Chapter XIV

PETRUS PIERLEONI'S RECORD RECONSIDERED

Innocent could hardly have chosen a more daunting opponent, for Petrus had a record which made him eminently papabile. Educated in Paris during the time when Abelard and other stellar French masters were active, he also developed a close friendship with Louis VI. Before returning to to become cardinal of SS. Cosma and Damiano, he took monastic vows at Cluny. He played a crucial role in Calixtus H's election, and Calixtus in turn promoted him to cardinal priest of Santa Maria in Trastevere, and twice appointed him as his legate to England and to France. Honorius II seldom used him in special capacities, but he contin• ued to carry on curial business through 1129. Petrus came from a family which not only was one of the most powerful in Rome, but which had been the strongest bulwark of the reform . The propaganda spread at the time of the schism emphasizes its Jewish origins and commercial interests, but that distorts its Christian focus. The Pierleoni were on intimate terms with popes of such disparate character as Gregory VII, Urban II, who died in their house, Paschal II, and Calixtus II. In addition to their financial and military support, the family must have espoused principles and attitudes which inspired the confidence of these popes. Paschal held Petrus Leonis in such high esteem that he asked him to stand surety for his commitment to carry out the agreement of Febru• ary 12, 1111, stipulating that bishops relinquish their in return for imperial renunciation of investitures.1 Later Petrus Leonis did a masterful job of marshalling all of the factions in Rome to receive Calixtus after the Burgundian had spent a somewhat tentative year in France. The Pierleoni were a very cultivated family, involving themselves in the intellectual and artistic revival of the twelfth century. Sending Petrus to study with the French masters is one indication of this interest. Another is his father's enjoyment in writing poetry. Ordericus Vitalis preserves a

1 Codex Udalrici, Monumenta Bambergensia, vol. 5 of Bibliotheca Rerum Germanicarum, ed. Philip Jaffé (Berlin, 1869), p. 271: "Si domnus papa hec régi non adimpleverit, ego Petrus Leonis iuro: quod cum tota potentia mea tenebo me ad domnum regem." p. 272: "Ego Petrus Leonis iuro vobis: quia domnus papa proximo die dominico adimplebit regi, quod in carta conventionis scriptum est." For the Pierleoni family see Pietro Fedele, "Le Famiglie di Anacleto II ed Gelasio II," Archivio délia R. Società Romana di Storia Patria 27 (1904), 400-433; Demetrius B. Zema, "The Houses of Tuscany and of the Pierleoni in the Crisis of Rome in the Eleventh Century," Traditio 2 (1944), 155-175. PETRUS PIERLEONrS RECORD RECONSIDERED 145 poem, which Petrus Leonis wrote in 1099 on the death of Urban II. Another, a satire, which he wrote as a memorial to the anti-pope, Guibert of Ravenna, appears to show an acquaintanceship with classical literature. He says of Guibert, "You were an empty name: for that presumption Cer• berus keeps a place for you in hell."2 The family also exhibited its classi• cal proclivities in rebuilding St. Nicola in Carcere, the church so closely associated with them that it was known as the Pierleoni church. The church was constructed out of three Roman temples, and parts of it were painted with classical motifs. At the left of the front entrance was a chapel decorated with frescoes of four Old Testament prophets. For the interior of the church the family donated a paschal candlestick and other religious objects. As a further sign that there was no break between them and Honorius, a plaque commemorating the consecration of St. Nicola is dated 1128 in the pope's name. But the Pierleoni were a new family, and even if the older noble fami• lies were at times deferential to them because of their power, they were also resentful.3 The Jewish converts had risen from their humble past too quickly, and had usurped the prestige and wealth which the older Roman families also coveted. Why should the Pierleoni have been the confidants of the popes instead of themselves? They saw the family as consumingly ambitious, supporting the pope with their vast fortune in order to gain such favors as a cardinalate for Petrus, and a prefecture for his . The psychology of the older aristocracy is understandable, but there was more than adequate reason for Paschal to place his adherents in important positions without suspecting the family of exerting pressure or of using the papacy only to further their own interests. Moreover, there is no rea• son to assume that PaschaPs motives were always political and not reli• gious, or at least ecclesiastical. He may have believed that Petrus Leonis would be the most effective negotiator with the representatives of Henry V, and that Petrus would make a good cardinal. In fact, at one time it was accepted as obvious that Petrus was the most distinguished of all of the cardinals in 1130, but a newer view holds that his prestige was mainly based upon the power of his family. In addition to his record, the text, "ad illius nutum tota Roma taceat et tota loquatur," provides one of the best clues for deciding which of these positions is correct.4 The text is usually interpreted to mean that Petrus' prestige was

2 Chibnall, Ecclesiastic History 5, pp. 192-195. 3 Innocent was a member of the Papareschi or de Papa, one of the oldest Roman fami• lies. These families tended to see the newer families as interlopers. Giuseppe Marchetti- Longhi, / Papareschi e i Romani, vol. 6 of Le Grandi Famiglie Romane (Rome, 1947). 4 The evidence of Petrus' great power in Rome is from a non tendentious source—a conversation between Bishop Guido of Arezzo and a papal legate shortly before Honorius' death. Guido had been in Rome with Honorius. After he returned to Arezzo he described his impressions, including those of the and of the "überragenden" posi• tion of Petrus. The text was discovered by S. Löwenfeld, and published in an article, "Ueber Anaclets Persönlichkeit,'' pp. 596-597: "episcopus ait nuncio: 4Miror et satis, cum tot sa- pientes et nobilissimi et summi viri sint in urbe Roma, quod quocies ipsi sua colloquia mira-