Early European History Part 81

COMING OF THE FRIARS

The history of Christian monasticism exhibits an ever-widening social outlook. The early hermits [22] had devoted themselves, as they believed, to the service of G.o.d by retiring desert for prayer, meditation, and bodily mortification. St. Benedict's wise Rule, as followed by the medieval monastic orders, marked a change for the better. It did away with extreme forms of self-denial, brought the monks together in a common house, and required them to engage in daily manual labor. Yet even the Benedictine system had its limitations. The monks lived apart from the world and sought chiefly the salvation of their own souls. A new conception of the monastic life arose early in the thirteenth century, with the coming of the friars. [23] The aim of the friars was social service. They lived active lives in the world and devoted themselves entirely to the salvation of others. The foundation of the orders of friars was the work of two men, St. Francis in Italy and St. Dominic in Spain.

ST. FRANCIS, 1181(?)-1226 A.D.

Twenty-eight years after the death of St. Bernard, St. Francis was born at a.s.sisi. As the son of a rich and prominent merchant St. Francis had before him the prospect of a fine career in the world. But he put away all thoughts of fame and wealth, deserted his gay companions, and, choosing "Lady Poverty" as his bride, started out to minister to lepers and social outcasts. One day, while attending Ma.s.s, the call came to him to preach the Gospel, as Christ had preached it, among the poor and lowly. The man's earnestness and charm of manner soon drew about him devoted followers.

After some years St. Francis went to Rome and obtained Pope Innocent III's sanction of his work. The Franciscan order spread so rapidly that even in the founder's lifetime there were several thousand members in Italy and other European countries.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ST. FRANCIS BLESSING THE BIRDS From a painting by the Italian artist Giotto.]

ST. FRANCIS, THE MAN

St. Francis is one of the most attractive figures in all history. Perhaps no other man has ever tried so seriously to imitate in his own life the life of Christ. St. Francis went about doing good. He resembled, in some respects, the social workers and revivalist preachers of to-day. In other respects he was a true child of the Middle Ages. An ascetic, he fasted, wore a hair-cloth shirt, mixed ashes with his food to make it disagreeable, wept daily, so that his eyesight was nearly destroyed, and every night flogged himself with iron chains. A mystic, he lived so close to G.o.d and nature that he could include within the bonds of his love not only men and women, but also animals, trees, and flowers. He preached a sermon to the birds and once wrote a hymn to praise G.o.d for his "brothers," sun, wind, and fire, and for his "sisters," moon, water, and earth. When told that he had but a short time to live, he exclaimed, "Welcome, Sister Death!" He died at the age of forty-five, worn out by his exertions and self-denial. Two years later the pope made him a saint.

ST. DOMINIC, 1170-1221 A.D.

St. Dominic, unlike St. Francis, was a clergyman and a student of theology. After being ordained he went to southern France and labored there for ten years among a heretical sect known as the Albigenses. The order of Dominicans grew out of the little band of volunteers who a.s.sisted him in the mission. St. Dominic sent his followers--at first only sixteen in number--out into the world to combat heresy. They met with great success, and at the founder's death the Dominicans had as many as sixty friaries in various European cities.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FRIARS

The Franciscans and Dominicans resembled each other in many ways. They were "itinerant," going on foot from place to place, and wearing coa.r.s.e robes tied round the waist with a rope. They were "mendicants," [24] who possessed no property but lived on the alms of the charitable. They were also preachers, who spoke to the people, not in Latin, but in the common language of each country which they visited. The Franciscans worked especially in the "slums" of the cities; the Dominicans addressed themselves rather to educated people and the upper cla.s.ses. As time went on, both orders relaxed the rule of poverty and became very wealthy. They still survive, scattered all over the world and employed in teaching and missionary activity. [25]

THE FRIARS AND THE PAPACY

The friars by their preaching and ministrations did a great deal to call forth a religious revival in Europe during the thirteenth century. In particular they helped to strengthen the papal authority. Both orders received the sanction of the pope; both enjoyed many privileges at his hands; and both looked to him for direction. The pope employed them to raise money, to preach crusades, and to impose excommunications and interdicts. The Franciscans and Dominicans formed, in fact, the agents of the Papacy.

165. POWER OF THE PAPACY

THE POPE'S EXALTED POSITION

The name "pope" [26] seems at first to have been applied to all priests as a t.i.tle of respect and affection. The Greek Church still continues this use of the word. In the West it gradually came to be reserved to the bishop of Rome as his official t.i.tle. The pope was addressed in speaking as "Your Holiness." His exalted position was further indicated by the tiara, or headdress with triple crowns, worn by him in processions. [27]

He went to solemn ceremonies sitting in a chair supported on the shoulders of his guard. He gave audience from an elevated throne, and all who approached him kissed his feet in reverence. As "Christ's Vicar" he claimed to be the representative on earth of the Almighty.

THE POPE AS THE HEAD OF WESTERN CHRISTENDOM

The pope was the supreme lawgiver of the Church. His decrees might not be set aside by any other person. He made new laws in the form of "bulls"

[28] and by his "dispensations" could in particular cases set aside old laws, such as those forbidding cousins to marry or monks to obtain release from their vows. The pope was also the supreme judge of the Church, for all appeals from the lower ecclesiastical courts came before him for decision. Finally, the pope was the supreme administrator of the Church.

He confirmed the election of bishops, deposed them, when necessary, or transferred them from one diocese to another. No archbishop might perform the functions of his office until he had received the _pallium_ from the pope's hands. The pope also exercised control over the monastic orders and called general councils of the Church.

THE PAPAL LEGATES

The authority of the pope was commonly exercised by the "legates," [29]

whom he sent out as his representatives at the various European courts.

These officers kept the pope in close touch with the condition of the Church in every part of western Europe. A similar function is performed in modern times by the papal amba.s.sadors known as "nuncios."

THE CARDINALS

For a.s.sistance in government the pope made use of the cardinals, [30] who formed a board, or "college." At first they were chosen only from the clergy of Rome and the vicinity, but in course of time the pope opened the cardinalate to prominent churchmen in all countries. The number of cardinals is now fixed at seventy, but the college is never full, and there are always ten or more "vacant hats," as the saying goes. The cardinals, in the eleventh century, received the right of choosing a new pope. A cardinal ranks above all other church officers. His dignity is indicated by the red hat and scarlet robe which he wears and by the t.i.tle of "Eminence" applied to him.

INCOME OF THE PAPACY

To support the business of the Papacy and to maintain the splendor of the papal court required a large annual income. This came partly from the States of the Church in Italy, partly from the gifts of the faithful, and partly from the payments made by abbots, bishops, and archbishops when the pope confirmed their election to office. Still another source of revenue consisted of "Peter's Pence," a tax of a penny on each hearth. It was collected every year in England and in some Continental countries until the Reformation. The modern "Peter's Pence" is a voluntary contribution made by Roman Catholics in all countries.

THE CAPITAL OF THE PAPACY

The Eternal City, from which in ancient times the known world had been ruled, formed in the Middle Ages the capital of the Papacy. Hither every year came tens of thousands of pilgrims to worship at the shrine of the Prince of the Apostles. Few traces now remain of the medieval city. Old St. Peter's Church, where Charlemagne was crowned emperor, [31] gave way in the sixteenth century to the world-famous structure that now occupies its site. [32] The Lateran Palace, which for more than a thousand years served as the residence of the popes, has also disappeared, its place being taken by a new and smaller building. The popes now live in the splendid palace of the Vatican, adjoining St. Peter's.

THE PAPACY AND THE EMPIRE

The powers exercised by the popes during the later Middle Ages were not secured without a struggle. As a matter of fact the concentration of authority in papal hands was a gradual development covering several hundred years. The pope reached his exalted position only after a long contest with the Holy Roman Emperor. This contest forms one of the most noteworthy episodes in medieval history.

166. POPES AND EMPERORS, 962-1122 A.D.

RELATIONS BETWEEN POPE AND EMPEROR IN THEORY

One might suppose that there could be no interference between pope and emperor, since they seemed to have separate spheres of action. It was said that G.o.d had made the pope, as the successor of St. Peter, supreme in spiritual matters and the emperor, as heir of the Roman Caesars, supreme in temporal matters. The former ruled men's souls, the latter, men's bodies. The two sovereigns thus divided on equal terms the government of the world.

THEIR RELATIONS IN PRACTICE

The difficulty with this theory was that it did not work. No one could decide in advance where the authority the pope ended and where that of the emperor began. When the pope claimed certain powers which were also claimed by the emperor, a conflict between the two rulers became inevitable.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SPIRITUAL AND TEMPORAL POWER A tenth-century mosaic in the church of St. John, Rome. It represents Christ giving to St. Peter the keys of heaven, and to Constantine the banner symbolic of earthly dominion.]

OTTO THE GREAT AND THE PAPACY

In 962 A.D. Otto the Great, as we have learned, [33] restored imperial rule in the West, thus founding what in later centuries the came to be known as the Holy Roman Empire. Otto as emperor possessed the rights of making the city of Rome the imperial capital, of approving the election of the pope, and, in general, of exerting much influence in papal affairs.

All these rights had been exercised by Charlemagne. But Otto did what Charlemagne had never done when he deposed a pope who proved disobedient to his wishes and on his own authority appointed a successor. At the same time Otto exacted from the people of Rome an oath that they would never recognize any pope to whose election the emperor had not consented.

THE PAPACY AND OTTO'S SUCCESSORS

The emperors who followed Otto repeatedly interfered in elections to the Papacy. One strong ruler, Henry III (1039-1056 A.D.), has been called the "pope-maker." Early in his reign he set aside three rival claimants to the Papacy, creating a German bishop pope, and on three subsequent occasions filled the papal throne by fresh appointments. It was clear that if this situation continued much longer the Papacy would become simply an imperial office; it would be merged in the Empire.

PAPAL ELECTION BY THE CARDINALS

The death of Henry III, which left the Empire in weak hands, gave the Papacy a chance to escape the control of the secular power. In 1059 A.D. a church council held at the Lateran Palace decreed that henceforth the right of choosing the supreme pontiff should belong exclusively to the cardinals, who represented the clergy of Rome. This arrangement has tended to prevent any interference with the election of popes, either by the Roman people or by foreign sovereigns.

FEUDALIZING OF THE CHURCH

Now that the Papacy had become independent, it began to deal with a grave problem which affected the Church at large. According to ecclesiastical rule bishops ought to be chosen by the clergy of their diocese and abbots of by their monks. With the growth of feudalism, however, many of these high dignitaries had become va.s.sals, holding their lands as fiefs of princes, kings, and emperors, and owing the usual feudal dues. Their lords expected them to perform the ceremony of homage, [34] before "investing"

them with the lands attached to the bishopric or monastery. One can readily see that in practice the lords really chose the bishops and abbots, since they could always refuse to "invest" those who were displeasing to them.

LAY INVESt.i.tURE FROM THE CHURCH STANDPOINT

To the reformers in the Church lay invest.i.ture appeared intolerable. How could the Church keep itself unspotted from the world when its highest officers were chosen by laymen and were compelled to perform unpriestly duties? In the act of invest.i.ture the reformers also saw the sin of simony [35]--the sale of sacred powers--because there was such a temptation before the candidate for a bishopric or abbacy to buy the position with promises or with money.

LAY INVESt.i.tURE AS VIEWED BY THE SECULAR AUTHORITY