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EUROPE: CATASTROPHE ANO
REVIVAL?JíT~~
lt is emperor against pope as
the Hohenstaufen rulers seek
to make the Holy Roman Em–
pire a
messi~nic
kingdom of
God on earth. The emperors
fail; their empire is shattered
by the papacy. With the de–
struction of the Holy Roman
Empire, chaos settles over
Europe.
~
to
EARTH
ood has placed
no more than two pow-
ers," claimed Frederick
Barbarossa, emperor of
the Holy Roman Empire, "one Pope
and one Emperor."
Pope vs. Emperor
Of course, in Frederick's eyes, the
office of emperor was at least one
ootch above that of the pope. On
the other haod, the pope felt his
office to be the more important one.
"What were the Franks till Pope
by
Paul William Kroll
22
Zacharias welcomed Pepin?" Pope
Hadrian thundered at Barbarossa.
"The chair of Peter has given aod
can withdraw its gifts."
Frederick's equally tough-minded
reply was that he held his empire
from God alone. " By the ordination
of God I both am called,
and am,
Emperor of the Romans," Frederick
informed the pope.
The confiict between the papacy
and the Hohenstaufens was inevi–
table. Each saw the other as a threat
to bis power. Eventually, the con–
fiict ripped apart both powers. But
ultimate fracturing of the empire
would not occur
in
Frederick Barba–
rossa's day.
Frederick I's reign "is the most
brilliant in the annals of the ero–
pire," James Bryce, the historian of
the Holy Roman Empire, observed.
The territory of the empire was
larger under Charlemagne; its
strength was greater under Henry
Ill. But under Frederick I , the ero–
pire reached a splendor, a charis–
matic, half-mythic stature
it
had
never previously enjoyed.
Frederick himself added the epi–
thet "Holy" to his empire. The ero–
pire undertook its own mystical
religious burden. "To the emperor
belongs the protection of the whole
worJd," Bishop Otto of Freising
claimed. To Otto, "the emperor is a
living law upon earth."
Frederick 1 was not embarrassed
to accept this celestial calling. And
he could geoerally back it up with
power. Germany was proud of her
hero, and was calm; no rebellious
prince or noble dared to disturb the
public peace. Even the German
bishops were faithful to Frederick,
in opposition to Rome.
Frederick 1, in the words of James
Bryce, "crowned a glorious
li1i
íth
a happy death." Frederick
aps
the greatest of the crusade , was, at