Barbarossa; An Historical Novel of the XII Century.

CHAPTER XXXIX.
UNDER THE OAKS

On the day appointed for the interview between the two sovereigns, Frederic ordered several magnificent tents to be pitched along the bank of the river which was occupied by the German troops, while on the French side, Louis and his suite merely sheltered themselves under a clump of oak-trees.

The King wore a green hunting-dress, a plumed hat, and a short sword. He had left the city under the pretext of hunting in a neighboring forest; for he was anxious that the meeting should seem purely accidental, at least, to the French people, who had a profound contempt for the Antipope Victor, and were displeased with the alliance between Louis VII. and the schismatic Barbarossa.

The annoyance caused him by this forced interview, was apparent on the King's face, and his uneasiness increased as he gazed at the rows of tents stretching far into the distance. Barbarossa, indeed, had come at the head of a numerous army, in order the better to enforce his policy, and all the princes of the Empire were ordered to rendezvous at Laon, with their several contingents on a war-footing.

The King was accompanied by the Duke of Burgundy and the Counts of Champagne and Nevers, the latter of whom was a bold and arrogant noble, bitterly opposed to the papacy. A violent enemy of Alexander, he was none the less so as regarded Victor, and if he favored an alliance between Louis and the German Emperor, it was merely through a hope that this would better enable him to enjoy the fruits of his robberies.

A little later the Primate of France, Peter of Tarantasia and Galdini Sala, appeared near the bridge. The latter, since the fall of Milan, had been residing at Alexander's court, and had now come with the Archbishop of Tarantasia from Cluny, and had apparently been delegated on some secret mission.

Louis breathed more freely as the time passed without any signs of Barbarossa, for he began to hope that the Emperor would not come, and the interview not take place.

"What think you, my lords?" he said. "His German Majesty seems to care little for his promise. It is late now, and the hour fixed upon is long since passed."

"Some unforeseen occurrence must have detained him," said Henry of Champagne, who had observed his sovereign's secret satisfaction; "but he cannot fail to be here soon."

"Would it not be well," remarked one of the nobles, "for your Majesty to inform him of your arrival."

"No," answered Louis; "what use is there of this exchange of messages? What is the King of France, after all? Perhaps the Emperor has already forgotten this trifle."

"He has been detained by some state affairs," said the Count of Nevers.

"And I suppose, until these affairs are settled, the King of France can wait. Very well indeed," replied Louis. "But we will wait no longer-although there are some persons in France who desire our humiliation, and perhaps even our dethronement!"

These words, intended for the Count of Champagne, were uttered with some bitterness.

"Those men are nothing more than traitors!" said the Duke of Burgundy, who was aware of the relations between Henry and the Emperor.

The Count scowled angrily at the speaker.

"I did not believe," added the King, "that in all France there was a man base enough to sell his honor, even if there were any one capable of paying him in false promises."

"The passions, and particularly covetousness," resumed the Duke, "corrupt the heart and dispose it to the commission of evil deeds; but it is positive that France does contain persons, who are ready to sell their country."

"Are you perfectly assured of the existence of such persons?" asked Champagne, who, with difficulty, restrained his anger.

"I have heard them spoken of," replied the Duke.

"A man of honor is cautious in accusing others."

"Each man knows whether or not he is a slave to Barbarossa," answered the Burgundian. "I can only watch the traitors as long as they wear the mask of loyalty; but if they ever venture to show their faces, they shall pay dearly for their perfidy."

"Why this discussion, my lords?" said the Primate, who desired to prevent a still more unfriendly retort from the King's brother-in-law. "I am sure that, whenever France shall unfurl her oriflamme, Burgundy and Champagne will fight side by side beneath its folds."

"I am always at the post to which my honor and my oath assign me!" said the Count proudly.

"There can be no doubt on that point," added Louis; "you are united to us by the double bond of vassalage and relationship."

The Count of Champagne made no reply; his pride forbade further discussion. In ordinary circumstances, he would have mounted and ridden away without a word of apology; but now he was obliged to yield, but he did so with a firm resolution of revenging himself on the Burgundian Duke, on the first favorable opportunity.

Louis appreciated the danger of a quarrel between his vassals, and he hastened to change the subject.

"The hour has passed," he said, looking at the sun. "You, my lords, can bear witness that it is not we who failed to appear."

"But the Emperor will certainly come; wait a little longer," urged the Count Henry.

"No, Count; our self-respect forbids it, and I am tired of waiting. Frederic shows clearly by his absence, that his consideration for your sovereign is not excessive, and I am almost inclined to believe the reports which attribute to him pretensions to supremacy over all the princes of Christendom."

"As it may please you, Sire. However," continued Henry of Champagne, "you may possibly regret the results of your too hasty departure."

"The results! What mean you?"

"The Count means to say," replied the Duke of Burgundy, "that the enemies of France may profit by the opportunity to accuse you of breaking your royal word, and to invade our frontiers."

"Let them come if they wish; we will meet them!"

Louis looked towards the German camp, and under the influence of returning fears, was about to wait still longer, but the Duke opposed him.

"You cannot, Sire, without compromising yourself. If the Emperor means war, all your concessions will not prevent him from fixing a quarrel on you."

"I commend France to the care of the Almighty," said the feeble monarch; "but be kind enough, noble Duke, to ride over and salute the Emperor in my name."

"Heaven preserve me from it! I never meet the enemies of France except on the battle-field. It is at the head of my men-at-arms that I will pay my respects to Barbarossa;" and the fiery soldier mounted his charger.

"Since it is necessary, reverend father," said Louis to Peter of Tarantasia, "that you bear the Pope's message to the Emperor, have the kindness to explain to his Majesty that I have complied with all the conditions agreed upon, and that I have waited beyond the hour appointed."

"You may trust to me," said the pious Archbishop.

After another glance behind him, the King mounted, and rode with the Duke of Burgundy towards Laon.

The Count of Champagne leaned with a gloomy air against a tree, and the savage William of Nevers, smiling ironically, approached him.

"The Burgundian," he said, "speaks as though he meant to dispute Barbarossa's claim to the Empire."

"You seem jovial, my lord," replied Henry.

"And why should I not be? The heroic soul of the Duke of Burgundy will inspire the King. Our valiant sovereign will not keep his promise. As Alexander will not come, Barbarossa will be obliged to bring Victor. Ah! there is a worthy man for you; he thinks it no crime to rob a rich convent! But, if Pope Alexander keeps his place, the devil! I will have to do penance!"

Whilst the Count of Nevers was explaining the motives which attached him to Frederic and Victor, the two ecclesiastics were conversing privately.

"King Louis may be sincerely devoted to the Holy See," said Galdini Sala; "but he will not go to war against Barbarossa. I have grave fears for the Holy Father; he will be incarcerated in some lonely cloister, and will stay there, strictly guarded, until his last hour. Meanwhile, Victor, Frederic's devoted slave, will rule as the Emperor may dictate; and the court prelates will follow his bidding, until the whole Church falls into a deplorable condition."

"These fears are only human; but God's decrees are inscrutable, and beyond the comprehension of mortal man," replied the Archbishop. "How did Louis receive the news of the negotiations with the English King? I know that your mission is to sound him on that subject. But here comes the Emperor;" and he pointed to a cloud of dust in the distance.

The cavalcade advanced rapidly; the armor glittered in the sunlight. Princely banners, and the sumptuous robes of the nobles, could be distinguished; and at last the escort drew up before the tents.

CHAPTER XL.
A TRUE BISHOP

Followed by Rinaldo and the French Counts, the Emperor entered his tent, chafing angrily at the announcement that the King had gone.

"He imagines that he has acted royally," said Barbarossa; "is it not ridiculous to think that peace is endangered, because one of us came to the bridge a little later than the other? But how is it with the chief article of the treaty? Will the Cardinal Roland be present at the council?"

"The Archbishop of Tarantasia will give you every explanation on this point, Sire," replied the Count of Champagne. "All that I know is, that he refused the royal invitation."

"The invitation! What does this mean? Do you think that Roland can be influenced by an invitation? You will be good enough to remember, my Lord, that in our treaty, sworn to by you in the name of your King, it was stipulated that Roland should be forced to appear before his judges."

"Most certainly, Sire; and I will perform what I have promised; but I cannot oblige the King to do as much."

"Still it is the only way to prevent him from violating his oath," added William of Nevers.

There was a pause, Frederic's brow darkened, and his eye cast a threatening glance towards France.

"It is evident," he resumed, "that Louis hopes to deceive us, but we will not permit it. The king of France will learn that no one can, with impunity, baffle the plans of the mightiest nation of the earth! Chosen, by the grace of God, to protect the Church, it is our duty to establish order and even to punish kings! Count, you will freely express to your sovereign our discontent. – We insist on his executing every article of the treaty which he has sworn to. – Remember that you have pledged yourself to bring the Cardinal Roland before the Council, either with or without his consent. If the King of France desires, as ardently as we do, to promote the peace and well-being of the Church, he will spare neither entreaties nor threats to decide the French bishops to take part in the Council. The non-observance of the most insignificant clause, in a solemn treaty, will be looked upon by us as a declaration of war. We will invade the country, and we will compel the King not to leave the Church and his subjects in the hands of a few bigoted fanatics. My lord Chancellor, order this message to be written and sealed."

Dassel bowed and left the tent, well satisfied with his master's energy.

"You will perfectly understand, my lords," said Barbarossa, suddenly changing his tone, "that we receive the Archbishop as an envoy from the King of France, and not as Roland's messenger."

The French nobles left, with Rinaldo, to be presented to the German princes.

"What a mixture of weakness and bravado!" said the Emperor to himself. "I shall regret a war, but, at any cost, France must cease to be the protectress of the Pope."

His soliloquy was interrupted by the entrance of the Archbishop, whose noble and saintly appearance produced a great impression upon the monarch. Accustomed to see the prelates of his Court covered with finery and sumptuous robes, he was surprised at the Archbishop's simple and unpretending attire. Although well versed in the religious customs of the day, and aware of the wide-spread reputation of Peter of Tarantasia, Frederic was surprised at the inward emotion which he experienced at their meeting. On the other hand, the prelate appreciated the Emperor's position, and knew his hostile intentions towards the Church, – but he gazed calmly upon him, as though he would read his inmost thoughts.

"I am happy to be able to know you personally, worthy father," said Barbarossa, as he invited the prelate to be seated. "I have heard so much in your praise that I can only desire that all our prelates would take you as their model. Allow me to say one word: I know that Roland has refused our invitation. I should have been prepared for it; some characters are emboldened rather than subdued by danger. Still I am curious to learn the motives which have dictated his refusal."

"The motives were not invented by him, Sire. Our Holy Church teaches that her chief cannot submit to any earthly tribunal."

"In this I recognize the Cardinal's pride!"

"The Holy Father implores you to persecute the Church no more; it grieves him to see everywhere the laxity of morals, the universal discord which has been produced by your fault. He complains, above all, that you leave certain episcopal seats vacant, or else that you confer them upon men who are under ecclesiastical censure."

"Naturally we do not choose Alexander's partisans for Bishops. This would be only to warm the viper in our breast. But I am wrong in excusing myself to one who is accused; it is contrary to reason. If we were willing to apologize to Pope Alexander for all the insinuations which he has made against us, our honor would not support the trial!"

Frederic spoke with much bitterness and rose to indicate that the audience was at an end. The prelate remained quietly seated; he understood Barbarossa's disposition perfectly, and he regretted to see so influential a sovereign follow a course which could not but cause great evils to Christendom. He deplored the fatal consequences which were inevitable, and he endeavored to make them evident in terms the novelty of which must have surprised the Emperor.

"Your Majesty is right in insisting upon the recognition of the Imperial supremacy. But cannot the Holy Father solicit a similar favor; that is, the acknowledgment of his spiritual independence?"

"Doubtless! We have no pretensions to interfere in any way with Papal matters."

"Still, you do interfere with them in the most outrageous manner! The vicar of Jesus Christ has scarcely place on earth to rest his feet! Everything has become Imperial: we have Imperial bishops, Imperial convents, Imperial abbots, and, in the schools, Imperial instructions! – If that be just, what need is there for a Pope?"

This striking truth, uttered with perfect calmness, scarcely awakened a memory in Frederic's soul.

"Your reasoning," he replied, "is false and unjust at the same time! The whole earth belongs to the Pope, and he can cast his fisherman's net where it may please him; we, the protector of the Church, will certainly not hinder him."

"Yes, you will allow him to act so long as he is obedient to your orders; but if the Pope should wish to be his own master, if he should wish to reign independent of all human control, what would happen then?"

"There is but one sovereign lord upon earth," said the Emperor, proudly; "the laws are only the expression of his will, and all power exists by it alone!"

"It may be so for earthly concerns; but for spiritual matters, God has chosen another sovereign, the chief of religious unity, the supreme shepherd of Christianity-the Pope!"

"The Emperor also belongs to the fold of the faithful," said Frederic, quickly, "so that the Pope must be the Emperor's shepherd, his spiritual father; am I not right?"

"Most certainly; God said to the first Pope, 'Feed my sheep;' he made no exception to the Emperor."

"And yet the Roman Emperor bore the title of pontifex maximus! How do you explain that, my lord Archbishop?"

"The Roman emperors were pagans."

"Be it so; I am and will be entirely a Roman emperor!"

"A pagan head on a Christian body!"

"No!" answered Barbarossa; "but go to Byzantium; examine the Pandects of Justinian; you will see there that an alliance may exist between a pagan on the throne and Christianity."

"You support yourself on Justinian? but what was Justinian's code? Was it not the destruction of all liberty, the abrogation of every right of humanity? Great God!" added the illustrious prelate, standing sorrowfully before the Emperor, "what error! what peril! But the Pope has not yet worn the yoke of slavery; the nations of the Christian world will not permit it."

"Very well! But if, in case of disunion, the people leaned towards the spiritual, it would be easy to lessen the Emperor's person, and overthrow the tyrant."

"One moment, Sire; you give an incorrect interpretation to our meaning. The father of the faithful ought to oppose all those who wish to exercise tyranny and oppression. The Gospel delivered mankind from the slavery imposed upon it by paganism. Believe me," added the old man, in a prophetic tone, "the day that the Popes shall cease to protect liberty, anarchy and revolution will convulse the world."

Barbarossa shook his head with an incredulous and discontented air.

"The Emperor of the East has no Pope," he replied, "and yet he reigns peacefully."

"You are again in error, Sire! Mark attentively what is going on in Byzantium. What do you see there? An exhausted and dying kingdom, a weak and corrupt clergy, a host of ecclesiastics knowing no law but the Imperial will; an effeminate people without morals, and puffed up with vanity and servile ideas. Is this the state to which you would reduce your brilliant Empire?"

"You exaggerate; matters are scarcely in so bad a state as that."

"Ah, Sire! they are in an infinitely worse condition. Great God! I see it now; Salisbury was right! – I deplore it, but he was right."

"Salisbury!" said Barbarossa, starting, for he had a great respect for this illustrious scholar. "May I ask in what he was right?"

Peter sighed deeply.

"Why do you hesitate, my lord Archbishop? You know the opinion which a wise man entertains of our actions; why then do you seek to conceal it from us?"

"Salisbury occasionally writes to me, Sire," said Peter, with an embarrassed manner.

"Well, what has he written about us?"

"I received his letter a few days since," replied the prelate, drawing a parchment from his bosom; "it contains a dissertation upon the present condition of the Church, and particularly upon your designs. But it tells me no more than your Majesty himself has just stated, still I was unwilling to believe it."

"Speak!"

"You will it so; make up your mind then to listen to some bitter truths. -

"Led astray by the principles of the Justinian Code, Frederic dreams of the renewal of the brilliant Roman empire in its complete and most deceitful form. Either he does not understand the great Christian Empire, or it is insufficient to gratify his pride. He has less desire to be the protector of the Church than to be her master. The Pope must steer St. Peter's boat according to the Emperor's will; the bishops must be nothing but abbots of the Empire, and religion must be subordinate to the ends which the Government proposes. As he has destroyed the free life of the Church, so does he subvert the liberties of the people. Instead of preserving the ancient manners and customs of his people as is his duty, his plan contemplates the reorganizing of everything. If this Emperor ever succeeds in his designs, it will be by the abolition of all independence. Still, what prince could be compared with Frederic before he became a tyrant, and from a Catholic Emperor degenerated into a schismatic?'"

Frederic heard this discourse with marked astonishment, and more than once was on the point of interrupting; at last, at the word schismatic, he colored with anger, and exclaimed, -

"Enough! the letter of this learned personage is full of exaggerations! The name of schismatic cast in our teeth seems to be looked upon as an excuse for everything. – Because Victor's humility seemed to us more worthy of the Holy See than Roland's pride, we are called the destroyer of Church liberty!"

"Pardon me, Sire, it is my duty to say a few words in reply," remarked Peter. "You speak of Victor's humility, but Victor is, after all, your creature; a plaything which your breath sends whither it will; a puppet which you have chosen to obey all your caprices: – And should Victor be the supreme Head of Christendom?"

Barbarossa was confused by such language. The old man's frankness, his calmness and dignity, obliged him to listen. There was no animation in his manner, but his clear voice sorrowfully expressed his feeling of duty.

Barbarossa looked at him in silence.

"You will acknowledge, Sire, that the Pope must be free and independent to discharge his ministry. What would become of an enslaved Church, dependent upon the will of a temporal ruler? Great God! to what baseness would she not be obliged to descend; what infamous enormities would she not have to sanction, under the pretext of State policy! A religion which acts in the interest of human passions instead of opposing their indulgence, could not aid in the salvation of souls-Everything would be subverted; sin would invade the whole world, and would extinguish Christ's holy light, and with it all faith, all desire, all power of good! – And this," concluded the prelate, with energy, "this is the state of degradation to which you would reduce a Church which has existed for a thousand years!"

The Archbishop had risen, and stood before the Emperor like a prophet of old.

"It is well! enough of this; we understand independence, but within certain limits."

"It is not independence, but duty which dictated my words, Sire! May this appeal of an aged prelate, ready to appear at the judgment-seat of God, not be lost upon you! It is more difficult to speak the truth to princes than to conceal it. I have told you naught but the truth. May Heaven in its mercy enlighten your Majesty!"

The Archbishop bowed, and left the room.

"By my faith!" cried Barbarossa; "there goes a worthy man; one not often met with! His words might have turned from its determination a spirit less decided than mine!"