Britain
For over 900 years, concordats have proven so effective that they have formed the cornerstone of Vatican diplomacy. This is how they began. The pope had blessed the Normal Invasion of England and now he demanded his reward. After his demands for fealty and rule by the papal legaate were refused, he finally managed to get the English king to sign the 1107 Concordat of London.
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How the world's first concordat came about (documents and commentary) |
The agenda set forth in Gregory VII's secret memo, the Papal Dictation, finally bore fruit in the Concordat of London. Here are records of all three papal attempts to get control of Britain:
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Scotland is drawn under the English concordat |
After the Norman Conquest rivalry with Canterbury led the Archbishop of York to secure bishoprics throughout Scotland, even in the Norse islands of Orkney and Shetland. This drew the whole country under the 1107 Concordat of London until the Scottish Church was placed directly under the pope in 1188. | |
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Prayer becomes a commodity controlled by the Church |
The Church taught that prayers could help save souls and also that they could be farmed out to holy men ― for a price. This gave the pope the leverage to acquire a quarter of the land in England and, eventually, the first concordat. Even William the Conqueror begs the pope: “Pray for us, and for the well-being of our realm”. Here is a short, revealing excerpt from Professor Terry Jones. | |
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The Pope cancels the Magna Carta |
Even the earliest attempts to ensure civil rights aroused opposition from the papacy. Innocent III had declared King John to be his vassal and considered the Magna Carta to be interference with his ownership of England. |
