END OF THE GREAT SCHISM 165
rights to new possessions in Italy from the old Duke Guelph. Nev- ertheless these advantages were counterbalanced by the opposition of the Guelph-English ambitions of Henry the Lion, who was annoyed by Frederic's purchases (among other things) , and therefore did not come to his assistance during the negotiations which took place on the shores of Lake Como. Frederic marched to battle outside Al- lesandria and Legnano in 1176 with insufficient forces; he was de- feated and barely managed to escape with his life. Now he suddenly altered his policy, broke the fateful oath he had sworn at Wiirzburg, and sought to negotiate with the Curia. There, too, peace was de- sired. Alexander was old and tired of fighting. He saw that the financial situation of the Holy See was chaotic, that Rome and the Papal States were shaken by schism, and that great damage had been done to faith and discipline.
After a preliminary Treaty at Anagni, peace was signed in Venice during 1177. Alexander was surrounded everywhere by jubilant crowds when he went to the City of the See and sent to the Emperor's residence legates announcing that the ban had been lifted. Frederic rode in the Gondola of the Doges to St. Mark's Square, which had been festively adorned. There Alexander awaited him on a throne erected at the entrance to the Cathedral. Frederic fell at his feet, and the Pope embraced him, giving him the kiss of peace. When they entered the Cathedral together the Germans intoned the Te Deum. After Mass Barbarossa held the stirrup for the Pope, who was about to ride away, and begged leave to accompany him to his distant residence. This, however, the Pope courteously refused. Thus a struggle of seventeen years ended in a second Canossa. Frederic abandoned the anti-Pope and recognized Alexander, who dealt mag- nanimously with Calixtus. Then he restored the Papal States as well as the treasures that had been removed, and guaranteed to the Pope dominion over the City of Rome and veritable sovereignty in his domain. For his part the Pope did not interfere in the affairs of the independent German Church, nor did he challenge the German idea of monarchy. Therewith he abandoned the idea of carrying out the whole of Hildebrand's reform.
The third great Lateran Synod of 1 179 confirmed the peace. There a decree sought to forestall all future danger of a schism by deciding
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