Dominus Episcopus Medieval Bishops between Diocese and Court Editors: Anthony John Lappin with Elena Balzamo Konferenser 95 kungl. vitterhets historie och antikvitets akademien Contents General abbreviations 6 Anthony John Lappin: Introduction 9 Martin J. Ryan: Bishops and canon law in pre-Viking England: Ecgberht’s Dialogus in context 14 Inka Moilanen: Bishops and pastoral obligations: Ælfric’s pastoral letters and preaching in the 11th and 12th centuries 53 Kurt Villads Jensen: Bishops on crusade 83 Emil Lauge Christensen: Justifying episcopal pluralism: he negotiation between suitability and legitimacy in the narrative of Saxo Grammaticus 100 Anthony John Lappin: Bishops and monasteries: York and Selby in the 13th century 131 Reima Välimäki: Bishops and the inquisition of heresy in late medieval Germany 186 Kirsi Salonen: Bishops and bad behaviour: Scandinavian examples of bishops who violated ecclesiastical norms 207 Rosa Vidal Doval: Bishops and the court: he Castilian episcopacy and conversos, 1450–1465 217 Martin Neuding Skoog: In defence of the aristocratic republic: he belligerent bishops of late medieval Sweden 241 Elena Balzamo: hree bishops for a see 253 he Authors 265 General abbreviations APA Archivio Penitenziario Vaticano. ASB Gamla papper angående Mora socken: vol. 2. Arvid Siggessons brevväxling, ed. L. Sjödin, (Västerås: Bergh., 1932). ASV Archivio Secreto Vaticano. BSH Styfe, C.G. 1859–1884. Bidrag till Skandinaviens historia ur utländska arkiver (5 vols., Stockholm: Norstedt): vol. III. Sverige under Karl Knutsson och Kristiern af Oldenburg, 1448–1470 (1870); vol. IV. Sverige i Sten Sture den äldres tid, 1470–1503 (1875); vol. V. Sverige under de yngre Sturarne, särdeles under Svante Nilsson, 1504–1520 (1884). COD Conciliorum oecumenicorum decreta, eds. G. Alberigo, J.A. Dossetti, P. Joannou, C. Leonardi, P. Prodi & H. Jedin (2nd edn, Basel: Herder, 1962; 3rd edn, Bologna: EDB, 1973). DD Diplomatarium danicum, ed. Det Danske Sprog- og Litteraturselskab (Copenhagen: C.A. Reitzels, 1938–): vol. I.3. Diplomer 1170–1199 & Epistolæ abbatis Willelmi de Paraclito, eds. C.A. Christiensen, H. Nielsen & L. Weibull. DN Diplomatarium norvegicum: Oldbreve til kundskab om Norges indre og ydre forhold, sprog, slægter, sæder, lovgivning og rettergang i middelalderen (23 vols., Oslo: Norsk historisk kjeldeskrit-institutt, 1849–2011). FMU Finlands medeltidsurkunder I–VIII, ed. R. Hausen (Helsingfors: Staatrådets tryckerie, 1910–1935): I. –1400; II. 1401–1430; III. 1431–1450; IV. 1451–1480; V. 1481–1495; VI. 1496–1508; VII. 1509–1518; VIII. 1519–30 GIR Konung Gustav den förstes registratur, ed. J.A. Almqvist et al. (29 vols., Stockholm: Norstedt, 1861–1916), I. 1521–24; II. 1525; III. 1526; IV. 1527; V. 1528; VI. 1529; VII. 1530–31; VIII. 1532–33; IX. 1534; X. 1535; XI. 1536–37; XII. 1538–39; XIII. 1540–41; XIV. 1542; XV. 1543; XVI. 1544; XVII. 1545; XVIII. 1545–47; XIX. 1548; XX. 1549; XXI. 1550; XXII. 1551; XXIII. 1552; XXIV. 1552–53; XXV. 1555; XXVI. 1556; XXVII. 1557; XXVIII. 1558; XXIX 1559–60 GL Gneuss, H. & M. Lapidge, 2014. Anglo­Saxon manuscripts: A bibliographical handlist of manuscripts and manuscript ragments written or owned in England up to 1100 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press). HH Historiska Handlingar (40 vols., Stockholm: Kungl. Samfundet för utgivande av handskriter rörande Skandinaviens historia, 1861–1979): vol. VIII, ed. C.G. Styfe (1879). HS Haddan, A.W. & W. Stubbs, eds. 1869–1879. Councils and ecclesiastical docu­ ments relating to Great Britain and Ireland (3 vols., Oxford: Clarendon Press). HSH Handlingar rörande Skandinaviens historia (40 vols., Stockholm: Kungl. Samfundet för utgivande av handskriter rörande Skandinaviens historia, 1816–1860). PL Patrologia Latina, ed. J.-P. Migne, 221 vols. (Paris: the editor, 1841–1865). RPR Regesta Pontiicium Romanorum ab condita ecclesia ad annum post Christum natum MCXCVIII. Edidit Philippus Jafé, 2nd edn, eds. S. Loewenfeld, F. Kaltenbruner & P. Ewald, vols. I & II (Leipzig: Veit). S Sawyer, P.H. 1968. Anglo­Saxon charters: An annotated list and bibliography (London: Royal Historical Society), revised and updated S. Kelly, R. Rushforth et al. http://www.esawyer.org.uk/about/index.html Bishops on crusade Kurt Villads Jensen Centrally placed on one of the main squares in Copenhagen, Archbishop Absalon in full armour, axe in hand, rides his valiant war horse: the horse faces the parliament built atop the bishop’s medieval castle, whilst Absalon himself gazes towards the city hall whose council had decided to accept a lavish private donation and commemorate him suitably. he equestrian statue is one of the masterpieces of the sculptor and professor of the Academy, Vilhelm Bissen, and was unveiled in 1902, 701 years ater the death of the famous bishop-founder of Copenhagen. Since then, it has been used in numerous school books and articles to illustrate both Absalon’s heroic and belligerent nature and also that medieval bishops were not much concerned with piety and religion, instead preferring warfare and slaughter. his is a simpliied interpretation of a complex reality. he aim of the present article is to discuss the role of bishops in warfare, and especially in crusading. he ield is enormous, and the selection of examples and sources therefore eclectic. Bishops in wars—theories here were no wars of any signiicance in the Middle Ages without bishops. he reason for this was that bishops combined the spiritual and practical care for their lock, that is not only for their diocese but also for Christianity as such, and therefore they had to be involved in matters as serious as the systematic killing of human individuals. hey had to consider the spiritual implications of warfare, for the soldiers participating but also for the enemies or the targets of warfare. At the same time, bishops were concerned with the practicalities and had to consider how war could be done most efectively to reach a goal that was ultimately spiritual, and so that warfare did not become a cause for scandal and dissidence among the believers. 84 kvhaa Konferenser 95 he bishop’s balancing between his spiritual and his practical oice was diicult and a recurrent theme for concern since the early church,1 and the summary of earlier opinions in Gregory the Great’s Regula pastoralis in the 590s spread widely, even gaining an Anglo-Saxon translation. Gregory stated that bishops should care for their lock, but also ensure suicient time for themselves to retreat from the active life and enter into contemplation to care for their own spiritual life. he individual bishop might be hesitant or even afraid of taking upon his shoulders the practical leadership of his people, which would only be natural. he contrary would have been a sign of arrogance.2 Nevertheless, he would have to be a leader, because it is an obligation put upon him by the Lord, Gregory stated.3 Leadership is impossible without spirituality, but spirituality is void and empty if not resulting in action. he relation is as between man and woman: each must give to the other. In the 12th century, Bernard of Clairvaux forcefully stressed that although the practical side of the episcopal oice was a service not only to God but also to the common believers, it should never become an aim in itself. He latly rejected that bishops could rule over men. Work and care, not riches and glory, are the content of episcopal life, or in a diferent formulation, a bishop’s life is to serve and not to rule.4 Bernard also strongly warned his protégé and pope, Eugene III, that no poison and no sword could be as dangerous as the lust to lead—the libido dominandi.5 Bishops should by all means avoid becoming a persona mixta, a person who was cleric and lay at the same time. On the other hand, Bernard continued, a bishop should be pure of heart, and this purity consisted of two things: seeking the glory of God, and being useful to one’s neighbour. A bishop is a bridge-builder, a pontifex, between God and his neighbour, as Bernard stated in a letter to the newly appointed Archbishop Henry of Sens.6 his 1 2 3 4 5 6 As discussed by Rapp 2005. For further hostility to ambition and arrogance, see Lauge Christensen in this volume. Regula pastoralis I.i.7: “Superbus enim fortasse esset, si ducatum plebis innumerae sine trepidatione susciperet”—about Moyses, but for bishops in general. II.i.7: “Uxori vir debitum reddat; similiter autem et uxor viro”, Gregory citing from I Cor. 7:2. “Coelum contemplatione transcendit, nec tamen stratum carnalium sollicitudine deserit, quia compage charitatis summis simul, et inimis junctus, et in semetipso virtute spiritus ad alta valenter rapitur, et pietate in aliis aequanimiter inirmatur.” De consideratione II.vi.10: “[…] curam potius haereditabis et operam, quam gloriam et divitias. Blanditur cathedra? Specula est. Inde denique superintendis, sonans tibi episcopi nomine non dominium, sed oicium.” De consideratione III.i.2: “[…] nullum tibi venenum, nullum gladium plus formido, quam libidinem dominandi.” Ad Henricum, ep. 42,10: “Porro puritas cordis in duobus consistit: in quaerenda gloria Dei, et utilitate proximi; ut in omnibus videlicet actis vel dictis suis nihil suum quaerat episcopus, sed tantum aut Dei honorem, aut salutem proximorum, aut utrumque. Hoc enim agens implebit non solum pontiicis oicium, sed et etymologiam nominis, pontem utique se ipsum faciens inter Deum et proximum.” kurt villads jensen 85 provides the background for Bernard’s clariication later in the letter, of how ecclesiastical and lay power should relate to each other. Christ is the creator of Caesar, but did not hesitate to pay tax to Caesar, Bernard explained. Likewise, the bishop should render service to the successor of Caesar, that is to the king, and “be diligent in the king’s courts and present at his councils, negotiations, and armies”. Immediately following this unconditional statement, Bernard explains that there is no shame in obeying power, and that it is therefore appropriate for the bishop to use the soldiers he has at his command.7 “Soldiers” could in other circumstances perhaps be given a spiritual interpretation, but the entire context in this part of Bernard’s letter is unambiguously military. Compared to Pope Gregory the Great, Bernard of Clairvaux had a much more direct understanding of the content of the bishop’s practical oice. It consisted in working in the world to protect the Christians, including participating with one’s own soldiers in the king’s wars. Discussions about the bishops’ duty to provide military service to lay rulers continued during the 12th and 13th centuries among theologians and canon lawyers. Most commentators silently ignored the statement in Gratian’s Decretum from around 1150 that such military service was licit solely ater having attained papal consent.8 Probably such an attitude would have been totally untenable in day-to-day reality. Perhaps the distinction between secular and spiritual became rather more blurred over time. he homagium—oath of allegiance—ofered by a bishop-elect to the king in return for taking control over former royal land donated to the church became constitutive for being installed as bishop, and therefore the matter of military service became increasingly considered a juridical, rather than a theological, issue. his expectation occasioned, subsequently, a discussion as to whether a bishop with no royal land or allegiance could begin a war? No clear conclusion was reached, but most canonists agreed that a bishop could command and exhort troops and remain at their front, until battle was joined, when he was obliged to retreat and pray.9 Some were stricter and ruled that clerics could preach a just war at home, but should not be on the battleield except for making peace or for administering penance. Others were much more lenient, but even when such an inluential igure as Ramon de Penyafort conceded that clerics could participate and even ight in a war, albeit only when for a just cause and absolutely necessary, his opinion remained an unusual exception.10 7 Ad Henricum, ep. 42,31: “Porro vos, si Caesaris successori, id est regi, sedulus in suis curiis, consiliis, negotiis, exercitibusque adestis ...”; ep. 42,32: “Agnoscis […] jam et te sub te habere milites proitere securus. Revera quia non confusus est de subjectione, jure ex praelatione meruit honorari. Non erubuit super se potestatem, et ideo dignus qui haberet et sub se milites.” 8 Russell 1975, 109–110. 9 Russell 1975, 117–118. 10 Ramon de Penyafort, cf. Russell 1975, 187; and 128, n. 5: “est prohibitum … nisi in necessitate inevitabili.” 86 kvhaa Konferenser 95 here were a number of reasons for bishops not to be involved in actual ighting and killing. With his usual sense for hierarchical ordering, homas Aquinas explained that some occupations are of higher importance than others, and those engaged in higher pursuits should not be involved in the lower: soldiers were prohibited from trading, for war is more important than business; bishops from waging war, for divine service and prayer are more important than military engagement.11 he irst argument pro is that war is a disturbing and uncertain afair loaded with inquietudines—worries and concerns—which may distract the bishop from concentrating upon his ecclesiastical duties. he second argument is that, because the passion of Christ is represented in the eucharist, the hand which administers the sacrament may not have shed blood. Bishops should therefore be ready to shed their own blood for Christ and imitate him, but never shed the blood of others. homas then neatly summarized the whole discussion by concluding that although just warfare is meritorious (an opinion which must have been a reassurance for the crusaders of his time to know) it is still prohibited for ecclesiastics because they are destined for an even more meritorious work. It is as with sex, he wrote: it is a good thing in marriage, but damaging for those who have chosen the higher good of celibacy.12 he discussion continued among theologians as to what extent bishops and other ecclesiastics could use weapons to defend themselves: whether they could use sharp weapons to deter their aggressors, or only wield blunt ones; whether they could throw stones as long as these did not actually kill people; and so forth. In a crusading context, a representative example is the formulation of Huggucio, decretist and later bishop of Ferrara and teacher to the crusading pope Innocent III, in his commentary to Gratian: Item ierosolomitanos clericos inculpate credimus in armis cum induti loricis crucem dominicam portant, cum hoc non faciant ad pugnandum sed ad terrendum et ne ledantur a sagittis volantibus eos, autem qui arma portant ut pugnent non credimus excusari, nec auctoritate Romani pontiicis. Non credo posset etiam dominus papa constituere quod clerici ferent arma. Crusading clerics armed with weapons and in full armour and signed with the crusader cross are not sinning, as long as they do all this not for ighting, but to frighten the enemy and protect themselves from being hurt by the arrows shot at them. But if they carry arms to ight, they cannot be excused, not even by the Roman pope. I do not think that even the lord pope can decide that clerics should carry arms.13 11 Summa theologiae II, II, q. 40, a. 2: “Et ideo illis qui maioribus deputantur prohibentur minora, sicut secundum leges humanas militibus, qui deputantur ad exercitia bellica, negotiationes interdicuntur. Bellica autem exercitia maxime repugnant illis oiciis quibus episcopi et clerici deputantur, propter duo.” 12 Summa theologiae II, II, q. 40, a. 2: “licet exercere bella iusta sit meritorium, tamen illicitum redditur clericis propter hoc quod sunt ad opera magis meritoria deputati. Sicut matrimonialis actus potest esse meritorius, et tamen virginitatem voventibus damnabilis redditur, propter obligationem eorum ad maius bonum.” 13 Huguccio’s Summa, C. 23 q. 8, quoted from Russell 1975, 108–109. kurt villads jensen 87 his is beautifully illustrated in the Bayeux Tapestry on which Bishop Odo is riding together with the other warriors of his half-brother William the Conqueror. Odo is in full chain mail, but with a solid club in his hand instead of a sword: he may defend himself, he may if necessary knock out an enemy, but he will draw no blood, and the inscription on the tapestry tells us that his main function was to encourage the ighting men.14 he conquest of England in 1066 had papal blessing and can be considered a kind of proto-crusade; in fact, Odo joined the First Crusade towards Jerusalem but died en route in Sicily in 1097.15 Bishops and crusade theories he Crusades were made by bishops. Not long ater crusading had begun and become popular, it attracted the attention of theologians from monastic circles, from cathedral schools, and later from universities; however the reformulation of Latin Christian theology in the second half of the 11th century which made the Crusades possible was initiated and developed by bishops. When Pope Urban II preached the First Crusade in Clermont in November 1095 and promised spiritual beneits and the reward of martyrdom to those who took the cross, he was building upon discussions within the reform papacy by the episcopal circles around Pope Gregory VII—discussions which developed a new theology of coercion and of the sacriicial, utter destruction of enemies.16 Peter Damian († 1072), hermit and later cardinal bishop, introduced a theology of strong emotions in his letters and treatises. It served a function in his ight against sexual incontinence among clerics,17 but it opened for a more general use of violence in the service of the church in order to promote a higher good. Peter referred to the Old Testament Pinehas, a main igure during the 40 years’ exodus of the Israelites through the desert when the sons of Israel were at times tempted to venerate pagan gods, or to fraternize with the idolaters. When an Israelite openly brought a Midianite woman into his tent in the middle of the Israelite camp for obvious sexual purposes, Pinehas became outraged and ran to the tent, thrust his spear through the whoring man and into the belly of the woman, and killed them both. Because of Pinehas’s zeal, God’s wrath was turned away from Israel (Num 25:8–10). Pinehas became high priest and thus a precursor or model for medieval bishops: 14 “Hic Odo ep[iscopu]s baculum tenens confortat pueros.” 15 See Bates 1975. 16 For this theological turn, see Althof 2013; and Bysted 2015. For its application in a crusading and martyr context, see Cowdrey 2014. 17 For example when he (in an ot-quoted passage to Pope Nicholas II) suggested placing clothes pegs on the testicles of incontinent bishops, “temptavi genitialibus sacerdotum, ut ita loquar, continentiae ibulas adhibere”: Epistola 61, 2, 207. 88 kvhaa Konferenser 95 “sacerdotale oicium gerere perspicue reperitur”, in Peter Damian’s formulation.18 He also identiied Pinehas with Elijah who did not die, but was lited by a whirlwind into a chariot of ire driven by horses of ire and went directly to heaven, ittingly precisely because he burnt with the zeal for God. Such highly emotional language could be deployed to persuade bishops of their duty to ight against idolaters, and expound the reward they could hope to gain from this. Peter Damian produced more references to the divine obligation to use violence, such as the words of the Lord to Jeremiah: “Cursed be the one who does the Lord’s work negligently, and cursed be the one who restrains his sword from blood” ( Jer 48:10). He concluded that God, through their ecclesiastical oice, has given the bishops an arm of strength to ight against the enemies of God, and should the bishops hold it back from taking revenge on these enemies, God shall cut of this arm again.19 he bishop’s obligation was, then, to use violence against the enemies of God, should it be necessary. Other bishops followed Peter Damian’s line of thinking and scrutinized the Old Testament and other authorities in search for God-commanded wars and coercion. Bonizo of Sutri († c. 1095) referred to Augustine’s commentary on the Sermon on the Mount, that not only those sufering persecution were blessed, but also those who persecuted, if they do so for justice.20 his is stretching authorities to a considerable extent. In some context, Augustine used the phrase “justa persecutio” which he thought could be applied against the enemies of the church, but he never connected it to actually blessing the persecutors. his did not make the argument less convincing when Bonizo stated so around 1090. Bonizo also discussed the continuous war between the two sons of Abraham, namely Isaac whom Abraham begat with his legal wife Sarah and Ishmael with the slave woman Hagar. Descendants of Isaac—the Christians—are the true heirs and are therefore justiied in their struggles and use of violence against the imposters, the Ishmaelites. Bonizo followed tradition and identiied Ishmaelites with heretics, but ater the Crusades began, Ishmaelites and Hagarenes became standard designations for Muslims. Several of the Gregorian reform movement’s statements on bishops and warfare were incorporated into Gratian’s Decretum from around 1150 in Causa XXIII, questio 18 Epistola 61, 210, 213: “Ponamus plane, quod Ophni et Finees episcopi sunt.” 19 Epistola 61, 213: “Quia ego per pastoralis oicii dignitatem contra inimicos meos brachium tibi fortitudinis contuli, sed tu ad eorum ultionem illud exerere noluisti, iam brachium a te precidam, id est vigorem tibi sacerdotalis culminis auferam […]” 20 “Idem de sermone Dei habito in monte, cum de beatudinibus loqueretur et venisset ad Beati qui persecutionem paciuntur propter iustitiam, equaliter dixit [Augustinus] beatos eos, qui persecutionem inferunt propter iustitiam, acsi qui persecutionem paciuntur propter iustitiam.” Quoted from Althof 2013, 11. kurt villads jensen 89 VIII. It included some arguments against warfare, such as the word of Christ to Peter: “Put your sword back in its place”, or Ambrose’s statement that “he weapon of bishops are tears and prayers.”21 Most of the ensuing discussion, however, consists in clear approval of use of violence and warfare, if necessary, while bishops are prohibited from personally shedding blood. Bishops in war—practice Crusade preaching he First Crusade was set in motion by the bishop of Rome, Pope Urban II, with his sermon in conclusion of a general church meeting in Clermont on 27 November 1095. It is known in various versions transmitted directly or indirectly from persons who heard the sermon. One of these was Bishop Baldric of Bourgueil,22 who had Urban stress the importance of bishops to bring on the message to all Christians: turning to the bishops: Vos, inquit, fratres et coepiscopi, vos consacerdotes et cohæredes Christi, per ecclesias vobis commissas id ipsum annuntiate. et viam in Jerusalem toto ore viriliter prædicate. Confessis peccatorum suorum ignominiam, securi de Christo celerem paciscimini veniam. Vos autem qui ituri estis, habetis nos pro vobis oratores; nos habeamus vos pro populo Dei pugnatores. Nostrum est orare, vestrum sit contra Amalechitas pugnare. Nos extendemus cum Moyse manus indefessas, orantes in cælum; vos exerite et vibrate intrepidi præliatores in Amalech gladium. He [Urban] said, “You, brothers and fellow bishops; you, fellow priests and sharers with us in Christ, make this same announcement through the churches committed to you, and with your whole soul vigorously preach the journey to Jerusalem. When they have confessed the disgrace of their sins, do you, secure in Christ, grant them speedy pardon. Moreover, you who are to go shall have us praying for you; we shall have you ighting for God’s people. It is our duty to pray, yours to ight against the Amalekites. With Moses, we shall extend unwearied hands in prayer to Heaven, while you go forth and brandish the sword, like dauntless warriors, against Amalek.”23 Pope Urban’s exhortation worked. Bishops’ crusade preaching became common and not only an obligation, but also a privilege which they jealously guarded. In 1198, Archbishop Absalon complained to Innocent III about the Hospitallers in Denmark who had become so popular in preaching crusade that they could only meet the demand by hiring unskilled and uneducated laymen and priests of dubious reputation due to 21 “Arma episcopi lacrymae sunt et orationes.” 22 Baldric’s history of the First Crusade was written in 1105 when he was still an abbot, but revised in 1107 when he became bishop of Dol-en-Bretagne. 23 Baldric, Historia Ierosolimitana I,iv. 90 kvhaa Konferenser 95 their drunkenness and fornication. In the end, a brawl in a church during this kind of deplorable preaching had resulted in the shedding of blood and the desecration of the church. he archbishop received permission to excommunicate the persons involved, together with the privilege of a monopoly on crusade preaching.24 We get a fascinating glimpse of how preaching bishops functioned during crusades through the contemporary report describing the conquest of Lisbon in 1147. A crusader army sailed out from the north and combined with forces from Northern Germany and the British Isles, reaching Oporto where they were received by the local bishop, Pedro. He had been commissioned by the Portuguese king to meet the crusaders and escort them to Lisbon. Pedro began with a welcome sermon to these warriors “from the ultimate edges of the world” and promised them booty if they joined the war against the Muslims in Portugal adding spiritual beneits that would equal those they would gain by continuing to Jerusalem. He praised them for having let their homes and estates and the embraces of wives to follow Christ. hen followed a short historical resumé of the deplorable state of afairs in the Iberian Peninsula under the control of Moabites and Moors, and he called on them to provide both defence and resistence: “he mother church calls upon you, with truncated arms and disigured face, and demands the blood of its children and revenge by your hands. She cries and cries out loudly: take revenge over the pagans, punish the gentiles.”25 Do not rush to Jerusalem, Pedro continued, for what is laudable is not to have been in Jerusalem, but rather to have lived rightly on one’s way towards Jerusalem. Jesus had said “Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword” (Matt 26:52), but this is only directed towards those who take the sword without the permission of a proper authority. he crusaders, in contrast, carried with the permission of God the sword of justice, by which murders and robbers and fornicators shall be punished, and the impious shall perish. When the crusaders wield this sword, they shall not be blamed or accused of murder: “Verily, it is not cruelty, but piety towards God.” Bishops’ crusade sermons, to mobilize warriors or to encourage them in battle, can be found everywhere from the beginning of the 12th century and were stretched out to cover more and more ground, in terms of enemies and chronologically. To the east, the patriarch of Jerusalem preached to the crusaders against the Muslims on several occasions, e.g. in 1119. In the west, Archbishop Asser of Lund preached in crusading terms to the troops of the Danish king Erik Emune before the decisive battle at Fotevik against another Danish king, Niels, in 1134. Bishop Ralph of Orkney preached to the English and promised them indulgence before the Battle of the Standard against the Scots in 1138. According to Geofrey of Monmouth writing in the mid-12th cen24 DD I:3, no. 245. 25 De expugnatione Lyxbonensi, cap. 78. kurt villads jensen 91 tury, the 6th-century Welsh archbishop Dubricius preached a kind of crusade to King Arthur’s knights of the round table and promised them indulgence if they died in the defence of their fatherland, their patria.26 Preaching, praying, and strategic planning oten went hand in hand. In Livonia in the early 13th century, the bishop of Riga summoned the army before large battles to the usual “place of prayer and discussions of the army”.27 he spiritual and the practical preparations for warfare were equally important; they seem to have taken place in the same, designated areas, and the bishops seem to have been the leaders of these meetings, or at least to have played a decisive role there. Heads on poles and hands towards heaven Bishops had a commanding function in military matters, which in a crusading context oten blended in with their ecclesiastical function. During the First Crusade’s siege of Antioch in 1097, the papal legate and spiritual leader of the army, Adhemar, bishop of Le Puy, paid the crusaders twelve denars for each Muslim head they brought to him. He had the heads aixed to long poles and put on display below the city wall to the outrage of the Muslim defenders.28 When the situation later changed ater the crusaders had conquered the city, and they then had become the besieged ones, Adhemar rode out against the Muslims in front of the army followed by a knight with the lance that had pierced the side of Christ on the cross, and had been miraculously found in the cathedral in Antioch. he lance was not directly used to kill any enemy, but was a token of divine help and was credited with securing victory against the numerically much larger enemy army. he story developed immediately, and in Western Europe it was believed that Adhemar had carried the lance himself, and therefore attested to its authenticity, and that this bishop cardinal was the real and natural leader of the Crusade.29 Adhemar as active leader in war was imitated by other crusading bishops, for example Archbishop Absalon. When he had fortiied Copenhagen in the 1160s, he established a special corps of mariners that patrolled the waters around the city and stopped pagan ships, beheaded the crew, and put the heads on poles on the beach outside Copenhagen, as a general warning to other heathens.30 When the siege of Lisbon began in 1147, Bishop Pedro of Porto continued to play an important role both in terms of the practicalities of the seige and providing encouragement to the crusaders, and also in preparing the military equipment. He negotiated 26 27 28 29 30 Jensen 2013, 98–99; Purkis 2008, 165, 208. Henry of Livonia, XXI.2; XXII.2; XXIII.9; XXVII.2. Guibert de Nogent, Dei gesta, 7, 23. Riley-Smith 1986, 96. Saxo, 14.49.4. 92 kvhaa Konferenser 95 with the Muslim defenders on the city wall and explained why they were unjust blasphemers. He protected the wooden siege towers by sprinkling them with holy water and preached again to the army, with a fragment of the true Cross raised in his hands. All men have a personal guardian angel, he claimed, and if you turn away from it, you can only come back by doing good works—such as ight in a crusade for our patria, our true fatherland. he main activity of the bishops during battles should in principle be to pray, according to Urban II and to the discussions among canon lawyers and canonists. Concrete examples of imitating the act of Moses, as Pope Urban had demanded, were, however, relatively few. One stems from a lost narrative about the Danish Crusade against Estonia and the conquest of Tallinn in 1219. It is known only in a Danish translation from c. 1600 as printed in a work by the Danish court historian, Huitfeldt, who had access to numerous sources now lost, so there is no good reason to question its medieval origin. he Danes outside Tallinn had done penitence, promised to fast one whole day every week as long as they lived should they win, and so began the battle. Huitfeldt relates regarding Archbishop Andreas Sunesen: Det skrifuis lige om hannem som om Moyse enten det er sanden eller ey maa Gud vide At Biscop Andreas skulde hafue staaet paa sine Knæ paa Bierget giørendis Bøn til Gud Oc all den stund hand racte sine Hender op til Himmelen vunde de Danske Men strax hans Hender sinckede neder for hans Alderdoms skyld inge de Wchristne ofuerhaand Derfaare støttet de andre Bisper oc Prester hans Arme saa lenge Striden paastod oc met Gudelig andact bad at Gud vilde de Christne Seyer gifue Oc omuende de Hedninge til Guds bekiendelse.31 It is written about him, as about Moses—whether it is true or not, God only knows—that Bishop Andreas kneeled on the mountain and prayed to God, and whenever he raised his hands towards heaven, the Danes won, but when his hands sank down because of his age, the non-Christians got the upper hand. herefore the other bishops and the priests supported his arms, as long as the battle endured, and they prayed devotedly that God would grant victory to the Christians, and convert the heathens. 31 Huitfeldt 1600, 106. kurt villads jensen 93 Bloody sacriices Did bishops kill with their own hands, in spite of all the theories? Probably not, but the question becomes complicated, because they are depicted as doing so in a genre of texts closely connected to crusading milieux, the chansons de geste. he earliest known of these is the Chanson de Roland, which is diicult to date precisely, but contains themes that became popular with the First Crusade, and it probably stems from the late 11th century. One of the main igures in the song is the archbishop, Turpin. He begins his engagement in Charlemagne’s wars against the Spanish Muslims with a perfectly acceptable crusading sermon to the warriors: D’altre part est li arcevesques Turpin, Sun cheval broche e muntet un lariz, Franceis apelet, un sermun lur ad dit: «Seignurs baruns, Carles nus laissat ci; Pur nostre rei devum nus ben murir. Chrestientet aidez a sustenir! Bataille avrez, vos en estes tuz iz, Kar a voz oilz veez les Sarrazins. Clamez vos culpes, si preiez Deu mercit! Asoldrai vos pur voz anmes guarir. Se vos murez, esterez seinz martirs, Sieges avrez el greignor pareïs.» Franceis de[s]cendent, a tere se sunt mis, E l’arcevesque de Deu les beneïst: Par penitence les cumandet a ferir. Franceis se drecent, si se metent sur piez. Ben sunt asols e quites de lur pecchez, E l’arcevesque de Deu les ad seignez. From the other part is the Archbishop Turpin,/He pricks his horse and mounts upon a hill;/Calling the Franks, sermon to them begins:/“My lords barons, Charles let us here for this;/He is our king, well may we die for him:/To Christendom good service ofering./ Battle you’ll have, you all are bound to it,/For with your eyes you see the Sarrazins./Pray for God’s grace, confessing Him your sins!/For your souls’ health, I’ll absolution give/So, though you die, blest martyrs shall you live,/hrones you shall win in the great paradise.”/ he Franks dismount, upon the ground are lit./hat archbishop God’s benediction gives,/ For their penance, good blows to strike he bids./he Franks arise, and stand upon their feet,/ hey’re well absolved, and from their sins made clean,/And the archbishop has signed them with God’s seal.32 A little later in the Chanson, however, the archbishop takes a much more active and personal role in the ighting. First he takes revenge upon a Muslim who had killed one 32 La Chanson de Roland, laisses LXXXIX–XC. Translations from Moncrief 1919. 94 kvhaa Konferenser 95 of his comrades—“One thou hast slain for whom my heart is sad”—and ights him, until he lings him dead on the green grass.33 Later, ighting is resumed and Turpin mounts his noble and swit horse that he had taken from Grossaille, the Danish king whom he had slain. No further details are provided about how and why he killed a king from such a noble country, but the horse is splendid. Turpin attacks a Muslim warrior with a precious shield ornate with amethysts and topazes and ights him mercilessly, until with a mighty blow he cuts the enemy in two halves, rib from rib away. he Franks are amazed and utter, that with such an archbishop, the cross is safe. He is a right good chevalier.34 In the end, Turpin is killed by four spear wounds. But suddenly he jumps to his feet and continues ighting, for “while life remains, no good vassal gives up”. When he is inally dead, with his bowels and brain scattered around him, the poem summarizes: “Dead is Turpin, the warrior of Charlon,/in battles great and very rare sermons/against pagans ever a champion./God grant him now His benediction.”35 Other chansons present us with other belligerent bishops. One appears in an unambiguously crusading context, Bishop Jerome of Valencia in the Song of the Cid. After having said mass, Jerome comes to the camp of the war leader and crusader, el Cid, because of his “longing to kill some Moors”. He is well received and allowed to join in the battle. Jerome spurs his horse and attacks the enemies, and immediately kills two Muslims with his lance, before it breaks. hen he takes to the sword and cuts down another ive Muslims.36 Turpin and Jerome are igures of iction in the sense that bishops did not actually do bloody killing with their own hands, but they relect an understanding of the washing away of sin and evil with blood. hey express a combination of knightly and episcopal ideals in which the physical killing becomes a sacred act in defence of the Holy Cross. he bloody sacriice conlates with the sacriice of the eucharist. When the Danish crusader army waited on the ships for a pagan attack on Rügen in the 1180s, the warriors were informed that the enemy leet had given up and returned back home. Archbishop Absalon therefore disembarked on shore and prepared to celebrate mass. Suddenly the news came that the enemies had used the heavy fog to sneak back and were about to attack. Absalon commanded his followers switly to collect all the vessels for communion, rushed to the boat and took command over the leet, for “now he would bring God a sacriice with weapons and not with prayers. 33 34 35 36 La Chanson de Roland, laisse XCIC. La Chanson de Roland, laisse CXXVI. La Chanson de Roland, laisses CLIV–CLV; CLXVI. Cantar de mio Cid, fol. 48v: “Oy uos dix la missa de Sancta Trinidade/Por esso sali de mi tierra e vin uos buscar/Por sabor que auia de algun moro matar/Mi orden e mis manos querria las ondrar. […] Alos primeros colpes dos moros mataua dela lança/El astil a quebrado y metio mano al espada/Ensayauas el obispo dios que bien lidiaua/Dos mato con lança e .v. con el espada.” kurt villads jensen 95 And what sacriice could be more pleasing to the Almighty than the death of the evildoer?”37 Warfare is here taking over the function of communion, or became an alternative way of celebrating the mass. In a comparable situation, the priest and missionary Henry was in the middle of baptizing some defeated pagans in 1219 in Livonia when suddenly it was rumoured that the pagans had attacked. Henry interrupted the ceremony and packed away the oil of chrism and the other liturgical items, and “rushed to the ministry of shield and sword and ran to the camp, where we organized the troops ...”.38 he ministry of shield and sword is here in practice compared to the sacrament of baptism. Criticism of crusading bishops? he theology of utter destruction that became so strong in the latter half of the 11th century attracted criticism from other theologians. Some argued that this was not what the church was wont to do, and was met with Gregory VII’s explanation that Jesus had claimed to be truth and life, not tradition and life.39 Others remarked that the Lord had forbidden King David to build a temple for the Ark of Covenant, because David was a vir sanguinum, a warrior stained by blood (1 Par 28,3). Others simply referred to Jesus’s words of turning the other cheek.40 hese critical voices, however, were silenced over the 12th century. here was little opposition to bishops following warriors onto the battleield, and criticism of crusading as such was almost non-existent—at least until the Middle Eastern crusades had proven insuicient to secure the Holy Sepulchre for Latin Christianity ater the loss of the last Latin stronghold in the Holy Land, the city of Acre in 1291.41 Exceptions occurred, for example ater the outcome of the so-called Fith Crusade to Egypt in 1221, which ended as a military catastrophe. Some attributed this to the leadership of Cardinal Pelagius who seems to have been neither militarily nor diplomatically gited.42 He turned down a peace proposal from the Egyptian Sultan Kamil 37 Saxo, 16.5.1, “Quod enim sacriicii genus scelestorum nece divinae potentiae iucundius existimemus?”. 38 Henry of Livonia, XXIII.7, “Unde nos confestim proiecto sacrosancto crismate ceterisque sacramentis ad clypeorum gladiorumque ministeria cucurrimus et festinavimus in campum, ordinantes acies nostras contra adversarios nostros […]”. 39 Epistolae vagantes no. 67 (Gregory VII 1972, 151): “Si consuetudinem fortassis opponas, aduertendum fuerit quod Dominus dicit: Ego sum ueritas et uita. Non ait: Ego sum consuetudo, sed ueritas. Et certe, ut beati Cypriani utamur sententia, quaelibet consuetudo, quantumuis uetusta, quantumuis uulgata, ueritati est omnino postponenda et usus qui ueritati est contrarius abolendus.” 40 For this criticism, see Althof 2013. 41 On criticism of crusading, see Kedar 1984; Siberry 1985. 42 Donovan 1950. 96 kvhaa Konferenser 95 at a time when it would actually have beneited the crusaders, and he lacked the proper authority to unite the crusader forces and make them work efectively together. He was criticized less by ecclesiastical colleagues as by the troubadours, for example by Guillaume le Clerc from Normandy: “It is against religion if a cleric is leading knights. He shall read Bible and Psalms, and then he shall leave to the knights to ight war.”43 It falls outside the scope of this article to follow the theme of bishops on crusades into the later Middle Ages, ater the formative crusading period of the 12th and 13th centuries. he general discussions about bishops and wars continued along the same lines that were laid out around 1100. It may be that the criticism of bishops for becoming too eagerly involved in actual battles became more pronounced in the later period. One single example must suice to illustrate this criticism, but also the continuity of themes and arguments. he treatise on the seven sacraments from Vadstena monastery in Sweden was written in the early 15th century and is a standard example of an educational manual for priests and confessors that can be found from anywhere in the Latin Christian world at that time. During the section on the mass and on communion, this treatise explains that one who has shed the blood of a neighbour is not worthy to deal with the body of Christ. he person whose hands are stained with blood belongs to those who cruciied Christ. herefore, it is forbidden by church law for a murderer to celebrate mass. he text then continues, in order to address directly the matter of bishops and war: Quidam episcopi modernis temporibus portauerunt arma, putantes se per hoc defendere Ecclesiam, et hac occasione dimissis ecclesiis habitant in castris, et plus delectantur in armis quam in dei seruicio vel scripturis. Tales non sunt veri defensatores Ecclesie sed oppressores pauperum et depredatores iudicandi sicut veri latrones coram Deo, nisi se emendent. Quamuis autem deus promisit—ad tempus—tales preesse in Ecclesia, sicut Cayphas et Annas regnauerunt ad tempus ad suam propriam dampnacionem. Many bishops in modern times carry arms and believe that they can thereby defend the church, and they abandon their churches to live in castles, and they have more joy in arms than in the service of God or in Scripture. hey are not the true defenders of the church, but they oppress the poor and rob them, and they will be judged before God as thieves and robbers if they do not amend their ways. God sometimes allow such types to lead the church, as Caiphas and Annas ruled for a time, but to their own damnation.44 43 Le Besant de Dieu, ll. 2550–62, “Perdimes nus cele cite [i.e. Damietta]/E par folie e par pecchie/Bien nus dit estre reprochie/Car puis que clerc a la mestrie/De conduire chevalerie/ Certes ceo est contre dreiture/Mes alt li clers a s’escripture/E a ses psaumes verseiller/E lest aler le chevaler/A ses granz batailles champels/Et is seit devant ses autels/E prit por les combateors/E asouille les peccheors.” Cf. hroop 1938. 44 De septem sacramentis, VI.8. kurt villads jensen 97 he text continues explaining that it is the will of God that bishops shall ight not with arms, but with virtues. he example is again Moses praying during the battle against the Amalekites and Hur and Aaron supporting Moses and holding up his arms. he section concludes in this manner: Ex hiis patet, quod sacerdotes debent orare et milites pugnare. Nam si sacerdotes cessant orare deuote et debite, tunc dyabolus preualet ad lagellandum populum dei spiritualiter et corporaliter. Si autem ipsi cum claustralibus in oracionibus deuotis perseuerarent, tunc populus haberet meliorem pacem. Quamuis eciam sacri canones permittunt clericis vim vi repellere, tamen honorabilius et perfeccius est iniurias sustinere et non repercutere, sicut dicitur in ewangelio: Si quis te percusserit in dextram maxillam, prebe ei et alteram. Priests should pray, and soldiers ight. For if priests stop praying devotedly as they should, then the devil succeeds in logging the people of God, both spiritually and literally. But as long as they devotedly continue in their praying together with monks and nuns, the people will have a better peace. Although church law permits ecclesiastics to resist force with force, it is more honourable and better to endure grievances and not pay back, as it is said in the Gospel: “If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other cheek too”.45 Archbishop Absalon in the 12th century and most of his bishop colleagues living in those centuries of intensive crusading activities would not have agreed. As long as they did not shed blood with their own hands, they did nothing wrong; and crusading bishops would not have accepted the sharp dichotomy between praying and ighting. hese were two sides of the same coin, complementary activities in bishops’ sacramental ight against evil. Bibliography Sources Baldric of Bourgueil. 2014. he Historia Ierosolimitana of Baldric of Bourgueil, ed. S. Biddlecombe (Woodbridge: Ashgate). Bernardus Claravallensis, De consideratione libri quinque ad Eugenium tertium, PL 184, 727–808. Bernardus Claravallensis, Epistola XLII: Ad Henricum archiepiscopum senonensem, PL 182, 807–832. Cantar de mio Cid, BN­Madrid MS Va 7–17, ed. digital de Pablo Pastrana-Pérez, http://homepages.wmich.edu/~ppastran/etexts/Cid/CIDb.pdf [accessed 20 April 2016]. De Expugnatione Lyxbonensi / he conquest of Lisbon. 2001. Ed. and transl. C.W. David [1936]; re-ed. J. Phillips (New York: Columbia University Press). De septem sacramentis: en sakramentsutläggning rån Vadstena kloster ca 1400. Ed. C.G. Andrén (Lund, 1963). 45 De septem sacramentis, VI.8. 98 kvhaa Konferenser 95 Gregory VII. 1972. Epistolae vagantes, ed. H.E.J. Cowdrey, he Epistolae vagantes of Pope Gregory VII (Oxford: Clarendon Press). Guibert de Nogent. 1996. Dei gesta per Francos et cinq autres textes, ed. R.B.C. Huygen (Turnholt: Brepols). Guillaume le Clerc de Normandie. 1869. Le Besant de Dieu, ed. E. Martin (Halle: Waisenhaus). Henry of Livonia. 1959. Heinrici Chronicon Livoniae, ed. L. Arbusow & A. Bauer; reed. A. Bauer (Darmstadt). Huitfeldt, Arild. 1600. En Kaart Chronologia, forfølge oc Continuatz: 1. Part. Som in­ deholder Canuti VI. historia … (Copenhagen). Petrus Damiani. 1983–1993. Epistolae, Die Briefe des Petrus Damiani, ed. K. Reindel, vols. 1–4 (München). Regula pastoralis, PL 77, 13–125. La Chanson de Roland. 1940. Ed. R. Mortier (Oxford: Clarendon Press). La Chanson de Roland. 1919. Trans. C.K. Moncreif (London). Saxo. he history of the Danes. Books I–IX, transl. and comm. P. Fisher & H.E. Davidson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979–1980). Saxo. Danorum regum heroumque historia. Books X–XVI (the text of the irst edition with transl. and commentary by E. Christiansen; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980–1981.). Saxo Grammaticus. Gesta danorum 1–2, ed. K. Friis-Jensen, trans. P. Zeeberg (Copenhagen, 2005). homas Aquinas. Summa theologiae, vols. 1–4, ed. P. Caramello (Rome, 1948). Secondary literature Althof, G. 2013. Selig sind, die Verfolgung ausübt. Päpste und Gewalt im Hochmittelalter (Darmstadt: Konrad heiss). Bates, D.R. 1975. ‘he character and career of Odo, bishop of Bayeux (1049/50– 1097)’, Speculum 50, 1–20. Bysted, A.L. 2015. he Crusade indulgence: Spiritual rewards and the theology of the Crusades, c. 1095–1216 (Leiden: Brill). Cowdrey, H.E.J. 2014. ‘New dimensions of reform: War as a path to salvation’, in Jerusalem the Golden: he origins and impact of the First Crusade, eds. S.B. Edgington & L. García-Guijarro, (Turnhout: Brepols), 11–24. Donovan, J.P. 1950. Pelagius and the Fith Crusade (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press). Jensen, J.M. 2013. ‘King Erik Emune (1134–1137) and the Crusades: he impact of crusading ideology on early twelth-century Denmark’, in Cultural encounters during the Crusades, eds. K.V. Jensen, K. Salonen & H. Vogt (Odense: Ringsted), 91–104. kurt villads jensen 99 Kedar, B.Z. 1984. Crusade and mission: European approaches toward the Muslims (Princeton: Princeton University Press). Purkis, W. 2008. Crusading spirituality in the Holy Land and Iberia (Woodbridge: Ashgate). Rapp, C. 2005. Holy bishops in Late Antiquity: he nature of Christian leadership in an age of transition (Berkeley: University of California Press). Riley-Smith, J. 1986. he First Crusade and the idea of crusading (Philadelphia– London: University of Pennsylvania Press). Russell, F.H. 1975. he just war in the Middle Ages (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). Siberry, E. 1985. Criticism of crusading 1095–1274 (Oxford: Oxford University Press). hroop, P.A. 1938. ‘Criticism of papal crusade policy in Old French and Provençal’, Speculum 13, 379–412.