Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 3.djvu/224

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

CALLISTUS


186


CALLISTUS


already shown that he was anxious to put an end to a controversy which had alienated from him his best friends, and which threatened to endanger the peace of the empire. An embassy consisting of three cardinals was sent by Callistus to Germany, and negotiations for a permanent settlement of the investiture struggle were begun at Wiirzburg (Octo- ber, 1121). Here it was agreed that a general truce should be proclaimed between the emperor and his rebellious subjects; that the Church should have free use of her possessions; that the lands of those in rebellion should be restored, and peace with the Church permanently established with the least possible delay. These decrees were communicated to Callistus II, who despatched Cardinal Lambert of Ostia as his legate to assist at the synod that had been convoked at Worms. The synod began at Worms, 8 September, 1122, and 23 September the concordat known as the Concordat of Worms (or Pactum Caliztinum) between the pope and the emperor was concluded. On his side the emperor abandoned his claim to investiture with ring and crosier and granted freedom of election to episcopal sees; on the other hand, it was conceded that the bishops should receive investiture with the sceptre, that the episcopal elections should be held in the presence of the emperor or his representatives, that in case of disputed elections the emperor should, after the decision of the metropolitan and the suffra- gan bishops, confirm the rightfully elected candidate, and. lastly, that the imperial investiture of the temporalities of the sees should take place in Ger- many before the consecration, in Burgundy and in Italy after this ceremony, while in the Papal States the pope alone had the right of investiture, without any interference on the part of the emperor. As a result of this Concordat, the emperor still retained in his hands the controlling influence in the election of the bishops in Germany, though he had abandoned much in regard to episcopal elections in Italy and Bur- gundy.

To secure the confirmation of this Concordat of Worms, Callistus II convoked the First Lateran Council (18 March, 1123). The council was most representative, nearly three hundred bishops and six hundred abbots from every part of Catholic Europe being present. The council solemnly confirmed the agreement that had been arrived at with Henry V with regard to episcopal elections, and passed several disciplinary decrees directed against existing abuses, such as simony and concubinage among the clergy. Decrees were also passed against violators of the Truce of God, church-robbers, and forgers of ec- clesiastical documents. The indulgences already granted to the crusaders were renewed, and the jurisdiction of the bishops over the clergy, both secular and regular, was more clearly defined.

In the last fen years of his life Callistus II en- deavoured to secure for the Church the restoration in its entirety of the Patrimony of St. Peter, which had been greatly diminished by the constant wars and rebellions; to break the power of the nobles in the Campagna, and restore peace and order to the city of Rome itself, which bad suffered much since the time of Gregory VII. lie also devoted much of his time to the interests of the Church of France and to combating the errors and abuses which made their appearance in that count ry in his time. In t he Synod of Toulouse (1119) he condemned the teach- ing of Peter de Bruisand bis followers ( Bardouin, VI, 2, 1977 84 . He established the Church of Vienne as the metropolitan church of the adjoining ec- clesiastical provinces (1120), thereby ending in favour of the former -that he Mill held as pope) the

ancient controversy between Vienne and Aries. For the privileges in favour of Vienne forged during the reign of Guido, sec Gundlach, "Strerl der Bis-


thumer Aries und Vienne" (1890). Duchesne main- tains (" Fastes Eccl.", I, 145 sqq.) that only the more recent of them date from the tune of Guido (cf. Robert, "Calixte II", Paris, 1891). He settled several disputes between bishops and abbots in France, dispatched Gerard of Angouleme as papal legate to Brittany, and finally confirmed the primatial rights of Lyons over the Church of Sens. He de- manded of Henry I of England the release of his brother, Robert of Normandy, as well as the acknowl- edgment of Thurstan, whom he himself had conse- crated at Reims, as Archbishop of York. Henry at first refused, but on the threat of excommunication he consented to admit Thurstan as Archbishop of York, and to acknowledge the latter see's independence of Canterbury. In Spain he transferred the metro- politan rights from the old see of Merida {Emcrita) to Santiago de Compostella, to the patron saint of which Callistus seems to have had a special devotion. He showed his attention to Germany by the canoniza- tion of Conrad of Constance at the Lateran Synod ( 1 123) and by dispatching Otto of Bamberg as papal legate to regulate the Churches of Pomerania. In Rome he devoted much attention to beautifying and improving the city, but especially the church of St. Peter. He suppressed the suburban See of Santa Rufina by uniting this diocese with Porto, so that thenceforth there were only six cardinal-bishops instead of seven as had formerly been the

Callistus died in 1124, and after some dispute Honorius II was selected as his successor. As to the great influence of the reign of Callistus II on the policy of the Church there can be no dispute. Owing mainly to him the concessions so weakly made by Paschal II were recalled, and on his own accession to the papal throne, his firmness and strength ot character secured a settlement of the controversy between Church and State which, though not entirely satisfactory, was at least sufficient to assure a much needed peace. Through his exertions he put an end to the wholesale bestowal of ecclesiastical offices by laymen; he re-established the freedom of canonical elections and secured recognition of the principle that ecclesiastical jurisdiction can come only from the Church, while on the other hand he conceded to the secular authorities the influence to which they were rightly entitled in the election of prelates who were at the same time the most powerful and the richest subjects of the State. On the other hand, he was blamed at the time, principally by Arch- bishop Conrad of Salzburg, for not insisting upon the withdrawal of the oath of homage which every bishop was required to make to the emperor or his feudal lord, but it should be remembered that Callistus II well understood that unless something were conceded peace was impossible, and that the oath of homage, however improper the ceremony might seem, was not an unnatural demand on the part of the emperor in regard to subjects who wielded such an enormous political power as did the bishops of the German Empire.

Callistus II was not very remarkable for his literary productions; yet a few works have come down to us which arc ascribed to his pen. They arc: "De Miraculis Sancti Jacobi Apostoli", "De obitu et Vita Sanctorum", "Vita Caroli Magni [mpera- toris". Many letters attributed to him arc pre- served. These, together with his other writings, may be found in Migne, P. I, ..CI. Mil (1073 1383). Besides this edition, thirty-six of his letters arc con- tained in Hardouin's "Concilia" (VI, 2, L949 L976). These same letters, with two additional, are published

by Mansi i XXI. 190-218); some others are given by D'Achery [Spicilegium (Paris. 172:;. II. 964; 111.

17s. I7!M; sonic additional ones arc to be found in "Magn. Hull. Rom. continuat.", 1 1 1, ed. Luxembourg, 1730. 12. Sec lw i Min res; \ ii \\i .