es, who was at the moment engaged in his first Saxon campaign,
expostulated with Desiderius; but when such mild measures proved useless
he led his forces across the Alps in 773. Gerberga and her children were
delivered up and disappear from history; the siege of Pavia was
undertaken; and at Easter 774 the king left the seat of war and visited
Rome, where he was received with great respect.

During his stay in the city Charles renewed the donation which his
father Pippin had made to the papacy in 754 or 756. This transaction has
given rise to much discussion as to its trustworthiness and the extent
of its operation. Our only authority, a passage in the _Liber
Pontificalis_, describes the gift as including the whole of Italy and
Corsica, except the lands north of the Po, Calabria and the city of
Naples. The vast extent of this donation, which, moreover, included
territories not owning Charles's authority, and the fact that the king
did not execute, or apparently attempt to execute, its provisions, has
caused many scholars to look upon the passage as a forgery; but the
better opinion would appear to be that it is genuine, or at least has a
genuine basis. Various explanations have been suggested. The area of the
grant may have been enlarged by later interpolations; or it may have
dealt with property rather than with sovereignty, and have only referred
to estates claimed by the pope in the territories named; or it is
possible that Charles may have actually intended to establish an
extensive papal kingdom in Italy, but was released from his promise by
Adrian when the pope saw no chance of its fulfilment. Another
supposition is that the author of the _Liber Pontificalis_ gives the
papal interpretation of a grant that had been expressed by Pippin in
ambiguous terms; and this view is supported by the history of the
subsequent controversy between king and pope.

Returning to the scene of hostilities, Charles witnessed the
capitulation of Pavia in June 774, and the capture of Desiderius, who
was sent into a monastery. He now took the title "king of the Lombards,"
to which he added the dignity of "Patrician of the Romans," which had
been granted to his father. Adalgis, the son of Desiderius, who was
residing at Constantinople, hoped the emperor Leo IV. would assist him
in recovering his father's kingdom; but a coalition formed for this
purpose was ineffectual, and a rising led by his ally Rothgaud, duke of
Friuli, was easily crush