Hildebrand was primarily
concerned to demonstrate the absurdity of this view, and he
justifies his action by three considerations--first, the general
authority of binding and loosing given by Christ to Peter, from
which no one is exempt; second, the precedents which he cites
of such excommunications of kings in the past; and third, by
a comparison of the dignity and authority of the temporal
1 Gregory VII.
concerned to demonstrate the absurdity of this view, and he
justifies his action by three considerations--first, the general
authority of binding and loosing given by Christ to Peter, from
which no one is exempt; second, the precedents which he cites
of such excommunications of kings in the past; and third, by
a comparison of the dignity and authority of the temporal
1 Gregory VII.
Thomas Carlyle
10: "Attende Deutu in
prineipio creationis humame dixisse:
'Crescite et multiplicamini,' . . . ut
intelligas homines non hominibus, sed
volatilibus, bestiis et piscibus esse
prselatos, omnesque a Deo natura
sequales conditos, sed insequalitate
morum factente, aliis alios intantum
suppositos, ut plerumque aliqui domi-
nentur etiam melioribus. . . . Nota
vero tu, quisquis es, qui de fastu
alti gloriaris abusive sanguinis; cum
omne hominum genus in terris simili
surgat ab ortu, et non ex alia, sed
ex eadem massa compositus, ex uno
patre, ex eademque, qua servorum
quilibet, sis matre creatus. Quia si
omnes in Christo quoque unum sumus,
uno scilicet pretio redempti, eodemque
baptismo renati: quisquis eatndem
fraternitatis unitatem caiteris se pro-
ponendo scindere nititur, paternitatem
sine dubio illius, redemptionem et
regenerationem quoque, qua eius filii
efficimus, quantum in se est, annul-
lare, et, ut ita dicam, abnegare pro-
batur. Verum si solummodo in hac
a Deo parte discernimus, si meliores
aliis in operibus bonis, et humiles
inveniamur: convincitur melior esse
qui tibi servit humiliter, quam tu,
qui eum despicis arroganter; nobilior,
qui tibi, quod promisit, exhibit
fideliter, quam tu, qui eum decipis
meudaciter; generosior, qui iura
naturse custodiers, proprium non
deserit ortum, quam tu, qui vitiis
vitia nutriens vim amicitise mag-
numque et naturale violas bonum. "
3 Cf. vol. i. pp. 20-22, and chap. 10.
3 'Sachsenspiegel,' iii. 42. 1: "Got
hevet den man na ime selven gebeldet,
unde hevet ine mit sinen martere
geledeget, den enen also den anderen,
ime is die arme also besvas als die
rike. . . .
3. Do man ok recht irst satte, do ne
was nen dienstman, unde waren al die
lude vri, do unse vorderen her to
? ? lande quamen. An minen sinnen ne
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? 90 POLITICAL THEORY : llTH & 12TH CENTURIES, [part II.
We may put beside these phrases a passage from Beaumanoir
in which he sets out the same principles, but in different
terms. All men, he says, were at the beginning free, and of
the same freedom, for all men are descended from one father
and mother; slavery (or serfdom) arose in many ways, such as
that men were taken prisoners in war, or sold themselves into
slavery on account of their poverty, or because they could not
defend themselves against the unjust violence of lords; however
men may have become slaves it is a great act of charity that a
lord should set his slaves (or serfs) free, for it is a great evil that
Christian men should be in the servile condition. 1
he ok to haldene, unde dat eevede
jar, dat het dat jar der losunge; bo
solde man ledich laten unde vri alle
die gevangen waren unde in egenscap
getogen, mit alsogedaneme gerede als
man sie vieng, of sie ledich unde
vri wolden wesen. Over sevenwerf
seven jar quam dat veftegiste jar, dat
het dat jar der vrouden, so muste
aller manlik ledich unde vri wesen,
he wolde oder newolde.
5. Ok gaf uns got orkiindes mer
an enem penninge, dar man ime mede
besochte, do he sprak: latet den
keiser sines beldes geweldich, unde
godes belde gevet gode. Dar bi uns
kundich von godes worden, dat die
mensche, godes belde, godes wesen
sal, unde sve ine anders iemanne to
seget danne gode, dat he weder got
dut.
6. N'a rechter warheit so hevet
egenscap begin von gedvange, unde
von vengnisse, unde von unrechter
walt, die man von aldere in unrechte
warheit getogen hevet, unde nu vore
recht hebben wel. "
Cf. 'Schwabenspiegel,' 57. 2: "Wir
han daz von der schrift, daz nieman
sol eigen sin. Doch ist ez also dar
komen mit gewalt unde mit twancsal,
daz es nu reht ist daz eigen liute sin. "
1 Beaumanoir, xlv. 1453: "Com-
ment que pluseur esta^t de gent soient
maintenant, voirs est qu'au com-
mencement tuit furent franc et d'une
meisme franchise; car chascuns set
que nous descendismes tuit d'un pere
et d'une mere. . . . Et l i serf si
sont venu par mout de manieres
d'aquisicions. Car li aucun sont venu
par estre pris de guerre, si donnoient
servitude seur aus et seur lor oirs,
par raenc? on, ou por issir de prison;
et li autre sont venu parce qu'il se
vendoient par povrete? , ou par con-
voitise d'avoir . . . et li autre sont
venu parce qu'il n'ont eu pouoir d'aus
defendre des seigneurs,'qui a tort et
par force les ont atre`s a servitude.
Et par quelconques manieres qu'il
soient venu, nous pouons entendre
que grant aumosne fet li sires qui
les oste de servitude et les met en
franchise, car c'est grans maus quant
nues crestiens est de serve condition. "
Cf. id. , xlv. 1438: "Par toutes tes
? ? choses sont servitudes venues avant,
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? chap. I. ] NATURAL LAW AND EQUALITY.
91
It is clear that even the feudal lawyers were profoundly
affected by the earlier traditions, and that to them just as much
as to the Christian fathers the subjection of man to man as
slave or villein was a thing conventional, not natural.
qui prsecessor fiat tanquam minis- quidam sunt prsecellentes et prelati,
trator. Apud homines vero est et aliis principantur. "
differentia personarum, quia hominum
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? 92
CHAPTER II.
THE DIVINE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF
POLITICAL AUTHORITY.
In the first volume of this work we have examined the
characteristic elements of the theory of the origin and nature
of political authority as it is set out in the literature of the
ninth century, and we think that enough has been said to
make it clear that as soon as we find any literary treatment
of political conditions and ideas, we find that there were
very clearly fixed in the minds of the men of the new mediseval
civilisation some highly important conceptions of political
origins and obligations. We have in the last volume en-
deavoured to examine the relation of the revived Eoman law,
and of the new system of Ecclesiastical law, to these conceptions,
and in the first part of this volume we have considered the
bearing upon them of Feudalism. We must now inquire how
far these conceptions can be said to have been continuously
present to men's minds in the centuries from the tenth to the
twelfth, and how far they were modified or developed.
We are entering upon the study of an age in which the structure
of society was very rapidly growing and changing, and we have
to inquire how far and in what manner men's conceptions of
the principles of the political order changed with it. If our
, interpretation of the political theory of the ninth century is
at all correct, the main features of that theory are to be found
1 in three principles--first, that all authority, whether Tem-
poral or Spiritual, is ultimately derived from God; second,
that the supreme authority in political society is that of the
law, the law which represents the principle of justice; and
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? CHAP. II. ] DIVINE NATDRE OF POLITICAL AUTHORITY. 93
third, that the immediate source of all political authority is"
the community, for law is primarily the custom of the com-
munity, and there can be no legitimate authority without the
election or recognition of the community. We have to inquire
how far these principles continued to control the conception
of political society, and in what manner they were modified or
developed.
During the tenth century and the earlier part of the eleventh
we should infer, from the fragments of the literature which
have survived, that there was not very much active political
speculation; we can indeed gather from occasional phrases the
general nature of the conceptions which were current, but it may
be doubted whether men did generally do much more than
repeat the commonplaces of the ninth century tradition. These
commonplaces were not, however, unimportant, and in some
respects they seem to represent real and intimate convictions.
It was the great constitutional and ecclesiastical conflicts
of the latter part of the eleventh century, continued in the
twelfth, which compelled men to consider these traditional pre-
suppositions more closely, and from the middle of the eleventh
century we have an abundant and important body of literature
in which we can discern with great clearness the main features
of an energetic and determined political speculation.
We must begin by considering the question how far in the
period with which we are now dealing it was doubted or denied
that the secular authority was derived from God, and this will
lead us on to the closely related question whether the State
was or was not conceived of as having a moral function and
purpose.
As we have seen, the principles of the divine source of
political authority, and of the moral function of government,
were most emphatically laid down by the Fathers,1 and main-
tained by the writers of the ninth century. 2 It has been
suggested that these conceptions were really undermined by
the influence of St Augustine, especially as expressed in the
* De Civitate Dei,' and that the effects of St Augustine's mode
1 Cf. vol. i. chaps. 11, 13, 14. 2 Cf. vol. i. chaps. 17, 18.
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? 94 POLITICAL THEORY : llTH & 12TH CENTURIES, [part II.
of thought are clearly traceable in the Middle Ages. We
cannot here discuss the real and complete meaning of St
Augustine, the subject has been handled with great care and
restraint by Eeuter. 1 The question with which we have to
deal is whether there was among the political theorists of
the eleventh or twelfth centuries any important tendency to
think of the secular power as lacking the divine authority,
and as representing a principle of evil rather than of good.
The discussion centres round some phrases of Pope Gregory
VII. (Hildebrand), their meaning and their influence. Some
writers have attached a very great importance to these, and
have considered them to be representative of a clear and
dogmatic theory, which as they have thought was of great
importance in the Middle Ages. And no doubt Hildebrand's
phrases are emphatic and startling. The best known of them
is to be found in his famous letter to Hermann, the Bishop of
Metz (1081): "Quis nesciat: reges et duces ab iis habuisse
principium, qui, Deum ignorantes, superbia, rapinis, perfidia,
homicidiis, postremo universis pene sceleribus, mundi principe
diabolo videlicet agitante, super pares, scilicet homines, dominari
cseca cupidine et intolerabili prsesumptione affectaverunt. "2
Beside these words we may put those of an earlier letter
written to the same Bishop (1076): "Sed forte putant, quod
regia dignitas episcopalem prsecellat. Ex earum principiis
colligere possunt, quantum a se utraque differunt. Illam
quidem superbia humana repperit, banc divina pietas in-
stituit. Illa vanam gloriam incessanter captat, hsec ad
ccelestem vitam semper aspirat. "3 These are indeed strong
phrases, and might well, to the unwary, seem to imply a
definite doctrine of the secular power, as representing not the
authority of God, but of evil.
In order, however, to arrive at the meaning of Hildebrand's
phrases, we must begin by observing that in other places he
speaks of the secular power in very different terms. In a
letter written to Eudolph, Duke of Suabia, in 1073, he speaks
of his hope that the "sacerdotium" and the "imperium" may
1 H. Reuter, 'Augustinische Studien. ' 3 Id. id. , iv. 2.
2 Gregory VII. , Registrum, viii. 21.
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? CHAP. II. ] DIVINE NATURE OP POLITICAL AUTHORITY. 95
be united in concord, that, as the human body is ruled by its
two eyes, so the body of the Church may be ruled and en-
lightened when the two authorities agree in the true religion. 1
In a letter of 1074 to Henry IV. , he bids him to know that he
rightly holds the royal power, if he obeys Christ the King of
Kings and defends and restores the Church. 2 In a letter to
Sweyn, King of Denmark, in 1075, he prays him to administer
the authority entrusted to him, according to God, to adorn the
dignity of the royal title with the appropriate virtues, and to
make it manifest that that justice, in virtue of which he reigned
over his subjects, also ruled in his heart. 3 Again, in writing to
Harold, King of Denmark, in 1077, he admonishes him to keep
the honour of the kingdom committed to him by God with all
diligence, and to make his life worthy of it, in wisdom, justice,
and mercy, that God may be able to say of him, "By me this
King reigneth. "4 And again, in writing to Olaf, King of
Norway, in 1078, he describes the true function of his royal
authority as being to help the oppressed, to defend the widow,
and to love and defend justice with all his might. 6
Perhaps the most notable passage is contained in a letter
1 Id. id. , i. 19: "Quse (litterse)
nimirum inter cetera dulcedinis suse
verba illud nobis videbantur consul-
ere, per quod et status imperii glori-
osius regitur et sanctse ecclesise vigor
solidatur: videlicet ut sacerdotium et
imperium in unitate concordise con-
jungantur. Nam sicut duobus oculis
humanum corpus temporali lumine re-
gitur, ita his duobus dignitatibus in
pura religione concordantibus corpus
ecclesise spirituali lumine regi et il-
luminari probatur. "
'Id. id. , ii. 30: "Et tunc demum
regiam potesta tem recte te obtinere
cognoscas, si regi regum Christo ad
restaurationem defensionemque ecclesi-
arum suarum faciendam dominationis
tuse altitudinem inclinas et verba
ipsius dicentis cum tremore recogitas;
'Ego diligentes me diligo, et houorifi-
cantes me honorifico; qui autem me
contemnunt, erunt ignobiles. '"
3 Id. id. , ii. 51: "Rogamus igitur et
sincera te caritate monemus, ut com-
missa tibi regni gubernacula secundum
Deum ad minis trare studeas, et nomen
regalis excellentise congruse ac con-
sonanti virtutum proprietate geras,
quatenus eam, per cuius principa-
tum subiectis imperas, in corde tuo
semper regnare iustitiam ostendas. "
4 Id. id. , v. 10: "Monemus insuper,
karissime, ut tibi commissi a Deo
regni honorem omni industria, sol-
lertia, peritiaque custodias. Sit vita
tua digna, sapientia referta, iustitise
et misericordise condimento saleque
condita, ut de te vera sapientia quse
Deus est dicere queat: 'Per me rex
iste regnat. '"
6 Id id. , vi. 13: "Sit vestrsa potentise
usus et exercitatio: subvenire op-
pressis, defendere viduas, iudicare
pupillis, iustitiam non solum diligere
? ? sed etiam tota virtute defendere. "
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? 96 POLITICAL THEORY : llTH & 12TH CENTURIES, [part II.
in which Hildebrand urged upon William the Conqueror, in
1080, the duty of obedience to the papal authority, inasmuch
as the Pope would have to give account to God for him in the
day of judgment; he prefaced this exhortation to obedience by
a very explicit statement that God had appointed two authori-
ties greater than all others to rule the world, the apostolical
and the royal. 1
It is clear that if we are to arrive at a complete and just
view of the conception of kingship and secular authority held
by Hildebrand, we must not isolate the phrases of the two
letters to Hermann of Metz, but must consider them along
with the sentiments he expresses at other times. If, then, we
examine the circumstances under which the two letters to
Hermann were written, we find that the purpose of both was
to refute the arguments of those who maintained that it was
not lawful or proper for the Pope or any one else to excom-
municate the king or emperor.
Hildebrand was primarily
concerned to demonstrate the absurdity of this view, and he
justifies his action by three considerations--first, the general
authority of binding and loosing given by Christ to Peter, from
which no one is exempt; second, the precedents which he cites
of such excommunications of kings in the past; and third, by
a comparison of the dignity and authority of the temporal
1 Gregory VII. , Registrum, vii. 25:
"Credimus, prudentiam vestram non
latere: omnibus aliis excellentiores
apostolicam et regiam dignitates huic
mundo, ad eius regimina, omnipoten-
tem Deum distribuisse. Sicut euim,
ad mundi pulchritudinem oculis car-
neis diversis temporibus reprsesentan-
dam, solem et lunam omnibus aliis
eminentiora disposuit luminaria; sic,
ne creatura, quam sui beuignitas
ad imaginem suam in hoc mundo
creaverat, in erronea et mortifera
traheretur pericula, providit, ut apos-
tolica et regia dignitate per diversa
regeretur officia. Qua tamen maiori-
tatis et minoritatis distantia religio
sic se movet Christiana, ut cura
et dispensatione apostolica dignitas
post Deum gubernetur regia. Quod
licet, fili karissime, tua non ignoret
vigilantia, tamen, ut pro salute tua
indissolubiliter menti tuse sit alli-
gatum, divina testatur scriptura, apos-
tolicam et pontificalem dignitatem
reges christianos cseterosque omnes
ante divinum tribunal reprsesentatu-
ram et pro eorum delictis rationem
Deo reddituram. Si ergo iusto iudici,
et qui mentiri nescit, creaturarum
omnium creatori, in tremendo iudicio
te sum reprsesentaturus, iudicet dili-
gens sapientia tua; an debeam vel
possim saluti tuse non diligentissime
cavere, et tu mihi ad salutem tuam,
ut viventium possideas terram, de-
beas vel possis sine mora non oboe-
dire. "
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? chap. II. ] DIVINE NATURK OF POLITICAL AUTHORITY. 97
powers. Tt is in this last connection that he discusses the
origin of secular authority, and urges that this had its origin
in the sinful ambition and love of power of men who desired
to make themselves the masters of their equals. That is,
Hildebraud in these phrases maintains that the origin of
secular authority is related to the vicious or sinful character
in human nature.
We have then here one aspect of Hildebrand's conception of
the nature of secular authority, stated sharply and without
qualification, but in a context which is highly controversial.
In the other passages which have been cited we have a very
different view. In these he describes secular authority as
being derived from God, and as finding its true character in
the defence and maintenance of justice, and he hopes that
there may be a true concord and agreement between the
"sacerdotium " and the "imperium," the two authorities which
God has appointed to rule over the world.
These two conceptions may seem at first sight, especially to
those who are unfamiliar with the Stoic and Patristic tradition,
inconsistent and irreconcilable, but this is merely a confusion.
For, in this tradition, government, like the other great institu-
tions of society, such as property and slavery, is the result
of sin, and represents sinful greed and ambition, and yet is
also the necessary, and, in the Christian conception, the divine,
remedy for sin. Men in a state of innocence would neither
need coercive government, nor would they claim to rule over
their fellow-men; while in the state of sin and ambition, men
desire lordship over each other, but also, in this condition, men
need control and restraint if any measure of justice and peace
is to be attained and preserved. And thus the institution of
government, which is the result of men's sinful passions, is also
appointed by God to restrain sin. 1
No doubt the phrases of Hildebrand in the two letters to
the Bishop of Metz express one side of the traditional theory
in a very harsh and crude fashion, and we have evidence that
1 Cf. Seneca, Ep. xiv. 2; Irenseus, Doctrina Christiana,' i. 28; and vol. i.
'Adv. Hser. ,' v. 24; St Augustine, p. 24, 126, 129.
'De Civ. Dei,' v. 19, xix. 15; 'De
VOL. III. G
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? 98 POLITICAL THEORY : llTH & 12TH CENTURIES, [part II.
they were resented even among those who were not prepared
to defend the investiture of bishops with ring and staff by the
secular authorities. For instance, Hugh of Fleury, in a treatise
addressed to Henry I. of England in the early years of the
twelfth century, protests indignantly against the phrases which
had been used by Hildebrand in these letters about the origin
and character of the royal authority, and maintains that such
opinions are absurd, and contrary to the apostolic doctrine that
all authority is from God, and that there is a divine hierarchy
of authority and obedience not only on earth, but also in
heaven. 1
The phrases of Hildebrand were resented, and, considering
their highly controversial context, this is not surprising. Is
there now any reason to think that the conception which is
expressed in these phrases was maintained by other writers of
this period as representing a complete and exclusive theory of
the origin and nature of temporal authority? There are a very
few passages in the contemporary literature which deserve our
attention.
In a fragmentary treatise written in the middle of the
eleventh century by a French churchman attacking the action
of the Emperor Henry III. with regard to the Papacy,
especially no doubt in view of the deposition of the Popes
at the Council of Sutri, the author severely condemns the
emperor as having claimed jurisdiction over the Pope, and
1 Hugo of Fleury, 'Tractatus de a Deo potestas regia in terris est
regia potestate et sacerdotali dig- ordinata sive disposita. . . . Unde
nitate,' i. 1: "Scio quosdam nos- nobis liquido claret Deum omnipoten-
tris temporibus qui reges autumnant tem non solum humanum corpus
non a Deo, sed ab his habuisse membrorum distinxisse lineamentis,
principium qui Deum ignorantes, sed et totum mundum certis gradibus
superbia, rapina, perfidia, homicidiis ac potestatibus, sicut illa cselestis
et postremo univereis pene sceleribus curia cognoscitur esse distincta, in qua
in mundi principio diabolo agitante ipse solus Deus pater omnipotens
supra pares homines dominari cseca regiam optiuet dignitatem, et in qua
cupiditate et inenarrabili affectaverunt post ipsum aDgeli, archangeli, throni
prsesumptione vel temeritate. Quorum et domiuationes et quseque cseterse
sententia quam sit frivola liquet apos- potestates sibi invicem prseesse mira-
tolico documento, qui ait: 'Non est bili et modesta potestatum varietats
potestas nisi a Deo. Quse enim sunt a noscuntur. "
Deo ordinate sunt. ' Constat igitur hac Cf. St Gregory the Great, Ep. v. 59,
sententia, quia non ab hominibus, sed and vol. i. p. 127.
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? CHAP. II. ] DIVINE NATURE OF POLITICAL AUTHORITY. 99
urges that the emperor does not occupy the place of Christ,
but that it might rather be said that he holds that of the
devil, when he uses the sword and sheds blood. 1
Again, in a treatise written by a certain Bernald, apparently
in the last years of the eleventh century, he urges that if
the Popes have authority to depose Patriarchs, they have the
same authority over secular princes whose dignity seems to
have been created rather by men than by the divine institu-
tion. 2 Cardinal Deusdedit, in one of his treatises, speaks of
the royal authority as arising from human institution, with
the permission indeed of God, but not by His will, and he
refers to the demand of the Israelites for a king, as related
in 1 Samuel. 3
The first of these passages is very drastic, and if we had any
reason to think that it represented a generally current view,
would have considerable significance; but as we shall see
presently, some of the strongest papalists take the very
opposite view of the use of the temporal sword. 4 The phrases
of Bernald and of Deusdedit do not represent anything more
than the conception that the temporal power is not derived
immediately from God, but is directly the creation of human
will and authority.
What was, then, the normal view of these centuries as to the
source and nature of secular authority? There can really be
1 'De Ordinando Pontifice,' 'Auctor institutione videtur processisse. "
Gallicus': "Ubi enim inveniuntur im- 3 Deusdedit, 'Libellus contra in-
peratores locum Christi obtinere? Si vasores et symoniacos,' iii. 12: "Nec
verius liceat nobis dicere, potius offitio mirumsacerdotalemauctoritatem quam
diaboli surguntur (v. r. unguntur) in Deus ipse per se ipsum constituit, in
gladio et sanguine, ut, dum per peni- huiusmodi causis regiam precellere
tentiam eruantur vitia spirituali rese- potestatem, quam sibi humana prefecit
catione, ipsi insaniaat vel in cede vel adinventio, eo quidem permittente,
in membrorum carnali obtruncatione; non tamen volente. Nam de primo
quod secundum gratiam apud Deum rege populi sui, quem sibi petiit spreto
omnino est abhominabile. " prophetse principatu, ait ad eumdem:
2 Bernaldus, Libellus xii. , 'De 'Non te,' inquit, 'spreverunt, sed
Solutione Juramentorum': "Sicut me, ne regnem super eos' (1 Sam. viii.
autem Romani pontifices summos 7). Et iterum: 'Paenitet me, quod
patriarchas deponere possunt, ita et constituerim Saul regem'" (1 Sam.
inferiores, utpote mundi principes, xv. ii. )
quorum utique dignitas potius ex 4 See p. 103.
humane adiuventione, quam ex divina - -
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? 100 POLITICAL THEORY: 11TH & 12TH CENTURIES, [pabt II.
no doubt whatever about this to those who are at the pains
to make themselves familiar with the literature of those times.
The writers of these centuries are practically unanimous in
maintaining that the authority of the king or emperor is
derived from God. The principle is clearly expressed by those
who wrote before the development of the great conflict between
the Papacy and the Empire in the latter part of the eleventh
century, but we also find it maintained with equal clearness
during the great conflict both by imperialists and papalists.
In a commentary by Bishop Atto of Vercelli, which belongs
to the second half of the tenth century, we find a very interest-
ing and very emphatic statement of the divine authority of the
secular ruler, whether he was Christian or pagan. 1 Again, in
a report of the sermon of the Archbishop of Maintz at the
coronation of Conrad the Salic, which Wippo gives in his
life of Conrad, the Archbishop is represented as citing the
same phrases of St Paul, and as speaking of God as the
source of all human dignity, who had appointed Conrad to
be king over his people; the king is the vicar of Christ. 2
The same conception is maintained by Peter Damian, one
of the most illustrious of the reforming Italian churchmen
of the middle of the eleventh century. In a letter to
Archbishop Anno of Cologne, he speaks of the "regnum"
and "sacerdotium" as being both derived from God, and of
1 Atto of Vercelli, 'Exp. in Ep.
Pauli ad Romanes,' xiii. i. : "Prae-
terea, ne diceret aliquis : Transivi ad
gratiam Evangelii; liber sum: nulli
subditus esse debeo; propterea apos-
tolus, ut nihil suis auditoribus deesset,
propter bonum pacis, et concordise
subiecit: 'Omnis anima potestatibus
sublimioribus subdita sit. ' Ab excel-
lentiori parte id est anima, totus homo
designatur; sublimiores autem potes-
tates dicit imperatores, reges et prin-
cipes huius sseculi, quibus nos subditos
esse admonet propter bonum pacis, et
concordise, ne nomen Dei, aut doctrina
Christi blasphemetur. . . . 'Quae
autem sunt a Deo ordinate sunt,' a
bono quippe ordinatore nihil inordina-
tum relinquitur. Ostendit ergo his
verbis apostolus manifeste, quoniam
omnis potestas, tam apud paganos
quam apud Christianos, a Deo ordinata
est, sive propitio sive irato. "
2 Wippo, 'Vita Chunradi,' 'De Con-
secratione Regis,' 'Scriptum est enim:
Omnis potestas a Deo est': "Is omni-
potens rex regum, totius honoris auctor
et principium, quando in principes
terrss alicuius dignitatis gratiam trans-
fundit, quantum ad caturam principii
pura et munda. . . . Dominus qui te
elegit utesses rex super populum suum,
ipse te prius voluit probare, et post
modum regnare. . . . Ad summam
dignitatem pervenisti, vicarius es
Christi. "
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? CHAP. II. ] DIVINE NATURE OF POLITICAL AUTHORITY. 101
the need which each has of the other. 1 In another place
he draws out in some detail the complementary relation
between the spiritual and the temporal authorities. The
duties of the different members of the Church, for they are
both within the Church, are not the same. The duty of the
priest is to nourish and cherish all in mercy, the duty of
the judge is to punish the guilty, to deliver the innocent
from the power of the wicked, to be diligent in carrying
out the law, and in maintaining equity; he should always
remember the words of the apostle, "Wouldest thou have no
fear of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have
praise of him, for he is God's minister to thee for good. But if
thou doest evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain"
(Rom. xiii. 3, 4). 2 Peter Damian is clear that the authority of
the secular power in administering justice and punishing crime
is derived from God.
The writers whom we have just cited belong to the period
1 Peter Damian, Ep. , Bk. iii. 6:
"Sciebat enim {i. e. , the High Priest
Jehoiada) quoniam utraque dignitas
alternse iuvicem utilitatis est indiga,
dum et sacerdotium regni tuitione
protegitur, et regnum sacerdotalis
officii sanctitate fulcitur. . . . ut dum
regnum ac sacerdotium optata per vos
pace perfruitur, is, qui utriusque
dignitatis auctor est, pacis seteruse
digna vobis prsemia largiatur. "
2 Id. , 'Opusculum,' lvii. 1: "Non
omnia membra Ecclesise uno fungun-
tur officio. Aliud nempe sacerdoti,
aliud competit iudici. Ille siquidem
visceribus debet pietatis affluere, et
in matern1e misericordise gremio sub
exuberantibus doctrinse semper uberi-
bus Alios confovere. Istius autem
officium est, ut reos puniat, et ex
eorum manibus eripiat innocentes; ut
vigorem rectitudinis et iustitise teneat,
et a zelo sanctionum legalium non
tepescat; ut ab sequitatis linea non
declinet; ut legitimi vigoris genium
nou enervet. Memineat etiam semper
quod per apostolum dicitur; 'Vis non
timere potestatem? fac bonum, et
habebis laudem ex illa. Dei enim
minister est tibi in bonum. Si autem
malum feceris. time, non enim sine causa
gladium portat. '' In quibus utique
verbis (datur) intelligi, aliud esse
gladium principis, aliud infulam sacer-
dotis. Non enim ad hoc prsecingeris
gladio, ut violentorum mala debeas
palpare vel ungere: sed ut ea studeas
vibrati mucronis ictibus obtruncare.
Hinc est quod sequitur: 'Dei enim
minister est vindex in iram ei, qui
male agit. '"
Cf. id. , 'Liber Gratissimus,' 10:
"Regnum namque et sacerdotium a
Deo cognoscitur institutum, et ideo,
licet amministratoris persona prorsus
inveniatur indigna, officium tamen,
quod utique bonum est, competens
aliquando gratia comitatur. . . . Reges
enim et sacerdotes, licet nonnulli eorum
reprobi sint per notabilis vitse meri-
tum, dii tamen et christi dici rep-
? ? periuntur propter accepti ministerii
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prineipio creationis humame dixisse:
'Crescite et multiplicamini,' . . . ut
intelligas homines non hominibus, sed
volatilibus, bestiis et piscibus esse
prselatos, omnesque a Deo natura
sequales conditos, sed insequalitate
morum factente, aliis alios intantum
suppositos, ut plerumque aliqui domi-
nentur etiam melioribus. . . . Nota
vero tu, quisquis es, qui de fastu
alti gloriaris abusive sanguinis; cum
omne hominum genus in terris simili
surgat ab ortu, et non ex alia, sed
ex eadem massa compositus, ex uno
patre, ex eademque, qua servorum
quilibet, sis matre creatus. Quia si
omnes in Christo quoque unum sumus,
uno scilicet pretio redempti, eodemque
baptismo renati: quisquis eatndem
fraternitatis unitatem caiteris se pro-
ponendo scindere nititur, paternitatem
sine dubio illius, redemptionem et
regenerationem quoque, qua eius filii
efficimus, quantum in se est, annul-
lare, et, ut ita dicam, abnegare pro-
batur. Verum si solummodo in hac
a Deo parte discernimus, si meliores
aliis in operibus bonis, et humiles
inveniamur: convincitur melior esse
qui tibi servit humiliter, quam tu,
qui eum despicis arroganter; nobilior,
qui tibi, quod promisit, exhibit
fideliter, quam tu, qui eum decipis
meudaciter; generosior, qui iura
naturse custodiers, proprium non
deserit ortum, quam tu, qui vitiis
vitia nutriens vim amicitise mag-
numque et naturale violas bonum. "
3 Cf. vol. i. pp. 20-22, and chap. 10.
3 'Sachsenspiegel,' iii. 42. 1: "Got
hevet den man na ime selven gebeldet,
unde hevet ine mit sinen martere
geledeget, den enen also den anderen,
ime is die arme also besvas als die
rike. . . .
3. Do man ok recht irst satte, do ne
was nen dienstman, unde waren al die
lude vri, do unse vorderen her to
? ? lande quamen. An minen sinnen ne
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? 90 POLITICAL THEORY : llTH & 12TH CENTURIES, [part II.
We may put beside these phrases a passage from Beaumanoir
in which he sets out the same principles, but in different
terms. All men, he says, were at the beginning free, and of
the same freedom, for all men are descended from one father
and mother; slavery (or serfdom) arose in many ways, such as
that men were taken prisoners in war, or sold themselves into
slavery on account of their poverty, or because they could not
defend themselves against the unjust violence of lords; however
men may have become slaves it is a great act of charity that a
lord should set his slaves (or serfs) free, for it is a great evil that
Christian men should be in the servile condition. 1
he ok to haldene, unde dat eevede
jar, dat het dat jar der losunge; bo
solde man ledich laten unde vri alle
die gevangen waren unde in egenscap
getogen, mit alsogedaneme gerede als
man sie vieng, of sie ledich unde
vri wolden wesen. Over sevenwerf
seven jar quam dat veftegiste jar, dat
het dat jar der vrouden, so muste
aller manlik ledich unde vri wesen,
he wolde oder newolde.
5. Ok gaf uns got orkiindes mer
an enem penninge, dar man ime mede
besochte, do he sprak: latet den
keiser sines beldes geweldich, unde
godes belde gevet gode. Dar bi uns
kundich von godes worden, dat die
mensche, godes belde, godes wesen
sal, unde sve ine anders iemanne to
seget danne gode, dat he weder got
dut.
6. N'a rechter warheit so hevet
egenscap begin von gedvange, unde
von vengnisse, unde von unrechter
walt, die man von aldere in unrechte
warheit getogen hevet, unde nu vore
recht hebben wel. "
Cf. 'Schwabenspiegel,' 57. 2: "Wir
han daz von der schrift, daz nieman
sol eigen sin. Doch ist ez also dar
komen mit gewalt unde mit twancsal,
daz es nu reht ist daz eigen liute sin. "
1 Beaumanoir, xlv. 1453: "Com-
ment que pluseur esta^t de gent soient
maintenant, voirs est qu'au com-
mencement tuit furent franc et d'une
meisme franchise; car chascuns set
que nous descendismes tuit d'un pere
et d'une mere. . . . Et l i serf si
sont venu par mout de manieres
d'aquisicions. Car li aucun sont venu
par estre pris de guerre, si donnoient
servitude seur aus et seur lor oirs,
par raenc? on, ou por issir de prison;
et li autre sont venu parce qu'il se
vendoient par povrete? , ou par con-
voitise d'avoir . . . et li autre sont
venu parce qu'il n'ont eu pouoir d'aus
defendre des seigneurs,'qui a tort et
par force les ont atre`s a servitude.
Et par quelconques manieres qu'il
soient venu, nous pouons entendre
que grant aumosne fet li sires qui
les oste de servitude et les met en
franchise, car c'est grans maus quant
nues crestiens est de serve condition. "
Cf. id. , xlv. 1438: "Par toutes tes
? ? choses sont servitudes venues avant,
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? chap. I. ] NATURAL LAW AND EQUALITY.
91
It is clear that even the feudal lawyers were profoundly
affected by the earlier traditions, and that to them just as much
as to the Christian fathers the subjection of man to man as
slave or villein was a thing conventional, not natural.
qui prsecessor fiat tanquam minis- quidam sunt prsecellentes et prelati,
trator. Apud homines vero est et aliis principantur. "
differentia personarum, quia hominum
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? 92
CHAPTER II.
THE DIVINE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF
POLITICAL AUTHORITY.
In the first volume of this work we have examined the
characteristic elements of the theory of the origin and nature
of political authority as it is set out in the literature of the
ninth century, and we think that enough has been said to
make it clear that as soon as we find any literary treatment
of political conditions and ideas, we find that there were
very clearly fixed in the minds of the men of the new mediseval
civilisation some highly important conceptions of political
origins and obligations. We have in the last volume en-
deavoured to examine the relation of the revived Eoman law,
and of the new system of Ecclesiastical law, to these conceptions,
and in the first part of this volume we have considered the
bearing upon them of Feudalism. We must now inquire how
far these conceptions can be said to have been continuously
present to men's minds in the centuries from the tenth to the
twelfth, and how far they were modified or developed.
We are entering upon the study of an age in which the structure
of society was very rapidly growing and changing, and we have
to inquire how far and in what manner men's conceptions of
the principles of the political order changed with it. If our
, interpretation of the political theory of the ninth century is
at all correct, the main features of that theory are to be found
1 in three principles--first, that all authority, whether Tem-
poral or Spiritual, is ultimately derived from God; second,
that the supreme authority in political society is that of the
law, the law which represents the principle of justice; and
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? CHAP. II. ] DIVINE NATDRE OF POLITICAL AUTHORITY. 93
third, that the immediate source of all political authority is"
the community, for law is primarily the custom of the com-
munity, and there can be no legitimate authority without the
election or recognition of the community. We have to inquire
how far these principles continued to control the conception
of political society, and in what manner they were modified or
developed.
During the tenth century and the earlier part of the eleventh
we should infer, from the fragments of the literature which
have survived, that there was not very much active political
speculation; we can indeed gather from occasional phrases the
general nature of the conceptions which were current, but it may
be doubted whether men did generally do much more than
repeat the commonplaces of the ninth century tradition. These
commonplaces were not, however, unimportant, and in some
respects they seem to represent real and intimate convictions.
It was the great constitutional and ecclesiastical conflicts
of the latter part of the eleventh century, continued in the
twelfth, which compelled men to consider these traditional pre-
suppositions more closely, and from the middle of the eleventh
century we have an abundant and important body of literature
in which we can discern with great clearness the main features
of an energetic and determined political speculation.
We must begin by considering the question how far in the
period with which we are now dealing it was doubted or denied
that the secular authority was derived from God, and this will
lead us on to the closely related question whether the State
was or was not conceived of as having a moral function and
purpose.
As we have seen, the principles of the divine source of
political authority, and of the moral function of government,
were most emphatically laid down by the Fathers,1 and main-
tained by the writers of the ninth century. 2 It has been
suggested that these conceptions were really undermined by
the influence of St Augustine, especially as expressed in the
* De Civitate Dei,' and that the effects of St Augustine's mode
1 Cf. vol. i. chaps. 11, 13, 14. 2 Cf. vol. i. chaps. 17, 18.
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? 94 POLITICAL THEORY : llTH & 12TH CENTURIES, [part II.
of thought are clearly traceable in the Middle Ages. We
cannot here discuss the real and complete meaning of St
Augustine, the subject has been handled with great care and
restraint by Eeuter. 1 The question with which we have to
deal is whether there was among the political theorists of
the eleventh or twelfth centuries any important tendency to
think of the secular power as lacking the divine authority,
and as representing a principle of evil rather than of good.
The discussion centres round some phrases of Pope Gregory
VII. (Hildebrand), their meaning and their influence. Some
writers have attached a very great importance to these, and
have considered them to be representative of a clear and
dogmatic theory, which as they have thought was of great
importance in the Middle Ages. And no doubt Hildebrand's
phrases are emphatic and startling. The best known of them
is to be found in his famous letter to Hermann, the Bishop of
Metz (1081): "Quis nesciat: reges et duces ab iis habuisse
principium, qui, Deum ignorantes, superbia, rapinis, perfidia,
homicidiis, postremo universis pene sceleribus, mundi principe
diabolo videlicet agitante, super pares, scilicet homines, dominari
cseca cupidine et intolerabili prsesumptione affectaverunt. "2
Beside these words we may put those of an earlier letter
written to the same Bishop (1076): "Sed forte putant, quod
regia dignitas episcopalem prsecellat. Ex earum principiis
colligere possunt, quantum a se utraque differunt. Illam
quidem superbia humana repperit, banc divina pietas in-
stituit. Illa vanam gloriam incessanter captat, hsec ad
ccelestem vitam semper aspirat. "3 These are indeed strong
phrases, and might well, to the unwary, seem to imply a
definite doctrine of the secular power, as representing not the
authority of God, but of evil.
In order, however, to arrive at the meaning of Hildebrand's
phrases, we must begin by observing that in other places he
speaks of the secular power in very different terms. In a
letter written to Eudolph, Duke of Suabia, in 1073, he speaks
of his hope that the "sacerdotium" and the "imperium" may
1 H. Reuter, 'Augustinische Studien. ' 3 Id. id. , iv. 2.
2 Gregory VII. , Registrum, viii. 21.
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? CHAP. II. ] DIVINE NATURE OP POLITICAL AUTHORITY. 95
be united in concord, that, as the human body is ruled by its
two eyes, so the body of the Church may be ruled and en-
lightened when the two authorities agree in the true religion. 1
In a letter of 1074 to Henry IV. , he bids him to know that he
rightly holds the royal power, if he obeys Christ the King of
Kings and defends and restores the Church. 2 In a letter to
Sweyn, King of Denmark, in 1075, he prays him to administer
the authority entrusted to him, according to God, to adorn the
dignity of the royal title with the appropriate virtues, and to
make it manifest that that justice, in virtue of which he reigned
over his subjects, also ruled in his heart. 3 Again, in writing to
Harold, King of Denmark, in 1077, he admonishes him to keep
the honour of the kingdom committed to him by God with all
diligence, and to make his life worthy of it, in wisdom, justice,
and mercy, that God may be able to say of him, "By me this
King reigneth. "4 And again, in writing to Olaf, King of
Norway, in 1078, he describes the true function of his royal
authority as being to help the oppressed, to defend the widow,
and to love and defend justice with all his might. 6
Perhaps the most notable passage is contained in a letter
1 Id. id. , i. 19: "Quse (litterse)
nimirum inter cetera dulcedinis suse
verba illud nobis videbantur consul-
ere, per quod et status imperii glori-
osius regitur et sanctse ecclesise vigor
solidatur: videlicet ut sacerdotium et
imperium in unitate concordise con-
jungantur. Nam sicut duobus oculis
humanum corpus temporali lumine re-
gitur, ita his duobus dignitatibus in
pura religione concordantibus corpus
ecclesise spirituali lumine regi et il-
luminari probatur. "
'Id. id. , ii. 30: "Et tunc demum
regiam potesta tem recte te obtinere
cognoscas, si regi regum Christo ad
restaurationem defensionemque ecclesi-
arum suarum faciendam dominationis
tuse altitudinem inclinas et verba
ipsius dicentis cum tremore recogitas;
'Ego diligentes me diligo, et houorifi-
cantes me honorifico; qui autem me
contemnunt, erunt ignobiles. '"
3 Id. id. , ii. 51: "Rogamus igitur et
sincera te caritate monemus, ut com-
missa tibi regni gubernacula secundum
Deum ad minis trare studeas, et nomen
regalis excellentise congruse ac con-
sonanti virtutum proprietate geras,
quatenus eam, per cuius principa-
tum subiectis imperas, in corde tuo
semper regnare iustitiam ostendas. "
4 Id. id. , v. 10: "Monemus insuper,
karissime, ut tibi commissi a Deo
regni honorem omni industria, sol-
lertia, peritiaque custodias. Sit vita
tua digna, sapientia referta, iustitise
et misericordise condimento saleque
condita, ut de te vera sapientia quse
Deus est dicere queat: 'Per me rex
iste regnat. '"
6 Id id. , vi. 13: "Sit vestrsa potentise
usus et exercitatio: subvenire op-
pressis, defendere viduas, iudicare
pupillis, iustitiam non solum diligere
? ? sed etiam tota virtute defendere. "
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? 96 POLITICAL THEORY : llTH & 12TH CENTURIES, [part II.
in which Hildebrand urged upon William the Conqueror, in
1080, the duty of obedience to the papal authority, inasmuch
as the Pope would have to give account to God for him in the
day of judgment; he prefaced this exhortation to obedience by
a very explicit statement that God had appointed two authori-
ties greater than all others to rule the world, the apostolical
and the royal. 1
It is clear that if we are to arrive at a complete and just
view of the conception of kingship and secular authority held
by Hildebrand, we must not isolate the phrases of the two
letters to Hermann of Metz, but must consider them along
with the sentiments he expresses at other times. If, then, we
examine the circumstances under which the two letters to
Hermann were written, we find that the purpose of both was
to refute the arguments of those who maintained that it was
not lawful or proper for the Pope or any one else to excom-
municate the king or emperor.
Hildebrand was primarily
concerned to demonstrate the absurdity of this view, and he
justifies his action by three considerations--first, the general
authority of binding and loosing given by Christ to Peter, from
which no one is exempt; second, the precedents which he cites
of such excommunications of kings in the past; and third, by
a comparison of the dignity and authority of the temporal
1 Gregory VII. , Registrum, vii. 25:
"Credimus, prudentiam vestram non
latere: omnibus aliis excellentiores
apostolicam et regiam dignitates huic
mundo, ad eius regimina, omnipoten-
tem Deum distribuisse. Sicut euim,
ad mundi pulchritudinem oculis car-
neis diversis temporibus reprsesentan-
dam, solem et lunam omnibus aliis
eminentiora disposuit luminaria; sic,
ne creatura, quam sui beuignitas
ad imaginem suam in hoc mundo
creaverat, in erronea et mortifera
traheretur pericula, providit, ut apos-
tolica et regia dignitate per diversa
regeretur officia. Qua tamen maiori-
tatis et minoritatis distantia religio
sic se movet Christiana, ut cura
et dispensatione apostolica dignitas
post Deum gubernetur regia. Quod
licet, fili karissime, tua non ignoret
vigilantia, tamen, ut pro salute tua
indissolubiliter menti tuse sit alli-
gatum, divina testatur scriptura, apos-
tolicam et pontificalem dignitatem
reges christianos cseterosque omnes
ante divinum tribunal reprsesentatu-
ram et pro eorum delictis rationem
Deo reddituram. Si ergo iusto iudici,
et qui mentiri nescit, creaturarum
omnium creatori, in tremendo iudicio
te sum reprsesentaturus, iudicet dili-
gens sapientia tua; an debeam vel
possim saluti tuse non diligentissime
cavere, et tu mihi ad salutem tuam,
ut viventium possideas terram, de-
beas vel possis sine mora non oboe-
dire. "
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? chap. II. ] DIVINE NATURK OF POLITICAL AUTHORITY. 97
powers. Tt is in this last connection that he discusses the
origin of secular authority, and urges that this had its origin
in the sinful ambition and love of power of men who desired
to make themselves the masters of their equals. That is,
Hildebraud in these phrases maintains that the origin of
secular authority is related to the vicious or sinful character
in human nature.
We have then here one aspect of Hildebrand's conception of
the nature of secular authority, stated sharply and without
qualification, but in a context which is highly controversial.
In the other passages which have been cited we have a very
different view. In these he describes secular authority as
being derived from God, and as finding its true character in
the defence and maintenance of justice, and he hopes that
there may be a true concord and agreement between the
"sacerdotium " and the "imperium," the two authorities which
God has appointed to rule over the world.
These two conceptions may seem at first sight, especially to
those who are unfamiliar with the Stoic and Patristic tradition,
inconsistent and irreconcilable, but this is merely a confusion.
For, in this tradition, government, like the other great institu-
tions of society, such as property and slavery, is the result
of sin, and represents sinful greed and ambition, and yet is
also the necessary, and, in the Christian conception, the divine,
remedy for sin. Men in a state of innocence would neither
need coercive government, nor would they claim to rule over
their fellow-men; while in the state of sin and ambition, men
desire lordship over each other, but also, in this condition, men
need control and restraint if any measure of justice and peace
is to be attained and preserved. And thus the institution of
government, which is the result of men's sinful passions, is also
appointed by God to restrain sin. 1
No doubt the phrases of Hildebrand in the two letters to
the Bishop of Metz express one side of the traditional theory
in a very harsh and crude fashion, and we have evidence that
1 Cf. Seneca, Ep. xiv. 2; Irenseus, Doctrina Christiana,' i. 28; and vol. i.
'Adv. Hser. ,' v. 24; St Augustine, p. 24, 126, 129.
'De Civ. Dei,' v. 19, xix. 15; 'De
VOL. III. G
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? 98 POLITICAL THEORY : llTH & 12TH CENTURIES, [part II.
they were resented even among those who were not prepared
to defend the investiture of bishops with ring and staff by the
secular authorities. For instance, Hugh of Fleury, in a treatise
addressed to Henry I. of England in the early years of the
twelfth century, protests indignantly against the phrases which
had been used by Hildebrand in these letters about the origin
and character of the royal authority, and maintains that such
opinions are absurd, and contrary to the apostolic doctrine that
all authority is from God, and that there is a divine hierarchy
of authority and obedience not only on earth, but also in
heaven. 1
The phrases of Hildebrand were resented, and, considering
their highly controversial context, this is not surprising. Is
there now any reason to think that the conception which is
expressed in these phrases was maintained by other writers of
this period as representing a complete and exclusive theory of
the origin and nature of temporal authority? There are a very
few passages in the contemporary literature which deserve our
attention.
In a fragmentary treatise written in the middle of the
eleventh century by a French churchman attacking the action
of the Emperor Henry III. with regard to the Papacy,
especially no doubt in view of the deposition of the Popes
at the Council of Sutri, the author severely condemns the
emperor as having claimed jurisdiction over the Pope, and
1 Hugo of Fleury, 'Tractatus de a Deo potestas regia in terris est
regia potestate et sacerdotali dig- ordinata sive disposita. . . . Unde
nitate,' i. 1: "Scio quosdam nos- nobis liquido claret Deum omnipoten-
tris temporibus qui reges autumnant tem non solum humanum corpus
non a Deo, sed ab his habuisse membrorum distinxisse lineamentis,
principium qui Deum ignorantes, sed et totum mundum certis gradibus
superbia, rapina, perfidia, homicidiis ac potestatibus, sicut illa cselestis
et postremo univereis pene sceleribus curia cognoscitur esse distincta, in qua
in mundi principio diabolo agitante ipse solus Deus pater omnipotens
supra pares homines dominari cseca regiam optiuet dignitatem, et in qua
cupiditate et inenarrabili affectaverunt post ipsum aDgeli, archangeli, throni
prsesumptione vel temeritate. Quorum et domiuationes et quseque cseterse
sententia quam sit frivola liquet apos- potestates sibi invicem prseesse mira-
tolico documento, qui ait: 'Non est bili et modesta potestatum varietats
potestas nisi a Deo. Quse enim sunt a noscuntur. "
Deo ordinate sunt. ' Constat igitur hac Cf. St Gregory the Great, Ep. v. 59,
sententia, quia non ab hominibus, sed and vol. i. p. 127.
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? CHAP. II. ] DIVINE NATURE OF POLITICAL AUTHORITY. 99
urges that the emperor does not occupy the place of Christ,
but that it might rather be said that he holds that of the
devil, when he uses the sword and sheds blood. 1
Again, in a treatise written by a certain Bernald, apparently
in the last years of the eleventh century, he urges that if
the Popes have authority to depose Patriarchs, they have the
same authority over secular princes whose dignity seems to
have been created rather by men than by the divine institu-
tion. 2 Cardinal Deusdedit, in one of his treatises, speaks of
the royal authority as arising from human institution, with
the permission indeed of God, but not by His will, and he
refers to the demand of the Israelites for a king, as related
in 1 Samuel. 3
The first of these passages is very drastic, and if we had any
reason to think that it represented a generally current view,
would have considerable significance; but as we shall see
presently, some of the strongest papalists take the very
opposite view of the use of the temporal sword. 4 The phrases
of Bernald and of Deusdedit do not represent anything more
than the conception that the temporal power is not derived
immediately from God, but is directly the creation of human
will and authority.
What was, then, the normal view of these centuries as to the
source and nature of secular authority? There can really be
1 'De Ordinando Pontifice,' 'Auctor institutione videtur processisse. "
Gallicus': "Ubi enim inveniuntur im- 3 Deusdedit, 'Libellus contra in-
peratores locum Christi obtinere? Si vasores et symoniacos,' iii. 12: "Nec
verius liceat nobis dicere, potius offitio mirumsacerdotalemauctoritatem quam
diaboli surguntur (v. r. unguntur) in Deus ipse per se ipsum constituit, in
gladio et sanguine, ut, dum per peni- huiusmodi causis regiam precellere
tentiam eruantur vitia spirituali rese- potestatem, quam sibi humana prefecit
catione, ipsi insaniaat vel in cede vel adinventio, eo quidem permittente,
in membrorum carnali obtruncatione; non tamen volente. Nam de primo
quod secundum gratiam apud Deum rege populi sui, quem sibi petiit spreto
omnino est abhominabile. " prophetse principatu, ait ad eumdem:
2 Bernaldus, Libellus xii. , 'De 'Non te,' inquit, 'spreverunt, sed
Solutione Juramentorum': "Sicut me, ne regnem super eos' (1 Sam. viii.
autem Romani pontifices summos 7). Et iterum: 'Paenitet me, quod
patriarchas deponere possunt, ita et constituerim Saul regem'" (1 Sam.
inferiores, utpote mundi principes, xv. ii. )
quorum utique dignitas potius ex 4 See p. 103.
humane adiuventione, quam ex divina - -
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? 100 POLITICAL THEORY: 11TH & 12TH CENTURIES, [pabt II.
no doubt whatever about this to those who are at the pains
to make themselves familiar with the literature of those times.
The writers of these centuries are practically unanimous in
maintaining that the authority of the king or emperor is
derived from God. The principle is clearly expressed by those
who wrote before the development of the great conflict between
the Papacy and the Empire in the latter part of the eleventh
century, but we also find it maintained with equal clearness
during the great conflict both by imperialists and papalists.
In a commentary by Bishop Atto of Vercelli, which belongs
to the second half of the tenth century, we find a very interest-
ing and very emphatic statement of the divine authority of the
secular ruler, whether he was Christian or pagan. 1 Again, in
a report of the sermon of the Archbishop of Maintz at the
coronation of Conrad the Salic, which Wippo gives in his
life of Conrad, the Archbishop is represented as citing the
same phrases of St Paul, and as speaking of God as the
source of all human dignity, who had appointed Conrad to
be king over his people; the king is the vicar of Christ. 2
The same conception is maintained by Peter Damian, one
of the most illustrious of the reforming Italian churchmen
of the middle of the eleventh century. In a letter to
Archbishop Anno of Cologne, he speaks of the "regnum"
and "sacerdotium" as being both derived from God, and of
1 Atto of Vercelli, 'Exp. in Ep.
Pauli ad Romanes,' xiii. i. : "Prae-
terea, ne diceret aliquis : Transivi ad
gratiam Evangelii; liber sum: nulli
subditus esse debeo; propterea apos-
tolus, ut nihil suis auditoribus deesset,
propter bonum pacis, et concordise
subiecit: 'Omnis anima potestatibus
sublimioribus subdita sit. ' Ab excel-
lentiori parte id est anima, totus homo
designatur; sublimiores autem potes-
tates dicit imperatores, reges et prin-
cipes huius sseculi, quibus nos subditos
esse admonet propter bonum pacis, et
concordise, ne nomen Dei, aut doctrina
Christi blasphemetur. . . . 'Quae
autem sunt a Deo ordinate sunt,' a
bono quippe ordinatore nihil inordina-
tum relinquitur. Ostendit ergo his
verbis apostolus manifeste, quoniam
omnis potestas, tam apud paganos
quam apud Christianos, a Deo ordinata
est, sive propitio sive irato. "
2 Wippo, 'Vita Chunradi,' 'De Con-
secratione Regis,' 'Scriptum est enim:
Omnis potestas a Deo est': "Is omni-
potens rex regum, totius honoris auctor
et principium, quando in principes
terrss alicuius dignitatis gratiam trans-
fundit, quantum ad caturam principii
pura et munda. . . . Dominus qui te
elegit utesses rex super populum suum,
ipse te prius voluit probare, et post
modum regnare. . . . Ad summam
dignitatem pervenisti, vicarius es
Christi. "
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? CHAP. II. ] DIVINE NATURE OF POLITICAL AUTHORITY. 101
the need which each has of the other. 1 In another place
he draws out in some detail the complementary relation
between the spiritual and the temporal authorities. The
duties of the different members of the Church, for they are
both within the Church, are not the same. The duty of the
priest is to nourish and cherish all in mercy, the duty of
the judge is to punish the guilty, to deliver the innocent
from the power of the wicked, to be diligent in carrying
out the law, and in maintaining equity; he should always
remember the words of the apostle, "Wouldest thou have no
fear of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have
praise of him, for he is God's minister to thee for good. But if
thou doest evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain"
(Rom. xiii. 3, 4). 2 Peter Damian is clear that the authority of
the secular power in administering justice and punishing crime
is derived from God.
The writers whom we have just cited belong to the period
1 Peter Damian, Ep. , Bk. iii. 6:
"Sciebat enim {i. e. , the High Priest
Jehoiada) quoniam utraque dignitas
alternse iuvicem utilitatis est indiga,
dum et sacerdotium regni tuitione
protegitur, et regnum sacerdotalis
officii sanctitate fulcitur. . . . ut dum
regnum ac sacerdotium optata per vos
pace perfruitur, is, qui utriusque
dignitatis auctor est, pacis seteruse
digna vobis prsemia largiatur. "
2 Id. , 'Opusculum,' lvii. 1: "Non
omnia membra Ecclesise uno fungun-
tur officio. Aliud nempe sacerdoti,
aliud competit iudici. Ille siquidem
visceribus debet pietatis affluere, et
in matern1e misericordise gremio sub
exuberantibus doctrinse semper uberi-
bus Alios confovere. Istius autem
officium est, ut reos puniat, et ex
eorum manibus eripiat innocentes; ut
vigorem rectitudinis et iustitise teneat,
et a zelo sanctionum legalium non
tepescat; ut ab sequitatis linea non
declinet; ut legitimi vigoris genium
nou enervet. Memineat etiam semper
quod per apostolum dicitur; 'Vis non
timere potestatem? fac bonum, et
habebis laudem ex illa. Dei enim
minister est tibi in bonum. Si autem
malum feceris. time, non enim sine causa
gladium portat. '' In quibus utique
verbis (datur) intelligi, aliud esse
gladium principis, aliud infulam sacer-
dotis. Non enim ad hoc prsecingeris
gladio, ut violentorum mala debeas
palpare vel ungere: sed ut ea studeas
vibrati mucronis ictibus obtruncare.
Hinc est quod sequitur: 'Dei enim
minister est vindex in iram ei, qui
male agit. '"
Cf. id. , 'Liber Gratissimus,' 10:
"Regnum namque et sacerdotium a
Deo cognoscitur institutum, et ideo,
licet amministratoris persona prorsus
inveniatur indigna, officium tamen,
quod utique bonum est, competens
aliquando gratia comitatur. . . . Reges
enim et sacerdotes, licet nonnulli eorum
reprobi sint per notabilis vitse meri-
tum, dii tamen et christi dici rep-
? ? periuntur propter accepti ministerii
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