THE STRUGGLE OVER INVESTITURES (1059-1123)
The struggle over the lay investiture of bishops did not arise at first.
The Papacy was still a dependent bishopric in the gift of the Emperors,
who continued to depose bad Roman Popes and appoint upright Germans.
Popes and Emperors worked together to enforce celibacy among the clergy
and to put down simony. The Emperors could not see, what is evident in
retrospect, that when the spirit of reform should have taken full
possession of the Papacy, then the Papacy would not rest content to be a
German bishopric, but, in obedience to the law which links political
ambition to political vigour, would even aim so high as to try to reduce
the Empire itself to the condition of a papal fief. The spirit of
reform, embodied in a man of genius, did take possession of the Papacy
and the great struggle began.
Among the crowd that thronged to Cluny eager for a higher life, was a
young Tuscan from Orvieto, Hildebrand by name, of plebeian birth. Small
of stature, vehement in spirit, passionate in feeling and action, he was
confident in himself and yet sensitive to sympathy. This lad became an
eager scholar, but in spite of erudition and fondness for study, he was
essentially a man of action, a born leader of men. "What he taught by
word he proved by example." He believed absolutely in the tenets of the
reformers. He believed with his whole being that the Church was a divine
institution to save men's souls, and he could not endure the idea of
secular powers and worldly influences intermeddling with God's fabric.
His career exhibits the power of a man of genius, who devotes his whole
life to what for him is the highest end, and is able to use human
enthusiasm for good as his implement.
Hildebrand has been called the Julius Caesar of the Papacy. He went to
Rome about 1048. From that time papal policy became definite, vigorous,
stamped with an antique Roman stamp; and open conflict with the Empire
was the inevitable result. Hildebrand's first care was to protect the
Papacy from the petty-minded Roman faction; he supported papal
candidates of high character and even secured the appointment of a
German, sagaciously foreseeing that ecclesiastical patriotism would be
stronger than national patriotism. These Popes put Hildebrand's views
into execution.
Now that the Papacy had been rescued from the Roman faction, the next
step was to free it from the Egyptian bondage of subjection to the
Empire. Hildebrand was ready to strike whenever a fair opportunity
should come. It soon came. The Emperor died, leaving his son Henry IV, a
little boy, his successor on the German throne and heir to the Empire. A
long minority seemed to reveal the hand of Providence. Hildebrand acted.
It had long been obvious that one cause of papal subjection to Roman
faction and Imperial tyrant had been the uncertainty of the electoral
body. Emperors, Roman nobles, and Roman rabble, all had certain historic
electoral rights. Hildebrand resolved to dispossess them all. A synod
was held, which declared that the election of the Pope lay in the hands
of the cardinals (1059). Some right of approval was left to the Roman
people, some right of sanction to the Emperor, but the right of original
election was vested in the cardinals, and this gradually developed into
an absolute and exclusive right of election. This act was an act of
rebellion towards the Empire, a declaration of independence. Hildebrand
said that he strove to make the Church "free, pure, and catholic." This
action made it free.
It was not to be expected that the Empire would acquiesce tamely in this
rebellion. Imperialists and Romans made common cause against the
clerical rebels. But the height of the conflict was not reached till
Hildebrand himself was elevated to the Papacy (1073), becoming Gregory
VII. He immediately took the offensive. Burning with conviction himself,
he appealed to the general enthusiasm both in the Church and throughout
the Empire for the cause of God; he ruthlessly denounced simony and
proclaimed principles of papal sovereignty absolute and universal. "The
Roman Church was founded by God alone; she never has erred and never
will err, and no man is a Catholic who is not at peace with her. The
Roman bishop alone is universal. He may depose bishops and reinstate
them, he may transfer them from one see to another, he may depose
emperors, and may absolve the subjects of the unjust from their
allegiance. No synod without his consent is general; no episcopal
chapter, no book, canonical without his authority. No man may sit in
judgment on his decrees, but he may judge the decrees of all." Here
certainly was a second Julius Caesar in ambition. Gregory claimed feudal
supremacy over Bohemia, Russia, Hungary, Spain, Corsica, Sardinia,
Dalmatia, Croatia, Poland, Scandinavia, and England. Such claims were
vague and shadowy; but the claims to interfere between the German king
and the German episcopate and clergy were definite and direct. The
Papacy declared its own supremacy, and the Imperial duty of obedience.
Gregory had immense moral support at his back, yet moral support would
not have sufficed to protect him from the king's anger. Nor would
Gregory have ventured on so haughty a course, had he not had allies of
another character. These allies were four in number, and require some
description. First in importance come the Normans. For years bands of
Norman warriors, pious folk, had passed through Southern Italy on their
way to the Holy Land. Once a handful had helped a prince of Salerno to
repel a Saracen attack. The prince, so the story goes, delighted with
their valour, begged them to invite their compatriots to come. The
invitation was readily accepted. Bands of gentlemen adventurers came,
fought against Saracens, or Greeks, or the independent dukes and princes
of Southern Italy, first as mercenaries in anybody's pay, and afterwards
on their own account. They soon conquered a domain, and reached out in
all directions. Some drove out the last Byzantines and acquired Southern
Italy; some crossed to Sicily, performed prodigies of valour against the
Saracens, and finally conquered the whole island (1060-90). In their
raids northward they trespassed upon papal territory and came into
collision with the Church. St. Peter's sword was drawn and brandished,
but ineffectually. The Popes then concluded that martial deeds did not
become them; and the Normans, on their part, were pious folk; so
together they formed a happy solution. The Normans had possession of
Southern Italy and Sicily, but merely by right of conquest; they were in
the midst of an alien and far more numerous subject people, and wished
for a legal title. The Popes, unable to acquire actual possession, did
have, thanks to the _Donation of Constantine_, a legal title, derived,
so they claimed, from the original source of legal titles, the Roman
Empire. The mode of agreement was obvious; the Popes conferred Southern
Italy and Sicily as feuds upon their liegemen the Norman chiefs, and
they in return acknowledged the Popes as their lords suzerain. In this
manner, "by the grace of God and St. Peter," the Normans founded the
kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which for centuries after the Norman line
died out continued to acknowledge the overlordship of the Papacy. The
Normans were often disobedient vassals, but they knew that the Empire
regarded them as robbers, and in the wars between Empire and Papacy
remained loyal to their lords the Popes.
The second papal ally was Countess Matilda (1046-1115), mistress of the
Marquisate of Tuscany and other domains, which stretched from the papal
boundaries up across the Po to Lombardy, and like her mother, her
predecessor in title, a brave, capable, devout woman. As the Normans
were a defence to the Papacy on the south, so these ladies constituted a
bulwark on the north, and often rendered incalculable service to the
Popes of this period. Matilda's devotion to Gregory was boundless. "Like
a second Martha, she ministered unto him, and as Mary hearkened unto
Christ, so did she, attentive and assiduous, hearken to all the words of
the Holy Father." She and her mother make clear one source of papal
strength. They show us the attitude of the women, who, from sentiments
of morality, piety, and superstition, took the religious side of the
quarrel, and did not rest till fathers, brothers, husbands, and lovers
had also espoused it. One act of feminine devotion fixes Matilda in the
memory. Her domains consisted of marquisates, counties, baronies, and
various feudal estates, held as feuds of the Empire, over which on her
death she had no power of disposition, and also of large private
estates, which she was free to give or devise. All these, Imperial feuds
and private estates, she gave or rather attempted to give to the Church.
This _Donation_, the most important since that of Charlemagne, gave
fresh causes of quarrel between Papacy and Empire. The Papacy attempted
to make good its claim to the Imperial feuds; and the Empire, finding it
impossible to discover the boundaries between the two species of
territories, also claimed the whole.
The third papal ally is to be found in the cities of Lombardy, which had
now become rich and important. In these cities, especially in Milan,
which was easily first commercially and politically, trade had created a
burgher class which already gave evidence of a desire for political
power. In Milan itself there was extreme political instability;
archbishop, nobles, gentry, artisans, and populace were all ready for a
general scrimmage on the slightest provocation. The clergy were numerous
and very rich; sons of noblemen held the fat benefices, and almost all
led irreligious lives and held celibacy in the meanest esteem. Simony
was the rule. In Hildebrand's time the passion for religious reform
swept over the lower classes of the city. A new sect arose, the Patarini
(ragamuffins), a species of Puritans, who took up the cry against
clerical laxity and immorality, and denounced married priests. Religious
excitement set fire to social and economic discontent; populace and
nobles flew to arms; there were riots and civil war. Several eminent
men, close friends of Hildebrand, became popular leaders; and the
contest of people and Patarini against nobles and married clergy became
an episode in the general strife between Papal and Imperial parties.
Similar tumults, caused half by class enmity, half by the passion for
religious reform, took place in other northern cities, Cremona,
Piacenza, Pavia, Padua; on one side was the party of aristocratic
privilege, looking to the Emperor for support; on the other, the party
of the people, looking to the Pope.
Gregory's fourth ally was the rebellious nobility of Germany. Had
Germany been united and loyal, the German king would easily have been
able to assert his power in Italy; but Germany was disloyal and divided.
Archbishops of the great archbishoprics, dukes of the great duchies,
bishops, counts, and lords, in fact, all the component parts of the
feudal structure of Germany, were jealous of one another; each grudged
the other his possessions, and were in accord only in jealousy of the
royal power. There were always some barons or bishops thankful to have
the Pope's name and the Pope's aid in a rebellious design. These
animosities the Papacy through its thousand hands diligently fomented.
Ranged against Gregory and his allies were the loyal parts of Germany,
the Imperial adherents in Italy, the married clergy everywhere, and all
whom Gregory's reforms had angered and estranged. At their head was a
dissipated young king, of high spirit, headstrong, ignorant, and
superstitious, who entertained lofty notions of his royal and Imperial
prerogatives. The characters of these two men would have brought them
into collision, even if the irreconcilable natures of Empire and Papacy
had not rendered a clash inevitable.
Gregory, almost immediately after his elevation to the pontificate, held
a council and denounced simony, marriage of the clergy, and lay
investiture. The king, who believed in the existing system, continued to
exercise what he deemed his royal rights with a view to improving his
political position. Gregory held a second council and utterly forbade
lay investiture. Henry continued to disobey. Then Gregory wrote to him
that he must renounce the claim of investiture, and humbly present
himself in person before the papal presence and beg absolution for his
sins; or, if he should fail to obey, Gregory would excommunicate him.
Henry and his party, now very angry, retorted by holding a German synod,
which charged Gregory with all sorts of offences, moral, ecclesiastical,
and political, absolved both king and bishops from their papal
allegiance, and, finally, deposed the Pope. Henry himself wrote Gregory
this letter:--
"Henry, not by usurpation, but by God's holy will. King, to Hildebrand,
no longer Pope, but false monk:--
"This greeting you have deserved from the confusion you have caused, for
in every rank of the Church you have brought confusion instead of
honour, a curse instead of a blessing. Out of much I shall say but a
little; you have not only not feared to touch the rulers of the Holy
Church, archbishops, bishops, priests, God's anointed, but as if they
were slaves, you have trampled them down under your feet. By trampling
them down you have got favour from the vulgar mouth. You have decided
that they know nothing, and that you alone know everything, and you have
studied to use your knowledge not to build up but to destroy.... We have
borne all this and have striven to maintain the honour of the Apostolic
See. But you have construed our humility as fear, and for that reason
you have not feared to rise up against our royal power, and have even
dared to threaten that you would take it from us; as if we had received
our kingdom from you, as if kingdom and empire were in your hands and
not in God's. Our Lord Jesus Christ has called us to the kingdom, but
not you to the priesthood. You have mounted by these steps; by
craft--abominable in a monk--you have come into money, by money to
favour, by favour to the sword, by the sword to the seat of peace; and
from the seat of peace you have confounded peace. You have armed
subjects against those over them; you, the unelect, have held our
bishops, elect of God, up to contempt.... Me, even, who though unworthy
am the anointed king, you have touched, and although the holy fathers
have taught that a king may be judged by God only, and for no offence
except deviation from the faith--which God forbid--you have asserted
that I should be deposed; when even Julian the Apostate was left by the
wisdom of the holy fathers to be judged and deposed by God only. That
true Pope, blessed Peter, says: 'Fear God, honour the king.' But you do
not fear God and you dishonour me appointed by Him. And blessed Paul,
who did not spare an angel from heaven who should preach other doctrine,
did not except you, here on earth, who now teach other doctrine. For he
says, 'But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel
unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be
accursed.' You therefore by Paul anathematized, by the judgment of all
our bishops and by mine condemned, come down, leave the apostolic seat
which you have usurped; let another mount the throne of blessed Peter,
who shall not cloak violence with religion, but shall teach the sound
doctrine of blessed Peter. I, Henry, King by God's grace, and all our
bishops, say to you, Down, down, you damned forever."[9]
To the action of the German synod and to this letter there could be but
one answer. Gregory held a synod, excommunicated the king, and released
his subjects from their allegiance. The Germans rose in rebellion,
taking the excommunication as a ground or perhaps as a pretext; they
held a great council in presence of a papal legate, and decided that
they would renounce their allegiance unless the king obtained
absolution. The king, too weak to cope with the rebels, submitted. He
crossed the Alps with his wife and one or two servants, in midwinter,
and came to the fortress of Canossa, near Parma, a stronghold belonging
to the Countess Matilda, whither Gregory had gone. For three days the
king stood outside the gates, dressed as a penitent, and begged for
leave to present himself before the Pope. At last, owing to the
entreaties of Matilda, the king was admitted. He cast himself upon the
ground before Gregory, who lifted him up and bade him submit to the
ordeal of the eucharist. Gregory took the consecrated wafer and said,
"If I am guilty of the crimes charged against me, may God strike me." He
broke and ate; then turning to Henry, said, "Do thou, my son, as I have
done." The king did not dare to invoke the judgment of God; he humbled
himself, resigned his crown into Gregory's hands, and swore to remain a
private person until he should be judged by a council. He was then
absolved (1077).
Various events followed this terrible humiliation. The German rebels set
up an anti-king, and the king's men set up an anti-pope, and there was
war and hatred everywhere. The king's energy triumphed for a time; he
even captured Rome, and had it not been for a Norman army, which came to
the Pope's rescue, he would have captured Gregory, too. But, despite
royal triumphs the scene at Canossa had struck the majesty of the Empire
an irretrievable blow; the king of the Germans, Emperor except for a
coronation, had admitted in a most dramatic way, before all Europe, the
inferiority of the temporal to the spiritual power.
Gregory died in exile at Salerno, Henry died deposed by his rebellious
son; and the question of lay investiture still remained unsettled. More
deeds of violence were done, more oaths broken, more lives taken; at
last an agreement was reached and the long contest closed. Papacy and
Empire made a treaty of peace, known as the Concordat of Worms (1122).
The Emperor renounced all claim to invest bishops with ring and staff,
and recognized the freedom of election and of ordination of the clergy,
thus giving up all claim to appoint bishops and other ecclesiastical
dignitaries. The Pope agreed that the election of bishops should take
place in presence of the Emperor or his representative, and that bishops
should receive their fiefs in a separate ceremony, by touch of the royal
sceptre, in token of holding them from the Empire. This compromise,
which seems absurdly simple, as settled questions often do, was a final
adjustment of the immediate quarrel between Empire and Papacy, but left
the larger matter of mastery still to be fought out.
FOOTNOTES:
[9] _Select Mediaeval Documents_, Shailer Mathews, translated.