CALLISTUS II, POPE

Pontificate: Feb. 2, 1124 to Dec. 13 or 14, 1124; b. Guido, date unknown. The fifth son of Count William of Burgundy, he was related to several royal houses of Europe. A member of the Church-reform party, he became archbishop of Vienne in 1088. When appointed papal legate in France by paschal ii, who apparently also made him a cardinal, Guido strenuously opposed Paschal's "Privilege," extorted by henry v, which would have surrendered most of the political positions held by Church officials in the empire. After protesting the "Privilege" at the Lateran synod of 1112, he called and presided over a synod of French and Burgundian bishops at Vienne that denounced lay investiture (see investiture struggle) of the clergy as heretical, and excommunicated Henry V as hostile to the welfare of the Church. When gelasius ii, who succeeded Pascal, refused to confirm the "Privilege," the angry Henry V set up Archbishop Burdinus of Braga as antipope Gregory VIII and installed him in Rome. Gelasius was forced to spend his brief, harassed pontificate in exile and died at Cluny within a year. Some of the cardinals who had come to Cluny now elected Guido, who was crowned in Vienne on Feb. 9, 1119.

Callistus took immediate steps to establish peace with the imperial government, since both sides were tired of the long investiture struggle. Henry V favorably received a papal embassy and temporarily withdrew his support from Gregory VIII. A meeting between pope and emperor was arranged for Mousson. After presiding over a synod at Toulouse (1119), which was mainly concerned with reform of the French Church, Callistus proceeded to Reims, where he held a great council (1119), attended by some 400 prelates and by Louis VI of France. Negotiations with Henry V broke down after he came to Mousson with a large army, and papal plans to meet with the emperor were abandoned. The emperor was excommunicated again (October 1119).

Callistus then went to Rome, where he was enthusiastically received by the people, who had meanwhile driven out the antipope. He allied himself with the Normans, who aided in the capture of Gregory VIII. Gregory, who had taken refuge at Sutri, was held prisoner, and subsequently other enemies of the pope in Italy were over-come. The pope then sent a new embassy to Henry V. A preliminary understanding with a truce was arranged at Würzburg in 1121. The following year, the famous Concordat of worms (1122) was arrived at in a synod held in that city. Because of the pope's patience and perseverance, the concordat was a reasonably satisfactory arrangement for both sides, though a complete victory for neither, bringing peace to both empire and Church, to the great relief of Christendom. The first lateran council (1123), convoked by Callistus, solemnly confirmed the Concordat of Worms and issued decrees against clerical marriage (see celibacy) and simony. It provided penalties against violators of the Truce of God (see peace of god) and against forgers of ecclesiastical documents, and renewed indulgences for crusading. During his pontificate Callistus also secured from henry i of england the acceptance of his candidate thurstan for the archbishopric of York, transferred metropolitan rights in Spain from the ancient See of Merida (Emerita) to the popular See of santiago de compostela, and settled the old French rivalry over metropolitan fights between Aries and Vienne in favor of the latter.

Bibliography: p. jaffÉ, Regesta pontificum romanorum ab condita ecclesia ad annum post Christum natum 1198, ed. s. lÖwenfeld (2d ed. Leipzig 1881–88; repr. Graz 1956) 1:780–821. u. robert, ed., Bullaire du pape Calixte II, 2 v. (Paris 1891); Histoire du pape Calixte II (Paris 1891). c. j. von hefele, Histoire des conciles d'après les documents originaux, tr. h. leclercq (Paris 1907–38) 5.1:568–592, passim. a. fliche and v. martin, eds., Histoire de l'église depuis les origines jusqu'à nos jours (Paris 1935) 8:378–395. É. jordan, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912) 11:424–438. j. haller, Das Papsttum (Stuttgart 1959–53) 2:505–512, 623. j. laudage, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche (3d ed. Freiburg 1993) 2:892. b.m. jensen, "Callixtus II Consecrated the Cathedral of Piacenza in 1123?" Classica et Mediaevalia 48 (1997) 389–406. Calixte II. Pape de 1119 à 1124, archevêque de Vienne, sous le nom de Gui de Vienne de 1088 à 1119 (Vienne 1988). j. n. d. kelly, Oxford Dictionary of Popes (New York 1986) 164.

[d. d. mcgarry]