92 Bartolo da Sassoferrato
city passed back under Byzantine control. In 895 it
became the capital of a military district covering Apulia,
called the theme of Langobardia. In the 10th century
also, Bari became an episcopal see, taking over the
defunct see of Canossa di Puglia.
At the end of a difficult siege, Robert GUISCARDtook
Bari in 1071 and built a castle there. In 1087, sailors from
Bari took back from Anatolia the body of Saint NICHOLAS
of Myra, an early Christian bishop. A basilica in the
Romanesque style was built in his honor and consecrated
by Pope URBANII.
After the death of Robert Guiscard in 1085, the pos-
session of Bari was disputed between his two sons, Duke
ROGERI of Sicily and BOHEMOND. However, it became
more-or-less independent under the authority of its arch-
bishop, and then Grimoald Alferanita (1119–32). King
ROGERII of Sicily retook the town in 1132. In 1156, King
WILLIAMI of Sicily destroyed Bari, which had made a
treaty with the BYZANTINEs. FREDERICK II fostered its
revival by building a new port and a commercial fair. The
local economy had revived in the 12th century as a result
of the development of olive cultivation and the export of
its oil. By the 14th century with the arrival of the
Angevins in the mid-13th century, Bari did not prosper. It
was parceled out to the princes of Taranto and finally to
member of the SFORZA. The port was an important point
of embarkation in the time of the CRUSADES.
Further reading: Robert Brentano, Two Churches:
England and Italy in the Thirteenth Century(1968; reprint,
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988); Jean Dun-
babin, Charles I of Anjou: Power, Kingship and State-Making
in Thirteenth-Century Europe(New York: Longman, 1998);
Hubert Houben, Roger II of Sicily: A Ruler between East and
West(1997; reprint, Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2002); Jean-Marie Martin, “Bari,” EMA.1.152–53.
Bartolo da Sassoferrato (Bartolus)(1314–1357)an
important Italian jurist
Born in Sassoferrato in central Italy in 1314, Bartolo stud-
ied at BOLOGNA. From 1343, he taught at the University
of Perugia, specializing in Roman law and its interpreta-
tion. He was recognized by his contemporaries as one of
the greatest authorities in that field. His opinions were
solicited and accepted in the courts. He was particularly
concerned with the reconciliation of traditional Roman
law with innovations and changing social conditions. He
believed Roman law to be universal, and other particular
law no more than local custom. In reconciling this con-
flict, by using Scholastic methods, he acknowledged that
local custom could depend on the sovereign will of a
prince, thereby accomplishing a clarification of ultimate
sovereignty. He died at Perugia in 1357.
See alsoBALDO DEGLIUBALDI DEPERUGIA.
Further reading:Osvaldo Cavallar, A Grammar of
Signs: Bartolo da Sassoferrato’s Tract on Insignia and Coats
of Arms(Berkeley: Robbins Collection, University of Cali-
fornia at Berkeley, 1994); Anna Toole Sheedy, Bartolus on
Social Conditions in the Fourteenth Century(New York:
Columbia University Press, 1942); C. N. S. Woolf, Barto-
lus of Sassoferrato: His Position in the History of Medieval
Political Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1913); Joseph Canning, The Political Thought of
Baldus de Ubaldis (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1987).Basel, Council of This was a council convened, after
much procrastination, by Pope Martin V (r. 1417–31) to
begin at Basel on February 1, 1431, over which he
appointed Cardinal Giuliano Cesarini as president. The
purpose of the council was to promote reform in the
church either through the papacy or through counciliar
thought. The debates over authority began on July 23,
but by the end of the year only a few ecclesiastics had
arrived. EUGENIUSIV, the new pontiff, saw this as a way
to rid himself of a potentially troublesome council and on
December 18 pronounced its dissolution to protect papal
authority. The ecumenical assembly, supported by the
emperor SIGISMUND, however, continued to sit.
To avert a crisis dangerous to the church and him-
self, the pope retracted his dissolution on February 14,
recognizing the council’s legitimacy. The superiority of
the council over the pope, a concept from a bull, Dudum
sacrum,of 1433, remained the fundamental issue. Both
pope and council wished to exercise supreme power.
The pope was chased out of ROMEby a revolution in- This event weakened the papal party and papal
authority.
Council of Clermont
At Basel, the council continued on reforming faith,
peace, and the internal business and reform of the
church. The lower clergy, enjoying the same voting
rights as bishops and other prelates, were a preponderant
force. Decisions were determined by majority vote. Many
of the members of the council, in defiance of the papacy,
tried to develop an executive role for regular council
meetings. A decree of June 9, 1435, tried to cut the
resources of the papacy by suppressing annates, or
annual taxes from the clergy due the papacy. The council
tried to extirpate the Hussite heresy and secured some
success by ensuring the adoption of the Compacts of
PRAGUEon November 30, 1433.PAPAL SUPPRESSION
Arguing the need to hold a council of union with the
Orthodox Greeks, Eugenius IV decided to transfer and
recall an ecumenical assembly to Ferrara in September- The Roman pontiff finally prevailed when the
legate Cesarini left Basel on January 9, 1438, depriving
the council of any pretense of canonical authority.