Pope Gregory VII: The Emerging Power Of The Church

Around the last half of the 11th century, Pope Gregory VII not only enacted moral alterations within the Church that had continuous effects, but the Pope also clashed with an influential political leader Henry IV. This supports the idea that these changes are defined as a revolution because a revolution is a sudden and vast change that has lasting effects. Although most of the prominent modifications enacted by Pope Gregory VII altered the ethical lives of Church leaders still remain important today, the doctrines established by the Pope and the emerging power of the papacy radically transformed the political relationship of the Catholic Church and the secular rulers from one of intertwined and unclear powers to an ultimate separation of church

and state.
Pope Gregory VII’s ethical changes primarily stemmed from the disagreements regarding the validity of Bishops and Priests who partook in Simony and Lay Investiture, which can be summarized in the disputes between the two cardinals Peter Damian and Humbert.

During the Medieval Ages, secular authority had an influence in religion as they could appoint bishops and other members of the clergy also known as referred to Lay Investitures. Many men paid the secular rules to be able to have a posh position in the church and this was simony. Humbert spoke against the ideas by stating that anybody that paid money for their position was not a “true bishop, and it followed as a corollary that any priests whom he ordered were not true priests” (Crisis 34). Humbert’s opinion is formulated around the sin that buying religious power surrounds. These sin trickles down to those under the position of power in a similar way that all humanity suffers the sin of Adam and Eve. On the other hand, Peter Damian tried to justify these appointments by saying that “although a simonist was a bad bishop, still he was a bishop”(Crisis 34) and according to his beliefs Damian also said that “God is not defiled by impurity of its

ministers”(PDFs 139). Peter Damian saw the situation through the eyes of a very devoted individual and he held the stance that it was unfair for the sense of sin to be passed down because he believed that although those bishops did commit act of sin, the true word and actions of God would still be all powerful and in actuality bad priests gave people nothing and only God had the power to grant true salvation. It was also very frightening for those people that were granted prayer from those priests because in essence they received sinful blessings. In response to these compelling arguments the church to side with Peter Damian instead of Humbert. As a result Pope Gregory VII decided to apply his power to lay down some laws in accordance to the changing beliefs.
As a matter of fact, Pope Gregory VII implemented what is to be known as “Gregorian Reforms” during his time as Pope.

These reforms gave way to his final opinion and denial of such ideas as Clerical Marriage, Lay Investiture, and Simony. In a letter to Otto, Bishop of Constance, Pope Gregory stated that he was, “striving to wipe out the heresy of Simony and to enforce the chastity of the clergy”(Crisis 48). The Pope and the rest of the Church decided to side with Peter Damian in interests of simony because of the fears people had about getting mass from priests that were under those considered heretics. These fears would bring negative attention to the Church. Pope Gregory VII even wrote a letter as a response to Adela, Countess of Flanders where he told her “do not listen to a word” from people that have “fallen into heresy through crooked disputes” (PDFs 138). In this letter the Pope outlines his true intentions of trying to shut out those that are part of this heresy in this church as they theoretically are unfit to be part of the church and therefore nobody should listen to them. This was a response to people that were afraid for their immortal soul because they had participated in mass under those that participated in the actions that the church was defining as sinful such as marriage, simony, or lay investiture. Pope Gregory actually prohibited Lay Investiture saying that anybody that was appointed by someone not from the church should be excommunicated and denied any

privilege ranging from approval by St. Peter but the entire church. The then reigning King Henry IV severely disliked the growing power of the church through the riddance of lay investiture because it was limiting his own power. Pope Gregory VII wanted to increase his power to reform his church and he found that by decreasing the power of the King he increased his own influence over his clergy. In essence, while both parties fought to gain more control, they both ended up solidifying what would become the lasting separation between religious and secular authorities.
Pope Gregory VII had a dispute with King Henry IV over the powers that both authorities possessed and this clash quickly became a dispute between church and state. The Pope’s attempt at increasing his power caused a rift because of the fact that by giving himself more power he redefined the differences between Church power and secular power. Later on in history, the Church began to develop independently from the secular authority, as the secular authority was unable to hold as much influence in comparison to the Pope. The King Henry IV was outraged mostly because of “Gregory’s reenactment of the earlier decree against lay investiture and his determination of enforce”(Crisis 45). In essence Henry IV would be giving up the power he held by giving up lay investiture. However, Pope Gregory VII could not give up his need for power because he needed to increase his influence to pass along his reforms. The Pope used a document called Dictatus Papae to outline his powers. In Dictatus Papae, the Pope is given the power to dispose of an emperor in addition to things such as the right to appoint bishops and the fact that he cannot be judged by others, etc.(Crisis 49-50).