[Sidenote: 955 A.D.]
Sec. 1.--_How the election to the Empire of Rome fell to the Germans,
and how Otho I. of Saxony was consecrated Emperor._
Sec. 2.--_Of the Emperor Otho III., and the Marquis Hugh, which built
the Badia at Florence._
[Sidenote: 979 A.D.]
[Sidenote: Par. xvi. 127-132.]
After the death of Otho II., his son, Otho III., was elected Emperor,
and crowned by Pope Gregory V., in the year of Christ 979, and this
Otho reigned twenty-four years. After that he was crowned, he went
into Apulia on pilgrimage to Mount S. Angelo, and afterwards returned
by way of France into Germany, leaving Italy in good and peaceful
estate. But when he was returned to Germany, Crescentius, the consul
and lord of Rome, drave away the said Gregory from the papacy, and set
a Greek therein, which was bishop of Piacenza, and very wise; but when
the Emperor Otho heard this he was very wrath, and with his army
returned to Italy, and besieged in Rome the said Crescentius and his
Pope in the castle of S. Angelo, for therein had they taken refuge;
and he took the said castle by siege, and caused Crescentius to be
beheaded, and Pope John XVI. to have his eyes put out, and his hands
cut off; and he restored his Pope Gregory to his chair, which was his
kinsman by race; and leaving Rome and Italy in good estate, he
returned to his country of Germany, and there died in prosperity.
With the said Otho III. there came into Italy the Marquis Hugh; I take
it this must have been the marquis of Brandenburg, forasmuch as there
is no other marquisate in Germany. His sojourn in Tuscany liked him so
well, and especially our city of Florence, that he caused his wife to
come thither, and took up his abode in Florence, as vicar of Otho, the
Emperor. It came to pass, as it pleased God, that when he was riding
to the chase in the country of Bonsollazzo, he lost sight, in the
wood, of all his followers, and came out, as he supposed, at a
workshop where iron was wont to be wrought. Here he found men, black
and deformed, who, in place of iron, seemed to be tormenting men with
fire and with hammer, and he asked what this might be: and they
answered and said that these were damned souls, and that to similar
pains was condemned the soul of the Marquis Hugh by reason of his
worldly life, unless he should repent: who, with great fear, commended
himself to the Virgin Mary, and when the vision was ended, he remained
so pricked in the spirit, that after his return to Florence, he sold
all his patrimony in Germany, and commanded that seven monasteries
should be founded: the first was the Badia of Florence, to the honour
of S. Mary; the second, that of Bonsollazzo, where he beheld the
vision; the third was founded at Arezzo; the fourth at Poggibonizzi;
the fifth at the Verruca of Pisa; the sixth at the city of Castello;
the last was the one at Settimo; and all these abbeys he richly
endowed, and lived afterwards with his wife in holy life, and had no
son, and died in the city of Florence, on S. Thomas' Day, in the year
of Christ 1006, and was buried with great honour in the Badia of
Florence. And whilst the said Hugh was living, he made in Florence
many knights of the family of the Giandonati, of the Pulci, of the
Nerli, of the counts of Gangalandi, and of the family della Bella,
which all for love of him, retained and bore his arms, barry, white
and red, with divers charges.
Sec. 3.--_Of the Seven Princes of Germany which have to elect the
Emperor._
Sec. 4.--_Of the progeny of the Kings of France, which descended from
Hugh Capet._
[Sidenote: 987 A.D.]
[Sidenote: Purg. xx. 49-60.]
Hugh Capet, as we before made mention, the lineage of Charles the
Great having failed, was made king of France in the year of Christ
987. This Hugh was duke of Orleans (and by some it is held that his
ancestors were all dukes and of high lineage), son of Hugh the Great,
and his mother was sister to Otho I. of Germany; but by the more part
it is said that his father was a great and rich burgher of Paris, a
butcher, or trader in beasts by birth; but by reason of his great
riches and possessions, when the duchy of Orleans was vacant, and only
a daughter was left, he had her to wife, whence was born the said Hugh
Capet, which was very wise and of great possessions, and the kingdom
of France was wholly governed by him; and when the lineage of Charles
the Great failed, as was aforesaid, he was made king, and reigned
twenty years.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: 1003 A.D.]
Sec. 5.--_How Henry I. was made Emperor._
Sec. 6.--_How in the time of the said Henry, the Florentines took the
city of Fiesole, and destroyed it._
[Sidenote: 1010 A.D.]
In the said times, when the Emperor Henry I. was reigning, the city
of Florence was much increased in inhabitants and in power,
considering its small circuit, especially by the aid and favour of the
Emperor Otho I., and of the second and third Otho, his son and
grandson, which always favoured the city of Florence; and as the city
of Florence increased, the city of Fiesole continually decreased, they
being always at war and enmity together; but by reason of the strong
position, and the strength in walls and in towers which the city of
Fiesole possessed, in vain did the Florentines labour to overcome it;
and albeit they had more inhabitants, and a greater number of friends
and allies, yet the Fiesolans were continually warring against them.
But when the Florentines perceived that they could not gain it by
force, they made a truce with the Fiesolans, and abandoned the war
between them; and making one truce after another, they began to grow
friendly, and the citizens of one city to sojourn in the other, and to
marry together, and to keep but little watch and guard one against the
other. The Florentines perceiving that their city of Florence had no
power to rise much, whilst they had overhead so strong a fortress as
the city of Fiesole, one night secretly and subtly set an ambush of
armed men in divers parts of Fiesole. The Fiesolans feeling secure as
to the Florentines, and not being on their guard against them, on the
morning of their chief festival of S. Romolo, when the gates were
open, and the Fiesolans unarmed, the Florentines entered into the city
under cover of coming to the festival; and when a good number were
within, the other armed Florentines which were in ambush secured the
gates of the city; and on a signal made to Florence, as had been
arranged, all the host and power of the Florentines came on horse and
on foot to the hill, and entered into the city of Fiesole, and
traversed it, slaying scarce any man, nor doing any harm, save to
those which opposed them. And when the Fiesolans saw themselves to be
suddenly and unexpectedly surprised by the Florentines, part of them
which were able fled to the fortress, which was very strong, and long
time maintained themselves there. The city at the foot of the fortress
having been taken and overrun by the Florentines, and the strongholds
and they which opposed themselves being likewise taken, the common
people surrendered themselves on condition that they should not be
slain nor robbed of their goods; the Florentines working their will to
destroy the city, and keeping possession of the bishop's palace. Then
the Florentines made a covenant, that whosoever desired to leave the
city of Fiesole, and come and dwell in Florence, might come safe and
sound with all his goods and possessions, or might go to any place
which pleased him; for the which thing they came down in great numbers
to dwell in Florence, whereof there were and are great families in
Florence. Others went to dwell in the region round about where they
had farms and possessions. And when this was done, and the city was
devoid of inhabitants and goods, the Florentines caused it to be all
pulled down and destroyed, all save the bishop's palace and certain
other churches, and the fortress, which still held out, and did not
surrender under the said conditions. And this was in the year of
Christ 1010, and the Florentines and the Fiesolans which became
citizens of Florence, took thence all the ornaments and pillars, and
all the marble carvings which were there, and the marble war chariot
which is in San Piero Scheraggio in Florence.
Sec. 7.--_How that many Fiesolans came to dwell in Florence, and made one
people with the Florentines._
[Sidenote: Cf. Par. xvi. 46-48.]
[Sidenote: Cf. Convivio ii. 14: 171-174.]
[Sidenote: Inf. xv. 61-78.]
The city of Fiesole being destroyed save the fortress of the citadel,
as has been aforesaid, many Fiesolans came thence to dwell in Florence
and made one people with the Florentines, and by reason of their
coming it behoved to increase the walls and the circuit of the city of
Florence, as hereafter shall be narrated. And to the end the Fiesolans
which were come to dwell in Florence might be more faithful and loving
with the Florentines, they caused the arms of the said two
commonwealths to be borne in common, and made the arms to be
dimidiated red and white, as still to our times they are borne upon
the Carroccio and in the host of the Florentines. The red was the
ancient field which the Florentines had from the Romans, as we afore
made mention, and they were wont to bear thereupon the white lily; and
the white was the ancient field of the Fiesolans, bearing an azure
moon: but from the said common arms they took away the white lily and
the moon, and so had them dimidiated and uncharged; and they made
common laws and statutes, living under one government of two citizen
consuls, and with the council of the senate, to wit of 100 men, the
best of the city, as was the custom given by the Romans to the
Florentines. And they increased greatly the city of Florence both in
inhabitants and in power through the destruction of the city of
Fiesole, and through the Fiesolans which came to dwell in Florence.
Nevertheless, they were not a great people in comparison with what
they are in our times; forasmuch as the city of Florence was of small
extent, as has been narrated, and as may still be seen by tracing the
first circuit, and there were hardly the fourth of the inhabitants
which there are to-day. The Fiesolans were much diminished, and at the
destruction of Fiesole they were much scattered, and some went one
way, and some another; but the most part thereof came to Florence. Yet
it was a large city for those times; but, from what we find, all the
Fiesolans together were not the half which there are now in our days.
And note that the Florentines are always in schism, and in factions
and in divisions among themselves, which is not to be marvelled at.
One cause is by reason of the city being rebuilt, as was told in the
chapter concerning its rebuilding, under the lordship and influence of
the planet of Mars, which always inspires wars and divisions. The
other cause is more certain and natural, that the Florentines are
to-day descended from two peoples so diverse in manners, and who ever
of old had been enemies, as the Roman people and the people of
Fiesole; and this we can see by true experience, and by the divers
changes and parties and factions which after the said two peoples had
been united into one, came to pass in Florence from time to time, as
in this book henceforward more fully shall be narrated.
Sec. 8.--_How the city of Florence increased its circuit, first by moats
and palisades, and then by walls._
[Sidenote: 1078 A.D.]
After that the Fiesolans were come in great part to dwell in Florence,
as aforesaid, the city multiplied in inhabitants and population; and
as it increased in suburbs and dwellings, outside the small old city,
after a little while it behoved of necessity that the city should
increase its circuit, first with moats and palisades; and then in the
time of Henry the Emperor they made the walls, to the end the suburbs
and outgrowths, by reason of the wars which arose in Tuscany about
the matter of the said Henry, might not be taken nor destroyed, and
the city more readily besieged by its enemies. Wherefore, at that
time, in the year of Christ 1078, as hereafter, in narrating the story
of Henry III., shall be mentioned, the Florentines began the new
walls, beginning from the east side at the gate of S. Piero Maggiore,
the which was somewhat behind the church so called, enclosing the
suburb of S. Piero Maggiore and the said church within the new walls,
and afterwards, drawing them nearer in on the north side, a little
distance from the said suburb, they made an angle at a postern which
was called the Albertinelli Gate from a family which dwelt in that
place, which was so called; then they drew them on as far as the gate
of the Borgo S. Lorenzo [suburb of S. Lawrence] enclosing the said
church within the walls; and after this were two posterns, one at the
forked way of the Campo Corbolini, and the other the one afterwards
called the Porta del Baschiera. Then they ran on as far as the Porta
S. Paolo, and then continued as far as the Carraia Gate, where the
wall ended, by the Arno; and there afterwards they began and built a
bridge which is called the Carraia Bridge from the name of that gate;
and then the walls continuing, not however very high, along the bank
of the Arno, included what had been without the old walls, to wit the
suburb of San Brancazio [S. Pancras], and that of Parione, and that of
Santo Apostolo, and of the Porte Sante Marie as far as the Ponte
Vecchio; and then afterwards along the bank of Arno as far as the
fortress of Altafonte. From this point the walls withdrew somewhat
from the bank of Arno, so that there remained a road between, and two
postern gates whereby to come at the river; then they went on the
same, and took a turn where now are the supports of the Rubaconte
Bridge, and there at the turn was a gate called the Oxen Gate, because
there without was held the cattle market, and afterwards it was named
the gate of Master Ruggieri da Quona, forasmuch as the family of da
Quona, when they came to dwell in the city, established themselves
near the said gate. Then the walls went on behind S. Jacopo tra le
Fosse (so called because it stood on fosses), as far as where to-day
is the end of the piazza before the church of the Minor Friars called
Santa Croce; and there was a postern which led to the island of Arno;
then the walls went on in a straight line without any gate or postern,
returning to S. Piero Maggiore whence they began. And thus the new
city of Florence on this side the Arno had five gates for the five
sesti, one gate to each sesto, and divers posterns, as has been
mentioned. In the Oltrarno [district beyond the Arno] were three
roads, all three of which started from the Ponte Vecchio on the side
beyond Arno. One was and still is called the Borgo Pidiglioso, seeing
that it was inhabited by the baser sort. At the head of this was a
gate called the Roman Gate, where now are the houses of the Bardi near
S. Lucia de' Magnoli across the Ponte Vecchio, and this was the road
to Rome, by Fegghine and Arezzo. There were no other walls to the
suburb about the road save the backs of the houses against the hill.
The second road was that of Santa Felicita, called the Borgo di
Piazza, which had a gate where now is the piazza of San Felice, where
runs the road to Siena; and the third road was called after S. Jacopo,
and had a gate where now are the houses of the Frescobaldi, where ran
the road to Pisa. None of the three suburbs lying around these roads
of the sesto of Oltrarno had other walls save the said gates, and the
backs of the outside houses, which enclosed the suburbs with orchards
and gardens within. But after that the Emperor Henry III. marched upon
Florence, the Florentines enclosed Oltrarno within walls, beginning at
the said gate to Rome, ascending behind the Borgo alla Costa below San
Giorgio, and then coming out behind Santa Felicita, enclosing the
Borgo di Piazza and the Borgo di San Jacopo, and roughly following the
said Borghi. But afterwards the walls of Oltrarno on the hill were
made higher as they are now, in the time when the Ghibellines first
ruled the city of Florence, as we will make mention in due place and
time. We will now leave for a time the doings of Florence, and we will
treat of the emperors which were after Henry I., for it is necessary
that we should tell of them here in order to continue our history.
Sec. 9.--_How Conrad I. was made Emperor._
[Sidenote: 1015 A.D.]
After the death of the Emperor Henry I., Conrad I. was elected and
consecrated by Pope Benedict VIII., in the year of Christ 1015. He was
of Suabia, and reigned twenty years as emperor, and when he came into
Italy, not being able to obtain the lordship of Milan, he laid siege
to it, right in the suburbs of the city itself; but as he was assuming
the iron crown outside of Milan in a church, while Mass was being
sung, there came great thunder and lightning into the church, and some
died therefrom; and the Archbishop which was singing Mass at the
altar, rose and said to the Emperor Conrad, that he had visibly seen
S. Ambrose, which sternly menaced him except he abandoned the siege
of Milan; and he, thus admonished, withdrew his host, and made peace
with the Milanese. He was a just man, and made many laws, and kept the
Empire in peace long time. Yea, and he went into Calabria against the
Saracens which were come to lay waste the country, and fought against
them, and, with great shedding of Christian blood, he drove them away
and overcame them. This Conrad took much delight in sojourning at
Florence when he was in Tuscany, and he advanced it greatly, and many
citizens of Florence received knighthood from his hand, and were in
his service. And to the intent it may be known who were the noble and
powerful citizens in those times in the city of Florence, we will
briefly make mention thereof.
Sec. 10.--_Of the nobles which were in the city of Florence in the time
of the said Emperor Conrad, and first of those about the Duomo._
[Sidenote: 1015 A.D.]
[Sidenote: Cf. Par. xvi. 25, xxv. 5.]
[Sidenote: Par. xvi. 104.]
[Sidenote: Par. xvi. 108.]
[Sidenote: 112-114.]
[Sidenote: Cf. Par. xv. 137, 138.]
[Sidenote: Par. xvi. 100.]
As before has been narrated, the first rebuilding of the smaller
Florence was according to the division of four quarters, after the
four gates; and to the end we may the better describe the noble
families and houses which in the said times, after Fiesole had been
destroyed, were great and powerful in Florence, we will recount them
according to the quarters where they dwelt. And first, they of the
Porta del Duomo, which was the first fold and abiding place of the
rebuilt Florence, and where all the noble citizens of Florence on
Sundays gathered and held civil converse around the Duomo, and where
were celebrated all the marriages, and peacemakings, and every
festival and solemnity of the commonwealth; and next, the Porta San
Piero, and then Porta San Brancazio, and Porta Sante Marie. And the
Porta del Duomo was inhabited by the family of the Giovanni, and of
the Guineldi which were the first to rebuild the city of Florence,
whence afterwards were descended many families of nobles in Mugello,
and in Valdarno, and in many cities, which now are popolari and almost
come to an end. There were the Barucci which dwelt near Santa Maria
Maggiore, which are now extinct; the Scali and Palermini were of their
lineage. There were also in the said quarter Arrigucci, and Sizi, and
the family della Tosa: these della Tosa were of one lineage with the
Bisdomini, and were patrons and defenders of the bishopric; but one of
them departed from his kin of the Porta San Piero, and took to wife a
lady called la Tosa, which was the heiress of her family, and hence
was derived the name. Also there were the della Pressa, which abode
among the Chiavaiuoli, gentlemen.
Sec. 11.--_Concerning the houses of the nobles in the quarter of the
Porta San Piero._
[Sidenote: Par. xvi. 89.]
[Sidenote: 94-99. 65. Inf. xvi. 37. Par. xv. 112-114. Par. xvi. 101.
Purg. xii. 104, 105. Par. xvi. 105, 93, 104.]
[Sidenote: Cf. 40-42.]
[Sidenote: 121, 122.]
[Sidenote: 106, 107.]
[Sidenote: 131, 132.]
[Sidenote: 115-120.]
In the quarter of Porta San Piero were the Bisdomini, which, as
aforesaid, were the patrons of the bishopric, and the Alberighi, and
theirs was the church of Santa Maria Alberighi towards the house of
the Donati, and now, nought remains of them; the Rovignani were very
great, and dwelt on Porta San Piero (their houses afterwards belonged
to the Counts Guidi, and afterwards to the Cerchi), and from them were
born all the Counts Guidi, as has afore been told, of the daughter of
the good Messer Bellincione Berti; in our days all that family have
disappeared; the Galligari, and Chiarmontesi, and Ardinghi, which
dwelt in Orto San Michele, were very ancient; and likewise the
Giuochi, which now are popolani, which dwelt by Santa Margherita; the
Elisei, which likewise are now popolani, who dwell near the Mercato
Vecchio; and in that place dwelt the Caponsacchi, which were Fiesolan
magnates; the Donati or Calfucci, which were all one family; but the
Calfucci have come to nought; and the della Bella of San Martino have
also become popolani; and the family of the Adimari, which were
descended from the house of the Cosi, which now dwell in Porta Rossa,
and they built Santa Maria Nipotecosa; and albeit they are now the
chief family of that sesto, and of Florence, nevertheless, they were
not of the most ancient in those days.
Sec. 12.--_Of them of the quarter of Porta San Brancazio._
[Sidenote: Par. xvi. 100, 111. Inf. vi. 80, xxviii. 103-111. Par. xvi.
88.]
[Sidenote: Par. xvi. 103. Par. xvi. 93; Inf. 121-123; Par. xv. 115,
116, xvi. 92.]
In the quarter of the Porta San Brancazio were very great and potent
the house of the Lamberti, descended from German forefathers. The Ughi
were most ancient, which built Santa Maria Ughi, and all the hill of
Montughi was theirs, but now they are extinct. The Catellini were most
ancient, and now there is no record of them. It is said that the
family Tieri were of their lineage, descended from a bastard. The
Pigli were gentlemen and magnates in those times, and the Soldanieri,
and the Vecchietti; very ancient were the dell' Arca, and now they are
extinct; and the Migliorelli, which now are nought; and the
Trinciavelli of Mosciano were very ancient.
Sec. 13.--_Concerning them of the great quarter of Porta Santa Maria and
of San Piero Scheraggio._
[Sidenote: Par. xvi. 109, 110; Convivio iv. 20; 38-41. Par. xvi. 104.
105. 89.]
[Sidenote: 89.]
[Sidenote: 89.]
[Sidenote: 124-126.]
[Sidenote: 104.]
[Sidenote: 92, 127, 93.]
[Sidenote: 123.]
[Sidenote: 133.]
[Sidenote: 136-144.]
[Sidenote: Par. xv. 115, xvi. 127-132, xv. 97, 98.]
In the quarter of Porta Santa Maria, which is now included in the
sesto of San Piero Scheraggio and in that of Borgo, there were many
powerful and ancient families. The chief were the Uberti, whose
ancestor was born in Germany and came thence, which dwelt where is now
the Piazza of the Priors, and the Palace of the People; the Fifanti,
called Bogolesi, dwelt at the side of Porta Santa Maria; and the
Galli, Cappiardi, Guidi; and the Filippi, which now have come to
nought, were then great and powerful, and dwelt in the Mercato Nuovo.
And likewise the Greci, whereto pertained all the Borgo dei Greci, are
now come to an end and extinct, save that there are in Bologna of
their lineage; the Ormanni which dwelt where is now the said Palace of
the People, and who are now called Foraboschi. And behind San Piero
Scheraggio where are now the houses of the family of the Petri, dwelt
they of Pera or Peruzza; and from their name the postern which was
there was called the Peruzza Gate. Some say that the Peruzzi of to-day
were descended from this lineage, but this I do not affirm. The
Sacchetti which dwell in the Garbo were very ancient; around the New
Market the Bostichi were of note, and the della Sannella, and the
Giandonati, and the Infangati. In the Borgo Santo Apostolo the
Gualterotti, and the Importuni, which are now popolani, were then
magnates. The Bondelmonti were noble and ancient citizens in the
country, and Montebuoni was their fortress, and many others in
Valdigrieve; first they settled in Oltrarno, and then they betook
themselves to the Borgo. The Pulci, and the Counts of Gangalandi,
Ciuffagni, and Nerli of Oltrarno, were at one time great and powerful,
together with the Giandonati, and the della Bella named above; and
from the Marquis Hugh which built the Badia of Florence, they took
their arms and knighthood, for they were of great account with him.
[Sidenote: 1040 A.D.]
[Sidenote: 1056 A.D.]
[Sidenote: 1073 A.D.]
Sec. 14.--_How in those times Oltrarno was but little inhabited._ Sec.
15.--_How Henry II. called III. was made Emperor, and the events which
were in his time._ Sec. 16.--_How Henry III. was made Emperor, and the
events which were in Italy in his time, and how the Court of Rome was
in Florence._ Sec. 17.--_How S. John Gualberti, citizen of Florence, and
father of the order of Vallombrosa, was canonized._
Sec. 18.--_Narration of many things that were in those times._
[Sidenote: 1070 A.D.]
[Sidenote: Inf. xxviii. 13, 14. Par. xviii. 48.]
[Sidenote: iii. 118-120.]
[Sidenote: Cf. Purg. xxxiii. 119.]
In those times, the year of Christ 1070, there passed into Italy
Robert Guiscard, duke of the Normans, the which by his prowess and wit
did great things, and wrought in the service of Holy Church against
the Emperor Henry III., who was persecuting it, and against the
Emperor Alexis, and against the Venetians, as we shall make mention
hereafter: for the which thing he was made lord over Sicily and
Apulia, with the confirmation of Holy Church; and his descendants
after him, down to the time of Henry of Suabia, father of Frederick
II., were kings and lords thereof. And also in those same times was
the worthy and wise Countess Matilda, the which reigned in Tuscany and
in Lombardy, and was well-nigh sovereign lady over all, and did many
great things in her time for Holy Church, so that it seems to me
reasonable and fitting to speak of their beginning and of their state,
in this our treatise, forasmuch as they were much mixed up with the
doings of our city of Florence through the consequences which followed
their doings in Tuscany. And first we will tell of Robert Guiscard,
and then of the Countess Matilda, and their beginnings and their
doings briefly, returning afterwards to our subject and the deeds of
our city of Florence, the which by the increase and the doings of the
Florentines began to multiply and to extend the fame of Florence
throughout the whole world, more than it had been heretofore; and
therefore almost by necessity it behoves us in our treatise to narrate
more universally henceforward of the Popes and of the Emperors and of
the kings, and of many provinces of the world, the events and things
which happened in those times, forasmuch as they have much to do with
our subject, and because the aforesaid Emperor Henry III. was the
beginner of the scandal between the Church and the Empire, and
afterwards the Guelfs and Ghibellines, whence arose the parties of the
Empire and of the Church in Italy, the which so grew that all Italy
was infected thereby and almost all Europe, and many ills and perils,
and destructions and changes have followed thereupon to our city and
to the whole world, such as following on with our treatise we shall
mention in their times. And we will begin now, at the head of every
page to mark the year of our Lord, following on in order of time, to
the end that the events of past times may be the more easily looked
out in our treatise.
Sec. 19.--_Of Robert Guiscard and his descendants, which were kings of
Sicily and of Apulia._
[Sidenote: 880-1110 A.D.]
[Sidenote: 1078 A.D.]
[Sidenote: Cf. Purg. vii. 133-136.]
[Sidenote: 1110 A.D.]
Well, then, as was afore made mention, in the time of the Emperor
Charles, which is called Charles the Fat, which reigned in the years
of our Lord 880 unto 892, the pagan Northmen being come from Norway,
passed into Germany and into France, pressing and tormenting the Gauls
and the Germans. Charles, with a powerful hand, came against the
Northmen, and peace being made and confirmed by matrimony, the king
of the Normans was baptised, and received at the sacred font by the
said Charles, and in the end, Charles not being able to drive the
Normans out of France, granted them a region on the further side of
the Seine, called Lada Serena, the which unto this day is called
Normandy, because of the said Normans, in the which land, from that
time forward, the duke has reigned as king. The first duke, then, was
Robert, to whom succeeded his son William, which begat Richard, and
Richard begat the second Richard. This Richard begat Richard and
Robert Guiscard, the which Robert Guiscard was not duke of Normandy,
but brother of Duke Richard. He, according to their usage, forasmuch
as he was a younger son, had not the lordship of the duchy, and
therefore desiring to make trial of his powers, he came, poor and
needy, into Apulia, where at that time one Robert, a native of the
country, was duke, to whom Robert Guiscard, coming, was first made his
squire and was then knighted by him. Robert Guiscard having come then
to this Duke Robert, won many victories with prowess against his
enemies, for he was at war with the prince of Salerno; and carrying
with him magnificent rewards, he returned into Normandy, bringing back
report of the delights and riches of Apulia, having adorned his horses
with golden bridles and shod them with silver, in witness of the facts
he alleged; by the which thing, having roused many knights, following
this emprise through desire of riches and of glory, returning
incontinent into Apulia, he took them with him, and gave faithful aid
to the duke of Apulia against Godfrey, duke of the Normans; and, not
long time after, Robert, duke of Apulia, being nigh unto death, by the
will of his barons made him his successor in the duchy, and as he had
promised him, he took his daughter to wife the year of Christ 1078.
And a little time after, he conquered Alexis, emperor of
Constantinople, who had taken possession of Sicily and of part of
Calabria, and he conquered the Venetians, and took all the kingdom of
Apulia and of Sicily; and albeit he did this in violation of the Roman
Church, to which the kingdom of Apulia belonged, and albeit the
Countess Matilda made war against Robert Guiscard in the service of
Holy Church; nevertheless, in the end, Robert being, of his own will,
reconciled with Holy Church, was made lord of the said kingdom; and
not long after, Gregory VII., with his cardinals, being besieged by
the Emperor Henry IV. in the castle of S. Angelo, Robert came to Rome
and drave away by force the said Henry with his Anti-pope which he had
made by force, and he freed the Pope and the cardinals from the siege,
and replaced the Pope in the Lateran Palace, having severely punished
the Romans, who had shown favour to the Emperor Henry and to the Pope
whom he had made against Pope Gregory. This Robert Guiscard, duke of
Apulia, was once on a hunting excursion, and he followed the quarry
into the depth of a wood, his companions not knowing what had become
of him, or where he was, or what he was doing; and then Robert, seeing
the night approaching, leaving the beast which he was pursuing, sought
to return home; and turning, he found in the wood a leper, who
importunately asked alms of him; and when he had said I know not what
in reply, the leper said again that the anguish he endured availed him
nought, yet him were liefer carry any weight or any burden; and when
he asked of the leper what he would have, he said, "I desire that you
will put me behind you on your horse"; lest abandoned in the wood,
peradventure the beasts might devour him. Then Robert cheerfully
received him behind him on his horse; and as they rode forward, the
leper said to Robert--great baron as he was:--"My hands are so icy
cold, that unless I may cherish them against thy flesh, I cannot keep
myself on horseback." Then Robert granted the leper to put his hands
boldly under his clothing, and comfort his flesh and his members
without any fear; and when yet a third time the leper bespoke his
pity, he put him upon his saddle, and he, sitting behind him, embraced
the leper, and led him to his own chamber and put him into his own
bed, and set him in it with right good care to the end he might
repose; no one of his household perceiving ought thereof. And when the
banquet of supper was spread, having told his wife that he had lodged
the leper in his bed, his wife incontinent went to the chamber to know
if the poor sufferer would sup. The chamber, albeit there were no
perfumes therein, she found as fragrant as if it had been full of
sweet-smelling things, such that neither Robert nor his wife had ever
known so sweet scents, and the leper, whom they had come thither to
seek, they did not find, whereat the husband and the wife marvelled
beyond measure at so great a wonder; but with reverence and with fear,
both one and the other asked God to reveal to them what this might be.
And the following day Christ appeared in a vision to Robert, saying,
that it was Himself that He had revealed to him in the form of a
leper, to make trial of his piety; and He announced to him that by his
wife he should have sons, whereof one should be emperor, the next
king, and the third duke. Encouraged by this promise Robert subdued
the rebels of Apulia and of Sicily, and acquired lordship over all;
and he had five sons: William, who took to wife the daughter of
Alexis, the emperor of the Greeks, and was lord and possessor of his
empire, but died without children (some say that this was the William
which was called Longsword, but many say that this Longsword was not
of the lineage of Robert Guiscard, but of the race of the marquises of
Montferrat); and the second son of Robert Guiscard was Boagdinos
[Boemond], who was at the first duke of Tarentum; the third was Roger,
duke of Apulia, which, after the death of his father, was crowned king
of Sicily by Pope Honorius II.; the fourth son of Robert Guiscard was
Henry, duke of the Normans; the fifth son, Richard Count Cicerat, that
is, I suppose, count of Acerra. This Robert Guiscard, after having
done many and noble things in Apulia, purposed and desired, by way of
devotion, to go to Jerusalem on pilgrimage; and it was told him in a
vision that he would die in Jerusalem. Therefore, having commended his
kingdom to Roger, his son, he embarked by sea for the voyage to
Jerusalem, and arriving in Greece, at the port which was afterwards
called after him Port Guiscard, he began to sicken of his malady; and
trusting in the revelation which had been made to him, he in no wise
feared to die. There was over against the said port an island, to the
which, that he might repose and recover his strength, he caused
himself to be carried, and after being carried there he grew no
better, but rather grievously worse. Then he asked what this island
was called, and the mariners answered that of old it was called
Jerusalem. Which thing having heard, straightway certified of his
death, devoutly he fulfilled all those things which appertain to the
salvation of the soul, and died in the grace of God the year of Christ
1110, having reigned in Apulia thirty-three years. These things
concerning Robert Guiscard may in part be read in chronicles, and in
part I heard them narrated by those who fully knew the history of the
kingdom of Apulia.
Sec. 20.--_Concerning the successors of Robert Guiscard which were kings
of Sicily and of Apulia._
[Sidenote: Par. iii. 109-120. Purg. iii. 112, 113. Par. xx. 62.]
[Sidenote: Par. iii. 112-120.]
[Sidenote: 1197 A.D.]
Afterwards, Roger, son of Duke Robert Guiscard, begat the second
Roger; and this Roger, after the death of his father, was made king of
Sicily, and he begat William, and Constance his sister. This William
honourably and magnificently ruled the kingdom of Sicily, and he took
to wife the daughter of the king of England, and by her he had neither
son nor daughter; and when his father Roger was dead, and the
sovereignty of the kingdom had passed to William, a prophecy was made
known, that Constance, his sister, should rule over the realm of
Sicily in destruction and ruin; wherefore King William, having called
his friends and wise men, asked counsel of them what he should do with
his sister Constance; and it was counselled him by the greater part of
them that if he desired the royal sovereignty should be secure, he
should cause her to be put to death. But among the others was one
named Tancred, duke of Tarentum, which had been nephew to Robert
Guiscard through the sister who is thought to have been wife to
Bagnamonte [Boemond], prince of Antioch; this man, opposing the
counsel of the others, appeased King William, that he should not cause
the innocent lady to be put to death; and so it came to pass that the
said Constance was preserved from death, and she, not of her own will,
but through fear of death, lived in the guise of a nun in a certain
convent of nuns. William being dead, the aforesaid Tancred succeeded
him in the kingdom, having taken it to himself against the will of the
Church of Rome to which pertained the right and property of that
kingdom. This Tancred, instructed by natural wit, was very full of
learning, and he had a wife more beautiful than the Sibyl, but as many
think without breasts, by whom he begat two sons and three daughters:
the first was called Roger, which in his father's lifetime was made
king, and he died; the second was William the younger, which in his
father's lifetime was made king, and after his father was dead he held
the kingdom for a time. During these things, Tancred being alive and
on the throne, Constance, sister to King William, already perhaps
fifty years old, was a nun in her body but not in her mind in the city
of Palermo. Discord then having arisen between King Tancred and the
archbishop of Palermo, perhaps for this cause, that Tancred was
usurping the rights of the Church, the archbishop then thought how he
might transfer the kingdom of Sicily to other lordship, and made a
secret treaty with the Pope, that Constance should be married to
Henry, duke of Suabia, son of the great Frederick; and Henry having
taken to wife her to whom the kingdom seemed to pertain by right, was
crowned emperor by Pope Celestine. This Henry, when Tancred was dead,
entered into the kingdom of Apulia, and punished many of them which
had held with Tancred, and had shown him favour, and which had done
injury to Queen Constance, and had done shame to the nobility of her
honour. This Constance was the mother--we shall not say of Frederick
II. who was long king of the Roman Empire,--but rather of Frederick
who brought the said Empire to destruction, as will appear fully in
his deeds. When Tancred was dead then, the kingdom passed to his son
William, young in years and in wisdom; but Henry having entered the
kingdom with his army the year of Christ 1197, made a false truce with
the young King William, and having taken him by fraud and secretly
into Suabia, few knowing thereof, he sent him into banishment with his
sister, and having caused his eyes to be put out, he there kept him
under ward till his death. With this William son of Tancred were taken
his three sisters, to wit, Alberia, Constance, and Ernadama. When the
Emperor Henry was dead, and the young William who had been castrated
and whose eyes had been put out was dead also, Philip, duke of Suabia,
through the prayers of his wife, which was daughter of the Emperor
Manuel of Constantinople, delivered these three daughters of King
Tancred from exile and from prison, and let them go free. And Alberia
or Aceria had three husbands: the first was Count Walter of Brienne,
brother of King John, from whom was born Walteran, count of Joppa, to
whom the king of Cyprus gave his daughter in marriage. After Count
Walter had been slain by Count Trebaldo [Diephold], the German,
Alberia was wedded to Count James of Tricarico, by whom she had Count
Simon and the Lady Adalitta; and he being dead, Pope Honorius gave
Alberia to wife to Count Tigrimo, count palatine in Tuscany; and for
dowry he gave her the region of Lizia and of Mount Scaglioso in the
kingdom of Apulia. Constance was the wife of Marchesono [Ziani], doge
of Venice. The third sister, who was named Ernadama, had no husband.
These were the fortunes of the successors of Robert Guiscard in the
kingdom of Sicily and of Apulia, down to Constance, mother of the
Emperor Frederick the son of King Henry; and thus it may be seen that
Robert Guiscard and his successors ruled over the kingdom of Sicily
and of Apulia 120 years. We will now leave the kings of Sicily and of
Apulia; and we will relate concerning the wise Countess Matilda.
Sec. 21.--_Of the Countess Matilda._
[Sidenote: 1115 A.D.]
The mother of Countess Matilda is said to have been the daughter of
one who reigned as emperor in Constantinople, in whose court was an
Italian of distinguished manners and of great race and well nurtured,
skilled in arms, expert and endowed with every gift, such as they are
in whom noble blood is wont to declare itself illustriously. Now all
these things made him to be loved of all men and gave grace to his
ways. And he began to turn his eyes upon the emperor's daughter, and
was secretly united to her in marriage, and they took such jewels and
moneys as they might, and she fled with him into Italy. And they came
first to the bishopric of Reggio, in Lombardy. From this lady, then,
and from her husband, was born the doughty Countess Matilda. But the
father of the lady aforesaid, that is to say the emperor of
Constantinople, who had no other daughter, caused great searching to
be made, if by any means he might find her; and found she was, by them
that were seeking, in the said place; and when they begged of her that
she would return to her father, who would marry her again to any
prince she might choose, she gave answer that she had chosen to have
him she now had above all other, and it were a thing impossible to
abandon him and ever be united to another man. And when all this was
told again to the emperor, straightway he sent letters and confirmed
the marriage, and money without end, with orders to buy fortresses and
villages at any price and erect new castles. And they bought in the
said place three fortresses, very nigh together, and because of this
close neighbourhood, they are commonly called the Tre Castella at
Reggio. And not far from the said three fortresses the lady had such a
castle built upon a mountain as might never be taken, the which castle
was called Canossa, and there the countess afterward founded and
endowed a noble convent of nuns. This was in the mountains; but on the
plain she built Guastalla and Sulzariani, and she bought land along
the Po and built divers monasteries, and divers noble bridges did she
make across the rivers of Lombardy. And moreover Garfagnana and the
greater part of the Erignano, and parts of the see of Modena, are said
to have been her possessions, and in the Bolognese district the great
and spacious towns of Arzellata and Medicina were of her patrimony;
and she had many others in Lombardy. And in Tuscany she established
fortresses and the turret at Polugiana, within her jurisdiction, and
she liberally endowed many noblemen, under fee, and made them her
vassals. In divers places she built many monasteries, and endowed many
cathedral churches and others. And in the end, when the Countess
Matilda's father and mother were dead, and she was their heir, she
thought to marry, and having heard of the fame and the person and the
other qualities of a native of Suabia, whose name was Guelf, she sent
formal messages to him and authorised agents who should establish a
contract of marriage between him and her, albeit they were not present
in person together, and who should arrange the place where the
wedding should take place. The ring was given at the noble castle of
the Conti Ginensi, which is now, however, destroyed. And as Guelf
approached the said castle, the Countess Matilda went to meet him with
a great cavalcade, and there was held the festival of the wedding
right joyously. But soon did sadness follow gladness in that the
marriage bond was not consummated, by failure of conception, which is
expressly declared to be the purpose of marriage.
* * * * *
The countess then, in silence, fearing deception and being averse to
the other burdens of matrimony, passed her life in chastity even to
her death, and giving herself to works of piety she built and endowed
many churches and monasteries and hospitals. And once and again she
came with a great army and mightily interposed in service of Holy
Church and succoured her. Once was against the Normans, who had taken
away the duchy of Apulia from the Church by violence, and were laying
waste the confines of Campagna. Them did the Countess Matilda, devout
daughter of S. Peter that she was, together with Godfrey, duke of
Spoleto, drive off as far as to Aquino in the time of Alexander II.,
Pope of Rome. The second time she fought against the Emperor Henry
III. of Bavaria, and overcame him. And yet once again she fought for
the Church in Lombardy against Henry IV., his son, and overcame him,
in the time of Pope Calixtus II. And she made a will and offered up
all her patrimony on the altar of S. Peter, and made the Church of
Rome heir of it all. And not long after she died in God, and she is
buried in the church of Pisa, which she had largely endowed. It was in
the 1115th year of the Nativity that the countess died. We will leave
to speak of the Countess Matilda, and will turn back to follow the
history of the Emperor Henry III. of Bavaria.
[Sidenote: 1080 A.D.]
[Sidenote: 1089 A.D.]
[Sidenote: 1107 A.D.]
Sec. 22.--_Again how Henry III. of Bavaria renewed war against the
Church._ Sec. 23.--_How the said Emperor Henry besieged the city of
Florence._ Sec. 24.--_How in these times was the great crusade over
seas._ Sec. 25.--_How the Florentines began to increase their territory._
Sec. 26.--_How the Florentines conquered and destroyed the fortress of
Prato._ Sec. 27.--_How Henry IV. of Bavaria was elected Emperor, and how
he persecuted the Church._ Sec. 28.--_How at last the said Emperor Henry
IV. returned to obedience to Holy Church._
Sec. 29.--_How the Florentines defeated the Vicar of the Emperor Henry
IV._
[Sidenote: 1113 A.D.]
In the year of Christ 1113 the Florentines marched against
Montecasciolo, which was making war upon the city, having been stirred
to rebellion by M. Ruberto Tedesco, vicar of the Emperor Henry in
Tuscany, who was stationed with his troops in Samminiato del Tedesco,
so called because the vicars of the Emperors with their troops of
Tedeschi [Germans] were stationed in the said fortress to harry the
cities and castles of Tuscany that would not obey the Emperors. And
this M. Ruberto was routed and slain by the Florentines, and the
fortress taken and destroyed.
Sec. 30.--_How the city of Florence took fire twice, whence a great part
of the city was burnt._
[Sidenote: 1115 A.D.]
[Sidenote: 1117 A.D.]
[Sidenote: Cf. Inf. x. 13-15.]
[Sidenote: Par. xi. 35-123. Par. xii. 31-111.]
In the year of Christ 1115, in the month of May, fire broke out in the
Borgo Santo Apostolo, and was so great and impetuous that a good part
of the city was burnt, to the great hurt of the Florentines. And in
that selfsame year died the good Countess Matilda. And after, in the
year 1117, fire again broke out in Florence, and of a truth that which
was not burnt in the first fire was burnt in the second, whence great
hurt befell the Florentines, and not without cause and judgment of
God, forasmuch as the city was evilly corrupted by heresy, among
others by the sect of the epicureans, through the vice of
licentiousness and gluttony, and this over so large a part, that the
citizens were fighting among themselves for the faith with arms in
their hands in many parts of Florence, and this plague endured long
time in Florence till the coming of the holy Religions of St. Francis
and of St. Dominic, the which Religions through their holy brothers,
the charge of this sin of heresy having been committed to them by the
Pope, greatly exterminated it in Florence, and in Milan, and in many
other cities of Tuscany and of Lombardy in the time of the blessed
Peter Martyr, who was martyred by the Paterines in Milan; and
afterwards the other inquisitors wrought the like. And in the flames
of the said fires in Florence were burnt many books and chronicles
which would more fully have preserved the record of past things in our
city of Florence, wherefore few are left remaining; for the which
thing it has behoved us to collect from other veracious chronicles of
divers cities and countries, great part of those things whereof
mention has been made in this treatise.
Sec. 31.--_How the Pisans took Majorca, and the Florentines protected the
city of Pisa._
[Sidenote: 1117 A.D.]
In the year of Christ 1117 the Pisans made a great expedition of
galleys and ships against the island of Majorca, which the Saracens
held, and when the said armada had departed from Pisa and was already
assembled at Vada for the voyage, the commonwealth of Lucca marched
upon Pisa to seize the city. Hearing this, the Pisans dared not go
forward with their expedition for fear that the Lucchese should take
possession of their city; and to draw back from their emprise did not
seem for their honour in view of the great outlay and preparation
which they had made. Wherefore they took counsel to send their
ambassadors to the Florentines, for the two commonwealths in those
times were close friends. And they begged them that they would be
pleased to protect the city, trusting them as their inmost friends and
dear brothers. And on this the Florentines undertook to serve them and
to protect their city against the Lucchese and all other. Wherefore
the commonwealth of Florence sent thither armed folk in abundance,
horse and foot, and encamped two miles outside the city, and in
respect for their women they would not enter Pisa, and made a
proclamation that whosoever should enter the city should answer for it
with his person; and one who did enter was accordingly condemned to be
hung. And when the old men who had been left in Pisa prayed the
Florentines for love of them to pardon him, they would not. But the
Pisans still opposed, and begged that at least they would not put him
to death in their territory; whereupon the Florentine army secretly
purchased a field from a peasant in the name of the commonwealth of
Florence, and thereon they raised the gallows and did the execution to
maintain their decree. And when the host of the Pisans returned from
the conquest of Majorca they gave great thanks to the Florentines,
and asked them what memorial they would have of the conquest--the
metal gates, or two columns of porphyry which they had taken and
brought from Majorca. The Florentines chose the columns, and the
Pisans sent them to Florence covered with scarlet cloth, and some said
that before they sent them they put them in the fire for envy. And the
said columns are those which stand in front of San Giovanni.
Sec. 32.--_How the Florentines took and destroyed the fortress of
Fiesole._
[Sidenote: 1125 A.D.]
In the year of Christ 1125, the Florentines came with an army to the
fortress of Fiesole, which was still standing and very strong, and it
was held by certain gentlemen Cattani, which had been of the city of
Fiesole, and thither resorted highwaymen and refugees and evil men,
which sometimes infested the roads and country of Florence; and the
Florentines carried on the siege so long that for lack of victuals the
fortress surrendered, albeit they would never have taken it by storm,
and they caused it to be all cast down and destroyed to the
foundations, and they made a decree that none should ever dare to
build a fortress again at Fiesole.
[Sidenote: 1125 A.D.]
[Sidenote: 1147 A.D.]
Sec. 33.--_From where the miles are measured in the territory of
Florence._ Sec. 34.--_How Roger, duke of Apulia, was at war with the
Church, and afterwards was reconciled with the Pope, and how after
that there were two Popes in Rome at one time._ Sec. 35.--_Tells of
the second crusade over seas._
Sec. 36.--_How the Florentines destroyed the fortress of Montebuono._
[Sidenote: 1135 A.D.]
[Sidenote: Par. xvi. 66.]
In the year of Christ 1135 the fortress of Montebuono was standing,
which was very strong and pertained to the house of the Bondelmonti,
which were Cattani and ancient gentlemen of the country, and from the
name of this their castle the house of Bondelmonti took their name;
and by reason of its strength, and because the road ran at the foot
thereof, therefore they took toll, for the which thing the Florentines
did not desire, nor would they have, such a fortress hard by the city;
and they went thither with an army in the month of June and took it,
on condition that the fortress should be destroyed, and the rest of
the possessions should still pertain to the said Cattani, and that
they should come and dwell in Florence. And thus the commonwealth of
Florence began to grow, and by force, rather than by right, their
territory increased, and they subdued to their jurisdiction every
noble of the district, and destroyed the fortresses.
[Sidenote: 1147 A.D.]
[Sidenote: 1154 A.D.]
Sec. 37.--_How the Florentines were discomfited at Montedicroce by the
Counts Guidi._ Sec. 38.--_How they of Prato were discomfited by the
Pistoians at Carmignano._
END OF SELECTIONS FROM BOOK IV.