Antipope Clement III
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Clement III
(antipope 25 June 1080; 24 Mar. 1084 — 8 Sept. 1100)
Born at Parma c. 1025 of a family related to the counts of Canossa, Guibert was in the entourage of Bishop Cadalus of Parma in 1052, came to the German court in 1054 and, on the nomination of Empress Agnes, was imperial chancellor for Italy 1058 — 63. As such he was present in Jan. 1059 at the synod of Sutri at which Nicholas II anathematized Antipope Benedict X; the claim that the reference to the king in the electoral decree of that year was a compromise suggested by him is open to question. On Nicholas's death, when the reform party at Rome elected Alexander II, Guibert was one of the moving spirits in the election of Cadalus as Antipope Honorius II at Basle in Oct. 1061. In 1072 he was nominated archbishop of Ravenna by King Henry IV (1056 — 1106); Alexander II was at first reluctant to consecrate the backer of his rival, but was persuaded to do so by his archdeacon, Hildebrand, after Guibert had taken the oath of allegiance. When Hildebrand became pope as Gregory VII in 1073, Guibert at first cooperated with him, but soon moved into the camp of his enemies. In 1075 Gregory suspended him for failing to appear at his Lenten synod; in Feb. 1076 he was excommunicated for his part in the meeting of Lombard bishops which had purported to depose Gregory. When the final break between Henry IV and Gregory came, the king had Guibert elected pope at Brixen in June 1080. When Henry at last took possession of Rome four years later, the Roman clergy and people elected Guibert pope, and he was enthroned in the Lateran basilica on 24 Mar. 1084 with the style Clement III. On 31 Mar., while Gregory still held out in Castel Sant'Angelo, he crowned Henry as emperor in St Peter's. The approach of Robert Guiscard, duke of Apulia (c. 1015 — 85), however, with a Norman army obliged Henry and Clement to abandon Rome. The antipope betook himself to Ravenna, of which he had remained archbishop and which from c. 1080 onwards he organized as a centre of pamphlet war against Gregory and the Gregorian party: he returned there frequently.
Clement impressed friends and foes alike as a man of irreproachable character, first-rate ability and education, and remarkable eloquence. He was no tool, as has sometimes been supposed, of the emperor, but developed policies of his own, and was personally responsible for effective anti-Gregorian propaganda. Because of the support he enjoyed among the clergy (thirteen of the cardinals had come over to him and eventually seventeen of the 28 cardinal priests were on his side, though only one cardinal bishop) and the people, he was able to return to Rome and exercise his role as pope throughout Victor III's reign and most of Urban II's. He made strenuous efforts, with differing degrees of success, to have his legitimacy recognized not only in Germany and north Italy, but in England, Portugal, Denmark, Hungary, Croatia, and Serbia; and he negotiated with both Archbishop John II of Kiev and the eastern emperor and patriarch in the interest of union. No opponent of reform, he legislated at a Roman synod in 1089 against simony and clerical marriage and in favour of clergy living in common; he also condemned the uncanonical practice of the Gregorians of treating the sacraments of schismatic priests as invalid. He was indirectly responsible for the development of the college of cardinals, for he allowed so much influence to the cardinal priests who came over to his side that Urban II had to treat the ones who supported him with like consideration. In the mid-nineties his power and authority began to wane; he was driven out of Rome by the Pierleoni family in 1098, and Castel Sant'Angelo, the last Clementine stronghold in the city, fell to Urban II on 24 Aug. of that year. On the accession of Paschal II in 1099 he prepared to renew the struggle, but was ejected from Albano by Norman troops. He died at Civita Castellana, 57 km north of Rome, in Sept. 1100.
Previous (chronologically): St Gregory VII, Honorius (II), Alexander II
Next (chronologically): Bl. Victor III, Bl. Urban II, Paschal II
Born at Parma c. 1025 of a family related to the counts of Canossa, Guibert was in the entourage of Bishop Cadalus of Parma in 1052, came to the German court in 1054 and, on the nomination of Empress Agnes, was imperial chancellor for Italy 1058 — 63. As such he was present in Jan. 1059 at the synod of Sutri at which Nicholas II anathematized Antipope Benedict X; the claim that the reference to the king in the electoral decree of that year was a compromise suggested by him is open to question. On Nicholas's death, when the reform party at Rome elected Alexander II, Guibert was one of the moving spirits in the election of Cadalus as Antipope Honorius II at Basle in Oct. 1061. In 1072 he was nominated archbishop of Ravenna by King Henry IV (1056 — 1106); Alexander II was at first reluctant to consecrate the backer of his rival, but was persuaded to do so by his archdeacon, Hildebrand, after Guibert had taken the oath of allegiance. When Hildebrand became pope as Gregory VII in 1073, Guibert at first cooperated with him, but soon moved into the camp of his enemies. In 1075 Gregory suspended him for failing to appear at his Lenten synod; in Feb. 1076 he was excommunicated for his part in the meeting of Lombard bishops which had purported to depose Gregory. When the final break between Henry IV and Gregory came, the king had Guibert elected pope at Brixen in June 1080. When Henry at last took possession of Rome four years later, the Roman clergy and people elected Guibert pope, and he was enthroned in the Lateran basilica on 24 Mar. 1084 with the style Clement III. On 31 Mar., while Gregory still held out in Castel Sant'Angelo, he crowned Henry as emperor in St Peter's. The approach of Robert Guiscard, duke of Apulia (c. 1015 — 85), however, with a Norman army obliged Henry and Clement to abandon Rome. The antipope betook himself to Ravenna, of which he had remained archbishop and which from c. 1080 onwards he organized as a centre of pamphlet war against Gregory and the Gregorian party: he returned there frequently.
Clement impressed friends and foes alike as a man of irreproachable character, first-rate ability and education, and remarkable eloquence. He was no tool, as has sometimes been supposed, of the emperor, but developed policies of his own, and was personally responsible for effective anti-Gregorian propaganda. Because of the support he enjoyed among the clergy (thirteen of the cardinals had come over to him and eventually seventeen of the 28 cardinal priests were on his side, though only one cardinal bishop) and the people, he was able to return to Rome and exercise his role as pope throughout Victor III's reign and most of Urban II's. He made strenuous efforts, with differing degrees of success, to have his legitimacy recognized not only in Germany and north Italy, but in England, Portugal, Denmark, Hungary, Croatia, and Serbia; and he negotiated with both Archbishop John II of Kiev and the eastern emperor and patriarch in the interest of union. No opponent of reform, he legislated at a Roman synod in 1089 against simony and clerical marriage and in favour of clergy living in common; he also condemned the uncanonical practice of the Gregorians of treating the sacraments of schismatic priests as invalid. He was indirectly responsible for the development of the college of cardinals, for he allowed so much influence to the cardinal priests who came over to his side that Urban II had to treat the ones who supported him with like consideration. In the mid-nineties his power and authority began to wane; he was driven out of Rome by the Pierleoni family in 1098, and Castel Sant'Angelo, the last Clementine stronghold in the city, fell to Urban II on 24 Aug. of that year. On the accession of Paschal II in 1099 he prepared to renew the struggle, but was ejected from Albano by Norman troops. He died at Civita Castellana, 57 km north of Rome, in Sept. 1100.
Previous (chronologically): St Gregory VII, Honorius (II), Alexander II
Next (chronologically): Bl. Victor III, Bl. Urban II, Paschal II
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Antipope Clement III
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- This article is about the Antipope Clement III; see here for Pope Clement III.
| Clement III | |
|---|---|
 Antipope Clement III. (middle) with Henry IV. (left), image froms Codex Jenesis Bose q.6 (1157) |
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| Papacy began | 25 June 1080 |
| Papacy ended | 8 September 1100 |
| Predecessor | Honorius II (As Antipope) Gregory VII (As Pope) |
| Successor | Theodoric (As Antipope) Paschal II (As Pope) |
| Opposed to | Gregory VII, Victor III, Urban II, Paschal II |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Wibert of Ravenna |
| Born | 1029 |
| Died | 8 September 1100 |
| Other Popes and Antipopes named Clement | |
Guibert or Wibert of Ravenna (c. 1029 – 8 September 1100) was a cleric made antipope in 1080 due to perceived abuses of Pope Gregory VII during the Investiture Controversy, a title that lasted to his death.[1]
He was born in Parma with the name Giberto Giberti and had family connections to the Margraves of Canossa.
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Contents
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Early life
A cleric, he was appointed to the Imperial chancellorship for Italy by the Empress Agnes in 1057, which position he held until 1063.[2] In 1058 he participated in the election of Pope Nicholas II but on his death in 1061, he combined with the Imperial and Transpadine Anti-Reform party to create Cadalous of Parma as Antipope Honorius II against Pope Alexander II. However, owing to the campaigns of Godfrey III, Duke of Lower Lorraine, Archbishop Anno of Cologne, and St. Peter Damian, the Church by-and-large rejected Honorius II and acknowledged Alexander II; probably as a result of these activities, the Empress Agnes dismissed him from the Imperial Chancellorship of Italy.
Guibert laid low for the next nine years, but apparently continued to cultivate his contacts within the German court, for in 1072, Emperor Henry IV named him Archbishop of the vacant see of Ravenna.[3] And, although Pope Alexander II was reluctant to confirm this appointment, he was prevailed by Hildebrand to do so, perhaps as a compromise for peace. Guibert then took an oath of allegiance to the Holy Father and his successors and was installed at Ravenna in 1073.
Quarrels with Pope Gregory
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Shortly after Pope Alexander II died Hildebrand was proclaimed the next pope, being installed as Pope Gregory VII on 29 April 1073. Guibert attended the first Lenten Synods of Pope Gregory in March 1074 in Rome at which important laws were passed against simony and the incontinence of the clergy, but soon emerged as one of the most visible leaders of opposition to the Gregorian reforms.
Having attended Gregory's first Lenten Synods, Guibert refused to attend the next, the Lenten Synod of 1075, although he was bound by oath to obey the summons to attend it. By his absence he made manifest his opposition to Gregory VII, who now suspended him for his refusal to attend the synod.
The main cause of the quarrel was Pope Gregory's insistence of ending clerical concubinage and simony and of ejecting from the ministry refractory bishops and priests who continued to keep their concubines.
It was in this same year that Emperor Henry IV began his open war on Gregory. At the synod of Worms in January, 1076, a resolution was adopted deposing Gregory, and in this decision the simoniacal bishops of Transpadine Italy joined. Among these must have been Guibert, for he shared in the sentence of excommunication and interdiction which Gregory VII pronounced against the guilty Transpadine bishops at the Lenten Synod of 1076.
Shortly after, in April 1076, bishops and abbots of the Transpadine anti-reform party convened at Pavia under the presidency of Guibert and proclaimed the excommunication of Gregory VII; a messenger, bearing a most offensive personal letter from Henry, was dispatched with the Pavian reply to the pope. In response, Gregory was compelled to resort to still stronger measures with regard to Guibert; he excommunicated Guibert by name at the Lenten Synod of February, 1078, and with him his main accomplice Archbishop Tebaldo of Milan.
On account of the action of Henry's 1076 Synod of Worms against Gregory, the latter was compelled to lay Henry IV under excommunication.
Reign as Antipope
During the next four years, the Emperor and the Pope reconciled but then quarreled again, and, facing a rebellion among the German nobles, Emperor Henry threatened to depose Pope Gregory. Carrying out his threats, Henry summoned his German and Transpadine partisans to a Synod at Brixen in June, 1080, which drew up a new decree purporting to depose Pope Gregory VII,[4] and which Henry himself also signed, and then proceeded to elect Guibert, the excommunicated simoniacal Archbishop of Ravenna, as antipope in opposition to Pope Gregory; Guibert took the name Clement III.[5] Henry at once recognized Guibert as pope, swearing that he would lead him to Rome, and there receive from his hands the imperial crown.[6]
With Rudolph of Swabia, leader of the rebellious nobles, having fallen mortally wounded at the Battle of Mersburg in 1080, Henry could concentrate all his forces against Gregory. In 1081 he marched on Rome, but failed to force his way into the city, which he finally accomplished only in 1084.
Gregory thereupon retired into the citadel of Sant' Angelo, and refused to entertain Henry's overtures, although the latter promised to hand over Guibert as a prisoner, if the Pope would only consent to crown him Emperor.
Gregory, however, insisted as a necessary preliminary that Henry should appear before a council and do penance. The Emperor, while pretending to submit to these terms, tried hard to prevent the meeting of the bishops. A small number however assembled, and, in accordance with their wishes, Gregory again excommunicated Henry.
The latter on receipt of this news again entered Rome on 21 March 1084, and succeeded in gaining possession of the greater part of the city and besieged the Pope in the Castle of Sant' Angelo, while, on 24 March, Guibert was enthroned as pope in the church of St. John Lateran as Clement III, and on 31 March Guibert crowned Henry IV as Emperor at St. Peter's.
However, when the news was brought that Gregory's Norman ally, Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria, was hastening to his aid, Henry fled Rome with Guibert and, in revenge for Matilda's staunch support for Gregory and the reform party, ravaged her possessions in Tuscany.
The Pope was liberated, but, the people becoming incensed by the excesses of his Norman allies, he was compelled to leave Rome. Disappointed and sorrowing he withdrew to Monte Cassino, and later to the castle of Salerno by the sea, in 1084, where he died in the following year, 25 May 1085.
Three days before his death he withdrew all the censures of excommunication that he had pronounced, except those against the two chief offenders Henry and Guibert. His last words were:
- "I have loved justice and hated iniquity, therefore I die in exile."
The German episcopate stood divided. While anti-simonical bishops held a Synod in Quedlinburg, at which they denounced and condemned Guibert, partisans of Henry held a rival Synod at Mainz in 1085, where they approved the deposition of Gregory and the elevation of Guibert.
This conflict continued even after the death of Gregory, during the entire reigns of whose successors, Pope Victor III, Pope Urban II, and Pope Paschal II, Guibert figured as the antipope of Henry and his party.
Victor III, who was elected after a prolonged vacancy caused by the critical position of the Church in Rome, was compelled, eight days after his coronation in St. Peter's on 3 May 1087, to fly from Rome before the partisans of Guibert. The latter were in turn assailed by the troops of Countess Matilda, and entrenched themselves in the Pantheon.
The succeeding pope, Urban II (1088–1099), was at one time master of Rome, but he was afterwards driven from the city by the adherents of Guibert, and sought refuge in Lower Italy and in France.
In June, 1089, at a Synod held in Rome, the antipope declared invalid the decree of excommunication launched against Henry, and various charges were made against the supporters of the legitimate pope.
Still, the years which followed brought to Urban ever-increasing prestige, while Henry IV's power and influence were more and more on the wane.
The greater part of the city of Rome was captured by an army of crusaders under Count Hugh of Vermandois, brother of the King of France. The party of Guibert retained only the Castle of Sant' Angelo, and even this in 1098 fell into the hands of Vermandois.
Guibert's influence, after Henry IV's withdrawal from Italy, was virtually confined to Ravenna and a few other districts of Northern Italy.
In 1099, he repaired to Albano after the accession of Paschal II (1099–1118), hoping again to become master of Rome, but he was compelled to withdraw. He reached Civita Castellana, where he died 8 September 1100. His followers, it is true, elected a successor to Guibert, the Antipope Theodoric, who, however, was not a serious threat to the true popes.
The elevation of Guibert has to be seen in the wider context of the time: there had been several antipopes in the recent past, there were political struggles within the Empire, and the Investiture Controversy had an effect.
See also
- Concordat of Worms
- First Council of the Lateran
- Other popes named Clement: Pope Clement
References
- ^ Imma Penn, Dogma Evolution and Papal Fallacies, (AuthorHouse, 2007), 233.
- ^ Charles A. Coulombe, Vicars of Christ: A History of the Popes, (Kensington Publishing Corp., 2003), 218.
- ^ Charles A. Coulombe, 218.
- ^ Herbert Edward John Cowdrey, Pope Gregory VII, 1073-1085, (Oxford University Press, 1998), 201-202.
- ^ Richard P. McBrien, Lives of the Popes, (HarperCollins, 2000), 424-425.
- ^ Herbert Edward John Cowdrey, 227-228.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.
External links
"Guibert of Ravenna". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.- "Pope St. Gregory VII". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.
- "Henry IV (2)". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.
- "Matilda of Canossa". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.
- "Conflict of Investitures". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.
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