Editing Pope Alexander II (section)

== Policies ==
In the second half of April 1063, Pope Alexander held a synod at the Lateran Basilica in Rome, attended by more than a hundred bishops. During the synod, he excommunicated [[Antipope Honorius II|Honorius II]] (Bishop Cadalo). The pope and bishops also decreed: that no mercy was to be shown to simoniacs by preserving their dignity; that those who had been ordained by simoniacs were to be retained in their orders; in the case of a knowing consecration of a simoniac, both simoniac and consecrator were to be deprived of their offices; that a priest who has a wife or mistress should not say Mass; that no cleric should receive a church from a layman whether gratis or for pay; that no priest should hold two churches; that no one should be made a monk on the understanding that he would become abbot; and that a layman who becomes a cleric should change his costume.<ref>{{cite book|author=Philippus Jaffé|title=Regesta pontificum Romanorum ab condita Ecclesia ad annum post Christum natum MCXCVIII|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VbxF9wb05DIC|edition=second|volume=Tomus primus|year=1885|publisher=Veit|location=Leipzig|language=Latin|pages=570–571}}</ref>

In a letter of 15 May 1063, Pope Alexander ordered the archbishops of Reims, Sens, Tours, Bourges, and Bordeaux to obey his legate Cardinal Peter Damiani, Bishop of Ostia, "who is our own eye and the immoveable foundation of the apostolic see."<ref>Jaffe, p. 517, no. 4516.</ref> He also forbade Gervase, Archbishop of Reims, from consecrating Jocelyn as bishop of Soissons, on the grounds that he was a simoniac.<ref>Jaffé, pp. 518, no. 4517.</ref>

On 6 May 1065, Pope Alexander held a council in Rome, attended by at least eight cardinals and forty-three bishops. It is known that the privileges of the monastery of Saint Denis in Paris were confirmed, and it was granted the privilege of being exempt from the jurisdiction of the bishop of Paris.<ref>Jaffé, p. 575.   J. D. Mansi (ed.), ''Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio'', editio novissima, [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/20vs/200_Mansi/1692-1769,_Mansi_JD,_Sacrorum_Conciliorum_Nova_Amplissima_Collectio_Vol_019,_LT.pdf Tomus XIX] (Florence: A. Zatta 1766), p. 1037. Karl Joseph von Hefele (1911). [https://archive.org/details/histoiredesconci42hefele ''Histoire des conciles d'après les documents originaux''] (in French). 2nd edition. Tome IV.2: 870–1085. Paris: A. Letouzey. p. 1252.</ref> In 1067, he made a tour of the southern cities of the Papal States and of the Kingdom of Naples, holding a synod in Melfi in October and then later in the year at Siponto.<ref>Jaffé, pp. 581–582.</ref> In this council held at Siponto, Pope Alexander deposed Bishop Lando of Nucerino, Landolf of Tortiboli, and Benedict of Biccari, all on accusations of simony.<ref>Paul Fridolin Kehr (1925), [https://archive.org/stream/italiapontificia08cath#page/n466/mode/1up ''Italia pontificia''] Vol. VIII (Berlin: Weidmann 1925), p.&nbsp;14, no. 24. {{in lang|la}}</ref>

=== Reforms ===
In an attempt to curtail [[simony]] (the buying and selling of sacred things or positions within the church), Alexander II sent out many legates and archbishops across Europe to enforce reform among local synods. Any clergy suspected of simony were then investigated. Any clergy who was invested in his office by a lay person were required to undergo a new investiture by a papal legate. A well-known victim of these campaigns included the bishop of Constance, who was removed from office for simony.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Popes: Every Question Answered|last=Matthews|first=Rupert|publisher=Metro Books|year=2013|isbn=978-1-4351-4571-9|location=New York|pages=137}}</ref>

On 30 March 1068, Alexander held a synod in Rome, in which he absolved the bishop of Tortosa of a charge of homicide, but deposed the bishop of Florence on the grounds of simony; a charge of simony was laid against the bishop of Chiusi, who begged for absolution. The pope also ordered that churches not be held by lay persons and that ecclesiastical goods not be transmitted from parents to children as though they were subject to the laws of inheritance.<ref>Jaffé, p. 583, and no. 4657.</ref>

By 1071, the future [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Henry IV]], though only 21 (and still only German King and Roman Patrician), was vigorously at work recovering the powers, privileges and properties which had been allowed to slip away from imperial control during his regencies. He crushed a riot in Saxony in 1069 and overcame the rebellion of the Saxon aristocrat [[Otto of Nordheim]] in 1071. But in 1071, Pope Alexander's reforming activities resulted in an open rupture with the King. Archbishop Guido of Milan recently died so Henry IV appointed Godfrey (Goffredo) de Castiglione as successor to Guido. However, Alexander II declared this investiture void, and appointed a Milanese priest named Attone (Atto), who had already been elected archbishop on 6 January 1072, in an electoral meeting sanctioned by Pope Alexander.<ref>Bonizo of Sutri, ''ad amicum'', VI (p. 653 Jaffé.</ref> In February 1072, he held a synod in Rome, in which he anathematized Goffredo, and confirmed Atto as archbishop. He wrote a letter to Henry IV, informing him of the papal actions.<ref>Jaffé, p. 587.</ref> Henry IV sent five men to Rome to discuss the issue, but Alexander rejected and subsequently excommunicated them. This led to increased pressure between Henry IV and the popes.<ref name=":0" />

On 1 October 1071, Pope Alexander consecrated the high altar of the new basilica dedicated to Saint Benedict at the monastery of Montecassino. He was assisted by Cardinal Hildebrand and other cardinals, by ten archbishops, and forty-four bishops, as well as abbots, clergy, nobles, and people.<ref>Tosti, ''Storia della Badia di Monte-cassino'' I, pp. 337–341; 403–411. Leo Marsicanus, "Chronica Monasterii Cassinensis", Book III, in: ''Monumenta Germaniae Historia Scriptorum Tomus VII'' (Hannover: Hahn 1846), pp. 719–722.</ref> He had already, perhaps at the beginning of his reign, granted Abbot Desiderius personally the lordship over Terracina.<ref>Paul Fridolin Kehr (1925), [https://archive.org/stream/italiapontificia08cath#page/n466/mode/1up ''Italia pontificia''] Vol. VIII (Berlin: Weidmann 1925), p.&nbsp;146. {{in lang|la}}</ref>

Pope Alexander also reformed the administration of the church of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme in Rome and of the Lateran Basilica, by replacing the monks of the Order of Montecassino with Canons Regular of the Congregation of S. Frediano of Lucca.<ref>{{cite book|author=GabrielePennotti|title=Generalis totius Ordinis Clericorum Canonicrum historia tripartita|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cIlWU_4-j68C&pg=PA445|year=1624|publisher=Camera Apostolica|location=Rome|language=Latin|page=445}}</ref>

In liturgical matters, Alexander II ended the practice of singing or reciting the "Alleluia" during the Latin Church's observance of Lent.<ref>Cabrol, p. 46.</ref> This reform was permanent.<ref>{{cite web|title=Chapter II: The Structure Of The Mass, Its Elements, And Its Parts|url=http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/the-mass/general-instruction-of-the-roman-missal/girm-chapter-2.cfm|website=General Instruction Of The Roman Missal|publisher=usccb.org|access-date=23 March 2017}}</ref>

=== Position on Jews ===
In 1065, Pope Alexander II wrote to Béranger, [[Viscounts of Narbonne|Viscount of Narbonne]], and to Guifred, bishop of the city, praising them for having prevented the [[Pogrom|massacre of the Jews]] in their district, and reminding them that God does not approve of the shedding of innocent blood. On 11 June in that same year, he wrote a letter, admonishing [[Landulf VI of Benevento]] "that the conversion of Jews is not to be obtained by force."<ref>Simonsohn, pp. 35–37.</ref> He was warm in his praise for Spanish bishops, who protected the Jews against those who came to Spain crusading against the Moors.<ref name="Mann1910">{{cite book|author=Horace Kinder Mann|title=The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4pEOAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA328|volume=VI|year=1910|publisher=Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner|location=London|pages=327–328}}</ref>

=== Crusade against the Moors ===
Also in the same year, Alexander called for the [[Crusade of Barbastro]] against the Moors in Spain.<ref>Jonathan P. Phillips, ''The Second Crusade: Extending the Frontiers of Christendom'', St. Edmundsbury Press Ltd., 2007, p. 246.</ref><ref>Jonathan P. Phillips, ''The Second Crusade: Walking to Santiago de Compostela'', Penn State University Press, 1996, p. 101.</ref> Alexander II issued orders to the Bishops of Narbonne, instructing crusaders en route "that you protect the Jews who live among you, so that they may not be killed by those who are setting out for Spain against the Saracens ... for the situation of the Jews is greatly different from that of the Saracens. One may justly fight against those [the Saracens] who persecute Christians and drive them from their towns and their own homes."<ref>{{Cite book|title = Reconquest and crusade in medieval Spain|last = O'Callaghan|first = Joseph|publisher = Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press|year = 2003|isbn = 978-0-8122-3696-5|pages = 25}}</ref>