Papal election decree at Lateran
April 12, 1059
Pope Nicholas II's synod decreed that popes were to be elected by the cardinal bishops alone, excluding the Roman laity and formally limiting imperial interference. The reform papacy took a decisive step toward independence from the German monarchy. It was a rule that would shape ecclesiastical politics for a millennium.
In context
Also in 1059 (3 other events on record)
- Fatimid Egypt Begins Its Slide Toward Crisis · Middle East · Politics
- Treaty of Melfi · Europe · Politics
- Song Court Debates Water Conservancy and Hydraulic Engineering · East Asia · Science
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Religion
Era
High Middle Ages (1000–1300), one of 1,306 events from that era on Saeculum.