Nudo pede intrat urbem: Research on the Adventus of a Medieval Bishop through the First Half of the Twelfth Century

Abstract

A bishop’s first arrival at his see, one of the stages of transition of the higher clergy to the episcopate, had fundamental meaning in the process of his taking possession of a diocese. This essay deals with the emergence of one aspect of episcopal adventus: the prelate’s barefoot entrance into the city. Using evidence from sources composed ca. 1000–1150 the author argues that the barefoot element was not a formal part of early medieval episcopal entry rituals, and that its inclusion and usage by certain prelates from the tenth through the twelfth centuries indicates explicit intentions on their part to achieve mainly political goals. In the middle of eleventh century Leo IX incorporated the barefoot element in the papal adventus ceremonial, thus beginning a reconciliation between the pope and the Romans. The oldest description of barefoot episcopal adventus is St. Adalbert’s Vita prior, written ca. 999.