John Barnes

 Europe was a violent and harsh place during the Medieval period.  This violence spilled over into the Church in the form of violent  leaders. This led many of the clergy of the Church to seek reform and  return to more stringent religious practices, both within the Church as  well as in Christendom as a whole. It was Emporer Henry III who  initiated this reform in 1049 when he learned that three separate men  laid claim to the papacy. The Church sought to attain this reform  through the separation of itself from the common people and the state.  The Church argued that the Pope was in essence the extension of Saint  Peter, the right hand man of Jesus during his time on Earth,

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