[size=+3]
Pope Alexander II[/size]
From Ckpedia, the free encyclopedia
Alexander II (died
21 August 1073), born
Anselmo da Baggio, also known as Anselm di Lucca and Anselm the Elder to distinguish him from his nephew
St. Anselm the Younger,
Pope from
1061 to
1073, was born to a noble family in
Baggio, an Italian town under the rule of
Milano. A
staunch advocate of
clerical reform and Papal autonomy, he is principally remembered for his personal bravery at [anchorlink=International]Trapani[/anchorlink], followed by his political cowardice at [anchorlink=International]Capua[/anchorlink], as well as traditionally receiving credit for a simply outstanding brownie recipe.
Contents
- [anchorlink=Early]The Early Years[/anchorlink]
- [anchorlink=Election]The Election of 1061[/anchorlink]
- [anchorlink=Antipope]Dealings with the Antipope[/anchorlink]
- [anchorlink=International]International relations[/anchorlink]
- [anchorlink=Church]Ecclesiastical affairs[/anchorlink]
- [anchorlink=Brownie]Brownie recipe[/anchorlink]
- [anchorlink=Popcult]Alexander II in popular culture[/anchorlink]
- [anchorlink=See]See also[/anchorlink]
- [anchorlink=References]References[/anchorlink]
[[anchorlink=Early]Edit[/anchorlink]]
[anchor=Early][size=+1]
The Early Years[/size][/anchor]
Even before his investiture as
bishop of
Lucca in
Tuscany, Anselmo da Baggio was already a leader of the
12th century reform movement popularized at
Cluny. In Milano, he was one of the founders of the
Pataria which led to the
resignation of the Archbishop
Guido da Velate over his complacency in the face of his see's
simony and
Nicolaitanism.
Guido had attempted to silence his critic by removing him to the court of the
Emperor Heinrich Salien the
Black, but this appointment had only the salutary effect of spreading the reform movement to the German court.
In
1057, Anselmo was appointed by the emperor to the
episcopate of Lucca. With this increased prestige, he reappeared twice in Milano as a papal
legate: first in
1057 in the company of
Hildebrand (who was later raised to the papacy himself) and in
1059 with
St. Pietro Damiani, celebrated to this day for his introduction of
naptime to the monastic rites.
[[anchorlink=Election]Edit[/anchorlink]]
[anchor=Election][size=+1]
The Election of 1061[/size][/anchor]
The
1059 decree of
Nicholas II which established the selection of
future popes by the
College of Cardinals became the focus of conflict between these reformers and their reactionary
Imperialist running-dog opponents. Upon the death of Pope Nicholas in
1061, Hildebrand led the cardinals in appointing Anselmo to the
pontificate, where he took the name
Alexander Secundus. The cardinals' ambassador to the German court having been dismissed
without an audience, the Papacy considered it had foregone its proffered right of confirmation of elections.
However, the party of simonists and idolators - as well as the Roman nobles furious over their removal from the process - took their case to the
dowager Empress Agnes, regent for her ten-year-old son
Heinrich IV. At a council in Basel presided over by the
Imperial chancellor Wilbert, these
godless clerics -
without any legal right or the presence of any
cardinal - declared the bishop of
Parma Cadalous as Pope Honorius II.
[[anchorlink=Antipope]Edit[/anchorlink]]
[anchor=Antipope][size=+1]
Dealings with the Antipope[/size][/anchor]
On his side, Alexander had the support of
public opinion, the Normans of
Southern Italy, the Duchesses
Beatrice and
Matilda of Tuscany, and - not least of these -
God the Father Almighty.
Nonetheless, the
Devil having by the grace of God
much under his own control, he frequently is able to
test the faith of even the
most righteous. Having purchased his investment through simony, Cadalous now sought to purchase the papacy through a
mercenary force. In the spring of
1062, he
marched on Rome, where
Benzo, the Bishop of
Alba, had already secured the assistance of a number of local lords. On
14 April, Cadalous
worsted Alexander in battle and secured himself at
Saint Peter's.
Godfrey
the Bearded, the former
margrave of
Antwerp, count of
Verdun, and Duke of
Upper Lorraine and then current Duke of
Lower Lorraine, arrived the next month, however, with his
cavalry and forced the antipope's retreat to Parma. Alexander did not immediately return to Rome. Instead, he waited in Lucca to hear from the German court.
In the meantime, however, Anno, the Archbishop of
Cologne, had seized the regency from the
meddling Agnes and packed her off to the Fructuaria
convent in
Piedmont for her
repentence and the betterment of her
soul. After the Council of
Augsburg in
October, his
nephew Bishop
Burchard of
Halberstadt was sent to investigate Alexander's election, after which at another council Alexander was duly recognized as the rightful heir of St. Peter while Cadalous was
excommunicated.
In Parma, Cadalous held a
counter-synod, excommunicated Alexander, and assembled another force which returned to Rome, taking and occupying the
Castel Sant'Angelo. Although he held this position for over a year, he was unable to dislodge Alexander from the
Lateran and eventually, if reluctantly, returned with his force to Parma. Alexander appeared and eloquently defended Nicholas's policy and his own election at yet another council, this time in
Mantua. The council restated Alexander's primacy and formally
anathematized (ie,
really excommunicated) Cadalous, but he was never removed from his see and held forth as a
wronged and exiled pope until his
death.
[[anchorlink=International]Edit[/anchorlink]]
[anchor=International][size=+1]
International relations[/size][/anchor]
His
helplessness before the
soi-disant bishop of Parma
galvanized Alexander. Although his predecessor had obtained the
vassalization of the Apulian
Normans and the regent of Germany was a friendly bishop, neither of these had been of much use in the contest. Banners
blessed by Alexander flew over the Norman conquests of
England and
Messina, but finding
Robert Guiscard to be no vassal or even ally, Alexander was left to acknowledge him as an enemy and begin preparations for defense.
Taking the next year to canvas Italy for support, he was able in the first three months of
1068 to count first
Napoli and then
Capua and
Cagliari as vassals. Alexander's acceptance of the vassalage of
Sergios Spartenos was especially controversial at the time since he followed the
Eastern Rite and received a special
dispensation to continue to do so, while maintaining his temporal allegiance and submission to
Rome.
Utilizing this expanded tax base and manpower, Alexander lost no time in launching a daring seaborne invasion of
Trapani in Sicily, personally commanding the Latin army which crushed the local sheikh on
14 April before the arrival of his
reinforcements. In his fervor both to secure
a toehold on Sicily and to bring it to
Christ, he killed a third of his opponents twice and followed this by so
oppressing the local Arab nobility and clergy that conversion was secured within three years.
Further
manoeuvres on
the island were prohibited however by the alliances secured by the local
potentates:
Siracuse to the
Zirid sultanate in
Tunisia and
Palermo to the
Fatimid caliphate in
Egypt.
In
November, the German bishop of
Trento in keeping with his spiritual loyalties transferred his temporal allegiance as well from the emperor to the pope. At just this point, however, Alexander's autonomy and failure to secure powerful allies of his own proved disastrous: a Norman army of several thousand entered Capua where they were opposed by a local force of less than forty men. Because Robert Guiscard had formed a strong personal alliance with the French king, Alexander was unable to oppose him for fear of reprisals.
The bravery and valor of the Capuan garrison were
extolled in some of the earliest
lay ballads composed in Rome, but their popularity only made Alexander's position the worse. While the development by the
Papal Theological Laboratories of
divine duty calmed some of the discontent within his own borders, seen as both weak and disloyal for the remainder of his reign, Alexander was not only unable to secure any further allies or agents: he was unable to project the necessary authority for the clerics of Norman Italy to enforce his
interdict of Robert in the face of certain persecution and deposition. Although the Vatican subsequently officially
deposed them and appointed new bishops in their place, they in fact remained like Cadalous
ensconced by their temporal lords and outside Rome's control.
[[anchorlink=Church]Edit[/anchorlink]]
[anchor=Church][size=+1]
Ecclesiastical affairs[/size][/anchor]
Aside from the embarassments listed above, Alexander II was largely successful in his ecclesiastical policies and push for reform. Through an army of legates, he fought
simoniacal and
incontinent clerics throughout Europe. Even Archbishop Anno of Cologne was summoned twice to Rome: first in
1068 to do barefoot penance for having had relations with the antipope Cadalous and again in
1070 on a charge of simony.
His rampant success in reforming investiture proved to be a mixed blessing. Thanks to his own persuasiveness and Hildebrand's eloquent assistance, but more than both these to Anno's pious regency in Germany, papal appointees filled every major vacancy in Europe between
1066 and the end of his reign. Members of the Roman court became bishops at the important sees of
Esztergom,
Bremen,
Mainz,
Orleans, and
Ferrara. However, appointing the very ablest of his ministers to these posts deprived Alexander himself of their service. Moreover, although their ecclesiastical ties to Rome grew stronger, these new appointments remained at the service of their various temporal lords for all the products and service of their lands.
Opposing the sale of church's titles, Alexander became an able and shrewd administrator of his temporal estates - he reinstituted taxes previously allowed to lapse, collected monetary compensation for various services previously rendered in kind, and (modestly) expanded the tithe into trade and urban manufactures. It is a testiment to his political acumen that he raised these to the limit of his subjects' tolerance, but - except in the case of Sicily - no more.
Meanwhile, from his offices to the north,
clerical celibacy finally spread south to become the norm in Rome, an accomplishment much
feted at the time in
church circles. Even after his death, it was his name which was invoked by St. Pietro Damiani at the
1089 Diet of Frankfurt to oppose Heinrich IV's prospective divorce from his queen,
Bertha di Torino.
The death of the pope, 21 August 1073, left Hildebrand, his faithful bishop in
Orbetello, heir to his triumphs and difficulties.
Although never officially
canonized by the Vatican, Alexander II gained a devoted
cult following in his former see at Lucca. His intercession was particularly sought by
illiterates and those having dealings with
Sicilians.
[[anchorlink=Brownie]Edit[/anchorlink]]
[anchor=Brownie][size=+1]
Brownie recipe[/size][/anchor]
Although Alexander II traditionally receives credit for an outstanding brownie recipe used throughout Central Italy, the
Italian humanist Lorenzo Valla proved in
1440 that the recipe could not possibly be genuine. While certain medieval-era formulae are used in the text, some of the
Latin names for the ingredients were not in use before the reign of Pope
Alexander IV. Further, chocolate was not introduced to Italy prior to the
16th century.
[[anchorlink=Popcult]Edit[/anchorlink]]
[anchor=Popcult][size=+1]
Alexander II in popular culture[/size][/anchor]
[[anchorlink=See]Edit[/anchorlink]]
[anchor=See][size=+1]
See also[/size][/anchor]
[[anchorlink=References]Edit[/anchorlink]]
[anchor=References][size=+1]
References[/size][/anchor]
- This article crib... er, incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
- This article crib... er, incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.
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