Week 4: Investiture Controversy

This week's assignment focuses on the Investiture Controversy, a debate with many interested parties, and some complicated motives on each side. First read the assembled documents here:

Tierney, Crisis of Church and State, 45-84

Reading Guide:

• • What was at stake for both pope and emperor in the Investiture Controversy?
  • To what extent could the emperor coerce the pope, or vice versa?
  • What kinds of claims does the Dictatus Papae make about the extent of papal power?
  • How does Henry IV respond to the Dictatus Papae?
  • What arguments do the propagandists make in favor of papal power, and what are the arguments in favor of royal power?
  • Who emerges as the victor in this battle? 

For the writing assignment, we have randomly assigned you a side in the debate, Papalist or Royalist. If you're not sure whether you're a Papalist or a Royalist, check with your TA.

Papalists:

If you have been randomly assigned you to the Papalist group. You'll be making an argument in favor of papal power, so focus on these sources:

Dictatus Papae, p. 49 
Letter from Gregory to Henry, p. 57 
Manegold of Lautenbach, p. 78

But of course they won't make much sense unless you read the other ones too! 

For the writing assignment, distill the arguments from Papalist sources into one coherent argument. This should include both philosophical, abstract points (e.g. "God has ordained that...") and ones more closely tied to the material world (e.g. "Clerics [or nobility] have abused their powers in the following ways, and they need restraint from the other side." Cite sources in the text (e.g "As Gregory remarks in Dictatus Papae, God ordained that...") If you want to rebut the opposing argument that's fine, but it should be secondary to your positive argument. Keep your argument between 250 and 500 words.

As with any piece of scholarly writing, we value a lot of information in a little text, as long as it's clear. 

Royalists:

If you have been randomly assigned you to the Royalist group. You'll be making an argument in favor of royal power, so focus on these sources:

Letter from Henry to Gregory, p. 59
Henry to German bishops, p. 61
Anonymous of York, p. 76

But of course they won't make much sense unless you read the other ones too! 

For the writing assignment, distill the arguments from Royalist sources into one coherent argument. This should include both philosophical, abstract points (e.g. "God has ordained that...") and ones more closely tied to the material world (e.g. "Clerics [or nobility] have abused their powers in the following ways, and they need restraint from the other side." Cite sources in the text (e.g "As Henry notes in his letter to Pope Gregory, God has instituted...") If you want to rebut the opposing argument that's fine, but it should be secondary to your positive argument. Keep your argument between 250 and 500 words.

As with any piece of scholarly writing, we value a lot of information in a little text, as long as it's clear.