The Battle of Manzikert
In 1071, the Byzantine emperor Romanus IV Diogenes was defeated in battle at Manzikert which lies in eastern Anatolia, by a band of Seljuk Turks. The loss cost him a little territory and reputation…but that was all. However this was significant because the loss marks the arrival of the Turks into what has now become known as Turkey. The Turks were originally from central Asia and migrated westward in large numbers. Their presence was felt by the Byzantine Empire and by some of the Moslems of the Near East. It was the Byzantine Empire which lost much of its territory to the new invader, however, most of Asia Minor (todays Turkey) would soon be under their control, and the successor dynasty, the Ottoman Empire, took Constantinople itself in 1453, which ended the Roman Empire in the east. The Ottoman Empire controlled most of the Middle East until 1918. It isn’t surprising that the Turks western movement into Christianity territory played a significant role in the conversion to Islam, a religion which remains dominant in Turkey today.
The Investiture Controversy
Four Popes since Pope Saint Leo IX in 1049 had been under the wise counsel of a holy man who the newly-formed College of Cardinals finally realized was the only choice for supreme pontiff upon the death of Pope Alexander II on April 21, 1073. Thus, the next morning the holy man Hildebrand, the monk from Tuscany, who had greatly influenced the curia in the reform movement as secretary to five popes, was unanimously selected as the one hundred and fifty seventh successor to Peter. Hildebrand chose the name Pope Gregory VII in deference to the last Gregory Pope Gregory VI who had bestowed minor orders on the young Hildebrand as the new pontiff's mentor in 1046. During his years as mentor to the Popes this saintly and knowing monk had played a vital role in the establishment of two of the Church's great mainstays which exist today in the governmental aspect of episcopal affairs: Canon Law and the College of Cardinals.
Though he was chosen on April 22, 1073, it's interesting to note that the new Gregory purposely delayed his consecration until June 30. This was not, as many surmised, for the purpose of receiving the German imperial blessing, but rather Gregory's own desire to wait for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul for Hildebrand had a deep veneration toward these two special Apostles. With this feast accomplished, Gregory set into motion a program of reform that was far and beyond any curriculum his successors had proposed.
Despite his wise counsel to the popes who went before him, Gregory could not fully implement the reforms until he had total command of the curia. Now that he was in charge he defined the true papal role in the Church as it had never been done before. It was his life-long crusade to rid the church of all evils that existed and restore Holy Mother Church to her ancient stature as the glorious leader of Christian morals. He realized his reforms would be met with resistance, especially for those with imperial allegiances, but he was prepared for that as well.
Gregory VII issued a decree that pure doctrine could only be conveyed and preserved through governmental law within the Church and all of the laws of the Church must be collected into a concise volume termed the Dictatus Papae for all the clergy to not only follow, but disseminate to the faithful.
At the forefront of this reform was the fact that total obedience to Holy Mother Church was paramount for every Catholic in the world. He reiterated that the supreme pontiff of Rome is universal and that no one can judge him, but that the pope alone can dispense vows. In 1074 and again the next year Gregory held two Lenten synods in which he implemented many of these reforms as well as setting down stringent standards for "the purification of the higher clergy."
As expected, Germany and France resisted, (This attitude has continued to transcend the generations into the current state-of-indifference in the structure of NATO and the G-7) many of their bishops balking at the strict measures on celibacy laid out. Over the years, especially in those two western lands, many unworthy men had been ordained and were not only not leading exemplary lives, but taking the faithful down the wrong road. (hmmm, sound familar?)
But Gregory VII was a man defined by his moral judgment and principals. Buoyed by the strength of the Holy Spirit to see him through this ordeal, Gregory was ready for their onslaught and held another Roman synod in which he threatened suspension of any bishop who did not comply fully with Rome. He employed Papal legates to ensure they were in full compliance and new bishops had to take an episcopal oath of loyalty. He also insisted that all bishops make a mandatory visit to the Holy See in Rome at specific intervals, a practice that still remains today in the ad limina visits of all bishops. Gregory set up the Lateran synods in a format that would evolve into general councils in the future.
A tumultuous crowd of Roman citizens and clergy raised Hildebrand to the papacy during the funeral solemnities for Pope Alexander II on April 22, 1073. He was enthroned immediately in the basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli even though he was not ordained a priest until June 29, the feast day of the apostles Peter and Paul, the patron saints of the Apostolic See and the city of Rome. Hildebrand’s elevation by the combination of citizens and clergy was a hostile reaction to the reordering of the papal election order at the 1059 Lateran Council, which had given the cardinal-bishops the leading voice in papal elections. The Roman people and clergy had been disenfranchised by the order, which thus ended the domination of the papacy by various Roman factions. Hildebrand’s election, however, followed the ancient rules that had been prominently upheld in the canonical collection of Deusdedit, cardinal-priest of San Pietro in Vincoli.
Hildebrand took the name Gregory in memory of Gregory I whose writings greatly influenced him. Gregory VII interpreted his election as a special call by God to continue unhesitatingly the fight for what he described as iustitia (“justice”), meaning the restoration of the church to what Gregory and his collaborators saw as its proper place in the world order. Indeed, they intended to revive the church’s ancient splendor and unquestioned leadership as instituted by Christ when he founded the church on the rock that was St. Peter (Matthew 16:18). Gregory was convinced that the pope was the living successor and representative of St. Peter. Because of this link, the pope, and he alone, would always remain a true Christian, never deviating from the faith and always cognizant of the will of God. Therefore, all Christians owed him absolute and unquestioned obedience. Disobedience was regarded as heresy, and obedience to God became obedience to the papacy.
Gregory linked the battle against simony and for clerical celibacy...the chief characteristics of 11th-century ecclesiastical reform (with a marked emphasis on the papal primacy, a concept based on the primacy of the Roman church, which at the time of Leo IX in 1054 led to the break in diplomatic relations between Rome and Constantinople. Papal primacy included the subordination of all secular governments to papal authority as long as they were Christian, but it applied first of all to the ecclesiastical hierarchy.
Gregory’s chancery revived and strengthened an oath of obedience that was required of all archbishops and bishops. Outranking every local authority, his legates intervened freely in internal diocesan affairs throughout Latin Christendom. Bishops had traditionally governed their dioceses more or less independently, and the changes introduced and systematized by Gregory VII were most unwelcome among all ranks of the clergy, including the highborn bishops, especially in Germany. The lower clergy in France and Germany also rebelled, but in this case against draconian decrees designed to enforce priestly celibacy.
On the basis of decisions by Leo IX and the Lateran synod of 1059, Gregory did not hesitate to call for popular rebellions