Alexander III

Italian pope (1159-1181)

• Born: c. 1105
• Birthplace: Siena, Tuscany (now in Italy)
• Died: August 30, 1181
• Place of death: Cività Castellana (now in Italy)

Despite decades of controversy, through patience, moderation, and practicality, Alexander III established administrative and legal reforms that strengthened the papal monarchy and contributed to the development of canon law.

Early Life

Little is known of the early years of Roland Bandinelli, the future Alexander III, pope from 1159 to 1181. His family, probably descended from a French émigré of the previous century, was prominent in city affairs. The earliest substantiated fact places him as professor of theology and canon law at Bologna from 1139 to 1142. Because Siena's schools were not considered distinguished and the appointment was prestigious, it is thought that Bandinelli probably attended school at Bologna as well.

In 1148, he began his career at the Curia in Rome, having been deacon and canon at Pisa and probably having taught in the schools there. A series of appointments advanced his ecclesiastical career. In 1150, Bandinelli was named cardinal deacon. In 1151, he became cardinal priest and by 1153 was appointed papal chancellor, which led to his becoming one of Pope Adrian IV' closest advisers. He was entrusted with a number of diplomatic missions that enhanced his reputation among churchmen and laity. One such embassy, however, would become significant in negative ways during his own troubled papacy.

In October, 1157, Adrian IV sent a delegation of cardinals, headed by Bandinelli, to the imperial diet of the German emperor at Besançon, Burgundy. Relations between the emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and the pope had cooled after the signing of the Concordat of Benevento in 1156. As part of the continuing struggle between spiritual and secular jurisdiction in Europe, the pope had concluded a treaty with William I, the Norman ruler of southern Italy and Sicily. The situation in Italy was stabilized, and the treaty represented a counterbalance to the emperor's pretensions in northern Italy, where his policy was to dominate the rich cities of Lombardy. Furthermore, an important churchman traveling through Frederick's dominions had been captured, and although the man was later freed, his captor had not been disciplined by the emperor. Papal letters had been ignored. Adrian IV considered it essential to ensure cooperation of the emperor in the future.

Admitted to an audience with the emperor and his imperial diet, Bandinelli read a letter from the pope voicing his concerns and pointing out that the Church had accorded honor to Frederick in his coronation at Rome. The letter suggested that full cooperation with the Papacy might lead to greater benefits. The letter, written in Latin, used the word beneficia, which meant “benefits” in classical Latin. Rainald of Dassel, the militant German chancellor, translated it into German as fief, a word used to designate a landholding granted to a vassal by a lord. Angrily, he asked if the pope meant that the emperor held his office and power as a fief from the Papacy. Tempers flared and heated discussion followed in which intemperate words were used on both sides. Frederick restrained his men but was also angered. The delegation was dismissed and sent from imperial territory. Frederick remembered the name of Roland Bandinelli.

Life's Work

When Adrian IV died on September 1, 1159, tensions between empire and Papacy were still strong. Frederick sought support from the Romans and from individual cardinals by granting them gifts and honors. When the conclave met on September 4, 1159, a small but influential group nominated Cardinal Octavian, a member of a noble Roman family supportive of the emperor.

Electoral procedures were not yet clearly defined, and much confusion clouds the extant accounts. A majority of the cardinals favored the election of Bandinelli. He was a recognized scholar and jurist with a dozen years of experience in papal administration and diplomacy. He had enjoyed the confidence of Adrian IV. Of the thirty cardinals in attendance, twenty-two supported Bandinelli and seven or eight Octavian. Both men claimed the succession, Bandinelli as Alexander III and Octavian as Victor IV. The Church of Rome found itself divided for the second time in the twelfth century.

The Council of Pavia, convened by the emperor in 1160, supported the antipope Victor IV. Within six months, the kings of England and France declared for Alexander III. Other rulers from Spain to Denmark followed their lead. The greater part of western Christian Europe supported Alexander III, which enabled him to carry out ordinary papal administration and accomplish many of his goals despite exile from Rome. Aided by the regular clergy, especially the Cistercians, Alexander III was able to maintain strong lines of communication. Skillful use of legates and his own moderate position and pursuit of negotiated settlements eventually bore fruit.

The most significant accomplishment of his exile in France was convening the successful Council of Tours. On May 19, 1163, it formally opened at the Church of Saint Maurice. The numbers of those in attendance (accepted by historians) include seventeen cardinals, 124 bishops, and 414 abbots as well as clerks and influential clergy and laity. The eight or nine canons resulting from the council furthered reform of the Church by combating both clerical abuses and “heretical” movements.

Important points included prohibitions of dividing church holdings, granting church property to laypeople, or priests hiring others to perform duties for an annual payment. Clerical usury was forbidden. No payments were to be exacted from those entering religious life. Fees were not to be levied for burial rites or assessed for anointing the faithful with chrism or oil. In short, no payment was to be demanded for any spiritual service, and all irregularities were to cease. Church property was declared immune from secular intervention. Bishops and archbishops were not to delegate their duties to priests or deacons. All those ordained to holy orders by Victor IV were declared to be invalid priests.

The canon on heresy was directed against the growing Catharist movement in southern France. The sect was condemned. No Catharist was to be granted land or refuge by any authority. No commercial dealings were to be conducted with them. When known, Catharists might be held in custody by local authority and their property confiscated. The death penalty was not mentioned at this point, but inquisitorial methods were discussed and are considered a prelude to the establishment of the later, infamous tribunal.

From 1164 to 1170, Alexander III was also troubled by the struggle between Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket and Henry II of England. Initiated by Becket's condemnation of the Constitutions of Clarendon (1164), which stated regalian rights as opposed to ecclesiastical, the controversy became heated. Becket insisted that the document's claims were incompatible with reformed canon law. Old legal precedents encouraged Henry II to push his claims. Challenged by continuing difficulties with Frederick, Alexander III was criticized by some contemporaries for failing to support Becket strongly and consistently. Yet many of the papal letters to the king are firm and concise, if not particularly bold. Becket's actions in numerous instances were both rash and intemperate. Undoubtedly Alexander III proceeded cautiously both because of his own problems and his position of moderation. Following the brutal murder of Becket in December, 1170, a long period of shock and indignation resulted in Becket's early canonization. It took several more years for the legates to reopen the see of Canterbury and complete the penitential duties of the Crown.

In 1165, Alexander III returned to Rome. Victor IV had died in 1164, but a new antipope, Paschal III, succeeded him. Frederick's invasion of Rome in 1167, despite heroic resistance on the pope's behalf, sent Alexander III in flight to the southern part of the papal states. Again, Alexander III was able to continue his diplomatic and administrative activities, sometimes enjoying cordial relations with other states after complicated negotiations. Hungary, the Crusader states of the Levant, and other Christian communities became strong allies. Correspondence with the Byzantine emperor began a cautious exploration of possible reunion.

The long schism came to an end with a series of misfortunes suffered by Frederick. The decimation of his army by plague shortly after his capture of Rome, the loss of Rainald of Dassel, the growth of power in northern Italy represented by the Lombard League, which inflicted a defeat on imperial forces at Legnano in 1176, and the guiding of his own conscience led to reconciliation with Alexander III in Venice in 1177. It would be difficult to assess the victory of either participant. Theoretical statements were avoided and individual compromises were made. Each could believe that he had not done badly in the settlement.

Although the situation in Rome continued to be tumultuous and difficult, Alexander III returned to the area, often residing outside the city itself. In 1179, he convened the Third Lateran Council , to his great satisfaction. Considered to be one of four Lateran councils best studied as a whole, Alexander presented a wide array of subjects for discussion. If he did not resolve them, he enhanced the chances for possible later solutions.

In 1181, still troubled by his problems with the fickle Romans, he died, bringing to a close one of the longest and most troubled papal reigns of the Middle Ages.

Significance

The difficulty in evaluating Alexander III's role in the development of papal monarchy from Gregory VII to the pinnacle of its power in the pontificate of Innocent III lies in the complexity of the changes occurring in the twelfth century. It is necessary to understand Alexander III's place in the twelfth century world. He was a product of a great renaissance of learning and a contemporary of Gratian, the great expositor of Roman law, whose Decretum (c. 1140) was the basis for the flowering of canon law. Scholars have proved that Alexander III depended heavily on Gratian's work. He was a contemporary, too, of Peter Abelard, the brilliant logician, theologian, and teacher, whose new dialectics created a debate that divided the Church to the days of Saint Thomas Aquinas. That Abelard influenced Alexander III is equally clear. Abelard's insistence on the role of reason, even to illuminate revealed faith, found in Alexander III a strong advocate. This pope was a man of learning and a lawyer. If his interests were not as wide as those of his fellow scholars, they were equally deep. Not given to broad theocratic principles or statements, Alexander III worked more successfully to solve specific problems dealing with the role of the church in the affairs of the world. His work for clarity and consistency in law had great influence. He was also interested in marriage law, insisting that mutual consent was the basis for the legality of the contract.

Alexander III was also a religious man. Even the most bitter of opponents acknowledged his moral stature. He admired the austere life and believed that to judge fairly, preach fervently, and give worthwhile penances made a good pope as well as a good priest. He was committed to missionary work, particularly in Scandinavia. His interest in crusading activity in the East was strong.

If Alexander III proved contradictory in his actions or inconsistent in his support of individuals or causes, it would seem to have been dictated by the struggles of the moment. He produced much given the constant threats of exile and schism and the very real danger he frequently faced. As his funeral cortege approached Rome, an angry mob threw mud and dirt on his bier. Alexander III's problems were not solved even by his death.

Bibliography

Baldwin, Marshall. Alexander III and the Twelfth Century. New York: Newman Press, 1968. First-rate discussion of the role of the pope and his place in twelfth century history. Contains useful introductory material; individual chapters cover major problems of the Pontificate. Conclusion, notes, and bibliography are useful.

Barlow, Frank. Thomas Becket. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1986. A biography of Becket, looking at his secular and Christian work. Index and bibliography.

McBrien, Richard P. Lives of the Popes: The Pontiffs from Saint Peter to John Paul II. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1997. An overview of the popes that touches on Alexander III. Bibliography and indexes.

Mann, Horace K. The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages. Vol. 2. Reprint. Wilmington, N.C.: Consortium Books, 1980. An old but still valuable study of the lives of the popes to 1305. A good starting point for the student. Continuing scholarship has superseded this work on numerous specific points.

Munz, Peter. Boso’s Life of Alexander III. Translated by G. M. Ellis. Totowa, N.J.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1973. A splendid translation and edition of an original source by a contemporary and associate of Alexander. The introduction by the editor is extremely useful, incorporating the best scholarship to date. Understandably pro-Alexander.

Munz, Peter, ed. Frederick Barbarossa: A Study in Medieval Politics. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1969. Probably essential for an understanding of imperial policy. Well written but lengthy. specially useful as a balance to the overly sympathetic accounts from the papal point of view. Excellent example of the use of biography as a means of focusing on complex historical problems.

Somerville, Robert. Pope Alexander III and the Council of Tours: A Study of Ecclesiastical Politics and Institutions in the Twelfth Century. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977. Contains lists of canons, titles, and names relating to the council. Sections on preparation for convening the council and its formalities help understanding of such sessions. Demonstrates how historians use primary material.