SICILY ; PAPAL STATES.) the repeated invasions of the barbarians into Italy dur ing the fifth century. ninny portions of the country had been depopulated and government had become very weak. The old free population had long since disappeared, and the land was chiefly in the hands of powerful nobles, who able to maintain bands of retainers by means of which they could protect themselves against marauders. Finally in 476 the last independent Emperor of the West. Romulus Augustulus, %vas dethroned by thloa•er. a chief of the German tribe of the Heruli. This event is usually taken as marking the end of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Middle Ages. As a matter of fa et, there was no abrupt transition: for Odoa•er and his Germanic successors continued the old Constitution, which, however. had ceased to be effective for some time before 476, and gradually disappeared, though for centuries it was invoked by all rulers of Italy. Odoaeer did not enjoy his crown long, but was treacherously murdered in 493 by Theodoric the Great (q.v.). under whose leadership the Ostrogoth.; had invaded Italy. For the last time in many centuries Italy was prosperous; for Theodorie was just and wise, and the natives were treated mildly, being judged equitably and allowed to retain. to a large ex tent. their property. But the Italians, who were largely Catholics, were discontented under their Arian masters. The result was that. for getting or underestimating Byzantine despotism, they welcomed the attempts of Belisarius (q.v.) and Narses (q.v.), the generals of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, to drive out the barbarians after the death of Theodorie, in 526. In 552 the last of the Gothic Kings, Teja. fell in the terrific battle at Mount. Vesuvius, and the remainder of the Goths disappeared among. the Italians.
The Byzantine sway was of short duration; for after the recall of the capable Narses in 567, the (q.v.). a Germanic people, invaded Italy, according to the account of Paulus Dia eonus (q.v.), called in by Narses himself in re venge for his recall. Their King was Alboin. who made Pavia his capital, and from that city as a starting-point continuous expeditions were sent in all directions, so that soon nothing was left to the Byzantine Empire except the south and the Exar chate of Ravenna. After the death of Alboin, in 573. the Lombards for a long time had no King, but separate bands united under various leaders. known as 'duces.' They were Arians. as the Goths
had been before them. and hence there was contin uous strife between them and the native Italians. which increased as the popes became more power ful and the real rulers of Rome. Finally a new King. Agilulf. who ruled from SW to 616, became a convert to Catholicism. and for sonic time comparative harmony prevailed. But the Lom bards from political necessity were driven to seek possession of the city of Rome. and there upon the popes called in the Franks to aid them. These under the vigorous leadership of Pepin (q.v.) and Charles the Great conquered the Lom bards, and finally in 774 Desiderius, the last King of the Lombards, was sent to die in a monastery, and Charles the Great had himself crowned with the Iron Crown (q.v.). This proved to be little more than a change of rulers, for, as generally in the Middle Ages, the laws of the victors were not imposed upon the conquered. Out of gratitude for the royal title which the Pope had bestowed on him after the deposition of the last of the Merovin gian kings, Pepin granted to the Holy See the possession of a strip of territory in Central Italy, comprising the Exarchate of Ravenna, the March of Ancona, and the Romagna, the former two con quered from the Lombards. This donation of Pepin (q.v.). later confirmed by the donation of Charles the Great. was momentous for the his tory of Italy in that it marked the beginning of the temporal role of the popes. and introduced into Italy one of the most powerful factors of national activity. On Christmas Day. SOO, Charles the Great was crowned Emperor by Pope Leo III., and for centuries the history of Italy turned upon the conflict and interrelation between the two great powers which disputed with each other the primacy in medimval life. the Empire and the Papacy. By the Treaty of Verdun (843), in which the Frankish realm was partitioned be tween the grandsons of Charles the Great. Italy was included in the share given to Lothair. During the years of confusion that followed, the Saracens overran Southern Italy, and even threatened Rome. The history of Italy for many years is nothing but the rise of one petty after another, many of them aspiring to the Imperial title. Among these may be mentioned Guido of Spoleto, Berengar of Friuli, and Hugo of Provence. With them the Papacy intrigued and plotted. for the successor of Peter was now the puppet of different factions in Rome.