IV. That all the prisoners should be set at liberty without paying any

ransom. And, on the other hand, that the Saracens might have leave, unarmed, to come into the church of the Lord's sepulchre outside the city, aiul for par- poses of devotion even into the Temple itself; and that they should hold and keep still Chrath,^ and the King's Mount.
Frederic now, for that he tliouglit the conclusion of this peace to be so necessary and also profitable for all Christians, and had also gotten as much thereby as if the wars had continued, sent his ambassadors Letters with letters into the West, to all christian kings, princes, and poten- rfc^t.rt^he tates, as also to the bishop of Rome, declaring unto them the circum- p"''cc3
, , „ , . i \ Till ^"" P^P^
stance and success ot his journey and wars, as partly ye have heard ; of his requiring them that they also would praise and give God thanks for ^"'^'^'"'^• his good success and profitable peace concluded : and desircth the pope, that forasmuch as he had now accomplished his promise, neither was there now any cause wherefore he should be with him displeased, that he might be reconciled and obtain his favour.
In the mean season, the emperor with all his army marcheth to Jerusalem, where upon Easter-day^ a.d. 1229 he was, with great The em- triumph and comfort, of all his nobles and also of the magistrates of crowned that kingdom (only the patriarch of Jerusalem, the clergy, the king J^^e "^ of Oyprus's ambassador, and Oliver,^ the grand-master of the Temple, lem. with his knights, excepted) solemnly and with great applause crowned king.
After this, he re-edifieth the city and walls thereof, which by the Saracens were beaten down and battered. After that, he furnisheth it with munition, he buildeth up the churches and temples that were ruinous, and fortifieth Nazareth and Joppa with strong garrisons, victual, and all other things necessary.
Now see and behold, I pray you, whilst that Frederic was thus occupied in the kingdom of Jerusalem, what practices the pope had in Italy ; not, I warrant you, any whit at all careful in the affairs of the christian commonwealth, but studying and labouring what mis- chief and spite he might work against the emperor, whom of a set purpose ye may be sure (partly for hate, and partly to enrich him- self), he had so occupied in Asia and Jerusalem, so far out of Italy. First, he caused the soldiers which the emperor sent for out of Ger- The first many to the maintenance of the holy wars to be stayed as they pj^^^lppoc passed through Italy, hindering them of their journey, and taking p^p^ |iT^"- from them and spoiling them of all such provision as they had. And not only this, but he sent secretly also his letters into Asia to those that were of his own faction, that is, to the patriarch of Jerusalem, and to the knights Templars and Hospitallers, enticing and inciting
(1) " Chrath prtpsidium, quod Arabiam speetat." Fazellus. — Ed.
(2) So says Fazellus. Easter-day, 1229, fell on April 15th. But Aventine and others with more probahility say. that he arrived at Jerusalem 16 cal. Aprilis, i.e. Saturday March 17, and wore the insignia of royalty the next day. — Ed.
(3) According to the list given in L'Art de Ver. des Dates, we should read " Peter" instead of " Oliver,'' for which, however, Cisner had i'\izellus'8 authority. — Ed.
472 SKCRET TRKASONS OF THE POPE AGAINST FREDERIC.
ifisioryof tlicm to Tcbcl agfiiiist the emperor, which thing Blondus himself, "^ir'" that popish parasite or liistoriographer, dissembleth not. Furthcr- ^"'P'-^""- more, he dissuailcil the princes of the Saracens that they should A. D. make no league nor take any truce with Frederic, neither deliver 1229. up unto liim the crown and kingdom of Jerusalem. Which letters, as thev were manifest testimonies of his treachery and treason towards him whom God had instituted and made his liege lord and sovereign, and the mightiest potentate upon earth ; so was it His will that he should come to the knowledge thereof, and that those letters should fall into his hands. And Frederic, in his epistle to the christian princes just mentioned, declareth that he considered his discovery of the letters quite providential, and that he kept them for the more credible testimony thereof. The cm- Neither were the pope"'s letters written to that leavened and flictious with- sect in vain ; for the patriarch of Jerusalem, and his allies the knights the's'lfcret Tcuiplars,' did mightily contend against Frederic. They raised a whkh"the '''^•'^''^^It i^^ Ptolemais against him ; they accused him and his ambas- i>ope had sadors openly of treason ; and did malapertly and boldly withstand agahilt' the right worthy and good order he made amongst them. But as ruwiem.^ God would, by the help of the Pisans and the Genoese, and of the knights of the Teutonic order, both their false accusations were refelled, and also their seditious purpose and tumult repressed. And for the same cause when all other men testified unbounded respect and gladness at the inauiruration of Frederic, these were makinsf complaints as of an iniquitous compromise, and detracting from his praise. These- The pope, when through perfidy he had laid these snares for Bonof the Fredcric, and had betrayed the christian emperor to the public enemy, pope could not, so soon as he had committed so great a crime, rest satisfied "i-rederic. with onc piccc of wickcduess, but must contrive another against him. For, by reason of those slanders (which a little before I mentioned) of the death and slaughter of his wife lole, he incited John de Bricnne, his father-in-law, to make war against him, who caused the subjects of his empire to withdraw from him their allegiance, as also the inhabi- tants of Picenum, and those of Lombardy. And thus, joining themselves together, they craved further aid of the French king, whereby they made a great power. That done, they divided their Tiie host into two armies, invading with the one the empire, and Mith the
l>"pe s 1.1 •• ^ T • 11 • i-i-
nenerais ouicr tlic propcr temtorics and ditions belongmg to the mlientance
ers'^c'ri'ifs' ^^ Frederic ; John de Bricnne and Pandulph Savellanus leading tlic
host. one into Campania and the kingdom of Naples ; the other with John
Columna, cardinal and legate, and Thomas, before convicted of
treason, Gregory sendcth into Picenum.
Of this treason of the pope against Frederic during his wars in Asia doth also Matthew Paris make mention, " who," saith he, " purposed to have deposed him, and to have placed any other, he cared not whom (so that he were the child of peace and obedience), in his stead.'' ^ And for the more certainty thereof, the said Matthew Paris' repeateth the letter which a certain earl sent unto him in Syria
(1) FazcUus adds the Venetians.— En.
(2) " Alium quemlilict filium pacis et ohedicntife loco ejus subropare." Matth. Paris.
(3) Ibid. fol. 71. [The foUoising translation is revised from the original.— Ed.
LETTER OF THE EAIU. OV ACKIUIA TO FUEDEUIC. 473
concerning the same, which letter hereunder ensueth word for insinryo/
1 Frederic
word. II.
Emperor.
To his most excellent lord, Frederic, by the grace of God emperor of the Romans, and ever Augustus, and most puissant king of Sicily, Tiiomas, earl of v^']r' Acerra, his faithful and devoted subject in all things, healtli and victory over •
his enemies. After your departure, most excellent prince, Gregory, the bishop of Rome and the public enemy of your magnificence, gathering together a great host by John de Brienne, late king of Jerusalem, and other stout captains, whom he hath made generals of the same his host, in hostile mariner invading your dominions and the possessions of your subjects, aimeth against the law of Christianity to subdue you with the material sword, whom he cannot master with the spiritual sword, as he saith. For the aforesaid John de Brienne, gather- ing out of France and other countries adjoining a considerable army, in hope (if he can but master you) of getting the empire himself, is supplied with the money to pay his troops from the papal treasury. And furthermore, the same John and others, the captains of the apostolic see, invading your land, burn and destroy all as they go, and carry off for booty as well cattle as other things ; and such as they take prisoners, they constrain, by afflicting them with grievous tortures, to ransom themselves for great sums of money ; neither spare they man, woman, nor child, except such as may have taken sanctuary in the churches and churchyards ; they take your towns and castles, having no regard to the fact that you be engaged in the service of Jesus Christ; and if any make mention of your majesty unto him, the aforesaid John saith, there is none other emperor but himself. Your friends and subjects, most excellentprince, and especially the clergy of the empire, do much marvel hereupon with what conscience or upon what consideration the bishop of Rome can do such things, making such bloody wcrs upon chris- tian men ; especially seeing that Christ commanded Peter, when he struck with the material sword, to put up the same into the scabbard, saying, " All that strike with the sword, shall perish with the sword:" equally do they marvel, by what right he almost daily excommunicateth pirates, incendiaries, and torturers of christians, and separateth them from the unity of the church, when he is the patron and maintainer of such himself. Wherefore, most mighty emperor, I beseech you to provide for your own safety, for that the said John de Brienne, your enemy, hath placed in all the seaport;: this side the sea armed scouts in great number ; that if (not knowing thereof) your grace should happen to arrive in any of them, he might apprehend and take you prisoner ; which thing to chance, God forfend.
Whilst the host of this hostile enemy the pope was thus encamped what in the dominions of Frederic, he received the letters which Frederic J^e^"o"e by his ambassadors sent into Europe, as you heard, whereby he i»ad to understood the good success he had in Asia ; who not only took no deri'c tJ^ delectation at all therein, but was also in a vehement perturbation against therewith. Whereby manifestly it may appear, what was the cause '''^ '^'"'^''■ and meaning of the pope, that he was so solicitous and urgent to have Frederic, the emperor, make a voyage into Asia. Doubtless even the same that Pelias had, when by his instigation he procured Jason, with all the chosen youth and flower of Greece, to sail into Colchis to fetch away the golden fleece ; viz., that by the opportunity of his absence he might use, or rather abuse, his power and tyrannv ; and that F'rederic might either be long afflicted and molested in the Asiatic war, or that he might perish and lose his life therein, was that he sought, and all that he desired.
And when he saw that fortune neither favoured his fetches, nor The pope served his longins; lust, he was as a man bereft of his wits, specially =*'^''^''' at these tidmgs ol the prosperous success oi the emperor. He threw tetii at his letters on the ground, and with all opprobrious Avords rebuked p'-rou's"*' and reviled the ambassadors for the emperor their master's sake; of'i"^"* which thing also Blondus himself denieth not, thoufjh he writeth emperor
471' BLONDUS REPROVED.
7/M^oryo/altogetlicr in favour of the pope. And to the intent that he might ' il"^ cover this his rage and unbridled fury with some cloak and colour ^■"•P"-'"'- of reasonable dolour, he feigned liimsclf therefore so much to A. I), mislike the j)eace, as though the emperor therein had only respected 1 229. liis own private commodity, not regarding the utility of the Christians ; for that the Saracens had license, although without armour and weapon, to have repair unto the sepulchre of Christ, and had left for them somewhat near the same a hosiery or lodging place ; for which cause, saith Blondus, the pope reviled the emperor to his ambas- Biondus sadors as a perfidious traitor. Now go to, friend Blondus ; by what whowrote strong arguments prove you and your lord pope, either that the peace fnfhr"^ which the emperor had concluded was against the christian common- pope's -wealth, or that the emperor Avas a traitor.'' But who is it that seeth not these things, either by reading of old and ancient writers, or else partly by me who have gathered and collected the same out of divers monuments and histories, — I mean, the conspiracies and treasons of vour good lord the pope, so notable and filthy, as also his manifest baseness and infamy .'' What ? there be divers that write how the pope commanded these ambassadors of Frederic to be made secretly out of the way, and also how he commanded divers soldiers, return- ing out of Asia, to be slain ; to the intent that none should hear the report of those good news which were in Asia, nor any go thither to tell the fetches he had in hand at home. But I will make report of no more than of those things which all the writers, with most consent, agree upon. This is most certain, that the pope caused a rumour to be spread of the capture and death of the emperor, with the design of craftilv obtaining the submission of those cities in the kingdom of Naples, which yet kept their allegiance unto Frederic, of whom they should now hope no longer for refuge. And of that doth the emperor, in his epistle entitled ' Levate oculos,' greatly against him complain. The third Great are these injuries of the pope against Frederic, and most popVc're- wicked wcrc these treasons. But herewith could not his cruel and gory. tyrannical mind be contented, nor yet his lust satisfied, but it so far exceeded, as scarcely is credible that it could : for he presumed not only to set variance between Henry (whom Frederic his father had setteth caused to be made king of Germany) and him, but also by his tillure- again"" mcnts hc caused him to become an enemy to him. To whom when *'"' ^^- his father had assigned Louis, duke of Bavaria, to be his overseer and
ther, as a / • i * i i ii i • p r^
good fa- counsellor (neither knew lie amongst all the princes ot Germany a man more faithful to him in his oince and duty, or else more virtuous, or else more grave and apt to be in authority), Henry, iicnr>, fearing lest, if he should come to know of these secret counsels which It'tiiT''^' lie with the conspirators had in hand against his father, he would pope's either utter the same to his father, or else would go about to dis-
entice- "^
mcntput- suade him from what he was purposed to do, dismissed him from the 'rim' his™ court and from the senate. And this was the fetch of all their policy, 'ouns^ei- ^^^^ together and at one instant, but in divers and sundry places far !""• one from another, sharp and cruel war might be made against the emperor ; so that his power being distracted by having several contests on his hands at once, he might be the more cosily overwhelmed.
When the emperor now understood what stir the pope kept in all his dominions in his absence, having set every thing in order in his
ther of peace
THE PROSPEllITY OF FREDERIC. 475
kingdom of Jerusalem, and feeling that not a moment must be lost History/ in defeating the pope's purpose and confirming in llieir friendship '"^'/"'^ those who in his absence had been steady to their allegiance, he left in ^"'P'"'"''- Asia Reynaldus ' in charge of certain garrisons, and, ordering the rest A.D. of the army to follow, he himself came with all speed in two galleys to 12.30. Calabria. He tarried twenty days at Berletta, waiting for his army The em- from beyond sea : during which time he assembled his friends and [■urnetu' mustered what forces he could. Here he was joined by the duke of * Spoleto ; and at length moving thence, he came with all his host Asia. into Apulia, and removed John de Brienne, his father-in-law, from the siege of Calatia, and within short time by God's help recovered again all his holds and dominions there. And from thence going into Campania he winneth Benevento, and as many other towns and God pros- holds as the pope had there, even almost to Rome, and so, after F^delic that, Umbria and Picenum. But even now, although the emperor aff^jsl"* had obtained the means of an immediate entrance upon the pope's dominions, whereby he might have taken revenge of all the injuries done to him (being moved thereunto upon good occasion and upon the pope's worthy desert) ; yet notwithstanding, because he pre- ferred nothing before the tranquillity of Christendom, for the love of which he restrained his Avrath so vehemently urged and kindled, lie sendeth unto him ambassadors to entreat a peace, de- claring unto him, that if he had no other conceived grudge towards him than that which he pretended, he promiseth that he would make to him a voluntary account of all things that ever he had done in his life, and that he would submit himself unto the church ; and also that for this cause he willingly offered unto him both duty and observance. Furthermore, with a view to the entreating of this peace and investi- gating the causes of the controversies between himself and the pope, he sent to Rome the noblest and chiefest about him, as Barthold, the patriarch of Aquileia, and his brother Otho,^ prince of Dalmatia and Istria, Everhard, archbishop of Saltzburg, Sifrid, bishop of Ratisbon, Sibot, bishop of Augsburg, Leopold, duke of Austria and Styria, and Bernard, duke of Carinthia.
But yet so great was the insolency and pride of that stubborn pope, that by no gentleness or beneficence he of those princes could be brought that year to the profitable concord of the church ana Christian commonweal. O worthy head ! that challcngeth all au- The pope thority to himself in the church of Christ, and in respect of his own [,eace^ wilful revenge setteth nothing bv the health and utility of all Chris- ''^'*'' ^^^
o _- ^ '' . '. emperor,
tendom ! When, therefore, nothing could be done in the matter for that time, the most part of these noblemen departed from Rome. At length, in the following year, peace was made between them by the interposition and management of Leopold of Austria, Herman, master of the Teutonic order, and the archbishop of Messina. The pope then absolving the emperor Frederic of his excommunication,' took of him there-for one hundred and twenty thousand ounces of gold, restoring to him again the titles both of his empire, and also of J/'f,,^''"'' his kingdoms. Now, considering the uncourteous dealing of the empcmrb pope with Frederic the emperor herein, who can sufficiently muse tion.
(1) " Raynaldum Bavarum, magistrum equitum." Fazellus: others call him "Richard Fe- lingher." — Ed. (2) Called also " duke of Merania." See L'Art de V. des D. v. Meraiiic.— Ed.
(3) August 28th, A.D. 1230. L'Art de Ver. des D.— Ed.
476 tup: pope's favour hard to be won.
jiisioryof and marvel at the unslianiefustness of Blondus, wlio liath the face
'^ii'"'^ to write, that the pope, notwitlistanding, had dealt more gently and
^"•P'""^- courteously with Frederic than was meet, or beseemed him to do ?
A.D. Who is itthat doth not see his manifest flattery, coloured neither
^230. ^vitli reason, nor secret dissimulation ? But much more truly and
better writeth Cuspinian concerning this matter, who saith, that the
pope doth occupy very profitable merchandise, who for so much
money selleth that he received freely, paying nothing there-for, if he
had received it of Christ indeed, as he saith he had.
And yet, although this peace which the emperor concluded with the pope was so unprofitable for himself, yet he performed those things that were agreed upon fiithfully and diligently. But the pope, who thought it but a trifle to break his promise, would not stand to the conditions of the peace he made. For by the way, to pass over other things, neither had he restored, as he promised, his rights in the kingdom of Sicily, neither yet the city Castellana, which he before the peace concluded between them did occupy and enjoy. And that doth both Frederic in his epistles testify, and also Fazellus in the eighth book of his ' de rebus Siculis."' Yet that notwithstanding, Frederic, for the quietness and utility of the commonwealth, purposed with himself to bear and suffer all these injuries, and further studied What be- in all he might, as well by liberal gifts as otherwise, to have the ])ope the'em" to be to him a trusty friend. As, when the Romans and other of the usMh 10 ecclesiastical number made war against the pope for certain posses- haye the sious which hc kcpt of thcirs, he, coming to him at Reati, offered his friend- own SOU as a hostage for his fidelity to the church of Rome, and as whfchhe *^"e tliat tendered the unity of the church, and thinking to help the shaii^ pope in these matters, at his earnest request sent his ambassadors ' unto them, willing them to lay down their armour which against the pope they bare. And when that would not serve, at the popc''s further request and desire he levied an army against them at his own charge, and drave them from the siege of Viterbo ; with other such- like assured tokens of amity and friendship which he showed him : who, notwithstanding, as soon as the emperor was departed with a small company which he took with him into Sicily, leaving with him the greater and most part of his army for the maintenance of his wars, A-jreiire- concluded a peace with the Romans unknown to the emperor, whom t-a t'ood he had procured to travau and labour tiierem with great expenses ; the"pope affirming, that Avithout his will and commandment the emperor had em'e'ror ^xpcllcd them, and driven them out of the territories of Viterbo. And hereof doth Frederic also himself make mention in his second and third epistles, where hc complaineth of the injuries of the pope towards him. Therefore greater commendation had Blondus deserved, if he had acknowledged these treacheries of the pope, instead of asserting as he does — both contrary to the tenor of his own narrative (forgetting himself, as unto liars it often chanceth), and contrary to tiie truth of Frederic's history — that the Romans were incited to these tumults by his enticing and setting on. As though men of common understanding could not gather the contrary, both by the offering of his son as a hostage, by his great preparation for the war, and by the event especially of the thing itself. But too, too impu- dent, will Blondus needs show himself.
THE EMPEUOU'S SON KEBELS AGAINST HIAI. 477
Whilst tlmt these things were passing in Italy and Sicily, great Hutoryof rebellions were moved in Germany against the emperor, Henry the ' u. Caesar, his own son, and Frederic duke of Austria, being the chief ^"'i""''"'- authors thereof. For Henry, as ye heard, had been alienated from his a. D. father and perverted by the lord pope and those of his faction, and was 1235. secretly aiming at the empire. And for that cause, as before is said, xhe em- he put from him Louis, whom he knew to be unto the emperor, his son°rebeis father, so loving and assured a friend ; who as willingly (perceiving ^fj'j.^^'',^^.^ and smelling what mischief he went about) forsook his court, and went to Bavaria ; who had not been there much above a year, when, as he Avalked abroad at Kelheim, he was wounded with a mortal blow, and wicked presently died, his servants being not far from him ; of whose death Henry,',{',e divers diversely write. Notwithstanding::, the sequel doth show them ca;sar,ior to write truliest, who aiiirm tlie assassin to be suborned by Henry faithful tlie CfEsar, who coming unto him in the habit of a messenger, delivered ^'^'^^"^*- unto him certain letters, which he feigned to be sent from the empe- ror ; and whilst Louis was reading the same, he stabbed him witli a dagger, and gave him his mortal wound, and with speed fled upon the same. After whose death succeeded in that dukedom his son Otho, who, when' solemnly according to the manner of the Bavarians he should have been created, was also let by the same Henry the Caesar, who forbade the assembly of the magistrates and citizens of the same, his They notwithstanding, neglecting his unjust restraint, created him ; ^^-fJi^ wherefore he first besieged Ratisbon, and with another company t^e empe- sacked, burnt, and wasted Bavaria ; with many more such great father, outrages and rebellions.
When intelligence was brought of these things to the emperor, he sent his ambassadors, and commanded that both the Caesar, his son, and the other princes of Germany who had assembled their armies should break up and disperse the same ; and because he saw and perceived now manifestly that his son made such open rebellion against him, and fearing greater insurrections to ensue in Germany, he thought good to prevent the same with all expedition ; wherefore he deter- mined to go in all haste into Germany with his army, from whence he had been absent now fourteen years, and hereunto he maketh the pope xhe em- privy. The pope promised the emperor hereupon, that he would write ^^l,°l^^,, his fetters in his behalf to all the princes of Germany ; but persuaded y^''^^^""' him to the uttermost of his power, that he should in no case go into many. Germany himself. For why ? his conscience accused him that he The pope had written to the nobles of Germany, even from the beginning of thirhL his papacy (for the hate and grudge he had against the emperor), ^J^^^Z\^ that they should not suffer him neither any of his heirs to enjoy the [P^^^^^y^^ empire ; and, further, had stirred them all up to rebel against him, and ro'r. had moved Henry, the emperor's son, by his bribes and fair promises, to conspire against his father ; and to conclude, he was the author and procurer of the conspu-acy which the Lombards made then against him ; and fearing lest these things should come now to the emperor's ear, ^^^^^^ he was gi-eatly troubled and careful. But the emperor not thinking ^^^^^j-^^'^^^^: it good at so needful a time to be absent, he (all doubt set apart) c.loftrca- wit'h his second son Conrad went speedily into Germany. Assembling ^^^^^^"^ there a council in the city of Mentz,* Henry the Caesar, his son, after his rruon.
(1) August, 1235. L'Art de Verif. des D.— Ed.
478 riir; popk's malice against the empeuoii.
iiisioryof conspiracy was manifestly detected, which he had in practice with the '^//"^^ Lombards (whereof the pope was chief autlior), was bv judgment and ^'"P""^- sentence of seventy princes condemned of high treason, and being A.D. commanded by his flither to be bound, was as prisoner brought to 1235. Apulia, where, eight years after (a.d. 1242) he died in prison ; in whose stead he ordained Conrad, his second son, Caesar, bv consent of Frederic all tlic pccrs untl priuccs. Furthermore, he proscribed Frederic of proclaim* Austria, for refusing obedience to his commands, and caused him to enem^ro" ^^ proclaiuicd for an enemy to the public Aveal. And further, when he hiscoun- saw that punishment would neither cause him to remember himself, disin- nor to acknowledge his offences, the emperor, with a great army, accom- henied. pjj^icd by divcrs of the noblemen of Germany, took from him all Austria and Styria, and brought them under his own obedience and fidelity. The em- The Same year the emperor married his third wife, named Isabella, Seth the daughter of King .John of England. Then, when he had set Ger- j^ohn'8 '^^''^riy i'^ ^ stay and quietness, he left there Conrad the Caesar, liis son, dauijiiter and with his host returneth again into Italy, there to punish such as Avith i*and"^ Henry, his eldest son, had conspired against him ; whose treasons were all detected at the condemnation of Henry Cscsar, his son, chiefly set on by the pope. When the pope had understanding that the emperor with M-arlike furniture marched toward Italy, although he feigned him- self reconciled and to be a friend to Frederic, yet was he, notwith- standing, to him a most secret and infestive enemy ; and, understand- Thepope ing that he brought with him such a power both of horsemen and foot- ^nnetMo ^icn to do exccutiou of such as he understood to have been conspirators p'a?t.'''' fig'ii'ist him in the late tumult and rebellion, those who were faulty herein and guilty, and all other who took their parts, he admonished to join themselves together, and that they should furnish strongly their cities with garrisons, that they should send for aid to their friends, and that, with all the force they were able, they should prepare them for the war. The rest of the cities also in Italy, whether they were the emperor's or his own, he endeavoureth to make them all his, and proper to himself. Furthermore, unto the emperor the pope sendeth his legates : to wliom he gave secret commandment that they should prohibit his coming with an army within the borders of Italy, under pretence of preserving the peace which he had some time since proclaimed to be observed throughout Christendom in order to hel)) the holy war ; and also to say, not by way of entreaty, but commandingly, that what cause of controversy he had with the Lombards, the same he should commit to him, and stand to his arbitrement. Whereunto the empe- ror replying maketh his legate this answer: —
" The very day,"" saith he, " the peace was made between the pope and me, he called me for a chief defence both of the church and himself against the Romans who made war with him ; and at his request, with mine own proper charge I maintained that his war, and gave his enemies the overthrow," He thence argued that the pope would not now do well, through the pretence of peace, to be a hin- drance to him from that which both by law and right he might and ought to do ; viz. from putting himself in a condition with force to restrain and expel those who gathered themselves together as rebels, and to subdue and punish as they deserved those who had renounced tiicir allegiance to him and his government, and had hindered soldiers
FUEDERIC MARCHKTH INTO ITALY. 479
and others whom he had sent for on the public service from getting to iiist„ryof him, and had in many ways wickedly plotted his destruction. And ^"f"'" touching that wliich the pope demanded of him, that he should commit ^"^p"""^- and defer so great a cause, whereon the well-being and safety of the A.D. empire depended, to his arbitrement, by him to be determined, with- 1239. out any limitation of time or any condition annexed, or any saving clause in favour of his imperial dignity or the rights of the empire, he could not (he said) but marvel, seeing that neither it appertained to his calling and faculty, nor to the benefit and commodity of the empire. To this effect writeth Frederic himself in his last epistle.
And in the same his letter he showeth, that when the emperor at a secret certain time had been Avith the pope, at his going away he requested, cy"ot'u,e" that when he came again, he would come into Italy only with his v^v^ household-band and family; for that if he should come as before the em- he did accustom with his army, he should terrify them overmuch ; ^'^™'^' " amongst whom," saith he, " you may assure yourself to be in great safety, and find all things in rest and quiet ;" when quite contrary, as the emperor for a certainty found, he had there all things ready and prepared for his destruction ; so that when he pretended unto him greatest friendship, he was busiest in conspiring his death. The certain time when the pope had this exercise in hand against the emperor I cannot search out, neither may it be in his epistles easily found out, as they generally bear no date.
The emperor then, as he had determined, prosecuted his purpose The and marched into Italy, where he broufjlit under his subiection those ^^peror Cities that against him rebelled, as Mantua, Verona, Treviso, Padua, intoitaiy, and others. And then he afterwards set upon the great host of the st°andins Milanese, the Brescliians, the Piacenzans, and other confederators, Jor'^ui-"' " unto whom the pope's legate, Gregory Longomontanus, had joined himself; of whom he partly took prisoners, partly slew, ten thousand persons, and among the former their general, being the Podesta, or chief magistrate, of the city of Milan, named Petro Tiepolo, the son of the doge of Venice, and took their Caroccio^ with all their ensigns. And in this campaign, especially at the recovering of the March of Treviso, he used the friendly aid of Actiolinus,^ a.d. 1239.
The pope, now somewhat dismayed at this overthrow of his con- federates and mates, though not much, began yet somewhat to fear the emperor ; and whereas before, that which he did he wrought secretly and by others, now he goeth to work with might and main to subdue and deprive the emperor. But, although the emperor The em- saw and perceived what inward hate and mortal malice he bare towards fji?rea"k'* him, not only by that he so apertly stood with his conspirators against ""-' p^''"^'^- him, but also that on every side he heard and from all ])arts was brought him certain word how greatly he laboured against him, with opprobrious words, and naughty reports and slanders, to the intent to pull from him the hearts and fidelity of his subjects, and make those that were his friends his enemies, neither that he meant at any time to take up and cease from such evil and wicked practices ; yet
(1) See Appendix.
(2) An eminent Ghibeliii captain of that period, called also Ezzelin, Eeclin, and Irelin. See Moreri. — Eu.
480 EDICT AGAINST THE EMPEUOU.
y/.j/or^o/notwitlistanding, for tliut there should be no default in him found for ^"f"''' the breach of the league and peace between them a little before con- E'^p'Tor. (,]m|(.(i^ i,c scndelh four ambassadors to the bishop of Rome, the A. D. archbishops of Palermo and Florence, the bishop of Reggio, and 1239. Thaddeus de Suessa, -who should answer unto and refute those criminous objections which he laid unto him, as also make him privy to his inirpose, and what he meant to do, thereby to declare liis innocencv towards him in such causes, and his simplicity. The pope ^I'lie popc, whcu lic uudcrstood these ambassadors to be not far off t.fspe.nk from Rome, and knew the cause of their coming, thinking with him- with ihc jp , 1 . J hearinir the excuse and reasonable answer of the emperor, aniiiassa- perhaps lic might be provoked to desist irom Ins purpose, and so degenerate from the example of his predecessors, refuseth to speak with them ; and at the day appointed pronounccth the sentence of proscription against hiin, depriving him of all his dignities, lionours, titles, prerogatives, kingdoms, and whole empire. And, that the j)ope had no occasion hereunto, beside Pandolpho Colenuccio the emperor's own letters plainly shew ; in short he seems to have been bent on Frederic's ruin. Looking about for suitable instruments, lie cast his eye on Jacomo Tiepolo, doge of Venice, whom, for the displeasure he must have conceived at the emperor's imprison- ing of his son, he doubted not to win over to his schemes : Blon- dus in fact asserts that this was the pope's chief reliance amidst the troubles which surrounded him. He therefore wrote him a highly complimentary letter, in which he styles liim lord of the fourth part of Croatia and Dalmatia, and of half the Roman empire, and solicits his aid against Frederic. Further, inviting the Venetians and Genoese, who were at variance touching some naval interests, to Hireth refer their dispute to him, he made peace between them, and covc- Su^the" nantcd with them upon this condition, that at their joint charges coasts of ^i,py sliould rig and man five-and-twcnty galleys, which should spoil Mcewpe- ^^^j. ^^^^^ ^jj ahng the sea-coasts of the kingdoms and dominions of
Frederic. T.iWet Further, when the pope saw the good will and fidelity which the
the'em- Gcrniaus bare unto the emperor, and saw also what aid the emperor ^"'"■" had of them, and that he was not likely to win them to his ])urpose, then had he recourse again to his old crafty practices and subtleties. Above all he resolved to sow dissension, if possible, among the Ger- man nobility. To this end, lie devised to put forth an edict at^ Rome, addressed to the christian world at large, the beginning whereof is, " Ascendit de mari bellica bestia ;''^ wherein he declareth the causes wherefore he curseth and givcth the emperor to the devil of hell, and dejected him from all his princely dignity. He in the same accuseth him of so many and so huge a heap of mischiefs, as to nominate them my heart detesteth. For besides that he denies to his sovereign lord, the emperor, the very name of a man, he slandereth him of treason, perjury, cruelty, sacrilege, killing of his kind, and all impiety ; he accuseth him for a heretic, a schismatic, and a miscreant ; and to be brief, what mischief soever the pope can devise, with that doth he charge him and burden him. "All this doth he," saith the pope, " that when he hath brought our holiness and all the ecclesiastical
(1) Labb6, Cone. Gen. torn. xi. cul 310.— Ed.
DIVEUS PRINCES OF GERMANY FORSAKE HIM. 481
estate to beggary, he might scoff at, and deride the religion of Christ." Jiistoryof This edict he sendeth by the hands of divers his creatures into Ger- '"'^"'^ many. And now, for that the pope had a great and special trust in one •^'"^''''"'"- Albert Beham,' dean of the cathedral at Passau (a man of good family, A. ]). but as crafty an apostle as the best), as one whom he saw ready to lean 1239. to his lust, to him the pope delivered, besides the aforesaid edict, also two mandates in separate letters, in which he commanded all bishops, prelates, and other of the clergy, that they should solemnly recite the said edict in their churches instead of their sermon, showing how he had excomnmnicate Frederic out of the fellowship of christian men, and had put him from the procuration or government of the empire, and that he had released all his subjects from their allegi- ance and fidelity towards him ; and furthermore chargeth them and all other christian men, under pain of cursing and damnation, that etu to neither they should succour the emperor, nor yet so much as wish those that him well. Thus he, being the pope's special and trusty servitor, J^'the"'^'' and made to his hand, caused a most horrible confusion and chaos emperor, of public quietness, as shall hereafter appear.
Amongst all other noblemen of Germany at that time was Otho, the palatine of the Rhine and duke of Bavaria, both towards the emperor most serviceable, and also a prince of great honour, riches, and estimation. This prince, both with fair promises and also rewards, Divers Albert seduced from him ; for that he was made by him to believe, P"°ce3 of that Louis, his father, of whom we spake before,^ was by the emperor by the murdered and slain. And the same Otho again caused three other mJ'ans. princes to revolt from the emperor to the pope, who were his neigh- ["i"*^, bours and intimate friends, viz. Wenceslaus, king of Bohemia, Bela, peror. king of Hungary, and Henry, duke of Poland and Silesia. To Avhom came also Frederic, ex-duke of Austria, who, because he was proscribed or outlawed by the emperor and had his dukedom taken away from him, as you heard,' was easily won to the pope. These resolved to translate the empire unto the son of the king of Denmark, and requested of the pope to send his legates to an assembly which they would convene for that purpose.
The emperor was at Padua when news was brought to him of what the pope had done at Rome. He therefore commanded Peter de Vineis, liis secretary, on Easter-day to make an oration to the people of his great and liberal munificence to the bishops and church of Rome, and, again, of the injuries done by them towards him in recompense thereof ; of his innocency also in that whereof he had been accused, and of the unseemliness of such treatment; of the right use of the ecclesiastical censure ; and of the errors and abuses of the church of Rome. By which oration of his he so removed what from many men's hearts the cloud of blind superstition, and the oratlo'n of conceived opinion of holiness of the church of Rome and bishops of ^^'^^c^^ the same, and also of their usurped power and subtle persuasion, did for that they both plainly saw and perceived the vices and filthiness of peror. the church of Rome and of the bishops of that see, as also their fraudulent deceits and flagitious doings, most vehemently lamenting
(1) " Albertus Behamus (ipse Boiemum nominat)." Cisner.— Kd.
(2) See supra, p. 477.— Ed. (3) See supra, p. 478.— Ed.
vor,. II. I I
482
THE POPE IS ANTICHRIST, AND
12;j9.
'^"'"'■i'y and complaining of the same. Albcric maketli mention of certain i^- verses which were sent and written between the bishop of Kome and .mperor.^ ^^^^ cHiperor, wliicli vcrscs in the latter end of this present history of A. D. Frederic vou sliall find.
The emperor, moreover, both by his letters and ambassadors, giveth intelligence unto all christian kings, to the princes of his own empire, to the college of cardinals, and to the people of Rome, as well of the feigned crimes wherewith he was cliarged, as also of the cruelty of the bishop of Rome against him. The copy of which letter or epistle here followcth.
Tlie em- perors letter to all pre- lates, to liridle the pope and restrain him of his v.ill.
Man be- in;; made (if two parts hat II two several regi- ments, God's word, and the lua- terial sword.
Apology of the
ginnmg " Asceu- ditde mari,"&c.
Aiiti- rlirist long ago descried to the world hy the em- peror.
Confes- sion of the em- peror's faith, whereof he was accused by the pope.
The Emperor to the Prelates of the World.'
In the beginning and creation of the world, the wise and ineffable providence of God (who asketh counsel of none) placed in the firmament of heaven two lights, a greater and a less, the greater to govern the day, and the less to govern the night, which two are so allotted to their proper offices and duties in the 2odiac, that although oftentimes the one move obliquely to the other, yet the one does not run against the other ; nay the superior doth communicate his light to the inferior. Even so, the same eternal foreknowledge hath appointed upon the earth two regiments, that is to say priesthood and kingly power ; the one for knowledge and wisdom, the other for defence ; that man, who in his two component parts had too long run riot, might have two reins to govern and bridle him withal, and so peace thereby and love might dwell upon the face of the earth, all excesses being restrained. But, alas ! the bishop of Rome of our time, sitting in the chair of perverse doctrine, that pharisee anointed with the oil of iniquity above his fellows, is endeavouring to set aside the fact that he is but an inferior imitation of the celestial order, and fancies perhaps that he is to correspond in all particulars with those heavenly bodies on high which are impelled by their nature not by will. Accordingly, he purposeth to bring under an eclipse the brightness of our majesty, whilst that (substituting fable for truth) he sends his papal letters, stuffed with lies, into sundry parts of the world ; out of his own ill temper, and upon no reasonable cause, discrediting the purity of our religious character. For this — pope in name only — hath declared us to be " the beast rising out of the sea full of names of blasphemy and spotted like a leopard."- But we say, that he is himself that beast of whom we thus read : " And there went forth another horse tliat was red out of the sea, and he that sat on him took peace away out of the earth, that the dwellers upon the earth should destroy one another."^ For since the time of his promotion, he, acting as a father not of mercies but of discord, and as a promoter of desolation instead of consolation, hath excited all the world to commit offence. And, to take his own allusions in their right sense and interpretation, he is that " great dragon that deceived the whole world ;" he is that Antichrist, of whom he hath called us the forerunner ; he is another Balaam, hired for money to curse us ; the chief among those princes of darkness, who have abused prophecies : he is that angel leaping out of the sea, having the vials filled with bitterness, that he may hurt both the sea and the land. For this counterfeit vicar of Christ hath inserted among his other fables that we do not rightly believe in the Christian faith, and that we have said that the world is deceived by three impostors. But God forbid that such a thing should have escaped our lips ; seeing that we openly confess the only Son of God, coeternal and coequal with the Father and the Holy Ghost, our Lord Jesus Cln-ist, begotten from the beginning and before the worlds, and in process of time sent down upon the earth for the succour of mankind ; not by delegated, but by his own, power; who was born of the glorious Virgin Mary, and after that suffered and died as touching the flesh ; and that, by virtue of his godhead, the other nature which he assumed in the womb of his mother rose from death the third day. But we have learned that the body
(1) Corrected and revised from the original in " Petri de Vineis Frederici II. Epistolje," lib. i. ep. 31.— Ed. (2) Rev. xiii. 1, 2.— Ec. (3) lb. chap. vi. 4.— Ed.
AN OFFERER OF DISSENTIOUS SACRIFICE, 48S
of Mahomet hangeth in the air beset by devils, and that his soul is in lUsioryuf hell-torments; whose works were contrary to the law of the Most Ili^h. Frederic We hold also, being tanght by the page of truth, that Moses was the familiar Emperor.
friend of God, and that he talked with God in Mount Sinai ; unto whom the — '■
Lord appeared at the burning bush (Exod. iii. 4), by whom also he wrought A.D. signs and wonders in Egypt, and delivered the law to the Hebrew nation ; and 1239. that afterwards he showed him in glory with the elect. In regard of these ^he pope, and other things our enemy and envier of our state, bringing a scandal on a under true son of Mother Church, hath written against us vcncmous and lying Pf^j^j'^"'^^ slander, and hath sent the same to the whole world. But if he had rightly fol- holiness, lowed the Apostle's mind,* and had not preferred passion, which beareth such deceiveth sway with him, before reason, he would not have written such things, at the go'ui's and suggestion of men who call light darkness and evil good, and who suspect honey ignorant to be gall; and all for the opinion they have conceived of a place in the ™*"- prophecies of scripture,^ which indeed is both weak and infirm for their purpose, since by opinion truth may be converted into falsehood and vice versa. But surely men ought not to be splitting opinions, which may be true or false and cannot be made matters of faith, at the very door (as it were) of the pope's conscience.
Seeing all these things, we are compelled not a little to marvel, and it doth also much disquiet our minds, when we perceive that you, who are the founda- tions of the church, the pillars of righteousness, the assessors of Peter, the senators of the great city, and the hinges of the world, have not qualified the motion of so fierce a judge ; as do the planets of heaven in their kind, which to mitigate the passing swift course of a great orb draw a contrary way by their opposite movangs. In very deed, imperial fehcity hath always from the beginning been "spurned at by papal envy. As Simonides, being demanded why ha had no enemies and enviers of his estate, answered and said, " because jhean- I have had no good success in any thing that ever I took in hand ;" so, for swer of
ly tlimg that we have had prosperous success in all our enterprises by the blessing of ,?J™"p. God (especially in the overthrow unto death of our rebellious enemies the pUed. Lombards, to whom in their good quarrel he had promised life), this is the cause wherefore this apostolical bishop mourneth, and now goeth about with the aid of your counsels to impugn this our felicity. But perhaps he vaunteth himself in his power of binding and loosing. Wherever virtue, however, is wanting to power, there presently doth abuse take place : this we see exemplified in him who was so mighty a king and so eminent a prophet, and yet had to crave the restitution of God's Holy Spirit, when he had polluted the dignity of his office. But as things which ought not to be loosed are not to be loosed, so things that ought not to be bound are not to be bound : which thing is manifestly proved from that passage of holy scripture, " they slay the souls that should not die, and save xhe em- the souls aUve that should not live."^ Therefore God is able to humble and bring peror pro- do^vn those that are unworthy of power, as much as him pleaseth and when him P,^j^g''' pleaseth, for God can do all things. Doubtless, if this bishop of Rome were a popes true pontiff' indeed, he would keep himself " harmless, undefiled, and separate fall. from sinners :" he would not then be an offerer of dissentious sacrifice, but a peacable offerer of love and charity; and he would cense, not with the incense of grief and hatred, but with the sweet-smelling incense of concord and unity ; neither yet would he alter " suum pontificium in maleficium," that is, make of a sanctified ofl[ice an execrable abuse. If he were a true pontiff, he \yould not wrest the preaching of the word to produce contention. Nor %vill we be accused of being an enemy to mother church in so saying, which mother church is holv in herself, whom with all reverence we worship and with honour we embrace, so beautified and adorned with God's holy sacraments. Some individuals notwithstanding, who are slaves of corruption though they have gone out from the midst of her, we utterly reject. And forsomuch as the Utterly injuries wherewith our majesty is continually molested are not transitory, and [^^^'^p^^ that we cannot quietly abide them, nor ought we in very deed to relax our and authority, therefore we are enforced to take revenge upon them. You, there- ^j?'^''^"^^^ fore, that are men of better counsels, and have the excellent gift of wisdom and understanding, restrain you that roaring enemy of ours from these his pro- CD 2 Peter i. 20, 21, is probably referred to.— Ed. (2) Rev. xiii. 1,2.— Ed. (3) Ezek. xiii. 19.— Eo.
I I 2
48t BISHOPS OF C.F.RMANV KRIKXni.Y TO THE EMPEROR.
Ifi'iory nf cccd\ng<>, wliosc beginnings arc so wicked and detestable; wisely forecasting Frfitcrtc j.^^^^ preceding cases tlic consequences wliich must follow in the present F.mprrnr. instance. Otherwise you that are under our subjection, as well in the empire as in cur other donuniiins, shall feel and perceive what revenge by sword
'^■}^- Augn-lus shall take, botli of his chief enemy and persecutor, and also of the
* ^•^•*' princes that are his fautors and adherents.
caiittiia Tliis done, lie commands, by proclamation, a solemn parliament or mcn"or coiMicil of all tlic pnnccs, and other nobility of tlie empire, to tiicpn1>c'« of Mentz, the iSaxon dukes, the lords of Brandenburgh, Misnia, and maiicf. 'I'lmriiigi;,^ and the representatives of all the nobles of Brabant, to aid the emperor. But Wenccslaus and Otho refusinjr to attend, and offering through their ambassadors to mediate between the contend- ing parties (in which offer the Austrians likewise joined), the council became divided in opinion, and separated without doing anvthing fur the emperor. Then Frederic of Austria (whom the emperor had deprived, as ye heard) by the aid of the Bavarians and Bohemians recovered again the dukedoms of Austria and Styria, putting to flight and discomfiting the emperor's bands and garrisons wliich he had there.
But though the pope's agents (especially that honest man, Albert Beliam, the Bohemian) had allured to the pope Otho the duke of Bavaria, as ye heard, and divers other noblemen of Germany ; yet Rishnps notwithstanding, certain prelates in Bavaria, as Evcrhard, archbishop many'^are ^^ Saitzburg, and Sifrid, bishop of Ratisbon, being at that time ohe.iieiit the emperor's chancellor, Rudigcr, bishop of Passau, Conrad, bishop prince, of Frisinglicn, and the heads of the religious houses, forsook not the emperor. All which the aforesaid Albert not only did excom- municate, but also by process sought to bring them up to Rome before the pope, giving commandment to their collegioners and cloisterers, that they should deprive them of their offices, and choose such others in their stead as would obey the pope. All which things the pope (understanding by Albert of their fidelity to the em- peror) corroborated and confirmed, commanding their inferiors to choose other bishops and prelates in their stead. But the bishops and prelates with one consent contemning the pope's mandates and writs, and also the curses and threatcnings of Albert, accused, reproved, and greatly blamed his temerity, and the tyranny which he practised against the churches of Germany, and especially against the good emperor ; that he durst be so bold as to meddle in churches committed to the emperor's government without his consent, against the old and ancient customs ; that he had excommuni- cated the emperor without just cause; and that he had condemned the emperor''s faithful subjects as enemies to the church, for standing with their liege and sovereign prince (which allegiance thev might not violate without horrible iniquity), and had sought to disquiet them likewise in their charges and administrations ; and they Bishops solemnly appealed to the emperor for redress. They also accused nyc'xcora- '"^^'^ Condemned Albert himself for a most impudent impostor and uie poping ^^'''^'^ct' variet, and they devoted him to the devil, as a most pestiferous Kxaie. botch anil sore of the christian commonweal, and as a ruinous
WARS BETWEEN THE EMPEROR AND THE TOPE. 485
enemy, us well of the church, as of his own natural country ; and Histnryof further declared their opinion, that he and all the rest of the "/"" pope's pursuivants ought to be driven out of Germany, as being •^'"^""'"'' most wicked devisers of all kinds of mischief. A. D.
This done, they make relation hereof to the emperor by their 1239. letters ; and farther, they advertise all the princes of Germany (especially those who were of the pope's faction or rebellion, and Avere the favourers of Albert), that they should take heed, and beware in any case of his subtle deceits and pernicious deceivable allurements, and that they should not assist the pope, for all his words, against the emperor. And doubtless (chiefly by the counsel and persuasion xhearch- of the archbishop of Saltzburg, primate of Bavaria) Frederic of saitzTurg Austria was again reconciled to the emperor ; from whose friendship 5^"="^^ ^^ and alliance he would never after that be detached by any promises, hisprince. threatenings, bribes, or pains, no, nor for the execrable curses of the pope's own holy mouth. But Albert prosecuteth still his purposed mischief, alluring and inciting by all means possible friends to the pope, and enemies to the emperor, and that not amongst the lowest but the highest classes of his subjects, the nobility and gentry. Unto some he gave the tithes to fight against the emperor, to other The some he gave the glebe-lands of benefices, and to other some he gave ^l^^s the spoil of such colleges and monasteries as took not part with the ^^^^ ">
1 111 1 11 1 • niaiiitam
pope ; and to some other also he gave the colleges and monasteries the war themselves. And Aventine* actually names the individuals to whom hl^'iora the ecclesiastical tithes were given tiiat they might espouse the pope''s ^^^^^^ cause, and the colleges and monasteries pillaged and sequestrated, and the glebe-lands seized, and the doers therein. Hereby was there a window opened to do what they listed, every man according to his ravening and detestable lust, and all things lay open unto their greedy and insatiable desires. Who listeth to hear more hereof, let him read Aventine, who largely treateth of the same in his book before noted, and there shall he see what vastation grew thereby to the whole state of Germany, but specially in Bavaria.
While these things were thus working in Germany, Frederic, leaving in Lombardy Actiolinus with a great part of his host, and passing with the rest by the Apennines, came to Etruria and set the same in a stay, after that he had allayed certain insurrections there ; and from thence to Pisa, where he was with great amity and honour received and welcomed. This city was always steady and faithful to the emperors of Germany. The pope, understanding of the empe- ror's coming into Etruria, and knowing what a large part of his troops Besiegeth he had left in Lombardy, with a great army besieged the city of ^''^"^'■^• Ferrara, that always loved the emperor full well ; which city when the pope's legate had assaulted sharply the space of five months, and could not win the same, he devised with himself to send for Saling- werra out of the town by way of a parley, pledging his faith and truth to him for his safe return ; who by the persuasion of Hugo Kam- bartus, that said he might do the same without peril (it being but by way of parley), came to the legate ; who, intercepting his return, of"|fapj^(s took him prisoner, contrary to good faith and justice. And thus j^^^^f^^^ gat he Ferrara, and delivered the keeping thereof to Azo, marquis of examiJie.
(1) Lib. 7. Annaliuni Boioruiu.
486 ORIGIN OK THE GHIBELLINES AND GUELPHS.
^i-'ld^n"^ Este. And that the pope's legate thus falsified his truth, and circum-
//. vented the captain and old man Salingwerra, the same is confessed of
^- '"''"'"'■ the historians friontlly to the pope, yea, commended of them as a
A. D. stroke of warlike policy. But to return again. About the same
^-^0- time also the Venetian navy, at Monte Gargano, chased twelve galleys
of the emperor's, which were appointed to the keeping of that
coast, ;uul spoiled, burned, and wasted all the region ; and, further,
i.i'rorT took one of the em])cror's great ships, being driven by tcmpes-
ukenby t"0"s wcatlicr iuto the haven of Siponto, fraught with men and
the pope, munition.
Frederic again, getting on his side the cities of Lucca, Volterra, Sienna, and Arczzo, and most of the cities of P]truria, to help his own dominions came from Pisa to Viterbo, which took part with him. Blon- dus and Platina and some others say, that the names and factions of bc'uii^es'" Crhibcllincs and Guclphs sprang from Frederic at this time ; for that and having sent his spies through all the towns and cities of Italy, to ascer- Gueiphs. jj^jj^ which took part with and favoured the pope, and which the empe- ror, he called the one by the name of Ghibellines, and the other by the name of Guelphs. But, for that they bring no sufficient proof thereof but only slender conjecture, I rather cleave to the opinion of Nau- clerus, Herman Contract, Antoninus of Florence, Castiglioni, and others, who say, that these names had their first beginning in Italy, when Conrad, uncle of Frederic I., was emperor; and that those who were devoted to tlie pope were called Guelphs from Guelpli, young- est brother of Henry the Proud, while the emperor's partisans were called Ghibellines from Vaiblingcn, the native place of Conrad or his son. But to our purpose. The pope The popc, whcu he understood that Frederic was come to Viterbo, the^erape- ^as uiuch alarmed, for that he feared he would come still nearer to SuuT' I^ome, the good will of which city the pope much mistrusted. He Italy. therefore ordered litanies, and caused the heads of Peter and Paul (if we are to believe them genuine) to be carried round in procession ; and having in a sharp and abusive oration attacked the emperor, he promised everlasting life, and gave the badge of the cross, to as many as would take up arms against the emperor, as a most wicked enemy of God and his church. Now when the emperor, drawing near to Rome gates, beheld those, whom the pope by liis goodly spectacle of St. Peter and St. Paul and by his promises had stirred up against him, coming to meet him with the badge of the cross; disdaining to be accounted for an enemy of the church, when he had been thereunto so beneficial, giving a fierce charge upon them he soon The cm- dispersed them ; and as many as lie took prisoners he put to tortureth excruciatiug torture by burning or cutting the mark of the cross crowe'd ^" ^^'^'*" ficsh. From thence marching into Campania and his soldiers, own kingdoms, he levied a great mass of money, and mustered new bands, and augmented his army; and in "these bands he The sar^a-** ^P*""^'"^'^ ^^^^ Saraccus also. And to the intent lie might find the rcnsin Saraccus the more trusty to him, he appointed them a eitv named I-^'in^ Luceria to dwell in. "^For which thing although the papistical the pope, writers do greatly blame and opprobriously write of Frederic, yet notwithstanding, Nicholas Machiavelli doth write, that for this cause he retained them, — lest, through the pope's execrable curses,
FREDERIC WRITES TO THE PRINCES OF GERMANY. 487
he should be quite destitute of soldiers, as was Frederic Barbarossa, /nstonjnf his grandfather, a little before, when of pope Alexander I IT. he was '^//'"^ excommunicated, as ye have heard.' Emperor.
After this, when the emperor had severely punished the pope's A.D. ecclesiastical consorts, such as conspired with the pope against him, ^240. and had wasted and destroyed Bcnevento, Monte Cassino, and Sora (because they took part with the pope against him), and had founded the new city of Aquila, he marched forth with a great host both of horsemen and footmen to Piccnum, that he might vanquish his ene- mies in Italy, and besieged Ascoli, a fortified city belonging to the adverse faction. He there, having understanding of what the pope's emissaries had done with the princes-electors, and other princes of Germany, especially with Wenceslaus, king of l^oliemia, and Otho the Palatine, writeth his letters unto them. In these he first showed, The effect how those contumelies and s]Mtcful words, which the ])ope blustered senVby""^ out against him, applied rather to himself ; and how the bishops of ""'^ '^™p''-
"r> 1 1 1 1 r> 1 11 r> i ^ ror to the
Kome had taken to tliem ot late such heart ot grace and were become princes of so lofty, that they not only sought to bring emperors, kings, and "'^^"^' princes under their obedience, but also to be honoured as gods ; and impudently affirmed that they cannot err, neither yet be subject to or bound by any obligation however sacred ; and that it was lawful for them to do all things what they list ; neither that any account was to be sought or demanded of their doings, or else to be made of them to any : and further, that they imperiously commanded (and that under pain of damnation), that men believe every thing they say, how great a lie soever it be ; insomuch that, by reason of this inor- Noenemy dinate ambition of theirs, all things were going backward, and the hlfrmj to whole state of the Christian commonweal was subverted, neither could ^^^ ^ ^
1 1P1 1P1 •! Ill church of
there any enemy be found more hurtful or perilous to the church of ood than God than they. He wrote unto them, furthermore, that he (to whom The'TiT- the greatest charge and dignity in the whole commonweal was ap- l^J°.l^^ {„ pointed and committed), seeing and perceiving their good hearts, remove wills, and practices towards him in his great peril, would with all the and put' power and ability that God had given him do his endeavour, that he more"*''*"^ ■who in the likeness of the shepherd of the flock, and the servant of "^^'^^^^ ^ Christ, and chief prelate in the church, showed himself so very a ■wolf, persecutor, and tyrant, might be removed from that place, and that a true and faithful shepherd of God's flock might be appointed in the church. Wherefore he exhorted them, that if they desired the safety and preservation both of the empire and of Christendom in general, they should be unto him no hinderers, but furtherers of his purpose and proceedings ; lest, otherwise, they also should happen to fall under the same yoke of servitude to the bishop of Rome. And further, he gave them to know, that if the pope should attain to that he sought for (that is, to be an emperor and king over kings), yet would that be no stay of his insatiable desire, but he would be as greedy and ravenous as now he is ; therefore, if they were wise, they would withstand him betimes, lest hereafter, when they would, it would be too late, neither should they be able to withstand his tyranny. — The effect of this epistle I took out of Aventine, who also Avriteth, that the emperor's legates, when they delivered it, enlarged on the same subject in a speech.
(I) SuprA, p. 195.— Ed.
488 OTHO AND THE I'OPK AGAINST FREDERIC.
jiiitoryof Wenceslaus, somcwliat relenting at this letter, promiscth to aecom- Fre^enc ^jj^j^ ^j^^ cmpcror's biddings and precepts, and forthwith guthcreth ^'"i>"">f- an asscmblv of princes and nobles at yEgra ; -where, by common A. D. consent, they think to renovate with the emperor a new league and 1240. covenant. And furthermore, they decree Otho of Bavaria, the author wcnccs- of this defection (who was absent, and would not be at this their lemeth at asscmblv), to be an enemy to the commonweal. Otho then, seeing ihecmpe- binisclf not ablc to stand against the Ca?sar and the other princes with letter. whoHi lic was associatcd, desiring aid of the pope by his letters, came ui'e popj* with all speed to Wenceslaus, his kinsman, and entreated ]iim not ngainst ^^ dcscrt thc ))artv, but could not prevail : he obtaineth, notwith-
the empe- ' - i • i i i i i
"■Of- standing, thus much at their hands, that the league and covenant which they were in hand to make with the emperor should for a time be deferred, and that another assembly should be called, whereat he also would be, and join himself with them. In the mean season, the pope sent his rescript unto Wenceslaus and to Otho, tending to this effect ; that in no case they should either forsake him or else the church, to take the emperor's part. And so much prevailed he by thc means of Bohuslaus and Budislaus (who were the chief of the senate regal, and whom by his fair promises and bribes he had previously gained to his interest), that a day was appointed for a new assembly to be held at Lebus,' for the express purpose of electing a new emperor, in contempt and defiance of Frederic, the true empe- ror, and his son and heir Conrad. And whilst that this was thus in hand, Conrad the Caesar casteth Landshuta, the wife of Otho (then absent), in the teeth, for the great benefits and possessions which her husband had and possessed by his ancestors ; and threatcncth that unless her husband took a better way with himself, and showed his obedience to thc emperor, his father, he should not enjoy one foot of Hy what that land which now he had by his ancestors. The preferments and Otho at- dignities which Otho had by the ancestors of Conrad the Ca?sar came g^'eat'^pos- thus : Fredcric Barbarossa, at a parliament holden at Wurtzburg' ruieem '^'^^' 1^^^' condcnmcd Henry Leo of high treason, and deprived him perorand of lus dominions of Bavaria and Saxony, and gave Bavaria to Otho tors*"*^"" of Wittlcspach, because he had done him so faithful service in his Italian wars. After that, Louis, the son of that Otho, obtained of this emperor Frederic IL, in recompense of his assured and trusty fidelity, the palatinate of the Rhine in reversion ; also Agnes, the daughter of Henry, the living earl-palatine, to be given to Otho his son in marriage. But this Henry was the son of Henry Leo, the traitor; nnto whom Henry VI. (the father of Frederic II.). having given him in marriage his niece Clcmcntia, the daughter of his brother Conrad, Palatine of the Rhine, gave him also the pala- tinate itself on precarious tenure.^ And as touching the government of Bavaria, that had also formerly been held by thc ancestors o*" Otho of Wittlcspach. But to our purpose again. The arch- At the samc time, the archbishop of Cologne revolted to thc coft'e^ P^P^ ' "'^"^ ^^^ '°".? ^^'^^^^ i" a skirmish with the earl of Brabant, was revoiteth vanquished and taken prisoner. But Frederic of Austria, after he pope. was received into iavour again with the emperor keeping most con-
(1) " Libyssa," a town of BrandenburR, in the Middle Mark, two miles from Frankfort on ths Oder, and abishnp's see : HofTman. Vide iiifra, p. W2, and vol. iii. pp. 438, 160.— Kd. , (2) See Appendix, (3) See Ducange, in v. Prccaria.— Ed.
HE MAKETH MONEY OF LEATHER. 481)
stantly liis promise and fidelity renewed, durinfj this time made sharp nistoryof war upon the Bohemians and Hungarians, who took part with tlie '^z/!^'" pope, and greatly annoyed them. As these things thus passed in ^"'^'^'""- Germany, the emperor, when he liad gotten Ascoli and led his host A.D. into Flaminia, having taken Ravenna, from thence came to Faenza, 124J. which city never loved the emperor (the circuit of whose walls is five miles in compass), and pitched his camp round about it. And although the siege was much hindered by the severity of the weather (it being in the very depth of winter), still notwithstanding, through the great fortitude and incredible exertions of the 'soldiers, to whom he represented that it would be no little disgrace for them to retire from the enterprise unsuccessful, he surmounted all difficulties. And therefore, when now the winter (so extremely cold and hard) was well near ended, and the spring-time now hard at hand, and when by long battery he had made the walls in divers places assaultable, the citizens (being greatly discouraged, and in despair of maintaining the defence thereof) sent ambassadors to the emperor, craving pardon for their offence, and that he would grant them their lives, and so yielded themselves to his mercy.
The emperor, having against them good and sufficient cause of The em- revenge, yet for that his noble heart thought it to be the best greafle- reveno;e that might be, to pardon the offi^nce of vanquished men, "i'^^"''
.'. . clcmcncv*
considered it better to grant them their requests, and to save the city and citizens with innumerable people, than by arms to make the same his soldiers' prey, to the destruction both of the city and great number of people therein. So doth this good emperor in one of his epistles, " Adaucta nobis," confess himself. Which epistle, to declare the lenity and merciful heart of so worthy a prince (if with great and marvellous provocations and \\Tongs he had not been incited), I would in the midst of the history here have placed, but that I have kept you long herein, and yet not finished the same.
In this siege the emperor, having spent and consumed almost all his treasure, both gold and silver, caused other money to be made of The em- leather, which on the one side had his image, and on the other side }?"°Jj[ ^^ the spread eagle (the arms of the empire), and made a proclamation, m-ike that the same should pass from man to man for all necessaries instead leather, of other money ; and therewithal promised, that whosoever brought the same money unto his exchequer when the wars were ended, he would give them gold for the same, according to the value of every coin limited ; which thing afterwards truly and faithfully he performed, as all the historiographers do accord.
When the pope had thus, as before is said, stopped his ears and The pope would not hear the emperor's ambassadors who came to entreat for fo"fo- peace, but rejected and despised his most courteous and equitable a^'jlsp";. demands, and yet found that he, Avith his confederates, could not vented. jDrevail against him in open warfare, although he had left no means untried ; he, by his legates, inviteth to a council to be held at Rome all such prelates out of Ralv, France, and England, as he thought to favour him and his proceedings ; that hereby, as his last shift and only refuge, he by their helps might deprive Frederic of his empire, as an utter enemy to God and to the church. All which things Frederic having understanding of, and knowing that these persons were about to assemble under the pope''s influence for his ruin, he de-
490
FREDKHIC I'REVAILS AGAINST THE I'OI'K.
History of Frederic
II. Emperor.
A.D. 1241.
The em- piTor riR- Kfili forth u iiavy.
A great
victory
at sea
a|;ainst
tlie pope's
conlede-
tates.
Another victory by land at Pavia.
termincd to hinder tlicir passage to Rome, as well by sea as by lami, in all that ever he might. Accordingly, having preoccupied all the passages by land, he commanded his son Henry,' king of Sar- dinia (whom the Italians call Kncio), to take some galleys with him and go to l*isa, and with the Pisans (whom he had likewise ordered to equip a fleet) to meet and intercept (if j)ossible) the ])opc"s partisans on their wav to Home. The pope's partisans, understanding that they could not safely repair to Rome by land, procured I'orty galleys, witli the Genoese navy''' under the conmiand of Guliclmus Hraccius for their convov ; thinking that hereby, if they should fortune to meet -wilh any of the emperor"'s galleys which might lie in wait for them, thcv should be able to make their part good, and give them also the repulse. For the emperor, in like manner, Encio and Hugolinus (the commodore of the Pisan fleet) launched forth to sea with forty galleys ; and within the isles of Giglio and IVIonte Christo, which lie between Leghorn and Corsica, they met vith the Genoese navy and straightways attacked it ; and when Gulielinus the admi- ral, contrary to the wish of the ecclesiastics, who were for flight, attem})tcd to resist the attack, three of his ships having been boulged and sunk, the rest (twenty-two in number) with all that they contained fell into the emperor's hands. In these were taken three legates of the popeX viz. lacomo Colonna, cardinal-bishop of Pales- trine, Otho, of the noble house of the marquisses of Montferrat, cardinal of St. Nicholas, and Gregory de Romania, all cruel enemies against the emperor ; and many prelates were taken with them, besides a great number of delegates and proctors of cities, with a countless rabble of priests and monks, besides also more than four thousand Genoese soldiers, with the officers of the navy, and the admiral him- self who was of patrician rank.
Pandolpho Colenuccio,' in describing the circumstances of the great loss and misfortune of these partisans of the pope by sea, amongst the resl dcclareth, that besides the great prey and booty which the takers had from them, they also found many writings and letters against Frederic, which much helped them in the defence of that cause wherein the others laboured against him. Another like mischance, also, about the same time happened on the pope''s side, by the emperor's soldiers who lay in the garrison at Pavia, thus : There went forth upon a time out of Pavia into the borders of the Genoese certain bands, to give them alarums in the country ; which bands the scurriers of Milan (where lay a great garrison of the pope's) descrying, told the captain of the town, that now there was a very opportune and fit time to give an assault to Pavia ; " since,'"' say they, " the greatest part are now gone foraging.*" Whereupon they immediately calling together the captains and such as had charge, set their soldiers in array, and marched forward to Pavia. And now, when they were come almost thither, the Pavian banils (whom they thought to have been far off foraging) returned and met with them, and fiercely gave a full charge upon them : who, being dismayed at the suddenness of the matter, fought not long, but gave over and fled. In which skirmish were taken, besides those
(1) An illegitimate son of Frederic. — Ed.
(2) Tliis appears, from what follows, to be the navy of 25 ships meniioned supri, p. 480. — Ed.
(3) lie wrote " Compendio dell' Istoria del regno di Napoli ;" 8vo. Venez. 1541: translated into Ijtin by Slupanus, 4to. BosiL 1572. — Ed.
THE TARTARS INVADE CHRISTENDOM.
4J)1
;li;it were slain, three hundred and fifty captains, who were brought prisoners into Pavia with all their ensigns.
News hereof was brought to the emperor not long after, who then was on his march from Faenza to the city of Bologna, thinking to destroy the same. But upon the hearing of this li;ippy success, he altereth his purpose, and, thinking by a decisive Mow to end the contest, leadeth his army towards Rome; and in the way he admitted to terms the city of Pesaro. But Fano, because the townsmen shut their gates and would not suffer the eniperor to come in, he took by force and destroyed. For the emperor, seeing that neither by petition made to the pope, nor yet by his lawful excusation, he could do any good with him, thought that by his sudden coming thither, and with fear of the peril immi- nent, he might be brought to reasonable terms, and caused to leave off his accustomed pertinacity. And although the emperor was too strong for him, yet, for that he regarded nothing more than the public tranquillity of the empire, and that he might then take the Tartarian wars in hand if he could by any means conclude a peace, he refused not so to treat with him, as though he had been both in force and fortune much the pope*'s inferior.
Whilst that this ruffle was betwixt the emperor and the pope, Ochodarius, son and successor of Ghcngis the first emperor of the Tartars, sent a large and well-appointed army to invade the neighbouring countries, and bring them into subjection to him. AVho, almost without opposition, subdued the Russians, Podolians, Molda- vians, Wallachians, Poles, and Prussians, laid waste the fields, and plundered, burnt, ruined, and destroyed cities, towns, villages, and buildings of every description ; killing man, woman, and child, and sparing none of any sex or age. (a.d. 1235.) At whose sudden in- vasion the people were in such fear and perplexity, that not a single band, garrison town, or even walled city, dared to resist ; but all hastened to leave all they had, and disperse themselves into woods, and flee to marshes and mountains, or wheresoever else any succour did offer itself to them. They had now come as far as Brcslau, when Henry, duke of Poland and Silesia, went forth with an army to meet them ; who, for the inequality of the number of his forces, had soon an overthrow, and almost all his army being destroyed, he himself was t-aken and slain with aii axe. From thence they came to Moravia, and from thence to the kingdom of Bohemia, which countries, while the king kept himself in strong defenced forts and durst not come abroad, they invaded, and destroyed all Hungary ; putting to flight and van- quishing Colman, the brother of Bela IV. king of Hungary, also making great spoil in both the Pannonias, both the Moesias, Bulgaria, and Servia. When Bela, king of Hungary, had gotten to Pola (which is a city of Istria) unto Otho, the duke of Dalmatia and Istria,^ he sent ambassadors to Frederic, the emperor ; promising that if he would send him aid, so that the Tartars might be expelled, Hungary should ever after be under the jurisdiction of the emperor ; which thing if he should refuse to do, that then Hungary would be in great danger of being subjected to the Tartars, to the no little peril of the whole empire : and said further, that the cause wherefore he with more instance required the same, was, that so many christian men and
(1) Sec p. 475, note (2).— Ed.
History of Frederic
n.
Emperor
A.D. 1241.
The em- peror tliinkcth to make the pope afraid.
y
The Tartar _ invadeth Christen- dom with a great and migh- ty power.
Unmer- ciful
slaughter of the Chris- tians.
The king of Hun- gary crav- eth aid of the empe- ror.
492 Tiiv: rone's scbtlk i'uactices.
ifi»/oryo/ coimtrics made siuli ])itiriil lamentation in tliis their great calamity
Fredfr,c ,^^ j j^^jg^j.^.^ jj^j ^|,jj(_ ^],p,.e ^^g „one able to help them ; " which,"
Emperor, gj^j^j^ |jp^ 41 jg j^g ^^rcat sliauic as possible to the whole christian com-
A. D. monwcal;" and also said, that it the malice of this barbarous people
r24l. were not suj)prcssed, then he thought they would make invasion u])on
the empire itself and the provinces of the same.
The enii)eror, although he thought it very requisite that with all convenient speed this mischief should be remedied and prevented, yet notwithstanding, his great enemy the pope, with his confederates, was the only let and hindrance thereof. When, therefore, he per- ceived that he himself could do no good, and only laboured in vain in seeking peace with the pope, he gave commandment to Wen- ccslaus and Otho of Bavaria to entreat and persuade with him, that, considering the imminent peril like to ensue by reason of such civil dissension to the whole state of Christendom, he Mould take up and conclude a peace, and mitigate somewhat his fierce and wrathful mood. When, however, he saw further, that neither by that means of entreaty, nor any other, the pope would desist from his stubborn malicious and froward purpose, he writeth back to the king of Hun- gary that he was right sorry, and greatly lamented their miserable state, and that he much desired to relieve the need and necessity that Tiie, he and all the rest stood in. But, as the cause why he could not
pope s •
fauitthat redress the same nor stand him then in any stead, he blamed greatly tar is "not '•I'C bisliop of Romc ; who refusing all entreaty of peace, he (the resisted, ompcror) could not without great peril to himself depart out of Italy, lest that, when he should come to tfie aid of him, by the pope's mischievous imaginations he should be in peril of losing all at home. Notwithstanding, he sent orders to Conrad the Caesar, to the king of Bohemia, and to other princes more of Germany, to go and meet the enemy • and a great number of those who had taken the cross in Germany were offering their services against the Tartars, when they received orders from Albert, the pope's factor, to stay at home, until Hadra- tlicy should be called out by him against the emperor. To conclude, against ' sucli was the loving zeal and affection of the pope and his adherents ror than^ '"^ ^'''^ time of Calamity towards the christian state and common- j'sainsi Wealth, that he had rather bend his force and revenge his malice tar. upon the christian and good emperor, than either himself withstand the Tartar, or suffer and permit by conclusion of any profitable peace that this most bloody and cruel enemy should be let and restrained from such havoc, spoil, and slaughter of the christian men : and yet, forsooth, these men will seem to have the greatest regard of all other to the preservation of Christendom, and think to have the supremacy given therein ! What thing else is this, than manifest mockery and deceiving of the people .'' One good effect, however, came of this sj)oil and havoc of Poland, Bohemia, and Hungary, viz. that the con- spirators did not meet at Lebus (as had been determined') about Thecm-^. ^'"^ deposing of the emperor and the creation of another, peroraiid But uow notwithstanding the provident foresight and wise policy cessors 01 inc em))cror (as you lieard bciorc) in restrammg tlie passages both oHhe "*'^y sea and huul, who gave most strict charge and had special regard Bubiie thereunto, that none should pass without privy search and examination, practices, as oHc having sufficient trial, as well in his own person as by the

THE FRENCH KING S LETTER. 493
example of his predecessors, Avhat great mischief and dissension by Huioryoj their legates every way sent out the popes had procured both to the ''y/"" imperial state and dignity and to the whole country of Germany ; yet ^'"i"^"'^- found they such means and wrought such policies, that they had not A. D. only secret passage and rcpassagc with their letters and spies into all ^241; (Christendom where they listed, but also so laboured the matter and litindlcd the same, that the long-continued league of amity between the French king and the emperor, whose predecessors, as also they themselves, had many years reverently observed it in christian con- cord and unity, was by this seditious prelate and arrogant vicar of Satan now either utterly infringed, or else in variable suspense; as by their letters to each other, and hereunder ensuing, is to be read and seen ; which, for the more probability of this history of Frederic (not being long or greatly tedious), I thought meet here to intext and place.
The Epistle of the French King to Frederic the Emperor, touching the Imprisonment of certain Cardinals of France.'
Hitherto, noble emperor, hath our confidence been maintained unshaken, Long con- that, owing to the mutual afiection which has subsisted for a long course of time ."."""^'^ between the empire and our realm, no matter could arise to hatch hatred and tween the offence between us. Especially seeing that all the kings of France, our prede- empire cessors of blessed memory, have even to our own times taken a warm interest rtllm of"^" in the honour and dignity of your empire; and also that we, whom God hath France., placed to reign in succession after them, have been no otherwise minded. None otherwise also, on their part, have the ancient as well as the more recent empe- rors of the Romans esteemed their empire and the kingdom of France as one, and have preserved the unity of peace and concord; insomuch that there hath not chanced between them so much as one spark of dissension. We therefore The king, cannot but greatly marvel, and not without good cause are troubled, that, yit'io"' without any cause or ground of offence given on our part, you have caused Furement prelates of our realm to be apprehended at sea, making their repair to the "f tlie apostolic see (to the which as well by their faith as by their allegiance tliey stood \°Q^{^\ ,int bomid, neither could they refuse its mandates), and that you do still detain the so have same in your custody: whereat (we do your highness to wit) we are more hurt Y'"^" '" than perhaps you may imagine. For by their own letters we understand that ror.^ ^^ they had contemplated nothing prejudicial to your imperial highness, although the pope should have prosecuted therein further tlian became him to do. Wherefore, seeing that there is no cause in them why you should detain them, it becometh your higluiess to set at liberty the said prelates of our realm ; whereby also you shall appease our grudge, who account the injury you do to them as done to ourselves. For why? It were a great dishonour to our noble realm, if we should wink hereat and overpass the same with silence. If you will not attend to the above considerations, it will perhaps weigh with you, that when the cardinal-bishop of Palestrine and other legates of the church came imploring our aid to your prejudice, we gave them a flat refusal ; neither could they, obtain in our kingdom any thing at all which seemed to be against or prejudicial to your majesty. Let therefore your imperial providence ponder in the balance of judgment those things which we write imto you, neither let our lawful request unto you be frustrated or made in vain. For our kingdom of France is not so weak as that it will allow itself to be trampled under your feet. Fare ye well.
The Rescript of the Emperor to the same letter of the King of
France.*
Our imperial excellency hath perused the letters of your royal serenity, French wherein if we had not found manifest self-contradiction, they might peradventure \l"f° '
kind's let- con-
(1) Petri lie Vineis Epist. Fred. II., lib. i..ep. 12.— Ed.
(2) Ibid. Epist. 13. Both this and the preceding are revised from the Latin. — Ed.
494 nEscRiPT OF fkkderic the empehou.
//ii Frederic leaven a whole lump of dough is soured, so a single particular falsely alleged Emperor, destroyeth tlie whole argument of your letter. For it is apparent that your
grace's letter wanteth the virtue of the middle part in the conclusion of the
A. D. same, as we will evidently prove to you from facts wjiith are notorious to all. 12-11. It is notorious then, and to all the world revealed, in what sort the apostolic trar7to~ '^"l'"^''" ''■'*''' attacked our iniiocencj', as well with the one sword as with the tliem- other ; for whilst we, at his commandment, took our journey beyond the seas, selves. i],p same our adversary and enemy invaded our kingdom of Sicilj-, and wasted aposuiii- the same, not in one place or two but in divers and sundry parts thereof, cal father After this, when with great entreaty and by the mediation of the princes of Two'^ " Almain on our return from Asia we had concluded a peace with him, and he lianded had iigain accepted our proflered devotion ; although valuable services were sword. actually rendered him, yet the said apostolic father, that notwithstanding, twenty hath devised all he could to our deprivation and subversion, no cause in all the Roi"raa°^ world given of us to provoke the same ; and further, he hath pronuilgated, as beforeyou Well by his letters as legates, the sentence of excommunication against us unto heard. all nations, to our great defamation and shame. Lastly, aspiring to supplant our imperial state, that he might raise a tower of Babel against David (God's anointed) he hath called unto a privy council for that purpose all the prelates he could get, as one that mcanetli to set all the whole world together by the ears. But the marvellous providence of God by whom we live and reign, beholding The craf- the wicked purpose he went about, confounding the crafty in their craftiness iLfsed" in ^''^''^ given into our hands cardinals and prelates, as well of your realm their craf- of France, as of other regions and provinces; all whom we imprison and tiness. detain as our enemies and adversaries. For where there wanted not a perse- cutor, there ought not to want a defender also; especially seeing that the imperial majesty transcendeth all mankind, and that every animal shuddereth if it behold but the print of the lion's foot. Let not therefore your kingly high- ness marvel, if Augustus detaineth " in angusto " your French prelates, who have themselves endeavoured to drive us " in angustias." Fare ye well.
When Frederic now saw there was none other remedy, and that
in vain he laboured to have peace with the pope, he prosecuteth his
war to the uttermost. Todi opened its gates to him, and was
admitted to terms, but he destroyed the towns of St. Gemini and
Narni, and gave the spoil of them to his soldiers : he well treated
Tivoli, which surrendered to him, but wasted all the country about
Death of Rome. The pope overwhelmed by so great misfortunes, and troubled