popes & kings. learning goal students will… –analyze the growing power of medieval popes and...
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Learning Goal
• Students will…– Analyze the growing power of Medieval Popes
and their use of excommunication
A. The Pope
• The Pope is the traditional leader of the Catholic (“Universal”) Church, which was the only group of Christians in Europe in the Middle Ages.
• The Pope lives in Rome, in a place called the Vatican City (sort of like the Forbidden City in China)
• Since most people could not read—and did not own a Bible—the Pope was regarded as the ultimate authority on Religious matters.
• From time to time, the Pope would write a letter, called a Papal Bull, which explained a religious teaching or new Church policy.
B. The Papacy• The Papacy—the position
(“office”) of the Pope—also had Political power.
• If the Pope felt someone was working against the Church (either in a Religious or Political way), he could punish the person.
• The worst punishment was called Excommunication.
• If the Pope excommunicated someone, that person was kicked out of the Church. This means:
• Their marriage was made invalid
• Their children were made illegitimate
• They could not be buried in the Church cemetery
• They would not go to heaven when they died.
• One part of Europe that refused to respect the authority of the Pope was the Byzantine Empire—especially in Constantinople.
• Here, the Byzantine Emperor was the head of the Orthodox Church.
• In 1054AD, Pope Leo IX decided to excommunicate the Bishop of Constantinople, causing a permanent split in the Church.
• Christians who respected the authority of the Pope were called Roman Catholics.
• Even Kings could be excommunicated, so everyone had to respect the Pope’s power, especially after Charlemagne was crowned by the Pope.
• Many Popes were humble men trying to live like Jesus, but others were power-hungry, and this brought them into conflict with the Kings of Europe.
C. Kings of Europe
• In 1000AD, there were many small kingdoms in Europe, of which England, France, and the Holy Roman Empire (Germany) were the strongest.
• Muslims still ruled Spain.
• The main conflict occurred over who had the power to appoint Church leaders, called Bishops.
• Some Kings believed that, in their own Kingdoms, they should be able to choose their Bishops—the Pope disagreed.
D. Pope Gregory VII
• In 1073, a new Pope named Gregory VII came into conflict with Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV about a Bishop.
• Henry tried to have the Bishops revolt against the Pope and replace him, but instead, Pope Gregory excommunicated the Holy Roman Emperor.