I T A L r. 



; the independency of Italy, and obtained from liis holinefs 

 two following decrees, viz. That the popes, after their 

 v.ciion. niiglit be conlecratcd, without waiting for the ore- 

 fence of the king, or his ambalTadors ; and that if Charles 

 tlu- Grofs died without fons, the kingdom of Italy, with 

 tiie title of emperor, Ihould be conferred on feme Italian 

 nobles The emperor felt himfelf negleded and infulted, 

 and complained bitterly of being dc-prived of his right, and 

 the diflentions between the Italian nobles became more fatal 

 than ever. Two of thefe noblemen, Berengarius, duke of 

 Friuli, and Gisido, or Vido, dnke of Spoleto, entered into 

 an a^reernenr, that on the death of the emperor, the former 

 fliould feize the kingdom of Italy; and the latter on the 

 kingdom of France. Berengarius fiicceeded without op;;oli- 

 tion, but Guido was difappointed : upon this he returned 

 to Italy, and turned his arms againft Berengarius, whom he 

 d'oi-e into Germany, and obtained for himfelf the kingdom 

 of Italy. He now employed himlelf in reforming the abiiles 

 of the (late, and conili-niing the grants formerly allowed the 

 pope, out of gratitude for his having fanftified his ufurp- 

 ation, and declared him lawfnl king of Italy. After the 

 death of Guido, Berengarius became king of Italy, without 

 a rival, and held his kingdom during the fpace of twenty 

 years. In 924 he was treacheroufly aflaiTmated at Verona. 

 In 947, after the kingdom had undergone many changes, 

 and I'utfered much from the incurlions and cruelties of the 

 Hung.-irians, Jjerengaruis, grandfon of the iirll king of that 

 name, became pofieifed of the fupreme power. He did not 

 adume the title of king till after the death of Lotharius, 

 which happened in gjo ; and in the mean time Italy was 

 invaded by the united forces of Bavaria and Hungarv. So 

 formidable was their power, that Berengarius was obliged to 

 purchafe their departure with a large fum of money, wliich 

 he raifed by a very heavy perfonal tax laid upon every indi- 

 vidual, without diitinclion of age or fex. In thefe efforts, 

 Berengarius was more opprefGve to his people than even 

 the enemy had been : he, however, raifed an immenfe fum of 

 money, ten buPnels of which he gave to the Hungarians, but 

 kept the much larger portion for hinifelf. After this he 

 was attacked by Otho, king of Germany, who aUowed him 

 to retain his kingdom upon the hard condition of doing 

 homage for it to the king of Germany. Berengarius did 

 not readily fubmit to his fate: he rebelled againil Otho, 

 who, determined to fupport his authority by force of arms, 

 brought an army into Italy, and was himfelf crowned king 

 by the archbifhop of Milan, and in the following year he 

 received the crown from the hands of the pope. On this 

 occafion, the holy pontiff and Otho went together to the 

 altar of St. Peter, and bound themfelveis by a iolemn oa'.h ; 

 the pope to be always faithful to the emperor, and Otho to 

 confult the welfare of the church, and to reftore to it all its 

 patrimony granted by former emperors. Otho bellowed 

 rich prcfents on the church, but he likewife ordained tliat the 

 eleiilion of the popes fliould be according to the canons : 

 that the elected pope fhould not be confecrated till he had 

 publicly promifed, in the prefence of the emperor's com- 

 miffaries, to obferve every thing formerly fpecified with 

 regard to the rights of the emperors ; that thefe commif- 

 faries fhould conllantly rcfide at Ron.e, and make a report 

 every year as to the manner in which jnllice was adminiilered 

 by the judges ; and in cafe of any complaints, the coin- 

 miffarics fhould lay them before the pope ; but if he neg- 

 leded to attend to them, then the imperial commiffaries 

 might take what Heps they pleafed. Thus, however much 

 Otho mitjht allow the pope's fupremacy in fpiritnals, he 

 plainly afTumcd the fovereigjity in temporals to himfelf, and 

 • '>.'^ Italy was, for upwards of ^~c years, accounted a part of 



the German empire. This lontr period we fliall of courfe al« 

 moll entirely pafs over in this fl<etch. We find, in 1 2 1 5, Fre, 

 deric 11. acknowledged emperor, and crowned at Aix-la- 

 Chapclle. Shortly after this he was urged by the pope to 

 undertake an expedition into the Holy Laiid again (I the 

 infidels, but be refiifed, under various pretences, obedience 

 to the mandate of his holinels, which caufed the mofl deci- 

 ded hoftilities between thefe great perlbnages. Frederic re- 

 nounced all correfpondcnce with the pope, and fet his power 

 at defiance. The pope, convinced of his error, or at leail 

 of his not being able to fupport his power againfl that 

 of the emperor, thought proper to foothe him by fub- 

 miflive apologies and gentle exiiortations. They were ac- 

 cordingly reconciled. The pope fliortly after this died ; 

 and Frederic, during the popedom of Gregory IX., under- 

 took an expedition to the Holy Land, leaving the 

 ail'airs of Italy to the management of Renaldo duke of 

 Spoleto. The pope, liearing of his determination, pro- 

 hibited his deparcuie before lie fliould be abfolved from 

 the cenfures of the church ; but Frederic went in contempt 

 of the church, and his luccefs was very complete. The 

 fiiltan ceded to him Jerufalem, and its territory as far as 

 •loppa. Frederic had before acquired, by marriage, the 

 title of " king of Jerufalem ;" and now, by his moderation 

 and great talents, he acquired the territoi-y, to which were 

 added Bethlehem, Nazareth, and all the country between 

 Jerufalem and Ptolemais, Tyre, Sid.in, and the neighbour- 

 ing territories : in return for which, the emperor granted 

 the Saracens a truce for ten years ; and in 1 230 he returned 

 to Italy. The reign of this prince, .ifter his return from 

 the .Fall, was one continued quan-e! with the popes. He 

 was excommunicated by Gregory IX. ; and in his turn he 

 proclaimed every where that Gregory was the " great 

 dragon," the predicted " man of iin," the " antichrift," 

 &c. In 1250, Frederic, after various troubles, died. From 

 this time, the affairs of Germany fell into the utmoft con- 

 fufion ; and Italy continued long in the fame diftraCted flate 

 in which he left it. Conrad, the fon of Frederic, affumed 

 the imperial dignity ; but after his death, there were feverjl 

 candidates for the high honour. No emperor, however, was 

 properly acknowledged till 1273, ^^'I'-^n Rodoph, count of 

 Hapfburg, was unanimoufly railed to the vacant throne. 

 During the interregnum which preceded the election of Ro- 

 dolph, Denrr.ark, Holland, and Hungary, entirely freed 

 themfelves from the homage they were accuftomed to pay 

 to the empire ; and about the fame time, feveral German 

 cities erected a municipal form of government, which con- 

 tinued till within thefe few year?. Lubec, Cologne, Brunf- 

 wick, and Dantzick, united for their mutual defence, againfl 

 the encroachments «f the great lords, by a we l-known affo- 

 ciation, called the Hanfeatic league ; and thefe towns were 

 afterwards joined by eiglity others, belonging to different 

 flates, which formed a kind of commercial republic. Italy 

 nlfo, during this period, aflumed a new plan cf government. 

 From the time of Frederic II. we may date the ruin of the 

 German power in Italy. The Florentines, the Pifans, the 

 Genoefe, the Luccans, 5:c. became independent. .•\t the 

 commencement of the fourteenth century, Henry VII. un- 

 dertook to reflore the imperial power in I'.aly. For this 

 purpofe a diet was held at Francfort, where hipplies bcirg 

 granted for the emperor's journev, well known in hiltory by 

 the name of the " Roman expedition," he fet out for Italy, 

 which was at this period divided by the faitions of the 

 Guelphs and Gibtlhnes, who were dciiroying one another 

 without humanity or rcraorfe. Pope Clement V. had been 

 obliged to leave Rome, whicii was in a Hate of anarchy ; and 

 owing to the divjfions in that city, the holy p..iitiiy4 h'u^ 

 4C 2 ' ' took 



