Gregorian Reform
This article may be confusing or unclear to readers. In particular, not all reforms discussed in this article were initiated by Gregory VII. This article could be improved by a more clear and accurate chronology, equal discussion of the key figures involved (such as Pope Nicholas II), and more robust contextualization. The term "Gregorian Reform" is widely used but somewhat misleading (a possible source of confusion), as Gregory VII was an important, but not the sole, pope to make reforms in this period. (March 2022) |
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The Gregorian Reforms were a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, c. 1050–80, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy. The reforms are considered to be named after Pope Gregory VII (1073–85), though he personally denied it and claimed his reforms, like his regnal name, honoured Pope Gregory I.
Overview
During Gregory's pontificate, a conciliar approach to implementing papal reform took on an added momentum. Conciliarism properly refers to a later system of power between the Pope, the Roman curia, and secular authorities. During this early period, the scope of Papal authority in the wake of the Investiture Controversy entered into dialogue with developing notions of Papal supremacy. The authority of the emphatically "Roman" council as the universal legislative assembly was theorised according to the principles of papal primacy contained in Dictatus papae.
Gregory also had to avoid the
Documents
The reforms are encoded in two major documents:
The powers that the Gregorian papacy gathered to itself are summed up in a list called Dictatus papae around 1075 or shortly after. The major headings of Gregorian reform[further explanation needed] can be seen as embodied in the Papal electoral decree (1059), and the temporary resolution of the Investiture Controversy (1075–1122) was an overwhelming papal victory. The resolution of this controversy acknowledged papal superiority over secular rulers by implication.
Central status of the church
Before the Gregorian Reforms the Catholic Church was a heavily decentralized institution, in which the pope held little power outside his position as Bishop of Rome. With that in mind, the papacy up until the twelfth century held little to no authority over the bishops, who were invested with land by lay rulers. Gregory VII's ban on lay investiture was a key element of the reform, ultimately contributing to the centralized papacy of the later Middle Ages.[5]
The reform of the church, both within it, and in relation to the
He wished to see all important matters of dispute referred to Rome; appeals were to be addressed to himself; the centralization of ecclesiastical government in Rome naturally involved a curtailment of the powers of bishops. Since these refused to submit voluntarily and tried to assert their traditional independence, his papacy was full of struggles against the higher ranks of the clergy.
Clerical celibacy
This battle for the foundation of papal supremacy is connected with his championship of compulsory celibacy among the clergy and his attack on simony. Gregory VII did not introduce the celibacy of the priesthood into the church,[citation needed] but he took up the struggle with greater energy than his predecessors. In 1074 he published an encyclical, absolving the people from their obedience to bishops who allowed married priests. The next year he enjoined them to take action against married priests and deprived these clerics of their revenues. Both the campaign against priestly marriage and that against simony provoked widespread resistance.
See also
- Cluniac Reforms
- Concordat of Worms
- Diploma Ottonianum
- Donation of Constantine
- Donation of Pepin
- First Council of the Lateran
- Liber Gomorrhianus
- Pope Gelasius I and the "Gelasian doctrine"
- Walk to Canossa
Notes
- ISBN 0860783685.
- ISBN 0199249806.
- ^ Gilchrist, John (1965). ""Simoniaca haeresis" and the problem of orders from Leo IX to Gratian". Proceedings of the Second International Congress of Medieval Canon Law. Monumenta Iuris Canonici (1): 209–235.
- ^ Gilchrist, John (1970). "Was there a Gregorian reform movement in the eleventh century?". The Canadian Catholic Historical Association: Study Sessions. 37: 1–10.
- ^ "Internet History Sourcebooks Project". sourcebooks.fordham.edu. Retrieved 2017-11-04.
External links
- Gregorian Reform and the First Crusade Archived 2014-10-26 at the Wayback Machine