Gregory Brown
513 Agnes Arnold Hall
Department of Philosophy
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-3004

Nicholas II.
(d. 1061)

Pope (1058-1061)

born Lorraine
died Aug. 27, 1061, Florence

original name Gerard of Burgundy, French Gérard de Bourgogne

Pope from 1058 to 1061, a major figure in the Gregorian reform.

He was bishop of Florence when he was elected, c. December 1058 at Siena, Italy, to succeed Pope Stephen IX. (X.) (c. 1000-1058), in opposition to Antipope Benedict X. (d. c. 1080), who had been chosen by the anti-reformist Roman aristocracy. In January 1059 Benedict was expelled from the papacy.

At the Lateran Council of April 1059, a milestone in papal history, Nicholas promulgated his famous bull on papal elections (April 13); he did so in reaction to the disorders that interrupted his own election. He assigned the leading part in elections to the seven cardinal bishops (i.e., those who had the predominant position among the higher clergy), who were to choose a suitable candidate and then summon the other cardinals. The remaining clergy and the people were to acclaim the choice, and the imperial role was dismissed. Nicholas' legate, sent to notify the German court of the election decree, was refused an audience, and an imperialist version of the decree was circulated. At a synod of 1061, the German bishops declared Nicholas' decree void and quashed all his acts, signifying the ruptured alliance between Germany and Rome and launching the contest between empire and papacy.

Nicholas' relations with the Normans, firmly entrenched in southern Italy, were friendly, however. By the Treaty of Melfi (Aug. 23, 1059) he invested Robert Guiscard as duke of Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily (with papal suzerainty over these lands) and Richard of Aversa as prince of Capua, in return for allegiance.

Copyright © 1994-2002 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Sources

  • Encylopedia Britannica 2002, Expanded Edition DVD

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