Ecclesiastical reform and Papal power

Question 1

Significance of papacy’s descent from Peter, how did it elevate their status?

Answer 1

Peter - foremost of Christ’s disciples

symbolised by crossed keys, asserting heirship to Peter’s authority and elevating themselves in status

Question 2

During the Speculum Obscurum/Pornocracy, what characterised the papal leadership, and how did they maintain power despite accusations of moral corruption?

Answer 2

saw popes, often Roman aristocrats accused of moral corruption like taking mistresses.

despite this, they retained power due to the lack of external intervention in Rome during this period.

Question 3

how did the papacy navigate its perceived weakness while maintaining an appearance of authority during the reform period?

Answer 3

despite being viewed as weak, the papacy relied on reputation and alliances with secular and ecclesiastical figures.

they used powers like excommunication and legates reactively to enforce their will.

Question 4

What were the main goals of the Gregorian reform, and who were some key figures associated with it?

Answer 4

aimed to combat clerical corruption, including simony and clerical marriage, asserting papal authority over secular rulers

key figures included Pope Gregory VII and influential supporters like Hugh of Die and Lanfranc.

Question 5

What concerns about clerical purity drove the Gregorin Reform, and how were they addressed?

Answer 5

influenced by monastic ideals, the reform targeted clerical marriage and sexual activity

figures like Peter Remain advocated for celibacy and condemned practices like homosexuality among clergy

Question 6

What was investiture

Answer 6

the appointment of bishops

Question 7

Why was investiture a point of contention between the papacy and secular rulers during the reform period?

Answer 7

highlighted tensions over authority and control within the church

secular rulers often sought to influence these appointments, leading to conflicts with papal authority

Question 8

How did reform movements like the Patria challenge clerical corruption and resist secular interference?

Answer 8

Pataria in Northern Italy sought to ensure clerical purity and resist secular interference by uprisings against corrupt bishops and asserting the autonomy of the church.

Question 9

What was the significance of Dictatus Papa and how did it reflect the aims of the Gregorian Reform?

Answer 9

Dictatus Papae, decreed by Gregory VII, asserted papal supremacy in church and state matters, challenging the authority of secular rulers and elevating the papacy to unparalleled power, reflecting the aims of the Gregorian Reform.

Question 10

What was the lasting legacy of the Gregorian Reform on the papacy and the church as a whole?

Answer 10

despite friction with secular powers, the Gregorian Reform marked a significant period of asserting papal authority, combatting clerical corruption, and shaping the future trajectory of the church, establishing precedents for papal power and influence.

Question 11

were the contested elections to the see of Canterbury reflective of a broader anxiety about who got to choose bishops, or the product of specific contingent circumstances?

Answer 11

reflected broader anxieties

King John’s political difficulties and Anselm’s struggle for primacy were at play, these instances were also part of a larger historical tension between secular rulers and the church over the right to appoint bishops.

Question 12

was the reform movement being advanced by the papacy influential in patters of investiture in England?

Answer 12

yes

reform advanced by papacy influenced investiture

papacy sought to assert authority over the appointment of bishops, leading to a shift away from traditional practices where secular rulers had dominant roles in these appointments.

Question 13

why were kings so interested in selecting who got to be bishop?

Answer 13

bishops wielded significant power and influence, not just in religious matters but also in secular affairs due to their control over vast territories and wealth

by appointing loyal bishops, kings could maintain control over both the church and its resources, thus consolidating their political power.

Question 14

what does Anselm represent as his motive for seeking papal support?

Answer 14

maintain his allegiance to God rather than submitting to the demands of the King.

chose to leave the realm rather than consent to actions that he deemed abominable, emphasising his commitment to religious principles over secular authority.

Question 15

to what extent is Anselm interested in advancing a reform agenda, above all else?

Answer 15

his actions and refusal to compromise on matters of conscience, indicate a strong commitment to advancing a reform agenda within the church

he prioritised ecclesiastical autonomy from secular interference, aligning with broader movements for religious reform.

Question 16

is there a distinct policing of the divide between secular and religious in these texts?

Answer 16

Anselms language underscores his concern about appearing to prioritise the king over God, highlighting a clear distinction between secular and religious authority

emphasised importance of maintaining the integrity of religious principles and autonomy from secular control

Question 17

What were the Gregorian Reforms?

Answer 17

a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the c pic le he formed in the papal curia 1050-1080 which dealt with moral integrity and independence of the clergy

Question 18

What were the Gregorian reforms focused on?

Answer 18

church-state conflict, the reforms main concerns were the moral integrity and independence of the clergy

canonical elections, simony, and clerical celibacy

Question 19

What was the investiture controversy?

Answer 19

universally prohibited for lay rulers to appoint bishops by Gregory VII November 1078

rooted in determination to reform the troublesome state of Christendom

insisted on canonically elected bishops

Question 20

C.N.L Brooke on Gregorian Reform

Answer 20

Reformers of the 11th century set to destroy intimate and powerful foundations of clerical society: abolish simony and destroy the family life of the clergy

enforce established law, social revolution, 12th century age of growing sophistication, world of love and marriage included, romantic ideal was born.

Question 21

CNL Brooke on Pope Leo IX:

Answer 21

more troubled by Simony than marriage
marriage had been banned since the 5th century

‘for centuries the attempt to keep the clergy in higher orders away from the weaker sex had been a favourite activity with all kinds of reformers’

Question 22

CNL Brooke on Peter Damien:

Answer 22

leading revolutionary

took his own stand on his sacramental theology and on the law of the church

cited a chain of texts to show that clerical marriage was forbidden

Jesus born of a virgin, re-birth blessed sacrament must be solomnised by a priest sworn to chastity

clerical marriage heretical

Question 23

CNL Brookes on the attack of married priests:

Answer 23

law forbidding the ordination of the sons of priests

definitive by Urban II at the end of the century

shows the power of the papacy in enforcing their power

Question 24

Augustin Fliche on Gregory VII:

Answer 24

saw Gregory as ‘the centre of a vast movement of ideas whose origins are to be found deep in the tenth century and whose manifestations continue up on to the middle of the 12th’

Question 25

John Howe on the religious reformation and its aims:

Answer 25

• decide on a return to the early church
• sought to recover ecclesiastical property, restore religious discipline, and to establish a purified priesthood free from the buying and selling of church offices (simony) and clerical marriage (nicolaitism)
• led to attacks on lay investiture in episcopal elections
• never completely achieved a renewed, liberated church in a jsut society

Question 26

John Howe on the effects of the revolution on papal power:

Answer 26

their calls for right order in the world had momentous consequences:

papal power and prestige were vastly increased, kingship in the style of the Old Testament received a severe blow, cathedral chapters began to choose their own bishops, simony and nicolaitism became far less acceptable, the Benedictine ascetically monopoly was broken, and revived legal and theological debate brought rational equity and dispute back to the centre of western thought

Question 27

John Howe on the importance of pre-Gregorian movements:

Answer 27

revivals of schools

underlying economic and social changes

nobility’s reform of the church

Question 28

Blumenthal’s argument on the Gregorian reforms:

Answer 28

that celibacy from the great church was mostly down to pope Gregory VII - St Peter Damien argues celibacy due to its relations with the Virgin Mary

however, little was done to ensure the implementation of clerical celibacy

Question 29

how does Mcloughlin link simony to economic growth & urban towns?

Answer 29

links the increase in simony to the increased circulation of money and the expansion of commerce

Question 30

When does Gregory VII prohibit lay investiture?

Answer 30

~November 1078

Question 31

What does Sally N. Vaughn argue the investiture conflict was really between:

Answer 31

that it was a three-way struggle

both king and pope compromised, each giving up some goals. But Anselm emerged having won nearly all his political objectives.

Question 32

Notable figures for the investiture conflict:

Answer 32

Henry I
Pope Pachal II
St Anselm

Question 33

What was the impact of the investiture conflict?

Answer 33

• power of church increased, making appointments to church offices
• power of secular rulers declines, fragmentation of power
• church state relations were strained, led to clear separation of their respective powers
• church gained greater independence from secular rulers
• Pope’s authority was strengthened at the expense of local bishops and abbots.

Question 34

What major christian theology became popular in this time?

Answer 34

purgatory

Question 35

what primary source highlights the invested interest into purgatory and the afterlife?

Answer 35

Wachelin’s Purgatorial Vision by Orderic

Question 36

What does Wachelin’s Vision highlight?

Answer 36

• shift towards the belief that even serious sins can be expiated after death through intercessory prayers
• emergence of purgatory as a distinct place, with mapped geography and structured suffering
• didactic purpose to correct and educate clerical understandings of the afterlife
• the spread of new theological ideas from the cloisters

Question 37

Susanna Throop on the crusades:

Answer 37

vengeance from christ’s crucifixion where muslims were the enemy, but also idea of ‘Christian Love’ - obligation, crusading was through this idea acting on their duty

Question 38

Riley Smith on the crusades:

Answer 38

agues that the crusades were an empathetic movement, love for the suffering of Christians everywhere.