Pope Adrian IV: An Historical Sketch

by Richard Raby

Historians are agreed that Adrian had no intention, in the present case, of practically asserting,—as Frederic in his politic wrath said he did,—the feudal superiority in question. The English pope, however, was not the less a stickler for that superiority in theory, as well as Cardinal Roland and the rest of the hierarchy;—a superiority which Pope Gregory VII. supported by the feelings and convictions of Christendom at his day, taught as follows: that the Pope, as Vicar on earth of our Lord in heaven, ought to stand superior over every human power; and sought to realize it as the only means of reforming the frightful disorders of that age.

Frederic Barbarossa, on the other hand, took, as was natural to a man like him, bent on crushing the spiritual beneath the temporal power, the opposite side of the question;—a side which was just as repugnant to the feeling of the overwhelming majority of Christendom then, as it was a century before; nay, which was at variance with his own conscience, if one may judge from his conduct at a later period, when, abandoned by fortune, and his pride humbled in the dust, he was driven to hearken to its voice. For the present, he proclaimed the only doctrine which his pride could brook, namely,—that he held his crown from God alone, to whose Servant, the Pope, it simply belonged to perform the ceremony of coronation. This doctrine of his imperial dignity he caused to be stated in a circular, which he addressed to all the provinces of Germany in vindication of his behaviour towards the papal legates:—a measure rendered imperative by the religious temper of the age. In this circular, [1] he denounces all, who differ from its views, as enemies of the doctrine of our Lord and His Apostles, as, in short, their slanderers; and, among other extravagancies of his virulence, declares that one cause, among the rest, why he so unceremoniously dismissed the legates, was the discovery which he had made of blank papers in their possession, ready signed and sealed; which they could fill up at pleasure, and which were meant to empower them to dismantle the altars, plunder the sacred vessels, and deface the crucifixes in the German churches. He further informs the bishops of Germany, that he, and he alone, it is who really strives to protect their liberties against the Roman See, whose yoke they groaned under.

Those, however, to whom this consoling piece of news was sent, knew but too well what a mockery the word liberty was in the mouth of a man who like Frederic had long ago trampled on the Concordat of Worms, and who disposed of the benefices of the Church after the arbitrary manner of Henry IV., to subserve his political ends.

As companion-piece to his circular, Frederic published an edict forbidding, in future, all correspondence between his clergy and Rome.

The account which the cardinals Roland and Bernard gave, on their arrival at Rome, of the way in which they had been treated by Frederic, created a lively sensation at the papal court. The imperial party in the conclave sought to exculpate their patron in the face of the reproaches heaped upon him, by ascribing all the blame to the ignorance and mismanagement of the legates. In the midst of the conflicting opinions of his clergy, Pope Adrian deeply felt the indignity which he had suffered in the persons of his representatives, but did not allow himself to be betrayed into any violent manifestation of displeasure; on the contrary, after the first excitement of his feelings was over, he wisely resolved to do all in his power to conciliate the emperor, without derogating from his own dignity. To this end he wrote a brief, of which the substance is as follows, to all the archbishops and bishops of Germany:

"As often as anything is attempted in the Church contrary to the honor of God and the salvation of souls, it should be the care of our brother bishops, and of all who profess to act according to the Holy Spirit, to chastise such deeds as have been wickedly done, in a manner pleasing to God. Our illustrious son Frederic, Emperor of the Romans, we say it with profound sorrow, hath lately done what, so far as we know, is without example in the times of his predecessors. For, on our sending him two of our worthiest brethren,—namely, Cardinals Bernard of St. Clement and Roland of St. Mark, our chancellor,—he appeared at first to receive them with cordiality; but the next day, when they read to him our letter, he broke out into such violence of passion at a certain expression contained therein, namely, 'We have conferred on thee the benefit of the crown,' that it is lamentable to think of the reproaches which he is said to have cast at them, of the insults which he obliged them to bear from him, of the dishonourable manner in which he dismissed them from his presence, and drove them out of his states. And then he issued an edict, forbidding you to leave the kingdom to visit the Apostolic See. Concerning which things, though we are much troubled, yet we derive the greatest consolation from this, that he did not go to such lengths by your advice or by that of his princes. Wherefore, we feel assured, that by your advice it will be easy to recover him from the infatuation of his mind. For which reason, Brethren, since it is plain that in this matter not only our, but your cause, and that of the entire Church is at stake, we exhort you in the Lord to oppose yourselves as a wall before the house of God, and to spare no pains in reclaiming as soon as possible our said son to the right path; taking especial care, at the same time, that Raynald, his chancellor, and the Count Palatine, who dared to vomit out the greatest blasphemies against our said legates and the Roman Church, make full and public satisfaction, to the end, that as many ears were wounded by their virulent speech, so many may be reclaimed by their return to the right path. And let our said son reflect on past and present events, and enter on that path along which it is known that Justinian and other Catholic emperors walked; as, by following their example, he will not fail to obtain honor on earth and happiness in heaven. You, too, should you succeed in reclaiming him, will at once offer a grateful tribute of obedience to St. Peter, and assert your own and the Church's liberty. At all events, our illustrious son will learn from your admonitions,—will learn from the infallible Gospel,—that the most holy Roman Church, built by God's hand on a most firm rock, however much she may be shaken by the winds, will yet endure throughout all ages under the Lord's protection."

This brief threw those to whom it was addressed into no small perplexity; for while, on the one hand, they secretly leaned to the cause of the Church, they had become on the other so cowed and truckling under the iron despotism of the emperor, that they felt themselves unequal to the task of responding to the pope as their duty prompted; so that they resolved, after some deliberation on the subject, to lay the brief before Frederic, and to square their reply according to his remarks. These were a tissue of the most contemptible subterfuges and trifling,—as for example, "that he had issued no edict against his clergy passing into Italy as pilgrims, and all others that wished to go thither, on reasonable grounds, attested by their bishops, could still do so; that he was chiefly actuated in his proceedings by the wish to correct those abuses under which his churches were overtaxed, and the discipline of his convents almost ruined; that, though God had raised the Church by means of the state, yet the Church now sought to overthrow the state—a requital which he (Frederic) viewed as by no means divine; that the evil designs of the Church against the Empire were not only proved by her writings, but by the pictures, which, contrary to the imperial wishes, were allowed to continue undefaced at Rome, under one of which, representing the Emperor Conrad kneeling to the Pope, and receiving the crown, an inscription asserted that he did so as the vassal of his Holiness." For the rest, the bishops begged of the pope to appease their sovereign by apologetic letters, so that the Church might continue at peace, and the Empire lose none of its dignity.

Adrian smiled at the perverse spirit of pride which this reply from the German hierarchy showed Frederic to be possessed of; and took only the firmer resolution to get the better of him, by opposing a calm dignity to his passion. He accordingly selected Cardinals Henry and Hyacinth,—men of more experience in diplomacy than the rest of their brethren in the conclave,—to go as legates on a new embassy to the emperor; who in the meanwhile had arrived at Augsburg to review his troops, previous to his second invasion of Italy. The two cardinals, after being plundered and imprisoned on their passage of the Alps, into Tyrol, by robber knights, who infested those parts, and, aware of the quarrel between the emperor and the pope, thought they might thus turn it to account; but were severely punished for their pains by Henry, duke of Bavaria, who freed the sufferers; enabled them to reach Augsburg in safety; where they had audience of the emperor.

The brief which they read to him from the pope, expressed the sorrow of his Holiness at finding how greatly the term "beneficium" had been misunderstood, and declared that no other than its ordinary meaning in the Latin language was intended by it, and that the meaning of feoff had not for a moment been entertained. Moreover, the word "contulimus" in speaking of "conferring" the crown, was explained to have meant, not that his Holiness had done so as though the emperor were his vassal, but that he had simply set it on the emperor's head; an act whereby it might be supposed that, at least, a feeling of thankfulness and goodwill would be produced.

The brief ascribed to maliciously disposed persons the wrong interpretations given to the pope's words, which had so deeply incensed the emperor; and concluded by recommending to his good favour the legates now accredited to him.