Odiosa sanctitas: St Peter Damian, Simony, and Reform (review)

St. Peter Damian has long been acknowledged as an ardent champion both of monastic and clerical reform in the eleventh century but also as a man who struggled to balance the demands of his conflicting roles as cardinal-bishop of Ostia in the service of the reform papacy and as prior of the eremitical community of Fonte Avellana. This new volume by William McCready looks to re-examine Damian’s life and thought by focusing on a key controversy—that of Pietro Mezzabarba, bishop of Florence, who was accused of simony and was finally deposed after a trial by fire at Settimo in 1068 proved his guilt. The case of Mezzbarba brought into confrontation a range of protagonists: Pope Alexander II, Vallombrosan monks, and Damian himself, all of whose different reform principles and methods meant that the ramifications of the case would reverberate long after the events.

The volume opens with a short introduction that justifies the focus on the Mezzabarba controversy for exploring the development of Damian’s thought on the issues of simony and the promotion of ecclesiastical reform. Chapter 1 sets out the sociopolitical and religious context of Florence at this time, and covers the key events of the controversy: the election of Mezzabarba; the campaign promoted against him by the Vallombrosans that resulted in an attack on their community at San Salvi; and the subsequent Roman synod of 1067, where Damian argued against the monks in support of Mezzabarba. Chapter 2 assesses the role of Duke Godfrey of Lotharingia and Damian’s relationship with him, exploring the earlier contention that this may have conditioned Damian’s position on the controversy. Chapter 3 focuses on Damian’s position on simony and the validity of sacraments performed by simoniacal clergy as against more radical positions developed first by Humbert of Silva-Candida that were taken up by the Pataria and the Vallombrosans. In chapter 4, McCready turns to assess competing eleventh-century monastic ideals, against which he sets both Damian’s belief in a hierarchy of monastic practice and his antipathy to active roles for monks. In chapter 5, he explores what has been characterized as Damian’s increasing pessimism and disillusionment with the world, which McCready links to the outcome of the Mezzabarba affair. Chapter 6 addresses the resolution of the conflict by the trial by fire at the Vallombrosan house of Settimo, and chapter 7 explores Damian’s views on ordeals and miracles.

This well-researched and fluidly written book offers a measured account of a complicated controversy based on a thorough reading of the contemporary sources and underlines the often subtle differences both in the ideals but especially the methods of the reformers by the 1060s. The analysis of Damian’s position on simony and the validity of sacraments is set against the sharpening political realities that led more radical reformers to advocate policies of action that Damian deemed inappropriate. McCready does well to draw together different aspects of Damian’s thought to help elucidate why he acted as he did in the Mezzabarba case. It is thus surprising that there is little direct engagement with more recent historiography (apart from Nicolangelo D’Acunto) on the Mezzabarba affair, on the conflicts among the reformers, as well as on the development and transformation of reformist aims and methods from 1049 onwards. Given work by Phyllis Jestice, John Howe, Paolo Golinelli, and even this reviewer, the statement that the Mezzabarba case has only received cursory treatment (p. 2) is problematic, as there is considerable work both on Damian’s involvement and rationale and those of the other protagonists. That said, Odiosa sanctitas provides a rich account of political and ecclesiastical confrontation in the era before Pope Gregory VII and emphasizes the importance of remembering that reform in this period was far from a unified process.