Treaty of Constance

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King Friedrich I, called Barbarossa

The Constance Treaty was between Pope Eugene III. and King Friedrich I. and is named after Constance on Lake Constance, where Friedrich swore the contract on March 23, 1153.

After Frederick was elected German king, negotiations began between the royal court and the Roman curia to determine the conditions for an imperial coronation. The result was the Treaty of Constance.

History of origin

The negotiators agreed in December 1152 or January 1153 in Rome (DF. I. 51). It was taken over verbatim in the confirmation by Friedrich Barbarossa (DF. I. 52). The use of the imperial title imperator in the intitulatio is striking . This could be related to the involvement of Wibald von Stablo in the editing of the document. The texts have only survived in written form: the negotiating document in Wibald's letter book, the actual contract document with Albinus, in the Liber censuum des Cencius and in the copies of the most important privileges of the Roman Church, which were laid out during the Council of Lyon in 1245 ( Rouleaux de Cluny ) .

Frederick's negotiators were the bishops Anselm von Havelberg and Hermann von Konstanz , Count Ulrich IV von Lenzburg and two representatives of the northern Italian nobility. The pope and cardinals gave their consent in the presence of the negotiators, and a high Reich ministerial swore the agreement for the king, as provided for in the agreement.

Witnesses in the ratification document were the German negotiators, Archbishop Arnold of Cologne , the Bishops of Como and Chur, Abbot Wibald von Stablo and the chaplain Gottfried von Viterbo . Among the lay princes are Duke Welf VI. , Margrave Hermann von Baden , Count Werner von Lenzburg and the Reich Ministerial Chamberlain Anselm.

content

In the treaty, King Frederick promised to subdue the rebellious Roman Commune, to return the city to the rule of the Pope and not to make peace with the Romans or the Normans in Sicily without papal consent, to restore and to restore rule over the Roman Church for the Pope secure as well as oppose Byzantine ownership claims in Italy. In return, the Pope promised to crown Frederick emperor and to support him in the exercise of power, to impose the ban on subversives in the empire and to participate in the expulsion of the Byzantines from Italy. As part of the contract negotiations, Friedrich I also managed to get the Pope to replace the Archbishop of Mainz and the Bishops of Minden, Hildesheim and Eichstätt, who were close to the Guelph side, who were hostile to him, for more acceptable incumbents. In addition, Barbarossa's marriage to Adela von Vohburg was annulled. Since the Magdeburg double election was resolved a little later in the interests of Friedrich, nothing stood in the way of his trip to Rome from the papal side.

Promise of the king to the pope

  1. There should be no peace without the consent of the Pope between the King and the Romans, as well as with Roger of Sicily. In addition, Frederick should help subjugate the Romans to the Pope.
  2. Friedrich is supposed to protect the regalia of Saint Peter as guardian of the Holy Roman Church and help to regain regalia and then protect what has been regained.
  3. He should not leave any land on this side of the Adriatic Sea to the Greek king ( Manuel I. Komnenos , 1143–1180 Emperor of Byzantium ).
  4. He should do all this without cunning or malicious intent.

Promise of the Pope to the King

  1. As soon as he arrives to the full power of his crown, he will crown Friedrich as emperor without difficulty or opposition.
  2. In accordance with his office, the Pope will contribute to maintaining, increasing and expanding the honor of the empire (see honor imperii ). If someone's honor is shaken, then he will admonish them and ultimately excommunicate them.
  3. He should not leave any land on this side of the Adriatic Sea to the Greek king.
  4. All of this is to be done without cunning and malicious intent and can only be changed by the agreement of both sides.

literature

  • Peter Rassow : Honor imperii. The new policy of Friedrich Barbarossa 1152–1159. New edition supplemented by the text of the Constance Treaty. Oldenbourg: Munich 1961.
  • Johannes Laudage : Alexander III. and Friedrich Barbarossa. (Supplements to JF Böhmer, Regesta Imperii 16). Böhlau: Köln, Weimar, Wien 1997, pp. 33–62.

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