Page:Readings in European History Vol 1.djvu/158

 122 Readings in European History 51. The coronation of Pippin by the pope. (From Einhard's Annals.) (753) In this year Pope Stephen [the successor of Zacharias] came to King Pippin in the town which is called Kiersey, to beg protection for himself and the Roman church from the attacks of the Lombards. . . . (754) .Pope Stephen, after King Pippin had assured him that he would defend the Roman church, consecrated him to the honor of the royal dignity, and with him his two sons, Karl and Carloman ; and the pope spent that winter in Francia. 52. A letter of Pope Stephen III describing the atroci- ties of the Lombards (756). III. THE LOMBARDS, POPE STEPHEN, AND KING PIPPIN Pope Stephen was driven, as we have seen, by the threatening attitude of the Lombards to visit the court of Pippin in search of help. The Prankish king, with the approbation of his councilors, made an expedition to Italy in 755, defeated the Lombards, and forced Aistulf, their king, to promise that he would return all the terri- tory about Rome and never invade the region again. Yet Pippin had hardly recrossed the Alps when Aistulf broke his treaty and attacked Rome. The pope then appealed to Pippin, in successive letters, describing the devastation wrought by the Lombards and the desperate plight of the city. Of these letters the following is a sample : Pope Stephen to the most excellent lord, Pippin, our son and kinsman in the spirit, King of the Franks and Patrician of the Romans : Woeful and bitter is the distress in which we find our- selves ; our difficulties and anxieties are constantly increas- ing and call forth floods of tears. " Who could witness such tribulations and not mourn ? Who could listen to our calam- ities and not bewail ? . . . We must believe, however, most Christian and excellent son, that all our sorrows are known to your Highness: how the treaties of peace have been broken by the accursed King Aistulf, how none of the stipulations have been observed even