alternatehistory.com

Hi to all this my first "public" tentative to an alternative timeline to add more difficult English is not my mother tongue, so be nice with me :p

The idea start for the infamous concept of the "Investiture Conflicts" that is the pretense of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire to be the overlord of the Papacy and so the Emperor should have the right to nominate Bishops without the Pope consent and in the end the Pope himself!

In OTL Frederik Barbarossa and the Hohenstaufen dynasty tried to assert this, but in the end they failed, but what would have happened if they succeeded? If the Pope became a vassal of the Emperor and the Emperor successfully nominated a long series of Popes undisputed?

Heresies and Anti Popes should have spurred as Raindrops on a day of October, but if one of this heresies decided that the Emperor was the Supreme Head of the Church and the Emperor become heretic himself?

The Empire would have become a Theocratic Monarchy, The Ecclesarchia.

This the history of this universe this first chapter is a quasi copy from Wikipedia, so not so different from OTL for now... but, as you know, little modifications in the past could change greatly the future! The so called "Butterfly Effect", right?

In red the points of divergence, for the more distracted...

Well let's start then...
The Ecclesarchia
Frederick I Barbarossa, the Great

  1. Introduction
Frederick I Barbarossa (1122 – 10 June 1190) was a German Holy Roman Emperor . He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 1152. He became King of Italy and was crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 1155. In 1157, after the conquest of Sicily from the Normans he became King of Sicily, too adding, unofficially, the title of “Rex totius Italiae”.

Two years later, the term "sacrum" (i.e. "holy") first appeared in a document in connection with his Empire.[2] He was then also formally crowned King of Burgundy at Arles on 30 June 1178. He got the name Barbarossa from the northern Italian cities he obtained to rule. Barbarossa is "red beard" in Italian—a mark of both their fear and respect.[3] In German, he was known as Kaiser Rotbart which has the same meaning.
Before his royal election, he was by inheritance Duke of Swabia (1147–1152, as Frederick III). He was the son of Duke Frederick II of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. His mother was Judith, daughter of Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria, from the rival House of Welf, and Frederick therefore descended from Germany's two leading families, making him an acceptable choice for the Empire's prince-electors.

  1. The Hand of God
The Holy Roman Empire was, technically, an Elective Monarchy but de facto in some cases powerful Emperors had the possibility to designate their sons as heirs, so it could be consider an unofficial primogeniture.
Only when the dynasty died out the Empire returned properly Elective.
But, the Emperor Conrad III, make a particular decision in his deathbed he headed the royal insignia to Frederick and indicated that Frederick, rather than Conrad's own six-year-old son, the future Frederick IV, Duke of Swabia, succeed him as king.

Frederick saw this as a clear sign of destiny.

  1. The Conquest of Sicily: 1154–59
As customary the Kings of Germany he had to make a long and painful voyage in Italy to become the undisputed Holy Roman Emperor.
Frederick was an ambitious man and other to consolidate his power on Northern Italy he wanted to conquer the wealthy Kingdom of Sicily in that time ruled by the Normans.
So he marched down and almost immediately began encountering resistance to his authority. Obtaining the submission of Milan, he successfully besieged Tortona in early 1155, razing it to the ground before moving to Pavia where he received the Iron Crown, and with it, the title of King of Italy.
Moving through Bologna and Tuscany, he was soon approaching the city of Rome. There, the Pope was struggling with the forces of the republican city commune led by Arnold of Brescia, a student of Abelard.[3] As a sign of good faith, Frederick dismissed the ambassadors from the revived Roman Senate,[16] and Imperial forces suppressed the republicans. Arnold was captured and hanged for treason and rebellion. Despite his unorthodox teaching concerning theology, Arnold was not charged with heresy.

Having obtained the Imperial Crown, Frederick, was ready to start his war against the Norman, but suddenly the Northern City States (the Communes) rebelled again against his rule.
Frederick, so was forced to return north, but instead of start to fight he proposed a Diet in Florence to the Italian Cities States.
The Cities surprised by this move accepted with great enthusiasm this offer, the Emperor recognized the fact accomplished that the Italian Cities could govern themselves and giving the title of Palatine County1 to any of them except for Milan that was recognized as Ducky2 for his importance. The States Italians had the right of one seat in the Imperial Diet to represent the interest of the Kingdom of Italy, the cities had to recognize the Emperor as the King of Italy forever and to give a part of taxes or armies in war. The northern Italian Communes created a semi official confederation to defend their interested on the Diet at Aachen called “The Lombard League”.
As this not challenged the emperor's claim to power (Honor Imperii) this it was not a problem for Frederick as the German Princes should have had always the majority in the Diet.

In the end thanks to this compromise, Frederick had 20'000 men instead of the 18'000 with which he started, now it was the time to start, finally, the war for Sicily.

Meanwhile in the Kingdom of Germany, especially in Bavaria, was unrest and risks of revolt but general peace was restored by Frederick's vigorous, but conciliatory, measures. The duchy of Bavaria was transferred from Henry II Jasomirgott, margrave of Austria, to Frederick's formidable younger cousin Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, of the House of Guelph, whose father had previously held both duchies.[25] Henry II Jasomirgott was named Duke of Austria in compensation for his loss of Bavaria. As part of his general policy of concessions of formal power to the German princes and ending the civil wars within the kingdom, Frederick further appeased Henry by issuing him with the Privilegium Minus, granting him unprecedented entitlements as Duke of Austria. This was a large concession on the part of Frederick, who realized that Henry the Lion had to be accommodated, even to the point of sharing some power with him. He could not afford to make an outright enemy of Henry.

A move this that would have great consequences in the future.

The was a really long and painful war but in the end King William I of Sicily surrender and cede the crown of Sicily so, the Emperor returned to Rome and Pope Adrian IV was forced to crown him King of Sicily, too.

The Pope that first have called the Emperor "Savior of The Church" now feels itself circumdated and so he was totally frightened.

  1. The betrayal of the Pope
So, the Pope, written a letter to William of Sicily that after the defeat retired in exile in Normandy to call him to reconquer his rightful crown.

It is not known how Frederick, entered in posses of this letter in which between other injuries, the Pope let intend that the Imperial Crown was a gift from the Papacy and that in fact the Empire itself was a fief of the Papacy, and that in the end William could become the Emperor, this obviously was taken as an insult by the Emperor.

So a war started with Frederick on one side, the Pope and the Normans on the other.

Pope Adrian IV’s death in 1159 saw the election of two rival popes; Alexander III and the antipope Victor IV. Both sought Frederick’s support,Frederick, busy with the siege of Gaeta, appeared unsupportive of Alexander III, and after the sacking of Gaeta demanded that Alexander appear before the emperor at Naples and accept the imperial decree.
Alexander refused, and Frederick recognized Victor IV as the legitimate pope in 1160. In response, Alexander III excommunicated both Frederick I and Victor IV. Frederick convoked a joint council with King Louis VII of France in 1162 to decide the issue of who should be Pope. Louis came near the meeting site and back the side of the Emperor so Victor was recognized as the real Pope by France and the Empire. Victor II accepted the Decree of the Emperor that the Catholic Church was submissive of the Emperor and not the other way, the Emperor added to the long list of his titles what of "Protector of the Catholic Church".

The new Pope excommunicated the Duke of Normandy and William of Sicily at behest of the Emperor himself, this made lose traction to their troops that started to revolt. The Emperor convinced the King of France that the Duke of Normandy was decayed and that the King of France had the right to relinquish his lands in Normandy. Counsel this that the King of France followed without hesitation
Being attacked by the King of France in his land and with his armies in revolt the Duke of Normandy accepted the peace offer of the Emperor at this conditions: to pay war reparations to the Emperor, that the Emperor was the lawful King of Sicily and that Pope Victor II was the lawful Pope of the Catholic Church.

In the meantime, Arnold of Brescia, profiting of the void of power in Rome revolted against the Papal rule and proclaimed, again, the Roman Republic.
Frederick, instead to start another war with the restored Roman Republic view it favorably, as in this way, the Pope would not have land anymore and so no actual power.
He arrived to propose to Consul Arnold the same accord of the Northern Cities, Arnold accepted and obtained for Rome the Ducal title, the Commune of Rome became “The Most Serene Roman Republic” as Milan did some years before.
Pope Victor II was angered, obviously, but he was a powerless and isolated man a simple serf of Frederick, in reality, he died in 1165 and the Emperor chose Paschal III as the new Pope and no one oppose his choice.

Returning to Germany towards the close of 1162, Frederick prevented the escalation of conflicts between Henry the Lion from Saxony and a number of neighboring princes who were growing weary of Henry's power, influence and territorial gains. He also severely punished the citizens of Mainz for their rebellion against Archbishop Arnold.
In 1164 Frederick took what are believed to be the relics of the "Biblical Magi" (the Wise Men or Three Kings) from the Basilica of Sant' Eustorgio in Milan and gave them as a gift (or as loot) to the Archbishop of Cologne, Rainald of Dassel. The relics had great religious significance and could be counted upon to draw pilgrims from all over Christendom. Today they are kept in the Shrine of the Three Kings in the Cologne Cathedral.
Frederick in the meantime was focused on restoring peace in the Rhineland, where he organized a magnificent celebration of the canonization of Charles the Great (Charlemagne) at Aachen, done under the authority of the Pope Paschal III.

In the meantime Anti Pope Alexander III recognized the Byzantine Emperor
Manuel I as his overlord, obtaining as result that Manuel declared war to Frederick in October 1166 to restore The Papal States with Anti Pope Alexander III as Pope, so the fourth Italian campaign started, hoping as well to have the time for his wife Beatrice to be crowned Holy Roman Empress by Pope Paschal III that lived in Rome peacefully together with The Roman Republic the Emperor healed again versus The Eternal City.

This time, Henry the Lion refused to join Frederick on his Italian trip, tending instead to his own disputes with neighbors and his continuing expansion into Slavic territories in northeastern Germany.
Frederick began besieging Ancona in 1167, which had acknowledged the authority of Manuel I;[44] at the same time, Frederick's forces achieved a great victory over the mercenaries of the Anti Pope at the Battle of Monte Porzio. Heartened by this victory, he lifted the siege of Ancona and hurried to Rome where he not only had his wife crowned empress, but he also received a second coronation at the hands of Pope Paschal III.

But Manuel I was really powerful and the legends tell of a mighty army of 80'000 men that arrived in Rome and sacked it, fortunately, his campaign was stopped by the sudden outbreak of an epidemic (malaria or the plague), and the guerilla of the People of Rome that not wanted to lose their rights, this threatened to destroy the Imperial army and drove the emperor as a fugitive to Constantinople, where he remained till his death.

This malaria become a problem for Frederick, too, that so offered to Manuel a white peace. The Emperor of Byzantium accepted recognizing Frederick as Emperor of the West and accepted that the Pope was a vassal of the Western Roman Empire making, in this way, void the promise of the false Pope.

During this period, Frederick decided conflicting claims to various bishoprics, asserted imperial authority over Bohemia, Poland, and Hungary, initiated friendly relations with Manuel I, and tried to come to a better understanding with Henry II of England and Louis VII of France.

  1. The consolidation of Power
He was formally crowned King of Burgundy at Arles on 30 June 1178.
Although the German kings had traditionally automatically inherited the royal crown of Arles since the time of Conrad II, Frederick felt the need to be crowned by the Archbishop of Arles, regardless of his laying claim to the title from 1152.
Frederick did not forgive Henry the Lion for refusing to come to his aid in 1174.
By 1180, Henry had successfully established a powerful and contiguous state comprising Saxony, Bavaria and substantial territories in the north and east of Germany. Taking advantage of the hostility of other German princes to Henry, Frederick had Henry tried in absentia by a court of bishops and princes in 1180, declared that imperial law overruled traditional German law, and had Henry stripped of his lands and declared an outlaw.[58] He then invaded Saxony with an imperial army to bring his cousin to surrender. Henry's allies deserted him, and he finally had to submit in November 1181.
Henry spent three years in exile at the court of his father-in-law Henry II of England in Normandy, before being allowed back into Germany. He finished his days in Germany, as the much-diminished Duke of Brunswick.[59] Frederick's desire for revenge was sated. Henry the Lion lived a relatively quiet life, sponsoring arts and architecture.
So in the end Frederick held this titles: Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, King of Germany, King of Sicily, Duke of Swabia, Duke of Bavaria, Duke of Saxony and Protector of the Catholic Church.

6. Third Crusade and death

Pope Paschal III died shortly after, and the Emperor nominated
Gregory VIII, who was more concerned with troubling reports from the Holy Land. So the new pope, convinced Frederick to take up the cross at the Diet of Mainz in 1188. Frederick embarked on the Third Crusade (1189), a massive expedition in conjunction with the French, led by king Philip Augustus, and the English, under Richard the Lionheart. He organized a grand army of 100,000 men (including 20,000 knights) and set out on the overland route to the Holy Land. However, some historians believe that this is an exaggeration and that the true figure might be closer to 15,000 men, including 3,000 knights.[68]
The Crusaders passed through Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria and then entered Byzantine territory, arriving at Constantinople in the autumn of 1189. Matters were complicated by a secret alliance between the Emperor of Constantinople and Saladin, warning of which was supplied by a note from Sibylla, ex-Queen of Jerusalem.[2] When they were in Hungary, Barbarossa personally asked the Hungarian Prince Géza, brother of the king, Béla III of Hungary, to join the Crusade. The king agreed, and a Hungarian army of 2,000 men led by Géza escorted the German emperor's forces. The armies coming from western Europe pushed on through Anatolia (where they were victorious in taking Aksehir and defeating the Turks in the Battle of Iconium), and entered Cilician Armenia. The approach of the immense German army greatly concerned Saladin and the other Muslim leaders, who began to rally troops of their own to confront Barbarossa's forces.[3]
Frederick helped by the other Christian Kings conquered the Holy City and a coastal strip that extended from Tyre to Lebanon. Pope Gregory VIII, so given the crown of Jerusalem to the son of the Emperor, Frederick I of Jerusalem, the heir presumptive of the Empire.
This to be clear was, obviously, a decision of The Emperor himself not of the Pope that was now a mere puppet to not anger the other Kings accumulating too much power in his hands.


But in the way to home on 10 June 1194, Emperor Frederick drowned in the Saleph river.[69] He had decided to walk his horse through the river instead of crossing the bridge that had been too crowded with troops. The current was too strong for the horse to handle, and his suit Armour was too heavy for him to swim in: both were swept away and drowned. Some historians believe he may have had a heart attack that complicated matters. Some of Frederick's men put him in a barrel of vinegar to preserve his body.
Frederick I of Jerusalem, carried on with the remnants of the German army,
along with the Hungarian army under the command of Prince Géza, with the aim of burying the emperor in Jerusalem, the efforts to conserve his body in vinegar was successful and the Emperor rest in the Cathedral of Jerusalem.

So the young Frederick II suddenly found himself heir of the greatest realm of Europe of his time, will he triumphs as his father or he will be a parenthesis in history and fails?

You will know in the next chapters.



1 In this way giving to Republican Consuls the feudal title of Count, Frederick ably mixed the Feudal and Communal System.
Technically were the Cities to be elevate to Countship but de facto
the Consul were Count Palatine of the Empire, they were elected from
the Cities but needed to owe alliance to the Emperor as any feudatary.

2 From that time no more Commune of Milan but "Most Serene Republic
of Milan".

3 Manuel viewed this act as the End of The Schism of the Church, but in reality it was an unilateral act of powerless Pope that was, in reality, deposed by the Emperor of the West.
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