POWER

1 Power in medieval Britain c1000–c1485 1.3 A constant struggle for power: who ruled in the medieval period?
1 Look closely at Source 1. Do
you think the image suggests
that the king is protecting
the Church, controlling it –
or both? Make sure you can
explain your view.
2 Does Source 1 prove that
the Church was important
to medieval kings? Explain
your answer.
Case study 1: Henry II and the Church
Source 1 An image of King Henry II (on the left), who ruled from 1154 to 1189, and his
son Richard I (the Lionheart), who ruled from 1189 to 1199. Images like this were not
meant to be accurate portraits. These were produced for a chronicle of English
history written by the churchman Matthew Paris in the 1250s.
Today we are used to seeing pictures of rulers, politicians, celebrities and others.
These people in the public eye try to control the way that such images are used so
that people get the ‘right’ impression of them. Leaders in medieval times were no
different – it just took a lot more time to produce a picture of them! Source 1 is a
depiction of two powerful warrior kings – Henry II and his son Richard I. Henry
was also a great lawmaker who restored order to England after years of civil war.
Religious imagery features prominently in the picture, suggesting that both these
kings considered the Church to be extremely important.
FACTFILE
Church hierarchy
•
The head of the Church was the pope. He ruled the Church from Rome, assisted by
his most senior officials, the cardinals.
•
The pope relied on archbishops and bishops (based in the great cathedrals) to run
the Church in their countries and make sure the pope’s rules were enforced.
•
An archbishop was a very senior figure. England had two archbishops – Canterbury
and York. The archbishops supervised the bishops.
•
Bishops were responsible for the Church in their areas (called dioceses). There
was another branch to the church – the monastic side. Monasteries were run by
abbots or abbesses. The more important abbots and abbesses were similar in
status to bishops.
•
At the bottom of the hierarchy were priests in the churches and monks in the
monasteries. However, even they had a lot of prestige and status in society.
Uncorrected proof
The Church was the medieval mass media
The Church helped spread news throughout the
country and it played a large role in schools and
universities. New laws or taxes were announced
during church services. Sermons would usually spell
out the virtues of the king and the local baron, and
it was churchmen who wrote the history books.
Kings would give land to the Church and pay
for new religious buildings. In return, they
expected CHRONICLERS at those churches to
write positive things about them.
The Church helped people
get to Heaven
In medieval times, almost everyone believed
in God – and the Church was the people’s link
to God. Church leaders could seek God’s favour
for success in battle or for a good harvest. Above
all, churchmen could pray to God to ensure that
a person’s soul went to Heaven when they died.
Religion was a powerful force in medieval England.
For example, Pope Alexander II ordered William
the Conqueror to build a church to beg God’s
forgiveness for all the deaths caused by the conquest.
William obeyed and Battle Abbey was built in 1070.
Anglo-Saxon and Norman nobles spent huge sums
on church-building to praise God.
The importance of the Church
There were many reasons why the Church was so important in medieval times.
The Church owned lots of land and employed
many people
According to the Domesday Book, by 1087 the
Church owned about 25 per cent of all the land
in England. Bishops and abbots, in charge of the
large abbeys, were effectively the managers of giant
corporations. A large proportion of the population
worked for the Church, as labourers on the land,
TENANT FARMERS, MASONS working on church
construction and many other roles. The Church
also provided care for the poor and sick.
The Church was the power behind
the throne
Almost all the people who wrote official
documents and looked after the royal accounts
were churchmen. This meant that bishops and
abbots were as rich and powerful as the top barons.
The Bishop of Durham, for example, had to defend
England from a possible Scottish threat, so he had
his own armies. When William the Conqueror
spent time in his territories overseas, the Archbishop
of Canterbury ruled in his place. Henry II appointed
his CHANCELLOR (chief minister) Thomas Becket
as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162. Bishops and
abbots collected taxes for the king just like the
barons. The Church also had its own law courts.
Summary
To get an idea of the importance of the medieval church in England, you have
to imagine the power of an organisation like a giant international bank, or an oil
company, or a massive tech company like Google or Facebook – only bigger and
more powerful.
Could Church leaders challenge the king?
Throughout the medieval period, clashes arose between the king and the
Church. In the 1090s, Archbishop Anselm fought bitterly with William II,
claiming that the king was taking too much tax from the Church. He also
criticised William for abusing his right to appoint bishops. If there was no
bishop in charge of a BISHOPRIC, the king could claim all the rent and other
income from that land. William often delayed appointing a new bishop to take
advantage of this. As a result of Anselm’s complaints, William agreed that the
pope would be in charge of appointing new bishops, although he must consult
the king about his choices. However, the most famous conflict between king
and Church in the medieval period was that of Henry II and the Archbishop of
Canterbury Thomas Becket.
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