Gregory of Montelongo

GREGORY OF MONTELONGO: Patriarch of Aquileja; d. at Cividale (70 m. n.e. of Venice), in Friuli, Italy, Aug. 31, 1269. He is mentioned first in 1213 as canon of the church of Vercelli, then in 1231 as subdeacon in the March of Ancona. In 1238 he appears as a Roman notary and subdeacon, first as papal nuncio, then as apostolic legate for Lombardy, Romagna, and Treviso. Montelongo was a bitter opponent of the house of Hohenstaufen and contributed not a little to the downfall of Frederick II. and his partizans. After Frederick was excommunicated in 1239, Montelongo frustrated his attack upon the city of Milan, and here laid the foundation of his military fame. The capture of Ferrara in the following year was also essentially the work of Montelongo. He alienated the city of Vercelli in 1243 from the margrave of Montferrat, and later the neighboring Novara from the emperor. In 1247 he captured Parma, led its defense with great ability, and by a sudden attack dispersed the imperial army. By this victory the supremacy of the papal party in Lombardy was restored. In 1251 Montelongo was appointed patriarch of Aquileja, and it became his task to defend his extensive diocese against the Hohenataufens, the counts of Gorz, Tyrol, and Carinthia, against Eccelino II. of Romano, and the Venetians, though his expeditions against them were not always successful. At the same time he kept a watchful eye on Lombardy. In 1252 he aided Parma against Uberto Pellavicini; in 1256, with the archbishop of Ravenna, he took possession of Padua, which thus far had been under the sway of Eccelino. After the death of Eccelino in 1259, Treviso, Vicenza, and Baasano joined the papal party owing to the efforts of Montelongo, and the adherents of Eccelino in his patriarchate also submitted to his rule. The latter years of Montelongo's life were darkened by continual dissensions with the counts of Garz, the bai-

liffs of the chapter of Aquileja. In 1267 Count Albert of Görz, the bishop of Feltre, and the citizens of Capo d'Istria conspired against him, and he was imprisoned in the castle of Görz. After his release, hostilities were continued until his death.

Hermann Frankfurth.

Bibliography: The sources are to be found in the Annales Parmenaes, Annales Placentini Gibellini, Annales 8. Juatince Patavini, and the Annales Poroiulineaea, all in MGH, Script., xviii.-xix. (1883-66); in the Vitcs patriarcharum Ayuilegiensium in L. A. Muratori, Rer. ltal. script., vol. xvi.; also Salimbene, in Monumenta historira ad provinciae Parmensem et Placentinam pertinentia, vol. iii., 12 vols., Parma, 1856-69. Consult: H. Frankfurth, Gregorius de Montelongo, ein Beitrag zur Geuhichte Oberitaliena 1238-1289, Marburg, 1898.