were for the most part in sympathy with Becket and unwilling to
prolong the schism. The altars used by Frederick's envoys in England
were purified after their departure; and although Henry's
representatives appeared at the Diet of Wurzburg in May, 1165, and
even took an oath to acknowledge the anti-Pope, the English King did
not dare to ratify their action.

[Sidenote: Frederick's momentary triumph.]

Nor was this the only time when success seemed possible to Frederick.
This failure to move the English allegiance and the defection of a
number even of the German clergy emboldened Alexander to assume the
aggressive, and he ventured to leave France and to take up his abode
at Rome. (December, 1165.) Again the discontents of Lombardy were the
occasion for the Emperor's visit. In the autumn of 1166 he crossed the
Alps, and after spending some months in Lombardy he forced an entrance
into Rome, enthroned his own Pope in St. Peter's, and himself wore his
imperial crown. Frederick refused to treat with Alexander except on
the basis of the resignation of both existing Popes and the election
of a third. Alexander's position was unbearable and he fled to
Benevento. The Romans accepted Frederick as their lord. The Emperor's
triumph seemed complete: Charlemagne's successor had indeed arrived.
But the triumph was short-lived. The summer pestilence, which so often
attacked a German army in Italy, fell more fiercely than ever before.
Frederick fled northwards before it, and found so much hostility in
Lombardy that it was only by bypaths and in disguise that he was able
to make his way out of Italy.

[Sidenote: The Lombard League.]