Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images available at The Internet Archive)
[Every attempt has been made to replicate the original as printed.
Archaic spellings (i.e. divers, skilful, stopt, etc.) have been
retained. Some typographical errors have been corrected; a list follows
the text. (note of etext transcriber)]
_The Story of Verona_
_The Mediæval Town Series_
ASSISI.* By LINA DUFF GORDON. [_4th Edition._
BRUGES.† By ERNEST GILLIAT-SMITH. [_3rd Edition._
BRUSSELS.† By ERNEST GILLIAT-SMITH.
CAIRO.† By STANLEY LANE-POOLE. [_2nd Edition._
CAMBRIDGE.† By CHARLES W. STUBBS, D.D.
CHARTRES.† By CECIL HEADLAM.
CONSTANTINOPLE.* By WILLIAM H. HUTTON. [_2nd Edition._
DUBLIN.† By D. A. CHART.
EDINBURGH.† By OLIPHANT SMEATON.
FERRARA.† By ELLA NOYES.
FLORENCE.† By EDMUND G. GARDNER. [_8th Edition._
LONDON.† By HENRY B. WHEATLEY. [_2nd Edition._
MOSCOW.* By WIRT GERRARE. [_2nd Edition._
NUREMBERG.* By CECIL HEADLAM. [_4th Edition._
OXFORD.† By CECIL HEADLAM.
PARIS.† By THOMAS OKEY.
PERUGIA.* By MARGARET SYMONDS and LINA DUFF GORDON. [_5th Edition._
PRAGUE.* By COUNT LÜTZOW.
ROME.† By NORWOOD YOUNG. [_5th Edition._
ROUEN.† By THEODORE A. COOK. [_3rd Edition._
SEVILLE.† By WALTER M. GALLICHAN.
SIENA.† By EDMUND G. GARDNER. [_2nd Edition._
TOLEDO.* By HANNAH LYNCH. [_2nd Edition._
VERONA.† By ALETHEA WIEL. [_3rd Edition._
VENICE.† By THOMAS OKEY.
_The prices of these (*) are 3s. 6d. net in cloth, 4s. 6d. net in
leather; these (†), 4s. 6d. net in cloth, 5s. 6d. net in
leather._
[Illustration: _Centrepiece by A. Mantegna, behind the High Altar of S.
Zeno._]
_The Story of_ Verona
_by Alethea Wiel Illustrated
by Nelly Erichsen and
Helen M. James_
[Illustration: colophon]
_London: J. M. Dent & Co.
Aldine House, 29 and 30 Bedford Street
Covent Garden, W.C. 1907_
_First Edition, July 1902_
_Second Edition, August 1904_
_Third Edition, August 1907_
_All rights reserved_
_To_
_My Husband_
PREFACE
The story of Verona is no simple record of a simple town with a
continuous rule guiding her fortunes and directing her destinies. Her
tale is mingled with that of other nations and languages; and Greek,
Ostrogoth, Longobard and Frank have held sway in Verona as well as
Etruscan and Roman. The influence of these diverse nationalities has
left its trace on the art and history of the city to a marked extent.
The architecture alone of Verona is of a nature to demand a long and
deep study, and calls for an expert’s hand to do justice to its
different developments of variety and beauty. Her school of painting too
is a subject that has not yet met with sufficient attention, and that
deserves a study which hitherto has been but scantily bestowed upon it.
I have tried in a humble and limited way to put before the reader some
idea of this school, and to render him familiar with the names and works
and methods of the masters of painting with whom he will come most in
contact in his wanderings through Verona. Many of their masterpieces are
to be found in the grand old churches which form one of the chief
features of Verona, and within whose walls it is well to linger if we
wish to grasp fully the character of the town and of the men who raised
these noble buildings, and who now lie buried in or beside them. The
history of Verona is all-absorbing, but I have tried to give it only
that prominence which is necessary for such an understanding of the town
as will interest the traveller and enable him to enjoy a stay amid
surroundings that will not now perhaps seem “foreign” to him.
I have drawn much of my knowledge on the Veronese school of painting
from Sir A. Henry Layard’s excellent work, _Handbook of Painting. The
Italian School; based on the Handbook of Kugler_ (London: Murray, 1887),
which was most kindly lent to me by Lady Layard; and to Mr Selwyn
Brinton’s _The Renaissance in Italian Art_, Part II. (London: Simpkin,
1898). My grateful thanks are also due to Prof. Commendatore Carlo
Malagola, Head of the State Archives in Venice, for the loan of books
and for help as to the means whereby to arrive at much of the
information I required. I am also indebted to Cav. Giuseppe Biadego,
Bibliotecario of the Biblioteca Comunale of Verona; and to Cav. Dr
Riccardo Galli for help during my stay at Verona. Nor must I omit to say
a word in praise of the Hôtel de Londres in that city, where comfort and
economy are very happily and successfully blended by a most courteous
and diligent landlord. My chief thanks though are due to Cav. Pietro
Sgulmero, Vice-Bibliotecario of the Library and Vice-Inspector of the
Monuments in Verona, who devoted many a spare hour to introducing me to
every part of the town, and in imparting to me all he could of the
knowledge he possesses in an eminent degree of the history and legends
of his native town. My book owes more to him than I am able to express.
“Few towns,” says Mr Selwyn Brinton, “have an individuality more
delightsome than Verona--Verona the Worthy (Verona la Degna) as she was
called”--and if I shall succeed in endearing that individuality and
making it familiar to the traveller wandering through this “worthy” and
glorious city, I shall not have laboured in vain.
PALAZZO SORANZO,
VENICE, _January 1902_.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
.....PAGE
_Origin and Growth of the City--Verona under the Romans--Goths and
Lombards in Verona--The Adige_.....1
CHAPTER II
_The Arena_.....23
CHAPTER III
_The Middle Ages--Ezzelino da Romano_.....43
CHAPTER IV
_The Scaligers_.....66
CHAPTER V
_From the Fall of the Scaligers to the Present Day_.....103
CHAPTER VI
_Men of Letters--School of Painting_.....124
CHAPTER VII
_The Duomo--S. Giovanni in Fonte--Biblioteca Capitolare--Vescovado--St
Anastasia--Piazza delle Erbe_.....150
CHAPTER VIII
_Piazza dei Signori--Sta. Maria Antica--Tombs of the Scaligers_.....178
CHAPTER IX
_Via Cappello--San Fermo--Museo Civico and Picture Gallery_.....199
CHAPTER X
_S. Paolo di Campo Marte--SS. Nazzaro e Celso--The Grotto di S.
Nazzaro--St Thomas of Canterbury--Giardino Giusti--Sta. Maria in
Organo--S. Giovanni in Valle--Teatro Antico--SS. Siro e Libera--Castle
of Theodoric--S. Stefano--S. Giorgio in Braida_.....222
CHAPTER XI
_Sant’ Eufemia--Porta dei Borsari--S.S. Apostoli--S. Lorenzo--S.
Bernardino--Sta. Trinità--Tomb of Romeo and Juliet--Ponte
Rofiolo--Piazza Brà_.....250
CHAPTER XII
_San Zeno_.....267
CHAPTER XIII
_Verona and its Crown of Castles_.....281
CHAPTER XIV
_Plan for seeing the Town--Hotels_.....299
ILLUSTRATIONS
.....PAGE
_Centrepiece by Andrea Mantegna behind the High Altar at San Zeno_
(_Photogravure_) _Frontispiece_
_Castel S. Pietro from the Adige_.....5
_A Vendor of Fresh Water_.....20
_The Arena_.....22
_The façade of the Duomo_.....45
_Tower of the former Convent of S. Zeno._ (_The only remaining
fragment of the building where the mediæval German emperors stopt on
their way to Rome_).....50
_Church of S. Zeno. Capital in the Nave_.....54
_The Tribuna--Ancient Seat of Judgment, Piazza delle Erbe_.....63
_Old Seal of Verona_.....65
_The Costa. Palazzo of Cangrande in the distance where he entertained
Dante_.....75
_The back of Casa Mozzanti. Once inhabited by Alberto della
Scala_.....85
_Tomb of Mastino II. della Scala_.....91
_Ponte Scaligeri. Bridge of Castel Vecchio_.....95
_Fountain in the Piazza delle Erbe._ (_Statue said originally to be of
the third century_).....99
_Shield of the Scaligers, with the “Holy Bird,” the badge of their
dignity as Vicars Imperial_.....102
_The Piazza delle Erbe, with the Venetian Column_.....111
_Palazzo del Consiglio. Architect Fra Giocondo_.....125
_Madonna and Child, V. Pisanello, Museo Civico_.....137
_Madonna, SS. Zeno and Lorenzo Giustiniani, Girolamo dai Libri, Church
of St George in Braida_.....141
_The Arms of Verona_.....149
_South Door of the Duomo_.....151
_Side Door of Duomo. Detail of Column_.....155
_Detail of Side Door of Duomo_.....158
_Church of St Anastasia from the Adige showing the Houses which stood
there before the “muraglioni,” built to defend the town against the
Inundations of the Adige, were erected_.....161
_Holy Water Basin in St Anastasia_ (_Figure carved by Gabriel
Cagliari, father of Paul Veronese_).....164
_Madonna and Saints, St Anastasia_ (_ascribed alternately to Francesco
Morone and Girolamo dai Libri_).....167
_Tomb of Guglielmo da Castelbarco_.....170
_Piazza delle Erbe_.....173
_Piazza dei Signori_.....179
_Outside Staircase, Palazzo Publico or della Regione_.....182
_The Outside Staircase, Palazzo della Ragione_.....183
_Fifteenth Century Well in Via Mazzanti_.....186
_Effigy of Cangrande_.....189
_Monument of Giovanni della Scala, Verona_.....192
_Tomb of Cansignorio della Scala_.....193
_Juliet’s House_ (_traditionally_).....201
_Church of S. Fermo Maggiore: The Madonna and Child and St Anne in
Glory, with other Saints below_ (_G. Francesco Caroto_).....205
_Cavazzola’s Deposition from the Cross_.....211
_Museo Civico, The Madonna and Child enthroned, with St Joseph and the
Archangel Raphael_ (_Girolamo dai Libri_).....216
_Virgin and Child with Saints in Glory_ (_Paolo Morando detto
Cavazzola_).....217
_Window and Balcony in Via Seminario_.....225
_Giardino Giusti_.....227
_The Giusti Garden_.....231
_Doorway of Carved Wood in the Sacristy of S. Maria_.....235
_Choir Stall of Intarsio Work in S. Maria_.....239
_Church of S. Giorgio in Braida, Martyrdom of St George_ (_Paolo
Veronese_).....243
_The Madonna with Holy Women_ (_Moretto du Brescia_).....247
_Balcony in Via St Eufemia_.....251
_Corso Cavour_.....253
_Fresco by Domenico Morone in the Library of S. Bernardino_.....260
_S. Zeno Maggiore. Choir Screen and Entrance to the Crypt_.....269
_Church of S. Zeno_.....273
_Cloisters, S. Zeno Maggiore_.....277
_Ruins of the Villa of Catullo_.....283
_Castle of Sirmione_.....289
PLANS
_Map of the Town of Verona, from an Engraving in the Biblioteca
Comunale of the year 1671_ _face page_.....103
_Plan of the Town of Verona showing the old walls, from an engraving
in the Biblioteca Comunale of the year 1535_.....303
_Map of the Town_....._at end_
All the half-tone illustrations are reproductions from photographs by
Alinari, Florence.
The Story of Verona
CHAPTER I
_Origin and Growth of the City--Verona under the Romans--Goths and
Lombards in Verona--The Adige_
Verona is no exception to those great cities of Italy whose origin is
wrapt in a background of uncertainty and mystery. A few scattered huts
on the hillside, now known as the “_Colle di San Pietro_,” were probably
the beginnings of the town which was soon to spring up on both sides of
the Adige--that mighty river that formed then as now such an important
feature all round the country through which it flows, and whose waters
have carried as great an amount of woe in their train as ever they have
of weal. These faint beginnings of a mighty town bore probably some
resemblance to the hamlets we now see in Umbria or Tuscany, dotted as
they are on the slopes up which they seem to crawl with difficulty, and
marking the sites where bastions, castles and strongholds were to stand
in after times. For Verona was above all else a fortress. Her existence,
as soon as she had assumed the proportions of a town, was essentially a
military one, and the character stamped on her in those early days
remains untouched to the present hour. It may be said of this beautiful
city as of Zion of old: “Walk about Verona, and go round about her, and
tell the towers thereof. Mark well her bulwarks. Set up her houses that
ye may tell them that come after.” This injunction to chronicle the
story of the older city applies equally to the one on the banks of the
Adige, and sharpens the desire to do so as faithfully and lovingly as
may be.
The position of Verona, its vast military construction, its fortress
guarded by three lines of separate forts, its arsenal and barracks, have
made it, if not the first, at least one of the first military towns of
Italy, and cause an ever-growing longing to investigate as to its origin
and that of the people who founded it. That longing however has to be
repressed, for all is dark and vague with regard to the early days of
Verona. Her historians indeed claim for her an ancestry of fabulous
antiquity: some asserting that she existed before Troy came into
celebrity; others declaring that she was founded soon after the flood.
Veronese writers lose themselves equally in discussions as to the race
from whom sprang the inhabitants of their city and province. They devote
pages to the subject and consider in turn the probability as to whether
Etruscans, Rhetians, Euganeans, Celts, Cimbrians or Gauls were the
founders. No satisfactory conclusion is reached. The mystery remains
unsolved; and time and thought are alike wasted in attempting to lift a
veil which has been inexorably drawn by the Past, and which she defies
us to remove. There can be no doubt whatever that Verona dates from very
early times, even if it is beyond the knowledge of man to assert when
that date exactly was. It may be assumed however that the Etruscans had
a part in her foundation, and when we bear in mind that this implies a
period embracing the sixth and fifth centuries B.C., the age of the city
is carried back indeed to a remote epoch. The supposition most generally
accepted among Veronese writers is that their town came into being about
the fourth century before the Christian era, and proofs of this are
forthcoming to this day in the discoveries made in and around Verona of
remains of arms, utensils, vessels, tombs, and so forth, which bear
witness to the different peoples who, at one time or another, were
living or ruling there, and to the period of their rule. By this means,
too, evidence can be found of the dominion of the Barbarians, Gauls, and
Cimbrians; and indeed to remoter times still when the age of bronze, and
also the neolithic age and the prehistoric age are reached in turn.
The uncertainty as to the Past clings still to the period when Rome
stretched forth her conquering arms over the north of Italy. No date can
be mentioned accurately as to when Verona became part of the great
Republic; nor when, nor by whom the Amphitheatre, and the Theatre, which
form her most classic monuments were erected. It may however be assumed
that at the beginning of the third century B.C., Verona was subject to
Rome. This subjection though was of a voluntary nature, and in no way
arose from the right of victory. Verona was doubtless wise in time: she
saw how she had everything to gain by throwing in her lot with that of
Rome; and by expressing a desire to be under Roman authority and
protection forestalled what would inevitably have been brought about by
invasion and conquest. That this was so may be safely affirmed by the
absence of all documents recording such a conquest, nor is there a
chronicle which adds the name of Verona to the list of triumphs gained
by any general--a triumph which would not have been omitted had it been
made, nor would history have been silent over the conquest had it been
there to record. It is probable that some Veronese troops came to the
assistance of the Roman legions at the battle of Cannae (216 B.C.), and
also that they fought for Rome against the invading forces of the
Teutons and Cimbri at the close of the second century. This invasion of
the Cimbri presented a danger to Rome greater than was at first
imagined, and greater perhaps than any hitherto experienced by the
Eternal City. The early chroniclers of Verona maintain that their city
bore an important part in staving off the impending danger. They also
declare that a large band of the invaders took up their abode in the
neighbourhood, enchanted with the soft climate, the delicious wines
(those of the Valpolicella being renowned even then), and the charms of
the sunny sky of Italy. Here it is said that their descendants dwell to
this day, and are still to be identified by the difference of their
language, which is neither Italian nor German, though more nearly allied
to the latter. The district where this diversity of language is to be
found is known as the “_XIII Comuni Veronesi_,” and the “_VII Comuni
Vicentini_.” Modern writers by no means endorse the Cimbrian legend, and
declare that it has no foundation at all. They ascribe other causes to
the philological difficulty and explain it away as follows: The
proximity of Germany to this part of Italy, they contend, explains the
familiarity of the Teuton tongue, together with the intercourse of the
two countries and the trading that was carried on between them.
The influence exercised by Rome over Verona was great; and though the
chroniclers of the latter city are eager to maintain that she was in no
way dependent on Rome, or unduly subjected to her, the fact remains
[Illustration: CASTEL S. PIETRO FROM THE ADIGE]
that she was under the dominion of the Eternal City, and that Roman laws
and habits were felt and adopted in the northern town. She was not
admitted at once to the full rights and privileges of citizenship,
though the “_lex Pompeia_” was extended to her B.C. 89, which entailed
on her the rights of a Latin colony. After the battle of Philippi (B.C.
42; year of Rome 712) the privileges of Roman citizenship were granted
to Transpadane Gaul; though when Verona herself was admitted to such
rights cannot be affirmed with certainty. There can be however little
doubt that this occurred but a short time afterwards, when she was
included in the tenth region into which Cæsar Augustus partitioned
Italy; a region which was known as that of “_Venetia et Histria_.” On
the architrave of the Porta dei Borsari, when by order of the Emperor
Gallienus the city was enclosed afresh by a wall, there was an
inscription recording this fact, and proclaiming that Verona was
“Colonia Augusta Nova Gallieniana.” This inscription is of the more
value as there is nothing beyond it to tell of the relation between Rome
and Verona. No mention is made of the latter city in the records
concerning the Augustan colonisations; nor is she enumerated in the list
of colonies given by Pliny the Elder in his history. Tacitus speaks of
her as a colony in the second century, and in the fourth century we read
of Pompeius Strabo sending a colony there.
In the early days of the Roman Empire, Verona was a town of much
importance; the chief cause that contributed to this importance being
without doubt her geographical position. She stood at a spot where
several great highways met; and all the chief roads that connected the
Empire with its principal towns in the north of Italy and into Germany
passed through her streets. The Gallican way (Via Gallica), coming from
Brescia and leading through Vicenza to Aquileja (thus ensuring
intercourse with the eastern provinces) went through Verona. So too did
the Via Postumia coming from Bedriaco. Another road led from Verona to
Mantua. Another again led to Bologna. The great road to the north also
started from Verona, and carried the communication from Italy into
Germany, and right away to the Danubian provinces.
Ruskin[1] has described the position occupied by Verona when speaking of
the view over the town as seen from the road going to Illasi. He says,
“Now this promontory is one of the sides of the great gate out of
Germany into Italy, through which the Goths always entered: cloven up to
Innsbruck by the Inn, and down to Verona by the Adige. And by this gate
not only the Gothic armies came, but after the Italian nation is formed,
the current of northern life enters still into its heart through the
mountain artery, as constantly and strongly as the cold waves of the
Adige itself.”
A great part was played by Verona at the time of the war between the
Vitellians and Flavians. The latter who represented the partisans of
Flavius Vespasian, and who aimed at depriving the feeble Emperor
Vitellius of his crown, had taken possession of Aquileja, Vicenza,
Padua, and Verona. Much fighting took place around Verona, and in the
end the Vitellians were defeated, and Vespasian--whose cause had been
espoused by the Veronese--became Emperor. During the third century the
weakness and decay of the Empire did but gain ground. This
demoralisation proceeded chiefly from internal seditions and military
revolts. The host sent by Philip the Younger, surnamed “the Arab,”
against the Barbarians of Pannonia rebelled, and proclaimed their
general Decius Emperor. Philip journeyed from Rome to quell the revolt,
but when near Verona he was overcome and slain. In the meanwhile the
vigour and audacity of the Barbarians did but increase. The town of
Verona was looked upon as one of the keys of Upper Italy, protected as
it was by the river Adige and fortified besides by walls and
fortifications. Considered as a stronghold, even in the days of
Augustus, its renown in that respect was but to gain ground as time went
on. The Emperor Gallienus had extended the outer city walls, and in this
way had rendered the town almost impregnable against the attacks of the
Barbarians. This extension of the walls had been made to include the
Amphitheatre, an edifice which might well be of untold advantage to a
foe; for unless rescued from its outlying position it could easily be
taken and turned into a formidable fort by any enemy of skill and
daring. This strengthening of the walls and fortifications of Verona was
accomplished none too soon. A vast federation of northern hordes,
determined to take advantage of the corruption and feebleness of Rome,
crossed the Alps in 268, and aimed at the conquest of Verona. They were
met by the Emperor Claudius II. near the Lake of Garda, and overthrown
in a great fight, when more than half their numbers were left dead on
the field of battle.
In the year 312, Verona was besieged by Constantine, who bore down upon
it from the pass of the Mount Cenis. Gibbon[2] gives an account of this
event as follows: “From Milan to Rome the Aemilian and Flaminian
highways offered an easy march of about four hundred miles; but though
Constantine was impatient to encounter the tyrant (Maxentius), he
prudently directed his operations against another army of Italians,
who, by their strength and position, might either oppose his progress,
or, in case of a misfortune, might intercept his retreat. Ruricius
Pompeianus, a general distinguished by his valour and ability, had under
his command the city of Verona, and all the troops that were stationed
in the province of Venetia. As soon as he was informed that Constantine
was advancing towards him, he detached a large body of cavalry, which
was defeated in an engagement near Brescia, and pursued by the Gallic
legions as far as the gates of Verona. The necessity, the importance,
and the difficulties of the siege of Verona, immediately presented
themselves to the sagacious mind of Constantine. The city was accessible
only by a narrow peninsula towards the west, as the other three sides
were surrounded by the Adige, a rapid river, which covered the province
of Venetia, from whence the besieged derived an inexhaustible supply of
men and provisions. It was not without great difficulty, and after
several fruitless attempts, that Constantine found means to pass the
river at some distance above the city, and in a place where the torrent
was less violent. He then encompassed Verona with strong lines, pushed
his attacks with prudent vigour, and repelled a desperate sally of
Pompeianus. That intrepid general, when he had used every means of
defence that the strength of the place or that of the garrison could
afford, secretly escaped from Verona, anxious not for his own but for
the public safety. With indefatigable diligence he soon collected an
army sufficient either to meet Constantine in the field, or to attack
him if he obstinately remained within his lines. The emperor, attentive
to the motions, and informed of the approach of so formidable an enemy,
left a part of his legions to continue the operations of the siege,
whilst, at the head of those troops on whose valour and fidelity he
more particularly depended, he advanced in person to engage the general
of Maxentius. The army of Gaul was drawn up in two lines, according to
the practice of war; but their experienced leader, perceiving that the
numbers of the Italians far exceeded his own, suddenly changed his
dispositions, and, reducing the second, extended the front of this first
line to a just proportion with that of the enemy. Such evolutions, which
only veteran troops can execute without confusion in a moment of danger,
commonly prove decisive: but as this engagement began towards the close
of the day, and was contested with great obstinacy during the whole
night, there was less room for the conduct of the generals than for the
courage of the soldiers. The return of light displayed the victory of
Constantine, and a field of carnage covered with many thousands of the
vanquished Italians. Their general, Pompeianus, was found among the
slain; Verona immediately surrendered at discretion, and the garrison
was made prisoners of war.”
Aquileja and Modena surrendered also to the victor, and the path into
Italy lay open to Constantine.
For the remaining part of that century Verona remained under the sway of
the Emperors of the West, many of whom sojourned there often and
willingly, attracted either by the charm of the place, or by the
convenience afforded by its central position. Nor is this to be wondered
at seeing how it was a very junction for Milan, Aquileja, and Germany in
turn, and how it was also provided with all that was needful for the
reception and accommodation of its Imperial guests.
In the following century the Veronese territory was invaded anew by
Barbarians, the first inroad being that of Alaric and his Visigoths
(402); the next that of the Huns under Attila. There can be little
doubt that Verona fell before the armies of the “Scourge of God,” but
his speedy withdrawal from Italy--at the intercession it is said of St
Leo--left the town again free.
The influence exercised by Rome over Verona ever since she had included
her among her colonies had been felt not only in the laws and habits
adopted by the northern city, but also in the religious creeds and rites
practised in her midst. The worship of false gods had flourished there
in early times. Eastern deities had had their services and altars, nor
was the Augustan worship omitted. That this worship, which represented
not only the homage rendered to the person of Cæsar but to the
world-power of Rome as well, was celebrated in Verona is evident from
the mention made of the “_flamen divi Augusti et Romae_” as ranking
among her religious observances.
The introduction of Christianity into Verona is placed at a very early
date, and one legend declares that no less a person than St Peter
appointed the first bishop who was one St Euprepio. This divine, who is
also said to have been one of the seventy appointed by our Lord (see St
Luke, ch. x., v. i), was indeed the first bishop of Verona, but the date
of his episcopate cannot be definitely affirmed, and can only be vaguely
spoken of as amongst the earliest bishoprics instituted in Italy. The
first bishops of Verona all attained to the rank of saints; the fourth
being St Procolo, and the sixth St Lucillo, who took part in 347 at the
Council of Sardis. In 380 (or according to Maffei 390) occurred the
death of St Zenone, or Zeno, the eighth bishop, a man famous for his
learning and saintliness of life, and who according to some traditions
“reduxit Veronam ad baptismum.” The writings of St Zeno have come down
to the present day, and beside their doctrine and devotion have also
some literary merit. It is not known where the services of the early
Christians were held in Verona. The so-called grotto of San Nazzaro, of
which mention will be made later on,[3] is generally looked upon as the
place, and tradition has it that Divine worship was actually celebrated
there. The frescoes that adorn the church are of later date than the
building, and were probably added when the church was restored in the
tenth century, after it had suffered much damage at the hands of the
Hungarians.
That Verona possessed a bishop as early as the third century of the
Christian era would point to the fact that even at that time the town
contained many believers, though the martyrdoms of S. Fermo and S.
Rustico in the reign of Diocletian would again demonstrate that at that
epoch at all events the pagan world was in the supremacy. St Zeno’s
writings on the other hand assume that Christianity was widespread
through the city, but this point in common with many others relating to
the early days of Verona cannot be affirmed with certainty. The diocese
of Verona up to the beginning of the fifth century was subject to the
metropolitan jurisdiction of the See of Milan which extended (especially
at the time of St Ambrose), over the greater part of the north of Italy,
and was known under the Roman administration as the “vicariatus
Italiae.” After the death of St Ambrose and when the Imperial Government
fixed its seat at Ravenna, Milan declined, its metropolitan jurisdiction
was split up, and Verona with other cities in the district passed under
the jurisdiction of the patriarchate of Aquileja.
The advantages that accrued to Verona from her geographical position
have already been dwelt on. The disadvantages must equally be noted,
chief among them being the facility with which her territory could be
overrun by the wild and undaunted tribes of the North, who looked upon
Italy--the garden of Europe--as the lawful reward for their labours, and
who considered the trained cohorts of the Roman legions as foes worthy
of their mettle.
Odoacer was the first of these invaders. He bore down upon Italy at the
head of a large force of warriors, possessed himself of Rome, where he
deposed Augustolo, the last Emperor of the West, and after he had
imprisoned him at Ravenna, he caused himself to be proclaimed King of
Italy. This was in 476, and there can be little doubt that he held sway
in Verona, from whence however he was driven out in a pitched battle by
Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths. Odoacer lost heavily in the fight
(489), his soldiers were carried away in the rushing, swirling waters of
the Adige, when according to Eunodius “their corpses choked that
grandest of rivers.” Odoacer himself withdrew to Ravenna, where he was
murdered in 493.
Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths, is a name and personality associated
with song and legend. His love for Verona was great, and though his
official residence, so to speak, was at Ravenna, it was at the city
beside the Adige that he preferred to dwell. Its strong fortifications,
the convenience of its position for repelling any attack from Germany,
added no doubt to the attraction felt for Verona by “Dietrich von Bern,”
as Theodoric was called in German ballads. Theodoric’s love for Verona
took shape in the several buildings which either for beauty or utility
he raised in it. Baths, palaces, strongholds, and external walls were
built in turn by him, and to him too is due the restoration of the
aqueduct. The remains of the great palace that he built for himself on
the hill of S. Pietro are still to be seen, and point to a style of
architecture that had its origin in Rome. The later years of Theodoric’s
life are dimmed (from a Veronese point of view) by the hatred he is said
to have shewn towards the Catholics. To this is ascribed among other
things his destruction of the oratory of S. Stefano, at that time the
Cathedral church of Verona. This deed which coincided with the German
legends which easily spread to Verona confirmed the story of the
demoniacal chase which was circulated about Theodoric, and which is to
be found engraved among the bas-reliefs carved on the façade of S. Zeno.
The legend runs as follows: Theodoric on leaving the bath mounts his
horse, and followed by his hounds gives chase to a stag. The stag
however always manages to escape. The hunter pursues in reckless haste
and eagerness, till he finds himself brought to the gates of hell. An
allegorical lesson that might have a warning not only for the king of
the Ostrogoths, but for all of every class and nation who choose to heed
it!
Tradition ascribes to Theodoric at one moment the building of the whole
city, at other times the Amphitheatre itself, giving to this latter the
name of the “House of Theodoric,” just as in Rome the same name of
“House of Theodoric” was once given to Hadrian’s mole. Nor did legends
of different sorts cease to be circulated about Theodoric in and around
Verona till the fourteenth century.
The Gothic rule began to decline in the days of Totila (543), and wars
in different directions around Verona, generally ending in the defeat of
the Goths, proved at last their undoing. An invasion of the Greeks was
however successfully withstood, though more perhaps by fortune than by
skill. The Greeks had actually possessed themselves of Verona, but
their greed for booty had made them careless as to securing their
conquest, and before they were aware of it they were attacked by the
Goths and expelled. An expedition headed by Totila’s chief general Teias
against the Emperor Justinian’s forces under Narses was not so
successful. Nor did a fresh expedition led by Totila in person fare
better. The Roman and Gothic armies met at Brescello on the Po, the
Goths were defeated, and Totila was slain. Teias was appointed king in
his stead (560), only to die by the hand of Narses two years later, and
with him the Gothic rule came to an end in Italy.
Fresh incursions from Germany again followed; but it was not till the
year 568 that any permanent rule was established in Verona. That year
however saw the Longobards or Lombards, under their king Alboin, pour
down from the North and spread over the fertile plain which to this day
bears their name. Their rule extended to Verona, where all traces of
Gothic and Grecian power disappeared before that of the new-comers.
It was at Verona that the famous banquet took place, when Alboin ordered
his wife Rosamund to drink wine out of her father’s skull. Alboin had
conquered and killed his father-in-law, Cunimund, king of the Gepedoe,
and carried about with him the trophy of his victory in the shape of the
dead man’s skull converted into a drinking cup. He had no settled
capital in Italy, but, as Theodoric had done before him, he dwelt gladly
at Verona. The story of his orgie is a well-known one, though it may be
that in his drunken debauchery he was hardly conscious of the sacrilege
that he called upon his wife to commit. His brutality was amply avenged.
Rosamund caused her husband to be murdered (June 28, 572, or according
to Maffei 574) and then fled with Elmicho (who had acted for her as
Alboin’s murderer) to Ravenna, taking with her Alsuinda, Alboin’s
daughter, and the royal treasure. The fugitives sought the protection of
Longinus, the exarch of Constantinople; but soon after they reached
Ravenna they were tragically put to death, and Alsuinda together with
King Alboin’s treasure was sent to Constantinople. According to the
writings of Paul the Deacon, the Lombard historian of the eighth
century, the “body of Alboin was buried by the Longobards with tears and
great mourning under a staircase adjoining the palace. In our days
Gilbert or Giselbert, Duke of Verona, opened the case, drew from it the
sword and ornaments, and then with the vanity peculiar to the ignorant,
boasted that he had seen Alboin.” The whole story of the banquet, the
indignity forced upon Queen Rosamund, the king’s death, and all its
sequel is often called in question and doubt thrown on the whole matter.
The certainty of it cannot perhaps be asserted definitely, but the
legend is a well-established one; and the historian Paul quoted above
tells how he saw the fateful goblet, and speaks of the murder, the
flight of the wife and of her accomplice, in a way which proves that he
at least believed it all.
The Lombards established duchies throughout Italy, and after Alboin’s
death we find dukes in Verona, one of whom, Autari, married (_cir._ 589)
the famous Theodolinda, daughter of Garibaldo, king or duke of the
Bavarians, who exercised an important influence over the Lombard people,
and who after her second marriage with Agilulf, Duke of Turin, converted
them from Arianism to the Catholic faith.
In the year said to have been that of the marriage of Theodolinda and
Duke Autari, the year A.D. 589, a terrible inundation of the Adige took
place in Verona. The part this river played, and for the matter of that
still plays, in the history of the town which it bathes and divides is
marked. It rises in Lake Ressen in South Tyrol, and after a course of
some 190 miles, during which it is joined by a multitude of mountain
streams and torrents, it empties itself into the Adriatic. The Adige (in
German the Etsch) flows down through the Brenner pass, now enclosed in
narrow channels, now spreading out through lakes and wide openings,
gathering force and volume, till from small beginnings it becomes the
impetuous mass of waters which rushes headlong through Verona. The
floods and over-flowings from this river have on several occasions
wrought untold damage to the town; and but a few years ago when the
spring or autumn rains had fallen in extra abundance, or when the snows
were melting after an unusually hard winter, the rumour that “L’Adige
ě in pieno” carried dread to all who heard it. This fear is almost
entirely set at rest now. Great dykes and walls have been erected; the
latter known as “muraglione,” which are calculated to ensure perfect
safety to the city, and which certainly have stood more than one test of
extraordinary severity.
The inundation alluded to above is the first recorded in history; and
one old chronicler asserts that so fearful a deluge had not occurred
since the universal one when mankind was destroyed in the days of Noah.
The country around Verona was submerged for miles, many inhabitants were
drowned, and the number of corpses of beasts, as well as of human
beings, floating about in the waste of waters may doubtless be held
responsible for the outbreak of a grievous sickness which shortly after
visited the city. The month was that of October, and the decay of autumn
following close upon a long spell of heat may well have accounted for
the pestilence; but the Veronese saw only the wrath of God in the
calamities which befell their land and considered themselves as under a
curse. This first noted inundation was not only a mark in history, it
was also the occasion for a miracle--at least in the eyes of the
faithful. The waters which rose to the height of several feet restrained
themselves when in the neighbourhood of the church of S. Zeno. Although
on a level with the windows they forbore to enter the sacred edifice,
though the doors were open and would have admitted them readily had
their reverential attitude not kept them outside in an upright position!
There were three churches dedicated to S. Zeno in Verona, and it is
impossible to say around which of the three the miracle took place. The
story relating to it was told to St Gregory I. by one who came from
Verona, and is spoken of by him in his Dialogues. Many investigations
have been made on the subject, all alike leading to nothing and leaving
the locality of the scene unestablished. In the fourteenth century the
mystery was still unsolved, for Benvenuto da Imola in his Commentary on
Dante was evidently in doubt over this vexed point and records as
follows: “Three churches are named after San Zeno at Verona, one on the
hill, another by the Adige, but this is only a small oratory or chapel,
and I think it is this San Zeno of which St Gregory writes in the
Dialogues, that on one occasion the Adige had inundated Verona, but did
not enter the windows of the church of San Zeno. The third church is
about a javelin cast from the river, and there is no fairer church that
I have seen in all Verona.”[4]
The Adige, though famed chiefly for the violence of its ways and habits,
has however another side to its character. Its services from a
commercial point of view are great. It acts also as a highway whereby to
convey heavy bales of goods, and many a raft laden with timber comes
floating down its waters, which season the wood at the same time that
they carry it to its destination.
[Illustration: A VENDOR OF FRESH WATER]
[Illustration: THE ARENA]