1. Discuss the expansion of the Papacy. In a sense, the medieval church had its feet in the mud (no hope on earth) and its eyes in the stars (only hope was in the future -- death). Starting in 600AD, there was always a pope who was head of all church matters and personnel. He was called the Vicar (substitute) of Christ, and many even believed him to be infallible. By the Middle Ages, the pope's power increased even more to where he was able to control kings and be involved in all important political decisions. By 1210AD, his power was absolute, and with that power came corruption. In 1054AD, the eastern and western churches split.

2. Discuss the political and military alliances. These alliances were the first factor to account for the expansion of the Papacy, and the Frankish alliance had more to do with that than the others because of their closeness to the bishop of Rome. The Frankish alliance even allowed for the development of the Holy Roman Empire. Pepin (the Short) was crowned king of the Franks in 751AD, and he was the first Frankish leader to be formally crowned as king. The bishop of Rome was the one who crowned him, so people automatically started to believe that the pope had power to make a king, that a religious figure had the power to make a political figure. This was not really correct because Pepin's selection did not have anything to do with the pope, but the pope's position and prestige were enhanced anyway. Pepin gave control of a large part of land in Italy to the pope, and this parcel of land came to be known as the Papal States. On 12/25/800AD, Pope Leo III crowned Charles the Great (Charlemagne) to be the Holy Roman emperor (Imperator Romanorum - Emperor of the Romans) as the emperor-to-be was praying in the church, but in so doing, he was crowning his greatest opponent and also his, at times, greatest ally. Interestingly, the empire at this point was called the Holy Roman empire, but it was not holy or Roman (it was Frankish), and it was not even a real empire. Pope Leo III was even more successful in accomplishing his objectives than Pope Gregory I.

3. Discuss the forged documents. The second factor of the Papacy expansion were some forged documents. The first document, the donation of Constantine, purported to be a 330AD document by Constantine that donated control of Rome to the bishop of Rome when the capital was moved to Constantinople (then Byzantine, now present-day Istanbul) from Rome. This false document was probably given to Pepin in 754AD and might have prompted him to give control of the Papal States to the pope. In the 16th century, Lorenzo Valla studied the document and concluded that it was really an 8th century forgery, but he did not say anything. In the 17th century, Martin Luther blew the whistle and announced the scam. Another forged document, the pseudo-Isidorian decretals, resulted in the 8th century when some decretals were added to the original set composed by Isidor. At the time, those who had added the forgeries convinced the Franks that the Papacy should have a stronger hand in the union of the church and the state. They magnified the office of the Papacy and falsely claimed that it had always had a great amount of power.

4. Discuss the effects of feudalism. The third factor that contributed to the expansion of the Papacy was the feudal system, which started in the 9th century. This system had the Lords and knights (the enforcers) on one end (the secular powers), the bishops and priests on the other end (the religious powers), and the serfs or peasants in the middle. This system had an upper and lower class with little or no in-between. There was not any social mobility. If you were born in the serf class, you most likely spent your entire life in that position. It was possible for a serf to be pulled into a small position in the church, but this was very, very rare (less than 1% of the time). Those born in the upper class stayed in that class for their entire life. This was where the expression, "feet in the mud and eyes in the stars," came from. Serfs, like slaves, belonged to the land, but they could not own the land. The Papacy expanded its control and influence during feudalism because the church offered serfs their only hope for the future (death and either purgatory or heaven). The pope did not design feudalism, but he did use it to his advantage.

5. Discuss the internal developments. The fourth factor that led to an expansion of the Papacy were two internal developments. First, worship was standardized into the Mass (to dismiss or ask to leave) by Pope Gregory I (Gregorian chants) and continued to be standardized even more after he was gone. Originally, the Mass had referred to the Lord's Supper, and unorthodox attendees were asked to leave. But in the Middle Ages, worshippers started to believe that the Lord's Supper was the "real" body and the "real" blood of Jesus because the priest would say, "This is my body," and everyone started to take those words literally. They called it a sacrifice anew and expanded the mass to be more than just the observance of the sacrament. With this internal development, the people started putting their faith in a piece of bread and a cup of wine instead of Christ, but this kind of faith did not give them any security.

Second, there were doctrinal controveries, including the iconoclastic issue, between the eastern and western churches. There were language differences in that the eastern church conducted services in Greek while the western church did so in Latin. Also, the eastern church opposed having any kinds of idols, although they did agree to flat pictures, and the western church approved of pictures and statues. This particular issue reached the point of absurdity when the two churches debated over how much protrusion could extend from a picture. The Papacy was expanded even more by these two controversies because the western church became more united in their positions.

6. Discuss the anarchy and confusion. Charlemagne died, and the Frankish kingdom began to decline. There were a lot of disputes. The Papacy was also reduced, and this period was called the pornocracy (a rule of harlots). Between 896 and 904AD, there were 10 different popes. Harlots and priests became involved with each other. The pope during this time was susceptible to the same frailities as any other man, so they as individuals definitely were not the Vicars of Christ.

				Tom of Bethany

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Lesson 21. Secular Opposition (325-1054AD)

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