The Conflict Between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire During the Early Avignon Era, 1300-1360

This book proposes a new synthesis of the development of theories of empire and papacy in this exceptionally creative period of political thought utilizing a 'best text' analysis of the political theories produced in favor or in opposition to the claim of supreme and universal power of the pope over secular matters and secular rulers. The years 1300-1360 were pivotal in the history of papal-imperial theory. During much of this era the papacy was in Avignon, and the emperors were engaged in wars in Germany and Italy, where the pope was losing authority. The controversy between Pope Boniface VIII (1295-1303) and King Philip IV the Fair of France (1295-1314) produced a large number of writings which would influence the debates between popes and emperors in subsequent decades. The theories of papal and imperial claims during the period 1300-1360, it is argued in this book, fall into three phases. First, the issue of papal-imperial relations was a minor one during the royal-papal confrontation of 1300-03, and not much studied in modern scholarship. Second, the period 1308-1330 was marked by sharp conflicts between popes and emperors.The volume of the polemics during this time exceeded even that of the Investiture Controversy. Third, the era 1330-60 accelerated the tendency to unite the imperial and papal camps. Following 1330, the intention to settle the conflicts becomes the dominant theme in the texts. Extreme papalist notions are modified in the almost desperate quest for a practical solution to the worsening split between pontiff and emperor. There is a growing realization that the unresolved conflicts are having repercussions throughout Europe.