SEDE VACANTE 1241-1243

November 10, 1241—June 24 (25), 1243

Background

The relationship between Church and State, Gregory IX and Frederick II, was an uneasy one. Both were ambitious and resourceful men. Each understood what the other's intentions were. And they were incompatible. Their first period of open warfare began with the Sixth Crusade, 1227-1229, which Gergory claimed that Frederick had deserted; in fact, Frederick was seriously ill. But Gregory used it as an excuse to stop Frederick's aggrandizement of his power by excommunicating him. Wrong tool, wrong man. Frederick eventually did get to the Holy Land and reached an agreement that got Jerusalem for the Christians. But the Pope pretended that it was a horrible thing for an excommunicated man to lead a Crusade. Instead of being grateful, he continued the excommunication, and tried to overthrow Frederick's throne in Sicily, revealing his own deceitfulness and treachery. Frederick returned and drove out the Pope's mercenary troops, but thought it better to reach an understanding with Gregory than to humiliate him. The result was a Treaty, which revised Frederick's position in Sicily and his relation to the papacy in the latter's favor. But Frederick desired the unification of his Kingdom of Sicily, and, despite his promises to the Pope, he went forward and achieved his aims in the Constitutions of Malfi in 1231.

The second period of mutual hostility began in 1237. Frederick was rebuilding his empire in Lombardy, and had won a considerable victory at the Battle of Cortenuova (November 27-28, 1237). At total of perhaps 35,000 soldiers were involved in the battle. The Lombard League was seriously harmed. Its army was destroyed completely, with thousands dead (some say 10,000) and over 5,000 prisoners, including 2500 from Milan alone. The League and Genoa had been Gregory's principal allies in Itally. Frederick intended to consolidate his position throughout Italy, and one step in this process was to install one of his sons, his natural son Enzio, on the island of Sardinia. This required Enzio to marry Adelasia of Torres, who was heiress to half of the island of Sardinia, a scheme which had the encouragement and blessing of the Doria family of Genoa, as part of their own schemes for aggrandizement. Since Sardinia was a papal fief, this action was sure to cause trouble with Gregory IX. In early 1239, Gregory again excommunicated the Emperor. Frederick obviously was not worried, for he immediately retailiated by expelling Gregory's favorites, the Franciscans and the Dominicans, from Lombardy. Enzio, however, spent little time in Sardinia. Instead, he was brought back to the mainland and made his father's vicar for Lombardy and Legate for the Romagna, giving him a considerable responsibility in consolidating Imperial victories in northern Italy.

The struggle between Pope and Emperor next took the form of mutual denunciations as to character and orthodoxy, and both Frederick and Gregory promoted the idea of a church council for the purpose of disposing of the other. Gregory had the power to actually move in that direction and he did so, summoning a Council to meet in Rome at Easter of 1241. It was impossible, of course, for all of these delegates to travel by land, since Frederick and his allies controlled northern and central Italy. They could get as far as Provence through friendly territory, but either at Nice or Genoa they had to take ship to get to Rome. The Papal Legate in northern Italy, Gregory of Romania, and the two cardinals who were coming from England (Oddo de Monferrato) and France (Giacomo da Pecorara, OCist.) made such arrangements as they could with the Genoese to hire ships to transport them, but there were not enough and conditions were very crowded. Despite warnings to the Genoese of likely attacks to their positions on land, plus fears of desertion or reassignment from the navy to the army, and the uncertainty of the Genoese ships' ability to take on the navy of Pisa, as reinforced by the Emperor and ships from Sicily, the Legate and Cardinals insisted on proceeding. On May 3, 1241, off the island of Giglio. The Genoese version of the story of the naval battle is given by Bartolommeo the Scribe in considerable detail. All but five of the twenty-seven Genoese ships in the armada were captured, including the ones with the Cardinals, the Legate, the Archbishop of Rouen, and the Abbots of Cluny and Clairvaux [MGH SS 18, p. 196-197]. Many of those who were captured were sent to imprisonment in Naples

In July, as Ryccardus of S. Germano records it, the Emperor had ordered his agents to confiscate all of the gold, silver, and precious objects that they found in the treasuries of the churches in his jurisdiction. This material was collected at S. Germano in the Church of S. Maria, and put in the custody of twelve well-to-do men of the Kingdom of Sicily. Some of the precious objects he allowed to be redeemed, the rest was stored at the Church of S. Maria de Grottaferrata. Along with his capture of one city after another in the Campagna of Rome, this was a terrible warning to Gregory and his Cardinals of what the Emperor was prepared to do. In August he assembled an army of vastatores at Insula Pontis Solarati and at S. Giovanni de Incarico. Its misson could not be clearer.

Death of Pope Celestine IV

Gregory IX died on August 22, 1241. The Electoral process began in August, but due to a stalemate between two candidates, Cardinal Guifredus (or Gaufredus) Castillioneus (Castiglione) and Cardinal Romanus Bonaventura. After an unpleasant summer electoral process lasting some nine weeks, and even with the temporary presence of Cardinal Oddo de Monferrato, released on parole by the Emperor Frederick, it was only with difficulty that a majority was accumulated for Cardinal Castiglione. Unhappily, he was old and ill. Or perhaps that was the point. A new election, in a different place, under different circumstances, might give the Cardinals the chance to agree on a better result. Nicolaus de Curbio says that Pope Celestine IV did not receive the pallium, was not crowned, and issued no bulls. He was dead in 17 (others say 18) days.

qui morte praeventus, pallium non recepit more papali, munus consecrationis non habuit, neque bullam, et infra XVII. dierum spatium obdormiens in Domino diem clausit extremum.

He was buried the day after his death in S. Peter's Basilica [Innocent IV, Summus orbis opifex: Anagni, July 2, 1243:  MGH Epp. II, no. 1, p.2];

Hinc est, quod felicis recordationis Celestino papa predecessore nostro, qui bone memorie Gregorio pape successerat, infra modicum temporis spatium soluto carnis debito censuali ad superos, ut credimus, ut introeat in potentias Domini, evocato, ac eius, ut moris est, exequiis in crastino celebratis, post vacationem diutinam quae peccatis exigentibus propter malitiam temporis intervenit, fratres ad tantum subrogandi pastoris officium Anagniae convenientes in unum, tandem Spiritus sancti gratia invocata in nos providentiae suae oculos iniecerunt, imbecillibus humeris fascem tanti oneris imponere dercernedo.

The Cardinals

The list of cardinals at the Election of 1241-1243 is essentially the same as that of August-October, 1241, without Cardinal Somercote or Cardinal Castiglione (Celestine IV). Two Cardinals, Oddo and Jacobus, were still held in captivity by the Emperor Frederick, though Oddo was released and joined the other cardinals in August, 1242, in time for six of the Cardinals to write a letter to the Abbot of Wardon (1242 or 1243) [Matthew of Paris, Volume IV, p. 250; Baronius-Theiner, sub anno 1243, no. 3, p. 260]. Jacobus de Pecorara was released in May, 1243.

List of Cardinals alive at the Death of Gregory IX:

1. Rinaldo dei Conti di Segni, Cardinal Bishop of Ostia and Velletri (1231-1254), formerly Cardinal Deacon of S. Eustachio (1227-1231). Protector of the Franciscans. As Legate to Viterbo, he had reconciled the city to Rome; as Legate in Lombardy, he worked to reconcile Frederick II to the Milanese. [Cardella I. 2, p. 246-247]. Protector of the Franciscans
2. Romanus Bonaventura, Cardinal Bishop of Porto (1236-1243), formerly Cardinal Deacon of S. Angelo in Pescheria (1216-1236) (died 1243)
3. Jacobus (Giacomo) da Pecorara, OCist., Cardinal Bishop of Palestrina (1231-1244) In October 1239 he was sent as a Legate by Pope Gregory IX to the princes of the west; he travelled secretly to Genoa as a pilgrim, where he took ship. As he was returning, he was captured in a naval battle between the Emperor Frederick and the Genoese near Pisa. He was held in custody by the Emperor from May, 1241, until May, 1243. (died June 25, 1244).
   
   
4. Joannes (Giovanni) de Columna (Colonna) [Romanus], second son of Oddone Colonne, Signore di Colonna, Monteporzio, Zagarolo, Gallicano e Palestrina; his younger brother Oddone was Senator of Rome in 1238 and 1241. Cardinal Priest of S. Prassede (1216-1244) Papal Legate on the VI. Crusade. (died on February 9, 1245: 'Matthew of Westminster', Flores Historiarum II, 270 ed. Luard)
5. Tommaso de Episcopo, Capuanus (da Capua), Cardinal Priest of S. Sabina (1216-1243). Major Penitentiarius. (died August 22, 1243). He and Cardinal Conti were sent as ambassadors to King Frederick in 1239 to attempt to arrange a peace [Baronius-Theiner, sub anno 1239, no. 19, p. 196]
6. Stefano de Normandis (dei Conti), Cardinal Priest of S. Maria in Trastevere (1228-1254), formerly Cardinal Deacon of S. Adriano (1216-1228) Nephew of Innocent III (dei Conti) [Moroni, Dizionario storico-ecclesiastica 48, 110-111] (died December 8, 1254).
7. Sinibaldus de Flisco (Fieschi), Cardinal Priest of S. Lorenzo in Lucina (September, 1227–December 7, 1254) [Cardella, p. 247]
   
   
8. Rainerius Capocci, OCist. [Viterbiensis], Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Cosmedin (1216-1250). Rector of the Patrimony of S. Peter in Tuscia under Innocent IV [A. Theiner, Codex diplomaticus dominii temporalis S. Sedis I (Rome 1861), p. 145, no. cclxxi]. (died 1250).
9. Egidius [Hispanus] (Gil Torres), Cardinal Deacon of SS. Cosmae et Damiani (December 1216-1255) (died 1255). He was elected Archbishop of Toledo by the Canons of the Cathedral, but Innocent IV refused to ratify his elevation, considering him to be more valuable to the universal Church at his side [Cardella I. 2, 235; Eubel I, p. 5, p. 487]
10. Petrus de Capua [Pietro da Capua, Capuanus], Cardinal Deacon of S. Georgio in velum aureum (1219-1242). Nephew of Petrus Capuanus, the Cardinal Priest of S. Marcello (died during the Sede Vacante)
11. Oddo (Odo, Oddone) de Monferrato [Frederick II calls him Oddo de Todenengo], Cardinal Deacon of S. Nicolai in Carcere Tulliano (1227-1244), later Bishop of Porto (1244-1251). Legatus a latere in England, arrived in England on June 29, 1237 [Matthew of Paris III, p. 395 Luard]. He was returning to the Curia, when, on May 3, 1241, he was captured by the Pisans and Emperor Frederick. He was finally released in August of 1242 [Ryccardus de S. Germano, MGH 19, p. 382] [Cardella, 247-248; Ciaconius-Olduin II, 81-82]
12. Ricardus Hannibaldi (Riccardo Annibaldi) de Molaria, a Roman, Cardinal Deacon of Sant' Angelo in Pescheria (1237-1274), died at Lyons in 1274, according to his memorial inscription. Archpriest of the Vatican Basilica (named by Innocent IV). Ghibelline. Opponent of the Orsini. [Cardella, 257-259]. The remains of his tomb are in the Cloister of the Lateran Basilica.

Conditions during the Interregnum

The death of Pope Celestine IV caused certain of the cardinals to flee immediately, leaving the pope unburied, and to head off for Anagni (according to Ryccardus de S. Germano [p. 381]):

Mense Novembris Celestinus papa Romae aput Sanctum Petrum obiit; et de cardinalibus quidam, eo insepulto, de Urbe fugerunt, et contulerunt se Anagniam.

Matthew of Paris [IV, p. 194 Luard], too, speaks of the time immediately after the death of Celestine IV in November. The Curia was demoralized, and only six or seven cardinals remained in Rome. Some were in hiding, some were ill, some had fled to their home towns to hide with their friends and followers; being scattered in various places, their souls too were confused. The tiniest fire of charity between one and another was exstinguished. They were like sand without lime and unable to make progress on building the house of God:

Tunc etiam temporis, Romana curia adeo viluit exturbata, adeo languit desolata, ut adhuc miserabiliter vacante sede Papali, vix sex vel septem cardinales Romae remanserunt; quibusdam raptis de medio, quibusdam aegrotantibus, quibusdam autem partibus remotis quibus nati sunt, cum amicis et parentibus suis latitantibus; dispersique locis et animis dissipati, extincto caritatis inter eos igniculo, similes facti sunt arenae sine calce, ne domus Dei, caemento murali aedificata, prosperum caperet incrementum.

Travel became difficult, and people had to be careful what they wrote in their correspondence. Fra Salimbene of Parma remarks in his Chronica that the Emperor Frederick had closed the roads and was having travellers arrested. But the Cardinals were also at odds and dispersed [p. 58]:

Mortuus est Papa Gregorius nonus, qui fuit amicus et pater et benefactor Ordinis Fratrum Minorum. Et substitutus est ei Coelestinus quartus natione Mediolanensis, qui cito obiit, scilicet infra spatium XVII. dierum. Et cessavit episcopatus ab anno MCCXLI. usque ad MCCXLIII. Quia et cardinales discordes erant et dispersi. Et Fridericus vias clauserat usque adeo ut milti caperentur. Timebat enim ne aliquis transiret, qui Papa fieret. Nam et ego ipse tunc temporis captus pluries fui. Et tunc didici et excogitavi scribere litteras diversis modis sub cautela.

All of this is discreetly omitted by Innocent IV's biographer, chaplain and confessor, Nicolaus de Curbio ("Life of Innocent IV", ch. 7 Muratori, p. 592a). He places the entire burden for the long interregnum on Emperor Frederick. He says:

Post vacationem diutinam, quae per annum et decem menses et dies sex, peccatis exigentibus, et propter temporis malitiam intervenit, Sacrosanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinales, qui per multiplices Frederici Imperatoris persecutiones et dissensiones fuerat per diversa loca, tanquam oves non habentes pastorem dispersi, ad tantum subrogandum pastorem Anagniae in majori Ecclesia convenerunt.

But the Emperor Frederick made another effort to come to an understanding with Rome. He sent ambassadors—the Master of the House of the Teutonic Knights, the Archbishop of Bari (Marinus Filangieri), and Master Ruggiero Porcastrellus—to the Roman Curia in February of 1242, to discuss a peace. This is perhaps what Matthew of Paris {IV, pp. 239-240 Luard) is referring to when he remarks that the Emperor had advised the Cardinals that they ought to assemble together and elect a pope. It was the ignorant who were saying that he was taking advantage of the cardinals' dissentions to try to keep a pope from being elected. But it was in fact the cardinals who were delaying. They immediately replied to the Emperor that, if he really wanted peace with the Church, he should immediately release the prelates he was holding in prisons:

Diebus quoque sub eisdem, dominus imperator F[rethericus] significavit cardinalibus, corpore dispersis et voluntate dissentientibus, ut in unum convenientes unanimiter Papam eligerent. Asserebat enim in hoc eorum crimine etiam ipsummet notam infamiae non minimam contraxisse. Credebatur enim et dicebatur a multis, veritatem rei ignorantibus, quod ipse principaliter ecclesiae Romanae promotionem impediret, et vacationem Sedis Apostolicae procuraret. At ipsi cardinales, non adhuc inter se saltem scintillantem sub cinere caritatis igniculum invenientes, impediente antiquo humani generis inimico, nec concordes nec convenientes Papam eligere voluerunt. Verumtamen instanter dominum imperatorem postulabant, ut si se pacis ac libertatis ecclesiasticae haberi cuperet aemulatiorem, sub bonae pacis spe certissima, quos adhuc tenuit incarceratos praelatos ecclesiae liberos abire permitteret.

Shortly thereafter, on February 12, his eldest son and principal heir, Henry, died. Coming within weeks of the death of his wife, this must have been a terrible blow to the Emperor.

In March of 1242, perhaps in response to his negotiations with the Cardinals, the Emperor dispatched one of his captains, Thomas de Montenigro to Tibur, and in April the two Cardinals, Oddo and Jacobus, were likewise sent to Tibur, under the command of Dybbold de Dragone. In May the Imperial army was assembled near Reate (Rieti) in Marsian territory under the command Andreas de Cicala, Captain of the Kingdom. In an act of what could only be called provocation, the Romans marched out and destroyed the olive orchards and vinyards of Tibur. In June the Emperor moved from Apulia to Capua, then to S. Germano, Aquinum, Sora, to Avezanum (Avezzano). In July, he and the army attacked the neighborhood of the City of Rome, whereupon he returned to his own territory. Shortly thereafter, in August, he released Cardinal Oddo de Monferrato, but Cardinal Giacomo de Pecorara and Master John of Toledo were removed again to a castle near S. Germano. Frederick was again willing to make concessions, but he looked for something in return. In August of 1242, the Emperor was back in the Kingdom of Naples, and in September of 1242 he was entertaining Raymond VII (VIII) the Count of Toulouse, at Malfi. He and his guests spent the autumn and winter in the pleasant atmosphere of the south, enjoying the pursuits of the imperial court. The Cardinals, however, seem to have made no effort to reciprocate, and the Vacancy continued. Life without a difficult master like Pope Gregory could have its pleasures too.

But in February, the call went out for a general muster on the First of April. In May of 1243, according to Ryccardus of S. Germano [MGH 19, 383-384], the Emperor Frederick came north again from Capua

Mense Madii [1243] imperator ipse de Capua movens, et per Sanctum Germanum transitum habens et per Aquinum, aput Flagellam se contulit; ubi faciens aliquandiu moram, inde per Campaniam, facto ponte super flumen Ceperani, transitum habens, super Urbem vadit, ubi turres nonnullas funditus fecit everti, faciens in aliis etiam quam potuit vastitatem; et tunc ad preces cardinalium ab Urbe discedens, est reversus in regnum. Item mense Madii Praenestinus episcopus imperatore mandante liberatus est, et aput Anagniam ad cardinales cum honore remissus.

This is confirmed and amplified by Matthew of Paris (IV, pp. 240-241 Luard):  

Imperator igitur, dictis cardinalium fidem adhibens indubitatam, et firmiter credens tam Papam eligendum, quam ipsos cardinales pacem regno et sacerdotio congruam et honorabilem provisuros, omnes quos habebat incarceratos praelatos et legatos liberos sine aliquo impedimento vel redemptione liberaliter abire permisit.

Finally, the College of Cardinals was at its full strength of twelve members. Eight votes were needed for a canonical election of a pope. And Frederick expected results. The liberated Cardinals, however, unmindful of the agreement with the Emperor that brought their release, simply joined in the behavior of the uncooperative cardinals, making Frederick appear to be a fool:

Cardinales autem adhuc obstinati, et in dissensione et odio mutuo permanentes, et imperatorem quasi pro deluso habentes, seminante zizania inter eos Sathana, ne adhuc voluerunt convenire, ut unanimiter Spiritus Sancti gratiam invocando postularent, ut ecclesiae universali et Papali sedi feliciter ac rite providerent; cum tamen nuper liberati a carcere imperiali in districto veritatis examine et verbo veritatis, quae est Deus, promisissent ipsi imperatori, suo liberatori, ut ipsi efficaciter pacem ecclesiae et imperio convenientem et sedi Papali consilium pro posse suo procurarent.

Frederick was not pleased. He launched his army at Rome. The citizens complained to him that it was not their behavior that was causing the trouble in Church and State, but that of the Cardinals, who had dispersed and were in hiding in various cities. (In fact, some of them were already at Anagni at the time of the release of Cardinal de Pecorara in May)   Frederick therefore ordered the seige of Rome to be lifted, and instead ordered that all of the possessions and churches of the Cardinals and the towns of the Church should be looted [Matthew of Paris IV, p. 241 Luard]:

Cum autem vidisset imperator haec effectu caruisse, et se sua spe defraudatum, in iram excanduit vehementem. Et congregato exercitu copioso, ex novem aciebus constituto, qualibet ex quinque milibus armatorum equitum existente, Romam ex magna parte obsedit ratione eorum, qui dicti scismatis in detrimentum ecclesiae et imperii tam civium quam cardinalium, procuratores et fautores esse videbantur. At cives, causa quorum urbem expugnare proposuit se legaliter excusaverunt, suam sufficienter purgantes innocentiam, et asserentes cardinales tam locis quam cordibus [dissidentes] diversis urbibus dispersos fuisse et latitantes. Jussit igitur imperator obsidionem solvi, et edicto imperiali proclamari ac juberi, ut omnes possessiones et ecclesiae cardinalium et civitates ecclesiae ab ipso exercitu depopularentur.

The Saracens in the Imperial army were allowed to take Albano, which they completely destroyed. The devastation went on through May and June. Finally, the Cardinals got the point and they begged the Emperor to relent. He did so, and returned to his Kingdom. The Cardinals quickly assembled at Anagni and elected Cardinal Sinibaldo Fieschi of Genoa, a relative of the Counts of Lavania, as Pope Innocent IV on June 25, 1243 (Nicholas de Curbio) or on the Feast of St. John the Baptist, June 24 (Matthew of Paris). At the time of the election the Emperor Frederick was at Melfi, where, when he heard the news, he ordered the Te Deum to be sung throughout his kingdom [Ryccardus de S. Germano, p. 384].

The internal dynamics of the Election are completely unknown.

Election and Coronation

Innocent IV was crowned (according to Matthew of Paris) on the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul, June 29, or on June 28 (according to Nicholas de Curbio). Panvinio (Epitome, p. 160) says he was crowned at St. Peter's Basilica on June 29, by Cardinal Rainerius Capocci, OCist., Cardinal Deacon of S. Maria in Cosmedin.

In 1244, during the Quatuor Temporum of Pentecost, on Saturday, May 28, Innocent IV created twelve cardinals [Nicholas de Curbio, "Life of Innocent IV, ch. 12; Eubel I, p. 7]:

Cernens igitur Dominus Papa se plurimum Fratrum indigere consilio, cum non essent tunc, nisi septem in Ecclesia Cardinales, primo anno Pontificatus sui in Ecclesia S. Petri Apostoli de Urbe Sabbato infra octavam Penetcostes, XII. Cardinalium, videlicet trium Episcoporum et trium Presbyterorum ac sex Diaconorum ordinatione decentissime Ecclesiam adornavit.