Part 7 (1/2)

According to Roman custom, the servants had divided his wardrobe among themselves. The cardinal said also to me: ”_Legit aliquoties libros mihi admodum suspectos, et quanquam admonui eum, ut non legeret, tamen deprehendi saepius legentem._”

After this he asked me several questions of interest about Pomerania.

Was it as hot there as in Rome? The cardinal, in fact, was sitting in his s.h.i.+rt sleeves, in a large room whose window panes were made of linen instead of gla.s.s; the floor was constantly sprinkled with water, which by a nice contrivance ran away. My reply caused the cardinal to exclaim: ”_O utinam et Romae ejusmodi temperatum aerem haberemus._”

After Master Hoyer had thanked him in both our names, we took our leave. ”Did you hear what the cardinal said?” asked the doctor, when we were in the streets once more. ”No doubt I did,” was the answer. ”Yes,”

he remarked, ”Master Johannes' stay at Acquapendente was a very short one; and yet, no German was ever less fond of Italian fruit, fresh figs, melons, etc., than he.” People ought to know that those fruits are delicious, but harmful to those who are not used to them. Many a German on his first arrival yields to the temptation, and pays for the imprudent act with his life. Besides, Dr. Hoyer had not had the slightest anxiety with regard to my brother, whom only very recently he had met in the street. I left the money and the trinkets with Dr. Hoyer until my departure.

Master Gaspard Hoyer was an honest, loyal and obliging little man; may the Lord watch over him. In order to make my money hold out, he took a good deal of trouble to find me a place with the superintendent of the hospitium of Santa-Brigitta, an aged Swedish priest, who took boarders from among the advocates, procurators and suitors of the Tribunal of the Rote. To cook, to wash up, to make the beds, to lay the table, and to clear it, to bring the wine from the cellar, and to serve it, these were my functions, for which I received half a crown per month.

Apparently they were satisfied with my culinary talent; it is true, I had only to prepare the soup, called ”minestra”; the other dishes came from the tavern. In Rome, where there are so many people who cannot publicly live with a woman, and where it swarms with suitors and pleaders who would find it difficult to keep up a house, there are excellent taverns, providing fish, flesh, game, poultry roast, boiled pasties, and delicate wines; in short, everything necessary to a princely banquet.

One day, while at meat, my master announced the happy tidings of the death of Dr. Luther; the heresiarch had met with the end he deserved; a legion of devils had swooped down upon him, and a horrible din had put all those around him to flight. Luther himself had bellowed like a bull, and at the last moment he had uttered a terrible yell; his spirit went on haunting the house. The boarders vied with each other in falling foul of ”that abominable Luther,” that limb of Satan, doomed, like all the other demons, to everlasting fire. The only one who did not join in this charitable colloquy was a procurator of the Rote; he only opened his lips to murmur now and again: ”_O Jesu, fili Dei, miserere mei_,” to the tune of that famous Italian song, to which there seems no end, ”_Fala lilalela_.”

My master, who performed ma.s.s at the chapel of the hospitium, hit upon the idea to take me as his acolyte; my ignorance of the various movements and my lukewarmness to learn, made him exclaim: ”_Profecto tu es Luthera.n.u.s!_” ”_Sum Christia.n.u.s_,” I replied, ”my schooling in my native country, and my daily work at Spires by the receiver of the Order of St. John, left me no leisure to think of ma.s.s.” I am bound to confess that as we went on, the suspicions of my new master did not fail to inspire me with fears for my safety. My master officiated at all the ma.s.ses on saints' days, both in town and in the neighbourhood; there were as many as three on the same day; and as the journey from one church to the other was long, and we left at daybreak to return very late at night, our satchel contained a large flagon of wine and substantial food. Each altar was completely prepared for ma.s.s; our master halted before the altar nearest to the entrance, put on his chasuble and said a ma.s.s. The first one I heard; then we departed for another church, and there, while my master officiated, I sat down behind the altar, my satchel on my knee, and ate a comfortable morsel, and washed it down with a moderately full cup. At meal time the priest noted the deficiency, and asked me for an explanation; I frankly confessed my inability to prolong the fast, which after all I was not bound to observe, inasmuch as I did not say ma.s.s. The explanation was more or less graciously received.

This visit to the various stations enabled me to see and to learn a great many in a short time, for my master, who knew the city thoroughly, was very pleased to show me its curiosities, and often went a long way round for my sake. Rome has close upon one hundred and fifty churches, seven of which count as princ.i.p.al ones. There are many abbeys, convents and asylums. I did not see all these buildings, and the majority of those I saw did not strike me as remarkable. At the door of each church a tablet tells the dates of the pilgrimages and the number of indulgences to be gained; the general list of the pilgrimages and of the indulgences is also sold separately. The annual number of stations or pilgrimages exceeds a hundred; hence, one can redeem all one's sins at least a dozen times; that is, eleven times more than is necessary, and one is furthermore gratified with a hundred thousand years of indulgences. O, good Jesus, why didst not thou remain in heaven, if our salvation is after all to depend upon holy popes and their magnificent indulgences, notwithstanding which they have to go and join the devils in h.e.l.l.

A special mention is due to the Asylum of the Holy Spirit, the pride of Rome, and which is considered by the wise as the most meritorious work of Christendom. Rome contains a ma.s.s of single folk of both s.e.xes; the pope's _entourage_ consists of fifteen or sixteen cardinals, whose establishments are kept on a footing as good as that of the courts of our princes of Germany. Then there are about a hundred bishops having servants, and several thousand prelates, canons and priests with their servitors. I refrain from numbering the young monks, who keep their vow of chast.i.ty as a dog observes Lent. Nor should we forget the a.s.sessors, advocates, procurators, notaries and pleaders of a hundred different countries who crowd the law courts. All these are forbidden to have a wife. Nevertheless, thousands of them shelter under their roofs persons of the fair s.e.x, supposed cooks, washerwomen and chambermaids. And now calculate the number of disorderly women.

They, however, enjoy a wonderful liberty, and it is safer to wound or even to kill a man in Rome than to treat roughly an importunate harlot.

At Vespers, great lords, pope, cardinals, bishops and prelates send for these ”damsels of joy.” They come to their homes in male disguise; the others know exactly where to find them.

The courtesans sell their wares at a high price, for they stroll about attired in velvet, damasks, silks, and resplendent in gold. They cannot sell their favours cheaply, inasmuch as they pay a heavy tax, which, together with the proceeds of ma.s.ses, const.i.tutes the revenues of the priests with which Rome swarms. If one wishes to ascertain the revenues of an ecclesiastic, he asks: ”How many harlots?” and the figures show whether he, the ecclesiastic, is more or less favoured. No wonder, then, that, privileged in that manner, magnificently dressed and kept in splendour, prost.i.tutes come to Rome from all parts. It is worthy of notice that the young girls of Rome emulate the others with zest. (Dr.

Hoyer's cook, a native of Nuremburg, must have been once a beautiful creature. Her master always called her madonna Margarita.) At thirty or thirty-five, when they find their admirers desert them, these persons become cooks, laundresses, serving wenches, without, however, disdaining a good windfall. The result was this: they smothered, they flung into the cloaca, they drowned in the Tiber more new-born than there were ma.s.sacred at Bethlehem. Herod after all was an impious and barbaric tyrant, and resorted to this butchery in order to defend his crown. Yet by whom were the poor innocents in Rome deprived of baptism and life? By their mothers, by those to whom they owed their birth, by the saints of this world, the vicars of Christ.

To cure the evil by means established by G.o.d Himself was not to be thought of, marriage having been declared incompatible with the sacerdotal office. Pope Sixtus IV, however, having set his heart upon stopping those horrible murders, restored from roof to cellar the Asylum of the Holy Spirit, tumbling to ruin, and enlarged it by several handsome structures; he established an important brotherhood there, at the head of which he inscribed his own name, an example followed by many cardinals. Each member of the fraternity has the privilege of choosing for himself a confessor; and power was given to said confessor to give plenary absolution once when the penitent was in a state of good health; when dying, an unlimited number of times, even for the cases usually reserved for the Apostolic See.

The wards of the hospital are handsome and roomy, the beds and appurtenances leave nothing to desire. The sick of every country are treated with unremitting care; when they are cured they pay, if they are able and willing; but the very poor are sent away dressed in new clothes from head to foot, and provided with some money. The staff is composed of sick-nurses of both s.e.xes, physicians and surgeons; the establishment has, moreover, an excellent dispensary abundantly stocked with everything, and recourse to which was often had from outside. The inst.i.tution--apart from the hospital--brings up foundlings and orphans; the governors have the boys taught this or that trade, according to their apt.i.tude or taste, nor are the girls allowed to remain idle.

While still very young they begin to knit, to spin, to sew and to weave; in fact, under the direct supervision of the mistresses attached to the establishment, they are taught all the occupations of their s.e.x.

If one of the inmates wishes to get married, he or she must inform the administrators either directly or through an intermediary. Inquiries are made about the suitors, about their means of maintaining a family, etc. The girls get a modest marriage-portion, an outfit, household goods and utensils, and at Whitsuntide six or seven unions are celebrated at the inst.i.tution on the same day.

Truly, it is a great inst.i.tution, which seems to defy all criticism. In spite of enormous expenses, the existence of the establishment is a.s.sured by its resources. Of course Sixtus IV. has contributed largely from his private purse, but those contributions were as nothing to the practically incredible sums collected by the courtesans throughout Christendom in aid of the hospital, Germany included, and even Pomerania, if I may trust to the recollections of my young days. One day, while taking a stroll with Dr. Hoyer, I ventured to ask him if he had no wish to come back to his native country, where he had friends, relatives, property and livings. He said he had not such a wish, in consequence of the difference of religion, adding: ”May my countrymen amend their ways and become converted, like all those who have turned away from the true and primitive Catholic doctrine.” ”But,” replied I, ”it's we who have the true and primitive Catholic doctrine in its purity.” Dr. Hoyer retorted: ”It is written, 'Ye shall know them by their fruits.' Well, let them show me anywhere in Germany an inst.i.tution to be compared to the hospital and the Asylum of the Holy Spirit.” ”I know this saying of Christ,” I remarked, ”and I turn it against the papists. Good fruits, indeed; a life of abomination, the murder of innocent creatures, a premium on debauch by picking up the new-born. The pope, the cardinals, bishops, prelates, canons, their servants, monks, a.s.sessors and other hangers-on of the priesthood, would not all these be better off in taking to themselves wives? for as much as the Almighty condemns fornication, as much does he recommend to the priest, as well as to the layman, the holy state of marriage, the antidote to the Roman horrors of a certain kind. Do not we read in the Epistles of Paul: 'Marriage is honourable among all things'? And if so, there would be no more murdering of innocents, mothers and fathers would themselves look after their offspring, the Asylum of the Holy Spirit would become useless, an immense saving would be effected, and everybody would have a clear conscience with regard to that kind of thing.” Dr. Hoyer did not answer me, but what a wry face he pulled!

Rome contains a great number of handsome mansions, for the popes, in order to perpetuate their memory, erect three-storied and four-fronted palaces; whole streets of houses are demolished if in any way they obstruct the view. The material employed is a magnificently hard stone; there is a popular saying to that effect: ”In Rome, great blocks of marble, great personages, great scoundrels.” Nor are the cardinals and bishops satisfied with modest buildings, least of all with humble huts; as a consequence, the stone masons always have their hands full.

Buffaloes, a species of very strong oxen, convey the stones, which are hoisted up in the easiest possible manner, by means of curious engines.

On Corpus Christi day there is a grand procession, in which the pope takes part. The streets through which he pa.s.ses are bestrewn with green, the houses are ornamented with rich hangings, there is the firing of cannon, and clever pieces of fireworks are let off from the various palaces; naturally there is an immense crowd, and people could walk on each other's heads; the smallest window has a number of spectators. At the Castle of St. Angelo there was an admirable piece of fireworks in the shape of a sun; the whole structure seemed to be ablaze. At St. Peter's there was a discharge of heavy artillery, and the cannons of St. Angelo and of the cardinals replied to the salute.

There was so much smoke and so much noise that one could neither hear nor see anything. At last both subsided, and then the pope appeared on the balcony, where they presented a book bound in gold to him, from which he read, but I could not catch a word he said. All at once the whole of the enormous throng, thousands of people, fall on their knees, I alone remain standing; those around me stare at me with stupefaction, thinking, no doubt, that I have taken leave of my senses. When the reading was over (it was a short one) the pope blessed the people, who cried: ”_Vivat papa Paulus, vivat_.”

Close to the Church of Maria de Pace stands the huge statue of Pasquin, which every morning denounces, without ceremony and with impunity, as it were, the mistakes and crimes of the great ones of the land, the cardinals and the Pope Paul III were often taken to task; numberless were the allusions with reference to his acquisition of the cardinal's hat. A German, who had come to Rome for absolution, confessed, among other things, to having spoken ill of the pope. The confessor was greatly perplexed. It was difficult to account this as a sin to the penitent, when at any minute the latter might hear the pope insulted openly; on the other hand, to refrain from condemnation on the ground that the case was a common one at Rome was virtually discrediting the papacy in the estimation of the Germans. Clever man that he was, the confessor asked: ”_Ubi maledixisti Pontifici, in patria vel hic Romae?_” ”_In patria_.” was the answer. ”_O!_” exclaimed the priest, ”_commisisti grande peccatum; Romae licet Pontifici maledicere, in patria vero non._”

At that time the pope was recruiting, to the sound of the drum, troops to aid the emperor against the Lutherans. About 10,000 foot soldiers and 500 light horse, both exceedingly well-equipped, enlisted. They mustered at Bologna; the pope's grandson Octavius, Governor of St.

Angelo,[35] received the command of the contingent. The Spanish Inquisition grew more and more energetic in order to arouse the religious ardour of the horse and foot soldiers. A Spaniard, convicted of Lutheranism, was paraded seated on a horse, covered to its hoofs with placards representing the devil; the gallows were erected close to the pyre in front of Sancta Maria super Minervam. The poor wretch was hanged and his body burnt; after which a chattering monk demonstrated at length the temporal and spiritual dangers of the Lutheran heresy.

The cardinals gave a grand banquet in honour of Duke Philip of Brunswick. A well-born Spaniard slipped in among the servants of the prelate where the entertainment took place. That nation is greatly addicted to pilfering. Most people know the answer of Emperor Charles V to the Spaniards, who wished to induce him to suppress the habitual drunkenness of the Germans: ”It would practically remove the opportunity of Spaniards to do a bit of robbery now and again,” said Charles. Fancying that such an opportunity had come, the Spaniard got hold of some bread and a flagon of wine, hid himself under the table, the cloths of which reached to the floor. In the event of his being caught, he was ready with the plea of a practical joke, knowing that the host was himself very fond of them. Two of his servants were posted near the great mansion. The banquet was not over before midnight, and the stewards of his Eminence, worn out with fatigue, considered that the silver would not take wing when the doors were shut. They therefore left it where it was, merely shutting the doors behind them. Emerging from his hiding-place, the Spaniard introduces his confederates, and they all carry away as much as they can. The spoil is sold to the Jews, with the exception of the least c.u.mbersome pieces, which the scoundrel intends to keep for making a show of his own; and then the three depart in the direction of Naples as fast as their horses will carry them.

His Eminence's retainers having gone to bed late, were not up betimes, and their astonishment on entering the banquetting hall may easily be imagined. Their flesh crept. How were they going to avoid being sent to prison? Were they to preserve silence about the affair, or inform the cardinal? They decided upon the latter course. They were locked up, and couriers were dispatched in hot haste to warn the innkeepers; the express order of the pope was to bring back to Rome any person in whose possession the stolen objects were found.

It so befell that, tired and hungry, the Spaniard stopped at a hostelry; they laid the table for him, but at the sight of the earthenware he waxed indignant. ”What's the meaning of this?” he bellowed. ”Am I a nothing at all?” Thereupon he orders his servant to bring out his own silver. The landlord, who had ample time, in the kitchen, to look at it, recognized it from its description, sent for reinforcements, and his three customers were taken back to Rome. When interrogated, the Spaniard denounced the Jews as receivers; his money was taken from him, the silver was found at the Jews' houses, and they were immediately put under lock and key.