When the bishop’s away... : Absentee bishops of Parma during the investiture conflict

Between 1050 and 1130 the bishops of Parma were frequently absent from the city. The bishops Cadalus (1045-1072), Eberard (1072-1085) and Vido (1085-1104) all appeared in imperial armies for extended periods. Bishop Bernard (1104-1133) was expelled by groups within the city for several years. This paper will investigate the relationship between these absences and changes in the structures of power and authority within the city and county of Parma. The bishops of Parma were some of the most powerful ecclesiastical figures in Italy under the Ottonian and early Salian emperors. They enjoyed a large territory and a series of rights and exemptions allowing them to act decisively within the region; a key example of this was the prolonged attempt by Cadalus, bishop of Parma, to claim the papal seat as Honorious II in 1061-1072. However, towards the end of the eleventh century the bishops of Parma featured less prominently in the ongoing papal-imperial conflict. By the middle of the twelfth century they had been largely replaced by the commune of Parma as the dominant force in the city. Authors such as Schumann, Fasoli and Santifaller have seen this change in the political structure of Parma as the result of the imposition of Gregorian and Paterene ideals on the bishopric which called for the reduction or elimination of the secular roles of the bishop. However, the extended absences of the bishops from the city have not been considered in this context in any real depth. By considering the political, judicial and economic infrastructures employed during these absences I will attempt to establish whether a causal or consequential link can be made to the bishops’ diminishing secular role.