Towards the close of 1310, Henry VII. crossed Mont Cenis with an army of several thousand men, and was welcomed with great pomp in Milan, where he was crowned with the iron crown of Lombardy. The poet Dante hailed him as a saviour of Italy, and all parties formed the most extravagant expectations of the advantage they would derive from his coming. The Emperor seems to have tried to act with entire impartiality, and consequently both parties were disappointed. The Guelphs first rose against him, and instead of peace a new war ensued. He was not able to march to Rome until 1312, and by that time the city was again divided into two hostile parties. With the help of the Colonnas, he gained possession of the southern bank of the Tiber, and was crowned Emperor in the Lateran Church by a Cardinal, since there was no Pope in Rome: the Orsini family, who were hostile to him, held possession of the other part of the city, including St. Peter's and the Vatican. [Sidenote: 1314. LUDWIG THE BAVARIAN ELECTED.] There were now indications that all Italy would be convulsed with a repetition of the old struggle. The Guelphs rallied around king Robert of Naples as their head, while king Frederick of Sicily and the Republic of Pisa declared for the Emperor. France and the Pope were about to add new elements to the quarrel, when in August, 1313, Henry VII. died of poison, administered to him by a monk in the sacramental wine,--one of the most atrocious forms of crime which can be imagined. He was a man of many noble personal qualities, and from whom much was hoped, both in Germany and Italy; but his reign was too short for the attainment of any lasting results. When the Electors came together at Frankfort, in 1314, it was found that their votes were divided between two candidates. Henry VII.'s son, king John of Bohemia, was only seventeen years old, and the friends of his house, not believing that he could be elected, united on Duke Ludwig of Bavaria, a descendant of Otto of Wittelsbach. On the other hand, the friends of the house of Hapsburg, with the combined influence of France and the Pope on their side, proposed Frederick of Austria, the son of the Emperor Albert. There was a division of the Diet, and both candidates were elected; but Ludwig had four of the seven Electors on his side, he reached Aix-la-Chapelle first and was there crowned, and thus he was considered to have the best right to the Imperial dignity.