Violence and the Clergy in Late Medieval Albania: with and without the Penitentiary

VIOLENCE AND THE CLERGY I N L\ TE MEDlEY AL ALBANIA:
WITH AND WITHOUT THE PENITENTIARY1
Etleva La/a
111e history of fifteenth-century AJbania is marked by the war against the Otromans
led by George Kastrioti Skanderbeg. Tlus was a large-scale war in which the
whole Albanian population participared actively. The reasons for this strong resistance
and !arge participation of the Albanians againsr rhe Otromans are still a hot issue in Albanian
historiography 2 Whether this violence was justified as a war to pleasc a Ieader
like Scanderbcg, a war against the occupiers of the horneland of the Albanians, or
whether it was called a war agai.nst the infidels is an interesting qucstion, but not the reaJ
scope of this study. The fact to be emphasizcd here is that violcnce was evidently present
in the second haJf of the fifteenth century.
As a result of the continuous war against the Ottomans for a period of twentyfive
years, thc territory was largely devastarcd and the population was broughr to the
Iimits of survivaJ, not only from the econornic viewpoi.nr, but also concerning social,
political, rcligious, and cultural aspects of life. Thus, a rise in violent cnme in society
seems to havc bccn thc agenda of the day. Nevertheless, studies of the violence of this
time are totally missing with regard to medieval Albania. It is cerrainly to be expected
that in such difficult times crime would touch not only the secular social strata but also
the religious ones, which is the focus of this paper. This paper on violence and the Al-
The paper is the result of a project sponsorcd by The Fond of Exccllence granred by the Albanian Mln.stry
of Science and Education. The results herein are reprcscnting the own idcas of the author and do not
reflect thc opinion of thc Albanian Ministry of Scicnce and Education
Oliver Jens Schmitt in his book Skanderbeg. Der nm Alexander a•f dem Ballem! (Rcgensburg: 1-’nednch Pustet,
2009; Albanian original .S’I:ii1duf)(11. T.rana. K & B, 200H). prcsented rccently an alternative reason for
Skanderbeg’s resistance, personahzing it as simple revenge for the murder of his father. For a hot debate
on whcther Skanderbeg fought for personal reasons aga•nst the Ottomans or for more parnonc 1deals see
the Alban1an press in the period February-May 2009 and cspecially the srudies of Sander Lleshi, Ski’nderbm
ose misioni i pamundur i Schmill-il (Skandcrbcg or the impossible rmssion of Schmitt) (ftrana: Onufri,
2009) and Kristo Frasheri, Skt’nderbm i .rbpeifyyruar nga njt‘ bistorian ‚\}’icerian dbe dua analirli‘ shqiptari‘
(Scanderbcg, distorred by a Swiss historian and somc Albanian analysts) (firana: Dudaj, 2009) .
48 ETLEVALALA
banian dergy should, thus, only be taken as a first and modest approach towards a
largely untouched field of research.
Violence by and against the Catholic dergy was certainly not the most frequent
and representative type of violence in late medieval Albania. Most sources have survived
from the fifteenth century, when Catholicism had a serious setback either because of the
Turkish assaults or because of the spread of Serbian Orthodoxy. 1l1e Turkish presence
in the Balkans endangered Christianity in evety respect: institutionally, religiously, culturally,
econornically, etc. War against the Ottomans implied a considerable amount o f
violence in the territoty, which should have reduced, ro a certain extent, the violence
among the inhabitants themselves.
The aim o f this paper lies in pointing out the types of violence applied by and
used against the Catholic clergy in Late Medieval Albania. It addresses questions of the
extent to which the phenomenon of violence and the clergy was influenced by the generally
violent period, by Catholicism’s marginal role and the threats to Catholic identity,
and by the social structures in the local communities. The records o f the Holy Penitenoary
offer important information on what was considered a violent act, although one
has to bear in rnind that these records record only the cases with happy endings, those
which received absolution. Nevertheless, even these represent weil the mentality behind
the realities.
Concerning violence in general, I starr this paper with DuBtuck’s theoty about
the relativity of crime perception and judgment in the Later 􀃁liddle ,-\ges.3 He states
that, on the one band, one could go free after murder by payi.ng some money; on the
other band, the death penalty could follow a simple altercation, a rumor, suspicion, heresy,
or general xenophobia. According to him, courts of law existed, but were ofren
avoided in day-to-day operations.4 To the question of why conditions of life enta.iled so
much violence, DuBruck answers that this was bccause criminality was punished in a lax
manner by the authorities and/or frequently pardoned by rhe princes.5 Th
i
s restllted in a
general atmosphere of fear which then supported the dictum: „it is better to kill than to
be killed.“
The clergy was a category which in facr was not judged by any secular court,
but only by ecclesi.astical authorities. This was an old issue, prcsent since the earliest
times of Christianity, it was formulated and reformulared many times and discussed and
studied thoroughly by many scholars.6 At the local Ievel, this was regulated in the
Edelgard E. Dußruck, „Violencc and Late-Medieval Justice,“ Fifteenth-untury Studei s 27, A Speda/ /rsut on
Violent􀄸 in Fifteenth-C.ntury Tex/ and lmagt, ed. Edelgard E. Dußruck and Yeal Even (Rochester: Camden
House, 2002): 56-6 7. esp. 59-61.
lbidem, 59.
lbidem.
See Giacomo T odeschini, Visibilmmlt Crudtli: Mab.iz􀄹n11; persone so.rptlle e gente qualunque da/ Medioem all’eld
modtrna (Bologna: Mulino, 2007), csp. the second chapter: „L’infarnia evtdente,“ 43-78.
VIOLENCE AND THE CLERGY IN LA TE MEDlEY AL ALßANIA 49
provincial council o f Bar in 1099, in which it was explicitly mentioned that no one could
accuse any cleric o r even bring him to any secular court.7 Tbis is the reason why there
are so few cases of religious violence in other documents and also why the records of
the Holy Penitentiary are of such a great value, although highly formulized.
The records of the Holy Penitentiary show some interesting aspects of crimes
committed by the religious. It is already known that not all the crimes conunitted by the
clergy were presented at the Holy Roman Penitentiary for absolution, but only a limited
number of them. Concerning the Albanian and Montenegrin cases that received absolution,
according to these records, the only crimes committed were of two kinds: those
causing the death and those resulting in injury to a cleric.
A certain Duchas de Comitibus, a layman from the archdiocese of Bar, killed a
certain priest, whose name is not written in the record, and received absolution in 1467.8
The entry in the Penitentiary records is very short and does not mention anything about
the rcasons for this presbytericidium. A similar cri.me was also cotrunitted by another layman,
Boga Thuso, from the same diocese. In his case, however, the act was considered
as olim r!Jabolo instigante, which shows that he admitted full responsibility for the crime.9
Ir is interesting to note that the name of the victim, that is, of the priest who was killed,
remai.ns unmentioned in both of these cases. Thi.s is not only true for the laymen coming
from the archdiocese of Bar, but also for those corning from elsewhere. Georgi.us
Nanessi, a layman from Durres, killed a certain priest, but he remains anonymous. The
record of his absolution dates from 1 469.10
In the other cases, when violence was so extreme as toend with the death of
the victim, the name of the victi.m is always present in the record. A nobleman from
Shkodra, called Jacobus Cole Georgii., injured a priest called Faseales by hitting hin1 on
the head (in capite percussit et vulneravi􀂗.11 The noblemen Marinus J onima and Busa H umoy
from the same city, hit the deacon Petrus Costa cum pttgnis infacie. 1 2 It is i.mportant
to mention that in all these cases, it was extremely important that the vicrims fully re-
Milan von Sufnay, „Die Klrchcnzuständc im vortürkischen Albani“n: D1c orthodoxe Durchbruchzone 1m
katholischen Damme,“ 1n 1/f)m.b-albamscht For.rhcunlfn, ed. Ludw1g Thallöczy, vol. 1 (Mun1ch and Le1pz•g:
Verlag von Duncken and Humlot, 1916), 1 88-282, here 245; Acta el Drplomala ru Albamae Mediat Aelalir
TUu.rlranlai , ed. Ludwig Thallöczy, Konstandin Jirecek and Milan \’On Sufflay (Vicnna: 1-lolzhausen, 1913-
1918) (hcnceforth: Acta Albanitu], vol. I, 120; Kristo Frashcri, ed., Butime Ii‘ 􀆧edh11r<1 ptr Histonnt‘ e Shqipi’tise;
vol. II (Tirana, 1962), 59; Gmseppe ValentJru, Conttibuli alla C•onologia /llbanm (Romc: Reale Accaderrua
d’Italia, 1942, 1944), vol. rv, 15-6; Daniele Farlati, /ftyricum Sat:n�m (Ven•ce: Apud Sebast1anum Coleti,
1751-1 920), voi.VII, 28-9.
Penitenziaria apostolica, Reg. Mattim. el dit‘. , vol. 14, fol. 187v.
lbidem, fol. I 90v.
10 Jbidem, vol. 16, fol. 9Sv.
“ Jbidem, vol. 14, fol. 227r.
12 I bidem, fol. 227 r.
so ETLEVALALA
covered their health, and this is mentioned explicitly in the record with the expression
plene convaluit.
Violeace exercised by the priests themselves is no less frequent in these records.
Nicolaus Samuelis and Petrus Bathare, both priests of the canonical church of
Bar, attacked and hurt (pemmerunt et verberavenm􀅅 a deacon called Laurus, who certainly
recovered his health fully (plene convalui􀀩.13 The priest Nicolaus had also a similar incident,
and 1t happened that his aggressor was hi􀂨 own brother (jratrem suum carnalem),
Machusinos l\fuos. It would be highly inrriguing to know the reasons behind this act,
but all one can find out is that Machusino Miros asked for absolution from the Holy
Penitentiary and received it i4
In another case, it is difficult to teil for sure who was aggressor and who the
victim. Natalis Schorichic and Mariaus Borse, both priests of the archbishopric of Bar,
had a fight with each other and both asked for absolution, which they both received in
1471.15 Natalis describes his crime as having hit Mariaus in the face (in Jacie pemmit et
vulneravil),16 whereas Marinus describes his rnischief as presl?Jtemm pemmit cum sanguinis
e.fuf sione.17 The entries are so shon and so highly formalized that one cannot figure out
any other details.
Violence among and upon the clergy in the territories of medieval Albania and
Montenegro was recorded quite early in the Albanian territories, not only in the sources
of the Holy Penitentiary but also in other sources. These certainly do not imply any
penance or requests for absolution, but are pure facts that violence recorded in the Holy
Pen.itentiary was only one part, probably the smallest, of violence in the region. In the
year 1 199, Dorninic, the bishop of Shasi, was accused de homicidii crimine.18 The case was
judged by Johannes capellano and Symeones subdiai“onus, papal Iegates in partibus Dioclie.
Dorninic was forced to abdicate, but through a false papal Ietter he returned to his seat.
When Pope Innocent III was informed about this, Dorninic had to escape to Hungary.19
To the question of why Hungary, a convincing answer comes from Pal Engel’s study on
the realm of St. Stephen. The end of the twelfth century and the beginning of the thirteemh
were characterized by the growing influence of the papacy. Combined with the
zeal of the mendicant orders, this put an end to religious tolerance, especially in the
u
15
IG
17
!btJcm, vol. 17, fol. i8r.
lbtdcm, fol. 1 1 6v.
lhc ca􀟫e of Natalts Secrichte was rccordcd tn ibidcm, “0. . 18, fol. 166v, wherea􀁒 thc one of Marinus
Borse tn ibtdem, fol. 182v.
Ibidem, fol. 166v.
lbtdem, fol. 1 82v.
18 Acta Alhaniae I, n. 122.
I? Constanon Jirecek, SJtutt und Gere/Lschafl im mtllelolterlzcben Serbien. Studien zur Kulill‘!,tsChichte du 13. bi.r 15.
Jahrhundert!, 4 vols. (Vienna: Im Kornrrussion bei Alfred Hölder, 1 9 1 2-1919), vol. I, 55; Augustin Theiner
(ed.), Vetera monumenta Slotvt“llm Meridionalium HiJtoriam lllurtrantia, vol. !: 1 198-1549 (Romc: Typts Vaticarus,
1863), no. I 0, 13, 53.
VIOLEN CE AND Tl-JE CLERGY IN Li\ TE MEDlEY AL ALßANIA 51
royal courts. i\fter the fourth Lateran Council in 1215, Hungary was probably the only
kingdom where large numbers of Muslims still continued to live freely, undisturbed by
any restnction. Even worse, there were Christians who had found it advantageaus to
convert to Islam 211 Such a milieu was certainly an ideal place for any fugicive priest accused
of a crime.
The earliest regulation against violence at the local Ievel was recorded in the
Provincial Council of Bar in 1 1 99 21 The Iack of a central secular authority and local
guarreis of different parties, which had already started in thc twelfth century, reached a
peak in 1 236, when the life of the bishop of Drivast was sacrificed: he was murdered by
the citizens of Drivast.22
The clerics were sometimes also stubborn. In 1249, when the archbishop of
Bar tried to suspend a suffrage bishop until he had been nominared by the pope, the
bishop ignored his superior’s orders and continued to celebrate mass. Finally the pope
suspended all the bishops of the archdiocese until they appeared before him in Rome.
Only the archbishop of Bar was excluded from this order, for he was said to be too
elderly to travel to Rome.23
Andreas Hungarus (1307-1324), archbishop of Bar, was a similar problematic
Catholic personality in the region. He was a Franciscan from Zadar. After some years of
a.rchiepiscopal ministry in Bar, he ha.d to step down from his office because the cathedral
chapter of !\ntibari sent many accusa.cions against him to the papal curia in Avignon.
He gave up the papal pal!ium in Avignon, but replaced it with a false one on his
arrival back in Bar. With this false authority, he removed Michael, the bishop of Arbanum,
and nominared Lazarus, the abbot of the monastery of St. Alexander, as his successor.
24 Otherwise, it was typical of him to give incorrect information to the Papal Curia,
not to declare the vacant offices or the other way around, to declare offices which
were not vacant as vacant, etc.25
There were often powerful archbishops, like Andreas Hungarus, who did not
respect papal power, but did as they pleased. i\S a result, the Curia was badly informed
and often nominared bishops where one was already there. Combined with the influence
of powerful families, this resulted in double, somecimes even triple, parallel bishops
in Arbanum, Alessio, Dagno, and elsewhere 111 the fourteenth and the fifteenth
:w Pal Engel, Tht Rtabn of SI. Sitpben: A Hislory of Meditl'<ll H11ngary, 895- 1526, transl. Tamas P:ilosfalvi (London
and Ncw York: I.B. Tauris Publishers, 2001), 97.
2! Sufflay, „Kirchenzuständc“, 245; A:·Ja Albanai e I, 120. Frashen, cd., Burime Ii‘ zy;edlmra, 59; Vakntini, ConJribuli,
vol. IV, 15-6; Farlati, /�/yrirum Sa,mm VII, 28-9.
22 Sufflay, Kuchcnzustände, 245; Acla A/baniae I, 1 69, 195.
2′ John V. A. Fine jr., The Lile Medill’al Balkan.r. A Criliral511n􀀯y.from Jlx Laie Twtljlb Cmlury Ia Jbe 01/oman
Ctmquer/ (Ann Arbor: ‚) ‚he University of Michigan Press, 1994), 46.
24 Theincr, Mon11mmla S/m’Orum I, 135, 1 59; Jirecek, Slaal und GmiLrdXJjl, 55.
2s Sufflay, „Kirchenzustiinde,“ 246.
52 ETLEVA J.AI..A
centuries 26 Such misconduct of the leading Catholic authorities in the region certainly
had a negative impact on the local community, which was reflected not only in Iack of
respect but sometimes also in violent actions against the Catholic clergy and institutions.
Such was the case in the years 1265-1266, when Andrea Vrana set the church of Rubig27
on fue. Th.is church had become Catholic at that time and was also one of the oldest
and most important sanctuaries in the country. A. sirrular act was also attempted at the
beginning of the fifteenth century; in 1401, two Franciscans from Durres tried to set fue
to their own monastery, for which they were tortured .28
The hostility of the community towards the Catholic authorities, demonstrated
from time to time in the sources, was often caused by interaction with the regional
secular politics. So, for instance, when the archbishop of Ragusa pretended for the last
time to all the territories of the :\ntibari See (1247-1255), the delegates of the
archbishop of Ragusa, who pretended to have been sent by the Pope, were expelled in
an unfriendly way by the inhabitants of Bar, shouting: Quid est papa? Dominus noster rex
Urosius est nobis papaf29 Fine describes very vividly this occasion:
In 1 247, after the death of an Archbishop of Bar had created a vacancy in that
see, an envoy of the Archbishop of Dubrovnik came to Bar to read a Ietter expressing
Dubrovnik’s rights. The Serbian-appointed prince in Bar tried to be
agreeable and neutral. But the leading cleric in Bar at the time, the archdeacon,
could not find the time to meet the envoy. The archdeacon refused the first
summans because he had to have lunch and the second because he had to go
hunting; so eventually the Ragusan archbishop’s Ietter was read to an assembly
demanded by the envoy and convoked by the prince, but attended on.ly by the
lay population, with the clerics prominent by their absence. The citizens
shouted down the envoy, and when he suggested that the pope supported Dubrovnik’s
claim they cried, „What is the pope? Our Iord, King Urosh, is our
pope!“ After this failure the embassy, on the verge of departing, heard rumors
that it was to be attacked on the road. So the prince gave it an escort, including
his own son, to see it safely along its route.3°
The written sources show a considerable nurober of Catholic clerics in the Albanian and
Montengrin territories who were quite disobedient rowards the Holy See and abused
their authority in all possible ways. Johannes, archbishop of Bar (1363-1 373), perhaps
24 lbrdem.
27 Ofurrutcr Shutenqi, „N1c mbishknm 1 Arbrit (1 190- 1216) dhc mbrshknmc te qcra g,erur nt: 11-!.rdrte“ (fhc
mscnpnon of Albamim (I 190-1216) and other inscnpuons found in i\lirdita), Studime 1 /irtorike 3 (1967):
131-58, esp. 147.
28 Sufflay, „Kirchcnwstandc,“ 246.
2? Tadija Smiciklas (cd.), Cotkx Dip!omafim.r regni Croafim. Dalmalai e el Slamniae (Za�:,’fcb: i\cadcmia Seiennarum
er Artium Slavorum Mcndionalium, 1904), vol. IV, 31!\, 507;Jirecek, .Jtaat und Cm!Lrdkljt, l, 54.
“ Fine, Late Mulin’tl! ßalkanr, 139.
VIOLF.NCE AND THE CLERGY IN LATE MEDJEV AL ALBANIA 53
did not commit murder, but he engaged in highly aggressive acts.31 The bishop of
Shkodra could not reside in his see in 1368 because Johannes did not allow him to do
so.32 In 1369, he deported the bishop of Lezha, nominared by Pope Urban V,33 and in
1371 he made Dominic, another bishop of Lezha, flee the potentia laicalisY Nothing is
mentioned about the kind of violence he used, but one thing is sure: nobody flees
unless being forced to do so.
Violence is also implicitly described in the case of the bishop of Kotor. In a
Ietter of the community of Kotor addressed to the Venetian Senate, he is accused of
twenty-five delinquencies. He hid behind the privileges of his religious office, and since
he was the bishop he hin1self was also the judge. The Venetian Senate asked the bishop
to travel to Venice, adding that if he failed to appear in the city he would be in a conflict
with the Signoria .35 This decision was not called a violation of his privilege, nor was it a
call to court. Nevertheless, this call was effective enough to make even the bravest man
tremble with fear. Such cases are not often mentioned in the source, but they show the
psychological violence used by the secular authority against the clergy.
The records of the Holy Penitentiary show the most extreme cases of violence,
although murder was neither the only nor the most frequent type of aggression and
violence by the clergy. These records have an in1portant role in highlighting the mentality
behind violence and aggression. Murder is sometimes treated as equal to a beating,
although only the luckiest cases are recorded and nothing is known about the petitioners
who did not receive absolution. Marinus Firman (1492-1499), for instance, died a
tragtc death in Durres,36 but nothing has been found about it in the records of the Holy
Penitentiary so far. The Iack of such a record could be explained either as a failure of
the petitioner to receive absolution, or as a rnissing request for absolution. The latter
case could be justified by the presence of the Ottomans in the region, which offered an
alternative way of living to all those who comrnitted crimes. The Ottoman conquest put
the lives of the Catholic clergy at even more risk than before and in extreme cases agl1
Sufflay, „Kirchenzustände“, 246: „Er konnte nach e•genem Wille schalten und walten . … Die päpstLchtn
Ernennungen, die ihm nicht passten, litss er unb􀐐chtet. Er griff auch in dtn Sprengel von Durazzo nach
Arbanum und Alessio über.“
lZ Sufflay, „Kirchcnzustände,“ 246, Conrad Eubel, Hitrarrhia Catho/i;a, vol. I (Regtnsburg: Monasteri, 1898),
559.
‚·‘ Theiner, Mom1mmla Slat’Omm, 273.
l4 Sufflay, „Kirchenzuständt,“ 247, Thciner, Monumenla Slal’Omm l, 273.
15 Giustppe Valentin.i, Lo Jlalulo pmonale in Alban ai all’tp(}(.’O di Slea nderbtg (AppHnli dagli an·hizi della RtpHp hl<ia
Ventla} (Rom.:: Shejzat/Le Pleiadi 1967), note 38: Dt<„IO miitr /o Vuco/’0, dlf,ando da1unlr rHdirio <I in prmnlta
dt miJer lo Conte rhe per d Papa el t fJidtre in ltmporal e Ipiritua/, el rum quula audada mele man .ru tuli Ii male abialt
el com􀀻rteli in JJIO IIJO . . . (R) . . mandttHr Comili nOJiro Catari quod mandan: debtal dicto Epümpo qHod Jllb pena
indgi naloi nJi grutie noJirr debeat JJibito ad pmenlai m nOJiram Jt conflrn (13.IV.1426 – Mjx. vell. 56, f. 9<·< (ol.im f.
7<·•).
l6 Sufflay, „Kirchenzustände,“ 245; Farlati, li!JricHm Sacrum VII, 374.
54 ETLEVA LALA
gressors could go freely and convert to Islam. This is the reason why most of the bishops
of Bar were afraid to stay in the region, but rcsided in Italy aftcr 1 467.37 The
archbishop of Bar, Philip, and his successors had to concede their holdings in the areas
occupied by the Ottomans in 1 489.38
In conclusion, I would state that violence in medieval Albania is an open area
of research, with many questions and difficulties, but with a good perspective for successful
studies because it presents an important gateway to the mentality of the people
at that time. The main challenge is the fragmentary nature of the docwnents, which
show only small and sometimes unconnected pieces of the puzzle of reality. Nevertheless,
even through the fragmentary data ooe can recognize general patterns and draw
preliminary conclusions. The Catholic clergy in the Albanian and Montenegrin territories
tended to be highly conscious of the authority rhey had through their ecclesiastical
positions. It seems that they often misused this authority, becoming stubborn in many
cases, and this often caused clashes with other clerics and with the lay population. The
few cases recorded in the Holy Penitentiary und er the de divems Jormis ca tegory, show in
general one kind of violence: physical beati.ngs, which may or may not have resulted in
murder. The question to be answered through other studies is whether this kind of violence
was the only one recognized as such or whether this was simply the one that predominated
in this period of time.
J7 Sufnay, „Kirchenzustände,“ 220; Farlati, li!Jricum Sacrum VII, 299.
:13 Thconer, Momunenla Slat’Onlm 713, f. 527-8: Phi/ippo, arrhiepirci1JIO Antiban:nri el eiu.r immedialo rum.r.ron quaedam
jt�culratem in partibus a Tu n·his ()l.ntpatsi com􀁎dunlur.
VIOLENCE AND THE MEDIEVAL CLERGY
CEU MEDIEVALIA 16
MEDIUM AEVUM QUOTIDIANUM
Sonderband 26 (201 0)
Series Editor: J6zsef Laszlovszky
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Violence and the Medieval Clergy
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!. Jaritz, Gerhard, 1949- 1!. Marinkovic, Ana.
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261.8’3–dc22
2010052375
Printed in Hungary by Akaprint Kft., Budapcst
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………………… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Peter Clarke, The Meclieval Clergy and Violence: An Historiographical Introduction . . . . 3
Kirsi Salonen, The Apostolic Penitentiary and Violence in the Roman Curia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Torstein jorgemen, „Killings, Unfortunately, Take Place More Often Here than
Anywhere Else:“ Civil and Clerical Homicide in Late Meclieval Norway . . . . . . . 29
Etleva Lo/a, Violence and the Clergy in Late Meclieval Albania:
with and without the Penitenriary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Gerhard Jmitt The Bread-Knife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Gordan Ravanfif, Sacred Space, Violence and Public Law 111 the Cloisters
of the Franciscan and Dominican Hauses ofDubrovnik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Ne/la Lonza, The Priest Barbius and His Crime before the State and Church
Authorities of Meclieval Dubrovnik . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
List of Contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
PREFACE
Studies of the Apostolic Penitentiary and its role and function for all strata of
late medieval society have become an important field of research at tbe international
Ievel. The requests of Christians for grace to be granred by the papal curia offer information
about a variety of problems and needs that confronred both clerics and laypeople
and made petitions to rhe pope necessary or, at least, advisable.
Since 2001, the Department of Medieval Studies of Central European University
has been concentrating on comparative researcb in the East Central European dara
of the Penitentiary Registers. This has led to intensive cooperation with other scholars
in the field, to a number of international meetings and the publication of their results.1
The most recent of these workshops was held in Dubrovnik in 2008 and dealt with a
research question for which rhe Penitentiary registers contain rich material: „Coping
wirb Violence, and the Medieval Clergy (from the Local Settlement of Dispute to Approaching
the 1\postolic Penitentiary).“
In recent decades research into violence in the Middle Ages has seen a particular
boom. In a !arge number of studies historians discovered that violence was omnipresent
in medieval society and affected all areas of life and the members of all social
strata. Although one has to be careful with such generalizations, it can be stated that the
survivi.ng sources deal regularly with issues of violent actions, signs and results of violence,
violent people and coping with violence. Members of the clergy played an important
role in recordi.ng such evidence – as weiters about violence and critics of violence,
but also as perpetrators, victims, and witnesses. However, systematic analyses of
the patterns of behaviour and the different functions and actions of clerics on these
issues have not yet been realized often in a context-bound and comparative way. The
Dubrovnik workshop aimed to contribute towards changing this situation and offer a
forum to discuss questions about the various roles of medieval clerics in the attempts
The results of meetings at Bergen (2003) and Budapest (2004) were published in Gerhard Jaritz,
Torstern J0rgensen and Kirsi Salonen (ed.), The Lang Arm of Papal Authority. Late Medieva/
Chnsllan Peripheriesand Their Commumcation wllh the Holy See, CEU Medievalia 8 (Budapest and
New York: Central European University Press, 2005); selected papers of a workshop at Rome (2005)
may be found in iidem (ed.), … et usque ad ultimum terrac The Apostolic Penitentiary in Local
Contexts, CEU Medievalia 10 (Budapest and New York: Central European University Press, 2007).
2 PREFACE
and processes designed to cope with violence. Particular emphasis was put on the function
of the Apostolic Penitentiary and its decisions in th.is context. This volume contains
selected contributions from the meeting.
In his introductory paper, Peter Clarke offers an overview of the state of the
art of research into the connection of the clergy and violence in the :Middle J\ges. Kirsi
Salonen concentrates on violence at the Roman curia and its reflection in the Perutentiary
records. Torstein ]0rgensen and Etleva Lala deal with violence and the clergy in
two peripheral areas of medieval Western Christianity, namely, Norway and Albania,
and also include Penitentiary evidence in their analysis. Gerhard Ja ritz sn1dies the role of
one important object in the violence-bound argumentation of the supplicants to rhe
Penitentiary: the short bread-knife that was allowed to be carried by everyone and did
not count as a weapon, but seems to have been used regularly as such. Gordan Ravancic
and Nella Lonza offer analyses of problems of violence occurring in the clerical space of
medieval Dubrovnik.
November, 2011 Gerhard Jaritz (Budapest and Kl:ems)
Ana Marinkovic (Budapest and Zagreb)