By Carol Symes, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Even after its alignment with the Roman Empire, the governance of the Church had not been centered on the bishop of Rome, even though they often claimed to be the supreme authority by apostolic succession from Saint Peter. How did it then come to be that the Roman papacy emerged as a kind of monarchy, effectively unchecked by any council or local assembly?
Papacy’s Claim to Absolute Power
In practice, the enactment of canon law and other crucial deliberations occurred at ecumenical (‘universal’) councils, or at smaller, regional councils or synods. Bishops traditionally had an enormous amount of autonomy in their own dioceses.
In the 11th century, a series of reforming popes, mostly Benedictine and Cluniac monks, sought to purify the Church from worldly influences and exercise more and more centralized power over the lives of the laity. As such, they also sought to control the making and enforcement of Church doctrine. In addition to banning the marriage of priests, theoretically, this movement increasingly pushed women to the margins of the Church’s institutions and denied them the strong leadership roles that they had always played.
Not only was the papacy claiming absolute power within the Church, it was claiming that same power over all secular rulers, too. In 1075, Pope Gregory VII issued a set of edicts that claimed his sole authority over all clergy, even other bishops, as well as his power to depose kings and absolve men of their fealty to lords who had displeased him. He also declared that the pope alone, among all human beings, can be judged by no other earthly authority.
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Critics of the Papacy
While councils were still convened, and the College of Cardinals was formed to serve as the pope’s delegates and electors, these measures were not intended to act as checks on papal power; instead, it was quite the contrary. As a result, many clerical intellectuals, as well as lay leaders, became increasingly critical of the papacy and the entire Church hierarchy.
Marsilius of Padua, a scholar who had studied medicine at Padua and philosophy at Paris, was one such prominent critic. In 1324, he published a treatise in which he used scholastic methods to prove that the papacy’s claims to universal secular power had no basis either in reason or scripture.
Countering the verses which the papacy had long cherry-picked from the Gospels to prove Christ’s support for its supreme authority, Marsilius declared that: “…both Christ and the apostles wanted to be, and were, continuously subject in property and in person to the jurisdiction of secular rulers … Therefore, any priest or bishop who transgresses human law must be brought to justice and punished by the judge who has power over transgressors of human law in this world.”
Rift between the Papacy and Kingdoms
This tide of criticism coincided with the papacy’s 70-year ‘Babylonian captivity’ in France during the 14th century, and the internal schisms that, by the early 15th century, had resulted in the election of three rival popes.
In an attempt to heal these festering wounds and restore confidence in papal authority, the ecumenical Council of Konstanz was convened in that German city between 1414 and 1418. Although Jan Hus was summoned under a guarantee of safe conduct, he was instead put on trial and condemned for heresy, then sentenced to burn at the stake for his crimes. The writings of Wycliffe, long since dead, were also condemned, and his body burned in effigy.
These proceedings, rather than easing tensions, widened the rift between the papacy and the staunchly pious kingdoms of Bohemia and Poland-Lithuania, as well as England, forcing the papacy to make further concessions to these ‘national’ churches over the course of the next century.
The Council at Konstanz
Meanwhile, and more positively, there seemed to be a real possibility that the many conciliarists who gathered at Konstanz might carry the day; conciliarists were the clergy who advocated for the governance of the Church by a representative council, rather than by papal fiat. Most delegates to the assembly pressed for the deposition or resignation of the three rival popes, and many favored the establishment of such a permanent body to which the pope would be held accountable.
In 1415, a century before Martin Luther posted the 95 theses that would lead to a permanent schism of the Roman Church, the Council at Konstanz passed the decree Haec Synoda Sancta, which proclaimed “this holy synod” constituted “a general assembly” deriving its “power immediately from Christ; and everyone of whatever state or dignity, even papal, is bound to obey it in those matters which pertain to the faith”.
A second decree, Frequens, issued two years later, explained: “A good way to till the field of the Lord is to hold general councils frequently, because by them … heresies, errors, and schisms are rooted out, and abuses reformed. … But if general councils are not held, all these evils spread and flourish. We therefore decree by this perpetual edict that general councils shall be held every five years after the close of this council.”
Common Questions about Papal Power and Governance of the Church
In the 11th century, Benedictine and Cluniac monks sought to purify the Church from worldly influences and exercise more and more centralized power over the lives of the laity; thus, they tried to control the making and enforcement of Church doctrine. In addition to banning the marriage of priests, this movement increasingly pushed women to the margins of the Church’s institutions and denied them the strong leadership roles that they had always played.
Marsilius of Padua was a scholar who had studied medicine at Padua and philosophy at Paris. He was a prominent critic of the papacy and the entire Church hierarchy. In 1324, he published a treatise in which he used scholastic methods to prove that the papacy’s claims to universal secular power had no basis either in reason or scripture.
In an attempt to heal the festering wounds and restore confidence in papal authority, the Council of Konstanz was convened in the German city between 1414 and 1418.
