Godfrey, known in Italian as Goffredo, Gotofredo or Gotifredo (died 9 October 1194), was

Patriarch of Aquileia This is a list of bishops and patriarchs of Aquileia in northeastern Italy. For the ecclesiastical history of the diocese, see Patriarchate of Aquileia. From 553 until 698 the archbishops renounced Papal authority as part of the Schism of the T ...

in northern Italy from 1182 to 1194. He was a supporter of the Imperial party in its disputes with the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

. He was involved in a war with the neighboring commune of

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

, which was unresolved at his death.

Early years

Godfrey was of German origin, a

Ghibelline The Guelphs and Ghibellines ( , ; ) were factions supporting the Pope (Guelphs) and the Holy Roman Emperor (Ghibellines) in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy during the Middle Ages. During the 12th and 13th centu ...

from the

house of Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynasty ...

. The first record of him is from 1176, when he was abbot of Sesto. This

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

abbey was within the jurisdiction of Aquileia. The influence of painters from Aquileia is still visible in the head and wings of an archangel that has survived in the chapel of the archangel Michael in the abbey. In 1177 he was a participant in the

Treaty of Venice The Treaty or Peace of Venice, 1177, was a peace treaty between the papacy and its allies, the north Italian city-states of the Lombard League, and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor. The Norman Kingdom of Sicily also took part in negotiations and ...

between the Emperor

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...

(r. 1155–1190) and

Pope Alexander III Pope Alexander III (c. 1100/1105 – 30 August 1181), born Roland (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 September 1159 until his death in 1181. A native of Siena, Alexander became pope after a Papal election, ...

(r. 1159–1181), which indicates he was already occupying an important position in church affairs.

Patriarch

Imperial affairs

Godfrey succeeded

Ulrico di Treven Ulrich II von Treven was Patriarch of Aquileia in northern Italy from 1161 to 1181. He supported Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, (1122–1190) in his unsuccessful struggle for supremacy over the northern Italian states and the papacy. He was also ...

as Patriarch of Aquileia in 1182. In this role, he was legally a German prince, since Aquileia was within German territory. Godfrey was a supporter of the emperor Frederick Barbarossa. In 1183 he contracted a loan for the emperor with the

Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...

n family of Isembardi. This was just before the

Peace of Constance The Peace of Constance (25 June 1183) was a Privilege (law), privilege granted by Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor, and his son and co-ruler, Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, Henry VI, King of the Romans, to the members of the Lombard League to end th ...

, signed on 23 June 1183 between the emperor and the Italian communes, and may have been used by Frederick's envoys to sweeten the negotiations. On 27 January 1186 Godfrey crowned the emperor's son, Henry of Swabia, as King of Italy in the

Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio The Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, officially known as ''Basilica romana minore collegiata abbaziale prepositurale di Sant'Ambrogio'', is an ancient Romanesque-style, Roman Catholic church located in the center of Milan, in the region of Lombardy, ...

, Milan. Henry of Swabia was the future Emperor Henry VI. Godfrey's action drew the anger of the former

Bishop of Milan The Archdiocese of Milan (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has long maintained its own Latin liturgical rite usage, the Ambr ...

Pope Urban III Pope Urban III (; died 20 October 1187), born Uberto Crivelli, reigned from 25 November 1185 to his death in 1187. Early career Crivelli was born in Cuggiono, Italy as the son of Guala Crivelli and had four brothers: Pietro, Domenico, Pastor ...

, who felt that he should have been the one to perform the ceremony. The pope suspended Godfrey and all the ecclesiastics who attended the ceremony from divine office. This disagreement was short-lasting, and later that year when the diocese of Capodistria was established the pope stressed that it would be subordinate to Aquiliea. In 1190 the emperor Frederick Barbarossa named Godfrey the Imperial Vicar and left on the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt led by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. F ...

. Barbarossa died on 10 June 1190. Godfrey accompanied Henry VI to Rome where he was crowned emperor in April 1191.

Local disputes

Godfrey was temporal ruler of

Friuli Friuli (; ; or ; ; ) is a historical region of northeast Italy. The region is marked by its separate regional and ethnic identity predominantly tied to the Friulians, who speak the Friulian language. It comprises the major part of the autono ...

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

and Giapidia. He was the first patriarch to place his name on the coins of Aquileia, a practice that was continued by his successors. In 1183 he began a war with the neighboring commune of

for control of the dioceses of

Belluno Belluno (; ; ) is a town and province in the Veneto region of northern Italy. Located about north of Venice, Belluno is the Capital (political), capital of the province of Belluno and the most important city in the Eastern Dolomites region. W ...

, Ceneda and

Feltre Feltre (; ) is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Belluno in Veneto, northern Italy. A hill town in the southern reaches of the province, it is located on the Stizzon River, about from its junction with the Piave, and southwest from Bell ...

. In 1193 the municipality of Treviso plundered the lands of Feltre, Ceneda and Belluno. Godfrey responded by devastating seventy villages in Treviso. Godfrey died on 9 October 1194 leaving his successor, Pellegrino II, huge debts and an ongoing war with Treviso.

References

Citations Sources * * * * * * {{authority control 1194 deaths Patriarchs of Aquileia Year of birth missing Hohenstaufen family