LX X. CHAP. reached beyond the present day; and that day was most frequently disturbed by violence and tumult. In its utmost plenitude, the order or 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 resto, ration 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 t. The Our countryman, Roger Hovedon, 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). + 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. 440° senatus. The senate speaks, and speaks with authority: Reddimus ad præsens . . . . habebimus. ... dabitis presbyteria. ... jurabimus pacem et fidelitatem, &c. A chartula de tenementis Tusculani, dated in the 47th year of the same æra, 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.). LXIX. of senator. The union and vigour of a public council was CHAP. dissolved in a lawless city; and the Romans soon adopted a more strong and simple mode of admini- The office stration. 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 *. 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 Muratori (dissert. xlv. tom. iv. p. 64-92.) has fully explained this mode of government; and the Oculis Pastoralis, which he has given at the end, is a treatise or sermon on the duties of these foreign magistrates. LXIX. CHAP. 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 assessors in arms and justice, attended the Podesta *, who maintained at his own expence a decent revenue 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. 12521258. It was thus, about the middle of the thirteenth century, that the Romans called from Bologna the senator Brancaleone †, 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, for * 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; An Fidenarum Gabiorumque esse Potestas: (Juvenal. Satir. x. 99.). 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 multitude of pilgrims and suitors connected Rome and St Albans; and the resentment of the English clergy prompted them to rejoice whenever the Popes were humbled and oppressed. LXIX. task, had engaged him to refuse the honour of CHAP. 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 honour, 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 LXIX. Charles of 1278. CAP. 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, inclosed in a precious vase, was deposited on a lofty column of marble*. The impotence of reason and virtue recommended in Italy a more effectual choice; instead of a private 1165 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 t. As he passed through the city, in his road to victo ry, the * Matthew Paris thus ends his account: Caput vero ipsius Brancaleonis in vase pretioso super marmoream columneam collocatum, in signum sui valoris et probitatis, quâ 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 amaror, (p. 840.). A biographer of Innocent IV. (Muratori, Script. tom. iii. p. i. p. 591. 592.) draws a less favoureble portrait of this Ghibelline senator. The election of Chailes of Anjou to the office of perpetual senator of Rome, is mentioned by the historians in the 8th 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 Malespini (c. 177. P. 999 ). |