Who Appoints the Bishop?
The eleventh-century reform began over church wealth. Kings and lords routinely sold appointments to rich bishoprics.
Two practices drew intense criticism:
- Simony: the buying and selling of church office for money.
- Clerical marriage: passing church lands down to personal heirs.
Cluny, founded in 909, offered an early model. It answered directly to Rome, free from local lords.
At Rome, change came quickly. The decree of 1059 gave papal elections exclusively to cardinals. This took the choice away from the Roman nobility and the emperor. Later, Pope Gregory VII (1073–85) asserted supreme papal authority. His 1075 decrees claimed a pope could depose emperors.
The Investiture Contest followed. Henry IV and Gregory deposed each other. Henry stood as a barefoot penitent at Canossa in 1077. Gregory was forced to grant absolution, allowing Henry to regain political control.
The compromise came with the Concordat of Worms in 1122. A Bishop received spiritual symbols from the church and temporal lands from the king.
| Movement | From | The innovation |
|---|---|---|
| Cistercians | 1098 (Cîteaux) | Austerity, manual labour, remote sites |
| Franciscans | c. 1209 | Urban preaching and strict poverty |
| Dominicans | 1216 | Theological study and combating heresy |
| Universities | Paris, Bologna (c. 1100) | Self-governing scholar corporations |
The new friars lived in expanding towns rather than secluded monasteries.
The Fourth Lateran Council met in 1215. It required every Christian to confess sins annually, tightening pastoral supervision.
The crusades reflected this outward expansion. Urban II launched the First Crusade in 1095. Expeditions soon targeted Iberia, the Baltic, and southern France alongside the Levant.
Common pitfall: Viewing Canossa as an outright papal victory. Henry forced Gregory to absolve him, and secular rulers kept enormous influence over episcopal elections.