11 - In His Name: Religion as Administrative Strategy in Thirteenth-Century Champagne (and Navarre?)

Summary

In the spring of 1260, the archbishop of Reims granted an indulgence of 100 days to those faithful who attended the dedication of Count Thibaut V of Champagne's chapel at Igny and to those who visited the new structure during the subsequent eight days. The archbishop's flock received that day a powerful and desirable spiritual gift because of their participation in and acknowledgment of an act of piety and patronage performed by their count, who was also the king of Navarre (r. 1253–70). The archbishop of Reims was not alone in issuing this reprieve, for twelve days earlier the bishop of Soissons had made a similar proclamation, as had the bishops of Paris and Senlis that same month. By founding and constructing the chapel in his name, Thibaut, as ‘count-king’, gained the spiritual rewards and public recognition associated with such devotion while also creating a sacred space where his people could commune with God and their ruler in his absence. He could leave his lands knowing that his spiritual presence and temporal authority resounded even if he was elsewhere, a critical concern given that he was always ruling in absentia from at least one of his principalities. Throughout his reign, Thibaut likewise procured indulgences for those who attended a sermon or dedication when the comital-royal family was present; for those who prayed for the comital-royal family; and for visitors to the Dominican convent that he founded in Estella, Navarre. The Liber pontificum, a relatively unknown cartulary produced by comital archivists in Troyes, preserves many of Thibaut's indulgences. With these spiritual boons – and no doubt inspired by his father-in-law, Louis IX of France (r. 1226–70) – Thibaut both mitigated his chronic absentee rulership and propagated an aura of sacrality around himself and his sovereignty.

Indulgences in the Later Middle Ages

An indulgence is a remission of sin and reprieve from future time spent in Purgatory atoning for remaining earthly transgressions. The concept originated from early medieval penitential culture and penitential manuals, books for priests that listed penances for specific sins. Appearing in the 1020s, the earliest indulgences were given to pilgrims, whereas indulgences for crusading activity followed a few decades later. The Church's ability to grant indulgences rested on what theologians referred to as the Treasury of Merit, a bank of unlimited grace formed and replenished by the deeds, sacrifices, and sufferings of Jesus and the saints.