great place in his own country (for he was of Saxon family, and
the Normans, after the Conquest, kept all the good places for
themselves), was chosen to be the head of Christendom (A.D. 1154).

Adrian had a high notion of the greatness and dignity of his office.
When the emperor Frederick I. (who is called _Barbarossa_, or
_Redbeard_) went from Germany into Italy, and was visited in his camp by
the pope, Adrian required that the emperor should hold his stirrup as he
mounted his horse, and said that such had been the custom from the time
of the great Constantine. Frederick had never heard of such a thing
before, and was not willing to submit; but on inquiry he found that a
late emperor, Lothair III., had held a pope's stirrup, and then he
agreed to do the like. But he took care to do it so awkwardly that every
one who saw it began to laugh; and thus he made his submission appear
like a joke.

Frederick Redbeard carried on a long struggle with the popes. When, at
Adrian's death, two rival popes had been chosen (A.D. 1159), the emperor
required them to let him judge between their claims; and, as one of
them, Alexander III., refused to admit any earthly judge, Frederick took
part with the other, who called himself Victor IV. And when Victor was
dead, Frederick set up three more anti-popes, one after another, to
oppose Alexander.

But Alexander had the kings of France and England on his side, and at
last he not only got himself firmly settled, but brought Frederick to
entreat for peace with him, and with some cities of North Italy, which
had formed themselves into what was called the Lombard League (A.D.
1177). But we must not believe a story that, when this treaty was
concluded in the great church of St. Mark at Venice, the pope put his
foot on the emperor's neck, and the choir chanted the words of the 91st
Psalm, "Thou shalt go upon the lion and the adder:" for this story was
not made up until long after, and has no truth at all in it.

It was in Alexander III.'s time that the great quarrel between Henry II.
of England and Archbishop Thomas Becket took place. Becket had been
raised by the king's favour to be his chancellor, and afterwards to be
archbishop of Canterbury and head of all the English clergy (A.D. 1162).
But, although until then he had done everything just as the king wished,
no sooner had he become archbishop than he turned round on Henry. He
claimed that any clergyman who might be guilty of crimes should n