La simonia a Firenze nel secolo XI: un fraintendimento volontario?

The contribution proposed here intends to analyse the voluntary misunderstanding that occurred between the monks of Giovanni Gualberto (Vallombrosani) and Pier Damiani, prior of Fonte Avellana, cardinal-bishop of Ostia, concerning the meaning given to the term 'simony'. Although it could be agreed that simony was, in the 11th century, widely understood as the buying and selling of ecclesiastical offices and res sacrae, different degrees of 'intensity' connoted the use of the word. It could be a heresy capable of invalidating all ordinations and sacraments administered by unworthy priests (Vallombrosani) or a grave sin that did not involve the invalidation of sacraments and the ecclesiastical hierarchy (Pier Damiani). Resorting to one or the other definition entailed practical effects of great relevance as demonstrated by the case analysed here: that of Bishop Pietro Mezzabarba in 11th-century Florence.