Pope Urban IV

Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99...

Reigned 1261-64 (Jacques Pantaléon), son of a French cobbler, born atTroyes, probably in the last years of the twelfth century; died atPerugia, 2 Oct., 1264. He became a canon of Laon and laterArchdeacon ofLiège, attracted the attention ofInnocent IV at the Council of Lyons (1245), and in 1247 was sent on a mission toGermany. There his chief work was the restoration ofecclesiastical discipline inSilesia and the reconciliation of theTeutonic Knights with theirPrussian vassals. He becameArchdeacon of Laon two years later, and in 1251 was sent into northGermany with the commission to obtain recruits for the cause of William ofHolland, thepapal candidate for the empire. He was madeBishop ofVerdun in 1253 andPatriarch ofJerusalem in 1255, at a time of great difficulty and distress for theChristians of the Holy Land. On the death ofAlexander IV (25 May, 1261) he had returned to the west and was atViterbo. After a three months'conclave, protracted by the jealousies of the eightcardinals who composed the wholeSacred College, thePatriarch ofJerusalem was elected on 29 August, 1261.Alexander IV, the feeblest and most pacific of thepopes who were engaged in the struggle with the imperial house ofGermany, had left two heavy tasks for his successor to accomplish: the wresting ofSicily from the Hohenstaufen and the restoration inItaly of the influence which theHoly See had lost through his indecision. The Latin Empire of Constantinople came to an end with the capture of the city by the Greeks a fortnight before Urban's election, and for a while he intended acrusade for its re-establishment; but he felt that the tasks near home had the first claim on him. In 1268 Conradin, the last of the Hohenstaufen, died on the scaffold atNaples; it was Urban IV's action in calling Charles of Anjou into the field against Manfred that brought this about. "The fact", says Ranke, "that Urban IV contrived this combination, places him among the importantpopes."

His experience of affairs and his personal character fitted him for his work. He had had an excellenteducation and was active, capable, self-reliant, and always ready for any work that presented itself. His life was a full one, yet business had not banishedpiety. "The Pope does what he will", reports aSienese ambassador, "there has been no Pope sinceAlexander III so energetic in word and deed . . .There is no obstacle to his will . . .he does everything by himself without taking advice" (Pflug-Harttung, "Iter Italicum", 675). Had his reign been longer, he would have been one of the most striking figures in the history of thepapacy. Urban's great antagonist was Manfred, son ofFrederick II, and usurper of theSicilian crown. Manfred's chief gift was tact; as an administrator he had hisfather's highly centralized system to rely on, but as a warrior he was lacking in decision and boldness. After the battle of Montaperti, he became the hero of halfItaly, the centre of theGhibelline party and of all opposition to thepapacy. He was anxious for peace and recognition from thepope, and Urban was able to keep him in play until the long drawn-out negotiations with Charles of Anjou were nearly complete. Within less than a year of his election thepope created fourteen newcardinals. Of these six were relatives or dependents of the eight who had elected him, but seven wereFrenchmen, including his own nephew and three who had been St. Louis's counsellors. Thus Urban was sure of a majority in theSacred College, but he brought into being a French party which was a principal factor inecclesiastical policy for the rest of the thirteenth century and in the fourteenth century became practically the whole College. Among the newcardinals were the three futurepopes,Clement IV,Martin IV, andHonorius IV, who were to have the greatest share in finishing and defending his work.

Urban's first step towards the restoration of his power inItaly was to put the finances in order and pay his predecessor'sdebts. He changed the bankers of the Apostolic Camera, employing aSienese firm whose services did much to assure the ultimate success of his plans. Urban's Italian policy gives a complete picture of his statesmanship--astute and diplomatic on occasions, but with a marked predilection for energetic measures. He aroused dissensions between rivalGhibelline cities and, by an adroit use of the then generally acknowledged right of theHoly See to declare null allobligations towardspersonsexcommunicate, was able to throw their commercial affairs into confusion (for some curious details see Jordan, "Origines", 337 sq.). He established an ascendancy over his partisans and raised up a newGuelph party bound to him by personal interest, which eventually furnished Charles of Anjou with monetary support without which his expedition must have failed. In thePapal States new officers were appointed, important points fortified, and the defensive system ofInnocent III restored. AtRome Urban obtained the recognition of his sovereignty, but he never risked a visit to the city. InLombardy his most important act was the strengthening of the traditional alliance between theHoly See and the House of Este. By the middle of 1263 the general results of Urban's extra-Sicilian Italian policy were seen in the almost complete restoration of order in thePapal States, the weakening of Manfred's alliances inLombardy, and the resurrection inTuscany of the crushedGuelphs.

A foreign conqueror forSicily wasnecessary to attain the expulsion of Manfred, for after the defeat ofAlexander IV's forces atFoggia (20 Aug., 1255) all hope was lost of a direct conquest by thepapacy. In 1252Innocent IV had granted the crown ofNaples to the English Henry III for his second son, Edmund; but the king had his hands too full at home and was himself too prodigal to allow him to embark on the very costlySicilian adventure. Charles of Anjou, though he had refused the offer ofInnocent IV, had both the power and theambitionnecessary for such an undertaking. St. Louis's scruples as to therights of Conradin and Edmund were overcome, and though he refused the crown for himself or his sons, he finally permitted its offer to his brother. In the mind of the holy king theSicilian expedition appeared as a preliminary to a greatcrusade: he saw thatSicily would, in the hands of a French prince, be an ideal starting-point. Yet Louis had been desirous of peace between thepope and Manfred, and even thepope for a time seemed prepared to recognize him as King ofSicily, but the negotiations finally failed. Urban made it his business to prove that the fault lay with his opponent, forEuropean opinion was interested in a struggle in which great princes such as Alphonsus ofAragon and Baldwin, the exiled Latin Emperor of Constantinople, had intervened on the side of peace. It was about May, 1263, that St. Louis made up his mind, and shortly afterwards the envoy of Charles of Anjou appeared inRome. The chief conditions laid down by Urban were as follows:Sicily must never be united to the empire, its king must pay an annual tribute, take anoath of fealty to thepope, and abstain from acquiring any considerable dominion in NorthernItaly; the succession also was strictly regulated. The treaty in fact "was to be the last link in the long chain of acts which had established the suzerainty of theHoly See overSicily" (Jordan, 443).

The negotiations dragged on slowly as long as thepope felt no acute need of French intervention inItaly, but by May, 1264, the fortunes of theChurch were threatening to decline quickly, in face of the rising activity and fortunes of theGhibellines. Urban sent the French Cardinal Simon de Brion toFrance as hislegate with power to concede certain disputed points: he was, however, to insist on a guarantee that Charles would not retain in perpetuity the Senatorship ofRome;vows to go on acrusade to the Holy Land were to be commuted for thecrusade against Manfred and hisSaracens, which was to be preached throughoutFrance andItaly. Urban's position was daily growing more dangerous in spite of the incomprehensible inactivity of Manfred. He feared a simultaneous attack from north and south, and even attempts to assassinate himself and Charles of Anjou by the emissaries of Manfred's reputed ally, the "Old Man of the Mountains". In August St. Louis's last objections to the treaty were overcome, and various concessions made to Charles's demands. Thelegate held severalsynods to obtain from the Frenchclergy thetithes granted by thepope for the expedition. InItaly fortune continued to favour theGhibellines; aGuelph army was defeated in thePatrimony, and Lucca deserted to the enemy.Sienese intrigue threatened Urban's security atOrvieto, and on 9 Sept. he set out forPerugia, where he died.

"Thus the man, whose bold initiative was to influence so greatly the destinies of three great countries, to bring to a close the most glorious period ofmedievalGermany by the ruin of the Hohenstaufen, to introduce a new dynasty intoItaly, and to direct French policy in a direction as yet unknown, quitted the stage before he had seen the consequences of his acts at the very hour when the negotiations, commenced at his accession and continued throughout his reign, had reached completion" (Jordan, op. cit., 513).

If Urban's treatment of Manfred appear harsh and unscrupulous, it must be remembered how theChurch had suffered at the hands of the Hohenstaufen ever since the days of Frederick I. In the eyes offeudal law Manfred was a usurper withoutrights: he had callously seized his nephew Conradin's crown, and even that nephew could not inherit from a grandfather who had been deprived of his fief for rebellion against his suzerain. At this period, too, thepapal Government, owing in part to its very weakness, stood for municipal freedom, while the Hohenstaufen had inSicily substituted for the aristocratichierarchy offeudalism a bureaucratic despotism supported by the arms of their devotedSaracens.

Two other points in Urban's policy must be noted: his dealings with theByzantine Empire and withEngland. Manfred's designs on the territories of Palaeologus, together with the exiled Baldwin's secret attempt to reconcile Manfred with St. Louis, made the Greek emperor, politically, at least, the natural ally for apope fearful of an increase in the power of theSicilian king. Urban sought an understanding with Michael Palaeologus, and here too gave a lasting direction topapal policy, setting it on the path which led to the union (inoperative though it was) ofLyons in 1274. InEngland Urban's collectors of money were exceedingly busy; like St. Louis, he supported Henry III against the barons. He absolved the king from his promise to observe the Provisions of Oxford, declaredoaths taken against him to be unlawful, and condemned the rising of the barons. He wasburied in thecathedral atPerugia. The Feast of Corpus Christi was instituted by Urban IV.

CONTACT US |ADVERTISE WITH NEW ADVENT