Ep. 45: Bernard of Clairvaux - Lothar III (1125-1137) - Triple Division

Before Lothar III can claim the imperial crown, he needs a pope to give it to him. There's just one problem — in 1130, Rome has two of them.

In this episode we take a vital detour to the eternal city, where medieval papal politics are every bit as violent, corrupt, and compelling as anything happening north of the Alps. Murder, torture, family vendettas, a pope dragged through the streets by his hair — and that's before the schism even begins.

We trace the bitter rivalry between Rome's two great dynastic clans, the Frangipani and the Pierleoni, whose struggle for control of the papacy has been simmering for decades. We meet the remarkable Pope Honorius II — a peasant's son who rose to become one of the most respected men in Christendom — and ask how his death in 1130 is about to blow the lid off every tension in the medieval church simultaneously.

But this episode is also about something much bigger than Roman clan politics. It's about a church splitting three ways at once — between old-school Gregorian reformers and the new austerity of the Cistercians, and between the soaring mysticism of Bernard of Clairvaux and the razor-sharp logic of Peter Abelard, the most controversial theologian of the age.

Along the way we cover the origins of Limbo, a medieval monk's digestive catastrophe, the most explicit sermon ever preached on the Song of Solomon, and the story of Heloise and Abelard — one of the great love affairs of the Middle Ages, ending in castration and a life in the cloister.

But the real head of the church is an abbot from Burgundy, Bernard of Clairvaux who is longing for an ecstatic union with the heavenly bridegroom - hence the picture (Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the Ecstasy of Santa Teresa, 1647-1654)

Topics covered in this episode:

• The Frangipani and Pierleoni clans and their violent grip on the medieval papacy
• How the Gregorian reform transformed — and alienated — Rome's aristocracy
• The rise of the Cistercian order and the extraordinary influence of Bernard of Clairvaux
• Peter Abelard, scholasticism, and the birth of logical theology
• The love story of Abelard and Heloise — and its brutal ending
• The looming papal schism of 1130 and the impossible choice it poses for Lothar III

Keywords: medieval papacy, papal schism 1130, Bernard of Clairvaux, Peter Abelard, Cistercian order, Frangipani, Pierleoni, Lothar III, Holy Roman Empire, scholasticism, medieval church history, Heloise and Abelard, History of the Germans podcast, Gregorian reform, medieval Rome

The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.

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To make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season.

So far I have:

The Ottonians

Salian Emperors and Investiture Controversy

Fredrick Barbarossa and Early Hohenstaufen

Frederick II Stupor Mundi

Saxony and Eastward Expansion

The Hanseatic League

The Teutonic Knights

The Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

The Reformation before the Reformation

The Empire in the 15th century

The Fall and Rise of the Habsburgs