The Rise of the Papacy
The Roman Empire fell and through all the ruin the Church seems to have stood above all, and the power of Christianity seemed to be a force to reckon with. The fall of Rome seemed to have made quite an impression and was quite profound. The spell of the ages was broken and the glory of the city of Rome departed. The fall of Rome marked an epoch in the history of the West. The city of Caesar was no longer Rome, but known as the City of the Pope, and thus became the seat of authority. The Church of Rome would rest upon the Chief Apostle, which was Peter.
The Bishop of Rome was soon regarded as a chief judge of sort of the Supreme Court, in authority of matters such as faith and discipline. Innocent 1 claimed a right to be regarded as the Chief Bishop of the Church, but did not claim to be the successor of Peter, which he never received, but he did become Pope. He claimed to lay his commands on a Provincial Council, and to make it a mouthpiece of his own will.
The word pope was already in general use and was used as a respectful term of address. Siricius was the first Roman Bishop which he adopted formally as his title. He also implied that the usages of Rome should be considered important for all other Churches. Siricius was also the one that adopted the celibacy law that rendered the clergy a class apart, and also severed them from all ties except for the Church.
Augustine shaped the religious thought in the West, his conceptions on Christianity rested upon a narrow and strict ecclesiastical foundation, and that the saving grace of Christ might reach beyond the Catholic Church. The writings of Augustine reveal the trend of contemporary Western thought, strongly in the direction of Popedom.
How and why the papacy in Rome became the center of Power?
Some claim that the power was based on Biblical passages, but some or probably most was just based on political and cultural realities of that time. Being a Bishop of an important city gave increased stature, and since Rome was a very important city in the Western world, it would give the Bishop automatic prestige in the western Mediterranean. Also there was no rivals in those cities, however there were rivals in the east, there were; Alexandria, Constantinople, Jerusalem and Antioch. According to history, the Bishop of Constantinople never did bow the knee to Roman claims.
There are many passages in the Bible where Jesus taught very specific instructions to Peter. Roman Catholic teaching places Peter as the very first Bishop of Rome. Also Roman tradition has Peter pass on his authority to his would be successor, and the medieval popes claimed that they were in direct line of the inheritance of Christ Jesus. “Jesus gave a kind of guarantee given to Peter, and hence to all the popes, in Luke 22:32. Christ says to Peter: "I have prayed for thee that thy faith may not fail." (1) Another frequently quoted verse was in John 21: 15-17, where Jesus gave Peter command, feed my sheep three times.
The popes were the keepers/caretakers of the church, as they clearly saw it. If the traditional of apostolic succession (power and authority directly from the apostles) were to be taken seriously, then the popes could claim a lot of power over the Church. The primary reason, theologically was for the primacy of Rome is the city's association with Peter.
Tradition was, that Peter visited Rome during his life and, more importantly, he was martyred there (his remains are believed to be beneath St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City). There were political reasons for the increase in the pope's authority, first, Rome was the historical capital of the empire and it was a very important city politically, so it would have been natural that the bishop of that city would become very important.
When Constantine moved the capital of the empire to Constantinople, the pope was the most powerful figure that remained in Rome. Also influential were the invasions of the barbarians in fifth century. Leo 1, was regarded by many as the first pope, he was very instrumental in persuading Attila the Hun not to attack Rome in 452. The city fell to the Vandals in 455, but Leo was able to convince their leader to not burn the city. These accomplishments added to the respect of the bishop of Rome.
When Rome fell to the barbarians around 455 AD, the church became the defender of order, and justice. The Roman bishop was involved in regaining the unity and stability that had been broken by the invasions In the East, on the other hand, the empire survived for another 1000 years, and the bishops there did not have the same chance for political importance as their Roman counterpart.
A final factor that cannot be overlooked is the rise of the papacy and the personalities who held the office of bishop of Rome. These men - some of which were worldly, some were very devout – and regarded themselves as holding a special place in Christendom and did not hesitate to claim this dominion.
What factors contributed to its dominance of Western Europe until the Reformation?
Christianity was divided in two parts, the Greek Church and the Latin Church the Greek Church was surrounded by conquering Muslims. Beyond Islam was the far Orient, which hardly any information was possessed by the Europeans. The split between the Greek and Latin Churches had taken place in the tenth century, and the Greek Church was subject to the State, so thus had little contact with the Western Life. The doctrinal and ritualistic difference had separated it from the Latin Church entirely, as well as did the political scene and racial scene.
At the head of the Latin Church was the Pope, and he claimed both spiritual and temporal authority, a claim which was at its fullest expression with Innocent I. No Roman Emperor ever had such power as the Pope. This Church was very organized and very rich along with great power, it also had many functions. The Latin Church gradually had built up a comprehensive fundamental dogma, and was a well-organized system of belief. The Church was the interpreter of the word to man-king, and no one else was allowed to read the word of God.
The Roman Empire extended from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean and also from France to Hungary. The Empire remained separate principalities and secular; many of them in patches were separate from each other. Even under the best popes that lived in Rome, the Papal State had never been governed. First, the church’s unsolicited popularity could be attributed to its relationship to the early apostles.
The papal office was understood to be the direct descendant of the apostle Peter whom Christ appointed to the head of the church. Pope Damasus used the Matt 16:18-19 as a foundation for this doctrine. The Roman Catholic Church was regarded as the first in the empire to be established by the Apostles.
What were the positive and negative ramifications of this reality?
During the centuries of the barbarians’ government was influenced by the Church and Christian conversions. The Church continued to guide them both to guarantee that the conversion had taken hold, and to ensure that the faith would transform their government and life. To put it simply, Western Europe owes its survival to the Roman Catholic Church.
The second consequence of the rise of papacy was the Monastic Ideal and the impact it had. The monastery lifestyle became very popular before the 6th century, even royalty retired to the monastery. Western civilization owes its existence also to the monks. They were the substance of education. None of the literature would have survived had the monks not tirelessly copied all the literature that survived up until that time.
Monks were responsible for the growth and development of the arts such as Agriculture, and breeding cattle, they even drained the swamps. Monks loved hard labor, they thought that the more unpleasant the task the more Christ-like they were and also became.
Theater, art and literature would have been none if it had not been for the Church’s impact on these. During the Middle Ages there was a decline in all the arts, and if it was not for the Church holding services called hours (dramatized versions of the Bible stories) there would not have been theater, and other arts.
A negative impact would have been the crusades, but they also had some positive impacts, and yet they were very deadly. The holy wars would strength the Church and make it very wealthy; they brought back spices, perfumes, silk, jewelry and more during these wars.
Bibliographies
1. The Rise of the Papacy/A.D. 385-461/by William Ernest Beet, M.A. b. 1869.
2. http://www.the-orb.net/textbooks/westciv/papacy.html/ Copyright 1999, Ellis L. Knox This file may be copied on the condition that the entire contents, including the header and this copyright notice, remain intact. The contents of ORB are copyright 1995-1999 Laura V. Blanchard and Carolyn Schriber except as otherwise indicated herein.
3. http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/history/papacy.htm/History and the development of the Papacy
4. Hulme, Edward Maslin/Professor of History Stanford University/The Renaissance the Protestant Revolution and the Catholic Reformation in Continental Europe/1871 Revised Edition
5. Jennifer Streit, Positive Effects of the Church in the Middle Ages/
[1] The ORB: Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies/Foundations of Papal Authority
[2] History and Development of the Papacy
[3] The renaissance, the Protestant revolution and Hulme, Edward Maslin, 1871[3]
The Roman Empire fell and through all the ruin the Church seems to have stood above all, and the power of Christianity seemed to be a force to reckon with. The fall of Rome seemed to have made quite an impression and was quite profound. The spell of the ages was broken and the glory of the city of Rome departed. The fall of Rome marked an epoch in the history of the West. The city of Caesar was no longer Rome, but known as the City of the Pope, and thus became the seat of authority. The Church of Rome would rest upon the Chief Apostle, which was Peter.
The Bishop of Rome was soon regarded as a chief judge of sort of the Supreme Court, in authority of matters such as faith and discipline. Innocent 1 claimed a right to be regarded as the Chief Bishop of the Church, but did not claim to be the successor of Peter, which he never received, but he did become Pope. He claimed to lay his commands on a Provincial Council, and to make it a mouthpiece of his own will.
The word pope was already in general use and was used as a respectful term of address. Siricius was the first Roman Bishop which he adopted formally as his title. He also implied that the usages of Rome should be considered important for all other Churches. Siricius was also the one that adopted the celibacy law that rendered the clergy a class apart, and also severed them from all ties except for the Church.
Augustine shaped the religious thought in the West, his conceptions on Christianity rested upon a narrow and strict ecclesiastical foundation, and that the saving grace of Christ might reach beyond the Catholic Church. The writings of Augustine reveal the trend of contemporary Western thought, strongly in the direction of Popedom.
How and why the papacy in Rome became the center of Power?
Some claim that the power was based on Biblical passages, but some or probably most was just based on political and cultural realities of that time. Being a Bishop of an important city gave increased stature, and since Rome was a very important city in the Western world, it would give the Bishop automatic prestige in the western Mediterranean. Also there was no rivals in those cities, however there were rivals in the east, there were; Alexandria, Constantinople, Jerusalem and Antioch. According to history, the Bishop of Constantinople never did bow the knee to Roman claims.
There are many passages in the Bible where Jesus taught very specific instructions to Peter. Roman Catholic teaching places Peter as the very first Bishop of Rome. Also Roman tradition has Peter pass on his authority to his would be successor, and the medieval popes claimed that they were in direct line of the inheritance of Christ Jesus. “Jesus gave a kind of guarantee given to Peter, and hence to all the popes, in Luke 22:32. Christ says to Peter: "I have prayed for thee that thy faith may not fail." (1) Another frequently quoted verse was in John 21: 15-17, where Jesus gave Peter command, feed my sheep three times.
The popes were the keepers/caretakers of the church, as they clearly saw it. If the traditional of apostolic succession (power and authority directly from the apostles) were to be taken seriously, then the popes could claim a lot of power over the Church. The primary reason, theologically was for the primacy of Rome is the city's association with Peter.
Tradition was, that Peter visited Rome during his life and, more importantly, he was martyred there (his remains are believed to be beneath St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City). There were political reasons for the increase in the pope's authority, first, Rome was the historical capital of the empire and it was a very important city politically, so it would have been natural that the bishop of that city would become very important.
When Constantine moved the capital of the empire to Constantinople, the pope was the most powerful figure that remained in Rome. Also influential were the invasions of the barbarians in fifth century. Leo 1, was regarded by many as the first pope, he was very instrumental in persuading Attila the Hun not to attack Rome in 452. The city fell to the Vandals in 455, but Leo was able to convince their leader to not burn the city. These accomplishments added to the respect of the bishop of Rome.
When Rome fell to the barbarians around 455 AD, the church became the defender of order, and justice. The Roman bishop was involved in regaining the unity and stability that had been broken by the invasions In the East, on the other hand, the empire survived for another 1000 years, and the bishops there did not have the same chance for political importance as their Roman counterpart.
A final factor that cannot be overlooked is the rise of the papacy and the personalities who held the office of bishop of Rome. These men - some of which were worldly, some were very devout – and regarded themselves as holding a special place in Christendom and did not hesitate to claim this dominion.
What factors contributed to its dominance of Western Europe until the Reformation?
Christianity was divided in two parts, the Greek Church and the Latin Church the Greek Church was surrounded by conquering Muslims. Beyond Islam was the far Orient, which hardly any information was possessed by the Europeans. The split between the Greek and Latin Churches had taken place in the tenth century, and the Greek Church was subject to the State, so thus had little contact with the Western Life. The doctrinal and ritualistic difference had separated it from the Latin Church entirely, as well as did the political scene and racial scene.
At the head of the Latin Church was the Pope, and he claimed both spiritual and temporal authority, a claim which was at its fullest expression with Innocent I. No Roman Emperor ever had such power as the Pope. This Church was very organized and very rich along with great power, it also had many functions. The Latin Church gradually had built up a comprehensive fundamental dogma, and was a well-organized system of belief. The Church was the interpreter of the word to man-king, and no one else was allowed to read the word of God.
The Roman Empire extended from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean and also from France to Hungary. The Empire remained separate principalities and secular; many of them in patches were separate from each other. Even under the best popes that lived in Rome, the Papal State had never been governed. First, the church’s unsolicited popularity could be attributed to its relationship to the early apostles.
The papal office was understood to be the direct descendant of the apostle Peter whom Christ appointed to the head of the church. Pope Damasus used the Matt 16:18-19 as a foundation for this doctrine. The Roman Catholic Church was regarded as the first in the empire to be established by the Apostles.
What were the positive and negative ramifications of this reality?
During the centuries of the barbarians’ government was influenced by the Church and Christian conversions. The Church continued to guide them both to guarantee that the conversion had taken hold, and to ensure that the faith would transform their government and life. To put it simply, Western Europe owes its survival to the Roman Catholic Church.
The second consequence of the rise of papacy was the Monastic Ideal and the impact it had. The monastery lifestyle became very popular before the 6th century, even royalty retired to the monastery. Western civilization owes its existence also to the monks. They were the substance of education. None of the literature would have survived had the monks not tirelessly copied all the literature that survived up until that time.
Monks were responsible for the growth and development of the arts such as Agriculture, and breeding cattle, they even drained the swamps. Monks loved hard labor, they thought that the more unpleasant the task the more Christ-like they were and also became.
Theater, art and literature would have been none if it had not been for the Church’s impact on these. During the Middle Ages there was a decline in all the arts, and if it was not for the Church holding services called hours (dramatized versions of the Bible stories) there would not have been theater, and other arts.
A negative impact would have been the crusades, but they also had some positive impacts, and yet they were very deadly. The holy wars would strength the Church and make it very wealthy; they brought back spices, perfumes, silk, jewelry and more during these wars.
Bibliographies
1. The Rise of the Papacy/A.D. 385-461/by William Ernest Beet, M.A. b. 1869.
2. http://www.the-orb.net/textbooks/westciv/papacy.html/ Copyright 1999, Ellis L. Knox This file may be copied on the condition that the entire contents, including the header and this copyright notice, remain intact. The contents of ORB are copyright 1995-1999 Laura V. Blanchard and Carolyn Schriber except as otherwise indicated herein.
3. http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/history/papacy.htm/History and the development of the Papacy
4. Hulme, Edward Maslin/Professor of History Stanford University/The Renaissance the Protestant Revolution and the Catholic Reformation in Continental Europe/1871 Revised Edition
5. Jennifer Streit, Positive Effects of the Church in the Middle Ages/
[1] The ORB: Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies/Foundations of Papal Authority
[2] History and Development of the Papacy
[3] The renaissance, the Protestant revolution and Hulme, Edward Maslin, 1871[3]