and lost all compunction at shedding blood and pillaging houses.
Herlembald established himself in a large mansion, which he
fortified and filled with mercenaries; over it waved the consecrated
banner of St. Peter. From this stronghold he issued forth to
assail the obnoxious clergy. They were dragged from their altars
and consigned to shame and insult. The services of the Church, the
celebration of the sacraments, were suspended, or administered only
by the one or two priests who adhered to the Patari. It is said
that, in order to keep his rude soldiery in pay, Herlembald made
every clerk take a solemn oath that he had ever kept innocence,
and would wholly abstain from marriage or concubinage. Those who
could not, or would not, take this oath were expelled the city, and
their whole property confiscated to support the standing corps of
hireling ruffians maintained by the Crusader. The lowest rabble,
poor artisans and ass-drivers, furtively placed female ornaments
in the chambers of the priests, and then, attacking their houses,
dragged them out and plundered their property. By 1064, when a synod
was held at Mantua by the Pope, Milan was purged of "Simoniacs and
Nicolaitans," and the clergy who remained were gathered together
into a house to live in common, under rule.
Guido of Milan and all the Lombard prelates attended that important
synod, which saw the triumph of Alexander, his reconciliation with
the Emperor, and the general abandonment of the anti-Pope, Cadalus.
In the following year, Henry IV. was under the tutelage of Adalbert
of Bremen; he had escaped from Anno, Archbishop of Cologne, who
had favoured the strict faction and Alexander II. The situation in
Lombardy changed simultaneously. Herlembald had assumed a power,
an authority higher than that of the archbishop, whom he refused
to recognise, and denounced as a heretic. Guido, weary of the
nine years of strife he had endured, relieved from the fear of
interference from Germany, resolved on an attempt to throw off the
hateful yoke. The churches of Milan were for the most part without
pastors. The married clergy had been expelled, and there were none
to take their place. The Archbishop had been an obedient penitent
for five years, compromising his one hundred years of penitence by
payments into the Papal treasury; but as the cause of Alexander
declined, his contrition languished, died out; and he resumed his
demands for fees at ordinations and institutions, at least so
clamoured Ariald and Herlembald in the ears of Rome.
A party in Milan had long resented the despotism of the "Law of
God and the law of the sword" of Ariald and Herlembald, and an
effort was made to break it, with the sanction, no doubt, of the
Archbishop. A large body of the citizens rose, "headed," says Andrew
of Strumi, "by the sons of the priests," and attacked the church and
house of Ariald, but, unable to find him, contented themselves with
wrecking the buildings. Thereupon Herlembald swept down at the head
of his mercenaries, surrounded the crowd, and hewed them to pieces
to the last man, "like the vilest cattle."[38]
[38] Hæc ut nobilis Herembaldus ceterique Fideles audiere,
sumptis armis, in audacem plebem et temerariam irruere;
quos protinus exterminavere omnes, quasi essent vilissimæ
pecudes,"--_Andr. Strum._
Guido, the Archbishop, now acted with resolution, and boldly took up
the cause of the married clergy. Having heard that two priests of
Monza, infected with Patarinism, had turned their wives out of their
houses, he ordered the arrest of the priests, and punished them with
imprisonment in the castle of Lecco. On hearing this, the Patarines
flew to arms, and swarmed out of Milan after Ariald, who bore the
banner of St. Peter, as Herlembald was absent at Rome. They met the
mounted servants of the Archbishop near Monza, surprised them, and
wrested from them a promise to surrender the priests. Three days
after, the curates were delivered up. Ariald, at the head of the
people, met them outside the gates, received them with enthusiasm,
crying, "See, these are the brave martyrs of Christ!" and escorted
them to a church, where they intoned a triumphant _Te Deum_.
Herlembald returned from Rome to Milan with a bull of
excommunication fulminated by the Pope against the Archbishop. Guido
summoned the Milanese to assemble in the cathedral church on the
vigil of Pentecost.
In the meantime the Patarines were torn into factions on a subtle
point mooted by Ariald. That demagogue had ventured to assail in a
sermon the venerable custom of the Milanese, which required them to
fast during the Rogation days. Was he greater than St. Ambrose? Did
he despise the authority of the great doctor? On this awful subject
the Patarines divided, and with the division lost their strength.
Neither Herlembald nor Ariald seems to have been prepared for the
bold action of the Archbishop. On the appointed day the cathedral
was filled with substantial citizens and nobles. Herlembald missed
the wolfish eyes, ragged hair, and hollow cheeks of his sectaries,
and, fearing danger, leaped over the chancel rails, and took up his
position near the altar. The Archbishop mounted the ambone with the
bull of excommunication in his hand. "See!" he exclaimed, "this
is the result of the turbulence of these demagogues, Ariald and
Herlembald. This city, out of reverence to St. Ambrose, has never
obeyed the Roman Church. Shall we be crushed? Take away out of the
land of the living these disturbers of the public peace who labour
day and night to rob us of our ancient liberties."
He was interrupted by a shout of "Let them be killed." Guido paused,
and then cried out, "All who honour and cleave to St. Ambrose, leave
the church, that we may know who are our adversaries." Instantly
from the doors rolled out the dense crowd, seven hundred in number,
according to the estimation of Andrew, the biographer of Ariald.
Only twelve men were left within who stood firm to the Patarine
cause. Ariald had, in the meantime, taken refuge in the choir beside
Herlembald. The clergy selected Ariald, the laity Herlembald, for
their victims. Ariald was dragged from the church, severely wounded.
Herlembald escaped better; using his truncheon, he beat off his
assailants till he had climbed to a place of safety, whence he
could not be easily dislodged.
As night fell, the Patarines gathered, stormed, and pillaged the
palace of the Archbishop, and, bursting into the church, liberated
Herlembald. Guido hardly escaped on horseback, sorely maltreated in
the tumult. His adherents fled like smoke before the tempest. Ariald
was found bleeding and faint, and was conveyed by the multitude in
triumph to the church of St. Sepolcro. Then Herlembald called to the
roaring mob to be still. "Let us ask Master Ariald whose house is to
be first given up to sack."
But Ariald earnestly dissuaded from further violence, and entreated
the vehement dictator to spare the lives and property of their
enemies.
The surprise to the Archbishop's party was, however, temporary only.
By morning they had rallied, and the city was again in their hands.
Guido published an interdict against Milan, which was to remain in
force as long as it harboured Ariald. No mass was said, no bells
rang, the church doors were bolted and barred. Ariald was secretly
removed by some of his friends to the village of St. Victor, where
also Herlembald had been constrained to take refuge with a party
of mercenaries. Thence they made their way to Pavia and to Padua,
where they hoped to obtain a boat, and escape to Rome. But the
whole country was up against them, and Herlembald was obliged to
disband his soldiers, and attempt to escape in disguise. Ariald
was left with a priest whose acquaintance Herlembald had made in
Jerusalem. But a priest was the last person likely to secrete the
tyrant and persecutor of the clergy. He treacherously sent word to
the Archbishop, and Ariald was taken by the servants of Olivia, the
niece of Guido, and conveyed to an island on the Lago Maggiore. He
was handed over to the cruel mercies of two married priests, who
directed his murder with cold-blooded heartlessness, if we may trust
the gossips picked up later. His ears, nose and lips were cut off.
He was asked if he would acknowledge Guido for archbishop. "As long
as my tongue can speak," he replied, "I will not." The servants
of Olivia tore out his tongue; he was beaten by the two savage
priests, and when he fainted, was flung into the calm waters of
the lovely lake. Andrew of Vallombrosa, or Strumi, followed in his
trace, and hung about the neighbourhood till he heard from a peasant
the awful story. He sought the mangled body.[39] It was found and
transported to Milan on the feast of the Ascension following. For
ten days it was exposed in the church of St. Ambrose, that all
might venerate it, and was finally disposed in the convent of St.
Celsus. In the memory of man, never had such a crowd been seen. The
Archbishop deemed it prudent to retire, and Herlembald profited
by his absence to recover his power, and make the people swear to
avenge the martyr, and unite to the death for the "good cause."
The events in Milan had their counterpart in the other cities of
Lombardy, especially at Cremona, where the bishopric had been
obtained by Arnulf, nephew of Guido of Milan. In that city, twelve
men, headed by one Christopher, took the Patarine oath to fight the
married clergy; the people joined them, and forced their oath on
the bishop-elect before he was ordained. But, as in 1067, he seized
a Patarine priest, a sedition broke out, in which the bishop was
seriously injured. The inhabitants of Cremona, after Easter, sent
ambassadors to the Pope, and received from him a reply, given by
Bonizo, exhorting them not to allow a priest, deacon or sub-deacon,
suspected of concubinage or simony, to hold a benefice or execute
his ministry. The consequence of this letter was that all suspected
clerks were excluded from their offices; and shortly after, the same
course was followed at Piacenza. Asti, Lodi, and Ravenna also threw
in their lot with the Patarines.
[39] Ariald was murdered on June 27, 1065. Andrew of Strumi says
1066; but he followed the Florentine computation--he had been a
priest of Florence--which made the year begin on March 25.
In 1067, Alexander II. sent legates to Milan to settle the
disturbances therein. Adalbert of Bremen had fallen, and again the
Papal party were in the ascendant. The fortunes of Milan fluctuated
with the politics of those who held the regency in the minority of
Henry IV.
Guido, now advanced in years, and weary of ruling so turbulent
a diocese, determined to vacate a see which he had held for
twenty-seven years; the last ten of incessant civil war. He burdened
it with a pension to himself, and then made it over to Godfrey, the
sub-deacon, along with the pastoral staff and ring. Godfrey crossed
the Alps, took the oath of allegiance to the Emperor, promised to
use his utmost endeavours to exterminate the Patarines, and to
deliver Herlembald alive into the hands of the Emperor, laden with
chains. Friend and foe, without scruple, designate the followers
of the Papal policy as Patarines; it is therefore startling, a
few years later, when the Popes had carried their point, to find
them insisting on the luckless Patarines being given in wholesale
hecatombs to the flames, as damnable heretics. It was an ungracious
return for the battle these heretics had fought under the banner of
St. Peter.
But Herlembald refused to acknowledge Godfrey, he devastated the
country with fire and sword wherever Godfrey was acknowledged, and
created such havoc that not a day passed in the holy Lenten fast
without the effusion of much Christian blood. Finally, Herlembald
drove the archbishop-elect to take refuge in the strong fortress
of Castiglione. Guido, not receiving his pension, annulled his
resignation, and resumed his state. But he unwisely trusted to
the good faith of Herlembald; he was seized,[40] and shut up in a
monastery till his death, which took place August 23, 1071.
[40] "Gloriosus hac vice delusus," says Arnulf.
The year before this, 1070, Adelheid, Margravine of Turin,
mother-in-law of the young Emperor, attacked the Patarines, and
burnt the cities of Lodi and Asti. On March 19, 1071, as Herlembald
was besieging Castiglione, a terrible conflagration broke out in
Milan, and consumed a great part of the city and several of the
stateliest churches. Whilst the army of Herlembald was agitated
by the report of the fire, Godfrey burst out of Castiglione, and
almost routed the besiegers. Before the death of Guido, Herlembald,
with the sanction of the Pope, had set up a certain Otto to be
Archbishop, nominated by himself and the Papal legate, without
consulting the electors of Milan or the Emperor, January 6, A.D.
1072.
Otto was but a youth, just admitted into holy orders, likely to
prove a pliant tool in the strong hand of the dictator. It was the
Feast of the Epiphany, and the streets were thronged with people,
when the news leaked out that an archbishop had been chosen,
and was now holding the customary banquet after election in the
archiepiscopal palace.
The people were furious, rose and attacked the house, hunted the
youthful prelate out of an attic, where he had taken refuge, dragged
him by his legs and arms into the church, and compelled him to swear
to renounce his dignity. The Roman legate hardly escaped with his
robes torn.
Herlembald, who had been surprised, recovered the upper hand in
Milan on the morrow, but not in the open country, which was swept
by the imperial troops. The suffragan bishops of Lombardy assembled
at Novara directly they heard of what had taken place in Milan, and
consecrated Godfrey as their archbishop.
Otto appealed to Rome (January, 1072), and a few weeks later the
Pope assembled a synod, and absolved Otto of his oath extorted from
him at Milan, acknowledged him as archbishop, and struck Godfrey
with interdict. Alexander II. died April 21, 1073, and the tiara
rested on the brows of the great Hildebrand.
On June 24, Hildebrand, now Gregory VII., wrote to the Margravine
Beatrice to abstain from all relations with the excommunicated
bishops of Lombardy; on June 28, to William, Bishop of Pavia, to
oppose the usurper, the excommunicate Godfrey of Milan; on July
1, to all the faithful of Lombardy to refrain from that false
bishop, who lay under the apostolic ban. From Capua, on September
27, he wrote to Herlembald, exhorting him to fight valiantly, and
hold out Milan against the usurper Godfrey. Again, on October 9,
to Herlembald, bidding him be of good courage; he hoped to detach
the young Emperor from the party of Godfrey, and bade him receive
amicably those who, with true sentiments of contrition, came over to
the Patarine, that is, the Papal side.
On March 10, 1074, Gregory held one of the most important synods,
not of his reign only, but ever held by any Pope. The acts of this
assembly have been lost or suppressed, but its most important
decisions were summed up in a letter from Gregory to the Bishop
of Constance. This letter has not been printed in the Registrum;
but fortunately it has been preserved by two contemporary writers,
Paul of Bernried, and Bernold of Constance, the latter of whom has
supplied a detailed apology for the law of celibacy promulgated in
that synod. Gregory absolutely forbade all priests sullied with the
_crimen fornicationis_, which embraced legitimate marriage, either
to say a mass or to serve at one; and the people were strictly
enjoined to shun their churches and their sacraments; and when the
bishops were remiss, he exhorted them themselves to enforce the
pontifical sentence.[41]
[41] "Audivimus quod quidam Episcoporum apud vos commorantium,
aut sacerdotes, et diaconi, et subdiaconi, mulieribus
commisceantur aut consentiant aut negligant. His præcipimus vos
nullo modo obedire, vel illorum præceptis consentire, sicut
ipsi apostolicæ sedis præceptis non obediunt neque auctoritati
sanctorum patrum consentiunt." "Quapropter ad omnes de quorum
fide et devotione confidimus nunc convertimur, rogantes vos et
apostolicâ auctoritate admonentes ut quidquid Episcopi dehinc
loquantur aut taceant, vos officium eorum quos aut simoniace
promotos et ordinatos aut in crimine fornicationis jacentes
cognoveritis, nullatenus recipiatis."--Letter to the Franconians
(Baluze, _Misc._ vii. p. 125).
The results shall be described in the words of a contemporary
historian, Sigebert of Gemblours. "Many," says he, "seeing in this
prohibition to hear a mass said by a married priest a manifest
contradiction to the doctrine of the Fathers, who believed that the
efficacy of sacrament, such as baptism, chrism, and the Body and
Blood of Christ, is independent of the dignity of the minister,
thence resulted a grievous scandal; never, perhaps, even in the time
of the great heresies, was the Church divided by a greater schism.
Some did not abandon their simony, others disguised their avarice
under a more acceptable name; what they boasted they had given
gratuitously, they in reality sold; very few preserved continence.
Some through greed of lucre, or sentiments of pride, simulated
chastity, but many added false oaths and numerous adulteries to
their debaucheries. The laity seized the opportunity to rise against
the clerical order, and to excuse themselves for disobedience to
the Church. They profaned the holy mysteries, administering baptism
themselves, and using the wax out of their ears as chrism. They
refused on their death-beds to receive the _viaticum_ from the
married priests; they would not even be buried by them. Some went
so far as to trample under foot the Host, and pour out the precious
Blood consecrated by married priests."[42]
[42] Pertz, viii. p. 362.
The affairs of the church of Milan continued in the same
unsatisfactory condition. The contest between the Patarines and
their adversaries had taken greater dimensions. The question which
divided them was now less that of the marriage of the clergy than
which of the rival archbishops was to be acknowledged. Godfrey was
supported by the Emperor, Otto by the Pope. The parties were about
even; neither Godfrey nor Otto could maintain himself in Milan;
the former fortified himself in the castle of Brebbio, the latter
resided at Rome. Henry IV., in spite of all the admonitions of the
Pope, persisted in supporting the cause of Godfrey. Milan was thus
without a pastor. The suffragan bishops wished to execute their
episcopal functions in the city, and to consecrate the holy oils for
the benediction of the fonts at Whitsuntide. Herlembald, when one of
the bishops had sent chrism into the city for the purpose, poured it
out on the ground and stamped on it, because it had been consecrated
by an excommunicated prelate.
In March, 1075, another conflagration broke out in the city, and
raged with even greater violence than the fire of 1071. Herlembald
had again poured forth the oils, as he had the year before; and
had ordered Leutprand, a priest, as Easter came, to proceed to the
consecration of chrism. This innovation roused the alarm of the
Milanese; the subsequent conflagration convinced them that it was
abhorrent to heaven. All the adversaries of the Patarines assembled
outside the city, and swore to preserve intact the privileges of
St. Ambrose, and to receive only the bishop nominated or approved
by the King. Then, entering the city, they fell unexpectedly on the
Patarines. Leutprand was taken and mutilated, his ears and nose were
cut off. The standard of St. Peter was draggled in the dust, and
Herlembald fell with it, cut down by a noble, Arnold de Rauda. Every
insult was heaped on the body of the "Defender of the Church," and
the sacred banner was trampled under foot.
Messengers were sent to Henry IV. to announce the triumph, and to
ask him to appoint a new Archbishop of Milan. Henry was so rejoiced
at the victory, that he abandoned Godfrey, and promised the Milanese
a worthy prelate. His choice fell on Tebald, a Milanese sub-deacon
in his Court.
Pope Urban II. canonised Herlembald. Ariald seems never to have
been formally enrolled among the saints, but he received honours
as a saint at Milan, and has been admitted into several Italian
Martyrologies, and into the collection of the Bollandists. Baronius
wisely expunged Herlembald and Ariald from the Roman Martyrology;
nevertheless, the disgraceful fact remains, that the ruffian
Herlembald has been canonised by Papal bull.
The seeds of fresh discord remained. Leutprand, or Liprand, the
priest, was curate of the Church of St. Paul;[43] having suffered
mutilation in the riot, he was regarded in the light of a Patarine
confessor. But no outbreak took place till the death of Anselm IV.,
Archbishop of Milan (September 30, 1101), at Constantinople, where
he was on his way with the Crusaders to the Holy Land. His vicar,
the Greek, Peter Chrysolaus, Bishop of Savonia, whom the Lombards
called Grossulani, perhaps because of the coarse habit he wore (more
probably as a corruption for Chrysolaus), had been left in charge
of the see of Milan. On the news of the death of the Archbishop
reaching that city, the Primicerius convoked the electors to choose
a successor. The vote fell on Landulf, Ordinary of Milan; but he was
not yet returned from Jerusalem, whither he had gone as a crusader.
Grossulani declared the election informal. Thereupon the Abbot of
St. Dionysius, at the head of a large party of the electors, chose
Peter Grossulani. There is no evidence of his having used bribery in
any form; but he may have acted unjustly in cancelling the election
of Landulf. It is, however, fair to observe that Landulf, on his
return, supported Grossulani; consequently, it is probable that the
latter acted strictly in accordance with law and precedent.
[43] The life of Liprand was written by Landulf the younger, his
sister's son, in his _Hist. Mediolan._ 1095-1137.
But the election displeased Liprand and the remains of the
Patarines. They appealed to Rome, but Grossulani, supported by the
Countess Matilda and St. Bernard, abbot of Vallombrosa, overcame
their objections. Pope Paschal II. ratified the election, and sent
the pall to the Archbishop. Ardericus de Carinate had been sent to
Rome on behalf of Grossulani. The people came out of the gates,
on his approach, to learn the result. Ardericus, hanging the pall
across his umbrella (_protensi virga_), waved it over his head,
shouting, "Ecco la stola! Ecco la stola!" (Here is the pall!) and
led the way into the cathedral, whither Grossulani also hastened,
and ascending the pulpit in his pontifical habit, placed the coveted
insignia about his neck.
Liprand was not satisfied. By means of private agitation, he
disturbed the tranquillity of public feeling, and the Archbishop, to
calm the minds of the populace, was obliged to convoke a provincial
synod at Milan (1103), in which, in the presence of his suffragans,
the clergy and the people, he said, "If anyone has a charge to make
against me, let him speak openly at the present time, or he shall
not be heard."
Liprand would not appear before the council and formally make
charge, but he mounted the pulpit in the Church of St. Paul and
preached against the Archbishop as a simoniac. He declared his
readiness to prove his charge by the ordeal of fire. The bishops
assembled in council refused to suffer the attempt to be made.
However, Liprand was not deterred. "Look at my amputated nose and
ears!" he cried, "I am a confessor for Christ. I will try the ordeal
by fire to substantiate my charge. Grossulani is a simoniac, by
gift of hand, gift of tongue, and gift of homage." And he gave
his wolf-skin cloak and some bottles of wine in exchange for wood,
which the crowd carried off and heaped up in a great pile against
the wall of the monastery of St. Ambrogio. The Archbishop sent his
servants, and they overturned the stack, and scattered the wood.
Then the crowd of "boys and girls, men and women," poured through
the main streets, roaring, "Away with Grossulani, away with him!"
and clamoured around the doors of the archiepiscopal palace, so
that Grossulani, fearing for his life, said, "Be it so, let the
fellow try the fire, or let him leave Milan." His servants with
difficulty appeased the people, by promising that the ordeal should
be undergone on the following Palm Sunday evening. "I will not leave
the city," said Liprand; "but now I have no money for buying wood,
and I will not sell my books, as I keep them for my nephew Landulf,
now at school." So the magistrates of the city prepared a pile of
billets of oak wood.