Pope Alexander II
Pope Alexander II (1010/1015 – 21 April 1073), born Anselm of Baggio,[1] was the head of the Roman Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1061 to his death in 1073. Born in Milan, Anselm was deeply involved in the Pataria reform movement. Elected according to the terms of his predecessor's bull, In nomine Domini, Anselm's was the first election by the cardinals without the participation of the people and minor clergy of Rome. He also authorized the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.
For the Coptic patriarch, see Pope Alexander II of Alexandria.
Alexander II
Early life and work[edit]
Anselm was born in the parish of Cesano Boscone in the town of Corsico some 7 km (4.3 mi) from Milan of a noble family. The family took its name from Baggio, a suburb of Milan, where the family held the office of "captain".[2] According to the Liber pontificalis,[3] his father's name was Anselmus or Ardericus.
Contemporary sources do not provide any information on where Anselm might have obtained his education.[4] It was traditionally believed that Anselm de Baggio studied under Lanfranc at Bec Abbey. However, modern historiography rejects the assertion.[5] He became a member of the clergy of the cathedral of Milan,[6] and was ordained a priest by Archbishop Wido (Guido) of Milan.[7]
He was one of the founders of the Pataria,[8] a movement in the Archdiocese of Milan, aimed at reforming the clergy and ecclesiastic government in the province, and supportive of Papal sanctions against simony and clerical marriage.[9] They contested the ancient rights of the cathedral clergy of Milan and supported the Gregorian reforms. Anselm was one of four "upright and honest" priests suggested to succeed Ariberto da Intimiano as prince bishop of Milan. When the Emperor Henry III chose instead the more worldly Guido da Velate, protests followed. In order to silence a vocal critic, Bishop Guido sent Anselm to the Imperial Court.[10]
The emperor instead named Anselm Bishop of Lucca in 1056 or 1057.[11] The earliest testimony of his activity as bishop is on 23 March 1057.[6] On 20 August 1057, he was with the imperial court at Trebur, and on 27 December at Pöhlde.[12] As bishop, he was an energetic associate of Hildebrand of Sovana in endeavouring to suppress simony and enforce clerical celibacy.[13] So bad was the state of things at Milan, that benefices were openly bought and sold, and the clergy publicly married the women with whom they lived. With the increased prestige of his office, he reappeared twice in Milan as legate of the Holy See, in 1057 in the company of Hildebrand, and in 1059 with Peter Damian.[9]
Bishop Anselm attended the Roman council of Pope Nicholas II in the first half of April 1059, and another synod of uncertain date.[14] He was in Rome again in April 1060, for a synod in the Lateran palace, when he subscribed two papal bulls dated 14 April 1060.[15]
Election as pope[edit]
Pope Nicholas II died on 27 July 1061. The cardinals met, and sent a representative, the former monk of Cluny, Cardinal Stephen, to seek the permission of the imperial court to conduct an election. After a five-day wait during which he was not received in audience, the Cardinal returned to Italy, without having received the congé d'élire.[16] The cardinal bishops then proceeded to an election, having forced their way into the city of Rome with the aid of Prince Richard I of Capua and his Norman troops. On 1 October 1061, they chose Bishop Anselmo de Baggio of Lucca, one of the leaders of the reform party, who took the name Pope Alexander II.[9]
Unlike previous papal elections, the assent of the Holy Roman Emperor to the election was not sought,[17] and cardinal bishops were the sole electors of the pope for the first time in the history of the Catholic Church; in accordance with Nicholas II's bull, In Nomine Domini.[18] The bull effectively removed the control held by the Roman metropolitan church over the election of the pontiff, unilaterally abrogating the rights of the emperor, the nobles of Rome, the clergy, and the people of Rome.
The new Pope Alexander II was crowned at nightfall on 1 October 1061 in the Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli, because opposition to the election on the part of the Romans and German sympathizers made a coronation in St. Peter's Basilica impossible.[17] The German court nominated another candidate, Cadalus, bishop of Parma, who was proclaimed Pope at a council held at Basel under the name of Honorius II. He marched to Rome and for a long time threatened his rival's position.
At length, due to a coup-d-état in the German court which replaced Empress Agnes with Archbishop Anno II of Cologne, Honorius was forsaken by the German court and deposed by a council held at Mantua on 31 May and 1 June 1064.;[13][19] Alexander II's position continued to be challenged by Honorius until the latter's death in 1072. The next sixty years exhibited one schism after another.[20]
Normans of Southern Italy[edit]
As early as 1063 the Normans, taking advantage of the schism, successfully expanded their empire by attacking and seizing the city of Gaeta, an important port leading into the southern part of the Roman campagna. In 1066, Richard of Capua, who had helped Alexander enter Rome and secure a coronation in October 1061, suddenly changed sides. With the Germans abandoning Cadalo and embracing Alexander, the Normans were no longer the mainstay and support of the papacy, and were faced with a competitor which had designs on the same territories as the Normans. The barons of the Roman campagna, too, saw an advantage to be gained (or at least revenge to be extracted) by joining the Normans against Alexander and the reform party of Hildebrand, which had robbed them of their rights in papal elections and the civil government of the Church. Moving north, Prince Richard seized Ceprano, devastated Lazio, and encamped outside Rome, from which he demanded the title of Patricius.[21]
In the meantime, the frantic Cardinal Hildebrand repeatedly called upon Marquis Godfrey of Tuscany, who was with King Henry in Germany, to come to the aid of Rome.[22] In spring 1067, he collected an army, lifted the siege of Rome, and caused Prince Richard to withdraw to Capua. Richard left his son Jordan in charge of the army in the plain below Aquino, to bar the way of the forces of Godfrey. However, it was a shortage of supplies, sickness, and bribery on the part of the Normans that brought Godfrey to negotiate with Jordanus and finally to return north. A new treaty between the papacy and the Normans was negotiated, and at the synod held at Melfi by Pope Alexander on 1 August 1067, Prince Richard returned to his allegiance and was confirmed as Duke of Apulia and Calabria.[23]
Poland[edit]
In 1072 Alexander commanded the reluctant Canon of the cathedral of Kraków, Stanislaus of Szczepanów, who had been elected unanimously by the cathedral chapter, to accept appointment as the ninth Bishop of Kraków in succession to Bishop Lampert.[56] Stanislaus became one of the earliest native Polish bishops. This turned out to be a significant decision for the Polish Church. Once appointed, Stanislaus was a highly assertive bishop who got into conflict with Polish king Bolesław II the Bold, pro suis actibus sceleratis ('because of his wicked deeds'). Bolesław and his nobles assassinated Bishop Stanislaus in the church of St. Michael in Rupella on 11 April 1079, and cut up his corpse into seventy-two pieces. Poland was laid under the interdict for four years, and the see of Kraków remained vacant. In 1088, the body of Bishop Stanislaus was transferred to his cathedral in Kraków, and eventually, he was venerated as a saint.[57]
Bohemia[edit]
A series of disputes broke out between the bishop Gerhard (Iaromirus, Jaromi) of Prague and the bishop John (Brewnow) of Olmouc in Bohemia. Duke Wratislaus of Bohemia drew this to the attention of Pope Alexander II when he happened to be at the papal court in 1073. Alexander sent nuntii to Prague to sort the matter out, but they were captured, mutilated, and then murdered. Shocked at the enormity of the offence, Pope Alexander sent Cardinal Rudolph to Prague. When Gerhard refused to cooperate with the cardinal, he was deposed and Prague was laid under the interdict; when the situation quieted down, he restored the bishop and lifted the interdict, but ordered both bishops to present themselves before the papal court. When they appeared, Pope Alexander confirmed the deposition of the bishop of Prague, though he restored him once again at the pleading of Countess Mathilda of Tuscany.[58]