was under his protection. At length half the city consisted
of privileged districts, within which the Papal government had no more
power than within the Louvre or the Escurial. Every asylum was thronged
with contraband traders, fraudulent bankrupts, thieves and assassins. In
every asylum were collected magazines of stolen or smuggled goods. From
every asylum ruffians sallied forth nightly to plunder and stab. In no
town of Christendom, consequently, was law so impotent and wickedness
so audacious as in the ancient capital of religion and civilisation. On
this subject Innocent felt as became a priest and a prince. He
declared that he would receive no Ambassador who insisted on a right so
destructive of order and morality. There was at first much murmuring;
but his resolution was so evidently just that all governments but
one speedily acquiesced. The Emperor, highest in rank among Christian
monarchs, the Spanish court, distinguished among all courts by
sensitiveness and pertinacity on points of etiquette, renounced the
odious privilege. Lewis alone was impracticable. What other sovereigns
might choose to do, he said, was nothing to him. He therefore sent a
mission to Rome, escorted by a great force of cavalry and infantry. The
Ambassador marched to his palace as a general marches in triumph through
a conquered town. The house was strongly guarded. Round the limits of
the protected district sentinels paced the rounds day and night, as on
the walls of a fortress. The Pope was unmoved. "They trust," he cried,
"in chariots and in horses; but we will remember the name of the Lord
our God." He betook him vigorously to his spiritual weapons, and laid
the region garrisoned by the French under an interdict. [451]

This dispute was at the height when another dispute arose, in which the
Germanic body was as deeply concerned as the Pope.

Cologne and the surrounding district were governed by an Archbishop, who
was an Elector of the Empire. The right of choosing this great prelate
belonged, under certain limitations, to the Chapter of the Cathedral.
The Archbishop was also Bishop of Liege, of Munster, and of Hildesheim.
His dominions were extensive, and included several strong fortresses,
which in the event of a campaign on the Rhine would be of the highest
importance. In time of war he could bring twenty thousand men into the
field. Lewis had spared no effort to gain so valuable an ally, and had
succeeded so well that Cologne had bee