Pope Victor III
Victor III | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Rome | |
 Desiderius of Montecassino in a contemporary manuscript | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Papacy began | 24 May 1086 |
| Papacy ended | 16 September 1087 |
| Predecessor | Gregory VII |
| Successor | Urban II |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 9 May 1087 byOtho de Lagery |
| Created cardinal | 6 March 1058 byPope Nicholas II |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dauferio c. 1026 |
| Died | 16 September 1087 (aged c. 61) Monte Cassino,Papal States,Holy Roman Empire |
| Previous post(s) |
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| Sainthood | |
| Feast day |
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| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 23 July 1887 Rome,Kingdom of Italy byPope Leo XIII[1] |
| Attributes | |
| Patronage | |
| Other popes named Victor | |
Pope Victor III(c.1026 – 16 September 1087), was the head of theCatholic Churchand ruler of thePapal Statesfrom 24 May 1086 to his death. He was the successor ofPope Gregory VII,yet his pontificate is far less notable than his time asDesiderius,the greatabbot of Monte Cassino.
His failing health was the factor that made him so reluctant to accept his pontifical election and his health was so poor that he fell to illness during hiscoronation.The only literary work of his that remains is hisDialogueson the miracles performed byBenedict of Nursiaand other saints at Monte Cassino.
Family
[edit]Daufer was born inc.1026.[2]He obtained permission to enter the monastery of S. Sophia at Benevento.
Abbacy
[edit]The life at S. Sophia was not strict enough for the young monk, who betook himself first to the island monastery ofTremite San Nicolo[3]in theAdriaticand in 1053 to the hermits atMajellain theAbruzzi.About this time he was brought to the notice ofPope Leo IX,and it is probable that the pope employed him at Benevento to negotiate peace with the Normans after the fatalbattle of Civitate.
Somewhat later Desiderius attached himself to the court ofPope Victor IIatFlorence.There he met two monks of the renownedBenedictinemonastery ofMonte Cassino,with whom he returned in 1055. He joined the community and was shortly afterwards appointed superior of the dependent house atCapua.In 1057Pope Stephen IX,who had retained the abbacy of Monte Cassino, came to visit and at Christmas, believing himself to be dying, ordered the monks to elect a newabbot.Their choice fell on Desiderius. The pope recovered, and, desiring to retain the abbacy during his lifetime, appointed the abbot-designate hislegateforConstantinople.It was atBari,when about to sail for the East, that the news of the pope's death reached Desiderius. Having obtained a safe-conduct fromRobert Guiscard,the Norman Count (later Duke) ofApulia,he returned to his monastery and was duly installed by Cardinal Humbert on Easter Day 1058.[4]
Pope Nicholas IIelevated him into thecardinalateas theCardinal-Deacon of Santi Sergio e Baccoon 6 March 1058. He opted to be theCardinal-Priest of Santa Ceciliain 1059.
Desiderius rebuilt the church and conventual buildings, perfected the products of thescriptoriumand re-established monastic discipline, so that there were 200 monks in the monastery in his day. On 1 October 1071, the new Basilica of Monte Cassino was consecrated byPope Alexander II.Desiderius' reputation brought gifts and exemptions to the abbey. The money was spent on church ornaments, including a great golden altar front from Constantinople adorned with gems andenamelsand "nearly all the church ornaments of Victor II, which had been pawned here and there throughout the city".[5]Peter the Deacongives[6]a list of some seventy books Desiderius had copied at Monte Cassino, including works ofAugustine of Hippo,Ambrose,Bede,Basil of Caesarea,Jerome,Gregory of NazianzusandCassian,the histories ofJosephus,Paul Warnfrid,JordanesandGregory of Tours,theInstitutesandNovelsofJustinian,the works ofTerence,VirgilandSeneca,Cicero'sDe natura deorum,andOvid'sFasti.
Desiderius had been appointedpapal vicarforCampania,Apulia,Calabriaand thePrincipality of Beneventumwith special powers for the reform of monasteries. So great was his reputation with the Holy See that he "...was allowed by the Roman Pontiff to appoint Bishops and Abbots from among hisBenedictinebrethren in whatever churches or monasteries he desired, of those that had lost their patron ".[7]
Within two years of the consecration of the Cassinese Basilica, Alexander II died and was succeeded by Hildebrand asPope Gregory VII.Desiderius was able to call forth the help of theNormansof southern Italy repeatedly in favour of the Holy See. Already in 1059 he had persuaded Robert Guiscard andRichard of Capuato become vassals of St. Peter for their newly conquered territories: now Gregory VII immediately after his election sent for him to give an account of the state of Norman Italy and entrusted him with the negotiation of an interview with Robert Guiscard on 2 August 1073, atBenevento.In 1074 and 1075 he acted as intermediary, probably as Gregory's agent, between the Norman princes themselves, and even when the latter were at open war with the pope, they still maintained the best relations with Monte Cassino. At the end of 1080 Desiderius obtained Norman troops for Gregory. In 1082 he visited the Italian king and futureHoly Roman EmperorHenry IVatAlbano,while the troops of the Imperialist antipope were harassing the pope fromTivoli.In 1083 the peace-loving abbot joinedHugh of Clunyin an attempt to reconcile pope and emperor, and his proceedings seem to have aroused some suspicion in Gregory's entourage. In 1084, when Rome was in Henry's hands and the pope besieged inCastel Sant'Angelo,Desiderius announced the approach of Guiscard's army to both emperor and pope.[4]
Papacy
[edit]Though certainly a strong partisan of the Hildebrandine reforms, Desiderius belonged to the moderate party and could not always see eye-to-eye withPope Gregory VIIin his most intransigent proceedings. Yet when the latter lay dying atSalernoon 25 May 1085, the Abbot of Monte Cassino was one of those whom he recommended to the cardinals of southern Italy as fittest to succeed him. The Roman people had expelled theAntipope Clement IIIfrom the city, and hither Desiderius hastened to consult with the cardinals on the approachingelection.Finding, however, that they were bent on forcing the papal dignity upon him, he fled to Monte Cassino, where he busied himself in exhorting the Normans and Lombards to rally to the support of the Holy See. When autumn came, Desiderius accompanied the Norman army on its march to Rome. However, when he became aware of the plot between the cardinals and the Norman princes to force thepapal tiaraon him, he would not enter Rome unless they swore to abandon their design. They refused to do that, and the election was postponed. At about Easter[8]the bishops andcardinalsassembled at Rome summoned Desiderius and the cardinals who were with him at Monte Cassino to come to Rome to treat concerning the election.
On 23 May a great meeting was held in the deaconry of St. Lucy, and Desiderius was again importuned to accept the papacy but persisted in his refusal, threatening to return to his monastery in case of violence. On the next day, the feast ofPentecost,the same scene was repeated very early in the morning. The RomanconsulCencius now suggested the election of Odo,Cardinal-BishopofOstia(afterwards popeUrban II), but this was rejected by some of the cardinals on the grounds that the translation of a bishop was contrary to ecclesiastical law.
Cardinal Desiderio, abbot of Montecassino, was elected successor to Gregory VII on 24 May 1086, in the deaconry of S. Lucia in Septisolis and took the name Victor III.[9]Four days later, pope and cardinals had to flee from Rome before the imperial prefect of the Eternal City, and atTerracina,in spite of all protests, Victor laid aside the papal insignia and once more retired to Monte Cassino, where he remained nearly a whole year. In the middle ofLent1087, the pope-elect assisted at a council of cardinals and bishops held atCapuaas "Papal vicar of those parts" (letter of Hugh of Lyons) together with the Norman princes, Cencius the Consul and the Roman nobles. Here, Victor finally yielded and "by the assumption of the cross and purple confirmed the past election".[10]How much his obstinacy had irritated some of the prelates is evidenced in the letter of Hugh of Lyons preserved byHugh of Flavigny.[11]
Desiderius was elected on 24 May 1086, taking the throne name of Victor III, but his consecration did not take place until 21 March 1087 owing to the presence of the Antipope Clement III in Rome.[12]After celebrating Easter of 1087 in his monastery, Victor proceeded to Rome. After the Normans had driven the soldiers of the Antipope Clement III out of St. Peter's, he was consecrated and enthroned on 21 March 1087. He only remained eight days in Rome and then returned to Monte Cassino, though with the help of Matilda and Jordan, he took back theVatican Hill.Before May was out, he was once more in Rome in answer to a summons for the countessMatilda of Tuscany,whose troops held theLeonine CityandTrastevere.By the end of June Clement III once more gained possession of St. Peter's, Victor again withdrew at once to his Monte Cassino abbey.
Synod and death
[edit]In August 1087, asynodwas held atBeneventowhich renewed theexcommunicationof the Antipope Clement III, the condemnation oflay investiture,proclaimed a crusade against theSaracensin northern Africa, and anathematised Hugh of Lyons and Richard, Abbot of Marseilles.[13]After three days, Victor became seriously ill and retired toMonte Cassinoto die. He had himself carried into the chapter-house, issued various decrees for the benefit of the abbey, appointed with the consent of the monks the prior,Cardinal Oderisius,to succeed him in the abbacy, just as he himself had been appointed by Stephen IX, and proposed Odo of Ostia to the assembled cardinals and bishops as the next pope. He died on 16 September 1087 and was buried inthe tomb he had prepared for himselfin the abbey'schapter-house.Odo was duly elected his successor asPope Urban II.
Writings
[edit]Pope Victor's only existing literary workDialogues,is on the miracles wrought by Benedict and other saints at Monte Cassino. In hisDe Viris Illustribus Casinensibus,Peter the Deaconascribes to him the composition of a "Cantus ad B. Maurum" and letters to KingPhilip I of Franceand toHugh of Cluny,which no longer exist.
Victor is the probable author of a letter to the empress-motherAnna Dalasseneconcerning the molestation of pilgrims to the Holy Land in theByzantine Empire.[14]There is also a letter to the bishops ofSardinia,where (since c. 1050 brought underPisanandGenoancontrol) he sent monks while still abbot of Monte Cassino.
Posthumous legacy
[edit]
The cult of Blessed Victor III seems to have begun not later than the pontificate ofPope Anastasius IV,about six decades after his death (Acta Sanctorum, Loc. cit.). In 1515, Victor III's body was relocated to the main abbey church in Monte Cassino with many pilgrims visiting his tomb. In 1727 the abbot of Monte Cassino obtained fromPope Benedict XIIIpermission to keep his feast (Tosti, I, 393).Pope Leo XIIIbeatified Victor III in 1887, at which point his body was once againmovedto the Chapel of St. Victor.
During World War II, his body was removed and placed in Rome for safekeeping. The main abbey at Monte Cassino was destroyed in February 1944 by US bombing. Victor's body was moved back to the rebuilt abbey in 1963.
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^Kleinheinz, Christopher (December 17, 2003).Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia.Routledge. p. 295.ISBN978-0415939294.
- ^McBrien 2000,p. 189.
- ^The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge,12p. 178.
- ^ab"CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Pope Blessed Victor III".www.newadvent.org.Retrieved2021-12-15.
- ^Chron. Cass., III, 18 (20)
- ^Chron. Cass., III, 63
- ^Chron. Cas., III, 34
- ^Chron. Cass., III, 66
- ^Miranda, Salvador."Papal elections of the 11th Century (1061-1099): Election of May 24, 1086 (Victor III)".The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church.Florida International University.OCLC53276621.
- ^Chron. Cass., III, 68
- ^Monumenta German. History: Script. VIII, 466–468
- ^Grant 2016,p. 995.
- ^Robinson 1999,p. 264.
- ^H. E. J. Cowdrey(1992), "Pope Victor and the Empress A.",Byzantinische Zeitschrift,84–85(1–2): 43–48.doi:10.1515/bz-1992-1-211
Sources
[edit]- Grant, Alasdair C. (2016). "Pisan Perspectives:" The Carmen in victoriam "and Holy War, c.1000–1150".The English Historical Review.131, No. 552 (OCTOBER) (552): 983–1009.doi:10.1093/ehr/cew343.
- McBrien, Richard P. (2000).Lives of the Popes.HarperCollins.
- Robinson, I. S. (1999).Henry IV of Germany 1056-1106.Cambridge University Press.
External links
[edit]
Media related toVictor IIIat Wikimedia Commons
Works by or aboutVictor IIIatWikisource
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