Page:Vactican as a World Power.djvu/176

 THE THRONE OF THE WORLD

The quarrel also divided the College of Cardinals, in which the friends of the Empire had already protested against the peace with the Normans; and Hadrian could not do otherwise than send a second letter to the Augsburg Reichstag in 1158, which softened what had been said in his first communication. During this same year Frederic crossed the Alps for the second time, to build up his rule in Italy. He subdued Milan; and on the fields outside Piacenza he avowed his claim to world sovereignty. On the advise of his lawyers he took the Csesaristic idea quite seriously. His decrees and his deeds raised the monarchical state power to a Byzantine perfection of authority. They undermined all the individual rights of the communes, made inroads into the rights of the Church, and brought to life again long- sleeping claims of dominion over Rome and the Papal states. Deaf to the protests of the Curia, Frederic negotiated with the Roman Senate and thus forced the Pope to look for support in the rebellious cities of Lombardy.

Hadrian IV died just as he was about to impose the ban on the Emperor, The majority of the Cardinals were willing to fight and elected Roland, who called himself Alexander III (11591181). An Imperial minority elected Cardinal Octavian as Victor IV (1159 1 164), though the choice was made to the accompaniment of ludicrous incidents. Thus there began a schism which was to last seventeen years. The Emperor's power assured the anti-Pope of German and Lombard support. Alexander, unquestionably the rightly elected Pope, was upheld by France, England, Spain, Hungary, Ireland and Norway. Anathemas were mutual, as they had so often been. Pope Alexander betook himself from the perils of the Papal states to the country which had of old afforded refuge to beleaguered Popes. There he was not inactive and waited for events that would give him the advantage. Meanwhile he imposed the ban on Barbarossa, who then took a terrible toll at Milan.

Another occurrence beyond the Canal proved the inception of a tragic drama which soon darkened the Papal horizon. When Victor died in 1164, Reinald of Dassel had himself elected Pascal III during the same year, despite the readiness of Alexander and Frederic to make a peace. Suddenly the English Church was disrupted with strife.

THOMAS