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Feudal Society
Who’s Got the Power?
The Power of the Popes
• The pope was the head of the Christian Church – since nearly everyone was a Christian – the
pope had great power.
• God’s representative on Earth.
• Wrote letters called a “Bull” to explain a religious teaching or Church law.
• Decided when someone was acting against the Church – Heresy.
• If accused of Heresy, or other serous offences, the Pope could excommunicate you, or cast
out of the Church….No burials, baptisims, or marriages blessed by the Church = You go to
HELL!
• Inquisition was established – an organization of priests that looked for and punished
anyone of acting against the Church.
• Confess, Recant (take it back) – usually ended in torture and death – burning at the
stake.
• Lived in castles/palaces and had private armies.
• Called on all Christians in Europe, Kings and Nobles to work together and go on the
Crusades, to take back the Holy Land from the Muslims.
Popes vs. Clergy
• Pope Leo IX (9th), argued that the Pope in Rome had
supreme authority over all clergy. Many Bishops in the
Byzantine Empire, especially the Bishop of
Constantinople, would not acknowledge his, or any other
pope’s authority.
• The Great Schism (divide) – In 1054 AD, the Church split
into two branches: The Roman Catholic Church in the
west and the Eastern Orthodox Church in the East. The
main issue was over the power of the Pope.
Popes vs. Kings
• Pope Gregory VII (7th) disapproved of a bishop chosen by the
Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV (4th). Angry because the pope
questioned his authority, Henry convinced Holy Roman
Bishop’s they should kick out Gregory as Pope.
• In response, Pope Gregory VII excommunicated Henry, and
called on Henry’s nobles to overthrow Henry as Holy Roman
Emperor.
• Henry IV, went to Rome to speak with Pope Gregory VII, and
ask for forgiveness. After waiting outside in the snow for three
days, Pope Gregory finally accepted Henry’s apology and
allowed the emperor back into the Church!
Popes vs. Kings
• Philip IV, King of France, was condemned by his enemy, Pope
Boniface VIII in the Catholic Church for his spending of money.
The king taxed the French Clergy, forcing Pope Boniface VIII to
issue the bull Clericis Laicos (1296), forbidding the transference
of any church property to the French Crown.
• Philip’s Nobles took his side and arrested the Pope Boniface VIII
(1302), who died soon afterward.
• A French Archbishop was elected Pope Clement V, and moved
from Rome to Avignon, France, which was surrounded by
French territories and were subjected to French control.
• The next few popes were French, and stayed in France.
Kings Vs. Nobles
• In 1066, the Anglo-Saxon king Edward the Confessor died without
leaving a direct heir to the throne. The nobles appointed Harold, Earl of
Wessex, as the new king.
• However, a French nobleman named William of Normandy, who
would later be known as William the Conqueror, claimed that Edward
had promised the English throne to him and that he should be king.
• After Harold became king, William led an invasion against England.
William and his Norman knights killed Harold and defeated his forces at
the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
• William became king of England. He set up a strong central
government and established an advisory council to assist him with
governing.
Kings vs. Nobles
• In 1199 AD. King John of England gained the throne. King John angered the
nobles with a series of laws and decrees that the nobles believed were unfair.
• A group of Lords and church officials, angry with the laws, rebelled against John
and, in 1215, forced him to agree with a settlement. This agreement is called
the Magna Carta.
• In this document, King John granted a list of rights to the nobles, thereby limiting
royal power. The common person, though, gained few rights from this
document. Even so, the Magna Carta later became a model for people who
demanded democratic rights for all.
“39. No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or
possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor
will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the
lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.”
—excerpt from the Magna Carta
Kings vs. Nobles
• King Edward I of England, called for a meeting of people from
different parts of England. Their job was to advise him and
help him make laws.
• This gathering, called the Parliament, was an important step
toward representative government.
• At first, Parliaments were made up of two knights from every
county, two people from every town, and all high-ranking
nobles and church officials.
• Later, parliament divided into two houses. High-ranking nobles
and church officials met as the House of Lords. Knights and
townspeople met as the House of Commons.
Kings vs. Kings
• From 1337 to 1453, the Hundred Years’ War raged between the French
and English over control of France. This conflict was not one long war,
but rather a series of wars divided by various broken treaties.
• Ever since William, Duke of Normandy, became king of England, and
many other English and French Nobles married one another, England
and France have had conflict.
• In 1328, King Charles IV (4th) of France died without sons to take over.
Two men (cousins) quickly rose up to claim the French Throne. One
became the French King Philip IV (4th) and the other was King Edward
III of England…..both were nephews of King Charles IV, as well as
being grandsons of previous French kings!
• During the war, the English won most of the battles, including the
Battle of Crecy (1346) and the Battle of Agincourt (1415).
Peasants vs. Nobles
• Joan of Arc (1412-1431)was a French peasant girl who believed she had religious
visions during which she heard the voices of saints instructing her. She believed that
these voices told her that God had chosen the French king, Charles VII, to defeat the
English and drive them from France. She managed to receive an audience with the king
and told him about the divine message she received. The king was at first skeptical, but
eventually believed that Joan truly received visions from God. Soon he gave Joan the
command of the army.
• Wearing armor and holding a banner, Joan on horseback led the French army toward
Orleans. The French leaders were at first hesitant about obeying her. They became
convinced to follow her, though, when they realized that the orders she gave all had
positive results for the French army. Inspired by Joan’s leadership, the French troops
broke the English siege of Orleans, and the English fled.
• Later in 1429, Joan was wounded in a battle and captured by the Burgundians, who sold
her to the English. The English convicted her of heresy and witchcraft and sentenced
her to death. She was burned at the stake in Rouen, France, in 1431. The Catholic
Church declared her a saint in 1920.