Henry II's Machinations in Italy, ca. 1169

An extract from

Chronica magistri Rogeri de Houedene, Volume II
by Roger, of Hoveden,
Editor and introduction by Stubbs, William
http://bit.ly/2IfSLjF

http://bit.ly/2IdD8cD
Roger of Hoveden. Chronica Magistri Rogeri de Houedene Volume II:. Cambridge University Press. pp. xci –. ISBN 978-1-108-04882-8.

...
The precise transaction which placed Henry II. in direct political contact with Italy was, as in the case of Germany, the Becket quarrel. In the year 1169 he offered the cities of the Lombard League a large sum of money for their fortifications, and proposed a marriage with one of his daughters to the young king of Sicily, if they would use their influence to procure the deposition or translation of the archbishop [Becket]. Italian affairs had, however, long before this been an object of interest in England. The Norman conquest of Apulia occupied a place in the common histories hardly less important than the Crusades; many Englishmen, such as Robert of Salisbury, the chancellor of Sicily, Herbert of Middlesex, the bishop of Cosenza, and Richard archbishop of Syracuse, had sought and obtained high preferment in the south. English physicians studied like Athelards at Salerno, English canonists like S. Thomas himself at Bologna. Rome had been a kind Alma Mater to Nicolas Breakspere and Robert Pullanus. From North Italy had come to England Lanfranc and the two Anselms; from the court of king Roger, Thomas le Brun, the minister of the English exchequer. Peter of Blois was the intimate friend of both Henry II. and William the Good [of Sicily]. The constant missions to and from Rome had made Italians and Englishmen pretty well acquainted. Henry's political exigencies, however, brought them still nearer. William the Good was connected by blood very closely with the Beaumonts of Leicester and Warwick, a family which supplied Henry II. with several ministers in his early years. Many of his [William the Good's] principal clergy were Englishmen or Normans, and he seems to have been an enthusiastic admirer of Henry II. What action was taken in consequence of Henry's proposition to him is not known, probably none; but we find him in 1173 writing to console the king on the rebellion of his sons, and, as soon as the princess Johanna was old enough to be asked for, petitioning for her as a wife. The proposal was referred to the national council, and accepted. Johanna was sent to Palermo, and received a magnificent dower. In that splendid court she reigned supreme during her husband's life. His fleet covered the Levant, and although the loss of Jerusalem was sometimes laid to his charge in consequence of his disabling the Byzantine empire from action, the last two years of his life were devoted to the equipment of the Crusade. As his health failed he made a will, by which he left to stores to Henry not only all the provisions collected for the expedition, but a vast treasure besides, going moreover so far as to offer the succession to his crown to him or one of his sons. This proposal Henry wisely declined, as he did also the thorny crown of Palestine. His moderation was hardly appreciated by his contemporaries, whose idea of his ambition transcended all probability. This close connexion with William the Good, coupled with Henry's attempt to marry John to the heiress of Savoy, a measure which would have put the Alpine passes at his disposal, and some rumour of his promises to the Lombard League, perhaps formed the basis of the story that, looking at the unsettled condition of Italy, he was disposed to become a candidate for the suffrages of the Roman citizens with a view to the empire.
...

Extract of a Letter from John of Salisbury to Hugo de Gant

MTB Letter #539
Intrigues of Henry II with Italian States
Materials for the History of Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury Volume VII p. 30

Jacques Nicolas Augustin Thierry (1847). History of the conquest of England by the Normans, tr. by W. Hazlitt. pp. 411–.
https://bit.ly/2MGKhYv

John (of Salisbury, Bishop of Chartres) (1848). Joannis Saresberiensis opera omnia. Nunc primum in unum collegit et cum codicibus manuscriptis: Epistolae. J. H. Parker. pp. 208–.

John (of Salisbury, Bishop of Chartres) (1979). The Letters of John of Salisbury. Letter 290 John of Salisbury to Hugh de Gant, ca 1169: Clarendon Press. pp. 658–. ISBN 978-0-19-822240-8.
Volume II: The Later Letters (1163-1180)
Edited with a facing-page translation from the Latin text by H. E. Butler , W. J. Millor , and Revised by C. N. L. Brooke

Letter 290 to  Hugoni de Gant                                            ca end of August II69

Actiones gratiarum debitas parturit animus. Sed ut ait propheta, vires non habet parturiens. Nam devotionis effectum suspendit hactenus persequutionis acerbitas, sed affectum, quin in partum gratulationis erumpere gestiat, nulla vis potest aut potuit cohibere. Et quidem Deo propitiante jam in eum calculum Christi et ecclesiae suae causa perducta est, ut de caetero periclitari non possit, eo quod schismatis capita defecerunt, et Anglicanae ecclesiae malleus comprehensus in operibus suis de caetero cui innitatur invenire non valet.Ventum erat ad summum, ubi constat habitudines periculosas esse, cum ille qui, sollicitando tam curiam quam schismaticos, Fredericum videlicet et complices suos, videns se bac via non posse proficere adversus Dominum et adversus Christum ejus, transmissa legatione confugit ad Italiae civitates, promittens Mediolanensibus tria millia marcarum et murorum suorum validissimam reparationem, ut, cum aliis civitatibus quas corrumpere moliebatur, impetrarent a Papa et ecclesia romaua dejectionem vel translationem cantuariensis archiepiscopi. Nam, ob eamdem causam Cremonensibus duo millia marcarum promiserat, Parmensibus mille, et totidem Bononiensibus. Domino vero Papae obtulit, quia data pecunia liberaret eum ab exactionibus omnium Romnnorum, et decem millia marcarum adjiceret, concedens etiam ut tam in ecclesia cnntuariensi, quam in aliis vacantibus in Auglia, pastores ordinaret ad libitum. Sed quia fidem multa promissa levabont, et in precibus manifesta continebatur iniquitas, repulsam passus est; et, quod per se impetrare non poterat, regis Siculi viribus conatus est extorquere. Sed nec ille, licet ad hoc toto nisu syracusanus episcopus et Robertus, comes de Bossevilla, multiplicatis intercessoribus, laboraverint, exauditus est pro sua reverentia, vel potentia, vel gratia, quamvis earn in ecclesia romana plurimam habeat. Dimissi sunt ergo nuncii regis impotes voti, hoe solum impetrato, ut dominus Papa mitteret nuncios qui pacem procurarent, Gratianum scilicet subdiaconum, et magistrum Vivianum, Urbis-Veteris archidiaconmn. qui munere advocationis fungi solet in curia. Eos tamen ante, praescripta forma pacis, sacramenti religione adstrinxit, quod praefinitos terminos non excederent, mandatis quoque adjiciens ut a regis Bumptious abstineant, nisi pace ecclesiae impetrata, et ne ultra diem qui eis praestitus est, aliquam faciant moram. Forma autem pacis quae archiepiscopo expressa est, nihil inhonestum continet vel quod ecclesiam dedeceat aut personam, nec auctoritatem ejus in aliquo minuit, quin libere, omni occasions et appellatione cessante, in ipsum regem, in regnum et personas regni, severitarem ecclesiasticam valeat exercere, prout sibi et ecclesiae Dei expedire cognoverit. Consilium tamen amicorum virorumque sapientum est, ut dum pacis verba tractantur, mitius agat et multa dissimulet; postea, si (quod absit!) pax non processerit, gravius quasi resumptis viribus persecutores ecclesiae prostraturus.

Spera ergo, dilecte mi, et quicquid interim audieris, non movearis, quia Deus in tuto posuit causam suam. Audies forte superbiam Moab: sed memineris quod superbia major est quam fortitudo ejus. Nam territi sunt in Sion peccatores, possedit timor hypocritas, qui nisi revertantur a pravitate sua, expellentur et stare non poterunt: jam enim securis ad radicem eorum posita est, et ventilabrum habet angelus in manu sua, ut grana discernat a paleis. Praefati nuncii ad regem profecti sunt, sed quid apud ipsum invenerint, nondum nobis innotuit: hoc tamen certum est quod se rex verbo et scripto obligavit ad exequendum consilium et mandatum domini papae, scriptumque ejus prae manibus est, a quo si resilierit, facile convincetur, sed nec sic credendum censuit ecclesia, antequam verborum fidem operum testimonio roboraret. Salutatus a te, plurimum et affectuose te resalutat archiepiscopus, se ad amorem et honorem tuum exponens promptissima devotione.


To a friend of a friend

My mind wishes to bear the thanksgiving that is due, but as the prophet says it has no strength for the labour, for bitter persecution has frustrated me from putting my devout wish to effect. But my affection no force can or will prevent from longing to give birth to rejoicing. By God's mercy, the cause of Christ and His Church has now been brought to the that it can no longer be in peril: the heads of the schism have failed and the Hammer of the English Church, caught in his own deeds, cannot find any support henceforth. He had reached his peal - where one's position is proverbially dangerous. He had worked hard to win help from the Curia and the schismatics - Frederick, that is, and his accomplices. But he saw that he was profiting nothing in this way against the Lord and His anointed; and he had resort, by means of an embassy, to the cities of Italy and promised the Milanese 3000 marks and the most effective repair to their walls, if they could -with the other cities he was striving to corrupt - obtain from the Pope and the Roman Church the deposition or translation of the archbishop of Canterbury. To the same end he had promised 2000 marks to the men of Cremona, 1000 to those of Parma and the same to the Bolognese. To the Pope he offered money to free him from his debts to all [his] Roman creditors and 10000 marks besides; and conceded that he should choose and consecrate at his will bishops for the see of Canterbury and the other vacant sees in England. His many promises roused distrust, and in his pleas there evidently lay wickedness; so he suffered a rebuff and what he could not obtain by his own asking  he has tried to obtain by the strength of the king of Sicily. The bishop of Syracuse and Count Robert de Basenuilla have worked energetically to this end with many helpers; yet he has not been heard in accordance with the respect he showed or with his power or favour, although his favour is high in the Roman Church. And so the king's messengers were sent away without achieving their object, with this only won, that the Pope would send ambassadors to try to make peace: the subdeacon Gratian and Master Vivian, archdeacon of Orvieto, who is commonly an advocate in the Curia. The terms of peace have been laid down, and the Pope has tied them by oath in advance not to exceed the terms; and he has also commanded them to receive nothing at the king's expense unless the Church's peace has been won, and not to stay beyond the day fixed for their return. The terms of peace have been revealed to the archbishop and contain nothing dishonourable or shameful to the Church or to his person; nor do they diminish in any way his authority -he can still freely exercise the Church's penalties against the king himself, the kingdom and the great men of the realm, all excuse and appeal set aside, if he thinks the occasion makes it expedient for himself  and God's Church. But his friends advise-the wise ones-that while the terms of the peace settlement are being negotiated, he should act mildly and say nothing on many points. Afterwards, if (which God forbid) peace does not ensue, he can take on. his power again and lay low the Church's persecutors more direly. Be of good hope, my dear friend, and whatever you hear meanwhile, do not be too much disturbed, since God has  placed His cause in safety. You will hear maybe of Moab's boasting, but you will remember that its boasting is greater than its courage. For the sinners were terrified in Zion, and fear possessed the hypocrites who will be expelled and lose their footing unless they turn from their wickedness The axe is now laid to their root,  and the angel holds the winnowing fan in his hand, to separate the wheat from the chaff. The Pope's ambassadors have reached the king, but what reception they have found there we have not yet heard. But this is certain, that the king has bound himself in word and in writing to follow the Pope's advice and command; his written undertaking is in their hands, and if he departs from it he will readily be convicted. But the Church did not reckon that his word could be trusted even so, before he confirms his verbal assurances by the witness of his deeds. The archbishop answers your greeting, very fully and affectionately, and others himself with a most ready devotion to your love and honour.


Other References

W. L. Warren (1977). Henry II. University of California Press. pp. 221–. ISBN 978-0-520-03494-5.

Henry II (DNB00) - Wikisource, Dictionary of National Biography

Lombard League - Wikipedia

Joan of England, Queen of Sicily - Wikipedia

Greenwood (Mary Anne Everett) (1849). Lives of the Princesses of England, from the Norman Conquest. Henry Colburn. pp. 308–.

Joanna, Queen of Sicily | Dana Cushing - Academia.edu

Anne J. Duggan; Peter D. Clarke (22 April 2016). Pope Alexander III (1159–81): The Art of Survival. Chapter IX: Beyond Becket -King Henry II and the Papacy 1154-1189: Routledge. pp. 257–. ISBN 978-1-317-07837-1.

Johann Karl Ludwig Gieseler (1836). Text-book of Ecclesiastical History. Carey, Lea, and Blanchard. pp. 192–.

Thelma S. Fenster; Carolyn P. Collette (2017). The French of Medieval England: Essays in Honour of Jocelyn Wogan-Browne. Boydell & Brewer. pp. 278–. ISBN 978-1-84384-459-

Alliance of England and Sicily in the Second Half of the 12th Century
Evelyn Jamison
Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes
Vol. 6 (1943), pp. 20-32
Published by: The Warburg Institute
DOI: 10.2307/750419
https://www.jstor.org/stable/750419