Mostly what would have happened if and king or an emperor did that? What will be the repercussion?
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i suspect they might have had some issues getting out of Rome. I also suspect that they would have had some problems collecting taxes from the church and their nobles using the excuse to rise up against them.
Lots of people fought the pope. But he was still regarded as the head of Christendom in a spiritual sense.
I doubt many would have risked their soul in that fashion.
If they do...well what Yakman said.
If they do...well what Yakman said.
Phillip IV of France more or less attempted popicide and seemed to get by with it.
And there were several popes murdered either by Roman families or competitors for the papal seat. This was typically covered over by the successor declaring the dead one an antipope or otherwise illegitimate.
The post-Carolingian and pre-Gregorian era seems like the high point for pope murder.
And there were several popes murdered either by Roman families or competitors for the papal seat. This was typically covered over by the successor declaring the dead one an antipope or otherwise illegitimate.
The post-Carolingian and pre-Gregorian era seems like the high point for pope murder.
but these were done by the Romans themselves. No foreign prince marched into Eternal City and stabbed the Vicar of Christ that I am aware of.
Sciarra Colonna allegedly beat Boniface VIII so hard that he died (in prison) shortly after.
Yes, the privilege of killing pontiffs or otherwise running him out of town was usually jealously kept by the Romans themselves.
Phillip IV is about the closest one I can think of an outside power making designs on the life of the pope. Though doubtless at least half of the holy roman emperors would have done it if they could.
Dante was not a big fan of several popes, iirc my inferno correctly, so maybe they would have been in some level of purgatorio?
Assuming the Pope is largely considered to be legitimate (i.e. there is no anti-pope to absolve you and your national church is getting on OK with Rome at the moment) you are going to be in deep, deep trouble. The church was a massively powerful institution during the middle ages and the level of sacrilege in the act of murdering a pope would likely alienate you from the rest of Christendom. Virtually every educated person in your kingdom, even many of those who are otherwise very loyal, would likely turn against you while the priests would be preaching for your downfall to every soul in your kingdom.
I think not so much if you would have established your Pope pretty quickly...
The more interesting question is what would happen if said Emperor, let's say Fredrick II, marched into Rome, killed the Pope AND all the Cardinals?
First, he would have been slaughtered, too.
Second, the Catholic Church would choose another Pope.
I think that it was quite close to happen in the Sack of Rome by Charles V.
Second, the Catholic Church would choose another Pope.
I think that it was quite close to happen in the Sack of Rome by Charles V.
How would you go about doing that? Given that even your own bishops are likely to be deeply upset by your actions I can't see how you could establish a pope after killing the previous one. If you already have an anti-pope that is accepted by your bishops and cardinals you may be able to get away with killing a pope, although at considerable political cost...
First, you would have had power in Rome what means power over cardinals either. You would have just made them an offer they could not refuse... And they rather cared about their temporal existence.
You could eventually have moved the whole papacy to Avignon
Except that Pope was forced into exile/POW status and if I remember rightly died a natural death in Rome years later anyway?
Something must have happened to give you the idea of murdering one of those bastards. Depending on what exactly it is, I could imagine some cases where you might even have some support by your local Church/fellow rulers/nobles ... might be enough to get away with it, but I'm not sure it'd be worth the trouble.