Between God and Man
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BETWEEN GOD AND MAN Thomas F. X. Noble University of Notre Dame Paul Dutton Simon Fraser University Geoffrey Koziol University of California, Berkeley Carol Lansing University of California at Santa Barbara Barbara H. Rosenwein Loyola University of Chicago Pope Innocent III BETWEEN GOD AND MAN Six Sermons on the Priestly Office Translated with an Introduction by Corinne J. Vause and †Frank C. Gardiner and a Foreword by James M. Powell The Catholic University of America Press Washington, D.C. Copyright © The Catholic University of America Press All rights reserved The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standards for Information Science—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library materials, .-. ∞ Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Innocent III, Pope, or –. [Sermones de diversis. English] Between God and man : six sermons on the priestly office / translated with an introduction by Corinne J. Vause and Frank C. Gardiner ; and a foreword by James M. Powell.— st ed. p. cm. — (Medieval texts in translation) Includes bibliographical references and index. --- (pbk. : alk. paper) . Clergy—Office—Sermons—Early works to . Catholic Church—Sermons—Early works to . Sermons, Latin—Early works to . Sermons, Latin— Translations into English. I. Vause, Corinne J., – II. Gardiner, F. C. III. Title. IV. Series. ’.—dc CONTENTS Foreword, by James M. Powell / vii Introduction / xiii . Letter to Arnald / . In Council of Priests / . On the Consecration of the Supreme Pontiff / . On the First Anniversary / . On the Consecration of Pontiffs / . Convening the Fourth General Council of the Lateran / . In Synod / / Endnotes / Bibliography / Index of Modern Authors / Scriptural Index / vi FOREWORD James M. Powell The study of the role of preaching is central to an understand- ing of the nature of the church.1 The New Testament makes clear that preaching occupied an important place in the creation of the church. While there are numerous mentions and even summaries of preaching in the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epis- tles, the liturgical and sacramental aspect of the church received much less attention in these sources. Yet it was precisely this sacra- mental and liturgical church that emerged most clearly in the fourth century, after the grant of toleration by the Emperor Con- stantine. For a long time, there was a tendency to criticize the Middle Ages for this emphasis and its seeming neglect of preach- ing, particularly during the intense debates over religion in the Reformation and post-Reformation periods. Protestants sought precedents for their preaching in the primitive church and identi- fied with heretical groups like the Waldensians or the Lollards, who were known for their preaching. The opposition of the church to their preaching was seen as confirmation of Protestant criticism. Yet, this view ignored the vital preaching tradition in the medieval church especially after the mid-eleventh century.2 From the earliest Christian centuries, clergy and laity had found it necessary to adapt to changing situations thrust on them by the instability of the late antique and early medieval Roman world. We know too little about the changes that occurred as the church moved from Roman audiences to those composed of Germanic vii viii barbarians. What we do know suggests efforts to reach out more effectively to an uneducated audience. The numerous initiatives of missionaries from Ireland to continental Europe pointed the way for new approaches to evangelization. Conversion was at first di- rected at the leaders of the Germanic tribes rather than at the masses. The conversion of the latter was the work of a gradually formed local clergy, both monastic and secular, who sought to communicate the fundamentals of Christianity in images and met- aphors, often in poetic and alliterative terms that could be retained in memory and thus entered into the cultural savings accounts that were slowly being amassed in the period from the seventh through the tenth centuries. Of the preaching of this period, we have only those survivals that were the most valued exemplars.3 By the early eleventh century, the process of evangelization had begun to reach even into the backwaters and to produce unique in- dividuals committed to the kind of monastic spirituality that sprang from an intense individual experience. They found their in- spiration in early monastic and eremetical experience, but they were addressing concerns that were part of their own age. Expand- ing population and increased prosperity, based largely on income from agriculture, made it possible and even imperative to focus on solutions to societal problems. Monasticism inspired many of those seeking a better way.4 John Gualbert, Dominic of Sora, Robert of Arbrissel, to name a few, were important to a revival of preaching that reached beyond the boundaries between the monastery and the world.5 One important characteristic of this period was the formation of new kinds of religious communities. The range of such activity, from the foundation of the Cistercians and the Premonstratensians to cathedral canonries and lay con- fraternities, reached a large segment of society. The greatest preacher of the age was a Cistercian, Bernard of Clairvaux. During this same period, the crusade provided another stimulus to preach- ing. Pope Urban II himself had begun by preaching the crusade at the Council of Clermont in .6 Increasingly, this new religiosity ix was directed toward remaking the world into a kind of ideal monastic community. The potential of this transformation for solving the problems of a world beset by violence and poverty was grasped by such popular figures as Peter Valdes and Arnold of Brescia. Their extremism ought not blind us to the strong ties be- tween their message and that of the reformers. They were not unique in their emphasis on preaching. Their voices are often diffi- cult to distinguish from others whose orthodoxy was never chal- lenged. From the mid-eleventh century and even earlier in some cases, cathedral and monastic schools had been important centers for the education of preachers. These schools were repositories of studies in grammar and rhetoric, based upon both classical and Carolin- gian sources. In the second half of the twelfth century, the first universities were developing in Bologna and Paris. These centers at- tracted students from all over western Europe. We should not, however, regard the education offered in the twelfth-century uni- versities as contrasting sharply with that offered in the cathedral and monastic schools. Certainly, education was becoming more formalized, but the content changed rather gradually.7 Those who studied in Paris and Bologna were, therefore, not separated by any deep chasm from the popular preachers of the earlier part of the century. Fulk of Neuilly, Oliver of Paderborn, and James of Vitry, all of whom had frequented the schools of Paris, were notable popular preachers, whose words reflected the religious currents of the day and the concerns of contemporary society. Pope Innocent III was a contemporary of these and other preachers in Paris and Bologna. As Cardinal Lothar, he not only studied in the schools, but authored a number of theological trea- tises. While scholars have usually hastened to deny his work origi- nality, his contemporaries regarded it as a valuable contribution. In fact, his election to the papacy at the young age of thirty-seven was probably connected directly to his reputation as an author. When we examine these treatises, we are struck by their pastoral character. x Their author had little interest in the academic debates that occu- pied the masters in the schools. That is not to say that he was un- aware of such matters. He was certainly capable of picking his way through contemporary theological debates, such as that over the Trinity or the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, but his emphasis was not on differences in doctrine so much as it was on faith as the basis for the Christian way of life. Still, his approach was very much that of the schools, and the content of his thought reflected such masters as Peter of Corbie and Peter Chanter. Throughout his writings, he combined the ability to utilize dramatic imagery in order to serve practical ends. Papal sermon collections were rare in the early middle ages. We know that popes preached at synods and that Urban II had preached often to promote the crusade. Yet we possess few of these sermons. For this reason, it is remarkable that both Innocent III and his successor Pope Honorius III compiled their sermons in collections.8 Moreover, this was not accidental. Innocent had sent a copy of his collection to Abbot Arnald of Citeaux. Honorius pro- vided copies not only to the Cistercians, but also to the Domini- cans and the Archpriest of Santa Maria Maggiore, where he had been a canon. In Innocent’s case, he responded to a request from Arnald made at the behest of his chaplain, Nicholas, a Cistercian of that abbey. Honorius acted on his own initiative for reasons that reveal a desire on his part to “improve” on Innocent’s collec- tion. There can be little doubt that Innocent’s sermons were motivat- ed by the same goals that led him to write his various theological treatises. He was a product of the schools and wanted to share his learning with his colleagues and the members of the Roman cler- gy. His approach is didactic, as befitted his education. Innocent delivered at least some of his sermons in the vernacular; Honorius III composed his sermons in the vernacular and delivered them prior to becoming pope.9 After his accession to the papacy, he translated them into Latin and revised them for presentation. His xi purpose was also didactic, but his concerns were rather different, more pastoral even than Innocent’s.