Pope Callistus II
Date of birth unknown; died 13 December, 1124. His reign, beginning 1 February,
1119, is signalized by the termination of the Investiture controversy which,
begun in the time of Gregory VII, had raged with almost unabated bitterness
during the last quarter of the eleventh century and the opening years of
the twelfth. Guido, as he was called before his elevation to the papacy,
was the son of Count William of Burgundy, and both by his father's and
mother's side was closely connected with nearly all the royal houses of
Europe. His brother Hugh had been appointed Archbishop of Besancon, and
he himself was named Archbishop of Vienne (1088), and afterwards appointed
papal legate in France by Paschal II. During Guido's tenure in this office,
Paschal II, yielding to the threats of Henry V, was induced to issue the
"Privilegium" (1111) by which he yielded up much of what had been claimed
by Gregory VII, but these concessions were received with violent opposition
and nowhere more so than in France, where the opposition was led by Guido,
the papal legate. The latter was present at the Lateran Synod (1112), and
on his return to France convoked an assembly of the French and Burgundian
bishops at Vienne (1112), where the investiture of the clergy was denounced
as heretical, and sentence of excommunication pronounced against Henry
V because he had dared to extort from the pope by violence an agreement
opposed to the interests of the Church. These decrees were sent to Paschal
II with a request for confirmation, which they received in general terms,
20 October, 1112 (Hardouin, VI, 2, 1916).
Guido was later, apparently, created cardinal by Pope Paschal, though
the latter does not seem to have been quite pleased with his zeal in his
attacks upon Henry V. On the death of Paschal II (21 Jan., 1118), Gelasius
II was elected pope, but he was immediately seized by the Italian allies
of Henry V, and on his liberation by the populace fled to Gaeta, where
he was solemnly crowned. Henry V demanded the confirmation of the "Privilegium",
but, receiving no satisfactory reply, set up as antipope under the name
of Gregory VIII, the Archbishop of Braga, Burdinus, who had already been
deposed and excommunicated for having crowned Henry at Rome with the imperial
crown (1117). Gelasius promptly excommunicated both the antipope and the
emperor, but was himself obliged to flee, and took refuge in the monastery
of Cluny, where he died (January, 1119). On the fourth day after the death
of Gelasius (1 February), owing mainly to the exertions of Cardinal Cuno,
Guido was elected pope, and assumed the title of Callistus II. He was crowned
at Vienne (9 February, 1119).
His election was everywhere received with approbation. On account of
his close connection with the royal families of Germany, France, England,
and Denmark, it was hoped that he would be able to effect a favourable
settlement of the controversy which had so long distracted the Church.
Even Henry V received the papal embassy at Strasburg, and showed clearly
that he was not unwilling to sue for peace, and at the same time he withdrew
his support from the antipope. It was even agreed that pope and emperor
should meet at Mousson. In 1119 (8 June) Callistus held a synod at Toulouse
mainly to promote disciplinary reforms in the French Church, and in October
of the same year he opened the council at Reims which had been contemplated
in the preliminary arrangements made between the emperor and the papal
ambassadors at Strasburg. Louis VI and most of the barons of France attended
the council, which was composed of more than four hundred bishops and abbots.
It had been arranged that during the council the pope and emperor were
to have a personal conference at Mousson, and in compliance with this agreement
Henry V arrived at Mousson, not alone, as had been anticipated, but with
an army of over thirty thousand men. Callistus II left Reims to attend
the conference at Mousson, but on learning of the warlike preparations
made by the emperor, and fearing that force was likely to be used to extract
from him prejudicial concessions, he hastily returned to Reims. Here the
council busied itself mainly with disciplinary regulations, especially
with decrees against investiture, simony, and concubinage of the clergy.
In the end, as there was no hope of a favourable compromise with Henry,
it was determined that the emperor and the antipope should be solemnly
excommunicated in the presence of the assembled fathers and the representatives
of the secular authority (30 October, 1119). Before leaving France Callistus
tried to effect a settlement between Henry I of England and his brother
Robert, but his efforts in this direction were without result.
Callistus determined to visit Italy and Rome. In the latter city Gregory
VIII, supported by the German forces and the Italian allies of the emperor,
had taken up his residence, but on the approach of Callistus, who was everywhere
received with demonstrations of welcome, the antipope was obliged to flee
to the fortress of Sutri, and Callistus entered Rome amid the universal
rejoicings of the populace. He went south to secure the aid of the Normans
of Southern Italy in his struggle against Henry V and Gregory VIII. The
negotiations were entirely satisfactory. Gregory was taken prisoner and
escorted to Rome (1121), where he was with difficulty saved from the wrath
of the people, and lodged in a prison near Salerno and afterwards in the
fortress of Fumo. By the aid of the princes of Southern Italy Callistus
broke the power of the Italian allies of the emperor in Italy, notably
of Cencio Frangipani, who had already given so much trouble to Gelasius
II and to Callistus himself (1121).
Having thus established his power in Italy, he once more resolved to
open negotiations with Henry V on the question of investiture. The latter
had already shown that he was anxious to put an end to a controversy which
had alienated from him his best friends, and which threatened to endanger
the peace of the empire. An embassy consisting of three cardinals was sent
by Callistus to Germany, and negotiations for a permanent settlement of
the investiture struggle were begun at Wurzburg (October, 1121). Here it
was agreed that a general truce should be proclaimed between the emperor
and his rebellious subjects; that the Church should have free use of her
possessions; that the lands of those in rebellion should be restored, and
peace with the Church permanently established with the least possible delay.
These decrees were communicated to Callistus II, who despatched Cardinal
Lambert of Ostia as his legate to assist at the synod that had been convoked
at Worms. The synod began at Worms, 8 September, 1122, and 23 September
the concordat known as the Concordat of Worms (or Pactum Calixtinum)
between the pope and the emperor was concluded. On his side the emperor
abandoned his claim to investiture with ring and crosier and granted freedom
of election to episcopal sees; on the other hand, it was conceded that
the bishops should receive investiture with the sceptre, that the episcopal
elections should be held in the presence of the emperor or his representatives,
that in case of disputed elections the emperor should, after the decision
of the metropolitan and the suffragan bishops, confirm the rightfully elected
candidate, and lastly, that the imperial investiture of the temporalities
of the sees should take place in Germany before the consecration, in Burgundy
and in Italy after this ceremony, while in the Papal States the pope alone
had the right of investiture, without any interference on the part of the
emperor. As a result of this Concordat, the emperor still retained in his
hands the controlling influence in the election of the bishops in Germany,
though he had abandoned much in regard to episcopal elections in Italy
and Burgundy.
To secure the confirmation of this Concordat of Worms, Calistus II convoked
the First Lateran Council (18 March, 1123). The council was most representative,
nearly three hundred bishops and six hundred abbots from every part of
Catholic Europe being present. The council solemnly confirmed the agreement
that had been arrived at with Henry V with regard to episcopal elections,
and passed several disciplinary decrees directed against existing abuses,
such as simony and concubinage among the clergy. Decrees were also passed
against violators of the Truce of God, church-robbers, and forgers of ecclesiastical
documents. The indulgences already granted to the crusaders were renewed,
and the jurisdiction of the bishops over the clergy, both secular and regular,
was more clearly defined.
In the last few years of his life, Callistus II endeavoured to secure
for the Church the restoration in its entirety of the Patrimony of St.
Peter, which had been greatly diminished by the constant wars and rebellions;
to break the power of the nobles in the Campagna, and restore peace and
order to the city of Rome itself, which had suffered much since the time
of Gregory VII. He also devoted much of his time to the interests of the
Church of France and to combating the errors and abuses which made their
appearance in that country in his time. In the Synod of Toulouse (1119)
he condemned the teaching of Peter de Bruis and his followers (Hardouin,
VI, 2, 1977-84). He established the Church of Vienne as the metropolitan
church of the adjoining ecclesiastical provinces (1120), thereby ending
in favour of the former (that he still held as pope) the ancient controversy
between Vienne and Arles. For the privileges in favour of Vienne forged
during the reign of Guido, see Gundlach, "Streit der Bisthumer Arles und
Vienne" (1890). Duchesne maintains ("Fastes Eccl.", I, 145 sqq.) that only
the more recent of them date from the time of Guido (cf. Robert, "Calixte
II", Paris, 1891). He settled several disputes between bishops and abbots
in France, dispatched Gerard of Angouleme as papal legate to Brittany,
and finally confirmed the primatial rights of Lyons over the Church of
Sens. He demanded of Henry I of England the release of his brother, Robert
of Normandy, as well as the acknowldgment of Thurstan, whom he himself
had consecrated at Reims, as Archbishop of York. Henry at first refused,
but on the threat of excommunication he consented to admit Thurstan as
Archbishop of York, and to acknowledge the latter see's independence of
Canterbury. In Spain he transferred the metropolitan rights from the old
see of Merida (Emerita) to Santiago de Compostella, to the patron
saint of which Callistus seems to have had a special devotion. He showed
his attention to Germany by the canonization of Conrad of Constance at
the Lateran Synod (1123) and by dispatching Otto of Bamberg as papal legate
to regulate the Churches of Pomerania. In Rome he devoted much attention
to beautifying and improving the city, but especially the church of St.
Peter. He suppressed the suburban See of Santa Rufina by uniting this diocese
with Porto, so that thenceforth there were only six cardinal-bishops instead
of seven as had formerly been the case.
Callistus died in 1124, and after some dipute Honorius II was selected
as his successor. As to the great influence of the reign of Callistus II
on the policy of the Church there can be no dispute. Owing mainly to him
the concessions so weakly made by Paschal II were recalled, and on his
own accession to the papal throne, his firmness and strength of character
secured a settlement of the controversy between Church and State which,
though not entirely satisfactory, was at least sufficient to assure a much
needed peace. Through his exertions he put an end to the wholesale bestowal
of ecclesiastical offices by laymen; he re-established the freedom of canonical
elections and secured recognition of the principle that ecclesiastical
jurisdiction can come only from the Church, while on the other hand he
conceded to the secular authorities the influence to which they were rightly
entitled in the election of prelates who were at the same time the most
powerful and richest subjects of the State. On the other hand, he was blamed
at the time, principally by Archbishop Conrad of Salzburg, for not insisting
upon the withdrawal of the oath of homage which every bishop was required
to make to the emperor or his feudal lord, but it should be remembered
that Callistus II well understood that unless something were conceded peace
was impossible, and that the oath of homage, however improper the ceremony
might seem, was not an unnatural demand on the part of the emperor in regard
to subjects who wielded such an enormous political power as did the bishops
of the German Empire.
Callistus II was not very remarkable for his literary productions; yet
a few works have come down to us which are ascribed to his pen. They are:
"De Miraculis Sancti Jacobi Apostoli", "De obitu et Vita Sanctorum", "Vita
Caroli Magni Imperatoris". Many letters attributed to him are preserved.
These, together with his other writings, may be found in Migne, P.L., CLXIII
(1073-1383). Besides this edition, thirty-six of his letters are contained
in Hardouin's "Concilia" (VI, 2, 1949-1976). These same letters, with two
additional, are published by Mansi (XXI, 190-218); some others are given
by D'Achery [Spicilegium (Paris, 1723), II, 964; III, 478, 479]; some additional
ones are to be found in "Magn. Bull. Rom. Continuat.", III, ed. Luxembourg,
1730, 12. See INVESTITURES; VIENNE.
Biographies of Callistus II have been written by PANDULPHUS
ALETRINUS, ARAGONIUS, and BERNARDUS GUIDONIS (MURATORI,
Script. Rer.
Ital., III, 1, 418). Cf. WATTERICH, Vitae Rom. Pontif., II,
115; MIGNE, P.L., CLXIII, 1071; ROBERT,
Bullaire du pape Calixte II
(Paris, 1891); MAURER,
Papst Calixtus II, in 2 parts (Munich, 1886,
1889). For the Synod of Vienne, see MANSI, XXI, 175, and HARDOUIN, VI,
2, 1752. For the Synod of Reims, MANSI, XXI, 187, and HEFELE,
Conciliengesch.,
V, 344; HALLER, Die Verhandlungen zu Mouzon (1119), etc. in Heidelberger
Jahrbucher, 1892. For Concordat of Worms, see MANSI, XXI, 273, 287,
and JAFFE,
Bibl. Rer. Germ., V, 383, also MUNCH, Vollstandige
Sammlung aller Concordate, I (Leipzig, 1830), and NUSSI,
Conventiones
de Rebus Eccles. (Mainz, 1870); BERNHEIM,
Zur Geschichte des Wormser
Konkordates (Leipzig, 1878); BRESLAU, Die kaiserliche Ausfertigung
des Wormser Konkordates in Mitteil. des Instituts fur Oesterreich.
Gesch., 1885.
JAMES MACCAFFREY
Transcribed by Benjamin F. Hull
From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright © 1913
by the Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright © 1998
by New Advent, Inc.
|
