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Holy Roman Empire between 11971220

Holy Roman Empire between 11971220 Between 1197 and 1218 the Holy Roman Empire became a medieval soap opera. The main characters were Pope Innocent III, Fredrick II, Phillip of Swabbia, and Otto IV. King Phillip of France would also play a major role along with Constance, mother of Fredrick II. The background from this period of 21 years was riveting. In 1197 Henry VI, king of Sicily, and the Holy Roman Empire died leaving his two year old son Fredrick II as king of Sicily. However Phillip of Swabbia and Otto IV would vie for the throne in the Holy Roman Empire. A double election concurred and both Otto and Phillip were elected. The two had a war which was ended in 1204 by the Pope, naming Otto the king. Yet in 1207, the kingship would change again and Phillip of Swabbia would become king. However just over a year after becoming king Phillip would be booted from the throne in 1208. Otto would take over as king of the Empire. However in 1211 Otto IV, would no longer be king of the Holy Roman Empire as he would be replaced by the young Fredrick II. Interestingly enough Fredrick II was raised by Pope Innocent III giving the pope some major power inside the Holy Roman Empire. During this time during the rule of Otto and Otto (after Phillip died in Otto’s second reign), two crusades were going on in which Otto participated in. During 1204 a crusade was brought forth by Innocent during the same time as a war over the throne was being fought. My essay is on the Holy Roman Empire between the death of Henry and the return of Fredrick II back to Germany in 1220. We will start in 1197 after Henry VI has died. In 1197 the Imperial throne had created an opening with the death of Henry VI. No one had been elected into his spot; The Pope made his first major decision and made good use of the opportunity set before him. Innocent soon got not only the prefect of Rome, but the Senator of Rome to swear allegiance to the pope. Already in Innocents reign as the Pontificate of Rome, Innocent was asserting his power. The Germans had ruled the Holy Roman Empire for many years, the Italians were tired of German rule and wanted one of their own as Emperor, thus Pope Innocent III found it very easy to assert his power throughout Italy, and soon had the whole Italian Peninsula sworn to his allegiance. First he sent two papal delegates, cardinals, to Murkwood, demanding the restoration of the Romagna, and the March of Ancona to the church. Here Innocent suffered his first set back. When the two delegates returned with Murkwoods evasive answer Innocent suffered a minor set back. However the witty Pope would not suffer that much of one, as he soon ordered the mass excommunication of him and his whole legion from the church, and got the Papal legions to run him out of Italy. Once Emperor Henry VI died his four-year old son Fredrick II was named King of Sicily. The widowed mother of Fredrick II ruled for him but could not handle the pressure of the Norman nobles who rejected Frederick’s right to being the king. Constance asked for help of Pope Innocent III, who stepped in, seeing who could gain favor in Sicily. He acknowledged Fredrick II’s rule only after she agreed to certain privileges contained in the Four Chapters, which William I had written as King of England. Innocent then solemnly invested a bull in Fredrick II around November 16, 1198. However, before the bull reached Sicily, Constance died leaving Innocent the caretaker of the 9 year old Fredrick. The pope watched over the young lad during his four more years of minority, and even his critics said Fredericks own father couldn’t have done a better job. During these 9 years the Pope ruled Sicily, and made sure that his power was asserted correctly. The enemies of the Church, and Innocent III said the Pope was a fair and just ruler for the 9 years he ruled over Sicily. He then made sure that Fredrick would be protected at the start when he became king in 1209, be inducing him to marry Constance, the widow of King Emeric in Hungary. The conditions in Germany seemed ripe for the picking according to Innocent. After the death of Henry VI, two elections ensued and two emperors were elected. The Ghibellines Phillip of Swabbia and the Guelfs elected Otto IV, son of Henry the Lion and nephew of King Richard of England. Phillip of Swabia was crowned at Mainz on September 8, 1198 and Otto IV at Aachen on July 12, 1198. After he was elected Pope he immediately sent bishops as legates to Germany with instructions to free Phillip of Swabia from the ban which he had incurred under Celestine III on condition that he would bring about the liberation of the imprisoned Queen Sibyl of Sicily and restore the territory which he had taken from the Church. However when the legates arrived in Germany Phillip had already been elected king. One of the bishops secretly freed him of his ban on the promise of Phillip to fulfill the requirements. After the coronation the two legates were sent back to Rome, with Phillip requesting the ratification of the election; but Innocent was dissatisfied with the bishops and refused to ratify the elections or coronation as Phillip being king. Otto IV then sent legates to Rome, to ratify the election but before Innocent could do so, fighting took place over the throne. Although the Pope did not openly side with either of them, it was apparent his sympathy was with Otto IV. Phillip was offended by what he called an unjust interference on the part of the Pope, and the adherents of Phillip sent a letter to Innocent. In Innocents reply he stated he had no plan of encroaching on the rights of the princes. He emphasized that the Imperial crown belonged to only the Pope alone. In 1201 the Pope openly admitted his siding with Otto IV and on July 3, 1201 the Cardinal of Palistrana, announced to the people in the cathedral of Cologne that Otto IV had been approved as the Roman king, and for all the people who did not accept him, including Phillip, was the threat of excommunication. Innocent III made sure that the German princes knew the decree of “Venerable.” The decree stated that, first the German princes are allowed to elect a king. Second this right was given them by Apostolic See when it transferred the imperial dignity from the Greeks to the Germans in the person of Charlemagne. Third, the right to investigate and decide whether a king thus elected is worthy of Imperial dignity belongs to the Pope, whose office it is to anoint, consecrate, and crown him; otherwise it might happen that the pope would be obliged to anoint, consecrate, and crown who was excommunicated, a heretic, or a pagan. Fourth, if the pope finds that the king who has been elected by the princes is unworthy of imperial dignity, the princes must elect a new king or, if they refuse the pope will confer the imperial dignity upon another king; for the Church stands in need of a patron and a defender. 5) In case of a double election, such as Otto and Phillip, the pope must exhort the princes to come to an agreement. If after a due interval they have not reached an agreement they must ask the pope to arbitrate, failing which, he must of his own accord, and by virtue of his office decide in favor of one of the claimants. Fifth, the pope’s decision need not be based greater or less legality of either election, but on the quality of the claimants. It was not Innocents fault when by 1203 most of the princes had sided with Phillip. Otto was often irritable and usually made mad his best friends. In 1207 Innocent rescinded the decision and made Phillip not only king of Germany, but free of his ban. However the Holy Roman Empire kept on being a medieval soap opera as on June 21, 1208 Phillip was assassinated by Otto of Wittlesbach. After the murder Otto IV was widely viewed as the king of Germany by the princes and was coroneted on October 4, 1209. Soon however Otto would turn on Innocent and Fredrick and united with the enemies of Fredrick II, leading to the excommunication of Otto on March 31, 1211. This turned out to be a crucial move in the long battle between the Pope and the feuding Germans. It was like a checkmate in chess, as the with the excommunication of Otto, the German princes along with King Phillip of France renounced Otto as king, and put in Fredrick II, whom Innocent had cared for when Fredrick was young and made sure that Fredrick II would sustain himself. Fredrick II was elected in front of a representative of a pope and a representative of King Phillip, on December 2, 1212. After making the same promises with the Pope that Otto had done twice, and under solemn vow never to unite Sicily to the empire his election was ratified by Innocent III, and was crowned at Aachen on July 12, 1215. Immediately after the ratification the deposed emperor Otto IV hastened to Germany quickly but had little support from the princes. In alliance with King John of England he made war with King Phillip of France and was defeated in the Battle of Bouvines on July 27, 1214. After this Otto lost all support in Germany and died on May 19, 1218. Fredericks sole desire was for peace in Germany after all that had happened before his kingship. Fredrick would finally bring peace after 21 years of craziness Fredrick II would rule until 1250, and be one of the better emperors. However his wanting of peace may have been a little much as he was willing to sacrifice much to make peace. Because of this he gave the ecclesiastical and temporal lords a series of privileges which subsequently developed into independent soveirgnty of these princes. Fredericks policy was that without Sicily the possession of Italy would always be insecure, and that a king could not maintain himself without at the same time being emperor. Although Fredrick II wanted to make Sicily a part of the Empire, some of his sacrifices for freedom made him not able to do that. Such as his promise with Pope Innocent III, that he would not add Sicily to the Empire. The conflict between the two powers of Italy and Germany during the time of Frederick II and Innocent III influenced the crusades. Frederick II himself had been forced to accept the crusade and participate in it by Pope Innocent III. However German conditions didn’t call for the Emperor to be away. In April of 1220 in Frankfort the German diet passed regulations concerning the Roman expedition and the Crusade. With this Fredrick II had to name his son Henry III king while Frederick was on the crusade. Englebert, the powerful arch-bishop was named vice-regent Fredrick set out for Italy. He was crowned Emperor at Rome on November 22, 1220, and renewed his vow to the cross, promising to begin the campaign the following year. Fredrick II was a political genius in dealing with the pope. In a severe edict against heretics it looked as if Frederick II was on the same page as the pope. Even when he didn’t keep his promise to begin the crusades next year his relationship with the pope was unaltered. This peace loving pope deserved chief-credit, though Frederick also strove to avoid a breach with his loyal policy between towards the Holy See. Both Pope and emperor, however, saw that this peace was maintained only by skilful diplomacy, and that it was constantly imperiled by their conflicting interests. Fredrick wanted the German society to be like the Sicilian society. Where Norman, Saxon, German, Italian, and Greek society all intermingled with each other. He still greatly wanted Sicily, but would not disobey the pope as seeing what happened with the last German emperor who disobeyed the pope, Otto IV, was excommunicated and was rejected as emperor. In conclusion between 1197 and 1220 was a hectic time for the Holy Roman Empire. The king changed seven times during the course of the 23 years, and only once by death after he had ruled one year. No one rule for more than 3 years until Fredrick II’s second reign as emperor. Although the Holy Roman Empire may have been the most hectic and king changing empire during this period, it wasn’t only Germany that was having all the fun in Europe. During the papacy of Pope Innocent III, 1198-1217, Europe was turned upside down. Pope Innocent III asserted his power first in Italy, than in Germany, than in England, and lastly in France. The popes obvious closest connections were with the Holy Roman Empire, for he must of known, that the child he raised as his own son Frederick II would become Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and become a pope’s best friend. Obvioulsy in this period of 1197-1220, something modern and future civilizations should take into effect. As the Germans were having a wacky 23 years, so was the rest of Europe. It seemed that Germany’s wackiness had rubbed off onto Italy, England, and France. This should be shown that by how a border neighbor is doing can greatly effect how your country does. Such as in Germany there was a war going on, there were also two wars going on between England and France and a Holy War to get back the Holy Land. So from 1197-1220 Germany would have been a very hectic place. During these 23 years it is said that the German diet met on average 36 times per year, 3 times a month, 3 times as much as usual. Living in those 23 years of feudal Germany would have been very interesting. Bibliography:

Word Count: 2365

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