medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
With regard to Ken Grant's very pertinent citation of Gregory VII's letter of 5. October 1080 concerning a bearded Sardinian archbishop, the title Archbishop of Sardinia is inaccurate (there have of course been primates of Sardinia but only since the pontificate of Victor III). In 1080 the island had two archdioceses: Cagliari (already a metropolitan see in the seventh century) and Torres (now the see of Sassari, it was elevated by Gregory VII to an archdiocese in 1073 or 1074). Gregory's letter (Reg. 8. 10; MGH, _Epistulae selectae_, vol. 2, pt. 2, pp. 528-530) is addressed to Orzoccor, the ruler of the judicate of Cagliari (dynastically he is Torchitorius I) and archbishop in question is James of Cagliari. In the letter Gregory doesn't say that James should shave his beard (thus implying that James is still bearded). Rather, he says that he has compelled James to shave his beard (the verb form is past-tense: _coegimus_) in conformity with the longstanding practice of the Roman church. When Gregory gave that order is not stated; rather than transmitting news to Orzoccor he could be reminding that worthy of a change that had been in effect for some time. If Gregory were already insisting at the beginning of his pontificate that newly created metropolitans come to Rome to receive their pallium -- this was certainly his later policy -- then perhaps the order had been given as far back as 1073 or 1074 when James was awarded his.
What underlies all this becomes clear when Gregory goes on to ask Orzoccor to compel -- with James' assistance -- all the clergy in the judge's power to become clean-shaven his rhetorical. Clearly, at least in the judicate of Cagliari, in the later eleventh century it was still a practice for secular clergy to wear beards, just as it will have been in the previous several centuries when Sardinia had a Greek church. Gregory, who maintained a claim of Petrine proprietorship in Sardinia, is attempting in this letter to enforce a particular policy of romanization in a formerly Byzantine territory that had kept some of its Greek ways after the withdrawal of East Roman imperial power. His action is in keeping both with the general latinization of the Sardinian church in the eleventh century and with a sartorial distinction between Roman and Greek practices that was already a point of contention on both sides in the strained relations between Rome and Constantinople in the 1050s.
Best,
John Dillon
On 06/18/13, Ken A. Grant wrote:
> While not addressing the groups in question, Gregory VII, in October 1080, maintained that all of the clergy (he does not mention monks or hermits) ,since the beginning of the ‘Christian faith’, should remain clean-shaven. He specifically states that the Archbishop of Sardinia should shave his beard.
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> Ken A. Grant
>
> Sent from Windows Mail
>
>
> From: Ruth Krindle_R
> Sent: Tuesday, June 18, 2013 3:41 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
>
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture This flows from the discussion on Augustinians. I am trying to locate information - written and visual - on the identifying hairstyles and beards of monks, canons regular, and hermits (itinerant and otherwise) in the south of France at the end of the eleventh and early twelfth centuries. Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Ruth Krindle
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