THE HOHENSTAUFEN EMPERORS AND THE POPES
[Sidenote: Frederick I, Barbarossa, 1152-1190.]
[Sidenote: The historian, Otto of Freising.]
66. Frederick I, nicknamed Barbarossa, i.e., "Redbeard," who became king
of Germany in 1152,[118] is the most interesting of all the German
emperors; and the records we have of his reign enable us to gain a
pretty good view of Europe in the middle of the twelfth century. With
his advent, we feel that we are emerging from that long period which
used to be known as the dark ages. Most of our knowledge of European
history from the sixth to the twelfth century is derived from meager and
unreliable monkish chronicles, whose authors were often ignorant and
careless, and usually far away from the scenes of the events they
recorded. In the latter half of the twelfth century, however,
information grows much more abundant and varied. We begin to have
records of the town life and are no longer entirely dependent upon the
monks' records. The first historian with a certain philosophic grasp of
his theme was Otto of Freising. His _Life of Frederick Barbarossa_ and
his history of the world form invaluable sources of knowledge of the
period we now enter.
[Sidenote: Frederick's ideal of the Empire.]
Frederick's ambition was to raise the Roman Empire to its old glory and
influence. He regarded himself as the successor of the Cæsars, of
Justinian, of Charlemagne, and of Otto the Great. He believed his office
to be quite as divinely established as the papacy. In announcing his
election to the pope, he stated that the Empire had been "bestowed upon
him by God," and he did not ask for the pope's sanction, as his
predecessors had done. But in his lifelong attempt to maintain what he
assumed to be the rights of the emperor he encountered all the old
difficulties. He had to watch his rebellious vassals in Germany and meet
the opposition of a series of unflinching popes, ready to defend the
most exalted claims of the papacy. He found, moreover, in the Lombard
cities unconquerable foes, who finally brought upon him a signal defeat.
[Sidenote: The towns begin to play a part in history.]
67. One of the most striking differences between the ages before
Frederick and the whole period since, lies in the development of town
life, with all that that implies. Up to this time we have heard only of
emperors, popes, bishops, and feudal lords; from now on the cities must
be reckoned with, as Frederick was to discover to his sorrow.[119]
[Sidenote: The government of the Lombard cities becomes partially
democratic.]
The government of the towns of Lombardy fell, after Charlemagne's time,
into the hands of their respective bishops, who exercised the
prerogatives of counts. Under the bishops the towns flourished within
their walls and also extended their control over the neighboring
districts. As industry and commerce increased, the prosperous citizens,
and the poorer classes as well, aspired to some control over the
government. Cremona very early expelled its bishop, destroyed his
castle, and refused to pay him any dues. Later Henry IV stirred up Lucca
against its bishop and promised that its liberties should never be
interfered with henceforth by bishop, duke, or count. Other towns threw
off the episcopal rule, and in practically all of them the government
came at last into the hands of municipal officials elected by those
citizens who were permitted to have a hand in the government.
[Sidenote: The turmoil in the Italian towns; their remarkable
civilization.]
[Illustration: Italian Towns in the Twelfth Century]
The more humble artisans were excluded altogether from a voice in city
affairs. Their occasional revolts, as well as the feuds between the
factions of the nobles,--who took up their residence in the towns
instead of remaining on their estates,--produced a turmoil which we
should think intolerable in our modern peaceable cities. This was
greatly increased by bitter wars with neighboring towns. Yet, in spite
of incredible disorder within and without, the Italian towns became
centers of industry, learning, and art, unequaled in history except by
the famous cities of Greece. They were able, moreover, to maintain their
independence for several centuries. Frederick's difficulties in playing
the emperor in Italy were naturally greatly increased by the sturdy
opposition of the Lombard towns which could always count on a faithful
ally in the pope. He and they had a common interest in seeing that the
power of the king of Germany remained purely nominal on their side of
the mountains.[120]
[Sidenote: Frederick's first expedition to Italy, 1154.]
68. Milan was the most powerful of the Lombard towns and was heartily
detested by her neighbors, over whom she was constantly endeavoring to
extend her control. Two refugees from Lodi brought word to the newly
elected emperor of Milan's tyranny. When Frederick's representatives
reached the offending city they were insulted and the imperial seal was
trampled in the dust. Like the other towns, Milan would acknowledge the
supremacy of the emperor only so long as he made it no trouble. The wish
to gain the imperial crown and to see what this bold conduct of Milan
meant, brought Frederick to Italy, in 1154, on the first of six
expeditions, which together were to occupy many years of his reign.
Frederick pitched his camp in the plain of Roncaglia and there received
representatives from the Lombard towns, who had many and grievous
complaints to make of the conduct of their neighbors, especially of the
arrogant Milan. We get a hint of the distant commerce of the maritime
cities when we read that Genoa sent gifts of ostriches, lions, and
parrots. Frederick made a momentary impression by proceeding, upon the
complaint of Pavia, to besiege and destroy the town of Tortona. As soon
as he moved on to Rome, Milan plucked up courage to punish two or three
neighbors who had too enthusiastically supported the emperor; it also
lent a hand to Tortona's hapless citizens in rebuilding their city.
[Sidenote: Frederick and Pope Hadrian.]
When the pope, Hadrian IV, and the emperor first met there was some
bitter feeling because Frederick hesitated to hold the pope's stirrup.
He made no further objection, however, when he learned that it was the
custom. Hadrian was relying upon his assistance, for Rome was in the
midst of a remarkable revolution. Under the leadership of the famous
Arnold of Brescia,[121] the city was attempting to reëstablish a
government similar to that of the times when the Roman senate ruled the
civilized world. It is needless to say that the attempt failed, though
Frederick gave the pope but little help against Arnold and the
rebellious Romans. After receiving his crown, the emperor hastened back
to Germany and left the disappointed Hadrian to deal with his refractory
people as best he might. This desertion and later misunderstandings
produced much ill feeling between the pope and Frederick.
[Sidenote: The assembly at Roncaglia, 1158.]
[Sidenote: Its decision as to the rights (_regalia_) of the emperor over
the Lombard towns.]
In 1158 Frederick was back in Italy and held another great assembly at
Roncaglia. He summoned hither certain teachers of the Roman law from
Bologna (where the revived study of the law was actively pursued), as
well as representatives of the towns, to decide exactly what his rights
as emperor were. There was little danger but that those versed in a law
which declared that "whatsoever the prince has willed has the force of
law," should give the emperor his due. His _regalia_, or governmental
prerogatives, were declared to consist in feudal suzerainty over the
various duchies and counties, and in the right to appoint magistrates,
collect tolls, impose an extraordinary war tax, coin money, and enjoy
the revenue from fisheries and from salt and silver mines. Such persons
or towns as could produce proof that any of these privileges had been
formally conceded to them might continue to enjoy them; otherwise the
emperor assumed them. As most of the towns had simply succeeded to the
rights of the bishops and had no legal proofs of any concessions from
the emperor, this decision meant the loss of their independence. The
emperor greatly increased his revenue for the moment; but these extreme
measures and the hated governors whom he appointed to represent him were
bound to produce ultimate revolt. It became a matter of life and death
to the towns to get rid of the imperial officials and taxgatherers.
[Sidenote: The destruction of Crema and Milan.]
The town of Crema refused to level its walls at the command of the
emperor. It had to undergo a most terrible siege and finally succumbed.
Its citizens were allowed to depart with nothing but their lives, and
the place was given over to plunder and destruction. Then Milan drove
the emperor's deputies from the gates. A long siege brought even this
proud city to terms; and the emperor did not hesitate to order its
destruction, in spite of its commercial and political importance (1162).
It is a melancholy commentary upon the relations between the various
towns that Milan's neighbors begged to be permitted to carry out her
annihilation. Her inhabitants were allowed to settle in the neighborhood
of the spot where their prosperous city had stood, and from the rapidity
with which they were able to rebuild it later, we may conclude that the
demolition was not so thoroughgoing as some of the accounts imply.
[Sidenote: The Lombard towns secretly unite to form the Lombard League.]
69. The only hope for the Lombard towns was in _union_, which the
emperor had explicitly forbidden. Soon after Milan's destruction
measures were secretly taken to form the nucleus of what became later
the great Lombard League. Cremona, Brescia, Mantua, and Bergamo joined
together against the emperor. Encouraged by the pope and aided by the
League, Milan was speedily rebuilt. Frederick, who had been engaged in
conquering Rome with a view of placing an anti-pope on the throne of St.
Peter, was glad, in 1167, to escape the combined dangers of Roman fever
and the wrath of the towns and get back to Germany. The League was
extended to include Verona, Piacenza, Parma, and eventually many other
towns. It was even deemed best to construct an entirely new town, with a
view of harboring forces to oppose the emperor on his return, and
Alessandria remains a lasting testimonial to the energy and coöperative
spirit of the League. The new town got its name from the League's ally,
Pope Alexander III, one of the most conspicuous among the papal
opponents of the German kings.
[Sidenote: Frederick completely defeated by the League at Legnano,
1176.]
After several years spent in regulating affairs in Germany, Frederick
again appeared in Lombardy. He found the new "straw" town, as the
imperialists contemptuously called it, too strong for him. The League
got its forces together, and a great battle took place at Legnano in
1176,--a really decisive conflict, which was rare enough in the Middle
Ages. Frederick had been unable to get the reënforcements he wished from
across the Alps, and, under the energetic leadership of Milan, the
League so completely and hopelessly defeated him that the question of
the mastery in Lombardy was settled for some time.
[Sidenote: Peace of Constance (1183) establishes independence of Lombard
towns.]
A great congress was thereupon assembled at Venice, and here, under the
auspices of Pope Alexander III, a truce was concluded, which was made a
perpetual peace at Constance in 1183. The towns received back
practically all their regalia and, upon formally acknowledging the
emperor's overlordship, were left by him to go their own way. Frederick
was forced, moreover, humbly to recognize a pope that he had solemnly
sworn should never be obeyed by him. The pope and the towns had made
common cause and enjoyed a common victory.
[Sidenote: Origin of the power of the Guelfs.]
From this time on we find the name _Guelf_ assumed by the party in Italy
which was opposed to the emperors.[122] This is but another form of the
name of the Welf family, who made most of the trouble for the
Hohenstaufens in Germany. A certain Welf had been made duke of Bavaria
by Henry IV (in 1070). His son added to the family estates by marrying a
rich north-German heiress. His grandson, Henry the Proud, looked still
higher and became the son-in-law of the duke of Saxony and the heir to
his great duchy. This, added to his other vast possessions, made him the
most powerful and dangerous of the vassals of the Hohenstaufen emperors.
[Sidenote: Division of Saxony and the other great German duchies.]
On returning from his disastrous campaign against the Lombard towns,
Frederick Barbarossa found himself at war with the Guelf leader, Henry
the Lion (son of Henry the Proud), who had refused to come to the
emperor's aid before the battle of Legnano. Henry was banished, and
Frederick divided up the Saxon duchy. His policy was to split up the old
duchies, for he clearly saw the danger of permitting his vassals to
control districts as large as he himself held.
[Sidenote: The Hohenstaufens extend their power into southern Italy.]
70. Before his departure upon the crusading expedition during which he
lost his life, Frederick saw his son, Henry VI, crowned king of Italy.
Moreover, in order to extend the power of the Hohenstaufens over
southern Italy, he arranged a marriage between the young Henry and
Constance, the heiress to the Norman kingdom of Naples and Sicily.[123]
Thus the hopeless attempt to keep both Germany and Italy under the same
head was continued. It brought about new conflicts with the popes, who
were the feudal suzerains of Naples and Sicily, and ended in the ruin of
the house of Hohenstaufen.
[Sidenote: Henry VI, 1190-1197.]
[Sidenote: His troubles in Italy and Germany.]
Henry VI's short reign was beset with difficulties which he sturdily met
and overcame. Henry the Lion, the Guelf leader, having broken the oath
he had sworn to Frederick to keep away from Germany, returned and
organized a rebellion. So soon as this was quelled and the Guelf party
was under control for a time, Henry VI had to hasten south to rescue his
Sicilian kingdom. There a certain Norman count, Tancred, was leading a
national revolt against the German claimant. The pope, who regarded
Sicily as his fief, had freed the emperor's Norman subjects from their
oath of fidelity to him. Moreover, Richard the Lion-Hearted of England
had landed on his way to the Holy Land and allied himself with Tancred.
Henry VI's expedition to Italy proved a complete disaster. His empress
was captured by Tancred's people, his army largely perished by sickness,
and Henry the Lion's son, whom he held as a hostage, escaped. To add to
his troubles, no sooner had he reached Germany once more than he was
confronted by a new and more formidable revolt (1192). Luckily for him,
Richard, stealing home through Germany from his crusade, fell into his
hands. He held the English king, as an ally of the Guelfs, until he
obtained an enormous ransom, which supplied him with the means of
fighting his enemies in both Germany and Italy. The death of Tancred
enabled him to regain his realms in southern Italy. But he endeavored in
vain to induce the German princes to recognize the permanent union of
the southern Italian kingdom with Germany, or to make the imperial crown
hereditary in his house.
[Sidenote: Pope Innocent III.]
At the age of thirty-two, and in the midst of plans for a world empire,
Henry succumbed to Italian fever, leaving the fate of the Hohenstaufen
family in the hands of his infant son, who was to become the famous
Frederick II. Just as Henry VI died, the greatest, perhaps, of all the
popes was about to ascend the throne of St. Peter, and for nearly a
score of years to dominate the political affairs of western Europe. For
a time the political power of the popes almost overshadows that of a
Charlemagne or a Napoleon. In a later chapter a description will be
given of the great institution over which Innocent III presided like a
monarch upon his throne. But first we must follow the history of the
struggle between the papacy and the house of Hohenstaufen during the
remarkable career of Frederick II.
[Sidenote: Philip of Hohenstaufen and Otto of Brunswick rival claimants
for the German throne.]
71. No sooner was Henry VI out of the way than Germany became, in the
words of Henry's brother Philip, "like a sea lashed by every wind." So
wild was the confusion, so torn and so shaken was poor Germany in all
its parts, that far-sighted men doubted if they would ever see it return
to peace and order. Philip first proposed to play the rôle of regent to
his little nephew, but before long he assumed the imperial prerogatives,
after being duly elected king of the Romans. The Archbishop of Cologne,
however, summoned an assembly and brought about the election of a rival
king, Otto of Brunswick, the youthful son of Henry the Lion.
[Sidenote: Innocent III decides in favor of Otto.]
So the old struggle between Guelf and Hohenstaufen was renewed. Both of
the kings bid for the support of Innocent III, who openly proclaimed
that the decision of the matter lay with him. Otto was willing to make
the most reckless concessions to him; and as the pope naturally feared a
revival of the power of the Hohenstaufen house should Philip be
recognized, he decided in favor of the Guelf claimant in 1201. The
grateful Otto wrote to him, "My kingship would have dissolved in dust
and ashes had not your hand, or rather the authority of the Apostolic
Chair, weighed the scale in my favor." Innocent appears here, as upon
other occasions, as the arbiter of Europe.
In the dreary civil wars which followed in Germany, Otto gradually lost
all his friends. His rival's promising career was, however, speedily cut
short, for he was murdered by a private enemy in 1208. Thereupon the
pope threatened to excommunicate any German bishop or prince who failed
to support Otto. The following year Otto went to Rome to be crowned, but
he promptly made an enemy of the pope by playing the emperor in Italy;
he even invaded the Sicilian kingdom of the pope's ward, Frederick, the
son of Henry VI.
[Sidenote: Innocent III the arbiter of western Europe.]
Innocent then repudiated Otto, in whom he claimed to have "been deceived
as God himself was once deceived in Saul." He determined that the young
Frederick should be made emperor, but he took great precautions to
prevent him from becoming a dangerous enemy of the pope, as his father
and grandfather had been. When Frederick was elected king in 1212 he
made all the promises that Innocent asked.
[Sidenote: John of England becomes a vassal of the pope.]
While the pope had been guiding the affairs of the empire he had by no
means neglected to exhibit his power in other quarters, above all in
England. The monks of Canterbury had (1205) ventured to choose an
archbishop--who was at the same time their abbot--without consulting
their king, John. Their appointee hastened off to Rome to gain the
pope's confirmation, while the irritated John forced the monks to hold
another election and make his treasurer archbishop. Innocent thereupon
rejected both of those who had been elected, sent for a new deputation
of monks from Canterbury, and bade them choose Stephen Langton, a man of
great ability. John then angrily drove the monks of Canterbury out of
the kingdom. Innocent replied by placing England under the _interdict_,
that is to say, he ordered the clergy to close all the churches and
suspend all public services,--a very terrible thing to the people of the
time. John was excommunicated, and the pope threatened that unless the
king submitted to his wishes he would depose him and give his crown to
Philip Augustus of France. As Philip made haste to collect an army for
the conquest of England, John humbly submitted to the pope in 1213. He
went so far as to hand England over to Innocent III and receive it back
as a fief, thus becoming the vassal of the pope. He agreed also to send
a yearly tribute to Rome.[124]
[Sidenote: The fourth Lateran Council, 1215.]
Innocent, in spite of several setbacks, now appeared to have attained
all his ambitious ends. The emperor, Frederick II, was his protégé and,
as king of Sicily, his acknowledged vassal, as was also the king of
England. He not only asserted but also maintained his right to
interfere in all the important political affairs of the various European
countries. In 1215 a stately international congress--the fourth Lateran
Council--met in his palace. It was attended by hundreds of bishops,
abbots, and representatives of kings, princes, and towns. Its decrees
were directed against the abuses in the Church and the progress of
heresy, both of which were seriously threatening the power of the
clergy. It confirmed the election of Frederick II and excommunicated
once more the now completely discredited Otto.[125]
[Sidenote: Death of Innocent III, 1216.]
[Sidenote: Emperor Frederick II, 1212-1250.]
72. Innocent III died during the following year and left a heritage of
trouble to his successors in the person of the former papal ward,
Frederick II, who was little inclined to obey the pope. He had been
brought up in Sicily and was much influenced by the Arabic culture which
prevailed there. He appears to have rejected many of the received
opinions of the time. His enemies asserted that he was not even a
Christian, and that he declared that Moses, Christ, and Mohammed were
all alike impostors. He was nearsighted, bald, and wholly insignificant
in person; but he exhibited the most extraordinary energy and ability in
the organization of his kingdom of Sicily, in which he was far more
interested than in Germany. He drew up an elaborate code of laws for his
southern realms and may be said to have founded the first modern
well-regulated state, in which the king was indisputably supreme.
[Sidenote: His bitter struggle with the papacy.]
We cannot stop to relate the romantic and absorbing story of his long
struggle with the popes. They speedily discovered that he was bent upon
establishing a powerful state to the south of them, and upon extending
his control over the Lombard cities in such a manner that the papal
possessions would be held as in a vise. This, they felt, should never be
permitted. Almost every measure that Frederick adopted aroused their
suspicion and opposition, and they made every effort to destroy him and
his house.
[Sidenote: Frederick recognized as king of Jerusalem.]
His chance of success in the conflict with the head of the Church was
gravely affected by the promise which he had made before Innocent III's
death to undertake a crusade. He was so busily engaged with his endless
enterprises that he kept deferring the expedition, in spite of the papal
admonitions, until at last the pope lost patience and excommunicated
him. While excommunicate, he at last started for the East. He met with
signal success and actually brought Jerusalem, the Holy City, once more
into Christian hands and was himself recognized as king of Jerusalem.
[Sidenote: Extinction of the Hohenstaufens' power.]
Frederick's conduct continued, however, to give offense to the popes.
The emperor was denounced in solemn councils, and at last the popes
began to raise up rival kings in Germany to replace Frederick, whom they
deposed. After Frederick died (1250) his sons maintained themselves for
a few years in the Sicilian kingdom; but they finally gave way before a
French army, led by the brother of St. Louis, Charles of Anjou, upon
whom the pope bestowed the southern realms of the Hohenstaufens.[126]
[Sidenote: Frederick's death marks the close of the mediæval empire.]
With Frederick's death the mediæval empire may be said to have come to
an end. It is true that after a period of "fist law," as the Germans
call it, a new king, Rudolf of Hapsburg, was elected in Germany in 1273.
The German kings continued to call themselves emperors. Few of them,
however, took the trouble to go to Rome to be crowned by the pope. No
serious effort was ever made to reconquer the Italian territory for
which Otto the Great, Frederick Barbarossa, and his son and grandson had
made such serious sacrifices. Germany was hopelessly divided and its
king was no real king. He had no capital, no well-organized government.
[Sidenote: Division of Germany and Italy into small independent
states.]
By the middle of the thirteenth century it became apparent that neither
Germany nor Italy was to be converted into a strong single kingdom like
England and France. The map of Germany shows a confused group of
duchies, counties, archbishoprics, bishoprics, abbacies, and free towns,
each one of which asserted its practical independence of the weak king
and emperor.
In northern Italy each town, including a certain district about its
walls, had become an independent state, dealing with its neighbors as
with independent powers. The Italian towns were destined to become the
birthplace of our modern culture during the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries. Venice and Florence, in spite of their small size, came to be
reckoned among the most important states of Europe. In the central part
of the peninsula the pope maintained more or less control over his
possessions, but he often failed to subdue the towns within his realms.
To the south Naples remained for some time under the French dynasty,
which the pope had called in, but the island of Sicily drifted into
Spanish hands.