34 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1073-1085.
the king of the Germans as a fief and not having sought it from Rome. On Demetrius, duke of Dalmatia, Gregory conferred the royal title on condition of his rendering a yearly payment of two hundred pieces of silver to himself and his papal successors. To Michael, Byzantine emperor, he wrote, expressing the hope that the Church of Constantinople as a true daughter might be reconciled to its mother, the Church of Rome.1 In other communications to the emperor, Gregory made propositions concerning a crusade to rescue the Holy Land.
For William the Conqueror, Gregory expressed great affection, addressing him as " best beloved," cariasime, but solemnly reminded him that he owed his promotion to the throne of England to the favor of the Roman see and bidding him be prompt in the payment of Peter's Pence.2 The proud Englishman replied that he owed his crown to God and his own sword, not to the pope. He was willing to pay Peter's Pence which his predecessors had paid, but fealty he refused to pay as his predecessors had refused to pay it.3
Unbiblical and intolerable as is Hildebrand's scheme of papal absolutism as a theory of abiding validity, for the Middle Ages it was better that the papacy should rule. It was, indeed, a spiritual despotism ; but it checked a military despotism which was the only alternative, and would have been far worse. The Church, after all, represented the moral and intellectual interests over against rude force and pas-
1 Keg., I. 18; Migne, 300.
2 Reg., I. 70, VII. 23 ; Migne, 345, 565 sqq., etc.
3 " Hubert, your legate in your behalf has bade me to do fealty to you and your successors, and to think better in the matter of the money which my predecessors were wont to send to the Roman Church. The one point I agreed to, the other I did not agree to. Fealty I refused to do, nor will I do it, nor do I find that my predecessors did it to your predecessors." The let ter of William the Conqueror to Gregory, written after 1076, the date being uncertain. See Gee and Hardy, Documents of Eng. Ch. Hist., p. 57. The efforts of Gregory to secure William's support in his controversy with Henry IV. failed. Key., VI. 30, VII. 1 ; Migne, 535, 545.
§ 11. THE GREGORIAN THEOCRACY. 35
sions. She could not discharge her full duty unless she was free and independent. The princes of the Middle Ages were mostly ignorant and licentious despots; while the popes, in their official character, advocated the cause of learning, the sanctity of marriage, and the rights of the people. It was a conflict of moral with physical power, of intelligence with ignorance, of religion with vice.
The theocratic system made religion the ruling factor in mediieval Europe, and gave the Catholic Church an oppor tunity to do her best. Her influence was, upon the whole, beneficial. The enthusiasm for religion inspired the cru sades, carried Christianity to heathen savages, built the cathedrals and innumerable churches, founded the universi ties and scholastic theology, multiplied monastic orders and charitable institutions, checked wild passions, softened manners, stimulated discoveries and inventions, preserved ancient classical and Christian literature, and promoted civ ilization. The papacy struck its roots deep in the past, even as far back as the second century. But it was based in part on pious frauds, as the pseudo-Isidorian Decretals and the false Donation of Constantine.
The mediaeval theocracy was at best a carnal anticipation of the millennial reign, when all the kingdoms of this world shall obey the peaceful sceptre of Christ. The papacy de generated more and more into a worldly institution and an intolerable tyranny over the hearts and minds of men. Human nature is too noble to be ruled by despotism, and too weak to resist its temptations. The State has divine authority as well as the Church, and the laity have rights as well as the clergy. These rights came to the front as civilization advanced and as the hierarchy abused its power. It was the abuse of priestly authority for the enslavement of men, the worldliness of the Church, and the degradation and profanation of religion in the traffic of indulgences, which provoked the judgment of the Reformation.