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THEOLOGY KETTLE: 800-1500
Intro: Rick’s four talks covered 800 years to the reign of Charlemagne. I am
beginning at 1500, so I have to take 50 minutes to cover the 700 years between
Charlemagne and Luther. I can do that only by oversimplifying. The period from
800-to 1500 was dominated by the idea of Christendom, “the concept of Europe
as a commonwealth of Christian peoples, a single society embracing a wide
variety of peoples, organized in numerous states, but bound together in a
framework of mutual rights and duties and united in a common faith and a
common moral and intellectual culture. …This union of temporal and spiritual in
one commonwealth meant in practice that this unique body had two heads. But
who was the final authority---Pope or Emperor? Church or state?”
Oversimplifying, then, three main issues run throughout that church history:
1) The papacy as a secular realm,
2) the incursion of secular rulers into the spiritual realm of the Church, and
3) the spiritual and cultural growth and decline of the Church
I. The Holy See as a Sovereign State
A. THE PAPAL STATES From the 4th cent. to the 7th, Popes were granted
lands by various princes. In the 8th century the popes were able to play the
Lombards against the Byzantine exarchy at Ravenna until 728 when t Lombard
king Liutprand gave Sutri to Pope Gregory II, the real beginning of the Papal
States. When the Byzantines fell to the Lombards in 751, Pope Stephen II
courted the Frankish kingdom to counterbalance the Lombards and crowned
Pepin the Short King of the Franks in 751. Pepin then captured northern Italy
from the Lombards and donated the properties of the Ravenna Exarchy to the
Pope. In the same way Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor of the HRE
in 800, Pope John XII crowned Otto I Emperor in 962 and received from him
control of the rest of the Papal States, by now a diagonal swath of land from
Ravenna to Rome. By 1300 the Papal States were independent, and governed by
the Pope, although from the time of the Avignon papacy they were practically
ruled by various local princes. The PS were greatly expanded by the Renaissance
popes Alexander VI and Julius II, who spent much of his papacy leading armies
up and down the Italian Peninsula. In short, the Pope ruled central Italy. In the
18th century the PS reached their greatest extent, most of central Italy (Latium,
Umbria, Marche, and parts of Romagna). By 1870 the Risorgimento conquered
the Papal States, all the way to Rome, and the Pope became a prisoner of the
Vatican until Pius XI executed a Concordat with Mussolini and received the
Vatican City (104 acres) as his sovereign state. The Pope is still a head of state.
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B. BISHOPRICS: Indeed, not only the Popes but also bishops in other lands
ruled secular areas. Many of them had been, and were, feudal lords with royal
courts and all the trappings that went with them.
The effect of being a secular ruler: The States needed governance, which cost
money, and needed to be defended by armies, which cost money. Popes and
bishops lived in princely courts, the upkeep of which cost money. The Popes
levied heavy taxes on their subjects and they sold church offices to support these.
They were inevitably drawn into the compromising politics of secular powers.
Power corrupts…
II. Interference of the State in Ecclesiastical Governance
(Caesaropapism; who is the final authority, Pope or Emperor?)
Pope Gelasius in the late 5th cent. asserted the Pope’s right to direct the Christian
commonwealth towards its final goal---eternal salvation. The Emperor’s function
was merely to promote the temporal welfare of its members and protect their
corporate union in Christendom. This was symbolized in the coronation
ceremony when the Pope placed a sword in the hands of the Emperor. But when
Charlemagne was crowned HRE, he appointed all the bishops and abbots in the
empire. When his empire fell apart in the 9th cent., Popes were able to assert their
authority, but when the Vikings and Magyars overran the Empire in the 10th
century the papacy lost its power. When the Saxonian Emperors revived the
Empire in the late 10th century Otto I regarded the bishops his most suitable
collaborators by reason of their education and their lack of children. Further he
insisted that no Pope was to be consecrated until he had first taken an oath of
allegiance to the Emperor.
This sovereignty of the Emperor, or even of local feudal princes, was
symbolized by lay investiture. The bishop-to-be knelt before the lord, rendered
him homage and pledged loyalty, and received from him his crozier and his ring.
Further the process was tainted by simony since the new bishop ordinarily paid a
heavy fee for his promotion. (The system worked its way down to the parish,
where laymen owned the church property and hired the priests they pleased.) It
was Pope Gregory VII (Hildebrand) who reasserted the Gelasian theory in his
Dictatus papae (1075). All souls must obey his definitions or right and wrong, he
had unlimited power of excommunication, AND he had the right to punish and
even depose disobedient rulers. His synod also prohibited lay investiture,
alienation of church property, and simony in the sale of office.
The Emperor, Henry IV defied the decree by investing his own choice for
archbishop of Milan. Gregory excommunicated Henry and declared him
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deposed. The German princes seized this opportunity to regain power and they
rallied against the Emperor. And so Henry went to the alpine castle of Canossa
where the Pope was staying, and stood barefoot in the snow for 3 days seeking
absolution. Nevertheless, Henry later rebounded, put an anti-pope in Gregory’s
place and drove him into exile. But his successor, Urban II gained the initiative
by calling for the first crusade, and was able to come to an uneasy compromise
with the Emperor in which the bishop would again be elected by the clergy, but in
the presence of the monarch. The pope was once again a world ruler and the
papacy achieved the apex of its power in the 12th to 13th century under Pope
Innocent III.
III. Spiritual Vitality of the Church
A. MONASTICISM (a lay movement!) You saw with Rick: St. Benedict
founded the monastery of Monte Cassino ca. 520, and his rule quickly became the
norm of Western monasticism. Monasteries became centers of agricultural
centers and christianized the barbarians. They also were the intellectual centers
of the Carolingian renaissance, not only by their schools, but by copying MSS of
the Bible, Church fathers, and Roman classics. They were the chief agents of the
Popes in the ecclesiastical reforms of the 8th cent. Periodically there were
“reforms” of the loose Benedictine organization, as in the centralizing tendency
of the Cluniac reform in the 10th century, the eremitical reform of St. Bruno’s
Carthusians in the 11th, and the Cistercian Reform in the early 12th. People today
still draw inspiration and guidance from the Rule of St. Benedict.
B. MENDICANT ORDERS rose in the 13th century in response to the rise of
towns, the revival of commerce, and the population growth. They were friars
(from Latin fratres, “brothers”) living in the world to convert it by example and
preaching: the Franciscans (1209), Dominicans (1215), Carmelites (1226),
Servites (12333) and Augustinians (1243). These friars, joined with laity, formed
the social network of their times, the HEW of each area.
C. CLERGY One would hope that the clergy would also be part of this spiritual
leadership, but that was not the case. The priests had no formal training in
theology: Those who wanted ordination presented themselves 3 days before the
ceremony and took a three-day oral exam in fundamentals of the Catholic faith.
Often their lives were hardly distinguishable from the lower classes of the laity.
They often were married, and after Lat II prohibited marriage (1139) they lived
with mistresses. (For example, on July 22, 1342 the Roman Curia issued 614
dispensations for marital impediments, 484 of which were for bastards of priests.)
Perhaps only at Mass was the separation of clergy from people evident. The
Mass became exclusively the priest’s business, with the people reduced to the role
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of spectators. The priest no longer wore his ordinary street clothes, but vested in
a chasuble and whispered prayers in a language no longer understood by the
people. They stood separated from the altar by a massive altar rail, they no longer
brought up their ordinary bread for consecration, they no longer took the wafer in
their hands standing, and the chalice was now withheld from them. The Mass
was no longer a community action but was the epiphany of God at the elevation,
something you watched. The laity did not receive communion frequently, and so
they came to Mass to see the priest elevate the Body of Christ after the elevation.
A warning bell was rung to alert the faithful, many of whom wandered around
town going from church to church just to be present at the elevation.
D. LAITY Surprisingly, however, McCullogh finds that the laity were not
dissatisfied with the church. They still were formed by the gospel, instructed by
stained glass windows, and encouraged by the emphasis on the humanity of Jesus.
In the 14th century Geert Groote, a deacon of the Netherlands, preached and lived
a spirituality of Christian inwardness centered on Jesus. This Devotion Moderna
was spread by Groote’s reform of the Canons of St. Augustine at Windesheim,
which had a profound reforming effect in the Netherlands and in German for the
century before the reformation. After his death his followers formed the Brethren
of the Common Life, laypeople who lived and prayed in common but who took no
vows and worked at their various jobs in the world. They began to form schools
which spread throughout all the law countries and Germany. Thomas a Kempis,
Gabriel Biel, the Dutch Pope Adrian VI, Martin Luther himself, and Desiderius
Eerasmus were all influenced by the Brethren. Laity also founded the Oratory of
Divine Love in Genoa (1498). Finally, the Saxon Dukes and the Spanish kings
were influential in the reform of monasteries and church life in their countries.
IV. The Immediate historical Background to the Reformation
[A. THE THIRTEENTH, THE GREATEST CENTURY
1. Cultural Explosion
The Arts:
In Architecture: Gothic Cathedrals ; in Painting: Cimabue, Giotto; in Literature:
Parzifal, Dante, Miracle Plays; in Music: The Meistersingers, the motet.
Thought: Maimonides, Albert the Great, Aquinas, Bonaventure, John Duns Scotus,
Science: Fibonacci (Arabic numerals), cotton mf in Spain, linen in Engl, R. Grosseteste
(astron, math, physics, optics), Roger Bacon (thermometer, telescope), human dissection.
Universities (beginning in late 12th cent.), Oxford, Cambridge, Salamanca, the Sorbonne.
Economics: feudalism, Florentine banking,
Politics: 4th crusade sacks Constantinople; Magna Carta, Establishment of House of
Commons; National States (Philip II & IV of France), Hanseatic League), Fred II
Hohenstaufer emperor (war w/Popes, Guelfs/Ghibellines), Rud of Hapsburg
Discoveries, Explorations: Marco Polo to China, goose quills, block printing, spectacles.
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2. The Church, still, in spite of nascent nationalism, = the dominant institution.
Hierarchy: Decline in papal prestige using sp. means for temporal ends)
1276 the year of the 4 popes; The Inquisition, 1302 Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam,
Religious Orders: Franciscans (1209), Dominicans (1215), Meister Eckhart
B. DECLINE: If the 13th was the greatest of centuries for Christendom, the 14th
was one of the worst, and it forms the background for the Reformation. It was a
time of chaos everywhere. For our purposes we single out three phenomena:
1.Nominalism (1317-24): The great Aristotelian synthesis of Aquinas lasted a
short time. Two Franciscans were chiefly responsible for its downfall. John
Duns Scotus held against St. Thomas that the will, rather than the intellect, was
the determining factor in human decisions (voluntarism). He also maintained that
some particular form called haecceitas (thisness) was what distinguished different
individuals from one another. This led to William of Ockham’s nominalism, in
which humans cannot know universals, e.g. the characteristics of a common
human nature. All we can know is individual things. Thomas’s great interplay
between nature and revelation, between free will and God’s grace, was lost.
Martin Luther was raised on this nominalist philosophy and he hated it, and so he
was left with a justification depending totally on God’s gracious justification,
without any human contribution.
2. The Black Death (1347-53) The Medieval Warm Period ended sometime towards the
end of the 13th century, bringing the "Little Ice Age and harsher winters with reduced harvests.
Food shortages and rapidly inflating prices were a fact of life. Wheat, oats, hay and
consequently livestock, were all in short supply. Their scarcity resulted in malnutrition, which
increases susceptibility to infections due to weakened immunity. In 1315 to 1317 the
catastrophic Great Famine reduced Northwest Europe’s population by more than 10%.
Probably fleas on black rats carrying Yersina pestis along the Silk Road from
China, or coming on merchant ships from the East, decimated Europe by bubonic
plague. Europe lost half of its population, and, since the plague flared up every
10-15 yrs, it took Europe 150 years to regain its numbers. The widespread death
created chaos in which pirates sacked monasteries and convents, loosing vagrant
monks as flagellants & fanatics. Since the cause was unknown, people blamed
the Jews for poisoning the water, and all kinds of foreigners, beggars, lepers were
persecuted. “Live for the moment” became the life-plan.
3. The Conquest of Constantinople (1454 The Ottoman Empire started its
westward expansion into Europe in the middle of the 14th century. Its first
significant opponent was the young Serbian Empire, which was worn down by a
series of campaigns. The Turks then proceeded to conquer the lands of the
Balkans for the next 150 years, advancing even into Hungary and Austria. Since
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Muslims wage war on non-believers, the church summoned nations to a defensive
war against their incursions.
C. REDUCED AUTHORITY OF THE PAPACY But four phenomena greatly
reduced the authority of the papacy.
1. TheBabylonian Captivity of the Avignon Papacy (1305-1378; 73 yrs embracing
7 popes). Philip IV of France coerced Clement V into transferring the papal court
to Avignon. Roman Curia was disorganized, papal extravagance a scandal. The
popes needed money and devised huge taxes on bishops, abbots, and pastors.
(July 5, 1328 1 patriarch, 5 archbps, 30 bps, 46 abbots =excommunicated for
default on taxes.) The Papacy is a fiscal tyrant.
2. The Great Western Schism. When Pope Greg. XI did return and died, the
Cardinals, bullied by Roman populace, elected an Italian as Urban VI. His
tyrannical behavior provoked the Cardinals to elect an anti-pope, Clement VII,
and so for 40 years Christians were confronted with 2 (or, for 8 yrs. 3) opposing
popes, who used political and military means to subdue their counterparts. All
this cost money, and so papal taxes rose to new heights. After trying to get
various popes to resign, in 1380 Jean Gerson and others developed
3. The Conciliar Theory: a council could be called w/o papal consent, and its
decrees would be valid w/o papal consent. But when the Pope called a Council at
Constance, it did unify the church under one pope (1417), and it rejected the
conciliar theory. But most especially it failed at reform of the Church.
4. The Renaissance Popes were more concerned with Italian politics than with the
spiritual state of the Church. The grandeur of the papal court made Rome a
foremost center of the Renaissance and patron of the arts. The Popes bought the
papal tiara and used it to further personal and dynastic interests, filling the
College of Cardinals with relatives.
Sixtus IV (1471-1484) raised nepotism and papal debt to new heights,
Innocent VIII (1484-1492) beyond several bastards before ordination, he did 0.
Alexander VI (1492-1503) raised personal corruption and papal nepotism to n. h.
Julius II (1503-1513) led armies in restoring papal states, patron of arts, laid the
cornerstone for St. Peter’s and arranged to pay it through sale of indulgences.
Leo X (1513-1521), elected w/o simony, fostered sale of indulgences by Albrecht
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D. EVILS OF THE CHURCH IN NEED OF REFORM
degradation of the papacy (more interested in politics than reform)
exorbitant demands of rival papal tax collectors
breakdown of Church courts
ignorance & immorality of the clergy (neglect of pastoral residence, accumulation of benefices, Mass priests, ignorance and superstition, concubinage)
simony everywhere, esp. in the Roman Curia (sale of bishoprics, pluralism,
wh entailed absenteeism, nobility as bishops, dispensations & indulgences).
John Hus, the Prague reformer, was burned at the stake in 1415
F. REASONS WHY THE CHURCH FAILED TO REFORM
Corrupt Popes, Fear of the authority of a Council, misunderstanding of the gavity
of the reformation.
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