Papal Supremacy: Innocent III
Who was greater: the Pope or the Emperor/Kings? Ever since the legalization of Christianity in 313, popes and emperors have been involved in numerous disputes about who was the head of Christian society. Emperors claimed authority, making reference to precedence such as Constantine and the Council of Nicea in 325. The papacy on the other hand, argued papal primacy with such ideas as the Petrime theory, the history of orthodoxy, and the fact that the Pope controlled the old Roman capital. The Concordat of Worms of 1122 CE brought an end to the investiture controversy. However, some historians argue that in the centuries that followed, the papacy overstepped its jurisdiction when it began to exert control over the political sphere as well. Pope Innocent III coming after a long line of popes of who had exerted such control is one that is most intensely attacked. Did he overstep the boundaries of the papacy and interfere in the political affairs or was he merely acting in a sphere in which he had all the right to do so? Innocent did not waste too many opportunities to explain how his appearance in temporal affairs was justified. In fact, he provided justification in almost all of his letters, decrees, and policies. By exa
Innocent purposely stated the location of the two great lights as being heaven because heaven is god's kingdom. By making reference to precedent and appeal using logic, it makes it seem that Innocent main purpose was to attempt to convince those who did not buy his "god's will" argument. This is a little different from most of Innocent's justification of his involvement in political and temporal affairs because he did not make a direct reference to god. Innocent made reference to the time when Charlemagne was crowned the First Holy Roman Emperor. The pope's place therefore was above the King. Before he even began to explain where the king's power and authority came from, Innocent stated that it was "the founder of the universe [who] established [the] two great lights," and more specifically, he established them "in the firmament of heaven. Not only was the pope greater than the king, but god had made it that way. As another example, the death of King Henry VI sparked a battle between German princes of who would be the next Holy Roman Emperor. Brian Pullan (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1966) 205-206. Moreover, Innocent also took the time to point out that "the Lord gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven" to the popes. They quickly pointed out that in the past the Emperors were the ones who elected or appointed the papacy, but had given up this right out of their "generosity. Instead, he stressed the importance of law and precedent as reasonably strong arguments againAfter the dispute had been settled and Otto IV was crowned Emperor, Pope Innocent III wrote a letter to him. However, Innocent used the letter to tell the Emperor, that in fact he was subject to the Pope. '" The pope therefore could exercise judgement over all Christians, including the kings and those below him.
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