GUIBERT

guibert, or wibert (c. 1030-1100), of ravenna, antipope under the title of clement iii. from the 25th of june 1080 until september 1100, was born at parma between 1020 and 1030 of the noble imperialist family, corregio. he entered the priesthood and was appointed by the empress agnes, chancellor and, after the death of pope victor ii. (1057), imperial vicar in italy. he strove to uphold the imperial authority during henry iv.'s minority, and presided over the synod at basel (1061) which annulled the election of alexander ii. and created in the person of cadalous, bishop of parma, the antipope honorius ii. guibert lost the chancellorship in 1062. in 1073, through the influence of empress agnes and the support of cardinal hildebrand, he obtained the archbishopric of ravenna and swore fealty to alexander ii. and his successors. he seems to have been at first on friendly terms with gregory vii., but soon quarrelled with him over the possession of the city of imola, and henceforth was recognized as the soul of the imperial faction in the investiture contest. he allied himself with cencius, cardinal candidus and other opponents of gregory at rome, and, on his refusal to furnish troops or to attend the lenten synod of 1075, he was ecclesiastically suspended by the pope. he was probably excommunicated at the synod of worms (1076) with other lombard bishops who sided with henry iv., and at the lenten synod of 1078 he was banned by name. the emperor, having been excommunicated for the second time in march 1080, convened nineteen bishops of his party at mainz on the 31st of may, who pronounced the deposition of gregory; and on the 25th of june he caused guibert to be elected pope by thirty bishops assembled at brixen. guibert, whilst retaining possession of his archbishopric, accompanied his imperial master on most of the latter's military expeditions. having gained rome, he was installed in the lateran and consecrated as clement iii. on the 24th of march 1084. one week later, on easter sunday, he crowned henry iv. and bertha in st peter's. clement survived not only gregory vii. but also victor iii. and urban ii., maintaining his title to the end and in great measure his power over rome and the adjoining regions. excommunication was pronounced against him by all his rivals. he was driven out of rome finally by crusaders in 1097, and sought refuge in various fortresses on his own estates. st angelo, the last guibertist stronghold in rome, fell to urban ii. on the 24th of august 1098. clement, on the accession of paschal ii. in 1099, prepared to renew his struggle but was driven from albano by norman troops and died at civita castellana in september 1100. his ashes, which were said by his followers to have worked miracles, were thrown into the water by paschal ii. see j. langen, _geschichte der romischen kirche von gregor vii. bis innocenz iii._ (bonn, 1893); jaffe-wattenbach, _regesta pontif. roman_. (2nd ed., 1885-1888); k. j. von hefele, _conciliengeschichte_, vol. v. (2nd ed.); f. gregorovius, _rome in the middle ages_, vol. iv., trans. by mrs g. w. hamilton (london, 1900-1902); and o. kohncke, _wibert von ravenna_ (leipzig, 1888). (c. h. ha.) guibert (1053-1124), of nogent, historian and theologian, was born of noble parents at clermont-en-beauvoisis, and dedicated from infancy to the church. he received his early education at the benedictine abbey of flavigny (flaviacum) or st germer, where he studied with great zeal, devoting himself at first to the secular poets, an experience which left its imprint on his works; later changing to theology, through the influence of anselm of bec, afterwards of canterbury. in 1104, he was chosen to be head of the abbey of notre dame de nogent and henceforth took a prominent part in ecclesiastical affairs. his autobiography (_de vita sua, sive monodiarum_), written towards the close of his life, gives many picturesque glimpses of his time and the customs of his country. the description of the commune of laon is an historical document of the first order. the same local colour lends charm to his history of the first crusade (_gesta dei per francos_) written about 1110. but the history is largely a paraphrase, in ornate style, of the _gesta francorum_ of an anonymous norman author (see crusades); and when he comes to the end of his authority, he allows his book to degenerate into an undigested heap of notes and anecdotes. at the same time his high birth and his position in the church give his work an occasional value. bibliography.--guibert's works, edited by d'achery, were first published in 1651, in 1 vol. folio, at paris (_venerabilis guiberti abbatis b. mariae de novigento opera omnia_), and republished in migne's _patrologia latina_, vols. clvi. and clxxxiv. they include, besides minor works, a treatise on homiletics ("liber quo ordine sermo fieri debeat"); ten books of _moralia_ on genesis, begun in 1084, but not completed until 1116, composed on the model of gregory the great's _moralia in jobum_; five books of _tropologiae_ on hosea, amos and the lamentations; a treatise on the _incarnation_, against the jews; four books _de pignoribus sanctorum_, a remarkably free criticism on the abuses of saint and relic worship; three books of autobiography, _de vita sua, sive monodiarum_; and eight books of the _historia quae dicitur gesta dei per francos, sive historia hierosolymitana_ (the ninth book is by another author). separate editions exist of the last named, in j. bongars, _gesta dei per francos_, i., and _recueil des historiens des croisades, hist. occid._, iv. 115-263. it has been translated into french in guizot's _collection_, ix. 1-338. see h. von sybel, _geschichte des ersten kreuzzuges_ (leipzig, 1881); b. monod, _le moine guibert et son temps_ (paris, 1905); and _guibert de nogent; histoire de sa vie_, edited by g. bourgin (paris, 1907).