The Normans in Southern Italy: The Normans and the Papacy -- Victor II and Urban II

Victor III (1086-1087)

Of noble birth, Dauferi entered the Benedictine monastery of Montecassino[1], where he changed his name to Desiderius and where in 1058 he succeeded Pope Stephen IX (X) as abbot. His rule at Montecassino marks the monastery’s golden age, for he promoted writing and manuscript illumination, established an important school of mosaic, and radically reconstructed the abbey, considered a major event in the history of Italian architecture. He was made cardinal priest by Pope Nicholas II in 1059 and papal vicar in southern Italy, where he negotiated peace between the Normans and the papacy. Favoured by the cardinals and his predecessor, Gregory VII, Desiderius was chosen pope, but he declined the office, and the year 1085 passed without an election.

On 24^th May 1086, the cardinals proclaimed him pope against his will, but before his consecration was completed, supporters of the Holy Roman emperor Henry IV, who had set up the antipope Clement III in 1084, drove him from Rome. Victor retired to Montecassino. In March 1087, Victor convened a synod at Capua and resumed his papal authority. He received belated consecration in St. Peter’s, Rome, on 9^th May, but imperial support for Clement made it impossible for Victor to spend more than a few weeks in the city. He dispatched an army to Tunis, where it defeated the Saracens and compelled them to pay tribute to Rome. In August 1087, he held a synod at Benevento that excommunicated Clement and condemned lay investiture. Falling ill at the synod, Victor returned to Montecassino, where he died in September.

Urban II (1088-99)

Odo was born of noble parents about 1035 in the Champagne region of France[2]. After studies in Soissons and Rheims, he took the position of archdeacon in the diocese of Rheims, at that time the most important metropolis in France. An archdeacon was an ordained cleric appointed by the bishop to assist him in administration; in the Middle Ages it was an office of considerable power. Odo held the position probably from 1055 to 1067. Subsequently he became a monk and then (c. 1070-74) prior superior at Cluny, the most important centre of reform monasticism in Europe in the 11^th century. At Rheims and Cluny, Odo gained experience in ecclesiastical policy and administration and made contacts with two important reform groups of his time: the canons regular (clergymen dedicated to the active service of the church, who live a strict life in community) and the monks of Cluny. In 1079 he went to Rome on a mission for his abbot, Hugh of Cluny. While in Rome he was created cardinal and bishop of Ostia (the seaport for Rome) by Gregory VII. In 1084 Gregory VII sent him as papal legate to Germany. During the crisis of Gregory VII’s struggle with Henry IV, the Holy Roman emperor, Odo remained loyal to the legitimate papacy. After Gregory VII’s death in 1085, he also served his successor, Victor III, who died in September 1087. After a long delay, during which the reform cardinals tried unsuccessfully to regain control of Rome from Guibert of Ravenna, who had been named Pope Clement III by Henry IV in 1080, Odo was elected pope in Terracina, south of Rome, on 12^th March 1088.

As pope, Urban II found active support for his policies and reforms among several groups: the nobility, whose mentality and interests he knew; the monks; the canons regular, for whom he became patron and legislator; and also, increasingly, the bishops. Urban felt that his most urgent task was to secure his position against the antipope Clement III and to establish his authority as legitimate pope throughout Christendom. He attempted, with moderation and tolerance, to reconcile the church-state traditions of his age with ecclesiastical notions of reform. In practice he pushed the controversial question of lay investiture more into the background while at the same time retaining reform legislation. He thus softened the conflict and permitted a more peaceful discussion of the problems at issue. At the Council of Clermont (France), in 1095, during which he eloquently called the First Crusade, Urban attempted, however, to prevent a further and complete feudalisation of church-state relationships by prohibiting the clergy from taking oaths of fealty to laymen.

Despite Urban’s attempts at reconciliation, it did not prove possible to come to terms with Henry IV or with a large part of the church within the empire. England also remained closed to papal policies of reform and centralisation. Although Urban had been recognised there since 1095, a conflict between Anselm, the theologian who was named archbishop of Canterbury, and King William II strained the relations between Urban and the king. On the other hand, despite a long-standing conflict between Philip I of France and Urban (brought about by the king’s scandalous marriage), France began under this French pope to become the most important support of the medieval papacy. Urban obtained special support in southern Europe: his particularly faithful allies were the Normans of southern Italy and Sicily. In Spain, Urban supported the Christian reconquest of the country from the Moors and carried out the ecclesiastical reorganisation of the country. In southern Italy, southern France, and Spain, kings and princes became vassals of the Roman see and concluded treaties and concordats in feudal form with the pope: by this the temporal rulers sought to secure their independence from more powerful lords, and the pope for his part was able to carry out his reform aims in these territories.

From 1095 Urban was at the height of his success. From this time several important church councils took place: in 1095 at Piacenza, Italy, at which reform legislation was enacted; also in 1095 at Clermont, where Urban preached the First Crusade; in 1098 at Bari, Italy, where he worked for a reunion between Greek Christians and Rome; and in 1099 at Rome, where again reform legislation was passed. Urban’s idea for a crusade and his attempt to reconcile the Latin and Greek churches sprang from his idea of the unity of all Christendom and from his experiences with the struggles against the Muslims in Spain and Sicily. He was, for a while, able to attract the Byzantine emperor Alexius I to his plans but never the Greek Church. Whereas the First Crusade led to military success with the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099, the project for union failed. Urban’s pontificate not only led to a further centralisation of the Roman Catholic Church but also to the expansion of papal administration. It contributed to the development of the Roman Curia, the administrative body of the papacy and to the gradual formation of the College of Cardinals. Urban died in Rome in 1099.

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[1] H. E. J. Cowdrey The Age of Abbot Desiderius: Montecassino, the Papacy and the Normans in the Eleventh and Early Twelfth Centuries, Oxford University Press, 1983 is the best study of Desiderius. The chief source is the Chronicon Cassinense, in Mon. Germ. Hist.: Script., volume VII, reprinted in Patrologia Latina, volume 173; some autobiographical details can be found in his own Dialogues in Patrologia Latina, volume 149. H. R. Mann, The Lives of the Popes, volume VII, London, 1910, pages 218-244 remains useful.

[2] Robert Somerville and Stephan Kuttner (eds.) Pope Urban II: The Collectio Britannica, and the Council of Melfi (1089), Oxford University Press, 1996 is a useful study of an important event based on contemporary sources. Alfons Becker Papst Urban II (1088-1099), two volumes, Stuttgart 1964, 1988.

The Normans in Southern Italy: The Normans and the Papacy: Gregory VII

Hildebrand was born c. 1020, near Soana in Italy and died on 25^th May 1085, Salerno. Mainly a spiritual rather than a political leader, he attacked various abuses in the church. From 1075 onward he was engrossed in a contest with Emperor Henry IV over lay investiture (the right of lay rulers to grant church officials the symbols of their authority)[1].   Hildebrand was born of a workingman’s family. He went to Rome at an early age and began his education at the Monastery of St. Mary, where his uncle was abbot. He apparently became a monk but continued his education at the Schola Cantorum (School of Musicians) in the Lateran Palace. This was a school for clergy and, perhaps, for laymen also, since Gregory mentions that two Roman nobles were educated with him. One of his teachers there, Giovanni Graziano, later became Pope Gregory VI (reigned 1045-46). Gregory took Hildebrand into his service and, when he was deposed by Emperor Henry III (1017-56) at the Council of Sutri in 1046, Hildebrand went with his fallen patron into exile in Germany. In Germany, Hildebrand found favour with Emperor Henry III and was called back to Rome by Pope Leo IX (reigned 1049-54). He formed one of the groups of reformers that Leo IX was assembling, a group that was to exert a profound influence on the 11^th century church. Hildebrand became the “man behind the throne” during the pontificate of his immediate predecessor, Pope Alexander II (1061-73), having already been an important member of the Roman reform group. He became a cardinal and archdeacon of Rome and was able to satisfy his monastic inclinations by reforming the famous Monastery of St. Paul. He demonstrated his love of people by curbing the activities of the petty nobles who had caused excessive disorder in Rome and the neighbourhood.

Elected by acclamation (22^nd April 1073) to succeed Alexander II, Hildebrand took the name of Gregory VII. He was consecrated in St. Peter’s Basilica on 30^th June 1073. The keynote of Gregory’s pontificate was reform and renewal of the church. To understand Gregory’s personality and influence it is necessary to realise how deeply he was committed to the spiritual values of his age. From the beginning of his career he was largely unsuccessful as a politician or a statesman; his specialty was spiritual leadership. Gregory tried to restrain the marauding Normans of France in their conquest of southern Italy and to defend the Papal States, but he found it difficult to subdue these hard-fighting and acquisitive Frenchmen. Deeply interested in healing the still-young schism that had occurred between the Western and Eastern churches in 1054, he tried to encourage the European states to embark on a crusade to help Constantinople and the Eastern Christians, but in this he failed.

As a spiritual leader he was more successful even though he faced a formidable task. The efforts aimed at ecclesiastical reform by his predecessors, the attempts of the monks based at the Benedictine monastery at Cluny (France) to reform the church spiritually, and the preaching of reformers such as Peter Damian (1007-72) and Cardinal Humbert (c. 1000-61) were only partially successful. Gregory promptly began an attack on the chief problems of the church: simony and clerical marriage or concubinage. He held a synod at Rome every Lent that decreed strong measures against the buyers and sellers of sacred offices and married clergy. He attempted to associate the bishops and the lay rulers with him in his effort to eliminate these problems. Since many bishops had purchased their positions and many also held very loose views of clerical celibacy, Gregory had his work cut out. Because he found it difficult to work through the bishops, he tended to centralise authority. He used papal legates (representatives) freely and insisted on their precedence over local bishops.

Gregory is chiefly known for his contest with the German emperor Henry IV (1050-1106) over lay investiture, a contest that he helped to precipitate. Gregory’s first concern was for reform, and he believed that secular rulers should support church authority in bringing it about. He had seen the beneficent results of the reform-minded emperor Henry III’s (1017-56) and he tried hard to work with young Henry IV. It was only when he lost confidence in Henry that Gregory began his attack on lay investiture. The Pope’s Roman Synod of 1075 struck hard at lay investiture and began the long conflict that was to go beyond Gregory’s lifetime. At that synod Gregory excommunicated five of Henry’s advisers. In late 1075 the situation deteriorated. Henry’s defeat of the rebellious Saxons had increased his power. In Milan, Erlembald, the leader of the Patarines, a lay reform group, was killed and the anti-reform party got the upper hand. Henry now openly showed his hand, gave support to the anti-reform party in Milan, and placed a new bishop in the position of the legitimate bishop, Atto. He also appointed bishops to Spoleto and Fermo.

In 1075, while Gregory was saying Christmas mass in St. Mary Major, he was attacked, slightly wounded, and carried off by Cencius, a noble. The Romans, who had much admiration for Gregory, rallied to his defence, attacked Cencius’ stronghold, and forced him to release the Pope, who went back to St. Mary Major to continue his mass. Gregory spared the life of Cencius. Although Gregory had written to Henry in December 1075, holding out the possibility of negotiations on the issue of lay investiture, Henry gave no satisfaction to the legates that the Pope had sent to Germany. Indeed, he openly defied Gregory and with his bishops renounced obedience to Gregory and bade him step down from the papal throne. Supported by northern Italian bishops, Henry sent the Roman Synod of 1076 a letter beginning: “Henry, King not by usurpation, but by the pious ordination of God to Hildebrand now not Pope but false monk.”

The reading of such a document aroused indignation in the synod, and Gregory struck back hard. He and the synod excommunicated Henry, and the Pope declared him deposed. Gregory defended his actions against Henry in two letters to Bishop Hermann of Metz: the emperor is in the church and therefore he may be called to account by the pope. Gregory defended this position by arguments from Scripture, the Fathers, and history. The excommunication had its effect. The number of Henry’s partisans dwindled, and the restless Saxons once more rose in arms. Plans were set on foot by the magnates to depose Henry and elect another king. Apparently, at the persuasion of Gregory’s legates, a more moderate position was taken, though the terms drawn up by the magnates were severe enough. Henry was to leave the decision of his case to the Pope, who was to come to a meeting of the magnates at Augsburg on February 2^nd 1077. He was expected to repudiate his rebellion against the Pope and to urge his advisers who had been excommunicated to seek absolution. Thus was the stage set for a famous action at Canossa.

Early in 1077 Gregory went north to cross the Alps but found, instead of the guards the Germans had promised, the news that Henry was hastening to Italy. Alarmed, the Pope withdrew to the castle of Canossa, a stronghold of his faithful friend and supporter, Matilda (c. 1046-1115), countess of Tuscany. Henry, however, was coming not as a foe but as a suppliant. For three cold January days he stood outside the castle pleading for absolution while Matilda and St. Hugh, abbot of Cluny, added their pleas to his. Gregory was in a quandary. The nobles and bishops of Germany were awaiting his presence at Augsburg to discuss Henry’s fate, and here was Henry in the cold begging piteously for absolution. The priest in Gregory prevailed over the politician, and the Pope absolved Henry from excommunication. It is to the Pope’s credit as a spiritual leader that he absolved Henry, even though the action was disastrous to his own cause.

Henry promptly regarded himself as legitimate king again, and Gregory had to write somewhat apologetically to the German magnates explaining his action. The Germans cancelled the Augsburg meeting and called for another gathering at Forchheim on 13^th March. Gregory desired to attend this meeting, but apparently neither Henry nor the leader of the opposition, Rudolf of Rheinfelden (died 1080), really desired the Pope’s presence. Gregory, however, sent legates who pleaded with the assembled nobles and bishops not to proceed with an election until the Pope could be present. The magnates went ahead, however, and elected Rudolf of Rheinfelden, thus precipitating a bloody civil war. Gregory tried to mediate between Henry and Rudolf. He recalled his legates, and, when Henry imprisoned one of them, the other excommunicated Henry. To prevent the Pope from confirming this excommunication the King sent ambassadors to plead with the Pope. They succeeded, and the Pope contented himself with calling for a great meeting to settle the quarrel. For two years, 1078-80, Gregory maintained a mediator’s position and was abused by both sides.

By 1080 the Pope was convinced that Henry was intransigent and once more excommunicated him and declared him deposed. This meant war. Henry had the support of his faction in Germany and that of the Lombard (northern Italian) anti-reform party. Gregory sought the aid of the formidable Robert Guiscard, duke of Apulia and Calabria. Henry’s German bishops met at Brixen (Italy) and declared Gregory deposed. To replace him they chose Guibert, archbishop of Ravenna, who took the name Clement III (1080, 1084-1100)[2]. The tide began to flow strongly in favour of Henry when Rudolf of Rheinfelden was killed at the Battle of the Elster (1080). Henry, freed from pressure in Germany, came over the Alps, defeated the forces of Countess Matilda, and besieged Rome. Gregory renewed his excommunication of the King. He tried to stir up opposition to Henry in Germany by urging Welf I of Bavaria (died 1101) and the princes to hold an election to replace Rudolf, but this did not deter Henry from besieging Rome in 1081, 1082, and 1083. Still firm, Gregory held a synod at the Lateran in November 1083 to attempt a settlement, but Henry prevented some bishops from attending. The fathers of the synod, very much aware of the menacing presence of Henry’s soldiers across the Tiber, pleaded with Gregory not to renew his excommunication of Henry at this time, whereupon the Pope contented himself with a general excommunication of all who prevented attendance of the synod. All attempts at peace failed, and on 21^st March 1084, Henry’s troops took the city. Gregory sought refuge in the castle of St. Angelo and suffered the embarrassment of seeing Guibert of Ravenna (now Clement III) crowned in St. Peter’s. Guibert in turn crowned Henry emperor. Help, however, was on the way. Robert Guiscard, back from an unsuccessful attempt on the Byzantine Empire, marched on Rome and rescued the Pope. Gregory’s safety was dearly bought, for in a fight between the Normans and the Romans a large part of the city was burned down. Gregory, now unpopular with the embittered Romans, left with Guiscard. He died at Salerno in 1085. A biographer placed on his dying lips the words, “I have loved justice and hated iniquity, and therefore I die in exile.”

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[1] H. E. J. Cowdrey Gregory VII, Oxford University Press 1998 and his edition of the letters of Gregory VII The Register of Gregory VII, Oxford University Press, 2002 is the best starting-point. O. Delarc, Gregoire VII et la reforme de l'Eglise au XI^e siecle, Paris, 1889 remains useful.

[2] Born c.1025 of noble birth in Parma in Lombardy, Guibert served at the German court (c. 1054–55) and became imperial chancellor for Italy (1058–63). As such he supported the election of Bishop Peter Cadalus of Parma as antipope Honorius II (1061). His appointment by Henry IV of Germany as archbishop of Ravenna was confirmed by Pope Alexander II (1073), but he later clashed with Alexander’s successor, Gregory VII. When Guibert became the Italian leader of the imperialist faction opposing the Gregorian reform, Gregory excommunicated him. He was elected antipope on June 25^th 1080, by a synod called by Henry at Brixen, which declared Gregory deposed. He was enthroned when Henry finally seized Rome (March 24^th 1084), and on March 31^st he crowned Henry emperor. Clement remained antipope throughout the succeeding pontificates of Victor III and Urban II and died September 8^th 1100.