Heroes of Modern Europe

								

state to give service to the poor and despised.  He loved Nature and
her creatures, speaking of the birds as "noble" and holding close
communion with them.  The saintly Italian was opposed to the warlike
doctrines of St Dominic; he made peace very frequently between the two
parties known as Guelfs and Ghibellines.
Welf was a common name among the dukes of Bavaria, and the Guelfs
were, in general, supporters of the Papacy and this ducal house,
whereas the Waiblingen (Ghibellines) received their name from a castle
in Swabia, a fief of the Hohenstaufen enemies of the Pope.  It was
under a famous emperor of the House of Swabia that the struggle between
Papacy and Empire, "the two swords," gained attention from the rest of
Europe.
In the eleventh century, Pope Gregory VII had won many notable
victories in support of his claims to temporal power.  He had brought
Henry IV, the proud Emperor, before whose name men trembled, to sue for
his pardon at Canossa, and had kept the suppliant in the snow, with
bare head and bare feet, that he might {15} endure the last
humiliations.  Then the fortune of war changed, and the Pope was seized
in the Church of St Peter at Rome by Cencio, a fiery noble, who held
him in close confinement.  It was easier to lord it over princes who
were hated by many of their own subjects than to quell the animosity
which was roused by attempted domination in the Eternal City.
The Pope was able sometimes to elect a partisan of the Guelf party as
emperor.  On the other hand, an emperor had been heard to lament the
election of a staunch friend to the Papacy because he believed that no
pope could ever be a true Ghibelline.
Certain princes of the House of Hohenstaufen were too proud to
acknowledge an authority that threatened to crush their power in Italy.
Henry VI was a ruler dreaded by contemporaries as merciless to the last
degree.  He burned men alive if they offended him, and had no
compunction in ordering the guilty to be tarred and blinded.  He was of
such a temper that the Pope had not the courage to demand from him the
homage of a vassal.  It was Frederick II, Henry's son, who came into
conflict with the Papacy so violently that all his neighbours watched
in terror.
Pope Gregory IX would give no quarter, and excommunicated the Emperor
because he had been unable to go on a crusade owing to pestilence in
his army.  The clergy were bidden to assemble in the Church of St Peter
and to fling down their lighted candles as the Pope cursed the Emperor
for his broken promise, a sin against religion.  The news of this
ceremony spread through the world, the two parties appealing to the
princes of Europe for aid in fighting out this quarrel.  Frederick
defied the papal decree, and went to win back Jerusalem from the
infidels as soon as his soldiers had {16} recovered.  He took the city,
but had to crown himself as king since none other would perform the