FREE ESSAY ON MEDIEVAL CHURCH AND STATE

MEDIEVAL CHURCH AND STATE

Debra Crocker
ENG 693
Presentation
3/23/99
The Relationship Between Church and State 
In the Middle Ages
The church had considerable material wealth, which instigated a problem: Who was
superior, Pope or King? This question caused a great deal of strife during the Middle
Ages, but the pope always had the advantage, until the end of the Medieval Period, when
the state finally triumphed over the popes' powers of interdict and excommunication. The
practical impact of the Church resulted from the general acceptance of its theology. It
taught that by devotion to its prescribed belief and code of conduct, the world would be
improved against the Day of Judgment. This belief and code were inforced by strict
penalties.
During the Middle Ages, Catholicism was the dominant (and often only) established
religion throughout the British Isles, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Bohemia, Poland,
Scandinavia, Iceland, France and northern Spain. In these areas almost everybody was a
member of the Church. Thus one could easily be misled into believing that a large
proportion of the populous was committed to the Church. This is an incorrect assumption
to make. Clergy could only preach in nearby areas because traveling was too slow a
process. Also, many people, including members of the lower clergy were uneducated. The
concept of regular Mass on Sunday was far from reality. Taking these into account, one
can see that those living in scattered rural communities could perhaps live having never
seen a priest or received any kind of religious instruction. One can accurately assume
that the Church must have had control throughout all levels of society, including a
central force in government. The Church maintained this power by giving the common
populous a reason to life, and an explanation of humankind's creation.
From the 12th century on, religious dissent became a serious problem for the Catholic
Church. One reason was anticlericalism - condemnation of bishops and priests who failed
to live up to the moral standards expected of them. Another reason was a large framework
of dissenting thought. Peoples desire for meaningful religious experience could and did
lead to heresy - the holding of religious doctrine different from the Orthodox teachings
of the Church.
The spread of heretical movements in southern France alarmed the Church authorities. Pope
Innocent determined to solve the problem. He tried sending preachers to convince the
heretics to return to the orthodox Catholic faith. It didn't work and the leaders of
southern France refused to help. Innocent decided to use force and the nobles of northern
France were very willing to help. This crusade lasted almost 2 decades. Southern France
was devastated but dissension remained. Over a period of years the Church's attempt to
devise a method for discovering and dealing with heretics led to the emergence of the
Papal Inquisition. By 1233 Pope Gregory IX had entrusted both Dominicans and Franciscans
with inquisitional power that had formerly only belonged to the bishops. Punishment for
heresy was severe. Heresy was to be punished for the spiritual "good" of the individual
as well as for the preservation and enhancement of the status of the Church and State.
The next two centuries saw the continuance of this conflict. The 14th century ended in
witnessing a papacy in turmoil and disarray, forced into a schism which saw three rival
popes enthroned simultaneously in confusion and conflict.
By the late 15th century, northern Europe had attained a high level of political
stability and economic prosperity. The Catholic Church, modeled upon the bureaucratic
structure of the Holy Roman Empire, had become powerful but internally corrupt. The
clergy were unable to live according to Church doctrine, and abuses of church ceremonies
were widespread. Several Church councils were held to answer the call for reform, but the
councils failed to reach an accord.
The 15th century councils did little for reform, and the popes, shorn of power, were
reduced to being Renaissance princes. Such men could not cope with the Protestant revolt
of Martin Luther and John Calvin. The Protestants aimed to restore primitive
Christianity, and they succeeded in weakening the hold of the Church in all of northern
Europe, in Great Britain, and in parts of central Europe and Switzerland. Politics and
religion were completely intertwined, hence the admixture of religious issues in the
Thirty Years War, between England and France. Within the Church there triumphed the most
extensive of all the Church's reform movements. From it sprang a general revival of
religion and much missionary activity in the new empires of Spain, Portugal and East
Asia. In France, Catholicism found new life. Slowly the state control over the church saw
an increase. The revolutionary movement eventually destroyed the Catholic princes, and
the Church had to live with secular states, some anti-Catholic, some tolerant. 
In England, the revolt against the Church hit very hard. This disaster was produced not
so much by the spreading of false doctrines but from the crown forcibly tearing the
church away from Rome. Another national church was brought into being and there was a
tremendous toll taken in lives and property on the road to building the Anglican Church.
As we have seen elsewhere, the civil power's intrusion into Church matters had reached
such a point that much of the higher clergy of England became estranged from the Holy See
and more subservient to the king. Also, general recognition of the primacy of the pope
had waned in the minds of many, ruler and ruled alike. Under such circumstances, it was
only a matter of time before the right person would appear on the scene and take
advantage of the deteriorating situation. For that person came in the 16th century, in
the form of Henry Tudor VIII.
During the time of King Arthur the kingdom of God was in perpetual warfare - both
spiritual and literal - against the Kingdom of the devil. This belief in warfare between
light and darkness discouraged curiosity about the world and speculation about the
unknown. People firmly believed that they were on their way to either heaven or hell;
life here was just a pilgrimage, the world a testing ground. People then were not
continually obsessed by the peril of their immortal souls. Nevertheless, medieval
teachings emphasized the afterlife much more strongly than any period to follw. The
Church was the center of the Universe.