ITALY. 
Narfes, enraged at this farcafm, replied, that he fhould 
begin fuch a web as (lie would never be able to finifh; 
and immediately difpatched meffengers to Alboinus king 
of the Lombards, inviting him into Italy. Along with 
the meffengers he fent fome of the belt fruits the country 
afforded, in order to tempt him the more to become maf- 
ter of fuch a rich kingdom. 
Alboinus, highly pleafed with the opportunity of in¬ 
vading a country with which his fubjetls were already 
well acquainted, began without lofs of time to make the 
necelfary preparations for his journey. In the month of 
April 568, he fet out with his whole nation, men, women, 
and children, carrying with them all their moveables. 
This protnifcuous multitude arrived by the way of Iftria; 
and, advancing through the province of Venetia, found 
the whole country abandoned, the inhabitants having fled 
to the neighbouring iflands in the Adriatic. The gates 
of Aquileia were opened by the few inhabitants who had 
courage to Hay: molt of them, however, had fled with all 
their valuable effe6ts; and among the reft the patriarch 
PauHnus, who had carried with him all the fac'red utenlils 
of the churches. From Aquileia, Alboinus proceeded to 
Forum Julii, of which he likewiie became mailer without 
oppofition. Here he fpent the winter} during which time 
he erefled Friuli into a dukedom, which continued till 
very lately. In 569, he made himfelf mailer of Trivigi, 
Oderzo, Monte Selce, Vicenza, Verona, and Trent; in 
each of which cities he left a ftrong garrifon of Lombards 
under the command of an officer, whom he diltinguilhed 
by the title of duke-, but thefe dukes were only officers 
and governors of cities, who bore the title no longer than 
the prince thought proper to continue them in their com¬ 
mand or government. Padua and fome other cities Al¬ 
boinus left behind him without attempting to reduce 
them, either becaufe they were too well garrifoned, or 
becaufe they lay too much out of his way. In 570, he 
entered Liguria. The inhabitants were fo terrified at his 
approach, that they left their habitations with fuch of 
their effects as they could carry off, and fled into the molt 
mountainous and inacceffible parts of the country. The 
cities of Brefcia, Bergamo, Lodi, Como, and others quite 
to the Alps, being left almoft without inhabitants, fub- 
mitted of courfe; after which he reduced Milan, and was 
thereupon proclaimed king of Italy. See Lombardy. 
The great objeft of the ambition of the Lombard mo- 
narchs was the conqueft of all Italy; and this proved at 
laft the ruin of their empire by Charles the Great, as re¬ 
lated under the article France, vol. vii. p. 654. As the 
Lombards, however had not been poffeffed of the whole 
territory of Italy, fo the whole of it never came into the 
poffeffion of Charlemagne : neither, fince the time of the 
Goths, has the whole country been, till lately, under the 
dominion of any Angle ftate. Some of the fouthern pro¬ 
vinces were ftill pofleffed by the emperors of Conftanti- 
nople; and the liberal grants of Pepin and Charlemagne 
himfelf to the pope had inverted him with a confiderable 
fhare of temporal power. The territories of the pope in¬ 
deed were fuppofed to be held in vaffalage from France; 
but this the popes themfelves always denied. The un- 
difputed territory of Charlemagne in Italy, therefore, was 
reftrifted to Piedmont, the Milanefe, the Mantuan, the 
territory of Genoa, Parma, Modena,Tufcany, Bologna, the 
dukedoms of Friuli, Spoleto, and Benevento; the laft of 
which contained the greateft part of the prefent kingdom 
of Naples. 
The feudal government, which the Lombards had in¬ 
troduced into Italy, naturally produced revolts and com¬ 
motions, as the different dukes inclined either to change 
their mafters or to fet up for themfelves. Several revolts 
indeed happened during the life of Charlemagne himfelf; 
which, however, he always found means to crufh; but, 
after his death, the fovereignty of Italy became an objefl 
of contention between the kings of France and the empe¬ 
rors of Germany. That great monarch had divided his 
cxtenfive dominions among his children; but they all 
Wait, XI. No. 767, 
453 
died during his lifetime, except Louis, whom he affociated 
with himfelf in the empire, and who fucceeded to all his 
dominions after his death. From this time we may date 
the troubles with which Italy was fo long overwhelmed ; 
and of which, as they proceeded from the ambition of 
thofe called kings of Italy and their nobles, of the kings 
of France, and of the emperors of Germany, it is difficult 
to have any clear idea. The following ftiort iketch, how¬ 
ever, may perhaps give fome fatisfaflion on this perplexed 
fubjecl. 
At the time Louis the fon of Charlemagne was declared 
emperor of the Weft, Italy was held by Bernard the fon 
of Pepin, brother to Louis. Though this Bernard bore 
the title of king, yet he was only accounted a vaflal of the 
emperor. His ambition, however, foon prompted him to 
rebel againft his uncle; but, being abandoned by his 
troops, he was taken prifoner, had his eyes pulled out, 
and died three days after. As the difturbances ftill con¬ 
tinued, and the nobles of Lombardy were yet very refrac¬ 
tory, Lothaire, eldell fon to the emperor, was in the year 
823 fent into Italy ; of which country he was firft crowned 
king at Rome, and afterwards emperor of the Weft, dur¬ 
ing his father’s lifetime. But, though his abilities were 
fufficient to have fettled every thing in a ftate of tran¬ 
quillity, his unbounded ambition prompted him to en¬ 
gage in rebellion againft his father; whom he more than 
once took prifoner; though in the end he was obliged to 
fubmit, and aflc pardon for his offences, which was ob¬ 
tained only on condition of his not palling the Alps with¬ 
out leave obtained from his father. 
In the mean time, the Saracens, taking advantage of 
thefe inteftine wars, landed on the coalls of Italy, and 
committed fuch ravages, that even the bilhops were obliged 
to arm themfelves for the defence of the country. Lo- 
thaire, however, after returning from his unnatural war 
with his father, was fo far from attempting to put an end 
to thefe ravages, or to reltore tranquillity, that he feized 
on fome places belonging to the fee of Rome, under pre¬ 
tence that they were part of his kingdom of Lombardy; nor 
would he forbear thefe encroachments till exprefsly com¬ 
manded to do fo by his father. After having embroiled 
himfelf, and almoft loft all his dominions, in a war with 
his brothers after the death of Louis, and declared his fon, 
alfo called Louis, king of Italy, this ambitious prince died, 
leaving to Louis the title of emperor as well as king of Italy , 
with which he had before inverted him. 
The new emperor applied himfelf to the reftoration of 
tranquillity in his dominions, and driving out the Sara¬ 
cens from thofe places which they had feized in Italy* 
This he fully accompliftied, and obliged the infidels to 
retire into Africa; but in 875 he died without naming 
any fucceffor. After his death, fome of the Italian no¬ 
bles, headed by the duke of Tufcany, reprefented to the 
pope, that, as Louis had left no fucceffor, the regal dig¬ 
nity, which had fo long been ufurped by foreigners, ought 
now to return to the Italians. The pope, however, find¬ 
ing that Charles the Bald, king of France, had fuch an 
ambition for the imperial crown, that he would Hick at 
nothing to obtain it, refolved to gratify him, though at as 
high a price as poflible. He accordingly crowned him 
emperor and king of Lombardy, on condition of his own¬ 
ing the independency of Rome, and that he himfelf only 
held the empire by the gift of the pope. This produced 
a confpiracy among the difcontented nobles; and at thef 
fame time the Saracens, renewing their incurfions, threat¬ 
ened the ecclefiallical territories with the utmoft danger. 
The pope folicited the emperor’s affiftance with the great- 
eft earneftnefs; but the latter died before any thing effec¬ 
tual could be done; after which, being diftreffed by the 
Saracens on one hand, and the Lombard nobles on the 
other, the unhappy pontiff was forced to fly into France. 
Italy now fell into the utmoft confufion and anarchy; 
during which time many of the nobles and ftates of Lom¬ 
bardy affumed an independence which they retained till 
very lately, 
5 Z In, 
