In addition to the standard church historians cited in this series, I wish to introduce two other authors whose works will be used in this and subsequent studies. The first is Dr. Joseph Hergenrother, formerly professor of canon law and church history at the University of Wurzburg, Germany. He was the papal champion against Dr. Dollinger during the controversy over papal infallibility around 1870, and after. Of all his writings in support of Catholicism, his work, "The Catholic Church and Christian State," contained in two volumes, is the best. It has been translated into English and Italian.
The Catholic Encyclopedia has this to say concerning his work on church and state: "The former is a thesaurus of information concerning politico-ecclesiastical conflicts of the past, and is marked throughout by an uncompromising Catholic tone." He was made a cardinal deacon May 12, 1879, by Leo XIII, and was made the first cardinal prefect of the Vatican archives. (See Vol. VII, pp. 262-264.) Every important statement made by the cardinal is supported by Latin originals.
The next authority is Dr. Henry Charles Lea, who wrote some twenty volumes on church history, sacerdotalism, and the Inquisition. His work, "The Inquisition of the Middle Ages" (3 vols., 1906 pages), is the one we shall cite. Of it, even a noted Roman Catholic church historian, Dr. E. Vancandard, says: "One can say without exaggeration that it is the most extensive, the most profound, and the most thorough history of the Inquisition that we possess." Among Protestant church historians, Dr. Lea has no compeer. He is "the final authority" on the church of the Middle Ages, as stated by James Ford Rhodes in his "Historical Essays." Rhodes was the successor of Dr. Lea as president of the American Historical Association. Dr. Lea died in October, 1909.
1. Church Independent of State
Our historian says:
"During its second period, from Otho I to Henry III, the empire became too powerful, exercised great authority over appointments to the papal see, as formerly had been done by the Italian nobles, to the injury of the church. A reaction was imperative, for the vital interests of the church were at stake. An arrangement useful during a period of danger and difficulty was not intended for all time. It was necessary that the church should become more free and independent. She became so in the great struggle about investitures."
The cardinal here refers to the second period of the Holy Roman Empire, from 962 A. D. to Henry III, in 1056 A. D., the first period extending from in 800 to 962 A. D. During the struggle between the empire and the church officials, the popes crowned emperors, and emperors elected popes. This was an intolerable situation, since the popes held that the head of the church was also the head of the state, as we shall soon see. This conflict is called the Struggle for Investitures. It was Gregory VII who issued a decree against this prerogative of the emperors in investing bishops and archbishops into their sees. In a council held in Rome this decree was formulated:
"Since we know that investitures have been made by laymen in many places, contrary to the decrees of the holy Fathers, and that very many disturbances injurious to the Christian religion have thereby arisen in the church, we therefore decree: that no clergyman shall receive investiture of a bishopric, monastery, or church from the hand of the emperor, or the king, or any lay person, man or woman. And if anyone has ventured to receive such investiture, let him know that it is annulled by apostolic authority, and that he is subject to excommunication until he has made due reparation." s
King Henry IV paid no attention to the decree, but continued as before in giving away bishoprics. He called a synod together in Worms, at which the court bishops deposed the pope of Rome. Says the historian:
"At the synod held the following month Gregory received the sentence of deposition which Henry had the audacity to send him; whereupon, with the consent of 100 bishops, he excommunicated Henry, and released his subjects from their oath of allegiance, at the same time forbidding the king to exercise his right of government."'
The rulers of Germany were in open revolt against Henry, and finding himself deserted, he came as a penitent to Canossa, where the pope resided, and from him secured pardon and absolution. Furthermore, he published an edict in which he annulled his decrees against Pope Gregory. He also swore an oath of loyalty to the pope, which he afterward repudiated, for says the historian:
"In spite of all this, on the 28th of January, 1077, the fickle king broke the covenant he had made at Canossa, and entered into a close alliance with the evil-doing bishops of Lombardy. . . . Not till the 7th March, 1080, did he renew the ecclesiastical sentence upon Henry, who had been guilty of fresh crimes, and at the same time he acknowledged Rudolph as king. Henry's followers then declared the pope deposed, and on the 25th June elected as antipope, under the name of Clement III, the simoniacal Archbishop Guibert of Ravenna, who had been often excommunicated. After Rudolph's death, on the 15th October, 1080, Henry proceeded to Italy to install the antipope. . . . On the 3d June, 1083, Henry seized the Leonine city with the church of St. Peter, and then asked Gregory to crown him, saying he would abandon the antipope. Gregory, however, maintained that he must first of all perform satisfaction, and thus obtain absolution. At Easter in 1084, Henry was crowned emperor in St. Peter's by the antipope, but was obliged to retreat, before the advancing force of Duke Robert, who came to the assistance of the pope, besieged in the castle of St. Angelo. Gregory then left Rome, and died at Salerno on the 25th of May, 1085."
After the death of Henry IV, his son, Henry V, carried on the struggle with Pope Paschal II (1099-1118), concerning the election and investitures of bishops. Henry imprisoned the pope in 1111, and made him issue an edict in which he granted to the emperor the right to invest bishops and abbots with their official places. This conduct of the pope was censured by the cardinals and bishops in Rome and the papal territory. Pope Paschal II called a council together in the Lateran, 1112, which unanimously revoked the previous bull granted to King Henry V. In another council held in the Lateran, 1116, which was much larger than the previous one, the pope pronounced an eternal anathema upon the decree he had given to the emperor in the camp.
One of the most potent agencies for the establishment of the supreme temporal power of the Papacy, was the investiture of the archbishops as dukes and chancellors in the empire. When a king died in Germany, the archbishop of Mainz—as archchancellor of Germany—called a diet in which another king was elected. Such a diet was held in the year 1125 when Lothar of Saxony was elected, who, on the day of his coronation took the following oath:
"I, King Lothar, promise and swear to you, Pope Innocent, that I will never injure you or your successors in any way, or place you in danger of captivity. I further promise to defend the honor of the Papacy, and to restore the regalia of St. Peter which I may have in my possession, and to aid you in recovering such as may be held by any other persons."
Trouble arose after the election of Pope Alexander III, who was opposed by the emperor because he had advised Pope Hadrian to make peace with the king of Sicily. The emperor supported Victor, Paschal III, and Calixtus, three antipopes in succession; whereas France and England supported Alexander III, who had been lawfully elected pope since the year 1159. From that year to the year 1168 this controversy raged. Finally, after the antipopes had passed away, Alexander became the acknowledged pope in the empire. Peace was made between Frederick and the pope, January 25, 1183, which is called the Peace of Constance. It was this pope who issued a decree that a pope must have two thirds of the votes of the cardinals for his election. We now approach the
2. Supremacy of Church Over State
The Catholic church historian, Dr. Alzog, says that Gregory VII was the last pope to be ratified by an emperor. (See his "Church History," Vol. II, p. 484.) The struggle between the empire and the state over lay investitures lasted more than a century, with varying successes on both sides. The popes were often defeated, but never vanquished. Slowly but surely they were gaining in power in the Holy Roman Empire. The pinnacle of power was reached under the pontificate of Innocent III, who occupied the papal throne from February 22, 1198, to July 16, 1216, a period of eighteen years. The consensus of judgment of all church historians is, that no pope before had wielded such power over the state as Innocent III. We shall refer to his reign again in another article, but we will here deal only with his power over the empire.
The chief points are these: Innocent decided the election of Frederick II. He granted the the title of king to the duke of Bohemia. He gave power to the king of Aragon to confiscate the property of heretics. He excommunicated Alphonsus X, king of Galicia and Leon, for refusing to dismiss Tarsia, the daughter of Sanctius, king of Portugal, whom he had married within the forbidden degrees of family relationship. He put the kingdom of France under an interdict. He excommunicated and deposed Otho, king of Germany. He imposed his terms on Queen Constantina of Sicily. We shall refer to his treatment of King John of England– m another article. (For a further study of this pope, see "Source Book," by Thatcher and McNeal, pp. 208-232; Milman's "Latin Christianity," Vol. IV, pp. 468-551; Vol. V, pp. 13-281; Bower's "History of the Popes," Vol. II, pp. 535-550.)
Sixteen popes occupied the papal chair between Innocent III and Boniface VIII. Some of these wielded considerable power over the state, notably Innocent IV, 1243-54. On the whole there was a slow but gradual decline of papal power until we reach Boniface VIII, 12951303, who tried to revive the power and waning influence of the Papacy by issuing his famous bull, "Unam Sanctam." Says the church historian:
"The bull Tnam Sanctam,' which has been so much discussed, explains that Christ is the Head of the one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, and that St. Peter and his successors, to whom the Lord has entrusted all His sheep, are His representatives. Referring to St. Luke 22:38, the bull says further that there are two swords within the power of the church, the spiritual and the material sword. The latter is drawn for the church, the former by the church; this one by the hands of the priests, the other by the hand of kings and warriors, but according to the will of the priests and only as they allow it. One sword, however, must be subject to the other, and temporal authority must be subject to the spiritual power; the apostle says (Rom. 13:1) : 'For there is no power but from God; and those that are, are ordained of God.' . . . At the conclusion follows the precise definition that every human creature has to submit to the Roman Pontiff."
The issuing of this bull caused a discussion and a conflict which we will treat in another article.
3. Establishment of the Inquisition
The Inquisition of the Middle Ages was the natural result of the increasing power of the church over the state. The church would allow no rival in power, neither temporal nor spiritual. The persecution of heretics had always been in vogue with more or less severity since the days of the union of church and state by Constantine. However, it was not until centuries later that the church required all rulers to extirpate heresy. From the days of Charlemagne, whom the pope crowned, and onward, when an emperor received the ring, the pope told him that he must use his sword against heresy and destroy it. The kings and emperors held their crowns by the tenure of extirpating heresy. The second Lateran Council, 1139, ordered all potentates to coerce heretics into obedience. Says the church historian:
"The decree of Lucius III at the so-called Council of Verona, in 1184, commanded that all potentates should take an oath before their bishops to enforce the ecclesiastical and secular laws against heresy fully and efficaciously. Any refusal or neglect was to be punished by excommunication, deprivation of rank, and incapacity to hold other station, while in the case of cities they were to be segregated and debarred from all commerce with other places."'
The Inquisition was soon made permanent, and became supreme over the state.' Pope Innocent IV issued to all the potentates and rulers of Italy, May 15, 1252, his famous bull "Ad Extirpanda." Any one finding a heretic could seize him and take possession of his goods. If required, torture was to be applied to those who refused to reveal where the heretics were to be found.'" Slowly but surely the Inquisition was established over very nearly all Europe. The friars became the most cruel inquisitors, and were responsible directly to the pope. In another article we shall call attention to the effects of the Inquisition and its personnel.
(To be continued)
Notes
1 Vancandard, Introduction to "The Inquisition of the Middle Ages," edition 1915.
2 Hergenriither, "The Catholic Church and the Christian State," Vol. II, p. 6. Burns and Oates, London.
3 Thatcher and McNeal, "Source Book," p. 136. (See also Neander's "Church History," Torrey-Morrison edition, Vol. VII, pp. 111-164.)
4 Hergenriither. Vol. I, p. 383. (See also p. 382.) Id., pp. 386-388.
5 Thatcher and McNeal, p. 169.
6 Hergenriither, Vol. II, pp. 120, 121. (See also Milman's "Latin Christianity," Vol. VI, pp. 326, 327.) s Lea, "The History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages," Vol. I, pp. 224, 225. The Macmillan Cornp,Ass ss. New York.
7 Id., p. 337.
8 Id., pp. 337, 338.
