Humbert from Silva Candida

Humbert von Silva Candida (also Humbertus Silvae Candidae or Humbert von Moyenmoutier ; * around 1006 or 1010; † May 5, 1061 ) was a cardinal and Benedictine monk . He was an influential cleric in Rome, close confidante and legate of several popes, author of various martial writings and an author who paved the way for church reforms of the 11th century .

Life

Humbert was born in Lorraine around 1006 or in Burgundy around 1010 . In 1015 he entered the Moyenmoutier monastery in the Vosges as an oblate , where he experienced the work of the cluniac- oriented reform abbot Wilhelm von Volpiano . There he wrote the biographies of several monastery saints and a monastery chronicle.

Abbot Widrich von St. Aper then probably brought him to Toul , where Humbert wrote a vita of Gerhard von Toul , as well as other documents and responses to monastery saints. There, between 1043 and 1046, he wrote his Ecbasis captivi per tropologiam , a satirical and ironic epic in which Humbert mocked the life of the monks at court and the arrogance of the nobility, as well as condemning secular violence, especially because of the exploitation of monasteries the Carolingians . The work also shows the knowledge of many ancient writers and extensive legal knowledge on the part of Humbert, which identifies him as a scholar. It is also noticeable that Humbert made reform demands in these early works, e. B. after pastoral care provides. Gerhard von Toul is said to have achieved a free election of bishops by Emperor Otto I , which did not even need to be confirmed by him. Humbert's punishment speech to his fellow monks, in which he complains that they do not care about what they owe God or their neighbor, also falls during this period.

Bishop Bruno von Toul appointed Humbert as his secretary, in this office he put together numerous antiphons for him. After Bruno was elected Pope, he took Humbert with him to Rome in 1049 as the declared representative of the Cluniac reform movement . A year later, Leo IX appointed. him titular Archbishop of Sicily , which was then under Arab rule and the sovereignty of the Byzantine emperor, thus fell into the patriarchate of Constantinople . With this Leo IX persecuted. probably above all political interests, in that he raised claims to property in southern Italy and Sicily in accordance with the Donation of Constantine . Since Humbert was consequently unable to carry out his office, Leo IX appointed him. 1051 to the Cardinal Bishop of Silva Candida . From then on, Humbert was constantly in the vicinity of the Pope and was commissioned by him with several legation trips, e.g. B. in the same year to Benevento , where Humbert was supposed to represent the Pope. In 1052 he traveled to Regensburg in the papal entourage, and in 1053 took part in Leo IX's Norman campaign . part and probably came to Trani in 1053 . There he received access to a letter from Archbishop Leo von Achrida on behalf of Michael Kerullarios , the Patriarch of Constantinople, to Bishop John of Trani , in which violent attacks were made against liturgical customs of the Western Church, especially against the liturgical use of Azyma (unleavened bread). Humbert translated the letter and wrote in response the dialogue between a Roman and a Constantinople , which he developed into a treatise on the customs of the Western Church, but initially did not publish it.

Leo IX In 1054 sent a delegation under Humbert's leadership to the Byzantine imperial court, where with Emperor Konstantinos Monomachos primarily the future ecclesiastical affiliation of Sicily and southern Italy, to which both the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople claimed, were to be discussed and an alliance was to be concluded against the Normans . Shortly before, Michael Kerullarios asked the Latin monasteries and churches to use the Eastern rite and threatened excommunication if they violated this rule .

The delegation arrived in Constantinople on June 24, 1054 and moved into the Studion monastery , where Humbert and the monk Niketas Stethatos had an argument about the use of azymes and other liturgical issues. Overall, the Roman delegation was so decisive that Kerullarios complained to the emperor about it. At the same time, he did not receive the delegation, since their missive did not write to him like an ecumenical patriarch. When Humbert then published his dialogue between a Roman and a Constantinople , the clergy sided with the patriarch. At a synod, the delegation was assigned a seat behind the archbishops, against which Humbert again protested, which in turn led to a break in connections, which was also linked to a trade fair ban for the delegation. The Patriarch rejected all union plans, as they would have meant recognition of Roman supremacy . On July 16, 1054, Humbert then placed an excommunication sentence on Kerullarios on the main altar of Hagia Sophia , which left an excommunication open to the entire Eastern Church. On July 20, 1054, Kerullarios, conversely, condemned the Roman legates who had already left two days earlier.

When Humbert returned to Rome, Pope Leo IX was. Already deceased, Humbert nonetheless assumed the position of papal chancellor and librarian and thus a key position in the papal administration. During this time he probably wrote his first book against the Simonists as well as numerous cops and letters. In 1056 he accompanied Viktor II to Germany and in 1057 he traveled as his legate to the Monte Cassino monastery to prevent the freely elected abbot from being introduced there. When the monks rebelled against him, the abbot resigned voluntarily, whereupon Frederick of Lorraine, at the will of Victor II, took over this post. When Viktor II died in 1057, Humbert was proposed as Pope by Friedrich von Lothringen and Hildebrand . However, he had Frederick of Lorraine elect and thus retained his previous position. However, Friedrich died a year later, whereupon the Roman nobility elevated the Tusculan Benedict X to head of the church. Before him, Humbert had to flee to Monte Cassino, where, according to the will of Stephen IX. Desiderius appointed as abbot. This is where he probably wrote the second and third books against the Simonists . The cardinal bishops elected against Benedict X. the Florence archbishop Gerhard as pope, who was already by Stephan IX. was named as his successor. Under him, Humbert resumed the position of librarian.

In 1059, at the Easter Synod, Humbert wrested the oath from Berengar of Tours to revoke his doctrine of the Lord's Supper. The papal election decree was also passed here, which implemented some of the demands of the three books against simony. The synod of 1061 also turned against simony, especially against Petrus Damiani . On April 27, 1061, Humbert wrote his last bull. He died on May 5th and was buried by Nicholas II on the Lateran in the Basilica of Constantine next to Rufina and Secunda , the patron saints of Silva Candida.

Teaching

Humbert von Silva Candida is considered the first great literary representative of the reform papacy . His work De sancta Romana ecclesia from the year 1053 is generally seen as the first programmatic declaration about the papacy to originate from the reform papacy itself. His entire theological teaching is essentially concerned with four subject areas:

Parts of the canonical research ascribe to Humbert the anonymous collection in 74 titles , which is considered the first legal book of church reform. Presumably Humbert saw the need for a canon law collection to enforce reform efforts. In this collection of 74 titles there is the demand for unrestricted freedom of the monasteries, even of the respective bishop. In addition, Humbert shows a strong interest in the restoration of the old church conditions, which would also remove Constantinople as a patriarchate. He describes the relationship between church and secular power as a unity under the leadership of the church, whereby he particularly defends himself against secular influences in the election of bishops, the presidency of the synod and any investiture. He thus stands out strongly from the currents of his time, which primarily pursued the idea of ​​the sacred empire . Already at the Synod of Reims in 1049, among other things, Humbert's demand for a free election of bishops was first reflected.

Humbert vehemently advocated the Roman principle , i.e. the sole position of the Holy See in Rome in creating law. With this, too, he clearly stood out from the spirit of his time, which rather wanted to distribute these competencies to the entire episcopal level. Accordingly, he wanted to reject everything that did not agree with the doctrinal decisions of Rome, for example he is said to have rejected the entire Trullan Council (692) in a dispute with Nicetas Stethatos . He saw Rome as the center of the Church and understood the office of the Pope as the supreme authority that can repeal all sentences that were drawn up by bishops and / or synods. Thus, according to Humbert's understanding, only a Christian who lives in unity with the universal Church and its center Rome can have God as his Father. He saw this primacy of Rome as willed by Christ and understood the Pope as Peter of today. These demands for Rome to be unique were an essential part of his understanding of the freedom of the Church, which was then included in the papal election decree of 1059, which was violated again two years later: In this decree, the importance of the cardinal bishops was emphasized , while the people and the nobility took a back seat and the emperor was only assigned a right of confirmation. The leadership of the princes by the bishops at the highest level was enforced in this way at the highest level.

In his work "Three Books Against the Simonists", Humbert takes a sharp turn against simony , which was banned since 451, but was still common practice in Humbert's time, such as the purchase of Gregory VI's papal title . by Benedict IX. shows. Humbert contrasted this with a newer and significantly expanded concept of simony, which now encompassed not only the sale of offices, but any lay investment with ring and staff. With this, too, Humbert turned against the customs of his time, since lay investiture had been widespread throughout the West since the 10th century due to Germanic church law and served there as a symbol of the sovereignty of the sovereign over the church. Humbert denied the validity of the ordination of the Simonists and thus also the validity of their sacraments and thus contrasts with Petrus Damiani , who had declared the orders to be valid. As a result, theologically he was faced with the problem that ordination cannot be repeated under canon law, which his opponents then demanded for lay investor too. In contrast, Humbert emphasized that simony was heresy and that the Simonist did not have the Holy Spirit at his disposal and therefore could not donate it. Ordinations by Simonists are therefore not ordinations and later ordinations by real bishops are not re-ordinations. With this Cyprian sacrament theology , Humbert placed himself in the retinue of Augustine . At the Synod of 1059, he finally enforced a ban on all clerics from accepting an office from laypeople and urged all laypeople to resist Simonist priests. The Easter Synod of 1060 confirmed this ban again.

Due to specific disputes, Humbert also took a position on the doctrine of the Lord's Supper . The background to these disputes was that in the course of the 9th century, Azyma (unleavened bread) prevailed for liturgical use in the western church , while the eastern church continued to use Prozymum (leavened bread). Since the Eastern Church generally interprets the liturgy in a more dogmatic manner, this difference developed into a point of contention between the two parts of the church. The Eastern Church emphasized that Azyma are typically Jewish and that Christians differ from Jews precisely through the use of Prozymum. From this arose the task for Humbert to justify the use of Azyma theologically. He succeeded in doing this by stating exegetically that sourdough was a symbol of impurity. In general, he emphasizes in this context that there is a unity between the Old and New Testament, although the New Testament exaggerates the old. Nevertheless, Humbert recognized the man's body in the leavened bread - the fact that he had referred to Kerullarios' as a procymite during the excommunication is more likely to mean that Humbert wanted to emphasize the distinction from Rome. Humbert then developed his understanding of the Lord's Supper in the dispute against Berengar von Tours, who understood consecrated wine and bread primarily symbolically as the true body and true blood of Christ. In contrast, since the doctrine of transubstantiation was not yet dogmatically formulated at that time, Humbert postulated the substantial presence of the body and blood without explaining this further. It is also noticeable that here, long before the Council of Trent , Humbert speaks of seven sacraments and places Christ instead of the Holy Spirit at the center of the doctrine of the Lord's Supper. He then interpreted the Lord's Supper as the sacrament of the Lord's suffering in the sense of a quickening sacrament . Nevertheless, he did not set up a comprehensive doctrine of the sacrifice of the Mass .

Impact history

Especially Pope Gregory VII continued the reform of the papacy and the church, based on the thoughts and writings of Humbert. The actual investiture controversy did not begin until later, but Gregory's attacks on simony and lay investiture in 1075 and the call for a church strike by lay people against simonist priests correspond to Humbert's demands. Essential thoughts of Humbert, especially on Peter’s mysticism, can be found in the Dictatus papae , which has become an essential element of the teaching of the church's magisterium to the infallibility dogma . In the Simonie dispute, Petrus Damiani's position ultimately prevailed; Simony was still rejected, but the ordination by Simonists was still recognized. In spite of this, Humbert had succeeded in making the administration of the sacraments free from worldly influences. Humbert's doctrine of the Lord's Supper experienced a great impact, which was recorded in the doctrine of the real presence as the basis of the doctrine of the Lord's Supper in the entire Western Church in the Middle Ages and at the Lateran Synod of 1059 . At the same time, Humbert laid the foundation for the further development of church teaching regarding the understanding of breaking bread and the relationship between bread and wine and the truth of body and blood. In particular , the occidental doctrine of the Lord's Supper owes its focus on the efficacy of salvation to Humbert from Silva Candida.

literature

• Uta-Renate Blumenthal:  Humbert from Silva Candida . In: Theologische Realenzyklopädie (TRE). Volume 15, de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1986, ISBN 3-11-008585-2 , pp. 682-685.
• Hermann Halfmann: Cardinal Humbert, his life and his works. Reuther & Reichard, Berlin 1883.
• Anton Michel: Humbert and Kerullarios , 2 volumes. Sources and research from the field of history, Volume 21. Schöningh, Paderborn 1924/1930; DNB 560110979
• Anton Michel: The momentous ideas of Cardinal Humbert and their influence on Gregory VII. In: Studi Gregoriani per la storia di Gregorio VII e della riforma gregoriana , 1, 1947, pp. 65-92. (According to today's judgment, Michel overestimates the scope of the literary work and thus the influence of Humbert.)
• Karl-Hermann Kandler : Cardinal Humbert's doctrine of the Lord's Supper and its significance for the present Lord's Supper discussion. Dissertation. Leipzig 1966; DNB 481434461 . As volume 24 of the works on the history and theology of Lutheranism: Berlin, Hamburg: Lutherisches Verlagshaus, 1971; ISBN 3-7859-0390-1 .
• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Humbert by Silva Candida. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 2, Bautz, Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-032-8 , Sp. 1164-1165.

Web links

• Literature by and about Humbert by Silva Candida in the catalog of the German National Library
• Humbert from Silva Candida. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website, English)
• Humbertus de Silva Candida in the repertory "Historical Sources of the German Middle Ages"

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See for example Rudolf Schieffer : Humbert von Silva Candida . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 5, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1991, ISBN 3-7608-8905-0 , column 207 f.