Lecture/Essay Twenty-six:
HIS 1113. Introduction to the History of Western Man
Southwest Baptist University

Europe in the Eleventh Century:
The Emergence of Reformed Papal Power

by Harlie Kay Gallatin, Ph.D.
© 2000

Henry II and the Church

Henry II slowed but did not stop the trend established by his predecessors toward turning the invested clergy of Germany and Italy into local secular rulers. He nevertheless relied more than ever on the royal investiture as a means of staffing his administrative requirements across Germany and Italy. Henry II ended the political independence of the great bishops and restored royal power over them, re-establishing advocacy. He claimed many recently established proprietary churches and monasteries but allowed their former proprietors to act as advocates in many cases. All other proprietary monasteries in Germany were required by Henry to submit to the supervision of the local bishop.

Henry III and the Church

The papacy, however, found itself the victim of local Italian politics when the last Saxon Emperor, Henry II, absented himself from the Italian scene. It was not until the second Emperor of the Salian dynasty, Henry III, 1044-1061, once again concerned himself with Italy that things began to look up. Henry III was concerned about the lax discipline among churchmen at all levels, especially their failure to adhere to canonical procedures. He felt compelled to intervene when the church's rules were ignored. In 1044 he nominated Widger as Bishop of Ravenna. Widger assumed his duties before being formally elected and invested--very much contrary to canon law. Henry promptly deposed Widger, and there was a surprising storm of protest from other bishops, especially those in Lotharingia who were adamant that deposing bishops was never, ever among the emperor's powers. In point of fact, however, imperial authority had dismissed two popes during the previous century.

Henry's newly implemented authority over bishops was exercised soon in 1046 when called together a meeting of churchmen at Sutri in Italy and deposed three bishops, each of which had a claim at that time to be the Pope. Benedict IX, member and nominee of the dominant Roman political faction headed by the family of the counts of Tusculum, had been pope from 1032 until 1044 when he was driven out of office and from Rome by Sylvester III, leader of a rival political faction. Benedict IX regained his office after about seven weeks, but he seems to have realized that even winning over Sylvester could not secure his position. Benedict IX made a deal with the new ruling faction in Rome to abdicate if they would pension him with a very considerable sum (1000 pounds of silver). Even though he had officially abdicated Henry III officially deposed him at Sutri.

Sylvester III had become pope by political force and usurpation in 1045, but he seems to have wearied of the struggle when Benedict IX abdicated. Sylvester abandoned his claims and may also have abdicated making way for still another election, but Emperor Henry nevertheless imprisoned him in a monastery in 1046.

With Sylvester III walking away and Benedict IX happily counting his pension, Gregory VI had been promptly elected as Pope and served 1045-1046. Emperor Henry deposed and exiled Gregory VI from Italy on the charge of simony. Even though others had paid the money (pension) to Benedict, Henry considered it purchasing the office. Gregory VI finally came to Cologne. The deacon Hildebrand from Rome accompanied him as he fled, but had taken refuge at Cluny.

For centuries individuals bearing the official title, "protector of the Romans," had protected and controlled the papacy. Emperor Otto I had claimed it, but then allowed his Italian henchmen, the counts of Tuscany, to carry it. Now Henry III reclaimed the title and took his job seriously. First he nominated a former Cluniac monk, currently Bishop of Bamberg, who was elected as Pope Clement II (1046-1047). Clement II presided over Henry III's imperial coronation. Next he nominated a competent bishop, who ruled as Pope Damasus II 23 days in 1048 before his death. The erstwhile Benedict IX emerged from his pensioned retirement oppose him and once again to claim the office! Finally, Emperor Henry III nominated his kinsman, Bruno of Toul, Count and Bishop of Toul in Lotharingia, who served in exemplary fashion for five years beginning in 1049 as Pope Leo IX.

Pope Leo IX

Leo IX's pontificate was a major turning point in the history of the papacy. In the previous 102 years there had been 25 popes; only 12 of them were imperial appointments, the rest being candidates of the Roman political factions. Moreover, Rome had been isolated from the monastic and ecclesiastical reforms that were sweeping northern Europe in that century.

Leo IX launched a concerted effort to put the papacy on the side of church reform both in northern Europe and in Italy. He was determined to uphold ecclesiastical law in every detail and to restore the papacy to a respected leadership position in the moral reform of European life.

Leo IX called some of Europe's most capable leaders to come and serve with him in Rome. Three he brought with him from churches and monasteries in Lotharingia, the monks Hugh the White and Humbert. Humbert became Cardinal bishop of Silva Candida, a suburb of Rome. Frederick of Lorraine (Lotharingia), brother of the Duke of Lotharingia, became Leo IX's Archdeacon and chancellor. Last but by no means least Hildebrand the Italian attendant of deposed Pope Gregory VI, was collected from the Cluny monastery to became an official at one of the monasteries in Rome and given charge over papal estates and finances.

Leo IX is sometimes incorrectly credited with originating the so-called College of Cardinals. Indeed, this collegium had existed informally already for a very long time. To begin with it may have consisted of the entire body of priests serving the Bishop of Rome. From about the fifth century this body began to have a special status as it was distinguished from the body of ordinary priests. In that early period the Cardinals consisted of only the head priests from each of the 25 titular churches in Rome. At that time this body was responsible for all services in the five Roman cemetery churches; namely, Saint Peter's, Saint Paul's, Saint Lorenzo's, Saint Marie Maggoire, and Saint John's Lateran. The term "cardinal" which began to be used in the sixth century derives from the term for pivot or hinge, "card", meaning that a member of the clergy belonging to one church was extended as by hinges to serve in another.

In the eighth century (769) the practice had been altered. At that time Saint John's Lateran, the cathedral church of the papacy, secured the services of the seven cardinal bishops in rotation. The principle individual appointments of the Cardinal bishops were the Churches at the surrounding towns of Ostia, Porto, Albano, Silva Candida, Sabina, Tusculum, and Praeneste. Also from the eighth century the other four cemetery churches in Rome continued each to be served by a college of seven priests drawn from the clergy of the titular churches.

Leo IX was the kind of man who could and would delegate authority. He used the Cardinal clergy extensively as legates to represent him and as escorts on his numerous personal visits to many parts of Europe.

South Italy and The Schism

Arguably the biggest event of Leo IX's pontifical reign was the growing estrangement between the eastern and western parts of the Church. Later churchmen looked back on this as the "final" moment of separation between the Roman Catholic and the Greek Orthodox branches of the church. The developments that precipitated this latest breech between the two parts of the Church took place in southern Italy.

Southern Italy had continued to be firmly attached to the Eastern or Byzantine Emperor even though the rest of Italy and western Europe under the leadership of the Papacy had cast off on its own from the eighth century. The frontier between the west and the east cutting across southern Italy had not stopped the Lombards from infiltrating into and settling in the Byzantine ruled southern region. Indeed the western region next to the Byzantine frontier was very loosely ruled Lombard principality of Capua-Benevento. The possibility of usurping part of that Lombard principality as a kingdom for themselves had attracted certain adventurers from Normandy, that Norse settlement along the Channel Coast where the Duke of Normandy had such a strong government.

In 1015 the Norman settlers were invited to cross the frontier and assist the Lombard peasants living in Byzantine are to revolt against their governor at Bari. In the following years more Norman immigrants came to settle beside the frontier. The most prominent among them were the eight sons of Tancred d'Hauteville lead by Robert Guiscard. Robert Guiscard and his brothers soon emerged as the dominant Norman warlord on the non-Byzantine side of the frontier. Emperor Henry II recognized them and approved these arrangements, but they were only temporary.

The merchants and aristocrats of the Lombard principality overthrew their prince in 1050 and called on Pope Leo IX to annex their territory to the Papal States. Emperor Henry III approved of Leo's annexation of Capua-Benevento to the Papal States in 1052. Leo IX's priorities included getting the churches and monasteries of his new province to recognize the authority of the papacy. The problem was that since the early eight century churches in this part of Italy had been subject to the Patriarchal Bishop of Constantinople rather than the Patriarchal Bishop of Rome.

As governor of Capua-Benevento Leo discovered that he and the Byzantine governor at Bari had a common problem, namely, the recent conquests of Robert Guiscard and the Normans on both sides of the frontier! The Byzantine governor came to the Pope seeking an agreement to combine forces and eliminate Robert Guiscard. Leo IX agreed to assist provided the churches and monasteries in the liberated Norman area and in Byzantine area would be realigned with the Bishop of Rome. The higher clergy on the Byzantine side of the frontier were adamantly and openly opposed to this, but the governor at Bari nevertheless agreed. The joint operations against the Normans went badly; Leo IX's troops were defeated and the Pope taken prisoner at Civitate in 1053.

The leading clergy in the Bzyantine area were determined to do whatever was necessary to prevent their churches being forced to conform to western practices. This would include using Latin instead of Greek in their worship, using unleavened bread in the Eucharist, and reciting the Nicene Creed in its unofficially amended Western form. Churchmen in Spain in the seventh century had added a word to the Latin version of the Creed without the approval of a general council. There were numerous other minor matters of difference. They asked for help from the Patriarch of Constantinople, Bishop Michael Cerularius 1043-1058.

Patriarch Michael Cerularius

Michael Cerularius was a quick acting, highly motivated individual nominated by a very laid back, preoccupied Byzantine Emperor, Constantine IX. Although Michael Cerularius' motives can only be guessed at many see him taking steps to elevate the status of the Patriarch's office in Constantinople. For whatever reasons, late in 1052 he had suddenly ordered all the Latin Churches in the Patriarchate of Constantinople to conform to the practices of the Greek speaking Church. Previous patriarchs had allowed the Latin churches in Constantinople and among the Lombards of south Italy to use the Latin liturgy, but they had maintained their jurisdiction over them nevertheless.

Cerularius was, however, both intolerant and decisive. He had only recently denied a request from the Armenian Church to utilize its own native liturgy. When the Latin speaking churches in Constantinople refused to conform to the Greek liturgy, he promptly closed them. He next instructed Leo the Archbishop of Ochrida (in Serbia) in whose province the south Italian churches were located to write a letter of explanation to the churches in Byzantine Italy explaining why the Latin speaking churches there must now conform to the Greek liturgy. Archbishop Leo instructed the Italian Orthodox Churchmen to send copies of the letter to the Pope and all the western clergy. The translation of Archbishop Leo's letter criticizing the Latin liturgy, especially the use of unleavened bread in the mass, which reached Pope Leo IX in prison at Civitate was more bombastic than accurate.

By this time Emperor Constantine IX realized the enormity of the diplomatic blunder that Michael Cerularius had made at a time when cooperation between the Byzantines and the papacy against the Normans was crucial. Both the Emperor and Cerularius feared the diplomatic repercussions of the Patriarch's action. Both sent follow up messages in a very conciliatory tone, but Pope Leo seems to have misunderstood them all.

Cardinal Humbert's Solution

Leo IX, still in jail with declining health, deputized Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida to respond to Archbishop Leo's letter and to head a delegation of Roman clergy to Constantinople. Humbert had solid training in logic and ecclesiastical law. He was a brilliant but arrogant and impatient scholar deeply committed to the reform ideas of his native Lotharingia. His official letter of reply addressed the issues raised in Archbishop Leo of Ochrida's letter and ignored the conciliatory letters of Michael Cerularius and the Emperor. Among other things Humbert reasserted the supreme authority of the Papacy, alleged that Michael Cerularius' ordination was invalid, and bitterly reprimanded the patriarch for interfering in matters beyond his patriarchate and for having the audacity to challenge Roman practices as improper.

The western delegation met with the Patriarch and the Emperor in Constantinople. Michael Cerularius took one look at Humbert, who was the spokesman, and seems to have sensed that he would be personally unable to maintain amicable discussions with him. He withdrew from subsequent discussions leaving poor Emperor Constantine IX to suffer Humbert's arrogant, impertinent and obstreperous demeanor. Humbert flatly asserted the authority of the Pope over the Patriarch and went on to itemize and demand the correction of several errors of the eastern parts of the church which, he asserted, had been too long neglected already. Cardinal Bishop Humbert engaged in some gratuitous and slanderous name-calling, tempers flared on both sides and communication broke down. In a fit of "righteous indignation" Humbert deposited a bull of excommunication on the altar in the Church of Hagia Sophia on July 16, 1054. Among the charges leveled against Michael Cerularius, Leo of Ochrida and other clergy supporting the patriarch was their unofficially amending the Nicene Creed and the use of unleavened bread. He was accusing the eastern part of the Church for the change of wording in the Creed which was in fact the work of the western part of the Church.

Pope Leo IX had already died on April 19, 1054, and his death might have been understood as automatically canceling Humbert's legatine authority before he had excommunicated Cerularius. But the word of Leo's death did not reach Constantinople until some weeks later, after the seeds of bitterness and distrust had already taken root in the hearts of many.

Humbert had the audacity to appeal to Emperor and the eastern churchmen in general to proceed with correcting the cited errors. The response of the masses of Constantinople was to take steps to lynch Humbert and Frederick. They might have succeeded if Emperor Constantine IX had not taken them into protective custody while he attempted to bring reconciliation. Cerularius, however, feared that the Emperor was going too far. On his part he called a local synod and excommunicated Humbert and Frederick and the Pope who had commissioned them. Thus, the dual excommunications of 1054 became the symbol of the estrangement between the two parts of the church. Each part felt that the other was primarily responsible for what had happened. It was 911 years before the formal excommunications were lifted by mutual consent, but the estrangement continues to this day.

Continued Reform

Henry III kept watch on the papacy. He had nominated his chancellor, Bishop Gephard of Eichstät, who was elected as Pope Victor II, 1055-1057. The churchmen of Rome selected Victor's successor, Stephen IX (1057-1058). Stephen was Frederick of Lotharingia who had come to Rome with Leo IX and subsequently become abbot of the monastery at Monte Cassino. Stephen IX's brother, Godfrey the Bearded, one time Duke of Lotharingia, had in 1054 married Beatrice, the Marchioness of Tuscany, and became a strong advocate of the reformed papacy and a powerful force in Italian politics. Hildebrand, legate to the court of Henry III's widow, Agnes, asked her to approve Stephen's election after the fact. Like Victor, Stephen continued the work of reform. Stephen enlisted the outstanding theologian, Peter Damiani, a hermit monk from Fonte Avellana and made him Cardinal Bishop of Ostia, lead bishop of the College of Cardinals.

Bishop Gerhardt of Florence was elected as pope Nicholas II, 1059-1061, under the imperial auspices. Nevertheless, the Roman mobs under the leadership of Benedict IX's brother, Gregory, seized control by mob violence in the meantime and elected Benedict X. Benedict X was allowed to serve for a few months in 1058-1059 before being deposed to clear the way for Nicholas II. His reign was a turning point for papal history--a kind of declaration of independence for the papacy.

Gaining Papal Independence: 1059

The Lateran Synod of 1059 decreed that all bishops are to be elected by canonical election procedures. This included the election of the papacy, which according to the existing canons, was to be elected by the College of Cardinals with the Cardinal bishops having the preponderant voice. There also emerged a canon formally condemning lay involvement in the investing of church officials--a practice hereafter called lay investiture. Investiture usually involved handing the symbols of office to the recipient. The problem was many churchmen performed not only church duties but also state or secular governmental duties.

The publication of Cardinal Humbert's treatise, Three Books Against Simoniacs, was also significant. This work carried the definition of Simony to new applications. It was clearly revolutionary. Simony is now more than just the action of profiting from the sale of spiritual power; it is any usurpation of spiritual authority by a layman. It had long been understood that the bishop who buys his bishopric is not a true bishop. Now, even if no money consideration is involved, the bishop of receives his bishopric from a laymen is not a true bishop and his acts are invalid.

The Synod of Melfi (1059) condemned the marriage of the clergy. Melfi was in southern central Italy and it is likely the eastern church's practice of allowing ordinary priests to remain married if they were subsequently ordained which made this action in that location significant. Also solemnized at Melfi were the new alliances between the papacy and the Franco-Norman warlords, Richard of Aversa, Robert Guiscard, and Roger d'Hauteville of South Italy. The papal blessing was conferred on their future war to conquer areas then indifferent to Roman Christianity. It was apparently the understanding that these Norman warlords would conquer the Byzantine parts of southern Italy and Muslim Sicily as duchies in which they could establish their personal dynasties. It was also understood that all Christian institutions in these conquered areas would recognize the authority of the papacy.

The Hand of Hildebrand

Archdeacon Hildebrand secured the efforts of Humbert in a pioneering canon law collection designed to support the reform agenda and papal monarchy, 1060-1061. When Nicholas II died, the Archdeacon Hildebrand arranged for an election without benefit of imperial approval. The Cardinal Bishops elected Bishop Anselm of Lucca as Alexander II (1061-1073), but Empress-regent Agnes and her son nominated Bishop Cadalous of Parma who took the name, Honorius II, and claimed the papal office from afar (Germany) from 1061-1071.

Pope Alexander II give his blessing in 1066 to the Norman attack on England, making it a kind of crusade. Then in the year 1071 the Byzantine Emperor Romanus IV Diogenes was killed in the Seljuk annihilation of the Byzantine army at Manzikert, near lake Van in eastern Turkey. The Seljuk leader, Alp Arslan, led his forces westward to a point 70 miles from Constantinople. Arslan established his government called the Sultanate of Rum (i.e., Rome) at Iconium (Konya) in c. 1073. About the same time, Seljuks and other Turkic tribes moved in to capitalize on the political vacuum in north Syria as far south as Damascus (by 1076). Also in the year 1071 the city of Bari on the east coast of Byzantine Italy fell to the Norman dukes, Robert Guiscard and Richard of Aversa. Shortly thereafter Guiscard's oldest son Bohemond was put in charge at Bari as Prince of Apulia. In 1072 Guiscard and his younger brother, Roger, began attacks on Sicily and took Palermo. The island was not entirely in his hands till 1091. Meanwhile the forces of Richard of Aversa attacked papal territory at Benevento and other former Lombard areas. Pope Alexander attempted to secure Byzantine arms against the Lombard conquests, now out of control.

Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII

Emperor Henry IV (1056-1106), only six years old when his father died, was unable to rule effectively until 1066. In that interim much of the imperial wealth and power had been snatched away by churchmen and powerful laymen. By 1074 he had regained control but his methods included openly practicing simony in selling abbacies and bishoprics, a practice which his father had abandoned. The investiture struggle, beginning in 1075 would not be concluded until 1122. The papacy supported the rebellions of his sons Conrad (1093) and Henry (1104).

Henry IV's first clash with the papacy came under pope Alexander II and was centered in a disagreement over whose nominee would be honored in filling the vacant bishopric of Milan. Henry IV deferred to the Pope on this occasion. Later in 1085 Henry IV extended the "Peace of God" movement over his entire Empire.

In 1073, Archdeacon Hildebrand had himself elected as pope Gregory VII, 1073-1085, on the day after pope Alexander II died. Instead of asking for imperial confirmation from Henry IV, Gregory merely notified him of the election. Gregory VII's pontificate was extremely important for the medieval papacy, for even though Gregory was thwarted in many of his most grandiose schemes he was successful in establishing precedents upon which later popes would be able to build. Hildebrand was a native Italian and a very hard man to get along with. Cardinal Damiani called him "Holy Satan". His supporters in Germany called him "Hellbrand" which means bright fire, while his detractors rather termed him "Höllebrand" which means "hell fire".

The New Ideology of Papal Suzerainty

During this period from the early eleventh century onward, Western Europeans came more and more to think of themselves as a united Christian commonwealth. "Christendom," as they saw it, was virtually identical with greater Europe. The Church was the common bond that held all Europe together, and the triumphant papacy symbolized that unity. Institutions like marriage, vassalage, and even the state, were subject to the control of the Church. Every social activity, every occupation, every type of celebration had its patron saint.

At the beginning of this period the Papacy enjoyed an honored position and was widely recognized as a very ancient and noble office. We have seen how, in fact, the power of the Papacy had been intermittent at best and often little more than assertions and wishful thinking. During this period the Papacy made a concerted effort to become not only the leading church official in Western Europe, but also the most powerful ruler of any type. No secular monarch could boast the wealth nor even a fraction of the influence and effective power exercised by the Bishop of Rome between about 1075 and 1275. In fact, the Papacy became a model government--not that it was perfect, but it was effective--and secular monarchs took lessons from the Pope in order to emulate something of his success.

Canon law sources included the Bible, decrees of the general councils, provincial synods, decrees of the popes and excerpts from Roman law dealing with Christian matters. Pope Gregory VII was a pioneer in seeing the need for the collection and organization of canon law.

The Dictatus papae is a document commonly attributed to Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085). It probably is to be understood as a memo prepared by or for Gregory VII which listed in brief notation the various aspects of papal power. Many assume that it may have been a research memo listing randomly the topics for which supporting canonical documentation needed to be collected and organized.

Gregory VII had three aims during his pontificate. First of all he intended to extend the reform of the church from the top down by removing all clergy who were married from their posts, and by removing all clergy who were guilty of simony. In March 1074 Gregory VII deposed all simoniac priests, that is, those who had obtained their positions in negotiations with laymen involving some consideration. In December 1074 all married priests were excluded from saying mass. Despite the lay and clerical reaction to these decrees he renewed them in 1075.

Gregory VII in Action

Pope Gregory VII, equipped with his new ideology of papal power, papal suzerainty began acting the part aggressively from almost the beginning of his pontificate. While he succeeded in gaining recognition of papal power in a number of areas some of his most powerful opponents gave him a tough time. His primary aim was to reform of the church from the top down by removing all clergy who were married from their posts, and by removing all clergy who were guilty of simony.

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