Guide to Week VI

Medieval Church and State

We thus have to recognize [in the king] a twin person, one descending from nature, the other from grace...One through which, by the condition of nature, he conformed with other men: another through which, by the eminence of [his] deification and by the power of the sacrament [of consecration], he excelled all others. Concerning one personality, he was, by nature, an individual man: concerning his other personality, he was, by grace, a Christus, that is, a God-man...The power of the king is the power of God. This power, namely, is God's by nature, and the king's by grace. Hence, the king, too, is God and Christ, but by grace; and whatsoever he does, he does not simply as a man, but as one who has become God and Christ by grace.
Anonymous of York (c. 1100), translation by Ernst Kantorowicz in The King's Two Bodies, 46, 48.

  Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
The Gospel According to Matthew 16:20

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Christ Enthroned, late 10th c. Reichenau	The Emperor Otto in Majesty, Aachen Gospels c. 975

Simony: 1. The act or practice of buying or selling ecclesiastical preferments, benefices, or emoluments; traffic in sacred things.
Oxford English Dictionary

Now there was a certain man named Simon who before had been a magician in that city, seducing the people of Samaria, giving out that he was some great one: To whom they all gave ear, from the least to the greatest, saying: This man is the power of God, which is called great. And they were attentive to him, because, for a long time, he had bewitched them with his magical practices. But when they had believed Philip preaching of the kingdom of God, in the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Then Simon himself believed also and, being baptized, he adhered to Philip. And being astonished, wondered to see the signs and exceeding great miracles which were done. Now, when the apostles, who were in Jerusalem, had heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John. Who, when they were come, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost. For he was not as yet come upon any of them: but they were only baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands upon them: and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that, by the imposition of the hands of the apostles, the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, Saying: Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I shall lay my hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said to him: Keep thy money to thyself, to perish with thee: because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast no part nor lot in this matter. For thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Do penance therefore for this thy wickedness: and pray to God, that perhaps this thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee. For I see thou art in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity.
Bible, Acts of the Apostles, 8 :9-23

Reading: Lynch, 59-72; 119-129; 136-145; Pope Leo the Great: On the Petrine Doctrine; Einhard, The Life of Charlemagne; B. Tierney, The Crisis of Church and State, excerpts

H. Myers (Early Medieval Kingship) stresses the distinction between monarchy (political power in the hands of a king or single executive) and kingship (art of ruling well, wrapped in mystery/ charisma). He suggests that the early medieval notion of kingship emerged out of the encounter between Germanic and Roman cultures through the barbarian"invasions" or incursions into Roman space. In Germanic tribes, the king was seen as a leader of a kinship group whose actual power was limited but whose charisma and quasi-divine status kept the fabric of society whole. The ancient Roman aversion to "tyrants" made the notion of kingship (especially hereditary) problematic, and so an element of popular "election" was added to the transfer of imperial authority.

In considering the relationship between Church and State in the Middle Ages, we have to think in terms of hierarchies, and particularly in terms of kingship and papal authority. Real power was not always in the hands of these figures, but the power they did exercise enjoyed a theoretical support and therefore an aura of legitimacy that other power brokers (dukes, princes, feudal lords) did not enjoy. Remember that the power of kings was not understood in secular terms as we understand it today, but also had religious connotations.

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The readings in Lynch contain the information you will need to make sense of the primary sources and also help communicate change over time. The relationship between Church and State when Pope Leo met with Charlemagne to crown him emperor was quite different than it was when Pope Gregory VII excommunicated Emperor Henry IV and tried to depose him.

The reading "On the Petrine Doctrine" provides the key arguments for papal power. These arguments would become very important during the eleventh-century Gregorian reform as churchmen debated the appropriate relationship between church authority and state authority. Though popes held little practical power for most of the early medieval period, the doctrine articulated here made it possible for the papacy to assert power at a later time.

The readings on Charlemagne provide a window into what it meant to be a "Christian King." Look for the way Einhard highlights various aspects of Charlemagne's persona (remembering that, like all hagiographers, Einhard is presenting specific information for a specific rhetorical purpose).

The selections from Tierney, The Crisis of Church and State center around the problem of Church Reform in the eleventh century and contain theoretical arguments for papal power, for royal power and for the proper relationship between them.

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