ITALY. 



339 



raise the siege of Naples ; but, on their departure, In- 

 nocent having fallen into Roger's hands, wag compelled 

 to acknowledge his right to the kingdom of Sicily, and 

 to grant him (what he had no power to give) the city 

 and territories of Naples. The Neapolitans, perceiving 

 that resistance was vain, surrendered to the Norman 

 prince ; and their republic, which had existed for se- 



ties to cease their hostilities, and await his decision at Hiwory. 

 Novara, whither he commanded the Milanese consuls > v - 

 to conduct him. The route by which he marched, had 

 however been already laid waste in the war between 

 Milan and Pavia, and Frederic, enraged at not finding 

 the necessary supplies for his army, dismissed the con- 

 suls, and began to lay waste the Milanese territory. 



veral centuries, was incorporated with the kingdom of The citizens of that republic having in vain attempted 



C . -.! 

 drctcd 



I 



A.U. 



Sicily. These schisms in the church and the empire, 

 tended still more to strengthen the cause of the Lom- 

 bard republics ; and even the inhabitants of Rome, 

 weary of the crime* of rival popes, and incited by 

 the preaching of Arnold of Brescia, a monk, who 

 inculcated the principles of liberty, elected a senate, 

 and placed the executive power, formerly belong- 

 ing to the pope's prefect, in the hands of an officer 

 A. P. 114A styled the patrician ; and even put to death Pope Lu- 

 cius II. who ventured to resist the authority of the se- 

 nate. On the death of the Emperor Lothaire, in 1 137, 

 his former competitor, Conrad III. was elected his suc- 

 cessor. His -reign lasted fourteen years; but during 

 r. the early part of if, he had to contend with the Guelpn 

 I' 37 - princes of Bavaria and Saxony ; and in 1 IK. he had, 

 with Lewis VII. of France, been persuaded by St. 

 Bernard to lead a powerful army of crusaders into the 

 Diet. East. The expedition was unsuccessful ; and on his 



A.D. 11J2. return, he died while meditating a visit to Italy to re- 

 ceive the imperial crown. 



Vmierie By the election of his nephew, Frederic of Suabia, 



artnrga rm~* Barbaras*, who was equally related to the 

 bc*ed * Guelph and Ghibeline families, the animosity of these 

 factions was for a tinw laid to rest; and the whole mili- 

 tary forces of Germany, rendered more formidable by 

 the civil wars in which they bad been so long engaged, 

 ware united under the standard of a prince, not nor* 

 distinguished for his valour, than for the high and un- 

 bending severity of his character. The new emperor 

 was immediately tolkited to inarch into Italy, by Ro- 

 bert, prince of Capua, who had been deprived of his 

 states by Roger, king of Naples and Sicily ; by Pope 

 Eugene IV. whose authority he promised to re-esta- 

 blish in Rome ; and by the Lodesans, whose city and 

 territory had been conquered by the Milanese. In an- 

 swer to the complaints of the citizens of Lodi, Frede- 

 ric dispatched without delay a special messenger to 

 Milan, commanding peremptorily the immediate resti- 

 tution of the right* of the Lodesans. This mssssgs, 

 when communicated by the consols to the people of 

 Milan, was received with universal indignation, and 

 treated with contempt, while the envoy of the emper- 

 or with difficulty escaped from the fury of the raulti- 



to their new sovereign 

 bat prepared, by their arms, to take 

 of Pavia a 



They. 

 the. 



on the cities of 

 with the Lodesans 



ivia and Cremona, who had 

 hi arraigning their conduct 



I- ' . 

 lulT. 



to appease his wrath by the offer of a tribute, proceed- 

 ed to repair their fortifications, and put them in a pos- 

 ture of defence, sending at the same time embassies to 

 solicit earnestly the assistance of their ancient allies. In 

 the mean time, Frederic put in execution his threat 

 against Chicri and Asti ; which being deserted by the 

 inhabitants on his approach, were pillaged and burnt 

 by his soldiery. The city of Tortona having refused 

 to renounce its league with Milan, was put under the 

 ban of the empire; and, after sustaining a siege of two 

 months with the greatest valour and fortitiule, its citi- 

 sens were obliged to capitulate, on the condition of eva- 

 cuating the town immediately, being allowed to take 

 away only what they could carry on their shoulders. 

 The fate of Tortona only filled the Milanese with admi- 

 ration for itslirave defenders, and animated them to re- 

 sistance. Frederic having been crowned king of Italy 

 at Pavia, now proceeded to Rome, in order to receive 

 from the pope the imperial diadem. Before approach- 

 ing that city, he was met by three cardinals, sent by 

 Pope Adrian IV. requesting his assistance in subduing 

 the liomans. To shew his willingness to comply with, 

 the pope's desires, Frederic, having got possession of 

 the person of Arnold of Brescia, delivered him up to 

 Adrian, by whom he was cruelly put to death. To the 

 deputies of the senate Frederic paid no attention, nor 

 did he enter the city but on the day of coronation ; and 

 even on that day, there was a skirmish of some conse- 

 quence between his soldiers and the citizens. The em- 

 peror next inarched into the duchy of Spoleto ; and the 

 inhabitant* of the city of that name having had the mis- 

 fortune to excite his indignation, the town was given 

 up to pillage. Frederic next proposed to entt- r Apu- 

 lia, when Robert of Capua had succeeded in raising an 

 insurrection in his favour against William the Bad, 

 son of Roger I. ; but his troops were impatient to re- 

 turn home, and their ranks were already thinned by 

 fatigue and disease. He was, therefore, obliged to dis- 

 band his army at Ancona, and return to Germany. 

 The unfortunate prince of Capua, wax betrayed by one 

 of his adherents into the hands of William, who put 

 out his eye* ; and he shortly afterwards died in prison 

 at Palermo. Scarcely had the army of Frederic quit- 

 ted Italy, when the Milanese proceeded to rebuild the 

 walls of Tortona at the public expence; and so general 

 was the desire to testify their gratitude to allies who 

 had suffered on their behalf, that for three weeks half 

 of the citizens of Milan, of every rank and profession, 

 was employed either in personally labouring at the 

 houses and fortifications of Tortona, or in repelling the 

 assault of the Pavisan*, who took every opportunity 

 of interrupting the work. 



Not content with re-establishing Tortona, the Milan- 

 ese turned their arms against the allies of the emperor, 

 and were successful. Pavia was forced to accept of a 

 dishonourable peace, the Marquess of Montferrat de- 

 feated, and the inhabitants of Lodi again reduced to 

 submission. 



The example of Milan was imitated by her allies, and 

 all Lombardy appeared in hostilities against Frederic. 



D _ 



In 1154, Frederic entered Italy at the bead of a very 

 powerful army, and encamping on the plains of Ron- 

 caglia, convoked there a meeting of his Italian feuda- 

 tories. 



Already prepossessed against the free cities of Lom- 

 hardy. he appears to have willingly listened to the 

 complaints made againtt them. To the Marquess of 

 Montferrat, and the Bishop of Asti, who accused the 

 inhabitants of Asti and Chieri, he promised to exercise 

 exemplary vengeance on those republics. 



Hiving heard the complaint of Pavia and its allies _.__ 



sgainst the Milanese, he ordered the contending par- The pope, too, alarmed by the success of William, had 



