The way seemed to be open at last for the realisation of Otto's imperial dreams. He was a descendant of Charles the Great in the female line. He was the complete master of a large part of the Empire with the northern capital in it. He had already taken the crown of Lombardy. On the battlefield of Lechfeld
(955) his victorious troops saluted him as "Imperator Augustus, Pater Patræ."[394:1] He had likewise proved himself a most worthy champion of the Church by allowing the Church to crown him; by enriching the German Church, giving it a better organisation, and subjecting it to his will; and by labouring zealously to convert the heathen on his borders.[394:2]
Italian affairs called him thither a second time. Berengar after recovering his throne was ruling as a tyrant in the north and had violated a portion of the patrimony of St. Peter. Mohammedan corsairs were devastating the south. The rest of Italy was full of anarchy and desolated by the feuds of a crowd of petty nobles most of whom were scrambling for the imperial crown. A row of inferior Popes had brought the Papacy itself into disrepute. Thus the solicitations of his family, the approval of his people and nobles, the cry of the oppressed Italians, the expectation of the nobility, and the request of Pope John XII. and influential churchmen, all impelled him to realise his own wish.
Therefore, in 957, Otto sent Ludolph with a large force against Berengar. The Crown Prince died in the midst of victory. Then Otto had his little son crowned as Otto II. in 961 and crossed the Alps with a big army. All resistance vanished before this new Charles the Great. In a general diet of the Lombard kingdom Berengar was deposed and at Pavia the German monarch was formally crowned "King of Italy." Early in 962 he triumphantly entered the Eternal City. The Pope gave him hearty greeting, held services of thanksgiving, and gave a great feast in his honour. On the
following Sunday the imperial coronation occurred in the church of St. John Lateran.[395:1] The King promised to protect and defend the Church[395:2]; the Pope to be an obedient subject of the Emperor; and the people to choose no future Pope without Otto's consent. Otto was then anointed by the Pope, the imperial crown was put on his brow, the imperial robe was adjusted, and the imperial sword was buckled on while the populace shouted "Long live Otto, Emperor Augustus." The head of that race which Charles the Great had converted by the sword had revived the Empire, the policy, and the traditions of that renowned ruler.
The papal policy of Emperor Otto I. was soon revealed. He granted to the Church the most famous and the most important "constitution" since that of Lothair (824) in which all the grants of Pepin, Charles the Great, and Louis the Pious were confirmed and the rights of the Emperor in papal elections clearly defined.[395:3] Otto had no sooner reached northern Italy to subdue the irrepressible Berengar and his sons, however, than Pope John renounced his allegiance to his new master, conspired with Berengar, and even incited the heathen Magyars to invade Germany.[395:4] The Emperor refused to believe these plots until confirmed by his own messengers and even then excused the young Pontiff by remarking: "He is only a boy; the example of good men will reform him."[395:5] He then hastened to Rome to begin that work.
Pope John at once sent legates to Otto promising amendment and accusing the Emperor of having broken his solemn promise. Otto excused his actions and, after the custom of the age, challenged the Pope to settle the dispute either by the wager of a solemn oath or by the ordeal of battle. Both offers were refused and Otto took Rome. John "seized most of the treasures of St. Peter and sought safety in flight."[396:1] Otto, at the request of the Roman clergy and people, called an ecclesiastical council in St. Peter's to try him (963). John XII. was proved guilty of the whole category of mediæval crimes: celebrating mass without communing himself, ordaining a bishop in a stable, accepting bribes for ordination, consecrating a ten-year-old bishop, neglecting the repair of churches, being guilty of adultery and incest, making the Lateran a brothel, going out hunting with the nobles, putting out the eyes of his own godfather, Benedict, cruelly murdering the archdeacon John, setting fire to houses like Nero, wearing the armour of a warrior in Rome, drinking to the devil's health, neglecting matins and vespers, never signing himself with the cross, and even invoking the aid of Venus, Jupiter, and other demons when gambling.
Thrice John was summoned to appear before the council in order to clear himself of the charges. At the request of the council the Emperor wrote a letter addressed to the "Pontiff and Universal Pope John" asking him to appear:
Having arrived in Rome on the service of God, and having inquired of your sons the bishops and clergy, and of the people of your Church, why you have forsaken
them, such scandalous and obscene things have been reported to us concerning you, that if the like had been told us of a common mountebank we should have hesitated to repeat them. But that you may not be wholly ignorant of what it is that is said of you, we will specify a few of these things only; for if we would enumerate all, the daylight would fail before we would make an end of writing. Know, then, that you are accused—not by individuals but by the unanimous voice of clergy and laity—of homicide, sacrilege, perjury, and incest. It is also said of you, that in your sports you have called upon the names of Jupiter, Venus, and other demons of the old world. We therefore do earnestly entreat your paternity that you delay not to return to Rome, and to purge yourself from these heinous crimes, and if perchance you should stand in fear of the rude multitude, we are ready to pledge our oath that nothing contrary to canonical rule and order shall be done against you.[397:1]