CHAP.

XVI.

1241-1245.

out and to plant," over kingdoms as well as over
nations. This power was often wielded in the annals
of the Old Testament. The Roman Pontiff then may
judge any Christian of any rank, especially for sin.
Ignorant are those who think that the Apostolic See
first had its secular power from Constantine. For
Christ, who is both true King and true Priest after
the order of Melchizedek, set up in the person of the
blessed Peter a government extending over things
temporal as well as over things spiritual. Constantine
humbly gave up to the Church an unlawful tyranny,
and received back from Christ's Vicar a power
divinely ordained for the punishment of the bad and
the praise of the good. Peter was not bidden to
throw away his sword, but to put it
his sword, but to put it up into its sheath;
by these words we see that it was to him that the
sword belonged, and he it was who had the right
of using it. The power of the sword, lodged in the
Church, is bestowed upon the Emperor. This is
typified in his Coronation rite; the Pope delivers to
Cæsar a sheathed sword, which the Prince draws
and brandishes, in token that he has received the
power of using it. Let not other Kings take alarm;
our authority over them is not the same as it is over
the Prince of the Romans, who takes an oath to the
Roman Pontiff. Other Kings have an hereditary
right to their crowns, but the Roman Emperor is
chosen King by the free vote of the Germans, and
is afterwards promoted to the Empire by us. It was
the Apostolic See that transferred the Empire from
the Greeks to the Germans. We have also judicial
power with respect to the Crown of Sicily, which is
our own fief.

XVI.

1241–1245.

to the Council; the citation was publicly promul- CHAP. gated and brought to his knowledge; there was no safe way of serving it upon him. He was not called upon to defend himself, but to make compensation for his manifest crimes; they were so notorious that a judicial debate upon them seems superfluous. Must we speak of that sacrilegious slaughter and shameful captivity, which is branded for ever upon the brow of the Church, that outrage undergone by the Cardinals and Prelates? Are not his matrimonial ties with the enemies of our faith, his constant breaches of his oath, known to all the world? He thinks it absurd that he, the Emperor, should be found guilty of treason; his treason is committed against Divine Majesty. He has sinned, not only against the Head, but against many noble members of the Church, which is the body of Christ. But to turn his own metaphor against himself, he is like a bird, which entangles itself in the net the more it struggles; he is wiping his face with dirty hands and making the stain worse. Then beware, ye faithful, of this snake who calls us Scribes and Pharisees. He scoffs at the Catholic Church for not working miracles now, as of old, and also for being rich and powerful. Yet God does not cast away the mighty; though indeed we prefer poverty, we do not object to the right use of riches. Frederick is inviting you to share the spoils of the Church; see from this how false was his late desire for reconciliation. He has learnt these doctrines from the foxes that lurk in their dens, ceasing not privily to lay waste the vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth. There is no room for doubt as to the justice of Frederick's sentence. We beg you not to listen to his words, but to stand by the Church; it

XVI.

1241-1245.

is your interest to help her, since she is the barrier which prevents him from mastering the other Kingdoms.'*

St. Peter, as this letter reminds us, was ordered to sheathe his sword: Innocent was far from following the example of his predecessor. On the contrary, the scabbard was thrown away after the Council of Lyons; Innocent would henceforth hear of no truce, however much Frederick might sue for it; the Pope would have a duel to the death. The next five years are therefore one unceasing struggle; streams of blood are shed in every part of Frederick's dominions, whether we turn to Germany, to Italy, or to Palestine. The heavens, as usual in this age, had foreboded the worst. Rolandini, who loved astrology, writes thus:-In the very day and hour that Frederick was deposed, a fiery star flew across the sky from the East to the West, which I saw, and many others beheld and wondered at it in fear.'

* This last sentence is worthy of all attention.

CHAPTER XVII.

A.D. 1245-A.D. 1250.

'Non fu nostra 'ntenzion, ch' a destra mano
De' nostri successor parte sedesse,
Parte dall' altra del popol Cristiano:
Nè che le chiavi, che mi fur concesse,

Divenisser segnacolo in vessillo,
Che contra i battezzati combattesse.'

DANTE, Paradiso XXVII.

REDERICK soon found that his position after

CHAP.
XVII.

the sentence of Lyons was not so firm as before. The Empire seemed to be crumbling away from 1245-1250. under him, shaken to its centre by the late thunderclap. Those very German Prelates who had so lately met him at Verona were going over to the enemy. The Bishop of Freisingen, his envoy to the Council, profited by the opportunity to gain absolution from Innocent for past misdeeds, promising at the same time to restore all that was due to Albert von Beham. The Bishop of Bamberg, who had been so constant a guest at the Apulian Court, forsook the side of Frederick before the year was out. A still more serious revolt was that of Siffrid the Bishop of Ratisbon, who had been Chancellor of the Empire for the last fifteen years.* Even the Archbishop of Salzburg and the Bishops of Passau and Worms were beginning to waver. Innocent

Alb. von Beham.

CHAP. had sent an Italian Legate, Philip the Bishop of XVII. Ferrara, to carry out the late sentence and stir up the 1245-1250. Germans against their Kaiser. The King of Hungary asked absolution from the oath of homage he had taken to Frederick, since the promised help against the Tartars had never been given; this request was instantly granted by the Pope. King Conrad, who had accompanied his father from Verona to Turin, was now sent back to Germany by way of Savoy, well supplied with money and followed by a goodly array of knights.* The lad was called upon to play the chief part in a desperate struggle of five years, in which the odds were against him. But his character was now formed, and we hear of no more complaints against his morals. Boy as he was, he had shot up to maturity with true Hohenstaufen growth; he played the losing game to the North of the Alps with a dogged stubbornness worthy of Orange or Coligny.

Conrad's marriage was a matter of some importance. A connexion with a Bavarian Princess had long ago been planned for him, but Frederick suddenly caught at a new idea. Raymond, the Count of Provence, died soon after the close of the Council at which he had been present, leaving his dominions to his youngest daughter Beatrice. The Emperor grasped at the tempting prize; he sent into Provence Ansaldo di Mari, who had just returned from Spain after escorting his master's ambassador to the Miramamolin; but the Admiral was unable to secure

* Chronicon. The last thing done by Conrad, before leaving his father, was to promise the post of forester at Haguenau to an old retainer of the family.