Cuno[a] of Praeneste[b] (died 9 August 1122) was a German Cardinal and papal legate, an influential diplomatic figure of the early 12th century, active in France and Germany.
[6] According to the Chronicon of Peter the Deacon of Montecassino,[citation needed] in 1111, at a Council in Jerusalem,[7] Cuno pronounced the Emperor Henry V excommunicated and stripped of his power.
[8] From the previous year, Cuno had been trying to influence papal policy with regard to the emperor, and this hostile move was without the Pope's agreement.
[10] Cuno was at his old monastery of Aroasia (Arrouaise) on 7 May 1112, when he officially presented the institution a collection of relics which he had brought from Rome, including Saints Sebastian, Hippolytus, the Four Crowned Martyrs, Felicissimus, Caecilia, the tomb of Jesus, and the manger of Bethlehem.
[13] Cuno summoned a synod on 6 December 1114 at Beauvais; another at Soissons on 6 January 1115, where he also held talks with King Louis VI of France;[14] and another at Reims on 28 March 1115.
[24] Subsequently, Cuno worked with Thurstan, Archbishop of York to broker peace between Henry I and Louis VI of France.
Cuno presided as papal legate at the concilium Fridislariense (Hesse), on 28 July 1118,[28] in which the excommunication of the emperor was confirmed, and St Norbert was accused of various irregularities, including preaching while not yet a priest, and wearing a religious habit while not a monk.
[29] In March 1118, the newly elected Pope Gelasius II was driven out of Rome by the forces of the emperor Henry V. After staying at his native Gaeta, then Capua, then Pisa, he crossed to France in October.
During the synod he became seriously ill, suffering from pleurisy according to Pandolfus Pisanus, and asked to be taken to his next stop, the abbey of Cluny.
[31] When he perceived the seriousness of his condition, he summoned Cardinal Cuno von Urach, and, according to Falco of Benevento,[32] offered him the papacy.
Two cardinal-bishops were present, Cuno of Palestrina (who had precedence)[34] and Lamberto of Ostia, and they chose Archbishop Guy of Vienne, the brother of the duke of Burgundy and uncle of the King of Castile and León.
The other cardinals, as well as the Roman clergy and laity who were present at Cluny ratified the choice,[35] and Archbishop Guy became Pope Calixtus II.
His long-advertised synod began on 20 October 1119, with fifteen archbishops and more than 200 bishops in attendance, as well as King Louis VI of France.
[40] Calixtus and the emperor Henry had been making plans to meet, but ultimately distrust and suspicions on both sides brought the project to nothing.
[47] In the first week of December 1119, at Sens, Pope Calixtus again named Cardinal Cuno his legate in France, with England and Normandy added.
On his way, the bishop happened to meet Cardinal Cuno, the Legate in France, who sent a report immediately to the pope about what he had learned of the mission.
Bishop Warlewast, who reached the papal court when it was at Valence, made a bad impression, if only because of his clumsy attempt to pass out bribes, and failed completely.
[52] Another synod was held at Soissons in March 1121, at which Abelard was accused of the Sabellian heresy, and forced to recant and burn his book, the Theologia Summi Boni.
[54] Cuno (Kono) died at Palestrina on 9 August 1122, less than three months before Pope Calixtus and Henry V signed the Concordat of Worms.