Papal Walls in Rome

Everyone today will certainly be aware of the waves of Muslim peoples moving into Europe from Africa and the Middle East. Italy has been greatly impacted by this with huge numbers of people coming ashore on the southern islands, depending entirely on the Italian tax-payers for support. This is, of course, not the first time that large groups of Muslims have come into Europe and Italy in particular. In the past they came armed for battle but were met by Italian and other European Christians ready to defend themselves. Today that seems unnecessary given that they are being taken in willingly. This has become part of a larger, global narrative of people from poorer countries fleeing to wealthier countries, almost exclusively Western Europe and North America. Pope Francis has been rather outspoken on the subject that these Muslims should be accepted into the European countries and, while on a visit to the United States, called building walls to protect national borders something that a true Christian would not do. This would, however, put the Holy Father at odds with his saintly predecessor Pope Leo IV.

Elected in 847 AD, Pope Leo IV was a native Roman and reigned during a time of great danger for Italy and Christendom as a whole. By this time, Muslim armies had come out of the deserts of Arabia to invade and conquer the Middle East, all of North Africa and were well advanced into Spain. The island of Sicily, for example, had been conquered and made into a Muslim emirate for almost twenty years when Leo IV came to the Throne of St Peter. That same year, 847, saw the Islamic conquest of Bari in Apulia and the establishment of the Emirate of Bari. Muslim raids on Italian coastal towns and cities were a frequent occurrence and the Eternal City of Rome was not immune from danger. Most worrisome to the Pope was the number of people who, in return for special treatment for themselves, aided the Saracen invaders in making war and pillaging the lands of their fellow Italians in rival cities. The year before his election, Muslim invaders had sailed up the Tiber River and pillaged the outskirts of Rome itself, desecrating the churches of Old St Peter's and St Paul's Outside-the-Walls. Further damage was prevented only by the still standing Aurelian Wall, built in the Third Century by the Emperor of Rome.

Pope St Leo IV waving to crowds below

Pope Leo IV thus began his pontificate with cleaning up after this attack and trying to improve the defensive fortifications of the city as best he could while also trying to organize an Italian coalition to drive out the Islamic invaders. Gaeta was already under siege at the time of his election and when the Muslims moved against Portus it was Pope Leo IV who called for the Italian cities known for their naval forces to come together in defense of Italy and Christendom. Naples, Amalfi and of course Gaeta answered the call and an effective Italian fleet was assembled, including papal vessels from Rome, that was led by Caesar of Naples (son of Duke Sergius I) who won a dramatic victory over the Muslims in the 849 Battle of Ostia. Pope Leo IV had come out to see the fleet off, give them his apostolic blessing and to say mass for the Italian sailors. His prayers certainly seemed to be effective as a storm erupted during the middle of the battle which split the Saracen fleet and enabled the Italians to win the day.

Map of the Leonine City

This was a great offensive victory but, as mentioned, Pope Leo IV did not neglect defensive measures either and so it was he who had built a massive new wall forty feet high with towers at intervals of 'an arrow shot' completely around the Vatican hill, covering some three kilometers to enclose that part of the city not protected by the Aurelian Wall. The Castel Sant Angelo (the tomb of Emperor Hadrian) stood at one end as the primary fortress and strong point of the new fortifications. The Pope employed his own laborers as well as local builders and even Saracens who had been taken prisoner at the Battle of Ostia. Donations, funds from the papal treasury and a donation from the Frankish monarch funded the project. The end result was what has become known as the Leonine Wall which was a success in that Rome was never victimized by Muslim forces again. The area enclosed by the wall is also sometimes known as the Leonine City. This was also, it might be mentioned, the area originally offered to Pope Pius IX by King Vittorio Emanuele II as a papal state after Rome became part of the Kingdom of Italy but the offer was rejected by the Pope.

Amedeo VIII di Savoia / Antipapa Felice V

Once upon a time in Europe there was a major Catholic embarrassment known as “the Great Schism”. It came as a result of what is known as “the Babylonian Captivity” or the “Avignon Papacy” when the papal court moved from Rome to Avignon in France which produced a succession of French pontiffs who were seen as little more than the tools of the French Crown. That ended with Pope Gregory XI and when he died the people of Rome were determined to have a Roman pontiff rather than a French one. They were quite forceful about it and so the cardinals elected a rather unpleasant fellow (not exactly a Roman but a southern Italian deemed ‘close enough’) who took the name Pope Urban VI. The French, however, did not like that and so declared his election invalid, the cardinals electing another pope, a warrior-cardinal (Robert of Geneva), who took the name Pope Clement VII. He is what is known as an “Anti-Pope” or an invalid pope. This was the beginning of the “Great Schism” which saw Catholic Europe split into feuding factions, at one point with three different men all claiming to be the “true” Pope at the same time. It was a major embarrassment and it is not surprising that anti-Popes tend to be viewed as ‘bad guys’ in Catholic history.

However, that is not necessarily true. Pope Urban VI, for example, while undoubtedly the valid, legitimate pontiff, was a rather unsavory character and most who had to deal with him found him a rather vindictive, bullying jerk. Pope Clement VII, on the other hand, though nicknamed “the butcher” in his earlier, military career just because of a trifling incident involving the massacre of a few thousand people, was widely considered the much better man, a very nice fellow who treated people well, was forgiving toward his enemies and genuinely considered himself the valid pontiff. Practically any Catholic history will, in fact, relate that while Urban VI was the correct pope, Clement VII would have made a better one. Not every anti-Pope was an ambitious usurper, thirsty for power but rather were sometimes men of sincere piety who, in a confusing and tumultuous time, were prevailed upon to accept the papal crown as a duty to the Church and Christendom. The “Great Schism” was, thankfully, mostly ended with the election of Pope Martin V in 1417, however one rival remained and there would be a couple more before it was all over. The man regarded by history as the last of the anti-Popes is an illustration of a good, devout man being caught up in a situation not of his making which left him on the wrong side of Church history but still with a good reputation.

That man was Amadeus VIII, Count and later Duke of Savoy. He was born on September 4, 1383 to Count Amadeus VII of Savoy and Bonne of Berry (granddaughter of King Jean II of France). His father died in 1391 leaving him Count of Savoy at an early age but his mother acted as his regent until he was old enough to rule in his own right. As the Count of Savoy he was quite a successful ruler. He enlarged his domains, oversaw economic prosperity, earned a reputation for being mild-mannered and just as well as being quite religious. With the Hundred Years War still raging between England and France, he tried several times to arrange a negotiated end to the conflict though to no avail. When the “Great Schism” broke out, he was very troubled by it, more so than most because of his pious nature. He had been such a success and had such a great reputation that, in 1416, Sigismund of Luxembourg, the Holy Roman (German) Emperor gave him an aristocratic promotion, raising him to the status of Duke of Savoy. Later, he also conferred on him the title of Count of Geneva. Earlier he had married Mary of Burgundy and had a happy home life, fathering nine children. However, his world fell apart when his beloved wife died in 1422 and Duke Amadeus VIII turned his back on the world.

Amadeus VIII retired, though he retained his title, handing power over to his son Louis, to live a contemplative life as a hermit in Ripaille on the shores of Lake Geneva. He took five knights with him to live by a monastic code he devised as the Order of St Maurice, which, combined with another, is still one of the senior chivalric orders of the Italian Royal Family today. He was thus mostly out of touch from that time on though he had kept up with the events of the Council of Basel-Ferrara-Florence. It was this council, in opposition to Pope Eugene IV, which elected him (Anti-)Pope on October 30, 1439. It was not a position he had sought for himself and it took a period of negotiations before he could be prevailed upon to accept the papal crown. The primary motivation of the electors seems to have been the wealth and prestige they thought Amadeus would bring with him to their cause. He finally accepted and was duly installed as Pope Felix V on November 5, 1439.

Anti-Pope Felix V renounced his secular titles and was crowned by Cardinal d’Allamand in 1440. For the first few years of his pontificate his secretary was Aeneas Sylvinus Piccolomini, later Pope Pius II. The actual pope, Eugene IV, excommunicated him of course and he found no widespread popular support for his position beyond his own lands in Savoy and across Switzerland. Those who did acknowledge him as the rightful pope included the Dukes of Austria, Tyrol, Bavaria-Munich, the Count-Palatine of Simmern, the Teutonic Order and a handful of religious orders and universities in Germany. Most of those who appointed cardinals refused to take their places and as Pope Eugene IV gave way to Pope Nicholas V support for Felix V fell away further. He was also frequently at odds with the Council of Basel over financial matters which is the one area that tends to taint his reputation. Still, no one could find that he had acted in bad faith or could show any evidence of serious defects in his character. His position continued to deteriorate though through 1442 and 1443 after which he increasingly became isolated and ignored. Efforts to establish a papal court and control over the Church bureaucracy ended in frustration and finally the pretense came to an end in 1449 when he submitted to the authority of Pope Nicholas V on April 7.

Nonetheless, it was not all that bad an end for anti-Pope Felix V. Because of his good name and recognition that he had been misled rather than acting purposely malicious, Pope Nicholas V was inclined to be forgiving. He appointed Amadeus of Savoy Cardinal of St Sabina and made him his permanent Apostolic vicar-general for the lands of the House of Savoy as well as the dioceses of Basel, Strasbourg, Chur and others. The papal schism had ended and there seemed to be few hard feelings about it, so a happy ending all in all. Amadeus VIII carried on in ecclesiastical office, under the legitimate pontiffs, until his death on January 7, 1451 at the age of 67.

The Savoyard Crusade

Pope Urban V

Today is the feast of Blessed Urban V, one of the “Avignon Popes” and an ardent supporter of the crusades against the Islamic Ottoman Empire. It was Pope Urban V who called for what would become known to history as the “Savoyard Crusade” in 1363 though it would not really get started until 1366. The original leaders of this crusade were supposed to be the kings of France and Cyprus but neither of them actually ended up going so the name for the whole adventure comes from the man who did actually lead the fight, the “Green Count” Amedeo VI of Savoy, one of the forefathers of the Italian Royal Family and one of the most celebrated figures in the long history of the House of Savoy. King Louis I of Hungary was also persuaded to participate, fresh off of a victory over the Bulgars, even taking a son of the Czar of Bulgaria prisoner. Count Amedeo VI assembled his army, mostly from his own lands, while Urban V had difficulties finding transport for them as the Venetians preferred to trade with the Muslims rather than make war on them. Promised support from the German Emperor likewise never materialized.

Count Amedeo made it to Venice, though his funds from the Pope were cut back because he would not be going to the Holy Land itself (though Urban V still blessed the enterprise), this change did help persuade the Venetians to be more cooperative in transporting the Savoyard crusaders and on June 21, 1366 the small army set sail down the Adriatic. Political complications boiled the entire time with the King of Hungary not moving to assist as he had promised and with tensions between the Pope and the Byzantine Emperor John V (a first cousin of Count Amedeo VI) over the papal demand that the Emperor reunite with the Catholic Church in exchange for Latin assistance to his besieged empire. Nonetheless, Count Amedeo forged ahead into the Turkish waters of the Dardanelles, joined by the Emperor’s son-in-law and the Patriarch of Constantinople with a contingent of soldiers. The Emperor himself was, at the time, being held prisoner by the Bulgarians.

On August 22 the Savoyard crusaders landed and made their initial attack on the shores of the Gallipoli peninsula. The Italian soldiers attacked the walls and must have intimidated the Turkish defenders for they fled during the night, leaving the local populace to open the gates and welcome in their Christian liberators. Count Amedeo worked feverishly to establish new garrisons for the important positions such as the key fortresses and the entrance to the straits. As the Turks continued to retreat, the Savoyard knights harried them in pursuit, driving them from the peninsula. Early in September they reached the city of Constantinople itself, most of them staying with their fellow-Italians in the Genoese quarter, some in the famous Galata Tower itself (which was in the Venetian quarter). While in Constantinople, the “Green Count” also sent messengers to make contact with his trapped cousin the Byzantine Emperor John V. Of course, the Emperor asked Amedeo VI to come quickly to his rescue.

The “Green Count” had no papal authorization to make war on the Bulgarians but he could hardly ignore the request for help from his cousin and the Byzantine Empress promised sufficient funding for the expedition to rescue her embattled husband. The “Green Count” made his decision and, leaving loyal Italian troops behind to hold their position in Constantinople, set out in early October across the Black Sea to Bulgaria to find the Emperor. His small army finally landed though exactly where and whether certain cities taken resisted or not is still debated by historians. One fortress that resisted fiercely was Nesebar (or Mesembria) which refused to surrender, forcing the Savoyard troops to take heavy casualties storming the citadel. Then, as was customary at the time, the defenders were put to the sword and the city pillaged. Several more towns were captured afterward until the Savoyard troops had secured control of the Gulf of Burgas.

The "Green Count" Amedeo VI

Throughout the rest of October, November and into December cities were taken, raids were launched and all the while messengers tried to arrange the safe return of the Emperor with the local Bulgarian authorities. Finally, in late January the following year, Emperor John V was delivered to the “Green Count” unharmed. By the time the Savoyard troops returned to Constantinople, after the Emperor had gone ahead of them, a lavish ceremony was prepared to welcome them with the assembled crowd shouting, “Long live the count of Savoy, who had delivered Greece from the Turks and the Emperor, our lord, from the hands of the Emperor of Bulgaria!” With all of that out of the way, the “Green Count” wanted nothing more than to get back to his original purpose of making war on the Islamic hordes. This he did but he had, by this time, a greatly depleted force from what he had started out with.

There were more battles against the Turks but as often defensive as opposed to offensive ones and ultimately the Savoyard crusaders were mostly fighting for the means to travel back to Italy. The “Green Count” did his Christian duty off the battlefield as well by trying to patch-up the East-West Schism of Christianity, naturally to no avail. He had brought along a Latin Patriarch of Constantinople but, to avoid offending the Greeks, had put him up in Gallipoli rather than the city of Constantine itself. He was not to stay however as the Latin Patriarch, Paul, set sail with the rest of the Savoyard crusaders when the left in June of 1367, handing their conquered territories over to the Byzantines. The following month the “Green Count” and his remaining crusaders arrived back on Italian shores in Venice to great acclaim.

Count Amedeo VI and his men had fought many great battles and the history reads better than any fictional adventure, fighting heathen armies, conquering fortresses, rescuing an emperor but, in the end, the fruits of their victory did not last. The count had left the city of Emona in the hands of his natural son, Prince Antonio, who was tricked into an ambush and ending up dying in a Bulgarian prison. Gallipoli was held by Christian forces for the next ten years until it was handed over to the Turks by the son of Emperor John V in return for Turkish support against his own father. Such was the way of the Byzantines.

Savoy Connection to Papal Saint

On April 27, 2014 Pope Francis presided over the formal canonization of Pope St John XXIII, the man known as the "Good Pope" who is remembered for his approachable style and for calling the Second Vatican Council. He also has a connection with the Italian Royal Family and it relates to his years of service in the papal diplomatic corps. In 1925 he was appointed by Pope Pius XI to be the Apostolic Visitor to Bulgaria. It was a post he had reservations about but finally accepted and ultimately proved to be of good service there. Later, in 1930, Princess Giovanna of Italy was married to Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria and the marriage, which included both a Catholic ceremony in Italy and then a Bulgarian Orthodox ceremony in Sofia, upset many even though the new Queen Ioanna (taking the Bulgarian form of her name) remained a Roman Catholic. There were some hard feelings on both sides and it was a difficult transition for the Italian princess. One of the friendly faces she was able to rely on was that of the future papal saint, Archbishop Roncalli.

Angelo Roncalli, despite coming from a very humble farming family, was a native of Lombardy and was known to the Italian Royal Family and a familiar face to the new Tsaritsa of Bulgaria. She relied on him and he was a great help in her initial settlement in Bulgaria, her time as a royal newlywed and the starting of their own family. When the children of the royal couple were baptized into the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, rather than the Roman Catholic Church, this upset many people in Italy (though it probably shouldn't have been such a surprise) and Archbishop Roncalli helped her through it. That was, at least, for the birth of Princess Marie Louise as Archbishop Roncalli had since been reassigned to Turkey before the birth of the future Tsar Simeon II (the last Bulgarian monarch). Perhaps some of the saintliness of the future Pope John XXIII rubbed off on the Italian princess-turned-Bulgarian Queen consort. She was beloved for her great compassion, charitable work and help for the persecuted during World War II. She saw her old friend Cardinal Roncalli elected Pope John XXIII while she was in exile after the abolition of the Bulgarian monarchy. No doubt they were together again for his canonization.

Pope Alexander III

During the period when the papacy and the German emperor (officially the Emperor-Elect of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation) were in a state of near constant struggle, one of the most vociferous in defending the rights of the Pope and opposing the Emperor was Pope Alexander III, and it was no easy task as rarely has the Catholic Church been so divided as in his time. He was born Orlando Bandinelli around the year 1100 in Sienna. Originally a law professor, he was called to Rome in 1150 by Pope Eugene III. After that, he rose quite rapidly in the Church, being first created Cardinal Deacon and then the Cardinal Priest of St Mark and Papal Chancellor. As an advisor to Pope Hadrian IV he was prominent among the faction of cardinals who opposed the imperial-German influence on the Italian peninsula and favored an alliance with the Normans in Naples to free Italy from the German grip. In 1157 at the Diet of Besancon he earned the long-lasting wrath of the Germans for saying that the rank and title of emperor was a favor of the pope, a “papal beneficium” rather than something that came to the German rulers automatically or directly from God. Otto von Wittelsbach nearly separated his head from his shoulders then and there but Emperor Frederick I (the famous “Frederick Barbarossa”) prevented any bloodshed.

The stage was set for a showdown between pope and emperor as, in the final stage of his reign, Hadrian IV broke with the Hohenstaufen monarch and, as Cardinal Bandinelli had suggested, allied with the Norman Kingdom of Sicily. This prompted Emperor Frederick to clamp down and extend his imperial claim across northern Italy just before Hadrian IV died. When the cardinals met to elect a successor, the German Emperor dispatched two reliable figures to influence the Sacred College in his favor. They were not entirely successful. On September 7, 1159 Orlando Cardinal Bandinelli was elected to the See of Peter by a considerable margin, however, the atmosphere was extremely divided and hostile. Cardinal Octavian snatched the red mantle from Bandinelli and a scuffle ensued in which the garment was torn to pieces. However, finding another, Cardinal Octavian announced himself as pope to some priests gathered elsewhere in the Basilica of St Peter and the doors were flung open to let in a mob, hired with imperial funds, cheered him as the Bishop of Rome. The actual Pontiff, taking the name of Pope Alexander III, had to isolated himself for a time before escaping to the safety of Norman-held southern Italy. Meanwhile, Cardinal Octavian declared himself “Pope Victor IV” (though he was not the first “Victor IV”) and was consecrated at Farfa monastery on October 7. Alexander III had, by that time, already been crowned on September 20 in Nympha.

With Pope and anti-Pope opposing each other, Emperor Frederick had the perfect opportunity to intervene as the good imperial defender of the Church, rescuing it from division and disorder. However, the meeting he called at Pavia came to nothing as when he addressed the rivals as “Pope Victor IV” and “Cardinal Orlando” it was pretty clear that he was not an impartial or fair mediator. Pope Alexander III refused to recognize the gathering as having any validity which dutifully declared the anti-Pope Victor IV as the legitimate Successor of St Peter just as the Emperor wished. In the aftermath, Pope Alexander III excommunicated Emperor Frederick I and absolved all of his subjects of their allegiance to him. This led to open warfare between the Pope and the Emperor who had the support of some monarchs and the opposition of others depending on their situation while Pope Alexander III was in an extremely difficult position as all of Christendom was divided as to whether or not he was the legitimate pope. During his reign there appeared on the scene no less than three anti-popes to oppose him (Victor IV, Paschal III, Callistus III and Innocent III) which complicated the situation to no end.

However, ultimately, the schism did not work out to the benefit of the Emperor Frederick I who came marching down the Italian peninsula with an army of German knights. Pope Alexander III called for a pious and patriotic unity of Italians to oppose this invasion and the result was the formation of the Lombard League which included most of the cities of northern Italy, banding together to resist the German onslaught. This was certainly significant, even simply as an act of courage given the might and proven military abilities of the famous Frederick Barbarossa. The idea that an embattled Pontiff and a few Italian city-states would stand in defiance to one of the greatest German conquerors of all time must have astounded a great many people. Even more astonishing is that the German emperor was defeated. At the battle of Legnano in 1176 the forces of the Lombard League won one of the greatest victories in Italian military history. The Emperor himself was believed to have been killed for a time but, though wounded, he did survive and afterwards was obliged to withdraw from Italy and recognize Alexander III as the legitimate, validly elected Pontiff. In the early days of Lutheran Protestantism, it was popular to show Pope Alexander III putting his foot on the neck of a prostrate Frederick Barbarossa as a way to inflame popular opinion against the papacy for the defeat of a great German hero. In fact, of course, nothing of the sort ever happened.

In fact, Alexander III had gained some support in Germany. In his effort to get Christendom united behind him he tried to enlist the support of the Byzantine Empire but was turned away. Even after his triumph over Frederick Barbarossa there were plenty of troublesome heresies to deal with and the lingering tension over Church-State relations. With the Waldensians (the holier than thou crowd) and the Albigensians (the world is evil and everyone should die crowd) spreading their influence, Pope Alexander III called the Third Lateran Council where his immense talent as a canon lawyer was on full display. The council condemned the new rising heresies and called for a greater emphasis on education as a way to ensure that such unorthodox beliefs never develop and are rejected when they appear. He also always asserted Church independence from the secular powers and papal authority over the kings of Europe. Aside from his dramatic struggle with the German emperor this was seen in his support for St Thomas Becket in England in opposition to another great monarch; King Henry II. There were no invasions or bloody battles but, like Frederick, King Henry II did finally come around to accept the position of the Pope, doing penance and asking forgiveness for his part in the murder of Becket.

Arms of the Lombard League
and the House of Savoy

The prestige of the papacy rose somewhat during the time Alexander III was exiled to France and locked in combat with the German emperor. It often seems the papacy is never so popular as when under direct attack. Still, Alexander III attracted plenty of criticism, both for his determination in asserting the rights of the Church as being apart and above those of the state but also because of his cautious nature and his willingness to hear out both sides of an argument. Because of this, there were those, then as now, who accused the pontiff of being “shifty” and simply putting off taking a side until the victor was clear. He was not always the best diplomat but he was an unwavering defender of the rights of the Church. He died on August 30, 1181 at Civita Castellana after reigning for 21 years. At his burial a stone-throwing angry mob attacked his funeral procession which should be kept in context with the tumultuous and divisive events of his reign and only puts him in the lofty company of someone like Pope Pius IX. The odd difference being that Alexander III had struggled to keep the Germans out of Italy while Pius IX had struggled to keep them in.

The Medici Pope Clement VII

Pope Clement VII must be one of the most maligned pontiffs the Catholic Church has had, and almost always unjustly so. His reputation suffers, not simply from his own actions, but from the time of his reign, at the end of the famous Italian Renaissance. The misdeeds (largely exaggerated) of some of the pontiffs of this era have caused many people to dismiss all of the “Renaissance Popes” as corrupt and worldly when, in fact, their ranks included men who were personally upright, modest and virtuous. Clement VII, however, was often criticized for his virtues rather than vices and suffered the misfortune of reigning at a time of great political danger for the Papacy under circumstances that few, if any, could have successfully mastered. However, he was diligent and did the best he could and while the threats he faced forced him to take actions which infuriated many world leaders, he also became an important and respected symbol and, for a time, a champion of Italian unity and freedom.

He was born Giulio di Giuliano de’ Medici in Florence on May 26, 1478, the natural son of Giuliano de’ Medici and thus the nephew of the famous Lorenzo the Magnificent. He was always serious, studious, intelligent and loved learning and intellectual conversation. In his youth he was made a Knight of Rhodes but his real rise began after his cousin, Giovanni de’ Medici, was elected to the Throne of St Peter as Pope Leo X. He was a very close and trusted advisor to the Pope and became Archbishop of Florence, the Medici stronghold that was always first in their hearts. In 1513 he was created Giulio Cardinal de’ Medici and was widely praised for his good judgment and sound advice to Leo X. The Medici Pope was himself very popular with the Romans for his elaborate ceremonies, numerous celebrations and lavish style, all of which provided people with much gainful employment. When Leo X was succeeded by the Dutch Pope Hadrian VI things were different and much more strict and austere. Needless to say, Hadrian VI was a very pious man but very unpopular with the Romans who longed for another Medici on the papal throne.

The next conclave was a long and hard one with the mob becoming increasingly impatient for a new Bishop of Rome. Finally, an agreement was reached and on November 19, 1523 Giulio de’ Medici was elected, taking the name of Pope Clement VII. He enjoyed a high reputation as a diplomat and statesman and must have seemed like just the right man for the job. Yet, giving advice and being responsible for making decisions are very different things and the new Pope was confronted with a world of dangers and would be faced by problems on almost every side. Still, none doubted his personal faith. He cut back papal spectacles and worked hard to save money (which was essential as the Papacy he inherited was nearly bankrupt) but rather than praise his frugality and good sense, he was criticized for being stingy. Instead of court entertainers, he preferred long discussions with imminent scholars and would even have the latest intellectual works read to him as he took his meals. He was a patron of the arts and building, at least as much as his limited finances would allow, and he could discuss aqueducts with an engineer as well as doctrine with a theologian.

Political concerns dominated the papacy of Clement VII, though that is certainly not what he wanted. An early example was the effort of King Henry VIII of England to divorce his wife Catherine of Aragon. Clement VII valued the King of England for his hitherto staunch support of the Church, his condemnation of Lutheranism and his cooperation with Rome on the world stage. The last thing the Pope wanted was to see England lost to the Church over a marriage. What Henry was seeking was also not entirely unprecedented. However, Queen Catherine was a spotless figure and she was also the aunt of the King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V who had supported the election of Clement VII (who had been pro-Spanish as a cardinal) and the Emperor was prepared to put all the pressure at his disposal on the Pope to find in favor of Catherine. The Pope put off a decision as long as possible but in the end, the combination of imperial pressure and the personal case of Catherine herself, meant that Henry VIII was denied his annulment and the offended King took his country out of the Catholic Church.

Everything in his reign was exacerbated by the conflict between King Francis I of France and Emperor Charles V, ruler of Spain, the Low Countries and Germany. Everyone expected Clement to support the Emperor but despite his own history, the Pope feared the imperial domination of Italy and made an alliance with France. Unfortunately for the Pope, King Francis I was defeated by the imperial forces at the battle of Pavia and taken prisoner which forced the Pope to hastily come to terms with Charles V. The Emperor was not a man to trifle with. When he first learned that Clement had allied with the French, he was so infuriated that he wondered for a moment if Luther might have been correct about the papacy after all. However, he was also a practical man and once France was defeated and northern Italy was under his direct control, he preferred to have the Pope on his side instead of making him a defeated, embittered enemy. Clement VII signed a treaty of alliance with the Emperor that was practically identical to the one he had negotiated with France. But the threat of imperial domination over Italy, and thus Rome and the Papal States as well, remained the paramount concern of Clement VII. An effort was made to get the imperial commander on side by offering him the Crown of Naples but the general reported this to the Emperor immediately and the result was that the Sforza family lost their duchy, Spanish troops occupied Milan and the region came even more tightly under imperial control. Pope Clement was desperate to undo this situation.

The threat posed by the Emperor was real enough to Clement VII. Charles V was genuinely concerned about the new Protestant movement in Germany and also annoyed that the Pope would support the French against him. He made thinly veiled threats about calling a council, ostensibly to deal with the Lutheran problem, but which Clement and most others believed would result in Clement being deposed and replaced by a Pope who would be a loyal supporter of the Emperor. A council would be needed to deal with the Protestant question and reform in the Church was very much in need but by making such a council a threat to the Pope himself, Clement VII was determined to avoid a council at any cost. When King Francis I of France was released from captivity, Pope Clement VII quickly arranged another alliance with him against the Emperor. It was to be France, Milan, Venice and Papal Rome against the combined Spanish-German forces of the Holy Roman Empire. Even the “Warrior Pope” Julius II, who fought throughout his reign to drive the “barbarians” out of Italy, never attempted so ambitious a campaign and, unfortunately for the Church, Clement was no Julius II.

Still, this became a popular and patriotic cause throughout Italy as Clement VII had taken leadership of a movement to expel the foreign conquerors and, it seemed very possible, to unite the various states of the Italian peninsula under papal leadership so that their country would no longer be the battleground for Germans, Spanish and French armies. It was an early version of an ideal for an independent Italy consisting of the Italian states joining in common cause under the leadership of the Pope. Machiavelli suggested calling up a pan-Italian militia to replace the usual armies of foreign mercenaries to cement the people together in the coming struggle but Clement VII held back from such action, not wishing to provoke a fight with the Emperor if it could be avoided. Instead, he urged Machiavelli to look to improving the fortifications of his beloved Florence.

What was hoped to be a great papal-led war for the liberation of Italy quickly turned into a disaster. Under pressure from Venice, Clement VII appointed the Duke of Urbino commander of the papal armies, a man who held a grudge against the Medici family and did nothing while Milan was devastated, weakening the alliance. Then, Cardinal Pompeo Colonna, a long-time rival of the Medici and a supporter of the Emperor, marched on Rome. Some urged Clement to flee but he was determined to ‘die on the throne’ if necessary and called upon the Romans to defend him. No one seemed to care but they were soon sorry because the Colonna family army pillaged and ransacked the Leonine City, finally forcing the Pope to agree to a cease-fire. So, for four months the Pope was obliged to take no action while the armies Emperor Charles V marched down the Italian peninsula from Germany, most of whom were Lutheran landsknechts, and an imperial fleet crowded with Spanish troops landed on the coast. Giovanni de’ Medici and his “Black Bands” offered determined resistance in the north but the vital promised help from France was not forthcoming. The Italian forces may have been able to stop the Germans on their own had not a lucky shot killed Giovanni. The Pope began to be abandoned by his allies who looked to their own interests rather than staying united together.

After some last minute attempts at negotiation, the situation fell apart and the imperial troops, who were enraged at their lack of payment, mutinied and on May 6, 1527 fell upon Rome in a savage attack. The hasty defenses fell quickly and the imperial forces stormed into the city while Pope Clement VII, who was nearly killed, was rushed over to Castel Sant’Angelo while his Swiss Guards fought to the death, buying time for his escape. The Pope and as many Roman citizens as possible took shelter on the fortress while outside the most horrific and savage devastation in history took place. The tales of murder, torture, rape and sacrilege are truly too awful to even repeat. The fact that the Christians had surpassed even the pagans of old in their cruelty toward the Eternal City was not lost on even those at the time. Such barbaric cruelty had not been seen since the sacking of Constantinople, another Christian-on-Christian atrocity. A veteran of the wars against the Muslims in the south, even with all the fervor of a crusader, noted that the Turks never behaved with such viciousness toward a conquered enemy. Tens of thousands were slaughtered and the acts of disgusting cruelty were truly unspeakable. Even the Emperor, who had condemned the Pope in the harshest language, was shocked.

Naturally, for the rest of his reign Clement VII had no choice but to be as agreeable as possible with Charles V. At time he tried to induce the Emperor to take a firm hand against the Protestants but all the Emperor had to do was mention calling a council and the Pope would retreat into silence. Clement VII wore a beard for the rest of his reign as a sign of his mourning for the horrific sack of Rome. Emperor Charles V was not nearly as harsh with the Pope as he might have been, he restored most of the Papal States to the Church and used his armies to put the Medici back in control of Florence but there was no doubt that a power-shift had occurred and while the troops who perpetrated the sack of Rome had acted on their own, the Emperor had sent them to Italy make war and subjugate the Pope, no doubt about it. In a famous painting showing the Emperor flanked by his defeated enemies, included among them is a portrayal of Pope Clement VII. Needless to say, it was after this that the Pope formally found against King Henry VIII of England and excommunicated the monarch along with Father Thomas Cranmer. The Pope also officially crowned Charles V "Emperor of the Romans" at Bologna in the last such ceremony ever held. Pope Clement VII died not long after on September 25, 1534.

Pope Clement VII is often listed amongst the “bad popes” of Catholic history and this is really quite unfair. He was a very upright man, devout and not at all licentious, lavish or cruel as so many of his fellow “Renaissance Popes” are often thought of as being. He was simply caught in a terrible position and where his actions were often accused of being deceptive and himself untrustworthy, in each case it was because the Pontiff was trying to spare his people the suffering of war and to ensure his own freedom, which was the freedom of the Church. Even in his final days there were signs that he was contemplating another alliance with France to free Rome and the Italian states from the imperial grip. He was a patron of Raphael and Michelangelo (one of the few things he spent money on) and while Rome suffered more terribly during his reign than in any other period, it was precisely to avoid such a catastrophe that he had done everything in his power to keep foreign armies out of Italy. He also saw the Medici restored in Florence, joined to the great powers through marriage alliances and, despite all the misfortunes of his reign, he would not be the last Medici to occupy the papal throne.

The Catholic Faith of the Royal Italian Armed Forces

Field mass for an MVSN unit.

Priest blessing troops on the Greco-Albanian front.

Field mass in Abyssinia

Communion in the field in Abyssinia

Chaplain on the Russian front.

A priest blessing the guns in Abyssinia

Field mass in North Africa.

Chaplain Father Ginepro distributing communion in the Balkans.

Father Eusebio preaching to the troops.

Mass in the Tyrolean Alps (World War I)



Mass at sea, in the torpedo room of an Italian submarine.

The Faithful House of Savoy

King Umberto II and Pope Paul VI

This anniversary year of the unification of Italy has had my mind occupied quite a bit as of late with the Royal House of Savoy. A recent post which mentioned the deep faith of King Umberto II and Queen Maria Jose by MM member Matterhorn at her informative site The Cross of Laeken reminded me again of the injustice with which the House of Savoy is often treated, even by those who might be expected to be among their staunchest supporters; namely Catholic monarchists. However, as anyone with experience can attest, Catholic monarchists can be amongst the most impossible to please which is probably why so many (and God love them) are really what I like to call “theoretical monarchists”. They support monarchy in theory but do not actually support any existing monarchies nor do most have time for monarchist efforts which strive for anything less than a restoration of an absolutist confessional state under the guidance of a revived inquisition. I admit, such a thought warms my heart, but real results requires one to be realistic and face the facts.

When it comes to the House of Savoy, it seems many hold a grudge against the entire family, going backward and forward in time, all because of the unification of Italy and particularly because of “the Roman Question”. I can certainly understand their sympathies in that regard, and I have mentioned my opinion on the subject before and do not need to again here. However, I do not like to see an entire royal family smeared or rejected because of a few individuals or even a few unsavory associations. The House of Savoy is one of the oldest royal lines in Europe and was once among the most preeminent Catholic royal families. And the Catholic part is important because we are addressing that aspect in particular here. This was something that Blessed Pope Pius IX constantly stressed to King Victor Emanuel II during their many long years of correspondence, with the Pope reminding the King of what an old and honorable Catholic dynasty he represented.

Italian Royals at the Vatican

There was Count Amadeus V, better known as Amadeus the Great, who fought with the Knights of St John to defend Rhodes from the Muslims in 1315. There was Duke Louis I who obtained the famous Shroud of Turin which was held by the House of Savoy from 1453 to 1946. Duke Charles Emanuel II, known as “the Hadrian of Piedmont” was a tireless campaigner against heresy in his dominions (some would even say a little too zealous). King Victor Amadeus III was known for being very religious and an early and unshakable enemy of the French Revolution. King Charles Emanuel IV (a good friend of his cousin Cardinal York and who inherited the Jacobite claim to Britain upon his death) was also a very devout Catholic who, toward the end of his life, abdicated his royal status and joined the Society of Jesus. But, you may be thinking, that was all a long time ago, what about those around the time of and since the unification of Italy? The story does not really change that much.

It was King Charles Albert (Carlo Alberto) who got the ball rolling in that direction and remember that his mother was Queen Maria Theresa of Austria who was a descendant of the Italian branches of the Hapsburg and Bourbon families and a very devout, traditional Catholic women who did her best throughout her life to pass on her values to her children. One of those was, of course, King Victor Emanuel II who made the unification of Italy a reality. He was a man being pulled in all directions and many, many books can (and have) been written about his role in the process and his dealings with the Church. Suffice it to say that things were not so simplistic as many seem to believe. In their many letters the King never ceased to ask the Pope for his pardon and blessing, the Pope never ceased to remind the King of his august family history and there was so much mutual admiration expressed one could at times forget that the two were, technically, enemies in the political arena. St John Bosco was an intermediary between the two and toward the end of their lives they began a secret correspondence again. As most also know, when the Pope learned that the King was near death, he sent a priest to him with powers to lift the excommunication he had previously pronounced so that the King could die in good standing with the Church.

Pope John Paul II and King Umberto II

The wife of King Victor Emanuel II, Queen Adelaide of Austria, was also a very devout and pious woman, very charitable and she likewise did her best to pass these values on to her children. The youngest, Princess Maria Pia, married the King of Portugal and was known in that country as an absolute angel of mercy. The older daughter, Princess Maria Clotilde, was also known for her piety and charity but suffered from being forced into an unhappy marriage into the Bonaparte clan. All of the Kings of Italy were staunch Catholics, even if not always devout ones. King Umberto I was known for matching the no-compromise of the attitude of the papacy during his reign but he became much more religious toward the end of his life and this can be taken as sincere since he obviously had no idea he was going to be assassinated and thus a fear of mortality could not have been his motivation. Likewise he was supportive of his very religious queen, Margherita of Savoy.

King Victor Emanuel III was, likewise, a very religious man who quickly challenged anyone who expressed anti-clerical sentiments in his presence. The “Roman Question” remained a complicated problem and the King did have his doubts when Mussolini presented his proposal for coming to an agreement with the Church in what eventually resulted in the Lateran Treaty. He was concerned about what actual territory the Papacy would control as a result of the compromise, in the end this was restricted to the Vatican and a few extra-territorial buildings, but given this, it must also be kept in mind that the Italian kingdom had, in the past, offered the Papacy control over a much larger area, all of the land within the Leonine wall, but the Church had turned it down. However, it was finally worked out to the satisfaction of both sides and King Victor Emanuel III and Pope Pius XI exchanged messages of congratulation to each other on that occasion.

The King & Queen with Pope Pius XII

On the part of the Church, support for the monarchy was displayed at the highest levels. The children of the unfortunate Princess Mafalda were sheltered in the Vatican when the Nazis arrested her husband (Philipp of Hesse) and later herself. Princess Giovanna, who became Queen of Bulgaria, was very close to future Blessed Pope John XXIII and also played a key role in safeguarding the people of her adopted land from Nazi persecution. Padre Pio, now St Pio of Pietrelcina, had many devotees amongst the household of Queen Elena and gave spiritual assistance to Princess Maria Jose and others of the Royal Family. A book could be written about the position of the Church regarding the 1946 referendum on the monarchy, which was quite complicated, however it is sufficient to note that, despite how highly favored Alcide De Gasperi was in the Vatican, Pope Pius XII (who came from a Roman “Black Nobility” family) was very upset to see the monarchy abolished. He had long been on good terms with the House of Savoy and, as a cardinal, King Victor Emanuel III had awarded him the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Anunciation.

For some, no amount of contrary information will ever change their point of view. However, I think it is important to defend any royal house that is unjustly defamed. Again, any royal house with so long a history is going to have individuals of every variety. However, I would hope that the good and admirable should be the primary focus and the faults of a few individuals should not override the fidelity and piety of so many other upstanding sons and daughters of this venerable Catholic dynasty.