Two centuries of profound peace had rendered Pavia one of the most
flourishing cities of the universe, when it beheld the standards of
Didier, king of the Lombards, floating at its gates. This grasping
prince, jealous of the power of Pope Adrian, sacked every place
belonging to the Pontiff. The holy father fulminated horrible
excommunications; but these arms were too weak to stop the usurper, and
the Pope had recourse to Charlemagne. That monarch crossed the Alps,
combated the enemies of the court of Rome, and made such a carnage
of them, that the field of battle took the name of _the Plain of the
Dead_. Didier sought refuge in Pavia. He had provided that capital
with everything necessary for a long resistance. Charlemagne blockaded
it, and left the command of his troops to his uncle Bernard; he then
took the road to Rome, where he was received as the liberator of the
Holy See. After having made a sojourn there, he returned to his army
before Pavia, and pressed the siege so vigorously, that it opened its
gates after an heroic defence of six months. Didier, his wife and
children, were made prisoners and banished to Liége. Thus finished the
kingdom of the Lombards, which had subsisted two hundred and six years.
Charlemagne added to the titles of Emperor of the Franks and Patrician
of the Romans, that of King of the Lombards.