Arnold of Brescia, (c. 1090–1155), also known as
Arnaldus , was a
monkA monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, whilst always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
from
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
who called on the Church to renounce ownership of property, participated in the
Commune of RomeIn the 12th century the Commune of Rome was briefly established in Rome beginning in 1144, in opposition to the temporal power of the higher nobles and the popes...
, and was burned alive by the Church and had his ashes thrown into the Tiber River. Though as a religious reformer no less than a political leader Arnold failed, his teachings on
apostolic povertyApostolic poverty is a doctrine professed in the thirteenth century by the newly formed religious orders, known as the mendicant orders, in direct response to calls for reform in the Roman Catholic Church...
continued potent after his death, among "Arnoldists" and more widely among
WaldensiansWaldensians, Waldenses or Vaudois are names for a Christian spiritual movement of the later Middle Ages, descendants of which still exist in various regions. Over time, the denomination joined the Genevan or Reformed branch of Protestantism. About the earlier history of the Waldenses considerable...
and the Spiritual Franciscans, though no written word of his has survived the official condemnation.
Arnold of Brescia, (c. 1090–1155), also known as
Arnaldus , was a
monkA monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, whilst always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
from
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
who called on the Church to renounce ownership of property, participated in the
Commune of RomeIn the 12th century the Commune of Rome was briefly established in Rome beginning in 1144, in opposition to the temporal power of the higher nobles and the popes...
, and was burned alive by the Church and had his ashes thrown into the Tiber River. Though as a religious reformer no less than a political leader Arnold failed, his teachings on
apostolic povertyApostolic poverty is a doctrine professed in the thirteenth century by the newly formed religious orders, known as the mendicant orders, in direct response to calls for reform in the Roman Catholic Church...
continued potent after his death, among "Arnoldists" and more widely among
WaldensiansWaldensians, Waldenses or Vaudois are names for a Christian spiritual movement of the later Middle Ages, descendants of which still exist in various regions. Over time, the denomination joined the Genevan or Reformed branch of Protestantism. About the earlier history of the Waldenses considerable...
and the Spiritual Franciscans, though no written word of his has survived the official condemnation. Protestants rank him among the precursors of the
ReformationThe Protestant Reformation was a Christian reform movement in Europe which is generally deemed to have begun with Martin Luther's Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 although a number of precursors such as Jan Hus predate that event...
.
Life
Born in
BresciaBrescia is a city in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 191,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
, Arnold became an Augustinian canon and then prior of a monastery in Brescia. He became very critical of the temporal powers of Catholic Church that involved it in a land struggle in Brescia against the count-bishop of Brescia. He called on the Church to renounce ownership of the property and return it to the city government, so as not to be tainted by possession, one aspect of a renunciation of worldliness that he preached. He was condemned at the Second Lateran Council, in 1139, and forced from Italy.
Life in France
According to the chronicler
Otto of FreisingOtto von Freising was a German bishop and chronicler.-Life:He was the fifth son of Leopold III, margrave of Austria, by his wife Agnes, daughter of the emperor Henry IV...
, he studied in
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
under the tutelage of the reformer and philosopher Pierre Abélard. He took to Abélard's philosophy of
reformA reform movement is a kind of social movement that aims to make gradual change, or change in certain aspects of society rather than rapid or fundamental changes. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary movements.Reformists' ideas are often...
ways. The issue came before the Synod of Sens in 1141 and both Arnold and Abélard's positions were overruled by
Bernard of ClairvauxBernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian monastic order. After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order...
. Arnold stood alone against the church's decision after Abélard's capitulation; he returned to Paris, where he continued to teach and preach against Bernard. He was then commanded to silence and exiled by
Pope Innocent IIPope Innocent II , born Gregorio Papareschi, was pope from 1130 to 1143, and was probably one of the clergy in personal attendance on the antipope Clement III .-Early years:...
as a consequence. He took refuge first in Zurich then probably in Bavaria. His writings were also
condemned to be burnedBook burning is the practice of destroying, often ceremoniously, one or more copies of a book or other written material. In modern times, other forms of media, such as phonograph records, video tapes, and CDs have also been ceremoniously burned, torched, or shredded...
as a further measure, though the condemnation is the only evidence that he had actually written anything. Arnold continued to preach his radical ideas concerning
apostolic povertyApostolic poverty is a doctrine professed in the thirteenth century by the newly formed religious orders, known as the mendicant orders, in direct response to calls for reform in the Roman Catholic Church...
.
Life and death in Rome
Arnold, who is known only from the vituperative condemnation of his foes, was declared to be a demagogue; his motives were impugned.
Having returned to Italy after 1143, Arnold made his peace in 1145 with
Pope Eugene IIIPope Blessed Eugene III , born Bernardo da Pisa, was Pope from 1145 to 1153. He was the first Cistercian to become Pope.-Early life:...
, who ordered him to submit himself to the mercy of the Church in Rome (
CE). When he arrived, he found that
Giordano PierleoniGiordano Pierleoni was the son of the Consul Pier Leoni and therefore brother of Antipope Anacletus II and leader of the Commune of Rome which the people set up in 1143...
's followers had asserted the ancient rights of the
commune of RomeCommunes in Europe during the Middle Ages were sworn allegiances of mutual defense among the citizens of a town or city. They took many forms, and varied widely in organization and makeup. Communes are first recorded in the late 11th and early 12th centuries, thereafter becoming a widespread...
taken control of the city from papal forces and founded a
republicA republic is a form of government in which the head of state is not a monarch and the people have an impact on its government. The word 'republic' is derived from the Latin phrase res publica which can be translated as "a public affair".Both modern and ancient republics vary widely in their...
, the
Commune of RomeIn the 12th century the Commune of Rome was briefly established in Rome beginning in 1144, in opposition to the temporal power of the higher nobles and the popes...
. Arnold sided with the people immediately and, upon the deposition of Pierleoni, soon rose to the intellectual leadership of the Commune, calling for liberties and democratic rights. Arnold taught that clergy while owning property had no power to perform the Sacraments. He succeeded in driving Pope Eugene into exile in 1146, for which he was excommunicated on 15 July 1148. When Pope Eugene returned to the city in 1148, Arnold continued to lead the blossoming republic despite his excommunication. In summing up these events,
Caesar BaroniusVenerable Cesare Baronio was an Italian Cardinal and ecclesiastical historian....
called Arnold "the father of political heresies", while the Protestant view is expressed by
Edward GibbonEdward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament. His most important work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788...
, who found that "the trumpet of Roman liberty was first sounded by Arnold."
After the death of Pope Eugene,
Pope Adrian IVPope Adrian IV , born Nicholas Breakspear or Breakspeare, was Pope from 1154 to 1159.Adrian IV is the only Englishman who has occupied the papal chair...
swiftly took steps to regain control of
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
, allying with
Frederick BarbarossaFrederick I Barbarossa was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1154, and finally crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 18 June 1155. He was crowned King of Burgundy at Arles on 30 June 1178...
, who took Rome by force in 1155, after a
Holy WeekHoly Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
interdictIn the Roman Catholic Church, the word interdict usually refers to an ecclesiastical penalty. Interdicts may be real, local or personal. A personal interdict pertains to one or more persons. A real or local interdict, which is no longer a part of canon law, suspends all public worship and...
, forced Arnold again into exile. Arnold was seized by Imperial forces and was finally tried by the
Roman CuriaThe Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Roman Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
as a rebel. Importantly, he was never accused of
heresyHeresy is proposing some unorthodox change to an established system of belief, especially a religion, that conflicts with the previously established opinion of scholars of that belief such as canon. It is sometimes confused with apostasy which is disaffiliation from orthodoxy and blasphemy which is...
. As a result of his conviction for rebellion, he was hanged in June and his body burnt. Faced with the stake, he refused to recant any of his positions; since he remained a hero to large sections of the Roman people and the minor clergy, his ashes were cast into the
TiberThe Tiber is the third-longest river in Italy, rising in the Apennine mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Umbria and Lazio to the Tyrrhenian Sea. It drains a basin estimated at...
, to prevent his burial place becoming venerated as the
shrineA shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated...
of a
martyrA martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce a belief, usually religious.-Meaning:...
.
In 1882, after the collapse of Papal temporal powers, the city of Brescia erected a monument to its native son.