Vom Zwang, zu entscheiden. neutralitas im Alexandrinischen Schisma (1159–1177)

Abstract

Papal schisms were moments of decision-making in which the whole of Christianity was called upon to choose one contender for the papacy over the other. The Tractatus de scismaticis, composed in Salzburg around 1165, discusses the different choices available to contemporaries during the Alexandrine schism (1159–1177). In his treatise the anonymous author attempts to examine the conflict on a conceptual level and make sense of the current organisational crisis; in his endeavours he comes across a previously unobserved phenomenon which he refers to as neutralitas. The Tractatus’ reference to the behavioural pattern is the first (and until the Late Middle Ages only) use of the term in the context of church politics. As yet both the term and the phenomenon it describes have received little attention from medievalists. The aim of the present paper is to closely investigate and define the concept in question and to discuss whether neutralitas was a valid course of action, equal to choosing one or the other (anti-)pope. First, taking into consideration the Tractatus as well as other treatises composed during the Alexandrine schism neutralitas is defined as a temporary state of indecision during a prolonged process of decisionmaking. Therefore, neutralitas has to be strictly distinguished from our modern understanding of neutrality. Secondly, the analysis of the phenomenon’s treatment within contemporary sources shows that neutralitas was perceived as a form of deviant behaviour. It was determined to be a disruptive factor on both a conceptual and an operational level, as the concept not only contradicted established patterns of thought but was also perceived as an obstacle in the process of resolving the schism. Ultimately, the present paper argues that neutralitas did not amount to a viable form of decision-making. Neutralitas was a mere act of evasion. Maintaining a ‘neutral’ stance was impossible during a (high medieval) papal schism.