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Chapter 4: I wanna seize your son
The Nobles of Germany march to War
Matilda now faced open revolt instead of cautious plotting. Here her sex played very much against her. She could not lead troops into battle, nor could her son. She could not rally her supporters with brave leadership on the battlefield. So naturally more power fell into the hands of Fredrick the One-Eyed, who in addition to being able to lead troops also supplied the lion's share of said troops. As mentioned previously Fredrick lacked popularity amongst many lords, but neither did Lothair's and Adalbert's cause have widespread appeal. The Archbishop could materialize a thousand petty reasons for revolt, but in truth Matilda had continued her husband's policy of following the Concordat of Worms, if not as enthusiastically as the church may have liked. So many stayed their hand in this revolt, not wanting to pick the losing one.
Fredrick and Matilda began to squabble over which leader of the rebellion to attack first. Matilda, remembering his plots to seize her son from her, favored going after Adalbert's smaller force in Mainz. Fredrick however remembered how the citizens of Mainz had proven hostile to deposing their Archbishop before. He favored going straight to the backbone of the rebellion, Saxony, and forcing Lothair to either fight the Salian force or abandon his lands. Matilda argued forcefully, but at the end of the day Fredrick held the army and he marched for Lothair.
Adalbert meanwhile began sending a flurry of letters to Rome and to Bishops across Germany, hoping to arrange a synod that could excommunicate Matilda and Fredrick and justify a new regency for Henry VI. Honorius was certainly intrigued by the idea, though remained aloof, simply supporting a synod without endorsing a cause.
Fredrick meanwhile plowed towards Lothair, intent on crushing him in battle. Lothair had just exited Saxony when he met Fredrick at Bad Neustadt. The Battle proved a victory for the Salian side, Fredrick stopped Lothair from advancing westward for the time being and was now well positioned to keep it that way. It did not look as though a decisive blow could be cast yet, but the Salian side had started off well.
However Adalbert was not lying down, and was swiftly hand picking dissatisfied clergy to participate in his plot to excommunicate Matilda and Fredrick. Matilda was fearful of this coming to pass, despite previous rulers having survived excommunication, and organized her own response. Perhaps still fuming over Fredrick attacking Lothair over Adalbert she hastily organized her own force, to be led in battle by Fredrick's brother Conrad, to break up any meetings of the German clergy. This was a mistake, angering almost every clergyman in the domain and pushing many nobles towards rebellion. Though Matilda would briefly wrest Mainz from rebellious hands she would find it difficult to control and, unable to actually stop the synod from simply moving away from her, would very quickly retreat back to Aachan.
The Salians were not very welcome in Mainz
With Matilda's blunder and the rising anti-Salian tide harming his cause Fredrick felt compelled to at least attempt a major attack on Lothair. However Lothair managed to avoid the brunt of his attack and the Battle of Fulda on November proved more of a skirmish then Fredrick had aimed for. Technically the Salian forces won the day, driving Lothair's men from the field, but Lothair did not stop and managed to slip around Fredrick's army. The Duke of Saxony then resumed his march towards Mainz to assist Adalbert leaving Fredrick in pursuit.
Fredrick would desperately try to catch up with Lothair, but would be unable to catch him before he reached the relative safety of Mainz. Lothair provided a great deal of protection to Adalbert's plotting, which soon led to the opening of the German Synod of 1127[1]. The lack of any sort of Imperial support kept some clergy away from the meetings, but this only made the synod more radically anti-Salian despite purporting to recognize Henry VI as King of the Romans. It would quickly arrange the excommunications of Fredrick and Matilda for various reasons, both real and imagined. Honorius was not deposed to disagree with this ruling, and so once again Church and Empire found themselves at odds.
Wilily William Clito
News from the west did not improve Matilda's lot either. In early March her cousin William Clito was made Count of Flanders by the King of France after the incumbent was hacked to pieces in a church[2]. Clito was the son of Robert Cuthrose who in turn was the eldest son of William the Conquerer. Cuthrose and Clito had disputed William Rufus's and Henry of England's rights to Normandy violently in the past. Cuthrose was currently imprisoned but Clito's rise in Flanders signaled a French attempt to usurp authority in Normandy. More immediately it presented a force hostile to the Salians on the border. Clito's hold was weak enough that he could not leave Flanders unattended, but he would not flinch in the coming months from raiding any lords near the border who remained loyal to the Salians.
As summer of 1127 dawned things looked desperate for the cause of Matilda. Her own control of her cause was threatened by Fredrick, her enemies were multiplying and growing in power. It seemed that only a miracle could deliver her.
•••••
1: Technically speaking it started very late in 1126, but the work for which it was infamous occurred in 1127
2: The Incumbent's name was "Charles the Good" and he was quite popular and later canonized.
The Nobles of Germany march to War
Matilda now faced open revolt instead of cautious plotting. Here her sex played very much against her. She could not lead troops into battle, nor could her son. She could not rally her supporters with brave leadership on the battlefield. So naturally more power fell into the hands of Fredrick the One-Eyed, who in addition to being able to lead troops also supplied the lion's share of said troops. As mentioned previously Fredrick lacked popularity amongst many lords, but neither did Lothair's and Adalbert's cause have widespread appeal. The Archbishop could materialize a thousand petty reasons for revolt, but in truth Matilda had continued her husband's policy of following the Concordat of Worms, if not as enthusiastically as the church may have liked. So many stayed their hand in this revolt, not wanting to pick the losing one.
Fredrick and Matilda began to squabble over which leader of the rebellion to attack first. Matilda, remembering his plots to seize her son from her, favored going after Adalbert's smaller force in Mainz. Fredrick however remembered how the citizens of Mainz had proven hostile to deposing their Archbishop before. He favored going straight to the backbone of the rebellion, Saxony, and forcing Lothair to either fight the Salian force or abandon his lands. Matilda argued forcefully, but at the end of the day Fredrick held the army and he marched for Lothair.
Adalbert meanwhile began sending a flurry of letters to Rome and to Bishops across Germany, hoping to arrange a synod that could excommunicate Matilda and Fredrick and justify a new regency for Henry VI. Honorius was certainly intrigued by the idea, though remained aloof, simply supporting a synod without endorsing a cause.
Fredrick meanwhile plowed towards Lothair, intent on crushing him in battle. Lothair had just exited Saxony when he met Fredrick at Bad Neustadt. The Battle proved a victory for the Salian side, Fredrick stopped Lothair from advancing westward for the time being and was now well positioned to keep it that way. It did not look as though a decisive blow could be cast yet, but the Salian side had started off well.
However Adalbert was not lying down, and was swiftly hand picking dissatisfied clergy to participate in his plot to excommunicate Matilda and Fredrick. Matilda was fearful of this coming to pass, despite previous rulers having survived excommunication, and organized her own response. Perhaps still fuming over Fredrick attacking Lothair over Adalbert she hastily organized her own force, to be led in battle by Fredrick's brother Conrad, to break up any meetings of the German clergy. This was a mistake, angering almost every clergyman in the domain and pushing many nobles towards rebellion. Though Matilda would briefly wrest Mainz from rebellious hands she would find it difficult to control and, unable to actually stop the synod from simply moving away from her, would very quickly retreat back to Aachan.
The Salians were not very welcome in Mainz
With Matilda's blunder and the rising anti-Salian tide harming his cause Fredrick felt compelled to at least attempt a major attack on Lothair. However Lothair managed to avoid the brunt of his attack and the Battle of Fulda on November proved more of a skirmish then Fredrick had aimed for. Technically the Salian forces won the day, driving Lothair's men from the field, but Lothair did not stop and managed to slip around Fredrick's army. The Duke of Saxony then resumed his march towards Mainz to assist Adalbert leaving Fredrick in pursuit.
Fredrick would desperately try to catch up with Lothair, but would be unable to catch him before he reached the relative safety of Mainz. Lothair provided a great deal of protection to Adalbert's plotting, which soon led to the opening of the German Synod of 1127[1]. The lack of any sort of Imperial support kept some clergy away from the meetings, but this only made the synod more radically anti-Salian despite purporting to recognize Henry VI as King of the Romans. It would quickly arrange the excommunications of Fredrick and Matilda for various reasons, both real and imagined. Honorius was not deposed to disagree with this ruling, and so once again Church and Empire found themselves at odds.
Wilily William Clito
News from the west did not improve Matilda's lot either. In early March her cousin William Clito was made Count of Flanders by the King of France after the incumbent was hacked to pieces in a church[2]. Clito was the son of Robert Cuthrose who in turn was the eldest son of William the Conquerer. Cuthrose and Clito had disputed William Rufus's and Henry of England's rights to Normandy violently in the past. Cuthrose was currently imprisoned but Clito's rise in Flanders signaled a French attempt to usurp authority in Normandy. More immediately it presented a force hostile to the Salians on the border. Clito's hold was weak enough that he could not leave Flanders unattended, but he would not flinch in the coming months from raiding any lords near the border who remained loyal to the Salians.
As summer of 1127 dawned things looked desperate for the cause of Matilda. Her own control of her cause was threatened by Fredrick, her enemies were multiplying and growing in power. It seemed that only a miracle could deliver her.
•••••
1: Technically speaking it started very late in 1126, but the work for which it was infamous occurred in 1127
2: The Incumbent's name was "Charles the Good" and he was quite popular and later canonized.
- King of the Uzbeks
- Word Count: 930