Italian popes

favored the formation of general church councils to reduce papal power. In addition, the reformers criticized the papacy, who had seen earlier reform movements and the crusaders alter their original high-minded purposes to suit the ambitions of the popes. The bourgeoisie also affected the reform of the papacy whose realistic outlook was adopting growing skepticism, national patriotism, and…

Western Schism was a divide in the Catholic Church from the years 1378 to 1417. This divided caused three people to be the Pope at the same time in 1409. Not to be confused with the Great Schism in 1054 which created the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. This division created tension in Europe as different countries supported different Popes. The divide happened because Pope Clement V moved to Avignon, a town in East France, in the early 1300s. Allowing the French king more control over…

city’s nickname that comes from the Latin Sancta Sedes, meaning “Holy Chair.” Vatican City is the capital of itself because it does not have a capital because of its small size, and number of citizens. The official languages in Vatican City are Italian, French and Latin. This country is the headquarters of Roman Catholicism; the Roman Catholic religion. Vatican’s population is about 800 people, but 451 have Vatican citizenship, while the rest have permission to reside there, either…

The Medici family were the powerful Italian family of bankers and merchants whose members ruled Florence for much of the 15th century. Cosimo and Lorenzo de' Medici were notable rulers and patrons of the arts in Florence. The family also provided four popes (including Leo X) and two queens of France (Catherine de' Medici and Marie de Médicis). Being in the money business, the Medici’s honed to a science making money using a complicated system of exchange (pawning) They paid the RC 2,000 florins…

When speaking to the the humanistic movement during the Middle Ages, historian Martin McGuire stated, "It set a basic pattern for the future". After the devastation of the Black Plague from the late 1200s to the mid 1300s, Europe was in great need of rebuilding both socially and economically. Many people turned to religion, while others strayed away from the spiritual outlook, believing that the solutions to the world’s problems lie in human thought and action rather than divine intervention.…

army and himself to the pope so they could all be baptized and convert to Christianity. Throughout Charlemagne’s journey of expanding the kingdom, he did not only conquer more land, but he also helped spread Christianity. By…

control of lands and peoples. For a king or pope to be successful, not only did they need support from their people, they needed support from other people in power. Alliances allowed rulers to share resources and influence to gain more political and religious power. Papal authority during the Middle Ages was heavily influenced by their relationships with monarchies. When a pope had a strong relationship with a powerful king such as the alliance between Pope Stephen II and King Pippin III, they…

of Clermont (1095) and their lack of support to Pope Urban’s project, the quest for power in Rome came to a crucial turning point after the Great Schism. Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) initiated a new conception of the Church and the role of the papacy within it. His ideas and reforms about the supremacy of the Roman pontiff and that the popes were responsible for the right order in the world, which could only be obtained through righteous Christian violence directed by the papacy, forms the basis…

When Popes Were Emperors – The Clash between Henry and Gregory In the year 1073, Hildebrand of Sovana (an Italian city) became Pope Gregory VII. The clash between papacy and emperor’s authority in (what we would today call) Germany, was already evident for quite some time. The Emperor Henry IV was 23 years old. One of the first few measures implemented by Gregory were, a ban on secular authority to appoint clergy (the lay investiture) and the ostracizing of some of the members of Henry’s…

he helped end the Great Schism in Western Europe, in which two rival popes, one in Avignon and the other in Rome, disputed their claims to the papacy in Rome. Alonso was rewarded as the Bishop of Valencia, and was later made into a cardinal. Surprisingly, he led a strict pious and virtuous life,…