The Case of Bernard of Osma: Royal Influence and Papal Authority in the Diocese of Osma

The election of Bishop Bernard of Osma, former prior of Osma, took place not later than 15 February 1174. But the validity of his election was subsequently challenged on grounds of simony, and he was deposed sometime after mid-July 1176. A decretal of Alexander III to Archbishop Cerebruno of Toledo, Consuluit nos, dealt in its opening section with the question of appeals where manifest crimes were involved, or frustratory tactics employed, and in its second part with the charges raised against the election of Bernard, quondam bishop of Osma. The letter was received into the canonical collections from 1179 onwards, and ultimately into the official Decretales of 1234. There is no ambiguity about the provenance of this letter.