Chapter Ninety-five

 

 

The Rise of Urban II

 

 

After Pope Urban took possession of the Lateran Palace through his payment to the Governor of Rome, anti-pope Clement III retreated to the Castle Sant’ Angelo on the right bank of the Tiber River. This massive, cylindrical edifice, which was originally the tomb of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, had been converted into a military fortress in 401 AD and sat adjacent to the Vatican itself. Many Gregorians insisted that Pope Urban oust the anti-pope from this strong- hold, but realizing that Clement still had many supporters in Rome, Pope Urban decided to leave him there rather than risk rioting and revolt. As Urban expected, without support from Heinrich, Clement’s authority and influence soon began to wane as Urban’s, on the other hand, began to rise.

Noticing that King Heinrich’s position in Italy was quickly weakening, Odo hastened to northern Italy to hold a council at Piacenza in the interest of peace and reform. His first order of business was to formalize the case of Queen Adelheid of Germany who had earlier fled to Mathilda’s camp at Canossa, and make settlement on her accusations concerning the horrid sexual and spiritual misconduct of her husband. Her case was heard by the Pope and his high clerics with King Heinrich not being present, of course, nor even sending representatives or correspondence to defend himself. Consequently, Queen Adelheid was publicly declared innocent and absolved from any censure.

The next order of business was the case of King Philippe of France who had repudiated his wife, Queen Bertha, and married the younger Bertrade who was still legally married to Count Fulk of Anjou. Several French bishops had recognized this union. One bold cleric, the Archbishop of Lyons, had mustered the courage to excommunicate King Philippe for adultery and bigamy. Odo summoned both King Philippe and the Archbishop of Lyons to attend the Piacenza Council, but both failed to appear. Nevertheless, Odo and his hierarchy heard the evidence of the case, and in their final judgment, King Philippe was given a respite of sorts when the council decreed that they would give the French king time to reconsider his actions, remove Bertrade, and take back as his queen his legitimate wife, Bertha of Holland. The hapless Archbishop of Lyons was summarily suspended from office.

This absolutely incensed Tristan. “God in Heaven, Odo!” he complained bitterly in private. “You suspend the one honest man in France while catering to an adulterer and bigamist who openly steals the wife of another.”

Odo shook his head and said, “Yes, this adulterer as you describe him happens to be the king of France, and having finally run Heinrich out of Italy, we do not wish to start yet another conflagration. Besides, I did not come to this decision alone. The council determined this outcome by vote. They felt that given some time, Philippe will see the error of his ways.”

“What about the Archbishop of Lyons? Why in Heaven’s name was he not given respite as well?’

“A show of deference to the king,” replied Odo.

“Oh, deference to the king, even in the face of mortal sin!” cried Tristan, infuriated.

“Your altruism is overriding your common sense, Tristan,” said Odo. “The Papacy is a spiritual office, granted, but you fail to understand that it is equally a political office, and politics require compromises at times, distasteful as they may be. I am not pleased with this decision. Think about it, we have graciously given Philippe a second chance to reconsider his position.”

“I am less concerned about Philippe than I am about the Archbishop of Lyons,” insisted Tristan. “Oh, you have disappointed me, Odo.”

“It is not the first time, I suspect, Tristan, nor shall it be the last. You display the impatience of youth. This matter is not over yet, and in the end the good Archbishop of Lyons could yet be reinstated. Do not abandon me over this business with Philippe, for tomorrow we face a much more serious matter.”

“Yes, I know, the delegation sent by Emperor Alexius from Constantinople,” said Tristan, shedding his exasperation a bit. “Which direction will the Cardinals and Archbishops sway?”

“Only time will tell.”

Tristan nodded, then set his gaze directly upon Odo. “And would you go against them, Odo, if their stand opposes what we believe must be done?”

“It is a sensitive time, Tristan, so at the moment I could not say. My papacy is gaining its feet after six years of war and chaos, and it would not be wise to charge again into the fire so quickly. As things suddenly and unexpectedly fell into place for us these past six months, we could just as easily knock them back out of kilter, eh?”

“Yes, Odo… very easily,” Tristan replied, trying to shove his discontent over the impurity of politics aside.

 

***

 

That next morning in Piacenza the air was filled with expectation as Patriarch Nicholas III and his delegation from Constantinople came before the Council. Word had already spread throughout Italy about the alleged plight of Byzantium, and as during the unfolding of any volatile debate, there were people on both sides of the aisle.

Nicholas delivered an impassioned plea on behalf of Byzantium as cardinals, archbishops, and bishops huddled together in their seats throughout his delivery, exchanging comments and thoughts. Nicholas’ early remarks provided a brief political backdrop to the conflict between the Seljuq Turks and the Byzantines. Then Nicholas moved into Catholic theology, taking great care not to touch so much the differences of the Roman Catholic Rite and the Eastern Catholic Rite as to emphasize the commonalities. “Oh, the gulf between Rome and Constantinople is but a matter of semantics!” proclaimed Nicholas. “In the end we are all Catholics… we are all Christians… we are all faithful followers of Christ… and the Saracens are infidels!”

Grasping that the nodding and gesturing of the audience swung in his favor with this statement, Nicholas then launched into an emotional tirade about the plight of Christian pilgrims suffering at the hands of merciless Seljuq Turks. Providing horrific descriptions of torture, maiming, and de-limbing, his voice rose and fell, then rose again and fell again, with the consummate skill of a master storyteller as listeners sat on the edge of their seats, some even dissolving into quiet tears while others broke into open sobbing.

Handel was sitting next to Odo and Tristan as Nicholas wove his tales, and after some time of listening to the Patriarch, Handel looked at Tristan with disgust. “Oh, he so greatly exaggerates the number of injured you and I encountered at the Hagia Sophia hospice!” he grumbled. “He’s worse than a merchant of false relics!”

“Silence!” hissed Tristan, throwing an elbow to Handel’s ribs. “He is fighting for the very life blood of Byzantium, Handel, and possibly the future of Christianity. Do you not see the significance of this moment?” Then, after glancing at Odo who was so deeply engrossed in the Patriarch’s speech that he appeared entranced, Tristan looked out over the crowd and determined that there would be little dispute over assisting the Byzantines by the end of the day.

Within the hour, as Patriarch Nicholas surrendered the floor, disagreement did arise from certain quarters. The financial minds of Italy’s Catholic hierarchy dissented on the grounds of financial shortfalls already being suffered by their bishoprics as well as by the Vatican itself. Also, many of the older clerics who throughout their lives had viewed Byzantium as the false Catholic model, could not bring themselves to the point of joining hands with Constantinople. Patriarch Nicholas had set the younger clerics afire, and they made their enthusiasm known by calling down, shouting, and rudely whistling at the naysayers. And though the war-mongering noblemen and knights present were not allowed to vote on the ecclesiastical affairs of the Council of Piacenza, they too loudly voiced their support of Patriarch Nicholas’ plea for help against the Turks, and some of them even began to issue threats and jostle about those who questioned the stance.

It was decided by the end of the Council of Piacenza, then, that Pope Urban would go forth across the continent of Europe to perform the greatest mission in the history of the Catholic Church since the days of the apostles themselves. He would sound the trumpet and raise a hue and cry to the valiant nobles and knights of Western Christianity to enlist their support and their arms in a blessed crusade against Islam, and inspire them to march east to reclaim the Holy Land and the sacred city of Jerusalem.

In addition the Pope would send scores of couriers, legates, and orators to spread this message throughout Italy, Germany, England, and especially France where it was decided that the Pope should focus his greatest efforts.”

“Travel northern Italy for me, Tristan,” Odo said afterwards, “and spread our message with all your heart. Then, cross the Alps and pave my way in France. Let them know I am coming. Let them heed the trumpet call of Christianity. I will meet you there in Clermont, France then, in November, where I shall call the greatest ecclesiastical synod in the history of France. And while there, I shall also settle this matter of King Philippe and his bigamist marriage to Bertrade de Montfort if he continues to refute his rightful wife, Bertha of Holland.”