Olegarius
Encyclopedia
Saint Olegarius Bonestruga (from Germanic
Oldegar, , , ; 1060 – 6 March 1137) was the Bishop of Barcelona from 1116 and Archbishop of Tarragona from 1118 until his death. He was an intimate of Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona
, and often accompanied the count on military ventures.
Olegarius was canonised in 1675 and his major shrine and sepulchre is in the side chapel of Christ of Lepanto in the cathedral of Barcelona. His feast is celebrated the date of his death: March 6. An unreliable vita
was composed for his canonisation, based on a fourteenth-century Vitae sancti Ollegarii, which is based on a lost twelfth-century vita often ascribed to Olegarius' contemporary of Barcelona, Renald the Grammarian.
. His father was a follower of Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona
; his mother was Giulia. At the age of ten, Olegarius entered the guild of canon priests
of the Cathedral of Barcelona. He later served as superior (provost
) of the canonries of Barcelona and then Sant Adrià de Besós
(1095–1108), and later as abbot
of the Augustinian monastery of Saint-Ruf (Saint Rufus) in Avignon
(1113–1118). As abbot of Saint-Ruf, Olegarius had mediated the international west Mediterranean alliance between the Republic of Pisa
, Kingdom of Cagliari
, County of Provence, and Barcelona against the Almoravid pirates based on the Balearic Islands
. In the Gesta triumphalla per Pisanos, facta de captione Hierusalem et civitatis Mayoricarum of the Pisan deacon Enric (not, as sometimes alleged, Lorenzo Verones), Olegarius names is misspelled Nogelarius or Nigelarius.
At some point he joined the cofradía (confraternity) of San Pedro de la Portella. Raymond Berenguer III named him bishop of Barcelona in 1116, and he was consecrated by Cardinal Boso of Santa Anastasia in the cathedral of Maguelone in Provence
during the pontificate of Paschal II. In 1117 he went to Rome to pay homage to Pope Gelasius II
.
As a churchman Olegarius was of the reforming tradition. He was often present at papal synods. He attended Toulouse in 1119, Rheims in 1120, First Lateran in 1123, Narbonne in 1129, Clermont
in 1130, and Rheims in 1131. At First Lateran he had been declared legate a latere over the Crusade in New Catalonia (i.e., the province of Tarragone) and began to take the title dispensator or rector of Tarragona. At Narbonne the council confirmed the interprovincial archconfraternity (confratrium) for the restoration of the church of Tarragona which Olegarius had established on a more local level a year earlier. Members of the confraternity, lay and ecclesiastical, noble or otherwise, paid membership dues which went to Olegarius' archdiocese. At Clermont he probably met Bernard of Clairvaux
and his arguments were influential in the condemnation of Antipope Anacletus II
. He attended the council of San Zoilo in Castile
on 4 February 1130.
In the 1120s Olegarius reformed the monastery of Santa Eulàlia outside Barcelona, turning it into a community of Augustinian canons. Indeed, he was extensively involved in the Augustinian reform of the Catalan monasteries. In 1132 he excommunicated the monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll
over the right to exercise justice for crimes committed on the monastery's land. In 1133 Olegarius granted the sheets and beds of all deceased clergy to the hospital of En Guitard in Barcelona.
was re-conquered
from the Moors
, on 8 March 1118 Olegarius was consecrated archbishop of Tarragona (remaining bishop of Barcelona) by Gelasius, who as a monk had lived at Saint-Ruf under Olegarius. He received the bull of confirmation and the pallium
on 21 March. He was granted full jurisdiction over Tarragona
and its countryside by Ramon Berenguer III—through a process, agreed on 23 January 1118, whereby the secular lordship was granted to the Church pending reconquest—and also received ecclesiastical administrative rights over the projected diocese of Tortosa
(which had not yet been conquered) from Pope Gelasius. He was a close counsellor to Ramon Berenguer III and Ramon Berenguer IV
.
At some point after the Battle of Corbins—a great Catalan defeat—in 1124, Olegarius is said to have gone on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
. He cut his stay short at Antioch
because of concern for Tarragona and had returned by 1127.
Between 1126 and 1130 Olegarius was very active in rebuilding Tarragona, its churches especially. He also actively encouraged resettlement and colonisation and laboured to bring in knights and other soldiers for the new territory's defence. He "conferred benefices regularly", according to his vita. In 1126–1127, the period of his greatest activity in New Catalonia, he began encouraging a second Crusade effort. He began by compensating William V of Montpellier
for the knights he had lent to Barcelona in 1124–1125 and by reconciling William with his son, Bernard IV of Melgueil, in order to strengthen the anti-Almoravid alliance. On 14 March 1129 he ceded this secular authority in the district of Tarragona to Robert Bordet, with whom he had an antagonistic relationship, with the title of princeps Tarraconensis, effectively the archiepiscopate's vidame
or defensor. Instead Olegarius concentrated on restoring the metropolitan.
then raging between Papacy and Empire
and he returned to southern France to be with the pope in exile. He was briefly in Barcelona and then in Castile (at San Zoilo) in 1130 before returning to France. He was back in Barcelona for the cort
of 1131, whereat Olegarius successfully petitioned for a restoration of the tithe on the revenues from Barcelona's port, which a new treaty he had negotiated with the Republic of Genoa
had recently augmented.
Olegarius helped establish the Knights Templar
in Catalonia "to serve God and fight in our land" in 1134. In 1122 he was a signatory at Montearagón
to the foundation charter of the military confraternity of Belchite
, founded by Alfonso the Battler
. He played an important role in December 1134 when, at Zaragoza
, he brokered a peace between Ramiro II of Aragon
and Alfonso VII of Castile. He also negotiated the marriage alliances between Douce I, Countess of Provence and Ramon Berenguer III and of Petronila of Aragon
to Ramon Berenguer IV.
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
Oldegar, , , ; 1060 – 6 March 1137) was the Bishop of Barcelona from 1116 and Archbishop of Tarragona from 1118 until his death. He was an intimate of Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona
Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona
Ramon Berenguer III the Great was the count of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona from 1082 , Besalú from 1111, Cerdanya from 1117, and Provence, in the Holy Roman Empire, from 1112, all until his death in Barcelona in 1131...
, and often accompanied the count on military ventures.
Olegarius was canonised in 1675 and his major shrine and sepulchre is in the side chapel of Christ of Lepanto in the cathedral of Barcelona. His feast is celebrated the date of his death: March 6. An unreliable vita
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
was composed for his canonisation, based on a fourteenth-century Vitae sancti Ollegarii, which is based on a lost twelfth-century vita often ascribed to Olegarius' contemporary of Barcelona, Renald the Grammarian.
Early ecclesiastical career
Olegarius was born to a noble family of BarcelonaBarcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. His father was a follower of Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona
Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona
Ramon Berenguer I the Old was Count of Barcelona in 1035–1076. He promulgated the earliest versions of a written code of Catalan law, the Usages of Barcelona....
; his mother was Giulia. At the age of ten, Olegarius entered the guild of canon priests
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
of the Cathedral of Barcelona. He later served as superior (provost
Provost (religion)
A provost is a senior official in a number of Christian churches.-Historical Development:The word praepositus was originally applied to any ecclesiastical ruler or dignitary...
) of the canonries of Barcelona and then Sant Adrià de Besós
Sant Adrià de Besòs
Sant Adrià de Besòs is a city in the comarca of the Barcelonès in Catalonia, northern Spain. It is situated at the mouth of the river Besòs, extending to both sides of the estuary. The original settlement with the parish church is on the left bank of the river, in the north of the municipal...
(1095–1108), and later as abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
of the Augustinian monastery of Saint-Ruf (Saint Rufus) in Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
(1113–1118). As abbot of Saint-Ruf, Olegarius had mediated the international west Mediterranean alliance between the Republic of Pisa
Republic of Pisa
The Republic of Pisa was a de facto independent state centered on the Tuscan city of Pisa during the late tenth and eleventh centuries. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian trade for a century before being surpassed and...
, Kingdom of Cagliari
Giudicato of Cagliari
The Giudicato of Cagliari was one of the four Sardinian giudicati of the Middle Ages. It covered the entire south and central east portion of the island and was composed of thirteen subdivisions called curatoriae. To its north and west lay Arborea and north and on the east lay Gallura and Logudoro...
, County of Provence, and Barcelona against the Almoravid pirates based on the Balearic Islands
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
. In the Gesta triumphalla per Pisanos, facta de captione Hierusalem et civitatis Mayoricarum of the Pisan deacon Enric (not, as sometimes alleged, Lorenzo Verones), Olegarius names is misspelled Nogelarius or Nigelarius.
At some point he joined the cofradía (confraternity) of San Pedro de la Portella. Raymond Berenguer III named him bishop of Barcelona in 1116, and he was consecrated by Cardinal Boso of Santa Anastasia in the cathedral of Maguelone in Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
during the pontificate of Paschal II. In 1117 he went to Rome to pay homage to Pope Gelasius II
Pope Gelasius II
Pope Gelasius II , born Giovanni Caetani , was pope from January 24, 1118 to January 29, 1119.-Biography:He was born between 1060 and 1064 at Gaeta into the Pisan branch of the Caetani family....
.
Ecclesiastical reformer and leader
Council of Clermont
The Council of Clermont was a mixed synod of ecclesiastics and laymen of the Catholic Church, which was held from November 18 to November 28, 1095 at Clermont, France...
in 1130, and Rheims in 1131. At First Lateran he had been declared legate a latere over the Crusade in New Catalonia (i.e., the province of Tarragone) and began to take the title dispensator or rector of Tarragona. At Narbonne the council confirmed the interprovincial archconfraternity (confratrium) for the restoration of the church of Tarragona which Olegarius had established on a more local level a year earlier. Members of the confraternity, lay and ecclesiastical, noble or otherwise, paid membership dues which went to Olegarius' archdiocese. At Clermont he probably met Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order.After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val...
and his arguments were influential in the condemnation of Antipope Anacletus II
Antipope Anacletus II
Anacletus II , born Pietro Pierleoni, was an Antipope who ruled from 1130 to his death, in a schism against the contested, hasty election of Pope Innocent II....
. He attended the council of San Zoilo in Castile
Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...
on 4 February 1130.
In the 1120s Olegarius reformed the monastery of Santa Eulàlia outside Barcelona, turning it into a community of Augustinian canons. Indeed, he was extensively involved in the Augustinian reform of the Catalan monasteries. In 1132 he excommunicated the monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll
Santa Maria de Ripoll
The Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll is a Benedictine monastery, built in the Romanesque style, located in the town of Ripoll in Catalonia, Spain...
over the right to exercise justice for crimes committed on the monastery's land. In 1133 Olegarius granted the sheets and beds of all deceased clergy to the hospital of En Guitard in Barcelona.
Restoration of Tarragona
After TarragonaTarragona
Tarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona...
was re-conquered
Reconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
from the Moors
Moors
The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
, on 8 March 1118 Olegarius was consecrated archbishop of Tarragona (remaining bishop of Barcelona) by Gelasius, who as a monk had lived at Saint-Ruf under Olegarius. He received the bull of confirmation and the pallium
Pallium
The pallium is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Roman Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the Pope, but for many centuries bestowed by him on metropolitans and primates as a symbol of the jurisdiction delegated to them by the Holy See. In that context it has always remained unambiguously...
on 21 March. He was granted full jurisdiction over Tarragona
Tarragona
Tarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona...
and its countryside by Ramon Berenguer III—through a process, agreed on 23 January 1118, whereby the secular lordship was granted to the Church pending reconquest—and also received ecclesiastical administrative rights over the projected diocese of Tortosa
Tortosa
-External links:* *** * * *...
(which had not yet been conquered) from Pope Gelasius. He was a close counsellor to Ramon Berenguer III and Ramon Berenguer IV
Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona
Ramon Berenguer IV , sometimes called the Holy, was the Count of Barcelona who effected the union between the Kingdom of Aragon and the Principality of Catalonia into the Crown of Aragon....
.
At some point after the Battle of Corbins—a great Catalan defeat—in 1124, Olegarius is said to have gone on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
. He cut his stay short at Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
because of concern for Tarragona and had returned by 1127.
Between 1126 and 1130 Olegarius was very active in rebuilding Tarragona, its churches especially. He also actively encouraged resettlement and colonisation and laboured to bring in knights and other soldiers for the new territory's defence. He "conferred benefices regularly", according to his vita. In 1126–1127, the period of his greatest activity in New Catalonia, he began encouraging a second Crusade effort. He began by compensating William V of Montpellier
William V of Montpellier
William V was the Lord of Montpellier from an early age until his death. He was the son of Bernard William IV.Soon after his father's death, his mother, Ermengarde, quit Montpellier to marry the Lord of Anduze...
for the knights he had lent to Barcelona in 1124–1125 and by reconciling William with his son, Bernard IV of Melgueil, in order to strengthen the anti-Almoravid alliance. On 14 March 1129 he ceded this secular authority in the district of Tarragona to Robert Bordet, with whom he had an antagonistic relationship, with the title of princeps Tarraconensis, effectively the archiepiscopate's vidame
Vidame
Vidame, a French corruption of the official Latin term vicedominus , was a feudal title in France...
or defensor. Instead Olegarius concentrated on restoring the metropolitan.
Diplomatic activity
In 1129 Olegarius was drawn into the Investiture ControversyInvestiture Controversy
The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was the most significant conflict between Church and state in medieval Europe. In the 11th and 12th centuries, a series of Popes challenged the authority of European monarchies over control of appointments, or investitures, of church officials such...
then raging between Papacy and Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
and he returned to southern France to be with the pope in exile. He was briefly in Barcelona and then in Castile (at San Zoilo) in 1130 before returning to France. He was back in Barcelona for the cort
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
of 1131, whereat Olegarius successfully petitioned for a restoration of the tithe on the revenues from Barcelona's port, which a new treaty he had negotiated with the Republic of Genoa
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
had recently augmented.
Olegarius helped establish the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
in Catalonia "to serve God and fight in our land" in 1134. In 1122 he was a signatory at Montearagón
Montearagón, Toledo
Montearagón is a municipality located in the province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2006 census , the municipality has a population of 549 inhabitants....
to the foundation charter of the military confraternity of Belchite
Confraternity of Belchite
The Confraternity of Belchite was an "experimental" community of knights founded in 1122 by Alfonso the Battler, king of Aragon and Navarre, and lasting until shortly after 1136. Members could enlist permanently or for a set time, vowing "never to live at peace with the pagans but to devote all...
, founded by Alfonso the Battler
Alfonso the Battler
Alfonso I , called the Battler or the Warrior , was the king of Aragon and Navarre from 1104 until his death in 1134. He was the second son of King Sancho Ramírez and successor of his brother Peter I...
. He played an important role in December 1134 when, at Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
, he brokered a peace between Ramiro II of Aragon
Ramiro II of Aragon
Ramiro II , called the Monk, was King of Aragon from 1134 until withdrawing from public life in 1137...
and Alfonso VII of Castile. He also negotiated the marriage alliances between Douce I, Countess of Provence and Ramon Berenguer III and of Petronila of Aragon
Petronila of Aragon
Petronilla of Aragon , whose name is also spelled Petronila or Petronella , was Queen regnant of Aragon from 1137 until 1164. She was the daughter and successor of Ramiro II by Agnes of Aquitaine...
to Ramon Berenguer IV.