Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/822

Rh 798 ROME [HISTORY. of Hapsburg, the new candidate for the imperial crown. In 1278, the ten years' term having expired, he deprived Charles of the senatorship and appointed Rudolph vicar of Tuscany. After declaring that he left to the people the right of electing the senator, he promulgated a new constitution (18th July 1278) which, while confirming the rights of the church over the city, prohibited the election of any foreign emperor, prince, marquis, count, or baron as senator of Rome. Thus the Colonna, Savelli, Orsini, Anuibaldi, and other Roman nobles again rose to power, and the republic was again endangered and plunged in disorder. The Romans then gave the reconstitution of ate the city into the pope's hands by yielding to him the right of nominating senators, declaring, however, that this the was a personal concession to himself, and not to the popes >es. in general. So Nicholas proceeded to name senators, alternating a Colonna with an Orsini, or simultaneously choosing one of each faction. The same power over the senate was granted with the same restriction to Martin IV. (1281-85), and he at once re-elected Charles of Anjou. Thus, greatly to the disgust of the Romans, the Capitol was again invaded by French vicars, notaries, judges, and soldiery. But the terrible blow dealt at Charles's power by the Sicilian Vespers (31st March 1282) resounded even in Rome. The Orsini, backed by the people, rose to arms, massacred the French garrison, and quickly re-established a popular Government. Giovanni Cencio, a kinsman of the Orsini, was elected captain and defender of the people, and ruled the city with the co-operation of the senator and a council of priors of the guilds. This Government was of brief duration, for, although the pope had professed his willingness to tolerate the experiment, he quickly arranged fresh terms, and, forsaking Charles of Anjou, again nominated two Roman senators. Pope and king both died in 1285, and Nicholas IV. (1288-92), also holding sway over the senate, favoured the Colonna in order to curb the growing mastery of the Orsini. But thus there were two powerful houses instead of one. In fact Giovanni Colonna, when elected senator, ruled from the Capitol as an independent sovereign, conducted in person the campaign against Viterbo, and subjected that city to the republic on the 3d May 1291. iface When one of the Gaetani, Boniface VIII. (1294-1303), I- was raised to the papal chair, the extent of the Colonnas' power became evident to all. Boniface opposed them in order to aggrandize his own kin, and they showed equal virulence in return. The Cardinals Colonna refused to acknowledge him as the legitimate pope, and he excom- municated them and proclaimed a crusade against their house. Even after he had subdued them and destroyed Palestrina, their principal fief, the drama did not yet come to an end. Boniface had a very lofty conception of the church, and desired to establish her supremacy over the state. The king of France (Philip the Fair) believed, on the contrary, that the Angevin successes entitled him to fill the place in Italy vacated by the Swabians, and to play the master there. This led to a tremendous contest in which all the French sided with their king. And shortly afterwards a plot was hatched against the pope by the agents of France and the Colonna. These determined enemies of the pope met with much favour in Rome, on account of the general irritation against the Gaetani and the enormous power conferred on them by Boniface. Suffice it to say that they were now lords of the whole of lower Latium, from Capo Circeo to Ninfa, from Ceprano to Subiaco. Thus Sciarra Colonna and a Frenchman named Nogaret were able to fall on the pope at Anagni, insult him, and take him prisoner. The people rising to his rescue, the conspirators were put to flight. But when Boniface returned to Rome with the escort and protection of the Orsini, who had made themselves masters of the city, he found that he was virtually a captive in their hands. He fult this so keenly that he died of rage and exhaustion on the llth October 1303. The brief pontificate of his successor Benedict XI. was followed by that of Clement V. (1305-14), a Frenchman, who, instead of coming to Rome, summoned the cardinals to France. This was the beginning of the church's so-called exile in Avignon, which, although depriving Rome of a source of wealth and influence, left the republic to pursue its own course. It employed this freedom in trying to hold its own against the nobles, whose power was much lessened by the absence of the pope, and endeavoured to gain fresh strength by organizing the thirteen regions, which, as we have shown, cra were associations of a much firmer nature in Rome than the fon U| guilds. Accordingly, in 1305, a captain of the people was elected with thirteen elders and a senator, Paganino della Torre, who governed for one year. The pope was opposed to these changes at first, but in 1310 he issued a brief granting Rome full permission to select its own form of government. Thus, the first pope in Avignon restored the rights of the Romans. But the latter, even with church and empire so far removed, still considered Rome the Eternal City, the source of all law, and the only natural seat of the spiritual and temporal government of the world. To their republic, they thought, appertained a new and lofty destiny, nor could it ever be content to descend to the level of other Italian municipalities. On the 6th January 1309 Henry VII. was crowned king Hem of the Romans at Aix-la-Chapelle ; and so greatly were ^IL men's minds changed in Italy that, throughout the land, he was hailed as a deliverer. He wished to restore the grandeur of the empire, and the Italians, above all Dante Alighieri, beheld in him the champion of the state against the church, who, after becoming the foe of communal liberty, had forsaken Italy and withdrawn to France. The Roman people shared these ideas, and awaited Henry with equal impatience, but the nobles rose in opposition. The Orsini, leaders of the Guelfs, and allied with Robert of Naples, took possession of Castle St Angelo and the Trastevere. Hence, when Henry reached Rome in May 1312, after seizing the iron crown at Milan, he was obliged to act on the offensive. He took the Capitol by assault, but, failing in his attack on Castle St Angelo, was pur- sued by its Neapolitan garrison. Forsaken by many discouraged adherents, he was forced to recognize the expediency of departure. First, however, he desired to be crowned at the Lateran, St Peter's being held by his foes. The cardinals refused his request, but were compelled to yield by the threats of the people, who, reasserting their ancient rights, insisted that the coronation should take place without delay. And the ceremony was performed on the 29th June 1312. The emperor then resolved to depart in spite of the popular protest against his leaving the natural seat of the empire, and on the 20th August started for Tuscany, where worse fortune awaited him. Their differences settled, the nobles expelled the cap- Jaco ^ tain of the people left by Henry, and elected as senators Arl Sciarra Colonna and Francesco Orsini. But this was the V signal for a popular revolt. The Capitol was attacked, the 1)eop senators put to flight, and Jacopo Arlotti elected captain with a council of twenty-six worthies (buoni homini). The new leader instantly summoned the chief nobles before his tribunal, had them chained and cast into prison, and demolished many of their houses and strongholds. But, having thus humiliated their pride, Arlotti dared not put them to death, and, releasing them from confinement, banished them to their estates, where they plunged into hostile preparations. Meanwhile the victorious people convoked a parliament and decreed that, the aristocracy