Showing posts with label Monte Cassino. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Monte Cassino. Show all posts

Thursday, February 8, 2024

War in Rome

After King Henry IV of Germany and Pope Gregory VII clashed over several issues, Henry decided to depose Gregory and put Guibert of Ravenna on the Throne of Peter as (antipope) Clement III. Henry promised to bring his army to Rome to accomplish this, but failed in his first attempt in 1081. A later attempt succeeded, however.

Henry marched into Rome on 21 March 1084. Pope Gregory barricaded himself in the Castle Sant'Angelo, which meant abandoning the papal complex. Three days later, Clement III took possession of the papacy. In return, he crowned Henry as Holy Roman Emperor.

Gregory had allies, however, one of whom was the powerful King of Sicily, Robert Guiscard. Robert brought his Norman army to Gregory's aid, prompting Henry and Guibert to abandon Rome. On their way north, Henry ravaged parts of Tuscany which were possessions of Matilda of Tuscany, who had supported Gregory. Guibert went to Ravenna, where he had been archbishop, and wielded limited power.

Although Gregory was free to resume his job as pope, Romans were upset at damage done by his Norman allies. Opposition to Gregory grew great enough that he decided to live at Monte Cassino. He died a year later, on 25 May 1085. His immediate successor (Victor III) did not relish the public life of the papacy, and did not last long before he retired. His successor was Urban II, who also had problems because of German support (and some in Rome) for Clement. Clement returned to Rome in 1089, taking up residence at the Vatican and forcing Urban to stay away from Rome.

The King of France's brother, Hugh of Vermandois, marched on Rome to deal with the antipope, prompting Clement this time to flee to Monte Cassino. Hugh captured Monte Cassino as well, however, and Clement fled to Albano, a day's journey from Rome. By this time, however, Urban had died, and Paschal II was the pope of the anti-Germany faction.

Guibert/Clement died on 8 September 1100, having outlived two popes who were his opposition and who failed to depose him. His supporters elected another antipope, Theodoric, who never wielded any real authority and lasted a year.

Who was this Matilda of Tuscany, who supported Gregory and suffered because of Henry IV? Let me tell you about la Gran Contessa tomorrow.

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

The First Benedictine Monastery

When St. Benedict decided to create a place where men could quietly contemplate God, removed from the cares of the world, he chose a 1700-foot above sea level cliff top in southeast Rome. From 530 until 547, he developed the Rule of St. Benedict to guide the daily lives of the monks.

There were difficulties in building, according to an account by Pope Gregory II. Satan made a rock too heavy to move by sitting on it until Benedict shooed him away, and collapsed a wall on a young monk whom Benedict had to bring back to life. It was common in hagiographies to relate how the subject overcame pagan or demonic opposition.

Benedict's time at Monte Cassino was not long. He died in 534 and was buried in the oratory of St. John on the site. The monastery itself was sacked by Lombards in 570, and abandoned.

A second monastery was established on the site in 718 by Petronax of Brescia. He was an Italian monk who made a pilgrimage to the tomb of Benedict and found a few hermits living at Monte Cassino. They asked him to lead them; donations from nobles like the Duke of Benevento allowed them to rebuild. St. Willibald and St. Sturm of Fulda were at Monte Cassino under Petronax. Once again, however, the monastery was a target, this time in 883 by Saracens. The monks of Monte Cassino re-located to Teano and then Capua until 949, when Monte Cassino was rebuilt.

Monte Cassino experienced a golden age in the 11th and 12th centuries. It acquired much land in the area, referred to as the Land of Saint Benedict (ultimately reaching 80,000 hectares) which afforded it much material wealth. The abbey had art from Byzantine and Islamic artisans and received patronage from Byzantine emperors. Three popes came from Monte Cassino during this period.

It started to close independence and authority in the 13th century. Emperor Frederick II garrisoned troops there in his war with the pope. An earthquake in 1349 collapsed most of the buildings. Pope Urban V demanded funds from all Benedictine monasteries toward rebuilding Monte Cassino in 1369.

In 1799, Monte Cassino was sacked by the French Revolutionary Army. In 1866 it was declared a national monument with the monks as custodians. In 1944, it was destroyed by American bombers on the mistaken belief that German troops were stationed there. It was rebuilt, currently housing about a dozen monks.

During the time that the monks were "in exile" at Teano and Capua, the original Rule of St. Benedict was influenced by the Cluniac Reforms, sometimes also called the Benedictine Reforms. What were they, and how did they change the lives of monks? We will explore that next time.

Tuesday, December 27, 2022

The Bishop of Eichstätt

Willibald spent ten years at Monte Cassino, sharing the experiences of his wide travels and helping to shape the monastic experience for Monte Cassino and another nearby Benedictine monastery.

This would change when Boniface, traveling to Rome in 738, told Pope Gregory III that he would like Willibald's help in evangelizing Germany. (It is believed that Boniface was related to Willibald through the latter's mother.) Gregory thought this was a good idea, and urged Willibald to travel once more.

Willibald came to Eichstätt, where Boniface ordained the monk, making him a priest on 22 July 741 and having him start missionary work. The following year, Boniface asked him to come to Thuringia, on the way to which Willibald ran into his brother Winibald, who had stayed behind in Rome in 724! The brothers had not seen each other in many years.

Returning to Eichstätt with Winibald, the brothers founded a "double monastery" at Heidenheim; that is, a monastery that had separate living arrangements for men and women, but sharing a single chapel and other facilities. This was more common in the eastern monastic communities and the influence of Willibald's travels. Winibald became its first abbot. They were joined by their sister, Walburga, who became its abbess.

In 746, Boniface made Willibald bishop of Eichstätt, where he served for over 40 years until his death c.787. He lived at the Heidenheim monastery, sharing his wisdom and knowledge of various countries and attracting many visitors.

Fascinating as the concept of a "double monastery" might be, the monastery of Monte Cassino has a long history that has caused it to be mentioned several times over the years of this blog, but it has never received proper attention. I'll correct that oversight tomorrow.

Monday, December 26, 2022

St. Willibald's Travels

Although St. Willibald wrote about St. Boniface (to whom he was related on his mother's side), what we mostly know about him came from another's writing, an itinerary written by an Anglo-Saxon nun named Huneberc who knew Willibald and his brother, St. Winebald. The two brothers also had a sister who became a saint, Walburga, whom I wrote about here.

In fact, the entire family was notable. Their mother was a saint, Wuna of Wessex; some think she was the sister of Boniface. Their father was known as Richard the Pilgrim because in 721 he went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land with his wife and two sons, leaving his daughter in care of the abbess of Wimborne in Dorset. Richard himself died in Lucca, in Tuscany, after developing a fever; he is considered a saint and his relics were displayed in Lucca and in Eichstätt. Both his and Luna's feast day is 7 February.

After Lucca, Willibald with Winibald continued the pilgrimage. They stayed in Rome, visiting the Lateran Basilica and St. Peter's. Then disaster struck, as Huneberc relates:

Then with the passing of the days and the increasing heat of the summer, which is usually a sign of future fever, they were struck down with sickness. They found it difficult to breathe, fever set in, and at one moment they were shivering with cold the next burning with heat. They had caught the black plague. So great a hold had it got on them that, scarcely able to move, worn out with fever and almost at the point of death, the breath of life had practically left their bodies. But God in His never failing providence and fatherly love deigned to listen to their prayers and come to their aid, so that each of them rested in turn for one week whilst they attended to each other's needs.

The symptoms more closely align with malaria. After recovering, Willibald continued his journey in 724. Winibald stayed in a monastery in Rome.

Willibald went to Ephesus where he visited the tomb of John the Evangelist. He spent the winter in Lycia (in Turkey), then traveled to the island of Cyprus, then to Syria and the church of Saint John the Baptist.

He is the first known Englishman to visit the Holy Land, visiting Nazareth and Bethlehem. He also visited Egypt, before returning to Nazareth, and then Cana, Capernaum, and finally arriving in Jerusalem on 11 November 725. He visits many places in the area before going to stay awhile in Tyre, after which he went to Constantinople.

He spent two years in Constantinople, staying in a small room at the Church of the Holy Apostles. He visited Nicaea, where he studied the records from the First Council of Nicaea, which had been called by Constantine to settle the question of Arian versus Nicene Christianity. He finally left for Naples, arriving there after seven years of traveling. He then spent ten years (729 - 739) at Monte Cassino.

He might have been content to stay at Monte Cassino, but a conversation between Boniface and Pope Gregory III would change his status, his location, and reunite him with his family. I'll explain that next time.

Friday, March 18, 2022

Thomas Aquinas

I suppose if we wanted to find a Christian parallel to Maimonides, Thomas Aquinas would be an obvious choice. Born into the aristocracy, noted for his learning and devoutness, his writing blending previous scholarship and building on it with impressive arguments backed up by Scripture and reason, his writings becoming foundational for what came after—no wonder he was nicknamed Doctor Angelicus ("The Angelic Doctor").

He was born in 1225 in the town of Aquino. His father was Count Landulph of Aquino, his mother Countess Theodora of Teano; he was related to the kings of Aragon, Castile, and France, as well as to Emperors Henry VI and Frederick II. A biography written a generation after he died claims that a holy hermit predicted to a pregnant Theodora that her child would become unequalled in learning and sanctity.

His education began at the typical age of five, with the Benedictines of Monte Cassino (his father's brother Sinibald was the abbot there from 1227-1236). Some time between 1236 and 1239 he was sent to a university at Naples where he would have first learned about Aristotle, Averroes, and Maimonides. Here he also came into contact with a Dominican preacher. The Dominicans had been founded 30 years earlier and were actively recruiting.

When he was 19 years old, Thomas announced that he wished to join the Dominicans, which displeased his "Benedictine-oriented" family. It displeased them so much that, while Thomas was traveling to Rome on his way to Paris to get away from the family's influence, his brothers (at his mother's request) kidnapped him. He was forced to stay in his parents' castle for almost a year, spending the time tutoring his sisters.

Attempts to dissuade him from the Dominicans became more desperate. His brothers sent a prostitute to seduce him. He fought her off with a burning log, then fell into a mystical trance and had a vision of two angels granting him perfect chastity. (They also gave him a "girdle of chastity" that now resides in Turin.) His mother, seeing that he would not change his mind, and not wanting to endure the embarrassment of allowing her son to join the Dominicans, she arranged for him to escape his home in 1244. He went to the University of Paris where he probably studied under Albertus Magnus. Because Thomas was quiet, his fellow students ridiculed him, but Albertus is supposed to have told them "You call him the dumb ox, but in his teaching he will one day produce such a bellowing that it will be heard throughout the world."

In 1256 he was appointed regent master in theology at Paris and began writing the first of his many theological works, Contra impugnantes Dei cultum et religionem ("Against Those Who Assail the Worship of God and Religion"), defending the mendicant orders.

His reputation as a theologian and teacher/preacher grew so much that he was granted the Archbishopric of Naples in 1265 by Pope Clement IV, but he turned it down. In the yard that followed he would have the time to write one of his greatest works, the Summa Theologica.

And this is where we come back to the comparison with Maimonides: despite the groundbreaking nature of his writing, which became foundational for much of what followed, he was not without his detractors. Some of his conclusions clashed with accepted thought from previous religious writers. To be able to discuss that, we should look at two other philosophers: Aristotle and Averroes. Stay tuned.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

When Being Pope is Not a Step Up

You would think that being named pope is the highest achievement for a man in that particular field, and that it comes with the power to accomplish many great and far-reaching things. And you would be right, for the most part. Consider, however, a man who was already considered great before he ascended to the Throne of Peter, and for whom the papacy took him away from the opportunities to do good.

Dauferius, the younger son of Prince Landulf V of Benevento, was born c.1026. At his father's death in 1047, Dauferius ran away from home to escape an arranged marriage, was dragged back, and ran off again. He ran to the monastery of San Sophia and started calling himself Desiderius. He changed monasteries a few times, seeking a more austere life each time. His reputation for discipline and piety brought him to the attention of Pope Leo IX. It is thought that the pope asked Desiderius to negotiate peace between the Normans and a combined Italian-Lombard-Swabian army. Since the Normans defeated the army that included Desiderius' own countrymen, he would have been glad to help.

Desiderius became a member of the court of Pope Victor II, who influenced him greatly. More than that, however: at Victor's court Desiderius met two monk of Monte Cassino, and followed them there in 1055, where he was steeped in the details of Benedictine rule. Two years later, during a visit from the previous abbot of Monte Cassino, now Pope Stephen IX (though he had never relinquished the title of abbot), the monks were told to elect a new about to replace the pope. The monks picked Desiderius.

As abbot his real work began. He rebuilt Monte Cassino and beefed up the scriptorium, his reputation bringing more monks (there were 200 in his day) and gifts to the monastery. He had been appointed by the pope to reform whatever monasteries he thought needed it, and to appoint bishops from Benedictines if he felt it necessary. His reputation as a wise man and negotiator meant that even factions that were at war with the pope were cordial to Monte Cassino. For almost 30 years he worked to improve his world.

When Pope Gregory VII lay dying, he named Desiderius as one of his possible successors (even though they did not see eye-to-eye on the subject of reforms). When Desiderius learned that a lot of people wanted to see him become pope, he went back to Monte Cassino and tried to avoid the privilege. Pressure was great, however, and he acquiesced, being named Pope Victor III on 24 May 1086. Unfortunately, the antipope Clement III in Rome prevented him from being consecrated and actually moving into the Vatican until 9 May 1087. Much of his time as pope was spent replacing Clement and undoing some of the damage from his papacy.

And then he died, on 16 September; total time actually in office: 130 days.

He should have just stayed in Monte Cassino.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Peter Damian & Omnipotence

St. Peter Damian, letter writer
Peter Damian (c.1007 - 21 February 1072/3), the author of the Liber Gomorrhianus, was more than just a critic of priests' vices. He was a reformer whose piety caused him to be named a Doctor of the Church and to be placed in one of the highest levels of Heaven by Dante.*

He has a place in philosophy, however, due to one of the 180 letters he wrote. This particular one is called De divina omnipotentia ["Concerning divine omnipotence"]. In it, he discusses two questions that came up in a mealtime conversation during a visit to the Abbey of Monte Cassino.

Before we jump into his answers to the two questions in his letter, we must first bring up the Law on Non-contradiction, which states that a thing cannot be at once true and untrue. Sounds sensible. Aristotle in his Metaphysics states definitively that "contradictory propositions are not true simultaneously." He was building on Plato and Socrates and others.

The two questions that Damian tackles are these:
  1. Can God restore a woman's virginity?
  2. Can God undo history?
Damian maintains the view of God's omnipotence that says he can restore virginity. Virginity is a good thing, and so regaining it is a good thing; God will do something if it is a good thing. Therefore, God can and would do it, if He felt the situation warranted it. Restoring virginity would require two things: restoring the merit of virginity and restoring the physical change that loss of virginity causes (restoring the "integrity of the flesh"). The first is accomplished by returning to God's Grace, the second a simple matter of God restoring a person's flesh to an earlier condition.

Does this, then, imply that Damian believes that God can undo history? Not quite. In the case of restoring virginity, Damian states that God can do so as a miracle in the present time. He is not undoing an event that took place; He is changing a person's current state back to an original state.

Then what about history?

Damian, after a long and complicated discussion of the law of non-contradiction (and criticism of his peers for not understanding the subtleties of the question), explains that God cannot turn what has been done into something that has not been done. He denies, however, that this is an instance of a lack of omnipotence. Damian argues that God's omnipotence is His ability to bring about what is good. Creating a contradiction by changing what has been done to something that has not been done would be creating a contradiction, and therefore would be a bad thing. It would be turning something into nothing, and God creates things out of nothing, He will not create nothing out of something.

Okay, fine, but what about evil things? Wouldn't it be good for God to undo evil actions? Damian gets a little vague about this, and tells his audience not to worry about evil things. Evil things don't have the same kind of existence/value as good things, and so to erase them does not create a contradiction in the same way as erasing from the historical record a good thing.

Well, who am I to argue?

*In Canto XXI of the Paradiso, in the Seventh Heaven, a bright soul comes to speak to Dante and identifies himself as Peter Damian. The subject of corrupt popes comes up (surprise!).