A Christian Commonwealth III

Question 1

Partitive Inheritance

Answer 1

The Frankish tribes practiced passing the inheritance among all the children.

Question 2

Why did Charlemegne’s empire fell apart?

Hint: There are three major reasons.

Answer 2

Partitive Inheritance. There was endless civil war between his grandsons. It was partitioned. That’s the beginning of France. East part, and then the middle kingdom also fell. It was disintegrated.

Attacks from highly mobile Raiders
– Muslim Saracens from Mediterranean (they led the way). The Italian part of the Empire fell to these guys.
– Vikings from Scandinavia.
– Hungarian Magyars from East

Difficulty of defending large territories
– Best protection was what was locally available and could be counted on. They would come in, plunder, and take off before the kings army could show up. It was hard to defend against such mobile foes as the Vikings.

Question 3

Who took over the west after the Carolingians fell?

Answer 3

The Capetians, Kings of France.

Question 4

Who were the Capetians named after?

Answer 4

Hugh Capet of Paris

Question 5

Briefly describe Capetian power.

Answer 5

– Power based on the royal possessions, mostly in area northeast of Paris.
– Could not effectively intervene for many generations in other areas of his nominal kingship, controlled by barons and counts
• Slow build up of royal power and possessions throughout the Middle Ages

Question 6

Who took over the east after the Carolingians fell?

Answer 6

The Ottonians, Saxon leaders.

Question 7

Who was the king in the east after the Carolingians?

Answer 7

Saxon leader Henry I “the Fowler” given the rule of the Eastern kingdom. Remember, these guys had to fight against the local barons.

Question 8

Briefly describe Henry I (the fowler) rule over the east.

Answer 8

• Must prove himself a worthy protector. He set up fortresses in order to defend against the Vikings.
• Maintains the mantle and ideal of the Carolingians: The Holy Roman Empire (now a Germanic, Saxon center)
– Renewed precedent of Carolingians of papal coronation. Which is funny, given that Charlemagne had subdued these guys. And now they carry the torch. The eastern part of Charles’ empire eventually carried his legacy.
– Territories from Saxony down through Switzerland and Austria into northern Italy

Question 9

Briefly describe the difference in the kingdom of the Capetians and the Ottonians.

Answer 9

• Western French power: develops slowly without Imperial pretensions, power based on royal possessions and effective control.
– develops classical feudalism
– New forms of architecture and intellectual life
• High Gothic architecture
• First universities (along with Bologna and Oxford)

• Eastern German “Holy Roman Empire”: maintains traditional Imperial ideal, power still based on vassalage and all the difficulties involved
– Conservative Roman cultural forms and architecture

Question 10

How does the feudal system begin to have an impact on the church?

Answer 10

Laylords took controls of church lands. A petty Lord usually saw the parish church and its lands as part of his estate. The priest would become his servant. So they began taking over monastery lands. This all happened because there was very little protection.

Question 11

What do Lords begin doing with church appointments? What is this called?

Answer 11

Control of appointments to such (often unworthy appointees based on other criteria than holiness or pastoral need). So what ends up happening is that Lords begin giving bishop positions to their sons, who are not qualified. They were not bound by ascetic practices. Some of them kept wives, even when they became abbots. And then they passed down the office to their sons. The whole conception of priesthood is questioned at this point.

Question 12

What is simony?

Answer 12

Simony is the buying and selling of ecclesiastical offices.

Question 13

What else do Lords do to get priests to start forgetting their vows?

Answer 13

• Nepotism (along with general trend of feudal benefices to become hereditary)
– Entailed corruption of clerical celibacy

Question 14

What are “Vicars of Christ”? And, what role do they play in the history of the church in Medieval Europe?

Answer 14

• The theocratic ideal (the King as a new David) and notion of sacral kingship implied in the royal coronation (similar to ordination of a bishop) gave legitimacy and authority to reform the church. Kings began to be seen as protectors of the people, and sometimes even the church. Remember, they’re trying to protect themselves from greedy local nobles that have messed up church life.
• Need for a strong sovereign to maintain minimal peace and justice in realm

Question 15

What were the advantages and practices of Imperial “Vicar of Christ”?

Answer 15

• Besides increased dignity, counter to hereditary rights of aristocrats over their lands and benefices. So what ends up happening is that the king elects himself a loyal bishop, and when that guy dies, the land is still controlled by the king, and not the local barons.
• Putting celibate churchmen (and allies of the Emperor) in these same positions ensured loyalty and cooperation
• On death of this “enfoeffed” official, ruler could then appoint a new, loyal, churchman.

Question 16

Who practiced assigning loyal bishops as “rulers” or “owners” of the land? And, why would they do this?

Answer 16

The Ottonian Kings. They did this because when that bishop died, the land would still technically belong to the king. The bishop usually had no heir. The Ottonian kings were keeping the land, and therefore power (remember that land and power go hand in hand) away from other barons.

The King chooses a bishop, enriches him with large fiefs/benefices, then invests him with ring and pastoral staff which symbolized the clerical office. This is all to combat the weaknesses of feudalism, where local barons messed with people. In other words, the bishop almost becomes part of the royal court (the ring). And, the church is the one anointing kings. Hardcore relationship between church and state.

Question 17

Who is one of the first to complain about the way that the king is assigning bishops, and the way this impacts the church?

Answer 17

Papacy (Nicholas I) protests against the non-canonical nature of such “investing,” claiming it alone could guide the church.

Question 18

Why is the monastery of Cluny founded?

Answer 18

Monastery of Cluny in Burgundy founded, specifically designating freedom from outside interference from any but the Pope. They were against what was messing up all the religious houses of the time. They have the right to assign their own abbot (trying to get rid of outside influence).

Question 19

When and where is the Cluny monastery founded?

Answer 19

In Burgundy in 910.

Question 20

What is the impact of the Cluny reforms? And, what is the most important impact this reform will have in church politics?

Answer 20

– Becomes a beacon to other reformers
– Many monasteries hand over their control to be reformed by Cluny abbots
• Other reform movements arise:
– England and Rhineland especially
– Lay movements in Italy militating against worldliness of the church (these movements will grow later in the 11th and 12th centuries.

All these things will eventually help to reform the papacy.

Question 21

Who revives the theocratic tradition in 936?

Answer 21

Otto I comes to Rome to be crowned (936). Theocratic tradition is revived.

Question 22

A century after the Cluny reform, Henry III comes to Rome to be coronated, but finds 3 different “popes” claiming the papacy. What does he do?

Answer 22

• As “vicar of Christ” sees it as his duty to appoint the new pope, as he would any bishop in his realm.

• He conscientiously attempts to choose best Pope
– First two appointees die quickly, probably poisoned by factions in Rome who resented what he was doing.

Question 23

Who does Henry III assign as pope in 1046?

Answer 23

1046, Bruno of Tuol, a reformer from the Rhineland center of Reform, is installed by Henry as Pope Leo IX.

Question 24

Who is Bruno of Tuol?

Answer 24

Pope Leo IX, who is installed to the papacy by Henry III. Don’t forget, Henry had come to Rome to be coronated, but there were three different popes.

Question 25

What does Leo IX do to the papacy after Henry III installs him?

Answer 25

He reforms it.

• Appointment of reforming cardinals (now advisors and administrators). This is new to the Roman court (curia). Cardinals before were just ceremonial positions. Now these people would be his administrators. Later on, Nicholas uses this group to choose Popes from there on out.
• Leo holds synods in Rome against Simony and clerical marriage.
• Journeys to France and Germany to take control of reform of abuses (this was ridiculous at the time).
– Electrifying effect: the Pope was no longer a shadowy, distant authority, but a present ruler/judge laying down the law.

Question 26

What is the main of Leo IX’s reform of the papacy?

Answer 26

Electrifying effect: the Pope was no longer a shadowy, distant authority, but a present ruler/judge laying down the law.

Question 27

What is the immediate impact of Leo IX’s reforms in the middle of the 11th century?

Answer 27

1. Many historians see the rise of the papal reforming movement as one of the mainsprings for the groundswell of religious enthusiasm and new forms of Christian life of the 12th century, including the crusades, monastic reforms, and lay movements centered on poverty.
2. The contest between papacy and Holy Roman Empire will continue for centuries, all the while the developing nation-states like France and England will be the real long-term threat to Papal sovereignty.
   The real struggle, in the long run, will be the clash between the church and the nation states.