I've come across a usage I've never seen and could use some advice and
interpretation from the learned list members. In a bull of 1097 Urban II
proffered the following privilege to the abbots of St. Maur sur Loire in
Anjou: "..apostolica auctoritate statuimus, ut in loco illo venerabili sepe
superius nominato cardinale abbas perpetuis temporibus habeatur."
The privilege was confirmed by Pope Anacletus II in 1131.
My reading suggests that by this time, late 11th century, that the title of
cardinal was restricted to the cardinal bishops, priests and deacons who
were so appointed as a sort of Roman senate, with a title conveying as well
a titular church in Rome which functioned as their "status" in the Roman
church.
My impression was that earlier on, there were some non-Roman priests and
bishops who held the title "cardinalis" out of some local distinction or
other, but that this had ceased, at least as a papal policy by the mid-11th
century. So what do we have here? If anyone knows about this issue, I'd like
also to know what perquisites were commonly attached to such a title as a
non-Roman appointment.
John Wickstrom
Kalamazoo College
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