The Reach of Rome c. 1100

The Great Schism of 1054, a dispute between Rome and Constantinople over who held jurisdiction over the Church in Sicily, permanently divided Christianity between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church. By 1100 Roman Catholicism reached into most of western and central Europe, with the Pope acting as the centralized ecclesiastical authority. Yet there was tension between Church and State over who had the authority to elect archbishops, bishops and abbots. This led to the 11th- and 12th-century Investiture Controversy, where a succession of popes challenged the authority of European monarchies to appoint Church officials. The controversy began when Pope Gregory VII clashed with the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV, who ruled territories in Germany and Italy. Holy Roman Emperors, as well as European monarchs, believed that they, like the Pope, were divinely chosen and had the right to political control over Church domains. The crisis was resolved in in 1122, with investiture shared between Church and State. Monarchs were to invest bishops with secular authority (‘by the lance’), while the pope invested bishops with sacred authority (‘by ring and staff’).