Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images available at The Internet Archive)
_The Story of Perugia_
_All rights reserved_
_First Edition, February 1898_
_Second Edition, December 1898_
_Third Edition, April 1900_
_Fourth Edition, May 1901_
[Illustration: _Perugino._]
_The Story of_ Perugia
_by Margaret Symonds
and Lina Duff Gordon_
_Illustrated by M. Helen James_
[Illustration]
_London: =J. M. Dent & Co.=_
_Aldine House, 29 and 30 Bedford Street_
_Covent Garden, W.C._ 1901
PREFACE
When but a little while ago we undertook to write a "guide book" to one
of the better known towns of Central Italy, we realised perhaps
imperfectly how wide and full was the field of work which lay before us.
The "story" of Perugia is, like the story of nearly all Italian towns,
as full and varied as the story of a nation. Every side-light of history
is cast upon it, and nearly every phase of man's policy and art
reflected on its monuments. To do justice to so grand a pageant in a
narrow space of time and binding was, we may fairly plead, no easy task;
and now that the work is done, and the proofs returned to the printer,
we are left with an inevitable regret; for it has been impossible for us
to retain in shortened sentences and cramped description the charm of
all the tales and chronicles which we ourselves found necessary reading
for a full knowledge of so wide a subject.
If this small book have any claim to merit it is greatly due to the
faithful and ungrudging help rendered to its authors throughout their
study, by one true guide; by many old friends; and by the inhabitants of
the town whose name it bears for title. We can never adequately express
our sense of gratitude to the people of Perugia, to whom we came as
utter strangers, but who received us with such great courtesy and
kindness as to make our stay and study in their midst a pleasure as well
as an education.
Our book is intended for the general traveller rather than for the
student. We have offered no criticism, and have quoted whenever we could
from the pages of contemporary chronicles. We have dealt with Perugia as
with the heroine of a novel, describing her particular progress, and not
confounding it with that of neighbour towns, equally important in their
way, and each struggling, as perhaps only the cities of Italy knew how
to struggle, towards an individual supremacy in a state lacerated by
foreign wars and policies.
In dealing with one of the most vivid points in the history of the
town--the Rule of the Nobles--we have, with some diffidence,
incorporated into our narrative the words of one who had already drawn
his description of the subject straight from the original source,
treating it with such a powerful sympathy as it would have been
impossible for us to rival. For further knowledge of this terrible
period we can but refer the student to the chronicle of Matarazzo.
(_Archivio Storico_, vol. xvi. part 2.)
With the art of Umbria we have dealt only shortly, and from the point of
view of sentiment rather than that of criticism. For a severe and
thorough knowledge of the technique and use of colours employed by the
men who lived through such scenes as we have described in chapters II.
and III. we must refer the reader to the works of other authors. For our
dates, and facts in reference to art, we have relied on Kugler, Crowe
and Cavalcaselle, Rio, Vasari and the local writers, Mariotti,
Lupatelli, Mezzanotte, etc.
It remains to give a list of the books which we have consulted for the
history. Amongst these are the Perugian chronicles contained in the
_Archivio Storico d'Italia_; Graziani, Matarazzo, Frolliere, and
Bontempi; Fabretti's chronicles of Perugia, and his "_Vita dei
Condottieri, etc._"; and the local histories of Ciatti, Pellini,
Bartoli, Mariotti, and Bonazzi. Villani and Sismondi have been
consulted; Creighton's "_History of the Papacy during the Reformation_,"
and von Ranke's "_History of the Popes_."
Of the purely local histories mentioned above Bonazzi's is the most
important. His two bulky volumes are excellent reading in spite of his
sarcastic and often unjust bitterness against the clerical party. A
number of local pamphlets, the names of whose authors we cannot here
enumerate, have been used for various details, together with other books
on a variety of subjects, such as Dennis' "_Etruria_," Broussole's
"_Pélerinages Ombriens_," Hodgkin's "_Italy and her Invaders_," etc.,
etc.
When all is told, by far the most valuable and trustworthy authority on
Perugian matters is Annibale Mariotti. A local gossip who combines with
his gossiping qualities an exquisite sense of humour, and a real genius
for investigation in matters relating to his native town, is the person
of all others from whom to learn its actual life and history. Mariotti
is an eminent specimen of this class of writers, and no one who is
anxious to understand the spirit of Perugia should omit a careful study
of his works on the _Popes_, the _People_, and the _Painters_ of
Perugia.
For personal help received we have the satisfaction of offering in this
place our sincere thanks to Cav. Giuseppe Bellucci, professor at the
University of Perugia, whose wise and kindly counsel has led us
throughout to an understanding of countless points which must, without
him, have remained unnoticed or obscure. Our notes on the museum are
practically his own. We would mention also with grateful thanks Dr
Marzio Romitelli, Arcidiacono of the cathedral of Perugia, who
generously opened his library to us, and many of whose suggestions have
been of service to us. To Count Vincenzo Ansidei, head of the Perugian
library, our sincere thanks are offered here.
We must further acknowledge the help of Signor Novelli of Perugia; of
Mrs Ross, Mr Hayllar, and Cav. Bruschi, head of the Marucelliana Library
at Florence. Lastly, of Mr Walter Leaf and Mr Sidney Colvin in the
revision of proofs.
The comfort of our quarters in the Hotel Brufani needs no description to
most Italian travellers, who are already familiar with that delightful
house; but we are glad to mention here our appreciation of the care and
thoughtful kindness shown to us by our English hostess in the Umbrian
town. The courtesy received by us at headquarters from the Prefect of
Umbria and Baroness Ferrari his wife, made our stay, from a purely
social point of view, both easy and delightful.
To close these prefatory notes we can but say how sincerely we trust
that the following pages may serve only as a preparation, in more
capable hands, for further and far fuller records of a city whose
history is as enthralling to the student of men as its pictures and
position must ever be to the lover of what is beautiful in nature and in
art.
_August 21st, 1897._
AM HOF. DAVOS.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
_The earliest Origins of Perugia and Growth of the City_ 1
CHAPTER II
_The Condottieri and the Rise of the Nobles_ 33
CHAPTER III
_The Baglioni. Paul III. and last years of the
City_ 58
CHAPTER IV
_The City of Perugia_ 82
CHAPTER V
_Palazzo Pubblico, The Fountain and the Duomo_ 109
CHAPTER VI
_Fortress of Paul III.--S. Ercolano--S.
Domenico--S. Pietro--S. Costanzo_ 151
CHAPTER VII
_Piazza del Papa, S. Severo, Porta Sole, S.
Agostino and S. Francesco al Monte_ 178
CHAPTER VIII
_Via dei Priori--Perugino's House--Madonna
della Luce, S. Bernardino and S. Francesco_ 201
CHAPTER IX
_Pietro Perugino and the Cambio_ 216
CHAPTER X
_The Pinacoteca_ 230
CHAPTER XI
_The Museum and Tomb of the Volumnii_ 267
CHAPTER XII
_In Umbria_ 290
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
_Via del Aquedotto, showing Tower of the Cathedral_ 5
_Lombard Arch on the Church of S. Agata_ 14
_Palazzo Baldeschi_ 23
_Arms of Perugia_ 32
_Via delle Stalle_ 39
_Niccolò Piccinino_ 53
_Palazzo Pubblico_ 57
_Fortress of Paul III., showing the Upper Part,
now occupied by the Prefettura, etc., and
the Lower Wing, which covered the site of
the present Piazza D'Armi_ 77
_Perugia from the Road to the Campo Santo_ 83
_Etruscan Arch, Porta Eburnea_ 87
_Mediæval Staircase in the Via Bartolo_ 89
_Piazza Sopramuro, showing the Palace of the
Capitano del Popolo and the Buildings of
the first University of Perugia_ 101
_Convent of Monte Luce_ 107
_Piazza di S. Lorenzo, seen from under the
Arches of the Palazzo Pubblico_ 111
_Remains of the First Palazzo dei Priori in the
Via del Verzaro_ 114
_Oldest part of the Palazzo Pubblico_ 121
_The Reaper. Detail in a panel on the Fountain_ 127
_Geometry. Detail in a panel on the Fountain_ 131
_On the Steps of the Cathedral_ 134
_In the Cloisters of the Canonica (or Seminary)_ 147
_S. Francis_ 150
_Porta Marzia_ 155
_Church of S. Ercolano and Archway in the
Etruscan Wall_ 157
_Detail of the Tomb of Pope Benedict XI. in the
Church of S. Domenico_ 166
_House in the Via Pernice_ 179
_Arco d'Augusto_ 189
_S. Agostino and Porta Bulagajo_ 191
_Church of S. Angelo_ 195
_The Old Collegio dei Notari, said to be the studio
of Perugino_ 202
_Torre degli Scirri_ 203
_Etruscan Arch of S. Luca_ 205
_Mercy. Detail on Façade of the Oratory of
S. Bernardino_ 209
_Perugino: Madonna and Patron Saints of Perugia,
painted for the Magistrates' Chapel at
Perugia, now in the Vatican at Rome_ 221
_First Translation of the Body of S. Ercolano
(Fresco in the Pinacoteca of Perugia)_ 243
_Gonfalone of the Annunciation attributed to Niccolò
Alunno_ 249
_Adoration of the Shepherds. By Fiorenzo di
Lorenzo_ 253
_Via Della Pera under the Aqueduct on the way
to the University_ 269
_Etruscan Mirror in Guadabassi Collection_ 280
_Tomb of Aruns Volumnius_ 287
_The Temple of Clitumnus_ 301
_Narni (with Angelo Inn in foreground)_ 307
The Story of Perugia
CHAPTER I
_The earliest Origins of Perugia and growth of the City_
Sometimes in a street or in a country road we meet an unknown person who
seems to us wonderfully and inexplicably attractive. Perhaps we only
catch a passing vision; the face, the figure passes us, oftener than not
we never meet again, and even the memory of the vision which seemed so
full of life, so strong, and so enduring, passes with the years, and we
forget. But had we only tried a little, it would, in almost every
instance, have been possible to follow the figure up, to learn what we
wanted to know about it, to understand the reason why the face was full
of meaning to us, and what it was which went before and gave the mouth
its passion, the eyes their pain and sweetness. In nine cases out of ten
we can, in this nineteenth century, discover the birth and parentage,
the loves and hates, of any human being we may wish to know. But this is
not the way with cities, and although they attract us in almost
precisely the same fashion as people do, we cannot always trace their
earliest origins. There are certain towns we come across in travel, of
which we know very well that we want to know more. Perugia is one of
these. It at once catches hold of one's imagination. No one can see it
and forget it. A breath of the past is in it--of a past which we dimly
feel to be prehistoric. Boldly we set to work to learn its history, and
at first this seems an easy matter: the later centuries are a full and
an enthralling study, for as long as men knew how to write they were
certain to write about themselves, and the writers of Perugia had a wide
dramatic field to work upon. But then come the records which are not
written--which, in fact, are merely hearsay; and further even than
hearsay is the period when we know that men existed, but which has no
history at all beyond a few stone arrow heads, and bits of jade and
flint. Yet, to be fair to a place of such extraordinary antiquity as
this early city of the Etruscan league, one is unwilling to leave a
single stone unturned, and in the following sketch we have gathered
together, as closely as we could, the earliest facts about a city which
attracts us, as those unknown people attract us whom we meet, admire,
and lose again in the crowd.
"It seems," says Bonazzi, the most modern historian of Perugia, "that in
the earlier periods of the world all this land of ours (Umbria) was
covered by the sea, and that only the highest tops of the Apennines rose
here and there, as islands might, above the waves. Then other hills
arose, a new soil was disclosed, and great and horrid animals, whose
teeth were sometimes metres long, came forth and trod the terrible waste
places. In the silence of these squalid solitudes, no voice of man had
yet been heard, and the stars went on their way unnoticed, across the
firmament of heaven...."
But Bonazzi's science, though highly picturesque, was not entirely
correct, and the following account, written by an inhabitant of Perugia
who has studied the history of his town and neighbourhood with faithful
precision and from the darkest periods of their existence, may well be
inserted here.
"The city of Perugia," Prof. Bellucci writes, "is built upon a
piece of land which was formed by a large delta of the primeval
Tiber. In very early times (during the period known as pliocene)
the Tiber, before running into the sea, formed in the central basin
of Umbria an immense lake. The soil of which the actual plain of
Umbria is now composed, and the numerous low hills which surround
it, are made up either of river deposits such as sand and rubble
left behind by the rush of waters, or else by clay deposits which
slowly formed themselves in the quiet bosom of the lake. The date
of these deposits is shown by the fossil remains which are found in
them: elephants, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, stags, antelopes,
hyenas, wild dogs, &c., all of which indicate a much warmer climate
than that of the present day. In the period following on this, the
great lake of Umbria began to empty itself; and as the soil washed
gradually away, the waters forced a passage through the mountains
below Todi, and from that time onward the Tiber gradually assumed
its present course. The characteristic fauna of this second period
distinguishes it from the first. Numerous remains found in the
primitive gravel deposits of the Tiber prove the existence of man
in our neighbourhood during both these periods (namely the
paleolithic and neolithic). But the final drying up of the great
lake basin or valley of Umbria was a very slow process, and even in
Roman times the extent of these stagnant waters was so wide that
the present town of Bastia on the road to Assisi was surrounded by
them on every side and went by the name of _Insula Romana_. The
final drainage of the lake was not completed till some time in
1400, when the river Chiagio burst through the rocky dykes under
Torgiano and lowered the level of the water by four metres. Thus
central Umbria at last assumed its present aspect. We stand upon
the hill-top at Perugia where once thousands of years ago the
turbid waters of the Tiber rushed along, and at our feet stretch
the green and fertile fields of Umbria, all the fairer for the
fertilising waters of that mighty lake which, in the dim and
distant past, had covered them completely."
We have no definite date or name for those first men who came to live
in this strange marshy wilderness. We have only the relics of their
patient industry. An inexhaustible store of arrow-heads and other
barbarous stone implements is found in all the hills around Perugia, and
splendid hatchet heads of jade upon the shores of Trasimene. No doubt
these men lived in holes and caves, perhaps at the foot of this hill
where the present city of Perugia stands, or a little to the west of it,
but their history is dark and very far away. Dark too and far away, as
far as written facts remain, is the history of that almost more
mysterious race of men which followed on the prehistoric one, namely,
the Etruscans.
This is no place in which to discuss the origin of that extraordinary
people whose language and parentage, though they lived and laboured side
by side with the most cultivated and inquisitive of European nations, is
practically dead to us. It is enough at this point of our history to
note that the Etruscans were the first to seal their personality, with
the seal of a visible and tangible intelligence, upon this corner of the
world, and it is quite probable that they made one of their earliest
colonies upon the jutting spur of a line of hills which would have
attracted them upon arrival. It is certain that in course of time
Perugia became one of the most powerful cities of the Etruscan league.
Her museums are full of the pottery, tombs, inscriptions, toys, and
coins of the mysterious nation (see Museum, chapter XI.).
Innumerable myths grew up around the foreign people, and individual
historians described their advent in individual places and pretty much
at random. The earliest chroniclers of Perugia, ignoring the men who had
perhaps existed for centuries before this unknown nation
landed,--ignoring too, the other settlers,--pounced upon a plum so
precious and romantic to stick into the pie of legends that they were
concocting; they
[Illustration: VIA DEL AQUEDOTTO, SHOWING TOWER OF THE CATHEDRAL]
peeled and stoned the plum to suit their fancy, and having done so,
stuck it in with many others to swell the list of dubious tales in their
long-winded manuscripts. As these chroniclers were nearly always monks,
it was natural enough that they should form their shambling history on
the one great history that they possessed, _i.e._, the Bible. To them
the Etruscans were easily and most satisfactorily explained: they
descended from the first man, Adam, and they were the sons of Noah. Nay,
the monks made an even happier hit, for they declared that Noah in
person climbed the Apennines and pitched his tent upon the spur of hill
where the present city stands! We can well imagine the old monk Ciatti,
one of the earliest historians of Perugia, sitting before his wooden
desk upon some dreamy night in May, his Bible propped before him, all
Umbria asleep beneath the stars outside his window, and compiling the
following entrancing legends concerning the Etruscans and their leader:
"Serious writers hold _Janus_ to be the same as _Noah_, who alone among
men saw and knew all things during the space of six hundred years before
the Deluge and three hundred years after the Deluge. The ancient medals
which show the two faces of Janus are engraved with a ship, to denote
that he was Noah, who, entering an ark in the form of a ship, was saved
by divine decree from the universal Deluge."[1] Ciatti next goes on to
give a delightful description of the arrival of Noah and his sons; "they
penetrated," he says, "into Tuscany,[2] where, fascinated by the
loveliness of the country, the agreeable qualities of the soil, the
gentle air and the abundance of the earth, they determined to remain;
but feeling uncertain where they should fix their dwelling, they were
advised by certain augurs to build Perugia on the spot where it now
stands." Some say that the name Perugia comes from the Greek word for
"abundance." Certainly Ciatti was able to weave this fact into his
legendary web: "Whilst, waiting for the Augurs," he writes, "two doves
passed by them, flying to their nest, one carrying a branch loaded with
olives and the other an ear of corn. Soon after there came a big wild
boar carrying on his tusks a bunch of grapes. They took these signs to
mean good omens, and they decided to build Perugia on the spot."
Ciatti must have been an honest chronicler. Had we been given his early
possibilities of making history in our own fashion, we must inevitably
have told a credulous public that the ark itself rested upon the spurs
of the Apennines and disgorged its contents on the hill where stands the
present city of Perugia. But Ciatti withheld his hand from this, and we
too must bare our heads before the fact of Ararat, and only hold to that
of Noah, in his five-hundredth year or so, wandering unwearied forth to
form a mighty nation on the coasts of Italy!
But before leaving Ciatti and his early myths, we must do him the
justice to say that he was not utterly ignorant of a dim nation and of
dimmer monsters living perhaps before the days of the Deluge. The old
monk, like other wise historians, sets to work to hunt up the heraldry
of his native city, and thus he explains the origin of the griffin on
the city arms. The enthralling hunt described savours surely of
something in an even earlier age?
"Now it so happened that, when the people of Perugia and of Narni
were at the height of their prosperity, they became consumed by a
very warlike spirit, and cultivated freely all military exercises,
and on one occasion they challenged each other to a trial of
prowess in a celebrated hunt. They agreed to meet in the mountains
round about Perugia, which were then the haunt of fierce and
terrifying wild beasts, and having come to that mountain which now
takes its name from the event (Monte Griffone) they found there a
griffin, which the Perugians captured and killed. After some
dispute the monster was divided, the skin and claws being best
worthy of preservation were taken by the Perugians, whilst the
body fell to the people of Narni. In memory of this occurrence the
Perugians took for their arms a white griffin--white being the
natural colour of that animal--while the people of Narni took a red
griffin, corresponding to the part which had fallen to their share,
on a white field."[3]
But, to pass from the realms of myth to those of reality, it seems quite
certain that the Etruscans--or Rasenae as they are sometimes
called--spread themselves over a large part of Italy, building and
fortifying their cities, making roads and laws and temples, and casting
the light of an older art and civilisation upon the land to which they
came as colonists. One of the chief of their cities was Perugia.
Fragments of the old walls, built perhaps three thousand years ago,
still stand in places, clean-cut, erect, and menacing, around the
Umbrian city.
The lives of the Etruscans can only be studied through their art, and
Perugia holds an ample store of this in her museums. There, in those
rather dreary modern rooms, stone men and women smile upon their tombs,
and the sides of these tombs bristle with long inscriptions written in
an alphabet that we can partly read, but in a language that we cannot
understand. Mirrors, and beautifully painted pots, children's toys and
ladies' curling-tongs--the Etruscan dead have left no lack of records of
their ways of living. But, strong as was their personality, another and
a stronger force had struggled through the soil of Italy. Rome had
arisen to shine upon the growing world. It remained for Rome to leave
the stamp of veritable history upon the city of Perugia.
Throughout the early history of Rome, we catch dim rumours of an
occasional connection or warfare with this corner of Etruria. It is not
till 309 B.C. that we have any distinct mention of Perugia in connection
with Rome. In that year the Roman Consul, Fabius, fought a battle with
the Etruscans under the walls of the town. The Etruscans lost the day,
Perugia and other cities of the League sued for a truce with Rome which
was granted to them. Fabius entered Perugia "and this was the first
time," says Bartoli, "that the banner of foreigners had waved across our
city." Perugia bitterly resented the rule of the foreign power, and,
breaking her truce, she made several passionate efforts to regain her
freedom. But in vain. Her blood, perhaps, was old, and grown corrupt,
the blood of Rome was new and palpitating. She was again and again
overcome by Fabius. In 206 B.C. we find her, not exactly submitting to
Rome, but playing the part of a strong ally, and cutting down her woods
to help in the building of a fleet for Scipio. Her history continues
dark--overshadowed by that of Rome. We hear a faint rumble of the Roman
battles. We catch dull echoes of Hannibal and Trasimene, for Trasimene
is very near Perugia. Did some of her citizens creep down perhaps, and
get a vision of the fight? Did any of those much-bewigged Etruscan
ladies, who we know were very independent in their ways, tuck up their
skirts and follow through the woods to have a look at the elephants and
shudder at the swarthy African?
We cannot tell. The next clear point in her history is a terrible one
for Perugia. She fell, but she fell by a mighty hand, by that of the
emperor Augustus. In the year 40 B.C. the Roman Consul, Lucius
Antoninus, who, it may be said, was defending the liberty of Rome whilst
Mark Antony lay lost in a love-dream upon the banks of Nile, took
refuge within the walls of Perugia from the pursuit of Octavius
(Augustus) who then laid siege to the town. For seven months the brave
little city held out, but she was reduced to such a terrible distress of
famine that Lucius at last gave way, and opened her gates to the
conqueror. Octavius entered Perugia covered with laurels. The citizens
prayed for mercy. He spared most of the men and women, but he excepted
three hundred of the elders and saw them singly killed before his eyes.
When they prayed for grace he merely tossed his head back and repeated:
"They must die." This ordeal over, Octavius decided to postpone the sack
of the city until the following day. But one of its citizens, Caius
Cestius Macedonicus, hot with all the shame of the thing, got up at
night and made a funeral pyre of his house. He set fire to its walls,
and as it burned he stabbed himself and died there. The flames spread
through the city, and before the morning Perugia was burned to the
ground. Nothing remained of all its buildings except the temple of
Vulcan, and in memory of this fire the town was afterwards dedicated to
Vulcan instead of to Juno to whom it had formerly belonged. Octavius
returned to Rome bearing before him the image of Juno, which alone had
been saved from the flames. Some years later he agreed to rebuild the
city, and hence the letters _Augusta Perusia_ over her gates.
* * * * *
So laying aside for ever _Perusia Etrusca_, that city of strange beasts,
strange people, and strange myths, we face _Perusia Augusta_, or the
Perugia of Rome.
For some centuries, strange as it may appear, the powerful old Umbrian
hill-town seems to have fallen contentedly asleep under the rule of her
great protector. It was, as we know, the policy of Rome to adopt the
laws and customs of the people whom she conquered rather than to change
them, and indeed the alteration seldom went further than in name. The
Etruscan rulers therefore took the titles of Roman governors, they did
not really alter, and it is probable that the laws of the very earliest
settlement have never really become extinct. The _Lucumo_ of the
Etruscans was in all probability the descendant of the earliest
prehistoric village chief, who developed into the _Diumvir_ or
representative of the Roman Consul pretty much as the present _Sindaco_
succeeded to the position of the _Podestà_ of the middle ages.
Rome had always loved and studied the religions of the older people, and
Bonazzi infers that Rome "delighted in nursing on the breast of her
republic those great masters of Divinity who could be made such powerful
political instruments for her service." The Romans must have
intermarried freely with the Etruscans; the mixture of names and
lettering upon their tombs points to this fact. But the strong fresh
blood of the younger race seems to have overcome that of the more
corrupt one. Other tribes and other tongues pressed in upon the first
inhabitants and gradually the language, yes, and the memory of the
strange and fascinating people, died.
Of the Roman occupation little trace can be found in the architecture of
the city, beyond the walls and gates and the inscriptions over some of
these, together with a sorry fragment of a Roman bath. It must be
remembered that the entire city was burned to the ground after the
siege--burned with all her wealth of monuments and temples--and it does
not seem as though the Romans did much to beautify her with grand
buildings. Having no old buildings to use as raw material, they were
probably content at this period to build strong walls and houses
suitable for a fortified town, thus fostering the warlike character of
her inhabitants which was to prove so great a point in following
centuries.[4]
Roman rule was a very real piece of history, but it is not possible to
say that the period of myth and darkness had wholly passed away. We
possess a certain knowledge of the Roman government, but the shadow of
the Gothic and Barbarian night closes in upon it like a heavy pall; and
the next clear and startling point about Perugia is her recapture by
Belisarius followed by the siege of Totila (or Baduila).
During those terrible centuries when Italy was being ravaged by
perpetual invasions, her lands devastated by war and plagues and famine,
and her cities, as one historian says, "no longer cities, but rather the
corpses of cities," we find scant mention of actual harm done to
Perugia, for it was the north which suffered first. However, as the
Goths pressed southward upon Rome, as Rome herself wavered and sank
beneath the weight of the northern hordes, and of her own corruption, we
gather that the Umbrian cities too became a prey to the barbarians, and
that Perugia suffered the fate of all her neighbours. Her historians
seek in vain for stated records of this time where all is darkness, but
some dim facts shine out, among them the steady growth of Christianity
within the city.
The first important date we find follows nearly six hundred years after
her capture by Augustus. It was in 536 A.D., that Justinian, who had
conceived the mighty plan of recovering Africa from the Vandals and
Italy from the Goths, sent one of his best generals, Constantine (under
Belisarius), into Umbria to occupy the cities there. Constantine made
Perugia his headquarters and for a while his possession of the town
seems not to have been disputed by the Goths. Witigis left her on one
side as he passed with his armies down to Rome, and it remained for the
indomitable Totila to wrest her (in 545) from the power of the Byzantine
Empire. Totila is a most prominent figure in the history of the city,
and many are the myths which centre round him. He first attacked Assisi,
and having conquered her, he turned his greedy gaze upon the fair hill
city opposite and instantly desired to possess her also. But realising
the strength of her position, which was largely increased by the
occupation of a Byzantine general, he determined to get her by foul
means rather than fair, and so he bribed one of her citizens to murder
Cyprian, who was then the general in command. The citizens rose in eager
revolt against this treachery, and Totila soon found that he had
undertaken no light thing when he came to besiege the town. Indeed
tradition says that the said siege lasted seven years, and however much
this may have been exaggerated, it is certain that it was made a hard
one for the Goth. Perugia was taken by storm, but after fearful
fighting; she fell, but she was upheld to the last by a new power,
namely that of her faith. The story of S. Ercolano, the faithful Bishop
of the Perugians, is told in another place (see pp. 245-246). It has
been admirably illustrated by Bonfigli, it has been described and
hallowed in a hundred ways throughout the city's chronicles, and it is
vain for modern historians to tell us, as they are inclined to do, that
Totila never set foot in Perugia. Bonfigli's fresco is terribly
convincing in itself, as are also the naïve and delightful records of
Ciatti and Pellini. Among the people of the town Totila has become one
of its most important facts, and they declare that his wife lies buried
close to the Ponte Felcino together with her husband's hidden treasure.
[Illustration: LOMBARD ARCH ON THE CHURCH OF S. AGATA]
Gothic rule was short. Infinite and hurried changes follow on this
period. We next hear of the city in the hands of the Lombards. The
Lombard occupation is almost as dark as the Gothic.[5] In 592, Perugia
became a Lombard Duchy ruled by the Duke Mauritius, who turned traitor
to his trust and delivered the city to the Exarch of Ravenna. The news
of the Duke's treachery spread northward. Agilulf, King of the Lombards,
came hastening down to recapture the city with a mighty army, and he
made Mauritius pay for his treachery with his head. This was in 593. A
few years later Perugia was restored to the Empire, but at the beginning
of 700, she, like many other cities of Italy, attempted to shake herself
free from Byzantine rule. It is probable that she did not really succeed
in doing so, but this point is at any rate a great crisis in her
history, for it is the first time that we find her at all tangibly
connected with the Head of the Christian world--with that power of the
Church which was to prove, throughout her future, alternately her
safeguard and her scourge.
It was about 727 that Leo the Isaurian, Emperor of the East, terrified
by certain evils in his kingdom which he took to be signs of Divine
anger, made his famous decree against the worship of images. This proved
of course a most unpopular edict in Italy, and the reigning Pope opposed
it by every means in his power. Many of the most powerful cities joined
him, amongst them Perugia, and Greek rule in Italy, already on the wane,
was greatly weakened, but we do not hear of any settled breach with the
Empire for many years to come. Perugia was, as we shall see, merely
advancing towards her own liberation, but the acquired protection of the
Popes proved useful to her in her next great crisis.
In 749 Ratchis, King of the Lombards, laid siege to the city, and her
fall seemed inevitable. Then, in the moment of her great need, with the
Lombard army beating in her very doors, the reigning Pope, S. Zacharias
the Greek, accompanied by all his clergy, and by many of the Roman
nobles, arrived at her gates, and in words of extraordinary sweetness
pleaded her cause with Ratchis. We do not hear what phrases the old man
may have used to check a man on the verge of a great victory. We only
hear that the Lombard king knelt down and kissed the feet of the Pope.
"Thou hast conquered me," he said, very simply, and then he withdrew
from the battle, and S. Zacharias passed into the city, and was received
with universal joy by her citizens. And not only did Ratchis abandon the
siege of a town which he so greatly coveted, but, his whole soul being
moved by this new power, he renounced his kingdom and his crown and
retired to the monastery Monte Cassino, where he became a monk, living
there until he died.
Thus closes another chapter of Perugian history. Within a space of three
hundred years, roughly speaking, she had changed the nationality of her
rulers four successive times, whilst she herself may be said never to
have changed. Her internal history, her internal government, had all
along continued pretty much on the first lines. Her entire future policy
proves this. In all the small wars which follow, and which lead to her
final supremacy over every other city in Umbria--cities which at the
outset had been as strong as herself, and even stronger, we trace this
masterful and incontestable personality--the personality of the griffin
which the old Etruscan settlers captured thousands of years before upon
the hill-tops and chose for their city arms.
* * * * *
In all the intense complication of the times which follow it is almost
impossible to unravel the exact position of individual towns. At one
moment we find Perugia belonging apparently to the Duchy of Spoleto, at
another joined to the Tuscan League, at another putting herself under
the protection of the Pope, whilst all the time nominally belonging to
the Empire. Bonazzi remarks that one result of the perpetual conflict
between Emperor and Pope was the liberty left to the citizens; in
another place he says that in the scant documents which contain her
early history, "Perugia is always mentioned alone, always managing her
own affairs." The said management dated back in all probability to that
of the very earliest settlement, which was mainly agricultural, and
managed by chiefs or a Village Council. As the town grew, so likewise
did the numbers of its rulers. In Perugia, as in other places, the
original Village Council, which was first held in the public square, was
abandoned as politics grew complicated. The Consuls, ten in number, two
to each Porta or gate, met in council on the steps of the first
Cathedral. The finest architectural building in Perugia is notably the
Palazzo Pubblico, but long before the construction of this palace there
was another building which served the same purpose close to the Duomo in
which the different protectors of the city met. We do not propose to
trace the form of government here. Suffice it to say that, in Perugia as
elsewhere, we find the usual titles of _Consuli_ and _Podestà_, then of
the Heads of City Guilds, the _Priori_ (a very strong power in Perugia),
_Capitano del Popolo_ and _Capitano della Parte Guelfa_; all of whom
recur again and again in her chronicles, playing important parts as
peace-makers or as arbitrators in her turmoils and dissensions.
The historians of Perugia, naturally enough perhaps, tend to speak of
her as of an independent Republic, but this she never was. She had her
own rulers, she grew powerful and individual, she finally became a great
capital, but she was never a free state like Florence or Rome. Something
in her extraordinary position, something in the character of her people,
warlike and tenacious from the first, proved her final force. Great
wandering hordes and armies thought twice before they attacked her
walls. Thus she enjoyed long periods of ease, and in her stormy breast
she nurtured the ferocious families which were to prove her strength,
but equally her bane in later years.
Being utterly cut off from mercantile expansion or commerce of an
ordinary sort, she used her concentrated force in subduing neighbouring
towns, and thus extending her dominion over Umbria. Her power soon
became recognised, and many little towns and hamlets sent envoys to
present acts of submission to the growing power. When these were given
freely she received them graciously, and when withheld she sometimes
showed a power of rapacity and cruelty which is well nigh inconceivable.
Her history is full of wars against Siena, Gubbio, Arezzo, Città di
Castello, Todi, Foligno, Spoleto and Assisi, all chronicled at great
length by her proud historians. We have collected a few scattered facts
relating to these, which cast some light upon the character of the
Perugians, who, as their power strengthened, began to show, not only a
tyrannous disposition, but an occasional spark of the grimmest humour.
Leaving aside other events, such as the encroaching power of the Pope,
we may now glance at some of these.
The first act of voluntary submission came from the island of Polvese in
1130, and was received with great solemnity in the Piazza di San Lorenzo
and in the presence of all the inhabitants of the city. A little later
more than nine hundred of the people of Castiglione del Lago came to
place their land on the shores of Trasimene under the protection of
Perugia. Città di Castello and Gubbio followed suit, and many of the
smaller towns and hamlets. But, if submission was sweet, blows, one
surmises, were well nigh sweeter to the fierce and savage owners of
Perugia, and horrid were the skirmishes--one can scarcely call them
battles--which ensued from time to time when towns resisted or rebelled
against them.
Assisi and Perugia were ever an eyesore to one another, and their
inhabitants scoured the plain between them like packs of wolves. In one
of these savage little contests tradition tells us that a certain
Giovanni di Bernadone, a youth of only twenty summers, was taken
prisoner by the Perugians and kept a year in the Campo di Battaglia. The
Palace of the Capitano del Popolo in the Piazza Sopramuro now covers the
place where the youth was chained, and we may look on it with
veneration, for he was no other than that sweetest soul of mediæval
history, St Francis of Assisi.
When Città della Pieve dared to rebel, the action of Perugia was prompt
and effective. "Most gladly did the youth of Perugia--hot with the
dignity of their city, and by no means disposed to forgive those who
despised or disobeyed her--assemble in arms," says Bartoli. The army
thus assembled was instantly sent to the recalcitrant city, but the
Pievese had scarcely caught sight of it hurrying towards their gates,
than they sent their _Procuratore_, Peppone d'Alvato, to sue for peace
and beg forgiveness for their misdeeds. This was kindly granted, but
Peppone, accompanied by some hundred and thirty Pievese, was forced to
come to Ripa di Grotto and there listen to the reproaches of the
_Podestà_ of Perugia, whilst the Bishops of Perugia and of Chiusi, the
Provost of S. Mustiola, and the _Arciprete_ of Perugia, sitting on high
chairs, surrounded by various grandees, were in readiness to enjoy the
spectacle. All were dressed in their finest, but we are told that the
_Arciprete_ of Corciano threw all his neighbours entirely into the shade
by the splendour and the brilliancy of his many-coloured garments.[6]
Peppone kneeling at the Bishop's feet with his hand on the gospels,
swore faith and loyalty to the Perugians, and we hear that the Pievese
returned home "rejoicing" at the pardon obtained in this most
humiliating fashion. This last fact we may take the liberty to doubt,
but it is certain that the Perugians enjoyed the whole episode
immensely, neither did they consider the humiliation of their enemies
complete. A further punishment had yet to be thought of, and at last a
brilliant plan was resolved on. The Piazza of San Lorenzo needed paving,
and the Pievese were told that they must provide all the necessary
bricks for this purpose, and this "puerile waspishness," as Bonazzi
describes it, so delighted the hearts of the Perugians that, as we
learn, not even the death of the great foe of the Guelph cause,
Frederick II., "was able to give them a keener sense of joy."
Perugia and Foligno had always regarded each other with undisguised
dislike, skirmishing about and exchanging insults wherever they happened
to meet. Once the people of Foligno had come bare-footed, and with a
sword and knife hung round their necks, to implore pardon of Perugia,
but they revolted again, and the Perugians continued to attack and to
molest them. Three times in a single year (1282) their lands were
devastated, and finally the town was taken, and the walls demolished,
and imperative orders were issued absolutely forbidding these to be
rebuilt on the western side. At last Pope Martin IV., amazed and
disgusted by the behaviour of a people to whom he was honestly attached,
interfered, but Perugia continued to molest her unhappy neighbour with a
quite peculiar animosity, whereupon the Pope, angered beyond measure by
their disobedience, excommunicated them. "Into such a passion did the
Pope fall with the people of Perugia," says Mariotti, "that he issued a
most severe excommunication against them." It was just at the time of
the Sicilian Vespers. The Perugians, irritated by their sentence of
excommunication, determined to celebrate a kind of mock vespers on their
own account. Gregorovius says that this is the first instance recorded
in history of this strange form of popular demonstration. "They made a
Pope and Cardinals of straw, and dragged them ignominiously through the
city and up to a hill, where they burned the effigies in crimson robes,
saying, as the flames leapt up, "That is such-and-such, a Cardinal; and
this is such-and-such, another."
A strange scene, truly, in a half-civilised city! But political and
religious causes came between and put an end to these half childish
squabbles. A little later the Pope forgave the Perugians, and they
continued their evil ways, and persisted in destroying the peace of the
Umbrian towns.
Arezzo had the satisfaction of a victory over Perugia in 1335, and in
defiance and derision she hanged her Perugian prisoners with a tabby cat
hung beside them, and a string of _lasche_ dangling from their
braces.[7] But pranks like these were not allowed to pass unnoticed, and
Perugia did not fail to grasp her finest banner with the lion of the
Guelph all rampant on a field of gules, and hurry out to subdue her
insolent neighbours. The people of Arezzo were humbled to the dust, but
by means too barbaric to be here described.
* * * * *
Thus one by one the cities of Umbria became sufficiently impressed by
this forcible fashion of dealing with insurrection, and they recognised
that it would be wise, though it might not be pleasant, to swear
allegiance to the imperious city. Gualdo next gave up her keys, together
with Nocera, but the latter found it impossible to suppress a few oaths
whilst signing the documents, and there was a loud wail over the laws
imposed upon them.
" ... e diretro le piange
Per grave giogo Nocera con Gualdo,"
says Dante, referring to the subject in the "Paradiso."
* * * * *
Perugia's culminating success seems to have been at Torrita in 1358,
when the Sienese were defeated, and forty-nine banners brought back tied
to the horses' tails, and the chains of the Palace of Justice torn away
and hung in triumph at the feet of the Perugian griffin. Even the
powerful Florence accepted Perugia's help in the Guelph cause, and so
early as 1230 arbitrations had been exchanged for the purpose of
settling all questions of commerce between the two cities.[8]
All these victories, these repeated successes, tended
[Illustration: PALAZZO BALDESCHI]
to increase Perugia's independence of spirit, and she was very careful
that no one, not even the Pope, should infringe on her rights, or
dispute her authority. Her attitude towards the Church is somewhat
difficult to understand. It seems to have mystified Clement IV., for he
expresses his "dolorous wonder" that the Perugians, who were such
devoted allies of the Holy See, could sometimes behave so wickedly
towards the clergy. And, curiously enough, the Perugians, lovers of
processions, of patron-saints, miracles, and all the rest, could, and
did, make laws to exclude all ecclesiastics from having anything to do
with their charitable institutions or donations to Churches.[9]
We find them protesting both with menaces and oaths against any
usurpation of the clergy, "In the names of Christ, the Virgin, S.
Ercolano, and S. Costanzo." Even the Pope was taught a lesson, for when
John XXI. in 1277 asked for some _lasche_ from the Lake of Trasimene,
the Perugians called a general council in which it was resolved that the
said _lasche_ should be sent to His Holiness, but accompanied by the
syndicate in order to show the Pope that the fish was the property of
the city, and a gift from its citizens merely _given_ to him for his
Good Friday dinner!
These somewhat petty hostilities did not, however, materially affect the
relations between the Papacy and the citizens of Perugia, and all
through the twelfth and thirteenth centuries they remained on very
friendly terms with one another.
* * * * *
We have thought it best to give a general sketch of the growth of the
city, its customs and its wars, before touching on one of the chief
characteristics of its history, namely, its close connection with the
Papacy. It will, therefore, be necessary to glance back over some
centuries, in order to follow the steps by which the power of the Popes
arose in Perugia.
At first Papal authority was purely nominal. To the small towns of
Italy, living each their concentrated and oftentimes tempestuous lives
apart, the great Emperors who passed down to Rome in search of crowns
from the hands of Popes, must have appeared as ghosts, their documents
as unsubstantial as themselves. The fact that one of these, Pepin,
conceded large grants of land in Umbria, including Perugia, to a Pope
who never came to look at them, must have seemed to the Perugians as
little beyond a phantom transaction after all. We next hear of
Charlemagne in 800 confirming an act by which Perugia, together with a
number of other towns and territories, was placed under the _alto
dominio_ of the Holy See. In 962, Otto I. again confirmed the donation,
but the iron hand of Papal power was not felt for many centuries in the
rising town; and indeed, however deep the designs of the Church may have
been from the very beginning, they were well concealed, and the first
Popes who visited Perugia did so in the fashion of people starting on a
summer excursion, and not at all in the character of conquerors. They
would come to the city with all their suite of Cardinals and favourites,
and take up their abode in the cool and spacious rooms of the Canonica,
which, as Bonazzi with imperial pride declares, "became the Vatican of
Perugia."
Yet it is certain that the policy of the Holy See was deep, and that the
growing capital of Umbria appeared no plaything in its eyes. The
geographical position of the city--perched as it is on a hill which
commands the Tiber and overlooks the two great highways from the Eternal
City to the North and to the Eastern Sea--made it a most desirable
possession for the Popes, and it was inevitable that Perugia should,
sooner or later, submit to, or come into direct conflict with, the power
of Papal rule. The open acknowledgment of such a situation was merely a
question of time.
Innocent III., who has been called the founder of the States of the
Church, was the first Pope who came into direct personal contact with
the Perugians. He accepted from them an offer to be their _Padrone_, and
to exercise temporal power among them. Half playfully, though with what
deep and powerful designs we may divine, he called the citizens his
"vassals," and to a certain extent they were willing to submit to his
authority; but in so doing they were careful to wring from their
"_Padrone_" a promise that their rights and privileges should be
respected. Thus for the time they steered clear of the danger of
subjection, continued to govern themselves, and preserved that free and
independent spirit which hitherto, and in spite of every obstacle, had
marked them as a race. Innocent was beloved by the citizens. He came
amongst them at a time of much civil discord, when the nobles and the
people were preparing for open strife. "He was a peace-maker," says
Bartoli, "and he kept his eye on all things; and on this city he looked
with a peculiar partiality." The Pope was anxious to promote the
Crusades, and was on his way to Pisa to try to make a peace between the
Genoese and the Venetians, whose quarrels interfered with his schemes,
when he fell ill at Perugia, and died there in 1216.[10]
No sooner had he breathed his last than all his Cardinals hurried into
the Canonica to elect his successor, and such was the impatience of the
citizens that they even set a guard over these princes of the Church,
and kept them short of food in order to hurry their decision. We are not
therefore surprised to read that the Papal Throne remained vacant for
the space of one day only, and that in consequence of this event the
Perugians claim the privilege of having invented the Conclave.
Honorius III. succeeded Innocent, and he attempted, but without success,
to heal the ever-widening breach between the nobles and the people. We
have described something of the wars outside, but Perugia herself
within her walls was a veritable wasp's nest during this period of her
steady rise. Her inhabitants became more restless and unmanageable every
year. In their perpetual broils the nobles fought beneath their emblem
of the Falcon, and the _popolo minuto_ (common folk), who sided with
them, received the unamiable title of _Beccherini_.[11] The two extremes
in the social scale joined hands in a perpetual opposition to the
_popolo grasso_ (well-to-do burghers), who were called _Raspanti_
(_raspare_, to claw), a name probably suggested by their emblem of the
Cat.
Honorius in his plan of dealing with the complicated situation can
scarcely be described as disinterested; whilst apparently patching up
peace, he really attempted to force an acknowledgment of papal power.
His policy however, was fruitless, and the nobles resorted to the usual
expedient of retiring to their country castles, for, as Bonazzi says,
they "preferred to tyrannise alone in the silence of their isolated
strongholds rather than to divide their forces in the capital of a
powerful federation." But the situation threatened to become
intolerable, and we read that through the years from 1223 to 1228 a
"perfect pandemonium reigned in and about the city." Cardinal Colonna
was sent to try and restore the balance between the rival factions, but,
finally, Gregory IX. was forced to come in person, and through his
influence the banished nobles were recalled from exile, and a certain
degree of peace restored.
Gregory paid many visits to Perugia, much to the annoyance of the
Romans, who expressed their wonder that the little hill-town with
nothing but its brown walls, towers, and landscape to recommend it,
should be preferred by him to the plains and palaces of the Eternal
City. This fact is recorded about the year 1228, when Gregory IX. was
making an unusually long stay in his excellent and quiet quarters in the
Canonica (at S. Lorenzo). The Romans were well aware, Bartoli says, that
it was because of their ill-behaviour that he had retired into private
life far away in the Umbrian city, and they even accepted as a judgment
on their evil ways a certain most horrible inundation of the Tiber which
befell them at that period. Deputies hurried across the land from Rome
with supplications to the Pope to return to his people, and Gregory
went, but he quickly returned to Perugia. The fame of S. Francis of
Assisi was then at its height. Gregory felt inquisitive, but not
altogether certain of the truth of the tales which were spread abroad
concerning this wonderful man. He made numerous enquiries and sent his
Cardinals to Assisi to gather all the information they were able to
collect about the Saint. But the final manner of the doubting Pope's
conversion is described with such marvellous and touching piety in the
"Fioretti" that we have inserted it at length in our description of the
place where it occurred.[12] In the same year and place Gregory
canonized S. Francis, "to the splendour of religion," says one
historian. He also canonized S. Dominic and Queen Elizabeth of Hungary,
he sent missions into the land of the unfaithful, and gave indulgences
of a year and forty days to all who would give money to the building of
S. Domenico. So we may fairly say that he did not waste his time, but
that he managed to get through a large amount of business during the
time that he spent in Perugia.
* * * * *
It is difficult to define the exact mutual relations of Pope and city
in any corner of Italy, but it is certain that Perugia found Papal power
useful to her in many ways, and that on whatever side she happened to
have a quarrel on hand, she always turned to the Papal See for help and
arbitration. In spirit she was always Guelph, fighting under the emblem
of the Guelph lion, and full of Guelph interests. Yet, although openly
exercising self-government, almost in the manner of a free republic,
under the protection and nominal rule of the popes, she was at the same
time patronised by the emperors. In 1355 we read that her ancient
privileges were confirmed and new ones granted by the Emperor Charles
IV., who seems to have considered it worth his while to gain the
friendship of her citizens.
Up to this period we have only had to deal with pleasant passing visits
of the popes who sojourned in the city for a while. The time came,
however, when the noose which Innocent had so lightly cast about their
necks began to pull and tighten. The Perugians revolted hotly against
the Popes of Avignon, who, incensed at their rebellion, attempted to
check it by every means in their power. To understand the painful
struggles which follow, it is necessary to remember that the end of the
fourteenth and the whole of the fifteenth centuries were the most
prosperous period in Perugia's history. She had grown steadily and
uninterruptedly both in power and riches, and in spite of terrible
obstacles, ever since the day when the Romans rebuilt her walls more
than fifteen hundred years before. In these two centuries she erected
her public buildings, extended and settled her government, coined money,
started her university, settled with her habitual promptitude all
suspicion of rebellion, became one of the _Tre Communi_ of Florence,
Siena and Perugia, and whilst achieving all these things she continued
to foster the passionate feuds and hopeless enmities between the
different factions which we have described above. Having grown strong
and prosperous it was natural that she should resent any open attempt of
a foreign power to subject her, and such an attempt came in the middle
of the fourteenth century from the Papal See.
In 1367 the Spanish Cardinal Albornoz was busily employed in recovering
the States of the Church. Perugia was at that time faithful to the Pope,
and she received the Cardinal with due honours and gave him valuable
help, especially in an expedition against Galeotto Malatesta of Rimini.
Her goodwill however was of short duration, for the citizens saw
themselves despoiled of Città di Castello and of Assisi during the
Cardinal's campaigns, and this they would not brook. They therefore sent
a strong army at once towards Viterbo, but it was beaten back with heavy
loss, and Urban V.'s authority was again firmly rooted at Perugia. He
sent his brother, Cardinal Angelico, Bishop of Albano, as Vicar General
to represent him in the city. Thus the authority of the popes crept in
upon the town, and authority of some kind became every year more
necessary as the voice of the people grew and strengthened and as the
exiled nobles quarrelled outside the walls. Papal authority was finally
represented in 1375 by an imperious French abbot, known in Perugian
annals as Mommaggiore, whose doings and buildings have been described in
another place. (See pp. 184-186.) The yoke that Mommaggiore--"that
French Vandal, that most iniquitous Nero," as the chroniclers call
him,--put upon the neck of Perugia, proved unbearable to every party,
and all the different factions for once joined together to break it.
Florence and other cities, castles, and fortresses which had "unfurled
the banner of liberty," joined in the revolt, and in 1375 the abbot was
driven in a very undignified fashion from the city. A republic was then
declared and the whole town rejoiced at having broken away from the
thraldom of the Popes of Avignon. In vain did Gregory XI. call the
people of Perugia "sons of iniquity"; in vain did he hurl the most
terrible excommunications against them;[13] the feud between the city
and the Pope was only laid to rest when the latter died. It had lasted
long, and had produced something worse even than the struggle of two
strong powers, for it had served to increase the terrible civil discord
within the town. With the accession of Urban VI. a treaty was concluded,
and Perugia acknowledged his right of dominion. In 1387 Urban arrived in
the city, and as he entered the gates a white dove rested on his hat and
refused to be removed by the servants who ran forward to deliver His
Holiness from the unexpected visitor. It answered the Pope's touch
however, and was handed to his chaplain, and everyone accepted the event
as an excellent omen. We will not linger to judge of its excellence, we
can only say that the bird heralded an entirely new chapter in the
history of the town, which hitherto had developed under general
influences and many different hands. Her coming history is that of
single influences, of personalities, or, in other words, of despots. The
time had come when Perugia was to show the fruit of her stern ambitious
character in the individual men whom she had reared. The names of
Michelotti, Braccio Fortebraccio, Piccinino and of the noble families of
Oddi and of Baglioni are familiar to all who have merely turned the
pages of her history. Perugia, like other towns of Italy, had at the end
of the fourteenth century reached a point of internal strife from which
strong personalities could easily rise up to dispute or to control the
existing government. Why it was exactly that the Popes did not from the
first forcibly interfere with the turbulent doings of these men, it is
difficult to tell. They were constantly coming to the city, constantly
appealed to by the citizens and nobles, for ever interfering both by
menaces and arms, but it was not till more than a century of blood and
tyranny had passed, not till the glory of the town was already on the
wane, that the power of the Church came down to crush Perugia like a
sledge-hammer.
Strangely enough it was a Pope who first gave the city away into the
hands of a private person or Protector.
[Illustration: ARMS OF PERUGIA]