Page "Pope Gregory IV" Paragraph 8

The armies of Louis and two of his sons met at Rotfeld, near Colmar, on June 24, 833.

The sons persuaded Gregory to go to Louis's camp to negotiate, and initially Louis refused to treat Gregory with any honor.

However, Gregory managed to convince Louis of his good faith, and returned to Lothair to arrange a peace.

However, Gregory soon learned that he had been deceived by Lothair.

Gregory was prevented from returning to the emperor, while Louis was deserted by his supporters and was forced to surrender unconditionally ; Louis was deposed and humiliated at the Campus Mendacii, and Lothair was proclaimed emperor.

Following these events, Gregory returned to Rome, while Louis was subsequently restored in 834.

The emperor then sent a delegation to see Gregory, headed by St. Anschar, the Archbishop of Hamburg and Bremen, to question the Pope on the events which led to Louis ’ s removal from the throne by Lothair.

Gregory swore an oath that his intentions were honourable, and that he had always sought to achieve a peaceful solution to the conflict between Louis and his sons.

Accepting Gregory ’ s word, the envoys returned to Louis.

After this failure in dabbling in imperial politics, Gregory by and large focused his attention for the rest of his pontificate in dealing with internal church matters.