Western Civilization

The Development of the Papacy - Page 11 of 14

The Papacy in the Tenth Century

The popes of the tenth century were a miserable lot, both by character and by circumstance. Rome was continually threatened by Muslims, and there was no king or emperor strong enough to defend them.

The papacy itself became controlled by local Roman noble families. Becoming Bishop of Rome was a matter of winning out in the various feuds that raged. Occasionally the German kings would come down and appoint good popes, but most of the time the Romans forced the election of extremely bad popes who were either incompetent or scandalously immoral and sacrilegious.

At the same time, the monasteries of Europe suffered from the hammer blows of Viking, Magyar and Muslim. The Celtic monasteries of Ireland and Britain were virtually wiped out. The French and German monasteries had little discipline and less learning.

The bishops were also of poor quality. Many fought alongside the lay lords, cracking heads like a good warrior. Priests were ignorant of Latin, merely memorizing the rites and freely mixing in pagan superstitions. Secular lords usurped many church lands and privileges.

It was scandalous, but the popes were in no position to do anything about it.