23. Chapter 21: The Church Declines in Power, 1294-1417

Chapter 21 The Church Declines in Power, 1294-1417

1. Papal Power Declines under Pope Boniface VIII

Generally speaking the popes from Innocent III to Boniface VIII, that is for a period of nearly one hundred years, throughout the thirteenth century, were successful in maintaining the temporal power of the Church. A rapid decline began with the rule of Boniface VIII.

Here we have an example of how the character and personality of a leader may influence the course of history. Boniface was a man of considerable learning and over­bearing arrogance. His installation as pope was attended with great pomp. As he mounted his horse a king held one of the stirrups, and a second king held the other stir­rup. This man was pope from 1294 to 1303.

Boniface soon got into trouble with Philip the Fair, king of France, about taxation of the clergy. King Philip imposed a heavy tax upon the clergy in France. The pope forbade the clergy to pay this tax. The king retaliated by forbidding the expor­tation from his kingdom of gold, silver, and precious stones. In that way the king cut off the revenue the pope had been receiving from France. The pope issued several bulls A bull is an official papal pronounce­ment or declaration. It is called a bull because to such a papal document there was always affixed a round leaden seal, called in Latin a bulla. Papal bulls are always written in Latin. These papal bulls are named after their opening words. In the bull Ausculta fili ("Kiss the Son," quoted from Psalms 2), addressed to King Philip, Pope Boniface declared: "The Vicar of Jesus Christ is placed above kings and kingdoms to uproot, destroy, ruin, scatter, build up, and plant. Therefore, my dear son, be not per­suaded by anyone that you have no superior on earth, and that you are not subject to the head of the eccle­siastical hierarchy. Whoever has that idea is mad." In the bull Unam sanctum (One holy) the pope said: "...the Church has two swords at its com­mand, the spiritual and the tem­poral ... Each of these is the power of the Church, but the former should be drawn by the Church and by the hand of the Pontiff (or pope); the latter by the hand of kings and soldiers, but on behalf of the Church, at the command and with the authorization of the Pontiff. One of these swords must be subordinate to the other, that is to say, the temporal power must be subordinate to the spiritual power. It belongs to the spiritual power to establish the temporal power and to judge it if it goes astray ... It is necessary for salva­tion for every human creature to submit to the Roman Pontiff." For Scriptural roof of his right to universal dominion the pope cited Jeremiah 1:10 : "Behold, I have set thee over nations and kingdoms."

Pope Boniface hurled the ban of excommunication at King Philip of France as Pope Gregory VII had hurled the ban at Emperor Henry IV. By that means Gregory had brought the emperor to terms: but the ban hurled by Boniface did not have the desired effect.

How should one account for it that the same means did not in both cases have the same effect? The times had changed. In the time of Gregory feudalism prevailed, and the nobles were strong. They often rebelled against their king. Henry’s excommunication fur­nished them with an excuse for withdrawing their obedience. In that way the emperor was ren­dered helpless. There was nothing for him to do but submit himself to the pope. In the time of Boni-face, as one of the many results of the Crusades (ch. 19, sec. 4; ch. 22, sec. 2), feudalism had fallen into decay, the nobles had lost much of their power, and a strong spirit of nationalism had sprung up in the hearts of the people of France. When Pope Boniface ex­communicated their king, they did not withdraw their allegiance and forsake him. They loyally clung to him and backed him up, so that King Philip the Fair of France was in a position to defy Boniface. That is why in the case of King Philip of France the pope’s ban fell flat. In any struggle between pope and king the effectiveness of the ban of excommunication depended upon the attitude of the people. If they supported the pope it was a weapon of well-nigh irresistible power. But if the people sided with their king that weapon lost all its power.

It was at Anagni in Italy that the emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1177 had humbled himself be­fore Pope Alexander III. It was in that same town of Anagni that Pope Boniface in 1303 was treated with great indignity by the soldiers of King Philip of France. The king sent two representatives with a band of soldiers to Anagni to ar­rest the pope. The populace of Anagni rose up in defense of the pope. The soldiers beat and buf­feted him, but they could not ar­rest him. He returned to Rome only to have new insults heaped upon him there. Boniface was an old man of eighty-seven. The com­plete defeat he had suffered at the hands of King Philip, and the physical maltreatment that had been inflicted upon him, were too much for him. A few days after his return to Rome, in the year 1303, he died of a broken heart.

2. The Fifth Turning Point in the History of the Church No pope had ever stated the papal claims to power in such ex­travagant form as the arrogant Boniface VIII had done in his various bulls. No pope ever suffered so complete and humiliating a de­feat. But it was not only his defeat. It also marked the beginning of the decline of the power of the Church. It ushered in a new era and marks the fifth turning point in the his­tory of the Church.

POPE BONIFACE AND THE SOLDIERS OF KING PHILIP AT ANAGNI
Schoenfeld Collection from Three Lions

Boniface had entirely failed to understand and estimate correctly the strength of the new spirit of nationalism. The States-General of France, composed of the three estates of the realm — the nobles, the clergy, and the commons, — de­clared that in civil matters the pope had no authority, and that the king had no superior but God.

3. The "Babylonian Captivity," 1309-1376 In 1309 the papal seat was re­moved from Rome to Avignon in Provence, immediately adjacent to France. Here the popes resided until 1376. This period of residence of the popes in Avignon is known as the "Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy." It is called a captivity because during this time the popes were completely under the domina­tion of the French kings. It is called the Babylonian captivity be­cause it lasted just about seventy years, as did the captivity of the Israelites in Babylon in Old Testa­ment times. During this period all the popes were Frenchmen.

King Philip the Fair of France had dealt the papacy a heavy blow. The Babylonian Captivity further undermined the prestige of the papacy. Because the popes in Avi­gnon had to dance to the tunes played by the French kings, the people in other countries lost re­spect for them. The condition of the papacy in this time resembled its condition in the tenth century, when the popes were under the domination of the Italian nobles (ch. 13, sec. 4). Besides, national­ism was rearing its head also in other countries.

Certain princes in Germany had the right to elect the king. They declared that the German emperor derived all his powers through them from God and not from the pope. The principle that the Ger­man emperors are independent of the papacy, as far as their election and exercise of their governmental powers is concerned, became a part of the German constitution. In England in 1366 during the reign of Edward III Parliament put an end to English vassalage to Rome. It repudiated the claims of the popes upon England as a fief to the Roman Church. The English refused to pay the tribute pledged by King John to Pope Innocent III (ch. 20, sec. 4).

Many of the popes of the Baby­lonian Captivity led wicked lives. While in Avignon they maintained a very luxurious court. This cost a great deal of money. To obtain the money the popes brazenly and in the most scandalous manner sold the office of bishop and in­dulgences, and in many other ways exacted a heavy toll from the mem­bers of the Church. This came to be felt as an unbearable burden in all the countries of western Eu­rope. Many people began to say that the pope was the antichrist. In all these ways the Babylonian Captivity caused the papacy to lose a great deal of prestige. But worse was still to come.

4. The Papacy Is Torn by the Great Schism, 1378-1417 The Italians were greatly dissatisfied with the residence of the popes in Avignon. They wanted Rome to become again the seat of the papacy. This resulted in an open rupture in 1378 between the Italian and the French party. Each party elected a pope. Now there were two popes: one in Rome and one in Avignon. This is known as the Great Schism, which lasted from 1378 to 1417. The popes denounced, excom­municated, and anathematized (pronounced curses upon) each other. To all true and sincere Christians it was a sad spectacle. The reverence in which the papacy had been generally held received a rude shock, from which it never fully recovered. In 1409 a council was held in Pisa to heal the Schism. The Council deposed both popes, and elected Alexander V as the new pope. Neither of the deposed popes would give up his office. Now there were three popes.

Under these confusing circum­stances none of the three was fully recognized as pope. At last in 1417 the Council of Constance elected an Italian cardinal pope as Martin V. The other three popes, weary of the troublesome state of affairs, gave Martin their support. And so the Church in western Europe once more had one head, and the Great Schism was healed. But the wounds which the papacy and the Church had suffered in conse­quence of the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism continued to throb for a long time.