History Rebuilt Part 14 - The Power Structure Begins (The Church)

In order to compete and as part of the effort to evangelize and centralize Catholicism, popes starting in the middle of the 11th century broke away from the cozy relationship with royal power and set up a rival monarchy complete with a law system (canon law) and court process, bureaucratic department (chancery, tax office, archive), ambassadors (legates), and inner circle of curial advisers (college of cardinals). Much of this effort stemmed from the ideas and actions of Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085), leading the era to be labeled the Gregorian Revolution, and was fueled by the desire to establish the Church's independence and ability to name her own bishops and abbots. The goal was to prevent secular powers from investing religious leaders with the symbols of their authority (miter, crozier, ring). This investiture controversy, as it is known, was settled in compromise by the Concordat of Worms in 1122, whereby civil rulers could give bishops and abbots symbols of their secular authority (a bowl of earth symbolizing property, perhaps a sword or scepter), but not religious symbols. Wow -symbols from the Phoenicians! It has come full circle – Satan religious followings – Jesus Salvation and New Covenant – Back to Satanic religious activities.

In about 1095 the Church setup itself to take on wars and conquer lands to build the church ownership of property and people. Take a look.

Crusades began in Muslim Spain, and the idea of holy or just war was transferred to the Middle East when Pope Urban II in 1095 called on Catholics to take up the cross. If Catholic success is measured by conquering Jerusalem, then only the First Crusade of 1099 succeeded. A Second Crusade (1147-1149) reacted to Muslim victories and then Muslims under Saladin retook Jerusalem in 1187. A Third Crusade (1189-1192) and Fifth Crusade (1213-1221) secured safe passage for Christian pilgrims, but the Fourth Crusade resulted in the disastrous sack of Constantinople (and eastern, Greek Christians) by western Europeans in 1204.

The Crusades also resulted in a resumption of Catholic violence against Jews, which had roots in the first millennium. In 1009, the Muslim caliph Hakim ordered the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to be burned; within a decade, French Catholics blamed Jews in their own towns of bribing Hakim, leading to a pogrom against them. Catholic crusaders traveling to Jerusalem in 1096 and 1147-1149 killed Jews in Germany, considering them infidels along with Muslims. The crusading effort also contributed to forced conversions among Jews in Spain in the 13th century and expulsions from England in 1290, France in 1306, and Spain in 1492.

Catholics and Protestants joined the race for "God, glory, and gold" in the rapid opening up of the world after Columbus sailed in 1492. Spanish and French Catholic missionaries, especially Franciscans and Jesuits, were influential in setting up missions that became cities in the American southwest and midwest: San Antonio, Santa Fe, St. Louis, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, and many others. A number of missionaries also became martyrs, such as the Jesuit North American martyrs in modern-day New York, Montreal, and Quebec.