John S. Ott (c2021, 2022)
Department of History
Portland State University
HST 355U - Late Medieval Europe, 1100-1450
READING GUIDE #1 : STUDY QUESTIONSThe collection of four primary sources here -- called "primary" both because they are written by medieval authors and because we use them as main sources for our understanding of the period -- focus on the bitter contest between an important eleventh-century pope, Gregory VII (1073-1085), and the German king, Henry IV (1056-1106). (To access these readings from Miller's sourcebook, go to the Millar Library main page --> click the Course Reserves tab --> type in 'Ott' (or the course number) --> click 'Online Access' under the course Reading Folder --> view Full Text / enter Odin credentials when prompted. Scroll down the readings list to 'Miller.Power and the Holy'. This will bring up the .pdf of the readings!). Henry was a fairly young king -- only 25 -- and Gregory a much older figure (he was about 60): a seasoned veteran of Roman politics and a committed reformer of the church. Before their relationship turned sour, Gregory saw Henry as an ally in his ambitious attempts to reform the Christian church by improving the conduct and standards of its clergy, eliminating abuses such as simony (by which clerical office was bought, sold, or bartered), enforcing bans on clerical fornication and promoting celibacy, and ending the practice of laymen -- such as the German kings -- appointing bishops and other clerical officials to their office. The latter was known as "lay investiture," and it has conferred the traditional name given to the bitter feud between popes and kings of this period known as the Investiture Controversy.
for
(1) THE DICTATUS PAPAE (Dictation of the Pope) (1075);
(2) GREGORY VII'S ADMONITION TO HENRY IV (1075);
(3) HENRY'S RESPONSE TO GREGORY'S ADMONITION (1076);
AND
(4) LAMPERT OF HERSFELD'S ACCOUNT OF CANOSSA (c. 1077)
Each document has a brief introduction -- it will be helpful to read these before diving in -- plus an overview below.
1. Dictatus papae (Dictate of Pope), March 1075
The first of our sources, the Dictatus papae (Pope's Dictation), consists of a list of 27 legal rubrics. 'Rubrics' were so called because in law collections, they were highlighted in red -- the better to see them on the page. Normally, they would be followed by the textual source or authority that demonstrated the rubric's claim, but in this document, the proof sources are missing. Only the 'title' remain. Most of the rubrics in this list were cornerstones of church law or represented established and well-supported legal positions of the medieval Catholic church. But not all. Several -- items 2, 5, 12, 24, 27 -- were disputed, had vague legal precedents, or were flatly rejected by some legal authorities. This list is useful, then, for offering insight into Gregory VII's legal thinking around his papal authority, but we must be careful about assuming that this list of rubrics therefore equalled "the law". Enforcement was, of course, an entirely separate matter.
2. Admonition to Henry and Henry's Response to Gregory's Admonition (1075-1076)
The second and third documents are letters exchanged between Gregory and Henry, each claiming rights and authority vis-a-vis the other. Gregory's frustration in document 20 was a result of Henry installing several northern Italian bishops and continuing to associate with a number of his advisors, who had been excommunicated earlier for their role in installing an imperial candidate as bishop of Milan. Henry was made livid by the pope's letter. He called a council of German and Italian bishops and denounced the pope. Two things are worth noting, from Henry's perspective: (1) Henry had just come off a major military victory over Saxon rebels a few months earlier, and was feeling politically secure; and (2) Henry's father, Henry III (1039-1056), and German kings before him going back to 962, had been directly responsible for installing several popes.
3. Lampert of Hersfeld's Account of the Meeting between Henry and Gregory at Canossa (1077)
The final document, a narrative by a German monk named Lampert of Hersfeld, details the encounter of Henry and Gregory in the hillside fortress of Canossa in north-central Italy, in the dead of winter in January 1077. The pope had by then excommunicated Henry -- cutting him off from all communion with the church -- and was actively supporting a rival king in Germany named Rudolf of Rheinfelden, who, to add insult to injury, was Henry's brother-in-law. Henry, no longer flush from his triumph over the Saxons, was by then in a tough spot politically and militarily, and Gregory knew it. Henry trekked over the Alps to Canossa, confessed his sins and performed penance, and then was confronted by one more surprise demand by Gregory VII: that he submit to an ordeal by consecrated bread. This was no idle challenge, as it forced Henry to put his immortal soul where his mouth was in guaranteeing the terms of their agreement. Henry demurred and asked for the ordeal to be postponed till a later date. Gregory at this point had Henry right where he wanted him, though his advantage would be temporary.
Questions
1) One of the challenges at the outset of this course is being dropped into a historical era without much foreknowledge. Based on your reading, if you had to describe the eleventh century to a complete stranger, where would you begin, and why? Would you start with social organization (what is it?)? Would you begin with social roles and expectations (what are they?)? How would you describe the role of the clergy or priesthood?
(2) We start off at the very pinnacle of the medieval political and religious hierarchy: the pope (Gregory VII) and the German king. What fundamental ideas about their authority and conceptions of their relationship to one another do each seem to have? What rights does each claim over the other, and on what foundations (legal, religious, or otherwise) do their claims to these rights rest?
(3) What does the public sphere of the eleventh century look like? How does one wage a war of words and ideas in an era (long) before social media? At a basic level, how did individuals communicate with one another? Who, or what, did they rely on to get their message across? How were ideas shared, debated, and transmitted?