45b ITALY. 
though a layman, elefted in his ftead. See the article 
Germany, vol.vii. p.4.73. 
The new pope, in compliment to the emperor, granted 
a bull, by which it was ordained that Otho and his fuc- 
ceffors fhould have a right of appointing the popes and 
inverting archbilhops and bifbops ; and that none fhould 
dare to confecrate a bifbop without leave obtained from 
the emperor. Thus were the affairs of the Italians ftill 
kept in the utmoft confufion even during the reign of 
Otho I. who appears to have been a wife and aftive prince. 
He was no fooner gone, than the new pope was depofed, 
all his decrees was annulled, and John replaced. The 
party of Leo was now treated with great cruelty; but John 
was foon flopped in his career; for about the middle of 
May, the fame year (964.) in which he had been reftored, 
being furprifed in bed with a Roman lady, he received a 
blow on the head from the devil (according to the au¬ 
thors of thofe times), of which he died eight days after. 
After his death a cardinal-deacon, named BenediEl , was 
elebted by the Romans, but depofed by Otho, and ba- 
Jiifhed to Hamburgh. 
.The emperor was fcarcely returned to Germany, when 
his fickle Italians revolted, and lent for Adelbert, who 
had fled to Corfica; but, being foon reduced, they conti¬ 
nued quiet for about a year; after which they revolted 
again, and imprifoned the pope. Otho, however, pro¬ 
voked at their rebellious difpofition, foon returned, and 
punifiled the rebels with great feverity ; after which he 
made feveral laws for the better regulation of the city of 
Rome, and granted feveral privileges to the Venetians. 
At this time alfo, he caufed his fon Otho, though only 
thirteen years of age, to be crowned emperor; and foon 
after to be married to Theophania, the ftep-daughter of 
Nicephorus, emperor of the Eaft, as related under the ar¬ 
ticle Germany. 
.Otho died in the year 972. At this time Italy was di¬ 
vided into the provinces of Apulia, Calabria, the duke¬ 
dom of Benevento, Campania, Terra Romana, the duke¬ 
dom of Spoleto, Tufcany, Romagna, Lombardy* and the 
marquifates of Ancona, Verona, Friuli, Trevifo, and Ge¬ 
noa. Apulia and Calabria were ftill claimed by the Greeks; 
but all the reft were either immediately fubjeft to, or held 
of, the kings of Italy. Otho conferred Benevento (in¬ 
cluding the ancient Samnium) on the duke of that name. 
Campania and Lucania he gave to the dukes of Capua, 
Naples, and Salerno. Rome with its territory, Ravenna 
•with the exarchate, the dukedom of Spoleto, with Tufca- 
my, and the marquifate of Ancona, he granted to the pope ; 
and retained the reft of Italy under the form of a king¬ 
dom. Some of the cities were left free, but all tributary. 
He appointed feveral hereditary marquifates and counties, 
but referved to himfelf the fovereign jurifdiftion in their 
territories. The liberty of the cities confifted in a free¬ 
dom to choofe their own magiftrates, to be judged by 
their own laws, and to difpofe of their own revenues, on 
condition that they took the oath of allegiance to the 
king, and paid the cuftomary tribute. The cities that 
were not free were governed by the commiflaries or lieute¬ 
nants of the emperor; but the free cities were governed 
by two or more confuls, afterwards called potejlates, chofen 
annually, who took the oath of allegiance to the emperor 
before the bifhop of the city or the emperor’s commifl'ary. 
The tribute exatted was called foderum, parata, et manjiona- 
ticum. By the foderum was meant a certain quantity of corn 
which the cities were obliged to furnifti to the king when 
marching with an army or making a prcgrefs through 
jthe country; though the value of this was frequently 
paid in money. By the parata was underftood the expence 
laid out in keeping the public roads and bridges in re¬ 
pair; and the manfionaticum included thofe expences which 
were required for lodging the troops or accommodating 
them in their camp. Under pretence of this laft article, 
the inhabitants were fometimes ftripped of all they poflefled 
except their oxen and feed for the land. Befides regulat¬ 
ing what regarded the cities, Otho diftributed honours 
and poffeflions to thofe who had ferved him faithfully. 
The honours confifted in the titles of duke , marquis , count, 
captain , valvafor, and valvafin ; the poffefiions were, befides 
land, the duties arifing from harbours, ferries, roads, fifh- 
ponds, mills, falt-pits, the ufes of rivers, and all pertain¬ 
ing to them, and iuch like. The dukes, marquiles, and 
counts, were thofe who received dukedoms, marquifates, 
and counties, from the king in fiefs; the captains had the 
command of a certain number of men by a grant from 
the king, duke, marquis, or count; the valvafors were 
fubordinate to the captains, and the valvafins to them. 
No fooner was the death of Otho I. known in Italy, 
than, as if they had been now freed from all re It rain t, the 
nobles declared war againft each other; fome cities re¬ 
volted, and chofe to themfelves confuls; while the domi¬ 
nions of others were feized by the nobles, who confirmed 
their power by erecting citadels. Rome efpecially was 
haraffed by tumults, occafioned chiefly by the feditious 
practices of one Cincius, who prefled his fellow-citizens 
to reftore the ancient republic. As the pope continued 
firm in the interefts of the emperor, Cincius caufed him 
to be ftrangled by one Franco a cardinal-deacon; who 
was foon after rewarded with the pontificate, and took 
upon him the name of Boniface VII. Another pope was 
chofen by the fadtion of the count of Tufcany; who, be¬ 
ing approved by the emperor, drove Cincius and Boniface 
out of the city. Difturbances of a fimilar kind took place 
in other cities, though Milan continued quiet and loyal 
in the midft of all this uproar and confufion. 
In the mean time Boniface fled for refuge to Conftan- 
tinople, where he excited the emperor to make war againft 
Otho II. In 979 an army was accordingly fent into Italy, 
which conquered Apulia and Calabria ; but the next year 
Otho entered into Italy with a formidable army; and, 
having taken a fevere revenge on the authors of the dif¬ 
turbances, drove the Greeks entirely out of the provinces 
they had feized. Having then caufed his fon Otho III. 
at that time a boy of ten years of age, to be proclaimed 
emperor, he died at Rome in the year 983. Among the 
regulations made by this emperor, one is very remarkable, 
and muft give us a ft range idea of the inhabitants of Italy 
at that time. He made a law, That no Italian fhould be 
believed upon his oath 5 and that, in any difpute which 
could not be decided otherwife than by witneffes, the par¬ 
ties fhould have recourfe to a duel. 
Otho III. fucceeded to the empire at twelve years of 
age; and during his minority the difturbances in Italy 
revived. Cincius, called alfo Crefcentius , renewed his 
fcheme of reftoring the republic. The pope (John XV.), 
oppofing his fchemes, was driven out of the city; but was 
foon after recalled, on hearing that he had applied to the 
emperor for afliftance. A few years after Crefcentius 
again revolted, and expelled Gregory V. the fucceffor of 
John XV. railing to the papal dignity a creature of his 
own, underthe name of John XVI. Otho, enraged at this 
infult, returned to Rome with a powerful army in 998, 
befieged and took it by affault; after which he caufed 
Crefcentius to be beheaded, and the pope he had fet up 
to be thrown headlong from the caftle of St. Angelo, af¬ 
ter having his eyes pulled out, and his nofe cut off. Four 
years after, he himfelf died of the fmall-pox; or, accord¬ 
ing to fome, was poifbned by the widow of Crefcentius, 
whom he had debauched under a promife of marriage; 
juft as he was about to punilh the Romans for another 
revolt. 
Otho was fucceeded in the imperial throne by Henry 
duke of Bavaria, and grandfon to Otho II. Henry had 
no fooner fettled the affairs of Germany, than he found 
it neceffary to march into Italy againft Ardouin marquis 
of Ivrea, who had affumed the title of king of Italy. Him 
he defeated in an engagement, and was himfelf crowned 
king of Italy at Pavia in 1005 ; but a few years after, a 
new conteft arofe about the papal chair, which again re¬ 
quired the prefence of the emperor. Before he arrived, 
however, one of the competitors (Benedict VIII.) had 
