CHAPTER TWO

THE EARLY-PERIOD POLEMICS AND PUBLIC-SPHERE FORMATION: THE DE ORDINANDO PONTIFICE

Introduction

The nascent public sphere of the early eleventh century, characterised by a profound orientation to oral face-to-face interaction and the con- comitant ritualistic ‘rules of the game’, was gradually maturing into the semi-institutionalised public sphere of the late eleventh century. Spurred on by the ‘popular revolution’ of the period—manifested in the peace of God movement, heretical movements, and proto-reformist groups such as the Pataria—the struggle for reform in the church readily took advantage of this new public climate. This early period of church reform is rst and foremost marked by a profound ambivalence regarding the place of a reformed church within a societal fabric in which the structures of power were in a state of ux. The polemical literature from this early period reveals not only a similar ambivalence regarding how to present the case for church reform, but also an inse- curity as to the precise status and function of the written contributions to the public debate. Consequently, the two early polemics—an Epistola directed to the archbishop of Milan (c. 1031) by Guido of Arezzo and the anonymous De ordinando ponti ce (c. 1048)—are both of fundamental importance in understanding how a public discussion of the reform question spread outside the con nes of the church. The pioneering aspects of these early initiatives are visible when compared to the few contemporary writings addressing the status of the church. Seen in relation to the later outburst of polemics in the wake of the of cial reform programme of Leo IX—instigated at church synods in Reims in 1049 and in 1050—the two writers set forth the terms by which simony in particular was to be viewed. Thus, Guido’s pointed and brief open letter introduced a discourse that was to be expanded on by Hum- bert of Silva-Candida in the discussion with in the , among others. The second contribution, the De ordinando, was remarkably more sophisticated than Guido’s invective to the church of Milan. The polemic has been viewed as an ‘ideological preparation 122 chapter two for the reform movement’,1 as ‘instigating the Investiture Contest’,2 as evidence for the ‘existence of a genuine reform programme’,3 and as a re ection of a ‘dawning new age’.4 The author does not present single hard-hitting invectives derived from moral and canon law (Guido of Arezzo), as much as a theoretical discussion of a reform programme5 which includes a vast array of the issues that were only fully developed in the clash between King Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII in the . What, then, is the theoretical focus of the treatise? While some have suggested that the concern is with the papal election,6 others focus on the means for deposing a pope.7 A third view claims that it is a ‘legal brief concerning the persons and events surrounding the synod of Sutri’.8 The epochal signi cance of the De ordinando, as will be seen, lies more in its integrative approach and comprehensive political-ecclesiological orientation than in the suggested focus on the election and the deposition. The immediate historical context of the treatise is signi cant, having been composed in the wake of papal schisms in the years prior.9 In January 1045, Benedict IX—siding with the Tusculani10 partly because of factional strife and partly because of accusations of simony—had to ee the papal chair, leaving it to Bishop John of Sabina in March 1045. John, loyal to the side of the Crescentier, took the papal name Sylvester III, only to be forced to return the papacy to Benedict on 1 May. Benedict soon gave the of ce to John of S. Giovanni a Porta Latina,

1 Following Ullmann 1955: 263 the tract displays an ideological preparation in regions far away from Rome. 2 According to Hoerschelmann 1955: 80, the second part of the treatise, dealing with the power of the emperor, instigates the beginning of the Investiture Contest. 3 Cowdrey 1983: xxxv sees the tract as evidence for the existence of a genuine programme of reform as early as in the middle of the . 4 According to Morris 1989: 85, the sharp attack on the emperor re ected a slowly dawning new age. 5 Funk 1936 already regarded it as a theoretical tract. 6 Pelster 1941: 89 claims that the De ordinando is a suggestion for rearranging the papal election in letter form. 7 Schmale 1979 suggests that the title should be altered to De iudicatis episcopis or De episcopis depositis. 8 Ziezulewicz 1991: 390. 9 Factional strife leading to papal schism had been a long-standing problem, but under Gregory V (996–999) the ideas behind the reform movement begin to emerge (Moehs 1972). For the reform-climate in Rome, see Hamilton 1961, 1962; Noble 1984. 10 Bonizo of Sutri called the Tusculani regime for the ‘tyranny of the captains’. For an outline, see Partner 1972.