Western Civilization

             The Struggle for Power Between the Pope and the Emperor
             The basis for papal claims to authority in the late 5th and early 6th centuries arose from the mighty conflict between emperor and pope, which is known as the Investiture Struggle. This struggle originated between the bishops of two world powers at this time: the Bishop of Rome in the West and the Bishop of Constantinople in the East. In this paper, I will describe how this conflict was settled and the issues that arose between the two powers. I will also make reference to the account of Pope Gregory I, who is the main source on solving the struggle.
             Being bishop of a prestigious city naturally brought about increases stature, and until 476 Rome had been the most powerful city in the Western world. This automatically gave the Roman bishop an extreme sense of power in the Western Mediterranean, where there were no rival cities with which Rome had to compete against. However, the East had a city to contest this prestige-Constantinople. The bishop of this city never did conform to Roman claims, and he had a power of another kind, not as prestigious, and stemming from a different source.
             The Bishop of Rome had been making claims to power over all other bishops and Christians. Some of this claim was based on Biblical passages. In the Bible, there are some passages in which Jesus gives some very specific instructions to Peter. Roman Catholic teaching always placed St. Peter as the first Bishop of Rome. It also had Peter pass on his authority to his successor. And medieval popes claimed to be in this direct line of succession from the Christ himself (Knox). Perhaps the most important Biblical passage worth quoting is Matthew 16:18-19:
             "And I say to thee, thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on the e...

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Western Civilization. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 10:31, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/97627.html