From Villani, Giovanni, Selfe, Rose E., translator. Villani’s Chronicle being selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni Villani. London: Archibald Constable & Co. LTD, 1906; pp. 101-114.
After the death of Conrad of Saxony, king of
Epist. vi.
(5) 135,
136.
Purg. xviii.
119, 120.
Cf. Par.
iii. 119.
the Romans, Frederick Barbarossa was elected Emperor, called Frederick the Great, or the First, of the house of Suabia, and surnamed of Staufen. This Frederick, when he had received the votes of the electors, proclaimed himself, and then came into Italy, and was crowned at Rome by Pope Adrian IV., in the year of Christ 1154, and reigned 37 years between king of the Romans and Emperor. He was liberal and a man of worth, eloquent and noble, and glorious in all his deeds. At the first he was friendly to Holy Church in the time of the said Pope Adrian, and rebuilt Tivoli, which had been destroyed; but the same day that he was crowned there
1154 A. D.
was a great scuffle and fight between the Romans and his followers in Nero’s meadow, where they were waiting for the said Emperor, to the great loss of the Romans; and again within the portico of St. Peter’s; and it was all burnt and destroyed, to wit, the part of Rome which is around St. Peter’s. And when he returned to Lombardy in the first year of his reign, because the city of Spoleto would not obey him,
Epist. vi.
(5) 137.
forasmuch as it pertained
102
1154 A. D.
to the Church, he brought an army against it, and overcame it, and destroyed it utterly; and through the desire to usurp the rights of the Church, he soon became her enemy: for after the death of Pope Adrian, in
1159 A.D.
the year of Christ 1159, Alexander III., of Siena, was made Pope, who reigned 22 years; and he, to maintain the rights of Holy Church, had great war with the said Emperor Frederick for long time; which Emperor raised up against him four schismatical anti-popes at divers times, one after the other, and three thereof were cardinals. The first was Octavianus, which took the name of Victor; the second, Guy of Cremona, which took the name of Pascal; the third was John of Struma, which took the name of Calixtus; the fourth was called Landone, which took the name of Innocent; whence came great schism and affliction to the Church of God, forasmuch as these Popes by the power of the Emperor Frederick held all the patrimony of St. Peter and the Duchy, so that the said Pope Alexander had no authority. But the said Pope Alexander fought valiantly against them all, and excommunicated them: the which all, one after the other, during his reign, died an evil death. But whilst they were reigning by the power of Frederick, the said true Pope, Alexander, not being able to abide in Rome, went to the French court to King Louis the Pious, which received him graciously. And it is said in France, that when the said Pope was coming to Paris secretly with a small company in the guise of a lesser prelate, immediately that he came to St. Maure, near to Paris, albeit they had not had news of the Pope, yet by Divine miracle there rose a voice: “Behold the Pope! behold the Pope!” and the bells began to ring, and the king, with the clergy and the people of
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Paris, went out to meet him, whence the Pope marvelled
1159 A. D.
greatly, forasmuch as none knew of his coming; and he thanked God, and made himself known to the king and to the people, and began to give the benediction. And afterwards in France the said Pope called a general council in the city of Tours in Touraine, in the which he excommunicated the said Frederick, and deposed him from the Empire, and absolved all his barons from their oaths, and deposed them of the house of Colonna in Rome, that neither they nor their successors should ever be allowed to hold any office in Holy Church, seeing that they all held to the aid and favour of the said Frederick against the Church. And in that council all the kings and lords of the West promised and leagued themselves with Louis, king of France, in aid of the said Pope Alexander and of Holy Church, against the said Frederick, and likewise many cities of Lombardy rebelled against the said Frederick, to wit, Milan, and Cremona, and Piacenza, and held with the Pope and with the Church; for the which thing, when the said Frederick was passing through Lombardy to go into France against King Louis, who was supporting Pope Alexander, and found that the city of Milan had rebelled
Epist. vi.
(5) 136.
1157 A. D.
against him, he laid siege thereto, and, after long siege, he took it, in the year of Christ 1157, in the month of March, and destroyed the walls thereof and burnt all the city, and caused the ground to be ploughed and sown with salt; and the bodies of the Three Kings or
Purg. xviii.
119-120.
Epist. vi.
(5) 135,
136.
Magi which came to adore Christ by the guiding of the star, which were in the city of Milan, in three tombs hewn out of porphyry, he caused to be taken from Milan and sent to Cologne, whence all the Lombards were very wrathful. And afterwards, crossing the mountains to
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1157 A. D.
destroy the realm of France, with the aid of the king of Bohemia and the king of Dacia — that is, Denmark — he entered into Burgundy; but King Louis of France, with the aid of Henry, king of England, his son-in-law, and with many lords and barons, was ready to oppose him, so that by the grace of God he had no power, nor gained any land there, but through lack of victuals those kings returned to their own countries and Frederick to Italy. And he made war against the Romans, forasmuch as they had come over to the side of the Church and of Pope Alexander; and when the said Romans with their host were in the region of Tusculum, they were defeated by the chancellor of the said Frederick and his German troops in the place called Monte del Porco, and many Romans were taken and slain in such great numbers that cartloads of dead bodies were taken to Rome to be buried, and this defeat is said to have been by reason of the treachery of the Colonnas, which were always with the Emperor and against the Church; wherefore they were by the Pope deprived of all temporal and spiritual benefit; and because of the said defeat the Romans drove the Colonnas away from Rome, and destroyed an ancient and very beautiful fortress belonging to them, which was called La Gosta, which is said to have been built by
1167 A. D.
Cæsar Augustus, and this was in the year of Christ 1167. And after this the Emperor came to Rome to besiege it and to destroy it, and brought it into great straits. The Romans caused the clergy of Rome to take the heads of St. Peter and of St. Paul and to carry them in procession all through Rome, for the which thing the Romans all took the cross against the Emperor, and the first
Cf. Inf.
xix. 70.
which took it was M. Matteo Rosso the Elder, of the Orsini family, grandfather to Pope Nicholas III., and by
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reason of old age he had abandoned arms, and taken
1167 A. D.
the habit of a penitent; and for this cause he put off the said habit and took his arms again, for which he was much commended, and by reason of this he and his came into favour with the Church, and increased greatly. After the said M. Matteo, Gianni Buovo, a great citizen of Rome, took the cross, and afterwards all the others with great zeal, and desire; for the which thing, when the Emperor heard thereof, either through fear, or rather through a miracle of the blessed Apostles, straightway he departed from the siege of Rome with his followers, and returned to Viterbo, and the city of Rome was set free.
Then, after the said Pope Alexander had been long time in France, by the aid of the kings of France and of England he returned with his court into Italy by sea, and, landing in Sicily, he was devoutly received and favoured by King William, which then was king thereof, and which declared himself faithful to Holy Church, and that he held the island from him; for the which thing the said Pope confirmed him king of Sicily, and gave him Apulia, wherefore the said King William with his fleet bore him company by sea as far as the city of Venice, whither the Pope desired to go for more security, that the Emperor Frederick might not hurt him; and to show favour to the faithful believers in Holy Church in Lombardy, he sojourned in the said city of Venice, and by the Venetians was reverently received and honoured; and by his favour the Milanese rebuilt the city of Milan in the year of Christ 1168. Then, a little while after,
1168 A. D.
106
1168 A. D.
the Milanese, with the aid of Piacenza and Cremona, and of the other cities of Lombardy which obeyed Holy Church, built a city in Lombardy, to be a rampart and defence against the city of Pavia, which always was against Milan, and held with the Empire; and since this city was built, to the honour of the said Pope Alexander, and to the end it might be more famous, they called it Alessandria; and afterwards it was surnamed City della Paglia [of Straw], in contempt, by the Pavians; and at the prayer of the Lombards the Pope gave it a bishop, and deposed the bishop of Pavia, and took away from him the dignity of the Pallium and of the Cross, forasmuch as he had always held with the Emperor Frederick against the Church.
The Emperor Frederick, seeing himself much cast down from his state and sovereignty, and that many cities of Lombardy and of Tuscany were rebelling against him and holding with the Church and with Pope Alexander, which had greatly increased in estate by the favour of the kings of France and of England, and of William, king of Sicily, sought to reconcile himself with the Church and with the Pope, to the end he might not wholly lose the honour of the Empire, and he sent a solemn embassy to Venice to Pope Alexander to ask for peace, promising to make all amends to Holy Church, and the Pope graciously hearkened to him, wherefore the said Frederick went to Venice and threw himself at the feet of the said Pope, and asked for mercy. Then the said Pope set his foot upon his neck, and said the
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verse of the psalter: “Super aspidem et basiliscum ambulabis, et conculcabis leonem et draconem” [Ps. sci. 13]; and the Emperor answered, “Non tibi sed Petro” [Not to you, but to Peter, was it said], and the Pope answered, “Ego sum vicarius Petri” [I am in the place of Peter]; and then he forgave him every offence which he had committed against Holy Church, causing him to restore that which he held from Holy Church; and this he promised and did, under compact that whatsoever should be found held in possession by the Church on that day throughout the Kingdom, should pertain for ever to Holy Church; and it was found that Benivento was so held; and this was the cause why the Church holds as hers the city of Benivento. And this done, he reconciled him with the Romans, and with Manuel, emperor of Constantinople, and with William, king of Sicily, and with the Lombards; and as amends and penance he imposed upon him, and he promised, to go over seas to the succour of the Holy Land, forasmuch as Saladin, the soldan of
Inf. iv.
129.
Babylon, had retaken Jerusalem and many other fortresses held by the Christians; and this he did. Then the said Frederick, having taken the cross in the year of Christ 1188, departed from Germany with an immense
1188 A. D.
host, and went by land through Hungary to Constantinople as far as Armenia [Pisidia]; but when the said Frederick was come into Armenia, it being summer and very hot, as he was bathing for his solace in a little river called the river of Ferro [Iron], he was miserably drowned. And this, it is believed, was the judgment of God by reason of the many persecutions which he had brought upon Holy Church: and he left a son, which was named Henry, whom he had caused to be elected king
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1188 A. D.
of the Romans before he passed over seas in the year of Christ 1186; and when the said Frederick was dead, his wife, with her son and with their followers, albeit many of them died on this voyage, returned from Syria to the West without having gained anything. We will now return to our subject of the doings of Florence and of other things which were in the time when the said Frederick was reigning; but first we will tell of King Philip of France and of King Richard of England, which went over seas to the succour of the Holy Land in this same time.
In the year of Christ 1177, fire broke out in the city of Florence on the 5th day of August, and spread from the foot of the Ponte Vecchio as far as the Mercato Vecchio. And afterwards, in the same year, fire broke out at San Martino del Vescovo, and spread as far as Santa Maria Ughi and to the Duomo of S. Giovanni, with great hurt to the city, and not without the judgment of God, forasmuch as the Florentines had become very proud by reason of the victories they had gotten over their neighbours; and some among them were very ungrateful towards God, and full of other wicked sins. And in this year, because of a great flood of the river
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Arno, the Ponte Vecchio fell, which also was a sign
1177 A. D.of future adversities to our city.
Wherefore in the selfsame year there began in Florence
1177 A. D.
dissension and great war among the citizens, the worst that had ever been in Florence; and this was by reason of too great prosperity and repose, together with pride and ingratitude; forasmuch as the house of the Uberti, which were the most powerful and the greatest citizens of Florence, with their allies, both magnates and popolari, began war against the Consuls (which were the lords and rulers of the commonwealth for a certain time and under certain ordinances), from envy of the Government, which was not to their mind; and the war was so fierce and unnatural that well-nigh every day, or every other day, the citizens fought against one another in divers parts of the city, from district to district, according as the factions were, and as they had fortified their towers, whereof there was great number in the city, in height 100 or 120 cubits. And in those times, by reason of the said war, many towers were newly fortified by the communities of the districts, from the common funds of the neighbourhood, which were called Towers of the Fellowships, and upon them were set engines to shoot forth one at another, and the city was barricaded in many places; and this plague endured more than two years, and many died by reason thereof, and much peril and hurt was brought upon the city; but this war among the citizens became so much of use and wont that one day they would be fighting, and the next day they would be eating and drinking together, and telling tales of one
110
1177 A. D.
another’s valour and prowess in these battles; and at last they ceased fighting, in that it irked them for very weariness, and they made peace, and the Consuls remained in their government; albeit, in the end they begot and then brought forth the accursed factions, which were afterwards in Florence, as hereafter in due time we will make mention.
In the said year of Christ 1184, the Emperor Frederick I., as he went from Lombardy into Apulia, passed through our city of Florence on the 31st day of July in the said year, and abode there some days; and receiving a complaint from the nobles of the country that the commonwealth of Florence had taken by force and occupied many of their castles and strongholds against the honour of the Empire, he took from the commonwealth of Florence all the whole territory and the lordship thereof up to the walls, and in the territory he set vicars of his own throughout the villages to administer the law and execute justice; and he did the like to all the other cities of Tuscany which had held with the Church when he was at was with Pope Alexander, save that he did not take the territory from the cities of Pisa and of Pistoia, which held with him. And in this year the said Frederick besieged the city of Siena, but did not take it. And these things he did to the said cities of Tuscany, forasmuch as they had not been on his side;
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so that, albeit he was at peace with the Church and
1184 A. D.
had cried the said Pope mercy, as afore has been narrated, nevertheless, he did not cease from manifesting ill-will against the cities which had obeyed the Church; and thus the city of Florence was left without any territory for four years, until the said Frederick set forth on his voyage over seas, when he was drowned, as afore we have narrated.
In the year of Christ 1188, all Christendom being
1188 A. D.
moved to go to the succour of the Holy Land, there came to Florence the archbishop of Ravenna, the Pope’s Legate, to preach the cross for the said expedition; and many good people of Florence took the cross from the said archbishop at S. Donato tra le Torri, or at S. Donato a Torri, beyond Rifredi, or the Monastery delle Donne, forasmuch as the said archbishop was of the Order of Citeaux [the Cistercian Order]; and this was on the 2nd day of the month of February in the said year, and the Florentines were in such great numbers tat they made up an army in themselves over seas, and they were at the conquest of the city of Damietta, and among the first which took the city, and for an ensign they brought back thence a crimson standard which is still in the church of S. Giovanni; and because of the said devotion and aid given by the Florentines to Holy Church and to Christendom, the jurisdiction over he territory around was restored to the city of Florence by Pope Gregory and by the said Emperor Frederick, to the distance of ten miles around the city of Florence.
Henry of Suabia, son of the great Frederick, as we said before, whilst his father was alive, had been elected king of the Romans; and when he returned from over seas, and had ordered his government in Germany, he passed into Italy and came to Rome at the request of Pope Clement, and was received with honour by the Romans, forasmuch as he restored to them the city of Tusculum and its territory, which had rebelled against the Romans, and was never afterwards rebuilt. And when the said Henry was come to Rome he found that the said Pope Clement was dead, which had sent for him; and Pope Celestine, a native of Rome had been elected by the cardinals, so that the said Henry was present at his consecration, which took place on Easter Day of the
1192 A. D.
Resurrection, in April, in the year of Christ 1192; and he lived as Pope six years and eight months and eleven days. And when Celestine had become Pope, on the second day after his consecration, he crowned the said Henry emperor. And before the said Henry departed from Germany, the Church was at variance with Tancred, king of Sicily and of Apulia (son to the other Tancred, which was sister’s son to Robert Guiscard, as we made mention in the chapter wherein we treated of the said Robert), by reason that he did not, as he should, 113faithfully pay tribute to the Church, and that he presented
1192 A. D.
bishops and archbishops to benefices at his pleasure to the shame of the Pope and of the Church; wherefore the said Pope Clement treated with the archbishop of Palermo to take away the kingdom of Sicily and Apulia from the said Tancred, and gave order to the said archbishop that Constance, sister of King William and rightful heiress of the realm of Sicily, which was a nun in Palermo, as we afore made mention, and was already more than fifty years old, should leave the convent, and he gave her dispensation that she might return to the world and enter into matrimony; and the said archbishop caused her secretly to depart from Sicily and come to Rome, and the Church gave her to wife to the said Emperor Henry, whence a little while after was born the
Par. iii.
109-120.
Emperor Frederick II., which brought such persecutions upon the Church, as we will tell hereafter in treating of him. And it was not without Divine occasioning and judgment that such baneful heir must needs be the issue, being born of a holy nun, and she more than fifty-two years old, when it is almost impossible for a woman to bear a child; so that he was born of two contradictions — against spiritual laws, and, in a sense, against natural laws. And we find, when the Empress Constance was pregnant with Frederick, there was doubt in Sicily and throughout all the realm of Apulia whether, by reason of her advanced age, she could be pregnant; for the which thing, when the time came for her to be delivered, a pavilion was erected on the piazza at Palermo, and a proclamation was put forth that any lady who desired might go and see her, and many went thither and saw her, and therefore the doubt came to an end.