Adrian, however, fully revenged himself upon other princes who stood in need of him. He wrote in the following manner to Henry II. of England. "There is "no doubt, and you acknowledge it, that Ireland, and "all the islands which have received the faith, appertain "to the Roman church; but if you want to take posses"sion of that island, in order to banish vice from it, to "enforce the observance of the Christian doctrines, and "with an intent of paying the yearly tribute of St. Peter's "penny for every house, we with pleasure grant you "our permission to conquer it."

Thus an English beggar, become bishop of Rome, bestowed Ireland, by his sole authority, upon an English king, who wanted to usurp it, and who had power to carry his design into execution.

The intrepid activity of Frederic Barbarossa had not only to subdue the pope, who disputed the empire; Rome which refused to acknowledge a master, and many other cities of Italy, that asserted their independency; he had, at the same time, the Bohemians, who had mutinied against him, to humble; and also the Poles, with whom he was at war. Yet all this he effected. He conquered Poland, and erected it into a tributary kingdom: he quelled the tumults in Bohemia; and the A. D 1158. king of Denmark is said to have renewed to the empire the homage for his dominions. He secured the fidelity of the German princes, by rendering himself formidable to foreign nations; and flew back to Italy, where hopes of independency had arisen, in consequence of his troubles and perplexities. He found every thing there in confusion; not so much from the efforts of the several cities to recover their freedom, as from that partyrage, which constantly prevailed, as I have frequently had occasion to observe, at the election of a pope.

On the death of Adrian IV. two opposite factions tumultuously elected two persons, known by the names

7. M. Paris, Gerald. Cambr. Spelm. Concil. 8. Annal. de l'Emp.

of

A. D. 1159.

What was

of Victor IV. and Alexander III. The emperor's allies necessarily acknowledged the pope chosen by him: and those princes, who were jealous of the emperor, acknowledged the other. the shame and scandal of Rome, therefore became the signal of division over all Europe. Victor IV. Frederic's pope, had Germany, Bohemia, and one half of Italy on his side. The other kingdoms and states sub

mitted to Alexander III, in honour of whom the Milanese, who were avowed enemies to the emperor, built the city of Alexandria. In vain did Frederic's party endeavour to have it called Cæsaria, the pope's name prevailed; and it was afterwards called out of derision, Alexandria del Paglia, or Alexandria built of straw, on account of the meanness of its buildings9.

A. D. 1162.

Happy had it been for Europe, if that age had produced no disputes attended with more fatal consequences; but unfortunately that was not the case. Milan, for maintaining its independency, was, by the emperor's orders, razed to the foundations, and salt strewed upon its ruins; Brescia and Placentia were dismantled by the conqueror; and all the other cities, which had aspired at independency, were deprived of their privileges.

Pope Alexander III. however, who had excited these revolts, and had been obliged to take refuge in France, returned to Rome, after the death of his rival; and, at his return, the civil war was renewed. The emperor caused another pope to be elected, under the appellation of Pascal III. who also dying in a short time, a third was nominated by Frederic, under the title of Calixtus III. Meanwhile

A.D. 1164.

Alexander was not intimidated. He solemnly excommunicated the emperor; and the flames A. D. 1167. of civil discord, which he had raised, continued to spread. The chief cities of Italy, supported by the

VOL. I.

9. Murat. Antiq. Ital.

ху

Greek

Greek emperor, and the king of Sicily, entered into an association for the defence of their liberties; and the

A. D. 1168. Pope, at length, proved stronger by negociation, than the emperor by fighting. The imperial army, worn out by fatigues and diseases, was defeated by the confederates, and Frederic himself narrowly escaped being made prisoner. About A. D. 1176. the same time he was defeated at sea by the Venetians, and his eldest son Henry, who commanded his fleet, fell into the hands of the enemy. Pope Alexander, in honour of this victory, sailed out into the Adriatic sea, or gulf of Venice, accompanied by the whole senate; and, after having pronounced a thousand benedictions on that element, threw into it a ring as a mark of his gratitude and affection. Hence the origin of that ceremony which is annually performed by the Venetians, under the notion of espousing the Adriatic1o.

In consequence of these misfortunes, the emperor was disposed to an accommodation with the pope; but his pride would not permit him to make any humiliating advance. He therefore rallied his troops, and exerted himself with so much vigour in repairing his loss, that he was soon in a condition to risk another battle, in which his enemies were worsted: and being no less a politician than a general, he seized this fortunate moment to signify his desire of peace to Alexander III. who received the proposal with great joy. Venice had the honour of being the place of reconciliation. The emperor, the pope, and a number of princes and cardinals, repaired to that city, then mistress of the sea, and one A. D. 1177. of the wonders of the world. There the emperor put an end to his bloody dispute with the see of Rome, by acknowledging the pope, kissing his feet, and holding his stirrup while he mounted his mule"."

This reconciliation was attended with the submission of all the towns in Italy, which had entered into an associa11. Bunan, Hist. Fred. I.

10. Id. ibid.

tion for their mutual defence. They obtained a general pardon, and were left at liberty to the use of their own laws and forms of government, but were obliged to take the oath of allegiance to the emperor, as their superior lord.

Calixtus, the anti-pope, finding himself abandoned by the emperor, in consequence of that treaty, made his submissions to Alexander III. who received him with great humanity; and in order to prevent for the future, those schisms which had so often attended A. D. 1179. the election of popes, his holiness called a general council, in which it was decreed, That no pope should be deemed duly elected, without having the votes of two-thirds of the college of cardinals in his favour".

The affairs of Italy being thus settled, the emperor returned to Germany; where Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony, had raised fresh troubles. He was a proud, haughty, and turbulent prince, like most of his predecessors, and not only oppressed his own subjects, but committed violences against all his neighbours. His natural pride was not diminished by his alliance with the king of England, whose daughter he had married. Glad of an opportunity of being revenged upon Henry, who had abandoned him in his Italian expedition, Frederic convoked a diet at Goslar, where the duke was put to the ban of the empire; and after a A. D. 1180. variety of struggles, the sentence was put in execution. He was divested of all his dominions, which were bestowed upon different vassals of the empire.

Sensible of his folly when too late, the degraded duke threw himself at the emperor's feet, and begged with great humility that some of his territoA. D. 1181. ries might be restored. Frederic, touched with his unfortunate condition, referred him to a diet of the empire at Erfurt. There Henry endeavoured

12. Mosheim, Hist. Eccles. vol. iii.

to

But

to acquit himself of the crimes laid to his charge. as it was impracticable immediately to withdraw his fiefs from the present possessors, the emperor advised him to reside in England, until the princes who had shared his dominions could be persuaded to relinquish them; and he promised that, in the mean time, no attempts should be made upon the territories of Brunswick or Lunenburg, which he would protect in behalf of Henry's children. In compliance with this advice, the duke retired to England, where he was hospitably entertained by his father-in-law, Henry II. and there his wife bore him a fourth son, from whom the present house of Brunswick, and consequently the present royal family of England, is descended 3.

While tranquillity was, in this manner, happily restored to Italy and Germany, the Oriental Christians were in the utmost distress. The great Saladin, a prince of Persian extraction, and born in the small country of the Curdes, a nation always warlike, and always free, having fixed himself, by his bravery and conduct, on the throne of Egypt, began to extend his conquest over all the east, and finding the settlements of the Christians in Palestine an invincible obstacle to the progress of his arms, he bent the whole force of his policy and valour to subdue that small and barren, but important territory. Taking advantage of the dissentions which prevailed among the champions of the Cross, and having secretly gained the count of Tripoli, who commanded their armies, he invaded Palestine with a mighty force; and, aided by the treachery of that count, gained at Tiberias a complete victory over them, which utterly broke the power of the already languishing kingdom of A. D. 1187. Jerusalem. The holy city itself fell into his hands, after a feeble resistance: the kingdom of Antioch also was almost entirely subdued by his arms; and, except some maritime towns, nothing of importance remain

13. Annal. de l'Emp. tom. i.

ed