The Rise Of The Papacy

1447 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The rise and fall of papacy

To understand the rise of the papacy in Rome, it is imperative to recall that the center of Christianity had been destroyed in 70 AD when the army of Titus destroyed Jerusalem. Looking for leadership, Christians immediately sought out those in Rome as it was the center of power and the capital of the Empire. In the first and second centuries, all roads did indeed lead to Rome. Another reason that Christians looked to Rome for leadership is because they believed that the church would come from Peter. Many understood Jesus’ statement in Matthew 16:18, “You are Peter” to literally mean that the church would form from Peter and he was associated with Rome. Therefore, church leadership would evolve in Rome and its leader would bear the title pope. In the following six centuries a sequence of events would eventually lead the bishop of Rome and the papacy to great spiritual and political power in Western Europe. The emergence of papal power and its impact on the Western Empire was more likely due to a confluence of divinely inspired historical events, than to the apostolic succession of Peter. The growth of the papacy is revealed through an assessment of how the popes rose to power, an analysis of the contributing factors, and their impacts on society.
Roman Papacy’s Rise to Power
The Roman Empire was ruled in two parts after Christianity was legalized by Constantine in 313 AD. The capital of the Eastern Empire was Constantinople and the capital in the Western Empire was Rome. However, the theological power in the West was in Alexandria and Antioch, not in Rome. The Empire also experienced the division of language; Greek in the East and Latin in the West. This division may seem slight, however it began a widening divide of the Roman Emp...

... middle of paper ...

...tury.
Through the efforts of the Roman church writings of antiquity have been copied, saved and stored. It is said that any document from prior to the 8th century that exists today is because Charlemagne took personal interest in their collection and preservation. Important works, books and documents, including the Bible were copied by monks and church members.
The positive and negative factors of the Roman papacy’s rise to power in Western Europe was centuries in the making. The Roman pope gained theological, political and military power, wealth, and land ownership which made it the preeminent force in all of Europe. Monarchs sought God’s blessing to their rule through the Roman pope, in turn the Roman pope accessed monarchial support and political clout. The strength of the papacy is demonstrated by its centuries of staying power, growth, and impact on society.

Show More
Related

  • The Influence Of Pope Urban II

    624 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Pope has agreed to help defend the Byzantine Empire! After being appealed to by Emperor Alexius I Comnenus, in 1095, Pope Urban II assembled the Council of Clermont. In order to help the Byzantine Empire and ensure his power over the church he has decided to call for a military expedition to get back the Holy Land.

    Read More

  • Differences Between The Han Dynasty And Roman Empire

    1377 Words  | 3 Pages

    When he won the throne, similar to Emperor Han Wudi’s conversion to Confucianism in Han Dynasty China, converted to Christianity. Because of this conversion, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. The Christian way became very involved in government in the Roman Empire. Even though Christianity’s message is a sense of universal love, because of it intolerance of other religions, there was persecutions of pagans that lead to death. It was not until 450 CE. that a small majority of the Roman Empire was Christian. There ultimately was a split in the empire between the east and the west. The Western Empire struggled on its survival unlike the eastern Empire. The Eastern Empire strived because it stayed involved in Roman politics, administration, and armies. Because the east stayed involved within the government, they were able to last longer. The east was able to spread Christianity more effectively than that of the

    Read More

  • The Influence of Pope Urban II

    1114 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Fall of the Western Empire in the Fifth Century

    527 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the year 330 Constantine founded a new imperial city in the east, which became known as Constantinople. Accompanying Diocletian's system of tetrarchy, the creation of this new city affirmed the separation of the Roman Empire into the east and the west. The Eastern Roman Empire held a series of advantages over the west both socially and economically. The Western Roman Empire was the weaker empire and a bad leadership and government along with attacks from barbarians led to the demise of the Western Roman Empire.

    Read More

  • The Greatness of the Holy Roman Empire

    556 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the third century AD, the Roman Empire was thrown into chaos through several civil wars due to a lust for power; many people were only interested in how influential they were, rather than acting for the benefit of the country. Since the Roman Empire was constantly expanding and becoming more powerful, Diocletian, the emperor at the time, deemed it to be too big to be ruled by only one emperor. The Empire was split into two parts, the Eastern Roman Empire and the Western Roman Empire. The Western Roman Empire didn’t last long; it fell during the 5th century AD when it was conquered by the barbarians. The Eastern Empire lasted a thousand years before it finally fell at the hands of the Turkish.

    Read More

  • Avignon Papacy Effects

    1687 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Final Pope

    878 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many people, including Bible Scholars, are fascinated with the end time prophecies. Although St. Malachy was a legitimate prophet, others believe his prophecies were tampered with. Deeply affecting their creditability. Since Pope Benedict XVI resignation, questions have developed around the authenticity of the famous Catholic prophecies. Whether or not the prophecies are inspired and can be expected to be fulfilled. Jorge Mario Bergoglio could be the last pope for two main reasons, St.Malachy’s prophecies are unfolding & the predictions of The Book of Revelations.

    Read More

  • Constantinople

    1122 Words  | 3 Pages

    Numerous were the reasons that gradually led to the movement of the empire to the East. Initially, Rome was very far from the regions of the shores of the Bosphorus and the river Euphrates and thus unable to confront effectively the empire’s most significant enemies (the Goths and the Persians) that had made their appearance from the 3rd century. Additionally, Rome, a centre of paganism, with its memories of municipal traditions and “republican sentiment, with its aristocratic, educated and fiercely traditionalist senators ”, had begun to annoy the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (337-362). He, himself, was a vigorous supporter of Christianity and especially after the prolonged period of his successful confrontation with Licinius (314-323), he was convinced that the future belonged to the Christians and for that reason, he decided to turn decisively towards the East, which was the main source and origin of the new religion. Furthermore, from the 3rd century onwards, most of the emperors originated from provinces and did not share significant bonds with Rome. What Constantine visualised instead of sacrifices to pagan deities and four emperors with irregular courts and capitals, was an empire with one emperor and one established capital, along with a splendid innovative church devoted to the glory of the one true God . He therefore regarded the foundation of a new city as the most important symbol of his deeper aim, the renewal of the empire.

    Read More

  • Comparing The Controversy Between Gregory VII And Henry IV

    895 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the latter half of the 11th century, the two great powers in Europe, the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, became embroiled in a dispute. Both believed that they, and they alone, had the power to appoint bishops and abbots. Each had a fair argument for their point of view, based on, among other things, precedence, decrees, and divine right.

    Read More

  • Charlemagne Divine Alliance

    1190 Words  | 3 Pages

    To this day, many surviving ancient texts are from the scholars of Charlemagne’s

    Read More

  • The March Of Folly Barbara Tuchman

    1158 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Difference Between Greek and Roman Warfare

    410 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Roman Empire split into two different empires, the eastern or Byzantium and the western. The two empires mirrored each other politically, but not religiously. The Greeks never allowed themselves to split territory into two different powers, although some Greek city-states had dual kings, but never on a national level.

    Read More

  • The Influence of the Roman Catholic Church

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Legacy of Rome and Christianity

    913 Words  | 2 Pages

    Christianity soon became the greater part of the empire. Between 284 and 476, Roman civilization went through two stages. One stage involved Diocletian's reforms -- paganisms last pinnacle, and the second part, when the empire began to fall after Constantine's reign -- the vibrant Christian age. (Matthews, 174) After this last stage, both secular and Christian writers competed for the attention of educated Romans. Christian writers deemed Rome worth saving; they looked towards a new future and new hopes. Secular writers on the other hand, did not experiment with new styles and consequently, Christian literature dominated the era.

    Read More

  • THE RISE OF THE PAPACY

    1635 Words  | 4 Pages

    As the Roman Empire shifted its center of power to the East, Rome lost much of the prestige and protection it had previously enjoyed. With Constantinople as the new seat of the empire, the West was left to stand alone, often defenseless.4 Barbarians attacked Rome in AD 410, and Rome found little help from Constantinople. With the Western Empire essentially abandoned, disease, poverty and instability were rampant. Many structures had fallen into disrepair, and famine ravaged the land. Most government officials had left Rome, leaving the churc...

    Read More

More about The Rise Of The Papacy

Open Document