One of the earliest voices against the worldliness of the Catholic church. He urged the church to return to poverty. Pope Innocent II banished Arnold from Italy, so he fled to Paris to study under Abelard and aroused the wrath of Bernard of Clairvaux. Returned to Rome, where the people seized power while the Pope was away and placed Arnold into the leadership of the secular government. 10 years later, Pope Hadrian IV placed Rome under interdict and with Emperor Frederick Barbarossa captured Arnold and executed him in 1155.

[tags]Abelard, Arnold, Arnold-Abbot-of-Brescia, Bernard, Bernard-of-Clairvaux, BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history[/tags]

In 1147, this mystic called for the Second Crusade while the kingdom of Jerusalem faced its first crisis. As one of Christendom's most influential churchmen and abbot he pursued Peter Abelard as devoutly as he preached the Second Crusade. Felt that faith brooked no dispute and worked to have Abelard condemned at a church council at Sens in 1140.

[tags]Abelard, Bernard, Bernard-of-Clairvaux, BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Peter[/tags]