I T 
A L Y. 
the intereft of the church. Henry, however, without pay¬ 
ing any regard to the threats and remonftrances of his 
holinefs, took almoft all the towns of Campania, Calabria, 
and Apulia; inverted the city of Naples; and fent for 
the Genoefe fleet, which he had before engaged, to come 
and form the blockade by fea ; but before its arrival, he 
was obliged to raife the fiege, in confequence of a dread¬ 
ful mortality among his troops; and all future attempts 
upon Sicily were ineffectual during the life of Tancred. 
The whole reign of Henry from this time feems to have 
been a continued train of the moll abominable perfidies 
and cruelties. Having treacheroufly feized and impri- 
foned Richard I. of England, in the manner related under 
that article, vol. vi. p. 577, he had no fooner received the 
ranfom paid for his royal captive, than he made new pre¬ 
parations for the conqueft of Sicily. As Tancred died 
about this time, the emperor, with the afliftance of the 
Genoefe, accomplilhed his purpof'e. The queen-dowager 
furrendered Salerno, and her right to the crowm, on con¬ 
dition that her fon William fltould pofl'efs the principality 
of Tarentum ; but Henry no fooner found himfelf mailer 
of the place, than he ordered the infant king to be caf- 
trated, to have his eyes put out, and to be confined in a 
dungeon. The royal treafure was tranfported to Germa¬ 
ny, and the queen and her daughter confined in a convent. 
In the mean time, the emprefs, though near the age of 
fifty, was delivered of a fon, named Frederic ; and Henry 
foon after aflembled a diet of the princes of Germany, to 
whom he explained his intentions of rendering the impe¬ 
rial crown hereditary, in order to prevent thofe dilturb- 
ances which ufually attended the eleiflion of emperors. 
A decree parted for this purpofe; and Frederic, yet in his 
cradle, was declared king of the Romans. Soon after, the 
emperor, being folicited to undertake a crufade, obeyed 
the injunctions of the pope, but in fuch a manner as to 
make it turn out to his own advantage. He convoked a 
general diet at Worms, where he folemnly declared his 
refolution of employing his whole power, and even of ha¬ 
zarding his life, for the accomplifhment of fo holy an en- 
terprife ; and he expatiated upon the fubjeCt with fo much 
eloquence, that almoll the whole aflembly took the crols. 
Nay, fuch multitudes from all the provinces of the em¬ 
pire enlifted themfelves, that Henry divided them into 
three large armies ; one of which, under the command of 
the bilhop of Mentz, took the route of Hungary, where 
it was joined by Margaret, queen of that country, who 
entered herfelf in this pious expedition, and actually end¬ 
ed her days in Paleftine. The fecond was aflembled in 
Lower Saxony, and embarked in a fleet furnilhed by the 
inhabitants of Lubec, Hamburg, Holftein, and Friefland; 
and the emperor in perfon conducted the third into Italy, 
in order to take vengeance on the Normans in Naples and 
Sicily who had rifen againft his government. 
The rebels were humbled; and their chiefs were con¬ 
demned to perifli by the moft excruciating tortures. One 
jornandi, of the houfe of the Norman princes, eras tied 
naked on a chair of red-hot iron, and crowned with a cir¬ 
cle of the fame-burning metal, which was nailed to his 
head. The emprefs, fhocked at fuch cruelty, renounced 
her faith to her hulband, and encouraged her countrymen 
to recover their liberties. Refolution fprang from def- 
pair. The inhabitants betook themfelves to arms; the 
emprefs Conftantia headed them; and Henry, having dif- 
miffed his troops, no longer thought neceflary to his 
bloody purpofes, and fent them to purfue their expedi¬ 
tion to the Holy Land, was obliged to fubmit to his wife, 
and to the conditions which fhe was pleafed to impofe on 
him in favour of the Sicilians. He died at Medina in 
1197, foon after this treaty; and, as was fuppofed, of poi- 
fon adminitlered by the emprefs. 
The emperor’s fon Frederic had already been declared 
king ot the Romans, and confequently became emperor 
on the death of his father; but, as Frederic II. was yet a 
minor, the adminiftration was committed to his uncle the 
duke of Swabia, both by the will of Henry and by anafl'em- 
VOL. XI. No. 768. 
401 
bly of the German princes. Other princes, however, in- 
cenfed to fee an elective empire become hereditary, held a 
new diet at Cologne, and chofe Otho duke of Brur.fwick, 
fon of Henry the Lion. Frederic’s title was confirmed 
in a third aflembly, at Arnfburg; and his uncle, Philip 
duke of Swabia, was elected king of the Romans, in order 
to give greater weight to his adminillration. Thefe two 
elections divided the empire into two powerful faflions; 
and involved all Germany in ruin and defolation. Inno¬ 
cent III. who had fucceeded Celeftin in the papal chair, 
threw himfelf into the fcale of Otho, and excommunicated 
Philip and all his adherents. This able and ambitious 
pontiff was a fworn enemy of the houfe of Swabia; not 
from any perfonal animofity, but out of a principle of po¬ 
licy. That houfe had long been terrible to the popes, by 
its continual poffeflion of the imperial crown ; and the 
acceflion of the kingdom of Naples and Sicily made it 
ft ill more to be dreaded. Innocent, therefore, gladly 
feized the prefent favourable opportunity for diverting it 
of the empire, by fupporting the eledlion of Otho, and 
fowing divifions among the Swabian party. Otho was 
alfo patronifed by his uncle, the king of England ; which 
naturally inclined the king of France to t/ie fide of his 
rival. Faction dallied with fadion ; friendlhip with in¬ 
tereft ; caprice, ambition, or refentment, gave the fway; 
and nothing was beheld on all hands but the horrors and 
the miferies of civil war. 
Meanwhile, the emprefs Conftantia remained in Sicily, 
where all was peace, as regent and guardian for her in¬ 
fant fon Frederic II. who had been crowned king of that 
illand, with the confent of pope Celeftin III. But (lie 
alfo had her troubles. A new inveftiture from the holy 
fee being neceflary on the death of Celeftin, Innocent 
III. his fucceffor, took advantage of the critical fituatiori 
of affairs for aggrandizing the papacy at the expence of 
the kings of Sicily. They poftefted, as has been already 
oblerved, the privilege of filling up vacant benefices, and 
of judging all eccleliaftical caufes in the laft appeal; they 
were really popes in their own illand, though vaflals of 
his holinefs. Innocent pretended that thefe powers had 
been furreptitioufly obtained ; and demanded, that Con- 
ftantia fliould renounce them in the name of her fon, and 
do liege, pure, and Ample, homage for Sicily. But, before 
any thing was fettled relative to this affair, the emprefs 
died, leaving the regency of the kingdom to the pope ; 
fo that he was enabled to prefcribe what conditions he 
thought proper to young Frederic. The troubles of Ger¬ 
many Hill continued; and the pope redoubled his efforts 
to detach the princes and prelates from the caufe of Phi¬ 
lip, . notwithllanding the remonftrances of the king of 
France. But all thefe diffenfions and troubles in Europe 
did not prevent the formation of another crufade, or ex¬ 
pedition into Afia, for the recovery of the Holy Land. 
Thofe who took the crofs were principally French and 
Germans ; Baldwin, count of Flanders, was their com¬ 
mander; and the Venetians, as greedy of wealth and power 
as the ancient Carthaginians, furnilhed them with fliips, 
for which they took care to be amply paid both in money 
and territory. The Chriftian city of Zara, in Dalmatia, 
had withdrawn itfelf from the government of the repub¬ 
lic ; the army of the crofs undertook to reduce it to obe¬ 
dience ; and it was befieged and taken, notwithllanding 
the threats and excommunications of the pope. 
While the crufaders were fpreading delolation through 
the eall, Philip and Otho were in like manner defolating 
the welt. At length Philip prevailed; and Otho, obliged 
to abandon Germany, took refuge in England. Philip, 
elated with luccefs, confirmed his election by a fecond co¬ 
ronation, and propoled an accommodation with the pope, 
as the means of finally eftablilhing his throne ; but, before 
it could be brought about, he fell a facrifice to private 
revenge, as related under the article' Germany, vol. viii. 
p. 480. Otho returned to Germany on the death of Phi¬ 
lip ; married that prince’s daughter; and was crowned at 
Rome by pope Innocent III. after yielding to the holy 
