ed Leo IX to the position of pope disregarding the fact that there were already three popes (Weaver 82). Leo IX called a council to avoid this problem. The council and Leo together made one of the most crucial decisions to date regarding Christianity: no more simony. This meant that church offices could no longer be sold. Leo also established the policy of fealty, which meant that bishops must swear loyalty to their secular kings. Upon this, Pope Gregory VII excommunicated Henry and made him stand barefoot in the snow begging papal forgiveness (Weaver 84). Gregory would later “set the tone for medieval papacy (Weaver 95)” by arguing that the pope was the supreme authority of the church. He stated that no council could be called without the permission of the papacy and that papal decrees could “be annulled by no one (Weaver 95).”The high Middle ages saw the beginning of the crusades. Pope Urban II called for a crusade simply to exercise his papal power. He urged princes and soldiers from all over Europe to liberate Jerusalem from the Turks. By doing this, he proclaimed himself to be the personal leader of Christendom (Weaver 84). The crusades became a way of gaining salvation for people fighting in them. On occasion, the pope would even use this as influence to gain participators in the crusades.Pope Innocent III, perhaps more than any other pope, “embodied the most extreme measure of ecclesiastical and political power (Weaver 111).” Innocent declared that God established this church and appointed the pope to be his viceroy and that all kings should adhere to the viceroy’s policies in order to properly rule (Von Voorst 157). Pope Innocent III wrote a letter to Prince John of England (older brother Richard was fighting in the crusades, and John was ruling in his place) saying that it was his duty as acting king to join the Catholic Church as part of the Holy Roman Empire. John signe...
