AllIALDUS, 



ARIALDUS. 



lists* iiiinnil will of Gregory VII. lurmounted all obstacles, established 

 it M a canon of til* church, and enforced its observance by means both 

 of Ui# spiritual aad temporal powers. 



Wido da Velato was made Archbishop of Milan after the death of 

 the faiiiom Hsribert in 104$. Wido was a worldly man, fond of ease, 

 and not very strict in matter* of dUripUna. The church of Milan, 

 ost other church** of that am, waa Tary corrupt. Simony wai 

 and commonly practised. Independently of the prie*ts who 



lik* most other church** of that am, waa Tary corrupt. Simony wai 

 openly and commonly practised. Independently of the prie*ts who 

 were Ugallv married, many other* kept concubine*, aad aome laalou* 





ignant at the 



abate, thought 

 ong {he clergy 



that the itrict enforcement of 



universal 'celibacy among the clergy was the only cure for the evil, 

 whilst other consideration, of eoMssiastiml polity contributed to make 

 clerical celibacy appear desirable. But in their declamations against 

 the lioantiousnea* of the clergy, they and the historian* and canonists 

 who came after them, have often confounded the married priests with 

 those who kept concubine*, and have thus disfigured the historical 

 fact*. Among those who first raised their voice against the corruption* 

 of the clergy was Anashno da Baggio, a canon of the church of Milan, 

 aad a man of timing and piety. Archbishop Wido, anxious to avoid 

 popular tumults, contrived to remove Anaelmo from Milan by having 



himapp 



of Lucca. But the deacon Arialdu* took up 

 the clergy, and aoon became a principal in it 



He found an soci*t in Landulfus, a man of noble birth and a ready 

 peaker. A third penon is mentioned, named Nazariua, a wealthy 

 banker who supplied the two other* with money to carry on their 

 agitation. It waa in the year 1056 that Arialdu* and Landulfus began 

 publicly to harangue the people of Milan, and to descant on the licen- 

 tious lire* of the clergy. Arialdus, on a day of festival, entered a 

 church at the head of a mob, while the priests were officiating, chaaed 

 them about, and aaised those who could not escape. He then pub- 

 lished a resolution binding all prieats and deacon* to separate from 

 their wives and live in celibacy, and he compelled all whom he caught 

 to sign the paper. The archbishop convoked a provincial synod at 

 Fontaaato in the district of Xovara, before which Arialdu* and Lan- 

 dulfu* were lummoned to appear and state their charge* against the 

 clergy, and a* they did not obey the summons, they were both excom- 

 municated by the synod in 1057. Upon this Arialdus repaired to 

 Rome, where Pope Stephen X. wa* then holding a council Both 

 Arialdu* and a deputation from the clergy of Milan appeared before 

 the council. The spokesman of the deputation acknowledged that 

 there was much reason and soundness in the doctrine supported by 

 Arialdu*, but he complained of bis manner, and of his intemperate 

 and factious real, which was exciting a schism in the church. Arialdus 

 having replied, the pope imposed silence, and, saying little about the 

 grounds of the quarrel, he pronounced the sentence of excommunica- 

 tion against Arialdus and Landulfus to be null. He then appointed 

 Anaelmo, bishop of Lucca, and Cardinal Hildebrand (afterwards 

 Oregory VII.) a* legate* to Milan, to investigate the matter in dispute, 

 and he ordered Arialdu* to go with them. The legates were not well 

 received at Milan. Having investigated the conduct of the clergy, 

 they returned to Home to make their report, leaving at Milan Arialdus 

 and Landulfus, whom they encouraged to persevere in their work. It 

 seems that the two reformer* succeeded in making convert* even 

 among the clergy, and that several priest* who had purchased livings, 

 resigns^ them, and that other* separated themselves from their wives 

 or dismissed their concubine*. 



In 1069. Nicholas IL, then pope, sent ss legates to Milan the learned 

 Petru* Damianu* and Bishop Anselmn. A tumult broke out soon after 

 their arrival. Damianus in hi* work 'Contra Clericorutn Intempe- 

 rantiam ' exhibits the difficulties of his position. " The fat bulls of 

 the church of Lodl beast me. bellowing out, ' We have the sanction of 

 tha- council of Tribur, which allow* clergymen to have wive* ; ' to which 

 I replied ' that the authority of the alleged council was of no avail, 

 if it illaagrssci from the decretal* of the Roman pontiff*.'" A new 

 difficulty presented itself. Damianus having churned precedence of 

 the Archbishop of Milan on public occasions, had given offence, not 

 only to the whole clergy, but to the people also, who did not like to 

 as* the humiliation of their ancient see. It was one of the objects of 

 the mission of Damianus to enforce the supremacy of Rome, and he 

 has reported in his works the principal argument* of which he made 

 as* for that object It seem* that the clergy remained silent, if not 

 convinced, and Damianus proceeded to expedite the affairs of dii- 

 oiplin*. As the whole clergy, including the archbishop, were guilty of 

 toon. t ** n old received custom at Milan to give and receive 

 fast for ordinations aad preferments, Damianus obtained from the 

 head, of the clergy their written promise to desist from tho practice 

 in future, and contented himself with awarding them certain canonical 

 penanoa* for paat tnnagreeaiona. Much was said on this occasion 

 against simony, bat little about the married priest* : onlr the arch- 



:.-, PR 



in hi* d 



married priest* ; only the arch 

 to endeavour, a* much as in him 



- ~ BMW^M mm BU I1IUJ 



lay, to make all priests and deacon* give up the company of their 

 wives and concubine*. Soon after, the Archbiahop Wido repaired 

 to the council l.tld at Rom* in April, 1069; and although Analdus, 

 ^JT!^ &5* 1 ooln P'J 1> 1 of continuance O f the irregularities 



him with 'the pallium and the putoral rig." ByTc^Ton^fTnat 

 Fi"" "rf < J"?' k ~P fa owa'Mn** were declared to be 



. r : - ' 



In 1041, after the death of \ichola*. Anselino, bishop of Lucca, wa* 

 made pope by the name of Alexander II. One of hi* first acts wa* to 

 write a pastoral letter to hi* townsmen, the clergy and people of 

 Milan, full of kind sentiments, but expressing his confident hope that 

 clerical chastity would be permanently honoured, and the opposite 

 vice be cast off among other heresies. Previous to this the agitation 

 against the clergy had somewhat subsided, as Arialdu* wa* deprived 

 of the active support of Landulfua, who became afflicted with a dis- 

 order of the chest, by which he lost his voice. At this juncture a 

 brother of Landulfus, named Erlembaldus, liapp-ning to return home 

 from a pilgrimage to Palestine, Arialdu* fixed upon him a* a fit 

 champion, and urged him to gird on hi* sword " like a new Matathiu 

 to fight for tho good cause." After some hesitation Erlembaldus 

 resolved to go to Home and abide by the decision of tho pope. Arialdus 

 went with him. Alexander IL received them affectionately, and 

 having assembled a consistory, in which Cardinal Hildebrand took the 

 lead, ho appointed Erlembaldus gonfaloniere or standard-bearer of the 

 Roman and universal church, and delivered to him the standard of 

 St. Peter, commanding him to unfurl it against the enemies of tho 

 church whenever it should be necessary to resort to force. 



On arriving at Milan, Arialdus and Erlembaldu* began to exercise 

 their mission, being supported by a large party among the people. 

 They separated by force the priests and deacons from their wivr 

 concubines, and they scourged many with whips studded with nails, 

 according to Arnulfus. The priests had also tbeir partisans, ai. 

 queut encounters took place, and confusion raged in the city. In the 

 following year (1063) Pope Alexander wrote two more letters, oue to 

 the clergy and the other to the people of Milan, forbidding the faithful 

 to attend the service of mass when performed by concubinarion or 

 aimoniacal priests, declaring the latter to have loat their benefices if 

 they persisted in their guilty course, and enjoining the heads of the 

 clergy to enforce these decisions. The clergy however, being ill- 

 disposed to obey, Arialdus proposed a conference. The archdeacon 

 Quibert, a canon, and another clergyman, come forward to argue with 

 Arialdus and Landulfus, who appears again on the stage on this occa- 

 sion. Nothing came of the conference. Arialdus complained that 

 there was hardly a clerical man who would join him, and that he was 

 only supported by laymen. Both he and Erlembaldus were in frequent 

 correspondence with Home, and especially with Cardinal Hildebroud, 

 and also with Peter Damianus. 



In 1066 Arialdus wrote to the pope complaining that the clergy of 

 Milan and the archbishop himself persisted in their old simoniacal 

 practices, and that many of the priests did not observe celibacy. 

 Erlembaldus went himself to Home with the letter, and returned with 

 a papal bull of excommunication against Archbishop Wido. The prelate 

 communicated the fact to the astounded congregation from his place 

 in the cathedral on Whit-Sunday morning, holding the bull in hi* 

 hand, and tolling the assembled multitude that this sentence of their 

 common degradation and ruin was the result of the intrigues of those 

 men who stood before them, pointing to Arialdus and Erlembaldus, 

 who had taken a conspicuous place opposite the archbishop ; that out 

 of respect for Ambrose, the church of Milan had never before been 

 subject to Home ; and that those who conspired to strip that ancient 

 see of its independence, deserved to be cast out of tho loud of the 

 living. Cries of " Death to them ! " resounded from various piirts of 

 the church. The scene that followed is variously related, but it would 

 appear that both the archbishop and Arialdus were roughly u<- 

 day or two after, the archbishop laid an interdict upon the whqle dio- 

 cese of Milan as long a* Arialdus remained in it ; church-service was 

 discontinued everywhere. The people, horror-struck, took the part 

 of their archbishop. Arialdus and Erlembaldua thought it prudent 

 to leave in the night, and they repaired to Legoano, which was a 

 domain of Erlembaldus. But as they were surrounded by enemies, 

 Arialdui asked a country priest of his acquaintance to conceal him in 

 his church. The priest betrayed him to the emissaries of the arch- 

 bishop. Arialdus was arrested, tied on a horse, and carried to tho 

 castlu of Arona on the Lake Maggiore, and brought before a niece of 

 the archbishop, called Uliva, who ordered him to ba taken to a 

 island on the lake, one of the now beautiful Borromco islands, and 

 gave secret instruction* to the guards to kill him. It is said that he 

 was offered his life if he would retract what he had said against the 

 archbishop, to which Arialdus replied that be would not save his life 

 by a lie. It is added that the guards hesitated to murder him, when 

 two priests or deacons of hi* enemies were sent in a boat by Uliva to 

 see that he was put to death, and they killed him after cruelly muti- 

 lating him. Hi* body wa* thrown into the lake. Thi* happened on 

 the eve of St Peter's day, June 23th, 1066. Unusual signs aud prodi- 

 gies, it is said, caused' the body to be found unoorruptod ten m .ntli -. 

 after, when Erlembaldua, at the head of an armed multitude. < 

 the body to Milan, where it was solemnly interred. Erlembaldus con- 

 tinued to agitate Milan for years after. The Archbishop Wido, worn 

 out with age and anxiety, resigned ; and a new schism broke out con- 

 cerning the election of his successor. At lost Erli-mbaldus was killed 

 in an affray in 1076. Arialdus was inserted in the catalogue of 

 martyrs by Pope Alexander II., and he is registered by the Bollandists 

 among the saints of the month of June. The result of the conteit 

 was that tho * of Milan became subject to that of Rome, like the 

 other see* of Italy, aud itn discipline was made uniform with that of tho 



