(Redirected from Pietro Damiani)
'Petrus Damiani' ('Saint Peter Damian', also 'Pietro Damiani' or 'Pier Damiani' -- c.
1007[1]–
February 21/22,
1072) was one of the most celebrated, universally loved and zealous reforming monks in the circle of
Hildebrand of the
11th century, made a
cardinal and (in 1823) declared a
Doctor of the Church.
Dante placed Petrus Damiani in one of the highest circles of ''Paradiso'' as a great predecessor of
Saint Francis.
Early life
He was born at
Ravenna, orphaned early, and after a youth spent in hardship and privation, showed such signs of remarkable intellectual gifts that a brother, Damian, who was
archpriest at Ravenna, took him away to be educated. Adding his brother's name to his own, he made such rapid progress in his studies of
theology and
Canon law, first at Ravenna, then at
Faenza, finally at
Parma, that when about twenty-five years old he was already a famous teacher at
Parma and Ravenna.
Religious life
About
1035, however, he deserted his secular calling and, avoiding the compromised luxury of
Cluniac monasteries, entered the isolated hermitage of Fonte Avellana, near
Gubbio. Both as
novice and as monk, his fervor was remarkable but led him to such extremes of self-mortification in
penance that his health was affected. On his recovery, he was appointed to lecture to his fellow-monks, then, at the request of
Guy of Pomposa and other heads of neighboring monasteries, for two or three years he lectured to their brethren also, and (about
1042) wrote the life of St.
Romuald for the monks of
Pietrapertosa. Soon after his return to Fonte Avellana he was appointed ''economus'' of the house by the
prior, who designated him as his successor. This, in fact, he became in
1043, and he remained prior of Fonte Avellana till his death.
A zealot for monastic and clerical reform, he introduced a more severe discipline, including the practice of
flagellation ("the ''disciplina''"), into the house, which, under his rule, quickly attained celebrity, and became a model for other foundations, even the great
abbey of
Monte Cassino: subject-hermitages were founded at
San Severino,
Gamogna,
Acerreta,
Murciana,
San Salvatore,
Sitria and
Ocri. There was much opposition outside his own circle to such extreme forms of penitence, but Peter's persistent advocacy ensured its acceptance, to such an extent that he was obliged later to moderate the imprudent zeal of some of his own hermits.
Another innovation was that of the daily
siesta, to make up for the fatigue of the night office. During his tenure of the priorate a
cloister was built, silver
chalices and a silver
processional cross were purchased, and many books added to the library.
Reformer
Although living in the seclusion of the cloister, Peter Damian watched closely the fortunes of the Church, and like his friend Hildebrand, the future
Gregory VII, he strove for reforms in a deplorable time. When
Benedict IX resigned the pontificate into the hands of the archpriest John Gratian (
Gregory VI) in
1045, Peter hailed the change with joy and wrote to the new pope, urging him to deal with the scandals of the church in
Italy, singling out the wicked bishops of
Pesaro, of
Citta di Castello, and of
Fano.
Extending the area of his activities, he entered into communication with the
emperor Henry III. He was present in
Rome when
Clement II crowned Henry III and his consort Agnes, and he also attended a
synod held at the
Lateran in the first days of
1047, in which decrees were passed against
simony.
''Liber Gomorrhianus'' and Hildebrand's reforms
After this he returned to his hermitage. About 1050, during the pontificate of
Pope Leo IX, Peter published a scathing treatise on the vices of the
clergy, ''Liber Gomorrhianus'', dedicating it to the pope. In this "Book of Gomorrah" Petrus Damiani made an attack on
homosexual practices, mutual masturbation, copulation between the thighs, anal copulation and solitary masturbation,
[1] as subversive disruptions against the moral order occasioned by the madness associated with an excess of lust. It caused a great stir and aroused not a little enmity against its author. Even the pope, who had at first praised the work, was persuaded that it was exaggerated and his coldness drew from Damian a vigorous letter of protest. Meanwhile the question arose as to the validity of the ordinations of simoniacal clerics. Peter Damiani wrote (about
1053) a treatise, the ''Liber Gratissimus'', in favour of their validity, a work which, though much combatted at the time, was potent in deciding the question in their favour before the end of the twelfth century.
Damiani was also a determined foe of
simony, but his fiercest wrath was directed against the married clergy. In June,
1055, during the pontificate of Victor II (q.v.), Damian attended a synod held at
Florence, where
simony and clerical
incontinence were once more condemned.
Papal envoy and Cardinal
During his illness the pope died, and Frédéric, abbot of Monte Cassino, was elected pope as
Stephen IX. In the autumn of
1057, Stephen IX determined to create Damian a
cardinal. For a long time he resisted the offer, for he was more at ease as an itinerant hermit-preacher than a reformer from within the Curia, but was finally forced to accept, and was consecrated
Cardinal Bishop of
Ostia on
November 30,
1057. In addition he was appointed administrator of the
Diocese of
Gubbio. The new cardinal was impressed with the great responsibilities of his office and wrote a stirring letter to his brother-cardinals, exhorting them to shine by their example before all. Four months later Pope Stephen died at Florence, and the Church was once more distracted by
schism. Peter was vigorous in his opposition to the
antipope Benedict X, but force was on the side of the intruder and Damiani retired temporarily to Fonte Avallana.
Milan
About the end of the year
1059 Peter was sent as legate to
Milan by
Pope Nicholas II. So bad was the state of things at Milan, that benefices were openly bought and sold and the clergy publicly married the women they lived with. But the resistance to the reform of
Ariald the Deacon and
Anselm, Bishop of Lucca rendered a contest so bitter that an appeal was made to the
Holy See. Nicholas II sent Damian and the Bishop of Lucca as his legates. But now the party of the irregular clerics took alarm and raised the cry that Rome had no authority over Milan. Peter boldly confronted the rioters in the
cathedral, he proved to them the authority of the Holy See with such effect that all parties submitted to his decision.
He exacted first a solemn oath from the archbishop and all his clergy that for the future no preferment should be paid for; then, imposing a
penance on all who had been guilty, he re-instated in their benefices all who under took to live in celibacy. This prudent decision was attacked by some of the rigourists at Rome, but was not reversed. Unfortunately, on the death of Nicholas II, the same disputes broke out; nor were they finally settled till after the martyrdom of St. Ariald in
1066. Meanwhile Peter was in vain pleading to be released from the cares of his office. Neither Nicholas II nor Hildebrand would consent to spare him.
He rendered valuable assistance to
Pope Alexander II in his struggle with the antipope,
Honorius II. In July,
1061, the pope died and once more a schism ensued. Damian used all his powers to persuade the antipope Cadalous to withdraw, but to no purpose. Finally
Anno II, Archbishop of Cologne and acting regent in Germany, summoned a council at
Augsburg at which a long argument by Peter Damiani was read and greatly contributed to the decision in favour of Alexander II.
In
1063 the pope held a synod at Rome, at which Damian was appointed legate to settle the dispute between the
Abbey of Cluny and the
Bishop of Mâcon. He proceeded to
France, summoned a council at
Châlon-sur-Saône, proved the justice of the contentions of Cluny, settled other questions at issue in the Church of France, and returned in the autumn to Fonte Avellana. While he was in France the antipope Cadalous had again become active in his attempts to gain Rome, and Damian brought upon himself a sharp reproof from Alexander and Hildebrand for twice imprudently appealing to the royal power to judge the case anew. In
1067 the cardinal was sent to Florence to settle the dispute between the bishop and the monks of
Vallombrosa, who accused the former of simony. His efforts, however, were not successful, largely because he misjudged the case and threw the weight of his authority on the side of the bishop. The matter was not settled till the following year by the pope in person.
In
1069 Damian went as the pope's legate to Germany to prevent King Henry from repudiating his wife Bertha. This task he accomplished at a council at
Frankfurt and returned to Fonte-Avellana, were he was left in peace for two years.
Early in
1072 he was sent to Ravenna to reconcile its inhabitants to the Holy See, they having been excommunicated for supporting their archbishop in his adhesion to the schism of
Cadalous. On his return thence he was seized with fever near Faenza. He lay ill for a week at the monastery of Santa Maria degl'Angeli, now Santa Maria Vecchia. On the night preceding the feast of the Chair of St. Peter at
Antioch, he ordered the office of the feast to be recited and at the end of the Lauds he died, at Faenza. He was at once buried in the monastery church, lest others should claim his
relics.
Having served the papacy as legate to France and to Florence, he was allowed to resign his bishopric in 1067. After a period of retirement at Fonte Avellana, he proceeded in 1069 as papal legate to
Germany, and persuaded the
emperor Henry IV to give up his intention of divorcing his wife Bertha.
During his concluding years he was not altogether in accord with the political ideas of Hildebrand. He died at Faenza, the year before Hildebrand became pope, as Gregory VII. "It removed from the scene the one man who could have restrained Gregory," Norman F. Cantor remarked (''Civilization of the Middle Ages'', p 251).
Although he has never officially been
canonised, Petrus Cardinal Damiani is considered to be a saint and was made a
Doctor of the
Roman Catholic Church by
Pope Leo XII in
1828.
Six times has his body been translated, each time to a more splendid resting-place. It now lies in a chapel dedicated to the saint in the cathedral of Faenza since
1898. No formal
canonization ever took place, but his cult has existed since his death at Faenza, at Fonte-Avellana, at Monte Cassino, and at Cluny. In
1823 Leo XII extended his feast (
February 21) to the whole Church and pronounced him a Doctor of the Church.
The saint is represented in art as a cardinal bearing a knotted rope (the ''disciplina'') in his hand; also sometimes he is depicted as a
pilgrim holding a
papal Bull, to signify his many legations.
Writings
Petrus Damiani's voluminous writings relect the spiritual conditions of Italy: the groundswell of intense personal piety that would overflow in the
First Crusade at the end of the century was an extremely vigorous controversialist, and his
Latin abounds in denunciatory epithets. He was especially devoted to the
Virgin Mary, and wrote an ''Officium Beatae Virginis'', in addition to many letters, sermons, and other writings. His most famous work is ''De Divina omnipotentia'', a long letter in which he discusses God's power.
External links
★
David Lorenzo Boyd, "Disrupting the Norm: Sodomy, Culture, and the Male Body in Peter Damian's ''Liber Gomorrhianus''" from the ''Catholic Encyclopedia''
★
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry
References
★
Footnotes
1. "five years after the death of the Emperor Otto III"
Further reading
★ Owen F. Blum, "The Monitor of the Popes: St. Peter Damian," in ''Studi Gregoriani'' vol. 2 (1947), pp 459-76
★ John Boswell, ''Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality'' Chicago (1980)
★ Pierre J. Payer, 1962. ''Book of Gomorrah : An Eleventh-Century Treatise against Clerical Homosexual Practices'', Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
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