King v. Pope

During the middle ages, there was a great battle for power. This battle was fought between Monarchy and religion. The King of Germany, Heinrich IV, had to compete for power against the Pope, Gregory VII, and vice versa.

Since his youth, Heinrich IV was raised to be king. Heinrich IV was supported by many of the German Princes, but quickly received critic and conditions for loyalty particularly from Rudolf von Rheinfelden. He sated that he would only support Heinrich on the condition that he serve as a just ruler. This came as a shock to many, but his father Heinrich III shadowed his sun for a number of years before giving him ultimate power to the throne.

At this time, Germany was in control of about half of Europe. Most importantly Heinrich IV was king over the Roman Empire. Germany’s population at this time was estimated to be about 5 million people. Most of these people were farmers, although there also began to be advancements in healthcare at this time as well. Technology began to also improve the quality of life and the efficiency of workers. The life expectancy at this time rose about 32 years.

The conflicts between King Heinrich IV and the Pope began early on. As a child, Heinrich IV was not ready to assume responsibility in the way that the Pope could. This lead to many people being more willing to follow the Pope than their own king.

In the peak of his childhood, Heinrich was kidnaped by an Archbishop, and taken to Cologne to be raised. Due to Heinrich’s curiosity, he was lured onto a boat, after which he tired to escape by jumping overboard. He was quickly snatched and pulled back into the boat. This caused much trauma for Heinrich which lead to conflict between Heinrich and the Church.

Heinrich was often with two or three concubines at the same time, but was still unsatisfied. He was not in line with the teachings of the church. This was difficult to explain when it was mentioned that Heinrich was called of God to be king. This and other conflicts lead to the splitting of power. King Heinrich IV was given power over the physical wellbeing of the people whereas the Pope was in power of the religious wellbeing. Neither of the two were satisfied though. Pope Gregory VII was convinced of his power to overthrow any king he see fit. He also declared that he should be the only one acknowledged as having true authority and power.

Heinrich on the other hand was furious with the Pope’s rulings. Heinrich declared that he was given power through the almighty and because he controlled the Roman Empire, he was the leader of the Pope. In reaction to this declaration, the Pope used Bishops and Deacons to preach that King Heinrich was not in correlation with the teachings of the church and would therefore pin members to deny him as king.

In an effort to redeem himself, Heinrich traveled across the Alps to make amends with the Pope. When he first arrived, he was denied entry and was forced to stay outside in the cold. He was eventually admitted and various conflicts were resolved. This is not the only example of Kings and Popes fighting for power. On multiple occasions, religious figures claiming authority from the almighty have declared authority and power.

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