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International relations and diplomacy
International relations and diplomacy
International relations and diplomacy
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Appointed in 1294, Pope Boniface VIII began a heated dispute against King Philip the Fair after centuries of rivalry between church and state when King Philip began to heavily tax the clergy. Boniface would lose this conflict because of King Philip’s understanding of the Church’s weaknesses - money and military-, attacks on his authority by his enemies and most of all, because of the political development since the reign of Pope Innocent III in the late twelfth century, which signaled the end of serious papal challenges to monarchy.
Boniface’s conflict with King Philip was essentially inevitable as historically, the Church had always lead the charge against the monarchy, but this time, the Church had enough political power to seriously challenge
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the monarchy. History has many examples where the Church and the State had fought for control over the populace, one such being when the Church served as “the leader of anti-imperial (Guelf, or pro-papal) sentiment in Italy.” (Kagan 47) The Church also commanded powerful loyalty from the common people since it was viewed as a powerful source of comfort that outlasted monarchies. This history alone was already reason enough for the Church and Monarchy to fight. However, thanks to Pope Innocent III’s changes to the Church, the Church had at this point become a “powerful, political institution governed by its own laws and courts and serviced by an efficient international bureaucracy.” (Kagan 47) Most importantly, the Church had found a way to center its political and legal power into an efficient chain of command. This and the expansion of the “plentitude of power” and “reservation of benefices” gave the Church the power to rival and threaten the power of the monarchy. The Church now had every reason to fight the State with its history and its new-found political influence. The final spark to set off the inevitable conflict between Boniface and Philip was when France and England – two of the biggest rivals in history – decided to tax the clergy to prepare for what would be the Hundred Years’ War and how Boniface would respond. England and France had both become powerful centralized royal powers never before seen in history, and with Edward I finishing off the Scottish rebellion and a growing national consciousness of a prolonged, international war, England and France in preparation “used the pretext of preparing for a Crusade to tax the clergy heavily” (Kagan 47) This would also conveniently cripple the Church politically as it would become even more desperate for funding and be forced to rely further on the general populace. It also helped to demonstrate the State’s superiority to the Church to the people. Pope Boniface VIII was furious that England and France had violated Pope Innocent III’s decree against clergy taxation and issued a new bull called “Clericis laicos” on February 5, 1296 which forbade “lay taxation of the clergy without papal approval and revoked all previous papal dispensations in this regard.” (Kagan 48) Boniface intended this move to not only stop the draining of the Church’s resources, but to reject the superiority of State over Church. This unsurprisingly angered both countries, and England promptly removed the Church’s right to be heard in royal court, although it was France’s revenge that would really hurt. The final trigger for the inevitable conflict had been activated now that Boniface had directly opposed the English and French taxation. Challenging French monarchy was an especially fatal move for Boniface because the Church’s reliance on French revenue and the arrest of his Parisian legate, Bernard Saisset which would lead to an excuse for France to exercise its superior military strength.
Only a few months after “Clericis laicos” was issued, King Philip forbade exportation of money from France to Rome, depriving the Church of the revenue it needed for operation which left Boniface “no choice but to come to terms quickly with Philip.” (Kagan 48) Already, the Church was in the same state of desperation for funds as before and was forced to rely further on the populace once again. The Church was crippled politically again to the joy of Philip. Philip would later proceed to arrest and convict Boniface’s Parisian legate, Bernard Saisset, demanding Boniface recognize the royal process which would “surrender his jurisdiction over the French episcopate.” (Kagan 48) Unable to ignore this challenge, Boniface would proceed to champion Saisset as a defender of clerical independence, demand his release, revoke all former taxation agreements and issued a bull titled “Ausculta fili” which declared Church superiority. In turn, after being put on the defensive, Boniface would later issue Unam Sanctum which put temporal authority under spiritual power which allowed France to deem him a heretic and use their military force against him which would eventually lead to his death. Challenging France would be Boniface’s downfall …show more content…
since France had now trapped him with his dependence on French donations and almost non-existent military power. One of the final nails in the coffin for Boniface was his Italian enemies who opposed him and challenged his authority. Boniface was part of the Gaetani family whose rivals, were the Colonnas family whom King Philip was a patron and also happened to be “radical followers of Saint Francis of Assisi (the Spiritual Francisans).” (Kagan 48) Aside from the rivalry as an obvious motive, the Colonnas seeked to invalidate Boniface’s election as pope on grounds that former Celestine V had been forced to resign. They would be a constant source pressure for Boniface who already had enough to deal with from the French. They brought all sorts of accusation and charges against Boniface to challenge his authority including “heresy, simony, and even the murder of Celestine.” (Kagan 48) The only hope the Church had had against the onslaught of the French monarchy was their centralized authority, but how could they utilize this with their leader under constant suspicion. This took an obvious toll on the efficiency of the church and its attempts to evade Philip’s schemes. The end of Boniface was finalized when his absolute authority over the Church was shattered by his Italian enemies and their accusations. During Pope Innocent III and his successors’ reign, the Church undoubtedly had enough political power to threaten the monarchy, but this political power had come at the price of sacrificing general support. By the time Boniface came to power, the Church was without doubt, a strong political institution that was “thoroughly preoccupied by secular tasks and goals” (Kagan 47) They began to prioritize Rome’s needs instead of its local branches, manipulating church appointments, policies and discipline. There was also a significant shift in interest towards temporal gains instead of divine. The Church’s original view as a beacon of holiness to both the lower branches and the general people changed into a “legalized, fiscalized, bureaucratic institution.” (Kagan 47) This prompted the heretical movements of Cathars and Waldensians that appealed to the Biblical idea of simplicity and separation. Even loyal reformers began to criticize what they believed was simply disguised materialism. The Church lost the fight because of their loss of support from the general populace which had been the steep price for gaining political influence. Another important political change that signaled the end of serious papal challenges to monarchy was the massive growth of the monarchies themselves, particularly the French and English monarchies.
Traditional English consultation between kings and prominent and powerful members of English society would evolve during Henry III’s reign into formal parliaments and “these meetings helped create a unified kingdom.” (Kagan 47) This allowed for full utilization of the English ocean trade and navy. The effective utilization of these two things would also lead England to become a world power. The reign of King Philip the Fair, a ruthless and ambitious politician, would also lead France to become “an efficient, centralized monarchy.” (Kagan 47) He grew the population and military strength of France, preparing for the inevitable Hundred Years’ War that was to come. His efforts were rewarded as at the start of the war, France definitely had more pure military strength than England. Boniface found to his dismay that the Church could not (and would never from then on) be able to challenge the powerful monarchies of England and France because they had simply become too powerful after being united by powerful
rulers. Pope Boniface VIII led the church against its historic rival led by King Philip the Fair when Philip began to tax the clergy but was defeated because of his political inferiority to France, pressure from his enemies and because of the loss of support and growth of monarchies since Pope Innocent III’s reign which ended the papal threat to monarchy.
Differently, England failed at absolutism as a result of unstable, unpowerful, and differently minded kings and their failure at overpowering the nobles. France was able to gain more royal power than England, leaving them with complete control over their country, and left Europe without complete control. Learning how countries gained an absolute monarchy is important in the modern world because from this, people learned how to develop modern governments. Afterwards, countries started to decide whether it would be in their best interest for sovereigns to be under the law, rather than above the law. The old need for an absolute monarchy turned into a need for a government that was right for the
...tect his right to the throne. Ultimately, he stabilized the nation by settling the civil wars, the Wars of Roses, by marrying the apposing York family, to unite the two feuding families, the Yorks and the Lancasters. All together, King Henry VII is a new monarch for displaying all of the required traits.
Pope Urban II was sought by Alexius Comnenus, a Byzantine Emperor who wanted the papacy to help his army hold off the advancing Seljuk Turks in Asia Minor. The reason for Alexius Comnenus contacting the pope rather than another emperor or monarch wasn’t just the fact they were secular, but because the pope would have more power to persuade the people. The Gregorian movement in 1050-80 was ultimately was responsible for the new instilled power of the papacy’s position over nonreligious rulers. The pope agreed to aid the Byzantine emperor, but he also had his own agenda when it came to the military advances and the new power of his position. The papacy did not intend to only help the Byzantine Empire but to further save all of Christendom from being overrun.
Whilst Henry VI’s was in rule during the 1450’s, England had many issues and problems that cause such instability in the country. One of the largest factors arguably is the loss of the Hundred Years war between The French and English over France. This in turn caused many problems to occur with links to almost every feud the country faced. Yet some historians argue that Normandy wasn’t the main issue of instability in England instead of other reasons such as instability.
The purpose of this question is to quench the personal interest that I have in Church history. As we began more dive more and more into Church history, my interest skyrocketed. I hope to learn more about the struggles that were overcome in Catholicism. The turmoil that stood as a result of the “church vs state” tension also gave me a purpose to learn more about how the present separation of Church and State began. Making the right decisions has not always been my best quality, and knowing that I am not alone, I evaluated Pope Clement X...
From the Middle ages, the church faced many problems such as the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism that hurt the prestige of the church. Most of the clergy lived in great luxury while most people were poor and they set an immoral example. The clergy had low education and many of them didn’t attend their offices. Martin Luther had witnessed this himself, “In 1510 he visited Rome and was shocked to find corruption on high ecclesiastical places”
When the Hundred Years’ War began in 1337, the strength of the French empire declined and the English possessed most of France. Although the war began in 1337, tensions between France and England started centuries earlier. In 1066, William of Normandy, duke of France, defeated the English and became king of England. A century later, conflict arose when Henry II, a great grandson of William, came into power in 1154 and wanted to add to his empire, known as the Angevin Empire, by taking over French territories. Friction mounted as the fighting between Angevin and French territories continued. Finally, King Edward III of England claimed the throne of France in 1328 but was refused, causing war to break out in 1337. The French suffered huge losses in the first period of the Hundred Years’ War. The French cavalry was decimated at Crecy in 1347, the fortress of Calais was lost in 1347, the French army was crushed at Poitiers in 1356, and King John II handed over ⅓ of the French kingdom to the English by the Treaty of Bretigny. Although the French drove out the English b...
The aim of absolute monarchy was to provide ‘stability, prosperity, and order’ for our territories (458). The way Louis XIV set forth to accomplish this was to claim complete sovereignty, to make laws, sanction justice, declare wars, and implement taxes on its subjects. This was all done without the approval of any government or Parliament, as monarchs were to govern ‘by divine right, just as fathers ruled their households’ (458). In Bishop Jacques-Benigne Bossuet’s Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture, he described that absolution was one of the four characteristics imperative to royal authority, “Without this absolute authority, he can do neither good nor suppress evil; his power must be such that no one can hope to escape him” (460). This was epitomized when Louis XIV sought to control the legal system as well as the funding of the financial resources through a centralized bureaucracy for the monarchy.
Boniface was born around 675 in Devonshire to a very noble family, and his given name was Winfrid (Duckett 340). He was sent to school to be taught by the monks. His parents wanted him to pursue monetary gains, but Winfrid felt called to do religious work thanks, in part, to the monks who often visited him. He fought with his father over his future, but obtained his father's permission and went to the monastery of Adescancastre. Here, he studied under Abbot Wolfhard, "and about seven years later he went to the Abbey of Nhutscelle between Winchester and Southampton" ("Catholic"). There, he studied under Abbot Winbert. Under the guidance of these men, Winfrid became very knowledgeable in numerous subjects including rhetoric and poetry. "At the age of thirty he was ordained priest. Through his abbot the fame of Winfrid's learning soon reached high civil and ecclesiastical circles ("Catholic"). But he did not want to have high civil standing and notoriety. He only wanted to share the gospel with his kinsmen in Germany. He pleaded on numerous occasions to his Abbot, and he finally gave his consent (Duckett 355).
The prestige of papacy has faltered many times during the History of the Roman Catholic Church. One of the largest issues with papacy prior to the time of reformation was the influence of France on the church. Throughout history countries or monarchies have often fought for power and influence over the church and state. For a period of time, the papacy left residency in Rome and moved to Avignon, France due to France’s strength influence of the popes of the time. The results of this residency would affect both the church and all people in the surrounding areas. Not only that, but the effects lasted well on past the residency eventually leading to the Great Schism. In order to understand the effect of Avignon papacy it is important to
A king of England could not remove a pope from his position but popes claimed that they could remove a king by excommunicating him - this meant that the king’s soul was condemned to Hell and people then had the right to disobey the king.
The feud between King Philip IV of France and Pope Boniface VIII represented a time in medieval Europe as nations sought to consolidate power under the monarch of the country. However, Pope Boniface VIII opposed this change in Europe, instead trying to maintain the great influence the papacy had reached under the rule of Pope Innocent III almost 100 years before. Another factor in the feud were the constant disputes between France and England, which required a large amount of money to fund. King Philip IV helped pay for these wars by taxing the clergy of France, which usually required the consent of the pope. In a display of power, Pope Boniface VIII released the bull Clericis Laicos, which gave the pope the power to excommunicate any monarch who taxes his clergy with the pope’s consent.
She examines 6 popes between 1470-1530 who she claims lead in a way similar to politicians. They lost touch with the common people both emotionally and intellectually. A little known cleric led the revolution challenging papacy that culminated in the reformation of the church. In that context, Barbara outlines that the popes were venal, immoral, and their power politics was calamitous. The faithful were distressed by their leadership, which ignored all the protests and the signs that a revolt was coming. In the end, the papal constituency lost almost half of its followers to Protestants. Barbara says that these people were driven by the greed and the urge to create a family empire that would outlive them. This chapter sums up the essence of folly in these major failures, lack of a fixed policy, over extravagance, and the illusion that their rule was
The Roman Catholic Church had complete influence over the lives of everyone in medieval society, including their beliefs and values. The Church’s fame in power and wealth had provided them with the ability to make their own laws and follow their own social hierarchy. With strong political strength in hand, the Church could even determine holidays and festivals. It gained significant force in the arts, education, religion, politics as well as their capability to alter the feudal structure through their wealth and power. The Church was organised into a hierarchical system that sustained the Church’s stability and control over the people and lower clergy, by organising them into different groups.
Perhaps no other event was as influential to the rise of papacy in Rome as the decline of the Roman empire. With the decline of the empire, the church became the last refuge of stability. Without the protection of the empire, Rome was subject to poverty, disrepair, and attack from enemies.1 The rise of the papacy was a response to this situation. It was further cemented by the leadership of such men as Leo I and Gregory I, the latter sometimes referred to as the father of the medieval papacy.2 Finally, the granting of lands and authority to the bishop of Rome greatly increased the power of the Roman church.3