The deliverance of his country inspired Rienzi with a vast, and

perhaps visionary, idea of uniting Italy in a great federative

republic, of which Rome should be the ancient and lawful head,

and the free cities and princes the members and associates. His

pen was not less eloquent than his tongue; and his numerous

epistles were delivered to swift and trusty messengers. On foot,

with a white wand in their hand, they traversed the forests and

mountains; enjoyed, in the most hostile states, the sacred

security of ambassadors; and reported, in the style of flattery

or truth, that the highways along their passage were lined with

kneeling multitudes, who implored Heaven for the success of their

undertaking. Could passion have listened to reason; could private

interest have yielded to the public welfare; the supreme tribunal

and confederate union of the Italian republic might have healed

their intestine discord, and closed the Alps against the

Barbarians of the North. But the propitious season had elapsed;

and if Venice, Florence, Sienna, Perugia, and many inferior

cities offered their lives and fortunes to the good estate, the

tyrants of Lombardy and Tuscany must despise, or hate, the

plebeian author of a free constitution. From them, however, and

from every part of Italy, the tribune received the most friendly

and respectful answers: they were followed by the ambassadors of

the princes and republics; and in this foreign conflux, on all

the occasions of pleasure or business, the low born notary could

assume the familiar or majestic courtesy of a sovereign. 29 The

most glorious circumstance of his reign was an appeal to his

justice from Lewis, king of Hungary, who complained, that his

brother and her husband had been perfidiously strangled by Jane,

queen of Naples: 30 her guilt or innocence was pleaded in a

solemn trial at Rome; but after hearing the advocates, 31 the

tribune adjourned this weighty and invidious cause, which was

soon determined by the sword of the Hungarian. Beyond the Alps,

more especially at Avignon, the revolution was the theme of

curiosity, wonder, and applause. 311 Petrarch had been the

private friend, perhaps the secret counsellor, of Rienzi: his

writings breathe the most ardent spirit of patriotism and joy;

and all respect for the pope, all gratitude for the Colonna, was

lost in the superior duties of a Roman citizen. The poet-laureate

of the Capitol maintains the act, applauds the hero, and mingles

with some apprehension and advice, the most lofty hopes of the

permanent and rising greatness of the republic. 32

29 (return) [ It was thus that Oliver Cromwell’s old

acquaintance, who remembered his vulgar and ungracious entrance

into the House of Commons, were astonished at the ease and

majesty of the protector on his throne, (See Harris’s Life of

Cromwell, p. 27—34, from Clarendon Warwick, Whitelocke, Waller,

&c.) The consciousness of merit and power will sometimes elevate

the manners to the station.]

30 (return) [ See the causes, circumstances, and effects of the

death of Andrew in Giannone, (tom. iii. l. xxiii. p. 220—229,)

and the Life of Petrarch (Mémoires, tom. ii. p. 143—148, 245—250,

375—379, notes, p. 21—37.) The abbé de Sade _wishes_ to extenuate

her guilt.]

31 (return) [ The advocate who pleaded against Jane could add

nothing to the logical force and brevity of his master’s epistle.

Johanna! inordinata vita præcedens, retentio potestatis in regno,

neglecta vindicta, vir alter susceptus, et excusatio subsequens,

necis viri tui te probant fuisse participem et consortem. Jane of

Naples, and Mary of Scotland, have a singular conformity.]

311 (return) [ In his letter to the archbishop of Prague, Rienzi

thus describes the effect of his elevation on Italy and on the

world: “Did I not restore real peace among the cities which were

distracted by factions? did I not cause all the citizens, exiled

by party violence, with their wretched wives and children, to be

readmitted? had I not begun to extinguish the factious names

(scismatica nomina) of Guelf and Ghibelline, for which countless

thousands had perished body and soul, under the eyes of their

pastors, by the reduction of the city of Rome and all Italy into

one amicable, peaceful, holy, and united confederacy? the

consecrated standards and banners having been by me collected and

blended together, and, in witness to our holy association and

perfect union, offered up in the presence of the ambassadors of

all the cities of Italy, on the day of the assumption of our

Blessed Lady.” p. xlvii. ——In the Libellus ad Cæsarem: “I

received the homage and submission of all the sovereigns of

Apulia, the barons and counts, and almost all the people of

Italy. I was honored by solemn embassies and letters by the

emperor of Constantinople and the king of England. The queen of

Naples submitted herself and her kingdom to the protection of the

tribune. The king of Hungary, by two solemn embassies, brought

his cause against his queen and his nobles before my tribunal;

and I venture to say further, that the fame of the tribune

alarmed the soldan of Babylon. When the Christian pilgrims to the

sepulchre of our Lord related to the Christian and Jewish

inhabitants of Jerusalem all the yet unheard-of and wonderful

circumstances of the reformation in Rome, both Jews and

Christians celebrated the event with unusual festivities. When

the soldan inquired the cause of these rejoicings, and received

this intelligence about Rome, he ordered all the havens and

cities on the coast to be fortified, and put in a state of

defence,” p. xxxv.—M. 1845.]

32 (return) [ See the Epistola Hortatoria de Capessenda

Republica, from Petrarch to Nicholas Rienzi, (Opp. p. 535—540,)

and the vth eclogue or pastoral, a perpetual and obscure

allegory.]

While Petrarch indulged these prophetic visions, the Roman hero

was fast declining from the meridian of fame and power; and the

people, who had gazed with astonishment on the ascending meteor,

began to mark the irregularity of its course, and the

vicissitudes of light and obscurity. More eloquent than

judicious, more enterprising than resolute, the faculties of

Rienzi were not balanced by cool and commanding reason: he

magnified in a tenfold proportion the objects of hope and fear;

and prudence, which could not have erected, did not presume to

fortify, his throne. In the blaze of prosperity, his virtues were

insensibly tinctured with the adjacent vices; justice with

cruelty, liberality with profusion, and the desire of fame with

puerile and ostentatious vanity. 321 He might have learned, that

the ancient tribunes, so strong and sacred in the public opinion,

were not distinguished in style, habit, or appearance, from an

ordinary plebeian; 33 and that as often as they visited the city

on foot, a single viator, or beadle, attended the exercise of

their office. The Gracchi would have frowned or smiled, could

they have read the sonorous titles and epithets of their

successor, “Nicholas, severe and merciful; deliverer of Rome;

defender of Italy; 34 friend of mankind, and of liberty, peace,

and justice; tribune august:” his theatrical pageants had

prepared the revolution; but Rienzi abused, in luxury and pride,

the political maxim of speaking to the eyes, as well as the

understanding, of the multitude. From nature he had received the

gift of a handsome person, 35 till it was swelled and disfigured

by intemperance: and his propensity to laughter was corrected in

the magistrate by the affectation of gravity and sternness. He

was clothed, at least on public occasions, in a party-colored

robe of velvet or satin, lined with fur, and embroidered with

gold: the rod of justice, which he carried in his hand, was a

sceptre of polished steel, crowned with a globe and cross of

gold, and enclosing a small fragment of the true and holy wood.

In his civil and religious processions through the city, he rode

on a white steed, the symbol of royalty: the great banner of the

republic, a sun with a circle of stars, a dove with an olive

branch, was displayed over his head; a shower of gold and silver

was scattered among the populace, fifty guards with halberds

encompassed his person; a troop of horse preceded his march; and

their tymbals and trumpets were of massy silver.

321 (return) [ An illustrious female writer has drawn, with a

single stroke, the character of Rienzi, Crescentius, and Arnold

of Brescia, the fond restorers of Roman liberty: ‘Qui ont pris

les souvenirs pour les espérances.’ Corinne, tom. i. p. 159.

“Could Tacitus have excelled this?” Hallam, vol i p. 418.—M.]

33 (return) [ In his Roman Questions, Plutarch (Opuscul. tom. i.

p. 505, 506, edit. Græc. Hen. Steph.) states, on the most

constitutional principles, the simple greatness of the tribunes,

who were not properly magistrates, but a check on magistracy. It

was their duty and interest omoiousqai schmati, kai stolh kai

diaithtoiV epitugcanousi tvn politvn.... katapateisqai dei (a

saying of C. Cœurio) kai mh semnon einai th oyei mhde

dusprosodon... osw de mallon ektapeinoutai tv swmati, tosoutw

mallon auxetai th dunamei, &c. Rienzi, and Petrarch himself, were

incapable perhaps of reading a Greek philosopher; but they might

have imbibed the same modest doctrines from their favorite

Latins, Livy and Valerius Maximus.]

34 (return) [ I could not express in English the forcible, though

barbarous, title of _Zelator_ Italiæ, which Rienzi assumed.]

35 (return) [ Era bell’ homo, (l. ii. c. l. p. 399.) It is

remarkable, that the riso sarcastico of the Bracciano edition is

wanting in the Roman MS., from which Muratori has given the text.

In his second reign, when he is painted almost as a monster,

Rienzi travea una ventresca tonna trionfale, a modo de uno Abbate

Asiano, or Asinino, (l. iii. c. 18, p. 523.)]

The ambition of the honors of chivalry 36 betrayed the meanness

of his birth, and degraded the importance of his office; and the

equestrian tribune was not less odious to the nobles, whom he

adopted, than to the plebeians, whom he deserted. All that yet

remained of treasure, or luxury, or art, was exhausted on that

solemn day. Rienzi led the procession from the Capitol to the

Lateran; the tediousness of the way was relieved with decorations

and games; the ecclesiastical, civil, and military orders marched

under their various banners; the Roman ladies attended his wife;

and the ambassadors of Italy might loudly applaud or secretly

deride the novelty of the pomp. In the evening, which they had

reached the church and palace of Constantine, he thanked and

dismissed the numerous assembly, with an invitation to the

festival of the ensuing day. From the hands of a venerable knight

he received the order of the Holy Ghost; the purification of the

bath was a previous ceremony; but in no step of his life did

Rienzi excite such scandal and censure as by the profane use of

the porphyry vase, in which Constantine (a foolish legend) had

been healed of his leprosy by Pope Sylvester. 37 With equal

presumption the tribune watched or reposed within the consecrated

precincts of the baptistery; and the failure of his state-bed was

interpreted as an omen of his approaching downfall. At the hour

of worship, he showed himself to the returning crowds in a

majestic attitude, with a robe of purple, his sword, and gilt

spurs; but the holy rites were soon interrupted by his levity and

insolence. Rising from his throne, and advancing towards the

congregation, he proclaimed in a loud voice: “We summon to our

tribunal Pope Clement: and command him to reside in his diocese

of Rome: we also summon the sacred college of cardinals. 38 We

again summon the two pretenders, Charles of Bohemia and Lewis of

Bavaria, who style themselves emperors: we likewise summon all

the electors of Germany, to inform us on what pretence they have

usurped the inalienable right of the Roman people, the ancient

and lawful sovereigns of the empire.” 39 Unsheathing his maiden

sword, he thrice brandished it to the three parts of the world,

and thrice repeated the extravagant declaration, “And this too is

mine!” The pope’s vicar, the bishop of Orvieto, attempted to

check this career of folly; but his feeble protest was silenced

by martial music; and instead of withdrawing from the assembly,

he consented to dine with his brother tribune, at a table which

had hitherto been reserved for the supreme pontiff. A banquet,

such as the Cæsars had given, was prepared for the Romans. The

apartments, porticos, and courts of the Lateran were spread with

innumerable tables for either sex, and every condition; a stream

of wine flowed from the nostrils of Constantine’s brazen horse;

no complaint, except of the scarcity of water, could be heard;

and the licentiousness of the multitude was curbed by discipline

and fear. A subsequent day was appointed for the coronation of

Rienzi; 40 seven crowns of different leaves or metals were

successively placed on his head by the most eminent of the Roman

clergy; they represented the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost; and

he still professed to imitate the example of the ancient

tribunes. 401 These extraordinary spectacles might deceive or

flatter the people; and their own vanity was gratified in the

vanity of their leader. But in his private life he soon deviated

from the strict rule of frugality and abstinence; and the

plebeians, who were awed by the splendor of the nobles, were

provoked by the luxury of their equal. His wife, his son, his

uncle, (a barber in name and profession,) exposed the contrast of

vulgar manners and princely expense; and without acquiring the

majesty, Rienzi degenerated into the vices, of a king.

36 (return) [ Strange as it may seem, this festival was not

without a precedent. In the year 1327, two barons, a Colonna and

an Ursini, the usual balance, were created knights by the Roman

people: their bath was of rose-water, their beds were decked with

royal magnificence, and they were served at St. Maria of Araceli

in the Capitol, by the twenty-eight _buoni huomini_. They

afterwards received from Robert, king of Naples, the sword of

chivalry, (Hist. Rom. l. i. c. 2, p. 259.)]

37 (return) [ All parties believed in the leprosy and bath of

Constantine (Petrarch. Epist. Famil. vi. 2,) and Rienzi justified

his own conduct by observing to the court of Avignon, that a vase

which had been used by a Pagan could not be profaned by a pious

Christian. Yet this crime is specified in the bull of

excommunication, (Hocsemius, apud du Cerçeau, p. 189, 190.)]

38 (return) [ This _verbal_ summons of Pope Clement VI., which

rests on the authority of the Roman historian and a Vatican MS.,

is disputed by the biographer of Petrarch, (tom. ii. not. p.

70—76), with arguments rather of decency than of weight. The

court of Avignon might not choose to agitate this delicate

question.]

39 (return) [ The summons of the two rival emperors, a monument

of freedom and folly, is extant in Hocsemius, (Cerçeau, p.

163—166.)]

40 (return) [ It is singular, that the Roman historian should

have overlooked this sevenfold coronation, which is sufficiently

proved by internal evidence, and the testimony of Hocsemius, and

even of Rienzi, (Cercean p. 167—170, 229.)]

401 (return) [ It was on this occasion that he made the profane

comparison between himself and our Lord; and the striking

circumstance took place which he relates in his letter to the

archbishop of Prague. In the midst of all the wild and joyous

exultation of the people, one of his most zealous supporters, a

monk, who was in high repute for his sanctity, stood apart in a

corner of the church and wept bitterly! A domestic chaplain of

Rienzi’s inquired the cause of his grief. “Now,” replied the man

of God, “is thy master cast down from heaven—never saw I man so

proud. By the aid of the Holy Ghost he has driven the tyrants

from the city without drawing a sword; the cities and the

sovereigns of Italy have submitted to his power. Why is he so

arrogant and ungrateful towards the Most High? Why does he seek

earthly and transitory rewards for his labors, and in his wanton

speech liken himself to the Creator? Tell thy master that he can

only atone for this offence by tears of penitence.” In the

evening the chaplain communicated this solemn rebuke to the

tribune: it appalled him for the time, but was soon forgotten in

the tumult and hurry of business.—M. 1845.]

A simple citizen describes with pity, or perhaps with pleasure,

the humiliation of the barons of Rome. “Bareheaded, their hands

crossed on their breast, they stood with downcast looks in the

presence of the tribune; and they trembled, good God, how they

trembled!” 41 As long as the yoke of Rienzi was that of justice

and their country, their conscience forced them to esteem the

man, whom pride and interest provoked them to hate: his

extravagant conduct soon fortified their hatred by contempt; and

they conceived the hope of subverting a power which was no longer

so deeply rooted in the public confidence. The old animosity of

the Colonna and Ursini was suspended for a moment by their common

disgrace: they associated their wishes, and perhaps their

designs; an assassin was seized and tortured; he accused the

nobles; and as soon as Rienzi deserved the fate, he adopted the

suspicions and maxims, of a tyrant. On the same day, under

various pretences, he invited to the Capitol his principal

enemies, among whom were five members of the Ursini and three of

the Colonna name. But instead of a council or a banquet, they

found themselves prisoners under the sword of despotism or

justice; and the consciousness of innocence or guilt might

inspire them with equal apprehensions of danger. At the sound of

the great bell the people assembled; they were arraigned for a

conspiracy against the tribune’s life; and though some might

sympathize in their distress, not a hand, nor a voice, was raised

to rescue the first of the nobility from their impending doom.

Their apparent boldness was prompted by despair; they passed in

separate chambers a sleepless and painful night; and the

venerable hero, Stephen Colonna, striking against the door of his

prison, repeatedly urged his guards to deliver him by a speedy

death from such ignominious servitude. In the morning they

understood their sentence from the visit of a confessor and the

tolling of the bell. The great hall of the Capitol had been

decorated for the bloody scene with red and white hangings: the

countenance of the tribune was dark and severe; the swords of the

executioners were unsheathed; and the barons were interrupted in

their dying speeches by the sound of trumpets. But in this

decisive moment, Rienzi was not less anxious or apprehensive than

his captives: he dreaded the splendor of their names, their

surviving kinsmen, the inconstancy of the people, the reproaches

of the world, and, after rashly offering a mortal injury, he

vainly presumed that, if he could forgive, he might himself be

forgiven. His elaborate oration was that of a Christian and a

suppliant; and, as the humble minister of the commons, he

entreated his masters to pardon these noble criminals, for whose

repentance and future service he pledged his faith and authority.

“If you are spared,” said the tribune, “by the mercy of the

Romans, will you not promise to support the good estate with your

lives and fortunes?” Astonished by this marvellous clemency, the

barons bowed their heads; and while they devoutly repeated the

oath of allegiance, might whisper a secret, and more sincere,

assurance of revenge. A priest, in the name of the people,

pronounced their absolution: they received the communion with the

tribune, assisted at the banquet, followed the procession; and,

after every spiritual and temporal sign of reconciliation, were

dismissed in safety to their respective homes, with the new

honors and titles of generals, consuls, and patricians. 42

41 (return) [ Puoi se faceva stare denante a se, mentre sedeva,

li baroni tutti in piedi ritti co le vraccia piecate, e co li

capucci tratti. Deh como stavano paurosi! (Hist. Rom. l. ii. c.

20, p. 439.) He saw them, and we see them.]

42 (return) [ The original letter, in which Rienzi justifies his

treatment of the Colonna, (Hocsemius, apud du Cerçeau, p.

222—229,) displays, in genuine colors, the mixture of the knave

and the madman.]

During some weeks they were checked by the memory of their

danger, rather than of their deliverance, till the most powerful

of the Ursini, escaping with the Colonna from the city, erected

at Marino the standard of rebellion. The fortifications of the

castle were instantly restored; the vassals attended their lord;

the outlaws armed against the magistrate; the flocks and herds,

the harvests and vineyards, from Marino to the gates of Rome,

were swept away or destroyed; and the people arraigned Rienzi as

the author of the calamities which his government had taught them

to forget. In the camp, Rienzi appeared to less advantage than in

the rostrum; and he neglected the progress of the rebel barons

till their numbers were strong, and their castles impregnable.

From the pages of Livy he had not imbibed the art, or even the

courage, of a general: an army of twenty thousand Romans returned

without honor or effect from the attack of Marino; and his

vengeance was amused by painting his enemies, their heads

downwards, and drowning two dogs (at least they should have been

bears) as the representatives of the Ursini. The belief of his

incapacity encouraged their operations: they were invited by

their secret adherents; and the barons attempted, with four

thousand foot, and sixteen hundred horse, to enter Rome by force

or surprise. The city was prepared for their reception; the

alarm-bell rung all night; the gates were strictly guarded, or

insolently open; and after some hesitation they sounded a

retreat. The two first divisions had passed along the walls, but

the prospect of a free entrance tempted the headstrong valor of

the nobles in the rear; and after a successful skirmish, they

were overthrown and massacred without quarter by the crowds of

the Roman people. Stephen Colonna the younger, the noble spirit

to whom Petrarch ascribed the restoration of Italy, was preceded

or accompanied in death by his son John, a gallant youth, by his

brother Peter, who might regret the ease and honors of the

church, by a nephew of legitimate birth, and by two bastards of

the Colonna race; and the number of seven, the seven crowns, as

Rienzi styled them, of the Holy Ghost, was completed by the agony

of the deplorable parent, and the veteran chief, who had survived

the hope and fortune of his house. The vision and prophecies of

St. Martin and Pope Boniface had been used by the tribune to

animate his troops: 43 he displayed, at least in the pursuit, the

spirit of a hero; but he forgot the maxims of the ancient Romans,

who abhorred the triumphs of civil war. The conqueror ascended

the Capitol; deposited his crown and sceptre on the altar; and

boasted, with some truth, that he had cut off an ear, which

neither pope nor emperor had been able to amputate. 44 His base

and implacable revenge denied the honors of burial; and the

bodies of the Colonna, which he threatened to expose with those

of the vilest malefactors, were secretly interred by the holy

virgins of their name and family. 45 The people sympathized in

their grief, repented of their own fury, and detested the

indecent joy of Rienzi, who visited the spot where these

illustrious victims had fallen. It was on that fatal spot that he

conferred on his son the honor of knighthood: and the ceremony

was accomplished by a slight blow from each of the horsemen of

the guard, and by a ridiculous and inhuman ablution from a pool

of water, which was yet polluted with patrician blood. 46

43 (return) [ Rienzi, in the above-mentioned letter, ascribes to

St. Martin the tribune, Boniface VIII. the enemy of Colonna,

himself, and the Roman people, the glory of the day, which

Villani likewise (l. 12, c. 104) describes as a regular battle.

The disorderly skirmish, the flight of the Romans, and the

cowardice of Rienzi, are painted in the simple and minute

narrative of Fortifiocca, or the anonymous citizen, (l. i. c.

34—37.)]

44 (return) [ In describing the fall of the Colonna, I speak only

of the family of Stephen the elder, who is often confounded by

the P. du Cerçeau with his son. That family was extinguished, but

the house has been perpetuated in the collateral branches, of

which I have not a very accurate knowledge. Circumspice (says

Petrarch) familiæ tuæ statum, Columniensium _domos_: solito

pauciores habeat columnas. Quid ad rem modo fundamentum stabile,

solidumque permaneat.]

45 (return) [ The convent of St. Silvester was founded, endowed,

and protected by the Colonna cardinals, for the daughters of the

family who embraced a monastic life, and who, in the year 1318,

were twelve in number. The others were allowed to marry with

their kinsmen in the fourth degree, and the dispensation was

justified by the small number and close alliances of the noble

families of Rome, (Mémoires sur Pétrarque, tom. i. p. 110, tom.

ii. p. 401.)]

46 (return) [ Petrarch wrote a stiff and pedantic letter of

consolation, (Fam. l. vii. epist. 13, p. 682, 683.) The friend

was lost in the patriot. Nulla toto orbe principum familia

carior; carior tamen respublica, carior Roma, carior Italia. ——Je

rends graces aux Dieux de n’être pas Romain.]

A short delay would have saved the Colonna, the delay of a single

month, which elapsed between the triumph and the exile of Rienzi.

In the pride of victory, he forfeited what yet remained of his

civil virtues, without acquiring the fame of military prowess. A

free and vigorous opposition was formed in the city; and when the

tribune proposed in the public council 47 to impose a new tax,

and to regulate the government of Perugia, thirty-nine members

voted against his measures; repelled the injurious charge of

treachery and corruption; and urged him to prove, by their

forcible exclusion, that if the populace adhered to his cause, it

was already disclaimed by the most respectable citizens. The pope

and the sacred college had never been dazzled by his specious

professions; they were justly offended by the insolence of his

conduct; a cardinal legate was sent to Italy, and after some

fruitless treaty, and two personal interviews, he fulminated a

bull of excommunication, in which the tribune is degraded from

his office, and branded with the guilt of rebellion, sacrilege,

and heresy. 48 The surviving barons of Rome were now humbled to a

sense of allegiance; their interest and revenge engaged them in

the service of the church; but as the fate of the Colonna was

before their eyes, they abandoned to a private adventurer the

peril and glory of the revolution. John Pepin, count of

Minorbino, 49 in the kingdom of Naples, had been condemned for

his crimes, or his riches, to perpetual imprisonment; and

Petrarch, by soliciting his release, indirectly contributed to

the ruin of his friend. At the head of one hundred and fifty

soldiers, the count of Minorbino introduced himself into Rome;

barricaded the quarter of the Colonna: and found the enterprise

as easy as it had seemed impossible. From the first alarm, the

bell of the Capitol incessantly tolled; but, instead of repairing

to the well-known sound, the people were silent and inactive; and

the pusillanimous Rienzi, deploring their ingratitude with sighs

and tears, abdicated the government and palace of the republic.

47 (return) [ This council and opposition is obscurely mentioned

by Pollistore, a contemporary writer, who has preserved some

curious and original facts, (Rer. Italicarum, tom. xxv. c. 31, p.

798—804.)]

48 (return) [ The briefs and bulls of Clement VI. against Rienzi

are translated by the P. du Cerçeau, (p. 196, 232,) from the

Ecclesiastical Annals of Odericus Raynaldus, (A.D. 1347, No. 15,

17, 21, &c.,) who found them in the archives of the Vatican.]

49 (return) [ Matteo Villani describes the origin, character, and

death of this count of Minorbino, a man da natura inconstante e

senza fede, whose grandfather, a crafty notary, was enriched and

ennobled by the spoils of the Saracens of Nocera, (l. vii. c.

102, 103.) See his imprisonment, and the efforts of Petrarch,

(tom. ii. p. 149—151.)]

Chapter LXX: Final Settlement Of The Ecclesiastical State.—Part

III.

Without drawing his sword, count Pepin restored the aristocracy

and the church; three senators were chosen, and the legate,

assuming the first rank, accepted his two colleagues from the

rival families of Colonna and Ursini. The acts of the tribune

were abolished, his head was proscribed; yet such was the terror

of his name, that the barons hesitated three days before they

would trust themselves in the city, and Rienzi was left above a

month in the castle of St. Angelo, from whence he peaceably

withdrew, after laboring, without effect, to revive the affection

and courage of the Romans. The vision of freedom and empire had

vanished: their fallen spirit would have acquiesced in servitude,

had it been smoothed by tranquillity and order; and it was

scarcely observed, that the new senators derived their authority

from the Apostolic See; that four cardinals were appointed to

reform, with dictatorial power, the state of the republic. Rome

was again agitated by the bloody feuds of the barons, who

detested each other, and despised the commons: their hostile

fortresses, both in town and country, again rose, and were again

demolished: and the peaceful citizens, a flock of sheep, were

devoured, says the Florentine historian, by these rapacious

wolves. But when their pride and avarice had exhausted the

patience of the Romans, a confraternity of the Virgin Mary

protected or avenged the republic: the bell of the Capitol was

again tolled, the nobles in arms trembled in the presence of an

unarmed multitude; and of the two senators, Colonna escaped from

the window of the palace, and Ursini was stoned at the foot of

the altar. The dangerous office of tribune was successively

occupied by two plebeians, Cerroni and Baroncelli. The mildness

of Cerroni was unequal to the times; and after a faint struggle,

he retired with a fair reputation and a decent fortune to the

comforts of rural life. Devoid of eloquence or genius, Baroncelli

was distinguished by a resolute spirit: he spoke the language of

a patriot, and trod in the footsteps of tyrants; his suspicion

was a sentence of death, and his own death was the reward of his

cruelties. Amidst the public misfortunes, the faults of Rienzi

were forgotten; and the Romans sighed for the peace and

prosperity of their good estate. 50

50 (return) [ The troubles of Rome, from the departure to the

return of Rienzi, are related by Matteo Villani (l. ii. c. 47, l.

iii. c. 33, 57, 78) and Thomas Fortifiocca, (l. iii. c. 1—4.) I

have slightly passed over these secondary characters, who

imitated the original tribune.]

After an exile of seven years, the first deliverer was again

restored to his country. In the disguise of a monk or a pilgrim,

he escaped from the castle of St. Angelo, implored the friendship

of the king of Hungary at Naples, tempted the ambition of every

bold adventurer, mingled at Rome with the pilgrims of the

jubilee, lay concealed among the hermits of the Apennine, and

wandered through the cities of Italy, Germany, and Bohemia. His

person was invisible, his name was yet formidable; and the

anxiety of the court of Avignon supposes, and even magnifies, his

personal merit. The emperor Charles the Fourth gave audience to a

stranger, who frankly revealed himself as the tribune of the

republic; and astonished an assembly of ambassadors and princes,

by the eloquence of a patriot and the visions of a prophet, the

downfall of tyranny and the kingdom of the Holy Ghost. 51

Whatever had been his hopes, Rienzi found himself a captive; but

he supported a character of independence and dignity, and obeyed,

as his own choice, the irresistible summons of the supreme

pontiff. The zeal of Petrarch, which had been cooled by the

unworthy conduct, was rekindled by the sufferings and the

presence, of his friend; and he boldly complains of the times, in

which the savior of Rome was delivered by her emperor into the

hands of her bishop. Rienzi was transported slowly, but in safe

custody, from Prague to Avignon: his entrance into the city was

that of a malefactor; in his prison he was chained by the leg;

and four cardinals were named to inquire into the crimes of

heresy and rebellion. But his trial and condemnation would have

involved some questions, which it was more prudent to leave under

the veil of mystery: the temporal supremacy of the popes; the

duty of residence; the civil and ecclesiastical privileges of the

clergy and people of Rome. The reigning pontiff well deserved the

appellation of _Clement_: the strange vicissitudes and

magnanimous spirit of the captive excited his pity and esteem;

and Petrarch believes that he respected in the hero the name and

sacred character of a poet. 52 Rienzi was indulged with an easy

confinement and the use of books; and in the assiduous study of

Livy and the Bible, he sought the cause and the consolation of

his misfortunes.

51 (return) [ These visions, of which the friends and enemies of

Rienzi seem alike ignorant, are surely magnified by the zeal of

Pollistore, a Dominican inquisitor, (Rer. Ital. tom. xxv. c. 36,

p. 819.) Had the tribune taught, that Christ was succeeded by the

Holy Ghost, that the tyranny of the pope would be abolished, he

might have been convicted of heresy and treason, without

offending the Roman people. * Note: So far from having magnified

these visions, Pollistore is more than confirmed by the documents

published by Papencordt. The adoption of all the wild doctrines

of the Fratricelli, the Spirituals, in which, for the time at

least, Rienzi appears to have been in earnest; his magnificent

offers to the emperor, and the whole history of his life, from

his first escape from Rome to his imprisonment at Avignon, are

among the most curious chapters of his eventful life.—M. 1845.]

52 (return) [ The astonishment, the envy almost, of Petrarch is a

proof, if not of the truth of this incredible fact, at least of

his own veracity. The abbé de Sade (Mémoires, tom. iii. p. 242)

quotes the vith epistle of the xiiith book of Petrarch, but it is

of the royal MS., which he consulted, and not of the ordinary

Basil edition, (p. 920.)]

The succeeding pontificate of Innocent the Sixth opened a new

prospect of his deliverance and restoration; and the court of

Avignon was persuaded, that the successful rebel could alone

appease and reform the anarchy of the metropolis. After a solemn

profession of fidelity, the Roman tribune was sent into Italy,

with the title of senator; but the death of Baroncelli appeared

to supersede the use of his mission; and the legate, Cardinal

Albornoz, 53 a consummate statesman, allowed him with reluctance,

and without aid, to undertake the perilous experiment. His first

reception was equal to his wishes: the day of his entrance was a

public festival; and his eloquence and authority revived the laws

of the good estate. But this momentary sunshine was soon clouded

by his own vices and those of the people: in the Capitol, he

might often regret the prison of Avignon; and after a second

administration of four months, Rienzi was massacred in a tumult

which had been fomented by the Roman barons. In the society of

the Germans and Bohemians, he is said to have contracted the

habits of intemperance and cruelty: adversity had chilled his

enthusiasm, without fortifying his reason or virtue; and that

youthful hope, that lively assurance, which is the pledge of

success, was now succeeded by the cold impotence of distrust and

despair. The tribune had reigned with absolute dominion, by the

choice, and in the hearts, of the Romans: the senator was the

servile minister of a foreign court; and while he was suspected

by the people, he was abandoned by the prince. The legate

Albornoz, who seemed desirous of his ruin, inflexibly refused all

supplies of men and money; a faithful subject could no longer

presume to touch the revenues of the apostolical chamber; and the

first idea of a tax was the signal of clamor and sedition. Even

his justice was tainted with the guilt or reproach of selfish

cruelty: the most virtuous citizen of Rome was sacrificed to his

jealousy; and in the execution of a public robber, from whose

purse he had been assisted, the magistrate too much forgot, or

too much remembered, the obligations of the debtor. 54 A civil

war exhausted his treasures, and the patience of the city: the

Colonna maintained their hostile station at Palestrina; and his

mercenaries soon despised a leader whose ignorance and fear were

envious of all subordinate merit. In the death, as in the life,

of Rienzi, the hero and the coward were strangely mingled. When

the Capitol was invested by a furious multitude, when he was

basely deserted by his civil and military servants, the intrepid

senator, waving the banner of liberty, presented himself on the

balcony, addressed his eloquence to the various passions of the

Romans, and labored to persuade them, that in the same cause

himself and the republic must either stand or fall. His oration

was interrupted by a volley of imprecations and stones; and after

an arrow had transpierced his hand, he sunk into abject despair,

and fled weeping to the inner chambers, from whence he was let

down by a sheet before the windows of the prison. Destitute of

aid or hope, he was besieged till the evening: the doors of the

Capitol were destroyed with axes and fire; and while the senator

attempted to escape in a plebeian habit, he was discovered and

dragged to the platform of the palace, the fatal scene of his

judgments and executions. A whole hour, without voice or motion,

he stood amidst the multitude half naked and half dead: their

rage was hushed into curiosity and wonder: the last feelings of

reverence and compassion yet struggled in his favor; and they

might have prevailed, if a bold assassin had not plunged a dagger

in his breast. He fell senseless with the first stroke: the

impotent revenge of his enemies inflicted a thousand wounds: and

the senator’s body was abandoned to the dogs, to the Jews, and to

the flames. Posterity will compare the virtues and failings of

this extraordinary man; but in a long period of anarchy and

servitude, the name of Rienzi has often been celebrated as the

deliverer of his country, and the last of the Roman patriots. 55

53 (return) [ Ægidius, or Giles Albornoz, a noble Spaniard,

archbishop of Toledo, and cardinal legate in Italy, (A.D.

1353—1367,) restored, by his arms and counsels, the temporal

dominion of the popes. His life has been separately written by

Sepulveda; but Dryden could not reasonably suppose, that his

name, or that of Wolsey, had reached the ears of the Mufti in Don

Sebastian.]

54 (return) [ From Matteo Villani and Fortifiocca, the P. du

Cerçeau (p. 344—394) has extracted the life and death of the

chevalier Montreal, the life of a robber and the death of a hero.

At the head of a free company, the first that desolated Italy, he

became rich and formidable be had money in all the banks,—60,000

ducats in Padua alone.]

55 (return) [ The exile, second government, and death of Rienzi,

are minutely related by the anonymous Roman, who appears neither

his friend nor his enemy, (l. iii. c. 12—25.) Petrarch, who loved

the _tribune_, was indifferent to the fate of the _senator_.]

The first and most generous wish of Petrarch was the restoration

of a free republic; but after the exile and death of his plebeian

hero, he turned his eyes from the tribune, to the king, of the

Romans. The Capitol was yet stained with the blood of Rienzi,

when Charles the Fourth descended from the Alps to obtain the

Italian and Imperial crowns. In his passage through Milan he

received the visit, and repaid the flattery, of the

poet-laureate; accepted a medal of Augustus; and promised,

without a smile, to imitate the founder of the Roman monarchy. A

false application of the name and maxims of antiquity was the

source of the hopes and disappointments of Petrarch; yet he could

not overlook the difference of times and characters; the

immeasurable distance between the first Cæsars and a Bohemian

prince, who by the favor of the clergy had been elected the

titular head of the German aristocracy. Instead of restoring to

Rome her glory and her provinces, he had bound himself by a

secret treaty with the pope, to evacuate the city on the day of

his coronation; and his shameful retreat was pursued by the

reproaches of the patriot bard. 56

56 (return) [ The hopes and the disappointment of Petrarch are

agreeably described in his own words by the French biographer,

(Mémoires, tom. iii. p. 375—413;) but the deep, though secret,

wound was the coronation of Zanubi, the poet-laureate, by Charles

IV.]

After the loss of liberty and empire, his third and more humble

wish was to reconcile the shepherd with his flock; to recall the

Roman bishop to his ancient and peculiar diocese. In the fervor

of youth, with the authority of age, Petrarch addressed his

exhortations to five successive popes, and his eloquence was

always inspired by the enthusiasm of sentiment and the freedom of

language. 57 The son of a citizen of Florence invariably

preferred the country of his birth to that of his education; and

Italy, in his eyes, was the queen and garden of the world. Amidst

her domestic factions, she was doubtless superior to France both

in art and science, in wealth and politeness; but the difference

could scarcely support the epithet of barbarous, which he

promiscuously bestows on the countries beyond the Alps. Avignon,

the mystic Babylon, the sink of vice and corruption, was the

object of his hatred and contempt; but he forgets that her

scandalous vices were not the growth of the soil, and that in

every residence they would adhere to the power and luxury of the

papal court. He confesses that the successor of St. Peter is the

bishop of the universal church; yet it was not on the banks of

the Rhône, but of the Tyber, that the apostle had fixed his

everlasting throne; and while every city in the Christian world

was blessed with a bishop, the metropolis alone was desolate and

forlorn. Since the removal of the Holy See, the sacred buildings

of the Lateran and the Vatican, their altars and their saints,

were left in a state of poverty and decay; and Rome was often

painted under the image of a disconsolate matron, as if the

wandering husband could be reclaimed by the homely portrait of

the age and infirmities of his weeping spouse. 58 But the cloud

which hung over the seven hills would be dispelled by the

presence of their lawful sovereign: eternal fame, the prosperity

of Rome, and the peace of Italy, would be the recompense of the

pope who should dare to embrace this generous resolution. Of the

five whom Petrarch exhorted, the three first, John the

Twenty-second, Benedict the Twelfth, and Clement the Sixth, were

importuned or amused by the boldness of the orator; but the

memorable change which had been attempted by Urban the Fifth was

finally accomplished by Gregory the Eleventh. The execution of

their design was opposed by weighty and almost insuperable

obstacles. A king of France, who has deserved the epithet of

wise, was unwilling to release them from a local dependence: the

cardinals, for the most part his subjects, were attached to the

language, manners, and climate of Avignon; to their stately

palaces; above all, to the wines of Burgundy. In their eyes,

Italy was foreign or hostile; and they reluctantly embarked at

Marseilles, as if they had been sold or banished into the land of

the Saracens. Urban the Fifth resided three years in the Vatican

with safety and honor: his sanctity was protected by a guard of

two thousand horse; and the king of Cyprus, the queen of Naples,

and the emperors of the East and West, devoutly saluted their

common father in the chair of St. Peter. But the joy of Petrarch

and the Italians was soon turned into grief and indignation. Some

reasons of public or private moment, his own impatience or the

prayers of the cardinals, recalled Urban to France; and the

approaching election was saved from the tyrannic patriotism of

the Romans. The powers of heaven were interested in their cause:

Bridget of Sweden, a saint and pilgrim, disapproved the return,

and foretold the death, of Urban the Fifth: the migration of

Gregory the Eleventh was encouraged by St. Catharine of Sienna,

the spouse of Christ and ambassadress of the Florentines; and the

popes themselves, the great masters of human credulity, appear to

have listened to these visionary females. 59 Yet those celestial

admonitions were supported by some arguments of temporal policy.

The residents of Avignon had been invaded by hostile violence: at

the head of thirty thousand robbers, a hero had extorted ransom

and absolution from the vicar of Christ and the sacred college;

and the maxim of the French warriors, to spare the people and

plunder the church, was a new heresy of the most dangerous

import. 60 While the pope was driven from Avignon, he was

strenuously invited to Rome. The senate and people acknowledged

him as their lawful sovereign, and laid at his feet the keys of

the gates, the bridges, and the fortresses; of the quarter at

least beyond the Tyber. 61 But this loyal offer was accompanied

by a declaration, that they could no longer suffer the scandal

and calamity of his absence; and that his obstinacy would finally

provoke them to revive and assert the primitive right of

election. The abbot of Mount Cassin had been consulted, whether

he would accept the triple crown 62 from the clergy and people:

“I am a citizen of Rome,” 63 replied that venerable ecclesiastic,

“and my first law is, the voice of my country.” 64

57 (return) [ See, in his accurate and amusing biographer, the

application of Petrarch and Rome to Benedict XII. in the year

1334, (Mémoires, tom. i. p. 261—265,) to Clement VI. in 1342,

(tom. ii. p. 45—47,) and to Urban V. in 1366, (tom. iii. p.

677—691:) his praise (p. 711—715) and excuse (p. 771) of the last

of these pontiffs. His angry controversy on the respective merits

of France and Italy may be found, Opp. p. 1068—1085.]

58 (return) [

Squalida sed quoniam facies, neglectaque cultû Cæsaries;

multisque malis lassata senectus Eripuit solitam

effigiem: vetus accipe nomen; Roma vocor. (Carm. l. 2,

p. 77.)

He spins this allegory beyond all measure or patience. The

Epistles to Urban V in prose are more simple and persuasive,

(Senilium, l. vii. p. 811—827 l. ix. epist. i. p. 844—854.)]

59 (return) [ I have not leisure to expatiate on the legends of

St. Bridget or St. Catharine, the last of which might furnish

some amusing stories. Their effect on the mind of Gregory XI. is

attested by the last solemn words of the dying pope, who

admonished the assistants, ut caverent ab hominibus, sive viris,

sive mulieribus, sub specie religionis loquentibus visiones sui

capitis, quia per tales ipse seductus, &c., (Baluz. Not ad Vit.

Pap. Avenionensium, tom. i. p. 1224.)]

60 (return) [ This predatory expedition is related by Froissard,

(Chronique, tom. i. p. 230,) and in the life of Du Guesclin,

(Collection Générale des Mémoires Historiques, tom. iv. c. 16, p.

107—113.) As early as the year 1361, the court of Avignon had

been molested by similar freebooters, who afterwards passed the

Alps, (Mémoires sur Pétrarque, tom. iii. p. 563—569.)]

61 (return) [ Fleury alleges, from the annals of Odericus

Raynaldus, the original treaty which was signed the 21st of

December, 1376, between Gregory XI. and the Romans, (Hist.

Ecclés. tom. xx. p. 275.)]

62 (return) [ The first crown or regnum (Ducange, Gloss. Latin.

tom. v. p. 702) on the episcopal mitre of the popes, is ascribed

to the gift of Constantine, or Clovis. The second was added by

Boniface VIII., as the emblem not only of a spiritual, but of a

temporal, kingdom. The three states of the church are represented

by the triple crown which was introduced by John XXII. or

Benedict XII., (Mémoires sur Pétrarque, tom. i. p. 258, 259.)]

63 (return) [ Baluze (Not. ad Pap. Avenion. tom. i. p. 1194,

1195) produces the original evidence which attests the threats of

the Roman ambassadors, and the resignation of the abbot of Mount

Cassin, qui, ultro se offerens, respondit se civem Romanum esse,

et illud velle quod ipsi vellent.]

64 (return) [ The return of the popes from Avignon to Rome, and

their reception by the people, are related in the original lives

of Urban V. and Gregory XI., in Baluze (Vit. Paparum

Avenionensium, tom. i. p. 363—486) and Muratori, (Script. Rer.

Italicarum, tom. iii. P. i. p. 613—712.) In the disputes of the

schism, every circumstance was severely, though partially,

scrutinized; more especially in the great inquest, which decided

the obedience of Castile, and to which Baluze, in his notes, so

often and so largely appeals from a MS. volume in the Harley

library, (p. 1281, &c.)]

If superstition will interpret an untimely death, 65 if the merit

of counsels be judged from the event, the heavens may seem to

frown on a measure of such apparent season and propriety. Gregory

the Eleventh did not survive above fourteen months his return to

the Vatican; and his decease was followed by the great schism of

the West, which distracted the Latin church above forty years.

The sacred college was then composed of twenty-two cardinals: six

of these had remained at Avignon; eleven Frenchmen, one Spaniard,

and four Italians, entered the conclave in the usual form. Their

choice was not yet limited to the purple; and their unanimous

votes acquiesced in the archbishop of Bari, a subject of Naples,

conspicuous for his zeal and learning, who ascended the throne of

St. Peter under the name of Urban the Sixth. The epistle of the

sacred college affirms his free, and regular, election; which had

been inspired, as usual, by the Holy Ghost; he was adored,

invested, and crowned, with the customary rites; his temporal

authority was obeyed at Rome and Avignon, and his ecclesiastical

supremacy was acknowledged in the Latin world. During several

weeks, the cardinals attended their new master with the fairest

professions of attachment and loyalty; till the summer heats

permitted a decent escape from the city. But as soon as they were

united at Anagni and Fundi, in a place of security, they cast

aside the mask, accused their own falsehood and hypocrisy,

excommunicated the apostate and antichrist of Rome, and proceeded

to a new election of Robert of Geneva, Clement the Seventh, whom

they announced to the nations as the true and rightful vicar of

Christ. Their first choice, an involuntary and illegal act, was

annulled by fear of death and the menaces of the Romans; and

their complaint is justified by the strong evidence of

probability and fact. The twelve French cardinals, above two

thirds of the votes, were masters of the election; and whatever

might be their provincial jealousies, it cannot fairly be

presumed that they would have sacrificed their right and interest

to a foreign candidate, who would never restore them to their

native country. In the various, and often inconsistent,

narratives, 66 the shades of popular violence are more darkly or

faintly colored: but the licentiousness of the seditious Romans

was inflamed by a sense of their privileges, and the danger of a

second emigration. The conclave was intimidated by the shouts,

and encompassed by the arms, of thirty thousand rebels; the bells

of the Capitol and St. Peter’s rang an alarm: “Death, or an

Italian pope!” was the universal cry; the same threat was

repeated by the twelve bannerets or chiefs of the quarters, in

the form of charitable advice; some preparations were made for

burning the obstinate cardinals; and had they chosen a

Transalpine subject, it is probable that they would never have

departed alive from the Vatican. The same constraint imposed the

necessity of dissembling in the eyes of Rome and of the world;

the pride and cruelty of Urban presented a more inevitable

danger; and they soon discovered the features of the tyrant, who

could walk in his garden and recite his breviary, while he heard

from an adjacent chamber six cardinals groaning on the rack. His

inflexible zeal, which loudly censured their luxury and vice,

would have attached them to the stations and duties of their

parishes at Rome; and had he not fatally delayed a new promotion,

the French cardinals would have been reduced to a helpless

minority in the sacred college. For these reasons, and the hope

of repassing the Alps, they rashly violated the peace and unity

of the church; and the merits of their double choice are yet

agitated in the Catholic schools. 67 The vanity, rather than the

interest, of the nation determined the court and clergy of

France. 68 The states of Savoy, Sicily, Cyprus, Arragon,

Castille, Navarre, and Scotland were inclined by their example

and authority to the obedience of Clement the Seventh, and after

his decease, of Benedict the Thirteenth. Rome and the principal

states of Italy, Germany, Portugal, England, 69 the Low

Countries, and the kingdoms of the North, adhered to the prior

election of Urban the Sixth, who was succeeded by Boniface the

Ninth, Innocent the Seventh, and Gregory the Twelfth.

65 (return) [ Can the death of a good man be esteemed a

punishment by those who believe in the immortality of the soul?

They betray the instability of their faith. Yet as a mere

philosopher, I cannot agree with the Greeks, on oi Jeoi jilousin

apoqnhskei neoV, (Brunck, Poetæ Gnomici, p. 231.) See in

Herodotus (l. i. c. 31) the moral and pleasing tale of the Argive

youths.]

66 (return) [ In the first book of the Histoire du Concile de

Pise, M. Lenfant has abridged and compared the original

narratives of the adherents of Urban and Clement, of the Italians

and Germans, the French and Spaniards. The latter appear to be

the most active and loquacious, and every fact and word in the

original lives of Gregory XI. and Clement VII. are supported in

the notes of their editor Baluze.]

67 (return) [ The ordinal numbers of the popes seems to decide

the question against Clement VII. and Benedict XIII., who are

boldly stigmatized as antipopes by the Italians, while the French

are content with authorities and reasons to plead the cause of

doubt and toleration, (Baluz. in Præfat.) It is singular, or

rather it is not singular, that saints, visions and miracles

should be common to both parties.]

68 (return) [ Baluze strenuously labors (Not. p. 1271—1280) to

justify the pure and pious motives of Charles V. king of France:

he refused to hear the arguments of Urban; but were not the

Urbanists equally deaf to the reasons of Clement, &c.?]

69 (return) [ An epistle, or declamation, in the name of Edward

III., (Baluz. Vit. Pap. Avenion. tom. i. p. 553,) displays the

zeal of the English nation against the Clementines. Nor was their

zeal confined to words: the bishop of Norwich led a crusade of

60,000 bigots beyond sea, (Hume’s History, vol. iii. p. 57, 58.)]

From the banks of the Tyber and the Rhône, the hostile pontiffs

encountered each other with the pen and the sword: the civil and

ecclesiastical order of society was disturbed; and the Romans had

their full share of the mischiefs of which they may be arraigned

as the primary authors. 70 They had vainly flattered themselves

with the hope of restoring the seat of the ecclesiastical

monarchy, and of relieving their poverty with the tributes and

offerings of the nations; but the separation of France and Spain

diverted the stream of lucrative devotion; nor could the loss be

compensated by the two jubilees which were crowded into the space

of ten years. By the avocations of the schism, by foreign arms,

and popular tumults, Urban the Sixth and his three successors

were often compelled to interrupt their residence in the Vatican.

The Colonna and Ursini still exercised their deadly feuds: the

bannerets of Rome asserted and abused the privileges of a

republic: the vicars of Christ, who had levied a military force,

chastised their rebellion with the gibbet, the sword, and the

dagger; and, in a friendly conference, eleven deputies of the

people were perfidiously murdered and cast into the street. Since

the invasion of Robert the Norman, the Romans had pursued their

domestic quarrels without the dangerous interposition of a

stranger. But in the disorders of the schism, an aspiring

neighbor, Ladislaus king of Naples, alternately supported and

betrayed the pope and the people; by the former he was declared

_gonfalonier_, or general, of the church, while the latter

submitted to his choice the nomination of their magistrates.

Besieging Rome by land and water, he thrice entered the gates as

a Barbarian conqueror; profaned the altars, violated the virgins,

pillaged the merchants, performed his devotions at St. Peter’s,

and left a garrison in the castle of St. Angelo. His arms were

sometimes unfortunate, and to a delay of three days he was

indebted for his life and crown: but Ladislaus triumphed in his

turn; and it was only his premature death that could save the

metropolis and the ecclesiastical state from the ambitious

conqueror, who had assumed the title, or at least the powers, of

king of Rome. 71

70 (return) [ Besides the general historians, the Diaries of

Delphinus Gentilia Peter Antonius, and Stephen Infessura, in the

great collection of Muratori, represented the state and

misfortunes of Rome.]

71 (return) [ It is supposed by Giannone (tom. iii. p. 292) that

he styled himself Rex Romæ, a title unknown to the world since

the expulsion of Tarquin. But a nearer inspection has justified

the reading of Rex R_a_mæ, of Rama, an obscure kingdom annexed to

the crown of Hungary.]

I have not undertaken the ecclesiastical history of the schism;

but Rome, the object of these last chapters, is deeply interested

in the disputed succession of her sovereigns. The first counsels

for the peace and union of Christendom arose from the university

of Paris, from the faculty of the Sorbonne, whose doctors were

esteemed, at least in the Gallican church, as the most consummate

masters of theological science. 72 Prudently waiving all

invidious inquiry into the origin and merits of the dispute, they

proposed, as a healing measure, that the two pretenders of Rome

and Avignon should abdicate at the same time, after qualifying

the cardinals of the adverse factions to join in a legitimate

election; and that the nations should _subtract_ 73 their

obedience, if either of the competitor preferred his own interest

to that of the public. At each vacancy, these physicians of the

church deprecated the mischiefs of a hasty choice; but the policy

of the conclave and the ambition of its members were deaf to

reason and entreaties; and whatsoever promises were made, the

pope could never be bound by the oaths of the cardinal. During

fifteen years, the pacific designs of the university were eluded

by the arts of the rival pontiffs, the scruples or passions of

their adherents, and the vicissitudes of French factions, that

ruled the insanity of Charles the Sixth. At length a vigorous

resolution was embraced; and a solemn embassy, of the titular

patriarch of Alexandria, two archbishops, five bishops, five

abbots, three knights, and twenty doctors, was sent to the courts

of Avignon and Rome, to require, in the name of the church and

king, the abdication of the two pretenders, of Peter de Luna, who

styled himself Benedict the Thirteenth, and of Angelo Corrario,

who assumed the name of Gregory the Twelfth. For the ancient

honor of Rome, and the success of their commission, the

ambassadors solicited a conference with the magistrates of the

city, whom they gratified by a positive declaration, that the

most Christian king did not entertain a wish of transporting the

holy see from the Vatican, which he considered as the genuine and

proper seat of the successor of St. Peter. In the name of the

senate and people, an eloquent Roman asserted their desire to

cooperate in the union of the church, deplored the temporal and

spiritual calamities of the long schism, and requested the

protection of France against the arms of the king of Naples. The

answers of Benedict and Gregory were alike edifying and alike

deceitful; and, in evading the demand of their abdication, the

two rivals were animated by a common spirit. They agreed on the

necessity of a previous interview; but the time, the place, and

the manner, could never be ascertained by mutual consent. “If the

one advances,” says a servant of Gregory, “the other retreats;

the one appears an animal fearful of the land, the other a

creature apprehensive of the water. And thus, for a short remnant

of life and power, will these aged priests endanger the peace and

salvation of the Christian world.” 74

72 (return) [ The leading and decisive part which France assumed

in the schism is stated by Peter du Puis in a separate history,

extracted from authentic records, and inserted in the seventh

volume of the last and best edition of his friend Thuanus, (P.

xi. p. 110—184.)]

73 (return) [ Of this measure, John Gerson, a stout doctor, was

the author of the champion. The proceedings of the university of

Paris and the Gallican church were often prompted by his advice,

and are copiously displayed in his theological writings, of which

Le Clerc (Bibliothèque Choisie, tom. x. p. 1—78) has given a

valuable extract. John Gerson acted an important part in the

councils of Pisa and Constance.]

74 (return) [ Leonardus Brunus Aretinus, one of the revivers of

classic learning in Italy, who, after serving many years as

secretary in the Roman court, retired to the honorable office of

chancellor of the republic of Florence, (Fabric. Bibliot. Medii

Ævi, tom. i. p. 290.) Lenfant has given the version of this

curious epistle, (Concile de Pise, tom. i. p. 192—195.)]

The Christian world was at length provoked by their obstinacy and

fraud: they were deserted by their cardinals, who embraced each

other as friends and colleagues; and their revolt was supported

by a numerous assembly of prelates and ambassadors. With equal

justice, the council of Pisa deposed the popes of Rome and

Avignon; the conclave was unanimous in the choice of Alexander

the Fifth, and his vacant seat was soon filled by a similar

election of John the Twenty-third, the most profligate of

mankind. But instead of extinguishing the schism, the rashness of

the French and Italians had given a third pretender to the chair

of St. Peter. Such new claims of the synod and conclave were

disputed; three kings, of Germany, Hungary, and Naples, adhered

to the cause of Gregory the Twelfth; and Benedict the Thirteenth,

himself a Spaniard, was acknowledged by the devotion and

patriotism of that powerful nation. The rash proceedings of Pisa

were corrected by the council of Constance; the emperor Sigismond

acted a conspicuous part as the advocate or protector of the

Catholic church; and the number and weight of civil and

ecclesiastical members might seem to constitute the

states-general of Europe. Of the three popes, John the

Twenty-third was the first victim: he fled and was brought back a

prisoner: the most scandalous charges were suppressed; the vicar

of Christ was only accused of piracy, murder, rape, sodomy, and

incest; and after subscribing his own condemnation, he expiated

in prison the imprudence of trusting his person to a free city

beyond the Alps. Gregory the Twelfth, whose obedience was reduced

to the narrow precincts of Rimini, descended with more honor from

the throne; and his ambassador convened the session, in which he

renounced the title and authority of lawful pope. To vanquish the

obstinacy of Benedict the Thirteenth or his adherents, the

emperor in person undertook a journey from Constance to

Perpignan. The kings of Castile, Arragon, Navarre, and Scotland,

obtained an equal and honorable treaty; with the concurrence of

the Spaniards, Benedict was deposed by the council; but the

harmless old man was left in a solitary castle to excommunicate

twice each day the rebel kingdoms which had deserted his cause.

After thus eradicating the remains of the schism, the synod of

Constance proceeded with slow and cautious steps to elect the

sovereign of Rome and the head of the church. On this momentous

occasion, the college of twenty-three cardinals was fortified

with thirty deputies; six of whom were chosen in each of the five

great nations of Christendom,—the Italian, the German, the

French, the Spanish, and the _English_: 75 the interference of

strangers was softened by their generous preference of an Italian

and a Roman; and the hereditary, as well as personal, merit of

Otho Colonna recommended him to the conclave. Rome accepted with

joy and obedience the noblest of her sons; the ecclesiastical

state was defended by his powerful family; and the elevation of

Martin the Fifth is the æra of the restoration and establishment

of the popes in the Vatican. 76

75 (return) [ I cannot overlook this great national cause, which

was vigorously maintained by the English ambassadors against

those of France. The latter contended, that Christendom was

essentially distributed into the four great nations and votes, of

Italy, Germany, France, and Spain, and that the lesser kingdoms

(such as England, Denmark, Portugal, &c.) were comprehended under

one or other of these great divisions. The English asserted, that

the British islands, of which they were the head, should be

considered as a fifth and coördinate nation, with an equal vote;

and every argument of truth or fable was introduced to exalt the

dignity of their country. Including England, Scotland, Wales, the

four kingdoms of Ireland, and the Orkneys, the British Islands

are decorated with eight royal crowns, and discriminated by four

or five languages, English, Welsh, Cornish, Scotch, Irish, &c.

The greater island from north to south measures 800 miles, or 40

days’ journey; and England alone contains 32 counties and 52,000

parish churches, (a bold account!) besides cathedrals, colleges,

priories, and hospitals. They celebrate the mission of St. Joseph

of Arimathea, the birth of Constantine, and the legatine powers

of the two primates, without forgetting the testimony of

Bartholomey de Glanville, (A.D. 1360,) who reckons only four

Christian kingdoms, 1. of Rome, 2. of Constantinople, 3. of

Ireland, which had been transferred to the English monarchs, and

4, of Spain. Our countrymen prevailed in the council, but the

victories of Henry V. added much weight to their arguments. The

adverse pleadings were found at Constance by Sir Robert

Wingfield, ambassador of Henry VIII. to the emperor Maximilian

I., and by him printed in 1517 at Louvain. From a Leipsic MS.

they are more correctly published in the collection of Von der

Hardt, tom. v.; but I have only seen Lenfant’s abstract of these

acts, (Concile de Constance, tom. ii. p. 447, 453, &c.)]

76 (return) [ The histories of the three successive councils,

Pisa, Constance, and Basil, have been written with a tolerable

degree of candor, industry, and elegance, by a Protestant

minister, M. Lenfant, who retired from France to Berlin. They

form six volumes in quarto; and as Basil is the worst, so

Constance is the best, part of the Collection.]

Chapter LXX: Final Settlement Of The Ecclesiastical State.—Part

IV.

The royal prerogative of coining money, which had been exercised

near three hundred years by the senate, was _first_ resumed by

Martin the Fifth, 77 and his image and superscription introduce

the series of the papal medals. Of his two immediate successors,

Eugenius the Fourth was the _last_ pope expelled by the tumults

of the Roman people, 78 and Nicholas the Fifth, the _last_ who

was importuned by the presence of a Roman emperor. 79 I. The

conflict of Eugenius with the fathers of Basil, and the weight or

apprehension of a new excise, emboldened and provoked the Romans

to usurp the temporal government of the city. They rose in arms,

elected seven governors of the republic, and a constable of the

Capitol; imprisoned the pope’s nephew; besieged his person in the

palace; and shot volleys of arrows into his bark as he escaped

down the Tyber in the habit of a monk. But he still possessed in

the castle of St. Angelo a faithful garrison and a train of

artillery: their batteries incessantly thundered on the city, and

a bullet more dexterously pointed broke down the barricade of the

bridge, and scattered with a single shot the heroes of the

republic. Their constancy was exhausted by a rebellion of five

months. Under the tyranny of the Ghibeline nobles, the wisest

patriots regretted the dominion of the church; and their

repentance was unanimous and effectual. The troops of St. Peter

again occupied the Capitol; the magistrates departed to their

homes; the most guilty were executed or exiled; and the legate,

at the head of two thousand foot and four thousand horse, was

saluted as the father of the city. The synods of Ferrara and

Florence, the fear or resentment of Eugenius, prolonged his

absence: he was received by a submissive people; but the pontiff

understood from the acclamations of his triumphal entry, that to

secure their loyalty and his own repose, he must grant without

delay the abolition of the odious excise. II. Rome was restored,

adorned, and enlightened, by the peaceful reign of Nicholas the

Fifth. In the midst of these laudable occupations, the pope was

alarmed by the approach of Frederic the Third of Austria; though

his fears could not be justified by the character or the power of

the Imperial candidate. After drawing his military force to the

metropolis, and imposing the best security of oaths 80 and

treaties, Nicholas received with a smiling countenance the

faithful advocate and vassal of the church. So tame were the

times, so feeble was the Austrian, that the pomp of his

coronation was accomplished with order and harmony: but the

superfluous honor was so disgraceful to an independent nation,

that his successors have excused themselves from the toilsome

pilgrimage to the Vatican; and rest their Imperial title on the

choice of the electors of Germany.

77 (return) [ See the xxviith Dissertation of the Antiquities of

Muratori, and the 1st Instruction of the Science des Medailles of

the Père Joubert and the Baron de la Bastie. The Metallic History

of Martin V. and his successors has been composed by two monks,

Moulinet, a Frenchman, and Bonanni, an Italian: but I understand,

that the first part of the series is restored from more recent

coins.]

78 (return) [ Besides the Lives of Eugenius IV., (Rerum Italic.

tom. iii. P. i. p. 869, and tom. xxv. p. 256,) the Diaries of

Paul Petroni and Stephen Infessura are the best original evidence

for the revolt of the Romans against Eugenius IV. The former, who

lived at the time and on the spot, speaks the language of a

citizen, equally afraid of priestly and popular tyranny.]

79 (return) [ The coronation of Frederic III. is described by

Lenfant, (Concile de Basle, tom. ii. p. 276—288,) from Æneas

Sylvius, a spectator and actor in that splendid scene.]

80 (return) [ The oath of fidelity imposed on the emperor by the

pope is recorded and sanctified in the Clementines, (l. ii. tit.

ix.;) and Æneas Sylvius, who objects to this new demand, could

not foresee, that in a few years he should ascend the throne, and

imbibe the maxims, of Boniface VIII.]

A citizen has remarked, with pride and pleasure, that the king of

the Romans, after passing with a slight salute the cardinals and

prelates who met him at the gate, distinguished the dress and

person of the senator of Rome; and in this last farewell, the

pageants of the empire and the republic were clasped in a

friendly embrace. 81 According to the laws of Rome, 82 her first

magistrate was required to be a doctor of laws, an alien, of a

place at least forty miles from the city; with whose inhabitants

he must not be connected in the third canonical degree of blood

or alliance. The election was annual: a severe scrutiny was

instituted into the conduct of the departing senator; nor could

he be recalled to the same office till after the expiration of

two years. A liberal salary of three thousand florins was

assigned for his expense and reward; and his public appearance

represented the majesty of the republic. His robes were of gold

brocade or crimson velvet, or in the summer season of a lighter

silk: he bore in his hand an ivory sceptre; the sound of trumpets

announced his approach; and his solemn steps were preceded at

least by four lictors or attendants, whose red wands were

enveloped with bands or streamers of the golden color or livery

of the city. His oath in the Capitol proclaims his right and duty

to observe and assert the laws, to control the proud, to protect

the poor, and to exercise justice and mercy within the extent of

his jurisdiction. In these useful functions he was assisted by

three learned strangers; the two _collaterals_, and the judge of

criminal appeals: their frequent trials of robberies, rapes, and

murders, are attested by the laws; and the weakness of these laws

connives at the licentiousness of private feuds and armed

associations for mutual defence. But the senator was confined to

the administration of justice: the Capitol, the treasury, and the

government of the city and its territory, were intrusted to the

three _conservators_, who were changed four times in each year:

the militia of the thirteen regions assembled under the banners

of their respective chiefs, or _caporioni_; and the first of

these was distinguished by the name and dignity of the _prior_.

The popular legislature consisted of the secret and the common

councils of the Romans. The former was composed of the

magistrates and their immediate predecessors, with some fiscal

and legal officers, and three classes of thirteen, twenty-six,

and forty, counsellors: amounting in the whole to about one

hundred and twenty persons. In the common council all male

citizens had a right to vote; and the value of their privilege

was enhanced by the care with which any foreigners were prevented

from usurping the title and character of Romans. The tumult of a

democracy was checked by wise and jealous precautions: except the

magistrates, none could propose a question; none were permitted

to speak, except from an open pulpit or tribunal; all disorderly

acclamations were suppressed; the sense of the majority was

decided by a secret ballot; and their decrees were promulgated in

the venerable name of the Roman senate and people. It would not

be easy to assign a period in which this theory of government has

been reduced to accurate and constant practice, since the

establishment of order has been gradually connected with the

decay of liberty. But in the year one thousand five hundred and

eighty the ancient statutes were collected, methodized in three

books, and adapted to present use, under the pontificate, and

with the approbation, of Gregory the Thirteenth: 83 this civil

and criminal code is the modern law of the city; and, if the

popular assemblies have been abolished, a foreign senator, with

the three conservators, still resides in the palace of the

Capitol. 84 The policy of the Cæsars has been repeated by the

popes; and the bishop of Rome affected to maintain the form of a

republic, while he reigned with the absolute powers of a

temporal, as well as a spiritual, monarch.

81 (return) [ Lo senatore di Roma, vestito di brocarto con quella

beretta, e con quelle maniche, et ornamenti di pelle, co’ quali

va alle feste di Testaccio e Nagone, might escape the eye of

Æneas Sylvius, but he is viewed with admiration and complacency

by the Roman citizen, (Diario di Stephano Infessura, p. 1133.)]

82 (return) [ See, in the statutes of Rome, the _senator and

three judges_, (l. i. c. 3—14,) the _conservators_, (l. i. c. 15,

16, 17, l. iii. c. 4,) the _caporioni_ (l. i. c. 18, l. iii. c.

8,) the _secret council_, (l. iii. c. 2,) the _common council_,

(l. iii. c. 3.) The title of _feuds_, _defiances_, _acts of

violence_, &c., is spread through many a chapter (c. 14—40) of

the second book.]

83 (return) [ _Statuta alm Urbis Rom Auctoritate S. D. N.

Gregorii XIII Pont. Max. a Senatu Populoque Rom. reformata et

edita. Rom, 1580, in folio_. The obsolete, repugnant statutes of

antiquity were confounded in five books, and Lucas Pætus, a

lawyer and antiquarian, was appointed to act as the modern

Tribonian. Yet I regret the old code, with the rugged crust of

freedom and barbarism.]

84 (return) [ In my time (1765) and in M. Grosley’s,

(Observations sur l’Italie torn. ii. p. 361,) the senator of Rome

was M. Bielke, a noble Swede and a proselyte to the Catholic

faith. The pope’s right to appoint the senator and the

conservator is implied, rather than affirmed, in the statutes.]

It is an obvious truth, that the times must be suited to

extraordinary characters, and that the genius of Cromwell or Retz

might now expire in obscurity. The political enthusiasm of Rienzi

had exalted him to a throne; the same enthusiasm, in the next

century, conducted his imitator to the gallows. The birth of

Stephen Porcaro was noble, his reputation spotless: his tongue

was armed with eloquence, his mind was enlightened with learning;

and he aspired, beyond the aim of vulgar ambition, to free his

country and immortalize his name. The dominion of priests is most

odious to a liberal spirit: every scruple was removed by the

recent knowledge of the fable and forgery of Constantine’s

donation; Petrarch was now the oracle of the Italians; and as

often as Porcaro revolved the ode which describes the patriot and

hero of Rome, he applied to himself the visions of the prophetic

bard. His first trial of the popular feelings was at the funeral

of Eugenius the Fourth: in an elaborate speech he called the

Romans to liberty and arms; and they listened with apparent

pleasure, till Porcaro was interrupted and answered by a grave

advocate, who pleaded for the church and state. By every law the

seditious orator was guilty of treason; but the benevolence of

the new pontiff, who viewed his character with pity and esteem,

attempted by an honorable office to convert the patriot into a

friend. The inflexible Roman returned from Anagni with an

increase of reputation and zeal; and, on the first opportunity,

the games of the place Navona, he tried to inflame the casual

dispute of some boys and mechanics into a general rising of the

people. Yet the humane Nicholas was still averse to accept the

forfeit of his life; and the traitor was removed from the scene

of temptation to Bologna, with a liberal allowance for his

support, and the easy obligation of presenting himself each day

before the governor of the city. But Porcaro had learned from the

younger Brutus, that with tyrants no faith or gratitude should be

observed: the exile declaimed against the arbitrary sentence; a

party and a conspiracy were gradually formed: his nephew, a

daring youth, assembled a band of volunteers; and on the

appointed evening a feast was prepared at his house for the

friends of the republic. Their leader, who had escaped from

Bologna, appeared among them in a robe of purple and gold: his

voice, his countenance, his gestures, bespoke the man who had

devoted his life or death to the glorious cause. In a studied

oration, he expiated on the motives and the means of their

enterprise; the name and liberties of Rome; the sloth and pride

of their ecclesiastical tyrants; the active or passive consent of

their fellow-citizens; three hundred soldiers, and four hundred

exiles, long exercised in arms or in wrongs; the license of

revenge to edge their swords, and a million of ducats to reward

their victory. It would be easy, (he said,) on the next day, the

festival of the Epiphany, to seize the pope and his cardinals,

before the doors, or at the altar, of St. Peter’s; to lead them

in chains under the walls of St. Angelo; to extort by the threat

of their instant death a surrender of the castle; to ascend the

vacant Capitol; to ring the alarm bell; and to restore in a

popular assembly the ancient republic of Rome. While he

triumphed, he was already betrayed. The senator, with a strong

guard, invested the house: the nephew of Porcaro cut his way

through the crowd; but the unfortunate Stephen was drawn from a

chest, lamenting that his enemies had anticipated by three hours

the execution of his design. After such manifest and repeated

guilt, even the mercy of Nicholas was silent. Porcaro, and nine

of his accomplices, were hanged without the benefit of the

sacraments; and, amidst the fears and invectives of the papal

court, the Romans pitied, and almost applauded, these martyrs of

their country. 85 But their applause was mute, their pity

ineffectual, their liberty forever extinct; and, if they have

since risen in a vacancy of the throne or a scarcity of bread,

such accidental tumults may be found in the bosom of the most

abject servitude.

85 (return) [ Besides the curious, though concise, narrative of

Machiavel, (Istoria Florentina, l. vi. Opere, tom. i. p. 210,

211, edit. Londra, 1747, in 4to.) the Porcarian conspiracy is

related in the Diary of Stephen Infessura, (Rer. Ital. tom. iii.

P. ii. p. 1134, 1135,) and in a separate tract by Leo Baptista

Alberti, (Rer. Ital. tom. xxv. p. 609—614.) It is amusing to

compare the style and sentiments of the courtier and citizen.

Facinus profecto quo.... neque periculo horribilius, neque

audaciâ detestabilius, neque crudelitate tetrius, a quoquam

perditissimo uspiam excogitatum sit.... Perdette la vita quell’

huomo da bene, e amatore dello bene e libertà di Roma.]

But the independence of the nobles, which was fomented by

discord, survived the freedom of the commons, which must be

founded in union. A privilege of rapine and oppression was long

maintained by the barons of Rome; their houses were a fortress

and a sanctuary: and the ferocious train of banditti and

criminals whom they protected from the law repaid the hospitality

with the service of their swords and daggers. The private

interest of the pontiffs, or their nephews, sometimes involved

them in these domestic feuds. Under the reign of Sixtus the

Fourth, Rome was distracted by the battles and sieges of the

rival houses: after the conflagration of his palace, the

prothonotary Colonna was tortured and beheaded; and Savelli, his

captive friend, was murdered on the spot, for refusing to join in

the acclamations of the victorious Ursini. 86 But the popes no

longer trembled in the Vatican: they had strength to command, if

they had resolution to claim, the obedience of their subjects;

and the strangers, who observed these partial disorders, admired

the easy taxes and wise administration of the ecclesiastical

state. 87

86 (return) [ The disorders of Rome, which were much inflamed by

the partiality of Sixtus IV. are exposed in the Diaries of two

spectators, Stephen Infessura, and an anonymous citizen. See the

troubles of the year 1484, and the death of the prothonotary

Colonna, in tom. iii. P. ii. p. 1083, 1158.]

87 (return) [ Est toute la terre de l’église troublée pour cette

partialité (des Colonnes et des Ursins) come nous dirions Luce et

Grammont, ou en Hollande Houc et Caballan; et quand ce ne seroit

ce différend la terre de l’église seroit la plus heureuse

habitation pour les sujets qui soit dans toute le monde (car ils

ne payent ni tailles ni guères autres choses,) et seroient

toujours bien conduits, (car toujours les papes sont sages et

bien consellies;) mais très souvent en advient de grands et

cruels meurtres et pilleries.]

The spiritual thunders of the Vatican depend on the force of

opinion; and if that opinion be supplanted by reason or passion,

the sound may idly waste itself in the air; and the helpless

priest is exposed to the brutal violence of a noble or a plebeian

adversary. But after their return from Avignon, the keys of St.

Peter were guarded by the sword of St. Paul. Rome was commanded

by an impregnable citadel: the use of cannon is a powerful engine

against popular seditions: a regular force of cavalry and

infantry was enlisted under the banners of the pope: his ample

revenues supplied the resources of war: and, from the extent of

his domain, he could bring down on a rebellious city an army of

hostile neighbors and loyal subjects. 88 Since the union of the

duchies of Ferrara and Urbino, the ecclesiastical state extends

from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic, and from the confines of

Naples to the banks of the Po; and as early as the sixteenth

century, the greater part of that spacious and fruitful country

acknowledged the lawful claims and temporal sovereignty of the

Roman pontiffs. Their claims were readily deduced from the

genuine, or fabulous, donations of the darker ages: the

successive steps of their final settlement would engage us too

far in the transactions of Italy, and even of Europe; the crimes

of Alexander the Sixth, the martial operations of Julius the

Second, and the liberal policy of Leo the Tenth, a theme which

has been adorned by the pens of the noblest historians of the

times. 89 In the first period of their conquests, till the

expedition of Charles the Eighth, the popes might successfully

wrestle with the adjacent princes and states, whose military

force was equal, or inferior, to their own. But as soon as the

monarchs of France, Germany and Spain, contended with gigantic

arms for the dominion of Italy, they supplied with art the

deficiency of strength; and concealed, in a labyrinth of wars and

treaties, their aspiring views, and the immortal hope of chasing

the Barbarians beyond the Alps. The nice balance of the Vatican

was often subverted by the soldiers of the North and West, who

were united under the standard of Charles the Fifth: the feeble

and fluctuating policy of Clement the Seventh exposed his person

and dominions to the conqueror; and Rome was abandoned seven

months to a lawless army, more cruel and rapacious than the Goths

and Vandals. 90 After this severe lesson, the popes contracted

their ambition, which was almost satisfied, resumed the character

of a common parent, and abstained from all offensive hostilities,

except in a hasty quarrel, when the vicar of Christ and the

Turkish sultan were armed at the same time against the kingdom of

Naples. 91 The French and Germans at length withdrew from the

field of battle: Milan, Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, and the

sea-coast of Tuscany, were firmly possessed by the Spaniards; and

it became their interest to maintain the peace and dependence of

Italy, which continued almost without disturbance from the middle

of the sixteenth to the opening of the eighteenth century. The

Vatican was swayed and protected by the religious policy of the

Catholic king: his prejudice and interest disposed him in every

dispute to support the prince against the people; and instead of

the encouragement, the aid, and the asylum, which they obtained

from the adjacent states, the friends of liberty, or the enemies

of law, were enclosed on all sides within the iron circle of

despotism. The long habits of obedience and education subdued the

turbulent spirit of the nobles and commons of Rome. The barons

forgot the arms and factions of their ancestors, and insensibly

became the servants of luxury and government. Instead of

maintaining a crowd of tenants and followers, the produce of

their estates was consumed in the private expenses which multiply

the pleasures, and diminish the power, of the lord. 92 The

Colonna and Ursini vied with each other in the decoration of

their palaces and chapels; and their antique splendor was

rivalled or surpassed by the sudden opulence of the papal

families. In Rome the voice of freedom and discord is no longer

heard; and, instead of the foaming torrent, a smooth and stagnant

lake reflects the image of idleness and servitude.

88 (return) [ By the conomy of Sixtus V. the revenue of the

ecclesiastical state was raised to two millions and a half of

Roman crowns, (Vita, tom. ii. p. 291—296;) and so regular was the

military establishment, that in one month Clement VIII. could

invade the duchy of Ferrara with three thousand horse and twenty

thousand foot, (tom. iii. p. 64) Since that time (A.D. 1597) the

papal arms are happily rusted: but the revenue must have gained

some nominal increase. * Note: On the financial measures of

Sixtus V. see Ranke, Dio Römischen Päpste, i. p. 459.—M.]

89 (return) [ More especially by Guicciardini and Machiavel; in

the general history of the former, in the Florentine history, the

Prince, and the political discourses of the latter. These, with

their worthy successors, Fra Paolo and Davila, were justly

esteemed the first historians of modern languages, till, in the

present age, Scotland arose, to dispute the prize with Italy

herself.]

90 (return) [ In the history of the Gothic siege, I have compared

the Barbarians with the subjects of Charles V., (vol. iii. p.

289, 290;) an anticipation, which, like that of the Tartar

conquests, I indulged with the less scruple, as I could scarcely

hope to reach the conclusion of my work.]

91 (return) [ The ambitious and feeble hostilities of the Caraffa

pope, Paul IV. may be seen in Thuanus (l. xvi.—xviii.) and

Giannone, (tom. iv p. 149—163.) Those Catholic bigots, Philip II.

and the duke of Alva, presumed to separate the Roman prince from

the vicar of Christ, yet the holy character, which would have

sanctified his victory was decently applied to protect his

defeat. * Note: But compare Ranke, Die Römischen Päpste, i. p.

289.—M.]

92 (return) [ This gradual change of manners and expense is

admirably explained by Dr. Adam Smith, (Wealth of Nations, vol.

i. p. 495—504,) who proves, perhaps too severely, that the most

salutary effects have flowed from the meanest and most selfish

causes.]

A Christian, a philosopher, 93 and a patriot, will be equally

scandalized by the temporal kingdom of the clergy; and the local

majesty of Rome, the remembrance of her consuls and triumphs, may

seem to imbitter the sense, and aggravate the shame, of her

slavery. If we calmly weigh the merits and defects of the

ecclesiastical government, it may be praised in its present

state, as a mild, decent, and tranquil system, exempt from the

dangers of a minority, the sallies of youth, the expenses of

luxury, and the calamities of war. But these advantages are

overbalanced by a frequent, perhaps a septennial, election of a

sovereign, who is seldom a native of the country; the reign of a

_young_ statesman of threescore, in the decline of his life and

abilities, without hope to accomplish, and without children to

inherit, the labors of his transitory reign. The successful

candidate is drawn from the church, and even the convent; from

the mode of education and life the most adverse to reason,

humanity, and freedom. In the trammels of servile faith, he has

learned to believe because it is absurd, to revere all that is

contemptible, and to despise whatever might deserve the esteem of

a rational being; to punish error as a crime, to reward

mortification and celibacy as the first of virtues; to place the

saints of the calendar 94 above the heroes of Rome and the sages

of Athens; and to consider the missal, or the crucifix, as more

useful instruments than the plough or the loom. In the office of

nuncio, or the rank of cardinal, he may acquire some knowledge of

the world, but the primitive stain will adhere to his mind and

manners: from study and experience he may suspect the mystery of

his profession; but the sacerdotal artist will imbibe some

portion of the bigotry which he inculcates. The genius of Sixtus

the Fifth 95 burst from the gloom of a Franciscan cloister. In a

reign of five years, he exterminated the outlaws and banditti,

abolished the _profane_ sanctuaries of Rome, 96 formed a naval

and military force, restored and emulated the monuments of

antiquity, and after a liberal use and large increase of the

revenue, left five millions of crowns in the castle of St.

Angelo. But his justice was sullied with cruelty, his activity

was prompted by the ambition of conquest: after his decease the

abuses revived; the treasure was dissipated; he entailed on

posterity thirty-five new taxes and the venality of offices; and,

after his death, his statue was demolished by an ungrateful, or

an injured, people. 97 The wild and original character of Sixtus

the Fifth stands alone in the series of the pontiffs; the maxims

and effects of their temporal government may be collected from

the positive and comparative view of the arts and philosophy, the

agriculture and trade, the wealth and population, of the

ecclesiastical state. For myself, it is my wish to depart in

charity with all mankind, nor am I willing, in these last

moments, to offend even the pope and clergy of Rome. 98

93 (return) [ Mr. Hume (Hist. of England, vol. i. p. 389) too

hastily conclude that if the civil and ecclesiastical powers be

united in the same person, it is of little moment whether he be

styled prince or prelate since the temporal character will always

predominate.]

94 (return) [ A Protestant may disdain the unworthy preference of

St. Francis or St. Dominic, but he will not rashly condemn the

zeal or judgment of Sixtus V., who placed the statues of the

apostles St. Peter and St. Paul on the vacant columns of Trajan

and Antonine.]

95 (return) [ A wandering Italian, Gregorio Leti, has given the

Vita di Sisto-Quinto, (Amstel. 1721, 3 vols. in 12mo.,) a copious

and amusing work, but which does not command our absolute

confidence. Yet the character of the man, and the principal

facts, are supported by the annals of Spondanus and Muratori,

(A.D. 1585—1590,) and the contemporary history of the great

Thuanus, (l. lxxxii. c. 1, 2, l. lxxxiv. c. 10, l. c. c. 8.) *

Note: The industry of M. Ranke has discovered the document, a

kind of scandalous chronicle of the time, from which Leti wrought

up his amusing romances. See also M. Ranke’s observations on the

Life of Sixtus. by Tempesti, b. iii. p. 317, 324.— M.]

96 (return) [ These privileged places, the _quartieri_ or

_franchises_, were adopted from the Roman nobles by the foreign

ministers. Julius II. had once abolished the abominandum et

detestandum franchitiarum hujusmodi nomen: and after Sixtus V.

they again revived. I cannot discern either the justice or

magnanimity of Louis XIV., who, in 1687, sent his ambassador, the

marquis de Lavardin, to Rome, with an armed force of a thousand

officers, guards, and domestics, to maintain this iniquitous

claim, and insult Pope Innocent XI. in the heart of his capital,

(Vita di Sisto V. tom. iii. p. 260—278. Muratori, Annali

d’Italia, tom. xv. p. 494—496, and Voltaire, Siecle de Louis XIV.

tom. i. c. 14, p. 58, 59.)]

97 (return) [ This outrage produced a decree, which was inscribed

on marble, and placed in the Capitol. It is expressed in a style

of manly simplicity and freedom: Si quis, sive privatus, sive

magistratum gerens de collocandâ _vivo_ pontifici statuâ

mentionem facere ausit, legitimo S. P. Q. R. decreto in perpetuum

infamis et publicorum munerum expers esto. MDXC. mense Augusto,

(Vita di Sisto V. tom. iii. p. 469.) I believe that this decree

is still observed, and I know that every monarch who deserves a

statue should himself impose the prohibition.]

98 (return) [ The histories of the church, Italy, and

Christendom, have contributed to the chapter which I now

conclude. In the original Lives of the Popes, we often discover

the city and republic of Rome: and the events of the xivth and

xvth centuries are preserved in the rude and domestic chronicles

which I have carefully inspected, and shall recapitulate in the

order of time.

1. Monaldeschi (Ludovici Boncomitis) Fragmenta Annalium Roman.

A.D. 1328, in the Scriptores Rerum Italicarum of Muratori, tom.

xii. p. 525. N. B. The credit of this fragment is somewhat hurt

by a singular interpolation, in which the author relates his own

death at the age of 115 years.

2. Fragmenta Historiæ Romanæ (vulgo Thomas Fortifioccæ) in Romana

Dialecto vulgari, (A.D. 1327—1354, in Muratori, Antiquitat. Medii

Ævi Italiæ, tom. iii. p. 247—548;) the authentic groundwork of

the history of Rienzi.

3. Delphini (Gentilis) Diarium Romanum, (A.D. 1370—1410,) in the

Rerum Italicarum, tom. iii. P. ii. p. 846.

4. Antonii (Petri) Diarium Rom., (A.D. 1404—1417,) tom. xxiv. p.

699.

5. Petroni (Pauli) Miscellanea Historica Romana, (A.D.

1433—1446,) tom. xxiv. p. 1101.

6. Volaterrani (Jacob.) Diarium Rom., (A.D. 1472—1484,) tom.

xxiii p. 81.

7. Anonymi Diarium Urbis Romæ, (A.D. 1481—1492,) tom. iii. P. ii.

p. 1069.

8. Infessuræ (Stephani) Diarium Romanum, (A.D. 1294, or

1378—1494,) tom. iii. P. ii. p. 1109.

9. Historia Arcana Alexandri VI. sive Excerpta ex Diario Joh.

Burcardi, (A.D. 1492—1503,) edita a Godefr. Gulielm. Leibnizio,

Hanover, 697, in 14to. The large and valuable Journal of Burcard

might be completed from the MSS. in different libraries of Italy

and France, (M. de Foncemagne, in the Mémoires de l’Acad. des

Inscrip. tom. xvii. p. 597—606.)

Except the last, all these fragments and diaries are inserted in

the Collections of Muratori, my guide and master in the history

of Italy. His country, and the public, are indebted to him for

the following works on that subject: 1. _Rerum Italicarum

Scriptores_, (A.D. 500—1500,) _quorum potissima pars nunc primum

in lucem prodit_, &c., xxviii. vols. in folio, Milan, 1723—1738,

1751. A volume of chronological and alphabetical tables is still

wanting as a key to this great work, which is yet in a disorderly

and defective state. 2. _Antiquitates Italiæ Medii Ævi_, vi.

vols. in folio, Milan, 1738—1743, in lxxv. curious dissertations,

on the manners, government, religion, &c., of the Italians of the

darker ages, with a large supplement of charters, chronicles, &c.

3. _Dissertazioni sopra le Antiquita Italiane_, iii. vols. in

4to., Milano, 1751, a free version by the author, which may be

quoted with the same confidence as the Latin text of the

Antiquities. _Annali d’ Italia_, xviii. vols. in octavo, Milan,

1753—1756, a dry, though accurate and useful, abridgment of the

history of Italy, from the birth of Christ to the middle of the

xviiith century. 5. _Dell’ Antichita Estense ed Italiane_, ii.

vols. in folio, Modena, 1717, 1740. In the history of this

illustrious race, the parent of our Brunswick kings, the critic

is not seduced by the loyalty or gratitude of the subject. In all

his works, Muratori approves himself a diligent and laborious

writer, who aspires above the prejudices of a Catholic priest. He

was born in the year 1672, and died in the year 1750, after

passing near 60 years in the libraries of Milan and Modena, (Vita

del Proposto Ludovico Antonio Muratori, by his nephew and

successor Gian. Francesco Soli Muratori Venezia, 1756 m 4to.)]