the dispute with the papacy

• king john's reputation has been badly affected by his dispute with the papacy in the years 1205-13
• at this time, history was recorded by monks, and it is not surprising that they were highly critical of a king who came into conflict with the church
• accounts of john's wickedness are clearly exaggerated, and historical records show him acting in exactly the way a medieval person was expected to behave towards the church
• john's dispute with the papacy had a significant impact on his reign, as it undermined his authority over his subjects and even threatened the possibility of an invasion by the french king, justified as a crusade
• at the heart of the dispute was a clash of personalities, as john wished to control the church and force it to accept him demands, however he was unlucky that he was up against one of the most energetic and forceful popes of the middle ages, pope innocent III
• innocent was determined to force kings to recognise that they were the vassals of the papacy
• the dispute began in july 1205, when hubert walter, the archbishop of canterbury, died
• with walter being one of richard's older counsellors, john saw the opportunity to appoint a new archbishop of his own choice, showing importance as they had a leading role in john's government as an adviser
• the archbishop was elected by the monks of canterbury, but john assumed that he would be able to persuade them to choose his candidate, which wasn't unreasonable, as his father and brother had chosen their archbishops
• the monks chose their own candidate, a canterbury monk named reginald, instead of john's candidate, john de gray, the bishop of norwich
• both john and the monks appealed to the pope, and instead of choosing between the 2 candidates, innocent III chose his own, stephen langton
• john was furious when he heard the news of the new archbishop of canterbury, claiming that langton was unknown to him and had been in the service of his enemy, france
• john claimed that innocent was ignoring the principle that the king of england had a right to appoint his own archbishops, and in spite of john's opposition, innocent did not back down and he made langton archbishop
• john immediately reacted to langton's election by punishing those he considered to be guilty of undermining his rights to choose his archbishop
• after langton's election, john refused to allow him into the kingdom
• after langton's election, john expelled the canterbury monks from their monastery
• after langton's election, john seized the land held by italian clergy in england, intending to punish the italian-born pope for his interference in the english church
• john may have believed his actions would put pressure on the pope to agree that the king of england could choose his own archbishop, but innocent was just as stubborn as john
• innocent also had powerful weapons that he could use into submission: interdict and excommunication
• innocent sent 3 bishops to england to persuade john to accept stephen langton, but john would not give in
• in march 1208, innocent responded to john's arrogance by placing england under a sentence of interdict, which was a very serious punishment, meaning that people of england were denied access to the christian sacraments that were an essential part of their faith
• sacrament


  an important christian rite or ceremony. there are 7 sacraments in the catholic church, including baptism, marriage, and anointing the sick with holy oil
• a consequence of the interdict on people in england is sacraments were not provided for the dying, including holy communion and the anointing of the sick
• a consequence of the interdict on people in england is christian burial was forbidden, so people worried that the souls of the dead wouldn't go to heaven
• a consequence of the interdict on people in england is marriages could not take place in church
• a consequence of the interdict on people in england is baptisms took place behind the locked doors of the church
• a consequence of the interdict on people in england is sermons could only be preached on a sunday in the churchyard
• john reacted to the interdict by punishing those whom he blamed for the interdict; the clergymen who supported the pope
• john took the opportunity of the interdict to enrich himself at their expense by seizing revenue for their confiscated properties, and also took a stand against the bad behaviour of some monks by arresting their mistresses
• the interdict allowed john to acquire a new source of revenue that he badly needed, meaning he had little incentive to reach an agreement with the pope
• john did want a religious life in his kingdom to continue as normally as possible and did not want to drive his subjects into opposition, and indeed most of them supported him
• only 3 of john's bishops left for the continent and there was no rebellion in england
• john even benefited from his bishops exiling themselves as he could claim the income from vacant bishoprics, which was also true of vacant abbacies
• churches coped with the interdict by holding services outside the doors and, by 1209, innocent had given permission for churches to hold services behind closed doors and give holy communication to the dying, leading some historians to claim that the interdict was a hardship, but nothing more
• bishopric


  the diocese of a bishop - in other words, the area of the country the bishop was responsible for both spiritually and as a feudal tenant-in-chief. if a bishopric was vacant, this meant that there was no bishop overseeing the diocese - either because one had not yet been appointed or because the bishop was in exile. the king could claim the revenues and taxes from the bishopric until a bishop was appointed or returned from exile
• abbacy


  the area of land that an abbot was responsible for both spiritually and as a feudal lord
• the interdict did not have the impact that innocent had expected, and therefore he needed to use his last and most dangerous weapon: excommunication
• on 8th november 1209, john was excommunicated, meaning that all christians, including his barons, were no longer obliged to obey him
• more of john's bishops now left england while his barons became increasingly discontented
• although the church encouraged barons to turn away from john, it was not an easy choice for them to make, as john could confiscate their lands and property if they did not do their full feudal service to him, so obeying the church could ruin them and their families