Glimpses of Church History

 

7.     Period 1100 – 1200 CE

 

Pope Paschal II

The gentle monk Rainerius became pope against his will. When he found himself chosen to succeed Pope Urban II, he fled but was brought back and forced to become pope, with the name Paschal II.

 

The big issue of lay investiture was unresolved. Paschal condemned the idea but the German King Henry V thought otherwise. He marched into Rome to be crowned emperor but when Pascal demurred, Henry took the pope prisoner and threatened to butcher his entourage. Paschal gave in and allowed Henry to make church appointments. Paschal was then released and agreed to crown him emperor. This he did in 1111. But the pope’s surrender drew heavy criticism. Paschal could not stand it. Discarding the papal robes, he fled to a desert island. His supporters brought him back and prevailed on him to condemn lay investiture once more. Henry was busy in Germany but in 1117 he returned to Rome. The pope fled to Benevento but was able to Rome eventually. He died there a year later.

 

Gelasius II

John Coniulo had served under Popes Urban II and Paschal and was elected pope and named Gelasius II. Shortly after he had a rude experience. A nobleman called Frangipane, head of one of the clans of the time, stormed into the monastery, grabbed the pope by the throat, flung him to the ground, kicked him and dragged him off by the hair into a dungeon. The furious Romans managed to secure the pope’s release.

 

The same (Holy Roman) Emperor Henry V again returned to Rome to seek the pope’s approval on the lay investiture question. The pope fled by ship chased by the Germans. He managed to give his pursuers the slip and a game of hide and seek followed. Henry set up an anti-pope,  Archbishop Maurice of Braga. Gelasius excommunicated Henry. Meanwhile the Frangipani clan caught up with Gelasius as he was chanting vespers but the pope mounted a horse and fled. Fed up with Rome, the pope left for France and died there in 1119.

 

Calistus II

 This pope was of true royal blood, being related to Emperor Henry V, Henry I of England, Louis VI of France and Alfonso VII of Castille. He is chiefly remembered for settling the lay investiture dispute. By the agreement or Concordat reached at Worms in 1122, the Emperor conceded spiritual prerogatives to the church.

The Concordat was hailed as a victory for the church but in fact it left the church still open to secular control. The First Lateran Council, attended by 300 bishops and 600 abbots confirned the Concordat in 1123.

 

Honorius II

In contrast to Calistus, his successor Lambert came from a poor family. The cardinals had chosen Theobald as Pope Celestine II but while the Te Deum was being sung in celebration by the cardinals (Lambert among them), the powerful Frangipanis shouted “Lambert Pope” and rushed him onto the throne, proclaiming him Pope Honorius II. Fortunately Theobald decided to resign. So did Lambert but this time the cardinals favoured him. Honorius is not known for any memorable acts. He restored harmony in the monasteries and between the feuding Latin bishops of Palestine. He also approved the order of the Knights Templar.

 

Innocent II

A rival clan, the Perlioni, favoured Peter Perlioni as pope but the cardinals elected a fellow cardinal as Pope Innocent II. Thereupon the Perlioni, supported by cardinals of their clan, elected Peter as Anacletus II. When the latter died, the powerful chieftain, Roger of Sicily, appointed  another anti-pope, Victor IV.

 

Innocent’s biggest achievement was the Second Lateran Council (1139) at which a series of reform decrees were passed. His successors, Celestine II and Lucius II, were undistinguished and lasted a year each.

 

Eugene III

Eugene was noted for launching the Second Crusade (1147-49) after the fall of Edessa, a bastion of the crusader kingdom. The Crusade was backed by Louis VII of France and Emperor Conrad III of Germany. Unfortunately, the crusade ended in dismal failure. Both the Germans and French were slaughtered. Louis and Conrad did reach Jerusalem but as pilgrims and not victors. Pope Eugene was deeply disillusioned and left for France. He returned in 1149 to a city in disorder which he was unable to control. He died in 1153. Eugene’s successor, Anastasius IV, was pope for about 18 months. He has gained the reputation of being an appeaser. Conrad’s successor, King Frederick Barbarossa, had appointed his own candidate as bishop of Magdeburg, Pope Eugene had disapproved but Anastasius gave in to the Emperor’s choice.

 

Notre Dame cathedral, Paris (Started 1163, completed 1250)

 

The only English Pope

Adrian IV is noteworthy as the only English pope. Born Nicholas, Adrian studied at the abbey of St Albans and rose to be abbot of St Rufus monastery near Avignon, France. He was next made bishop of Albano and then cardinal. After Anastasius’ death, Nicholas was acclaimed pope and took the name Adrian.

 

In 1155, he crowned Frederick Holy Roman Emperor. The latter believed in absolute power and a series of clashes with Rome began. In 1158, Frederick captured Milan and forced the Romans to expel the pope. In the prevailing strife, Adrian died in 1159. It was Adrian who offered Ireland to English King Henry II. The popes claimed the 'islands of the sea' by virtue of the Donation of Constantine. Adrian permitted Henry to occupy the island as papal territory and not as an absolute possession.

 

Alexander III

This pope reigned for 22 years and had to put up with four anti-popes, three of them supported or installed by Emperor Frederick during his five military forays into Italy. The pope excommunicated Frederick but had to flee to France (1162-65). There he met with Henry II of England and mediated in the dispute with Archbishop Thomas Becket. When Becket was murdered in 1170, Alexander got Henry to beg pardon for the deed. (It was Henry who began the conquest of Ireland in 1171.) The split with the pope lasted 17 years until Frederick’s defeat by the Lombard coalition in 1176.

 

In 1177, Frederick made peace with the pope. Alexander presided over the Third Lateran Council (1179). (One of the decisions reached was a two-thirds majority by the cardinals to elect pope.) He died in 1181.

 

Table of Popes    (159 - 174 )

159) Paschal II      1099-1118

   #   Theodoric     1100

    #   Albert            1102

   #   Sylvester IV   1105-11

160) Gelasius II     1118-19

   #   Gregory VIII   1118-21

161) Calistus II     

                   

162) Honorius II     1124-30

   #    Celestine II    1124

163) Innocent II     1130-43

   #    Anacletus II   1130-38

    #   Victor IV        1138-39

164) Celestine II     1143-44

 

165)  Lucius II         1144-45

166) Eugene III       1145-53

167)  Anastasius IV  1153-54

168) Adrian IV        1154-59

169) Alexander III   1159-81

    #   Victor IV         1159-64

    #   Paschal III      1164-68

    #   Callistus III     1168-74

    #   Innocent  IV   1179-80

170)  Lucius III        1181-85

171)  Urban III         1185-87

172) Gregory VIII   1187 

173) Clement III    1187-91

174) Celestine III   1191-98 

 

(# DENOTES

ANTI-POPES)

The next three popes (see Table) were not particularly noteworthy. They were either settling local disputes (often with the troublesome Romans) or with the redoubtable Emperor Frederick. The last of the three, Gregory VIII, who lasted less than a year, insisted that the bones of anti-pope Victor IV be thrown out of the church in Parma where they were buried. He also did preparatory work for the next Crusade.

 

The Third Crusade

 The next pope, Clement III, was the first Roman for some years. His chief interest was to rescue Jerusalem from the Muslims and it is his efforts that launched the Third Crusade in 1187. The Crusaders suffered a defeat under the Kurd Sultan Saladin in the same year at the battle of Hattin. Emperor Frederick led a large army into Asia Minor. He won two victories there but was drowned in a river in 1190. England’s Richard the Lion-hearted and France’s Philip also started for Palestine. The Crusade failed to take Jerusalem but Clement died before he came hear of it. Saladin decreed that Christians could have access to the Holy Sepulchre. The Scots may well revere Clement’s memory. It was he who freed the Church of Scotland from dependence on the English Archbishop of York.

 

Celestine III

Hyacinth Bobo, a Roman cardinal deacon, had a distinguished  papal service in France, Spain and Portugal. He had also met Emperor Frederick. Though in his 80s, Bobo was elected pope in 1191 under the name Celestine III.

Henry VI was now emperor and an ambitious tyrant. During his retreat from an unsuccessful campaign in in the Naples-Sicily, his wife Constance was captured by their king and it was only Celestine’s threat of excommunication that secured her release. He similarly intervened when Henry seized Richard the Lion-hearted on his return from a failed crusade. Celestine got him released (but after a king’s ransom was paid). More controversially, Celestine affirmed that consummated Christian  marriages could be dissolved if one partner ceased to be Christian. This view had to be reversed by his successor, Innocent III.

 

REFERENCES

1        Popes Through the Ages, J Brusher S J (New Advent, 1996)

2        Papal Monarchy: Western Church (1050-1250), Oxford History of the Christian Church (OUP 1991)