Gregory VII And The Document Dictatus Papae

During the late 10th, through the early 11th century, the idea of church versus state was extremely prevalent. The papacy was making the attempt to overthrow the Roman Empire and get greater power, while the Empire fought to maintain their power. A great influence in the papal supremacy was Gregory VII, and his actions which led to papal authority. While the Holy Roman Empire ruled over the papacy through corruption, it was not until Gregory VII overthrew Henry IV that they found themselves in control. The document Dictatus Papae, highlights Gregory VII and the Gregorian reformer’s argument for their authority and independence. In addition, Dante saw the papacy as a community where people followed and praised God. He felt as though any corrupt member of the papacy should be reprimanded for their actions. Gregory

Gregory VII found this to be corrupt, and saw the nature of the papacy to not be run by the emperor, but rather the pope himself. He wanted popes to be independent of the state, and found this to be the way of gaining authority over the Empire. In Ernest F. Henderson’s, Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages it states, “Popes began to push back against imperial domination by stressing the spiritual and secular independence of the popes” (The Gregorian Reform). This independence gave them the authority they needed to isolate themselves from the Empire. In his work Dictatus Papae, Gregory uses his power as the pope to give the authority to the church over the state. This authority that Gregory creates gives the church a political authority. For example, the writing claims, “That of the pope alone all princes shall kiss the feet” (Gregory VII, Dictatus Papae, 9 ).This statement highlights Gregory VII’s idea of the papacy having authority over the Empire, stating that princes must follow the pope and his