w him near Benevento, and then became sovereign of
Sicily and Naples. Corradino, to whom, by his father's will, the state
belonged, having collected a great force in Germany, marched into Italy
against Charles, with whom he came to an engagement at Tagliacozzo, was
taken prisoner while endeavoring to escape, and being unknown, put to
death.

Italy remained in repose until the pontificate of Adrian V. Charles,
being at Rome and governing the city by virtue of his office of senator,
the pope, unable to endure his power, withdrew to Viterbo, and solicited
the Emperor Rodolph to come into Italy and assist him. Thus the popes,
sometimes in zeal for religion, at others moved by their own ambition,
were continually calling in new parties and exciting new disturbances.
As soon as they had made a prince powerful, they viewed him with
jealousy and sought his ruin; and never allowed another to rule the
country, which, from their own imbecility, they were themselves unable
to govern. Princes were in fear of them; for, fighting or running away,
the popes always obtained the advantage, unless it happened they were
entrapped by deceit, as occurred to Boniface VIII., and some others, who
under pretense of friendship, were ensnared by the emperors. Rodolph did
not come into Italy, being detained by the war in which he was engaged
with the king of Bohemia. At this time Adrian died, and Nicholas III.,
of the Orsini family, became pontiff. He was a bold, ambitious man; and
being resolved at any event to diminish the power of Charles, induced
the Emperor Rodolph to complain that he had a governor in Tuscany
favorable to the Guelphic faction, who after the death of Manfred had
been replaced by him. Charles yielded to the emperor and withdrew his
governor, and the pope sent one of his nephews, a cardinal, as governor
for the emperor, who, for the honor done him, restored Romagna to the
church, which had been taken from her by his predecessors, and the pope
made Bertoldo Orsino duke of Romagna. As Nicholas now thought himself
powerful enough to oppose Charles, he deprived him of the office of
senator, and made a decree that no one of royal race should ever be a
senator in Rome. It was his intention to deprive Charles of Sicily, and
to this end he entered into a secret negotiation with Peter, king of
Aragon, which took effect in the following papacy. He also had the
design of creating two kings out of his family, the one in Lombardy, the
other