After  the  death  of  Frederic  II.  the  distinctions  of  Guelf
and  Ghibelin  became  destitute  of  all  rational  meaning.  The
most  odious  crimes  were  constantly  perpetrated,  and  the  ut-
most miseries  endured,  for  an  echo  and  a  shade  that  mocked


ITALY.  AFFAIRS  OF  NAPLES.  391

the  leluded  enthusiasts  of  faction.  None  of  the  Guelfs  de-
nied the  nominal  but  indefinite  sovereignty  of  the  empire
and  beyond  a  name  the  Ghibelins  themselves  would  have
been  little  disposed  to  carry  it.  But  the  virulent  hatreds  at-
tached to  these  words  grew  continually  more  implacable,  till
ages  of  ignominy  and  tyrannical  government  had  extin-
guished every  energetic  passion  in  the  bosoms  of  a  degraded
people.
