Volume 6 Part 33 (2/2)
[Footnote 38: This part.i.tion of the n.o.ble and baser metals between the emperor and senate must, however, be adopted, not as a positive fact, but as the probable opinion of the best antiquaries, * (see the Science des Medailles of the Pere Joubert, tom. ii. p. 208--211, in the improved and scarce edition of the Baron de la Bastie. *
Note: Dr. Cardwell (Lecture on Ancient Coins, p. 70, et seq.) a.s.signs convincing reasons in support of this opinion.--M.]
[Footnote 39: In his xxviith dissertation on the Antiquities of Italy, (tom. ii. p. 559--569,) Muratori exhibits a series of the senatorian coins, which bore the obscure names of _Affortiati_, _Infortiati_, _Provisini_, _Paparini_. During this period, all the popes, without excepting Boniface VIII, abstained from the right of coining, which was resumed by his successor Benedict XI., and regularly exercised in the court of Avignon.]
[Footnote 40: A German historian, Gerard of Reicherspeg (in Baluz.
Miscell. tom. v. p. 64, apud Schmidt, Hist. des Allemands, tom. iii.
p. 265) thus describes the const.i.tution of Rome in the xith century: Grandiora urbis et orbis negotia spectant ad Romanum pontificem itemque ad Romanum Imperatorem, sive illius vicarium urbis praefectum, qui de sua dignitate respicit utrumque, videlicet dominum papam cui facit hominum, et dominum imperatorem a quo accipit suae potestatis insigne, scilicet gladium exertum.]
[Footnote 41: The words of a contemporary writer (Pandulph. Pisan. in Vit. Paschal. II. p. 357, 358) describe the election and oath of the praefect in 1118, inconsultis patribus.... loca praefectoria.... Laudes praefectoriae.... comitiorum applausum.... juraturum populo in ambonem sublevant.... confirmari eum in urbe praefectum petunt.]
[Footnote 42: Urbis praefectum ad ligiam fidelitatem recepit, et per mantum quod illi donavit de praefectura eum publice investivit, qui usque ad id tempus juramento fidelitatis imperatori fuit obligatus et ab eo praefecturae tenuit honorem, (Gesta Innocent. III. in Muratori, tom. iii.
P. i. p. 487.)]
[Footnote 43: See Otho Frising. Chron. vii. 31, de Gest. Frederic. I., l. i. c. 27.]
[Footnote 44: Cur countryman, Roger Hoveden, speaks of the single senators, of the _Capuzzi_ family, &c., quorum temporibus melius regebatur Roma quam nunc (A.D. 1194) est temporibus lvi. senatorum, (Ducange, Gloss. tom. vi. p. 191, Senatores.)]
[Footnote 45: Muratori (dissert. xlii. tom. iii. p. 785--788) has published an original treaty: Concordia inter D. nostrum papam Clementem III. et senatores populi Romani super regalibus et aliis dignitatibus urbis, &c., anno 44 senatus. The senate speaks, and speaks with authority: Reddimus ad praesens.... habebimus.... dabitis presbetria....
jurabimus pacem et fidelitatem, &c. A chartula de Tenementis Tusculani, dated in the 47th year of the same aera, and confirmed decreto amplissimi ordinis senatus, acclamatione P. R. publice Capitolio consistentis.
It is there we find the difference of senatores consiliarii and simple senators, (Muratori, dissert. xlii. tom. iii. p. 787--789.)]
The union and vigor of a public council was dissolved in a lawless city; and the Romans soon adopted a more strong and simple mode of administration. They condensed the name and authority of the senate in a single magistrate, or two colleagues; and as they were changed at the end of a year, or of six months, the greatness of the trust was compensated by the shortness of the term. But in this transient reign, the senators of Rome indulged their avarice and ambition: their justice was perverted by the interest of their family and faction; and as they punished only their enemies, they were obeyed only by their adherents.
Anarchy, no longer tempered by the pastoral care of their bishop, admonished the Romans that they were incapable of governing themselves; and they sought abroad those blessings which they were hopeless of finding at home. In the same age, and from the same motives, most of the Italian republics were prompted to embrace a measure, which, however strange it may seem, was adapted to their situation, and productive of the most salutary effects. [46] They chose, in some foreign but friendly city, an impartial magistrate of n.o.ble birth and unblemished character, a soldier and a statesman, recommended by the voice of fame and his country, to whom they delegated for a time the supreme administration of peace and war. The compact between the governor and the governed was sealed with oaths and subscriptions; and the duration of his power, the measure of his stipend, the nature of their mutual obligations, were defined with scrupulous precision. They swore to obey him as their lawful superior: he pledged his faith to unite the indifference of a stranger with the zeal of a patriot. At his choice, four or six knights and civilians, his a.s.sessors in arms and justice, attended the _Podesta_, [47] who maintained at his own expense a decent retinue of servants and horses: his wife, his son, his brother, who might bias the affections of the judge, were left behind: during the exercise of his office he was not permitted to purchase land, to contract an alliance, or even to accept an invitation in the house of a citizen; nor could he honorably depart till he had satisfied the complaints that might be urged against his government.
[Footnote 46: Muratori (dissert. xlv. tom. iv. p. 64--92) has fully explained this mode of government; and the _Occulus Pastoralis_, which he has given at the end, is a treatise or sermon on the duties of these foreign magistrates.]
[Footnote 47: In the Latin writers, at least of the silver age, the t.i.tle of _Potestas_ was transferred from the office to the magistrate:-- Hujus qui trahitur praetextam sumere mavis; An Fidenarum Gabiorumque esse _Potestas_.
Juvenal. Satir. x. 99.11]
Chapter LXIX: State Of Rome From The Twelfth Century.--Part III.
It was thus, about the middle of the thirteenth century, that the Romans called from Bologna the senator Brancaleone, [48] whose fame and merit have been rescued from oblivion by the pen of an English historian. A just anxiety for his reputation, a clear foresight of the difficulties of the task, had engaged him to refuse the honor of their choice: the statutes of Rome were suspended, and his office prolonged to the term of three years. By the guilty and licentious he was accused as cruel; by the clergy he was suspected as partial; but the friends of peace and order applauded the firm and upright magistrate by whom those blessings were restored. No criminals were so powerful as to brave, so obscure as to elude, the justice of the senator. By his sentence two n.o.bles of the Annibaldi family were executed on a gibbet; and he inexorably demolished, in the city and neighborhood, one hundred and forty towers, the strong shelters of rapine and mischief. The bishop, as a simple bishop, was compelled to reside in his diocese; and the standard of Brancaleone was displayed in the field with terror and effect. His services were repaid by the ingrat.i.tude of a people unworthy of the happiness which they enjoyed. By the public robbers, whom he had provoked for their sake, the Romans were excited to depose and imprison their benefactor; nor would his life have been spared, if Bologna had not possessed a pledge for his safety. Before his departure, the prudent senator had required the exchange of thirty hostages of the n.o.blest families of Rome: on the news of his danger, and at the prayer of his wife, they were more strictly guarded; and Bologna, in the cause of honor, sustained the thunders of a papal interdict. This generous resistance allowed the Romans to compare the present with the past; and Brancaleone was conducted from the prison to the Capitol amidst the acclamations of a repentant people. The remainder of his government was firm and fortunate; and as soon as envy was appeased by death, his head, enclosed in a precious vase, was deposited on a lofty column of marble.
[49]
[Footnote 48: See the life and death of Brancaleone, in the Historia Major of Matthew Paris, p. 741, 757, 792, 797, 799, 810, 823, 833, 836, 840. The mult.i.tude of pilgrims and suitors connected Rome and St. Albans, and the resentment of the English clergy prompted them to rejoice when ever the popes were humbled and oppressed.]
[Footnote 49: Matthew Paris thus ends his account: Caput vero ipsius Brancaleonis in vase pretioso super marmoream columnam collocatum, in signum sui valoris et probitatis, quasi reliquias, superst.i.tiose nimis et pompose sustulerunt. Fuerat enim superborum potentum et malefactorum urbis malleus et extirpator, et populi protector et defensor veritatis et just.i.tiae imitator et amator, (p. 840.) A biographer of Innocent IV.
(Muratori, Script. tom. iii. P. i. p. 591, 592) draws a less favorable portrait of this Ghibeline senator.]
The impotence of reason and virtue recommended in Italy a more effectual choice: instead of a private citizen, to whom they yielded a voluntary and precarious obedience, the Romans elected for their senator some prince of independent power, who could defend them from their enemies and themselves. Charles of Anjou and Provence, the most ambitious and warlike monarch of the age, accepted at the same time the kingdom of Naples from the pope, and the office of senator from the Roman people.
[50] As he pa.s.sed through the city, in his road to victory, he received their oath of allegiance, lodged in the Lateran palace, and smoothed in a short visit the harsh features of his despotic character. Yet even Charles was exposed to the inconstancy of the people, who saluted with the same acclamations the pa.s.sage of his rival, the unfortunate Conradin; and a powerful avenger, who reigned in the Capitol, alarmed the fears and jealousy of the popes. The absolute term of his life was superseded by a renewal every third year; and the enmity of Nicholas the Third obliged the Sicilian king to abdicate the government of Rome.
In his bull, a perpetual law, the imperious pontiff a.s.serts the truth, validity, and use of the donation of Constantine, not less essential to the peace of the city than to the independence of the church; establishes the annual election of the senator; and formally disqualifies all emperors, kings, princes, and persons of an eminent and conspicuous rank. [51] This prohibitory clause was repealed in his own behalf by Martin the Fourth, who humbly solicited the suffrage of the Romans. In the presence, and by the authority, of the people, two electors conferred, not on the pope, but on the n.o.ble and faithful Martin, the dignity of senator, and the supreme administration of the republic, [52] to hold during his natural life, and to exercise at pleasure by himself or his deputies. About fifty years afterwards, the same t.i.tle was granted to the emperor Lewis of Bavaria; and the liberty of Rome was acknowledged by her two sovereigns, who accepted a munic.i.p.al office in the government of their own metropolis.
[Footnote 50: The election of Charles of Anjou to the office of perpetual senator of Rome is mentioned by the historians in the viiith volume of the Collection of Muratori, by Nicholas de Jamsilla, (p. 592,) the monk of Padua, (p. 724,) Sabas Malaspina, (l. ii. c. 9, p. 308,) and Ricordano Malespini, (c. 177, p. 999.)]
[Footnote 51: The high-sounding bull of Nicholas III., which founds his temporal sovereignty on the donation of Constantine, is still extant; and as it has been inserted by Boniface VIII. in the _s.e.xte_ of the Decretals, it must be received by the Catholics, or at least by the Papists, as a sacred and perpetual law.]
[Footnote 52: I am indebted to Fleury (Hist. Eccles. tom. xviii. p.
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