Étienne de Bar (died 1163), sometimes Stephen of Bar, was a French cardinal and nephew of Pope Calixtus II.
He was the son of Theodoric I, Count of Montbéliard and Ermentrude of Burgundy (1055–1105), the daughter of William I, Count of Burgundy. He was brought up at Vienne, under the supervision of his uncle, Guy de Bourgogne, Archbishop of Vienne. He was probably in his uncle's entourage when he was summoned to a conference by Pope Gelasius II at Cluny.Viville, Dictionnaire du département de la Moselle, p. 319. The pope died on 29 January 1119, before Guy de Bourgogne could reach Cluny; but he arrived at Cluny on February 1, and was elected pope the next day, taking the name Calixtus II.These details are reported by Calixtus himself, in a letter to Archbishop Adalbert of Mainz.
Cardinal and bishop Étienne subscribed a papal bull at Benevento on 24 September 1120, it is likely that he was named a cardinal during the Quatuor temporum earlier in September.Hüls, p. 232. He was bishop of Metz from 1120His predecessor, Bishop Theotger, had died on 29 April 1120. Pius Gams, Series episcoporum ecclesiae catholicae (Graz 1873), p. 293, column 1. until his death in 1163, though he was prevented from taking possession of the see for a number of years because of the hostility of the emperor, who had not appointed him and had not invested him.Meurisse, p. 394.
Rome The pope returned to Rome in mid-December 1120;Calixtus conducted an ordination of priests, deacons, and subdeacons at St. Peter's Basilica during the Ember days in mid-December 1120. Jaffé, Regesta pontificum I, pp. 797; 799, no. 6892. Cardinal Étienne signed a bull at the Lateran on 3 January 1121, and another on 7 January 1121.Hüls, p. 233.
In January 1122, Pope Calixtus, traveling in the kingdom of Naples, held a synod at Cotrone to settle a boundary dispute between two dioceses. Cardinal Étienne was in the papal party and was present at the negotiations.Hüls, p. 233. "Chronica Trium Tabernarum", in: E. Caspar, "Die Chronik von Tres Tabernae in Calabrien," Quellen und Forschungen 10 (1907), p. 52: "Haec nomina et eorum, qui huic examinationi interfuerunt, uidelicet Gregorius archiepiscopus sanetae Seuerinae, Atbanasius episcopus Cotroni, Policronius episcopus Genocastrensis episcopus in fide, Dimitius episcopus Tusculanae cardinalis, Gualterius archiepiscopus Barensis, episcopus Aquensis, Ioannes episcopus Ceracensis, Ubertus abbas sanetae Eufemiae, Lambertus magister heremitarum, Rogerius saneti Iuliani abbas, Grisogonus cancellarius cardinalis, Adoaldus cardinalis, Ioannes Cremensis cardinalis, Stefanus praefati frater cardinalis, Ionathas cardinalis, Robertus Parisiacensis cardinalis, Gregorius cardinalis, Gregorius abbas sanetae Catherinae, Barnabas abbas saneti Leonardi et Sabba frater eius et multi alii."
Cardinal Étienne was in Rome at the Lateran on 6 April 1123, when he subscribed a bull for his uncle along with thirty-three other cardinals, confirming the decisions about the consecration of bishops on the island of Corsica, and condemning the pamphlets of the Pisatans.Hüls, p. 233. P. F. Kehr (1914), Italia Pontificia Vi, part 2 (Berlin: weidmann), pp. 324-325, no. 10.
Étienne de Bar was in the Moselle valley in the late spring and early summer 1124. Archbishop Bruno of Trier had died on 25 April, and his successor was being installed on 2 July. As one of the suffragan bishops, Étienne of Metz attended the ceremonies in Trier. He created a scandal, however, by insisting on wearing the pallium which his uncle had granted him in the presence of his metropolitan.Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Scriptorum Tumus VIII, "Gesta Godefridi Archiepiscopi Treverensis", p. 201.
Pope Calixtus died on 14 December 1124. He was succeeded, on 21 December by Cardinal Lamberto of Ostia, who took the name Honorius II. The Emperor Henry V died on 23 May 1125, removing one major opponent to Cardinal Étienne's possession of the see of Metz. Lothar III was elected King of the Romans on 30 August 1125. He spent Christmas with the emperor and the court at Strasbourg, and on 28 December 1125 he subscribed an imperial charter.Meurisse (1634), Histoire des evesques de l'eglise de Metz, p. 406. He was still having trouble taking possession of his diocese, however, due to the opposition of the commune of Metz and of the local notab les, who had usurped the property belonging to the bishopric during the previous decade. Bishop Étienne had to conduct religious ceremonies at the hermitage at Mont S. Quentin.Viville, p. 319.
On 5 May 1126, at the Lateran Palace, Cardinal Étienne and twenty-two other cardinals signed the bull of Pope Honorius II which ended the dispute between the bishops of Siena and Arezzo over parishes, property, and territory.Hüls, p. 233, with note 7. J. von Pflugk-Harttung, Acta pontificum Romanorum inedita Vol. II (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer 1884), p. 255, On 21 July of the same year he was at the Lateran again, and signed the decree along with thirty-seven other cardinals restoring to the archbishop of Pisa the right to consecrate bishops for Sardinia.Hüls, p. 233, with note 9. J. D. Mansi (ed.), Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, editio novissima, Tomus XXI (Venice: A. Zatta 1776), p. 348. On 7 May 1128, Étienne signed a bull along with thirty-two other cardinals guaranteeing the privileges of two custodians of the Lateran Palace.Hüls, p. 233, with note 10. P. F. Lehr, Italia pontificia I (Berlin: Weidmann 1906), p. 35, no. 2.
Metz Pope Honorius II died on 13 February 1130. His successor Innocent II was elected uncanonically on the same day, or the next day. On 14 February a counter-election took place, in which Petrus Petri Leonis was elected Anacletus II. The majority of the cardinals and the people of Rome supported Anacletus. There is no indication that Étienne de Bar had anything to do with either election.
In 1130, Bishop Étienne de Bar reconstituted the old church of Notre Dame de la Ronde as a collegiate church, and endowed six canonries to serve the church.Religieux Bénédictins, Histoire générale de Metz, II, p. 255. Meurisse (1634), Histoire des evesques de l'eglise de Metz, p. 376.
Archbishop Meginher of Trier died on 1 October 1130.Gams, p. 318, column 2. In 1131, during the politicking over choosing a successor, Bishop Étienne argued with the clergy and laity over one candidate after another, successfully diminishing each's chances. The discussions may have been prolonged because of the necessity of the higher clergy to attend the synod of Pope Innocent II at Liège on 22 March 1131.Jaffé, p. 847. Both Bishop Étienne and the Primicerius of the cathedral of Metz, Adalberon, are stated to have attended.Religieux Bénédictins, Histoire générale de Metz, II, p. 255. Finally, he managed to secure all the votes for his own candidate, his friend Adalberon. Adalberon had previously been elected bishop of Magdeburg, which he refused, and then bishop of Halberstadt, which he also refused. When he was elected archbishop of Trier on 19 April 1131,Gams, p. 318. he attempted to refuse again, and carried his case directly to Pope Innocent II, who was holding a council in Reims on 24—26 October 1131.Jaffé, p. 851. Without going into the matter, Innocent ordered Adalberon to take a seat on the bench of bishops. Following his consecration, Bishop Étienne conducted him to Trier, where they worked to reestablish order and peace.Viville, pp. 322-323. Baldericus of Trier, however, states that Adalberon had to follow Pope Innocent as far as Vienne, where, in the first week of March 1132, he was finally consecrated a bishop by the pope personally."Gesta Alberonis Archiepiscopi Treverensis," § 12 (ed. G. Weitz), in Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Tomus VIII (Hannover: Hahn), p. 250.
On 20 December 1132, Cardinal Adenulfus of Santa Maria in Cosmedin subscribed a document for Pope Innocent II. The document was signed in Florence, since Innocent and his supporters had not been allowed back into Rome since their expulsion in May or June 1130. The party of Innocent II had obviously replaced Cardinal Étienne at the deaconry of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, at least notionally.Barbara Zenker, Die Mitglieder des Kardinalkollegiums von 1130 bis 1159 (Julius-Maximilians-Universität zu Würzburg 1964), p. 160. P. F. Kehr, Italia pontificia V, p. 182, no. 7. Adenulfus was abbot of Farfa.
In March 1138, both Bishop Étienne and his metropolitan Archbishop Adalberon of Trier were in Coblenz for the election of a German emperor to succeed Lothair III.Wilhelm Bernhardi (1883), Konrad III: Jahrbücher der Deutschen Geschichte (Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot), pp. 14, 24-25, 34, 46. 83, 85. The successful candidate, supported actively by the two Lorrainers, was Conrad von Hohenstaufen, who became Conrad III at his election on 7 March. He was crowned on 13 March in Aachen."Gesta Alberonis Archiepiscopi Treverensis," § 15 (ed. G. Weitz), in Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Tomus VIII (Hannover: Hahn), p. 252.
Inspired by the crusading spirit, roused by Pope Eugenius III and Bernard of Clairvaux, Bishop Étienne took the cross in 1146, along with the Count of Maurienne and the Marquis of Monferrat. The army departed on the Second Crusade in June 1147 and arrived in Antioch in March 1148. The ill-fated siege of Damascus was a distraction, and the crusade failed to achieve its objectives. When Bishop Étienne returned in 1150, he found the entire area being ravaged by wars.Viville, p. 323.
The abbey of Canons Regular at Nôtre-Dame d'Autrey was founded by Bishop Étienne around 1150, receiving its first members from the abbey of Arrouaise. The abbey was located some miles south of Ramberviller.Antoine Alexandre Gosse (1786), Histoire de l'Abbaye et de l'ancienne congrégation des chanoines réguliers d'Arrouaise, avec des notes critiques, historiques & diplomatiques (Lille: Danel), p. 370.
In 1151 serious trouble broke out between the monks of Hastiers and the monks of the abbey de Vaussor, the latter in revolt against their abbot. It took pressure from the Emperor Conrad, Pope Eugenius III, the bishop of Liège, and Étienne de Bar, bishop of Metz, to restore order. In the first week of November, Bishop Étienne held a synod to reply to charges lodged against him by the rebellious monks.Religieux Bénédictins, Histoire générale de Metz, Tome second (Metz: J.B. Collignon 1775), pp. 274-275. Letter of Bishop Étienne to the abbot of Hastiers, ordering the presence of the abbot and his monks at the synod, in: Edmund Martène and Ursène Durand, Veterum scriptorum et monumentorum historicorum ... amplissima collectio, Tomus II (Paris: F. Montalant 1724), p. 453.