Part 15
13. That he has the right to transfer bishops from one see to another when it becomes necessary.
14. That he has the right to ordain as a cleric anyone from any part of the church whatsoever.
15. That anyone ordained by him may rule [as bishop] over another church, but cannot serve [as priest] in it, and that such a cleric may not receive a higher rank from any other bishop.
16. That no general synod may be called without his order.
17. That no action of a synod and no book shall be regarded as canonical without his authority.
18. That his decree can be annulled by no one, and that he can annul the decrees of anyone.
19. That he can be judged by no one.
20. That no one shall dare to condemn a person who has appealed to the apostolic seat.
21. That the important cases of any church whatsoever shall be referred to the Roman church [that is, to the pope].
22. That the Roman church has never erred and will never err to all eternity, according to the testimony of the holy scriptures.
23. That the Roman pontiff who has been canonically ordained is made holy by the merits of St. Peter, according to the testimony of St. Ennodius, bishop of Pavia, which is confirmed by many of the holy fathers, as is shown by the decrees of the blessed pope Symmachus.
24. That by his command or permission subjects may accuse their rulers.
25. That he can depose and reinstate bishops without the calling of a synod.
26. That no one can be regarded as catholic who does not agree with the Roman church.
27. That he has the power to absolve subjects from their oath of fidelity to wicked rulers.
Section 1 means that the Roman church received the primacy over the whole church directly from Christ. Section 8 is based on the forged Donation of Constantine, according to which the emperor gave the pope the right to use the imperial insignia. In section 11 it is not clear what name is meant. It may be "universal" as in section 2. The bishop of Rome claimed the exclusive right to call himself pope, apostolic, and universal. Papa or pope was at first the common title of all priests, and is still so in the Greek church. But in the course of time it was limited in the west to the bishop of Rome. "Apostolic" was at first applied to all bishops, but eventually the bishop of Rome claimed the exclusive right to it and forbade all other bishops to use it. Since the bishop of Rome was the head of the whole church he was the only one who could call himself "universal." The right of ordaining, section 14, that is, of raising to the clerical rank, belonged to each bishop, but he could exercise it only in his own diocese. But the bishop of Rome had the whole world for his diocese, and hence he could ordain any one, no matter to what bishopric he belonged. In explanation of section 23 the following passage from pope Symmachus (498-514) is offered (Hinschius, "Decretales," p. 666). "We do not judge that St. Peter received from the Lord with the prerogative of his chair [that is, with his primacy] the right to sin. But he passed on to his successors the perennial dower of his merits with his heritage of innocence. Who can doubt that he who is exalted to the height of apostolic dignity is holy?"
66. Letter of Gregory VII to all the Faithful, Commending his Legates, 1074.
Migne, 148, col. 392.
It had not been uncommon for the popes to send their legates on missions to various parts of the world, but Gregory VII made a far more frequent use of them than any of his predecessors. He practically ruled the church through them and demanded that they be received and obeyed by all. This letter shows his general attitude on the matter, the authority he gave them, and the reception which he expected them to have.
Gregory, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to all the faithful subjects of St. Peter, to whom these presents come, greeting and apostolic benediction.
You see that wickedness is increasing and that the wiles of the devil are prevailing in the earth, that Christian charity has grown cold and religious zeal has almost disappeared within the church. But since we cannot be everywhere present in person to attend to all these matters, we have sent to you two beloved sons of the holy Roman church, Geizo, abbot of St. Boniface, and Maurus, abbot of St. Sabba, who shall represent us to you and have authority to do in our name whatever may be to the advantage of the church. Remember therefore that saying of the gospel: "He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me" [Luke 10:16]. As you care for the friendship and for the favor of St. Peter, whose messengers they are, receive them with the proper reverence and kindness, and obey them in all matters which may arise as part of their mission or through the exigencies of the situation among you. If it becomes necessary or expedient for the legates to separate and go to different regions, each one of them shall be received and obeyed as our representative.
67. Oath of the Patriarch of Aquileia to Gregory VII, 1079 A.D.
Mansi, XX, p 525.
Gregory VII required an oath of fidelity from all bishops. By comparing the oath of Boniface to Gregory II (no. 40) and the oath of Richard of Capua (no. 68) with this oath of the patriarch of Aquileia, interesting light will be thrown on the theory and practice of Gregory VII.
From now henceforth I will be faithful to St. Peter and to pope Gregory [VII] and to his successors who shall be elected by the better cardinals. Neither in counsel nor in deed will I do anything to cause them to lose their life, or limb, or the papacy, or that they be taken prisoner through any treacherous trick. To whatsoever synod they, either in person or by messenger or by letter, may call me, I will come and I will obey them according to the law; or if I shall not be able to come, I will send my representative. I will aid and defend them in holding and defending the papacy and the regalia of St. Peter, saving the duties of my position. If they, either in person or by messenger or by letter, shall intrust me with a secret, I will not knowingly reveal it to anyone to their harm. I will treat with honor a papal legate, whether coming [from Rome] or going [back to Rome], and I will give him my aid whenever he needs it. I will not wittingly associate with any whom the pope has excommunicated. Whenever I shall have been called on I will aid the Roman church with my military forces. All these duties I will perform unless I shall have been excused from them.
68-73. Gregory VII Exercises Secular Authority.
68. The Oath of Fidelity which Richard, Prince of Capua, Swore to Gregory VII, 1073.
Migne, 148, col. 304.
Gregory VII, in accordance with his political pretensions, endeavored to compel all rulers of the Christian world to acknowledge his supremacy over them. He made the broadest claims to the proprietorship of all kingdoms, duchies, counties, etc., and tried to compel all rulers of every rank to take an oath of vassalage to him and to receive their lands from him as fiefs. Nos. 68-73 illustrate this feature of his policy.
I, Richard, by the grace of God and St. Peter prince of Capua, from this time forth will be faithful to the holy Roman church, to the apostolic see, and to you, pope Gregory. I will have no share in any plan or any deed to injure you in life or limb or to make you captive. Any plan which you may confide to me, wishing it to be kept secret, I will never divulge consciously to your injury. I will faithfully aid you and the holy Roman church to keep, acquire, and defend the regalia and the possessions of St. Peter against all men and I will assist you to hold the papacy and the lands of St. Peter in peace and honor. I will never attempt to attack, seize, or devastate any lands without the express permission of you or your successors, except such lands as you or your successors may have given to me. I promise to pay to the Roman church the legal tribute from the lands of St. Peter, which I hold or shall hold. I will surrender to your authority all the churches which are in my lands, with all their goods, and I will defend them in their fidelity to the holy Roman church. I will swear fidelity to king Henry whenever I shall be commanded to do so by you or your successors, always saving my fidelity to the holy Roman church. If you or any of your successors shall die before I do, I will support the better part of the cardinals and the clergy and the people of Rome in the election and establishment of a new pope to the honor of St. Peter. I will keep all the above promises to you and to the holy Roman church in good faith, and I will keep my oath of fidelity to your successors who shall be ordained popes, if they are willing to confirm the investiture which you have conferred upon me.
69. Letter of Gregory VII to the Princes Wishing to Reconquer Spain, 1073.
Migne, 148, cols. 289 f.
See introductory note to no. 68.
Gregory, pope elect, to all the princes desiring to go into Spain, perpetual greeting in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We suppose you know that the kingdom of Spain belonged of old to St. Peter, and that this right has never been lost, although the land has long been occupied by pagans. Therefore the ownership of this land inheres in the apostolic see alone, for whatever has come into the possession of the churches by the will of God, while it may be alienated from their use, may not by any lapse of time be separated from their ownership except by lawful grant. Count Evolus of Roceio, whose fame you must know, wishes to attack that land and rescue it from the heathen. Therefore we have granted him the possession of such territory as he may win from the pagans by his own efforts or with the aid of allies, on conditions agreed upon by us as the representative of St. Peter. You who join him in this undertaking should do so to the honor of St. Peter, that St. Peter may protect you from danger and reward your fidelity to him. But if any of you plan to attack that land independently with your own forces, you should do so in a spirit of devotion and with righteous motives. Beware lest after you have conquered the land you wrong St. Peter in the same way as the infidels do who now hold it. Unless you are prepared to recognize the rights of St. Peter by making an equitable agreement with us, we will forbid you by our apostolic authority to go thither, that your holy and universal mother, the church, may not suffer from her sons the same injuries which she now suffers from her enemies, to the loss not only of her property, but also of the devotion of her children. To this end we have sent to Spain our beloved son, Hugo, cardinal priest of the holy Roman church, and he will inform you more fully of our terms and conditions.
70. Letter of Gregory VII to Wratislav, Duke of Bohemia, 1073.
Migne, 148, cols. 299 f.
See introductory note to no. 68.
Gregory, etc., to Wratislav, etc. We give thanks to omnipotent God that you have been led by your devotion and reverence for the apostles Peter and Paul, princes of the apostles, to receive our legates with kindness and treat them with the graciousness which is becoming to your majesty. Receive the assurance of our good-will in return for this evidence of your fidelity. It has not been usual for papal legates to visit your land; this, however, is partly the fault of your forefathers, as well as of our predecessors, for the dukes of Bohemia should have requested the pope to send them legates. But some of your subjects have regarded our sending of legates as an innovation, and have treated them with contempt, forgetting the word of God: "He that receiveth you receiveth me" [Matt. 10:40]; "and he that despiseth you despiseth me" [Luke 10:16]. So in failing to show due reverence to our legates, they have not so much despised them, as they have despised the word of truth....
71. Letter of Gregory VII to Sancho, King of Aragon, 1074.
Migne, 148 col. 339.
See introductory note to no. 68.
Gregory, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to Sancho, king of Aragon, greeting and apostolic benediction.
We received your gracious letter with great joy, because of the evidence which it contained of your fidelity to the princes of the apostles, Peter and Paul, and to the holy Roman church. But indeed even if we had not received your letter we should have been well aware of your fidelity through the report of our legates. By enforcing the observances of the Roman form of service in the churches of your kingdom you have shown that you are a true son of the Roman church and that you bear the same friendship to us that former kings of Spain have borne to the Roman pope. Be firm and constant in the faith and complete the good work which you have begun; then the blessed St. Peter, whom our Lord Jesus Christ has made ruler over the kingdoms of this world, will bring to pass the desires of your heart and will make you victorious over your enemies, because of the trust which you have placed in him....
72. Letter of Gregory VII to Solomon, King of Hungary, 1074.
Migne, 148, col. 373.
See introductory note to no. 68.
Gregory, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to Solomon, king of Hungary, greeting and apostolic benediction.
Your letter was late in reaching us because of the delay of the messenger, but when it did come we were displeased with it because its terms were offensive to St. Peter. For the kingdom of Hungary, as you can learn from your own princes, belongs of right to the holy Roman church, having been offered and surrendered to St. Peter with all its rights and powers by the former king Stephen. And when the emperor Henry [II] of blessed memory, attacked the kingdom in the defense of the honor of St. Peter and captured the king, he forwarded to the grave of St. Peter the lance and crown, the insignia of kingship. But we hear that you have accepted the kingdom as a fief from the king of the Germans, thereby infringing the rights and the honor of St. Peter and acting in a manner incompatible with the virtue and character of a king. If you wish to have the favor of St. Peter and our good will, you must correct your faults; you know yourself that you cannot hope for justice, that, indeed, you cannot reign any length of time, unless you admit that you hold the sceptre of your kingdom from the pope and not from the king. As far as God shall give us strength, we will never through fear or affection or any personal consideration consent to the diminishing of the honor of him whom we serve. But if you are willing to mend your ways and act as a king should, you may easily win the love of your mother, the holy Roman church, and our friendship in Christ.
73. Letter of Gregory VII to Demetrius, King of the Russians, 1075.
Migne, 148, col. 425.
See introductory note to no. 68.
Gregory, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to Demetrius, king of the Russians, and to his wife, the queen, greeting and apostolic benediction.
Your son has visited us at Rome, and has asked that we invest him with the kingdom of the Russians in the name of St. Peter. He has given sufficient evidence of his fidelity to St. Peter, and has assured us that he is acting with your consent in making the petition. We have felt justified in granting his petition because of your consent and of the devotion which he has evidenced; therefore we have conferred upon him in the name of St. Peter the government of your kingdom. We pray that St. Peter may protect you and your kingdom and all your possessions by his intercession with God, that he may cause you to hold your kingdom in peace, glory, and honor, all your days, and that at the end of this life he may obtain for you an eternal glory with the King of Heaven. We shall always be ready to grant your request whenever you call upon us in any righteous cause. In regard to this matter of the investiture and other affairs not mentioned in this letter, we have sent you these legates, one of whom is a well-known and faithful friend of yours. Treat them kindly out of reverence for St. Peter, whose legates they are; listen to them and believe without hesitation whatever they may say on our behalf. Do not allow them to be hindered in the discharge of any of the duties with which we have intrusted them, but give them your faithful assistance. May omnipotent God illumine your soul and lead you through this temporal life to his eternal glory.
74-81. Conflict between Henry IV and Gregory VII.
74. Letter of Gregory VII to Henry IV, December, 1075.
Jaffé, II, pp. 218 ff; Doeberl, III, no. 7.
Gregory VII met with vigorous opposition from the German clergy as well as from the king when he attempted to enforce his laws against simony and the marriage of the clergy. In a synod at Rome, 1075, Feb. 24-28, Gregory excommunicated five of Henry's intimate advisers for the sin of simony. Henry refused to recognize the validity of this excommunication, and, regardless of papal protests, persisted in his policy of disposing of bishoprics (Milan, Fermo, Spoleto, for example) as he chose. Gregory determined to proceed to extreme measures. He sent messengers to Henry, bearing this letter (no. 74) in which he defended his decrees against simony and the marriage of the clergy, and announced his determination to hold fast to them and to compel the whole world to accept them. He also intrusted an oral message to the bearers of the letter to the effect that if Henry did not mend his evil life, and drive his excommunicated counsellors from his court, Gregory would not only excommunicate him but also depose him.
Henry's answer to this message and letter was given at a national synod at Worms, Jan. 24, 1076. This synod deposed Gregory and informed him of their action by two letters, one by Henry (no. 75), and the other by the German bishops (no. 76). Gregory replied by excommunicating and deposing the king (no. 77).
Gregory, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to Henry, the king, greeting and apostolic benediction--that is, if he shall prove obedient to the apostolic see as a Christian king should.
We have sent you our apostolic benediction with some hesitation, knowing that we must render account to God, the severe judge, for all our acts as pope. Now it is reported that you have knowingly associated with men who have been excommunicated by the pope and the synod. If this is true, you know that you cannot receive the blessing either of God or of the pope until you have driven them from you and have compelled them to do penance, and have yourself sought absolution and forgiveness for your transgressions with due penance and reparation. Therefore, if you realize your guilt in this matter, we counsel you to confess straightway to some pious bishop, who shall absolve you with our permission, enjoining upon you suitable penance for this fault, and who shall faithfully report to us by letter, with your permission, the character of the penance prescribed.
We wonder, moreover, that you should continue to assure us by letter and messengers of your devotion and humility; that you should call yourself our son and the son of the holy mother church, obedient in the faith, sincere in love, diligent in devotion, and that you should commend yourself to us with all zeal of love and reverence--whereas in fact you are constantly disobeying the canonical and apostolic decrees in important matters of the faith. For, to say nothing of the rest, in the case of Milan, concerning which you gave us your promise through your mother and through our fellow-bishops whom we sent to you, the event has shown how far you intended to carry out your promise [that is, not at all] and with what purpose you made it. And now, to inflict wound upon wound, contrary to the apostolic decrees you have bestowed the churches of Fermo and Spoleto--if indeed a church can be bestowed by a layman--upon certain persons quite unknown to us; for it is not lawful to ordain men before they have been known and proved.
Since you confess yourself a son of the church, you should treat with more honor the head of the church, that is, St. Peter, the prince of the apostles. If you are one of the sheep of the Lord, you have been intrusted to him by divine authority, for Christ said to him: "Peter, feed my sheep" [John 21:16]; and again: "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" [Matt. 16:19]. And since we, although an unworthy sinner, exercise his authority by divine will, the words which you address to us are in reality addressed directly to him. And although we only read or hear the words, he sees the heart from which the words proceed. Therefore your highness should be very careful that no insincerity be found in your words and messages to us; and that you show due reverence, not to us indeed, but to omnipotent God, in those things which especially make for the advance of the Christian faith and the well-being of the church. For our Lord said to the apostles and to their successors: "He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me" [Luke 10:16]. For no one will disregard our admonitions if he believes that the decrees of the pope have the same authority as the words of the apostle himself. For if our Lord commanded the apostles out of reverence for the seat of Moses to observe the sayings of the scribes and Pharisees who occupied that seat, then surely the faithful ought to receive with all reverence the apostolic and evangelical doctrine through those who are chosen to the ministry of preaching.