History of Europe &the Church -
THE two decades of anarchy known as the “Great Interregnum”(1254-
A new period of German history begins when the German princes assemble at Frankfurt in the early autumn of 1273 and elect a Swiss count as German king. He is Rudolf of Habsburg. Three weeks later—on October 24, 1273, Rudolf is crowned at the city of Aachen, Charlemagne’s old capital. Late the following year he is recognized by Pope Gregory X.
Rudolf is the first Habsburg to hold the office of Holy Roman Emperor, though French influence in Rome prevents him from being officially crowned as such by the Pope. Rudolf rebuilds Germany from the ruins left by the Great Interregnum. He suppresses the lawless robber knights at home and restores German prestige abroad. He also consolidates and adds to Habsburg ancestral lands, laying a solid foundation for future Habsburg greatness.
The major development in this regard comes in 1278, when Rudolf drives the non-
The “Golden Bull”
Rudolf I of Habsburg dies in July 1291. The German Imperial Electors
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Meanwhile, in 1355, Charles IV of Luxembourg (now the German king and king of Bohemia) receives the crown of the Holy Roman Empire in Rome. In an effort to check growing political disorder, he issues the following year an imperial edict known as the “Golden Bull.” This document spells out a precise procedure for the election and coronation of a German king. Seven German nobles including the duke of Saxony, the margrave of Brandenburg and the archbishop of Trier will henceforth determine who is to be king of the Germans. Election is to be by majority vote. The Golden Bull becomes the constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, and will remain its fundamental law for 4½ centuries, until 1806.
Papal Decline
Noticeably absent in the Golden Bull is a role for the Papacy. Papal
confirmation is no longer a necessity in the election process. Things have deteriorated
rapidly since the pontificate of Innocent III, when the Church seemed unassailable
in its prestige and power. Some years before the Golden Bull, Pope Boniface VIII
(1294-
But this vigorous assertion of Papal power and rights comes too late. By the end of Boniface’s reign, the Papacy is no longer able to withstand the growing independence in the secular realm. Unam Sanctum receives violent opposition from many quarters, most notably from Philip the Fair of France. In a letter to Boniface, the French king dares to refer to the pontiff as “Your Supreme Foolishness.” The Papacy is on a downward slide. With each passing year, it becomes clearer to all that the days when the Papacy could command are gone. Now it can only influence and advise.
“Babylonian Captivity”
Because of the unsettling political conditions in Rome, Pope
Clement V (1305-
For just more than 70 years—from 1305 to 1377 the Popes remain at Avignon. The Papacy
becomes a tool of the French court. This period will be called the “Babylonian Captivity”
of the Church—an allusion to the 70-
Rival Popes
Urban VI, an Italian, is elected as Pope by popular demand in 1378. But
French cardinals hold that the election of Urban is invalid because of outside pressure
on the voters. A Frenchman, Clement VII, is elected Pope and rules from French dominated
Avignon. There are now two Popes! Each excommunicates the other as the “Antichrist
.” The states of Europe support one or the other according to political considerations.
The Papacy is rent asunder. Each section of Christendom declares the other “lost.” Many are uncertain which claimant actually possesses Papal authority. For nearly four decades, Western Christendom is divided. History will refer to the situation as the “Western Schism” (or “Great Schism”). Neither Pope will abdicate. Neither will arbitrate differences.
In 1409, cardinals from both camps meet at the Council of Pisa. They seek to end the schism by deposing both pontiffs and electing a third man, Alexander V. But the two “deposed” Popes refuse to resign. Now there are three claimants to the Papal chair! This intolerable situation is finally rectified in 1417. The Council of Constance deposes the three rival Popes and unanimously elects Pope Martin V. The Great Schism is ended, but the Papacy has suffered irreparable loss of prestige.
The Habsburgs Return
By the 15th century, Germany is a jumble of virtually independent
duchies, archduchies, margravates , counties and free cities—collectively known as
“the Germanies.” There is no real “Germany” in a unified sense. The German king reigns,
but does little ruling . Otto the Great had started Germany on the way to becoming
a strong, unified state, but it did not work out as he had planned.
During the decades of trial for Western Europe and the Church, an influential family has been working quietly behind the scenes. It has added to its ancestral land holdings and consolidated its power base. It is now ready to make its great influence felt. That family is the House of Habsburg. Having been held by members of the House of Luxembourg from 1347 to 1437, the German imperial crown now comes again into the possession of the Habsburgs. In 1438, the Habsburg Albert II of Austria is made king of Germany. He is recognized as Holy Roman Emperor, but is not crowned.
Henceforth, the imperial title will be hereditary in the Habsburg family. The House
of Habsburg is on its way to becoming the most potent political force in Europe.
In 1440, Frederick III, a cousin of the now-
Dynastic Marriages
Maximilian I of Habsburg, son of Frederick III, becomes Emperor
in 1493. He envisions himself as a new Constantine. His mission is to save Christendom
from the scourge of the Turks. In 1453, the Ottoman Turks under Mohammed the Conqueror
had captured Byzantium (Constantinople), ending the Eastern Roman Empire. After centuries
of decline, the last vestige of the Roman Empire in the East is gone. Many historians
will later regard 1453 as the ending date for the Middle Ages.
By a calculated policy of dynastic marriages, the Habsburgs strengthen and enlarge their power. The marriage of Maximilian to Mary of Burgundy, heiress of the Netherlands, adds the Dutch kingdom to the Habsburg domains. A son of this marriage, Philip, later marries Joanna (Juana), daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Juan, the only son of Ferdinand and Isabella, marries Maximilian’s daughter Margaret, linking Castile and Aragon in Spain with Austria.
Global Empire
It is now the year 1500. A son is born to Joanna and Philip. They name
him Charles. To history, he will be Charles V greatest of Habsburg emperors.
Charles is elected king of Germany in 1519, following the death of his grandfather
Maximilian. He is crowned at Aachen in October 1520. At the same time he assumes
the title of Roman Emperor-
Charles has more than 60 royal and princely titles, including king of Germany, archduke of Austria, duke of Burgundy, king of Castile and Aragon, king of Hungary—to name just a few. Spain is, in itself, an empire—a global empire, with colonial territories even in the New World. The Empire of Charles V stretches from Vienna to Peru! Charles declares, “In my realm, the sun never sets.” And it is so! The Habsburgs’ holdings constitute the world’s first truly great modern empire. Many observers begin to believe that the growth of sovereign nation states might be halted, and a universal Christian empire achieved in Europe! But other forces are already at work that will ultimately thwart this Habsburg dream.
New Spirit
The spirit of the Middle Ages has been one of faith and devotion to institutions.
The individual has not been considered very important in the vast scheme of things.
But now a change is in the wind. A movement had begun in 14th century Italy known
to history as the Renaissance (“rebirth”). It is a great reawakening of interest
in the literature and philosophy of ancient Greece and Rome. It is marked by a flowering
of the arts, a turning toward an appreciation of worldly things and a lively interest
in secular affairs. Man is now growing conscious of his own importance. The present
world, rather than the “next world,” is becoming the chief concern. The Renaissance
brings a new spirit—a pagan spirit, as some contemporary critics describe it. It
is a questioning and critical spirit, a spirit of skepticism.
Not surprisingly, this new spirit spawns a revolt against time-
The critical spirit of the Renaissance spreads from Italy northward to the German universities. There, discontent with ecclesiastical corruption and immorality grows rapidly. And there, early in the 16th century, religious dissidents finally find a champion.
Ninety-
After his return to Germany, Luther is further disturbed by the practice of selling
Papal indulgences, or pardons for sin. The profitable selling of indulgences has
become big business in many parts of Europe. On October 31, 1517, Luther nails a
document to the door of the court church at Wittenberg, Germany. On it are his “Ninety-
On December 10, 1520, Luther publicly burns the Papal bull. An ecclesiastical revolution to be known as the Protestant Reformation is now in full swing! It will spread like wildfire over Germany and beyond. Luther is excommunicated in January 1521 . Soon afterward, he is summoned by Emperor Charles V, a devout Catholic, to appear for a hearing before the Diet (assembly) of Worms, a German city on the Rhine. But it is already too late to arrest the movement. The assembly settles nothing. Luther refuses to recant—and Charles declares war on the protestors.
Religious Unity Destroyed
German Protestantism gains rapid headway. Many German states
sever themselves from the Roman Catholic Church. In 1531, the Lutheran princes within
Charles’ Empire establish a defensive alliance known as the Schmalkaldic League.
A threatened invasion by the Turks prevents Charles from taking immediate action
against these “heretic” Lutherans. By 1540, all North Germany is Lutheran.
Luther has demolished the old order. The religious unity of Europe is destroyed!
Nations begin to go their separate ways. The Reformation destroys the meaning of
the office of Holy Roman Emperor. The Emperor now becomes the head of one party,
the Catholics. Though the outward form of the Holy Roman Empire will continue for
some centuries, it is never the same again. The political as well as the spiritual
muscle of the Papacy is eroded. To counteract the Protestant Reformation, the Roman
Catholic Church organizes the “Counter-
But the Church has plummeted far from the zenith of its power, when Papal authority was felt and feared in every country in Europe. “The wars of religion and the collapse of church unity marked the end of theology as the decisive force in Western civilization,” a West German political figure, Franz Josef Strauss, will observe centuries later.
Four Monarchs
In the meantime, a rather complicated situation has developed in the
political arena. Geopolitical events in the early 16th century revolve around four
powerful monarchs: Emperor Charles V, Francis I of France, Henry VIII of England,
and Suleiman of Turkey.
In the same year Charles was crowned at Aachen (1520), a new Turkish sultan had ascended the throne in Constantinople—Suleiman, known to Turkish history as “the Magnificent.” The Ottoman Turks now control the eastern Mediterranean and are viewed as a menace to Christian Europe. But the main foe of the Habsburgs is France. France has emerged as a major continental power and an aggressive antagonist of the German empire. Habsburg power all but surrounds France. In response, Francis I allies himself with the Islamic Turks and German Protestants, despite the fact that he is a French Catholic king.
In England, Henry VIII seeks to maintain the balance of power to prevent the domination of Europe by either the Habsburgs or France. He shifts his support from side to side as circumstances require, equalizing the power of the continental rivals.
Holy Roman Emperor
In 1525, a defensive alliance is created to check growing Habsburg
power. It is the Holy League of Cognac, made up of France, the Papal States, Rome
and Venice. England supports the new league. Early in 1527, mutinous troops of Charles
V march against the Pope. They enter the defenseless city of Rome and plunder it.
This is the infamous sacco di Roma—the Sack of Rome. The Pope, Clement VII, surrenders.
The Pope is ready for a compromise. He makes peace with Charles, and meets with
him in Bologna in February 1530. There, Pope Clement crowns Charles Holy Roman Emperor.
This is the last time that a Holy Roman Emperor will be crowned by a Pope. Charles
believes the Emperor must be supreme if there is to be real peace. But the imperial
title is not what it used to be. The Empire has more shadow than substance. Charles’
globe-
Historical Inspiration for Today
Disappointed in his ambitions and ill of health,
Charles V abdicates and retires to a monastery in August 1556. He turns over the
rule of Spain, the Netherlands and Italian holdings to his son Philip II. To his
brother Ferdinand goes the imperial office and Habsburg lands in central Europe.
After 35 years’ rule, Charles—the last universal Emperor of the West -
Charles V was the last Emperor to actively attempt to realize the medieval ideal
of a unified Empire embracing the entire Christian world. Inspired by the concept
of a spiritually and politically united Christian realm, he had fought vigorously
for a united Church. More than four centuries after the death of ‘Charles, a 20th-
Dr. Habsburg will also note: “The ideas coming to the surface in this, the second half of the twentieth century, are surprisingly allied to those problems and concepts which preoccupied Charles. Together with ecumenicity [the movement promoting Christian unity], European unity has become the major issue of our time.... The notion of a united Europe is taking hold again. People are once again beginning to appreciate that religion and politics are indeed interdependent”
In assessing the role of Charles V, Dr. Habsburg will observe: “Thus Charles V, once regarded as the last fighter in a rearguard action, is suddenly seen to have been a forerunner.... Our generation will find its historical inspiration in the concepts last embodied in the person, mind and political views of Charles V “Inasmuch as he represents an eternal ideal, the Emperor [Charles V], after more than five centuries, is still living among us—not only as our European ancestor, but as a guide towards the centuries to come.”