320

his younger son James was crowned King of Sicily at Palermo in February 1286. Pope Honorius IV does not
seem to have seriously considered breaking with the disastrous Sicilian policy of his predecessor. He
promptly excommunicated James, his mother, and the bishops who had participated in the coronation
ceremony. Though he approved an armistice between France and Aragon, taking effect in August 1286, he
refused to consider any peace settlement including Sicily which would leave it in Aragonese hands, even
though this meant that Charles' namesake and heir as ruler of Naples and claimant to Sicily would have to
remain in prison in Aragon.'
During 1286 Pope Honorius IV gave full recognition to the Carmelite order, founded earlier in the
century by monks who had taken up residence on Mount Carmel on the coastal strip of Palestine that still
remained in the hands
of the descendants of the Crusaders. On Holy Thursday 1287 he died of a stroke. The conclave of 15
cardinals assembling at the Aventine palace in Rome that spring could not agree on a Pope. The deadlock
went on into the hot, unhealthy summer, during which no less than six, possibly seven of the cardinals died-
the greatest percentage of mortality in the history of any conclave. The survivors understandably fled the city,
still without having elected a Pope 6°
Despite past papal regulations, the conclave did not remain secluded during this very unpleasant
summer. It was called on to perform two important duties during July that would normally have been the
responsibility of the
reigning Pope. The first was to consider a treaty between Alfonso III, the new King of Aragon, and the
captive Charles II of Naples (mediated by Edward I of England) providing for Charles' liberation for 50,000
silver marks with his three eldest sons taking his place in prison as hostages, and Charles pledged to work for
peace among France, Aragon and Sicily for three years, and if peace was not achieved, either to return to
captivity in Aragon or give up Provence to Aragon. The College of Cardinals reluctantly accepted this Treaty
of Oleron, but Philip IV of France vetoed it, as usual giving no reasons .65
The other public action taken by the College of Cardinals that summer was to greet an exotic visitor,
Rabban Sauma, a Christian monk from the western borderlands of China and a friend of Mar Yahbhallaha, the
Catholicos
(head) of the Persian Church (called Nestorian, though there was only the faintest historical and doctrinal
connection between it and that ancient heresy). Sauma had been sent as ambassador to Western Christendom
by the Mongol 11Khan Arghun of Persia. Arriving in Naples in June, he "who had come to
O'Callaghan, Medieval Spain, p. 394; Hillgarth, Spanish Kingdoms, I, 259; Runciman, Sicilian Vespers, p. 287;
Mann, Popes in the Middle Ages, XVII, 376-377, 417-418.
"Mann, Popes in the Middle Ages, XVII, 431, 449; XVIII, 5.
6s
Runciman, Sicilian Vespers, pp. 288-289; Powicke, Thirteenth Century, p. 259.
THE GLORY OF CHRISTENDOM
THE NEMESIS OF POWER
321
Europe thinking to find Christendom ready to unite against the Muslims of the East" was surprised to find
himself a spectator of a naval battle in its Bay, where Aragon's great admiral Roger of Lauria won another
overwhelming victory over the Neapolitan fleet. Coming to Rome, Sauma toured its churches and met with
the cardinals, who could offer him little encouragement. In September he went on to France where Philip IV
received him with great honor, showed him the exquisite shrine of the Sainte-Chapelle built by his
grandfather St. Louis IX, and promised to lead an army to regain Jerusalem. All we know of Philip and his
reign indicates that nothing was further from his mind than actually to undertake such a crusade. Sauma went
on to England, where Edward I-who had actually been in the Holy Land-impressed him. More honest than
Philip, he would make no promises. Sauma returned to Rome in December and told Cardinal John of
Tusculum that he gravely doubted the West was serious about sending any more crusades to Palestine .66 The
death-blow Pope Martin IV had dealt to the crusading ideal was becoming evident.
The increasing frequency of long conclaves reflected the extent to which the papacy and the cardinalate
were becoming politicized and a target for power-seekers. But even the most selfish cardinals could never
entirely forget
the loftiness of their function, nor escape the reproaches of conscience for failure to perform it consonant with
the dignity of the Vicar of Christ they were electing. After nearly a year of scheming and paralysis, the
surviving cardinals in February 1288 finally, suddenly agreed unanimously on their colleague who was quite
clearly the most deserving of the office: Jerome of Ascoli, mastergeneral of the Franciscans, with much
experience as a legate and good contacts and high respect throughout Christendom. Jerome had been chosen to
head the Franciscan order at the Council of Lyons following the death of St. Bonaventure there. He had
travelled and negotiated in France and Castile. He possessed the true Franciscan spirit of humility. He was not
a good administrator; but he had the breadth of mind and vision and the holiness of spirit to be a great Pope.
He might have been, had he lived longer. He chose the name N_ icholas IV. 67
One of Pope Nicholas' very first acts was to receive the somewhat disillusioned Rabban Sauma and
give him the papal blessing. Nicholas asked Sauma to say one of the Holy Week Masses in Rome, and gave
him communion
with his own hand (which certainly indicates that the Pope had no doubt of Sauma's orthodoxy despite his
"Nestorian" label). Sauma pledged, for himself and in the name of his religious superior, Catholieos Mar
Yahbhallaha, that his
teven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, Volume III (Cambridge, England, 1955), pp. 398-400; Runciman,
Sicilian Vespers, p. 288; Mann, Popes in the MiddleAges, XVIII, 43-45.
6
'Mann, Popes in the Middle Ages, XVIII, 6-11.