IMC 2007: Sessions

Abstract a: Pope Eugenius III began his pontificate with Rome in open rebellion and a newly-formed commune determined to wring political concessions from the papacy. He reached agreement with the commune on at least two occasions but found it impossible to find a lasting compromise. This paper investigates to what extent Eugenius’s troubles were a legacy of the Schism of 1130 and assesses his success in marginalizing the commune during the politically-charged negotiations for the abortive imperial coronation of Conrad III, only to see it reinvigorated by the preaching of Arnold of Brescia, sent to Rome by Eugenius as a penance.
Abstract b: Eugenius III, consecrated pope outside Rome, at the abbey of Farfa in the Sabina, moved to Viterbo where he was forced to spend much of 1146 and subsequent months at various times during his pontificate. He initiated the buying of castra, or fortified villages, an idea enthusiastically adopted by his successors. He built a palace at Segni and recovered the strategic papal fortress of Fumone while, at Terracina, an inscription credits him with ‘reclaiming the Patrimony of St Peter’. This paper will examine how far this proposition is accurate.
Abstract c: In September 1147, Eugenius III attended the annual General Chapter meeting of the Cistercian Order at Cîteaux, ‘not only presiding as pope but staying in fraternal love amongst the brothers, as if he was one of them’. This paper will investigate what is known of the papal visit and examine the implications for the three founders of religious houses who came to seek incorporation into the Order. While Stephen of Obazine and Vitalis of Savigny, together with their followers, were welcomed into the Cistercian family, ‘Eugenius himself intervening’, the third, Gilbert of Sempringham, was sent away disconsolate.