Summus Senator

Last updated

Summus Senator is a medieval title of Rome for the head of the civil government in the city.[ citation needed ]

The ancient Senate continued to function after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, but it became increasingly irrelevant and seems to have disappeared in the seventh century. It is last attested in 603, when it acclaimed new statues of Emperor Phocas and Empress Leontia in 603, [1] [2] and in 630 the Senate House was transformed into a church by Pope Honorius I. [3]

The title senator continued to be used in the Early Middle Ages (it was held by Crescentius the Younger (d. 998) and in its feminine form senatrix by Marozia (d. 937), to give two prominent examples) but it appears to have been regarded as a vague title of nobility and no longer indicated membership of an organized governing body. [4]

In 1144, the Commune of Rome attempted to establish a government modeled on the old Roman Republic in opposition to the temporal power of the higher nobles (in particular the Frangipani family) and the pope. This included setting up a senate along the lines of the ancient one.

Most sources state that there were 56 senators in this revived senate, and modern historians have therefore interpreted this to indicate that there were four senators for each of the fourteen regiones of Rome. [5] These senators, the first real senators since the 7th century, elected as their leader Giordano Pierleoni, son of the Roman consul Pier Leoni, with the title patrician, since the term consul had been deprecated as a noble styling.[ citation needed ]

This new form of civil government was constantly under pressure from the papacy and the Holy Roman Emperor. From 1192 onwards the popes succeeded in reducing the 56-strong senate down to a single individual, styled Summus Senator, who subsequently became the head of the civil government of Rome under the pope's aegis. [6]

In the post-Commune period, the title senator again became a purely honorific one. For example, Pope Clement IV bestowed it on Henry of Castile in 1267 to reward him for his support of Charles I of Naples.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Adrian IV</span> Head of the Catholic Church from 1154 to 1159

Pope Adrian IV was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 4 December 1154 to his death in 1159. He is the only Englishman to have been pope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Clement III</span> Head of the Catholic Church from 1187 to 1191

Pope Clement III, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 December 1187 to his death in 1191. He ended the conflict between the Papacy and the city of Rome, by allowing the election of magistrates, which reinstalled the Papacy back in the city after a six year exile. Clement, faced with a deplete college of cardinals, created thirty-one cardinals over three years, the most since Hadrian IV. He died 20 March 1191 and was quickly replaced by Celestine III.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pope Innocent II</span> Head of the Catholic Church from 1130 to 1143

Pope Innocent II, born Gregorio Papareschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election as pope was controversial and the first eight years of his reign were marked by a struggle for recognition against the supporters of Anacletus II. He reached an understanding with King Lothair III of Germany who supported him against Anacletus and whom he crowned as Holy Roman emperor. Innocent went on to preside over the Second Lateran council.

Pope Formosus was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 6 October 891 until his death on 4 April 896. His reign as pope was troubled, marked by interventions in power struggles over the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Kingdom of West Francia, and the Holy Roman Empire. Because he sided with Arnulf of Carinthia against Lambert of Spoleto, Formosus's remains were exhumed and put on trial in the Cadaver Synod. Several of his immediate successors were primarily preoccupied by the controversial legacy of his pontificate.

Pope Lando was the bishop of Rome and the ruler of the Papal States from around September 913 to his death around March 914. His short pontificate fell during an obscure period in papal and Roman history, the so-called Saeculum obscurum (904–964).

Pope Lucius II, born Gherardo Caccianemici dal Orso, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1144 to his death in 1145. His pontificate was notable for the unrest in Rome associated with the Commune of Rome and its attempts to wrest control of the city from the papacy. He supported Empress Matilda's claim to England in the Anarchy, and had a tense relationship with King Roger II of Sicily.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papal States</span> Catholic state in Italy (756–1870)

The Papal States, officially the State of the Church, were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 until 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th century until the unification of Italy, between 1859 and 1870.

<i>Pontifex maximus</i> Chief high priest in ancient Rome

The pontifex maximus was the chief high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome. This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post. Although in fact the most powerful office in the Roman priesthood, the pontifex maximus was officially ranked fifth in the ranking of the highest Roman priests, behind the rex sacrorum and the flamines maiores.

Pope John XIV, born Peter Canepanova, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from December 983 until his death. Upon the death of Pope Benedict VII in July 983, Emperor Otto II nominated Canepanova to the papal throne after the abbot Maiolus of Cluny refused the office. The decision to install the then bishop of Pavia was made without consultation with the clergy and the Roman people, nor was it confirmed by formal election.

Pope Sisinnius was the bishop of Rome from 15 January 708 to his death on 4 February. Besides the fact that he was Syrian and his father was named John, little is known of Sisinnius' early life or career. At the time of his election to the papal throne, Sisinnius suffered from severe gout, leaving him weak. During the course of his twenty-day papacy, Sisinnius consecrated a bishop for Corsica and ordered the reinforcement of the walls surrounding the papal capital of Rome. On his death, Sisinnius was buried in Old St. Peter's Basilica. He was succeeded by Pope Constantine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Roman Empire</span> Independently administered western provinces of the Roman Empire

The term Western Roman Empire is used in modern historiography to refer to the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent Imperial court—and particularly during the period from 395 to 476, in which there were separate, coequal courts dividing the governance of the empire in the Western provinces from that of the Eastern provinces, with a distinct imperial succession in the separate courts. The terms Western Roman Empire and Eastern Roman Empire were coined in modern times to describe political entities that were de facto independent; contemporary Romans did not consider the Empire to have been split into two empires but viewed it as a single polity governed by two imperial courts as an administrative expediency. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in 476, and the Western imperial court in Ravenna was formally dissolved by Justinian in 554. The Eastern imperial court lasted until 1453.

Sylvester IV, born Maginulf, was a claimant to the Papacy from 1105 to 1111 in opposition to Paschal II. A priest before his election, he was probably a native of Rome. He had the backing of the Roman militia and initially of the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV, who later forced him to abdicate. Today he is regarded as an antipope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commune of Rome</span> Italian city-state from 1144 to 1193

The Commune of Rome was established in 1144 by Arnold of Brescia after a rebellion led with Giordano Pierleoni. Pierleoni led a people's revolt due to the increasing powers of the Pope and the entrenched powers of the nobility. The goal of the rebellion was to organize the government of Rome in a similar fashion to that of the previous Roman Republic. Pierleoni was named the "first Patrician of the Roman Commune", but was deposed in 1145.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Wickham</span> British historian (born 1950)

Christopher John Wickham, is a British historian and academic. From 2005 to 2016, he was the Chichele Professor of Medieval History at the University of Oxford and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford; he is now emeritus professor. He had previously taught at the University of Birmingham from 1977, rising to be Professor of Early Medieval History from 1997 to 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Senate</span> Political institution in ancient Rome

The Roman Senate was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome. It survived the overthrow of the Roman monarchy in 509 BC; the fall of the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC; the division of the Roman Empire in AD 395; and the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476; Justinian's attempted reconquest of the west in the 6th century, and lasted well into the Eastern Roman Empire's history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Senate of the Roman Empire</span> Historical political institution in ancient Rome

The Senate of the Roman Empire was a political institution in the ancient Roman Empire. After the fall of the Roman Republic, the constitutional balance of power shifted from the Roman Senate to the Roman Emperor. Beginning with the first emperor, Augustus, the Emperor and the Senate were technically two co-equal branches of government. In practice, however, the actual authority of the imperial Senate was negligible, as the Emperor held the true power of the state. As such, membership in the senate became sought after by individuals seeking prestige and social standing, rather than actual authority. During the reigns of the first Emperors, legislative, judicial, and electoral powers were all transferred from the "Roman assemblies" to the Senate. However, since the control that the Emperor held over the senate was absolute, the Senate acted as a vehicle through which the Emperor exercised his autocratic powers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papal selection before 1059</span> Selection of popes before 1059

The selection of the pope, the bishop of Rome and supreme pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, prior to the promulgation of In nomine Domini in 1059 varied throughout history. Popes were often appointed by their predecessors or by political rulers. While some kind of election often characterized the procedure, an election that included meaningful participation of the laity was rare, especially as the popes' claims to temporal power solidified into the Papal States. The practice of papal appointment during this period would later result in the jus exclusivae, i.e., a right to veto the selection that Catholic monarchs exercised into the twentieth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papal nobility</span> Nobility of the Holy See

The papal nobility are the aristocracy of the Holy See, composed of persons holding titles bestowed by the Pope. From the Middle Ages into the nineteenth century, the papacy held direct temporal power in the Papal States, and many titles of papal nobility were derived from fiefs with territorial privileges attached. During this time, the Pope also bestowed ancient civic titles such as patrician. Today, the Pope still exercises authority to grant titles with territorial designations, although these are purely nominal and the privileges enjoyed by the holders pertain to styles of address and heraldry. Additionally, the Pope grants personal and familial titles that carry no territorial designation. Their titles being merely honorific, the modern papal nobility includes descendants of ancient Roman families as well as notable Catholics from many countries. All pontifical noble titles are within the personal gift of the pontiff, and are not recorded in the Official Acts of the Holy See.

The County of Piacenza was a county of the Frankish kingdom of Italy. Its centre was the ancient and walled city of Piacenza at the confluence of the Trebbia and the Po, just downriver from the royal capital of Pavia. Much of the county was dominated by the Apennine Mountains. It roughly corresponds to the modern province of Piacenza.

The Annales Romani are a set of annals covering the history of the city of Rome in the 11th–12th centuries, with entries for the years 1044–1073, 1100–1121 and 1182–1187. The earlier periods correspond to the periods of the Gregorian Reform and the Investiture Controversy, and the Annales thus form an important source on those events. David Whitton remarks that "no historian of eleventh and early twelfth century Rome or of the Reform Papacy can advance very far in his studies without giving attention to the Annales Romani." The Annales are rich in detail, although their reliability has been questioned. Only Bonizo of Sutri's Liber ad amicum is comparable for the history of the city in this period. According to Mary Stroll, they are sometimes melodramatic and typically "riddled with errors", but "one can still glean valuable information" from them.

References

  1. Richards, p. 246
  2. Levillain, p. 1047
  3. Kaegi, p. 196
  4. Wickham, Chris (2014). Medieval Rome: Stability and Crisis of a City, 900–1150. Oxford University Press. pp. 23, 448. ISBN   9780199684960.
  5. Wickham, Chris (2014). Medieval Rome: Stability and Crisis of a City, 900–1150. Oxford University Press. p. 448. ISBN   9780199684960.
  6. Wickham, Chris (2014). Medieval Rome: Stability and Crisis of a City, 900–1150. Oxford University Press. p. 447. ISBN   9780199684960.

Sources