Download How the Catholic Church Came to Rule Europe Once upon a time

How the Catholic Church Came to Rule Europe
Once upon a time (or around 800 AD), there lived a ruler in Western Europe who was so handsome that
all the ladies in the land would swoon when he walked by. His name was Charlemagne and he was the King
of the Franks. King Charlemagne was such a great King that he conquered many lands and he also protected the
Church and gave the church more and more power. The Church was so grateful that Pope Leo III honored
Charlemagne with a coronation on Christmas day and crowned him Roman Emperor! The King had the church
on his side and symbolized the cooperation of the church and the state. This was so wonderful……but maybe
not. Who is more powerful now, the Pope or the King? The Pope claimed to be more powerful since it was the
pope who crowned the kings. If the Pope refused to crown you, you were not king. (At least, the people did not
believe you were king). From then on there was also a struggle between the king and Pope.
In 936 Otto I, known as Otto the Great was crowned king. He followed Charlemagne’s footsteps and
cooperated with the Church. Otto defeated the German princes and dominated the Church in Germany. He
even invaded Italy on the Pope’s behalf and in 962, the Pope rewarded Otto by crowning him emperor. The
German/Italian empire that Otto created became known as the Holy Roman Empire. Otto had a lot of control
over the Pope and declared that the emperor would have to approve new candidates for pope before they could
be inducted. This government involvement in appointing new church officials was known as “lay investiture”.
The church was unhappy with the power that kings had over the church and was especially annoyed at the
practice of lay investiture so in 1075, Pope Gregory VII banned lay investiture.
It so happened that the emperor at this time was a young 25 year old named Henry IV (he had become
King at 7 years old) and this action by Pope Gregory VII made him really angry. Who did Pope Gregory think
he was? Well, Henry IV ordered Pope Gregory VII to step down. But, instead of stepping down, Pope Gregory
excommunicated Henry. Therefore, Henry was dead in the eyes of the church. The German bishops and
princes sided with the pope and Henry was going to lose his throne!! Henry realized he would have to get the
Pope to forgive him, but the pope was not very willing to forgive Henry. So, In January 1077, Henry struggled
across the snowy Alps to the Italian town of Canossa where Pope Gregory was visiting. The pope had to
forgive a sinner who begged for forgiveness sincerely and Henry stood out in the snow for 3 days, putting aside
all his royal finery and standing with bare feet in the snow, before the pope ended his excommunication.
The struggle between the king and the pope continued until the Concordat of Worms. In the German
City of Worms the church and king reached an agreement in which only the church could appoint a bishop, but
the emperor could veto the appointment. Even with this agreement, the church’s power was still extensive
It so happened that not too long after this event, in 1089, the Muslim Turks captured Jerusalem and
refused to allow Christians to visit the shrines. So, in 1095, Pope Urban II, with the power he now had,
commanded European knights to recapture Jerusalem, the crusades began. Many people volunteered. For the
knights in shining armor, this was a chance to use their fighting skills for a worthy cause. For the peasants, this
was an escape from their dreary life. These fighters traveled long and far to reach their destination which was
the Holy Land. They fought a long battle during this first crusade and these crusaders won Jerusalem. It was
not a happily ever after for the crusaders however. Within 50 years the Muslims had retaken Jerusalem and thus
began the second crusade which the crusaders lost and after that, yet a third unsuccessful crusade. Richard the
Lion-Hearted led this crusade, but he did not win and was defeated by Muslim King Saladin. Saladin
permitted the Christians to visit the Holy land for pilgrimages. That was not the end of the crusades though.
One must not forget the fourth crusade which was unsuccessful in retaking The Holy Land and in fact, never
even attempted to take Jerusalem. The crusaders stopped at Constantinople and stole money, paintings, jewelry,
and more! They even destroyed churches. After this disaster, there was a children’s crusade in which it was
believed that the innocence of the children would allow them to win the crusade. This again was unsuccessful.
There were more crusades throughout this land, but as time passed, Western Europe quit asking for crusades.
Now, I wish this was the time for the happily ever after, but peace never stayed for the Holy Land,
however one benefit that did come from this unhappily ever after fairy tale was trade. Trade exploded after the
crusades and the exposure to all the new items and ideas.