The reign of Louis II. lasted twenty years, during which Italy regained that peace and prosperity which it had lost during the struggles of his ancestors; and for a short period knew the advantages of a mild and well-regulated govern ment. On the death of Louis, without issue, the succes sion was again contested by his uncles Charles the Bald, King of France, and Louis King of Germany. By the assistance of Pope John VIII. the former was successful, and was crowned at Rome Emperor and King of Italy. Louis of Germany and his son Carloman still, however, conth ued to carry on war against him ; and four of the Dukes of Italy, Lambert of Spoleto, Berenger of Friouli, Bezon of Provence and Lombardy, and Aripert of Tus cany, took advantage of this contest to add to their terri tories, and establish their independence. The Pope also was able not only to confirm his temporal and spiritual dominion over the Roman states, but considerably to extend his in fluence over the French church.
Charles the Bald did not long survive his elevation, be ing poisoned on his return over the Mount Cenis from an unsuccessful expedition into Italy. He was succeeded by Carloman, who only reigned two years ; and had for his successor his brother Charles the Fat. The weakness and unpopular conduct of this prince consummated the ruin of the French dynasty. The Italian barons every where as serted their independence ; and the unfortunate descendant of Charlemagne, having in vain attempted to secure the succession to his natural son Bernard, was himself expell ed from the throne, and during the short remainder of his life reduced to actual beggary. On his demise, the princi pal competitors for the crown were Berenger of Friouli, and Guido of Spoleto. The latter was at first successful, and Berenger was obliged to fly to Germany, and throw himself under the protection of King Arnulph, the natural son of Carloman, King of Italy, and who himself aspired •.o that crown.
It was no difficult task to persuade Arnulph to under take the conquest of Italy. The death of Guido, who was succeeded as emperor by his son Lambert, a very young man, favoured his designs ; and after a series of victories, he succeeded in making himself master of Rome, where he was crowned emperor by Pope Formosus. He then marched against the Empress Angeltrude, widow of Gui do, who is said to have contrived to administer to Arnulph a slow poison, which so injured his health that he was obliged to return to Germany. Italy was for a short time divided between Lambert, Berenger, and Adelbert, Mar quess of Tuscany ; but the ambition of the last soon oc casioned his ruin, and Lambert having been murdered by one of his courtiers, the chief authority devolved to Be renger, who was also at this period freed from another rival, by the death of Arnulph. A formidable invasion by the Hungarians, however, in repelling which Berenger was unsuccessful, together with his despotic and insolent behaviour, induced several Italian princes to offer the kingdom of Italy to Louis, King of Provence. This prince made several attempts to gain possession of it ; and hav ing in one of his invasions reached Rome, was crowned Emperor by Pope Benedict IV. ; but being surprised in Verona by Berenger, was by him deprived of his eyes, and sent back to Provence. The latter having at length made himself sole master of Italy, continued to reign undisturbed for 20 years. Having assisted the Pope John X. against the Saracens, he was by him cross ned Em peror. A very formidable conspiracy soon was formed against Berenger, headed by the :Marquess of Yvi e .:. Italy was again invaded by the Hungarians, who destroyed Pavia, and most of the principal cities ; and Rodolph, King of Burgundy, was elected King of Italy by the conspirators, in which the treacherous murder of Berenger soon left him without a rival. The intriguing spirit of Hermen garde, Marchioness of Yviea, who had been the author of the last revolution, did not leave Rodolph long in quiet, and her artifices soon succeeded in expelling him from Italy, and substituting in his room Hugh, Count of Pro vence, who was crowned at Pavia, A. D. 927. Having married Marozia, a Roman lady of infamous character, but great influence over her countrymen, he, for some time, enjoyed the sovereignty of that city; but having in sulted Alherie, the son of Marozia by a Roman marquess, the latter persuaded the Romans to re-assert their liberty, and was elected by them consul. Hugh, however, ob
tained some victories over his foreign opponents, regained the friendship of Alberie, by giving him his daughter in marriage. Hugh's reign lasted twenty years, in part of which his son, Lothaire II. was associated with him in the government. But his name never appears to have been popular ; and, in 947, Berenger, Marquess of Yrs ee, suc ceeded in expelling both father and son from the throne. Hugh retired into Burgundy, and on the death of Lothaire, in 950, Berenger II. was acknowledged King of Italy. The commencement of the new reign was marked by ca lamities. Italy was first invaded by Henry Duke of Ba varia, who took and plundered Aquileia, but retired with out making farther progress. After him the Hungarians overran the greatest part of Italy, and were only persuad ed to depart by an enormous bribe, which was raised as a tax from the people. To add to their misfortunes, ger was oppressive and tyrannical. Having made himselt master of Pavia, in which Adelaide, the widow of Lothaire, resided, he imprisoned her in a dungeon, and treated her with the greatest cruelty. From this confinement, however, she contrived, in the most extraordinary manner, to make her escape, and take refuge in the strong fortress of Canossa, from whence she sent to implore the protection of Otho of Saxony, King of ()rho, interested by the misfortunes of Adelaide, invaded Italy with a powerful army, and having accepted of Beren ger's homage, delivered the empress, and was soon after married to her. The tyranny of Berenger soon alienated the affections of his subjects ; and being again invaded by Otho, whose kindness he had returned with ingratitude, he was deserted by his soldiers, and obliged to abdicatethe throne. In 961, Otho was crowned king of Italy at Milan, and the year following emperor, by the Pope. On this oc casion a treaty was concluded, by which, while the supre macy in ecclesiastical affairs was allowed to the Pope, the emperor's temporal sovereignty was distinctly recognized. Although this acknowledgement of the power of the em peror was extremely disagreeable to the popes, (and they frequently contriNed to stir up rebellion,) yet, on the ap peatance of a German army, the principle was always ac knowledged ; and, for 300 years after Otho the Great, Italy was considered a lief of the German empire. At the time of the death of this excellent prince, in 973, Italy was di vided into the provinces of Apulia and Calabria, still claim ed by the Greeks; the dukedoms of Benevento, Capita, Naples, and Salerno ; the Roman territory, which, with the marquisate of Ancona, cxarchatc of Ravenna, constituted the patrimony of the church ; the dukedom of Spoleto and Tuscany, which were considered as fiefs of the church ; and Lombardy, with the marquisatcs of Verona, Friouli, Treviso, and Genoa, constituted the kingdom of Italy, properly so called. But the authority of the successors of Otho, even in the kingdom of Italy, was of a very precarious nature. Over the hereditary fiefs the sove reign jurisdiction was merely nominal, and only acknow ledged during the presence of the emperor and his ar mv. The lesser barons found it more for their interest to bestow their homage upon, and look for protection from a powerful neighbour than their distant sovereign ; while in the privileged cities, in which the spirit of liberty was al ready beginning to manifest itself, the show of adherence to the emperor was maintained by those only which were most independent, while many were obliged to place them selves under the protection of some powerful Italian prince, or baron, who, under the title of " Podesta," exercised a species of sovereign jurisdiction. The effect of the death of Otho the Great on a kingdom thus constituted may be easily imagined ; and, during the reigns of Otho II. and III., Henry of Bavaria, Conrad, and Henry III., Italy pre sented but a scene of anarchy and confusion, of contests be tween rival popes, between the pope and the citizens of Rome, and the emperor and his Italian vassals.