the crown of the Western Kingdom, had recruited contingents in the
district of Burgundy round Dijon, which was his native land. The
Italian lords again took sides with one competitor or the other, with
the exception of the most powerful of them all, Adalbert, Marquess of
Tuscany, who contrived to maintain a prudent neutrality. War then
broke out afresh. A bloody battle—a rare event in the ninth century—in which some 7000 men fought on either side was waged for a whole day on the banks of the Trebbia. Berengar, thoroughly worsted, was
forced to retreat beyond the Po, where Verona, Cremona and Brescia
still remained faithful to him, and to abandon the struggle with Guy.
The latter seems not to have troubled himself to follow up his enemy's
flight. His victory gave him possession of the palace of Pavia, that is,
of the capital of the Italian kingdom. In the middle of February 889,
he held a great assembly of bishops there, to whom he solemnly promised
that church property and rights should be respected and maintained,
and that the plundering raids and usurpations of the magnates should
be put down. Then the prelates declared him king, and bestowed on
him the royal unction.
For more than half a century, the supreme title of Emperor had seemed to be bound up with the possession of Italy. Guy therefore approached Pope Stephen V, with whom he had hitherto been on good terms, with a demand for the imperial crown. Stephen, however, was not anxious to add to the power of the house of Spoleto, always a menace to the papacy. A more distant Emperor seemed to offer a fairer prospect of safety. He therefore sent a private summons to Arnulf. But as the latter was unable to leave Germany, Stephen V was compelled (11 February 891) to proceed to the consecration of Guy as Emperor. His wife, Ageltrude, was crowned with him, and their son, Lambert, received the title of king and joint-Emperor. Adalbert of Tuscany now resplved on making his official submission to the new ruler. Berengar alone persisted in refusing to recognise him, and maintained his independence in his old domain, the March of Friuli. He even retained some supporters outside its limits who objected to Guy's Burgundian origin and reproached him with the favour which he shewed to certain of his compatriots who had followed him from beyond the Alps, such as Anscar (Anscarius), on whom he bestowed the March of Ivrea. Nevertheless the new Emperor, in the beginning of May 891, held a great placitum at Pavia, at which, to satisfy the demands of the prelates, he promulgated a long capitulary enacting the measures necessary to protect church property. On the same occasion, anxious, no doubt, to secure the support of the clergy, he made numerous grants to the bishops.
In September Stephen V died. His successor was the Bishop of Porto, Formosus, an energetic man, but one whose energy had gained him many enemies. In particular he seems to have been on bad terms with Guy, and doubtless considered an Italian Emperor a danger to the
