Historical Background of Dante 75
their episcopal sovereign, whose policy was too often a nar-
rowly selfish and uncomprehending one. The citizens began,
therefore, to desire to control their own affairs. This de-
sire for independence was naturally opposed by the bishop,
with the result that riots, fights, and bargaining continued
to take place, until finally the bishop was either expelled neck
and crop, or else yielded his claim to sovereignty in the
city and agreed to let the citizens control their own affairs
as they would. The Popes were interested participants in
these struggles, and though frequently they supported the
bishops, they often found it to their advantage to strike an
alliance with the citizens. Thus, from the very beginning
of their independent careers, the cities found themselves
drawn into the complicated web of Italian politics, in
which the dominant and controlling force was always the
papacy.
The second foe with whom the cities were compelled to
cross swords was the foe without their gates, usually im-
mediately without their gates. This was the feudal noble,
a type whose roots ran back in many cases to the great
landed proprietor of the last days of the Roman Empire,
and whose growth in numbers and power had been greatly
favored by the disturbed conditions which had so long pre-
vailed in Italy. Ensconced in their castles of stone, dotting
hilltop and mountain-side and commanding all the routes
of traffic by road and river, the feudal noble had become
largely a law unto himself and a terrible pest to the
traveling merchant, from whom he arbitrarily took toll and
tariff, and whom he often deprived both of property and
life. Against these foes the cities now began an incessant
warfare and gradually wore them down and compelled the
nobles to accept the terms which they dictated. The terms
usually imposed compelled the nobles to abandon their