43. This Opinion shared by the Roman Senate and People, and by the King of France.

The senate and people of Rome, and the king of France himself, manifestly had the same persuasion as the pope regarding his temporal sovereignty in those provinces. From a letter of the Roman senate and people written to Pepin in the commencement of the pontificate of Paul I., we learn that the king of France, in his capacity as defender of the Church, had written to them, admonishing them "to persevere in the fidelity which they owed to St. Peter, to the holy Church, and to the sovereign pontiff Paul, their lord." They add, that corresponding with this prudent admonition, "they shall ever remain faithful to the holy Church and to Paul their lord, the sovereign pontiff and universal pope; because they revere him as their father and their excellent pastor, who never ceases to labour zealously for their salvation, like Pope Stephen, his brother, of pious memory, protecting and governing them as a human fold intrusted to their care by the Lord." This language of the senate and people of Rome supposes clearly that in their minds the emperor of Constantinople was no longer sovereign of Rome and of the exarchate, and that all his rights in that respect had passed into the hands of the pope.

44. Conduct of Pope Adrian I. in consequence of this Persuasion.

The letters of Pope Adrian I. supply a great number of similar testimonies. He always speaks of the city and duchy of Rome, of the cities and territories of the exarchate, as places subject to his dominion. He calls the inhabitants of those provinces his those two it is given with the reign of Pepin also. (See a collection of the Letters of Pope Paul I. in Labbe's Concilia, and in Cenni's Monumenta Dom. Pontific. tom i.) Secondly, the Roman senate and people, in their letter to Pepin, which we shall cite in another place, style Pepin not only their spiritual pastor and their father, but also their lord. (Cod. Carol. Epist. 15 (alias 36), apud Cenni, ibid. p. 143.) In the next chapter we shall discuss more minutely the question of the sovereignty of Rome at this period.

"Præcellentia vestra," say the senate and the people, speaking to Pepin, "nos admonere studuit, firmos nos ac fideles debere permanere erga B. Petrum, principem apostolorum, et sanctam Dei Ecclesiam, et circa beatissimum et spiritalem patrem vestrum, à Deo decretum Dominum nostrum Paulum, summum Pontificem et universalem Papam.... Nos quidem, præcellentissime regum, firmi ac fideles servi sanctæ Dei Ecclesiæ, et præfati Patris vestri, Domini nostri, Pauli summi Pontificis, et universalis Papæ consistimus, quia ipse noster est pater et optimus pastor, etc."-Cod. Carol. Epist. 15 (alias 36) (Cenni, ibid. p. 143).

2 Cenni, ubi supra, p. 293.

1

4

2

subjects; and, to express his temporal dominion, he uses precisely the same terms as he applies to that of the king of France over the territories and nations subject to his authority. Moreover, he does not hesitate to implore the assistance of Charlemagne against the emperor of Constantinople, who had formed a league with some cities in Italy to take possession of Rome. "The dukes of Spoleto, of Beneventum, of Friuli, and of Clusium," he writes to the king of France,3 "have combined in a malicious plot for soon uniting their forces with the Greeks and Adalgisus, son of Didier, to attack us by land and sea, to take possession of our city of Rome, to pillage the churches of God, to carry away the rich ornaments of the altar of St. Peter, to lead ourselves (which God avert) into captivity, and to reestablish, in despite of you, the kingdom of the Lombards. I conjure you, therefore, most excellent king and very dear son, in presence of the true and living God, and of the blessed Peter, prince of the apostles, to come without delay, and as speedily as possible, to our assistance; because it is to you, under God, and by the order of God and of St. Peter, that we have intrusted the defence of the holy Church, of our Roman people and Roman republic. Come, therefore, speedily to the dwelling of the prince of the apostles, of St. Peter your protector, that you may reduce by your royal power all the enemies of the Church of God, that is, your enemies and ours, and may maintain the offering which you have made with your own hands to that holy apostle for the good of your soul." From these latter expressions, and others in the same letter, we find that it was subsequent to the destruction of the kingdom of Lombardy, and to the donation made to the Holy See by Charlemagne, extending and confirming the previous donation by Pepin.

45. Temporal Sovereignty of the Holy See extended and consolidated by Charlemagne. Charlemagne had not only recognised and respected the pope's

Hanc nostram Romanam civitatem. . . . Nostros Romanos.... Civitas nostra Castelli Felicitatis (in Tusciâ). Civitas nostra Centumcellensis (in ducatu Romano). Territoria nostra. Nostros homines, etc.-Cod. Carol. Epist.

55, 57, 63, 83, 97 (alias 40, 59, 65, 84, 85).

2 Vestros fines, . Vestras partes, · Nostras vestrasque fines,

...

homines, Nostros homines, etc.-Ibid. Epist. 84, 97 (alias 85, 91).

...

3 Cod. Carol. Epist. 57 (alias 59) (Cenni, ibid. p. 344, etc.).

"Cupientes hanc nostram Romanam invadere civitatem.”—Ibid.

Vestros

sovereignty in Italy; he moreover extended and consolidated it by his victories over the Lombards, and by the total destruction of their monarchy in the year 773. Their obstinacy in persecuting the Holy See and in braving the arms of France was the true cause of this new revolution, which was not less advantageous to the king of France than to the Holy See, whose champion he had so generously become. We shall give here briefly the principal circumstances of that event, which was at the same time one of the most important in the reign of Charlemagne, and one which contributed most to consolidate the temporal sovereignty of the Holy See.2

Adrian I. being assailed more vigorously than ever by Didier, king of the Lombards, in 772, implored the succour of the king of France, who he knew was devoted to the interests of religion and to the sovereign pontiff. Charlemagne having in vain attempted by negotiation to induce Didier to satisfy the pope, crossed the Alps in 773, and besieged him in Pavia, whither he had retreated. After a siege of six months, Didier, being compelled to surrender, was sent into France, where he died a holy death in the monastery of Corbie. Thus ended the kingdom of Lombardy, after having lasted more than two hundred years: from that time Charlemagne added the title of king of the Lombards to his hereditary title, king of the French.

During the siege of Pavia, this great prince having visited Rome, gave the pope the most affecting testimony of his respect and devotion. Not satisfied with confirming Pepin's donation, he ordered his chaplain Etherius to draw up a much more ample donation, securing to the Roman Church the exarchate of Ravenna, the island of Corsica, the provinces of Parma, of Mantua, Venice, and Istria, with the duchies of Spoleto and Beneventum.3 The king signed this donation with his own hand, and ordered

"Quoniam tuæ dulcissimæ Sublimitati, per Dei præceptionem et B. Petri, sanctam Dei Ecclesiam, et nostrum Romanorum reipublicæ populum, commisimus protegendum."-Ibid.

2 Anastas. Vita Adriani, ubi supra, p. 1725. Fleury, Hist. Eccl. vol. ix. book xliv. n. 4, &c.; Hist. de l'Eglise Gallic. vol. iv. ann. 772. Lebeau, Hist. du Bas-Empire, vol. xiv. book Ixv. n. 21, &c.; book lxvi. n. 49, &c. Annales du Moyen Age, vol. vii. book xxiv. ann. 774. Daniel, Hist. de France, vol. ii. ann. 772, &c.

3 Anastas. ubi supra, p. 1738. On the extent of the possessions of the Holy See at this time, by the liberality of Pepin and Charlemagne, see Lièble's Mémoire sur les Limites de l'Empire de Charlemagne, pp. 42, 46.

it to be signed by the bishops, abbots, dukes, and counts who accompanied him; he then deposited it on the altar of St. Peter, and swore with all his French lords to preserve for the Holy See all the territories mentioned in that grant.

46. Solution of some Difficulties on this Point.

It appears at first sight astonishing that Charlemagne included in that grant the island of Corsica, the duchy of Beneventum, and some other cities and territories over which he had as yet no right either of conquest or of sovereignty. This is one of the arguments by which some persons have contested the authenticity of that donation, as far, at least, as it regards these provinces. Still we may explain how they could be included in the grant by supposing that they were among that number of provinces which, during the pontificate of Gregory II., had given themselves to the Holy See to obtain its protection in the abandoned state in which they had been left. There are strong reasons for believing that this was really the case with all those cities mentioned in Charlemagne's donation, over which he had not any right of conquest or sovereignty. For it is certain, in fact, that after the pontificate of Gregory II. many cities and territories in Italy surrendered themselves successively to the Holy See to obtain its protection against the Lombards. This the inhabitants of Spoleto and of Rieti certainly did in the pontificate of Adrian I., some time before the destruction of the kingdom of the Lombards, and perhaps even much earlier. There are some grounds for the same

It does not appear that at this time Charlemagne had any right to the island of Corsica; and he did not obtain possession of the duchy of Beneventum until eight or ten years after the destruction of the Lombards. See Daniel, Hist. de France, vol. ii. ann. 774, p. 31; ann. 788, p. 61, &c.; Cod. Carol. Epist. 91 (alias 88); Cenni, Monumenta, tom. i. p. 486; tom. ii. pp. 3, 60, 100. 2 Lebeau, Hist. du Bas-Empire, vol. xiv. book lxv. n. 24. Annales du Moyen Age, vol. vii. book xxiv. p. 199. Hegewisch, Hist. de Charlemagne, p. 142. Daunou, Hist. Essai, vol. i. p. 38. Daniel, Hist. de France, vol. ii. ann. 774. 3 See details on this subject, supra, n. 19, 32, &c.

...

♦ "Spoletini et Reatini, . . . antequam Desiderius, seu Longobardorum ejus exercitus, ad Clusas pergerent, ad beatum Petrum confugium facientes, prædicto sanctissimo Hadriano Papæ se tradiderunt, et in fide ipsius principis apostolorum, atque prædicti sanctissimi Pontificis jurantes, more Romanorum tonsurati sunt (incisis nempe capillis et barbâ, in subjectionis signum). . . . Et confestim ipse ter beatissimus bonus pastor et pater, cum omnibus exultans, constituit eis ducem quem ipsi propriâ voluntate sibi elegerunt, scilicet Hildeprandum nobilissimum, qui priùs cum reliquis ad apostolicam sedem refugium fecerat."

conjecture regarding Corsica, and some other cities and provinces mentioned by Anastasius, according to the very grant of Charlemagne which he had then under his eyes. This conjecture appears to be countenanced and even solidly established by the uniform language of the ancient authors, both French and foreign, who speak of Charlemagne's as well as Pepin's donation, as a restitution made to the Holy See of the provinces usurped by the Lombards. This is the language not only of the biographers of the popes, but also of Eginhard, who was so zealous for the glory of Charlemagne and of Pepin, and consequently so little inclined to depreciate the merit of the donations made to the Holy See by these two great princes. Pope Adrian I. expresses himself in

Anastasius Biblioth. Vita Adriani I. (Labbe, ibid. p. 1735). Fleury, Hist. Eccl. vol. ix. book xliv. n. 4.

To understand this passage, we must observe that the Lombard fashion wa to shave the hair on the back of their heads, and to let it grow long in front, as well as their beards. In the alliances which they contracted with the Romans or the Greeks, they adopted the usages of those nations, who wore the hair and beards much shorter; and they looked upon the reform as a mark of submission and dependence on their new masters or allies. In the letters of Adrian I. to Charlemagne (Cod. Carol. Epist. 91 (alias 88), apud Cenni, i. p. 488), an example occurs entirely similar to that mentioned here by Anastasius. Some other facts prove, that at this period there was, both among the Franks and Lombards, some kind of tonsure, regarded as a kind of alliance, or of adoption, by which the person whose hair was shorn acknowledged the authority of the person who had cut it. See on this subject Canciani, Barbarorum Leges Antiquæ, tom. v. p. 369, &c.; Muratori, Antiquit. Ital. tom. ii. Dissert. 23, pp. 298, 301; Ducange, Glossarium Infimæ Latinit. verbo Tonsura; Mabillon, Præf. in Ter. Sæc. Bened. § 1, n. 17; Thomassin, Anc. et Nouv. Discipline, vol. iii. book i. ch. xxix. n. 9; Lebeau, Hist. du BasEmpire, vol. xiv. book lxxvi. n. 19.

A letter of Pope Stephen II. to Pepin, in 756, appears to suppose that the duchies of Spoleto and of Beneventum, which had been hitherto subject to the Lombards, had then expressed a wish, through the pope, to place themselves under the protection of the king of France, but that circumstances never enabled them to execute their design, or at least that it had no permanent results. For it is certain that both these duchies were subject to the king of the Lombards under the pontificate of Paul I. in 761. See on this subject Cod. Carol. Epist. 11, 18, 25 (alias 8, 15, 34) (Cenni, Monumenta, tom. i. pp. 110, 154, 176, 297, 298, 342).

seq.

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Thomassin, Ancien. et Nouv. Discipline, vol. iii. book i. ch. xxix. n. 8, et De Maistre, Du Pape, book ii. ch. vi. p. 254.

Charlemagne and his envoys, when demanding the cities and the provinces which he had taken from the Holy See, or delayed surrendering to it, invariably claim them as a restitution due to the pope and to the Romans. The following are the very words of Anastasius, which are repeated frequently in his Life of Adrian: "Ipsi Francorum missi, properantes cum apostolicæ sedis missis, declinaverunt ad Desiderium; qui et constanter eum deprecantes adhortati sunt, sicut illis à suo rege præceptum extitit, ut antefatas, quas abstulerat civitates, pacificè beato Petro redderet, et justitias parti Romanorum faceret ; sed minimè quidquam horum apud eum obtinere valuerunt, asserentem