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THE WAR OF FREDERICK I AGAINST THE
COMMUNES OF LOMBARDY
1160-1183 A.D.
BY
GIOVANNI BATTISTA TESTA
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
PART THE FIRST.
CHAPTER I. How civilization, having put an end to
barbarian invasions, works for the regeneration of the peoples
CHAPTER II. Reign of Otho I.
CHAPTER III. Rivalry between Ardoin and Henry II
CHAPTER IV. Reign of Henri III
CHAPTER V. Reign of Henry IV.
CHAPTER VI. Reign of Conrad III
PART THE SECOND.
CHAPTER I. Of the qualities of heroic times. How they
died away in Lombardy
CHAPTER II. Cause of the decadence after the Peace of
Constance. Conclusion
BOOK I. (1152-1155). Character of Frederick I
BOOK II. (1155-1157). Condition of the Milanese
BOOK III. (1157.1158). Frederick’s military
expeditions
BOOK IV. (1159). Frederick's atrocious
cruelty
BOOK V. (1160). League between Milan, Brescia,
Piacenza, and the Pope
BOOK VI. (1161-1162). Destruction of Milan
BOOK VII. (1163-1164). Frederick's difficulties
in Italy and Germany
BOOK VIII. (1165-1167). Frederick’s return into
Italy
BOOK IX. (1168-1174). Frederick’s return to
Pavia
BOOK X. (1175). Diet of the League in Modena
BOOK XI. (1176-1183). Battle of Legnano. Frederick
consents to a peace with the Communes
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE W. E. GLADSTONE.
To YOU do I dedicate this work, in which I have
undertaken to narrate the rise of Italian liberty, in order to have an
opportunity of expressing to you the high opinion which I formed of the
goodness and greatness of your soul, when, with that grave moderation which
adds grace and authority to truth, you undertook to make known to all the good
in Christendom, with how great injustice so many Italians are kept shut up in
the wretchedness of the Neapolitan prisons; men to whose charge no offence can
be laid, excepting that, by reason of the unhappy condition of the times, they
have failed in their attempt to recover for their country that liberty which in
the Middle Ages appeared with such glory in Italy, as the dawn of the present
civilization of Europe.
Your name, now one of the first in this kingdom, will
never cease to be loved and honoured by Italians, until love of justice, and
compassion for the unfortunate who have deserved well of their country, no
longer find a place amongst the virtues which exalt human nature.
Be pleased to have regard, most of all, to the spirit
in which I send you this offering of respect and gratitude. Receive it kindly,
were it only for this, that it comes to you attended by fervent prayers, which
I shall never cease to offer up to the Great Source of every good, that upon
you, and upon this your land, in which for so many many years I have found a
safe abiding-place, and kindnesses not a few, He may long shower every
blessing.
G. B. TESTA.
May 24, 1853.
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