Pataria

The pataria was an eleventh-century movement focused on the city

of Milan in northern Italy, which aimed to reform the clergy and
ecclesiastic government within the city and its ecclesiastical
province, in support of papal sanctions against simony and clerical
marriage. Those involved in the movement were called patarini
(singular patarino), patarines or patarenes, a word chosen by
their opponents, the etymology of which is unclear. The movement,
associated with urban unrest in the city of Milan, is generally
considered to have begun in 1057 and ended in 1075. The murder of Arialdo da Carimate,
part of the conflict of the pataria
The Pataria also came to oppose the power of the papacy and its
moral corruptions. The Patarines were declared a heretical sect.[1]
They are considered by some as a precursor to the Protestant Reformation.[2]

History
Early in the year 1057, a preacher named Ariald arrived in the city of Milan and began to preach against the
Milanese clerics' custom of marrying.[3] It is possible that he took advantage of the absence at this time of
the Archbishop of Milan, Guido da Velate, who was in Germany in August at the Council of Tribur.

The Milanese clergy grew concerned by Ariald's attempt to whip up the city against them, and sent envoys
to Pope Stephen IX in Rome. On hearing this, Ariald travelled to Rome himself. Pope Stephen IX was
sympathetic to Ariald's position, and sent two envoys to Milan, Hildebrand of Sovana (later Pope Gregory
VII) and Anselm of Baggio (later Pope Alexander II). Ariald also returned to Milan, and now began to
criticise the Milanese clerics' practice of simony, resulting in urban unrest. Ariald's close associate Landulf
Cotta was attacked, and later died from his injuries.

In 1059 Ariald travelled to Rome again to seek advice; Pope Stephen IX again sent envoys to Milan, this
time Peter Damian and again Anselm of Baggio, but this did nothing to quell the unrest in the city. In 1063,
Landulf Cotta's brother Erlembald went to Rome where he obtained a papal banner from the newly elected
Pope Alexander II in support of the Pataria movement. In 1066, Pope Alexander II finally excommunicated
Archbishop Guido. Guido used this excommunication, however, to whip up the citizens' anger against the
Paterenes at a public meeting, and Ariald was first chased out of the city of Milan, and then assassinated, in
June 1066.

However, when Ariald's body was found in May 1067, it quickly became the object of a cult, and popular
opinion in Milan swung back behind the Pataria.[4] Archbishop Guido was forced out of the city, leaving it
under the control of Erlembald, and Alexander II formally proclaimed Ariald to be a saint in 1068.

Archbishop Guido resigned in 1068, in favour of his associate Gotofredo da Castiglione, who was also
supported by Emperor Henry IV. The papacy and the Pataria however supported a different candidate as
archbishop, Attone, and Pope Gregory VII excommunicated Gotofredo in 1074.
Rioting in Milan led to the murder of Erlembald in 1075, and after this point, the Pataria movement lost
much of its energy. The controversy over the appointment of the archbishop of Milan continued, however,
and contributed to the political tensions between Emperor Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII.

Medieval historiography
There are several contemporary and nearly-contemporary sources for the Pataria, each of which offers
different and sometimes contradictory perspectives.[5] These include:

Andrew of Strumi's Life of Saint Ariald[6]

Bonizo of Sutri's Liber ad amicum
Arnulf of Milan's Deeds of the Archbishops of Milan
Landulf Senior's History of Milan

Modern historiography
As Paolo Golinelli has emphasised, modern debates about the Pataria have often centred on whether the
Pataria was primarily a religious movement, or whether it was instead the religious expression of social
tensions within the city and region of Milan.[7] The Italian historian Gioacchino Volpe, for instance, argued
in 1907 that the Pataria was a class conflict between the elites of Milan and the lower-status population.
This interpretation was also supported by Ernst Werner in 1956.[8] For Hagen Keller, the Pataria is best
understood as part of the history of the emergence of the Italian commune.[9]

More recently, historians such as Herbert Cowdrey have emphasised the movement's essentially religious
nature.[10] Many historians have associated the movement with wider reforming trends in the Church. For
William North, the Pataria was 'the longest... and most violent of the popular responses to the call for
ecclesiastical reform in the eleventh century'.[11] In his article on religious change in the eleventh century,
R.I. Moore discussed the Pataria extensively as a major part of the 'appearance of the crowd on the stage of
public events', which he sees as being brought into being by religious reform (itself, however, a response to
social change).[12]

In a recent article, Piroska Nagy suggested a new path of interpretation by analysing the collective emotions
of the movement.[13]

Name
The name Pataria likely comes from the members of the movement assembling in Pataria or ragmen's
quarter of the city (pates is a dialectal word for “rag”), however, the name was appropriated by Cathars
who claimed it means "to suffer", as to say they suffered for their faith.[14]

References
1. "Patarine | medieval reform group | Britannica" (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Patarines).
www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
2. Reddy, Mike Megrove (2017). "The forms of communication employed by the Protestant
Reformers and especially Luther and Calvin" (http://www.pharosjot.com/uploads/7/1/6/3/716
3688/article_25_vol_98_2017.pdf) (PDF). Pharos Journal of Theology. 98. "The Pre-
Reformers: All groups that spoke out against the church were regarded as "heretical"
groups. In the same light, the present-day church considers those individuals that
questioned the church "doctrine" and "teachings" as heretics. McCallum (2002:n.p.) states
that there were eight heretical groups of pre-reformers between the 12th and 15th centuries
during the various European regions. McCallum 2002:n.p. mentions them as follows:
Flagellants were in 1259. They marched with only loincloths through the streets crying
out to God to show mercy on them (McCallum 2002:n.p.). In 1349 they were condemned.
Then there was a variety of lay groups known as Beguines who had no specific set of
forms (McCallum, 2002;n.p.). They were followers of Lambert le Begue who was a
stammerer.
In the 12th century Tanchelm preached in the diocese of Utrecht. He denied the author of
the pope and the church and attacked the structure of the Catholic Church (McCallum,
2002:n.p.).
Peter of Bruys in the 12th century also rejected christening of infants. He rejected
prayers for the dead, the Eucharist veneration of the cross and ecclesiastical ceremonies
(McCallum, 2002:n.p.).
In the first half of 12th century Henry of Lausanne preached in what is known as France.
His followers were known as the Henricans. The clergy were condemned for the love of
wealth and power by Henry of Lausanne (McCallum, 2002:n.p.).
The Adamists engaged in behaviour that was socially unacceptable and indulged in the
practice of nude worship.
Arnold of Brescia wanted the church to follow Christian ideals (McCallum 2002:n.p.). He
attacked the bishops for their dishonest gains. He was hanged in 1155 and his body was
burned.
The Pataria, in Northern Italy were in reaction to the corruption which was taking place in
the church. McCallum (2002:n.p.) states that the self-indulgent practices within the
Roman Catholic Church were also opposed by other smaller movements.
"
3. La Pataria : lotte religiose e sociali nella Milano dell'11. secolo. Golinelli, Paolo. [Novara]:
Europia. 1998. ISBN 88-16-77105-4. OCLC 883745329 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/8837
45329)., p. 13: "Inizia, tra la fine del 1056 e i primi del 1057, la Pataria milanese
4. La Pataria : lotte religiose e sociali nella Milano dell'11. secolo. Golinelli, Paolo. [Novara]:
Europia. 1998. ISBN 88-16-77105-4. OCLC 883745329 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/8837
45329)., p. 18
5. La Pataria : lotte religiose e sociali nella Milano dell'11. secolo. Golinelli, Paolo. [Novara]:
Europia. 1998. ISBN 88-16-77105-4. OCLC 883745329 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/8837
45329)., pp. 23-34
6. "Latin edition in the MGH" (https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_ss_30_2/index.htm#page/1047/mode/
1up).
7. La Pataria : lotte religiose e sociali nella Milano dell'11. secolo. Golinelli, Paolo. [Novara]:
Europia. 1998. ISBN 88-16-77105-4. OCLC 883745329 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/8837
45329)., p. 59
8. Werner, Ernst (1956). Pauperes Christi : Studien zu sozial-religiösen Bewegungen im
Zeitalter des Reformpapsttums.
9. Keller, Hagen. "Pataria und Stadtverfassung, Stadtgemeinde und Reform. Mailand im
'Investiturstreit' ". Vorträge und Forschungen. 17.
10. Cowdrey, H. E. J. (December 1968). "The Papacy, The Patarenes and the Church of Milan"
(https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0080440100007258/type/journal_articl
e). Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. 18: 25–48. doi:10.2307/3678954 (https://doi.
org/10.2307%2F3678954). ISSN 0080-4401 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0080-4401).
JSTOR 3678954 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3678954). S2CID 161640303 (https://api.sema
nticscholar.org/CorpusID:161640303).
11. William North, 'The Pataria: Andrea da Strumi's Passion of Arialdo', in Katherine Jansen et
al. (eds)., Medieval Italy, Texts in Translation (2009), p. 337
12. Moore, R. I. (December 1980). "Family, Community and Cult on the Eve of the Gregorian
Reform" (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/transactions-of-the-royal-historical-societ
y/article/family-community-and-cult-on-the-eve-of-the-gregorian-reform/E77B0368EB0B7FF
FF3D973E542D34986). Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. 30: 49–69.
doi:10.2307/3679002 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F3679002). ISSN 1474-0648 (https://www.w
orldcat.org/issn/1474-0648). JSTOR 3679002 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3679002).
S2CID 155002599 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:155002599).
13. Nagy, Piroska (2018). "Collective Emotions, History Writing and Change: The Case of the
Pataria (Milan, Eleventh Century)". Emotions: History, Culture, Society. 2: 132–152.
doi:10.1163/2208522X-02010007 (https://doi.org/10.1163%2F2208522X-02010007).
S2CID 165523563 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:165523563).
14. "Patarine | medieval reform group | Britannica" (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Patarines).
www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2022-01-02.

Further reading
Jordan, K. "Pataria" in Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart. V, 3.A., 150f.
Coleman, Edward. “Representative Assemblies in Communal Italy”, in P.S. Barnwell &
Marco Mostert (eds.), Political Assemblies in the Early Middle Ages. Turnhout, 2003. 193-
210
Cowdrey, H. E. J. “Archbishop Aribert of Milan”, History 51, 1966. 1-15
Cowdrey, H. E. J. “The Papacy, the Patarenes and the Church of Milan”, Transactions of
Royal Historical Society, 5th series, vol. 18, 1968. 25-48
Cushing, Kathleen G. “Events That Led to Sainthood: Sanctity and the Reformers in the
Eleventh Century”, in Richard Gameson & Henrietta Leyser (eds.), Belief and Culture in the
Middle Ages. Oxford & New York, 2001. 187-96
Patschovsky, Alexander. “Heresy & Society: On the Political Function of Heresy in the
Medieval World”, in Caterina Bruschi & Peter Biller (eds.), Texts and the Repression of
Medieval Heresy. 23-41
Siegel, Arthur. “Italian Society and the Origins of Eleventh-Century Western Heresy”, in
Michael Frassetto (ed.), Heresy and the Persecuting Society in the Middle Ages: Essays on
the Work of R.I. Moore. Leiden, 2006. 43-72
Stock, Brian. The Implications of Literacy: Written Languages and Models of Interpretation in
the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries. Princeton, 1983

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