- Students will answer questions about the lay investiture controversy by reading primary sources.
- This station is worth 10 points.
- The directions for this station are on the website and your work may be submitted on paper, emailed, or shared through Google Drive.
REMEMBER THAT GOOGLE CHROME HAS A TEXT-TO-SPEECH FUNCTION AND YOU CAN LISTEN TO THIS AS YOU READ ALONG IF YOU'RE WEARING HEADPHONES.
LEARN THIS:
The Roman Catholic Church was a unifying force in the decentralized times of the Middle Ages. The Church was easily the strongest central authority in Europe at the time and influenced every kingdom or fiefdom. Priests were the main way that people interacted with the Church but above them were bishops who supervised the priests and managed relationships with feudal lords and kings. Above the bishops was the pope who resided in Rome and was the main administrator of the Church’s authority in Europe. Each of these members of the Church are also called clergy, which means a religious official.
Members of the clergy also became part of the system called feudalism. Many bishops, and even some priests, became vassals of feudal lords during this period. This meant land from the lord was exchanged for loyalty from the vassal. This caused many problems in Medieval Europe.
The first was that the clergy had a responsibility to support the people. But by just participating in the feudal and manorial system they were placing themselves about the peasants and serfs in the social structure. How can a member of the clergy reconcile serving the people with being the lord of their fief who collects taxes and expects a percentage of all goods or services produced from the land?
Another concern was with those priests or bishops who would ignore their spiritual duties or the rules of the Church. Corruption was not uncommon and many clergy who participated in the feudal and manorial system would start families or fight on the behalf of their lord when they called for protection. Both of these things broke the rules and indicated an abandonment of religious duty for the secular, or non-religious, life.
Finally, there was the question of what loyalty the clergy member owed their feudal lord. In a sense, any priest or bishop owed their loyalty to the pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Any landowner to which they were a vassal – be it a king, lord, or knight – was a secular authority who might put their own interest before that of the people.
Feeling bold about their ability to make clergy their vassals, some feudal lords began the practice of lay investiture. This was when secular authorities would appoint people of their choosing to Church offices such as bishop for the region. Lay refers to the feudal lord not being a part of the clergy and investiture refers to the act of investing someone, or giving them, the Church office. This was usually accompanied by a symbol or token representing their new position – and loyalty to the secular lord – such as a ring or staff.
Over time this lead to serious corruption. Some feudal lords simply accepted payment for such an important job, others chose people for personal reasons even if they had no qualifications for the position, and some appointed people they could control. As well, the problem was not only with secular authorities but sometimes with clergy who also sold positions in the Catholic Church.
This controversy reached its highest point when the pope banned lay investiture. The ruler of the Holy Roman Empire (located in the center of Europe and covering some territory in each major region of Europe) then declared the pope must step down and give up his position in the Church. The pope responded by excommunicating the Holy Roman Emperor, which meant he was banned from the Church and that any Catholic could not interact with him.
The emperor begged the pope for forgiveness and it was granted after the excommunicated emperor waited three days in the snow outside a castle at which the pope was staying. Later, their successors would work out an agreement over lay investiture called the Concordat of Worms. Worms is the German city where they met and a concordat is an agreement. This agreement was that feudal lords (specifically the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire) could invest bishops as secular leaders but not as religious ones.
DIRECTIONS:
Read the document with which Pope Gregory VII banned lay investiture below and answer the questions that follow using the information you discovered in the “Learn This” section.
“Investiture is, in many places, performed by secular persons; and this causes many disturbances in the church by which the Christian religion is trodden underfoot.
If anyone is made a bishop or given control of a Church building from the hand of any secular person, he shall by no means be considered as a member of the clergy. We also deny to him the favor of St. Peter and entry to the Church until, coming to his senses, he shall desert the Church office that he has taken by the crime of ambition as well as one of disobedience - which is the sign of a sinner. The same will be true of any and all other positions in the Catholic Church.
Likewise if any emperor, king, duke, lord or any one at all of the secular powers or persons tries to perform the investiture with bishops or with any other clergy, he shall be bound by the bonds of the same condemnation. And, moreover, unless he come to his senses and give to the Church her own rights, he shall feel in this present life, the divine displeasure with regard to his body as to his other belongings: in order that, at the coming of the Lord, his soul may be saved.”
1. What does the pope mean when saying that “the Christian religion is trodden underfoot” by
lay investiture in the first paragraph?
2. In the second paragraph of the document banning lay investiture, taking on what role in the feudal system
is described as a “crime of ambition as well as one of disobedience”? (Options: Feudal Lord, Knight,
Vassal, Peasant, or Serf)
3. Why would the third paragraph of the document banning lay investiture be an effective threat against
feudal lords who practiced lay investiture?
4. Which quote from the document do you think would be most persuasive for convincing a peasant or serf
to side with the Church rather than their feudal lord? Why?
5. Which system would this document most disrupt: feudalism or manorialism? Use evidence from
the document to support your claim.
6. To further fight corruption and separate themselves from secular rulers, the Roman Catholic Church
attempted several reforms. Evaluate the list below and explain why you think these would have been
effective steps to take or why they would not have been enough.
- Ended selection of the pope by secular leaders after creating College of Cardinals who appoint pope. A cardinal is more powerful bishop.
- Developed canon law which were the rules of the Church and specifically focused setting rules for the behavior of clergy.
- Promoted growth of monastic orders (clergy who separate themselves entirely from secular matters but still serve the people) and mendicant orders (clergy, often called friars, who traveled far and wide to spread and enforce Catholic teachings) to serve the people.
- Encouraged building of incredibly large churches in cities called cathedrals.