CHAP. wreck; put on your senses and your reason once more, that you may recover your Head.'

XVI.

1241-1245.

The beginning of 1243 found Frederick at Pre-
cina, whence he swayed Northern Italy.
He re-
warded the nobles of Garfagnana with a Charter,
and ordered their ruined castles to be rebuilt by the
city of Lucca. He bade Fasanella refrain from
harassing a Florentine monastery.
He commanded

the destruction of certain bridges over the Livenza,
which were of service to rebellious Treviso, while
they were a source of annoyance to the Patriarch of
Aquileia. In April, the Emperor once more came
up to Capua, and was there joined by Thaddeus,
the Count of Montefeltro and Urbino, who brought
good news from the North. Pesaro had already
gone over to the Empire, and had been treated with
mildness; this induced Fano to send envoys with its
submission.* Frederick confirmed its consuls in
their office, and granted a remission of taxes for five
years. He was about to harass the Cardinals again,
and wrote that an election to the Papacy was now a
more probable event, since the Bishop of Porto, the
great enemy of the Empire, was no more.
A vast
feudal army had been assembled at Capua, to make
another attempt upon Rome. Frederick razed to
the ground many of the neighbouring castles, and
overawed his enemies with the number of cavalry he
had brought into the field. Ten thousand knights
were serving under him, who came from Germany,
Lombardy, and Apulia. All the Tuscans, between
the Arno and the Tiber, were in his camp. The
Cardinals had fled, and were dispersed in different

* Amiani.

† Ric. San Germano.

Chronicon.

CHAP.
XVI.

towns; Frederick, therefore, ordered their estates to be given up as a prey to his soldiers. He laid snares for the capture of these Pillars of the Church 1241-1245. and their followers; Salimbene, who was all this time in Tuscany, was constantly being taken prisoner by the Imperial police, while making his pious journeys to Assisi or Monte Alverna, and he found himself constrained to correspond with his brethren in cipher. The Saracens, who were in arms, made a dash at Albano and sacked it, carrying off the chalices, robes, and books from the burnt churches. Frederick was moved, however, by the prayers of the bewildered Cardinals, and retreated once more into the Kingdom.

Affairs were becoming serious. It was now a year and a half since the Chair of St. Peter had been filled. The business of the Church was managed by seven Cardinals, who signed their names at the beginning of each letter, during the vacancy of the Holy See. The King of France was growing impatient. He threatened the Romans, that if a Pastor were not speedily chosen, a Gallican Pope would be set up, by virtue of an old charter said to have been granted to St. Denis by St. Clement. But so violent was the strife which raged in the Sacred College, that one man alone, so it was said, could heal the divisions; this was Frederick's prisoner, the famous Bishop of Palestrina. Theobald Visconti, who had come to Rome after recovering from his illness in France, besought the Cardinals to demand the release of his beloved master. The Emperor granted the request in May, and sent off his captive, whom he humbly

* M. Paris.

XVI.

entreated to stand his friend. Lord Emperor,' answered Cardinal James, if you behave well, like a 1241-1245. Catholic Prince, you will find me zealous for your honour and ready to promote your dignity. But if, which God forbid, you act otherwise, I know not with what conscience I can favour you.' The con

sideration shown for the Church, in the release of Otho and James, seemed to Frederick worthy of all commemoration. In his letters to the Kings of the earth, he declares that his clemency had not only astonished but stupefied his subjects. No such act of mercy could be found in history by the most diligent student. In his despatch to St. Louis, he dwelt upon the stiff-necked behaviour of the Roman people, who had imprisoned some of the Cardinals. He had ravaged the lands around Rome at the head of an army, such as had almost equalled that of the Libyan Hannibal. An embassy sent from Anagni, consisting of the Archbishops of Rouen and Messina, the Abbots of Cluny and Clairvaux, and other Prelates, had at length prevailed upon the Emperor to return home. The letter touched on many topics calculated to interest the French King. After the release of Cardinal James, all the Transalpine Prelates and clergy, who were still in Frederick's hands, had been set free. This had been done out of respect to Louis; the Emperor was now sending the Abbot of Cluny and Walter of Ocra to demand the hand of Isabella, the sister of Louis, for young Conrad. But the proposed alliance came to nothing; Isabella preferred the nunnery of Longchamps to the Crown of the King of the Romans.†

The earnest desires of the French King were at last granted. The Cardinals, who had long been scattered as sheep without a shepherd, met in the Cathedral of Anagni on the 24th of June. After singing mass and invoking the Holy Ghost, they fixed upon Sinibald Fiesco of Genoa, who took the name of Innocent IV.* The new Pope, chosen in a happy hour for Rome, was a member of one of the noblest houses in Italy, one which had been already famous for the two last centuries. Barbarossa had made its head Count of Lavagna, and Genoa had enrolled the family among her citizens. Obizzo, a cadet of the Fieschi, had been elected Bishop of Parma in 1194, and had ruled that Church for nearly thirty years. The Bishop installed his nephew, the renowned Sinibald, as one of the Canons in Parma, and married his three nieces, the Canon's sisters, to as many noble Parmesans of the Sanvitali, Rossi, and Boteri families. This bond between the city of Parma and the house of the Fieschi was afterwards productive of the weightiest results. Cardinal Ugolino, when Legate in Lombardy in 1218, was brought into contact with both the Bishop and the Canon. Young Sinibald, who had made the most of his advantages at the University of Bologna under Azzo and Accursius, was a man after the Cardinal's own heart. The youth was famous for his knowledge of Theology and the Canon Law, knowledge which his Decretals still remain to attest. Pope Honorius made him Vice-Chancellor of the Holy See; and Pope Gregory, who had had experience of Sinibald's

De Curbio, who was his chaplain. See the Life of Innocent by Paolo Pansa; and Salimbene.

† Salimbene, and Affo.

CHAP.

XVI.

1241-1245.

CHAP.

XVI.

1241-1245.

statesmanlike qualities, named his young friend Cardinal of San Lorenzo in Lucina in 1227. Sinibald had been employed as his patron's representative in the Anconitan March; the very rumour that he was about to appear as Legate in Germany had struck terror into the foes of the Church. Yet at the same time he had contrived to keep on good terms with the Ghibellines; Frederick's courtiers began to rejoice on hearing of the election. Their master was less enraptured; 'I have lost a good friend,' said he, since no Pope can be a Ghibelline.'* Still, he ordered the Te Deum to be sung throughout the Kingdom, sending his orders from Melfi. But the heavens seemed to forebode cruel woes. In the month that followed Innocent's election, the stars seemed to be engaged in battle; and this portent was noticed at St. Albans as well as at San Germano.+ England indeed would have to bear her full share of suffering in the coming troubles, and would find in the new Pope the hardest of taskmasters.

The Emperor professed to have no misgivings on the subject of the late election. In his letters to the Duke of Brabant and to others, he gave thanks to the Divine Providence, which had raised so true a friend of the Empire to the Papal chair. He wrote from conquered Benevento to the new Pope; Father, behold your son. The name of Innocent has been designedly bestowed upon you by Heaven, since it is by you that innocence is to be maintained.' Little did Frederick know of the future, or of the new influence which would stand in his way for the rest