The Papacy in the Dark Ages

The History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell

Chapter VII The Papacy in the Dark Ages

What the popes from 600 to 1000 did are vital to understanding the relation of Church and State during the Medieval period.

The western part of the church deferred to the Pope. The patriarchs in the east however were not willing to put up with papal authority. The emperor would sometimes favor the pope when he got into a tight spot with the patriarch, but the patriarchs generally acquiesced to the authority of the emperor.

 The Pope's ties to Byzantine Emperors was severed when Pope Stephen III, in 754, made a deal with Pepin to replace the Merovingian king in France. Pepin got control of the French crown and the Pope got political power over much of what used to be Byzantine Italy.

The Papal break with the Byzantine Emperor allowed for the west and the east Church to develop completely differently. In the West the Pope became the ultimate authority, even higher than secular kings. In the East, the Emperor remained the ultimate seat of power.

The basis of secular power the Medieval Popes built on was a forgery called the "Donation of Constantine". It stated that when Constantine built New Rome, power over old Rome and Italy was transferred to the Pope.

The defeat of the Lombards was slow and took the emergence of Charlemagne to complete. In AD 800 on Christmas day, Charlemagne was crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

The relationship between pope and holy roman emperor was a rocky one that couldn't be avoided because the two were mutually dependent. The popes needed the military muscle of the would be emperor and the would be emperor required the pope to crown him. This made for an uneasy relationship.

"Charlemagne was a vigorous barbarian, politically in alliance with the Church, but not unduly
burdened with personal piety. He could not read or write, but he inaugurated a literary
renaissance. He was dissolute in his life, and unduly fond of his daughters, but he did all in his
power to promote holy living among his subjects." (Russell, 393).

Only the theories inaugurated during the reign of Charlemagne survived him. His line turned out to be a bit of a paper tiger.

Germany was converted mainly under St. Boniface (680 - 754). It is owing to his missionary work in Germany that the converts were papal supporters. Had they been more aligned to the Irish it would have been very different as the Irish had some autonomy from Rome.

The collapse of the Carolingian power after Charlemagne was seen as an opportunity for the papacy and the popes took more power. Pope Nicholas I (858 - 867) took the power of the pope to new heights as he battled with virtually everyone and was victorious.

The church had power over the kings because they controlled who could get married and how a marriage could be dissolved. Without the church's backing succession crisis and dynastic struggles were sure to follow.

Nicholas I even did battle with the Emperor Michael III over the deposing of Ignatius, patriarch of Constantinople. Nicholas was victorious as Ignatius was restored after the emperor was murdered. But, in the long run when Ignatius passed away the schism between East and West grew broader.

The papacy was dominated by the Roman aristocracy in the 10th century leading to bad and morally corrupt popes. Their corruption saw them lose all power in the east and they struggled to maintain control over the bishops north of the Alps.

As 1000 dawned the lowest point of European Christendom seems to have passed. The Church would continue to struggle with rulers and priests who were worldly, but reform movements, often beginning in monastic circles would occasionally correct the Church's direction.

After 1000 the migrations of barbarians also seemed to stop for a bit in the west. Especially important was the Norman conquest of Sicily away from the Saracens and the Norman conquest of England away from the Danes.