Titles

citymouse · Oct 12, 2006

Hello, I'm hoping someone in this forum can give me some information.
Specifically I need to know the forms of address for an arch-deacon, a cardinal and the pope from the years 1054 to 1090AD.

I know the current title for a cardinal is [My] Lord Cardinal and that this is a retro title replacing [His] Eminence but I can't fine the previous dates for MLC.

Also, does anyone know when the pope's title of Holiness was first used?

Lastly, what was the form of address for an arch-deacon?

Thanks muchly
Michael

Marlys · Oct 12, 2006

Well, according to the OED, "holiness" (with possessive) was used not only as a title of the Pope, but of other high ecclesiastical dignitaries. Up to about the year 600, it was given to all bishops, then between 600 and the 14th centuries limited to patriarchs (bishops of some of the chief Sees), after that just to the Pope. But one of the examples they cite is a letter in 1170 from Henry II to Pope Alexander II, so it was definitely used in your time frame.

Eminence wasn't used until 1630 (again, source is OED).

So far, I've found a "my Lord Cardinal" in a letter dated 1331, still looking...

EDIT: Not finding anything else, need to move on. No clue on "archdeacon." If you know the names of some actual historical archdeacons and cardinals, you might try Googling them along with "letter" to see how they were addressed in correspondence.

citymouse · Oct 13, 2006

Thanks, M-- I'm still looking too. You'd think this kind of thing would be well documented.
The book , a novel, that I'm helping to research is about Pope Victor III.
There is a strong suspicion that he was in fact born a Jew and possibly never baptized into the Catholic faith. Apparently this was unknown to him until late in life. This is inferred from the traditions of the time rather than exact evidence.
This is a novel so liberties are taken, nonetheless, you can see why I need to be accurate in my ecclesiastical titles for the years 1000 to 1100.
Michael

Titles

citymouse

fantasy dweller

Marlys

Resist. Love. Go outside.

citymouse

fantasy dweller