INCREASING POWER OF THE After the disruption of the Frankish Empire the unity of Western Christendom was visibly represented only in the Roman Church. The Church had loyally supported the Einpire, and had striven to avert its destruction. When this became inevita ble, the Church naturally secured as much as pos sible of the Imperial inheritance. The unity for it stead was in no wise confined to mat ters of faith and worship. The Church repre sented the learning of the age, and had complete control of education. It was the exclusive recipi ent and administrator of charitable trusts; it alone cared for the sick and infirm and relieved the poor. It interpreted and enforced by penal ties the rules of morality, and by reason of the intimate connection between morals and law, and between its sacraments and the whole social life. it exercised a somewhat indefinite but very wide jurisdiction over matters which are to-day re garded as legal. (See CANON LAw.) To this jurisdiction every Christian was subject, from the peasant to the King. The Church thus discharged many governmental functions which the mediaeval State was too crude and too feeble to undertake. It was in reality an ecclesiastical State, and it pos sessed a governmental organization and a govern mental personnel far superior to that of any con temporary secular State. For the efficient dis charge of its duties the Church deemed it necessary that its agents„from Pope to parish priest, should be independent of the secular powers. It had snc ceeded in exempting its clergy from secular juris diction, but it had not obtained full freedom in the selection of its officials. The Pope, as Bishop of Rome, was chosen by the clergy and people of Rome. In the tenth century the Roman nobles controlled the Papal elections, and the character of the popes whom they selected was such as to deprive the office of much of its dignity and au thority. In the eleventh century the German em perors brought about a reform; they secured the deposition of unworthy popes and the election of worthy German successors; but this Imperial interference was a fresh menace to the independ ence of the Church. The local authorities of the Church, the bishops and the abbots, were like wise elected by the clergy of the cathedral chap ters and of the monasteries; but the lands of the Church were fiefs and the prelates feudal vassals, and the secular overlord naturally endeavored, and usually with success, to control the election of these authorities. The attempt of the greatest
of the German popes (Gregory VIL) to deprive the feudal superior of all influence upon the choice of bishops and abbots brought the Papacy into conflict with the German emperors. In this conflict the emperors were supported by the Ger man prelates whom they had practically appoint ed, while the popes were supported by the secular princes of Germany. who desired to weaken the Imperial power at home. (See INVESTITURE; GREGORY VIE; HENRY IV.; SAXONY; PAPACY.) The terms on which the conflict was ended (Concordat of Worms, lI22.) did not fully real ize the Papal aims. In the eleventh century, however, the basis was laid for the greatly in creased power which the Church exercised in the thirteenth century. The selection of the head of the Church was intrusted to a body created by the head of the Church. the College of Cardinals. The interest of the feudal superior in the control of Church elections was diminished by renewed prohibition of the sale of ecclesiastical prefer ments (simony), and by making it more difficult for those prelates who bought preferment to keep it. Finally. the renewal and enforcement of the rides prohibiting the Ina rria ge of the clergy se eured for the Church 11 body of servants removed as far as possible from all influences except her own. (See C•mnAcy.) From the eighth cen tury, when the ltoman Pontiffs denied the tempo ral sovereignty of the Emperor at Constantinople, the Eastern Church, under the influence of the Emperors a ml already tending to separation on account of disciplinary distinctions, drifted rap idly from Latin unity. The separation became definite and final, in the eleventh century, in consequence of a doctrinal difference concerning the Procession of the 1-1q1y Ghost. The Eastern Church never became independent of the secular authority, and its dependence facilitated the de velopment of national churches. See BYZANTINE EMPIRE; CREEK CHURCH.