The Courtier Bishop in Vitae from the Tenth to the Twelfth Century

Abstract

The vitae of bishops who came to office via service in the royal chapel of the Ottonian-Salian kings regularly contain a description of the court service of the young cleric, of his appearance, personality, and character. From these descriptions, which are at the same time vivid revelations of court life and manners, there emerges a picture of the aristocratic cleric as royal servant and future bishop in the imperial church. The circumstances that brought the figure of the courtier bishop' to prominence in the Ottonian empire are well known, but they are so closely tied to the subject of this paper that it will be useful to summarize them briefly.2 The close connection between court service and the bishop's office originated in the influence that rulers exerted on the appointment of bishops. Service to the ruler had been an avenue to the episcopate since late antiquity, and this continued in Carolingian times. But the frequency of this route, as well as its political importance, changed radically under Otto the Great and his successors. Otto built the episcopal office into an important political instrument, a buffer against the opposition of the feudal nobility. Loyal bishops could become powerful secular lords while holding ecclesiasti-