Read Online The Conclave: A Sometimes Secret and Occasionally Bloody History of Papal Elections by Michael Walsh - Free Book Online
Authors: Michael Walsh
Ads: Link
personally sat in judgment over those accused; it was recorded that some 300 people were executed, and when Leo died shortly afterward, there was an uprising. The Roman electors chose Stephen IV (V) as Leo’s suc- cessor; he had been close to the late pope but by reason of his noble birth was acceptable to the noble families of the city. His was the first election after what was regarded as the reestablishment of the Roman Empire in the West. Pope Stephen did not ask the Emperor Louis the Pious to approve the Roman choice of pope, but he did take care to inform him that he had been chosen.
Stephen did not survive long – just six months. The election of his successor, Paschal I, followed a similar pattern: he was elected
Descent into Chaos 41
the day of Stephen’s death, 23 January 817, and consecrated the following day, probably to give the emperor no time to interfere – but he then punctiliously informed the Emperor Louis of his con- secration. Paschal wanted to keep the emperor at arm’s length, so as not to undermine his own control over Rome. After a visit to the city by the co-Emperor Lothair, Paschal suspected two of the high- est o ffi cials in his entourage of conniving with Lothair to put lim- its to his sovereignty: he had them blinded and beheaded. Lothair sent a commission back to Rome to investigate, but before they could do so Paschal had died. The Roman mob was so hostile to the memory of the late pope, however, that they would not let him be buried in St. Peter’s. It was not until his successor was safely installed that he was interred, though still not in St. Peter’s.
His successor was Eugenius II. Paschal had died on 17 May 824. Eugenius was not installed until fi months later because of disturbances in the city. That Eugenius, Archpriest of Santa Sabina on the Aventine Hill, was elected at all is probably the result of the machinations of the emperor’s adviser on papal a ff airs, a monk called Wala, who was already in Rome trying to sort out the problems a ff licting the city when Paschal became ill and died. There was clearly need to try to regulate papal elections. A “Constitution” was drawn up by Lothair and imposed on the papacy. It insisted that all Romans, lay as well as clerical, had a right to take part in the elections of the popes, and no one else. Such elections were to be carried out “justly and canonically,” which meant without interference from the emperor; on the other hand the emperor would ensure that the regulations were properly observed. Troublemakers were to be expelled from the city. But although he was not going to inter- vene, the emperor required the pope to take an oath of loyalty to him before he was consecrated. This was not as in the days of the Byzantine Empire, when the Eastern emperor claimed the right to ratify the people’s choice of bishop. The Western emper- or, under the “Constitution” of 824, demanded a pledge of
42 The Conclave
friendship between Rome and the Empire. It was to be received by the imperial legate in Rome itself.
Valentine, the one and only pope of that name, was apparently elected according to this formula when Eugenius died in 827, but just when Eugenius died, and how long Valentine was pope, is not recorded: it was probably only a couple of months. But he, like his successor Gregory IV, was almost certainly chosen because he was a member of the aristocracy. They fulfilled all the requirements as far as the emperor was concerned. At the death of Gregory in 844 the nobility again promoted their own candidate, the archpriest Sergius, but there was an attempt by a deacon, John, to get himself elected, apparently with the help of distinctly nonaristocratic country folk. So, at least, the Liber Pontificalis says. The nobility of Rome, however, came riding – the text is very explicit on the presence of mounted soldiers – to the defense of Sergius and promptly ousted John from the Lateran. Sergius’s supporters wanted to
Stephen did not survive long – just six months. The election of his successor, Paschal I, followed a similar pattern: he was elected
Descent into Chaos 41
the day of Stephen’s death, 23 January 817, and consecrated the following day, probably to give the emperor no time to interfere – but he then punctiliously informed the Emperor Louis of his con- secration. Paschal wanted to keep the emperor at arm’s length, so as not to undermine his own control over Rome. After a visit to the city by the co-Emperor Lothair, Paschal suspected two of the high- est o ffi cials in his entourage of conniving with Lothair to put lim- its to his sovereignty: he had them blinded and beheaded. Lothair sent a commission back to Rome to investigate, but before they could do so Paschal had died. The Roman mob was so hostile to the memory of the late pope, however, that they would not let him be buried in St. Peter’s. It was not until his successor was safely installed that he was interred, though still not in St. Peter’s.
His successor was Eugenius II. Paschal had died on 17 May 824. Eugenius was not installed until fi months later because of disturbances in the city. That Eugenius, Archpriest of Santa Sabina on the Aventine Hill, was elected at all is probably the result of the machinations of the emperor’s adviser on papal a ff airs, a monk called Wala, who was already in Rome trying to sort out the problems a ff licting the city when Paschal became ill and died. There was clearly need to try to regulate papal elections. A “Constitution” was drawn up by Lothair and imposed on the papacy. It insisted that all Romans, lay as well as clerical, had a right to take part in the elections of the popes, and no one else. Such elections were to be carried out “justly and canonically,” which meant without interference from the emperor; on the other hand the emperor would ensure that the regulations were properly observed. Troublemakers were to be expelled from the city. But although he was not going to inter- vene, the emperor required the pope to take an oath of loyalty to him before he was consecrated. This was not as in the days of the Byzantine Empire, when the Eastern emperor claimed the right to ratify the people’s choice of bishop. The Western emper- or, under the “Constitution” of 824, demanded a pledge of
42 The Conclave
friendship between Rome and the Empire. It was to be received by the imperial legate in Rome itself.
Valentine, the one and only pope of that name, was apparently elected according to this formula when Eugenius died in 827, but just when Eugenius died, and how long Valentine was pope, is not recorded: it was probably only a couple of months. But he, like his successor Gregory IV, was almost certainly chosen because he was a member of the aristocracy. They fulfilled all the requirements as far as the emperor was concerned. At the death of Gregory in 844 the nobility again promoted their own candidate, the archpriest Sergius, but there was an attempt by a deacon, John, to get himself elected, apparently with the help of distinctly nonaristocratic country folk. So, at least, the Liber Pontificalis says. The nobility of Rome, however, came riding – the text is very explicit on the presence of mounted soldiers – to the defense of Sergius and promptly ousted John from the Lateran. Sergius’s supporters wanted to
Similar Books
