The Concordat of Worms

In Our Time

BBC

History

4.6 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 15 December 2011

⏱️ 42 minutes

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Summary

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Concordat of Worms. This treaty between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, signed in 1122, put an end, at least for a time, to years of power struggle and bloodshed. The wrangling between the German kings and the Church over who had the ultimate authority to elect bishops, use the ceremonial symbols of office in his coronation and even choose the pope himself, was responsible for centuries of discord. The hatred between the two parties reached such a pinnacle that it resulted in the virtual destruction of Rome at the hands of the Normans in 1084.Nearly forty years later Emperor Henry V and Pope Calixtus II came to a compromise; their agreement became known as the Concordat of Worms, named after the town where they met and signed the treaty. The Concordat created a historic distinction between secular power and spiritual authority, and more clearly defined the respective powers of monarchs and the Church. Although in the short term the Concordat failed to prevent further conflict, some historians believe that it paved the way for the modern nation-state.With:Henrietta LeyserEmeritus Fellow of St Peter's College, University of OxfordKate CushingReader in Medieval History at Keele University John Gillingham Emeritus Professor of History at the London School of Economics and Political Science Producer: Natalia Fernandez.

Transcript

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0:47.2	Hello on to 23rd of September 1122 in a town on the west bank of the Riverine known as Vorms an agreement was
0:55.3	signed between Pope Calixtus II and the German Emperor, Henry the 5th. This
0:59.9	treaty the Concordat of Vorms hoped to mark the end of a long-running bitter and bloody
1:04.8	dispute between church and state over who had the right to appoint bishops and even the
1:09.0	Pope himself. This right was politically significant and it brought with it enormous wealth and power.
1:15.2	The roots of the struggle between the two institutions lay in the Bible, in particular the verse,
1:19.4	Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar, and render unto God that which is Caesars and render unto God that which is God's.
1:25.5	The ensuing dispute saw the imprisonment of a Pope, a king kneeling barefoot in the snow for days
1:30.6	and the destruction of the city of Rome.
1:33.0	And its resolution marked the arrival of a new era in the relationship between the rulers of
1:36.8	church and state.
1:38.0	With me to discuss the Concord of Vorms are Henriette Eliza, a Marietas fellow of St Peter's College, University of Oxford, Kate Cushing,
1:45.8	reader in medieval history at Keele University, and John Gillingham,
	...

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