Chapter 13

INNOCENT II: THE IMPERIAL POPE

A. IMPERIAL SYMBOLISM In a letter written in 1130 soon after the outbreak of the papal schism, Cardinal Bishop Peter of Porto testified that prior to their elections both Anaclet and Innocent had lived wise and honest lives.1 After his election, however, perhaps bolstered by Haimeric, and in an effort to demonstrate that he was the true pope, Innocent metamorphosed from a modest legate into a regal monarch. Even exceeding the princely Calixtus, he utilized pageantry and ceremony to impress spectators with the majesty of his office. He never missed an occasion to celebrate the dies coronae, and each major event became an opportunity to stage a colorful pageant.2 He received a royal reception from Peter the Venerable at Cluny when he first fled into exile, and while regrouping his forces, he consecrated the abbey's huge new basilica.3 When he arrived at the Council of Liège in 1131 to be acclaimed as pope, he impressed the Northerners with Roman pomp. At the celebration of the Lord's supper, he distributed gifts, which Suger, the cosmopolitan abbot of St. Denis, described as sumptuous in the Roman tradition. In fact, Suger was so impressed with the whole scene that he delineated it in minute detail: the royal way glistening with precious fabrics hung from trees along which the procession moved; the white horses covered with white blankets ridden by Innocent and mem• bers of his court; barons and vassals acting as grooms (stratori); the coins thrown to the crowd to keep it from crowding in too closely; and

1 William of Malmesbury inserted Peter's letter into his Historia Novella. The Historia Novella, tr., intro. & notes K. R. Potter, (London, Edinburgh, Paris, Melbourne, Toronto, New York, 1955), p. 7. 2 Between Christmas Day 1130 and Easter 1131 Innocent wore the papal crown on three occasions. The third, March 29, 1131, at Liège, was laetare Sunday between Christmas and Easter. Ingo Herklotz, "Der Campus Lateranensis im Mittelalter," Römisches Jahrbuch für Kunstgeschichte 22 (1985), 1-43 at p. 10 & η. 37; Hans waiter Kiewitz, "Die Krönung des Papstes," Zeitschrift der Savigny Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte 61, KA 30 (1941), 96-130 at p. 102; for sources MGH SS 4:4; See also Petrus Mallius, De Festivitatibus in quibus Domnus Papa debet coronari, ed. Valentini & Zucchetti, Codice Topografico 3, pp. 433-434. 3 Chibnall, The Ecclesiastic History of Orderic Vitalis 6, pp. 418-420: "... Cluniacenses, ut eius aduentum cognouerunt, lx equos seu mulos cum omni apparatu congruo papae et cardinalibus clericis detinuauerunt, et usque ad suam basilicam fauorabiliter conduxerunt." INNOCENT II: THE IMPERIAL POPE 181

Innocent's use of the frigium, an ornamentum imperiale, as Suger stressed.4 Following the overwhelming impression Innocent made at Liège, he traveled on to St. Denis to celebrate Easter. He arrived at the basilica wearing a golden crown embellished with silver, precious gems and glowing pearls. After mass he and his entourage indulged in a great feast, and the following day the whole party departed on a tour of French churches to replenish the papal coffers.5 Apart from the symbols and ceremony of power, the essence of ruling authority is juridical power. To augment this authority Innocent greatly encouraged the use of papal courts during his reign. By trying to draw all causae maiores before the curia he increasingly centralized the church around the papacy.6 For this task he needed additional jurists, and of the six, who were active during his reign, four were his appointments.7 But St. Bernard, who looked back to the simple days of St. Peter, saw the vastly increased tempo of judicial activity as an abuse. In De Considera- tione he complained that day and night the curia sounded with the cries of advocates, and that justice was becoming ever more remote.8 Even worse, Bernard emphasized, the curia not only heard ecclesiastical cases, but also secular. Justinian's law fills the papal palace, he lamented, and while there is constant wrangling, there is little justice.9 The protocol of Innocent's court resembled that of a Byzantine king. The aged abbot Hariulf of the Abbey of Oudenburg in Holland has transmitted a first hand account of his visit to Rome to plead a case in front of the papal curia. He describes his conversation with Haimeric, after which the chancellor led him to Innocent, who was sitting in a consistory in the Lateran palace, surrounded by cardinals and noble Romans dressed in ceremonial clothing. Having been previously in• structed by Haimeric, the abbot approached Innocent and performed the

4 Suger, Vie de Louis V7, ed. Wiquet, pp. 262-264: "Summo mane vero extrinseca via ad ecclesiam Martirum in Strata, cum multo collateralium collegio quasi secreto commeavit; ibique more romano seipsos préparantes, muto et mirabili ornatu circumdantes, capiti ejus frigium, ornatum imperiale, instar galee circule» aureo circinatum imponunt, albo et palliate» equo insidentem educunt, ipsi etiam palliati equos albis operturis variatos equitantes, odas personando festive geminati procedunt." 5 Ibid., 264: "Parveniens vero ad sanctorum basilicam, coronis aureis rutilantem, argenti et plus cencies auri preciosarum gemmarum et margaritarum splendore fulguantem divina missa celebrans . . . Exinde Galliarum ecclesias visitando et de earum copia inopia sue defectum supplendo ..." Gerhoh of Reichersberg was critical of covering the clerical crown with a golden one. MGH LdL 3:303: "nam coronam ex auro fabrefactam corone clericali superponi passus non est." 6 Maleczek, "Das Kardinalskollegium (1130-1143)," p. 59. 7 Zenker, Die Mitglieder des Kardinalkollegiums, p. 212. 8 De Consideratione, Opera Sancti Bernardi, ed. Leclercq & Rochais 3, pp. 408-410, 435- 439. 9 Ibid., 397-402.