Source set · 7 sources ✓ Lesson ready

Who should have the final say: kings or popes?

The Investiture Controversy, the Becket affair, and Unam Sanctam show medieval rulers and churchmen arguing, in their own words, over where authority came from.

Timeline of key events →Unit: The Medieval World →

Teach it

✓ Lesson ready

A ready-to-run lesson for this set: Role-Play: The Summit of Kings and Popes. Slides include a hook, one slide per source, directions, a take-a-stand vote, an exit ticket, and a teacher script in the speaker notes.

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1. Hook: a striking quote 3-5 min

Henry, king not through usurpation but through the holy ordination of God, to Hildebrand, at present not pope but false monk.
King Henry IV of Germany, letter to Pope Gregory VII (January 24, 1076)

Ask: Henry IV opened his letter to the pope this way. What is he claiming about himself, and what is he claiming about the pope?

2. Main activity: Role-Play: The Summit of Kings and Popes

Grouping: Six delegations of 4 to 5 students; the teacher chairs the summit

Setup: Imagine a summit where the people in these sources meet to settle one question: who has the final say over bishops, church courts, and rulers? Each delegation presents its position, answers one challenge, and then all delegations try to write a compromise. At the end, the teacher reveals the real compromise of 1122.

Materials (printables are in the Lesson Plan Doc)

Delegation role cards (printable pages in the Lesson Plan Doc)
Evidence cards for all 7 sources
Summit agreement sheet

Assign delegations 5 min
Hand out role cards and source excerpts.
Prepare 8 min
Each delegation writes a 45-second position statement using its source and predicts one challenge.
Summit statements 15 min
Delegations speak in date order. After each, one other delegation may challenge it, and the speakers answer.
Write a compromise 8 min
All delegations try to agree on rules for choosing bishops. Then reveal the Concordat of Worms (1122): the Church would elect bishops and give them their religious symbols, while the emperor could attend elections and grant their lands and political powers.
Take a stand 7 min
Use the vote slide.
Exit ticket 5 min
Students answer on a slip before leaving.

Take a stand: Who should have had the final say in medieval Europe: kings or popes?

Kings: Henry IV said his crown came from God, not the pope; the German bishops backed him; and Henry II’s Assize of Clarendon shows kings building systems of justice for the whole realm.
Popes: Gregory VII and Boniface VIII argued that spiritual power is higher than earthly power, and Becket’s murder showed what could happen when a king’s anger went unchecked.

3. Pacing options

15-minute bell-ringer

3 min Hook: Henry IV’s greeting
8 min Compare Henry IV’s letter with Gregory VII’s deposition: what does each claim about where power comes from?
4 min Exit ticket question 1

Full 50-minute lesson

4 min Hook: Henry IV
4 min Assign delegations
8 min Prepare
15 min Summit statements
8 min Compromise and reveal
6 min Vote and exit ticket
5 min Buffer

4. Exit ticket

Which source makes the strongest case for its side? Explain in two sentences.
Why did the right to choose bishops matter so much to both kings and popes?

5. Differentiation

Support

This set has no Adapted Docs yet; read key passages aloud or chunk them for struggling readers.
Provide a timeline: 1076 Henry IV and Gregory VII; 1077 Canossa; 1122 Concordat of Worms; 1166 Assize; 1170 Becket; 1302 Unam Sanctam.
Word bank: investiture, depose, excommunicate, synod, assize, temporal, spiritual.
Sentence frame: “Our delegation believes ___ should decide because ___.”

Extension

In 1077 Henry IV stood in the snow at Canossa to ask Gregory’s forgiveness. Who really won that moment? Research and defend your answer.
Boniface VIII issued Unam Sanctam during a quarrel with King Philip IV of France. Research how that quarrel ended.

Suggested sequence

Leveled readings: 5 key passages in this set are adapted to about grade 4, 7, and 10 reading levels, shown next to the original wording.

Leveled readings (make a copy)

Gregory VII: Lay Investitures Forbidden, 1074, 1080
Document · Fordham University · World: Medieval (500-1500) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 5 min
Translated primary source: Gregory VII: Lay Investitures Forbidden, 1074, 1080.
Ask: How reliable is this source, and how could we check it?
Open with this source to frame the question.
Leveled reading Original ↗Copy Doc SOAPSTone HIPP / HAPP
Henry IV: Letter to Gregory VII, Jan 24 1076
Letter · Fordham University · World: Medieval (500-1500) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 10 min
Translated primary source: Henry IV: Letter to Gregory VII, Jan 24 1076.
Ask: How reliable is this source, and how could we check it?
Leveled reading Original ↗Copy Doc SOAPSTone HIPP / HAPP
German Bishops: Renunciation of Gregory VII, Synod of Worms, 1076
Document · Fordham University · World: Medieval (500-1500) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 10 min
Translated primary source: German Bishops: Renunciation of Gregory VII, Synod of Worms, 1076.
Ask: What beliefs and practices does this source describe, and how did they shape daily life?
Original ↗SOAPSTone HIPP / HAPP
Gregory VII: Deposition of Henry IV, Feb 22 1076
Document · Fordham University · World: Medieval (500-1500) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 10 min
Translated primary source: Gregory VII: Deposition of Henry IV, Feb 22 1076.
Ask: What questions would you want to ask the author?
Leveled reading Original ↗Copy Doc SOAPSTone HIPP / HAPP
Assize of Clarendon (1166)
Document · Yale Avalon Project · World: Medieval (500-1500) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 10 min
Henry II's reforms that laid groundwork for the English jury system.
Ask: How did medieval England shape American courts?
Leveled reading Original ↗Copy Doc SOAPSTone HIPP / HAPP
The Chronicle of "Benedict of Peterborough": The Murder of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, 29 December 1170
Document · Fordham University · World: Medieval (500-1500) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 10 min
Translated primary source: The Chronicle of "Benedict of Peterborough": The Murder of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, 29 December 1170.
Ask: Who does this law protect, and who does it leave out?
Original ↗SOAPSTone HIPP / HAPP
Boniface VIII (r.1294-1303): Unam Sanctam, 1302
Document · Fordham University · World: Medieval (500-1500) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 15 min
Translated primary source: Boniface VIII (r.1294-1303): Unam Sanctam, 1302.
Ask: What can this source tell us about life in its time and place?
Close with this source before writing.
Leveled reading Original ↗Copy Doc SOAPSTone HIPP / HAPP

Quick check

Five questions built only from this set’s sources: four multiple choice and one short answer. Print it or assign it in Google Classroom. The answer key gives the source line for every answer.

Quick check (make a copy)Answer key (make a copy)

Preview the questions

Which source in this set contains this passage? “Here I am, the servant of Christ, whom you seek.”
What did Gregory VII's decree on lay investiture forbid?
Which source in this set contains this passage? “…an inquest shall be made throughout the separate counties, and throughout the separate hundreds, through twelve of the more lawful men of the hundred…”
According to Unam Sanctam (1302), what is necessary for salvation?
Short answer: Choose two sources from this set. Using a specific detail from each, explain how they help answer the set’s question: “Who should have the final say: kings or popes?” Write 3 to 5 sentences.

Culminating writing prompt

Using evidence from at least three sources in this set, write an argument that answers the question: “Who should have the final say: kings or popes?” Cite each source by title, explain how its author, audience, and purpose affect its reliability, and respond to at least one counterargument.

Printable writing sheet (make a copy)

Build a DBQ DBQ packet (make a copy)

Students can plan with the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning organizer.