Category: High MIddle Ages Popes

Not as much is known about all the Popes of the Middle Ages as was known about Sylvester II, nor did they all lead such interesting lives as Sylvester II. Thus, this post will cover the lives of the next five Popes.

Following the death of Pope Sylvester II on the 12^th May 1003, John Sicco was elected as Pope John XVII. He lasted only seven months, dying on 6^th November 1003. As much there is little to write about him. He was married and had three sons before entering the priesthood (this was before clerical celibacy was mandatory, though the last man to be married as Pope was Pope Adrian II who reigned from 867-872). Nominated by John Crescentius, a noble who opposed Otto III, he succeeded Sylvester II on 16^th May 1003. One of his few actions was approving a mission led by Bruno of Querfurt to Eastern Europe to evangelise the local population.

In January 1004 John XVII was succeeded by John XVIII. John XVIII power was mainly limited to ecclesiastical matters, having little temporal power. This was due to a power a struggle between the aforementioned noble John Crescentius and Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor. John XVIII father had been a priest before him and he was apparently born in Rome. His election was owed largely to Crescentii clan, to whom he was allegedly subordinate to during his pontificate. His problems were not limited to conflict between Henry II and Roman nobles, but also to conflicts between Henry II and Arduin of Ivrea. Plague also wracked the streets of Rome in this period and Saracens operating from modern day Sicily raided the local coastlines.

As Pope, John XVIII mainly focused on ecclesiastical matters. He authorised a new Diocese in Bamberg to help the missionary activity in Eastern Europe, something Henry II was much concerned with. His main ecclesiastical role focused on adjudicating on the over reaching power of the Bishops of Sens and Orleans, regarding the privileges of the abbot of Fleury. His biggest achievement however may have been temporarily creating a rapprochement between the Eastern and Western Churches. In July 1009 he abdicated, retiring to a monastery where he died shortly after.

Born in Rome at an unknown date, the next Pope was born Pietro Martino, given the nickname Buccaporci (pigs snout) due to unknown personal habits. On his election as Pope he changed his name from Pietro (Italian for Peter) to Sergius (the fourth to be Pope), in deference to the first Pope, Saint Peter of the apostles, a tradition that has been carried to the modern day. Again, John Crescentius eclipsed his temporal power, however he did much to help the poor and various monasteries, such as acting to relieve famine in Rome. Before  becoming Pope he had resisted attempts by Otto III to return to Rome. A Papal Bull that was issued calling for Muslims to be driven from the Holy Land has been attributed to him, but its authenticity has long been a matter of debate. He died on 12^th May 1012. Though not officially a saint he was sometimes venerated as one among Benedictines. There is some suspicion he may have been murdered, as he died within a week of his patron in the Crescenitus family.

Born as Theophylact around 980 Pope Benedict VIII ascended to the throne of Saint Peter on 18^th May 1012. Unusually for a medieval Pope, Benedict had strong authority both locally and abroad, though he was not without opposition. The Antipope, Gregory VI compelled him to temporarily flee Rome. Benedict VIII restored Henry II to the throne as Holy Roman Emperor, and the two remained on good terms. During his pontificate, the Saracens renewed their attacks on Southern Italy, and Normans also began to settle Italy. Benedict allied himself with the Normans, and orchestrated the Saracen defeat in Sardinia. He also held a synod on Simony and Incontinence amongst the clergy, as well as consecrating the cathedral at Bamberg while meeting Henry II about the rising threat of Byzantine Empire to the east of Italy in 1020. In 1022 he also received the Archbishop of Canterbury, Æthelnoth of Canterbury who obtained the pallium (an ecclesiastical vestment). He encouraged the Truce of God and convinced the Holy Roman Emperor to lead an expedition in Southern Italy against nobles who had defected to Byzantium. He died in 1024.

Benedict VIII’s brother, Romanus, succeed Benedict as Pope. John XIX was a layperson, not a priest, when he was elected Pope, so had to be ordained and consecrated as a Bishop upon his election. Despite dying in 1032, he played a role in the Schism on 1054 by rejecting a proposal of the Patriarch of Constantinople to recognise the Patriarchs sphere of interest in the east. He was later allegedly paid a large bribe, and then recognised the Patriarchs claim to the title of ecumenical bishop. However the indignation throughout the church was such he was immediately forced to pull out of the deal. On the death of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II he gave support to Conrad II. King Rudolph III of Burgundy and Cnut the Great of Denmark and England both took part in a pilgrimage to Rome to see John XIX. In 1025 John would go onto send a crown to Poland and bless the coronation of the Polish King Boleslaw the Brave. In 1027 John XIX would go on to give the Patriarch of Aquileia great power and gave him precedence over all the Italian bishops, before revoking his decision in 1029. In 1032 he would die, allegedly killed by a mob of peasants angry at his conflict against Odilo of Cluny. However there is no direct evidence to support the fact he was killed by peasants.

I hope you have enjoyed this post of five Popes and return to see the next post.

This is my first entry on blog on a topic of great interest. I will be covering biographies of Popes in the High Middle Ages (1000-1300ish), Popes of the Italian Renaissance (which I’m taking from 1300 to 1550ish) and then Popes of the twentieth century. This will start with the person who was Pope when the calendar entered a new millennium in 1000, Pope Sylvester II.

Pope Sylvester II was born as Gerbert. His exact date, or even year of birth is unknown, but he was believed to be born in 946AD. Again, his place of birth is unknown, but is believed to have been born un the Duchy of Aquitaine in France, perhaps in the province of Auvergne.

His early life had a great focus on education, with his parents taking him to a Benedictine Abbey for education. He became a pupil of a monk called Raimund, and in 963 he entered the Monastery of St Gerald of Aurillac, where he would meet someone of great importance in his early adulthood.

In 967, Count Borrell II of Barcelona was visiting the Monastery of St Gerald. At the urging to abbot (perhaps persuaded by Gerbert, we don’t know) Count Borrell added Gerbert to his retinue. It is believed upon his return to Catalonia, Count Borrell sent Gerbert to the Monastery of Satna Maria de Ripoll, north of Barcelona. While there he likely studied under Bishop Atto of Vich. He is known to have studied Mathematics and astronomy, and likely studied theology as well. He also received Arabic instruction from Seville and Cordoba.

Like all Catalan monasteries at the time, Santa Maria de Ripoll contained manuscripts from Moslem Spain, which Gerbert would soon visit. Borrell II had been at war the Andalusian powers, such as the leader of Cordoba, al-Hakam. Borrell II sent a peace delegation to Cordoba to request a truce with the Andalusian powers, which Bishop Atto was a member of, who chose to take Gerbert with him.

While in Cordoba Gerbert was fascinated by the stories of Mozarab Christian Bishops. They were dressed and talked like Moors, and like the Arab teachers, were well versed in mathematics and natural sciences. It is here Gerbert learned of Hindu-Arabic digits (which we still use today) and applied it to a device he had seen, the Abacus, though probably without the number 0.

It was Gerbert who reintroduced the abacus to Latin Europe. According to the 12^th Century Historian, William of Malmsebury, Gerbert got the idea of his abacus from a Moorish scholar at the University of Al-Qarawiyyin. The abacus Gerbert introduced into Europe again has its length divided into 27 parts, with 9 numbers and 1000 characters overall. According to one of his pupils, Richer, Gerbert was able to perform calculations on his abacus with great speed, including calculations his contemporaries struggled to do in their head using roman numerals. Due to this reintroduction the abacus spread around, and became widely used across 11^th century Europe.

Gerbert also reintroduced a device that had been lost to Europe since the end of the Greco-Roman period. The Armillary Sphere. Preserved by the Islamic Civilisations, Armillary Spheres are models of objects in the sky consisting of spherical framework of rings centred around either the Earth of Sun. For an idea of what they look like, see below.

In 969 Borrell II made a pilgrimage to Rome, taking Gerbert with him. While in Rome, Gerbert met Pope John XIII and Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor. At the persuasion of the Pope, Otto I hired Gerbert as a tutor to his son, Otto II. This tutelage lasted approximately four years, until he as given leave to study in the Cathedral School of Rheims.

In 973 Archbishop Adalberon appointed him as a teacher at Rheims. Apart from a period of two years (981-983) where he was head of the Monastery of Bobbio, he remained in Rheims until 989. However at the death of Otto II, he became involved with the politics of his time.

In 985 King Lothair of France tried to take the land of Lorraine from Holy Roman Emporer Otto III. Gerbert would support Hugh Capet, in defiance of the King at the time. In this he was supported by Archbishop Adalberon and Hugh Capet would go on to win the conflict, becoming King of France, ending the Carolingian line of Kings.

When Archbishop Adalberon died in 989, Gerbert was his obvious successor. However he was overlooked by King Hugh Capet, perhaps for political reasons, as he appointed Arnulf, an illegitimate son of his former rival Lothair instead. However, Hugh Capet would go on to appoint Gerbert as Archbishop in 991, after Arnulf was accused of treason.

There was plenty of opposition to Gerberts elevation. Pope John XV would send e legate who temporarily suspended Gerbert from all episcopal office. This was supported by a Synod in 995 that declared Arnulf’s deposition as being invalid. This would matter little to Gerbert, who went back to being a teacher for Otto III. It would matter even less when Pope John XV died in 996, and Pope Gregory V ascended to the papacy. In 998, Gerbert would be appointed Archbishop of Ravenna.

In 999 Pope Gregory V would die. Supported by the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto III Gerbert would be elected to the papacy. He took the name Sylvester II, after Sylvester I who had been pope 314-335. Perhaps in a move to reconcile and let bygones be bygones, he would confirm the position of his rival Arnulf as Archbishop of Rheims.

Sylvester II papacy could be marked by two events. An effort to clean up the church, and an exile from Rome. As Pope, Sylvester II took measures against the selling of church offices and artefacts. He also took measures against the use of concubines among the clergy, especially Bishops. He said only capable men of spotless lives should become Bishops.

However, Sylvester II and Otto III were forced to flee Rome in 1001 from the Roman populace. Taking refuge in Ravenna, Sylvester would continue his papacy while Otto III would attempt to regain control of Rome. He would make three attempts in total, dying the in the third attempt in 1002 at the age of twenty-one from a sudden fever.

Sylvester II would return to Rome, though the Roman nobility would remain in charge. Approximately a year later on the 12^th May, 1003 Pope Sylvester II would die in Rome at approximately 57 years old. He would go on to be burred in St John Lateran. The 139^th Pope noted scientist of his day, and the first Frenchman to become Pope, Pope Sylvester II was an extremely intelligent man, who helped bring along advancements in Latin Europe.