A.D.1198 nate. CHAP. zen or a subject; and, after the first fervour of rebellion, LXIX. they consented without reluctance to the restoration of the præfect. About fifty years after this event, Innocent 1216. the third, the most ambitious, or at least the most fortunate, of the pontiffs, delivered the Romans and himself from this badge of foreign dominion: he invested the præfect with a banner instead of a sword, and absolved him from all dependence of oaths or service to the German emperors". In his place an ecclesiastic, a present or future cardinal, was named by the pope to the civil government of Rome; but his jurisdiction has been reduced to a narrow compass; and in the days of freedom, the right or exercise was derived from the senate Number and people. IV. After the revival of the senate, the and choice conscript fathers (if I may use the expression) were invested with the legislative and executive power; but their views seldom reached beyond the present day; and that day was most frequently disturbed by violence and tumult. In its utmost plenitude, the order of assembly consisted of fifty-six senators", the most eminent of whom were distinguished by the title of counsellors; they were nominated, perhaps annually, by the people; and a previous choice of their electors, ten persons in each region or parish, might afford a basis for a free and permanent constitution. The popes, who in this tempest submitted rather to bend than to break, confirmed by treaty the establishment and privileges of the senate, and expected from time, peace, and religion, the restoration of their government. The motives of public and private interest might sometimes draw from the Romans an occasional and temporary sacrifice of their claims and they renewed their oath of allegiance to the successor of St. Peter and Constantine, the lawful head of the church and the republic". 42 Urbis præfectum ad ligiam fidelitatem recepit, et per mantum quod illi donavit de præfecturâ eum publice investivit, qui usque ad id tempus juramento fidelitatis imperatori fuit obligatus et ab eo præfecturæ tenuit honorem (Gesta Innocent III. in Muratori, tom. iii. P. i. p. 487.) 43 See Otho Frising. Chron. vii. 31. de Gest. Frederic I. 1. i. c. 27. 44 Our 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.) 45 Muratori (dissert. xlii. tom. iii. p. 785-788.) has published an original treaty: Concordia inter D. nostrum papam Clementem III. et senatores popu 1 Romani super regalibus et aliis dignitatibus urbis, &c. anno 44° senatûs. The senate speaks, and speaks with authority; Reddimus ad præsens . The union and vigour of a public council was dis- CHAP. solved in a lawless city; and the Romans soon adopted LXIX. a more strong and simple mode of administration. They The office condensed the name and authority of the senate in a sin- of senator. gle 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 govern. ing 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. They chose, in some foreign but friendly city, an impartial magistrate, of noble 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 indif. ference of a stranger with the zeal of a patriot. At his choice, four or six knights and civilians, his assessors in arms and justice, attended the Podesta", who maintainhabebimus....dabitis presbyteria..... jurabimus pacem et fidelitatem, &c. A chartula de Tenimentis Tusculani, dated in the 47th year of the same zra, and confirmed decreto amplissimi ordinis senatûs, 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.) 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. 47 In the Latin writers, at least of the silver age, the title of Potestas was transferred from the office to the magistrate : Hujus qui trahitur prætextam sumere mavis (Juvenal. Satir. x. 99.) LXIX. CHAP. ed 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 honourably depart till he had satisfied the complaints that might be urged against his government. Brancaleone, A. D. 1252 1258. It was thus, about the middle of the thirteenth century, that the Romans called from Bologna the senator Brancaleone48, 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 honour 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 nobles of the Annibaldi family were executed on a gibbet; and he inexorably demolished, in the city and neighbourhood, 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 ingratitude 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 noblest 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 hopour, sustained the thunders of a papal interdict. This 48 See the life and death of Brancaleone, in the Historia Major of Matthew Paris, p. 741, 757. 792. 797. 799. 810. 823. 835. 836. 840. The multitude of pilgrims and suitors connected Rome and St. Alban's: and the resentment of the English clergy prompted them to rejoice whenever the popes were humbled and oppressed. LXIX. generous resistance allowed the Romans to compare the CHAP. 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 marble49. Anjou, The impotence of reason and virtue recommended in Charles of Italy a more effectual choice: instead of a private citi- A.D. 1265 zen, to whom they yielded a voluntary and precarious -1278. 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. As he passed 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 passage 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 terra of his life was superseded by a renewal every third yar; 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 asserts 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". This prohibitory clause was re 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, superstitiose nimis et pompose sustulerunt. Fuerat enim superborum potentum et malefactorum urbis malleus et exstirpator, et populi protector et defensor, veritatis et justitiæ imitator et amator (p. 840). A biographer of Innocent IV. (Muratori, Script. tom. iii. P. i. p. 591, 592.) draws a less favourable portrait of this Ghibeline senator. 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 (1. ii. c. 9, p, 808.) and Ricordano Malaspina (c. 177. p. 999). 51 The high sounding bull of Nicholas III. which founds his temporal Pope CHAP. pealed in his own behalf by Martin the fourth, who LXIX. humbly solicited the suffrage of the Romans. In the presence, and by the authority, of the people, two elecMartin IV. tors conferred, not on the pope, but on the noble and A.D. 1181. faithful Martin, the dignity of senator, and the supreme administration of the republic, to hold during his natural life, and to exercise at pleasure by himself or his The em- deputies. About fifty years afterwards, the same title Lewis of was granted to the emperor Lewis of Bavaria; and the Bavaria, liberty of Rome was acknowledged by her two sove. reigns, who accepted a municipal office in the government of their own metropolis. peror A. D. 1328. Addresses of Rome perors. A.D. 1144. In the first moments of rebellion, when Arnold of to the em- Brescia had inflamed their minds against the church, the Romans artfully laboured to conciliate the favour of the empire, and to recommend their merit and services Conrad III. in the cause of Cæsar. The style of their ambassadors to Conrad the third and Frederic the first, is a mixture of flattery and pride, the tradition and the ignorance of their own history53. After some complaint of his silence and neglect, they exhort the former of these princes to pass the Alps, and assume from their hands the Imperial crown. "We beseech your majesty, not to dis"dain the humility of your sons and vassals, not to "listen to the accusations of our common enemies; "who calumniate the senate as hostile to your throne, "who sow the seeds of discord, that they may reap the "harvest of destruction. The pope and the Sicilian "are united in an impious league to oppose our liber"ty and your coronation. With the blessing of God, "our zeal and courage has hitherto defeated their at"tempts. Of their powerful and factious adherents, "more especially the Frangipani, we have taken by as"sault the houses and turrets: some of these are occu"pied by our troops, and some are levelled with the sovereignty on the donation of Constantine, is still extant; and as it has been inserted by Boniface VIII. in the Sexte of the Decretals, it must be received by the Catholics, or at least by the Papists, as a sacred and perpetual law, 52 I am indebted to Fleury (Hist. Eccles. tom. xviii. p. 306.) for an extract of this Roman act, which he has taken from the Ecclesiastical Annals of Odericus Raynaldus, A. D. 1281, No. 14, 15. 53 These letters and speeches are preserved by Otho bishop of Frisingen (Fabric. Bibliot. Lat. med. et infim. tom. v. p. 186, 187.) perhaps the noblest of historians; he was son of Leopold marquis of Austria, his mother, Agnes, was daughter of the emperor Henry IV. and he was half-brother and uncle to Conrad III. and Frederic I. He has left, in seven books, a Chronicle of the Times; in two, the Gesta Frederici I. the last of which is inserted in the sixth volume of Muratori's historians. |