the greatest cause of conflict between popes and medieval kings and emperors was the dispute over..?

Question

the church's right to select high church officials
church's right to regulate marriage and divorce
church's right to oppose heresy
-or- all of the above?

Answer 1

this is why we have the division of church and state now.
these conflicts were a battle for supreme control

Answer 2

I actually thought that the greatest cause of conflict was land and taxation.

The papacy held large tracts of land, often very profitable land, and the proceeds of that land were often not taxable by the ruling monarchy.

In Sweden, for instance, so much of the tax base was in church hands that the King of Sweden agreed to convert to the Protestant faith - doing so allowed him to nationalize alot of Papal land and reap the obvious financial benefits.

The entire clause within the Magna Carta dictating a seperation between Church and State was politically and economically founded. It was the opinion of the Barons that enough was being done for God - i.e. the Crusades - the Barons did not like the Crown's ability to use the Church as a tool to sieze assets.

It is true that the Church's regulation of Henry VIII's marriages was a major factor in England's break from the Catholic Faith, but one must also look at the politics behind this.

Spain and France, who were historically England's greatest enemies, were strongly allied with the Papacy. England, much less powerful than either Spain or France, often found itself pressured by the Papacy to make concessions with its more powerful neighbors.

Now, the Holy Roman Empire, which held land throughout Italy, as well as in Germany and areas we now consider Eastern Europe, often had disagreements with the Pope regarding the selection of high church officials, but this was often due to financial and political reasons, rather than religious reasons. Often, a man selected as a bishop would find himself ruling over very lucrative territories. The Holy Roman Emperor wanted bishops in place that would allow him to draw funds and use the military and social clout these papal grants had. These disputes mostly concerned the concept of investiture.

Answer 3

The first

Answer 4

more of the first...medieval kings chose the high church officials for them to have some sort of hold over the church.

Answer 5

Mainly the the first, which was another way of saying which of the two was top dog--could the Church dictate to the Kings, or the other way around.

Answer 6

definitely all of the above.