EUROPEAN & ASIAN HISTORY Return
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A rightly elected Pope is, without question, a saint, made so by
the merits of Peter.
He can dethrone Emperors and Kings and absolve
their subjects from allegiance.
The Roman church has never erred, nor can it
err until the end of time.
His legates, even when not priests, have precedence
over all Bishops.
He alone is entitled to Imperial Insignia.
All princes are obliged to kiss his feet.
No one can judge the Pope on earth.
The Pope alone can depose Bishops.
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1050
Humbert of Moyenmoutier, is made cardinal-bishop of Silva Candida and he surrounded himself with advisors and helpers who are remote from the Roman aristocracy to distance him from political pressures. Leo IX (1049-1054) bishop (duchy) of Rome insisted that clergy and people must elect bishops and abbots. He re-ordained many men who had been ordained by simoniacal bishops. About this time the Orthodox Christian Church and Roman Catholic Churches began to separate even further. The Orthodox Church includes the Armenian, Bulgarian, Ethiopian, Georgian, Greek, and Russian Churches. The Eastern Orthodox Church always distrusted Augustine theology as being too humanistic. The first book of canon law put together in Rome is titled 'Collection in 74 titles'. Its prime objective is to establish the position of bishop of Rome as Pope or the universal authority. It carefully avoided any attack on the rights of the laity or the position of the king in the church. It used papal letters including forged documents to support its position rather than on the Fathers or on synod decrees.
The Basque are whaling about this time. It is noteworthy that the Koreans have been whaling since 6,000 B.C.
1053
The Viking Robert Guiscard occupied Apulia, Italy. He co-ordinates the defeat of the Greeks taking Calabria, Brindisi and Taranto. Leo IX bishop (duchy) of Rome led a small army against the Viking but failed. The bishop of Rome is captured and held prisoner by the Viking for nine months. He is well treated but likely had to make humiliating concessions.
1054
The explosion of the Crab Nebula is not recorded by Europeans but is recorded by China who have a very advanced astronomical culture. Astronomy is used to organize a calendar, promote good government, and predict good and bad fortune and to measure gains and losses. Calendars determined the times for floods, the time to plant and the time to harvest. Some historians credit the church reformers of Lorraine and Burgundy through King Henry II (1039-1056) of Germany and Leo IX (1049-1054) bishop of Rome with changing the papacy from a political duchy of Rome to a more Papal position. They consider he changed the position from an object of shame and scandal to a serious churchmen position. Leo IX (1049-1054) bishop of Rome sent a delegation headed by cardinal Humbert to Constantinople to claim universal authority for the papacy causing an open breach between the two churches.
July: The date for the Great Schism between the Eastern and Western (Orthodox and Catholic) churches is July, 1054. An official date was needed so that talks could begin on reunion. The Council of Florence which ended 1445 established this date. The Orthodox Church did not accept the papal authority from Rome. The Orthodox Church maintained the earlier tradition of married priests.
July 4: Chinese and Arabian observers first documented the massive supernova of the Crab Nebula created thousands of years ago and consisting of a huge expanding cloud of gas and dust 6,000 light-years from Earth. The great nova, as Oriental astronomers described it, was six times brighter than Venus and was only outshone by the sun and moon. For 23 days the nova could be observed in broad daylight. An entry in the Records of the Royal Observatory of Peking reads: "In the first year of the period Chihha, the fifth moon, the day Chi-chou, a great star appeared approximately several inches southeast of T’ien-Kuan (i.e. Zeta Tauri). After more than a year it gradually became invisible." In 1999 the Chandra X-Ray Telescope observed a ring around the heart of the Crab Nebula which continued to generate energy of more than 100,000 suns.
1055
Victor II alias Gebhard of Dollnstein-Hirschberg (1055 1057) a Swabian is nominated by Emperor Henry III (1039-1056) as bishop of Rome. He had blocked military aid to Leo IX bishop of Rome in his campaign against the Viking. He endorsed that stance against simony and clerical that are unchaste as well as the alienation of church property. Several bishops are deposed.
1057
The House of Canmore saw a succession of Celtic-Scottish Kings (1057-1260). Stephen IX alias Frederick of Lorraine (1057-1058) a leading member of the curia is elected bishop of the duchy of Rome. He is the brother of Duke Godfrey of Lorraine the most powerful person in central Italy. The bishop advocated poverty, denounced clerical marriage and marriage within the forbidden degrees and is hostile toward simony and clerics who are unchaste. He also campaigned to raise an army against the Viking (Norman) in southern Italy.
1058
Benedict X alias John Mincius (1058-1059) a Roman and bishop of Florence who died 1073 is elected bishop of the duchy of Rome by a clique of nobles led by the Tusculin family. Godfrey of Lorraine naturally approved the appointment. The assumption is that bribery would carry the day as it had in the past. The important clergy had all fled from Rome likely expecting retaliation for the sudden death of Stephen IX. The cardinals driven from Rome elected Nicholas II (1058-1061) of Lorraine (French Burgundy) at Siena as anti-bishop of Rome. The result is a schism within the Roman Church.
1059
Nicholas II alias Gerard (1058-1061) anti-bishop of Rome excommunicated Benedict X bishop of the duchy of Rome as an invader of the Holy See and as a perjurer for breaking his oath to the Emperor. The Italian Benedictine Cardinal Hildebrand who became Gregory VII (1073-1085) bishop of the duchy of Rome pressured Nicholas II (1058-1061) bishop of the duchy of Rome to decree that the election of the bishop of Rome be taken out of the hands of the Roman nobility and placed into the hands of a college of cardinals who must conform to the reformers principles. It allowed non-Roman cleric elections including those conducted outside Rome. This edict is intended to prevent Roman noblemen from electing another Benedict and legitimizing the irregularities of his own election. The bishop of the duchy of Rome entered into an alliance with the Viking in southern Italy and Sicily. The Germans are enraged and declared the alliance null and void.
1060
Benedict X (1058-1059) bishop of the duchy of Rome is not officially deposed and degraded until this year.
1061
Alexander II alias Lucca (1061-1073) an Anselm born near Milan is elected bishop of the duchy of Rome and installed by Viking troops because of disturbances in Rome. The German court countered by electing Honorius II alias Cadalus of Parma (1061-1072) as bishop of the duchy of Rome. This resulted in another schism within the Roman church that lasted until 1071.
1062
Honorius marched on Rome defeating Alexander’s troops. He failed to capitalize on his success. Alexander II bishop of the duchy of Rome is humiliated by having to leave Rome to await a decision on his election to the papacy.
1063
Alexander II bishop of the duchy of Rome sent banners and granted indulgences to Norman (Viking) warriors and French knights fighting against Muslims in Sicily and Spain. Honorius bishop of Rome again sieges Rome holding it for several months.
1064
Emperor Yingzong of China reigned (1064-1967) in The Northern Song, he later changed his name to Zhao Shu.
The Viking Irish from Dublin are building ships. Alexander II bishop of Rome at a synod at Mantua had to answer charges he obtained the papacy by simony and force of arms. After swearing an oath he is freed from all charges. Benedictine Cardinal Hildebrand who became Gregory VII (1073-1085) bishop of Rome dictated the theology of the church during this period.
1066
Harold is King of England but he doesn’t have the support of the English Viking. William the Bastard (later called the Conqueror) (1066-1087) a Viking conqueror from Normandy with only 15,000 men took England. England only fielded 8,000 men. Most of his men didn’t even reach the field of battle including the archers. The Viking had attacked the English from the north drawing King Harold’s men from the Norman landing to the south. The English fought on foot whereas the Viking fights on horses. England had regressed back to Anglo and Saxon rule after the death of Canute the Viking in 1035. William on Christmas day crowns himself King of England. The Viking Frank dynasty (1066-1154) also called the Norman firmly established their culture in England that remains too current times. William controlled some one million Anglo and Saxons with fewer than one thousand men. This is the start of an increased French influence on the English and their language. French remained the official language of England for the next 200 years.
In England prior to 1066, hunting was virtually unrestricted. The Forest Laws, strictly enforced by English kings starting in the 11th century, placed restrictions on hunting, making it the sole privilege of the nobility. Unauthorized slayers of the king’s deer were often put to death.
1067
The Empire of Ghana, West Africa had a standing army of 200,000 men including 40,000 bowmen to maintain law and order in the gulf trade between Africa and the Arabs. Al-Bakri an Arab scholar wrote about Ghana legal system, the empires great wealth, its advanced political structure complete with subordinate kings and governors.
1068
Emperor Shenzong of China reigned (1068-1085) in The Northern Song.
1070
Montgomery a Viking of Normandy built a timber castle of conquered Welsh lands as a buffer to contain the Welsh from the new Norman Lands.
Kumbi alias Ghana (warrior King) aka 'the land of gold' is one of the most powerful empires in the world.
June 4: Roquefort cheese was accidentally discovered in a cave near Roquefort, France, when a shepherd found a lunch he had forgotten several days before.
1071
The Viking Robert Guiscard took Bari and by 1076 eliminated Greek rule from southern Italy. His son Bohemond went on to attack the towns of Epirus and Thessaly of Greece.
1072
The Saxon clan of the north until this time had been attempting to stop the Viking King Norman William (1066-1087) retaining control of England.
1073
Hildebrand of Moyenmoutier became Gregory VII (1073-1085) bishop of Rome and sent word to the young Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV (1056-1106), begging for recognition. Others suggest he did not seek confirmation of the Emperor. His opponents complained that he removed the cardinals from the council of the Holy See. The bishop of Rome is known to have employed the Viking Robert Guiscard his 'vassal', as the previous bishop of Rome called him. Henry IV (1056-1106) of the Holy Roman Empire is advised that Hildebrand is dangerous and bent on breaking princes once and for all, as he considered them all corrupt. Henry IV did not listen to his advisors. Gregory VII became the last bishop of Rome whose election had to be confirmed by the Emperor and he became the first bishop of Rome to canonize himself. He forbade Catholics to call anyone 'pope' except the bishop of Rome. The Christian Church of Milan, the see of St. Ambrose, regarded itself the equal of the bishopric of Rome.
Guy Godfrey, Duke of Aquitaine invaded Spain on the pretext to bring Roman Christianity to the Moslem population.
1074
A Roman synod ordered the disposition of all simoniacal priests. All married priests are forbidden to celebrate mass. These decrees provoked hostile reaction in England, France and Germany.
1075
Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) whom Saint Peter Damian described as a Holy Satan is determined to declare unholy war on the Kings and Princes of Europe. Canon law at this time did not allow the church to interfere in the internal affairs of other metropolitans. His weapons would be forged documents to support his Dictatus or list of twenty-seven thesis of power as Peter's vicar. The historical forgeries are immediately inserted into Cannon Law turning today into always was and always will be. This is the beginning of Systematic Secular Religion.
Pope Gregory, following a Pagan tradition proclaimed:
No one can judge the Pope on earth.
The Roman church has never erred, nor can it err
until the end of time.
The Pope alone can depose Bishops.
He alone is entitled to Imperial Insignia.
He can dethrone Emperors and Kings and absolve their
subjects from allegiance.
All princes are obliged to kiss his feet.
His legates, even when not priests, have precedence
over all Bishops.
A rightly elected Pope is, without question, a saint,
made so by the merits of Peter.
Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) claimed to be enforcing the old law of the church but the authority of canons supports few of his axioms. He ordered his assistants to find or create justification to support his views. It is little wonder that for seven centuries the Greeks had called Rome the home of forgeries. The Papal Paper Revolution had begun in earnest. The Pope had in effect place the Papacy above scriptures, Christ and God. St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) would later write heretics should be executed on the same basis as forgers should. You will be able to tell them by their fruits for a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. By this time Catholics lost their historic right to elect new popes. This right is restricted to cardinals. French and Germans are enraged and use their overriding powers to overcome most of the rules. The pope’s edict of interference in church appointments created a greater storm and brought him in collision with Henry IV. The decree is not immediately enforced to prevent another schism. Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) began to scheme against the Kings and princes of Europe. The pope proclaimed as a matter of faith that disobedience to the pope is disobedience to God's will.
The Jiaozhi of Vietnam, launched a war against China, with a force of some 100,000 surrounding Yongzhou (the southern region of Nanning). It was captured after a siege of 42 days.
1076
Henry IV requested a German synod at Worms to deposed the pope and demanded he abdicate. The Italian Lombard bishops joined the German bishops in withdrawing their obedience to the pope. A group of Italian Bishops held a council in Pavia and excommunicated Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) for separating husbands and wives, and for preferring licentiousness among the clergy to honorable marriage. They claimed that Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) is no longer pope but a false monk. The German clergy wanted to know, when Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) that had driven men out of the priesthood, where would he find the angels to replace them.
Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) appealed to all opposition parties throughout Europe to oppose Henry and the German princes. He excommunicated Henry and all bishops who opposed him. Next Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) turned to simony, the buying and selling of sacred things. Excommunication for this offense seemed excessive to Cardinals who knew that everything in the church from the Papacy down had its price. Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) held firm to excommunicate and clerics who receive a living from a layman, be he Duke or Prince are excommunicated. He forced all Bishops to take a personal oath of loyalty to him. Any Bishop could be dismissed if he conflicts with the Pope. Archbishop of Bremen considered Gregory a dangerous man who wants to suspend bishops without due process of law. The bishops have lost all power and authority previously give to they by the Holy Spirit.
Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) had waited his opportunity to test his newly proclaimed powers when he accused King Henry IV (1056-1106) of the Holy Roman Empire of interfering in the affairs of the church and of simony. King Henry IV called a council at Worms and declared the election void. The Pope responded by declaring, On the part of God the omnipotent, I forbid Henry to govern the Kingdom of Italy and Germany. I absolve all his subjects from every oath they have taken or may take; and I excommunicate every person who shall serve him as King. Pope Gregory backed Rodolph Duke of Swabia as next in line to the throne. Henry crossed the Alps and is joined by a huge Lombard army who hoped he is on the way to put the Pope in his place, they are disappointed, and Henry only wanted compromise. The Pope humiliated Henry for four days with barbarous cruelty. Henry asked nothing except to have his censure lifted. Pope Gregory VII's own pompous arrogance would be his downfall but he placed the church on an irreversible course that would bring much bloodshed to Europe.
England introduced beheading but restricted its use to those of noble birth convicted of treason.
1077
Salzburg (the name means salt fortress) castle in Austria is built this year of wood being named due to the salt mines nearby. Eventually it would be built of stone and contain 7,000 men that would protect the silver and gold mines also located nearby. This castle never fell to an invasion. The Salzach River slices through the town its water a curious milky green caused by runoff from the mineral rich mountains.
Turks capture Jerusalem
1078
Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) proclaimed that excommunicated Emperors and Kings his subjects are forbidden to deal with him as he is only fit to be dethroned. He would depose the Greek Emperor as well as Boleslaus, the Polish King, forbidding Poland ever again to call itself a Kingdom. Jews are forced to wear a badge of shame. Jews are forbidden contact with Christians, barred from administration, deprived of lands, forbidden to own shops, herded into ghettos that are bolted at night. The Vatican would sow civil unrest, rebellions and civil wars. Millions would die because of the intrigue of Rome. Even in England the Doomsday Book (1086) records that Jews are living in Jewry or separate quarters in compliance with Pope Gregory IV mandate.
1080
When King Henry IV (1056-1106) returned he declared war on Rodolph Duke of Swabia who had been setup by the Pope, causing Pope Gregory to impose censures all over again on King Henry. This renewal of the excommunication of Henry is regarded as an act of persecution and the public opinion in Germany turned against the pope. King Henry IV called a council to dispose Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) and chose Guibert of Ravenna as Pope Clement III (1080-1100). Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) prophesied King Henry IV (1056-1106) would die within a year. Instead after a couple of resounding victories, Henry marched on Rome and put Pope Clement III (1080-1100) (considered an anti-pope) on the throne. Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) fled, old, tired and abandoned by thirteen of his Cardinals, to Salerno in the Kingdom of Naples. He made little use of the College of Cardinals so it is not surprising when they abandoned him. He excommunicated Henry the so-called King for the fourth time so that even a pontiff with divine powers could not redeem him. The majority of the Italian populous however had turn against this arrogant pope. The pope had plans to lead a crusade to free the Byzantine from the Turks and restore the Eastern Church to Rome. He died a miserable old man in exile in 1085 in Norman hands at Salerno. Pope Clement III (1080-1100) is considered the pope who created the Collage of Cardinals as a reward to those thirteen cardinals who abandoned Pope Gregory for his camp.
1083
Thirteen of the cardinals abandoned any cause in support of Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085). There is scarcely a king or prince with whom Gregory is on good terms. Gregory had even denounced Philip I of France as a tyrant who incited his people to evil by example of his actions and morals.
1084
The exiled Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085), hoping to break a siege of Rome by Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV (1056-1106), called upon the Norman Robert Guiscard for aid. The Norman army of thirty six thousand men, mainly Muslims recruited by the Norman, successfully broke the siege, but then proceeded to sack the city. The army set fires, massacred thousands and took thousands more as slaves. The people blamed their plight on the pope.
1085
Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085) died a failure but influenced imposing of the Roman cultural pattern of papal monarchy on the Catholic Church. Historians have traced seventy-five bloody battles directly to Pope Gregory’s feuding with the Emperor. Napoleon wrote his epitaph saying "If I were not me, I would like to be Gregory VII." Some have suggested Napoleon is the devil incarnate or the Anti-Christ?
1086
Emperor Zhezong of China reigned (1086-1100) in The Northern Song.
In China Shen Kua (1030-1093) gave an account of a magnetic compass for navigation in his work "Dream Pool Essays." The work also gave the first account of relief maps and an explanation of the origin of fossils, along with other scientific observations. Shen Kua wrote his essays after being banished from office after an army under his command lost 60,000 killed in a battle with Khitan tribes.
Twenty years after the arrival of the Viking Norman in England only two of the greater landlords and two Bishops are Saxon. William the Conqueror (1066-1087) gave the Saxon lands to his Norman nobles. Two hundred Norman replaces over four thousand Saxon landlords. He carefully gave half the farmland to the Norman nobles, a quarter to the Church and kept a fifth for himself, retaining the sheriff system to keep check on the nobles. The King owned all the land but is held by others called vassals in return for service and goods. An economic census is conducted of all England to establish a base for taxation and is called the Doomsday Book by the people.
Under pressure of the Viking prince The Reform Party of Rome elects Jordan of Capua Victor III alias Desiderius Monte Cassino (1086-1087) as pope. The people rioted and drove Pope Victor from Rome and he retired to Monte Cassino laying aside the papal insignia.
1087
William the Conqueror (1066-1087) died and his son Robert acquired Normandy and his second son William II (1087-1100), known as Rufus (Latin for red) because of his red hair and face acquired England. King William Rufus died 1100.
1088
Urban II (1088-1099) is elected at Terracina south of Rome against the wishes of the Emperor and despite the firm entrenchment of Pope Victor III in Rome.
The magnetic compass was first written of by Shen Kuoof China in his Dream Pool Essays of 1088
1090
Henry IV successful Italian campaign secured Rome for Pope Clement III and drove Pope Urban to seek refuge with the Viking (Norman) in southern Italy. Most Popes prior to Pope Urban II (1088-1099) are content merely to instigate, encourage, or bless war efforts as a noble Christian cause. Pope Urban would create a series of Holy Wars. Priests would tell the people that going to war is to serve the will of God.
1093
Pope Urban II (1088-1099) with his Viking army decisively returned to Rome using bribery to secure his position.
1095
The Jihad (holy war) against Christendom eventually provoked a Christian response in kind, know as the Crusades (holy war) (1095-1101). Both sides promised instant access to heaven, to those killed in holy war, and are declared martyrs. Pope Urban II (1088-1099) called the first Holy War. Some contend there was only eight Holy Wars and the dates are disputed.
Pope Urban II (1088-1099) took up the sword because the Muslim infidels ambushed the Christian pilgrims going to Jerusalem and Rome commanded the first of eight or nine Crusades that spanned 177 years that did not end until 1272. The first Holy War (1096-1099) progressed through Constantinople to Antioch. Crusaders slaughtered the Jewish communities along the Rhine Valley on their way to the Holy Land. Many of the crusaders are sent as a penance for atrocious offences such as rape and murder and them eventually reverted to their unpleasant habits even when the war ended. The Roman Catholic Church even to present times refuses to proclaim war as intrinsically evil. It is noteworthy that the Moslems held Jerusalem since 638 and a large Christian population lived in the city, namely the Maronite, Melkite, Syrian and Armenian Christians.
William II (1087-1100) only recognized Pope Urban II after significant concessions.
1096
Pope Urban II (1088-1099) armies captured Jerusalem from the Muslims after a month long siege. It is said, as the Crusaders rushed to pray at the tomb of Jesus that they waded ankle deep through blood. The Crusaders slaughtered many of the Jewish and Muslim inhabitants. The Chassidim Jews of the Rhine Valley who survived the Massacre of Pope Urban II crusade flee to Poland, Lithuania, Russia and Agngray. The Franks remained in Jerusalem creating great baronies and fiefdoms. The Jerusalem Kingdoms stretched from Antioch to the Sinai Peninsula. The Crusaders didn't have enough armies to really secure the roadways through Syria and Palestine so they created a number of forts along the way.
May 18: Crusaders massacred the Jews of Worms. Before embarking on the First Crusade to wrest the Holy Land from Muslim Turks, Count Emich von Leiningen and his army swept through their own German homeland, murdering thousands of Jews, whom they had declared "murderers of Christ." When Emich arrived in the town of Worms in May, the town's Roman Catholic Bishop tried to protect the Jewish population, but the Crusaders overran his palace and slaughtered some 500 people who had taken shelter there. Another 300 were killed over the next two days. The graves of the massacre victims can still be seen at the Jewish Cemetery at Worms.
June 25: The 1st Crusaders slaughtered the Jews of Werelinghofen, Germany.
1098
Pope Clement III (1080-1100) is driven out of Rome by the Piericoni family. Pope Urban II (1088-1099) and many others rejoiced at the recovery of the ancient Celtic Spear of Destiny (Spear of Longinus) from the Arabs. Many believe the spear mere possession carries the right to the throne. Some believe it is the same spear used to kill Christ and a relic but its legend is Celtic in nature.
1099
First Crusades Capture of Jerusalem--Jews and Moslems slaughtered. Godfrey Of Bouillon led the attack and was named 'Protector of the Holy Sepulchre'. July 15: Jerusalem fell to the crusaders following a 7 week siege. A massacre of the city's Muslim and Jewish population followed with the dead numbered at about 3,000.
The Christian knights swept through the Middle East brutality
putting the Islamic peoples and the Muslim to the sword. Godfrey Of Bouillon led the attack and was named 'Protector of the Holy
Sepulchre'. The Roman Catholics
captured Jerusalem and massacred 70,000 Muslims over three days. There were so
many bodies that an epidemic broke out. They burned Jews alive in their synagogue.
Europe is
taught to regard Jews and Muslims as the enemies of God. The also
held a deep antagonism toward Greek Orthodox Christians of Byzantium who
they believed made them feel barbarous and inferior.
Paschal II (1099-1118) is elected pope but considered abdication in
1111. He endorsed the successful Middle East war (Crusades)
July 15: Jerusalem fell to the crusaders following a 7 week siege. A massacre of the city's Muslim and Jewish population followed with the dead numbered at about 3,000.
July 16: Crusaders herded the Jews of Jerusalem into a synagogue and set it afire.
August 12: At the Battle of Ascalon 1,000 Crusaders, led by Godfrey of
Bouillon, routed an Egyptian relief column heading for Jerusalem. The Norman
Godfrey, elected King of Jerusalem, had assumed the title Defender of the Holy
Sepulcher. Disease starvation by this time reduced the Crusaders to 60,000, down
from an initial 300,000, and most of the survivors left for home.
.
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