Excommunication was the act of separating someone from communion and the treatment or relationship with other people of the same Christian faith. And how did the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire come to be separated from the rest of Christians?
Actually, being excommunicated was not unusual at the time, as other notable monarchs and emperors had been excommunicated before even Frederick I Barbarossa, including the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, Henry IV or Henry V. So being excommunicated was nothing new for our protagonist.
It is important to note that in the case of the common history of the empire and the papacy, it was very usual for different emperors to be excommunicated by successive popes who took office at the Holy See. The reason for these numerous and diverse excommunications by the papacy were the constant attempts by the emperors to assert absolute power in their territories, against the power of the Holy See and its visible head, which was the Pope. This assertion of imperial power was understood as above the power of the Holy See and the Pope, allowing them to exercise their power in the election of church offices for their own political interest (simony) and paying fealty and vassalage to the emperor over that paid to the Pope himself. The Emperor was also considered above papal power because they were seen as legitimate heirs of the Western Roman Empire, and therefore those who should govern in Italian lands, with their capital being the city of Rome, leaving the power of the Holy See below that of the Empire.
This idea of imperial supremacy spread over centuries before, during, and after the excommunication of Frederick I Barbarossa himself, as we have already noted in previous lines. So it is not surprising to find that the case of Frederick I Barbarossa could be very different from his predecessors in the imperial office.
Continuing with the idea held in the Empire of reclaiming its power above the Papacy, and other kingdoms and monarchs, whom the emperors referred to as "little kings", Frederick not only had a continuationist intention of imposing his will and power against the Holy See but also aimed to unite under his hands territories that once belonged to the already extinct Western Roman Empire for more than six centuries. For this purpose, Italian territories were fundamental, and it is over these that he would end up having a tumultuous relationship with various popes from his ascension to the imperial office until his unexpected death on the way to the Holy Land.
The document we will focus on belongs to the Toledo Cathedral Archive (ACT), and it is this document that gives rise to this article. The document is located in the previously mentioned archive with the following signature: A.6.C.1.5a. It was sent by Pope Alexander III and dated on April 4, 1160, in the city of Anagni to the Archbishop of Toledo, who at that time was Juan de Segovia, a Castilian ecclesiastic who held the positions of Bishop of Segovia and later Archbishop of Toledo (Martín Gamero, 1862). In it, the Pope informs the Archbishop of Toledo about the actions of Emperor Frederick against papal power, practicing simony and taking advantage of the weakness of the previous Pope, Alexander III, to gain more territories in Italian lands and appoint church offices loyal to him. Therefore, Alexander III communicates the excommunication of the emperor for these grievances towards papal power.
This type of informative documents were common from the Holy See to the rest of its bishops, archbishops…, making them aware of the current situation of the emperor, so any action or communication in favor of him would be taken as a direct affront to papal power. On the other hand, it served as a means of communication to other monarchs of Western Christendom through the highest and most important ecclesiastical positions of these kingdoms who maintained close relations with their monarchs, since they were active agents in the religious and political life of the same. Showing them the information and consequences that actions against the Holy See entailed.
That is why these documents could be found in numerous ecclesiastical seats distributed throughout the rest of Christian kingdoms, reaching as far as the episcopal seat of Toledo, regardless of whether this excommunication had or not repercussions on the clerics of peninsular kingdoms or their monarchs, who at that time were Alfonso VIII in Castile, Ramón Berenguer IV of Barcelona in Aragon (due to his marriage with Petronila) or Sancho IV of Navarre.
The document was dated in the city of Anagni because it was one of the numerous papal cities where they often resided during some periods and which were near Rome (about 50 kilometers away in southern Lazio). At the time of dispatching the papal missive to the Archbishop of Toledo, the Holy Father was in that locality due to the numerous revolts that Romans had been carrying out against papal power in the capital city, and which they negotiated against the Pope with Frederick Barbarossa himself (García Osuna, 2013; Diago Hernando, 2003).
The specific acts that led to Frederick's excommunication were the triggers of the document mentioned here and which we will explain next. In 1159, following the death of the previous Pope, Alexander III, the cardinal conclave would convene for the election of a new Holy Father. Among all candidates, two would stand out: one in favor of the emperor's intentions to assert power in Italian lands and another against imperial intentions. The latter was Alexander III who assumed the position with serious intentions of maintaining and elevating papal power above the rest, including that of Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa. The first candidate, who was favored by the emperor, would be proclaimed Pope also under the name of Victor IV (1159-1164), but lacking support from important ecclesiastics in other monarchies, he was labeled as "anti-pope". Although the emperor tried to win favor with other monarchies, little could be done for him to be accepted against Alexander III. As a result of the two papal proclamations, both pontiffs excommunicated each other on September 27, 1159 (Cardini, 1987; García Osuna, 2013).
Precisely these constant attempts by the emperor to assert his candidate as new Pope of Christendom would finally lead to Alexander III excommunicating Frederick on March 24, 1160, resulting in the document here discussed. This was one of the consequences of this excommunication that his subjects were freed from their oath of fealty since no one was obliged to continue fulfilling an oath to a lord who had been excommunicated, with the Pope seeking to suspend imperial power.
This attempt by Alexander III to weaken the emperor did not have much effect in the German territories under his control but succeeded in gaining support from other kingdoms such as France, England, Castile or Aragon for his power as the true representative of papal authority.
In conclusion, it is evident that this type of informative documents about excommunications were commonplace throughout the Middle Ages and were sent to numerous ecclesiastical positions in different kingdoms, keeping them informed of figures who were outside papal protection and seen as enemies of the Holy See.
Bibliography
Toledo Cathedral Archive, ACT, A.6.C.1.5a.
Cardini, F. (1987). Barbarossa. Life, triumphs and illusions of a medieval emperor. Península.
Diago Hernando, M. (2003). The persistence and historical use of myth in the cases of Charlemagne and Frederick I Barbarossa. Memory, Myth and Reality in Medieval History: XIII Week of Medieval Studies, Nájera, 233-262.
García Osuna Rodríguez, J.M.M. (2013). Emperor Frederick I "Barbarossa" and the Papacy in the High Middle Ages. Revista Arte, arqueología e historia, Nº. 20, 257-294.
Martín Gamero, A. (1862). The History of Toledo City: Its Eminent Men and Monuments. (Severiano López Fando, ed.).
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