Sections meetings this week: DWP Chapter 6.

Review:

The new medieval political order was based ultimately on intense personal connections between people of unequal status. As there was no civic identity (as to the polis or to SPQR), there was no continuity of allegiance. When one party died, the relationship ended. Hence much of what we know about medieval history appears to be constant round of renewing faith and loyalty. The role of the church was the critical mediating force in that process.

Church and State in the Middle Ages:

  1. Introduction: Few problems will appear more obscure or meaningless than the material covered in this lecture, nonetheless, the role of the church was critical in the history of the West in several areas:
    1. in the definition and preservation of European culture, and in the transformation of the European landscape.
    2. the definition of church and the state in this period; that is, the latter was formed in opposition to the former.
    3. our notions of separation of church and state and rejection of the notion of established religion (1st amendment: congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion) grew out the experiences described here.
  2. The European Landscape and its transformation
    1. we think of the European landscape as fully regulated by human activity: Tuscan hills; fields of Devon; and in southern France; on cork trees in Southern Spain.
    2. the medieval reality was much more primitive: The Black Forest was really 'black'; many areas were not drained; or may be described as Shakespeare called, 'this is the forest primeval'
    3. The monks of many congregations provided the organized labor to transform the landscape, to drain the marshes, to clear forest, and encourage the transformation from nomadic to settled life. In doing so they raised they dramatically enhanced the wealth of the church
  3. The role of faith in the medieval world
    1. it was assumed that that God intervenes directly to reward and punish in the hereandnow and in the hereafter; ritual, recall trial by ordeal, is the device used to determine the will of god;
      1. the pilgrim and pilgrimage in medieval life; pilgrimage churches. Note also the context of Canterbury Tales. The pilgrimage was the way to redemption and salvation
      2. The most important structures in the middle ages were castles and churches; so too were kings and bishops. Role of faith also a critical component to understanding
        1. the function of trial by ordeal
        2. but more importantly the church guaranteed the sanctity of the oath in vassalage. To break the oath, meant expulsion from the church and from society. Recall the sections [esp. 1 and 5] in DWP Chp 6.
    2. Moreover, the breakdown of order and the overwhelming power of the Germanic princes at the local level had allowed the latter to play a key role in the selection of church officials. And they did so thinking more about their own interests than those of the church. Bishops and abbots were often warriors rather than pastors: Recall the martial activities of the bishops of Mainz and Regensburg in the Chronicle of Xanthen.
    3. Beginning in about 1050 a number of church councils and reforms attempted to rid the church of many of the abuses that had become prevalent.
  4. The Problems in Church - State relations: The wealth of church. Indeed, if the church had not possessed moveable and landed wealth (acquired partly by organization of labor [see above], and partly by gift), there would not have been a problem, but its property could and did support support armed knights and that posed a dilemma and an opportunity for the secular / temporal authorities. The secular authorities had to find ways to bring both wealth and knights under their control; the church had to find ways to insure that bishops and abbots were religious leaders, and not warriors whose loyalty was directed elsewhere. There are two components to this problem
    1. The church and state were in a mutually dependent relationship because:
      1. The church assisted the state / secular authorities because
        1. it could provide educated and trained administrators; the secular authorities were warriors with little education. ==>Role of Christianity as unifying and cultural force. Scribes; manuscripts, music. Church was a meritocracy.
        2. Legitimation: through ritual Coronation (DWP Chp 6; docc 8 & 9)
        3. the church had the power to bind and to unbind (the feudal oath!) in a system that relied on respect for the oath.
        4. Role of church in the establishment of peace
      2. The state / secular authorities provided the church with protection for its mission and its property. However:
        1. because the church officials also had feudal responsibilities, the appointment (lay investiture, see below) of bishops and abbots allowed the secular authorities to bring church property under their control;
        2. those individuals favored by the secular authorities were not typically noted for their piety. Many were knights who had to become priests to take up their new position, compromising the mission of the church
        3. moreover, because church official could not have legitimate children, they could not pass on church sinecures to their descendants, so there was yet another opportunity for secular lords to reward faithful vassals.
    2. The need of the church to reform itself and to limit secular involvement (again problem comprehensible only because the church had property that could support knights) Between 1050 and 1075 church councils introduced a number of reforms to limit secular control of its affairs and especially over its property...
      1. After 1059 the pope was no longer an imperial appointment, but elected by college of cardinals.
      2. clerical marriage was forbidden about the same time...the reason??.
      3. Simony; Dante's vision of the problem
      4. lay investiture
  5. Background /history of the Problem
    1. Independence of pope (from secular authorities) in West after collapse of RE. Gelasius (ca. 495) theory of two powers.
    2. Gregory the Great (ca. 600).. The first great pope of the middle ages. He set the pattern and precedents for whatever power the Church would have in Middle Ages.
      1. Conversion Germanic barbarians
      2. Establishment of a common liturgy including the 'gregorian chant' (be patient, this is a link to audio, try your Spanish on the text.)
      3. Promotion of monasticism esp. of rule of Benedict.
      4. Effective use of church property: development (landscape and again) and preservation of wealth. The primitive landscape.
      5. Successful intervention as a mediator throughout kingdoms of Latin West. Gregory and Attila; between warring bands.
    3. Expansion of Latin Christianity. How to explain?
      1. Adaptation/harmonization of Christian practices to polytheism.
      2. Attractive to women who received equal status with men, at least before God.
    4. Monasticism -in summary
      1. attraction of asceticism...security and organization of civilized life in time of uncertainty
      2. missionary work.
      3. economic significance
        1. in the development of the European landscape
        2. contributions of pious effectively administered enhanced the wealth of the Church.
  6. Church and state after 1050 (n.b.: wealth of church, and the use of church property to support the training of knights was at the root of the problem).
    1. The first open conflict between the secular and temporal authorities was the confrontation between Henry IV (Roman Emperor) and Pope Gregory VII (Hildebrand) ca. 1080 = Investiture Struggle.
      1. The pope's weapon in reforming the church was his power to bind and to unbind (see above) the feudal oath. Something that many vassals would like to see happen! Henry was not only excommunicated, but the Gregory released his vassals from their oath to the former.
      2. Stripped of his power (his vassals and their knights), Henry sought reconciliation. At Canossa (in Italy) Gregory appeared to have won when Henry asked for readmission to the Church, but in fact he [Gregory] was soon driven from office by Henry.
      3. Concordat of Worms (1120). The crucial compromise: Emperor gained control of the feudal side of the church, but surrendered the spiritual.
      4. The conflict was widely watched throughout Christian Europe
    2. Even then, the continuing conflicts between the HRE and the Papacy drained resources of the former. Note the attention that Emp Frederick Barbarossa devotes to the problem; discussed more fully in the next lecture)
    3. Boniface VIII and the next phase of the controversy. The Kings of England and France (Philip the Fair and Edward I) claimed the right to tax the clergy of their realms without consent of pope on the grounds that the money was necessary for the protection of all their subjects. Boniface threatens excommunication, but Philip with the support of most of his clergy, forbade the export of clerical taxes. Boniface allows taxation for emergency purposes.
  7. Conclusions:
    1. On the nature of the problem:
      1. Church and state in relationship of mutual dependency
      2. A well ordered church (not always the case before the reforms) generally prospered and created the conditions (landed wealth to support vassals) which made it essential for the secular authorities to control its resources. The problem will not disappear until the great secularization movements of the 16th to 18th Cents.
    2. On the outcome
      1. As nation states (France and England, but not Holy Roman Empire) developed and as culture was secularized (universities), their rulers could rely on loyalty of subjects [instead of the church] to confirm and to legitimize their authority. Significance of church as an independent political force declined
      2. Public opinion was changing and as states began to provide for protection and to support culture and education, they gained the upper hand in temporal affairs.

Chronology of Church-State Relations

Capitulary of Lestinnes, 743: A capitulary of Carlmann, brother of Pippin. It illustrates the land distribution to the warriors, and is the earliest case of appropriation of Church lands which we have. "Because of the threats of war and the attacks of certain tribes on our borders, we have determined, with the consent of God and by the advice of our clergy and people, to appropriate for a time part of the ecclesiastical property for the support of our army. The lands are to be held as precaria for a fixed rent; one solidus, or twelve denarii, shall be paid annually to the church or monastery for each casata [farm]. When the holder dies the whole possession shall return to the church. If, however, the exigency of the time makes it necessary, the prince may require the precarium to be renewed and given out again. Care shall be taken, however, that the churches and monasteries do not incur suffering or poverty through the granting of precatia. If the poverty of the church makes it necessary, the whole possession shall be restored to the church."