Early-Late Middle Ages: Challenges to Church Power476-1500

Power Weakens▪ Strong govt’s & ppl questioning the wealth & practices= weaken▪ 1294, conflict= King Philip IV of France ordered clergy to pay taxes▪ Pope Boniface popes = ultimate power▪ Arrested, Let go, died after

▪ Next 100 years the church cont. to lose power

Babylonian Captivity & the Great Schism

▪ After Boniface, Philip had a French bishop elected pope= Clement V▪ Moved to France= Babylonian Captivity (1309-1377)

▪ More lost respect= controlled by French Kings

Babylonian Captivity & the Great Schism

▪ 1377, French pope Gregory XI returned to Rome▪ He died, cardinals elected an Italian pope, later a French pope

▪ Until 1417 church had 2 or 3 popes= the Great Schism▪ Council met & ended it= Removed popes & elected an Italian

▪ Both= weakened authority & raised criticism

More Problems▪ Late 1300’s John Wycliffe, priest & teacher at Oxford University, attacked

the wealth & immorality▪ Wanted to replace pope w/ the Bible▪ Insisted ppl read & interpret the Bible themselves▪ Church accused him of heresy & was banned from teaching & forced to

retire

More Problems▪ Jan Hus, a teacher at a the University of Prague, read Wycliffe’s works

& spoke out ▪ He was excommunicated & in 1414 declared a heretic = ordered to

death▪ 1415, Burned at the stake

▪ Wycliffe & Hus had a profound impact▪ Set the stage for later reformers who would drastically alter the

history of the Christian church

Quick Review▪ Why was the conflict between Philip IV & Boniface VIII the

beginning of the weakening of church power in the late Middle Ages?

▪ What was the Great/Western Schism and how did it damage the church’s reputation?

▪ According to church critics, where did the real power of the church come from?