Editing Anagni (section)

===Middle Ages===

Anagni was a [[diocese]], the seat of a bishop, since the 5th century. In the 9th century, the first Cathedral was built on the ruins of the temple dedicated to the Goddess [[Ceres (Roman mythology)|Ceres]]. This cathedral, including a [[hospital|hospice]], was rebuilt in the 11th century through the effort of bishop [[Peter of Anagni]], who convinced the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine Emperor]] [[Michael VII Doukas]] to provide funds and craftsmen.<ref name="Gasper_Giles">{{cite book |last1=Gasper |first1=Giles E. M. |last2=Gullbekk |first2=Svein H. |title=Money and the Church in Medieval Europe, 1000-1200: Practice, Morality and Thought |date=9 Mar 2016 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1317094364 |page=113}}</ref> The agricultural reconquest, begun in the 10th century, was supported by the ecclesiastic power, which allowed the secular lords to exploit the land and to build fortified settlements for their peasants, favouring new economic and demographic growth. The boundary walls were subjected to rebuilding and restoration in the course of the first millennium AD; but the major re-arrangement took place in the 16th century.{{cn|date=August 2023}}

During the 10th and the 11th centuries, the city strengthened its link with the papal court: In fact, the popes began to consider the old capital city of the Hernici a safer and healthier spot compared to Rome, which was the place of frequent epidemic diseases. For this reason, even if the presence of factions inside the town could not be prevented, Anagni remained faithful to the Roman Church, becoming one of the favourite residences of the popes, in the 12th and 13th centuries.

As a result, several events connected with the [[Guelphs and Ghibellines|struggle between Papacy and Empire]] took place in the city, including some of the most important political events in these two centuries.  In 1122, [[Callistus II]] promulgated the basic Bull of the [[Concordat of Worms]]; in 1159, [[Pope Adrian IV]] received in Anagni, during the siege of [[Crema, Italy|Crema]], the [[Papal legate|legate]]s of [[Milan]], [[Brescia]], and [[Piacenza]] (the building of the Civic Palace was assigned to the Ambassador of Brescia, Architect [[Jacopo da Iseo]]); Adrian died here later the same year.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Anagnia|volume=1|page=910}}</ref> In 1160, Alexander III excommunicated the Emperor [[Frederick Barbarossa]] in the Cathedral; in 1176, after the [[Battle of Legnano]], the same pope received the imperial legates, with whom he elaborated the ''Pactum Anagninum ''("Anagni's Agreement"), premise to the peace, which was achieved in Venice in 1177.
[[File:Cattedrale di Santa Maria (Anagni) con campanile.JPG|thumb|Front and Campanile of the Anagni Cathedral.]]

The 13th century was the golden age of the city. In one hundred years, Anagni produced four popes, three of them members of the Conti family. The first one to ascend to the papal throne was Lotarius Conti, who, as [[Pope Innocent III|Innocent III]] (1198–1216), was one of the outstanding personalities of his century, together with Frederick II of whom he favoured the coronation as Emperor of Germany and [[Francis of Assisi|Saint Francis]] whose first Rule he approved. Innocent III is credited with the elaboration and the most complete expression of the theocratic doctrine, the principle according to which absolute rule over every earthly power is ascribed to the Pope. He died in 1216, leaving the Church at the historical peak of its power.

Innocent III's efforts were taken up by [[Pope Gregory IX|Gregory IX]], who belonged to the powerful Family of Conti di Anagni. On September 29, 1227 in Anagni's Cathedral he excommunicated Emperor [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]], who had abandoned the Crusade that the Emperor himself had proclaimed. The suggestive ceremony took place by the lights of the torches, firstly shaken, then thrown on the ground and finally blown out by the prelates.

In September 1230, after the reconciliation, Gregory IX received Frederick II in Anagni, who in the meantime had been able to conquer, without bloodshed but by means of his great diplomatic ability, both [[Jerusalem]] and [[Nazareth]].

During his pontificate, [[Pope Alexander IV|Alexander IV]] (1254–1261), Gregory IX's relative and Anagni's third pope, had to face the heated ecclesiological dispute raised by the University of Paris against the Mendicant Orders. The leader of this dispute, [[William of Saint-Amour]], had published an anti-mendicant pamphlet, ''De periculis novissimorum temporum'' (''On the Dangers of the Last Days'') between the fall of 1255 and spring of 1256.  Alexander officially condemned the work in Anagni on October 5, 1256. In 1255 [[Clare of Assisi]] was officially canonized in Anagni.

In 1265 a provincial [[chapter (religion)|Chapter]] at Anagni of the Roman province of the [[Dominican Order]] assigned [[Thomas Aquinas]] as [[regent master]]<ref>Acta Capitulorum Provincialium, Provinciae Romanae Ordinis Praedicatorum, 1265, n. 12, in Corpus Thomisticum, http://www.corpusthomisticum.org/a65.html Accessed 4-8-2011  “Fr. Thome de Aquino iniungimus in remissionem peccatorum quod teneat studium Rome, et volumus quod fratribus qui stant secum ad studendum provideatur in necessariis vestimentis a conventibus de quorum predicatione traxerunt originem. Si autem illi studentes inventi fuerint negligentes in studio, damus potestatem fr. Thome quod ad conventus suos possit eos remittere”</ref> thereby transforming the existing ''studium conventuale'' at the Roman convent of [[Santa Sabina]] into the Order's first ''studium provinciale'' featuring as an innovation the study of philosophy (''studia philosophiae''). This ''studium'' is the forerunner of the 16th century College of Saint Thomas at [[Santa Maria sopra Minerva]], and the [[Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas|Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum'']]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mulchahey |first=M. Michèle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bK9axCYcbFIC&pg=PA279 |title="First the Bow is Bent in Study-- ": Dominican Education Before 1350 |date=1998 |publisher=PIMS |isbn=978-0-88844-132-4 |language=en}}</ref>