Emissaries of Pope Innocent IV to Alexander Nevsky: Riddles of Biographical Histor

Abstract

One of the most mysterious reports from the Life of Alexander Nevsky about the visit to the Rus’ prince of the Pope Innocent IV’s envoys, Cardinals Gald and Gemont, most likely has a real basis. Several characteristic details testify to this. In particular, the total number of Cardinals noted in the Life, who were with the Pope (twelve), corresponds to the actual number of Cardinals appointed by Innocent IV. The visit of the pope’s representatives to Alexander was to take place in the second half of 1252 or at the beginning of 1253, when the powers of Archbishop Albert Suerbeer as papal legate in Rus’ were temporarily terminated. During their trip, the papal envoys visited two of the strongest Rus’ Princes at once – Alexander Nevsky and Daniil Galitsky. Papal emissaries at this time could be the Bishop of Verona, Jacopo da Breganze, and the Bishop of Kammin, Hermann von Gleichen. In the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle they were attributed according to their belonging to episcopal sees (Bishops Beren’sky and Kamenets’ky), and in the Life of Alexander Nevsky – according to their relationship with the Cardinals who led their mission. These could be Guglielmo Fieschi, who was then in charge of allied negotiations with the Byzantine Church, as well as Hugo de Saint-Cher, who acted as legatus a latere in Central-Eastern Europe.