| In the history of the papacy,
popes are not always elected. In
530, Pope Boniface II (530; died 532) was nominated by his predecessor. The role and duty of a pope also differs in time. For instance, Pope Gregory the Great ( 590; died 604) started to consolidate the lands controlled by the papacy into the "Papal States". He also started to support secular leaders and to use force to convert the heathen. Another example is Pope Leo III ( 795; died 816) who crowned Charlemagne as the Holy Roman Emperor. The participation of popes in secular power and wealth gradually lowered the spiritual aspiration of those who obtained that high position. In 1046, Holy Roman Emperor Henry III intervened at the Council of Sutri to dispose popes Benedict IX and Sylvester III ( 1045) and to encourage Pope Gregory VI ( 1045-1046) to resign. One of them was pope for three times: Pope Benedict IX (1032-1044, 1045 April-May, 1047-1048) As a result, internal reformation was necessary to keep the Church going. Amongst the many regulations set up to prevent the further corruption of the papcy, clerical marriage was strongly condemned by Pope Leo IX ( 1049; died 1054). In order to put an end to the subordination of the papacy to secular powers, Pope Nicolas II ( 1059-1061) regulated that the future popes should be elected by Cardinals. A further step was made by Pope Gregory VII (elected 1073-1085) who put forward the theory of Papal Supremacy in 1075 with the "Dictatus Papae" and banned "lay investiture", i.e. control of ecclesiastical appointments by laymen. In the midst of this Investiture Controversy (1024-1125), he excommunicated and deposed the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV. The consequence was the incident of "Going to Canossa" and his own exile and death. Meanwhile, Pope Urban II (1088-99) changed the fate of the Western world by starting the First Crusade (1094 - 1099). Investiture Controversy continued up to Pope Innocent III (elected 1198; died 1216) who reached the climax of papacy by being the most "powerful" medieval pope. He fostered the "Two Swords Theory " of the unique Christendom. Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303), by promulgating in 1302 the papal document Unam Sanctam, declaring the supremacy of the papal power. It reached the anti-climax when Philip the Fair, King of France ( r. 1285-1314), burned this bull publicly. For 73 years starting from 1305, seven popes lived in Avignon instead of Rome with the initial intention of avoiding the influence of noble families in Italy. The Avignon Papacy resulted in falling under the secular power of the French King, and the leading church members lived more like princes than clerics. The practice of paying a certain sum for gaining an episcopal benefice made bishops sought for similar ways of raising this money from his office. When Pope Gregory XI (elected 1370; died 1378) returned to Rome in 1378 and died very soon, it started the period of the "Western schism' for 36 years during which time church people were divided in their allegiances among the various claimants to the office of pope. The of Council of Constance in 1414 finally resolved the controversy, dismantling the last vestiges of the Avignon papacy. * * *
Ecumenical
Councils |