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“Follow the Rules…OR ELSE”
The scope of the Church’s authority was both religious and political. The Church provided a unifying set of
spiritual beliefs and rituals. The Church also created a system of justice to guide people’s conduct. All
medieval Christians, kings and peasants alike, were subject to canon law, or the law of the Church, in matters
such as marriage and other religious practices. The Church also established courts to try people accused of
violating canon law. Two of the harshest punishments that offenders faced were excommunication and
interdict.
PART I: Read the descriptions of the THREE ways that the Catholic Church enforced its laws in Europe
during the Middle Ages.
EXCOMMUNICATION = You were thrown out of the church. You were DEAD in the eyes of the church.
They actually held a funeral service for you. “Bell, Book, and Candle": At the service, they rang a bell, closed
a book, and snuffed out a candle. No one was allowed to speak to you. When you died, you could not be
buried in the Christian cemetery.
INTERDICTION = All the churches in your land were closed. The priests performed no sacraments: Babies
could not be baptized, weddings could not be preformed, and the dead could not be buried. In medieval terms,
this meant that every soul was going to HELL. The people (who obviously did not want to burn in hell) rose up
against the king.
DEPOSITION = When the Pope declared that the king was no longer the king. People in his kingdom no
longer had to be obedient to him.
PART II: Match the appropriate church punishments (excommunication, interdiction, deposition) to the
following examples.
1. No one in your country could get married.
______________________________
2. A person was no longer a member of the Church.
______________________________
3. A man was no longer king.
______________________________
4. The churches were no longer open.
______________________________
5. People no longer obeyed the king’s commands.
______________________________
6. An individual was punished.
______________________________
7. A whole country was punished for the acts of a king.
______________________________
8. An individual became a non-person in the community. ______________________________
9. You are alive, but everyone in town regards you as dead. _____________________________
10. A king was removed from the throne.
______________________________
11. In a country, everyone’s spiritual salvation was at stake. _____________________________
12. Which one(s) could hurt a king?
______________________________
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PART III: Based on the information above, what can you conclude about the power of the church in political
matters? Respond on loose leaf.
PART IV: Read the passage below called “Who’s Got the Power”, and respond to the following questions on a
piece of loose leaf.
WHO’S GOT THE POWER
The monk Hildebrand, who took the papal title Gregory VII, represented a movement to reform the Church.
Specifically, he wanted to end the practice of lay investiture. Lay investiture meant that important church
officials could be chosen by kings, instead of exclusively by the pope. Through lay investiture, a king could be
sure that a bishop or archbishop would support him instead of the pope or another church official.
In 1075, Gregory VII issued a document stating that only the pope could appoint cardinals and bishops, thereby
outlawing lay investiture. In this document, the pope warned that kings who disobeyed his orders could be
excommunicated, or deprived of the rights of church membership. Since such an act barred an individual from
the church community, it was also believed that excommunication deprived an individual of the means of
gaining salvation.
Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, was upset by Gregory’s decree. Henry relied on the loyalty of the clergy to
support him against powerful German nobles. In an angry letter addressed to “Hildebrand, no longer pope, but
false monk,” Henry called for Gregory to step down as pope and to “descend, descend, to be damned
throughout the ages.” Gregory responded by excommunicating Henry, which meant that the emperor was
excluded from the sacraments and that his subjects did not have to obey him.
When Henry realized that he could not defeat Pope Gregory VII or overcome excommunication, he decided to
ask for forgiveness in hopes that he could save his throne. He traveled over mountains during the winter and
found the pope in his castle at Canossa, located in the Alps in northern Italy. Barefoot and wearing only a
rough cloak, Henry prayed and begged in the snow outside the gates of Canossa. After three days, the pope
forgave the emperor. The pope was victorious in this round of conflict between the Church and state. For the
moment, Henry’s actions amounted to recognizing the pope’s authority, even over an emperor.
1. Define lay investiture:
2. Why did Pope Gregory VII outlaw lay investiture?
3. What happened to rulers who ignored the Pope’s rules?
4. What was Henry VII’s response to Pope Gregory’s banning of lay investiture?
5. What was Pope Gregory’s response Henry’s letter?
5. How was the conflict resolved?
6. Who won in the end?
7. What does this conflict tell you about the relationship between the Church and government officials?