CHAP. VII A. D. 1191-1300 Frederick's treaty with Upon his arrival in Syria, in September, 1228, Frederick sent an ambassador to Gregory IX to ask for absolution, requesting him to treat with the Duke of Spoleto as his representative in Italy. Having made this new attempt at reconciliation with the Pope, he promptly reopened negotiations with the Sultan of Egypt, then encamped at Neapolis, not far from Jerusalem. In reply to the overtures of Frederick's embassy, sent to treat with him regarding the Holy Places, Malek-Kamel astutely answered that the surrender of Jerusalem would draw upon him the malediction of the Calif and of all good Mussulmans. He knew that the envoys of the Pope had commanded the military orders not to sustain Frederick, and the Emperor had soon to contend not only with the reluctance of the Sultan, but also with the secret machinations of the papal agents. The hostility shown by Gregory IX, who was now not the Saracens only opposing him in the East, but endeavoring by open war to wrest from him his Sicilian kingdom, rendered Frederick eager to conclude his expedition to the Holy Land and return to Italy for the defence of his interests there. Recalling to the Sultan his former promises of friendship, he advanced toward Jerusalem threatening to take the offensive. The disturbed condition of the Sultan's realm, joined to the fear of an imperial victory, led him at last to treat with Frederick. After long and difficult negotiations, whose secrecy enabled the papal party to represent Frederick as a traitor to the cause of Christendom, a treaty was concluded on February 18, 1229.1 Peace was imposed for ten years; Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Nazareth, with the adjacent villages, were restored to the Christians; the castle of Tyre and the city and port of Sidon, with the surrounding country, were also surrendered, with the privilege of rebuilding Joppa. Frederick had acquired by diplomacy, and without 1 See for this treaty Huillard-Bréholles, Historia Diplomatica, III, pp. 86, 90. bloodshed, the possession of the Holy Places, for which bit- CHAP. VII ter and destructive wars had long been fought in vain. The treaty, though afterward ratified by Gregory IX himself, was at once attacked by the papal party as an act of treason. The Patriarch of Jerusalem, in order to nullify Frederick's victory, placed Jerusalem and all the Holy Places under interdict, on the ground that a few aged and unarmed priests of the Mohammedan faith were permitted to retain possession of two Moslem mosques. The greatest diplomatist of his time- the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, Hermann of Salza-has left his testimony that the Emperor had done all that was possible for the conservation of Christian tutelage over the Holy Places. He had done it in the spirit of a modern statesman, neatly, intelligently, and effectively. He was condemned for a great service, because he had triumphed over a blind and vindictive opposition. A. D. 1191-1300 coronation as On March 17, 1229, the Emperor entered Jerusalem; and, Frederick's on the next day, in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, he King of took from the altar the crown of the Kingdom of Jerusalem Jerusalem and placed it with his own hands upon his head. Recognizing the fact that he was under the ban of the Church, he permitted no religious rites to be celebrated; but, at the conclusion of his act, he made a public address, which Hermann of Salza translated to the crowd of crusaders and pilgrims. He recalled how he had taken the cross at the time of his coronation at Aachen; explained the delays which had been necessary; excused the conduct of the Pope by saying that, if the Holy Father had acted otherwise, he would have incurred the reproaches of Christendom; and stated that, had the Pope known his real intentions, he would not have pursued him with censure after the crusade had been undertaken. In conclusion, he announced his purpose to honor the Church and redress its wrongs. Since God had been pleased to exalt him, he wished to bow in humility before the Most High and, for His sake, before His representative on earth. CHAP. VII A. D. 1191-1300 The Peace of A spirit so patient, so docile, and so conciliatory called forth a general expression of joy and admiration, but the enemies of Frederick regarded his declaration as a fresh example of insincerity. The Archbishop of Cesaraea arrived the next day to put in execution the interdict imposed by the Patriarch. An explanation was demanded, but none was accorded. Upon Frederick's departure from Jerusalem, an attempt was even made upon his life. But the work of pacification which he had accomplished was solid and enduring. The Patriarch of Jerusalem, by express order of the Pope, was soon compelled to remove the interdict and ratify the treaty. Having completed his task in the East, in June, 1229, the Emperor returned to Italy to find it in a state of revolution. Under the direction of Gregory IX, John of Brienne had invaded the Kingdom of Sicily, and the feudal barons whom Frederick had suppressed had favored the enterprise. In Germany, the Pope had employed the Dominican Order to excite public opinion against the Emperor, and had offered the kingdom to Otto of Luneburg, who had declined to accept it. The presence of Frederick in Italy soon changed the situation. Entering his kingdom, he promptly expelled the invading army and restored order. Gregory IX, unable to resist his tactics and his popularity, was now ready to make peace. A singular circumstance, in February, 1230, had recalled the fugitive pope to Rome. An overwhelming flood, caused by the rising of the Tiber, had filled the population with superstitious fear. Connecting this misfortune with their rude treatment of the Holy Father, messengers were sent in haste to invite his return to the city. Deeply touched by this incident, the stern old man was now disposed to undo the unhappy past. Realizing his own feebleness and the need of repose for Italy, he listened to the pacific proposals of Hermann of Salza, now become like Bernard of Clairvaux at an earlier time - the mediator and peacemaker of his day. After long negotiations, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order succeeded in effecting a rec- The renewal of the struggle was rendered inevitable by the opposing ideas of the Papacy and the Empire which had now been formed. The conception entertained by Gregory IX he has formulated thus: "It is a notorious and manifest fact that Constantine, who possessed the universal monarchy, wished, with the consent not only of the people of Rome, but of the Roman Empire in general, that the Vicar of the Prince of the Apostles, who possessed the empire of the sacerdotium and of souls in the entire world, should have the universal government of things and of bodies, thinking that he to whom God had intrusted on the earth the care of things heavenly should also rule over things earthly. It is on that account that he has accorded in perpetuity to the Roman Pontiff the sceptre and the insignia of the Empire, with Rome and the whole of its duchy and the Empire itself; regarding it as infamous that there, where the chief of the Christian religion is instituted by the Celestial Emperor, a terrestrial emperor should exercise power. Abandoning, then, Italy to the Apostolic See, he chose in Greece a new residence; and since the Church, imposing the yoke on Charles the Great, has transferred the seat of Empire to Germany, when it has called thy A. D. 1191-1300 The conflict of principles A. D. 1191-1300 CHAP. VII predecessors and thee to sit on the imperial throne, when it has granted, on the day of thy coronation, the power of the sword, it has intended to diminish in no respect the substance of its jurisdiction." 1 Such was the theory of the sacerdotium and the imperium which Gregory IX wished to impose on Frederick II. The Emperor's war against the cities On the other hand, Frederick's conception of his rights is contained in the following words: "Since the providence of the Saviour has guided our steps in a manner so liberal and marvellous that, on the side of the Orient, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the maternal heritage of our dear son Conrad, as well as this magnificent Kingdom of Sicily, - which we hold from our mother, and the powerful body of the Germanic dominion, are, by the grace of God, maintained under our laws in profound peace; it is, we believe, to the end that the intermediate part, called Italy, encompassed on all sides by the circle of our forces, should also be ren dered obedient to us and enter into the unity of the Empire." The "supremacy of the Papacy" and the "unity of the Empire," now at last discerned to be incompatible, could no longer exist together in the same world. If the Empire was in any degree responsible for the preservation of justice and civil order within its limits, the position taken by Frederick II was amply justified. Since the death of Henry VI, the Emperor had exercised practically no authority in Central Italy. The chief cities had become veritable republics, ruling by right of conquest the smaller towns and the country surrounding them. The chronicles of the time, even those written by the Guelf partisans, reveal the malignant jealousies, hostilities, and reprisals which convulsed the tumultuous existence of these petty states. The Papacy had often, but vainly, attempted to suppress this anarchy. The impotence of the Pope and the moderation of the Emperor tended to embolden the cities, -espe 1 See Huillard-Bréholles, Historia Diplomatica, IV, pp. 921, 922. |