The Rise Of The Papacy: Emperor Theodosius

The influence churches had on Europe was massive. Catholicism was the main religion at that time and people stopped to make the churches the center of everything. Its power had been built up over the centuries and relied on ignorance and superstition on the part of the populace. It had been indoctrinated into the people that they could only get to heaven via the church. Each Catholic church consisted of a priest. Everyone that practiced this religion thought that the priest was their way to heaven, giving him an enormous power. However, the relationship between people and churches was essentially based on money. If people didn't have the same religion as the church they either lied, fled, or they died.

Over the past two thousand years, there has been a total of 266 Popes who have led the Roman Catholic Church. It all started with St. Peter, the leader of Jesus’ apostles. Jesus asked Peter to build his church on a rock and Jesus would, in return, give him the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Peter became the first Bishop of Rome, and all the other Popes that follow him are said to be his descendants.

After the 4th century when Constantinople emerged as a great capital and church center, tensions sometimes arose between its leaders and the bishop of Rome. After the fall of Rome to Germanic invaders in 476, the Roman pope was the only guardian of Christian universalism in the West. He began more explicitly to attribute his dominance to Rome's being the burial place of Saint Peter, whom Jesus had called the "rock" on which the church was to be built. The Eastern Christians respected that tradition and recognized the Roman patriarch to a measure of honorable authority. But they never believed that this authority allowed the papacy to overrule another church or that it made the pope into a universally reliable figure within the larger

In response to the how and why the papacy in Rome became the center of power as it did. Shortly after

The church in the Medieval era, however, was incredibly powerful and mostly unopposed. Salvation, to the religious, was and remains the most important aspect of faith. Religion without a fate after death is almost entirely hopeless and borders on nihilistic. The Catholic church used this incessant fear to fuel their political vendettas. This is made evident by the attempted squelching of the Reformation sparked by Martin Luther as well as the expulsion of the Moriscos, Jews, and Protestants from Spain. The church had successfully convinced an entire continent that the only true way to attain eternal life was through the doctrine of the church. This gave the Pope authority, power, and uncontested control over the Christian people, for a

“In a time of great political chaos, the Roman Catholic Church was the single, largest unifying structure in Medieval Europe. It touched everyone's life, no matter what their rank or class or where they lived” (DBQ 2, Doc 3). The church may have tried to unify Europe, but how could it have, with all the invasions. The Vikings stormed in and raided the churches. If anything the church further promoted the dark age. They practically made themselves sitting ducks. They took lots of money from the people, but had no way of protecting the money. With the Christian beliefs, how were the people supposed to defend themselves during an invasion? The Vikings raided the church of their wealth, sending them further into poverty. Then, continued to collect money from the people, saying that they would one day go to heaven. How is it an Age of Faith, when the Vikings would burn down the monasteries and churches, and raid them? Further showing how dark of an age it

The power of the Bishop in Rome resulted from several factors, including the barbarian invasions, the failure of the emperors to defend their homeland, the success of Christianity, and the fame of the Church. The Roman generals battled over who would rule and thus failed to defend their borders adequately. This created gaps in the land, which was a factor the fall of Rome. With the invasion of the barbarians, it was up to the Church to defend the lands. Pope Gregory greatly influenced the situation. He was responsible for the improved standing of the papacy. He became Rome’s financial officer, and he managed food and water supplies. He created peace with the Lombards, and was able to ransom prisoners from them in the 6th century. He created a new Liturgy of the church, and he believed the purpose of the papacy was to help the poor, thus establishing the papal title “Servant of the servants of Christ.” Gregory turned a self-seeking papacy into an office of kindness and humility.

If we travel back to the year 1500, the Church (what we now call the Roman Catholic Church) was very powerful both politically and spiritually in Western Europe. For some time the Church was seen as an institution weighed down by internal power struggles. Popes and Cardinals often lived more like kings than spiritual leaders. Popes claimed political as well as spiritual power. They commanded armies, made political alliances and enemies, and, sometimes, even waged war.

Pope Silverius was a Pope during the Dark Ages in Europe, his date of birth is unknown, and he died in 537 AD after being banished on an island off of the coast. Silverius was the son of Pope Hormisdas, and was born before his father joined the Priesthood. Silverius was the Pope for a little more than a year, and was able to alienate the Empress Theodora, the wife of Justinian a Byzantine Emperor known for his reform of civil law. He was forced out of the papacy by a Byzantinum general because Silverius upsetted Theodora. Then, Silverius was wrongly accused of assisting the Goths attack the Byzantine Empire, and was exiled on the Island of Palmaria. Centuries later, he was appointed as a venerated Saint.

In 28AD, when Julia was 13 years old, she was betrothed to Domitius Ahenobarbus and later married him. Her marriage was arranged by Tiberius who was the Emperor of Rome and head of the imperial household at the time. In December, 37AD, Julia gave birth to her first son who was to be the future Emperor. Her son's name was Nero. Tiberius died later in the same year Nero was born and Julia’s brother Claudius took to the throne. In 39AD, Julia, Livilla, and their cousin were involved in a plot to murder Caligula and make Lepidus, Drusilla's widower, the new Emperor but the there plot did not work resulting in failure. Caligula had Lepidus executed as he did not want him as a threat and later made sure that Julia and Livilla were exiled to Pandateria which is now a part of the Pontine Islands. In 41AD,

Theodosius The Great was extremely important to the Catholic Church. Theodosius was born on January 11, 347A.D., in Cauca, Spain, and was the last Emperor in the undivided empire. “The undivided empire is the empire before the western and southern parts of Europe divided into two”(Ayer).  Theodosius had no religion and did not care about it.

The Middle Ages, or Medieval time, was an era of war, plague and political oppression. It is thought to have begun with the fall of the Roman Empire (history.com). After the fall of the Roman Empire, there were no laws or government to protect the poor people, so they “turned to lords to keep the peace and act on their behalf” ("Characteristics of the Feudal World"). This led to the beginnings of Feudalism, a social system in which people worked and fought for nobles who gave them protection and land in return (“Feudalism”). Under the feudal system, the Pope was positioned at the top of the hierarchy pyramid.

By The Middle Ages, one understands a relatively long historical period extending from the end of the Roman Empire to the 1500's. The conquest of The Roman Empire by Germanic tribes, and synthesis of Germanic and Roman ways of life formed the civilization which we call medieval (medieval-from Latin words; medium (middle) and aevum (age)). Medieval civilization was greatly influenced by the Muslims in Spain and The Middle East, and by Byzantine Empire and Christians in Southeast Europe.

He was young and incapable, and gave the papacy a bad name by acting sinfully. The people lost respect for the church, and could no longer view it as the ideal way of life. These views were altered in the High Middle Ages when the papacy became increasingly powerful in a prosperous time. The centralization of the church enabled Christianity to revitalize the spirit and faith of the Church. The church was organized by several reforming movements of the cluny, monastery, and papacy. Corruption was cleansed by new clerical laws, in addition to the canon law, that banned simony, clerical marriages, and immorality in the church. The succession of popes became more favorable because the expectations of the pope were heightened, as he was seen as a leader of faith having the grandest morals. Pope Gregory VII brought hope to the people by wanting to establish "right order in the world," and this stimulated people to regain faith in Christianity. Christianity influenced art, literature, and education. Art and architecture were ways to demonstrate Christian belief through divine cathedrals, paintings of biblical scenes, and portraits of popes. Charlemagne initiated the increase of literacy importance by instituting schooling in monastic communities. Changes in education during this time period were the foundation of cathedral schools, interests in ancient texts, and the education of the common people with the

At the beginning of this time period, before the decline, Rome was the mother of the world. It is the largest recorded empire ever known and was one of the wonders of the world. It was the center of trade and was the protector of Europe. The fall of this miraculous empire was the very beginning of the dark ages. Without Rome 's protection, that meant that western Europe was defenseless against others. Eastern Europe still had rulers Justinian and Theodora, but they weren’t much help to the beginning of the fall of Europe. Without Rome 's trade, they didn 't have any money or supplies. The fall of Rome’s main center lead to the beginning of the Dark Ages.