Odo's Downfall

After the Trial in 1076 that re-apportioned some of the property (and therefore income) of Odo of Bayeux, he was quiet for a few years. As Earl of Kent (granted to him by his half-brother, William the Conqueror), he still had impressive resources and a comfortable living. He wanted more, however, and made a step that proved detrimental to his freedom.

Over in Rome, Pope Gregory VII was embroiled in the Investiture Controversy with Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV. Although Henry's penance was made prior to 1082, there were still arguments over who gets to invest clerics, the Church or the secular powers.

Odo gathered his Kentish forces and planned a military expedition to Italy. Why would he do this? The following is conjecture. Perhaps it was the Holy Roman Emperor's hostility to the pope that gave Odo an idea. Historians writing a couple decades later said Odo wanted to be pope. Either he would take an army to support Henry, who might then support Odo as pope, or possibly he thought he could bring his own army to Gregory's defense and be named his successor for the effort. In 1080, Henry declared Gregory deposed and installed his own pope, Antipope Clement III.

All we know is that Odo was prepared to take a large number of English—Saxon and Norman—subjects out of the country and march across other countries to engage in war with someone, and William wasn't having it.

In 1082, William had Odo imprisoned on the continent, where he spent the next five years. He remained Bishop of Bayeux (his seal is depicted above), but William took back all lands in England and the title Earl of Kent.

In 1087, William was on his deathbed. William's other half-brother, Robert of Mortain, persuaded William to forgive Odo, who was allowed to return to England. Unfortunately, he made another choice to back the wrong horse. William had made his eldest son Robert Curthose, the Duke of Normandy, and the second son William Rufus was made King of England. (Normandy was far larger than England.) Robert also wanted England, and Odo decided to support him.

The rivalry between William and Robert turned into the Rebellion of 1088, and that's where we will pick up the story tomorrow.

As for Odo, he joined the First Crusade and died on the way, in Palermo in early 1097. He was buried in Palermo Cathedral.

Matilda of Tuscany

Matilda of Tuscany (c.1046 - 1115) was one of the most important figures in Italy in the second half of the 11th century. After the deaths of her father and brother, she ruled from the Castle of Canossa in northern Italy. She was said to be literate in Latin, French, and German; some believe she was taught military strategy as well, along with riding and weaponry.

As a strong female, she had a role model in her mother, Beatrice of Lorraine, who managed the regency of Matilda's brother Frederick and made alliances with other important political and religious figures. Beatrice was supportive of church and papal reforms, such as those proposed by Pope Gregory VII. Beatrice re-married; her choice of second husband was Godfrey the Bearded, Duke of Upper Lorraine, who had openly rebelled against Holy Roman Emperor Henry III. Henry, angered by her choice of his enemy as her husband, had Beatrice and Matilda arrested in 1055 and taken to Germany (Godfrey evaded capture). Henry died a year later, and the regency of his successor, the very young Henry IV, saw Godfrey reconciled with Henry's family and the women released. Upon their return to Italy, the pope (now Victor II) made clear that he valued the House of Canossa.

Matilda was understandably not inclined to look kindly on the family of her German captors. She supported Pope Gregory and his reform movement over Henry IV's choice of the Antipope Clement III. This led at a later date to Henry's forces ravaging parts of Tuscany.

Matilda was betrothed to Godfrey the Bearded's son from an earlier marriage, Godfrey the Hunchback. The elder Godfrey died on 30 December 1069 in Verdun, and records of the event tell us that Matilda was present and describe her as the wife of Godfrey the Hunchback.

The marriage was a way to consolidate Tuscany and Lorraine, but it was otherwise not typical. The two had a daughter, Beatrice, who died within a year, and the couple lived apart. Godfrey, perhaps because he learned from family history the dangers of crossing the Holy Roman Emperor, chose to support Henry IV in the Investiture Controversy, despite his wife's feelings and public stand on the matter.

By this time Beatrice—still co-regent with her daughter—was preparing her daughter for sole rule, encouraging her to be in charge of decisions and charters. When Beatrice died in 1076, Matilda became sole ruler of her parents' real estate possessions. Life was not simple, however. Godfrey had been assassinated (while relieving himself) two months earlier; if Beatrice had died first, Matilda's husband would have taken possession of her estates. As it happens, the deaths happened within a couple months in just the right order to make Matilda more powerful.

Suspicion fell on her for their deaths, as well as another accusation regarding her relationship to the pope. Let's dig into that, and into her career as ruler, next time.

Antipope Clement III

The awkwardness about antipopes is that they take names that are later taken by official popes. One has to keep them straight in the historical record, because antipopes often rule for a time because they have a faction of cardinals (and rulers) and the general populace that supports them and carries out their rulings and policies. Today I want to take a look at Antipope Clement III (seen here supporting the election of Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, from a chronicle by Otto of Freising).

He was born Guibert of Ravenna in the 1020s. Family connections helped get him appointed to the Imperial chancellorship of Italy in 1058. The appointment came from Holy Roman Empress Agnes, mother and regent for the young Henry IV. In 1061, he supported Honorius II as pope instead of Alexander II. When Germany and Empress Agnes decided to support Alexander II as the one true pope, Guibert's support of Honorius was condemned and he was dismissed from the chancellorship.

Guibert was not completely out of favor: he kept contact with the German court, and when Henry IV became Holy Roman Emperor, he made Guibert Archbishop of Ravenna. Pope Alexander II was a little reluctant to confirm to a high position in the church a man who had opposed his papacy, but to keep peace with Germany he confirmed Guibert in 1073.

In that same year, Alexander died and Gregory VII became pope. Gregory tried instituting several reforms, among which were eliminating simony (purchasing appointments), making the clergy independent of secular courts and influence, and denying secular authorities the right to appoint clergy. Archbishop Guibert spoke out against these reforms, no doubt endearing him to Henry IV. Guibert refused to attend Gregory's Synod on these matters in 1075, so Gregory suspended him.

Emperor Henry IV was opposed to Gregory's reforms; his Synod of Worms in 1076 resolved that Gregory was deposed; several Transalpine bishops agreed. Gregory excommunicated them, including Guibert. The Transalpine bishops and prelates gathered in April 1076 with Guibert presiding and declared pope Gregory himself excommunicated.

In 1080, at a further synod in June, Henry declared Gregory deposed (again) and Guibert elected as Pope Clement III. Henry promised his new pope that he would march with his army to Rome and make the papal election official. He failed at first, but ... well, let's continue this tomorrow.

Pope Urban II

The reign of Pope Urban II was barely more than a decade, but he made some decisions with profound effects for centuries. He was born Odo of Chatillon c.1035, and began studies at the Cathedral school of Reims in 1050. He progressed rapidly and became the grand prior at Cluny. Pope Gregory VII named him the Bishop of Ostia (a suburb of Rome) about 1080. He was a champion of the Gregorian reforms involving moral integrity of clerics and their independence from secular courts.

Pope Gregory VII died in 1085, having named three potential successors. The first, Desiderius, was a pious man who had devoted his life to not being in the public eye, and remained in the office as Victor III for a mere 130 days, after which Odo of Chatillon was made pope by acclamation, taking the name Urban II.

Urban's first challenge was the antipope Clement III, who had been installed by Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV in 1085 after Henry's clash with Gregory over the Investiture Controversy (see Gregory's link above). Urban had to avoid Rome because of Clement, but he traveled around northern Italy and France, holding synods to promote reforms against simony, clerical marriages, and issues of the Holy Roman Emperor and the antipope. (Clerical marriages—rather, the practice of keeping mistresses—were dealt with in England and France simply by instituting a heavy tax on mistresses.)

He became involved in political issues when he supported the rebellion of Prince Conrad against his father, Henry IV. He helped arrange the marriage of Conrad to Maximilian, the daughter of Count Roger I of Sicily (she brought a large dowry that helped Conrad in the fight against Henry).

He also negotiated a compromise between Anselm of Bec and William II of England, which brought him England's support against the antipope.

Urban's most profound undertaking was to preach the Crusade in 1095 (see illustration), starting a papal policy of trying to assert control over the Holy Land that lasted for centuries. He was motivated by a request from the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Comnenos, asking for help against the Turks. Urban offered remission of all sins for those who "took up the Cross."

He also gave Roger of Sicily the authority to appoint bishops, to forward the church revenues to Urban, and to sit in judgment over ecclesiastical issues—the exact opposite of what the Investiture Controversy with Henry IV was supposed to resolve! Other secular rulers did not get these privileges, which led to problems later with Roger's heirs.

Urban died in 1099, in Rome. Had he, then, eliminated the antipope Clement? Not really. Clement outlived and (in some sense) out-reigned Urban. Let's look at the anti-papacy of Clement II tomorrow.

The Frangipani Family

There are a number of families in the 21st century who have become wealthy through commerce and use that wealth to exert their influence on politicians through massive donations. The Middle Ages was no different, except that some times they simply eliminated the middle man and managed things directly.

The Frangipani family in Rome, for instance, possessed the Colosseum from 1200 and fortified it as a castle, using it to control approaches to the Lateran Palace, and therefore could protect (or imprison) the pope and papal offices. They lost control of it to the growing Annibaldi family in the mid-13th century (who had popes Gregory IX and Alexander IV on their side). When the papacy moved to Avignon (1309 - 1377), access to the Lateran wasn't so important, Roman population declined, and the Colosseum was abandoned.

The Frangipani were Guelphs, more interested in supporting the pope's power, rather than Ghibellines, who supported more authority for the Holy Roman Emperor. They claimed ancient roots, but they do not appear in records prior to 1014. They involved themselves in many papal conflicts, such as the Investiture Controversy between Gregory VII and Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV. They reached their peak of influence when they got Pope Honorius II elected.

There were many branches of the family—such as in Friuli and Dalmatia—but the Roman branch ended in 1654 with the death of Mario Frangipani.

One of the least admirable actions by a Frangipani was in 1268 when Giovanni Frangipane betrayed the last of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, the teenage Duke of Swabia. I'll tell you about poor Conradin tomorrow.

Bruno the Saxon

Henry challenging the power of the church

Little is known of the figure called Bruno the Saxon, except that he was a monk attached to the household of Archbishop Werner of Magdeburg. Werner was an enemy of Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, even joining a revolt against him. After Werner's death in 1078, Bruno joined the household of another Werner, this one the Bishop of Merseburg (because of which Bruno is sometimes called Bruno von Merseburg). Bruno's Historia de Bello Saxonico ["History of the Saxon Wars"] is dedicated to Werner of Merseburg.

The Historia recounts the struggles between the Saxons and Henry IV. Although Bruno is a Saxon, he seems to treat Henry more fairly than some other historians and figures of the time. Although he characterized the young Henry as arrogant and as someone who should have listened to his mother more, he also attributes problems with him to the evil influence of others, notably Adalbert, Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. Adalbert was sub-regent under Henry's mother, Agnes. Bruno felt it was good that Henry came under the influence of Archbishop Anno of Cologne (after Anno staged the Coup of Kaiserswerth), but eventually Adalbert once again replaced Anno in henry's eyes as a chief influence.

This is not to say that Bruno was impartial: in the conflicts between Henry and the papacy (mainly, the Investiture Controversy), Bruno unsurprisingly takes the pope's side. When the excommunication was lifted by Pope Gregory VII, it was conditional upon Henry's good behavior: particularly, he had to forego wearing his regalia for a year to show humility, and avoid the company of the men who has counseled him to overreach himself. Unfortunately,

But when he began to exclude these men from his company, they started to make a great fuss, telling him that if he now drove away those by whose wisdom and courage he had up to now held his kingdom, the pope would be able neither to restore it to him nor to obtain another for him. These words and others like them led him to change his mind, and he wickedly returned through their evil counsel to his customary ways. He placed upon his head the diadem of gold and kept in his heart the anathema, stronger than iron. He mixed in communion with the excommunicate, and this wretched man was thrust out from communion with the saints. He now made it clear to all that what he said, that he preferred the kingdom of Heaven to earthly things, was untrue. Had he remained obedient for [even] a little while, he would have held his earthly kingdom in peace, and at some future time would have come into possession of the heavenly and eternal one. But now, for his disobedience, he would not have the one that he loved without great toil, and would never receive the other without a complete change in his way of life. [link]

Bruno seems to want to give Henry the benefit of the doubt and explain his failings as the evil influence of others.

Despite obvious biases, however, Bruno provides some valuable history by giving us a taste of life at the time and by including other sources in his Historia, such as letters from Saxon bishops and other original documents.

When Being Pope is Not a Step Up

You would think that being named pope is the highest achievement for a man in that particular field, and that it comes with the power to accomplish many great and far-reaching things. And you would be right, for the most part. Consider, however, a man who was already considered great before he ascended to the Throne of Peter, and for whom the papacy took him away from the opportunities to do good.

Dauferius, the younger son of Prince Landulf V of Benevento, was born c.1026. At his father's death in 1047, Dauferius ran away from home to escape an arranged marriage, was dragged back, and ran off again. He ran to the monastery of San Sophia and started calling himself Desiderius. He changed monasteries a few times, seeking a more austere life each time. His reputation for discipline and piety brought him to the attention of Pope Leo IX. It is thought that the pope asked Desiderius to negotiate peace between the Normans and a combined Italian-Lombard-Swabian army. Since the Normans defeated the army that included Desiderius' own countrymen, he would have been glad to help.

Desiderius became a member of the court of Pope Victor II, who influenced him greatly. More than that, however: at Victor's court Desiderius met two monk of Monte Cassino, and followed them there in 1055, where he was steeped in the details of Benedictine rule. Two years later, during a visit from the previous abbot of Monte Cassino, now Pope Stephen IX (though he had never relinquished the title of abbot), the monks were told to elect a new about to replace the pope. The monks picked Desiderius.

As abbot his real work began. He rebuilt Monte Cassino and beefed up the scriptorium, his reputation bringing more monks (there were 200 in his day) and gifts to the monastery. He had been appointed by the pope to reform whatever monasteries he thought needed it, and to appoint bishops from Benedictines if he felt it necessary. His reputation as a wise man and negotiator meant that even factions that were at war with the pope were cordial to Monte Cassino. For almost 30 years he worked to improve his world.

When Pope Gregory VII lay dying, he named Desiderius as one of his possible successors (even though they did not see eye-to-eye on the subject of reforms). When Desiderius learned that a lot of people wanted to see him become pope, he went back to Monte Cassino and tried to avoid the privilege. Pressure was great, however, and he acquiesced, being named Pope Victor III on 24 May 1086. Unfortunately, the antipope Clement III in Rome prevented him from being consecrated and actually moving into the Vatican until 9 May 1087. Much of his time as pope was spent replacing Clement and undoing some of the damage from his papacy.

And then he died, on 16 September; total time actually in office: 130 days.

He should have just stayed in Monte Cassino.

The Investiture Controversy

The Concordat of Worms that
ended the Investiture Controversy

There was a recent mention that Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV was best known for the Investiture Controversy. Investiture was the act of conferring on someone honors or titles. In this case, the controversy was over who had authority to name clergy, the king of the country in which the bishop would preside, or the pope?

Obviously, kings would like to choose the people who would manage ecclesiastical courts, and stock the positions with those loyal to the throne. The pope (and other clergy) would much rather have the Church decide on these positions and not owe any particular loyalty to secular governments.

The concern of the secular authority was based on the fact that a bishopric carried with it a grant of land, and the secular lords wanted to make sure those lands were still under some kind of control. A bishop named by the pope would not necessarily be loyal to the local lord.

Pope Gregory tried to reform some church practices, including bringing the power of investiture completely under the papacy. For a long time, Germany was in the position of ratifying popes, but when Henry IV first became king of the Germans in 1056, he was only six years old, and so the Gregorian reformers acted fast to wrest the power of the papacy away from German control. The Church created the College of Cardinals as the body authorized to elect a new pope.

In 1075, Gregory declared that the sole universal power in the world was the pope's; secular power only applied to local concerns. He also declared that the pope alone had power to appoint or depose clergy, and the pope had power to depose an emperor.

Henry opposed this, and continued to appoint clergy, but the pope excommunicated him. If his nobles had stayed loyal, the outcome might have been different, but much of the aristocracy turned on him, forcing him to make the Walk to Canossa. Even the resolution at Canossa did not stop the battle between popes and emperors.

In 1122, a "final" resolution was made with an agreement between Henry V and Pope Calixtus II. Called "The Concordat of Worms" (because the meeting took place near Worms), it gave the German kings the power to grant or withhold secular power (lands, titles) to clergy, but not to make them clergy.

This controversy did not exactly begin (or end) with Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII. The debate between papal and secular authority to confer titles was confused on Christmas Day 800 when Pope Leo III placed the crown of the Holy Roman Emperors on his head during Mass. This raised the question whether the pope had the authority to pick an emperor or king. And the Concordat did not exactly resolve the issue everywhere: just between Germany and the pope. England and the papacy also butted heads over this, which we will look at tomorrow.

Fathers & Sons in the HRE

Henry IV (center), with his sons Henry V & Conrad

Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV is best known for the Investiture Controversy and the Walk to Canossa, when he did penance so that Pope Gregory VII would lift an excommunication.

Henry was excommunicated again in 1084; however, this time he wasn't so penitent. He marched into Rome, deposed Gregory, and appointed his own pope, Clement III. The College of Cardinals had another idea, however, declared Clement III an "anti-pope," and appointed their own pope, Pope Urban II. Urban supported Gregory VII's ideas and opposed Henry, as did Pope Paschal II who followed him in 1099.

Henry was prepared to oppose the popes, but a further betrayal created worse trouble for him. His son, Henry (1086 - 1125; later Holy Roman Emperor Henry V). Sons in line for the throne often make designs on that throne before their predecessor departs by his own choice, and young Henry decided that his father's excommunication was good grounds for staging a rebellion.

In 1104, young Henry decided it was time to stand up and depose Henry IV. The Church was willing (naturally) to support the son against the father who had proven to be no friend to the papacy. Henry IV had been trying to maintain order in the Empire, and did not want a war. He agreed to a meeting to try to achieve a peaceful resolution; the meeting, however, was a ruse, and he was captured by his son's forces. Imprisoned in Böckelheim Castle in southwestern Germany, he was forced to renounce his creation of Pope Clement and to admit that he was unjustly hostile to Pope Gregory.

Henry IV was German, however, and Germany itself was not keen on having their king deposed and imprisoned by a teenager who then declared himself Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. In 1106, forces loyal to Henry IV opposed his son and the pope and freed Henry IV from his prison. Henry Senior started making alliances with other nations for support. Early in 1106, he defeated his son's forces, but he succumbed to an illness of several days and died on 7 August.

Because he was still excommunicated, his body was placed by order of the papal legate into an unconsecrated chapel until the excommunication was lifted in summer of 1111.

Henry V did become Holy Roman Emperor in his own right from 1111 until 1125

Anti-kings? Really?

Rudolph of Swabia was referred to as an anti-king after he was defeated by Henry IV in 1080. Anti-popes are a common concept in history, but were there enough anti-kings to justify a label? Can't we just call him a usurper?

There were actually quite a few anti-kings in the Middle Ages. One of the earliest was Duke Arnulf "The Bad" of Bavaria, who spent 919-921 claiming he was the alternative to King Henry "The Fowler" who was the first king of the Ottonian dynasty in Germany. After Henry defeated Arnulf in battle, he allowed Arnulf to keep the title of Duke of Bavaria so long as he renounced forever his claim to the German throne. Arnulf wised up, and did not create any more trouble, dying peacefully in 937.

Rudolf of Swabia was an anti-king who has already been referenced when discussing Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV and his conflict with Pope Gregory VII. When Henry was out of favor, German aristocrats decided to elect an alternate, Rudolf, who lasted from 1077-1080. After he died in battle, Hermann of Luxembourg (also called "of Salm") took a chance. He lasted longer than Rudolf, from 1081-1088, but had to flee to Denmark in 1085. He returned in an alliance with Duke Welf of Bavaria, Rudolph's successor, but soon tired of the constant struggle (and being a pawn of the pope and German lords) and retired to his home. He was not heard of after 1088; we assume that was the year of Hermann's death.

The Germans either had a difficult time accepting their anointed rulers, or they just liked creating conflict. Several Holy Roman Emperors had to deal with anti-king challenges, right up until the mid-14th century!

The Walk to Canossa

On the heels of the three "Church & State" posts, it is appropriate to talk about a clash between an emperor and a pope. Today is the 936th anniversary of the lifting of the excommunication of Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV.

The roots of the conflict that led to the excommunication began in the Investiture Controversy, which can be summarized neatly: should the temporal authority of a king allow him to appoint spiritual leaders in his country, such as bishops and abbots? The practice was common, and the papacy wanted it stopped, declaring that the pope of course was the only authority who could approve spiritual appointments.

In the 11th century, Pope Gregory VII (c.1015-1085) tried to assert the papacy's right to invest bishops, but Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV (1050-1106) continued exercising the traditional practice of the kings of Germany (and other countries). The debate turned ugly when Henry called a synod of German bishops and they denounced Gregory as pope. Gregory, in turn, called a synod in spring of 1076 and excommunicated Henry, giving him one year to repent and ask forgiveness or the excommunication would become permanent.

A Christian country wanted a Christian king, and the excommunication prevented Henry from receiving the sacraments, including forgiveness for sins. This made his rule untenable, and pockets of violence against his rule broke out in Germany, ending in several German princes and prelates calling for his replacement unless the excommunication were lifted.

The 26-year-old Henry saw the difficulty of his prideful position, and offered to meet with the pope at Augsburg, in Germany. The pope agreed, but on his northward travels he began to fear that he would be putting himself into the clutches of Henry's army. On the advice of Countess Matilda of Tuscany, he repaired to the fortress of Canossa, in northern Italy, to be able to defend himself. In order to meet with the pope, then, Henry and his army had to march a further 400 miles south of Augsburg, crossing the Alps in winter. The fear that Henry would try to conquer Italy grew. Gregory gave orders that Henry was not to be allowed into the fortress.*

Canossa today, with the ruins of the fortress visible

When Henry reached Canossa in January 1077, however, he did something extraordinary. Letters written in later years by both Gregory and Henry confirm the story, if not al the details: the story says that he stood outside the gates for three days, in the snow, wearing only a hair shirt and refusing food. After three days, on 28 January, Gregory had the gates opened and Henry allowed in. Henry went onto his knees before the pope and begged his forgiveness. The excommunication was lifted. All was well.

...or was it?

Henry was once again a Christian in good standing, but Gregory refused to endorse his return to the throne of the Holy Roman Empire. Two months after his stand at Canossa, a group of German aristocrats and archbishops and bishops declared his brother-in-law Duke Rudolph of Swabia. Years later, the Protestant Reformation would see Henry as a champion of the rights of Christians against an oppressive and wayward Roman Catholic Church, but right now, the troubles were just beginning.

But that's a story for another day.

*The illustration is n 1856 woodcut made from a painting by Oscar Pletsch (1830-1888), showing Henry IV outside Canossa