_Judgement of God.--Revolution of Ferrara._
The old man was gloomy and depressed; he retired early to prayer.
Castruccio had not slept the preceding night, and he felt his eyes
weighed down, although in mind he was agitated and restless; he slept
some hours, starting from feverish dreams, in which Euthanasia and poor
Beatrice, alike in danger, alike weeping and imploring his aid, filled
him with agony. He was awaked before day-break by the bishop's servant;
he repaired to the bed-chamber of the prelate, who was sitting on a
couch, with haggard looks, and eyes red and inflamed with watching.
"My dear lord," cried the bishop, "I pray you pardon me that I disturb
your rest; I cannot sleep. In two hours this ceremony--this mockery
begins. I shall not be there; it becomes not my character to be present
at such temptations of God's justice: this is my excuse. But I could not
go; I should die if I were to behold Beatrice bound and suffering. Yet,
do you go, and come quickly back to tell me of her success;--go, and
see, if the abbot keeps his word, and if ever I shall behold my child
again."
Castruccio endeavoured to console his unhappy friend; but the strong
affection and fears of the good man would listen to no comfort. "Let her
be saved," he said, "and I am content; but this doubt, this pause of
horrid expectation, is more than I can bear; I love her more than father
ever loved a child, and she was mine by every tie;--I feel my very
life-strings crack, sometimes I am apprehensive I shall die in the agony
of doubt; go, go, my dearest lord, go and return quickly, if you love
me!"
The bell of the church now began to toll, and announced that the monks
were occupied in the prayers that were to precede the ceremony;
Castruccio hurried to the scene. It was to take place in a large square
of Ferrara, under the walls of the garden of the convent of St. Anna,
and before the gates of the monastery to the care of whose monks the
Judgement was intrusted. As Castruccio approached, he found every avenue
choked up by the multitude, and the house-tops covered with
people,--even on towers, whence the square could only appear a confused
speck, the people crowded in eager expectation. He joined a few nobles
who were admitted through the garden of the monastery; as he passed the
sacred precincts, he saw the chapel filled with the brothers, who were
praying, while high mass was performed to sanctify their proceedings,
and the eucharist was distributed as a pledge of their truth.
The square presented a busy, but awful scene; the houses, the windows of
the monastery, the walls of the convent, were covered by people; some
clinging to the posts, and to the walls; fixing their feet upon small
protuberances of stone, they hung there, as if they stood on air. A
large part of the square had been railed off in a semicircle round the
door of the monastery, and outside this the people were admitted, while
it was guarded on the inside by Gascon soldiers, that with drawn swords
kept in awe the eager spectators, whose fury of hope and fear approached
madness: their voices it is true were still, for the solemn tolling of
the bell struck them with awe, and hushed them, as the roar of the lion
in the forest silences the timid herd; but their bodies and muscles were
in perpetual motion; some foamed at the mouth, and others gazed with
outstretched necks, and eyes starting from their sockets.
Within this inclosure one part was assigned for the Dominican brothers,
who, in their black habits and red crosses, at an early hour occupied
their seats, which were raised one above another in the form of a small
amphitheatre; another part was assigned to some of the nobles of both
sexes, the spectators of this piteous scene. Within this inclosure was
another small one, close to the gate of the monastery; it had two
corresponding entrances, near one of which a large cross was erected,
and near the other a white standard with the words _Agnus Dei_
embroidered on it. This inclosure was at first empty, except that in one
corner a pile of wood was heaped.
Half an hour passed in tremendous expectation: Castruccio felt sick with
dread; the heavy and monotonous tolling of the bell struck on his soul,
his head ached, his heart sunk within him. At length the gates of the
monastery were thrown open, and a number of monks came forward in
procession, carrying lights, and chaunting hymns. They saluted the
cross, and then ranged themselves round the outside of the inner
inclosure; after a pause of few moments, another party came out with
Beatrice in the midst of them; she was wrapt in her capuchin, the cowl
drawn over her face; the crowd spoke not as she appeared, but a sound,
as of the hollow north-wind among the mighty trees of a sea-like forest,
rose from among them; an awful, deep and nameless breath, a sigh of many
hearts; she was led to the cross, and knelt down silently before it,
while the brothers continued to chaunt alternately the staves of a
melancholy hymn.
Then came forth a third party of monks; they bore ploughshares and
torches, mattocks and other instruments, that again spread a groan of
horror through the multitude. The pyre was lighted; the shares thrown in
among the blazing wood; while other monks threw up the soil of the
inclosure with their mattocks, forming six furrows, two feet distant one
from the other. At length the bell, which had been silent for a few
minutes, began again to toll, in signal for the ceremony to begin. At
the command of the monks Beatrice arose, and threw off her capuchin; she
was drest in a short vest of black stuff, fastened at the waist with a
girdle of rope; it was without sleeves, and her fairest arms were
crossed on her breast; her black and silken hair was scattered on her
shoulders; her feet, whiter than monumental marble, were bare. She did
not notice the crowd about her, but prayed fervently: her cheek was
pale, but her eyes beamed; and in her face and person there was an
indescribable mixture of timidity, with a firm reliance on the aid of a
superior power. One of the monks bound her arms, and tied a scarf over
her eyes: the shares, white with their excessive heat, were drawn from
the fire with large tongs, and the monks crowded round, and fixed them
in the furrows; the earth seemed to smoke with the heat as they were
laid down.
Then the barrier of the entrance to the inclosure was thrown down; the
monks quitted it at the opposite end, and one of them with a loud voice,
recommending Beatrice to the justice of God, bade her advance. Every
heart beat fast; Castruccio overcome by uncontrolable pity, would have
darted forward to save her, but some one held him back; and in a moment,
before the second beating of his heart, before he again drew breath,
horror was converted to joy and wonder. Beatrice, her eyes covered, her
arms bound, her feet bare, passed over the burning shares with a quick
light step, and reaching the opposite barrier, fell on her knees,
uttering an exclamation of thanksgiving to God. These were the first
words she had spoken: they were followed by a long and deafening shout
of triumph from the multitude, which now manifested its joy as wildly,
as before they had painfully restrained their pity and indignation. They
were no longer to be contained by the palings of the inclosures; all was
broken through and destroyed; the inquisitors had slunk away; and the
Gascon troops galloped off from the ground.
Immediately on the completion of her task, Beatrice had been unbound,
and her capuchin was thrown over her; the noble ladies who were present
crowded round her; she was silent and collected; her colour indeed was
heightened by her internal agitation, and her limbs trembled with the
exertion of her fortitude; but she commanded her countenance and
spirits, and at least wore the appearance of serenity. She received the
congratulations and respectful salutation of her friends with
affectionate cordiality; while the air resounded with the triumphant _Te
Deum_ of the monks, and the people pressed around, awed, but joyful.
They endeavoured to touch the garment of the newly declared saint;
mothers brought her their sick children; the unhappy intreated for her
prayers; and, however bashful and unwilling, she was obliged to bestow
her blessing on all around. Suddenly a procession of nuns came forth
from the garden-gate of the convent; covered with their long veils, and
singing their hymns, they surrounded Beatrice, and led her, attended by
the other ladies in company, to their cloisters, where her maternal
friend the viscountess Marchesana waited to clasp her in her arms.
Castruccio had already returned to the bishop; yet he came not so
quickly, but that the news of the success of his Beatrice, passing from
mouth to mouth, had reached him. His first emotions were joy, gratitude,
and wonder; but these subsided; and the good old man kneeled humiliated,
trembling and penitent, when he considered that God's name had been
called on in vain, that his consecrated servants were perjured, and that
falsehood was firmly established, on foundations where truth alone ought
to rest. He listened to the account of Castruccio with interrupted
exclamations and tears; and when it was ended he exclaimed, "This is the
most miserable--the happiest day of my life!"
In the evening the palace of the prelate was crowded by his friends,
who, knowing the interest he took in Beatrice, came to congratulate him
on her victory, and to express their delight that God had thought their
town worthy of this manifestation of his grace. The bishop, joyful, but
full of shame, listened in silence to their conjectures, exclamations,
and long relations of the morning's scene; his heart was glad, but he
was angry with himself for feeling pleasure at the triumph of falsehood;
and, although a smile played on his lips, a blush spread itself over his
aged cheeks.
The viscountess Malvezzi, radiant with delight, and the lovely Beatrice
blushing under her newly acquired honours, now entered; the nobles
pressed round the prophetess, kissing her hand, and the hem of her
garment; while she, modest, half abashed, yet believing in her right to
the reverence of her friends, smiled upon all. Castruccio was not among
the last of her worshippers; she had never appeared so beautiful; her
eyes, sparkling with the light of triumph, were yet half hid by their
heavy lids, her cheeks glowing, her graceful person, clothed in her
modest garb of white woollen, moved with gestures ever new and
beautiful:--she seemed another being from her he had before seen, as
inspired, as ethereal, but more lovely.
After the crowd of visitors had retired, a few of the intimate friends
who formed the council of the bishop remained; the lady Marchesana
invited them immediately to adopt some plan for the entrance of their
prince into the city; she continued: "I speak but the words of my child,
when I say this; pardon me, saintly Beatrice, that I call you thus. It
is sweet to me to fancy that you are my daughter, although I am much
unworthy of such a child, and you are the offspring of heaven alone."
Beatrice kissed the hand of her excellent friend with respect and
gratitude; the bishop was much troubled at his sister's expression; the
remembrancer of her heretic mother, and his prison-scene with Magfreda,
was full in his recollection, and he looked up to heaven, as if to ask
God to pardon him, and to avert the punishment of deceit from the
guileless Beatrice.
One of the nobles present asked the sacred maiden, to name the day when
the prince should enter the town. She said in a gentle voice: "My lords,
the hour of victory is at hand: the Popes, in despite of their duty,
have deserted their sacred city, have relinquished their lawful rule,
and would now establish tyranny among us,--it will not be. Four days
hence, on the evening of Monday, we shall receive our sovereign, and on
the following morning his banner will be unfurled on the battlements of
this city."
"On Monday," cried a noble, "my heart misgives me; methinks it is an
Ægyptian day; has no one a calendar?"
"It is an Ægyptian day," exclaimed Beatrice, with vivacity; "but the
adverse aspect of the stars falls on our adversaries; for us there is
joy and victory."
"Monday is an early day," said Castruccio; "but as the holy Beatrice
commands, so shall it be. And, my honoured lord, I shall leave you at
day-break to-morrow. I shall not see you again, divine prophetess, until
I come with your prince, to assert his right. I pray you therefore to
bless my arms, and cause, that I may be doubly valiant, approved by one
whom heaven has sent us."
Castruccio kneeled to the beautiful girl; he looked up at her with his
ardent eyes, his passion-formed lips, and countenance of frank and noble
beauty; she blushing placed her hand on his raven hair, and said, "May
God bless and prosper thee and thy cause!"--Then, beckoning her aged
friend, she silently saluted the company, and withdrew, abashed,
confused, but her heart beating with a new and strange sense of
pleasure.
The plan for the entrance of the marquess was now arranged. On the night
of the fourth of August he was to pass Lago Scuro, and halt with his
troops, at the path which led to the secret entrance to the Malvezzi
palace. The marquess, Castruccio, and a small party were to enter the
house of the viscountess; and Galeazzo to lead the greater part of the
remainder to the gates of the town by day-break the following morning; a
part was to remain as a _corps de reserve_, if the small escort of the
marquess should prove insufficient to force the opening of the gates,
and the entrance of Galeazzo. In that case this more numerous troop was
to enter the city through the house of the viscountess, and bring the
necessary succour to their prince.
The assembly then broke up; and Castruccio, wearied by the events of the
day, fatigued with want of rest, his spirits sinking after their
relaxation from the powerful excitements they had sustained, retired
early to repose. He took an affectionate leave of the good old prelate,
who charged him with many messages of fidelity and attachment to his
prince.
The dawn of day beheld Castruccio on the road to Rovigo. The wide plain
of Lombardy awoke to life under the rising sun. It was a serene morning;
the cloudy mists that settled on the horizon, received the roseate
glories of the rising sun, and the soft clouds of gold and pink that
awaited his appearance in the east, would have pictured forth to a
Grecian eye the chariot of Aurora, or the golden gates which the Hours
threw back as Phœbus entered upon his diurnal path.
And does the beauteous prophetess seek her tower to behold the glories
of the morn? Beatrice is on the _donjon_ of the palace; and it is true
that her eyes are directed towards the rising sun; but there is a casque
which flashes under its first beams, a horseman who gallops away from
Ferrara, whose form her eyes strain to behold, even when he appears only
as a black spot in the distance. She leans her cheek upon her hand, and,
lost in meditation, she, most unfortunate, mistakes for the inspirations
of Heaven the wild reveries of youth and love: but still her heart was
hidden even from herself by a veil she did not even wish to throw aside.
She felt gently agitated, but happy; a kind of Elysian happiness, that
trembled at change, and wished only for a secure eternity of what it
was.
Castruccio was hailed with joy by his friends at Rovigo; and, when the
intelligence he brought was heard, every voice was busy in
congratulation, every hand in preparation. The knights assisted the
squires in furbishing their arms, and securing the various joints and
fastenings of their heavy armour, in looking that the trusty blade of
the sword was well fixed in the pummel, in selecting the stoutest
lances, and in attending to all the other equipments of war; while the
fair hands of the ladies prepared the scarfs, which, tied over the
hearts of their knights, would preserve them from every wound. No
thought of danger and death,--this was to be rather a tournament,
wherein with blunted lances they tilted for a sovereignty; and the idea
of the Pope, and of their priest-ridden opponents and their foreign
guards excited derision alone.
The sun set on the fourth day, and the troops of the marquess Obizzo to
the number of four hundred were drawn out before the gates of Rovigo.
The expedition was ordered as it had been arranged; and in the depth of
night the viscountess, opening the low door of her secret entrance,
found the marquess, Castruccio, and their followers, waiting in silence
round the short half-buried cross on the marshy moor. A few whispered
words of recognition having been spoken, she led them along her
galleries, and up the staircase to the inhabited rooms of the palace,
lifting up the tapestry of the first apartment; Castruccio did not again
know the old, neglected chamber with its decaying furniture. It was hung
with silk, festooned with flowers, and lighted by a hundred wax lights;
a table was spread with wines, and fruits, and sweetmeats, and other
more substantial refreshments; several couches also were placed round
the room for the convenience of those who wished to repose.
The viscountess with courtly grace welcomed the marquess to her palace.
"My lord," she said, "for a few hours you must be imprisoned in this
apartment; I have endeavoured to decorate your poor dungeon to the best
of my power, and indeed shall ever hold this room honoured, since it
affords refuge and protection to my sovereign."
The old lady received the marquess's heartfelt thanks, and then retired
satisfied, to recount to Beatrice the arrival of her guests, and the
whispered enquiry of Castruccio concerning the health of the prophetess.
But, although she had gilt their cage, the hours passed heavily to the
imprisoned chiefs; they watched the stars as they still burned brightly
in the sky, and almost uttered a cry of joy when they first perceived
them, one by one, fading in the morning light. At length the steps of
men were heard about the streets; and the horses which the bishop had
provided for the troop came to the door of the palace. The trampling of
these horses as they were led to their destination, attracted a small
crowd along with them; and, when the strange knights mounted them, and
advanced in slow procession along the streets, the crowd increased, and
the name of the marquess was whispered, while every one gazed in wonder.
At length, when the troop had reached the principal street of Ferrara,
they put their horses to the gallop, and raising the Ghibeline war-cry,
rode through the town calling on the people to join them, and invoking
downfal to the foreign tyrants: a band of citizens, who had been already
prepared, obeyed the summons, and they were followed by others, who
espoused the party of the prince in their hearts, and joyfully aided his
restoration.
The trampling of the steeds, the clash of arms, as the knights struck
their shields with their spears, the war-cry of the troops, and the
_vivas_ of the crowd, awoke the papal governor, who called out the
Gascon soldiery. But it was too late; the marquess reached the gate of
the town, put the sentinels to flight, and admitted Galeazzo into the
city: then, joined by all the nobility of Ferrara, he rode towards the
palace of the governor. The Gascons were drawn up in the great square of
the town, but they were unable to withstand the first onset of Obizzo's
party; they fled, and shut themselves up in Castel Tealdo, the fortress
of the town, where they were at least safe from sudden attack. The
marquess drew his troops around, and threw up his works to prevent their
egress; and, leaving to his principal captain the care of the siege,
returned to his palace to receive the congratulations of his delighted
subjects.
Now joy was the order of the day; the Italians, who had been intrusted
with the charge of some of the gates of the town, brought the keys to
the feet of their sovereign; the others were broken open; every
magistrate brought in his resignation, and many of them petitions for
mercy; and lying traitors, who assured him that their faith had never
been broken, crowded to the presence-chamber. His throne was erected in
the great square, covered with the richest cloth, and surmounted by a
magnificent canopy; the troops were marshalled before him, the standards
brought and lowered to his feet. A deputation of the noblest counts and
knights of Ferrara were sent to convoy the caroccio[5] to the throne of
the prince. They went to the cathedral; and the monks led it forth,
adorned with its splendid trappings and standards, the gold cross and
white flag of the Popes waving above all. They yoked to it four
beautiful dove coloured oxen, on whom they cast rich trappings of
scarlet cloth; and then, to the sound of trumpets, surrounded by the
knights, and followed by a procession of priests singing a _Te Deum_, it
was drawn to the square before the throne of Obizzo; then with a
triumphant flourish, the standard of the Pope was lowered, and that of
the house of Este raised to its ancient eminence. Festivities of every
kind followed this joyful event, triumphant festivities, untarnished
with blood; for few of the subjects of the marquess were hostile to his
return, and these either went into voluntary exile, or joined the
refugees in Castel Tealdo.
[Footnote 5: The Caroccio was introduced after the tenth century. It was
a large car, painted red, adorned with numerous standards, the spoils of
vanquished enemies, and surmounted by the banner of the _commune_ to
which it belonged. It made a considerable figure in the wars of Frederic
Barbarossa. Its loss was an indelible disgrace, and its capture the
greatest of triumphs.]