XIII.

imposed by the Papal government were light, and taxation was almost nominal. A Prince of the 1239-1241. Church was occasionally sent down into the outlying provinces to represent Gregory; thus Colonna was now commanding against King Enzio in the March; and a still more famous Cardinal, Sinibald Fiesco, was this year entrusted with the duty of transferring the Episcopal See from Osimo, a Ghibelline stronghold, to faithful Recanati.* These outlying provinces Frederick had marked for his own; it was the dream of his life at this time to reannex Spoleto and Ancona, which, as he thought, had been unjustly separated from the Empire.

He had much to hear upon his arrival in Apulia. Ever since his departure in 1235, the January collection of taxes had been enforced. The attention of his lieutenants had been chiefly directed to the building or destruction of Castles; and they were repeatedly summoned into the North to report upon the state of the Kingdom. The Archbishops of Palermo, Messina, and Capua, and the Bishop of Ravello, were entrusted with the charge of ecclesiastical affairs; and the election of an Abbot of Cassino was made under their direction, after Thaddeus of Sessa had carefully examined into the past life of the candidate, inquiring particularly into his conduct during 1229, the year of the rebellion. The Pope, of course, was unwilling to ratify an election which he thought uncanonical. All parties however agreed in the choice of an Abbot, just before the storm of 1239 broke forth. This event played great havoc with the time-honoured foundation of Monte Cassino.

Raynaldus for 1240.

The Emperor established one of his garrisons in that
strong position. Its peaceful inhabitants were driven
out to make room for soldiers, and this was more
than once repeated, until only eight monks were
left.*
Great was the indignation at Rome, when the
news came, that St. Benedict's resting-place was in
the hands of a lawless soldiery. It was said that the
gold and silver vessels of the altar were put to the
vilest uses, that the Church was turned into a brothel,
and that hymns of praise were replaced by foul gar-
rison ditties. It was further reported that a mira-
culous judgment had been witnessed; for a soldier,
who had bespattered a monk with filth, had been
instantly smitten with leprosy. Similar tales were
doubtless current all over the Kingdom. The Bio-
grapher of Pope Gregory gives a long list of spolia-
tions committed on various Churches both in Sicily
and on the mainland. The revenues of Bishopricks
were seized, and were used to reward Frederick's
partizans at Rome, such as the Frangipani.† The
Archbishop of Amalfi died about this time; the
Emperor conferred its benefices and kept its revenues
in his own hands; and this state of things lasted for
fifteen years. Many Prelates were banished and
died in beggary. An Archbishop of Naples breathed
his last in prison. The Dean of Melazzo was
drowned; the Sub-deacon of Messina was burnt alive.
The kinsmen of these clerical victims seldom escaped.§
Some men who uttered rash speeches against the
Emperor were denounced by name; the boldest of
these seem to have been a Canon at Sulmona.

Ric. San Germano. Chron. Arch. Amalf.

† See the Regesta for 1239.
§ Vita Gregorii.

CHAP.

XIII. 1239–1241.

CHAP.

The

The Church of Monte Cassino however was pecuXIII. liarly favoured, since Frederick exempted it from 1239-1241. paying the tax exacted from all other Churches in the Kingdom. But it was bound to provide half the supplies required for its garrison of a hundred men at arms, the Royal Treasury providing the other half. The tenants of the Monastery were sorely harassed by being made to cut wood and convey it with their oxen, in order to furnish new warlike engines, which were called Ladies, Mangonels, and Biddæ. The Castle at Naples was garrisoned by ten knights, sixty crossbowmen, and a hundred and forty men at arms. As soon as the Emperor heard of his excommunication, he recalled his subjects from the Papal Court, and ordered the Bishops of Teano, Caleno, Venafro, and Aquino to be banished. like fate befell the Bishop of Fondi later in the year, whose goods were confiscated. The Bishops of St. Agata and Calvi were faithful to the Crown, and were employed on a fruitless mission to Rome in June, 1239. Stricter measures were adopted in that very month. Frederick ordered all Dominicans and Franciscans of Lombard origin to leave the Kingdom, and their brethren were to give security for future good behaviour. The Franciscans were forbidden to build new houses at Palermo. All Barons and Knights who had ever taken the Papal side were ordered off to Lombardy, there to serve under their master's eye. All the clergy were to be taxed according to their means, and the goods of those who did not quit Rome instantly were to be confiscated. A harsh letter came from the Emperor, directed against the Bishop of Caiazzo, who was harbouring clerical rebels. A police force was orga

XIII.

nized, to prevent Papal briefs from being brought CHAP. into the Kingdom; the bearer of these was to be forced to confess his abettors, and was then to be 1239-1241. hanged along with his accomplices, even should they prove to be clergymen. Night-watchers were appointed at Capua, which was near the border.* The Emperor wrote very angrily, on hearing that Richard of Isa had dared to apply to Rome on behalf of his son John, and had brought Papal letters to the Bishop of Caserta, demanding a Canonry for the youth. The Canon expectant and his father were both doomed to imprisonment. John had aggravated his offence by remaining at the Papal Court, after the Emperor's prohibition. The Preceptor of the Templars in Italy was rebuked for allowing his knights to collect money for the Pope. All Sicilian subjects who wore forbidden arms or excited sedition were at once thrown into prison. Those who had defrauded the Crown were usually allowed to compound for a certain sum of ready money, which was then much wanted. All the Apulian nobles who owed military service were summoned into the North where the war was raging, and the money collected by the tax-gatherers was sent thither under the escort of these knights. One of them, Walter of Polito, an old rebel, fled from the Imperial camp at Lodi without leave. Frederick ordered the Justiciary of the Abruzzi to seize upon the Castles of the runaway, and upon those of his kinsman Gentile, who was then expiating sundry misdeeds in a Lombard prison. The like punishment was to be inflicted upon Gilbert of Bairano, who had sailed

CHAP.

XIII.

1239-1241.

home from Palestine without the leave of Frederick's Marshal.

In this year, the Pilgrims after many postponements started for the Holy Land under the King of Navarre and Count Amaury de Montfort The Emperor, though he ordered them to be courteously entertained, was not disposed to prefer the weal of Palestine to his wars in Italy. He therefore forbade his subjects in the South to sell war-horses to the Crusaders who were eager to buy them; but other animals were allowed to be sold, and Frederick specially authorized the exportation of wine and provisions for the use of the army of the Lord. Some of the Crusaders were driven by storms back to Trapani ; others were kept by bad weather at Messina; the Emperor, fearing that they might be overreached by his good subjects, appointed Catapans to preside over the exchange of money and the markets. The arms of the Pilgrims were taken from them during their stay, and were kept in the Royal store-houses. Twenty wild boars, caught in Frederick's forests, were bestowed upon these pious strangers.

The Emperor, as we see by his letters sent from Lombardy, looked with special interest to the wellbeing of his garrisons. An Inspector of those in the Abruzzi was appointed, who had full power to remove heedless Castellans. Aware of the importance of the pass of Antrodoco, Frederick had ordered Cicala, the Captain of the Kingdom, to get a certain Abbot into his power, and then to destroy the Castles held by that Ecclesiastic, which commanded the pass; all this was to be done without creating scandal. Cicala could not even send for his wife without asking for his Sovereign's leave. The soldiers, who garri