[379] This, with the letter given on [page 265,] sets forth succinctly the papacy's absolute claim of authority as against the highest temporal power in Europe.
[380] That is, pronounced by the canons of the Church to be divinely inspired.
[381] This is, of course, not a claim of papal infallibility. The assertion is merely that in the domain of faith and morals the Roman church, judged by Scriptural principles, has never pursued a course either improper or unwarranted.
[382] It did not occur until 1084. Henry had inherited the office at the death of his father, Henry III., in 1056.
[383] The sin of simony comprised the employment of any corrupt means to obtain appointment or election to an ecclesiastical office. For the origin of the term see the incident recorded in Acts, viii. 18-24. The five councilors had been condemned by a synod at Rome in February, 1075.
[384] The five condemned councillors.
[385] This portion of the letter comprises a clear assertion of the "Petrine Supremacy," i.e., the theory that Peter, as the first bishop of Rome, transmitted his superiority over all other bishops to his successors in the Roman see, who in due time came to constitute the line of popes [see [p. 78]].
[386] This refers to a decree of a Roman synod in 1074 against simony and the marriage of the clergy.
[387] In the battle on the Unstrutt, June 8, 1075.
[388] Julian succeeded Constantine's son Constantius as head of the Roman Empire in 361. He was known as "the Apostate" because of his efforts to displace the Christian religion and to restore the old pagan worship. He died in battle with the Persians in 363.