recent
blows of fate had been too severe, and no enthusiasm for a new Italian
war could be called into being. When, later, Frederick did recross the
Alps it was with the mere shadow of an army; the nobles had seized
every possible excuse to remain at home.

No doubt but that the enforced rest was of benefit to Germany; there
at least the Emperor's power was undiminished. Indeed, the lands of
many of those who had been carried away by the pestilence had fallen
to him by inheritance, or lapsed as fiefs of the crown. Frederick is
the first of the emperors who really acquired great family
possessions. These helped him to maintain his imperial power without
having to rely too much on the often untrustworthy princes of the
realm. The Salian estates, to which his father had fallen heir on the
death of Henry V, formed a nucleus, while, by purchase and otherwise,
he acquired castle after castle, and one stretch of territory after
another, especially in Suabia and the Rhine Palatinate.

By the Emperor's influence feud after feud was settled, and the
princes were induced to acknowledge his second son--why not his eldest
has never been explained--as successor to the throne. The internal
prosperity and concord were not without their influence on the
neighboring powers, and Hungary, Bohemia, and Poland were forced to
acknowledge and fulfil their feudal duties.

Meanwhile Tuscany and a part of the Romagna had remained true to the
empire. Frederick's emissary, Christian of Mayence, who was sent to
Italy in 1171, was able to play a leading _role_ in the hostilities
between Pisa and Genoa, and, in 1173, to again besiege Ancona, which
was still a centre for Greek intrigues. Christian was able to assure
the Emperor that some allies at least were left in Italy.

In one way time had worked a favorable change. So long as an immediate
attack was to be feared the Lombard cities--between thirty and forty
of which, including such towns as Venice, Bologna, and Pavia, had
finally joined the League--were firmly united and ready to make any
effort. But as the years went on and the danger became less pressing,
internal discord crept in among them. Venice, for instance, helped
Christian of Mayence in besieging Ancona; and Pavia, true to its old
imperial policy, was only waiting for an opportunity for deserting its
latest allies. The league feared, too, that Alexander might leave it
to its fate and make an independent peace with the Emperor.

As