orian will not go in praise of him. Truly, one would hardly
guess, from that picture of Frederick Redbeard at Roncaglia, with
the standard set before his tent, inviting all men to come and have
justice done them, that the Emperor was actually at Roncaglia for
the purpose of conspiring with his Diet to take away every vestige
of liberty and independence from miserable Italy. Among other cities
Mantua lost her freedom at this Diet, and was ruled by an imperial
governor and by consuls of Frederick's nomination till 1167, when she
joined the famous Lombard League against him. The leagued cities
beat the Emperor at Legnano, and received back their liberties by the
treaty of Costanza in 1183; after which, Frederick having withdrawn to
Germany, they fell to fighting among themselves again with redoubled
zeal, and rent their league into as many pieces as there had been
parties to it. In 1236 the Germans again invaded Lombardy, under
Frederick II.; and aided by the troops of the Ghibelline cities,
Verona, Padua, Vicenza, and Treviso, besieged Mantua, which
surrendered to this formidable union of forces, thus becoming once
more an imperial city, and irreparably fracturing the Lombard League.
It does not appear, however, that her ancient liberties were withdrawn
by Frederick II.; and we read that the local wars went on after this
with as little interruption as before. The wars went on as usual, and
on the old terms with Verona and Cremona; and there is little in
their history to interest us. But in 1256 the famous tyrant of Padua,
Eccelino da Romano, who aspired to the dominion of Lombardy, gathered
his forces, and went and sat down before Mantua. The Mantuans refused
to surrender at his summons; and Eccelino, who had very little notion
of what the Paduans were doing in his absence, swore that he would cut
down the vines in those pleasant Mantuan vineyards, plant new ones,
and drink the wine of their grapes before ever he raised the siege.
But meantime that conspiracy which ended in Eccelino's ruin had
declared itself in Padua, and the tyrant was forced to abandon the
siege and look to his dominion of other cities.

After which there was something like peace in Mantua for twenty years,
and the city waxed prosperous. Indeed, neither industry nor learning
had wholly perished during the wars of the republic, and the people
built grist-mills on the Mincio, and cultivated belles-lettres to
some degree. Men of heavier science likewise n