CONCLUSION

 

To prolong this account would be to exceed the limits which I have sketched out. Moreover, with the advent of the Gregorian papacy begins a new epoch in the history of the temporal power as well as in general history. This pontificate realizes the potential might of its religious and moral power, and, with one vigorous stroke, rises above all the political considerations of the West. As a result of this great change, the relative importance of the little principality is somewhat diminished. It was by no means destroyed, however, but, like all other rights connected with the Holy See, adhered to with tenacity. Sometimes it provided a temporary refuge from outside attacks; even in times of depression, when suffering the imperial occupation, hardly any change was made in the manner of government; it was always the pontifical estate. Gregory VII, Urban II, and Gelasius II might be compelled to live and die away from Rome, but in the interval it was occupied by the anti-popes. It was in their capacity of vicars of St. Peter that they posed as sovereigns of Rome. Although in and after the twelfth century the papal dominion was often interfered with (at least as far as Rome was concerned) by the commune, its claims were quite in accord with the theory of the pontifical sovereignty.

The Pope, therefore, held the sovereignty after the time of Gregory VII as before; one may even say that the conditions were the same, with the double anxiety of his untractable subjects at home and of the empire abroad. But, though the sovereignty did not change, the same cannot be affirmed of the sovereign. Formerly he had been the high priest of the Roman pilgrimage, the theoretical head of the episcopate, the dispenser of benedictions and of privileges, and of anathemas. But, over the Church as a whole, his influence was lacking in vigor and continuity. True, he had been known to organize or instigate certain missions, and occasionally, as in the time of Nicholas I, energetically to interpose in the general affairs of the Church; but these cases were exceptional. He had had no part in furthering the somewhat evanescent reforms brought about under the early Carolingian princes, though the author of the “Forged Decretals”, recognizing their decline, sought to make out that they were placed under the protection of the earliest Popes, without succeeding in arousing in their successors any sustained interest. These latter, as we have seen, were drawn from an environment which, to put it mildly, bore but an indifferent reputation. Indeed, even if we eliminate the gross scandals which are on record, it must be admitted that the personal character of almost all of the Popes of those days was very far removed indeed from the apostolic ideal.

What a contrast do they present with later times, when we have to deal with such men as Gregory VII, Urban II, and Alexander III!

With so extensive a papacy it was impossible to avoid difficulties in connection with the old temporal establishment. There were often quarrels with the emperors, in which the Romans displayed but little interest, although they suffered considerably from their effects. When once they were organized into a commune, their wishes had more than ever to be reckoned with. On the other hand, the pontifical curia was gradually becoming less Roman. German Popes were no longer appointed, but there were several of French, and even one of English nationality. It naturally followed that the members of the second and lower degrees of the clergy were drawn from various nationalities. This fresh set had but few ties with Rome. The cardinals had long since ceased to take any personal interest in their churches, and rarely came into contact with the native population. As time went on, the personnel of the Holy See became more and more distinct from that of the old Roman days. Many complications arose, but, notwithstanding these, the combined pressure of external influences, the emperors, the anti-popes, and especially the commune, finally succeeded in moving this venerable and weighty mass. By dint of constantly changing place it became accustomed to a wandering existence. Theoretically the center of Catholicism remained at Rome, the Lateran being the official residence of the Popes. But, as a matter of fact, those who wished to come into touch with the head of the Churches, had generally to go further afield to Anagni, Viterbo, Perugia, Cluny, Sens, or even to Avignon, not to mention the high roads of Italy and France, where the papal retinue often made a halt.

As regards the finances, it is not to be supposed that pilgrimages or the revenues, such as they were, of the duchy of Rome, could afford adequate means of subsistence. Like the papal staff, the funds, as well as warrants of security, were drawn from various sources. The travelling Pope might meet with adventures on the way, but he could always make sure, wherever he might go, in the whole of Latin Christendom, of finding places where he could remain in absolute safety. As long as he was in opposition to the emperor, the Normans of Italy were on his side, and more than one common Italian had the happiness of giving him shelter. In France, too, the kings, the monks, and the bishops always welcomed him with sympathy.

It is easy to understand that, under these circumstances, temporal politics should have been relegated to the background. Not that they were altogether forgotten, but they suffered from a certain neglect. It was not until the end of the fourteenth and beginning of the fifteenth centuries that they regained their former position of importance.

Enough has now been said to justify the break that I have introduced in this history. It now merely remains for me to sum up the main points of the pages dedicated to the earlier period.

The temporal power had its origin in the repugnance of the Romans to becoming Lombards, and in their inability to organize their autonomy unless the Pope was placed at its head. From the very outset the new state felt and displayed a twofold weakness, an external incapacity to cope with the Lombards and Greeks, and an internal lack of cohesion, due to the constant dissensions between the lay aristocracy and the clergy. A protector was necessary to defend the Roman state against outside attacks, as well as to help the Roman clergy in the struggle against their rivals at home. The external enemy speedily ceased to give cause of offence, and indeed, except perhaps for the Saracen inroads of the ninth century, the Romans had very little to complain of on this score after the year 774.

 But the internal situation became more and more strained, as is evidenced by the tragedies which followed the death of Pope Paul, and the riots in the times of Leo III and Pascal. But the crisis did not pass, and it became necessary to deal with it effectively. The sovereign protector intervened, and in 824 the new order of things became incorporated in the constitution of Lothaire. That this arrangement had been submitted to, rather than initiated by the clergy, is not to be gainsaid. On several occasions they sought exemption from it, but as long as the emperor’s authority had any weight, they were obliged to put up with it. Moreover, the clergy themselves, after some experience, ended by recognizing its inevitability.

The charter of 824 was concerned with the protectorate, and implied the presence of a resident, and the existence of a protector. At the close of the ninth century, however, these two essential elements were conspicuous by their absence, and the Roman clergy found themselves defenseless against the lay aristocracy. The nobles thereupon made themselves masters of the state, and for the space of a century and a half the House of Theophylact provided them with a succession of leaders, who undertook the direction of the political destinies of the pontifical estate. First of all they ruled alone, unimpeded by the Carolingian heirs, but after the time of the Ottos they were obliged, in some measure at least, to submit to the guardianship of the kings of Germany. In the main they managed to keep the upper hand, and if they had confined themselves to the retention of the political power, things would have turned out differently. But they took upon themselves the right of choosing the dignitary who was, at one and the same time, their theoretical sovereign and their bishop, and the Pope, therefore, was appointed by this incongruous company of feudal barons. After their first encroachments the conclave of 769 had excluded them from the electoral council, but they returned to it in 824 in company with the emperor, who was invested with the right of verifying and confirming the papal elections, a right which had been exercised by the Greek sovereigns since the time of Justinian.

This intervention of a higher power might have acted as a check on the unsuitable elections made by the nobility; certainly the Popes of the ninth century, who were elected under this regime, seem to have no blot upon their fair fame. The empire, however, underwent some eclipses; the princes of the House of Saxony either could not or would not intervene as often as was desirable. They apparently cared little for the holiness of the pontificate, so long as it remained in subjection to them, and it was for his intractability rather than for his unexampled licentiousness, that John XII was deposed. Otto immediately took upon himself the actual choice of the Pope not merely the confirmation of the choice of others. Afterwards the system became elaborated. The German emperor appointed his intimates, Gregory V and Sylvester II, and then some of his own bishops. In the hierarchy of the Church under German influence the Pope was promoted from the lower ecclesiastical ranks, rather than from the cardinalate.

But this state of affairs could not last indefinitely. On Gregory VII fell the onus of setting matters on a different basis, and great was the scandal and affront among those who had long been nourished on the traditional abuses. But Pope Gregory VII had confidence in the ark which he was steering through such devious ways a confidence which was not misplaced, for the bark of Peter responded willingly to the guidance of her captain.