ng of all the Franks. In 772 Hadrian I., a Roman, ambitious
and distinguished, succeeded the weak Stephen III. on the papal throne.
He reigned till 795 and one of his first acts was to summon Charles and
the Franks to his rescue against the Lombards. [Sidenote: Charles the
Great and Rome.] In the midst of his conquests--which it is not here
our part to tell--Charles spent the Holy Week and Easter of 774 at
Rome. Thus the one contemporary authority tells the tale of the great
alliance which was made on the Wednesday in Easter week: "On the fourth
day of the week the aforesaid pontiff with all his nobles both clerkly
and knightly went forth to S. Peter's Church and there {151} meeting
the king in colloquy earnestly prayed him and with paternal affection
admonished him to fulfil entirely that promise which his father of holy
memory the dead king Pippin had made, and which he himself with his
brother Carloman and all the nobles of the Franks had confirmed to S.
Peter and his vicar Pope Stephen II. of holy memory when he visited
Francia, that they would grant divers cities and territories in that
province of Italy to S. Peter and his vicars for ever. And when
Charles had caused the promise which was made in Francia at a place
called Carisiacum (Quierzy) to be read over to him all its contents
were approved by him and his nobles. And of his will and with a good
and gracious mind that most excellent and most Christian king Charles
caused another promise of gift like the first to be drawn up by
Etherius his most religious and prudent chaplain and notary, and in
this he gave the same cities and lands to S. Peter and promised that
they should be handed over to the pope with their boundaries set forth
as is contained in the aforesaid donation, namely: From Luna with the
island of Corsica, thence to Surianum, thence to Mount Bardo, that is
to Vercetum, thence to Parma, thence to Pihegium, and from thence to
Mantua and Mons Silicis, together with the whole exarchate of Ravenna,
as it was of old, and the provinces of the Venetia and Istria; together
with the whole duchy of Spoletium and that of Beneventum." [3] The
donation was confirmed, says the chronicler, with the most solemn oaths.

Now if this records the facts, and if two-thirds of Italy were given by
Charles (who possessed very little {152} of it) to the popes, it is
almost incredible that his later conduct should have shown that he did
not pay any regard to it. But the