THE HISTORY OF THE MASS AND HOLY MOTHER CHURCH

      His elevation to the papacy was something that had actually been prophesied by Saint Francis of Assisi. The story goes that as a youngster his father, Matteo Rossi Orsini, a great Roman nobleman, tried to influence the humble saint by offering Giovanni as a candidate to the Order of Friars Minor. But Francis knew that God had other plans for this young man, telling his father that he was destined to become not a Franciscan, but rather the Protector of the entire Order and head of the entire Church. True to his word, Giovanni went on to become a diocesan priest, bishop and cardinal and be appointed Protector of the Franciscans and, on November 25, 1277 the Supreme Pontiff. A month later on December 22, he was coronated. His first rule of order was to continue his campaign to gain more independence for the Holy See by negotiating with Charles. Nicholas, imposing severe restrictions on the Angevin king of Sicily if he refused the Pope's demands, convinced Charles not to seek reappointment as a senator of Rome. This move not only removed Charles from power in Rome, but gave Nicholas the opening to appoint himself to the Roman senate as Charles successor. This was an important move for it forever created the "papal signoria" over Rome. Nicholas further eroded Charles' power in central Italy by declaring no non-Italian prince could hold office in Italy or Rome without approval of the Holy See. To keep Charles at bay and assure he would comply, Nicholas negotiated with King Rudolf I of Habsburg, who had been Pope Gregory X's choice for Holy Roman Emperor. Since Gregory had not been able to consummate the coronation, Rudolf had gone through three Popes in one year while waiting. In return for favors from Nicholas, Rudolf agreed to vacate Romagna. With this move Nicholas was able to form the Papal States with the boundaries they would enjoy throughout Italy until 1860. To solidify this, he arranged a marriage of Rudolf's daughter Clementia to, of all people, Charles' grandson Charles Martell. The union proved a brilliant piece of political prowess by Nicholas for both Charles and Rudolf agreed to respect, as well as defend, the other sovereign's territories. As part of her dowry, Clementia was awarded Burgundy and thus was established four kingdoms: Germany, Lombardy, Tuscany and Burgundy. It was agreed the Holy Roman Emperor would oversee all four. Thus peace was at hand largely through the masterful political prowess Pope Nicholas III had wielded.

     The move of unification did not please everyone, specifically Michael VIII Palaeologus, the Byzantine emperor who had strung the Popes along in order to quell Charles. When Nicholas brought Charles to his knees through honey rather than the vinegar of excommunication, Michael was livid, but could do nothing about it. In fact, Nicholas had the upper hand and played it to the hilt. He sent papal legates to Constantinople with an ultimatum. He would keep Charles from attacking the city if Michael signed the terms he enclosed. If the Byzantine emperor thought the terms demanded by Blessed Pope Innocent V a year and a half earlier were stiff, he was astounded how demanding Nicholas' terms were, which included a permanent papal legate headquartered in Constantinople. Michael was caught between a rock and a hard place and had no choice but to reluctantly accept the tough terms. Michael's half-heartedness, however, would come back to haunt him and cause his excommunication in the next regime when Nicholas' successor Pope Martin IV would sadly undo so much of the wonderful relations established by Nicholas.

      But during Nicholas pontificate everything was right with the world. True to Francis' prophecy, Nicholas, formerly protector of the Franciscans as well as the Dominicans, issued a papal bull that would go far in establishing the Franciscans as a solid foundation among religious orders in the Church. It was Exiit qui seminat, issued on August 14, 1279 and largely inspired by Saint Bonaventure which ended the dispute among the Friars on the type of poverty that Franciscans should practice. In addition, Nicholas made it a severe ecclesial violation for anyone to either attack or alter the rule established by Saint Francis. He appointed a tremendous number of Franciscans and Dominicans to prestigious positions within the curia and dispatched Franciscan missionaries to the far reaches of the world, including preaching to the Tartars in eastern Hungary to settling in Persia and even China. Closer to home Nicholas began the restoration of Saint Peter's Basilica and the push to reestablish the Holy See at the Vatican. He had been arch-priest at St. Peter's before receiving the red-hat and always had a special affinity for St. Peter's and its site as opposed to the Lateran or other Papal Palaces elsewhere in Italy. It was Nicholas who purchased additional land around the Vatican and established most of the boundaries which incorporate Vatican City today. He also planted the first of the Vatican gardens, which today are among the most brilliant in the world. It is ironic that, as much as he loved the Vatican, it was at the summer residence of Soriano, near Viterbo that he suffered a stroke and died on August 22nd, 1280. Like Innocent V, he died before he could formally coronate Rudolf I as Holy Roman Emperor and this would come back to haunt the Church as we shall see in future installments. He was buried in the chapel of St. Nicholas which the Pope had built himself inside St. Peter's. He was mourned by all but a few, one of them being the poet Dante Alligheri, who, because Nicholas awarded so many appointments to relatives of the Orsini family, accused him of nepotism and condemned him to hell where he was depicted in the poet's most famous work "Dante's Inferno." Truth be told, we doubt Nicholas found his way to the nether regions, but rather the etherial realm of Heaven for, through his strong adherence to Church law and the Doctrines, Teachings, Dogmas and Traditions of the Church and his masterful handling of events and characters of that time, he further strengthened Holy Mother Church. It was but a brief oasis in the desert of inept pontiffs for his successor would undo much of the progress Nicholas had accomplished as the people would rebel against this weak successor who became a puppet of Charles.

Next installment: Pope Martin IV: The bitter tones of the Sicilian Vespers.