See the article on Honorius II. in Hauck’s Realencyklopädie, Band viii. (Leipzig, 1900).
(A. W. H.*)
3. Honorius II. (Lamberto Scannabecchi), pope from the 15th of December 1124 to the 13th of February 1130, a native of Fagnano near Imola, of considerable learning and great religious zeal, successively archdeacon at Bologna, cardinal-priest of Sta Prassede under Urban II., cardinal-bishop of Ostia and Velletri under Paschal II., shared the exile of Gelasius II. in France, and helped Calixtus II. to conclude the Concordat of Worms (1122), which settled the investiture contest. He owed his election in large measure to force employed by the Frangipani, but was consecrated with general consent on the 21st of December 1124. By means of a close alliance with that powerful family, he was enabled to maintain peace at Rome, and the death of Emperor Henry V. (1125) further strengthened the papal position. He recognized the Saxon Lothair III. as king of the Romans and later as emperor, and excommunicated his rival, Conrad of Hohenstaufen. He sanctioned the Praemonstratensian order and that of the Knights Templars. He excommunicated Count William of Normandy for marriage in prohibited degree; brought to an end, through the influence of Bernard of Clairvaux, the struggle with Louis VI. of France; and arranged with Henry I. for the reception of papal legates in England. He laid claim as feudal overlord to the Norman possessions in southern Italy (July 1127), and excommunicated the claimant, Duke Roger of Sicily, but was unable to prevent the foundation of the Neapolitan monarchy, for Duke Roger defeated the papal army and forced recognition in August 1128. Honorius appealed to Lothair for assistance, but died before it arrived. His successor was Innocent II.
The chief sources for the life of Honorius II. are his “Epistolae et Privilegia,” in J. P. Migne, Patrol. Lat. vol. 166, and the Vitae of Cardinals Pandulf and Boso in J. M. Watterich, Pontif. Roman. vitae, vol. 2 (Leipzig, 1862); also “Codice diplomatico e bollario di Onorio II.” in Fr. Liverani opere, vol. 4 (Macerata, 1859), and Jaffé-Wattenbach, Regesta pontif. Roman. (1885-1888).
See J. Langen, Geschichte der römischen Kirche von Gregor VII. bis Innocenz III. (Bonn, 1893); F. Gregorovius, Rome in the Middle Ages, vol. 4, trans. by Mrs G. W. Hamilton (London, 1896); H. H. Milman, Latin Christianity, vol. 4 (London, 1899); Fr. Liverani, “Lamberto da Fiagnano” in Opere, vol. 3 (Macerata, 1859); A. Wagner, Die unteritalischen Normannen und das Papsttum 1086-1150 (Breslau, 1885); E. Bernheim, Zur Geschichte des Wormser Concordats (Göttingen, 1878); Volkmar, “Das Verhältnis Lothars III. zur Investiturfrage,” in Forschungen zur deutschen Geschichte, vol. 26.
(C. H. Ha)
4. Honorius III. (Cencio Savelli), pope from the 18th of July 1216 to the 18th of March 1227, a highly-educated and pious Roman, successively canon of Sta Maria Maggiore, cardinal-deacon of Sta Lucia in Silice, vice-chancellor, chamberlain and cardinal-priest of Sti Giovanni e Paolo, was the successor of Innocent III. He made peace with Frederick II., in accordance with which the emperor was crowned with his wife Constance in St Peter’s on the 22nd of November 1220, and swore to accord full liberty to the church and to undertake a crusade. Honorius was eager to carry out the decrees of the Lateran Council of 1215 against the Albigenses and to further the crusade proclaimed by his predecessor. He crowned Peter of Courtenay emperor of Byzantium in April 1217; espoused the cause of the young Henry III. of England against the barons; accepted the Isle of Man as a perpetual fief; arbitrated differences between Philip II. of France and James of Aragon; and made special ecclesiastical regulations for the Scandinavian countries. He sanctioned the Dominican order (22nd of November 1216), making St Dominic papal major-domo in 1218; approved the Franciscan order by bull of the 29th of November 1223; and authorized many of the tertiary orders. He maintained, on the whole, a tranquil rule at Rome; but Frederick II.’s refusal to interrupt his reforms in Sicily in order to go on the crusade gave the pope much trouble. Honorius died in 1227, before the emperor had fulfilled his oath, and was succeeded by Gregory IX.
Honorius III. left many writings which have been collected and published by Abbé Horoy in the Medii aevi bibliotheca patristica, vols. i.-ii. (Paris, 1879-1883). Among them are five books of decretals, compiled about 1226; a continuation of the Liber Pontificalis; a life of Gregory VII; a coronation form; and a large number of sermons. His most important work is the Liber censuum Romanae ecclesiae, written in 1192 and containing a record of the income of the Roman Church and of its relations with secular authorities. The last named is admirably edited by P. Fabre in Bibliothèque des écoles françaises d’Athènes et de Rome (Paris, 1892). The letters of Honorius are in F. Liverani, Spicilegium Liberianum (1863). There are good Regesta in Latin and Italian, edited by P. Pressutti (Rome, 1888, &c.).
See J. Clausen, Papst Honorius III. (1895); P. T. Masetti, I Pontefici Onorio III. ed Innocenzo IV. a fronte dell’ Imperatore Federico II. net secolo XIII. (1884); F. Gregorovius, Rome in the Middle Ages, vol. 5, trans. by Mrs G. W. Hamilton (London, 1900-1902); K. J. von Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, vol. 5, 2nd ed.; H. H. Milman, Latin Christianity, vol. 5 (London, 1899); T. Frantz, Der grosse Kampf zwischen Kaisertum u. Papsttum zur Zeit des Hohenstaufen Friedrich II. (Berlin, 1903); W. Norden, Das Papsttum u. Byzanz (Berlin, 1903); M. Tangl, Die päpstlichen Kanzleiordungen von 1200-1500 (Innsbruck, 1894); Caillemer, Le Pape Honorius III. et le droit civil (Lyons, 1881); F. Vernet, Études sur les sermons d’Honorius III. (Lyons, 1888). There is an excellent article, with exhaustive bibliography, by H. Schulz in Hauck’s Realencyklopädie, 3rd edition.
(C. H. Ha.)