Shepherds of the Lord: Priests and Episcopal Statutes in the Carolingian Period

256 Pages·2007·2.216 MB·English

by  C. Van Rhijn

KATERN 1
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SHEPHERDS OF THE LORD
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CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS IN LATE
ANTIQUITY AND THE MIDDLE AGES
General Editor
Yitzhak Hen Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva
Editorial Board
Angelo di Berardino Augustinianum–Instituto Patristico, Rome
Nora Berend University of Cambridge
Leslie Brubaker University of Birmingham
Christoph Cluse University of Trier
Rob Meens University of Utrecht
James Montgomery University of Cambridge
Alan V. Murray University of Leeds
Thomas F. X. Noble University of Notre Dame
Miri Rubin University of London
VOLUME 6
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SHEPHERDS OF THE LORD
Priests and Episcopal Statutes in the
Carolingian Period
by
Carine van Rhijn
H

F

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Rhijn, Carine van
Shepherds of the Lord : priests and episcopal statutes in
the Carolingian period. - (Cultural encounters in late
antiquity and the Middle Ages ; v. 6)
1. Priests - Europe - History 2. Church history - Middle
Ages, 600-1500 3. Ecclesiastical law - Europe - History
4. Europe - Church history - 600-1500
I. Title
274'.03

ISBN-13: 9782503523194
© 2007, Brepols Publishers n.v., Turnhout, Belgium
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
D/2007/0095/64
ISBN: 978-2-503-52319-4
Printed in the E.U. on acid-free paper
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CONTENTS
List of Abbreviations vii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1: Texts 13
Conciliar Decrees, Capitularies, and Episcopal Statutes 13
A Context for the Capitula Episcoporum 33
Chapter 2: Contexts 49
The Connotations of Priesthood in the Carolingian Period 51
Bishops from Humillimi Famuli to Ministri Dei 68
Bishops and Priests: The Bottlenecks of Correctio 82
Chapter 3: Ideals of Priesthood: 800–820 101
The First Group of Episcopal Statues: c. 800–c. 820 102
Priests, Episcopal Statutes, and Baptism 112
Priests and the Local House of Worship 124
Chapter 4: Ideals of Priesthood in Turbulent Times: 850–75 139
The Second Group of Episcopal Statutes: c. 850–c. 875 139
The Influence of Collections of Capitularies and Canon Law 145
Ideals of Priesthood: An Old Idea in a New Context 156
Chapter 5: The Position of Local Priests 171
Background 173
Poverty and Wealth 182
Local Reputation, Local Collaboration 200
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Conclusion 213
Appendix 1: Some Problems Concerning Gerbald of Liège’s 219
First Episcopal Statute
Appendix 2: Geographical Distribution of the Two Groups 229
of Episcopal Statutes
Bibliography 233
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ABBREVIATIONS
CCSL Corpus Christianorum Series Latina
MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historia
Cap. I MGH Capitularia regum Francorum I, ed. by Alfred
Boretius (Hannover: Hahn, 1886/1960)
Cap. II MGH Capitularia regum Francorum II, ed. by Alfred
Boretius and Viktor Krause (Hannover: Hahn, 1897)
Cap Ep. I MGH Capitula Episcoporum I, ed. by Peter Brommer
(Hannover: Hahn, 1984)
Cap. Ep. II MGH Capitula Episcoporum II, ed. by Rudolf
Pokorny and Martina Stratmann (Hannover: Hahn,
1995)
Cap. Ep. III MGH Capitula Episcoporum III, ed. by Rudolf
Pokorny (Hannover: Hahn, 1995)
Cap. Ep. IV MGH Capitula Episcoporum IV, ed. by Rudolf
Pokorny, with Veronika Lukas (Hannover: Hahn,
2005)
Conc. I MGH Concilia I, Concilia aevi Merovingici, ed. by
Friederich Maassen (Hannover: Hahn, 1898)
Conc. II MGH Concilia II, Concilia aevi Karolini I, ed. by
Albert Werminghof (Hannover: Hahn, 1906–08)
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viii Abbreviations
Conc. III MGH Concilia III Die Konzilien der karolingischen
Teilreiche, 843–859, ed. by Wilfried Hartmann,
(Hannover: Hahn, 1984)
Epp. IV MGH Epistolae IV, Karolini Aevi II, ed. by Ernst
Dümmler (Berlin: Hahn, 1886)
Epp. V MGH Epistolae V, Karolini Aevi III, ed. by Ernst
Dümmler (Berlin: Hahn, 1899)
Epp. VI MGH Epistolae VI, Karolini Aevi IV, ed. by Ernst
Perels (Berlin: Hahnsche, 1925)
LL I MGH Legum I, ed. by Georg H. Pertz (Hannover:
Hahn, 1835)
LL II MGH Legum II, ed. by Georg H. Pertz (Hannover:
Hahn, 1837)
SS MGH Scriptores I: Annales et chronica aevi Carolini,
ed. by Georg H. Pertz (Hannover: Hahn, 1826)
PL Patrologiae cursus completus, series Latina, ed. by
Jacques-Paul Migne, 221 vols (Paris: Garnier, 1841–62)
Settimane di studio Settimane di studio del centro italiano di studi sull’alto
medioevo
A note on the abbreviation of individual episcopal statutes:
In what follows, I have used a short way of referring to individual episcopal
statutes, which works in the following way. Anonymous capitula episcoporum are
called by their name as found in the MGH edition, e.g. Capitula Parisiensia.
Non-anonymous texts are referred to by the name of their author, e.g. Radulf of
Bourges (or just Radulf). If a bishop has written more than one episcopal statute,
a number will follow his name, e.g. Hincmar III. In this way, Hincmar II, c. 4
stands for the fourth chapter (caput) of Hincmar of Rheims’s second episcopal
statute.
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INTRODUCTION
Sometime in the years between 806 and 813, Haito, Bishop of Basle and
Abbot of Reichenau, drew up a plan for the correctio of his diocese. He had
not been in function as a bishop for very long, but clearly long enough to
know exactly what needed to be done.1 His main concerns were with the local
priests who served the many communities of laymen throughout his diocese —
hence, his twenty-five capitula are directed at them, to the ‘presbyteris suae
dioceseos’.2 Indirectly, the lay population of his diocese was the aim of the
operation as well, but they would be reached via the priest of their local church.
A good priest, so the Bishop clearly thought, would set the right example for the
laity and would teach them all they needed to know: in the very first capitulum,
Haito therefore states that close attention should be paid to ‘the priests’ belief,
how they believe and how they teach others to believe’.3 He continues the capitula
for his priests, which nowadays, we have come to call Haito’s ‘episcopal statute’,
by outlining the requirements for priestly knowledge and abilities needed to fulfil
their tasks properly. They, and presumably also their lay subjects, should, for
instance, know the Lord’s Prayer ,’in which everything necessary about human life
is contained’ and the Creed ‘in which the whole Catholic belief is contained’,
1See MGH Cap. Ep. I, pp. 203–04.
2 Haito of Basle, introductory statement to his episcopal statute: ‘Haec capitula quae
sequuntur, Haito Basilensis ecclesiae antistes et abbas coenobii, quod Augia dicitur, presbyteris
suae dioceseos ordinavit, quibus monerentur, qualiter se ipsos ac prlebem sibi commissam caste
et uiste regere atque in religione divina confirmare deberent.’
3 Haito, c. 1: ‘Primo omnium discutienda est sacerdotum fides, qualiter credant et alios
credere doceant, ube et exempla proponenda sunt, quatenus a creatura creator quantulumcumque
possit intellegi.’ All translations mine unless noted otherwise.
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2 Introduction
either in Latin or, if that was asking too much, in ‘Barbarian’.4 Priests should also
know what the sacraments of baptism and confirmation mean, and understand
the mystery of the transsubstantiation (c. 5); they should master a respectable
number of texts related to their ministry, like a lectionary, a penitential, and a
homiliary (c. 6), know the legitimate times for baptism (c. 7) and be aware of a
variety of feast days that should be celebrated and fast days that should be kept by
all (c. 8). It is clear from which side the wind was blowing in the diocese of Basle:
Haito wished to rid his bishopric of priestly laxity and ignorance, in order that the
local lay Christians would be the better for it.
It would, however, be a mistake to think that Bishop Haito only expected his
priests to dust off their knowledge — his ambitions went a lot further than
stimulating a diocese-wide bout of studying among his secular clergy. Outward
appearances of priestliness mattered just as much, and therefore the Bishop also
tried to regulate the priests’ behaviour, all in accordance with canon law and
contemporary conciliar decisions.5 Following the very authoritative Council of
Nicea (325), for instance, the Bishop forbids priests to share a house with women,
unless such cohabitation (with, for instance, their mother) would never cause bad
rumours.6 Neither should his priests hang around in local taverns (c. 10), attend
secular placita or act as oath-helpers (c. 11). They were, moreover, not allowed to
own fancy hunting birds or dogs, and neither could they participate in games or
in what the Bishop, with clear disapproval, calls ‘spectacles’ (also c. 11). The
behaviour and pastimes of their lay subjects were, in other words, out of the
question to the priests. The list continues: no member of the priesthood should
buy his ordination or, for that matter, a church (c. 12), no one is to receive
‘strange clerics’ without episcopal permission (c. 12), priests should never commit
usury (c. 17), leave their church without permission (c. 18), and they must always
prevent incestuous relationships among their flock (c. 21).
4 Haito, c. 2: ‘Secundo iubendum, ut oratio dominica, in qua omnia necessaria humanae vitae
comprehenduntur, et symbolum apostolorum, in quo fides catholica ex integro comprehenditur,
ab omnibus discatur tam latine quam barbarice, ut, quod ore profitentur, corde credtur et
intellegatur.’
5 A few examples: cc. 1, 9, 10, and 12 may have been influenced by the Admonitio generalis
(789). The Council of Nicea (325) is mentioned in c. 9, the Council of Toledo IX (655) in c. 15.
There are, moreover, many parallels between Haito’s statute and contemporary capitularies and
conciliar proceedings; see Chapters 1 and 3 of the present volume.
6 Haito, c. 9: ‘Nono iubendum est eisdem sacerdotibus, ut non permittant secum mulieres
habitare extraneas iuxtra Nicenum conilium, nisi eas tantum, in quibus suspicio nulla malae famae
oboriri potest.’
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