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Innocent III’s treatment of the Humiliati

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2016

Brenda Bolton
Brenda Bolton*
Affiliation:
North London Polytechnic
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Extract

Manifestations of popular religion both in conscious and less conscious opposition to the official hierarchical church were frequent by the early thirteenth century. Such movements, generated by a new and exciting interpretation of apostolic life among the laity, often expressed particular social and economic needs. This evangelical awakening emphasised urban and fraternal Christianity and was welcomed by those in the towns who were untouched by the ministrations of the local clergy. Strong religious sentiment led them to practise a literal and christocentric piety through corporeal works of mercy and personal experience of poverty. Real spiritual devotion was no longer confined to monastic-enclosed communities but was centred on the domestic family unit, in which women too played a valuable rôle. Yet this spontaneous expression of lay piety represented a threat which could not be ignored. It was also a challenge which Innocent III met, during the seventeen years of his pontificate, by attempting to harness the untapped reserve of religious enthusiasm and vitality and to divert it into an orthodox channel which affected not merely acknowledged heretics but many of his own clergy.

Type
Research Article
Information
Studies in Church History , Volume 8: Popular Belief and Practice , 1972 , pp. 73 - 82
Copyright
Copyright © Ecclesiastical History Society 1972

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References

page no 73 note 1 Addleshaw, G.W.O., The Early Parochial System and the Divine Office (London 1957)Google Scholar deals in particular with the problems of the first foundation or baptismal churches of Northern Italy in the twelfth century. Here, a whole city often formed one parish, and the clergy, who led semi-communal lives, performed liturgical as well as pastoral duties.

page no 73 note 2 Lothar de Segni 1198-1216. Innocent’s interest in religious movements has been dealt with most recently in Maccarrone, [M]., ‘Riforma e sviluppo della vita religiosa [con Innocenzo III], R[ivista di storia della] C[hiesa in] I[talia] XVI (Rome 1962) pp 29–72 Google Scholar. Also useful are the two relevant volumes by Luchaire, A., Innocent III. Le concile de Latran et la réforme de l’Eglise (Paris 1908) and La Croisade des Albigeois (Paris 1911)Google Scholar.

page no 73 note 3 Tiraboschi, G., V[etera] H[umiliatorum] M[onumenta], 3 vols (Milan 1766-8)Google Scholar contains the main collection of documents on the Humiliati. Important secondary works are Zanoni, [L.], Gli Umiliati [nei loro rapporti con l’eresia, l’industria della lana ed i communi nei secoli xii e xiii]. Biblioteca historica Italia, Serie II, 2 (Milan 1911)Google Scholar; de Stefano, A., ‘Delle origini e della natura del primitivo movimento degli Umiliati’, Archivium Romanimm, II, (Geneva 1927) pp 31–75 Google Scholar; Volpe, [G.], Movimenti religiosi [e sette ereticali nella società medievale italiana secoli x-xiv], Biblioteca Storica Sansoni, NS, XXXVII (Florence 1961)Google Scholar. Most valuable of all has been [H.] Grundmann, Religiose Bewegungen [im Mit telalter] (2 ed Hildesheim 1961) especially pp 70-97 and pp 487-538.

page no 74 note 1 VHM, 1, p 79; Héfèle, C. J. et Leclerca, H., Histoire des Conciles, v, 2 (Paris 1913) pp 1119-26Google Scholar.

page no 74 note 2 VHM, II, pp 123-5.

page no 74 note 3 PL, CCXIV (1855) col 921; VHM, II, p 139.

page no 74 note 4 A most useful general introduction to Innocent’s letters and the Papal Chancery may be found in The Letters of Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) concerning England and Wales ed , C. R. and Cheney, M. G. (Oxford 1967) especially pp ix-xviii, xxiii-iv, See also PL, CCXIV-CCXVI (1855)Google Scholar; [Die] Regi[ster] Inn[ocenz III 1198-99], ed Hagenederand, O. Haidacher, A. (Graz/Köln 1964)Google Scholar and R[egesta] P[ontificum] R[omanorum]ed Potthast, A., 2 vols (Berlin 1874)Google Scholar.

page no 74 note 5 VHM, II, pp 128, 135, 139.

page no 74 note 6 Comba, E., History of the Waldenses of Italy, trans Comba, T. E. (London 1889) p 69 Google Scholar.

page no 74 note 7 Chronicon Universale Anonymi Laudunensis, ed Cartelliera, A. et Stechèle, W. (Paris 1909) pp 28–30 Google Scholar.

page no 75 note 1 Burchardi et Cuonradi Urspergensium Chronicon, ed Weiland, O. Abel-L., MGH SS, XXIII (Hanover 1874) p 377 Google Scholar; VHM, 1, pp 107-8.

page no 75 note 2 Printed in Zanoni, Gli Umiliati, pp 261-3.

page no 75 note 3 VHM, II, pp 132-3.

page no 75 note 4 Mansi, XX, p 476; VHM, 1, p 79. The decree ad abolendam distinguished between those who preached privately or in public without papal or episcopal consent and those who taught false doctrines. The Humiliati were guilty of the former error.

page no 75 note 5 VHM, II, pp 128, 157.

page no 75 note 6 Ibid, p 139.

page no 75 note 7 ‘Quia vero non est nostrae intentionis innoxios cum nocentibus condemnare’, PL, CCXIV, col 789. On medieval heresy in general see Dondaine, A., ‘L’origine de l’hérésie médiévale’, RCI, VI (1952) pp 47–78 Google Scholar; Russell, J., ‘The Origins of medieval heresy’, M[edieval] S[tudies], XXV (1963) pp 26–53 Google Scholar; Brooke, C. N. L., ‘Heresy and Religious Sentiment 1000-1250’, BIHR, XLI (1968) pp 115-31Google Scholar; Thouzellier, C., Catharisme et Valdéisme en Languedoc à la fin du xiie siècle (2 ed Louvain 1969)Google Scholar.

page no 76 note 1 PL, CCXIV (1855) col 789.

page no 76 note 2 Ibid, cols 921-2.

page no 76 note 3 In a bull of 1091, Urban II confirmed the vita communis of certain laymen according to the form of the early church: PL, CLI (1858) col 336. Bernold of Constance lists three categories of convert to this primitive life, both men and women who had vowed obedience, celibacy and poverty in a communal life and married couples who lived according to strict religious precepts: PL, CXLVIII (1853) cols 1407-8. Similar groups sprang up during the twelfth century and in 1188 a community was founded at St Didier near Vicenza: Meersseman, G. G. et Adda, E., ‘Pénitents ruraux communitaires’, RHE, XLIX (1954) pp 343-90, especially p 363, n 1 Google Scholar. The problem of differentiation between such communities and religious orders is dealt with by Chenu, M. D., ‘Moines, clercs, laïcs au carrefour de la vie évangelique (xiie siècle)’, RHE, XLIX (1954) pp 59–89 Google Scholar.

page no 76 note 4 VHM, II, p 136. PL, CCXIV (1855) col 922.

page no 76 note 5 Ibid, ‘ non tarn locum quam votum, non tam habitum quam affectum’.

page no 76 note 6 The letters to the third and second orders are dated respectively 7 and 12 June, 1201: VHM, II, pp 128-38. The privilege to the first order was sent on 16 June: ibid, pp 139-48.

page no 77 note 1 The praepositi are named as James de Rondineto, Lanfranc de Vibaldono, Tancred de Mealono and Lanfranc de Lodi: ibid, p 139. Guy de Porta Orientalis is the only minister whose title is given in full: ibid, p 128; PL, CCXIV (1855) col 921. The praelati and ministri are simply listed according to their houses: VHM, II, pp 128, 135.

page no 77 note 2 Jas. 5: 12.

page no 77 note 3 VHM, II, pp 131-2, 137-8, 145-6.

page no 77 note 4 Ibid, pp 131-2.

page no 77 note 5 Ibid, pp 136-7.

page no 77 note 6 Ibid, pp 141-2.

page no 77 note 7 Ibid, pp 133-4. Grundmann, Religiöse Bewegungen, p 8r, thinks it unlikely that the Humiliait had attempted to expound dogma because they were more interested in moral questions, but sees a new distinction between clerical and lay sermons.

page no 78 note 1 Maccarrone, ‘Riforma e sviluppo della vita religiosa’, pp 47-9.

page no 78 note 2 Ibid, p 49, n 46; VHM, II, p 136.

page no 78 note 3 ‘In primis siquidem statuentes ut in ecclesiis vestris ordo canonicus secundem Deum et institutionem vestram per sedem apostolicam approbatum, perpetuis temporibus observetur.’ VHM, II, p 139.

page no 78 note 4 Ibid, p 142.

page no 78 note 5 Ibid, pp 141-2.

page no 78 note 6 Ibid, p 142.

page no 78 note 7 Ibid, p 143.

page no 78 note 8 Ibid, pp 143-5.

page no 79 note 1 ‘nobili viro, Guidoni de Porta Orientali,’ PL, CCXIV (1855) col 921; ‘Guidonis dei Capitaneis portae orientalis, ‘ VHM, 1, p 44.

page no 79 note 2 Zanoni, Gli Umiliati, pp 19 ff. believed that religious reform movements emanated from the lower classes, but Violante, C., La Società Milanese nell’età precommunale (Bari 1953) pp 176ff Google Scholar. believes that the reaction was experienced by a wider cross-section of society. On the Patarine movement see ibid, pp 135, 198-204; Violante, C., La Pataria Milanese e la riforma ecclesiastica (Rome 1955) pp 105ff Google Scholar.; Cowdrey, H. E. J., ‘The Papacy, the Patarines and the Church of Milan’, TRHS, 5 Series, XVIII (1968) pp 25–48 Google Scholar.

page no 79 note 3 I am most grateful to Dr Janet Nelson for her valuable suggestions on this point. It is possible that such possessions and lands which belonged to the Humiliati may have continued to bear the names of their aristocratic donors. If this is so, the lords could have exerted considerable influence over the estates which were farmed and tenanted by the first and second orders. Much detailed research has yet to be undertaken before a clear idea of the social structure of the movement emerges. I am also indebted to my colleague, Dr Colin Tite, for his patient and constructive criticism of many points.

page no 79 note 4 VHM, 11, p 132.

page no 79 note 5 Ibid, p 133.

page no 79 note 6 RPR, 1, no 4944, p 431.

page no 80 note 1 VHM, 11, p 156.

page no 80 note 2 Chronicle of John de Brera 1421, printed in Zanoni, Gli Umiliati, pp 336-44; Chronicle of Marcus Bossius 1493, ibid, pp 345-52.

page no 80 note 3 Cipolla, C., ‘Statuti rurali veronesi’. Archivio vencto, XXXVII (Venice 1889) pp 341-5Google Scholar.

page no 80 note 4 PL, CCXIV (1855) col 699.

page no 80 note 5 Sabatier, P., Collection de Documents pour l’histoire réligieuse et littéraire du Moyen Age (Paris 1898) pp 297-8Google Scholar.

page no 81 note 1 Brooke, R. B., Early Franciscan Government (Cambridge 1959) p 62 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

page no 81 note 2 On 22 April 1198 the Hospitallers of the Holy Spirit were founded by Guy de Montpellier: PL, CCXIV (1855) cols 83-4; Reg Inn, no 97, pp 141-4; RPR, 1, no 96, p 11. On 17 December 1198 the Order of Trinitarians was founded to cure the sick and to liberate enslaved Christians: PL, CCXIV, Col215; Reg Inn, no481, pp703-8; RPR, 1, no483, p46. On 19 February 1199 the Teutonic Order received confirmation of apostolic protection: PL, CCXIV, col 525; RPR, 1, no 606, p 58. On 18 June 1204 the Hospital of St Maria in Sassia in Rome was recognised as a community of clergy: PL, CCXIV, cols 376-80; RPR, I, no 2248, p 194. On 18 December 1208 Durand de Huesca and the Poor Catholics were reconciled with the church: PL, CCXV, cols 1510-14; RPR, 1, nos 3571-3, p 308 On 14 May 1210 Bernard Primus and his followers were reconciled with the church: RPR, 1, nos 4014, 4015, p 346. On 20 October 1210 an evangelical and crusading order was founded in Livonia by bishop Albert of Riga: PL, CCXVI (1855) cols 326-7; RPR, 1, no 4104, p 353.

page no 81 note 3 Cap 13, Lateran, IV, in Conciliorum Oecumenicorum decreta, ed Alberigo, J. et al (2 ed Freiburg 1962) p 2:8 Google Scholar. See also Maccarrone, ‘Riforma e sviluppo della vita religiosa’ pp 60-9.

page no 82 note 1 ‘Humiliatos per Lombardiam in fide catholica et devotione apostolica constituios monet et hortatur, ut attendentes “quod no habetis hic manentem civitatem” cum timore ac tremore incolatus sui tempore studeant conversari, eam re ipsa humiliatatem sectantes, ut securi expectare possint beatam spem et adventum gloriae magni Dei. ‘ RPR, 1, no 4945, P 431.