1003–1079

Berengar of Tours and the Eucharistic Controversy

Around 1050 Berengar of Tours challenged the earlier realist doctrine of the Eucharist, which Gerbert had defended (1003). The dispute was over whether Christ's body is present in the Eucharist in substance or in power. Lanfranc and Cardinal Humbert fiercely opposed Berengar.

Berengar was repeatedly condemned, including at Rome in 1059 and again in 1079. The 1059 recantation formula was crudely realist (Christ's body "crushed by the teeth of the faithful"), while the 1079 formula was more cautious. The dispute directly prepared the ground for the doctrine of transubstantiation, dogmatized in 1215.