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…showed last 75 words of 514 total…into conflict with the papacy. Using their power of excommunication and interdiction (cutting off an individual or community of Christians from participation in the Church sacraments, which was believed to be essential for salvation) as a means of enforcing their authority, the popes struggled with the German emperors for influence over Medieval Europe. The height of papal power was reached in the thirteenth century, but began to decline in the late Middle Ages. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**