an army for Besancon.
Alexander had written to him of the intended campaign of the English
King against Frederic. At the same time he learned that Andrew of
Hungary was ready to march an army into Germany, as soon as the
Imperial troops crossed the French frontier. In the meanwhile, the
Emperor, accompanied by several of his princes, and by about fifty
Bishops and Archbishops, nearly all of whom were as yet unconsecrated,
had arrived at Besancon. King Waldemar of Denmark came to meet him
there, but he was attended by only one prelate, the Bishop Absalom of
Roskilde, for the northern sovereigns could not make up their minds to
attend a council which had been convened in defiance of the canonical
rules, and with the sole view of legalizing the acts of the
schismatical Frederic. The preliminaries against Alexander, the
recognition of Victor, and, as a natural consequence, the Imperial
supremacy, were rapidly and skilfully arranged.

As the Emperor was leaving his apartment, to proceed with great pomp to
the cathedral where the council was to be held, a letter with the seal
of the Abbey of Cluny was handed to him.

"From Cluny! Who brought this?" he asked.

"A strange horseman," said the chamberlain. Barbarossa hastily ran it
over, while Rinaldo examined his expression, with eager curiosity.

"Pshaw! it is scarcely worth talking about," said Frederic, laying the
letter aside; "at least, we have no time to meddle with it. Still if
you would like to know," he added, seeing Dassel's curiosity, "Count
Rechberg informs us that he is going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
That is all; the young man could do nothing better in order to escape
the bonds in which a sage statesman would have tied him. Let us hope
that he will come back completely cured. My lord Chancellor, you may
give the signal for our departure now."

Under ordinary circumstances, it is probable that Barbarossa would not
have listened so calmly to his kinsman's resolve, but just then he was
busied in a matter of interest to all Christendom, and he could think
of nothing else.

A long and brilliant cavalcade of princes and prelates proceeded to the
Cathedral of Besancon, where the Emperor did not neglect the
opportunity of holding the Pope's stirrup. Victor received the
attention haughtily, as though it were in some way an offset to the
many humiliations which he had suffered. The bishops and princes took
their places in the centre of the nave. The presidenc