The Church Wields Power

Vocab: clergy, sacrament, canon law & Holy Roman Empire

The Scope of Church Authority

When the Church crowned Charlemagne emperor they sought influence in political and spiritual matters.

What happened was that the Church and government competed for power.

Church Structure Consisted of different

ranks of clergy (religious officials).

The Pope was the head.

Bishops and priests fell under the Pope.

Bishops supervised priests.

Bishops settled disputes over Church teachings & religious practices.

Unifying Force The church bonded the people.

Provided Christians with security & religious community.

Middle Ages also known as the Age of Faith.

Path to salvation through the administering of the sacraments which were important religious ceremonies.

Paved the way for salvation through baptism & confirmation.

Unifying Force The village church

served as a social and religious center.

People worshipped and met other people at church.

Religious holidays were times for gatherings and festive celebrations.

Church Justice Authority was both religious and political.

Justice was to guide people’s conduct.

All medieval Christians were subject to canon law which was the law of the church.

Harshest punishments handed down by the church were interdict & excommunication.

Popes used excommunication to have power over rulers.

Church Justice The interdict was an even harsher verdict .

It meant no religious sacraments could take place in the King’s lands.

This meant people were doomed to hell.

Forced may emperors to submit to a Pope’s command.

The Holy Roman Empire

Otto I of Germany allies with the Pope after Charlemagne’s death.

His reason was to limit the power of the nobility.

Received support from the bishops and abbots in Germany.

Invaded Italy on the Pope’s behalf in 962.

Otto was crowned emperor.

Conflicts Italians nobles did not like

being ruled by German emperors.

Popes did not like it either.

Church resented the power that Otto & other kings had over lay investiture (selection of church officials).

1075 Pope Gregory VII banned lay investiture.

Henry IV was angered by the move.

Conflicts Henry fired off a harsh letter to Gregory.

Gregory excommunicated Henry.

They met at Canossa, It. Henry was humbled by the Pope. The Pope forgave him.

The church and King’s kept fighting over lay investiture until 1122.

The Pope & the German rulers met at Worms.

Concordat of Worms

Result was that the Church alone could grant a bishop his ring and staff.

The emperor had the veto power of appointment.

German princes had regained much of the power they had lost when Otto I ruled.

Frederick I Chosen by German princes in

1152.

1st ruler to call his lands the Holy Roman Empire.

Attacked the cities of Italy. Angered the merchants of Italy and the Pope.

These two forces formed an alliance called The Lombard League.

1176 at the Battle of Legnano Fredericks forces were defeated.

Frederick I 1177 made peace with the Pope.

Lost authority with the German princes.

After his death in 1190 Germany broke up into many feudal states.

German rulers kept invading Italy.

Germany was never able to unify because of this.

By electing the King, German rulers authority was weakened.