In the United States at the present day, the reverence which the Greeks gave to oracles and the Middle Ages to the Pope is given to the Supreme Court. Those who have studied the working of the American Constitution know that the Supreme Court is part of the forces engaged in the protection of the plutocracy. But of the men who know this, some are on the side of the plutocracy, and therefore do nothing to weaken the traditional reverence for the Supreme Court, while others are discredited in the eyes of ordinary quiet citizens by being said to be subversive and Bolshevik. A considerable further career of obvious partisanship will be necessary before a Luther will be able to attack successfully the authority of the official interpreters of the Constitution. 出典: Power, 1938. 詳細情報:https://russell-j.com/beginner/POWER04_290.HTM
But to an organization which has ideal ends, and therefore an excuse for love of power, a reputation for superior virtue is dangerous, and is sure, in the long run, to produce a superiority only in unscrupulous ruthlessness. The Church preached contempt for the things of this world, and in doing so acquired dominion over monarchs. The Friars took a vow of poverty, which so impressed the world that it increased the already enormous wealth of the Church. St. Francis, by preaching brotherly love, generated the enthusiasm required for the victorious prosecution of a long and atrocious war. In the end, the Renaissance Church lost all the moral purpose to which it owed its wealth and power, and the shock of the Reformation was necessary to produce regeneration.
All this is inevitable whenever superior virtue is used as a means of winning tyrannical power for an organization.
Except when due to foreign conquest, the collapse of traditional power is always the result of its abuse by men who believe, as Machiavelli believed, that its hold on men’s minds is too firm to be shaken even by the grossest crimes. 出典: Power, 1938. 詳細情報:https://russell-j.com/beginner/POWER04_280.HTM
But by far the greatest strength of the Church was the moral respect which it inspired. It inherited, as a kind of moral capital, the glory of the persecutions in ancient times. Its victories, as we have seen, were associated with the enforcement of celibacy, and the mediaeval mind found celibacy very impressive. Very many ecclesiastics, including not a few Popes, suffered great hardships rather than yield on a point of principle. It was clear to ordinary men that, in a world of uncontrolled rapacity, licentiousness, and self-seeking, eminent dignitaries of the Church not infrequently lived for impersonal aims, to which they willingly subordinated their private fortune. In successive centuries, men of impressive holiness — Hildebrand, St. Bernard, St. Francis– dazzled public opinion, and prevented the moral discredit that would otherwise have come from the misdeeds of others. 出典: Power, 1938. 詳細情報:https://russell-j.com/beginner/POWER04_270.HTM
The rise and decline of papal power are worthy of study by anyone who wishes to understand the winning of power by propaganda. It is not enough to say that men were superstitious and believed in the power of the keys. Throughout the Middle Ages there were heresies, which would have spread, as Protestantism spread, if the Popes had not, on the whole, deserved respect. And without heresy secular rulers made vigorous attempts to keep the Church in subordination to the State. which failed in the West though they succeeded in the East. For this there were various reasons.
First: the Papacy was not hereditary, and was therefore not troubled with long minorities, as secular kingdoms were. A man could not easily rise to eminence in the Church except by piety, learning, or statesmanship ; consequently most Popes were men considerably above the average in one or more respects. Secular sovereigns might happen to be able, but were often quite the reverse ; moreover they had not the training in controlling their passions that ecclesiastics had. Repeatedly, kings got into difficulties from desire for divorce, which, being a matter for the Church, placed them at the mercy of the Pope. Sometimes they tried Henry VIII’s way of dealing with this difficulty, but their subjects were shocked, their vassals were liberated from their oath of allegiance, and in the end they had to submit or fall.
Another great strength of the Papacy was its impersonal continuity. In the contest with Frederick II, it is astonishing how little difference is made by the death of a Pope. There was a body of doctrine, and a tradition of statecraft, to which kings could oppose nothing equally solid. It was only with the rise of nationalism that secular governments acquired any comparable continuity or tenacity of purpose.
In the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, kings, as a rule, were ignorant, while most Popes were both learned and well-informed. Moreover kings were bound up with the feudal system, which was cumbrous, in constant danger of anarchy, and hostile to the newer economic forces. On the whole, during those centuries, the Church represented a higher civilization than that represented by the State. 出典: Power, 1938. 詳細情報:https://russell-j.com/beginner/POWER04_260.HTM
These words were written during the pontificate of Leo X, which was that in which the Reformation began. To pious Germans, it gradually became impossible to believe that the ruthless nepotism of Alexander VI, or the financial rapacity of Leo, could be “exalted and maintained by God.” Luther, a “presumptuous and rash man,” was quite willing to enter upon the discussion of the papal power, from which Machiavelli shrank. And as soon as there existed moral and theological support for opposition to the Church, motives of self-interest caused the opposition to spread with great rapidity. Since the power of the Church had been based upon the power of the keys, it was natural that opposition should be associated with a new doctrine of Justification. Luther’s theology made it possible for lay princes to despoil the Church without fear of damnation and without incurring moral condemnation from their own subjects. While economic motives contributed greatly to the spread of the Reformation, they are obviously not sufficient to account for it, since they had been operative for centuries. Many Emperors tried to resist the Pope ; so did sovereigns elsewhere, e.g. Henry II and King John in England. But their attempts were thought wicked, and therefore failed. It was only after the Papacy had, for a long time, so abused its traditional powers as to cause a moral revolt, that successful resistance became possible. 出典: Power, 1938. 詳細情報:https://russell-j.com/beginner/POWER04_250.HTM
It is interesting in this connection to observe what Machiavelli has to say on the subject of ecclesiastical principalities in Chapter XI of The Prince :
“It only remains now to speak of ecclesiastical principalities, touching which all difficulties are prior to getting possession, because they are acquired either by capacity or good fortune, and they can be held without either ; for they are sustained by the ancient ordinances of religion, which are so all-powerful, and of such a character, that the principalities may be held no matter how their princes behave and live. These princes alone have states and do not defend them, they have subjects and do not rule them; and the states, though unguarded, are not taken from them, and the subjects, though not ruled, do not care, and they have neither the desire nor the ability to alienate themselves. Such principalities only are secure and happy. But being upheld by powers to which the human mind cannot reach, I shall speak no more of them, because, being exalted and maintained by God, it would be the act of a presumptuous and rash man to discuss them.” 出典: Power, 1938. 詳細情報:https://russell-j.com/beginner/POWER04_240.HTM
十五世紀の教皇権は,イタリアにはあっていた一方,あまりにもあけっぴろげで非道徳的であると同時に,あまりにも世俗的かつ非宗教的なものであったために,(ヨーロッパの)北方諸国の人々の信仰心を満足させなかった。終にゲルマン民族の国々で道徳的反感が強くなり,その結果,経済的動機に対し自由に振る舞うことを認める(許す)ほどとなった。つまり,ローマ(教皇)に対して貢物を捧げること( pay tribute to Rome )を拒否することが一般的なものとなり,王侯貴族たちはカトリック教会の土地を押収した。しかし,こうしたことは,プロテスタンティズム(清教徒主義)という教義上の反逆がなければ可能ではなかったであろう。(そうして)この反逆は〔ローマカトリック教会の)「大分裂」及びルネッサンス期の教皇職のスキャンダルがなければ決して起こらなかったであろう。もし,カトリック教会の道徳上の影響力が内部から弱まっているのでなかったならば,カトリック教会を攻撃する者たちは,道徳的な影響力を味方につけることはできなかったであろうし,フリードリッヒ二世が敗北したように,敗北させられたことであろう。
Chapter IV: Priestly Power, n.23
The fifteenth-century Papacy, while it suited Italy, was too worldly and secular, as well as too openly immoral, to satisfy the piety of Northern countries. At last, in Teutonic countries, the moral revolt became strong enough to allow free play to economic motives : there was a general refusal to pay tribute to Rome, and princes and nobles seized the lands of the Church. But this would not have been possible without the doctrinal revolt of Protestantism, which could never have taken place but for the Great Schism and the scandals of the Renaissance Papacy. If the moral force of the Church had not been weakened from within, its assailants could not have had moral force on their side, and would have been defeated as Frederick II was defeated. 出典: Power, 1938. 詳細情報:https://russell-j.com/beginner/POWER04_230.HTM
ローマン・カトリック教会の「大分裂」(The Great Schism)は,教皇に対して敬意を払うことをなおいっそう困難にした。それは,教皇としての権利を持っていると主張する二派のどちらが正統的なものか(合法的なものか)誰もわからず,両者が他方の教皇を破門にしたからである。この大分裂(の期間)全体を通して,二人の競合者はお互いに教化的でない(非道徳的な)権力への執着を示し(howed an unedifying tenacity of power),最も厳粛である誓い(宣誓)をさえ拒絶するに及んだ(広がった)。多くの国々で,国家と(それぞれの国の)カトリック教会は,一致して,両教皇に対する服従を撤回した。ついには(at length),カトリックの公会議(注:カトリックの全体集会)の開催のみがこの問題を解決することができるということが明らかになった。「ピサ公会議(総会)」は,見当違いにも,二人の教皇を異端として宣言したけれども,二人の教皇を排除に成功することなく,ただ単に第三の教皇を創り出しただけあった。「コンスタンス公会議」は,ついにこれら3人の教皇を取り除くことに成功し,統一を回復することができた。しかしこの闘争は,教皇権に対する伝統的な敬意を破壊した。この混乱の期間の最後の時期に,ウィクリフ(注:John Wycliffe, 1320年頃~ 1384年 イングランドの宗教改革の先駆者でオックスフォード大学教授)は,教皇権について次のように言うことが可能となっていた。
The Great Schism made it still more difficult to reverence the Pope, since no one knew which of the claimants was the legitimate one, and each claimant anathematized the other. Throughout the Great Schism, each of the two rivals showed an unedifying tenacity of power, extending to repudiation of the most solemn oaths. In various countries, the State and the local Church, in unison, withdrew obedience from both Popes. At length it became clear that only a general council could end the trouble. The Council of Pisa, misguidedly, merely created a third Pope without successfully getting rid of the other two, although it pronounced their deposition as heretics; the Council of Constance at last succeeded in removing all three and restoring unity. But the struggle had destroyed the traditional reverence for the Papacy. At the end of this period of confusion, it had become possible for Wyclif to say of the Papacy :
“To get rid of such a demon would not harm the Church, but would be useful to it; in working for his destruction, the Church would be working solicitously for the cause of God.” 出典: Power, 1938. 詳細情報:https://russell-j.com/beginner/POWER04_220.HTM
(神聖ローマ帝国の王朝である)ホーエンシュタウフェン朝が没落したのち,カトリック教会は,数十年の間,西方世界に対するイタリアの支配を再構築したように思われた。貨幣本位(制度)(注: money standard = monetary standard。本位貨幣 standard money の流通量と交換価値を調整する主要な方法)から判断すると,このローマによる支配は,アントニヌス朝(注:ネルウァ=アントニヌス朝は,古代ローマ帝国の王朝で,帝政中期の7人の皇帝の一統,またその治世を指す)の時代と,少なくとも,同等に堅固なものであった。即ち,英国とドイツからイタリアへと流れていった歳入は,かつて古代ローマの軍団が手に入れることのできた歳入の額をはるかに越えていた。しかし,このときの歳入は,教皇権に対する敬意という手段によって強要されたものであり,(かつてのように)武力によったものではなかった。
けれども,教皇がアヴィニヨンに移るやいなや,過去三世紀の間勝ち得ていた(教皇に対する)敬意は失われ始めた。これは教皇がフランス王に完璧に従属したせいだけではなく,たとえばテンプル騎士団(注:中世ヨーロッパで活躍した騎士修道会)の抑圧といったような,甚しい残虐行為に教皇が加担したせいでもあった。フランス王フィリップ四世は,財政逼迫にあったので,この修道騎士団(所有)の土地(he lands of this order.)を切望した。そこで全く根拠なく,この騎士団の人々を異端として告発することを決意し,教皇の支援を得て,フランスにいたこの騎士団の人々を捕まえて拷問にかけ,悪魔に忠誠を誓いキリスト受難の像に唾を吐いたという告白を強要し,彼らの多数を焼き殺した(焚刑に処した)し,一方,フランス王は彼らの財産を処分し,教皇のためにも少し抜き取ってあげた(提供した)。このような行為は教皇権の道徳的堕落の始まりとなった。
Chapter IV: Priestly Power, n.21
After the fall of the Hohenstaufen, the Church seemed, for a few decades, to have re-established the rule of Italy over the Western world. Judged by money standards, this rule was at least as firm as in the days of the Antonines — the revenue that flowed from England and Germany to Rome far exceeded what the Roman legions had been able to extract. But it was extorted by means of the reverence felt for the Papacy, not by force of arms.
As soon as the Popes moved to Avignon, however, they began to lose the respect which they had won during the three preceding centuries. This was due not only to their complete subservience to the King of France, but also to their participation in vast atrocities, such as the Suppression of the Templars. King Philip IV, being in financial difficulties, coveted the lands of this order. It was decided to accuse them, quite groundlessly, of heresy. With the help of the Pope, those who were in France were seized, tortured until they confessed that they had paid homage to Satan and spat upon the crucifix, etc., and then burnt in large numbers, while the King disposed of their property, not without pickings for the Pope. Such deeds began the moral degeneration of the Papacy. 出典: Power, 1938. 詳細情報:https://russell-j.com/beginner/POWER04_210.HTM
The whole of the period from the fall of the Western Empire to the end of the sixteenth century may be viewed as a contest between two traditions : that of imperial Rome, and that of Teutonic aristocracy, the former embodied in the Church, the latter in the State. The Holy Roman Emperors made an attempt to annex the tradition of imperial Rome, but failed. They themselves, with the exception of Frederick II, were too ignorant to understand the Roman tradition, while the political institution of feudalism, with which they were familiar, was Germanic. The language of educated men –including those who served the Emperors– was pedantically derived from antiquity; law was Roman, philosophy was Greek, but the customs which were Teutonic in origin were not such as could be mentioned in polite speech. There was the same sort of difficulty as a classical scholar of the present day would find in describing in Latin the processes of modern industry. It was not until the Reformation and the adoption of modern languages in place of Latin that the Teutonic element in the civilization of Western Europe found adequate literary and intellectual expression. 出典: Power, 1938. 詳細情報:https://russell-j.com/beginner/POWER04_200.HTM