Arnold of Brescia - Life, Life and death in Rome

Clergyman and politician, born in Brescia, N Italy. He adopted the monastic life, but his criticism of the Church's wealth and temporal power led to his banishment from Italy (1139). In France he met with bitter hostility from St Bernard of Clairvaux, and took refuge for five years in Zürich. An insurrection against the papal government in Rome drew him there (1143), and for 10 years he struggled to found a republic on ancient Roman lines. On the arrival of Emperor Frederick I in 1155, he was executed.

1090 – 1155), also known as Arnaldus (Italian: Arnaldo da Brescia), was a monk from Italy who called on the Church to renounce ownership of the property, participated in the Commune of Rome, and was hanged by the Church.

Life

Born in Brescia, Arnold became an Augustinian canon and then prior of a monastery in Brescia became very critical of the temporal powers of Catholic Church that involved it in a land struggle in Brescia against the count-bishop of Brescia. He called on the Church to renounce ownership of the property and return it to the city government, so as not to be tainted by possession, one aspect of a renunciation of worldliness that he preached. The issue came before the Synod of Sens in 1140 and both Arnold and Abélard's positions were overruled by Bernard of Clairvaux. Arnold stood alone against the church's decision after Abélard's capitulation; Arnold continued to preach his radical ideas concerning apostolic poverty.

Life and death in Rome

In 1145, Pope Eugene III then ordered him to submit himself to the mercy of the Church in Rome (CE). When he arrived, he found that Giordano Pierleoni's followers had asserted the ancient rights of the commune of Rome taken control of the city from papal forces and founded a republic, the Commune of Rome. Arnold sided with the people immediately and, upon Pierleoni's deposition, soon rose to the intellectual leadership of this radical new group, calling for liberties and democratic rights. A Donatist, Arnold taught that clergy while owning property had no power to perform the Sacraments. When Pope Eugene returned to the city in 1148, Arnold continued to lead the blossoming republic despite his excommunication.

After Eugene's death, Pope Adrian IV swiftly took steps to regain control of Rome, inviting Frederick Barbarossa, who took Rome by force in 1155, after a Holy Week interdict, forced Arnold again into exile.