Origins
According to the older historiography Boso was an Englishman from St.-Alban and
nephewA cardinal-nephew is a cardinal elevated by a pope who is that cardinal's uncle, or, more generally, his relative. The practice of creating cardinal-nephews originated in the Middle Ages, and reached its apex during the 16th and 17th centuries. The word nepotism originally referred specifically to...
of Nicholas Breakspear, future
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...
, on his mother's side. He ostensibly joined the Order of Benedictines at
St Albans AbbeySt Albans Cathedral is a Church of England Cathedral church at St Albans, England. At 84 metres , its nave is the longest of any cathedral in England...
in the young age, and then entered the Roman Curia when his uncle Nicholas became cardinal. Shortly after his election to the papacy he was promoted to the cardinalate and died ca. 1181.
This view was still accepted at the beginning of 20th century, but subsequently was challenged by the number of scholars. Johannes M. Brixius (1912) undermined the tradition identyfying him as nephew of Adrian IV and benedictine monk. He showed that neither his relationship with Adrian IV nor his belonging to the Order of Benedictines is attested in any of the contemporary sources, while papal privileges for the Boso's titular church of S. Pudenziana attached this title to the canons regular of S. Maria di Reno. Therefore, Brixius concluded that Boso must have been a member of this religious community, and not a Benedictine. However, he still considered him an Englishman.
The monography of F. Geisthardt (1936) about Cardinal Boso refutated almost all elements of his traditional biography concerning the period before his promotion to the cardinalate. He has proven that Boso's curial career much predated the career of his alleged uncle Nicholas Breakspear. He served at the papal curia from at least 1135 as member of the household of cardinal Guido of SS. Cosma e Damiano from Pisa, and it was Guido, not Nicholas, who was his early protector at the papal court. Geisthardt has established that Boso was born probably at Loppia near Lucca in Tuscany . His conclusions are now accepted in the scholar literature.
Biography
Born probably at Loppia in Tuscany, Boso joined the canons regular of S. Maria di Reno at Bologna. In 1135 he entered the service of cardinal Guido of SS. Cosma e Damiano and accompanied him in his legatine mission to Spain 1143. After Guido's death in autumn 1149 Boso replaced him as director of papal chancery, though without the title of chancellor. He occupied that post until 3 May 1153.
When Nicholas Breakspear became Pope Adrian IV in December 1154, appointed Boso to the important post of Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church and confided to him the governorship of the Castle of Sant' Angelo, being somewhat suspicious of the fidelity of the Roman populace. Two years later, on 21 December 1156, the same pope named him cardinal-deacon of SS. Cosma e Damiano; as such, he subscribed papal bulls between 4 January 1157 and 1 August 1165.
When Adrian IV died in 1159, dissensions arose in the conclave as to the choice of his successor, the result of which was the creation of a
schismThe word schism , from the Greek σχίσμα, skhísma , means a split or a division, usually in an organization or a movement. A schismatic is a person who creates or incites schism in an organization or who is a member of a splinter group...
lasting seventeen years. Four cardinals in the
imperiaThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
l interest voted for Cardinal Octavian, who assumed the name of
Victor IVVictor IV was the Cardinal Priest of Santa Cecilia before he was elected as a Ghibelline antipope in 1159, following the death of Pope Adrian IV and the election of Alexander III...
, but he was acknowledged only by the Germans. On the very day of Adrian's burial in the Vatican basilica, 5 September, Cardinal Boso, who appears to have taken the lead, withdrew with the majority, twenty-three, of the cardinals within the fortress of Sant' Angelo to escape the vengeance of the antipope. They immedediately elected as pope Cardinal Rolando Bandinelli of Siena, who was consecrated under the name of
Pope Alexander IIIPope Alexander III , born Rolando of Siena, was Pope from 1159 to 1181. He is noted in history for laying the foundation stone for the Notre Dame de Paris.-Church career:...
.
The new pope was mindful of his obligations to Boso, and soon (no later than 18 March 1166) promoted him Cardinal-Priest of the title of
Santa PudenzianaThe basilica of Santa Pudenziana is a 4th century church in Rome, dedicated to Saint Pudentiana, sister of Saint Praxedis and daughter of Saint Pudens....
(subscribed the bulls with this title between 18 March 1166 and 29 July 1178). Boso, though dismissed as camerlengo, was subsequently entrusted with several important missions in Northern Italy (1160/61, 1162, 1173/74, 1177). When Alexander made his journey to Venice to receive the submission and allegiance of the Emperor Frederick II, and to ratify the Peace of Venice (24 June, 1177) which closed the schism, he was accompanied by Boso.
He had a reputation not only for piety, but also for learning, and was esteemed by contemporary writers as among the most eminent theologians of his age. He compiled or wrote the lives of several eleventh and twelfth century popes, among them the life of his uncle,. He was also a poet, examples of his poetry powers still existing in the Cotton MSS. in the
British MuseumThe British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from...
, in the form of metrical lives of saints.
He died in 1178, perhaps on 12 September.