Graziano da Pisa (Gratianus Pisanus) (died 1205) was a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was a native of Pisa,Kartusch, p. 151. and the nephew of Pope Eugenius III (1145-1153).John of Salisbury, Epistola CCXCI (Gaudeo, si tamen), in: J.A. Giles (ed.), Joannis Sarisberiensis Opera Omnia Vol. II: Epistolae (Oxford: J.H. Parker 1848), p. 216. He had studied law in Bologna, and held the rank of Magister. He was a prominent official in the papal chancery, and an accomplished papal diplomat.
Life Gratianus studied law in Bologna, in company with Stephen of Tournai, under the "Golden Mouth", Bulgarus of Bologna (d. 1166).Johann Friedrich Schulte (1875), Die Geschichte der Quellen und Literatur des canonischen Rechts, Volume 1 (Stuttgart: F. Enke), pp. 147-148; 133-136. He held the title of Magister.Paul Fridolin Kehr, Italia pontificia Vol. VII, part 1 (Berlin: Weidmann 1923), p. 242, no. 39 (Verona, 13 September 1187).
The argument has been made that Magister Graziano da Pisa was the "Cardinalis" who was one of the earliest glossators of the Decretum of Gratian, in the 1150s or 1160s. Schulte (1875), pp. 133-136. Brixius, (1912), p. 61. Kartusch, p. 151 with note 1.
He was already a member of the papal chancery when he acted as datary for a bull signed by Pope Alexander III at Benevento on 21 March 1168.Jaffé II, p. 208, no. 11386. He signs himself, per manum Gratiani, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae subdiaconi et notarii.J. P. Migne (ed.), Patrologiae Latinae Cursus Completus Tomus CC (Paris 1855), p. 478. Kartusch, p. 151, with note 2. The exact same subscription is found in documents dated at Anagni on 23 January and on 26 January 1178.Migne, Tomus CC, p. 1160, 1161. He is sometimes given the title Vicechancellor.Lorenzo Cardella, Memorie de' cardinali della Santa Romana Chiese Tomo I, parte 2 (Roma: Pagliarini 1792), p. 127.
Diplomat In 1169, Magister Graziano and Magister Vivianus, an advocate of the Roman church and Archdeacon of Orvieto, were sent by Pope Alexander as his third set of nuncios, bearing letters for King Henry II of England and Archbishop Thomas of Canterbury. They arrived in France in August, but had a considerable wait at Sens, since the king was campaigning in Gascony. When their meeting finally took place, the sessions were full of acrimony, and neither side seemed ready to give way. In disgust at the king, Graziano returned to Italy; Vivianus remained, making additional attempts to find solutions.Cesare Baronio (ed. Augustinus Theiner), Annales ecclesiastici denuo excusi et ad nostra usque tempora perducti Tomus Nonusdecimus (19) (Bar-le-Duc: L. Guerin 1869), p. 331, year 1169 § 5. Kartusch, p. 151. James Craigie Robertson, Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. A Biography, (London: J. Murray 1859), pp. 221-225. He wrote several reports to Pope Alexander on his and Graziano's doings, explaining the various proposals on both sides, and the reasons for their failure.James Craigie Robertson (ed.), Materials for the history of Thomas Becket: archbishop of Canterbury Vol. VII (London: H.M. Stationery Office 1885), pp. 78-82, 167-170.
In 1171, following the murder of Archbishop Becket, they were sent again, to Normandy, but the king appealed directly to Rome and withdrew to England, so that he did not meet the legates.Baronio, p. 375, year 1171 § 11. Kartusch p. 151.
Chancery Magister Graziano was with the papal court at Anagni, where the papal court had been in residence since 28 March 1173. There he dated a bull on 4 April 1174, on 10 June 1174, on 30 June 1174, and another on 17 July 1174.Migne, Tomus CC, pp. 985, 990, 992, 994. They then moved to Ferentino, some 13 km. to the south, where Pope Alexander resided from 25 October 1174 to 10 October 1175. There Graziano acted as datary on a bull of 19 November 1174, 30 December 1174, 14 February 1175, 13 March 1175, 28 March 1175, 5 July 1175, and 10 August 1175.Migne, Tomus CC, p. 1003, 1014, 1016, 1021, 1030, 1033. He was at Anagni with the papal court, and acted as datary on 19 October 1175.Migne, Tomus CC, p. 1035.
He accompanied the papal court to Venice, where the pope resided from 11 May 1177 to 15 October 1177,Jaffé II, p. 307-315. for the negotiations which led to the peace between the pope and the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. During the trip he notarized and dated bulls at Ferrara on 1 and 7 May 1177.Migne, Tomus CC, pp. 1111, 1114. He acted as datary and notary in Venice for bulls of 28 June 1177, 9 July 1177, 10 July, 31 July, 6 August, 18 August, and 29 September 1177.Migne, Tomus CC, p. 1125, 1126, 1136, 1140, 1143, 1152. Baronio, Tomus XIX, p. 427. At Anagni, on 23 January 1178, he also acted as datary and notary.Migne, Tomus CC, p. 1160. He also executed the document of 7 February 1178.Bullarium Lateranense, editio novissima (Rome: Apostolica Camera 1727), Appendix, p. 1, where the name is transcribed as "Boetiani" S.R.E. subdiaconi et notarii. See Schulte, p. 148. Brixius p. 61.
Cardinal Gratianus was created a cardinal by Pope Alexander III on 3 March 1178, and was assigned the deaconry of Santi Cosma e Damiano in the Roman Forum.Brixius, p. 61. His earliest known signature on a papal document as a cardinal occurs on 28 March 1178 at the Lateran.Jaffé II, p. 321, no. 13036. J. Zahn (ed.), Urkundenbuch des Herzogthums Steiermark, Volume 1 (Graz 1875), p. 561. On 2 January 1179, he was at Tusculum, where he subscribed a bull.Migne, Tomus CC, p. 1202. On 26 March 1179, at the Lateran, he subscribed a bull for the abbey of S. Savinus in Piacenza, and on 10 August 1179 at Segni another bull for the priory of S. Giovanni Laterano.J. Pflugk-Harttung, Acta pontificum Romanorum inedita III (Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer 1886), pp. 270, 273. He subscribed for Alexander III on 24 May 1181.Jaffé II, p. 146. Pope Alexander died at Cività Castellana on 30 August 1181.Jaffé II, p. 418. Two days later, on 1 September 1181, the cardinals assembled, probably including Cardinal Graziano though there is no positive evidence. They may have met at Velletri, and elected the senior member of the Sacred College, Cardinal Ubaldo of Lucca, Bishop of Ostia. He took the name Lucius III. He was crowned on 6 September by Cardinal Teodino of Porto at Velletri.Jaffé, p. 432. Gregorovius IV. 2, pp. 606-609. On 5 November 1181, Pope Lucius, having made a peace with the Roman commune, signed a bull at the Lateran for the collegiate chapter of S. Martino in Siena, to which Cardinal Gratianus subscribed.J. von Pflugk-Harttung, Acta pontificum Romanorum inedita III, p. 289.
Refuge in Verona Driven out of Rome by the Roman commune, due to the war over Tusculum, Pope Lucius III (1181–1185) fled to the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who was at Verona, expecting to receive assistance for Tusculum and against the Romans.Ferdinand Gregorovius, (1896), The History of Rome in the Middle Ages Vol. IV, part 2. (London: George Bell 1896), pp. 609-611. Jaffé II, pp. 465-466. Some of the cardinals followed Pope Lucius to Verona; others, however, whose followers had perpetrated the outrages at Tusculum and in the Roman campagna, remained in the city.Gregorovius, p. 611. Far from obtaining aid from the emperor Frederick Barbarossa, they fell into quarreling, and the papal court became prisoner of the emperor in Verona.
Ten cardinals who were with the refugee pope Lucius participated in the consecration of the cathedral of Modena on 14 July 1184. They were: Theodinus of Porto, Tebaldus of Ostia; Joannes of S. Marco, Laborans of S. Maria Transtiberim, Pandulfus of Ss. Apostolorum, Ubertus of S. Lorenzo in Damaso; Ardicio of S. Teodoro, Graziano of Ss. Cosma e Damiano, Goffredfus of S. Maria in Via Lata, and Albinus of S. Maria Nuova.Oliviero Iozzi, La tomba di Lucio III in Verona, (Roma: Tipografia Labicana 1907), pp. 29-30.
On 11 November 1185, two weeks before the pope's death Cardinal Graziano and his seventeen colleagues subscribed a bull in favor of the monastery of S. Peter Lobiensis.Jaffé and Loewenfeld, #15471. Lucius died on 25 November 1185, and the election of his successor took place immediately after the funeral on the same day. Cardinal Graziano certainly participated in the election of a new pope, which was brief and unanimous.Ralph of Diceto, in: J. Watterich, Pontificum Romanorum... Vitae, p. 663. Horace Kinder Mann, The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Volume 10 (London: Kegan Paul 1914), pp. 286-289. The successful candidate, was Humbertus Crivelli, the Archbishop of Milan and Cardinal of S. Lorenzo in Damaso, " a violent and unyielding spirit, and a strong opponent of Frederick (Barbarossa)," in the words of Ferdinand Gregorovius. He took the name Urban III.F. Gregorovius, The History of Rome in the Middle Ages Vol. IV, part 2 (London: George Bell 1896), pp. 610-612. Graziano began subscribing documents for Urban III on 9 December 1185.Migne, Tomus CCII, p. 1331. In September 1187, Pope Urban was able to make his escape from the imperial blockade of Verona, and flee to Ferrara. In Ferrara, Cardinal Graziano subscribed a bull on 13 October 1187.Migne, Tomus CCII, p. 1532. Pope Urban died in Ferrara on 20 October 1187.Jaffé, p. 528. Gregorovius IV. 2, p. 614. Ferrara and Pisa On the following day, thirteen cardinals who had been present in Ferrara, including Graziano da Pisa, began the proceedings to elect his successor.J.P. Migne (ed.), Patrologiae Latinae Collectio, Tomus CCII (Paris 1855), p. 1537, Pope Gregory VIII, in his electoral message, Inter Divinae Dispentionis: "Praedecessore siquidem nostro Urbano XIII Kal. Novemb. in bona confessione viam universae carnis ingresso, et tradito solemniter sepulturae, convenimus sequenti die in unum, et missa in honorem Sancti Spiritus, sicut moris est, celebrata, processimus seorsum in unum locum, nos episcopi, presbyteri et diaconi canonibus, et, postpositis diversis ecclesiasticis negotiis, et praecipue calamitatis Orientalis Ecclesiae, quae diebus illis audita fuerat, ad electionem pontificis visum est procedendum, ne, si forte dilationem acciperet, detrimentum ex tarditate per diversas partes Christiano populo proveniret." The papal chancellor, Albert di Morra, who was in great favor with the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa was unanimously elected pope on 21 October 1187, and took the name Gregory VIII. He immediately began to return the papal court to Rome. They travelled to Bologna (18–20 November 1187), Modena (22 November), Reggio Emilia (24 November), Parma (26–29 November), Lucca (7–9 December), and finally Pisa (10–17 December).Jaffé, pp. 532-534. Cardinal Graziano subscribed for him at Ferrara on 31 October 1187, at Modena on 22 November, at Parma on 28 November, and at Pisa on 11 December.Migne, Tomus CCII, pp. 1545, 1555, 1557, 1564. Pope Gregory died in Pisa on 17 December 1187, after a brief illness, said to have been a fever lasting eight days. He had been pope only one month and twenty-seven days. Two days later, the cardinals assembled in the cathedral of Pisa, and began proceedings to elect his successor.Jaffé, p. 536. The cardinals unanimously elected Cardinal Paolo Scolari, bishop of Palestrina, on 19 December 1187, the Saturday after the Feast of S. Barbara. He took the name Clement III.Jaffé, p. 536. Cardinal Graziano subscribed for the new pope on 23 December 1187.Migne, Tome CCIV, p. 1278.
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