- Landulf II (Archbishop of Benevento)
Landulf II (died
4 August 1119 ) was theArchbishop of Benevento from8 November 1108 to his death. He succeeded Roffredo more than a year after the latter's death on9 September 1107 . The main source for his eventful reign is the contemporary chronicler and fellow Lombard and Benventan Falco.Landulf was a son of Gaideris, probably of local origin. Landulf was the
cardinal-priest ofSan Lorenzo in Lucina when he was elected archbishop. He was consecrated to his office byPope Paschal II himself during a synod in Benevento lasting from October to November 1108. He was a reformer and he directed his energies towards restructuring his ancient diocese, which corresponded roughly to thePrincipality of Benevento , which was technically papal property. In 1112, he played an essential rôle in the selection ofrector for the territory.Despite these characteristics, Landulf was a supporter of the popular party and the
Normans and opponent of the pro-papal aristocracy, led by the papalconstable Landulf of Greca . A great many "feudi" (vassals) of the archdiocese were Normans. Discord, however, reached such a level between the two Landulfs that the constable was forced to flee toMontefusco and the archbishop went toRome in 1114 to seek mediation. The pope responded by sending a youngRomuald Guarna , thencardinal-deacon ofS. Maria inVia Lata , and Peter,cardinal-bishop of Porto , to arbitrate between the disputants. Landulf, moreover, had made peace withRobert I of Capua andJordan of Ariano , who had attacked the city. The pope accused Landulf of exceeding his authority by making truces without papal permission. Romuald found the archbishop to blame for the conflict with Greca and the pope deposed him from his see at the council ofCeprano in October that year. The account of this in Falco is probably an eyewitness.The
Abbey of Montecassino intervened on Landulf's behalf with the pope and, on11 August 1116 , he was reappointed. On10 March 1118 , he was inGaeta to greetPope Gelasius II in his exile. On10 March 1119 , he convoked a local synod to put an end to the ongoing violence. Attended by many cardinals and bishops, [Among these personages were: John,cardinal-bishop of Tusculum ; Hugh, cardinal-priest of SS Apostoli; other cardinals; and twenty of his ownsuffragan s.] the council provided little help to the situation.Landulf was a promoter of local hagiography and cults. He also built a new episcopal cathedral and translated the bodies of the saints kept at the old one there on
15 May . [These saints were: Marziano, Doro, Potito, Prospero, Felice, Cervolo, and Stefano.] He died 4 August 1119, leaving us some sermons, hagiographies, and a passion. Falco left us a unique sketch of the man:Notes
ources
*Caravale, Mario (ed). "Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: LXIII Labroca – Laterza".
Rome , 2004.
*Houben, Hubert (translated by Graham A. Loud and Diane Milburn). "Roger II of Sicily: Ruler between East and West".Cambridge University Press , 2002.
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