Upon the death ofClement II, envoys from Rome were sent to the emperor to ascertain who should be named pope. Henry named the bishop of Brixen, Poppo de' Curagnoni. While the envoys were away, the former popeBenedict IX reasserted himself and with the assistance of the disaffected MargraveBoniface III of Tuscany once again assumed the papacy. Henry ordered Boniface to escort Poppo to Rome, but Boniface declined, pointing out that the Romans had already enthroned Benedict. Enraged, the emperor ordered the margrave to depose Benedict or suffer the consequences. Poppo became pope in mid-July but died less than a month later, inPalestrina.
Plaque in Pildenau marking Damasus II's birthplace
Born into an ancient BavarianHouse of Babonen, Poppo was a younger son of Count Poppo II von Rott.[3] He became theBishop of Brixen in Tyrol in 1040, upon nomination by King Henry III. He was already consecrated by 16 January 1040.[4] Poppo was also a key advisor to KingHenry III of Germany and travelled with him to Italy for hisimperial coronation in 1046.[5]
In 1046, the city of Rome was in chaos. It had three popes,Benedict IX,Sylvester III, andGregory VI, one at St. Peter's, one at the Lateran, and a third at S. Maria Maggiore. There was street fighting between inhabitants of the city proper and the inhabitants of the Trastevere region.Pope Gregory VI's archdeacon, Peter, took matters into his own hands, summoned a Roman synod, and sent representatives to the Emperor Henry III, begging for aid to restore order.[6] Henry, who was looking forward to his imperial coronation in Rome, needed one, clear, universally acknowledged pope to perform the ceremony.[7] He left Augsburg, therefore, and was in Verona in the second week of September 1046.[8] There he held a military review. He then moved to Pavia, where he was in residence by 25 October 1046, and where he held both asynodale concilium and apopulare iudicium.[9] One of the bishops present at the synod was Poppo of Brixen.[10] On 25 November, the King was in Lucca, and on 1 December at San Genesio, near San Miniato.[11] Finally he reached Sutri, only 56 km (35 mi) from Rome. There he summoned a synod on 20 December 1046,[12] which came to be attended by 1046 bishops and by the Roman clergy. The three papal claimants were ordered to appear, and Gregory VI and Sylvester III did so.[13] Gregory was compelled to recite the circumstances of his election, which seemed to many of the bishops to be simoniacal; realizing the depth of his difficulties, Gregory resigned his papal office and claims. Sylvester was deposed, and ordered to a monastery. Benedict had already fled to his relatives in Tusculum.[14] The imperial party then moved on to Rome, where another synod was held on 23 and 24 December. The once deposed, and anathematized, Benedict IX, was again deposed, as were the other two already deposed claimants, and the throne of Peter declared vacant. Henry acknowledged the right of the Romans to elect their own bishop, absent an emperor. but the Roman senators begged the emperor to give them a suitable candidate. Henry first named Bishop Adalbert of Hamburg and Bremen, but he declined. Then the King named Bishop Suidger of Bamberg in Bavaria, who was elected on Christmas Eve as Clement II. Both pope and emperor were crowned next day. Clement died less than ten months later, on 9 October 1047, at the abbey of S. Tommaso near Pesaro.[15]
Henry III in 1046 had displayed his imperial power by intervening againstPope Gregory VI and installingClement II,[16] The Romanplebs, acknowledging that power, sent an embassy to the emperor, which found Henry, who had been engaged in an indecisive campaign inFrisia, in his palace atPöhlde inSaxony shortly beforeChristmas Day of 1047.[17] They notified the emperor of Clement's death and asked him, in his capacity aspatricius of the Romans, to appoint a successor.[18] The envoys, following their instructions, suggested as a suitable candidateHalinard,Archbishop of Lyon, who was a fluent speaker of Italian, and was well respected in Rome.[19]
Henry was unwilling to rush matters, and so askedWazo ofLiège, the most independent bishop within the empire, who ought to be made pope. After careful consideration, Wazo declared that the most appropriate candidate for the vacant papal throne was the man the emperor had removed – Gregory VI. Wazo's deliberations had taken time, and Henry soon lost patience. Henry instead appointed Poppo,bishop of Brixen inTyrol, a proud man of distinguished learning[20] who had taken part in theSynod of Sutri. This decision antagonized the Romans, who were still pushing for Halinard to become the new pope. Nevertheless, Henry sent the Roman envoys back to Rome with presents to prepare for the arrival of their new pope.[21]
During the envoys’ absence, imperial authority in Rome became virtually extinguished as theTusculan faction reasserted its power. A former pope,Benedict IX, residing atTusculum, had been watching the situation in Rome intently, and had decided that now was his opportunity to reclaim the papal throne. He approached the MargraveBoniface III of Tuscany for help, and Boniface, who did not like the emperor, was easily convinced to help anyone who would disrupt Henry's authority. After Benedict had used his extensive supply of gold to gain a large number of followers, the margrave's influence enabled him to occupy the papal throne for over eight months, from 8 November 1047 until 17 July 1048.[22]
In the meantime, Henry was marching down towards Italy with Poppo, accompanying him at least as far asUlm, where they were in residence on 25 January 1048.[23] Here it came to light that the papalexchequer was close to bankrupt, and so Poppo was allowed to retain the revenues of hissee. In addition, a deed was drawn up on 25 January 1048 that granted Poppo an important forest in thePuster Valley, some 75 km east of Brixen.[24] Having done this, and unable to leave Germany in case there might be an uprising during his absence, Henry III directed Margrave Boniface of Tuscany to conduct the pope-designate to Rome in person, and in the emperor's name to arrange for the enthroning of the new pope.[25]
Given his role in the usurpation by Benedict IX, and his attitude towards Henry III, it is unsurprising that Boniface at first refused, advising Poppo when he entered Tuscany, "I cannot go to Rome with you. The Romans have again installed Benedict, and he has won over the whole city to his cause. Besides, I am now an old man." Having nowhere to turn, and unable to proceed, Poppo had no choice but to turn around and return to Germany, where he informed Henry of what had transpired.[26]
Upon receiving the news, Henry was furious. Poppo was quickly sent back to Boniface, carrying with him a letter from the emperor which ordered Boniface to arrange the expulsion of Benedict and the enthroning of his successor. Henry was simple and direct. "Learn, you who have restored a pope who was canonically deposed, and who have been led by love of money to despise my commands; learn that, if you do not amend your ways, I will soon come and make you."[27] These threats soon reduced Boniface to obedience. He sent a body of troops into Rome and forcibly expelled Benedict from the city.[28]
After Benedict IX's removal, Poppo entered the city, as the Romans, with demonstrations of joy, welcomed the bishop who would be pope. He was enthroned at theLateran as Pope Damasus II on 17 July 1048. His pontificate, however, was of short duration. Rumors circulated that he had been poisoned,[29] allegedly by a man named Gerhard Brazutus, a friend of Benedict IX and a follower ofHildebrand.[30] However, the source for this information is suspect.[31] He retired toPalestrina.[32] After a brief reign of twenty-three days, he died on 9 August 1048. A modern conjecture is that he died ofmalaria.[33]
Pope Damasus II was buried inSan Lorenzo fuori le Mura, according toOnuphrio Panvinio, the 16th century "scriptor" in the Vatican Library.[34] Thesarcophagus in which Damasus' body had been placed, and which was moved at least twice,[35] was large and "adorned with reliefs representing a vineyard, with cupids as the wine gatherers."[36]
^Martin Bitschnau,Hannes Obermair (2009),Tiroler Urkundenbuch, II. Abteilung: Die Urkunden zur Geschichte des Inn-, Eisack- und Pustertals. Band 1: Bis zum Jahr 1140, Innsbruck: Universitätsverlag Wagner, p. 189,ISBN978-3-7030-0469-8
^J.N.D. Kelly and M. J. Walsh,Oxford Dictionary of Popes second ed. (Oxford 2010), p. 146.
^Rupert Matthews (2013).The Popes: Every Question Answered. New York: Metro Books. p. 131.ISBN978-1-4351-4571-9.
^Gregorovius, pp. 56–63. J.N.D. Kelly and M. J. Walsh,Oxford Dictionary of Popes second ed. (Oxford 2010), p. 145. Paul Fridolin Kehr (1909),Italia pontificia Vol. IV (Berlin: Weidmann 1909), pp. 182–183(in Latin).
^Mann, p. 286. "Annales Romani", p. 469: "tunc Romanorum plebs in unum collecta, ad regem Heinricum legatos cum litteris miserunt, precantes et obsecrantes, ut servi dominum et ut filii patrem, ut eis dirigeret pudicum benignum ornatum bonis moribus cancte Romane ecclesie et universo orbi pastorem."
^Mann, pp. 287–288. "Annales Romani", p. 469: "Legati itaque Romanorum cum pervenissent ad regem, magno cum honore in palatio suscepit suo, eosque magnis ditavit muneribus.... Legati itaque Romanorum antecedentes Damassum pontificem, Romam reversi sunt...."
^The Reform of the Church, J.P. Whitney,The Cambridge Medieval History, Vol. V, ed. J.R. Tanner, C.W. Previte-Orton, Z.N. Brooke, (Cambridge University Press, 1968), 23. No contemporary source mentions malaria or fever, or any other cause.
^Onofrio Panvinio (1584).Onuphrii Panuinii Veronensis De praecipuis vrbis Romae, sanctioribusque basilicis quas septem ecclesias vulgo vocant, liber (in Latin). Rome: apud Maternum Cholinum. pp. 276–284, at p. 281. The fact was already stated by Hermannus Contractus (died 1054) in hisChronicon: "Sequente Julio Poppo Brixiensis, episcopus ab imperatore clectus, Romam mittitur, et bonoriflce susceptus Apostolicae Sedi papa CLII ordinatus, mutato nomine Damasus II vocatur. Sed paucis diebus exactis defunctus, et ad Sanctum-Laurentium extra Urbem sepultus est."
^Mann, p. 290, who quotes Louis Duchesne,Le liber pontificalis II (Paris 1894), p. 274, as questioning the accuracy of the tradition.
Mann, Horace K. (1910),The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Volume 5: "The Popes In The Days of Feudal Anarchy, from Formosus to Damasus II", Part 2, London
Bertolini, Paolo: Damaso II. In: Massimo Bray (ed.):Enciclopedia dei Papi. Volume 2: Niccolò I, santo, Sisto IV. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2000, pp. 153–156 (treccani.it).
Hans Göttler, Hans (2005). "Spurensuche nach Papst Damasus II.," in: Pildenau am Inn:Geschichte und Legende des 1.Pontifex Maximus aus Altbayern, Tiefenbach: Verlag Töpfl
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