Papacy In The 19th Century

The Fourteenth century in Europe was characterized by an abundance of different occurrences– The Black Death, the Hundred Years' War, technological advancement, changes in government all over– and among them included the recession of the papacy. In the previous century, the papacy still held considerable influence over the lives of those living in Europe, considerable enough to actually launch the Crusades, the holy series of campaigns for Christendom, where people saw genocide as an acceptable action since the church convinced them it was "for God". Unfortunately, as Europe shifted into the next century, the once almighty papacy suddenly found itself lost in the midst of politics and monarchs, with little say in anything that happened all
Since the beginning of time, the church and the state have both sought control over the people in their everyday lives, creating a timeless struggle. This was evident even in the fourteenth century. For instance, King Philip thought no one should be above the monarchy, and wanted to tax the clergymen. Pope Boniface VIII, however, believed that King Philip could not impose taxes on the clergymen without his consent, as they were his people and he served not the King, but God. He went on to address this in the Unam Sanctum, essentially stating that secular authority overpowered temporal authority. This ended up backfiring on the papacy as a whole since King Philip then was adamant about having a pope that complied with his wishes, and then went on to get Pope Clement V, a
Conciliarism believed in keeping the church and everyday life separate, that the Pope should not be involved with temporal matters, as it was not their ground, and that clergymen were not higher than one another since they were never given the spiritual authority. This undermined the church's authority and power, and followers of conciliarism were then keeping their spiritual and temporal lives apart. Modern Devotion itself emerged from mysticism and wanting to do good, both of which were popularized after priests abandoned their churches during the Black Death, leading many to believe that all was lost. Modern Devotion taught that, to achieve a death without Purgatory, one had to lead a life dedicated to serving other human beings rather than serving themselves. Although Modern Devotion did enhance the spiritual aspect of Christianity, it also implied that the people themselves could keep out of Purgatory without the assistance of the church. The people would inevitably become more independent in spiritual matters and rely less on the church. Nominalism, in a sense, perpetuated almost a disbelief in God, a rationalism that could have caused a falling out in religious belief and a rise in atheism. It explained that reason could not prove faith, and that faith