NICHOLAS
55
NICHOLAS
churches, and constantly sought to encourage reli-
gious hf e. His own personal life was guided by a spirit
of earnest Christian asceticism and profound piety.
He was very highly esteemed by the citizens of Rome,
as he was by his contemporaries generally (cf. Regino,
"Chronicon", ad an. 86S, in "Mon. Germ. Hist.:
Script.", I, 579), and after death was regarded as a
saint. A much discussed question and one that is im-
portant in judging the position taken by this pope is,
whether he made use of the forged pseudo-Isido-
rian papal decretals. After exhaustive investigation,
Schrors has decided that the pope was neither ac-
quainted with the pseudo-Isidorian collection in its
entire extent, nor did he make use of its individual
parts ; that he had ]5erhaps a general knowledge of the
false decretals, but did not base his view of the law
upon them, and that he owed his knowledge of them
solely to documents which came to liim from the
Frankish Empire [Schrors, "Papst Nikolaus I. und
Pseudo-Isidor " in " Historisches Jahrbuch", XXV
(1904), 1 sqq.; Idem, "Die pseudoisidorische 'Ex-
ceptio spolii' bei Papst Nikolaus I" in "Historisches
Jahrbuch", XXVI (1905), 275 sqq.].
Roy, St. Nicholas /(London, 1001), in Snh.l S, ^ :. . Xi.olai pp. I. Epistolee, in J.\ffe, Rcgesla Rom. Pijnf I . ! ' ::42 sqq., and in Mansi, CuH. Cojic, XV. 143 sciM-: is,
ed. Duchesne, II, 151 sqq.; L.^emmer, Pap-:t .\ : ' ', / / ,/,e
byzantinische Staatskirche seiner Zeit (Berlin, i.^o7j; Ihiel, De Nicolao I commentationes du(e hi^lorico-canonicas (Braunsberg, 1859); Gbeinacher, Die Anschauungen des Papstes Nikolaus I. aber das Verhdltiiis von Stoat und Kirche (Berlin, 1909) : Langen, Geschickte der rornischen Kirche, III: Von Nikolaus Ibis Gregor VII (Bonn, 1892), 1 sqq.; Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, II (4th ed.), 112 aqq., ed. Kirsch; 236 sqq. See also bibliography to
HlNHMAR, ,\RCirDISHOP OF ReIMS; IgN.ATIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE,
Saint; Photius. J. p. Kihsch.
Nicholas II, Pope (Gerhard of Burgundy), b. at Chevron, in what is now Savoy; elected at Siena, De- cember, 1058 ;d. at Florence 19 or 27 July, 1061. Like his predecessor, Stephen X, he was canon at Liege. In 1046 he became Bishop of Florence, where he restored the canonical life among the clergy of numerous churches. As soon as the news of the death of Stephen X at Florence reached Rome (4 April, 105S). the Tusculan party appointed a successor in the person of John Mincius, Bishop of Velletri, under the name of Benedict X. His elevation, due to violence and cor- ruption, was contrary to the specific orders of Stephen X that, at his death, no choice of a successor was to be made until Hildebrand's return from Germany. Sev- eral cardinals protested against the irregular proceed- ings, but they were compelled to flee from Rome. Hildebrand was returning from his mission when the news of these events reached him. He interrupted his journey at Florence, and after agreeing with Duke Godfrey of Lorraine-Tuscany upon Bishop Gerhard for elevation to the papacy, he won over part of the Roman population to the support of his candidate. An embassy dispatched to the imperial court secured the confirmation of the choice by the Empress Agnes. At Hildebrand's invitation, the cardinals met in De- cember, 1058, at Siena and elected Gerhard who as- sumed the name of Nicholas II. On his way to Rome the new pope held at Sutri a well-attended synod at which, in the presence of Duke Godfrey and the im- perial chancellor, Guibert of Parma, he pronounced deposition against Benedict X. The latter was driven from the city in January, 1059, and the solemn corona- tion of Nicholas took place on the twenty-fourth of the same month. A cultured and stainless man, the new pontiff had about him capable advisers, but to meet the danger still threatening from Benedict X and his armed supporters, Nicholas empowered Hildebrand to enter into negotiations with the Normans of south- ern Italy. The papal envoy recognized Count Richard of Aversa as Prince of Capua and received in return Norman troops which enabled the papacy to carry on hostilities against Benedict in the Campagna. This campaign did not result in the decisive overthrow
of the opposition party, but it enabled Nicholas to
undertake in the early part of 1059 a pastoral vis-
itation to Spoleto, Farfa, and Osimo. During this
journey he raised Abbot Desiderius of Monte Cas-
sino to the dignity of cardinal-priest and appointed
him legate to Campania, Beuevento, Apulia, and
Calabria. Early in his pontificate he had sent St.
Peter Damiani and Bishop Anselm of Lucca as his
legates to Milan, where a married and siraoniacal
clergy had recently given rise to a reform-party known
as the " Pataria". A synod for the restoration of ec-
clesiastical discipline was held under the presidency of
these envoys who, in spite of a tumultuous uprising
which endangered their lives, succeeded in obtaining
from Archbishop Guido and the Milanese clergy a
solemn repudiation of simony and concubinage.
One of the most pressing needs of the time was the reform of papal elections. It was right that they should be freed from the nefarious influence of the Roman factions and the secular control of the empe- ror, hitherto less disastrous but always objectionable. To this end Nicholas II held in the Lateran at Easter, 1059 a synod attended by one hundred and thirteen bishops and famous for its law concerning papal elec- tions. Efforts to determine the authentic text of this decree caused considerable controversy in the nine- teenth century. That the discussions did not result in a consensus of opinion on the matter need not sur- prise, if it be remembered that thirty years after the publication of the decree complaints were heard re- garding the divergency in the text. We possess to-day a papal and an imperial recen.sion and the sense of the law may be stated substantially as follows." (1) At the death of the pope, the cardinal-bishops are to confer among themselves concerning a candidate, and, after they have agreed upon a name, they and the other cardinals are to proceed to the election. The remain- der of the clergy and the laity enjoy the right of ac- claiming their choice. (2) A member of the Roman clergy is to be chosen, except that where a qualified candidate cannot be found in the Roman Church, an ecclesiastic from another diocese may be elected. (3) The election is to be held at Rome, except that when a free choice is impossible there, it may take place else- where. (4) If war or other circumstances prevent the solemn enthronization of the new pope in St. Peter's Chair, he shall nevertheless enjoy the exercise of full Apostolic authority. (5) Due regard is to be had for the right of confirmation or recognition conceded to King Henry, and the same deference is to be shown to his successors, who have been granted personally a like privilege. These stipulations constituted indeed a new law, but they were also intended as an implicit ap- probation of the procedure followed at the election of Nicholas II. As to the imperial right of confirmation, it became a mere personal privilege granted by the Roman See. The same synod prohibited simoniacal ordinations, lay investiture, and assistance at the Mass of a priest living in notorious concubinage. The rules governing the life of canons and nuns which were published at the diet of Aix-la-Chapelle (817) were abolished, because they allowed private property and such abundant food that, as the bishops indignantly exclaimed, they were adapted to sailors and intemper- ate matrons rather than to clerics and nuns. Beren- garius of Tours, whose views opposed to the doctrine of Christ's real presence in the Eucharist, had repeatedly been condemned, also appeared at the Council and was compelled to sign a formula of abjuration.
At the end of June, 1059, Nicholas proceeded to Monte Cassino and thence to Melfi, the capital of Nor- man .Apulia, where he held an important synod and concluded the famous alliance with the Normans (Julv-August, 1059). Duke Robert Guiscard was in- vested with the sovereignty of Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily in case he should reconquer it from the Saracens; he bound himself, in return, to pay an annual tribute,
