Innocent goes on:
But if the count or his wife contravene in any way the oath that they have sworn,
either by their own action or through another, then, in addition to the crime of
perjury, they will incur the sentence of excommunication on their persons and of
interdict on their land, and they will lose every right, if that is appropriate, not
only in those lands but also in the kingdom of Sicily.
This is not the end, though. The pope moves into an encomium:
We have found the count to be a man of industry and prudence, and we believe
that he fears God, and puts the salvation of his soul before all else. He hasfirmly
promised us that he will render so great a service, God willing, to the king and the
kingdom...that...he will merit to obtain still more.
A little while later, in his second letter, Innocent addresses Frederick
himself–although the letter was actually meant for the council of
familiares, who were governing the island of Sicily on the young king’s
behalf:
Therefore, we admonish and exhort your royal serenity in the Lord that, in so
far as it can be believed about any man, you should have no hesitation about the
count. Rather, you should trust him because, even if he is not commissioned
by you or yourfamiliares,youwillfind him more truly loyal and devoted than
your men...and, after God and us, the most powerful defender of you and
your kingdom.
Perhaps the most contorted defence of Innocent is provided by theGesta,
which comments that Markward‘would have usurped the crown [of
Sicily] for himself, except that he feared the count–to whom, with the
king dead, the kingdom would come by hereditary right through his
wife’. In this way, the pope’s decision to back Walter is presented as
saving Frederick’s life.^33 The truth is, though, that both Innocent and the
Gestaprotest too much. All of their arguments cannot negate the basic
point: that the supposed shield and guardian of the Hohenstaufen heir
had allowed the rival family of Tancred back into the kingdom in force.
Hence, it is quite understandable that so many Hohenstaufen loyalists,
such as Walter of Palear, broke with the pope at around this time.^34
Moreover, we should not minimize the damage that Innocent’s decision
did to the young Frederick’s relationship with the papacy in the future.
He would always remember Walter III as one of the greatest threats to
himself and his inheritance. He later recalled, with bitterness, that when
(^33) All these translations are adapted fromThe Deeds of Pope Innocent III, chs. 25, 33, 35.
(^34) See Van Cleve,Markward of Anweiler, 149–50.
40 Breakthrough and High Point (c. 1191–1237)