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to him at all, for Europe has always belonged to the Church. In an encyclical
published shortly after the close of the Council of Lyons in 1245, Innocent expressly
stated: "It is wrong to show ignorance of the origin of things and to imagine that
the Apostolic See's rule over secular matters dates only from Constantine. Before
him this power was already in the Holy See. Constantine merely resigned into the
hands of the Church a power which he used without right when he was outside
her pale. Once admitted into the Church, he obtained, by the concession of the
Vicar of Christ, authority which only then became legitimate. "
Furthermore, Pope Innocent stated that the pope's acceptance of the Constantine
Donation was but a visible sign of his sovereign dominion over the whole word, and
hence of all the wealth to be found on earth.
However, Pope Innocent IV is probably best known for his diplomatic and military
battles against Frederick II which ultimately led to the demise of the Holy Roman
Emperor.
CONRAD IV
The son of Emperor Frederick II and his second wife,
Isabella (Yolande) de Brienne, Conrad was heir to the
Kingdom of Jerusalem through his mother; he was also
invested by his father as duke of Swabia in 1235. At
Vienna in February 1237 he was elected king of the
Romans in place of his half-brother, Henry VII, who
had rebelled against the Emperor in 1235. After Pope
Gregory IX excommunicated Frederick II in 1239,
Conrad was opposed by a growing papal party in
Germany, led by the Archbishops Siegfried of Mainz
and Conrad of Cologne. In 1245 Pope Innocent IV
declared both Conrad and his father deposed and
proclaimed a crusade against them. On Aug. 5, 1246,
Conrad was defeated near Frankfurt by the antiking Henry Raspe. He continued to
be supported, however, by the towns and by Otto II of Bavaria, whose daughter
Isabella he married on Sept. 1, 1246. On Dec. 13, 1250, Frederick II died. Troubles
in Sicily and the rising strength of the papal party in Germany under Henry Raspe’s
successor, William of Holland, forced Conrad to abandon Germany for Sicily late in
1251, when he took the title of king of Sicily. Conrad’s position in Sicily was secured
by his capture of Naples in October 1253, but his efforts to reach an understanding
with the papacy failed
After the death of his father Frederick II, Conrad IV (born April 25, 1228, Andria,
Italy—died May 21, 1254, Lavelle, German king from 1237 and king of Sicily from
1251) for some time (uncle to Corrado Caputo of Antioch), continued to fight
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