The Medieval Fusion of Church and State

Interrelation of Secular and Religious Authorities

Political and religious authorities in the High Middle Ages (1000-1350) had many conflicts, but

none advocated a division between church and state.

• I. Political and Religious Interrelations

• II. Papal Reform Movement

• III. The Eleventh-Century Investiture Conflict

I. Political and Religious Interrelations

• 1. “Separation of Church and State” – Defining what we mean in the twenty-first

century: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

• 2. The political role of medieval clergy– Bishops as worldly lords

• 3. The religious role of medieval secular rulers

II. Papal Reform Movement (Freedom of the Church)

• 1. Choosing bishops and the Pope– Henry III installs Pope Leo IX 1048

– Establishment of the College of Cardinals 1059

• 2. Attacking Church Abuses (secular clergy)– Simony

– Proprietary Churches

– Clerical Marriage/Concubinage

– Lay Investiture

3. Papacy as Religious Monarchy

• 1. Extending Papal Jurisdiction– Popes claim power to invest all bishops (those

outside his territory in central Italy)

• 2. Pope as Feudal Lord– Conferred the status of king on the Norman ruler of

Sicily

• 3. Development of Canon Law and Pope as Ultimate Judge– Papal Curia as a Church Supreme Court

III. The Investiture Conflict

• 1. Control of Milan 1075– Pope Gregory VII deposed German bishops appointed by

Henry IV

– Henry IV King of Germany and “Emperor of the Romans”

• 2. Gregory excommunicates Henry, who faces a challenger for imperial throne

• 3. Canossa 1077; Civil War in Germany; Second excommunication

• 4. Gregory Flees Rome 1084

• 5. Concordat of Worms 1122

Holy War: The First Crusade

Urban II in 1095 in Clermont

• The Crusades grew out of the papal reform movement of the eleventh century and the increased political role of the pope in European affairs. Through the crusades the popes applied ideas of purification and regeneration to all of Christendom.

• Not just the clergy needed to be purified, but also the lay warrior elite. Through holy war!

I. Preconditions for the Crusades

• 1. Church and Papal Reform

• 2. Penitential and Devotional Practices

• 3. Christian Ideas of Just War and Holy War

• 4. Political Fragmentation in the Islamic World– Breakdown of the Abbasid Caliphate and the

Influence of the Seljuk Turks

II. Unexpected Developments

• 1. The Peasants’ Crusade (Popular Crusade)– Walter the Penniless and Peter the Hermit

• 2. Attacks on Jewish Communities in the Rhineland (1096)– Jews forced to convert or die

• 3. The Baron’s Crusade and the Capture of Jerusalem (1099)

III. Consequences of the Crusades

• 1. The Capture of Jerusalem (1099)

• 2. Establishment of Latin Crusader States

• 3. Increased Conflict with the Byzantine Empire and Eastern Orthodox Church

• 4. Increased Trade with the Near East