Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/826

Rh 802 ROME [HISTORY. mortally, and, on his departure for Avignon in 1357 to assist the threatened pontiff, immediately conceded to the latter the supremacy of the senate. And the pope, instead of two senators, hastened to name a single one of foreign >reign birth. This was a shrewd device of Albornoz and another aators. ) ow to the nobles, with whom he was still at war. Thus was inaugurated, by the nomination of Raimondo de' Tolomei in 1358, a series of foreign senators, fulfilling the functions of a podesta, and changed every six months, together with their staff of judges, notaries, and knights. The people approved of this reform as being inimical to the nobles and favourable to the preservation of liberty. Hitherto the senators had been assisted, or rather kept in check, by the thirteen representatives of the regions. These were now replaced by seven reformers, in imitation of the priors of Florence, the better to follow that city's example. The reformers were soon the veritable chiefs of the republic. They first appeared in 1360, were either popolani or cavallerotti, and were elected by ballot every three months. When Albornoz returned to Italy, although desirous to keep Rome in the same subjection as the other cities, he had first to vanquish Ordelaffi and reduce Bologna. The latter enterprise was the more difficult task, and provoked a lengthy war with Matteo Visconti of Milan. Thus Rome, being left to herself, continued to be governed by her reformers ; and the nobles, already shut out from power, were also excluded from the militia, which had been reorganized, like that of Florence, on the ie democratic system. Three thousand men, mostly archers, n ^- were enrolled under the command of two banderesi, " in !sl- the likeness," says M. Villani, " of our gonfaloniers of the companies," with four antepositi constituting a supreme council of war. And the whole body was styled the " Felix Societas Balestrariorum et Pavesatorum." It was instituted to support the reformers and re-establish order in the city and Campagna, to keep down the nobles and defend the republic. It fulfilled these duties with much, and sometimes excessive, severity. Banderesi and ante- positi had seats in the special council beside those of the reformers, as, in Florence, the gonfaloniers of the com- panies were seated beside the priors. Later these officials constituted the so-called signoria dei banderesi. In 1362, the Romans having subjected Velletri, which was defended by the nobles, the latter made a riot in Rome. Thereupon the banderesi drove them all from the city, killed some of their kindred, and did not even spare the cavallerotti. The fight became so furious that from gate to gate all Rome was in arms, and even mercenaries were hired. But in the end renewed submission was made to the pope. On the death of Innocent VI. in 1362, an agreement was concluded with his successor Urban V. (1362-70), also a Frenchman, who was obliged to give his sanction to the government of the reformers and banderesi. And then, Albornoz being recalled in disgrace to Avignon, and after- wards sent as legate to Naples, these Roman magistrates were able, with or without the co-operation of the foreign senator, to rule in their own way. They did justice on the nobles by hanging a few more; and they defended the city from the threatening attacks of the mercenaries, who had now become Italy's worst foes. It was at this period that the Roman statutes were revised and re- arranged in the compilation erroneously attributed by some writers to Albornoz, which has come down to us supplemented by alterations of a later date. But now the popes, being no longer in safety at Avignon, really decided to return to Italy. Even Urban V. had to pay ransom to escape from the threatened attacks of the free companies. The Romans implored his return, and he was further urged to it by the Italian literati with Petrarch at their head. In April 1367 he finally quitted Avignon, and, entering Rome on the 16th October, was given the lordship of the city. Cardinal Albornoz had fallen mortally ill at Viterbo, but, though unable to accompany the pope to Rome, had, before dying, suggested his course of action. Certainly Urban showed much acumen in profiting by the first burst of popular enthusiasm to effect quick and dexterous changes in the constitution of the republic. After naming a senator, he abolished the posts of reformers and banderesi, substituting three conservators, or rather a species of municipal council, alone charged with judicial and administrative powers, which has lasted to the present day. The thirteen leaders of the regions and the consuls of the guilds still sat in the councils, which were left unsuppressed. But all real power was in the hands of the pope, who, in Rome, as in his other cities, nominated the principal magistrates. Thus, by transforming political into civil institutions and concen- trating the supreme authority in his own grasp, Urban V. dealt a mortal blow to the liberties of Rome. Yet he felt no sense of security among a people who, after the first rejoicings over the return of the Holy See, were always on the brink of revolt. Besides he felt himself a stranger in Italy, and was so regarded. Accordingly, in April 1370 he decided to return to France; on the 20th of that month he wrote from Viterbo that no change was to be made in the government; and he died in Avignon on the 19th of December. The Romans retained the conservators, conferring on them the political power of the reformers ; they re-estab- lished the banderesi with the Florentine title of executores justitiae and the four antepositi with that of consiliarii. Thus the " Felix Societas Balestrariorum et Pavesatorum Urbis " was restored, and the two councils met as before, The new French pope, Gregory XI. (1370-78), had to be content with obtaining supremacy over the Senate and the possession of the Castle St Angelo. It was a difficult moment for him. The Florentines had come to an open rupture with his legates, and had adopted the expedient of inviting all the cities of the Roman state to redeem their lost freedom. Accordingly in 1375 many of them rose against the legates, who were mostly French and regarded with dislike as foreigners. Florentine despatches, full of classical allusions and chiefly composed by the famous scholar, Secretary Coluccio Salutati, were rapidly sent in all directions. Those addressed to the Romans were specially fervid, and emphatically appealed to their patriotism and memories of the past. But the Romans received them with doubt and mistrust, for they saw that the revolution threatened to dismember the state, by promoting the independence of every separate city. Besides, while maintaining their republic, they also desired the pope's pre- sence in Rome. Nevertheless they went with the current to the extent of reforming their constitution. In February 1376 they nominated Giovanni Cenci captain of the people, and gave him uncontrolled power over the towns of the patrimony and the Sabine land. The conservators, with their new political authority, the executores, the antepositi, and the two councils were all preserved, and a new magis- tracy was created, the "Tres Gubernatores Pacis et Libertatis Reipublicae Romanae." This answered to the Eight (afterwards Ten) of War in Florence, likewise frequently called the Eight of Liberty and Peace. It was this Council of Eight that was now directing the war against the pope and braving his sentence of excommuni- cation ; and their fiery zeal had won them the title of the Holy Eight from the Florentines. Realizing that further absence would cost him his state, Gregory XI. quitted Avignon on the 13th September 1376, and, reaching Corneto in December, despatched to Urbi desi the Re-es lishm of tlit repul. and t band- eresi.