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XIII.

three hundred for Ireland, in acknowledgment of C E N T. the pope's supremacy and jurisdiction; and con- PART II. sented that he or such of his successors as should refuse to pay the submission now stipulated, to the see of Rome, should forfeit all their right to the British crown [g]. "This shameful ceremony was performed, says a modern historian [b], on Ascension-day, in the house of the Templars at Dover, in the midst of a great concourse of people, who beheld it with confusion “and indignation. JOHN, in doing homage to "the pope, presented a sum of money to his representative, which the proud legate trampled "under his feet, as a mark of the king's depend46 ence. Every spectator glowed with resent"ment, and the archbishop of Dublin exclaimed "aloud against such intolerable insolence. PAN

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DULF, not satisfied with this mortifying act of "superiority, kept the crown and sceptre five "whole days, and then restored them as a special "favour of the Roman see. JoHN was despised “before this extraordinary resignation; but now “he was looked upon as a contemptible wretch, "unworthy to sit upon a throne: while he himself seemed altogether insensible of his disgrace."

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IX. INNOCENT III. was succeeded in the pon- Honorius. tificate by CONCIO SAVELLI, who assumed the title of HONORIUS III. ruled the church above ten years, and whose government, though not signalized by such audacious exploits as those of his predecessor, discovered, nevertheless, an ardent zeal for maintaining the pretensions, and supporting the despotism, of the Roman see. It

was

[g] Cadet a jure regni, is the expression used in the Charter of resignation, which may be seen at length in the Hist. Major of MATTHEW PARIS.

[b]See the Complete History of England, by Dr SMOLLET, vol. i. p. 437

XIII.

CENT was in consequence of this zeal, that the new PART II. Pontif opposed the measures, and drew upon him the indignation of FREDERIC II. that magnanimous prince, on whose head he himself had placed in the year 1220, the imperial crown. This spirited prince, following the steps of his illustrious grandfather, had formed the resolution of confirming the authority, and extending the jurisdiction of the emperors in Italy, of depressing the small states of Lombardy, and reducing to narrower limits the immense credit and opulence of the pontifs and bishops; and it was with a view to the execution of these grand projects, that he deferred the fulfilling of the solemn vow, by which he had engaged himself to march a formidable army against the infidels in Palestine. The pontif, on the other hand, urged, with importunity, the emperor's departure, encouraged, animated, and strengthened, by secret succours, the Italian states that opposed his pretensions, and resisted the progress of his power by all the obstacles which the most fertile invention could suggest. These contests, however, had not, as yet, brought on an open rupture.

The cala

arose from

tion of Gregory

IX.

X. In the year 1227, HUGOLINUS, bishop of mities that Ostia, whose advanced age had not extinguished the ambi- the fire of his ambition, nor diminished the firmness and obstinacy of his spirit, was raised to the pontificate, assumed the title of GREGORY IX. and kindled the feuds and dissensions, that had already secretly subsisted between the church and the empire, into an open and violent flame. No sooner was he placed in the papal chair, than, contrary to all justice and order, he excommunicated the emperor for putting off his expedition against the Saracens another year, though that delay was manifestly owing to a fit of sickness, which seized that prince when he was ready to embark for Palestine. In the year 1228, FREDE

RIC

XIII.

RIC at last set out and arrived in the Holy Land; C E N T. but, instead of carrying on the war with vigour, PART II. as we have had already occasion to observe, he entered into a truce with SALADIN, and contented himself with the recovery of Jerusalem. The pretended vicar of CHRIST, forgetting (or rather unwilling to persuade himself) that his master's kingdom was not of this world," made war upon the emperor in Apuglia during his absence [i], and used his utmost efforts to arm against him all the European powers. FREDERIC, having received information of these perfidious and violent proceedings, returned into Europe in the year 1229, defeated the papal army, retook the places he had lost in Sicily and in Italy, and the year following made his peace with the pontif, from whom he received a public and solemn absolution. This peace, however, was but of a short duration; nor was it posssible for the emperor to bear the insolent proceedings, and the imperious temper, of GREGORY. He therefore broke all measures with that headstrong pontif, distressed the states of Lombardy that were in alliance with the see of Rome, seized upon the island of Sardinia, which GREGORY looked upon as a part of his spiritual patrimony, and erected it into a kingdom for his son ENTIUS. These, with other steps that were equally provoking to the avarice and ambition of GREGORY, drew the thunder of the Vatican anew upon the emperor's head in the year 1239. FREDERIC was excommunicated publicly with all the circumstances of severity that vindictive rage could invent, and was charged with the most flagitious crimes, and the most impious blasphemies, VOL. III.

N

by

[i] Under the feeble reign of HENRY III. the pope drew immense sums out of England for the support of this impious war, and carried his audacious avarice so far, as to demand the fifth part of the ecclesiastical revenues of the whole kingdom.

PART II.

CENT. by the exasperated pontif, who sent a copy of this XIII. terrible accusation to all the courts of Europe. The emperor, on the other hand, defended his injured reputation by solemn declarations in writing, while, by his victorious arms, he avenged himself of his adversaries, maintained his ground, and reduced the pontif to the greatest straits. To get rid of these difficulties, the latter convened, in the year 1240, a general council at Rome, with a view to depose FREDERIC by the unanimous suffrages of the cardinals and prelates, that were to compose that assembly. But the emperor disconcerted that audacious project by defeating, in the year 1241, a Genoese fleet, on board of which the greatest part of these prelates were embarked, and by seizing, with all their treasures, these reverend fathers, who were all committed to close confinement. This disappointment, attended with others which gave an unhappy turn to his affairs, and blasted his most promising expectations, dejected and consumed the despairing pontif, and contributed probably to the conclusion of his days, which happened soon after this remarkable event [k].

Tanocent

IV.

XI. GEOFFRY, bishop of Milan, who succeeded GREGORY IX. under the title of CELESTINE IV. died before his consecration, and, after a vacancy of twenty months, the apostolic stool was filled by SINABALD, one of the counts of Fiesque, who, was raised to the pontificate in the year 1243, assumed

[4] Besides the original and authentic authors collected by MURATORI, in his Scriptores rerum Italicarum, and the German and Italian historians, few or none of whom are absolutely void of partiality in their accounts of these unhappy contests between the empire and the papacy, see PETRUs de Viniis, Epistol. lib. i. and MATTH. PARIS, Historia Major. Add to these REYNALDI Annal.-MURATORI Annal. Italice, tom. vii. & Antiquit. Italic. tom. iv. p. 325. 517. It must however be observed, that this branch of history stands yet in need of farther illustrations.

XIIL

assumed the denomination of INNOCENT IV. and c E N T. yielded to none of his predecessors in arrogance PART II. and fury [7]. His elevation, however, offered at first a prospect of peace, as he had formerly been attached to the interests of the emperor, and accordingly the conferences were opened, and a reconciliation was proposed; but the terms offered by the new pope were too imperious and extravagant, not to be rejected with indignation by the emperor [m]. Hence it was that INNOCENT, not thinking himself safe in any part of Italy, set out from Genoa, the place of his birth, for Lyons in the year 1244, and assembling there a council the following year, deposed, in their presence, though not with their approbation, the emperor FREDERIC, and declared the imperial throne vacant [n]. This unjust and insolent measure was regarded with such veneration, and looked upon as so weighty by the German princes, seduced and blinded by the superstition of the times, that they proceeded instantly to a new election, and raised first, HENRY, landgrave of Thuringia, and after his death, WILLIAM, Count of Holland, to the head of the empire. FREDERIC, whose firm and heroic spirit supported without dejection these cruel vicissitudes, continued to carry on the war in Italy, until a violent dysentery ended his days in Apulia, the 13th of December, 1250. Upon the death of his formidable and magnanimous adversary, INNOCENT returned into Italy,

N 2

[/] See MATTHEW PARIS Historia Major. ad A. 1254. P. 771.

[m] These preliminary conditions were: 1st, That the emperor should give up entirely to the church the inheritance which was left to it by MATHILDA; and, 2dly, That he would oblige himself to submit to whatever terms the pope should think fit to propose, as conditions of peace.

[n] This assembly is placed in the list of acumenical, or general councils; but it is not acknowledged as such by the Gallican church.