Prague Papers on the History of International Relations (Jun 2022)
La réforme grégorienne et l’indépendance de l’Église dans la chronique de Cosmas
Abstract
This article deals with the views of Cosmas of Prague, the first Czech chronicler, on the role of the Church and its relations with the laymen. The Chronicle of the Czechs contains discreet but harsh critics against the so-called Gregorian Reform and its proponents. However, the dean of the Prague chapter shared with the latter the claim for a stronger independence of the Church and a clearer division between the religious and the secular worlds. Indeed, the chronicler criticized some of the bishops of Prague because they were mostly the servants of the Přemyslid princes at the expense of their episcopal duties. Moreover, he showed the damages caused by prelates who shared the way of life and the values of laymen, especially those who were from the Ducal dynasty. The Chronicle of the Czechs is also a mirror for the prelates of Prague and thus draws the portrayal of the ideal bishop, a figure embodied by Otto of Bamberg. This contribution is then aimed to show that the Chronicle is also a precious source of the Czech views on the major changes that occurred during the 11th and early 12th centuries in Latin Christianity. From Prague, the claims of Rome seemed quite absurd, but the Czech Churchmen shared the ideals of their Western contemporaries and were searching for a way to adapt them to the local situation and to put them into practice.
