that coyly referred to the imperial crown as the pope’s beneficium—“benefit” or,
more ominously, “fief.” “A great tumult and uproar arose from the princes of the
realm at so insolent a message,” wrote Rahewin, a cleric who had access to many of
the documents and people involved at the time. “It is said that one of the [papal]
ambassadors, as though adding sword to flame, inquired: ‘From whom then does he
have the empire, if not from our lord the pope?’ Because of this remark, anger
reached such a pitch that one of [the princes]... threatened the ambassador with his
sword.”^8
Frederick calmed his supporters, but in the wake of this incident, he countered
the “holy church” by coining an equally charged term for his empire: sacrum
imperium—the “sacred empire.” The idea of “holiness” extended to the emperor as
well. In 1165 Frederick exhumed the body of Charlemagne, enclosed the dead
emperor’s arm in a beautiful reliquary casket, and set the wheels of canonization in
motion. Soon thereafter, Pascal III, Frederick’s antipope, declared Charlemagne a
saint. (See the list of Popes and Antipopes to 1500 on p. 341 to see the many
competing popes of Barbarossa’s reign.)
Finally, Frederick had to deal with Italy. As emperor, he had claims on the whole
peninsula, but he had no hope—or even interest—in controlling the south. By
contrast, northern Italy beckoned: added to his own inheritance in Swabia (in
southwestern Germany), its rich cities promised to provide him with both a compact
power base and the revenues that he needed.
Taking northern Italy was, however, nothing like, say, Philip’s conquest of
Normandy, which was used to ducal rule. The communes of Italy were themselves
states (autonomous cities, yes, but each also with a good deal of surrounding land,
their contado), jealous of their liberties, rivalrous, and fiercely patriotic. Frederick
made no concessions to their sensibilities. Emboldened by theories of sovereignty that
had been elaborated by the revival of Roman law, he marched into Italy and, at the
diet of Roncaglia (1158), demanded imperial rights to taxes and tolls. He brought the
Four Doctors (see p. 179) from Bologna to Roncaglia to hear court cases. Insisting
that the conquered Italian cities be governed by his own men, Frederick appointed
podestà (city managers) who were often German-speaking and heavy-handed. No
sooner had the podestà at Milan taken up his post, for example, than he immediately
ordered an inventory of all taxes due the emperor and levied new and demeaning
labor duties. He even demanded that the Milanese carry the wood and stones of their
plundered city to Pavia, to build new houses there. This was a double humiliation:
Milan had been at war with Pavia. (For all of these cities, see Map 6.5.) Expressing
