Abstract

This chapter probes the fate of the disabled men who were less fortunate: those who had to leave the clergy entirely, either of their own volition or due to the severity of their disability. At times, poor health or impairment forced clerics to resign from their positions as they became unable to perform their rights and duties. Often, they were forced to find care and support outside of their clerical community. Case studies demonstrate, however, that petitions and pontifical letters sometimes allowed for the adaptation, even contravention, of existing rules so that the disabled former clerics could live out their days with dignity.

Keywords: Resignation: Retirement; Transfers; Leprosaria

Invoking the sixth-century Pope Gregory the Great, Gratian sets out a roster of unsuitable candidates for the priestly office in his Decree, written between 1140 and 1150. He cites the usual suspects – men who have been married twice, simoniacs, usurers, and so on – before seizing upon the least desirable of all: the mad, or as Gratian puts it, men ‘rendered frantic or possessed by the devil’ (forssenez ou travaillez del deable). It seems clear, then, that an individual with defectus mentis is prohibited from entering the priesthood, and certainly from giving the sacraments. Yet, in a letter sent to Bishop Eleutherius of Tournai and later compiled by Gratian, Gregory the Great asserts that bouts of madness or the loss of one's senses do not always provide grounds for the expulsion of a recently ordained cleric: ‘for that which prevents entry into orders does not always entail the deposition of a cleric already ordained’. Gratian relies directly on this letter to draw his own conclusions: a bishop overcome by passion (passio) leading to insanity (mente alienate) could not be forced to resign, as he had already been ordained. On one hand, the Decree rules that a cleric, who, weighed down by old age or illness (defectus corporis), is prevented from performing his office, is authorized to substitute a person in his place. In those cases, assessors were nominated, implying that such well-off clerics continued to receive the income associated with their office until their death. On another hand, the Decretals of Gregory IX highlight the link between old age and lack of vigour, both of which can provoke a cleric's resignation.