Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims, the noblest representative of the Western Church at this epoch, constituted himself the defender of the throne (Fig. 230). He endeavoured to arrive at an equitable settlement as to the respective limits of the two great powers—the Church and the Crown. Commenting upon, but not receding from, the ideas expressed by Charlemagne, he declared, “When it is said that the king is not subject to the laws or judgment of any man, but only of God, the statement is true if he be a king indeed, as his name indicates. He is called king because he reigns and governs; if he governs himself according to the will of God, if he directs the good in the right path, and corrects the wicked to draw them from their evil way, then he is king, not subject to the judgment of any man (Fig. 231 and 232); but if he be an adulterer, a homicide, an iniquitous person, a ravisher, then he must be judged, in secret or in public, by the bishops, who are God’s representatives.” It is necessary to bear well in mind these ideas, inculcated in the Middle Ages, if we would understand the important functions of the secular clergy.
Fig. 231.—Consecration of Philip Augustus at Rheims, November 1st, 1179, by his uncle, William, Archbishop of Rheims.—Manuscript 9232 of the Fourteenth Century, Burgundian Library, Brussels.
Fig. 232.—Coronation of Henry of Anjou as King of Poland, February 22nd, 1573, in the Church of St. Stanislaus at Cracow. At the termination of the consecrating ceremony the Archbishop of Gnesen, Primate of Poland, places the crown upon the prince’s forehead.—Bas-relief on a French coffer of the Sixteenth Century belonging to M. Achille Jubinal (fac-simile of its present condition).
At this early period of society, civilisation was, beyond all doubt, in the hands of the ecclesiastics. Public education, which the Church had established, and which was given in one or several episcopal schools in each diocese, under the direction of the archdeacon, was subject, like judicial proceedings, to hierarchical regulations. Although the bishop was free to extend or to limit certain branches of instruction, all the clerks admitted to follow the courses of these schools had to go through the series of studies prescribed and specified in the capitulars of Charlemagne. Thus, at Metz and Soissons, for instance, the school of singing was an imperial institution, and the bishop, no matter what authority he might have in other matters, had no power to suppress it. The same was the case with the courses on law and medicine, which had been founded, since the days of Charlemagne, in various episcopal cloisters at Paris, Rheims, Lyons, Metz, Trèves, Canterbury, Milan, &c. Roman chanting, grammar, Holy Scripture, the Liturgy, and calligraphy, formed the classical basis of clerical education. Other studies were looked upon as accessories, without being absolutely prohibited. At the same time, to the superficial study of Latin, was added that of Greek or of German, or of the vulgar idiom of the Latin, Teutonic, or Sclavic tongues, when deemed useful for the purposes of popular preaching. In certain cases, and for the exclusive service of the Church, the clerks were taught the rudiments of architecture, painting, mechanics, agriculture, and hygiene, but it was more especially at the Palatine school, which was always open, and in the large abbeys, that this literary and scientific course of education prevailed.
Clerical discipline, though continually being reformed, was incessantly needing fresh changes. The usurpation of the Church’s domains by the monarchs, the princes, and the great lay lords, contributed to the disorder which prevailed in many abbeys. In some churches an intruder would thrust himself into a canonry, usurp the abbatial seat, or live at the expense of the community. The bishops were often powerless to get rid of these false abbots, canons, and monks, who set them at defiance. Ecclesiastical cures and prebends were formed, like many public bakehouses and mills, sometimes as dowers for daughters about to marry, and even for new-born infants. Severe measures were adopted at several provincial councils (in 860, 863, 888, 895) against the disorderly acts committed, to the detriment of the Church.
A diploma issued by the Emperor Henry III. (May 12th 1052), confirmed the doctrine of the Roman Church, declaring that the episcopal jurisdiction was entirely independent of the civil jurisdiction. By this diploma, all judges and officers of justice were prohibited from exercising their authority in the churches, castles, villages, and parishes which formed the temporal domain of the diocesan chapter.
Fig. 233.—Treaty of Arras, concluded in 1191, by the interposition of William of Champagne, Archbishop of Rheims, between Baldwin V., Count of Hainault, and Matilda of Portugal, Widow of Philip, Count of Flanders.—Miniature from the “Chroniques de Hainaut” (Fifteenth Century), Burgundian Library, Brussels.