Primary source documents

chapter 9: Papal history: The growth of papal power

Pope Leo I, Sermon on Petrine Supremacy

Source: Frederic Austin Ogg (ed.), A Source Book of Medieval History. Documents Illustrative of European Life and Institutions from the German Invasions to the Renaissance, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: American Book Company 1908, 80-83.

Pope Leo I (440-461) can be regarded as the first to clearly establish the basis for the primacy of the Roman bishop. The following parts of a sermon by Leo I set forth the theory of Petrine supremacy: first, Christ committed to Peter supremacy over all other apostles and the keys of the kingdom of heaven; second, Peter became the first bishop of Rome; and third, the authority given to Peter was transferred to all the succeeding bishops of Rome.

   Although, therefore, dearly beloved, we be found both weak and slothful in fulfilling the duties of our office, because, whatever devoted and vigorous action we desire to undertake, we are hindered in by the frailty of our nature, yet having the unceasing propitiation of the Almighty and perpetual Priest [Christ], who being like us and yet equal with the Father, brought down His Godhead even to things human, and raised His Manhood even to things Divine, we worthily and piously rejoice over His dispensation, whereby, though He has delegated the care of His sheep to many shepherds, yet He has not Himself abandoned the guardianship of His beloved flock. And from His overruling and eternal protection we have received the support of the Apostle's aid also, which assuredly does not cease from its operation; and the strength of the foundation, on which the whole superstructure of the Church is reared, is not weakened by the weight of the temple that rests upon it. For the solidity of that faith which was praised in the chief of the Apostles is perpetual; and as that remains which Peter believed in Christ, so that remains which Christ instituted in Peter.
   For when, as has been read in the Gospel lesson, the Lord had asked the disciples whom they believed Him to be amid the various opinions that were held, and the blessed Peter had replied, saying, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," the Lord said, "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father, which is in heaven. And I say to thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build My church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed also in heaven." [Matt. 16:16-19.]

   The dispensation of Truth therefore abides, and the blessed Peter persevering in the strength of the Rock, which he has received, has not abandoned the helm of the Church, which he undertook. For he was ordained before the rest in such a way that from his being called the Rock, from his being pronounced the Foundation, from his being constituted the Doorkeeper of the kingdom of heaven, from his being set as the Umpire to bind and to loose, whose judgments shall retain their validity in heaven—from all these mystical titles we might know the nature of his association with Christ. And still today he more fully and effectually performs what is intrusted to him, and carries out every part of his duty and charge in Him and with Him, through whom he has been glorified. And so if anything is rightly done and rightly decreed by us, if anything is won from the mercy of God by our daily supplications, it is of his work and merits whose power lives and whose authority prevails in his see. […] 

   And so, dearly beloved, with becoming obedience we celebrate today's festival by such methods, that in my humble person he may be recognized and honored, in whom abides the care of all the shepherds, together with the charge of the sheep commended to him, and whose dignity is not belittled even in so unworthy an heir. And hence the presence of my venerable brothers and fellow-priests, so much desired and valued by me, will be the more sacred and precious, if they will transfer the chief honor of this service in which they have deigned to take part to him whom they know to be not only the patron of this see, but also the primate of all bishops. When therefore we utter our exhortations in your ears, holy brethren, believe that he is speaking whose representative we are. Because it is his warning that we give, and nothing else but his teaching that we preach, beseeching you to "gird up the loins of your mind," and lead a chaste and sober life in the fear of God, and not to let your mind forget his supremacy and consent to the lusts of the flesh. [… – What follows are some moral admonition].

The Donation of Constantine

Source: Ernest F. Henderson, Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages, (London: George Bell and Sons, 1910), 319-329.

The Donation of Constantine is one of the most famous forgeries of history. The document was produced by church representatives to support their claim for the lands that Pepin had taken from the Lombards after his victory over them. By claiming that the land had long since been given to the pope (by Constantine), Pepin’s gift appeared simply as a restoration of what already belonged to the church. It was only during the Renaissance that this document was exposed as a forgery.

The lengthy document excerpted below is interesting because it includes crucial parts of the papal self-understanding of that time. It describes, supposedly in Constantine’s words, his conversion: when he was seriously ill, pagan priests suggested that he bathe in a pool of the blood of innocent children, but he was abhorred by this thought; then, at night, the apostles Peter and Paul appeared to him in a dream and told him how to find healing at a pool of piety. Constantine subsequently found healing and responded in recognition of the power of the Christian God and in gratitude to the earthly vicar of St Peter. In return for the physical health and the spiritual gifts that he had received through the church, Constantine donated various gifts to the church. It is only towards the end of the document that Constantine is also said to bestow lands of Italy on the pope, describing his establishment of a new capital in Constantinople with the argument that “where the supremacy of priests and the head of the Christian religion has been established by a heavenly ruler, it is not just that there an earthly ruler should have jurisdiction.”

   In the name of the holy and indivisible Trinity, the Father, namely, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The emperor Caesar Flavius Constantine in Christ Jesus, the Lord God our Saviour, one of that same holy Trinity, – faithful merciful, supreme, beneficent, Alamannic, Gothic, Sarmatic, Germanic, Britannic, Hunic, pious, fortunate, victor and triumpher, always august: to the most holy and blessed father of fathers Sylvester, bishop of the city of Rome and to all his successors the pontiffs , who are about to sit upon Rome and pope, the chair of St. Peter until the end of time [… and a lengthy greeting continues].

   For we wish you to know, as we have signified through our former imperial decree, that we have gone away, from the worship of idols, from mute and deaf images made by hand, from devilish contrivances and from all the pomps of Satan; and have arrived at the pure faith of the Christians, which is the true light and everlasting life. Believing, according to what he – that same one, our revered supreme father and teacher, the pontiff Sylvester – has taught us, in God the Father, the almighty maker of Heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible; and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord God, through whom all things are created; and in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and vivifier of the whole creature. We confess these, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, in such way that, in the perfect Trinity, there shall also be a fulness of divinity and a unity of power. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; and these three are one in Jesus Christ.

   [… in the following section, the text continues to describe the Christian faith that Constantine supposedly found].

   We exhort, therefore, all people, and all the different nations, to hold, cherish and preach this faith; and, in the name of the Holy Trinity, to obtain the grace of baptism; and, with devout heart, to adore the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns through infinite ages; whom Sylvester our father, the universal pontiff, preaches. For He himself, our Lord God, having pit on me a sinner, sent His holy apostles to visit us, and caused the light of his splendour to shine upon us. And do ye rejoice that I, having been withdrawn from the shadow, have come to the true light and to the knowledge of truth. For, at a time when a mighty and filthy leprosy had invaded all the flesh of my body, and the care was administered of many physicians who came together, nor by that of any one of them did I achieve health: there came hither the priests of the Capitol, saying to me that a font should be made on the Capitol, and that I should fill this with the blood of innocent infants; and that, if I bathed in it while it was warm, I might be cleansed. And very many innocent infants having been brought together according to their words, when the sacrilegious priests of the pagans wished them to be slaughtered and the font to be filled with their blood: our serenity perceiving the tears of the mothers, I straightway abhorred the deed. And, pitying them, I ordered their own sons to be restored to them; and, giving them vehicles and gifts, sent them off rejoicing to their own. That day having passed therefore – the silence of night having come upon us – when the time of sleep had arrived, the apostles St. Peter and Paul appear, saying to me: "Since thou hast placed a term to thy vices, and hast abhorred the pouring forth of innocent blood, we are sent by, Christ the Lord our God, to give to thee a plan for recovering thy health. Hear, therefore, our warning, and do what we indicate to thee. Sylvester – the bishop of the city of Rome – on Mount Serapte, fleeing the persecutions, cherishes the darkness with his clergy in the caverns of the rocks. This one, when thou shalt have led him to thyself, will himself show thee a pool of piety; in which, when he shall have dipped thee for the third time, all that strength of the leprosy will desert thee. And, when this shall have been done, make this return to thy Saviour, that by thy order through the whole world the churches may be restored. Purify thyself, moreover, in this way, that, leaving all the superstition of idols, thou do adore and cherish the living and true God -- who is alone and true -- and that thou attain to the doing of His will.”

   Rising, therefore, from sleep, straightway I did according to that which I bad been advised to do by, the holy apostles; and, having summoned that excellent and benignant father and our enlightener – Sylvester the universal pope – I told him all the words that had been taught me by the holy apostles; and asked him who were those gods Peter and Paul. But he said that they were not really called gods, but apostles of our Saviour the Lord God Jesus Christ. And again we began to ask that same most blessed pope whether he had some express image of those apostles; so that, from their likeness, we might learn that they were those whom revelation bad shown to us. Then that same venerable father ordered the images of those same apostles to be shown by his deacon. And, when I had looked at them, and recognized, represented in those images, the countenances of those whom I had seen in my dream: with a great noise, before all my satraps, I confessed that they were those whom I had seen in my dream.

   Hereupon that same most blessed Sylvester our father, bishop of the city of Rome, imposed upon us a time of penance – within our Lateran palace, in the chapel, in a hair garment, – so that I might obtain pardon from our Lord God Jesus Christ our Saviour by vigils, fasts, and tears and prayers, for all things that had been impiously done and unjustly ordered by me. Then through the imposition of the hands of the clergy, I came to the bishop himself; and there, renouncing the pomps of Satan and his works, and all idols made by hands, of my own will before all the people I confessed: that I believed in God the Father almighty, maker of Heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord, who was born of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary. And, the font having been blessed, the wave of salvation purified me there with a triple immersion. For there I, being placed at the bottom of the font, saw with my own eyes a band from Heaven touching me; whence rising, clean, know that I was cleansed from all the squalor of leprosy. And, I being raised from the venerable font – putting on white raiment, be administered to me the sign of the seven-fold holy Spirit, the unction of the holy oil; and he traced the sign of the holy cross on my brow, saying: God seals thee with the seal of His faith in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, to signalize thy faith. All the clergy replied: "Amen." The bishop added, "Peace be with thee."

   And so, on the first day after receiving the mystery of the holy baptism, and after the cure of my body from the squalor of the leprosy, I recognized that there was no other God save the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit; whom the most blessed Sylvester the pope doth preach; a trinity in one, a unity in three. For all the gods of the nations, whom I have worshipped up to this time, are proved to be demons; works made by the hand of men; inasmuch as that same venerable father told to us most clearly how much power in Heaven and on earth He, our Saviour, conferred on his apostle St. Peter, when finding him faithful after questioning him He said: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock (petrani) shall I build My Church, and the gates of bell shall not prevail against it." Give heed ye powerful, and incline the ear of .your hearts to that which the good Lord and Master added to His disciple, saying: and I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven; and whatever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound also in Heaven, and whatever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed also in Heaven." This is very wonderful and glorious, to bind and loose on earth and to have it bound and loosed in Heaven.

   And when, the blessed Sylvester preaching them, I perceived these things, and learned that by the kindness of St. Peter himself I had been entirely restored to health: I – together with all our satraps and the whole senate and the nobles and all the Roman people, who are subject to the glory of our rule – considered it advisable that, as on earth he (Peter) is seen to have been constituted vicar of the Son of God, so the pontiffs, who are the representatives of that same chief of the apostles, should obtain from us and our empire the power of a supremacy greater than the earthly clemency of our imperial serenity is seen to have had conceded to it, – we choosing that same prince of the apostles, or his vicars, to be our constant intercessors with God. And, to the extent of our earthly imperial power, we decree that his holy Roman church shall be honoured with veneration; and that, more than our empire and earthly throne, the most sacred seat of St. Peter shall be gloriously exalted; we giving to it the imperial power, and dignity of glory, and vigour and honour.

   And we ordain and decree that he shall have the supremacy as well over the four chief seats Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople [at this point, an alert reader could have recognized the forgery, as Constantinople did not yet exist at the time of the supposed date of the document] and Jerusalem, as also over all the churches of God in the whole world. And he who for the time being shall be pontiff of that holy Roman church shall be more exalted than, and chief over, all the priests of the whole world; and, according to his judgment, everything which is to be provided for the service of God or the stability of the faith of the Christians is to be administered. [The document adds further arguments for the primacy of Rome, followed by an account about how Constantine built a church for St Peter and St Paul.]

   [A]nd, through our sacred imperial decrees, we have granted them our gift of land in the East as well as in the West; and even on the northern and southern coast;-namely in Judea, Greece, Asia, Thrace, Africa and Italy and the various islands: under this condition indeed, that all shall be administered by the hand of our most blessed father the pontiff Sylvester and his successors.

   [The next paragraphs continue with words of thanks for St Peter and St Paul and, through them, the pope. It then confers significant gifts to the pope, among them the Lateran palace and various royal and papal insignia like the tiara and the diadem, as well as gifts to the clergy of the Roman church.]

   In imitation of our own power, in order that for that cause the supreme pontificate may not deteriorate, but may rather be adorned with power and glory even more than is the dignity of an earthly rule: behold we – giving over to the oft-mentioned most blessed pontiff, our father Sylvester the universal pope, as well our palace, as has been said, as also the city of Rome and all the provinces, districts and cities of Italy or of the western regions; and relinquishing them, by our inviolable gift, to the power and sway of himself or the pontiffs his successors – do decree, by this our godlike charter and imperial constitution, that it shall be (so) arranged; and do concede that they (the palaces, provinces etc.) shall lawfully remain with the holy Roman church.

   Wherefore we have perceived it to be fitting that our empire and the power of our kingdom should be transferred and changed to the regions of the East; and that, in the province of Byzantium, in a most fitting place, a city should be built in our name; and that our empire should there be established. For, where the supremacy of priests and the bead of the Christian religion has been established by a heavenly ruler, it is not just that there an earthly ruler should have jurisdiction.

   [The document ends with several sentences that emphasize the on-going validity of this decree.]

   And the imperial subscription: May the Divinity preserve you for many years, oh most holy and blessed fathers.

   Given at Rome on the third day before the Kalends of April, our master the august Flavius Constantine, for the fourth time, and Galligano, most illustrious men, being consuls.

Pope Leo III crowns Charlemagne as emperor (800)

Source: Frederic Austin Ogg (ed.), A Source Book of Medieval History. Documents Illustrative of European Life and Institutions from the German Invasions to the Renaissance, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: American Book Company 1908, 132-4.

The coronation of Charlemagne as emperor on Christmas Day of the year 800 was a highly symbolic event that can be seen as the beginning of Medieval Western Europe. By crowning the emperor, Pope Leo III appeared to claim supreme authority over the highest worldly ruler. According to Charlemagne’s biographer Einhard, the king “would not have set foot in the church the day that they [the titles of emperor and Augustus] were conferred, although it was a great feast-day, if he could have foreseen the design of the Pope" (Vita Caroli Magni, Chap. 28). Although the coronation hardly came as surprise, it seems that the actual time and place indeed caught Charlemagne on the wrong foot. As such, it can be seen as a propaganda victory of the pope.

The event made the Frankish king appear to inherit the tradition of the Roman Empire. However, the coronation did not change the actual political power relations in Western Europe – it simply formalized an existing political situation. Charlemagne had no intention of claiming political authority over the Eastern part of the Roman Empire.

The first part of the text below is taken from the Annals of Lauresheim, written at the Abbey of Lorsch in the 9th century and covering the Frankish history; the second part is from the Lives of the Roman Pontiffs, which documents the papal tradition.

   And because the name of emperor had now ceased among the Greeks, and their empire was possessed by a woman [the text refers to Irene, the wife of Emperor Leo IV who, after the death of her husband in 780, became regent during the minority of her son, Constantine VI, then only nine years of age; in 790 Constantine succeeded in taking the government out of her hands; but seven years afterwards she caused him to be blinded and shut him up in a dungeon, where he soon died; the revolting crimes by which Irene established her supremacy at Constantinople were considered, even in her day, a disgrace to Christendom], it seemed both to Leo the pope himself, and to all the holy fathers who were present in the self-same council, as well as to the rest of the Christian people, that they ought to take to be emperor Charles, king of the Franks, who held Rome herself, where the Caesars had always been wont to sit, and all the other regions which he ruled through Italy and Gaul and Germany; and inasmuch as God had given all these lands into his hand, it seemed right that with the help of God, and at the prayer of the whole Christian people, he should have the name of emperor also. [The Pope's] petition King Charles willed not to refuse, but submitting himself with all humility to God, and at the prayer of the priests, and of the whole Christian people, on the day of the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, he took on himself the name of emperor, being consecrated by the Pope Leo. . . . For this also was done by the will of God . . . that the heathen might not mock the Christians if the name of emperor should have ceased among them.

   After these things, on the day of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, when all the people were assembled in the Church of the blessed St. Peter, the venerable and gracious Pope with his own hands crowned him [Charlemagne] with an exceedingly precious crown. Then all the faithful Romans, beholding the choice of such a friend and defender of the holy Roman Church, and of the pontiff, did by the will of God and of the blessed Peter, the key-bearer of the heavenly kingdom, cry with a loud voice, "To Charles, the most pious Augustus, crowned of God, the great and peace-giving Emperor, be life and victory." While he, before the altar of the church, was calling upon many of the saints, it was proclaimed three times, and by the common voice of all he was chosen to be emperor of the Romans. Then the most holy high priest and pontiff anointed Charles with holy oil, and also his most excellent son to be king, upon the very day of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The foundation charter of the Monastery of Cluny

Source: Frederic Austin Ogg (ed.), A Source Book of Medieval History. Documents Illustrative of European Life and Institutions from the German Invasions to the Renaissance, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: American Book Company 1908, 247-9.

The foundation charter of the monastery of Cluny, issued by William the Pious, duke of Aquitaine and count of Auvergne, on September 11, 910, was in many ways typical of the time. The purpose of the foundation was for William to merit eternal rewards, giving up some portion of his wealth for the good of his soul. The new monastery followed the Benedictine Rule, under which nearly all monastic institutions in Western Europe were governed. What is different about this founding charter, however, is that William the Pious expressly stated that the abbot should be chosen by the monks, i.e., without any outside interference. This independence from the political powers that commonly used ecclesial offices for their own interests anticipated something of the investiture controversy that grew out of the Cluny movement.

   To all who think wisely it is evident that the providence of God has made it possible for rich men, by using well their temporal possessions, to be able to merit eternal rewards. […]

   I, William, count and duke, after diligent reflection, and desiring to provide for my own safety while there is still time, have decided that it is advisable, indeed absolutely necessary, that from the possessions which God has given me I should give some portion for the good of my soul. I do this, indeed, in order that I who have thus increased in wealth may not at the last be accused of having spent all in caring for my body, but rather may rejoice, when fate at length shall snatch all things away, in having preserved something for myself. I cannot do better than follow the precepts of Christ and make His poor my friends. That my gift may be durable and not transitory I will support at my own expense a congregation of monks. And I hope that I shall receive the reward of the righteous because I have received those whom I believe to be righteous and who despise the world, although I myself am not able to despise all things.

   Therefore be it known to all who live in the unity of the faith and who await the mercy of Christ, and to those who shall succeed them and who shall continue to exist until the end of the world, that, for the love of God and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, I hand over from my own rule to the holy apostles, namely, Peter and Paul, the possessions over which I hold sway—the town of Cluny, with the court and demesne manor, and the church in honor of St. Mary, the mother of God, and of St. Peter, the prince of the apostles, together with all the things pertaining to it, the villas, the chapels, the serfs of both sexes, the vines, the fields, the meadows, the woods, the waters and their outlets, the mills, the incomes and revenues, what is cultivated and what is not, all without reserve. These things are situated in or about the county of Macon, each one marked off by definite bounds. I give, moreover, all these things to the aforesaid apostles—I, William, and my wife Ingelberga—first for the love of God ; then for the soul of my lord King Odo, of my father and my mother; for myself and my wife,—for the salvation, namely, of our souls and bodies; and not least, for that of Ava, who left me these things in her will; for the souls also of our brothers and sisters and nephews, and of all our relatives of both sexes; for our faithful ones who adhere to our service; for the advancement, also, and integrity of the Catholic religion. Finally, since all of us Christians are held together by one bond of love and faith, let this donation be for all—for the orthodox, namely, of past, present, or future times.

   I give these things, moreover, with this understanding, that in Cluny a monastery shall be constructed in honor of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and that there the monks shall congregate and live according to the rule of St. Benedict, and that they shall possess and make use of these same things for all time. In such wise, however, that the venerable house of prayer which is there shall be faithfully frequented with vows and supplications, and that heavenly conversations shall be sought after with all desire and with the deepest ardor; and also that there shall be diligently directed to God prayers and exhortations, as well for me as for all, according to the order in which mention has been made of them above. And let the monks themselves, together with all aforesaid possessions, be under the power and dominion of the abbot Berno, who, as long as he shall live, shall preside over them regularly according to his knowledge and ability. But after his death, those same monks shall have power and permission to elect any one of their order whom they please as abbot and rector, following the will of God and the rule promulgated by St. Benedict — in such wise that neither by the intervention of our own or of any other power may they be impeded from making a purely canonical election. Every five years, moreover, the aforesaid monks shall pay to the church of the apostles at Rome ten shillings to supply them with lights; and they shall have the protection of those same apostles and the defense of the Roman pontiff; and those monks may, with their whole heart and soul, according to their ability and knowledge, build up the aforesaid place.

Gregory VII’s concept of papal authority

Source: Frederic Austin Ogg (ed.), A Source Book of Medieval History. Documents Illustrative of European Life and Institutions from the German Invasions to the Renaissance, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: American Book Company 1908, 262-4.

The text below is part of the so-called Dictatus Papae, through which Pope Gregory VII stated his concept of papal power. It is a summary of how the pope understood his relationship with the bishops and with the political powers. The text was probably written shortly after the death of Gregory, but it fully reflects his views, recognizable by his actions. The eleventh dictum below was the first distinct claim of the exclusive right of the bishop of Rome to the title of pope, once applied to all bishops (Robinson, Readings in European History, Vol. I., 274), and the common title for all priests in the Greek Church. It is also the title for the head of the Coptic Church. 

1. That the Roman Church was founded by God alone.
2. That the Roman bishop alone is properly called universal.
3. That he alone has the power to depose bishops and reinstate them.
4. That his legate, though of inferior rank, takes precedence of all bishops in council, and may give sentence of deposition against them.
5. That the Pope has the power to depose [bishops] in their absence.
6. That we should not even stay in the same house with those who are excommunicated by him.
8. That he alone may use the imperial insignia.
9. That the Pope is the only person whose feet are kissed by all princes.
11. That the name which he bears belongs to him alone.
12. That he has the power to depose emperors.
13. That he may, if necessity require, transfer bishops from one see to another.
16. That no general synod may be called without his consent.
17. That no action of a synod, and no book, may be considered canonical without his authority.
18. That his decree can be annulled by no one, and that he alone may annul the decrees of any one.
19. That he can be judged by no man.
20. That no one shall dare to condemn a person who appeals to the apostolic see.
22. That the Roman Church has never erred, nor ever, by the testimony of Scripture, shall err, to all eternity.
26. That no one can be considered Catholic who does not agree with the Roman Church.
27. That he [the Pope] has the power to absolve the subjects of unjust rulers from their oath of fidelity.

First deposition and banning of Henry IV, by Gregory VII, 22 February 1076

Source: Ernest F. Henderson, Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages, (London: George Bell and Sons, 1910), 376-377

The peak of the investiture controversy came with the clash between Pope Gregory VII and King Henry IV, peaking in the latter’s famous walk to Canossa, where he asked for a revocation of his excommunication. Gregory VII wanted to implement the Cluny reforms of prohibiting lay investiture and simony. He aimed to put an end to the common practice of political rulers appointing bishops or archbishops. The papal decree below, which excommunicated Henry IV and freed all subjects of the king from their allegiance to him, was preceded by Henry IV and his allies deposing the pope from the papacy. They had criticized that he had become pope unlawfully (in fact, his election was not fully compatible with the recently established church law that a pope should be elected by a collegium of cardinals; instead, he had been formally elected by them only after the people of Rome had enthusiastically called for his election). Gregory VII received Henry’s deposition as he sat in his council, and those surrounding him reacted very angrily against the king’s messengers. It was Gregory VII himself who calmed the people and then gave the excommunication below.

   O St. Peter, chief of the apostles, incline to us, I beg, thy holy ears, and hear me thy servant whom thou has nourished from infancy, and whom, until this day, thou hast freed from the hand of the wicked, who have hated and do hate me for my faithfulness to thee. Thou, and my mistress the mother of God, and thy brother St. Paul are witnesses for me among all the saints that thy holy Roman church drew me to its helm against my will; that I had no thought of ascending thy chair through force, and that I would rather have ended my life as a pilgrim than, by secular means, to have seized thy throne for the sake of earthly glory. And therefore I believe it to be through thy grace and not through my own deeds that it has pleased and does please thee that the Christian people, who have been especially committed to thee, should obey me. And especially to me, as thy representative and by thy favour, has the power been granted by God of binding and loosing in Heaven and on earth. On the strength of this belief therefore, for the honour and security of thy church, in the name of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I withdraw, through thy power and authority, from Henry the king, son of Henry the emperor, who has risen against thy church with unheard of insolence, the rule over the whole kingdom of the Germans and over Italy. And I absolve all Christians from the bonds of the oath which they have made or shall make to him; and I forbid any one to serve him as king. For it is fitting that he who strives to lessen the honour of thy church should himself lose the honour which belongs to him. And since he has scorned to obey as a Christian, and has not returned to God whom he had deserted-holding intercourse with the excommunicated; practising manifold iniquities; spurning my commands which, as thou dost bear witness, I issued to him for his own salvation; separating himself from thy church and striving to rend it – I bind him in thy stead with the chain of the anathema. And, leaning on thee, I so bind him that the people may know and have proof that thou art Peter, and above thy rock the Son of the living God hath built His church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.  

Summons of Henry IV to the Council of Worms - Royal Justification (1076)

Source: Ernest F. Henderson, Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages, (London: George Bell and Sons, 1910), 377-9.

Henry IV responded to the excommunication by summoning his princes and his dignitaries to a council at Worms. In the document below he once more strongly attacks the pope and his lack of legitimacy. However, the Council of Worms was an embarrassment to the king because only a few princes attended. Many of them supported Gregory VII – but for political reasons rather than loyalty to the Catholic faith or support for the Cluny reform principles.

   Henry, king by the grace of God, sends favour, greeting, love-not to all, but to a few.

   […] Thou art not ignorant, indeed, of this oppression; only see to it that thou do not withdraw thy aid from the oppressed church, but that thou do give thy sympathy to the kingdom and the priesthood. For in both of these, even as the church has hitherto been exalted, so now, alas, in both it is humiliated and bereaved. Inasmuch as one man has claimed for himself both; nor has he helped the one, seeing that he neither would nor could help either. But, lest we keep from thee any longer the name of one who is known to thee, learn of whom we are speaking – Hildebrand, namely, outwardly, indeed, a monk; called pope, but presiding over the apostolic see rather with the violence of an invader than with the care of a pastor, and, from the seat of universal peace, sundering the chains of peace and unity – as thou thyself dost clearly know. For, to mention a few cases out of many, he usurped for himself the kingdom and the priesthood without God's sanction, despising God's holy ordination which willed essentially that they – namely the kingdom and the priesthood – should remain not in the hands of one, but, as two, in the hands of two. For the Saviour Himself, during His Passion, intimated that this was the meaning of the typical sufficiency of the two swords. For when it was said to Him: " Behold, Lord, here are two swords " – He answered: "It is enough," signifying by this sufficing duality that a spiritual and a carnal sword were to be wielded in the church, and that by them every thing evil was about to be cut off – by the sacerdotal sword, namely, to the end that the king, for God's sake, should be obeyed; but by the royal one to the end that the enemies of Christ without should be expelled, and that the priesthood within should be obeyed. And He taught that every man should be constrained so to extend his love from one to the other that the kingdom should neither lack the honour due to the priesthood, nor the priesthood the honour due to the kingdom. In what way the madness of Hildebrand confounded this ordinance of God thou thyself dost know, if thou host been ready or willing to know. […]

Gregory VII’s account of Henry IV’s penance at Canossa

Source: Carl E. Purinton, Christianity and Its Judaic Heritage. An Introduction with Selected Sources. New York: The Ronald Press Company 1961, 333-4.

King Henry’s pilgrimage of repentance to receive papal absolution was the most dramatic expression of the long conflict between spiritual and temporal power. Henry IV had been deposed by Gregory VII and feared that some territorial leaders would use the excommunication to move against him. He therefore felt compelled to seek absolution.
The text below offers Pope Gregory VII’s description of the events in Canossa. It reveals something of the pope’s reluctance to loosen the excommunication of the king.

   Inasmuch as for the love of justice ye have assumed common cause and danger with us in the stress of this Christian warfare, we have bethought us to relate to you, beloved, in sincere affection, how the king, humbled to penance, has obtained the pardon of absolution, and how the whole matter has progressed since his entry into Italy up to the present day.

   As had been arranged with the legates whom you dispatched to us, we came into Lombardy about twenty days before the date on which one of the nobles was to meet us at the pass, and awaited his coming before we crossed over to the other side of the Alps.

   When the time fixed upon had quite passed, we were told, as we could well believe, that at that season, on account of the numerous obstacles, an escort could not be sent to meet us. We were then involved in no little anxiety as to what we would best do, since we had no means of crossing over to you.

   Meanwhile, however, we learned positively that the king was approaching. Indeed, before he entered Italy he had sent us suppliant messages, offering to render satisfaction, in all respects, to God, St. Peter, and ourselves. He also renewed his promise that he would be perfectly obedient in the matter of amending his life if only he might win from us the favor of absolution and of the apostolic benediction.

   When, after many delays and after much consultation we had, through all the envoys who passed between us, severely reprimanded him for his offenses, he at length came of his own accord, accompanied by a few followers, with no hostility or arrogance in his bearing, to the town of Canossa, where we were tarrying. And there, laying aside all the trappings of royalty, he stood in wretchedness, barefooted and clad in woolen, for three days before the gate of the castle, and implored with profuse weeping the aid and consolation of the apostolic mercy, until he had moved all who saw or heard of it to such pity and depth of compassion that they interceded for him with many prayers and tears and wondered at the unaccustomed hardness of our heart; some even protested that we were displaying not the seriousness of the apostolic displeasure but the cruelty of tyrannical ferocity.

   At last, overcome by his persistent remorse and by the earnest entreaties of those with us, we loosed the chain of anathema and received him into the favor of our fellowship and into the lap of the holy mother Church.

Innocent III, Letter “Sicut Universitatis” to Consul Acerbus of Florence, 30 Oct 1198 – on the supreme power in the world

Source: Carl E. Purinton, Christianity and Its Judaic Heritage. An Introduction with Selected Sources. New York: The Ronald Press Company 1961, 348.

Innocent III (1198-1216) was, together with Gregory VII and Boniface VIII, one of the most powerful popes in the history of the medieval church. Besides convening the Fourth Lateran Council, the most important council of the medieval time, his legacy of official declarations is larger than any other pope’s.

The text below explains the relationship of pope and king with reference to the famous allegory of sun and moon.

   Even as God, the Creator of the Universe, has set two great lights in the firmament of heaven, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night, so for the firmament of the universal Church, which is called by the name of heaven, He has appointed two great dignitaries: the greater to rule over men’s souls, as it were the day, and the lesser to rule over men’s bodies, as it were the night. These are the authority of the Pope and the King. Further, as the moon derives its light from the sun, which indeed is less than the sun both in bulk and importance, though alike in place and power, so the power of the King derives the splendour of its dignity from the authority of the Pope; and the more the former keeps within view of the latter, so much the more is it adorned by a lesser light, and the further it is removed from the view of the other so much the more does it excel in splendour.

Gregory VII’s account of Henry IV’s penance at Canossa

Source: Carl E. Purinton, Christianity and Its Judaic Heritage. An Introduction with Selected Sources. New York: The Ronald Press Company 1961, 333-4.

King Henry’s pilgrimage of repentance to receive papal absolution was the most dramatic expression of the long conflict between spiritual and temporal power. Henry IV had been deposed by Gregory VII and feared that some territorial leaders would use the excommunication to move against him. He therefore felt compelled to seek absolution.
The text below offers Pope Gregory VII’s description of the events in Canossa. It reveals something of the pope’s reluctance to loosen the excommunication of the king.

Inasmuch as for the love of justice ye have assumed common cause and danger with us in the stress of this Christian warfare, we have bethought us to relate to you, beloved, in sincere affection, how the king, humbled to penance, has obtained the pardon of absolution, and how the whole matter has progressed since his entry into Italy up to the present day.

As had been arranged with the legates whom you dispatched to us, we came into Lombardy about twenty days before the date on which one of the nobles was to meet us at the pass, and awaited his coming before we crossed over to the other side of the Alps.

When the time fixed upon had quite passed, we were told, as we could well believe, that at that season, on account of the numerous obstacles, an escort could not be sent to meet us. We were then involved in no little anxiety as to what we would best do, since we had no means of crossing over to you.

Meanwhile, however, we learned positively that the king was approaching. Indeed, before he entered Italy he had sent us suppliant messages, offering to render satisfaction, in all respects, to God, St. Peter, and ourselves. He also renewed his promise that he would be perfectly obedient in the matter of amending his life if only he might win from us the favor of absolution and of the apostolic benediction.

When, after many delays and after much consultation we had, through all the envoys who passed between us, severely reprimanded him for his offenses, he at length came of his own accord, accompanied by a few followers, with no hostility or arrogance in his bearing, to the town of Canossa, where we were tarrying. And there, laying aside all the trappings of royalty, he stood in wretchedness, barefooted and clad in woolen, for three days before the gate of the castle, and implored with profuse weeping the aid and consolation of the apostolic mercy, until he had moved all who saw or heard of it to such pity and depth of compassion that they interceded for him with many prayers and tears and wondered at the unaccustomed hardness of our heart; some even protested that we were displaying not the seriousness of the apostolic displeasure but the cruelty of tyrannical ferocity.

At last, overcome by his persistent remorse and by the earnest entreaties of those with us, we loosed the chain of anathema and received him into the favor of our fellowship and into the lap of the holy mother Church.

Innocent III, Letter “Sicut Universitatis” to Consul Acerbus of Florence, 30 Oct 1198 – on the supreme power in the world

Source: Carl E. Purinton, Christianity and Its Judaic Heritage. An Introduction with Selected Sources. New York: The Ronald Press Company 1961, 348.

Innocent III (1198-1216) was, together with Gregory VII and Boniface VIII, one of the most powerful popes in the history of the medieval church. Besides convening the Fourth Lateran Council, the most important council of the medieval time, his legacy of official declarations is larger than any other pope’s.

The text below explains the relationship of pope and king with reference to the famous allegory of sun and moon.

Even as God, the Creator of the Universe, has set two great lights in the firmament of heaven, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night, so for the firmament of the universal Church, which is called by the name of heaven, He has appointed two great dignitaries: the greater to rule over men’s souls, as it were the day, and the lesser to rule over men’s bodies, as it were the night. These are the authority of the Pope and the King. Further, as the moon derives its light from the sun, which indeed is less than the sun both in bulk and importance, though alike in place and power, so the power of the King derives the splendour of its dignity from the authority of the Pope; and the more the former keeps within view of the latter, so much the more is it adorned by a lesser light, and the further it is removed from the view of the other so much the more does it excel in splendour.

Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam (1302)

Source: Frederic Austin Ogg (ed.), A Source Book of Medieval History. Documents Illustrative of European Life and Institutions from the German Invasions to the Renaissance, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: American Book Company 1908, 385-8.

The conflict between church and state, between spiritual and temporal power, or between pope and king, went through several episodes. Maybe the most dramatic period was that of Gregory VII and Henry IV. However, the last episode, between Pope Boniface VIII and King Philip the Fair of France, resulted in the most significant document of this conflict. The bull (papal pronouncement) Unam Sanctam declares in strongest form the papal claims to universal temporal sovereignty.

The background of this bull was that King Philip had levied heavy taxes on the French clergy to support his war against England. Boniface VIII had issued an earlier bull that prohibited a king from levying taxes on the clergy without papal permission. Philip responded by calling for the first time the States General, a kind of assembly of the people’s representatives, a prototype of a parliament, to ask them to express their support for his resistance against the temporal – that is, political and financial – claims of the papacy. In response, Boniface issued the famous bull Unam Sanctam. 

Possibly the peak of the papal claim of universal political power, Unam Sanctam ironically also signifies the beginning of its demise. In just a few years’ time (1309), the papacy had moved to Avignon and was completely under the control of the French monarchy.

   The true faith compels us to believe that there is one holy Catholic Apostolic Church, and this we firmly believe and plainly confess. And outside of her there is no salvation or remission of sins, as the Bridegroom says in the Song of Solomon: "My dove, my undefiled, is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her" [Song of Sol. 6:9]; which represents the one mystical body, whose head is Christ, but the head of Christ is God [1 Cor. 11:3]. In this Church there is "one Lord, one faith, one baptism" [Eph. 4:5]. For in the time of the flood there was only one ark, that of Noah, prefiguring the one Church, and it was "finished above in one cubit" [Gen. 6:16], and had but one helmsman and master, namely, Noah. And we read that all things on the earth outside of this ark were destroyed. This Church we venerate as the only one, since the Lord said by the prophet: "Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog" [Ps. 22:20]. He prayed for his soul, that is, for himself, the head; and at the same time for the body, and he named his body, that is, the one Church, because there is but one Bridegroom [John 3:29], and because of the unity of the faith, of the sacraments, and of his love for the Church. This is the seamless robe of the Lord which was not rent but parted by lot [John 19:23].

   Therefore there is one body of the one and only Church, and one head, not two heads, as if the Church were a monster. And this head is Christ, and his vicar, Peter and his successor; for the Lord himself said to Peter: "Feed my sheep" [John 21:16]. And he said "my sheep," in general, not these or those sheep in particular; from which it is clear that all were committed to him. If therefore, Greeks [i.e., the Greek Church] or any one else say that they are not subject to Peter and his successors, they thereby necessarily confess that they are not of the sheep of Christ. For the Lord says, in the Gospel of John, that there is one fold and only one shepherd [John 10:16]. By the words of the gospel we are taught that the two swords, namely, the spiritual authority and the temporal, are in the power of the Church. For when the apostles said "Here are two swords" [Luke 22:38]—that is, in the Church, since it was the apostles who were speaking—the Lord did not answer, "It is too much," but "It is enough." Whoever denies that the temporal sword is in the power of Peter does not properly understand the word of the Lord when He said: "Put up thy sword into the sheath" [John 18:11]. Both swords, therefore, the spiritual and the temporal, are in the power of the Church. The former is to be used by the Church, the latter for the Church; the one by the hand of the priest, the other by the hand of kings and knights, but at the command and permission of the priest. Moreover, it is necessary for one sword to be under the other, and the temporal authority to be subjected to the spiritual; for the apostle says, "For there is no power but of God: and the powers that be are ordained of God" [Rom. 13:1]; but they would not be ordained unless one were subjected to the other, and, as it were, the lower made the higher by the other.

   For, according to St. Dionysius, it is a law of divinity that the lowest is made the highest through the intermediate. According to the law of the universe all things are not equally and directly reduced to order, but the lowest are fitted into their order through the intermediate, and the lower through the higher. And we must necessarily admit that the spiritual power surpasses any earthly power in dignity and honor, because spiritual things surpass temporal things. We clearly see that this is true from the paying of tithes, from the benediction, from the sanctification, from the receiving of the power, and from the governing of these things. For the truth itself declares that the spiritual power must establish the temporal power and pass judgment on it if it is not good. Thus the prophecy of Jeremiah concerning the Church and the ecclesiastical power is fulfilled: "See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant" [Jer. 1:10].

   Therefore if the temporal power errs, it will be judged by the spiritual power, and if the lower spiritual power errs, it will be judged by its superior. But if the highest spiritual power errs, it cannot be judged by men, but by God alone. For the apostle says: “But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man" [1 Cor. 2:15]. Now this authority, although it is given to man and exercised through man, is not human, but divine. For it was given by the word of the Lord to Peter, and the rock was made firm to him and his successors, in Christ himself, whom he had confessed. For the Lord said to Peter: "Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" [Matt. 16:19]. 

   Therefore, whosoever resisteth this power thus ordained of God resisteth the ordinance of God [Rom. 13:2], unless there are two principles [beginnings], as Manichaeus pretends there are. But this we judge to be false and heretical. For Moses says that, not in the beginnings, but in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth [Gen. 1:1]. We therefore declare, say, and affirm that submission on the part of every man to the bishop of Rome is altogether necessary for his salvation.

 
Copyright 2015 Tobias Brandner. All rights reserved.
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