Medieval Italy by Pasquale Villari

Author:Pasquale Villari
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ozymandias Press

FROM THE DEATH OF COUNTESS MATILDA TO THE DEATH OF ROGER II. (1115-1154)

~

ON THE 24TH OF JULY, 1115, the childless Countess Matilda, who was by that time separated from her last husband, died at the advanced age of seventy. Her death embittered afresh the contest between the Church and the Empire. She left the whole of her lands to the Church; but such a disposition could evidently only refer to her allodial possessions, for the lands she held in fief naturally reverted to the Empire. And as it was not in all cases easy to separate the one from the other, a series of vexed questions arose. Furthermore, Matilda’s death broke up the Marquisate of Tuscany, which the Empire was not able to maintain united under its representative, while no successor to Countess Matilda could be found. The consequence of this state of things was that those Tuscan towns over which the Marquises had exercised more or less indirect authority took advantage of the propitious moment to declare themselves independent Communes. This happened especially in the case of Florence, where a Consular Government, which marked the commencement of the glorious history of her liberty, was instituted immediately after Matilda’s death.

Meanwhile the struggle over investitures was revived, and the current of opinion among the clergy was so adverse to the Emperor that Paschal II. was at last forced to condemn his own Privilegium on the 10th of March, 1116. In the presence of the Council he exclaimed, “Feci autem ut homo quia sunt pulvis et cinis.” Nevertheless, the Imperial party was so strong in Rome that the Pope had to fly for safety. Of all this the Communes naturally took advantage to make their independence more complete. In Tuscany the Imperial Vicars, who had been sent there to reconstitute the Marquisate, were repulsed by force of arms, and in Lombardy a still more violent contest was preparing. Henry V., however, entered Rome surrounded by his partisans, almost in triumph, and kept the Easter feast there in 1117. He now desired to be crowned a second time, to cross the Tiber, and to make a solemn procession through the streets of the city—a satisfaction which had been denied him in 1111. But on his approach the Pope had again fled from Rome and the Cardinals dared not themselves assume the responsibility. At last Cardinal Burdino, moved by personal ambition, consented, and the Emperor, having attained his object, made peace with the city and departed, leaving Rome at the mercy of the nobles. Paschal II. was then able to return, escorted, however, by his armed followers and friends, for party strife still raged, but he died soon after, on the 21st of June, 1118.

On the 24th Gelasius II. was elected, but the Frangipani, who were his enemies, at once possessed themselves of his person and imprisoned him in one of their towers. The people, however, rose in his favour, liberated him, and reconducted him to the Lateran. The adverse party appealed to Henry V.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.