A Source Book of Mediaeval History Part 33

St. Peter, prince of the apostles, incline thine ear unto me, I beseech thee, and hear me, thy servant, whom thou hast nourished from mine infancy and hast delivered from mine enemies that hate me for my fidelity to thee. Thou art my witness, as are also my mistress, the mother of G.o.d, and St. Paul thy brother, and all the other saints, that the Holy Roman Church called me to its government against my own will, and that I did not gain thy throne by violence; that I would rather have ended my days in exile than have obtained thy place by fraud or for worldly ambition. It is not by my efforts, but by thy grace, that I am set to rule over the Christian world which was especially intrusted to thee by Christ.

It is by thy grace, and as thy representative that G.o.d has given to me the power to bind and to loose in heaven and in earth. Confident of my integrity and authority, I now declare in the name of the omnipotent G.o.d, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that Henry, son of the Emperor Henry,[389] is deprived of his kingdom of Germany and Italy. I do this by thy authority and in defense of the honor of thy Church, because he has rebelled against it. He who attempts to destroy the honor of the Church should be deprived of such honor as he may have held. He has refused to obey as a Christian should; he has not returned to G.o.d from whom he had wandered; he has had dealings with excommunicated persons; he has done many iniquities; he has despised the warnings which, as thou art witness, I sent to him for his salvation; he has cut himself off from thy Church, and has attempted to rend it asunder; therefore, by thy authority, I place him under the curse. It is in thy name that I curse him, that all people may know that thou art Peter, and upon thy rock the Son of the living G.o.d has built his Church, and the gates of h.e.l.l shall not prevail against it.

49. The Penance of Henry IV. at Canossa (1077)

In his contest with the Pope, Henry's chances of winning were from the outset diminished by the readiness of his subjects to take advantage of his misfortunes to recover political privileges they had lost under his vigorous rule. In October, 1076, the leading German n.o.bles, lay and clerical, encouraged by the papal decree of the preceding February, a.s.sembled at Tribur, near Mainz, and proceeded to formulate a plan of action. Henry, with the few followers who remained faithful, awaited the result at Oppenheim, just across the Rhine. The magnates at last agreed that unless Henry could secure the removal of the papal ban within a year he should be deposed from the throne. By the Oppenheim Convention he was forced to promise to revoke his sentence of deposition against Gregory and to offer him his allegiance. The promise was executed in a royal edict of the same month. Seeing that there remained no hope in further resistance, and hearing that Gregory was about to present himself in Germany to compel a final adjustment of the affair, Henry fled from Speyer, where he had been instructed by the n.o.bles to remain, and by a most arduous winter journey over the Alps arrived at last at the castle of Canossa, in Tuscany,[390] where the Pope, on his way to Germany, was being entertained by one of his allies, the Countess Matilda. Gregory might indeed already have been on the Rhine but that he had heard of the move Henry was making and feared that he was proposing to stir up revolt in the papal dominions.

The king was submissive, apparently conquered; yet Gregory was loath to end the conflict at this point. He had hoped to establish a precedent by entering German territory and there disposing of the crown according to his own will. But it was a cardinal rule of the Church that a penitent sincerely seeking absolution could not be denied, and in his request Henry was certainly importunate enough to give every appearance of sincerity. Accordingly, the result of the meeting of king [Emperor] and Pope at Canossa was that the ban of excommunication was revoked by the latter, while the former took an oath fully acknowledging the papal claims.

Inasmuch as he had saved his crown and frustrated the design of Gregory to cross the mountains into Germany, Henry may be said to have won a temporary advantage; and this was followed within a few years, when the struggle broke out again, by the practical expulsion of Gregory from Rome and his death in broken-hearted exile (1085).

Nevertheless the moral effect of the Canossa episode, and of the events which followed, in the long run operated decidedly against the king's position and the whole imperial theory. The doc.u.ment below is a letter of Gregory to the German magnates giving an account of the submission of the king at Canossa, and including the text of the oath which he there took.

Source--Text in Michael Doeberl, _Monumenta Germaniae Historica Selecta_ (Munchen, 1889), Vol. III., pp. 33-34. Adapted from translation in Ernest F. Henderson, _Select Historical Doc.u.ments of the Middle Ages_ (London, 1896), pp. 385-388.

Gregory, bishop, servant of the servants of G.o.d, to all the archbishops, bishops, dukes, counts, and other princes of the realm of the Germans who defend the Christian faith, greeting and apostolic benediction.

Inasmuch as for love of justice you a.s.sumed common cause and danger with us in the struggle of Christian warfare, we have taken care to inform you, beloved, with sincere affection, how the king, humbled to penance, obtained the pardon of absolution and how the whole affair has progressed from his entrance into Italy to the present time.

[Sidenote: Gregory's advance into Tuscany]

As had been agreed with the legates who had been sent to us on your part,[391] we came into Lombardy about twenty days before the date on which one of the commanders was to come over the pa.s.s to meet us, awaiting his advent that we might cross over to the other side. But when the period fixed upon had already pa.s.sed, and we were told that at this time on account of many difficulties--as we can readily believe--an escort could not be sent to meet us, we were involved in no little perplexity as to what would be best for us to do, having no other means of coming to you.

[Sidenote: Henry at Canossa]

Meanwhile, however, we learned that the king was approaching. He also, before entering Italy, sent to us suppliant legates, offering in all things to render satisfaction to G.o.d, to St. Peter, and to us. And he renewed his promise that, besides amending his way of living, he would observe all obedience if only he might deserve to obtain from us the favor of absolution and the apostolic benediction. When, after long postponing a decision and holding frequent consultations, we, through all the envoys who pa.s.sed, had severely taken him to task for his excesses, he came at length of his own accord, with a few followers, showing nothing of hostility or boldness, to the town of Canossa where we were tarrying. And there, having laid aside all the belongings of royalty, wretchedly, with bare feet and clad in wool, he continued for three days to stand before the gate of the castle. Nor did he desist from imploring with many tears, the aid and consolation of the apostolic mercy until he had moved all of those who were present there, and whom the report of it reached, to such pity and depth of compa.s.sion that, interceding for him with many prayers and tears, all wondered indeed at the unaccustomed hardness of our heart, while some actually cried out that we were exercising, not the dignity of apostolic severity, but the cruelty, as it were, of a tyrannical madness.

Finally, won by the persistency of his suit and by the constant supplications of all who were present, we loosed the chain of the anathema[392] and at length received him into the favor of communion and into the lap of the holy mother Church, those being accepted as sponsors for him whose names are written below.

[Sidenote: Gregory's purpose to visit Germany]

Having thus accomplished these matters, we desire at the first opportunity to cross over to your country in order that, by G.o.d's aid, we may more fully arrange all things for the peace of the Church and the concord of the kingdom, as has long been our wish. For we desire, beloved, that you should know beyond a doubt that the whole question at issue is as yet so little cleared up--as you can learn from the sponsors mentioned--that both our coming and the concurrence of your counsels are extremely necessary. Wherefore strive ye all to continue in the faith in which you have begun and in the love of justice; and know that we are not otherwise committed to the king save that, by word alone, as is our custom, we have said that he might have hopes from us in those matters in which, without danger to his soul or to our own, we might be able to help him to his salvation and honor, either through justice or through mercy.

OATH OF KING HENRY

I, King Henry, on account of the murmuring and enmity which the archbishops and bishops, dukes, counts and other princes of the realm of the Germans, and others who follow them in the same matter of dissension, bring to bear against me, will, within the term which our master Pope Gregory has const.i.tuted, either do justice according to his judgment or conclude peace according to his counsels--unless an absolute impediment should stand in his way or in mine. And on the removal of this impediment I shall be ready to continue in the same course. Likewise, if that same lord Pope Gregory shall wish to go beyond the mountains [i.e., into Germany], or to any other part of the world, he himself, as well as those who shall be in his escort or following, or who are sent by him, or come to him from any parts of the world whatever, shall be secure while going, remaining, or returning, on my part, and on the part of those whom I can constrain, from every injury to life or limb, or from capture. Nor shall he, by my consent, meet any other hindrance that is contrary to his dignity; and if any such be placed in his way I will aid him according to my ability. So help me G.o.d and this holy gospel.

50. The Concordat of Worms (1122)

The veteran Emperor Henry IV. died at Liege in 1106 and was succeeded by his son, Henry V. The younger Henry had some months before been prompted by Pope Paschal II. to rebel against his father and, succeeding in this, had practically established himself on the throne before his legitimate time. Pope Paschal expected the son to be more submissive than the father had been and in 1106 issued a decree renewing the prohibition of lay invest.i.ture. Outside of Germany this evil had been brought almost to an end and, now that the vigorous Henry IV. was out of the way, the Pope felt that the time had come to make the reform complete throughout Christendom. But in this he was mistaken, for Henry V. proved almost as able and fully as determined a power to contend with as had been his father. In fact, the new monarch could command a much stronger army, and he was in no wise loath to use it. In 1110 he led a host of thirty thousand men across the Alps, compelled the submission of the north Italian towns, and marched on Rome. The outcome was a secret compact (February 4, 1111) by which the king, on the one hand, was to abandon all claim to the right of invest.i.ture and the Pope, on the other, was to see that the ecclesiastical princes of the Empire (bishops and abbots holding large tracts of land) should give up all the lands which they had received by royal grant since the days of Charlemagne. The abandonment of invest.i.ture looked like a surrender on the part of Henry, but in reality all that he wanted was direct control over all the lands of the Empire, and if the ecclesiastical princes were to be dispossessed of these he cared little or nothing about having a part in the mere religious ceremony. This settlement was rendered impossible, however, by the att.i.tude of the princes themselves, who naturally refused to be thus deprived of their landed property and chief source of income. The Pope was then forced to make a second compact surrendering the full right of invest.i.ture to the imperial authority, and Henry also got the coveted imperial coronation. But his triumph was short-lived.

Rebellions among the German n.o.bles robbed him of his strength and after years of wearisome bickerings and petty conflicts he again came to the point where he was willing to compromise. Calixtus II., who became pope in 1119, was similarly inclined.

Accordingly, in a diet at Worms, in 1122, the whole problem was taken up for settlement, and happily this time with success. The doc.u.ments translated below contain the concessions made mutually by the two parties. Calixtus, in brief, grants that the elections of bishops and abbots may take place in the presence of the Emperor, or of his agents, and that the Emperor should have the right to invest them with the scepter, i.e., with their dignity as princes of the Empire. Henry, on his side, agrees to give up invest.i.ture with the ring and staff, i.e., with spiritual functions, to allow free elections, and to aid in the restoration of church property which had been confiscated during the long struggle now drawing to a close. The settlement was in the nature of a compromise; but on the whole the papacy came off the better. In its largest aspects the great fifty-year struggle over the question of invest.i.ture was ended, though minor features of it remained to trouble all parties concerned for a long time to come.

Sources--(a) Text in _Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Leges_ (Pertz ed.), Vol. II., pp. 75-76.

(b) Text in Michael Doeberl, _Monumenta Germaniae Historica Selecta_, Vol. III., p. 60.

[Sidenote: The provision for elections]

(a)

I, Bishop Calixtus, servant of the servants of G.o.d, do grant to thee, by the grace of G.o.d august Emperor of the Romans, the right to hold the elections of the bishops and abbots of the German realm who belong to the kingdom, in thy presence, without simony, and without any resort to violence; it being agreed that, if any dispute arise among those concerned, thou, by the counsel and judgment of the metropolitan [i.e., the archbishop] and the suffragan bishops, shalt extend favor and support to the party which shall seem to you to have the better case. Moreover, the person elected may receive from thee the _regalia_ through the scepter, without any exaction being levied;[393] and he shall discharge his rightful obligations to thee for them.[394]

[Sidenote: Invest.i.ture with the scepter]

He who is consecrated in other parts of the Empire[395] shall receive the _regalia_ from thee through the scepter, within six months, and without any exaction, and shall discharge his rightful obligations to thee for them; those rights being excepted, however, which are known to belong to the Roman Church. In whatever cases thou shalt make complaint to me and ask my aid I will support thee according as my office requires. To thee, and to all those who are on thy side, or have been, in this period of strife, I grant a true peace.

[Sidenote: Invest.i.ture with ring and staff]

(b)

In the name of the holy and indivisible Trinity, I, Henry, by the grace of G.o.d august Emperor of the Romans, for the love of G.o.d and of the holy Roman Church and of our lord Pope Calixtus, and for the saving of my soul, do give over to G.o.d, and to the holy apostles of G.o.d, Peter and Paul, and the holy Catholic Church, all invest.i.ture through ring and staff; and do concede that in all the churches that are in my kingdom or empire there shall be canonical election and free consecration.

[Sidenote: Restoration of confiscated property]

All the property and _regalia_ of St. Peter which, from the beginning of this conflict until the present time, whether in the days of my father or in my own, have been confiscated, and which I now hold, I restore to the holy Roman Church. And as for those things which I do not now hold, I will faithfully aid in their restoration. The property also of all other churches and princes and of every one, whether lay or ecclesiastical, which has been lost in the struggle, I will restore as far as I hold it, according to the counsel of the princes, or according to considerations of justice. I will also faithfully aid in the restoration of those things which I do not hold.

And I grant a true peace to our lord Pope Calixtus, and to the holy Roman Church, and to all those who are, or have been, on its side.

In matters where the holy Roman Church shall seek a.s.sistance, I will faithfully render it, and when it shall make complaint to me I will see that justice is done.

FOOTNOTES:

[375] The inc.u.mbent of the papal office was at the same time bishop of Rome, temporal sovereign of the papal lands, and head of the church universal. In earlier times there was always danger that the third of these functions be lost and that the papacy revert to a purely local inst.i.tution, but by Gregory VII.'s day the universal headship was clearly recognized throughout the West as inherent in the office. It was only when there arose the question as to how far this headship justified the Pope in attempting to control the affairs of the world that serious disagreement manifested itself.

[376] That is, without giving them a hearing at a later date.

[377] On the basis of the forged Donation of Constantine the Pope claimed the right here mentioned. There was no proper warrant for it.

[378] "This is the first distinct a.s.sertion of the exclusive right of the bishop of Rome to the t.i.tle of pope, once applied to all bishops."

Robinson, _Readings in European History_, Vol. I., p. 274. The word pope is derived from _papa_ (father). It is still used as the common t.i.tle of all priests in the Greek Church.

[379] This, with the letter given on page 265, sets forth succinctly the papacy's absolute claim of authority as against the highest temporal power in Europe.

[380] That is, p.r.o.nounced by the canons of the Church to be divinely inspired.

[381] This is, of course, not a claim of _papal_ infallibility. The a.s.sertion is merely that in the domain of faith and morals the Roman church, judged by Scriptural principles, has never pursued a course either improper or unwarranted.

[382] It did not occur until 1084. Henry had inherited the office at the death of his father, Henry III., in 1056.

[383] The sin of simony comprised the employment of any corrupt means to obtain appointment or election to an ecclesiastical office. For the origin of the term see the incident recorded in Acts, viii. 18-24. The five councilors had been condemned by a synod at Rome in February, 1075.

[384] The five condemned councillors.

[385] This portion of the letter comprises a clear a.s.sertion of the "Petrine Supremacy," i.e., the theory that Peter, as the first bishop of Rome, transmitted his superiority over all other bishops to his successors in the Roman see, who in due time came to const.i.tute the line of popes [see p. 78].

[386] This refers to a decree of a Roman synod in 1074 against simony and the marriage of the clergy.