"
A similar form is used in the first
and second of the " privilegia " drawn
up in connection with the Eger promise
given by Frederick on the 12th July
1213 and 6th October 1214.
A similar form is used in the first
and second of the " privilegia " drawn
up in connection with the Eger promise
given by Frederick on the 12th July
1213 and 6th October 1214.
Thomas Carlyle
d.
N.
29, col.
1025.
" In-
terest apostolicse sedis diligenter et
prudenter de imperii Romani provi-
sion** tractare, cum imperium noscatur
ad eam principaliter et finalitor perti-
nere : principaliter, cum per ipsam et
propter ipsam de Gracia sit translatum,
per ipsam translationis actricem, prop-
ter ipsam melius defendendam ; fina-
liter, quoniam imperator a summo
pontifice finalem sive ultimam manus
impositionem promotionis proprie ac-
cipit, dum ab eo benedicitur, coronatur,
et de unperio investitur. Quod Hen-
ricu9 optime recognoscens, a bonse
memorise Coelestine papa prsedecessore
nostro, post suseeptam ab eo coro-
nam, cum aliquantulum abscessisset,
rediens tandem ad se, ab ipso de
imperio per pallam auream petiit
investiri. "
The correct interpretation of the
passage has been hotly disputed be-
tween Haller (vide especially vol. u.
of the ' Historische Viertel Jahrschrift,"
p. 23 f. ) and Tangl (' Sitzungs berichte
der Preussischen Academic,' 1919, No.
63). We have adopted in the text
Tangl's interpretation. Whichever is
correct, the important point for our
purposes is that Innocent seems to
treat the empire as rightfully a fief,
and it is unnecessary for us to discuss
Haller's interpretation of Henry's
? ? conduct.
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? 192
TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL POWERS. [PABT II.
the Archbishop of Cologne. 1 Henry endeavoured to secure
his object against any German opposition by requesting the
Pope to crown his son as king. He was defeated by the
Pope's refusal to lend himself to the scheme, and finally
Henry had to be satisfied with the election by the princes in
1197 of his infant son Frederick as king. Finally, even Adolf,
the Archbishop of Cologne, accepted the election. 2 Henry's
1 By the end of the twelfth century
the right to crown the king was recog-
nised as belonging to him, and the
commencement of the king's reign was
generally dated from the time of the
coronation. The importance of the
part played by the archbishop would
obviously have greatly decreased had
the kingdom become hereditary, even
if it had been retained.
2 The principal source is the Ann.
Marbacenses, p. 68, in Bloch's edition.
"Anno domini mcxcvi. Imperator habuit
curiam Herbipolis circa mediam quad-
ragesimam, . . . Ad eandem curiam
imperator novum et inauditum decre-
tum Romano regno voluit cum prin-
cipibus confirmare, ut in Romanum
regnum, sicut in Francio vel ceteris
regnis, hire hereditario reges sibi succe-
derent; in quo principes qui aderant,
assensum ei prebuerunt, et sigillis suis
confirmaverunt . . . Interim, missis-
legatis suis, imperator cepit cum apos-
tolico de concordia agere volens quod
filium suum baptizaret--nondum enim
baptizatus erat--et quod in regem
ungeret. . . . cum res, ut imperator voluit,
effectum habere non potuit, iter cum
magna indignatione versus Sicilian
movit. Interea in Theutonicis parti -
bus, mediantibus Cuonrado Maguntino
archiepiscopo et duce Suevie Philippo,
omnes fere principes prestito iuramento
filium imperatoris in regem eligerunt. "
Innocent refers to this attempt in a
letter to the German princes (Reg. d. N.
33, col. 1039 D, March 1901) announ-
cing that he had decided to recognise
Otto as king, and had rejected Philip.
Among other reasons he urged was
" Quod pater et frater ejus (>>. <<. ,
Frederick I. and Henry VI. , the
father and brother respectively of
Philip of Swabia) vobis imposuerint
grave jugum, vos ipsi perhibete testi-
monium veritati. Nam ut csetera
taceamus, hoc solum quod vobis in
substitutione imperatoris eligendi vol-
uerint adimere facultatem, libertati
et honori vestro non modicum dero-
garant. Unde si, sicut olim patri
Alius (>>. e. , Henry VI. to Frederick I. ),
sic nunc immediate succederet frater
fratri (i. <<. , Philip to Henry VI. ),
videretur imperium non ex electione
conferri, sed ex successione deberi. "
From the Ann. Colon. (M. G. , SS. xvii.
p. 804) it appears that the Archbishop
of Cologne finally also accepted the
? ? election of Frederick. It is not quite
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? chap. n].
193
INNOCENT iH. AND THE EMPIRE.
youngest brother, Philip, was on his way to bring the
child to Germany to be crowned, when news reached
him at Montefiascone in Central Italy of Henry's death.
There followed a general rising against the Germans, and
Philip had to retire hastily to Germany without his
nephew.
Henry's death put an end to the attempt to make the
empire hereditary. It was unquestionably a revolutionary
scheme, as elections had not in Germany become a merely
formal matter.
Henry left at his death a widow, Constance, Queen of Sicily
in her own right, and a son not four years old, the future
Emperor Frederick II. The curia was evidently on the watch
for an opportunity to press its territorial claims. The Bishop
of Fermo, after Henry's death, took measures in the March
of Ancona to secure the cities and castles to the Church of
Eome. Coelestine wrote approving what he had done, and
directed him to extend his action to the whole of the March
and Eimini, which he claimed as belonging to the papal
" patrimony. " 1 Legates were also sent at once to Tuscany
to stir up the cities in Imperial Tuscany against the empire,
and with the assent of the legates a Tuscan league was formed
for mutual defence and common action in dealing with em-
perors, kings, and other potentates. Help was also to be given
the Pope to recover or to defend his territories, excepting
in cases where the lands in dispute were claimed by members
of the league. The members of the league also undertook
not to acknowledge any one as emperor or king except with
the consent of the Church. 2
Whether Haller's solution is correct
or not, there can be no doubt that
Henry did attempt to make the suc-
cession hereditary.
1 Bciehmer, ' Acta Imperii Selecta,'
905. Pope Coelestine III. to the Bishop
of Fermo, 1197. "volentes, ut quod
per vos inceptum est, optatum tinem
nostro studio sortiatur, discretioni
veetre per apostolica scripta mandamus,
VOL. V.
quatenus cum dilecto filio magistro
R . . . ab universis civitatibus et
castellis Marchie et Ariminensibus
etiam fidelitatis vobis faciatis nomine
ecclesie Romano iuramenta prestari,
ut . . . tota Marchia ad patrimonium
nostrum ad (quod) de iure pertinet
revocetur. "
1 Santini (P. ) Documenti dell antica
constitutione del commune de Firenze
N
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? 194
[PABT n.
TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL POWERS.
Ccelestine died on the 8th January 1198, and Innocent III.
was immediately elected to succeed him. 1 In his view, as we
have seen, matters were best regulated where the Church
was not only in spiritual but also in temporal control. 2 In
his efforts to recover or to seize the lands he claimed in Italy,
Innocent did not hesitate to appeal to Italian dislike of
Germans. 3 Immediately after his election he sent legates
to compel Markwald of Anweiler to give up the March of
Ancona and the Eomagna. He also forced Conrad of Urslingen
to give up the duchy of Spoleto and other territories held by
him. In the case of Imperial Tuscany he was very indignant
with the legates because the league had not acknowledged
the supremacy of the Pope. 4 Ficker has shown in his ' For-
schungen zur Eeichs und Eechtsgeschichte Italiens ' how
XXI. , llth November 1197. Legs
tra le citta e signori di Toscana. With
regard to the emperor and other au-
thorities, it provides, " Et non reci-
piemus aliquem imperatorem vel pro
imperatore vel rege sou principe duee
vel marchione seu nuncium vel alium
quemlibet, qui pro eis vel aliquo eorum
debeat dominari vel administrare sine
assensu et speciali mandato Romane
ecclesie. "
1 Gesta VIL and Reg. I. 1.
* Vide p. 158, note 5 above.
3 Reg. I. 413. A letter to the clergy
of Sicily, November 1198. " Persecu-
tionis olim olla succensa, dum flantis
rabies aquilonis Calabros montes novo
dejiceret terrse motu, et per plana
jacentis Apulise pulverem in transeun-
tium et habitantium oculos suo tur-
bine suscitaret, dum etiam Tauro-
minitana Charybdis sanguinem, quem
tempore pacato sitiverat, evomeret
csedibus satiate, usque adeo fuit
iter maris et terrse praclusum, ut
interjacentis impetus tempostatis mu-
tuum matris ad filios et filiorum
ad matrem impediret affectum et
naturalis affectum interciperet chari-
tatis. "
See also Reg. I. 356, probably
July 1198. To the Podesta and others
in Spoleto.
Reg. II. 4, 17th March 1199. To
the consuls and people of Yeei.
Reg. I. 658, col. 614 A, January 1199.
To the clergy, &c. , of Capua. He exhorts
them to resist the enemies of the church
" persecutoribus regni (i. e. , of Sicily),
qui vos, si cut hactenus, servituti sup-
ponere moliuntur, bona diripere, muti-
lare personas et coram viris uxores
et patribus filias et fratribus dehones-
tare sorore," and whom the people
of the kingdom could easily have
resisted " nisi homines regni mens
effeminet muliebris. "
* Reg. I. 15. To his legate regarding
the Tuscan league, February 1198.
" non modica sumus admiratione
commoti ; cum forma colligationis
hujusmodi (i. e. , the Tuscan league)
? ? in plerisque capitibus nec utilitatem
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? CHAP. II. ]
195
INNOCENT iH. AND THE EMPIRE.
largely Innocent revived old claims long in abeyance 1 It
is not necessary for our purposes to discuss these claims, nor
to inquire how far Innocent succeeded. It is enough to point
out that by these claims, more or less successfully asserted
(in the case of Imperial Tuscany we hear no more of them
from Innocent after 1198), he was the founder of the enlarged
papal states stretching from sea to sea, which survived, with
comparatively few alterations, to 1861. 2 While the papal
patrimony, properly so called, had grown up round Eome
many centuries before Innocent's time, all claims to lands
outside this territory seem to have been based by him on
old imperial grants, or on Mathilda's bequest. 3 We have
dealt with Innocent's reference to Constantine's donation,
which he treated as conveying to the Pope the whole of the
western empire, but he never refers to it in any specific case
in which papal claims on the empire are involved. *
In Sicily, Constance sent for Frederick after the death of
1 Ficker, ' Forschungen z. Hatch* u.
Rechtsgesch. Italians,' vol. ii. par.
328 f.
2 It was in 1861 that the papal
states were reduced to the old patri-
mony of Peter, and in 1870 that they
were entirely absorbed in the kingdom
of Italy. A convenient summary of
the history of the papal states will
be found in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
3 M. G. H. , Const. II. 23, oath of
Otto at Neuss, 8th June 1201. The
lands Otto is to give up to the Roman
church, or to help it to recover, are
" tota terra que est a Radicofano
usque Ce peranum, exarchatus Ra-
uenne, Pentapolis, Marchia, ducatus
Spoletanus, terra comitisse Matildis,
comitatus Brittenorii cum aliis ad-
iacentibus tenia expresses in multis
privileges imperatorum a tempore
Lodouici. "
Similarly in his engagement at
Speyer, Reg. d. N. 189, 22nd April
1209, where it is lands as stated
"in multis privileges imperatorum et
regum a tempore Ludovici, ut eas
habeat Romana Ecclasia in perpetuum,
cum omni jurisdictione, districtu, et
honore suo.
"
A similar form is used in the first
and second of the " privilegia " drawn
up in connection with the Eger promise
given by Frederick on the 12th July
1213 and 6th October 1214. M. G. H. ,
Const. II. 46-7.
In the third privilege it is different, as
here the formal consent of the princes
is embodied, and a fresh grant made to
prevent any future disputes, 1. e. 48 (p.
61, 1. 3 f. ). " Omnia igitur supradicta
et queoumque alia pertinent ad Ro-
manam ecclesiam de voluntate et
conscientia, consilio et consensu prin-
cipum imperii libera illi dimittimus,
renuntiamus et restituimus, necuon
ad omnem scrupulum removendum,
prout melius valet et efficasuis intelligi,
concedimus, conferimus et donamus,
? ? ut sublata omnia contentionis et dis-
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? 196 TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL POWERS. [part II.
I
Henry VI. , and had him crowned on the 17th May 1198 as
King of Sicily. Before this she had, as far as it was in her
power, driven the Germans out of the kingdom. Up to the
time of the coronation Frederick is " Eex Eomanorum et
Eex Siciliae. " After it he is only " Eex Sicilise. " 1 Constance
died on the 27th November 1198. A settlement was effected
with the Pope very shortly before her death, too late, indeed,
for her to receive the official letters from the curia. By this
settlement the kingdom of Sicily and the countries attached
to it were given as a fief to her and to her heirs. Constance
had to submit to the loss of many of the ecclesiastical privi-
leges enjoyed by her predecessors, though curtailed to some
extent in Tancred's time. 2 Shortly before her death she
1 H. B. , vol. i. In a letter written
in January 1198 (p. 5) Frederick is
styled King of the Romans and of
Sicily. In June 1198 (p. 11) the King
of the Romans has dropped out, and
he is King of Sicily, Duke of Apulia,
and Prince of Capua, and these con-
tinue to be his titles.
* M. G. H. , Const. I. 417, Privi-
legium Tancredi, June 1192.
Reg. I. 410. Letter from Innocent
to Constance, Empress and Queen of
Sioily, and to Frederick, King of Sicily,
written shortly before the death of
Constance on the 27th November 1198.
1n view of the devotion to the
church, of Roger the father, William
the brother, and William the nephew,
of Constance " Hac igitur considera-
tione diligenter inducti ao credentes
quod prsedictorum regum vestigia
vestra regia serenitas in devotione ac
obsequiis Ecclesiio imitetur, vobis et
hseredibus vostris, qui sicut dictus rex
W. quondam frater tuus felicis memo-
rise Adriano papse prsedecessori nostro
exhibuit, nobis et successoribus nostris
et Ecclcsia. ' Rom. fidelitatem et homi-
nium exhibere ac quse subscribuntur
voluerint observare, concedimus reg-
num Sicilian, . . . et reliqua tenimenta
quse tenotia a pradecessoribus vestris
hominibus sacrosanctee Rom. Eccle-
sue jure detenta et contra omnes
homines adjuvabimus honorifice manu-
tenere. . . . censum vero . . . vos ao-
hseredes vestros statuistis Ecclesise
Rom. annis singulis soluturos . . .
Electiones autem secundum Deura
per totum regnum canonice fiant, de
talibus quidem personis quibus vos
ac hssredes vestri requisitum a vobis-
prsebere debeatis assensum. "
In the following letter, written no
doubt at the same time, to Constance
and Frederick (Reg. I. 411), Innocent
lays down the rules to be observed aa
to elections, which provide that the
royal assent is required. " Sede
vacante, capitulum significabit vobis
et vestris hseredibus obitum decessoris.
Deinde convenientes in unum, invocata>>
Spiritus sancti gratia, secundum Deum
eligent canonice personam idoneam,
? ? oui requisitum a vobis pnebere dc-
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? CHAP, n. ] INNOCENT iH. AND THE EMPIRE.
197
bequeathed the guardianship of Frederick to the Pope, who
not only accepted but claimed it as his by right. 1
A number of German princes had started for Palestine
shortly before Henry's death, and on the news reaching them
they renewed their homage to Frederick. In Germany, Philip,
his uncle, acted as his guardian and styled him king in official
documents. 2 Some of the German princes, led by Adolf of
Cologne, would not honour their bond, and in consequence
even supporters of the Hohenstauffen finally gave up the
attempt to support Frederick's cause. Eventually Philip
consented to stand as candidate, and was elected at Mul-
hausen on the 8th March 1198 to be emperor (in imperatorem
imperii). 3 The opposition, after some difficulty in getting a
candidate, finally adopted Otto, and elected him on the
9th June 1198 to be king (in regem). Otto was a son of Henry
the Lion, who in his later years became the bitterest enemy
of the Hohenstauffen, and was a favourite nephew of Eichard
I. of England, by whom he had been made Count of Poitou.
The German princes who elected Otto had him crowned at
Aix on the 12th of July by the Archbishop of Cologne, and
thus Otto, though elected by a very small minority of the
fuerit confirmatus, administrationi so
ullatenus immiscebit. Sic enim honori
vestro volumus condescendere, ut
libertatem canonicam observemus, nullo
prorsus obstante rescripto quod a sede
apostolica fuerit impetratum. "
In a letter (Reg. I. 412) to the arch-
bishops and other ecclesiastics of
Sicily, written at the same time, he
deals as in 411 with elections. He then
goes on, " Volumus etiam nihilominus
et mandamus ut de csetero ad Rom.
Ecclesiam libere, cum opus fuerit,
appelletis et, interpositis ad nos ap-
pellationibus curetis humiliter et devote
deferre. Nos etiam, quoties necessitas
postulaverit, apost. sedis legatos ad
vos curabimus destinare . . . quorum
obediatis monitis et prseceptis. "
1 Reg. IX. 249. To Frederick, King
of Sicily, 29th January 1206. " Nec
est siquidem sub admiratione ducen-
dum, quod tua nos ita et contristavit
detentio, et liberatio jucundavit, cum
et prater Balii rationem, quod non tam
ex dispositions materna, quam jure
regni suscepimus exsequendum. " See
also Reg. II. 245 to the clergy " mil-
ites " and people of Capua, December
1199.
* M. G. H. , Const. I. 447, 21st
January 1198. Agreement of Philip,
Duke of Swabia, with the people
of Speyer. " In nomine sancte et
individue Trinitatis. Philippus divina
favente gratia dux Sueuie. . . . Notum
ergo fieri volumus tam futuris quam
presentibus, quod post decessum H.
gloriosissimi imperatoris et fratris nostri
Spiram venientos tam ex persona
domini nostri regis quam nostra. . . . "
3 Vide p. 200.
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? 198 TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL POWERS. [PAKT n.
princes, was crowned at the right place and by the right
person. Philip, on the other hand, delayed his coronation,
as, according to his own account given to the Pope a few
years later, he was deceived by false promises that his oppo-
nents would also give him their votes. 1 Aix having been
taken by Otto, Philip had to content himself with Mainz,
where he was crowned by the Archbishop of the Tarantaise
on the 8th September 1198, the Archbishop of Mainz not
having returned from the Holy Land.
Otto and his supporters reported the election and the
coronation to Eome. Otto himself did not ask for con-
firmation, but only that he should be summoned to receive
the imperial crown; but the letters of his supporters,
contained in the Pope's register of imperial correspondence,
all include a request to the Pope to confirm the election.
Several declared that Otto was elected by the princes to
whom the right of electing the king belonged, thus appa-
rently confining the right to a limited body. Stress was
also laid on the fact of the consecration and coronation at
Aix by the Archbishop of Cologne. 2
1 Reg. d. N. 136, col. 1134 C, D.
Letter of Philip to the Pope, June 1206.
" Medio quoque tempore cum maximo
et gloriosissimo exercitu ad sedem
Aquensem pro recipienda corona ire
volentes, astutia et dolis adversariorum
nostrorum circumventi, exercitum nos-
trum remisimus ; accepto tamen prius
ab eis sacramento quod etiam ipsi in nos
vota sua deberent transfundere. Cum-
que nos ipsi sic decepissent, recepta
multa pecunia a rege Anglise, qua
magni viri ssepe corrupti sunt, oon-
sanguineum nostrum dominum Oddo-
nem comitem Pictavise elegerunt. "
* The Registrum de Negotio Romani
Imperii contains eight letters regarding
Otto's election, from Otto and his
supporters. No. 3 from Otto ; 4 and
5 from Richard I. of England; 6
from the podesta of Milan; 7 from
Baldwin, Count of Flanders; 8 from
the Count of Dachsburg and Metz ; 9
from the Archbishop of Cologne; 10
from eight of the electors, including
the Archbishop of Cologne (the letter
quoted below from the Mon. Germ. ).
Only one is dated--namely, Richard's
(5), on 15th August 1198. The others
were evidently written after the 12th
July 1198, in July or August 1198,
No. 4 before 19th August. Otto did
not ask for confirmation, but that the
Pope should summon him to receive
the imperial crown (col. 999 D),
" Petimus ergo et cum instantia pater-
nitati vestra supplicamus quatenus
. . . nos regiam dignitatem adeptos ad
consecrationem vocare dignemini. "
M. O. H. , Const. H. 19 (Reg. d. N. 10),
after 12th July 1198. Letter of Otto's
supporters to the Pope announcing
his election. " Invocata itaque sancti
Spiritus gratia, predictum dominum
Ottonem, christiana fidei cultorem
? ? devotissimum atque sancte Romane
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? chap, n. ]
199
INNOCENT m. AND THE EMPIRE.
Philip's supporters did not report his election to the Pope
till the 29th May 1199. They then informed him that they
had elected Philip to be emperor (in imperatorem Eomani
solii) of the Roman throne. They begged Innocent not to
injure the empire (this is evidently aimed at the Pope's
action in enforcing papal claims in Italy, just as they would
not allow any infringement of the rights of the Church).
They also announced that they would shortly come to Eome
with Philip, their lord, that he might receive the imperial
crown.
The letter was sent in the name of twenty-six of the German
princes and magnates who claimed also the assent of twenty-
eoclesie advooatum et defensorem fide-
lissimum et iudiciarie potostatis obser-
vatorem iustiasimum, de longa et
antiqua regum prosapia ex utraque
linea spectabiliter editum, ad Romani
regni fastigium iuste ac rationabiliter
elegimus et sicut debuimus ipsius
electioni consensimus ipsum que in
augustorum sede a Karolo Magno apud
Aquisgranum huic dignitati deputata
locavimus et corona et regni diademate
per manum domini Adolfi Coloniensis
archiepiscopi ea qua decuit sollempnitate
feliceter decoravimus. . . . Paternitati
ergo vestre dignum supplicare duximus,
quatinus fidem et devotionem domini
nostri regis attendentes, merita quoquo
illustrissimi patris sui H. ducis Saxonie,
qui ab obsequio sacrosancte Romane
ecclesie nunquam recessit, memoriter
tenentes, paci et quieti vestre et nostre
intuitu Dei ac nostri obsequii provi-
dentes, ipsius electionem et consecra-
tionem auctoritate vestra confirmare
et imperiali coronationi annuere pa-
to rna pietate di^nemini.
terest apostolicse sedis diligenter et
prudenter de imperii Romani provi-
sion** tractare, cum imperium noscatur
ad eam principaliter et finalitor perti-
nere : principaliter, cum per ipsam et
propter ipsam de Gracia sit translatum,
per ipsam translationis actricem, prop-
ter ipsam melius defendendam ; fina-
liter, quoniam imperator a summo
pontifice finalem sive ultimam manus
impositionem promotionis proprie ac-
cipit, dum ab eo benedicitur, coronatur,
et de unperio investitur. Quod Hen-
ricu9 optime recognoscens, a bonse
memorise Coelestine papa prsedecessore
nostro, post suseeptam ab eo coro-
nam, cum aliquantulum abscessisset,
rediens tandem ad se, ab ipso de
imperio per pallam auream petiit
investiri. "
The correct interpretation of the
passage has been hotly disputed be-
tween Haller (vide especially vol. u.
of the ' Historische Viertel Jahrschrift,"
p. 23 f. ) and Tangl (' Sitzungs berichte
der Preussischen Academic,' 1919, No.
63). We have adopted in the text
Tangl's interpretation. Whichever is
correct, the important point for our
purposes is that Innocent seems to
treat the empire as rightfully a fief,
and it is unnecessary for us to discuss
Haller's interpretation of Henry's
? ? conduct.
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? 192
TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL POWERS. [PABT II.
the Archbishop of Cologne. 1 Henry endeavoured to secure
his object against any German opposition by requesting the
Pope to crown his son as king. He was defeated by the
Pope's refusal to lend himself to the scheme, and finally
Henry had to be satisfied with the election by the princes in
1197 of his infant son Frederick as king. Finally, even Adolf,
the Archbishop of Cologne, accepted the election. 2 Henry's
1 By the end of the twelfth century
the right to crown the king was recog-
nised as belonging to him, and the
commencement of the king's reign was
generally dated from the time of the
coronation. The importance of the
part played by the archbishop would
obviously have greatly decreased had
the kingdom become hereditary, even
if it had been retained.
2 The principal source is the Ann.
Marbacenses, p. 68, in Bloch's edition.
"Anno domini mcxcvi. Imperator habuit
curiam Herbipolis circa mediam quad-
ragesimam, . . . Ad eandem curiam
imperator novum et inauditum decre-
tum Romano regno voluit cum prin-
cipibus confirmare, ut in Romanum
regnum, sicut in Francio vel ceteris
regnis, hire hereditario reges sibi succe-
derent; in quo principes qui aderant,
assensum ei prebuerunt, et sigillis suis
confirmaverunt . . . Interim, missis-
legatis suis, imperator cepit cum apos-
tolico de concordia agere volens quod
filium suum baptizaret--nondum enim
baptizatus erat--et quod in regem
ungeret. . . . cum res, ut imperator voluit,
effectum habere non potuit, iter cum
magna indignatione versus Sicilian
movit. Interea in Theutonicis parti -
bus, mediantibus Cuonrado Maguntino
archiepiscopo et duce Suevie Philippo,
omnes fere principes prestito iuramento
filium imperatoris in regem eligerunt. "
Innocent refers to this attempt in a
letter to the German princes (Reg. d. N.
33, col. 1039 D, March 1901) announ-
cing that he had decided to recognise
Otto as king, and had rejected Philip.
Among other reasons he urged was
" Quod pater et frater ejus (>>. <<. ,
Frederick I. and Henry VI. , the
father and brother respectively of
Philip of Swabia) vobis imposuerint
grave jugum, vos ipsi perhibete testi-
monium veritati. Nam ut csetera
taceamus, hoc solum quod vobis in
substitutione imperatoris eligendi vol-
uerint adimere facultatem, libertati
et honori vestro non modicum dero-
garant. Unde si, sicut olim patri
Alius (>>. e. , Henry VI. to Frederick I. ),
sic nunc immediate succederet frater
fratri (i. <<. , Philip to Henry VI. ),
videretur imperium non ex electione
conferri, sed ex successione deberi. "
From the Ann. Colon. (M. G. , SS. xvii.
p. 804) it appears that the Archbishop
of Cologne finally also accepted the
? ? election of Frederick. It is not quite
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? chap. n].
193
INNOCENT iH. AND THE EMPIRE.
youngest brother, Philip, was on his way to bring the
child to Germany to be crowned, when news reached
him at Montefiascone in Central Italy of Henry's death.
There followed a general rising against the Germans, and
Philip had to retire hastily to Germany without his
nephew.
Henry's death put an end to the attempt to make the
empire hereditary. It was unquestionably a revolutionary
scheme, as elections had not in Germany become a merely
formal matter.
Henry left at his death a widow, Constance, Queen of Sicily
in her own right, and a son not four years old, the future
Emperor Frederick II. The curia was evidently on the watch
for an opportunity to press its territorial claims. The Bishop
of Fermo, after Henry's death, took measures in the March
of Ancona to secure the cities and castles to the Church of
Eome. Coelestine wrote approving what he had done, and
directed him to extend his action to the whole of the March
and Eimini, which he claimed as belonging to the papal
" patrimony. " 1 Legates were also sent at once to Tuscany
to stir up the cities in Imperial Tuscany against the empire,
and with the assent of the legates a Tuscan league was formed
for mutual defence and common action in dealing with em-
perors, kings, and other potentates. Help was also to be given
the Pope to recover or to defend his territories, excepting
in cases where the lands in dispute were claimed by members
of the league. The members of the league also undertook
not to acknowledge any one as emperor or king except with
the consent of the Church. 2
Whether Haller's solution is correct
or not, there can be no doubt that
Henry did attempt to make the suc-
cession hereditary.
1 Bciehmer, ' Acta Imperii Selecta,'
905. Pope Coelestine III. to the Bishop
of Fermo, 1197. "volentes, ut quod
per vos inceptum est, optatum tinem
nostro studio sortiatur, discretioni
veetre per apostolica scripta mandamus,
VOL. V.
quatenus cum dilecto filio magistro
R . . . ab universis civitatibus et
castellis Marchie et Ariminensibus
etiam fidelitatis vobis faciatis nomine
ecclesie Romano iuramenta prestari,
ut . . . tota Marchia ad patrimonium
nostrum ad (quod) de iure pertinet
revocetur. "
1 Santini (P. ) Documenti dell antica
constitutione del commune de Firenze
N
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? 194
[PABT n.
TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL POWERS.
Ccelestine died on the 8th January 1198, and Innocent III.
was immediately elected to succeed him. 1 In his view, as we
have seen, matters were best regulated where the Church
was not only in spiritual but also in temporal control. 2 In
his efforts to recover or to seize the lands he claimed in Italy,
Innocent did not hesitate to appeal to Italian dislike of
Germans. 3 Immediately after his election he sent legates
to compel Markwald of Anweiler to give up the March of
Ancona and the Eomagna. He also forced Conrad of Urslingen
to give up the duchy of Spoleto and other territories held by
him. In the case of Imperial Tuscany he was very indignant
with the legates because the league had not acknowledged
the supremacy of the Pope. 4 Ficker has shown in his ' For-
schungen zur Eeichs und Eechtsgeschichte Italiens ' how
XXI. , llth November 1197. Legs
tra le citta e signori di Toscana. With
regard to the emperor and other au-
thorities, it provides, " Et non reci-
piemus aliquem imperatorem vel pro
imperatore vel rege sou principe duee
vel marchione seu nuncium vel alium
quemlibet, qui pro eis vel aliquo eorum
debeat dominari vel administrare sine
assensu et speciali mandato Romane
ecclesie. "
1 Gesta VIL and Reg. I. 1.
* Vide p. 158, note 5 above.
3 Reg. I. 413. A letter to the clergy
of Sicily, November 1198. " Persecu-
tionis olim olla succensa, dum flantis
rabies aquilonis Calabros montes novo
dejiceret terrse motu, et per plana
jacentis Apulise pulverem in transeun-
tium et habitantium oculos suo tur-
bine suscitaret, dum etiam Tauro-
minitana Charybdis sanguinem, quem
tempore pacato sitiverat, evomeret
csedibus satiate, usque adeo fuit
iter maris et terrse praclusum, ut
interjacentis impetus tempostatis mu-
tuum matris ad filios et filiorum
ad matrem impediret affectum et
naturalis affectum interciperet chari-
tatis. "
See also Reg. I. 356, probably
July 1198. To the Podesta and others
in Spoleto.
Reg. II. 4, 17th March 1199. To
the consuls and people of Yeei.
Reg. I. 658, col. 614 A, January 1199.
To the clergy, &c. , of Capua. He exhorts
them to resist the enemies of the church
" persecutoribus regni (i. e. , of Sicily),
qui vos, si cut hactenus, servituti sup-
ponere moliuntur, bona diripere, muti-
lare personas et coram viris uxores
et patribus filias et fratribus dehones-
tare sorore," and whom the people
of the kingdom could easily have
resisted " nisi homines regni mens
effeminet muliebris. "
* Reg. I. 15. To his legate regarding
the Tuscan league, February 1198.
" non modica sumus admiratione
commoti ; cum forma colligationis
hujusmodi (i. e. , the Tuscan league)
? ? in plerisque capitibus nec utilitatem
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? CHAP. II. ]
195
INNOCENT iH. AND THE EMPIRE.
largely Innocent revived old claims long in abeyance 1 It
is not necessary for our purposes to discuss these claims, nor
to inquire how far Innocent succeeded. It is enough to point
out that by these claims, more or less successfully asserted
(in the case of Imperial Tuscany we hear no more of them
from Innocent after 1198), he was the founder of the enlarged
papal states stretching from sea to sea, which survived, with
comparatively few alterations, to 1861. 2 While the papal
patrimony, properly so called, had grown up round Eome
many centuries before Innocent's time, all claims to lands
outside this territory seem to have been based by him on
old imperial grants, or on Mathilda's bequest. 3 We have
dealt with Innocent's reference to Constantine's donation,
which he treated as conveying to the Pope the whole of the
western empire, but he never refers to it in any specific case
in which papal claims on the empire are involved. *
In Sicily, Constance sent for Frederick after the death of
1 Ficker, ' Forschungen z. Hatch* u.
Rechtsgesch. Italians,' vol. ii. par.
328 f.
2 It was in 1861 that the papal
states were reduced to the old patri-
mony of Peter, and in 1870 that they
were entirely absorbed in the kingdom
of Italy. A convenient summary of
the history of the papal states will
be found in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
3 M. G. H. , Const. II. 23, oath of
Otto at Neuss, 8th June 1201. The
lands Otto is to give up to the Roman
church, or to help it to recover, are
" tota terra que est a Radicofano
usque Ce peranum, exarchatus Ra-
uenne, Pentapolis, Marchia, ducatus
Spoletanus, terra comitisse Matildis,
comitatus Brittenorii cum aliis ad-
iacentibus tenia expresses in multis
privileges imperatorum a tempore
Lodouici. "
Similarly in his engagement at
Speyer, Reg. d. N. 189, 22nd April
1209, where it is lands as stated
"in multis privileges imperatorum et
regum a tempore Ludovici, ut eas
habeat Romana Ecclasia in perpetuum,
cum omni jurisdictione, districtu, et
honore suo.
"
A similar form is used in the first
and second of the " privilegia " drawn
up in connection with the Eger promise
given by Frederick on the 12th July
1213 and 6th October 1214. M. G. H. ,
Const. II. 46-7.
In the third privilege it is different, as
here the formal consent of the princes
is embodied, and a fresh grant made to
prevent any future disputes, 1. e. 48 (p.
61, 1. 3 f. ). " Omnia igitur supradicta
et queoumque alia pertinent ad Ro-
manam ecclesiam de voluntate et
conscientia, consilio et consensu prin-
cipum imperii libera illi dimittimus,
renuntiamus et restituimus, necuon
ad omnem scrupulum removendum,
prout melius valet et efficasuis intelligi,
concedimus, conferimus et donamus,
? ? ut sublata omnia contentionis et dis-
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? 196 TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL POWERS. [part II.
I
Henry VI. , and had him crowned on the 17th May 1198 as
King of Sicily. Before this she had, as far as it was in her
power, driven the Germans out of the kingdom. Up to the
time of the coronation Frederick is " Eex Eomanorum et
Eex Siciliae. " After it he is only " Eex Sicilise. " 1 Constance
died on the 27th November 1198. A settlement was effected
with the Pope very shortly before her death, too late, indeed,
for her to receive the official letters from the curia. By this
settlement the kingdom of Sicily and the countries attached
to it were given as a fief to her and to her heirs. Constance
had to submit to the loss of many of the ecclesiastical privi-
leges enjoyed by her predecessors, though curtailed to some
extent in Tancred's time. 2 Shortly before her death she
1 H. B. , vol. i. In a letter written
in January 1198 (p. 5) Frederick is
styled King of the Romans and of
Sicily. In June 1198 (p. 11) the King
of the Romans has dropped out, and
he is King of Sicily, Duke of Apulia,
and Prince of Capua, and these con-
tinue to be his titles.
* M. G. H. , Const. I. 417, Privi-
legium Tancredi, June 1192.
Reg. I. 410. Letter from Innocent
to Constance, Empress and Queen of
Sioily, and to Frederick, King of Sicily,
written shortly before the death of
Constance on the 27th November 1198.
1n view of the devotion to the
church, of Roger the father, William
the brother, and William the nephew,
of Constance " Hac igitur considera-
tione diligenter inducti ao credentes
quod prsedictorum regum vestigia
vestra regia serenitas in devotione ac
obsequiis Ecclesiio imitetur, vobis et
hseredibus vostris, qui sicut dictus rex
W. quondam frater tuus felicis memo-
rise Adriano papse prsedecessori nostro
exhibuit, nobis et successoribus nostris
et Ecclcsia. ' Rom. fidelitatem et homi-
nium exhibere ac quse subscribuntur
voluerint observare, concedimus reg-
num Sicilian, . . . et reliqua tenimenta
quse tenotia a pradecessoribus vestris
hominibus sacrosanctee Rom. Eccle-
sue jure detenta et contra omnes
homines adjuvabimus honorifice manu-
tenere. . . . censum vero . . . vos ao-
hseredes vestros statuistis Ecclesise
Rom. annis singulis soluturos . . .
Electiones autem secundum Deura
per totum regnum canonice fiant, de
talibus quidem personis quibus vos
ac hssredes vestri requisitum a vobis-
prsebere debeatis assensum. "
In the following letter, written no
doubt at the same time, to Constance
and Frederick (Reg. I. 411), Innocent
lays down the rules to be observed aa
to elections, which provide that the
royal assent is required. " Sede
vacante, capitulum significabit vobis
et vestris hseredibus obitum decessoris.
Deinde convenientes in unum, invocata>>
Spiritus sancti gratia, secundum Deum
eligent canonice personam idoneam,
? ? oui requisitum a vobis pnebere dc-
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? CHAP, n. ] INNOCENT iH. AND THE EMPIRE.
197
bequeathed the guardianship of Frederick to the Pope, who
not only accepted but claimed it as his by right. 1
A number of German princes had started for Palestine
shortly before Henry's death, and on the news reaching them
they renewed their homage to Frederick. In Germany, Philip,
his uncle, acted as his guardian and styled him king in official
documents. 2 Some of the German princes, led by Adolf of
Cologne, would not honour their bond, and in consequence
even supporters of the Hohenstauffen finally gave up the
attempt to support Frederick's cause. Eventually Philip
consented to stand as candidate, and was elected at Mul-
hausen on the 8th March 1198 to be emperor (in imperatorem
imperii). 3 The opposition, after some difficulty in getting a
candidate, finally adopted Otto, and elected him on the
9th June 1198 to be king (in regem). Otto was a son of Henry
the Lion, who in his later years became the bitterest enemy
of the Hohenstauffen, and was a favourite nephew of Eichard
I. of England, by whom he had been made Count of Poitou.
The German princes who elected Otto had him crowned at
Aix on the 12th of July by the Archbishop of Cologne, and
thus Otto, though elected by a very small minority of the
fuerit confirmatus, administrationi so
ullatenus immiscebit. Sic enim honori
vestro volumus condescendere, ut
libertatem canonicam observemus, nullo
prorsus obstante rescripto quod a sede
apostolica fuerit impetratum. "
In a letter (Reg. I. 412) to the arch-
bishops and other ecclesiastics of
Sicily, written at the same time, he
deals as in 411 with elections. He then
goes on, " Volumus etiam nihilominus
et mandamus ut de csetero ad Rom.
Ecclesiam libere, cum opus fuerit,
appelletis et, interpositis ad nos ap-
pellationibus curetis humiliter et devote
deferre. Nos etiam, quoties necessitas
postulaverit, apost. sedis legatos ad
vos curabimus destinare . . . quorum
obediatis monitis et prseceptis. "
1 Reg. IX. 249. To Frederick, King
of Sicily, 29th January 1206. " Nec
est siquidem sub admiratione ducen-
dum, quod tua nos ita et contristavit
detentio, et liberatio jucundavit, cum
et prater Balii rationem, quod non tam
ex dispositions materna, quam jure
regni suscepimus exsequendum. " See
also Reg. II. 245 to the clergy " mil-
ites " and people of Capua, December
1199.
* M. G. H. , Const. I. 447, 21st
January 1198. Agreement of Philip,
Duke of Swabia, with the people
of Speyer. " In nomine sancte et
individue Trinitatis. Philippus divina
favente gratia dux Sueuie. . . . Notum
ergo fieri volumus tam futuris quam
presentibus, quod post decessum H.
gloriosissimi imperatoris et fratris nostri
Spiram venientos tam ex persona
domini nostri regis quam nostra. . . . "
3 Vide p. 200.
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? 198 TEMPORAL AND SPIRITUAL POWERS. [PAKT n.
princes, was crowned at the right place and by the right
person. Philip, on the other hand, delayed his coronation,
as, according to his own account given to the Pope a few
years later, he was deceived by false promises that his oppo-
nents would also give him their votes. 1 Aix having been
taken by Otto, Philip had to content himself with Mainz,
where he was crowned by the Archbishop of the Tarantaise
on the 8th September 1198, the Archbishop of Mainz not
having returned from the Holy Land.
Otto and his supporters reported the election and the
coronation to Eome. Otto himself did not ask for con-
firmation, but only that he should be summoned to receive
the imperial crown; but the letters of his supporters,
contained in the Pope's register of imperial correspondence,
all include a request to the Pope to confirm the election.
Several declared that Otto was elected by the princes to
whom the right of electing the king belonged, thus appa-
rently confining the right to a limited body. Stress was
also laid on the fact of the consecration and coronation at
Aix by the Archbishop of Cologne. 2
1 Reg. d. N. 136, col. 1134 C, D.
Letter of Philip to the Pope, June 1206.
" Medio quoque tempore cum maximo
et gloriosissimo exercitu ad sedem
Aquensem pro recipienda corona ire
volentes, astutia et dolis adversariorum
nostrorum circumventi, exercitum nos-
trum remisimus ; accepto tamen prius
ab eis sacramento quod etiam ipsi in nos
vota sua deberent transfundere. Cum-
que nos ipsi sic decepissent, recepta
multa pecunia a rege Anglise, qua
magni viri ssepe corrupti sunt, oon-
sanguineum nostrum dominum Oddo-
nem comitem Pictavise elegerunt. "
* The Registrum de Negotio Romani
Imperii contains eight letters regarding
Otto's election, from Otto and his
supporters. No. 3 from Otto ; 4 and
5 from Richard I. of England; 6
from the podesta of Milan; 7 from
Baldwin, Count of Flanders; 8 from
the Count of Dachsburg and Metz ; 9
from the Archbishop of Cologne; 10
from eight of the electors, including
the Archbishop of Cologne (the letter
quoted below from the Mon. Germ. ).
Only one is dated--namely, Richard's
(5), on 15th August 1198. The others
were evidently written after the 12th
July 1198, in July or August 1198,
No. 4 before 19th August. Otto did
not ask for confirmation, but that the
Pope should summon him to receive
the imperial crown (col. 999 D),
" Petimus ergo et cum instantia pater-
nitati vestra supplicamus quatenus
. . . nos regiam dignitatem adeptos ad
consecrationem vocare dignemini. "
M. O. H. , Const. H. 19 (Reg. d. N. 10),
after 12th July 1198. Letter of Otto's
supporters to the Pope announcing
his election. " Invocata itaque sancti
Spiritus gratia, predictum dominum
Ottonem, christiana fidei cultorem
? ? devotissimum atque sancte Romane
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? chap, n. ]
199
INNOCENT m. AND THE EMPIRE.
Philip's supporters did not report his election to the Pope
till the 29th May 1199. They then informed him that they
had elected Philip to be emperor (in imperatorem Eomani
solii) of the Roman throne. They begged Innocent not to
injure the empire (this is evidently aimed at the Pope's
action in enforcing papal claims in Italy, just as they would
not allow any infringement of the rights of the Church).
They also announced that they would shortly come to Eome
with Philip, their lord, that he might receive the imperial
crown.
The letter was sent in the name of twenty-six of the German
princes and magnates who claimed also the assent of twenty-
eoclesie advooatum et defensorem fide-
lissimum et iudiciarie potostatis obser-
vatorem iustiasimum, de longa et
antiqua regum prosapia ex utraque
linea spectabiliter editum, ad Romani
regni fastigium iuste ac rationabiliter
elegimus et sicut debuimus ipsius
electioni consensimus ipsum que in
augustorum sede a Karolo Magno apud
Aquisgranum huic dignitati deputata
locavimus et corona et regni diademate
per manum domini Adolfi Coloniensis
archiepiscopi ea qua decuit sollempnitate
feliceter decoravimus. . . . Paternitati
ergo vestre dignum supplicare duximus,
quatinus fidem et devotionem domini
nostri regis attendentes, merita quoquo
illustrissimi patris sui H. ducis Saxonie,
qui ab obsequio sacrosancte Romane
ecclesie nunquam recessit, memoriter
tenentes, paci et quieti vestre et nostre
intuitu Dei ac nostri obsequii provi-
dentes, ipsius electionem et consecra-
tionem auctoritate vestra confirmare
et imperiali coronationi annuere pa-
to rna pietate di^nemini.
