Week 11 Essay

          This week I learned about many important figures and events that influenced and changed how we live today. They were: Investiture Controversy, St. Francis of Assisi, the Magna Carta, and St. Thomas Aquinas. These were all very fascinating, but what I found most interesting was the Investiture Controversy, so that is what I will be talking about in this essay.

           The Investiture Controversy was a disagreement between the government of the time and the church in 1076. More specifically, it was an argument between King Henry Ⅳ, who was also the Holy Roman Emperor, and Pope Gregory Ⅶ. They were fighting over who should be allowed to appoint bishops. Henry thought that he should because he was king and he had authority over everything, including the church, but Gregory knew that he was the leader of the church, and he believed that he should have the authority to appoint bishops.

          This resulted in an argument that started when Henry said that Gregory was no longer fit to be a pope, and, in return, Gregory excommunicated Henry, which made him no longer king. This made Henry very angry, but eventually he apologized. By the time they came to an agreement, the Pope had already passed away. However, the agreement said that the king could not choose bishops, for that was the Pope’s job, but he could influence the choosing of the bishop.

          About 86 years later, in 1162, a similar disagreement arose. An important character in this event was Thomas Becket. Becket worked in the church with the current Archbishop of Canterbury, and through him, met and became friends with the king, King Henry. When the Archbishop died, Henry anointed his friend, Thomas Becket as the next Archbishop of Canterbury, and Thomas took this new responsibility very seriously.

          When Henry tried to gain authority over the church, Thomas defended it, which made Henry very angry. The king threatened the Archbishop and he had to flee for his life. When Thomas returned, he and Henry made an agreement, but Henry still suggested that Thomas be killed.

          When the knights came into the church to kill Becket, he noticed them, and he drew a line on the ground between himself and the knights. He told them that if they crossed that line, they would be punished and they would not go to Heaven. The knights listened to the Archbishop and went back to the king, who was stressed when he heard about the news.

          Seeing that their king was not happy, the knights went back to the church and killed Thomas inside the cathedral during his evening prayers. As a result, Henry was excommunicated until he made a public confession. Also, Thomas was made a saint.

          Although there were many disagreements, which led to arguments and even people getting killed, the conclusion agreement that was made did help, at least for some time. I am very grateful, however, that they did come to a solution, otherwise our world could be very different today. I wonder how what I will learn about next week will affect our world today.