The Power of the Church

The Power of the Church

A. Perceiving Cause and Effect As you read about the clashes between the Church and European rulers, note the causes and outcomes of each action listed in the chart. 

1. Otto invades Italy on the pope's behalf. 

Cause: Close alliances with the church, he dominated the church in Germany

Outcome: Pope rewarded Otto by crowning him emperor 

2. Pope Gregory bans lay investiture. 

Cause: Otto had control over clergy and their offices, Church reformers felt that kings should not have that power

Outcome: emperor ordered Gregory to step down from the papacy, Gregory excommunicated Henry, 

3. Henry IV travels to Canossa. 

Cause: German bishops and princes sided with the pope,Henry tried to win pope’s forgiveness

Outcome: Henry felt triumphant and rushed home to punish rebellious nobles

4. Representatives of the Church and the emperor met in Worms. 

Cause: successors of Gregory and Henry continued to fight over lay investiture

Outcome: the Church alone could appoint a bishop, but the emperor could veto the appointment

5. The Lombard League fights the Battle of Legnano. 

Cause: seven princes who elected the German king realized that Germany needed a strong ruler to keep the peace. They chose Frederick I

Outcome: Italian foot soldiers used crossbows to defeat feudal knights, made peace with the pope

B. Recognizing Main Ideas Identify the Holy Roman Empire and explain how the name originated. 

German-Italian empire Otto first created

C. Writing Informative Compositions On the back of this paper, explain how the Church was a unifying force in medieval society. Use the following terms in your writing. 

The Church held lots of power such as sacraments, clergy, and canon law. But they began to lose it  as the Emperor gained  more power.

Clergy, Sacrament, canon law 

TERMS & NAMES 1. For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its significance.

• clergy- religious officials

• sacrament- important religious ceremonies

• canon law- Church law, in matters such as marriage and religious practices

• Holy Roman Empire- German-Italian empire Otto first created

• lay investiture- a ceremony in which kings and nobles appointed church officials

USING YOUR READING GUIDE

2. Which of the events were power struggles between the Church and rulers? Explain.

Lay investments because the pope thought they shouldn't have that power so he banned them.

MAIN IDEAS

3. What were some of the matters covered by canon law?

Marriage and religious practices.

4. How did Otto the Great make the crown stronger than the German nobles?

He allied with the clergy.

5. Why did lay investiture cause a struggle between kings and popes?

The pope thought kings shouldn't have as much power