Freaks of Fanaticism, and Other Strange EventsBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Religion
Freaks of Fanaticism, and Other Strange Events
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
History; Mysticism; Patarines
The seeds of fresh discord remained. Leutprand, or Liprand, the
priest, was curate of the Church of St. Paul;[43] having suffered
mutilation in the riot, he was regarded in the light of a Patarine
confessor. But no outbreak took place till the death of Anselm IV.,
Archbishop of Milan (September 30, 1101), at Constantinople, where
he was on his way with the Crusaders to the Holy Land. His vicar,
the Greek, Peter Chrysolaus, Bishop of Savonia, whom the Lombards
called Grossulani, perhaps because of the coarse habit he wore (more
probably as a corruption for Chrysolaus), had been left in charge
of the see of Milan. On the news of the death of the Archbishop
reaching that city, the Primicerius convoked the electors to choose
a successor. The vote fell on Landulf, Ordinary of Milan; but he was
not yet returned from Jerusalem, whither he had gone as a crusader.
Grossulani declared the election informal. Thereupon the Abbot of
St. Dionysius, at the head of a large party of the electors, chose
Peter Grossulani. There is no evidence of his having used bribery in
any form; but he may have acted unjustly in cancelling the election
of Landulf. It is, however, fair to observe that Landulf, on his
return, supported Grossulani; consequently, it is probable that the
latter acted strictly in accordance with law and precedent.
[43] The life of Liprand was written by Landulf the younger, his
sister's son, in his _Hist. Mediolan._ 1095-1137.
But the election displeased Liprand and the remains of the
Patarines. They appealed to Rome, but Grossulani, supported by the
Countess Matilda and St. Bernard, abbot of Vallombrosa, overcame
their objections. Pope Paschal II. ratified the election, and sent
the pall to the Archbishop. Ardericus de Carinate had been sent to
Rome on behalf of Grossulani. The people came out of the gates,
on his approach, to learn the result. Ardericus, hanging the pall
across his umbrella (_protensi virga_), waved it over his head,
shouting, "Ecco la stola! Ecco la stola!" (Here is the pall!) and
led the way into the cathedral, whither Grossulani also hastened,
and ascending the pulpit in his pontifical habit, placed the coveted
insignia about his neck.
Liprand was not satisfied. By means of private agitation, he
disturbed the tranquillity of public feeling, and the Archbishop, to
calm the minds of the populace, was obliged to convoke a provincial
synod at Milan (1103), in which, in the presence of his suffragans,
the clergy and the people, he said, "If anyone has a charge to make
against me, let him speak openly at the present time, or he shall
not be heard."
Liprand would not appear before the council and formally make
charge, but he mounted the pulpit in the Church of St. Paul and
preached against the Archbishop as a simoniac. He declared his
readiness to prove his charge by the ordeal of fire. The bishops
assembled in council refused to suffer the attempt to be made.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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