No More Learning



## p. 428 (#474) ############################################

428
Revolt of Milan
Emperor. Their imperial tendencies had sprung principally from hatred
of their neighbouring enemies, and, when they perceived that their
interests and municipal liberties were infringed, their zeal began to cool
and symptoms of discontent to appear. Genoa was the first to shew
resistance to the interference of the Emperor in her domestic affairs and
the government of the city. Safe on the side of the sea, the Genoese
sought to gain time by negotiations, while at the same time at great
expenditure of labour and money, men and women combining in the
work, they strengthened the defences on the land side and made them-
selves safe against a sudden attack. Pavia and Cremona as partisans of
Frederick accepted obediently the podestà appointed by him to each,
and Piacenza, although secretly attached to Milan, had not the courage
to resist. On the other hand the little city of Crema, in alliance with
Milan, stoutly refused to dismantle her walls and fill up her trenches as
Frederick demanded. The latter had been offered a large sum of money
from the Cremonese to insist upon this demand. The Milanese, not one
whit less stubborn, did not feel beaten after their siege. Their irrita-
tion was still great at the loss of Monza and the territories wrested from
them by the decrees of Roncaglia, when Frederick sent them two legates,
the Chancellor Rainald of Dassel and the Count-Palatine of Bavaria,
Otto of Wittelsbach. The authority of these two personages did not
intimidate the Milanese, who, knowing that they had come to establish
officials of imperial appointment, rose against them with such fury that
they had to make good their escape in secret. Frederick felt the insult
bitterly, and realised the necessity of striking Milan a deadly blow
if he were to be supreme in Lombardy. Meanwhile the Milanese
declared open war, attacked and took possession of Trezzo, making
prisoners of its German garrison, and tried several times, but in vain, to
destroy the new city of Lodi which was being built under the auspices
of the Emperor. Brescia also shook off the imperial authority and
joined Milan, while Piacenza, which had yielded perforce, left Frederick
under no delusion as to her aversion. The Emperor, then at Bologna,
again proclaimed the ban of the Empire against Milan, and wrote to
Germany demanding reinforcements, which were promptly granted, and
which arrived led by Henry the Lion. With him came the Empress and
Duke Welf VI, uncle of the Emperor, who had just been invested with the
lands of the Countess Matilda, to which the Pope laid claim. Advancing
into Lombardy, and aided chiefly by Pavia and Cremona, Frederick
began to ravage the country, in order to weaken Milan and cut off the
supply of provisions necessary for her defence. Afterwards, in July
1159, he laid siege to Crema with a great force. The heroic resistance
of this small city for seven months against the great besieging army of
Frederick has been handed down as an object of admiration to later ages.
The siege, conducted with obstinacy and savage fury, was endured by
the besieged with a firmness of mind which nothing could bend, not


## p. 429 (#475) ############################################

Renewed disputes between Pope and Emperor
429
even the sight of their own kindred who had been taken prisoner being
bound to the machines with which the enemy advanced to make their
attacks upon the walls. Undaunted, the Cremaschi repelled their onsets,
without compassion for their own flesh and blood, and with no other
thought than to defend their native city to the last. It was only in
January 1160, after a six months' struggle, when all their forces were
exhausted and further resistance was impossible, that these valorous
citizens surrendered. Their only conditions were that their own lives
should be spared, and the lives of those Milanese and Brescians who
had joined with them in the defence. Crema was destroyed, and her
rival Cremona was able to exult with unseemly joy over her ruins.
Meanwhile the disputes between the Pope and the Emperor had
broken out again more hotly than ever. An impassable abyss lay
between them, for the irreconcilable principle of two supremacies rendered
their two representatives irreconcilable also, and provided endless sub-
jects of disagreement. Frederick, already disposed to take offence, had
become hardened in his resentment because the Pope refused to confirm
the nomination of Guido, son of the Count of Biandrate, to the arch-
bishopric of Ravenna. Much greater was his indignation when a letter
arrived from Hadrian carried by a messenger of mean appearance who
disappeared immediately after consigning it. The letter was marked by
a renewal of the bitter tone which for some time past had dropped out
of their correspondence, and was full of complaints against the recent
exactions made by the imperial officers on ecclesiastical possessions.
Frederick, more incensed than before, ordered his Chancellor in answering
it to place his name before the Pope's and to address him in the second
person singular tu instead of by the customary plural vos. In this
way
he thought to remind the Pope of the old imperial supremacy. But
the Pope stiffened himself all the more, in spite of the great but un-
availing efforts of Eberhard, Bishop of Bamberg, to soothe the two
antagonists. The bishop writing of Frederick to a cardinal said: “You
know what he is. He loves those who love him and turns away from
others, not having yet thoroughly learned to love also his enemies. ”
The exhortations of Eberhard bore no fruit. The Pope, it is true,
sent four cardinals to the Emperor to discuss the points of disagreement
between them, but with conditions which seemed too hard. All magis-
tracies and regalia of Rome, the Pope affirmed, belonged to St Peter,
and therefore the Emperor had no right to send his envoys direct to the
Romans; the estates of the Pope were not to be subject to fodrum
except at an imperial coronation ; Italian bishops owed the Emperor no
homage but only an oath of fealty, and were not obliged to entertain
imperial envoys in their palaces. Restitution was to be made to the
Pope of the possessions of the Roman Church-Tivoli, Ferrara, Massa,
Ficarolo, the lands of the Countess Matilda, the territory from Acqua-
pendente to Rome, the duchy of Spoleto, and the islands of Sardinia
CH. XIII.


## p. 430 (#476) ############################################

430
Death of Pope Hadrian IV
and Corsica. Frederick was certainly not the man to submit to such
exaggerated claims. He repelled them, not without expressions of irony,
by saying that he would not require homage from the Italian bishops
if they would give up those of their temporalities which were regalia;
further, imperial envoys would have no right to be entertained in the
bishops' palaces if these happened not to be built on lands held from
the Emperor; but normally they were so built, and were imperial
palaces. Then the Pope's affirmation that imperial envoys could not be
sent direct to the Romans, since the magistracies at Rome and the
regalia were papal, would imply that he, Roman Emperor by right
divine, was a mere phantom sovereign, bearing an empty name.
Such was the situation when some ambassadors from the city of
Rome came to Frederick with offers of recognition of the imperial rights
in return for his recognition and protection of the Roman Senate.
Frederick grasped the opportunity, received the Roman envoys with marks
of honour, and dismissed them not without hope. He then proposed to the
legates that a committee of arbitration should be formed consisting of
six cardinals on the Pope's side and six bishops on his own, and informed
them that he would send ambassadors to Rome to treat with the Pope
and the Roman citizens, thus inserting a threat amid the formalities of
friendship. Ambassadors were sent, but Hadrian absolutely refused
arbitration, admitting no tribunal above his own, and the Romans
themselves shewed a suspicious temper, fearing that the Emperor, in re-
storing the banished prefect of the city, wished to introduce a magistrate
of his own, and while retaining the semblance to destroy the reality of
an independent senate. Here, as on other occasions, Frederick ran
counter to the sentiment of municipal freedom widespread throughout
Italy. Hadrian again, recognising the power of this sentiment, turned
his eyes towards Lombardy in the hope of securing the assistance of the
communes. A first attempt at a league between the citizens of Milan,
Brescia, and Piacenza agreed at Anagni with Hadrian to come to no
terms with the Emperor without the consent of the Pontiff and that of
his successors, and the people of Crema, still besieged within their walls,
sent their oath to the same effect. The Pope made like promises to the
leagued cities, and announced to them that he would within forty days
place Frederick under excommunication. But before he could put into
effect such a serious resolution, an attack of angina suddenly brought
about his death at Anagni on 1 September 1159.
The election of his successor was bound to be a stormy one. The two
divergent policies among the cardinals were inevitably brought into colli-
sion at a moment when the whole future direction of the Church de-
pended upon the preponderance of one or other of the two parties. The
majority of the cardinals favoured the election of Cardinal Roland, a
supporter of Hadrian's policy and of the alliance with Sicily, while a
small minority gave a stubborn support to Cardinal Octavian, head of


## p. 431 (#477) ############################################

The papal schism
431
the party bent on agreement with the Emperor. After Hadrian had
been laid to rest in the Vatican, the cardinals assembled in the church
of St Peter, and on 7 September 1159 the majority succeeded, after a
sharp struggle, in electing Roland, but the opposing party would not
admit their defeat, and proclaimed Octavian as Pontiff. In the tumult
of this double election, while the two Popes-designate were struggling
for the possession of the papal mantle', the doors of St Peter's were
opened to the armed partisans of Octavian who was proclaimed by the
name of Victor IV.
Roland and his cardinals, fearing personal violence, retired into the
fortress annexed to the church and remained shut in there for several
days, unable to move owing to the armed strength of the opposite
faction. Afterwards Roland, who had managed to be conveyed to
Trastevere, made a successful attempt at escape from his opponents.
But, although on regaining his freedom he was triumphantly acclaimed
by his own party, he did not feel himself sufficiently strong to remain in
Rome, and had to betake himself elsewhere. At Ninfa he was con-
secrated Pope as Alexander III, and after a short stay at Terracina he
went to Anagni. Neither could Octavian hold out long at Rome. His
consecration took place at the monastery of Farfa, whence he went
to Segni. Thus the two rivals, in near touch with Rome and only a
few miles distant from each other, began to hurl anathemas the one
against the other. A great schism rent the Church afresh, and rendered
her path more difficult at a moment when dangers and pitfalls threatened
on every side. The contending parties lost no time in presenting their
cases to the tribunal of Christendom, and sent legates and letters to
sovereigns and bishops relating the story of the election each in his
own way. In a situation so uncertain, the attitude of Frederick might
have great weight, not only in Italy and Germany where he exercised
direct influence, but also throughout the rest of Europe where his name
was a force and his ideal position as the temporal leader of Christendom
was recognised. He perceived his advantage. As soon as the news of
Hadrian's death reached him, while the siege of Crema was yet in
progress, he wrote without delay to Eberhard of Salzburg a letter which
clearly shewed his intentions. In it he said that the successor of Hadrian
must be one who would reform the condition of the Church in the
direction of a pacific union, and treat the Empire and the loyal subjects
of the Empire with greater consideration. He had heard with great
regret that the election was already the cause of factions; he therefore
warned him not to give his adhesion precipitately to the Pope-elect, who-
ever he might be, without first consulting him (the Emperor), and
enjoined him to communicate the same advice to his suffragans. He also
1 Octavian tried to seize it from Roland; failing in this, he snatched a duplicate
from his chaplain, but, in his haste to be the first to be invested, he put it on the
wrong way round.
CH. XIII.


## p. 432 (#478) ############################################

432
The standpoint of Alexander III
informed him that he was negotiating for a firm understanding between
himself and the Kings of France and England, and had instructed his
ambassadors to come to an agreement with them as to the most suitable
candidate for the Papacy, so that no election should be accepted without
the common consent of the three sovereigns. He added in conclusion
that letters were being sent on this matter to Germany, Burgundy, and
Aquitaine, in order that all his subjects might know that he would not on
any consideration suffer so great a dignity to be filled by anyone who
was not unanimously chosen by the faithful for the upholding of the
honour of the Empire and the peace and unity of the Church.
It was not likely that Roland and his partisans would find favour
with a prince thus disposed. Even if his grief at the schism were sincere,
it was only natural that Frederick should have wished for the triumph of
Octavian, of whom he felt secure. Either acting on secret instructions from
the Emperor or more probably on their own initiative, the two imperial
ambassadors who happened to be in Rome at the time shewed themselves
favourable to the election of the imperial cardinal, while the latter and his
followers, in the letters sent by them to the bishops and princes of the
Empire,dwelt strongly on the alliance of Roland with the King of Sicily and
his antipathy to the Empire. The letters of Alexander III, more elevated
in tone and shewing greater confidence in his claims, displayed in turn
a suspicion of the imperial attitude, and the Alexandrine cardinals in
writing to Frederick did not conceal this, but openly accused Otto
of Wittelsbach of opposing their Pope and themselves and of having
violently entered the Campagna with Octavian, trying to make the
territory subject to him. Reminding the Emperor that it was a duty
incumbent on his office to defend the Church against heretics and
schismatics, they concluded by saying: “Our wish is to honour you as the
special defender and patron of the Roman Church, and as far as in us
lies we desire the increase of your glory. Therefore we supplicate you to
love and honour the Holy Roman Church your mother; to watch over
her peace as becomes your imperial excellence and not to favour in any
way the great iniquity of the invading schismatic. ” Their firm language
and austere admonitions shewed that the traditions of Hadrian IV were
still in force, and that his successor, even in the anxious moments which
ushered in his pontificate, was not one to bend in face of difficulties.
The memory of those of his predecessors who, like Otto the Great,
had brought the imperial authority to bear in all its fulness on the
Papacy, could not fail to recur to Frederick's mind and dispose him to
try to become an arbitrator in the contest, thus resuming the ancient
claims of the Empire from which the Church by slow degrees had become
emancipated. He therefore decided to convene an assembly of prelates,
while inviting the two contending parties to be present and submit their
reasons to its judgment. Two bishops were charged to convey the letters
in which Frederick ordered the two claimants to appear. Alexander was


## p. 433 (#479) ############################################

The Synod of Pavia
433
וי
well aware that a refusal might be taken to mean that he was uncertain
of his cause, but a refusal was inevitable. Not only had Alexander and
his followers reason to fear the bias of a council convened in the
Emperor's name and placed under the aegis of his power, but to
acknowledge such an assembly and participate in it would be dealing a
fatal blow at the great principle at stake, the superiority of the Church
to every earthly authority. In agreement with his cardinals, Alexander
rejected the proposal, and expressed his sorrowful surprise that the
Emperor should have overstepped in this manner the limits of his
dignity, and presumed, he the champion of the Church, to dictate terms
to the Pontiff
' as though he were his sovereign. The imperial legates
withdrew, ill-content with such an answer, and betook themselves to
Octavian who, on the other hand, accepted the invitation without hesita-
tion and set forth for Pavia.
Frederick at last had brought Crema to surrender, and had given orders
for the demolition of the heroic city and the dispersal of the citizens.
In February 1160 he opened the Synod of Pavia with an oration in
which, notwithstanding the vagueness of the phraseology, his thoughts
concerning the relations of the Empire and the Church were transparent
enough. “Although,” he said, “in my office and dignity of Emperor I
can convoke councils, especially in moments of peril for the Church, as
did Constantine, Theodosius, Justinian, and in later times the Emperors
Charlemagne and Otto, yet we leave it to your prudence and power to
decide in this matter. God made you priests and gave you power to judge
us also. And since it is not for us to judge you in things appertaining to
God, we exhort you so to act in this matter as though we awaited from
you the judgment of God. " Thus speaking he retired, leaving the
Council to their deliberations. At this Council were assembled many
abbots and lesser ecclesiastics, but only fifty of the rank of bishop and
archbishop, the majority of whom were Germans or northern Italians.
From other countries hardly any had come, and some foreign sovereigns
had sent in adhesions couched in vague terms which were received and
registered as if they had a positive value. Octavian had no difficulty in
establishing the validity of his cause, all the more so since Alexander
was not present, owing to his refusal to recognise the synod, and thus
did nothing to vindicate his case. Alexander besides had to reckon with
the accusation of his hostility to the Empire and alliance with the
Sicilians and the Lombards. Octavian was acknowledged to be Pope
and honoured as such by the Emperor. On the following day he launched
a fresh excommunication against Roland and severe admonitions to the
King of Sicily and the Lombards.
The schism had now become incurable. Alexander did not stagger
under the blow. He issued an excommunication against Frederick and
renewed the ban already laid on Octavian and his party. Thus asserting
his authority, he released Frederick's subjects from their obedience,
C. MED. H. VOL. V. CH. XIII.
28


## p. 434 (#480) ############################################

434
Capture and destruction of Milan
encouraged the Lombards to revolt, and fomented the internal discords
of Germany. Meanwhile he maintained his cause throughout the rest of
Europe, writing to the bishops at large, and exhorting them to support
him among their flocks and before their sovereigns. The support of the
episcopate was in fact of great use to him in the various courts of
Europe, and especially in those of France and England, two centres of
influence of the highest importance. Frederick made vain efforts to gain
the kings of these countries; they maintained a prudent reserve, which
after some hesitation settled down into an attitude decidedly favour-
able to Alexander.
The part taken by the Emperor in this struggle for the Papacy did
not turn him from his fixed resolve to subdue Lombardy to obedience,
and root out all possibility of resistance by bringing Milan to his feet.
The calamities and destruction of Crema did not avail to break the
spirit of the unyielding Lombard towns opposed to the Emperor, and
they rose again in arms, reinvigorated by their alliance with the Pope.
In order to assert his sway it was necessary for Frederick to strike a
mortal blow at Milan and thus cut out the heart of the Lombard
resistance. But it was not an easy undertaking, and all Barbarossa's
power might have been shattered but for the assistance of the cities
which stood by him faithfully. Their municipal hatred of the great
sister city waxed ever stronger as the struggle went on, and caused a
wretched denial in the face of the foreigner of those bonds of unselfishness
and of blood which ought to have drawn them closely together. With
such auxiliaries Frederick began operations against Milan, and for a whole
year there was constant warfare in the surrounding territory, with alter-
nating success and a cruel destruction of the great Lombard plain. In
the spring of 1161 Germany and Hungary sent the reinforcements
necessary for the campaign, and the Emperor was able to shut in the
city more closely. A long siege followed, lasting yet another year.
The defenders held out as long as was possible with unshaken tenacity,
but in the end the forces of resistance failed. The Aower of the garrison
had fallen at their posts, disease and hunger were rapidly cutting off the
remnant, munitions of defence had given out, all resources were ex-
hausted. There was nothing to be done but to make terms, and all
attempts were vain to secure some favourable agreement previous to sur-
render. In March 1162 the vanquished city had to stoop low and submit
at the conqueror's discretion. The sight of the misery and fall of so
great and noble a city aroused pity even in her enemies, who could not
refrain from appealing to the clemency of Frederick. The stern ruler
would not bend, but turned a heart of stone to their prayers. For him
harshness in this case was justice. The imperial majesty must be
vindicated by a signal example of rigour which should extirpate all hope
of future conflict. Milan, given over to pillage and fire, seemed buried for
ever beneath the mass of her own ruins,


## p. 435 (#481) ############################################

Alexander III takes refuge in France
435
To those Milanese who survived the siege were assigned four localities
where they might settle, not very far from the ruined city. It was a
grievous dispersion, yet a contemporary chronicler accused Frederick at
a later date of a want of foresight in having allowed the Milanese to
remain so near to the ashes of their fallen city. But how could it have
been possible to imagine a speedy resurrection after such a fall, and that
Milan might rise again, when Frederick's power had reached such a
height and was inspiring everywhere both reverence and terror? All
opposition gave way before him. Piacenza and Brescia had to accept
his stern conditions. Their walls were demolished; the imperial officials
were received; tribute and hostages were rendered to the Emperor; the
imperial Pope was recognised, while the Bishop of Piacenza, whose
loyalty to Alexander was untainted, passed into exile. Other cities
underwent the same ordeal. The imperial claims asserted at Roncaglia
held the field. The dissensions of the Lombard cities had borne the bitter
fruit of misery and servitude, but a fruit destined in its bitterness to be
one of remedy and healing.
The victories in Lombardy now strengthened Frederick's projects with
regard to Sicily and the East, where the help of maritime forces was in-
dispensable. He therefore first offered inducements to Pisa and then to
Genoa to form an alliance with him. Both consented, although each was
distrustful of the other, and Genoa in particular gave adhesion from
motives of expediency rather than from any friendly intention. The
position in northern Italy being thus secured and a powerful naval con-
nexion being established on the sea, Frederick might well feel assured
that within his grasp lay the dominion of all Italy, and that he was on
the verge of entering upon the lordship of a genuine and incontestable
empire. But Alexander III, despite the grave anxieties of his position,
was keeping a watchful eye on this policy with the intention of arresting
its achievement. While the war in Lombardy lasted, the Pope, unable
to keep a footing in Rome, had remained in the Campagna. In spite of
Frederick, all Europe outside the Empire and the Latin East now
acknowledged him, but his material resources were such that he was
bound to quit Italy and throw himself upon the traditional hospitality
of the French kingdom. He embarked at Capo Circello on a galley of
the King of Sicily, and after a halt at Genoa entered France through
Provence, where he was received everywhere with signs of deep devotion.
Well aware of Frederick's commanding influence, he turned to Eberhard
of Salzburg, the prelate most loyal to him in Germany, who had
brought all his authority to bear on Frederick in order that he might
relinquish the schism and make peace with the Church. But the Pope
could only put slender trust in these pacific proposals, and within a short
month, in May 1162, the struggle still continuing, he renewed his ex-
communications against Octavian and the Emperor in a solemn act of
promulgation at Montpellier. In the meantime, Alexander was keeping
CH. XIII.
28– 2


## p. 436 (#482) ############################################

436 Failure of Frederick's negotiations with Louis VII
up
his relations with France and England with a view to gaining their
decisive adherence to his cause. Nor did he neglect any means of attract-
ing German sympathy and that of Italy, and by raising difficulties in
the path of Octavian of dealing a blow at the policy of Frederick. cta-
vian, in his turn, in two synods held at Lodi and Cremona, had con-
firmed the decisions of the Council of Pavia, but it was not difficult to
see that Alexander's adherents were gaining in number and that Octa-
vian's party was lukewarm and more of a make-believe than a reality.
Alexander could only be overcome by shattering his foundations and
depriving him of the asylum which was at once his refuge and his strength.
While he appeared to be preparing for an expedition in the South,
Frederick turned back and, leaving his representatives in Lombardy
charged to keep that province in subjection, he crossed the Alps. Taking
advantage of the disputes between England and the French King Louis VII,
he turned to the latter in the hope of making him an ally and separating
him from the Pope. Louis hesitated; at the instigation of certain coun-
cillors who were strongly in favour of an alliance with the Emperor, he
began to treat with Frederick and finally with Octavian, while at the
same time he made no break in his relations with Alexander, who watched
with anxious attention this turn in French policy. It was settled that
the two sovereigns should meet on 29 August 1162 at St-Jean-de-Losnes
on the frontiers of France and the County of Burgundy, now subject to
Frederick. Henry of Champagne, brother-in-law of King Louis, was the
soul of these negotiations, and it suited his interests to separate Louis
from Henry II of England. The two sovereigns were to bring with them
the two pretenders to the Papacy and to arrive together at a final re-
cognition of the true Pope, but if one of the two rivals refused to appear
then the other was to be recognised on the spot. Later the king asserted
that Henry had gone beyond his instructions in accepting this condition;
but meanwhile Alexander, perceiving the serious danger of such an inter-
view, made every effort to prevent its taking place. He was in time to
have a conversation with Louis, and if he did not succeed in dissuading
him from the meeting he at least was able to convince him that he, the
Vicar of Christ, could not bow to the decision of the proposed tribunal.
Louis, shaken by the Pope's arguments, made his way to the banks of the
Saône in an uncertain mood and anxious to find a means of extricating
himself from the complications in which Henry of Champagne had in-
volved him. He was also apprehensive of the show of force with which the
Emperor came to meet him, and Frederick himself had his own suspicions.
The latter arrived with his own Pope, Victor IV, at the place of meeting,
but, not finding the king there, withdrew. Soon afterwards Louis arrived,
and hearing of the Emperor's withdrawal took his departure without
waiting to see if he would return. Thus the interview between the two
sovereigns never took place.
Perhaps there was no real wish on either side for the meeting. But


## p. 437 (#483) ############################################

Difficulties in Italy
437
Henry of Champagne in his vexation threatened to transfer his allegiance
to the Emperor, and so constrained Louis to promise to return in three
weeks in readiness to accept, along with Frederick, the decisions of a con-
gress. This was a mortal blow for Alexander, but he did not lose courage.
He brought every kind of influence to bear on Louis, and shewed great
political shrewdness in turning to the King of England who was sus-
picious of an alliance between France and the Emperor, even succeeding
in bringing about an understanding between him and the King of France.
Thus when Frederick felt most sure of his position he found himself
threatened by an unexpected danger, and made up his mind to withdraw
from the conference. The Emperor's defection caused no regret to Louis.
He returned to Dijon freed from the obligations into which he had
entered almost against his will. Before leaving Burgundy, Frederick had
held a diet in which Victor IV, while affirming his rights, had excommuni-
cated Alexander III. The latter, in the meanwhile, had enjoyed a triumph
at Coucy-sur-Loire. There the Kings of England and of France paid
him reverence together and declared him to be the valid and legitimate
Pope. In the presence of this triumphant success the anti-Pope's im-
portance was diminished. The struggle between the Papacy and the
Empire reverted to great principles and issues, and although the two
chief litigants were then at a distance, both appealed to the name of
Rome, and the name of Rome once more localised in Italy the arena of
combat.
In Italy signs were not wanting that Frederick, notwithstanding the
destruction of Milan and the dismantling of the cities in alliance with
her, was far from having stamped out all resistance. The heart of the
people was unconquerable, and beat in expectation of the hour when
they could rise again for the struggle. The affairs of Germany held the
Emperor there under weighty responsibilities, while his representatives
in Lombardy were imposing cruel exactions on the subject populations.
These called in vain for justice. Day by day their yoke became more
galling, and if the terrible fate of Milan warned them to endure the
burden, still the germs of revolt were ripening below the surface. The
Chancellor Rainald of Dassel was indefatigable in checking disaffection
and in preparing the naval expedition against Sicily, in the absence
of the Emperor, but his adversaries were not idle. Alexander III, the
Kings of Sicily and France, the Emperor of Constantinople, Venice,
and the Lombard cities, had come to an agreement among themselves.
The forces of resistance were quickened into life. When in October 1163
Frederick with a small army re-entered Lombardy, he was met on all sides
by complaints of the rapacity of his agents and by appeals to mitigate the
hardships of the oppressed populations.
But Frederick gave little heed
to such appeals, and the sufferers felt that succour must be sought amongst
themselves. Venice gave them encouragement. While the Emperor was
engaged in appointing one of his creatures as king in Sardinia without
CH. XIII.


## p. 438 (#484) ############################################

438
Beginnings of the Lombard League
estranging Genoa and Pisa, who were disputing with each other the pos-
session of this island, Verona, Padua, and Vicenza rose in joint rebellion
to offer a common resistance and to maintain the rights which ancient
custom had handed down. Frederick was suddenly faced by the fact that
the league might embrace a wider compass and, being without sufficient
force to quell the insurgent communes, he made efforts to pacify them.
In this attempt he failed. He therefore sought aid from Pavia, Mantua,
and Ferrara, whom he loaded with privileges, trying to move them to
hostile action against the League. But the allies appeared in such
strong force that he had temporarily to renounce the hazard of battle.
In the meanwhile the anti-Pope Victor had died, in April 1164, at
Lucca. The position of Alexander III being thenceforth secure, Frederick
might not have been altogether indisposed to renew attempts at recon-
ciliation, but the Archbishop of Cologne, Rainald of Dassel, the implacable
enemy of Alexander, stood in his way and obtained the immediate election
of another anti-Pope. This was Guido of Crema, who took the name of
Paschal III. From the moment of his election the Emperor took him
under his protection, and, on his return to Germany, tried to make the
German and Italian bishops acknowledge him, but this scheme met with
open opposition in the episcopate of both countries. Among the Ger-
mans, the Archbishop-elect of Mayence, Conrad of Wittelsbach, rather
than yield went into exile in France, near Alexander. The Archbishops
of Trèves, Magdeburg, and Salzburg, and the Bishop of Brixen held out,
refusing to accept an election so patently uncanonical; while many others
of less courage submitted in appearance only to the imperial will.
This opposition, which augmented Frederick's difficulties in Germany,
also encouraged the Lombards to shake off their yoke. Alexander III,
now that hope of reconciliation with Barbarossa had proved fallacious,
was doing all in his power to spur on the resistance of Lombardy,
relying on the determination and love of liberty among the communes.
Thus by stirring up the cities to rebellion and by devising means
for drawing together more closely the adverse powers of Europe, the
able policy of Alexander aimed at isolating Frederick and placing him
in a position of marked inferiority in his struggle with the Church.
The Emperor, wishing to break through the ring of hostile influences
which encompassed him, turned to Henry II of England. This monarch
was bound to the King of France by very fragile ties, and had deep
causes of dissension with the Pope, owing to the struggle which had
arisen with Thomas Becket. This dispute was undoubtedly the source
of serious difficulties for Alexander III, difficulties which only came to
an end on Becket's tragic death. The Emperor and the King of England
took advantage of this event to draw closer together, yet without essen-
tially modifying the Pope's position towards Frederick. Alexander was
now recognised as the uncontested head of Christendom. He felt strong
enough to reoccupy his see and carry on the struggle, which threatened


## p. 439 (#485) ############################################

Return of Alexander III to Rome
439
to be renewed with greater tenacity than ever. Through the aid of his
vicar, the Cardinal of Ss. John and Paul, the Pope had secured
guarantees for his safe residence in Rome, and in October 1165 he left
France where his reception had been so generous. He travelled to Messina
by sea. From Palermo the King of Sicily sent him gifts and ordered an
escort of galleys to convey him honourably to Rome, where the Pope
made a solemn entry on 23 November. He at once took up his residence
in the Lateran. From Germany, whither he had returned and which he
was striving to pacify, the Emperor could not fail to perceive that the
triumphs of his rival in Rome were a source of dangers which it would
be necessary to dispel. He felt that the loyalty of the Lombard cities
was no longer to be reckoned upon, and therefore began to recruit an
army powerful enough to be confident of success and capable of crushing
any resistance from one end of Italy to the other. In order to conjure
back more and more the majesty of the Empire, he had Charlemagne
canonised by the anti-Pope Paschal III on the Christmas festival of 1165.
But times had changed and altered situations had arisen for the Papacy,
the Empire, and the peoples now awakened to a new life. Frederick
Barbarossa in his lofty aspirations had no conception that he was sum-
moning from the tomb of his great predecessor in Aix-la-Chapelle the
phantom of a past for which there was no longer a place amid the living.
The absence of Frederick made it more easy for the Lombards to
come to agreements preliminary to common action. The signs of resist-
ance arose quickly on all sides. In the cities tumults frequently broke
out and in Bologna the imperial podestà was killed during an uprising
of the populace. William I of Sicily had died and was succeeded in
1166 by the child William II, whose mother the Regent maintained
friendly relations with the Pope and an antagonistic policy towards the
Emperor. She was encouraged by Manuel Comnenus, who aimed at
gaining a foothold in Italy and showered attentions on the youthful king,
while he was trying to flatter the Pope by holding out to him the
mirage of reunion of the two Churches, asking in return the Roman
crown of Empire. Alexander placed no reliance on this project, but
shewed himself ready to negotiate in order to add to the dangers of
Frederick's position. Venice entered into alliance with Sicily and Con-
stantinople, forming thus a joint domination over the Adriatic, while
Pisa and Genoa, although in league with Frederick, were mutually so
quarrelsome and jealous of each other that the warmth of their devotion
could not be safely depended upon. Only one way lay open to Frederick,
and that was the reconquest of Italy by force.
He collected a considerable army, and in October 1166 set out
accompanied by the Empress. By the middle of November he was in
Lombardy and held a diet at Lodi, but he quickly saw that hostility
was greater than ever, and that he aroused an atmosphere of hatred
to the highest intensity. The cities which had at first favoured him had
OH. XIII.


## p. 440 (#486) ############################################

440
Frederick's fourth expedition to Italy
turned lukewarm or unfriendly, and the two on which he most relied to
give effect to the expedition against Sicily, Pisa and Genoa, came to
Lodi only to dispute rival claims, thus emphasising a discord which was of
evil omen. Instead of moving directly upon Rome in order to dispatch the
business of Alexander and scatter the forces of William of Sicily and
the Byzantines, Frederick was obliged to tarry some time in Lombardy,
making destructive raids on the territory of Brescia and Bergamo.
Thence he advanced on Bologna and compelled that city to give hostages
before betaking himself to Ancona by the Romagna. He sent a portion
of his army towards Rome under the command of Rainald, Archbishop of
Cologne, and another warrior-archbishop, Christian of Buch, whom he had
substituted in the see of Mayence for Conrad of Wittelsbach, a partisan of
Pope Alexander. The immediate descent on the south made it necessary
that he should have a base on the Adriatic and that the approach to
Abruzzo by the Marches should be free. He therefore determined to
invest Ancona in person.
He met with a stubborn resistance. Lombardy in the meantime,
determined to throw off his yoke, was emboldened by the League of
Verona, and one city after another entered into a joint compact to
prepare for an act of liberation. The confederates resolved, as a symbol
of their union, to restore Milan from her ruins, construct her moats,
and set up her walls anew as a bulwark. On 27 April 1167, the allied
forces appeared before the fallen city bent on the work of reconstruction
and of warding off any possible attacks, especially from Pavia, always
the faithful ally of the Empire. Milan rose again as if by enchantment
and the spirit of independence seemed to live again within her. The
cities in their rekindled life built fortifications, and all through Lom-
bardy ran the thrill of coming war.
Alexander III saw in this harmony his greatest hope of safety and hailed
with fervour. His position was a very serious one. He had succeeded
in gaining to a certain extent the favour of the Romans, thanks to their
hatred of the neighbouring cities, who seemed to be biassed towards the
Empire, especially Tusculum. But the two German archbishops at the
head of their forces were masters of the Campagna, and had reduced
that district into obedience to the anti-Pope Paschal, who had made
Viterbo his headquarters. The Roman militia were sufficiently numerous
to place in danger Rainald of Dassel, who was occupying Tusculum with
a slender force, but the Archbishop of Mayence advanced to the succour
of Rainald. The Romans, in spite of the Pope's dissuasions, advanced
against this combined array trusting in their own numbers, but, being
hemmed in on both sides, suffered a terrible defeat on 29 May 1167 and
were pursued to the very gates of Rome, leaving in their flight many
dead and many prisoners behind them. The discouragement in Ronie
was great. Alexander rallied together as many soldiers as he could, and
prepared to offer resistance to the imperial troops now before the city.


## p. 441 (#487) ############################################

Siege of Rome
441
Frederick, having made peace with Ancona, made a rapid march on Rome,
and on 24 July 1167 appeared with his army on Monte Mario. The
day after he made an unsuccessful attempt to storm the walls. Sub-
sequent assaults were more fortunate, and opened to him the defences of
St Peter's. The neighbouring church of Santa Maria in Turri was set
fire to by the assailants, who amid blood and slaughter forced their way
to the sacred basilica itself, compelling the papal soldiers to surrender.
The anti-Pope being in possession of the church renewed the Emperor's
coronation with great solemnity and placed the crown on the imperial
consort's head.
Frederick, however, was not yet master of the left bank of the Tiber.
The Pope had taken refuge in a stronghold of the Frangipani near to
the Coliseum, and was in constant deliberation with his cardinals and
other adherents. The King of Sicily had sent him by the Tiber two
galleys and a sum of money. The money was distributed amongst his
defenders, while the galleys were sent away with two cardinals. The
Pope himself remained in Rome. Grave as the situation appeared to be,
Alexander did not despair, and thought perhaps that some means of
understanding with Frederick was not impossible. Conrad of Wittelsbach,
the dispossessed Archbishop of Mayence, who held to the Pope, went to
visit the Emperor. The latter enjoined upon him the task of proposing
to the Alexandrine cardinals and bishops that both Pope and anti-Pope
should resign in order to make way for a fresh election. At the same
time he acquainted the Romans with this proposal, promising them that, if
it were carried out, he would return the prisoners and the booty cap-
tured on 29 May. The bishops with one voice rejected the imperial
offer, but the Romans urged the Pope and cardinals with pressing insist-
ence to yield and to set them free from their privations. Alexander's
position in Rome was no longer endurable, and he suddenly and stealthily
disappeared. Three days afterwards he was seen near Monte Circello,
then at Terracina and Gaeta, and thence he went to Benevento, where
he was joined by the cardinals whose loyalty had remained unshaken in
the hour of danger.
The appearance of eight Pisan galleys on the Tiber and the expected
approach of a great fleet of ships ready to attack Rome and Sicily brought
the Romans to make terms with the Emperor and to submit to him the
nomination of the Senate. Frederick could now look upon himself as
supreme master of Italy. Rome was his, and the army behind him with
the Pisan fleet guaranteed to him a victory over the Sicilian king, whose
strength was shaken by internal discords, and whose defeat would render
certain the suppression of the revolt of Lombardy. The Empire of
Charlemagne was on the point of revival in all its pristine majesty. But
the decrees of history were otherwise written. The scorching August
sun was oppressing the German forces in the Campagna when a slight
rain came to refresh them, but on the following day sudden destruction
CH, XIII.


## p. 442 (#488) ############################################

442
Frederick's army destroyed by pestilence
men.
fell upon their encampments. A deadly fever spread through the ranks
and those attacked by the sudden malady died in crowds. The panic
was great, heightened by religious terror, for this mysterious and violent
destruction appeared to be an act of divine vengeance for the profanation
of St Peter's. The imperial army, decimated, terrified, and demoralised,
was routed by an unseen enemy, and Frederick was compelled to break up
his camp. He led the remnants of his army across the Tuscan Apennines,
his path of retreat strewn with dead and dying. The flower of his army,
the pick of his captains, had fallen. In this conjuncture Frederick's magna-
nimous strength of will shewed itself in full force. He was suddenly bereft
of the most valuable and staunchest supporters of his throne; his best coun-
cillors, his most valiant warriors were wrested from his side. His nephew
Frederick of Swabia, the Archbishop of Cologne, Rainald of Dassel, the
Bishops of Liège, Spires, Ratisbon, Verden, and Duke Welf VII of
Tuscany, were all struck down, and hundreds of other nobles and church-
He dragged behind him as best he could the surviving few, and
being unable to follow the open roads from Tuscany, since the Lombards
in arms held the passes, he took to the hill paths of Lunigiana and by a
difficult circuit came down on loyal Pavia. Here he gathered together
his available forces, and, aided by some cities still faithful, by the
Count of Biandrate and the Marquess of Montferrat, he attempted some
attacks on the Milanese territory, but the Lombards pressed him so
closely that it was only with great effort that he could extricate himself
in safety and get beyond the frontier of Italy. Under the protection of
Humbert, Count of Maurienne, he reached Susa with a small following,
but the city displayed such a menacing demeanour that he was forced to
escape under cover of the darkness of night. The powerful monarch
who had descended on Italy certain of victory returned to his own
country alone, disarmed, a fugitive; but his mind was undaunted and his
ambition was bent more than ever on the re-affirmation of his rights and
the restoration of lustre to the waning star of Empire.
The Lombards, who had felt so heavily the weight of Barbarossa's
arms, knew that the struggle was not yet at an end and that there must
be a fierce renewal of the contest if their liberties were to be re-won and
maintained. They set to work. The League added to its numbers, and
in a short time the greater part of the cities of Venetia, Lombardy, and
Piedmont were confederated and ready to act on the defensive against
the Emperor and those barons and cities, such as Pavia, which still stood
by him. As a greater safeguard the League decided to build a strong
city at the confluence of the Tanaro and the Bormida, in such a position
as to command every point of entrance into the plains of Lombardy. The
city rose rapidly, not rich indeed in fine buildings but fortified to its
utmost capacity, and was soon able to reckon a population of 15,000
citizens to man and defend it. As a symbol of alliance with the Papacy
the name given to the city was Alessandria, and the Pope, on his part,


## p. 443 (#489) ############################################

Growing strength of Alexander III
443
aided by the Lombard clergy, did all he could to encourage the League
and to tighten the bonds between himself and his other allies. The Em-
peror's influence in Italy was steadily losing ground. Genoa, without
actually joining the League, regarded it with favour, and, when Pisa
entered into friendly relations with Sicily, did the same. The court of
Sicily, at the same time, seeing what a safeguard the League might
become, gave assistance in money, and so did Manuel Comnenus, ever
mindful of his own interests and of his ambitious hopes regarding Italy.
While the struggle was thus in preparation, the shuttle of papal
diplomacy was moving incessantly and working to keep France and
England aloof from Frederick. Alexander III had been recognised by
Denmark, and little by little this recognition had spread over the greater
part of northern and eastern Europe. Towards the Byzantine Emperor,
who adhered to his design of uniting the Eastern and Western Empires,
the Pope shewed great courtesy but maintained an attitude of non-com-
mittal friendliness. His strength had its foundation in the King of Sicily
and the Lombards. The latter pre-eminently were his first bulwark
against the attacks of Frederick. As had always been the case, his weakest
point was Rome, where permanent habitation was difficult, so much so
that he had for several years to be contented with Benevento or some
town of the Campagna as a settled residence. The anti-Pope was always
face to face with him, although devoid of an authority in Christendom
adequate to challenge that of Alexander. On the death of Paschal III
in September 1168, a successor had been found in Abbot John of
Struma, called Calixtus III, whom Frederick hastened to acknowledge.
Although the schism had spent its force, an anti-Pope could always be
used as a handy instrument against Alexander by an able and deter-
mined adversary.
On his return to Germany in 1168, the Emperor bent all his
energies to the restoration of order in the kingdom distracted by civil
dissensions and to the establishment of peace between his most power-
ful vassals, the Saxon Henry the Lion and the Margrave Albert the Bear,
two implacable enemies. While endeavouring to bring them into friendly
accord, Frederick was inclined to favour Henry, to whom he was at-
tached by old ties of friendship, and to whom he looked for support.
But the power of these barons made him feel the need of making pro-
vision for the security of his own house, and in April 1169 he caused his
son Henry to be elected King of the Romans and had him crowned at
Aix-la-Chapelle by the new Archbishop, Philip, of Cologne, the successor
of Rainald of Dassel. From the old Duke Welf VI, who now had no
heirs, he bought the right of succession to his estates in Swabia and
Tuscany, but this acquisition, which certainly made a notable accession
to his power in Germany and Italy, alienated from him the sympathy
of Henry the Lion, who had himself aspired to the whole Welf in-
heritance.
OH. XIII.


## p. 444 (#490) ############################################

444
Failure of negotiations
The internal affairs of Germany did not exclusively occupy the mind
of Frederick, and he was also giving his thoughts to the state of Italy
and his relations with the Church. If the anti-Pope Calixtus III was
an embarrassment and a difficulty to Pope Alexander, his force and
authority were not to be compared with those which the Cardinal Octa-
vian had wielded in the early days of the schism. Prudence also kept
Frederick from putting difficulties in the way of the barons who were sum-
moned to Bamberg to elect his son as King of the Romans. It seemed
to him wise, at this juncture, to make an attempt at conciliation which,
without admitting any compromise in regard to the existing dispute,
might be a means of shewing to Germany his good intentions regarding
the close of the schism, and also of arousing suspicion against the Pope
among the Lombards and in Sicily. Eberhard, Bishop of Bamberg, was
chosen as the messenger of conciliation. His wisdom and moderation
were acknowledged by all parties. He was under strict obligations to
disclose his proposals to the Pope only. The latter was not without his
misgivings. He foresaw that the negotiations might be regarded with
suspicion by his Lombard allies, and arranged that certain faithful citizens
should be deputed by the cities of the League to come immediately to
Veroli and assist at the conference with the imperial envoy. Eberhard,
however, insisted on a confidential explanation with the Pope of his
mission. The Emperor made some concessions, but did not make an
explicit avowal of his readiness to accept the validity of Alexander's
election. At the bottom of his heart he probably clung to the often-
expressed idea of a simultaneous renunciation on the part of the two
pretenders, followed by the election of a third party to the Papacy. The
negotiations fell to the ground completely. The Pope in the presence of
the Lombard delegates rejected the imperial proposals, and all hope of
conciliation vanished.
War was once more the arbiter. The alliance of the Lombards with
the Pope and with Sicily could only be broken up by force. The League
was dominant in upper Italy, and Pavia had at last to bow to its au-
thority. A fresh expedition into Italy had become a vital necessity for
the Emperor, though he was still hampered by the complicated affairs of
Germany. He had to dispatch a first army corps under Christian of
Buch, Archbishop of Mayence, whose political and military task was
to consist in preparing the ground by consolidating friendships and in-
spiring with fear the pride of the rebellious cities. Christian's principal
object was to bring Genoa into closer relationship with the Emperor, and
to gain as much as possible the goodwill of Tuscany. His next endeavour
was to secure for the imperial army a base on the Adriatic, and to carry
out afresh the investment of Ancona. The city held out stoutly for six
months until the succour of her allies compelled the army to raise the siege.
Frederick, as soon as his hands were free in Germany, concentrated
his army for the Italian expedition and again crossed the Alps at its


## p. 445 (#491) ############################################

Frederick's fifth expedition to Italy
445
head. He had a strong force at his disposition--a certain number of
barons and bishops followed him—but it was much inferior to that which
he had on the previous occasion. The most conspicuous gap was that
caused by the absence of Henry the Lion, the comrade of his choice.
Internal conditions in Germany and the disastrous end of the last expedi-
tion into Italy had chilled the enthusiasm of the Germans and their
inclination to carry war beyond the Alps. He opened his campaign
at the end of September 1174 by the destruction of Susa, an act of
reprisal for the ignominy of having had to escape from it when he left
Italy. He then came down through Piedmont and moved on the borders
of Lombardy. Asti surrendered at once, and the Marquess of Mont-
ferrat, with the cities of Alba, Acqui, Pavia, and Como, finding themselves
strengthened by his favour, deserted the League and turned to him.
Frederick, emboldened by these adhesions, presented himself before
Alessandria. This town, with its name taken from his enemy, appeared
to him as the symbol and bulwark of rebellion which must disappear
from the face of the earth.
But the determination of the Emperor to crush the Lombards was
not greater than their determination to oppose him, and to defend their
liberty to the last gasp. This stubborn opposition hardened into
obstinacy Frederick's resolve to obtain the mastery. The city was
beleaguered on every side, but held out firmly. The winter, always severe
around Alessandria, was in this year of exceptional rigour, and increased
beyond measure the difficulties of the siege and the sufferings of the
besiegers. The confederates meanwhile were combining their forces in
order to fall upon the Emperor and destroy the army which was wearing
itself out in the attacks on the city. Barbarossa, intent on dividing
and thwarting the enemy, sent Christian of Buch into the Romagna
and the Bolognese territory, thus succeeding in diverting and holding in
check no inconsiderable portion of the allied armies. He redoubled his
efforts to carry Alessandria by storm, but all his attempts were ineffectual,
being repulsed with heavy losses. After six months of unsuccessful
siege, in April 1175, knowing that the allies were close at hand, he tried
to penetrate the city by means of mines and take it by surprise, but the
soldiers employed in the mines were discovered and killed, and in a
spirited sortie the defenders raided the Emperor's camp and destroyed
by fire his best siege machinery. With his quick resolution Frederick
then raised the siege without delay, and advanced rapidly against the
army of the League. The two armies met in the territory of Pavia,
and pitched their camps between Casteggio and Voghera at three miles
distance from one another. Just as a battle appeared imminent, nego-
tiations for peace were suddenly begun between the Emperor and the
League, although it is not clearly known from which side the initiative
came. Perhaps the Lombards were not entirely confident of their
strength, and certainly Frederick must have found the moment
CH, XIII.


## p. 446 (#492) ############################################

446
The battle of Legnano, 1176
opportune for a truce, in order to reinvigorate his troops, exhausted by the
unfortunate enterprise against Alessandria. For a moment peace ap-
peared to have been concluded, but all at once the negotiations were
broken off. Other negotiations were opened through three cardinals, in
order to see if it were yet possible to come to some agreement with the
Church, but this attempt also came to nothing, and hostilities began
anew. For the remainder of the year 1175 the war dragged on without
any important engagements. The Lombards seemed to keep a watchful
attitude, looking for the opportune moment, and Frederick stood on the
defensive waiting for reinforcements from Germany before striking a
decisive blow. Germany shewed no great willingness to reply to his
appeals, and when at last in the spring of 1176 the reinforcements did
arrive they were not accompanied by Henry the Lion. The Emperor
had gone in person to Chiavenna in order to confer with him, and to
impress upon him the supreme importance of his co-operation in the
interests of the Empire. All was in vain. Henry's proud spirit was
deaf to the voice of an old friendship, and refused to recall the acts of
kindness of his imperial relative spread over many years. Frederick
gained nothing from this interview save a chilling refusal, and the
painful impression that, where he had looked for friendship, he had
only found the foreshadowing of rebellion.
Frederick had advanced to meet his fresh supports with the deter-
mination of opening a vigorous campaign with a battle in the open
field. Having collected a contingent from Como, he moved on Pavia in
order to form a conjunction with the remainder of his army before
delivering an attack on the Lombards. The latter, who had his move-
ments under observation, came forward rapidly and cut off his approach.
The hour on which the issue of the long contest depended had now
struck. On 29 May 1176 the two armies engaged near Legnano in a
battle which was keenly contested on both sides. At first the Germans
seemed to have the upper hand. Their heavy cavalry broke through
the front ranks of the Lombards and threw them into confusion. But
round the Carroccio the German onset was checked, and was of no
avail to shatter the desperate resistance of the handful of heroes who
defended this central point. It became the centre of the battle now
resumed with fierce determination. Frederick encouraged his troops in
vain by plunging into the thick of the fight with his wonted courage.
In the struggle he was unhorsed, and amid the confusion and the groups
of combatants vanished from sight. The defeat of the Germans was
complete and great their slaughter. The exultant Milanese wrote to
their brethren of Bologna: “Glorious has been our triumph over our
enemies.