Der Pontifikat Gregors IV. (827–844): Vorstellung und Wahrnehmung päpstlichen Handelns im 9. Jahrhundert by Cornelia Scherer (review)

Few monographs treat early-medieval popes because the sources rarely permit separate treatment of a single man or reign. Alert to this issue, Sherer chooses to focus on conceptions and perceptions of both Pope Gregory IV and the papacy in his time. Most historians know Gregory because of his unfortunate journey to Francia during the rebellion of Louis the Pious’s sons. Scherer rightly says that one event should not be allowed to define a seventeen-year pontificate. She devotes substantial chapters to Gregory as bishop of Rome, his dealings with the church in Italy, his relations with the Frankish rulers, and his dealings with the world beyond Rome. First, she looks carefully at the sources. Her aim is not to generate a biographical picture of Gregory; this cannot be done. She explores how various sources perceived Gregory and the papacy. She is especially attentive to the audience addressed by various writers, the dissemination of texts, and the manuscripts containing any particular text. Second, with learning and courtesy she engages in a continuous dialogue with the historians who have worked on the papacy in this period. She reaches back to older writers such as Johannes Haller but focuses primarily on Egon Boshof, Philippe Depreux, Johannes Fried, Klaus Herbers (her Doktorvater), Jörg Jarnut, and this reviewer.

Gregory can be known best as bishop of Rome; accordingly, Scherer studies liturgy, rulership, pastoral duties, and construction/donation records. She reads the Liber Pontificalis very carefully alongside letters, coins, inscriptions, and mosaics (especially the one installed by Gregory in San Marco where he had been title priest). The Pactum Hludowicianum (817) and Consitutio Romana (824) provided the political and legal framework within which Gregory worked. Although this reviewer made this point thirty years ago, it has been denied by scholars such as Marios Costambeys. Gregory showed concern for churches all over the city but rarely for churches outside the walls. Scherer offers meticulous statistical analyses of Gregory’s fifteen construction projects and sixty-nine donations, but she cannot explain Rome’s evidently abundant resources. Roman sources offer keen insights on the pope in his local setting but never reach beyond the city. For instance, the Liber Pontificalis does not mention Gregory’s trip to Francia. Roman sources perceive the pope as the local bishop.

Scherer then turns to Gregory’s activities in Italy. These were limited to isolated dealings with Farfa, Ravenna, Naples, Gaeta, and Aquileia-Grado. No clear patterns emerge, and the Italian scene provides no opportunities to assess papal authority or influence.

Scherer’s lengthy chapter on Gregory and the Frankish rulers is careful. Of particular note are her close reading of the Frankish sources and definitive analysis of the letters written by Gregory to the Frankish bishops on the affairs of Louis the Pious and Bishop Aldric of Le Mans. What emerges is a sharp sense of the prestige attached to papal authority.

Gregory had no official dealings with Byzantium or with any area of the West except Francia. Where the latter is concerned, the best “evidence” is a series of forged monastic privileges. These documents perceive the pope as guardian and protector not only of the true faith but also of basic rights.

In the end, Gregory’s dealings with Francia always proceeded on the basis of Frankish initiative. Scherer argues that the “Rise of the Papacy” did not follow the collapse of the Carolingians but occurred in the dynasty’s great days and was largely a Frankish, not a Roman, impulse. In her beautifully written and tightly argued book Scherer makes dozens of astute observations. One must read the book to appreciate these.