CHAPTER VIII

HADRIAN AND DESIDERIUS

 

Fortunately for the honor of the Holy See, the election resulted in the appointment of a man of probity, energy, and capability, the deacon Hadrian. This new Pope was a scion of one of the noblest families of Rome. Having been early deprived of his father, he was entrusted by his widowed mother to the care of his uncle, Theodotus, consul and duke, afterwards primicerius and “father” of the diaconate of St. Angelo. Hadrian had been trained at the Lateran, and was distinguished for his piety, high principles, and learning. His supporters hoped, by electing him, to get out of difficulties, and to please both the Church and the nobility, by giving them a Pope who was at once a member of the ecclesiastical profession and of the aristocracy. They also wanted a man of action, who would avenge, without delay, the iniquitous proceedings which had disgraced the pontificate of Stephen III.

The attack on the unfortunate Sergius was not the only offence of its kind. The death of Carloman seemed to have let loose the evil passions of Afiarta’s adherents. Exalted members of the clergy and the military had suffered banishment in the last days of the deceased Pope. Hadrian lost no time in repairing their wrongs, but, immediately on his election, gave orders that they should be recalled. He at once resumed negotiations with the Lombard king, and awaited a favorable opportunity of bringing the assassins and their accomplices to justice.

Since Carloman’s death, the situation had become complex. He had left behind him only young children, one of whom was little Prince Pepin, born in 770. The aristocracy of his kingdom decided, by a large majority, to amalgamate under the authority of Charlemagne. The latter was at Corbeny, near Laon, and thither were dispatched deputies, empowered to endow him with the kingdom of his brother. Gerberga, Carloman’s widow, fled with her children to Italy, accompanied by a few faithful followers; conspicuous among them was Autchaire. Desiderius welcomed them with open arms; by extending his encouragement and protection to these fugitives, he thought to undermine the formidable power which was springing up on the other side of the Alps. There was, at least, good reason to hope that the time would come, when a diplomatic interchange might be profitably arranged. Great stakes were at issue, but Desiderius was to be on the losing side.

He was not relying on this means of action when, on Hadrian’s succession, he sent him greetings by the Duke of Spoleto, and two other officials, who urged the Pope to renew the agreement made with Stephen III, undertaking, in return, to render to the Holy See all the compensations that it unceasingly demanded. Hadrian responded by sending him a deputation, conducted by Paul Afiarta. By this means, he succeeded in getting rid of the latter, while, at the same time, he was giving the Lombard king a pledge of his amiable intentions, by dispatching to him a persona grata.

But no sooner had the papal legates quitted Rome than disquieting news arrived. Desiderius had made himself master of Ferrara, Comacchio, and Faenza, and was now meditating a descent on Ravenna. There was no mistaking his political attitude, for he publicly posed as the supporter of Carloman’s children, and claimed that the Pope, by his solemn consecration of the young princes, had declared himself on their side. Afiarta was of the king’s opinion, and undertook, at any cost, to bring about a meeting between Desiderius and Hadrian. The sacellarius Stephen, who had accompanied him on his mission, seems also to have been of the same mind.

They were, however, deluded. Hadrian having got wind of their designs, changed Stephen for another envoy, and Afiarta’s temporary absence became permanent, under the following circumstances. The Pope was determined to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the assassination of Sergius the secundicerius. The enquiry, which followed, resulted in the arrest of the criminals, three Campanini, the chamberlain Calventzulus, the priest Lunisso, and Leonatius, the tribune. These maintained that they had been but tools in the hands of others, and denounced, as the instigators of the crime, Paul Afiarta, the Duke John, brother of the late Pope, a district advocate named Gregory, and another chamberlain, Calvulus. Concerning the fate of John and Gregory we know nothing, but Calvulus, and the three Campanians, were handed over to the criminal judge, the Prefect of Rome, who now reappears, after an interval of more than a century and a half. Calvulus spent the rest of his life in prison, while the other three were banished to Constantinople.

According to the Pope’s instructions, Afiarta was to be arrested on his return, by the Archbishop of Ravenna, who, after communicating to him the result of the inquest on the murder of Sergius, and having verified his guilt, would condemn him also to exile at Constantinople. Hadrian even caused a letter to be sent to the Emperors Constantine V and Leo IV, acquainting them with what had occurred, and recommending them to keep a street watch over the banished culprit.

On receiving these instructions, the archbishop had Paul arrested, on his way to Rimini, and placed in charge of the consularius of Ravenna, who, after making him listen to the reading of the indictment, received his depositions and admission of guilt. The archbishop and his party were greatly incensed against Afiarta, whom they justly regarded as an adherent of the Lombards. Maurice, Duke of Venice, was to have acted as intermediary between Ravenna and Constantinople, but, as his son was, at that time, a Lombard prisoner, the archbishop dreaded that he might be exchanged for Afiarta, and therefore wrote to the Pope, dissuading him from entrusting his captive to the Venetian duke.

At this, the Pope, not without good grounds, feared that the Ravennese might adopt a more expeditious method of getting rid of their prisoner. He therefore dispatched another envoy to the Lombard king, with instructions to fetch Afiarta on his return through Ravenna, and bring him back to Rome. Arrived at Ravenna, this new ambassador solemnly informed the archbishop and his circle of the commission which he had to fulfill on his return journey. But no sooner had he set out on his way to Pavia than the consularius, at the archbishop’s behest, had the prisoner executed. The Pope disclaimed any part in the matter, but, for all that, he was well rid of a most troublesome subject. As for Christopher and Sergius, they received an honorable burial in the basilica of St. Peter.

Tradition was renewed, and the Pope withdrew from the Lombard alliance. It must be admitted that Desiderius did his best to promote ill-feeling between them, and to throw the Pope back upon the Franks. Not content with plotting against Charlemagne, and seizing upon Exarchal territories, which had been ceded fifteen or sixteen years before, he set the Dukes of Spoleto and Tuscany to lay waste Pentapolis and the duchy of Rome. Hadrian, in alarm, tried to come to terms, and kept a constant succession of envoys going between Rome and Pavia. The Abbot of Farfa, escorted by twenty venerable monks, was among them. But it was all in vain; no treaty could be made. The king, remembering his success with Paul and Stephen III, was most anxious for a personal interview with the Pope. He hoped to induce Hadrian to unite with him against Charlemagne. The former agreed to a meeting, but only on condition that the recently annexed territories should be first restored to him.

At the same time he dispatched a letter to Charle­magne by an envoy named Peter, who arrived at Thionville sometime in the winter of 772-773. His welcome was not enthusiastic, for the king had been prejudiced by Desiderius, who had spread reports in France that the Pope’s lamentations were without cause, and that he had received no injury. The continual plaints with which the Frankish court had been beset in the times of Paul and Stephen III made these declarations the more credible. But that this time the case was really serious, was demonstrated by the fact that Desiderius set out for Rome, accompanied by Autchaire and some of Carloman’s sons. The aim of this expedition was merely to obtain audience of the Pope, and not, as in the case of Astolphus (756), the conquest of the city. As Hadrian declined to meet them at Pavia, Perugia, or anywhere else, Desiderius did what he had done several times before, under former Popes, and went forward in the direction of Rome.

But Hadrian viewed things in a different light. He imagined that he saw, or perhaps really did see, in the pilgrim king an invading foe. He therefore summoned the military forces from the neighboring towns to Rome; had the suburban basilicas stripped of their valuables and closed; and the ramparts made ready for the defence. These precautions taken, the Pope stationed at Viterbo (at that time the nearest Lombard town) three bishops, charged to prohibit Desiderius, under pain of excommunication, from entering into Roman territory. This seems to have had a quenching effects on the king’s spirit, for he retreated in the direction of Pavia.

Just at this time the Lombard king had to contend not only with the papal displeasure, but also with the diplomacy of Charlemagne. George, Bishop of Amiens (formerly of Ostia), and Gulfard, Abbot of St. Martin, came over to Italy to satisfy themselves of the state of affairs. First of all, they paid a visit to Rome, from which they brought away urgent letters; then they proceeded to Pavia, where they made fruitless attempts to obtain concessions from the king.

Charlemagne, on being informed of what was taking place, sent fresh ambassadors to Desiderius, charging him to restore what he had taken from the Pope. He himself offered to pay down a sum of fourteen thousand gold sous, as compensation. But again the Lombard king remained obdurate.

It was now about the middle of the year 773. Charles assembled his followers at Geneva, sending two military divisions to Italy. One of these, under command of his uncle Bernard, went by way of Valais and the Aosta valley, while the other crossed the Mont Genis. History again repeated itself, and, as in the last campaign, there were summonses in extremis, an encounter, then defeat of the Lombards, and a siege of Pavia. This time, however, there was a second revolt at Verona. It was led by Adelchis, son of Desiderius, and the Frankish Duke Autchaire, who had taken refuge there with the family of Carloman. But Charles, after having established his camp in front of Pavia, marched against Verona, and soon succeeded in subduing the rebellion. Autchaire and his royal comrades cast themselves upon his generosity, and Adelchis took refuge in Byzantine domains. The other towns in the north of Italy also surrendered.

The days of the Lombard kingdom were numbered. The struggle was soon recognized to be an unequal one, and it was evident that the patience of the Franks was nearly exhausted. The people of Spoleto, always on the watch for a chance to assert their independence, took advantage of their Duke Theodicius’ departure for the Cluses, and sent to Rome some of their most important inhabitants to proclaim their allegiance to the Pope, and to receive the civil tonsure of the Romans. After the overthrow of the Lombard army the whole duchy presented itself, followed by the people of Ancona, Osimo, Fermo, and Citta di Castello. So that, while Charlemagne was conquering the northern towns, the Pope was taking possession of the important districts of central Italy. He bestowed legal rights upon Hildeprand, the new Duke of Spoleto, elected by his subjects, and the latter in the beginning of his office certainly regarded himself as in subordination to the pontiff.

The siege of Pavia was protracted. Charles spent the winter in camp, having sent to France for his young wife, Hildegarde, to bear him company. When spring came he made up his mind to go to Rome for the Easter festivals. The Pope, although not aware until the last moment of the approach of such a distinguished visitor, found time to send a deputation of judices, i.e. army officers, with their banners, as far as Lake Bracciano. On the Saturday before Easter the king, with this additional escort, arrived at the meadows of Nero. There, drawn up before them, were to be seen the Roman militia under arms; the school children, palms in hand, singing laudes; and, finally, the district crosses. It was in this ceremonious manner that the Exarchs had been received in bygone days. The king dismounted from his horse and advanced on foot towards the basilica of St. Peter’s. The Pope, surrounded by his clergy, was awaiting him at the top of the great staircase leading to the atrium. Charles ascended this on his knees, kissing each step on the way. Arrived at the top, he embraced the Pope, accepted his right hand, and accompanied him into the atrium or paradise, and then into the church.

The succeeding days were spent in religious festivals and official banquets. Nevertheless Charles and his Frankish subjects did not enter Rome until he and the pontiff had bound themselves by a mutual oath. On 6th April, the Wednesday after Easter, the great political agreements were drawn up. A meeting was held in the basilica of St. Peter, at which the Pope presented Charles with a document made out in 754 at Kiersy-sur-Oise, in the names of Pepin, Charles himself, and his brother Carloman. It was on behalf of St. Peter, Stephen II, his vicar, and successors, and contained a promise to surrender to the Pope a certain number of Italian territories. Hadrian begged the king for its fulfilment, and the latter, after re-reading it, had drawn up another document of the same purport, and introducing the same cities and territories. These are indicated with great precisión by Hadrian’s biographer. It was, manifestly, not merely a question of the donation of the Exarchy and Pentapolis, placed by the Abbot Fulrad on the tomb of St. Peter, in 756. The new agreement, we are told, embraced, like that of Kiersy, the duchies of Spoleto and Beneventum, the whole of Tuscany, Corsica, Venetia, and Istria. Between Venetia and Tuscany, the Exarchy, which had greatly enlarged its borders in the north and west, included Parma, Reggio, Mantua, and Montselice, to the south of Padua.

If this promise had been carried out, the Lombard kingdom would have been reduced to very narrow limits. Indeed, almost the whole of Italy would have belonged to the Pope.

Several copies of the document having been drawn up, it was invested with much solemnity. One copy was placed on the altar and confided to the Pope; another was deposited by Charles in the most sacred spot of the apostolic sanctuary. He then returned to Pavía, which surrendered shortly afterwards. The Lombard king and his queen, Ansa, were confined at Corbi, where they seem to have flourished for many years. Charles returned to France, leaving behind him at Pavia a garrison and a provisional government.