The plundering of Rome in 1084 ( ital. Sacco di Roma del 1084 ) was one of the most brutal events of the “struggle for investiture” (confrontation between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire of the XI - XII centuries ), the culmination of the struggle of Pope Gregory VII with Emperor Henry IV .
Content
Historical Background
In 1075, Henry IV decided to appoint a bishop of Milan, forcing Pope Gregory VII to respond. In February 1076, he issued a decree excommunicating the emperor and depriving the throne. Heinrich, seeking to preserve the throne, made the humiliating " going to Canossa " in 1077 , hoping for forgiveness and abolition of the papal decrees. Nevertheless, the conflict aggravated when Gregory VII, relying on the help of the Normans and Matilda of Tuscany , managed to secure the support of the rebellious dukes and supported the election of the “anti-king” of Germany ( Rudolf Reinfelden ), and Henry took the side of the anti-pop Clement III . Ultimately, after the death of Rudolph, Henry IV decided to put an end to rivalry by force, and in 1083 captured Rome , forcing Gregory VII to flee to Castel Sant'Angelo [1] [2] .
Looting
After a few months of siege, the pope called upon the help of the Normans Robert Guiscard , who, on May 21, 1084, overcame the wall of Aurelian and subjected Rome to havoc and plunder for three days. The whole city was devastated, but the area between the Colosseum , the Lateran Palace , the Aventine and Eskvilinsky hills was particularly affected; the basils of St. Clement , Santi Cuattro Coronati and were destroyed.
Owing to the pogrom, this entire area of Rome remained uninhabited, since the population was concentrated in the bend of the Tiber , near Castel Sant'Angelo . These events caused further isolation of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist on Lateran Hill from the city center and the transfer of the popes to the Vatican , which took place at the end of the Avignon captivity of the popes .
Gregory VII did not receive any benefits from the intervention of the Normans, on the contrary - he was forced to flee from the wrath of the townspeople and died in Salerno in 1085 [3] , in captivity by Robert Guiscard .
Notes
- ↑ Enrico Artifoni, 1998 , pp. 278-281.
- ↑ Lipschutz, 2000 , p. 50.
- ↑ Blumenthal, 2011 , p. 84
Literature
- Artifoni E. Storia medievale . - Donzelli Editore, 1998. - 768 p. - ISBN 978-88-7989-406-7 .
- Uta-Renate Blumenthal. The Investiture Controversy: Church and Monarchy from the Ninth to the Twelfth Century . - University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011. - 216 p. - ISBN 978-08-1220-016-4 .
- Leonard Lipschutz. Century-By-Century: A Summary of World History . - iUniverse, 2000. - ISBN 978-14-6973-415-6 .
Links
- Sacco di Roma (ital.) (Inaccessible link) . Associazione culturale RomaTours. Date of treatment December 29, 2013. Archived December 30, 2013.