Council of Piacenza

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The Council of Piacenza was a mixed synod of ecclesiastics and laymen of the

Roman Catholic Church, which took place from March 1 to March 7, 1095, at Piacenza.[1][2]

The Council was held at the end of

investiture controversy with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor. Two hundred bishops attended, as well as 4000 other church officials, and 30,000 laymen.[3]
The large number of people present required that the council had to be held outside of the city.

Attendants

Among the lay attendees was

black mass.[4] These accusations were confirmed in turn by Conrad, who stated that this was the reason he turned against his father.[4]

Also in attendance were ambassadors from

Christ in the Eucharist; denunciations of the Antipope Clement III
and his supporters; and a prohibition of payment to priests for baptisms, burials, or confirmations.

Condemnation of simony

One of Urban II's greatest achievements at Piacenza was the depth of detail of his Canons, in particular Canons 1 through 7 legislating universal condemnation of 'simony': the practice of building to acquire, and acquiring via purchasing, position, or ordination, within the Church. Ecclesiastical appointments stained by simony were decreed to be invalid and powerless. However, a temperate attitude was shown to those ordained by simoniacs who were not simoniacs themselves, and had no prior knowledge that the person ordaining them had no actual ecclesiastical authority to do so. Likewise, churches purchased by parents for their children were allowed to remain within the order; as were children so-ordained, but with benefices (official financial support from Rome) removed. [8]

Byzantine request

In hindsight, the most important attendees were the ambassadors sent by

Seljuk Turks in the aftermath of the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, and Alexius hoped Western knights could help him restore it. Upon hearing the Byzantine ambassadors' plea,[10] Urban asked those present to lend aid to the Byzantine Emperor.[11] However it is likely that Urban may have had some idea of an expedition to the East before Alexius's request, as Gregory VII had also called twice for one, but to no avail. [12]

Chronicler

Most of the information about the Council of Piacenza comes from the chronicler Bernold of Constance, who may[13] or may not have been present.[14] No extant contemporary Byzantine sources felt the ambassadors were important enough to mention, although many Byzantine sources from this time no longer exist. For example, the council is mentioned by the 13th century chronicler Theodore Skoutariotes,[15] who quotes now-lost contemporary works.

References

  1. ^ Blumenthal, Uta-Renate (2006). "Piacenza, Council of (1095)". In The Crusades - An Encyclopedia. pp. 956-957.
  2. ^ Robert Somerville, Pope Urban II's Council of Piacenza, (Oxford University Press, 2011), 5, 11.
  3. ^ Robert Somerville, Pope Urban II's Council of Piacenza, 57.
  4. ^ a b c d J. Gordon Melton, Faiths Across Time: 5,000 Years of Religious History, (ABC-CLIO, 2014), 716.
  5. ^ Robert Somerville, Pope Urban II's Council of Piacenza, 11.
  6. ^ Robert Somerville, Pope Urban II's Council of Piacenza, 55.
  7. ^ Robert Somerville, Pope Urban II's Council of Piacenza, 56.
  8. ^ Chapter 5, Pope Urban II's Council of Piancenza, Robert Somerville
  9. ^ Papal War Aims in 1096:The Option not Chosen, Bernard S. Bachrach, In Laudem Hierosolymitani, ed. Iris Shagrir, Ronnie Ellenblum and Jonathan Simon, (Ashgate Publishing, 2007), 339.
  10. ^ Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, Vol. 1, (Cambridge University Press, 1951), 105.
  11. ^ Aims of the Medieval Crusades and How They Were Viewed by Byzantium, Peter Charanis, Church History, Vol. 21, No. 2 (Jun., 1952), 126.
  12. ^ "Byzanz und die Kreuzfahrerstaaten. English", Ralph-Johannes Lilie, (Oxford, 1993).
  13. ^ John Pryor, The Age of the Dromōn: The Byzantine Navy Ca 500-1204, (Brill, 2006), 101.
  14. ^ Robert Sommerville, Pope Urban II's Council of Piacenza, 24.
  15. ^ Jonathan Harris, Byzantium and the Crusades, (Hambledon Continuum, 2006), 48.
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