Guillaume de Bray (born at Bray in the Ile-de-France, date unknown; died in Orvieto, 29 April 1282) was a French ecclesiastic and Roman Catholic Cardinal, poet, and mathematician.
It is claimed Guillaume was Master of Theology,Salvador Miranda, notice of Guillaume de Bray. retrieved 02/06/2016. The claim comes from Alfonso Chacon (Ciaconius), Vitae et res gestae Pontificum Romanorum et S.R.E. Cardinalium (ed. A. Olduin) II (Rome 1677), p. 160, where it is attributed to Petrus Frizonius, Gallia Purpurata (Paris 1638), p. 236. but the Cardinal's tombstone indicates that he was learned in Canon and Civil Law."Lex et decreta" might indicate that he was Doctor in utroque iure. There is no reference to him ever having been a Papal Legate, a Nuncio, or a provincial Rector (governor). So far as it is known, his career as a cardinal was entirely inside the Roman Curia.
His earliest known office was that of Archdeacon of the Church of Reims. He was already Archdeacon when he appears as Dean of the Cathedral of Laon (ca. 1250-1262).H. Fisquet, La France pontificale: La metropole de Reims: Reims (Paris: Etienne Repos, 1864), p. 314.
Reign of Urban IV (1261-1264)
He was created a cardinal-priest by Pope Urban IV in a consistory held at Viterbo on 22 May 1262.Conradus Eubel, Hierarchia catholica medii aevi, I, editio altera (Monasterii 1913), p. 8. The reasons for his creation are completely unknown.Roy. "Guillaume XXIII," pp. 1-2. He was assigned the Titulus of the Church of S. Marco in Rome, though the French Urban IV himself (Jacques Pantaléon of Troyes in Champagne) never visited Rome once during his reign. Cardinal Guillaume's earliest subscription on a papal document was on 9 January 1263.
Pope Urban died at Perugia on 2 October 1264, where he had taken refuge from an insurrection against him in Orvieto.Augustus Potthast, Regesta pontificum Romanorum II (Berlin 1875), p. 1540. The papal throne was vacant for seventeen weeks.
Reign of Clement IV (1265-1268)
Cardinal Guillaume was one of eighteen or nineteen cardinals who participated in the papal election that took place in Perugia in the Episcopal Palace.John P. Adams, Sede Vacante, 1264-1265. retrieved 02/07/2016. Their choice was between a supporter of the Imperial party (Manfred) or the Angevin party (Charles of Anjou). A canonical election seems to have taken place in October, 1264, but the successful candidate was not present in Perugia. Cardinal Guy Folques (Fulcoldi) was in northern France. He had been appointed Apostolic Legate to England, with powers to intervene in the baronial war between King Henry III and Simon de Montfort, but his entry into England had been blocked.Joseph Heidemann, Die englische Legation des Cardinals Guido Fulcoldi, des spaeteren Clemens IV. (Münster 1904). Aiden Gasquet, Henry III and the Church (London 1905), pp. 395-401. He did not reach Perugia to accept the papal throne until 5 February 1265.Joseph Heidemann, Papst Clemens IV. (Münster 1903), pp. 174-181.
On 16 June 1265, Cardinal Guillaume of S. Marco subscribed a papal bull in favor of the Monastery of S. Maria in Donnico and similarly on 7 July 1265, for the Monastery of Fructuensis, and on 1 August 1265, for the Monastery of S. Gertrude in Cologne.E. Jordan, Les Registres de Clément IV fasc. I (Paris 1893), p. 493, no. 1706; p. 500, no. 1750; p. 503, no. 1769.
At Perugia on 21 May 1265, Pope Clement IV confirmed a judgment made by Cardinal Guillaume of S. Marco and Cardinal Ottavio Ubaldini of S. Maria in Via lata, on a dispute involving members of the Roman Curia and the townspeople of Perugia regarding the paying of rents for domiciles when they were absent from the Curia or when no audiences were being held.E. Jordan, Les Registres de Clément IV fasc. I (Paris 1893), no. 141.
On 4 February 1266, Cardinal Guillaume subscribed a bull in favor of the Abbey of Cluny.E. Jordan, Les Registres de Clément IV fasc. I (Paris 1893), p. 526, no. 1928. Next day he subscribed a bull in favor of the Hospital of S. Pietro in Prato.E. Jordan, Les Registres de Clément IV fasc. I (Paris 1893), p. 527, no. 1931. In December, 1266, Pope Clement granted Cardinal Guillaume the privilege of disposing of prebendaries in the dioceses of Laon and Reims, which had been granted to Archbishop-elect Jean de Courtenai.E. Jordan, Les Registres de Clément IV fasc. I (Paris 1893), p. 397, no. 1159. Jean de Courtenay-Champignelles was son of Robert Tige, and brother of Pierre de Courtenay, who died on Crusade in Egypt in 1250: Louis Le Gendre, Nouvelle histoire de France depuis le commencement de la monarchie jusques à la mort de Louis XIII. (Paris 1718), p. 194.
In the summer of 1267, Guillaume de Bray was Auditor (Judge) in the case of a disputed election at the Monastery of S. Pierre de Altovillari in the diocese of Reims; his decision was confirmed by the Pope on 21 August 1267.E. Jordan, Les Registres de Clément IV fasc. I (Paris 1893), p. 164, no. 512. Pope Clement IV confirmed a judgment of Cardinal Guillaume in favor of the Preceptor of the Knights of the Order of S. John of Jerusalem in Germany against a monastery in the diocese of Constanz on 23 December 1267.E. Jordan, Les Registres de Clément IV fasc. I (Paris 1893), p. 193, no. 574.
On 5 January 1268, the Pope confirmed a judgment made by Cardinal Odo of Chateauroux and Cardinal Guillaume de Bray in the matter of a contested election for the position of Abbot of a monastery in the diocese of Châlons-sur-Marne.E. Jordan, Les Registres de Clément IV fasc. I (Paris 1893), pp. 189-190, no. 559.
The Election of 1268-1271
Pope Clement IV died in Viterbo on 29 November 1268. At his own request he was buried in the Dominican church, S. Maria in Gradi, though his body was transferred, during the Sede Vacante, to the Cathedral of S. Lorenzo. The act was carried out by the Bishop, Archpriest and Canons of the Cathedral, anticipating that popular enthusiasm which began to see miracles at the dead pope's body might lead to a canonization. They preferred that the Cathedral should benefit rather than the Dominicans.
The vacancy in the Holy See lasted two years, nine months and two days. Since the cardinals were absolutely unable to agree on one of themselves as a possible pope, they decided to follow a different sanctioned procedure for electing a pope, called the "Way of Compromise". Each of the cardinals, including Guillaume de Bray, signed a document entrusting the choice of a pope to a committee of six cardinals, providing that five of the six had to agree on the candidate for a successful election. But Cardinal Guillaume was not a member of the Committee of Compromise.Francesco Cristofori, Le tombe dei pape in Viterbo (Siena 1887), pp. 208-209. Augustinus Theiner (Editor), Caesaris S. R. E. Cardinalis Baronii, Od. Raynaldi et Jac. Laderchii Annales Ecclesiastici Tomus 21, 1257-1285 (Barri-Ducis: Ludovicus Guerin 1870), under the year 1271, § 8, p. 258. After the Election had taken place on September 1, 1271, and an outsider, a non-cardinal had been elected,F.Gregorovius, History of Rome in the Middle Ages, Volume V. 2, second edition, revised (London: George Bell, 1906) 457-460. while the Cardinals were awaiting the arrival of the pope-elect, Teobaldo Visconti, from the Holy Land, on 23 November 1271, they ordered an inquiry into the removal of the Pope's body, and placed Cardinal Guillaume de Bray of S. Marco and Cardinal Uberto de Coconato of S. Eustachio in charge. They ordered that the body and its monument be returned to the Church of S. Maria in Gradi.Cesare Pinzi, Storia della citta di Viterbo, illustrata con note e nuovi documenti in gran parte inediti Volume II (Roma 1888), pp. 243-249.
Reign of Gregory X (1272-1276)
In 1272, Guillaume de Bray was named Chamberlain of the College of Cardinals.Paul Maria Baumgarten, Untersuchungen und Urkunden uber die Camera Collegii Cardinalium (Leipzig 1898), p. LI.
Under Pope Gregory X, Cardinal Guillaume was named Auditor (judge) in the case of a monastery election in the diocese of Agen; the case was still active on 15 February 1278 under Pope Nicholas III.J. Gay, Les registres de Nicolas III (Paris 1898), p. 5 no. 13. He was also Auditor in the case of a double election in the diocese of Monopoli after the death of Bishop Giulio.Members of the French School at Rome (editors), Registres de Martin IV (Paris 1901), p. 122 no. 287.
He was present at the opening ceremonies of the Second Council of Lyon on 1 May 1274.Isidorus Carini, "Brevis Historia Concilii Lugdunensis," in Specilegio Vaticano di documenti inediti e rari estratti dagli Archivi e dalla Biblioteca della Sede Apostolica Volume I (Roma: Ermanno Loescher 1890), pp. 250-251. On 6 June 1274, a Consistory was held in Lyons, and Cardinal Guillaume de Bray is listed on a document as one of thirteen cardinals in attendance on that day.Augustinus Theiner, Codex diplomaticus dominii temporalis Sanctis Sedis Volume 1 (Romae 1861), p. 186.
He was one of the cardinals who accompanied Pope Gregory X on his return trip from Lyon in 1275. He was present at Lausanne on 20 October 1275, when the German King Rudolf I of Habsburg swore his oath of fealty to the Roman Church, in anticipation of his being crowned Emperor by the Pope.Pietro Campi, Dell' historia ecclesiastica di Piacenza parte seconda (Piacenza 1651), p. 483.
1276: The Year of Four Popes
Cardinal Guillaume de Bray was one of the twelve (or thirteen) cardinals who participated in the papal Conclave of 20–21 January 1276, at Arezzo, where Gregory X had died, in which Pierre de Tarentaise, OP, of Savoy, was elected and chose the name Innocent V.John P. Adams, Sede Vacante and Conclave of January 1276. retrieved 02/05/2016.. The uncertainty arises over the presence or absence of Cardinal Riccardo Annibaldi. He was also one of thirteen cardinals who took part in the Conclave of July, 1276, which was held in Rome, where Innocent V had died. The Conclave began on 2 July and concluded on 11 July with the election of Cardinal Ottobono Fieschi of Genoa, who took the name Adrian V. King Charles of Sicily, the Senator of Rome, acted as governor of the Conclave. His administration of the Conclave was exceedingly rigorous, though unfair in his favoring the French faction. It is no surprise that one of his supporters was chosen pope. Adrian immediately ratified the peace treaty which had been worked out by the Genoese (or at least the pro-French Genoese) and King Charles.Gregorovius, 474-475. Ultimately King Charles' manipulations came to nothing, when Adrian died thirty nine-days later, on August 18. Before he died, however, he did one important act. He suspended the papal Constitution "Ubi Periculum", which had been drawn up by Pope Gregory X and ratified by the Second Council of Lyon in 1274. This constitution provided the rules and regulations for the operation of a Conclave. Adrian and the Cardinals agreed that it did not work well, and that it needed revisions. Cardinal Guillaume of S. Marco is specifically mentioned as not having been present, due to illness, at the discussions which lead to the suspension of "Ubi Periculum".A. Tomassetti, Bullarum, Diplomatum, et Privilegiorum Sanctorum Romanorum Pontificum editio Taurinensis Tomus IV (Turin 1859), pp. 37-38. Adrian was planning these revisions during a trip to Viterbo when he suddenly died. He had not been ordained, consecrated or crowned. The Conclave of September, 1276, in Viterbo, therefore, was the scene of considerable disorder both in the Roman Curia and in the townspeople. Once the disorders were quelled, the election was quick. The eleven Cardinals who were present agreed on Cardinal Peter of Lisbon, who became Pope John XXII.John P. Adams, Sede Vacante and Conclave of September, 1276. retrieved 02/05/2016.