A league of sixteen cities of Northern Italy, headed by Milan, and including Venice, formed in 1167 against Frederick Barbarossa. The league defeated the Emperor at Legnano in 1176, and in 1183, by the Peace of Constance he granted practical independence to the cities, subject to the recognition of his suzerainty, and the payment of certain small dues. Lombard League, Second. A league formed under the Marquis d’Este in 1255, to resist Pope Alexander IV. This league consisted mainly of the Guelf cities of Lombardy, while Alexander’s principal supporters were Ezzelino of Verona and his brother Alberic of Treviso. Ezzelino was disastrously defeated at Cassano in 1259. Lombards. The Italian merchants who spread over Europe during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries were known as Lombards. They were the first bankers of modern Europe. London Company. A company formed in 1606, under charter from James I, with the object of colonizing Virginia. London Convention, 1832. A convention between Great Britain, France and Russia on the one side, and Bavaria on the other, by which Greece was erected into an independent kingdom, under the guarantee of the Powers, and Prince Otto of Bavaria placed on the throne, with the proviso, however, that the crowns of Greece and Bavaria should never be united in the person of one sovereign. London Convention, 1862. An instrument signed in London by Great Britain, France and Spain, agreeing to demand from Mexico a guarantee for the better protection of the subjects of the signatories, and at the same time undertaking not to seek for any territorial acquisitions, nor to interfere in the internal government of Mexico. It soon became evident that Napoleon III was determined to force Mexico into a war, with the object of placing Maximilian of Austria on the throne, whereupon Great Britain and Spain withdrew from the convention. London Convention, 1884. A convention between Great Britain and the Transvaal, amending the Convention of Pretoria of 1881. All direct reference to the suzerainty was omitted, but it was expressly stipulated that no treaties should be negotiated with Foreign Powers (excepting the Orange Free State), or with native chiefs, without the consent of Great Britain. The suzerainty was thus maintained in fact, as Great Britain retained full control of the foreign relations of the Transvaal. Provision was also made for the presence of a British Resident at Pretoria, and certain questions of frontier were re-adjusted. London, Treaty of, 1674. The treaty between England and Holland closing the war of 1672, which arose out of England’s claim that foreign ships should salute her flag wherever it was met in the narrow seas. Holland accepted the principle involved, and agreed to pay an indemnity of 2,000,000 guilders. (_See_ Honour of the Flag.) London, Treaty of, 1827.