Kiss, Gergely: Gregorius de Sancto Apostolo The Career of a Papal Legate At the End of the Twelfth Century. In: Specimina Nova Pars Prima Sectio Mediaevalis X. Ed. Kiss, Gergely - Barabás, Gábor. Pécs, 2019. 37-51. (original) (raw)
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The study deals with the ecclesiastical career and the Hungarian legations of Gregory, the cardinal deacon of S. Maria in Aquiro (1188–1200?), then the cardinal presbyter of S. Vitalis (1200?–1207?). Gregory was of noble origin and an important member of the college of cardinals at the end of the 12th and the outset of the 13th century. His activity in the service of the popes was quite complex, among other things he acted as auditor in the Curia and fulfilled diplomatic missions of various kinds as well. He visited the Hungarian Realm twice, first in 1199–1200 whilst his task was to help the reconciliation of King Emeric with his younger brother, prince Andrew. Gregory’s second Hungarian legation covered a series of ecclesiastical issues in 1207, for instance he investigated, whether the election of the king’s brother-in-law, Berthold of Merania as archbishop of Kalocsa legitime was. Furthermore, the paper intends to analyse the nature of the cardinal’s authorizations as well.
Throughout the thirteenth century, papal legates intervened in Hungary on numerous occasions and for a multitude of reasons. As the instruments of papal authority, they had to deal with various internal and external conflicts, such as the fight against the heresy in the Balkans, foster relations with the neighbouring orthodox churches, and improve the state of the Hungarian clergy. The present study explores the manifestation, deployment and limitations of papal authority in the person of the legate so as to assess the nature of the papacy’s plenitudo potestatis, or fullness of power, in its relations with the kings of Hungary in this period.
In the 14th century, the Kingdom of Hungary, under the reign of King Louis I, entered the political map of Europe in a significant way, which was also reflected in its greater openness to foreigners, providing them with new opportunities for the fulfilment of their ambitions. One such figure was the Roman Cardinal William de la Jugée (with the title of Cardinal Deacon of Sancta Maria in Cosmedin), who was the nephew of the Avignon Pope Clement VI. The present study, based on research in the Vatican Apostolic Archives, thus analyses the action and influence of Cardinal William on the changes in the ecclesiastical administration and its staffing in the dioceses of Hungary, documenting one of the earliest cases of the commendation of ecclesiastical offices in our territory and their historical and social context. Keywords: Middle Ages. Kingdom of Hungary. Roman Curia. Ecclesiastical administration. Commendation of ecclesiastical offices.
The present paper gives a short summary about the course of life of Egidius, a papal chaplain and subdeacon, who spent ca. three years in the Medieval Kingdom of Hungary in the late 1220's as a judge delegate. The investigation focuses not on the litigations handled by the papal chaplain, but on one particular task of his, the establishment of the bishopric of Syrmia (Srem) and in connection with that on one main question: what kind of authority Egidius received from Pope Gregory IX for the planned measure. While analysing certain historical situations it is of great importance to establish whether a papal envoy was entrusted as a legate with full power or if he had to fulfil his obligation as a nuncio, with limited authorization. In the Hungarian historiography Egidius is handled traditionally as a legate, but his entire mission in Hungary seems to be of a more complex nature, therefore the question itself requires a new analysis.
In the past decade the focus of the author’s research has been on various aspects of the relations of the Hungarian Kingdom with the Papacy in the thirteenth century. Among other things the following topics have been dealt with: the activities of papal legates sent to the Realm of St Stephen, the operation of papal delegated jurisdiction in the church of Hungary, and the role that certain members of the royal family played in this era All but one of the studies presented in this book have already been published. Nevertheless, the papers are updated based on comments received since their original publications. The texts of several studies were altered, new parts were added, certain passages were removed, and the references were completed with recent, or previously missing works. Hopefully, this collection – of somewhat overlapping studies – off ers new aspects on the research of the history of the Papacy and the Kingdom of Hungary in the High Middle Ages.
The paper discusses a special organisation of the medieval Papal Curia: the personal chapel of the popes, primarily focusing on the activity of its members in Hungary, during the 13 th century. The papal subdeacons and chaplains played a significant role in the operation of the Apostolic See, e.g. they functioned as legates in a growing number besides cardinals, and they participated in the work of the papal chancellery, chamber, and penitentiary as well. Nevertheless, papal clerics were also to be found outside the Apostolic Court, such as in Hungary, where they can be classified into two different factions: the first major group was formed by the members of the Papal Chapel, who only visited the certain regions of church with special mandates for various kinds of tasks. In most cases, they had to deal with diplomatic affairs, or with matters of ecclesiastical government and discipline. The second category, on the one hand, consisted a group of clerics with special status, they were the so-called papal subdeacons, while on the other hand, certain members of the Hungarian clergy received the title of (honorary) papal chaplain from the popes as a reward for their services.
In this book a specific aspect of the Kingdom of Hungary in the Arpadian age and of Hungarian ecclesiastical history is explored, the emergence and operation of the system of delegated papal jurisdiction and its interaction with local conditions from the beginnings in the late twelfth century until the end of the Arpadian age. Due to the reforms of the medieval papacy, which began in the late eleventh century, the popes acquired several new practical and conceptual tools that could be used both to restructure or reshape the Church and its various regions and to receive feedback from the local churches. Perhaps the best example of the latter (sending feedback tied to representation) is the work of the papal judges-delegate. The system of papal delegated jurisdiction on one hand supported the claims of the Apostolic See for the primacy in the Church, on the other hand the litigants played a role in shaping the legal frames and the practice of papal delegations as well. The author offers in his book an insight into the general tendencies of the system, meanwhile the Hun garian situation and the individual cases are analysed in detail as well. Gábor Barabás is an As so ciate Professor of the Institute of History at the University of Pécs (Hun gary). His main fields of in terest are several aspects of medieval Church history.
The papal government was characterized by centralization in the 14 th century in which the tax system and the papal beneficial policy were two main factors. The Avignon popes strived to extend their influence on every stratum of the ecclesiastical hierarchy by rewarding the members of the curia's dévéloping administrativé systém with bénéficés in thé local churchés. Thé changés in thé functioning of the papal curia offered a great opportunity for a growing number of qualified clerics to build successful careers in the papal service. The process briefly described above had an impact on the contemporary ecclesiastical structure of the Hungarian Kingdom, as more and more clerics tried to obtain benefices with papal protection, especially in the second half of the 14 th century. Soon not only papal officers, but cardinals and the members of their entourage held Hungarian ecclesiastical titles as well. The main aim of the present paper is to analyse the lifepath of a curialist, Petrus Begonis. First procurator of cardinal Guillaume de la Jugie, later papal chaplain, Petrus Begonis was granted various church offices-also in the Hungarian Kingdom-and charged with diverse diplomatic tasks in different parts of Europe (Hungary, Holy Roman Empire, Italy). His ecclesiastical career-spanning from the reign of Clement VI to that of Urban VI-gives an insight in the functioning of the papal curia in Avignon and helps us comprehend the administrational changes in the 14 th century.
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