Western Civilization.p

Medieval Religion and Thought159

highest offices would be occupied by political hacks in-
capable of furthering the work of reform. At a more
fundamental level, the quarrel was about the nature of
political power itself (see document 9.1). Pope and
emperor agreed that all authority derived from God’s
grace, but was that grace transmitted directly to the
ruler or through the agency of the church?
The political crisis that resulted was known as the
Investiture Controversy, and it set the stage for genera-
tions of conflict between the emperors and the popes.
Henry called upon his bishops to reject Gregory VII
(see document 9.2). Gregory responded by excommu-
nicating him and absolving his subjects of their alle-
giance. The entire empire chose sides. Because most of
the imperial princes and many of the growing towns
felt that they would profit from a weakening of imperial
authority, a revolt led by the dukes of Saxony placed
the emperor in dire peril. In a clever move, Henry de-
cided to ask absolution of the pope. Gregory could not
deny absolution to a legitimate penitent. At the castle
of Canossa in the Italian Alps he supposedly forced the
emperor to stand barefoot in the snow for three days
before readmitting him to the fellowship of the church.
Whatever satisfaction Gregory may have found in hu-
miliating his rival did not compensate for being outma-
neuvered. The revolt, deprived of its legitimacy, was
over. Henry quickly reestablished his authority over the
princes and in 1084 drove Gregory into exile.
The dispute over investiture was finally resolved in
1122 by the Concordat of Worms. Henry V
(1086–1125) and Calixtus II (served 1119–24) reached
a compromise by which Henry renounced his right to
appoint bishops but retained the power to grant them
fiefs and other temporal benefits. In theory, the free-
dom of the church from secular interference was se-
curely established. In practice, episcopal appointments
were still heavily influenced by the emperor who could
withhold the income of a bishop who displeased him.
Whatever its importance for the evolution of
church-state relationships, the investiture struggle
marked the birth of a more assertive papacy that would
one day claim dominiumover the secular state. Gregory
VII thought of the church as a body capable of giving
law to all of Christendom and carefully fostered a
growing interest in the study of canon or church law.
This movement, which sparked a parallel revival of
Roman civil law, reached its peak with the publication
of Gratian’s Decretals(c. 1140), an authoritative collec-
tion of papal and conciliar rulings supplemented by
thirty-six causaeor sample cases. Subsequent popes and

DOCUMENT 9.1

Dictatus Papae

The Dictatus Papaeappears to be an internal memorandum

produced by the circle of churchmen around Gregory VII.

Though he did not in all probability write it himself, it sets

forth his concept of papal rights and prerogatives under

twenty-seven headings, the most important of which are listed

below.

1. That the Roman church was established by
   God alone.


2. That the Roman pontiff alone is rightly called
   universal.


3. That he alone has the power to depose and re-
   instate bishops.


4. That he alone may use the imperial insignia.


5. That all princes shall kiss the foot of the pope
   alone.


6. That his name alone is to be recited in the
   churches.


7. That he has the power to depose emperors.


8. That no general synod may be called without
   his order.


9. That no action of a synod and no book shall
   be regarded as canonical without his authority.


10. That his decree can be annulled by no one,
    and that he can annul the decrees of anyone.


11. That he can be judged by no one.


12. That no one shall dare to condemn a person
    who has appealed to the apostolic seat.


13. That the Roman church has never erred and
    will never err to all eternity, according to the
    testimony of the holy scriptures.


14. That by his command or permission subjects
    may accuse their rulers.


15. That he can depose and reinstate bishops
    without calling a synod.


16. That no one can be regarded as catholic who
    does not agree with the Roman church.


17. That he has the power to absolve subjects
    from their oath of fidelity to wicked rulers.
    “Ordericus Vitalis” (1119), trans. T. Forester. In Ecclesiastical
    History.London: Bohn, 1853–1856. Reprinted in James Bruce
    Ross and Mary Martin McLaughlin, eds., The Portable
    Medieval Reader.New York: Viking, 1949.