The liber pontificalis of Pandulphus Romanus: From schismatic document to renaissance exemplar

This project examines the twelfth-century redaction of the Liber pontificalis, a history of the Papacy written by Cardinal Pandulphus during the Schism of 1130. It situates this text beyond the narrow context of the Schism as part of the resurgence of Rome's literary culture, reflecting broad trends associated with the Renaissance of the twelfth century and the goals of the Reform papacy: the revival of interest in classical and Christian Antiquity, the fascination with Rome's monuments, and the return to the ancient traditions of its Church. The study also illustrates the reception of this 'schismatic' document, from near-total destruction (twelfth century) to its discovery as 'an ecclesiastical Livy' by early humanists (fourteenth and fifteenth centuries) to its controversial publication by the liberal Mons. Duchesne (nineteenth century).