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Sources of Reform in the Episcopate of Airard of Nantes, 1050–1054
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2015
Extract
There is an element of drama in Anselm's description of the Synod of Reims in 1049 as the assembled bishops are asked to swear before the relics of St Remi that they had not achieved their positions in the Church through simony. The tension mounts as the archbishop of Reims excuses himself from the oath and asks for a private audience with the pope. Of the twenty bishops present, four confessed involvement with simony. One bishop, Hugh of Langres, accused of a long list of crimes in addition, fled the scene rather than submit to Leo IX's justice. However, of all the bishops implicated in the crime of simony, only one was deposed outright: Budic of Nantes, as the narrator of the acts of the synod tersely states:
Finally, the bishop of Nantes came and confessed that his father was the bishop of his civitas and during his life he had received the gift of the episcopate and when he died he took his place for a payment of money. Because of this, by the judgement of the synod, he was deprived of his episcopal ministry. His pastoral staff and ring having been taken away, the office of priest alone was given to him through the intervention of the bishops.
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References
1 Blumenthal, U., ‘Ein neuer Text für das Reimser Konzil Leos IX. (1049)?’, Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters xxxii (1976), 23–48 at pp. 25–7Google Scholar, for sources and discussion of Anselm's authorship. For the text see PL cxlii. 1410–40.
2 Ibid. 1432.
3 Ibid. 1435–6: ‘Redeuntes denique qui missi fuerant ad revocandum Lingonensem episcopum, nuntiaverunt eum facinorum suorum metuentem discussionem, fugae arripuisse praesidium.’ Hugh's case is examined by Drioux, Georges, ‘Un diocèse de France à la veille de la réforme grégorienne: le pape Léon ix et les éVêques de Langres Hugues et Hardoin’, Studi Gregoriani ii (1947), 31–41 Google Scholar.
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5 Guillotel, Hubert, ‘La pratique du cens épiscopal dans l'évêche de Nantes’, Moyen âge lxxx (1974), 6–49 at pp. 5–7Google Scholar.
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14 See n. 10 above.
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16 Blanchard, , ‘Airard et Quiriac’, 244–5, nos 2, 3Google Scholar. For the manuscript tradition and dating of the second redaction see Guillotel, , ‘La pratique’, 38–9Google Scholar, pièce annexe no. 11.
17 Blanchard, , ‘Airard et Quiriac’, 243–4, no.1Google Scholar; Guillotel, , ‘La pratique’, 25–33, Pièce annexe no. 1Google Scholar.
18 For the texts see Morice, , Mémoires, 391–2Google Scholar. For the interpolation see column 392: ‘Ad augmentum quoque et honorem ampliandum huius tuae sanctae Rotonensis Ecclesiae cum assensu Erardi Ecclesiae Namnetensis Episcopi, dono et concedo et in perpetuam eleemosinam trado monasterium beatae et gloriosae semper Virginis Mariae apud Frociacum.’ For discussion see Blanchard, , ‘La pratique’, 249–51, no. 8Google Scholar. The chronology for Catwallo, Abbot of Redon, is insecure: Gallia Christiana, xiv. 947 Google Scholar. Perenes, Catwallo's successor, appears as abbot of Redon in Leo ix's charter concerning Gerard, of Toul, (PL cxliii. 647 Google Scholar; Regesta Pontificum Romanorum, i, no. 4219; Guillotel, , ‘La pratique’, 10)Google Scholar.
19 Constable, Giles, ‘Monastic possession of churches and “spiritualia” in the age of reform’, in Il Monachismo e la riforma ecclesiastica 1049–1122, Milan 1971, 304–35 at p. 317Google Scholar.
20 A good example of both arguments is found in the canonical collection of Exiguus, Dionysius (Codex canonum ecclesiasticorum, PL lxvii. 191 Google Scholar, capitulum xxvi: ‘Synodus apud Carthaginem Africanorum. Ut res Ecclesiae nemo distrahat.’ Scholars have emphasised the reforms of Pope Gelasius I in limiting lay exploitation of the res of the Church and strengthening the authority of the bishop within the diocese. On this see Stutz, U., Geschichte des kirchlichen Benefizialwesens von seinem Anfängen bis auf die Zeit Alexanders III, Berlin 1895, 56–7Google Scholar, and Thomas, P., Le droit de propriété des laiques sur les églises et le patronage laique au moyen âge, Paris 1906, 14–18 Google Scholar.
21 For an example of such legislation see the Council of Frankfurt (794): Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Concilia Aevi Karolini, ed. Werminghoff, A., Hanover 1896, i. 171, no. 19Google Scholar: ‘LIII. De ecclesiis, quae ab ingenuis hominibus construuntur: licet eas tradere, vendere, tantummodo ut ecclesia non destruatur, sed serviuntur cotidie honores.’ For this tradition see Stutz, , Geschichte, 106, no. 17Google Scholar, and Thomas, , Le droit de propriété, 24–5Google Scholar.
22 Constable, , ‘Monastic possession of churches’, 319 Google Scholar.
23 Ibid. 320–1.
24 Guillotel, , ‘La pratique’, 38–9, piece annexe no. 11Google Scholar.
25 Ibid: ‘Concessi etiam supradictis Majoris Monasterii monachis ecclesiolam quamdam quam edificaverant in antiquo iure Nannetensis ecclesiae, scilicet Bairiaco dono Brienni cujusdam nobilis viri, sine auctoramento predecessorum meorum quorum sedis iuris erat et partiunculam illius predii Bariaci, ita tamen ut duos denarios primi et purissimi auri annis singulis in sollempnitate apostolorum Petri et Pauli que est III kalendas julii Nannetensis ecclesie in recognitionem sui juris et in censum persolvunt. Quod si tardi aut negligentes fuerint in censu reddento, legaliter liceat eis emendare et predictas res non amittant.’
26 Ibid: ‘Cum intra Gallias amplius quam aliubi gentium mos pravus inolevisset ut ecclesiarum fructus et altarium decimas vel oblationes alii quilibet potius quam ecclesiarum ministri, quibus jure competebant, usurparent satisque inique comparatum esset ut clericorum ad laicos, pauperum ad divites victualia transirent, processit ab urbis Rome papa, domno videlicet apostolico nomine Leone, decretum ut laici omnes ministris ecclesiarum redhibitiones relinquerent earum et altarium decimas secundum apostolum in partes cedere sinerent altaribus servientium, si quo minus excommunicationis susciperent vinculum. Quod cum percrepuisset, iussis apostolicis alii humiliter obediebant, alii superbe resultabant. Hoc in tempore ego indignus monachus nomine Ayrardus, cum essem cardinalis ecclesie Sancti Pauli et ejusdem monasterii abbas, datus sum episcopus urbi Nannetice, pastore viduate, non meo merito sed Domini voluntate et supradicti domni apostolici electione. Ad quam cum pervenissem urbem et gratifice tam a clero quam a populo exceptus essem, inter alia que fuerant illis intimanda de supradicto decreto non tacui quod nuper promulgatum erat in concilio Romano, insinuans omnibus qualiter qui non illud observarent et in presenti vita a sancta Ecclesia separari et in futura a societate sanctorum mererentur excludi.’
27 Ibid: ‘Quod multi verentes omnium michi ecclesiarum et altarium que tenebant, decimas et oblationes reddiderunt et se nunquam repetituros spoponderunt. Inter quos Rodaldus quidam de primoribus patrie, exemplum factus ceteris, omnes quas possidebat penitus reliquit meeque deliberationis quid inde fieri vellem arbitrio commisit. Quas ego funditus, sicut ille michi dimiserat, omnes sancto Martino et monachis Majoris Monasterii dedi et propter eorum preconabilem in Domini servitio fervorem et ut mei meorumque decessorum atque successorum atque mihi commissi gregis habere dignarentur in suis benefactis memoriam.’
28 Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Saint-Aubin d'Angers, ed. de Broussillon, B., Angers 1896, ii. 390, no. 916Google Scholar: ‘Quod cum audisset episcopus, respondit quod monachi habebant ecclesie esse, seque libenter concedere; partem vero quam retinuerat sibi ipse monasterio reddendam esse, nisi periculum excommunicationis vellet incurrere, ut per se monachis ecclesie scilicet servis conferrentur. Qua conditione audita, Simon decime medietatem, quam prima datione retinuerat, reliquit supradicto presuli, presul autem sancti Albini monachis reddidit in manum.’
29 Ibid. 389–90, no. 915.
30 See the reference to Airard's programme in an act of his successor, Quiriac, for Ronceray, (1064): Cartularium monasterii beatae Mariae Caritatis Andegavensis, in Archives d'Anjou, ed. Marchegay, P., Angers 1843, iii. 246–6, no. 429Google Scholar: ‘Cum nos in episcopatu Nannetensi venerabili episcopo Airardo successerimus, vix aliquam (invenimus) tocius episcopatus Nannetensis ecclesiam laicarum subjectione vel potestate personarum esse liberam, licet venerabilis predictus episcopus, dum vixerit, omnem laicalis persone conditionem, virtute sancti Spiritus, in suo episcopatu a Dei ecclesia expulisset.’
31 See above n. 26 for the text. That laymen had no legal right to dispose of church properties was derived from canon law (see below n. 44). However, the idea that illicitly acquired properties could not be the object of legal contracts was derived from Roman law, specifically the eighth novel of Valentinian, , titled ‘De invasoribus’: Theodosiani libri XVI cum constitutionibus Sirmondianis, ed. Mommsen, T. and Meyer, P. M., Berlin 1895, ii. 89 Google Scholar: ‘Res pervasa in alium transferri iure non potuit.’ The development of this interpretation and its background will be considered in a separate study.
32 Sacrorum conciliorum collectio, xix. 897–8 (Hefele, Histoire des conciles, iv/2. 1196–1198)Google Scholar: ‘Ut per laicos nullo modo quilibet clericus aut presbyter obtineat ecclesiam, nec gratis nee pretio.’ On c. 6 of the synod of 1059 see Schieffer, Rudolf, Die Entstehung des papstlichen Investiturverbots für den deutschen König (MGH, Schriften xxviii, Stuttgart 1981)Google Scholar. Historians have tended to see c. 6 of the synod of 1059 as a foreshadowing of the prohibition against lay investiture first enunciated in 1078 ( Schieffer, , Die Entstehung, 50 Google Scholar, and literature cited there). Schieffer rejects this interpretation and ties c. 6 to the Eigenkirche problem (pp. 81–3), but its deeper significance escapes him. See also Mollat, G., ‘La Restitution des églises privées au patrimoine ecclésiastique en France du IXe au XIe siécle,’ Revue historique de droit français et étranger 4th ser. xxvii (1949), 399–423 at p. 413 nn. 1, 2Google Scholar. On the importance of the decree concerning papal election in the synod of 1059 see Schieffer, Rudolf, ‘Rechtstexte des Reformpapsttums und ihre zeitgenossische Resonanz’, in Überlieferung und Geltung normativer Texte des frühen und höhen Mittelalters, Sigmaringen 1986, 51–9, at pp. 51–6Google Scholar.
33 Decretum c. 16 9.7 c. 20.
34 See above n. 30.
35 Ibid: ‘Cum autem, tertio ordinationis nostre anno, huiusmodi sacrilegos persequendo, nostrum perambularemus episcopatum, venientes Prugniacum, invenimus S. Marie Andegavensis sanctimoniales seculario, scilicet Guefferi ejusque fratrum, dono et concessione unam ibi optinentes ecclesiam. Quo comperto, fecimus et sanctimoniales que ibi commorabantur et illos quorum donatione reclamabant arcessiri, innotuimusque eis quod in sanctuario Dei tantam pestem nunquam toleraremus, nee in ecclesia, que secularis dono potestatis optineretur, divinum permitteremus mysterium. His itaque irrationabilibus auditis defensionibus, vera et canonica ratione comprobando et affirmando, innotuimus illis illam dationem non esse legitimam nec in ilia ecclesia, quamdiu laicalis dono persone obtenta esset, dignum Deo posse celebrari mysterium. Unde ineuntes consilium, tam illi quam sanctimoniales que ibi aderant, supradictam ecclesiam cum omnibus que illi vel parentes sui contulerant in manu nostra et Nannetensis ecclesie potestate reliquerunt. Deinde nobis clementer supplicaverunt ut illam, paratam ad consecrandum, consecraremus, et consecratam, si nostre placet clementie, retento quolibet servitio, S. Marie Andegavensi suisque monialibus conferremus.’
36 Ibid.
37 For the text see Sacrorum conciliorum, xix. 923–4. See also Prou, M., Recueil des actes de Philippe I er, roi de France, Paris 1908, 1–3, no. 1Google Scholar and Guillotel, , ‘La pratique’, 17–18 Google Scholar.
38 Morice, , Mémoires, i. 417 Google Scholar: ‘In curia Nannet. Comitis ceterorumque laicorum Britonum de Causa ecclesie petivere iudicandum. Sed nec legalis hoc auctoritas recepit, et Ecclesiasticorum iudicium iustitia refutavit.’ For the date see Blanchard, , ‘Airard et Quiriac’, 324–5 n. 5Google Scholar.
39 See above n. 30.
40 See above n. 10.
41 See above n. 20.
42 Guillotel, , ‘La pratique’, 25–33 Google Scholar, pièce annexe no. 1: ‘Quoniam fidei Christiane doctores et divine legis antistites ore semper consono protestantur altarium oblationes et ecclesiarum decimas et fructus eis tantum rediberi oportere qui altaribus ecclesiisque deserviunt, iustum esse perspicuum est ut quicumque laici aliquid inde preiudicio male consuetudinis usurpare presumpserunt, sanctorum patrum auctoritati cedentes et de presumpta temeritate penitentes, Deo que Dei sunt reddant et ei militantibus stipendia sua concedant.’
43 The most recent study and survey of the literature is Furhmann, H., ‘Beobachtungen zur Schrift “De ordinando pontifice”’, in Aus Archiven und Bibliotheken. Festschrift für Raymund Kottje zum 65 Google Scholar. Geburtstag, ed. Mordek, Hubert, Frankfurt 1992, 223–37Google Scholar. The fact that there are only two manuscripts of the De ordinado pontifice does not vitiate its importance. More important than the text itself are the ideas represented in it. And these, as I have attempted to show, were considerably more widespread. For a recent edition of the text see Anton, H. H., Der sogennante Traktat ‘De ordinando pontifice’, Bonn 1982 Google Scholar. On Adelman's authorship see Ziezulewicz, W., ‘The School of Chartres and reform influences before the pontificate of Leo IX’, Catholic Historical Review lxxvii (1991), 383–402 at pp. 397ffGoogle Scholar.
44 See n. 43.
45 Anton, , Der sogennante Traktat, 81 Google Scholar: ‘Et ex epistola Stephani papae: Laicis quamvis religiosi sint, de ecclesiasticis facultatibus aliquid disponendi nulla unquam attributa potestas’; Epistola Stephani Secunda in Decretales Pseudo-Isidorianae et capilula Angilramni, ed. Hinschius, P., Leipzig 1863, 186 Google Scholar. The PL text (cxxx. 179) carries the same reading.
46 See above n. 17.
47 See above n. 42.
48 Albert was dean of the chapter of canons at Chartres: Clerval, A., ‘Albert’, in Baudrillart, A., Vogt, A. and Rouzies, U. (eds), Dictionnaire d'histoire el de géographie ecclésiastiques, Paris 1912, i. 1432 Google Scholar. Albert's programme is outlined for the first time in an election charter for the monastery of Montier-la-Celle: for the text see The letters and poems of Fulbert of Chartres, ed. and trans. Behrends, F., Oxford 1976, 273–4Google Scholar.
49 For discussion of these charters and their implications see Ziezulewicz, ‘School of Chartres’.
50 Ibid, for the charters of abbatial election in other monasteries. The effect of this reform can be seen in a forged papal bull limiting comital rights over the fisc of St Florent-de-Saumur: Ziezulewicz, W., ‘A monastic forgery in an age of reform’, Archivum Historiae Pontificiae xxiii (1985), 7–42 Google Scholar; Denecheau, Joseph-Henri, ‘Renaissance et privilèges d'une abbaye angevine au XIe s.: étude sur quelques “faux” de Saint-Florent de Saumur’, Cahiers de civilisation médiévale xxxiv (1991), 23–35 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. In 1056 the abbot-elect of St Aubin, Theoderic, who had been a monk of Marmoutier, refused to accept his office until Count Geoffrey of Anjou abandoned his right to demand castle guard from the monks of StAubin, : Cartulaire de Saint-Aubin, 15, no. 6Google Scholar; Guillot, O., Le comte d' Anjou et son entourage au Xlème siècle, Paris 1972, i. 469 Google Scholar; ii. 114, no. C 159.
51 The Montier-la-Celle charter states that the abbot of Marmoutier was given control of the election; for the other monasteries see the reference in n. 49.
52 Guillotel, , ‘La pratique’, 31 Google Scholar: ‘Mathias comes; Ermengardis, uxor eius; Ruvallonus avunculus eius.’
53 See n. 42.
54 See n. 51.
55 For example, St Florent-de-Saumur was governed by Marmoutier monks from 1021 to 1070. A notice in the Livre noir of St Florent (Bibliothèque nationale, nouv. acq. lat. 1930, fos 67V–8V, dated 1030–55) comments on the extent of lay possession of ecclesiastical property in the diocese of Rennes in a remarkably similar way to Quiriac's observation in the Ronceray notice: ‘Eo tempore quo plurimas et pene cunctas eiusdem pagi ecclesias milites laici tenebant.’ For another example of reform ideology c. 1055 see Ziezulewicz, W., ‘“Restored” churches in the fisc of St Florent-de-Saumur (1021–1118)’, Revue Bénédictine xcvi (1986), 106–17 at p. 110 n. 23CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
56 Bröcking, , Die französische Politik, 68–9Google Scholar; Guillotel, , ‘La pratique’, 17 Google Scholar.
57 See above n. 13.
58 See above n. 38.
59 See above pp. 438, 439–40.
60 This is stated clearly; for the text see above n. 26.
61 See above n. 35.
62 See Ziezulewicz, ‘School of Chartres’, for the role played by Fulbert and some of his students in propagating ideology central to the development of the Gregorian Reform.