The Two Powers - Brett Edward Whalen The Middle Ages Series

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far and wide, contributing to confusion about the current state of affairs between the emperor and pope. Taking note of the emperor’s growing “rage” and “inexorable hatred” for the Italians, Matthew Paris writes in his Major Chronicle that Frederick turned to the pope for help against them, creating a great deal of “anxiety and worries” for the Roman church when the pope gathered the entire curia for deliberations about how to “reform an honorable peace” between the two sides. He did this not for altruistic reasons, Matthew observes, but rather because he knew that he might need Frederick’s help in the future against his own enemies. In his narrative of these events, the English chronicler includes a letter that he attributes to Frederick, proclaiming the emperor’s hereditary authority over Italy, denouncing the heretical Lombards for impeding his new crusade, and calling upon the pope to support him. According to Matthew, not wishing to seem indifferent to the emperor’s demands, Gregory acquiesced to his plans—for the time being.19

       Trouble Overseas

      During this period of rising tensions on the Italian peninsula, Gregory and Frederick continued to wrestle with the equally unsettled conditions of the crusader kingdoms “across the sea,” another unraveling area of cooperation between the two powers. Preparations for the so-called Baron’s Crusade had continued to move forward since 1234, anticipating the expiration of Frederick’s ten-year truce with the Egyptian sultan, al-Kamil. Bearing letters and “written warrants” from the pope, mendicant friars and other papal envoys had fanned out around Europe to raise support for the upcoming campaign by preaching the cross, offering indulgences, and collecting funds through donations and pious bequests. They also raised money through the redemption of crusader vows, which were sworn and immediately redeemed by a cash payment. This intensive effort in England raised further complaints from Matthew Paris, who was always ready to excoriate the greed of the friars and papal curia.20 In 1235, Gregory made the decision to split the crusading campaign into two forces, directing one toward Syria and the other toward the embattled Latin Empire of Constantinople, which was being assailed by the “schismatic” Byzantine emperor-in-exile, John III Doukas Vatatzes. According to Matthew, much of the blame for the schism between Latins and Greeks again lay with the greed and corruption of the papal curia, which had alienated the Greeks and caused their rejection of Rome’s authority. No longer willing to stand such disobedience, Matthew writes, the pope decided to send a “universal army signed with the cross” against them.21

      As shown above, Gregory’s determination to mobilize a major crusading expedition had played a significant role in conditioning his public relationship with Frederick. The pope’s efforts to achieve a peaceful settlement between the Lombard League and the Hohenstaufen ruler repeatedly invoked the needs of the crusades as requiring an end to strife between the two sides. Peace between the Christians living overseas, and even forms of strategic peace between Christians and certain Muslims, was equally critical for the success of any future effort to free Jerusalem. In March 1235, in a remarkable sign of how Frederick’s truce with al-Kamil had changed the diplomatic playing field between Christian and Muslim powers, Gregory exchanged a number of letters with the sultan of Konya, ‘Ala ad-Din Kaiqubad, exploring the possibility of “friendship and peace” between them, the same “friendship” that the Muslim leader enjoyed with the “lord of the Germans, Frederick.” This unusual exchange illustrated the opportunities posed for Christian diplomacy when the pope and emperor did not stand at odds. Gregory met face-to-face with the sultan’s envoy, a Christian named John de Gabra, who had been sent to the papal curia via Frederick’s imperial court. John, carrying ‘Ala ad-Din’s letters and bearing other information that he would only relay in person, shared the sultan’s proposal to form an alliance to destroy their mutual enemies and help the Christians “recover Jerusalem and all of the lands that they held in the days of Saladin.” After his meeting with Gabra, the pope sent him back to Frederick’s court to continue with these negotiations. This is the last thing ever heard of the sultan’s emissary and the proposed peace between the Muslim ruler and the bishop of Rome.22

      Peace among Christians living in the crusader kingdoms remained just as elusive, despite the truce established in 1234 by Albert of Antioch and the archbishop of Ravenna between John of Ibelin and Frederick’s officials. When news reached the pope in the summer of 1235 that John and his supporters at Acre were planning an assault on Tyre, which was held by Frederick’s imperial marshal, Richard Filangerium, Gregory again tried to intervene on the emperor’s behalf. Writing to the Hospitaller, Templar, and Teutonic orders in Syria, calling for “peace and tranquility” rather than “dissension and scandal,” he instructed them to work for the “preservation of imperial rights” and stop the attack on Tyre. An injury against the emperor, Gregory stated, is like “an injury to us.” He sent a similar message to John of Ibelin and the citizens of Acre, threatening them with ecclesiastical censure if they did not reverse their confrontational course.23

      In his letters to the various parties concerned, the pope did not disguise or dissemble his reasons for supporting Frederick. Damage to the emperor’s power would equally harm the church and impede the upcoming crusade. After the emperor’s recent service, meaning his support against the rebellious citizens of Rome, Gregory felt especially beholden to back the Hohenstaufen position overseas. Writing directly to Frederick in September 1235 and celebrating the empire as the “strong-arm and defender of the Apostolic See,” Gregory reviewed his past efforts to defend Frederick’s rights in Syria. With this address, he included a separate “form of peace,” laying out the new terms for a settlement in the kingdom of Jerusalem that would restore the status quo before the recent rebellion against the imperial marshal. In that same letter, however, Gregory also tried to explain his controversial decision to lift the sentence of interdict passed against Acre by his own legate, Theodoric of Ravenna, after proctors from the city at the papal curia provided sworn assurances of their good behavior moving forward. The pope did so because of the particular situation in that city. With so many different kinds of Christians and kinds of worship in the city, he worried that leaving the ban in place might encourage some citizens to abandon the Roman rite altogether, allowing for the spread of heresy. Gregory must have realized that Frederick would question his decision to lift the interdict before finalizing the terms of peace, so he asked Peter de Vinea, who was present at the curia for negotiations over the problems in Lombardy, to approve of the papal agreement with the citizens of Acre. To Gregory’s disappointment, Peter refused, since his mandate from the emperor did not authorize him to do so.24

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