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The history of the papacy Flipbook PDF
Byzantine Papacy The Byzantine Papacy was a period of Byzantine domination of the papacy from 537 to 752, when popes req
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Papal History to Anno 1417
The history of the papacy, the office held by the pope as leader of the Catholic Church, spans from the time of Saint Peter to present day. The pope is the head of the Catholic Church. During the Early Church, the bishops of Rome enjoyed no temporal power until the time of Constantine. After the fall of Rome (the "Middle Ages"), the papacy was influenced by the temporal rulers of and surrounding theItalian Peninsula; these periods are known as the Ostrogothic Papacy, Byzantine Papacy, and Frankish Papacy. Over time, the papacy consolidated its territorial claims to a portion of the peninsula known as thePapal States. Thereafter, the role of neighboring sovereigns was replaced by powerful Roman families during the saeculum obscurum, the Crescentii era, and the Tusculan Papacy. From 1048 to 1257, the papacy experienced increasing conflict with the leaders and churches of the Holy Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire. The latter culminated in the East–West Schism, dividing the Western Church and Eastern Church. From 1257–1377, the pope, though the bishop of Rome, resided inViterbo, Orvieto, and Perugia, and then Avignon. The return of the popes to Rome after the Avignon Papacy was followed by the Western Schism: the division of the western church between two and, for a time, three competing papal claimants. The Renaissance Papacy is known for its artistic and architectural patronage, forays into European power politics, and theological challenges to papal authority. After the start of the Protestant Reformation, theReformation Papacy and Baroque Papacy led the
Catholic Church through the Counter-Reformation. Thepopes during the Age of Revolution witnessed the largest expropriation of wealth in the church's history, during the French Revolution and those that followed throughout Europe. The Roman Question, arising from Italian unification, resulted in the loss of the Papal States and the creation of Vatican City.
Early Christianity Catholics recognize the pope as the successor to Saint Peter, whom Jesus designated as the "rock" upon which the Church was to be built (see Matthew 16:18–19). Although Peter never bore the title of "pope", which came into use much later, Catholics recognize him as the first pope, while official declarations of the Church speak of the popes as holding within the college of the Bishops a position analogous to that held by Peter within the college of the Apostles, namely Prince of the Apostles, of which the college of the Bishops, a distinct entity, is the successor. Protestants tend to deny that Peter and those claimed to be his immediate successors had universally recognized supreme dominant authority over all the early churches. Rome’s prominence may be seen as only moral, not ecclesiastical, and that emergence of the Roman pontiff to supreme power and prominence happened by natural circumstance rather than divine appointment. Many popes in the first three centuries of the Christian era are obscure figures. Several suffered martyrdom along with members of their flock in periods of persecution. Most of them engaged in intense theological arguments with other bishops.
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From Constantine (312–493) Bishops of Rome under Constantine I
Raphael's The Baptism of Constantine depicts Sylvester I instead of his actual baptizer Eusebius of Nicomedia, an Arianbishop. The legend surrounding Constantine I's victory in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge (312) relates his vision of the Chi Rho and the text in hoc signo vinces in the sky, and reproducing this symbol on the shields of his troops. The following year, Constantine and Licinius proclaimed the toleration of Christianity with the Edict of Milan, and in 325 Constantine convened and presided over the First Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council. None of this, however, has particularly much to do with the popes, who did not even attend the Council; in fact, the first bishop of Rome to be contemporaneously referred to as "pope" (παππαs, or pappas) isDamasus I (366–84). Moreover, between 324 and 330, Constantine built Constantinople as a new capital for the empire, and—with no apologies to the Roman community of Christians—relocated key Roman families and translated many Christian relics to the new churches he built from the ground up. The "Donation of Constantine", an 8th-century forgery used to enhance the prestige and authority of popes, places the pope more centrally in the narrative of Constantinian Christianity. The legend of the Donation claims that Constantine offered his crown to Sylvester I (314–35), and even that Sylvester baptized Constantine. In reality, Constantine was
baptized (nearing his death in May 337) by Eusebius of Nicomedia, an Arian bishop, unlike the pope. Nicomedia had been the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire since 286. Sylvester was succeeded by Mark (336) andJulius I (337–52) during the life of Constantine. Although the "Donation" never occurred, Constantine did hand over the Lateran Palace to the bishop of Rome, and began the construction of Old St. Peter's Basilica (the "Constantinian Basilica"). The gift of the Lateran probably occurred during the reign of Miltiades (311–14), Sylvester I's predecessor, who began using it as his residence. Old St. Peter's was begun between 326 and 330 and would have taken three decades to complete, long after the death of Constantine. Constantine's legalization of Christianity, combined with the donation of these properties, gave the pope an unprecedented level oftemporal power, for the first time creating an incentive for secular leaders to interfere with papal succession. Middle Ages (493–1417 Ostrogothic Papacy (483–537 The Ostrogothic Papacy period ran from 483 to 537. The papal election of March 483 was the first to take place without the existence of a Western Roman emperor. The papacy was strongly influenced by the Ostrogothic Kingdom, if the pope was not outright appointed by the Ostrogothic King. The selection and administration of popes during this period was strongly influenced by Theodoric the Great and his successors Athalaric and Theodahad. This period terminated with Justinian I's (re)conquest of Rome during the Gothic War (535– 554), inaugurating the Byzantine Papacy (537-752). The role of the Ostrogoths became clear in the first schism, when, on November 22, 498, two men were elected pope. The subsequent triumph of Pope Symmachus (498-514) over Antipope Laurentius is the first recorded example of simony in papal history. Symmachus also instituted the practice of popes naming their own successors, which held until an unpopular choice was made in 530, and discord only ended with the selection in 532 of John II, the first to rename himself upon succession.
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, "[Theodoric] was tolerant towards the Catholic Church and did not interfere in dogmatic matters. He remained as neutral as possible towards the pope, though he exercised a preponderant influence in the affairs of the papacy." A shift in attitudes towards Arianism occurred in this period. In 523, Eutharic, king of the Visigoths, ceased persecuting non-Arians, around the same time that the Eastern Church began its persecution of Arians. Ostrogothic influence ended with the reconquest of Rome by Justinian, who had had pro-Gothic Pope Silverius (536–537) deposed and replaced with his own choice, Pope Vigilius (537–555).
Byzantine Papacy (537–752)
Justinian I re-conquered Rome and appointed the next three popes
Byzantine Papacy The Byzantine Papacy was a period of Byzantine domination of the papacy from 537 to 752, when popes required the approval of the Byzantine Emperor for episcopal consecration, and many popes were chosen from the apocrisiarii (liaisons from the pope to the emperor) or the inhabitants of Byzantine Greece, Syria, or Sicily. Justinian I conquered the Italian peninsula in the Gothic War (535– 54) and appointed the next three popes, a practice that would be continued by his successors and later be delegated to the Exarchate of Ravenna. With the exception of Pope Martin I, no pope during this period questioned the authority of the Byzantine monarch to confirm the election of the bishop of Rome before consecration could occur; however, theological conflicts were common between pope and emperor in the areas such as monotheletism and iconoclasm. Greek speakers from Greece, Syria, and Byzantine Sicily replaced members of the powerful Roman nobles in the papal chair during this period. Rome under the Greek popes constituted a "melting pot" of Western and Eastern Christian traditions, reflected in art as well as liturgy. Pope Gregory I (590–604) was a major figure in asserting papal primacy and gave the impetus to missionary activity in northern Europe, including England. Frankish influence (756–857) Frankish Papacy In 751, Aistulf took Ravenna and threatened Rome. In response to this threat, Pope Stephen II made an unusual journey north of the Alps to visit the Frankish king, Pepin III, to seek his help against the invading Lombards. The pope anointed Pepin at the abbey of St Denis, near Paris, together with Pepin's two young sons Charles and Carloman. Pepin duly invaded northern Italy in 754, and again in 756. Pepin was able to drive the Lombards from the territory belonging to Ravenna but he did not restore it to its rightful owner, the Byzantine emperor. Instead, perhaps
accepting the validity of the Donation of Constantine, he handed over large areas of central Italy to the pope and his successors. The land given to pope Stephen in 756, in the so-called Donation of Pepin, made the papacy a temporal power. This territory would become the basis for the Papal States, over which the popes ruled until the Papal States were incorporated into the new Kingdom of Italy in 1870. For the next eleven centuries, the story of Rome would be almost synonymous with the story of the papacy. The Lombard kingdom reached its height in the 7th and 8th century. Paganism and Arianism were at first prevalent among the Lombards but were gradually supplanted by Catholicism. Roman culture and Latin speech were gradually adopted and the Catholic bishops emerged as chief magistrates in the cities. Lombard law combined Germanic and Roman traditions. After Aistulf's death King Desiderius renewed the attack on Rome. In 772, Pope Adrian I enlisted the support of Charlemagne, Pepin's successor, who intervened, and, after defeating the Lombards, added their kingdom to his own. After being physically attacked by his enemies in the streets of Rome, Pope Leo III made his way in 799 through the Alps to visit Charlemagne at Paderborn. It is not known what was agreed between the two, but Charlemagne traveled to Rome in 800 to support the pope. In a ceremony in St Peter's Basilica, on Christmas Day, Leo was supposed to anoint Charlemagne's son as his heir. But unexpectedly (it is maintained), as Charlemagne rose from prayer, the pope placed a crown on his head and acclaimed him emperor. It is reported that Charlemagne expressed displeasure but nevertheless accepted the honour. The displeasure was probably diplomatic, for the legal emperor was supposed to be seated in Constantinople. Nevertheless this public alliance between the pope and the ruler of a confederation of Germanic tribes was a reflection of the reality of political power in the west. This coronation launched the concept of the new Holy Roman Empire which would play an important role throughout the Middle Ages. The Holy Roman Empire only became formally established in the next century. But the concept is implicit in the title adopted by Charlemagne in 800: 'Charles, most serene Augustus,
crowned by God, great and pacific emperor, governing the Roman empire.' Influence of powerful Roman families (904–1048) Saeculum obscurum, Crescentii, and Tusculan Papacy The period beginning with the installation of Pope Sergius III in 904 and lasting for sixty years until the death of Pope John XII in 964 is sometimes referred to as Saeculum obscurum or the "dark age." Historian Will Durant refers to the period from 867 to 1049 as the "nadir of the papacy". During this period, the popes were controlled by a powerful and corrupt aristocratic family, the Theophylacti, and their relatives. Conflicts with the Emperor and East (1048–1257)
History of the papacy (1048–1257) The Imperial crown once held by the Carolingian emperors was disputed between their fractured heirs and local overlords; none emerged victorious until Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor invaded Italy. Italy became a constituent kingdom of the Holy Roman Empire in 962, from which point the emperors were Germanic. As emperor's consolidated their position, northern Italian city-states would become divided by Guelphs and Ghibellines. Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor found three rival popes when he visited Rome in 1048 because of the unprecedented actions of Pope Benedict IX. He deposed all three and installed his own preferred candidate: Pope Clement II. The history of the papacy from 1048 to 1257 would continue to be marked by conflict between popes and the Holy Roman Emperor, most prominently the Investiture Controversy, a dispute over who—pope or emperor—could appoint bishops within the Empire. Henry IV's Walk to Canossa in 1077 to meetPope Gregory VII (1073–85), although not dispositive within the context of the larger dispute, has become legendary. Although the emperor renounced any right to lay investiture in the Concordat of Worms (1122), the issue would flare up again.
Long-standing divisions between East and West also came to a head in the East–West Schism and the Crusades. The first seven Ecumenical Councils had been attended by both Western and Eastern prelates, but growing doctrinal, theological, linguistic, political and geographic differences finally resulted in mutual denunciations and excommunications. Pope Urban II (1088–99) speech at the Council of Clermont in 1095 became the rallying cry of the First Crusade. Unlike the previous millennium, the process for papal selection became somewhat fixed during this period. Pope Nicholas II promulgated In nomine Dominiin 1059, which limited suffrage in papal elections to the College of Cardinals. The rules and procedures of papal elections evolved during this period, laying the groundwork for the modern papal conclave. The driving force behind these reforms was Cardinal Hildebrand, who later became Gregory VII.
The wandering popes (1257–1309)
Viterbo Papacy, Orvieto Papacy, and .... Perugia Papacy
The pope is the bishop of Rome, but it is nowhere written that he has to stay there (in fact, only 200 years prior, cardinals would have been required to reside in Rome). Political instability in thirteenth-century Italy forced the papal court to move to several different locations. Frequent destinations include Viterbo, Orvieto, and Perugia. The popes brought theRoman Curia with them, and the College of Cardinals met in
the city where the last pope had died to hold papal elections. Host cities enjoyed a boost to their prestige and certain economic advantages, but the municipal authorities risked being subsumed into the administration of the Papal States if they allowed the pope to overstay his welcome. According to Eamon Duffy, "aristocratic factions within the city of Rome once again made it an insecure base for a stable papal government. Innocent IV was exiled from Rome and even Italy for six years, and all but two of the papal elections of the thirteenth century had to take place outside Rome. The skyline of Rome itself was now dominated by the fortified war-towers of the aristocracy (a hundred were built in Innocent IV's pontificate alone) and the popes increasingly spent their time in the papal palaces at Viterbo and Orvieto."
Avignon Papacy (1309–1377)
The Palais des Papes in Avignon Avignon Papacy During this period, seven popes, all French, resided in Avignon starting in 1309: Pope Clement V (1305–14),Pope John XXII (1316–34), Pope Benedict XII (1334–42), Pope Clement VI (1342–52), Pope Innocent VI(1352–62), Pope Urban V (1362–70), Pope Gregory XI (1370–78). In 1378, Gregory XI moved the papal residence back to Rome and died there.
Western Schism (1378–1417)
The division of European allegiances at a point during the Schism After seventy years in France the papal curia was naturally French in its ways and, to a large extent, in its staff. Back in Rome some degree of tension between French and Italian factions was inevitable. This tension was brought to a head by the death of the French pope Gregory XI within a year of his return to Rome. The Roman crowd, said to be in threatening mood, demanded a Roman pope or at least an Italian one. In 1378 the conclave elected an Italian from Naples, Pope Urban VI. His intransigence in office soon alienated the French cardinals. And the behaviour of the Roman crowd enabled them to declare, in retrospect, that his election was invalid, voted under duress. The French cardinals withdrew to a conclave of their own, where they elected one of their number, Robert of Geneva. He took the name Clement VII. By 1379, he was back in the palace of popes in Avignon, while Urban VI remained in Rome. This was the beginning of the period of difficulty from 1378 to 1417 which Catholic scholars refer to as the "Western Schism" or, "the great controversy of the antipopes" (also called "the second great schism" by some secular and Protestant historians), when parties within the
Catholic Church were divided in their allegiances among the various claimants to the office of pope. The Council of Constance, in 1417, finally resolved the controversy. For nearly forty years the Church had two papal curias and two sets of cardinals, each electing a new pope for Rome or Avignon when death created a vacancy. Each pope lobbied for support among kings and princes who played them off against each other, changing allegiance when according to political advantage. In 1409 a council was convened at Pisa to resolve the issue. The council declared both existing popes to be schismatic (Gregory XII from Rome, Benedict XIII from Avignon) and appointed a new one, Alexander V. But the existing popes had not been persuaded to resign so the church had three popes. Another council was convened in 1414 at Constance. In March 1415 the Pisan pope, John XXIII, fled from Constance in disguise; he was brought back a prisoner and deposed in May. The Roman pope, Gregory XII, resigned voluntarily in July. The Avignon pope, Benedict XIII, refused to come to Constance. In spite of a personal visit from the emperor Sigismund, he would not consider resignation. The council finally deposed him in July 1417. Denying their right to do so, he withdrew to an impregnable castle on the coast of Spain. Here he continued to act as pope, creating new cardinals and issuing decrees, until his death in 1423. The council in Constance, having finally cleared the field of popes and antipopes, elected Pope Martin V as pope in November.
The Vatican - view from St. Peter