Regalian Right in Twelfth-Century Spain: the Case of Archbishop Martín of Santiago de Compostela

R. A. Fletcher

doi:10.1017/S0022046900041646

Regalian Right in Twelfth-Century Spain: the Case of Archbishop Martín of Santiago de Compostela

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 March 2011

R. A. Fletcher

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R. A. Fletcher: Affiliation:
Lecturer in History, University of York

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In the spring of the year 1160 archbishop Martin of Santiago de Compostela was expelled from his see by his king, Fernando II of León. Except for a brief period of about six months in the winter of 1164–65 he remained excluded from his church and sometimes from the kingdom until shortly before his death in 1167. For some of this period of seven years he sought to exert pressure upon the king through the papal curia of Alexander III in order to bring about his reinstatement; usually in vain. This cause célèbre in the relations between Church and State in the most westerly of the Spanish kingdoms has attracted little attention from Spanish ecclesiastical historians, and none at all from others. What makes it of more than parochial interest is its timing. Fernando II was not the only western European ruler to be at loggerheads with his archbishop in the 1160s; neither is the spectacle of a pope unwilling decisively to intervene in a quarrel of this kind an unfamiliar one to students of the ecclesiastical affairs of that troubled decade. Only fragments of evidence have survived to shed light on the tortuous diplomacy of those years. To disinter and to attempt to fit together the dead bones of this forgotten dispute may, it is hoped, be to provide a further fragment, which, in its turn, may be of interest to those whose concern is with the larger affairs of empire and of papacy, of Angevins and of Capetians. To historians of Spain its interest will (we hope) be sufficiently obvious to need no commendation.

Type: Articles
Information: The Journal of Ecclesiastical History , Volume 28 , Issue 4 , October 1977 , pp. 337 - 360

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022046900041646 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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^{page 338 note 1} Ferreiro, A. López, Historia de la Santa Apostólica Metropolitana Iglesia de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela 1898–1911, IV. 263–282.Google Scholar

^{page 339 note 1} For a general account of the reign of Fernando II, a register of his charters and an edition of some of them, see González, J., Regesta de Fernando II, Madrid 1943. This work is at its weakest where it deals with ecclesiastical affairs.Google Scholar

^{page 339 note 2} González, J., Alfonso IX de León, Madrid 1944, II, no. 5.Google Scholar

^{page 339 note 3} Colección diplomática del monasterio de Belmonte, ed. Floriano, A. C., Oviedo 1960Google Scholar, nos. 20, 21; Colección diplomática del monasterio de San Vicente de Oviedo, ed. Llorente, P. Floriano, Oviedo 1968, nos. 241, 244, 247.Google Scholar

^{page 339 note 4} López Ferreiro, Historia de Compostela, iv. 263.

^{page 339 note 5} Fita, F., ‘El concilio nacional de Valladolid en 1143: discusión crítica’, Boletin de la Real Academia de la Historia, LXI (1912), 166–174.Google Scholar The conciliar acta were printed by Erdmann, C., Papsturkunden in Portugal, Göttingen 1927Google Scholar, no. 40. Martin's election is recorded in Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional, MS. 1358, fol. 4^v. For cardinal Guido, see Zenker, B., Die Mitglieder des Kardinal-kollegiums von 1130 bis 1159, Würzburg 1964, 146–8.Google Scholar

^{page 340 note 1} Erdmann, Papsturkunden in Portugal, no. 46; Flórez, E., España Sagrada, Madrid 1762, XVI, appendix xxvii.Google Scholar

^{page 340 note 2} During his episcopate Alfonso VII's ex-mistress Guntroda founded and retired into the nunnery of Sta. Maria de Vega de Oviedo, which was established as a daughter-house of Fontevrault between 1150 and 1153; presumably Martin was to some degree involved. He was a benefactor of the black monk houses of Samos and San Vicente de Oviedo. The Cistercian house of Lapedo (later known as Belmonte) was founded in the diocese in 1141; it was among the earliest Cistercian foundations in Spain.

^{page 340 note 3} His acta are catalogued in Fletcher, R. A., ‘The Episcopate in the Kingdom of León in the twelfth century’ (Oxford Univ. D. Phil. Thesis 1973), 406–7.Google Scholar

^{page 340 note 4} Collección de documentos de la catedral de Oviedo, ed. Larragueta, S. Garcia, Oviedo 1962, no. 163.Google Scholar

^{page 340 note 5} Rivera, J. F., La Iglesia de Toledo en el siglo XII, Rome-Madrid 1966, 374–5Google Scholar. The bull is also registered in Jaffé, Regesta Pontificum Romanorum, no. 11138. Rivera dates it to 1167, Jaffé to 1164–65. It is much more likely to have been of 1166. Since the correct date of this vital document is of some importance in our story, my reasons for believing it to be of 1166 may be stated here as follows: (i) it refers to archbishop Juan of Toledo as though he were still alive, and he died on 29 September 1166; (ii) it reters to the consecration of Pedro Suárez to the see of Salamanca in terms which suggest that this had recently taken place, and he seems to have been consecrated shortly before 29 June 1166; (iii) it appears to be associated with certain other bulls of the year 1166, none of which was issued later than 15 July (e.g. Salamanca, Archivo de la Catedral, nos. 34, 47, 48, 51). Here and elsewhere my numeration of documents in the cathedral archive of Salamanca is that of the published catalogue of Rodríguez, F. Marcos, Catálogo de Documentos del Archivo Catedralicio de Salamanca, Salamanca 1962.Google Scholar

^{page 341 note 1} Historia Compostellana (= España Sagrada, XX), Madrid 1765, 334, 410, 473. Many other examples could be cited.Google Scholar

^{page 341 note 2} ‘Feudum quod in Ispania prestimonium vocant’, as cardinal Boso put it in 1117: Fita, F., ‘Concilio nacional de Burgos’, Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia XLVIII (1906), 397.Google Scholar

^{page 341 note 3} Grassotti, H., Las instituciones feudo-vasalláticas en León y Castilla, Spoleto 1969, II. 569–79.Google Scholar

^{page 341 note 4} Rada, Rodrigo Ximénez de, De Rebus Hispaniae, ed. Lorenzana, F. de, new ed. Valencia 1968, 148 (composed c. 1240 but at this point relying on sources of the early twelfth century).Google Scholar

^{page 341 note 5} Pidal, R. Menéndez, La España del Cid, 7th ed. Madrid 1969, 937. Not all would now accept a date so early for the composition of the Historia Roderici, but this does not affect the present argument.Google Scholar

^{page 342 note 1} Historia Compostellana, 2, 43, 59, 107, 109, 179, 196, 200, 204–5, 255, 315, 429, 432,456, 459. Again, many more examples might be cited.

^{page 342 note 2} Historia Compostellana, 464–5.

^{page 342 note 3} For what follows, see Historia Compostellana, 16–24; López Ferreiro, Historia de Compostela, iii. 169–202; Biggs, A. G., Diego Gelmirez, first archbishop of Compostela, Washington 1949, 1–36Google Scholar; Reilly, B. F., ‘Santiago and St. Denis: the French presence in eleventh-century Spain’, Catholic Historical Review LIV (1968), 467–483.Google Scholar

^{page 343 note 1} Flórez, España Sagrada, xviii. 340–2.

^{page 343 note 2} Historia Compostellana, 24.

^{page 343 note 3} López Ferreiro, Historia de Compostela, iii. appendix ix, 40.

^{page 343 note 4} Madrid, Archivo Histórico Nacional, Sección de Clero, carpeta 518, no. 7. (Such references will henceforward be given in the form AHN Clero 518/7.) The apparent reading dericus honores in this most inaccurate sixteenth-century copy seems preferable to the reading electus honorem given by López Ferreiro, Historia de Compostela, iii, appendix xiii, 46, who is followed by Reilly, art. cit., 481.

^{page 343 note 5} For Montaos, see Historia Compostellana, 18, 27–8, 200, 396, 461, 588; López Ferreiro Historia de Compostela, iv. appendices iii and xxix, 7–9, 76–7.

^{page 344 note 1} Historia Compostellana 464–8, 510–11 (= Jaffé no. 7416).

^{page 344 note 2} Braga, Arquivo Distrital, Gaveta dos Arcebispos, no. 4. Quotations in the next three paragraphs are all from this source

^{page 344 note 3} I hope to discuss these chronological matters in a forthcoming article.

^{page 347 note 1} González, Fernando II, 362; AHN Clero, 528/2.

^{page 347 note 2} Madrid, Archivo Histórico Nacional, Seccion de Códices, no. 977B, fol. 93^r (bis). (Such references will henceforward be given in the form AHN Códices 977B, fol. 93^r (bis)).

^{page 347 note 3} González, Fernando II, 364–8; AHN Códices 324B, fol. 239; AHN Códices 977B, fol. 62^r; López Ferreiro, Historia de Compostela iv, 273–4; AHN Clero, 556/4.

^{page 347 note 4} AHN Clero, 1126/9: the document is discussed by Álvarez, M. Lucas, ‘En torno a un documento atribuido al monasterio de Meira’, Cuadernos de Estudios Gallegos, VII (1952), 353–369.Google Scholar

^{page 347 note 5} Santiago de Compostela, Archivo de la Universidad, Fondo Antiguo de San Martin Pinario, legajo 81 (olim 74), no. 36.

^{page 347 note 6} López Ferreiro, Historia de Compostela iv. appendix viii, 24 and appendix xxi, 59.

^{page 347 note 7} Braga, Arquivo Distrital Gaveta dos Arcebispos, no. 4.

^{page 347 note 8} AHN Códices, 977B fol. 55^v–56^r: but this charter has some. unreliable features, for which see Belda, L. Sánchez, Documentos reales de la edad media referentes a Galicia, Madrid 1953, no. 262.Google Scholar

^{page 348 note 1} AHN Clero, 524/9 (the printed version in López Ferreiro, Historia de Compostela iv. appendix xxi, 57–9, from the defective edition of Yepes, is inaccurate); AHN Códices, 97^6B fol. 14^v–15^r; AHN Códices, 1002B, fol. 111^v–112^r; López Ferreiro, Historia de Compostela iv. appendix xxiii, 64–6.

^{page 348 note 2} For the foregoing, AHN Clero, 1126/9, and cf. above, 347 n. 4; Santiago de Compostela, Archivo de la Universidad, Fondo Antiguo de San Martin Pinario, legajo 81 (olim 74), no. 36; Galicia Histórica. Colección Diplomática, Santiago de Compostela 1901, 13–14, 142–3.Google Scholar

^{page 348 note 3} López Ferreiro. Historia de Compostela, iv. appendix xxiii, 64–6. For the bishop of Mondoñedo, see below; for Palla, see Pidal, R. Menéndez, Poesía Juglaresca, 6th ed., Madrid 1957. 104–5.Google Scholar

^{page 348 note 4} Traceable from 16 July 1158 until 27 May 1159: González, Fernando II, 348–57. He held the office again for a short time in February–March 1161: op. cit., 364–5.

^{page 349 note 1} AHN Clero, 556/4; AHN Códices, 15B, fol. 84.

^{page 349 note 2} López Ferreiro, Historia de Compostela, iv. 273–4.

^{page 349 note 3} López Ferreiro, Historia de Compostela, iv. 275.

^{page 349 note 4} Ibid., iv. appendix xxxiii, 84–6.

^{page 349 note 5} For some account of Pedro of Mondoñedo, see R. A. Fletcher, The Episcopate in the Kingdom of León in the twelfth century, Oxford forthcoming, ch. 2.

^{page 350 note 1} AHN Clero, 496/6,7 (13 December 1162); González, Fernando II, 379(14 March 1164).

^{page 350 note 2} This date is supplied by two papal privileges in favour of the see of Lugo dated 28 January 1161: AHN Códices, 1043B fol. 42, and Lugo, Archivo de la Catedral, legajo 3, no. 3. We know from Fernando II's letter to Alexander that bishop Juan of Lugo had been sent on a mission to the curia about the recognition issue at about this time: S. Tengnagel, Vetera Monumenta contra Schismaticos, Ingoldstadt 1612, 412. It may be suggested that the bishop of Lugo used the opportunity afforded by this embassy to acquire the privileges. We are told by Gerhoh of Reichersberg that ambassadors of the rex Hispaniae (a title which Fernando II was claiming at this period) attended the council at which the kings of France and England decided to recognise Alexander III. This council was held at Beauvais in late July of 1160 (not at Toulouse). On it see now Cheney, M., ‘The recognition of Alexander III: some neglected evidence’, English Historical Review, LXXXIV (1969), 474–497.CrossRef Google Scholar

^{page 350 note 3} Lugo, Archivo de la Catedral, legajo 3, no. 9. It may be significant of archbishop Martin's plight that this original letter close has survived among the muniments not of Compostela but of Lugo. The text closely resembles that of Jaffé no. 10655, of 17 February 1161, addressed to the bishop of Soissons.

^{page 351 note 1} Hyacinth had acted as papal legate in Spain in 1154–55; possibly Leo had accompanied him then. If so, he would have been acquainted with Spanish conditions.

^{page 351 note 2} Erdmann, Papsturkunden in Portugal, 380 (no. 159).

^{page 351 note 3} López Ferreiro, Historia de Compostela, iv. appendix xxxiii, 84–6.

^{page 351 note 4} See note 2 above; AHN Códices 1002B, fol. 187^v–188^r.

^{page 351 note 5} Gaioso, J. Pallares y, Argos Divina. Sancta Maria de Lugo de los Ojos Grandes, Santiago de Compostela 1700, 376–7.Google Scholar

^{page 352 note 1} It is tolerably clear that the bishop of León attended: León, Archivo de la Catedral, no. 6329 (= Jaffé 10859), dated 16 May 1163. Here and elsewhere my numeration of documents in the cathedral archive of León is that of the published catalogue of Villada, Z. Garcia, Catálogo de los Códices y Documentos de la Catedral de León, Madrid 1919. See additional note at the end of this article.Google Scholar

^{page 353 note 1} The archbishop of Mainz made a pilgrimage to Compostela in 1164 and Patrick, earl of Salisbury, in 1166.

^{page 353 note 2} AHN Códices 976B, fol. 15 (19 December 1164).

^{page 353 note 3} Documentos para la historia de las instituciones de León y de Castilla (siglos x–xiii), ed. Hinojosa, E. de, Madrid 1919, 71–2.Google Scholar

^{page 353 note 4} A. Brandão, Monarchia Lusitana, Lisbon 1690, 267; Documentos Medievais Portugueses: Documentos régios (1095–1185), ed. Azevedo, R. de, Lisbon 1958, no. 286.Google Scholar

^{page 354 note 1} Historia Compostellana, 402–3 (=Jaffé no. 7160).

^{page 354 note 2} González, Fernando II, 379–383.

^{page 354 note 3} Ibid., 386 (30 April 1165). In an act of 10 May 1165 Martin referred to himself as ‘quondam archiepiscopus Compostellanus’: AHN Clero, 528/13.

^{page 354 note 4} González, Fernando II, 394.

^{page 355 note 1} León, Archivo de la Catedral, no. 1413.

^{page 355 note 2} Braga, Arquivo Distrital, Gaveta dos Arcebispos, no. 4.

^{page 355 note 3} See above, 340 and note 5, for a discussion of this letter and its date.

^{page 355 note 4} López Ferreiro, Historia de Compostela, iv. appendix xxxvi, 91–2. The editor thought it likely that the date had been incorrectly copied.

^{page 355 note 5} For further treatment of the early career of Pedro Suárez, see R. A. Fletcher, The Episcopate in the kingdom of León in the twelfth century, Oxford forthcoming, ch. 2.

^{page 355 note 6} The terminal dates at present available are 13 July and 31 December 1165: González, Fernando II, 388–91.

^{page 356 note 1} Ibid., 392; Salamanca, Archivo de la Catedral, nos. 34, 44.

^{page 356 note 2} Quoted by López Ferreiro, Historia de Compostela, iv, 281.

^{page 356 note 3} Materials for the History of Thomas Becket, ed. Robertson, J. C., London 1882, VI, 238. I am grateful to Professor C. N. L. Brooke for directing my attention to this passage.Google Scholar

^{page 356 note 4} According to one of the monks of the Compostelan monastery of San Martin Pinario, archbishop Martin's final occupation of his see lasted ‘a Cena Domini usque ad vigilia sancti Andree, qua die decessit’, that is from 6 April to 29 November 1167.

^{page 357 note 1} González, J., Alfonso IX de León, Madrid 1944, II, no. 5.Google Scholar

^{page 357 note 2} In what follows, references have been kept to a minimum since these matters receive detailed treatment in my forthcoming book, already referred to.

^{page 358 note 1} Nine or perhaps ten out of twenty-four appointments. This proportion must be regarded as a minimum figure, owing to the paucity of our sources.

^{page 358 note 2} Above, 355 and n. 1.

^{page 359 note 1} León, Archivo de la Catedral, no. 613. The document is untidily produced and bears neither signs of authentication nor (most unusually for an official Leonese document of this period) date. Could it perhaps be a draft? Did ihc bishops meet hurriedly, even furtively?

^{page 360 note 1} Braga, Arquivo Distrital, Gaveta dos Arcebispos, no. 4; González, Fernando II, 398.

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Regalian Right in Twelfth-Century Spain: the Case of Archbishop Martín of Santiago de Compostela

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