Ten Commandments)

Pope Gregory had refused to continue to pay taxes to Byzantine Emperor; now resisted destroying images (statues, especially) of Roman and other western churches

Consequences—Widening Differences

The edict lead to revolt in Italy because of commitment of people to the images (statues and paintings) in their churches; Gregory calmed them when they threatened to depose the emperor

Churches continued with images in west, mostly sculpted images/statues; ironically icons were restored in East, but only if flat painted, no features that stood out (so still E. condemned images/statues of western church)

Arguing over Doctrines:Gradual evolution of doctrinal differences:

Differences in liturgical calendar:fasting on Saturdays in Lent; beginning Lent on Ash-Wednesday instead of on a Mondaydifferences in setting date of Easter

Differences in practicedisapproval of married priests; the use of leavened or unleavened bread at the Eucharist.

Differences in beliefthe belief in a Purgatory distinct from HellPetrine Doctrine: “upon this rock” –As heir to Peter (first bishop of Rome) pope supreme bishop over all Christians. E believed the scripture referred to all apostles.Controversy over Godhead: Holy Ghost emanates from God the Father alone (E) or from God and Christ (W)

A Matter of Emphasis

Gradually, the Byzantine Empire had less and less influence over the pope

Difference in attitude toward secular authority:Patriarch still regarded self as under Emperor, who ruled in all secular areas, protected the church physically.

Pope regarded self as ruler over all areas of life, including secular. Pope was a secular ruler over papal states, with his own army.

Events Leading to E/W Split?The pope crowned Charlemagne as emperor of Holy Roman Empire in direct competition with Byzantine Empire (considered heir to Rome)July 16, 1054, (traditional date for ultimate split of the two churches) the Papal Legate excommunicated the Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Cerularius, over a trivial local dispute over the control of Latin monasteries in Constantinople. (The patriarch then in turn excommunicated the pope.) The Crusades pushed them farther apart: first with Knights Templars’ desecrating E. churches, then with the Crusaders’ sacking of Constantinople, killing Christians there in 1204

In the end…With the sacking of Constantinople, some of the greatest Eastern holy treasures were stolen or destroyed

Before, the quarrel had all been between prelates/priests over doctrines, etc, NOT “ordinary” believersThe Crusaders made common people in the East so angry, they no longer looked upon the Western Christians as their “brothers and sisters in Christ”

Consequences: irrevocable split between Western (Catholic) church with pope at its head and Eastern (Orthodox) church with patriarch at Constantinople as its head

Conflict #2: Secular vs Papal Power

Investiture ControversyAs political authority grew centralized, secular rulers clashed with clergy over appointments to high church offices (investiture: literally to give the church authority the clothing and insignia of his office)

Church officials controlled not only church affairs, but land, manors, and even villages and the money that the land generated.

With the power to excommunicate (excommunication meant one could not conduct business or diplomacy) the church often won the struggle

Emperor Henry IV(HRE), King Philip IV of France, Henry II and his son King John of England all fought with the church over appointments, with varying results.

Gregory VII’s declaration of power

These power struggles had already led to the creation of a Christian commonwealth under papal control under Pope Gregory VII (1073-85). In the Dictatus Papae Gregory claimed papal primacy:

That the Roman pontiff alone is rightly called universal. That he alone has the power to depose and reinstate bishops. That he alone may use the imperial insignia. That all princes shall kiss the foot of the pope alone. That he has the power to depose emperors. That he can be judged by no one.

Pope Gregory’s View (continued)

That no one can be regarded as catholic who does not agree with the Roman church. That he (Pope Gregory VII) has the power to absolve subjects from their oath of fealty to wicked rulers Obviously, Gregory regarded the pope’s power above any secular ruler’s.

To solve the controversy: Concordat of Worms 1122

Between Pope Calixtus II and Henry V of HRE

King no right to invest pope, archbishops, bishops, etc.

BUT bishops, archbishops owed fealty to secular monarchs in exchange for military protection

Innocent III: view of papacy“The Lord Jesus Christ has set up one ruler over all

things as His universal vicar, and as all things in heaven, earth and hell bow the knee to Christ, so should all obey Christ's vicar, that there be one flock and one shepherd “

He considered popes "lower than God but higher than man,” claiming that Peter was given "not only the universal Church, but the whole world to govern.”Innocent fought a bloody crusade vs Albigensians, French reformers he considered heretics, in 1209.

Opposing view of church: spiritual/serving people

Orders based on “counsels of perfection” with vows of chastity, poverty, and obedienceSt. Francis of Assisi preached and lived ideals of poverty, simplicity, chastity, humility and obedienceSt. Dominic established the Dominican Order as an order of preachers whose purpose was to win back heretics (Albigensians and Waldensians) by loving preaching, not force. Dominic believed that it was necessary to be better heralds of the Gospel.

Controversy #3: Election of Popes

(continuation of #2)

The Second Great Schism

Pope vs Secular Monarchs (Continued)Boniface VIII opposed taxation of clergy by French and British monarchs needing to pay for war (the 100 Years War)He issued a papal bull forbidding lay taxation of clergy without pope’s consent.Consequences:

English Edward III denied clergy access to royal court.Philip IV the Fair (France) forbade export of money to Italy from France.

Boniface forced to back down because needed money: said it was all right for monarch to tax clergy “in an emergency” and canonized Louis IX (Fr)

The Pope Strikes Back

Boniface issued Unam Sanctum, a strong declaration of the pope’s supremacy over temporal/secular rulers.

Consequences: Philip IV, the Fair of France started a campaign of anti papal actions; sent an army to Rome to arrest, beat Boniface, who died a few months later

“Babylonian Captivity”Boniface’s successor, Clement V, backed down from Unam Sanctum (said it didn’t diminish French authority over the country’s church)Clement moved the papacy to Avignon, a city near the French border, to a palace there owned by the papacyClement’s papacy controlled by France because of domination of French in College of CardinalsPapal court gained a reputation for living high in luxurious palaces in Avignon, valuing material over spiritual, scheming politically (“Babylonian”) Clement VI (7 popes later) called for restoration of papacy in Rome, tried to reform the curia

Whoops! Two Competing Popes

At the death of Pope Gregory XI in March 1378, the people of Rome were determined not to allow the papacy to leave Rome. Result: a loud and controversial conclave insisted on a Roman or at least Italian pope. Urban VI elected, though not a cardinal, he had served in the curia (church bureaucracy in Rome) .Urban was not the right Italian pope: he disdained advice, acted ruthless if opposed, reformed through extreme reduction of the powers of the cardinals, mostly French (for decades almost co-rulers in Avignon). The majority of (French) cardinals withdrew from the papal court to Anagni. They declared Urban's election void: they’d only elected him because of Italian mob threats. They then elected one of their own, as Pope Clement VII, the French king’s cousin.

Gregory crowned as pope at Avignon

Now What? The multiple popes lasted 30 Years—The Church was divided on national/political lines

Roman popes (Urban VI/Boniface IX/ Innocent VII/Gregory XII) supported by Roman state, Britain, Holy Roman Empire, other alliesAvignon French popes (Clement VII and Benedict XIII) supported by French and their allies (Castile and Aragon, Scotland, Naples) vs It/England/HRE

Much debate occurred over the 30 years: how to unite the church once more and have ONE pope

Throw both out and elect a new oneConvince one to bow out (Neither would leave; both thought they were right)

The Conciliar MovementAfter various failed proposals, the cardinals from both Avignon and Rome abandoned their popes because the popes would not compromise for unity.

Cardinals decided to solve the problem with a council of representatives from all areas of the church with power to solve the crisis and regulate the popes’ actions

Assumption: the church is the whole body of the faithful. The pope is only one member, equal to all others.

The only function of the pope, as elected head of the church, should be to unify the church and to make sure the church works as it should

The representative council has greater authority than the pope

Finally, Councils Find A Solution!Council of Pisa (1409): The council deposed both Gregory XII and Benedict XIII and then elected a third claimant, Alexander V (to be succeeded shortly afterward by the medieval John XXIII).

Most of Latin Christendom, supported these new popes, but the schism continued

Council of Constance (1414 - 18) removed all three claimants and elected one pope accepted by just about all - Martin V - on Nov. 11, 1417.

Council of Basel (1431 - 49) another schism occurred with the election of "Antipope" Felix V. He abdicated in 1449

“Execrabilis”

Pope Pius II bull issued in 1460

Condemned appeals to councils as “erroneous and abominable”

Any council decisions “completely null and void”

Consequences of Conciliar Movement

Did NOT reform Catholic church governmentDid communicate the value that the leader of an institution is to work for the well being of all, not just for self aggrandizementDid weaken the power of the Church in secular life: secular control of national churches increased (kings: England and France; magistrates: Germany, Switzerland, ItalyThough popes became powerful in the Renaissance, the papacy became a limited territorial regime and the Papal States became just another of the many regional states of Italy