Pope Gelasius II
| Pope Gelasius II | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Rome | |
Posthumous drawing of Gelasius II, 16th century
| |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Papacy began | 24 January 1118 |
| Papacy ended | 29 January 1119 |
| Predecessor | Paschal II |
| Successor | Callixtus II |
| Previous posts | Acting Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church (1088) Cardinal-Deacon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin (1088–1118) Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church (1089–1118) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 9 March 1118 |
| Consecration | 10 March 1118 |
| Created cardinal | September 1088 by Urban II |
| Rank | Cardinal Deacon (1088 - 1118) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Giovanni Caetani 1060–64 Gaeta, Duchy of Gaeta |
| Died | 29 January 1119 Cluny, Duchy of Burgundy, Kingdom of France |
| Other popes named Gelasius | |
Pope Gelasius II (c. 1060/1064 – 29 January 1119), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 January 1118 to his death in 1119. A monk of Monte Cassino and chancellor of Pope Paschal II, Caetani was unanimously elected to succeed him. In doing so, he also inherited the conflict with Emperor Henry V over investiture. Gelasius spent a good part of his brief papacy in exile.
Biography
Early life
Born c. 1060 at Gaeta, Giovanni belonged to the Caetani family.[1] He was educated and later became a monk at Monte Cassino.[2] Pope Urban II, who wished to improve the style of papal documents, brought him to Rome and made Giovanni a papal subdeacon (August 1088) and cardinal deacon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin (probably on 23 September 1088).[2] As chancellor of the Holy Roman Church from 1089 to 1118,[2] he drastically reformed the papal administration, establishing a permanent staff of clerks for the papacy, overcoming the previous custom of relying on Roman notaries to write papal documents, and introducing the minuscule curial script. His tenure also established the precedent of the papal chancellor always being a cardinal and holding the office for life or until elected pope.
Pontificate
Upon his unanimous election to succeed Pope Paschal II in 1118, Giovanni took the name Gelasius II.[2] He was immediately seized by Cencio II Frangipane, a partisan of Emperor Henry V, but was freed by a general uprising of the Romans on his behalf.[3]
Gelasius was driven from Rome in March 1118, by Henry V who sought to enforce the privilege of investiture. His election was pronounced null and void by Henry who set up Maurice Bourdin, Archbishop of Braga, as antipope under the name of Gregory VIII. Gelasius fled to Gaeta, where he was ordained a priest on 9 March 1118 and on the following day received episcopal consecration. He at once excommunicated Henry V and the antipope and, under Norman protection, was able to return to Rome in July. But the disturbances of the imperialist party, especially those of the Frangipani, who attacked the Pope while celebrating Mass in the church of St. Prassede, compelled Gelasius to go once more into exile. He set out for France, consecrating the cathedral of Pisa on the way,[4] and arrived at Marseille in October. He was received with great enthusiasm at Avignon, Montpellier and other cities, and held a synod at Vienne in January 1119. Gelasius died 29 January 1119 at the Abbey of Cluny, whilst planning to hold a general council to settle the investiture controversy.[5]
See also
From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia
Pope Gelasius II — Born at Gaeta, year unknown; elected 24 Jan., 1118; died at Cluny, 29 Jan., 1119. No sooner had Paschal II ended his stormy pontificate, than the cardinals, knowing that the emperor, Henry V, had concerted measures with a faction of the Roman nobility to force the selection of a pliant imperial candidate, met secretly in a Benedictine monastery on the Palatine. Having dispatched a messenger to Monte Cassino, to summon the aged chancellor, Cardinal John of Gaeta, they turned a deaf ear to his entreaties and unanimously declared him pope.
John was of a noble family, probably the Gaetani. Early in his life he entered the monastery of Monte Cassino, where he made such progress in learning and became so proficient in Latin, that, under successive pontiffs, he held the office of chancellor of the Holy See. He was the trusted advisor of Paschal II; shared his captivity and shielded him against the zealots who charged the pope with heresy for having, under dire compulsion, signed the "Privilegium", which constituted the emperor lord and master of papal and episcopal elections (see II and ). When the news spread that the cardinals had elected a pope without consulting the emperor, the imperialist party broke down the doors of the monastery; and their leader, Cenzio Frangipani, seized the new pontiff by the throat, cast him to the ground, stamped on him with spurred feet, dragged him by the hair to his neighbouring castle, and threw him, loaded with chains, into a dungeon. Indignant at this brutal deed, the Romans rose in their might; and, surrounding the robber's den, demanded the instant liberation of the pontiff. Frangipani, intimidated, released the pope, threw himself at his feet, and begged and obtained absolution. A procession was formed, and amidst shouts of joy Gelasius II (so he termed himself) was conducted into the Lateran and enthroned.
The triumph was of short duration; for, 2 March, the formidable figure of Henry V was seen in St. Peter's. As soon as he had heard of the proceedings at Rome, he left his army at Lombardy and hastened to the capital. Gelasius immediately determined upon flight. On a stormy night, the pope and his court proceeded in two galleys down the Tiber, pelted by the imperialists with stones and arrows. After several mishaps Gelasius at length reached Gaeta, where he was received by the Normans with open arms. Being only a deacon, he received successively priestly ordination and episcopal consecration. Meanwhile, the emperor, ignoring the action of the cardinals, placed on the throne of St. Peter a senile creature of royal power, Maurice Burdinus, Archbishop of Braga in Portugal, who had the audacity to take the venerated name of Gregory. Gelasius pronounced a solemn excommunication against both of them; and as soon as the emperor, frustrated of his prey, left Rome, he returned secretly; but soon took the resolution of taking refuge in France. He went by way of Pisa, where he consecrated its splendid marble cathedral, and Genoa. He was received by the French with the utmost reverence. The powerful minister of Louis VI, the Abbot Suger, conducted him to the monastery of Cluny. Gelasius was perfecting plans for the convocation of a great council at Reims, when he succumbed to pleurisy, leaving the consummation of the fifty years' war for freedom to his successor, Callistus II.
Baronius and Reumont agree in pronouncing that no historical personage ever compressed so many misfortunes into the short space of a year and five days. There seems to be no reason why the Benedictine Order should not take up his case for canonization. Benedict XIV tells us ("De Beat. et Canon.", I, xli, n. 30) that in his time the question was mooted; but for one reason or another it was overlooked. The life of Gelasius was written by his intimate friend, Pandulphus of Pisa, an eye-witness to what he narrates; it is in Muratori, "Rer. ital. Scr.", III, 1 sqq.
Liber Pontificalis, ed. DUCHESNE, II, 311-12, 376; WATTERICH, Pontificum Romanorum Vitæ (1862), II, 91-114; BARONIUS, Ann. Eccl. ad ann. 1118, 1119; GAETANI, Vita del pontefice Gelasio II (Rome, 1802, 1811); histories of medieval Rome by GREGOROVIUS; VON REUMONT.
References
Bibliography
- Brand, Benjamin (2014). Holy Treasure and Sacred Song: Relic Cults and Their Liturgies in Medieval Tuscany. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199351367.
- Loughlin, James (1909). "Pope Gelasius II". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. Robert Appleton Company.
- McBrien, Richard P. (1997). Lives of the Popes. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-065304-3.
- Pham, John-Peter (2004). Heirs of the Fisherman. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195178340.
- Robinson, I.S. (1990). The Papacy, 1073-1198: Continuity and Innovation. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521319225.