Pope Eugene III ( Latin : Eugenius III ; c. 1080 – 8 July 1153), born Bernardo Pignatelli , or possibly Paganelli , called Bernardo da Pisa , was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1145 to his death in 1153. He was the first Cistercian to become pope. In response to the fall of Edessa to the Muslims in 1144, Eugene proclaimed the Second Crusade . The crusade failed to recapture Edessa, which was the first of many failures by the Christians in the crusades to recapture lands won in the First Crusade . He was beatified in 1872 by Pope Pius IX .
26-514: Bernardo was born in the vicinity of Pisa . Little is known about his origins and family except that he was son of a certain Godius. From the 16th century he is commonly identified as member of the family of Paganelli di Montemagno , which belonged to the Pisan aristocracy , but this has not been proven and contradicts earlier testimonies that suggest he was a man of rather humble origins. In 1106 he
52-681: A pious figure who was meek and spiritual. His tomb acquired considerable fame owing to the miracle purported to have occurred there and his cause for sainthood commenced. Pope Pius IX beatified him in 1872. Pisa Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 211937236 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 08:02:57 GMT Commune of Rome The Commune of Rome ( Italian : Comune di Roma )
78-563: A private person into the father of the universal church, it is necessary from now on that you belong not just to yourself but to us; that you do not rank particular and recent friendships before those which are general and of ancient standing". Bernard reacted strongly to the Cardinals' assertions, writing to Pope Eugenius that the Cardinals had "no power except that which you grant them or permit them to exercise" and that their claims "make no sense... [are] derived from no tradition... [and] had
104-773: A treacherous compact against Tivoli, he was compelled to leave the city in March 1146. He stayed for some time at Viterbo , and then at Siena , but went ultimately to France. On hearing of the fall of Edessa (now the modern day city of Urfa , the first of the Crusader states established in the Levant) to the Turks, which occurred in 1144, he had, in December 1145, addressed the bull Quantum praedecessores to Louis VII of France , calling on him to take part in another crusade. Earlier
130-439: A year, the army abandoned their campaign after just five days of siege "having regained not one inch of Muslim territory." The crusaders suffered immense losses in both men and materiel and suffered, in the view of one modern historian, "the ultimate humiliation which neither they, nor their enemies, would forget". Eugene III held synods in northern Europe at Paris , Rheims (March 1148), and Trier in 1147 that were devoted to
156-581: The Cistercian community in Scandriglia . In Autumn 1140, Innocent II named him abbot of the monastery of S. Anastasio alle Tre Fontane outside Rome . Some chronicles indicate that he was also elevated to the College of Cardinals , but these testimonies probably resulted from a confusion because Bernardo is not attested as cardinal in any document and from the letter of Bernard of Clairvaux addressed to
182-515: The Emperor and the Pope had sovereign rights over his territories. From 1191 to 1193, after a reduction in the number of senators to one, the city was ruled by a single summus senator named "Benedetto 'Carissimus' or 'Carus homo' or 'Carosomo,' of unknown, but undoubtedly plebeian, origin." After this, the city was again under papal control, although the civil government was never again directly in
208-847: The Roman Empire, in the tradition of Constantine and Justinian, and against the Pope's agenda. Similarly in 1152 a letter written by an unknown Wezel from Rome to the Frederick Barbarossa insisted that only the Senate had authority to crown the Emperor. The Pope lived in Tusculum beginning in 1149 and was not installed as pope in Rome until 1152. The existence of the Republic was precarious. Eugene's successor, Adrian IV , convinced Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to lead an army against
234-413: The axe, pick or hoe, and lift him to a throne?" Bernard was equally forthright in his views directly to Eugene, writing: "Thus does the finger of God raise up the poor out of the dust and lift up the beggar from the dunghill that he may sit with princes and inherit the throne of glory." Despite these criticisms, Eugene seems to have borne no resentment to Bernard and notwithstanding these criticisms, after
260-515: The cardinals shortly after his election it clearly appears that he was not a cardinal. Bernardo was elected pope on 15 February 1145, the same day as the death of his predecessor Lucius II . Lucius had unwisely decided to take the offensive against the Roman Senate and was killed by a "heavy stone" thrown at him during an attack on the Capitol. Bernardo took the pontifical name Eugene III. He
286-467: The choice was made, Bernard took advantage of the qualities in Eugene III which he objected to, so as virtually to rule in his name. For their part, the Cardinals resented Bernard's influence over the Pope, stating "You should know that, having been elevated to the rule of entire church by us, around whom, like pivots [ cardines ] the axis of the church universal swings, and having been made by us from
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#1732780977843312-520: The city. Arnold was arrested, tried, convicted, and hanged in 1155. His body was burnt and the ashes cast into the Tiber. In 1188, shortly after his accession, Pope Clement III succeeded in allaying the half-century-old conflict between the popes and the citizens of Rome with the Concord Pact. The Pact allowed citizens to elect magistrates with the power of war and peace. The Prefect was named by
338-418: The city. However, he eventually came to an agreement with the civil authority that had deposed Pierleoni, and returned to Rome on Christmas Day 1145. In March 1146 he again had to leave. He returned in 1148 and excommunicated Arnold of Brescia , a political theorist who had joined the commune and was its intellectual leader. In 1149 the Senate invited Conrad III to Rome to be crowned Roman Emperor and restore
364-541: The more distant power, the Holy Roman Emperor , and initiated negotiations with newly elected Pope Lucius II . The commune wanted him to renounce temporal power and take up an office with the duties of a priest . Lucius gathered a force and assaulted Rome, but the republican defenders repulsed his army and Lucius died from injuries received from a stone that hit his head. Due to the resistance, Lucius's successor, Pope Eugene III , could not be consecrated in
390-560: The most influential ecclesiastic of the Western Church and a strong assertor of the pope's temporal authority. The choice did not have the approval of Bernard, however, who remonstrated against the election, writing to the entire Curia : "May God forgive you what you have done! ... What reason or counsel, when the Supreme Pontiff was dead, made you rush upon a mere rustic, lay hands on him in his refuge, wrest from his hands
416-556: The old Roman constitution, the Commune of Rome and elected Giordano Pierleoni to be patrician . Eugene III appealed for help to Tivoli, Italy , to other cities at feud with Rome, and to King Roger II of Sicily (who sent his general Robert of Selby ), and with their aid was successful in making such conditions with the Roman citizens as enabled him for a time to hold the semblance of authority in his capital. But as he would not agree to
442-470: The reform of clerical life. He also considered and approved the works of Hildegard of Bingen . In June 1148, Eugene III returned to Italy and took up his residence at Viterbo. He was unable to return to Rome due to the popularity of Arnold of Brescia, who opposed papal temporal authority, in the city. He established himself at Ptolemy II 's fortress in Tusculum , the closest town to Rome at which he could safely install himself, on 8 April 1149. There he met
468-466: The returning Crusader couple Louis VII of France and Eleanor of Aquitaine , who were by then barely on speaking terms given the strains of the failed Crusade and the rumors of Eleanor's incestuous adultery during the Crusade. Eugene, "a gentle, kind-hearted man who hated to see people unhappy" attempted to assuage the pain of the failed Crusade and their failing marriage by insisting that they slept in
494-583: The same bed and "by daily converse to restore the love between them". His efforts were unsuccessful, and two years later Eugene agreed to annul the marriage on the grounds of consanguinity. Eugene stayed at Tusculum until 7 November. At the end of November 1149, through the aid of the king of Sicily, he was again able to enter Rome, but the atmosphere of open hostility from the Comune soon compelled him to retire (June 1150). Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa promised to aid Eugene against his subjects who had revolted but
520-561: The same year, Eugenius issued the Militia Dei , allowing the Templar Order to charge tithes and fees for burials. At a great diet held at Speyer in 1146, King Conrad III of Germany and many of his nobles were also incited to dedicate themselves to the crusade by the eloquence of Bernard of Clairvaux , preached to an enormous crowd at Vézelay. The Second Crusade turned out to be "an ignominious fiasco" and, after travelling for
546-477: The support never came. Eugene III died at Tivoli on 8 July 1153. Though the citizens of Rome resented Eugene III's effort to assert his temporal authority, they recognized him as their spiritual lord. Until the day of his death he continued to wear the coarse habit of a Cistercian monk under his robe. He was buried in the Vatican with every mark of respect. The people of Rome were quick to recognize Eugene III as
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#1732780977843572-514: The support of authority". The issue remained unresolved for the whole of Eugenius' term. During nearly the whole of his pontificate, Eugene III was unable to reside in Rome . Hardly had he left the city to be consecrated in the Farfa Abbey (about 40 km north of Rome), when the citizens, under the influence of Arnold of Brescia , the great opponent of the Pope's temporal power, established
598-416: Was "a simple character, gentle and retiring - not at all, men thought, the material of which Popes are made". He owed his elevation partly to the fact that no one was eager to accept an office the duties of which were at the time so difficult and dangerous and because the election was "held on safe Frangipani territory". Bernardo's election was assisted by being a friend and pupil of Bernard of Clairvaux ,
624-565: Was a canon of the cathedral chapter in Pisa and from 1115 is attested as subdeacon . 1133–1138 he acted as vicedominus of the archdiocese of Pisa . Between May 1134 and February 1137 he was ordained to the priesthood by Pope Innocent II , who resided at that time in Pisa. Under the influence of Bernard of Clairvaux he entered the Cistercian Order in the monastery of Clairvaux in 1138. A year later he returned to Italy as leader of
650-463: Was elected "first Patrician of the Roman Commune" by the Senate in 1144 and served as the commune's leader, though he was deposed in 1145. Arnold of Brescia later became associated with the commune as early as 1145 and gave it much-needed intellectual leadership. In a pattern that was to become familiar in the communal struggles of Guelfs and Ghibellines , the commune declared allegiance to
676-451: Was established in the summer of 1143 after a rebellion led by the people of Rome. A people's revolt was led due to the increasing powers of the Pope and the entrenched powers of the higher nobility. The goal of the rebellion was to organize the civil government of Rome in a fashion similar to that of the previous Roman Republic , including the reestablishment of the Senate. Giordano Pierleoni
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