ions that Verona suffered, in common with
the rest of Italy, till the taking of the city by Charlemagne, when a
short period of tranquillity was enjoyed. Yet there a part of the great
family tragedy, which secured his possession of the empire, was acted.
He found in the town the widow and children of his brother Carloman, and
they were sacrificed to his security. His eldest son, Pepin Hunchback,
died at Verona, and was buried in St. Zeno's church, which he had
founded. The present magnificent temple stands nearly on the site of
Pepin's humbler foundation; and the great stone, now shown in the court,
called the tomb of King Pepin, is very possibly that of Charlemagne's
son.

During the disastrous period that followed, Verona underwent all the
evils that its situation (at the very entrance to Italy from Germany)
was so peculiarly calculated to draw upon it. The invasions of the
Othos, the wars of the Guelfs and Ghibelines, the struggles of the
people against oppression, and between the oppressors for power, from
time to time distressed the city and robbed the citizens. Yet the very
struggle for freedom and power ensured a portion of the former to the
people, who were courted by all parties; and Verona became rich by the
visits of her masters, and of such as courted her assistance. But it was
in the thirteenth century that she became the queen of northern Italy,
under the reign of the Scaligers, or della Scalas, who, from simple
citizens, were raised, by their valour, their humanity, and the free
choice of the people, to the sovereignty of the state.

During one hundred and twenty-seven years, ten princes of that
illustrious house reigned in Verona. The first six were men of
extraordinary talent, and, for the time in which they lived, of
extraordinary virtue. They not only enlarged the boundaries of the
Veronese, but subjected several distant cities. Albert della Scala added
Trent and Riva, Parma and Reggio, Belluno and Vicenza, to his dominions;
and Can Grande conquered Padua, Trevigi, Mantua, and Feltre. It is his
body that is laid in the plain sarcophagus over the door of the little
church of St. Mary of the Scaligers, only adorned with the figure of a
knight on horseback, of nearly the natural size, above it. The other
tombs, on which it looks down, are those of his successors: they are
gorgeous in ornament, and form a conspicuous group among the picturesque
buildings of the city; but they are built over the ashes of