Editing Pope Honorius IV (section)

== Papacy ==

=== Sicilian Conflict ===
{{Main|War of the Sicilian Vespers}}
Sicilian affairs required immediate attention from the new pope. Previously, under Martin IV, the Sicilians had rejected the rule of Charles of Anjou, taking [[Peter III of Aragon]] as their king without the consent and approval of the Pope.

The massacre of 31 March 1282 known as the [[Sicilian Vespers]] had precluded any reconciliation. Martin IV put Sicily and Peter III under an [[interdict]], deprived Peter III of the [[Crown of Aragon]], and gave it to [[Charles of Valois]], the younger of the sons of King [[Philip III of France]], whom he assisted in his attempts to recover Sicily by force of arms. The Sicilians not only repulsed the attacks of the combined French and Papal forces, but also captured the [[Capetian House of Anjou|Angevin]] heir, [[Charles II of Naples|Charles of Salerno]]. On 6 January 1285, Charles of Anjou died, leaving his captive son Charles as his natural successor. Honorius IV, more peaceably inclined than Martin IV, did not renounce the Church's support of the House of Anjou, nor did he set aside the severe ecclesiastical punishments imposed upon Sicily.
[[File:Bulle honorius IV 16990.jpg|thumb|[[Bulla (seal)|Bulla]] of Honorius IV]]
Honorius did not approve of the tyrannical government the Sicilians had been subject to under Charles of Anjou. This is evident from legislation embodied in his constitution of 17 September 1285 (''Constitutio super ordinatione regni Siciliae''), in which he stated that no government can prosper that is not founded on justice and peace. He passed forty-five ordinances intended chiefly to protect the people of Sicily against their king and his officials.

The death of Peter III on 11 November 1285 changed the Sicilian situation in that his kingdoms were divided between his two oldest sons: [[Alfonso III of Aragon]], who received the [[List of Aragonese monarchs|crown of Aragon]], and [[James II of Aragon]], who succeeded as King of Sicily. Honorius IV acknowledged neither the one nor the other: on 11 April 1286, he solemnly [[excommunication|excommunicated]] King James II of Sicily and the bishops who had taken part in his coronation at [[Palermo]] on 2 February. Neither the king nor the bishops concerned themselves about the excommunication. The king even sent a hostile fleet to the Roman coast and destroyed the city of [[Torre Astura|Astura]] by fire.

Charles of Salerno, the Angevin pretender, who was still held captive by the Sicilians, finally grew tired of his long captivity and signed a contract on 27 February 1287 in which he renounced his claims to the kingdom of Sicily in favour of James II of Aragon and his heirs. Honorius IV, however, declared the contract invalid and forbade all similar agreements for the future.

While Honorius IV was inexorable in the stand he had taken towards Sicily, his relations towards Alfonso III of Aragon became less hostile. Through the efforts of King [[Edward I of England]], negotiations for peace were begun by Honorius IV and King Alfonso III. The Pope, however, did not live long enough to complete these negotiations, which finally resulted in a peaceful settlement of the Aragonese as well as the Sicilian question in 1302 under [[Pope Boniface VIII]].

=== Rome ===
Rome and the [[Papal States]] enjoyed a period of tranquillity during the reign of Honorius IV, the like of which they had not enjoyed for many years. He had the satisfaction of reducing the most powerful and obstinate enemy of papal authority, Count Guy of Montefeltro, who for many years had successfully resisted the papal troops. The authority of the pope was now recognized throughout the Papal States, which then comprised the [[Ravenna]], the [[March of Ancona]], the [[Duchy of Spoleto]], the County of [[Bertinoro]], the Mathildian lands, and the [[Pentapolis]], i.e., the cities of [[Rimini]], [[Pesaro]], [[Fano]], [[Senigallia]], and [[Ancona]]. Honorius IV was the first pope to employ the great family banking houses of central and northern Italy for the collection of papal dues.

The Romans were greatly elated at the election of Honorius IV, for he was a citizen of Rome and a brother of Pandulf, a senator of Rome. The continuous disturbances in Rome during the pontificate of Martin IV had not allowed that pope to live in Rome, but now the Romans cordially invited Honorius IV to make Rome his permanent residence. During the first few months of his pontificate he lived in the [[Vatican Hill|Vatican]], but in the autumn of 1285 he removed to the magnificent palace he had just erected on the [[Aventine Hill|Aventine]].

=== Relations with the Holy Roman Empire ===
In his relations with the [[Holy Roman Empire]], where no more danger was to be apprehended since the fall of the [[Hohenstaufen]] dynasty, Martin followed the moderate course taken by Gregory X. [[Rudolf I of Germany]] sent Bishop Henry of Basel to Rome to request coronation. Honorius IV appointed the envoy Archbishop of [[Mainz]], fixed a date for the coronation, and sent Cardinal [[John of Tusculum]] to Germany to assist Rudolf I's cause. But general opposition showed itself to the papal interference; a [[Synod of Würzburg (1287)|council at Würzburg]] (16&ndash;18 March 1287) protested energetically, and Rudolf I had to protect the legate from personal violence, so that both his plans and the Pope's failed.

=== Other acts ===
[[File:Santa Maria in Aracoeli; Grabmal Giovanna Aldobrandeschi.JPG|thumb|Honorius IV's tomb at Santa Maria in Aracoeli]]
Honorius IV inherited plans for another [[crusade]], but confined himself to collecting the [[tithes]] imposed by the [[Second Council of Lyon|Council of Lyon]], arranging with the great banking houses of [[Florence]], [[Siena]], and [[Pistoia]] to act as his agents.

The two largest religious orders received many new privileges from Honorius IV, documented in his ''Regesta''. He often appointed them to special missions and to bishoprics, and gave them exclusive charge of the [[Inquisition]].

He also approved the privileges of the [[Carmelites]] and the [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] hermits and permitted the former to exchange their striped habit for a white one. He was especially devoted to the order founded by [[William X of Aquitaine]] and added numerous privileges to those they had already received from [[Pope Alexander IV|Alexander IV]] and [[Pope Urban IV|Urban IV]]. Besides turning over to them some deserted [[Benedictine]] monasteries, he presented them with the monastery of [[St. Paul at Albano]], which he himself had founded and richly endowed when he was still cardinal.

[[Salimbene]], the chronicler of [[Parma]], asserted that Honorius IV was a foe to the religious orders. This may reflect the fact that he opposed the [[Apostolic Brethren]], an order embracing evangelical poverty that had been started by [[Gerard Segarelli]] at Parma in 1260. On 11 March 1286 he issued a bull condemning them as heretics.

At the [[University of Paris]] he advocated the establishment of chairs for Eastern languages to teach these languages to those who would labour for the conversion of the [[Muslims]] and the reunion of the [[East-West Schism|schismatic]] churches in the East.

He raised only one man to be cardinal, his cousin [[Giovanni Boccamazza]], [[archbishop of Monreale]], on 22 December 1285.

The [[List of extant papal tombs|tomb of Pope Honorius IV]] is in the church of [[Santa Maria in Aracoeli]] in Rome.

=== Contacts with the Mongols ===
{{main|Isa Kelemechi|Franco-Mongol alliance}}
The Mongol ruler [[Arghun]] sent an embassy and a letter to Pope Honorius IV in 1285, a Latin translation of which is preserved in the [[Vatican City|Vatican]]. It mentions the links to Christianity of Arghun's family, and proposes a combined military conquest of Muslim lands:

{{blockquote|"As the land of the Muslims, that is, Syria and Egypt, is placed between us and you, we will encircle and strangle ("estrengebimus") it. We will send our messengers to ask you to send an army to Egypt, so that us on one side, and you on the other, we can, with good warriors, take it over. Let us know through secure messengers when you would like this to happen. We will chase the [[Saracens]], with the help of the Lord, the Pope, and the Great Khan."|Extract from the 1285 letter from Arghun to Honorius IV, Vatican Archives<ref>Rene Grousset, p. 700.</ref> }}
Honorius IV was hardly capable of acting on this invasion and could not muster the military support necessary to achieve this plan.