The Origin of the Idea of Crusade: Foreword and additional notes by Marshall W. Baldwin 9780691197647

Table of contents :
CONTENTS
TRANSLATORS' NOTE
ABBREVIATIONS
FOREWORD TO THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I. HOLY BANNERS
CHAPTER II. PEACE OF GOD, CHURCH REFORM, AND THE MILITARY PROFESSION
CHAPTER III. WARS AGAINST HEATHENS AND FIRST PLANS FOR A CRUSADE
CHAPTER IV. THE EARLY DAYS OF THE REFORM PAPACY
CHAPTER V. HILDEBRAND
CHAPTER VI. VEXILLUM SANCTI PETRI
CHAPTER VII. MILITIA SANCTI PETRI
CHAPTER VIII. FOR AND AGAINST ECCLESIASTICAL WAR
CHAPTER IX. THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE POPULAR IDEA OF CRUSADE
CHAPTER X. URBAN II AND THE CRUSADE
APPENDIX. BYZANTIUM AND JERUSALEM: THE MOTIVE AND THE OBJECTIVE OF THE FIRST CRUSADE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX

Citation preview

THE ORIGIN OF THE IDEA OF CRUSADE

CARL ERDMANN

THE ORIGIN OF THE IDEJI OF CRUSJI DE Translated from the German by Marshall W. Baldwin and Waiter Goffart Foreword and additional notes by Marshall W. Baldwin

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS

Princeton Legacy Library edition 2019 Paperback ISBN: 978-0-691-61563-9 Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-691-65633-5

TO THE MEMORY OF MY FATHER WHO LOST A PROFESSORSHIP AT DORPAT [TARTU] IN

1893

FOR REMAINING TRUE TO HIS MOTHER-TONGUE AND OF MY TWO BROTHERS WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN

1914

AND

1916

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED WITH UNSHAKEN FAITH IN THE FUTURE OF THE GERMAN SPIRIT

CONTENTS

Translators' Note

1X

Abbreviations

X1

Foreword to the English Translation Author's Preface

XV XXX111

Introduction

3

I.

Holy Banners

35

II.

Peace of God, Church Reform, and the Military Profession

57

vVars against Heathens and First Plans for a Crusade

95

III. IV.

The Early Days of the Reform Papacy

118

V.

Hildebrand

148

VI.

Vexillum sancti Petri

182

VII. Militia sancti Petri

201

VIII. For and Against Ecclesiastical War

229

IX. X.

The Further Development of the Popular Idea of Crusade

269

Urban II and the Crusade

Appendix. Byzantium and Jerusalem: The Motive and the Objective of the First Crusade

355

Bibliography: Section A

373

Section B

410

Index

429 Vll

TRANSLATORS' NOTE

When Die Entstehung des Kreuzzugsgedankens appeared in 1935, its author, Carl Erdmann (1898-1945), was already a recognized scholar. He had published several articles and two significant books, Papsturkunden in Portugal-undertaken at the direction of Paul Kehr, who had brought him some years before to the staff of the Preussisches Institut in Rome-and Das Papsttum und Portugal im ersten ]ahrhundert der portuguesischen Geschichte. 1 In 1934 he joined the faculty of the University of Berlin and became associated with the editorial staff of the celebrated collection of German medieval sources, the Monumenta Germaniae historica. Erdmann was then still young and would normally have been in line for further scholarly distinctions and academic promotions, but since he had made no secret of his distaste for the new National Socialist regime in Germany, his academic appointments were withdrawn and additional distinctions denied him. When finally the professorial title was conceded him, he remained true to his principles and declined to accept. He did, however, retain his position on the staff of the Monumenta, and consequently was able to devote his entire energies to the research for which he was so eminently suited. Being of delicate health, he had done only a brief term of civilian service in the first World War. In World War Il, however, he was conscripted and served as an interpreter with the German troops in the Balkans, where, after an illness, he died in 1945. The present English edition 2 has been prepared by 1 The following details are taken from a biographical sketch bY' Friedrich Baethgen prefacing a posthumous collection of Erdmann's studies (see Bibliography, section B). The book also includes a complete list of Erdmann's publications. 2 Translated from the original edition of Kohlhammer Verlag. Stuttgart, 1935 (Forschungen zur Kirchen- und Geistesgeschichte, vol. 6),

ix

TRANSLATORS' NOTE

Marshall W. Baldwin, Professor Emeritus of New York University, and Professor Waiter Goffart, of the University of Toronto. Professor Baldwin is responsible for the Foreword, the translation or adaptation of the original notes and bibliography, and the provision of the supplementary notes which appear in brackets following the appropriate originals, and a supplementary bibliography of pertinent works published since 1935· Each translator has made suggestions and corrections in the work of the other, but each, of course, remains responsible for any errors which may appear in his own part. Professor Goffart acknowledges with thanks that an English version by Ellen Goffart made a notable contribution to this volume. He is also indebted to Judith Finlayson and William Churchill for assistance. The translators express their gratitude to William McGuire of Princeton University Press, who has overseen the entire work from its beginnings. It is the hope of all three that this English edition will make available to a larger circle of readers a seminal work which, since its publication, has been constantly cited and discussed by historians. M.W.B. W.G.

reissued in an unrevised photographic reprint, 1965; reprinted by the \\Tissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 1974. The work is corn· plete except for the omission of four appendixes, of interest only to specialists. These are entitled (I) Benedictions for Times of War, for Weapons, and for Knights; (n) On the Textual Transmission of the Peace of God Councils; (m) The Satire of Adalbero of Laon; and (rv) Gregory VII as Feudal Lord of Aragon. A fifth appendix has been retained.

X

ABBREVIATIONS

AA. SS.

Abh. AHR Aka d. AS! ASL BLE BZ CHR CMH Coli. de Textes

CSEL CSHB DA

EHR FDG FSI GR

Acta Sanctorum quotquot orbe coluntur, 67 vols. (Antwerp, Tongerloo, Paris, Brussels, 16431940) Abhandlungen of the Akademie der Wissenschaften of Berlin, Munich, etc., as indicated American Historical Review (New York, 1895-) Akademie, see Abh. Archivio storico italiano (Florence, 1842-) Archivio storico lombardo (Milan, 1874-) Bulletin de litterature ecclesiastique (Toulouse, 1899-) Byzantinische Zeitschrift (Leipzig, 1892-) Catholic Historical Review (Washington, 1915-) Cambridge Medieval History, 8 vols. (Cambridge, 1911-36) Collection de textes pour servir a !'etude et a l'enseignement de l'histoire, 51 vols. (Paris, 1886-1929) Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (Vienna, 1866-) Corpus scriptorum historiae Byzantinae, 50 vols. (Bonn, 1828-97) Deutsches Archiv fur Geschichte des Mittelalter (Weimar, 1937-43); ibid. fur Erforschung des Mittelalters (Cologne-Graz, 1950-) English Historical Review (London, 1886-) Forschungen zur deutschen Geschichte, 26 vols. (Gottingen, 1826-86) Istituto Storico Italiano per il medio evo, Fonti per la storia d'Italia (Rome, 1887-) Gregory VII, Register. See Bibliography, section A, for full entry. XI

ABBREVIATIONS

Historisches ]ahrbuch der Gorres-Gesellschaft (Cologne, 188o-) HZ Historische Zeitschrift (Munich, 1859-) ]EH journal of Ecclesiastical History (London, 195o-) ]L., ]K., P. Jaffe, Regesta pontificum Romanorum ad a. ]E. I rg8. Second ed. S. Loewenfeld, F. Kaltenbrunner, and P. Ewald (Berlin, 1885-88) MGR Monumenta Germaniae historica (1826-) AA. Auctores antiquissimi Constitutiones et acta publica imperatorum et Const. regum (Legum sectio IV) Epistolae Ep. Langob. Scriptores rerum Langobardicarum et Italicarum saec. VI-IX Libelli Libelli de lite imperatorum et pontificum saec. XI et XII conscripti Schrif- Schriften der MGR (monograph series) ten ss. Scriptores (in folio) Scriptores rerum Merovingicarum ss. Merov. Scriptores rerum Germanicarum, nova series SSns Mitteilungen des Instituts fur osterreichische GeMioG schichtsforschung (Graz-Cologne, 188o-) J. P. Migne, Patrologiae cursus completus. Series MPG graeca (Paris, 1867-76) Ibid. Series latina (Paris, 1841-64) MPL Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft fur altere deutsche NA Geschichtskunde (Hanover, 1876-). Continued byDA Quellen und Forschungen aus italienischen ArQF chiven und Bibliotheken (Rome 18g8-) Revue historique (Paris, 1876-) RH Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, Paris. RHC Recueil des historiens des croisades, 16 vols. (Paris, 1841-1906) Documents armeniens Arm.

H]b

xii

ABBREVIATIONS

Occ. RHE RHEF

Historiens occidentaux Revue d'histoire ecctesiastique (Louvain, 19oo-) Revue d' histoire de l' eglise de France (Paris, 1910-) M. Bouquet, Recueil des historiens des Gaules et RHF de la France, 24 vols. (Paris, 1738-1904). New ed., I-XIX (Paris, 1868-So) RIS L. A. Muratori, Rerum Italicarum scriptores, 25 vols. (Milan, 1723-51) Istituto Storico Italiano. Rerum Italicarum scripR!Sns tares, new series (Citta di Castello, Bologna, 1900-) SHF Societe de l'histoire de France, Paris ( 1835-) Sitzungsberichte of the Akademie der WissenSitz. schaften o£ Berlin, Munich, etc., as indicated SS. Germ. Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum ex Monumentis Germaniae historicis recusi (Hanover, 1839-) ZKG Zeitschrift filr Kirchengeschichte (Stuttgart, 1876-) ZSSRG Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung fur Rechtsgeschichte Germ. Germanistische Abteilung (Weimar, 1863-) Kanon. Kanonistische Abteilung (Weimar, 1gu-)

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In tracing the origins of the "idea of crusade" Carl Erdmann investigated a subject that had not been particularly emphasized by earlier historians. He was concerned less with the political, religious, and economic developments which produced the First Crusade than with the growth of a concept. What was in the minds of the men who planned and carried out that famous expedition? How had their ideas developed out of the policies and thinking of previous generations? The answers to such questions involve not only what was envisaged by Urban 11 when he preached his sermon at Clermont in 1095, but the attitudes of those who responded. Moreover, if, as many historians believe, the response was far greater than had been anticipated, it is at least possible that the pope's original plans were adjusted to meet this response. Thus, there developed a popular crusade idea, related to, but in many ways distinct from, the official papal concept. As Erdmann and many others have noted, defining the "idea of crusade" is further complicated by the fact that the term "crusade" was unknown at the time of the First Crusade. Contemporaries used such words as iter) expeditio, or peregrinatio. In fact, there was no clearly formulated definition of crusade even during the twelfth century, not until European conditions had changed and with them many characteristics of later expeditions. Therefore, as the term "crusade" came into use, its meaning inevitably reflected the attitudes of the decades and centuries following the initial venture. Finally, the relatively modern preoccupation with the history of ideas added a new dimension to historical research, a dimension especially relevant in the present context. It is not surprising, therefore, that scholars XV

FOREWORD TO THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION

now tend to be cautious in their use of the terms "crusade" and "idea of crusade." Interpretations of the facts of crusade origins as well as of the later impact of the crusades on the medieval world also reflect changing modern attitudes. Some historians, for example, have stressed the religious motivation, although they have not always agreed on a definition of specific religious goals. Was the principal objective the recovery of Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulcher, or was it aid to Eastern Christians and empire? Other historians have viewed the crusades as primarily political and diplomatic, reflecting in some measure the controversies between the church and the European monarchies, in particular the empire during the Investiture Controversy-the much debated question of the influence of Cluny enters into this discussion. In fact, the crusades have sometimes been styled "the foreign policy of the papacy." The states founded in the Levant by the crusaders were sometimes called "colonies"; and if this interpretation did not seem to fit precisely into a modern conception of imperialism, it was, nevertheless, an example of the increasing emphasis on such economic factors as Mediterranean commerce and the need for land experienced by an expanding population. 1 Note: Works cited briefly in the footnotes are given in full in the Bibliography. 1 John La Monte, "Papaute," pp. 157-67, summarizing the views then current on crusade origins, found the following four themes to be predominant: (1) the desire to liberate the Holy Land and return the Holy Sepulcher to the hands of the faithful; (2) the use of the crusade against the Saracens in order to support the Byzantine Empire and promote ecclesiastical unity; (3) the establishment of an ecclesiastical state in Palestine, or a feudal state dependent on the papacy; (4) the papal urge to demonstrate power and to influence the course of events in the Investiture Controversy by a large-scale utilization of military and moral forces. La Monte himself tended to emphasize the last two of these points, and tbe burden of his article was a substantiation of the politicodiplomatic interpretation of papal policy which later was to be directed against the enemies of the papacy in Europe. See also La Monte's review of Erdmann in Speculum, pp. ug-22. P. Rousset, Origines, pp. 13-21, also briefly summarized the "Etat actuel de la question." The "colonial" theme originated in R. Grousset, Histoire, which ap-

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Recent scholarship has sought means of judging the relative importance of these various and sometimes conflicting viewpoints. Much has been learned of such particular economic factors as agricultural, property, and population problems in specific areas of the West, problems of currency and credit, the needs of different Mediterranean ports. The meaning of the term "feudalism" has provoked a discussion among historians comparable to the arguments regarding "crusade"; and such a discussion is bound to affect any appraisal of Erdmann's emphasis on the role of the church in enlisting the support of the nobility. In addition, recent analyses have suggested that crusade "colonialism" might be viewed as a cultural as well as an economic phenomenon; and that "colonies" need not necessarily be linked with a "mother country" politically. 2 In considering the policies of the church there is a tendency now to stress more the growth of its inner structure and the development of canon law, and to emphasize less its struggles with empire and kingdoms. As a consequence, the First Crusade is less likely to be regarded simply as a politico-diplomatic maneuver on the part of the papacy. Considerable progress has also been made in analyzing an aspect of medieval life which may be called "popular religion," the religious attitudes of the layman. Admittedly, this is an elusive subject; yet it is crucial to any understanding of the crusade. It is also an area of investigation to which Erdmann's book made a valuable contribution. Underlying all interpretations of the "idea of crusade" peared too late for inclusion in Erdmann's bibliography. Grousset also classifies the Byzantine recovery in the tenth century by the Macedonian dynasty as a "crusade," an interpretation shared by H. Gn!goire, in CMH, IV (2d ed.), 149--50, and with some reservations by S. Runciman, History, I, 32-33. Both views have been questioned by later historians. J. A. Brundage has collected brief selections from a number of modern writers on crusade motivation in Crusades. 2 For a summary of recent discussion of feudalism, E.A.R. Brown, "Tyranny of a Construct," pp. 1063-88. A recent interpretation of the crusader states as colonies is J. Prawer, Crusaders' Kingdom. XVll

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there remains the fundamental question: to what extent was the First Crusade an official papal project; to what extent was it popularly conceived and directed by laymen? Finally, the uniqueness of the era of the First Crusade in the history of ·western Europe is more clearly understood. The final decades of the eleventh century gave increasing evidence of ebullient energy in all fields of human endeavor. Population growth necessitated economic expansion in both commerce and land exploitation. If secular government lagged somewhat behind the more sophisticated advances in ecclesiastical administration and canon law, as the difficulties in maintaining law and order reveal-the Peace of God movement which Erdmann discusses is but one indication-there was progress on local as well as central levels. The Investiture Controversy, it is true, was to prove a setback for central Europe. Nevertheless, all this movement produced an aura of confidence. For this was the era that witnessed the beginnings of the reconquista in Spain, a successful amphibian expedition against England, the capture and occupation-at least temporarily-of North African ports, the taking over of former Byzantine territories in southern Italy and the conquest of Sicily from the Moslems, even a brash attack on the heart of the "Roman" empire across the Adriatic. In the south, the key elements in these undertakings were the papacy, the western Italian ports, and the Normans, while in Spain the French presence was increasingly evident. When finally renewed Moslem challenges appeared in Spain and in the East, the peoples of ·western Europe were capable of meeting them. Moreover, since the challenges coincided with, especially in France, a genuine, if somewhat naive, religious revival, the answer took the form of a religious war instituted by a rejuvenated papacy. It was never to be quite the same again. The First Crusade, it is true, was the first of a series of major undertakings which occupied the attention of Europeans for two centuries and more. Certain features of the original expediXV Ill

FOREWORD TO THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION

tion kept reappearing. Although fervor seemed in general to diminish, the maintenance or, after its capture by Saladin in 1187, the recovery of Jerusalem continued to engender in the minds of Western Europeans a sense of religious obligation. There were never wanting individuals ready to dedicate their lives to the cause. Papal concern remained and papal efforts to retain direction, formalized by crusade bulls beginning with that of Pope Eugenius Ill in 1145, continued, albeit with varying and generally diminishing success. Nevertheless, the contrasts with the First Crusade became more evident as the years passed. Not only did no subsequent venture achieve comparable success, but each mirrored the changed conditions of a rapidly developing \Vestern Europe. A notable feature, for example, of the First Crusade had been the predominance of the feudal nobility. No doubt this predominance resulted in part from the fact that the kings of Europe in 1095 were otherwise occupied and three were under excommunication. But it was also the consequence, as Erdmann and others have emphasized, of the status and the socio-religious attitudes of eleventh-century feudal lords, especially in France. Even before the First Crusade the church had begun to channel the warlike propensities of the nobility into holy causes, and this was certainly a major factor in the First Crusade. But the predominance of the nobility was later to pass. Not all the later crusades were directed by kings, but their participation increased steadily, as did the importance of intra-European diplomatic maneuverings. Finally, as the classic crusade era drew to a close in the late thirteenth century, Western Europe was entering the early stages of a prolonged economic arid demographic decline. Far from being caught up in confidence and enthusiasm it was affiicted with a kind of malaise. Since all these changes affected current concepts of what constituted a crusade, it seems clear that the First Crusade must be examined apart from all the rest. To explore its origins is to XIX

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analyze that unique coincidence of religious, political, social, and economic movements which culminated in the later decades of the eleventh century. It is in this context that the "idea of crusade" as Erdmann defined it must be viewed. Erdmann's principal theme is the concept of holy war, war sanctioned by ecclesiastical authority for a sacred cause, and the development of this concept from the early Middle Ages. The church, originally hostile to war in general, gradually moved to St. Augustine's idea of "just war" where armed conflict was regarded as morally justifiable under certain circumstances, then to acceptance of "mission war," if not to force individual conversions, at least to create conditions where conversion was possible, and ultimately to promotion of war in its own defense or in defense of Christian society. As the nobility became increasingly prominent in Western society during the eleventh century, the church's promotion of holy war was facilitated by the military potential of the knighthood. This was especially true in France, the region destined to provide the great majority of crusaders. A notable feature of Erdmann's analysis of the holy war concept is his emphasis on symbols. In earlier studies he had indicated his interest in religious symbols such as banners and the like, and it is, therefore, not surprising that two chapters in Die Entstehung pursue this subject further in the context of holy war and crusade. The emphasis recurs frequently throughout the book. The high point in the development of the concept of war for religious ends came with the popes of the reform era, especially Leo IX, Alexander 11, and Gregory VII. The advances of Islam in the late eleventh century in both Spain and the East provided an objective which concerned the entire church, East and West, not just local areas such as the papal lands or the east German frontier. Thus, aid to beleaguered Eastern Christianity, especially Byzantium, was in Erdmann's view the primary goal of the First Crusade. XX

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The conquest of Jerusalem, long hallowed as a place of pilgrimage and acquiring new significance during the eleventh century as a focus of popular religious veneration, he saw as a subsidiary aim, added by Urban Il because he recognized its universal appeal. It was destined to become the center of attention after the expedition had been launched. As a consequence, pilgrimage, which seemed to many historians to lie at the root of the entire undertaking, was not given special emphasis by Erdmann. To paraphrase his own often-quoted words: Jerusalem was the immediate goal of the campaign (Marschziel), but liberation of Eastern Christianity from the infidel remained the fundamental aim of the war (Kampf- or Kriegsziel). The First Crusade, therefore, remained within the tradition of holy war. The limited aid to Byzantium which had been considered tentatively at the Council of Piacenza (March 1095) matured in the succeeding months and was fully elaborated at the Council of Clermont (November 1095) into a major enterprise. Regardless of divergent views on specific matters, notably Erdmann's contention that the roots of the crusade lay virtually exclusively in the development over the preceding centuries of the concept and practice of holy war, and his relegation of Jerusalem to a secondary role as a war aim, reviewers were unanimous in recognizing his book as a significant contribution to the understanding of the First Crusade and its relation to contemporary society. 3 Its importance was further accentuated through frequent citation in subsequent works, not only those dealing with the crusade, but in studies devoted to the church and war, papal history, and popular religion. For, among other things, it provided a veritable mine of documentation on a a For the more important reviews see section B o£ the Bibliography, under the following names: Beaudouin de Gaiflier; F. Bock; L. Brehier; Z. N. Brooke; A. Fliche; L. Halphen; K. Hampe; W. Holtzmann; H. Kampf; J. L. La Monte. See also review by J. R., in DA 1 (1937), 62-63. M. W. Baldwin, "Some Recent Interpretations," is a review article.

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number of related subjects. In the continuing series of studies on the idea of crusade Erdmann's conclusions figure prominently, often providing the starting point for further discussion. A brief resume may not only help in understanding Erdmann's contribution, but will also indicate the directions in which later scholarship has moved. In 1941 Etienne Delaruelle published the first installment of his "Essai sur la formation de l'idee de croisade," a study which, perhaps because it appeared in sections several years apart, has not always received the attention it deserves. 4 The treatise had originated as a these for the doctorat at the Institut Catholique de Paris in 1935, and the appearance of Erdmann's book first raised some doubts in the author's mind about publishing his own findings. He had been careful not to repeat what Erdmann had already taken up in detail. More important, Delaruelle's approach was different. He is primarily a historian of religious life, in fact, one who has made many significant contributions to the understanding of the quality of medieval French religion. In his analysis of the holy war concept, Delaruelle attaches great importance to its association with the liturgy and with art. For the participants it was to be a means of attaining eternal salvation. While, as with Erdmann, the Carolingian period figures prominently in his thinking, he stresses more the decades following Charlemagne, especially the pontificate of John VIII. The eleventh century is critical; and with Gregory VII as well as in the preceding years, there was developing a deeper understanding of the societas christiana. Far more than in earlier periods, the official church was reaching out to embrace the lay element in society. Holy war, whether on the Eastern frontiers or-at least as viewed by the reformed papacy-in Sicily and Spain against the Moslems, was becoming the function of the nobility, not, as in earlier times, of royalty. 4 BLE 42 (1941), 24-45, 86-103; 45 (1944), 13-46, 73-90; 54 (1953), 226-39; 55 (1954). 5o-63.

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This was, of course, in large measure owing to the decline of royal authority. But Delaruelle places great emphasis on the ardent desire of Gregory VII and even more of Urban II to absorb laymen into the life of the church. Defense of the church indeed remained an objective, but participation in a holy war was also envisaged as a means of attaining eternal salvation. For the hierarchy, this was an aspect of its change from an inward and negative view toward the world into an outward and positive one. The church was to become less exclusively spiritual, more conscious of its place in and its obligations to the external world. Finally, in proclaiming the First Crusade, it was Urban II's genius to have conceived a "myth" that would appeal to those who took the cross and in a state of grace marched as a new people of Israel to deliver Jerusalem, perhaps even to suffer martyrdom. Two works on subjects closely related to Erdmann's theme also made their appearance during these years. M. Villey, La croisade: Essai sur la formation d'une theorie juridique, treats the development of the crusade ideology and its ultimate juridical definition in the period after the First Crusade. Villey does, however, analyze the precrusade holy war tradition and stresses the new aspects which, he feels, distinguished the First Crusade from previous holy wars. It was a distant campaign, not a frontier problem. Equally novel were the connection with Jerusalem and the indulgence. While Villey agrees that aid to the Eastern churches, not Jerusalem, was the principal objective, he does maintain that Erdmann underrated these new elements. In his Les origines et les caracteres de la premiere croisade, P. Rousset addressed himself to a problem somewhat different from that of Erdmann. For he is mainly concerned with the idea of crusade that was to come down through history, more especially as it appeared to men of the early twelfth century. As a consequence, he concentrates on the XXlll

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sources from 1095 to about 1145• the period of the launching of the Second Crusade, sources which included not only the narrative chronicles, but also charters, letters, and the excitatoria or treatises composed to stimulate crusade enlistment. Rousset does, however, consider the question of origins in sections devoted to what he calls the "precrusades." His term "caracteres" includes a number of related ideas: cause, goal, holy war, Jerusalem and the Holy Sepulcher, crusaders as members of an elect, a new children of Israel, in short, the entire complex of religious attitudes which appeared in the vocabulary of the day. Thus, he attempts to explore. not only the ideology of the crusade but also the psychology of the participants. Rousset's views, manifestly religious in emphasis, give rise to a number of questions. For example, do the sources he uses mirror the attitudes of the period before the crusade, or do they reflect the views of educated clerics who wrote later and who were influenced by the events of the crusade itself? Further, to what extent are these sources, especially the excitatoria, rhetorical or exaggerated? Erdmann certainly had doubts about the validity even of early twelfth-century sources, in the context of the original crusade idea, and used them sparingly only in the final sections of his book. The question needs further analysis. For although popes and magnates may have laid specific plans which can to some extent be dated, popular feelings transcend chronological limits. Twelfth-century statements conceivably reflect attitudes which existed earlier, but which had yet to be formally expressed. 5 5 La Monte, in his review of Origines, questioned Rousset's psychological interpretation and contended that the older religious view of the crusade was out of date. La Monte's comments illustrate the controversy then current regarding the political versus the religious emphasis. For a favorable estimate of Rousset, see the review by L. Brehier in REH. Rousset pursued further his analysis of the development of the crusade idea into the twelfth century in "Idee de croisade." See also his "Laics dans la croisade," in I laici nella 'societas christiana.'

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The emphasis on popular psychology was pursued further by P. Alphandery in what might be termed a sociological analysis of the idea of crusade: La chretiente et l'idee de croisade; the first volume was edited and a second volume completed by A. Dupront after Alphandery's death. Alphandery's conclusions have provoked considerable discussion. Unlike Erdmann and those historians who directed their attention mainly toward papal policy, holy war, and the like, Alphandery deals with the concept of crusade primarily as it entered into the consciousness of the masses. Far more than any other modern author he sees the crusade as essentially a collective movement. Thus, in treating the eleventh-century origins of the crusade (see especially eh. 1, and eh. n to p. 135, and Dupront's summary, vol. II, 273ff), he emphasizes not only the remarkable growth in the veneration for Jerusalem evidenced in pilgrimage, but also in the development of an eschatological attitude toward the holy city. This was at first associated mainly with memories of the Old Testament. But even after the image of the Holy Sepulcher gradually came into greater prominence, the Old Testament tradition endured. The earthly Jerusalem came to be a figure of the new "heavenly Jerusalem." The popular urge to prepare for the end of all things by an act of penitence, predominantly individual at first, but increasingly viewed as a collective rite, Alphandery finds reaching a climax toward the end of the eleventh century. In fact, so strong and widespread was this popular feeling for Jerusalem that whatever plans Pope Urban may have had, and Alphandery agrees that they cannot be reproduced definitively, were overshadowed as all these sentiments coalesced during the First Crusade. The First Crusade, therefore, was more a spontaneous popular movement concentrated on Jerusalem than an official ecclesiastical project. This "religion of the crusade," dramatized by occurrences during the expedition such as the Holy Lance episode and the action of the pauperes at Marra in forcing the march toward JeruXXV

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salem, came to be reflected in the writings of the chroniclers who emphasized the importance of poverty, suffering, and privation. 6 Taken together, the works of Rousset and Alphandery constitute additional evidence of the shift away from the political or diplomatic interpretation of the First Crusade to one giving prominence to the religious mentality of the individual crusader. As was remarked above, this change in emphasis was accompanied, indeed made possible, by a deeper understanding of the religious attitudes which appeared in eleventh-century lay society. As these viewpoints appeared, so also did criticism. Nevertheless, although questions have been raised on a number of specific matters, recent scholarship seems generally to have accepted the emphasis on the religious feelings of the masses. Meanwhile, the conflicting interpretations of crusade origins that continued to appear were often echoed in general works on the history of the crusades. 7 The Introduction 6 One reviewer (A. des M.) characterized the sociopsychological gen· eralizations of Alphandery as "a bit vague," mingling entirely justifiable suggestions with unscientific allusions to comparative religion. In an article discussed below, Blake pointed out that Alphandery relied overmuch on the account of Raymond of Aguilers, which did not necessarily reflect a universally accepted view. Moreover, the coalescing of various attitudes and impressions formed in the course of events was often later expressed by historians and chroniclers who were for the most part clerical. For a favorable view of Alphandery's work, see the review by E. Delaruelle in RHEF. Norman Cohn, in Pursuit of the Millennium, also emphasizes the role of Jerusalem and its appeal to the poor. See, e.g., the selection cited by Brundage, Crusades. 7 Runciman has an extended section ·on the background of the First Crusade in the first volume of his History. Though mainly concerned with events, he does discuss briefly the development of the idea of holy war in the West, and in considerable detail the growth of pilgrimage (see also his section in History of the Crusades, ed. Setton, I, 68-78). Runciman, a Byzantinist, also gives prominence to the relations between the Eastern church and empire and the eleventh-century papacy. Nevertheless, he feels that when Urban II set out for France after Piacenza, he began to consider a much larger project. In a lengthy introduction (eh. I) to his Kreuzziige, A. Waas analyzes the character of the crusade and the formation of the crusade idea. He

XXVI

FOREWORD TO THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION

to Jean Richard, L'esprit de la croisade, a selection of sources intended for the student and general reader, is a perceptive and critical analysis of his own ideas and those of others, especially Delaruelle, Rousset, Alphandery, and Erdmann. Richard deals with the crusade idea as it developed from 1095 through the thirteenth century, but he does consider in some detail the origins of this crusade esprit. In the appeals of Gregory VII and Urban II, Richard finds an essential theme to have been fraternal charity, the call to Western Christians to aid their Eastern brethren. Moreover, this paralleled the emergence of the concept of Western Christianity as a fatherland, a response in large measure to the new external pressures of Islam. A second theme, even more profoundly rooted in the attitudes of Western crusaders and antedating the crusade, was veneration for the holy places and especially Jerusalem. Finally, the indulgence evoked what Richard calls the "strongest feeling" in the formation of the idea of crusade, the consciousness of sin. The pilgrim, and now the armed pilgrim, was not to undertake his journey as any ordinary traveler; and Richard has noted that more than one papal legate was named by the pope to take charge of the spiritual welfare of the crusaders as well of the unarmed pilgrims who went along. Moreover, while each "pilgrim" traveled to expiate his own sins, the journey was also looked upon as an act of collective penitence. A recent general work on the crusades which discusses extensively the entire problem of crusade origins is H. E. stresses the religious quality of the movement. He critizes the "colonial" interpretation of Grousset and what he considers the overly secular slant of History of the Crusades, ed. Setton. For Waas, the essential feature was the religious attitude of the feudal knight [Ritterfrommigkeit] with its idea of the knight as God's vassal, an emphasis which, however, some felt to be too narrow. See the reviews by A. C. Krey, T.S.R. Boase, W. von Steinen. See also \Vaas, "Heilige Krieg." There are also brief treatments in J. J. Saunders, Aspects of the Crusade, and F. Cognasso, Storie. I have not seen F. Cardini, Crociate; see review by A. S. Atiya. XXVll

FOREWORD TO THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Mayer's Geschichte der Kreuzziige. An English translation by J. Gillingham appeared in 1972 with a number of references by the author to subsequent publications. Chapter 2, "The Origins of the Crusades," is a summary with addi· tional comments on the various views presented to date, including several references to Erdmann's conclusions. Erdmann's well-known distinction between Jerusalem as MaTSchziel and aid to the Eastern empire and church as Kriegziel Mayer finds to be "perhaps an oversubtle interpretation." He attributes considerable importance to the growth of veneration for Jerusalem and, contrary to Erdmann, to the pilgrimage movement that burgeoned in the eleventh century. In referring to Erdmann's treatment of the church's appeal to the knightly class in the development of holy war, he adds that armed pilgrimage became an especially strong element in the knight's religious attitude. Wars against the Saracens in Spain were undoubtedly significant, but the idea of a military expedition to the East was an essentially critical innovation. Mayer notes that Erdmann was the first to call attention to the significance of Urban's Tarragona appeal, where he offered the same spiritual rewards, the indulgence, as could be obtained for the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. But, unlike Erdmann, he also finds the Tarragona appeal to be evidence that the pope's crusade idea was based on pilgrimage. Finally, Mayer places an especially strong emphasis on the indulgence, rather more, in fact, than do most scholars. In text and notes he discusses at considerable length recent viewpoints, particularly those of Poschmann and Brundage. And while he agrees with many modern writers that among the crusaders there were skeptics and those whose motives were obviously material, he does regard the popular faith of the day as a major factor in the thinking of the average crusader. In the English edition of his book, Mayer discusses a 1970 article by H.E.J. Cowdrey, "Pope Urban II's Preaching of the First Crusade." In considering the hypothesis that the XXVlll

FOREWORD TO THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION

pope was not primarily concerned with Jerusalem, but rather with the Eastern empire and church, Cowdrey makes the unusual suggestion that Erdmann's views so strongly influenced subsequent historians-Mayer is mentioned prominently-that they were unable to throw them off entirely. Cowdrey then develops further an idea mentioned briefly by Rousset that when all available material, not simply the chronicles, is considered it points inescapably to the conclusion that Jerusalem was from the beginning at the heart of Urban's thinking. Mayer remains unconvinced by the evidence Cowdrey adduces. He does admit, however, that "things might have gone the way he suggests"; and if so, papal oriental policy would need to be restudied. 8 Additional observations on the way the "crusade idea" has been treated by scholars during the years since Erdmann who "first set up the subject as capable of disciplined study" have been made by E. 0. Blake, in "The Formation of the 'Crusade Idea.' " Blake is of the opinion that insufficient attention has been paid to the "actual process of growth by which the complex of ideas which makes the 'crusade' capable of definition, recognition and continuous life by the end of the twelfth century has developed from initial tentative formulations." In other words, scholars in seeking for origins in the decades or centuries anterior to the First Crusade, and of course Erdmann is the prime example, have often, and perhaps inevitably, tended to stress preliminary events and ideological developments which only assumed the characteristic shape of "crusade" after 1095. Blake suggests further that the two chief elements which eventually made up the accepted definition in the twelfth century, the popular and the official, pilgrimage and meritorious war on the one hand, and papal policy on the other, were gradually linked together. Since scholars have stressed one element or the other, the dichotomy between 8

Crusades, p.

291

n.

26.

XXIX

FOREWORD TO THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION

the two has occasionally been overemphasized. The merging of the two elements first took place most strikingly in Urban's granting of the pilgrimage indulgence to a papally directed war, thus uniting a popular movement with an official policy. The process of merging was enormously strengthened by the close association of warrior and cleric during the dramatic events of the First Crusade. As a consequence, in the literature of the First Crusade there began to develop a concept of what "crusade" signified. The biblical references and implications and comparisons may well have resulted from clerical interpretation and preaching rather than from something inherent in the popular consciousness, as Alphandery tends to emphasize. From these examples of research on crusade origins since the publication of Erdmann's book, it is evident that he defined a historical problem which has continued to elicit the attention of scholars. Moreover, to the long-standing questions regarding motives and direction, politico-economic vs. religious, papal-official vs. popular, there have been added new areas of investigation, notably the attempt to analyze more deeply the concept of holy war and the effort to understand the character of popular religion. Certainly, the entire problem of the "idea of crusade," its development ideologically and within the framework of events leading up to the First Crusade, its more precise enunciation thereafter, and finally its survival into modern times retains an absorbing interest for all students of history. Moreover, it is evident that controversies over the concept "crusade" remain. In their efforts to resolve these controversies, historians continue to regard Carl Erdmann's researches as essential to any analysis. ·

M.W.B.

XXX

Publisher's Note Marshall W. Baldwin died suddenly on July 4, I975, in New Y ark, after he had completed his share of the work on this book in all important respects, but before the publisher's editorial phase had begun. Professor Baldwin had expected to participate in that process and to subject the notes and bibliography to such further checking and correction as might prove necessary. Consequently, his colleague, Waiter Gof!art, assumed much of the burden of those procedures, in close cooperation with the staff editor for Princeton University Press.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

Two forces affecting the human spirit came into play in the crusading movement: the idea of pilgrimage to the sites of primitive Christianity and the idea of holy war-knightly combat in the service of the church. Each has a distinct history, and whoever inquires into the origins of the idea of crusade may consequently follow two different routes. The view that has prevailed up to now has concentrated on the pilgrimage aspect. Scholars have indeed referred, for the sake of completeness, to the hierarchical tendencies of the papacy and to the wars against the heathens in southern Europe, but their main argument is that the peaceful pilgrimages to the Holy Sepulcher that had long been taking place eventually turned into expeditions of armed conquest. As a result, pilgrimages have been closely researched, and special efforts have been made to discover the events in the East that would have caused the objective to change from pilgrimage to conquest. The prehistory of the crusading idea has acquired, therefore, either an Eastern cast or one determined by East-West relations, whereas the many crusades undertaken in other theaters-against heretics and opponents of the papacy, as well as against heathens-have been regarded as "aberrations" or degenerations of a "genuine" idea of crusade. This view is erroneous. The "aberrations" had long been there, and the "genuine" crusade proceeded from them far more than from a supposed change in the condition of pilgrims and of the city of Jerusalem. The central, historically essential process was the evolution of the "general" idea of crudade, which was oriented to ecclesiastical objectives as such and not tied to a specific locality, such as Jerusalem. Unlike earlier investigations, this book pursues the second component of crusading-the idea of Christian xxxiii

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

knighthood and of holy war. It is obvious that the roots of this idea should not be sought in Palestine; its emergence coincides with the total development of the Christian peoples. We are concerned with the problem of "the church and war" and, by the same token, with the historical foundations of the Western ethic of war and soldiering. The present work, therefore, is not meant to illuminate the origins of the crusading movement from every direction. Rather, it is confined to the idea of crusade and its development up to the First Crusade. Otherwise, attention would also have to be paid to the social, political, and economic conditions that obviously formed the external presuppositions for crusading; a characteristic illustration is that mercenary troops began to appear in the West simultaneously with military and colonizing expansion. But what set in motion the soldiers of the High Middle Ages was not only the prospect of payment, booty, and new land, but also that of heavenly reward and the forgiveness of sins. In attempting to grasp the latter fact in isolation, we do not mean to close our eyes to all conditions other than those purely affecting the human spirit. Since the idea of crusade was given form by the church, account has to be taken of those social, constitutional, and political circumstances that conditioned the attitude of the church and the papacy toward the issue. But it would be vain to attempt to ascertain in precisely what proportion ideological and material motives were combined in the crusaders. While the thesis that the church's call was their only motive is self-evidently false, the opposite view that its call was ineffectual and a mere fat;:ade is equally untrue. The ecclesiastical idea of crusade was a historical force: that much is clear. Our object here is not to determine how psychologically effective it was by comparison with other, competing influences, but to investigate how the idea took shape and what transformations it underwent. The problem has been posed before. It has always been XXXIV

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

accepted that the crusades cannot be explained apart from the "religious exuberance" of the age. There have also been frequent suggestions that the crusades must be related in some way to the church reform of the eleventh century and to the Investiture Contest. Yet, as far as I can see, no one has pursued the matter. We are presented either with generalities or, when precision is attempted, with distorted images. In my view, the best words on the prehistory of the crusading idea are in the second chapter of volume eight of Ranke's Universal History, where he makes a fundamental distinction between the hierarchical and the popular ideas of crusade: they paralleled one another for some time and only merged under Urban II. Though Ranke too closely identified the popular idea of crusade with the idea of pilgrimage, he nevertheless pointed out the route along which the essentials of the story may be discovered. The Introduction to the present work was written in 1930. Its first half originated in Rome, where I was able to work at it concurrently with my activities at the Prussian Historical Institute. For permission to do so, as well as for other encouragement, I am grateful to Geheimrat Paul Kehr. Chapters I-III and Appendices I-III were presented as my Habilitationsschrift to the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Berlin in the summer of 1932. On this occasion, the two referees, Professor Erich Caspar and Professor Robert Holtzmann, supplied me with a number of suggestions that I have gratefully used. The preparation of the later chapters, and the publication of the entire work, were made possible by a research grant and a publication subsidy for which I owe thanks to the Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft. Until his death, Erich Caspar lent his friendly assistance to my work; I am indebted to him for its acceptance in the series of Forschungen zur Kirchenund Geistesgeschichte. The manuscript divisions of the Bibliotheca Vaticana, the Staatsbibliotheken of Berlin and Munich, and the Bibliotheque nationale in Paris assisted me XXXV

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

by sending photographs and helpfully answering many questions. Finally, I thank my colleagues in Berlin, Drs. D. von Gladiss, K. Jordan, T. E. Mommsen, and H. Schlechte, who most kindly shared with me the pains of correcting proof. Berlin, July I935

xxxvi,

CARL ERDMANN

THE ORIGIN OF THE IDEA OF CRUSADE

INTRODUC TION

"71 fi

holy war, in the broadest sense of the term, is any war that is regarded as a religious act or is in some way set in a direct relation to religion. Holy wars were fought under the aegis of the ancient cults, especially in the Near East. The national god personally led his people to victory over the god of other peoples; his shrine was carried into battle, and the spoils were all his. Holy war of this kind is no different from profane war, for when the protagonists themselves bear a sacred stamp, all wars become holy by virtue of being the communal action of a sacred people. Similar conceptions were shared even by the European peoples in pagan times. The crusades, however, were holy wars in a quite different sense. The general idea of crusade, far from being confined to wars actually directed toward the Holy Land, could be found in the most varied theaters of combat, and acquired its clearest expression in the knightly orders. Here, religion itself provided the specific cause of war, unencumbered by considerations of public welfare, territorial defense, national honor, or interests of state. This is why the call to arms did not go to a specific people or even, at first, to heads of state. It was addressed to Christian knighthood as a body. The present study will look at religious war in this specific form. The Christian religion was unfavorable at first to holy war. The special character of Christian ethics was not the principal obstacle. To be sure, the love of neighbor preached by Jesus is very different from the spirit of war; but since the Gospels contain no specific condemnation of war, theology was gradually able to reconcile the contradiction, as part of the progressive transformation of Christian ethics. A much stronger deterrent to holy war was that Christianity, from its very beginnings, was a universal and 3

INTRODUCTION

missionary religion. If all peoples were equally called to honor the only true God, then the cause of a single warring people might no longer be unequivocally equated with God's cause. Moreover, the idea of a religious war against the unbelievers conflicted with missionary duty. All sophisticated religions demand that conversion be a spiritual process freely undertaken. On this point the Islamic doctrine of holy war is characteristic. The Jihad, as Mohammed declared it, had as its aim the enlargement of the temporal sway of the Moslem community. The holy war was not to convert unbelievers but to turn them into tributaries, that is, political subjects. This also served to give glory to Allah and was consequently a holy deed. Although conquest might result in the acceptance of Islam by the conquered, conversion was not the immediate purpose of the Moslem holy war. For Christianity, however, a religious war of this sort was of doubtful value. The mere subjugation of heathens occasionally passed as a holy deed even in Christian lands, but this was by no means the rule. To regard the belief that Christianity was destined to world domination as the root of the crusading idea is an exaggeration; 1 nor is it true that the crusading idea had a comparatively direct and uncomplicated development. 2 H. Prutz, Kulturgeschichte der Kreuzzilge, p. 13. On the attitude of the church toward war there are detailed works only for the first three centuries, above all, the classic study of Harnack on the Militia Christi. For the following period until about the year 1000, there exist, to my knowledge, only short surveys; though differing from them in many details, I have consulted them with profit: L. Gautier, Chevalerie, pp. 2-14; A. Gottlob, Kreuzablass, pp. 13-36; G.C.W. Gorris, Denkbeelden, pp. g-11; H. Pissard, Guerre sainte, pp. 1-3; W. Kohler, "Amnestie," pp. 138-43; H. Finke, Gedanke, pp. 15ff; E. Maschke, Deutsche Orden, pp. 3-8; W. Erben, Kriegsgeschichte, pp. 53-57. I have also gathered some references from the Dissertatio de antiqua disciplina christiana militiae of C. Lupus, Opusc. post., pp. 94ff. The discussion to follow attempts to attain a deeper understanding of these difficult developments, but it too has the character of an introductory survey, with no claim to finality. [See now ]. Dauvi!lier, Temps apostoliques, pp. 685-88, and ]. Gaudemet, Eglise dans /'empire romain, pp. 706-g, both with bibliographies. The review article by ] . Fontaine, "Christians and Military Service," pp. 58---{)4, mentions among the earlier works: R. H. Bainton, 1

2

4

INTRODUCTION

To early Christians the idea of a holy war encouraged by their religion would have seemed absurd. They knew only profane wars, conducted for the good of the state, and doubted the propriety of participating in them. 3 The question early Christianity posed was not whether religion was a valid basis for war, but whether it was possible for a Christian to fight at all. Ecclesiastical teachers of the first centuries, such as Tertullian and Origen, answered even this question in the negative. In their view the barrier between Christianity and the military profession arose not only from the fact of bloodshed, but also from the association of the army with pagan cults and from the generally un-Christian life of the soldier. General practice, however, was based on the apostolic principle that everyone should remain in the state of life in which he was when called to Christianity. Even before Constantine, the army contained many Christians. But there could be no question of the church's having a warlike role in an age when the state was still pagan and Christianity was at best tolerated. The situation changed with Constantine. The new state church declared military service to be unobjectionable 4 and "The Early Church and War," pp. 189-212, also in R. M. jones, Church, Gospel and War, pp. 75-92 (see now the same author's Christian Atti· tudes, chs. I-vn); E. A. Ryan, "Rejection of Military Service," pp. 1-32; H. von Campenhausen, "Kriegsdienst," pp. 255-64; H. Karpp, "Stellung der alten Kirche," pp. 496--515; B. Schopf, Totungsrecht bei den frilhchristlichen Schriftstellern. See also G. S. Windass, "The Early Church's Attitude to War," who comments on remarks, especially concerning Tertullian and Origen, in a previous article by j. Newman, with New· man's replies; S. Gero, "Miles gloriosus," pp. 285-98; John Helegeland, "Christians in the Roman Army," pp. 14g-64. There is also a brief summary in R. M. Grant, Augustus to Constantine, pp. 273-74.) 3 The following is according to Harnack, Militia Christi. 4 There are always exceptions; e.g., Paulinus Nolanus, Ep. 25, ed. Hartel, pp. 223ff. Canon 3 of the Council of Aries, which appears to threaten desertion with excommunication, is often cited, but must be used with caution because the existing text is by no means clear; cf. Harnack, p. 88. As long as no real parallel to this regulation is shown to exist, I cannot regard it as credible. In any case, Canon 11 of the Council of Nicaea and a letter of Leo I (JK. 544, para. 10) have an altogether different sound! Later ecclesiastical penalties against deserters may have originated from the fact that the infamia incurred by deser-

5

INTRODUCTION

quickly grew accustomed to invoking the state's means of enforcement. Legislation was set in motion against the pagans, and some Christians, like Firmicus Maternus, even demanded that paganism be rooted out by fire and sword. The closer the alliance between state and church became, I the more the church aligned its ethical demands and liturgical prayers with the military functions of the state. In the Eastern Roman Empire, where state control of the church prevailed, the church did not long delay in lending moral support to the conduct of war. In fact, religion and nation in Eastern Christendom drew so closely together again, in the manneF of pre-Christian religions, that to this day a special declaration of "holy war" is not required in emergencies. 5 Characteristically, the cult of military saints developed comparatively early in the Greek church. Such saints as Demetrius, Theodore, Sergius, and George were commonly believed to take a personal part in battles and to change the course of a conflict by miracles for the benefit of their proteges. 6 The contradiction between war and Christianity was no longer felt in the East. The Western development took a different course. To be sure, the Latin church also entered into an alliance with the state and countenanced its military activities, on the understanding that the territory of the state was co-terminous with that of Christianity. But because the Roman church never became quite so dependent as the Greek upon the emperor, it was able to retain a measure of aloofness toward the state and war. 7 For many centuries, military tion in civil law entered into the Pseudo-Isidorian collection; see the Preface to Canon 12 of the Council of Toledo (681) and Benedictus Levita, n, 326; Decretales Pseudo-lsidorianae, ed. Hinschius, pp. 182, 231. s Harnack, p. 5· [On the Greek warrior saints, below, eh. rx.] 6 E. Lucius, Anfiinge, pp. 205ff. For a different view, H. Delehaye, Legendes grecques, pp. 1 ff. 7 The position of the Visigothic national church in Spain is atypical. See below, eh. I, p. 39; also the Mozarabic hymn, In profectione exercitus (ed. Blume, Analecta hymnica, xxvn, 26g). A. L. Mayer's view of these matters ("Altchristliche Liturgie," pp. golf), is, in my opinion, somewhat oversimplified.

6

INTRODUCTION

saints were unknown to the West; 8 only very rarely do we hear of a saint appearing in battle to protect his church or the faithful,9 The experiences of everyday life militated against a belief in the active help of saints in war. The Western Empire became less and less able to defend itself against the onslaught of barbarians. Far from evoking thanks for heavenly assistance in war, such events as the sack of Rome by the Goths occasioned reproaches against Christianity of the kind that urged Augustine to reply in The City of God. Augustine himself charted the course of the Western ethic of war, and exercised the most lasting influence in shaping its complexities. 10 Writers of the first centuries had taken into account only the military service of individual Christian soldiers; their perspective did not yet extend to the ethics of a state making war or to the ethics of the ruler of that state. Augustine, however, grappled with the socio-ethical problem of war on a much more basic level. Above all, he asked whether and when a war was permissible or sinful. He did not admit that there was an autonomous justification for war as a s Lucius, pp. 246ff. 9 I know of only one example from the period of the early churchthe report in Augustine De cura pro mortuis gerenda, c. 16 (19) (OPera 5·3.652), that St. Felix appeared when Nola was being defended against the barbarians. Some examples from later times are provided in H. Giinter, Legendenstudien, pp. 110f. Personal participation of this kind should not be confused with the general belief that God and the saints determine the outcome of battles. 1o The Augustinian passages on war that would be standard in the later period are best compiled in Gratian's Decretum, Pars n, C. 23, ed. Friedberg, I, 88g-g65. Also on this ]. Mausbach, Ethik des hi. Augustinus, 1, 313, 337, 345, 426f; 0. Schilling, Staats- und Soziallehre des hi. Augustinus, pp. 86ff. Attention should also be given E. Bernheim, Mittelalterliche Zeitanschauungen, and P. Monceaux, "St. Augustin et la guerre"; yet their accounts differ sharply from one another, and I do not agree with them on every point. [For a full discussion of Augustine's views on war, H. E. Deane, Political and Social Ideas of St. Augustine, eh. v; P. Brown, "Religious Coercion," pp. i83-305, and "St. Augustine's Attitude to Religious Coercion," pp. 107-16; Bainton, Christian Attitudes, eh. VI; F. van der Meer, Augustine the Bishop, eh. VI, esp. pp. 93ff.]

7

INTRODUCTION

means of settling disputes between states. War, for him, arose only from wickedness and was always an evil. There is such a thing as "just war [bellum justum]," but the crucial point is that it can be "just" only on one side: at least one of the contenders must have brought about the conflict by injustice, for only self-defense and the recovery of stolen property constitute just causes for war. In this way Augustine introduced the idea of war-guilt into Christian history and made it a cornerstone of the European theory of war. For a millennium its validity was unquestioned, and it remains very weighty even today. The righteous may fight only from necessity, and their objective in doing so should always be peace and ultimately even the well-being of the opponent. Aggressive attitudes were thus condemned, and the Christian ethic of peace, which Augustine was thoroughly conscious of, was brought into harmony with the existence of war. On a practical level, Augustine stipulated that the individual soldier did not sin by participating in an unjust war if he did not have a clear awareness of the injustice of his cause. By implication, basic responsibility for war fell on the head of state and not on the army. The ethics of war, now almost wholly divorced from the soldier, were a matter for the prince, who had to show whether his cause was just or unjust and, accordingly, whether the war was licit or unjustified. Moreover, Augustine's teachings specifically distinguished between aggressive and defensive wars. This distinction, though very difficult to make and often based on fiction, remained decisive for Christian doctrine. Bellum justum was not at first a war of religion, but a moral war. The further elaboration that Augustine's doctrine on the subject acquired resulted from the special circumstances of his life. The Donatist schism had long been bringing grave troubles to the North African church. In the face of this situation, Augustine, like many churchmen after him, found himself in a dilemma: while Catholic ec8

INTRODUCTION

clesiology demanded that church unity be maintained, the doctrine that faith was voluntary forbade the use of force. At first, Augustine sought to eliminate the schism by a purely intellectual combat waged with literary weapons. Experience soon proved the limited effectiveness of this approach. As a result, he was led to invoke the aid of the state against the Donatists. Well aware that this was a departure from early Christian precepts, he drew comfort from his reflections on history: the position of the church had changed, its potestas had increased, once the head of state had accepted Christianity. What was now taking place was just an exercise of internal discipline within the church and within the state. The dictum "compel them to come in [cage intrare]," which Augustine then applied to the Donatists' entrance into the church, might in itself have been used to justify even the forcible incorporation of pagans. Augustine avoided this course by limiting its application to heretics and schismatics, who were regarded as merely fallen away and, therefore, still theoretically subject to the discipline of the church. All this seems to have little to do with the ethics of war. But it should be noted that neither Augustine's theory nor medieval teachers distinguished internal discipline from foreign relations, or criminal law from the law of nations. No essential difference was yet seen in whether the state exercised the "right of the sword [ius gladii]" over its own citizens or over other peoples. Moreover, the suppression of Donatism called for military measures, the more so since the Donatists and their close allies, the so-called Circumcel· liones, themselves assumed a warlike posture and devastated the land as alleged soldiers of Christ. Augustine came to regard the state's persecution of the Donatists as a war, and he expanded his theory of war in order to take into account the present conflict with the heretics. Over and above the "just war," he now spoke of holy war, "war sanctioned by God [bellum Deo auctore]," in which the general

9

INTRODUCTION

and the soldiers rank in a special way as servants of God. 11 The two parties to such a war cannot be judged according to the same yardstick: one side fights for light, the other for darkness; one for Christ, the other for the devil. Augustine's teaching about the city of God was all that was further needed to give this holy war its specific stamp. What made a war of this kind holy was that the church of a Christian state was using force to maintain its unity. An aggressive war of religion for the expansion of Christendom was still out of the question. It was Gregory I who moved Christian doctrine in this dubious direction. As an advocate of the principle that high taxes might be used to force stubborn non-Christians into conversion, he did not shrink from placing weapons in the service of missionary activity. 12 He praised Gennadius, the exarch of Africa, for seeking out battle in order that Christianity might be preached to the conquered. In this way the principle of an indirect missionary war was first enunciated. The immediate aim of the war was only the subjugation of the pagans, but this was regarded as the basis for subsequent 11 The two principal passages on this point are in Quaest. in Hept. vr, 10 (Opera 3·3·428£) and De civitate Dei r, 21 (Opera 5·1.39f). The concept of the bellum Deo auctore appeared in Augustine's earlier writings, but acquired full significance only in his stand regarding heretics. [On Augustine's change from the idea of persuasion and argument only, through a transitional view of admitting state protection against Donatists, to the full acceptance of state power against schismatics and heretics, see Deane, pp. 185-220. With regard to the period immediately following Augustine, Pro· fessor Waiter Goffart has called my attention to the fact that Erdmann overlooked Fl. Vegetius Renatus Epitoma rei militaris, written ea. 440, which he regards as an important document in the Christian attitude toward war; it is the first military treatise to be explicitly Christian and was used throughout the Middle Ages as the standard authority on warfare.] 12 Gregory I, Registrum, I, 73 (MGR Ep. 1.93): "you are often eager for wars ... for the sake of expanding the Empire, where we see that God is reverenced . . . , so that, by preaching of the faith, Christ's name may be heard everywhere among the subjected peoples [bella vos frequenter appetere ... dilatandae causa rei Publicae, in qua Deum coli conspicimus ... , quatenus Christi nomen per subditas gentes fidei praedicatione circumquaque discurrat]." Cf. Reg. IV, 26 (ibid. 1.261).

10

INTRODUCTION

missionary activity that would be protected and promoted by state authority. Augustine and Gregory thus gave holy war a dual intellectual basis: war against heretics within, to preserve the purity of the church; missionary wars without, to extend the faith. To suppose, however, that these principles were the most essential components of the later idea of crusade would be a mistake. The line of development was anything but straight. Augustine's teachings on war against heretics could not acquire major importance in the early Middle Ages, since there were few occasions to put them into practice. The Arianism of the East Germanic peoples in the fifth and sixth centuries might appear to have offered a great opportunity for developing the notion of a holy war against heretics. In fact, the account Gregory of Tours gives of Clovis's Visigothic war points in this direction. The motive he attributes to the Frankish king, a convert to Catholic Christianity, is that he would no longer endure the rule of Arian heretics in Gaul. Gregory gives the war a semireligious character, by mentioning miracles and the special devotion exhibited by Clovis's side to St. Martin. 13 But the Catholic Church managed to absorb Arianism in the course of the sixth and seventh centuries; the ecclesiastical unity of the West was restored and stood unshaken until a new sort of sectarianism made its appearance in the second millennium. In the interval the idea of war against heretics was irrelevant. Conditions were more favorable for the Gregorian idea of missionary war. At first glance this appears to be a Christian counterpart of the Islamic Jihad, for while preserving a purely religious objective, it serves missionary aims not by the direct imposition of the faith but by the detour of political subjugation. The external conditions for such a missionary war were, of course, present at all times. But the concept suffered from an internal contradiction: the 13

Gregory of Tours,

II,

37 (MGH SS. Merov. 1.gg; 2d ed., 1.85). 11

INTRODUCTION

attitude needed in war toward an opponent is so basically different from missionary preaching that no army can ever be inspired by a vision of evangelical service. As a rule, missionary war is essentially a profane war of conquest. Religious considerations may well serve to supply it with a theoretical justification, but they can never become a driving force for the warriors. To be otherwise, the war must be transformed into a stark issue of belief, in which the opponent is peremptorily iaced with the alternative of death or baptism, and in which the killing of a heathen is held to be a deed pleasing to God. This view was only rarely tolerated in the church and never became accepted doctrine. It is little wonder, then, that even the idea of a missionary war failed to acquire a general following. Many ecclesiastical teachers, perhaps even the majority, took the view that the moral command to maintain peace should be kept toward Christians and pagans alike. Religion had nothing to do with it: war against pagans was regarded as justified only if they were the aggressors and fell upon the Christians with pitiless hostility. 14 For a long time, therefore, the two forms of holy war envisioned by the Western fathers failed to have any practical purpose. Moreover, the forces of restraint were considerably strengthened by the disapproving attitude that the church assumed toward warfare itself. The concept of "the armed service of Christ [militia Christi]" illuminates this relationship more clearly than anything else. The earliest Christians were familiar with the idea that Christian life is a war. 15 Many metaphors and images in the Pauline letters are derived from warfare. The apostle was 14 See for example, Oliva of Wich, MPL 142.603; Alexander Il, ]L. 4528, 4533· Of course, there are other kinds of pronouncements, but in my opinion, no decisive importance should be attributed to them. 15 The following is according to Harnack, pp. 12-44. The (originally Augustinian) concept of ecclesia militans can be entirely disregarded; it has nothing to do with war-making, but only signifies the living church (on earth) as distinct from the church triumphant (in heaven). On the concept of the miles, see also H. Fitting, Peculium, pp. 437ff, 507ff.

12

INTRODUCTION

convinced he was writing about a real battle: the opponents are the demons or the sins within men. Practical consequences were very soon drawn from the idea of spiritual combat. A soldier of Christ should not let himself be preoccupied with wordly affairs 16-a principle that has been cited time and time again and has acquired universal significance. It contributed to the development of a distinct clerical class and of monasticism, and it repeatedly contrasted secular life with the life of true militia ChristiY Meanwhile, very different answers were given to the question of who composed the ranks of those who truly fought for Christ. Since Paul applied the title primarily to the apostles and missionaries, the logical extension was that it should later devolve upon clerics. Other authors believed that the martyrs were the true "soldiers of Christ [milites Christi]"; and throughout the Middle Ages the word was most often applied to monks. Finally, all centuries since Antiquity shared the conception that every Christian should be a warrior of God, a notion that is still found in the Roman Catechism. The Catholic Church was initially adamant on the point that heavenly warfare was purely spiritual and that military service in the world stood at the opposite pole from the Christian ideal. Militia spiritualis was synonymous with the expressions militia Christi, militia Dei, militia coelestis, militia christiana, etc.l 8 An interesting example is the appeal addressed by the young William of Dijon (before ggo) to his father, an old veteran, to enlist in the spiritual war of monastic life: 19 even the cloister had no dearth of battles, namely those against Satan and his minions, and there 16 2 Tim. 2:3-4: "Labor as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Let no one, soldiering for God, entangle himself in temporal affairs [Labora sicut bonus miles Christi ]esu. Nemo militans Deo implicat se negotiis saecularibus]." 17 Especially detailed in the pastoral letter of Fulgentius Ferrandus. MPL 67.928. See also Fitting. pp. 439£ n. 10. 18 Typical examples are the two homilies, De militia sPiritali and De militia christiana, of Chrysostom (in Latin only) Opera 5.98b. 19 E. De Levis, Willelmi Divionensis opera, p. 72.

INTRODUCTION

too, as in the army, the rule of obedience reigns supreme. An obvious corollary to such thinking was that the real military life, the militia saecularis, epitomized a life distant from God, dangerous to the welfare of the soul. "If I were not afraid to bore by repeating what is well known, I might adduce many ringing testimonies distinguishing the militia Dei from the militia saeculi": this statement by Gerhoh of Reichesberg may serve as our own. 20 A glance at the early medieval cult of saints in the \Vest offers the same picture. To be sure, some saints like Sebastian, Maurice, George, and l\hrtin had been soldiers. But far from having distinguished themselves by pious feats of arms, they invariably achieved holiness in opposition to their military profession. 21 The Acts of Sebastian relate that the saint hid his Christianity under a soldier's cloak in order that he might, in this way, secretly aid and strengthen his fellow Christians during the persecutions. 22 The legend praises St. Maurice and his Theban legion because, although they were soldiers, they refused to carry out the imperial order to persecute Christians. 23 The extremely popular biography of St. Martin by Sulpicius Severus attributes to him the unambiguous words: "I am a soldier of Christ, I must not fight," and has him leave the army on account of his Christianity. 24 The oldest life of Boniface points in the same direction when it relates that the saint forbade MGH Libelli 3.278. On St. .George, below, eh. IX. 22 Acta s. Sebastiani, c. 1 (AA. SS., Jan., n, 62g). 23 Passio Acaunensium mart>•rum, c. 4ff (MGH SS. Merov. 3·34ff). 24 Sulpicius Severus, V ita s. Martini, c. 4: Christi ego miles sum, pugnare mihi non licet. Since the passage can be neither modified nor explained away, it has occasioned vehement debates even in recent times. See also ibid., c. 3· [E. Griffe, "En relisant la 'Vita Martini' de Sulpice severe," pp. I84-g8, notes that Sulpicius Severus spent over twenty years in military service. A.}. Visser, "Christianus sum," pp. 5-1g. The new edition of Sulpicius Severus, Vita s. Martini, by J. Fontaine, Sources chretiennes, fasc. 13335 (Paris, 1967-196g), includes a commentary on the militia Martini (134· pp. 428--538).] 20

21

14

INTRODUCTION

his followers to fight the pagan Frisians who had attacked them. 25 The first consequence of this attitude was that the clergy was forbidden to have anything to do with warfare; the prohibition included not just fighting but also the bearing of arms. Ambrose had asserted that clerics should hold themselves far from the use of weapons. 26 This view acquired the character of a legal norm at an early date and was enacted by councils. The popes of the eighth and ninth centuries frequently issued the same command, and the Frankish kings incorporated it into their capitularies. The prohibition expressly included war against pagansY Only in cases of the strictest necessity could it be considered permissible for clerics and monks to join with laymen in defense against pagan raids. Folkvin of Laubach relates an incident of this kind during a Hungarian raid in the year 954, but he does not omit to add that the use of weapons by clerics is in itself forbidden. 28 The many cases in which this prohibition was ignored should not deceive us. From the standpoint of ecclesiastical doctrine these were violations of clerical discipline, which conscientious churchmen often lamented. Equally lamentable from this standpoint was the conduct of certain tenth-century popes, such as John XII, whose leadership of armies serves as illustration of the moral decay of the papacy and not as proof that ecclesiastical theory was developing. Vitae s. Bonifatii, ed. Levison, p. 49· Ambrose Ep. 20 (Sermo contra Auxentium), MPL t6.105o: often cited in the Middle Ages (e.g., Atto of Vercelli, Ep. 1, MPL •34·98) and also in the Decretum of Gratian, C. 23 q. 8 c. 3, ed. Friedberg, 1, 954· A passage from Gregory I, Registrum v, 6 (MGH Ep. 1.287) was applied in the same sense by Gratian Decretum ibid. c. 20, p. 958, but not justifiably. 21 The sources are in M. Hofmann, "Militarfreiheit," pp. 452ff; Koeniger, Militiirseelsorge, pp. gff; and W'. Erben, Kriegsgeschichte, pp. 55£. See also Gratian C. 23 q. 8, ed. Friedberg, 1, 953ff. On war against pagans, see esp. ]E. 2275. 28 Folcvin, Gesta ab b. Lob., c. 25 (MGH SS. 4.66). There is a similar account in Radulf Glabcr, Historia, 11, g, ed. Prou, pp. 44£. 25

26

INTRODUCTION

Of greater importance than this special rule for the clergy was the reticent attitude adopted by the church toward the secular profession of arms. The long pastoral letter of Fulgentius Ferrandus to the general Reginus was meant as an exhaustive discussion of the Christian duties of the milites saeculi; yet it includes not one word about the purpose of war or about actual military activity. 29 A sort of military pastorate existed in the Carolingian Empire, but its activity was mainly cultual, celebrating mass and carrying relics; the ethical element was still in the distant background. 30 We hear even less about preaching to the army. The only ancient military sermon that we possess has nothing to say about the positive duties of warriors or the purposes of war. 31 At all times it was stressed that the warrior must confess and do penance, but a notable contradiction is found precisely here: killing in battle was considered a defilement for which penance was due. To be sure, killing an enemy in open battle was not equated with other types of killing, but the majority of penitential books still MPL 67. 928-50. On this, Koeniger, Militiirseelsorge, who organizes the material with exceptional erudition. In my view, however, his judgments are overininfluenced by modern circumstances and exaggerate the devotional element. His conclusion (p. 51) that "special admonitions regarding battle and war, bravery and heavenly reward" were customary sermon material is inadequately supported by the sources. For the Vita Oudalrici, c. 12 (MGH SS. 4·401£), which stems from the end of the tenth century, is misplaced in both time and substance, and the Epistola consolatoria is not a sermon; see the following note. 31 Published in Koeniger, Militiirseelsorge, pp. 68-72; according to }. M. Heer, Missionskatechismus, p. 6o, the sermon does not have its own title in the manuscript (Munich, lat. 14410, f. 81 •), but is joined with the preceding under the same title, De execrandis vitiis. The words on the acies Christi etc. are to be understood in a spiritual sense, as the context shows. Heer conjectures (p. 62) that the sermon was composed for the Avar war, apparently inferring this from the fact that the mission catechism immediately preceding in the manuscript was clearly intended for the Avar mission (see also J. Schmidlin's review of Heer, p. 258); this point, however, does not necessarily follow. The second "military sermon" cited by Koeniger (pp. 51£) is actually a letter, for the title Epistola consolatoria ad pergentes in bellum appears in the manuscript; see W. Schmitz, "Tironischen Miszellen," fig. 10. See below, n. 68. 29

30

INTRODUCTION

assrgn to it a penance of forty days. 32 Hrabanus Maurus expressly condemned the idea that no penance was required for killing in a war commanded by the prince. 33 Moreover, a provision was in force that penitents should not bear arms and should never again participate in war after having completed their penance. 34 The professional warrior was thus excluded from the penitential order of the church. The discordance is more understandable when one observes that, as yet, the ethical theories propounded by churchmen generally failed to take into account "professional life," whether that of a class of warriors or anyone else's. In a book like the Mirror of the Laity by Jonas of Orleans, which claims to discuss the whole of practical morality, one looks in vain for a word about the practical morality of the warrior. 35 This is all the more remarkable at a time when the leading elements of society consisted primarily of warriors. Of course, the general duties of Christians applied also to men at arms; beyond this, the Christian ethic for soldiers was simply expressed by the never outdated saying of John the Baptist (Luke 3: 14), "Be 32 According to H. ]. Schmitz, Bussdisziplin, the Poenitentiale Valicellianurn I (p. 264), the Poenit. Valic. II (p. 356), the Poenit. Casinense (p. 402), the Poenit. Bedae (p. 559), the Poenit. Cummeani (pp. 633 and 655), and the Poenit. Parisiense (p. 687) have a penance of forty days, the Poenit. Arundel (p. 441), a penance of one year. Only the later additions to the Poenit. Romanum (p. 485) prescribe freedom from punishment for killing in self-defense. On the origin of these penalties in Basil the Great, see ibid., p. 43· The forty-day penance also occurs in the Poenit. Capit. Iudiciorum: Schmitz, Bussverfahren, p. 219. [According to E. Delaruelle, "Essai" (1944), p. 44, and n. 105, Erdmann's view of the severity of the church's stand on war should be modified. He notes that certain pcnitentials cited are not applicable to the Carolingian period. See also C. Vogel, "Pelerinages penitentiels," pp. 113-45, a review article with bibliography.] "" JHGH Ep. 5.464, repeated in the Poenit. Hrabani, c. 4 (MPL uo.471), and from there in Regino, 11, 50; Burchard, VI, 23, and Ivo of Chartres, Decretum, x, 152. 34 Koeniger, pp. 53f, correctly emphasizes tl!at these rules could not be implemented in wartime, even though he still does not mention that there was a special penance for killing in war. 35 Jonas of Orleans, De instit. laicali, MPL 106.121ff.

INTRODUCTION

content with your pay [contenti estate stipendiis vestris]," as we still know it from the Capuchin's sermon in Schiller's Wallenstein. Robbery and plunder were the sins of the warrior; if he avoided them there was little more to tell him. 36 Hincmar of Rheims wrote a tract against the robberies of soldiers, and even he did not waste a word on other aspects of military morality. 37 When Rather of Liege discussed the duties of all classes one after the other and began by speaking of the milites, he also confined himself to a prohibition of murder and robbery, especially the plundering of churches; his tract, like the others, emphasizes the negative aspects of soldiering, without offering the least hint that this calling might have a positive side, 38 Atto of Vercelli said much the same: the general laws of God apply as much to warriors as to others; for the rest, warriors should maintain the fidelity they have sworn to the king and not transgress their own law. 39 By this law, Atto meant the existing secular law. The church for its part still had nothing special to say to warriors. Atto, in his enthusiasm for the ban upon clerical arms-bearing, was once aroused to say: to defend oneself with weapons, to acquire booty, to devastate the land, to kill men and mutilate them-these are not the works of priests but of devils. 40 This sounds like a very basic condemnation of war. Although Atto, like all others, surely did not intend to forbid just and necessary war, he found it difficult to reconcile the contradiction between the service 36 A passage from a Pseudo-Augustinian sermon is often cited (Maximus of Turin, MPL 57-5J7f): "It is not wrong to perform military service, but to serve for booty is sinful [Militare non est delictum, sed propter praedam militare Peccatum est"]. Cf. Gratian C. 23 q. 1 c. 5, ed. Friedberg, I, 893· 37 Hincmar, De coercendis militum rapinis (MPL 125.953-56). 38 Ratherius, Praeloquiorum, 1, tit. 2: De militibus (MPL 136.149fJ39 Atto of Vercelli, Ep. 1 (MPL 134.103)- The passage on the exordium of the law is a rather clear reference to the Edictus Rothari. 40 Atto, ibid., col. 98. What we have here is, presumably, the combination of an exaggerated Augustinism with an excessively sharp antithesis between the civitas Dei and the civitas diaboli.

INTRODUCTION

of God and the service of arms. N icholas I most clearly expressed the same opinion: war is permissible in cases of inescapable necessity for the defense of one's life and country, but in itself it is devil's work, and deserters should therefore be indulgently treated. 41 By comparison with the ecclesiastical teaching of late Antiquity, such utterances might be regarded as regressive. Yet it should not be forgotten that the entrance of the Germans into Christian history had created an entirely new situation. War was the life-style of the Germanic peoples who increasingly formed the most important element in the church's constituency. 42 The moral precepts that accompanied them from their pagan past were completely oriented to war, focusing on heroism, famous deeds on the part of the leader, loyalty on the part of the followers, revenge for those killed, courage unto death, contempt for a comfortable life at home. For them, war as such was a form of moral action, a higher type of life than peace. All this stood at the opposite pole from Christian morality, which is based on love and readiness for peace and can discuss war only with reference to aims and duties. The acceptance of Christianity could not possibly cause the old Germanic mode of thinking to lose its power overnight. This mentality took centuries to overcome, 43 and still has some appeal today. Characteristically, the stories of the conversion of the Frank Clovis and of the Lombard 41 Nicholas I, Ep. gg, c. 22f, 46 (MGH Ep. 6.581, 585). I cannot share Erben's view (Kriegsgeschichte, p. 54) that these assertions were occasioned only by the special purpose of this letter directed to the newly converted Bulgars. [For a discussion of Nicholas I's letter, R. E. Sullivan, "Khan Boris," pp. 58ff.J 42 On the following, G. Neckel, "Kriegerische Kultur," pp. 17-44; K. Weinhold, Beitriige, pp. 555-67. Also pertinent is]. Hailer, Papsttum, I, 350ff. 43 Also interesting in this connection is a passage in Adam of Bremen, n, 56, ed. B. Schmeidler, p. 201, where the love of bloodshed is mentioned as one of the sins still common among the heathen.

INTRODUCTION

Romuald represent God's guidance of the fortunes of battle as the decisive element in the turning to Christianity. 44 Moreover, ethics and religion were separate in Germanic paganism, so that the supplanting of the pagan by the Christian cult did not simultaneously imply a change in the realm of ethics. The church was therefore confronted with a massive barrier of pagan ways, which for centuries were beyond its power to master. In these circumstances, it is hardly surprising that the church took a more unfavorable view of warfare than befor~. Since the Germans regarded the killing of another man in honorable combat as a special occasion, the high point of life, it was a natural reaction for the church to set a penance upon any killing, even killing that, from an objective standpoint, did not constitute a sin. The church had always taught that a warlike mentality was reprehensible; when it now found this mentality most strongly developed, it set itself in resolute opposition. Nevertheless, the Germanic mentality also exercised a positive influence upon the development of the ecclesiastical morality of war. When the church encountered pagan elements that it could not suppress, it tended to give them a Christian dimension, thereby assimilating them. This happened to the ethics of heroism. 45 The whole crusading movement may justifiably be seen from this perspective; Christian knighthood cannot otherwise be understood. This evolution began in earnest only around the year woo, as will be shown in the next chapter, but prefigurations of it do, of course, appear earlier. To some extent, the development of the Christian cult of the archangel Michael symbolizes the process. 16 Michael, a biblical figure, was first 44 Gregory of Tours, n, 30 (MGH SS. Merov. 1.91; 2d ed., 1.75); V ita Barl>ati ep. Beneventani, c. 5f (MGH SS. Langob., p. 559). 45 See G. Neckel, "Kriegerethik," pp. 233-38. +6 For the following, E. Gothein, Culturentwicklung, pp. 41-111; F. Wiegand, Michael; W. Lueken, Michael; A. Gerlach, Michel; 0. Rojdestvensky, St. ZVlichel. [On the origin of the Michael cult and its transference to the West,

20

INTRODUCTION

venerated in the East, but it was in Germanic lands that he acquired a special significance. It may or may not be true that Michael partly inherited the characteristics of the god Wotan, that many churches of St. Michael were built in places where Wotan had been worshiped, or that components of Germanic mythology were transferred to the archangel. What is certain is that, out of the various threads of late Judaic and early Christian ideas about Michael, the West especially preserved those traits associated with war. In the basic legend of Michael's appearance on Mt. Gargano, the archangel is represented above all as a leader in battle, who brings down a storm from on high and slays the enemy with lightning from heaven. This characteristic was retained for centuries, so that the archangel long was the favorite patron of war. His image was found on the standards that Henry I and Otto the Great bore against the Hungarians, and the same epoch celebrated a mass of St. Michael as an aid to victory. 47 Of course, Michael continued to be the slayer of the dragon, that is, of Satan, as depicted in the Apocalypse. Churchmen were always conscious that his battle had a spiritual significance. Here, for the first time, we have a synthesis of heavenly and earthly military service, of militia Dei and militia saecularis, indicated in a symbolic way at least. As prince of the heavenly hosts, princeps militiae coelestis, Michael led warriors into battle, as well as monks into the spiritual combats of the soul. 48 especially in southern Italy, W. von Rintelen, "Legendwanderung," pp. 71-100. For the origins of the cult and pilgrimage at Monte Gargano, see A. Petrucci, "Aspetti," pp. 145-80. See also L. Reau, Iconographie, n, 43ff; and L. Ebersolt, Orient et accident, pp. 45ff. The popularity of

Eastern saints in early medieval Rome is noted by P. Llewelen, Rome in the Dark Ages, pp. 137, 197; and by H. Fichtenau, "Reliquienwesen," p. 6o.J 47 Erdmann, "Kaiserliche Fahnen," pp. 20ff (also mentions the Byzantine model of the St. Michael's standard); MGH Const. 1.5 (Synod of 932). 48 The passage in William of Dijon cited above, n. 19, provides an example of the archangel's being brought into the complex of ideas sur· rounding the militia spiritualis.

21

INTRODUCTION

A detailed account cannot be given here of how this dichotomy began in fact to be reconciled in the first millennium and how, in this way, the development of Christian knighthood and holy war was initiated and pursued. We shall elaborate only two main directions. A first and very important step was the Christianization of the state. This process, already completed in the Roman Empire, had to be repeated with respect to the Germanic kingdoms. A decisive stage was the alliance of the papacy with Pipin, by which the king of the Franks directly assumed the duty of fighting for the Roman church. The conditions of the Frankish period are well known, and do not need detailed examination here." 9 A glance at the high point of this development under Charlemagne suffices to illustrate the influence that the idea of the Christian state had on the formation of the ethics of war. 50 49 Most of all, I disregard the conditions in Visigothic Spain, which differ from the main course of development; see below, p. 39· 5o From the literature, I cite: H. Lilienfein, A nschauungen; A. Werminghoff, "Fiirstenspiegel," pp. 193-214; H. von Schubert, Christlichen Kirche; F. Kampers, "Rex et Sacerdos," pp. 495-515; E. Rosenstock, "Furt der Franken"; K. Heldmann, Kaisertum, pp. 48ff; E. Pfeil, Romidee; T. Zwi:ilfer, Sankt Peter; H. Hirsch, "Kaisergedanke," pp. 1ff; A. Brackmann, Anfiinge, pp. 72ff. Owing to its singular character, I omit the noteworthy eulogy of war by Sedulius Scottus, De rectoribus christianis, c. 16, MPL 103.323, without deciding whether it embodies Germanic ideas or reminiscences from classical literature. (Among the recent general works on the Carolingian empire, D. Bullough, Charlemagne, esp. eh. vi; W. Brauenfels, ed., Kart der Grosse, esp. vol. n, Geistige Leben; Jedin-Dolan, Handbook of Church History, m. Bullough has also prepared a comprehensive bibliographical survey, "Europae Pater," pp. 59-105. Of especial significance for the theocratic empire are: Erdmann, Forschungen, pp. 16-31; R. Folz, Idee d'empire; K. Morrison, Two Kingdoms. An important, but controversial, work is W. Ullmann, PaPal Government, esp. chs. n, m. Certain of Ullmann's conclusions regarding the origins and development of what he designates as the church's hierocratic structure have been questioned in detail by F. Kempf, "Papstliche Gewalt," pp. 117-69. Delaruelle, "Essai" (1941), pp. 24-25, discusses the formation of the Carolingian attitude toward war more fully than does Erdmann, and emphasizes the religious and especially the biblical orientation of Carolingian government and society. He finds there the beginnings of a true Christian solidarity [populus Christianus] vis-a-vis the non-Christian, especially

22

INTRODUCTION

Such political theory as there was in the Carolingian age applied, of course, to the person of the ruler and not to the abstract state. The profession of the ruler was the only element to be immediately Christianized-a step facilitated by the idea of priest-kingship that had long had a certain influence. But an ecclesiastical conception was now also developed for such real royal duties as leadership of the army and the maintenance of peace. The defense of Christendom and, often, its extension were held to be the foremost duties of the ruler. First popularized by the popes in their frequent appeals to the secular arm, this teaching was soon taken up by the king of the Franks and his theologians.51 It was given prominence by the Carolingian alliance with the papacy, which occasioned repeated wars in the interests of the Roman church; but the state church within the Frankish kingdom pointed as emphatically in the same direction. The most notorious example is that of the Saxon wars, which were conducted on the principle of forcible conversion-an act that was conceivable only because baptism was the essential prerequisite for complete inclusion into the Frankish state. In such cases as that of the Moslem. world, including holy war, liturgy, cult of saints, etc. but entirely concerned with the "\Vest. See also R. Manselli, "La Respublica christiana e !'Islam," L'Occidente e l'islam nell'alto medioevo. Settimane di Studio del Ccntro italiano di Studi sull' alto medioevo, xn. Spoleto, 1965, 121ff. On the papal lands, P. Partner, Lands, esp. pp. 29-41.] 51 Codex Carolinus, nos. 7, 24, 26, 32, 35 (MGH Ep. 3.491, 528, 531, 539· 543); the letters of Charles and Alcuin: MGH Ep. 4, nos. 93, 171, 202, pp. 137, 282, 336. The train of thought in the Alcuin passages clearly accords with a letter of Gregory I, Registrum, 1, 72 (MGH Ep., 1.92). I doubt whether Hailer, Papsttum, 1, 389£, is right in citing Cod. Carol. no. 5 (MGH Ep. 3.488) on this subject. In that letter, Stephen II writes to the Frankish magnates: "What you have done in struggles and for His (God's or Peter's) holy church, your spiritual mother, may your sins be forgiven by the Prince of the Apostles himself [quod per certarnen, quod in eius (Dei or Petri) sanctarn ecclesiarn, vestrarn spiritalern

matrern, feceritis ab ipso principe aPostolorurn vestra dirnittantur peccata, etc.]." Since the pope is speaking, the combat referred to might be interpreted in the old spiritual sense. [E. Duckett, Alcuin, pp. 130ff.]

INTRODUCTION

Slavs of the Elbe, whose complete incorporation was not envisaged at first, a missionary war was not undertaken. Since almost all of Charles's opponents were either pagans or persecutors of the papacy, the state church did not hesitate to bless his wars. The situation closely resembled that of the ancient Near East, where religion coincided with the state or nation. We encounter phenomena altogether comparable to ancient Israel: as Yahweh did then, so now did St. Peter, the special patron of the Frankish king, regularly decide battles in his favor; as the Israelite priests and prophets, so now did the Frankish bishops and priests pray to heaven for victory; and as once the Ark of the Covenant, so now were relics borne in combat as a pledge of victory. All this, however, fits the category of holy war only to a very limited extent. Religion makes its appearance not as an independent element, but as an attribute of the state. The state's pursuit of power remains decisive. No sooner were these conceptions devised than they experienced a lasting disturbance: the Carolingian Empire broke up, and the various Christian kings began to turn their weapons against one another. 52 Moreover, the religious aim had most often been related only to the state as a whole, that is, to the king, and not to the individual soldier. 53 An example of this is the famous Old German Ludwigslied of 881. 54 The poem 52 The polemic of Ago bard of Lyons against the conduct of Louis the Pious (833) is very revealing in this respect (MGH SS. 15.1.275£). [Delaruelle, "Essai" (1941), pp. 86-87, contends that the sense of populus Christianus contiuued after Charlemagne, despite political divisions.] 53 Typically, Hincmar's treatise on the office of the ruler (De regis persona et regis ministerio, c. 7-13, MPL 123.84off) includes a collection of Augustine passages on war. This treatise is based on older Capitula diversarum sententiarum pro negociis rei publicae consulendis; see G. Laehr and C. Erdmann, "Ftirstenspiegel Hincmars," pp. 12off. 5< See G. Ehrismann, Literatur, I, 22off; the text of the song is in W. Braune, Lesebuch, p. 150, no. 36. [Bullough, "Europae pater," p. 66, cites Erdmann, Forschungen, pp. 21-25, on the importance of the epic and the problem of the date oJ

INTRODUCTION

describes at length how King Louis Ill of the West Franks, dedicated to God's service, received a divine commission to fight the pagan Northmen who were molesting the Christians, and how he was victorious by God's power. His men, however, owed no military obligation to God. Even though they are called godes holden [fideles dei] and answer the king's battle hymn with a "Kyrie Eleison," the king promises them only temporal rewards in his address before the battle and refrains from speaking of religious aims. 55 Nevertheless, the Carolingian state was an important stage in the inclusion of war into the ethics of the church. It was particularly significant that, as the state was Christianized, ecclesiastical organs increasingly assumed state functions and rights. The more the bishops and abbots became feudal lords and heads of fiefs, having to govern their own territories, the more difficult it was for them to remain aloof from warfare. The popes above all were frequently faced with such involvement. Gregory I had already assumed considerable responsibility for provisioning and leading the Roman troops, setting an example whose effects were felt long afterwards. 56 In 849, Leo IV accompanied the Roman army that advanced at his command against the Moslem pirates at the mouth of the Tiber. 57 John X acted likewise in 915 at the Garigliano. 58 As long as weapons were not actually used, such acts of leadership could be reconciled with the ecclesiastical prohibition of military service by the clergy, although only with the help of careful distinctions, such as the ones Gratian later made with composition; also H. Beuman, in Erste ]ahrtausend, ed. V. Elbern, I, 296--317-] 55 But addresses to the army in the midst of war against the Northmen can have a different tenor. See n. 62. ss Greg'ory I, Registrum, n, 7, 32-34 (MGH Ep. 1.106 and 128ff). 57 Liber pontificalis, ed. Duchesne, n, 118; also Leo IV, Ep. 1 (MGH Ep. 5·585), dated 852. (On Leo IV, see also Partner, Lands, pp. 58-6o.] 58 Chronicle of Monte Cassino, I, 52 (MGH SS. 7.616); on this, see now 0. Vehse, "Biindniss," pp. 181-204. [Partner, pp. 81-82.]

INTRODUCTION

success. 59 A necessary consequence, however, was that the aversion of the church toward the profession of arms began to wane. Afterwards as before, to be sure, the church's opposition in principle endured and was newly formulated by Nicholas 1. 60 But a certain tension arose between theory and practice and, with it, an incentive toward change in the assessment of war. 61 This connection between church and state was accompanied by a second element, partly a corollary and partly independent: the idea that the defense of the church against pagans and robbers was a good deed particularly encouraged by . God and the saints. Obviously, the idea itself was old and basically self-explanatory; it need not be illustrated by individual examples. 62 Nevertheless, it acquired great importance from the historical events of the ninth and tenth centuries. The invasions of the Northmen and Hungarians, and the raids of Moslem pirates, created a crisis in the West that made military service a dominant necessity of life. The church could not remain unaffected by these struggles. Quite apart from the occasional particGratian, Decretum C. 23 q. 8 p. n, m, ed. Friedberg, 1, 954·59· Nicholas I, Ep. 38 (MGH Ep. 6.309). a1 The Apologiae of Archbishop Bruno of Cologne in Ruotger, V ita Brunonis, c. 23 (MGH SS. 4.263) and Widukind r, 31, ed. Kehr, p. 38, are interesting in this connection. 62 Particularly notable, however, are two passages illustrating trains of thought that combine spiritual and martial combat: in Cod. Carol., no. 8 (MGH Ep. 3·498), Abbot Warneharius is given the title ath/eta Christi, formerly reserved for saints, on account of his combats in detense of Rome; ibid., no. 10, p. 503, the passage 2 Tim. 2:5 is applied to the battles of the Franks. Also interesting is Arnulf's address in Annates Fuldenses a. 8g1, ed. F. Kurze, p. 120, in which the Germanic idea of vengeance is combined with Christian concepts: "we attack our enemies in God's name, avenging the affront not to us but to Him who is all powerful [non nostram, sed eius, qui omnia potest, contumeliam vindicantes inimicos nostros in Dei nomine aggredimur]." Later, a speech in Richer, 1, 8, ed. G. Waitz, p. 77, shows a mixture of classical with Christian ideas: "it is honorable to die for the fatherland and to give (our) bodies over to death for the defense of Christians [decus pro patria mori egregiumque pro Christianorum defensione corpora morti dare]." Cf. also ibid., I, 45, p. 28; IV, 39• pp. 133f. 59

6o

INTRODUCTION

ipation of clerics in armed combat, the church felt bound to strengthen the laity's powers of resistance by moral support. This is clearly indicated by the leadership in defense that was now attributed to the saints as patrons of the church. The idea that a saint defended his church and its clerics, and repelled or punished transgressors, had been current at the beginning of the Middle Ages, 63 but it acquired special prominence during the invasions of the ninth and tenth centuries. 64 Christian sensibility was no longer offended when, in such cases, the saints actually participated in a battle in clerical garb. A French source of the late ninth century relates that, in a battle with the Northmen, an almost invisible monk of venerable appearance, namely St. Benedict, led the horse of the Margrave Hugh and killed many enemies with his staff. 65 Moreover, the meritoriousness of defending the church was strongly stressed. Leo IV and John VIII gave assurances of everlasting life to those who fell in combat while defending the church against Moslems and Northmen. 66 This was not a sa See Gregory of Tours, De virtutibus sancti Martini, I, I4 and 29 (MGH SS. Merov. 1.597, 6o2); De Passione sancti ]uliani, c. 7 and 13 (ibid., pp. 567, 569f); Gregory I, Dialogi, I, 4, ed. Moricca, pp. 38f. 64 I note here as examples: John the Deacon, Translatio sancti Severini, c. 8 (MGH SS. Langob., p. 4.~8: St. Peter in Rome); Liutprand, Antapodosis, c. 4-6, ed. J. Becker, pp. 76f: St. Syrus in Pavia; Miracula s. Gorgonii, c. 2of (MGH SS. 4.245: St. Gorgonius in Gorze); Miracula s. Germani, c. 3of (MGH SS. 15.1.16). 65 Adelerius, Miracula s. Benedicti, MGH SS. 15.1.499· 66 Leo IV, Ep. 28 (MGH Ep. 5.601); John VIII, Ep. 150 (ibid. 7.126f). A. Hatem, Poemes, pp. 34-40, exaggerates a great deal when he attributes the character of a crusade to these Roman combats against the Moslems. He is particularly wrong in stating that John VIII's promises of salvation went further than Urban II's; it is more correct to say that Urban also promised salvation to those who fell on the crusade. [Delaruelle, "Essai" (1941), pp. 86-103, regards John VIII as a key figure in the development of holy war. He feels that Erdmann, being overly concerned to connect the crusade with eleventh-century reform movements, insufficiently emphasizes the texts anterior to the eleventh century. He also concludes (p. 103) that John VIII did in fact proclaim an indulgence substantially like that of Urban II and did enlarge on the concession of Leo IV. But A. Noth, Heiliger Krieg, pp. 95· 104, thinks that the letters of John VIII and Leo IV cannot be interpreted as official

INTRODUCTION

novelty, for promises of heavenly reward had been made at an earlier date for good though warlike deeds; 67 but, besides contradicting the penitentials, the idea that those falling in battle would be saved had great future significance. The papacy, which sharply declined after John VIII, revived the idea only in the eleventh century and then carried it to great heights; but in the interval such conceptions also acquired currency outside Rome and were widely circulated. An interesting example from the ninth century is the "Letter of Consolation for Departing Warriors," preserved in a codex ~ritten in Tironian notes. 68 The letter is shot through with the idea that fighting in defense of the church is protected by God, that it is even a "battle of Christ [praelium Christi"; cf. I Kings 25: 28], and that God will fight for the Christians. Liturgical texts most clearly convey the attitudes of the early medieval church toward war. "Lord, defeat the enemies of the Roman name and of the Catholic faith! Defend everywhere the ruler of Rome that by his victory your people might have secure peace! Destroy the enemies of your people! Defend the stability of the Roman name and protect its rule, so that peace and permanent welfare might reign among your peoples." This and the like are found as early as in the Leonine Sacramentary, whose text originated in Rome in the fifth or sixth century. 69 Prayers were said pronouncements of an entirely new attitude or policy. According to J. A. Brundage, Canon Law, pp. 22-23, John VIII offered a "general absolution," not an indulgence. See aloo H. E. Mayer, Crusades, p. 16.1 67 See N. Paulus, Geschichte, r, 50, 6o, who argues against Gottlob, Kreuzablass, pp. 1gff. Paulus has command of more extensive materials and may be more correct from the standpoint of formal jurisprudence; but Gottlob has a better grasp of the historically essential. 68 W. Schmitz, "Tironische Miszellen," pp. 6o7ff, and Miscellanea, pp. 26ff; also Gottlob, pp. 2gff. K. Kiinstle, "Zwei Documente," p. 122, places the letter at the beginning of the eighth century in Spain, while A. M. Koeniger, Militarseelsorge, pp. 51£, associates it with the battles of Charles Martel against the Moors; I think the ninth-century wars against the Northmen are more probable. 69 Sacramentarium Leonianum, ed. C. H. Feltoe, pp. 27, 59· 61, 71, 75, 77, So, 83, 144; see also 0. Huf, "Oorlogsmissen," pp. 36--43, and Kriejs-

INTRODUCTION

for the state that was allied to the church, and the object sought was not the extension of the faith but the preservation of peace, so that the beseechers might serve God in peace and freedom. War was to serve the defense of the church, and the state was to be victorious so that the church might have peace. This central idea dominated the war liturgy of the following centuries, but it underwent a certain development. The texts of the fully formed Roman Sacramentary, both the Gelasian and the Gregorian, may be traced back into the seventh and eighth centuries. In the Good Friday liturgy they include a prayer for the Roman emperor, to whom God should subject the barbarian peoples. The Gelasian Sacramentaries also contain a few votive masses for kings and for times of war. 70 Here, too, the main theme is the protection of the Roman Empire against enemies, but in several places these enemies are now designated as pagans [gentes], accentuating the religious character of the war. Moreover, the old idea that victory should promote the peace of the church is occasionally accofi;_panied by a second theme: to His people, who rely on Him, God should give victory over the enemies who trust in their own power and ferocity. 71 In this way, the gebeden, pp. 6ff; A. De Santis, "Preghiere liturgiche," pp. 37-53; K. Heldmann, Kaisertum, pp. 37f. (C. Vogel, Introduction, pp. 48ff. Cf. also Ullmann, eh. rv.J 70 H. A. Wilson, Gelasian Sacramentary, pp. 76, 271-77; K. Mohlberg and A. Baumstark, Liber sacramentorum, p. 24; also H. Lietzmann, Sacramentarium Gregorianum, pp. 48 and 128; and H. Hirsch, "Kaisergedanke," pp. rff; on the dating of the manuscript of the Gelasianum, E. A. Lowe, "Vatican MS," p. 370. 71 See, e.g., in Wilson, Gelasian Sacramentary, p. 76: "that the peoples who trust in their own savagery might be suppressed by the power of Your right hand [ut gentes, quae in sua feritate confidunt, dexterae tuae Potentia comprimantur]"; p. 273: "so that those who trust in Your strength might both please You and surpass all kingdoms [ut in tua virtute fidentes et tibi placeant et super omnia regna praecellant]"; p. 275: "so that those who humble themselves before You might be su· perior everywhere in power" [ut quorum tibi subiecta est humilitas, eorum ubique excellentior sit potestas]." Both themes are joined in the words (p. 273): "that Your people may both rejoice in the purity of faith and always exult in the peace of their times [ut populus tuus et

INTRODUCTION

outcome of the battle will also prove the truth of the faith. This theme, which evokes ideas that were to cluster around the real holy war, is still secondary and altogether subordinate to the idea of the peace of the church; but it does not disappear and acquires significance as the basis for new developments. The Gallican Sacramentaries of the seventh or eight centuries stand at about the same stage of conceptual development; in their prayers, the Roman Empire is generally replaced by the Frankish, and the army is sometimes included alongside the king in the intercession. 72 The sacramentaries of the eighth century, used in the Carolingian Empire, live in the same atmosphere. 73 Accordingly, the fidei integritate laetetur et temporum tranquillitate semper exultet]." Only once does this idea come out in the Leonianum as well (p. 83): "Almighty and eternal God. protect the rulers of the Roman name, so that, trusting in Your right hand, they may be made stronger than all their enemies [Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, Romani nominis defende

rectores, ut tua dextera confidentes fiant cunctis hostibus fortiores]." 72 Missale Gallicanum, MPL 72.35f, 366; Missale Gothicum, ed. Mohlberg, fol. 16g; Missale Francorum, MPL 72·330£; Bobbio Missal, ed. Lowc, pp. 151f. Cf. also Heldmann, Kaisertum, pp. 34ff. The Visigothic liturgy goes much further, but it stands apart from the mainstream; see below, p. 3g. 73 The Gellone Sacramentary: L. Delisle, Sacramentaires, pp. 8of, and P. Cagin, "Note," pp. 284. 287. The lost Sacramentary of Strassburg: Delisle, p. go. The Sacramentary of Cod. Sangall. 350:' Mohlberg, Friinkische Gelasianum, intro., p. lxiii. The Sacramentary of Rheinau: Wilson, p. 36g, and M. Gerbert, Monurnenta, 1, 276£. Sacramentary of the Phillips Collection (Berlin, Staatsbibl., MS Phill. 1667), where the different war and peace masses occur on fols. 15r-5g; on the MS, P. de Puniet, "Sacramentaire gelasien," pp. g1ff. (Unnamed) Sacramentary: Delisle, p. go. Sacramentary of the Cod. Sangall. 350, fol. 170v (a missa pro rege in die belli contra paganos occurs here on leaf 167). Sacramentary of Fulda: ed. G. Richter and A. Schi:infelder, pp. 218ff. On the Alcuin expansion of the Gregorian Sacramentary, Wilson, pp. 186, 1g7gg. On sacramentaries, Mohlberg-Baumstark, pp. 21 "If, and Tellenbach, Reichsgedanke, pp. 45ff. Tellenbach, pp. 68f, prints a Missa in profectione hostium euntibus in proelium from the Sacramentary of Gellone whose first prayer is directly related to the army. This is still exceptional in the Carolingian period; only ea. 1000 did this prayer acquire wider circulation; see eh. u. [For recent literature on the sacramentaries in the eighth century, Vogel, Introduction, pp. 58-83. See also G. Ellard, Master Alcuin.]

INTRODUCTION

word "Roman" in the texts, except where it was retained, was replaced from that century onward by "Christian" rather •than by "Frankish"; this expressed a new awareness of the basis of religious military activity, namely, that one's own side was Christian. 74 The breadth and the boundaries of the two main elements instrumental in the first millennium in elaborating a concept of holy war have now been examined. There was a holy war of the state and, in addition, a holy war in defense of the church. But no one even imagined that there could be such a thing as a knightly crusade. The defensive character of the "just war" continued to be so narrowly stressed that, even against pagans, only a genuine war of defense was recognized. The defense of the church could therefore be nothing other than territorial defense, and the individual churches and their patron saints could serve only as the religious symbols of a city or a territory. Moreover, the central position accorded to the state did not yet allow the formation of a direct relationship between the church and warfare. A further question remains to be answered: whether the Moslem holy war, the Jihad, influenced the Christian ethics of war. The idea comes easily to mind and has often been expressed.' How justifiable is it? We must first admit our ignorance. In order to give a circumstantial reply, one would have to know the role that the Jihad played among the Moslem peoples living in the western basin of the Mediterranean during the relevant period of time, that is, in the ninth and tenth centuries. Of course, only an Orientalist knowing Arabic could find this out, and none has yet done so as far as I know. 75 Let it only be said here that, although See Tellenbach, "Reichsgedanke." The current accounts of the Jihad-those referred to by Dictionary of Islam, cd. Hughes, s.v. ]ihad; Enzyklopiidie des Islam, I, s.v. Djihad; and Hatem, Poemes, p. 24 n. 36-take interest only in the beginnings of Islam and in the present; no attention is paid to the intervening centuries. There must surely be all sorts of information about the medieval J ihad in the works accessible to professional Islamists; since they are be74

75

INTRODUCTION

such an influence is certainly possible, on no account does it have to be presupposed. The first theoretical justifications of Western holy war are in Augustine and Gregory I, and thus antedate Mohammed. Afterwards, as we saw and will see again, developments within Christianity itself supplied essential elements that could produce holy war. Moreover, the classic Jihad, as represented by Mohammed and the earliest epoch of Islam, shows marked differences from all Christian wars. 76 The Jihad was above all a legal institution, a sort of military duty. Holy war in Christendom, far from being a duty, was encouraged by the issuance of special privileges to the warriors. There are points of agreement, such as the idea that death in a holy war leads to Paradise,77 as well, perhaps, as the important role played by yond my competence I refer only to A. Mez, Renaissance, where I have found suggestive remarks about the tenth century, but limited to the East (pp. 303f, 3uf); and B. v. Haneberg, Kriegsrecht, n, 217ff, whc bases himself essentially on late medieval sources. (The best summary of the Jihad in the East is E. Sivan, Islam, wh< points out that after the eighth century the concept declined and wa revived only following the First Crusade (pp. 9-22). See also A. S. Atiy