election. A member of the wealthy family of converted Jews, CHAP. VI known as the Pierleoni, rivals at Rome of the Frangipani and the Corsi, by the free use of money and influence, had sought election to the Papacy. To defeat this purpose, six cardinals had met in February, 1130, and chosen Gregory, Cardinal-deacon of St. Angelo; who, as Innocent II, claimed the support of the faithful. Peter Pierleoni, had, however, attracted the multitude in Rome; and, having been elected by the rest of the cardinals under the name of Anacletus II, held the city in his possession. He further strengthened his position by an alliance with Roger II of Sicily, — whose union of that island with a great part of Southern Italy had formed the important Kingdom of Sicily,—and in September, 1130, recognized and consecrated Roger as king in exchange for his friendship. Innocent, driven from the Lateran palace, which he had for only a short time occupied, was now a fugitive from Rome, having sought asylum in Pisa, Genoa, and Burgundy, and finally in France. Lothair II and Innocent II soon joined their forces to restore the dignity and authority of the Empire and the Papacy, but the effort was beset with enormous obstacles. In 1132, Lothair, not yet having succeeded in uniting Germany, descended into Italy with a small army of only fifteen hundred cavaliers, for the purpose of chasing Anacletus from Rome, establishing Innocent, and receiving the imperial crown. The Lombards treated with contempt the weakness of Lothair, whose futile assault upon the little town of Crema was regarded with derision. The Genovese and Pisans having been conciliated by Innocent II, Milan was punished by withdrawing the Bishopric of Genoa from its metropolitan jurisdiction; but this petty chastisement was the measure of the united forces of Innocent II and Lothair. Having met at Roncaglia, the Pope and the King proceeded to Rome; where, however, they were unable to expel Anacletus, who, under the protection of the Pierleoni and the Normans, held St. Peter's Church and the Castle of St. Angelo. Installed by the German knights in the palace A. D. 1125-1190 CHAP. VI A. D. 1125-1190 The appeal to of the Lateran, Innocent II, on June 4, 1133, there bestowed the imperial crown upon Lothair, and gave him in fief the allodial possessions of the Countess Matilda; for which, it was agreed, a small annual tribute was to be paid. Dexterously turning this incident to the profit of the Papacy, Innocent caused a painting to be made, in which he was portrayed seated upon the papal throne, while Lothair II knelt as a vassal at his feet and received from his hand the imperial diadem.1 Having thus received the crown in the Lateran palace, while Anacletus held possession of St. Peter's Church, the Emperor left Innocent II helpless in Rome and hurried back to Germany. Unable to hold his ground there, the unfortunate pope soon abandoned the city and retired as a fugitive to Pisa, where, in 1134, he convoked a council to effect the deposition of his rival. The disorder and anarchy of Italy, the Empire, and the Church now seemed hopeless, for the feebleness of the Emperor and the misfortunes of the Papacy left the situation without apparent remedy. In these desperate circumstances the power of a great personality was invoked. Born of an illustrious Burgundian family, trained in all the knowledge of his time, disciplined by the rigorous rule of the Cistercian brotherhood, and unreservedly consecrated to the service of the Church, Bernard of Clairvaux, by the unselfishness of his life and labors, exercised a spell over Europe which made him the oracle of the age in which he lived. Endowed with every natural advantage, — physical beauty, keen intelligence, noble character, persuasive eloquence, and absolute self-mastery, he had chosen a life of strict renunciation and unremitting toil. From the bare and simple hut of straw whose quiet solitude he loved at Clairvaux went forth a constant stream of correspondence to all 1 The inscription on this picture, which caused the great indignation of Frederick I, read: "Rex venit ante fores, jurans urbis honores; Post homo fit papae sumit quo dante coronam." A. D. 1125-1190 parts of Christendom, for his advice was sought in every CHAP. VI controversy and his personal judgment was esteemed as the highest earthly tribunal. By virtue of his great learning, the purity of his life, and the reputation he had attained as the embodiment of all the mediaeval ideals, Bernard towered above the most authoritative popes of his time. Having refused every form of prelatical preferment, he was known to have renounced all worldly ambition, and seemed, therefore, to speak only in the name of God. Combining in his person "the prestige of Ambrose, the authority of Augustine, the grace of Basil, the eloquence of Chrysostom, and the force of Hildebrand," he melted and subdued men by none of these, but by the sincere love of mankind which made him irresistible. It was to him, therefore, that both Emperor and Pope now turned in their extremity. of Bernard The Italian bishops who composed the council at Pisa in The mission 1135 were deeply divided between the rival popes, but the conciliatory influence of Bernard moved them to unite in excommunicating Anacletus and the refractory Archbishop of Milan, while the dissenting bishops of Bergamo and Tortona were deposed. Several of the high Milanese ecclesiastics then took a vow of fidelity to Innocent II; but, fearing the hostility of the people, they dared not return alone to their charges. The Milanese had long desired the presence of Bernard to compose their dissensions; and, relying upon his powers of reconciliation, Innocent II appointed him his legate to pacify all the Lombard cities. Bernard cheerfully undertook this difficult mission, acting also as representative of the Emperor. Accompanied by a small retinue of cardinals and bishops, but without a military escort, the Abbot of Clairvaux proceeded with the deputies of Milan to begin his task with that city, the chief offender. The whole population nobles, clergy, and citizens— came forth to meet and welcome him. At a distance of seven miles from the city gates, a triumphal procession was formed to escort him within its walls. With signs of penitence for their rebellion, the Mil CHAP. VI A. D. 1125-1190 The work and death of Lothair anese promptly accepted all his counsels. Both Innocent and Lothair were recognized, and the prisoners taken from the hostile cities were at once set free. Even Conrad of Hohenstaufen was now induced to submit to Lothair. Nearly all the cities were soon restored to peace and harmony; but Cremona and Pavia could not forget the mortal injuries that had been inflicted upon them by Milan. Before their undying resentment even the great conciliator was powerless. The way having been thus prepared by the skilful negotiations of Bernard, Lothair crossed the Alps once more, this time with a large army, to complete the work of pacification. Among the officers who aided him in subduing the Pavians was Conrad of Hohenstaufen, now loyally supporting his triumphant rival. In Germany, Lothair had left a great name; for he had regulated the affairs of that kingdom under a rule of combined force and justice that was to be long remembered, and to win for him the title "father of his country." Reverting to the policy of Otto the Great, he had carried German religion and civilization into the Slavic and Scandinavian lands on the east and the north. Denmark and Poland did him homage as their overlord, Hungary and Bohemia submitted their disputes to his arbitration, while Byzantium and Venice sent ambassadors to his court. If history cannot record his name among the great emperors, it must at least name him among the ablest of German kings. After subduing the refractory cities of Italy and inflicting punishment upon the Norman allies of Anacletus, the Emperor disbanded his army, and was returning to Germany, when, on December 3, 1137, death suddenly ended his career. If he had, at last, succeeded in imposing the Empire once more upon Italy, he had done this, not by opposing the Papacy, but by an alliance with it. His success was, in reality, rather a triumph of Bernard's diplomacy than the work of armed force. It was only by a conciliatory policy that Northern Italy had been once more composed. In the South, where the military strength of the Emperor had only for the time overwhelmed King Roger of Sicily, no permanent CHAP. VI results had been accomplished. A. D. 1125-1190 Ghibelline The sudden death of Lothair II probably prevented a rupture with the Papacy which would have precipitated the Guelf and inevitable catastrophe in reserve for the Empire; for, after his subjection of the Normans, the Emperor, before departing for Germany, had already quarrelled with the Pope over the disposition of the Norman fiefs. The time had arrived when a skilful manipulation of the forces then existing in Italy could prevent the building up of any strong power there not willing to subordinate itself to the papal supremacy. The days when a foreign king could by occasional sallies into Italy render it permanently obedient to his will had passed away forever. The new Norman kingdom in the South, in combination with the proud and sensitive municipalities which had come into being in the North, furnished new weapons for a battle of diplomacy such as Italy had never known before. But a new peril to the Empire was now added in the growth and ambition of the powerful House of Welf. The head of that great family, Henry the Proud, - possessing vast estates in Saxony, Bavaria, and Italy, uniting all the fiefs which had been transmitted by the Countess Matilda, and by arrangement with the Pope in 1137 the use of the allodial estates also,- could boast that his authority extended from the North Sea to the Mediterranean. Bitterly hostile to the family of Hohenstaufen, and a candidate for the Empire, Henry the Proud appeared a formidable antagonist for any German prince to oppose. A power so vast presented a front which alarmed the German magnates, both lay and ecclesiastic; for, if a prince of such resources became emperor, there would be no alternative but obedience. A wide-spread combination was, therefore, formed against the House of Welf; and, while Albert the Bear disputed with Henry the heritage of Saxony, his other opponents assembled at Coblenz to press the claims of Conrad of Hohenstaufen to the crown. |