proved unworthy of his place, we have chosen Con- СНАР. rad in the room of Henry, even as David was chosen in the room of Saul.' Frederick's influence in the land of his fathers seemed to be as great as ever. He had no need now to resort to tricks and cajoleries, in order to gain the Papal consent to the election of his second son; that consent does not seem to have been asked in 1237. The Pope had, at this time, something more to fear than the wars in Northern Italy; it seemed likely that Rome would, in spite of all her efforts to the contrary, continue to be enclosed between the elective and hereditary realms of a Hohenstaufen master. No one then living could foresee the end of this union of Crowns, which Gregory was unable to prevent. Matilda, the Marchioness of Hohenburg, came into Frederick's presence, and there made over certain of her rights to her two sons, Berthold and Diephold, the Emperor's squires. Von Salza was once more sent to the Pope, on Lombard affairs, at his own request. The Kaiser had, by this time, adjudged to himself the Duchies of Austria and Styria, and used his power chiefly to protect the convents. The most interesting of his edicts is one given in April in favour of Vienna, where he had so long sojourned. After reciting the loyalty of the burghers and the consequent annoyances which they had undergone from the Duke of Austria, Frederick bestowed upon them the privilege of direct dependence upon the Empire. An Imperial Judge was to be established at Vienna, who was forbidden to tax the citizens without their own consent. No Jews were allowed to hold any office, for fear of their oppressing Christians. XI. 1235-1239. CHAP. XI. 1235-1239. The citizens were to be judged by their pcers in all civil and criminal causes, except for high treason. Compurgation was preferred to the ordeal of combat, in the true spirit of Frederick's legislation. Care was taken to provide suitable teachers for children. in the schools. All who lived for a year and a day in this city of refuge, without being claimed as serfs, were to be held freemen thenceforward. A Viennese might claim back his goods, if his bark was wrecked on the Danube, from any man who detained them. Frederick always had an enlightened horror of the practice of wrecking, whether in Italy or Germany. In April the Kaiser began to move towards his faithful Alsace, which he calls in a letter the most precious part of his inheritance, and which he wished to honour above the other German provinces. His lieges to the west of the Upper Rhine were accordingly bidden to make ready provisions for his army. The Duke of Austria could not be drawn out of his fastness at Neustadt; the Kaiser, with his princes, retired from Vienna, leaving the Bishop of Bamberg and two other captains in command on the Danube. That warlike Prelate, whose courage had recommended him to his master, died in the course of the year; whereupon the rebel Duke, inspirited by Frederick's departure into Italy, gained a great battle over the loyalists, and made two Bishops his prisoners.* Thus he recovered all his lands, and afterwards made his peace with Frederick at a time when that Sovereign was sorely pressed by the worst of his enemies. The nobles of Styria had done much to help the Kaiser, whom they now besought to grant them the * Herm. Altahensis. XI. favour of holding directly from the Empire. Styria CHAP. was henceforward to be separated from Austria, and an unjust custom was abolished, by which these nobles 1235-1239. had been forced to give their sons and daughters in marriage against their will. The ordeal of combat was to be replaced by the evidence of witnesses. The right of female succession and of alienation of lands was granted. Serfs were forbidden to take refuge in the cities, and the coinage was placed on a better footing; it was to last for five years, instead of being called in every year, according to the former practice. Frederick flattered himself with the vain thought that he had added the Duchies of Austria and Styria, which were valued at more than 60,000 silver marks, to the Roman Empire.* He kept Easter at Ratisbon, where he rewarded the Archbishop of Mayence for past services. He heard an appeal in a cause from Padua, and sent it back to Eccelin. In May he came to Ulm. Here one of the old rebel party, Walter von Limburg, took the oath of fealty to the Kaiser and to the new King of the Romans, and made reparation to the two Hohenlohe brothers for ancient injuries. The rights of the Bishop of Bamberg, then employed in Austria, were protected against his subjects, the citizens. Frederick had hoped to have held a conference in June with the Kings of France and England. Vaucouleurs, on the Meuse, had been named as the spot where the meeting was to take place. There the Emperor, on his first arrival in Germany, had been met by the father of King Louis, and had been well supplied with French gold. But King Louis himself had not yet forgiven the Impe *Godefr. Colon. СНАР. 1235-1239. rial alliance with England. He came at the head of the French chivalry, and found that the Emperor now shrank from the meeting. The King of England prepared to send his brother Richard to Vaucouleurs, in spite of the opposition of his nobles. He had previously received a flat refusal from the old Bishop of Winchester, who declined to act as the envoy of his Sovereign on account of a long-standing grudge. But Richard's journey was delayed until the next year by a letter from the Emperor, and the conference at Vaucouleurs was never again mentioned.* William of Kilkenny, who afterwards became Bishop of Ely, and whose tomb may still be seen in that Cathedral, was sent at this time on an embassy to Germany.† In June, Frederick met some of his Princes at Spires, whither he had summoned them. He invited them to a banquet, and obtained a second recognition of the election of Conrad. Landolf, the Bishop of Worms, was among those present, and celebrated a solemn mass in Frederick's presence on Whitsunday. This Prelate, rebel though he had been, now became the most loyal of the Kaiser's subjects. He had soon proof positive that he was restored to favour. On entering the Imperial presence, he found some nuns, who were under his jurisdiction, complaining of his conduct; and these ladies found many advocates among the Courtiers. Lord Bishop,' said Frederick, hear, and make answer.' Landolf cried; 'Hear me, my Lords, Prelates and Princes; the Lord Emperor is taking the part of the nuns, that they may not serve God; and if he knew the way in which they have procured these advocates in his * M. Paris. † Rymer. Godefr. Colon. Court, he would not listen to them.' He then alleged the Papal orders and the state of his diocese, and spoke to such effect, that at length the whole assembly arose and besought Frederick to believe his own Prince rather than such persons as these women were. 'Go and obey your Bishop,' said the Kaiser, turning to the nuns, who left his presence weeping and making a great noise.* The Archbishop of Cologne also procured a sentence in his own favour. A turbulent infringer of the rights of the Church was released from the Ban, after he had undertaken to follow the Kaiser into Italy. This Italian project was now engrossing all the thoughts of the haughty Germans. The knights of the Teutonic Order were foremost in standing up for the rights of the Empire against the Lombard rebels. In July, Hermann von Salza held a Chapter at Marburg, his favourite head-quarters; it was attended by almost a hundred of his brethren, scions of the noblest houses in Germany. The gallant knights with one voice protested against their Grand Master's intermeddling any further in Lombard affairs; it was all he could do to gain their consent to his return into Italy, on his alleging the commands of the Holy Father. Von Salza despaired of being able to make the Pope understand the importance attaching to this outbreak of Teutonic pride. The Princes of Germany had blamed Hermann for what he had already done; they preferred the sword to any treaty, if faithless Lombardy was to be brought back to her old allegiance.† * Ann Wormat. † All these facts appear from Von Salza's letter to the Cardinals, already quoted. CHAP. XI. 1235-1239. |