14) Henry III, the Papacy, and the Origins of the Papal Reform Movement

The mid-11th century was a period when the life of secular clergy was beginning to be disrupted by diverse forces. The clergy were craving renewal, but this didn't mean re-working existing materials to create something previously unseen. Bishops who asked their clergy and vassals to fund their schemes and ambitions were likely to encounter considerable resistance, as can be seen with Archbishop Adalbert of Hamburg-Bremen. He over-exploited the revenues and labour services that were due to his church, and it is this that caused the problems.

It was in this context of local struggles and politcial conflicts of this sort that clerics can be seen turning for leverage to the rhetoric of purification. Bishops might commit themselves to reforming the sexual habits of the clergy if they were themselves celibate. Their canons might resort to the same sort of rhetoric as a way of questioning the validity of their superior's actions and policies. There were clerics who were genuinely interested in purifying the church and improving the quality of the services that the secular church provided for the laity, but these were a radical minority.

Henry III set out for Rome in 1046 seeking the imperial title for himself and his queen, Agnes of Poitou, but there were 2 factions vying for control of the city and the papacy at this time: the Tusculani and the Crescenzi.

• 1044: The Crescenzi drove the Tusculan pope, Benedict IX, from the city and elected their own man, Pope Sylvester III (Bishop John of Sabina).
• 1045 March: Sylvester III was driven from the city and Benedict IX was restored.
• 1045 May: Benedict IX resigned and Gregory VI was elected (cardinal priest, John Gratian).

None of these popes were safe from accusations of simony and misconduct. Benedict IX had almost certainly purchased the papal office back in 1032. Sylvester III's election was irregular and only his Roman supporters seem to have taken his claims seriously. Gregory VI seems to have been the most devout of the 3 and had the support of several important reformers like Peter Damian, but was also vulnerable to charges of simony. Henry III seems to have originally regarded Gregory VI as an acceptable pope, but at a synod in December, Gregory VI was accused of simony and 'pursuaded' to step down. Sylvester III's claims were also found to be illegitimate. At a 2nd synod a few days later, Benedict IX's resignation was also confirmed. Pope Clement II was then elected, the bishop of Bamberg. At the same service of the new pope's consecration in Old St Peter's on the 25th December 1045, Henry III and Agnes were also crowned Emperor and Empress.

The motives behind Henry III's actions at the Synods have been the subject of much debate. But, it seems likely he was sincerely concerned to avoid his position as emperor being tainted by the possibilty of its being granted by a simoniac pope, partly for genuine religious reasons, partly because he was worried about the appearance of hypocrisy and how this might undermine his authority.

His piety may also explain his insistence that he be granted the ring as well as the staff when new bishops were invested with their offices. The ring was the other badge of episcopal office. Henry III seems to have wanted to develop the sacral dimension of his office as much as possible.

Henry's actions in removing 3 popes and imposing his own candidate drew a mixed reaction. Some chroniclers treated it as relatively harmless and as an unexceptional set of events, but there are 2 outrageously hostile responses that are known, one by Bishop Wazo of Liege, and the 2nd is an anonymous tract composed in 1047. When Otto I removed pope John XII in 964, there was no criticism and his actions had been defended by reference need to correct the moral condition of the Roman Church. Something fundamental had changed between 964 and 1046.

The explanation for the criticism of Henry III seems to lie in the political allegiances of the critics and the way the emperor had alienated the Lotharingian aristocracy. The 2 hostile responses were likely written in Lotharingia. There were multiple rebellions in Lotharingia against Henry led by Godfrey the Bearded who should have succeeded his father in Upper and Lower Lotharingia but Henry stepped in and put his 'worthless' brother in the position instead, so he was very annoyed. In 1049, Godfrey followed other members of his family to Italy and rebuilt his position in Tuscany, much to the annoyance of Henry. In 1054, Godfrey married Beatrix, the widow of the margrave of Tuscany, a major lord and landowner in central and northern Italy.

The most significant thing about the events in 1046 was the way they brought about the transformation of the papacy itself, largely effected by a series of German and especially Lotharingian popes:

• Clement II (bishop of Bamberg)
• Damasus II (bishop of Brixen)
• Leo IX (bishop of Toul - Upper Lotharingia)
• Victor II (bishop of Eichstätt)
• Stephen IX (from Lotharingia - Godrey the Bearded's brother)
• Nicholas II (bishop of Florence and from Bourgogne in Lotharingia)

Leo IX made the elimination of simony his personal mission and held 12 synods for this purpose, the most notable being that held in Reims.

The German popes (from Clement II to Nicholas II) transformed the papacy. Under their leadersip, the bishopric of Rome became more than just a passive recipient of appeals and judicial business, it became an active advocate of renovatio in Christendom as a whole. But, it's a moot point whether this transformation would lead inevitably to conflict with the emperor as the various popes and the king were on similar pages.

But, things took a different turn during the minority that followed Henry III's death in 1056 when his 6 year old son, Henry IV, succeeded to the throne. It was during this period that the Lotharingians in Rome and Tuscany had a decisive influence. In 1057, one of Godfrey the Bearded's brothers became pope as Stephen X, and with this development, a far more radical array of figures came to fore among the clerics attached to the papal court, including Hildebrand, the future Pope Gregory VII.