Author Bio: Pope Innocent III (1161 CE - 1216 CE) – born as Lotario dei Conti di Segni in Anagni. Reigned as Pope from 1198 until his death. His main goal as the pope was to once again gain power amongst Europe. Claimed supremacy over the Christian regimes throughout Europe. Was the central supporter of the Catholic Church during the time. Utilized manipulation and interdict to allow princes to obey him. Called for the crusades against Muslim Spain in order to gain revenge upon their previous obtention of Jerusalem, as well as the Cathars in southern France.
Speaker: See above
Date/Context: At the time of this, King Henry VI had died unexpectedly. He previously hoped his son, Frederick II, would take over in due time. However, by his death, Frederick II was just 4 years old and therefore unfit to fulfill the duties of king. Instead, Innocent was given guardianship over Frederick and utilized this to gain the papacy power once again. By the time of this speech, the papacy was at the height of its power, and Pope Innocent III was considered to be one of the most powerful men in Europe. He was able to assert absolute spiritual authority while still keeping the authority of the kings.
Summary: In this passage, Pope Innocent III discusses the transition of power the Roman Empire. It was previously transferred to Rome from Greece, coordinated by the papacy in order to protect those of the church. Therefore, the pope crowns the new king of the Roman Empire. Innocent decides that, following Emperor Henry VI's death, his son Frederick II who was 4 years old was not fit to become ruler of the empire. In addition, all princes were to choose a suitable ruler in accordance to the papacy's views. However, they were unable to make a decision on the ruler. The papacy wished to no longer wait, and therefore chose Otto, Duke of Brunswick, as the new emperor. They justified this by stating that Otto was devout to the church and possessed ancestors on both sides. They say that Otto will awarded the crown once the rights of the Roman church have been secured.
Key Quotation: "It is the business of the pope to look after the interests of the Roman empire, since the empire derives its origin and final authority from the papacy..."
The document’s opening “In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit” clearly mark it to have been said by a religious person potentially in front of followers of the same religion and almost certainly not followers of a different religion. The speaker also mentions the Roman empire and the papacy in a very positive light which lead one to conclude that the speaker has a strong bias towards Catholicism. The reader also sees the speaker going over princes' heads by saying that a delay in the decision of emperor cannot wait; this gives the speaker a sense of immense power by him defying all the princes of Europe at the time. Finally, the speaker mentions the not-yet Roman Emperor Otto giving a more precise time frame for when the document was read.
ReplyDeleteIn reference to Zach’s post, overall, the post summarizes a strangely worded and confusing document in much more understandable terms. The meaning of the text was not lost in translation to modern day language and sentence formatting. At times however, the grammar is a bit awkward and could use a bit of proof-reading in the future. All in all, it is a very well put-together document that effectively relays the idea of the passage.