DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.63447#0374
358
THE HISTORICAL PAST OF ITALY.
tions in Germany with the foes of Frederick ; and an
army of seven thousand horse, besides many foot, was
quartered in Milan, under the command of captains
sworn, under- the most solemn oaths, to prefer death
rather than submission to the Emperor.1
A frivolous pretext soon sufficed to kindle war ; the
Milanese seized on and appropriated an elephant and
several dromedaries sent by the Emperor, under strong
escort, to Cremona. Modena joined with the latter city,
and Bologna leagued with Milan; the old grudges
between that city and Cremona not being yet extin-
guished.2
Henry, the unworthy and incapable son of Frederick,
had entered into a league with the Guelphs, even after
having received from his father a full pardon for all his
former great and many offences ; but the greater portion
of the nobles of the Empire met in a Diet at Friuli, and
pledged themselves as answerable for his conduct. Checked
by a portion of the nobility in the direction of Italy,
Henry turned his views towards the north-western fron-
tier, and gained over many of the Bhenish prelates and
Imperial cities, to which he granted, in defiance of the
express commands of his father, charters of enfranchise-
ment : and thus civil war was once more awakened in
Germany. The late Duke of Bavaria, assassinated by the
agents of the so-called “ Old Man of the Mountain,” had
been a warm supporter of Frederick, and his successor
followed the same party. His domains were now invaded
simultaneously by Henry, on the north, and by the Duke
of Austria, on his side. The Kings of Bohemia and Hun-
gary also rushed to oppose him; and, to complete the
anguish of the suffering population in Germany, religious
prosecution aided temporal vengeance, and consigned
hundreds of meek and admirable Christians to the stake
and to torture, under the merest excuses or pretexts of
heresy. Nobles, burghers, peasants, and even ecclesiastics,
1 Annal. Mediol. cap. 3, Murat. Ixvi., p. 643.
2 Two hundred years later Cremona was utterly sacked, burnt, and
destroyed by the Milanese under Sporza Attendolo.
THE HISTORICAL PAST OF ITALY.
tions in Germany with the foes of Frederick ; and an
army of seven thousand horse, besides many foot, was
quartered in Milan, under the command of captains
sworn, under- the most solemn oaths, to prefer death
rather than submission to the Emperor.1
A frivolous pretext soon sufficed to kindle war ; the
Milanese seized on and appropriated an elephant and
several dromedaries sent by the Emperor, under strong
escort, to Cremona. Modena joined with the latter city,
and Bologna leagued with Milan; the old grudges
between that city and Cremona not being yet extin-
guished.2
Henry, the unworthy and incapable son of Frederick,
had entered into a league with the Guelphs, even after
having received from his father a full pardon for all his
former great and many offences ; but the greater portion
of the nobles of the Empire met in a Diet at Friuli, and
pledged themselves as answerable for his conduct. Checked
by a portion of the nobility in the direction of Italy,
Henry turned his views towards the north-western fron-
tier, and gained over many of the Bhenish prelates and
Imperial cities, to which he granted, in defiance of the
express commands of his father, charters of enfranchise-
ment : and thus civil war was once more awakened in
Germany. The late Duke of Bavaria, assassinated by the
agents of the so-called “ Old Man of the Mountain,” had
been a warm supporter of Frederick, and his successor
followed the same party. His domains were now invaded
simultaneously by Henry, on the north, and by the Duke
of Austria, on his side. The Kings of Bohemia and Hun-
gary also rushed to oppose him; and, to complete the
anguish of the suffering population in Germany, religious
prosecution aided temporal vengeance, and consigned
hundreds of meek and admirable Christians to the stake
and to torture, under the merest excuses or pretexts of
heresy. Nobles, burghers, peasants, and even ecclesiastics,
1 Annal. Mediol. cap. 3, Murat. Ixvi., p. 643.
2 Two hundred years later Cremona was utterly sacked, burnt, and
destroyed by the Milanese under Sporza Attendolo.