Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/277

 The Period of Invasions 197 was a difference of opinion in regard to the truth of a particular teaching, it was natural that all should turn to the bishop of Rome for his view. Moreover, the majesty of Rome, the capital of the world, helped to exalt its bishop above his fellows. 311. Title of Pope. The name "pope." (Latin, papa, " father") was originally given to all bishops, and even to priests. It began to be especially applied to the bishops of Rome, perhaps, as early as the sixth century, but was not apparently confined to them until two or three hundred years later. Not long after the death of Leo the Great ( 290), Odoacer put an end to the Western line of emperors. Then, as we know, Theodoric and his East Goths settled in Italy, only to be fol- lowed by still less desirable intruders, the Lombards. Dur- ing this tumultuous period the people of Rome, and even of all Italy, came to regard the Pope as their natural leader. The Eastern emperor was far away, and his officers, who managed to hold a portion of central Italy around Rome and Ravenna, were glad to accept the aid and counsel of the Pope. 312. Gregory the Great (590-604). The pontificate of Gregory the Great, one of the half dozen most distinguished heads that the Church has ever had, shows how great a part the papacy could play. Gregory was a statesman whose influence extended far and wide. It devolved upon him to govern the city of Rome, as it did upon his successors down to the year 1870, for the Eastern emperor's control had become merely nominal. He also valiantly defended central Italy from the Lombards. These duties were functions of the State, and in assuming them Gregory may be said to have founded the "temporal" power of the popes. 313. Gregory's Missionary Undertakings. Gregory's chief importance in the history of the papacy is due to the missionary enterprises he undertook, through which the great countries that were one day to be called England, France, and Germany were brought under the sway of the Roman Church and its head, the Pope. As Gregory had himself been a devoted monk, it was natural that he should rely chiefly upon the monks in his great work of