The Roman curia in the Carmina Burana

Abstract

The paper considers the treatment of the papal curia in several poems transmitted in the Codex Buranus. Its concern is the object of the satirical verse, rather than the context in which it was produced, and it concentrates on the depiction of the institutions and personnel of the papacy, from the pope down. The manuscript includes texts whose authors, in particular Walter of Châtillon and Philip the Chancellor, had direct experience of the papal court, and it is argued that these texts are of value assources concerning the curia at a time when it is very inadequately documented. The paper illustrates the ways in which the texts provide a critique of the governmental machinery of the papacy, beginning with the pope himself and proceeding to the cardinals, the consistory, the law and judicial business, the chancery, cases reserved to the pope, the chamberlain and the doorkeepers. A final section briefly and tentatively considers the writings in the light of the likely place of production of the CodexBuranus, the house of Augustinian canons at Neustift in Southern Tirol.

Keywords: Carmina Burana, Walter of Châtillon, Philip the Chancellor, Papal curia, Papal chancery, Papal chamberlain, bulla, Neustift in Southern Tirol