Editing Pope Clement II

{{Short description|Head of the Catholic Church from 1046 to 1047}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Pope
| honorific-prefix = [[List of popes|Pope]]
| name = Clement II
| image = Grabfigur Clemens II.jpg
|caption=Memorial in [[Bamberg Cathedral]] dating to about 200 years after his death.
| title = [[Bishop of Rome]]
| birth_name = Suidger von Morsleben-Horneburg
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
| term_start = 25 December 1046
| term_end = 9 October 1047
| predecessor = [[Pope Gregory VI|Gregory VI]]
| successor = [[Pope Benedict IX|Benedict IX]]
| birth_date = 
| birth_place = [[Hornburg]], [[Eastphalia]], [[Duchy of Saxony]], [[Holy Roman Empire]]
| death_date = 9 October 1047
| death_place = [[Pesaro]], [[Papal States]]
| buried = [[Bamberg Cathedral]]
| resting_place_coordinates = 
| other = Clement
}}
[[File:Hornburg_Clemens_Grundstein.jpg|thumb|262px|Sculpture at St Clement's church, Hornburg]]
'''Pope Clement II''' ({{langx|la|Clemens II}}; born '''Suidger von Morsleben-Horneburg'''; died 9 October 1047) was head of the [[Catholic Church]] and ruler of the [[Papal States]] from 25 December 1046 until his death in 1047. He was the first in a series of reform-minded popes from Germany. Suidger was the [[bishop of Bamberg]]. In 1046, he accompanied King [[Henry III of Germany]], when at the request of laity and clergy of Rome, Henry went to Italy and summoned the [[Council of Sutri]], which deposed [[Benedict IX]] and [[Sylvester III]], and accepted the resignation of [[Pope Gregory VI|Gregory VI]]. Henry suggested Suidger as the next pope, and he was then elected, taking the name of Clement II. Clement then proceeded to crown Henry as emperor. Clement's brief tenure as pope saw the enactment of more stringent prohibitions against [[simony]].

== Early career ==
Born in [[Hornburg]], [[Duchy of Saxony]], in what is now [[Lower Saxony]], [[Germany]], he was the son of Count Konrad von Morsleben-Horneburg and his wife, Amulrad von Meyendorf. In 1040, he became [[Bishop of Bamberg]].<ref name=Loughlin/>

In the autumn of 1046, there were three rival claimants to the papacy, in St. Peter's, the Lateran, and St. Mary Major's. Two of them, Benedict IX and Sylvester III, represented rival factions of the nobility. The third, Pope Gregory VI, in order to free the city from the House of Tusculum, and Benedict's scandalous lifestyle, had paid Benedict money in exchange for his resignation. Regardless of the motives, the transaction bore the appearance of simony. Questions regarding the legitimacy of any of them could undermine the validity of a coronation of Henry as Holy Roman Emperor. King Henry crossed the Alps at the head of a large army and accompanied by a retinue of the secular and ecclesiastical princes of the empire, for the twofold purpose of receiving the imperial crown and of restoring order.<ref name=Loughlin>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04017a.htm Loughlin, James. "Pope Clement II." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 26 September 2017</ref>

== Papacy ==
[[File:Clemens II Ornat 1 Bamberg Diözesanmuseum.jpg|thumb|262px|Robes belonging to Clement II in the Bamberg Diocesan Museum]]
In 1046, Suidiger accompanied King Henry on his campaign to Italy and in December, participated in the Council of Sutri, which deposed former [[Benedict IX]] and [[Sylvester III]] and persuaded [[Pope Gregory VI|Gregory VI]] to resign. Henry nominated Suidger for the papacy and the council elected him, making him the first pope placed on the throne by the power of the German emperors.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Clement/Clement II|display=Clement s.v. Clement II.|volume=6|page=483|first=Louis Marie Olivier|last=Duchesne|author-link=Louis Duchesne}}</ref> Suidger insisted upon retaining the bishopric of his see, partly for needed financial support, and partly lest the turbulent Romans should before long send him back to Bamberg. Suidger took the name Clement II. Immediately after his election, Henry and the new pope travelled to Rome, where Clement was enthroned. He then [[coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor|crowned]] Henry III as [[emperor of the Holy Roman Empire]].<ref name=Loughlin/>

Clement's election as pope was later criticized by the reform party within the papal curia due to the royal involvement and the fact that the new bishop of Rome was already bishop of another diocese. Contrary to later practice, Clement kept his old see, governing both Rome and Bamberg simultaneously. Clement's first pontifical act was to crown Henry and [[Agnes of Poitou]]. He bestowed on the Emperor the title and diadem of a Roman patrician, a dignity which was commonly understood to give the bearer the right of indicating the person to be chosen pope.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Clement II |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095617127 |access-date=2024-02-10 |website=Oxford Reference |language=en }}</ref>

Clement II's short pontificate, starting with the Roman [[synod]] of 1047, initiated an improvement in the state of affairs within the Roman Church, particularly by enacting decrees against simony. A dispute for precedence among the Sees of Ravenna, Milan, and Aquileia was settled in favour of Ravenna.<ref name=Kollmorgen>{{cite web| url = http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2009/05/catholic-bamberg-vestments-of-pope.html#.WgPI69Je7IV| title = Kollmorgen, Gregor. "Catholic Bamberg: The Vestments of Pope Clement II and Other Treasures from the Diocesan Museum", ''New Liturgical Movement'', May 29, 2009}}</ref>

== Death ==
[[File:Grave pope Clemens II (The only grave of a pope north of the alpes).jpg|thumb|Grave of Clemens II, Bamberg Cathedral]]
Clement accompanied Henry III in triumphal progress through southern Italy and placed Benevento under an [[Interdict (Catholic canon law)|interdict]] for refusing to open its gates to them. Proceeding with Henry to Germany, he canonized [[Wiborada]], a nun of [[Abbey of Saint Gall|St. Gall]], martyred by the Hungarians in 925. On his way back to Rome, he died near Pesaro on 9 October 1047.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www2.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios996-ii.htm#Morsleben| title = Miranda, Salvador. "Morsleben und Hornburg, Suidger von", ''Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church'', Florida International University, 2015| access-date = 2015-03-16| archive-date = 2017-09-05| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170905224526/http://www2.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios996-ii.htm#Morsleben| url-status = dead}}</ref> His corpse was transferred back to [[Bamberg]], which he had loved dearly, and interred in the western choir of the [[Bamberg Cathedral]]. His is the [[List of extant papal tombs|only tomb of a pope north of the Alps]].<ref name=Kollmorgen/>

A toxicologic examination of his remains in the mid-20th century confirmed centuries-old rumors that the pope had been poisoned with [[lead sugar]].<ref>Specht W and Fischer K (1959). Vergiftungsnachweis an den Resten einer 900 Jahre alten Leiche. Arch. Kriminol., 124: 61–84. [Translation:Intoxication evidence in the remains of a 900-year-old corpse]</ref> It is not clear, however, whether he was murdered or whether the lead sugar was used as medicine.
<gallery>
Clemens II Grab 1 Diözesanmuseum Bamberg.jpg|Artifacts from Clement's grave in the diocesan museum: hair, chalice, gauntlets, medallion
Clemens II Grab 2 Diözesanmuseum Bamberg.jpg|Fabrics
Clemens II Grab 3 Diözesanmuseum Bamberg.jpg|Fabrics and shoe remnants
</gallery>

== References ==
<references/>
{{catholic|title=Pope Clement II}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book|last1=Dechant|first1=Alfons|last2=Göller|first2=Luitgar|title=Clemens II., der Papst aus Bamberg: 24 Dezember 1046 – 9 Oktober 1047|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JZcuAQAAIAAJ|year=1997|publisher=St.-Otto-Verlag|location=Bamberg|language=German|isbn=978-3876930787}}
* Dolley, M. (1969). "Some Neglected Evidence from Irish Chronicles Concerning the Alleged Poisoning of Pope Clement II," ''Frühmittelalterliche Studien'' 3, 1969, pp.&nbsp;343–346.
* {{cite book|last=Gresser|first=Georg |title=Clemens II.: der erste deutsche Reformpapst|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y-IRAQAAIAAJ|year=2007|publisher=Schöningh|location=Paderborn|language=German|isbn=978-3506763297}}
* Mann, Horace K. (1902). ''[https://archive.org/details/livesofpopesinea05mannuoft The lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages]''  Volume V (London, K. Paul, Trench, Trübner, & co.),  pp.&nbsp;270–285. 
* {{cite book|editor=Migne, J.-P.|title=Patrologiae cursus completus, Series Latina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=APVQAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1|volume=Tomus CXLII (142)|year=1880|publisher=apud Garnier fratres, apud J.-P. Migne|location=Paris|language=Latin|pages=577–590}}
* Timmel, R. (1982).  "Bischof Suidger von Bamberg – Papst Clemens II., † 1047," ''Fränkische Lebensbilder'' 10, 1982, pp.&nbsp;1–19.
* Zimmermann, G. (1980). "Bischof Suidger von Bamberg – Papst Clemens II.," in: ''Sorge um den Menschen. Festschrift zum 25jährigen Bischofsjubiläum von Alterzbischof Joseph Schneider'', (ed. H.G. Röhrig) Bamberg 1980, pp.&nbsp;125–135.

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== External links ==
* Laqua, Hans Peter (2000). "[http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/clemente-ii_%28Enciclopedia-dei-Papi%29/ Clemente II]"  Enciclopedia dei papi (Treccani 2000).

{{Commons category|Clemens II|Clemens II.}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Pope Gregory VI|Gregory VI]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pope]]|years=1046–1047}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pope Benedict IX|Benedict IX]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Popes}}
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{{History of the Catholic Church}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Clement 02}}
[[Category:1047 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Wolfenbüttel (district)]]
[[Category:German popes]]
[[Category:11th-century German bishops]]
[[Category:Popes]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Bamberg]]
[[Category:11th-century archbishops]]
[[Category:Burials at Bamberg Cathedral]]
[[Category:11th-century popes]]
[[Category:Deaths by lead poisoning]]