secure; he still suspected the designs and intrigues of the Lombard. The death of Arigiso, in the same Rebellion suppressed. A.D. 787. A.D. 788. year in which he swore allegiance to Charlemagne, did not allay the jealousies of Hadrian; for Charlemagne, in his generosity, placed the son of Arigiso, Grimoald, in the Dukedom of Benevento. Grimoald, during the life-time of Charlemagne, repaid this generosity by a faithful adoption, not only of the interests, but even the usages of the Franks. He shaved his beard, and clothed himself after the Frank fashion. In later days he became a formidable rival of Pepin, the son of Charlemagne, for the ascendancy in Italy. While Charlemagne was yet at Rome, a more formidable rebellion began to lower. Adelchis, the son of Desiderius, was upon the seas with a considerable Greek force, supplied by order of the Byzantine Emperor, Constantine. The Huns broke into Bavaria and Friuli. Tassilo, Duke of Bavaria, whose wife Liutberga was the sister of Adelchis, meditated revolt. Charlemagne, with his wonted rapidity, appeared in Germany. Tassilo was summoned before a diet at Ingelheim. He dared not refuse to appear; was condemned to capital punishment; in mercy shut up, with his son, in a monastery. His Lombard wife suffered the same fate. The Huns were driven back; the Greek army deserted Adelchis; the son of Desiderius fled; John, the Byzantine general, was strangled in prison. A.D. 795. Death of This great pontiff Hadrian, who, during about twentyfour years, had reposed, not undisturbed, but Hadrian. safe under the mighty protection of Charlemagne, died before the close of the eighth century. The coronation of Charlemagne, as Emperor of the West, was reserved for his successor. At that corona tion our history will pause to take a survey of Latin Christendom, now a separate Western Empire, under one temporal, and under one spiritual sovereign. Charle magne showed profound sorrow for the death of Hadrian. He wept for him, according to his biographer, as if he had been a brother or a dear son. An epitaph declared to the world the respect and attachment of the Sovereign of the West for his spiritual father. Leo III. On the death of Hadrian," an election of unexampled rapidity, and, as it seemed, of perfect unanimity among the clergy, the nobles, and the people, raised Leo III. to the pontifical throne. The first act of Leo was to recognise the supremacy of Charles, by sending the keys, not only of the city, with the standard of Rome, but those also of the sepulchre of St. Peter, to the Patrician. This unusual act of deference seems as if Leo anticipated the necessity of foreign protection; even the precipitancy of the election may lead to the suspicion that the unanimity was but outward. Secret causes of dissatisfaction were brooding in the minds of some of the leading men in Rome. The strong hand of Hadrian had kept down the factions which had disturbed the reign of his predecessor Stephen; now it is among the court, the family of Hadrian, even those whom he had raised to the highest offices, that there is at first sullen submission, ere long furious strife. Dark rumours spread abroad of serious charges against the Pope himself. Leo III. ruled, however, in seeming peace for three years and two months, at the close of which a frightful scene betrayed the deep and rooted animosity. Eginhard, c. xix. Hadrian died on Christmas day. The election was on the following day, that of St. Stephen, A.D. 795. April 25,799. dress.y Hadrian had invested his two nephews, Paschalis and Campulus, in two great ecclesiastical offices, the Primicerius and Sacellarius. This first example of nepotism was a dismal omen of the fatal partiality of future Popes for their kindred. These two men, or one of them, may have aspired to the Pontificate, or they hoped to place a pontiff, more under their own influence, on the throne: their dark crime implies dark motives. The Pope was to ride in solemn pomp, on St. George's day, to the church of St. Laurence, called in Lucinâ. These ecclesiastics formed part of the procession. One of them excused himself for some informality in his On a sudden, a band of armed men sprang from their ambush. The Pope was thrown from his horse, and an awkward attempt was made to practise the Oriental punishment of mutilation, as yet rare in the West, to put out his eyes, and to cut out his tongue. Paschalis and Campulus, instead of defending the Pope, dragged him into a neighbouring church, and there, before the high altar, attempted to complete the imperfect mutilation, beat him cruelly, and left him weltering in his blood. From thence they took him away by night (no one seems to have interposed in his behalf), carried him to the convent of St. Erasmus, and there threw him into prison. Leo recovered his sight and his speech; and this restoration, of course, in process of time became a miracle." His Assault on He was sine planetâ. z "Carnifices geminas traxerunt fronte fenestras, Explicat et celerem truncataque lingua loquelam." Et celerem abscindunt lacerato corpore-See the poem of Angilbert, the poet linguam. of Charlemagne's court, Pertz, ii. p. Sed manus alma Patris oculis medicamina 400. The papal biographer is modest ademptis Obtulit atque novo reparavit lumine as to the miracle. vultum; enemies had failed in their object, the disqualifying him by mutilation for the Papacy. A faithful servant rescued him, and carried him to the church of St. Peter. There, no doubt, he found temporary protectors, until the Duke of Spoleto (Winegis), a Frank, marched into Rome to his deliverance, and removed him from the guilty city to Spoleto. Urgent letters entreated the immediate presence of the Patrician, of Charles the protector of the Papacy, in Rome. But Charles was at a distance, about to engage in quelling an insurrection of the Saxons. The Pope condescended, or rather was compelled by his necessities, to accept the summons to appear in person before the Transalpine monarch. Charles was holding his court and camp at Paderborn, one of the newly-erected German bishoprics. The reception of Leo was courteous and friendly, magnificent as far as circumstances might permit. The poet describes the imperial banquet; nor does he fear to shock his more austere readers by describing the Pope and the Emperor as quaffing their rich wines with convivial glee.b But at the same time arrived accusations of some unknown and mysterious nature against the Pope; accusations, according to the annalists, made in the name of the Roman people. Charles did not decline, but postponed till his arrival in Rome the judicial investigation of these charges; but he continued to treat the Pope. with undiminished respect and familiarity. The return of Leo to Rome is said to have been one long triumph. Throughout Italy he was received with Eginhard, Ann. 799. b Angilbert, apud Pertz, ii. 401, describes, as an eye-witness, the meet ing of the Pope and the Emperor. bantur." the honours of the apostle. The clergy and people of Rome thronged forth to meet him, as well as the military, among whom were bands (scholars) of Franks, of Frisians, and of Saxons, either at Rome for purposes of devotion, or as a foreign body-guard of the Pope. sets out for The journey of Charles to Rome was slow. He went Charlemagne to Rouen, and to Tours, to pay his adorations Rome. at the shrine of St. Martin. There his wife, Liutgarda, died, and her funeral caused further delay. He then held a great diet at Mentz; and towards the close of the following year crossed the Alps, and halted at Ravenna. At Nomentana he was met by the Pope with high honours. After he had entered Rome he was received on the steps of St. Peter's by the Pope, the bishops, and the clergy; he passed into the church, the whole assembly joining in the solemn chant of thanksgiving. Nov. 23, 800. But Charles did not appear at Rome as the avowed protector and avenger of the injured Pope Dec. 1. against those who had so barbarously violated his sacred person. He assumed the office of judge. At a synod held some days after, a long and difficult investigation of the charges made against Leo by his enemies proceeded, without protest from the Pope. Paschalis and Campulus were summoned to prove their charges. On their failure, they were condemned to death; a sentence commuted, by the merciful interposition of the Pope, to imprisonment in France. Their other noble partisans d The clergy, according to the biographer, refused to judge the Pope, declaring their incompetency. "Hujus Eginhard expressly says, factionis fuere principes Paschalis nomenclator et Campulus Sacellarius "In quibus vel maximum vel et multi alii Romanæ urbis habitatores difficillimum erat."-Eginhard, Ann. nobiles."-Ibid. |