jan 1, 1198 - Pope Innocent III (1198-1261) overshadowing all secular monarchs

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“The successor of Peter,” he announced, “is the Vicar of Christ: he has been established as a mediator between God and man, below God but beyond man; less than God but more than man; who shall judge all and be judged by no one.” Innocent III told the princes of Europe that the papacy was like the sun, while kings were like the moon. As the moon received its light from the sun, so kings derived their powers from the pope. The papacy’s chief weapons in support of this authority were spiritual penalties. Almost everyone believed in heaven and hell and in the pope’s management of the grace to get to one and avoid the other. Thus the pope’s first weapon in bringing peasants and princes to their knees was the threat of excommunication. He could pronounce their anathema and they would be “set apart” from the church, deprived of the grace essential for salvation.
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The second weapon in the papal arsenal was the interdict. While excommunication was aimed at individuals, the interdict fell upon whole nations. It suspended all public worship and, with the exception of baptism and extreme unction, it withdrew the sacraments from the lands of disobedient rulers. Pope Innocent III successfully applied or threatened the interdict eighty-five times against uncooperative princes.

Shelley, Bruce L.. Church History in Plain Language, Fifth Edition (p. 227). Zondervan Academic. Kindle Edition.

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