The church-building days of King Desiderius were now drawing to a close. He thought he had strengthened his seat on the throne by alliances with the all-powerful Charlemagne of France, whose brother Carloman married Desiderius' daughter Gilberga; and some historians assert that his son Adelchi espoused Gisla, the sister of Charlemagne. Here we have the link connecting the Comacine Masters under the Lombard rule, with Charlemagne, through whose patronage they spread northward, developing the Gothic architecture. Politically the link was not a strong one. In 770, Charlemagne having been menaced by Pope Stephen III., the protector of Desiderius, revenged himself by causing Carloman to repudiate Gilberga and send her back to her father with her two sons. Carloman died in 771, and Pope Stephen III. did not live long after him, for in 772 Charlemagne entered into a league with the new Pope Adrian I. to dispossess Desiderius of his kingdom. This unkind scheme was by Pope Adrian dignified by the name of a "restitution to the Holy See." The famous unequal fight at Pavia, between Desiderius and the multitudinous hosts of France, is well known. Desiderius was vanquished, and the Longobardic supremacy of two centuries was over. Charlemagne vaunted himself in having released Italy from the Longobardic yoke, but whether his own yoke were lighter is an open question. In any case there was no "restitution to the Holy See." The Lombard cities were no more given to the Pope by Charlemagne, than they had been by Desiderius. On the contrary, he crowned himself _Rex Francorum et Longobardorum_, and his son Pepin inherited the same title. With him begins the next era in the development of Comacine art. FOOTNOTES: [20] _Antiq. Long. Mil._ vol. i.; _Dissertationi_, p. 17. [21] Their daughter Gundeberg had a similar life; she married first Ariold, and then Rotharis. [22] Symonds, _Renaissance of Art, Fine Arts_, chap. ii. [23] _Annali d'Italia_, tom. iv. pp. 38, 39. [24] The first Roman Basilica was constructed in 231 B.C., by Marcus Portius Cato, and was called the Basilica Portia. Marcus Fulvis Nobilior built one, called the Fulvia, in 179 B.C.; Titus Sempronius, 169 B.C. Then followed a long line of these religio-judicial buildings, up to the Basilica Julia of Augustus, 29 B.C., and ending with the Ulpian Basilica of Trajan, A.D. 100.--Ricci, _Arch. Ital._ chap. ii. [25] _Dell' Architettura in Italia_, vol. i. p. 174. [26] A document, dated 739, in the archives of Monte Amiata, speaks of a certain Maestro Comacino, named Rodpert, who sold to Opportuno for 30 gold solidi, his property at Toscanella (then a Longobardic territory), consisting of a house and vineyard, a cloister, cistern, land, etc. [27] Cattaneo, _L' Architettura in Italia_, p. 46.