A. T. Jones, Ecclesiastical Empire The Holy Roman Empire and The Papal Supremacy Chapters 15, 16, and 17!1
Chapter 15 The successors of Charlemagne, in order to maintain their tyranny over the people, compelled all the bishops in their realms to submit to the decisions of the court of Rome. But a strange change was soon seen at work in religion. Religion no longer consisted in holy traditions or the morality of Christ, but in the sovereignty of the pope, the adoration of images, the invocation of saints, sacred singing, the mass, the pomp of ceremonies, the consecration of temples, splendid churches, and in monastic vows and pilgrimages.!2
Rome imposed its fanaticism and its superstitions on all the other churches; morality, faith, and true piety were replaced by cupidity [greed], ambition, and luxury; the ignorance of the clergy was so profound that a knowledge of the singing of the Lord s prayer, the creed, and the service of the mass was all that was demanded from princes and ecclesiastical dignitaries. (De Cormenin, History of the Popes, p. 272; quoted by Jones) Jones then list a number of popes in succession, along with their misdeeds.!3
For example, in 823 Lothaire went to Rome to be consecrated by the pope, but was greatly upset by the scandalous disorder of Rome. In particular, the palace of the pope resembled a brothel. He severely remonstrated the pope, who promised to amend his ways, but as soon as Lothaire left Italy, he arrested two venerable bishops, whom he felt was responsible for Lothaire s behavior, had them conducted to the palace, had their eyes put out and the tongues dragged out in his presence, and then handed them over to be beheaded.!4
Then there is Gregory VII and the German king, Henry IV. If he be truly penitent, let him place his crown and all the ensigns of royalty in my hands, and openly confess himself unworthy of the royal name and dignity. Henry accepted the terms, and appeared at the castle gate. There he was informed that he must leave outside all his guards and attendants and enter alone. The castle was surrounded with three walls. Henry passed through the gate of the first wall, and the gate was shut behind him. There he was required not merely to lay aside all royal apparel, but to unclothe himself entirely, and clothe himself with the thin, single, sackcloth garment of a penitent and he was then admitted within the second wall. And there, on a dreary winter morning, Jan. 25, 1077, with the ground deep in snow, the king, the heir of a long line of emperors, stood bareheaded and barefooted, awaiting the will of the pope. Thus fasting, he passed the first day and night. The second day and night he passed in the same way, pleading for the pope to hear him and deliver him. The third day came with the pope still unrelenting. Even the pope s company began to murmur that his conduct "instead of being the gravity of apostolic severity, was the cruelty of an iron tyranny." Matilda at last was melted to sincere pity, and went to Gregory, and by her influence, persuaded him to put an end to Henry s sufferings, by admitting him to the papal presence. On the fourth day Henry was admitted to his desired interview with the pope. The terms exacted from Henry, who was far too deeply humiliated to dispute anything, had no redeeming touch of gentleness or compassion. These conditions were: --!5
1. That he should appear at the time and the place, which the pope should appoint, to answer, in a general diet of the German lords, the charge brought against him, and should own the pope for his judge. 2. That he should stand to the pope s judgment, should keep or resign the crown as he should by the pope be found guilty or innocent, and should never seek to revenge himself upon his accusers. 3. That till judgment was given and his cause was finally determined, he should lay aside all badges of royalty, should not meddle, upon any pretense whatever, with public affairs, and should levy no money upon the people but what was necessary for the support of his family.!6
At Salerno, May 25, 1085, Gregory VII died. When asked by the attending bishops and Matilda to forgive his enemies, he replied: No, my hatred is implacable. I curse the pretended emperor Henry, the antipope Guibert, and the reprobates who sustain them. I absolve and bless the simple who believe that a pope has power to bind and loose. As he was dying he said: I have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore I die in exile. Then lifting his eyes to heaven he said to the bishops and cardinals, Thither I am going, and shall incessantly recommend you to the protection and favor of the Almighty. And so died Gregory VII, the pope who, above all, so far, had made the highest and boldest claims for the papacy; and who had given up Germany and Italy to confusion, bloodshed, and desolation, to maintain his exorbitant claims in behalf of the papacy. He left twenty-seven Maxims, as follows:!7
1. The Roman Church was founded by none but our Lord. 2. The Roman pontiff alone should of right be styled universal bishop. 3. He alone can depose and restore bishops. 4. The pope s legate, though of an inferior rank, is in councils to take place of all bishops, and can pronounce sentence of deposition against them. 5. The pope can depose absent bishops.!8
6. No man ought to live in the same house with persons excommunicated by him. 7. The pope alone can make new laws, can establish new churches, can divide rich bishoprics, and unite poor ones. 8. He alone can wear the imperial ornaments. 9. All princes are to kiss his foot, and to pay that mark of distinction to him alone. 10. His name alone ought to be commemorated in the churches. 11. There is no name in the world but his [that is, as some understand it, he alone is styled pope. The name of pope, formerly common to all bishops, was appropriated, as Father Paul observes, by Gregory VII to the Roman pontiff].!9
12. It is lawful for him to depose emperors. 13. He can translate bishops from one see to another when thought necessary. 14. He can ordain a clerk in any church whatever. 15. A clerk ordained by him must not be preferred to a higher degree by any other bishop. 16. No general council is to be assembled without his order. 17. No book is to be deemed canonical, but by his authority. 18. His judgments no man can reverse, but he can reverse all other judgments.!10
19. He is to be judged by no man. 20. No man shall presume to condemn the person that appeals to the apostolic see. 21. The greater causes of all churches ought to be brought before the apostolic see. 22. The Roman Church never has erred, nor will she ever, according to Scripture.!11
23. The Roman pontiff, canonically elected, becomes undoubtedly holy by the merits of St. Peter, according to the testimony of St. Ennodius, bishop of Pavia, and many of the Fathers, as is related in the decrees of Pope Symmachus. 24. With his leave an inferior may accuse his superior. 25. He can depose and restore bishops without assembling a synod. 26. He is not to be deemed a Catholic, who does not agree with the Roman Church. 27. The pope can absolve subjects from the oath of allegiance which they have taken to a bad prince.!12
The First Crusade URBAN II March 12, 1088, to July 29, 1099!13
It was as the stirrer up of the Crusades that Urban II specially gained papal distinction. Gregory VII designed a Crusade, but it remained for Urban II, the most faithful of his disciples to accomplish it. The Turks had taken Jerusalem from the Saracens in 1076. Among the many thousands who made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem was a hermit, named Peter, from the province of Picardy in France. When Peter the Hermit appealed to the patriarch of Jerusalem to know why the Greek emperors could endure to have the Turks possess the holy sepulcher, the patriarch could only assure him of the weakness of the successors of Constantine. Then, exclaimed Peter, I will rouse the martial nations of Europe in your cause! From Jerusalem the pilgrim returned an accomplished fanatic; but as he excelled in the popular madness of the times, Pope Urban the Second received him as a prophet, applauded his glorious design, promised to support it in a general council, and encouraged him to proclaim the deliverance of the Holy Land. Gibbon.!14
The clergy preached in every diocese the merit and glory of the deliverance of the Holy Land; and when the pope ascended a lofty scaffold in the market-place of Clermont, his eloquence was addressed to a well-prepared and impatient audience. From that scaffold Urban II declaimed as follows: We are beyond doubt, happy to see our presence excite acclamations in this great and illustrious assembly; but we cannot conceal beneath the appearances of deceitful joy, the marks of profound sadness; and your hearts will see in bitterness, and your eyes will shed torrents of tears, when you regard with me, my brethren, the misfortunes of Christianity, and our negligence of the faithful of the East. Thanks be to God, we have almost entirely extirpated the heresy which desolated the Western Church; we have exterminated obstinate schismatics by fire or sword; we have reformed the abuses and augmented the domains and riches of the holy see. Notwithstanding this success, our soul remains plunged in sadness, and we declare to you that we will taste of no repose until the implacable enemies of the Christian name shall be driven from the Holy Land, which they outrage by their impious and sacrilegious conduct.!15
Yes, dear brethren, Jerusalem, the city of God, that heritage of Christ, which has been bequeathed to us by the Saviour, that venerated land, in which all the divine mysteries have been accomplished, has been for several centuries in the sacrilegious hands of the Saracens and Turks, who triumph over God himself. Who can tell the horrible profanations which they commit in these holy places? They have overthrown the altars, broken the crosses, destroyed the churches!16
The pope proclaimed a plenary indulgence to those should enlist under the banner of the cross: the absolution of all their sins, and a full receipt for all that might be due of canonical penance. Gibbon. When the council adjourned, the bishops were solemnly enjoined by Urban to cause the crusade to be preached by the clergy throughout all their dioceses. The cold philosophy of modern times is incapable of feeling the impression that was made on a sinful and fanatic world. At the voice of their pastor, the robber, the incendiary, the homicide, arose by thousands to redeem their souls, by repeating on the infidels the same deeds which they had exercised against their Christian brethren; and the terms of atonement were eagerly embraced by offenders of every rank and denomination. None were pure; none were exempt from the guilt and penalty of sin!17
The ignorant and superstitious multitude everywhere, both the great and small, were taught to believe every wonder of lands flowing with milk and honey, of mines and treasures, of gold and diamonds, of palaces of marble and jasper, and of groves of cinnamon and frankincense. The spoils of a Turkish emir might enrich the meanest follower of the camp; and the temptations were more adapted to the nature, than to the champions of the cross. The love of freedom was a powerful incitement to the multitudes who were oppressed by feudal or ecclesiastical tyranny. Under this holy sign, the peasants and burghers, who were attached to the servitude of the glebe, might escape from a haughty lord, and transplant themselves and their families to a land of liberty. The monk might release himself from the discipline of his convent: the debtor might suspend the accumulation of usury, and the pursuit of his creditors; and outlaws and malefactors of every caste might continue to brave the laws and elude the punishment of their crimes.!18
The Council of Clerment had designated Aug. 15, 1096, as the time of the departure of the crusade. But the enthusiasm was so great that a great rabble was ready to start in March: about one hundred thousand, in three bands. These were followed, as early as the month of May, by a horde of two hundred thousand, led by a goose and a goat. These hosts were composed of the most stupid and savage refuse of the people, who mingled with their devotion a brutal license of rapine, prostitution, and drunkenness ; and who were so utterly ignorant that at the sight of the first city or castle beyond the limits of their knowledge, they were ready to ask whether that was not the Jerusalem, the term and object of their labors.!19
No barbarian, no infidel, no Saracen, ever perpetrated such wanton and cold-blooded atrocities of cruelty as the wearers of the cross of Christ on the capture of the city. Murder, rape, and plunder were considered the conqueror s right. Then after every enemy was subdued and slaughtered, with the streets of Jerusalem flowing with blood and covered with the bodies of the slain, the triumphant crusaders turned their steps toward the holy sepulcher and there they presumed, with tears and anthems and devout attitude, to express their gratitude to him who from Sinai had thundered, Thou shalt not kill, and who, absolutely unresisting, had yielded His life and breathed His dying prayer for His enemies!!20
Next The Papal Empire!21