applied to the collective opposition to the imperial power, and
therefore came to denote the friends of the Papacy.

[Sidenote: Frederick I.]

So far the contest had been confined to Germany; for Lothair had
sacrificed the claims of the empire to his own immediate interests,
while Conrad had never set foot in Italy after his accession to the
German throne. But as the attempt of Lothair to crush the acknowledged
Ghibelline leaders had been thwarted, so Conrad had failed to render
the Guelf harmless; and it was the pretensions of Henry the Lion, the
son of Henry the Proud, which determined Conrad to waive the claims of
his young son to the succession, and to recommend to the nobles the
choice of his nephew Frederick. But Conrad's nomination would have
been of little account. Frederick's claims were largely personal.
Already before he succeeded his father as Duke of Suabia he had shown
a combination of boldness in action with a conciliatory disposition
which marked him out as a leader and a statesman. To this was added,
as with Conrad, the prestige of a crusader; while in view of the
bitter rivalries of the last two reigns, it was a recommendation that
Frederick united in his person the two families whose strife had
divided the kingdom. Two years elapsed from his accession before
Frederick was free to set out for Italy. As the heir of the
Franconians his probable attitude was a matter of some anxiety at Rome
and in Italy generally. He was no enemy of the Church. His first act
after his coronation at Aachen (March 9th, 1152) was to announce his
accession to the Pope, who sent him a return message of goodwill. But
from the outset Frederick showed his intention of taking a high line,
for, in a disputed election at Magdeburg he obtained a party for a
nominee of his own who was already a bishop, and therefore ineligible,