The Pope asks Skule to stand ready against Emperor Frederick
DN 9/2 · 18 July 1229 · Perugia
The recipient is probably Skule Bårdsson of the Giske family, although the letter only says «the Duke of Norway». That the Pope wrote to him about Emperor Frederick shows that Skule was counted as a prince of some weight in Europe.
What the letter says
Pope Gregory IX writes at Perugia on 18 July 1229 to the Duke of Norway, whom DN takes to be Skule. On the basis of letters from the Patriarch of Jerusalem he accuses Emperor Frederick II of four great crimes in his truce with the Sultan of Egypt: he has given up the sword against the infidels, let the Muslims have the Temple in Jerusalem, left Antioch and Tripoli open to attack, and bound himself to fight Christians who wish to break the agreement. The Pope asks the duke to be ready to help the Church when he is called. Finally he tells how the emperor besieged the patriarch and the Templars in Acre, took with him the weapons left for the defence of the land, and fled in secret on 1 May.
The letter in modern English
Bishop Gregory, servant of the servants of God, to the noble man ..., Duke of Norway, greeting and apostolic blessing. Among the other outrages by which F[rederick], called emperor, has confounded and betrayed the faith of the Christian name, you should note four in particular, worthy to be lamented with a fourfold lament. They have been faithfully reported to us in letters from our venerable brother ..., Patriarch of Jerusalem and legate of the Apostolic See, and they are plainly seen in the form of the truce he has made with the pagans. The first is that he has most shamelessly surrendered the arms of the Christian knighthood to the Sultan of Babylon [Egypt], enemy of the faith, adversary of Jesus Christ and worshipper of the lost Muhammad. That is the power of the sword, taken from the altar of blessed Peter for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of the good, assigned to him by Christ through His vicar, so that he might defend and protect the peace of Christ and the faith of the Church. He has told the sultan that he might do with him whatever he wished, and assured him that he would no longer take up arms against him, although he had received the imperial dignity in order to fight him faithfully as an assailant of the faith. From this it is plainly shown that he has of his own will renounced the dignity and honour of the empire.
Original text
Gregorius episcopus s. s. d. nobili viro . . . . Duci Norwagie sal. et ap. ben. Inter alia flagitia, quibus F[redericus] dictus Imperator fidem nominis Christiani confudit, et prodidit, quatuor precipue notare debes alphabeto quadruplici deploranda, que per litteras venerabilis fratris nostri . . . . patriarche Jerosolimitani apostolice sedis legati nobis sunt fideliter intimata, et in forma treuge inite cum paganis perpenditur manifeste.
Background
Skule Bårdsson (1189 to 1240), of the Giske family through Tora Skoftesdatter, was jarl and one of the two who ruled Norway together with King Håkon Håkonsson. The letter does not give the recipient's name, only «the Duke of Norway», but DN assumes it is Skule, who himself used the Latin title «dux» in letters abroad. Emperor Frederick II had gone on crusade the year before while excommunicated, and he obtained Jerusalem by an agreement with Sultan al-Kamil in February 1229 instead of by war. The Pope saw the agreement as a betrayal, and he probably sent similar letters to many princes to gather support against the emperor. That Skule received such a letter shows that he was counted as a prince of some weight in Europe. Skule had himself made a crusading vow in 1226, which made him a natural recipient.
People: Skule Bårdsson