Pope Bl. Urban II
(Otho, Otto or Odo of Lagery), 1088-1099, born of a knightly family, at
Châtillon-sur-Marne in the province of Champagne, about 1042; died
29 July, 1099. Under St. Bruno (afterwards founder of the Carthusians)
Otho studied at Reims, where he later became canon and archdeacon. About
1070 he retired to Cluny and was professed there under the great abbot
St. Hugh. After holding the office of prior he was sent by St. Hugh to
Rome as one of the monks asked for by Gregory VII, and he was of great
assistance to Gregory in the difficult task of reforming the Church. In
1078 he became Cardinal Bishop of Ostia and Gregory's chief adviser and
helper. During the years 1082 to 1085 he was legate in France and Germany.
While returning to Rome in 1083 he was made prisoner by the Emperor Henry
IV, but was soon liberated. Whilst in Saxony (1084-5) he filled many of
the vacant sees with men faithful to Gregory and deposed those whom the
pope had condemned. He held a great synod at Quedlinburg in Saxony in which
the antipope Guibert of Ravenna and his adherents were anathematized by
name. Victor III had already been elected when Otho returned to Rome in
1085. Otho appears to have opposed Victor at first, not through any animosity
or want of good will, but because he judged it better, at so critical a
time, that Victor should resign the honour he was unwilling to retain.
After Victor's death a summons was sent to as many bishops of the Gregorian
party as possible to attend a meeting at Terracina. It was made known at
this meeting that Otho had been suggested by Gregory and Victor as their
successor. Accordingly, on 12 March, 1088, he was unanimously elected,
taking the title of Urban II. His first act was to proclaim his election
to the world, and to exhort the princes and bishops who had been loyal
to Gregory to continue in their allegiance: he declared his intention of
following the policy and example of his great predecessor--"all that he
rejected, I reject, what he condemned I condemn, what he loved I embrace,
what he considered as Catholic, I confirm and approve".
It was a difficult task which confronted the new pope. To enter Rome
was impossible. The Normans, on whom together with Matilda he could alone
rely, were engaged in civil war. Roger and Bohemund had to be reconciled
before anything could be done, and to effect this the pope set out for
Sicily. He met Roger at Troina, but history is silent as to what took place
between them. The year following, however, saw peace between the two princes,
and Urban's first entry into Rome in November, 1088, is said by some to
have been made possible by Norman troops. His plight in Rome was truly
pitiable; the whole city practically was in the hands of the antipope,
and Urban had to take refuge on the Island of St. Bartholomew, the approach
being guarded by Pierleone, who had turned the theatre of Marcellus on
the left bank of the river into a fortress. Nor was the outlook in Germany
calculated to hold out hopes of the triumph of the papal party; its stoutest
adherents in the episcopate had died, and Henry was steadily gaining ground.
From amidst the poverty and want of his wretched island, Urban launched
sentence of excommunication against emperor and antipope alike. Guibert
retorted by holding a synod in St. Peter's before which he cited Urban
to appear. The troops of pope and antipope met in a desperate encounter
which lasted three days; Guibert was driven from the city, and Urban entered
St. Peter's in triumph. He was now determined to unite his partisans in
Italy and Germany. The Countess Matilda had lost her first husband, Godfrey
of Lorraine. She was now well advanced in years, but this did not prevent
her marriage with Count Welf of Bavaria, a youth of eighteen, whose father,
Duke of Welf IV of Bavaria, was in arms against Henry. Urban now turned
his steps southwards again. In the autumn of 1089 seventy bishops met him
in synod at Melfi, where decrees against simony and clerical marriage were
promulgated. In December he turned back to Rome, but not before he had
effected a lasting peace between Roger and Bohemund, and had received their
full allegiance. The fickle Romans had again renounced him on the news
of Henry's success against Matilda in north Italy, and had summond Guibert
back to the city. The latter celebrated Christmas in St. Peter's whilst
Urban anathematized him from without the walls.
For three years Urban was compelled to wander an exile about southern
Italy. He spent the time holding councils and improving the character of
ecclesiastical discipline. Meanwhile Henry at last suffered a check from
Matilda's forces at Canossa, the same fortress which had witnessed his
humiliation before Gregory. His son Conrad, appalled, it is said, at his
father's depravity, and refusing to become his partner in sin, fled to
the faction of Matilda and Welf. The Lombard League--Milan, Lodi, Piacenza,
and Cremona--welcomed him and he was crowned king in Milan, the centre
of the imperial power in Italy. The way was now clear for Urban's entry
into Rome, but still the partisans of Guibert held the strong places of
the city. This time the pope took up his residence in the fortress of the
Frangipani, a family which had remained faithful to him and which was entrenched
under the Palatine near the Church of Sta. Maria Nuova. His condition was
piteous, for he had to depend on charity and was already deeply in debt.
A French abbot, Gregory of Vendôme, hearing of Urban's plight, hurried
to Rome "that he might become a sharer of his sufferings and labour and
relieve his want". In return for this he was created Cardinal Deacon of
Sta. Prisca. Shortly before Easter, 1094, the governor of the Lateran palace
offered to surrender it to Urban on payment of a large sum of money. This
money Gregory of Vendôme supplied by selling certain possessions
of his monastery; Urban entered the Lateran in time for the Paschal solemnity,
and sat for the first time on the papal throne just six years after his
election at Terracina.
But it was no time for tarrying long in Rome. Henry's cause was steadily
growing weaker, and Urban hurried north to hold a council at Piacenza in
the interests of peace and reform. The unfortunate Praxedis, Henry's second
wife, had suffered wrongs which were now the common property of Christendom.
Her cause was heard, Henry not even attempting to defend himself. She was
publicly declared innocent and absolved from any censure. Then the case
of Philip of France, who had repudiated his wife Bertha and espoused Bertrada,
the wife of Fulk of Anjou, was dealt with. Several bishops had recognized
the union, but Archbishop Hugh of Lyons had had the courage to excommunicate
Philip for adultery. Both king and archbishop were summoned to the council,
and both failed to appear. Philip was granted a further respite, but Hugh
was suspended from his office. At this council Urban was able to broach
the subject of the Crusades. The Eastern Emperor, Alexius I, had sent an
embassy to the pope asking for help against the Seljuk Turks who were a
serious menace to the Empire of Constantinople. Urban succeeded in inducing
many of those present to promist to help Alexius, but no definite step
was taken by Urban till a few months later, when he summoned the most famous
of his councils, that at Clermont in Auvergne. The council met in November,
1095; thirteen archbishops, two hundred and twenty-five bishops, and over
ninety abbots answered the pope's summons. The synod met in the Church
of Notre-Dame du Port and began by reiterating the Gregorian Decrees against
simony, investiture, and clerical marriage. The sentence, which for some
months had been threatening Philip of France, was now launched against
him, and he was excommunicated for adultery. Then the burning question
of the East was discussed. Urban's reception in France had been most enthusiastic,
and enthusiasm for the Crusade had spread as the pope journeyed on from
Italy. Thousands of nobles and knights had met together for the council.
It was decided that an army of horse and foot should march to rescue Jerusalem
and the Churches of Asia from the Saracens. A plenary indulgence was granted
to all who should undertake the journey pro sola devotione, and
further to help the movement, the Truce of God was extended, and the property
of those who had taken the cross was to be looked upon as sacred. Those
who were unfitted for the expedition were forbidden to undertake it, and
the faithful were exhorted to take the advice of their bishops and priests
before starting. Coming forth from the church the pope addressed the immense
multitude. He used his wonderful gifts of eloquence to the utmost, depicting
the captivity of the Sacred City where Christ had suffered and died--"Let
them turn their weapons dripping with the blood of their brothers against
the enemy of the Christian Faith. Let them--oppressors of orphans and widows,
murderers and violaters of churches, robbers of the property of others,
vultures drawn by the scent of battle--let them hasten, if they love their
souls, under their captain Christ to the rescue of Sion." When the pope
ceased to speak a mighty shout of Deus lo volt rose from the throng.
His most sanguine hopes had not anticipated such enthusiasm as now prevailed.
He was urged repeatedly to lead the Crusade in person, but he appointed
Ademar, Bishop of Le Puy, in his stead, and leaving Clermont travelled
from city to city in France preaching the Crusade. Letters were sent to
bishops who had been unable to attend the council, and preachers were sent
all over Europe to arouse enthusiasm. In every possible way Urban encouraged
people to take the cross, and he did not easily dispense from their obligations
those who had once bound themselves to undertake the expedition.
In March, 1096, the pope held a synod at Tours and confirmed the excommunication
of the French king, which certain members of the French episcopate had
endeavoured to remove. In July, 1096, the king, having dismissed Bertrada,
was absolved by Urban in a synod held at Nîmes, but having relapsed,
he was again excommunicated by the pope's legate in 1097. Some of the greater
prelates of France had now to be brought to subjection to the pope, amongst
them being the Archbishop of Vienne, who had refused to abide by the papal
decision regarding the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Grenoble, and the
Archbishop of Sens, who had declined to recognize the Archbishop of Lyons
as papal legate. After a triumphal progress through France, Urban returned
to Italy. On his way to Rome he met the crusading princes at Lucca, and
bestowed the banner of St. Peter upon Hugh of Vermandois. It is said by
some that this crusading host enabled Urban to enter Rome, which at this
time was again held by the antipope. If this was so, the entry appears,
according to the statement of an eyewitness to have been effected without
fighting. No doubt the presence of well-disciplined troops, under the most
distinguished knights of Christendom, struck terror into the wild partisans
of Guibert. But Urban's final triumph over the "imbecile" was now assured.
Northern and central Italy were in the power of Matilda and Conrad, and
Henry was at last forced to leave Italy. A council was held in the Lateran
in 1097, and before the end of the year Urban was able to go south again
to solicit help from the Normans to enable him to regain the Castle of
S. Angelo. The castle capitulated in August, 1098. He was now enabled to
enjoy a brief period of repose after a life of incessant activity and fierce
strife, which had brought exile and want. His friendship with the Normans
was strengthened by the appointment of Count Roger as papal legate in Sicily,
where the Church had been almost swept away by the Saracens; the anitpope
was within his Archbishopric of Ravenna, and Henry's power, though strengthened
by Count Welf, who had forsaken Matilda, was not strong enough to be any
longer a serious menace.
In October, 1098, the pope held a council at Bari with the intention
of reconciling the Greeks and Latins on the question of the filioque;
one hundred and eighty bishops attended, amongst whom was St. Anselm of
Canterbury, who had fled to Urban to lay before him his complaints against
the Red King. The close of November saw the pope again in Rome; it was
his final return to the city. Here he held his last council in April, 1099.
Once more he raised his eloquent voice on behalf of the Crusades, and many
responded to his call. On 15 July, 1099, Jerusalem fell before the attack
of the crusaders, but Urban did not live to hear the news. He died in the
house of Pierleone which had so often given him shelter. His remains could
not be buried in the Lateran because of Guibert's followers who were still
in the city, but were conveyed to the crypt of St. Peter's where they were
interred close to the tomb of Adrian I. Guibert of Nogent asserts that
miracles were wrought at the tomb of Urban, who appears as a saint in many
of the Martyrologies. Thus there seems to have been a cult of Urban II
from the time of his death, though the feast (29 July) has never been extended
to the Universal Church. Amongst the figures painted in the apse of the
oratory built by Calixtus II in the Lateran Palace is that of Urban II
with the words sanctus Urbanus secundus beneath it. The head is
crowned by a square nimbus, and the pope is represented at the feet of
Our Lady. The formal act of beatification did not take place till the pontificate
of Leo XIII. The cause was introduced by Mgr Langenieux, Archbishop of
Reims, in 1878, and after it had gone through the various stages the decision
was given by Leo XIII on 14 July, 1881.
R. URBAN BUTLER
Transcribed by Carol Kerstner
From the Catholic Encyclopedia, copyright © 1913
by the Encyclopedia Press, Inc. Electronic version copyright © 1996
by New Advent, Inc.
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