The Power of the Pope During the Middle Ages

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The difficulty of accounting for so prodigious a power has given rise, in these latter times, to the most contradictory theories, both among Catholic and heretical authors. These theories may all be reduced to two classes, the first of which may be called theological, because they examine the difficulty principally in a theological view, that is, according to the prin ciples of revelation and of divine right; the second are the historical, because they examine the question chiefly in its historical view, that is, according to positive human laws, accord ing to the principles of legislation then in force, and according to some considerations founded on the condition and exigencies of society in the middle ages.

The difficulty of accounting for so prodigious a power has given rise, in these latter times, to the most contradictory theories, both among Catholic and heretical authors. These theories may all be reduced to two classes, the first of which may be called theological, because they examine the difficulty principally in a theological view, that is, according to the prin ciples of revelation and of divine right; the second are the historical, because they examine the question chiefly in its historical view, that is, according to positive human laws, accord ing to the principles of legislation then in force, and according to some considerations founded on the condition and exigencies of society in the middle ages.