POPE ADRIAN IV

III

THE SCANDINAVIAN MISSION

 

During the greater part of his pontificate Eugenius III was absent from his rebellious capital, but there is no evidence to show whether he was accompanied on his transalpine wanderings by the Bishop of Albano. All discussion, therefore, as to the preparations for the Second Crusade, the condemnation of Gilbert de la Porée, or any of the other matters which were at this time occupying the mind of the indefatigable Bernard, is out of place in an essay such as this. But one of the schemes upon which the Pope and the Abbot of Clairvaux embarked demands particular attention—namely, the great attempt they made to draw the outlying provinces into closer connection with the capital of the Christian world. Hitherto whole countries had been separated from direct intercourse with their Holy Father by the interposition of foreign primates, and it was with a view to changing this state of affairs that two legations were dispatched during this period. The first, that of the cardinal John Paparo to Ireland, left Rome in 1150. It was the direct result of a petition from the Synod of Inispatrick, whereby the Pope was besought to ratify the action of St. Malachi, who in 1139 had granted pallia to the Archbishop of Armagh and the Bishop of Cashel.

The ecclesiastical organization of the island was certainly in need of improvement. Dublin and Waterford, since 1074 and 1096 respectively, had professed obedience to Canterbury; of late, however, the Archbishop of Armagh had been inclined to assert his supremacy over the whole Irish Church. The legate was delayed by the civil war in England, so that he did not reach his destination until 1152; but, once arrived, he acted with great promptitude. In March he convoked the Synod of Kells, in which the supremacy of Canterbury was finally abolished, and the headship of the Irish Church assigned to the Archbishop of Armagh. Metropolitan sees were also established at Cashel, Tuam, and Dublin, and the diocesan and provincial organization of the island was finally completed.

Emphasis has been laid upon the condition of the Irish Church at this period, because it forms an almost exact parallel to that of Norway, the land to which Eugenius' second legation was despatched. In both countries there was politically the rule of battle-axe, and ecclesiastically the sway of a foreign primate; but the affairs of Norway were, if possible, even more involved than those of Ireland, for there the great influence which the secular power possessed in the direction of spiritual affairs added a new element of complication; for it was the kings who had brought about the conversion of Norway, and they showed themselves by no means disposed to let slip the preponderating authority they had thus secured in matters ecclesiastical.

The object of the legation of 1152 was therefore two­fold. In the first place, metropolitan sees were to be established in both Norway and Sweden; while, secondly, an attempt was to be made to render the churches of these lands more independent of the civil power. The task of the Pope's representative, therefore, was by no means easy, and the fact that the Bishop of Albano was chosen to visit Scandinavia is proof of the great favor with which the English cardinal was regarded by Eugenius. Doubtless the Pontiff considered that a legate of northern extraction would be more acceptable than an Italian to the hardy Northmen; but of this too much has been made. The resemblance between the Norse and English languages was far from being as close as has been supposed.

As to the evidence for this part of Nicholas's career little need be said. The various Vita merely dwell upon the barbarity and fierceness of the peoples visited, and the diligence and energy of the Cardinal. William of Newburgh speaks of the mission as lasting several years, while Matthew Paris does not mention it at all. The northern authorities, notably Saxo Grammaticus in the Gesta Danorum, are a little fuller, but on the whole the information is meagre, so that the doings of the legate are largely a matter of guesswork.

Nicholas left Rome in 1152, and, travelling by way of England, reached Norway on July 20 of that year. The situation which confronted him was somewhat discouraging. Harold Gille had been murdered in 1136, and since then his three sons, Sigurd, Eystein, and Ingi, had reigned together. Ingi, however, was a cripple, and his brothers wished to depose him, though he was in character far superior to both. At the moment of the legate's arrival Sigurd and Ingi were at open war. The story of their quarrel may be given in detail as being an illustration of the terrible state of anarchy which prevailed throughout the land. The wicked noble Geirstein attempted to force the widowed Lady Gyda to become his wife. She, however, refused, and in the dissensions which followed Geirstein was slain. His sons, men as evil as himself, pursued the slayer, and when the latter had found protection with a noble named Gregorius, they obtained help from Sigurd to enable them to execute their vengeance. But the valiant Gregorius having outmatched their cunning and vanquished their might, joined himself to Ingi, and thereupon Sigurd, angered at the death of his soldiers, at once went to war with his brother. Such was the political state of Norway when Nicholas landed, but before an adequate account of his doings as legate can be given, some explanation of the ecclesiastical condition of the country prior to his visit must necessarily be undertaken.

As Muntert tells, there was only one ecclesiastical council held in Norway during the twelfth century; of its proceedings nothing is known. First-hand contemporary evidence is therefore not abundant, and while it is well known that efforts to obtain a metropolitan see were repeatedly made, there is no proof that the appeals to Rome were presented by so large a representative assembly as the Synod of Inispatrick. None the less there was an ardent desire among the Scandinavians to have an archbishop of their own, and Eugenius was redressing a long-felt grievance when he despatched the Bishop of Albano to establish metropolitans in Norway and Sweden. Both these countries as well as Denmark had been originally subjected to the archbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen; but, since the English missionaries had played a larger part than the German in the conversion of Scandinavia, there had existed from an early date a wish to throw off this overlordship. In 1104 the importunity of Danish Kings in this matter had been rewarded by the foundation of an archiepiscopate at Lund, but this change was far from acceptable to the people of Norway and Sweden; for they were placed beneath the control of a new archbishop, who was no less a foreigner than the Bishop of Bremen, and whose authority was the more felt because he abode much nearer at hand. Lund is in the extreme south of modern Sweden. King Sigurd Magnusson, 'the Jerusalem traveller,' is said to have promised whilst in the Holy Land both the establishment of a Norwegian primacy and the introduction of tithes. This was in 1110, but the king's oath was apparently soon forgotten, for Sigurd himself afterwards acknowledged the supremacy of the Archbishop of Lund by requesting him to choose a certain Arnold as Bishop of Greenland. Later Sovereigns, however, continued the strife, and twenty years after Sigurd's death Hreidar was nominated Archbishop of Norway, though he never occupied the see, for he died as he journeyed to Rome to seek ratification from the Pope. After this manner, then, had been the contest by which the Norwegians had sought to obtain a Primate of their own. It remains to say a few words about the bishoprics. These were four in number—Nidaros (now Drontheim), Bergen, Oslo, and Stavanger—and all were on the coast, though Oslo, which stood at the head of the modern Christiania Sound, exercised its powers over a large part of the interior.

On his arrival in Norway Nicholas established himself at Nidaros, which, through its connection with St. Olaf, was held in highest repute among the Scandinavian bishoprics. The occasion was more opportune than is at first evident, for the dissension between the brothers enabled him to combat with greater success the enormous influence which the kings of Norway had been accustomed to exercise in the affairs of the Church. The legate, with his customary wisdom, refused to do anything until the existing anarchy was ended. He took the side of Ingi, and Sigurd and Eystein were ordered to submit and do penance for their evil deeds. The brothers had no option but to obey, for they feared that if they resisted the cardinal might depart without having attempted to create the long-desired archbishopric. Peace having been thus effected, Nicholas at once set about the fulfillment of his mission. There was much to be done, for, besides creating a metropolitan see, and attacking the royal prerogative, he intended to introduce into the Norwegian Church a number of reforms which should bring her somewhat primitive institutions into closer harmony with the forms prescribed by the Canons.

Just as John Paparo chose to establish the new Primate of Ireland at Armagh, the old religious centre of the island, so did Nicholas of Albano decide that Nidaros, the town sacred to the memory of St. Olaf, should be the seat of the new Metropolitan of Norway. In the presence of the three Kings the Legate elected the then Bishop of Stavanger, Jon Birgissen, to be archbishop, at the same time creating a new bishopric at Hamar, a town due north of Oslo and well inland. To this he appointed Arnold, the Bishop of Greenland. Neither the Bull by which Nicholas nominated the archbishop, nor that by which Anastasius IV confirmed the appointment made by the legate, is now obtainable; but of the latter document there is still extant a copy which was sent by certain prelates to Nidaros in 1429. With this copy two Papal Bulls, one of Innocent III in 1205 and the other of Innocent IV in 1253, tally exactly, so that it may well be genuine. It is from this source that we learn that there were attached to the Archbishop of Nidaros the following suffragan bishoprics, eleven in all: Nidaros, Bergen, Stavanger, Oslo, and Hamar, in Norway; Skalholt and Holar, in Iceland; and the dioceses of Greenland, the Faroes, the Orkneys, and the Hebrides.

The first of the ecclesiastical reforms attempted by Nicholas appears in connection with his foundation of the archiepiscopate at Nidaros. Hitherto the king, with the concurrence of the people and nobles, had been accustomed to make appointments to the various bishoprics himself. But on this occasion it is clear that, by virtue of his legatine authority, the Bishop of Albano himself appointed Jon Birgissen, though probably with the assent of the kings. It is therefore likely that the cardinal attempted to insist upon canonical election to all the bishoprics; and in support of such a view, the vigor with which as Pope he insisted upon obedience to the decrees of the Lateran Council upon this matter, may be considered valuable evidence. That Nicholas did make a severe attack upon the royal privileges in these elections appears from the history of the war waged between King Sverrir and Erik, Archbishop of Nidaros, at a somewhat later date. Erik insisted that in 1152 Sigurd, Eystein, and Ingi had upon oath divested themselves of all authority in elections. And though Sverrir repudiated this contention on the ground that such a proceeding was due to the inability of the kings to agree upon one man, and had, therefore, only temporary force, he did not attempt to deny that the brothers had sworn in the manner described. But while there can be little doubt that the cardinal really struggled against royal privilege in this matter, the fact that in 1161 Ingi appointed his own chaplain to the See of Nidaros would argue that the Norwegian kings soon returned to their old ways.

From a letter of Celestine III of March, 1196, another of the legate's efforts to free the Church from the influence of the civil power is put before us. Complaint is made that although the Bishop of Albano had attached three archdeacons to the see of Nidaros, yet judgment in clerical matters had been usurped by laymen. It would therefore appear that Nicholas had established courts for the administration of canon law, though, if we may judge from this letter, his reform was not suffered to revive. One historian asserts that the Cardinal also obtained from the kings a total surrender of the rights to appoint the lower clergy, but of this there is no evidence save a vague statement in a papal letter that former kings are said to have freely given up this privilege. Others have supposed that the legate tried to enforce clerical celibacy, apparently from a belief that he introduced it into Sweden. In the old 'Christian Justice' of the Eidswathingslog, however, it is specifically stated that at funerals the place of honor must be given to the priest and his wife. The only conclusion possible, therefore, is that the innovation, if ever attempted, was rejected in a most decided manner. Norwegian accounts ascribe to Cardinal Nicholas the introduction of the impost of Peter's Pence; and the German historian Spittler has, by an examination of the Liber Censuum, the book wherein is set forth the income of the Holy See, established this beyond all doubt, Peter's Pence was unknown in Norway in 1123, but, in an edition of the Liber revised up to 1182 by Albinus, the tax is thus described—single houses give a gold piece of Norwegian money. Later, of the archbishopric of Nidaros and its suffragans, it is stated, 'quod singulae domus Norvegiae singulos dant denarios monetas ipsius terrae'; and the same words are applied to Sweden. It appears, therefore, that Peter's Pence was introduced into Norway between the years 1123 and 1182; and as the dealings between Rome and the northern provinces were not often very intimate, it may safely be assumed that it was the cardinal Nicholas who established the impost in Scandinavia.

Hitherto the labors of the legate have had as their end the greater liberty of the Church of Norway from the secular power, and its closer connection with the Holy See; but there are two respects in which he is known to have attempted reforms whose main object was the greater happiness of the Norwegian people. In the first place, Nicholas tried to regulate the assessment and payment of the stipends of the clergy, at the same time endeavoring to secure for them free-will offerings in addition to the annual tithe of income and the tithe of possessions which was paid once in a lifetime. The evidence for this is an order of Hakon the Old. The second reform is only indirectly connected with ecclesiastical matters. Torfaeus tells us how the legate forbade the carrying of arms in market-towns, saving only by the king's bodyguards, who were not to exceed twelve in number. The story of Gregorius, already recounted, explains the need for such an ordinance.

The cardinal had accomplished his work with remarkable celerity, for he was in Sweden by the autumn of the year of his arrival, but none the less had his efforts been crowned with success. Not only had he established the desired archbishopric and furnished it with suffragans, but he had brought Norway into a closer connection with Rome in many other ways. For by his insistence upon canonical election, by his introduction of Peter's Pence, by his creation of archidiaconates for the administration of canon law, he had labored to reduce to conformity with established customs of the Catholic Church the rude usages which had hitherto obtained among the Norwegians. Throughout all his reforms, opposition to the unjust usurpations made by the secular power is evident, and, writing long afterwards, Torfaeus bitterly declares that the attack made upon the royal majesty by the pride of the ecclesiastical orders took its beginning in the time of Nicholas, for he, by the weight of his legatine authority, had forced to assemble to hear his edict, not only all the chiefs, but the three kings themselves. If after the legate's departure his innovations were soon repudiated, the fault is not his. It is true that the strife of the brothers broke out again, to end only with the death of Sigurd and Eystein at the hands of the brave Gregorius, and that the victorious Ingi, unmindful of his debt of gratitude to Nicholas, himself presumed to nominate the arch­bishop of Nidaros. It is true that the archdeacons' courts fell into decay. Even so, however, it cannot be denied that the legate had done a work of the highest value to the Holy See.

Apart altogether from the material advantage which accrued to the Church from the payment of Peter's Pence, he had obtained a recognition of the rights of the Holy See over the Church of Norway. The time for enforcing obedience to the whole of the canon law was not yet come; but when opportunity arose the Curia was always ready to assert claims of which the justice was already admitted, so that, henceforth, the influence of Rome steadily increased. But there is another way in which Nicholas strengthened the cords which bound the Norwegians to their Holy Father, a way as important as any other: by his kindliness and wisdom he so endeared himself to the people that he became to them 'the Good Cardinal.' Thus in the hearts of the men of Norway the idea of Rome was inextricably bound up with the memory of one who was just and prudent, and who loved them as his own sons.

As has been already stated, the legate arrived in Sweden in the autumn of 1152. Here he at once held a council at Linkoping, but of its proceedings it can only be said that the accounts which survive are even more meagre than those which tell of the assembly at Nidaros. Saxo Grammaticus, however, relates that the cardinal's attempt to establish a Swedish archbishopric failed, because the Goths and Swedes could come to no agreement either as to the person of the new metropolitan, or as to the place in which his seat was to be fixed. A recent German authority, however, inclines to the view that the establishment of the new see was prevented by the machinations of the Archbishop of Lund, who naturally would be averse from losing so large a part of his authority. It is suggested that, whilst Nicholas was busy in Norway, Eskill of Lund had employed his time in creating in Sweden dissensions which the weak King Sverker could not quell. Saxo himself tells us that after the Council of Linkoping the legate visited Eskill, to mollify him for the curtailment of his see, and to make him consent to the creation of a Swedish arch­bishopric. That the barbarity and quarrels of the people of Sweden are not sufficient cause of the legate's failure is easily seen, Dr. Breyer argues, from the fact of his success in Norway, a country in the same state of civil and ecclesiastical anarchy.

Against such a view it may be urged that in after-days Eskill of Lund continued to enjoy the friendship of Nicholas, though no Swedish Archbishop was appointed till 1163. This makes it unlikely that the Danish Primate had been responsible for the untimely quarrels of the Goths and Swedes which prevented the execution of the Legate's design. Again, the parallel between Norway and Sweden is by no means exact. In the former country the jealousy was between three kings of one blood, whereas in Sweden it was two distinct races which were unable to agree; thus, whilst the legate could persuade Sigurd, Eystein, and Ingi to accept his decision, it was useless for him to attempt to coerce whole tribes.

Sweden was at this time parted into two well-marked divisions. In the south dwelt the Goths, and it was here, round the centre of Skara, that the new religion was strongest. The Swedes proper, who lived to the north, were but recent converts, for the eleventh century was drawing to its close before the heathen temple at Upsala was destroyed by Ingi the Goth. It is therefore no cause for surprise that two peoples who had so little in common should be in a state of perpetual friction, nor is it at all unlikely that the legate's attempt to create an archbishopric raised the partisans of both Skara and Upsala to a state of mutual hostility, which far surpassed in bitterness even the rivalry of the Norwegian kings. There is yet another point of difference between the two countries in question. Nidaros, as the shrine of St. Olaf, was naturally marked out as the seat of the new metropolitan; but in Sweden there was no such ecclesiastical centre, so that, even if there had been no racial dissensions, the position of the legate as arbitrator of the claims of the various bishoprics would still have been difficult. It is therefore unnecessary to assume that the failure of Nicholas to establish a Swedish archbishopric was due to the efforts of Eskill of Lund, though it is quite possible that that prelate did act in the manner suggested by Dr. Breyer.

As for the other doings of the legate in the Concilium of Linkoping, little is known.  But it appears that he achieved reforms of much the same nature as those already executed at Nidaros. As to the improved regulations de matrimonio, these need not necessarily refer to the introduction of celibacy of the clergy. The ordinary laws of marriage in Sweden were very lax, and it is more than likely that Nicholas endeavored to improve them. That Peter's Pence was introduced by Nicholas there can be no doubt, as Anastasius IV, in his letter of November 28, 1154, specifically mentions the annual 'census' promised to St. Peter. Some have seen in the particularly mild system of tithes enjoyed by Sweden, fresh evidence of the kindly bishop's handiwork, but the supposition that Nicholas took part in such a reform rests upon no evidence.

The cardinal had succeeded in introducing some ecclesiastical reforms, and chiefly by the introduction of Peter's pence had brought Sweden into closer touch with the Church at Rome, but he had been quite unsuccessful in his endeavor to establish a metropolitan see. As under the existing circumstances the erection of the desired archbishopric had become an impossibility, he abandoned the idea altogether, and left for the kingdom of Denmark. Here he stayed with Eskill for some time, according to Dr. Breyer, because he was awaiting the instructions of the Curia with regard to the disposal of the 'pallium,' which had been denied to Sweden. As, however, Anastasius afterwards refused to acquiesce in the arrangement at which Nicholas and Eskill had arrived — namely, that the latter should bestow the 'pallium' upon the man eventually chosen by the Goths and Swedes—the only possible conclusion is that the legate did not act with consent from Rome. It would, therefore, appear that the reason of the bishop's delay was, as Saxo asserts, that it was too late in the year for a sea-voyage.

The last act which is recorded of Nicholas in Denmark is that he attempted to dissuade King Sweyn from a meditated attack upon Sweden. The legate urged that the risk was great and the chance of profit small. The Danish monarch, however, while listening with deference to the cardinal, refused to abandon his scheme, and the wisdom of Nicholas's advice was amply proved by the complete failure of the expedition.

As to the route by which Nicholas returned to Rome, as well as to the date of his arrival there, we have no information. That the legate returned between July 8 and November 28, 1153, is quite obvious; for Eugenius III had died before the Cardinal reappeared in the city, and the date November 28 is affixed to two letters in which Anastasius mentions the good service done by Nicholas, who has just come back from his mission. One of these letters is to Sverker and the Swedish chiefs, who are exhorted to obey the commands laid upon them by the Bishop of Albano, especially with regard to the payment of Peter's Pence. The other, which is directed to the Bishops of Sweden, states that the Pope was pleased to hear from Nicholas of the progress which religion had made amongst them. They are urged to keep their people in obedience to the Church of Rome, and are given Anastasius's word that he will not send any legates but such as will respect the rights of the Norwegian clergy. Two days later Anastasius confirmed to the Church of Nidaros its metropolitan rights, but there is no mention of any ratification of the privileges granted by the cardinal to Eskill of Lund,

On December 3 Anastasius died, and on the following day, thirty-two Cardinals chose as his successor Nicholas, Cardinal-Bishop of Albano, who assumed the tiara as Adrian IV. Doubtless the prestige gained by the Englishman upon his mission to Scandinavia was, to a large extent, responsible for the honor conferred upon him. For it was a great work which Nicholas had done; in spite of some failures, he had mightily vindicated the name of Rome in Scandinavia. He had founded a metropolitan see, he had established Peter's Pence, he had waged a vigorous war against secular usurpation. But, apart from benefiting the Church of St. Peter, he had honestly striven to ameliorate the condition of both the clergy and the people of Scandinavia, so that he obtained their love as well as their reverence.

Snorro relates that no foreigner ever came to Norway who gained as much public honor and deference among the people as did Nicholas Breakspear. When, loaded with their gifts, he took his departure, he promised eternal friendship to the country, and as Pope he showed himself not unmindful of his word; for not only did he treat with the greatest attention all Norwegians who came to see him, but he had sent from England artificers to build the cathedral and convent of his foundation at Hamar. Years after the bright and fickle South had forgotten its valiant Pope, the dark true North remem­bered the kindly legate, for his fame was recorded not in books, but in the hearts of men.