To Preserve Their Political Independence,the Popes of the Twelfth and Thirteenth

To preserve their political independence,the popes of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries:

A) tried to balance the kingdom of Sicily against the German empire in northern Italy.
B) tried to defend themselves against the Normans in southern Italy by allying themselves with France.
C) fled to France and abandoned Italy to the Staufen emperors of Germany.
D) maintained a large standing army, which they supported with unpopular taxation from the churches of western Europe.
E) forged a military alliance with the Byzantine rulers in Constantinople.