CHAP.

XVIII.

1247-1250.

Minorite Convent at Hyères; a few friars, one of whom is Salimbene, have come to hear the debate. The spokesman on one side is Brother Hugh of Bariol, a Franciscan of dark Provençal hue, one of the greatest clerks in the world, able to torture the events of the day into any shape so as to suit the prophecies of Abbot Joachim, never at a loss for an answer, with a voice like a trumpet, revered as a Paul or an Elisha, equally ready to thunder against the Pope and the Cardinals to their faces or to put a philosophic worldling to the blush before a whole Court. The friar can boast that he numbers Grosseteste, Adam de Marisco, and John of Parma among his bosom friends. present opponent is Brother Peter of Apulia, the Dominican Reader at Naples, who is no Joachite (to use the cant term of the day), but has full confidence in his own powers.

His

Hugh. Are you the man who has doubts as to Joachim's doctrine? Have you ever read Joachim?' Peter. I have read him, and that thoroughly.' Hugh.—'I believe you have read him just as a woman reads her Psalter; she does not remember at the end what she has read at the beginning; even so many read and understand not, either from their scorn or from their natural darkness. Now, what do you want to hear about Joachim?"

Peter. I want you to prove to me from Isaiah, as Joachim teaches, that the life of the Emperor Frederick must end within seventy years, since he is still alive; also, that he cannot be slain, except by God; that is, by a natural death.'

Hugh. With all my heart; but listen to me with patience, even as Joachim himself was patient.

As to the Emperor Frederick's life, that it must end as Isaiah says when speaking of the burden of Tyre,* pray remark that Joachim commenting on that passage understands the Roman Empire by the land of the Chaldees; Frederick himself by Ashur; Sicily by Tyre; the whole of Frederick's life by the days of the one King; the term of life, which Merlin foretold, by the seventy years. From a passage in the Thirty-first of Isaiah you learn that Frederick is to be slain by God alone. The whole of that last passage has already been fulfilled, especially at Parma, when he was routed; moreover, his Princes have often wished to slay him, but have been unable to carry out their intention. You must believe the Scriptures; there is in them not only a literal, historical meaning, but also an allegorical, anagogical, tropological, moral, and mystical meaning.'

Peter. All very fine; but I want you to explain more clearly about Isaiah's seventy years and his days of one King.'

Hugh. Merlin the Englishman has foretold the truth about Frederick the First, Henry the Sixth, and Frederick the Second hitherto. Let us confine ourselves to four passages of Merlin, speaking of the present Emperor. First; he shall fall in thirty-two years, which may be taken of his reign since his Imperial coronation. Secondly; he shall live in his prosperity for seventy-two years; the truth of this will

Isaiah xxiii. 15: in the English version, 'Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one King.' Sicily in fact was ruled by Frederick's house for all but seventytwo years.

†The passage referred to must be the two last verses of Isaiah xxxi.

CHAP.

XVIII.

1247-1250.

CHAP.

XVIII.

1247-1250.

be seen by those who may survive so long. Thirdly; for fifty years and two he shall be treated well; this time must be reckoned from the marriage of his parents up to the eighteenth year of his possessing the Empire. Fourthly; in the eighteenth year from the time of his anointing, he shall hold the monarchy in the eyes of the envious. This refers to his excommunication by Pope Gregory the Ninth. Now contradict me out of Scripture, if you can.'

Peter. It is wrong to quote Merlin, an unbeliever.'

6

Hugh.— You lie, and I can prove it. Does the Church reject the prophecies of Balaam, or Elihu, or Caiaphas, or the Sibyl, or Merlin, or Joachim, or Methodius? Good things must not be scorned, even though they come from a bad teacher.' The upshot of the whole was, that the Preacher became content to leave his philosophy and to sit meekly at the feet of the victorious Minorite.

Early in January, 1249, Frederick, whom his contemporaries might well call the Wonder of the world, left Vercelli for Pavia. He granted to certain of the Pavian burghers the right of fishing in every river of Lombardy, reserving a stated quantity of their gains for himself and his successors, whenever the city might be honoured by an Imperial visit. He took special measures for the repair of one of its monasteries, a part of the revenues of which were exacted

for his own behoof. From Pavia the Emperor rode on to Cremona. Here a most unexpected event took place. Peter de Vinea, who had been with the Court at Vercelli, was seized and thrown into prison. The Cremonese mob were thirsting for the blood of

the traitor; he was kept however for a worse doom, CHAP. and was sent in chains by night to San Donino.*

XVIII.

Many a moral has been pointed by the wretched- 1247–1250. ness of those men who build on Princes' favours, but the fate of Peter is the most sudden and awful downfall of the kind on record. Two years before this time, he had climbed to a dizzy height seldom reached by a subject. In April, 1247, he had become Protonotary and Logothete of the Kingdom, with full power over the revenues and privileges of the clergy. A strange policy was at that time ripening; the Emperor, despairing of peace with the Papacy, was resolving to place himself at the head of the world, in spiritual as well as in temporal matters. To him were applied the prophecies of the Old Testament, hitherto referred to Christ; all the virtues, so said flatterers, were to be found in the holy Frederick. He was the Vicar of God established on earth, the true and visible image of Heavenly Wisdom.† Even the Archbishop of Capua, when prevented by bad roads from appearing at Court, was not ashamed thus to write of a fellow mortal; If the cup of this journey may not pass from me, I am ready to cast myself not only into the mud, but into the sea, that I may walk on the waters towards the Lord. And thou, Peter, when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.' For De Vinea was looked up to by his party as the future Vicar of the new Messiah. Most daring does the following letter seem, addressed to the hesitating minister by an admiring counsellor;

* Chronicon.

The idea was carried out by Henry VIII. and Cromwell. They too hanged friars for treason, while they burnt English Paterines for heresy, thus following in Frederick's steps.

XVIII.

1247-1250.

CHAP. Do not hide your light under a bushel; our Lord says unto you; "Peter, you love me; feed my sheep." He has set you up in opposition to that false Vicar of Christ who is abusing the power of the Keys. Do not shrink from the burden because you are not used to it; your honesty, your moderation, your strength recommend you for it; our Lord will take no denial; you must answer, "Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. Thy will be done."'

Peter had no lack of flatterers, who treated his name as one of good augury. He was the Rock on which the Imperial Church was founded, on which the soul of Augustus reposed when supping with his disciples. He was the doorkeeper of the Empire, who alone could shut and open. He knew the mystery of the Book with the seven seals. That other Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, had thrice denied his Master; but the Capuan, unlike the Galilean, would not deny his Lord even once.* These blasphemous flatteries were now for ever to be dropped, at least so far as De Vinea was concerned. What was the crime laid to his charge? This is a question which has been agitated by many writers, and about which the best judges are not agreed. One chronicler talks of foul play on the part of the Minister at the Council of Lyons; another account refers his ruin to an intrigue with his master's paramour; a third writer avers that the wealth heaped up by Peter proved too tempting a bait for Imperial avarice. The truest version of his crime seems to

* See Bréholles' Preface, 509, for these letters.

Bonatti says that Peter had amassed more than 10,000 pounds weight of Augustals. He obtained grants of real property from the Abbey of Monte Cassino, of which the Imperial Court took cognizance after his death.