Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/824

Rh 800 ROME [HISTORY. Thereupon public discontent swelled, and especially when, by the foundation of the papal palace of Avignon, it was evident that Benedict XII. had no intention of restoring the Holy See to Italy. This pope was succeeded in 1342 by Clement VI. (1342-52), and King Robert in 1343 by his niece Joanna ; and the latter event, while plunging the kingdom in anarchy, likewise aggravated the condition of Rome. For not only were the Neapolitan sovereigns still very powerful there, but the principal Roman nobles held large fiefs across the Neapolitan borders. Is di Shortly before this another revolution in Rome had enzo. re-established the government of the Thirteen and the two senators. The people, being anxious to show their intention of respecting the papal authority, had despatched to Avignon as ambassador of the republic, in 1343, a man destined to make much noise in the world. This was Cola di Rienzo, son of a Roman innkeeper, a notary, and an impassioned student of the Bible, the fathers, Livy, Seneca, Cicero, and Valerius Maximus. Thoroughly imbued with a half pagan half Christian spirit, he believed that he had a divinely inspired mission to revive the ancient glories of Rome. Of handsome presence, full of fantastic eloquence, and stirred to enthusiasm by contemplation of the ruined monuments of Rome, he harangued the people with a stilted oratory that enchanted their ears. He hated the nobles, because one of his brothers had been killed by them ; he loved the republic, and in its name addressed a stately Latin speech to the astonished pope, and, offering him the supreme power, besought his instant return to Rome. He also begged him to allow the city to celebrate a jubilee every fifty years, and then, as a personal request, asked to be nominated notary to the urban chamber. The pope consented to everything, and Rienzi communicated this good news to Rome in an emphatically worded epistle. After Easter, in 1344, he returned to Rome, and found to his grief that the city was a prey to the nobles. He immediately began to admonish the latter, and then, draped in a toga adorned with symbols, exhibited and explained allegorical designs to the people, and announced the speedy restoration of the past grandeur of Rome. Finally he and a few burghers and merchants, whom he had secretly inflamed by his discourses, made a solemn vow to overthrow the nobility and consolidate the republic. The moment was favourable, owing to the anarchy of Naples, the absence of the pope, the weakness of the empire, and the disputes of the barons, although the latter were still very potent and constituted, as it were, a separate government opposed to that of the people. Rienzi, having gained the pope's eccle- siastical vicar to his side, passed in prayer the night of the 19th May 1347, placing his enterprise under the pro- tection of the Holy Spirit, and the following day marched to the Capitol, surrounded by his adherents, convoked a parliament of the people, and obtained its sanction for the following proposals : that all pending lawsuits should be at once decided; that justice should be equally administered to all ; that every region should equip one hundred foot soldiers and twenty-five horse ; that the dues and taxes should be rearranged ; that the forts, bridges, and gates of the city should be held by the rector of the people instead of by the nobility ; and that granaries should be opened for the public use. On the same day, amid general homage and applause, Rienzi was proclaimed head of the republic, with the title of tribune and liberator of the Holy Roman Republic, " by authority of the most merciful Lord Jesus Christ." The nobles withdrew scoffing but alarmed. Rienzi engaged a body-guard of one hundred men, and assumed the command of thirteen hundred infantry and three hundred and ninety light horse; he abolished the senators, retained the Thirteen and the general and special councils, and set the adminis- tration on a new footing. These measures and the prompt submission of the other cities of the state brought an instant increase of revenue to Rome. This revolution, as will be noted, was of an entirely novel stamp. For its leader despatched envoys to all the cities of Italy, exhorting them to shake off the yoke of their tyrants, and send representatives to the parliament convoked for the 1st August, inasmuch as the liberation of Rome also implied the " liberation of the sacred land of Italy." In Rienzi's judgment the Roman revolution must be, not municipal, but national, and even in some points universal. And this idea was welcomed with general enthusiasm throughout the peninsula. Solemn festivals and processions were held in Rome ; and, when the tribune went in state to St Peter's, the canons met him on the steps chanting the Veni, Creator Spiritus. Even the pope, willingly or unwillingly, accorded his approval to Rienzi's deeds. The provincial cities did homage to Rome and her tribune, and almost all the rest of Italy gave him its enthusiastic adherence. The ancient sovereign people seemed on the point of resuscitation. And others besides the multitude were fascinated and carried off their feet. Great men like Petrarch were transported with joy. The poet lauded Cola di Rienzo as a sublime and supernatural being, the greatest of ancient and modern men. But it was soon evident that all this enthusiasm was mainly factitious. On the 26th of July a new parlia- ment was called, and this decreed that all the rights and privileges granted to the empire and church must now be vested in the Roman people, from whom they had first emanated. But on the convocation of the national parlia- ment few representatives obeyed the summons and the scheme was a failure. All had gone well so long as principles only were proclaimed, but when words had to be followed by deeds the municipal feeling awoke and distrust began to prevail. Nevertheless, on the 1st August Rienzi assumed the spurs of knighthood and passed a decree declaring that Rome would now resume her old jurisdiction over the world, invoking the Holy Spirit upon Italy, granting the Roman citizenship to all her cities, and proclaiming them free in virtue of the freedom of Rome. This was a strange jumble of the ancient Roman idea combined with the mediaeval. It was a dream of Rienzi's brain, but it was also the dream of Dante and Petrarch. The conception of the empire and the history of Italy, particularly that of ancient and mediaeval Rome, were inevitably preparing the way for the national idea. This Rienzi foresaw, and this constitutes the true grandeur of his character, which in other respects was not exempt from pettiness and infirmity. He pursued his course, therefore, undismayed, and had indeed gone too far to draw back. On the 15th August he caused himself to be crowned tribune with great pomp, and confirmed the rights of Roman citizenship to all natives of Italy. But practical matters had also to be taken into account, and it was here that his weakness and lack of judgment were shown. The nobles remained steadily hostile, and refused to yield to the -charm of his words. Hence conflict was unavoidable ; and at first Rienzi succeeded in vanquishing the Gaetani by means of Giovanni Colonna. He next endeavoured to suppress the Guelf and Ghibelline factions, and to restore Italy to " holy union " by raising her from her present abasement. The pope, however, was weary of toleration, and, coming to terms with the nobles, incited them to war. They accordingly moved from Palestrina, and on the 30th November were encamped before Rome. Rienzi now put forth his energy. He had already called the militia to arms, and a genuine battle took place in which eighty