Philip (; died in 1300 or 1301) was an Italian prelate in the 13th century, who served as Bishop of Fermo from 1273 until his death.
Pope Nicholas III appointed him papal legate to Hungary, Poland and the neighboring lands in late 1278, to help King Ladislaus IV of Hungary restore royal power. His activity between 1279 and 1281 – mostly regarding the persecution of the Cumans – significantly interfered in Hungarian domestic politics and, contrary to his original mandate and intent, contributed to the deepening of feudal anarchy and the suppression of royal power against the emerging oligarchs.
Bishop of Fermo His origin, studies and early career are unknown. Polish historian Kazimierz Gołąb incorrectly identified him with "Philippus comes de Casate", an alleged deacon of Milan and papal chaplain, combining his person with the future cardinal Comes Glusiano de Casate based on a misunderstanding of the address of a papal letter (see below) to both of them in 1278. Nevertheless, Polish historiography accepted Gołąb's claim. Based on his knowledge of canon law, it is possible he attended the University of Bologna. Prior to his episcopate, Philip served as Provost of Mantua. He is addressed by Pope Gregory X as bishop-elect of Fermo in a letter of 24 March 1273, which describes the circumstances of his election by six of the canons of the cathedral chapter. His election was confirmed by Pope Gregory on that day.
On 31 March 1278, Pope Nicholas III entrusted Philip and Comes de Casate to carry out visits to monasteries, hospitals, churches and chapels under his direct papal jurisdiction in Rome. In March 1280, Pope Nicholas informed Philip – who resided Hungary by then – that he asserted the right of appointment for the vacant diocese of Modena and offered him the position and his transfer from Fermo to Modena in his absence. Philip, however, wished to remain the less significant Bishop of Fermo and held this dignity until his death. Philip was probably counting on his creation as cardinal, which motivated him to refuse the post. After his return from Eastern Europe to Italy, Philip kept a low profile and devoted the last years of his life to the improvement of the administration of the Diocese of Fermo: for instance, by introducing the office of vicar general and raising church discipline to a higher level. The content of these measures was primarily pastoral work, and not political sphere, which was clearly relegated to the background.
He died after a long illness in 1300 or 1301. His successor Alberico Visconti was transferred to the see by Pope Boniface VIII on 28 February 1301.
Papal legate Appointment
Pope Nicholas III appointed Philip as papal legate with "full jurisdiction" (legationis officio plene) to Hungary and its adjacent territories, Poland, Dalmatia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Galicia–Volhynia and Cumania ("ac Polonie, Dalmatie, Croatie, Rame, Servie, Lodomirie, Galitie et Cumanie partibus illi conterminis") on 22 September 1278. Despite Philip was not a member of the College of Cardinals, he was granted the rank legatus a latere, consequently he was the "alter ego" of the pope and thus possessed full plenipotentiary powers. This reflects the importance that the pope attached to the legation. Even the 14th-century Illuminated Chronicle depicts the arriving Philip with a cardinal's insignia: the illustrator could not conceive of such an important legation without the legate being a cardinal. As a result of his rank legatus a latere, Philip was mandated to donate church benefice; he could appoint his clergy as canons in any chapter; he was authorized to grant indulgence; he could also enforce the imposition of his measures with censure (i.e. excommunication, interdict and suspension), in addition to lifting those punishments. Immediately after his appointment, Philip became de facto head of the Catholic Church in Hungary and was able to convene and preside provincial and national synods. He also acted as the supreme appeals forum for church litigation cases. The pope marked his chief duty in assisting King Ladislaus IV of Hungary to consolidate his authority and restore royal power, in addition to defend the rights and freedoms of ecclesiastical institutions against tyrannical secular lords. Philip was also instructed to strive to enforce canon law in Hungary and the neighboring countries. Beyond that, one of his main tasks was to settle the situation of the Archdiocese of Esztergom, which had been sede vacante for 7 years.
The timing of sending the papal legate to Hungary can be traced back to uncertain reasons. Although, the kingdom fell into feudal anarchy in 1272, when the minor Ladislaus was crowned king, and in the following years baronial groups fought for supreme power which also affected serious damage to ecclesiastical property (for instance, the Diocese of Veszprém was ravaged and devastated in 1276), by the time Philip was appointed, Ladislaus IV had achieved significant results in the field of political consolidation: after he was declared to be of age in May 1277, he successfully eliminated the dominion of the Geregye clan, while forcing the powerful Kőszegi family to retreat temporarily. Simultaneously, the joint German–Hungarian army decisively defeated the Bohemians and killed the archenemy King Ottokar II of Bohemia at the Battle on the Marchfeld in August 1278. The 14th-century Illuminated Chronicle emphasizes that Philip came into Hungary specifically due to Ladislaus's non-Christian habits and mores, but there is no trace of this in contemporary sources before the legate's arrival, so the chronicle pointed out this reason retrospectively. Historian Jenő Szűcs argued the papal documents containing the appointment also do not mention any objectionable behavior of the king. Jenő Szűcs and Attila Zsoldos considered the Holy See revived those Gregorian aspirations, which claimed Hungary was a papal fief as Saint Stephen "received the governance and crown" from the Pope in the 11th century, as papal legate Philip declared, when he opened the national synod in Buda. Based on Ottokar aus der Gaal's Steirische Reimchronik ("Styrian Rhyming Chronicle"), historian Viktória Kovács considered the appointment of a papal legate could have been preceded by a request in Hungary. Presumably, some members of the country's ecclesiastical and secular elite were dissatisfied with the king's consolidation efforts and did not trust the monarch. Bruno von Schauenburg, the Bishop of Olomouc (and King Ottokar's advisor) in 1272 already informed Pope Gregory on the "dangerous situation" of Christianity in Hungary, for which he made the Cumans primarily responsible. According to a near-contemporary Austrian chronicle, the Continuatio Vindobonensis, Philip was sent to Hungary not just to convert the Cumans but to "recall the Christian Hungarians, who had nearly forgotten the Christian life [...] to the Catholic faith".
Hungary Philip of Fermo traveled via the Adriatic Sea to Zadar in Dalmatia, according to the Steirische Reimchronik. He already resided in Vienna on 28 December 1278. He arrived the Kingdom of Hungary in early 1279; he issued his first known charter in the capital Buda on 28 February 1279. According to Pope Nicholas' letter, Ladislaus IV unsuccessfully tried to prevent him from crossing the Hungarian border. With the legate's mediation, Ladislaus IV concluded a peace treaty with the rebellious Kőszegis and their familiares in March 1279. Philip considered this development as a successful completion of his political task, because of his "lack of information in good faith".
Church affairs Pope Nicholas III mentioned in a 7 October 1278 letter that Catholics had disappeared from the Diocese of Cumania (or Milkovia) because no bishop lived there since the destruction of the episcopal see during the Mongol invasion of Hungary. The pope urged Philip to investigate the situation in the former bishopric. Already in December 1278, when he was still in Vienna, Philip confirmed several former letters of donation of King Andrew II of Hungary and former popes to the Teutonic Order regarding their claim in Burzenland (Barcaság) in Transylvania, which reflect the fact that the expulsion of Teutonic Knights from Hungary was still on the agenda in papal diplomacy. In May 1280, the community (universitas) of the Transylvanian Saxons requested Philip to lift interdict which was imposed to their lands because of the Saxon rebellion and destruction of the Diocese of Transylvania in 1277; he was willing to do so on the condition of rebuilding the St. Michael's Cathedral, the bishop's palace and chapel. Around the same time, Philip also excused brothers Mikod and Emeric Kökényesradnót from their oath to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, in exchange to finance the reconstruction of the cathedral.
The archiepiscopal see of Esztergom was virtually sede vacante since the death of Philip Türje in late 1272. Filling the position has become one of the battlegrounds of the feudal anarchy that began this year. By the time of the arrival of papal legate Philip, two representatives of the rival baronial groups, Nicholas Kán and Peter Kőszegi fought for the position. Pope Nicholas III summoned both of them to the Roman Curia in January 1278, but they refused to attend. On 1 June 1278, Pope Nicholas wished to appoint the archbishop himself in accordance with the canon law and declared the see of Esztergom vacant, ordering a new election. Nicholas Kán ignored the pope's decision and continued to style himself as archbishop-elect, as a result he was excommunicated. Philip was willing to release Nicholas from the excommunication in May 1279, if he resign from the title, return the usurped lands and treasures, and leave Hungary for a pilgrimage to Rome. With the contribution of Philip, Pope Nicholas III appointed Lodomer as the new Archbishop of Esztergom on 13 June 1279. On the same day, the pope instructed Philip to investigate the circumstances and regularity of the election of John Hont-Pázmány as the Archbishop of Kalocsa, which took place in the previous year. Subsequently, Philip refused to confirm the election of Thomas as the Bishop of Várad (successor of Lodomer), because he was not ordained priest within a year after his election as provost of Vasvár despite the regulation of the Second Council of Lyon (1274). The chapter of Várad successfully demonstrated that the rule applied only to the provosts of pastoral chapters, while Vasvár was a collegiate chapter. There were also uncertainties around the election of Gerard, the provost of Buda, who replaced John Hont-Pázmány in this position. For unknown reasons, Philip refused to confirm his election and sent the case to the Holy See. Years later, in November 1282, Pope Martin IV commissioned Comes de Casate, the Cardinal-Priest of SS. Marcellinus and Petrus to investigate the affair.