Grosolanus or Grossolanus,''Grossolano'' or ''Grosolano'' in Italian born Peter, was the

Archbishop of Milan The Archdiocese of Milan (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has long maintained its own Latin liturgical rite usage, the Amb ...

from 1102 to 1112. He succeeded Anselm IV, who had made him

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

during his absence on the

Crusade of 1101 The Crusade of 1101, also known as the Crusade of the Faint-Hearted, was launched in the aftermath of the First Crusade with calls for reinforcements from the newly established Kingdom of Jerusalem and to rescue the famous Bohemond of Taranto fr ...

, and was succeeded by

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

, who had been his

subdeacon Subdeacon is a minor orders, minor order of ministry for men or women in various branches of Christianity. The subdeacon has a specific liturgical role and is placed below the deacon and above the acolyte in the order of precedence. Subdeacons in ...

. Grosolanus was the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

of Ferrania and already Bishop of Savona when Anselm appointed him to act as his vicar during the crusade. Grosolanus was accused of

simony Simony () is the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things. It is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as having offered two disciples of Jesus payment in exchange for their empowering him to imp ...

in obtaining the Ambrosian see by the priest Liprand, who proceeded through the ordeal of fire to prove his charges. This tale is probably an invention of Landolfo Iuniore, bearing little resemblance to reality, save the fact that Grosolanus was opposed by a strong faction in the city. Even in modern times, though, it has served as the inspiration of a song by Enzo Jannacci. The archbishop was still embattled when, in 1111, he decided to go on a pilgrimage to

Outremer The Crusader states, or Outremer, were four Catholic polities established in the Levant region and southeastern Anatolia from 1098 to 1291. Following the principles of feudalism, the foundation for these polities was laid by the First Crusade ...

. Almost immediately a council of equal numbers of supporters and opponents of the archbishop convened in his absence and, deposing him, elected Jordan of Clivio in his place on New Year's Day. Of all Milan's suffragans, only Atto, Bishop of Acqui, and Arderic, Bishop of Lodi, refused to do homage to the new bishop and remained loyal to Grosolanus. On 6 December, Mainard, Bishop of Turin, formally deposed Grosolanus at the altar in S. Ambrogio. In August 1113, Grosolanus returned from his pilgrimage. Tensions were raised in the city of Milan, where the old archbishop still had some supporters. Finally, on 11 March 1116, Pope Paschal II declared Grosolanus' transferral from the see of Savona to that of Milan to be invalid and thus null. He was transferred back to Savona and Jordan was papally confirmed as the legitimate Ambrosian pontiff for a second time.

Notes

Sources

*Setton, K. M. (1956). "The Byzantine Background to the Italian Renaissance". ''Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society'', 100:1, pp. 1–76. *''Landulphi Junioris sive de Sancto Paulo Historia Mediolanensis ab anno MXCV usque ad annum MCXXXVII''. translated (Italian) by Carlo Castiglioni. Zanichelli: Bologna, 1934. *Alfredo Lucioni, "Grossolano", in ''Dizionario della Chiesa Ambrosiana''. vol. 3, pp. 1531–1532. NED: Milan, 1989. *

Pietro Verri Count Pietro Verri (12 December 1728 – 28 June 1797) was an Italian economist, historian, philosopher and writer. Among the most important personalities of the 18th-century Italian culture, he is considered among the fathers of the Lombardy, L ...

, ''Storia di Milano'', 1798 - Tomo I, pp. 149–15
(cap. VI)
*Caravale, Mario (ed). ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: LX Grosso – Guglielmo da Forlì''. Rome, 2003. {{authority control Archbishops of Milan 12th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Bishops of Savona Italian abbots Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Place of birth unknown