On 27 January 1186 the German king Henry VI, son and heir of the Roman Emperor Frederick I ‘Barbarossa’, married Constance of Hauteville, heir to the throne of Sicily, in the Basilica of St Ambrose in Milan. The royal wedding sealed the union of the Kingdom of Sicily and the Holy Roman Empire, creating an enormous empire stretching from the shores of the North Sea to the beaches of Africa. The union also incited a major geopolitical conflict dominating European politics in the thirteenth century since it seriously compromised the sovereignty which the Roman papacy professed to exercise over all Christendom as well as the territorial integrity of the Papal State. Consequently, succeeding popes ( Innocent III, Gregory IX and Innocent IV) endeavoured to undo that union at all costs. The ensuing struggle between the Roman papacy and the Hohenstaufen emperors culminated in the deposition of the Emperor Frederick II by Pope Innocent IV on the First Council of Lyon in 1245, resulting in the final dissolution of the union of the Empire and the Kingdom of Sicily and the extermination of the Hohenstaufen race. By inviting a foreign prince, Charles of Anjou, brother to King Louis IX of France, to fight the last of the Hohenstaufens, papal politics ultimately turned the Italian peninsula into a battlefield for the two major powers of early-modern Europe: Spain and France.
The origins, the vicissitudes, and the consequences of the union of the Empire and the Kingdom of Sicily are the subject of the first part of this book. The second part deals with the trial of Frederick II at Lyon, the court and its competence, the law involved and, lastly, the execution and aftermath of the sentence of the court.
Author(s): Willem J. Zwalve
Publisher: Eleven International Publishing
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 631
City: The Hague
Introduction
Contents
Prologue
Part I: Unio regni ad imperium
1. The Kingdom of Sicily
Freedom of the Church
The Treaty of Melfi
Roger II becomes king of Sicily
His title confirmed by Innocent II
2. The Holy Roman Empire
The Rise of a New Roman Empire in the West
The Lombard problem
A new king of the Franks
Pope Stephen II goes to Gaul
The Donation of Pepin
Pope Stephen II grants the Roman patriciate to Pepin
Charlemagne conquers the Lombard kingdom
The Donation of Charlemagne
Charlemagne crowned as Roman Emperor
The Hludowicianum
Constitutio romana
Rapid decline of Charlemagne’s empire
The Tribal Kingdom
The German succession
Otto I in Italy
The Ottonianum and the Roman synod of 963
The Salian emperors
The ‘election’ of Conrad III
The election of Frederick I
3. Frederick I ‘Barbarossa’
Frederick I defines ‘Gelasian’ doctrine
Two Swords
The Treaty of Konstanz
The Italian policy of Frederick I
4. The Italian Kingdom
The German kings and Italy
Barbarossa comes to the Italian kingdom
The constitutional problems ahead
5. Pope Hadrian IV and Frederick I
An awkward meeting at Sutri
Barbarossa meets ambassadors from Rome
Barbarossa refuses to invade Sicily
King William I asserts his authority
6. Cardinal Bandinelli
The Treaty of Benevento
Cardinal Bandinelli
The Besançon incident
7. The Parliament of Roncaglia
Barbarossa takes on Milan
The lex ‘Omnis iurisdictio’
The Lombard conundrum
8. Pope Alexander III
A contested papal election
The Pavia Council
The destruction of Milan
A failed summit
Barbarossa marches on Rome
Alexander III back in Rome
The Roman disaster
The Lombard League
Alessandria
The siege of Alessandria
The Battle of Legnano
9. Peace in Venice
Negotiations in Anagni
The papal peace strategy
The pope goes to Venice
The Ferrara conference
Barbarossa’s reservations
Barbarossa confronted with an ultimatum
Barbarossa in Venice
10. The Second Storm from Swabia
The Peace of Konstanz
Barbarossa returns to Lombardy
Henry VI marries Constance of Sicily
The Roman ‘Kaiser’
Tancred of Lecce and Richard of England
The coronation of Henry VI
His failed Sicilian campaign
The capture of Richard of England
Henry VI is crowned king of Sicily
11. Innocent III and the Kingdom of Sicily
Birth of Frederick II
He is raised in Sicily
Innocent III
Contested elections
The election of Philip of Swabia
Innocent III and the German election
Papal involvement in Sicilian affairs
Walter of Brienne
The King comes of age
Lessons learned
The ruined kingdom
12. Otto IV and the Kingdom of Sicily
Papal adversities
Philip of Swabia prevails
Philip comes to terms with Innocent III
Innocent III and Otto IV
Innocent III and Philip ‘Auguste’
Otto IV is re-elected
He refuses to make peace with France
Otto IV comes to Italy
His conference with Innocent III in Viterbo
His coronation by Innocent III
Otto IV meets with Sicilian malcontents
He decides to invade Sicily
Otto IV is excommunicated
Otto IV leaves Italy
Innocent III is out of options
Frederick II accepts his election and submits to the papal conditions
He leaves Sicily
He meets Innocent III
His passage to Germany
He pays his debts
The battle of Bouvines
13. Crusade
Frederick II takes the cross
The Fourth Lateran Council
The Albigensian Crusade
The third canon of the Fourth Lateran Council
The matter of Raymond VI of Toulouse
The matter of the Empire
The crusading army is to depart on 1 June 1217
14. Procrastination and Deception
Promises and true intentions
The Fifth Crusade
Mounting pressure on Frederick II and Honorius III
Henry (VII) elected King of the Romans
Frederick II returns to Italy
His imperial coronation
15. Excommunication I
Frederick II returns to the Sicilian kingdom
The Assizes of Capua
Sicilian affairs
The Fifth Crusade ends in disaster
The Ferentino conference
Rising animosity in the curia against Frederick II
Frederick II turns his attention to Lombardy
His failure to reform the Italian kingdom
Gregory IX excommunicates Frederick II
16. Atonement
The reaction of Frederick II
Preparations of Frederick II for a new crusade
Frederick II in the Holy Land
Frederick II in Jerusalem
Gregory IX invades the Sicilian kingdom
Rearrangement of papal policy
The Peace of S. Germano
The decisive role of the German princes
17. Competing Legislators
The Emperor
Frederick II decides to codify Sicilian royal legislation
The king sole guarantor of peace and justice
Legislation his exclusive domain
The incident of the coronation statutes
The Cult of Justice
The nature of Frederick’s code
Gregory IX disapproves of the Sicilian codification project
The Pope
Gregory’s code of canon law
Nature and effectiveness of Gregory’s code
Gregory IX at war with the Romans
18. Excommunication II
Henry (VII) and the German princes
Assassination of Duke Louis of Bavaria
Frederick II and the German princes
The emperor, the pope, and the Lombard League
Frederick II and his son Conrad depart for Germany
The deposition of Henry (VII)
The Diet of Mainz
Reconciliation with the Guelphs
Frederick’s son Conrad not elected king of the Romans
Frederick justifies his Lombard policy
Frederick in Lombardy and in Austria
Frederick’s son Conrad nominated as ‘king elect’
Frederick attempts to rally the European princes into an anti-clerical alliance
Gregory IX asserts his plenitudo potestatis
The battle of Cortenuova
Frederick excommunicated a second time
19. Frustrated councils
Cardinal Pecorara’s secret mission to France
Frederick II urges the cardinals to call a general council
Gregory IX launches a crusade against Frederick II
Frederick II before the walls of Rome
A temporary truce
Gregory IX calls a general council
The battle of Monte Christo
20. Diversions
Sedis vacantia
German reactions to Frederick’s second excommunication
The Mongol invasion
Frederick II and Innocent IV
Negotiations to restore peace
Cardinal Capocci takes the initiative
A preliminary peace agreement
Heinrich ‘Raspe’ is approached
The pope panics
He leaves Italy and seeks asylum in France
Innocent IV goes to Lyon and calls a general council
Part II: Dies Irae
1. The Summons
An emperor on trial
Historical precedents
The doctrine of plenitudo potestatis
Legal authorities: the decretal ‘Venerabilem’
The decretal ‘Excommunicamus’
The decretal ‘Novit ille’
The decretal ‘Per venerabilem’
Frederick II refuses to stand trial
2. The Venue
Innocent IV in Lyon
An unsuccessful attempt at reconciliation
A last attempt at reconciliation
Setting the stage
3. The Trial
The First Session
Innocent IV brings his charges
The charge of heresy
The Second Session
A witness to the character of Frederick II
The charge of sacrilege
Master Thaddaeus requests a suspension
The Adjournment
Codification of the secular privileges of the Church
Preparing a definitive judgment
An important legal brief
The papal decisio
Frederick II in Verona
The Third and Final Session
From Lyon to Verona and back again
Another ‘last’ peace initiative
Master Thaddaeus objects
Innocent IV rejects all objections
The Sentence
The emperor declared guilty of four serious crimes
Frederick’s Reaction
Due process
The summons contested
Frederick warns the European monarchs
Innocent IV rejects all criticism
Frederick II appeals to the French nobility
4. Execution
Execution by way of assassination
The Parma conspiracy
The Sicilian conspiracy
Louis IX tries to mediate
Heinrich Raspe ‘elected’ king of the Romans
The German electoral college
Death of Heinrich Raspe
Frederick II loses Parma
William of Holland ‘elected’ king of the Romans
Victoria
Louis IX warns the pope
The Seventh Crusade
Another assassination attempt
The death of Piero della Vigna
Enzio imprisoned in Bologna
The demise of Frederick II
5. Extermination
Conrad IV
Conrad IV leaves Germany
Conrad IV dies
Manfred
Innocent IV in search of a new king of Sicily
The Sicilian kingdom after the demise of Conrad IV
Innocent IV takes control of the Sicilian kingdom
Dissolution
Manfred strikes back
The German succession crisis
The League of the Rhine
The electors selling their votes
A contested election
The nadir of the Empire
King Manfred
Manfred is crowned king of Sicily
Manfred’s Italian policy
Urban IV
Charles of Anjou
Charles of Anjou senator of Rome
The king’s troubled conscience
Urban IV and Manfred
The king’s conscience at ease
Urban IV restates papal policy
Provencal troops in Rome
Manfred’s failed offensive
Clement IV elected pope
Charles of Anjou in Rome
Death of Manfred
Conradin
The Sicilian exiles and Italian Ghibellines turn to Conradin
Conradin
The Augsburg conference
Developments in Rome and Tuscany
Conradin in Verona
Conradin in Pavia
Clement IV wields the spiritual sword
Conradin in Rome
Defeat
Humiliation
Death
6. Aftermath
The Grand Design of Charles of Anjou
Charles of Anjou represses all resistance in the Sicilian kingdom
Charles of Anjou in Tunis
Michael VIII, Charles of Anjou and Gregory X
John of Procida in Germany
The Holy Roman Empire
Rudolph of Habsburg elected king of the Romans
The Second Council of Lyon
Gregory X at Beaucaire
The Lausanne conference
Nicholas III, Rudolph I and Charles of Anjou
The Kingdom of Sicily
The English intermezzo
Nicholas III plans to reform the Roman Empire
Martin IV and Charles of Anjou
John of Procida in Aragon
Overcoming obstacles
The Aragonese-Byzantine alliance
The Sicilian Vespers
Peter of Aragon comes to Sicily
Charles of Anjou besieges Messina
Charles of Anjou loses Sicily
Trial by Battle
Peter of Aragon excommunicated and deposed
The Aragonese crusade
The death of kings
Epilogue
Medieval Totalitarianism
Medieval Corporate Government
Select Bibliography
Index of People and Places
Simplified Genealogical Trees
Maps
List of Illustrations
