a matter of fact, in 1170, strong efforts had been made to bring
about such a consummation. But Frederick was bound by the Wuerzburg
decrees, and his envoy could not offer the submission that Alexander
required.

John of Salisbury tells us that the Emperor made a proposition to the
effect that he himself, for his own person, should not be compelled to
recognize any pope "save Peter and the others who are in heaven," but
that his son Henry, the young King of the Romans, should recognize
Alexander, and, in return, receive from him the imperial coronation.
The bishops ordained by Frederick's popes were to remain in office.
Alexander answered these proposals with a certain scorn, and the
imperial ambassador, Eberhard of Bamberg, returned from Veroli, where
the conference had taken place, with nothing to show for his pains.

Alexander's next move was to send an account of the interview to the
heads of the Lombard League, and at the same time to consecrate, as it
were, that organization. He declared that it had been formed for the
purpose of defending the peace of the cities which composed it, and of
the Church, against the "so-called Emperor, Frederick," whose yoke it
had seen fit to cast off. The rectors of the confederation were taken
under the wing of the papacy, and those who should disobey them
threatened with the ban. The Pope recommended a strict embargo on
articles of commerce from Tuscany should the cities of that province
refuse to join the league.

At this same time Alexander showed his friendliness toward the Eastern
Empire by performing in person the marriage ceremony over the niece of
the Emperor Manuel and one of the Roman Frangipani.

Frederick's first act on entering Italy in 1174 was to wreak vengeance
on Susa, where he had once been captive; no half measures were used,
and the town was soon a heap of ashes. Asti, also, the first league
town which lay in the path of the imperial army, was straightway made
to capitulate. But, although the fall of these two cities induced many
to abandon the cause of the league, the new fortress of Alessandria,
situated as it was in the midst of a swampy plain and surrounded with
massive earth walls, proved an effectual stumbling-block in the way of
the avenger. Heavy rains and floods came to the aid of the besieged
city and the imperial tents and huts were almost submersed, while
hunger and other discomforts caused many of the allies of the Germans
to desert. The siege w