ter which he bestowed the kingdom
upon Wladislaw of Bohemia, whom he had appointed regent of the German
states during his absence, and whom he now took this opportunity to
reward. New disputes began to arise between Pope Adrian and Frederick;
and when at Besancon some indiscreet remarks of His Holiness as to
having "conferred the imperial crown" on, and "accorded it by favor" to
Frederick, were mentioned, that monarch waited no longer, but collected
a fresh army, and marched into Italy to chastise the pontiff, who, on
hearing of his approach, and scared at the prospect of such a calamity,
hastened to explain away his words as best he might. The emperor
accepted his excuses, but as he was so far on the road, determined to
attack Milan, whose inhabitants had increased the anger he already felt
for them by rebuilding Tortona (which, as we know, he had totally
destroyed), and expelling the inhabitants of Lodi from their dwellings
for having called him to mediate on the subject of their wrongs. With
100,000 men (for almost all of the Lombard cities had, either willingly
or by force, contributed their militia) and 15,000 cavalry, he advanced
toward Milan and laid siege to it. The inhabitants made a most obstinate
resistance, and were at length only vanquished by the impossibility of
finding food for the vast population within the walls. A capitulation
was effected, by which the emperor contented himself with very moderate
conditions, the most severe being that which condemned the city to the
loss of her privileges; but when the chief nobles came to deliver the
keys, barefooted and with every token of humility, he forgot their
former insolence, and only required, in return for his clemency, a
renewal of the oath of fealty and their promise to rebuild the town of
Lodi.

To put an end to these ever-recurring disputes Frederick called together
a diet at Roncaglia, to which each of the Italian towns was commanded to
send its representative; the four most learned jurists from the
university of Bologna being also requested to attend, for the purpose of
drawing up a document which should conclusively define the relations
between himself, as head of the empire, and the vassals and imperial
cities of Italy. But when the learned quartet had heard all the points
of dispute, and were in possession of the facts, their decision gave
such almost limitless power to Frederick that several of the towns, and
more especially Milan, refused to abi