|
My Lord King Charles |
|
A state of crisis has emerged |
|
For you've incurred the wrath |
|
Of the Lombard King |
|
Desiderius |
|
Cast his daughter aside |
|
And took another for your wife |
|
He has taken offence |
|
And it's too late to make amends |
|
Our papal lands |
|
Have been occupied by force |
|
And fallen to the hands |
|
Of the barbarian horde |
|
For too long that vile race |
|
Has remained a threat |
|
To papal authority |
|
That scheming Lombard King |
|
Is flouting his debt wilfully |
|
We must stand up and wage war |
|
This has gone on for too long |
|
It's in all of our interests to subdue them |
|
Once and for all |
|
My Lord and Holy Father |
|
This I pledge to thee |
|
Like my fathers before me |
|
I shall fight for the Holy City |
|
My Lord and Holy Father |
|
I pledge thee my loyalty |
|
I shall see this Holy City |
|
Restored to its former glory |
|
It has been three hundred years |
|
Since 'cross the Alps came |
|
Those faithless lepers |
|
To usurp the lands |
|
Of their peace-loving neighbours |
|
Encroaching closer upon Rome |
|
Their leaders wanted to |
|
Capture it for their own |
|
And now King Desiderius |
|
Has started to harass us |
|
Your father was a champion of the Church |
|
An agent of civilisation in the western world |
|
Chosen to lead the people to the cross |
|
The time is once more upon us |
|
To look to our old friends |
|
As your fathers before you |
|
Came to our defence |
|
And you are/I a am the chosen one |
|
To lead the faithless to the cross |
|
In His Empire in the west |
|
O'er the Lord's flock you/I keep the watch |
|
And with the authority vested in me |
|
I shall claim the Iron Crown of Lombardy |
|
Come springtime |
|
The last of the alpine blasts had blown |
|
The franks are still encamped |
|
By the banks of the river Po |
|
The son of Desiderius to |
|
Byzantium had flown |
|
The banks of the river Po |
|
Are swelled by the melting snows |
