succcss,ccausculcrscouldnolongerinvcst.Pa-palpowcrwascnhanced,andneirherside*'onaclearvictory.WilliamrhcConqucrorof EnglandandPhilipIofFrancewercjustasguilty of la,vnvcstitureasthe GermancmPcror,and bothquarrclcdopcnlywi*t Grcgorl'.Horvever,Rome'sconllictwiththewcsternulcrsncvcr rcachedhcproportionsofthcdisputewiththe GcrmanemPcror.GrcgoryVIIandhissuccessors adthediplomaticsensctoavoidcrearinghreeenemicst once.'The longconrovcrs''hadcemcndoussocialandpolitical.orrr.qr't.t.tsinGcrmany'Forhalf acen-tury', betweenL075and1125,civilwarlvaschronic inthecmpirc.PreoccupicdvirhItalyandthequarrclwith thePaPaclicmPcrorscoulddolittlcaboutit.Thelengthysuugglebctwccnpa-paryandcmperordlowedemcrging noblcdynas-des,suchastheZiifuingerof Swabia, oenhancctheirposition.As reccnt rcsearchhas rcvealed,bythcclcventhcenrury thescgreatGcrmanfamilicshadachicvcda definite scnseofthcmsclvcsas no-ble.eTocontrol thcirlands, thcgrcatlordsbuiltcasdcs,symbolizingthcir incrcascdpowcr andgrowing indcpendcncc.Inno Europeancountrydo morccasdcssurvivc today.)Thc casdeswercbothmilitary suongholds and centcrsof admini-suationfor the surrounding tcrritories.ThcGcr-manaristocracy ubordinatedhc knightsandrc-inforccdthcir dcpendcncywithstrong fcudalties.Thcyreduced rce mcn andserfs o ancxuemelyservileposition.HenryIV andHenryVwcrccom-pellcd to surrcndcr rightsand privilegcs to thenobiliry.Whcnthepapal-impcrialonflict cndcdn1122, thc nobility hcldthc balanccofpowcr inGermany,and latcrGcrmankings, suchasFrederickBarbarossaseepagc 332),wouldfailinthcir cfforts to strcngthcnthcmonarchy againstthcprincclyfamilics. For thesc rcasons,partku-larism, localism,and feudal indepcndcnce harac-tcrizcdthc Holy Roman Empirc in thc High Mid-dle Ages.Thc invcstiturc controvcrsy had acatastrophicffcct tlcrc, scvercly ctarding devel-opmentof asuong cenrdizcd monarchy.ThePapacyinthe HighMiddle AgesIn thc latcclcvcnthccnnrryand throughoutrhctwclfth, thcpapacyprcsscdGrcgory'scampaign orrcform of thcchurch.PopcUrban[Ilaidthcfoun-dations or the papalmonarchybyrcorganizing hcccnualgovcrnmcntofthcRomanchurch, thepa-
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'p"I*itirrgofficc(ttrc chancery),andpapalfinanccs.Hc rccognizcd thecollcgc ofcardinalsasadefniteconsultativc bod-r'.Thcseagcncies, o-gcthcrn'iththcpapalchapel,consdtutcdthcpapalcourt,orcuria Romana-rhepapary'sadministra-dvcbureaucracyand its court of law.Thcpapalcuria,althoughnor fi.rllydevelopeduntilthcmid-twclfthccntur'',wasthc fusrwcll-organizcd nsd-rudon ofrnonarchialauthority n mcdicvalEuropc.Thc Romancuriahad itsgrcarcstmpactas acourtoflarv.Asthchighcstccclesiasricalribunal,it formulatcdcanonau'for all of Christcndom.Itwasthc instrurnentwithwhichthepopcs prcssedthcgoalsof reformandccntralizcd thechurch.Thccuriasentlegaccsoholdcouncils nrariousparsofEurope.Councilspublishcd dccrccsandsbughtto cnforccthclart:Whcriindividuals in*ypartofChristian Europcfeltthcywcre bcingdc-nicdjusticcntheirlocalchurchcourts,they couldappcalto Rome. Slowlybut surely,n the HighMiddleAgcsthe papalcuriadcvelopcdinrothccourtof 6nalappcalorall ofCfuistianEuropc.Whatkindsof appcalsc:uncto thcRomancuriafThcmajorityofcasesclatcdtodisputesovcrchurchpropcrryorccclcsiasticalclectionsandabovc allto questionsof marriagcandannulment.Sincc thcfiourth cennuyChristianvalucs hadinfluencedhc administrationofthe law,andbish-ops frcqucndysat incourtsthat hcardmarriagccascs.Beginninginthetenthandclevcnthccntu-rics,churchofficialsbegantoclaimthat theyhadcxclusivcurisdictionovcrmarriage.Appcalsoanecclcsiasticalribunal,rathcrthan toacivilcourt,or appeals rom acivilcourt to a churchcourt,implicd t}rc acccpanccofthc laftcr'sjurisdiction.Morcovcr, mostof thcpopcs in thc twclfthandthirteenthcenturicswcrccanon lawycrswhopresscd he authoriry ofchurch courts. Themostfamous of thcm, theman whose pontificatercpre-sented thc height of medievdpapal powcr,wasInnoccnt III(If98-I2f6).Innocentjudgedavastnumbcrof cases.Hccompclled King Philip Augustusof Franccotakcback hiswife,Ingcborgof Dcnmark. Hc arbitratcdthc rival claimsof twodisputanstothe impcridcrown of Gcrmany.HcforccdKing]ohnofEng-landtoacceptas archbishopof Canterburya manJohndid not rcallywant.By thc carlythirtccnthccnnrry,papalcffortsatrcformbcgun more than a ccnrury bcforchadanaincd phenomcnalsucccss.Thcpopcs thcm-sclvcswcrcmcn of highprinciplcsandstrictmord
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