Letter of Pope Urban II (Odo of Chatillon)
to Hughes, Abbot of Cluny,
announcing his election to the Papacy
(March 13, 1088)
Stephanus Baluzius [Étienne Baluze], Miscellaneorum Liber Sextus (Paris: apud Franciscum Muguet 1683) pages 527-531 :
Urbanus Episcopus, servus servorum Dei, Hugoni reverendissimo Abbati Cluniacensi omnique ejus sancto conventui salutem et apostolicam benedictionem.
Quoniam sanctitatem vestram satis avidam exaltationis Romanae Ecclesiae novimus, ea quae circa nos acta sunt compendio vobis notificare curamus. Notum itaque facimus dilectioni vestrae quod paud Terracinam Campaniae civitatem sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Episcopi et Cardinales, Portuensis videlicet, Sabinensis, Tusculanus, Albanensis, et Signensis cum aliis Episcopis numero XVI. et Abbatibus quatuor aliisque quam plurimis viris religiosis convenientes, cum Portuensis Episcopus omnium Romanorum clericorum catholicae parti faventium se legatum diceret, Abbas vero Cassinensis Cardinalis Diaconus caeterorum Diaconorum, P. quoque Cardinalis tituli Sancti Clementis omnium Cardinalium, Praefectus autem urbis laicorum omnium se ferre assereret legationem, cumque post triduanum jejunium supplicationibus multis magnisque ad Deum precibus vehementer insisterent, quod ego quidem omnino dignus non fui, tandem me sibi quarto Idus Martii [March 12, 1088] in Pontificem elegerunt. Quibus, Deum testor, non ambitionis causa nec alicujus dignitatis desiderio assensum praebui, sed quia tot tantisque viris inobediens esse verebar; talique qualii tempore si quantum ad me periclitanti Ecclesiae non subvenirem, Deum me offendere metuebam; praesertim cum praedecessores meos viros omni veneratione dignos, Gregorium scilicet atque Victorem, hoc sibi divine praecepisse asserunt. Rogo igitur, desiderantissime, nimiumque te deprecor ut si qua tibi sunt pietatis viscera, si qua filii et alumni tui est tibi memoria, me multum id cupientem tua praesentia consolari sanctamque matrem tuam Romanam Ecclesiam, si unquam possibile fuerit, tuo multum nobis optabili adventu visitare digneris. At vero si id fieri nequit, ut tales de filiis tuis confratribus meis te ad nos mandare non pigeat, in quibus te videam, te suscipiam, tuae consolationis in immensis perturbationibus positus verba cognoscam, qui tuam caritatem, tuaeque dilectionis affectum mihi repraesentent, qui qualiter et tu omniumque fratrum nostrorum se habeat congregatio mihi denuntient. Precor autem ut omnem sanctorum fratrum congregationem commonere facias ut apud omnipotentis Dei clementiam preces effundant quatenus et nos et Ecclesiam suam sanctam, quae tantis videtur subjacere periculis, in pristinum restaurare statum dignetur. Noveris inim ..... specialius hoc negotium super te pendere. Vale.
Datum III. Idus Martii apud Terracinam.
A letter with a similar but not identical text was sent by Pope Urban II to the Archbishop of Salzburg, five bishops, and abbots (Watterich I, 576-577), and no doubt many others.
At the end of the 11th century, it was not unheard of for a dying pope to attempt to designate his successor; indeed, this was a custom, irregularly observed, down to the 19th century. Cardinals often took the advice of their dying leader. They were, however, constrained by the Constitution of Nicholas II, which placed the responsibility for recommending the name of a new pope in the hands of the Cardinal Bishops, who would then submit a name to the rest of the Cardinals, and then to the people of Rome, for their approval.
Pope Gregory VII (Hildebrand) had been driven from Rome by his own subjects, who were angry at the behavior of the troops of Duke Robert Guiscard, who had rescued the pope from the Emperor Henry IV. Henry had then invaded Rome, and the Roman clergy and people had elected Henry's pope, Clement III (Guibert/Wibert of Parma), as their pope, repudiating Gregory VII, and enthroned him in the Lateran Basilica on March 24, 1084. Gregory fled to Montecassino, and then Salerno. On his deathbed at Salerno (May 1085), Gregory named three desirable successors [Peter the Deacon Chronicon III. 65; MGH SS 7, 747]:
The "Life of Victor III" adds that, before his death, Gregory VII had recommended him as his successor, "consilio Gregorii septimi jam morituri, post interregnum unius fere anni , ex monacho Cassiniense et Episcopo Ostiensi electus est pontifex ejus nominis tertius, anno Christi Redemptoris MLXXXVI ." The author is confused and badly informed.
An election did not take place, however, until a year after Gregory's death. The choice of the Cardinals, however, was not one of his recommendations, but instead Cardinal Desiderius of S. Cecilia, the Abbot of Monte Cassino, who was elected on May 24, 1186. Abbot Desiderius, however, refused the election, many times, and even indicated, when asked, that he would prefer to see Odo of Castillon, the Bishop of Ostia, elected. One of the Cardinals even protested that the proceedings were uncanonical, perhaps (it is conjectured—foolishly) because the election of Odo would involve the translation of a bishop from one see to another [H. Mann, Lives of the Popes VII, 221]. But that was an issue long settled. It is abundantly clear that Desiderius did not want the papacy, and that he was being put under extraordinary pressure. Thereupon, the Cardinals assembled at the Deaconry of S. Lucia in Saepta Solis, and formally elected Desiderius, who became Victor III. They put the red pluviale on his shoulders, but they could not get him to put on the alb. Four days after the election, Victor left Rome and went to Ardea and then Terracina. He abandoned the use of all the papal regalia, and returned to his residence at the Monastery of Montecassino. During this time, however, the question of the canonical validity of Desiderius' election was again raised by Desiderius himself, according to Hugh, the Archbishop of Lyons. A Council held at Capua, which included the Norman Duke Roger, Jordanus, the Prince of Capua, the Cardinals, and Cencius the Consul of Rome, placed extreme pressure on Victor to relent and actually assume the papacy. He was only consecrated and crowned finally on May 9, 1087, but then he immediately returned to his monastery at Montecassino. He died on September 16 of the same year, only four months and one week after his coronation.
Three days before his death, Victor III (1086-1087) had Dom Oderisius made abbot of Monte Cassino (a position which Victor himself, who had been Abbot of Montecassino before his election, had not relinquished until then), and he designated Odo of Castillon as his intended successor ("Life of Victor III," by Leo and Peter, Monks of Monte Cassino, Watterich I, 570):
Hoc statuto, omnium monachorum unanimi consensu, praefatis episcopis in eodem capitulo residentibus atque confirmantibus, domnum Oderisium religiosum valde virum et Romanum diaconum, qui tunc in hoc monasterio praepositurae fungebatur officio, abbatem constituit. Post haec, convocatis eisdem episcopis et cardinalibus, monuit atque praecepit ut juxta quod predecessor suus Papa Gregorius jam dudum decreverat, Ottonem Ostiensem episcopum in Papam eligere quanto possent citius perstuderent eumque, quia presens erat, manu apprehendens caeteris episcopis tradidit, dicens, "Accipite eum et in Romanam Ecclesiam ordinate meamque vicem in omnibus, quousque id facere possitis, habete." His ita dispositis sepulchrum sibi construi in absida ipsius capituli iussit atque post diem tertium feliciter migravit ad Dominum XVI Kal. Octobris, anno dominicae incarnationis 1087.
The Cardinals and others who participated in the Election of March 1088, following the death of Pope Victor III, certainly included:
One of those cardinals who certainly did not attend was Cardinal Richard, Abbot of S. Victor of Marseille, who had been excommunicated by Victor III in August of 1087.
Joannes, the Bishop of Tusculum took the lead. On March 9, he spoke to all those assembled for the Election in the Cathedral of St. Peter in Terracina (Watterich, 575-576; Petrus Diaconus Cassinensis in Migne, Patrologiae 173, columns 824-826):
Altera igitur die convenerunt omnes .... et cum resedissent, surgens in medium Tusculanensis episcopus retulit per ordinem omnia quae de ordinatione Ecclesiae vel Papa Gregorius antea vel postmodum Papa VIctor statuerant; simul etiam quam ob causam ipsimet universi tunc in eodem loco convenerant. Dein surgens episcopus Portuensis et Benedictus praefactus retulerunt et ipsi tam clericorum quam laicorum fidelium a Roma super hoc negotio legationem pariter atque consensum....Cumque huius monasterii abbas et archiepiscopus Capuanus et ad postremum cuncti, qui convenerant, bene factum recte dictum laudassent.
The three Cardinal Bishops (Porto, Tusculum, Albano) announced that they wished the fourth Cardinal Bishop, Odo of Ostia, to be elected:
Dominica itaque die [March 12], valde mane, omnes iterum in eadem ecclesia congregati, cum inter se pariter nonnulla de re huiuscemodi tractavissent, exurgentes tres cardinales episcopi, qui caput eiusdem concilii erant, Portuensis scilicet, Tusculanensis et Albanensis ambonem ascenderunt factoque silentio uno simul ore pronuntiant, Ottonem episcopum placere sibi in Romanum Pontificem eligendum. Cumque utrum omnibus idem quoque placeret, sicut est consuetudo, requirerent, repente mirabili ac summa concordia omnes magna voce, hoc sibi placere dignumque illum universi conclamant apostolicae sedis Papam existere. Tunc Albanensi episcopo pronuntiante, Urbanum illum placere vocari, mox cuncti surgentes capiunt eumque cappam laneam exuentes, purpuream induunt, et cum acclamatione atque invocatione sancti Spiritus ad altare Beati Petri Apostoli illum pertrahentes in pontificali solio ponunt, quarto Idus Martii: sicque ab eodem Pontifice missa sollemniter celebrata, universi gaudentes Deoque gratias referentes redierunt ad sua.
All cried out in agreement in a loud voice that it was pleasing to them and that he was worthy to be Pope. The Cardinal Bishop of Albano announced that he wished to be called Urban. They then clothed him with the papal mantle and placed him on the episcopal throne. Since Urban II was already a bishop, he did not need to be consecrated. He was enthroned on the day of his election.
At the Roman Synod of 1081 [Migne, Patrologiae 148, 822], the following were present:
In a Bull of Urban II of April 1, 1092 [Tosti, Storia della Badia di Monte Cassino II, p. 85] the following list of signatories occurs:
Paul von Bernried, Canon of Regensburg, "S. Gregorii VII Vita," J.P. Migne (ed.), Patrologiae Cursus Completus Series Latina Tomus CXLVIII: Sancti Gregorii VII Epistolae et Diplomata Pontificia (Paris 1878), 39-104. [a 'mediocre author": Gregorovius IV. 1, p. 311 n.2.]
Pandulphus Pisanus, "Vita Gregorii Papae VII,", columns 304-351; "Vita Urbani Papae II," columns 352-353; Bernardus Guidonis, "Vita Urbani Papae II," columns 353-355; in: Antonio Muratori (editor), Rerum Italicarum Scriptores Tomus III, pars 1.
Bertold Constantiniensis, "Acta Pontifica, ex Chronico Bertoldi Constantiniensis," J. P. Migne (editor), Patrologiae Latinae Cursus Completus 148, 103-114.
I. M. Watterich, Pontificum Romanorum qui fuerunt inde ab exeunte saeculo IX usque ad finem saeculi XIII vitae ab aequalibus conscriptae Tomus I (Lipsiae 1862), 570-576.
An extensive collection of relevant material on Urban II is collected in: Jean Mabillon and T. Ruinart, Ouvrages posthumes de D. Jean Mabillon et de D. Thierri Ruinart Tome III (Paris 1724), "contenant la Vie d' Urbain II. les Preuves et le Voiage d' Alsace et de Lorraine, par D. T. Ruinart.".
Cardella, Lorenzo, Memorie storiche de' cardinali della Santa Romana Ecclesia tomo primo parte prima (Roma: Pagliarini 1792). Rudolf Hüls, Kardinale, Klerus und Kirchen Roms: 1049-1130 (Niemeyer 1977) [Bibliothek des deutschen historischen Instituts in Rome, 48].
Eduard Franz, Papst Paschalis II (Breslau 1877). F. Gregorovius, History of Rome in the Middle Ages, Volume IV. 1 second edition, revised (London: George Bell, 1896) [Book VII, chapters 6-7], pp. 262-270. Alfons Becker, Papst Urban II (1088-1099) (A. Hiersemann 1988) [Schriften der Monumenta Germaniae Historica, 19].
Josephus Catalano, Sacrarum Caeremoniarum sive Rituum Ecclesiasticorum Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Libri Tres (Romae 1750). Richard Zöpffel Die Papstwahlen und die mit ihnen im nächsten Zusammenhange stehenden Ceremonien (Göttingen 1871). Karl Holder, Die Designation der Nachfolger durch die Päpste (Freiburg: Weith 1892), 51-56.
John Paul Adams, CSUN
john.p.adams@csun.edu