Note 053 Except in the divorce of the daughter of Desiderius, whom Charlemagne repudiated sine aliquo crimine. Pope Stephen IV. had most furiously opposed the alliance of a noble Frank - cum perfida, horrida nec dicenda, foetentissima natione Longobardorum - to whom he imputes the first stain of leprosy, (Cod. Carolin. epist. 45, p. 178, 179.) Another reason against the marriage was the existence of a first wife, (Muratori, Annali d'Italia, tom. vi. p. 232, 233, 236, 237.) But Charlemagne indulged himself in the freedom of polygamy or concubinage.]

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The History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire —Fall In The East —Chapter 49