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In
the background of dialogue and the Ecumenical Movement for the reunion of
Christendom lies the generally recognized fact that there is an interplay
between theology and society, which may lead to a dogmatic formulation and
become the cause of doctrinal differences.
Within the Roman Empire doctrinal conflicts took place usually among
Roman citizens in a atmosphere of religious and philosophical pluralism. With
the official recognition of Orthodox Christianity, we witness the beginning of
the use of doctrinal differences in support of nationalistic movements of
separate identity and secession from Roman rule, both political and
ecclesiastical. Both Nestorianism and so-called Monophysitism, although
initially promoted by Roman nationals, were finally supported by separatist
tendencies among such ethnic groups as Syrians, Copts, and Armenians. Indeed,
both Persians and Arabs took care to keep Christians separated.
By
the eighth century, we meet for the first time the beginning of a split in
Christianity which, from the start, took on ethnic names instead of names
designating the heresy itself or its leader. Thus in West European sources we
find a separation between a Greek East and a Latin West. In Roman sources this
same separation constitutes a schism between Franks and Romans.
One
detects in both terminologies an ethnic or racial basis for the schism which may
be more profound and important for descriptive analysis than the doctrinal
claims of either side. Doctrine here may very well be part of a political,
military, and ethnic struggle and, therefore, intelligible only when put in
proper perspective. The interplay between doctrine and ethnic or racial struggle
may be such that the two can be distinguished, but not separated.
The
schism between Eastern and Western Christianity was not between East and West
Romans. In actuality, it was a split between East Romans and the conquerors of
the West Romans.
The
Roman Empire was conquered in three stages: 1st by Germanic tribes who became
known as Latin Christianity, 2nd by Muslim Arabs, and finally, by Muslim Turks.
In contrast to this, the ecclesiastical administration of the Roman Empire
disappeared in stages from West European Romania (the Western part of the Roman
nation), but has survived up to modern times in the Roman Orthodox Patriarchates
of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem.
The
reason for this is that the conquerors of the West Romans used the Church to
suppress the Roman nation, whereas under Islam the Roman nation survived by
means of the Church. In each instance of conquest, the bishops became the
ethnarchs of the conquered Romans and administered Roman law on behalf of the
emperor in Constantinople. As long as the bishops were Roman, the unity of the
Roman Church was preserved, in spite of theological conflicts. The same was true
when Romanized Franks became bishops during Merovingian times and shared with
Roman bishops church administration.
During the seventh century, however, the seeds of schism appear. The
Visigoths in Spain had abandoned their Arian heresy and had become nominally
Orthodox. But they preserved their Arian customs of church administration, which
became that of the Carolingian Franks, and finally, of the Normans. The
Visigoths began subjugating the Spanish Romans by replacing Roman bishops with
Goths and by 654, had abolished Roman law.
During this same century, especially after 683, the Franks also had
appointed Frankish bishops en masse and had rid their government
administration of Roman officials.
Earlier, during the sixth and early seventh century, rebellions of
leaders in Francia were joint conspiracies of Franks and Romans. By 673,
however, the rebellions had become purely Frankish.
The
fact that Constantinople sent its navy twice to Spain at the end of the seventh
and beginning of the eighth century to reestablish the beachhead lost in 629 is
testimony to the plight of Roman Christians in Spain. In the face of the
victorious Arabs, who had completed their conquest of the Middle East and had
driven across Northern Africa, within striking distance of Carthage,
Constantinople seemed ill-prepared for such military ventures into Spain.
However, judging from the pattern of events, it seems that these attempted East
Roman landings in Spain were supposed to touch off a general uprising of the
Christian and Jewish Romans in Spain and Gaul against Visigothic and Frankish
rule. The success of such rebellions in Spain and Gaul would perhaps have helped
Constantinople in stemming the Arab tidal wave, which at times seemed to swamp
the whole empire.
At
the Seventeenth Council of Toledo in 694, the Jews were condemned to slavery
because they had confessed to a plot to overthrow the 'Christians' (meaning
Goths) in Spain, with the help of "those who dwelt in lands beyond the sea," the
Roman, and not the later Arabic province of Africa, as is commonly believed. The
Arabs at this time had not yet reached Carthage, the capital of this province or
exarchate. Egica (687-701), the Gothic king, had fought off an attempt by the
East Roman navy to reinstall the beachhead lost in 629. There can be no doubt
that the Jews were condemned at this Seventeenth Council of Toledo in 694 for
plotting with Constantinople and Spanish Romans for the overthrow of Gothic rule
in Spain.
King Witiza (701-708/9), the son of Egica, also defeated an East Roman
attempt to liberate some of the cities in Southern Spain. Since 698 the Arabs
were in firm control of Carthage and its environs and were establishing their
control in the area of Ceuta.
These attempts of Constantinople failed, and the Roman Berber
(Numedian) governor of Ceuta[
1 ]in 711, and a bit later, the Gallo Romans,
chose what seemed the lesser evil by establishing ad hoc alliances with
the Arabs against Visigoths and Franks. These Roman Arab alliances overthrew
Visigothic rule in Spain (711-719), but were defeated by the Frank warlord
Charles Martel, first at Poitiers in 732, and then in Provence in 739.
The
Roman revolts reduced Francia to the northern kingdoms of Austrasia and
Neutrasia. Eudo, the Roman duke of Aquitane, who made the first mentioned
alliance with the Arabs against the Franks[
2 ], had temporarily occupied Paris itself in an
attempt to keep the pro-Roman Merovingian Franks in power. It fell to Charles
Martel, Pippin III, and Charlemagne to restore Frankish rule over Burgundy,
Auvergne, Aquitane, Gascony, Septimania, and Provence.
Carolingian feudalism had its origin in the need to prevent the
disaster which had overtaken the Visigoths in Spain. The Franks were obliged to
develop and extend the already existing system of controlling slave populations.
Their goal was to keep the Romans subjugated and pacified, first in Austrasia
and Neustrasia, and then elsewhere in Gaul, and, finally, in Northern Italy, as
circumstances permitted.[
3 ]
While still consolidating their grip on Gaul, the Franks conquered
Northern and Central Italian Romania in the middle of the eighth century, in the
guise of liberators of Italic of Papal Romania from Lombard oppression. At this
time, the papacy was deeply involved in the iconoclastic controversy, having
taken a firm stand, against the Roman emperors and patriarchs of New Rome who
supported the iconoclastic movement.
The
Franks applied their policy of destroying the unity between the Romans under
their rule and the Romans under the rule of Constantinople and the Arabs. They
played one Roman party against the other, took neither side, and finally
condemned both the iconoclasts and the Seventh Ecumenical Synod (786/7) at their
own Council of Frankfurt in 794, in the presence of the legates of Pope Hadrian
I (771-795), the staunch supporter of Orthodox practice.
In
the time of Pippin of Herestal (697-715) and Charles Martel (715-741), many of
the Franks who replaced Roman bishops were military leaders who, according to
Saint Boniface, "shed the blood of Christians like that of the pagans."[
4 ]
In
order to defend itself against foreign interference and protect itself from the
fate of conquered Romans elsewhere, the papacy promulgated electoral laws in
769, according to which candidates for the papal dignity had to be cardinal
deacons or presbyters of the city of Rome, and Romans by birth. Only Roman
nationals were allowed to participate in the elections. Thirteen Frankish
bishops were in attendance when these decisions were made.[
5 ]
Meanwhile, Roman revolutionary activity in Gaul had not yet been fully
suppressed. Pippin III had died the year before and Charlemagne and his brother
Carloman had taken over the rule of Austrasia and Neustria. Within the
surprisingly short period of only twenty-two years, from 732 to 754, the Franks
had defeated the Roman-Arab alliance, swamped all the provinces of Gaul, and had
swept into Northern Italy. This was made possible by the new feudal order which
was first established in Austrasia and Neustria. The Roman administrative units
of the civitates were abolished and replaced by the military
comitates. The former free Romans were transferred en masse from
the cities and were established on the slave labor camps called villae
and mansi, alongside the serfs. They were called villeins
(villains), a term which, for understandable reasons, came to mean
enemies of law and order.
The
Visigoths in Spain were overthrown by the Romans, who opened their city gates to
the Berbers and Arabs. The Franks reacted with determination to avoid the
occurrence of the same in Francia (Land of the Franks) by abolishing Roman urban
society.
By
the middle of the eighth century, the Frankish armies of occupation were
overextended far beyond Austrasia and Neustria, where the main body of their
nation was established. They could not yet afford to take over the church
administration of Papal Romania as they had done elsewhere. It was expedient to
play the part of liberators for the time being. Therefore, they appointed the
Roman pope as a vassal of Francia.
The
measure of freedom left to the Romans in Papal Romania depended on their right
to have their own Roman pope, bishops, and clergy. To lose this right would have
been tantamount to the same loss of freedom suffered by their compatriots in
Northern Italy and Francia. Therefore, they had to be very careful not to incite
the Franks.
An
unsuccessful attempt was made on the life of Pope Leo III (795-816), the
successor of Hadrian. Pope Leo was then accused of immoral conduct. Charlemagne
took a personal and active interest in the investigations which caused Leo to be
brought to him in Paderborn. Leo was sent back to Rome, followed by Charlemagne,
who continued the investigations. The Frankish king required finally that Leo
swear to his innocence on the Bible, which he did on December 23, 800. Two days
later Leo crowned Charlemagne 'Emperor of the Romans.'
Charlemagne wanted the title 'Emperor', but not that of 'Emperor of the
Romans'. His biographer Einhard claims that had Charlemagne known what the pope
was up to, he would not have entered the church.[
6 ]
Charlemagne had arranged to get the title 'Emperor' in exchange for
Leo's exoneration. Leo almost spoiled things because Charlemagne wanted the
title recognized by Constantinople-New Rome whose real 'Emperor of the Romans'
would never recognize this full title for a Frank. This is why Charlemagne never
used this title in his official documents, using instead the titles 'Emperor and
Augustus, who governs' or 'administers the Roman Empire'. By claiming that he
ruled the Roman Empire, Charlemagne thus clearly meant that he governed the
whole Roman Empire. The Franks decided that the Eastern part of the
Empire had become 'Greek', and its leader, an emperor of 'Greeks'. This is why
Otto III (983-1002) is described in the year 1000 by his chronicler as 'visiting
the Roman Empire', meaning, simply, the Papal States.[
7 ]
The
Romans called their empire Romania and respublica. The Franks reserved
these names exclusively for the Papal States and literally condemned the Eastern
part of the Empire to be Graecia.[
8 ] The Franks were very careful to always
condemn 'Greeks' as heretics, but never Romans, although East and West Romans
were one nation. Thus at the Council of Frankfurt (794), the Franks condemned
the 'Greeks' and their Seventh Ecumenical Synod in the presence of the legates
of the Roman Pope Hadrian II, an aggressive promoter of this same Seventh
Ecumenical Synod.
Hadrian had already excommunicated all those who had not accepted the
Seventh Ecumenical Synod. Technically the Franks were in a state of
excommunication. But to implement this would have brought down upon Papal
Romania and her citizens the wrath of Frankish feudalism, as had been the fate
of the Romans in the rest of Francia (Gallia, Germania, and Italia).
Charlemagne had also caused the Filioque to be added to the Frankish
Creed, without consulting the pope. When the controversy over this addition
broke out in Jerusalem, Charlemagne convoked the Council of Aachen in 809 and
decreed that this addition was a dogma necessary for salvation. With this
fait accomplit under his belt, he tried to pressure Pope Leo III into
accepting it.[
9 ]
Leo
rejected the Filioque not only as an addition to the Creed, but also as dogma,
claiming that the Fathers left it out of the Creed neither out of ignorance, nor
out of negligence, nor out of oversight, but on purpose and by divine
inspiration.
What Leo is clearly saying, but in diplomatic terms, is that the
addition of the Filioque to the Creed is a heresy. The Franks were a too
dangerous a presence in Papal Romania, so Leo acted as Hadrian had done before
him. Leo did not reject the Filioque outside of the Creed, since there is in the
West Roman tradition an Orthodox Filioque which was, and is, accepted as such by
the East Romans until today. However, this West Roman Orthodox Filioque could
not be added to the Creed where the term procession had a different meaning. In
other words in a wrong context.
In
any event, Charlemagne cared very little about the pope's thoughts on icons and
the Filioque. He needed the condemnation of the East Romans as heretics in order
to prove that they were no longer Romans, but Greeks, and he succeeded in
getting this in the only way the Frankish mind at this time could devise.
Believing that the Franks would eventually take over the Papacy, he knew that
future Frankish popes would accept what Roman popes of his day had rejected.
Charlemagne in his youth heard stories of his father's and uncle's struggles to
save Francia from the Roman revolutions, which had destroyed Visigothic rule in
Hispanic Gothia (Spain) and had almost destroyed the Franks in Gaul.
Many historians take for granted that, by this time, the Franks and
Romans in Gaul had become one nation, and that the Romans were supposedly
included under the name Frank or populus Francorum.
So
there is not doubt about the identity of the revolutionaries in Gaul, we quote a
contemporary Frankish chronicler who reports that in 742, the year of
Charlemagne's birth, the Gascons rose in revolt under the leadership of
Chunoald, the duke of Aquitaine and son of Eudo, mentioned above. Charlemagne's
father and uncle "united their forces and crossed the Loire at the city of
Orleans. Overwhelming the Romans, they made for Bourges."[
10 ]Since Chunoald is here described as a
beaten Roman, this means that his father Eudo was also a Roman, and not a Frank,
as claimed by some.
The
resulting Carolingian hatred for Romans is reflected in Charlemagne's Libri
Carolini and in Salic law, and is clearly expressed by Liutprand, Bishop of
Cremona, during the following century, as we shall have occasion to see.
Meanwhile, the West Romans and the pope continued to pray in church for
their emperor in Constantinople. Even the Irish prayed for the Imperium
Romanum. However, when the emperor supported a heresy like iconoclasm, West
Romans stopped praying for him and prayed only for the Imperium.
The
name Roman had come to mean Orthodox, while the name Greek, from the time of
Constantine the Great, meant pagan.[
11 ] By Frankish logic this meant that if the
East Romans became heretics, this would be proof that they had given up Roman
nationality and that their empire was no longer Romania. Thus, West Roman
prayers would no longer apply to a heretical emperor of 'Greeks', but to the
Orthodox Frankish emperor of 'doctrinally true' Romans. Also part of Frankish
logic was the belief that God grants conquests to the orthodox and defeats to
the heretics. This supposedly explains the explosive growth of Franacia already
described, but also the shrinkage of Romania at the hands of the Germanic and
Arabic tribes.
These Frankish principles of reasoning are clearly spelled out in a
letter of Emperor Louis II (855-875) to Emperor Basil I (867-886) in 871. Louis
calls himself "Emperor Augustus of the Romans" and demotes Basil to "Emperor of
New Rome." Basil had poked fun at Louis, insisting that he was not even emperor
in all of Francia, since he ruled only a small part of it, and certainly was not
emperor of the Romans, but of the Franks. Louis argued that he was emperor in
all of Francia because the other Frankish kings were his kinsmen by blood. He
makes the same claim as that found in the Annals of Lorsch: he who holds
the city of Old Rome is entitled to the name "Emperor of the Romans." Louis
claimed that : "We received from heaven this people and city to guide and (we
received) the mother of all the churches of God to defend and exalt."
Louis claimed that Rome, its people, and the papacy were given to the
Franks by God because of their orthodox beliefs and were taken by God away from
the 'Greeks', who used to be Romans when they were orthodox.
Louis responded by saying: "We have received the government of the
Roman Empire for our orthodoxy. The Greeks have ceased to be emperors of the
Romans for their cacodoxy. Not only have they deserted the city (Rome) and the
capital of the Empire, but they have also abandoned Roman nationality and even
the Latin language. They have migrated to another capital city and taken up a
completely different nationality and language."[
12 ]
These remarks explain the Frankish use of the name Romania for
territories they conquered from the East Romans and Turks during their so-called
crusades. These provinces, and the Greek language, now become once again Romania
because the Frankish armies had restored them to the 'orthodoxy' of the Frankish
Papacy and to the 'supremacy' of the Latin language.[
13 ]
Emperor Basil I fully understood the dangers of Frankish plans revealed
in the letter of Emperor Louis II and answered by sending his army to expel the
Arabs from Southern Italy in 876. Frankish occupation of Papal Romania and Arab
pressure from the South had put a tremendous strain on the papacy, and gave rise
to a pro-Frankish party of Romans who managed to elect Nicholas I (858-867) as
pope.
However, with the Roman army now established in the south, the papacy
gained enough freedom and independence to react doctrinally to the Franks on the
questions of icons and the Filioque. Pope John VIII (872-882) felt strong enough
to participate in the Eighth Ecumenical Synod of 879 in Constantinople, which
condemned Charlemagne's Councils of Frankfurt (794) and Aachen (809). However,
this Synod of Constantinople did not mention these Frankish Councils or the
Franks by name. It simply condemned and excommunicated all those who rejected
the Seventh Ecumenical Synod[
14 ] and altered the Creed, either by addition
or by deletion.[
15 ]
Pope John VIII was on good terms with the Frankish rulers and kept them
pleased with gifts of the title emperor. He never ceased to appeal to them for
aid against the Saracens. The Franks were not as powerful then as they were in
the time of Charlemagne, but they were still dangerous, and could be useful.
In
a private letter to Patriarch Photios (858-867, 877-886), Pope John VIII assured
his colleague that the Filioque was never added to the Creed in Rome (as had
been done by the Franks when they feudalized Northern Italy), that it was a
heresy, but that the question should be handled with great caution..."so that we
will not be forced to allow the addition..."[
16 ] This papal letter was added at the end of
the minutes of the Synod and explains why the Synod did not name the heretics
who were condemned.[
17 ]
Pope John also proposed to this same Synod of Constantinople the
adoption of two of the provisions of the 769 decree on papal elections by a
college of cardinal clergy already mentioned. However, they were to be applied
to the election of the Patriarch of Constantinople. One proposed canon forbids
the candidacy of laymen. The second restricts candidacy to the cardinal clergy
of the city of Constantinople.[
18 ] Both papal proposals were rejected as
inapplicable to New Rome, but accepted as applicable to Old Rome.[
19 ] Thus in this indirect manner, the 769
decree on papal elections became part of Roman law when the acts of this Synod
were signed by the emperor.
Pope John could not directly petition that the 769 papal election law
be incorporated into Roman law, since this would be tantamount to an admission
that for more than a hundred years popes were being elected illegally. It
appears that Franks and pro-Frankish Romans had been promoting the argument that
papal election practice was neither that of the East Roman Patriarchates, nor
legal, since not a part of Roman law. Now it was at least part of Roman law.
It
was very important for the Romanism and Orthodoxy of the papacy that it remain
self-perpetuating, without the possibility of infiltration by pro-Franks such as
Nicholas I, or even of a Frankish takeover, if clergy from outside of the papacy
could become candidates, as had happened in the East where it was permissible
for a presbyter of one Patriarchate to become patriarch of another.
In
addition, the canons which forbid the transference of bishops became extremely
important. The successor of John VIII was not recognized as pope by Emperor
Basil I because he had been bishop and had become pope by transference.
The
sixth and seventh centuries witnessed a continuing controversy in Francia over
the place of the Frankish king in the election of bishops. One party insisted
that the king had no part in the elections. A second group would allow that the
king simply approve the elections. A third group would give the king veto power
over elections. A fourth group supported the right of the kings to appoint the
bishops. Gregory of Tours and most members of the senatorial class belonged to
this fourth group. However, while supporting the king's right to appoint
bishops, Gregory of Tours protested against the royal practice of selling
bishoprics to the highest bidder.
From the time of St. Gregory the Great, the popes of Old Rome tried to
convince the Frankish kings to allow the election of bishops according to canon
law by the clergy and people. Of course, the Frankish kings knew very well that
what the popes wanted was the election of bishops by the overwhelming Roman
majority. However, once the Franks replaced the Roman bishops and reduced the
populus Romanorum to serfdom as villeins, there was no longer any
reason why the canons should not apply. Thus Charlemagne issued his capitulary
of 803, which restored the free election of bishops by the clergy and people
secunda statuta canonum. Charlemagne restored the letter of the law,
but both its purpose and that of the popes were frustrated. The church in
Francia remained in the grip of a tyrannical Teutonic minority.
It
is within such a context that one can appreciate the appearance of the
Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, a large collection of forged documents, mixed with
and fused into authentic ones compiled and in use by 850.
Incorporated into this collection was the forgery known as the Donation
of Constantine whose purpose was to prevent the Franks from establishing their
capital in Rome. This is strongly indicated by the fact that Otto III
(983-1002), whose mother was an East Roman, declared this document a forgery as
part of his reason for establishing Old Rome as his capital. Constantine the
Great allegedly gave his imperial throne to the pope and his successors because
"it is not right that an earthly emperor would have power in a place where the
government of priests and the head of the Christian religion has been
established by the heavenly Emperor." For this reason he moved his "empire and
power" to Constantinople. And it was hoped that the Franks would fall for the
ruse and leave Rome to the Romans.
Translated into feudal context, the Decretals supported the idea that
bishops, metropolitans or archbishops, patriarchs and popes are related to each
other as vassals and lords in a series of pyramidal relations, similar to
Frankish feudalism, except that the pope is not bound by the hierarchical stages
and procedures and can intervene directly at any point in the pyramid. He is at
the same time the pinnacle, and directly involved by special juridical procedure
in all levels. Clergy are subject only to the church tribunals. All bishops have
the right of appeal directly to the pope who alone is the final judge. All
appeals to lower level church courts are to be reported to the pope. Even when
no appeal is made, the pope has the right to bring cases before his tribunal.
The
throne of Saint Peter was transferred to Rome from Antioch. Constantine the
Great gave his throne to Pope Silvester I and his successors in Rome. Thus the
pope sat simultaneously on the thrones of Saints Peter and Constantine. What
more powerful rallying point could there be fore that part of the Roman nation
subjugated to Teutonic oppression?
The
Decretals were strongly resisted by powerful members of the Frankish hierarchy.
However, they very quickly had wide distribution and became popular with the
oppressed. At times the Frankish kings supported the Decretals against their own
bishops as their interests dictated. They were also supported by pious Frankish
clergy and laymen, and even by Frankish bishops who appealed to the pope in
order to nullify decisions taken against them by their metropolitans.
The
forged parts of these Decretals were written in Frankish Latin, an indication
that the actual work was done in Francia by local Romans. The fact that the
Franks accepted the Decretals as authentic, although not in the interests of
their feudal establishment, means clearly that they were not a party to the
forgery. The Franks never suspected the forgery until centuries later.
Both Old and New Rome knew that these Decretals were forgeries.[
20 ] Roman procedure for verification of
official texts can leave no doubt about this. Therefore, it is very possible
that agents of Constantinople, and certainly, agents of Old Rome, had a hand in
the compilation.
The
strongest argument that Hincmar, archbishop of Rheims (845-882) could conjure up
against the application of these Decretals in Francia was that they applied only
to Papal Romania. He made a sharp distinction between canons of Ecumenical
Synods, which are immutable and applicable to the whole Church because they were
inspired by the Holy Spirit, and laws which are limited in their application to
a certain era and to only a part of the Church.[
21 ] One can see why Hincmar's contemporary,
Pope John VIII (872-882), expressed to Patriarch Photios his hope, that he,
John, might be able to persuade the Franks to omit the Filioque from the Creed.
What Pope John did not fully grasp was the determination with which the Franks
decided that the East Romans be only 'Greeks' and heretics, as is clear from the
Frankish tradition now inaugurated to write works against the errors of the
'Greeks'.[
22 ]
The
Decretals were an attack on the very heart of the Frankish feudal system, since
they uprooted its most important administrative officials, i.e., the bishops,
and put them directly under the control, of all things, of a Roman head
of state.
The
astute Franks understood the danger very well. Behind their arguments against
the application of the Decretals in Francia, one finds lurking two Frankish
concerns. On the one hand, they contended with a Roman pope, but on the other
hand, they had to take this pope very seriously because the villeins
could become dangerous to the feudal establishment if incited by their ethnarch
in Rome.
Pope Hadrian II (867-872), John VIII's predecessor, threatened
personally to restore Emperor Louis II (855-875) to his rightful possession in
Lotharingia, taken by Charles the Bald (840-875), who had been crowned by
Hincmar of Rheims (845-882).[
23 ] Hincmar answered this threat in a letter
to the pope. He warned Hadrian not to try "to make slaves of us Franks", since
the pope's "predecessors laid no such yoke on our predecessors, and we could not
bear it...so we must fight to the death for our freedom and birthright."[
24 ]
Hincmar was not so much concerned with bishops becoming slaves of the
pope, but that a Roman should "make slaves of us Franks."[
25 ]
In
990, King Hugh Capet (987-996) of West Francia (Gaul or Gallia) and his bishops
applied to Pope John XV (985-996) for the suspension of Archbishop Arnulf of
Rheims as required by the Decretals. Arnulf had been appointed by Hugh Capet,
but subsequently betrayed his benefactor, in favor of the Carolingian Duke
Charles of Lotharingia who was his uncle.
Impatient with the pope's eighteen month delay in making a decision,
Hugh Capet convened a council at Verzy near Rheims in 990. Arnulf pleaded guilty
and begged for mercy. Nonetheless, a group of abbots challenged the proceedings
as illegal because they were not consistent with the Decretals.[
26 ] The Council deposed Arnulf. Hugh Capet
caused Gerbert de Aurillac, the future Pope Silvester II, to be appointed in his
place.[
27 ]
Pope John, however, rejected this council as illegal and unauthorized.
He sent a Roman abbot named Leo to depose Gerbert, restore Arnulf, and pronounce
suspension on all the bishops who had taken part in the council. The pope's
legate announced the pope's decision at the Council of Mouson in 995.[
28 ]
Gerbert vigorously defended himself.[
29 ] He rejected the papal decision in the
presence of the papal legate Leo and refused the advice of colleagues to desist
from his duties until the matter could be brought before the next Council of
Rheims. The bishop of Triers finally persuaded him not to celebrate mass until
the final decision on his case was reached.[
30 ]
Thus Gerbert was completely abandoned by both the ecclesiastical and
lay Frankish nobles who felt obliged to display, at least publicly, their
support for the pope's decision. They even avoided every kind of contact with
Gerbert. But Abbot Leo had aroused the faithful in support of the pope who sat
on the thrones of Saints Peter and Constantine the Great. Out of prudence,
Gerbert went into seclusion.
At
the next Council of Rheims in 996, Gerbert was deposed and Arnulf was
restored.[
31 ]The Frankish ecclesiastical nobility could
not afford to oppose popular support for the pope.
It
seems that it was not popular superstition and piety alone that was the
foundation of the people's fervor for the pope, but also the common Romanism the
majority shared with the pope. It is this Romanism which constituted the power
basis for the papal thrones of Saints Peter and Constantine the Great.
That the underlying problem was a clash between Romans and Franks is
clearly stated by Gerbert in a letter to Wilderod, bishop of Strassburg. He
writes: "The whole Church of the West Franks lies under the oppression of
tyranny. Yet remedy is not sought from the West Franks, but from these
(Romans)."[
32 ] It is easy to understand the enthusiasm
with which the subject populus Romanorum welcomed the Roman pope's
interventions, punishing and humiliating Frankish nobles guilty of injustice.
That the legate Leo could reverse the decisions of Hugh Capet and his bishops,
and drive the nobility into conformity and Gerbert into seclusion by means of
the faithful indicates that the makings of a revolution were present.
The
Frankish establishment, however, had the power to react, and it did so on two
fronts. It stepped up its propaganda against alleged papal "corruption" and, of
all things, "illiteracy," and made the decisive move to replace Roman popes with
alleged "pious" and "literate" Germanic popes.
The
alleged corrupt Roman popes could have been replaced by pious Roman popes. At
the time there were at least some 200 monasteries and 50,000 Roman monks south
of Rome.[
33 ] But this was exactly the danger that had
to be avoided. The Decretals in the hands of the pious Roman popes were even
more dangerous than when in the hands of corrupt ones. The purpose of this smear
campaign was to shatter the people's confidence in the Roman Papacy and justify
the need to cleanse it with "virtuous" and "literate" Lombards, and East and
West Franks.
Otto II (973-983) had appointed a Lombard, Peter of Pavia to the papacy
in 983. He became the first non-Roman pope as John XIV (983-984), and thus
provoked a revolution of the Roman populace aided by Constantinople. However, it
took another forty years for the noble vassals of King Robert the Pious
(996-1031) to get up enough Christian courage to take an oath that they would no
longer violate "noble women." They were careful not to include villeins
and serf women in the oath.
The
concern of the Frankish bishops for the morality of Roman popes is quite
interesting, as they did not seem concerned with their own morality when passing
the death sentence in their episcopal courts. Charlemagne's many wives and
fifteen illegitimate children were taken in stride, together with the fact that
he forbade the marriage of his daughters. But Charlemagne did not mind their
having children, although he castigated such practices in his capitularies.
At
the Council of Rheims in 991, already mentioned, Arnuld, the bishop of Orleans,
lists and violently attacks the alleged "corrupt" popes and, of course, praises
Peter of Pavia, i.e., Pope John XIV, the Lombard already mentioned. It is,
perhaps, not by accident that the allegedly corrupt popes were attached to
Constantinople and the pious one was a Lombard.
In
this same speech, Arnulf remarks: "But as at this time in Rome (as is publicly
known) there is hardly anyone acquainted with letters-without (as it is
written) one may hardly be a doorkeeper in the house of God-with what face may
he who has himself learnt nothing set himself up as a teacher of others? Of
course, in comparison with the Roman pontiff, ignorance is tolerable in other
priests, but in the Roman (pope), in him to whom it is given to pass in review
the faith, the morals, the discipline of the priesthood, indeed, of the
universal church, ignorance is in no way to be tolerated." [
34 ]
This deliberate fabrication should raise the question of the veracity
of such Frankish sources concerning the corruption and illiteracy of Roman
popes. Certainly many of them were neither saints nor scholars, but it is likely
that Frankish propaganda exaggerates their weaknesses and it is certain that it
does not stop short of fabrication.
In
this same speech Arnulf lists among the papal "monsters" Pope John XII
(955-964), who was put on trial in 963 by Otto I (936-973) and condemned in
absentia. The report of Liutprand, the Lombard bishop of Cremona, that no
proof was necessary at the trial because the pope's alleged crimes were publicly
known may be indicative of the need to reexamine such cases.
Perhaps the most important incentive for replacing Roman popes with
Franks and Lombards is that revealed by this same Liutprand, a chief adviser to
Otto I. He writes: "We...Lombards, Saxons, Franks, Lotharingians, Bajoarians,
Sueni, Burgundians, have so much contempt [for Romans and their emperors] that
when we become enraged with our enemies, we pronounce no other insult except
Roman (nisi Romane), this alone, i.e., the name of the Romans (hoc
solo, id est Romanorum nomine) meaning: whatever is ignoble, avaricious,
licentious, deceitful, and, indeed whatever is evil."[
35 ]
Perhaps the real reason that Pope John XII became the monster of
Frankish propaganda was that he dared restore the older tradition of dating
papal documents by the years of the reign of the Roman emperor in
Constantinople. In any case, Liutprand's tirade against the Romans, just quoted,
reveals the fact that he knew very well that East and West Romans were one
nation, and that the emperor in Constantinople was the real emperor of the
Romans.
This tirade also reveals the fact that Liutprand was not aware of the
prevailing theory among modern European historians that the Germanic nations
became one nation with the Romans in Western Europe. As is clear from Liutprand,
the Germanic peoples of his time would have been insulted by such claims.
Otto III (983-1002) solved the main problem of Frankdom in 996 by
appointing to the papacy Bruno of Carinthia, an East Frank, who, as Gregory V
(996-999), demanded the reinstatement of Arnulf as archbishop of Rheims. Thus
Gerbert de Aurillac gave up trying to be restored to Rheims. He was compensated,
however, by his fellow Frank, now on the papal throne, with confirmation of his
appointment as archbishop of Ravenna (998-999).
Upon the death of Bruno, Gerbert was appointed to the papacy by Otto
III and ruled Papal Romania as Silvester II (993-1003). For European and
American historians, this Silvester II is one of the great popes in the history
of the papacy. But for Romans, he was the head of the Frankish army of
occupation, and the pope who introduced the feudal system of suppression into
Papal Romania and enslaved the Romans to the Frankish nobility. There was no
other way the people of Old Rome would accept Germanic popes.
In
defending himself against the decision of the Roman pope, John XV, the future
Frankish Pope Gerbert d'Aurillac, staunchly and eloquently supported the
positions of Hincmar against the universal application of the Decretals. When
d'Aurillic became Pope Silvester II, he found their universal application
useful. The Decretals in the hands of the Frankish Papacy, sealed the tomb of
the West Romans very firmly for many centuries.
Between the years 973-1003, and especially between 1003-1009, the
Romans of Papal Romania made valiant efforts to preserve their freedom and
independence from Frankish feudalism by having or attempting to have their own
popes; once, at least, with the assistance of the East Roman army which had
reached Rome and entered the city. The German emperors, however, devised an
interim method of keeping the Romans somewhat pacified, by confirming the
election of Roman popes from the Roman Tusculan family, which secured the papacy
for itself, in exchange for the betrayal of Constantinople and her Orthodoxy
represented by the Crescenti family. However, this temporary facade was
abolished at the Council of Sutri in 1046. Thenceforth, Germanic popes were once
again appointed by the German emperors, until the Normans became the deciding
factor in allowing the reformer Franks to wrest the papacy from the imperial
Germans. Even Italian popes like Gregory VII are descended from the Frankish
army of occupation, established in Italy since the time of Charlemagne. It is no
wonder that Beatrice and Matilda, wife and daughter of Boniface II, marquess of
Tuscany, should become the great supporters of the reformed Papacy, since this
is also a Frankish family established there since the ninth century.
The
conclusions, I believe, seem clear. The underlying forces which clashed on the
battlefield were not the Decretals, canon law, and the Filioque, but Romans and
Franks. The Franks used church structure and dogma in order to maintain their
birthright, to hold the Roman nation in "just subjection." The Romans also used
church structure and dogma to fight back for their own freedom from oppression
and for their independence.
Both sides used the most convenient weapons at hand. Thus, the same
canonical and decretal arguments are to be found now on one side, now on the
other, according to the current offensive and defensive needs of each nation.
The Filioque, however, became a permanent feature of conflict between East
Romans and Franks with the West Romans attempting to side with the East Romans.
From all that has been pointed out, it should be evident that there are
strong indication that Roman historical terms are much closer to the reality of
the schism than is Frankish terminology. The first is consistent with its own
past, whereas the second is a deliberate provocation of a break with the past.
To
speak of the schism as a conflict between Franks and Romans, to which theology
was subjected as an offensive weapon on the Frankish side, and as a defensive
and counter-offensive weapon on the Roman side, would seem close to taking a
picture of history with a movie camera. On the other hand, to speak of a
conflict between so-called "Latin" and "Greek" Christianities is tantamount to
commissioning Charlemagne and his descendants to prophesy the future, and see to
it that the prophecy is fulfilled.
There is strong evidence that the higher and lower nobility of European
feudalism were mostly descendants of Germanic and Norman conquerors, and that
the serfs were mostly descendants of the conquered Romans and Romanized Celts
and Saxons. This explains why the name Frank meant both noble and free in
contrast to the serfs. This usage was strong enough to get into the English
language by way of the Normans. Thus, even the African-American was described as
receiving his franchise when set free.
The
implications are quite tantalizing when applied to the task of understanding the
framework of Frankish or Latin Christianity and theology in relation to Roman
Christianity and theology. Feudalism, the Inquisition, and Scholastic theology
were clearly the work of the Franks, Germans, Lombards, Normans, and Goths, who
took over the Church and her property, and used the religion of the Romans to
keep the conquered Romans in a servile state. In contrast to this, the Romans
who were conquered by Arab and Turkish Muslims, had their own Roman bishops.
Thus in the one case, the institutional aspects of Christianity became a tool of
suppression, and in the other, the means of national survival.
Because it is impossible to believe that four Roman Patriarchates broke
away from a Frankish Papacy, the Franks were forced to forge the somewhat more
believable myth that four "Greek" Patriarchates broke away from a so-called
Roman but, in reality, Frankish Papacy. European and American historians
continue to teach and support this.
The
schism began when Charlemagne ignored both Popes Hadrian I and Leo III on
doctrinal questions and decided that the East Romans were neither Orthodox nor
Roman. Officially, this Frankish challenge was answered at the Eighth Ecumenical
Synod in 879 by all five Roman Patriarchates, including that of Old Rome.
There was no schism between the Romans of Old and New Rome during the
two and a half centuries of Frankish and German control over Papal Romania.[
36 ]
The
so-called split between East and West was, in reality, the importation into Old
Rome of the schism provoked by Charlemagne and carried there by the Franks and
Germans who took over the papacy.
The
atmosphere for dialogue between Old and New Rome may be cleared by the
realization that the so-called "French" Revolution was essentially not much
different from the so-called "Greek' Revolution. One was a revolt of Romans
against their Frankish conquerors, and the other, a revolt of Romans against
their Turkish conquerors.
It
would seem that there is a much stronger unity among the Romans extending from
the Atlantic to the Middle East than there can ever exist among those working
for a union based on only a Charlemagnian Europe.
Perhaps the best path to the political reunion of Europe is to first
realize that the already existing Roman Republics should, and can, unite into a
Federation of Roman Republics. In other words, the so-called "French" and
"Greek" Revolutions must be completed by becoming a Roman Revolution.
However, the path to the reunion of Christianity is not at all
political or ethnic in nature. The Church's involvement in politics, and state
structures for the preservation or the suppression of Roman society produced an
interplay between church and society, but not necessarily between dogma and
society.
The
Medieval papacy incorporated the feudal structure into her fabric of
administration and elevated it to the level of dogma.
The
Orthodox Churches have also been adapting themselves to changing circumstances
which affect their administrative fabric also, but have left this at the level
of canon law.
The
Protestant churches have rejected not only the dogmatic aspects of the Medieval
papal administrative structure, but, on the whole, they have rejected the
Orthodox development also, and have attempted to go back to what they understand
to be Biblical or Apostolic Christianity.
Thus, Roman Orthodox and so-called "Roman Catholics" find themselves
heirs to differences due to historical circumstances, and Protestants see
themselves as a series of third alternatives.
|
[ 2 ] "When Duke Eudo saw that he was
beaten and an object of scorn, he summoned to his assistance against
Prince Charles and his Franks the unbelieving Saracen people. So they rose
up...and crossed the Garonne...From thence they advanced on Poitiers..."
Fredegarii, Chronica Continuationes 13, trans. J.M. Wallace-Hadril
(London, 1960), p. 90
[ 3 ] On the origins of European
feudalism, see my books Romanism, Romania, Roumeli (in Greek)
(Thessaloniki, 1975).
[ 4 ] Migne, PL 89: 744.
[ 5 ] F. Mourret, A History of the
Catholic Church, 3 (London, 1936), pp. 351-55. The main conditions of
this decree were restated in 817 in an agreement between Louis the Pious
(814-840) and Pope Paschal I (817-824), but reversed in 824 by Emperor
Lothar (823-855) who added the provision that the pope was to be elected
with his consent and consecrated after swearing an oath of fealty. Brian
Pullan, Sources for the History of Medieval Europe (Oxford, 1971),
pp. 47-52.
[ 6 ] It is within such a context
that the seeming contradiction between Einhard and the Annals of
Lorsch may be resolved.
[ 7 ] Thietmar of Mersebourg,
Chronicon, 4.47; Brian Pullan, Sources for the History of
Medieval Europe (Oxford, 1971), pp. 120-121.
[ 8 ] John S. Romanides,
Romanism, pp.33, 50-51, 205-249.
[ 9 ] For a review of the historical
and doctrinal aspects of this question, see J.S. Romanides, The
Filioque, Anglican-Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Discussions, St. Albans
1975-Moscow 1976 (Athens, 1978).
[ 10 ] Fredegarii, Chronica
Continuationes 25.
[ 11 ] Thus Saint Athanasios the
Great's work entitled Discourse against the Greeks, Migne, PG 25:
3-96.
[ 12 ] Pullan, Sources, pp.
16-17.
[ 13 ] Romanides, Romanism,
pp. 224- 249.
[ 14 ] Mansi, 17. 493-496.
[ 15 ] Ibid., 17.516-517.
[ 16 ] Ibid., 17.525. Romanides,
Romanism, p. 62ff.
[ 17 ] It has been argued that the
surviving version of this letter is a product of the fourteenth century.
However, the letter fits in quite snugly with the conditions of Papal
Romania at this time and could not have been known by either the Franks or
East Romans in the fourteenth century.
[ 18 ] Mansi 17.489.
[ 19 ] Ibid., Romanides,
Romanism, pp. 149-50,, 325-27.
[ 20 ] It is no accident that Otto
III declared the Donation of Constantine to be a forgery, as already
mentioned, a fact he probably learned from his East Roman mother and
tutors. However, he evidently never suspected that the rest of the
decretals had been tampered with.
[ 21 ] Hincmar's copious arguments
are contained in his writings about his nephew's illegal appeal to the
pope, Opuscula et Epistolae quae spectant ad causam Hincmari
Laudunensis, Migne, PL 126:279-648.
[ 22 ] Of these, the following three
survive: 1) Responsio De Fide S. Trinitatis Contra Graecorum
Haeresim, Migne, PL 110:111-112; 2) Ratramnus of Corbie, Contra
Graecorum Opposita, Migne, PL 121:225-346; 3) Aeneas of Paris,
Liber Adversus Graecos, Migne, PL 121:685-762.
[ 23 ] Mansi 16.555-60.
[ 24 ] "...nos Francos non jubeat
servire, quia istud jugam sui antecessores nostris antecessoribus non
imposuerunt, et nos illud portare non possumus, qui scriptum esse in
sanctis libris audimus, ut pro libertate et haereditate nostra usque ad
mortem certare debeamus." Migne, PL 126:181.
[ 25 ] Mansi 19.97-100.
[ 26 ] It is interesting to carefully
note that Richerus (Historiae 68), a student of Gerbert, reports that the
abbotts were answered by the claim that it was impossible to notify the
Roman pontiff about the matter because of obstacles caused by enemies and
the bad conditions of the roads.
[ 27 ] Mansi 19.103-08. For Gerbert's
own spontaneous version of the proceedings, see his report to Wilderod,
bishop of Strassbourg. Mansi 19.107-68. It is clear that Richerus s
attempting to cast the factual material in such a way as to cover up the
clash that was in process between the West Frankish establishment and the
Roman papacy. This is nowhere so much in evidence as in the fact that he
carefully avoids mentioning that Gerbert and the bishops who ordained him
were deposed by Pope John XV, a fact which Gerbert himself complains about
in his letter to Empress Adelaide. Mansi 19.176-78.
[ 28 ] Mansi 19.193-96. This evidence
should be used in the light of Gerbert's letter to Empress Adelaide,
already mentioned in the previous footnote. Richerus makes a feeble
attempt to present pope John as having sent Leo to simply investigate the
matter at the Council of Mouzon (Historiae 4.95) and for this reason the
text of the Papal decision had to be omitted from his acts of the
Council. One can understand why this text has also disappeared from the
Papal archives most probably when Bruno of Carinthia or Gerbert himself
took over the Papacy.
[ 29 ] Richerus, Historiae
4.101-05. Mansi 19.193-96.
[ 30 ] Mansi 19.196. Richerus gives
us an important key to these deliberations. Gerbert finally promised to
abstain from the celebration of mass in order to avoid the appearance of
an open revolt against the pope. Historiae 4.106. In other words,
there was a general agreement among the lay and church nobles (i.e., the
Franks) that the pope and the Gallo-Roman (Walloon) multitude are to be
out-flanked, and for this reason, a final decision was at all costs
avoided. That a Frankish candidate for the Papacy was being prepared for
the succession of John XV was perhaps already decided upon and known by
key Frankish leaders. In order to govern the predominantly Roman multitude
effectively, the Franks had to always give the impression that they were
faithful and obedient to the Roman pope.
[ 31 ] Mansi 19.197-200. Richerus
mentions this council, but is silent about its decisions. Historiae
4.108. As already mentioned, he carefully avoids giving out the
information that Gerbert was suspended by John XV. By not mentioning the
death of this pope, Richerus gives us the impression that Gerbert twice
visited the same papacy, which also recognized his appointment to the
Archbishopric of Ravenna.
[ 32 ] "Pressa jacet tyrannide omnis
Ecclesia Gallorum; atqui non a Gallis, sed ab his sperabatur salus," Mansi
19.166. Gallia, Germania, and Italia were parts of the Frankish Empire
ruled in the past by members of the Carolingian families. Within this
context, Ecclesia Gallorum signifies the Church of the West Franks
and certainly not the French, who at this time were predominantly the
Gallo-Roman serfs and villeins under Frankish rule. This is clear from the
use of the title Rex Francorum by the Capetian Kings. See, e.g.,
Mansi, 19.93-94, 97, 105, 107-08, 113, 129, 171-72, 173-74.
[ 33 ] F. Mourret, A History of
the Catholic Church, 3 (London, 1936), p. 439; J. Gay, L'Italie
Meridionale et L'Empire Byzantine (867-1071) (Paris, 1904), p.
285.
[ 34 ] Mansi 19.132-33.
[ 35 ] Relatio de Legatione
Constantinopolitana 12. Migne, PL 136. 815
[ 36 ] In his letter to Emperor
Michael I (811-813), Charlemagne refers to the restoration of the unity of
the Churches within the context of the establishment of peace between the
Western and Eastern Empires, Monumenta Germaniae Historica,
Epistolae 4, p. 556ff. Charlemagne is here thinking in terms of the
Frankish West and the Roman or Greek East and not of Old and New Rome.
Pope Leo III had never accepted Charlemagne's doctrinal adventures about
icons and the Filioque, and the East Roman Patriarchs desisted from
reacting against them, evidently in support of the delicate and dangerous
position of the West Romans under Frankish occupation. In any event,
Charlemagne's remarks are his own admission that he himself had provoked a
schism which existed only in his own mind, since all five Roman Patriarchs
avoided being provoked, and seemed not to take the Franks doctrinally
serious at that time. For an English translation of this letter, see
Robert Folz, The Coronation of Charlemagne (London, 1974), pp.
242-43.
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