Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 15.djvu/417

 VERONA

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VERONA

Euganei, who were obliged to cede it to the Ceno- niani (5.50 B. c). With the conquest of the Valley of the Po the Veronese territory berame Roman (about .300 B. r.)l Verona had the franchise in 59. The city derived importance from being at the intersection of many roads. With the taking of Verona (a. d. 489) the (lothic domination of Italy began; Theodorio built his palace there, and in Germanic legend the name of Verona Ls linked with his. This city re- mained in the power of the Goths all through the Gothic War, with the exception of a single day in 541, when an Armenian officer effected an entr.ance. Dis- sensions which arose among the Byzantine generals in regard to booty enabled the Goths to regain posses- sion. In 552 Valerian vainly endeavoured to gain an entrance, an<l only the complete overthrow of the Goths brought about its surrender. In 569 it was taken by .\lboin, King of the Lombards, in whose kingdom it was, in a sense, the second city in impor- tance. There Alboin himself was killed by his own wife in 572. The dukes of Treviso often resided there. At \'erona Adalgisus, son of Desiderius, in 774 made his last desperate resistance to Charlemagne, who had destroyed the Lombard kingdom. Verona was then the ordinary residence of the kings of Italy, the government of the city becoming hereditary in the family of Count Milo, progenitor of the counts of San Bonifacio. From SSO to 951 the two Berengarii re- sided there. Otto I ceded to Verona the marquisate dependent on the Duchy of Bavaria.

The splendour of the city in those days, dominated by its forty-eight towers, is described in a Latin ode of which we shall speak later on. The increasing wealth of the burgher families eclipsed the power of the counts, and in 1100 we find Verona organized as a commune. The San Bonifacio could at most hold the office of podest^ of the city now and then. Verona, at fir.st undecided, was forced by Vicenza to join the Lombard League. This, however, gave rise to the factions of Guelphs and Ghihellinos in Verona. When Ezzelino IV was elected podcsta, in 1226, he was able to convert the office into a permanent lordship, and in 1257 he caused the slaughter of 11,000 Paduans on the plain of Verona (Canipi di Verona). Upon his death the Great Council elected as podest;\ ^Iastino della Scala, and he converted the "signoria" into a family possession, though leaving the burghers a share in the government. Failing to be re-elected podest;\ in 122, he effected a coup d'clal, and was acclaimed cnpiiano del popolo, with the command of the com- munal troops. It w.as not without long internal dis- cord that he succeeded in establishing this new office, to which was attached the function of confirming the podesti. In 1272 Ma.stino was killed by the faction of the nobles. The reign of his son Alberto as capi- tano (1277-1.302) was one incessant war against the count.s of San Bonifacio, who were aided by the House of Este. Of his sons, Bartolommeo, Alboino, and Can Grande I, only the l.a-st shared the government (1.308); he was great as warrior, prince, and patron of the arts; he protected Dante, Petrarch, and Giotto. By war or treatv he brought under his control the cities of Padua (132S), Treviso (1.308), and Vicenza.

Alberto w;is succeeded by Mastino II (1329-51) and .\lberto, .sons of .Mboino. Mastino continued his uncle's policy, conquering Brescia in 1.332 and carrving his power beyond the Po. He purchased Parma (1335) and Lucca (1339). After the King of France, he w.as the richest prince of his time. But a powerful leagiie w.as formed .against him in 1.337 — Florence, Venice, the Visconti, the Este, and the Gon- zaga. After a three years war, the .Scaliger domin- ions were reduced to Verona and Vicenza. His son Can Grande II (1351-.59) was a cruel, diasolute, and su.spicious tyrant; not tnisting his own subjects, he surrounded himself with Brandenburg mercenaries. He was killed by his brother Cansignorio (1359-75),

who beautified the city with palaces, provided it with aqueducts and bridges, and founded the state treas- ury. He also killed his other brother, Paolo Alboino. Fratricide seems to have become a family custom, for .Vntonio (1375-87), Cansignorio's natural brother, slew his brother Bartolommeo, thereby arousing the indignation of the people, who deserted him when Gian Galeazzo Visconti of Milan made war on liim. Having exhausted all his resources, he fled from Verona at midnight (19 October, 1387), thus putting an end to the Scaliger domin.ation, which, however, survived in its monuments. His son Can Francesco in vain attempted to recover Verona (1390). Gugl- ielmo (1404), natural son of Can Grande II, was more fortunate; with the support of the people, he drove out the IVIilanese, but he died ten days after, and Verona then submitted to Venice (1405). The List representatives of the Scaligcri lived .at the imperial court and rei)eatedly attemjjted to recover Verona by the aid of popular risings. From 1490 to 1517 the city was in the power of the Emperor Maximilian I. It was occupied by Napoleon in 1797, but on Easter Monday the populace rose and drove out the French. It was then that N.apoleon made an end of the Venetian Republic. In 1866, on the annivers.ary of the defeat of Kiinigralz, the Austrians ev.acuated Verona, their strongest fortress in Venetia, which thus became Italian.

For the origins of the Church in Verona the impor- tant document is the "Carmen Pipinian\mi" (ninth century), in which, besides a drscripliiui of the city and an enumeration of its chiirclics, ihirr is a list of the first eight bishops, from Si. Eupnpius to. St. Zeno, who died in 380. Less important is the famous pianeia (chasuble) of Classe, Ravenna, on which are represented not only the bishops of Verona, but also other saints and bishops of other dioceses vener- ated at Verona in the ninth century. St. Zeno having been the eighth bishop, the period of .St. Euprepius, and therefore of the erection of the see, must be placed not before the peace given to the Church under Gallienus (260), but rather under the first period of the reign of Diocletian, when the Church enjoyed peace. In the .same "Carmen" mention is made of Sts. Firmus and Rusticus, martyred at Verona, probably under Maximi.an. The hst of the earliest bishops is as follows: Euprepius, Dimidrinnus (Demetrianusl, .Simplicius, Proculus, .'^aturninus, Lucilius, present at the Council of Sardica in 343 (called Lucilius by St. Athanasius and Lucius in the signatures of the bishops at Sardica), Gricinus, Zeno. This St. Zeno is called a martyr in the "Carmen" and is placed in the time of Gallienus. At any rate the existence of a distinguished St. Zeno, Bishop of Verona, a contemporary of St. Ambrose, .and author of a series of rehgious discourses, is historically attested, and as, on the other hand, the ancient docu- ments know but one bishop of that name, it must be concluded that, as early .as the ninth century, the legend h.ad corrupted chronology. For the rest, we know from the sermons of .St. Zeno how deeply paganism was .still rooted in Verona in his time, partic- ularly in the country districts. His succes.sor was Syagrius. Other bishops were: St . Petronius (c. 410) ; G'audentius (465); St. ^'alens (."i22-31); Solatius and Junior, who joined the schism of the Three Ch,ai)ters; Hanno (.about 7.58); Hatoldus, who imposed conunu- nity lifeon the canons (806) ancl irorganized the educa- tion of the clergy. Among the masters of his school the deacon Pacifirus was eminent for his knowledge of Greek and Hebrew. Xottingus (840) was the first to denounce the heretic Godescalcus. Adelardus (876) was excommunicated for invading the monas- ter>' of Nonnantula. Hatherius (9.30), a Benedictine and a distinguished author, was thrice driven from his see by usurpers, among whom was the notorious Manasses of Aries. He, too, fostered learning in the