Western Civ. Topics 10&11 (750CE-1400CE)

What Leaders and Events of the Middle Ages Made Kings and Popes Powerful? (Summary)

499

The most powerful kings and popes in medieval times seemed to be the ones that knew how to use each other or the name of Christianity to gain approval from the citizens or to gain favors. Popes also made great use of proselytizing to create more believers, thus having more influence. And, even without these skills, there was always good ol' money and corruption.

Clovis I

500

A Merovingian King named Clovis and a few thousand of his elite warriors converted to Latin Christianity. But he did it for a practical reason: he planned to attack the Visigoths of Spain and hoped that, by converting to Latin Christianity, the subjects of the Goths would welcome him as a liberator rather than see him as an invader. And this did, in fact, work.
(I know this is really early, but it is one of the best examples)

Gregory the Great

600

Gregory was highly intelligent, using his spiritual authority to form mutually beneficial relationships with various kings, some of which he used against each other to help him develop papal independence. And he also sent missionaries out to spread Christianity with the goal of spreading his influence in mind.
(Again, I know it's early, but this is too good of an example not to use)

Donation of Constantine

750

The church created a fake document, called the Donation of Constantine, to claim that Constantine granted authority over the entire Western Roman Empire to the popes of Rome. They knew that using his name would shore up support and lend credence to their rule, and it was used as evidence until it was eventually discovered to be a fake.

Flexibility of Missionaries

755

Missionaries at this time were given explicit instructions to not battle the pagan religious practices, but rather to reshape them to fit with Christianity. The church knew they would get many more converts if the people didn't have to give up any of their traditions or practices. At one point, Pope Gregory wrote Bede (an early English Christian leader) a letter, instructing him to consecrate and reuse pagan temples instead of destroying them.

(Couldn't find date)

The Sacraments

760

The church exerted influence over people's daily lives because the priests were the only ones who could preform the sacraments. So, as most of Europe was Christian by this time period, anyone who wanted their soul to be saved needed to look to the church. This likely also meant that they could extort favors from powerful people by threatening to not preform the sacraments, thus dooming their soul for eternity.

Charlemagne Crowned Holy Roman Emperor

800

Charlemagne had a close relationship with the pope at the time, with a couple of the most notable favors for him being when Charlemagne invaded the Lombards at his request and when he reinstalled the pope when powerful Roman families had chased him out. And Charlemagne expanded his land with nearly constant wars during his reign, using the excuse of wanting to convert non-Christian Germans.

Pope Urban II's Sermon

1095

Pope Urban II responded to a call for help from Byzantine by giving a sermon in France calling on all the knights of Europe to protect Christianity in the Holy Land. He also offered unlimited penance to the knights and commoners that made up the crusades, allowing all who took part to be absolved of their sins. In all honesty, it was likely the loot that drew so many fighters, but even still, it is a great example of a pope having the ability to move and entire "army."

Teutonic knights

1171

The Teutonic Knights were a knightly order modeled after the Templars, adopting their code of conduct. In 1171, Pope Alexander III authorized a crusade against the people of the East Baltic region, and the Teutonic knights got busy. Again, the common excuse was used: the invasion in the Baltic lands was meant to convert the people of the region to Christianity. They also saw their crusades as analogous to the Spanish reconquest.

Philip IV

1305

Phillip IV supported the election of Clement V in 1305 after imprisoning Pope Boniface VIII for attempting to force all kings to acknowledge his authority over even their own kingdoms. Because Clement believed that Rome was too violent, he moved the papal office to the city of Avignon in France. This allowed the French king indirect control, as the popes (till moving back to Rome) were influenced by French politics, also accepting bribes for appointing priests and bishops.

Corruption

1310

The highest positions were picked from European nobility, while all of the wealth that went into the church went straight into their pockets. Many high level priests lived like princes, thus having the money to form the relationships that gave them such influence. A very common practice was that of noblemen buying positions in the church for their sons with church officials turning a blind eye. The corruption was so prevalent that art at the time depicted religious officials burning in hell.