New Book on Pope Eugenius III

In her review of a book edited by Iben Fonnesberg-Schmidt and Andrew Jotischky, Pope Eugenius III (1145–1153): The First Cistercian Pope, Constance Hoffman Berman announces that the monograph “provides a massive shift in our understanding of the papacy of Eugenius III.” Instead of the widespread and strongly abbreviated sketch of the pope as the overworked and under-recollected recipient of “De consideratione”, the book reveals Eugenius as a creative and gifted man in the line of Petrine succession. 

Anne Duggan contributed an essay about Eugenius and Roman law in the curia. Andrew Jotischky wrote about the relationships between the pope and Eastern churches, including the Armenian, in the context of negotiations with the Crusader States. Christoph Egger analyzed Eugenius III, the Curia, and theological controversies of the day. He shows, writes Berman, that Eugenius’s way of working theologically did not at all conform to Bernard of Clairvaux’s (monastic) theological style. Bernard pressured the pope to confirm Hildegard of Bingen’s standing, but Eugene declined. Jonathan Philips writes about Eugene’s crusading decrees. Iben Fonnesberg-Schmitt addresses the topic of the first Cistercian pope and the Northern Crusade. Damian J. Smith addresses the Spanish connections of this pontificate, and Pascal Montauban focuses on the relations to France. Emilia Jamroziak’s chapter is on the disputed York election (William FitzHerbert deposed in favor of the Cistercian Murdac), showing it was not Bernard’s intervention, but legal actions taken by Eugenius and his curia, that persevered. Other essays devoted to Italy and England make for a much more detailed understanding of Eugene’s pontificate. Berman concludes that the book “is an impressive scholarly collection shedding much light on a surprisingly neglected pope.” 

See: Book Review by Contance Berman in Speculum 94.4 (2019) 1153-1154. doi:10.1086/705173.