Henry of Marcy

Blessed Henry of Marcy (c. 1136 – 1 January 1189) was a Cistercian abbot first of Hautecombe (1160) and then of Clairvaux from 1177 until 1179. He was created Cardinal Bishop of Albano at the Third Lateran Council in 1179.

He was an important figure in the fight against the late twelfth-century movements of Catharism and Waldensianism and took a leading part at III Lateran. He strongly supported the use of force to suppress heresy and a strong alliance between secular and ecclesiastic authority in the use of force.

Henry was named after his birthplace of Castro Marsiaco, or the Château de Marcy, near Cluny in Burgundy. He joined the Cistercian order in 1155 or 1156, becoming a monk at Clairvaux before being sent as to become the first abbot of the daughter house of Hautecombe in the Savoy. His spiritual mentor was Bernard of Clairvaux.

In September 1177, Raymond V of Toulouse made a request to the Cistercian General Chapter for a legatine mission to help him deal with the heresy of Catharism which was rampant in his domains. On 13 September 1177, the Cistercian General Chapter decided to send Henry to Languedoc at the head of a papal legation which included Peter of Pavia, Cardinal Priest of S. Crisogono; Jean des Bellesmains, Bishop of Poitiers; Pons d'Arsac, Archbishop of Narbonne; and Gerard, Archbishop of Bourges.Roger of Howden may have accompanied him, as he is the source for the only account of the mission and he includes Henry's letter summarising their accomplishments. On the other hand, he also relied heavily on the letters between Henry and Pietro di San Chrysogono.

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