Luca d' Achery, Veterum aliquot scriptorum spicilegium  Tomus Quartus (Parisiis 1661) 301-309:

 

Illustris Princeps, et Domine confidentissime.

Experientia rerum magistra mihi de vestra benignitate monstravit Catholicum Principem vos semper fuisse, ac fore Ecclesiae sponsae Christi zelatorem et brachium singulare, veritatis defensorem, reproborum damnatorem, justitiae et aequitatis speculum et exemplar.  Haec in sausa fuerunt omnia, ut Excellentiae vestrae clare aperiam mentem meam, ut veritatem loquar, ut absconsa patefaciam, ne ex facti ignorantia et Schismaticorum quorundam Cardinalium detractionibus eorumque sequacium, canonicae electionis et inthronizationis sanctissimi in Christo Patris ac Domini nostri D. Urbani divina providentia Papae VI.  veritas tanto Principi et eius subditis atque benevolis occultetur.  Hinc est, Serenissime princeps, quod Christi unica et inconsultilis tunica scindi quaeritur ab his qui erant suae custodiae deputati, templumque pretiosissimum Dei in derisum Fidelibus ponitur; et quae prius sedebat ornata in thalamo, planctu et dolore vestitur, et, proh dolor! a Ministris Templi, qui debebant contra quoscunque nefarios proprio sanguine juxta piorum praedecessorum vestigia defensare. 

O sacra Petri sedes solita dudum a Regibus et Principibus defensari, cur sic ab illis scindi quaereris, qui te unicam sine parcendo suae vitae, si fuisset expediens, servare debebant; qui tibi de Sponso juxta cor tuum et populi tui providerant.  O Christi Catholici Principes!  O fortia Ecclesiae brachia quid dormitis?  quid tardatis eorum fururem compescere, qui suae salutis immemores sanctissimam Christi fidem destruere, tanto quondam per orbem totum progenitorum vestrorum sanguine propagatam?  Ubi est fides, ubi prudentia, ubi fortitudo, ubi magnanimitas, ubi caritas, ubi spes, ubi omnis strenuissima virtus vestra?  Cur sic (si mihi cum reverentia vos arguere liceat) a claris priscorum vestrorum operibus ob tantam intertiam deviatis?  Respicite cum lacrymarum profluvio, supplex oro, et intelligite totius negotii veritatem, ac demum exurgite ad sanctissimi Domini nostri praefati, et Sponsae Christi defensionem, et tanti erroris purgationem ne in derisum populis Mater Fidelium exponatur.

Clareat namque Celsitudini vestrae, Magnanime Princeps, quod Sede Apostolica vacante Pastore Domini Cardinales Ultramontani saepius antequam Conclave intrarent (ut de jure tenentur) inter eos de novo Pontifice eligendo tractarunt, patriae suae ac sanguini potius quam Christiano populo providere volentes.  Inter quos orta fuit dissensio, Lemovicibus quareentibus pro uno ipsorum Papatum habere, aliis Ultramontanis resistentibus eis et volentibus pro aliquo eorum Apostolicam Sedem cum maximis industriis obtinere.  Sed immensa Christi bonitas, quae volebat virtuti et non sanguini de ipsius Vicariatu disponere, eos in tanta et tali dissensione passa non est diutius perdurare, ita ut meretricis illius more quilibet ipsorum dixerit, nec mihi nec tibi, sed de illo cujus sit in Conclavi sortiemur.  Nam tunc pars quaelibet illorum, praecipue Lemovicensium, ad Italicum se disposuit eligendum; ita ut sanctissimo Domino nostro praefato, quem postea elegerunt, per secretos nuntios notum fecerint, antequam introissent Conclave, quod eum Romanum eligerent in Pastorem.  Ista est purissima veritas, Fidelissime Princeps, sicut Christus veritas est et Filius Dei Patris.  Deinde existentes in Conclavi licet Romanum Romani velle se Pontificem acclamarent, nihilominus ipsi dictum sanctissimum Dominum nostrum concorditer et canonice elegerunt, nemine excepto, nisi Florentino, qui elegit Dominum sancti Petri, et demum Domino nostro praefato per accessionem consensit: hanc electionem tenendo secretam ut possent interim cum Romano populo concordare, et ut Domini nostri persona in tuto esset ne a populo laederetur; et tamen diutius quod factum fuerat celari non potuit, etsi primo vox insonuit in popuo de Domino S. Petri, tamen secundario quod Barrensis esset electus, in populo vox insurrexit, ad quam vocem Romani furere coeperunt, et Conclave frangere violenter; quod videntes Domini Cardinales et periculum personale timentes indui fecerunt Papaliter Dominum S. Petri, fractoque Conclavi, et Romanis eum videntibus ut Papam, a furia quieverunt, et DD. Cardinales Conclave exierunt, quorum Gebennensis ad castrum Sagaroli, quod est Domini Agapiti de Columna distans a Roma per sex milliaria; Dominus S. Angeli ad Rocam Ardiae tutissimam Monasterii S. Pauli juxta mare; Domini de Ursinis et S. Eustachii ad castrum Vicivarri tutissimum dicti Domini de Ursinis pariter confugerunt, quod millibus ... distat ab Urbe. Octo ex aliis Dominis praelibatis castrum S. Angeli tutissimum et inexpugnabile intraverunt; quatuor in Urbe remanserunt, videlicet Florentinus, Mediolanensis, de Arragonia, et Majoris Monasterii, quibus nulla molestia prorsus facta fuit, maxime subsedente et pupulo totaliter quietato.  Officiales Urbis se inermes ad Palatium ut Domino S. Petri tanquam Summo Pontifici reverentiam facerent, contulerunt.  Quod cum dictus recolendae memoriae Dominus S. Petri vidit, eos fortissime increpavit, dicens se nullum in Papatu habere juris titulum quoquomodo, et ideo persuadebat eisdem quod dimissis eorum opinionibus pravis irent ad eidem vero Papae reverentiam exhibendam, Domino scilicet dudum Barrensi.  Quibus auditis statim nulla intermedia mora dicti Domini Officiales ad Dominum nostrum olim Barrensem accesserunt, eidem ut Summo Pontifici volentes reverentiam exhibere, qui Dominus omnino inhibuit eis, dicens quod ipse de sua electione certus non erat, volebatque scire a Dominis Cardinalibus si erat canonica si erat libera, si erat solemnis: et propterea antequam clarus esset, ab eis non permitteret sibi reverentiam exhiberi.  Statim igitur pro illis quatuor Cardinalibus, qui remanserant, missum fuit, qui venerunt sine mora, et videntes quod Dominus S. Petri dicebat se in Papatu jus nullum habere, statim miserunt ad illos de castro quod libere vellent venire, quia Dominus S. Petri de Papatu nullatenus contendebat: qui responderunt non audere se venire, quia licet Dominus S. Petri taliter esset dispositus, tamen dubitabant ne consanguinei sui et populus totus quod de eo factum fuerat ad injuriam recepissent; sed ex tunc committebant eis quod dictum Dominum nostrum investirent libere de Papatu,  et eum inthronizarent omnium vice cum omnibus caeremoniis consuetis: quia ipsi dicebant et confitebantur ipsum verissimum et liberum Christi Vicarium, et Romanum Pontificem.  Ad fidem praemissorum singuli Cardinales praedicti se in dicta commissione propriis manibus subscripserunt.

Hoc non obstante dictus Dominus noster, et Cardinales cum eo praesentes iterum remiserunt ad eos, quod nec de populo nec de alio debebant dubitare, quia Dominus S. Petri jam eidem ut Summo Pontifici reverentiam exhibuerat, et exhibebat, et populus erat totaliter quietatus, nec de ista materia volebat se amplius impedire.  Qui Domini his auditis statim de castro tutissimo descenderunt, et ad Papale palatium venerunt, et statim una cum aliis quinque Cardinalibus in Capella Conclavis concorditer intraverunt una cum Domino nostro.  Quibus Dominus noster dixit quomodo erat sibi relatum quod eum in Papam elegerant, et propterea de meritis electionis informari volebat: sed ante omnia supplicabat quod de digniori providere deberent, quia ipse erat indignus ad tantum onus Ecclesiae supportandum.  Qui Domini Cardinales facientes ultra duas partes Collegii responderunt, quod erat ipse canonice electus et libere, et cum omni solemnitate, et etiam verus Pastor Ecclesiae, et Vicarius Iesu Christi, et quod pro Deo vellet electioni libere consentire.  Et ipso Domino nostro iterum replicante, quod pro Deo de digniori providerent: responderunt concorditer quod eum pro dignissimo elegerant, et quod pro Deo assentiret si non volebat et fidem et pupulum Christianum in periculo ponere.  Tuncque Dominus noster cum omni humilitate et lacrymis acceptavit, et voluntati acquievit eorum.  At Domini Cardinales cantantes, Te Deum Laudamus, pulsata campana eum habitu Papali induerunt, et eum inthronizaverunt cum omnibus caeremoniis consuetis, ipsumque adoraverunt ut Christi Vicarium, et super altare positum populo exhibuerunt, ut eidem tanquam Christi Vicario reverentiam exhiberent, et tunc Romanus populus ad eius pedes corruit. Hisque omnibus per alios Dominos Cardinales scitis qui extra Urbem ad supradicta castra confugerant, scientes quod cesserat Dominus sancti Petri, non vocati, non requisiti per litteras, nulla mora facta redierunt ad Urbem,e t antequam proprias domos intrarent, ad dictum Dominum nostrum cum omni gaudio accesserunt ad suae Sanctitati reverentiam exhibendam, congratulantes quod Dominus sancti Petri sancte et juste recognoverat veritatem.  Et sic ex tunc cum plena concordia incoeperunt de sua coronatione tractare, et concorditer terminaverunt in die Dominicae Resurrectionis fieri debere.  Inerim autem in Hebdomada sancta cum eo in processionibus ordinariis, quae fiunt . . . fer . . . majoris hebdomadae Pontificaliter induti astiterunt, eidem Domino nostro, sicut saepius est de more, nobilissima annulorum dona et jocalia donaverunt, specialiter Dominus de Agrifolio et Dominus Gebennensis.  Isto etiam tempore medio ab eius Sanctitate plura beneficia petierunt et obtinuerunt;  sed quod potentius est, et in quo nulla cadere potest excusatio metus, eidem Domino nostro absolutionem a poena et culpa de suis criminibus concorditer petierunt, sicut fuit semper de more per novos Pontifices Cardinalibus concedi debere, et sic Dominus noster Summus Pontifex praenominatus eisdem gratiose concessit.

Denique in die ordinato sanctissimae Resurrectionis ipsum cum omni solemnitate et caeremoniis consuetis ante fores Basilicae sancti Petri, circunstantibus quasi omnibus nationibus Christianorum, qui ad sacram Urbem pro devotione accesserant, publice coronaverunt. Prius tamen factis officiis consuetis, idem Dominus noster Romanus Pontifex super altare Sancti Petri Missam solemniter et devote in Pontificalibus celebravit; in qua omnia secundum formam rubricae fuerunt observata: et ultimo omnes Diaconos Cardinales sua manu pretioso Corpore et Sanguine Christi communicavit, sicut de more Summorum Pontificum sempere fuit; Sicque eum coronatum, Pontificalibus indutum ipsi Domini Cardinales Pontificaliter induti cum equis albo panno coopertis, et tota processione in simili habitu Pontificalium et equorum, ac etiam Religiosorum, Clericorum, et Laicorum per sacram Urbem cum maxima tripudiatione et festivitate Romani Populi, et conctarum Fidelium nationum ibidem astantium, exultatione atque laetitia ad Lateranensem Ecclesiam conduxerunt, ibique eum in sedibus ordinatis secundum formam Romanae Ecclesiae, caeremoniis omnibus observatis, inthronizaverunt, et cuncta ibi servaverunt quae debebant de consuetudine servari. In eademque Ecclesia certum numerum monetarum, quae in coronatione Summi Pontificis consueverunt Cardinalibus dari, receperunt: et deinde Pontificem cum eadem solemnitate ad Palale palatium reduxerunt omnibus Cardinalibus secum prandentibus, ut est moris.  Et post haec dicti Cardinales in Consistoriis et singulis Conciliis, ubi facta Imperatorum, Regum, et Principum sunt tractata, promotiones Archiepiscoporum, et Episcoporum, et aliorum Praelatorum factae ab eodem Domino nostro, pro eorum consanguineis, Capellanis, et familiaribus Archidiaconatus et dignitates petierunt et beneficia, et obtinuerunt, nec in hoc possunt asserere metum.  Et inter caeteros Gebennensis, qui Petri sedem velut alius Lucifer nititur occupare, Episcopatus plures pro suis et petiit et habuit, faciens Episcopos ex illis in sua Capella, in qua moram trahebat, ex privilegio speciali Domini nostri particulariter consecrari.  Ultra haec omni secundum morem antiquum Domino nostro rotulos pro beneficiis et gratiis obtinendis pro ipsorum consanguineis, Capellanis, et Familiaribus et amicis suis secundum placitum suum cuilibet dedit; nec possunt in hoc metum aliquem alligare, et quod plus est, Catholice Princeps, Dominus Cardinalis Glandatensis Episcopatum Ostiensem qui tunc vacaat, a Domino nostro petiit, et servatis omnibus solemnitatibus Dominus noster ipsum concessit eidem:  post quam concessionem ex commissione sua Episcopos et Archiepiscopos consecravit, Abbates benedixit, Ordines fecit, Diaconos, Subdiaconos, Presbyterosque faciendo tanquam verus Episcopus Ostiensis, et tandem ad suam Ecclesiam Ostiensem accessit, ibique pueros confirmavit, et caetera Episcopalia exercuit, et reditus sui Episcopatus pro censu annuo adfirmavit.  Ad majorem autem affirmationem praedictorum Dominus Ambianensis, qui Nuntius Apostolicus in tuscia morabatur, ad Urbem post dicta tempora venit, et Dominum nostrum Romanum Pontificem in publico Consistorio adoravit tanquam verum Vicarium Iesu Christi, et eidem ut vero Pontifici reverentiam fecit.

Supervenerunt demum, Excellentissime Princeps, calores aestivi, et sub primo calore Cardinales a Domino nostro licentiam eundi Anagniam petierunt, ubi residentia Curiae pro aestivo tempore per suum praedecessorem fuerat ordinata, quam eis libere et bona fide concessit, et sic cum eius verbo recessedrunt ab Urbe. Ipsis autem existentibus in Anagnia saepe Domino nostro tanquam Vicario Christi literas rescripserunt, et ab eo beneficia et dignitates plurimas petierunt, et de aliquibus obtinuerunt petita. Demum inimicus humanae naturae, qui nunquam cessat in agro Domini zizania seminare, eos in reprobum sensum duxit, et contra ipsorum factum proprium coeperunt in disputationem revolvere de Pontificatu Domini nostri, et ad tantam devenerunt insaniam, quod per eorum patentes literas proruperunt Dominum nostrum non esse verum Pontificem, sed intrusum; et subsequenter crescentes insania ad electionem Anti-Papae, immo potius Anti-Christi, damnabiliter processerunt, et Gebennensem quondam Cardinalem in Anti-Papali immo Luciferi sede tenent intrusum.

Ista est facti veritas, Dux Excelse, quae omni veritate vallatur, quam si velitis inquirere, invenietis, ut praefertur, esse sine unius apicis vel jota diminutione quaquam.  Nunc igitur, Generosissime Princeps, notum est vobis quare Petri navicula fluctibus exposita est in mari per nautas illos, qui  eam stabilem in portu quietis tenere debebant, hoc agentes in Christi Redemptoris injuriam, Petri piscatoris offensam, et totius Christiani populi contumeliam gravissimam et jacturam.  Non ergo, non sanguis, non parentela, non aliqua particularis affectio Vestram Celsitudinem tardent, quin immo ardentissima fides et devotio vestra christianissima surgant omni tarditate remota ad sanctam Dei Ecclesiam sustinendam, et verissimum Dominum nostrum Summum Pontificem a cunctis conatibus impiorum vestro fortissimo brachio defensandum, et tanti sceleris patratores, ne virus eorum Catholicum gregem inficiat, ad exemplum cunctorum poena debita castigandum: qui ideo ad hanc devenerunt insaniam, quia sanctissimus Dominus Noster praefatus erga eos bono et sancto zelo potitus, pro quorundam correctione vitiorum alloqui eos coepit, ut sancte et honeste viverent, ut exemplum virtuosum aliis praeberent: quod cum nulla patientia eorum animus potuit tolerare: et sic sanctissimus Dominus noster pro verbo veritatis ab eis persecutionem patitur, quae tamen actore Deo in eorum capita revertetur.  Concludendo igitur ex omnibus Celsitudini vestrae, Dux Christianissime, supplico quatenus Dei justitiae, honoris, ac perpetuae famae vestrae intuitu dignemini juxta posse tanto Schismati obviare, et hanc veritatem per me scriptam investigare, et pro viribus facere quod sacro-sancta Mater Ecclesia libera maneat et quieta cum sanctissimo Domino nostro praefato Vicario Iesu Christi: aurea quondam saecula revertantur, ne praedicta nefariorum opprobria et spiritualiter et temporaliter tantum ignominiosa fidei nostrae perdurent, quae tractu temporis possent, quod absit, inexcogitabilia dispendia parere cuncto populo Christiano, et potissemi Regibus, Ducibus, et cunctis Principibus Orthodoxis, quos semper oportet suo sanguine proprio tutores esse et pugiles fidei Christianae.

Hanc autem veritatem, Inclyte Domine, recolendae memoriae Dominus sancti Petri, dum adhuc in humanis ad finem positus in extremis ageret, toti mundo notam et clarissimam fecit per publica instrumenta, de quo non est verisimile quod tam sanctae famae, tamque Catholicus vir et dominus aevo plenissimus immemor fuerit salutis aeternae, praesertim in tanto negotio ubi periculum vertebatur omnium animarum, et ideo hanc esse purissimam veritatem nullus debet Catholicus dubitare.  Caeterum, Illustris Domine, noveritis me de mandato Domini nostri praefati gressus meos dirigere versus Caesaream Majestatem, rescripturus exinde Magnificentiae vestrae quaecunque cognovero recribenda, eidem me intime recommendans, quam foeliciter conservare dignetur Altissimus juxta vota.

Datum Venetiis die XV Mensis Decemb. primae Indictionis.

 

 

 

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Pileus de Prata was Archbishop of Ravenna from 1370 until his death ca 1400.  The Urbanites, however, count him as deposed from the time he went over to the allegiance of Pope Clement VII in 1387.  He had previously been Bishop of Padua (1359-1369), and before that Bishop of Treviso (1358-1359). He was buried in the Cathedral of Pavia.  [Ughelli-Colet, II, 389-390]

The anticardinales of Bartholomeo Prignano were created on September 18, 1278.  All of the cardinals who had participated in the two elections of 1378 had rejected Bartholomeo and labelled him "Intrusus".   The number of new cardinals named was twenty-nine.  Three refused outright.  One, Agapito Colonna, had to be strongly pressured to accept (though his relative, Stefano Colonna, refused).  Two of those who accepted subsequently went over to Clement VII.   One of those who abandoned Bartolomeo and went over to Pope Clement VII was anticardinal Piileus de Prata (June 13, 1387); then he abandoned Clement VII for Boniface IX (February 13, 1398)  [Eubel, Hierarchia catholica I, p. 23 no. 2].  Bartolomeo had thus created an entirely new college of "cardinals".

Pileus is the only source that speaks of an accessio as part of the electoral process.

Pileus de Prata claims that there were two ringings of the bells of St. Peter's.  The standard Urbanite account denies that there were any.  No other source says that there were two.  Pileus claims that the ringing of the bells heralded the election of Bartolomeo.  All the sources who mention the bells state that they were alarm bells, summoning the people to defend the city.   The ringing began during the taking of the votes in the Chapel (according to the testimony of Cardinal Pierre de Vergne: Baluzius I, 1117).

Pileus states that the Officiales of the City went to St. Peter's after the crowd had been reduced to quiet, in order to pay court to the Cardinal of St. Peter's (Tebaldeschi) as pope.  This is untrue.  The officiales of the city were inside the Vatican Palace much of the morning; they, in fact, had broken into the bell tower of St. Peter's and had the alarm bell rung (Testimony of Joannes de Paparonibus, Canon of St. Peter's).  They appeared at the doors of the Conclave and had a conversation with the cardinals heads of the orders.

Pileus admits that Bartolomeo had not been notified of his alleged election by the Cardinals before they fled the Vatican Palace in the face of the mob.  He, therefore, could not have accepted his election at that time, and was not canonically elected Pope.  The Conclave had been broken by that time, as Pileus twice says, and therefore nothing could be done canonically to rectify the situation.

The alleged response of the Cardinals in the Castel S. Angelo as to their unwillingness to return to the Vatican Palace out of fear is true; but that they recognized Bartolomeo and were eager to enthrone him is not vouched for by any other source, and is flatly contradicted by a number of them, including that of the Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church, who was present in the Castel S. Angelo during the negotiations (Baluzius I, 1443).  Pileus makes it appear that the negotiations were all done on the same day as the "election", and that the Cardinals in the Castel S. Angelo statim descenderunt.  That is telescoping events considerably (and Pileus, who had not been present at any of the events, may be doing so innocently).  The Cardinals did not emerge, and only after considerable threats, until after noon on the next day, April 9.  The testimony of Cardinal Orsini is particularly specific on the chronology and the threats—which came from the officiales of Rome.

The alleged colloquy between Bartolomeo and the eleven cardinals (out of the sixteen who had been at the Conclave before it had dispersed) is vouched for by no other contemporary source.  It is fiction.  Pileus was not present, and therefore he is only writing what he has been told to write.

Pileus and other Urbanites cite as proof of Bartolomeo's legitimacy any number of acts in which cardinals participated from the Enthronement on.  But none of these, even if they took place, affect the canonical issue of whether the original election was valid or not.  Asking for a favor and getting it does not constitute an 'election' or even a 'confirmation' or a 'consent'.  Attending a church service, even a papal coronation, does not grant canonical legitimacy.  These must take place in Conclave, and there was no Conclave after noon on April 8, and Bartolomeo was not pope at that time.

Pileus alleges that there was no metus behind the actions of the various cardinals after the Coronation.  That is, no doubt, what he was told.  How he could know the truth is an important question.  More pertinently, how his informants could know what was in the mind of a cardinal is a very important question.  Cardinals can, of course, state what was on their minds, and they did.  Their testimonies indicate metus at every turn. There were spies set upon them, and the Officiales Urbis would not allow them to leave the city without permission of Archbishop Bartolomeo Prignano.

The complaints against Bertrand Lagier, OFM, (Atgerius, Glandatensis) are only partly relevant.  He had already been consecrated a bishop.  He served as Bishop of Assisi (1357-1368), and then of Glandève (1368-1375), before he became a cardinal.  He had the episcopal power to consecrate, ordain, confirm, etc.  What he did as "Bishop of Ostia" may or may not have been illicit (though an Urbanite cannot claim that, since Urban had authorized the consecrations), but the acts were valid. Bartolomeo (Urban VI) is said to have replaced him with Cardinal Johannes Piccolobassis [Eubel, Hierarchia catholica  I  2nd ed., p. 25 n.6], but this person does not appear to have been created a cardinal or Bishop of Ostia.  Lagier held the position until his death in 1392, as a loyal follower of Clement VII, the pope he had freely elected.   Pileus forgets to note (or was never properly briefed) that Bertrand Lagier had been appointed Bishop of Ostia, viva voce, by Pope Gregory XI, shortly before his death; the bulls of appointment, however, had not yet been signed [Baluzius, I, p. 1079].  Is it the bull which creates a bishop, or is it confirmation in writing of a valid act which has already taken place?   Had Bartolommeo Prignano ever issued a bull confirming the appointment of Cardinal Atgerius as Bishop of Ostia?   Alvarus Martini, legate of King John of Castile, Doctor in legibus et licenciatus in canonibus, states in his report [Baluze I, 1080; cf. 1286]:

Post haec vidi quod Dominus Giennensis [Johannes Roderici de Castromocho] volebat suam consecrationem differre ex aliquibus causis. Cui dixit Dominus Gebennensis quod statim consecraretur, et ipse ita volebat et mandabat.  Nam si tunc non fieret consecratio praedicta, talia sciebat succedere in futurum quod ejus consecratio impediretur.  Cui acquievit Dominus Giennensis.  Et consecratus est a Domino Glandatensi, qui factus fuit Hostiensis per Urbanum, et de ejus mandato generalem fecit consecrationem ibi praesente Domino Gebennensi, qui sibi fecit prandium et festum.

Atgerius, according to this report, had been made Hostiensis through Urban, and at his command (mandatum) carried out the consecration of the Bishop of Jaen, in the presence of Robert of Geneva, who gave a dinner and party for him.  The vagueness of the report does not allow us to state whether or not a bull of appointment had been issued.  Even the word mandatum is uncertain;  it could be a written formal instruction, or it could be a verbal command.  But it was not a bull.

One may also note that none of the Urbanite sources specifies who the bishops were who were consecrated by Cardinal Lagier.   These events could only have taken place between Easter (April 18)  and June. Cardinal Atgerius fled from Rome, according to his own testimony, one Sunday in June, having been warned that the Cardinals who were already in Anagni were casting doubts on the validity of Bartolomeo's election.  Between April 18 and June 24, however,  it seems that Cardinal Bertrand Lagier made a trip to Ostia, probably to take possession of his cathedral; he also visited Velletri.  He was accompanied by a fellow Franciscan bishop, Giuliano of Lettere (a suffragan of Amalfi), who was a supporter of Urban VI [Baluze I, 1079, from the testimony of Bishop Giovanni of Castro].  Along the road, Bishop Giuliano asked Cardinal Lagier who was pope.  Lagier allegedly replied that if Barensis were to be prudent and knew what to do, he could be pope. During the trip to Velletri, Bishop Giovanni asked Lagier whether Urban was pope.  Lagier replied that he was not.