word of God to pagan neighbours. That kings might sometimes neglect or contravene these principles made them more rather than less significant, for without them there could be no justification for a permanent secular authority. It is thus no accident that the sacral character of kingship was most fervently and explicitly asserted during the worst periods of disorder. By virtue of the old Carolingian traditions, the kings of Germany, particularly as emperors, developed a very strong sacral tradition, justified by their efforts in the conversion of their eastern and northern neighbours, in their protection of the papacy and their rescue of it from the unworthy creatures of Roman faction, and, sometimes, in their claim to superiority over the other kings of Europe. Other kings were also assiduous in stressing the holy nature of their office; Philip I and Louis VI of France both made a practice of touching for scrofula, while Alfonso VII of Castile claimed an imperial title in 1135 by virtue of his role in recovering souls from the Muslims.

Sacral claims could sometimes be in conflict with more worldly considerations. Under Otto I of Germany the archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen were active in the Christianization of Denmark and Sweden, and Otto himself founded a great archbishopric at Magdeburg for the conversion of the Slavs. The conversion of these peoples was closely linked with the extension of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and sometimes of outright lordship, and this provoked opposition. Fourteen years after Magdeburg's foundation the great Slav revolt of 982-3 undid almost all that had been achieved; the see was never again to be a missionary centre of any significance. Eastern rulers had been quick to see the threat that was posed and the opportunities which conversion offered. Mieszko I of Poland and Stephen I of Hungary both forestalled German attack by accepting missionaries from Germany, but each also accepted missions from Bohemia and in Stephen's case from Byzantium too and thus prevented the Germans from gaining control over their churches. Their independence was formalized in 1000-1 when Otto III conceded Mieszko's successor, Boleslav Chobry, a new archbishopric at Gniezno, to be directly subject to Rome, and when Stephen submitted his kingdom directly to

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