(d. 1153). Pope. A disciple of St. Bernard of Clairvaux and a Cistercian abbot of Saints Vincent and Anastasius, Bernard of Pisa became Pope Eugenius III in 1145. Under his pontificate, the first formal crusade bull was issued in 1145. The crusade proved unsuccessful, and subsequently both Roger of Sicily and Louis VII of France urged Eugenius to begin a new one. Eugenius refused to accede to their wishes. Skilled in diplomacy, Eugenius had recognized the anti-Byzantine features of the proposed crusade, and he had no wish to antagonize the Byzantines and their allies. Forced from Rome in 1146 by his archenemy Arnold of Brescia, Eugenius journeyed to France, where he remained until 1148. While there, Eugenius held a synod and a council at Reims. At the council, in 1148, Gilbert of Poitiers, once a student of Bernard of Chartres and later bishop of Poitiers, was charged with heresy. With the help of Roger of Sicily, Eugenius returned to Rome in 1149. In the Treaty of Constance, concluded in 1153, Eugenius and Frederick I Barbarossa reached an important agreement guaranteeing a relationship of mutual as sistance. Trained as a Cistercian monk, Eugenius remained a devout religious despite his involvement in the politics of his day. His good friend St. Bernard dedicated De consideratione to him. Eugenius died on July 8,1153, and his cult was authorized in 1872 by Pope Pius IX.
E. Kay Harris
[See also: BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX; CRUSADES; GILBERT OF POITIERS] Eugenius III. Opera. PL 180.1013-642.
John of Salisbury. Memoirs of the Papal Court, ed. and trans. Marjorie Chibnall. London: Nelson, 1956.
Brezzi, Paolo. Roma eI’imperomedioevale, 774-1252. Bologna: Capelli, 1947.
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