Secular power and the church. The Rise of the Papacy: Christianity in the Middle Ages (XII-XIII centuries) Conflict between the Popes and German Emperors

Radio in the service of the Great October Socialist Revolution The eve of the October Revolution. The Military Revolutionary Committee, led by Comrade Stalin, operates in Petrograd. By his order, the cruiser Aurora radios an appeal from the Military Revolutionary

Started before the Crusades The struggle between the papacy and the empire continued during the Crusades. The Concordat of Worms of 1122 ended the dispute over investiture, which stemmed from the combination of church offices with feudal landownership, but there were other reasons for the struggle of popes with emperors. The main ones were the desire of emperors to dominate Italy and them claims to independent use of power. German kings, ever since Otto the Great, always wanted to own Italy, without which they could not imagine an empire, and the knighthood of Germany, looking for exploits and booty, willingly assisted them. But It was not profitable for the popes for Italy to belong to the emperors. On the other hand, the emperors did not want to submit to the papal theory about the primacy of spiritual power over secular power and they themselves began to declare such theoretical claims that were contrary to papal theocracy. In the 12th century. resumed in Italy study of Roman law(University of Bologna), and learned lawyers began to defend Roman theory of sovereign power(imperium), which the people handed over to the sovereign, and which no one’s will and power can limit: “what is pleasing to the sovereign has the force of law” (quod principi placuit, legis habet vigorem). According to this view, the emperor was declared the “ruler of the world,” standing “above the law,” “embodied law on earth,” and “patron of the church.” It is clear that the popes could not come to terms with such a theory, which went against their own claims. They found allies both in the German feudal princes and in the Italian urban communities, who were equally unsympathetic to the policies of the emperors.

158. Ghibellines and Guelphs

In the second half of the 12th and first half of the 13th centuries, the imperial throne was occupied by the Hohenstaufen family(1138 – 1254). The Hohenstaufens were formerly dukes of Swabia and during their rise they met resistance from another German princely family Velfov, who owned Bavaria and Saxony and many lands in Italy. From the name of the Welfs the Italians made the name of their party in Italy - Guelphs, and the name of the Hohenstaufen ancestral castle Waibling was changed to Ghibellines, as their party began to be designated in Italy. The original difference between the Ghibellines and the Guelphs was that one (the Ghibellines) defended the ideas universal monarchy and independent secular rule, while others (Guelphs) were supporters national or local independence and the interests of the papacy. Both parties had supporters in both Germany and Italy, so the struggle between the papacy and the empire under the Hohenstaufens was further complicated by internal strife in both countries.

159. Frederick Barbarossa's fight against the papacy

The Hohenstaufen dynasty produced some remarkable personalities. The second representative of this dynasty was Frederick I, nicknamed by the Italians Redbeard (Barbarossa) and occupied with his reign almost the entire second half of the 12th century. (1152 – 1190). Having restored peace in Germany, disturbed by the struggle with the Welfs, he went to Italy for imperial crown. At this time in Rome, a republican movement took place among the common people, directed against the pope and the nobility, and its leader was a scientist Arnold Breshiansky, scholastic theologian suspected of heresy. The insurgents took possession of the city, but would willingly submit to Frederick Barbarossa as emperor, if the latter himself were not afraid of such a revolution. He hastened to restore the pope (Adrian IV) to his rights and handed over Arnold to him, who was then executed. But the northern Italian (Lombard and Tuscan) urban communities, which had turned into real republics, did not want to submit to Barbarossa’s demand to restore his royal rights (regalia). At first, the emperor broke the resistance of the Lombards, led by Milan, - and, having destroyed this city, he installed his own judges (podestas) in other cities and imposed monetary contributions on their population. Meanwhile, after the death of Adrian IV, returned to power by Barbarossa, some cardinals chose one pope, others - another. To resolve the dispute, the emperor convened a council in Pavia, to which the bishops of Germany and Italy came, but one of the popes did not want to come, considering himself beyond the jurisdiction of the council. It was Alexander III, defender of the theocratic ideal of the papacy. The council decided the matter in favor of his rival, but in other countries they did not want to recognize the Germans as rulers of the whole world and took the side precisely Alexandra III. In France, the latter even found refuge, from which he sent to the emperor excommunication. Then the Lombards again rebelled against Barbarossa and restored Milan, which he had destroyed. The emperor went to war against them without sufficient military forces for this enterprise. His most significant vassal, the Duke of Bavaria, refused to help him Heinrich Lev(from the Welf family). Tradition says that Frederick asked him for help on his knees, but even if this did not actually happen, the legend itself well characterizes the weakness of the empire. Under Legnano (1176) the Lombards inflicted a defeat on the emperor, which forced him refuse to subjugate the pope and Italian cities. Peace between spiritual and secular chapters Western Christianity was sealed by a meeting between both of them in Venice, during which the emperor knelt before the pope. After this, having restored his authority in Germany, Frederick Barbarossa ended his life in the third crusade.

160. New struggle between the Hohenstaufens and the Welfs

Own son Henry VI Barbarossa managed marry the heiress of Naples and Sicily, but this sovereign, who united Southern Italy under his rule with the former possessions of the empire, did not reign for long. When he died (1196), his young son Frederick was recognized as king in southern Italy, and in Germany again there was a struggle between the Hohenstaufens and the Welfs. Innocent III, who was elected to the papal throne at this time, resolved the dispute first in favor of the Welf claimant (Otto IV), but when this new German sovereign showed some independence, the pope supported the young Neapolitan king, who soon took possession of the Hohenstaufen heritage in Germany.

161. Pope Innocent III

Innocent III occupied the papal throne at the very end of the 12th century. early XIII V. (1198 – 1216). After Gregory VII it was the most wonderful medieval pope. Innocent III came from the same count family, studied law in Bologna and theology in Paris, and became pope before he was even forty years old. His reign was a continuous series of successes papal power, which Innokenty Sh in theory placed at an unattainable height. Despising the world, as he stated in his essay “On Contempt for the World and Human Misfortunes,” he fought with this very world in order to subjugate it. His ideal was world theocracy of the pope, and he even directly introduced into canon law the doctrine that papal power is superior to secular power, and that the pope has the right to dispose of the crowns of sovereigns and to interfere in all political affairs. He was not content with the title of vicar ap. Peter and began to call himself vicar of Christ. According to his theory, the transfer of the rights of the empire from the Greeks to the Franks was a matter of papal permission - it is not for nothing that the emperor is crowned by the pope. Having first recognized Welf as emperor, Innocent III then excommunicated him from the church and crowned Hohenstaufen (Frederick II), whom he himself at first denied the right to the crown. In other countries, he also brought complete triumph to the papal power. French king Philip II Augustus who married while his wife was alive, he forced him to give up his second wife and return his first: dad imposed an interdict on France, and the king humbled himself. English king John the Landless did not want to recognize the archbishop of Canterbury appointed by the pope, and then Innocent III excommunicated him from the church, deprived him of the throne, giving it to the French king, and declared a crusade against England itself. After this, John the Landless recognized himself as a vassal of the pope, laying his crown at the feet of his legate. The minor kings of the West also recognized, one after another, the power of the pope over them. Under Innocent III it was formed Latin Empire, and was undertaken crusade against the Albigensians and Waldensians. His reign also included the beginning of mendicant monks, the introduction of the Inquisition, and the founding of the University of Paris. Finally, the same pope took away the right of the laity to receive communion under both types and to read the Bible. The successors of Innocent III supported his policies and continued to fight the empire in the person of Frederick II of Hohenstaufen.

162. Frederick II

Taking the imperial throne, Frederick II (1216–1250) changed the policies of his predecessors. They were German kings, he was an Italian by mother, by place of upbringing (in Sicily), and by sympathies. He was little interested in Germany and even recognized broad sovereign rights for the German princes, as long as they provided him with assistance in the war. On the contrary, in Southern Italy he sought to make his power autocratic. An unusually intelligent and energetic man, Frederick II grew up in constant communication with the Greeks and Saracens, of whom there were many in his Neapolitan state, was interested in secular philosophy, willingly talked with Arab scientists about such subjects as the immortality of the soul, and provided patronage higher schools in his capital and in Salerno, and in matters of faith he showed freethinking or, according to at least, indifference. If he undertook the fifth crusade, then on his part it was only a purely political measure. Spending in Italy Ghibelline policy, Frederick II met here with a strong Guelph opposition represented by the popes and cities of Northern and Central Italy. Successors of Innocent III, of whom InnocentIV showed the most indomitable anger in the fight against him and all the “snake brood” of the Hohenstaufens, they waged a fierce war with him. Frederick II was declared excommunicated and deprived of the throne, and an interdict was imposed on his possessions. After the death of the emperor his son ConradIV reigned in Germany for only four years, but then in this country it came great interregnum(1254), The pope (Urban IV) gave southern Italy to the French prince Charles of Anjou(brother of King Louis IX). Frederick II's son (Manfred), who succeeded him here, was defeated; likewise the attempt of the young Konradina, son of Conrad IV, to take Sicily and Naples from the French ended in complete failure and the execution of the applicant.

163. Decline of the Empire and Papacy

Fall of the Hohenstaufens in the middle of the 13th century. in the fight against the papacy there was also fall of imperial power in the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation. The empire itself had now become a mere fiction. Italy and Germany were separated, and both were completely fragmented. But the papal power, which emerged victorious from the struggle, soon fell into disrepair. The popes found support in Italian cities when they were afraid to fall under the power of German kings, called Roman emperors, but with the disappearance of this danger, terrible civil strife began in Italy between cities, and in the latter, between individual parties. It even happened to dads It’s not entirely convenient to stay in Rome, and at the beginning of the XIV century. they moved their residence to the French city Avignon. On the other side, the power of national kings began to grow stronger at this time, and it became more difficult to fight them. Finally, in the fight against the Hohenstaufens, the popes became more and more take care of purely political interests and material means, not stopping at treachery and other similar methods of struggle, which, of course, they only undermined their moral authority. The 14th and 15th centuries were already a time of terrible decline for the papacy.

As possessions and wealth grow christian church The popes tried to strengthen their power. They were not satisfied with the interference of secular rulers in church affairs. The popes no longer wanted to put up with the fact that abbots and bishops were ordained by the emperor and kings, that church positions were sold, including to the laity.

In addition, the popes were concerned about the situation in the church itself. The deviation of the clergy from the biblical commandments, money-grubbing and other vices caused general condemnation. And among the poorest layers of the population, heresies began to spread - teachings calling for a “truly evangelical” life and departure from the official church.

The popes who ruled in the second half of the 11th century were actively involved in strengthening the church. The Lateran Council (1059) decided that from now on the Pope would be elected by a meeting of the highest clergy - a conclave of cardinals (before this, popes were appointed by secular sovereigns). At the same time, it was forbidden for Catholic priests to accept positions from the laity and to marry.

Medieval drawing

Gregory VII acted especially energetically (he occupied the papal throne in 1073-1085). He forbade believers, under threat of excommunication, to receive communion from married priests (that is, those who violated the celibacy provision of the Catholic clergy) and those who bought their rank with money. Gregory VII also declared that the power of the pope was superior to that of any secular sovereign. He believed that the right to appoint and confirm bishops belongs only to the pope, and not to kings.

Medieval miniature

The German Emperor Henry IV opposed the position of Pope Gregory VII. He continued to appoint bishops he liked in the lands under his control. The conflict reached the point where each of the opponents issued a decree deposing the other from the throne.

In addition, the pope announced the excommunication of Henry IV from the church, and freed his subjects from their oath and obedience to him. In these circumstances, Henry IV was forced to humble his pride and admit that he was wrong. In the winter of 1077, he came to the castle of Canossa, where Gregory VII was, and stood barefoot in rags in the courtyard for three days, waiting for the pope's reception and forgiveness. The memory of this event is preserved in the saying "go to Canossa", meaning a humiliating defeat.

Thus, in the mature Middle Ages, the Catholic Church not only strengthened its economic position, but also achieved the strengthening of papal power. In the struggle against secular sovereigns and feudal nobility, she defended the right to independently govern her estates, as well as to appoint ministers to parishes and bishoprics. The Church also tried to cleanse and streamline its internal life. For this purpose, the activities of new monastic orders were encouraged, and certain reforms were carried out. At the same time, the retreat of the clergy from the commandments of religious life led to a decline in its authority among the population. In search of true faith, people turned to teachings that opposed the official church - heresies.

Questions and tasks 1.

Reveal what place religion occupied in the life of a medieval person. 2.

Why is the medieval church called feudal? 3.

Explain what the “poor” mendicant orders are. How were they different from other monastic associations? 4.

What caused the conflicts between popes and secular sovereigns in the 11th century? 5.

Tell us about life in a medieval monastery. 6.

How do you explain the fact that the mendicant orders received not only recognition among the people, but also the support of the popes? 7.

Which the most important tasks decided by the popes in the 11th-13th centuries? What did they manage to achieve? 8.

*Compare the relations between secular and ecclesiastical authorities in the Middle Ages in Byzantium and Western Europe. What were the differences?

Source: Aleksashkina JI. N.. General history. History of the Middle Ages. 6th grade: educational. for general education institutions / JI. N. Aleksashkina. - M.: Mnemosyne. - 207 p. : ill.. 2012(original)

The Church, despite its wealth and power, was very dependent on secular authorities. By the 11th century, the struggle between secular and ecclesiastical authorities had spread to almost all Western European states, but took its most acute forms in the empire. You will learn about the confrontation between popes and emperors, in particular, about the irreconcilable enmity of the two strong personalities: Pope Gregory VII and Emperor Henry.

The struggle between the popes and the German emperors

Background

IN medieval Europe secular and ecclesiastical power were interconnected. The Church sanctioned and strengthened the power of kings; kings gave lands to the Church and protected its wealth.

The power of the church was based on the spiritual component:
. It was believed that the church received from Christ the right to forgive sins, and that without observing the Christian sacraments, the salvation of the soul (even of a righteous person) is impossible. The idea of ​​salvation was very important for people in the Middle Ages (S. Averintsev on religious concepts of salvation).
. The king was perceived as God's anointed, and coronation as the transfer of power from God to the monarch through the mediation of the church.
. The Pope could excommunicate the monarch from the church. This deprived the king’s power of legitimacy in the eyes of the people and gave the vassals the right not to observe the oath.

And on the material:
. 1/3 of the lands cultivated in Europe belonged to the church (the lands were complained to by kings and feudal lords). In addition, the property of the church consisted of precious objects that were used during worship (see lesson).

By the end of the early Middle Ages, the church had become a strong and ramified organization with a hierarchical structure (at the top was the Pope, the archbishops were subordinate to him, one step lower were the bishops, and even lower were the priests and monks). At the same time, bishops had both spiritual and temporal (as landowners) power.

The Holy Roman Emperors sought control of the Church. This implied the right of investiture - appointment to church positions. The German king Otto I received this right due to the weakening of the power of the Pope after the collapse of the empire of Charlemagne. This caused opposition from the church and led to a struggle between popes and emperors.

Events

9th century- weakening of the power of the Pope due to the collapse of the empire of Charlemagne.

962- coronation of Otto I with the imperial crown. Otto becomes Holy Roman Emperor.

X-XI centuries- Cluny (named after the Cluny monastery) movement in the church. The Clunians advocated an ascetic regime in monasteries, celibacy (the requirement of celibacy for the clergy), and a ban on simony (the purchase and sale of church positions and clergy).

XI century- celibacy of priests was finally approved.

1059-1061- Nicholas II occupies the papal throne.

1059- Lateran Cathedral. Decrees were adopted aimed at separating church power from the influence of secular rulers. The Pope must now be elected by the Council of Cardinals.

1073-1085- Gregory VII occupies the papal throne. He entered into a struggle for investiture with Henry IV. Henry admitted defeat after the pope excommunicated him (which led to the disobedience of his vassals). His humiliating repentance before the pope became known as the walk to Canossa in 1077.

1122- Concordat (agreement) of Henry V with the Pope. According to the treaty, bishops must be appointed by the pope. Bishops were considered both vassals of the church (as possessing spiritual power) and vassals of the emperor (as land owners - fiefs).

1198- Innocent III occupies the papal throne. By this time the church had reached its greatest power. The kings of England, Poland, and some countries of the Iberian Peninsula recognized themselves as vassals of the pope.

Participants

Otto I - Holy Roman Emperor (936-973).

Nicholas II - Pope (1059-1061).

Gregory VII - Pope (1073-1085).

Henry IV, a German king and also Holy Roman Emperor, fought for investiture with the popes.

Conclusion

The struggle between popes and emperors for the right to appoint bishops ended in victory for the church. In the XII-XIII centuries. The power of the Pope increased significantly.

Parallels

In the Eastern (Orthodox) Church, the figure of the Pope of Rome corresponded to the Patriarch of Constantinople. The Latin (Catholic) world was politically fragmented, but the papacy was a unifying principle. The Pope and the Emperor were in different countries. In Byzantium, the boundaries of secular and spiritual power coincided territorially, the emperor and the patriarch were located in the same city, the capital of the empire. Church power in Byzantium was closely connected with secular power and, as a rule, did not contradict it. If conflicts occurred, the emperor prevailed, whose authority and material resources always exceeded the authority and capabilities of the patriarch.

Abstract

From the very beginning, the Catholic Church had a strict centralization of power. The Roman bishop, who received in the 5th century, gained enormous influence in it. the name of the Pope (from the Greek “pappas” - father, father). Rome was considered the city of the Apostle Peter, keeper of the keys to heaven. The Roman popes considered themselves successors to the Apostle Peter. The lands in the hands of the pope became the patrimony of St. Peter. In the 8th century The Papal State was formed, which included the lands of the Roman region and the Ravenna Exarchate. The church in the medieval West was a state within a state. She received land holdings as gifts from emperors and nobles. By the 15th century the clergy owned 1/3 of the cultivated land. The educational system in medieval Europe was actually in the hands of the church. In the VI century. The first monastery appeared, founded by St. Benedict, who also developed the first monastic charter. Monks were required to fulfill vows of poverty, celibacy, and obedience. Gradually, monasteries became centers of education. Prayers and texts were studied in monastery and church schools Holy Scripture on Latin. The seven liberal arts were studied in episcopal schools: grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music.

Since the reign of Otto I (Fig. 1), German emperors began to dispose of church sees in Italy, depose and enthrone popes, and control their election. However, from the end of the 11th century. the strengthening papacy begins to gradually free itself from the tutelage of the German emperors and achieve supremacy in the fight against them. The episcopal policy of Otto I found its logical conclusion in the capture of Rome as the center of the Catholic Church. Taking advantage of feudal strife in Italy, Otto I was crowned emperor in Rome in 962. This act was supposed to mean the restoration of the collapsed empire of Charlemagne and symbolize the continuity of the crown of the German kings from the Roman Caesars. At his coronation, Otto I recognized the pope's claims to secular possessions in Italy, but retained the emperor's sovereignty over them. In addition, the pope was required to take a vassal oath to the emperor.

The first rulers of the Holy Roman Empire often intervened in turbulent papal elections and civil strife among the Roman nobility, unceremoniously replacing those they disliked with their proteges. The last to take such a step was Emperor Henry III (1039-56), an ardent supporter of the Cluny reform of monasteries. Having ascended to the most holy throne, the imperial cousin, Pope Leo IX (1049-54), energetically took up the reform, traveling throughout Europe with the mission of eradicating the vices of the clergy. Meanwhile, papal power was strengthened year by year. In Rome, Nicholas II (1059-61) established a conclave of cardinals to elect popes, putting an end to interference in the elections of nobles and emperors.

But this was only the beginning of the struggle to get the church out of the influence of secular rulers. The next stage led to open conflict between the pope and the emperor. Emperors have long appointed bishops in their domains themselves. At the induction ceremony, or investiture, the bishop was solemnly presented with the signs of temporal power and pastoral service - a ring and a staff. The right of investiture was of great importance for emperors, since bishops stood at the top levels of the imperial hierarchy and were endowed with large land holdings, which (unlike secular nobles) could not be passed on by inheritance. But in 1175, Pope Gregory VII condemned investiture and called on Emperor Henry IV to Rome to answer for his sins. Henry IV tried to depose the pope, who excommunicated the emperor in retaliation. The position of Henry IV was undermined by the outbreak of rebellions among German feudal lords, who hindered the fight against papal power. And then the emperor, like a hunted wolf, went to the Italian castle of Canossa, where he stood barefoot in the snow for three days until he begged forgiveness from the pope (Fig. 2). This famous historical episode vividly highlighted the increased authority of the Vatican, but the story did not end there. Henry IV only submitted to the pope for show in order to split the camp of his enemies, and the struggle continued long after the death of his opponents.

Rice. 2. Walking to Canossa ()

According to the Concordat of Worms of 1122, spiritual investiture was henceforth carried out by the pope, who endowed the canons with symbols of spiritual authority. The emperor could be present at the elections of clergy, but carried out only secular investiture - he endowed the canon with land ownership with corresponding vassal duties.

The power of the pope reached its highest power under Innocent III (1198-1216), who was elected pope at the age of 37 (Fig. 3). He was endowed with a strong will, great intelligence and abilities. Innocent argued that the pope was not only the successor of the Apostle Peter, but also the vicar of God himself on Earth, called to “rule over all nations and kingdoms.” At ceremonial receptions, everyone had to kneel before the pope and kiss his shoe. No king in Europe used such badges of honor. Innocent III expanded the borders of the Papal States. He interfered in relations between states and in the internal affairs of European countries. At one time, the pope elevated and deposed emperors. He was considered the highest judge in the Catholic world. The kings of England, Poland, and some states of the Iberian Peninsula recognized themselves as vassals of the pope.

Rice. 3. Innocent III ()

The Catholic Church, led by the Pope, claimed a decisive share in political power. She achieved noticeable success in this during periods when the power of kings and emperors weakened due to feudal strife, and on the papal throne there were strong politicians. The most acute controversial issue between the spiritual and secular authorities was the issue of investiture (the right to appoint bishops and abbots). Sometimes the issues of consecration (anointing to the kingdom) of this or that king or emperor turned out to be acute.

Bibliography

1. Agibalova E.V., G.M. Donskoy. History of the Middle Ages. - M., 2012
2. Atlas of the Middle Ages: History. Traditions. - M., 2000
3. Illustrated The World History: from ancient times to the 17th century. - M., 1999
4. History of the Middle Ages: book. For reading / Ed. V.P. Budanova. - M., 1999
5. Kalashnikov V. Mysteries of history: The Middle Ages / V. Kalashnikov. - M., 2002
6. Stories on the history of the Middle Ages / Ed. A.A. Svanidze. M., 1996

1. E-reading-lib.com ().
2. Sedmitza.ru ().
3. Diphis.ru ().
4. Istmira.com ().

Homework

1. Why did the secular and spiritual rulers of Europe conflict with each other?
2. What does it mean popular expression"The Road to Canossa"?
3. What evidence showed that under Innocent III the power of the pope reached its greatest power?
4. Under Gregory VII, Catholic clergy were prohibited from marrying. Why do you think this restriction was introduced?

Modern political tradition of the West ( Western Europe) is in many ways precisely laid down during this historical period as a struggle between spiritual and secular authorities for political influence. The “founders” of this tradition were precisely the popes and emperors of the Middle Ages, who fiercely fought among themselves not just for power, but for power throughout Western Europe.

The strengthening of papal power in the second half of the 11th century owes much to the talented diplomacy of Hildebrand - Gregory VII. He used the early childhood of Henry IV and the feudal unrest in Germany to, without fear of the intervention of the emperor, strengthen the papacy organizationally. Hildebrand introduces a new procedure for electing popes by the College of Cardinals, thus removing the emperor from influence on papal elections. The celibacy of the clergy was supposed to make him a submissive instrument, not distracted by any family concerns. Hildebrand enters into an alliance with Tuscany. He personally travels to Southern Italy, where the Normans had established themselves at that time, and in Capua enters into an alliance with the Norman Count Richard. In 1059, Count Richard and Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia, recognized themselves as papal vassals. In northern Italy, Gildebrand managed to subjugate the strong and independent archbishops of Milan to the pope, supporting the urban Patarene movement against them. Much of Italy was united under papal supremacy to oppose the emperor.

In 1073 Hildebrand became pope. Beneath the appearance of this small, short-legged fat man lay an unyielding and merciless will, fierce fanaticism and a flexible diplomatic mind. He knew no restraint in his frenzied eloquence. Instead of “the wrath of God,” he said “the wrath of God.” At the same time, he knew how to skillfully understand the most complex political situation and deftly maneuver in a dangerous and hostile environment. Among the principles set forth by him in his famous “Dictatus papae”, next to the proclamation of the unconditional authority of the pope in church affairs, there are also such provisions as “The Roman Pontiff has the right to depose emperors”, “He can release subjects from the oath of allegiance to unjust sovereigns” " Of course, Gregory was not the first to put forward these principles, but he was the first to make an attempt to put them into practice.

In addition to the power of weapons and the means of diplomacy, in the hands of Gregory and his successors there was also a spiritual sword - in the form of excommunications, interdicts, permission of subjects from the oath. For example, interdict(the ban on worship in a certain territory) was an absolutely terrible ideological weapon - it was impossible to be born, marry, or die (in the sense that church events with all the above-mentioned fundamental events of a person’s life were prohibited, whoever was born is illegitimate, those who got married - the cohabitation of a man and a woman is illegal , moreover, even physical death is unacceptable without a funeral service). In response, the feudal lords responded traditionally - with blood and iron...

Under Gregory VII, the sending of papal legates began to develop widely, becoming one of the main bodies of papal government. They appear everywhere, interfere in everything, remove bishops, oppose sovereigns. The Pope orders that legates be obeyed as one would obey the Pope himself. But at the same time, Gregory demanded a report from the legates and checked all their orders.

The diplomacy of Pope Gregory VII in his struggle with Emperor Henry IV is classic. Gregory persistently sought the right to hold church elections, that is, to interfere in the internal and, moreover, most important affairs of the Empire, pursuing simony (the sale of church positions) and secular investiture (elevation to the rank of bishop by the emperor). Henry IV defended these rights of the emperor with all his might not only in Germany, but throughout the Holy Roman Empire. If Gregory assigned the pope the right to depose emperors from the throne, then Henry used the emperor’s previously practiced right to depose popes. Henry deposes the pope at the Diet of Worms in 1076 and writes him a message ending with the energetic “Get out!” A month later, Gregory deposes Henry himself at the Lateran Council, discharging “all Christians” from swearing allegiance to him and forbidding them “to serve him as king.”

The pope wins because he managed to exploit the discontent that Henry aroused among the princes of Germany. They join the pope, and Henry's situation becomes hopeless.

Date history in Canosse has become a legend. It's not easy to separate fact from fiction. Whether Henry stood barefoot in the snow in front of the castle gates, waiting for the pope to deign to receive him, or whether he was waiting for this reception in a more comfortable environment, this makes little difference. Canossa might seem like a decisive victory for the pope, and his supporters tried in every possible way to inflate the story of the humiliation of the German emperor, inventing ever new details. But for Henry, Canossa’s repentance was only a diplomatic step that gave him a break and confused the pope’s cards in the struggle that Henry led in Germany against the princes and the new king they had chosen. In 1080, Henry, with the support of German bishops dissatisfied with the pope, again deposed Gregory VII and nominated an antipope. The nomination of antipopes begins to play the same role in imperial politics as the nomination of anti-kings and anti-emperors in the politics of popes.

With his antipope, Henry set out to conquer Rome. Gregory was rescued only by the South Italian Normans of Robert Guiscard. Among the troops that rescued the head of the Christian church were detachments of Sicilian Muslims. Henry had to leave, but the Normans and Arabs at the same time defeated Rome, took many people into slavery, and Gregory could not remain in the city devastated by his allies. He followed the Normans to Salerno, where he died (1085).

The Concordat of Worms of 1122, which separated the spiritual investiture from the secular and gave the first to the pope and the second to the emperor, did not stop the clashes between emperors and popes. It was an unsuccessful compromise in all respects, opening the way for new conflicts.

The above-mentioned conflict has become a classic one; it was preceded and inherited over the course of several centuries by a whole series of corresponding conflicts on one side and the other.

Crusades and international relations. At the end of the 11th century, papal diplomacy was able to take advantage of the widespread movement to the East that began in the West - the Crusades. The Crusades were directed by the interests of very diverse groups of Western European feudal society. Knighthood sought to the East, looking for new lands to conquer, new serfs to exploit, thirsting for robbery and booty. The eyes of the trading cities that were rising at that time in Europe and especially in Italy were turned to the East and sought to seize trade routes in the eastern part into their own hands. Mediterranean Sea. The peasantry, oppressed by feudal masters, ruined by incessant wars, and suffering from continuous famines, also dreamed of moving to the East. The declassed elements of feudal society hoped to profit during large predatory campaigns. The papacy saw in the Crusades an opportunity to raise its authority, subjugate the East to its influence, and enrich itself due to the abundant collections flowing in from all sides of Europe. Therefore, the papacy zealously began preaching the crusades. The Crusades became one of the tools of influence of the popes on the sovereigns of Europe, a new pretext for the intervention of the Roman Curia in the internal life of European states, a source of new income, and a means of strengthening papal authority.

The struggle between popes and emperors did not stop during the Crusades.

Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. Pope Innocent left the papal throne elevated to unprecedented heights. But he also bequeathed to him a most dangerous enemy in the person nominated by himself, Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1212-1250), one of the smartest and most cynical diplomats of the Middle Ages. The son of a German emperor and a Sicilian princess from a house of Norman robbers, Frederick II grew up in Sicily, where Italian, Byzantine, Arab and Jewish cultures intersected in a bizarre way. In essence, he was a man without a fatherland or nationality. Having already become a toy in the hands of unscrupulous politicians as a child, he matured early and became hardened in heart. Boundlessly ambitious, he believed only in strength and intelligence. A restless and tireless nature pushed him to new and new political undertakings. Frederick was the most educated man of his time: he was keenly interested in scientific issues, maintaining correspondence with a number of eminent scholars, both Christians and Jews, as well as Muslims. He was especially interested in Greek and Arabic writers, whom he read in the original. In the field of religion, Frederick showed mocking skepticism, indifference and tolerance, although he persecuted heretics from a political standpoint. In diplomacy, his strength was flexibility and indiscriminateness in the choice of means, knowledge of human weaknesses, ebullient and impetuous energy.

He became famous for the book “Three Scoundrels: Moses, Jesus and Magomed”, and also extremely revolutionary idea for his time (of course, prompted by his own political needs) the idea of ​​​​unifying the three great religions: Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

The plans of a world monarchy of both emperors and popes crumbled to dust, but it was in the course of their struggle that the tradition of Western Europe was formed and strengthened - the struggle of spiritual power for political power.