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{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 1049 to 1054}}
{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 1049 to 1054}}
{{use dmy dates|date=August 2025}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
{{Infobox Christian leader
|type=Pope
|type=Pope
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'''Pope Leo IX''' ({{langx|it|Leone IX}}, {{langx|de|Leo IX.}}, 21 June 1002 – 19 April 1054), born '''Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg''', was the head of the [[Catholic Church]] and ruler of the [[Papal States]] from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054.<ref>Coulombe, Charles A., ''Vicars of Christ: A History of the Popes'', (Citadel Press, 2003), 204.</ref> Leo IX is considered to be one of the most historically significant popes of the [[Middle Ages]]; he was instrumental in the precipitation of the [[Great Schism of 1054]], considered the turning point in which the Catholic and [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]es formally separated.
'''Pope Leo IX''' ({{langx|it|Leone IX}}, {{langx|de|Leo IX.}}, 21 June 1002 – 19 April 1054), born '''Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg''', was the head of the [[Catholic Church]] and ruler of the [[Papal States]] from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054.<ref>Coulombe, Charles A., ''Vicars of Christ: A History of the Popes'', (Citadel Press, 2003), 204.</ref> Leo IX is considered to be one of the most historically significant popes of the [[Middle Ages]]; he was instrumental in the precipitation of the [[Great Schism of 1054]], considered the turning point in which the Catholic and [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]es formally separated.


Leo IX favoured traditional morality in his reformation of the Catholic Church. One of his first public acts was to hold the [[Easter]] [[synod]] of 1049; he joined [[Emperor Henry III]] in Saxony and accompanied him to Cologne and Aachen. He also summoned a meeting of the higher clergy in Reims in which several important reforming decrees were passed. At Mainz, he held a council at which the Italian and French as well as the German clergy were represented, and ambassadors of the Byzantine emperor were present. Here too, simony and clerical marriage were the principal matters dealt with. He is regarded as a [[Saint#Catholic Church|saint]] by the [[Catholic Church]]; his [[feast day]] is celebrated on 19 April.<ref>Butler, Alban, ''Butler's Lives of the Saints'', (Liturgical Press, 2003), 176.</ref>
Leo IX favoured traditional morality in his reformation of the Catholic Church. One of his first public acts was to hold the [[Easter]] [[synod]] of 1049; he joined [[Emperor Henry III]] in Saxony and accompanied him to Cologne and Aachen. He also summoned a meeting of the higher clergy in Reims, in which several important reforming decrees were passed. At Mainz, he held a council at which the Italian and French as well as the German clergy were represented, and ambassadors of the Byzantine emperor were present. Here too, simony and clerical marriage were the principal matters dealt with. He is regarded as a [[Saint#Catholic Church|saint]] by the [[Catholic Church]]; his [[feast day]] is celebrated on 19 April.<ref>Butler, Alban, ''Butler's Lives of the Saints'', (Liturgical Press, 2003), 176.</ref>


==Early life==
==Early life==
Bruno was the youngest son of Count [[Hugh IV of Nordgau]] and Hedwig of [[County of Dagsburg|Dagsburg]]. He was a native of [[Egisheim]], [[Upper Alsace]] (present-day [[Alsace]], France).{{sfn|Robinson|2004|p=99}} His father was a first cousin of [[Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor|Conrad II]], [[Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire]].<ref>Ian Robinson, ''The papal reform of the eleventh century: Lives of Pope Leo IX and Pope Gregory VII'' (Manchester University Press, 2004), 99.</ref> At the age of five, Bruno was committed to the care of [[Berthold of Toul|Berthold]], [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Toul|Bishop of Toul]], who had a school for the sons of the nobility.{{sfn|Barrow|2008|p=56}}
Bruno was the youngest son of Count [[Hugh IV of Nordgau]] and Hedwig of [[County of Dagsburg|Dagsburg]]. He was a native of [[Egisheim]], [[Upper Alsace]] (present-day [[Alsace]], France).{{sfn|Robinson|2004|p=99}} His father was a first cousin of [[Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor|Conrad II]], [[Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire]].<ref>Ian Robinson, ''The papal reform of the eleventh century: Lives of Pope Leo IX and Pope Gregory VII'' (Manchester University Press, 2004), 99.</ref> At the age of five, Bruno was committed to the care of [[Berthold of Toul|Berthold]], [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Toul|Bishop of Toul]], who had a school for the sons of the nobility.{{sfn|Barrow|2008|p=56}}


Hagiographic sources state that when Pope Leo IX was born "his body [was] marked all over with little red crosses."<ref>Alban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, Volume 4, 1821, p. 189</ref> Some authors have considered this to be a form of the stigmata.<ref>Kathleen W. Peters, Sacred Views of Saint Francis, 2020, p. 134.</ref>
Hagiographic sources state that when Pope Leo IX was born, "his body [was] marked all over with little red crosses".<ref>Alban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, Volume 4, 1821, p. 189</ref> Some authors have considered this to be a form of the stigmata.<ref>Kathleen W. Peters, Sacred Views of Saint Francis, 2020, p. 134.</ref>


In 1017, Bruno became a [[canon (priest)|canon]] at [[Toul Cathedral|St. Stephen's in Toul]]. When, in 1024, his cousin Conrad succeeded [[Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry II]] as emperor, Bruno's relatives sent him to the new king's court "to serve in his chapel".<ref name=Mann>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09160c.htm Mann, Horace. "Pope St. Leo IX." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 12 May 2019 {{PD-notice}}</ref>
In 1017, Bruno became a [[canon (priest)|canon]] at [[Toul Cathedral|St. Stephen's in Toul]]. When, in 1024, his cousin Conrad succeeded [[Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry II]] as emperor, Bruno's relatives sent him to the new king's court "to serve in his chapel".<ref name=Mann>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09160c.htm Mann, Horace. "Pope St. Leo IX." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 12 May 2019 {{Source-attribution}}</ref>


Bruno was a deacon in 1026 when Conrad set out for Italy to make his authority respected in that portion of his dominions, and as Herimann, Bishop of Toul, was too old to lead his contingent into the peninsula, he entrusted the command of it to Bruno. While he was thus in the midst of arms, Bishop Herimann died and Bruno was at once elected to succeed him. Conrad, who destined him for higher things, was loath to allow him to accept that insignificant see. But Bruno induced the emperor to permit him to take the see. Consecrated in 1027, Bruno administered the Diocese of Toul for over twenty years, during a time of stress and trouble.<ref name="Ginther">James R. Ginther, ''Humbert of Silva Candida'', '''The Westminster Handbook to Medieval Theology''' (Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 89–91.</ref> He had to contend not merely with famine, but also with war, to which as a frontier town Toul was much exposed. Bruno rendered important political services to Conrad II, and afterwards to [[Emperor Henry III]]. He knew how to make peace, and, if necessary, to wield the sword in self-defence. Sent by Conrad to Robert the Pious, he established so firm a peace between France and the empire that it was not again broken even during the reigns of the sons of both Conrad and Robert. On the other hand, he held his episcopal city against Count [[Odo II of Blois]], a rebel against Conrad, and "by his wisdom and exertions" added Burgundy to the empire.{{cn|date=June 2022}}
Bruno was a deacon in 1026 when Conrad set out for Italy to make his authority respected in that portion of his dominions, and as Herimann, Bishop of Toul, was too old to lead his contingent into the peninsula, he entrusted the command of it to Bruno. While he was thus in the midst of arms, Bishop Herimann died, and Bruno was at once elected to succeed him. Conrad, who destined him for higher things, was loath to allow him to accept that insignificant see. But Bruno induced the emperor to permit him to take the see. Consecrated in 1027, Bruno administered the Diocese of Toul for over twenty years, during a time of stress and trouble.<ref name="Ginther">James R. Ginther, ''Humbert of Silva Candida'', ''The Westminster Handbook to Medieval Theology'' (Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 89–91.</ref> He had to contend not merely with famine, but also with war, to which, as a frontier town, Toul was much exposed. Bruno rendered important political services to Conrad II, and afterwards to [[Emperor Henry III]]. He knew how to make peace, and, if necessary, to wield the sword in self-defence. Sent by Conrad to Robert the Pious, he established so firm a peace between France and the empire that it was not again broken even during the reigns of the sons of both Conrad and Robert. On the other hand, he held his episcopal city against Count [[Odo II of Blois]], a rebel against Conrad, and "by his wisdom and exertions" added Burgundy to the empire.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}


Bruno became widely known as an earnest and reforming ecclesiastic by the zeal he showed in spreading the rule of the [[order of Cluny]]. It was whilst he was bishop that he was saddened by the death not merely of his father and mother, but also of two of his brothers. Bruno found some consolation in music, in which he proved himself highly proficient.<ref name=Mann/>
Bruno became widely known as an earnest and reforming ecclesiastic by the zeal he showed in spreading the rule of the [[order of Cluny]]. It was whilst he was bishop that he was saddened by the death not merely of his father and mother, but also of two of his brothers. Bruno found some consolation in music, in which he proved himself highly proficient.<ref name=Mann/>
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===Theology===
===Theology===
[[File:Pope Leo IX, Charter, 1051.jpg|thumb|upright|left|1051 charter of Leo IX]]
[[File:Pope Leo IX, Charter, 1051.jpg|thumb|upright|1051 charter of Leo IX]]
Leo IX favoured celibacy for the clergy in his reformation of the Catholic Church. One of his first public acts was to hold the well-known Easter synod of 1049, at which celibacy of the clergy (down to the rank of [[subdeacon]]) was required anew. Also, the Easter synod was where the pope at least succeeded in making clear his own convictions against every kind of [[simony]]. The greater part of the year that followed was occupied by one of those progresses through Italy, Germany and France which form a marked feature in Leo IX's pontificate. After presiding over a synod at [[Pavia]], he joined Henry III in Saxony and accompanied him to [[Cologne]] and [[Aachen]]. He also summoned a meeting of the higher clergy in [[Reims]] in which several important reforming decrees were passed. At [[Mainz]] he held a council at which the Italian and French as well as the German clergy were represented, and ambassadors of the Byzantine emperor were present. Here too, simony and the marriage of the clergy were the principal matters dealt with.{{cn|date=June 2022}}
Leo IX favoured celibacy for the clergy in his reformation of the Catholic Church. One of his first public acts was to hold the well-known Easter synod of 1049, at which celibacy of the clergy (down to the rank of [[subdeacon]]) was required anew. Also, the Easter synod was where the pope at least succeeded in making clear his own convictions against every kind of [[simony]]. The greater part of the year that followed was occupied by one of those progresses through Italy, Germany and France which form a marked feature in Leo IX's pontificate. After presiding over a synod at [[Pavia]], he joined Henry III in Saxony and accompanied him to [[Cologne]] and [[Aachen]]. He also summoned a meeting of the higher clergy in [[Reims]] in which several important reforming decrees were passed. At [[Mainz]], he held a council at which the Italian and French as well as the German clergy were represented, and ambassadors of the Byzantine emperor were present. Here too, simony and the marriage of the clergy were the principal matters dealt with.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}


After his return to Rome, Leo held another [[Easter]] synod on 29 April 1050. It was occupied largely with the controversy about the teachings of [[Berengar of Tours]]. In the same year he presided over provincial synods at [[Salerno]], [[Siponto]] and [[Vercelli]], and in September revisited his native Germany, returning to Rome in time for a third Easter synod at which the question of the [[reordination]] of those who had been ordained by simonists was considered. In 1052 he joined the emperor at [[Pressburg]] and vainly sought to secure the submission of the [[Hungarians]]. At [[Regensburg]], [[Bamberg]] and [[Worms, Germany|Worms]], the papal presence was celebrated with various ecclesiastical solemnities. In early 1053, Leo arbitrated a dispute between the [[Archdiocese of Carthage|archbishop of Carthage]] and the bishop of [[Gummi in Byzacena|Gummi]] over ecclesiastical precedence.{{sfn|Lower|2014|p=614}}
After his return to Rome, Leo held another [[Easter]] synod on 29 April 1050. It was occupied largely with the controversy about the teachings of [[Berengar of Tours]]. In the same year he presided over provincial synods at [[Salerno]], [[Siponto]] and [[Vercelli]], and in September revisited his native Germany, returning to Rome in time for a third Easter synod at which the question of the [[reordination]] of those who had been ordained by simonists was considered. In 1052, he joined the emperor at [[Pressburg]] and vainly sought to secure the submission of the [[Hungarians]]. At [[Regensburg]], [[Bamberg]] and [[Worms, Germany|Worms]], the papal presence was celebrated with various ecclesiastical solemnities. In early 1053, Leo arbitrated a dispute between the [[Archdiocese of Carthage|archbishop of Carthage]] and the bishop of [[Gummi in Byzacena|Gummi]] over ecclesiastical precedence.{{sfn|Lower|2014|p=614}}


===Relations with Constantinople===
===Relations with Constantinople===
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===Conflict with the Normans===
===Conflict with the Normans===
In constant fear of attack from the [[Normans]] in the south of Italy, the [[Byzantine]]s turned in desperation to the Normans' own spiritual chief, Pope Leo IX, and, according to [[William of Apulia]], begged him "to liberate Italy that now lacks its freedom and to force that wicked people, who are pressing [[Apulia]] under their yoke, to leave". After a fourth Easter synod in 1053, Leo IX set out against the [[Norman conquest of southern Italy|Norman in the south]] with an army of Italians and [[Swabia]]n [[mercenaries]]. "As fervent Christians the Normans were reluctant to fight their spiritual leader and tried to sue for peace but the Swabians mocked them—battle was inevitable."<ref>Robert Bartlett, ''The Normans of the South'', BBC TV</ref> Leo IX led the army himself, but his forces suffered total defeat at the [[Battle of Civitate]] on 15 June 1053.{{sfn|Theotokis|2014|p=133}} Nonetheless, on going out from the city to meet the victorious enemy he was received with every token of submission, pleas for forgiveness and oaths of fidelity and homage. From June 1053 to March 1054 the pope was nevertheless held hostage at [[Benevento]], in honourable captivity, until he acknowledged the Norman conquests in [[Calabria]] and Apulia. He did not long survive his return to Rome, where he died on 19 April 1054.{{cn|date=June 2022}}
In constant fear of attack from the [[Normans]] in the south of Italy, the [[Byzantine]]s turned in desperation to the Normans' own spiritual chief, Pope Leo IX, and, according to [[William of Apulia]], begged him "to liberate Italy that now lacks its freedom and to force that wicked people, who are pressing [[Apulia]] under their yoke, to leave". After a fourth Easter synod in 1053, Leo IX set out against the [[Norman conquest of southern Italy|Norman in the south]] with an army of Italians and [[Swabia]]n [[mercenaries]]. "As fervent Christians the Normans were reluctant to fight their spiritual leader and tried to sue for peace but the Swabians mocked them—battle was inevitable."<ref>Robert Bartlett, ''The Normans of the South'', BBC TV</ref> Leo IX led the army himself, but his forces suffered total defeat at the [[Battle of Civitate]] on 15 June 1053.{{sfn|Theotokis|2014|p=133}} Nonetheless, on going out from the city to meet the victorious enemy, he was received with every token of submission, pleas for forgiveness and oaths of fidelity and homage. From June 1053 to March 1054, the pope was nevertheless held hostage at [[Benevento]], in honourable captivity, until he acknowledged the Norman conquests in [[Calabria]] and Apulia. He did not long survive his return to Rome, where he died on 19 April 1054.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}


== Selected works ==
== Selected works ==


* {{Cite book |last=IX |first=Pope Saint Leo |title=The Battle of the Virtues and Vices: Defending the Interior Castle of the Soul |publisher=TAN Books |date=15 August 2023 |isbn=978-1505131741}}
* {{Cite book |author=Pope Saint Leo IX |title=The Battle of the Virtues and Vices: Defending the Interior Castle of the Soul |publisher=TAN Books |date=15 August 2023 |isbn=978-1505131741}}


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Leo (popes)/Leo IX}}
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Leo (popes)/Leo IX}}
* {{CathEncy|wstitle=Pope St. Leo IX|short=yes}}
* {{Cite Catholic Encyclopedia|wstitle=Pope St. Leo IX|short=yes}}


==Sources==
==Sources==
*{{cite book |chapter=Grades of Ordination and Clerical Careers, c. 900-c. 1200 |first=Julia |last=Barrow |pages=41–61 |title=Anglo-Norman Studies XXX: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2007 |editor-first=C. P. |editor-last=Lewis |publisher=The Boydell Press |year=2008  }}
* {{cite book |chapter=Grades of Ordination and Clerical Careers, c. 900–c. 1200 |first=Julia |last=Barrow |pages=41–61 |title=Anglo-Norman Studies XXX: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2007 |editor-first=C. P. |editor-last=Lewis |publisher=The Boydell Press |year=2008  }}
*{{cite journal |title=The Papacy and Christian Mercenaries of Thirteenth-Century North Africa |first=Michael |last=Lower |journal=Speculum |volume= 89| issue= 3 July |year=2014 |pages=601–631 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |doi=10.1017/S0038713414000761 |s2cid=154773840 }}
* {{cite journal |title=The Papacy and Christian Mercenaries of Thirteenth-Century North Africa |first=Michael |last=Lower |journal=Speculum |volume= 89| issue= 3 July |year=2014 |pages=601–631 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |doi=10.1017/S0038713414000761 |s2cid=154773840 }}
*{{cite book |title=The Papal Reform of the Eleventh Century: Lives of Pope Leo IX and Pope Gregory VII  |editor-first=I.S. |editor-last=Robinson |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2004 }}
* {{cite book |title=The Papal Reform of the Eleventh Century: Lives of Pope Leo IX and Pope Gregory VII  |editor-first=I.S. |editor-last=Robinson |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2004 }}
*{{cite book|title=Norman Campaigns in the Balkans, 1081–1108|first=Georgios|last=Theotokis|publisher=The Boydell Press|year=2014}}
* {{cite book|title=Norman Campaigns in the Balkans, 1081–1108|first=Georgios|last=Theotokis|publisher=The Boydell Press|year=2014}}


==Further reading==
==Further reading==
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History}}
{{Portal|Biography|Christianity|History}}
*Migne's [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/1815-1875,_Migne,_Patrologia_Latina_01._Rerum_Conspectus_Pro_Tomis_Ordinatus,_MLT.html ''Patrologia Latina''], Vol. 143 (cxliii), Leo IX [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/04z/z_1049-1054__SS_Leo_IX__Epistolae_Et_Decreta__MLT.pdf.html Epistolae Et Decreta] .pdf – 1.9 Mb. See Col. 744B-769D (pp.&nbsp;76–89) for Leo IX's letter.
* Migne's [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/1815-1875,_Migne,_Patrologia_Latina_01._Rerum_Conspectus_Pro_Tomis_Ordinatus,_MLT.html ''Patrologia Latina''], Vol. 143 (cxliii), Leo IX [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/04z/z_1049-1054__SS_Leo_IX__Epistolae_Et_Decreta__MLT.pdf.html Epistolae Et Decreta] .pdf – 1.9 Mb. See Col. 744B-769D (pp.&nbsp;76–89) for Leo IX's letter.
*Mansi's, [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/01_50_1692-1769-_Mansi_JD.html ''Sacrorum Conciliorum''] ''Nova Amplissima Collection'', [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/04z/z_1692-1769__Mansi_JD__Sacrorum_Conciliorum_Nova_Amplissima_Collectio_Vol_019__LT.pdf.html Vol. 19] (xix) .pdf – 66 Mb. See Col. 635–656.
* Mansi's, [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/01_50_1692-1769-_Mansi_JD.html ''Sacrorum Conciliorum''] ''Nova Amplissima Collection'', [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/04z/z_1692-1769__Mansi_JD__Sacrorum_Conciliorum_Nova_Amplissima_Collectio_Vol_019__LT.pdf.html Vol. 19] (xix) .pdf – 66 Mb. See Col. 635–656.
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=rIkEAAAAQAAJ&q=Cornelius+Will+%22acta+et+scripta%22 ''Acta et scripta quae de controversiis ecclesiae Graecae et Latinae''], by Dr. Cornelius Will, 1861. This book has the text of the letters relevant to the Great Schism of 1054. The Greek and Latin texts of the Schism was studied by Michele Giuseppe D'Agostino, ''Il Primato della Sede di Roma in Leone IX (1049–1054). Studio dei testi nella controversia greco-romana nel periodo gregoriano'', Cinisello Balsamo 2008.
* Massetti, Francesco (ed.) (2021). ''Un vescovo imperiale sulla cattedra di Pietro. Il pontificato di Leone IX (1049-1054) tra "regnum" e "sacerdotium"'' [An imperial bishop on the throne of Peter. The pontificate of Leo IX (1049-1054) between ‘regnum’ and ‘sacerdotium’]. Ordines, vol. 12. Milan: Vita e Pensiero, {{ISBN|978-88-343-4234-3}}.
* Massetti, Francesco (2025). ''Leo IX. und die papstgeschichtliche Wende (1049-1054)'' [Leo IX and the turning point in papal history (1049–1054)]. Papsttum im mittelalterlichen Europa, vol. 13. Vienna/Cologne: Böhlau, {{ISBN|978-3-412-53040-2}}.
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=rIkEAAAAQAAJ&q=Cornelius+Will+%22acta+et+scripta%22 ''Acta et scripta quae de controversiis ecclesiae Graecae et Latinae''], by Dr. Cornelius Will, 1861. This book has the text of the letters relevant to the Great Schism of 1054. The Greek and Latin texts of the Schism were studied by Michele Giuseppe D'Agostino, ''Il Primato della Sede di Roma in Leone IX (1049–1054). Studio dei testi nella controversia greco-romana nel periodo gregoriano'', Cinisello Balsamo 2008.


==External links==
==External links==
*{{commons category-inline|Leo IX}}
* {{commons category-inline|Leo IX}}
*{{wikisource author-inline}}
* {{wikisource author-inline}}
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[[Category:Papal saints]]
[[Category:Papal saints]]
[[Category:People excommunicated by Eastern Orthodox Church bodies]]
[[Category:People excommunicated by Eastern Orthodox Church bodies]]
[[Category:People from Haut-Rhin]]
[[Category:Clergy from Haut-Rhin]]
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Salian dynasty]]
[[Category:Salian dynasty]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Peter's Basilica]]
[[Category:Burials at St. Peter's Basilica]]

Latest revision as of 20:32, 26 October 2025

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox Christian leader

Pope Leo IX (Template:Langx, Template:Langx, 21 June 1002 – 19 April 1054), born Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054.[1] Leo IX is considered to be one of the most historically significant popes of the Middle Ages; he was instrumental in the precipitation of the Great Schism of 1054, considered the turning point in which the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches formally separated.

Leo IX favoured traditional morality in his reformation of the Catholic Church. One of his first public acts was to hold the Easter synod of 1049; he joined Emperor Henry III in Saxony and accompanied him to Cologne and Aachen. He also summoned a meeting of the higher clergy in Reims, in which several important reforming decrees were passed. At Mainz, he held a council at which the Italian and French as well as the German clergy were represented, and ambassadors of the Byzantine emperor were present. Here too, simony and clerical marriage were the principal matters dealt with. He is regarded as a saint by the Catholic Church; his feast day is celebrated on 19 April.[2]

Early life

Bruno was the youngest son of Count Hugh IV of Nordgau and Hedwig of Dagsburg. He was a native of Egisheim, Upper Alsace (present-day Alsace, France).Template:Sfn His father was a first cousin of Conrad II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.[3] At the age of five, Bruno was committed to the care of Berthold, Bishop of Toul, who had a school for the sons of the nobility.Template:Sfn

Hagiographic sources state that when Pope Leo IX was born, "his body [was] marked all over with little red crosses".[4] Some authors have considered this to be a form of the stigmata.[5]

In 1017, Bruno became a canon at St. Stephen's in Toul. When, in 1024, his cousin Conrad succeeded Henry II as emperor, Bruno's relatives sent him to the new king's court "to serve in his chapel".[6]

Bruno was a deacon in 1026 when Conrad set out for Italy to make his authority respected in that portion of his dominions, and as Herimann, Bishop of Toul, was too old to lead his contingent into the peninsula, he entrusted the command of it to Bruno. While he was thus in the midst of arms, Bishop Herimann died, and Bruno was at once elected to succeed him. Conrad, who destined him for higher things, was loath to allow him to accept that insignificant see. But Bruno induced the emperor to permit him to take the see. Consecrated in 1027, Bruno administered the Diocese of Toul for over twenty years, during a time of stress and trouble.[7] He had to contend not merely with famine, but also with war, to which, as a frontier town, Toul was much exposed. Bruno rendered important political services to Conrad II, and afterwards to Emperor Henry III. He knew how to make peace, and, if necessary, to wield the sword in self-defence. Sent by Conrad to Robert the Pious, he established so firm a peace between France and the empire that it was not again broken even during the reigns of the sons of both Conrad and Robert. On the other hand, he held his episcopal city against Count Odo II of Blois, a rebel against Conrad, and "by his wisdom and exertions" added Burgundy to the empire.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Bruno became widely known as an earnest and reforming ecclesiastic by the zeal he showed in spreading the rule of the order of Cluny. It was whilst he was bishop that he was saddened by the death not merely of his father and mother, but also of two of his brothers. Bruno found some consolation in music, in which he proved himself highly proficient.[6]

Papacy

On the death of Pope Damasus II in 1048, Bruno was selected as his successor by an assembly at Worms in December. Both the emperor and the Roman delegates concurred. However, Bruno apparently favoured a canonical election and stipulated as a condition of his acceptance that he should first proceed to Rome and be freely elected by the voice of the clergy and people of Rome. Setting out shortly after Christmas, he met with abbot Hugh of Cluny at Besançon, where he was joined by the young monk Hildebrand, who afterwards became Pope Gregory VII; arriving in pilgrim garb at Rome in the following February, he was received with much cordiality, and at his consecration assumed the name Leo IX.[8]

Theology

File:Pope Leo IX, Charter, 1051.jpg
1051 charter of Leo IX

Leo IX favoured celibacy for the clergy in his reformation of the Catholic Church. One of his first public acts was to hold the well-known Easter synod of 1049, at which celibacy of the clergy (down to the rank of subdeacon) was required anew. Also, the Easter synod was where the pope at least succeeded in making clear his own convictions against every kind of simony. The greater part of the year that followed was occupied by one of those progresses through Italy, Germany and France which form a marked feature in Leo IX's pontificate. After presiding over a synod at Pavia, he joined Henry III in Saxony and accompanied him to Cologne and Aachen. He also summoned a meeting of the higher clergy in Reims in which several important reforming decrees were passed. At Mainz, he held a council at which the Italian and French as well as the German clergy were represented, and ambassadors of the Byzantine emperor were present. Here too, simony and the marriage of the clergy were the principal matters dealt with.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

After his return to Rome, Leo held another Easter synod on 29 April 1050. It was occupied largely with the controversy about the teachings of Berengar of Tours. In the same year he presided over provincial synods at Salerno, Siponto and Vercelli, and in September revisited his native Germany, returning to Rome in time for a third Easter synod at which the question of the reordination of those who had been ordained by simonists was considered. In 1052, he joined the emperor at Pressburg and vainly sought to secure the submission of the Hungarians. At Regensburg, Bamberg and Worms, the papal presence was celebrated with various ecclesiastical solemnities. In early 1053, Leo arbitrated a dispute between the archbishop of Carthage and the bishop of Gummi over ecclesiastical precedence.Template:Sfn

Relations with Constantinople

Patriarch Michael I Cerularius of Constantinople, through Leo of Ohrid, Archbishop of Bulgaria, wrote to the pope denouncing the use of unleavened bread and fasting days in the Latin Church. Leo IX sent a letter to Michael I in 1054, citing a large portion of the Donation of Constantine, believing it was genuine.[9]

Leo assured Michael that the donation was completely genuine, not a fable, so only the apostolic successor to Peter possessed that primacy and was the rightful head of all the Church. Before his death, Leo IX had sent a legatine mission under Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida to Constantinople to negotiate with Patriarch Michael Cerularius in response to his actions concerning the Church in Constantinople.[10] Humbert quickly disposed of negotiations by delivering a bull excommunicating the Patriarch.[7] This act, although legally invalid due to the pope's death at the time, was answered by the patriarch's own bull of excommunication against Humbert and his associates and is popularly considered the official split between the Eastern and Western Churches. Afterwards, he closed down the Latin churches of Constantinople, stopped remembrance for the pope in the diptychs, and wrote letters to the other patriarchs against the pope. The patriarch of Antioch, Peter III, rejected most of Michael's accusations against Rome and urged him to compromise.[11] Despite this, the break began the Great East–West Schism.

Conflict with the Normans

In constant fear of attack from the Normans in the south of Italy, the Byzantines turned in desperation to the Normans' own spiritual chief, Pope Leo IX, and, according to William of Apulia, begged him "to liberate Italy that now lacks its freedom and to force that wicked people, who are pressing Apulia under their yoke, to leave". After a fourth Easter synod in 1053, Leo IX set out against the Norman in the south with an army of Italians and Swabian mercenaries. "As fervent Christians the Normans were reluctant to fight their spiritual leader and tried to sue for peace but the Swabians mocked them—battle was inevitable."[12] Leo IX led the army himself, but his forces suffered total defeat at the Battle of Civitate on 15 June 1053.Template:Sfn Nonetheless, on going out from the city to meet the victorious enemy, he was received with every token of submission, pleas for forgiveness and oaths of fidelity and homage. From June 1053 to March 1054, the pope was nevertheless held hostage at Benevento, in honourable captivity, until he acknowledged the Norman conquests in Calabria and Apulia. He did not long survive his return to Rome, where he died on 19 April 1054.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Selected works

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References

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Sources

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Further reading

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  • Migne's Patrologia Latina, Vol. 143 (cxliii), Leo IX Epistolae Et Decreta .pdf – 1.9 Mb. See Col. 744B-769D (pp. 76–89) for Leo IX's letter.
  • Mansi's, Sacrorum Conciliorum Nova Amplissima Collection, Vol. 19 (xix) .pdf – 66 Mb. See Col. 635–656.
  • Massetti, Francesco (ed.) (2021). Un vescovo imperiale sulla cattedra di Pietro. Il pontificato di Leone IX (1049-1054) tra "regnum" e "sacerdotium" [An imperial bishop on the throne of Peter. The pontificate of Leo IX (1049-1054) between ‘regnum’ and ‘sacerdotium’]. Ordines, vol. 12. Milan: Vita e Pensiero, Template:ISBN.
  • Massetti, Francesco (2025). Leo IX. und die papstgeschichtliche Wende (1049-1054) [Leo IX and the turning point in papal history (1049–1054)]. Papsttum im mittelalterlichen Europa, vol. 13. Vienna/Cologne: Böhlau, Template:ISBN.
  • Acta et scripta quae de controversiis ecclesiae Graecae et Latinae, by Dr. Cornelius Will, 1861. This book has the text of the letters relevant to the Great Schism of 1054. The Greek and Latin texts of the Schism were studied by Michele Giuseppe D'Agostino, Il Primato della Sede di Roma in Leone IX (1049–1054). Studio dei testi nella controversia greco-romana nel periodo gregoriano, Cinisello Balsamo 2008.

External links

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  1. ↑ Coulombe, Charles A., Vicars of Christ: A History of the Popes, (Citadel Press, 2003), 204.
  2. ↑ Butler, Alban, Butler's Lives of the Saints, (Liturgical Press, 2003), 176.
  3. ↑ Ian Robinson, The papal reform of the eleventh century: Lives of Pope Leo IX and Pope Gregory VII (Manchester University Press, 2004), 99.
  4. ↑ Alban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, Volume 4, 1821, p. 189
  5. ↑ Kathleen W. Peters, Sacred Views of Saint Francis, 2020, p. 134.
  6. ↑ a b Mann, Horace. "Pope St. Leo IX." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 12 May 2019 Template:Source-attribution
  7. ↑ a b James R. Ginther, Humbert of Silva Candida, The Westminster Handbook to Medieval Theology (Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 89–91.
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Migne's Patrologia Latina, Vol. 143 (cxliii), Col. 744–769. Also Mansi, Sacrorum Conciliorum Nova Amplissima Collectio, Vol. 19 (xix) Col. 635–656.
  10. ↑ Brett Edward Whalen, Dominion of God: Christendom and Apocalypse in the Middle Ages (Harvard University Press, 2009), p. 24.
  11. ↑ Patriarch Peter of Antioch: Letter to Patriarch Michael Kerularios
  12. ↑ Robert Bartlett, The Normans of the South, BBC TV
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