# Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages/Book IV/The Peace of Venice

(c.) The Peace of Venice, 1177.
1. The lord emperor Frederick, according as he has received the lord pope Alexander as catholic and universal pope, so he will exhibit to him due reverence, just as his, Frederick's, catholic predecessors have exhibited it to his, Alexander's, catholic predecessors. He will also exhibit the same reverence to the pope's successors who shall be catholically enthroned,
2. And the lord emperor will truly restore peace as well to the lord pope Alexander, as to all his successors and to the whole Roman church.
3. Every possession and holding, moreover, whether of ​a prefecture or of any other thing, which the Roman church enjoyed and which he took away of himself or through others, he will restore in good faith; saving all the rights of the empire. The Roman church also will restore in good faith, every possession and holding which it took away from him through itself or through others; saving all the rights of the Roman church.
4. The possessions also which the lord emperor shall restore, he will also aid in retaining.
5. Likewise also all the vassals of the church whom, by reason of the schism, the lord emperor took away or received, the lord emperor will release and will restore to the lord pope Alexander and to the Roman church.
6. Moreover the lord emperor and the lord pope will mutually aid each other in preserving the honour and rights of the church and the empire; the lord pope as a benignant father will aid his devoted and most beloved son, the most Christian emperor,—and the lord emperor, on the other hand, as a devoted son and most Christian emperor, will aid his beloved and reverend father, the vicar of St. Peter.
7. Whatever things, moreover, at the time of the schism and by reason of it, or without judicial proceedings, have been taken away from the church by the lord emperor or his followers, shall be restored to it.
8. The empress also will receive the lord pope Alexander as catholic and universal pope. The lord king Henry, their son, will likewise receive him and will show due reverence to him and his catholic successors, and the oath which the lord emperor shall take, he also will take.
9. The lord emperor and the lord king Henry, his sou, closes a true peace with the illustrious king of Sicily for 15 years, as has been ordained and put in writing by the mediators of the peace.
10. He closes also a true peace with the emperor of Constantinople and all the aiders of the Roman church, and he will make no evil return to them, either through himself or through his followers, for the service conferred on the Roman church.
11. Concerning the complaints and controversies, moreover, which, before the time of pope Adrian were at issue ​between the church and the empire, mediators shall be constituted on the part of the lord pope and the lord emperor, to whom it shall be given over to terminate the same through a judgment or through an agreement. But if the aforesaid mediators can not agree the matters shall be terminated by the judgment of the lord pope and the lord emperor, or of him or of them whom they shall choose for this purpose.
12. To Christian, moreover, the said chancellor, the archbishopric of Mainz, but to Philip the archbishopric of Cologne shall be granted; and they shall be confirmed to them with all the plenitude of the archiepiscopal dignity and office. And the first archbishopric which shall be vacant in the German realm shall be assigned to master Conrad by the authority of the lord pope and the aid of the lord emperor, if, however, it seem suitable for him.
13. To him also who is called Calixtus one abbey shall be given. Those, moreover, who were called his cardinals shall return to the places which they held before, unless they had renounced them by their own will or judgment; and they shall be left in the grades which they had before the schism.
14. Gero, moreover, now called bishop of Halberstadt, shall be unconditionally deposed, and Ulrich, the true bishop of Halberstadt, shall be restored. Alienations made and benefices given by G-ero, and likewise by all intruders, shall be cancelled by the authority of the lord pope and the lord emperor and shall be restored to their churches.
15. Concerning the election of the Brandenburg bishop who had been elected to the Bremen archbishopric an investigation shall be made, and, if it shall be found canonical, he shall be transferred to that church. And whatever things have been alienated or given as benefices by Baldwin who now rules over the Bremen church, shall be restored to that church as shall be canonical and just. 16. Likewise what was taken from the Salzburg church at the time of the schism, shall be restored to it in full.
17. All the clergy who belong to Italy or to other regions outside of the German realm, shall be left to the disposition and judgment of the lord pope Alexander and ​his successors. But if it please the lord emperor to ask for a continuance in their grades of some who canonically received them, he shall be heard to the extent of 10 or 12, if he wish to insist.
18. Garsidonius, moreover, of Mantua, shall be restored to his former bishopric, in such way, however, that he who now is bishop of Mantua shall, by the authority of the lord pope and the aid of the lord emperor, be transferred to the bishopric of Trent; unless, perchance, it shall be agreed between the lord pope and the lord emperor, that provision shall be made for him in another bishopric.
19. The archpresbyter of Sacco, moreover, shall be re- stored in all plenitude to his former archpresbytery and to the other benefices which he had before the schism.
20. All those ordained by any former primates, or by their delegates, in the realm of Germany, shall be restored to the grades thus received; nor shall they be oppressed by reason of this schism.
21. Concerning, moreover, the said bishops of Strass- burg and Basel, who were ordained by Guido of Crema. the matter shall, in that same realm, be committed by the aforesaid mediators to 10 or 8 men whom they themselves shall choose ; and these shall swear on oath that they will give such counsel of their own accord to the Roman pontitf and the lord emperor, as they find that they can give according to the canons ; without danger, namely, to the souls of the lord emperor and the lord pope and their own; and the lord pope will acquiesce in their counsel.
22. The lord pope, moreover, and all the cardinals, just as they have received the lord emperor Frederick as Roman and catholic emperor, so they will receive Beatrix his serene wife as catholic and Roman empress. Provided, however, that she shall be crowned by the lord pope Alexander or by his legate. They will receive, moreover, the lord Henry their son as catholic king.
23. The lord pope and the cardinals will close a true peace with the lord emperor Frederick and the empress Beatrix, and king Henry their son. and all their supporters, have as to the spiritual matters which by the present writing are left to the disposition and judgment of the ​lord pope Alexander, and saving all the rights of the Roman church against the detainers of the possessions of St. Peter, and saving those things which are prescribed above as well on the part of the church as on the part of the lord emperor and of the empire.
24. Moreover the lord pope promises that he will observe the above peace to the letter, and so will all the cardinals; and he shall cause a document to be drawn up to this effect, signed by all the cardinals. The cardinals themselves, also, shall draw up a writing in confirmation of the above peace, and will place their seals to it.
25. And the lord pope, calling together a council as quickly as it can be done, shall, together with the cardinal bishops and the monks and ecclesiastics who shall be present, declare the excommunication against all who shall attempt to infringe this peace. Then in a general council he shall do the same.
26. Many also of the Roman nobles and the chief lords of the Campagna shall confirm this peace with an oath.
27. The emperor, moreover, shall confirm with his own oath and that of the princes, the aforesaid peace with the church, and the aforesaid peace of 15 years with the illustrious king of Sicily, and the truce with the Lombards, — for six years, namely, from the Calends of next August; and he shall cause the Lombards who are of his party to confirm this same truce, as has been arranged and put down in the general wording of the truce. But if there shall be any one in the party of the emperor who shall refuse to swear to the aforesaid truce, the emperor shall command all who are of his party, by the fealty due him and for the sake of his favour, to lend no aid to such person, and not to stand in the way of or oppose those who wish to do him harm; and if any one shall do him harm, he shall not be accountable for it. The emperor, moreover, will not recall that mandate so long as the truce shall last. And the lord king Henry, his son, shall confirm the aforesaid, as has been stated in the writing. The lord emperor, also, shall corroborate the aforesaid peace with the church, and with the illustrious king of Sicily for 15 years, and the truce with the Lombards, in a writing of his own, and with his own signature and that of the princes.
​28. But if, which God forbid, the lord pope should die first, the lord emperor and the lord king Henry, his sou, aud the princes shall firmly observe this form of peace and agreement as regards his successors, and all the cardinals aud the whole Roman church, and the illustrious king of Sicily and the Lombards, and the others who feel with them. Likewise if, which God forbid, the lord emperor should die first, the lord pope and the cardinals and the Roman church shall firmly observe the aforesaid peace as regards his successor, and Beatrix his serene wife, and king Henry, his son, and all who belong to the German realm, and all his supporters, as has been said before.
(Signed by Wicmann, archbishop of Magdeburg; Philip, archbishop of Cologne; Christian, archbishop of Mainz; Arnold, archbishop of Treves; Arduin, the imperial protouotary.)