1. History of the Church I: Week 17

2. The Fall of the Papacy  During the 13 th and 14 th centuries, Europe started to rely less and less on the Papacy.  There were several reasons for this:  Feudalism was starting to decline as hard currency replaced land  Cultures were starting to identify themselves by nationality  Popes themselves took their power too far as rulers of the world and not spiritual leaders

3. The Fall of the Papacy  One of the powers the Papacy had enjoyed for several centuries was its taxing power  Popes had used the spiritual matters like penance and purgatory to rack up huge profits for the church  Monarchs started to realize they needed hard currency to run their governments and demanded the right to tax on there own  When Boniface VIII issued Clerics laicos (no taxes on the clergy) the stage was set

4. Monarchs push back  Both Edward I of England and Philip of France refused to follow the papal decree  Boniface, in particular, needed France’s hard money and its troops for defense so he backed down  However, the Popes now believed ALL people had to answer to the Papacy  In 1301, Philip had a French bishop arrested on a count of treason  Boniface ordered him to be released and rescinded the tax

5. Monarchs push back  Philip responded by saying Jesus Christ was the head of the church and called the 1 st Estates General  At the meeting, Philip asked for the support of the assembly against the Pope which they granted  Boniface issued Unam sanctam – laid down 3 main points:  Church must have unity  Pope is head of all matters spiritual and civil  Must follow the Pope to obtain salvation

6. Monarchs push back  Philip responded by saying Boniface’s election to the papacy was illegal and proceeded to arrest the Pope  Boniface, now 86, was at his summer home when troops arrived to “rough him up”  He died within weeks and the message was now clear:  The Pope ruled in spiritual matters  The kings in civil matters

7. Papal Authority  When Boniface died, his successor lived less than a year  In 1305, Clement, a Frenchman, was elected Pope  He decided to stay in France and rule from Avignon as did the next six popes  This did not sit well with the rest of Europe – the Pope was supposed to be in Rome (the eternal city) besides the French now basically ruled the papacy  In 1324, Louis the Bavarian challenged the Pope by calling a council of the church

8. Papal Authority  In 1326, the work entitled Defender of the Peace was presented to the King of France  Main points of the work are as follows:  Church was community of believers  Popes, bishops, priests and other officers of the church are no more important than the laity  They served a function in the church  Called for democratic governments

9. Papal Authority  Why was this book written?  The Papacy was receiving less funds without the banking of the Papal States  The church came up with all kinds of money making schemes to deter the cost including indulgences  Pope Gregory XI in 1377 agreed to go back to Rome to restore the papacy to Rome  Within a short time period, Gregory died

10. Papacy in Crisis  The College of Cardinals under heavy pressure from Italy picked an Italian pope  Urban VI turned out to be worst than having a pope in France so the College elected a new pope and called Urban an apostate  Clement VII was elected but Urban would not give up his throne  Thus the Great Schism was underway – two Popes one in France and one in Rome  This lasted for 38 years

11. Papacy in Crisis  In 1395, professors at the University of Paris suggested there be a general council of the church to decide the issue  After years of discussing the issue, the council finally met in 1409  The council decided to throw out both popes and elect a third Alexander V  Neither of the other two popes accepted the council which was their right under canon law  For five years there were three popes!

12. Papacy in Crisis  In 1414, the Holy Roman Empire called a council to decide this one and for all  The key point of this council besides picking a new pope was each kingdom acted like a nation with each one receiving a vote – this would lead to the nation states of the 17 th century  Marin V was crowned new Pope and he promptly denied all requests of the council except the one which made him pope  Thus Papacy only accepted their direction and the office sunk to an all-time low of behavior – the year was 1503