inople was superior to the Pope, Gregory upheld the
principle that no Patriarch had any right to be above the rest, nor to
be called Universal Bishop. Gregory was a very great man, and the
justice and wisdom of his management did much to make the Romans look to
their Pope as the head of affairs even after his death in 604.

[Illustration: BATTLE OF TOURS.]

The Greek Empire sent an officer to govern the extreme South of Italy,
which, like Rome and Venice, still owned the Emperor; but all the troops
that could be hired were soon wanted to fight with the Arabs, whose
false prophet Mahommed had taught them to spread religion with the
sword. There was no one capable of making head against the Lombards, and
the Popes only kept them off by treaties and good management; and at
last, in 741, Pope Gregory III. put himself under the protection of
Charles Martel, the great Frank captain who had beaten the Mahometans at
the battle of Tours. Charles Martel was rewarded by being made a Roman
senator, so was his son Pippin, who was also king of the Franks, and his
grandson Charles the Great, who had to come often to Italy to protect
Rome, and at last broke up the Lombard kingdom, was chosen Roman Emperor
as of old, and crowned by Pope Leo III. in the year 800. From that time
there was again the Western Empire, commonly called the Holy Roman
Empire, the Emperor, or Caesar--Kaisar, as the Germans still call
him--being generally also king of Germany and king of Lombardy. Rome was
all this time chiefly under the power of the Popes, who grew in course
of years to be more and more of princes, and at the same time to claim
more power over the Church, calling themselves Universal Bishops
contrary to the teaching of St. Gregory the Great. All this, however,
belongs to the history of Europe in modern times, and will be found in
the history of Germany, since there were many struggles between the
Popes and Emperors. For Rome has really had _two_ histories, and those
who visit Rome and study the wonderful buildings there may dwell on the
old or the new, the pagan or the Christian, as their minds lead them, or
else on that strange middle time when idolatry and Christianity were
struggling together.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Young Folks' History of Rome
by Charlotte Mary Yonge

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK YOUNG FOLKS' HISTORY OF ROME ***

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