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The Universal Superiority of Pope and Excommunication in the Thirteenth Century Chun-Chul Chang It can be said the dream for the universal superiority of pope came true during the thirteenth century. Pope Innocent III considered that pope had the sacerdotal and kingly powers coincidentally within the Christianitas and stood on the summit of this world. Pope Innocent IV maintained that pope was the sole caput in the Christianitas and had the temporal power under the regimen unius personae. That pope had the temporal power not only signified that rule on the secular matters belonged to the world order led by church, but also meant that all the things of spiritual and mundane world could be dominated by pope. Popes of the thirteenth century thought that they had obligation to keep the peace of European world and their spiritual and temporal superiority as the Vicar of Christ. If anybody hindered the papal policy for peace, he should be disciplined through excommunication. To keep peace in the society had been the significant matter of concern to the church since the tenth century. Popes continued to discipline the belligerent princes and cities to quit the combats, and excommunicated them without hesitation as long as they did not comply with it. The universal superiority of pope had been expressed in the feudal lordship of pope. Since pope Gregory VII began to show the idea of feudal lordship of pope, the popes in the thirteenth century contracted feudal relations with secular powers, and were eager to transform the lands of kingdoms as fiefs. Accordingly, in order to maintain the feudal lordship of pope, they frequently excommunicated the opponents obstructing those relationships against papal power. Judging from the above mentioned, it can be said that the universal superioity of pope was empowered through the effort of recovering the social peace, and the construction of the feudal lordship of pope. The universal church and popes considered the western European world as the universal kingdom of pope and executed universal superiority of pope in this kingdom. In the way excommunication was one of the powerful and efficient arms for pope to realize the desire of universal superiority. (Wonkwang University / ccchang@wku.ac.kr)