2. In order, therefore, that the most blessed apostles Peter and Paul may be the more honoured the more their churches in the City shall be devoutly frequented by the faithful, and that the faithful themselves, by the bestowal of spiritual gifts, may feel themselves the more regenerated through such frequenting: we, by the mercy of almighty God, and trusting in the merits and authority of those same ones his apostles, by the counsel of our brethren and from the plentitude of the apostolic power, do concede, in this present year and in every hundreth year to come, not only full and free, but the very fullest, pardon of all their sins to all who in this present year 1300, counting from the feast just past of the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in every hundredth year to come, shall reverently go to those churches, having truly repented and confessed, or being about to truly repent and confess.

3. Decreeing that those who wish to become partakers of such indulgence conceded by us, if they are Romans shall go to those churches on at least thirty days, consecutively or at intervals, and at least once in the day; but, if they be pilgrims or foreigners, they shall in like manner go on fifteen days. Each one, however, shall be the more deserving and shall more efficaciously obtain the indulgence, the more often and the more devoutly he shall frequent those churches. Let no man whatever infringe this page of our decree, or oppose it with rash daring. But if any one shall presume to attempt this he shall know that he is about to incur the indignation of almighty God and of His blessed apostles Peter and Paul.

Given at Rome, in St. Peters, on the 23rd day of February 1300, in the sixth year of our pontificate.

BOOK IV. CHURCH AND STATE.

INTRODUCTION.

THE whole life of Pope Gregory VII. (1073-1085) was one long effort to raise the papacy and the priesthood into a higher sphere. It was by his influence-for although not yet pope he was at that time the power behind the throne -that in 1059 a document (see No. I.) was drawn up placing the initiative in the matter of electing the pope exclusively in the hands of the cardinal-bishops. The document, indeed, was tampered with at an early date, for two versions of it have come down to us, one of which gives to the king of the Romans a much larger share in the election than the other.

The questions at issue in the war of the investitures will be more or less clear from the documents themselves, which are given under No. II.; but a slight sketch of the course of this most important struggle is, nevertheless, necessary.

At Gregory's own election in 1073 the forms of the decree of 1059 were not regarded; but Henry IV. did not lay much stress upon this fact until some years later, when open enmity had been declared between himself and the pope. The "Dictate of the Pope" (No. II. 3) shows most clearly the attitude that Gregory was prepared to take. Exactly what the "Dictate" was intended to be is still a mystery. It may have been either a succession of headings for future elaboration, or a summary of utterances

already delivered. At any rate it is found in the register of Gregory's letters which was made in his own day, and its authenticity is undeniable.

A Roman synod in 1075 proclaimed sacerdotal celibacy, made war on simony,-excommunicating five of Henry IV.'s councillors for having attained ecclesiastical office by means of it,—and declared lay investiture to be uncanonical. The wording of the last decree has not come down to us, but was probably similar to II. 1 and 2, which were issued respectively in 1078 and 1080.

The forbiddal of lay investiture was especially directed against Henry IV., who had recently, disregarding the papal candidate, taken into his own hands the election of an archbishop of Milan. It was one of the boldest moves imaginable, this measure of Gregory's. A renunciation on the part of the king to the right of choosing the men on whom to bestow the rich bishoprics and abbeys of Germany and Italy meant practical abdication. A bishop at that time was not only a dignitary of the church, but also a prince of the realm, whose duty it was to send his contingents to the king's army, and to act as councillor at his court. The fiefs and jurisdictions of the bishoprics were given therefore to faithful followers, not only as a reward for their past services, but also in consideration of their future ones. And now the king was to desist from exercising any further influence on episcopal elections!

No. 4 of the documents under II. explains itself. Henry had continued to consort with the five councillors who were under the bann for simony, although, in a moment of discouragement, he had promised unqualified submission to the pope. He furthermore disdained to treat concerning the matter of lay investiture, although Gregory seems to have invited and courted discussion. The pope's letter reached him at a time when he was flushed with the

pride of his victory over the obdurate Saxons. Gregory's envoys, too, used even stronger terms than were contained in the writing they bore. The result was that the king, in a fury of rage, summoned a council to meet at Worms. Two of the archbishops and two-thirds of all the bishops of Germany were present. After listening to a long series of accusations against the pope, the council decreed that Gregory, having wrongfully ascended the throne of Peter, must straightway descend from it. Two letters were despatched to Rome on the same day, one from the king (see No. 5), and one from the bishops (see No. 6). When the German envoys presented them to the pope, who was sitting in council in the Lateran, a scene of wild excitement ensued, and the bearers of such haughty messages were with difficulty saved from instant death. The pope and his synod retaliated (see No. 7) by banning all the dissentient bishops, as well as the king, and by declaring the latter's royal power forfeit, and all of his subjects loosed from their allegiance. Both parties then proceeded to make public their grievances. Henry issued a summons to the princes for a new council to be held at Worms, in which document (see No. 8) he clearly defined his position, while Gregory sent a long letter of justification, couched in the most tolerant terms, to the German bishops (see No. 9).

It was most disastrous for Henry that there happened to be a strong opposition party among the princes of his own land, to whom even an ally like Gregory, the accomplishment of whose aims would have been the greatest possible national misfortune, was not unwelcome. Nor were the princes long alone in their enmity to the king. Gregory succeeded in winning over a number even of the very bishops who had signed the document of his own deposition. Henry's proposed council at Worms was so scantily attended that it was removed to Mainz. Here

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too the German princes were conspicuous by their absence. Of their own accord the latter held a diet at Tribur, and forced Henry to agree to the convention of Oppenheim (see No. 10). Among themselves they agreed that, should Henry fail to obtain absolution from the bann within a year from the date of the assembly, he should be deposed from the throne. They furthermore invited Gregory to be present at an Augsburg diet, where he was to sit in judgment on their king.

The latter, meanwhile, was relegated to a species of banishment in Spires, where he was to abstain from all interference in public affairs until the pope's decision should have been rendered. It was not long, however, before Henry found this state of things unbearable, and made up his mind to the step that was to make him the most famous suppliant in history. It was absolutely necessary to break the strong league existing between the pope and the German princes. The latter demanded that the king should gain absolution from the bann. He determined to do so at any price. It must be remembered that the prime teaching of the church was that no repentant sinner who sought God's mercy in the proper way could possibly fail to obtain it. Gregory's influence as the spiritual head of Christendom would have been irrevocably shaken had he refused to pardon one who expressed himself as ready to undergo any depth of penance that might be enjoined upon him.

What happened at Canossa is described by Gregory himself in his letter to the German princes (see No. 11). Henry rode away from the Tuscan castle, bound, indeed, by promises for the future, but, in reality, a free manfree to labour and to consult for his own interests. At the price of a deep personal humiliation he had gained an undoubted diplomatic victory.

For a time, indeed, this was not apparent. Little more