(a) - Northern and central Italy in the twelfth century

Summary

THE KINGDOM OF ITALY AND THE PAPAL STATES IN THE TIME OF LOTHAR II AND CONRAD III

The Salian dynasty died out in 1125 and Lothar of Supplinburg, duke of Saxony, came to the throne, in accordance with the wishes of both the German episcopate and Pope Honorius II. However the election in Germany of an anti-king in 1128, in the person of Conrad of the Swabian Staufen, involved Italy, for Conrad sought support there against Lothar, succeeding in having himself crowned with all solemnity by Archbishop Anselm of Milan, then in disagreement with Honorius II for ecclesiastical reasons. As a member of the house of Swabia Conrad considered himself heir, through kinship, to the allodial patrimonia which had belonged to Henry V. He also claimed lands which Henry had occupied in Italy as heir to Matilda of Canossa, a claim destined to give rise to conflicts with the Roman church, to which Matilda had given her possessions before the agreement drawn up with Henry V in 1111. Neither the coronation in Italy nor his claims to Matilda’s estates strengthened Conrad’s cause during these years and in 1130 he returned to Germany, where he engaged in a fruitless quarrel with Lothar.

Honorius II died in the same year, giving rise to a papal schism between Innocent II and Anacletus II. This schism reflected disagreement among the cardinals, although by this time they had all moved towards the idea of a reforming pontificate, and disagreement between the two families which had now become the most powerful in Rome, the Frangipani, who supported Innocent, and the Pierleoni, who upheld Anacletus. Anacletus prevailed in the city itself and Innocent took refuge in France, where a council pronounced in his favour, in part because of the eloquence of Bernard of Clairvaux. Lothar then overcame his own irresolution and descended into Italy in support of Pope Innocent. He stayed in Lombardy, divided between the hostility of Milan and Crema and the allegiance of Pavia, Cremona, Piacenza and other cities.