THE GREGORIAN REFORM AND THE INVESTITURE STRUGGLE
GOALS OF THE GREGORIAN REFORM
a. Reaffirmation of the Papal Primacy
b. Reform of the Clergy
c. Freedom of the Church from Lay Ascendancy
LIBERTAS ECCLESIA
-
Both the Cluniac Reform and the Gregorian Reform started
with the concept of Libertas Ecclesiae (Freedom of the Church)
-
It
is the concept of emancipation of the Church from temporal power.
-
Libertas (in medieval Germanic world) = what the individual could
positively do or omit (leave undone). Therefore, it pertains to the rights and
obligations
-
Libertates (or liberties) = sum total of rights
and obligations which the individual could claim for himself on the basis of
law or special privilege. If these rights were violated, the individual must
fight for their restoration.
-
In the 10th century, the monasteries felt that
their rights were violated with the interference of the powerful state
appointed bishops and the Emperor and his empire itself. So they fought for the
restoration of their rights. This is the Cluniac Reform of the 10th
century.
-
In the 11th until the 12th centuries,
the Universal church felt that their rights were violated by State intervention
in the church. So the Church also fought for the restoration of her rights.
This is the Gregorian Reform of the 11th – 12th centuries.
It demanded restoration of the free ecclesiastical right of election to
safeguard religious and ecclesiastical independence. It demanded that the
Church be permitted the unhindered exercise of its positive rights.
-
The major difference between the two reform movements is
that the Cluniac reform was purely a monastic reform while the Gregorian Reform
was a political reform.
-
We can say that the Church political reform developed out of
monastic reform.
-
The Cluniac Reform had only striven for the liberty and the
independence of the Church within the State, but the Gregorian reformers argued
that the church is superior to the state just as the mind is superior to the
body.
-
Gregory VII, who has been made the patron of this movement,
was neither its initiator nor its final consummator. Yet the importance of his
reign, the measures taken by this Pope and implemented by his legates under his
impetus, and the prestige that he was able to restore to the Papacy justify in
a large measure the application of the adjective Gregorian to the reforming
movement.
HISTORICAL
POINTS OF THE GREGORIAN REFORM
-
The German Emperors Holy Roman Emperors themselves brought
the new spirit of reform to Rome when Henry III put into office popes who instituted
the Papal reform[1].
a.
Leo IX (1049-1054) – defended the universality and primacy
of the Papacy.
b.
Nicholas II (1058-1061) – decreed in 1059 the removal of the
papal election from the influence of laymen [(esp. Henry IV (1056-1106)] and
transferred it to the cardinal-bishops (1st time to be
mentioned).
The
term "cardinal" at one time applied to any priest permanently
assigned or incardinated to a church, or specifically to the senior priest of an
important church, based on the Latin cardo (hinge), meaning "principal" or "chief".
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop,
and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church.
They are collectively known as the College of
Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include
attending the meetings of the College and making themselves available
individually or collectively to the pope if he requests their counsel. Most
cardinals have additional duties, such as leading a diocese or archdiocese or running a department of the Roman Curia.
In 1059, the right of
electing the pope was reserved to the principal clergy of Rome and the bishops
of the seven suburbicarian sees.
The seven suburbicarian
dioceses are Roman Catholic dioceses located in the vicinity
of Rome, whose (titular) bishops form the highest-ranking
order of Cardinals,
the Cardinal Bishops.
The suburbicarian dioceses have
varied slightly over time and nowadays consist of:
the Diocese of Ostia (since 1150 the see
of the Dean of
the College of Cardinals)
the Diocese of
Velletri-Segni
the Diocese of Porto and Santa-Rufina
the Bishop of Frascati
(Tusculum)
the Diocese of
Palestrina
the Diocese of Albano
the Diocese of Sabina
While all clergy wear some
variation of the basic cossack, each rank has its own color:
Cardinals wear crimson red, a tradition started when Pope Innocent IV gave the cardinals their distinctive hats in 1245. The red symbolizes their devotion to the church, to the point of spilling blood.
Cardinals wear crimson red, a tradition started when Pope Innocent IV gave the cardinals their distinctive hats in 1245. The red symbolizes their devotion to the church, to the point of spilling blood.
The Pope originally wore the same red as the cardinals, but Pope Pius V donned a white cossack in the mid 1500s, carrying over the color from his Dominican priesthood. Future popes continued the practice, although the cape (mozetta) and skull cap (camauro) are still red.
No one is quite sure why bishops wear purple. There are two prominent theories:
Purple represents penitence, which is also why priests wear purple during Lent.
The color has long been associated with royalty because the dye was very expensive to produce. By wearing purple the bishop shows his high place in the church.
In either case, there isn't a set shade worn by bishops. Most wear amaranth red, while bishops in the UK and North America wear a bluer purple.
Priests wear black because they are "dead to the world." By joining the priesthood they leave the concerns of secular life to concentrate on the spiritual.
These colors are traditional but not set in stone. The pope's red shoes are a good example of this: Most popes wear red shoes to symbolize the martyrdom of St. Peter, the first pope. John Paul II switched from red to brown shoes early on when he served in the office, saying that he felt the color was more humble. He actively encouraged the cardinals to switch from brown to red shoes, and ended the use of buckles. His successor Benedict XVI currently wears the traditional red shoes.
The decree was expanded several times and by year 1100, all cardinals (Cardinal-bishops, Cardinal-priests, and Cardinal-deacons) participated in the election.
-
In 1179, the 3rd
Lateran Council = ⅔ majority were required to decide.
-
In 1274, – Gregory X [2]
introduced the conclave in which the electing cardinals were separated from
outside contacts until the election had been completed. Hence, conclave comes
from the Latin cum clave meaning “with key”. Furthermore,
Cardinal comes from carlus meaning “hinge”.
-
In 1918, regulation on elections were codified in the Codex
Iuris Canonici (CIC) (with few additions by Pius XII in 1945)
-
The Gregorian reform opposed to things lay investiture
and simony:
a. Lay investiture: bishoprics and abbeys were
bestowed by kings, princes and noblemen
b.
Simony: buying or selling of spiritual
things or even ecclesiastical position (CCC 2121), which goes with the lay
investiture. Can you combine Spiritual power and money?
PHOTO: A medieval king investing a bishop with the symbols
of office.
THE INVESTITURE
STRUGGLE
-
The
principal conflict began in 1075 between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV,
Holy Roman Emperor, 2 men that you should keep in
mind: GREGORY VII (1073-1085) and HENRY
IV (1056-1106). Two opposing views that decided the conflict.
HENRY IV (1156-1106)
-
Henry IV is Rex et Sacerdos! He still embraced the
view of a sacred, almost clerical kingship which had been fashioned by the
Ottonian Imperial Theology. He is the head of both State and Church.
GREGORY VII (1073-1085)
-
As a young deacon Hildebrand, in 1046 he became a Cluniac
monk.
-
In 1050, Leo IX recalled him to Rome and became active in
the reform.
-
After the death of Cardinal Humbert (+1061), he assumed the
leadership of the reform at the Papal court
-
Main points of his reform program:
a.
Marriage of Priests
b.
Simony
c.
Chiefly Lay Investiture:
The king is just a layman and subordinate to the Church and he is
obliged to obey.
REPERCUSSION OF THE CHURCH’S STRUGGLE AGAINST LAY
INVESTITURE
The emperor and
king is Rex et Sacerdos. Whenever Otto put the imperial crown on his
head he fasted the day before. The emperors are not just simply civil
rulers but the servants of God. They regard themselves as Vicarius Christi.
Furthermore, bishoprics and abbeys were bestowed by kings, princes and
noblemen. Therefore, if the Gregorian Reform asserts that the king is just a
layman and subordinate to the Church and he is obliged to obey, it means the removal
of the sacred element from kingship.
DICTATUS PAPAE (1075)
-
Translated as dictates/decision of the Pope.
-
Dictatus papae is a compilation of 27 axiomatic statements of powers
arrogated to the Pope that was included in Pope Gregory VII's
register under the year 1075
-
Gregory VII (1073-1085) formulated his tenets in the 27
guiding principles of his Dictatus Papae (1075)
The Dictates of
the Pope
1.
That the Roman Church was founded by God alone.
2.
That the Roman pontiff alone can with right be called
universal.
3.
That he alone can depose or reinstate bishops.
4.
That, in a council his legate, even if a lower grade, is
above all bishops, and can pass sentence of deposition against them.
5.
That the pope may depose the absent.
6.
That, among other things, we ought not to remain in the same
house with those excommunicated by him.
7.
That for him alone is it lawful, according to the needs of
the time, to make new laws, to assemble together new congregations, to make an
abbey of a canonry; and, on the other hand, to divide a rich bishopric and
unite the poor ones.
8.
That he alone may use the imperial insignia.
9.
That of the pope alone all princes shall kiss the feet.
10.
That his name alone shall be spoken in the churches.
11.
That this is the only name in the world.
12.
That it may be permitted to him to depose emperors.
13.
That he may be permitted to transfer bishops if need be.
14.
That he has power to ordain a clerk of any church he may
wish.
15.
That he who is ordained by him may preside over another
church, but may not hold a subordinate position; and that such a one may not
receive a higher grade from any bishop.
16.
That no synod shall be called a general one without his
order.
17.
That no chapter and no book shall be considered canonical
without his authority.
18.
That a sentence passed by him may be retracted by no one;
and that he himself, alone of all, may retract it.
19.
That he himself may be judged by no one.
20.
That no one shall dare to condemn one who appeals to the
apostolic chair.
21.
That to the latter should be referred the more important
cases of every church.
22.
That the Roman church has never erred; nor will it err to
all eternity, the Scripture bearing witness.
23.
That the Roman pontiff, if he have been canonically
ordained, is undoubtedly made a saint by the merits of St.Peter; St. Ennodius,
bishop of Pavia, bearing witness, and many holy fathers agreeing with him. As
is contained in the decrees of St. Symmachus the pope.
24.
That, by his command and consent, it may be lawful for
subordinates to bring accusations.
25.
That he may depose and reinstate bishops without assembling
a synod.
26.
That he who is not at peace with the Roman church shall not
be considered catholic
27.
That he may absolve subjects from their fealty to wicked
men.
-
The Pope is the Supreme head of Christianity
-
From the idea of the general supremacy of the spiritual over
the physical, Gregory derived the supremacy of the Church over the State.
-
Relying on the Donation of Constantine[3], which he
regarded as genuine, Gregory established the claim of papacy to world
domination.
-
The Pope not only has the power to limit the rights of
bishops but he also stands above kings and emperors whom he can depose if
deemed necessary for religious and ethical reasons.
INVESTITURE STRUGGLE PROPER
The Investiture Struggle was
the most significant conflict between Church and state in medieval Europe. In the 11th and12th centuries, a
series of Popes challenged the authority of European monarchies over
control of appointments, or investitures, of church officials such as bishops and abbots.
Although the principal conflict began in 1075 betweenPope Gregory VII and Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, a brief but significant struggle over investiture also
occurred between Henry I
of England and the Pope Paschal II in the years 1103 to 1107, and the
issue played a minor role in the struggles between church and state in France as well. The entire controversy was
finally resolve by the Concordat of Worms (1122)
IMPERIAL STUBBORNNESS
-
Henry IV (1056-1106) defied the papal prohibition and used
his royal rights of disposition in the Milan Episcopal election (1072).
LENTEN COUNCIL (1075)
-
Gregory VII (1073-1085) made the prohibition against lay
investiture more severe and proclaimed:
it threatens the king with a ban that he would remove from him any
privilege in connection with appointments to bishoprics.
-
Repercussion:
overturning of the Ottonian Imperial Church system on which the order of
the empire rested.
SYNOD (DIET) OF WORMS (January 1076)
-
Henry IV (1056-1106) paid no attention to the papal decree
of the Lenten Council of 1075
-
In the Synod of Worms in 1076, he incited the imperial
bishops, who were concerned over Gregory’ revolutionary demands, against the
pope, and Gregory VII was proclaimed deposed.
A synod historically
is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine,
administration or application.
The word synod comes from the
Greek σύνοδος meaning "assembly" or "meeting",
and it is synonymous with the Latin word concilium —
"council".
A concordat is an agreement between the Holy See of the Catholic Church and a sovereign state on religious matters.
HENRY IV’S EXCOMMUNICATION
-
Gregory VII immediately excommunicated and released
his subjects from their oath of fealty.
-
Repercussions:
1.
It placed the king outside the Church community thereby
changing the sacred character of the kingship.
2.
Henry’s followers melted away
3.
Prices gathered at Tribur (October 1076) presented the king
with an ultimatum: Within a year he had to obtain the lifting of the ban
or his throne would be forfeited and a new king chosen.
CANOSSA: IN THE FACE OF THE ULTIMATUM
- In the winter of 1076-1077, Henry IV with his wife, child
and small escort completed a perilous crossing of the Alps to Canossa à his journey of Penance.
-
Meanwhile, Gregory VII left Rome for Germany and he was in
stronghold of Margravine Mathilda when Henry IV appeared in Canossa.
- Dressed in a garb of a penitent from January 26-28, 1077,
Henry waited for three days to be admitted by the Pope.
- Through the intercession of Henry’s godfather, Hugh of
Cluny (1049-1109) and Margravine Mathilda received papal absolution
with the condition that he would accept papal arbitration in his
quarrel with the German princes.
-
For a moment, Henry IV was victorious but Canossa was a
heavy blow to the German kingship
-
Leadership of the west past from emperor to the Pope.
HENRY IV: AGAINST ALL ODDS (Anti-king à Civil War and 2nd excommunication à Anti-Pope)
-
In spite of Henry IV’s absolution, German princes elected
Rudolf of Swabia (d.1080) as anti-king in March 1077. à Civil War in Germany
-
Henry IV’s relationship with the Pope worsened, he was
excommunicated and deposed the second time (March 1080)
-
Henry IV then appointed Wibert of Ravenna [Clement
III(1084-1100)] as anti-pope.
-
Henry IV advanced against Rome and Gregory fled to the
Normans in Southern Italy and died in Salerno on March 26, 1085. Outwardly
defeated but in reality the real victor.
-
Gregory said, “Amavi justitiam et odivi iniquitatem,
proptere a morior in exilio” (I loved justice and hate iniquity because I
die in exile)
The struggle
between the church and state continued after Gregory viii’s death. The
separation of the church and staate is impossible. <click> Victor III was the successor of Pope Gregory VII, yet his
pontificate is far less impressive in history than his time. He died after over
a year. Urban II succeeded.
BISHOPS WERE ALSO TEMPORAL RULERS (Very
Important!)
-
There were > 100 bishops and archbishops who were vested
with temporal power therefore, they were also civil rulers.
-
Henry V told Urban II that if you want freedom from
selection of bishops by the emperor, the civil powers of the bishops and
archbishops must be removed.
-
But the bishops did not accept the idea because for them
they are serving both the Church and the State and it would mean the collapse
of a system that functioned for hundreds of years.
THE CONCORDAT[4]
OF SUTRI (February 1111): REJECTED!
-
Terms of the Concordat: Paschal II (1099-1108) and Henry V
(1106-1125) agreed that the German Imperial Church was to return to the king
all fiefs and privileges which it had received from him and in return Henry V
was to stop the practice of investiture which would be superfluous.
-
Vehement opposition of both German and princes and bishop
and the suggestion was rejected.
THE CONCORDAT OF WORMS (1122): A COMPROMISE
-
Terms between Calixtus II and Henry V
-
Aka Pactum Calixtinum was an agreement between Pope Calixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V on September 23, 1122
-
a solution to the investiture problem was attempted by
providing a double investiture:
King
à worldly/ civil
investiture à conferral of
fiefs and rights (fealty to the emperor)à (regalia and temporalities) à scepter
Pope
à religious/
Episcopal/ spiritual investiture à removed from the emperor and returned to the Churchà ring and staff
-
The king was to respect the canonical right of election,
which was to be reserved to the clerics and nobility of the Episcopal churches.
After 13th century, election was reserved exclusively to the
cathedral chapters.
-
Only after canonical election and spiritual investiture
would the king confer the worldly investiture. (In Germany, Italy and Burgundy,
did it before the Episcopal consecration.)
-
Real solution to the central problem of Church and State had
not yet been accomplished. Feudal ties of Church and State continued to exist
until the French Revolution and Great secularization. Therefore, points of
contacts and friction kindle new controversy and struggle.
FREDERICK I BARBAROSA(1152-1190) vs. ALEXANDER III(1159-1181)
- He renewed the struggle not anymore on the question of
investiture which was resolved in the Concordat of Worms but they believed that
they have universal powers.
-
Frederick would like to put into effect the idea of a
universal empire and the struggle was renewed because it was opposed by
Alexander III.
-
Diet of Besancon (1157) to Peace of Venice (1177)
-
It lasted for 20 years until Frederick’s ban was lifted
which Alexander III imposed on 1160.
THE TWO-SWORD THEORY
-
Christ alone is the Lord of Christianity.
-
It was concluded that Christ appointed two powers to govern
the world, symbolized by two swords (Luke 22:38) . : Then they said, “ Lord,
look, there are two swords here.” But he replied, “It is enough!”
-
One of the swords, the secular one, rested in the hand of
the emperor.
-
The second sword, the spiritual one, in the hand of the
Pope.
-
Canonists, juridicists and Theologians interpreted this
one-sidedly in favor of the pope.
-
The Church solely and exclusively owned the two-swords; the
Church wielded the spiritual one, the ban, and loaned the secular one to the
emperor who held it for and in the name of the Church. In the process
Church became more powerful.
GREGORIANISM IN RETROSPECT
-
Even though Frederick Barbarossa revived the old concept of
the empire and defended himself against papal domination, the powerful Innocent
the III (1198-1216) did succeed in erecting papal world domination on the basis
of papal liege states. Although Staufic house lost the battle, not long after
the collapse of the house of Staufen the universal papacy declined.
-
Gregorianism was not of benefit to the Church in its
spiritual task in retrospect.
REINFORCEMENTS OF THE GREGORIAN REFORM
1.
Primacy of the Pope within the Church and Church regained
too much power.
2.
Reform Synods were held in Rome and elsewhere.
3. Extension of Legate System for implementation of reform and
establishment of Papal authority comes into importance so that the papacy has
importance.
4. Appellation to the Holy See increased esp. contested
Episcopal elections. Pope can directly intervene in the dioceses. If the
electors were unable to agree, the Pope simply claims for himself the right of
appointment on the basis of devolution (transfer).
5.
Penalties and depositions of abusive bishops
6.
After 11th cent, metropolitans have to go to Rome
to obtain their staffs and after 12th century had to swear a special
oath of obedience and appear in Rome periodically (every four years) for the visitatio
liminum apostolorum (feet of the apostles).
7.
Desacralization of political element à sharper division between
clerics and laymen
8.
The clergy (removed from the jurisdiction of princes and
kings) gathered into a supranational corporation. Mendicant orders and the
remaining clergy transcended national barriers.
[1]
Initially, Sutri (1046) was ok for abbot Odillo of Cluny and Peter Damian but
it was unacceptable to a cleansed Church.
[2]
Pope of St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Bonaventure
[3]
The Donation
of Constantine (Latin, Donatio Constantini) is
a forged Roman
imperialdecree by which the
emperor Constantine
I supposedly transferred
authority over Rome and the western
part of the Roman Empire to the Pope. Composed probably in the 8th
century, it was used, especially in the 13th, in support of
claims of political authority by the papacy. Italian Catholic priest and humanist Lorenzo Valla is credited with first exposing the forgery with
solid philological arguments in 1439-1440, although the document's
authenticity had already been repeatedly contested since 1001
[4]
A Synod is an ecclesiastical event while a Concordat is both
State and Church agreement which usually has friction.
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