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EENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

THE    CATHOLIC    REACTION 


IN     TWO     PARTS 


BY 


JOHN   ADDINGTON   SYMONDS 

AUTHOR  OF 

'  STI'DIZS  OF  THE  GREEK  FOETS '  'SKETCHES  IX  ITALY  AND  GREECE' 

ETC. 


'  Deh  !  per  Dio,  donna, 
Se  romper  si  potria  quelle  gi-audi  ale  \ 

Tu  piangi  e  taci ;  e  questo  meglio  parmi ' 

Savosarola  :  De  Riiina  Ecclesiae 


PART  I. 


NEW    EDITION 


LONDON 

SMITH,  ELDEE,  &   CO.,  15   WATEELOO   PLACE 

1898 

[All    rights    reserved] 


V. 


PEEFACE- 


At  the  end  of  the  second  volume  of  my  '  Eenaissance 
in  Italy '  I  mdulged  the  hope  that  I  might  live  to 
describe  the  phase  of  culture  which  closed  that  brilliant 
epoch.  It  was  in  truth  demanded  that  a  work  pre- 
tending to  display  the  manifold  activity  of  the  Italian 
genius  during  the  fifteenth  century  and  the  first  quarter 
of  the  sixteenth,  should  also  deal  with  the  causes  which 
interrupted  its  further  development  upon  the  same  lines. 

This  study,  forming  a  logically  necessitated  supple- 
ment to  the  five  former  volumes  of  *  Renaissance  in 
Italy,'  I  have  been  permitted  to  complete.  The  results 
are  now  oft'ered  to  the  public  in  these  two  parts. 

So  far  as  it  was  possible,  I  have  conducted  my 
treatment  of  the  Catholic  Eevival  on  a  method  analo- 
gous to  that  adopted  for  the  Eenaissance.  I  found  it, 
however,  needful  to  enter  more  minutely  into  details 

'  To  the  original  edition  of  this  and  the  succeeding  volume. 


VI  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

regarding  facts  and  institutions  connected  with  the 
main  theme  of  national  culture. 

The  Catholic  Revival  was  by  its  nature  reactionary. 
In  order  to  explain  its  influences,  I  have  been  compelled 
to  analyse  the  position  of  Spain  in  the  Italian  penin- 
sula, the  conduct  of  the  Tridentine  Council,  the  specific 
organisation  of  the  Holy  Office  and  the  Company  of 
Jesus,  and  the  state  of  society  upon  which  those  forces 
w'ere  brought  to  bear. 

In  the  list  of  books  which  follows  these  prefatory 
remarks,  I  have  indicated  the  most  important  of  the 
sources  used  by  me.  Special  references  will  be  made 
in  their  proper  places  to  works  of  a  subordinate  value 
for  the  purposes  of  my  inquiry. 

Davos  Platz  :  Jtdy  1886 


WORKS   COMMONLY  REFERRED    TO  IN   THIS  AND   THE 
SUCCEEDING   VOLUME   OF  THIS  BOOK 


/ 


SiSMONDi. — Histoire  des  K6publiques  Italiennes  du  Moyen-Age. 
Eanke. — History  of  the  Popes.     3  vols.     English  edition  :  Bohn. 
Creighton. — History  of  the  Papacy  during  the  Eeformation.     2  vols. 

Maemillan, 
BoTTA. — Storia  d'  Italia.     Continuata  da  quella  del  Guicciardiai  sino  al 

1789. 
Ferrari.— Kivoluzioni  d'  Italia.     3  vols. 
QuiNET. — Les  E^volutions  d'ltalie. 
Galluzzi.— Storia  del  Granducato  di  Toscana. 
Pallavicini. — Storia  del  Coneilio  Tridentino. 
Sarpi. — Storia  del  Coneilio.     Vols.  1  and  2  of  Sai-pi's  Opere. 
Dennistoun's  Dukes  of  Urbino.     3  vols. 
Alberi. — Kelazioni  degli  Ambasciatori  Veneti. 
MuTiNELLi. — Storia  Arcana  ed  Aneddotica  d'   Italia.     Kaccontata   dai 

Veneti  Ambasciatori.     4  vols.     Venice.     1858. 
MuTiNELLi. — Annali  Urbani  di  Venezia. 
LiTTA. — Famiglie  Celebri  Italiane. 
Philippson. — La     Contre-E6volution      Eeligieuse     au     XVI""'     Si^cle. 

Bruxelles.     1884. 
Dejob. — De  rinfluence  du  Concile  de  Trente.     Paris.     1884. 
GiORDANi.— Delia  Venuta  e  Dimora  in  Bologna  del   Sommo  Pontefice 

Clemente    VII.    per    la    Coronazione    di    Carlo    V.,    Imperatore. 

Bologna.     1832. 
Balbi. — Sommario  della  Storia  d'  Italia. 
Cant^.— Gli  Eretici  d'  Italia.     3  vols.     Torino.     1866. 
Llobente. — Histoire    Critique    de    I'lnquisition    d'Espagne.      4    vols. 

Paris.    1818. 


viii  EENAISSANCE  IN   ITALY 

Lavallee. — Histoire     des    Inquisitions    Eeligieuses.      2     vols.     Paris. 

1808. 
McCrie.— History  of  the  Reformation  in  Italy.     Edinburgh.     1827. 
TiRABOscHi. — Storia  della  Letteratura  Italiana. 
De  Sanctis. — Storia  della  Letteratura  Italiana.     2  vols. 
Settembeini. — Storia  della  Letteratura  Italiana.     3  vols. 
Cantu. — Storia  della  Letteratura  Italiana. 
Decreta,  &c.,  Soeietatis  Jesu.     Avignon.     1827. 
Cantu. — Storia  della  Diocesi  di  Como.     2  vols. 
Dandolo.— La   Signora   di   Monza   e   le   Streghe    del   Tirolo.     Milano. 

1855. 
Bonghi. — Storia  di  Lucrezia  Buonvisi.     Lucca.     1864. 
Archivio  Storico  Italiano. 

Bandi  Lucchesi. — Bologna  :  Eomagnoli.     1863. 
Bertolotti. — Francesco  Cenci  e  la  sua  Famiglia.     Firenze.     1877. 
Gnoli. — Vittoria  Accoramboni.     Firenze  :  Le  Monnier.     1870. 
Daelli. — Lorenzino  de'  Medici.     Milano.     1862. 
De  Stendhal. — Chroniques  et  Nouvelles.    Paris.     1855. 
Giordano  Bruno. — Opere  Italiane  (Wagner).     2  vols.     Leipzig.     1830. 
JoRDANUs  Brunus. — Opera  Latina.     2  vols.     Neapoli.     1879. 
Bruno. — Scripta  Latina  (Gforer).     Stuttgart.     1836. 
Berti. — Vita  di  Giordano  Bruno.     Firenze,  Torino,  Milano.     1868. 
Brunnhofer. — Giordano   Bruno's   Weltanschauung   und    Verhangniss. 

Leipzig.     1882. 
Paolo  Sahpi. — Opere.     6  vols.     Helmstat.     1765; 
Fra  Fulgenzio  Micanzi. — Vita  del  Sarpi. 
BiANCHi  GioviNi. — Biografia  di   Fra   Paolo   Sarpi.     2  vols.    Bruxelles. 

1836. 
Lettere  di  Fra  Paolo  Sarpi.     2  vols.     Firenze.     1863. 
Campbell. — Life   of  Fra    Paolo   Sarpi.    London :    Molini   and   Green. 

1869. 
Dejob. — Marc-Antoine  Muret.     Paris  :  Thorin.     1881. 
Christie. — Etienne  Dolet.     London  :  Macmillan.     1880. 
Renouard. — Imprimerie  des  Aides. 

ToRQUATO  Tasso. — Opcrs.     Ed.  Rosini.     33  vols.    Pisa.     1822  and  on. 
Tasso. — Le  Lettere.    Ed.  Guasti.     5  vols.    Firenze.     1855. 
Cecchi. — T.  Tasso,  e  la  Vita  Italiana.     Firenze.     1877. 
Cecchi. — T.   Tasso.     II    Pensiero    e    le    Belle    Lettere,   &c.     Firenze. 

1877. 
D'  OviDio.— Saggi  Critici.    Napoli.     1878. 


WOEKS   COMMONLY   KEFERRED   TO  IX 

Manso. — Vita  di  T.  Tasso,  in  Eosini's  edition,  vol.  33. 

RosiNi. — Saggio  sugli  Amori  di  T.  Tasso,  in  edition  cited  above,  vol.  33. 

GuABiNi. — II  Pastor  Fido.     Ed.  Casella.     Firenze  :  Barbera.     1866. 

Marino. — Adone,  &c.     Napoli.     1861. 

Chiabreea. — Ed.  Polidori.    Firenze  :  Barbara.     1865. 

Tassoni. — La    Secchia    Eapita.      Ed.    Carducci.      Firenze :    Barbara. 

1861. 
II  Parnaso  Italiano. 
Baini. — Vita  di  G.  P.  L.  Palestrina. 
Felsina  Pittrice. — 2  vols.     Bologna.     1841. 
Lanzi. — History   of   Painting    in   Italy.      English    Edition.     London: 

Bohn.    Vol.  3. 


CONTENTS 


OF 


THE     FIPwST    PART 


CHAPTER  I 

THE    SPANISH   HEGEMONY 

Italy  in  the  Renaissance — The  Five  Great  Powers — The  Kingdom 
of  Naples — The  Papacy — The  Duchy  of  Milan — Venice — 
The  Florentine  Eepublic — Wars  of  Invasion  closed  by  the 
Sack  of  Eome  in  1527 — Concordat  between  Clement  VII.  and 
Charles  V. — Treaty  of  Barcelona  and  Paix  des  Dames — Charles 
lands  at  Genoa — His  Journey  to  Bologna — Entrance  into 
Bologna  and  Eeception  by  Clement — Mustering  of  Italian 
Princes — Francesco  Sforza  replaced  in  the  Duchy  of  Milan — 
Venetian  Embassy — Italian  League  signed  on  Christmas  Eve 
1529— Florence  alone  excluded— The  Siege  of  Florence  pressed 
by  the  Prince  of  Orange — Charles's  Coronation  as  King  of  Italy 
and  Holy  Roman  Emperor — The  Significance  of  this  Ceremony 
at  Bologna — Ceremony  in  S.  Petronio— Settlement  of  the  Duchy 
of  Ferrara— Men  of  Letters  and  Arts  at  Bologna— The  Emperor's 
Use  of  the  Spanish  Habit— Charles  and  Clement  leave  Bologna 
in  March  1530— Review  of  the  Settlement  of  Italy  effected  by 
Emperor  and  Pope— Extinction  of  Republics— Subsequent  Ab 
sorption  of  Ferrara  and  Urbino  into  the  Papal  States — Savoy 
becomes  an  Italian  Power— Period  between  Charles's  Coronation 
and  the  Peace  of  Cateau  Cambresis  in  1559— Economical  and 
Social  Condition  of  the  Italians  under  Spanish  Hegemony— The 


Xll  KENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

PAGE 

Nation  still  exists  in  Separate  Communities — Intellectual 
Conditions — Predominance  of  Spain  and  Eome — Both  Cos- 
mopolitan Powers — Levelling  down  of  the  Component  Portions 
of  the  Nation  in  a  Common  Servitude — The  Evils  of  Spanish 
Kule 1 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    PAPACY   AND    THE    TRIDENTINE    COUNCIL 

The  Counter-Keformation — Its  Intellectual  and  Moral  Character 
— Causes  of  the  Gradual  Extinction  of  Eenaissance  Energy — 
Transition  from  the  Eenaissance  to  the  Catholic  Eevival — 
New  Eeligious  Spirit  in  Italy — Attitude  of  Italians  toward 
German  Eeformation — Oratory  of  Divine  Love — Gasparo 
Contarini  and  the  Moderate  Eeformers — New  Eeligious  Orders 
— Paul  III. — His  early  History  and  Education — Political  Atti- 
tude between  France  and  Spain — Creation  of  the  Duchy  of 
Parma — Imminence  of  a  General  Council — Eeview  of  previous 
Councils — Paul's  Uneasiness — Opens  a  Council  at  Trent  in  1542 
— Protestants  virtually  excluded,  and  Catholic  Dogmas  con- 
firmed in  the  first  Sessions — Death  of  Paul  in  1549 — Julius  III. 
— Paul  IV.  — Character  and  Ruling  Passions  of  G.  P.  Caraffa — 
His  Futile  Opposition  to  Spain — Tyranny  of  his  Nephews — 
Their  Downfall — Paul  devotes  himself  to  Church  Eeform  and 
the  Inquisition — Pius  IV. — His  Minister  Morone — Diplomatic 
Temper  of  this  Pope — His  Management  of  the  Council — Assis- 
tance rendered  by  his  Nephew  Carlo  Borromeo — Alarming  State 
of  Northern  Europe — The  Council  reopened  at  Trent  in  1562 — 
Subsequent  History  of  the  Council — It  closes  with  a  complete 
Papal  Triumph  in  1563— Place  of  Pius  IV.  in  History — Pius  V. 
— The  Inquisitor  Pope — -Population  of  Eome — Social  Corruption 
— Sale  of  Offices  and  Justice — Tridentine  Eeforms  depress 
Wealth — Ascetic  Purity  of  Manners  becomes  fashionable — Piety 
— The  Catholic  Eeaction  generates  the  Counter-Eeformation — 
Battle  of  Lepanto — Gregory  XIII. — His  Eelatives — Policy  of 
enriching  the  Church  at  Expense  of  the  Barons— Brigandage 
in  States  of  the  Church  — Sixtus  V. — His  Stern  Justice — Eigid 
Economy— Great  Public  Works— Taxation — The  City  of  Eome 
assumes  its  present  Form — Nepotism  in  the  Counter-Eeforma- 
tion Period— Various  Estimates  of  the  Wealth  accumulated  by 
Papal  Nephews— Else  of  Princely  Eoman  Families    .        .        .49 


CONTENTS  XIU 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    INQUISITION   AND   THE    INDEX 

PAGE 

Different  Spirit  in  the  Holy  Office  and  the  Company  of  Jesus — 
Both  needed  by  the  Counter-Eeformation — Heresy  in  the  Early 
Church— First  Origins  of  the  Inquisition  in  1203— S.  Dominic 
— The  Holy  Office  becomes  a  Dominican  Institution — Kecognised 
by  the  Empire — Its  early  Organisation — The  Spanish  Inquisition 
— Founded  in  1484 — How  it  differed  from  the  earlier  Apostolical 
Inquisition — Jews,  Moors,  New  Christians— Organisation  and 
History  of  the  Holy  Office  in  Spain — Torquemada  and  his  Suc- 
cessors— The  Spanish  Inquisition  never  introduced  into  Italy — 
How  the  Koman  Inquisition  organised  by  Caraffa  differed  from 
it — Autos  da  fe  in  Kome — Proscription  of  suspected  Lutherans 
— The  Calabrian  Waldenses — Protestants  at  Locarno  and  Venice 
— Digression  on  the  Venetian  Holy  Office — Persecution  of  Free 
Thought  in  Literature — Growth  of  the  Index  Librorum  Pro- 
hibitorum — Sanction  given  to  it  by  the  Council  of  Trent — 
The  Eoman  Congregation  of  the  Index — Final  Form  of  the 
Censorship  of  Books  under  Clement  VIII. — Analysis  of  its  Regu- 
lations— Prosci'iption  of  Heretical  Books — Correction  of  Texts — 
Purgation  and  Castration — Inquisitorial  and  Episcopal  Licences 
— Working  of  the  System  of  this  Censorship  in  Italy — Its  Long 
Delays — Hostility  to  Sound  Learning — Ignorance  of  the  Censors 
— Interference  with  Scholars  in  their  Work — Terrorism  of  Book- 
sellers— Vatican  Scheme  for  the  Restoration  of  Christian 
Erudition — Frustrated  by  the  Tyranny  of  the  Index— Dis- 
honesty of  the  Vatican  Scholars — Biblical  Studies  rendered 
nugatory  by  the  Tridentine  Decree  on  the  Vulgate — Decline  of 
Learning  in  Universities — Miserable  Servitude  of  Professors — 
Greek  dies  out — Muretus  and  ManutiusinRome — The  Index  and 
its  Treatment  of  Political  Works — Machiavelli — Ratio  Status — 
Encouragement  of  Literature  on  Papal  Absolutism — Sarpi's 
Attitude — Comparative  Indifference  of  Rome  to  Books  of 
Obscene  or  Immoral  Tendency — Bandello  and  Boccaccio — Papal 
Attempts  to  control  Intercourse  of  Italians  with  Heretics   .        .  124 


/ 


xiv  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE    COMPANY    OF   JESUS 

PAIJE 

Vast  Importance  of  the  Jesuits  in  the  Counter-Eeformation— 
Ignatius  Loyola — His  Youth — Eetreat  at  Manresa — Journey  to 
Jerusalem — Studies  in  Spain  and  Paris — First  Formation  of  his 
Order  at  Sainte  Barbe — Sojourn  at  Venice — Settlement  at  Rome — 
Papal  Recognition  of  the  Order^Its  Military  Character — Abso- 
lutism of  the  General — Devotion  to  the  Roman  Church — Choice 
of  Members — Practical  and  Positive  Aims  of  the  Founder — 
Exclusion  of  the  Ascetic,  Acceptance  of  the  Worldly  Spirit — 
Review  of  the  Order's  Rapid  Extension  over  Europe — Loyola's 
Dealings  with  his  Chief  Lieutenants — Propaganda — The  Virtue 
of  Obedience — The  '  Exercitia  Spiritualia' — Materialistic  Imagi- 
nation— Intensity  and  Superficiality  of  Religious  Training — The 
Status  of  the  Novice — Temporal  Coadjutors — Scholastics — Pro- 
fessed of  the  Three  Vows— Professed  of  the  Four  Vows — The 
General — Control  exercised  over  him  by  his  Assistants — His 
Relation  to  the  General  Congregation — Espionage  a  part  of  the 
Jesuit  System — Advantageous  Position  of  a  Contented  Jesuit — 
The  Vow  of  Poverty — Houses  of  the  Professed  and  Colleges — 
The  Constitutions  and  Declarations — Problem  of  the  '  Monita 
Secreta' — Reciprocal  Relations  of  Rome  and  the  Company^ 
Characteristics  of  Jesuit  Education— Direction  of  Consciences 
— Moral  Laxity — Sarpi's  Critique — Casuistry — Interference  in 
Affairs  of  State — Instigation  to  Regicide  and  Political  Conspiracy 
■ — Theories  of  Church  Supremacy — Insurg«nce  of  the  European 
Nations  against  the  Company 179 


CHAPTER  V 

SOCIAL   AND   DOMESTIC    MORALS  :    PART    I 

How  did  the  Catholic  Revival  affect  Italian  Society  ? — DifKculty  of 
Answering  this  Question — Frequency  of  Private  Crimes  of 
Violence — Homicides  and  Bandits — Savage  Criminal  Justice — 
Paid  Assassins — Toleration  of  Outlaws — Honourable  Murder — 
Example  of  the  Lucchese  Army — State  of  the  Convents— The 
History  of  Virginia  de  Leyva— Lucrezia  Buonvisi — The  True 
Tale  of  the  Cenci — The  Brothers  of  the  House  of  Massimo — 
Vittoria  Accoramboni — The  Duchess  of  Palliano — Wife-Murders 
— The  Family  of  Medici 234 


CONTENTS  XV 


CHAPTER  VI 

SOCIAL   AND   DOMESTIC   MORALS  :    PART    II 

PAGE 

Tales  illustrative  of  Bravi  and  Banditti — Cecco  Bibboni — Am- 
brogio  Tremazzi — Lodovico  dall'  Armi — Brigandage — Piracy 
— Plagues — The  Plagues  of  Milan,  Venice,  Piedmont — Persecu- 
tion of  the  Untori — Moral  State  of  the  Proletariate — Witchcraft 
— Its  Italian  Features — History  of  Giacomo  Centini    .        .         .  301 


CHAPTER  VII 

TORQUATO      TASSO 

Tasso's  Eelation  to  his  Age— Balbi  on  that  Period — The  Life  of 
Bernardo  Tasso — Torquato's  Boyhood — Sorrento,  Naples,  Rome, 
Urbino — His  First  Glimpse  of  the  Court— Student  Life  at  Padua 
and  Bologna — The'Einaldo' — Dialogues  on  Epic  Poetry — Enters 
the  service  of  Cardinal  d'  Este— The  Court  of  Ferrara — Alfonso 
II.  and  the  Princesses — Problem  of  Tasso's  Love — Goes  to 
France  with  Cardinal  d'Este — Enters  the  service  of  Duke  Alfonso 
— The '  Aminta' — Tasso  at  Urbino — Eeturn  to  Ferrara — Eevision 
of  the  '  Gerusalemme ' — Jealousies  at  Court — Tasso's  Sense  of  His 
own  Importance — Plans  a  Change  from  Ferrara  to  Florence — 
First  Symptoms  of  Mental  Disorder — Persecutions  of  the 
Ferrarese  Courtiers — Tasso  confined  as  a  Semi-Madman — Goes 
with  Duke  Alfonso  to  Belriguardo — Flies  in  Disguise  from 
Ferrara  to  Sorrento — Eeturns  to  Court-life  at  Ferrara — Problem 
of  his  Madness — Flies  again — Mantua,  Venice,  Urbino,  Turin — 
Eeturns  once  more  to  Ferrara — Alfonso's  Third  Marriage— 
Tasso's  Discontent — Imprisoned  for  Seven  Years  in  the  Mad- 
house of  S.  Anna — Character  of  Tasso— Character  of  Duke 
Alfonso — Nature  of  the  Poet's  Malady — His  Course  of  Life  in 
Prison — Eeleased  at  the  Intercession  of  Vincenzo  Gonzaga — 
Goes  to  Mantua — The  '  Torrismondo ' — An  Odyssey  of  Nine  Years 
— -Death  at  Sant'  Onofrio  in  Eome — Costantini's  Sonnet     .         .  334 


PoETKAiT  OF  JoHN  Addington  Symonds    ....    Frontispiece 


EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 


CHAPTER   I 

THE    SPANISH    HEGEMONY 

Italy  in  the  Renaissance— The  Five  Great  Powers — The  Kingdom  of 
Naples — The  Papacy— The  Duchy  of  Milan — Venice — The  Florentine 
Republic — Wars  of  Invasion  closed  by  the  Sack  of  Rome  in  1527^ 
Concordat  between  Clement  VII.  and  Charles  V. — Treaty  of  Barcelona 
and  Paix  des  Dames — Charles  lands  at  Genoa — His  Journey  to 
Bologna — Entrance  into  Bologna  and  Reception  by  Clement — 
Mustering  of  Italian  Princes — Francesco  Sforza  replaced  in  the 
Duchy  of  Milan — Venetian  Embassy — Italian  League  signed  on 
Christmas  Eve  1529 — Florence  alone  excluded — The  Siege  of  Florence 
pressed  by  the  Prince  of  Orange — Charles's  Coronation  as  King  of 
Italy  and  Holy  Roman  Emperor — The  Significance  of  this  Ceremony 
at  Bologna — Ceremony  in  S.  Petronio — Settlement  of  the  Duchy  of 
Ferrara — Men  of  Letters  and  Arts  at  Bologna — The  Emperor's  Use 
of  the  Spanish  Habit — Chai'les  and  Clement  leave  Bologna  in  March 
1530 — Review  of  the  Settlement  of  Italy  effected  by  Emperor  and 
Pope — Extinction  of  Republics — Subsequent  Absorption  of  Ferrara 
and  Urbino  into  the  Papal  States  —  Savoy  becomes  an  Italian  Power 
— Period  between  Charles's  Coronation  and  the  Peace  of  Cateau 
Cambresis  in  1559 — Economical  and  Social  Condition  of  the  Italians 
under  Spanish  Hegemony — The  Nation  still  exists  in  Separate 
Communities— Intellectual  Conditions — Predominance  of  Spain  and 
Rome — Both  Cosmopolitan  Powers —Levelling  down  of  the  Com- 
ponent Portions  of  the  Nation  in  a  Common  Servitude — The  Evils 
of  Spanish  Rule. 

In  the  first  volume  of  this  work  on  '  Renaissance  in  Italy '  I 
attempted  to  set  forth  the  political  and  social  phases  through 
which  the  Italians  passed  before  their  principal  States  fell 

VI  B 


2  KENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

into  the  hands  of  despots,  and  to  explain  the  conditions  of 
mutual  jealousy  and  military  feebleness  which  exposed  those 
States  to  the  assaults  of  foreign  armies  at  the  close  of  the 
fifteenth  century. 

In  the  year  1494,  when  Charles  VIII.  of  France,  at 
Lodovico  Sforza's  invitation,  crossed  the  Alps  to  make  good 
his  claim  on  Naples,  the  peninsula  was  independent.  Internal 
peace  had  prevailed  for  a  period  of  nearly  fifty  years.  An 
equilibrium  had  been  established  between  the  five  great 
native  Powers,  which  secured  the  advantages  of  confederation 
and  diplomatic  interaction. 

While  using  the  word  confederation  I  do  not  of  course 
imply  that  anything  similar  to  the  federal  union  of  Switzer- 
land or  of  North  America  existed  in  Italy.  The  contrary  is 
proved  by  patent  facts.  On  a  miniature  scale,  Italy  then 
displayed  political  conditions  analogous  to  those  which  now 
prevail  in  Europe.  The  parcels  of  the  nation  adopted  different 
forms  of  self-government,  sought  divers  foreign  alliances,  and 
owed  no  allegiance  to  any  central  legislative  or  administrative 
body.  I  therefore  speak  of  the  Italian  confederation  only  in 
the  same  sense  as  Europe  may  now  be  called  a  confederation 
of  kindred  races. 

In  the  year  1530,  when  Charles  V.  (of  Austria  and  Spain) 
was  crowned  Emperor  at  Bologna,  this  national  independence 
had  been  irretrievably  lost  by  the  Italians.  This  confedera- 
tion of  evenly  balanced  Powers  was  now  exchanged  for 
servitude  beneath  a  foreign  monarchy,  and  for  subjection  to  a 
cosmopolitan  elective  priesthood. 

The  history  of  social,  intellectual,  and  moral  conditions 
in  Italy  during  the  seventy  years  of  the  sixteenth  century 
which  followed  Charles's  coronation  at  Bologna,  forms  the 
subject  of  this  work ;  but  before  entering  upon  these  topics  it 
will  be  well  to  devote  one  chapter  to  considering  with  due 
brevity  the  partition  of  Italy  into  five  States  in  1494,  the 


THE   FIVE    GREAT   POWERS  3 

dislocation  of  this  order  by  the  wars  between  Spain  and 
France  for  supremacy,  the  position  in  which  the  same  States 
found  themselves  respectively  at  the  termination  of  those 
wars  in  1527,  and  the  new  settlement  of  the  peninsula 
effected  by  Charles  V.  in  1529-30. 

The  five  members  of  the  Italian  federation  in  14!)-4  were 
the  Kingdom  of  Naples,  the  Papacy,  the  Duchy  of  Milan, 
and  the  Eepublics  of  Venice  and  Florence.  Bound  them,  in 
various  relations  of  amity  or  hostility,  were  grouped  these 
minor  Powers :  the  Eepublics  of  Grenoa,  Lucca,  Siena ;  the 
Duchy  of  Ferrara,  including  Modena  and  Eeggio  ;  the  Mar- 
quisates  of  Mantua  and  Montferrat ;  and  the  Duchy  of 
Urbino.  For  our  immediate  purpose-  it  is  not  worth  taking 
separate  account  of  the  Eepublic  of  Pisa,  which  was  prac- 
tically though  not  thoroughly  enslaved  by  Florence  ;  or  of 
the  Despots  in  the  cities  of  Eomagna,  the  March,  Umbria, 
and  the  Patrimony  of  S.  Peter,  who  were  being  gradually 
absorbed  into  the  Papal  sovereignty.  Nor  need  we  at  present 
notice  Savoy,  Piemonte,  and  Saluzzo.  Although  theS3  north- 
western provinces  were  all-important  through  the  period  of 
Franco- Spanish  wars,  inasmuch  as  they  opened  the  gate  of 
Italy  to  French  armies  and  supplied  those  armies  with  a  base 
for  military  operations,  the  Duchy  of  Savoy  had  not  yet 
become  an  exclusively  Italian  Power. 

The  kingdom  of  Naples,  on  the  death  of  Alfonso  the 
Magnanimous  in  1458,  had  been  separated  from  Sicily,  and 
passed  by  testamentary  appointment  to  his  natural  son 
Ferdinand.  The  bastard  Aragonese  dynasty  was  Italian  in 
its  tastes  and  interests,  though  unpopular  both  with  the 
barons  of  the  realm  and  with  the  people,  who  in  their  rest- 
lessness were  ready  to  welcome  any  foreign  deliverer  from  its 
oppressive  yoke.  This  state  of  general  discontent  rendered 
the  revival  of  the  old  Angevine  party,  and  their  resort  to 
French  aid,  a  source  of  peril  to  the  monarchy.     It  also  served 

b2 


4  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

as  a  convenient  fulcrum  for  the  ambitious  schemes  of  con- 
quest which  the  princes  of  the  House  of  Aragon  in  Spain 
began  to  entertain.  In  territorial  extent  the  kingdom  of 
Naples  was  the  most  considerable  parcel  of  the  Italian  com- 
munity. It  embraced  the  whole  of  Calabria,  Apulia,  the 
Abruzzi,  and  the  Terra  di  Lavoro  ;  marching  on  its  northern 
boundary  with  the  Papal  States,  and  having  no  other  neigh- 
bours. But  though  so  large  and  so  compact  a  State,  the  semi- 
feudal  system  of  government  which  had  obtained  in  Naples 
since  the  first  conquest  of  the  country  by  the  Normans,  the 
nature  of  its  population,  and  the  savage  dynastic  wars  to 
which  it  had  been  constantly  exposed,  rendered  it  more 
backward  in  civilisation  than  the  northern  and  central 
provinces. 

The   Papacy,  after  the   ending   of  the  schism   and  the 

settlement  of  Nicholas  V.  at  Rome  in  1447,  gradually  tended 

to  become  an  Italian  sovereignty.     During  the  residence  of 

the  Popes  at  Avignon,  and  the  weakness  of  the  Papal  See 

which  followed  in  the  period  of  the  Councils  (Pisa,  Constance, 

and  Basel),  it  had  lost  its  hold  not  only  on  the  immediate 

neighbourhood  of  Eome,  but  also  on  its  outlying  possessions 

in  Umbria,  the  Marches  of  Ancona,  and  the  Exarchate  of 

Ravenna.     The  great  Houses  of  Colonna  and  Orsini  asserted 

independence  in  their  principalities.     Bologna  and  Perugia 

pretended  to  republican  government   under   the   shadow  of 

noble  families  ;  Bentivogli,  Bracci,  Baglioni.     Imola,  Faenza, 

Forli,  Rimini,  Pesaro,  Urbino,  Camerino,  Citta  di  Castello, 

obeyed   the   rule  of  tyrants,  who  were   practically  lords   of 

these  cities  though  they  bore  the  title  of  Papal  vicars,  and 

who  maintained  themselves  in  wealth  and  power  by  exercising 

the  profession  of  condottieri.     It  was  the  chief  object  of  the 

Popes,  after   they  were   freed   from   the   pressing  perils  of 

General  Councils,  and  were  once  more  settled  in  their  capital 

and  recognised  as  sovereigns  by  the  European  Powers,  to 


THE   PAPAL   STATES  6 

subdue   their  vassals   and  consolidate  their  provinces   into 
a  homogeneous   kingdom.     This   plan   was    conceived    and 
carried  out  by   a  succession  of  vigorous  and  unscrupulous 
Pontiffs — Sixtus  IV.,  Alexander  VI.,  Julius  II.,  and  Leo  X. — 
throughout   the  period   of   distracting    foreign    wars   which 
agitated  Italy.     They  followed  for  the  most  part  one  line  of 
policy,  which  was  to  place  the  wealth  and  authority  of  the 
Holy  See  at  the  disposal  of  their   relatives,  Riarios,  Delia 
Reveres,   Borgias,   and    Medici.     Their    military    delegates, 
among   whom   the   most   efficient   captain   was  the  terrible 
Cesare  Borgia,  had  full  power  to  crush  the  liberties  of  cities, 
exterminate  the  dynasties  of  despots,  and  reduce  refractory 
districts  to  the  Papal  sway.     For  these  services   they  were 
rewarded  with  ducal  and  princely  titles,  with  the  administra- 
tion  of  their   conquests,  and  with   the   investiture   of  fiefs 
as  vassals  of  the  Church.     The  system  had  its  obvious  dis- 
advantages.    It  tended  to  indecent  nepotism ;  and  as  Pope 
succeeded   Pope   at   intervals  of  a  few  years,  each  bent  on 
aggrandising  his  own  family  at  the  expense  of  those  of  his 
predecessors  and  the  Church,  the  ecclesiastical  States  were 
kept  in  a  continual  ferment  of  expropriation   and  internal 
revolution.     Yet   it  is  difficult  to   conceive   how  a  spiritual 
Power  like  the  Papacy  could  have  solved  the  problem  set 
oefore  it  of  becoming  a  substantial  secular  sovereignty,  with- 
out recourse  to  this  ruinous  method.     The  Pope,  a  lonely  man 
upon  an  ill-established  throne,  surrounded  by  rivals  whom 
his  elevation  had  disappointed,  was  compelled  to  rely  on  the 
strong  arm  of  adventurers  with  whose  interests  his  own  were 
indissolubly  connected.     The  profits  of  all  these  schemes  of 
egotistical  rapacity  eventually  accrued,  not  to  the  relatives  of 
the   Pontiffs  (none   of  whom   except   the  Delia  Roveres   in 
Urbino  founded  a  permanent  dynasty  at  this  period),  but  to 
the  Holy  See.     Julius  II.,  for  example,  on  his  election  in 
1503,  entered  into  possession  of  all  that  Cesare  Borgia  had 


C  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

attempted  to  grasp  for  his  own  use.  He  found  the  Orsiui 
and  Colonna  humbled,  Eomagna  reduced  to  submission  ;  and 
he  carried  on  the  policy  of  conquest  by  trampling  out  the 
liberties  of  Bologna  and  Perugia,  recovering  the  cities  held 
by  Venice  on  the  coast  of  Eavenna,  and  extending  his  sway 
over  Emilia.  The  martial  energy  of  Julius  added  Parma  and 
Piacenza  to  the  States  of  the  Church,  and  detached  Modena 
and  Keggio  from  the  Duchy  of  Ferrara.  These  new  cities 
were  gained  by  force  ;  but  Julius  pretended  that  they  formed 
part  of  the  Exarchate  of  Eavenna,  which  had  been  granted 
to  his  predecessors  by  Pepin  and  Charles  the  Great.  He 
pursued  the  Papal  line  of  conquest  in  a  nobler  spirit  than  his 
predecessors,  not  seeking  to  advance  his  relatives  so  much 
as  to  reinstate  the  Church  in  her  dominions.  But  he  was 
reckless  in  the  means  employed  to  secure  this  object.  Italy 
was  devastated  by  wars  stirred  up,  and  by  foreign  armies 
introduced,  in  order  that  the  Pope  might  win  a  point  in  the 
great  game  of  ecclesiastical  aggrandisement.  That  his  suc- 
cessor, Leo  X.,  reverted  to  the  former  plan  of  carving  princi- 
palities for  his  relatives  out  of  the  possessions  of  their 
neighbours  and  the  Church,  may  be  counted  among  the  most 
important  causes  of  the  final  ruin  of  Italian  independence. 

Of  the  Duohy  of  Milan  it  is  not  necessary  to  speak  at 
any  great  length,  although  the  wars  between  France  and 
Spain  were  chiefly  carried  on  for  its  possession.  It  had  been 
formed  into  a  compact  domain,  of  comparatively  small 
extent,  but  of  vast  commercial  and  agricultural  resources,  by 
the  two  dynasties  of  Yisconti  and  Sforza.  In  1494  Lodovico 
Sforza,  surnamed  II  Moro,  ruled  Milan  for  his  nephew,  the 
titular  Duke,  whom  he  kept  in  gilded  captivity,  and  whom 
he  eventually  murdered.  In  order  to  secure  his  usurped 
authority,  this  would-be  Machiavelli  thought  it  prudent  to 
invite  Charles  VIII.  into  Italy.  Charles  was  to  assert  his 
right  to  the  throne  of  Naples.     Lodovico  was  to  be  estab- 


DUCHY   OF   MILAN,   VENICE  7 

lislied  in  the  Ducliy  of  Milan.  All  his  subsequent  troubles 
arose  from  this  transaction.  Charles  came,  conquered,  and 
returned  to  France,  disturbing  the  political  equilibrium  of 
the  Italian  States  and  founding  a  disastrous  precedent  for 
future  foreign  interference.  His  successor  in  the  French 
kingdom,  Louis  XII.,  believed  he  had  a  title  to  the  Duchy  of 
Milan  through  his  grandmother  Valentina,  daughter  of  Gian 
Galeazzo  Visconti.  The  claim  was  not  a  legal  one ;  for  in 
the  investiture  of  the  Duchy  females  were  excluded.  It 
sufficed,  however,  to  inflame  the  cupidity  of  Louis  ;  and  while 
he  was  still  but  Duke  of  Orleans,  with  no  sure  prospect  of 
inheriting  the  crown  of  France,  he  seems  to  have  indulged 
the  fancy  of  annexing  Milan.  No  sooner  had  he  ascended 
the  French  throne  than  he  began  to  act  upon  this  ambition. 
He  descended  into  Lombardy,  overran  the  Milanese,  sent 
Lodovico  Sforza  to  die  in  a  French  prison,  and  initiated  the 
duel  between  Spain  and  France  for  mastery,  which  ended 
with  the  capture  of  Francis  I.  at  Pavia  and  his  final  cession 
of  all  rights  over  Italy  to  Charles  V.  by  the  Treaty  of 
Cambray  (Paix  des  Dames). 

Of  all  the  republics  which  had  conferred  lustre  upon 
Italy  in  its  medieval  period  of  prosperity  Venice  alone 
remained  independent.  She  never  submitted  to  a  tyrant ; 
and  her  government,  though  growing  yearly  more  closely 
oligarchical,  was  acknowledged  to  be  just  and  liberal.  During 
the  centuries  of  her  greatest  power  Venice  hardly  ranked 
among  Italian  States.  It  had  been  her  policy  to  confine 
herself  to  the  lagoons  and  to  the  extension  of  her  dominion 
over  the  Levant.  In  the  fifteenth  century,  however,  this 
policy  was  abandoned.  Venice  first  possessed  herself  of 
Padua,  by  exterminating  the  despotic  House  of  Carrara; 
next  of  Verona,  by  destroying  the  Scala  dynasty.  Subse- 
quently, during  the  long  dogeship  of  Francesco  Foscari 
,(1423-1457),   she   devoted  herself    in    good   earnest    to   the 


8  EENAISSAKCE   IN  ITALY 

acquisition  of  territory  upon  the  mainland.  Then  she  entered 
as  a  Power  of  the  first  magnitude  into  the  system  of  purely 
Italian  politics.  The  Eepublic  of  S.  Mark  owned  the  sea  coast 
of  the  Adriatic  from  Aquileia  to  the  mouths  of  the  Po ;  and 
her  Lombard  dependencies  stretched  as  far  as  Bergamo 
westward.  Her  Italian  neighbours  were,  therefore,  the  Duchy 
of  Milan,  the  little  Marquisate  of  Mantua,  and  the  Duchy 
of  Ferrara.  When  Constantinople  fell  in  1453,  Venice  was 
still  more  tempted  to  pursue  this  new  policy  of  Italian  aggran- 
disement. Meanwhile  her  growing  empire  seemed  to  menace 
the  independence  of  less  wealthy  neighbours.  The  jealousy 
thus  created  and  the  cupidity  which  brought  her  into  collision 
with  Julius  11.  in  1508,  exposed  Venice  to  the  crushing  blow 
inflicted  on  her  power  by  the  combined  forces  of  Europe  in 
the  war  of  the  League  of  Cambray.  From  this  blow,  as  well 
as  from  the  simultaneous  decline  of  their  Oriental  and 
Levantine  commerce,  the  Venetians  never  recovered. 

When  we  turn  to  the  Florentines,  we  find  that  at  the 
same  epoch,  1494,  their  ancient  republican  constitution  had 
been  fatally  undermined  by  the  advances  of  the  family  of 
Medici  towards  despotism.  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  who  enjoyed 
the  credit  of  maintaining  the  equilibrium  of  Italy  by  wise 
diplomacy,  had  lately  died.  He  left  his  son  Piero,  a  hot- 
headed and  rash  young  man,  to  control  the  affairs  of  the 
commonwealth,  as  he  had  previously  controlled  them,  with 
a  show  of  burgherlike  equality,  but  with  the  reality  of 
princely  power.  Another  of  his  sons,  Giovanni,  received  the 
honour  of  the  Cardinalship.  The  one  was  destined  to  com- 
promise the  ascendency  of  his  family  in  Florence  for  a  period 
of  eighteen  years  ;  the  other  was  destined  to  re-establish  that 
ascendency  on  a  new  and  more  despotic  basis.  Piero  had 
not  his  father's  prudence,  and  could  not  maintain  himself  in 
the  delicate  position  of  a  commercial  and  civil  tyrant.  During 
the   disturbances  caused  by  the   invasion  of  Charles  VIII. 


WARS   OF   INVASION  9 

he  was  driven  with  all  his  relatives  into  exile.  The  Medici 
were  restored  in  1512,  after  the  battle  of  Ravenna,  by 
Spanish  troops,  at  the  petition  of  the  Cardinal  Giovanni. 
The  elevation  of  this  man  to  the  Papacy  in  1513  enabled 
him  to  plant  two  of  his  nephews,  as  rulers,  in  Florence, 
and  to  pave  the  way  whereby  a  third  eventually  rose  to  the 
dignity  of  the  tiara.  Clement  VII.  finally  succeeded  in 
rendering  Florence  subject  to  the  Medici,  by  extinguishing 
the  last  sparks  of  republican  opposition,  and  by  so  modifying 
the  dynastic  protectorate  of  his  family  that  it  was  easily 
converted  into  a  titular  Grand  Duchy. 

The  federation  of  these  five  Powers  had  been  artificially 
maintained  during  the  half-century  of  Italy's  highest  intel- 
lectual activity.  That  was  the  epoch  when  the  Italians 
nearly  attained  to  coherence  as  a  nation,  through  common 
interests  in  art  and  humanism,  and  by  the  complicated 
machinery  of  diplomatic  relations.  The  federation  perished 
when  foreign  Powers  chose  Lombardy  and  Naples  for  their 
fields  of  battle.  The  disasters  of  the  next  thirty-three  years 
(1494-1527)  began  in  earnest  on  the  day  when  Louis  XII. 
claimed  Milan  and  the  Regno.  He  committed  his  first  mis- 
take by  inviting  Ferdinand  the  Catholic  to  share  in  the  parti- 
tion of  Naples.  That  province  was  easily  conquered  ;  but 
Ferdinand  retained  the  whole  spoils  for  himself,  securing  a 
large  Italian  dependency  and  a  magnificent  basis  of  opera- 
tions for  the  Spanish  crown.  Then  Louis  made  a  second 
mistake  by  proposing  to  the  visionary  Emperor  Maximilian 
that  he  should  aid  France  in  subjugating  Venice.  We  have 
few  instances  on  record  of  short-sighted  diplomacy  to  match 
the  Treaties  of  Granada  and  Blois  (1501  and  1504),  through 
which  this  monarch,  acting  rather  as  a  Duke  of  Milan 
than  a  King  of  France,  complicated  his  Italian  schemes  by 
the  introduction  of  two  such  dangerous  allies  as  the 
Austrian    Emperor  and  the   Spanish  sovereign,  while    the 


10  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

heir  of  both  was  in  Lis  cradle — that  fatal  child  of  fortune, 
Charles. 

The  stage  of  Italy  was  now  prepared  for  a  conflict  which 
in  no  wise  interested  her  prosperous  cities  and  industrious 
population.  Spain,  France,  Germany,  with  their  Swiss 
auxiliaries,  had  been  summoned  upon  various  pretexts  to 
partake  of  the  rich  prey  she  offered.  Patriots  like  Machia- 
velli  perceived  too  late  the  suicidal  self-indulgence  which, 
by  substituting  mercenary  troops  for  national  militia,  and 
by  accustoming  selfish  tyrants  to  rely  on  foreign  aid,  had 
exposed  the  Italians  defenceless  to  the  inroads  of  their 
warlike  neighbours.  Whatever  parts  the  Powers  of  Italy 
might  play,  the  game  was  really  in  the  hands  of  French, 
Spanish,  and  German  invaders.  Meanwhile  the  mutual 
jealousies  and  hatreds  of  those  Powers,  kept  in  check  by  no 
tie  stronger  than  diplomacy,  prevented  them  from  forming 
any  scheme  of  common  action.  One  great  province  (Naples) 
had  fallen  into  Spanish  hands  ;  another  (Milan)  lay  open 
through  the  passes  of  the  Alps  to  France.  The  Papacy,  in 
the  centre,  manipulated  these  two  hostile  foreign  forces 
with  some  advantage  to  itself,  but  with  ever-deepening  dis- 
aster for  the  race.  As  in  the  days  of  Guelf  and  Ghibelline, 
so  now  again  the  nation  was  bisected.  The  contest  between 
French  and  Spanish  factions  became  cruel.  Personal  in- 
terests were  substituted  for  principles ;  cross-combinations 
perplexed  the  real  issues  of  dispute ;  while  one  sole  fact 
emerged  into  distinctness — that,  whatever  happened,  Italy 
must  be  the  spoil  of  the  victorious  duellist. 

The  practical  termination  of  this  state  of  things  arrived 
in  the  battle  of  Pavia,  when  Francis  was  removed  as 
a  prisoner  to  Madrid,  and  in  the  Sack  of  Kome,  when  the 
Pope  was  imprisoned  in  the  Castle  of  S.  Angelo.  It  was 
then  found  that  the  laurels  and  the  profit  of  the  bloody 
contest  remained  with  the  King  of  Spain.     What  the  people 


SrAIN  AND   THE   PAPACY  11 

suffered  from  the  marching  and  countermarching  of  armies, 
from  the  military  occupation  of  towns,  from  the  desolation 
of  rural  districts,  from  ruinous  campaigns  and  sanguinary 
battles,  from  the  pillage  of  cities  and  the  massacres  of 
their  inhabitants,  can  best  be  read  in  Burigozzo's  '  Chronicle 
of  Milan,'  in  the  details  of  the  siege  of  Brescia  and  the 
destruction  of  Pavia,  in  the  '  Chronicle  of  Prato  '  and  in  the 
several  annals  of  the  Sack  of  Rome.  The  exhaustion  of  the 
country  seemed  complete  ;  the  spirit  of  the  people  was  broken. 
But  what  soon  afterwards  became  apparent,  and  what 
in  1527  might  have  been  thought  incredible,  was  that  the 
single  member  of  the  Italian  union  which  profited  by  these 
apocalyptic  sufferings  of  the  nation,  was  the  Papacy. 
Clement  VII.,  imprisoned  in  the  Castle  of  S.  Angelo 
forced  day  and  night  to  gaze  upon  his  capital  in  flames 
and  hear  the  groans  of  tortured  Romans,  emerged  the  only 
vigorous  survivor  of  the  five  great  Powers  on  whose  concert 
Italian  independence  had  been  founded.  Instead  of  being 
impaired,  the  position  of  the  Papacy  had  been  immeasurably 
improved.  Owing  to  the  prostration  of  Italy,  there  was 
now  no  resistance  to  the  Pope's  secular  supremacy  within 
the  limits  of  his  authorised  dominion.  The  defeat  of  France 
and  the  accession  of  a  Spanish  monarch  to  the  Empire 
guaranteed  peace.  No  foreign  force  could  levy  armies  or 
foment  uprisings  in  the  name  of  independence.  Venice 
had  been  stunned  and  mutilated  by  the  League  of  Cam- 
bray.  Florence  had  been  enslaved  after  the  battle  of 
Ravenna.  Milan  had  been  relinquished,  outworn  and  de- 
populated, to  the  nominal  ascendency  of  an  impotent  Sforza. 
Naples  was  a  province  of  the  Spanish  monarchy.  The 
feudal  vassals  and  the  subject  cities  of  the  Holy  See  had 
been  ground  and  churned  together  by  a  series  of  revolutions 
unexampled  even  in  the  medieval  history  of  the  Italian 
communes.    If,  therefore,  the  Pope  could  come  to  terms  with 


12  KENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

the  King  of  Spain  for  the  partition  of  supreme  authority  in  the 
peninsula,  they  might  henceforward  share  the  mangled  re- 
mains of  the  Italian  prey  at  peace  together.  This  is  precisely 
what  they  resolved  on  doing.  The  basis  of  their  agreement 
was  laid  in  the  Treaty  of  Barcelona  in  1529.  It  was  ratified 
and  secured  by  the  Treaty  of  Cambray  in  the  same  year.  By 
the  former  of  these  compacts  Charles  and  Clement  swore 
friendship.  Clement  promised  the  Imperial  crown  and  the 
investiture  of  Naples  to  the  King  of  Spain.  Charles  agreed 
to  reinstate  the  Pope  in  Emilia,  which  had  been  seized  from 
Ferrara  by  Julius  II. ;  to  procure  the  restoration  of  Eavenna 
and  Cervia  by  the  Venetians  ;  to  subdue  Florence  to  the  House 
of  Medici ;  and  to  bestow  the  hand  of  his  natural  daughter 
Margaret  of  Austria  on  Clement's  bastard  nephew  Alessandro, 
who  was  already  designated  ruler  of  the  city.  By  the  treaty 
of  Cambray  Francis  I.  relinquished  his  claims  on  Italy  and 
abandoned  his  Italian  supporters  without  conditions,  receiv- 
ing in  exchange  the  possession  of  Burgundy.  The  French 
allies  who  were  sacrificed  on  this  occasion  by  the  Most 
Christian  to  the  Most  Catholic  monarch  consisted  of  the 
Eepublics  of  Venice  and  Florence,  the  Dukes  of  Milan  and 
Ferrara,  the  princely  Houses  of  Orsini  and  Fregosi  in  Eome 
and  Genoa,  together  with  the  Angevine  nobles  in  the  realm 
of  Naples,  The  Paix  des  Dames,  as  this  act  of  capitulation 
w^as  called  (since  it  had  been  drawn  up  in  private  conclave  by 
Louise  of  Savoy  and  Margaret  of  Austria,  the  mother  and  the 
aunt  of  the  two  signatories),  was  a  virtual  acknowledgment 
of  the  fact  that  French  influence  in  Italy  was  at  an  end.' 

The  surrender  of  Italy  by  Francis  made  it  necessary  that 
Charles  V.  should  put  order  in  the  vast  estates  to  which  he 

'  It  i  significant  for  the  future  of  Italy  that  both  the  ladies  who 
drew  up  this  agreement  were  connected  with  Savoy.  Louise,  Duchess 
of  Angouleme,  was  a  daughter  of  the  house.  Margaret,  daughter  of 
Maximilian,  was  Duchess  Dowager  of  Savoy. 


THE   PA IX   DES  DAMES  13 

now  succeeded  as  sole  master.  He  was,  moreover,  Emperor 
elect ;  and  he  judged  this  occasion  good  for  assuming  the 
two  crowns  according  to  antique  custom.  Consequently  in 
July  1529  he  caused  Andrea  Doria  to  meet  him  at  Barcelona, 
crossed  the  Mediterranean  in  a  rough  passage  of  fourteen 
^ays,  landed  at  Genoa  on  August  12,  and  proceeded  by  Pia- 
cenza,  Parma  and  Modena  to  Bologna,  where  Clement  VII. 
was  already  awaiting  him.  The  meeting  of  Charles  and 
Clement  at  Bologna  was  so  solemn  an  event  in  Italian 
history,  and  its  results  were  so  important  for  the  several 
provinces  of  the  peninsula,  that  I  may  be  excused  for  en- 
larging at  some  length  upon  this  episode.  With  pomp 
and  pageantry  it  closed  an  age  of  unrivalled  intellectual 
splendour  and  of  unexampled  sufferings  through  war.  By 
diplomacy  and  debate  it  prescribed  laws  for  a  new  age  of 
unexpected  ecclesiastical  energy  and  of  national  peace 
procured  at  the  price  of  slavery.  Illustrious  survivors 
from  the  period  of  the  Pagan  Kenaissance  met  here  with 
young  men  destined  to  inaugurate  the  Catholic  Eevival. 
The  compact  struck  between  Emperor  and  Pope  in  private 
conferences,  laid  a  basis  for  that  firm  alliance  between  Spain 
and  Rome  which  seriously  influenced  the  destinies  of  Europe. 
Finally,  this  was  the  last  occasion  upon  which  a  modern 
CfEsar  received  the  iron  and  the  golden  crowns  in  Italy  from 
the  hands  of  a  Roman  Pontiff.  The  fortunate  inheritor  of 
Spain,  the  Two  Sicilies,  Austria  and  the  Low  Countries,  who 
then  assumed  them  both  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine,  was  not 
only  the  last  who  wielded  the  Imperial  insignia  with 
imperial  authority,  but  was  also  a  far  more  formidable 
potentate  in  Italy  than  any  of  his  predecessors  since  Charles 
the  Great  had  been.' 

'  In  what  follows  regarding  Charles  V.  at  Bologna  I  am  greatly 
indebted  to  Giordani's  laboriously  compiled  volume :  Delia  Venuta 
e  Diinora  in  Bologna  del  Sommo  Pont.  Clemente  VII.  &c.  (Bologna, 
1832) 


14  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

That  Charles  should  have  employed  the  galleys  of  Doria 
for  the  transhipment  of  his  person,  suite,  and  military  escort 
from  Barcelona,  deser^'es  a  word  of  comment.  Andrea  Doria 
had  been  bred  in  the  service  of  the  French  crown,  upon 
which  Genoa  was  in  his  youth  dependent.  He  formed  a 
navy  of  decisive  preponderance  in  the  Western  Mediterranean, 
and  in  return  for  services  rendered  to  Francis  in  the  Neapoli- 
tan campaign  of  1528,  he  demanded  the  liberation  of  his 
native  city.  When  this  was  refused,  Doria  transferred  his 
allegiance  to  the  Spaniard,  surprised  Genoa  and  reinstated 
the  republic,  magnanimously  refusing  to  secure  its  tyranny 
for  himself  or  even  to  set  the  ducal  cap  upon  his  head. 
Charles  invested  him  with  the  principality  of  Melfi  and  made 
him  a  Grandee  of  Spain.  By  this  series  of  events  Genoa 
was  prepared  to  accept  the  yoke  of  Spanish  influence  and 
customs,  which  pressed  so  heavily  in  the  succeeding  century 
on  Italy. 

Charles  had  a  body  of  2,000  Spaniards  already  quar- 
tered at  Genoa,  as  well  as  strong  garrisons  in  the  Milanese, 
and  a  force  of  about  7,000  troops  collected  by  the  Prince  of 
Orange  from  the  debris  of  the  army  which  had  plundered 
Eome.  While  he  was  on  his  road  from  Genoa  to  Bologna, 
this  force  was  already  moving  upon  Florence,  He  brought 
with  him  as  escort  some  10,000  men,  counting  horse  and 
infantry.  The  total  of  the  troops  which  obeyed  his  word  in 
Italy  might  be  computed  at  about  27,000,  including  Spanish 
cavalry  and  foot-soldiers,  German  lansknechts,  and  Italian 
mercenaries.  This  large  army,  partly  stationed  in  important 
posts  of  defence,  partly  in  movement,  was  sufficient  to  make 
every  word  of  his  a  law.  The  French  were  in  no  position 
to  interfere  with  his  arrangements.  His  brother  Ferdinand, 
King  of  Bohemia  and  Hungary,  was  engaged  in  a  doubtful 
contest  with  Soliman  before  the  gates  of  Vienna.  He  was 
himself  the  most  considerable  potentate  in  Germany,   then 


CHAELES   AT   GENOA  15 

distracted  by  the  struggles  of  the  Keformation.  Italy  lay 
crushed  and  prostrate,  trampled  down  by  armies,  exhausted 
by  imposts  and  exactions,  terrorised  by  brutal  violence. 
That  Charles  had  come  to  speak  his  will  and  be  obeyed 
was  obvious. 

To  greet  the  King  on  his  arrival  at  Genoa,  Clement 
deputed  two  ambassadors,  the  Cardinals  Ercole  Gonzaga 
and  Monsignor  Gianmatteo  Giberti,  Bishop  of  Verona. 
Gonzaga  was  destined  to  play  a  part  of  critical  importance 
in  the  Tridentine  Council.  Giberti  had  made  himself  illus- 
trious in  the  Church  by  the  administration  of  his  diocese  on 
a  system  which  anticipated  the  coming  ecclesiastical  reforms, 
and  was  already  famous  in  the  world  of  letters  by  his 
generous  familiarity  with  students.^  Three  other  men  of 
high  distinction  and  of  fateful  future  waited  on  their 
imperial  master.  Of  these  the  first  was  Cardinal  Alessandro 
Farnese,  who  succeeded  Clement  in  the  Papacy,  opened  the 
Tridentine  Council,  and  added  a  new  reignmg  family  to 
the  Italian  princes.  The  others  were  the  Pope's  nephews, 
Alessandro  de'  Medici,  Duke  of  Florence  designate,  and  his 
cousin  the  Cardinal  Ippolito  de'  Medici.  Six  years  later, 
Ippolito  died  at  Itri,  poisoned  by  his  cousin  Alessandro,  who 
was  himself  murdered  at  Florence  in  1537  by  another  cousin, 
Lorenzino  de'  Medici. 

It  had  been  intended  that  Charles  should  travel  to 
Bologna  from  Parma  through  Mantua,  where  the  Marquis 
Federigo  Gonzaga  had  made  great  preparations  for  his 
reception.  But  the  route  by  Eeggio  and  Modena  was  more 
direct ;  and,  yielding  to  the  solicitations  of  Alfonso,  Duke  of 
Ferrara,  he  selected  this  instead.  One  of  the  stipulations 
of  the  Treaty  of  Barcelona,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  been 
that  the  Emperor  should  restore  Emilia — that  is  to  say,  the 
cities  and  territories  of  Modena,  Reggio,  and  Eubbiera — to 
'  See  Italian  Literature,  Vol.  V.  p.  313. 


16  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

the  Papacy.  Clement  regarded  Alfonso  as  a  contumacious 
vassal,  although  his  own  right  to  that  province  only  rested 
on  the  force  of  arms  by  which  Julius  II.  had  detached  it  from 
the  Duchy  of  Ferrara.  It  was  therefore  somewhat  difficult 
for  Charles  to  accept  the  duke's  hospitality.  But  when  he 
had  once  done  so,  Alfonso  knew  how  to  ingratiate  himself  so 
well  with  the  arbiter  of  Italy,  that  on  taking  leave  of  his 
guest  upon  the  confines  of  Bologna,  he  had  already  secured 
the  success  of  his  own  cause. 

Great  preparations,  meanwhile,  were  being  made  in 
Bologna.  The  misery  and  destitution  of  the  country 
rendered  money  scarce,  and  cast  a  gloom  over  the  people. 
It  was  noticed  that  when  Clement  entered  the  city  on 
October  24,  none  of  the  common  folk  responded  to  the 
shouts  of  his  attendants,  Viva  Pajm  Clemente  !  The  Pope 
and  his  Court,  too,  were  in  mourning.  They  had  but 
recently  escaped  from  the  horrors  of  the  Sack  of  Rome,  and 
were  under  a  vow  to  wear  their  beards  unshorn  in  memory 
of  their  past  sufferings.  Yet  the  municipality  and  nobles  of 
Bologna  exerted  their  utmost  in  these  bad  times  to  render 
the  reception  of  the  Emperor  worthy  of  the  lustre  which  his 
residence  and  coronation  would  confer  upon  them.  Gallant 
guests  began  to  flock  into  the  city.  Among  these  may  be 
mentioned  the  brilliant  Isabelle  d'  Este,  sister  of  Duke 
Alfonso,  and  mother  of  the  reigning  Marquis  of  Mantua. 
She  arrived  on  November  1  with  a  glittering  train  of  beauti- 
ful women,  and  took  up  her  residence  in  the  Palazzo 
Manzoli.  Her  quarters  obtained  no  good  fame  in  the 
following  months;  for  the  ladies  of  her  suite  were  liberal  of 
favours.  Jousts,  masquerades,  street-brawls  and  duels  were 
of  frequent  occurrence  beneath  her  windows — Spaniards  and 
Italians  disputing  the  honour  of  those  light  amours.  On 
November  3  came  Andrea  Doria  with  his  relative,  the 
Cardinal   Girolamo   of   that  name.     About  the  same   time, 


ENTEANCE  INTO  BOLOGNA  17 

Cardinal  Lorenzo  Campeggi,  Bishop  of  Bologna,  returned 
from  his  legation  to  England,  where  (as  students  of  our 
history  are  well  aware)  he  had  been  engaged  upon  the 
question  of  Henry  VIII. 's  divorce  from  Katharine  of  Aragon. 
Next  day  Charles  arrived  outside  the  gate,  and  took  up  his 
quarters  in  the  rich  convent  of  Certosa,  which  now  forms  the 
Campo  Santo. 

He  was  surrounded  by  a  multitude  of  ambassadors  and 
delegates  from  the  Bolognese  magistracy,  by  Cardinals  and 
ecclesiastics  of  all  ranks,  some  of  whom  had  attended  him 
from  the  frontier,  while  others  were  drawn  up  to  receive 
him.  November  5  was  a  Friday,  and  this  day  was  reckoned 
lucky  by  Charles.  He  therefore  passed  the  night  of  the  -ith 
at  the  Certosa,  and  on  the  following  morning  made  his 
solemn  entry  into  the  city.  A  bodyguard  of  Germans, 
Burgundians,  Spaniards,  halberdiers,  lansknechts,  men  at 
arms  and  cannoneers,  preceded  him.  High  above  these 
was  borne  the  captain-general  of  the  imperial  force  in  Italy, 
the  fierce  and  cruel  Antonio  de  Leyva,  under  whose  oppres- 
sion Milan  had  been  groaning.  This  ruthless  tyrant  was  a 
martyr  to  gout  and  rheumatism.  He  could  not  ride  or  walk  ; 
and  though  he  retained  the  whole  vigour  of  his  intellect  and 
will,  it  was  with  difficulty  that  he  moved  his  hands  or  head. 
He  advanced  in  a  litter  of  purple  velvet,  supported  on  the 
shoulders  of  his  slaves.  Among  the  splendid  crowd  of 
Spanish  grandees  who  followed  the  troops,  it  is  enough  to 
mention  the  Grand  Marshal,  Don  Alvaro  Osorio,  Marquis  of 
Astorga,  who  carried  a  naked  sword  aloft.  He  was  armed, 
on  horseback ;  and  his  mantle  of  cloth  of  gold  blazed  with 
dolphins  worked  in  pearls  and  precious  stones.  Next  came 
Charles,  mounted  on  a  bay  jennet,  armed  at  all  points,  and 
holding  in  his  hand  the  sceptre.  Twenty-four  pages,  chosen 
from  the  nobles  of  Bologna,  waited  on  his  bridle  and  stirrups. 
The  train  was  brought  up  by  a  multitude  of  secular  and 
VI  c 


18  KENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

ecclesiastical  princes  too  numerous  to  record  in  detail.  Con- 
spicuous among  them  for  the  historian  were  the  Count  of 
Nassau,  Albert  of  Brandenburg,  and  the  Marquis  Bonifazio 
of  Montferrat,  the  scion  of  the  Eastern  Paleologi.  As  this 
procession  defiled  through  the  streets  of  Bologna,  it  was 
remarked  that  Charles,  with  true  Spanish  haughtiness, 
made  no  response  to  the  acclamations  of  the  people,  except 
once  when,  passing  beneath  a  balcony  of  noble  ladies, 
he  acknowledged  their  salute  by  lifting  the  cap  from  his 
head. 

Clement,  surrounded  by  a  troop  of  prelates,  was  seated 
to  receive  him  on  a  platform  raised  before  the  Church  of 
San  Petronio   in  the  great  piazza.      The   king   dismounted 
opposite  the  Papal  throne,  ascended   the  steps  beneath  his 
canopy  of  gold  and  crimson,  and  knelt  to  kiss  the  Pontiff's 
feet.     When  their  eyes  first  met,  it  was  observed  that  both 
turned  pale  ;  for  the  memory  of  outraged  Kome  was  in  the 
minds   of  both  ;  and  Caesar,  while  he  paid  this  homage  to 
Christ's  Vicar,  had  the  load  of  those  long  months  of  suffer- 
ing and  insult  on  his   conscience.     Clement  bent  down,  and 
with  streaming  eyes  saluted  him   upon   the  cheek.     Then, 
when  Charles  was  still  upon  his   knees,  they   exchanged  a 
few  set  words  referring  to  the  purpose  of  their  meeting  and 
their  common   desire  for  the    pacification    of  Christendom. 
After  this  the  Emperor   elect  arose,   seated   himself  for  a 
while  beside  the  Pope,  and  next,  at  his  invitation,  escorted 
him  to  the  great  portal   of  the  church.     On  the   way,  he 
inquired  after  Clement's  health  ;  to  which  the  Pope  replied 
somewhat   significantly  that,   after  leaving    Rome,   it    had 
steadily  improved.     He   tempered   this  allusion  to  his  cap- 
tivity, however,  by  adding  that  his  eagerness  to   greet  his 
Majesty  had  inspired  him  with  more   than  wonted  strength 
and     courage.      At    the    doorway    they    parted  ;    and    the 
Emperor,  having  paid  his  devotions  to  the  Sacrament  and 


MEETING  OF  POPE  AND  EMPEEOE  19 

kissed  the  altar,  was  conducted  to  the  apartments  prepared 
for  him  in  the  Palazzo  Pubblico.  These  were  adjacent  to 
the  Pope's  lodgings  in  the  same  palace,  and  were  so  arranged 
that  the  two  potentates  could  confer  in  private  at  all  times. 
It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  negotiations  for  the  settle- 
ment of  Italy  which  took  place  during  the  next  six  months 
in  those  rooms,  were  conducted  personally  by  the  high  con- 
tracting parties,  and  that  none  of  their  deliberations  tran- 
spired until  the  result  of  each  was  made  public. 

The  whole  of  November  5  had  been  occupied  in  these 
ceremonies.  It  was  late  evening  when  the  Emperor  gained 
his  lodgings.  The  few  next  days  were  ostensibly  occupied  in 
receiving  visitors.  Among  the  first  of  these  was  the  un- 
fortunate ex-queen  of  Naples,  Isabella,  widow  of  Frederick 
of  Aragon,  the  last  king  of  the  bastard  dynasty  founded  by 
Alfonso.  She  was  living  in  poverty  at  Ferrara,  under  the 
protection  of  her  relatives,  the  Este  family.  On  the  13th 
came  the  Prince  of  Orange  and  Don  Ferrante  Gonzaga, 
from  the  camp  before  Florence.  The  siege  had  begun,  but 
had  not  yet  been  prosecuted  with  the  strictest  vigour. 
During  the  whole  time  of  Charles's  residence  at  Bologna, 
it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  siege  of  Florence  was 
being  pressed.  Superfluous  troops  detached  from  garrison 
duty  in  the  Lombard  towns  were  drafted  across  the  hills  to 
Tuscany.  Whatever  else  the  Emperor  might  decide  for  his 
Italian  subjects,  this  at  least  was  certain  :  Florence  should 
be  restored  to  the  Medicean  tyrants,  as  compensation  to  the 
Pope  for  Eoman  sufferings.  The  Prince  of  Orange  came  to 
explain  the  state  of  things  at  Florence,  where  government 
and  people  seemed  prepared  to  resist  to  the  death.  Gonzaga 
had  private  business  of  his  own  to  conduct,  touching  his 
engagement  to  the  Pope's  ward,  Isabella,  daughter  and 
heiress  of  the  wealthy  Vespasiano  Colonna, 

Meamvhile,  ambassadors  from  all  the  States  and  lordships 

c  2 


20  EENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

of  Italy  flocked  to  Bologna.  Great  nobles  from  the  South— 
Ascanio  Colonna,  Grand  Constable  of  Naples ;  Alfonso 
d'  Avalos,  Marquis  of  Vasto  ;  Giovanni  Luigi  Caraffa,  Prince 
of  Stigliano — took  up  their  quarters  in  adjacent  houses,  or  in 
the  upper  story  of  the  Public  Palace,  The  Marquis  of  Vasto 
arrests  our  gaze  for  a  moment.  He  was  nephew  to  the 
Marquis  of  Pescara  (husband  of  Vittoria  Colonna),  who  had 
the  glory  of  taking  Francis  prisoner  at  Pavia,  and  afterwards 
the  infamy  of  betraying  the  unfortunate  Girolamo  Morone 
and  his  master  the  Duke  of  Milan  to  the  resentment  of  the 
Spanish  monarch.  What  part  Pescara  actually  played  in 
that  dark  passage  of  plot  and  counterplot  remains  obscure. 
But  there  is  no  doubt  that  he  employed  treachery,  single  if 
not  double,  for  his  own  advantage.  His  arrogance  and 
avowed  hostility  to  the  Italians  caused  his  very  name  to  be 
execrated  ;  nor  did  his  nephew,  the  Marquis  of  Vasto,  differ 
in  these  respects  from  the  more  famous  chief  of  his  house. 
This  man  was  also  destined  to  obtain  an  evil  reputation  when 
he  succeeded  in  1532  to  the  government  of  Milan.  Here  too 
may  be  noticed  the  presence  at  Bologna  of  Girolamo  Morone's 
son,  who  had  been  created  Bishop  of  Modena  in  1529.  For 
him  a  remarkable  fate  was  waiting.  Condemned  to  the 
dungeons  of  the  Inquisition  as  a  heretic  by  Paul  IV.,  rescued 
by  Pius  IV.,  and  taken  into  highest  favour  at  that  Pontiff's 
Court,  he  successfully  manipulated  the  closing  of  the  Triden- 
tine  Council  to  the  profit  of  the  Papal  See. 

Negotiations  for  the  settlement  of  Italian  affairs  were 
proceeding  without  noise,  but  with  continual  progress,  through 
this  month.  The  lodgings  of  ambassadors  and  lords  were  so 
arranged  in  the  Palazzo  Pubblico  that  they,  like  their 
Imperial  and  Papal  masters,  could  confer  at  all  times  and 
seasons.  Every  day  brought  some  new  illustrious  visitor. 
On  the  22nd  arrived  Federigo  Gonzaga,  Marquis  of  Mantua, 
who  took  up  his  quarters  in  immediate  proximity  to  Charles 


VENICE   AND   MILAN  21 

and  Clement.  His  business  required  but  little  management. 
The  House  of  Gonzaga  was  already  well  affected  to  the 
Spanish  cause,  and  counted  several  captains  in  the  imperial 
army.  Charles  showed  his  favour  by  raising  Mantua  to  the 
rank  of  a  Duchy.  It  was  different  with  the  Republic  of 
Venice  and  the  Duke  of  Milan.  The  Emperor  elect  had 
reasons  to  be  strongly  prejudiced  against  them  both — against 
Venice,  as  the  most  formidable  of  the  French  allies  in  the  last 
war ;  against  Francesco  Maria  Sforza,  as  having  been  impli- 
cated, though  obscurely,  in  Morone's  conspiracy  to  drive  the 
Spaniards  from  Italy  and  place  the  crown  of  Naples  on 
Pescara's  head.  Clement  took  both  under  his  protection. 
He  had  sufficient  reasons  to  believe  that  the  Venetians  would 
purchase  peace  by  the  cession  of  their  recent  acquisitions  on 
the  Adriatic  coast,  and  he  knew  that  the  pacification  of  Italy 
could  not  be  accomplished  without  their  aid.  In  effect,  the 
Republic  agreed  to  relinquish  Cervia  and  Ravenna  to  the 
Pope,  and  their  Apulian  ports  to  Charles,  engaging  at  the 
same  time  to  pay  a  sum  of  300,000  ducats  and  stipulating  for 
an  amnesty  to  all  their  agents  and  dependents.  It  is  not  so 
clear  why  Clement  warmly  espoused  the  cause  of  Sforza. 
That  he  did  so  is  certain.  He  obtained  a  safe-conduct  for  the 
duke,  and  made  it  a  point  of  personal  favour  that  he  should 
be  received  into  the  Emperor's  grace.  This  stipulation 
appears  to  have  been  taken  into  account  when  the  affairs 
of  Ferrara  were  decided  at  a  later  date  against  the  Papal 
interests. 

Francesco  Maria  Sforza  appeared  in  Bologna  on  the  22nd. 
This  unfortunate  bearer  of  one  of  the  most  coveted  titles  in 
Europe  had  lately  lived  a  prisoner  in  his  own  Castello,  while 
the  city  at  his  doors  and  the  fertile  country  round  it  were 
being  subjected  to  cruellest  outrage  and  oppression  from 
Spanish,  French,  Swiss,  and  German  mercenaries.  He  was  a 
man  ruined  in  health  as  well  as  fortune.     Six  years  before 


22  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

this  date,  one  of  his  chamberlains,  Bonifazio  Visconti,  had 
given  him  a  slight  wound  in  the  shoulder  with  a  poisoned 
dagger.  From  this  wound  he  never  recovei'ed ;  and  it  was 
pitiable  to  behold  the  broken  man,  unable  to  move  or  stand 
without  support,  dragging  himself  upon  his  knees  to  Caesar's 
footstool.  Charles  appears  to  have  discerned  that  he  had 
nothing  to  fear  and  much  to  gain,  if  he  showed  clemency  to 
so  powerless  a  suitor.  -Francesco  was  the  last  of  his  line. 
His  health  rendered  it  impossible  that  he  should  expect  heirs ; 
and  although  he  subsequently  married  a  princess  of  the 
House  of  Denmark,  he  died  childless  in  the  autumn  of  1535. 
It  was  therefore  determined,  in  compliance  with  the  Pope's 
request,  that  Sforza  should  be  confirmed  in  the  Duchy  of 
Milan.  Pavia,  however,  was  detached  and  given  to  the 
terrible  Antonio  de  Leyva  for  his  lifetime.  The  garrisons  of 
Milan  and  Como  were  left  in  Spanish  hands ;  and  the  duke 
promised  to  wring  400,000  ducats  as  the  price  of  his  investi- 
ture, with  an  additional  sum  of  500,000  ducats  to  be  paid  in 
ten  yearly  instalments,  from  his  already  blood-sucked  people. 
It  will  be  observed  that  money  figured  largely  in  all  these 
high  political  transactions.  Charles,  though  lord  of  many 
lands,  was,  even  at  this  early  stage  of  his  career,  distressed  for 
want  of  cash.  He  rarely  paid  his  troops,  but  commissioned 
the  captains  in  his  service  to  levy  contributions  on  the 
provinces  they  occupied.  The  funds  thus  raised  did  not 
always  reach  the  pockets  of  the  soldiers,  who  subsisted  as 
best  they  could  by  marauding.  Having  made  these  terms, 
Francesco  Maria  Sforza  was  received  into  the  Imperial  favour. 
He  returned  to  Milan,  in  no  sense  less  a  prisoner  than  he  had 
previously  been,  and  with  the  heartrending  necessity  of 
extorting  money  from  his  subjects  at  the  point  of  Spanish 
swords.  In  exchange  for  the  ducal  title,  he  thus  had  made 
himself  a  tax-collector  for  his  natural  enemies.  Secluded  in 
the  dreary  chambers  of  his  castle,  assailed  by  the  execrations 


FEANCESCO  MAEIA  SFORZA  9.3 

of  the  Milanese,  he  may  well  have  groaned,  like  Marlowe's 
Edward — 

But  what  are  Kings,  when  regiment  is  gone, 

But  perfect  shadows  in  a  sunshine  day  ? 

My  foemen  rule  ;  I  bear  the  name  of  King ; 

I  wear  tlie  crown ;  but  am  controUed  by  them. 

When  he  died  he  hequeathed  his  duchy  to  the  crown  of  Spain. 
It  was  detached  from  the  Empire,  and  became  the  private 
property  of  Charles  and  of  his  son,  Philip  11. 

During  the  month  of  December  negotiations  for  the  terms 
of  peace  in  Italy  went  briskly  forward.     On  the  part  of  Venice, 
two  men  of  the  highest  distinction  arrived  as  orators.     These 
were   Pietro  Bembo  and  Gasparo  Contarini,  both  of  whom 
received  the  honours  of  the  Cardinalate  from  Paul  III.  on  his 
accession.     Of  Bembo's  place  in  Italian  society,  as  the  dictator 
of  literature  at  this  epoch,  I  have  already  sufficiently  spoken 
in  another  part  of  my  work  on  the  Kenaissance.     Contarini 
will  more  than  once  arrest  our  notice  in  the  course  of  this 
volume.     Of  all  the  Italians  of  the  time,  he  was  perhaps  the 
greatest,  wisest,  and  most  sympathetic.     Had  it  been  possible 
to  avert  the  breach  between  Catholicism  and  Protestantism, 
to  curb  the  intolerance  of  Inquisitors  and  the  ambition  of 
Jesuits,  and  to  guide  the  reform  of  the  Church  by  principles 
of  moderation  and  liberal  piety,  Contarini  was  the  man  who 
might  have  restored  unity  to  the  Church  in  Europe.     Once, 
indeed,  at  Eegensburg  in  1541,  he   seemed  upon   the    very 
point   of  effecting  a  reconciliation  between  the  parties  that 
were  tearing  Christendom  asunder.      But   his    failure   was 
even  more   conspicuous  than  his   momentary   semblance  of 
success.     It  was  not  in  the  temper  of   the  times  to  accept 
a    Concordat    founded   on    however   philosophical,    however 
politic  considerations.      Contarini  will  be  remembered  as  a 
'  beautiful  soul,'  born  out  of   the   due  moment,  and   by  no 
means  adequate  to  cope  with  the  fierce  passions  that  raged 


24  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

round  liim.  Among  Protestants  he  was  a  Catholic,  and 
they  regarded  his  half-measures  with  contempt.  Among 
Catholics  he  passed  for  a  suspected  Lutheran,  and  his  writ- 
ings were  only  tolerated  after  they  had  been  subjected  to 
rigorous  castration  at  the  hands  of  Papal  Inquisitors.^ 

On  Christmas  eve  the  ambassadors  and  representatives  of 
the  Italian  Powers  met  together  in  the  chambers  of  Cardinal 
Gattinara,  Grand  Chancellor  of  the  Empire,  to  subscribe  the 
terms  of  a  confederation  and  perpetual  league  for  the  main- 
tenance   of    peace.     From    this    important    document    the 
Florentines   were   excluded,   as   open   rebels   to   the  will  of 
Charles  and  Clement.     There  was  no  justice  in  the  rigour 
with  which  Florence  was  now  treated.     Her  republican  inde- 
pendence had  hitherto  been  recognised,  although  her  own 
internal  discords  exposed  her  to  a  virtual   despotism.     But 
Clement  stipulated  and  Charles  conceded,  as  a  sine  qua  non 
in  the  project  of  pacification,  that  Florence  should  be  con- 
verted into  a  Medicean  duchy.     For  the   Duke   of  Ferrara, 
whom  the  Pope  regarded  as  a  contumacious  vassal,  and  whose 
affairs  were  still  the  subject  of  debate,  a  place  was  specially 
reserved  in  the  treaty.     He,  as  I  have  already  observed,  had 
been  taken  under  the  Imperial  protection  ;  and  a  satisfactory 
settlement  of  his  claims  was  now  a  mere  question  of  time. 
On  the  evening  of  the   same   day,   the  Pope   bestowed    on 
Charles  the  Sword  of  the   Spirit,  which  it  was  the  wont  of 
Eome  to  confer  on  the  best-beloved  of  her  secular  sons  at  this 
festival.     The  peace  was  publicly  proclaimed,  amid  universal 
plaudits,  on  the  last  day  of  the  year  1529. 

The  chief  affairs  to  be  decided  in  the  new  year  were  the 
reduction  of  Florence  to  submission  and  the  coronation  of 
the  Emperor.  The  month  of  January  was  passed  in  jousts 
and  pastimes  ;  ceremonial  privileges  were  conferred  on  the 
University  of  Bologna ;  magnificent  embassies  from  the 
'  See  Ranke,  vol.  i.  p.  153,  note. 


FLORENTINE   AFFAIRS  25 

Republic  of  S.  Mark,  glowing  in  senatorial  robes  of  crimson 
silk,  were  entertained  ;  and  a  singular  deputation  from  the 
African  Court  of  Prester  John  obtained  audience  of  the 
Roman  Pontiff.  Amid  these  festivities  there  arrived,  on 
January  IG,  three  delegates  from  Florence,  who  spent  some 
weeks  in  fruitless  efforts  to  obtain  a  hearing  from  the  arbiters 
of  Italy.  Clement  refused  to  deal  with  them,  because  their 
commonwealth  was  still  refractory.  Charles  repelled  them, 
because  he  wished  to  gratify  the  Pope,  and  knew  that 
Florence  remained  staunch  in  her  devotion  to  the  French 
crown.  The  old  proverb  '  Lilies  with  lilies,'  the  white  lily  of 
Florence  united  with  the  golden  fleur-de-lys  of  France,  had 
still  political  significance  in  this  day  of  Italian  degradation. 
Meanwhile  Francis  I.  treated  his  faithful  allies  with  lukewarm 
tolerance.  The  smaller  fry  of  Italian  potentates,  worshippers 
of  the  rising  sun  of  Spain,  curried  favour  with  their  masters 
by  insulting  the  republic's  representatives.  On  their  return 
to  Florence,  the  ambassadors  had  to  report  a  total  diplomatic 
failure.  But  this,  far  from  breaking  the  untamable  spirit  of 
the  Signory  and  people,  prompted  them  in  February  to  new 
efforts  of  resistance  and  to  edicts  of  outlawry  against  citizens 
whom  they  regarded  as  traitors  to  the  State.  Among  the 
proscribed  were  Francesco  Guicciardini,  Roberto  Acciaiuoli, 
Francesco  Yettori,  and  Baccio  Valori.  Of  these  men  Francesco 
Guicciardini,  Francesco  Vettori,  and  Baccio  Valori  were 
attendant  at  Bologna  upon  the  Pope.  They  all  adhered  with 
fidelity  to  the  Medicean  party  at  this  crisis  of  their  country's 
fate,  and  all  paid  dearly  for  their  loyalty.  When  Cosimo  I.» 
by  their  efforts,  was  established  in  the  duchy,  he  made  it  one 
of  his  first  cares  to  rid  himself  of  these  too  faithful  servants. 
Baccio  Valori  was  beheaded  after  the  battle  of  Montemurlo  in 
1537  for  practice  with  the  exiles  of  Filippo  Strozzi's  party. 
Francesco  Guicciardini,  Francesco  Vettori,  and  Roberto 
Acciaiuoli  died  in  disgrace  before  the  year  1513 — their  only. 


26  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

crime  being  that  they  had  made  themselves  the  ladder 
whereby  a  Medici  had  climbed  into  his  throne,  and  which 
it  was  his  business  to  upset  when  firmly  seated.  For  the 
heroism  of  Florence  at  this  moment  it  would  be  difficult 
to  find  fit  words  of  panegyric.  The  republic  stood  alone, 
abandoned  by  France  to  the  hot  rage  of  Clement  and  the  cold 
contempt  of  Charles,  deserted  by  the  Powers  of  Italy,  betrayed 
by  lying  captains,  deluged  on  all  sides  with  the  scum  of 
armies  pouring  into  Tuscany  from  the  Lombard  pandemonium 
of  war.  The  situation  was  one  of  impracticable  difficulty. 
Florence  could  not  but  fall.  Yet  every  generous  heart  will 
throb  with  sympathy  while  reading  the  story  of  that  final 
stand  for  independence,  in  which  a  handful  of  burghers 
persisted,  though  congregated  princes  licked  the  dust  from 
feet  of  Emperor  and  Pontiff. 

Charles  had  come  to  assume  the  iron  and  the  golden 
crowns  in  Italy.  He  ought  to  have  journeyed  to  Monza  or  to 
S.  Ambrogio  at  Milan  for  the  first,  and  to  the  Lateran  in 
Eome  for  the  second  of  these  investitures.  An  Emperor  of 
the  Swabian  House  would  have  been  compelled  by  precedent 
and  superstition  to  observe  this  form.  It  is  true  that  the 
coronation  of  a  German  prince  as  the  successor  of  Lombard 
kings  and  Eoman  Augusti,  had  always  been  a  symbolic 
ceremony  rather  than  a  rite  which  ratified  genuine  Imperial 
authority.  Still  the  ceremony  connoted  many  medieval 
aspirations.  It  was  the  outward  sign  of  theories  that  had 
once  exerted  an  ideal  influence.  To  dissociate  the  twofold 
sacrament  from  Milan  and  from  Rome  was  the  same  as 
robbing  it  of  its  main  virtue,  the  virtue  of  a  mystical  con- 
ception. It  was  tantamount  to  a  demonstration  that  the 
belief  in  Universal  Monarchy  had  passed  away.  By  breaking 
the  old  rules  of  his  investiture,  Charles  notified  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  medieval  order,  and  proclaimed  new 
political  ideals  to  the  world.     When  asked  whether  he  would 


CHARLES'S  CORONATION  27 

not  follow  custom  and  seek  the  Lombard  crown  in  Monza,  he 
brutally  replied  that  he  was  not  wont  to  run  after  crowns, 
but  to  have  crowns  running  after  him.  He  trampled  no  less 
on  that  still  more  venerable  religio  loci  which  attached 
imperial  rights  to  Eome.  Together  with  this  ancient  piety, 
he  swept  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  into  the  dust-heap  of 
archaic  curiosities.  By  declaring  his  will  to  be  crowned 
where  he  chose,  he  emphasised  the  modern  state  motto  of 
L'6tat,  c'est  vioi,  and  prepared  the  way  for  a  Pope's  closing 
of  a  General  Council  by  the  phrase  L'Eglise,  c'est  moi. 
Charles  had  sufficient  reasons  for  acting  as  he  did.  The 
Holy  Roman  Empire  ever  since  the  first  event  of  Charles  the 
Great's  coronation,  when  it  justified  itself  as  a  diplomatical 
expedient  for  unifying  Western  Christendom,  had  existed 
more  or  less  as  a  shadow.  Charles  violated  the  duties  which 
alone  gave  the  semblance  of  a  substance  to  that  shadow.  As 
King  of  Italy,  he  had  desolated  the  Lombard  realm  of  which 
he  sought  the  title.  As  Emperor  elect,  he  had  ravished  his 
bride,  the  Eternal  City.  As  suitor  to  the  Pope  for  both  of 
his  expected  crowns,  he  stood  responsible  for  the  multiplied 
insults  to  which  Clement  had  been  so  recently  exposed.  No 
Emperor  had  been  more  powerful  since  Charles  the  Great 
than  this  Charles  V.,  the  last  who  took  his  crowns  in  Italy. 
It  was  significant  that  the  man  in  whose  name  Rome  had 
suffered  outrage,  and  who  was  about  to  detach  Lombardy 
from  the  Empire,  was  by  his  own  will  invested  at  Bologna. 
The  citizens  of  Monza  were  accordingly  bidden  to  send  the 
iron  crown  to  Bologna.  It  arrived  on  February  20,  and  on 
the  22nd  Charles  received  it  from  the  hands  of  Clement  in  the 
chapel  of  the  palace.  The  Cardinal  who  performed  the  cere- 
mony of  unction  was  a  Fleming,  William  Hencheneor,  who  in 
the  Sack  of  Eome  had  bought  his  freedom  for  the  large  sum 
of  40,000  crowns.  On  this  auspicious  occasion  he  cut  off 
half  the  beard  which  he  still  wore  in  sign  of  mourning  ! 


28  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

The  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Urbino  made  their  entrance 
into  Bologna  on  the  same  day.  Francesco  Maria  della 
Rovere,  Duke  of  Urbino,  Prefect  of  Rome,  and  Captain 
General  of  the  armies  of  the  Church,  was  one  of  the  most 
noted  warriors  of  that  time.  Yet  victory  had  rarely  crowned 
his  brows  with  laurels.  Imitating  the  cautious  tactics  of 
Braecio,  and  emulating  the  fame  of  Fabius  Cunctator,  he 
reduced  the  art  of  war  to  a  system  of  manoeuvres,  and  rarely 
risked  his  fortune  in  the  field.  It  was  chiefly  due  to  his 
dilatory  movements  that  the  disaster  of  the  Sack  of  Rome 
was  not  averted.  He  had  been  expelled  by  Leo  X.  from  his 
duchy  to  make  room  for  Lorenzo  de'  Medici,  and  report  ran 
that  a  secret  desire  to  witness  the  humiliation  of  a  Medicean 
Pontiff  caused  him  to  withhold  his  forces  from  attacking  the 
tunmltuary  troops  of  Bourbon.  Francesco  Maria  was  a  man 
of  violent  temper ;  nineteen  years  before,  he  had  murdered 
the  Pope's  Legate,  Cardinal  Francesco  Alidosi,  with  liis 
dagger,  in  the  open  streets  of  Bologna.  His  wife,  Eleanora 
Ippolita  Gonzaga,  presided  with  grace  over  that  brilliant  and 
cultivated  Court  which  Castiglione  made  famous  by  his 
'  Cortegiano.'  The  duke  and  duchess  survive  to  posterity  in 
two  masterpieces  of  portraiture  by  the  hand  of  Titian  which 
now  adorn  the  gallery  of  the  Uffizzi. 

February  24,  which  was  the  anniversary  of  Charles's 
birthday,  had  been  fixed  for  his  coronation  as  Emperor  in 
San  Petronio.  This  church  is  one  of  the  largest  Gothic 
buildings  in  Italy.  Its  facade  occupies  the  southern  side  of 
the  piazza.  The  western  side,  on  the  left  of  the  church,  is 
taken  up  by  the  Palazzo  Pubblico.  In  order  to  facilitate  the 
passage  of  the  Pope  and  Emperor  with  their  Courts  and  train 
of  princes  from  the  palace  to  the  cathedral,  a  wooden  bridge 
wide  enough  to  take  six  men  abreast  was  constructed  from 
an  opening  in  the  Hall  of  the  Ancients.  The  bridge  de- 
scended by  a  gradual  line  to  the  piazza,  broadened  out  into  a 


IN   SAN   PETRONIO  LQ 

platform  before  the  front  of  San  Petronio,  and  then  again 
ascended  through  the  nave  to  the  high  altar.  It  was  covered 
with  blue  draperies,  and  so  arranged  that  the  vast  multitudes 
assembled  in  the  square  and  church  to  see  the  ceremony  had 
free  access  to  it  on  all  sides.  On  the  morning  of  the  24th, 
the  solemn  procession  issued  from  the  palace,  and  defiled 
in  order  down  the  gangway.  Clement  was  borne  aloft  by 
Pontifical  grooms  in  their  red  liveries.  He  wore  the  tiara 
and  a  cope  of  state  fastened  by  Cellini's  famous  stud,  in  which 
blazed  the  Burgundian  diamond  of  Charles  the  Bold.  Charles 
walked  in  royal  robes  attended  by  the  Count  of  Nassau  and 
Don  Pietro  di  Toledo,  the  Viceroy  of  Naples,  who  afterwards 
gave  his  name  to  the  chief  street  in  that  city.  Before  him 
went  the  Marquis  of  Montferrat,  bearing  the  sceptre  ;  Philip, 
Duke  of  Bavaria,  carrying  the  golden  orb  ;  the  Duke  of 
Urbino,  with  the  sword  ;  and  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  holding 
the  imperial  diadem.  This  Duke  of  Savoy  was  uncle  to 
Francis  I.  and  brother-in-law  to  Charles — his  wife,  Beatrice, 
being  a  sister  of  the  Empress,  and  his  sister,  Louise,  mother 
of  the  French  king.  This  double  relationship  made  his 
position  during  the  late  wars  a  difficult  one.  Yet  his  territory 
had  been  regarded  as  neutral,  and  in  the  pacification  of  Italy 
he  judged  it  wise  to  adhere  without  reserve  to  the  victorious 
King  of  Spain.  It  was  noticed  that  Ferrante  di  Sanseverino 
Prince  of  Salerno,  though  known  to  be  in  Bologna,  occupied 
no  post  of  distinction  in  the  Imperial  train.  He  was  closely 
related  to  the  Emperor  by  his  mother,  Maria  of  Aragon,  and 
had  done  good  service  in  the  recent  campaigns  against 
Lautrec.  The  reason  for  this  neglect  does  not  appear.  But 
it  may  be  mentioned  that  some  years  later  he  espoused  the 
French  cause,  and  was  deprived  of  his  vast  hereditary  fiefs. 
In  his  ruin  the  poet  Bernardo,  father  of  Torquato  Tas  so,  was 
involved. 

To  enumerate  all  the  nobles  of  Spain,  Italy  and  Germany, 


30  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

with  the  ambassadors  from  England,  France,  Scotland, 
Hungary,  Bohemia  and  Portugal,  who  swelled  the  Imperial 
corUge  ;  to  describe  the  series  of  ceremonies  by  which  Charles 
was  first  consecrated  as  a  deacon,  anointed,  dressed  and 
undressed,  and  finally  conducted  to  the  Pope  for  coronation  ; 
to  narrate  the  breaking  of  the  bridge  at  one  point,  and  the 
squabbles  between  the  Genoese  and  Sienese  delegates  for 
precedence,  would  be  superfluously  tedious.  The  day  was 
well-nigh  over  when  at  length  Charles  received  the  Imperial 
insignia  from  the  Pope's  hands.  Accipe  gladium  sanctum, 
Accipe  virgam,  Acci]ie  poimim,  Accipe  signum  glorice,  1  As 
Clement  pronounced  these  sentences,  he  gave  the  sword,  the 
sceptre,  the  globe,  and  the  diadem  in  succession  to  the 
Emperor,  who  knelt  before  him.  Charles  bent  and  kissed 
the  Papal  feet.  He  then  rose  and  took  bis  throne  beside  the 
Pope.  It  was  placed  two  steps  lower  than  that  of  Clement. 
The  ceremony  of  coronation  and  inthronisation  being  now 
complete,  Charles  was  proclaimed  :  Bomanorum  Imperator 
seviper  augustus,  mundi  totius  Dominus,  universis  Dominis, 
^inirersis  Frincipihus  et  Populis  semper  venerandus.  When 
Mass  was  over,  Pope  and  Emperor  shook  hands.  At  the 
church-door,  Charles  held  Clement's  stirrup,  and  when  the 
Pope  had  mounted,  he  led  his  palfrey  for  some  paces,  in  sign 
of  filial  submission. 

The  month  of  March  was  distinguished  by  the  arrival  of 
illustrious  visitors.  The  Duchess  of  Savoy,  with  an  escort  of 
eighteen  lovely  maids  of  honour,  made  her  pompous  entry  on 
the  4th,  and  took  up  her  quarters  in  the  Palazzo  Pepoli.  On 
the  6th  came  the  Duke  of  Ferrara,  for  whom  Charles  had 
procured  a  safe-conduct  from  the  Pope.  During  the  Emperor's 
stay  at  Bologna,  Alfonso  d'  Este  had  been  assiduous  in 
paying  him  and  his  Court  small  attentions,  sending  excellent 
provisions  for  the  household  and  furnishing  the  royal  table 
with  game  and  every  kind  of  delicacy.     The  settlement  of  his 


i^FFAIRS  OF  FERRARA  31 

dispute  with  the  Holy  See  was  the  only  important  business 
that  remained  to  be  transacted.  Charles  prevailed  upon  both 
Clement  and  Alfonso  to  state  their  cases  in  writing  and  to 
place  them  in  the  hands  of  jurisconsults  to  report  upon. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  his  own  mind  was  already  made  up 
in  favour  of  the  duke  ;  but  he  did  not  pass  sentence  until  the 
following  December,  nor  was  the  decision  published  before 
April  in  the  year  1531.  The  substance  of  the  final  agreement 
was  as  follows.  Modena,  Eeggio  and  Eubbiera  were  declared 
fiefs  of  the  Empire,  seeing  that  they  had  not  been  included  in 
Pepin's  gift  of  the  Exarchate.  Charles  confirmed  their  in- 
vestiture to  Alfonso,  in  return  for  a  considerable  payment  to 
the  Imperial  Chancery.  He  had  previously  conferred  the 
town  of  Carpi,  forfeited  by  Alberto  Pio  as  a  French  adherent, 
on  the  duke.  Ferrara  remained  a  fief  of  the  Church,  and 
Clement  consented  to  acknowledge  Alfonso's  tenure,  upon  his 
disbursement  of  100,000  ducats.  This  decision  saved  Modena 
to  the  bastard  line  of  Este,  when  Pope  Clement  VI [I.  seized 
Ferrara  as  a  lapsed  fief  in  1598.  In  the  sixty-seven  years 
which  passed  between  the  date  of  Charles's  coronation  and 
the  extinction  of  the  duchy,  Ferrara  enjoyed  the  fame  of  the 
most  brilliant  Court  in  Italy,  and  shone  with  the  lustre 
conferred  on  it  by  men  like  Tasso  and  Guarini. 

The  few  weeks  which  now  remained  before  Charles  left 
Bologna  were  spent  for  the  most  part  in  jousts  and 
tournaments,  visits  to  churches,  and  social  entertainments. 
Veronica  Gambara  threw  her  apartments  open  to  the 
numerous  men  of  letters  who  crowded  from  all  parts  of 
Italy  to  witness  the  ceremony  of  Charles's  coronation.  This 
lady  was  widow  to  the  late  lord  of  Correggio,  and  one  of  the 
two  most  illustrious  women  of  her  time.'  She  dwelt  with 
princely  state  in  a  palace  of  the  Marsili ;  and  here  might  be 

'  See  Italian  Literature,  Vol.  V,  p.  251. 


32  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

seen  the  poets  Bembo,  Mauro,  and  Molza  in  conversation 
with  witty  Berni,  learned  Vida,  stately  Trissino,  and  noble- 
hearted  Marcantonio  Flaminio.  Paolo  Giovio  and  Francesco 
Guicciardini,  the  chief  historians  of  their  time,  were  also  to 
be  found  there,  together  with  a  host  of  literary  aod  diplo- 
matic worthies  attached  to  the  Courts  of  Urbino  and 
Ferrara  or  attendant  on  the  train  of  cardinals,  who,  like 
Ippolito  de'  Medici,  made  a  display  of  culture.  Meanwhile 
the  Dowager  Marchioness  of  Mantua  and  the  Duchess  of 
Savoy  entertained  Italian  and  Spanish  nobles  with  masqued 
balls  and  carnival  processions  in  the  Manzoli  and  Pepoli 
palaces.  Frequent  quarrels  between  hot-blooded  youths 
of  the  rival  nations  added  a  spice  of  chivalrous  romance 
to  love-adventures  in  which  the  ladies  of  these  Courts 
played  a  too  conspicuous  part.  What  still  remained  to  Italy 
of  Kenaissance  splendour,  wit,  and  fashion,  after  the  Sack  of 
Rome  and  the  prostration  of  her  wealthiest  cities,  was  con- 
centrated in  this  sunset  blaze  of  sumptuous  festivity  at 
Bologna.  Nor  were  the  arts  without  illustrious  representa- 
tives. Francesco  Mazzola,  surnamed  II  Parmigianino,  before 
whose  altar-piece  in  his  Roman  studio  the  rough  soldiers  of 
Bourbon's  army  were  said  to  have  lately  knelt  in  adoration, 
commemorated  the  hero  of  the  day  by  painting  Charles 
attended  by  Fame  who  crowned  his  forehead,  and  an  infant 
Hercules  who  handed  him  the  globe.  Titian,  too,  was  there, 
and  received  the  honour  of  several  sittings  from  the  Emperor. 
His  life-sized  portrait  of  Charles  in  full  armour,  seated  on  a 
white  war-horse,  has  perished.  But  it  gave  such  satisfaction 
at  the  moment  that  the  fortunate  master  was  created  knight 
and  count  palatine,  and  appointed  painter  to  the  Emperor 
with  a  fixed  pension.  Titian  also  painted  portraits  of 
Antonio  de  Leyva  and  Alfonso  d'  Avalos,  but  whether  upon 
this  occasion  or  in  1532,  when  he  was  again  summoned  to  the 
Imperial  Court  at  Bologna,  is  not  certain.     From  this  assem- 


SPANISH  DEESS  33 

blage  of  eminent  personages  we  notice  the  absence  of  Pietro 
Aretino.  He  was  at  the  moment  out  of  favour  with 
Clement  VII.  But  independently  of  this  obstacle,  he  may 
well  have  thought  it  imprudent  to  quit  his  Venetian  retreat 
and  expose  himself  to  the  resentment  of  so  many  princes 
whom  he  had  alternately  loaded  with  false  praises  and 
bemired  with  loathsome  libels. 

People   observed    that    the   Emperor  in   his    excursions 
through   the   streets  of  Bologna  usually  wore  the    Spanish 
habit.      He   was   dressed   in   black   velvet,   with   black  silk 
stockings,  black  shoes,  and  a  black  velvet  cap  adorned  with 
black  feathers.     This  sombre  costume  received  some   rehef 
from  jewels  used  for  buttons  ;  and  the  collar  of  the  Golden 
Fleece   shone    upon   the   monarch's    breast.      So    slight    a 
circumstance   would  scarcely   deserve  attention,  were  It  not 
that  in  a  short  space  of  time  it  became  the  fashion  throughout 
Italy  to  adopt  the  subdued  tone  of  Spanish  clothing.     The 
upper  classes  consented  to  exchange  the  varied  and  brilliant 
dresses  which  gave  gaiety  to  the  earlier  Renaissance  for  the 
dismal  severity  conspicuous  in  Morone's  masterpieces,  in  the 
magnificent  gloom  of  the  Genoese  Brignoli,  and  in  the  por- 
traits of  Roman  Inquisitors.     It  is  as  though  the  whole  race 
had  put  on  mourning  for  its   loss  of  liberty,  its  servitude 
to   foreign   tyrants   and   ecclesiastical    hypocrites.      Nor    is 
it  fanciful  to  detect   a   note  of  moral    sadness  and  mental 
depression  corresponding  to  these  black  garments  in  the  faces 
of  that  later  generation.     How  different  is  Tasso's  melan- 
choly grace  from  Ariosto's  gentle  joyousness  ;  the  dried-up 
precision  of  Baroccio's  Francesco  Maria  della  Rovere  from 
the  sanguine  joviality  of  Titian's  first  duke  of  that  name  ! 
One  of  the  most  acutely  critical  of  contemporary  poets  felt 
the  change  which  I  have  indicated,  and  ascribed  it   to  the 
same  cause.     Campanella  wrote  as  follows  : 

D 


34  EENAISSAlsCE  IN  ITALY 

Black  robes  befit  our  age.     Once  tliey  were  white  ; 
Next  luany-hued  ;  now  dark  as  Al'ric's  Moor, 
Night-black,  infernal,  traitorous,  obscure, 
Horrid  with  ignorance  and  sick  with  fright. 

For  very  shame  we  shun  all  colours  bright, 
Who  moiu-n  our  end — the  tyrants  we  endure, 
The  chains,  the  noose,  the  lead,  the  snares,  the  lure — 
Our  dismal  heroes,  our  souls  sunk  in  night. 

In  the  midst  of  this  mirth-making  there  arrived  on 
March  20  an  embassy  from  England,  announcing  Henry  VIII. 's 
resolve  to  divorce  himself  at  any  cost  from  Katharine  of 
Aragon.  This  may  well  have  recalled  both  Pope  and  Em- 
peror to  a  sense  of  the  gravity  of  European  affairs.  The 
schism  of  England  was  now  imminent.  Germany  was  dis- 
tracted by  Protestant  revolution.  The  armies  of  Caesar  were 
largely  composed  of  mutinous  Lutherans.  Some  of  these 
soldiers  had  even  dared  to  overthrow  a  colossal  statue  of 
Clement  VII.  and  grind  it  into  powder  at  Bologna ;  and  this 
outrage,  as  it  appears,  went  unpunished.  The  very  troops 
employed  in  reducing  rebellious  Florence  were  commanded 
by  a  Lutheran  general ;  and  Clement  began  to  fear  that,  after 
Charles's  departure,  the  Prince  of  Orange  might  cross  the 
Apennines  and  expose  the  Papal  person  to  the  insults  of 
another  captivity  in  Bologna.  Nor  were  the  gathering  forces 
of  revolutionary  Protestants  alone  ominous.  Though  Soli- 
man  had  been  repulsed  before  Vienna,  the  Turks  were  still 
advancing  on  the  eastern  borders  of  the  Empire.  Their 
fleets  swept  the  Levantine  waters,  while  the  pirate  dynasties 
of  Tunis  and  Algiers  threatened  the  whole  Mediterranean 
coast  with  ruin.  Charles,  still  uncertain  what  part  he  should 
taie  in  the  disputes  of  Germany,  left  Bologna  for  the  Tyrol 
on  March  23.  Clement,  on  the  last  day  of  the  month,  took 
his  journey  by  Loreto  to  Eome. 

It  will  be  useful,  at   this  point,  to  recapitulate  the  net 


I 


EESULTS   OF   CnAELES'S  ADMINISTRATION  S.) 

results  of  Charles's  administration  of  Italian  affairs  in  1530. 
The  kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicilies,  with  the  island  of  Sardinia 
and  the  Duchy  of  Milan,  became  Spanish  provinces,  and  were 
ruled  henceforth  by  viceroys.  The  House  of  Este  was  con- 
firmed in  the  Duchy  of  Ferrara,  including  Modena  and 
Reggio.  The  Duchies  of  Savoy  and  Mantua  and  the 
Marquisate  of  Montferrat,  which  had  espoused  the  Spanish 
cause,  were  undisturbed.  Genoa  and  Siena,  both  of  them 
avowed  allies  of  Spain,  the  former  under  Spanish  protection, 
the  latter  subject  to  Spanish  coercion,  remained  with  the 
name  and  empty  privileges  of  republics.  Venice  had  made 
her  peace  with  Spain,  and  though  she  was  still  strong  enough 
to  pursue  an  independent  policy,  she  showed  as  yet  no  incli- 
nation, and  had,  indeed,  no  power,  to  stir  up  enemies  against 
the  Spanish  autocrat.  The  Duchy  of  Urbino,  recognised  by 
Eome  and  subservient  to  Spanish  influence,  was  permitted 
to  exist.  The  Papacy  once  more  assumed  a  haughty  tone, 
relying  on  the  firm  alliance  struck  with  Spain.  This  league, 
as  years  went  by,  was  destined  to  grow  still  closer,  still  more 
fruitful  of  results. 

Florence  alone  had  been  excepted  from  the  articles  of 
peace.  It  was  still  enduring  the  horrors  of  the  memorable 
siege  when  Clement  left  Bologna  at  the  end  of  May.  The 
last  hero  of  the  republic,  Francesco  Ferrucci,  fell  fighting  at 
Gavignana  on  August  2.  Their  general,  Malatesta  Baglioni, 
broke  his  faith  with  the  citizens.  Finally,  on  August  12,  the 
town  capitulated.  Alessandro  de'  Medici,  who  had  received 
the  title  of  Duke  of  Florence  from  Charles  at  Bologna,  took 
up  his  residence  there  in  July  1531,  and  held  the  State  by 
help  of  Spanish  mercenaries  under  the  command  of  Alessan- 
dro Vitelli.  When  he  was  murdered  by  his  cousin  in  1537, 
Cosimo  de'  Medici,  the  scion  of  another  branch  of  the  ruling 
family,  was  appointed  Duke.  Charles  V.  recognised  his  title, 
and  Cosimo  soon  showed  that  he  determined  to  be  master  in 

d2 


36  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

his  own  duchy.  He  crushed  the  exiled  party  of  Fihppo 
Strozzi,  v,'ho  attempted  a  revolution  of  the  State,  extermi- 
nated its  leaders,  and  contrived  to  rid  himself  of  the  powerful 
adherents  who  had  placed  him  on  the  throne.  But  he 
remained  a  subservient  though  not  very  willing  ally  of  Spain  ; 
and  when  he  expelled  Alessandro  Vitelli  from  the  fortress 
that  commanded  Florence,  he  admitted  a  Spaniard,  Don 
Juan  de  Luna,  in  his  stead.  During  the  petty  wars  of 
1552-56  which  Henri  II.  carried  on  with  Charles  V.  in  Italy, 
Siena  attempted  to  shake  oft'  the  yoke  of  a  Spanish  garrison 
established  there  in  1547  under  the  command  of  Don  Hurtado 
de  Mendoza.  The  citizens  appealed  to  France,  who  sent  them 
the  great  Marshal,  Piero  Strozzi,  brother  of  Cosimo's  van- 
quished enemy  Filippo.  Cosimo  through  these  years  supported 
the  Spanish  cause  with  troops  and  money,  hoping  to  guide 
events  in  his  own  interest.  At  length,  by  the  aid  of  Gian 
Giacomo  Medici,  sprung  from  an  obscure  Milanese  family,  who 
had  been  trained  in  the  Spanish  methods  of  warfare,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  subduing  Siena.  He  now  reaped  the  fruits  of  his 
Spanish  policy.  In  1557  Philip  II.  conceded  the  Sienese  terri- 
tory, reserving  only  its  forts,  to  the  Duke  of  Florence,  who  in 
15G9  obtained  the  title  of  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany  from  Pope 
Pius  V.  This  title  was  confirmed  by  the  Empire  in  1575  to 
his  son  Francesco. 

Thus  the  republics  of  Florence  and  Siena  were  ex- 
tinguished. The  Grand  Duchy  of  Tuscany  was  created.  It 
became  an  Italian  power  of  the  first  magnitude,  devoted  to 
the  absolutist  principles  of  Spanish  and  Papal  sovereignty. 
The  further  changes  which  took  place  in  Italy  after  the  year 
1530,  turned  equally  to  the  profit  of  Spain  ar^d  Rome. 
These  were  principally  the  creation  of  the  Duchy  of  Parma 
for  the  Farnesi  (1545-1559),  of  which  I  shall  have  to  speak 
in  the  next  chapter ;  the  resumption  of  Ferrara  by  the 
Papacy  in  1597,  which  reduced  the  House  of   Este  to  the 


SPAIN   TARAMOUNT   IN   ITALY  37 

smaller  fiefs  of  Modeua  and  Keggio ;  the  acquisition  of 
Montferrat  by  Mantua  in  1536 ;  the  cession  of  Saluzzo  to 
Savoy  in  1598,  and  the  absorption  of  Urbino  into  the  Papal 
domains  in  1631. 

It  was  hoped  when  Charles  and  Clement  proclaimed  the 
pacification  of  Italy  at  Bologna  on  the  last  day  of  1529,  that 
the  peninsula  would  no  longer  be  the  theatre  of  wars  for 
supremacy  between  the  French  and  Spaniards.  This  expec- 
tation proved  delusive  ;  for  the  struggle  soon  broke  out  again. 
The  people,  however,  suffered  less  extensively  than  in 
former  years ;  because  the  Spanish  party,  supported  by 
Papal  authority,  was  decidedly  predominant.  The  Italian 
princes,  whether  they  liked  it  or  not,  were  compelled  to 
follow  in  the  main  a  Spanish  policy.  At  length,  in  1559,  by 
the  Peace  of  Cateau  Cambresis  signed  between  Henri  II.  and 
Philip  II.,  the  French  claims  were  finally  abandoned,  and  the 
Spanish  hegemony  was  formally  acknowledged.  The  later 
treaty  of  Vervins,  in  1598,  ceded  Saluzzo  to  the  Duchy  of 
Savoy,  and  shut  the  gates  of  Italy  to  French  interference. 

Though  the  people  endured  far  less  misery  from  foreign 
armies  in  the  period  between  1530  and  1600  than  they  had 
done  in  the  period  from  1494  to  1527,  yet  the  state  of  the 
country  grew  ever  more  and  more  deplorable.  This  was 
due  in  the  first  instance  to  the  insane  methods  of  taxation 
adopted  by  the  Spanish  viceroys,  who  held  monopolies  of 
corn  and  other  necessary  commodities  in  their  hands,  and 
who  invented  imposts  for  the  meanest  articles  of  consump- 
tion. Their  example  was  followed  by  the  Pope  and  petty 
princes.  Alfonso  II.  of  Ferrara,  for  instance,  levied  a  tenth 
on  all  produce  which  passed  his  city  gates,  and  on  the 
capital  engaged  in  every  contract.  He  monopohsed  the  sale 
of  salt,  flour,  bread ;  and  imposed  a  heavy  tax  on  oil. 
Sixtus  V.  by  exactions  of  a  like  description  and  by  the  sale  of 
^numberless  offices,  accumulated  a  vast  sum  of  money,  much 


33  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

of  winch    bore  heavy  interest.     He  was  so  ignorant  of  the 
first  principle  of  political  economy  as  to  lock  up  the  accruing 
treasure  in  the  Castle  of  S.  Angelo.     The  rising  of  Masaniello 
in  Naples  was  simply  due  to  the  exasperation  of  the  common 
folk  at  having  even  fruit  and  vegetables  taxed.     In  addition 
to  such  financial  blunders,  we  must  take  into  account  the 
policy  pursued  by  all  princes  at  this  epoch,  of  discouraging 
commerce  and  manufactures.     Thus  Cosimo  I.   of  Tuscany 
induced  the  old  Florentine  families  to  withdraw  their  capital 
from  trade,  sink  it  in   land,  create  entails  in  perpetuity  on 
eldest    sons,    and    array    themselves    with    gimcrack   titles 
which  he  liberally  supplied.     Even  Venice   showed  at  this 
epoch    a    contempt   for  the   commerce  which  had   brought 
her    into  a  position   of   unrivalled   splendour.      This   wilful 
depression    of    industry    was  partly  the    result  of    Spanish 
aristocratic  habits,  which  now  invaded  Italian  society.     But  it 
was  also  deliberately  chosen  as  a  means  of  extinguishing 
freedom.     Finally,  if  war  proved  now  less  burdensome,  the 
exhaustion  of  Italy  and  the  decay  of  military  spirit  rendered 
the  people  liable  to  the  scourge  of  piracy.     The  whole  sea- 
coast  was    systematically   plundered   by  the  navies  of   Bar- 
barossa    and   Dragut.     The   inhabitants   of  the    ports    and 
inland  villages  were  carried  off  into  slavery,  and  many  of  the 
Italians  themselves  drove  a  brisk  trade  in  the  sale  of  their 
compatriots.     Brigandage,   following   in   the   wake   of   agri- 
cultural depression  and  excessive  taxation,  depopulated  the 
central  provinces.     All  these  miseries  were  exacerbated  by 
frequent  recurrences  of  plagues  and  famines. 

It  is  characteristic  of  the  whole  tenor  of  Italian  history 
that,  in  spite  of  the  virtual  hegemony  which  the  Spaniards 
now  exercised  in  the  peninsula,  the  nation  continued  to 
exist  in  separate  parcels,  each  of  which  retained  a  certain 
individuality.  That  Italy  could  not  have  been  treated  as  a 
single  province  by  the  Spanish   autocrat  will  be  manifest, 


INTERNAL  STATE  OF  ITALY  39 

when  we  consider  the  European  jealousy  to  which  so 
summary  an  exhibition  of  force  would  have  given  rise.  It  is 
also  certain  that  the  Papacy,  which  had  to  be  respected, 
would  have  resisted  an  openly  declared  Spanish  despotism. 
But  more  powerful,  I  think,  than  all  these  considerations 
together,  was  the  past  prestige  of  the  Italian  States. 
Europe  was  not  prepared  to  regard  that  brilliant  and 
hitherto  respected  constellation  of  commonwealths,  from 
which  all  intellectual  culture,  arts  of  life,  methods  of  com- 
merce, and  theories  of  political  existence  had  been  diffused, 
as  a  single  province  of  the  Spanish  monarchy.  The 
Spaniards  themselves  were  scarcely  in  a  position  to  enter- 
tain the  thought  of  reducing  the  peninsula  to  bondage, 
vi  et  armis.  And  if  they  had  attempted  any  measure 
tending  to  this  result,  they  would  undoubtedly  have  been 
resisted  by  an  alliance  of  the  European  Powers.  What 
they  sought,  and  what  they  gained,  was  a  preponderating 
influence  in  each  of  the  parcels  which  they  recognised  as 
nominally  independent. 

The  intellectual  and  social  life  of  the  Italians,  though 
much  reduced  in  vigour,  was  therefore  still,  as  formerly, 
concentrated  in  cities  marked  by  distinct  local  qualities,  and 
boastful  of  their  ancient  glories.  The  Courts  of  Ferrara 
and  Urbino  continued  to  form  centres  for  literary  and  artistic 
coteries.  Venice  remained  the  stronghold  of  mental  un- 
restraint and  moral  license,  where  thinkers  uttered  their 
thoughts  with  tolerable  freedom,  and  libertines  indulged 
their  tastes  unhindered.  Rome  early  assumed  novel  airs  of 
piety,  and  external  conformity  to  austere  patterns  became 
the  fashion  here.  Yet  the  Papal  capital  did  not  wholly  cease 
to  be  the  resort  of  students  and  of  artists.  The  univer- 
sities maintained  themselves  in  a  respectable  position — far 
different,  indeed,  from  that  which  they  had  held  in  the  last 
century,  yet  not  ignoble.     Much  was  being  learned  on  many 


40  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

lines   of  study   divergent  from   those   prescribed  by   earlier 
humanists.     Padua,   in   particular,   distinguished    itself    for 
medical   researches.     This   was   the  flourishing  time,  more- 
over,  of   Academies,   in    which,    notwithstanding    nonsense 
talked    and  foolish  tastes   indulged,   some   solid  work    was 
done  for  literature  and  science.     The  names  of  the  Cimento, 
Delia  Crusca,  and  Palazzo  Vernio  at  Florence,  remind  us  of 
not    unimportant    labours   in    physics,   in   the   analysis    of 
language,  and  in  the   formation  of  a  new  dramatic  style  of 
music.     At  the  same  time  the  resurgence  of  popular  literature 
and  the  creation  of  popular  theatrical  types  deserve   to  be 
particularly  noticed.      It  is   as   though   the  Italian    nation 
at  this  epoch,  suffocated  by  Spanish  etiquette,  and  poisoned 
by  Jesuitical  hypocrisy,  sought  to  expand  healthy  lungs  in 
free  spaces  of  open  air,  indulging  in  dialectical  niceties  and 
immortalising  street-jokes  by  the  genius  of  masqued  comedy. 
This   most  ancient  and  intensely   vital   race   had  given 
Europe   the    Koman    Eepublic,    the    Eoman    Empire,    the 
system   of     Eoman    law,    the    Eomance    languages,    Latin 
Christianity,  the  Papacy,  and,  lastly,  all  that  is  included  in 
the  art  and  culture  of  the  Eenaissance.     It  was  time,  perhaps, 
that  it  should  go  to  rest  a  century  or  so,  and  watch  uprising 
nations — the  Spanish,  Enghsh,  French,  and   so   forth — stir 
their  stalwart   limbs  in   common  strife  and  novel  paths  of 
pioneering  industry. 

After  such  fashion  let  us,  then,  if  we  can  contrive  to  do 
so,  regard  the  Italians  during  their  subjection  to  the  Church 
and  Austria.  Were  it  not  for  these  consolatory  reflections,  and 
for  the  present  reappearance  of  the  nation  in  a  new  and 
previously  unapprehended  form  of  unity,  the  history  of  the 
Counter-Eeformation  period  would  be  almost  too  painful  for 
investigation.  What  the  Italians  actually  accomplished 
during  this  period  in  art,  learning,  science,  and  literature, 
was  indeed  more   than  enough  to  have   conferred   undying 


SPAIN  AND  THE   CHURCH  ,41 

lustre  on  such  races  as  the  Dutch  or  Germans  at  the  same 
epoch.  But  it  would  be  ridiculous  to  compare  Italians  with 
either  Dutchmen  or  Germans  at  a  time  when  Italy  was  still 
so  incalculably  superior.  Compared  with  their  own  standard, 
compared  with  what  they  might  have  achieved  under  more 
favourable  conditions  of  national  independence,  the  products 
of  this  age  are  saddening.  The  tragic  elements  of  my 
present  theme  are  summed  up  in  the  fact  that  Italy  during 
the  Counter-Reformation  was  inferior  to  Italy  during  the 
Renaissance,  and  that  this  inferiority  was  due  to  the  inter- 
ruption of  vital  and  organic  processes  by  reactionary  forces. 
It  would  not  be  just  to  condemn  Spain  and  the  Papacy 
because,  being  reactionary  powers,  they  quenched  for  three 
centuries  the  genial  light  of  Italy.  We  must  rather  bear  in 
mind  that  both  Spain  and  the  Papacy  were  at  that  time 
cosmopolitan  factors  of  the  first  magnitude,  with  perplexing 
world-problems  confronting  them.  Charles  bore  upon  his 
shoulders  the  concerns  of  the  Empire,  the  burden  of  the 
German  revolution,  and  the  distracting  anxiety  of  a  duel 
with  Islam.  When  his  son  bowed  to  the  yoke  of  govern- 
ment, he  had  to  meet  the  same  perplexities,  complicated 
with  Netherlands  in  revolt,  England  in  antagonism,  and 
France  in  dubious  ferment.  A  succession  of  Popes  were 
hampered  by  painful  European  questions,  which  the  instinct 
of  self-preservation  taught  them  to  regard  as  paramount. 
They  were  fighting  for  existence  ;  for  the  Catholic  creed  ;  for 
their  own  theocratic  sovereignty.  They  held  strong  cards. 
But  against  them  were  drawn  up  the  battalions  of  heresy, 
free  thought,  political  insurgence  in  the  modern  world.  The 
Zeitgeist  that  has  made  us  what  we  are,  had  begun  to 
organise  stern  opposition  to  the  Church.  It  was  natural 
enough  that  both  the  Spanish  autocrat  and  the  successor  of 
S.  Peter  should  at  this  crisis  have  regarded  Italian  afiairs  as 
subordinate  in  importance  to  wider  matters  which  demanded 


42  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

their  attention.  Yet  if  we  shift  our  point  of  view  from  this 
high  vantage-ground  of  Imperial  and  Papal  anxieties,  and 
place  ourselves  in  the  centre  of  Italy  as  our  post  of  observa- 
tion, it  will  be  apparent  that  nothing  more  ruinous  for  the 
prosperity  of  the  Italian  people  could  have  been  devised  than 
the  joint  autocracy  accorded  at  Bologna  to  two  cosmopolitan 
but  non-national  forces  in  their  midst.  An  alien  monarchy 
greedy  for  gold,  a  panic-stricken  hierarchy  in  terror  for  its 
life,  warped  the  tendencies  and  throttled  the  energies  of  the 
most  artistically  sensitive,  the  most  heroically  innovating  of 
the  existing  races.  However  we  may  judge  the  merits  of  the 
Spaniards,  they  were  assuredly  not  those  which  had  brought 
Italy  into  the  first  rank  of  European  nations.  The  events 
of  a  single  century  proved  that,  far  from  being  able  to 
govern  other  peoples,  Spain  was  incapable  of  self-government 
on  any  rational  principle.  Whatever  may  have  been  the 
policy  thrust  upon  the  chief  of  Latin  Christianity  in  the 
desperate  struggle  with  militant  rationalism,  the  repressive 
measures  which  it  felt  bound  to  adopt  were  eminently  per- 
nicious to  a  race  like  the  Italians,  who  showed  no  disposition 
for  religious  regeneration,  and  who  were  yet  submitted  to  the 
tyranny  of  ecclesiastical  discipline  and  intellectual  intolerance 
at  every  point. 

The  settlement  made  by  Charles  V.  in  1530,  and  the 
various  changes  which  took  place  in  the  duchies  between  that 
date  and  the  end  of  the  century,  had  then  the  effect  of 
rendering  the  Papacy  and  Spain  omnipotent  in  Italy.  These 
kindred  autocrats  were  joined  in  firm  alliance,  except  during 
the  brief  period  of  Paul  IV. 's  French  policy,  which  ended  in 
the  Pope's  complete  discomfiture  by  Alva  in  1557.  They 
used  their  aggregated  forces  for  the  riveting  of  spiritual, 
political,  and  social  chains  upon  the  modern  world.  What 
they  only  partially  effected  in  Europe  at  large,  by  means  of 
S.  Bartholomew  massacres,  exterminations  of  Jews  in  Toledo 


CATHOLIC   TYRANNY  43 

and  of  Mussulmans  in  Granada,  holocausts  of  victims  in  the 
Low  Countries,  wars  against  French  Huguenots  and  German 
Lutherans,  naval  expeditions  and  plots  against  the  state  of 
England,  assassinations  of  heretic  princes,  and  occasional 
burning  of  free-thinkers,  they  achieved  with  plenary  success 
in  Italy.  The  centre  of  the  peninsula,  from  Ferrara  to 
Terracina,  lay  at  the  discretion  of  the  Pope.  The  Two 
Sicilies,  Sardinia  and  the  Duchy  of  Milan  were  absolute 
dependencies  of  the  Spanish  crown.  Tuscany  was  linked  by 
ties  of  interest,  and  by  the  stronger  bonds  of  terrorism,  to 
Spain.  The  insignificant  principalities  of  Mantua,  Modena, 
Parma  could  not  do  otherwise  than  submit  to  the  same 
predominant  authority.  It  is  not  worth  while  to  take  into 
account  the  tiny  republics  of  Genoa  and  Lucca.  Their 
history  through  this  period,  though  not  so  uneventful,  is 
scarcely  less  insignificant  than  that  of  San  Marino.  Venice 
alone  stood  independent,  still  powerful  enough  to  extinguish 
Bedmar's  Spanish  conspiracy  in  silence,  still  proud  enough  to 
resist  the  encroachments  of  Paul  V.  with  spirit,  yet  sensible 
of  her  decline  and  spending  her  last  energies  on  warfare  with 
the  Turk. 

At  the  close  of  the  century,  by  the  Peace  of  Vervins  in 
1598  and  two  subsequent  treaties,  Spain  and  France  settled 
their  long  dispute.  France  was  finally  excluded  from  Italy 
by  the  cession  of  Saluzzo  to  Savoy,  while  Savoy  at  the  same 
moment,  through  the  loss  of  its  Burgundian  provinces,  became 
an  Italian  power.  The  old  antagonism  which,  dating  from 
the  Guelf  and  Ghibelline  contentions  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
had  taken  a  new  form  after  the  Papal  investiture  of  Charles 
of  Anjou  with  the  kingdoms  of  Sicily  and  Naples,  now  ceased. 
That  antique  antagonism  of  parties,  alien  to  the  home  inter- 
ests of  Italy,  had  been  exasperated  by  the  rivalry  of  Angevine 
and  Aragonese  princes  ;  had  assumed  formidable  intensity 
after  the  invasion  of  Charles  VIII.  in  1494  ;  and  had  expanded 


44  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

under  the  reigns  of  Louis  XII.  and  Francis  I.  into  an  open 
struggle  between  France  and  Spain  for  the  supremacy  of 
Italy.  It  now  was  finally  terminated  by  the  exclusion  of  the 
French  and  the  acknowledged  over-lordship  of  the  Spaniard. 
But  though  peace  seemed  to  be  secured  to  a  nation  tortured 
by  so  many  desolating  wars  of  foreign  armies,  the  Italians 
regarded  the  cession  of  Saluzzo  with  despondency.  The 
partisans  of  national  independence  and  political  freedom  had 
become,  however  illogically,  accustomed  to  consider  France 
as  their  ally.'  They  now  beheld  the  gates  of  Italy  closed 
against  the  French  ;  they  saw  the  extinction  of  their  ancient 
Guelf  policy  of  calling  French  arms  into  Italy.  They  felt 
that  rest  from  strife  was  dearly  bought  at  the  price  of  pros- 
trate servitude  beneath  Spanish  and  Austrian  Hapsburgs, 
Spanish  Bourbons,  and  mongrel  princelings  bred  by  cross- 
ing these  stocks  with  decaying  scions  of  Italian  nobility. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  was  the  destiny  which  lay  before 
them  for  nearly  two  centuries  after  the  signing  of  the  Peace 
of  Vervins. 

Yet  the  cession  of  Saluzzo  was  really  the  first  dawn  of 
hope  for  Italy.  It  determined  the  House  of  Savoy  as  an 
Italian  dynasty,  and  brought  for  the  first  time  into  the  sphere 
of  purely  Italian  interests  that  province  from  which  the 
future  salvation  of  the  nation  was  to  come.  From  1598 
until  1870  the  destinies  of  Italy  were  bound  up  with  the 
advance  of  Savoy  from  a  duchy  to  a  kingdom,  with  its  growth 
in  wealth,  military  resources  and  political  self-consciousness, 
and  with  its  ultimate  acceptance  of  the  task,  accomplished  in 
our  days,  of  freeing  Italy  from  foreign  tyranny  and  forming 
a  single  nation  out  of  many  component  elements.  Those 
component  elements  by  their  diversity  had  conferred  lustre 
on  the  race  in  the  Middle  Ages,  by  their  jealousies  had  wrecked 

'  See,  for  instance,  temp.  Henri  IV.,  Sarpi's  Letters,  vol.  i.  p.  233. 


"  ITALIAN   SERVITUDE  4.5 

its  independence  in  the  Eenaissance,  and  by  their  weakness 
had  left  it  at  the  period  of  the  Counter-Eeformation  a  helpless 
prey  to  Papal  and  Spanish  despotism. 

The  levelling  down  of  the  component  elements  of  the 
Italian  race  beneath  a  common  despotism,  which  began  in  the 
period  I  have  chosen  for  this  work,  was  necessary  perhaps 
before  Italy  could  take  her  place  as  a  united  nation  gifted 
with  constitutional  self-government  and  independence. 
Except,  therefore,  for  the  sufferings  and  the  humiliations 
inflicted  on  her  people ;  except  for  their  servitude  beneath  the 
most  degrading  forms  of  ecclesiastical  and  temporal  tyranny  ; 
except  for  the  annihilation  of  their  beautiful  Renaissance 
culture ;  except  for  the  depression  of  arts,  learning,  science, 
and  literature,  together  with  the  enfeeblement  of  political 
energy  and  domestic  morality ;  except  for  the  loathsome 
domination  of  hypocrites  and  persecutors  and  informers ; 
except  for  the  Jesuitical  encouragement  of  every  secret  vice 
and  every  servile  superstition  which  might  emasculate  the 
race  and  render  it  subservient  to  authority — except  for  these 
appalling  evils,  we  have  no  right  perhaps  to  deplore  the 
settlement  of  Italy  by  Charles  V.  in  1580,  or  the  course  of 
subsequent  events.  For  it  is  tolerably  certain  that  some  such 
levelling  down  as  then  commenced  was  needed  to  bring  the 
constituent  States  of  Italy  into  accord  ;  and  it  is  indubitable, 
as  I  have  had  occasion  to  point  out,  that  the  political  force 
which  eventually  introduced  Italy  into  the  European  system 
of  federated  nations,  was  determined  in  its  character,  if  not 
created,  then.  None  the  less,  the  history  of  this  period 
(1530-1600)  in  Italy  is  a  prolonged,  a  solemn,  an  inexpres- 
sibly heartrending  tragedy. 

It  is  the  tragic  history  of  the  eldest  and  most  beautiful, 
the  noblest  and  most  venerable,  the  freest  and  most  gifted  of 
Europe's  daughters,  delivered  over  to  the  devilry  that  issued 
from   the  most  incompetent   and   arrogantly  stupid   of  the 


46  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

European  sisterhood,  and  to  the  cruelty,  inspired  by  panic, 
of  an  impious  theocracy.  When  we  use  these  terms  to  de- 
signate the  Papacy  of  the  Counter-Keformation,  it  is  not  that 
we  forget  how  many  of  those  Popes  were  men  of  blameless 
private  life  and  serious  views  for  Catholic  Christendom. 
"When  we  use  these  terms  to  designate  the  Spanish  race  m 
the  sixteenth  century,  it  is  not  that  we  are  ignorant  of 
Spanish  chivalry  and  colonising  enterprise,  of  Spanish 
romance,  or  of  the  fact  that  ^pain  produced  great  painters, 
great  dramatists,  and  one  great  novelist  in  the  brief  period  of 
her  glory.  We  use  them  deliberately,  however,  in  both  cases  ; 
becaixse  the  Papacy  at  this  period  committed  itself  to  a  policy 
of  immoral,  retrograde,  and  cowardly  repression  of  the  most 
generous  of  human  impulses  under  the  pressure  of  selfish 
terror ;  because  the  Spaniards  abandoned  themselves  to  a 
dark  fiend  of  religious  fanaticism  ;  because  they  were  merci- 
less in  their  conquests  and  unintelligent  in  their  administra- 
tion of  subjugated  provinces  ;  because  they  glutted  their  lusts 
of  avarice  and  hatred  on  industrious  folk  of  other  creeds 
within  their  borders  ;  because  they  cultivated  barren  pride 
and  self-conceit  in  social  life  ;  because  at  the  great  epoch  of 
Europe's  reawakening  they  chose  the  wrong  side  and  adhered 
to  it  with  fatal  obstinacy.  This  obstinacy  was  disastrous  to 
their  neighbours  and  ruinous  to  themselves.  During  the 
short  period  of  three  reigns  (between  1598  and  1700)  they 
sank  from  the  first  to  the  third  grade  in  Europe,  and  saw  the 
sceptre  passing  in  the  New  World  from  their  hands  to  those 
of  more  normally  constituted  races.  That  the  self-abandon- 
ment to  sterilising  passions  and  ignoble  persecutions  which 
marked  Spain  out  for  decay  in  the  second  half  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  rendered  her  the  curse  of  her  dependencies,  can 
in  part  be  ascribed  to  the  enthusiasm  aroused  in  previous 
generations  by  the  heroic  conflict  with  advancing  Islam,  is  a 
thesis  capable  of  demonstration-     Yet  none  the  less  is  it  true 


EVILS   OF   SrANISIl   RULE  47 

that  her  action  at  that  period  was  calamitous  to  herself  and 
little  short  of  destructive  to  Italy. 

After  the  year  1530  seven  Spanish  devils  entered  Italy. 
These  were  the  devil  of  the  Inquisition,  with  stake  and 
torture-room,  and  war  declared  against  the  will  and  soul  and 
heart  and  intellect  of  man  ;  the  devil  of  Jesuitry,  with  its  sham 
learning,  shameless  lying,  and  casuistical  economy  of  sins ; 
the  devil  of  vise-royal  rule,  with  its  life-draining  monopolies 
and  gross  incapacity  for  government ;  the  devil  of  an  insolent 
soldiery,  quartered  on  the  people,  clamorous  for  pay,  outi-age- 
ous  in  their  lusts  and  violences ;  the  devil  of  fantastical 
taxation,  levying  tolls  upon  the  bare  necessities  of  life,  and 
drying  up  the  founts  of  national  well-being  at  their  sources  ; 
the  devil  of  petty -princedom,  wallowing  in  sloth  and  cruelty 
upon  a  pinchbeck  throne  ;  the  devil  of  effeminate  hidalgoism, 
ruinous  in  expenditure,  mean  and  grasping,  corrupt  in 
private  life,  in  public  ostentatious,  vain  of  titles,  cringing  to 
its  masters,  arrogant  to  its  inferiors.  In  their  train  these 
brought  with  them  seven  other  devils,  their  pernicious  off- 
spring :  idleness,  disease,  brigandage,  destitution,  ignorance, 
superstition,  hypocritically  sanctioned  vice.  These  fourteen 
devils  were  welcomed,  entertained,  and  voluptuously  lodged 
in  all  the  fairest  provinces  of  Italy.  The  Popes  opened  wide 
for  them  the  gates  of  outraged  and  depopulated  Eome. 
Dukes  and  marquises  fell  down  and  worshipped  the  golden 
image  of  the  Spanish  Belial-Moloch — that  hideous  idol  whose 
face  was  blackened  with  soot  from  burning  human  flesh,  and 
whose  skirts  were  dabbled  with  the  blood  of  thousands  slain 
in  wars  of  persecution.  After  a  tranquil  sojourn  of  some 
years  in  Italy,  these  devils  had  everywhere  spread  desolation 
and  corruption.  Broad  regions,  like  the  Patrimony  of  S.  Peter 
and  Calabria,  were  given  over  to  marauding  bandits  ;  wide 
tracts  of  fertile  country,  like  the  Sienese  Maremma,  were 
abandoned  to  malaria ;  wolves  prowled  through  empty  villages 


48  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

round  Milan ;  in  every  city  the  pestilence  swept  off  its 
hundreds  daily ;  manufactures,  commerce,  agriculture,  the 
industries  of  town  and  rural  district,  ceased ;  the  Courts 
swarmed  with  petty  nohles,  who  vaunted  paltry  titles,  and 
resigned  their  wives  to  cicisbei  and  their  sons  to  sloth ;  art 
and  learning  languished  ;  there  was  not  a  man  who  ventured 
to  speak  out  his  thought  or  write  the  truth ;  and  over  the 
Dead  Sea  of  social  putrefaction  floated  the  sickening  oil  of 
Jesuitical  hypocrisy. 


49 


CHAPTER    II 

THE    PAPACY   AND    THE    TEIDENTINE    COUNCIL 

The  Counter-Reformation— Its  Intellectual  and  Moral  Character — Causes 
of  the  Gradual  Extinction  of  Renaissance  Energy — Transition  from 
the  Renaissance  to  the  Catholic  Revival— New  Religious  Spirit  in 
Italy — Attitude  of  Italians  toward  German  Reformation — Oratory  of 
Divine  Love— Gasparo  Contarini  and  the  Moderate  Reformers — New 
Religious  Orders — Paul  III. — His  early  History  and  Education  — 
Political  Attitude  between  France  and  Spain — Creation  of  the  Duchy 
of  Parma — Imminence  of  a  General  Council — Review  of  previous 
Councils — Paul's  Uneasiness — Opens  a  Council  at  Trent  in  1542  — 
Protestants   virtually  excluded,  and  Catholic  Dogmas  confirmed  in 

the  first  Sessions — Death  of  Paul  in  1549— Julius  III Paul  IV. — 

Character  and  Ruling  Passions  of  G.  P.  Caraffa— His  Futile  Oppo- 
sition to  Spain— Tyranny  of  his  Nephews — Their  Downfall— Paul 
devotes  himself  to  Church  Reform  and  the  Inquisition — Pius  IV. — 
His  Minister  Morone— Diplomatic  Temper  of  this  Pope — His  Man- 
agement of  the  Council — Assistance  rendered  by  his  Nephew  Carlo 
Borromeo — Alarming  State  of  Northern  Europe — The  Council  re- 
opened at  Trent  in  1562 — Subsequent  History  of  the  Council — It 
closes  with  a  complete  Papal  Triumph  in  1563 — Place  of  Pius  IV.  in 
History — Pius  V. — The  Inquisitor  Pope — Population  of  Rome— Social 
Corruption — Sale  of  Offices  and  Justice — Tridentine  Reforms  depress 
Wealth — Ascetic  Purity  of  Manners  becomes  fashionable — Piety — 
The  Catholic  Reaction  generates  the  Counter-Reformation — Battle  of 
Lepanto — Gregory  XIII. — His  Relatives— Policy  of  Enriching  the 
Church  at  Expense  of  the  Barons — Brigandage  in  States  of  the 
Church — Sixtus  V. — His  Stern  Justice — Rigid  Economy — Great 
Public  Works — Taxation — The  City  of  Rome  assumes  its  present 
Form — Nepotism  in  the  Counter-Reformation  Period — Various  Es- 
timates of  the  Wealth  accumulated  by  Papal  Nephews — Rise  of 
Princely  Roman  Families. 

It  is  not  easy  to  define  the  intellectual  and  moral  changes 
which    passed    over   Italy   in   the    period   of    the   Couuter- 

VI  E 


60  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

Reformation ;  Mt  is  still  less  easy  to  refer  those  changes 
to  distinct  causes.  Yet  some  analysis  tending  toward  such 
definition  is  demanded  from  a  writer  who  has  undertaken  to 
treat  of  Italian  culture  and  manners  between  the  years  1530 
and  1600. 

In  the  last  chapter  I  attempted  to  describe  the  depth 
of  servitude  to  which  the  States  of  Italy  were  severally 
reduced  at  the  end  of  the  wars  between  France  and  Spain. 
The  desolation  of  the  country,  the  loss  of  national  indepen- 
dence, and  the  dominance  of  an  alien  race,  can  be  counted 
among  the  most  important  of  those  influences  which  produced 
the  changes  in  question.  Whatever  opinions  we  may  hold 
regarding  the  connexion  between  political  autonomy  and 
mental  vigour  in  a  people,  it  can  hardly  be  disputed  that 
a  sudden  and  universal  extinction  of  liberty  must  be 
injurious  to  arts  and  studies  that  have  grown  up  under  free 
institutions. 

But  there  were  other  causes  at  work.  Among  these  a 
prominent  place  should  be  given  to  an  alteration  in  the 
intellectual  interests  of  the  Italians  themselves.  The  original 
impulses  of  the  Renaissance,  in  scholarship,  painting,  sculp- 
ture, architecture,  and  vernacular  poetry,  had  been  exhausted. 
Humanism,  after  recovering  the  classics  and  forming  a  new 
ideal  of  culture,  was  sinking  into  pedantry  and  academic 
erudition.  Painting  and  sculpture,  having  culminated  in  the 
great  work  of  Michelangelo,  tended  toward  a  kind  of  empty 
mannerism.  Architecture  settled  down  into  the  types  fixed 
by  Palladio  and  Barozzi.     Poetry  seemed  to  have  reached  its 

>  I  may  here  state  that  I  intend  to  use  this  term  Counter-Eeformation 
to  denote  the  reform  of  the  Catholic  Church,  which  was  stimulated  by 
the  German  Eeformation,  and  which,  when  the  Council  of  Trent  had 
fixed  the  dogmas  and  discipline  of  Latin  Christianity,  enabled  the 
Papacy  to  assume  a  militant  policy  in  Europe,  whereby  it  regained  a 
large  portion  of  the  provinces  that  had  previously  lapsed  to  Lutheran 
and  Calvinistic  dissent. 


CRITICISM   AND   FORMALISM  51 

highest  point  of  development  in  Ariosto.  The  main  motives 
supplied  to  art  by  medieval  traditions  and  humanistic  en- 
thusiasm were  Avorked  out.  Nor  was  this  all.  The  Renais- 
sance had  created  a  critical  spirit  which  penetrated  every 
branch  of  art  and  letters.  It  was  not  possible  to  advance 
further  on  the  old  lines ;  yet  painters,  sculptors,  architects, 
and  poets  of  the  rising  generation  had  before  their  eyes  the 
masterpieces  of  their  predecessors,  in  their  minds  the  precepts 
of  the  learned.  All  alike  were  rendered  awkward  and  self- 
conscious  by  the  sense  of  labouring  at  a  disadvantage,  and  by 
the  dread  of  academical  censorship. 

In  truth,  this  critical  spirit,  which  was  the  final  product 
of  the  Renaissance  in  Italy,  favoured  the  development  of  new 
powers  in  the  nation :  it  hampered  workers  in  the  elder 
spheres  of  art,  literature,  and  scholarship ;  but  it  set  thinkers 
upon  the  track  of  those  investigations  which  we  call  scientific. 
I  shall  endeavour,  in  a  future  chapter,  to  show  how  the 
Italians  were  now  upon  the  point  of  carrying  the  ardour 
of  the  Renaissance  into  fresh  fields  of  physical  discovery 
and  speculation,  when  their  evolution  was  suspended  by  the 
Catholic  Reaction.  But  here  it  must  suffice  to  observe  that 
formalism  had  succeeded  by  the  operation  of  natural  influences 
to  the  vigour  and  inventiveness  of  the  national  genius  in  the 
luain  departments  of  literature  and  fine  art. 

If  we  study  the  development  of  other  European  races,  we 
shall  find  that  each  of  them  in  turn,  at  i^s  due  season,  passed 
through  similar  phases.  The  medieval  period  ends  in  the 
efflorescence  of  a  new  delightful  energy,  which  gives  a  Rabelais, 
a  Shakspere,  a  Cervantes  to  the  world.  The  Renaissance 
riots  itself  away  in  Marinism,  Gongorism,  Euphuism,  and  the 
affectations  of  the  Hotel  Rambouillet.  This  age  is  succeeded 
by  a  colder,  more  critical,  more  formal  age  of  obedience  to 
fixed  canons,  during  which  scholarly  efi'orts  are  made  to 
purify  style  and  impose  laws  on  taste.     The  ensuing  period 


52  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

of  sense  is  also  marked  by  profounder  inquiries  into  nature 
and  more  exact  analysis  of  mental  operations.  The  correct 
school  of  poets,  culminating  in  Dryden  and  Pope,  hold  sway 
in  England  ;  while  Newton,  Locke,  and  Bentley  extend  the 
sphere  of  science.  In  France  the  age  of  Kabelais  and  Mon- 
taigne yields  place  to  the  age  of  Eacine  and  Descartes. 
Germany  was  so  distracted  by  religious  wars,  Spain  was  so 
downtrodden  by  the  Inquisition,  that  they  do  not  offer  equally 
luminous  examples.'  It  may  be  added  that  in  all  these 
nations  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  and  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  centuries  are  marked  by  a  similar  revolt  against 
formality  and  common  sense,  to  which  we  give  the  name  of 
the  Eomantic  movement. 

Quitting  this  sphere  of  speculation,  we  may  next  point 
out  that  the  European  system  had  undergone  an  incalculable 
process  of  transformation.  Powerful  nationalities  were  in 
existence,  who,  having  received  their  education  from  Italy, 
were  now  baginning  to  think  and  express  thought  with 
marked  originality.  The  Italians  stood  no  longer  in  a 
relation  of  uncontested  intellectual  superiority  to  these 
peoples,  while  they  met  them  under  decided  disadvantages 
at  all  points  of  political  efficiency.  The  Mediterranean  had 
ceased  to  be  the  high  road  of  commercial  enterprise  and 
naval  energy.  Charles  V.'s  famous  device  of  the  two  columns, 
with  its  motto  Phis  Ultra,  indicated  that  illimitable  horizons 
had  been  opened,  that  an  age  had  begun  in  which  Spain, 
England  and  Holland  should  dispute  the  sovereignty  of  the 
Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans.  Italy  was  left,  with  diminished 
forces  of  resistance,  to  bear  the  brunt  of  Turk  and  Arab 
depredations.  The  point  of  gravity  in  the  civilised  world  had 
shifted.  The  Occidental  nations  looked  no  longer  toward  the 
South  of  Europe. 

'   With  regard  to  .Germany,  see  Mr.  T.  E.  Perry's  acute  and  philo- 
sophical study,  entitled  From  Opitz  to  Lessing  (Boston). 


CATHOLIC   EEVIA^IL  53 

While  these  various  causes  were  in  operation,  Catholic 
Christianity  showed  signs  of  re-awakening.  The  Keformation 
called  forth  a  new  and  sincere  spirit  in  the  Latin  Church ; 
new  antagonisms  were  evoked,  and  new  efforts  after  self- 
preservation  had  to  be  made  by  the  Papal  hierarchy.  The 
centre  of  the  world-wide  movement  which  is  termed  the 
Counter-Eeformation  was  naturally  Rome.  Events  had 
brought  the  Holy  See  once  more  into  a  position  of  promi- 
nence. It  was  more  powerful  as  an  Italian  State  now, 
through  the  support  of  Spain  and  the  extinction  of  national 
independence,  than  at  any  previous  period  of  history.  In 
Catholic  Christendom  its  prestige  was  immensely  augmented 
by  the  Council  of  Trent.  At  the  same  epoch,  the  foreigners 
who  dominated  Italy,  threw  themselves  with  the  enthusiasm 
of  fanaticism  into  this  Revival.  Spain  furnished  Rome  with 
the  militia  of  the  Jesuits  and  with  the  engines  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion. The  Papacy  was  thus  able  to  secure  successes  in  Italy 
which  were  elsewhere  only  partially  achieved.  It  followed 
that  the  moral,  social,  political  and  intellectual  activities  of 
the  Italians  at  this  period  were  controlled  and  coloured  by 
influences  hostile  to  the  earlier  Renaissance.  Italy  under- 
went a  metamorphosis,  prescribed  by  the  Papacy  and  enforced 
by  Spanish  rule.  In  the  process  of  this  transformation  the 
people  submitted  to  rigid  ecclesiastical  discipline,  an  adopted 
without  assimilating  the  customs  of  a  foreign  troop  of 
despots. 

At  first  sight  we  may  wonder  that  the  race  which  had 
shone  with  such  incomparable  lustre  from  Dante  to  Ariosto, 
and  which  had  done  so  much  to  create  modern  culture  for 
Europe,  should  so  quietly  have  accepted  a  retrogressive 
revolution.  Yet,  when  we  look  closer,  this  is  not  surprising. 
The  Italians  were  fatigued  with  creation,  bewildered  by  the 
complexity  of  their  discoveries,  uncertain  as  to  the  immediate 
course  before  them.     The  Renaissance  had  been  mainly  the 


54  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

work  of  a  select  few.  It  had  transformed  society  without 
permeating  the  masses  of  the  people.  Was  it  strange  that 
the  majority  should  reflect  that,  after  all,  the  old  ways  are 
the  hest  ?  This  led  them  to  approve  the  Catholic  Eevival. 
Was  it  strange  that,  after  long,  distracting,  aimless  wars,  they 
should  hail  peace  at  any  price  ?  This  lent  popular  sanction 
to  the  Spanish  hegemony,  in  spite  of  its  obvious  drawbacks. 

These  may  be  reckoned  the  main  conditions  which  gave  a 
peculiar  but  not  easily  definable  complexion  of  languor, 
melancholy,  and  dwindling  vitality  to  nearly  every  manifesta- 
tion of  Italian  genius  in  the  second  half  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  which  well-nigh  sterilised  that  genius  during 
tlie  two  succeeding  centuries.  In  common  with  the  rest  o 
Europe,  and  in  'Consequence  of  an  inevitable  alteration  of 
their  mental  bias,  they  had  lost  the  blithe  spontaneity  of  the 
Eenaissance.  But  they  were  at  the  same  time  suffering  from 
grievous  exhaustion,  humiliated  by  the  tyranny  of  foreign 
despotism,  and  terrorised  by  ecclesiastical  intolerance.  In  their 
case,  therefore,  a  sort  of  moral  and  intellectual  atrophy  becomes 
gradually  more  and  more  perceptible.  The  clear  artistic  sense 
of  rightness  and  of  beauty  yields  to  doubtful  taste.  The 
frank  audacity  of  the  Renaissance  is  superseded  by  cringing 
timidity,  lumbering  dulness,  somnolent  and  stagnant  acquies- 
cence in  accepted  formulae.  At  first  the  best  minds  of  the 
nation  fret  and  rebel,  and  meet  with  the  dungeon  or  the  stake 
as  the  reward  of  contumacy.  In  the  end  everybody  seems  to 
be  indifferent,  satisfied  with  vacuity,  enamoured  of  insipidity. 
The  brightest  episode  in  .this  dreary  period  is  the  emergence 
of  modern  music  with  incomparable  sweetness  and  lucidity. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  change  which  I  have 
adumbrated,  passed  rapidly  over  the  Italian  spirit.  When 
Paul  III.  succeeded  Clement  on  the  Papal  throne  in  1534, 
some  of  the  giants  of  the  Renaissance  still  survived,  and  much 
of  their  gr^eat  work  was  yet  to  be  accomplished.     Michelangelo 


THE   COUNTER-REFORMATION   PERIOD  5o 

had  neither  painted  the  Last  Judgment  nor  planned  the 
cupola  which  crowns  S.  Peter's.  Cellini  had  not  cast  his 
Perseus  for  the  Loggia  de'  Lanzi,  nor  had  Palladio  raised 
San  Giorgio  from  the  sea  at  Venice.  Pietro  Aretino  still 
swaggered  in  lordly  insolence ;  and  though  Machiavelli  was 
dead,  the  '  silver  histories  '  of  Guicciardini  remained  to  be 
written.  Bandello,  Giraldi  and  II  Lasca  had  not  published 
their  Novelle,  nor  had  Cecchi  given  the  last  touch  to 
Florentine  comedy.  It  was  chiefly  at  Venice,  which  pre- 
served the  ancient  forms  of  her  oligarchical  independence, 
that  the  grand  style  of  the  Renaissance  continued  to  flourish. 
Titian  was  in  his  prime  ;  the  stars  of  Tintoretto  and  Veronese 
had  scarcely  risen  above  the  horizon.  Sansovino  was  still 
producing  masterpieces  of  picturesque  beauty  in  architecture. 

In  order  to  understand  the  transition  of  Italy  from  the 
Eenaissance  to  the  Counter-Reformation  manner,  it  will  be 
well  to  concentrate  attention  on  the  history  of  the  Papacy 
during  the  eight  reigns  of  Paul  III.,  Julius  III.,  Paul  IV., 
Pius  IV.,  Pius  v.,  Gregory  XIII.,  Sixtus  V.,  and  Clement 
VIII.'  In  the  first  of  these  reigns  we  hardly  notice  that  the 
Eenaissance  has  passed  away.  In  the  last  we  are  aware  of  a 
completely  altered  Italy.  And  we  perceive  that  this  altera- 
tion has  been  chiefly  due  to  the  ecclesiastical  policy  which 
brought  the  Council  of  Trent  to  a  successful  issue  in  the 
reign  of  Pius  IV. 

Before  engaging  in  this  review  of  Papal  history,  I  must 
give  some  brief  account  of  the  more  serious  religious  spirit 
which  had  been  developed  within  the  Italian  Church  ;  since 
the  determination  of  this  spirit  toward  rigid  Catholicism  in 
the  second  half  of  the  sixteenth  century  decided  the  character 
of  Italian  manners  and  culture.  Protestantism  in  the  strict 
sense  of  the  term  took  but  little  hold  upon  Italian  society. 
It  is  true  that  the  minds  of  some  philosophical  students  were 
'  These  eight  reigns  cover  a  space  of  time  from  1534  to  1605 


56  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

deeply  stirred  by  the  audacious  discussion  of  theological 
principles  in  Germany.  Such  men  had  been  rendered 
receptive  of  new  impressions  by  the  Platonising  speculations 
of  Ficino  and  Pico  della  Mirandola,  as  well  as  by  the  criti- 
cism of  the  Bible  in  its  original  languages  which  formed  a 
subordinate  branch  of  humanistic  education.  They  had, 
furthermore,  been  powerfully  affected  by  the  tribulations  of 
Eome  at  the  time  of  Bourbon's  occupation,  and  had  grown  to 
regard  these  as  a  divine  chastisement  inflicted  on  the  Church 
for  its  corruption  and  ungodliness.  Lutheranism  so  far 
influenced  their  opinions  that  they  became  convinced  of  the 
necessity  of  a  return  to  the  simpler  elements  of  Christianity 
in  creed  and  conduct.  They  considered  a  thoroughgoing 
reform  of  the  hierarchy  and  of  all  Catholic  institutions  to 
be  indispensable.  They  leant,  moreover,  with  partiality  to 
some  of  the  essential  tenets  of  the  Reformation,  notably  to 
the  doctrines  of  justification  by  faith  and  salvation  by  the 
merits  of  Christ,  and  also  to  the  principle  that  Scripture  is 
the  sole  authority  in  matters  of  belief  and  discipline.  Thus 
both  the  Cardinals  Morone  and  Contarini,  the  poet  Flaminio, 
and  the  nobles  of  the  Colomia  family  in  Naples  who 
imbibed  the  teaching  of  Valdes,  fell  under  the  suspicion  of 
heterodoxy  on  these  points.  But  it  was  characteristic  of 
the  members  of  this  school  that  they  had  no  will  to  withhold 
allegiance  from  the  Pope  as  chief  of  Christendom.  They 
shrank  with  horror  from  the  thought  of  encouraging  a 
schism  or  of  severing  themselves  from  the  communion  of 
Catholics.  The  essential  difference  between  Italian  and 
Teutonic  thinkers  on  such  subjects  at  this  epoch  seems  to 
have  been  this  :  Italians  could  not  cease  to  be  Catholics 
without  at  the  same  time  ceasing  to  be  Christians.  They 
could  not  accommodate  their  faith  to  any  of  the  compromises 
suggested  by  the  Reformation.  Even  when  they  left  their 
country  in  a  spirit  of  rebeUion,  they  felt  ill  at  ease  both  with 


ATTITUDE   OF  ITALIAN  FEEE-THINKERS  57 

Lutherans  and  Calvinists.  Like  Bernardino  Ochino  and 
the  Anti-Trinitarians  of  the  Socinian  sect,  they  wandered 
restlessly  through  Europe,  incapable  of  settling  down  in 
communion  with  any  one  of  the  established  forms  of 
Protestantism.  Calvin  at  Geneva  instituted  a  real  crusade 
against  Italian  thinkers,  who  differed  from  his  views.  He 
drove  Valentino  Gentile  to  death  on  the  scaffold ;  and 
expelled  Gribaldi,  Simone,  Biandrata,  Alciati,  Negro. 
Most  of  these  men  found  refuge  in  Poland,  Transylvania, 
even  Turkey. ' 

There  were  bold  speculators  in  Italy  enough,  who  had 
practically  abandoned  the  Catholic  faith.  But  the  majority 
of  these  did  not  think  it  worth  their  while  to  make  an 
open  rupture  with  the  Church.  Theological  hair-splitting 
reminded  them  only  of  the  medieval  scholasticism  from  which 
they  had  been  emancipated  by  classical  culture.  They  were 
less  interested  in  questions  touching  the  salvation  of  the 
individual  or  the  exact  nature  of  the  sacraments  than  in 
metaphysical  problems  suggested  by  the  study  of  antique 
philosophers,  or  new  theories  of  the  material  universe.  The 
indifference  of  these  men  in  religion  rendered  it  easy  for 
them  to  conform  in  all  external  points  to  custom.  Their 
fundamental  axiom  was  that  a  scientific  thinker  could  hold 
one  set  of  opinions  as  a  philosopher,  and  another  set  as  a 
Christian.  Their  motto  was  the  celebrated  Foris  tit  maris, 
intus  ut  libet.^  Nor  were  ecclesiastical  authorities  dis- 
satisfied with  this  attitude  during  the  ascendency  of  human- 
istic culture.  It  was,  indeed,  the  attitude  of  Popes  like  Leo, 
Cardinals  like  Bembo.  And  it  only  revealed  its  essential 
weakness  when  the  tide  of  general  opinion,  under  the  blast 
of  Teutonic  revolutionary  ideas,  turned  violently  in  favour  of 

'  See  Berti's  Vita  cli  G.  Bruno,  pp.  105-108. 

^  This  maxim  is   ascribed   to  the  materialistic  philosopher  Cre- 
monini. 


58  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

formal    orthodoxy.     Then  indeed  it   became  dangerous    to 
adopt  the  position  of  a  Pomponazzo. 

The  mental  attitude  of  such  men  is  so  well  illustrated  by 
a  letter  written  by    Ceho  Calcagnini  to  Peregrino  Morato, 
that   I  shall   not  hesitate  to  transcribe  it  here.     It  seems 
that  Morato  had  sent  his  correspondent  some  treatise  on  the 
theological  questions  then  in  dispute  ;  and  Calcagnini  replies  : 
'  I  have  read  the  book  relating  to  the   controversies   so 
much  agitated  at  present.     I  have  thought  on  its  contents, 
and  weighed  them  in  the  balance  of  reason.     I  find  in  it 
nothing  which  may  not  be  approved  and  defended,  but  some 
things  which,  as  mysteries,  it  is  safer  to  suppress  and  conceal 
than  to  bring  before  the  common  people,  inasmuch  as  they  per- 
tained to  the  primitive  and  infant  state  of  the  Church.     Now, 
when  the  decrees  of  the  Fathers  and  long  usage  have  intro- 
duced  other  modes,   what    necessity  is   there   for   reviving 
antiquated  practices  which  have  long  fallen  into  desuetude, 
especially  as  neither  piety  nor  the  salvation  of  the  soul  is 
concerned  with  them  ?     Let  us  then,  I  pray  you,  allow  these 
things    to    rest.      Not    that    I    disapprove    of    their  being 
embraced  by   scholars  and  lovers  of  antiquity  ;  but  I  would 
not  have   them  communicated  to  the  common   people  and 
those  who  are  fond  of  innovations,  lest  they  give  occasion  to 
strife   and  sedition.     There  are   unlearned    and   unqualified 
persons  who  having,    after  long   ignorance,   read   or   heard 
certain  new  opinions  respecting  baptism,  the  marriage  of  the 
clergy,   ordination,  the   distinction  of    days    and    food,  and 
public  penitence,   instantly   conceive   that  these  things  are 
to  be  stiffly  maintained   and   observed.     Wherefore,    in  my 
opinion,  the  discussion  of  these  points  ought  to  be  confined 
to  the  initiated,  that  so  the  seamless  coat  of  our  Lord  may 
not  be  rent  and  torn.  .  .  .     Seeing  it  is  dangerous  to  treat 
such  things  before  the  multitude  and  in  pubhc  discourses,  I 
must  deem  it   safest  to  "  speak  with  the  many  and  think 


RELIGIOUS   COTERIES  59 

with   the   few,"  and   to  keep   in  mind  the  advice  of  Paul, 
"  Hast  thou  faith  ?     Have  it  to  thyself  before  God."  '  ' 

The  new  religious  spirit  which  I  have  attempted  to 
characterise  as  tinctured  by  Protestant  opinions  but  dis- 
inclined for  severance  from  Rome,  manifested  itself  about  the 
same  time  in  several  groups.  One  of  them  was  at  Rome, 
where  a  society  named  the  Oratory  of  Divine  Love,  including 
from  fifty  to  sixty  members,  began  to  meet  as  early  as  the 
reign  of  Leo  X.,  in  the  Trastevere.  This  pious  association 
included  men  of  very  various  kinds.  Sadoleto,  Giberto,  and 
Contarini  were  here  in  close  intimacy  with  Gaetano  di 
Thiene,  the  sainted  founder  of  the  Theatines,  and  with 
his  friend  Caraffa,  the  founder  of  the  Roman  Inquisition. 
Venice  was  the  centre  of  another  group,  among  whom  may 
be  mentioned  Reginald  Pole,  Gasparo  Contarini,  Luigi 
Priuli,  and  Antonio  Bruccioli,  the  translator  of  the  Bible 
from  the  original  tongues  into  Italian.  The  poet  Marc- 
antonio  Flaminio  became  a  member  of  both  societies ;  and 
was  furthermore  the  personal  friend  of  the  Genoese  Cardinals 
Sauli  and  Fregoso,  whom  we  have  a  right  to  count  among 
thinkers  of  the  same  class.  Flaminio,  though  he  died  in  the 
Catholic  communion,  was  so  far  suspected  of  heresy  that 
his  works  were  placed  upon  the  Index  of  1559.  In  Naples 
Juan  Valdes  made  himself  the  leader  of  a  similar  set  of 
men.  His  views,  embodied  in  the  work  of  a  disciple,  and 
revised  by  Marcantonio  Flaminio, '  On  the  Benefits  of  Christ's 
Death,'  revealed  strong  Lutheran  tendencies,  which  at  a 
later  period  would  certainly  have  condemned  him  to  per- 
petual imprisonment  or  exile.  This  book  had  a  wide 
circulation  in  Italy,  and  was  influential  in  directing  the 
minds  of  thoughtful  Christians  to  the  problems  of  Justifi- 
cation.     It   was  ascribed   to  Aonio  Paleario,  who  suffered 

'  C.  Calcagnini  Opera,  p.  195.     I  am  indebted  for  the  above  version 
to  McCrie's  Reformation  in  Italy,  p.  18B. 


60  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

martyrdom  at  Rome  for  maintaining  doctrines  similar  to 
those  of  Valdes.^  Round  him  gathered  several  members  of 
the  great  Colonna  family,  notably  Vespasiano,  Duke  of 
Palliano,  and  his  wife,  the  star  of  Italian  beauty,  Giulia 
Gonzaga.  Vittoria  Colonna,  Marchioness  of  Pescara,  imbibed 
the  new  doctrines  in  the  same  circle  ;  and  so  did  Bernardino 
Ochino.  Modena  could  boast  another  association,  which 
met  in  the  house  of  Grillenzone  ;  while  Ferrara  became  the 
headquarters  of  a  still  more  pronounced  reforming  party 
under  the  patronage  of  the  Duchess,  Renee  of  France, 
daughter  of  Louis  XII.  These  various  societies  and  coteries 
were  bound  together  by  ties  of  friendship  and  literary  corre- 
spondence, and  were  indirectly  connected  with  less  fortunate 
reforming  theologians,  with  Aonio  Paleario,  Bernardino 
Ochino,  Antonio  dei  Pagliaricci,  Carnesecchi,  and  others,  whose 
tragic  history  will  form  a  part  of  my  chapter  on  the  Inquisition. 
It  does  not  fall  within  the  province  of  this  chapter  to 
write  an  account  of  what  has,  not  very  appropriately,  been 
called  the  Reformation  in  Italy.  My  purpose  in  the  present 
book  is,  not  to  follow  the  fortunes  of  Protestantism,  but  to 
trace  the  sequel  of  the  Renaissance,  the  merging  of  its 
impulse  in  new  phases  of  European  development.  I  shall 
therefore  content  myself  with  pointing  out  that  at  the 
opening  of  Paul  III.'s  reign,  there  was  widely  diffused 
throughout  the  chief  Italian  cities  a  novel  spirit  of  religious 
earnestness  and  enthusiasm,  which  as  yet  had  taken  no 
determinate  direction.  This  spirit  burned  most  highly  in 
Gasparo  Contarini,  who  in  1541  was  commissioned  by  the 
Pope  to  attend  a  conference  at  Rechensburg  for  the  discussion 

'  Though  as  many  as  40,000  copies  were  published,  this  book  was 
60  successfully  stamped  out  that  it  seemed  to  be  irrecoverably  lost. 
The  library  of  St.  John's  College  at  Cambridge,  however,  contains  two 
Italian  copies  and  one  French  copy.  That  of  Laibaeh  possesses  an 
Italian  and  a  Croat  version.     Cantu,  Gli  Eretici,  vol.  i.  p.  360. 


NEW   SPIRITUAL   EARNESTNESS  61 

of  terms  of  reconciliation  with  the  Lutherans.  He  succeeded 
in  drawing  up  satisfactory  articles  on  the  main  theological 
points  regarding  human  nature,  original  sin,  redemption,  and 
justification.  These  were  accepted  by  the  Protestant  theo- 
logians at  Eechensburg  and  might  possibly  have  been  ratified 
in  Rome,  had  not  the  Congress  been  broken  up  by  Contarini's 
total  failure  to  accommodate  differences  touching  the  Pope's 
supremacy  and  the  conciliar  principle.'  He  made  con- 
cessions to  the  Reformers,  which  roused  the  fury  of  the 
Roman  Curia.  At  the  same  time  political  intrigues  were 
set  on  foot  in  France  and  Germany  to  avert  a  reconciliation 
which  would  have  immeasurably  strengthened  the  Emperor's 
position.  The  moderate  sections  of  both  parties,  Lutheran 
and  Catholic,  failed  at  Rechensburg.  Indeed,  it  was  in- 
evitable that  they  should  fail ;  for  the  breach  between  the 
Roman  Church  and  the  Reformation  was  not  of  a  nature  to 
be  healed  over  at  this  date.  Principles  were  involved  which 
could  not  now  be  harmonised,  and  both  parties  in  the  dispute 
were  on  the  point  of  developing  their  own  forces  with  fresh 
internal  vigour. 

The  Italians  who  desired  reform  of  the  Church  were  now 
thrown  back  upon  the  attempt  to  secure  this  object  within 
the  bosom  of  Catholicism.  At  the  request  of  Paul  III.  they 
presented  a  memorial  on  ecclesiastical  abuses,  which  was 
signed  by  Contarini,  Caraffa,  Sadoleto,  Pole,  Fregoso, 
Giberto,  Cortese  and  Aleander.  These  Cardinals  did  not 
spare  plain  speech  upon  the  burning  problem  of  Papal 
misgovernment. 

Meanwhile,  the  new  spirit  began  to  manifest  itself  in 
the  foundation  of  orders  and  institutions  tending  to  purifica- 
tion of  Church  discipline.     The  most  notable  of  these  was 

'  It  should  be  observed,  howevei-,  that  Luther  rejected  the  article  on 
justification,  and  that  Caraffa  in  Home  used  his  influence  to  prevent  its 
acceptance  by  Paul  III. 


62  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

the  order  of  Theatines  established  by  Thiene  and  Caraffa. 
Its  object  was  to  improve  the  secular  priesthood,  with  a  view 
to  which  end  seminaries  were  opened  for  the  education  of 
priests,  who  took  monastic  vows  and  devoted  themselves  to 
special  observance  of  their  clerical  duties,  as  preachers, 
administrators  of  the  sacraments,  visitors  of  the  poor  and 
sick. 

A  Venetian,  Girolamo  Miani,  at  the  same  period  founded 
a  congregation,  called  the  Somascan,  for  the  education  of  the 
destitute  and  orphaned,  and  for  the  reception  of  the  sick  and 
infirm  into  hospitals.  The  terrible  state  in  which  Lombardy 
had  been  left  by  war  rendered  this  institution  highly  valuable. 
Of  a  similar  type  was  the  order  of  the  Barnabites,  who 
were  first  incorporated  at  Milan,  charged  with  the  per- 
formance of  acts  of  mercy,  education,  preaching,  and  other 
forms  of  Christian  ministration.  It  may  be  finally  added 
that  the  Camaldolese  and  Franciscan  orders  had  been  in  part 
reformed  by  a  spontaneous  movement  within  their  bodies. 

If  we  compare  the  spirit  indicated  by  these  efforts  in  the 
first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century  with  that  of  the  earlier 
Eenaissance,  it  will  be  evident  that  the  Italians  were  ready 
for  religious  change.  They  sink,  however,  into  insignificance 
beside  two  Spanish  institutions  which  about  the  same  period 
added  their  weight  and  influence  to  the  Catholic  revival.  I 
mean,  of  course,  the  Inquisition  and  the  Jesuit  order.  Paul  III. 
empowered  Caraffa  in  1542  to  re-establish  the  Inquisition 
in  Eome  upon  a  new  basis  resembling  that  of  the  Spanish 
Holy  Office.  The  same  Pope  sanctioned  and  confirmed  the 
Company  of  Jesus  between  the  years  1540  and  1543.  The 
establishment  of  the  Inquisition  gave  vast  disciplinary  powers 
to  the  Church  at  the  moment  when  the  Council  of  Trent 
fixed  her  dogmas  and  proclaimed  the  absolute  authority 
of  the  Popes.  At  the  same  time  the  Jesuits,  devoted  by 
their   founder  in   blind  obedience — 2:)crinde   ac  cadaver — to 


ALESSANDRO   FARNESE  63 

the  service  of  the  Papacy,  penetrated  Italy,  Spain,  France, 
Germany,  and  the  transatlantic  colonies. 

The  Pope  who  succeeded  Clement  VII.  in  1534  was  in  all 
ways  fitted  to  represent  the  transition  which  I  have  indicated. 
Alessandro  Farnese  sprang  from  an  ancient  but  decayed 
family  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Bolsena,  several  of  whose 
members  had  played  a  foremost  park  in  the  medieval  revolu- 
tions of  Orvieto.  While  still  a  young  man  of  twenty-five, 
he  was  raised  to  the  Cardinalate  by  Alexander  VI.  This 
advancement  he  owed  to  the  influence  of  his  sister  Giulia, 
surnamed  La  Bella,  who  was  then  the  Borgia's  mistress.  It 
is  characteristic  of  an  epoch  during  which  the  bold  traditions 
of  the  fifteenth  century  still  lingered,  that  the  undraped 
statue  of  this  Giulia  (representing  Vanity)  was  carved  for  the 
basement  of  Paul  III.'s  monument  in  the  choir  of  S.  Peter's. 
The  old  stock  of  the  Farnesi,  once  planted  in  the  soil  of 
Papal  corruption  at  its  most  licentious  period,  struck  firm 
roots  and  flourished.  Alessandro  was  born  in  14G8,  and 
received  a  humanistic  education  according  to  the  methods  of 
the  earlier  Renaissance.  He  studied  literature  with  Pom- 
ponius  Laetus  in  the  Roman  Academy,  and  frequented  the 
gardens  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  at  Florence.  His  character 
and  intellect  were  thus  formed  under  the  influences  of  the 
classical  revival  and  of  the  Pontifical  Curia,  at  a  time  when 
pagan  morality  and  secular  policy  had  obliterated  the  ideal  of 
Catholic  Christianity.  His  sister  was  the  Du  Barry  of  the 
Borgian  Court.  He  was  himself  the  father  of  several  ille- 
gitimate children,  whom  he  acknowledged,  and  on  whose 
advancement  by  the  old  system  of  Papal  nepotism  he  spent 
the  best  years  of  his  reign.  Both  as  a  patron  of  the  arts 
and  as  an  elegant  scholar  in  the  Latin  and  Italian  languages, 
Alessandro  showed  throughout  his  life  the  efiects  of  this 
early  training.  He  piqued  himself  on  choice  expression, 
whenever  he   was   called   upon   to   use   the  pen   in  studied 


64  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

documents,  or  to  answer  ambassadors  in  public  audiences.  To 
bis  taste  and  love  of  splendour  Eome  owes  tbe  Farnese  palace. 
He  employed  Cellini,  and  forced  Michelangelo  to  paint  tbe 
Last  Judgment.  On  ascending  the  Papal  throne  he  com- 
plained that  this  mighty  genius  had  been  too  long  occupied 
for  Delia  Roveres  and  Medici.  When  the  fresco  was  finished, 
he  set  the  old  artist  upon  his  last  great  task  of  completing 
S.  Peter's. 

So  far  there  was  nothing  to  distinguish  Alessandro 
Farnese  from  other  ecclesiastics  of  the  Renaissance.  As 
Cardinal  he  seemed  destined,  should  he  ever  attain  the 
Papal  dignity,  to  combine  the  qualities  of  the  Borgian  and 
Medicean  Pontiffs,  But  before  his  elevation  to  that  supreme 
height,  he  lived  through  the  reigns  of  Julius  II.,  Leo  X., 
Adrian  VI.,  and  Clement  VII.  Herein  lies  the  peculiarity  of 
his  position  as  Paul  III.  The  pupil  of  Pomponius  Laetus, 
the  creature  of  Roderigo  Borgia,  the  representative  of  Italian 
manners  and  culture  before  the  age  of  foreign  invasion  had 
changed  the  face  of  Italy,  Paul  III.  was  called  at  the  age  of 
sixty- six  to  steer  the  ship  of  the  Church  through  troubled 
waters  and  in  very  altered  circumstances.  He  had  witnessed 
the  rise  and  progress  of  Protestant  revolt  in  Germany.  He 
had  observed  the  stirrings  of  a  new  and  sincere  spirit  of 
religious  gravity,  an  earnest  desire  for  ecclesiastical  reform  in 
his  own  country.  He  had  watched  the  duel  between  France 
and  Spain,  during  the  course  of  which  his  predecessors 
Alexander  V.  and  Julius  II.  restored  the  secular  authority  of 
Rome.  He  had  seen  that  authority  humbled  to  the  dust  in 
1527,  and  miraculously  rehabilitated  at  Bologna  in  1530. 
He  had  learned  by  the  example  of  the  Borgias  how  difficult 
it  was  for  any  Papal  family  to  found  a  substantial  princi- 
pality; and  the  vicissitudes  of  Florence  and  Urbino  had 
confirmed  this  lesson.  Finally,  he  had  assisted  at  the 
coronation  of  Charles  V. ;  and  when   he  took  the   reins   of 


POPE  PAUL  III.  65 

power    into   liis    hands,   he   was   well   aware   with   what   a 
formidable  force  he  had  to  cope  in  the  great  Emperor. 

Paul  III.  knew  that  the  old  Papal  game  of  pitting  France 
against  Spain  in  the  peninsula  could  not  be  played  on  the 
same  grand  scale  as  formerly.  This  policy  had  been  pursued 
with  results  ruinous  to  Italy  but  favourable  to  the  Church  by 
Julius.  It  had  enabled  Leo  and  Clement  to  advance  their 
families  at  the  hazard  of  more  important  interests.  But  in 
the  reign  of  the  latter  Pope  it  had  all  but  involved  the 
Papacy  itself  in  the  general  confusion  and  desolation  of 
the  country.  Moreover,  France  was  no  longer  an  effective 
match  for  Spain ;  and  though  their  struggle  was  renewed, 
the  issue  was  hardly  doubtful.  Spain  bad  got  too  firm  a 
grip  upon  the  land  to  be  cast  off. 

Yet  Paul  was  a  man  of  the  elder  generation.  It  could 
not  be  expected  that  a  Pop'e  of  the  Renaissance  should 
suddenly  abandon  the  medieval  policy  of  Papal  hostility  to 
the  Empire,  especially  when  the  Empire  was  in  the  hands  of 
so  omnipotent  a  master  as  Charles.  It  could  not  be  expected 
that  he  should  recognise  the  wisdom  of  confining  Papal 
ambition  to  ecclesiastical  interests,  and  of  forming  a  defensive 
and  offensive  alliance  with  Catholic  sovereigns  for  the  main- 
tenance of  absolutism.  It  could  not  be  expected  that  he 
should  forego  the  pleasures  and  apparent  profits  of  creating 
duchies  for  his  bastards  whereby  to  dignify  his  family  and 
strengthen  his  personal  authority  as  a  temporal  sovereign. 
It  is  true  that  the  experience  of  the  last  half  century  had 
pointed  in  the  direction  of  all  these  changes  ;  and  it  is  certain 
that  the  series  of  events  connected  with  the  Council  of  Trent, 
which  began  in  Paul  III.'s  reign,  rendered  them  both  natural 
and  necessary.  Yet  Paul,  as  a  man  of  the  elder  generation, 
filling  the  Papal  throne  for  fifteen  years  during  a  period  of 
transition,  adhered  in  the  main  to  the  policy  of  his  pre- 
decessors.    It  was  fortimate  for  him  and  for  the  Holy  See 

VI  F 


66  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

that  the  basis  of  his  character  was  caution  combined  with  tough 
tenacity  of  purpose,  capacity  for  dilatory  action,  diplomatic 
shiftiness  and  a  political  versatility  that  can  best  be  described 
by  the  word  trimming.  These  qualities  enabled  him  to  pass 
with  safety  through  perils  that  might  have  ruined  a  bolder, 
a  hastier,  or  a  franker  Pope,  and  to  achieve  the  object  of 
his  heart's  desire,  where  stronger  men  had  failed,  in  the 
foundation  of  a  solid  duchy  for  his  heirs. 

Paul's  jealousy  of  the  Spanish  ascendency  in  Italian 
affairs  caused  him  to  waver  between  the  Papal  and  Imperial, 
Guelf  and  Ghibelline,  parties.  These  names  had  lost  much 
of  their  significance  ;  but  the  habit  of  distinction  into  two 
camps  was  so  rooted  in  Italian  manners  that  each  city 
counted  its  antagonistic  factions,  maintained  by  various 
forms  of  local  organisation  and  headed  by  the  leading 
families.^  Burigozzo,  under  the  year  1517,  tells  how  the 
whole  population  of  Milan  was  divided  between  Guelf s 
and  Ghibellines,  wearing  different  costumes  ;  and  it  is  not 
uncommon  to  read  of  petty  nobles  in  the  country  at  this 
period,  who  were  styled  Captains  of  one  or  the  other  party. 
The  wars  between  France  and  Spain  revived  the  almost 
obsolete  dispute,  which  the  despots  of  the  fifteenth  century 
and  the  diplomatic  confederation  of  the  five  great  powers  had 
tended  in  large  measure  to  erase.  The  Guelfs  and  Ghibel- 
lines were  now  partisans  of  France  and  Spain  respectively. 
Thus  a  true  political  importance  was  regained  for  the  time- 
honoured  factions  ;  and  in  the  distracted  state  of  Italy  they 
were  further  intensified  by  the  antagonism  between  exiles 
and  the  ruling  families  in  cities.  If  Cosimo  de'  Medici,  for 
example,  was  a  Ghibelline  or  Spanish  partisan,  it  followed  as 
a   matter  of  course  that  Filippo   Strozzi  was  a  Guelf  and 

'  See  Bruno's  Cena  delle  Cencri,  ed.  Wagner,  vol.  i.  p.  133,  for  a 
humorous  story  illustrative  of  the  state  of  things  ensuing  among  the 
lower  Italian  classes. 


THE   POPE    OF   THE    TRANSITION  67 

stood  for  France.  Paul  III.  managed  to  maintain  himself  by- 
manipulating  these  factions  and  holding  the  balance  between 
them  for  the  advantage  of  his  family  and  of  the  Church. 

He  thus  succeeded  in  creating  the  Duchy  of  Parma  and 
Piacenza  for  his  son,  Pier  Luigi  Farnese,  that  outrageous 
representative  of  the  worst  vices  and  worst  violences  of  the 
Kenaissance.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Julius  had  detached 
these  two  cities  from  the  Duchy  of  Milan,  and  annexed  them 
to  the  Papal  States,  on  the  plea  that  they  formed  part  of  the 
old  Exarchate  of  Eavenna.  When  Charles  decided  against 
this  plea  in  the  matter  of  Modena  and  Reggio,  he  left  the 
Church  in  occupation  of  Parma  and  Piacenza.  Paul  created 
his  son  Duke  of  Nepi  and  Castro  in  1537,  and  afterwards 
conferred  the  Duchy  of  Camerino  on  his  grandson,  Ottavio, 
who  was  then  married  to  Margaret  of  Austria,  daughter  of 
Charles  V.,  and  widow  of  the  murdered  Alessandro  de'  Medici. 
The  usual  system  of  massacre,  exile,  and  confiscation  had 
reduced  the  signorial  family  of  the  Varani  at  Camerino  to 
extremities.  The  fief  reverted  to  the  Church,  and  Paul 
induced  the  Cardinals  to  sanction  his  investiture  of  Ottavio 
Farnese  with  its  rights  and  honours.  He  subsequently 
explained  to  them  that  it  would  be  more  profitable  for  the 
Holy  See  to  retain  Camerino  and  to  relinquish  Parma  and 
Piacenza  to  the  Farnesi  in  exchange.  There  was  sense  in 
this  arrangement ;  for  Camerino  formed  an  integral  part  of 
the  Papal  States,  while  Parma  and  Piacenza  were  held  under 
a  more  than  doubtful  title.  Pier  Luigi  did  not  long  survive 
his  elevation  to  the  dukedom  of  Parma.  He  was  murdered 
by  his  exasperated  subjects  in  1547.  His  son,  Ottavio,  with 
some  difficulty,  maintained  his  hold  upon  this  principality, 
until  in  1559  he  established  himself  and  his  heirs,  with 
the  approval  of  Philip  IL,  in  its  perpetual  enjoyment.  The 
Farnesi  repaid  Spanish  patronage  by  constant  service,  Ales- 
sandro, Prince  of  Parma,  and  son  of  Ottavio,  being  illustrious 

f2 


68  EENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

in  the  annals  of  the  Netherlands.  It  would  not  have  been 
worth  while  to  enlarge  on  this  foundation  of  the  Duchy  of 
Parma,  had  it  not  furnished  an  excellent  example  of  my 
theme.  By  this  act  Paul  III.  proved  himself  a  true  and  able 
inheritor  of  those  political  traditions  by  which  all  Pontififs 
from  Sixtus  IV.  to  Clement  VII.  had  sought  to  establish 
their  relatives  in  secular  princedoms.  It  was  the  last  eminent 
exhibition  of  that  policy,  the  last  and  the  most  brilliant 
display  of  nepotistical  ambition  in  a  Pope.  A  new  age  had 
opened,  in  Avhich  such  schemes  became  impossible — when 
Popes  could  no  longer  dare  to  acknowledge  and  legitimise 
their  bastards,  and  when  they  had  to  administer  their 
dominions  exclusively  for  the  temporal  and  ecclesiastical 
aggrandisement  of  the  tiara. 

Nevertheless,  Paul  was  living  under  the  conditions  which 
brought  this  modern  attitude  of  the  Papacy  into  potent 
actuahty.  He  was  surrounded  by  intellectual  and  moral 
forces  of  recent  growth  but  of  incalculable  potency.  One  of 
the  first  acts  of  his  reign  was  to  advance  six  members  of  the 
moderate  reforming  party — Sadoleto,  Pole,  Giberto,  Federigo 
Fregoso,  Gasparo  Contarini,  and  G.  M.  Caraffa — to  the 
Cardinalate.  By  this  exercise  of  power  he  showed  his  willing- 
ness to  recognise  new  elements  of  very  various  qualities  in  the 
Catholic  hierarchy.  Five  of  these  men  represented  opinions 
which  at  the  moment  of  their  elevation  to  the  purple  had  a 
fair  prospect  of  ultimate  success.  Imbued  with  a  profound 
sense  of  the  need  for  ecclesiastical  reform,  and  tinctured  more 
or  less  deeply  with  so-called  Protestant  opinions,  they  desired 
nothing  more  intensely  than  a  reconstitution  of  the  Catholic 
Church  upon  a  basis  which  might  render  reconciliation  with 
the  Lutherans  practicable.  They  had  their  opportunity 
during  the  pontificate  of  Paul  III.  It  was  a  splendid  one  ; 
and,  as  I  have  already  shown,  the  Conference  of  Eechensburg 
only  just  failed  in  securing  the  end  they  so  profoundly  desired. 


PAUL'S   CAEDINALS  6«l 

But  the  Papacy  was  not  prepared  to  concede  so  much  as  they 
were  anxious  to  grant ;  the  German  Reformers  proved  intract- 
able ;  they  were  themselves  impeded  by  their  loyalty  to 
antique  Catholic  traditions,  and  by  their  dread  of  a  schism  ; 
finally,  the  militant  expansive  force  of  Spanish  orthodoxy, 
expressing  itself  already  in  the  concentrated  energy  of  the 
Jesuit  order,  rendered  attempts  at  fusion  impossible.  The 
victory  in  Rome  remained  with  the  faction  of  intransigeant 
Catholics ;  and  this  was  represented,  in  Paul  III.'s  first 
creation  of  Cardinals,  by  Caraffa.  Caraffa  was  destined  to 
play  a  singular  part  in  the  transition  period  of  Papal  history 
which  I  am  reviewing.  He  belonged  as  essentially  to  the 
future  as  Alessandro  Farnese  belonged  to  the  past.  He 
embodied  the  spirit  of  the  Inquisition,  and  upheld  the 
principles  of  ecclesiastical  reform  upon  the  narrow  basis  of 
Papal  absolutism.  He  openly  signalised  his  disapproval  of 
Paul's  nepotism ;  and  when  his  time  for  ruling  came,  he 
displayed  a  remorseless  spirit  of  justice  without  mercy  in 
dealing  with  his  own  family.  Yet  he  hated  the  Spanish 
ascendency  with  a  hatred  far  more  fierce  and  bitter  than  that 
of  Paul  III.  His  ineffectual  efforts  to  shake  off  the  yoke  of 
Phihp  II.  was  the  last  spasm  of  the  older  Papal  policy  of 
resistance  to  temporal  sovereigns,  the  last  appeal  made  in 
pursuance  of  that  policy  to  France  by  an  Italian  Pontiff.^ 

The  object  of  this  excursion  into  the  coming  period  is  to 
show  in  how  deep  a  sense  Paul  III.  may  be  regarded  as  the 
beginner  of  a  new  era,  while  he  was  at  the  same  time  the  last 
eontinuator  of  the  old.  The  Cardinals  whom  he  promoted  on 
his  accession  included  the  chief  of  those  men  who  strove  in 

'  Paul  IV.  as  Pope  was  feeble  compared  with  his  predecessors, 
Julius  II.  and  Leo  X. ;  the  Guises,  on  whom  he  relied  for  resuscitating 
the  old  French  party  in  the  South,  were  but  half-successful  adventurers, 
mere  shadows  of  the  Angevine  invaders  whom  they  professed  to 
represent. 


70  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

vain  for  a  concordat  between  Eome  and  Eeformation  ;  it  also 
included  the  man  who  stamped  Kome  with  the  imprens  of  the 
Counter-Eeformation.  Yet  Caraffa  would  not  have  had  the 
fulcrum  needed  for  this  decisive  exertion  of  power,  had  it  not 
been  for  another  act  of  Paul's  reign.  This  was  the  convening 
of  a  Council  at  Trent.  Paul's  attitude  toward  the  Council, 
which  he  summoned  with  reluctance,  which  he  frustrated  as 
far  as  in  him  lay,  and  the  final  outcome  of  which  he  was  far 
from  anticipating,  illustrates  in  a  most  decisive  manner  his 
destiny  as  Pope  of  the  transition. 

The  very  name  of  a  Council  was  an  abomination  to  the 
Papacy.  This  will  be  apparent  if  we  consider  the  previous 
history  of  the  Church  during  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  when  the  conciliar  authority  was  again  invoked  to 
regulate  the  Papal  See  and  to  check  Papal  encroachments  on 
the  realms  and  Churches  of  the  Western  nations.  The 
removal  of  the  Papal  Court  to  Avignon,  the  great  schism 
which  resulted  from  this  measure,  and  the  dissent  which 
spread  from  England  to  Bohemia  at  the  close  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  rendered  it  necessary  that  the  representative  powers 
of  Christendom  should  combine  for  the  purpose  of  restoring 
order  in  the  Church.  Four  main  points  lay  before  the  powers 
of  Europe,  thus  brought  for  the  first  time  into  dehberative 
and  confederated  congress  to  settle  questions  that  vitally 
concerned  them.  The  most  immediately  urgent  was  the 
termination  of  the  schism,  and  the  appointment  of  one  Pope, 
who  should  represent  the  medieval  idea  of  ecclesiastical  face 
to  face  with  imperial  unity.  The  second  was  the  definition 
of  the  indeterminate  and  ever-widening  authority  which  the 
Popes  asserted  over  the  kingdoms  and  the  Churches  of  the 
West.  The  third  was  the  eradication  of  heresies  which  were 
rending  Christendom  asunder  and  threatening  to  destroy  that 
ideal  of  unity  in  creed  to  which  the  Middle  Ages  clung  with 
not  unreasonable  passion.     The  fourth  was  a  reform  of  the 


COUNCILS   OF   PISA  AND   CONSTANCE  71 

Church,  considered  as  a  vital  element  of  Western  Christendom, 
in  its  head  and  in  its  members. 

The  programme,  very  indistinctly  formulated  by  the  most 
advanced  thinkers  of  the  age,  and  only  gradually  developed 
by  practice  into  actuality,  v/as  a  vast  one.  It  involved  the 
embitterment  of  national  jealousies,  the  accentuation  of 
national  characteristics,  and  the  complication  of  antagonistic 
principles  regarding  secular  and  ecclesiastical  government, 
which  rendered  a  complete  and  satisfactory  solution  well- 
nigh  impracticable.  The  effort  to  solve  these  problems  had, 
however,  important  influence  in  creating  conditions  under 
which  the  politico-religious  struggles  of  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries  were  conducted.' 

The  first  Council,  opened  at  Pisa  in  1409,  was  a  congress 
of  prelates  summoned  by  Cardinals  for  the  conclusion  of  the 
schism.  It  deposed  two  Popes,  who  still  continued  to  assert 
their  titles ;  it  elected  a  third,  Alexander  V.,  who  had  no  real 
authority.  For  the  rest,  it  effected  no  reform,  and  cannot  be 
said  to  have  done  much  more  than  to  give  effect  to  those 
aspirations  after  Church-government  by  means  of  Councils 
which  had  been  slowly  forming  during  the  continuance  of  the 
schism. 

The  second  Council,  opened  at  Constance  in  1414,  was  a 
Council  not  convened  by  Cardinals,  but  by  the  universal 
demand  of  Europe  that  the  advances  of  the  Papacy  toward 
tyranny  should  be  checked,  and  that  the  innumerable  abuses 
of  the  Church  and  Papal  Curia  should  be  reformed.  It 
received  a  different  complexion  from  that  of  Pisa,  through 
the  presidency  of  the  Emperor  and  the  attendance  of  repre- 
sentatives from  the  chief  nations.  At  Constance  the  Papacy 
and  the  Eoman  Curia  stood  together,  exposed  to  the  hostile 

'  The  best  account  of  the  Councils  will  be  found  in  Professor 
Creighton's  admirable  History  of  the  Papacy  during  the  Eeformaiioiv 
(2  vols.  Longmans). 


72  EENAISSANCE  IN   ITALY 

criticism   of  Europe.     The   authority  of  a  General  Council 
was,  after  a  sharp  conflict,  decreed  superior  to  that   of  the 
Bishop  of  Eome.     Three  Popes  were  forced  to  abdicate  :  and 
a   fourth,   Martin   V.,   was    elected.     The    Council    further 
undertook  to  deal  with  heresy  and  with  the  reform  of  the 
Church.     It  discharged  the  first  of  these  offices  by  condemn- 
ing  Hus   and  Jerome  of   Prague  to  the  stake.     It  left  the 
second  practically  untouched.     Yet  the  question  of  reform  had 
been   gravely   raised,  largely   discussed,   and   fundamentally 
examined.     Two   methods  were  posed  at  Constance  for  the 
future  consideration  of  earnest  thinkers  throughout  Europe. 
One  was  the  way  suggested  by  John  Hus  ;  that  the  Church 
should  be  reconstituted,  after  a  searching  analysis  of  the  real 
bases  of  Christian  conduct,  an  appeal  to  Scripture  as   the 
final  authority,  and  a  loyal  endeavour  to  satisfy  the  spiritual 
requirements  of  individual  souls  and  consciences.     The  second 
plan  was  that  of  inquiry  into  the  existing  order  of  the  Church 
and  detailed  amendment  of  its  flagrant  faults,  with  preserva- 
tion of  the  main  system.     The  Council  adopted  satisfactory 
measures  of  reform  on  neither  of  these  methods.     It  contented 
itself  with  stipulations  and  concordats,  guaranteeing  special 
privileges  to  the  Churches  of  the  several  nations.     But  in  the 
following  century  it  became  manifest  that  the  Teutonic  races 
had  declared  for  the  method  suggested  by  Hus  ;  while  the 
Latin  races,  in  the  Council  of  Trent,  undertook  a  purgatioti 
of  the  Church  upon  the  second  of  the  two  plans.     The  Eefor- 
mation  was   the  visible  outcome  of  the  one,  the  Counter- 
Eeformation  of  the  other  method. 

The  Council  of  Constance  was  thus  important  in  causing 
the  recognition  of  a  single  Pope,  and  in  ventilating  the 
divergent  theories  upon  which  the  question  of  reform  was 
afterwards  to  be  disputed.  But  perhaps  the  most  significant 
fact  it  brought  into  relief  was  the  new  phase  of  political 
existence    into    which    the    European    races    had    entered. 


COUNCIL   OF  BASEL  73 

Nationality,  as  the  main  principle  of  modern  history,  was 
now  established  ;  and  the  diplomatic  relations  of  sovereigns 
as  the  representatives  of  peoples  were  shown  to  be  of  over- 
whelming weight.  The  visionary  medieval  polity  of  Emperor 
and  Pope  faded  away  before  the  vivid  actuality  of  full-formed 
individual  nations,  federally  connected,  controlled  by  common 
but  reciprocally  hostile  interests.^ 

The  Council  of  Basel,  opened  in  1431,  was  in  appearance 
a  continuation  of  the  Council  of  Constance.  But  its  method 
of  procedure  ran  counter  to  the  new  direction  which  had  been 
communicated  to  European  federacy  by  the  action  of  the 
Constance  congress.  There  the  votes  had  been  taken  by 
nations.  At  Basel  they  were  taken  by  men,  after  the  ques- 
tions to  be  decided  had  been  previously  discussed  by  special 
congregations  and  committees  deputed  for  preliminary  de- 
liberations. It  soon  appeared  that  the  fathers  of  the  Basel 
Council  aimed  at  opposing  a  lawfully  elected  Pope,  and 
sought  to  assume  the  administration  of  the  Church  into  their 
own  hands.  Their  struggle  with  Eugenius  IV.,  their  election 
of  an  antipope,  Felix  V.,  and  their  manifest  tendency  to 
substitute  oligarchical  for  Papal  tyranny  in  the  Church,  had 
the  effect  of  bringing  the  conciliar  principle  itself  into  dis- 
favour with  the  European  powers.  The  first  symptom  of 
this  repudiation  of  the  Council  by  Europe  was  shoAvn  in  the 
neutrality  proclaimed  by  Germany.  The  attitude  of  other 
Courts  and  nations  proved  that  the  Western  races  were  for 
the  moment  prepared  to  leave  the  Papal  question  open  on  the 
basis  supplied  by  the  Council  of  Constance. 

The  result  of  this  failure  of  the  conciliar  principle  at 
Basel  was  that  Nicholas  V.  inaugurated  a  new  age  for  the 
Papacy  in  Rome.     I  have  already  described  the  chief  features 

'  See  above,  p.  2,  for  the  special  sense  in  which  I  apply  the  word 
federation  to  Italy  beiore  1530,  and  to  Europe  at  large  in  the  modern 
period. 


74  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

of  the  Papal  government  from  Ins  election  to  tlie  death  of 
Clement  VII.  It  was  a  period  of  miexampled  splendour  for 
the  Holy  See,  and  of  substantial  temporal  conquests.  The 
second  Council  of  Pisa,  which  began  its  sittings  in  1511 
under  French  sanction  and  support,  exercised  no  disastrous 
influence  over  the  restored  powers  and  prestige  of  the  Papacy. 
On  the  contrary,  it  gave  occasion  for  a  counter-council,  held 
at  the  Lateran  under  the  auspices  of  Julius  II.  and  Leo  X., 
in  which  the  Popes  established  several  points  of  ecclesiastical 
discipline  that  were  not  without  value  to  their  successors. 
But  the  leaven  which  had  been  scattered  by  Wyclif  and  Huh, 
of  which  the  Council  of  Constance  had  taken  cognisance,  but 
which  had  not  been  extirpated,  was  spreading  in  Germany 
throughout  this  period.  The  Popes  themselves  were  doing 
all  in  their  power  to  propagate  dissent  and  discontent.  Well 
aware  of  the  fierce  light  cast  by  the  new  learning  they  had 
helped  to  disseminate,  upon  the  dark  places  of  their  own 
ecclesiastical  administration,  they  still  continued  to  raise 
money  by  the  sale  of  pardons  and  indulgences,  to  bleed  their 
Christian  flock  by  monstrous  engines  of  taxation,  and  to 
offend  the  conscience  of  an  intelligent  generation  by  their 
example  of  ungodly  living.  The  Reformation  ran  like  wild- 
fire through  the  North.  It  grew  daily  more  obvious  that 
a  new  Council  must  be  summoned  for  carrying  out  measures 
of  internal  reform  and  for  coping  with  the  forces  of  belligerent 
Protestantism.  When  things  had  reached  this  point,  Charles  V. 
declared  his  earnest  desire  that  the  Pope  should  summon  a 
General  Council.  Paul  III.  now  showed  in  how  true  a  sense 
he  was  the  man  of  a  transitional  epoch.  So  long  as  possible 
he  resisted,  remembering  to  what  straits  his  predecessors  had 
been  reduced  by  previous  Councils,  and  being  deeply  conscious 
of  scandals  in  his  own  domestic  affairs  which  might  expose 
him  to  the  fate  of  a  John  XXIII.  Reviewing  the  whole  series 
of  events  which  have  next  to  be  recorded,  we  are  aware  that 


PAUL  III.   DREADS   A   COUNCIL  75 

Paul  had  no  great  cause  for  agitation.  The  Council  he  so 
much  dreaded  was  destined  to  exalt  his  office,  and  to  re- 
combine  the  forces  of  Catholic  Christendom  under  the  absolute 
supremacy  of  his  successors.  The  Inquisition  and  the  Com- 
pany of  Jesus,  both  of  Avhich  he  sanctioned  at  this  juncture, 
were  to  guard,  extend,  and  corroborate  that  siipreme  authority. 
But  this  was  by  no  means  apparent  in  1540.  It  is  a  character 
of  all  transitional  periods  that  in  them  the  cautious  men 
regard  past  precedents  of  peril  rather  than  sanguine  expec- 
tations based  on  present  chances.  A  hero,  in  such  passes, 
goes  to  meet  the  danger,  armed  with  his  own  cause  and 
courage.  A  genius  divines  the  future,  and  interprets  it,  and 
througli  interpretation  tries  to  govern  it.  Paul  was  neither  a 
hero  nor  a  man  of  genius.  Yet  he  did  as  much  as  either 
could  have  done  ;  and  he  did  it  in  a  temper  which  perhaps 
the  hero  and  the  genius  could  not  have  commanded.  He 
sent  Legates  to  publish  the  opening  of  a  Council  at  Trent  in 
the  spring  of  1545  ;  and  he  resolved  to  work  this  Council  on 
the  principles  of  diplomatical  conservatism,  reserving  for 
himself  the  power  of  watching  events  and  of  enlarging  or 
restricting  its  efficiency  as  might  seem  best  to  him.^ 

It  is  singular  that  the  Council  thus  reluctantly  conceded 
by  Paul  III.  should,  during  its  first  sessions  and  while  he  yet 

'  The  first  official  opening  of  the  Council  at  Trent  was  in  November 
1542,  by  Cardinals  Pole  and  Morone  as  Legates.  It  was  adjourned  in 
July  1543,  on  account  of  insufficient  attendance.  When  it  again  opened 
in  1545,  Pole  reappeared  as  Legate.  With  him  were  associated  two 
future  Popes,  Giov.  Maria  del  Monte  (Julius  III.),  and  Marcello  Cervini 
(Marcellus  II.).  The  first  session  of  the  Council  took  place  in  December 
1545,  four  Cardinals,  four  Archbishops,  twenty-one  Bishops,  and  five 
Generals  of  Orders  attending.  Among  these  were  only  five  Spanish  and 
two  French  prelates  ;  no  German,  unless  we  count  Cristoforo  Madrazzo, 
the  Cardinal  Bishop  of  Trent,  as  one.  No  Protestants  appeared ;  for 
Paul  III.  had  successfully  opposed  their  ultimatum,  which  demanded 
that  final  appeal  on  all  debated  points  should  be  made  to  the  sole 
authority  of  Holy  Scripture. 


76  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

reigned,  have  confirmed  the  dogmatic  foundations  of  modern 
Catholicism,  made  reconciliation  with  the  Teutonic  Reformers 
impossible,  and  committed  the  secular  powers  which  held 
with  Rome  to  a  policy  that  rendered  the  Papal  supremacy 
incontestable.^  Face  to  face  with  the  burning  question  of 
the  Protestant  rebellion,  the  Tridentine  fathers  hastened  to 
confirm  the  following  articles.  First,  they  declared  that 
divine  revelation  was  continuous  in  the  Church  of  which  the 
Pope  was  head  ;  and  that  the  chief  written  depository  of  this 
revelation — namely,  the  Scriptures — had  no  authority  except 
in  the  version  of  the  Vulgate.  Secondly,  they  condemned 
the  doctrine  of  Justification  by  Faith,  adding  such  theological 
qualifications  and  reservations  as  need  not,  at  this  distance  of 
time,  and  on  a  point  devoid  of  present  actuality,  be  scru- 
pulously entertained.  Thirdly,  they  confirmed  the  efficacy 
and  the  binding  authority  of  the  Seven  Sacraments.  It  is 
thus  clear  that,  on  points  of  dogma,  the  Coimcil  convened  by 
Pope  and  Emperor  committed  Latin  Christianity  to  a  definite 
repudiation  of  the  main  articles  for  which  Luther  had  con- 


'  Throughout  the  sessions  of  the  Council,  Spanish,  French,  and 
German  representatives,  whether  fathers  or  ambassadors,  maintained 
the  theory  of  Papal  subjection  to  eonciliar  authority.  The  Spanish 
and  French  were  unanimous  in  zeal  for  episcopal  independence.  The 
French  and  German  were  united  in  a  wish  to  favour  Protestants  by 
reasonable  concessions.  Thus  the  Papal  supremacy  had  to  face 
serious  antagonism,  which  it  eventually  conquered  by  the  numerical 
preponderance  of  the  Italian  prelates,  by  the  energy  of  the  Jesuits,  by 
diplomatic  intrigues,  and  by  manipulation  of  discords  in  the  opposition. 
Though  the  Spanish  fathers  held  with  the  French  and  German  on  the 
points  of  episcopal  independence  and  eonciliar  authority,  they  disagreed 
whenever  it  became  a  question  of  compromise  with  Protestants  upon 
details  of  dogma  or  ritual.  The  Papal  Court  persuaded  the  Catholic 
sovereigns  of  Spain  and  France  and  the  Emperor  that  episcopal 
independence  would  be  dangerous  to  their  own  jorerogatives ;  and  at 
every  inconvenient  turn  in  affairs,  it  was  made  clear  that  Catholic 
sovereigns,  threatened  by  the  Protestant  revolution,  could  not  afford  to 
separate  their  cause  from  that  of  the  Pope. 


OPENING   OF   COUNCIL  AT  TEENT  77 

tended.  Each  of  these  points  they  successively  traversed, 
foreclosing  every  loophole  for  escape  into  accommodation.  It 
was  in  large  measure  due  to  Carafifa's  energy  and  ability  that 
these  results  were  attained. 

The  method  of  procedure  adopted  by  the  Council,  and  the 
temper  in  which  its  business  was  conducted,  were  no  less 
favourable  to  the  Papacy  than  the  authoritative  sanction 
which  it  gave  to  dogmas.  From  the  first,  the  presidency  and 
right  of  initiative  in  its  sessions  were  conceded  to  the  Papal 
Legates ;  and  it  soon  became  customary  to  refer  decrees, 
before  they  were  promulgated,  to  his  Holiness  in  Rome  for 
approval.  The  decrees  themselves  were  elaborated  in  three 
congregations,  one  appointed  for  theological  questions,  the 
second  for  reforms,  the  third  for  supervision  and  ratification. 
They  were  then  proposed  for  discussion  and  acceptance  in 
general  sessions  of  the  Council.  Here  each  vote  told  ;  and  as 
there  was  a  standing  majority  of  Italian  prelates,  it  required 
but  little  dexterity  to  secure  the  passing  of  any  measure  upon 
which  the  Court  of  Rome  insisted.  The  most  formidable 
opposition  to  the  Papal  prerogatives  during  these  manoeuvres 
proceeded  from  the  Spanish  bishops,  who  urged  the  introduc- 
tion of  reforms  securing  the  independence  of  the  episcopacy. 

We  find  a  remarkable  demonstration  of  Paul  III.'s 
difficulties  as  Pope  of  the  transition,  in  the  fact  that  while 
the  Council  of  Trent  was  waging  this  uncompromising  war 
against  Reformers,  his  dread  of  Charles  V.  compelled  him  to 
suspend  its  sessions,  transfer  it  to  Bologna,  and  declare  him- 
self the  political  ally  of  German  Protestants.  This  trans- 
ference took  place  in  1547.  His  Legates  received  orders  to 
invent  some  decent  excuse  for  a  step  which  would  certainly 
be  resisted,  since  Bologna  was  a  city  altogether  subject  to  the 
Holy  See.  The  Legates,  by  the  connivance  of  the  physicians 
in  Trent,  managed  to  create  a  panic  of  contagious  epidemic* 
'  See  Sarpi,  p.  249. 


78  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

Charles  liad  won  victories  which  seemed  to  place  Germany 
at  his  discretion.  His  preponderance  in  Italy  was  thereby 
dangerously  augmented.  Paul,  following  the  precedents  of 
policy  in  which  he  had  been  bred,  thought  it  at  this  crisis 
necessary  to  subordinate  ecclesiastical  to  temporal  interests. 
He  interrupted  the  proceedings  of  the  Council  in  order  to 
hamper  the  Emperor  in  Germany.  He  encouraged  the 
Northern  Protestants  in  order  that  he  might  maintain  an 
open  issue  in  the  loins  of  his  Spanish  rival.  Nothing  could 
more  delicately  illustrate  the  complications  of  European 
politics  than  the  inverted  attitude  assumed  by  the  Eoman 
Pontiff  in  his  dealings  with  a  Catholic  Emperor  at  this 
moment  of  time.' 

The  opposition  of  the  Farnesi  to  Paul's  scheme  for 
restoring  Parma  to  the  Holy  See  in  1549,  broke  Paul  III.'s 
health  and  spirits.  He  died  on  November  10,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  Cardinal  Giovanni  Maria  del  Monte,  of  whose 
reign  little  need  be  said.  Julius  IH.  removed  the  Council 
from  Bologna  to  Trent  in  1551,  where  it  made  some  progress 
in  questions  touching  the  Eucharist  and  the  administration 
of  episcopal  sees  ;  but  in  the  next  year  its  sessions  were  sus- 
pended, owing  to  the  disturbed  state  of  Southern  Germany 
and  the  presence  of  a  Protestant  army  under  Maurice  of 
Saxony  in  the  Tyrol.^  This  Pope  passed  his  time  agreeably 
and  innocently  enough  in  the  villa  which  he  built  near  the 
Porta  del  Popolo.     His  relatives  were  invested  with  several 

'  Charles,  at  this  juncture,  was  checkmated  by  Paul  through  his  own 
inability  to  dispense  with  the  Pope's  co-operation  as  chief  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  So  long  as  he  opposed  the  Keformation  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  assume  an  attitude  of  violent  hostility  to  Rome. 

'■^  During  the  brief  and  unimportant  sessions  at  Bologna,  Jesuit 
influences  began  to  make  themselves  decidedly  felt  in  the  Council, 
where  Lainez  and  Salmeron  attended  as  Theologians  of  the  Papal  See. 
Up  to  this  time  the  Dominicans  had  shaped  decrees.  Dogmatic 
orthodoxy  was  secured  by  their  means.  Now  the  Jesuits  were  to  fight 
and  win  the  battle  of  Papal  Supremacy. 


MARCELLUS   II.,  PAUL  IV.  79 

petty  fiefs — that  of  tlieir  birthplace,  Monte  Sansovino,  by 
Cosimo  de'  Medici ;  that  of  Novara  by  the  Emperor,  and  that 
of  Camerino  by  the  Church.  The  old  methods  of  Papal  ne- 
potism were  not  as  yet  abandoned.  His  successor,  Marcello  II., 
survived  his  elevation  only  three  weeks ;  and  in  May  1555, 
Giovanni  Pietro  Cai'affa  was  elected,  with  the  title  of 
Paul  IV.  We  have  already  made  the  acquaintance  of  this 
Pope  as  a  member  of  the  Oratory  of  Divine  Love,  as  a  co- 
founder  of  the  Theatines,  as  the  Organiser  of  the  Konian 
Inquisition,  and  as  a  leader  in  the  first  sessions  of  the 
Tridentine  Council.  Paul  IV.  sprang  from  a  high  and 
puissant  family  of  Naples.  He  was  a  man  of  fierce,  impul- 
sive and  uncompromising  temper,  animated  by  two  ruling 
passions — burning  hatred  for  the  Spaniards  who  were  tramp- 
ling on  his  native  land,  and  ecclesiastical  ambition  intensified 
by  rigid  Catholic  orthodoxy.  The  first  act  of  his  reign  was  a 
vain  effort  to  expel  the  Spaniards  from  Italy  by  resorting  to  the 
old  device  of  French  assistance.  The  abdication  of  Charles  V. 
had  placed  Philip  II.  on  the  throne  of  Spain,  and  the 
settlement  whereby  the  Imperial  crown  passed  to  his  brother 
Ferdinand  had  substituted  a  feeble  for  a  powerful  Emperor. 
But  Philip's  disengagement  from  the  cares  of  Germany  left 
him  more  at  liberty  to  maintain  his  preponderance  in 
Southern  Europe.  It  was  fortunate  for  Paul  IV.  that  Philip 
was  a  bigoted  Catholic  and  a  superstitiously  obedient  son  of 
the  Church.  These  two  potentates,  who  began  to  reign  in 
the  same  year,  were  destined,  after  the  settlement  of  their 
early  quarrel,  to  lead  and  organise  the  Catholic  Counter- 
Eeformation.  The  Duke  of  Guise  at  the  Pope's  request 
marched  a  French  army  into  Italy.  Paul  raised  a  body  of 
mercenaries,  who  were  chiefly  German  Protestants ;  ^  and 
opened  negotiations  with    Soliman,  entreating  the  Turk   to 

'  Sarpi,  quoted  in  his  Life  by  Fra  Fulgenzio,  p.  83,  says  Paul  called 
his  Grisons  mercenaries  '  Anprels  sent  from  Heaven.' 


80  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

make  a  descent  on  Sicily  by  sea.  Into  such  a  fantastically 
false  position  was  the  Chief  of  the  Church,  the  most  Catholic 
of  all  her  Pontiffs,  driven  by  his  jealous  patriotism.  We 
seem  to  be  transported  back  into  the  times  of  a  Sixtus  IV. 
or  an  Alexander  VI.  And  in  truth,  Paul's  reversion  to  the 
antiquated  Guelf  policy  of  his  predecessors  was  an  anachron- 
ism. That  policy  ceased  to  be  efficient  when  Francis  I. 
signed  the  Treaty  of  Cambray ;  the  Church,  too,  had 
gradually  assumed  such  a  position  that  armed  interference  in 
the  affairs  of  secular  sovereigns  was  suicidal.  This  became 
so  manifest  that  Paul's  futile  attack  on  Philip  in  1556  may 
be  reckoned  the  last  war  raised  by  a  Pope.  From  it  we  date 
the  commencement  of  a  new  system  of  Papal  co-operation 
with  Catholic  powers. 

The  Duke  of  Alva  put  the  forces  at  his  disposal  in  the  Two 
Sicilies  into  motion,  and  advanced  to  meet  the  Duke  of  Guise. 
But  while  the  campaign  dragged  on,  Philip  won  the  decisive 
battle  of  S.  Quentin.  The  Guise  hurried  back  to  France, 
and  Alva  marched  unresisted  upon  Rome.  There  was  no 
reason  why  the  Eternal  City  should  not  have  been  subjected 
to  another  siege  and  sack.  The  will  was  certainly  not 
wanting  in  Alva  to  humiliate  the  Pope,  who  never  spoke  of 
Spaniards  but  as  renegade  Jews,  Marrani,  heretics,  and 
personifications  of  pride.  Philip,  however,  wrote  reminding 
his  general  that  the  date  of  his  birth  (1527)  was  that  of 
Eome's  calamity,  and  vowing  that  he  would  not  signalise  the 
first  year  of  his  reign  by  inflicting  fresh  miseries  upon  the 
capital  of  Christendom.  Alva  was  ordered  to  make  peace  on 
terms  both  honourable  and  advantageous  to  his  Holiness ; 
since  the  King  of  Spain  preferred  to  lose  the  rights  of  his 
own  crown  rather  than  to  impair  those  of  the  Holy  See  in 
the  least  particular.  Consequently,  when  Alva  entered 
Eome  in  peaceful  pomp,  he  did  homage  for  his  master  to  the 
Pope,   who   was  generously  willing  to  absolve  him  for  his 


PAUL'S   NEniEWS  8l 

past  offences.  Paul  IV.  publicly  exulted  in  the  abasement 
of  bis  conquerors,  declaring  that  it  would  teach  kings  in 
future  the  obedience  they  owed  to  the  Chief  of  the  Church. 
But  Alva  did  not  conceal  his  discontent.  It  would  have  been 
better,  he  said,  to  have  sent  the  Pope  to  sue  for  peace  and 
pardon  at  Brussels,  than  to  allow  him  to  obtain  the  one 
and  grant  the  other  on  these  terms. 

Paul's  ambition  to  expel  the  Spaniards  from  Italy  exposed 
him  to  the  worst  abuses  of  that  Papal  nepotism  which  he 
had  denounced  in  others.  He  judged  it  necessary  to 
surround  himself  with  trusty  and  powerful  agents  of  his  own 
kindred.'  With  that  view  he  raised  one  of  his  nephews. 
Carlo,  to  the  Cardinalate,  and  bestowed  on  two  others  the 
principal  fiefs  of  the  Colonna  family.  The  Colonnas  were 
by  tradition  Ghibelline.  This  sufficed  for  depriving  them  of 
Palliano  and  Montebello.  Carlo  Caraffa,  who  obtained  the 
scarlet,  had  lived  a  disreputable  life  which  notoriously  un- 
fitted him  for  any  ecclesiastical  dignity.  In  the  days  of 
Sixtus  and  Alexander  this  would  have  been  no  bar  to  his 
promotion.  But  the  Church  was  rapidly  undergoing  a 
change  ;  and  Carlo,  complying  with  the  hypocritical  spirit  of 
his  age,  found  it  convenient  to  affect  a  thorough  reformation, 
and  to  make  open  show  of  penitence.  Kome  now  presented 
the  singular  spectacle  of  an  inquisitorial  Pope,  unimpeach- 
able in  moral  conduct  and  zealous  for  Church  reform,  sur- 
rounded by  nephews  who  were  little  better  than  Borgias. 
The  Caraffas  began  to  dream  of  principalities  and  sceptres. 
It  was  their  ambition  to  lay  hold  on  Florence,  where  Cosimo 
de'  Medici,  as  a  pronounced  ally  of  Spain,  had  gained  the 
bitter  hatred  of  their  uncle.     But  their  various  misdoings, 

'  New  men — and  Popes  were  always  novi  Iiomines — are  compelled 
to  take  this  course,  and  suffer  when  they  take  it.  We  might  compare 
their  difficulties  with  those  which  hampered  Napoleon  when  he  aspired 
to  the  Imperial  tyranny  over  French  conquests  in  Europe. 

VI  G 


82  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

acts  of  violence  and  oppression,  avarice  and  sensuality, 
gradually  reached  the  ears  of  the  Pope.  In  an  assembly  of 
the  Inquisition,  held  in  January  1559,  he  cried  aloud, 
'  Eeform  !  reform  !  reform  ! '  Cardinal  Pacheco,  a  deter- 
mined foe  of  the  Caraffeschi,  raised  his  voice,  and  said, 
'  Holy  Father  !  reform  must  first  begin  with  us.'  Pallavicini 
adds  the  remark  that  Paul  understood  well  who  was  meant 
by  us.  He  immediately  retired  to  his  apartments,  instituted 
a  searching  inquiry  into  the  conduct  of  his  nephews,  and, 
before  the  month  was  out,  deprived  them  of  all  their  offices 
and  honours,  and  banished  them  from  Rome.  He  would  not 
hear  a  word  in  their  defence ;  and  when  Cardinal  Farnese 
endeavoured  to  procure  a  mitigation  of  their  sentence,  be 
brutally  replied,  '  If  Paul  III.  had  shown  the  same  justice, 
your  father  would  not  have  been  murdered  and  mutilated 
in  the  streets  of  Piacenza.'  In  open  consistory,  before  the 
Cardinals  and  high  officials  of  his  realm,  with  tears  stream- 
ing from  his  eyes,  he  exposed  the  evil  life  of  his  relatives, 
declared  his  abhorrence  of  them,  and  protested  that  he  had 
dwelt  in  perfect  ignorance  of  their  crimes  until  that  time. 
This  scene  recalls  a  similar  occasion,  when  Alexander  VI. 
bewailed  himself  aloud  before  his  Cardinals  after  the 
murder  of  the  Duke  of  Gandia  by  Cesare.  But  Alexander's 
repentance  was  momentary  ;  his  grief  was  that  of  a  father 
for  Absalom  ;  his  indignation  gave  way  to  paternal  weakness 
for  the  fratricide.  Paul,  though  his  love  for  his  relatives 
seems  to  have  been  fervent,  never  relaxed  his  first  severity 
against  them.  They  were  buried  in  oblivion ;  no  one 
uttered  their  names  in  the  Pope's  presence.  The  whole 
secular  administration  of  the  Papal  States  was  changed  ; 
not  an  official  kept  his  place.  For  the  first  time  Eome 
was  governed  by  ministers  in  no  way  related  to  the  Holy 
Father. 

Paul   now  turned  his  attention,  with   the   fiery   passion 


ECCLESIASTICAL  REFOEMS  83 

that  distinguislied  him,  to  the  reformation  of  ecclesiastical 
alxises.  On  his  accession  he  had  published  a  Bull  declaring 
that  this  would  be  a  principal  object  of  his  reign.  Nor  had 
he  in  the  midst  of  other  occupations  forgotten  his  engage- 
ment. A  Congregation  specially  appointed  for  examining, 
classifying,  and  remedying  such  abuses  had  been  established. 
It  was  divided  into  three  committees,  consisting  of  eight 
Cardinals,  fifteen  prelates,  and  fifty  men  of  learning.  At 
the  same  time  the  Inquisition  was  rigorously  maintained. 
Paul  extended  its  jurisdiction,  empowered  it  to  use  torture, 
and  was  constant  in  his  attendance  on  its  meetings  and 
*  acts  of  faith.'  ^  But  now  that  his  plans  for  the  expulsion 
of  the  Spaniards  had  failed,  and  his  nephews  had  been 
hurled  from  their  high  station  into  the  dust,  there  remained 
no  other  interest  to  distract  his  mind.  Every  day  witnessed 
the  promulgation  of  some  new  edict  touching  monastic 
discipline,  simony,  sale  of  offices,  collation  to  benefices,  church 
ritual,  performance  of  clerical  duties,  and  appointment  to 
ecclesiastical  dignities.  It  was  his  favourite  boast  that  there 
would  be  no  need  of  a  Council  to  restore  the  Church  to 
purity,  since  he  was  doing  it.^  And  indeed  his  measures 
formed  the  nucleus  of  the  Tridentine  decrees  upon  this  topic 
in  the  final  sessions  of  the  Council.  Under  this  government 
Eome  assumed  an  air  of  exemplary  behaviour  which  struck 
foreigners  with  mute  astonishment.  Cardinals  were  com- 
pelled to  preach  in  their  basilicas.     The  Pope  himself,  who 

'  Pallavicini,  in  his  history  of  the  Council  of  Trent  (Lib.  xiv.  ix.  5), 
specially  commends  Paul's  zeal  for  the  Holy  Office.  Speaking  of  his 
other  pious  institutions,  he  says  :  '  Fra  esse  d'  eterna  lode  lo  fa  degno 
11  tribunal  dell'  inquisizione,  che  dal  zelo  di  lui  e  prima  in  autorita  di 
consigliero  e  poscia  in  podesta  di  principe  riconosce  il  presente  suo 
vigor  neir  Italia,  e  dal  quale  riconosce  1'  Italia  la  sua  conservata  integrita 
della  fede  :  e  per  quest'  opera  salutare  egli  rimane  ora  tanto  piu  bene- 
merito  ed  onorabile  quanto  piu  allora  ne  fu  mal  rimeritatoe  disonorato.' 

-  See  Luig   Mocenigo  in  Bel.  degli  Anib.  Yeneti,  vol.  x.  p.  25. 

o2 


84  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

was  vain  of  his  eloquence,  preached.  Gravity  of  manners, 
external  signs  of  piety,  a  composed  and  contrite  face,  ostenta- 
tion of  orthodoxy  by  frequent  confession  and  attendance  at 
the  Mass,  became  fashionable ;  and  the  Court  adopted  for 
its  motto  the  Si  non  caste  tamen  caute  of  the  Counter- 
Eeformation.'  Aretino,  with  his  usual  blackguardly 
pointedness  of  expression,  has  given  a  hint  of  what  the  new 
regime  implied  in  the  following  satiric  lines  : — 

Carafifa,  ipocrita  infingardo, 

Che  tien  per  coscienza  spirituals 
Quando  si  mette  del  pepe  in  sul  cardo. 

Paul  IV.  brought  the  first  period  of  the  transition  to 
an  end.  There  were  no  attempts  at  dislodging  the  Spaniard, 
no  Papal  wars,  no  tyranny  of  Papal  nephews  converted  into 
feudal  princes,  after  his  days.  He  stamped  Koman  society 
with  his  own  austere  and  bigoted  religion.  That  he  was  in 
any  sense  a  hypocrite  is  wholly  out  of  the  question.  But 
he  made  Rome  hypocritical,  and  by  establishing  the  Inqui- 
sition on  a  firm  basis,  he  introduced  a  reign  of  spiritual 
terror  into  Italy.  At  his  death  the  people  rose  in  revolt, 
broke  into  the  dungeons  of  the  Inquisition,  released  the 
prisoners,  and  destroyed  the  archives.  The  Holy  Office  was 
restored,  however  ;  and  its  higher  posts  of  trust  soon  came  to 
be  regarded  as  stepping-stones  to  the  Pontifical  dignity. 

The  successor  of  Paul  IV.  was  a  man  of  very  different 
quality  and  antecedents.  Giovanni  Angelo  Medici  sprang, 
not  from  the  Florentine  house  of  Medici,  but  from  an 
obscure  Lombard  stem.  His  father  acquired  some  wealth 
by  farming  the  customs  in  Milan  ;  and  his  eldest  brother, 
Gian  Giacomo,  pushed  his  way  to  fame,  fortune  and  a  title 
by  piracy  upon  the  Lake  of  Como.^     Gian  Giacomo  estab- 

'  'Eoma  a  loaragone  delli  tempi  degli  altri  pontefici  si  poteva 
riputar  come  uu  onesto  monasterio  di  religiosi  '  {op.  cit.  p.  41). 

^  In  my  Sketches  and  Studies  in  Italy  I  have  narrated  the  romantic 
history  of  this  fiUbuster. 


PAUL  IV.   AND   PIUS  IV.  85' 

lished  himself  so  securely  in  his  robber  fortress  of  Musso  that 
he  soon  became  a  power  to  reckon  with.  He  then  entered 
the  Imperial  service,  was  created  Marquis  of  Marignano  by 
the  Duke  of  Milan,  and  married  a  lady  of  the  Orsini  house, 
a  sister  of  the  Duchess  of  Parma.  At  a  subsequent  period 
he  succeeded  in  subduing  Siena  to  the  rule  of  Cosimo  de' 
Medici,  who  then  acknowledged  a  pretended  consanguinity 
between  the  twO  families.^  The  younger  brother,  Giovanni 
Angelo,  had  meanwhile  been  studying  law,  practising  as  a 
jurist,  and  following  the  Court  at  Rome  in  the  place  of 
protonotary,  which,  as  the  custom  then  was,  he  purchased  in 
1527.  Paul  III.  observed  him,  took  him  early  into  favour, 
and  on  the  marriage  of  Gian  Giacomo,  advanced  him  to  the 
Cardinalate.  This  was  the  man  who  assumed  the  title  of 
Pius  IV.  on  his  election  to  the  Papacy  in  1559. 

Paul  IV.  hated  Cardinal  Medici,  and  drove  him  away 
from  Rome.  It  is  probable  that  this  antipathy  con- 
tributed something  to  Giovanni  Angelo's  elevation.  Of 
humble  Lombard  blood,  a  jurist  and  a  worldling,  pacific  in 
his  policy,  devoted  to  Spanish  interests,  cautious  and  con- 
ciliatory in  the  conduct  of  affairs,  ignorant  of  theology  and 
indifferent  to  niceties  of  discipline,  Pius  IV.  was  at  all  points 
the  exact  opposite  of  the  fiery  Neapolitan  noble,  the  Inquisitor 
and  fanatic,  the  haughty  trampler  upon  kings,  the  armed 
antagonist  of  Alva,  the  brusque  impulsive  autocrat,  the 
purist  of  orthodoxy,  who  preceded  him  upon  the  Papal 
throne.^  His  trusted  counsellor  was  Cardinal  Morone,  whom 
Paul  had  thrown  into  the  dungeons  of  the  Inquisition  on  a 
charge  of  favouring  Lutheran  opinions,  and  who  was  liberated 

'  Soranzo  :  Alberi,  vol.  x.  p.  67.  Pius  IV.  adopted  the  arms  of  the 
Florentine  Medici,  and  spent  30,000  scudi  on  carving  them  about 
through  Rome.     See  P.  Tiepolo,  ib.  p.  174. 

-  '  Veramente  quasi  in  ogni  parte  si  puo  chiamare  il  rovescio  dell' 
altro '  {op.  cit.  p.  50). 


86  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

by  the  rabble  in  their  fury.'  This  in  itself  was  significant 
of  the  new  regime  which  now  began  in  Eome.  Morone, 
like  his  master,  vinderstood  that  the  Church  could  best  be 
guided  by  diplomacy  and  arts  of  peace.  The  two  together 
brought  the  Council  of  Treiit  to  that  conclusion  which  left 
an  undisputed  sovereignty  in  theological  and  ecclesiastical 
affairs  to  the  Papacy.  It  would  have  been  impossible  for  a 
man  of  Caraffa's  stamp  to  achieve  what  these  sagacious 
temporisers  and  adroit  managers  effected. 

Without  advancing  the  same  arrogant  claims  to  spiritual 
supremacy  as  Paul  had  made,  Pius  was  by  no  means  a  feeble 
Pontiff.  He  knew  that  the  temper  of  the  times  demanded 
wise  concessions  ;  but  he  also  knew  how  to  win  through 
these  concessions  the  reality  of  power.  It  was  he  who 
initiated  and  firmly  followed  the  policy  of  alliance  between 
the  Papacy  and  the  Catholic  sovereigns.-     Instead  of  assert- 

'  Luigi  Mocenigo  says  of  him  that  Pius  '  averlo  per  un  angelo  di 
paradiso,  e  adoperandolo  per  consiglio  in  tutte  le  sue  cose  importanti.' 
Alberi,  vol.  x.  p.  40.  Tlie  case  made  out  against  Morone  during  the 
pontificate  of  Paul  IV.  may  be  studied  in  Cantu,  op.  cit.  vol.  ii.  pp. 
171-192,  together  with  his  defence  in  full.  It  turned  mainly  on  these 
articles  : — unsound  opinions  regarding  justification  by  faith,  salvation 
by  Christ's  blood,  good  works,  invocation  of  saints,  reliques ;  dissemi- 
nation of  the  famous  book  on  the  Benefits  of  Christ's  Death ;  practice 
with  heretics.  He  was  imprisoned  in  the  Castle  of  S.  Angelo  from 
June  1557  till  August  1559.  Suspicions  no  doubt  fell  on  him  through 
his  friendship  with  several  of  the  moderate  refomiers,  and  from  the 
fact  that  his  diocese  of  Modena  was  a  nest  of  liberal  thinkers — the 
Grillenzoni,  Castelvetro,  Filippo  Valentini,  Faloppio,  Camillo  Molza, 
Francesco  da  Porto,  Egidio  Foscarari,  and  others,  all  of  whom  are 
described  by  Cantu,  oj}.  cit.  Disc,  xxviii.  The  charges  brought  against 
these  persons  prove  at  once  the  mainly  speculative  and  innocuous  charac- 
ter of  Italian  heresy,  and  the  implacable  enmity  which  a  Pope  of 
Caraffa's  stamp  exercised  against  the  slightest  shadow  of  heterodoxy. 

-  Soranzo,  op.  cit.  p.  75,  says  :  '  Con  li  principi  tiene  modo  affatto 
contrario  al  suo  predecessore ;  perch^  mentre  quelle  usava  dire,  il 
grado  dei  pontefici  esser  per  mettersi  sotto  i  piedi  gl'  imperatori  e  i  re, 
questo  dice  che  senza  1'  autorita  dei  principi  non  si  puo  conservare 
quella  dei  pontefici.' 


A   DirLOMATIC   PONTIFF  87 

ing  the  interests  of  the  Church  in  antagonism  to  secular 
potentates,  he  undertook  to  prove  that  their  interests  were 
identical.  Militant  Protestantism  threatened  the  civil  no  less 
than  the  ecclesiastical  order.  The  episcopacy  attempted  to 
liberate  itself  from  monarchical  and  pontifical  authority  alike. 
Pius  proposed  to  the  autocrats  of  Europe  a  compact  for 
mutual  defence,  divesting  the  Holy  See  of  some  of  its 
privileges,  but  requiring  in  return  the  recognition  of  its 
ecclesiastical  absolutism.  In  all  difficult  negotiations  he 
was  wont  to  depend  upon  himself ;  treating  his  counsellors 
as  agents  rather  than  as  peers,  and  holding  the  threads  of 
diplomacy  in  his  own  hands.  Thus  he  was  able  to  transact 
business  as  a  sovereign  with  sovereigns,  and  came  to  terms 
with  them  by  means  of  personal  correspondence.  The  re- 
construction of  Catholic  Christendom,  which  took  visible 
shape  in  the  decrees  of  the  Tridentine  Council,  was  actually 
settled  in  the  Courts  of  Spain,  Austria,  France,  and  Rome. 
The  Fathers  of  the  Council  were  the  mouthpieces  of  royal 
and  Papal  cabinets.  The  Holy  Ghost,  to  quote  a  profane 
satire  of  the  time,  reached  Trent  in  the  despatch-bags  of 
couriers,  in  the  sealed  instructions  issued  to  ambassadors  and 
legates. 

We  observe  throughout  the  negotiations  which  crowned 
the  policy  of  this  Pope  with  success,  the  operation  not  only  of 
a  pacific  and  far-seeing  character,  but  also  of  the  temper  of 
a  lawyer.  Pius  drew  up  the  Tridentine  decrees  as  an  able 
conveyancer  draws  up  a  complicated  deed,  involving  many 
trusts,  recognising  conflicting  rights,  providing  for  distant 
contingencies.  It  was  in  fact  the  marriage  contract  of 
eccclesiastical  and  secular  absolutism,  by  which  the  estates 
of  Catholic  Christendom  were  put  in  trust  and  settlement  for 
posterity.  In  formulating  its  terms  the  Pope  granted  points 
to  which  an  obstinate  or  warlike  predecessor,  a  Julius  II.  or 
a  Paul  IV.,  would  never  have  subscribed  his  signature.     In 


88  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

purely  theological  matters,  such  as  the  concession  of  the 
chalice  to  the  laity  and  the  marriage  of  the  clergy,  he  was 
even  willing  to  yield  more  for  the  sake  of  peace  than  his 
Court  and  clergy  would  agree  to.  But  for  each  point  he 
gave,  he  demanded  a  substantial  equivalent,  and  showed 
such  address  in  bargaining,  that  Eome  gained  far  more  than  it 
relinquished.  When  the  contract  had  been  drafted,  he  ratified 
it  by  a  full  and  ready  recognition,  and  lawyer-like  was  punc- 
tual in  executing  all  the  terms  to  which  he  pledged  himself. 

We  must  credit  Pius  IV.  with  keen  insight  into  the  new 
conditions  of  Catholic  Europe,  and  recognise  him  as  the  real 
founder  of  the  modern  as  distinguished  from  the  medieval 
Papacy.  That  transition  which  I  have  been  describing  in 
the  present  chapter  remained  uncertain  in  its  issue  up  to 
his  pontificate.  Before  his  death  the  salvation  of  Catholicism, 
the  integrity  of  the  Catholic  Church,  the  solidity  of  the 
Roman  hierarchy,  and  the  possibility  of  a  vigorous  Counter- 
Eeformation  were  placed  beyond  all  doubt. 

It  is  noticeable  that  these  substantial  successes  were 
achieved,  not  by  a  religious  fanatic,  but  by  a  jurist ;  not 
by  a  saint,  but  by  a  genial  man  of  the  world  ;  not  by  force 
of  intellect  and  will,  but  by  adroitness  ;  not  by  masterful 
avithority,  but  by  pliant  diplomacy  ;  not  by  forcing,  but  by 
following  the  current  of  events.  Since  Gregory  VII.,  no 
Pope  had  done  so  much  as  Pius  IV.  for  bracing  the  ancient 
fabric  of  the  Church  and  confirming  the  Papal  prerogative. 
But  what  a  difference  there  is  between  a  Hildebrand  and  a 
Giovanni  Angelo  Medici !  How  Europe  had  changed,  when 
a  man  of  the  latter's  stamp  was  the  right  instrument  of 
destiny  for  starting  the  weather-beaten  ship  of  the  Church 
upon  a  new  and  prosperous  voyage. 

Pius  IV.  was  greatly  assisted  in  his  work  by  circum- 
stances, of  which  he  kneAV  how  to  avail  himself.  Plad  it  not 
been   for   the   renewed  spiritual   activity  of  Catholicism    to 


THE   PAPAL  KELATIVES  89 

which  I  have  alluded  in  this  chapter,  he  might  not  have 
been  able  to  carry  that  work  through.  He  took  no  interest 
in  theology,  and  felt  no  sympathy  for  the  Inquisition.'  But 
he  prudently  left  that  institution  alone  to  pursue  its  function 
of  policing  the  ecclesiastical  realm.  The  Jesuits  rendered  him 
important  assistance  by  propagating  their  doctrine  of  passive 
obedience  to  Rome.  Spain  supported  him  with  the  massive 
strength  of  a  nation  Catholic  to  the  core  ;  and  when  the 
Spanish  prelates  gave  him  trouble,  he  could  rely  for  aid 
upon  the  Spanish  crown.  His  own  independence,  as  a 
prudent  man  of  business,  uninfluenced  by  bigoted  prejudices 
or  partialities  for  any  sect,  enabled  him  to  manipulate  all 
resources  at  his  disposal  for  the  main  object  of  uniting 
Catholicism  and  securing  Papal  supremacy.  He  was  also 
fortunate  in  his  family  relations,  having  no  occasion  to  com- 
plicate his  policy  by  nepotism.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  his 
reign  had  been  to  condemn  four  of  the  Caraffeschi — Cardinal 
Caraffa,  the  Duke  of  Palliano,  Count  Aliffe  and  Leonardo  di 
Cardine — to  death  ;  and  this  act  of  justice  ended  for  ever  the 
old  forms  of  domestic  ambition  which  had  hampered  the 
Popes  of  the  Renaissance  in  their  ecclesiastical  designs.  His 
brother,  the  Marquis  of  Marignano,  died  in  1555  ;  and  this 
event  opened  for  him  the  path  to  the  Papacy,  which  he 
would  never  have  attained  in  the  lifetime  of  so  grasping  and 
ambitious  a  man.-  With  his  next  brother,  Augusto,  who 
succeeded  to  the  marquisate,  he  felt  no  sympathy.^  His 
nephew  Federigo  Borromeo  died  in  youth.  His  other 
nephew,  Carlo  Borromeo,  the  sainted  Archbishop  of 
Milan,   remained  close  to  his  person  in  Eome.^     But  Carlo 

'  Soranzo,  op.  cit.  p.  74. 

-  Soranzo,  op.  cit.  p.  71,  says  :  'II  marchese  suo  fratello  con  la 
moglie  gli  diecle  il  cappello,  e  con  la  morte  il  papato.' 

^  Mocenigo,  op.  cit.  p.  52.     Soranzo,  op.  cit.  p.  93. 

^  Margherita  Medici,  sister  of  the  Pope,  had  married  Gilberto 
Borromeo. 


DO  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

Borromeo  was  a  man  who  personified  the  new  spirit  of 
Cathohcism.  Sincerely  pious,  zealous  for  the  faith,  immacu- 
late in  conduct,  unwearied  in  the  discharge  of  diocesan 
duties,  charitable  to  the  poor,  devoted  to  the  sick,  he  summed 
up  all  the  virtues  of  the  Counter-Eeformation.  Nor  had  he 
any  of  the  virtues  of  the  Eenaissance.  A  Venetian  Am- 
bassador described  him  as  cold  of  political  temperament, 
little  versed  in  worldly  affairs,  and  perplexed  when  he 
attempted  to  handle  matters  of  grave  moment. •  His  presence 
at  the  Papal  Court,  so  far  from  being  perilous,  as  that  of  an 
ambitious  Cardinal  Nipote  would  have  been,  or  scandalous, 
as  that  of  former  Riarios,  Borgias  and  Caraffas  had  un- 
doubtedly been,  was  a  source  of  strength  to  Pius.  It  im- 
ported into  his  immediate  surroundings  just  what  he  himself 
lacked,  and  saved  him  from  imputations  of  worldliness  which 
in  the  altered  temper  of  the  Church  might  have  proved  in- 
convenient.2  Truly,  among  all  Pontiffs  who  have  occupied 
S.  Peter's  Chair,  Pius  IV.  deserved  in  the  close  of  his  life  to 
be  called  fortunate.  He  had  risen  from  obscurity,  had 
entered  Rome  in  humble  ofKce  at  the  moment  of  Rome's 
deepest  degradation.  He  had  lived  through  troubled  times, 
and  for  some  years  had  felt  the  whole  weight  of  Catholic 
concerns  upon  his  shoulders.  At  the  last,  he  was  conscious 
of  having  opened  a  new  era  for  the  Church,  and  of  being 
able  to  transmit  a  sceptre  of  undisputed  authority  to  his  suc- 
cessors. His  death-bed  was  troubled  with  no  remorse,  with 
no  ingratitude  of  relatives,  with  no  political  complications 
produced  by  family  ambition  or  by  the  sacrifice  of  his  official 
duties  to  personal  aggrandisement. 

Soon  after  the  election   of   Pope   Pius  IV.  the  state  of 

'  See  Mocenigo,  o}}-  cit.  p.  53.     Soranzo,  op.  cit.  p.  91. 

-  Gia.  Soranzo  (op.  cit.  p.  133)  says  of  Carlo  Borromeo,  '  ch'  egli 
solo  faccia  piu  profitto  nella  Corte  di  Eoma  che  tutti  i  decreti  del 
Concilio  insieme.' 


NECESSITY    OF  A   COUNCIL  91 

Europe  made  the  calling  of  a  General  Council  indispensable. 
Paul's  impolitic  pretensions  had  finally  alienated  England 
from  the  Eoman  Church.  Scotland  was  upon  the  point  of 
declaring  herself  Protestant.  The  Huguenots  were  growing 
stronger  every  year  in  France,  the  Queen  Mother,  Catherine 
de'  Medici,  being  at  that  time  inclined  to  favour  them.  The 
Confession  of  Augsburg  had  long  been  recognised  in  Ger- 
many. The  whole  of  Scandinavia,  with  Denmark,  was  lost 
to  Catholicism.  The  Low  Countries,  in  spite  of  Philip,  Alva, 
and  the  Inquisition,  remained  intractable.  Bohemia,  Hun- 
gary, and  Poland  were  alienated,  ripe  for  open  schism.  The 
tenets  of  Zwingli  had  taken  root  in  German  Switzerland. 
Calvin  was  gaining  ground  in  the  French  cantons.  Geneva 
had  become  a  stationary  fortress,  the  stronghold  of  belliger- 
ent reformers,  whence  heresy  sent  forth  its  missionaries 
and  promulgated  subversive  doctrines  through  the  medium 
of  an  ever-active  press.  Transformed  by  Calvin  from  its 
earlier  condition  of  a  pleasure-loving  and  commercial  city, 
it  was  now  what  Deceleia  under  Spartan  discipline  had 
been  to  Athens  in  the  Peloponnesian  war — a  permanent 
eTTtret^i^icr/Ads,  perpetually  garrisoned  and  on  guard  to  harry 
the  flanks  of  Catholics.  Faithful  to  the  Eoman  See  in  a 
strict  sense  of  the  term,  there  remained  only  Spain, 
Portugal,  and  Italy.  As  the  events  of  the  next  century 
proved,  the  disaffected  nations  still  offered  rallying-points 
for  the  Catholic  cause,  from  which  the  tide  of  conquest  was 
rolled  back  upon  the  Keformation.  But  in  1559  the  outlook 
for  the  Church  was  very  gloomy ;  no  one  could  predict 
whether  a  General  Council  might  not  increase  her  diffi- 
culties by  weakening  the  Papal  poAver  and  sowing  further 
seeds  of  discord  among  her  few  faithful  adherents.  Yet 
Pius,  after  an  attempt  to  combine  the  Cathohc  nations  in  a 
crusade  against  Geneva,  which  was  frustrated  by  the  jealousy 
of  Spain,  the  internal  weakness  of  France  and  the  respect 


92  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

inspired  by  Switzerland,'  determined  to  cast  liis  fortunes  on 
the  Council.  He  had  several  strong  points  in  his  favour. 
The  reigning  Emperor,  Ferdinand,  wielded  a  power  insignifi- 
cant when  compared  with  that  of  Charles  V.  The  Protes- 
tants, though  formally  invited,  were  certain  not  to  attend  a 
Council  which  had  already  condemned  the  articles  of  their 
Confession.  The  cardinal  dogmas  of  Catholicism  had  been 
confirmed  in  the  sessions  of  1545-1552.  It  was  to  be 
hoped  that,  with  skilful  management,  existing  differences  of 
opinion  with  regard  to  doctrine,  church-management,  and 
reformation  of  abuses,  might  be  settled  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  Catholic  powers. 

The  Pope   accordingly  sent  five  Legates,  the  Cardinals 
Gonzaga,  Seripando,  Simoneta,  Hosius,  and  Puteo,  to  Trent, 
who  opened  the  Council  on  January  15,  1562, ^     As  had  been 
anticipated,  the  Protestants  showed  strong  disinclination  to 
attend.     The  French  prelates  were  unable  to  appear,  pending 
negotiations  with  the  Huguenots  at  Poissy  and  Pontoise.   The 
German  prelates  intimated  their  reluctance  to  take  part  in  the 
proceedings.    The  Court  of  France  demanded  that  the  chalice 
for  the  laity  and  the  use  of  the  vulgar  tongue  in  religious  ser- 
vices should  be  conceded.     The  Emperor  also  insisted  on  these 
points,  making  a  further  demand  for  the   marriage  of   the 
clergy.     Circumstances  both  in  France  and  Germany  seemed 
to  render  these  conditions  imperative,  if  the  rapid  spread  of 
Protestant  dissent  were  to   be  checked  and  the  remnant   of 
the  Catholic  population  to  be  kept  in  obedience.     Of  ecclesias- 
tics,  only    Spaniards   and   Italians,   the   latter  in   a    large 
majority,  appeared  at  Trent.     The  Courts  of  other  nations 
were  represented   by  ambassadors,  who  took  no  part  in  the 
deliberations  of  the  CounciL^ 

'  See  Sarpi,  vol.  ii.  pp.  43,  44. 

^  Cardinal  Puteo  was  soon  replaced  by  a  Papal  nephew,  the  Cardinal 
d'Alteraps  (Mark  of  Hohen  Ems). 

^  At  the  first  session  there  were  five  Cardinals,  one  hundred  and 


ORGANISATION   OF   THE   COUNCIL  93 

In  spite  of  this  inauspicious  commencement,  Pius  de- 
clared the  Council  a  General  Council,  and  further  decreed 
that  it  should  be  recognised  as  a  continuation  of  that  Council 
which  had  begun  at  Trent  in  1545.  This  rendered  the  co- 
operation of  Protestants  impossible,  since  they  would  have 
been  compelled  to  accept  the  earlier  dogmatic  resolutions  of 
the  Fathers.  It  was  decided  that  no  proxies  should  be 
allowed  to  absentees  ;  that  the  questions  of  doctrine  and 
reform  should  be  prepared  for  discussion  in  two  separate 
congregations,  and  should  be  taken  into  consideration  in 
full  sessions  simultaneously ;  finally  that  the  Papal  Legates 
should  alone  have  the  privilege  of  proposing  resolutions  to 
the  fathers.  This  last  point,  by  which  the  Court  of  Kome 
reserved  to  itself  the  control  of  all  proceedings  in  the  Council, 
was  carried  by  a  clever  ruse.  Until  too  late  the  Spanish 
prelates  do  not  seem  to  have  been  aware  of  the  immense 
power  they  had  conferred  on  Kome  by  passing  the  words 
Legatis  proponentihus}  The  principle  involved  in  this 
phrase  continued  to  be  hotly  disputed  all  through  the 
sessions  of  the  Council.  But  Pius  knew  that  so  long  as  he 
stuck  fast  to  it  he  always  held  the  ace  of  trumps,  and  nothing 
would  induce  him  to  relinquish  it. 

Fortified  in  this  position  of  superiority,  Pius  now  pro- 
ceeded to  organise  his  forces  and  display  his  tactics.  All 
through  the  sessions  of  the  Council  they  remained  the  same  ; 
and  as  the  method  resulted  in  his  final  victory,  it  deserves 
to  be  briefly  described.  At  any  cost  he  determined  to  secure 
a  numerical  majority  in  the  Synod.  This  was  effected 
by  drafting  Italian  prelates,  as  occasion  required,   to  Trent. 

four  prelates,  including  Patriarchs,  Archbishops  and  Bishops,  four 
Abbots,  and  four  Generals  of  Orders.  These  were  all  Italians,  Spaniards, 
and  Portuguese.  And  yet  this  Conciliabulum  called  itself  a  General 
Council,  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  legislate  for  the  whole  of  Latin 
and  Teutonic  Christianity. 
'  See  Sarpi,  vol.  ii.  p.  87. 


94  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

Many  of  the  poorer  sort  were  subsidised,  and  placed  under 
the  supervision  of  Cardinal  Simoneta,  who  gave  them  orders 
how  to  vote.  A  small  squadron  of  witty  bishops  was  told  off 
to  throw  ridicule  on  inconvenient  speakers  by  satirical  in- 
terpolations, or  to  hamper  them,  by  sophistical  arguments. 
Spies  were  introduced  into  the  opposite  camps,  who  kept  the 
Legates  informed  of  what  the  French  or  Spaniards  deliberated 
in  their  private  meetings.  The  Legates  meanwhile  estab- 
lished a  daily  post  of  couriers,  who  carried  the  minutest 
details  of  the  Council  to  the  Vatican.  When  the  resolutions 
of  the  congregations  on  which  decrees  were  to  be  framed 
had  been  drawn  up,  they  referred  them  to  his  Holiness. 
Without  his  sanction  they  did  not  propose  them  in  a  general 
session.  In  this  fashion,  by  means  of  his  standing  majority, 
the  exclusive  right  of  his  Legates  to  propose  resolutions, 
and  the  previous  reference  of  these  resolutions  to  himself, 
Pius  was  enabled  to  direct  the  affairs  of  the  Council.  It 
soon  became  manifest  that  while  the  fathers  were  talking 
at  Trent  their  final  decisions  were  arranged  in  Eome.  This 
not  unnaturally  caused  much  discontent.  It  began  to  be 
murmured  that  the  Holy  Ghost  was  sent  from  Eome  to 
Trent  in  carpet-bags.  A  man  of  more  imperious  nature 
than  Pius  might,  by  straining  his  prerogatives,  have  produced 
an  irreconcilable  rupture.  Bat  he  was  aware  that  the  very 
existence  of  the  Papacy  depended  on  circumspection.  He 
therefore  used  all  his  advantages  with  caution,  and  resolved 
to  win  the  day  by  diplomacy.  With  this  object  in  view  he 
introduced  the  further  system  of  negotiating  with  the  Catholic 
Courts  through  special  agents.  Instead  of  framing  the 
decrees  upon  the  information  furnished  by  his  Legates,  he  in 
his  turn  submitted  them  to  Philip,  Catherine  de'  Medici,  and 
Ferdinand,  agreed  on  terms  of  mutual  concession,  persuaded 
the  princes  that  their  interests  were  identical  with  his  own, 
and  then  returned  such  measures  to  the  Council  as  could 


SPANISH,   FRENCH,   IMPERIAL   OPPOSITION  95 

be  safely  passed.  In  course  of  time  the  Holy  Ghost  was  rxot 
packed  up  at  Kome  for  Trent  in  carpet-bags  before  he  had 
gone  the  round  of  Europe  and  made  his  bow  in  all  the 
cabinets. 

It  must  not,  however,  be  thought  that  matters  went 
smoothly  for  the  Pope  at  first,  or  that  so  novel  a  method  as 
that  which  I  have  described  whereby  the  faith  and  discipline 
of  Christendom  were  settled  by  negotiations  between  sove- 
reigns, came  suddenly  into  existence.  In  its  first  sessions 
the  Council,  to  quote  the  Pope's  own  words,  resembled  the 
Tower  of  Babel  rather  than  a  Synod  of  Fathers.  The 
Spanish  prelates  contended  fiercely  for  two  principles  touching 
the  episcopacy  :  one  was  that  the  residence  of  bishops  in 
their  dioceses  had  been  divinely  commanded  ;  the  other,  that 
their  authority  is  derived  from  Christ  immediately.  The  first 
struck  at  the  Pope's  power  to  dispense  from  the  duty  of 
residence  ;  and  if  it  had  been  established  without  qualifi- 
cation, it  would  have  ruined  his  capital.  The  second  would 
have  rendered  the  episcopacy  independent  of  Eome,  and  have 
made  the  Holy  Father  one  of  a  numerous  oligarchy  instead 
of  the  absolute  chief  of  a  hierarchy.  Pius  was  able  to  show 
Philip  that  the  independence  of  the  bishops  must  inflict  deep 
injuries  on  the  crown  of  Spain.  Philip  therefore  wrote  to 
forbid  insistence  on  this  point.  But  the  Spanish  prelates, 
though  coerced,  were  not  silenced,  and  the  storm  which  they 
had  raised  went  grumbling  on. 

Difliculties  of  a  no  less  serious  nature  arose  when  the 
French  and  Imperial  ambassadors  arrived  at  Trent  in  the 
spring.  They  demanded,  as  I  have  already  stated,  that  the 
chalice  should  be  conceded  to  the  laity  ;  nor  is  it  easy  to 
understand  why  this  point  might  not  have  been  granted. 
Pius  himself  was  ready  to  make  the  concession  ;  and  the 
only  valid  argument  against  it  was  that  it  imperilled  the 
uniformity    of    ritual    throughout    all    Catholic     countries.. 


96  HENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

The  Germans  further  stipulated  for  the  marriage  of  the 
clergy,  which  the  Pope  was  also  disposed  to  entertain,  until 
he  reflected  that  celibacy  alone  retained  the  clergy  faithful 
to  his  interests  and  regardless  of  those  of  their  own  nations. 
At  this  juncture  of  affairs  the  Roman  Court,  which  was 
strongly  opposed  to  both  concessions,  received  material  aid 
from  the  dissensions  of  the  Council.  The  Spaniards  would 
hear  nothing  of  the  Eucharist  under  both  forms.  The 
marriage  of  the  clergy  was  opposed  by  French  and  Spaniards 
alike.  On  the  point  of  episcopal  independence,  the  French  sup- 
ported the  Spaniards ;  but  Pius  used  the  same  arguments  in 
France  which  he  had  used  in  Spain,  with  similar  success.  Thus 
there  was  no  agreement  on  any  of  the  disputed  questions 
between  Spaniards,  Frenchmen  and  Germans  ;  and  since  the 
ambassadors  could  neither  propose  nor  vote,  and  the  Italian 
prelates  were  in  a  permanent  majority,  Pius  was  able  to 
defer  and  temporise  at  leisure. 

Nevertheless,  he  began  to  feel  the  gravity  of  the  situation. 
He  saw  that  the  embassies  constituted  dangerous  centres  of 
intrigue  and  national  organisation  at  Trent.  He  was  not 
entirely  satisfied  with  his  own  Legate,  the  Cardinal  Gonzaga, 
who  supported  the  divine  right  of  the  episcopacy  and  quar- 
relled with  his  colleagues.  The  Spaniards,  infuriated  at 
having  sacrificed  the  right  of  proposing  measures,  began  to 
talk  openly  about  the  reform  of  the  Papacy.  Disagreeable 
messages  reached  Rome  from  France  and  Spain  and  Germany, 
complaining  of  the  Pope's  absolutism  in  Council,  and 
demanding  that  the  reform  of  the  Church  should  be  taken 
into  serious  and  instant  consideration.  His  devoted  adherent, 
Lainez,  General  of  the  Jesuits,  embittered  opposition  by 
passionately  preaching  the  doctrine  of  passive  obedience. 
Two  dangers  lay  before  him.  One  was  that  the  Council 
should  break  up  in  confusion,  with  discredit  to  Rome  and 
anarchy  for  the  Catholic  Church.     The  other   was   that   it 


PONTIFICAL   LIPLOxAIACY  97 

should  be  prolonged  in  its  dissensions  by  the  princes,  with 
a  view  of  depressing  and  enfeebling  the  Papal  authority. 
Other  perils  of  an  incalculable  kind  threatened  him  in  the 
announced  approach  of  the  mighty  Cardinal  of  Lorraine, 
brother  to  the  Duke  of  Guise,  with  a  retinue  of  French 
bishops  released  from  the  Conference  at  Poissy.  Though  he 
kept  on  packing  the  Council  with  fresh  relays  of  Italians, 
it  was  much  to  be  apprehended  that  they  might  be  unable 
to  oppose  a  coalition  between  French  and  Spanish  prelates, 
should  that  be  now  effected. 

Pius,  at  this  crisis,  resolved  on  two  important  lines  of 
policy,  the  energetic  pursuit  of  which  speedily  brought  the 
Council  of  Trent  to  a  peaceful  termination.  The  first  was  to 
meet  the  demand  for  a  searching  reformation  of  the  Church 
with  cheerful  acquiescence  ;  but  to  oppose  a  counter-demand 
that  the  secular  States  in  all  their  ecclesiastical  relations 
should  at  the  same  time  be  reformed.  ■  This  implied  a  threat 
of  alienating  patronage  and  revenue  from  the  princes  ;  it  also 
indicated  plainly  that  the  tiara  and  the  crowns  had  interests 
in  common.  The  second  was  to  develop  the  diplomatic  system 
upon  which  he  had  already  tentatively  entered. 

The  events  of  the  spring,  1563,  hastened  the  adoption  of 
these  measures  by  the  Pope.  Cardinal  Lorraine  had  arrived 
with  his  French  bishops ;  '  and  the  Papal  Legates  found 
themselves  involved  at  once  in  intricate  disputes  on  questions 
touching  the  Huguenots  and  the  interests  of  the  Gallican 
Church.  The  Italians  were  driven  in  despair  to  epigrams  : 
Dalla  scabie  Sjiagmiola  siamo  caduti  ncl  mal  Francese. 
Somewhat  later,  the  Emperor  despatched  a  bulky  and  verbose 
letter,    announcing   his   intention   to  play   the    part   which 

'  He  reached  Trent,  November  13,  1562,  with  eighteen  Bishops  and 
three  Abbots  of  France,  charged  by  Charles  IX.  to  demand  piuitied 
ritual,  reformed  discipline  of  clergy,  use  of  vernacular  in  church  ser- 
vices, and  finally,  if  possible,  the  marriage  of  the  clergy. 

VI  H 


98  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

Sigismund  had  assumed  at  the  Council  of  Constance.  He 
complained  roundly  of  the  evils  caused  by  the  reference  of 
all  resolutions  to  Rome,  by  the  exclusive  rights  of  the 
Legates  to  propose  decrees,  and  by  the  intrigues  of  the  Italian 
majority  in  the  Synod.  He  wound  up  by  declaring  that  the 
reformation  of  the  Church  must  be  accomplished  in  Trent, 
not  left  to  the  judgment  of  the  Papal  Curia  ;  and  threatened 
to  arrive  from  Innsbruck  by  the  Brenner.  Though  Ferdinand 
was  in  a  position  of  ecclesiastical  and  political  weakness,  such 
an  Imperial  rescript  could  not  be  altogether  contemned ; 
especially  as  Cardinal  Lorraine,  soon  after  his  arrival,  had 
made  the  journey  to  Innsbruck  on  purpose  to  confer  with 
the  Emperor.  It  therefore  behoved  the  Pope  to  act  with 
decision  ;  and  an  important  event  happened  in  the  first  days 
of  March,  which  materially  assisted  him  in  doing  so.  This 
was  the  death  of  Cardinal  Gonzaga,  whom  Pius  determined 
to  replace  by  the  moderate  and  circumspect  Morone.' 

Through  Ippolito  d'  Este,  Cardinal  of  Ferrara,  he  opened 
negotiations  with  the  French  Court,  showing  that  the  wishes 
of  the  prelates  in  the  Council  on  the  question  of  episcopacy 
were  no  less  opposed  to  the  crown  than  to  his  own  interests. 
Cardinal  Simoneta  urged  the  same  point  on  the  Marquis  of 
Pescara,  who  governed  Milan  for  Philip,  and  was  well  inclined 
to  the  Papal  party.  Cardinal  Morone  was  sent  on  a  special 
embassy  to  the  Emperor,^  By  wise  concessions,  in  which 
the  prerogatives  of  the  Imperial  ambassadors  at  Trent  were 

1  The  confusion  at  Trent  in  the  spring  of  1563  is  thus  described 
by  the  Bishop  of  Alife  :  '  Methinks  Antichrist  has  come,  so  greatly  con- 
founded are  the  perturbations  of  the  Holy  Fathers  here.'  Phillipson, 
p.  525. 

^  When  Morone  set  out,  he  told  the  Venetian  envoy  in  Eome  that 
he  was  going  on  a  forlorn  hope.  '  L'  ill""  Morone,  quando  parti  per  il 
Concilio,  mi  disse  che  andava  a  cura  disperata  e  che  nulla  spes  erat 
della  religione  Cattolica  '  (Soranzo,  op.  cit.  p.  82).  The  Jesuit  Canisius, 
by  his  influence  with  Ferdinand,  secured  the  success  of  Morone's 
diplomacy. 


ENVOYS   TO   FEANCE   AND   EMPEROR  99 

considerably  enlarged,  and  a  searching  reformation  of  the 
Church  was  promised,  IMorone  succeeded  in  establishing  a 
good  working  basis  for  the  future.  It  came  to  be  understood 
that  while  the  Pope  would  allow  no  further  freedom  to  the 
bishops,  he  was  well  disposed  to  let  his  Legates  admit  the 
envoys  of  the  Catholic  powers  into  their  counsels.  From 
this  time  forward  the  Synod  may  be  said  to  have  existed 
only  as  a  mouthpiece  for  uttering  the  terms  agreed  on  by  tlie 
Pope  and  potentates.  Morone  returned  to  Trent,  and  the 
Emperor  withdrew  from  Innsbruck  toward  the  north. 

The  difficulty  with  regard  to  France  and  Germany  con- 
sisted in  this,  that  politics  forced  both  King  and  Emperor  to 
consider  the  attitude  of  their  Protestant  subjects.  Yet  both 
alike  were  unable  to  maintain  their  position  as  Catholic 
sovereigns,  if  they  came  to  open  rupture  with  the  Papacy. 
Ferdinand,  as  we  have  just  seen,  had  expressed  himself  con- 
tented with  the  situation  of  affairs  at  Trent.  But  the  French 
prelates  still  remained  in  opposition,  and  the  French  Court 
was  undecided.  Cardinal  Morone,  upon  his  arrival  at 
Trent,  began  to  flatter  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine,  affecting  to 
take  no  measures  of  importance  without  consulting  him. 
This  conduct,  together  with  timely  compliments  to  several 
Frenchmen  of  importance,  smoothed  the  way  for  future 
agreement ;  while  the  couriers  who  arrived  from  France, 
brought  the  assurance  that  Ippolito  d'  Este's  representations 
had  not  been  fruitless.  Pius,  meanwhile,  was  playing  the 
same  conciliatory  game  in  Eome,  where  Don  Luigi  d'  Avila 
arrived  as  a  special  envoy  from  Philip.  The  ambassador 
obtained  a  lodging  in  the  Vatican,  and  was  seen  in  daily 
social  intercourse  with  his  Holiness.'  But  the  climax  of 
this  policy  was  reached  when  Lorraine  accepted  the  Pope's 
invitation,  and  undertook  a  journey  to  Eome.    This  happened 

'  Sarpi    says  that   Don   Luigi   resided   in    the   lodgings    of    Count 
Federigo  Borromeo,  a  deceased  nephew  of  the  Pope. 

TI  '2 


100  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

in  September.  The  Frencli  Cardinal  was  pompously  received, 
entertained  in  the  palace,  and  honoured  with  personal  visits 
in  his  lodgings  by  the  Pope.  Weary  of  Trent  and  the  tire- 
some intrigues  of  the  Council,  this  unscrupulous  prelate  was 
still  further  inclined  to  negotiation  after  the  murder  of  his 
brother,  Duke  of  Guise.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the 
Guises  in  France  were  after  all  but  a  potent  faction  of  semi- 
royal  adventurers,  who  had  risen  to  eminence  by  an  alliance 
with  Diane  de  Poitiers.  The  murder  of  the  Duke  shook  the 
foundations  of  their  power ;  and  the  Cardinal  was  naturally 
anxious  to  be  back  again  in  France.  For  the  moment  he 
basked  in  the  indolent  atmosphere  of  Rome,  surrounded  by 
those  treasures  of  antique  and  Renaissance  luxury  which 
still  remained  after  the  Sack  of  1527.  Pius  held  out  flatter- 
ing visions  of  succession  to  the  Papacy,  and  proved  con- 
vincingly that  nothing  could  sustain  the  House  of  Guise  or 
base  the  Catholic  faith  in  France  except  alliance  with  the 
Papal  See.  Lorraine,  who  had  probably  seen  enough  of 
episcopal  canaillerie  in  the  Council,  and  felt  his  inner  self 
expand  in  the  rich  climate  of  pontifical  Rome,  allowed  his 
ambition  to  be  caressed,  confessed  himself  convinced,  and 
returned  to  Trent  intoxicated  with  his  visit,  the  devoted 
friend  of  Rome. 

Menaces,  meanwhile,  had  been  astutely  mingled  with 
cajoleries.-  The  French  and  the  Imperial  Courts  were 
growing  anxious  on  the  subject  of  reform  in  secular  establish- 
ments. Pius  had  threatened  to  raise  the  whole  question  of 
national  Churches  and  the  monarch's  right  of  interfering 
in  their  administration.  This  was  tantamount  to  flinging  a 
burning  torch  into  the  powder-magazine  of  Huguenot  and 
Lutheran  grievances.  In  order  to  save  themselves  from  the 
disaster  of  explosion,  they  urged  harmonious  action  with 
the  Papacy  upon  their  envoys.  The  Spanish  Court,  through 
Pescara,  De  Luna,  and  D'  Avalos,  wrote  despatches  of  like 


PAPAL   SUPEEMACY  DECEEED  101 

tenor.  It  was  now  debated  whether  a  congress  of  crowned 
heads  should  not  be  held  to  terminate  the  Council  in  accord- 
ance with  the  Papal  programme.  This  would  have  suited 
Pius.  It  was  the  point  to  which  his  policy  had  led.  Yet  no 
such  measure  could  be  lightly  hazarded.  A  congress  while 
the  Council  was  yet  sitting,  would  have  been  too  palpable 
and  cynical  a  declaration  of  the  Papal  game.  As  events 
showed,  it  was  not  even  necessary.  When  Lorraine  returned 
to  Trent,  the  French  opposition  came  to  an  end.  The 
Spanish  had  been  already  neutralised  by  the  firm  persistent 
exhibition  of  Philip's  will  to  work  for  Roman  absolutism.' 
There  was  nothing  left  but  to  settle  details,  to  formulate  the 
terms  of  ecclesiastical  reform,  and  to  close  the  Council  of 
Trent  with  a  unanimous  vote  of  confidence  in  his  Holiness. 
The  main  outlines  of  dogma  and  discipline  were  quickly 
drawn.  Numerous  details  were  referred  to  the  Pope  for 
definition.  The  Council  terminated  in  December  with  an  act 
of  submission,  which  placed  all  its  decrees  at  the  pleasure  of 
the  Papal  sanction.  Pius  was  wise  enough  to  pass  and  ratify 
the  decrees  of  the  Tridentine  fathers  by  a  Bull  dated  on 
December  26,  1563,  reserving  to  the  Papal  sovereign  the 
sole  right  of  interpreting  them  in  doubtful  or  disputed  cases. 
This  he  could  well  afford  to  do ;  for  not  an  article  had  been 
penned  without  his  concurrence,  and  not  a  stipulation  had 
been  made  without  a  previous  understanding  with  the 
Catholic  powers.  The  very  terms,  moreover,  by  which  his 
ratification  was  conveyed,  secured  his  supremacy,  and  con- 
ferred upon  his  successors  and  himself  the  privileges  of  a 
court  of  ultimate  appeal.  At  no  previous  period  in  the 
history  of  the   Church  had   so  wide,  so   undefined,  and  so 

'  Yet  the  Spanish  bishops  fought  to  the  end,  under  the  leadership 
of  their  chief  Guerrero,  for  the  principle  of  conciliar  independence 
and  the  episcopal  prerogatives.  '  We  had  better  not  have  come  here, 
than  be  forced  to  stand  by  as  witnesses,'  says  the  Bishop  of  Orense. 
Phillipson,  p.  577. 


102  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

unlimited  an  authority  been  accorded  to  the  See  of  Eome. 
Thus  Pius  IV.  was  triumphant  in  obtaining  conciUar  sanction 
for  Pontifical  absolutism,  and  in  maintaining  the  fabric  of 
the  Eoman  hierarchy  unimpaired,  the  cardinal  dogmas  of 
Latin  Christianity  unimpeached  and  after  formal  inquisition 
reasserted  in  precise  definitions.  A  formidable  armoury  had 
been  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Popes,  who  were  fully 
empowered  to  use  it,  and  who  had  two  mighty  engines  for 
its  application  ready  in  the  Holy  Office  and  the  Company  of 
Jesus. ^ 

After  the  termination  of  the  Council  there  was  nothing 
left  for  Pius  but  to  die.  He  stood  upon  a  pinnacle  which 
might  well  have  made  him  nervous — lest  haply  the  Solonian 

'  The  vague  reference  of  all  decrees  passed  by  the  Tridentine 
Council  to  the  Pope  for  interpretation  enabled  him  and  his  successors 
to  manipulate  them  as  they  chose.  It  therefore  happened,  as  Sarpi 
says  ('  Tratt.  delle  Mat.  Ben.'  Opere,  vol.  iv.  p.  161),  that  no  reform, 
with  regard  to  the  tenure  of  benefices,  residence,  pluralism,  etc.,  which 
the  Council  had  decided,  was  adopted  without  qualifying  expedients 
which  neutralised  its  spirit.  If  the  continuance  of  benefices  in  com- 
vicndam  ceased,  the  device  oi pensions  upon  benefices  was  substituted; 
and  a  thousand  pretexts  put  colossal  fortunes  extracted  from  Church 
property,  now  as  before,  into  the  hands  of  Papal  nephews.  Witness 
the  contrivances  whereby  Cardinal  Scipione  Borghese  enriched  himself 
in  the  Papacy  of  Paul  V.  The  Council  had  decreed  the  residence  of 
bishops  in  their  sees  ;  but  it  had  reserved  to  the  Pope  a  power  of 
dispensation  ;  so  that  those  whom  he  chose  to  exile  from  Eome  were 
bound  to  reside,  and  those  whom  he  desired  to  have  about  him  were 
released  from  this  obligation.  On  each  and  all  delicate  points  the 
Papacy  was  more  autocratic  after  than  before  the  Council.  One  of 
Sarpi's  letters  (vol.  i.  p.  371)  to  Jacques  Leschassier,  dated  December  22, 
IGO'J,  should  be  studied  by  those  who  wish  to  penetrate  the  '^  reserve 
ed  altre  arcane  arti,'  the  '  j-enunzie,'  ^ pensioni''  and  '■  altri  strata- 
gemmi,^  by  means  of  which  the  Papal  Curia,  during  the  half-century 
after  the  Tridentine  Council,  managed  to  evade  its  decrees,  and  to  get 
such  control  over  Church  property  in  Italy  that  '  out  of  500  benefices 
not  one  is  conferred  legally.'  Compare  the  passage  in  the  '  Trattato 
delle  Materie  Beneficiarie,'  p.  1G3.  There  Sarpi  says  that  five-sixths  of 
Italian  benefices  are  at  the  Pope's  disposal,  and  that  there  is  good 
reason  to  suppose  that  he  will  acquire  the  remaining  sixth. 


THE   LAST   DAYS   OF   PIUS   IV.  103 

maxim,  '  Call  no  man  fortunate  until  liis  death,'  should  be 
verified  in  his  person.  During  the  two  years  of  peace  and 
retirement  which  he  had  still  to  pass,  the  unsuccessful 
conspiracy  of  Benedetto  Accolti  and  Antonio  Canossa  against 
his  life  gave  point  to  this  warning.  But  otherwise,  with- 
drawn from  cares  of  state,  Avhich  he  committed  to  his 
nephew,  Carlo  Borromeo,  he  enjoyed  the  tranquillity  that 
follows  successful  labour,  and  sank  with  undiminished  pres- 
tige into  his  grave  at  the  end  of  1565,  Those  who  believe  in 
masterful  and  potent  leaders  of  humanity  may  be  puzzled 
to  account  for  the  triumph  achieved  by  this  commonplace 
arbiter  of  destiny.  Not  by  strength  but  by  pliancy  of 
character  he  accomplished  the  transition  from  the  medieval 
to  the  modern  epoch  of  Catholicism.  He  was  no  Cromwell, 
Frederick  the  Great,  or  Bismarck  ;  only  a  politic  old  man, 
contriving  by  adroit  avoidance  to  steer  the  ship  of  the  Church 
clear  through  innumerable  perils.  This  scion  of  the  Italian 
middle  class,  this  moral  mediocrity,  placed  his  successors  in 
S,  Peter's  Chair  upon  a  throne  of  such  supremacy  that  they 
began  immediately  to  claim  jurisdiction  over  kings  and  na- 
tions. Thirty-eight  years  before  his  death,  when  Clement  VII. 
was  shut  up  in  S.  Angelo,  it  seemed  as  though  the  Papal 
power  might  be  abolished.  Forty-five  years  after  his 
death,  Sarpi,  writing  to  a  friend  in  1610,  expressed  his  firm 
opinion  that  the  one,  the  burning  question  for  Europe  was 
the  Papal  power,'  Through  him,  poor  product  as  he  was  of 
ordinary  Italian  circumstances,  elected  to  be  Pope  because  of 
his  easy-going  mildness  by  prelates  worn  to  death  in  fiery 
Caraffa's  reign,  it  happened  that  the  flood  of  Catholic  reaction 
was  rolled  over  Europe.  In  a  certain  sense  we  may  there- 
fore regard  him  as  a  veritable  Flagellum  Dei,  wielded  by 
inscrutable  fate.  It  seems  that  at  momentous  epochs  of 
world-history  no  hero  is  needed  to  efi^ect  the  purpose  of  the 
'  Lettcre,  vol.  ii.  p.  167. 


104  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

Time-Spirit.  A  Gian  Angelo  Medici,  agreeable,  diplomatic, 
benevolent,  and  pleasure-loving,  sufficed  to  initiate  a  series 
of  events  which  kept  the  Occidental  races  in  perturbation 
through  two  centuries. 

A  great  step  had  been  taken  in  the  Pontificate  of  Pius  IV. 
That  reform  of  the  Church,  which  the  success  of  Protestantism 
rendered  necessary,  and  which  the  Catholic  powers  demanded, 
had  been  decreed  by  the  Council  of  Trent.  Pius  showed  no 
unwillingness  to  give  effect  to  the  Council's  regulations ; 
and  the  task  was  facilitated  for  him  by  his  nephew,  Carlo 
Borromeo,  and  the  Jesuits.  It  still  remained,  however,  to  be 
seen  whether  a  new  Pope  might  not  reverse  the  policy  on 
which  the  Counter-Eeformation  had  been  founded,  and  impede 
the  beneficial  inner  movement  which  was  leading  the  Eoman 
hierarchy  into  paths  of  sobriety.  Should  this  have  happened, 
it  would  have  been  impossible  for  Eomanism  to  assume  a 
warlike  attitude  of  resistance  toward  the  Protestants  in 
Europe,  or  to  have  rallied  its  own  spiritual  forces.  The  next 
election  was  therefore  a  matter  of  grave  import. 

Nothing  is  more  remarkable  in  the  history  of  the  Papacy 
at  this  epoch  than  the  singular  contrast  offered  by  each 
Pontiff  in  succession  to  his  predecessor.  The  conclave  was 
practically  uncontrolled  in  its  choice  by  any  external  force  of 
the  first  magnitude.  Though  a  Duke  of  Florence  might  now, 
by  intrigue,  determine  the  nomination  of  a  Pius  IV.,  no 
commanding  Emperor  or  King  of  France,  as  in  the  times  of 
Otto  the  Great  or  Philip  le  Bel,  could  designate  his  own 
candidate.  There  was  no  strife,  so  open  as  in  the  Eenais- 
sance  period,  between  Cardinals  subsidised  by  Spain  or 
Austria  or  France.'     The  result  was  that  the  deliberations  of 

'  This  does  not  mean  that  the  Spanish  crown  had  not  a  powerful 
voice  in  the  elections.  See  the  history  of  the  conclaves  which 
elected  Urban  VII.,  Gregory  XIV.,  Innocent  IX.,  Clement  VIII.,  in 
Kanke,  vol.  ii.  pp.  31-39.     Yet  it  was  noticed  by  those  close  observers, 


PArAL   ELECTIONS  10.5 

the  conclave  were  determined  by  motives  of  petty  interests, 
personal  jealousies,  and  local  considerations,  to  such  an 
extent  that  the  election  seemed  finally  to  be  the  result  of 
chance  or  inspiration.  We  find  the  most  unlikely  candidates, 
Carafi'a  and  Peretti,  attributing  their  elevation  to  the  direct 
influence  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  consciousness  that  they 
had  slipped  into  S.  Peter's  Chair  by  the  maladroitness  of 
conflicting  factions.  The  upshot,  however,  of  these  uninflu- 
enced elections  generally  was  to  promote  a  man  antagonistic 
to  his  predecessor.  The  clash  of  parties  and  the  numerical 
majority  of  independent  Cardinals  excluded  the  creatures  of 
the  last  reign,  and  selected  for  advancement  one  who  owed 
his  position  to  the  favour  of  an  antecedent  Pontiff.  This 
result  was  further  secured  by  the  natural  desire  of  all 
concerned  in  the  election  to  nominate  an  old  man,  since  it 
was  for  the  general  advantage  that  a  pontificate  should,  if 
possible,  not  exceed  five  years. 

The  personal  qualities  of  Carlo  Borromeo  were  of  grave 
importance  in  the  election  of  a  successor  to  his  uncle.  He 
had  ruled  the  Church  during  the  last  years  of  Pius  IV. ;  and 
the  newly  appointed  Cardinals  were  his  dependents.  Had  he 
attempted  to  exert  his  power  for  his  own  election,  he  might 
have  met  with  opposition.  He  chose  to  use  it  for  what  he 
considered  the  deepest  Catholic  interests.  This  unselfishness 
led  to  the  selection  of  a  man,  Michele  Ghislieri,  whose 
antecedents  rendered  him  formidable  to  the  still  corrupt 
members  of  the  Roman  hierarchy,  but  whose  character  was 
precisely  of  the  stamp  required  for  giving  solidity  to  the  new 
phase  on  which  the  Church  had  entered.  As  Pius  IV.  had 
been  the  exact  opposite  to  Paul  IV.,  so  Pius  V.  was  a  com- 
plete contrast  to  Pius  IV.      He  had  passed  the  best  years  of 

the  Venetian  envoys,  that  France  and  Spain  had  abandoned  their 
former  policy  of  subsidising  the  Cardinals  who  adhered  to  their 
respective  factions. 


106  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

his  life  as  chief  of  the  Inquisition.  Devoted  to  theology  and  to 
religious  exercises,  he  lacked  the  legal  and  mundane  faculties 
of  his  predecessor.  But  these  were  no  longer  necessary. 
They  had  done  their  duty  in  bringing  the  Council  to  a  favour- 
able close,  and  in  establishing  the  Catholic  concordat.  What 
was  now  required  was  a  Pope  who  should,  by  personal  ex- 
ample and  rigid  discipline,  impress  Rome  with  the  principles 
of  orthodoxy  and  reform.  Carlo  Borromeo,  self-conscious, 
perhaps,  of  the  political  incapacity  which  others  noticed  in 
him,  and  fervently  zealous  for  the  Catholic  Revival,  devolved 
this  duty  on  Michele  Ghislieri,  who  completed  the  work  of  his 
two  predecessors. 

Paul  IV.  had  laid  a  basis  for  the  modern  Roman  Church 
by  strengthening  the  Inquisition  and  setting  internal  reforms 
on  foot.  Pius  IV.,  externally,  by  his  settlement  of  the 
Tridentine  Council,  and  by  the  establishment  of  the  Catholic 
concordat,  built  upon  this  basis  an  edifice  which  was  not  as 
yet  massive.  Carlo  Borromeo  and  the  Jesuits  during  the  last 
pontificate  prepared  the  way  for  a  Pope  who  should  cement 
and  gird  that  biulding,  so  that  it  should  be  capable  of  resisting 
the  inroads  of  time  and  should  serve  as  a  fortress  of  attack  on 
heresy.  That  Pope  was  Michele  Ghislieri,  who  assumed  the 
title  of  Pius  V.  in  1566. 

Before  entering  on  the  matter  of  his  reign,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  review  the  state  of  Rome  at  this  moment  in  the 
epoch  of  transition,  when  the  medieval  and  Renaissance 
phases  were  fast  merging  into  the  phase  of  the  Counter- 
Reformation.  Old  abuses  which  have  once  struck  a  deep 
root  in  any  institution,  die  slowly.  It  is  therefore  desirable 
to  survey  the  position  in  which  the  Papal  Sovereign  of  the 
Holy  City,  as  constituted  by  the  Council  of  Trent,  held  sway 
there. 

The  population  of  Rome  was  singularly  fluctuating. 
Being  principally  composed  of  ecclesiastics  with  their  house- 


ROMAN  POPULATION  107 

holds  and  dependents ;  foreigners  resident  in  the  city  as 
suitors  or  ambassadors ;  merchants,  tradespeople  and  artists 
attracted  by  the  hope  of  gain  ;  it  rose  or  fell  according  to  the 
qualities  of  the  reigning  Pope  and  the  greater  or  less  train  of 
life  which  happened  to  be  fashionable.  Noble  families  were 
rather  conspicuous  by  their  absence  than  by  their  presence  ; 
for  those  of  the  first  rank,  Colonna  and  Orsini,  dwelt  upon 
their  fiefs  and  visited  the  capital  only  as  occasion  served. 
The  minor- aristocracy  which  gave  solidity  to  social  relations 
in  towns  like  Florence  and  Bologna,  never  attained  the  rank 
of  a  substantial  oligarchy  in  Rome.  Nor  was  there  an  es- 
tablished dynasty  round  which  a  circle  of  peers  might  gather 
in  permanent  alliance  with  the  Court.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  frequent  succession  of  Pontifts  chosen  from  various 
districts  encouraged  the  growth  of  an  ephemeral  nobility  who 
battened  for  a  while  upon  the  favour  of  their  Papal  kinsmen, 
flooded  the  city  with  retainers  from  their  province,  and 
disappeared  upon  the  election  of  a  new  Pope,  to  make  room 
for  another  flying  squadron.  Instead  of  a  group  of  ancient 
Houses,  intermarrying  and  transmitting  hereditary  rights  and 
lionours  to  their  posterity,  Eome  presented  the  spectacle  of 
nmuerous  celibate  establishments,  displaying  great  pomp,  it 
is  true,  but  dispersing  and  disappearing  upon  the  decease  of 
the  patrons  who  assembled  them.  The  households  of  wealthy 
Cardinals  were  formed  upon  the  scale  of  princely  Courts. 
Yet  no  one,  whether  he  depended  on  the  mightiest  or  the 
feeblest  prelate,  could  reckon  on  the  tenure  of  his  place 
beyond  the  lifetime  of  his  master.  Many  reasons,  again — 
among  which  may  be  reckoned  the  hostility  of  reigning 
Pontiffs  to  the  creatures  of  their  predecessors  or  to  their  old 
rivals  in  the  conclave — caused  the  residence  of  the  chief 
ecclesiastics  in  Eome  to  be  precarious.  Thus  the  upper 
stratum  of  society  was  always  in  a  state  of  flux,  its  elements 
shifting  according  to  laws  of  chronic  uncertainty.      Beneath 


108  EEXAISSAXCE   IN  ITALY 

it  spread  a  rabble  of  inferior  and  dubious  gentlefolk,  living 
in  idleness  upon  the  favour  of  the  Court,  serving  the  Cardinals 
and  bishops  in  immoral  and  dishonest  offices,  selling  their 
wives,  their  daughters  and  themselves,  all  eager  to  rise  by 
indirect  means  to  places  of  emolument. •  Lower  down, 
existed  the  bourgeoisie  of  artists,  bankers,  builders,  shop- 
keepers and  artisans  ;  and  at  the  bottom  of  the  scale  came 
hordes  of  beggars.  Kome,  like  all  Holy  Cities,  entertained 
multitudes  of  eleemosynary  paupers.  Gregory  XIII.  is  praised 
for  having  spent  more  than  200,000  crowns  a  year  on  works  of 
charity,  and  for  having  assigned  the  district  of  San  Sisto  (in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Trinita  del  Monte,  one  of  the  best 
quarters  of  the  present  city)  to  the  beggars.- 

Such  being  the  social  conditions  of  Rome,  it  is  not  sur- 
prising to  learn  that  during  the  reign  of  so  harsh  a  Pontiff  as 
Paul  IV.,  the  population  sank  to  a  number  estimated  at 
between  40,000  and  50,000.  It  rose  rapidly  to  70,000,  and 
touched  80,000  in  the  reign  of  Pius  IV.  Afterwards  it 
gradually  ascended  to  90,000,  and  during  the  popular  ponti- 
ficate of  Gregory  XIII.  it  is  said  to  have  reached  the  high 
figure  of  140,000.  These  calculations  are  based  upon  the 
reports  of  the  Venetian  ambassadors,  and  can  be  con- 
sidered as  impartial,  although  they  may  not  be  statistically 
exact. ^ 

What  rendered  Roman  society  rotten  to  the  core  was 
universal  pecuniary  corruption.  In  Rome  nothing  could  be 
had  without  payment ;  but  men  with  money  in  their  purse 
obtained  whatever  they  desired.  The  office  of  the  Datatario 
alone  brought  from  ten  to  fourteen  thousand  crowns  a  month 
into  the  Papal  treasury  in  ISGO.-*     This  large  sum  accrued 

'  See  Mocenigo,  op.  cit.  p.  35 ;  Aretino's  Dialogo  della  Corte  di 
Boma  ;  and  the  private  history  of  the  Farnesi. 

■-'  Giov.  Carraro  and  Lor.  Priuli,  op.  cit.  pp.  275,  306. 
3  Alberi,  vol.  x.  pp.  35,  83,  277. 
*      Mocenigo's  computation,  op.  cit.  p.  29. 


ROMAN   VENALITY  109 

from  tlie  composition  of  benefices  and  the  sale  of  vacant 
offices.  The  Camera  Apostolica,  or  Chamber  of  Justice,  was 
no  less  venal.  A  price  was  set  on  every  crime,  for  which  its 
punishment  could  be  commuted  into  cash-payment.  Even  so 
severe  a  Pope  as  Paul  IV.  committed  to  his  nephew,  by 
published  and  printed  edict,  the  privilege  of  compounding 
with  criminals  by  fines.'  One  consequence  of  this  vile 
system,  rightly  called  by  the  Venetian  envoy  '  the  very 
strangest  that  could  be  witnessed  or  heard  of  in  such  matters,' 
was  that  wealthy  sinners  indulged  their  appetites  at  the 
expense  of  their  families,  and  that  innocent  people  became  the 
prey  of  sharpers  and  informers.^  Rome  had  organised  a  vast 
system  of  chantage.  Another  consequence  was  that  acts  of 
violence  were  frightfully  common.  Men  could  be  hired  to 
commit  murders  at  sums  varying  from  ten  to  four  scudi ;  and 
on  the  death  of  Paul  IV.,  when  anarchy  prevailed  for  a  short 
while  in  Eome,  an  eyewitness  asserts  that  several  hundred 
assassinations  were  committed  within  the  walls  in  a  few 
days.^ 

It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  a  population  so  corrupt, 
accustomed  for  generations  to  fatten  upon  the  venality  and 
vices  of  the  hierarchy,  should  welcome  those  radical  reforms 
which  were  the  best  fruits  of  the  Tridentine  Council.  They 
specially  disliked  the  decrees  which  enforced  the  residence 
of  prelates,  and  the  limitation  of  benefices  held  by  a  single 
ecclesiastic.  These  regulations  implied  the  withdrawal  of 
wealthy  patrons  from  Rome,  together  with  an  incalculable 
reduction  in  the  amount  of  foreign  money  spent  there.  Nor 
were  the  measures  for  abolishing  a  simoniacal  sale  of  offices, 
and  the  growing  demand  for  decency  in  the  administration  of 

'  Ibid.  p.  31. 

■■^  The  true  history  of  the  Cenci,  as  written  by  Bertolotti,  throws  light 
upon  these  points. 

*  Mocenigo,  op.  cit.  p.  38. 


110  REISAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

justice,  less  unpopular.  The  one  struck  at  the  root  of  private 
speculation  in  lucrative  posts,  and  deprived  the  Court  of 
revenues  which  had  to  he  replaced  by  taxes.  The  other 
destroyed  the  arts  of  informers,  checked  lawlessness  and 
license  in  the  rich,  and  had  the  same  lamentable  effect  of 
impoverishing  the  Papal  treasury.  In  proportion  as  the  Curia 
ceased  to  subsist  upon  the  profits  of  simony,  superstition,  and 
sin,  it  was  forced  to  maintain  itself  by  imposts  on  the  people, 
and  by  resuming,  as  Gregory  XIII.  attempted  to  do,  its 
obsolete  rights  over  fiefs  and  lands  accorded  on  easy  terms 
or  held  by  doubtful  titles.  Meanwhile  the  retrenchment  ren- 
dered necessary  in  all  households  of  the  hierarchy,  and  the 
introduction  of  severer  manners,  threatened  many  minor 
branches  of  industry  with  extinction. 

These  changes  began  to  manifest  themselves  during  the 
pontificate  of  Pius  IV.  The  Pope  himself  was  inclined  to  a 
liberal  and  joyous  scale  of  living.  But  he  was  not  remarkable 
for  generosity ;  and  the  new  severity  of  manners  made  itself 
felt  by  the  example  of  his  nephew  Carlo  Borromeo — a  man 
who,  while  living  in  the  purple,  practised  austerities  that 
were  apparent  in  his  emaciated  countenance.  The  Jesuits 
ruled  him ;  and,  through  him,  their  influence  was  felt  in  every 
quarter  of  the  city.'  '  The  Court  of  Eome,'  says  the  Venetian 
envoy  in  the  year  1565,  '  is  no  longer  what  it  used  to  be  either 
in  the  quality  or  the  numbers  of  the  courtiers.  This  is 
principally  due  to  the  poverty  of  the  Cardinals  and  the  parsi- 
mony of  the  Popes.  In  the  old  days,  when  they  gave  away 
more  iberally,  men  of  ability  flocked  from  all  quarters.  This 
reduction  of  the  Court  dates  from  the  Council ;  for  the  bishops 
and  beneficed  clergy  being  now  obliged  to  retire  to  their 
residences,  the  larger  portion  of  the  Court  has  left  Eome.  To 
the  same  cause  may  be  ascribed  a  diminution  in  the  numbers 
of  those  who  serve  the  Pontiff,  seeing  that  since  only  one 
'  Giac.  Soranzo,  op.  cit.  pp.  131-136. 


EEFOEM   OF   EOMAN   MANNEES  111 

benefice  can  now  be  given,  and  that  involves  residence,  there 
are  few  who  care  to  follow  the  Court  at  their  own  expense  and 
inconvenience  without  hope  of  greater  reward.  The  poverty 
of  the  Cardinals  springs  from  two  causes.  The  first  is  that 
they  cannot  now  obtain  benefices  of  the  first  class,  as  was 
the  case  when  England,  Germany,  and  other  provinces  werfi 
subject  to  the  Holy  See,  and  when  moreover  they  could  hold 
three  or  four  bishoprics  apiece  together  with  other  places  of 
emolument,  whereas  they  now  can  only  have  one  apiece. 
The  second  cause  is  that  the  number  of  the  Cardinals  has 
been  increased  to  seventy-five,  and  that  the  foreign  powers 
have  ceased  to  compliment  them  with  large  presents  and 
benefices,  as  was  the  wont  of  Charles  V.  and  the  French 
crown.'  In  the  last  of  these  clauses  we  find  clearly  indicated 
one  of  the  main  results  of  the  concordat  established  between 
the  Papacy  and  the  Catholic  sovereigns  by  the  policy  of 
Pius  IV.  It  secured  Papal  absolutism  at  the  expense  of  the 
College.  Soranzo  proceeds  to  describe  the  changes  visible  in 
Eoman  society.  '  The  train  of  life  at  Court  is  therefore 
mean,  partly  through  poverty,  but  also  owing  to  the  good 
example  of  Cardinal  Borromeo,  seeing  that  people  are  wont 
to  follow  the  manners  of  their  princes.  The  Cardinal  holds 
in  his  hands  all  the  threads  of  the  administration  ;  and  living 
religiously  in  the  retirement  I  have  noticed,  indulging  in 
liberalities  to  none  but  persons  of  his  own  stamp,  there  is 
neither  Cardinal  nor  courtier  who  can  expect  any  favour  from 
him  unless  he  conform  in  fact  or  in  appearance  to  his  mode 
of  life.  Consequently  one  observes  that  they  have  altogether 
withdrawn,  in  public  at  any  rate,  from  every  sort  of  pleasures. 
One  sees  no  longer  Cardinals  in  masquerade  or  on  horseback, 
nor  driving  with  women  about  Rome  for  pastime,  as  the 
custom  was  of  late  ;  but  the  utmost  they  do  is  to  go  alone  in 
close  coaches.  Banquets,  diversions,  hunting  parties,  splendid 
liveries  and  all  the  other  signs  of  outward  luxury  have  been 


112  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

abolished ;  the  more  so  that  now  there  is  at  Court  no  layman 
of  high  quality,  as  formerly  when  the  Pope  had  many  of  his 
relatives  or  dependents  around  him.  The  clergy  always  wear 
their  robes,  so  that  the  reform  of  the  Church  is  manifested  in 
their  appearance.  This  state  of  things,  on  the  other  hand, 
has  been  the  ruin  of  the  artisans  and  merchants,  since  no 
money  circulates.  And  while  all  offices  and  magistracies  are 
in  the  hands  of  Milanese,  grasping  and  illiberal  persons,  very 
few  indeed  can  be  still  called  satisfied  with  the  present 
reign. '^ 

One  chief  defect  of  Pius  IV.,  judged  by  the  standard  of 
the  new  party  in  the  Church,  had  been  his  coldness  in 
religious  exercises.  Paolo  Tiepolo  remarks  that  dui'ing  the 
last  seven  months  of  his  life  he  never  once  attended  service 
in  his  chapel.'-  This  indifference  was  combined  with  luke- 
warmness  in  the  prosecution  of  reforms.  The  Datatario  still 
enriched  itself  by  the  composition  of  benefices,  and  the 
Camera  by  the  composition  of  crimes.  Pius  V.,  on  the 
contrary,  embodied  in  himself  those  ascetic  virtues  which 
Carlo  Borromeo  and  the  Jesuits  were  determined  to  pro- 
pagate throughout  the  Catholic  world.  He  never  missed  a 
day's  attendance  on  the  prescribed  services  of  the  Church, 
said  frequent  Masses,  fasted  at  regular  intervals,  and  con- 
tinued to  wear  the  coarse  woollen  shirt  which  formed  a  part 
of  his  friar's  costume.  In  his  piety  there  was  no  hypocrisy. 
The  people  saw  streams  of  tears  pouring  from  the  eyes  of  the 
Pontiff  bowed  in  ecstasy  before  the  Host.  A  rigid  reforma- 
tion of  the  churches,  monasteries  and  clergy  was  immediately 
set  on  foot  throughout  the  Papal  States.  Monks  and  nuns 
complained,  not  without  cause,  that  austerities  were  expected 
from  them  which  were  not  included  in  the  rules  to  which 
they  vowed  obedience.     The  severity  of  the  Inquisition  was 

'  Soranzo,  oji.  cit.  pp.  136-138. 
2  Oi?.  cit.  p.  171. 


SEVERITY    OF   PIUS  V.  113 

augmented,  and  the  Index  Espurgatorius  began  to  exercise 
a  stricter  jurisdiction  over  books.  The  Pope  spent  half  his 
time  at  the  Holy  Office,  inquiring  into  cases  of  heresy  of  ten 
or  twenty  years'  standing.  From  Florence  he  caused  Carne- 
secchi  to  be  dragged  to  Rome  and  burned  ;  from  Venice  the 
refugee  Guido  Zanetti  of  Fano  was  delivered  over  to  his 
tender  mercies  ;  and  the  excellent  Carranza,  Archbishop  of 
Toledo,  was  sent  from  Spain  to  be  condemned  to  death 
before  the  Roman  tribunal.  Criminal  justice,  meanwhile, 
was  administered  with  greater  purity,  and  the  composition 
of  crimes  for  money,  if  not  wholly  abolished,  was  moderated. 
In  the  collation  to  bishoprics  and  other  benefices  the  same 
spirit  of  equity  appeared  ;  for  Pius  inquired  scrupulously  into 
the  character  and  fitness  of  aspirants  after  office. 

The  zeal  manifested  by  Pius  V.  for  a  thoroughgoing 
reform  of  manners  may  be  illustrated  by  a  curious  circum- 
stance related  by  the  Venetian  ambassador  in  the  first  year 
of  the  pontificate.'  On  July  26,  15G6,  an  edict  was  issued, 
compelling  all  prostitutes  to  leave  Rome  within  six  days,  and 
to  evacuate  the  States  of  the  Church  within  twelve  days. 
The  exodus  began.  But  it  was  estimated  that  about  25,000 
persons,  counting  the  women  themselves  with  their  hangers- 
on  and  dependents,  would  have  to  quit  the  city  if  the  edict 
were  enforced.^  The  farmers  of  the  customs  calculated  that 
they  would  lose  some  20,000  ducats  a  year  in  consequence, 
and  prayed  the  Pope  for  compensation.  Meanwhile  the  roads 
across  the  Campagna  began  to  be  thronged  by  caravans, 
which  were  exposed  to  the  attacks  of  robbers.  The  confusion 
became  so  great,  and  the  public  discontent  was  so  openly 
expressed,  that  on   August  17  Pius   repealed  his  edict  and 

'  Mutinelli,  Storia  Arcana,  &c.  vol.  i.  pp.  51-54. 

-  Assuming  tliR  population  of  Rome  to  have  been  about  1)0,000  at 
that  date,  this  number  appears  incredible.  Yet  we  have  it  on  the  best 
of  all  evidences,  that  of  a  resident  Venetian  envoy. 

VI  I 


114  KENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

permitted  the  prostitutes  to  reside  in  certain  quarters  of  the 
city. 

Pius  IV.  had  wasted  the  greater  part  of  his  later  hfe  in 
bed,  neglecting  business,  entertaining  his  leisure  with  buffoons 
and  good  companions,  eating  much  and  drinking  more. 
Pius  v.,  on  the  contrary,  carried  the  habits  of  the  convent 
with  him  into  the  Vatican,  and  bestowed  the  time  he  spared 
from  devotion  upon  the  transaction  of  affairs.  He  was  of 
choleric  complexion,  adust,  lean,  wasted,  with  sunken  eyes 
and  snow-white  hair,  looking  ten  years  older  than  he  really 
was. 

Such  a  Pope  changed  the  face  of  Kome,  or  rather  stereo- 
typed the  change  which  had  been  instituted  by  Cardinal 
Borromeo.  *  People,  even  if  they  are  not  really  better,  seem 
at  least  to  be  so,'  says  the  Venetian  envoy,  who  has  supplied 
me  with  the  details  I  have  condensed.^  Ketrenchments  in 
the  Papal  establishment  were  introduced ;  money  was  scarce  ; 
the  Court  grew  meaner  in  appearance  ;  and  nepotism  may  be 
said  to  have  been  extinct  in  the  days  of  Pius  V.  He  did 
indeed  advance  one  nephew,  Michele  BonelH,  to  the  Car- 
dinalate ;  but  he  showed  no  inclination  to  enrich  or  favour 
him  beyond  due  measure.  A  worn  man,  without  ears, 
marked  by  the  bastonado,  frequented  the  palace,  and  stood 
near  the  person  of  the  Pope,  as  Captain  of  the  Guard.  This 
was  Paolo  Ghislieri,  a  somewhat  distant  relative  of  Pius,  who 
had  passed  his  life  in  servitude  to  Barbary  corsairs  and  had 
been  ransomed  by  a  merchant  upon  the  election  of  his  kins- 
man. No  other  members  of  the  Papal  family  were  invited  to 
Rome. 

Pius  v.,  while  living  this  exemplary  monastic  life  upon 

the  Papal  throne,  ruled  Catholic  Christendom  more  absolutely 

than  any  of  his  predecessors.     As  the  Papacy  recognised  its 

dependence  on  the  sovereigns,  so  the  sovereigns  in  their  turn 

'  Tiepolo,  ojp.  cit.  p.  172. 


PAPAL   SUPREMACY  115 

perceived  that  religious  conformity  was  the  best  safeguard  of 
their  secular  authority.  Therefore  the  Catholic  States  sub- 
scribed, one  after  the  other,  to  the  Tridentine  Profession  of 
Faith,  and  adopted  one  system  in  matters  of  Church  discipline. 
A  new  Breviary  and  a  new  Missal  were  published  with  the 
Papal  sanction.  Seminaries  were  established  for  the  educa- 
tion of  ecclesiastics,  and  the  Jesuits  laboured  in  their  propa- 
ganda. The  Inquisition  and  the  Congregation  of  the  Index 
redoubled  their  efforts  to  stamp  out  heresy  by  fire  and 
iron,  and  by  the  suppression  or  mutilation  of  books.  A  rigid 
uniformity  was  impressed  on  Catholicism.  The  Pope,  to 
whom  such  power  had  been  committed  by  the  Council,  stood 
at  the  head  of  each  section  and  department  of  the  new 
organisation.  To  his  approval  every  measure  in  the  Church 
was  referred,  and  the  Jesuits  executed  his  instructions  with 
punctual  exactness. 

It  is  not,  therefore,  to  be  wondered  that  Pius  Y.  should 
have  opened  the  era  of  active  hostilities  against  Protestantism. 
Firmly  allied  with  Philip  II.,  he  advocated  attacks  upon  the 
Huguenots  in  France,  the  Protestants  in  Flanders,  and  the 
Enghsh  crown.  There  is  no  evidence  that  he  was  active  in 
promoting  the  Massacre  of  S.  Bartholomew,  which  took  place 
three  months  after  his  death ;  and  the  expedition  of  the 
Invincible  Armada  against  England  was  not  equipped  until 
another  period  of  fifteen  years  had  elapsed.  Yet  the  negotia- 
tions in  which  he  was  engaged  with  Spain,  involving  enter- 
prises to  the  detriment  of  the  English  realm  and  the  French 
Keformation,  leave  no  doubt  that  both  S.  Bartholomew  and 
the  Armada  would  have  met  with  his  hearty  approval.  One 
glorious  victory  gave  lustre  to  the  reign  of  Pius  Y.  In  1571 
the  navies  of  Spain,  Yenice  and  Eome  inflicted  a  paralysing 
blow  upon  the  Turkish  power  at  Lepanto  ;  and  this  success 
was  potent  in  fanning  the  flame  of  Catholic  enthusiasm. 

The   pontificates   of  Paul   lY.,  Pius   lY.,  and   Pius   Y., 

I  2 


116  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

differing  as  they  did  in  very  important  details,  liad  achieved 
a  soHd  triumph  for  reformed  Catholicism,  of  which  both  the 
diplomatical  and  the  ascetic  parties  in  the  Church,  Jesuits 
and  Theatines,  were  eager  to  take  advantage.  A  new  spirit 
in  the  Eoman  polity  prevailed,  upon  the  reality  of  which  its 
future  force  depended  ;  and  the  men  who  embodied  this  spirit 
had  no  mind  to  relax  their  hold  on  its  administration.  After 
the  death  of  Pius  V.  they  had  to  deal  with  a  Pope  who 
resembled  his  penultimate  predecessor,  Pius  IV.,  more  than 
the  last  Pontifi'.  Ugo  Buoncompagno,  the  scion  of  a  bourgeois 
family  settled  in  Bologna,  began  his  career  as  a  jurist.  He 
took  orders  in  middle  life,  was  promoted  to  the  Cardinalate, 
and  attained  the  supreme  honour  of  the  Holy  See  in  1572. 
The  man  responded  to  his  name.  He  was  a  good  companion, 
easy  of  access,  genial  in  manners,  remarkable  for  the  facility 
with  which  he  cast  oft"  care  and  gave  himself  to  sanguine 
expectations.^  In  an  earlier  period  of  Church  history  he 
might  have  reproduced  the  Papacy  of  Paul  II.  or  Innocent 
VIII.  As  it  was,  Gregory  XIII.  fell  at  once  under  the  potent 
influence  of  Jesuit  directors.  His  confessor,  the  Spanish 
Francesco  da  Toledo,  impressed  upon  him  the  necessity  of 
following  the  footsteps  of  Paul  IV.  and  Pius  V.  It  was  made 
plain  that  he  must  conform  to  the  new  tendencies  of  the 
Catholic  Church  ;  and  in  his  neophyte's  zeal  he  determined 
to  outdo  his  predecessors.  The  example  of  Pius  V.  was  not 
only  imitated,  but  surpassed.  Gregory  XIII.  celebrated  three 
Masses  a  week,  built  churches,  and  enforced  parochial 
obedience  throughout  his  capital.  The  Jesuits  in  his  reign 
attained  to  the  maximum  of  their  wealth  and  influence. 
Eome,  '  abandoning  her  ancient  license,  displayed  a  moderate 
and  Christian  mode  of  living  ;  and  in  so  far  as  the  external 
observance  of  religion  was  concerned,  she  showed  herself  not 
far  removed  from  such  perfection  as  human  frailties  allow.'  ^ 
'  Paolo  Tiepolo,  ojj.  cit.  p.  312.  -  Id.,  op.  cit.  p.  214. 


GEEGORY'S  RELATIVES  117 

Wliile  lie  was  yet  a  layman,  Gregory  became  the  father  of 
one  son,  Giacomo.  Born  out  of  wedlock,  he  was  yet  acknow- 
ledged as  a  member  of  the  Buoncompagno  family,  and 
admitted  under  this  name  into  the  Venetian  nobility.'  The 
Pope  manifested  paternal  weakness  in  favour  of  his  offspring. 
He  brought  the  young  man  to  Rome,  and  made  him  Governa- 
tore  di  Santa  Chiesa  with  a  salary  of  10,000  ducats.  The 
Jesuits  and  other  spiritual  persons  scented  danger.  They 
persuaded  the  Holy  Father  that  conscience  and  honour 
required  the  alienation  of  his  bastard  from  the  sacred  city. 
Giacomo  was  relegated  to  honourable  exile  in  Ancona.  But 
he  sufiered  so  severely  from  this  rebuff,  that  terms  of  accom- 
modation were  agreed  on.  Giacomo  received  a  lady  of  the 
Sforza  family  in  marriage,  and  was  established  at  the  Papal 
Court  with  a  revenue  amounting  to  about  25,000  crowns.- 
The  ecclesiastical  party,  now  predominant  in  Rome,  took  care 
that  he  should  not  acquire  more  than  honorary  importance 
in  the  government.  Two  of  the  Pope's  nephews  were  pro- 
moted to  the  Cardinalate  with  provisions  of  about  10,000 
crowns  apiece.  His  old  brother  abode  in  retirement  at 
Bologna  under  strict  orders  not  to  seek  fortune  or  to  perplex 
the  Papal  purity  of  rule  in  Rome.^ 

1  have  introduced  this  sketch  of  Gregory's  relations  in 
order  to  show  how  a  Pope  of  his  previous  habits  and  personal 
proclivities  was  now  obliged  to  follow  the  new  order  of  the 
Church.  It  was  noticed  that  the  mode  of  life  in  Rome 
during  his  reign  struck  a  just  balance  between  license  and 
austerity,  and  that  general  satisfaction  pervaded  society." 
Outside  the  city  this  contentment  did  not  prevail.     Gregory 

'  The  Venetians,  when  they  inscribed  his  name  upon  the  Libro 
d'  Oro,  called  him  '  a  near  relative  of  his  Holiness.' 

2  This  lady  was  a  sister  of  the  Count  of  Santa  Flora.  For  a  detailed 
accoant  of  the  wedding,  see  Mutinelli,  Stcn:  Arc.  vol.  i.  p.  112, 

»  Tiepolo,  op.  cit.  pp.  213,  219-221,  263,  266. 
*  Giov.  Corraro,  op.  cit.  p.  277. 


118  KENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

threw  his  States  into  disorder  by  reviving  obsolete  rights  of 
the  Church  over  lands  mortgaged  or  granted  with  obscure 
titles.  The  petty  barons  rose  in  revolt,  armed  their  peasants, 
fomented  factions  in  the  country  towns,  and  filled  the  land 
with  brigands.  Under  the  leadership  of  men  like  Alfonso 
Piccolomini  and  Roberto  Malatesta,  these  marauding  bands 
assumed  the  proportion  of  armies.  The  neighbouring 
Italian  States — Tuscany,  Venice,  Naples,  Parma,  all  of 
whom  had  foimd  the  Pope  arbitrary  and  aggressive  in  his 
dealings  with  them — encouraged  the  bandits  by  offering  them 
an  asylum  and  refusing  to  co-operate  with  Gregory  for  their 
reduction. 

His  successor,  Sixtus  V.,  found  the  whole  Papal  dominion 
in  confusion.  It  was  impossible  to  collect  the  taxes.  Life 
and  property  were  nowhere  safe.  By  a  series  of  savage 
enactments  and  stern  acts  of  justice  Sixtus  swept  the 
brigands  from  his  States.  He  then  applied  his  powerful 
will  to  the  collection  of  money  and  the  improvement  of  his 
provinces.  In  the  four  years  which  followed  his  election  he 
succeeded  in  accumulating  a  round  sum  of  four  million 
crowns,  which  he  stored  up  in  the  Castle  of  S.  Angelo.  The 
total  revenues  of  the  Papacy  at  this  epoch  were  roughly 
estimated  at  750,000  crowns,  which  in  former  reigns  had 
been  absorbed  in  current  costs  and  the  pontifical  establish- 
ment. By  rigorous  economy  and  retrenchments  of  all  kinds 
Sixtus  reduced  these  annual  expenses  to  a  sum  of  250,000, 
thus  making  a  clear  profit  of  500,000  crowns.^  At  the  same 
time  he  had  already  spent  about  a  million  and  a  half  on 
works  of  public  utility,  including  the  famous  Acqua  Felice, 
which  brought  excellent  water  into  Rome.  Roads  and 
bridges  throughout  the  States  of  the  Church  were  repaired. 
The  Chiana  of  Orvieto  and  the  Pontine  Marsh  were  drained. 

»  See  Giov.  Gritti,  op.  cit.  p.  333. 


SIXTUS   V.  119 

Encouragement  was  extended,  not  only  to  agriculture,  but 
also   to   industries   and   manufactures.     The  country  towns 
obtained    wise    financial    concessions,    and    the    unpopular 
resumption    of    lapsed    lands    and    fiefs   was   discontinued. 
Eome  meanwhile  began  to  assume  her  present  aspect  as  a 
city,    by    the    extensive    architectural    undertakings    which 
Sixtus  set  on  foot.      He  loved  building  ;  but  he  was  no  lover 
of  antiquity.     For  pagan  monuments  of  art  he  showed   a 
monastic  animosity,  dispersing  or  mutilating  the  statues  of 
the  Vatican  and  Capitol ;  turning  a  Minerva  into  an  image 
of  the  Faith  by  putting  a  cross  in  her  hand ;  surmounting  the 
columns  of  Trajan  and  Antonine  with  figures  of  Peter  and 
Paul ;  destroying  the  Septizonium  of  Severus,  and  wishing 
to  lay  sacrilegious   hands   on   Caecilia  Metella's  tomb.     To 
medieval  relics   he   was   hardly   less   indifferent.      The   old 
buildings  of  the  Lateran  were  thrown  down  to  make  room 
for   the   heavy  modern    palace.      But,    to    atone    in    some 
measure  for  these  acts  of  vandalism,  Sixtus  placed  the  cupola 
upon  S.  Peter's   and  raised  the  obelisk  in  the  great  piazza 
which  was  destined  to  be  circled  with  Bernini's  colonnades. 
This  obelisk  he  topped  with  a  cross.     Christian  inscriptions, 
signalising  the  triumph  of  the  Pontiff  over  infidel  emperors, 
the   victory  of    Calvary   over   Olympus,   the    superiority  of 
Rome's  saints  and  martyrs  to  Rome's  old  deities  and  heroes, 
left  no  doubt  that  what  remained  of  the  imperial  city  had 
been  subdued  to  Christ  and  purged  of  paganism.     Wandering 
through   Rome  at  the  present   time,  we  feel  in   eveiy  part 
the  spirit  of  the  Catholic  Revival,  and  murmur  to  ourselves 
those  lines  of  Clough  : 

0  ye  mighty  and  strange,  ye  ancient  divine  ones  of  Hellas  ! 
Are  ye  Christian  too  ?     To  convert  and  redeem  and  renew  you, 
Will  the  brief  form  have  sufficed,  that  a  Pope  has  set  up  on  the  apex 
Of  the  Egyptian  stone  that  o'ertops  you,  the  Christian  symbol  ? 
And  ye,  silent,  supreme  in  serene  and  victorious  marble. 


120  "RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

Ye  that  encircle  the  walls  of  the  stately  Vatican  chambers, 
Are  ye  also  baptized ;  are  ye  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  ? 
Utter,  0  some  one,  the  word   that   shall   reconcile   Ancient   and 
Modern. 

Nothing  was  more  absent  from  the  mind  of  Sixtus  than 
any  attempt  to  reconcile  Ancient  and  Modern.  He  was  bent 
on  proclaiming  the  ultimate  triumph  of  Catholicism,  not  only 
over  antiquity,  but  also  over  the  Renaissance.  His  inscrip- 
tions, crosses,  and  images  of  saints  are  the  enduring  badges 
of  serfdom  set  upon  the  monuments  of  ancient  and  renascent 
Italy,  bearing  which  they  were  permitted  by  the  now  absolute 
Pontiff  to  remain  as  testimonies  to  his  power. 

Retrenchment  alone  could  not  have  sufficed  for  the 
accumulation  of  so  much  idle  capital,  and  for  so  extensive  an 
expenditure  on  works  of  public  utiUty.  Sixtus  therefore  had 
recourse  to  new  taxation,  new  loans,  and  the  creation  of  new 
offices  for  sale.  The  Venetian  envoy  mentions  eighteen 
imposts  levied  in  his  reign  ;  a  sum  of  000,000  crowns  accru- 
ing to  the  Camera  by  the  sale  of  places ;  and  extensive  loans, 
or  Monti,  which  were  principally  financed  by  the  Genoese.' 
It  was  necessary  for  the  Papacy,  now  that  it  had  relinquished 
the  larger  part  of  its  revenues  derived  from  Europe,  to  live 
upon  the  proceeds  of  the  Papal  States.  The  complicated 
financial  expedients  on  which  successive  Popes  relied  for 
developing  their  exchequer,  have  been  elaborately  explained 
by  Ranke.^  They  were  materially  assisted  in  their  efforts  to 
support  the  Papal  dignity  upon  the  resources  of  their  realm, 
by  the  new  system  of  nepotism  which  now  began  to  prevail. 
Since  the  Council  of  Trent,  it  was  impossible  for  a  Pope  to 
acknowledge  his  sons,  and  few,  if  any,  of  the  Popes  after 
Pius  IV.  had  sons  to  acknowledge.^     The  tendencies  of  the 

'  Giov.  Gritti,  op.  cit.  p.  337. 
2  History  of  the  Popes,  Book  rv.  section  i. 

'  Giacomo  Buoncompagno  was  born  while  Gregory  XIII.  was  still  a 
layman  and  a  lawyer. 


WEALTH   OF  PAPAL  FAMILIES  121 

Church  rendered  it  also  incompatible  with  the  Papal  position 
that  near  relatives  of  the  Pontiff  should  be  advanced,  as 
formerly,  to  the  dignity  of  independent  princes.  The  custom 
was  to  create  one  nephew  Cardinal,  with  such  wealth  derived 
from  office  as  should  enable  him  to  benefit  the  Papal  family 
at  large.  Another  nephew  was  usually  ennobled,  endowed 
with  capital  in  the  public  funds  for  the  purchase  of  lands, 
and  provided  with  lucrative  places  in  the  secular  administra- 
tion. He  then  married  into  a  Roman  family  of  wealth  and 
founded  one  of  the  aristocratic  houses  of  the  Eoman  State. 
We  possess  some  details  respecting  the  incomes  of  the  Papal 
nephews  at  this  period,  which  may  be  of  interest.^  Carlo 
Borromeo  was  reasonably  believed  to  enjoy  revenues  amount- 
ing to  50,000  scudi.  Giacomo  Buoncompagno's  whole  estate 
was  estimated  at  120,000  scudi ;  while  the  two  Cardinal 
nephews  of  Gregory  XIII.  had  each  about  10,000  a  year. 
At  the  same  epoch  Paolo  Giordano  Orsini,  Duke  of  Bracciano, 
enjoyed  an  income  of  some  25,000,  his  estate  being  worth 
60,000,  but  being  heavily  encumbered.  These  figures  are 
taken  from  the  Reports  of  the  Venetian  envoys.  If  we  may 
trust  them  as  accurate,  it  will  appear  by  a  comparison  of 
them  with  the  details  furnished  by  Ranke,  that  Gregory's 
successors  treated  their  relatives  with  greater  generosity. ^ 
Sixtus  V.  enriched  the  Cardinal  Montalto  with  an  eccle- 
siastical income  of  100,000  scudi.      Clement  VIII.  bestowed 

'  Sarpi  writes  :  '  In  my  times  Pius  V.,  during  five  years,  accumulated 
25,000  ducats  for  the  Cardinal  nephew  ;  Gregory  XIII.,  in  thirteen 
years,  30,000  for  one  nephew,  and  20,000  for  another  ;  Sixtus  V.,  for  his 
only  nephew,  9,000  ;  Clement  VIII.,  in  thirteen  years,  for  one  nephew, 
8,000,  and  for  the  other,  3,000 ;  and  this  Pope,  Paul  V.,  in  four  years, 
for  one  nephew  alone,  40,000.  To  what  depths  are  we  destined  to  fall 
in  the  future  ?  '  (Letterc,  vol.  i.  p.  281).  This  final  question  was  justi- 
fied by  the  event ;  for,  after  the  Borghesi,  came  the  Ludovisi  and 
Barberini,  whose  accumulations  equalled,  if  they  did  not  surpass,  those 
of  any  antecedent  Papal  families. 

'  The  details  may  be  examined  in  Eanke,  vol.  ii.  pp.  303-311. 


122  KEXAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

on  two  nephews — one  Cardinal,  the  other  layman — revenues 
of  about  GO,GOO  apiece  in  1599.  He  is  computed  to  have 
hoarded  altogether  for  his  family  a  round  sum  of  1,000,000 
scudi.  Paul  V.  was  believed  to  have  given  to  his  Borghese 
relatives  nearly  700,000  scudi  in  cash,  24,600  scudi  in  funds, 
and  268,000  in  the  worth  of  offices.'  The  Cardinal  Ludovico 
Lodovisi,  nephew  of  Gregory  XV.,  had  a  reputed  income  of 
200,000  scudi ;  and  the  Ludovisi  family  obtained  800,000  in 
luoghi  di  monte  or  funds.  Three  nephews  of  Urban  VIII., 
the  brothers  Barberini,  were  said  to  have  enjoyed  joint 
revenues  amounting  to  half  a  million  scudi,  and  their  total 
gains  from  the  pontificate  touched  the  enormous  sum  of 
105,000,000.  These  are  the  families,  sprung  from  obscurity 
or  mediocre  station,  whose  palaces  and  villas  adorn  Rome, 
and  who  now  rank,  though  of  such  recent  origin,  with  the 
aristocracy  of  Europe. 

Sixtus  V.  died  in  1590.  To  follow  the  history  of  his 
successors  would  be  superfluous  for  the  purpose  of  this  book. 
The  change  in  the  Church  which  began  in  the  reign  of 
Paul   III.  was  completed  in  his  pontificate.     About   half  a 

'  Sarpi's  Letters  supply  some  details  relating  to  Paul  V.'s  nepotism. 
He  describes  the  pleasure  which  this  Pope  took  on  one  day  of  each  week 
in  washing  his  hands  in  the  gold  of  the  Datatario  and  the  Camera  (vol. 
i.  p.  281),  and  says  of  him,  '  attende  solo  a  far  danari '  (vol.  ii.  p.  237). 
When  Paul  gave  his  nephew  Scipione  the  Abbey  of  Vangadizza,  with 
12,000  ducats  a  year,  Sarpi  computed  that  the  Cardinal  held  about 
100,000  ducats  of  ecclesiastical  benefices  (vol.  i.  p.  219).  When  the 
Archbishopric  of  Bologna,  worth  over  16,000  ducats  a  year,  fell  vacant 
in  1610,  Paul  gave  this  to  Scipione,  who  held  it  a  short  time  without 
residence,  and  then  abandoned  it  to  Alessandro  Ludovisi,  retaining  all 
its  revenues,  with  the  exception  of  2,000  ducats,  for  himself  as  a,  pension 
(vol.  ii.  pp.  158,  300).  In  the  year  1610  Sarpi  notices  the  purchase  of 
Sulmona  and  other  fiefs  by  Paul  for  his  family,  at  the  expenditure  of 
160,000  ducats  (vol.  ii.  p.  70).  In  another  place  he  speaks  of  another 
sum  of  100,000  spent  upon  the  same  object  (vol.  i.  p.  249,  note).  Well 
might  he  exclaim,  '  II  pontefice  6  atteso  ad  arrichir  la  sua  casa  '  (vol.  i. 
p.  294). 


ABSOLUTE   SOVEREIGNTY   OF   THE   PAPACY  123 

century,  embracing  seven  tenures  of  the  Holy  Chair,  had 
sufficed  to  develop  the  new  phase  of  the  Papacy  as  an  absolute 
sovereignty,  representing  the  modern  European  principle  of 
absolutism,  both  as  the  acknowledged  Head  of  Catholic 
Christendom,  and  also  as  a  petty  Italian  power. 


124  RENAISSA^'CE   IN  ITALY 


/ 

CHAPTEK    III 

THE    INQUISITION    AND    THE    INDEX 

Different  Spirit  in  the  Holy  Office  and  the  Company  of  Jesus — Both 
needed  by  the  Counter-Reformation — Heresy  in  the  Early  Church — 
First  Origins  of  the  Inquisition  in  1203 — S.  Dominic — The  Holy 
Office  becomes  a  Dominican  Institution — Recognised  by  the  Empire 
— Its  early  Organisation — The  Spanish  Inquisition — Founded  in 
1484 — How  it  differed  from  the  earlier  Apostolical  Inquisition — Jews, 
Moors,  New  Christians — Organisation  and  History  of  the  Holy  Office 
in  Spain — Torquemada  and  his  Successors — The  Spanish  Inquisition 
never  introduced  into  Italy — How  the  Roman  Inquisition  organised 
by  Caraffa  differed  from  it — Autos  da  fc  in  Rome — Proscription  of 
suspected  Lutherans — The  Calabrian  Waldenses — Protestants  at 
Locarno  and  Venice — Digression  on  the  Venetian  Holy  Office — Perse- 
cution of  Free  Thought  in  Literature — Growth  of  the  Index  Librorum 
Prohibitorum — Sanction  given  to  it  by  the  Council  of  Trent — The 
Roman  Congregation  of  the  Index—  Final  Form  of  the  Censorship  of 
Books  under  Clement  VIII. — Analysis  of  its  Regulations — Proscrip- 
tion of  Heretical  Books — Correction  of  Texts — Purgation  and  Castra- 
tion— Inquisitorial  and  Episcopal  Licences — Working  of  the  System 
of  this  Censorship  in  Italy — Its  long  Delays — Hostility  to  Sound 
Learning — Ignorance  of  the  Censors  — Interference  with  Scholars  in 
their  Work — Terrorism  of  Booksellers — Vatican  Scheme  for  the 
Restoration  of  Christian  Erudition — Frustrated  by  the  Tyranny  of  the 
Index — Dishonesty  of  the  Vatican  Scholars — Biblical  Studies  ren- 
dered nugatory  by  the  Tridentine  Decree  on  the  Vulgate — Decline  of 
Learning  in  Universities — Miserable  Servitude  of  Professors — Greek 
dies  out — Muretus  and  Manutius  in  Rome— The  Index  and  its  Treat- 
ment of  Political  Works — Machiavelli — Batio  Status — Encourage- 
ment of  Literature  on  Papal  Absolutism— Sarpi's  Attitude — Compara- 
tive Indifference  of  Rome  to  Books  of  Obscene  or  Immoral  Tendency 
— Bandello  and  Boccaccio — Papal  Attempts  to  control  Intercourse  of 
Italians  with  Heretics. 

In  pursuing  the  plan  of  this  book,  which  aims  at  showing 
how  the  spirit  of  the  CathoHc  Revival  penetrated  every  sphere 


ORIGIN   OF   THE   HOLY   OFFICE  125 

of  intellectual  activity  in  Italy,  it  will  now  be  needful  to 
consider  the  two  agents,  both  of  Spanish  origin,  on  whose 
assistance  the  Church  relied  in  her  crusade  against  liberties 
of  thought,  speech  and  action.  These  were  the  Inquisition 
and  the  Company  of  Jesus.  The  one  woflied  "By"  extirpation 
and  forcible  repression  ;  the  other  by  mental  enfeeblement 
and  moral  corruption.  The  one  used  fire,  torture,  imprison- 
ment, confiscation  of  goods,  the  proscription  of  learning,  the 
destruction  or  emasculation  of  books.  The  other  employed 
subtle  means  to  fill  the  vacuum  thus  created  with  spurious 
erudition,  sophistries,  casuistical  abominations  and  false 
doctrines  profitable  to  the  Papal  absolutism.  Opposed  in 
temper  and  in  method,  the  one  fierce  and  rigid,  the  other 
■Saccharine  and  pliant,  these  two  bad  angels  of  Eome  con- 
tributed m  almost  equal  measure  to  the  triumph  of  Catho- 
licism. 

In  the  earlier  ages  of  the  Church,  the  definition  of  heresy 
had  been  committed  to  episcopal  authority.  But  the  cogni- 
sance of  heretics  and  the  determination  of  their  punishment 
remained  in  the  hands  of  secular  magistrates.  At  the  end  of 
the  twelfth  century  the  wide  diffusion  of  the  Albigensian 
heterodoxy  through  Languedoc  and  Northern  Italy  alarmed 
the  chiefs  of  Christendom,  and  furnished  the  Papacy  with 
a  good  pretext  for  extending  its  prerogatives.  Innocent  III. 
in  1203  empowered  two  French  Cistercians,  Pierre  de  Castelnau 
and  Kaoul,  to  preach  against  the  heretics  of  Provence.  In  the 
following  year  he  ratified  this  commission  by  a  Bull,  which 
censured  the  negligence  and  coldness  of  the  bishops,  appointed 
the  Abbot  of  Citeaux  Papal  delegate  in  matters  of  heresy,  and 
gave  him  authority  to  judge  and  punish  misbelievers.  This 
was  the  first  germ  of  the  Holy  Office  as  a  separate  Tribunal. 
In  order  to  comprehend  the  facility  with  which  the  Pope 
established  so  anomalous  an  institution,  we  must  bear  in 
mind  the  intense  horror  which  heresy  inspired  in  the  Middle 


126  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

Ages.  Being  a  distinct  encroacliment  of  the  Papacy  upon 
the  episcopal  jurisdiction  and  prerogatives,  the  Inquisition 
met  at  first  with  some  opposition  from  the  bishops.  The 
people  for  whose  persecution  it  was  designed,  and  at  whose 
expense  it  carried  on  its  work,  broke  into  rebellion  ;  the  first 
years  of  its  annals  were  rendered  illustrious  by  the  murder  of 
one  of  its  founders,  Pierre  de  Castelnau.  He  was  canonised, 
and  became  the  first  Saint  of  the  Inquisition.  Two  other 
Peters  obtained  the  like  honour  through  their  zeal  for  the 
Catholic  faith :  Peter  of  Verona,  commonly  called  Peter 
Martyr,  the  Italian  saint  of  the  Dominican  order ;  and  Peter 
Arbues,  the  Spanish  saint,  who  sealed  with  his  blood  the 
charter  of  the  Holy  Office  in  Aragon. 

In  spite  of  opposition  the  Papal  institution  took  root  and 

flourished.     Philip    Augustus    responded  to   the   appeals  of 

I  Innocent ;    and  a  crusade  began  against  the  Albigenses,  in 

I  which  Simon  de  Montfort  won  his  sinister  celebrity.  During 
those  bloody  wars  the  Inquisition  developed  itself  as  a  force 
of  formidable  expansive  energy.  Material  assistance  to  the 
cause  was  rendered  by  a  Spanish  monk  of  the  Augustine 
order,  who  settled  in  Provence  on  his  way  back  from  Eome  in 

!l  1206.     Domenigo  de  Guzman,  known  to  universal  history  as 

I I  S.  Dominic,  organised  a  new  militia  for  the  service  of  the 
orthodox  Church  between  the  years  1215  and  1219.  His 
order,   called   the   Order  of    the   Preachers,   was    originally 

(designed  to  repress  heresy  and  confirm  the  faith  by  diffusing 
,  Catholic  doctrine  and  maintaining  the  creed  in  its  purity.  It 
I  consisted  of  three  sections :  the  Preaching  Friars ;  nuns 
living  in  conventual  retreat ;  and  laymen,  entitled  the  Third 
Order  of  Penitence  or  the  Militia  of  Christ,  who  in  after  years 
were  merged  with  the  congregation  of  S.  Peter  Martyr,  and 
corresponded  to  the  familiars  of  the  Inquisition.  Since  the 
Dominicans  were  established  in  the  heat  and  passion  of  a 
crusade  against  heresy,  by  a  rigid  Spaniard  who  employed 


S.   DOMINIC       X  12Y 

his  energies  in  persecuting  misbelievers,  they  assumed  at  the 
outset  a  belligerent  and  inquisitorial  attitude.  Yet  it  is  not 
strictly  accurate  to  represent  S.  Dominic  himself  as  the  first 
Grand  Inquisitor.  The  Papacy  proceeded  with  caution  in  its 
design  of  forming  a  tribunal  dependent  on  the  Holy  See 
and  independent  of  the  bishops.  Papal  Legates  with  pleni- 
potentiary authority  were  sent  to  Languedoc,  and  decrees 
were  issued  against  the  heretics,  in  which  the  Inquisition 
was  rather  implied  than  directly  named  ;  nor  can  I  find  that 
S.  Dominic,  though  he  continued  to  be  the  soul  of  the  new 
institution  until  his  death  in  1221,  obtained  the  title  of 
Inquisitor. 

Notwithstanding  this  vagueness,  the  Holy  Office  may  be 
said  to  have  been  founded  by  S.  Dominic  ;  and  it  soon  became 
apparent  that  the  order  he  had  formed  was  destined  to  mono- 
polise its  functions.  The  Emperor  Frederick  II.  on  his 
coronation,  in  1221,  declared  his  willingness  to  support  a 
separate  Apostolical  tribunal  for  the  suppression  of  heresy. 
He  sanctioned  the  penalty  of  death  by  fire  for  obstinate 
heretics,  and  perpetual  imprisonment  for  penitents — forms  of 
punishment  which  became  stereotyped  in  the  proceedings  of 
the  Holy  Office.'  The  tribunal,  now  recognised  as  a  Domini- 
can institution,  derived  its  authority  from  the  Pope.  The 
bishops  were  suffered  to  sit  with  the  Inquisitors,  but  only  in 

'  See  Cantu,  Gli  Erctici  cV  Italia,  vol.  i.  Discorso  5,  and  the  notes 
appended  to  it,  for  Frederick's  edicts  and  letters  to  Gregory  IX.  upon 
this  matter  of  heresy.  The  Emperor  treats  of  Heretica  Pravitas  as  a 
crime  against  society,  and  such,  indeed,  it  then  appeared  according  to 
the  medieval  ideal  of  Christendom  united  under  Church  and  Empire. 
Yet  Frederick  himself,  it  will  be  remembered,  died  under  the  ban  of  the 
Church  and  was  placed  by  Dante  among  the  heresiarchs  in  the  tenth 
circle  of  Hell.  We  now  regard  him  justly  as  one  of  the  precursors  of  the 
Renaissance.  But  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  in  his  peculiar  attitude 
of  Holy  Eoman  Emperor,  he  had  to  proceed  with  rigour  against  free- 
thinkers in  religion.  They  were  foes  to  the  medieval  order,  of  which  he 
was  the  secular  head. 


128  EENAISSANCE    IN   ITALY 

such  subordinate  capacity  as  left  to  tliem  a  bare  title  of 
authority.'  The  secular  magistracy  was  represented  by  an 
assessor,  who,  being  nominated  by  the  Inquisitor,  became  his 
servile  instrument.  The  expenses  of  the  Court  in  prosecuting, 
punishing  and  imprisoning  heretics,  together  with  the  main- 
tenance of  the  Inquisitors  and  their  guards,  were  thrown  upon 
the  communes  which  they  visited.  Such  was  the  organisation 
which  the  Popes,  aided  by  S.  Dominic,  and  availing  themselves 
of  the  fanatical  passions  aroused  in  the  Proven9al  wars, 
succeeded  in  creating  for  their  own  aggrandisement.  It  is 
strange  to  think  that  its  ratification  by  the  supreme  secular 
power  was  obtained  from  an  Emperor  who  died  in  contumacy, 
excommunicated  and  persecuted  as  an  arch-heretic  by  the 
priests  he  had  supported. 

This  Apostolical  Inquisition  was  at  once  introduced  into 
Lombardy,  Eomagna  and  the  Marches  of  Treviso.  The 
extreme  rigour  of  its  proceedings,  the  extortions  of  monks, 
and  the  violent  resistance  ofiered  by  the  communes,  led  to 
some  relaxation  of  its  original  constitution.  More  authority 
had  to  be  conceded  to  the  bishops ;  and  the  right  of  the 
Inquisitors  to  levy  taxes  on  tbe  people  was  modified.  Yet  it 
retained  its  true  form  of  a  Papal  organ,  superseding  the 
episcopal  prerogatives,  and  overriding  the  secular  magistrates, 
who  were  bound  to  execute  its  biddings.  As  such  it  was 
admitted  into  Tuscany,  and  established  in  Aragon.  Venice 
received  it  in  1289,  with  certain  reservations  that  placed  its 
proceedings  under  the  control  of  Doge  and  Council.  In 
Languedoc,  the  country  of  its  birth,  it  remained  rooted  at 
Toulouse  and  Carcassonne ;  but  the  Inquisition  did  not 
extend  its  authority  over  central  and  northern  France.-  In 
Paris  its  functions  were  performed  by  the  Sorbonne.  Nor 
did  it  obtain  a  footing  in  England,  although  the  statute  '  De 

•  Sarpi,  '  Discorso  dell'  Origine,'  &c.     Operc,  vol.  iv.  p.  6. 
-  See  Christie's  Etienne  Dolet,  chap.  21. 


REPEESSION   OF  HERESY  129 

Haeretico  Comburendo,'  passed  iu  1401  at  the  instance  of  the 
higher  clergy,  sanctioned  the  principles  on  which  it  existed. 

The  wide  and  ready  acceptance  of  so  terrible  an  engine  of 
oppression  enables  us  to  estimate  the  profound  horror  which 
heresy  inspired  in  the  Middle  Ages,'  On  the  whole,  the  In- 
quisition performed  the  work  for  which  it  had  been  instituted. 
Those  spreading  sects,  known  as  Waldenses,  Albigenses, 
Cathari  and  Paterines,  whom  it  was  commis-^ioned  to  extir- 
pate, died  away  into  obscurity  during  the  fourteenth  century  ; 
and  through  the  period  of  the  Renaissance  the  Inquisition 
had  little  scope  for  the  display  of  energy  in  Italy.  Though 
dormant,  it  was  by  no  means  extinct,  however  ;  and  the  spirit 
which  created  it,  needed  only  external  cause  and  circumstance 
to  bring  it  once,  more  into  powerful  operation.  Meanwhile 
the  Popes  throughout  the  Renaissance  used  the  imputation  of 
heresy,  which  never  lost  its  blighting  stigma,  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  their  secular  ambition.  As  Sarpi  has  pointed  out, 
there  Avere  few  of  the  Italian  princes  "with  whom  they  came 
into  political  collision,  who  were  not  made  the  subject  of 
such  accusation. 

The  revival  of  the  Holy  Office  on  a  new  and  far  more 
murderous  basis,  took  place  in  1484.  We  have  seen  that 
hitherto  there  had  been  two  types  of  inquisition  into  heresy. 
The  first,  which  remained  in  force  up  to  the  year  1203,  may 
be  called  the  episcopal.  The  second  was  the  Apostolical  or 
Dominican  ;  it  transferred  this  jurisdiction  from  the  bishops 
to  the  Papacy,  who  employed  the  order  of  S.  Dominic  for 
the  special  service  of  the  tribunal  instituted  by  the  Imperial 

'  Visitors  to  Milan  must  have  been  struck  with  the  equestrian  statue 
to  the  Podesta  Oldrado  da  Trezzeno  in  the  Piazza  de'  Mercanti.  Under- 
neath it  runs  an  epitaph  containing  among  the  praises  of  this  man  : 
Catharos  ut  debuit  ussit.  An  Archbishop  of  Milan  of  the  same  period 
(middle  of  the  thirteenth  century),  Enrico  di  Settala,  is  also  praised 
upon  his  epitaph  because  jugulavil  Jiacrescs.  See  Cantu,  Gli  Erctici 
d'  Italia,  vol.  i.  p.  108. 

VI  K 


130  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

decrees  of  Frederick  II.  The  third  deserves  no  other  name 
than  Spanish,  though,  after  it  had  taken  shape  in  Spain,  it 
was  transferred  to  Portugal,  applied  in  all  the  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  colonies,  and  communicated  with  some  modifica- 
tions to  Italy  and  the  Netherlands.'  Both  the  second  and 
the  third  types  of  inqviisition  into  heresy  were  Spanish  inven- 
tions, patented  by  the  Roman  Pontiffs  and  monopolised  by 
the  Dominican  order.  But  the  third  and  final  form  of  the 
Holy  Office  in  Spain  distinguished  itself  by  emancipation 
from  Papal  and  Eoyal  control,  and  by  a  specific  organisation 
which  rendered  it  the  most  formidable  of  irresponsible  en- 
gines in  the  annals  of  religious  institutions. 

The  crimes  of  which  the  second  or  Dominican  Inquisition 
had  taken  cognisance  were  designated  under  the  generic  name 
of  heresy.  Heretics  were  either  patent  by  profession  of  some 
heterodox  cult  or  doctrine ;  or  they  were  suspected.  The 
suspected  included  witches,  sorcerers,  and  blasphemers  who 
invoked  the  devil's  aid ;  Catholics  abstaining  from  con- 
fession and  absolution ;  harbourers  of  avowed  heretics ; 
legal    defenders    of    the    cause    of    heretics ;     priests    who 

'  Sarpi  estimates  the  number  of  victims  in  the  Netherlands  during 
the  reign  of  Charles  V.  at  50,000  ;  Grotius  at  100,000.  In  the  reign  of 
Philip  II.  perhaps  another  25,000  were  sacrificed.  Motley  (Rise  of  tJie 
Dutch  Eciyublic,  vol.  ii.  p.  155)  tells  how  in  February  1568  a  sentence 
of  the  Holy  Office,  confirmed  by  royal  proclamation,  condemned  all  tlie 
inhabitants  of  the  Netherlands,  some  three  millions  of  souls,  with  a  few 
specially  excepted  persons,  to  death.  It  was  customary  to  burn  the 
men  and  bury  the  women  alive.  In  considering  this  institution  as  a 
whole,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  it  was  extended  to  Mexico,  Lima, 
Carthagena,  the  Indies,  Sicily,  Sardinia,  Oran,  Malta.  Of  the  working 
of  the  Holy  Office  in  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  colonies  we  possess 
but  few  authentic  records.  The  Hlstoire  dcs  Inquisitions  of  .Joseph 
Lavallee  (Paris,  1809)  may,  however,  be  consulted.  In  vol.  ii.  pp.  5-9 
of  this  work  there  is  a  brief  account  of  the  Inquisition  at  Goa  written 
by  one  Pyrard ;  and  pp.  45-157  extend  the  singularly  detailed  narrative 
of  a  Frenchman,  Dellon,  imprisoned  in  its  dungeons.  Some  curious 
circumstances  respecting  delation,  prison  life,  and  autos  da  fe  are  here 
minutely  recorded. 


THE   ArOSTOLICAL   HOLY   OFFICE  i;]l 

gave  Christian  burial  to  heretics ;  magistrates  who  showed 
hikewarmness  in  pursuit  of  heretics  ;  the  corpses  of  dead 
heretics,  and  books  that  might  be  taxed  "with  heretical 
opinions.  All  ranks  in  the  social  hierarchy,  except  the  Pope, 
his  liegates  and  Nuncios,  and  the  bishops,  were  amenable  to 
this  Inquisition.  The  Inquisitors  could  only  be  arraigned 
and  judged  by  their  peers.  In  order  to  bring  the  machinery 
of  imprisonment,  torture  and  final  sentence  into  effect,  it 
was  needful  that  the  credentials  of  the  Inquisitor  should  be 
approved  by  the  sovereign,  and  that  his  procedure  should 
be  recognised  by  the  bishop.  These  limitations  of  the 
Inquisitorial  authority  safeguarded  the  crown  and  the  episco- 
pacy in  a  legal  sense.  But  since  both  crow^n  and  episcopacy 
concurred  in  the  object  for  which  the  Papacy  had  established 
the  tribunal,  the  Inquisitor  was  practically  unimpeded  in  his 
functions.  Furnished  with  royal  or  princely  letters  patent, 
he  travelled  from  town  to  town,  attended  by  his  guards  and 
notaries,  defraying  current  expenses  at  the  cost  of  provinces 
and  towns  through  which  he  passed.  "Where  he  pitched  his 
camp,  he  summoned  the  local  magistrates,  swore  them  to 
obedience,  and  obtained  assurance  of  their  willingness  to 
execute  such  sentences  as  he  might  pronounce.  Spies  and 
informers  gathered  round  him,  pledged  to  secresy  and  guaran- 
teed by  promises  of  State  protection.  The  court  opened ; 
witnesses  were  examined ;  the  accused  were  acquitted  or 
condemned.  Then  sentence  was  pronounced,  to  which  the 
bishop  or  his  delegate,  often  an  Inquisitor,  gave  a  formal 
sanction.  Finally,  the  heretic  was  handed  over  to  the  secu- 
lar arm  for  the  execution  of  justice.  The  extraordinary 
expenses  of  the  tribunal  were  defrayed  by  confiscation  of 
goods,  a  certain  portion  being  paid  to  the  district  in  which 
the  crime  had  occurred,  the  rest  being  reserved  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  Holy  Office. 

Such,  roughly  speaking,  was  the  method  of  the  Inquisition 

k2 


132  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

before  1484  ;  and  it  did  not  materially  differ  in  Italy  and 
Spain.  Castile  had  hitherto  been  free  from  the  pest.  But 
the  conditions  of  that  kingdom  offered  a  good  occasion  for  its 
introduction  at  the  date  which  I  have  named.  During  the 
Middle  Ages  the  Jews  of  Castile  acquired  vast  wealth  and 
influence.  Few  families  but  felt  the  burden  of  their  bonds 
and  mortgages.  Eeligious  fanaticism,  social  jealousy,  and 
pecuniary  distress  exasperated  the  Christian  population  ;  and 
as  early  as  the  year  1391,  more  than  5,000  Jews  were  mas- 
sacred in  one  popular  uprising.  The  Jews,  in  fear,  adopted 
Christianity.  It  is  said  that  in  the  fifteenth  century  the 
po'pulation  counted  some  million  of  converts — called  New 
Christians,  or,  in  contempt,  Marranos ;  a  word  which  may 
probably  be  derived  from  the  Hebrew  Maranatha.  These 
converted  Jews,  by  their  ability  and  wealth,  crept  into  high 
offices  of  state,  obtained  titles  of  aristocracy,  and  founded 
noble  houses.  Their  daughters  were  married  with  large 
dowers  into  the  best  Spanish  families  ;  and  their  younger 
sons  aspired  to  the  honours  of  the  Church.  Castilian  society 
was  being  penetrated  with  Jews,  many  of  whom  had  un- 
doubtedly conformed  to  Christianity  in  externals  only. 
Meanwhile  a  large  section  of  the  Hebrew  race  remained  faith- 
ful to  their  old  traditions  ;  and  a  mixed  posterity  grew  up, 
which  hardly  knew  whether  it  was  Christian  or  Jewish,  and 
had  opportunity  for  joining  either  party. 

A  fertile  field  was  now  opened  for  Inquisitorial  energy. 
The  orthodox  Dominicans  saw  Christ's  flock  contaminated. 
Not  without  reason  did  earnest  Catholics  dread  that  the 
Church  in  Castile  would  suffer  from  this  blending  of  the 
Jewish  with  the  Spanish  breed.  But  they  had  a  fiery 
Catholic  enthusiasm  to  rely  upon  in  the  main  body  of  the 
nation.  And  in  the  crown  they  knew,  that  there  were 
passions  of  fear  and  cupidity,  which  might  be  used  with  over- 
mastering effect.     It  sufficed  to  point  out  to  Ferdinand  that 


OEIGIN   OF   SPANISH  HOLY   OFFICE  133 

a  persecution  of  the  New  Christians  would  flood  his  coffers 
with  gold  extorted  from  suspected  misbelievers.     No  merely     j 
fabled  El  Dorado  lay  in  the  broad  lands  and  costly  merchan-      ^ 
dise  of  these  imperfect  converts  to  the   faith.     It  sufficed  to 
insist   upon   the    peril   to    the   state   if  an   element   so  ill- 
assimilated  to  the  nation  were  allowed  to  increase  unchecked.      ■ 
At  the  same  time,  the  Papacy  was  nothing  loth  to  help  them      I 
in   their   undertaking.      Sixtus   IV.,   one   of    the    worst    of     * 
Pontiffs,  sat  then  on  S.  Peter's  THTairT    He  readily  discerned 
that  a  considerable  portion  of  the  booty  might  be  indirectly     f 
drawn  into  his  exchequer  ;  and  he  knew  that  any  establish-     j 
ment    of    the    Inquisition    on     an    energetic    basis    would     ; 
strengthen   the   Papacy   in   its   combat   with   national    and     -^ 
episcopal  prerogatives.     The  Dominicans  on  their  side  can 
scarcely  be  credited  with  a  pure  zeaTTbr  the  faith.     They  had 
personal  interests  to  serve  by  spiritual  aggrandisement,  by 
the  elevation  of  their  order,  and  by  the  exercise  of  an  illimit- 
able domination.  > 
It  was  a  Sicilian  Inquisitor,  Philip  Barberis,  who  sug-     I 
gested  to  Ferdinand  the  Catholic  the  advantage  he  might     \ 
secure  by  extending  the  Holy  Office  to  Castile.     Ferdinand 
avowed  his  willingness ;  and  Sixtus  IV.  gave  the  project  his 
approval   in    1478.     But   it   met   with   opposition   from  the 
gentler-natured   Isabella.  — Sire  refused  at  first  to   sanction 
the  iiitroduction  of  so  sinister  an  engine  into  her  hereditary 
dominions.     The   clergy   now   contrived  to   raise  a  popular 
agitation  against  the  Jews,   reviving   old  calumnies   of  im- 
possible crimes,   and  accusing   them   of    being    treasonable 
subjects.     Then   Isabella   yielded;    and  in    1481    the   Holy      ,5 
Office  was  founded~at  Seville.     It  began  its  work  by  publish-      | 
ing  a" comprehensive  edict  against  all  New  Christians  sus- 
pected of  Judaising,  which  offence  was  so  constructed  as  to 
cover  the  most   innocent   observance   of   national   customs. 
Resting  from  labour  on  Saturday ;    performing  ablutions  at 


134  KENATSSANCE   IN  ITALY 

stated  times ;  refusing  to  eat  pork  or  puddings  made  of 
blood  ;  and  abstaining  from  wine,  sufficed  to  colour  accu- 
sations of  heresy.  Men  who  had  joined  the  Catholic  com- 
munion after  the  habits  of  a  lifetime  had  been  formed,  thus 
found  themselves  exposed  to  peril  of  death  by  the  retention 
of  mere  sanitary  rules. ^ 

Upon  the  publication  of  this  edict,  there  was  an  exodus  of 

Jews  by  thousands  into  the  fiefs  of  independent  vassals  of  the 

crown — the  Duke  of  Medina  Sidonia,  the  Marquis  of  Cadiz, 

and  the   Count   of  Arcos.     All   emigrants   were   ijjso  facto 

declared  heretics  by  the  Holy  Office.     During  the  first  year 

after  its  foundation,  Seville  beheld  298  persons  burned  alive, 

and  79  condemned  to  perpetual  imprisonment.    A  large  square 

stage  of  stone,  called  the  Quemadero,   was  erected  for  the 

execution  of  those  multitudes  who  were  destined  to  suffer  death 

by  hanging  or  by  flame.     In  the  same  year,  2,000  were  burned 

and  17,000  condemned  to  public  penitence,  while  even  a  larger 

number  were  burned  in  effigy,  in  other  parts  of  the  kingdom. 

While  estimating  the  importance  of  these  punishments, 

we  must  remember  that  they  implied  confiscation  of  property. 

Thus  whole  families  were  orphaned  and  consigned  to  penury. 

Penitence  in  public  carried  with  it  social  infamy,  loss  of  civil 

rights  and  honours,  intolerable   conditions   of  ecclesiastical 

'  See  Larallee,  Histoirc  dcs  Inquisitions,  vol.  ii.  pp.  341-361,  for  the 
translation  of  a  process  instituted  in  1570  against  a  Mauresque  female 
slave.  Suspected  of  being  a  disguised  infidel,  she  was  exposed  to  the  temp- 
tations of  a  Moorish  spy,  and  convicted  mainly  on  the  evidence  fur- 
nished by  certain  Mussulman  habits  to  which  she  adhered.  Llorente 
reports  a  similar  specimen  case,  vol.  i.  p.  442.  The  culprit  was  a  tinker 
aged  71,  accused  in  1528  of  abstaining  from  pork  and  wine,  and  using 
certain  ablutions.  He  defended  himself  by  pleading  that,  having  been 
converted  at  the  age  of  45,  it  did  not  suit  his  taste  to  eat  pork  or  drink 
wine,  and  that  his  trade  obliged  him  to  maintain  cleanliness  by 
frequent  washing.  He  was  finally  condemned  to  carry  a  candle  at  an 
auto  da  fe  in  sign  of  penitence,  and  to  pay  four  ducats,  the  costs  of  his 
trial.  His  detention  lasted  from  September  1529  till  December  18, 
1530. 


t^E\Y  CHRISTIANS  135 

surveillance,  and  heavy  pecuniary  fines.  Penitents  who  had 
been  reconciled,  returned  to  society  in  a  far  more  degraded 
condition  than  convicts  released  on  ticket  of  leave.  The 
stigma  attached  in  perpetuity  to  the  posterity  of  the  con- 
demned, whose  names  were  conspicuously  emblazoned  upon 
church-walls  as  foemen  to  Christ  and  to  the  state. 

It  is  not  strange  that  the  New  Christians,  wealthy  as  they 
were  and  allied  with  some  of  the  best~biood  in  Spain,  should 
have  sought  to  avert  the  storm  descending  on  them  by 
appeals  to  Eome.  In  person  or  by  procurators,  they  carried 
their  complaints  to  the  Papal  Curia,  imploring  the  relief  of 
private  reconciliation  with  the  Church,  special  exemption 
from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Holy  Office,  rehabilitation  after 
the  loss  of  civil  rights  and  honours,  dispensation  from 
humiHating  penances,  and  avocation  of  causes  tried  by  the 
Inquisition  to  less  prejudiced  tribunals.  The  object  of  these 
petitions  was  to  avoid  perpetual  infamy,  to  recover  social 
status,  and  to  obtain  an  impartial  hearing  in  doubtful  cases. 
The  Papal  Curia  had  anticipated  the  profits  to  be  derived 
from  such  appeals.  Sixtus  IV.  was  liberal  in  briefs  of 
indulgence,  absolution  arUTt^exemption,  to  all  comers  who 
paid  largely.  But  when  his  suitors  returned  to  Spain,  they 
found  their  dearly  purchased  parchments  of  no  more  value 
than  waste  paper.  The  Holy  Office  laughed  Papal  Bulls  of 
Privilege  to  scorn,  and  the  Pope  was  too  indifferent  to  exert 
such  authority  as  he  might  have  possessed. 

Meanwhile,  the  Inquisition  rapidly  took  shape.     In  1483      j 
Thomas   of  Torquemada  was  nominated  Inquisitor  General      Jj 
for  Castile  and  Aragon.     Under  his  rule  a  Supreme  Council      * 
was  established,  over  which  he  presided  for  life.     The  crown 
sent  three  assessors  to  this  board ;  and  the  Inquisitors  were 
strengthened  in   their  functions    by   a   council    of   jurists. 
Seville,  Cordova,  Jaen,  Toledo  became  the  four  subordinate 
centres  of  the  Holy  Office,  each  with  its  own  tribunal  and  its 


i 


136  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

own  right  of  performing  acts  of  faith.  Commission  was  sent 
out  to  all  Dominicans,  enjoining  on  them  the  prosecution  of 
their  task  in  every  diocese. 

In  1484  a  General  Council  was  held,  and  the  constitution 
of  the  Inquisition  was  established  by  articles.  In  these 
articles  four  main  points  seem  to  have  been  held  in  view.  The 
first  related  to  the  system  of  confiscation,  fines,  civil  disabilities, 
losses  of  office,  property,  honours,  rights,  inheritances,  which 
formed  a  part  of  the  penitentiary  procedure,  and  by  which 
the  crown  and  Holy  Office  made  pecuniary  gains.  The 
second  secured  secresy  in  the  action  of  the  tribunal,  whereby 
a  door  was  opened  to  delation,  and  accused  persons  were 
rendered  incapable  of  rational  defence.  The  third  elaborated 
the  judicial  method,  so  as  to  leave  no  loophole  of  escape  even 
for  those  who  showed  a  wish  to  be  converted,  empowering  the 
use  of  torture,  precluding  the  accused  from  choosing  their 
own  counsel,  and  excluding  the  bishops  from  active  participa- 
tion in  the  sentence.  The  fourth  multiplied  the  charges 
under  which  suspected  heretics,  even  after  their  death,  might 
be  treated  as  impenitent  or  relapsed,  so  as  to  increase  the 
number  of  victims  and  augment  the  booty. 

The  two  most  formidable  features  of  the  Inquisition  as 
thus  constituted  were  the  exclusion  of  the  bishops  from  its 
tribunal  and  the  secresy  of  its  procedure.     The  accused  was 
delivered  over  to  a  court  that  had  no  mercy,  no  common 
human  sympathies,  no  administrative  interest  in  the  popula- 
tion.    He  knew  nothing  of  his  accusers  ;  and  when  he  died 
*•  or  disappeared  from  view  no  record  of  his  case  survived  him. 
The  Inquisition  rested  on  the  double  basis  of  ecclesiastical 
fanaticism   and   protected   delation.     The  court  was  prima 
\  facie  hostile  to  the  accused  ;  and  the  accused   could  never 
hope  to  confront  the  detectives  upon  whose  testimony  he  was 
arraigned  before  it.     Lives  and  reputations  lay  thus  at  the 
mercy  of  professional  informers,  private  enemies,  malicious 


METHODS   OF   PEOCEDURE  137 

calumniators.  The  denunciation  was  sometimes  anonymous, 
sometimes  signed,  with  names  of  two  corroborative  witnesses. 
These  witnesses  were  examined,  under  a  strict  seal  of  secresy, 
by  the  Inquisitors,  who  drew  up  a  form  of  accusation,  which 
they  submitted  to  theologians  called  Qualificators.  The 
qualificators  were  not  informed  of  the  names  of  the  accused, 
the  delator,  or  the  witnesses.  It  was  their  business  to  qualify 
the  case  of  heresy  as  light,  grave,  or  violent.  Having  placed 
it  in  one  of  these  categories,  they  returned  it  to  the  Inquisitors, 
who  now  arrested  the  accused  and  flung  him  into  the  secret 
prisons  of  the  Holy  Office.  After  some  lapse  of  time  he  was 
summoned  for  a  preliminary  examination.  Having  first  been 
cautioned  to  tell  the  truth,  he  had  to  recite  the  Paternoster, 
Credo,  Ten  Commandments,  and  a  kind  of  catechism.  His 
pedigree  was  also  investigated,  in  the  expectation  that  some 
traces  of  Jewish  or  Moorish  descent  might  serve  to  incriminate 
him.  If  he  failed  in  repeating  the  Christian  shibboleths,  or 
if  he  was  discovered  to  have  infidel  ancestry,  there  existed 
already  a  good  case  to  proceed  upon.  Finally,  he  was 
questioned  upon  the  several  heads  of  accusation  condensed 
from  the  first  delation  and  the  deposition  of  the  witnesses. 
If  needful  at  this  point,  he  was  put  to  the  torture,  again  and 
yet  again. ^  He  never  heard  the  names  of  his  accusers,  nor 
was  he  furnished  with  a  full  bill  of  the  charges  against  him 
in  writing.  At  this  stage  he  was  usually  remanded,  and  the 
judicial  proceedings  were  deliberately  lengthened  out  with  a 
view  of  crushing  his  spirit  and  bringing  him  to  abject  sub- 
mission. For  his  defence  he  might  select  one  advocate,  but 
only  from  a  list  furnished  by  his  judges  ;  and  this  advocate 
in  no  case  saw  the  original  documents  of  the  impeachment. 
It  rarely  happened,  upon  this  one-sided  method  of  trial,  that 

'  The  Sui^reme  Council  forbade  the  repetition  of  torture ;  but  this 
hypocritical  law  was  evaded  in  practice  by  declaring  that  the  torture 
had  been  suspended.     Llorente,  vol.  i.  p.  307. 


138  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

an  accused  person  was  acquitted  altogether.  If  he  escaped 
burmng  or  perpetual  incarceration,  lie  was  almost  certainly 
exposed  to  the  public  ceremony  of  penitence,  with  its  attendant 
infamy,  fines,  civil  disabilities,  and  future  discipline.  Sentence 
was  not  passed  upon  condemned  persons  until  they  appeared, 
dressed  up  in  a  San  Benito,  at  the  place  of  punishment. 
This  costume  was  a  sort  of  sack,  travestying  a  monk's  frock, 
made  of  coarse  yellow  stuff,  and  worked  over  with  crosses, 
flames,  and  devils,  in  glaring  red.  It  differed  in  details 
according  to  the  destination  of  the  victim:  for  some  orna- 
ments symbolised  eternal  hell,  and  others  the  milder  fires  of 
purgatory.  If  sufficiently  versed  in  the  infernal  heraldry  of 
the  Holy  Office,  a  condemned  man  might  read  his  doom 
before  he  reached  the  platform  of  the  auto.  There  he  heard 
whether  he  was  sentenced  to  relaxation — in  other  words,  to 
burning  at  the  hands  of  the  hangman — or  to  reconciliation 
by  means  of  penitence.  At  the  last  moment,  he  might  by 
confession  in  extremis  obtain  the  commutation  of  a  death 
sentence  into  life-imprisonment,  or  receive  the  favour  of 
being  strangled  before  he  was  burned.  A  relapsed  heretic, 
however — that  is,  one  who  after  being  reconciled  had  once 
again  apostatised,  was  never  exempted  from  the  penalty  of 
burning.  To  make  these  holocausts  of  human  beings  more 
ghastly,  the  pageant  was  enhanced  by  processions  of  exhumed 
corpses  and  heretics  in  effigy.  Artificial  dolls  and  decomposed 
bodies,  with  grinning  lips  and  mouldy  foreheads,  were  hauled 
to  the  huge  bonfire,  side  by  side  with  living  men,  women,  and 
children.  All  of  them  alike— fantoccini,  skeletons,  and  quick 
folk — were  enveloped  in  the  same  grotesquely  ghastly  San 
Benito,  with  the  same  hideous  yellow  mitres  on  their  paste- 
board, worm-eaten,  or  palpitating  foreheads.  The  procession 
presented  an  ingeniously  picturesque  discord  of  ugly  shapes, 
an  artistically  loathsome  dissonance  of  red  and  yellow  hues, 
as  it  defiled,  to  the  infernal  music  of  growled   psalms  and 


PUNISHMENTS  AND  PENALTIES  139 

screams  and  moanings,  beneath  the  torrid  blaze  of  Spanish 
sunlight. 

Spaniards — such  is  the  barbarism  of  the  Latinised  Iberian 
nature — delighted  in  these  shows  as  they  did  and  do  in  bull- 
fights. Butcheries  of  heretics  formed  the  choicest  spectacles 
at  royal  christenings  and  bridals. 

At  Seville  the  Quemadero  was  adorned  with  four  colossal 
statues  of  prophets,  to  which  some  of  the  condemned  were 
bound,  so  that  they  might  burn  to  death  in  the  flames  arising 
from  the  human  sacrifice  between  them. 

In  the  autumn  of  1484  the  Inquisition  was  introduced 
into  Aragon ;  and  Saragossa  became  its  headquarters  in 
that  State.  Though  the  Aragonese  were  accustomed  to  the  * 
institution  in  its  earlier  and  milder  form,  they  regarded  the 
new  Holy  Office  with  just  horror.  The  Marranos  counted  at 
that  epoch  the  Home  Secretary,  the  Grand  Treasurer,  a 
Protonotary,  and  a  Vice-Chancellor  of  the  realm  among  their 
members  ;  and  they  were  allied  by  marriage  with  the  purest 
aristocracy.  It  is  not,  therefore,  marvellous  that  a  conspiracy  | 
was  formed  to  assassinate  the  Chief  Inquisitor,  Peter  Arbues.  i 
In  spite  of  a  coat-of-mail  and  an  iron  skullcap  worn  beneath 
his  monk's  dress,  Arbues  was  murdered  one  evening  while 
at  prayer  in  church.  But  the  revolt,  notwithstanding  this 
murder,  flashed  like  an  ill-loaded  pistol  in  the  pan.  Jealousies 
between  the  old  and  new  Christians  prevented  any  common 
action  ;  and  the  Inquisition  took  a  bloody  vengeance  upon  all 
concerned.  It  even  laid  its  hand  on  Don  James  of  Navarre, 
the  Infant  of  Tudela.  . 

The  Spanish  Inquisition  was  now  firmly  grounded.  : 
Directed  by  Torquemada,  it  began  to  encroach  upon  the  \ 
crown,  to  insultHie  episcopacy,  to  defy  the  Papacy,  to  grind  J 
the  Commons,  and  to  outrage  by  its  insolence  the  aristocracy. 
Ferdinand's  avarice  had  overreached  itself  by  creating  an  I 
ecclesiastical  power  dangerous  to  the  best   interests   of   the     i 


140  EE:SAISSANCE   in   ITALY 

realm,  but  which  fascinated  a  fanatically  pious  people,  and 
the  yoke  of  which  could  not  be  thrown  off.     The  Holy  Office 
grew   every  year   in   pride,    pretensions,  and    exactions.     It 
arrogated   to    its   tribunal    crimes   of   usury,    bigamy,   blas- 
phemous swearing,  and  unnatural  vice,  which  appertained  by 
right  to   the  secular   courts.      It  depopulated  Spain  by  the 
extermination   and  banishment    of    at   least    three    million 
industrious  subjects  during  the  first  139  years  of  its  existence. 
It  attacked  princes  of  the  blood,  archbishops,  fathers  of  the 
Tridentine  Council.^     It  filled  every  city  in  the  kingdom,  the 
convents  of  the  religious,  and  the  palaces  of  the  nobility,  with 
spies.     The  Familiars,  or  lay  brethren  devoted  to  its  service, 
lived  at  charges  of  the  communes,  and  debauched  society  by 
crimes  of  rapine,  lust  and   violence.^      Ignorant  and  blood- 
thirsty  monks   composed  its   provincial  tribunals,  who,  like 
the  horrible  Lucero  el  Tenebroso,  at  Cordova,  paralysed  whole 
provinces  with  a  veritable   reign    of    terror.^      Hated    and 
worshipped,   its   officers    swept    through   the   realm    in   the 
guise  of  powerful  condotticri.     The  Grand  Inquisitor  main- 
tained  a   bodyguard   of   fifty    mounted    Familiars   and  two 
hundred  infantry ;  his  subordinates  were  allowed  ten  horse- 
men  and   fifty  archers   apiece.      Where  these  black  guards 
appeared,  city  gates  were  opened ;  magistrates  swore  fealty 
to  masters  of  more  puissance  than  the  king  ;  the  resources 
of  flourishing  districts  were  placed  at  their  disposal.     Their 
arbitrary  acts  remained  unquestioned,  their  mysterious  sen- 
tences  irreversible.      Shrouded   in  secresy,  amenable   to  no 
jurisdiction  but  their  own,  they  revelled  in   the    license  of 

'  Llorente,  in  his  Introduction  to  the  History  of  the  Ingicisitio7i, 
gives  a  long  list  of  illustrious  Spanish  victims. 

-  See  Llorente,  vol.  i.  p.  349,  for  their  outrages  on  women. 

'  For  the  history  of  Lucero's  tyranny,  read  Llorente,  vol.  i.  pp. 
345-353.  When  at  last  he  had  to  be  deposed,  it  was  not  to  a  dungeon 
or  the  scaffold,  but  to  his  bishopric  of  Almeria  that  this  miscreant  was 
relegated. 


TOEQUEM.VDA   AND   HIS   SUCCESSORS 


141 


irresponsible  dominion.  Spain  gradually  fell  beneath  tlie 
charm  of  their  dark  fascination.  A  brave  though  cruel  nation 
drank  delirium  from  the  poison-cup  of  these  vile  medicine- 
men, whose  Moloch-worship  would  have  disgusted  cannibals. 

Torquemada  was  the  genius  of  evil  who  created  and 
presided  over  this  foul  instrument  of  human  crime  and  folly. 
During  his  eighteen  years  of  administration,  reckoning  from 
1480  to  1498,  he  sacrificed,  according  to  Llorente's  calculation, 
above  114,000  victims,  of  whom  10,220  were  burned  alive 
G,860  burned  in  effigy,  and  97,000  condemned  to  perpetual 
imprisonment  or  public  penitence.'  He,  too,  it  was  who  in 
1492  compelled  Ferdinand  to  drive  the  Jews  from  his 
dominions.  They  offered  30,000  ducats  for  the  war  against 
Granada,  and  promised  to  abide  in  Spain  under  heavy  social 
disabilities,  if  only  they  might  be  spared  this  act  of  national 
extermination.  Then  Torquemada  appeared  before  the  king, 
and,  raising  his  crucifix  on  high,  cried :  '  .Judas  sold  Christ 
for  thirty  pieces  of  silver.  Look  ye  to  it,  if  ye7lo"the  like !  ' 
The  edict  of  expulsion  was  issued"  on  the  last  of  March. 
Before  the  last  of  July  all  Jews  were  sentenced  to  depart, 
carrying  no  gold  or  silver  with  them.  They  disposed  of  their 
lands,  houses,  and  goods  for  next  to  nothing,  and  went 
forth  to  die  by  thousands  on  the  shores  of  Africa  and  Italy. 
Twelve  who  were  found  concealed  at  Malaga  in  August  were 
condemned  to  be  pricked  to  death  by  pointed  reeds.- 

The  exodus  of  the  Jews  was  followed  in  1502  by  a  similar 
exodus  of  Moors  from  Castile,  and  in  1524  by  an  exodus  of 
Mauresques  from  Aragon.  To  compute  the  loss  of  wealth 
and  population  inflicted  upon  Spain  by  these  mad  edicts, 
would  be  impossible.  We  may  wonder  whether  the  followers 
of  Cortes,  when  they  trod  the  teocallis  of  Mexico  and  gazed 


il 


>  Llorente,  vol.  i.  p.  229.     The  basis  for  these  and  following  calcu- 
lations is  explained  ib.  pp.  272-281. 
2  Llorente,  vol.  i.  p.  2G3. 


142  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

with  loathing  on  the  gory  elf-locks  of  the  Aztec  priests,  were 
not  reminded  of  the  Torquemada  they  had  left  at  home. 
His  cruelty  became  so  intolerable  that  even  Alexander  VI. 
was  moved  to  horror.  In  1494  the  Borgia  appointed  four 
assessors,  with  equal  powers,  to  restrain  the  blood-thirst  of 
the  fanatic. 

After  Torquemada,  Diego  Deza  reigned  as  second  Inqui- 
sitor General  from  1498  to  1507.  In  these  years,  according 
to  the  same  calculation,  2,592  were  burned  alive,  896  burned 
in  effigy,  34,952  condemned  to  prison  or  public  penitence.' 
Cardinal  Ximenez  de  Cisneros  followed  between  1507  and 
1517.  The  victims  of  this  decade  were  3,564  burned  alive, 
1,232  burned  in  effigy,  48,059  condemned  to  prison  or  pubhc 
penitence.^  Adrian,  Bishop  of  Tortosa,  tutor  to  Charles  V. 
and  afterwards  Pope,  was  Inquisitor  General  between  1516 
and  1525.  Castile,  Aragon,  and  Catalonia,  at  this  epoch, 
simultaneously  demanded  a  reform  of  the  Holy  Office  from 
their  youthful  sovereign.  But  Charles  refused,  and  the  tale 
of  Adrian's  administration  was  1,620  burned  alive,  560  burned 
in  effigy,  21,845  condemned  to  prison  or  public  penitence.^ 
The  total,  during  forty-three  years,  between  1481  and  1525, 
amounted  to  234,526,  including  all  descriptions  of  condemned 
heretics."*  These  figures  are  of  necessity  vague,  for  the  Holy 
Office  left  but  meagre  records  of  its  proceedings.  The  vast 
numbers  of  cases  brought  before  the  Inquisitors  rendered 
their  method  of  procedure  almost  as  summary  as  that  of 
Fouquier-Tinville,  while  policy  induced  them  to  bury  the 
memory  of  their  victims  in  oblivion.'' 

1  Llorente,  vol.  i.  p.  341.  -  lb.  p.  360. 

3  lb.  p.  406.  "  lb.  p.  407. 

*  I  know  that  Llorente's  calculations  have  been  disputed :  as,  for 
instance,  in  some  minor  details  by  Prescott  (Fcrd.  and  Isab.  vol.  iii.  p. 
492).  The  truth  is  that  no  data  now~fexist  for  forming  a  correct  census 
of  the  victims  of  the  Spanish  Moloch  ;  and  Llorente,  though  he  writes 
with  the  moderation  of  evident  sincerity,  and  though  he  had  access  to 


AN   ACELDAMA   AT   MADRID  143 

Sometimes,  while  reading  the  history  of  the  Holy  Office 
in  Spain,  we  are  tempted  to  imagine  that  the  whole  is  but  a 
grim  unwholesome  nightmare,  or  the  fable  of  malignant 
calumny.  That  such  is  not  the  case,  however,  is  proved 
by  a  jubilant  inscription  on  the  palace  of  the  Holy  Office  at 
Seville,  which  records  the  triumphs  of  Torquemada.  Of  late 
years,  too,  the  earth  herself  has  disgorged  some  secrets  of 
the  Inquisition.  '  A  most  curious  discovery,'  writes  Lord 
Malmesbury  in  his  Memoirs, ^  '  has  been  made  at  Madrid.  Just 
at  the  time  when  the  question  of  religious  liberty  was  being 
discussed  in  the  Cortes,  Serrano  had  ordered  a  piece  of  ground 
to  be  levelled,  in  order  to  build  on  it,  and  the  workmen  came 
upon  large  quantities  of  human  bones,  skulls,  lumps  of 
blackening  flesh,  pieces  of  chains,  and  braids  of  hair.  It  was 
then  recollected  that  the  autos  da  fe  used  to  take  place  at 
that  spot  in  former  days.  Crowds  of  people  rushed  to  the 
place,  and  the  investigation  was  continued.  They  found 
layer  upon  layer  of  human  remains,  showing  that  hundreds 
had  been  inhumanly  sacrificed.  The  excitement  and  indig- 
nation this  produced  among  the  people  was  tremendous,  and 
the  party  for  religious  freedom  taking  advantage  of  it,  a  Bill 
on  the  subject  was  passed  by  an  enormous  majority.'  Let 
modern  Spain  remember  that  a  similar  Aceldama  lies  hidden 
in  the  precincts  of  each  of  her  chief  towns  ! 

the  archives  of  the  Inquisition,  does  not  profess  to  do  more  than  give 
an  estimate  based  upon  certain  fixed  data.  However,  it  signifies  but 
little  whether  we  reckon  by  thousands  or  by  fifteen  hundreds.  That 
foul  monster  spawned  in  the  unholy  embracements  of  perverted  religion 
with  purblind  despotism  cannot  be  defended  by  discounting  five  or  even 
ten  per  cent.  Let  its  apologists  write  for  every  1,000  of  Llorente  100 
and  for  every  100  of  Llorente  10,  and  our  position  will  remain  unaltered. 
The  Jesuit  historian  of  Spain,  Mariana,  records  the  burning  of  2,000 
persons  in  Andalusia  alone  in  1482.  Bernaldez  mentions  700  burned  in 
the  one  town  of  Seville  between  1482  and  1489.  An  inscription  carved 
above  the  portals  of  the  Holy  Office  in  Seville  stated  that  about  1,000 
had  been  burned  between  1492  and  1524. 
'  Vol.  ii.  p.  399. 


144  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

1  have  enlarged  upon  the  details  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition 
I  for  two  reasons.     In  the  first  place  it  strikingly  illustrates  the 

character  of  the  people  who  now  had  the  upper  hand  in  Italy. 
'  In  the  second  place,  its  success  induced  Paul  III.,  acting 
upon  the  advice  of  Giov.  Paolo  Caraffa,  to  remodel  the  Roman 
office  on  a  similar  type  in  1542.  It  may  at  once  be  said  that 
the  real  Spanish  Inquisition  was  never  introduced  into  Italy. ' 
Such  an  institution,  claiming  independent  jurisdiction  and 
flaunting  its  cruelties  in  the  light  of  day,  would  not  have 
suited  the  Papal  policy.  As  temporal  and  spiritual  autocrats, 
the  Popes  could  not  permit  a  tribunal  of  which  they  were  not 
the  supreme  authority.  It  was  their  interest  to  consult  their 
pecuniary  advantage  rather  than  to  indulge  insane  fanaticism  ; 
to  repress  liberty  of  thought  by  cautious  surveillance  rather 
than  by  public  terrorism  and  open  acts  of  cruelty.  The 
Italian  temperament  was,  moreover,  more  humane  than  the 
Spanish  ;  nor  had  the  refining  culture  of  the  Renaissance  left 
no  traces  in  the  nation.  Furthermore,  the  necessity  for  so 
Draconian  an  institution  was  not  felt.  Catholicism  in  Italy 
had  not  to  contend  with  Jews  and  Moors,  Marranos  and 
Moriscoes.  It  was,  indeed,  alarmed  by  the  spread  of  Lutheran 
opinions.  Caraffa  complained  to  Paul  III.  that  '  the  whole  of 
Italy  is  infected  with  the  Lutheran  heresy,  which  has  been 
embraced  not  only  by  statesmen  but  also  by  many  ecclesias- 
tics.''^ Pius  V.  was  so  panic-stricken  by  the  prevalence  of 
heresy  in  Faenza  that  he  seriously  meditated  destroying  the 
town  and  dispersing  its  inhabitants.-^  Yet,  after  a  few  years 
of  active  persecution,  this  peril  proved  to  be  unreal.  The 
Reformation  had  not  taken  root  so  deep  and  wide  in  Italy 
that  it  could  not  be  eradicated.     When,  therefore,  the  Spanish 

'  Naples  and  Milan  passionately  and  successfully  opposed  its 
introduction  by  the  Spanish  viceroys.  But  it  ruled  in  Sicily  and 
Sardinia. 

2  McCrie,  p.  186.  ^  Mutinelli,  Storia  Arcana,  vol.  i.  p.  79. 


ACTS   OF    FAITH  AT  ROME  145 

viceroys  sought  to  establish  their  national  Inquisition  in 
Naples  and  Milan,  the  rebellious  people  received  protection 
and  support  from  the  Papacy ;  and  the  Holy  Office,  as  re- 
modelled in  Eome,  became  a  far  less  awful  engine  of  oppression 
than  that  of  Seville. 

It  was  sufficiently  severe,  however.  '  At  Rome,'  writes  a 
resident  in  1568,  '  some  are  daily  burned, ^ianged,  or  be- 
headed ;  the  prisons  and  places  of  confinement  are  filled,  and 
they  are  obliged  to  build  new  ones.''  This  general  statement 
may  be  checked  by  extracts  from  the  dispatches  of  Venetian 
ambassadors  in  Rome,  which,  though  they  are  not  continuous, 
and  cannot  be  supposed  to  give  an  exhaustive  list  of  the 
victims  of  the  Inquisition,  enable  us  to  judge  with  some 
degree  of  accuracy  what  the  frequency  of  executions  may  have 
been.'^  On  September  27,  1507,  a  session  of  the  Holy  Office 
was  held  at  S.  Maria  sopra  Minerva.  Seventeen  heretics  were 
condemned.  Fifteen  of  these  were  sentenced  to  perpetual 
imprisonment,  the  galleys  for  life,  fines  or  temporary  imprison- 
ment, according  to  the  nature  of  their  offences.  Two  were 
reserved  for  capital  punishment — namely,  Carnesecchi  and  a 
friar  from  Cividale  di  Belluno.  They  were  beheaded  and 
burned  upon  the  bridge  of  S.  Angelo  on  October  4.  On 
May  28,  1569,  there  was  an  Act  of  the  Inquisition  at  the 
Minerva,  twenty  Cardinals  attending.  Four  impenitent 
heretics  were  condemned  to  the  stake.  Ten  penitents  were 
sentenced  to  various  punishments  of  less  severity.  On 
August  2,  1578,  occurred  a  singular  scandal  touching  some 
Spaniards  and  Portuguese  of  evil  manners,  all  of  whom  were 
burned  with  the  exception  of  those  who  contrived  to  escape 
in  time.  On  August  5,  1581,  an  English  Protestant  was 
burned  for  grossly  insulting  the  Host.     On  February  20, 1582, 

'  McCiie,  p.  272. 

-  Mutinelli's  Storia  Arcana,  &c.  vol.  i.,  is  the  source  from  which  I 
have  drawn  the  details  given  above. 

VI  L 


146  KENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

after  an  Act  of  the  Inquisition  in  clue  form,  seventeen  heretics 
were  sentenced,  three  to  death,  and  the  rest  to  imprisonment 
&c.  We  must  bear  in  mind  that  MutinelH,  who  pubhshed 
the  extracts  from  the  Venetian  despatches  which  contain 
these  details,  does  not  profess  to  aim  at  completeness.  Gaps 
of  several  years  occur  between  the  documents  of  one  envoy 
and  those  of  his  successor.  Nor  does  it  appear  that  the 
writers  themselves  took  notice  of  more  than  solemn  and 
ceremonial  proceedings,  in  which  the  Acts  of  the  Inquisition 
were  published  with  Pontifical  and  Curial  pomp.^  Still,  when 
these  considerations  have  been  weighed,  it  will  appear  that 
the  victims  of  the  Inquisition,  in  Eome,  could  be  counted, 
not  by  hundreds,  but  by  units.  After  illustrious  examples, 
like  those  of  Aonio  Paleario,  Pietro  Carnesecchi,  Giordano 
Bruno,  who  were  burned  for  Protestant  or  Atheistical  opinions, 
the  names  of  distinguished  sufferers  are  few.  Wary  heretics, 
a  Celio  Secundo  Curio,  a  Galeazzo  Caracciolo,  a  Bernardino 
Ochino,  a  Pietro  Martire  Vermigli,  a  Pietro  Paolo  Vergerio,  a 
Lelio  Socino,  escaped  betimes  to  Switzerland  and  carried  on 
their  warfare  with  the  Church  by  means  of  writings.^  Others, 
tainted  with  heresy,  like  Marco  Antonio  Flaminio,  managed 
to  satisfy  the  Inquisition  by  timely  concessions.  The  Pro- 
testant Churches,  which  had  sprung  up  in  Venice,  Lucca, 
Modena,  Ferrara,  Faenza,  Vicenza,  Bologna,  Naples,  and 
Siena,  were  easily  dispersed.^  Their  pastors  fled  or  submitted. 
The  flocks  conformed  to  Catholic  orthodoxy.     Only  in  a  few 

>  It  is  singular  that  only  one  contemporary  writes  from  Eome  about 
Bruno's  execution  in  1600  ;  whence,  I  think,  we  may  infer  that  such 
events  were  too  common  to  excite  much  attention. 

-  The  main  facts  about  these  men  may  be  found  in  Cantu's  Gli 
Erctici  d'  Italia,  vol.  ii.  This  work  is  written  in  no  spirit  of  sympathy 
with  Reformers.  But  it  is  superior  in  learning  and  impartiality  to 
McCrie's. 

^  For  the  repressive  measures  used  at  Lucca,  see  Archivio  Storico, 
vol.  X.  pp.  162-185.  They  include  the  prohibition  of  books,  regulation 
of  the  religious  observances  of  Lucchese  citizens  abroad  in  France  or 


PERSECUTION   IN   ITALY  147 

cases  was  extreme  rigour  displayed.     A  memorable  massacre 

took  place  in  the  year  1561  in  Calabria  within  the  province  of 

Cosenza.     Here  at  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century  a  colony 

of  Waldensians  had  settled  in  some  villages  upon  the  coast. 

They  preserved  their   peculiar  beliefs  and  ritual,   and   after 

three   centuries  numbered   about   4,000   souls.     Nearly   the 

whole  of  these,  it  seems,  were  exterminated  by  sword,  fire, 

famine,  torture,  noisome  imprisonment,  and  hurling  from  the 

summits  of  high  clifis.^     A  few  of  the  survivors  were  sent 

to  work  upon  the  Spanish  galleys.     Some  women  and  children 

were  sold  into  slavery.     At  Locarno,  on  the  Lago  Maggiore,  a 

Protestant  community  of  nearly  800  persons  was  driven  into 

exile  in  1555  :  and  at  Venice,  in  15G0-7,a  small  sect,  holding 

reformed  opinions,   suffered  punishment  of  a  peculiar  kind. 

We  read  of  five  persons  by  name,  who,  after  being  condemned 

by  the  Holy  Office,  were  taken  at  night  from  their  dungeons 

to  the  Porto  del  Lido  beyond  the  Due  Castelli,  and  there  set 

upon  a  plank  between  two  gondolas.     The  gondolas   rowed 

asunder :  and  one  by  one  the  martyrs  fell  and  perished  in  the 

waters.- 

Flanders,  and  proscription  of  certain  heretics,  with  whom  all  intercourse 
was  forbidden. 

'  An  eye-witness  gives  a  heart-rending  account  of  these  persecu- 
tions ;  sixty  thrown  from  the  tower  of  Guardia,  eighty-eight  butchered 
like  beasts  in  one  day  at  Montalto,  seven  burned  alive,  one  hundred 
old  women  tortured  and  then  slaughtered.  Arch.  Stor.  vol.  ix.  pp. 
193-195. 

-  McCrie,  op.  cit.  pp.  232-236.  The  five  men  were  Giulio  Gherlandi 
of  Spresiano,  near  Treviso  (executed  in  1.562),  Antonio  Eizzetto  of 
Vicenza  (in  1566),  Francesco  Sega  of  Rovigo  (sentenced  in  1566), 
Francesco  Spinola  of  Milan  (in  1567),  and  Fra  Baldo  Lupatino  (1556). 
McCrie  bases  his  report  upon  the  Histoire  des  Martyrs  (Geneve,  1597), 
and  De  Porta's  Historia  Refoniiationis  Rhceticarum  Ecclesiarimi' 
Thinking  these  sources  somewhat  suspicious,  I  applied  to  my  friend 
Mr.  H.  F.  Brown,  whose  researches  in  the  Venetian  archives  are 
becoming  known  to  students  of  Italian  history.  He  tells  me  that  all 
the  above  cases,  except  that  of  Spinola,  exist  in  the  Frari.  Lupatino 
was  condemned  as  a  Lutheran  ;  the  others  as  Anabaptists.     In  passing 

L  2 


148  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

The  position  of  the  Holy  Office  in  Venice  was  so  far 
peculiar  as  to  justify  a  digression  upon  its  special  constitution. 
Always  jealous  of  ecclesiastical  interference,  the  Eepuhlic 
insisted  on  the  Inquisition  being  made  dependent  on  the 
State.  Three  nobles  of  senatorial  rank  were  chosen  to  act  as 
Assessors  of  the  Holy  Office  in  the  capital ;  and  in  the  subject 
cities  this  function  was  assigned  to  the  Rectors,  or  lieutenants 
of  S.  Mark.  It  was  the  duty  of  these  lay  members  to  see 
that  justice  was  impartially  dealt  by  the  ecclesiastical  tribunal, 
to  defend  the  State  against  clerical  encroachments,  and  to 
refer  dubious  cases  to  the  Doge  in  Council.  They  were  for- 
bidden to  swear  oaths  of  allegiance  or  of  secresy  to  the  Holy 
Office,  and  were  bound  to  be  present  at  all  trials,  even  in  the 
case  of  ecclesiastical  offenders.  No  causes  could  be  avocated 
to  Rome,  and  no  crimes  except  heresy  were  held  to  lie  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  court.     The  State   reserved  to  itself 

sentence  on  Lupatino,  the  Chief  Inquisitor  remarked  that  he  could 
not  condemn  him  to  death  by  fire  in  Venice,  but  must  consign  him  to 
a  watery  grave.  This  is  characteristic  of  Venetian  state  policy.  It 
appears  that,  of  the  above-named  persons,  Sega,  though  sentenced  to 
death  by  drowning,  recanted  at  the  last  moment,  saying,  '  Non  voglio 
esser  negato,  ma  voglio  redirmi  et  morir  buon  Christiano.'  Mr.  Brown 
adds  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  archives  to  prove  that  he  was  executed  ; 
but  there  is  also  nothing  to  show  that  his  sentence  was  commuted. 
Two  other  persons  involved  in  this  trial,  viz.  Nic.  Bucello  of  Padua  and 
Alessio  of  Bellinzona,  upon  recantation,  were  subjected  to  public 
penances  and  confessions  for  different  terms  of  years.  Sega's  fate 
must,  therefore,  be  considered  doubtful ;  since  the  fact  that  no  com- 
mutation of  sentence  is  on  record  lends  some  weight  to  the  hypothesis 
that  he  withdrew  his  recantation,  and  submitted  to  martyrdom.  I  will 
close  this  note  by  expressing  my  hope  that  Mr.  Brown,  who  is  already 
engaged  upon  the  papers  of  the  Venetian  Holy  Office,  will  make  them 
shortly  the  subject  of  a  special  publication.  Considering  how  rare  are 
the  full  and  authentic  records  of  any  Inquisition,  this  would  be  of  in- 
calculable value  for  students  of  history.  The  series  of  trials  in  the 
Frari  extends  from  1541  to  1794,  embracing  1,562  iwocessi  for  the  six- 
teenth century,  1,469  for  the  seventeenth,  541  for  the  eighteenth,  and 
25  of  no  date.  Nearly  all  the  towns  and  districts  of  the  Venetian  State 
are  involved. 


THE   VENETIAN   HOLY   OFFICE  149 

"witclicraft,  profane  swearing,  bigamy  and  usury ;  allowed  no 
interference  with  Jews,  infidels,  and  Greeks ;  forbade  the 
confiscation  of  goods  in  which  the  heirs  of  condemned  persons 
had  interest ;  and  made  separate  stipulations  with  regard  to 
the  Index  of  Prohibited  Books.  It  precluded  the  Inquisition 
from  extending  its  authority  in  any  way,  direct  or  indirect, 
over  trades,  arts,  guilds,  magistrates  and  communal  officials.' 
The  tenor  of  this  system  was  to  repress  ecclesiastical  en- 
croachments on  the  State  prerogatives,  and  to  secure  equity 
in  the  proceedings  of  the  Holy  Office.  Had  practice  answered 
to  theory  in  the  Venetian  Inquisition,  by  far  the  worst  abuses 
of  the  institution  would  have  been  avoided.  But  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  causes  were  not  unfrequently  transferred  to  Rome ; 
confiscations  were  permitted  ;  and  the  lists  of  the  condemned 
include  Mussulmans,  witches,  conjurers,  men  of  scandalous 
life,  &c.,  showing  that  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Holy  Office 
extended  beyond  heresy  in  Venice.^ 

The  truth  is  that  the  Venetians,  though  they  were  willing 
to  risk  an  open  rupture  with  Rome,  remained  at  heart  sound 
Churchmen  devoted  to  the  principles  of  the  Catholic  Reaction. 
The  Republic  conceded  the  fact  of  Inquisitorial  authority, 
while  it  reserved  the  letter  of  State-supervision.  Venetian 
decadence  was  marked  by  this  hypocrisy  of  pride  ;  and  so 
long  as  appearances  were  saved,  the  Holy  Office  exercised  its 
functions  freely.  The  nobles  who  acted  as  assessors  had  no 
sympathy  with  religious  toleration,  being  themselves  under 
the  influence  of  confessors  and  directors. 

How  little  the  subjects  of  S.  Mark  at  this  epoch  trusted 
the  good  faith  of  laws  securing  liberty  of  thought  in  Venice, 
may  be  gathered  from  what  happened  immediately  after  the 

'  See  Sarpi's  '  Discourse  on  the  Inquisition.'      Opere,  vol.  iv. 

-  I  owe  to  Mr.  H.  F.  Brown  details  about  the  register  of  criminals 
condemned  by  the  Holy  Office,  which  substantiate  my  statement 
regarding  the  various  types  of  cases  in  its  jurisdiction. 


150  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

publication  of  the  Index  Expurgatorius  in  1596.  From  an 
official  report  upon  tte  decline  of  the  printing  trade  in 
Venice,  it  appears  that  within  the  space  of  a  few  months  the 
number  of  presses  fell  from  125  to  40.'  Printers  were  afraid 
to  undertake  either  old  or  new  works,  and  the  trade  languished 
for  lack  of  books  to  publish.  Yet  an  edict  had  been  issued 
announcing  that  by  the  terms  of  the  Concordat  with  Clement 
VIII.,  the  Venetian  press  would  only  be  subject  to  State 
control  and  not  to  the  Roman  tribunals.^  The  truth  is  that, 
in  regard  both  to  the  Holy  Office  and  to  the  Index,  Venice 
was  never  strong  enough  to  maintain  the  independence  which 
I  she  boasted.  By  cunning  use  of  the  confessional  and  by 
1  unscrupulous  control  of  opinion,  the  Church  succeeded  in 
\  doing  there  much  the  same  as  in  any  other  Italian  city. 
Successive  Popes  made,  indeed,  a  show  of  respecting  the 
liberties  of  the  Republic.  On  material  points,  touching 
revenue  and  State- administration,  they  felt  it  wise  to  concede 
even  more  than  complimentary  privileges  ;  and  when  Paul  V, 
encroached  upon  these  privileges,  the  Venetians  were  ready 
to  resist  him.  Yet  the  quarrels  between  the  Vatican  and 
San  Marco  were,  after  all,  but  family  disputes.     The  Venetians 

Iat  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  proved  themselves 
no  better  friends  to  spiritual  freedom  than  were  the  Grand 
'-  Dukes  of  Tuscany.  Their  political  jealousies,  commercial 
anxieties,  and  feints  of  maintaining  a  power  that  was  rapidly 
decaying,  denoted  no  partiality  for  the  opponents  of  Rome — 
unless,  like  Sarpi,  these  wore  the  livery  of  the  State  and 
defended  with  the  pen  its  secular  prerogatives.  Therefore, 
when  the  Signory  published  Clement  VIII. 's  Index,  when 
copies   of  that   Index  were  sown  broadcast,  while   only   an 

'  The  document  in  question,  prepared  for  the  use  of  the  Signoria, 
exists  in  MS.  in  the  Marcian  Library,  Misc.  Eccl.  et  Civ.  Class.  VII. 
Cod.  MDCCLXI. 

-  This  edict  is  dated  August  24,  1596. 


CKUSADE   AGAINST  FREE   THOUGHT  151 

edition  of  sixty  was  granted  to  the  Concordat,  authors  and 
publishers  felt,  and  felt  rightly,  that  their  day  had  passed. 
The  art  of  printing  sank  at  once  to  less  than  a  third  of  its 
productivity.  The  city  where  it  had  flourished  so  long,  and 
where  it  had  effected  so  much  of  enduring  value  for  European 
culture,  was  gagged  in  scarcely  a  less  degree  than  Rome.  We 
have  full  right  to  insist  upon  these  facts,  and  to  draw  from 
them  a  stringent  corollary.  If  Venice  allowed  the  trade  in 
books,  which  had  brought  her  so  much  profit  and  such 
honour  in  the  past,  to  be  paralysed  by  Clement's  Index,  what 
must  have  happened  in  other  Italian  towns  ?  The  blow 
which  maimed  Venetian  literature,  was  mortal  elsewhere  ; 
and  the  finest  works  of  genius  in  the  first  half  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  had  to  find  their  publishers  in  Paris. ^  But 
these  reflections  have  led  me  to  anticipate  the  proper  develop- 
ment of  the  subject  of  this  chapter. 

In  Italy  at  large  the  forces  of  the  Inquisition  were  directed, 
not  as  in  Spain  against  heretics  in  masses,  but  against  the 
leaders  of  heretical  opinion,  and  less  against  personalities 
than  against  ideas.  Italy  during  the  Renaissance  had  been 
the  workshop  of  ideas  for  Europe.  It  was  the  business  of  the 
Counter-Reformation  to  check  the  industry  of  that  officina 
scientiariwi,  to  numb  the  nervous  centres  which  had  previously 
emitted  thought  of  pregnant  import  for  the  modern  world, 
and  to  prevent  the  reflux  of  ideas,  elaborated  by  the  northern 
races  in  fresh  forms,  upon  the  intelligence  which  had  evolved 
them.  To  do  so  now  was  comparatively  easy.  It  only  needed 
to  put  the  engine  of  the  Index  Librorum  Prohibitorum  into 
working  order  in  concert  wittfthe  Inquisition. 

Throughout  the  Middle  Ages  it  had  been  customary  to 
burn  heretical  writings.  The  bishops,  the  universities,  and 
the  Dominican  Inquisitors  exercised  this  privilege ;  and  by 

'  This  will  be  apparent  when  I  come  to  treat  of  Marino  and 
Tassoni. 


11 


152  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

their  means,  in  the  age  of  manuscripts,  the  life  of  a  book  was 
soon  extinguished.  Whole  libraries  were  sometunes  sacrificed 
at  one  fell  swoop,  as  in  the  case  of  the  G,000  volumes  de- 
stroyed at  Salamanca  in  1490  by  Torquemada,  on  a  charge 
of  sorcery.'  After  the  invention  of  printing  it  became  more 
difficult  to  carry  on  this  warfare  against  literature,  while  the 
rapid  diffusion  of  Protestant  opinions  through  the  press  ren- 
dered the  need  for  their  extermination  urgent.  Sixtus  IV. 
laid  a  basis  for  the  Index  by  prohibiting  the  publication  of 
any  books  which  had  not  previously  been  licensed  by  eccle- 
siastical authority.  Alexander  VI..  by  a  brief  of  1501  con- 
firmed this  measure,  and  "placed  books  under  the  censorship 
of  the  episcopacy  and  the  Inquisition.  Finally,  the  Lateran 
Council,  in  its  tenth  session,  held  under  the  auspices  of  Leo  X., 
gave  solemn  ecumenical  sanction  to  these  regulations. 

The  censorship  having  been  thus  established,  the  next 
step  was  to  form  a  list  of  books  prohibited  by  the  Inquisitors 
appointed  for  that  purpose.  The  Sorbonne  in  Paris  drew 
one  up  for  their  own  use,  and  even  presented  a  petition  to 
Francis  I.  that  publication  through  the  press  should  be 
forbidden  altogether.^  A  royal  edict  to  this  effect  was 
actually  promulgated  in  1535.  Charles  V.  commissioned  the 
University  of  Louvain  in  1539  to  furnish  a  similar  catalogue, 
proclaiming  at  the  same  time  the  penalty  of  death  for  all  who 
read  or  owned  the  works  of  Luther  in  his  realms.^  The 
University  printed  their  catalogue  with  Papal  approval  in 
1549.  These  lists  of  the  Sorbonne  and  Louvain  formed  the 
nucleus  of  the  Apostolic  Index,  which,  after  the  close  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  became  binding  upon  Catholics.  When  the 
Inquisition  had  been  established  in  Rome,  Caraffa,  who  was 
then   at   its  head,  obtained  the  sanction   of   Paul    III.   for 

'  Llorente,  vol.  i.  p.  281. 

-  Christie's  Etiennc  Dolct,  pp.  220-224. 

'  Llorente,  vol.  i.  p.  463. 


GEOWTH   OF   THE   INDEX  1,53 

submitting  all  books,  old  or  new,  printed  or  in  manuscript, 
to  the  supervision  of  the  Holy  Office.  He  also  contrived  to 
place  booksellers,  public  and  private  libraries,  colporteurs  and 
officers  of  customs,  under  the  same  authority ;  so  that  from 
1543  forward  it  was  a  penal  offence  to  print,  sell,  own, 
convey  or  import  any  literature,  of  which  the  Inquisition  had 
not  first  been  informed,  and  for  the  diffusion  or  possession  of 
which  it  had  not  given  its  permission.  Giovanni  della  Casa, 
who  was  sent  in  1546  to  Venice  with  commission  to  prosecute 
P.  Paolo  Vergerio  for  heresy,  drew  up  a  list  of  about  seventy 
prohibited  volumes,  which  was  printed  in  that  city.^  Other 
lists  appeared,  at  Florence  in  1552,  and  at  Milan  in  1554. 
Philip  II.  at  last,  in  1558,  issued  a  royal  edict  commanding 
the  publication  of  one  catalogue  which  should  form  the 
standard  for  such  Indices  throughout  his  States.'-  These 
lists,  revised,  collated,  and  confirmed  by  Papal  authority,  were 
reprinted,  in  the  form  which  ever  afterwards  obtained,  at 
Rome  by  command  of  Paul  IV.  in  1559.  The  Tridentine 
Council  ratified  the  regulations  of  the  Inquisition  and  the 
Index  concerning  prohibited  books,  and  referred  the  execution 
of  them  in  detail  to  the  Papacy.  A  congregation  was 
appointed  at  Rome,  which,  though  technically  independent  of 
the  Holy  Office,  worked  in  concert  with  it.  This  Congrega- 
tion of  the  Index  brought  the  Tridentine  decrees  into 
harmony  with  the  practice  that  had  been  developed  by 
Caraffa  as  Inquisitor  and  Pope.  Their  list  was  published  in 
1564  with  the  authority  of  Pius  IV.  Finally,  in  1595  the 
decrees  embodying  the  statutes  of  the  Church  upon  this  topic 
were  issued  in  print,  together  with  a  largely  augmented 
catalogue  of  interdicted  books.  This  document  will  form  the 
basis  of  what  I  have  to  say  with  regard  to  the  Catholic 
crusade  against  literature. 

'  In  the  year  1548.     The  MS.  cited  above  (p.  150)  mentions  another 
Index  of  the  Venetian  Holy  Office  published  in  1554. 
^  Sarpi,  1st.  del  Cone.  Trid.  vol.  ii.  p.  90. 


154  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

Not  without  reason  did  Aonio  Paleario  call  this  engine  of  the 
i  Index  '  a  dagger  drawn  from  the  scabbard  to  assassinate  letters  ' 
— sica  districta  in  omnes  scriptores.^  Not  without  reason  did 
Sarpi  describe  it  as  '  the  finest  secret  which  has  ever  been 
discovered  for  applying  religion  to  the  purpose  of  making 
men  idiotic'  ^  Paul  IV.  designated  in  his  Index  Expurga- 
torius  sixty -one  printing  firms  by  name,  all  of  whose  publica- 
tions were  without  exception  prohibited,  adding  a  similar 
prohibition  for  the  books  edited  by  any  printer  who  had 
published  the  writings  of  any  heretic  ;  so  that  in  fine,  as  Sarpi 
says,  '  there  was  not  a  book  left  to  read.'  Truly  he  might 
well  exclaim  in  another  passage  that  the  Church  was  doing 
its  best  to  extinguish  sound  learning  altogether.^ 

In  order  to  gain  a  clear  conception  of  the  warfare  carried 
on  by  Eome  against  free  literature,  it  will  be  well  to  consider 
first  the  rules  for  the  Index  of  Prohibited  Books,  sketched  out 
by  the  fathers  delegated  by  the  Tridentine  Council,  published 
by  Pius  IV.,  augmented  by  Sixtus  V.,  and  reduced  to  their 
final  form  by  Clement  VIII.  in  1595.^  Afterwards  I  shall 
proceed  to  explain  the  operation  of  the  system,  and  to 
illustrate  by  details  the  injury  inflicted  upon  learning  and 
enlightenment. 

'  In  his  Oratio  pro  se  ipso  ncl  Scncnscs.  Printed  by  Gryphius  at 
Lyons  in  1552. 

2  1st.  del  Cone.  Trid.  vol.  ii.  p.  91.  The  passage  deserves  to  be 
transcribed.  '  Sotto  colore  di  fede  e  religione  sono  vietati  con  la 
medesima  severita  e  dannati  gli  autori  de'  libri  da'  quali  1'  autorit^  del 
principe  e  magistrati  temporal!  6  difesa  dalle  usurpazioni  ecclesias- 
tiche  •  dove  1'  autorita  de'  Concilj  e  de'  Vescovi  e  difesa  dalle  usur- 
pazioni della  Corte  Eomana  ;  dove  le  ipocrisie  o  tirannidi  con  le  quali 
sotto  pretesto  di  religione  il  popolo  e  ingannato  o  violentato  sono  mani- 
f estate.  In  somma  non  fu  mai  trovato  piu  bell'  arcano  per  adoperare 
la  religione  a  far  gli  uomini  insensati.' 
^  Discorso  sopra  V  Inq.  vol.  iv.  p.  54. 

*  These  rules  form  the  Preface  to  modern  editions  of  the  Index. 
The  one  I  use  is  dated  Naples,  1862.  They  are  also  printed  in  vol.  iv. 
of  Sarpi's  works. 


THE    INDEX   OF   CLEMENT  VIII.  155 

The  preambles  to  this  document  recite  the  circumstances 
under  which  the  necessity  for  digesting  an  Index  or  Catalogue 
of  Prohibited  Books  arose.  These  were  the  diffusion  of 
heretical  opinions  at  the  epoch  of  the  Lutheran  schism,  and 
their  propagation  through  the  press.  The  Council  of  Trent 
decreed  that  a  list  of  writings  '  heretical,  or  suspected  of 
heretical  pravity,  or  injurious  to  manners  and  piety,'  should 
be  drawn  up.  This  charge  they  committed  to  prelates  chosen 
from  all  nations,  who,  when  the  catalogue  had  been  completed, 
referred  it  for  sanction  and  approval  to  the  Pope.  He 
nominated  a  congregation  of  eminent  ecclesiastics,  by  whose 
care  the  catalogue  was  perfected,  and  rales  were  framed, 
defining  the  use  that  should  be  made  of  it  in  future.  It 
was  issued  officially,  as  I  have  already  stated,  in  1564,  the 
fifth  year  of  the  pontificate  of  Pius  IV.  with  warning  to  all 
universities  and  civil  and  ecclesiastical  authorities  that  any 
person  of  what  grade  or  condition  soever,  whether  clerk  or 
layman,  who  should  read  or  possess  one  or  more  of  the 
proscribed  volumes,  would  be  accounted  ijjso  jure  excom- 
municate, and  liable  to  prosecution  by  the  Inquisition  on  a 
charge  of  heresy. •  Booksellers,  printers,  merchants,  and 
custom-house  officials  received  admonition  that  the  threat  of 
excommunication  and  prosecution  concerned  them  specially. 

The  first  rules  deal  with  the  acknowledged  writings  of 
Protestant  heresiarchs.  Those  of  Luther,  Zwingli,  and 
Calvin,  whether  in  their  original  languages  or  translated,  are 
condemned  absolutely  and  without  exception.  Next  follow 
regulations  for  securing  the  monopoly  of  the  Vulgate, 
considered  as  the  sole  authorised  version  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  Translations  of  portions  of  the  Bible  made  by 
learned  men  in  Latin  may  be  used  by  scholars  with  per- 
mission of  a  bishop,  provided  it  be  understood  that  they  are 
never  appealed  to  as  the  inspired  text.      Translations  into 

'  Paulus  Manutius  Aldus  printed  this  Index  at  Venice  in  15G4. 


156  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

any  vernacular  idiom  are  strictly  excluded  from  public  use 
and  circulation,  but  may,  under  exceptional  circumstances,  be 
allowed  to  students  who  have  received  license  from  a  bishop 
or  Inquisitor  at  the  recommendation  of  their  parish  priest  or 
confessor.  Compilations  made  by  heretics,  in  the  form  of 
dictionaries,  concordances,  &c.,  are  to  be  prohibited  until  they 
have  been  purged  and  revised  by  censors  of  the  press.  The 
same  regulation  extends  to  polemical  and  controversial  works 
touching  on  matters  of  doctrine  in  dispute  between  Catholics 
and  Protestants.  Next  follow  regulations  concerning  books 
containing  lascivious  or  obscene  matter,  which  are  to  be 
rigidly  suppressed.  Exception  is  made  in  favour  of  the 
classics,  on  account  of  their  style  ;  with  the  proviso  that  they 
are  on  no  account  to  be  given  to  boys  to  read.  Treatises 
dealing  professedly  with  occult  arts,  magic,  sorcery,  pre- 
dictions of  future  events,  incantation  of  spirits,  and  so  forth, 
are  to  be  proscribed  ;  due  reservation  being  made  in  favour 
of  scientific  observations  touching  navigation,  agriculture, 
and  the  healing  art,  in  which  prognostics  may  be  useful  to 
mankind.  Having  thus  broadly  defined  the  literature  which 
has  to  be  suppressed  or  subjected  to  supervision,  rules  are 
laid  down  for  the  exercise  of  censure.  Books,  whereof  the 
general  tendency  is  good,  but  which  contain  passages 
savouring  of  heresy,  superstition  or  divination,  shall  be 
reserved  for  the  consideration  of  Catholic  theologians 
appointed  by  the  Inquisition ;  and  this  shall  hold  good 
also  of  prefaces,  summaries,  or  annotations.  All  writings 
printed  in  Eome  must  be  submitted  to  the  judgment  of  the 
Vicar  of  the  Pope,  the  Master  of  the  Sacred  Palace,  or  a 
person  nominated  by  the  Pontiff.  In  other  cities  the  bishop, 
or  his  delegate,  and  the  Inquisitor  of  the  district  shall  be 
responsible  for  examining  printed  or  manuscript  works 
previous  to  publication  ;  and  without  their  license  it  shall  be 
illegal  to  circulate  them.     Inquisitorial  visits  shall  from  time 


CENSORSHIP   OF  BOOKS  1.57 

to  time  be  made,  under  the  authority  of  the  bishop  and  the 
Holy  Office,  in  book-shops  or  printing-houses,  for  the  removal 
and  destruction  of  prohibited  works.  Colporteurs  of  books 
across  the  frontiers,  heirs  and  executors  who  have  become 
depositaries  of  books,  collectors  of  private  libraries,  as  well  as 
editors  and  booksellers,  shall  be  liable  to  the  same  juris- 
diction, bound  to  declare  their  property  by  catalogue,  and  to 
show  license  for  the  use,  transmission,  sale,  or  possession  of 
the  same. 

With  regard  to  the  correction  of  books,  it  is  provided  that 
this  duty  shall  fall  conjointly  on  bishops  and  Inquisitors,  who 
must  appoint  three  men  distinguished  for  learning  and  piety 
to  examine  the  text  and  make  the  necessary  changes  in  it. 
Upon  the  report  of  these  censors,  the  bishops  and  Inquisitors 
shall  give  license  of  publication,  provided  they  are  satisfied 
that  the  work  of  emendation  has  been  duly  performed.  The 
censor  must  submit  not  only  the  body  of  a  book  to  scrupulous 
analysis ;  but  he  must  also  investigate  the  notes,  summaries, 
marginal  remarks,  indexes,  prefaces,  and  dedicatory  epistles, 
lest  haply  pestilent  opinions  lurk  there  in  ambush.  He 
must  keep  a  sharp  look-out  for  heretical  propositions,  and 
arguments  savouring  of  heresy ;  insinuations  against  the 
established  order  of  the  sacraments,  ceremonies,  usages  and 
ritual  of  the  Roman  Church  ;  new  turns  of  phrase  insidiously 
employed  by  heretics,  with  dubious  and  ambiguous  expres- 
sions that  may  mislead  the  unwary ;  plausible  citations  of 
Scripture,  or  passages  of  holy  writ  extracted  from  heretical 
translations  ;  quotations  from  the  authorised  text,  which  have 
been  adduced  in  an  unorthodox  sense ;  epithets  in  honour  of 
heretics,  and  anything  that  may  redound  to  the  praise  of 
such  persons  ;  opinions  savouring  of  sorcery  and  superstition  ; 
theories  that  involve  the  subjection  of  the  human  will  to  fate, 
fortune,  and  fallacious  portents,  or  that  imply  paganism  ; 
aspersions  upon  ecclesiastics  and   princes ;  impugnments  of 


158  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

the  liberties,  immunities,  and  jurisdiction  of  the  Church  ; 
poHiical  doctrines  in  favour  of  antique  virtues,  despotic 
government,  and  the  so-called  Eeason  of  State,  which  are  in 
opposition  to  the  evangelical  and  Christian  law  ;  satires  on 
ecclesiastical  rites,  religious  orders,  and  the  state,  dignity,  and 
persons  of  the  clergy ;  ribaldries  or  stories  offensive  and  pre- 
judicial to  the  fame  and  estimation  of  one's  neighbours, 
together  with  lubricities,  lascivious  remarks,  lewd  pictures, 
and  capital  letters  adorned  with  obscene  images.  All  such 
peccant  passages  are  to  be  expunged,  obliterated,  removed  or 
radically  altered,  before  the  license  for  publication  be  accorded 
by  the  ordinary. 

No  book  shall  be  printed  without  the  author's  name  in 
full,  together  with  his  nationality,  upon  the  title-page.  If 
there  be  sufficient  reason  for  giving  an  anonymous  work  to 
the  world,  the  censor's  name  shall  stand  for  that  of  the 
author.  Compilations  of  words,  sentences,  excerpts,  kc, 
shall  pass  under  the  name  of  the  compiler.  Publishers  and 
booksellers  are  to  take  care  that  the  printed  work  agrees  with 
the  MS.  copy  as  licensed,  and  to  see  that  all  rules  with  regard 
to  the  author's  name  and  his  authority  to  publish  have  been 
observed.  They  are,  moreover,  to  take  an  oath  before  the 
Master  of  the  Sacred  Palace  in  Eome,  or  before  the  bishop 
and  Inquisitor  in  other  places,  that  they  will  scrupulously 
follow  the  regulations  of  the  Index.  The  bishops  and  Inqui- 
sitors are  held  responsible  for  selecting  as  censors  men  of 
approved  piety  and  learning,  whose  good  faith  and  integrity 
they  shall  guarantee,  and  who  shall  be  such  as  will  obey 
no  promptings  of  private  hatred  or  of  favour,  but  will  do  all 
for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  advantage  of  the  faithful.  The 
approbation  of  such  censors,  together  with  the  license  of  the 
bishop  and  Inquisitor,  shall  be  printed  at  the  opening  of 
every  published  book.  Finally,  if  any  work  composed  by  a 
condemned  author  shall  be  licensed  after  due  purgation  and 


CENSORS   AND   CONGREGATION   OF   THE   INDEX       159 

castration,  it  shall  bear  his  name  upon  the  title-page,  together 
with  the  note  of  condemnation,  to  the  end  that,  thovigh  the 
book  itself  be  accepted,  the  author  be  understood  to  be 
rejected.  Thus,  for  example,  the  title  shall  run  as  follows  : 
'  The  Library,  by  Conrad  Gesner,  a  writer  condemned  for  his 
opinions,  which  work  was  formerly  published  and  proscribed, 
but  is  now  expurgated  and  licensed  by  superior  authority.' 

The  Holy  Office  was  made  virtually  responsible  for  the 
censorship  of  books.  But,  as  I  have  already  stated,  there 
existed  a  Congregation  of  prelates  in  Rome  to  whom  the  final 
verdict  upon  this  matter  was  reserved.  If  an  author  in  some 
provincial  town  composed  a  volume,  he  was  bound  in  the 
first  instance  to  submit  the  MS.  to  the  censor  appointed  by 
the  bishop  and  Inquisitor  of  his  district.  This  man  took 
time  to  weigh  the  general  matter  of  the  work  before  him,  to 
scrutinise  its  propositions,  verify  quotations,  and  deliberate 
upon  its  tendency.  When  the  license  of  the  ordinary  had 
been  obtained,  it  was  referred  to  the  Roman  Congregation  of 
the  Index,  who  might  withhold  or  grant  their  sanction.  So 
complicated  was  the  machinery,  and  so  vast  the  pressure 
upon  the  officials  who  were  held  responsible  for  the  expurga- 
tion of  every  book  imprinted  or  reprinted  in  all  the  Catholic 
presses,  that  even  writers  of  conspicuous  orthodoxy  had  to 
suffer  grievous  delays.  An  archbishop  writes  to  Cardinal 
Sirleto  about  a  book  which  had  been  examined  thrice,  at 
Rome,  at  Venice  and  again  at  Rome,  and  had  obtained  the 
Pope's  approval,  and  yet  the  licence  for  reprinting  it  is  never 
issued.'  The  censors  were  not  paid  ;  and  in  addition  to  being 
overworked  and  overburdened  with  responsibility,  they  were 
rarely  men  of  adequate  learning.  In  a  letter  from  Barto- 
lommeo  de  Valverde,  chaplain  to  Philip  II.,  under  date  1584, 
we  read  plain-spoken  complaints  against  these  subordinates. - 
'  Unacquainted  with  literature,  they  discharge  the  function  of 
'  Dejob,  De  Vlnfluence,  &c.  p.  60.  -  Id.  op.  cit.  p.  76. 


160  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

condemning  books  they  cannot  understand.  Without  know- 
ledge of  Greek  or  Hebrew,  and  animated  by  a  i^rejudiced 
hostility  against  authors,  they  take  the  easy  course  of  pro- 
scribing what  they  feel  incapable  of  judging.  In  this  way 
the  works  of  many  sainted  writers  and  the  useful  commen- 
taries made  by  Jews  have  been  suppressed.'  A  memorial  to 
Sirleto,  presented  by  Cardinal  Gabriele  Paleotti,  points  out 
the  negligence  of  the  Index-makers  and  their  superficial 
discharge  of  onerous  duties,  praying  that  in  future  men  of 
learning  and  honesty  should  be  employed,  and  that  they 
should  receive  payment  for  their  labours.'  These  are  the 
expostulations  addressed  by  faithful  Catholics,  engaged  in 
literary  work  demanded  by  the  Vatican,  to  a  Cardinal  who 
was  the  soul  and  mover  of  the  Congregation.  They  do  not 
question  the  salutary  nature  of  the  Index,  but  only  call 
attention  to  the  incapacity  and  ignorance  of  its  unpaid 
officials.  Meanwhile,  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  appoint  re- 
sponsible and  learned  scholars  to  the  post.  The  inefficient 
censors  proceeded  with  their  work  of  destruction  and  suppres- 
sion. A  commentator  on  a  Greek  Father  or  the  Psalms  was 
corrected  by  an  ignoramus  who  knew  neither  Greek  nor^ 
Hebrew,  anxious  to  discover  petty  collisions  with  the  Vulgate, 
and  eager  to  create  annoyances  for  the  author.  •  Latino  Latini, 
one  of  the  students  employed  by  the  Vatican,  refused  his 
name  to  an  edition  of  Cyprian  which  he  had  carefully  pre- 
pared with  far  more  than  the  average  erudition,  because  it 
had  been  changed  throughout  by  the  substitution  of  bad 
readings  for  good,  in  defiance  of  MS.  authority,  with  a  view 
of  preserving  a  literal  agreement  with  the  Vulgate.^  Sigonius, 
another  of  the  Vatican  students,  was  instructed  to  prepare 
certain  text-books  by  Cardinal  Paleotti.  These  were  an 
Ecclesiastical  History,  a  treatise  on  the  Hebrew  Common- 
wealth, and  an  edition  of  Sulpicius  Severus.  The  MSS.were 
'  Dejob,  op.  cif.  p.  78.  ^  Id.  op.  cit.  p.  74. 


IGXOEANT   CENSORS  ICl 

returned  to  liim,  accused  of  unsound  doctrine,  and  scrawled 
over  with  such  remarks  as  '  false,'  '  absurd.' '  In  addition  to 
the  intolerable  delays  of  the  Censure,  and  the  arrogant 
inadequacy  of  its  officials,  learned  men  suffered  from  the 
pettiest  persecution  at  the  hands  of  informers.  The  Inqui- 
sitors themselves  were  often  spies  and  persons  of  base  origin. 
'  The  Roman  Court,'  says  Sarpi,  '  being  anxious  that  the 
office  of  the  Inquisition  should  not  suffer  through  negligence 
in  its  ministers,  has  confided  these  affairs  to  individuals 
without  occupation,  and  whose  mean  estate  renders  them 
proud  of  their  official  position.' ^  It  was  not  to  be  expected 
that  such  people  should  discharge  their  duties  with  intel- 
ligence and  scrupulous  equity.  Pius  V.,  himself  an  incor- 
ruptible Inquisitor,  had  to  condemn  one  of  his  lieutenants 
for  corruption  or  extortion  of  money  by  menaces.^  There 
was  still  another  source  of  peril  and  annoyance  to  which 
scholars  were  exposed.  Their  comrades,  engaged  in  similar 
pursuits,  not  unfrequently  wreaked  private  spite  by  denouncing 
them  to  the  Congregation.^  Van  Linden  indicated  heresies 
in  Osorius,  Giovius,  Albertus  Pighius.  The  Jesuit  Francesco 
Torres  accused  Maes,  and  threatened  Latini.  Sigonius  ob- 
tained a  licence  for  his  '  History  of  Bologna,'  but  could  not  print 
it,  owing  to  the  delation  of  secret  enemies.  Baronius,  when  he 
had  finished  his  '  Martyrology,'  found  that  a  cabal  had  raised 
insuperable  obstacles  in  the  way  of  its  publication.  I  have 
been  careful  to  select  only  examples  of  notoriously  Catholic 
authors,  men  who  were  in  the  pay  and  under  the  special 
protection  of  the  Vatican.  How  it  fared  with  less-favoured 
scholars,  may  be  left  to  the  imagination.  We  are  not  aston- 
ished to  find  a  man  like  Latini  writing  thus  from  Rome  to 

'  Dejob,  ojy.  cit.  p.  54. 

-  '  Discorso  dell'  Origine,  &c.  dell'  Inquisizionc'      OfjJ  vol.  iv.  p.  34. 

^  Mutinelli,  Storia  Arcana,  vol.  i.  p.  277 

*  Dejob,  op.  cit.  pp.  53-57. 

VI  M 


162  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

Maes  during  the  pontificate  of  Paul  IV.  :^  '  Have  you  not 
heard  of  the  peril  which  threatens  the  very  existence  of 
books  ?  What  are  you  dreaming  of,  when  now  that  almost 
every  published  book  is  interdicted,  you  still  think  of  making 
new  ones  ?  Here,  as  I  imagine,  there  is  no  one  who  for 
many  years  to  come  will  dare  to  write  except  on  business 
or  to  distant  friends.  An  Index  has  been  issued  of  the  works 
Avhich  none  may  possess  under  pain  of  excommunication ; 
and  the  number  of  them  is  so  great  that  very  few  indeed  are 
left  to  us,  especially  of  those  which  have  been  published  in 
Germany.  This  shipwreck,  this  holocaust  of  books  will  stop 
the  production  of  them  in  your  country  also,  if  I  do  not  err, 
and  will  teach  editors  to  be  upon  their  guard.  As  you  love 
me  and  yourself,  sit  and  look  at  your  bookcases  without 
opening  their  doors,  and  beware  lest  the  very  cracks  let 
emanations  come  to  you  from  those  forbidden  fruits  of 
learning.'  This  letter  was  written  in  1559,  when  Paul  pro- 
scribed sixty-one  presses,  and  prohibited  the  perusal  of  any 
work  that  issued  from  them.  He  afterwards  withdrew  this 
interdict.  But  the  Index  did  not  stop  its  work  of  extirpation. 
Another  embarrassment  which  afflicted  men  of  learning, 
was  the  danger  of  possessing  books  by  heretics  and  the 
difficulty  of  procuring  them.^  Yet  they  could  not  carry  on 
their  Biblical  studies  without  reference  to  such  authors  as, 
for  example,  Erasmus  or  Eeuchlin.  The  universities  loudly 
demanded  that  books  of  sound  erudition  by  heretics  should  at 

'  Dejob,  op.  cit.  p.  75. 

-  Sarj^i's  Letters  abound  in  useful  information  on  this  topic. 
Writing  to  French  correspondents,  he  complains  weekly  of  the  im- 
possibility even  in  Venice  of  obtaining  books.  Bee,  for  instance, 
Lettere,  vol.  i.  pp.  286,  287,  360,  vol.  ii.  p.  13.  In  one  passage  he  says 
that  the  importation  of  books  into  Italy  is  impeded  at  Innsbruck, 
Trento,  and  throughout  the  Tyrolese  frontiers  (vol.  i.  p.  74).  In  another 
he  warns  his  friends  not  to  send  them  concealed  in  merchandise,  since 
they  will  fall  under  so  many  eves  in  the  custom-houses  and  lazzaretti 
(vol.  i.  p.  303). 


PROSCRIBED   LITERATURE  163 

least  be  expurgated  and  republished.  Yet  the  process  of 
disfiguring  their  arguments,  effacing  the  names  of  authors, 
expunging  the  praises  of  heretics,  altering  quotations  and 
retouching  them  all  over,  involved  so  much  labour  that  the 
demand  was  never  satisfied.  The  strict  search  instituted  at 
the  frontiers  stopped  the  importation  of  books,'  and  carriers 
refused  to  transmit  them.  In  their  dread  of  the  Inquisition, 
these  folk  found  it  safer  to  abstain  from  book  traffic  altogether. 
Public  libraries  were  exposed  to  intermittent  raids,  nor  were 
private  collections  safe  from  such  inspection.  The  not  un- 
common occurrence  of  old  books  in  which  precious  and 
interesting  passages  have  been  erased  with  printer's  ink,  or 
pasted  over  with  slips  of  opaque  paper,  testifies  to  the 
frequency  of  these  inquisitorial  visitations.^  Any  casual 
acquaintance,  on  leaving  a  man's  house,  might  denounce  him 
as  the  possessor  of  a  proscribed  volume  ;  and  everybody  who 
owned  a  bookcase  was  bound  to  furnish  the  Inquisitors  with 
a  copy  of  his  catalogue.  Bookstalls  lay  open  to  the  male- 
volence of  informers.  We  possess  an  insolent  letter  of 
Antonio  Possevino  to  Cardinal  Sirleto,  telling  him  that  he 
had  noticed  a  forbidden  book  by  Filiarchi  on  a  binder's 
counter,  and  bidding  him  to  do  his  duty  by  suppressing  it.^ 
When  this  Cardinal's  library  was  exposed  for  sale  after  his 
death,  the  curious  observed  that  it  contained  1,872  MSS.  in 
Greek  and  Latin,  530  volumes  of  printed  Greek  books,  and 
3,939  volumes  of  Latin,  among  which  39  were  on  the  Index. 

'  It  was  usual  at  this  epoch  to  send  Protestant  publications  from 
beyond  the  Alps  in  bales  of  cotton  or  other  goods.  This  appears  from 
the  Lucchese  proclamations  against  heresy  published  in  Arch.  Star. 
vol.  X. 

-  I  may  mention  that  having  occasion  to  consult  Savonarola's  works 
in  the  Public  Library  of  Perugia,  which  has  a  fairly  good  collection  of 
them,  I  found  them  useless  for  purposes  of  study  by  reason  of  these 
erasures  and  Burke-plasters. 

^  Dejob,  op.  cit.  p.  43. 

m2 


164  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

But  charity  suggested  that  the  Cardinal  had  retained  these 
last  for  censure. 

During  the  period  of  the  Counter-Reformation  it  was  the 
cherished  object  of  the  Popes  to  restore  ecclesiastical  and 
theological  learning.  They  gathered  men  of  erudition  round 
them  in  the  Vatican,  and  established  a  press  for  the  purpose 
of  printing  the  Fathers  and  diffusing  Catholic  literature. 
But  they  were  met  in  the  pursuance  of  this  project  by  very 
serious  difficulties.  Their  own  policy  tended  to  stifle  know- 
ledge and  suppress  criticism.  The  scholars  whom  they  chose 
as  champions  of  the  faith  worked  with  tied  hands.  Baronio 
knew  no  Greek  ;  Latini  knew  hardly  any ;  Bellarmino  is 
thought  to  have  known  but  little.  And  yet  these  were  the 
apostles  of  Catholic  enlightenment,  the  defenders  of  the 
infallible  Church  against  students  of  the  calibre  of  Erasmus, 
Casaubon,  Sarpi !  An  insuperable  obstacle  to  sacred  studies 
of  a  permanently  useful  kind  was  the  Tridentine  decree  which 
had  declared  the  Vulgate  inviolable.  No  codex  of  age  or 
authority  which  displayed  a  reading  at  variance  with  the 
inspired  Latin  version  might  be  cited.  Sirleto,  custodian  of 
the  Vatican  Library,  refused  lections  from  its  MSS.  to  learned 
men,  on  the  ground  that  they  might  seem  to  impugn  the 
Vulgate.'  For  the  same  reason,  the  critical  labours  of  all 
previous  students,  from  Valla  to  Erasmus,  on  the  text  of  the 
Bible  were  suppressed,  and  the  best  MSS.  of  the  Fathers  were 
ruthlessly  garbled,  in  order  to  bring  their  quotations  into 
accordance  with  Jerome's  translation.  Galesini  takes  credit 
to  himself  in  a  letter  to  Sirleto  for  having  withheld  a  clearly 
right  reading  in  his  edition  of  the  Psalms,  because  it  explained 
a  mistake  in  the  Vulgate.^  We  have  seen  how  Latini's 
t  Cyprian '  suffered  from  the  censure  ;  and  there  is  a  lament- 
able history  of  the  Vatican  edition  of  Ambrose,  which  was  so 
mutilated  that  the  Index  had  to  protect  it  from  confrontation 

•  Dejob,  op.  cif.  p.  50.     Also  his  Muret,  pp.  223-227. 
-  Dejob,  De  VInflucncc,  p.  49. 


VATICAN   STUDENTS  165 

with  the  original  codices.^  This  dishonest  dealing  not  only 
discouraged  students  and  paralysed  the  energy  of  critical 
investigation,  but  it  also  involved  the  closing  of  public  libraries 
to  scholars.  The  Vatican  could  not  afford  to  let  the  light  of 
science  in  upon  its  workshop  of  forgeries  and  sophistications. 
A  voice  of  reasonable  remonstrance  was  sometimes  raised  by 
even  the  most  incorruptible  children  of  the  Church.  Thus 
Bellarmino  writes  to  Cardinal  Sirleto,  suggesting  a  doubt 
whether  if" is  obligatory  to  adhere  to  the  letter  of  the  Triden- 
tine  decree  upon  the  Vulgate.^  Is  it  rational,  he  asks,  to 
maintain  that  every  sentence  in  the  Latin  text  is  impeccable  ? 
Must  we  reject  those  readings  in  the  Hebrew  and  the  Greek 
which  elucidate  the  meaning  of  the  Scriptures,  in  cases  where 
Jerome  has  followed  a  different  and  possibly  a  corrupt 
authority?  Would  it  not  be  more  sensible  to  regard  the 
Vulgate  as  the  sole  authorised  version  for  use  in  universities, 
pulpits,  and  divine  service,  while  admitting  that  it  is  not  an 
infallible  rendering  of  the  inspired  original  ?  He  also  touches, 
in  a  similar  strain  of  scholar-like  liberality,  upon  the  Septua- 
gint,  pointing  out  that  this  version  cannot  have  been  the  work 
of  seventy  men  in  unity,  since  the  translator  of  Job  seems  to 
have  been  better  acquainted  with  Greek  than  Hebrew,  while 
the  reverse  is  true  of  the  translator  of  Solomon.  Such 
remonstrances  were  not,  however,  destined  to  make  them- 
selves effectively  heard.  Instead  of  relaxing  its  severity 
after  the  pontificate  of  Pius  IV.,  the  Congregation  of  the 
Index  grew,  as  we  have  seen,  more  rigid,  until,  in  the  rules 
digested  by  Clement  VIII.,  it  enforced  the  strictest  letter  of 
the  law  regardmg  the  "Viilgate,  and  ratified  all  the  hypocrisies 
and  subterfuges  which  that  implied. 

Under  the  conditions  which  I  have  attempted  to  describe, 

'  Id.  op.  cit.  pp.  96-98. 

-  This  very  interesting  and  valuable  letter  is  printed  by  Dejob  in 
the  work  I  have  so  often  cited,  p.  391. 


166  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

it  was  impossible  that  Italy  should  hold  her  place  among 
the  nations  which  encouraged  liberal  studies.  Kome  had  one 
object  in  view — to  gag  the  revolutionary  free  voice  of  the 
Eenaissance,  to  protect  conservative  principles,  to  establish 
her  own  supremacy,  and  to  secure  the  triumph  of  the 
Counter-Eeformation.  In  pursuance  of  this  policy,  she  had 
to  react  against  the  learning  and  the  culture  of  the  classical 
revival ;  and  her  views  were  seconded  not  only  by  the  over- 
whelming political  force  of  Spain  in  the  Peninsula,  but  also 
by  the  petty  princes  who  felt  that  their  existence  was 
imperilled. 

Independence  of  judgment  was  rigorously  proscribed  in  all 
academies  and  seats  of  erudition.  New  methods  of  education 
and  new  text-books  were  forbidden.  Professors  found  them- 
selves hampered  in  their  choice  of  antique  authors.  Only 
those  classics  which  were  sanctioned  by  the  Congregation  of 
the  Index  could  be  used  in  lecture  rooms.  On  the  one  hand, 
the  great  republican  advocates  of  independence  had  incurred 
suspicion.  On  the  other  hand,  the  poets  were  prohibited  as 
redolent  of  paganism.  To  mingle  philosophy  with  rhetoric 
was  counted  a  crime.  Thomas  Aquinas  had  set  up  Pillars  of 
Hercules  beyond  which  the  reason  might  not  seek  to  travel. 
Koman  law  had  to  be  treated  from  the  orthodox  scholastic 
standpoint.  Woe  to  the  audacious  jurist  who  made  the 
Pandects  serve  for  disquisitions  on  the  rights  of  men  and 
nations  !  Scholars  like  Sigonius  found  themselves  tied  down 
in  their  class-rooms  to  a  weariful  routine  of  Cicero  and 
Aristotle.  Aonio  Paleario  complained  that  a  professor  was 
no  better  than  a  donkey  working  in  a  mill ;  nothing  remained 
for  him  but  to  dole  out  commonplaces,  avoiding  every  point 
of  contact  between  the  authors  he  interpreted  and  the  burning 
questions  of  modern  life.  Muretus,  who  brought  with  him  to 
Italy  from  France  a  ruined  moral  reputation  with  a  fervid 
zeal  for  literature,  who  sold  his  soul  to  praise  the  Massacre  of 


DECAY   OF   LEARNING  167 

S.  Bartholomew  and  purge  by  fulsome  panegyrics  of  great 
public  crimes  the  taint  of  heresy  that  clung  around  him, 
found  ias  efforts  to  extend  the  course  of  studies  in  Rome 
thwarted.'  He  was  forbidden  to  lecture  on  Plato,  forbidden 
to  touch  jurisprudence,  forbidden  to  consult  a  copy  of  Euna- 
pius  in  the  Vatican  Library.  It  cost  him  days  and  weeks  of 
pleading  to  obtain  permission  to  read  Tacitus  to  his  classes. 
Greek,  the  literature  of  high  thoughts,  noble  enthusiasms,  and 
virile  Sciences,  was  viewed  with  suspicion.  As  the  monks  of 
the  Middle  Ages  had  written  on  the  margins  of  their  MSS. : 
GrcBca  sunt,  ergo  non  legcnda,  so  these  new  obscurantists 
exclaimed  :  Graca  sunt,  pcriculosa  sunt,  ergo  non  legcnda. 
'  1  am  forced,'  he  cries  in  this  extremity,  '  to  occupy  myself 
with  Latin  and  to  abstain  entirely  from  Greek.'  And  yet  he 
knew  that  '  if  the  men  of  our  age  advance  one  step  further  in 
their  neglect  of  Greek,  doom  and  destruction  are  impending- 
over  all  sound  arts  and  sciences.'  '  It  is  my  misery,'  he 
groans,  '  to  behold  the  gradual  extinction  and  total  decay  of 
Greek  letters,  in  whose  train  I  see  the  whole  body  of  refined 
learning  on  the  point  of  vanishing  away.'^ 

A  vigorous  passage  from  one  of  Sarpi's  letters  directly 
bearing  on  these  points  may  here  be  ciled  (vol.  i.  p.  170) : 
'  The  revival  of  polite  learning  undermined  the  foundations 
of  Papal  monarchy.  Nor  was  this  to  be  wondered  at.  This 
monarchy  began  and  grew  in  barbarism ;  the  cessation 
of  barbarism  naturally  curtailed  and  threatened  it  with 
extinction.  This  we  already  see  in  Germany  and  France; 
but  Spain  and  Italy  are  still  subject  to  barbarism.  Legal 
studies  sink  daily  from  bad  to  worse.  The  Roman  Curia 
opposes  every  branch  of  learning  which  savours  of  polite 
literature,  while  it  defends  its  barbarism  with  tooth  and  nail. 
How  can  it  do  otherwise  ?      Abolish  those  books  on  Papal 

'  See  Dejob's  Life  of  Muret,  pp.  231,  238,  27-1,  330. 
^  Id.  op.  cit.  pp.  202,  481. 


168  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

Supremacy,   and    where   shall   they   find  that  the   Pope   is 

another  God,  that  he  is  almighty,  that  all  rights  and  laws 

are   closed   within  the  cabinet   of   his   breast,  that   he   can 

shut  up  folk  in  hell,  in  a  word  that  he  has  power  to  square 

the   circle  ?      Destroy    that    false    jurisprudence,    and    this 

)  tyranny  will  vanish  ;  but  the  two  are  reciprocally  supporting, 

i  and  we  shall  not  do  away  with  the  former  until  the  latter 

'   falls,  which  will  only  happen  at  God's  good  pleasure.' 

The  jealousy  with  which  liberal  studies  were  regarded 
by  the  Church  bred  a  contempt  for  them  in  the  minds  of 
students.  Benci,  a  professor  of  humane  letters  at  Eome, 
says  that  his  pupils  walked  about  the  class-room  during  his 
lectures.  With  grim  humour  he  adds  that  he  does  not  object 
to  their  sleeping,  so  long  as  they  abstain  from  snoring. • 
But  it  is  impossible,  he  goes  on  to  complain,  '  that  I  should 
any  longer  lock  upon  the  place  in  which  I  do  my  daily 
work  as  an  academy  of  learning  ;  1  go  to  it  rather  as  to  a 
mill  in  which  I  must  grind  out  my  tale  of  worthless  grain.' 
Muretus,  when  he  had  laboured  twenty  years  in  the  chair  of 
rhetoric  at  Eome,  begged  for  dismissal.  His  memorial  to 
the  authorities  presents  a  lamentable  picture  of  the  in- 
subordination and  indifference  from  which  he  had  suffered.'^ 
'  I  have  borne  immeasurable  indignities  from  the  continued 
insolence  of  these  students,  who  interrupt  me  with  cries, 
whistlings,  hisses,  insults,  and  such  opprobrious  remarks  that 
I  sometimes  scarcely  know  whether  I  am  standing  on  my 
head  or  heels.'  '  They  come  to  the  lecture-room  armed 
with  poignards,  and  when  I  reprove  them  for  their  inde- 
cencies, they  threaten  over  and  over  again  to  cut  my  face 
open  if  I  do  not  hold  my  tongue.'  The  walls,  he  adds,  are 
scrawled  over  with  obscene  emblems  and  disgusting  epigrams, 

'  Dejob,  Marc  Antoine  Muret,  p.  349. 

-  The  original  is  printed  by  Dejob,  Marc  Antoine  Murct,  pp. 
487-489. 


THE   ROMAN   UNIVERSITY  169 

SO  that  this  haunt  of  learning  presents  the  aspect  of  the 
lowest  brothel ;  and  the  professor's  chair  has  become  a  more 
intolerable  seat  than  the  pillory,  owing  to  the  missiles  flung 
at  him  and  the  ribaldry  with  which  he  is  assailed.  The 
manners  and  conversation  of  the  students  must  have  been 
disgusting  beyond  measure,  to  judge  by  a  letter  of  complaint 
from  a  father  detailing  the  contamination  to  which  his  son 
was  exposed  in  the  Roman  class-rooms,  and  the  immunity 
with  which  the  lewdest  songs  were  publicly  recited  there.' 
But  the  total  degradation  of  learning  at  this  epoch  in  Eome 
is  best  described  in  one  paragraph  of  Vittorio  de'  Eossi, 
setting  forth  the  neglect  endured  by  Aldo^fahuzio,  the 
younger.  This  scion  of  an  illustrious  family  succeeded  to 
the  "professorship  of  Muretus  in  1588.  'Then,'  says  Eossi, 
'  might  one  marvel  at,  or  rather  mourn  over,  the  abject  and 
down-trodden  state  of  the  liberal  arts.  Then  might  one  per- 
ceive with  tears  how  those  treasures  of  humane  letters,  which 
our  fathers  exalted  to  the  heavens,  were  degraded  in  the 
estimation  of  youth.  In  the  good  old  days  men  crossed 
the  seas,  undertook  long  journeys,  traversed  the  cities  of 
Greece  and  Asia,  in  order  to  obtain  the  palm  of  eloquence 
and  salute  the  masters  of  languages  and  learning,  at  whose 
feet  they  sat  entranced  by  noble  words.  But  now  these 
fellows   poured   scorn    upon   an    unrivalled  teacher   of  both 

'  The  original  letter,  printed  by  Dejob,  op.  cit.  p.  491,  is  signed  by 
Giustiniano  Finetti,  who  seems  to  have  been  a  professor  of  medicine  in 
the  Roman  University.  His  son,  a  youth  of  sixteen,  complained  that 
the  students  had  demanded  and  obtained  leave  to  recite  a  certain 
'  lettione  che  era  carnavalesca  d'  ano  et  de  priapo,'  adding  that  they 
were  in  the  habit  of  holding  debates  upon  the  thesis  that  '  res  sod"" 
erant  praeferendae  veneri  naturali,  et  reprobabant  rem  veneream  cum 
feminis  ac  laudabant  masturbationem.'  The  dialogue  which  the 
students  obtained  leave  publicly  to  recite  was  probably  similar  to  one 
that  might  still  be  heard  some  years  ago  in  spring  upon  the  quays  of 
Naples,  and  which  appeared  to  have  descended  from  immemorial 
antiquity. 


,170  RENAISSANCE   IN  IT.ALY 

I  Greek  and  Latin  eloquence,  whose  services  were  theirs  for 
I  the  asking,  theirs  without  the  fatigue  of  travel,  without 
i  expense,  without  exertion.  Though  he  freely  offered  them 
I  his  abundance  of  erudition  in  both  learned  literatures,  they 
\  shut  their  ears  ai^ainst  him.  At  the  hours  when  his  lecture- 
I  room  should  have  been  thronged  with  multitudes  of  eager 
\  pupils  you  might  see  him,  abandoned  by  the  crowd,  pacing 
I  the  pavement  before  the  door  of  the  academy  with  one,  or 
may  be  two,  for  his  companions.' ' 

To  accuse  the  Church  solely  and   wholly  for  this  decay 
of    humanistic   learning    in   Italy   would  be   uncritical   and 
unjust.     We  must  remember  that  after  a  period  of  feverish 
energy  there  comes  a  time  of  languor  in  all  epochs  of  great 
intellectual  excitement.      Nor   was   it   to   be   expected   that 
the  enthusiasm  of  the  fifteenth  century  for  classical  studies 
should   have   been   prolonged  into   the    second   half    of  the 
\    sixteenth  century.     But   we    are  justified   in    blaming    the 
I    ecclesiastical  and  civil  authorities  of  the  Counter- Reformation 
I    for  their  determined  opposition  to  the  new  direction  which 
I    that   old   enthusiasm  for  the  classics  was  now  manifesting. 
They   strove  to  force  the  stream  of  learning  backward  into 
scholastic  and   linguistic    channels,    when    it    was    already 
ploughing  for  itself    a   fresh  course  in  the  fields   of  philo- 
sophical and  scientific  discovery.     They  made  study  odious, 
because  they  attempted  to  restrain  it  to  the  outworn  husks 
of  pedantry  and  rhetoric.     These,  they  thought,  were  innocu- 
ous.    But  what   the   intellectual  appetite   then    craved,  the 
pabulum  that  it  required  to  satisfy  its  yearning,  was  rigidly 
denied   it.       Speculations    concerning   the   nature    of    man 
and    of    the    world,    metaphysical    explorations    into     the 
regions   of  dimly   apprehended   mysteries,   physics,   political 
problems,  religious  questions  touching  the  great  matters  in 

'  The  Latin  text  is  printed  in  Renouard's   luiprimerle  des  Aides, 
p.  473. 


DECLINE   OF   HUMANISM  171 

dispute  through  Europe,  all  the  storm  and  stress  of  modern 
life,  the  ferment  of  the  modern  mind  and  will  and 
conscience,  were  excluded  from  the  schools,  because  they 
were  antagonistic  to  the  Counter-Reformation.  Italy  was 
starved  and  demoralised  in  order  to  avert  a  revolution  ;  and 
learning  was  asphyxiated  by  confinement  to  a  narrow  chamber 
filled  with  vitiated  and  exhausted  air.' 

Similar  deductions  may  be  drawn  from  the  life  of  Paolo 
Manuzio  in  Eome.  He  left  Venice  in  1561  at  the  invitation 
of  Pius  lY:,  who  proposed  to  establish  a  press  '  for  the 
publication  of  books  printed  with  the  finest  type  and  the 
utmost  accuracy,  and  more  especially  of  works  bearing  upon 
sacred  and  ecclesiastical  Hterature.'^  Paolo's  engagement 
was  for  twelve  years ;  his  appointments  were  fixed  at  300 
ducats  for  travelhng  expenses,  500  ducats  of  yearly  salary, 
a  press  maintained  at  the  Pontifical  expense,  and  a  pension 
secured  upon  his  son's  life.  The  scheme  was  a  noble  one. 
Paolo  was  to  print  all  the  Greek  and  Latin  Fathers,  and 
to  furnish  the  Catholic  world  with  an  arsenal  of  orthodox 
learning.  Yet,  during  his  residence  in  Rome,  no  Greek  book 
issued  from  his  -press-.^  -Of  the  Latin  Fathers  he  gave  the 
Epistles  of  Jerome,  Salvian,  and  Cyprian  to  the  world. 
For  the  rest,  he  published  the  decrees  of  the  Tridentine 
Council  ten  times,  the  Tridentine  Catechism  eight  times, 
the  '  Breviarium  Romanum '  four  times,  and  spent  the 
greater  part  of  his  leisure  in  editing  minor  translations, 
commentaries,  and  polemical  or  educational  treatises.  The 
result  was  miserable,  and  the  man  was  ruined. 

'  As  Sarpi  says  :  '  Of  a  truth  the  extraordinary  rigour  with  which 
books  are  hunted  out  for  extirpation,  shows  how  vigorous  is  the  light  of 
that  lantern  which  they  have  resolved  to  extinguish.'  Lettcre,  vol.  i. 
p.  328. 

^  See  Eenouard,  ojo.  clt.  pp.  442-459,  for  Paulus  Manutius's  life  at 
Eome.  *—- 

■^--^'OiJ.cit.  pp.  184-210. 


II 


172  EEXAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

It  remains  to  notice  the  action  of  the  Index  with  regard 
to  secular  books  in  the  modern  languages.  I  will  first  repeat 
a  significant  passage  in  its  statutes  touching  upon  political 
philosophy  and  the  so-called  Batio  Status  :  '  Item,  let  all 
propositions,  drawn  from  the  digests,  manners,  and  examples 
of  the  Gentiles,  which  foster  a  tyrannical  polity  and  en- 
courage what  they  falsely  call  the  reason  of  state,  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  law  of  Christ  and  of  the  Gospel,  be  expunged.' 
This,  says  Sarpi  in  his  '  Discourse  on  Printing,'  is  aimed  in 
general  against  any  doctrine  which  impugns  ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction  over  the  civil  sphere  of  princes  and  magistrates 
and  the  economy  of  the  family.'  Theories  drawn  from  what- 
ever source  to  combat  Papal  and  ecclesiastical  encroachments 
and  to  defend  the  rights  of  the  sovereign  in  his  monarchy  or  of 
the  father  in  his  household,  are  denominated  and  denounced  as 
Batio  Statics.  The  impugner  of  Papal  absolutism  in  civil  as 
well  as  ecclesiastical  affairs  is  accounted  ij^so  facto  a  heretic.^ 
It  would  appear  at  first  sight  as  though  the  clause  in  question 
had  been  specially  framed  to  condemn  Machiavelli  and  his 
school.  The  works  of  Machiavelli  were  placed  upon  the 
Index  in  1559,  and  a  certain  Cesare  of  Pisa  who  had  them  in 
his  library  was  put  to  the  torture  on  this  account  in  1610. 
It  was  afterwards  proposed  to  correct  and  edit  them  without 
his  name ;  but  his  heirs  very  properly  refused  to  sanction 
this  proceeding,  knowing  that  he  would  be  made  to  utter  the 
very  reverse  of  what  he  meant  in  all  that  touched  upon  the 
Roman  Church.  This  paragraph  in  the  statutes  of  the  Index 
had,  however,  a  further  and  far  more  ambitious  purpose  than 

'  Sarpi's  Works,  vol.  iv.  p.  4. 

^  Sarpi,  Discorso,  vol.  iv.  p.  25,  on  Bellarmino's  doctrine.  Sarpi's 
Letters,  vol.  i.  pp.  138,  243.  Sarpi  says  that  he  and  Gillot  had  both 
had  their  portraits  painted  in  a  picture  of  Hell  and  shown  to  the 
common  folk  as  foredoomed  to  eternal  fire,  because  they  opposed 
doctrines  of  Papal  omnipotence.     Ibid.  p.  151. 


THEORY   OF  CHURCH   SUPREMACY  173 

the  suppression  of  Machiavelli,  Guicciardini,  and  Sarpi,  By 
assumrag""tD  condemn  all  political  writings  of  which  she 
disapproved,  and  by  forbidding  the  secular  authorities  to 
proscribe  any  works  which  had  received  her  sanction,  the 
Church  obtained  a  monopoly  of  popular  instruction  in  theories 
of  government.  She  interdicted  every  treatise  that  exposed 
her  own  ambitious  interference  in  civil  affairs  or  which  main- 
tained the  rights  of  temporal  rulers.'  She  protected  and 
propagated  the  works  of  her  servile  ministers,  who  proclaimed 
that  the  ecclesiastical  was  superior  in  all  points  to  the  civil 
power ;  that  nations  owed  their  first  allegiance  to  the  Pope, 
who  was  divinely  appointed  to  rule  over  them,  and  their 
second  only  to  the  Prince,  who  was  a  delegate  from  their  own 
body  ;  and  that  tyrannicide  itself  was  justifiable  when  em- 
ployed against  a  contumacious  or  heretical  sovereign.  Such 
were  the  theories  of  the  Jesuits — of  Allen  and  ParsonsTn 
England, 'Bellarmino  inTtaly,  Suarez  and  Mariana  in  Spain, 
Boucher  in  France.  In  his  critique  of  this  monstrous 
unfairness  Sarpi  says  :  '  There  are  not  wanting  men  in  Italy, 
pious  and  of  sound  learning,  who  hold  the  truth  upon  such 
topics  ;  but  these  can  neither  write  nor  send  their  writings 
to  the   press,'  '^      The  best  years   and   the   best  energies  of 

'  On  this  point,  again,  Sarpi's  Letters  furnish  valuable  details.  He 
frequently  remarks  that  a  general  order  had  been  issued  by  the  Congre- 
gation of  the  Index  to  suppress  all  books  against  the  writings  of 
Baronius,  who  was  treated  as  a  saint  (vol.  i.  pp.  3,  147,  ii.  p.  35).  He 
relates  how  the  Jesuits  had  procured  the  destruction  of  a  book  written 
to  uphold  aristocracy  in  states,  without  touching  upon  ecclesiastical 
questions,  as  being  unfavourable  to  their  theories  of  absolution  (vol.  i. 
p.  122).  He  tells  the  story  of  a  confessor  who  refused  the  sacraments 
to  a  nobleman,  because  he  owned  a  treatise  written  by  Quirino  in 
defence  of  the  Venetian  prerogatives  (vol.  i.  p.  113).  He  refers  to  the 
suppression  of  James  I.'s  Apologia  and  De  Thou's  Histories  (vol.  i.  pp. 
286,  287,  383). 

■^  In  the  Treatise  on  the  Inquisition,  Opcre,  vol.  iv.  p.  53.  Sarpi, 
in  a  passage  of  his   Letters  (vol.  ii.  p.  1G3),  points  out  why  the  secular 


174  KENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

Sarpi's  life  were  spent,  as  is  well  known,  in  combating  the 
arrogance  of  Eonie  and  in  founding  the  relations  of  State  to 
Church  upon  a  basis  of  sound  common  sense  and  equity. 
More  than  once  he  narrowly  escaped  martyrdom  as  the 
reward  of  his  temerity  ;  and  when  the  poignard  of  an  assassin 
struck  him,  his  legend  relates  that  he  uttered  the  celebrated 
epigram  :  Agnosco  stllum  Curice  Bomance. 

Sarpi  protested,  not  without  good  reason,  that  Rome  was 
doing  her  best  to  extinguish  sound  learning  in  Italy.  But 
how  did  she  deal  with  that  rank  growth  of  licentious 
literature  which  had  sprung  up  during  the  Renaissance 
period  ?  This  is  the  question  which  should  next  engage  us. 
We  have  seen  that  the  Council  of  Trent  provided  amply 
for  the  extirpation  of  lewd  and  obscene  publications. 
Accordingly,  as  though  to  satisfy  the  sense  of  decency, 
some  of  the  most  flagrantly  immoral  books,  including  the 
'  Decameron,'  the  *  Priapeia,'  the  collected  works  of  Aretino, 
and  certain  medieval  romances,  were  placed  upon  the  Index. 
Berni  was  proscribed  in  1559  ;  but  the  interdict  lasted  only 
a  short  time,  probably  because  it  was  discovered  that  his 
poems,  though  licentious,  were  free  from  the  heresies  which 
Pier  Paolo  Vergerio  had  sought  to  fix  upon  him.  Mean- 
while no  notice  was  taken  of  the  '  Orlando  Furioso  '  and  a 
multitude  of  novelists,  of  Beccadelli's  and  Pontano's  verses, 
of  Molza  and  Firenzuola,  of  the  whole  mass  of  mundane 
writers  in  short  who  had  done  so  much  to  reveal  the  corrup- 
tion of  Italian  manners.  It  seemed  as  though  the  Church 
cared  less  to  ban  obscenity  than  to  burke  those  authors  who 
had  spoken  freely  of  her  vices.  When  we  come  to  examine 
the  expurgated  editions  of  notorious  authors,  we  shall  see 
that  this  was  literally  the  case.  A  castrated  version  of 
Bandello,  revised  by  Ascanio  Centorio  degli  Ortensi,  was  pub- 
authorities  were  ill  fitted  to  retaliate  in  kind  upon  these  Papal  pro- 
scriptions. 


EXPLTKGATION   OF   SECULAR  BOOKS  175 

listed  in  1560.^     It  omitted  the  dedications  and  preambles, 
suppressed  some  disquisitions  wbicHpallteted  vicious  conduct, 
expunged  the  novels  that  brought  monks  or  priests  into  ridi- 
cule,   but   left   the   impurities    of   the   rest   untouched.      A 
reformed  version  of  Folengo's  '  Baldus  '   appeared  in   1561.       , 
The  satires  on  religious  orders  had  been  erased.     Zambellus 
was  cuckolded  by  a  layman  instead  of  a  priest.     Otherwise       1 
the   filth   of  the   original   received  no  cleansing  treatment. 
When  Cosimo  de'  Medici  requested  that  a  revised  edition  of 
the  '  ITecameron  '  might  be  licensed,   Pius   V.  entrusted  the 
affair  to  Thomas  Manrique,  Master  of  the  Sacred  Palace.     It 
was  pubhshed  by  the  Giunti  in  1573  under  the  auspices  of 
Gregory  XIII.,  with  the  approval  of  the  Holy  Office  and  the 
Florentine  Inquisition,  fortified  by  privileges  from  Spanish      ; 
and  French  kings,  dukes  of  Tuscany,  Ferrara,  and  so  forth.      ^ 
The  changes  which  Boccaccio's  masterpiece  had  undergone      / 
were  these  ;  passages  savouring  of  doubtful  dogma,  sarcasms 
on  monks  and  clergy,  the  names  of  saints,  allusions  to  the       ^ 
devil  and  hell,  had  disappeared.     Ecclesiastical  sinners  were 
transformed  into  students  and  professors,  nuns  and  abbesses       -. 
into  citizens'  wives.     Immorality  in  short  was   secularised.      ^ 
But  the  book  still  offered  the  same  allurements  to  a  prurient 
mindr~  S^iitus  V.  expressed  his  disapproval  of  this  recension, 
and  new  editions  were  licensed  in  1582  and  1588  under  the 
revision  of  Lionardo  Salviati  and  Luigi  Groto.     Both  pre-       1 
served  the  obscenities  of  the  '  Decameron,'  while  they  displayed 
more  rigour  with  regard  to  satires  on  ecclesiastical  corrup- 
tion.    It   may   be  added,  in  justice   to  the  Eoman  Church, 
that  the  *  Decaineron  '  stands  still  upon  the  Index  with  the 
annotation  do7iec  cxjmrgetur.'^     Therefore  we  must  presume 
that  the  work  of  purification  is  not  yet  accomplished,  though 
the   Jesuits   have  used  parts  of  it  as   a  text-book  in  their 

'  See  Dejob,  Dc  Vlnflnence,  &c.  chapter  iii. 
2  Index,  Naples,  Pelella,  1862,  p.  87. 


176  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

schools,  while  Panigarola  quoted  it  in  his  lectures  on  sacred 
eloquence. 

It  would  weary  the  reader  to  enlarge  upon  this  process  of 
stupid  or  hypocritical  purgation,  whereby  the  writings  of  men 
like  Doni  and  Straparola  were  stripped  of  their  reflections  on 
the  clergy,  while  their  indecencies  remained  untouched ;  or 
to  show  how  Ariosto's  Comedies  were  sanctioned,  when  his 
Satires,  owing  to  their  free  speech  upon  the  Papal  Court, 
received  the  stigma.^  But  I  may  refer  to  the  grotesque 
attempts  which  were  made  in  this  age  to  cast  the  mantle 
of  spirituality  over  profane  literature.  Thus  Hieronimo 
Malipieri  rewrote  the  '  Canzoniere  '  of  Petrarch,  giving  it  a 
pious  turn  throughout ;  and  the  '  Orlando  Furioso  '  was  con- 
verted by  several  hands  into  a  religious  allegory. - 

The  action  of  Eome  under  the  influence  of  the  Counter- 
Eeformation  was  clearly  guided  by  two  objects :  to  preserve 
Catholic  dogma  in  its  integrity,  and  to  maintain  the  supre- 
macy of  the  Church.  She  was  eager  to  extinguish  learning 
and  to  i^aralyse  intellectual  energy.  But  she  showed  no 
unwillingness  to  tolerate  those  pleasant  vices  which  enervate 
a  nation.  Compared  with  unsound  doctrine  and  audacious 
speculation,  immorality  appeared  in  her  eyes  a  venial  weak- 
ness. It  was  true  that  she  made  serious  efforts  to  reform 
the  manners  of  her  ministers,  and  was  fully  alive  to  the 
necessity  of  enforcing  decency  and  decorum.  Yet  a  radical 
purification  of  society  seemed  of  less  importance  to  her  than 
the  conservation  of  Catholic  orthodoxy  and  the  inculcation  of 
obedience  to  ecclesiastical  authority.     When  we  analyse  the 

'  This  treatment  of  Ariosto  is  typical.  Men  of  not  over-scrupulous 
nicety  may  question  whether  his  Comedies  are  altogether  wholesome 
reading.  But  not  even  a  Puritan  could  find  fault  with  his  Satires  on 
the  score  of  their  morality.  Yet  Eome  sanctioned  the  Comedies  and 
forbade  the  Satires. 

-  Curious  details  on  this  topic  are  supplied  by  Dejob,  op.  cit.  pp. 
179-181,  and  p.  184. 


CONTKOL  OVER  EMIGRANTS  177 

Jesuits'  system  of  education,  and  their  method  of  conducting 
the  care'  of  souls,  we  shall  see  to  what  extent  the  deeply 
seated  hypocrisy  of  the  Counter-Reformation  had  penetrated 
the  most  vital  parts  of  the  Catholic  system.  It  will  suffice, 
at  the  close  of  this  chapter,  to  touch  upon  one  other  repressive 
measure  adopted  by  the  Church  in  its  panic.  Magistrates 
received  strict  injunctions  to  impede  the  journeys  of  Italian 
subjects  into  foreign  countries  where  heresies  were  known 
to  be  rife,  or  where  the  rites  of  the  Roman  Church  were  not 
regularly  administered.^  In  1595  Clement  VIII.  reduced 
these  admonitions  to  Pontifical  law  in  a  Bull,  whereby  he 
forbade  Italians  to  travel  without  permission  from  the  Holy 
Office,  or  to  reside  abroad  without  annually  remitting  a 
certificate  of  confession  and  communion  to  the  Inquisitors. 
To  ensure  obedience  to  this  statute  would  have  been  im- 
possible without  the  co-operation  of  the  Jesuits.  They  were, 
however,  diffused  throughout  the  nations  of  North,  East, 
South,  and  West.  When  an  Italian  arrived,  the  Jesuit 
Fathers  paid  him  a  visit,  and  unless  they  received  satisfactory 
answers  with  regard  to  his  licence  of  travel  and  his  willing- 
ness to  accept  their  spirkual  direction,  these  serfs  of  Rome 
sent  a  delation  to  the  central  Holy  Office,  upon  the  ground  of 
which  the  Inquisitors  of  his  province  instituted  an  action 
against  him  in  his  absence.  Merchants,  who  neglected  these 
rules,  found  themselves  exposed  to  serious  impediments  in 
their  trading  operations  and  to  the  peril  of  prosecution 
involving  confiscation  of  property  at  home.  Sarpi,  who  com- 
posed  a   vigorous   critique   of   this   abuse,  points  out  what 

'  Any  correspondence  with  heretics  was  accounted  sufficient  to 
implicate  an  Italian  in  the  charge  of  heresy.  Sarpi's  Letters  are  full  of 
matter  on  this  point.  He  always  used  cypher,  whicli  he  frequently 
changed,  addressed  his  letters  under  feigned  names,  and  finally  resolved 
on  writing  in  his  own  hand  to  no  heretic.  See  Lettcre,  vol.  ii.  pp.2, 
151,  242,  248,  437.  See  also  what  Dejob  relates  about  the  timidity  of 
Muretus,  Miirct,  pp.  229-231. 

VI  N 


178  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

injury  was  done  to  commerce  by  the  system.^  We  may  still 
further  censure  it  as  an  intolerable  interference  with  the 
liberty  of  the  individual ;  as  an  odious  exercise  of  spiritual 
tyranny  on  the  part  of  an  ambitious  ecclesiastical  power 
which  aimed  at  nothing  less  than  universal  domination. 

'  '  Treatise  on  ths  Inquisition,'  Opcrc,  vol.  iv.  p.  45. 


179 


CHAPTER    IV 

THE    COMPANY    OF    JESUS 

Vast  Importance  of  the  Jesuits  in  the  Counter-Reformation — Ignatius 
Loyola — His   Youth — Eetreat   at   Manresa— Journey   to    Jerusalem 

—  Studies  in  Spain  and  Paris — First  Formation  of  his  Order  at 
Sainte  Barbe — Sojourn  at  Venice — Settlement  at  Rome — Papal 
Recognition  of  the  Order — Its  Military  Character — Absolutism  of 
the  General — Devotion  to  the  Roman  Church — Choice  of  Members 
— Practical  and  Positive  Aims  of  the  Founder — Exclusion  of  the 
Ascetic,  Acceptance  of  the  Worldly  Spirit — Review  of  the  Order's 
Rapid  Extension  over  Europe — Loyola's  Dealings  with  his  Chief 
Lieutenants — Propaganda — The  Virtue  of  Obedience — The  '  Exer- 
citia  Spiritualia  ' — Materialistic  Imagination — Intensity  and  Super- 
ficiality of  Religious  Training — The  Status  of  the  Novice — 
Temporal  Coadjutors — Scholastics — Professed  of  the  Three  Vows 
■ — Professed  of  the  Four  Vovfs — The  General — Control  exercised 
over  him  by  his  Assistants — His  Relation  to  the  General  Congre- 
gation—Espionage a  Part  of  the  Jesuit  System — Advantageous 
Position  of  a  Contented  Jesuit — The  Vow  of  Poverty — Houses  of 
the  Professed   and  Colleges — The   Constitutions   and   Declarations 

—  Problem  of  the  Monita  Secreta — Reciprocal  Relations  of  Rome 
and  the  Company — Characteristics  of  Jesuit  Education — Direction 
of  Consciences — Moral  Laxity — Sarpi's  Critique — Casuistry — In- 
terference in  Affairs  of  State — Instigation  to  Regicide  and  Political 
Conspiracy — Theories  of  Church  Supremacy — Insurgence  of  the 
European  Nations  against  the  Company. 

We  have  seen  in  the  preceding  chapters  how  Spain  became 
dominant  in  Italy,  superseding  the  rivahy  of  confederated 
states  by  the  monotony  of  servitude,  and  lending  its  weight 
to  Papal  Rome.  The  internal  changes  effected  in  the  Church 
by  the  Tridentine  Council,  and  the  external  power  conferred 
on  it,  were  due  in  no  small  measure  to  Spanish  influence 

n2 


180  KENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

or  sanction.  A  Spanish  institution,  the  Inquisition,  modified 
to  suit  Italian  requirements,  lent  revived  Catholicism  weapons 
of  repression  and  attack.  We  have  now  to  learn  by  what 
means  a  partial  vigour  was  communicated  to  the  failing  body 
of  Catholic  beliefs,  how  the  Tridentine  creed  was  propagated, 
the  spiritual  realm  of  the  Eoman  Pontiff  policed,  and  his 
secular  authority  augmented.  A  Spanish  Order  rose  at  the 
right  moment  to  supply  that  intellectual  and  moral  element 
of  vitality  without  which  the  Catholic  Kevival  might  have 
remained  as  inert  as  a  stillborn  child.  The  devotion  of  the 
Jesuits  to  the  Papacy  was  in  reality  the  masterful  Spanish 
spirit  of  that  epoch  masking  its  world-grasping  ambition 
under  the  guise  of  obedience  to  Rome.  This  does  not  mean 
that  the  founders  and  first  organisers  of  the  Company  of 
Jesus  consciously  pursued  one  object  while  they  pretended 
to  have  another  in  view.  The  impulse  which  moved  Loyola 
was  spontaneous  and  romantic.  The  world  has  seen  few 
examples  of  disinterested  self-devotion  equal  to  that  of 
Xavier.  Yet  the  fact  remains  that  Jesuitry,  taking  its  germ 
and  root  in  the  Spanish  character,  persisting  as  an  organism 
within  the  Church  but  separate  from  the  ecclesiastical  hier- 
archy, devised  the  doctrine  of  Papal  absolutism,  and  became 
the  prime  agent  of  that  Catholic  policy  in  Europe  which 
passed  for  Papal  during  the  Counter-Reformation.  The 
indissoluble  connexion  between  Rome,  Spain,  and  the  Jesuits, 
was  apparent  to  all  unprejudiced  observers.  For  this  triad 
of  reactionary  and  belligerent  forces  Sarpi  invented  the  name 
of  the  Diacatholicon,  alluding  under  the  metaphor  of  a  drug 
to  the  virus  which  was  being  instilled  in  his  days  into  all  the 
States  of  Europe.' 

'  For  Sarpi's  use  of  this  phrase  see  his  Lettere,  vol.  ii.  pp.  72,  80, 
92,  He  clearly  recognised  the  solidarity  between  the  Jesuits  and  Spain. 
•  The  Jesuit  is  no  more  separable  from  the  Spaniard  than  the  accident 
from  the  substance.'     '  The   Spaniard  without  the  Jesuit  is  not  worth 


IGNATIUS   LOYOLA  181 

The  founder  of  the  Jesuit  order  was  the  thirteenth  child 
of  a  Spanish  noble,  born  in  1491  at  his  father's  castle  of 
Loyola  in  the  Basque  province  of  Guipuzcoa.'  His  full  name 
was  Inigo  Lopez  de  Recalde ;  but  he  is  better  known  to 
history  aS~Saint  Ignatius  Loyola.  Ignatius  spent  his  boy- 
hood as  page  in  the  service  of  King  Ferdinand  the  Catholic, 
whence  he  passed  into  that  of  the  Duke  of  Najara,  who  was 
the  hereditary  friend  and  patron  of  his  family.  At  this  time 
he  thought  of  nothing  but  feats  of  arms,  military  glory,  and 
romantic  adventures.  He  could  boast  but  little  education ; 
and  his  favourite  reading  was  in  '  Amadis  of  Gaul.'  That 
romance  appeared  during  the  boy's  earliest  childhood,  and 
Spain  was  now  devouring  its  high-flown  rhapsodies  with 
rapture.  The  peculiar  admixture  of  mystical  piety,  Catholic 
enthusiasm,  and  chivalrous  passion,  which  distinguishes 
'  Amadis,'  exactly  corresponded  to  the  spirit  of  the  Spaniards 
at  an  epoch  when  they  had  terminated  their  age-long  struggle 
with  the  Moors,  and  were  combining  propagandist  zeal  with 
martial  fervour  in  the  conquest  of  the  New  World.  Its  pages 
inflamed  the  imagination  of  Ignatius.  He  began  to  compose 
a  romance  in  honour  of  S.  Peter,  and  chose  a  princess  of 
blood  royal  for  his  Oriana.     Thus,  in  the  first  days  of  youth, 

more  than  lettuce  without  oil.'  '  For  the  Jesuits  to  deceive  Spain, 
would  be  tantamount  to  deceiving  themselves.'  Ibid.  vol.  i.  pp.  203, 
.884,  vol.  ii.  p.  48.  Compare  passages  in  vol.  i.  pp.  184,  189.  He  only- 
perceived  a  difference  in  the  degrees  of  their  noxiousness  to  Europe. 
Thus  '  the  worst  Spaniard  is  better  than  the  least  bad  of  the  Jesuits  ' 
(vol.  i.  p.  212). 

'  Study  of  the  Jesuits  must  be  founded  on  Institutum  Sociefatis 
Jesu,  7  vols.  Avenione ;  Orlandino,  Hist.  Soc.  Jesu  ;  Cretineau-Joly, 
Histoire  de  la  Compagnie  de  Jisns  ;  Eibadaneira,  Vita  Ignatii  ; 
Genelli's  Life  of  Ignatius  in  German  or  the  French  translation  ;  the 
Jesuit  work,  Imago  Prinii  Scecidi ;  Kanke's  account  in  his  History  of 
the  Popes,  and  the  three  chapters  assigned  to  this  subject  in  Philipp- 
son's-  ha  Contre-RivoUition  Beligieuse.  The  latter  will  be  found  a 
most  valuable  summary. 


182  EENAISSANCE   Ix\   ITALY 

while  his  heart  was  still  set  on  love  and  warfare,  he  revealed 
the  three  leading  features  of  his  character— soaring  ambi- 
tion, the  piety  of  a  devotee,  and  the  tendency  to  view  religion 
from  the  point  of  fiction. 

Ignatius  was  thirty  years  of  age  when  the  events  happened 
which  determined  the  future  of  his  life  and  so  powerfully 
affected  the  destinies  of  Catholic  Christendom.  The  French 
were  invading  Navarre ;  and  he  was  engaged  in  the  defence 
of  its  capital,  Pampeluna.  On  May  20,  1521,  a  bullet 
shattered  his  right  leg,  while  his  left  foot  was  injured  by  a 
fragment  of  stone  detached  from  a  breach  in  the  bastion. 
Transported  to  his  father's  castle,  he  suffered  protracted 
anguish  under  the  hands  of  unskilled  medical  attendants. 
The  badly  set  bone  in  his  right  leg  had  twice  to  be  broken  ; 
and  when  at  last  it  joined,  the  young  knight  found  himself 
a  cripple.  This  limb  was  shorter  than  the  other  ;  the  surgeons 
endeavoured  to  elongate  it  by  machines  of  iron,  which  put 
him  to  exquisite  pain.  After  months  of  torture,  he  remained 
lame  for  life. 

During  his  illness  Ignatius  read  such  books  as  the  castle 
of  Loyola  contained.  These  were  a  '  Life  of  Christ'  and  the 
'  Flowers  of  the  Saints  '  in  Spanish.  His  mind,  prepared  by 
chivalrous  romance,  and  strongly  inclined  to  devotion,  felt 
a  special  fascination  in  the  tales  of  Dominic  and  Francis. 
Their  heroism  suggested  new  paths  which  the  aspirant  after 
fame  might  tread  with  honour.  Military  glory  and  the  love 
of  women  had  to  be  renounced  ;  for  so  ambitious  a  man  could 
not  content  himself  with  the  successes  of  a  cripple  in  these 
spheres  of  action.  But  the  legends  of  saints  and  martyrs 
pointed  out  careers  no  less  noble,  no  less  useful,  and  even 
more  enticing  to  the  fancy.  He  would  become  the  spiritual 
Knight  of  Christ  and  Our  Lady.  To  S.  Peter,  his  chosen 
protector,  he  prayed  fervently ;  and  when  at  length  he  rose 
from  the  bed  of  sickness,  he  firmly  believed  that  his  life  had 


LOYOLA'S   YOUTH  183 

been  saved  by  the  intercession  of  this  patron,  and  that  it 
must  be  henceforth  consecrated  to  the  service  of  the  faith. 
The  world  should  be  abandoned.  Instead  of  warring  with 
the  enemies  of  Christ  on  earth,  he  would  carry  on  a  crusade 
against  the  powers  of  darkness.  They  were  first  to  be  met 
and  fought  in  his  own  heart.  Afterwards,  he  would  form  and 
lead  a  militia  of  like-hearted  champions  against  the  strong- 
holds of  evil  in  human  nature. 

It  must  not  be  thought  that  the  scheme  of  founding  a 
Society  had  so  early  entered  into  the  mind  of  Ignatius.  What 
we  have  at  the  present  stage  to  notice  is  that  he  owed  his 
adoption  of  the  religious  life  to  romantic  fancy  and  fervid 
ambition,  combined  with  a  devotion  to  Peter,  the  saint  of 
orthodoxy  and  the  Church.  Animated  by  this  new  en- 
thusiasm, he  managed  to  escape  from  home  in  the  spring  of 
1522.  His  friends  opposed  themselves  to  his  vocation ;  but 
he  gave  them  the  slip,  took  vows  of  chastity  and  abstinence, 
and  began  a  pilgrimage  to  our  Lady  of  Montserrat  near 
Barcelona.  On  the  road  he  scourged  himself  daily.  When 
he  reached  the  shrine  he  hung  his  arms  up  as  a  votive 
offering,  and  performed  the  vigil  which  chivalrous  custom 
exacted  from  a  squire  before  the  morning  of  his  being  dubbed 
a  knight.  This  ceremony  was  observed  point  by  point, 
according  to  the  ritual  he  had  read  in  '  Amadis  of  Gaul.' 
Next  day  he  gave  his  raiment  to  a  beggar,  and  assumed  the 
garb  of  a  mendicant  pilgrim.  By  self-dedication  he  had  now 
made  himself  the  Knight  of  Holy  Church. 

His  first  intention  was  to  set  sail  for  Palestine,  with  the 
object  of  preaching  to  the  infidels.  But  the  plague  pre- 
vented him  from  leaving  port ;  and  he  retired  to  a  Dominican 
convent  at  Manresa,  a  little  town  of  Catalonia,  north-west 
of  Barcelona.  Here  he  abandoned  himself  to  the  cruellest 
self-discipline.  Feeding  upon  bread  and  water,  kneeling  for 
seven  hours   together   rapt   in   prayer,   scourging    his   flesh 


184  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

thrice  daily,  and  reducing  sleep  to  the  barest  minimum, 
Ignatius  sought  by  austerity  to  snatch  that  crown  of  saint- 
hood which  he  felt  to  be  his  due.  Outraged  nature  soon 
warned  him  that  he  was  upon  a  path  which  led  to  failure. 
Despair  took  possession  of  his  soul,  sometimes  prompting 
him  to  end  his  life  by  suicide,  sometimes  plaguing  him 
with  hideous  visions.  At  last  he  fell  dangerously  ill.  En- 
lightened by  the  expectation  of  early  death,  he  then  became 
convinced  that  his  fanatical  asceticism  was  a  folly.  The 
despair,  the  dreadful  phantoms  which  had  haunted  him, 
were  ascribed  immediately  to  the  devil.  In  those  rarer 
visitings  of  brighter  visions,  which  sometimes  brought  con- 
solation, bidding  him  repose  upon  God's  mercy,  he  recognised 
angels  sent  to  lead  him  on  the  pathway  of  salvation.  God's 
hand  appeared  in  these  dealings ;  and  he  resolved  to  dedicate 
his  body  as  well  as  his  soul  to  God's  service,  respecting 
both  as  instruments  of  the  divine  will,  and  entertaining 
both  in  efficiency  for  the  work  required  of  them. 

The  experiences  of  Manresa  proved  eminently  fruitful 
for  the  future  method  of  Ignatius.  It  was  here  that  he 
began  to  regard  self-discipline  and  self-examination  as  the 
needful  prelude  to  a  consecrated  life.  It  was  here  that  he 
learned  to  condemn  the  asceticism  of  anchorites  as  pernicious 
or  unprofitable  to  a  militant  Christian.  It  v;as  here  that, 
while  studying  the  manual  of  devotion  written  by  Garcia  de 
Cisneros,  he  laid  foundations  for  those  famous  '  Exercitia,' 
which  became  his  instrument  for  rapidly  passing  neophytes 
through  spiritual  training  similar  to  his  own.  It  was  here 
that  he  first  distinguished  two  kinds  of  visions,  infernal  and 
celestial.  Here  also  he  grew  familiar  with  the  uses  of  con- 
crete imagination ;  and  understood  how  the  faculty  of 
sensuous  realisation  might  be  made  a  powerful  engine  for 
presenting  the  past  of  sacred  history  or  the  dogmas  of 
orthodox    theology    under    shapes    of    fancy   to  the  mind. 


LOYOLA'S   ROMANCE   AND   DISCIPLINE  185 

Finally,  in  all  the  experiences  of  Manresa,  he  tried  the  temper 
of  his  own  character,  which  was  really  not  that  of  a  poet 
or  a  mystic,  but  of  a  sagacious  man  of  action,  preparing  a 
system  calculated  to  subjugate  the  intelligence  and  will  of 
millions.  Tested  by  self-imposed  sufferings  and  by  diseased 
hallucinations,  his  sound  sense,  the  sense  of  one  destined  to 
control  men,  gathered  energy  and  grew  in  solid  strength :  yet 
enough  remained  of  his  fanaticism  to  operate  as  a  motive 
force  in  the  scheme  which  he  afterwards  developed  ;  enough 
survived  from  the  ascetic  phase  he  had  surmounted,  to  make 
him  comprehend  that  some  such  agony  as  he  had  suffered 
should  form  the  vestibule  to  a  devoted  life.  We  may  com- 
pare the  throes  of  Ignatius  at  Manresa  with  the  contemporary 
struggles  of  Luther  at  Wittenberg  and  in  the  Wartzburg. 
Our  imagination  will  dwell  upon  the  different  issues  to 
which  two  heroes  distinguished  by  practical  ability  were  led 
through  their  contention  with  the  powers  of  spiritual  evil. 
Protagonists  respectively  of  Reformation  and  Counter- 
Reformation,  they  arrived  at  opposite  conclusions ;  the  one 
championing  the  cause  of  spiritual  freedom  in  the  modern 
world,  the  other  consecrating  his  genius  to  the  maintenance 
of  Catholic  orthodoxy  by  spiritual  despotism.  Yet  each  ahke 
fulfilled  his  mission  by  having  conquered  mysticism  at  the 
outset  of  his  world-historical  career. 

Ignatius  remained  for  the  space  of  ten  months  at  Manresa. 
He  then  found  means  to  realise  his  cherished  journey  to  the 
Holy  Land.  In  Palestine  he  was  treated  with  coldness  as  an 
ignorant  enthusiast,  capable  of  subverting  the  existing  order 
of  things,  but  too  feeble  to  be  counted  on  for  permanent 
support.  His  motive  ideas  were  still  visionary;  he  could 
not  cope  with  conservatism  and  frigidity  established  in  com- 
fortable places  of  emolument.  It  was  necessary  that  he 
should  learn  the  wisdom  of  compromise.  Accordingly  he 
returned   to  Spain,  and  put  himself  to  school.     Two  years 


186  KENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

spent  in  preparatory  studies  at  Barcelona,  another  period  at 
Alcala,  and  another  at  Salamanca,  introduced  him  to  lan- 
guages, grammar,  philosophy,  and  theology.  This  man  of 
noble  blood  and  vast  ambition,  past  the  age  of  thirty,  sat 
with  boys  upon  the  common  benches.  This  self -consecrated 
saint  imbibed  the  commonplaces  of  scholastic  logic.  It  was 
a  further  stage  in  the  evolution  of  his  iron  character  from 
romance  and  mysticism  into  political  and  practical  sagacity. 
It  was  a  further  education  of  his  stubborn  will  to  pliant 
temper.  But  he  could  not  divest  himself  of  his  mission  as 
a  founder  and  apostle.  He  taught  disciples,  preached,  and 
formed  a  sect  of  devotees.  Then  the  Holy  Office  attacked 
him.  He  was  imprisoned,  once  at  Alcala  for  forty-two  days, 
once  at  Salamanca  for  three  weeks,  upon  charges  of  heresy. 
Ignatius  proved  his  innocence.  The  Inquisitors  released 
him  with  certificates  of  acquittal ;  but  they  sentenced  him  to 
four  years'  study  of  theology  before  he  should  presume  to 
preach.  These  years  he  resolved  to  spend  at  Paris.  Accor- 
dingly he  performed  the  journey  on  foot,  and  arrived  in  the 
capital  of  France  upon  February  2,  1528,  He  was  then 
thirty- seven  years  old. 

At  Paris  he  had  to  go  to  school  again  from  the  beginning. 
The  alms  of  well-wishers,  chiefly  devout  women  at  Barcelona, 
amply  provided  him  with  funds.  These  he  employed  not 
only  in  advancing  his  own  studies,  but  also  in  securing  the 
attachment  of  adherents  to  his  cause.  At  this  epoch  he 
visited  the  towns  of  Belgium  and  London  during  his  vaca- 
tions. But  the  main  outcome  of  his  residence  at  Paris  was 
the  formation  of  the  Company  of  Jesus.  Those  long  years  of 
his  novitiate  and  wandering  were  not  without  their  uses  now. 
They  had  taught  him,  while  clinging  stubbornly  to  the  main 
projects  of  his  life,  prudence  in  the  choice  of  means,  temper- 
ance in  expectation,  sagacity  in  the  manipulation  of  fellow- 
workers  selected  for  the  still  romantic  ends  he  had  in  view. 


LOYOLA   IN  PAEIS  187 

His  first  two  disciples  were  a  Savoyard,  Peter  Faber  or  Le 
Fevre,  and  Francis  Xavier  of  Pampeluna.  Faber  was  a  poor 
student,  whom  Ignatius  helped  with  money.  Xavier  sprang 
from  a  noble  stock,  famous  in  arms  through  generations,  for 
which  he  was  eager  to  win  the  additional  honours  of  science 
and  the  Church.  Ignatius  assisted  him  by  bringing  students 
to  his  lectures.  Under  the  personal  influence  of  their  friend 
and  benefactor,  both  of  these  men  determined  to  leave  all 
and  follow  the  new  light.  Visionary  as  the  object  yet  was, 
the  firm  will,  fervent  confidence,  and  saintly  life  of  Loyola 
inspired  them  with  absolute  trust.  That  the  Christian  faith, 
as  they  understood  it,  remained  exposed  to  grievous  dangers 
from  without  and  from  within,  that  millions  of  souls  were 
perishing  through  ignorance,  that  tens  of  thousands  were 
falling  away  through  incredulity  and  heresy,  was  certain. 
The  realm  of  Christ  on  earth  needed  champions,  soldiers 
devoted  to  a  crusade  against  Satan  and  his  hosts.  And 
here  was  a  leader,  a  man  among  men,  a  man  whose  words 
were  as  a  fire,  and  whose  method  of  spiritual  discipline  was 
salutary  and  illuminative  ;  and  this  man  bade  them  join  him 
in  the  Holy  War.  He  gained  them  in  a  hundred  ways,  by 
kindness,  by  precept,  by  patience,  by  persuasion,  by  atten- 
tion to  their  physical  and  spiritual  needs,  by  words  of 
warmth  and  wisdom,  by  the  direction  of  their  conscience,  by 
profound  and  intense  sympathy  with  souls  struggling  after 
the  higher  life.  The  means  he  had  employed  to  gain  Faber 
and  Xavier  were  used  with  equal  success  in  the  case  of  seven 
other  disciples.  The  names  of  these  men  deserve  to  be 
recorded ;  for  some  of  them  played  a  part  of  importance  in 
European  history,  while  all  of  them  contributed  to  the  foun- 
dation of  the  Jesuits,  They  were  James  Lainez,  Alfonzo 
Salmeron,  and  Nicholas  Bobadilla,  three  Spaniards  ;  Simon 
Eodriguez  d'Azevedo,  a  Portuguese  ;  two  Frenchmen,  Jean 
Codure  and  Brouet ;  and  Claude  le  Jay,  a  Savoyard.     All 


188  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

these  neopliytes  were  subjected  by  Ignatius  to  rigid  discipline, 
based  upon  his  '  Exercitia.'  They  met  together  for  prayer, 
meditation,  and  discussion,  in  his  chamber  at  the  College  of 
S.  Barbe.  Here  he  unfolded  to  them  his  own  plans,  and 
poured  out  on  them  his  spirit.  At  length,  upon  August  15, 
153-4,  the  ten  together  took  the  vows  of  chastity  and  poverty 
in  the  church  of  S.  Mary  at  Montmartre,  and  bound  them- 
selves to  conduct  a  missionary  crusade  in  Palestine,  or,  if  this 
should  prove  impracticable,  to  place  themselves  as  devoted 
instruments,  without  conditions  and  without  remuneration, 
in  the  hands  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff. 

The  society  was  thus  established,  although  its  purpose 
remained  indecisive.  The  founder's  romantic  dream  of  a 
crusade  in  Holy  Land,  though  never  realised,  gave  an  object 
of  immediate  interest  to  the  associated  friends.  Meanwhile 
two  main  features  of  its  historical  manifestation,  the  propa- 
ganda of  the  Catholic  faith  and  unqualified  devotion  to  the 
cause  of  the  Pioman  See,  had  been  clearly  indicated.  Nothing 
proves  the  mastery  which  Ignatius  had  now  acquired  over 
his  own  enthusiasm,  or  the  insight  he  had  gained  into  the 
right  method  of  dealing  with  men,  more  than  the  use  he 
made  of  his  authority  in  this  first  instance.  The  society  was 
bound  to  grow  and  to  expand ;  and  it  was  fated  to  receive 
the  lasting  impress  of  his  genius.  But,  as  though  inspired 
by  some  prophetic  vision  of  its  future  greatness,  he  refrained 
from  circumscribing  the  still  tender  embryo  within  definite 
limits  which  might  have  been  pernicious  to  its  development. 

The  associates  completed  their  studies  at  Paris,  and  in 
1535  they  separated,  after  agreeing  to  meet  at  Venice  in  the 
first  months  of  1537.  Ignatius  meanwhile  travelled  to  Spain, 
where  he  settled  his  affairs  by  bestowing  such  property  as 
he  possessed  on  charitable  institutions.  He  also  resumed 
preaching  with  a  zeal  that  aroused  enthusiasm  and  extended 
his  personal  influence.      At  the  appointed  time  the  ten  came 


LOYOLA   AT   VENICE  189 

together  at  Venice,  ostensibly  bent  on  carrying  out  their 
project  of  visiting  Palestine.  But  war  was  now  declared 
between  the  Turks  and  the  Republic  of  S.  Mark.  Ignatius 
found  himself  once  more  accused  of  heresy,  and  had  some 
trouble  in  clearing  himself  before  the  Inquisition.  It  was 
resolved  in  these  circumstances  to  abandon  the  mission  to 
Holy  Land  as  impracticable  for  the  moment,  and  to  remain  in 
Venice  waiting  for  more  favourable  opportunities.  We  may 
believe  that  the  romance  of  a  crusade  among  the  infidels  of 
Syria  had  already  begun  to  fade  from  the  imagination  of 
the  founder,  in  whose  career  nothing  is  more  striking  than  his 
gradual  abandonment  of  visionary  for  tangible  ends,  and  his 
progressive  substitution  of  real  for  shadowy  objects  of  ambition. 
Loyola's  first  contact  with  Italian  society  during  this 
residence  in  Venice  exercised  decisive  influence  over  his  plans. 
He  seems  to  have  perceived  with  the  acute  scent  of  an  eagle 
that  here  lay  the  quarry  he  had  sought  so  long.  Italy,  the 
fountain-head  of  intellectual  enlightenment  for  Europe, 
was  the  realm  which  he  must  win.  Italy  alone  offered  the 
fulcrum  needed  by  his  firm  and  limitless  desire  of  domination 
over  souls.  It  was  with  Caraffa  and  the  Theatines  that 
Ignatius  obtained  a  home.  They  were  now  established  in  the 
States  of  S.  Mark  through  the  beneficence  of  a  rich  Venetian 
noble,  Girolamo  Miani,  who  had  opened  religious  houses  and 
placed  these  at  their  disposition.  Under  the  direction  of 
their  founder,  they  carried  on  their  designed  function  of 
training  a  higher  class  of  clergy  for  the  duties  of  preaching 
and  the  priesthood,  and  for  the  repression  of  heresy  by 
educational  means.  Carafla's  scheme  was  too  limited  to 
suit  Ignatius ;  and  the  characters  of  both  men  were  ill 
adapted  for  co-operation.  One  zeal  for  the  faith  inspired 
both.  Here  they  agreed.  But  Ignatius  was  a  Spaniard  ; 
and  the  second  passion  in  Caraffa's  breast  was  a  Neapolitan's 
hatred  for  that  nation.     Ignatius,  moreover,  contemplated  a 


190  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

vastly  more  expansive  and  elastic  macliinery  for  his  worker^ 
in  the  vineyard  of  the  faith  than  the  future  Pope's  coercive 
temper  could  have  tolerated.  These  two  leaders  of  the 
Counter-Reformation,  equally  ambitious,  equally  intolerant 
of  opposition,  equally  bent  upon  a  vast  dominion,  had  to 
separate.  The  one  was  destined  to  organise  the  Inqv4sition 
and  the  Index.  The  other  evolved  what  is  historically  known 
as  Jesuitry.  Nevertheless  we  know  that  Ignatius  learned 
much  from  Caraffa.  The  subsequent  organisation  of  his  Order 
showed  that  the  Theatines  suggested  many  practical  points 
in  the  method  he  eventually  adopted  for  effecting  his  designs. 
Some  of  his  companions,  meanwhile,  journeyed  to  Rome. 
There  they  obtained  from  Paul  III.  permission  to  visit  Palestine 
upon  a  missionary  enterprise,  together  with  special  privileges 
for  their  entrance  into  sacerdotal  orders.  Those  of  the  ten 
friends  who  were  not  yet  priests  were  ordained  at  Venice  in 
June  1537.  They  then  began  to  preach  in  public,  roaming 
the  streets  with  faces  emaciated  by  abstinence,  clad  in  ragged 
clothes,  and  using  a  language  strangely  compounded  of  Italian 
and  Spanish.  Their  obvious  enthusiasm,  and  the  holy  lives 
they  were  known  to  lead,  brought  them  rapidly  into  high 
reputation  of  sanctity.  Both  the  secular  and  the  religious 
clergy  of  Italy  could  show  but  few  men  at  that  epoch  equal 
to  these  brethren.  It  was  settled  in  the  autumn  that  they 
should  all  revisit  Rome,  travelling  by  different  routes,  and 
meditating  on  the  form  which  the  Order  should  assume. 
Palestine  had  now  been  definitely,  if  tacitly,  abandoned.  As 
might  have  been  expected,  it  was  Loyola  who  baptized  his 
Order  and  impressed  a  character  upon  the  infant  institution. 
He  determined  to  call  it  the  Company  of  Jesus,  with  direct 
reference  to  those  Companies  of  Adventure  which  had  given 
irregular  organisation  to  restless  military  spirits  in  the  past. 
The  new  Company  was  to  be  a  '  cohort  or  century  combined 
for  combat  against  spiritual  foes  ;  men-at-arms  devoted,  body 


MILITARY   OEGANISATION  191 

and  soul,  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  to  His  true  and 
lawful  Vicar  upon  earth.'  ^  An  Englishman  of  the  present 
daj^  may  pause  to  meditate  upon  the  grotesque  parallel 
between  the  nascent  Order  of  the  Jesuits  and  the  Salvation 
Army,  and  can  draw  such  conclusions  from  it  as  may  seem 
profitable. 

Loyola's  withdrawal  from  all  participation  in  the  nominal 
honour  of  his  institution,  his  enrolment  of  the  militia  he  had 
levied  under  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  the  combative  functions 
which  he  ascribed  to  it,  were  very  decided  marks  of 
originality.  It  stamped  the  body  with  impersonality  from 
the  outset,  and  indicated  the  belligerent  attitude  it  was 
destined  to  assume.  There  was  nothing  exactly  similar  to 
its  dominant  conception  in  any  of  the  previous  religious 
orders.  These  had  usually  received  their  title  from  the 
founder,  had  aimed  at  a  life  retired  from  the  world,  had 
studied  the  sanctification  of  their  individual  members,  and 
had  only  contemplated  an  indirect  operation  upon  society. 
Ignatius,  on  the  contrary,  placed  his  community  under  the 
protection  of  Christ,  and  defined  it  at  the  outset  as  a  militant 
and  movable  legion  of  auxiliaries,  dedicated,  not  to  retire- 
ment or  to  the  pursuit  of  salvation,  but  to  freely  avowed  and 
active  combat  in  defence  of  their  Master's  vicegerent  upon 
earth.  It  was  as  though  he  had  divined  the  deficiencies  of 
Catholicism  at  that  epoch,  and  had  determined  to  supplement 
them  by  the  creation  of  a  novel  and  a  special  weapon  of 
attack.  Some  institutions  of  medieval  chivalry,  the  Knights  of 
the  Temple  and  S.  John,  for  instance,  furnished  the  closest 
analogy  to  his  foundation.  Their  spirit  he  transferred  from 
the  sphere  of  physical  combat  with  visible  forces,  infidel  and 
Mussulman,  to  the  sphere  of  intellectual  warfare  against 
heresy,  unbelief,  insubordination  in  the  Church.  He  had 
refined  upon  the  crude  enthusiasm  of  romance  which  inspired 
'  These  phrases  occur  in  the  Dcliberatio  priinoriim  i)atrum. 


192  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

him  at  Montserrat.     Without  losing  its  intensity,  this   had 
become  a  motive  force  of  actual  and  political  gravity. 

The  Company  of  Jesus  was  far  from  obtaining  the 
immediate  approval  of  the  Church.  Paul  III.  indeed,  per- 
ceived its  utility,  and  showed  marked  favour  to  the  associates 
when  they  arrived  in  Eome  about  the  end  of  1537.  The 
people,  too,  welcomed  their  ministration  gladly,  and  recog- 
nised the  zeal  which  they  displayed  in  acts  of  charity  and 
their  exemplary  behaviour.  But  the  Curia  and  higher  clergy 
organised  an  opposition  against  them.  They  were  accused 
of  heresy  and  attempts  to  seduce  the  common  folk.  Ignatius 
demanded  full  and  public  inquiry,  which  was  at  first  refused 
him.  He  then  addressed  the  Pope  in  person,  who  ordered  a 
trial,  out  of  which  the  brethren  came  with  full  acquittal. 
After  this  success,  they  obtained  a  hold  upon  religious 
instruction  in  many  schools  of  Eome.  Adherents  flocked 
around  them ;  and  they  saw  that  it  was  time  to  give  the 
society  a  defined  organisation  and  to  demand  its  official 
recognition  as  an  Order.  It  was  resolved  to  add  the  vow 
of  obedience  to  their  former  vows  of  chastity  and  poverty. 
Obedience  had  always  been  a  prime  virtue  in  monastic 
institutions ;  but  Ignatius  conceived  of  it  in  a  new  and 
military  spirit.  The  obedience  of  the  Jesuits  was  to  be 
absolute,  extending  even  to  the  duty  of  committing  sins  at  a 
superior's  orders.  The  General,  instead  of  holding  office  for 
a  term  of  years,  was  to  be  elected  for  life,  with  unlimited 
command  over  the  whole  Order  in  its  several  degrees.  He 
was  to  be  regarded  as  Christ  present  and  personified.  This 
autocracy  of  the  General  might  have  seemed  to  menace  the 
overlordship  of  the  Holy  See,  but  for  a  fourth  vow  which  the 
Company  determined  to  adopt.  It  ran  as  follows  :  '  That  the 
members  will  consecrate  their  lives  to  the  continual  service  of 
Christ  and  of  the  Popes,  will  fight  under  the  banner  of  the 
Cross,  and  will  serve  the  Lord  and  the  Roman  Pontiff  as 


EARLY   CONSTITUTION  193 

God's  vicar  upon  earth,  in  such  wise  that  they  shall  be  bound 
to  execute  immediately  and  without  hesitation  or  excuse  all 
that  the  reigning  Pope  or  his  successors  may  enjoin  upon 
them  for  the  profit  of  souls  or  for  the  propagation  of  the 
faith,  and  shall  do  so  in  all  provinces  whithersoever  he  may 
send  them,  among  Turks  or  any  other  infidels,  to  furthest 
Ind,  as  well  as  in  the  region  of  heretics,  schismatics,  or 
believers  of  any  kind.' 

Loyola  himself  drew  up  these  constitutions  in  five 
chapters,  and  had  them  introduced  to  Paul  III.,  with  the 
petition  that  they  might  be  confirmed.  This  was  in 
September  1539,  and  it  is  singular  that  the  man  selected  to 
bring  them  under  the  Pope's  notice  should  have  been  Cardinal 
Contarini.  Paul  had  no  difficulty  in  recognising  the  support 
which  this  new  Order  would  bring  to  the  Papacy  in  its 
conflict  with  Eeformers  and  its  diplomatic  embarrassments 
with  Charles  V.  He  is  even  reported  to  have  said,  *  The 
finger  of  God  is  there  ! '  Yet  he  could  not  confirm  the 
constitutions  without  the  previous  approval  of  three  Cardinals 
appointed  to  report  on  them.  This  committee  condemned 
Loyola's  scheme  ;  and  nearly  a  year  passed  in  negotiations 
with  foreign  princes  and  powerful  prelates,  before  a  reluctant 
consent  was  yielded  to  the  Pope's  avowed  inclination.  At 
length  the  Bull  of  Sept.  27,  1540,  'Eegimini  militantis 
Ecclesiae,'  launched  the  Society  of  Jesus  on  the  world. 
Ignatius  became  the  first  General  of  the  Order ;  and  the  rest 
of  his  life,  a  period  of  sixteen  years,  was  spent  in  perfecting 
the  machinery  and  extending  the  growth  of  this  institu- 
tion, which  in  all  essentials  was  the  emanation  of  his  own 
mind. 

It  may  be  well  at  this  point  to  sketch  the  organisation  of 
the  Jesuits,  and  to  describe  the  progress  of  the  Society  during 
its  founder's  lifetime,  in  order  that  a  correct  conception  may 
be  gained  of  Loyola's  share  in  its  creation.     Many  historians 

VI  o 


194  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

of  eminence,  and  among  them  so  acute  an  observer  as  Paolo 
Sarpi,  have  been  of  the  opinion  that  Jesuitry  in  its  later  develop- 
ments was  a  deflection  from  the  spirit  and  intention  of 
Ignatius.  It  is  affirmed  that  Lainez  and  Salmeron,  rather 
than  Loyola,  gave  that  complexion  to  the  Order  which  has 
rendered  it  a  mark  for  the  hatred  and  disgust  of  Europe. 
Aquaviva,  the  fifth  General,  has  been  credited  with  its  policy 
of  interference  in  affairs  of  states  and  nations.  Yet  I  think  it 
can  be  shown  that  the  Society,  as  it  appeared  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  was  a  logical  and  necessary  development  of 
the  Society  as  Ignatius  framed  it  in  the  sixteenth.'  Lainez,  who 
succeeded  the  founder  as  General,  digested  the  constitutions 
and  supplied  them  with  a  commentary  or  Directorium.  He 
defined,  formulated,  and  stereotyped  the  system ;  but  the 
essential  qualities  of  Jesuitry,  its  concentration  upon  political 
objects,  its  unscrupulousness  in  choice  of  means  to  ends, 
the  worldliness  which  lurked  beneath  the  famous  motto  Ad 
Majorevi  Dei  Gloriani,  were  implicit  in  Loyola's  express 
words  and  in  his  actual  administration.  The  framework  of 
the  Order,  as  he  fixed  it,  was  sofirmly  traced  and  so  cunningly 
devised  for  practical  efficiency,  that  it  admitted  of  no  altera- 
tion except  in  the  direction  of  more  rigid  definition.  Ijainez 
may,  indeed,  have  emphasised  its  tendency  to  become  a  politi- 
cal machine,  and  may  have  weakened  its  religious  tone,  by 
his  rules  for  the  interpretation  of  the  constitutions  ;  but  we 
have  seen  that  the  development  of  Loyola's  own  ideas  ran  in 
this  direction.  The  real  strength  as  well  as  the  worst  vices 
of  Jesuitiy  were  inherent  in  the  system  from  the  first ;  and  in 
it  we  have  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  instance  on  record 

'  Sarpi,  though  he  expressed  an  opinion  that  the  Jesuits  of  his  day 
had  departed  from  the  spirit  of  their  founders,  spoke  thus  of  Loyola's 
worldly  aims  {Lettcre,  vol.  i.  p.  224) :  '  Even  Father  Ignatius,  Founder 
of  the  Company,  as  his  biography  attests,  based  himself  in  such  wise 
upon  human  interest  as  though  there  were  none  divine  to  think 
about.' 


LOYOLA'S  ADMINLSTRATION  195 

of  the  evolution  of  a  cosmopolitan  and  world-important  or- 
ganism from  the  embryo  of  one  man's  conception. 

The  Bull  '  Eegimini  inilitantis  Ecclesiae  '  restricted  the 
number  of  the  Jesuits  to  sixty.  If  Ignatius  did  not  himself 
propose  this  limit,  the  restriction  may  perhaps  have  suggested 
his  policy  of  reserving  the  full  privileges  of  the  Society  for  a 
small  band  of  selected  members— the  very  essence  of  the 
body,  extracted  by  processes  which  will  be  afterwards  described. 
Anyhow,  it  is  certain  that,  though  the  Papal  limitation  was 
removed  in  1543,  and  though  candidates  flowed  on  the  tide  of 
fashion  toward  the  Order,  yet  the  representative  and  respon- 
sible Fathers  remained  few  in  numbers.  These  were  distri- 
buted as  the  General  thought  fit.  He  stayed  in  Rome ;  for 
Eome  was  the  chosen  headquarters  of  the  Society,  the  nucleus 
of  their  growth,  and  the  fulcrum  of  their  energy.  From 
Rome,  as  from  a  centre,  Ignatius  moved  his  men  about  the 
field  of  Europe.  We  might  compare  him  under  one  metaphor 
to  a  chess-player  directing  his  pieces  upon  the  squares  of  the 
political  and  ecclesiastical  chessboard  :  under  another,  to  a 
spider  spinning  his  web  so  as  to  net  the  greatest  number  of 
profitable  partisans.  The  fathers  were  kept  in  perpetual 
motion.  To  shift  them  from  place  to  place,  to  exclude  them 
from  their  native  soil,  to  render  them  cosmopolitan  and  pliant 
was  the  first  care  of  the  founder.  He  forbade  the  follies  of 
ascetic  piety,  inculcated  the  study  of  languages  and  exact 
knowledge,  and  above  all  things  recommended  the  acquisition 
of  those  social  arts  which  find  favour  with  princes  and  folk  of 
high  condition.  '  Prudence  of  an  exquisite  quality,' he  said, 
*  combined  with  average  sanctity,  is  more  valuable  than 
eminent  sanctity  and  less  of  prudence.'  Also  he  bade  them 
keep  their  eyes  open  for  neophytes  'less  marked  by  pure 
goodness  than  by  firmness  of  character  and  ability  in  conduct 
of  affairs,  since  men  who  are  not  apt  for  public  business  do 
not  suit  the  requirements  of  the  Company.'     Orlandino  tells 

o2 


19e  KENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

US  that  though  Ignatius  felt  drawn  to  men  who  showed 
eminent  gifts  for  erudition,  he  preferred,  in  the  difficulties  of 
the  Church,  to  choose  such  as  knew  the  world  well  and  were 
distinguished  by  their  social  station.  The  fathers  were  to 
seek  out  youths  '  of  good  natural  parts,  adapted  to  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge  and  to  practical  works  of  utility.' 
Their  pupils  were,  if  possible,  to  have  physical  advantages 
and  manners  that  should  render  them  agreeable.  These 
points  had  more  of  practical  value  than  a  bare  vocation  for 
piety.  In  their  dealings  with  tender  consciences,  they  were  to 
act  like  '  good  fishers  of  souls,  passing  over  many  things  in 
silence  as  though  these  bad  not  been  observed,  until  the  time 
came  when  the  will  was  gained,  and  the  character  could  be 
directed  as  they  thought  best.''  Loyola's  dislike  for  the 
common  forms  of  monasticism  appears  in  his  choice  of  the 
ordinary  secular  priest's  cassock  for  their  dress,  and  in  his 
emancipation  of  the  members  from  devotional  exercises  and 
attendance  in  the  choir.  The  aversion  he  felt  for  ascetic  dis- 
cipline is  evinced  in  a  letter  he  addressed  to  Francis  Borgia 
in  1548.  It  is  better,  he  writes,  to  strengthen  your  stomach 
and  other  faculties,  than  to  impair  the  body  and  enfeeble 
the  intellect  by  fasting.  God  needs  both  our  physical  and 
mental  powers  for  His  service  ;  and  every  drop  of  blood  you 
shed  in  flagellation  is  a  loss.  The  end  in  view  was  to  serve 
the  Church  by  penetrating  European  society,  taking  possession 
of  its  leaders  in  rank  and  hereditary  influence,  directing 
education,  assuming  the  control  of  the  confessional,  and 
preaching  the  faith  in  forms  adapted  to  the  foibles  and  the 
fancies  of  the  age.  The  interests  of  the  Church  were  para- 
mount :  '  If  she  teaches  that  what  seems  to  us  white  is  black, 
we  must  declare  it  to  be  black  upon  the  spot.'  There 
were  other  precepts  added.  These,  for  instance,  seem  worth 
commemoration  :  '  The  workers  in  the  Lord's  vineyard  should 
'  See  Philippson,  op.  cit.  pp.  61,  62. 


LOYOLA'S   PRINCIPLES  197 

have  but  one  foot  on  earth,  the  other  should  be  raised  to 
travel  forward.'  '  The  abnegation  of  our  own  will  is  of  more 
value  than  if  one  should  bring  the  dead  to  life  again.'  'No 
storm  is  so  pernicious  as  a  calm,  and  no  enemy  is  so  dangerous 
as  having  none.'  It  will  be  seen  that  what  is  known  as 
Jesuitry,  in  its  mundane  force  and  in  its  personal  devotion  to 
a  cause,  emerges  from  the  precepts  of  Ignatius.  We  may 
wonder  how  the  romances  of  the  mountain-keep  of  Loyola, 
the  mysticism  of  Montserrat,  and  the  struggles  of  Manresa 
should  have  brought  the  founder  of  the  Jesuits  to  these 
results.  Yet,  if  we  analyse  the  problem,  it  will  yield  a  pro- 
bable solution.  What  survived  from  that  first  period  was  the 
spirit  of  enthusiastic  service  to  the  Church,  the  vast  ambition 
of  a  man  who  felt  himself  a  destined  instrument  for  shoring 
up  the  crumbling  walls  of  Catholicity,  the  martial  instinct  of 
a  warrior  fighting  at  fearful  odds  with  nations  ruining  toward 
infidelity.  He  had  no  doubt  where  the  right  lay.  He  was  a 
Spaniard,  a  servant  of  S.  Peter ;  and  for  him  the  creed 
enounced  by  Rome  was  all  in  all.  But  his  commerce  with 
the  world,  his  astute  Basque  nature,  and  his  judgment  of 
the  European  situation,  taught  him  that  he  must  use  other 
means  than  those  which  Francis  and  Dominic  had  employed. 
He  had  to  make  his  Company,  that  forlorn  hope  of  Catholicism, 
the  exponent  of  a  decadent  and  rotten  faith.  He  had  to  adapt 
it  to  the  necessities  of  Christendom  in  dissolution,  to  consti- 
tute it  by  a  guileful  and  sagacious  method.  He  had  to  render 
it  wise  in  the  wisdom  of  the  world,  in  order  that  he  might 
catch  the  powers  of  this  world  by  their  interests  and  vices  for 
the  Church.  He  was  like  Machiavelli,  endeavouring  to  save 
a  corrupt  state  by  utilising  corruption  for  ends  acknowledged 
sound.  And,  like  Machiavelli,  he  was  mistaken,  because  it 
will  not  profit  man  to  trust  in  craft  or  the  manipulation  of 
evil.  Luther  was  stronger  in  his  weakness  than  the  creator 
of  the  Jesuit  machinery,  wiser  in  his  simplicity   than   the 


198  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

deviser  of  that  subtle  engine.  But  Luther  had  the  onward 
forces  of  humanity  upon  his  side.  Ignatius  could  but  retard 
them  by  his  ingenuity.  We  may  be  therefore  excused  if  we 
admire  Ignatius  for  the  virile  effort  which  he  made  in  a  failing 
cause,  and  for  the  splendid  gifts  of  organising  prudence  which 
he  devoted  to  a  misplaced  object. 

Under  his  direction,  the  members  of  the  Society  spread 
themselves  over  Europe,  and  always  with  similar  results. 
Wherever  they  went,  hundreds  of  adherents  joined  the  Order. 
Paul  III.  and  Julius  III.  heaped  privileges  upon  it,  seeing 
what  a  power  it  had  become  in  warfare  with  heresy.  Ignatius 
spared  no  pains  to  secure  his  position  in  Eome,  paying  court 
to  cardinals  and  prelates,  visiting  ambassadors  and  princes, 
soliciting  their  favours  and  offering  the  service  of  his  brethren 
in  return.  Profitable  negotiations  were  opened  with  the 
King  of  Spain  and  the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  which,  under  cover 
of  reforming  convents,  led  to  a  partition  of  ecclesiastical 
property  between  the  Jesuits  and  the  State.  Good  reasons 
seemed  to  justify  such  acts  of  spoliation  ;  for  the  old  Orders 
were  sunk  in  sloth  and  immorality  beyond  redemption,  while 
the  Company  kept  alive  all  that  was  sound  in  Catholic 
discipline,  preaching,  and  instruction.  In  Italy  the  Jesuits 
made  rapid  progress  from  the  first.  Lainez  occupied  the 
Venetian  territory,  opposing  Protestant  opinions  in  Venice 
itself,  at  Brescia,  and  among  the  mountains  of  the  Valtelline. 
Le  Jay  combated  the  forces  of  Calvin  and  Eenee  of  France 
at  Ferrara.  Salmeron  took  possession  of  Naples  and  Sicily. 
Piacenza,  Modena,  Faenza,  Bologna,  and  Montepulciano 
received  the  fathers  with  open  arms.  The  Farnesi  welcomed 
them  in  Parma.  Wherever  they  went,  they  secured  the 
good  will  of  noble  women,  and  gained  some  hold  on  univer- 
sities. Colleges  were  founded  in  the  chief  cities  of  the 
peninsula,  where  they  not  only  taught  gratis,  but  used 
methods  superior  to  those  previously  in  vogue.     Rome,  how- 


SPREAD   OF  THE  ORDER  199 

ever,  remained  the  strongliold  of  the  Company.  Here 
Ignatius  founded  its  first  house  in  1550.  This  was  the 
Collegium  Eomanum  ;  and  in  1555  some  hundred  pupils, 
who  had  followed  a  course  of  studies  in  Greek,  Latin,  Hebrew, 
and  theolog}',  issued  from  its  walls.  In  1557  he  purchased 
the  palace  Salviati,  on  the  site  of  which  now  stands  the  vast 
establishment  of  the  Gesu.  In  1552  he  started  a  separate 
institution,  Collegium  Germanicum,  for  the  special  training 
of  young  Germans.  There  was  also  a  subordinate  institution 
for  the  education  of  the  sons  of  nobles.  These  colleges 
afforded  models  for  similar  schools  throughout  Europe  :  some 
of  them  intended  to  supply  the  Society  with  members,  and  some 
to  impress  the  laity  with  Catholic  principles.  Uniformity  was 
an  object  which  the  Jesuits  always  held  in  view. 

They  did  not  meet  at  first  with  like  success  in  all  Catholic 
countries.  In  Spain,  Charles  V.  treated  them  with  suspicion 
as  the  sworn  men  of  the  Papacy ;  and  the  Dominican  Order, 
so  powerful  through  its  hold  upon  the  Inquisition,  regarded 
them  justly  as  rivals.  Though  working  for  the  same  end, 
the  means  employed  by  Jesuits  and  Dominicans  were  too 
diverse  for  these  champions  of  orthodoxy  to  work  harmo- 
niously together.  The  Jesuits  belonged  to  the  future,  to  the 
party  of  accommodation  and  control  by  subterfuge.  The 
Dominicans  were  rooted  in  the  past ;  their  dogmatism 
admitted  of  no  compromise  ;  they  strove  to  rule  by  force. 
There  was  therefore,  at  the  outset,  war  between  the  kennels 
of  the  elder  and  the  younger  dogs  of  God  in  Spain.  Yet 
Jesuitism  gained  ground.  It  had  the  advantage  of  being  a 
native  and  a  recent  product.  It  was  powerful  by  its  appeals 
to  the  sensuous  imagination  and  carnal  superstitions  of  that 
Iberian-Latin  people.  It  was  seductive  by  its  mitigation  of 
oppressive  orthodoxy  and  inflexible  prescriptive  law.  Where 
the  Dominican  was  steel,  the  Jesuit  was  reed  ;  where  the 
Dominican  breathed  fire  and  faggots,  the  Jesuit   suggested 


200  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

casuistical  distinctions  ;  where  the  Dominican  raised  difficul- 
ties, the  Jesuit  solved  scruples ;  where  the  Dominican  pre- 
sented theological  abstractions,  the  Jesuit  offered  stimulative 
or  agreeable  images  ;  where  the  Dominican  preached  dogma, 
the  Jesuit  retailed  romance.  It  only  needed  one  illustrious 
convert  to  plant  the  Jesuits  in  Spain.  Him  they  found  in 
Francis  Borgia,  Duke  of  Gandia,  Viceroy  of  Catalonia,  and 
subsequently  the  third  General  of  the  Order  and  a  saint. 
This  man  placed  the  university,  which  he  had  founded,  in 
their  hands  ;  and  about  the  same  time  they  gained  a  footing 
in  the  University  of  Salamanca.  Still  they  continued  to 
retain  their  strongest  hold  upon  the  people,  who  regarded 
them  as  saviours  from  the  tyranny  and  ennui  of  the  estab- 
lished Dominican  hierarchy. 

Portugal  was  won  at  a  blow.  Xavier  and  Eodriguez 
planted  the  Company  there  under  the  affectionate  protection 
of  King  John  III.  When  Xavier  started  on  his  mission  to 
the  Indies  in  1541,  Rodriguez  took  the  affairs  of  the  realm 
into  his  hands,  controlled  the  cabinet,  and  formed  the  heir- 
apparent  to  their  will. 

With  France  they  had  more  trouble.  Both  the  University 
and  the  Parliament  of  Paris  opposed  their  settlement.  The 
Scrbonne  even  declared  them  *  dangerous  in  matters  of  the 
faith,  fit  to  disturb  the  peace  of  the  Church,  and  to  reverse 
the  order  of  monastic  life  ;  more  adapted  to  destroy  than  to 
build.'  The  Galilean  Church  scented  danger  in  these  bonds- 
men of  the  Papacy ;  and  it  was  only  when  they  helped  to 
organise  the  League  that  the  influence  of  the  Guises  gave 
them  a  foothold  in  the  kingdom.  Even  then  their  seminaries 
at  Reims,  Douai,  and  S.  Omer  must  be  rather  regarded  as 
outposts  (e7riT€t;!(io-^ot)  against  England  and  Flanders  than 
as  nationally  French  establishments.  In  France  they  long 
remained  a  seditious  and  belligerent  faction.^ 

'  It  was  not  till  the  epoch  of  Maria  de'  Medici's  Eegency  that  the 
Jesuits  obtained  firm  hold  on  France. 


NETHERLANDS,    GERMANY  201 

They  had  the  same  partial  and  clandestine  success  in  the 
Low  Countries,  where  their  position  was  at  first  equivocal, 
though  they  early  gained  some  practical  hold  upon  the 
University  of  Louvain.  We  are  perhaps  justified  in  attri- 
buting the  evil  fame  of  Reims,  Douai,  S.  Omer,  and  Louvain 
to  the  incomplete  sympathy  which  existed  between  the 
Jesuits  and  the  countries  where  they  made  these  settlements. 
Not  perfectly  at  home,  surrounded  by  discontent  and  jealousy, 
upon  the  borderlands  of  the  heresies  they  were  bound  to 
combat,  their  system  assumed  its  darkest  colours  in  those 
hotbeds  of  intrigue  and  feverish  fanaticism.  In  time,  how- 
ever, the  Jesuits  fixed  their  talons  firmly  upon  the  Nether- 
lands, through  the  favour  of  Anne  of  Austria  ;  and  the  year 
1562  saw  them  comfortably  ensconced  at  Antwerp,  Louvain, 
Brussels,  and  Lille,  in  spite  of  the  previous  antipathy  of  the 
population.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  they  pushed  their  way  by 
gaining  women  and  people  of  birth  to  their  cause,  and  by 
showily  meritorious  services  to  education.  Faber  achieved 
ephemeral  success  as  lecturer  at  Louvain. 

To  take  firm  hold  on  Germany  had  been  the  cherished 
wish  of  Ignatius  ;  '  for  there,'  to  use  his  own  words,  '  the 
pest  of  heresy  exposed  men  to  graver  dangers  than  elsewhere.' 
The  Society  had  scarcely  been  founded  when  Faber,  Le  Jay, 
and  Bobadilla  were  sent  north.  Faber  made  small  progress, 
and  was  removed  to  Spain.  But  Bobadilla  secured  the  con- 
fidence of  William,  Duke  of  Bavaria  ;  while  Le  Jay  won  that 
of  Ferdinand  of  Austria.  In  both  provinces  they  avowed 
their  intention  of  working  at  the  reformation  of  the  clergy 
and  the  improvement  of  popular  education — ends,  which  in 
the  disorganised  condition  of  Germany,  seemed  of  highest 
importance  to  those  princes.  Through  the  influence  of 
Bavaria,  Bobadilla  succeeded  in  rendering  the  Interim  pro- 
claimed by  Charles  V.  nugatory ;  while  Le  Jay  founded  the 
college  of  the  Order  at  Vienna.     In  this  important  post  he 


202  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

was  soon  succeeded  by  Canisius,  Ferdinand's  confessor, 
through  whose  co-operation  Cardinal  Morone  afterwards 
brought  this  Emperor  into  harmony  with  the  Papal  plan  for 
winding  up  the  Council  of  Trent.  It  should  be  added  that 
Ingolstadt  in  Bavaria  became  the  second  headquarters  of  the 
Jesuit  propaganda  in  Germany. 

The  methods  adopted  by  Ignatius  in  dealing  with  his 
three  lieutenants,  Bobadilla,  Le  Jay,  and  Canisius,  are  so 
characteristic  of  Jesuit  policy  that  they  demand  particular 
attention.  Checkmated  by  Bobadilla  in  the  matter  of  the 
Interim,  Charles  V.  manifested  his  resentment.  He  was 
already  ill-affected  toward  the  Society,  and  its  founder  felt 
the  need  of  humouring  him.  The  highest  grade  of  the  Order 
was  therefore  ostentatiously  refused  to  Bobadilla,  until  such 
time  as  the  Emperor's  attention  was  distracted  from  the 
cause  of  his  disappointment.  With  Le  Jay  and  Canisius  the 
case  stood  differently.  Ferdinand  wished  to  make  the  former 
Bishop  of  Trieste  and  the  latter  Archbishop  of  Vienna.  Igna- 
tius opposed  both  projects,  alleging  that  the  Company  of 
Jesus  could  not  afford  to  part  with  its  best  servants,  and  that 
their  vows  of  obedience  and  poverty  were  inconsistent  with 
high  office  in  the  Church.  He  discerned  the  necessity  of 
reducing  each  member  of  the  Society  to  absolute  dependence 
on  the  General,  which  would  have  been  impracticable  if  any 
one  of  them  attained  to  the  position  of  a  prelate.  A  law  was 
therefore  passed  declaring  it  mortal  sin  for  Jesuits  to  accept 
bishoprics  or  other  posts  of  honour  in  the  Church.  Instead 
of  assuming  the  mitre,  Canisius  was  permitted  to  administer 
the  See  of  Vienna  without  usufruct  of  its  revenues.  To  the 
world  this  manifested  the  disinterested  zeal  of  the  Jesuits 
in  a  seductive  light ;  while  the  integrity  of  the  Society,  as 
an  independent  self-sufficing  body,  exacting  the  servitude  of 
absolute  devotion  from  its  members,  was  secured.  Another 
instance   of  the   same   adroitness  may  be  mentioned.     The 


LOYOLA'S   DICTATOESIIIP  203 

Emperor  in  1552  offered  a  Cardinal's  hat  to  Francis  Borgia, 
who  was  by  birth  the  most  illustrious  of  living  Jesuits. 
Ignatius  refrained  from  rebuffing  the  Emperor  and  insulting 
the  Duke  of  Gandia  by  an  open  prohibition  ;  but  ho  told  the 
former  to  expect  the  Duke's  refusal,  while  he  wrote  to  the 
latter  expressing  his  own  earnest  hope  that  he  would  renounce 
an  honour  injurious  to  the  Society.  This  diplomacy  elicited 
a  grateful  but  firm  answer  of  Nolo  Episcopari  from  the  Duke, 
who  thus  took  the  responsibility  of  offending  Charles  V.  upon 
himself.  Meanwhile  the  missionary  objects  of  the  Company 
were  not  neglected.  Xavier  left  Portugal  in  1541  for  that 
famous  journey  through  India  and  China,  the  facts  of  which 
may  be  compared  for  their  romantic  interest  with  Cortes'  or 
Pizarro's  exploits.  Brazil,  the  transatlantic  Portugal,  was 
abandoned  to  the  Jesuits,  and  they  began  to  feel  their  way  in 
Mexico.  In  the  year  of  Loyola's  death,  1556,  thirty-two 
members  of  the  Society  were  resident  in  South  America  ;  one 
hundred  in  India,  China,  and  Japan  ;  and  a  mission  was 
established  in  Ethiopia.  Even  Ireland  had  been  explored 
by  a  couple  of  fathers,  who  returned  without  success,  after 
undergoing  terrible  hardships.  At  this  epoch  the  Society 
counted  in  round  numbers  one  thousand  men.  It  was  divided 
in  Europe  into  thirteen  provinces :  seven  of  these  were  Por- 
tuguese and  Spanish  ;  three  were  Italian  (namely,  Rome, 
Upper  Italy,  and  Sicily) ;  one  was  French  ;  two  were  German. 
Castile  contained  ten  colleges  of  the  Order ;  Aragon,  five  ; 
Andalusia,  five.  Portugal  was  penetrated  through  and 
through  with  Jesuits.  Eome  displayed  the  central  Eoman 
and  Teutonic  colleges.  Upper  Italy  had  ten  colleges.  France 
could  show  only  one  college.  In  Upper  Germany  the  Com- 
pany held  firm  hold  on  Vienna,  Prag,  Munich,  and  Ingolstadt. 
The  province  of  Lower  Germany,  including  the  Netherlands, 
was  still  undetermined.  This  expansion  of  the  Order  during 
the  first  sixteen  years  of  its  existence  enables  us  to  form  some 


204  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

conception  of  the  intellectual  vigour  and  commanding  will  of 
Ignatius.  He  lived,  as  no  founder  of  an  Order,  as  few  founders 
of  religions,  ever  lived,  to  see  his  work  accomplished  and  the 
impress  of  his  genius  stereotyped  exactly  in  the  forms  he 
had  designed  upon  the  most  formidable  social  and  political 
organisation  of  modern  Europe. 

In  his  administration  of  the  Order,  Ignatius  was  abso- 
lute and  autocratic.  We  have  seen  how  he  dealt  with 
aspirants  after  ecclesiastical  honours,  and  how  he  shifted  his 
subordinates,  as  he  thought  best,  from  point  to  point  upon 
the  surface  of  the  globe.  The  least  attempt  at  independence 
on  the  part  of  his  most  trusted  lieutenants  was  summarily 
checked  by  him.  Simon  Eodriguez,  one  of  the  earliest 
disciples  of  the  College  of  S.  Barbe  at  Paiis,  ruled  the 
kingdom  of  Portugal  through  the  ascendency  which  he  had 
gained  over  John  III.  Elated  by  the  vastuess  of  his  victory, 
Rodriguez  arrogated  to  himself  the  right  of  private  judg- 
ment, and  introduced  that  ascetic  discipline  into  the  houses 
of  his  province  which  Ignatius  had  forbidden  as  inexpedient. 
V/ithout  loss  of  time,  the  General  superseded  him  in  his 
command  ;  and,  after  a  sharp  struggle,  Rodriguez  was  com- 
pelled to  spend  the  rest  of  his  days  under  strict  surveillance 
at  Rome.  Lainez,  in  like  manner,  while  acting  as  Provincial 
of  Upper  Italy,  thought  fit  to  complain  that  his  best  coad- 
jutors were  drawn  from  the  colleges  under  his  control  to 
Rome.  Ignatius  wrote  to  this  old  friend,  the  man  who  best 
understood  the  spirit  of  its  institution,  and  who  was  destined 
to  succeed  him  in  his  headship,  a  cold  and  terrible  epistle. 
'  Reflect  upon  your  conduct.  Let  me  know  whether  you 
acknowledge  your  sin,  and  tell  me  at  the  same  time  what 
punishment  you  are  ready  to  undergo  for  this  dereliction  of 
duty.'  Lainez  expressed  immediate  submission  in  the  most 
abject  terms  ;  he  was  ready  to  resign  his  post,  abstain  from 
preaching,  confine  his  studies   to  the  Breviary,  walk   as   a 


JESUITICAL  OBEDIENCE  20.3 

beggar  to  Rome,  and  there  teach  grammar  to  children  or 
perform  menial  offices.  This  was  all  Ignatius  wanted.  If 
he  were  the  Christ  of  the  Society,  he  well  knew  that  Lainez 
was  its  S.  Paul.  He  could  not  prevent  him  from  being  his 
successor,  and  he  probably  was  well  aware  that  Lainez 
would  complete  and  supplement  what  he  must  leave  un- 
finished in  his  life-work.  The  grovelling  apology  of  such  an 
eminent  apostle,  dictated  as  it  was  by  hypocrisy  and  cunning, 
sufficed  to  procure  his  pardon,  and  remained  among  the 
archives  of  the  Jesuits  as  a  model  for  the  spirit  in  which 
obedience  should  be  manifested  by  them. 

Obedience  was,  in  fact,  the  cardinal  and  dominant  quality 
of  the  Jesuit  Order.  To  call  it  a  virtue,  in  the  sense  in 
which  Ignatius  understood  it,  is  impossible.  The  Exercitia, 
the  Constitutions,  and  the  Letter  to  the  Portuguese  Jesuits, 
all  of  which  undoubtedly  explain  Loyola's  views,  reveal  to 
us  the  essence  of  historical  Jesuitry,  the  fons  et  origo  of  that 
long-continued  evil  Avhich  impested  modern  society.  Let  us 
examine  some  of  his  precepts  on  this  topic.  '  I  ought  to 
desire  to  be  ruled  by  a  superior  who  endeavours  to  subju- 
gate my  judgment  and  subdue  my  understanding.' — '  When 
it  seems  to  me  that  I  am  commanded  by  my  superior  to  do  a 
thing  against  which  my  conscience  revolts  as  sinful,  and  my 
superior  judges  otherwise,  it  is  my  duty  to  yield  my  doubts 
to  him,  unless  I  am  constrained  by  evident  reasons.' — '  I 
ought  not  to  be  my  own,  but  His  who  created  me,  and  his 
too  through  whom  God  governs  me.' — *  I  ought  to  be  like 
a  corpse  which  has  neither  will  nor  understanding,  like  a 
crucifix  that  is  turned  about  by  him  that  holds  it,  like  a 
staff  in  the  hands  of  an  old  man  who  uses  it  at  will  for  his 
assistance  or  pleasure.' — '  In  our  Company  the  person  who 
commands  must  never  be  regarded  in  his  own  capacity,  but 
as  Jesus  Christ  in  him.' — '  I  desire  that  you  strive  and  exer- 
cise yourselves  to  recognise  Christ  our  Lord  in  every  Superior.' 


206  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

— '  He  wlio  wishes  to  offer  himself  wholly  up  to  God,  must 
make  the  sacrifice  not  only  of  his  will  but  of  his  intelligence.' 
— '  In  order  to  secure  the  faithful  and  successful  execution 
of  a  Superior's  orders,  all  private  judgment  must  be  yielded 
up.' — '  A  sin,  whether  venial  or  mortal,  must  be  committed, 
if  it  is  commanded  by  the  Superior  in  the  name  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  or  in  virtue  of  obedience.'  Of  such  nature  was 
the  virtue  of  obedience  within  the  Order.'  It  rendered  every 
member  a  tool  in  the  hands  of  his  immediate  Superior,  and 
the  whole  body  one  instrument  in  the  hand  of  the  General. 
The  General's  responsibility  for  the  oblique  acts  and  evasions 
of  moral  law,  committed  in  the  name  of  this  virtue,  was 
covered  by  the  sounding  phrase,  '  Unto  the  greater  glory  of 
God.'  He  had  also  his  own  duty  of  obedience,  which  was  to 
Holy  Church.  '  In  making  the  sacrifice  of  our  own  judgment, 
the  mind  must  keep  itself  ever  whole  and  ready  for  obedience 
to  the  spouse  of  Christ,  our  Holy  Mother,  the  Church  ortho- 
dox, apostolic  and  hierarchical.'  ^  Not  a  portion  of  the 
Catholic  creed,  of  Catholic  habits,  of  Catholic  institutions,  of 
Catholic  superstitions,  but  must  be  valiantly  defended.  '  It  is 
our  duty  loudly  to  uphold  reliques,  the  cult  of  saints,  stations, 
pilgrimages,  indulgences,  jubilees,  the  candles  which  are 
lighted  before  altars.'  To  criticise  the  clergy,  even  though 
notoriously  corrupt,  is  a  sin.  The  philosophy  of  the  Church, 
as  expressed  by  S.  Thomas  Aquinas,  S.  Bonaventura,  and 
others,  must  be  recognised  as  equal  in  authority  with  Holy 
Writ.     It  follows  that  just  as  a  subordinate  was  enjoined  to 

'  The  letter  addressed  by  Ignatius  to  the  Portuguese  Jesuits,  March  22, 
1553,  on  the  virtue  of  obedience,  the  Constitutions  and  the  glosses 
on  them  called  Declarations,  and  the  last  chapter  of  the  Exercitia^ 
furnish  the  above  sentences.  See,  too,  Philippson,  op.  cit.  pp.  60, 
120-124. 

^  Bead  in  the  Excrcitia  {Inst.  Soc.  Jcsii,  vol.  iv.  pp.  167-173)  the 
Bules  for  right  accord  with  the  Orthodox  Church.  What  follows  above 
is  taken  from  that  chapter. 


ADDICTION   TO   CATHOLICISM  207 

sin,  if  sin  were  ordered  by  liis  Superior,  so  tho  whole  Com- 
pany were  bound  to  lie,  and  do  the  things  they  disapproved, 
and  preach  the  mummeries  in  which  they  disbelieved,  in 
virtue  of  obedience  to  the  Church.  They  may  not  even 
trust  their  senses  ;  for  '  If  the  Church  pronounces  a  thing 
which  seems  to  us  white  to  be  black,  we  must  immediately 
say  that  it  is  black.'  '  The  Jesuits  were  enrolled  as  an  army, 
in  an  hour  of  grave  peril  for  the  Church,  to  undertake  her 
defence.  They  pledged  themselves,  by  this  vow  of  obedience, 
to  perform  that  duty  with  their  eyes  shut.  It  was  not  their 
mission  to  reform  or  purify  or  revivify  Catholicism,  but  to 
maintain  it  intact  with  all  its  intellectual  anachronisms. 
How  well  they  succeeded  may  be  judged  from  the  issue  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  in  which  Lainez  and  Salmeron  played  so 
prominent  a  part.  That  rigid  enforcement  of  every  jot  and 
tittle  in  the  Catholic  hierarchical  organisation,  in  Catholic 
ritual,  in  the  Catholic  cult  of  saints  and  images,  in  the 
Catholic  interpretation  of  Sacraments,  in  Catholic  tradition 
as  of  equal  value  with  the  Bible,  and  lastly  in  the  theory  of 
Papal  Supremacy,  which  was  the  astounding  result  of  a 
Council  convened  to  alter  and  reform  the  Church,  can  be 
attributed  in  no  small  measure  to  Jesuit  persistency. 

Ignatius  attained  his  object.  Obedience,  blind,  servile, 
unquestioning,  unscrupulous,  became  the  distinguishing 
feature  of  the  Jesuits.  But  he  condemned  his  Order  to 
mediocrity.  No  really  great  man  in  any  department  of 
human  knowledge  or  activity  has  arisen  in  the  Company  of 
Jesus.  In  course  of  time  it  became  obvious  to  anyone  of 
independent  character  and  original  intellect  that  their  ranks 
were  not  the  place  for  him.     And  if  youths  of  real  eminence 

'  ExcTcitia,  ibid.  p.  171.  In  this  spirit  a  Jesuit  of  the  present 
century  writing  on  astronomy  devekips  the  heliocentric  theory  while  he 
professes  his  submission  to  the  geocentric  theory  as  maintained  by  the 
Church. 


208  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

entered  it  before  they  perceived  this  truth,  their  spirit  was 
crushed.  The  machine  was  powerful  enough  for  good  and 
evil ;  but  it  remained  an  aggregate  of  individual  inferiorities. 
Its  merit  and  its  perfection  lay  in  this,  that  so  complex  an 
instrument  could  be  moved  by  a  single  finger  of  the  General 
in  Kome.  He  consistently  employed  its  delicate  system  of 
wheels  and  pulleys  for  the  aggrandisement  of  the  Order  in  the 
first  place,  in  the  second  j)lace  for  the  control  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  always  for  the  subjugation  and  cretinisation  of 
the  mind  of  Europe. 

The  training  of  a  Jesuit  began  with  study  of  the  Exercitia 
Sinritualia}  This  manual  had  been  composed  by  Loyola 
himself  at  intervals  between  1522  and  1548,  when  it  received 
the  imprimatur  of  Pope  Paul  III.  He  based  it  on  his  own  ex- 
periences at  Manresa,  and  meant  it  to  serve  as  a  perpetual 
introduction  to  the  mysteries  of  the  religious  life.  It  was 
used  under  the  direction  of  a  father,  who  prescribed  a  portion 
of  its  text  for  each  day's  meditation,  employing  various 
means  to  concentrate  attention  and  enforce  effect.  The  whole 
course  of  this  spiritual  drill  extended  over  four  weeks,  during 
which  the  pupil  remained  in  solitude.  Light  and  sound  and 
all  distractions  of  the  outer  world  were  carefully  excluded 
from  his  chamber.  He  was  bidden  to  direct  his  soul  inward 
upon  itself  and  God,  and  was  led  by  graduated  stages  to 
realise  in  the  most  vivid  way  the  torments  of  the  damned 
and  the  scheme  of  man's  salvation.  The  first  week  was 
occupied  in  an  examination  of  the  conscience  ;  the  second  in 
contemplation  of  Christ's  Kingdom  upon  earth  ;  the  third  in 
meditation  on  the  Passion  ;  the  fourth  in  an  ascent  to  the 
glory  of  the  risen  Lord.  Materialism  of  the  crudest  type 
mingled  with  the  indulgence  of  a  reverie  in  this  long  spiritual 
journey.     At   every   step   the   neophyte   employed    his    five 

'  Inst.  Soc.  Jesu,  vol.  iv.  The  same  volume  contains  the  Direc- 
torium  or  rules  for  the  use  of  the  Exercitia. 


EELIGIOUS  DISCIPLINE  209 

senses  in  the  effort  of  intellectual  realisation.  Prostrate  upon 
the  ground,  gazing  with  closed  eyelids  in  the  twilight  of  his 
cell  upon  the  mirror  of  imagination,  he  had  to  see  the  bound- 
less flames  of  hell  and  souls  encased  in  burning,  bodies,  to 
hear  the  shrieks  and  blasphemies,  to  smell  their  sulphur  and 
intolerable  stench,  to  taste  the  bitterness  of  tears  and/ecZ  the 
stings  of  ineffectual  remorse.  He  had  to  localise  each  object 
in  the  camera  obscura  of  the  brain.  If  the  Garden  of  Geth- 
semane,  for  instance,  were  the  subject  of  his  meditation,  he 
was  bound  to  place  Christ  here  and  the  sleeping  apostles 
there,  and  to  form  an  accurate  image  of  the  angel  and  the  cup. 
He  gazed  and  gazed  until  he  was  able  to  handle  the  raiment 
of  the  Saviour,  to  watch  the  drops  of  bloody  sweat  beading 
his  forehead  and  trickling  down  his  cheeks,  to  grasp  the 
chalice  with  the  fingers  of  the  soul.  As  each  carefully  chosen 
and  sagaciously  suggested  scene  was  presented,  he  had  to 
identify  his  very  being,  soul,  will,  intellect,  and  senses,  with 
the  mental  vision.  He  lived  again,  so  far  as  this  was  possible 
through  fancy,  the  facts  of  sacred  history.  If  the  director 
judged  it  advisable,  symbolic  objects  were  placed  before  him 
in  the  cell ;  at  one  time  skulls  and  bones,  at  another  fresh 
sweet-smelling  flowers.  Fasting  and  flagellation,  peculiar 
postures  of  the  body,  groanings  and  weepings,  were  prescribed 
as  mechanical  aids  in  cases  where  the  soul  seemed  sluggish. 
The  sphere  traversed  in  these  exercises  was  a  narrow  one. 
The  drill  aimed  at  intensity  of  discipline,  at  a  concentrated 
and  concrete  impression,  not  at  width  of  education  or  at  in- 
tellectual enlightenment.  Speculation  upon  the  fundamental 
principles  of  religion  was  excluded.  God's  dealings  with 
mankind  revealed  in  the  Old  Testament  found  no  place  in 
this  theory  of  salvation.  Attention  was  riveted  upon  a  very 
few  points  in  the  life  of  Christ  and  Mary,  such  as  every 
Catholic  child  might  be  supposed  to  be  familiar  with.  But  it 
was  fixed  in  such  a  way  as  to  bring  the  terrors  and  raptures 
VI  p 


210  KENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

of  the  mystics,  of  a  S.  Catherine  or  a  S.  Teresa,  within  the 
reach  of  all ;  to  place  spiritual  experience  a  la  portde  de  tout 
le  monde.  The  vulgarity  is  only  equalled  by  the  ingenuity 
and  psychological  adroitness  of  the  method.  The  soul  in- 
spired with  carnal  dread  of  the  doom  impending  over  it, 
passed  into  almost  physical  contact  with  the  incarnate 
Saviour.  The  designed  effect  was  to  induce  a  vivid  and 
varied  hypnotic  dream  of  thirty  days,  from  the  influence  of 
which  a  man  should  never  wholly  free  himself.  The  end  at 
which  he  arrived  upon  this  path  of  self- scrutiny  and  material- 
istic realisation,  was  the  conclusion  that  his  highest  hope,  his 
most  imperative  duty,  lay  in  the  resignation  of  his  intellect 
and  will  to  spiritual  guidance,  and  in  blind  obedience  to  the 
Church.  Thousands  and  thousands  of  souls  in  the  modern 
world  have  passed  through  this  discipline  ;  and  those  who 
responded  to  it  best,  have  ever  been  selected,  when  this  was 
possible,  as  novices  of  the  Order.  The  director  had  ample 
opportunity  of  observing  at  each  turn  in  the  process  whether 
his  neophyte  displayed  a  likely  disposition. 

"When  the  '  Exercitia  '  had  been  performed,  there  was 
an  end  of  asceticism.  Ignatius,  as  we  have  seen,  dreaded 
nothing  more  than  the  intrusion  of  that  dark  spirit  into  his 
Company ;  he  aimed  at  nothing  more  earnestly  than  at 
securing  agreeable  manners,  a  cheerful  temper,  and  ability 
for  worldly  business  in  its  members. 

The  novice,  when  first  received  into  one  of  the  Jesuit 
houses,  was  separated  so  far  as  possible  for  two  years  from 
his  family,  and  placed  under  the  control  of  a  master,  who 
inspected  his  correspondence  and  undertook  the  full  surveil- 
lance of  his  life.  He  received  cautiously  restricted  informa- 
tion on  the  constitutions  of  the  Society,  and  was  recommended, 
instead  of  renouncing  his  worldly  possessions,  to  reserve  his 
legal  rights  and  make  oblation  of  them  when  he  took  the 
vows.      It  was  not  then  made  clear  to  him  that  what  he  gave 


THE   JESUIT   HIERARCHY  211 

would  never  under  any  circumstances  be  restored,  although 
the  Society  might  send  him  forth  at  -will  a  penniless  wanderer 
into  the  world.  Yet  this  was  the  hard  condition  of  a  Jesuit's 
existence.  After  entering  the  Order  he  owned  nothing,  and 
he  had  no  power  to  depart  if  he  repented.  But  the  General 
could  cashier  him  by  a  stroke  of  the  pen,  condemning  him  to 
destitution  in  every  land  where  Jesuits  held  sway,  and  to 
suspicion  in  every  land  where  Jesuits  were  loathed.  Before 
the  end  of  two  years,  the  novice  generally  signed  an  obligation 
to  assume  the  vows.  He  was  then  drafted  into  the  secular 
or  spiritual  service.  Some  novices  became  what  is  called 
Temporal  Coadjutors ;  their  duty  was  to  administer  the 
property  of  the  Society,  to  superintend  its  houses,  to  distribute 
alms,  to  work  in  hospitals,  to  cook,  garden,  wash,  and  act  as 
porters.  They  took  the  three  vows  of  poverty,  chastity,  and 
obedience.  Those,  on  the  other  hand,  who  showed  some 
aptitude  for  learning,  were  classified  as  Scholastics,  and  were 
distributed  among  the  colleges  of  the  Order.  They  studied 
languages,  sciences,  and  theology,  for  a  period  of  five  years ; 
after  which  they  taught  in  schools  for  another  period  of  five 
or  six  years  ;  and  when  they  reached  the  age  of  about  thirty, 
they  might  be  ordained  priests  with  the  title  of  Spiritual 
Coadjutors.  From  this  body  the  Society  drew  the  rectors 
and  professors  of  its  colleges,  its  preachers,  confessors,  and 
teachers  in  schools  for  the  laity.  They  were  not  yet  full 
members,  though  they  had  taken  the  three  vows  and  were 
irrevocably  devoted  to  the  service  of  the  Order.  The  final 
stage  of  initiation  was  reached  toward  the  age  of  forty-five, 
after  long  and  various  trials.  Then  the  Jesuit  received  the 
title  of  Professed.  He  was  either  a  professed  of  the  three 
vows,  or  a  professed  of  the  four  vows  ;  having  in  the  latter 
case  dedicated  his  life  to  the  special  service  of  the  Papacy  in 
missions  or  in  any  other  cause.  The  professed  of  four  vows 
constituted  the  veritable  Company  of  Jesus,  the  kernel  of  the 

p2 


212  EENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

organisation.  They  were  never  numerous.  At  Loyola's 
death  they  numbered  thirty-five  out  of  a  thousand ;  and  it 
has  been  calculated  that  their  average  proportion  to  the 
whole  body  is  as  two  to  a  hundred. ^  Even  these  had  no 
indefeasible  tenure  of  their  place  in  the  Society.  They  might 
be  dismissed  by  the  General  without  indemnification. 

The  General  was  chosen  for  life  from  the  professed  of 
four  vows  by  the  General  Congregation,  which  consisted  of 
the  pro\'incials  and  two  members  of  each  province.  He  held 
the  whole  Society  at  his  discretion ;  for  he  could  deal  at 
pleasure  with  each  part  of  its  machinery.  The  constitutions, 
strict  as  they  appeared,  imposed  no  barriers  upon  his  will ;  for 
almost  unlimited  power  was  surrendered  to  him  of  dispensing 
with  formalities,  freeing  from  obligations,  shortening  or 
lengthening  the  periods  of  initiation,  retardmg  or  advancing 
a  member  in  his  career.  Ideal  fixity  of  type,  qualified  by  the 
utmost  elasticity  in  practice,  formed  the  essence  of  the 
system.  And  we  shall  see  that  this  principle  pervaded  the 
Jesuit  treatment  of  morality.  The  General  resided  at  Rome, 
consecrated  solely  to  the  government  of  the  Society,  holding 
the  threads  of  all  its  complicated  aflairs  in  his  hands,  studying 
the  personal  history  of  each  of  its  members  in  the  minute 
reports  which  he  constantly  received  from  every  province, 
and  acting  precisely  as  he  chose  with  the  highest  as  well 
as  the  lowest  of  his  subordinates.  Contrary  to  all  precedents 
of  previous  religious  orders,  Ignatius  framed  the  Company 
of  Jesus  upon  the  lines  of  a  close  aristocracy  with  autocratic 
authority  confided  to  an  elected  chief.  Yet  the  General  of 
the  Jesuits,  like  the  Doge  of  Venice,  had  his  hands  tied  by 
subtly  powerful  though  almost  invisible  fetters.  He  was 
subjected  at  every  hour  of  the  day  and  night  to  the  surveil- 
lance of  five  sworn  spies,  especially  appointed  to  prevent  him 
from  altering  the  type  or  neglecting  the  concerns  of  the 
'  Philippson,  op.  cit.  p.  142. 


THE   GENERAL  213 

Order.  The  first  of  these  functionaries,  named  the  Adminis- 
trator, who  was  frequently  also  the  confessor  of  the  General, 
exhorted  him  to  ohedience,  and  reminded  him  that  he  must 
do  all  things  for  the  glory  of  God.  Obedience  and  the  glory 
of  God,  in  Jesuit  phraseology,  meant  the  maintenance  of  the 
Company.  The  other  four  were  styled  Assistants.  They 
had  under  their  charge  the  affairs  of  the  chief  provinces  ;  one 
overseeing  the  Indies,  another  Portugal  and  Spain,  a  third 
France  and  Germany,  a  fourth  Italy  and  Sicily.  Together 
with  the  Administrator,  the  Assistants  were  nominated  by  the 
General  Congregation  and  could  not  be  removed  or  replaced 
without  its  sanction.  It  was  their  duty  to  regulate  the  daily 
life  of  the  General,  to  control  his  private  expenditure  on  the 
scale  which  they  determined,  to  prescribe  what  he  should  eat 
and  drink,  and  to  appoint  his  hours  for  sleep,  and  religious 
exercises,  and  the  transaction  of  public  business.  If  they 
saw  grave  reasons  for  his  deposition,  they  were  bound  to 
convene  the  General  Congregation  for  that  purpose.  And 
since  the  Founder  knew  that  guardians  need  to  be  guarded, 
he  provided  that  the  Provincials  might  convene  this  assembly 
to  call  in  question  the  acts  of  the  Assistants.  The  General 
himself  had  no  power  to  oppose  its  convocation. 

The  Company  of  Jesus  was  thus  based  upon  a  system  of 
mutual  and  pervasive  espionage.  The  novice  on  first  entering 
had  all  his  acts,  habits,  and  personal  qualities  registered.  As 
he  advanced  in  his  career,  he  was  surrounded  by  jealous 
brethren,  who  felt  it  their  duty  to  report  his  slightest  weak- 
ness to  a  superior.  The  superiors  were  watched  by  one 
another  and  by  their  inferiors.  Masses  of  secret  intelligence 
poured  into  the  central  cabinet  of  the  General;  and  the 
General  himself  ate,  slept,  prayed,  worked,  and  moved  about 
the  world  beneath  the  fixed  gaze  of  ten  vigilant  eyes.  Men 
accustomed  to  domesticity  and  freedom  may  wonder  that  life 
should  have  been  tolerable  upon  these  terms.     Yet  we  must 


214  EENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

remember  that  from  the  moment  when  a  youth  had  under- 
gone the  '  Exercitia '  and  taken  the  vows,  he  became  no  less 
in  fact  than  in  spirit  perinde  ac  cadaver  in  the  hands  of  his 
superior.  The  Company  replaced  for  him  both  family  and 
state  ;  and  in  spite  of  the  fourth  vow,  it  is  very  evident  that 
the  Black  Pope,  as  the  General  came  to  be  nicknamed,  owned 
more  of  his  allegiance  than  the  White  Pope,  who  filled 
the  chair  of  S.  Peter.  He  could,  indeed,  at  any  moment  be 
expelled  and  ruined.  But  if  he  served  the  Order  well,  he 
belonged  to  a  vast,  incalculably  potent  organism,  of  which  he 
might  naturally,  after  such  training  as  he  had  received,  be 
proud.  The  sacrifice  of  his  personal  volition  and  intelligence 
made  him  part  of  an  indestructible  corporation,  which  seemed 
capable  of  breaking  all  resistance  by  its  continuity  of  will  and 
effecting  all  purposes  by  its  condensed  sagacity.  Nor  was  he 
in  the  hands  of  rigid  disciphnarians.  His  peccadilloes  were 
condoned,  unless  the  credit  of  the  Order  came  in  question. 
His  natural  abilities  obtained  free  scope  for  their  employment ; 
for  it  suited  the  interest  of  the  Company  to  make  the  most  of 
each  member's  special  gifts.  He  had  no  tedious  duties  of  the 
regular  monastic  routine  to  follow.  He  was  encouraged  to 
become  a  man  of  the  world,  and  to  mix  freely  with  society. 
And  thus,  while  he  resigned  himself,  he  lived  the  large  life  of 
a  complex  microcosm.  Nor  were  men  of  resolute  ambition 
without  the  prospect  of  eventually  swaying  an  authority 
beyond  that  possessed  by  princes  ;  for  anyone  of  the  professed 
might  rise  to  the  supreme  power  in  the  Order. 

Something  must  be  said  about  Loyola's  interpretation 
of  the  vow  of  poverty.  During  his  lifetime  the  Company  ac- 
quired considerable  wealth ;  and  after  his  death  it  became 
a  large  owner  of  estates  in  Europe.  How  was  this  consistent 
with  the  observance  of  that  vow,  so  strictly  inculcated  by  the 
Founder  on  his  first  disciples,  and  so  pompously  proclaimed 
in  their  constitutions  ?     The  professed  and  all  their  houses. 


THE   VOW  OF  POVERTY  215 

as  well  as  their  churches,  were  hound  to  subsist  on  alms ; 
they  preached,  administered  the  sacraments  of  the  Church, 
and  educated  gratis.  They  could  inherit  nothing,  and  were 
not  allowed  to  receive  money  for  their  journeys.  But  here 
appeared  the  wisdom  of  restricting  the  numbers  of  the  pro- 
fessed to  a  small  percentage  of  the  whole  Society.  The  same 
rigid  prohibition  with  regard  to  property  was  not  imposed 
upon  the  houses  of  novices,  colleges,  and  other  educational 
establishments  of  the  Jesuits  ;  while  the  secular  coadjutors 
were  specially  appointed  for  the  administration  of  wealth 
which  the  professed  might  use  but  could  not  own.^  In  like 
manner,  as  they  lived  on  alms,  there  was  no  objection  to  a 
priest  of  the  Order  receiving  valuable  gifts  in  cash  or  kind 
from  grateful  recipients  of  his  spiritual  bounty.  A  separate 
article  of  the  constitutions  furthermore  reserved  for  the 
General  the  right  of  accepting  any  donation  whatsoever  made 
in  favour  of  the  whole  Company,  and  of  assigning  capital  or 
revenue  as  he  judged  wisest.  Scholastics,  even  after  they 
had  taken  the  vow  of  poverty,  were  not  obliged  to  relinquish 
their  private  possessions.  Sooner  or  later,  it  was  hoped  that 
these  would  become  the  property  of  the  order.  In  a  word, 
the  principle  of  this  solemn  obligation  was  so  manipulated  as 
to  facilitate  the  acquisition  and  accumulation  of  wealth  by 
the  Jesuit  like  any  other  corporation.  Only  no  individual 
Jesuit  owned  anything.  He  was  rich  or  poor,  he  wore  the 
clothes  of  princes  or  the  rags  of  a  mendicant,  he  lived  sump- 
tuously or  begged  in  the  street,  he  travelled  with  a  following 
of  servants  or  he  walked  on  foot,  according  as  it  seemed  good 
to  his  superiors.  The  vow  of  poverty,  thus  interpreted  in 
practice,  meant  a  total  disengagement  from  temporalities  on 
the  part  of  every  member,  an  absolute  dependence  of  each 
subordinate  upon  his  superiority  in  the  hierarchy. 

'  Quinet  calculates  that  at  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  there 
were  twenty-one  houses  of  the  professed  (incapable  of  owning  property) 
to  293  colleges  (free  from  this  inability). 


216  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

Having  thus  far  treated  the  organisation  of  the  Jesuits 
as  implicit  in  Loyola's  own  conception  and  administration, 
I  ought  to  add  that  it  received  definite  form  from  his  suc- 
cessor, Lainez.  The  founder  pronounced  the  Constitutions 
in  1553..  But  they  were  thoroughly  revised  after  his  death  in 
1558,  at  which  date  they  first  issued  from  the  press.  Lainez, 
again,  supplemented  these  laws  with  a  perpetual  commentary 
which  is  styled  the  Declarations.  These  contain  the  bulk  of 
those  easements  and  indulgent  interpretations,  whereby  the 
strictness  of  the  original  rules  was  explained  away,  and  an 
almost  imbounded  elasticity  was  communicated  to  the  system. 

It  would  be  rash  to  pronounce  a  decided  opinion  upon  the 
much  disputed  question,  whether,  in  addition  to  their  Con- 
stitutions and  Declarations,  the  Jesuits  were  provided  with 
an  esoteric  code  of  rules  hnown  as  '  Monita  Secreta.'  ^  The 
existence  of  such  a  manual,  which  was  supposed  to  contain 
the  very  pith  of  Jesuitical  policy,  has  been  confidently 
asserted  and  no  less  confidently  denied.  In  the  absence  of 
direct  evidence,  it  may  be  worth  quoting  two  passages  from 
Sarpi's  Letters,  which  prove  that  this  keen-sighted  observer 
believed  the  Society  to  be  governed  in  its  practice  by  statutes 
inaccessible  to  all  but  its  most  trusted  members.  '  I  have 
always  admired  the  policy  of  the  Jesuits,'  he  writes  in  1608, 
'  and  their  method  of  maintaining  secresy.  Their  Constitu- 
tions are  in  print,  and  yet  one  cannot  set  eyes  upon  a  copy. 
I  do  not  mean  their  Eules,  which  are  published  at  Lyons,  for 
those  are  mere  puerilities,  but  the  digest  of  laws  which 
guide  their  conduct  of  the  Order,  and  which  they  keep  con- 
cealed. Every  day  many  members  leave,  or  are  expelled 
from  the  Company  ;  and  yet  their  artifices  are  not  exposed  to 
view.'  ^     In  another  letter,  of  the  date  1610,  Sarpi  returns  to 

'  A  book  with  this  title  was   published  in  1612  at  Cracow.     It  was 
declared  a  forgery  at  Bome  by  a  coiigregation  of  Cardinals. 
-  Leitere,  vol.  i.  p.  100. 


MONITA    SECRETA  217 

the  same  point.  '  The  Jesuits  before  this  Aquaviva  was 
elected  General  were  saints  in  comparison  with  what  they 
afterwards  became.  Formerly  they  had  not  mixed  in  affairs 
of  state  or  thought  of  governing  cities.  Since  then  they  have 
indulged  a  hope  of  controlling  the  whole  world.  And  I  am 
sure  that  the  least  part  of  their  Cabala  is  in  the  Ordinances 
and  Constitutions  of  1570.  All  the  same,  I  am  very  glad  to 
possess  even  these.  Their  true  Cabala  they  never  commu- 
nicate to  any  but  men  who  have  been  well  tested  and  proved 
by  every  species  of  trial ;  nor  is  it  possible  for  those  who  have 
been  initiated  into  it,  to  think  of  retiring  from  the  Order, 
since  the  congregation,  through  their  excellent  management 
of  its  machinery,  know  how  to  procure  the  immediate,  death 
of  any  such  initiated  member  who  may  wish  to  leave  their 
ranks.'  ^  Probably  the  mistake  which  Sarpi  and  the  world 
made,  was  in  supposing  that  the  Jesuits  needed  a  written 
code  for  their  most  vital  action.  Being  a  potent  and  life- 
penetrated  organism,  the  secret  of  their  policy  was  not  such 
as  could  be  reduced  to  rule.  It  was  not  such  as,  if  reduced 
to  rule,  could  have  been  plastic  in  the  affairs  of  public  im- 
portance which  the  Company  sought  to  control.  Better  than 
rule  or  statute,  it  was  biological  function.  The  supreme 
deliberative  bodies  of  the  Order  created,  transmitted,  and 
continuously  modified  its  tradition  of  policy.  This  tradition 
some  member,  partially  initiated  into  their  counsels,  may 
have  reduced  to  precepts  in  the  published  '  Monita  Secreta  '  of 
1G12.  But  the  quintessential  flame  which  breathed  a  breath 
of  life  into  the  fabric  of  the  Jesuits  through  two  centuries  of 
organic  activity,  was  far  too  vivid  and  too  spiritual  to  be 
condensed  in  any  charter.  A  friar  and  a  jurist,  like  Sarpi, 
expected  to  discover  some  controlling  code.  The  public, 
grossly  ignorant  of  evolutionary  laws  in  the  formation  of 
social  organisms,  could  not  comprehend  the  non-existence  of 
'  Lettcre,  vol.  ii.  p.  174. 


218  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

this  code.  Adventurers  supplied  the  demand  from  their 
knowledge  of  the  ruling  policy.  But  like  the  '  Liber  Trium 
Impostorum  '  we  may  regard  the  '  Monita  Secreta '  of  the 
Jesuits  as  an  ex  post  facto  fabrication. 

There   is   no   need   to   trace   the  further  history  of  the 
Jesuits.     Their  part  in  the  Counter-Eeformation  has  rather 
been  exaggerated  than  insufficiently  recognised.     Though  it 
was  incontestably  considerable,  we  cannot  now  concede,  as 
Macaulay  in  his  random  way  conceded  to  this  Company,  the 
spolia  opima  of  down-beaten  Protestantism.     Without  the 
ecclesiastical    reform    which    originated    in   the   Tridentine 
Council ;  without  the  gold  and  sword  of  Spain  ;  without  the 
stakes  and  prisons  of  the  Inquisition ;  without   the  warfare 
against  thought  conducted  by  the  Congregation  of  the  Index  ; 
the  Jesuits  alone  could  not  have   masterfully  governed   the 
Catholic  revival.     That  revival  was   a  movement  of  world- 
historical   importance,  in  which   they  participated.     It   was 
their  fortune  to  find  forces  in  the  world  which  they  partially 
understood ;  it  was  their  merit  to  know  how  to  manipulate 
those  forces  ;  it  was  their  misfortune  and  their  demerit  that 
they  proved  themselves  incapable  of  diverting  those  forces  to 
any  wholesome  end.     In  Italy  a  succession  of  worldly  Popes, 
Paul  III.,  Julius  III.,  Pius  IV.,  and  Gregory  XIII.,  heaped 
favours  and  showered  wealth  upon  the  Order.     The  Jesuits  in- 
carnated the  political  spirit  of  the  Papacy  at  this  epoch  ;  they 
lent  it  a  potency  for  good  and  evil  which  the  decrepit  but  still 
vigorous   institution   arrogated   to   itself.     They  adapted  its 
anachronisms  with  singular  adroitness  to  the  needs  of  modern 
society.     They  transfused  their  throbbing  blood  into  its  flaccid 
veins,  until  it  became  doubtful  whether  the  Papacy  had  been 
absorbed  into  the  Jesuits,  or   whether  the  Jesuits  had  re- 
modelled the  Papacy  for  contemporary  uses.    But  this  tendency 
in    the    aspiring   Order   to   identify   itself   with   Kome,   this 
ambition  to  command  the  prestige  of  Rome  as  leverage  for 


JESUITICAL   EDUCATION  219 

carrying  out  its  own  designs,  stirred  the  resentment  of 
haughty  and  intransigeant  Pontiil's.  The  Jesuits  were  not 
beloved  by  Paul  IV.,  Pius  V.,  and  Sixtus  V. 

It  remains,  however,  to  inquire  in  what  the  originality, 
the  effective  operation,  and  the  modifying  influence  of  the 
Jesuit  Society  consisted  during  the  period  with  which  we  are 
concerned.  It  was  their  object  to  gain  control  over  Europe 
by  preaching,  education,  the  direction  of  souls,  and  the  man- 
agement of  public  affairs.  In  each  of  these  departments  their 
immediate  success  was  startling  ;  for  tliey  laboured  with  zeal, 
and  they  adapted  their  methods  to  the  requirements  of  the 
age.  Yet,  in  the  long  run,  art,  science,  literature,  religion, 
morality  and  politics,  all  suffered  from  their  interference.  By 
preferring  artifice  to  reality,  affectation  to  sincerity,  shams 
and  subterfuges  to  plain  principle  and  candour,  they  confused 
the  conscience  and  enfeebled  the  intellect  of  Catholic  Europe. 
When  we  speak  of  the  Jesuit  style  in  architecture,  rhetoric 
and  poetry,  of  Jesuit  learning  and  scholarship,  of  Jesuit 
casuistry  and  of  Jesuit  diplomacy,  it  is  either  with  languid 
contempt  for  bad  taste  and  insipidity,  or  with  the  burning 
indignation  which  systematic  falsehood  and  corruption  inspire 
in  honourable  minds. 

In  education,  the  Jesuits,  if  they  did  not  precisely  innovate, 
improved  upon  the  methods  of  the  grammarians  which  had 
persisted  from  the  Middle  Ages  through  the  Eenaissance. 
They  spared  no  pains  in  training  a  large  and  competent  body 
of  professors,  men  of  extensive  culture,  formed  upon  one 
uniform  pattern,  and  exercised  in  the  art  of  popularising 
knowledge.  These  teachers  were  distributed  over  the  Jesuit 
colleges  ;  and  in  every  country  their  system  was  the  same. 
New  catechisms,  grammars,  primers,  manuals  of  history 
enabled  their  pupils  to  learn  with  facility  in  a  few  months 
what  it  had  cost  years  of  painful  labour  to  acquire  under 
pompous  pedants  of  the  old  regime.     The  mental  and  physical 


220  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

aptitudes  of  youths  committed  to  their  charge  were  carefully 
observed;    and   classes   were   adapted   to   -various   ages   and 
degrees   of   capacity.     Hours   of  recreation   alternated  with 
hours  of  study,  so  that  the  effort  of  learning  should  be  neither 
irksome  nor  injurious  to  health.     Nor  was  religious  education 
neglected.     Attendance  upon  daily  Mass,  monthly  confession, 
and  instruction  in  the  articles  of  the  faith,  formed  an  indis- 
pensable part  of  the  system.     When  we  remember  that  these 
advantages  were  offered  gratuitously  to  the  public,  it  is  not 
surprising  that  people  of  all  ranks  and  conditions  should  have 
sent   their  boys   to   the   Jesuit  colleges.     Even   Protestants 
availed  themselves  of  what  appeared  so  excellent  a  method ; 
and  the   Jesuits   obtained  the  reputation  of  being   the  best 
instructors  of  youth. ^     It  soon  became  the   mark  of  a  good 
Catholic  to  have  frequented  Jesuit  schools  ;  and  in  after  life  a 
pupil  who  had  studied  creditably  in  their  colleges,  found  him- 
self  everywhere   at   home.     Yet  the  Society  took  but  little 
interest  in  elementary  or  popular   education.     Their   object 
was  to   gain   possession   of   the   nobility,  gentry,  and  upper 
middle  class.     The  proletariate   might   remain   ignorant ;  it 
was  the  destiny  of  such  folk   to  be  passive  instruments  in 
the  hands  of  spiritual  and  temporal  rulers.     Nor  were  they 
always  scrupulous  in  the  means  employed  for  taking  hold  on 
young   men   of   distinction.     One  instance  of  the  animosity 
they  aroused  even  in  Italy  at  an  early  period  of  their  activity 
will   suffice.     Tuscany  was  thrown   into   commotion  by  the 
discovery  of  their  designs  upon  the  boys  they  undertook  to 
teach.     '  They  were   so   madly  bent,'  says   Galluzzi,  '  upon 
filling  the  ranks  of  their  Company  with  individuals  of  wealth 

'  See  Sarpi's  Letters,  vol.  i.  p.  352,  for  Protestant  pupils  of  Jesuits. 
Sarpi's  Memorial  to  the  Signory  of  Venice  on  the  Collegio  dc"  Greci  in 
Borne  exposes  the  fallacy  of  their  being  reputed  the  best  teachers  of 
youth,  by  pointing  out  how  their  aim  is  to  withdraw  their  pupils' 
allegiance  from  the  nation,  the  government  and  the  family,  to  them- 
eelves. 


CONTROL  OF  YOUTH  221 

and  birth  that  in  1584,  in  the  single  city  of  Siena,  under  the 
pretence  of  devotion,  they  seduced  thirty  youths  of  the  noblest 
and  richest  houses,  not  without  great  injury  to  their  families 
and  grief  to  their  parents.  The  most  notorious  of  these  cases 
was  that  of  two  sons  of  Pandolfo  Petrucci,  whose  name 
indicates  his  high  position  in  the  aristocracy  of  Siena.  These 
young  men  they  got  into  their  power  by  inducing  them  to 
commit  a  theft,  and  then  compelled  them  to  pledge  fealty  to 
the  Society.  Escaping  by  night  in  the  direction  of  Eome,  the 
lads  were  arrested  by  the  city  guards,  and  confessed  that  they 
had  agreed  to  meet  two  Jesuits  who  were  waiting  to  conduct 
them  on  their  journey.'^  It  was,  indeed,  not  the  propaga- 
tion of  sound  principles  or  liberal  learning,  but  the  aggrandise- 
ment of  the  Order  and  the  enforcement  of  Catholic  usages,  at 
which  the  Jesuits  aimed  in  their  scheme  of  education.  This 
was  noticeable  in  their  attitude  toward  literature  and  science. 
Michelet  has  described  their  method  in  a  brilliant  and  exact 
metaphor,  as  the  attempt  to  counteract  the  poison  of  free 
thought  and  stimulative  studies  by  means  of  vaccination. 
They  taught  the  classics  in  expurgated  editions,  histoiy  in 
drugged  epitomes,  science  in  popular  lectures.  Instead  of 
banning  what  M.  Kenan  is  wont  to  style  etudes  fortes,  they 
undertook  to  emasculate  these  and  render  them  innocuous. 
While  Bruno  was  burned  by  the  Inquisition  for  proclaiming 
what  the  Copernican  discovery  involved  for  faith  and  meta- 
physic,  Father  Koster  at  Cologne  vulgarised  it  into  something 
pretty  and  agreeable.  While  Scaliger  and  Casaubon  used  the 
humanities  as  a  propaedeutic  of  the  virile  reason,  the  Jesuits 
contrived  to  sterilise  and  mechanise  their  influences  by  insipid 
rhetoric.  Everywhere  through  Europe,  by  the  side  of  stalwart 
thinkers,  crept  plausible  Jesuit  professors,  following  the  light 
of  learning  like  its  shadow,  mimicking  the  accent  of  the  gods 
like  parrots,  and  mocking  their  gestures  like  apes.  Their 
'  Storia  del  Granducato  di  Toscana,  vol.  iv.  p.  275. 


222  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

adroit  admixture  of  falsehood  with  truth  in  all  departments  of 
knowledge,  their  substitution  of  veneer  for  solid  timber,  and 
of  pinchbeck  for  sterling  metal,  was  more  profitable  to  the 
end  they  had  in  view  than  the  torture-chamber  of  the  In- 
quisition or  the  quarantine  of  the  Index.  ]\Iediocrities  and 
respectabilities  of  every  description — that  is  to  say,  the 
majority  of  the  influential  classes— were  delighted  with  their 
method.  What  could  be  better  than  to  see  sons  growing  up, 
good  Catholics  in  all  external  observances,  devoted  to  the 
order  of  society  and  Mother  Church,  and  at  the  same  time 
showy  Latinists,  furnished  with  a  cyclopedia  of  current 
knowledge,  glib  at  speechifying,  ingenious  in  the  construction 
of  an  epigram  or  compliment  ?  If  some  of  the  more  sensible 
sort  grumbled  that  Jesuit  learning  was  shallow  and  Jesuit 
morality  of  base  alloy,  the  reply,  like  that  of  an  Italian  draper 
selling  palpable  shoddy  for  broadcloth,  came  easily  and 
cynically  to  the  surface :  Imita  bene  !  The  stuff  is  a  good 
match  enough !  What  more  do  you  want  ?  To  produce 
plausible  imitations,  to  save  appearances,  to  amuse  the  mind 
with  tricks,  was  the  last  resort  of  Catholicism  in  its  warfare 
against  rationalism.  And  such  is  the  banality  of  human 
nature  as  a  whole,  that  the  Jesuits,  those  monopohsts  of 
Brummagem  manufactures,  achieved  eminent  success.  Their 
hideous  churches,  daubed  with  plaster  painted  to  resemble 
costly  marbles,  encrusted  with  stucco  polished  to  deceive  the 
eye,  loaded  with  gewgaws  and  tinsel  and  superfluous  ornament 
and  frescoes  turning  flat  surfaces  into  cupolas  and  arcades, 
passed  for  masterpieces  of  architectonic  beauty.  The  conceits 
of  their  pulpit  oratory,  its  artificial  cadences  and  flowery 
verbiage,  its  theatrical  appeals  to  gross  sensations,  wrought 
miracles  and  converted  thousands.  Their  sickly  Ciceronian 
style,  their  sentimental  books  of  piety,  '  the  worse  for  being 
warm,'  the  execrable  taste  of  their  poetry,  their  flimsy  philo- 
sophy and  disingenuous  history,  infected  the  taste  of  Catholic 


JESUIT  MOEALITY  223 

Europe  like  a  slow  seductive  poison,  flattering  and  accelerating 
the  diseases  of  mental  decadence.  Sound  learning  died  down 
beneath  the  tyranny  of  the  Inquisition,  the  Index,  the  Council 
of  Trent,  Spain  and  the  Papacy.  A  rank  growth  of  unwhole- 
some culture  arose  and  flourished  on  its  tomb  under  the 
forcing-frames  of  Jesuitry.  But  if  we  peruse  the  records  of 
literature  and  science  during  the  last  three  centuries,  few 
indeed  are  the  eminences  even  of  a  second  order  which  can  be 
claimed  by  the  Company  of  Jesus. 

The  same  critique  applies  to  Jesuit  morality.  It  was  the 
Company's  aim  to  control  the  conscience  by  direction  and 
confession,  and  especially  the  conscience  of  princes,  women, 
youths  in  high  position.  To  do  so  by  plain  speaking  and 
honest  dealing  was  clearly  dangerous.  The  world  had  had 
enough  of  Dominican  austerity  and  dogmatism.  To  do  so  by 
open  toleration  and  avowed  cynicism  did  not  suit  the  temper 
of  the  time.  A  reform  of  the  monastic  orders  and  the  regular 
clergy  had  been  undertaken  by  the  Church.  Pardoners, 
palmers,  indulgence-mongers,  jolly  Franciscan  confessors,  and 
such-like  folk  were  out  of  date.  But  the  Jesuits  were  equal 
to  the  exigencies  of  the  moment.  We  have  seen  how  Ignatius 
recommended  fishers  of  souls  to  humour  queasy  consciences. 
His  successors  expanded  and  applied  the  hint. — You  must  not 
begin  by  talking  about  spiritual  things  to  people  immersed  in 
worldly  interests.  That  is  as  simple  as  trying  to  fish  without 
bait.  On  the  contrary,  you  must  insinuate  yourself  into  their 
confidence  by  studying  their  habits,  and  spying  out  their 
propensities.  You  must  appear  to  notice  little  at  the  first, 
and  show  yourself  a  good  companion.  When  you  become 
acquainted  with  the  bosom  sins  and  pleasant  vices  of  folk 
in  high  position,  you  can  lead  them  on  the  path  of  virtue  at 
your  pleasure.  You  must  certainly  tell  them  then  that 
indulgence  in  sensuality,  falsehood,  fraud,  violence,  covetous- 
ness   and  tyrannical   oppression   is    unconditionally   wrong. 


224  RENAISSANCE    IN   ITALY 

Make  no  show  of  compromise  with  evil  in  the  gross  ;  but 
refine  away  the  evil  by  distinctions,  reservations,  hypothetical 
conditions,  mitil  it  disappears.  Explain  how  hard  it  is  to 
know  whether  a  sin  be  venial  or  mortal,  and  how  many 
chances  there  are  against  its  being  in  any  strict  sense  a  sin  at 
all.  Do  not  leave  folk  to  their  own  blunt  sense  of  right  and 
wrong,  but  let  them  admire  the  finer  edge  of  your  scalpel, 
while  you  shred  up  evil  into  morsels  they  can  hardly  see.  A 
ready  way  may  thus  be  opened  for  the  satisfaction  of  every 
human  desire  without  falling  into  theological  faults.  The 
advantages  are  manifest.  You  will  be  able  to  absolve  with 
a  clear  conscience.  Your  penitent  will  abound  in  gratitude 
and  open  out  his  heart  to  you.  You  will  fulfil  your  function 
as  confessor  and  counsellor.  He  will  be  secured  for  the  sacred 
ends  of  our  Society,  and  will  contribute  to  the  greater  glory 
of  God. — It  was  thus  that  the  Jesuit  labyrinth  of  casuistry, 
with  its  windings,  turnings,  secret  chambers,  whispering 
galleries,  blind  alleys,  issues  of  evasion,  came  into  existence ; 
the  whole  vicious  and  monstrous  edifice  being  crowned  with 
the  saving  virtue  of  obedience  and  the  theory  of  ends  justifying 
means.  After  the  irony  of  Pascal,  the  condensed  rage  of  La 
Chalotais,  and  the  grave  verdict  of  the  Parlement  of  Paris 
(1762),  it  is  not  necessary  now  to  refute  the  errors  or  to  expose 
the  abominations  of  this  casuistry  in  detail.^     Yet  it  cannot  be 

'  Having  mentioned  the  names  of  these  illustrious  Frenchmen,  I 
feel  bound  to  point  out  how  accurately  their  criticism  of  the  Jesuits 
was  anticipated  by  Paolo  Sarpi.  His  correspondence  between  the 
years  1008  and  1622  demonstrates  that  this  body  of  social  corrupters 
had  been  early  recognised  by  him  in  their  true  light.  Sarpi  calls 
them  '  sottilissimi  maestri  in  mal  fare,'  '  donde  esce  ogni  falsita  e 
bestemmia,'  'il  vero  morbo  Gallico,'  '  peste  pubblica,'  '  peste  del  mondo' 
(Letters,  vol.  i.  pp.  142,  183,  245,  ii.  82,  109).  He  says  that  they 
'  hanno  messo  1'  ultima  mano  a  stabilire  una  corruzione  universale  '  (ib. 
vol.  i.  p.  304).  By  their  equivocations  and  mental  reservations  '  fanno 
essi  prova  di  gabbare  Iddio  '  (ib.  vol.  ii.  p.  82).  '  La  menzogna  non 
iscusano  soltanto  ma  lodano  '  (ib.  vol.  ii.  p.  106).     So  far,  the  utterances 


SARPI   ON   JESUITRY  22-5 

wliolly  passed  in  silence  here  ;  for  its  application  materially 
favoured  the  influence  of  Jesuits  in  modern  Europe. 

which  I  have  quoted  might  pass  for  the  rhetoric  of  mere  spite.  But  tlie 
portrait  gradually  becomes  more  definite  in  details  limned  from  life. 
'  The  Jesuits  have  so  many  loopholes  for  escape,  pretexts,  colours  of 
insinuation,  that  they  are  more  changeful  than  the  Sophist  of  Plato  ; 
and  when  one  thinks  to  have  caught  them  between  thumb  and 
linger,  they  wriggle  out  and  vanish  '  {ib.  vol.  i.  p.  230).  '  The  Jesuit 
fathers  have  methods  of  acquiring  in  this  world,  and  making  their 
neophytes  acquire,  heaven  without  diminution,  or  rather  with  augmen- 
tation, of  this  life's  indulgences  '  {ib.  vol.  i.  p.  313).  'The  Jesuit  fathers 
used  to  confer  Paradise ;  they  now  have  become  dispensers  of  fame  in 
this  world  '  {ibid.  p.  3G3).  '  When  they  seek  entrance  into  any  place, 
they  do  not  hesitate  to  make  what  promises  may  be  demanded  of  them, 
possessing  as  they  do  the  art  of  escape  by  lying  with  equivocations  and 
mental  reservations  '  {ib.  vol.  ii.  p,  147).  '  The  Jesuit  is  a  man  of  every 
colour  ;  he  repeats  the  marvel  of  the  chameleon  '  {ibid.  p.  105).  '  When 
they  play  a  losing  game,  they  yet  rise  winners  from  the  table.  For  it  is 
their  habit  to  insinuate  themselves  upon  any  condition  demanded, 
having  arts  enough  whereby  to  make  themselves  masters  of  those  who 
bind  them  by  prescribed  rules.  They  are  glad  to  enter  in  the  guise  of 
galley-slaves  with  irons  on  their  ankles ;  since,  when  they  have  got  in, 
they  will  find  no  difficulty  in  loosing  their  own  bonds  and  binding 
others  '  {ibid.  p.  134).  '  They  command  two  arts  :  the  one  of  escaping 
from  the  bonds  and  obligations  of  any  vow  or  promise  they  shall  have 
made,  by  means  of  equivocation,  tacit  reservation,  and  mental  restriction  ; 
the  other  of  insinuating,  like  the  hedgehog,  into  the  narrowest  recesses, 
being  well  aware  that  when  they  unfold  their  piercing  bristles,  they 
will  obtain  the  full  possession  of  the  dwelling  and  exclude  its  master ' 
{ibid.  p.  144).  '  Everybody  in  Italy  is  well  aware  how  they  have 
wrought  confession  into  an  art.  They  never  receive  confidences  under 
that  seal  without  disclosing  all  jjarticulars  in  the  conferences  of  their 
Society ;  and  that  with  the  view  of  using  confession  to  the  advantage  of 
their  Order  and  the  Church.  At  the  same  time  they  preach  the 
doctrine  that  the  seal  of  the  confessional  precludes  a  penitent  from  dis- 
closing what  the  confessor  may  have  said  to  him,  albeit  his  utterances 
have  had  no  reference  to  sins  or  to  the  safety  of  the  soul '  {ib.  vol.  ii. 
p.  108).  '  Should  the  Jesuits  in  France  get  hold  of  education,  they  will 
dominate  the  university,  and  eradicate  sound  letters.  Yet  why  do  I 
speak  of  healthy  literature  ?  1  ought  to  have  said  good  and  wholesome 
doctrine,  the  which  is  verily  mortal  to  that  Company'  {ibid.  p.  162). 
'Every  species  of  vice  finds  its  patronage  in  them.  The  avaricious 
trust  their  maxims,  for  trafficking  in  spiritual  commodities  ;  the  super- 
stitious, for  substituting  kisses  upon  images  for  the  exercise  of  Christian 
VI  Q 


226  KENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

The  working  of  the  Company,  as  we  have  seen,  depended 
upon  a  skilful  manipulation  of  apparently  hard-and-fast 
principles.  The  Declarations  explained  away  the  Constitu- 
tions ;  and  an  infinite  number  of  minute  exceptions  and 
distinctions  volatilised  vows  and  obligations  into  ether. 
Transferring  the  same  method  to  the  sphere  of  ethics,  they 
so  wrought  upon  the  precepts  of  the  moral  law,  whether 
expressed  in  holy  writ,  in  the  ecclesiastical  decrees,  or  in  civil 
jurisprudence,  as  to  deprive  them  of  their  binding  force.     The 

virtues ;  the  base  fry  of  ambitious  upstarts,  for  cloaking  every  act  of 
Bcoundreldom  with  a  veil  of  holiness.  The  indifferent  find  in  them  a 
palhative  for  their  spiritual  deadness ;  and  whoso  fears  no  God  has  a 
visible  God  ready  made  for  him,  whom  he  may  worship  with  merit  to 
his  soul.  In  fine,  there  is  nor  perjury,  nor  sacrilege,  nor  parricide,  nor 
incest,  nor  rapine,  nor  fraud,  nor  treason,  which  cannot  be  masked  as 
meritorious  beneath  the  mantle  of  their  dispensation '  {ibid.  p.  330). 
'  I  apprehend  the  difficulty  of  attacking  their  teachings  ;  seeing  that  they 
merge  their  own  interests  with  those  of  the  Papacy,  and  that  not  only  in 
the  article  of  Pontifical  authority,  but  in  all  points.  At  present  they  stand 
for  themselves  upon  the  ground  of  equivocations.  But  believe  me, 
they  will  adjust  this  also,  and  that  speedily ;  forasmuch  as  they  are 
omnipotent  in  the  Roman  Court,  and  the  Pope  himself  fears  them  ' 
{ibid.  p.  333).  'Had  S.  Peter  known  the  creed  of  the  Jesuits,  he  could 
have  found  a  way  to  deny  our  Lord  without  sinning  '  {ibid.  p.  353). 
'  The  Eoman  Court  will  never  condemn  Jesuit  doctrine  ;  for  this  is  the 
secret  of  its  empire—  a  secret  of  the  highest  and  most  capital  impor- 
tance, whereby  those  who  openly  refuse  to  worship  it  are  excommuni- 
cated, and  those  who  would  do  so  if  they  dared  are  held  in  check ' 
{ibid.  p.  105).  The  object  of  this  lengthy  note  is  to  vindicate  for  Sarpi 
a  prominent  and  early  place  among  those  candid  analysts  of  Jesuitry 
who  now  are  lost  in  the  great  light  of  Pascal's  genius.  Sarpi's  Familiar 
Letters  have  for  my  mind  even  more  weight  than  the  famous  Lettres 
Provinciales  of  Pascal.  They  were  written  with  no  polemical  or  literary 
bias,  at  a  period  when  Jesuitry  was  in  its  prime  ;  and  their  force  as 
evidence  is  strengthened  by  their  obvious  spontaneity.  A  book  of  some 
utility  was  published  in  1703  at  Salzburg  ('?),  under  the  title  of  Artes 
Jesuiticae  by  Christian  us  Aletophilus.  This  contains  a  compendium  of 
those  passages  in  casuistical  writings  on  which  Pascal  based  his 
brilliant  satires.  Paul  Bert's  modern  work.  La  Morale  des  J^suites 
(Paris  :  Charpentier,  1881),  is  intended  to  prove  that  recent  casuistical 
treatises  of  the  school  repeat  those  ancient  perversions  of  sound  morals. 


CASUISTICAL   ETHICS  227 

subtlest  elasticity  had  been  gained  for  the  machinery  of  the 
order  by  casuistical  interpretation.  A  like  elasticity  was 
secured  for  the  control  and  government  of  souls  by  an 
identical  process.  It  was  r.o  wonder  that  the  Jesuits  became 
rapidly  fashionable  as  confessors.  The  plainest  prohibitions 
were  as  wax  in  their  hands.  The  Decalogue  laid  down  as 
rules  for  conduct  :  '  Thou  shalt  not  steal ; '  '  Thou  shalt  not 
kill ; '  '  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery.'  Christ  spiritualised 
these  rules  into  their  essence :  '  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bour as  thyself ; '  '  Whosoever  looketh  on  a  woman  to  lust 
after  her  hath  committed  adultery  already  with  her  in  his 
heart.'  It  is  manifest  that  both  the  old  and  tha  new 
covenant,  upon  which  modern  Christianity  is  supposed  to 
rest,  suffered  no  transactions  in  matters  so  clear  to  the 
human  conscience.  Jesus  himself  refined  upon  the  legality 
of  the  Mosaic  code  by  defining  sin  as  egotism  or  concupiscence, 
But  the  Company  of  Jesus  took  pains  in  their  casuistry  to 
provide  attenuating  circumstances  for  every  sin  in  detail. 
By  their  doctrines  of  the  invincible  erroneous  conscience,  of 
occult  compensation,  of  equivocation,  of  mental  reservation, 
of  probabilism,  and  of  philosophical  sin,  they  afforded  loop- 
holes for  the  gratification  of  every  passion  and  for  the 
commission  of  every  crime.  Instead  of  maintaining  that 
any  injury  done  to  a  neighbour  is  wrong,  they  multiplied 
instances  in  which  a  neighbour  may  be  injured.  Instead  of 
holding  firm  to  Christ's  verdict  that  sexual  vice  is  implicit 
in  licentious  desire,  they  analysed  the  sensual  modes  of  crude 
voluptuousness,  taxed  each  in  turn  at  arbitrary  values,  and 
provided  plausible  excuses  for  indulgence.  Instead  of  laying 
it  down  as  a  broad  principle  that  men  must  keep  their  word, 
they  taught  them  how  to  lie  with  spiritual  impunity  and  with 
credit  to  their  reputation  as  sons  of  the  Church.  Thus  the 
inventive  genius  of  the  casuist,  bent  on  dissecting  immorality 
and  reducing  it  to  classes ;  the  interrogative  ingenuity  of  the 

q2 


228  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

confessor,  pi-ariently  inquisitive  into  private  experience  ;  the 
apologetic  subtlety  of  the  director,  eager  to  supply  his 
penitent  with  salves  and  anodynes ;  were  all  alike  and 
all  together  applied  to  anti-social  contamination  in  matters 
of  lubricity,  and  to  anti-social  corruption  in  matters  of  dis- 
honesty, fraud,  falsehoods,  illegality  and  violence.  The 
single  doctrine  of  probabilism,  as  Pascal  abundantly  proved, 
facilitates  the  commission  of  crime ;  for  there  is  no  perverse 
act  which  some  casuist  of  note  has  not  plausibly  excused. 

It  may  be  urged  that  confession  and  direction,  as  adopted 
by  the  Catholic  Church,  bring  the  abominations  of  casuistry 
logically  in  their  train.  Priests  who  have  to  absolve  sinners 
must  be  familiar  with  sin  in  all  its  branches.  In  the 
confessional  they  will  be  forced  to  listen  to  recitals,  the  exact 
bearings  of  Avhich  they  cannot  understand  unless  they  are 
previously  instructed.  Therefore  the  writings  of  Sanchez, 
Diana,  Liguori,  Burchard,  Billuard,  Eousselot,  Gordon, 
Gaisson,  are  put  into  their  hands  at  an  early  age — works 
which  reveal  more  secrets  of  impudicity  than  Aretino  has 
described,  or  Commodus  can  have  practised — works  which 
recommend  more  craft  and  treachery  and  fraud  and  falsehood 
than  Machiavelli  accorded  to  his  misbegotten  Saviour  of 
Society.  In  these  writings  men  vowed  to  celibacy  probe  the 
foulest  labyrinths  of  sexual  impurity  ;  men  claiming  to  stand 
outside  the  civil  order  and  the  state  imbibe  false  theories 
upon  property  and  probity  and  public  duty. 

The  root  of  the  matter  is  wrong  indubitably.  It  is 
contrary  to  good  government  that  a  sacerdotal  class,  by 
means  of  confession  and  direction,  should  be  placed  in  a 
position  of  deciding  upon  conduct.  It  is  revolting  to  human 
dignity  that  this  same  class,  without  national  allegiance  and 
without  domestic  ties,  should  have  the  opportunity  of  infecting 
young  minds  by  unhealthy  questionings  and  dishonourable 
suggestions.     But  this  wrong,  which  is  inherent  in  the  modern 


POLITICAL  DOCTEINE  229 

Catholic  system,  becomes  an  atrocity  when  it  is  employetl,  as 
the  Jesuits  employed  it,  as  an  instrument  for  moulding  and 
controlling  society  in  their  own  interest. 

While  the  Jesuits  rendered  themselves  obnoxious  to 
criticism  by  their  treatment  of  the  individual  in  his  private 
and  social  capacity,  they  speedily  became  what  Hallam 
cautiously  styles  '  rather  dangerous  supporters  of  the  See 
of  Rome '  in  public  and  political  affairs.  The  ultimate 
failure  of  their  diplomacy  and  intrigue  over  the  whole  field 
of  modern  statecraft  inclines  historians  of  the  present  epoch 
to  underrate  their  mechanics  of  obstruction,  and  to  under- 
estimate the  many  occasions  on  which  they  did  successfully 
retard  the  progress  of  civil  government  and  intellectual 
freedom.  It  were  wiser  to  regard  them  in  the  same  light 
as  fanatics  laying  stones  upon  a  railway,  or  of  dynamiters 
blowing  up  an  emperor  or  a  corner  of  Westminster  Hall. 
The  final  end  of  the  nefarious  traffic  may  not  be  attained » 
But  credit  can  be  claimed  by  those  who  took  their  part  in  it, 
for  the  wreck  of  express  trains,  the  perturbation  of  cities, 
and  the  mourning  of  peaceable  families.  And  thus  it  was 
with  the  Jesuits.  Though  the  results  of  their  political 
intrigues  have  not  corresponded  to  their  hopes,  they  yet 
worked  appreciable  mischief  by  the  organisation  of  the 
League  in  France,  and  the  Thirty  Years'  War  in  Germany, 
and  by  their  revolutionary  theories  which  infected  Europe 
with  conspiracy  and  murder.  Their  method  was  not  original. 
Machiavelli  had  expounded  the  doctrines  they  put  in  practice. 
He  taught  that  in  a  desperate  state  of  the  nation  men  may 
have  recourse  to  treachery  and  violence.  The  nation  of  the 
Jesuits  was  a  hybrid  between  their  Order  and  Catholicism. 
The  peril  to  the  Church  was  imminent ;  its  decadence  de- 
manded desperate  remedies.  They  invoked  regicide,  revolt, 
and  treason,  to  effect  an  impossible  cure. 

The  political  theory  of  the  Jesuits  was  deduced  from  their 


230  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

fundamental  principle   of  obedience  to  the    Church,     They 
maintained  that  the  ecclesiastical  is  jure  divino  superior  to 
the  secular  power.     The  Pope  through  God's  commission  and 
appointment  sways  the  Church  ;  the  Church  takes  rank  above 
the  State,   as  the  soul  above  the  body.     Consequently,  the 
first  allegiance  of  a  Christian  nation,  together  with  its  secular 
rulers,  belongs  of  right  to  the  Supreme  Pontiff.     The  people 
is   the   real   sovereign ;    and  kings   are   delegates   from   the 
people,  with  authority  which  they  can  only  justly  exercise  so 
long  as  they  remain  in  obedience  to  Rome.     It  follows  from 
these  positions  that   every   nation  must   refuse  fealty  to  an 
irreligious  or  contumacious  ruler.      In  the  last  resort  they 
may  lawfully  remove  him  by  murder  ;  and  they  are  ijjso  facto 
in  a  state  of  mortal  sin  if  they  elect  or  recognise  a  heretic  as 
sovereign.      This   theory   sprang   from   the   writings   of   the 
English  Jesuits,  Allen  and  Parsons.     It  was   elaborated  in 
Rome  by  Cardinal  Bellarmino,  applied  in  Spain  by  Suarez 
and    Mariana,   and    openly    preached    in    France    by   Jean 
Boucher.     The  best  energies  of  Paolo  Sarpi  were  devoted  to 
combating   the   main   position   of    ecclesiastical   supremacy. 
His  works  had  a  salutary  effect  by  delimiting  the  relations 
of  the  Church  to  the  State,  and  by  demonstrating  even  to 
Catholics  the   pernicious  results   of  acknowledging   a  Papal 
overlordship   in    temporal    affairs.      At   the    same   time  the 
boldly  democratic  principle  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  people, 
which  the  Jesuits  advanced  in  order  to  establish  their  doctrine 
of  ecclesiastical  superiority,  provoked   opposition.     It  led  to 
the  contrary  hypothesis  of  the  Divine  Right   of  sovereigns, 
which   found  favour  in  Protestant  kingdoms  and  especially 
in  England  under   the    Stuart  dynasty.     When  the  French 
Catholics  resolved  to  terminate  the  discords  of  their  country 
by  the  recognition  of  Henri  IV.,  they  had  recourse  to  this 
argument  for  justifying  their  obedience  to  a  heretic.     It  was 
felt  by  all  sound  thinkers   and   by  every  patriot  in  Europe 


POLITICAL   INTRIGUE  231 

that  the  Papal  prerogatives  claimed  by  the  Jesuits  were  too 
inconsistent  with  national  liberties  to  be  tolerated.  The  zeal 
of  the  Society  had  clearly  outrun  its  discretion  ;  and  the  free 
discussion  of  the  theory  of  government  which  their  insolent 
assumptions  stimulated,  weakened  the  cause  they  sought  to 
strengthen.     Their  ingenuity  overreached  itself. 

This,  however,  was  as  nothing  compared  with  the  hostility 
evoked  by  their  unscrupulous  application  of  these  principles 
in  practice.  There  was  hardly  a  plot  against  established 
rule  in  Protestant  countries  with  which  they  were  not  known 
or  believed  to  be  connected.  The  invasion  of  Ireland  in 
1579,  the  judicial  murder  of  the  Eegent  Morton  in  Scotland, 
and  Babington's  conspiracy  against  Elizabeth,  emanated  from 
their  councils.  They  were  held  responsible  for  the  attempted 
murder  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  in  1580,  and  for  his  actual 
murder  in  1584.  They  loudly  applauded  Jacques  Clement, 
the  assassin  of  Henri  III.  in  1589,  as  '  the  eternal  glory  of 
France.'  '  Numerous  unsuccessful  attacks  upon  the  life  of 
Henri  IV.,  culminating  in  that  of  Jean  Chastel  in  1591, 
caused  their  expulsion  from  France.  When  they  returned  in 
1003,  they  set  to  work  again  ^ ;  and  the  assassin  Eavaillac, 
who  succeeded  in  removing  the  obnoxious  champion  of 
European  independence  in  1610,  was  probably  inspired  by 
their  doctrine.^     They  had  a  hand  in  the  Gunpowder  Plot 

'  See  Mariana,  De  Rcge,  lib.  i.  cap.  6.  This  book,  be  it  remem- 
bered, was  written  for  the  instruction  of  the  heir-apparent,  afterwards 
Philip  III. 

'-■  Henri  IV.  let  them  return  to  France  in  mere  dread  of  their 
machinations  against  him.     See  Sully,  vol.  v.  p.  113. 

^  Sarpi,  who  was  living  at  the  time  of  Henri's  murder,  and  who  saw 
his  best  hopes  for  Italy  and  the  Church  of  God  extinguished  by  that 
crime,  at  first  credited  the  Jesuits  with  the  deliberate  instigation  of 
Eavaillac.  He  gradually  came  to  the  conclusion  that,  though  they 
were  not  directly  responsible,  their  doctrine  of  regicide  had  inflamed  the 
fanatic's  imagination.  See,  in  succession,  Letters,  vol.  ii.  pp.  78,  79,  81, 
83,  86,91,  105,  121,  170,  181,  192. 


232  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

of  1605,  and  were  thought  by  some  to  have  instigated  the 
Massacre  of  S.  Bartholomew.  They  fomented  the  League  of 
the  Guises,  which  had  for  its  object  a  change  in  the  French 
dynasty.     They  organised  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  and  they 

(procured  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.     If  it  is  not 
,  possible  to  connect  them  immediately  with  all  and  each  of 
i'  the  criminal  acts  laid  to  their  charge,  the  fact  that  a  Jesuit 
in  every  case  was  lurking  in  the  background,  counts  by  the 
force   of  cumulative    evidence    heavily    against   them,    and 
I   explains   the  universal   suspicion  with   which  they  came  to 
'^    be   regarded   as   factious   intermeddlers  in   the   concerns   of 
I    nations.     Moreover,  their  written  words  accused  them ;  for 
the  tyrannicide   of  heretics   was  plainly  advocated  in   their 
treatises  on  government.     So  profound  was  the  conviction  of 
their  guilt,  that  the  death  of  Sixtus  V.  in  1590,  predicted  by 
I   Bellarmino,  the    sudden  death  of  Urban  VII.  in  the  same 
?   year,  and  the  death  of  Clement  VIII.  in  1G05,  also  predicted 
]    by  Bellarmino — these  three  Popes  being  ill-affected  toward  the 
*    Order — were  popularly  ascribed  to  their  agency.     But  of  their 
«.    practical  intervention  there  is  no  proof.     Old  age  and  fever 
must  be  credited,  in  these  as  in  other  cases,  with  the  decease 
of  Koman  Pontiffs  supposed  to  have  been  poisoned. 

It  is  not,  however,  to  be  wondered  that  sooner  or  later  the 
Jesuits  made  themselves  insupportable  by  their  intrigues  in 
all  the  countries  where  they  were  established.^  Even  to  the 
Papacy  itself  they  proved  too  irksome  to  be  borne.  The 
Company  showed  plaihly  that  what  they  meant  by  obedience 
to  Eome  was  obedience  to  a  Rome  controlled  and  fashioned 
by  themselves.     It  was  their  ambition  to  stand  in  the  same 

'  Expelled  from  Venice  in  1006,  from  Bohemia  in  1618,  from  Naples 
and  the  Netherlands  in  1622,  from  Eussia  in  1676,  from  Portugal  in 
1759,  from  Spain  in  1767,  from  France  in  1704.  Suppressed  by  the 
Bull  of  Clement  XIV.  in  1773.  Eestored  in  1814,  as  an  instrument 
against  the  Eevolution. 


RELATION   OF   JESUITS   TO   TxOME  233 

relation  to  the  Pope  as  the  Shogun  to  the  INIikado  of  Japan. 
Nor  does  the  analysis  of  their  opinions  fail  to  justify  the 
condemnation  passed  upon  them  by  the  Parlement  of  Paris 
in  17G2.  '  These  doctrines  tend  to  destroy  the  natural  law, 
that  rule  of  manners  which  God  Himself  has  imprinted  on 
the  hearts  of  men,  and  in  consequence  to  sever  all  the  bonds 
of  civil  society,  by  the  authorisation  of  theft,  falsehood, 
perjury,  the  most  culpable  impurity,  and  in  a  word  each 
passion  and  each  crime  of  human  weakness  ;  to  ohliterate  all 
sentiments  of  humanity  by  favouring  homicide  ancl  parricide  ; 
and  to  annihilate  the  authority  of  sovereigns  in  the  State.' 

Gi'^at  psychological  and  pathological  interest  attaches  to 
the  study  of  the  Jesuit  Order.  To  withhold  our  admiration 
from  the  zeal,  energy,  self-devotion  and  constructive  ability 
of  its  founders,  would  be  impossible.  Equally  futile  would 
it  be  to  affect  indifference  before  the  sinister  spectacle  of 
so  world-embracing  an  organism,  persistently  maintained  in 
action  for  an  anti-social  end.  There  is  something  Roman 
in  the  colossal  proportions  of  Loyola's  idea,  something  Roman 
in  the  durability  of  the  structure  which  perpetuates  it.  Yet 
the  philosopher  cannot  but  agree  with  the  vulgar  in  his  final 
judgment  on  the  odiousness  of  these  sacerdotal  despots,  these 
luiflinching  foes  not  merely  to  the  heroes  of  the  human 
intellect  and  to  the  champions  of  right  conduct,  but  also  to 
the  very  angels  of  Christianity.  That  the  Jesuits  should 
claim  to  have  been  founded  by  Him  who  preached  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount,  that  they  should  flaunt  their  motto,  A.M.D.G., 
in  the  sight  of  Him  who  spake  from  Sinai,  is  one  of  those 
practical  paradoxes  in  which  the  history  of  decrepit  religions 
abounds. 


1 


234  KENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 


CHAPTER  V 

SOCIAL    AND    DOMESTIC    MORALS  :    PAET    I 

How  did  the  Catholic  Eevival  affect  Italian  Society  ?— Difficulty  of 
Answering  this  Question — Frequency  of  Private  Crimes  of  Violence 
— Homicides  and  Bandits — Savage  Criminal  Justice — Paid  Assassins 
— Toleration  of  Outlaws — Honourable  Murder — Example  of  the 
Lucchese  Ai'my  —State  of  the  Convents — The  History  of  Virginia  de 
Leyva — Lucrezia  Buonvisi — The  True  Tale  of  the  Cenci— The 
Brothers  of  the  House  of  Massimo — Vittoria  Accoramboni — The 
Duchess  of  Palliano — Wife-Murders — The  Family  of  Medici. 

We  are  naturally  led  to  inquire  what  discernible  effect  the 
Catholic  Revival  and  the  Counter-Reformation  had  upon  the 
manners  and  morals  of  the  Italians  as  a  nation.  Much  has 
been  said  about  the  contrast  between  intellectual  refinement 
and  almost  savage  license  which  marked  the  Renaissance. 
Yet  it  can  with  justice  be  maintained  that,  while  ferocity  and 
brutal  sensuality  survived  from  the  Middle  Ages,  humanism, 
by  means  of  the  new  ideal  it  introduced,  tended  to  civilise 
and  educate  the  race.  Now,  however,  the  Church  was  stifling 
culture  and  attempting  to  restore  that  ecclesiastical  con- 
ception of  human  life  which  the  Renaissance  had  superseded- 
Did,  then,  her  resuscitated  Catholicism  succeed  in  permeating 
the  Italians  with  the  spirit  of  Christ  and  of  the  Gospel  ? 
Were  the  nobles  more  quiet  in  their  demeanour,  less  quarrel- 
some and  haughty,  more  law-abiding  and  less  given  to  acts  of 
violence,  than  they  had  been  in  the  previous  period  ?  Were 
the  people  more  contented  and  less  torn  by  factions,  happier 
in  their  homes,  less  abandoned  to  the  insanities  of  baleful 
-superstitions  ? 


CATHOLIC   EEACTION  AND   MOEALITY  235 

It  is  obviously  diflficult  to  answer  these  questions  with 
either  completeness  or  accuracy.  In  the  first  place,  we  have 
no  right  to  expect  that  the  religious  revival,  signalised  by 
the  Tridentine  Council,  should  have  made  itself  im- 
mediately felt  in  the  sphere  of  national  conduct.  In  the 
second  place,  it  was  not,  like  the  German  Reformation,  a 
renewal  of  Christianity  at  its  sources,  but  a  resuscitation 
of  medieval  Catholicity,  in  direct  antagonism  to  the  intel- 
lectual tendencies  of  the  age.  The  new  learning  among 
northern  races  disintegrated  that  system  of  ideas  upon  which 
medieval  society  rested ;  but  it  also  introduced  religious 
and  moral  conceptions  more  vital  than  those  ideas  in  their 
decadence.  In  Italy  the  disintegrating  process  had  been  no 
less  thorough,  nay  far  more  subtle  and  pervasive.  Yet  the 
new  learning  had  not  led  the  nation  to  attempt  a  recon- 
struction of  primitive  Christianity.  The  Catholic  Revival 
gave  nothing  vital  or  enthusiastic  to  the  conscience  of  the 
race.  It  brought  the  old  creeds,  old  cult,  old  superstitions, 
old  abuses  back,  with  stricter  discipline  and  under  a  regime 
of  terror.  Meanwhile,  it  resolutely  ranged  its  forces  in  oppo- 
sition to  what  had  been  salutary  and  life-giving  in  the  mental 
movement  of  the  Renaissance.  It  compelled  people  who  had 
watched  the  dawning  of  a  new  light,  to  shut  their  eyes  upon 
that  dayspring.  It  extinguished  the  studies  of  the  Classical 
Revival ;  bade  philosophers  return  to  Thomas  of  Aquino ; 
threatened  thinkers  with  the  dungeon  or  the  stake  who  should 
presume  to  pass  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  when  a  whole 
Atlantic  of  knowledge  had  been  opened  to  their  curiosity. 
Under  these  circumstances  it  was  impossible  that  a  revolu- 
tion, so  retrograde  in  its  nature,  checking  the  tide  of  national 
energy  in  full  flow,  should  have  exercised  a  healthy  influence 
over  the  Italian  temperament  at  large.  We  have  a  right  to 
expect,  what  in  fact  we  find,  the  advent  of  hypocrisy  and 
ceremonial   observances,   but    little    actual    amendment    in 


236  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

manners.  In  the  third  place,  the  question  is  still  further 
complicated  by  the  Catholic  Revival  having  been  effected  con- 
currently with  the  establishment  of  the  Spanish  Hegemony. 
At  the  end  of  the  first  chapter  of  this  volume  I  pointed  out 
the  evils  brought  on  Italy  by  her  servitude  to  a  foreign  and 
unsympathetic  despot :  the  decline  of  commercial  activity, 
the  multiplication  of  slothful  lordlings,  the  depression  of 
industry,  the  diminution  of  wealth,  and  the  suffering  of  the 
lower  classes  from  pirates,  bandits,  and  tax-gatherers.  These 
conditions  were  sufficient  to  demoralise  a  people.  And 
medieval  Catholicism,  restored  by  edict,  enforced  by  the  In- 
quisition, propagated  by  Jesuits,  was  not  of  the  fine  enthu- 
siastic quality  to  counteract  them.  Servile  in  its  conception, 
it  sufficed  to  bridle  and  benumb  a  race  of  serfs,  but  not  to 
soften  or  to  purify  their  brutal  instincts.' 

In  this  chapter  I  shall  not  attempt  a  general  survey  of 
Italian  society.-  I  shall  content  myself  with  supplying 
materials  for  the  formation  of  a  judgment  by  narrating  some 
of  the  most  remarkable  domestic  tragedies  of  the  second  half 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  choosing  those  only  which  rest  upon 
well- sifted  documentary  evidence,  and  which  bring  the  social 
conditions  of  the  country  into  strong  relief.  Before  engaging 
in  these  historical  romances,  it  will  be  well  to  preface  them 

'  The  last  section  of  Loyola's  Excrcitia  is  an  epitome  of  post- 
Ti'identine  Catholicism,  though  penned  before  the  opening  of  the  Coun- 
cil. In  its  last  paragraph  it  inculcates  the  fear  of  God  :  '  neque  porro 
is  timor  solum,  quem  filialem  appellamus,  qui  pius  est  ac  sanctus 
maxime ;  verum  etiam  alter,  servilis  dictus  '  [Inst.  Sec.  Jcsu,  vol.  iv.  p. 
173). 

-  An  interesting  survey  of  this  wider  kind  has  been  attempted  by 
U.  A.  Canello  for  the  whole  sixteenth  century  in  his  Storia  clclla  Lett. 
.It.  nel  Secolo  XVI.  (Milano  :  Vallardi,  1880).  He  tries  to  demonstrate 
that,  in  the  sphere  of  private  life,  Italian  society  gradually  refined  the 
brutal  lusts  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  passed  through  fornication  to  a 
true  conception  of  woman  as  man's  companion  in  the  family.  The 
theme  is  bold  ;  a,nd  the  author  seems  to  have  based  it  upon  too  slight 
acquaintance  with  the  real  conditions  of  the  Middle  Ages. 


CRIMES   OF   YIOLE.NX'E  237 

■with  a  few  general  remarks  upon  the  state  of  manners  they 
will  illustrate. 

The  first  thing  which  strikes  a  student  of  Italy  between 
1530  and  IGOO  is  that  crimes  of  violence,  committed  by 
private  individuals  for  personal  ends,  continued  steadily  upon 
the  increase.'  Compared  with  the  later  Middle  Ages,  com- 
pared with  the  Renaissance,  this  period  is  distinguished  by 
extraordinary  ferocity  of  temper  and  by  an  almost  unparal- 
leled facility  of  bloodshed.-  The  broad  political  and  religious 
contests  which  had  torn  the  country  in  the  first  years  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  were  pacified.  Foreign  armies  had  ceased 
to  dispute  the  provinces  of  Italy.  The  victorious  powers  of 
Spain,  the  Church,  and  the  protected  principalities,  seemed 
secure  in  the  possession  of  their  gains.  But  those  inter- 
national quarrels  which  kept  the  nation  in  unrest  through 
a  long  period  of  municipal  wars,  ending  in  the  horrors  of 
successive  invasions,  were  now  succeeded  by  an  almost  uni- 
versal discord  between  families  and  persons.  Each  province, 
each  city,  each  village  became  the  theatre  of  private  feuds 
and  assassinations.  Each  household  was  the  scene  of  homi- 
cide and  empoisonment.  Italy  presented  the  spectacle  of  a 
nation  armed  against  itself,  not  to  decide  the  issue  of  antago- 
nistic political  principles  by  civil  strife,  but  to  gratify  lawless 
passions — cupidity,  revenge,  resentment — by  deeds  of  personal 
high-handedness.  Among  the  common  people  of  the  country 
and  the  towns,  crimes  of  brutality  and  bloodshed  were  of 
daily  occurrence ;  every  man  bore  weapons   for  self-defence 

'  Galluzzi,  in  his  Storia  del  Granducato  dl  Toscaiia,  vol.  iv.  p.  34, 
estimates  the  murders  committed  in  Florence  alone  during  the  eighteen 
months  which  followed  the  death  of  Cosimo  I.,  at  18G. 

-  In  drawing  up  these  paragraphs  I  am  greatly  indebted  to  a 
vigorous  passage  by  Signor  Salvatore  Bonghi  in  his  Storia  di  Liicrczia 
Buonvisi,  pp.  7-9,  of  which  I  have  made  free  use,  translating  his 
words  when  they  served  my  pui-pose,  and  interpolating  such  further 
details  as  might  render  the  picture  more  complete. 


238  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

and  for  attack  upon  his  neighbour.  The  aristocracy  and  the 
upper  classes  of  the  hoiinjcoisie  hved  in  a  perpetual  state  of 
mutual  mistrust,  ready  upon  the  slightest  occasion  of  fancied 
affront  to  blaze  forth  into  murder.  Much  of  this  savagery 
was  due  to  the  false  ideas  of  honour  and  punctilio  which  the 
Spaniards  introduced.  Quarrels  arose  concerning  a  salute,  a 
title,  a  question  of  precedence,  a  seat  in  church,  a  place  in  the 
prince's  ante-chamber,  a  meeting  in  the  public  streets.  Noble- 
men were  ushered  on  their  way  by  servants,  who  measured 
distances  and  took  the  height  of  dais  or  of  bench,  before  their 
master  committed  his  dignity  by  advancing  a  step  beyond  the 
minimum  that  was  due.  Love-affairs  and  the  code  of  honour 
with  regard  to  women  opened  endless  sources  of  implacable 
jealousies,  irreconcileable  hatreds,  and  offences  that  could 
only  be  wiped  out  with  blood.  On  each  and  all  of  these 
occasions,  the  sword  was  ready  to  the  right  hand  ;  and  where 
this  generous  weapon  would  not  reach,  the  harquebuss  and 
knife  of  paid  assassins  were  employed  without  compunction. ^ 
We  must  not,  however,  ascribe  this  condition  of  society 
wholly  or  chiefly  to  Spanish  influences.  It  was  in  fact  a 
survival  of  medieval  habits  under  altered  circumstances. 
During  the  municipal  wars  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  after- 
wards during  the  struggle  of  the  despots  for  ascendency,  the 
nation  had  become  accustomed  to  internecine  contests  which 
set  party  against  party,  household  against  household,  man 
against  man.  These  humours  in  the  cities,  as  Italian  his- 
torians were  wont  to  call  them,  had  been  partially  suppressed 
by  the  confederation  of  the  five  great  Powers  at  the  close  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  and  also  by  a  prevalent  urbanity  of  manners. 

'  The  lax  indulgence  accorded  by  the  Jesuit  casuists  to  every  kind 
of  homicide  appears  in  the  extracts  from  those  writers  collected  in 
Artcs  Jcsuiticac  (Salisburgi,  1703,  pp.  75-83).  Tamburinus  went  so  far 
as  to  hold  that  if  a  man  mixed  poison  for  his  enemy,  and  a  friend  came 
in  and  drank  it  up  before  his  eyes,  he  was  not  bound  to  warn  his  friend, 
nor  was  he  guilty  of  his  friend's  death  (ib.  p.  135,  Art.  651). 


SURVIVAL   OF  MEDIEVAL  HABITS  239 

At  that  epoch,  moreover,  they  were  systematised  and  con- 
trolled by  the  methods  of  condottiero  warfare,  which  offered  a 
legitimate  outlet  to  the  passions  of  turbulent  young  men. 
But  when  Italy  sank  into  the  sloth  of  pacification  after  the 
settlement  of  Charles  V.  at  Bologna  in  1530,  when  there 
were  no  longer  condottieri  to  levy  troops  in  rival  armies, 
when  political  parties  ceased  in  the  cities,  the  old  humours 
broke  out  again  under  the  aspect  of  private  and  personal 
feuds.  Though  the  names  of  Guelf  and  Ghibelline  had  lost 
their  meaning,  these  factions  reappeared,  and  divided  Milan, 
the  towns  of  Romagna,  the  villages  of  the  Campagna.  In  the 
place  of  condottieri  arose  brigand  chiefs,  who,  like  Piccolomini 
and  Sciarra,  placed  themselves  at  the  head  of  regiments  and 
swept  the  country  on  marauding  expeditions.  Instead  of 
exiles  driven  by  victorious  parties  in  the  state  to  seek  pre- 
carious living  on  a  foreign  soil,  bandits  proscribed  for  acts  of 
violence  abounded.  Thus  the  habits  which  had  been  created 
through  centuries  of  political  ferment,  subsisted  when  the 
nation  was  at  rest  in  servitude,  assuming  baser  and  more 
selfish  forms  of  ferocity.  The  end  of  the  sixteenth  century 
witnessed  the  final  degeneration  and  corruption  of  a  medieval 
state  of  warfare,  which  the  Renaissance  had  checked,  but 
which  the  miseries  of  foreign  invasions  had  resuscitated  by 
brutalising  the  population,  and  which  now  threatened  to  dis- 
integrate society  in  aimless  anarchy  and  private  lawlessness. 

It  must  not  be  imagined  that  governments  and  magis- 
tracies were  slack  in  their  pursuit  of  criminals.  Repressive 
statutes,  proclamations  of  outlawry,  and  elaborate  prosecutions 
succeeded  one  another  with  unwearied  conscientiousness. 
The  revenues  of  states  were  taxed  to  furnish  blood-money 
and  to  support  spies.  Large  sums  were  invariably  offered  for 
the  capture  or  assassination  of  escaped  delinquents ;  and  woe 
to  the  wretches  who  became  involved  in  criminal  proceedings  ! 
Witnesses  were   tortured   with   infernal   crueltv.     Convicted 


240  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

culprits  sjiffered  horrible  agonies  before  their  death,  or  were 
condemned  to  languish  out  a  miserable  life  in  pestilential 
dungeons.  But  the  very  inhumanity  of  this  judicial  method, 
■without  mercy  for  the  innocent  from  whom  evidence  could 
be  extorted,  and  frequently  inequitable  in  the  punishments 
assigned  to  criminals  of  varying  degrees  of  guilt,  taught  the 
people  to  defy  justice  and  encouraged  them  in  brutality. 
They  found  it  more  tolerable  to  join  the  bands  of  brigands 
who  preyed  upon  their  fields  and  villages,  than  to  assist 
rulers  who  governed  so  unequally  and  cruelly.  We  know,  for 
instance,  that  a  robber  chief,  Marianazzo,  refused  the  Pope's 
pardon,  alleging  that  the  profession  of  brigandage  was  more 
lucrative  and  offered  greater  security  of  life  than  any  trade 
within  the  walls  of  Kome.  Thus  the  bandits  of  that  genera- 
tion occupied  the  specious  attitude  of  opposition  to  oppressive 
governments.  There  were,  moreover,  many  favourable  chances 
for  a  homicide.  The  Church  was  jealous  of  her  rights  of 
sanctuary.  Whatever  may  have  been  her  zeal  for  orthodoxy, 
she  showed  herself  an  indulgent  mother  to  culprits  who 
demanded  an  asylum.  Feudal  nobles  prided  themselves  on 
protecting  refugees  within  their  fiefs  and  castles.  There 
were  innumerable  petty  domains  left,  which  carried  privileges 
of  signorial  courts  and  local  justice.  Cardinals,  ambassadors, 
and  powerful  princes  claimed  immunity  from  common  juris- 
diction in  their  palaces,  the  courts  and  basements  of  which 
soon  became  the  resort  of  escaped  criminals.  No  extradition 
treaties  subsisted  between  the  several  and  numerous  states 
into  which  Italy  was  then  divided,  so  that  it  was  only  necessary 
to  cross  a  frontier  in  order  to  gain  safety  from  the  law.  The 
position  of  an  outlaw  in  that  case  was  tolerably  secure,  except 
against  private  vengeance  or  the  cupidity  of  professional  cut- 
throats, who  gained  an  honest  livelihood  by  murdering  bandits 
with  a  good  price  on  their  heads.  Condemned  for  the  most 
part  in  their  absence,  these  homicides  entered  a  recognised 


OUTLAWRY  241 

and  not  dishonourable  class.  They  were  tolerated,  received, 
and  even  favoured  by  neighbouring  princes,  who  generally 
had  some  grudge  against  the  state  from  which  the  outlaws 
fled.  After  obtaining  letters  of  safe-conduct  and  protection, 
they  enrolled  themselves  in  the  militia  of  their  adopted 
country,  while  the  worst  of  them  became  spies  or  secret 
agents  of  police.  No  government  seems  to  have  regarded 
crimes  of  violence  with  severity,  provided  these  had  been 
comQiitted  on  a  foreign  soil.  Murders  for  the  sake  of  robbery 
or  rape  were  indeed  esteemed  ignoble.  But  a  man  who  had 
killed  an  avowed  enemy,  or  had  shed  blood  in  the  heat  of 
a  quarrel,  or  had  avenged  his  honour  by  the  assassination  of 
a  sister  convicted  of  light  love,  only  established  a  reputation 
for  bravery  which  stood  him  in  good  stead.  He  was  likely  to 
make  a  stout  soldier,  and  he  had  done  nothing  socially  dis- 
creditable. On  the  contrary,  if  he  had  been  useful  in  ridding 
the  world  of  an  outlaw  some  prince  wished  to  kill,  this 
murder  made  him  a  hero.  In  addition  to  the  blood-money, 
he  not  unfrequently  received  lucrative  office  or  a  pension  for 
life. 

A  very  curious  state  of  things  resulted  from  these  customs. 
States  depended  in  large  measure  for  the  execution  of  their 
judicial  sentences  in  cases  of  manslaughter  and  treason,  upon 
foreign  murderers  and  traitors.  Towns  were  full  of  outlaws, 
each  with  a  price  upon  his  head,  mutually  suspicious,  in- 
dividually desirous  of  killing  some  fellow-criminal  and  thereby 
enriching  his  own  treasury.  If  he  were  successful,  he  received 
a  fair  sum  of  money,  with  privileges  and  immunities  from  the 
state  which  had  advertised  the  outlaw ;  and  not  unfrequently 
he  obtained  the  further  right  of  releasing  one  or  more  bandits 
from  penalties  of  death  or  prison.  It  may  be  imagined  at  what 
cross  purposes  the  outlaws  dwelt  together,  with  crimes  in  many 
states  accumulated  on  their  shoulders  ;  and  what  peril  might 
ensue  to  society  should  they  combine  together,  as  indeed  they 

VI  B 


242  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

tried  to  do  in  Bedmar's  conspiracy  against  Venice.  Meanwhile, 
the  states  kept  this  floating  population  of  criminals  in  check 
by  various  political  and  social  contrivances,  which  grew  up 
from  the  exigencies  and  the  habits  of  the  moment.  Instead 
of  recruiting  soldiers  from  the  stationary  population,  it  became 
usual,  when  a  war  was  imminent,  to  enrol  outlaws.  Thus, 
when  Lucca  had  to  make  an  inroad  into  Garfagnana  in  1613, 
the  Eepublic  issued  a  proclamation  promising  pardon  and  pay 
to  those  of  its  own  bandits  who  should  join  its  standard. 
Men  to  the  number  of  591  answered  this  call,  and  the  little 
war  which  followed  was  conducted  with  more  than  customary 
fierceness.'  Even  the  ordinary  police  and  guards  of  cities 
were  composed  of  fugitives  from  other  states,  care  being  taken 
to  select  by  preference  those  who  came  stained  only  with 
honourable  bloodshed.  In  1593  the  guard  of  the  palace  of 
Lucca  was  reinforced  by  the  addition  of  forty-three  men, 
among  whom  four  were  bandits  for  wounds  inflicted  upon 
enemies  in  open  fight ;  twelve  for  homicide  in  duel  sword  to 
sword  ;  five  for  the  murder  of  more  than  one  person  in 
similar  encounters ;  one  for  the  murder  of  a  sister  and  the 
wounding  of  her  seducer  ;  two  for  mutilating  an  enemy  in 
the  face  ;  one  for  unlawful  recruiting  ;  one  for  wounding  ; 
one  for  countenancing  bandits  ;  and  sixteen  simple  refugees. ^ 
The  phrases  employed  to  describe  these  men  in  the  official 
report  are  sufficiently  illustrative  of  contemporary  moral 
standards.  Thus  we  read  '  Banditi  per  omicidi  semplici  da 
huono  a  huono,  a  sangue  caldo,  da  spada  a  spada,  o  di  nemici.' 
'  Per  omicidio  d'  una  sorella  per  causa  d'  onore.'  To  murder 
an  enemy  or  a  sister  who  had  misbehaved  herself  was 
accounted  excusable. 

The   prevalence   of   lawlessness   encouraged   a    domestic 
custom   which   soon   grew   into   a   system.      This   was   the 

'  See  Salvatore  Bonghi,  op.  cif.  p.  159. 
*  Bonghi,  op.  cit.  p.  159,  note. 


BE  AVI  213 

maintenance  of  so-called  Z;rarz  by  nobles  and  folk  ricli  enough 
to  afford  so  expensive  a  luxury.  The  outlaws  found  their 
advantage  in  the  bargain  which  they  drew  with  their  em- 
ployers ;  for  besides  being  lodged,  fed,  clothed  and  armed, 
they  obtained  a  certain  protection  from  the  spies  and  profes- 
sional murderers  who  were  always  on  the  watch  to  kill  them. 
Their  masters  used  them  to  defend  their  persons  when  a  feud 
was  being  carried  on,  or  directed  them  against  private  enemies 
whom  they  wished  to  injure.  It  is  not  uncommon  in  the 
annals  of  these  times  to  read :  *  Messer  So-and-so,  having 
received  an  affront  from  the  Count  of  V,  employed  the  services 
of  three  bravi,  valiant  fellows  up  to  any  mischief,  with  Avhom 
he  retired  to  his  country  house.'  Or  again  :  *  The  Marquis, 
perceiving  that  his  neighbour  had  a  grudge  against  him  on 
account  of  the  Signora  Lucrezia,  thought  it  prudent  to 
increase  his  body-guard,  and  therefore  added  Pepi  and  Lo 
Scarabone,  bandits  from  Tuscany  for  murders  of  a  priest  and 
a  citizen,  to  his  household.'  Or  again  :  '  During  the  vacation 
of  the  Holy  See  the  Baron  X  had,  as  usual,  engaged  men-at- 
arms  for  the  protection  of  his  palace.' 

In  course  of  time  it  became  the  mark  of  birth  and 
wealth  to  lodge  a  rabble  of  such  rascals.  They  lived  on  terms 
of  familiarity  with  their  employer,  shared  his  secrets,  served 
him  in  his  amours,  and  executed  any  devil's  job  he  chose  to 
command.  Apartments  in  the  basement  of  the  palace  were 
assigned  to  them,  so  that  a  nobleman's  house  continued  to 
resemble  the  castle  of  a  medieval  baron.  But  the  bravi, 
unlike  soldiery,  were  rarely  employed  in  honourable  business. 
They  formed  a  permanent  element  of  treachery  and  violence 
within  the  social  organism.  Not  a  little  singular  were  the 
relations  thus  established.  The  community  of  crime,  involving 
common  interests  and  common  perils,  established  a  peculiar 
bond  between  the  noble  and  his  bravo.  This  was  com- 
plexioned  by  a  certain  sense  of  '  honour  rooted  in  dishonour,' 


244  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

and  by  a  faint  reflection  from  elder  retainership.  The  compact 
struck  between  landowner  and  bandit  parodied  that  which 
drew  feudal  lord  and  wandering  squire  together.  There  was 
something  ignobly  noble  in  it,  corresponding  to  the  confused 
conscience  and  perilous  conditions  of  the  epoch. 

While  studying  this  organised  and  half-tolerated  system 
of  social  violence,  we  are  surprised  to  observe  how  largely  it 
was  countenanced  and  how  frequently  it  was  set  in  motion 
by  the  Church.     In  a  previous  chapter  on  the  Jesuits  I  have 
adverted  to  their  encouragement  of  assassination  for  ends 
which  they  considered  sacred.     In  a  coming  chapter  upon 
Sarpi  I   shall  show  to  what   extent  the  Eoman  prelacy  was 
implicated  in  more  than  one  attempt  to  take  away  his  life. 
The  chiefs  of  the  Church,  then,  instead  of  protesting  against 
this  vice  of  corrupt  civilisation  in  Italy,  lent  the  weight  of 
their   encouragement   to   what  strikes  us   now,  not  only  as 
eminently  unchristian,   but   also    as   pernicious   to    healthy 
national  conditions  of  existence.     We  may  draw  two  conclu- 
sions from  these  observations :  first,  that  religions,  except  in 
the  first  fervour  of  their  growth  and  forward  progress,  recog- 
nise the  moral  conventions  of  the  society  which  they  pretend 
to  regulate  ;  secondly,  that  it  is  well-nigh  impossible  for  men 
of  one  century  to  sympathise  with  the  ethics  of  a  past  and 
different  epoch.     We  cannot  comprehend  the  regicidal  theories 
of   the   Jesuits   or   the   murderous   intrigues  of   a  Borghese 
Pontiff's   Court,    without    admitting   that    priests,    specially 
dedicated  to  the  service  of  Christ  and  to  the  propagation  of 
his  gospel,  felt  themselves  justified  in  employing  the  immoral 
and  unchristian  means  which  social  custom  placed  at  their 
disposal   for   ridding   themselves   of    inconvenient    enemies. 
This  is  at  the  same  time  their  defence  as  human  beings  in  the 
sixteenth   century  and   their   indictment   as   self-styled   and 
professed  successors  of  the  Founder  who  rebuked  Peter  in  the 
Garden  of  Gethsemane. 


STATE   OF   CONVENTS  2-1.3 

To  make  general  remarks  upon  the  state  of  sexual  morality 
at  this  epoch,  is  hardly  needful.     Yet  there  are  some  peculiar 
circumstances  which  deserve  to  be  noticed,  in  order  to  render 
the  typical  stories  which  I  mean  to  relate  intelligible.     We 
have   already    seen   that   society  condoned  the  murder  of   a 
sister  by  a  brother,  if  she  brought  dishonour  on  her  family  ; 
and  the  same  privilege  was  extended  to  a  husband  in  the  case 
of  a  notoriously   faithless  wife.       Such   homicides   did   not 
escape  judicial  sentence,  but  they  shared  in  the  conventional 
toleration  which  was  extended  to  murders  in  hot  blood  or  in 
the  prosecution  of  a  feud.     The  state  of  the  Italian  convents 
at  this  period  gave  occasion  to  crimes  in  which  Avomen  played 
a  prominent  part.     After  the  Council  of  Trent  reforms  were 
instituted  in  religious  houses.     But  they  could  not  be  im- 
mediately  carried    out ;    and,    meanwhile,    the    economical 
changes  which  were  taking  place  in  the  commercial  aristo- 
cracy, filled  nunneries  with  girls  who  had  no  vocation  for  a 
secluded    life.     Less    money    was    yearly    made    in    trade ; 
merchants  became  nobles,  investing  their  capital  in  land,  and 
securing   their   estates   on   their   eldest  sons  by  entails.     It 
followed  that  they  could  not  afford  to  marry  all  their  daughters 
with  dowries  befitting  the  station  they  aspired  to  assume.     A 
large  percentage  of  well-born  women,  accustomed  to  luxury 
and  vitiated  by  bad  examples  in  their  homes,  were  thus  thrown 
on  a  monastic  life.     Signor  Bonghi  reckons  that  at  the  end  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  more  than  five  hundred  girls,  who  had 
become  superfluous  in  noble  families,  crowded  the  convents 
in  the  single  little  town  of  Lucca.     At  a  later  epoch  there 
would  have  been  no  special  peril  in  this  circumstance.     But 
at  the  time  with  which  we  are  now  occupied,  an  objectionable 
license   still    survived    from    earlier    ages.     The    nunneries 
obtained  evil  notoriety  as  houses   of  licentious  pleasure,  to 
which  soldiers   and   youths   of   dissolute  habits  resorted  by 


246  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

preference.'  There  appears  to  have  been  a  specific  profligate 
fanaticism,  a  well-marked  morbid  partiality  for  these  amours 
•with  cloistered  virgins.  The  young  men  who  prosecuted 
them,  obtained  a  nickname  indicative  of  their  absorbing 
passion.-  The  attraction  of  mystery  and  danger  had  some- 
thing, no  doubt,  to  do  with  this  infatuation  ;  and  the  fascina- 
tion that  sacrilege  has  for  depraved  natures,  may  also  be 
reckoned  into  the  account.  To  enjoy  a  lawless  amour  was  not 
enough  ;  but  to  possess  a  woman  who  alternated  between 
transports  of  passion  and  torments  of  remorse,  added  zest  to 
guilty  pleasure.  For  men  who  habitually  tampered  with 
magic  arts  and  believed  firmly  in  the  devil,  this  raised 
romance  to  rapture.  It  was  a  common  thing  for  debauchees 
to  seek  what  they  called  peripctezie  di  nuova  idea,  or  novel 
and  exciting  adventures  stimulative  of  a  jaded  appetite,  in 
consecrated  places.  At  any  rate,  as  will  appear  in  the  sequel 
of  this  chapter,  convent  intrigues  occupied  a  large  space  in  the 
criminal  annals  of  the  day. 

'  In  supiDort  of  this  assertion  I  translate  a  letter  addressed  (Milan, 
September  15,  1G22)  by  Cardinal  Federigo  Borronieo  to  the  Prioress  of 
the  Convent  of  S.  Margherita  at  Monza  (Dandolo,  Signora  di  Monza,  p. 
1,32).  '  Experience  of  similar  cases  has  shown  how  dangerous  to  your 
holy  state  is  the  vicinity  of  soldiers,  owing  to  the  correspondence  which 
young  and  idle  soldiers  continually  try  to  entertain  with  monasteries, 
sometimes  even  under  fair  and  honourable  pretexts.  .  .  .  Wherefore 
we  have  heard  with  much  displeasure  that  in  those  places  of  our  diocese 
where  there  are  convents  of  nuns  and  congregations  of  virgins,  ordinary 
lodgings  for  the  soldiery  have  been  established,  called  lonely  houses 
{case  erme),  where  they  are  suffered  or  obliged  to  dwell  through  long 
periods.'  The  Bishop  commands  the  Prioress  to  admit  no  soldier,  on 
any  plea  of  piety,  devotion  or  family  relationship,  into  her  convent ;  to 
receive  no  servant  or  emissary  of  a  soldier ;  to  forbid  special  services 
being  performed  in  the  chapel  at  the  instance  of  a  soldier;  and,  finally, 
to  institute  a  more  rigorous  system  of  watch  and  ward  than  had  been 
formerly  practised. 

-  In  Venice,  for  example,  they  were  called  Monachini.  But  the 
name  varied  in  various  provinces. 


S.   MARGHERITA   AT   MONZA  247 

The  Lady  of  Monza. 

Virginia  Maeia  de  Leyva  was  a  descendant  of  Charles  V.'s 
general,  Antonio  de  Leyva,  who  through  many  years  adminis- 
tered the  Duchy  of  Milan  and  died  loaded  with  wealth  and 
honours.'  For  his  military  service  he  was  rewarded  with  the 
principality  of  Ascoli,  the  feudal  lordship  of  the  town  of 
Monza,  and  the  life-tenure  of  the  city  of  Pavia.  Virginia's 
father  was  named  Martino,  and  upon  his  death  her  cousin 
succeeded  to  the  titles  of  the  house.  She,  for  family  reasons, 
entered  the  convent  of  S.  Margherita  at  Monza,  about  the 
year  1595.  Here  she  occupied  a  place  of  considerable  im- 
portance, being  the  daughter  of  the  Lord  of  Monza,  of  princely 
blood,  wealthy,  and  allied  to  the  great  houses  of  the  Milanese. 
S.  Margherita  was  a  convent  of  the  Umiliate,  dedicated  to 
the  education  of  noble  girls,  in  which,  therefore,  considerable 
laxity  of  discipline  prevailed.^  Sister  Virginia  dwelt  at  ease 
within  its  walls,  holding  a  kind  of  little  court,  and  exercising 
an  undefined  authority  in  petty  affairs  which  was  conceded  to 
her  rank.  Among  her  favourite  companions  at  the  time  of 
the  events  I  am  about  to  narrate,  were  numbered  the  Sisters 
Ottavia  Eicci,  Benedetta  Homata,  Candida  Brancolina,  and 
Silvia  Casata ;  she  was  waited  on  by  a  converse  sister,  Caterina 
da  Meda.  Adjoining  the  convent  stood  the  house  and  garden 
of  a  certain  Gianpaolo  Osio,  who  plays  the  principal  part  in 
Virginia's  tragedy.  He  must  have  been  a  young  man  of 
distinguished  appearance ;  for  when  Virginia  first  set  eyes 
upon  him  from  a  windoAV  overlooking  his  grounds,  she  ex- 

'  The  following  abstract  of  the  history  of  Virginia  Maria  de  Leyva 
is  based  on  Dandolo's  Sigiiora  di  Monza  (Milano,  1855).  Eeaders  of 
Manzoni's  /  Promessi  Sposi,  and  of  Eosini's  tiresome  novel,  La  Signora 
di  Monza,  will  be  already  familiar  with  her  in  romance  under  the  name 
of  Gertrude. 

-  Carlo  Borromeo  found  it  necessary  to  suppress  the  Umiliati.  But 
he  left  the  female  establishment  of  S.  Margherita  untouched. 


248  KENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

claimed :  '  Is  it  possible  that  one  could  ever  gaze  on  anything 
more  beautiful  ? '  He  attracted  her  notice  as  early  as  the 
year  1599  or  1600,  under  circumstances  not  very  favourable 
to  the  plan  he  had  in  view.  His  hands  were  red  with  the 
blood  of  Virginia's  bailiff,  Giuseppe  Molteno,  whom  he  had 
murdered  for  some  cause  unknown  to  us.  During  their  first 
interview  (Virginia  leaning  from  the  window  of  her  friend 
Candida's  cell,  and  Osio  standing  on  his  garden-plot  beneath), 
the  young  man  courteously  excused  himself  for  this  act  of 
violence,  adding  that  he  would  serve  her  even  more  devotedly 
than  the  dead  Molteno,  and  begging  to  be  allowed  to  write 
her  a  letter.  When  the  letter  came,  it  was  couched  in  terms 
expressive  of  a  lawless  passion.  Virginia's  noble  blood 
rebelled  against  the  insult,  and  she  sent  an  answer  back, 
rebuffing  her  audacious  suitor.  The  go-betweens  in  the 
correspondence  which  ensued  were  the  two  nuns  Ottavia  and 
Benedetta,  and  a  certain  Giuseppe  Pesen,  who  served  as 
letter-carrier.  Osio  did  not  allow  himself  to  be  discouraged 
by  a  first  refusal,  but  took  the  hazardous  step  of  opening 
his  mind  to  the  confessor  of  the  convent,  Paolo  Arrigone,  a 
priest  of  San  Maurizio  in  Milan.  Arrigone  at  once  lent  him- 
self to  the  intrigue,  and  taught  Osio  what  kind  of  letters  he 
should  write  Virginia.  They  were  to  be  courteous,  respectful, 
blending  pious  rhetoric  with  mystical  suggestions  of  romantic 
passion.  It  seems  that  the  confessor  composed  these 
documents  himself,  and  advised  his  fair  penitent  that  there 
was  no  sin  in  perusing  them.  From  correspondence,  Osio 
next  passed  to  interviews.  By  the  aid  of  Arrigone  he  gained 
access  to  the  parlour  of  the  convent,  where  he  conversed  Avith 
Virginia  through  the  bars.  In  their  earlier  meetings  the  lover 
did  not  venture  beyond  compliments  and  modest  protestations 
of  devotion.  But  as  time  went  on,  he  advanced  to  kisses  and 
caresses,  and  once  he  made  Virginia  take  a  little  jewel  into 
her  moutlu     This  was  a  white  loadstone,  blessed  by  Arrigone, 


GIANrAOLO    OSIO  249 

and  intended  to  operate  like  a  love-charm.  The  girl,  in  fact, 
began  to  feel  the  influence  of  her  seducer.  In  the  final  con- 
fession which  she  made,  she  relates  how  she  fought  against 
temptation.  '  Some  diabolical  force  compelled  me  to  go  to 
the  window  overlooking  his  garden  ;  and  one  day  when  Sister 
Ottavia  told  me  that  Oslo  was  standing  there,  I  fainted  from 
the  effort  to  restrain  myself.  This  happened  several  times. 
At  one  moment  I  flew  into  a  rage  and  prayed  to  God  to  help 
me  ;  at  another  I  felt  lifted  from  the  ground  and  forced  to  go 
and  gaze  on  him.  Sometimes  when  the  fit  was  on  me,  I  tore 
my  hair;  I  even  thought  of  killing  myself.'  Virginia  was 
surrounded  by  persons  who  had  an  interest  in  helping  Oslo. 
Not  only  the  confessor,  who  was  a  man  of  infamous  character, 
but  her  friends  among  the  nuns,  themselves  accustomed  to 
mtrigue  of  a  like  nature,  led  her  down  the  path  to  ruin. 
False  keys  were  made,  and  one  or  other  of  the  faithless  sisters 
introduced  the  young  man  into  the  convent  at  night.  When 
Virginia  resisted  and  enlarged  upon  the  sacrilege  of  breaking 
cloister,  Arrigone  supplied  her  with  a  printed  book  of  casuis- 
try, in  which  it  was  written  that,  though  it  might  be  sinful 
for  a  nun  to  leave  her  convent,  there  was  no  sin  in  a  man 
entering  it.  At  last  she  fell ;  and  for  seven  years  she  lived  in 
close  intimacy  with  her  lover,  passing  the  nights  with  him, 
either  in  his  own  house  or  in  one  of  the  cells  of  S.  Margherita. 
On  one  occasion,  when  he  had  to  fly  from  justice,  the  girls 
concealed  him  in  their  rooms  for  fifteen  days.  The  first 
fruit  of  this  amour  was  a  stillborn  child  ;  after  giving  birth 
to  which  Virginia  sold  all  the  silver  she  possessed,  and 
sent  a  votive  tablet  to  Our  Lady  of  Loreto,  on  which  she 
had  portrayed  a  nun  and  baby,  kneeling  and  weeping.  '  Twice 
again  I  sent  the  same  memorial  to  our  Lady,  imploring  the 
grace  of  liberation  from  this  passion.  But  the  sorceries  with 
which  I  was  surrounded,  prevailed.  In  my  bed  were  found 
the  bones  of  the  dead,  hooks  of  iron,  and  many  other  things 


2.50  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

of  which  the  nuns  were  well  informed.  Nay,  I  would  fain 
have  given  up  my  life  to  save  my  soul ;  and  so  great  were  my 
afflictions  that  in  despair  I  went  to  throw  myself  into  the 
well,  but  was  restrained  by  the  image  of  the  Virgin  at  the 
bottom  of  the  garden,  for  which  I  had  a  special  devotion,' 
In  course  of  time  she  gave  birth  to  a  little  girl,  named 
Francesca,  who  frequented  the  convent,  and  whom  Osio 
legitimated  as  his  child. 

It  was  impossible  that  a  connexion  of  long  standing, 
known  to  several  accomplices,  and  corroborated  by  the 
presence  of  the  child  Francesca,  should  remain  hidden  from 
the  world.  People  began  to  speak  about  the  fact  in  Monza. 
A  druggist,  named  Eeinaro  Honcini,  gossiped  somewhat  too 
openly.  Osio  had  him  shot  one  night  by  a  servant  in  his 
pay.  And  now  the  lovers  were  engaged  in  a  career  of  crime, 
which  brought  them  finally  to  justice.  Virginia's  waiting- 
woman  Caterina  fell  into  disgrace  with  her  mistress,  and  was 
shut  up  in  a  kind  of  prison  by  her  orders.  The  girl  declared 
that  she  would  bring  the  whole  bad  aft'air  before  the  superior 
authorities,  and  would  do  so  immediately,  seeing  that 
Monsignor  Barca,  the  visitor  of  S.  Margherita,  was  about  to 
make  one  of  his  offlcial  tours  of  inspection.  This  threat 
cost  Caterina  her  life.  About  midnight,  while  a  thunderstorm 
was  raging,  Virginia,  accompanied  by  her  usual  associates, 
Ottavia,  Benedetta,  Silvia,  and  Candida,  entered  the  room 
where  the  girl  was  confined.  They  were  followed  by  Osio, 
holding  in  his  hand  a  heavy  instrument  of  wood  and  iron, 
called  piede  cli  bicocca,  which  he  had  snatched  up  in  the 
convent  outhouse.  He  found  Caterina  lying  face  downward 
on  the  bed,  and  smashed  her  skull  with  a  single  blow.  The 
body  was  conveyed  by  him  and  the  nuns  into  the  fowlhouse 
of  the  sisters,  whence  he  removed  it  on  the  following  night, 
by  the  aid  of  Benedetta,  into  his  own  dwelling.  From 
evidence  which  afterwards  transpired,  Osio  decapitated  the 


MURDER   OF   CATERINA  251 

corpse,  concealed  the  body  in  a  sort  of  cellar,  and  flung  the 
head  into  an  empty  well  at  Yelate. 

The  disappearance  of  Caterina  just  before  the  visitation  of 
Monsignor  Barca,  roused  suspicion  ;  and,  though  a  murder 
was  not  immediately  apprehended,  the  guilty  associates  felt 
that  the  cord  of  fate  was  being  drawn  around  them.  In 
the  autumn  of  1607  tlie  tempest  broke  upon  their  heads. 
Virginia  was  removed  from  Monza  to  the  convent  called  Del 
Bocchetto  at  Milan  ;  and  on  November  27  the  depositions  of 
the  abbess,  prioress,  and  other  members  of  S.  Margherita 
were  taken  regarding  Oslo's  intrigues,  the  assassination  of 
Soncini,  and  the  disappearance  of  Caterina.  Among  the 
nuns  who  had  abetted  Oslo,  the  two  most  criminally  im- 
plicated were  Ottavia  and  Benedetta.  Their  evidence,  if 
closely  scrutinised,  must  reveal  each  secret  of  the  past.  It 
was  much  to  Oslo's  interest,  therefore,  that  they  should  not 
fall  into  the  hands  of  justice  ;  nor  had  he  any  difficulty  in 
persuading  them  to  rely  on  his  assistance  for  contriving  their 
escape  to  some  convent  in  the  Bergamasque  territory.  "We 
may  wonder,  by  the  way,  what  sort  of  discipline  was  then 
maintained  in  nunneries,  if  two  so  guilty  sisters  counted  upon 
safe  entrance  into  an  asylum,  provided  only  they  could  leave 
the  diocese  of  Milan  for  another.  •  On  the  night  of  Thursday, 
November  30,  1607,  Oslo  came  to  the  wall  of  the  convent 
garden,  and  began  to  break  a  hole  in  it,  through  which  Ottavia 
and  Benedetta  crept.  The  three  then  prowled  along  the  city 
wall  of  Monza,  till  they  found  a  breach  wide  enough  for  exit. 
Afterwards  they  took  a  path  beside  the  river  Lambro,  and 
stopped  for  awhile  at  the  church  of  the  Madonna  delle  Grazie. 
Here  the  sisters  prayed  for  assistance  from  our  Lady  in  their 
journey,  and  recited  the  '  Salve  Regina  '  seven  times.     Then 

'  In  ecclesiastical  affairs  the  diocese  of  Milan  exercised  jurisdiction 
over  that  of  Bergamo,  although  Bergamo  was  subject  in  civil  affairs  to 
Venice.     This  makes  the  matter  more  puzzling. 


252  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

they  resumed  their  walk  along  the  Lambro,  and  at  a  certain 
point  Ottavia  fell  into  the  river.  In  her  dying  depositions 
she  accused  Oslo  of  having  pushed  her  in  ;  and  there  seems 
little  doubt  that  he  did  so  ;  for  while  she  was  struggling  in 
the  water,  he  disengaged  his  harquebuss  from  his  mantle 
and  struck  her  several  blows  upon  the  head  and  hands.  She 
pretended  to  be  dead,  and  was  carried  down  the  stream  to  a 
place  where  she  contrived  to  crawl  to  land.  Some  peasants 
:  came  by,  whose  assistance  she  implored.  But  they,  observing 
that  she  was  a  nun  of  S.  Margherita  by  her  dress,  refused  to 
house  her  for  the  rest  of  the  night.  They  gave  her  a  staff  to 
lean  on,  and  after  a  painful  journey  she  regained  the  church  of 
the  Grazie  at  early  dawn.  Ottavia's  wounds  upon  the  head, 
face,  and  right  hand,  inflicted  by  the  stock  of  Oslo's  gun, 
were  so  serious  that,  after  making  a  clean  breast  to  her 
judges,  she  died  of  them  upon  December  26,  1607. 

When  Osio  had  pushed  Ottavia  into  the  Lambro,  and 
had  tried  to  smash  her  brains  out  with  his  harquebuss,  he 
resumed  his  midnight  journey  with  Sister  Benedetta.  They 
reached  an  uninhabited  house  in  the  country  about  five  or 
six  miles  distant  from  Monza.  Here  Osio  shut  Benedetta  up 
in  an  empty  room  with  a  stone  bench  running  along  the 
wall.  She  remained  there  all  Friday,  visited  once  by  her 
dreaded  companion,  who  brought  her  bread,  cheese,  and  wine. 
She  abstained  from  touching  any  of  this  food,  in  fear  of 
poison.  About  nine  in  the  evening  he  returned,  and  bade 
her  prepare  to  march.  They  set  out  again  together  in  the 
dark  ;  and  after  walking  about  three  miles  they  came  to  a 
well,  down  which  Osio  threw  her.  The  well  was  deep  and 
had  no  water  in  it.  Benedetta  injured  her  left  side  in  the 
fall ;  and  when  she  had  reached  the  bottom,  her  would-be 
murderer  flung  a  big  stone  on  her,  which  broke  her  right 
leg.  .  She  contrived  to  protect  her  head  by  gathering  stones 
around  it,  and  lay  without  moaning  or  moving,  in  the  fear 


OTTAVIA  AND   EENEDETTA      •  253 

that  Osio  would  attempt  fresh  violence  unless  he  thought 
her  dead.  From  the  middle  of  Friday  night  until  Sunday 
morning  she  remained  thus,  exploring  with  her  eyes  the 
surface  of  her  dungeon.  It  was  dry  and  strewn  with  bones. 
In  one  corner  lay  a  round  black  object  which  bore  the  aspect 
of  a  human  skull.  As  it  eventually  turned  out,  this  was  the 
head  of  Caterina,  whom  Benedetta  herself  had  helped  to 
murder,  and  which  Osio  had  thrown  there.  On  Sunday, 
during  Mass,  the  men  of  the  village  of  Velate  were  in  church, 
when  they  heard  a  voice  from  outside  calling  out,  *  Help,  help  ! 
I  am  at  the  bottom  of  this  well ! '  The  well,  as  it  happened, 
was  distant  some  dozen  paces  from  the  church  door,  and 
Benedetta  had  timed  her  call  for  assistance  at  a  lucky  moment. 
The  villagers  ran  to  the  spot,  and  drew  her  out  by  means 
of  a  man  who  went  down  with  a  rope.  She  was  then  taken 
to  the  house  of  a  gentleman,  Signor  Alberico  degli  Alberici, 
who,  when  no  one  else  was  charitable  enough  to  receive  her, 
opened  his  doors  to  the  exhausted  victim  of  that  murderous 
outrage.  It  may  be  remarked  that  the  same  surgeon  who  had 
been  employed  to  report  on  Ottavia's  wounds,  now  appeared 
to  examine  Benedetta.  His  name  was  Ambrogio  Vimercati. 
Benedetta  was  taken  to  the  convent  of  S.  Orsola,  where  her 
friend  Ottavia  lay  dying  ;  and  after  making  a  full  confession, 
she  eventually  recovered  her  health  and  suffered  life-long 
incarceration  in  her  old  convent. 

Osio  was  still  at  large.  On  December  20,  he  addressed  a 
long  letter  to  the  Cardinal  Federigo  Borromeo,  in  which  he 
vainly  attempted  to  defend  himself  and  throw  the  blame  on 
his  associates.  It  is  a  loathsome  document,  blending  fulsome 
protestations  and  fawning  phrases  with  brutal  denouncements 
of  his  victims  and  treacherous  insinuations.  One  passage 
deserves  notice.  '  Who  was  it,'  he  says,  '  who  suggested  my 
correspondence  with  Virginia  ?  The  priest  Paolo  Arrigone, 
that  ruin  of  the  monastery  !     The  Canon  Pisnato,  who  is  now 


254  EENAISSANCE   IX   ITALY 

confessor  to  the  nuns  of  Meda ;  in  Lis  house  you  will  find 
what  will  never  be  discovered  in  mine,  presents  from  nuns, 
incitements  to  amours,  and  other  such  things.  The  priest 
Giacomo  Bertola,  confessor  of  the  nuns  of  S.  Margherita ; 
who  was  his  devotee  ?  Sacha  ! — and  he  stayed  there  all  the 
day  through.  These  men,  being  priests,  are  not  prosecuted  ; 
they  are  protected  by  their  cloth,  forsooth  !  It  is  only  of 
poor  Oslo  that  folk  talk.  Only  he  is  persecuted,  only  he  is 
a  malefactor,  only  he  is  the  traitor  ! '  Arrigone,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  was  tried,  and  condemned  to  two  years'  labour 
at  the  galleys,  after  the  expiration  of  which  term  he  was  not 
to  return  to  Monza  or  its  territory.  This  seems  a  slight 
sentence  ;  for  the  judges  found  him  guilty,  not  only  of 
promoting  Oslo's  intrigue  with  Virginia  by  conducting  the 
correspondence  and  watching  the  door  during  their  inter- 
views in  the  parlour,  but  also  of  pursuing  the  Signora  herself 
with  infamous  proposals. 

In  his  absence  Oslo  was  condemned  to  death  on  the  gibbet. 
His  goods  were  confiscated  to  the  State.  His  house  in 
Monza  was  destroyed,  and  a  pillar  of  infamy  recording  his 
crimes  was  erected  on  its  site.  A  proclamation  of  outlawry 
was  issued  on  April  5,  1608,  under  the  seal  of  Don  Pietro  de 
Acevedo,  Count  of  Fuentes,  and  governor  of  the  State  of 
Milan,  which  offered  '  to  any  person  not  himself  an  outlaw, 
or  to  any  commune,  that  shall  consign  Gianpaolo  Osio  to  the 
hands  of  justice,  the  reward  of  a  thousand  scudi  from  the 
royal  ducal  treasury,  together  with  the  right  to  free  four 
bandits  condemned  for  similar  or  less  offences ;  and  in  case 
of  his  being  delivered  dead,  even  though  he  shall  be  slain  in 
foreign  parts,  then  the  half  of  the  aforesaid  sum  of  money, 
and  the  freedom  of  two  bandits  as  above.  And  if  the  person 
who  shall  consign  him  alive  be  himself  an  outlaw  for  similar 
or  less  offences  he  shall  receive,  besides  the  freedom  of  him- 
self and  two  other  bandits,  the  half  of  the  aforesaid  sum  of 


VIRGINIA'S   PUNISHMENT  25.5 

money  ;  and  in  the  case  of  his  consignment  after  death,  the 
freedom  of  himself  and  of  two  other  bandits  as  aforesaid,'  I 
have  recited  this  Bando,  because  it  is  a  good  instance  of  the 
procedure  in  use  under  hke  conditions.  Justice  preferred  to 
obtain  the  culprit  alive,  and  desired  to  receive  him  at  honest 
hands.  But  there  was  an  expectation  of  getting  hold  of  him 
through  less  reputable  agents.  Therefore  they  offered  free 
pardon  to  a  bandit  and  a  couple  of  accomplices,  who  might 
undertake  the  capture  or  the  murder  of  the  proscribed  outlaw 
in  concert,  and  in  the  event  of  his  being  produced  alive  a  sum 
of  money  down.  Osio,  apparently,  spent  some  years  in  exile, 
changing  place  and  name  and  dress,  living  as  he  could  from 
hand  to  mouth,  until  the  rumour  spread  abroad  that  he  was 
dead.  He  then  returned  to  his  country,  and  begged  for  sanc- 
tuary from  an  old  friend.  That  friend  betrayed  him,  had  his 
throat  cut  in  a  cellar,  and  exposed  his  head  upon  the  public 
market  place. 

Virginia  was  sentenced  to  perpetual  incarceration  in  the 
convent  of  S.  Valeria  at  Milan.  She  was  to  be  '  inclosed 
within  a  little  dungeon,  the  door  of  which  shall  be  walled  up 
with  stones  and  mortar,  so  that  the  said  Virginia  ]\Iaria 
shall  abide  there  for  the  term  of  her  natural  life,  immured 
both  day  and  night,  never  to  issue  thence,  but  shall  receive 
food  and  other  necessaries  through  a  small  hole  in  the  wall 
of  the  said  chamber,  and  light  and  air  through  an  aperture  or 
other  opening.'  This  sentence  was  carried  into  effect.  But 
at  the  expiration  of  many  years,  her  behaviour  justified  some 
mitigation  of  the  penalty.  She  was  set  at  large,  and  allowed 
to  occupy  a  more  wholesome  apartment,  where  the  charity  of 
Cardinal  Borromeo  supplied  her  with  comforts  befitting  her 
station  and  the  reputation  she  acquired  for  sanctity.  Her 
own  family  cherished  implacable  sentiments  of  resentment 
against  the  woman  who  had  brought  disgrace  upon  them. 
Kipamonte,  the  historian  of  Milan,  says  that  in  his  own  time 


256  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

she  was  still  alive  :  '  a  bent  old  woman,  tall  of  stature,  dried 
and  fleshless,  but  venerable  in  her  aspect,  whom  no  one  could 
believe  to  have  been  once  a  charming  and  immodest  beauty.' 
Her  associates  in  guilt,  the  nuns  of  S.  Margherita,  were  con- 
signed to  punishments  resembling  hers.  Sisters  Benedetta, 
Silvia,  and  Candida  suffered  the  same  close  incarceration. 

Lucrezia  Buonvisi. 

The  tale  of  Lucrezia  Buonvisi  presents  some  points  of 
similarity  to  that  of  the  Signora  di  Monza.^  Her  father  was 
a  Lucchese  gentleman,  named  Vincenzo  Malpigli,  who  passed 
the  better  portion  of  his  life  at  Ferrara  as  treasurer  to  Duke 
Alfonso  II.  He  had  four  children  ;  one  son,  Giovan  Lorenzo, 
and  three  daughters,  of  whom  Lucrezia,  born  at  Lucca  in 
1572,  was  probably  the  youngest.  Vincenzo's  wife  sprang 
from  the  noble  Lucchese  family  of  Buonvisi,  at  that  time  by 
their  wealth  and  alliances  the  most  powerful  house  of  the 
Republic.  Lucrezia  spent  some  years  of  her  girlhood  at 
Ferrara,  where  she  formed  a  romantic  friendship  for  a  noble- 
man of  Lucca  named  Massimiliano  Arnolfini,  This  early 
attachment  was  not  countenanced  by  her  parents.  They 
destined  her  to  be  the  wife  of  one  of  Paolo  Buonvisi's 
numerous  sons,  her  relatives  upon  the  mother's  side.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  determination,  she  was  first  affianced  to  an 
heir  of  that  house,  who  died ;  again  to  another,  who  also 
died ;  and  in  the  third  place  to  their  brother,  called  Lelio, 
whom  she  eventually  married  in  the  year  1591.  Lelio  was 
then  twenty-five  years  of  age,  and  Lucrezia  nineteen.  Her 
beauty  was  so  distinguished  that  in  poems  written  on  the 
ladies  of  Lucca  it  received  this  celebration  in  a  madrigal : — • 

'  Storia  di  Lucrezia  Buonvisi,  by  Salvatore  Bonghi,  Lucca  1864. 
This  is  an  admirably  written  historical  monograpli,  based  on  accurate 
studies  and  wide  researches,  containing  a  mine  of  valuable  information 
for  a  student  of  those  times. 


LUCREZIA'S  YOUTH  AND    MARRIAGE  257 

Like  the  young  maiden  rose 

Which  at  the  opening  of  the  dawn, 

Still  sprinkled  with  heaven's  gracious  dew, 
Her  beauty  and  her  bosom  on  the  lawn 
Doth  charmingly  disclose, 

For  nymphs  and  amorous  swains  with  love  to  view  ; 
So  delicate,  so  fair,  Lucrezia  yields 
New  pearls,  new  purple  to  our  homely  fields, 

"W^iile  Cupid  plays  and  Flora  laughs  in  her  fresh  hue. 

Less  than  a  year  after  her  marriage  with  Lelio  Buonvisi, 
Lucrezia   resumed  her  former   intimacy   with    MassimiHano 
Arnolfini.     He  was  scarcely  two  years  her  elder,  and  they 
had  already  exchanged  vows  of  fidelity  in  Ferrara,     Massi- 
miliano's  temper  inclined  him  to  extreme  courses  ;  he  was 
quick  and  fervent  in  all  the  disputes  of  his  age,  ready  to  back 
his  quarrels  wdth  the  sword,  and  impatient  of  delay  in  any 
matter  he  had  undertaken.     Owang  to  a  feud  which  then  sub- 
sisted between  the  families  of  Arnolfini  and  Boccella,  he  kept 
certain  bravi  in  his  service,  upon  whose  devotion  he  relied. 
This  young  man  soon  found  means  to  open  a  correspondence 
with  Lucrezia,  and  arranged  meetings  with  her  in  the  house 
of  some   poor   weavers   who    lived   opposite   the   palace    of 
the  Buonvisi.     Nothing  passed  between  them  that  exceeded 
the  limits  of  respectful  courtship.     But  the  situation  became 
irksome  to  a  lover  so  hot  of  blood  as  Massimiliano  was.     On 
the   evening   of  June    5,  in  1593,  his   men    attacked  Lelio 
Buonvisi,  while  returning  with  Lucrezia  from  prayers  in  an 
adjacent  church.     Lelio  fell,  stabbed  with  nineteen  thrusts  of 
the  poignard,  and  was  carried  lifeless  to  his  house.     Lucrezia 
made  her  way  back  alone  ;  and  when  her  husband's  corpse 
was  brought  into  the  palace,  she  requested  that  it  should  be 
laid  out  in  the  basement.     A  solitary  witness  of  this  act  of 
violence,  Vincenzo  di  Coreglia,  deposed  to  having  raised  the 
dying  man  from  the  ground,  put  earth  into  his  mouth  by  way 
of  Sacrament,  and  urged  him  to  forgive  his  enemies  before  he 
VI  s 


258  EENAISSAXCE   IN   ITALY 

breatlied  his  last.     The  weather  had  been  very  bad  that  day, 
and  at  nightfall  it  was  thundering  incessantly. 

Inquisition  was  made  immediately  into  the  causes  of 
Lelio's  death.  According  to  Lucrezia's  account,  her  husband 
had  reproved  some  men  upon  the  road  for  singing  obscene 
songs,  whereupon  they  turned  and  murdered  him.  The  corpse 
was  exposed  in  the  Church  of  the  Servi,  where  multitudes  of 
people  gathered  round  it ;  and  there  an  ancient  dame  of  the 
Buonvisi  house,  flinging  herself  upon  her  nephew's  body 
vowed  vengeance,  after  the  old  custom  of  the  Vocero,  against 
his  murderers.  Other  members  of  the  family  indicated 
Massimiliano  as  the  probable  assassin  ;  but  he  meantime  had 
escaped,  with  three  of  his  retainers,  to  a  villa  of  his  mother's 
at  S.  Pancrazio,  whence  he  managed  to  take  the  open  country 
and  place  himself  in  temporary  safety. 

During  this  while  the  judicial  authorities  of  Lucca  were 
not  idle.  The  Podesta  issued  a  proclamation  inviting  evi- 
dence under  the  menace  of  decapitation  and  confiscation  of 
goods  for  whomsoever  should  be  found  to  have  withheld  in- 
formation. To  this  call  a  certain  Orazio  Carli,  most  impru- 
dently, responded.  He  confessed  to  having  been  aware  that 
Massimiliano  was  plotting  the  assassination  of  somebody— not 
Lelio  ;  and  said  that  he  had  himself  facilitated  the  flight  of 
the  assassins  by  preparing  a  ladder,  which  he  placed  in  the 
hands  of  a  bravo  called  Ottavio  da  Trapani.  This  revelation 
delivered  him  over,  bound  hand  and  foot,  to  the  judicial 
authorities,  who  at  the  same  time  imprisoned  Vincenzo  da 
Coreglia,  the  soldier  present  at  the  murder. 

Massimiliano  and  his  men  meanwhile  had  made  their  way 
across  the  frontier  to  Garfagnana.  Their  flight  and  the  sus- 
picions which  attached  to  them,  rendered  it  tolerably  certain 
that  they  were  the  authors  of  the  crime.  But  justice  demanded 
more  circumstantial  information,  and  the  Podesta  decided  to 
work  upon  the  two  men  already  in  his  clutches.     On  June  4 


LUCREZTA   TAKES   THE   VEIL  259 

Carli  was  submitted  to  the  torture.  The  rack  elicited  nothing 
new  from  him,  but  had  the  result  of  dislocating  his  arms. 
He  was  then  placed  upon  an  instrument  called  the  '  she- 
goat,'  a  sharp  wooden  trestle,  to  which  the  man  was  hound 
with  weights  attached  to  his  feet,  and  where  he  sat  for  nearly 
four  hours.  In  the  course  of  this  painful  exercise,  he  deposed 
that  Massimiliano  and  Lucrezia  had  been  in  the  habit  of 
meeting  in  the  house  of  Vincenzo  del  Zoppo  and  Pollonia  his 
wife,  where  the  bravi  also  congregated  and  kept  their  arms. 
Grave  suspicion  was  thus  cast  on  Lucrezia.  Had  she  per- 
chance connived  at  her  husband's  murder '?  Was  she  an 
accomplice  in  the  tragedy  ? 

Lucrezia's  peril  now  became  imminent.  Her  brother, 
Giovan  Lorenzo  Malpigli,  who  remained  her  friend  through- 
out, thought  it  best  for  her  to  retire  as  secretly  as  possible 
into  a  convent.  The  house  chosen  was  that  of  S.  Chiara  in 
the  town  of  Lucca.  On  June  5,  she  assumed  the  habit  of 
S.  Francis,  cut  her  hair,  changed  her  name  from  Lucrezia  to 
Umilia,  and  offered  two  thousand  crowns  of  dower  to  this 
monastery.  Only  four  days  had  elapsed  since  her  husband's 
assassination.  But  she,  at  all  events,  was  safe  from  im- 
mediate peril ;  for  the  Church  must  now  be  dealt  with  ;  and 
the  Church  neither  relinquished  its  suppliants,  nor  disgorged 
the  wealth  they  poured  into  its  coffers.  The  Podesta,  when 
news  of  this  occurrence  reached  him,  sent  at  once  to  make 
inquiries.  His  messenger,  Ser  Vincenzo  Petrucci,  was  in- 
formed by  the  Abbess  that  Lucrezia  had  just  arrived  and  was 
having  her  hair  shorn.  At  his  request,  the  novice  herself 
appeared — '  a  young  woman,  tall  and  pale,  dressed  in  a  nun's 
habit,  with  a  crown  upon  her  head.'  She  declared  herself  to 
be  '  Madonna  Lucretiina  MalpigH,  widow  of  Leho  Buonvisi.' 
The  priest  who  had  conducted  her  reception  affirmed  that  '  the 
gentle  lady,  immediately  upon  her  husband's  death,  conceived 
this  good  prompting  of  the  spirit,  and  obeyed  it  on  the  spot.' 

s2 


260  KENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

For  the  moment  Lucrezia,  whom  in  future  we  must  call 
Sister  Umilia,  had  to  be  left  unmolested.  The  judges  re- 
turned to  the  interrogation  of  their  prisoners.  Yincenzo  del 
Zoppo  and  his  wife  Pollonia,  in  whose  house  the  lovers  used 
to  meet,  were  tortured  ;  but  nothing  that  implied  a  criminal 
correspondence  transpired  from  their  evidence.  Then  the 
unlucky  Carli  was  once  more  put  to  the  strappado.  He  fell 
into  a  deep  swoon,  and  was  with  difficulty  brought  to  life 
again.  Next  his  son,  a  youth  of  sixteen  years,  was  racked 
with  similar  results.  On  June  7,  they  resolved  to  have 
another  try  at  Vincenzo  da  Coreglia.  This  soldier  had  been 
kept  on  low  diet  in  his  prison  during  the  last  week,  and  was 
therefore  ripe,  according  to  the  judicial  theories  of  those 
times,  for  salutary  torments.  Having  been  strung  up  by  his 
hands,  he  was  jerked  and  shaken  in  the  customary  fashion 
until  he  declared  his  willingness  to  make  a  full  confession. 
He  had  been  informed,  he  said,  that  Massimiliano  intended 
to  assassinate  Lelio  by  means  of  his  three  bravi,  Pietro  da 
Castelnuovo,  Ottavio  da  Trapani,  and  Niccolo  da  Pariana. 
He  engaged  to  stand  by  and  cover  the  retreat  of  these  men. 
It  was  Carli,  and  not  Massimihano,  who  had  made  overtures 
to  him.  On  being  once  more  tortured,  he  only  confirmed 
this  confession.  Carli  was  again  summoned,  and  set  upon 
the  '  she-goat,'  with  heavy  weights  attached  to  his  feet.  The 
poor  wretch  sat  for  two  hours  on  this  infernal  machine,  the 
sharp  edges  and  spikes  of  which  were  so  contrived  as  to 
press  slowly  and  deeply  upon  the  tenderest  portions  of  his 
body.^     But  he  endured  this  agony  without  uttering  a  word, 

'  Campanella,  who  was  tortured  in  this  way  at  Naples,  says  that  on 
one  occasion  a  pound  and  a  half  of  his  flesh  was  macerated,  and  ten 
pounds  of  his  blood  shed.  '  Perduravi  horis  quadraginta,  funiculis 
arctissiniis  ossa  usque  secantibus  ligatus,  pendens  manibus  retro  con- 
tortis  de  fune  super  acutissimum  lignum  qui  (?)  earnis  sextertium  (?) 
in  posterioribus  mihi  devoravit  et  decern  sanguinis  libras  tellus  ebibit.' 
Preface  to  Atheismus  Trhimpkatus. 


MASSIMILIANO'S   SENTENCE  2G1 

until  the  judges  perceived  that  he  was  at  the  point  of  death. 
Next  day,  the  8th  of  June,  Coregha  was  again  summoned  to 
the  justicc-chamher.  Terrified  by  the  prospect  of  future 
torments,  and  wearied  out  with  importunities,  he  at  last 
made  a  clean  breast  of  all  he  knew.  It  was  not  Carli,  but 
Massimiliano  himself,  who  had  engaged  him  ;  and  he  had 
assisted  at  the  murder  of  Lelio,  which  was  accomplished  by 
two  of  the  bravi,  Ottavio  and  Pietro.  Coreglia  said  nothing 
to  implicate  Sister  Umilia.  On  the  contrary,  he  asserted  that 
she  seemed  to  lose  her  senses  when  she  saw  her  husband  fall. 
The  General  Council,  to  whom  the  results  of  these  pro- 
ceedings were  communicated,  published  an  edict  of  outlawry 
against  Massimiliano  and  his  three  bravi.  A  price  of  500 
crowns  was  put  upon  the  head  of  each,  wherever  he  should 
be  killed  ;  and  1,000  crowns  were  offered  to  anyone  who 
should  kill  Massimiliano  within  the  city  or  state  of  Lucca. 
At  the  same  time  they  sent  an  envoy  to  Eome,  requesting 
the  Pope's  permission  to  arrest  Umilia,  on  the  ground  that 
she  was  gravely  suspected  of  being  privy  to  the  murder  and 
of  entering  the  convent  to  escape  justice.  A  few  days  after- 
wards, the  miserable  witnesses,  Carli  and  Coreglia,  were 
beheaded  in  their  prison. 

The  Chancellor,  Vincenzo  Petrucci,left  Lucca  on  June  12, 
and  reached  Rome  on  the  14th.  He  obtained  an  audience 
from  Clement  VIII.  upon  the  15th.  When  the  Pope  had 
read  the  letter  of  the  Eepublic,  he  struck  his  palm  down  on 
his  chair,  and  cried  :  '  Jesus  !  This  is  a  grave  case  !  It  seems 
hardly  possible  that  a  woman  of  her  birth  should  have  been 
induced  to  take  share  in  the  murder  of  her  husband.'  After 
some  conversation  with  the  envoy,  he  added  :  '  It  is  certainly 
an  ugly  business.  But  what  can  we  do  now  that  she  has 
taken  the  veil  ?  '  Then  he  promised  to  deliberate  upon  the 
matter  and  return  an  answer  later.  Petrucci  soon  perceived 
that  the  Church  did  not  mean  to  relinquish  its  privileges,  and 


2G2  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

that  Umilia  was  supported  by  powerful  friends  at  court. 
Cardinal  Castrucci  remarked  in  casual  conversation  :  '  She  is 
surely  punished  enough  for  her  sins  by  the  life  of  the  cloister.' 
A  second  interview  with  Clement  on  June  21,  confirmed  him 
in  the  opinion  that  the  Republic  would  not  obtain  the  dis- 
pensation they  requested.  Meanwhile  the  Signory  of  Lucca 
prepared  a  schedule  of  the  suspicions  against  Umilia,  grounded 
upon  her  confused  evidence,  her  correspondence  with  Massi- 
miliano,  the  fact  that  she  had  done  nothing  to  rescue  Lelio 
by  calling  out,  and  her  sudden  resort  to  the  convent.  This 
paper  reached  the  Pope,  who,  on  July  8,  expressed  his  view 
that  the  Eepublic  ought  to  be  content  with  leaving  Umilia 
immured  in  her  monastery ;  and  again,  upon  the  23rd,  he 
pronounced  his  final  decision  that  '  the  lady,  being  a  nun  and 
tonsured  and  prepared  for  the  perfect  life,  is  not  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  your  Signory.  It  is  further  clear  that,  finding 
herself  exposed  to  the  calumnies  of  those  two  witnesses  and 
injured  in  her  reputation,  she  took  the  veil  to  screen  her 
honour.'     On  August  18,  Petrucci  returned  to  Lucca. 

Clement  conceded  one  point.  He  gave  commission  to  the 
Bishop  of  Lucca  to  inquire  into  Umilia's  conduct  within  the 
precincts  of  the  monastery.  But  the  Council  refused  this 
intervention,  for  they  were  on  bad  terms  with  the  Bishop  and 
resented  ecclesiastical  interference  in  secular  causes.  More- 
over, they  judged  that  such  an  inquisition,  v.dthout  torture 
used  and  in  a  place  of  safety,  would  prove  worse  than  useless. 
Thus  the  afi'air  dropped. 

Meanwhile  we  may  relate  what  happened  to  Massimiliano 
and  his  bravi.  They  escaped,  through  Garfagnana  and  Massa, 
into  the  territory  of  Alfonso  Malaspina,  Marquis  of  Villafranca 
and  Tresana.  This  nobleman,  who  delighted  in  protecting 
outlaws,  placed  the  four  men  in  security  in  his  stronghold  of 
Tresana.  Pietro  da  Castelnuovo  was  an  outlaw  from  Tuscany 
for  the  murder  of  a  Carmelite  friar,  which  he  had  committed 


THE   FATE   OF   MASSIMILIANO  263 

at  Pietrasanta  a  few  days  before  tlie  assassination  of  Lelio. 
Seventeen  years  after  these  events  he  was  still  alive  and 
wanted  for  grave  crimes  committed  in  the  Duchy  of  Modena. 
History  knows  no  more  about  him,  except  that  he  had  a  wife 
and  family.  Of  Niccolo  da  Pariana  nothing  has  to  be  related. 
Ottavio  da  Trapani  was  caught  at  Milan,  brought  back  to 
Lucca,  and  hanged  there  on  June  13,  1604,  after  being  torn 
with  pincers.  Massimiliano  is  said  to  have  made  his  way  to 
Flanders,  where  the  Lucchese  enjoyed  many  privileges,  and 
where  his  family  had  probably  hereditary  connexions.'  Like 
all  outlaws,  he  lived  in  perpetual  peril  of  assassination.  Ke- 
morse  and  shame  invaded  him,  especially  when  news  arrived 
that  the  mistress,  for  whom  he  had  risked  all,  was  turning  to 
a  dissolute  life  (as  w^e  shall  shortly  read)  in  her  monastery. 
His  reason  gave  way  ;  and,  after  twenty-two  years  of  wander- 
ing, he  returned  to  Lucca,  and  was  caught.  Instead  of 
executing  the  capital  sentence  which  had  been  pronounced 
upon  him,  the  Signory  consigned  him  to  perpetual  prison  in 
the  tower  of  Viareggio,  which  was  then  an  insalubrious  and 
fever- stricken  village  on  the  coast.  Here,  walled  up  in  a 
little  room,  alone,  deprived  of  light  and  air  and  physical 
decency,  he  remained  forgotten  for  ten  years  from  1G15  to 
1625.  At  the  latter  date  report  was  made  that  he  had  re- 
fused food  for  three  days  and  was  suffering  from  a  dangerous 
hemorrhage.  When  the  authorities  proposed  to  break  the 
wall  of  his  dungeon  and  send  a  priest  and  surgeon  to  relieve 
him,  he  declared  that  he  would  kill  himself  if  they  intruded 
on  his  misery.  Nothing  more  was  heard  of  him  until  1629, 
when  he  was  again  reported  to  be  at  the  point  of  death. 
This  time  he  requested  the  assistance  of  a  priest ;  and  it  is 
probable  that  he  then  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-nine,  having 

'  I  may  here   allude   to   a  portrait   in  our  National  Gallery  of    a 
Lucchese  Arnolfini  and  his  wife,  painted  by  Van  Eyck. 


264  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

survived  the  other  actors  in  this   tragedy  and  expiated  the 
passion  of  his  youth  by  life-long  sufferings. 

When  we  return  to  Sister  Umilia,  and  inquire  how  the 
years  had  worn  with  her,  a  new  chapter  in  the  story  opens. 
In  1606  she  was  still  cloistered  in  S.  Chiara,  which  indeed 
remained  her  home  until  her  death.     She  had  now  reached 
the  age  of  thirty-four.     Suspicion  meanwhile  fell  upon  the 
conduct  of  the  nuns  of  S.  Chiara ;  and  on  January  9,  in  that 
year,  a  rope-ladder  was  discovered  hanging  from  the  garden 
wall  of  the  convent.     Upon  inquiry,  it  appeared  that  certain 
men  were  in  the  habit  of  entering  the   house   and  holding 
secret   correspondence   with   the   sisters.     Among  these  the 
most  notorious  were  Piero  Passari,  a  painter,  infamous  for 
vulgar  profligacy,  and  a  young  nobleman  of  Lucca,  Tommaso 
Samminiati.     Both  of  them  contrived  to  evade  justice,  and 
were  proclaimed,  as  usual,  outlaws.     In  the  further  course  of 
investigation  the  strongest  proofs  were  brought  to  light,  from 
which  it  appeared  that  the  chief  promoter  of  these  scandals 
Avas  a  man  of  high  position  in  the  state,  advanced  in  years, 
married   to   a   second   wife,  and  holding   office   of  trust   as 
Protector   of   the    Nunnery  of   S.  Chiara.     He   was   named 
Giovanbattista  Dati,  and  represented  an   ancient  Lucchese 
family  mentioned  by  Dante.     While  Dati  carried  on  his  own 
intrigue  with  Sister  Cherubina  Mei,  he  did  his  best  to  en- 
courage the  painter  in  promiscuous  debauchery,  and  to  foster 
the  passion  which  Samminiati  entertained  for  Sister  Umilia 
Malpigli.     Dati  was  taken  prisoner  and  banished  for  life  to 
the  island  of  Sardinia  ;  but  his  papers  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Signory,  who  extracted  from  them  the   evidence  which 
follows  touching  Umilia  and  Samminiati.     This  young  man 
was  ten  years  her  junior  ;  yet  the  quiet  life  of  the  cloister 
had  preserved  Umilia's  beauty,  and  she  was  still  capable  of 
in  spiring  enthusiastic  adoration.    This  transpires  in  the  letters 
which  Samminiati  addressed  to  her  through  Dati  from  his 


SAMMINIATI'S   LOVE  2G5 

asylum  in  Venice.  They  reveal,  says  Signer  Bonghi,  a  strange 
confusion  of  madness,  crime,  and  love.^  Their  style  is  that 
of  a  delirious  rhetorician.  One  might  fancy  they  had  been 
composed  as  exercises,  except  for  certain  traits  which  mark 
the  frenzy  of  genuine  exaltation.  Threats,  imprecations,  and 
blasphemies  alternate  with  prayers,  vows  of  fidelity  and 
reminiscences  of  past  delights  in  love.  Samminiati  bends 
before  '  his  lady  '  in  an  attitude  of  respectful  homage,  offering 
upon  his  knees  the  service  of  awe-struck  devotion.  At 
one  time  he  calls  her  *  his  most  beauteous  angel,'  at  another 
'  his  most  lovely  and  adored  enchantress.'  He  does  not 
conceal  his  firm  belief  that  she  has  laid  him  under  some  spell 
of  sorcery ;  but  entreats  her  to  have  mercy  and  to  liberate 
him,  reminding  her  how  a  certain  Florentine  lady  restored 
Giovan  Lorenzo  Malpigli  to  health  after  keeping  him  in 
magic  bondage  till  his  life  was  in  danger.^  Then  he  swears 
unalterable  fealty ;  heaven  and  fortune  shall  not  change  his 
love.  It  is  untrue  that  at  Florence  or  at  Venice  he  has 
cast  one  glance  on  any  other  woman.  Let  lightning  strike 
him,  if  he  deserts  Umilia.  But  she  has  caused  him  jealousy 
by  stooping  to  a  base  amour.  To  this  point  he  returns 
with  some  persistence.  Then  he  entreats  her  to  send  him 
her  portrait,  painted  in  the  character  of  S.  Ursula.  At 
another  time  he  gossips  about  the  nuns,  forwarding  mes- 
sages, alluding  to  their  several  love-affairs,  and  condoling 
with  them  on  the  loss  of  a  compliant  confessor.  This 
was  a  priest,  who,  when  the  indescribable  corruptions  of 
S.  Chiara  had  been  clearly  proved,  calmly  remarked  that 
there  was  no  reason   to  make  such  a  fuss — they  were  only 

'  Here  again  I  have  very  closely  followed  the  text  of  Signor  Bonghi's 
monograph,  pp.  112-11-5. 

-  It  appears  that  violent  i^assion  for  a  person  was  commonly  attri- 
buted at  that  epoch  to  enchantment.  See  above,  the  confession  of  the 
Lady  of  Monza,  p.  249. 


266  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

affairs   of  gentlefolk,   cose   di  gentilhuomini.     The   rival   of 
whom   Samminiati    was    jealous   seems   to   have   been    the 
painter  Pietro,  who  held  the  key  to  all  the  scandals  of  the 
convent  in  his  hand.     Umilia,  Dati,  and  Samminiati  at  last 
agreed  '  to  rid  their  neighbourhood  of  that  pest.'     The  man 
had  escaped  to  Eovigo,  whither   Samminiati   repaired  from 
Venice,  '  attended  by  two  good  fellows  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  district.'     But  Pietro  got  away  to  Ferrara,  his  enemy 
following  and  again  missing  him.     Samminiati  writes  that 
he  is  resolved  to  hunt  '  that  rascal '  out,  and  make  an  end  of 
him.     Meanwhile  Umilia  is  commissioned  to  do  for  Calidonia 
Burlamacchi,  a  nun  who  had  withdrawn  from  the  company 
of  her   guilty  sisters  and  knew  too  many  of  their   secrets. 
Samminiati  sends  a  white  powder  and  a  little  phial  containing 
a  liquid,  both  of  which,  he  informs  Umilia,  are  potent  poisons, 
with  instructions  how  to  use  them  and  how  to  get  Calidonia 
to  swallow  the  ingredients.     Then  '  if  the  devil  does  not  help 
her,  she  will  pass  from  this  life  in  half  a  night's  time,  and 
without  the  slightest  sign  of  violence.' 

It  may  be  imagined  what  disturbance  was  caused  in  the 
General  Council  by  the  reading  of  this  correspondence. 
Nearly  all  the  noble  families  of  Lucca  were  connected  by  ties 
of  blood  or  marriage  with  one  or  other  of  the  culprits  ;  and 
when  the  relatives  of  the  accused  had  been  excluded  from  the 
session,  only  sixty  members  were  left  to  debate  on  further 
measures.  I  will  briefly  relate  what  happened  to  the  three 
outlaws.  Venice  refused  to  give  up  Samminiati  at  the  request 
of  the  Lucchese,  saying  that  '  the  Kepublic  of  S.  Mark  would 
not  initiate  a  course  of  action  prejudicial  to  the  hospitality 
which  every  sort  of  person  was  wont  to  enjoy  there.'  But 
the  young  man  was  banished  to  Candia,  whither  he  obediently 
retired.  Pietro,  the  painter,  was  eventually  permitted  to  return 
to  the  territory  but  not  the  town  of  Lucca.  Dati  surrounded 
himself  with  armed  men,  as  was  the  custom  of  rich  criminals 


CONCLUSION   OF  LUCEEZTA'S   STORY  267 

on  whose  bead  a  price  was  set.  After  wandering  some  time, 
he  submitted  and  took  up  bis  abode  in  Sardinia,  whence  be 
afterwards  removed,  by  permission  of  the  Signory,  to  France. 
There  he  died.  Witli  regard  to  the  nuns,  it  seemed  at  first 
that  the  ends  of  justice  would  be  defeated  through  the 
jealousies  which  divided  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  autho- 
rities in  Lucca.  The  Bishop  was  absent,  and  his  Vicar 
refused  to  institute  a  criminal  process,  Umilia  remained  at 
large  in  the  convent,  and  even  began  a  new  intrigue  with  one 
Simo  Menocchi.  At  last,  in  1609,  the  Vicar  prepared  his 
indictment  against  the  guilty  nuns,  and  forwarded  it  to  Rome. 
Their  sentence  was  as  follows :  Sister  Orizia  condemned  to 
incarceration  for  life  and  loss  of  all  her  privileges  ;  Sister 
Umilia,  to  the  same  penalties  for  a  term  of  seven  years  ; 
Sisters  Paola,  Cherubina,  and  Dionea,  received  a  lighter 
punishment.  Orizia,  it  may  be  mentioned,  had  written  a 
letter  with  her  own  blood  to  some  lover  ;  but  nothing  leads 
us  to  suppose  that  she  was  equally  guilty  with  Umilia,  who 
had  entered  into  the  plot  to  poison  Sister  Calidonia. 

Umilia  was  duly  immured,  and  bore  her  punishment  until 
the  year  1616,  at  which  time  the  sentence  expired.  But  she 
was  not  released  for  another  two  years ;  for  she  persistently 
refused  to  humble  herself,  or  to  request  that  liberation  as  a 
grace  which  was  her  due  in  justice.  Nor  would  she  submit 
to  the  shame  of  being  seen  about  the  convent  without  her 
monastic  habit.  Finally,  in  1618,  she  obtained  freedom 
and  restoration  to  her  privileges  as  a  nun  of  S.  Chiara. 
It  may  be  added,  as  a  last  remark,  that,  when  the  convent 
was  being  set  to  rights,  Umilia's  portrait  in  the  character 
of  S.  Ui'sula  was  ordered  to  be  destroyed  or  rendered  fit 
for  devout  uses  by  alterations.  Any  nun  who  kept  it  in  her 
cell  incurred  the  penalty  of  excommunication.  In  what  year 
Umilia  died  remains  unknown. 


268  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 


The  Cenci. 

Shifting  the  scene  to  Eome,  we  light  upon  a  group  of 
notable  misdeeds  enacted  in  the  last  half  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  each  of  which  is  well  calculated  to  illustrate  the 
conditions  of  society  and  manners  at  that  epoch.  It  may  be 
well  to  begin  with  the  Cenci  tragedy.  In  Shelley's  powerful 
drama,  in  Guerrazzi's  tedious  novel  and  Scolari's  digest, 
the  legend  of  Beatrice  Cenci  has  long  appealed  to  modern 
sympathy.  The  real  facts,  extracted  from  legal  documents 
and  public  registers,  reduce  its  poetry  of  horror  to  com- 
paratively squalid  prose.'  Yet,  shorn  of  romantic  glamour, 
the  bare  history  speaks  significantly  to  a  student  of  Italian 
customs.  Monsignore  Cristoforo  Cenci,  who  died  about  the 
year  1562,  was  in  holy  orders,  yet  not  a  priest.  One  of  the 
clerks  of  the  Apostolic  Camera,  a  Canon  of  S.  Peter's,  the 
titular  incumbent  of  a  Eoman  parish,  and  an  occupant  of 
minor  offices  about  the  Papal  Court  and  Curia,  he  represented 
an  epicene  species,  neither  churchman  nor  layman,  which  the 
circumstances  of  ecclesiastical  sovereignty  rendered  indis- 
pensable. Cristoforo  belonged  to  a  good  family  among  that 
secondary  Eoman  aristocracy  which  ranked  beneath  the 
princely  feudatories  and  the  Papal  bastards.  He  accumu- 
lated large  sums  of  money  by  maladministration  of  his  official 
trusts,  inherited  the  estates  of  two  uncles,  and  bequeathed  a 
colossal  fortune  to  his  son  Francesco.  This  youth  was  the 
offspring  of  an  illicit  connexion  carried  on  between  Mon- 
signore Cenci  and  Beatrice  Amias  during  the  lifetime  of 
that  lady's  husband.  Upon  the  death  of  the  husband  the 
Monsignore  obtained  dispensation  from  his  orders,  married 
Beatrice,  and  legitimated  his  son,  the  inheritor  of  so  much 

'  Francesco  Cenci  e  la  sua  Famiglia.     Ter  A.  Bertolotti,  Firenze 

1877. 


FKA^X'ESCO   CENCI  2G9 

wealth.  Francesco  was  born  in  1549,  and  had  there- 
fore reached  the  age  of  thirteen  when  his  father  died.  His 
mother  Beatrice  soon  contracted  a  third  matrimonial  union  ; 
but  during  her  guardianship  of  the  boy  she  appeared  before 
the  courts  accused  of  having  stolen  clothing  from  his  tutor's 
wardrobe. 

Francesco  Cenci  disbursed  a  sum  of  33,000  crowns  to 
various  public  offices,  in  order  to  be  allowed  to  enter  un- 
molested into  the  enjoyment  of  his  father's  gains  :  3,800 
crowns  of  this  sum  went  to  the  Chapter  of  S.  Peter's.'  He 
showed  a  certain  precocity  ;  for  at  the  age  of  fourteen  he 
owned  an  illegitimate  child,  and  was  accused  of  violence  to 
domestics.  In  1563  his  family  married  him  to  Ersilia,  a 
daughter  of  the  noble  Santa  Croce  house,  who  brought  him 
a  fair  dowry.  Francesco  lived  for  twenty-one  years  with 
this  lady,  by  whom  he  had  twelve  children.  Upon  her  death 
he  remained  a  widower  for  nine  years,  and  in  1593  he 
married  Lucrezia  Petroni,  widow  of  a  Roman  called  Velli. 
Francesco's  conduct  during  his  first  marriage  was  not  with- 
out blame.  Twice  at  least  he  had  to  pay  fines  for  acts  of 
brutality  to  servants  ;  and  once  he  was  prosecuted  for  an 
attempt  to  murder  a  cousin,  also  named  Francesco  Cenci. 
On  another  occasion  we  find  him  outlawed  from  the  States 
of  the  Church.  Yet  these  offences  were  but  peccadilloes  in  a 
wealthy  Eoman  baron ;  and  Francesco  used  to  boast  that, 
with  money  in  his  purse,  he  had  no  dread  of  justice.  After 
the  death  of  his  wife  Ersilia,  his  behaviour  grew  more 
irregular.  Three  times  between  1591  and  1594  he  was  sued 
for  violent  attacls  on  servants  ;  and  in  February  of  the  latter 
year  he  remained  six  months  in  prison  on  multiplied  charges 
of  unnatural  vice.     There  was  nothing  even  here  to  single 

'  He  was  afterwards  forced,  in  1590,  to  disgorge  a  second  sum  of 
25,000  crowns. 


270  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

Francesco  Cenci  out  from  other  nobles  of  his  age.'  Scarcely 
a  week  passed  in  Rome  without  some  afiair  of  the  sort,  in- 
volving outrage,  being  brought  before  the  judges.  Cardinals, 
prelates,  princes,  professional  men  and  people  of  the  lowest 
rank  were  alike  implicated.  The  only  difference  between 
the  culprits  was  that  the  rich  bought  themselves  off,  while 
the  destitute  were  burned.  Eleven  poor  Spaniards  and 
Portuguese  were  sent  to  the  stake  in  1578  for  an  offence 
which  Francesco  Cenci  compounded  in  1594  by  the  payment 
of  100,000  crowns.  After  this  warning  and  the  loss  of  so 
much  money,  he  grew  more  circumspect,  married  his  second 
wife  Lucrezia,  and  settled  down  to  rule  his  family.  His 
sons  caused  him  considerable  anxiety.  Giacomo,  the  eldest, 
married  against  his  father's  will,  and  supported  himself  by 
forging  obligations  and  raising  money.  Francesco's  dis- 
pleasure showed  itself  in  several  law-suits,  one  of  which 
accused  Giacomo  of  having  plotted  against  his  life.  The 
second  son,  Cristoforo,  was  assassinated  by  Paolo  Bruno,  a 
Corsican,  in  the  prosecution  of  a  love  affair  with  the  wife  of 
a  Trasteverine  fisherman.  The  third  son,  Rocco,  spent  his 
time  in  street  adventures,  and  on  one  occasion  laid  his  hands 
on  all  the  plate  and  portable  property  that  he  could  carry 

'  Prospero  Farinaccio,  the  advocate  of  Cenci's  murderers,  was 
himself  tried  for  this  crime  (Bertolotti,  op.  cit.  p.  104).  The  cm-ions 
story  of  the  Spanish  soldiers  alluded  to  above  will  be  found  in  Mutinelli, 
Stor.  Arc.  vol.  i.  p.  121.  See  the  same  work  of  Mutinelli,  vol.  i.  p.  48, 
for  a  similar  prosecution  in  Eome,  1566  ;  and  vol.  iv.  p.  152  for  another 
involving  some  hundred  people  of  condition  at  Milan  in  1679.  Compare 
what  Sarpi  says  about  the  Florentine  merchants  and  Eoman  cinedi  in 
his  Letters,  date  1609,  vol.  i.  p.  288.  For  the  manners  of  the  Neapoli- 
tans, Vita  di  D.  Pietro  di  Toledo  [Arch.  Stor.  It.  vol.  ix.  p.  23).  The 
most  scandalous  example  of  such  vice  in  high  quarters  was  given  by 
Pietro  de'  Medici,  one  of  Duke  Cosimo's  sons.  Galluzzi,  vol.  v.  p.  174, 
and  Litta's  pedigree  of  the  Medici.  The  Bandi  Lucchesi,  ed.  S.  Bonghi, 
Bologna,  1863,  pp.  377-381,  treats  the  subject  in  full ;  and  it  has  been 
discussed  by  Canello,  op.  cit.  pp.  20-23.  The  Artes  Jesuiticce,  op.  cit. 
Articles  62,  120,  illustrate  casuistry  on  the  topic. 


THE   CENCI  FAMILY  271 

off  from  his  father's  house.  This  young  ruffian,  less  than 
twenty  years  of  age,  found  a  devoted  friend  in  Monsignore 
Querro,  a  cousin  of  the  family  well  placed  at  court,  who 
assisted  him  in  the  burglary  of  the  Cenci  palace.  Rocco 
was  killed  by  Amilcare  Orsini,  a  bastard  of  the  Count  of 
Pitigliano,  in  a  brawl  at  night.  The  young  men  met,  Cenci 
attended  by  three  armed  servants,  Orsini  by  two.  A  single 
pass  of  rapiers,  in  which  Rocco  was  pierced  through  the 
right  eye,  ended  the  affair. 

In  addition  to  his  vindictive  persecution  of  his  worthless 
eldest  son,  Francesco  Cenci  behaved  with  undue  strictness  to 
the  younger,  allowing  them  less  money  than   befitted  their 
station  and  treating  them  with  a  severity  which  contrasted 
comically  with   his   own   loose   habits.      The  legend   which 
represents  him  as  an  exceptionally  wicked   man,   cruel  for 
cruelty's  sake  and  devoid  of  natural  affection,  receives  some 
colour  from  the  facts.     Yet  these  alone  are  not  sufficient  to 
justify  its  darker  hues,  while  they  amply  prove  that  Fran- 
cesco's children  gave  him  grievous  provocation.      The  dis- 
contents of  this  ill-governed  family  matured  into  rebellion ; 
and  in  1598  it  was  decided  on  removing  the  old  Cenci  by 
murder.     His  second  wife  Lucrezia,  his  eldest  son  Giacomo, 
his   daughter   Beatrice,  and  a   younger  son  Bernardo,  were 
implicated  in  the  crime.     It  was  successfully  carried  out  at  the 
Rocca  di  Petrella  in  the  Abruzzi  on  the  night  of  September  9. 
Two  hired  bravi,  Olimpio  Calvetti  and  Marzio  Catalan!,  entered 
the  old  man's  bedroom,  drove  a  nail  into  his  head,  and  flung 
the  corpse  out  from  a  gallery,  whence  it  was  alleged  that  he 
had   fallen   by  accident.     Six  days  after  this   assassination 
Giacomo  and  his  brothers  took  out  letters  both  at  Rome  and 
in  the  realm  of  Naples  for  the  administration  of  their  father's 
property ;   nor  does  suspicion   seem  for  some  time  to  have 
.fallen  upon  them.     It  awoke  at  Petrella  in  November,  the 
feudatorv  of  which  fief,  Marzio  Colonna,  informed  the  govern- 


272  EENxUSSANCE   IX   ITALY 

ment  of  Naples  that  proceedings  ought  to  be  taken  agamst 

the  Cenci  and  their  cut-throats.    Accordingly,  on  December  10, 

a  ban  was  published  against  Olinipio  and  Marzio.     Olimpio 

met   his   death   at   an    inn    door  in    a    little  village    called 

Cantalice.     Three   desperate   fellows,   at   the   instigation   of 

Giacomo  de'  Cenci  and  Monsignore  Querro,  surprised   him 

there.     But  Marzio  fell  into  the  hands  of  justice,  and  his 

evidence   caused   the   immediate    arrest   of   the    Cenci.      It 

appears   that   they   were  tortured   and   that   none   of  them 

denied  the  accusation;    so  that  their  advocates  could   only 

plead  extenuating  circumstances.      To  this  fact  may  possibly 

be  due  the  legend  of  Beatrice.     In  order  to  mitigate  the  guilt 

of  parricide,  Prospero  Farinaccio,  who  conducted  her  defence, 

established   a   theory  of  enormous  cruelty  and  unspeakable 

outrages  committed  on  her  person  by  her  father.     With  the 

same  object  in  view,  he  tried  to  make  out  that  Bernardo  was 

half-witted.     There  is  quite  sufficient  extant  evidence  to  show 

that  Bernardo  was  a  young  man  of  average  intelhgence  ;  and 

with  regard  to  Beatrice,  nothing  now  remains  to  corroborate 

Farinaccio's  hypothesis  of  incest.      She   was  not  a  girl  of 

sixteen,  as  the  legend  runs,  but  a  woman  of  twenty-two  ;  ^ 

and  the  codicils  to  her  will  render  it  nearly  certain  that  she 

had  given  birth  to  an  illegitimate  son,  for  whose  maintenance 

she  made  elaborate  and  secret  provisions.     That  the  picture 

ascribed   to    Guido   Eeni  in    the  Barberini  palace   is  not  a 

portrait   of  Beatrice  in   prison,  appears  sufficiently  proved. 

Guido  did  not  come  to  Eome  until  1608,  nine  years  after 

her  death  ;  and  catalogues  of  the  Barberini  gallery,  compiled 

in  1604  and  1623,  contain  no  mention  either  of  a  painting  by 

Guido   or  of  Beatrice's   portrait.      The   Cenci  were  lodged 

successively  in  the  prisons  of  Torre  di  Nona,  Savelli,  and 

S.  Angelo.     They  occupied  wholesome  apartments  and  were 

'  De  Stendhal's  MS.  authority  says  she  was  sixteen,  Shelley's  that 
she  was  twenty. 


MURDER   OF  FRANCESCO   CENCI  273 

allowed  the  attendance  of  their  own  domestics.  That  their 
food  was  no  scanty  dungeon  fare  appears  from  the  vwnus  of 
dinners  and  suppers  supplied  to  them,  which  include  fish, 
flesh,  fruit,  salad,  and  snow  to  cool  the  water.  In  spite  of 
powerful  influence  at  court,  Clement  VIII.  at  last  resolved  to 
exercise  strict  justice  on  the  Cenci.  He  was  brought  to  this 
decision  by  a  matricide  perpetrated  in  cold  blood  at  Subiaco, 
on  September  5,  1599.  Paolo  di  S.  Croce,  a  relative  of  the 
Cenci,  murdered  his  mother  Costanza  in  her  bed,  with  the 
view  of  obtaining  property  over  which  she  had  control.  The 
sentence  issued  a  few  days  after  this  event.  Giacomo  was  con- 
demned to  be  torn  to  pieces  by  red-hot  pincers,  and  finished 
with  a  coup  de  grace  from  the  hangman's  hammer.  Lucrezia 
and  Beatrice  received  the  slighter  sentence  of  decapitation  ; 
while  Bernardo,  in  consideration  of  his  youth,  was  let  off  with 
the  penalty  of  being  present  at  the  execution  of  his  kinsfolk, 
after  which  he  was  to  be  imprisoned  for  a  year  and  then  sent 
to  the  galleys  for  life.  Their  property  was  confiscated  to  the 
Camera  Apostolica.  These  punishments  were  carried  out.' 
But  Bernardo,  after  working  at  Civita  Vecchia  until  1606, 
obtained  release  and  lived  in  banishment  till  his  death  in 
1627.  Monsignor  Querro,  for  his  connivance  in  the  whole 
affair,  was  banished  to  the  island  of  Malta,  whence  he  returned 
at  some  date  before  the  year  1633  to  Eome,  having  expiated 
his  guilt  by  long  and  painful  exile.  In  this  abstract  of  the 
Cenci  tragedy,  I  have  followed  the  documents  pubhshed  by 
Signor  Bertolotti.  They  are  at  many  points  in  startling  con- 
tradiction to  the  legend,  which  is  founded  on  MS.  accounts 
compiled  at  no  distant  period  after  the  events.  One  of  these 
was  employed  by  Shelley  ;  another,  differing  in  some  par- 
ticulars, was  translated  by  De  Stendhal.  Both  agree  in 
painting  that  lurid  portrait  of  Francesco  Cenci  which  Shelley 

*  De  Stendhal's  MS.  describes  how  Giacomo  was  torn  by  pincers  ;• 
Shelley's  says  that  this  part  of  the  sentence  was  remitted. 

VI  T 


274  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

has  animated  with  the  force  of  a  great  dramatist.^  Un- 
luckily, no  copy  of  the  legal  instructions  upon  which  the  trial 
was  conducted  is  now  extant.  In  the  absence  of  this  all- 
important  source  of  information,  it  would  be  unsafe  to  adopt 
Bertolotti's  argument,  that  the  legend  calumniates  Francesco 
in  order  to  exculpate  Beatrice,  without  some  reservation. 
There  is  room  for  the  belief  that  facts  adduced  in  evidence 
may  have  partly  justified  the  prevalent  opinion  of  Beatrice's 
infamous  persecution  by  her  father. 

The  Massimi. 

The  tragedy  of  the  Cenci,  about  which  so  much  has  been 
written  in  consequence  of  the  supposed  part  taken  in  it  by 
Beatrice,  seems  to  me  commonplace  compared  with  that  of 
the  Massimi.^  Whether  this  family  really  descended  from 
the  Eoman  Fabii  matters  but  little.  In  the  sixteenth  century 
they  ranked,  as  they  still  rank,  among  the  proudest  nobles  of 
the  Eternal  City.  Lelio,  the  head  of  the  house,  had  six 
stalwart  sons  by  his  first  wife,  Girolama  Savelli.  They  were 
conspicuous  for  their  gigantic  stature  and  herculean  strength. 
After  their  mother's  death  in  1571,  their  father  became 
enamoured  of  a  woman  inferior  at  all  points,  in  birth,  breed- 
ing, and  antecedents,  to  a  person  of  his  quality.  She  was 
a  certain  Eufrosina,  who  had  been  married  to  a  man  called 
Corberio.  The  great  Marc  Antonio  Colonna  murdered  this 
husband,  and  brought  the  wife  to  Rome  as  his  own  mistress. 
Lelio  Massimo  committed  the  grand  error  of  so  loving  her, 
after  she  had  served  Colonna's  purpose,  that  he  married  her. 
This  was  an  insult  to  the  honour  of  the  house,  which  his 
sons  could  not  or  would  not   bear.     On   the  night   of  her 

'  The  author  of  De  Stendhal's  MS.  i^rofesses  to  have  known  the 
old  Cenci,  and  gives  a  definite  description  of  his  personal  appearance. 
'  Litta  supplies  the  facts  related  above. 


LELIO   MASSIMO,    WIFE,    AND   SONS  275 

wedding,  in  1585,  they  refused  to  pay  her  their  respects  ;  and 
on  the  next  morning,  five  of  them  entered  her  apartments 
and  shot  her  dead.  Only  one  of  the  six  sons,  Pompeo 
Massimo,  bore  no  share  in  this  assassination.  Him,  the 
father,  Leho,  blessed  ;  but  he  solemnly  cursed  the  other  five. 
After  the  lapse  of  a  few  weeks,  he  followed  his  wife  to  the 
grave  with  a  broken  heart,  leaving  this  imprecation  un- 
recalled.  Pompeo  grew  up  to  continue  the  great  line  of 
Massimo.  But  disaster  fell  on  each  of  his  five  brothers,  the 
flower  of  Roman  youth,  exulting  in  their  blood,  and  insolence, 
and  vigour. — The  first  of  them,  Ottavio,  was  killed  by  a  cannon 
ball  at  sea  in  honourable  combat  with  the  Turk.  Another, 
Girolamo,  who  sought  refuge  in  France,  was  shot  down  in  an 
ambuscade  while  pursuing  his  amours  with  a  gentle  lady. 
A  third,  Alessandro,  died  under  arms  before  Paris  while 
serving  in  the  troops  of  General  Farnese.  A  fourth,  Luca, 
was  imprisoned  at  Rome  for  his  share  of  the  stepmother's 
murder,  but  was  released  on  the  plea  that  he  had  avenged 
the  wounded  honour  of  his  race.  He  died,  however,  poisoned 
by  his  own  brother,  Marcantonio,  in  1599.'  Marcantonio  was 
arrested  on  suspicion  and  imprisoned  in  Torre  di  Nona,  where 
he  confessed  his  guilt.  He  was  shortly  afterwards  beheaded 
on  the  little  square  before  the  bridge  of  S.  Angelo. 

Vittorla  Accoramhoni. 

Next  ill  order,  I  shall  take  the  story  of  Vittoria  Accoram- 
honi.    It  has  been  often  told  already,'^  yet  it  combines  so 

'  This  fratricide,  concurring  with  the  matricide  of  S.  Croce,  con- 
tributed to  the  rigour  with  which  the  Cenci  parricide  was  punished  in 
that  year  of  Roman  crimes. 

2  The  White  Devil,  a  tragedy  by  John  Webster,  London,  1612  ;  De 
Stendhal's  Chroniques  et  Nouvelles,  Vittoria  Accoramboni,  Paris,  1855  ; 
Vittoria  Accoramboni,  D.  Gnoli,  Firenze,  1870  ;  Italian  Byways,  by 
J.  A.  Symonds,  London,  1883.  The  greater  part  of  what  follows  above 
is  extracted  from  my  Italian  Byways. 

t2 


276  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

many  points  of  interest  bearing  upon  the  social  life  of  the 
Italians  in  my  period,  that  to  omit  it  would  be  to  sacrifice 
the  most  important  document  bearing  on  the  matter  of  this 
chapter.  As  the  Signora  di  Monza  and  Lucrezia  Buonvisi 
help  us  to  understand  the  secret  history  of  families  and  con- 
vents, so  Vittoria  Accoramboni  introduces  us  to  that  of  courts. 
It  will  be  noticed  how  the  same  machinery  of  lawless  nobles 
and  profligate  bravi,  acting  in  concert  with  bold  women,  is 
brought  into  play  throughout  the  tragedies  which  form  the 
substance  of  our  present  inquiry. 

Vittoria  was  born  in  1557,  of  a  noble  but  impoverished 
family,  at  Gubbio  among  the  hills  of  Umbria.  Her  biogra- 
phers are  rapturous  in  their  praises  of  her  beauty,  grace,  and 
exceeding  charm  of  manner.  Not  only  was  her  person  most 
lovely,  but  her  mind  shone  at  first  with  all  the  amiable  lustre 
of  a  modest,  innocent,  and  winning  youth.  Her  father, 
Claudio  Accoramboni,  removed  to  Rome,  where  his  numerous 
children  were  brought  up  under  the  care  of  their  mother, 
Tarquinia,  an  ambitious  woman,  bent  on  rehabilitating  the 
decayed  honours  of  her  house.  Here  Vittoria  in  early  girl- 
hood soon  became  the  fashion.  She  exercised  an  irresistible 
influence  over  all  who  saw  her,  and  many  were  the  offers  of 
marriage  she  refused.  At  length  a  suitor  appeared  whose  con- 
dition and  connexion  with  the  Roman  ecclesiastical  nobility 
rendered  him  acceptable  in  the  eyes  of  the  Accoramboni. 
Francesco  Peretti  was  welcomed  as  the  successful  candidate 
for  Vittoria's  hand.  His  mother,  Camilla,  was  sister  to  Felice, 
Cardinal  of  Montalto ;  and  her  son,  Francesco  Mignucci,  had 
changed  both  of  his  names  to  Felice  Peretti  in  compliment  to 
this  illustrious  relative.^ 

It  was  the  nephew,  then,  of  the  future  Sixtus  V.,  that 

'  I  find  a  Felice  Peretti  mentioned  in  the  will  of  Giacomo  Cenci 
condemned  in  1597.  But  this  was  after  the  death  of  this  Peretti,  whom 
I  shall  continue  to  call  Francesco. 


VITTORIA  ACCOKAMBONI'S  MAHEIAGE  277 

Vittoria  Accoramboni  married  on  June  28, 1573.  For  a  short 
while  the  young  couple  lived  happily  together.  According  to 
some  accounts  of  their  married  life,  the  bride  secured  the 
favour  of  her  powerful  uncle-in-law,  who  indulged  her  costly 
fancies  to  the  full.  It  is,  however,  more  probable  that  the 
Cardinal  Montalto  treated  her  follies  with  a  grudging  parsi- 
mony ;  for  we  soon  find  the  Peretti  household  hopelessly 
involved  in  debt.  Discord,  too,  arose  between  Vittoria  and 
her  husband  on  the  score  of  levity  in  her  behaviour  ;  and  it 
was  rumoured  that  even  during  the  brief  space  of  their  union 
she  had  proved  a  faithless  wife.  Yet  she  contrived  to  keep 
Francesco's  confidence,  and  it  is  certain  that  her  family 
profited  by  their  connexion  with  the  Peretti.  Of  her  six 
brothers,  Mario,  the  eldest,  was  a  favourite  courtier  of  the 
great  Cardinal  d'  Este.  Ottavio  was  in  orders,  and  through 
Montalto's  influence  obtained  the  See  of  Fossombrone.  The 
same  eminent  protector  placed  Scipione  in  the  service  of  the 
Cardinal  Sforza.  Camillo,  famous  for  his  beauty  and  his 
courage,  followed  the  fortunes  of  Filibert  of  Savoy,  and  died 
in  France.  Flaminio  was  still  a  boy,  dependent,  as  the  sequel 
of  this  story  shows,  upon  his  sister's  destiny.  Of  Marcello, 
the  second  in  age  and  most  important  in  the  action  of  this 
tragedy,  it  is  needful  to  speak  with  more  particularity.  He 
was  young,  and,  like  the  rest  of  his  breed,  singularly  hand- 
some— so  handsome,  indeed,  that  he  is  said  to  have  gained  an 
infamous  ascendency  over  the  great  Duke  of  Bracciano,  whose 
privy  chamberlain  he  had  become.  Marcello  was  an  outlaw 
for  the  murder  of  Matteo  Pallavicino,  the  brother  of  the 
Cardinal  of  that  name.  This  did  not,  however,  prevent  the 
chief  of  the  Orsini  house  from  making  him  his  favourite  and 
confidential  friend.  Marcello,  who  seems  to  have  realised  in 
actual  life  the  worst  vices  of  those  Roman  courtiers  described 
for  us  by  Aretino,  very  soon  conceived  the  plan  of  exalting  his 
own  fortunes  by  trading  on  his  sister's  beauty.     He  worked 


278  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

upon  the  Duke  of  Bracciano's  mind  so  cleverly  that  he  brought 
this  haughty  prince  to  the  point  of  an  insane  passion  for 
Peretti's  young  wife ;  and  meanwhile  he  so  contrived  to 
inflame  the  ambition  of  Vittoria  and  her  mother,  Tarquinia, 
that  both  were  prepared  to  dare  the  worst  of  crimes  in  ex- 
pectation of  a  dukedom.  The  game  was  a  difficult  one  to 
play.  Not  only  had  Francesco  Peretti  first  to  be  murdered, 
but  the  inequality  of  birth  and  wealth  and  station  between 
Vittoria  and  the  Duke  of  Bracciano  rendered  a  marriage 
almost  impossible.  It  was  also  an  affair  of  delicacy  to  stimu- 
late without  satisfying  the  Duke's  passion.  Yet  Marcello  did 
not  despair.  The  stakes  were  high  enough  to  justify  great 
risks ;  and  all  he  put  in  peril  was  his  sister's  honour,  the 
fame  of  the  Accoramboni,  and  the  favour  of  Montalto. 
Vittoria,  for  her  part,  trusted  in  her  power  to  ensnare  and 
secure  the  noble  prey  both  had  in  view. 

Paolo  Giordano  Orsini,  born  about  the  year  1537,  was 
reigning  Duke  of  Bracciano.  Among  Italian  princes  he 
ranked  almost  upon  a  par  with  the  Dukes  of  Urbino  ;  and 
his  family,  by  its  alliances,  was  more  illustrious  than  any  of 
that  time  in  Italy.  He  was  a  man  of  gigantic  stature,  pro- 
digious corpulence,  and  marked  personal  daring ;  agreeable 
in  manners,  but  subject  to  uncontrollable  fits  of  passion,  and 
incapable  of  self-restraint  when  crossed  in  any  whim  or  fancy. 
Upon  the  habit  of  his  body  it  is  needful  to  insist,  in  order 
that  the  part  he  played  in  this  tragedy  of  intrigue,  crime,  and 
passion  may  be  well  defined.  He  found  it  difficult  to  procure 
a  charger  equal  to  his  weight,  and  he  was  so  fat  that  a  special 
dispensation  relieved  him  from  the  duty  of  genuflexion  in  the 
Papal  presence.  Though  lord  of  a  large  territory,  yielding 
princely  revenues,,  he  laboured  under  heavy  debts;  for  no 
great  noble  of  the  period  lived  more  splendidly,  with  less 
regard  for  his  finances.  In  the  politics  of  that  age  and 
country,  Paolo  Giordano  leaned  towards  France.     Yet  he  was 


THE   DUKE   OF  BRACCIANO  279 

a  grandee  of  Spain,  and  had  played  a  distinguished  part  in 
the  battle  of  Lepanto.  Now,  the  Duke  of  Bracciano  was  a 
widower.  He  had  been  married  in  1553  to  Isabella  de' 
Medici,  daughter  of  the  Grand  Duke  Cosimo,  sister  of  Fran- 
cesco, Bianca  Capello's  lover,  and  of  the  Cardinal  Ferdinando. 
Suspicion  of  adultery  with  Troilo  Orsini  had  fallen  on 
Isabella  ;  and  her  husband,  with  the  full  concurrence  of  her 
brothers,  removed  her  in  1576  from  this  world  by  his  own 
hand.^  No  one  thought  the  worse  of  Bracciano  for  this 
murder  of  his  wife.  In  those  days  of  abandoned  vice  and 
intricate  villany,  certain  points  of  honour  were  maintained 
with  scrupulous  fidelity.  A  wife's  adultery  was  enough  to 
justify  the  most  savage  and  licentious  husband  in  an  act  of 
semi-judicial  vengeance ;  and  the  shame  she  brought  upon  his 
head  was  shared  by  the  members  of  her  own  house,  so  that 
they  stood  by,  consenting  to  her  death.  Isabella,  it  may  be 
said,  left  one  son,  Virginio,  who  became,  in  due  time,  Duke 
of  Bracciano. 

It  appears  that  in  the  year  1581,  eight  years  after 
Vittoria's  marriage,  the  Duke  of  Bracciano  satisfied  Marcello 
of  his  intention  to  make  her  his  wife,  and  of  his  willingness 
to  countenance  Francesco  Peretti's  murder.  Marcello,  feeling 
sure  of  his  game,  now  introduced  the  Duke  in  private  to  his 
sister,  and  induced  her  to  overcome  any  natural  repugnance 
she  may  have  felt  for  the  unwieldy  and  gross  lover.  Having 
reached  this  point,  it  was  imperative  to  push  matters  quickly 
on  toward  matrimony. 

But  how  should  the  unfortunate  Francesco  be  entrapped  ? 
They  caught  him  in  a  snare  of  peculiar  atrocity,  by  working 
on  the  kindly  feelings  which  his  love  for  Vittoria  had  caused 

'  The  balance  of  probability  leans  against  Isabella  in  this  affair.  At 
the  licentious  court  of  the  Medici  she  lived  with  unpardonable  freedom. 
Troilo  Orsini  was  himself  assassinated  in  Paris  by  Bracciano's  orders  a 
few  years  afterwards. 


280  RENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

him  to  extend  to  all  the  Accoramboni.     Marcello,  the  outlaw, 
was  her  favourite  brother,  and  Marcello  at  that  time  lay  in 
hiding,  under  the  suspicion  of  more   than   ordinary   crime, 
beyond  the  walls  of  Kome.     Late  in  the  evening  of  April  16, 
while  the  Peretti  family  were  retiring  to  bed,  a  messenger 
from  Marcello  arrived,  entreating  Francesco  to  repair  at  once 
to  Monte  Cavallo,     Marcello  had  affairs  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance to  communicate,  and  begged  his  brother-in-law  not  to 
fail  him  at  a  grievous  pinch.      The   letter   containing  this 
request   was   borne  by   one  Dominioo  d'  Aquaviva,  alias  II 
Mancino,   a   confederate   of   Vittoria's   waiting-maid.      This 
fellow,  like  Marcello,  was  an  outlaw  ;  but  when  he  ventured 
into  Rome  he  frequented  Peretti's  house,  and  he  had  made 
himself  familiar  with  its  master  as  a  trusty  bravo.    Neither 
in  the  message,  therefore,  nor  in  the  messenger  was  there 
much   to   rouse    suspicion.      The   time,   indeed,    was   oddly 
chosen,  and  Marcello  had  never  made  a  similar  appeal  on 
any  previous  occasion.     Yet  his  necessities  might  surely  have 
obliged  him  to  demand  some  more  than  ordinary  favour  from 
a  brother.     Francesco  immediately  made   himself  ready   to 
start  out,  armed  only  with  his  sword  and  attended  by  a  single 
servant.     It  was    in    vain    that   his   wife   and   his   mother 
reminded  him  of  the  dangers  of  the  night,  the  loneliness  of 
Monte  Cavallo,  its  ruinous  palaces  and  robber-haunted  caves. 
He  was  resolved  to  undertake  the  adventure,  and  went  forth, 
never  to  return.     As  he  ascended  the  hill,  he  fell  to  earth, 
shot   with   three   harquebusses.     His   body   was    afterwards 
found   on   Monte   Cavallo,    stabbed  through    and    through, 
without  a  trace  that  could  identify  the  murderers.     Only,  in 
the  course  of  subsequent  investigations,  II  Mancino  (Febi'u- 
ary  24,  1582)  made  the  following  statements  : — That  Vittoria's 
mother,   assisted   by  the   waiting-woman,   had   planned  the 
trap ;    that    Marchionne    of    Gubbio    and   Paolo   Barca   of 
Bracciano,  two  of  the  Duke's  men,  had  despatched  the  victim. 


THE   CARDINAL  MONTALTO  281 

Marcello,  himself,  it  seems,  had  come  from  Braceiano  to 
conduct  the  whole  affair.  Suspicion  fell  immediately  upon 
Vittoria  and  her  kindred,  together  with  the  Duke  of  Braceiano  ; 
nor  was  this  diminished  when  the  Accoramboni,  fearing  the 
pursuit  of  justice,  took  refuge  in  a  villa  of  the  Duke's  at 
Magnanapoli  a  few  days  after  the  murder. 

A  cardinal's  nephew,  even  in  those  troublous  times,  was 
not  killed  without  some  noise  being  made  about  the  matter. 
Accordingly,  Pope  Gregory  XIII.  began  to  take  measures  for 
discovering  the  authors  of  the  crime.  Strange  to  say,  how- 
ever, the  Cardinal  Montalto,  notwithstanding  the  great  love 
he  was  known  to  bear  his  nephew,  begged  that  the  investiga- 
tion might  be  dropped.  The  coolness  with  which  he  first 
received  the  news  of  Francesco  Peretti's  death,  the  dissimula- 
tion with  which  he  met  the  Pope's  expression  of  sympathy 
in  a  full  consistory,  his  reserve  while  greeting  friends  on 
ceremonial  visits  of  condolence,  and,  more  than  all,  the 
self-restraint  he  showed  in  the  presence  of  the  Duke  of 
Braceiano,  impressed  the  society  of  Eome  with  the  belief  that 
he  was  of  a  singularly  moderate  and  patient  temper.  It  was 
thought  that  the  man  who  could  so  tamely  submit  to  his 
nephew's  murder,  and  suspend  the  arm  of  justice  when 
already  raised  for  vengeance,  must  prove  a  mild  and  indulgent 
ruler.  When,  therefore,  in  the  fifth  year  after  this  event, 
Montalto  was  elected  Pope,  men  ascribed  his  elevation  in  no 
small  measure  to  his  conduct  at  the  present  crisis.  Some, 
indeed,  attributed  his  extraordinary  moderation  and  self- 
control  to  the  right  cause.  '  Veramente  costui  e  un  gran 
frate  I '  was  Gregory's  remark  at  the  close  of  the  consistory 
when  Montalto  begged  him  to  let  the  matter  of  Peretti's 
murder  rest.  '  Of  a  truth,  that  fellow  is  a  consummate 
hypocrite ! '  How  accurate  this  judgment  was,  appeared 
when  Sixtus  V.  assumed  the  reins  of  power.  The  priest  who, 
as  monk  and  cardinal,  had  smiled  on  Braceiano,  though  he 


282  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

knew  him  to  be  his  nephew's  assassin,  now,  as  Pontiff  and 
sovereign,  bade  the  chief  of  the  Orsini  purge  his  palace  and 
dominions  of  the  scoundrels  he  was  wont  to  harbour,  adding 
significantly,  that  if  the  Cardinal  Felice  Peretti  forgave  what 
had  been  done  against  him  in  a  private  station,  the  same  man 
would  exact  uttermost  vengeance  for  disobedience  to  the  will 
of  Sixtus.  The  Duke  of  Bracciano  judged  it  best,  after  that 
warning,  to  withdraw  from  Rome. 

Francesco  Peretti  had  been  murdered  on  April  16,  1581. 
Sixtus  V.  was  pi'oclaimed  on  April  24,  1585.  In  this  interval 
Vittoria  underwent  a  series  of  extraordinary  perils  and  adven- 
tures. First  of  all,  she  had  been  secretly  married  to  the  Duke 
in  his  gardens  of  Maguanapoli  at  the  end  of  April  1581.  That 
is  to  say,  Marcello  and  she  secured  their  prize,  as  well  as  they 
were  able,  the  moment  after  Francesco  had  been  removed  by 
murder.  But  no  sooner  had  the  marriage  become  known, 
than  the  Pope,  moved  by  the  scandal  it  created  no  less  than 
by  the  urgent  instance  of  the  Orsini  and  Medici,  declared  it 
void.  After  some  while  spent  in  vain  resistance,  Bracciano 
submitted,  and  sent  Yittol'ia  back  to  her  father's  house.  By 
an  order  issued  under  Gregory's  own  hand,  she  was  next 
removed  to  the  prison  of  Corte  Savella,  thence  to  the  monas- 
tery of  S.  Cecilia  in  Trastevere,  and  finally  to  the  Castle  of 
S.  Angelo.  Here,  at  the  end  of  December  1581,  she  was  put 
on  her  trial  for  the  murder  of  her  first  husband.  In  prison 
she  seems  to  have  borne  herself  bravely,  arraying  her  beautiful 
person  in  delicate  attire,  entertaining  visitors,  exacting  from 
her  friends  the  honours  due  to  a  duchess,  and  sustaining  the 
frequent  examinations  to  which  she  was  submitted  with  a 
bold,  proud  front.  In  the  middle  of  the  month  of  July  her 
constancy  was  sorely  tried  by  the  receipt  of  a  letter  in  the 
Duke's  own  handwriting,  formally  renouncing  his  marriage. 
It  was  only  by  a  lucky  accident  that  she  was  prevented  on 
this   occasion   from   committing  suicide.     The  Papal   court 


VITTOEIA'S  MARRIAGE  283 

meanwhile  kept  urging  her  either  to  retire  to  a  monastery  or  to 
accept  another  hushand.  She  firmly  refused  to  embrace  the 
religious  life,  and  declared  that  she  was  already  lawfully 
united  to  a  living  husband,  the  Duke  of  Bracciano.  It  seemed 
impossible  to  deal  with  her ;  and  at  last,  on  November  8,  she 
was  released  from  prison  under  the  condition  of  retirement 
to  Gubbio.  The  Duke  had  lulled  his  enemies  to  rest  by 
the  pretence  of  yielding  to  their  wishes.  But  Marcello  was 
continually  beside  him  at  Bracciano,  where,  we  read  of  a 
mysterious  Greek  enchantress  whom  he  hired  to  brew  love- 
philtres  for  the  furtherance  of  his  ambitious  plots.  Whether 
Bracciano  was  stimulated  by  the  brother's  arguments  or  by 
the  witch's  potions  need  not  be  too  curiously  questioned. 
But  it  seems  in  any  case  certain  that  absence  inflamed  his 
passion  instead  of  cooling  it. 

Accordingly,  in  September  1583,  under  the  excuse  of  a 
pilgrimage  to  Loreto,  he  contrived  to  meet  Vittoria  at  Trevi, 
whence  he  carried  her  in  triumph  to  Bracciano.  Here  he 
openly  acknowledged  her  as  his  wife,  installing  her  with  all 
the  splendour  due  to  a  sovereign  duchess.  On  October  10 
following,  he  once  more  performed  the  marriage  ceremony  in 
the  principal  church  of  his  fief  ;  and  in  the  January  of  1584 
he  brought  her  openly  to  Eome.  This  act  of  contumacy  to 
the  Pope,  both  as  feudal  superior  and  as  Supreme  Pontiff, 
roused  all  the  former  opposition  to  his  marriage.  Once  more 
it  was  declared  invalid.  Once  more  the  Duke  pretended  to 
give  way.  But  at  this  juncture  Gregory  died  ;  and  while  the 
conclave  was  sitting  for  the  election  of  the  new  Pope,  he 
resolved  to  take  the  law  into  his  own  hands,  and  to  ratify  his 
union  with  Vittoria  by  a  third  and  public  marriage  in  Eome. 
On  the  morning  of  April  24,  1585,  their  nuptials  were 
accordingly  once  more  solemnised  in  the  Orsini  palace.  Just 
one  hour  after  the  ceremony,  as  appears  from  the  marriage- 
register,  the  news  arrived  of  Cardinal  Montalto's  election  to 


284  RENAISSANCE   IN    ITALY 

the  Papacy.  Vittoria  lost  no  time  in  paying  her  respects  to 
Camilla,  sister  of  the  new  Pope,  her  former  mother-in-law. 
The  Duke  visited  Sixtus  V.  in  state  to  compliment  him  on  his 
elevation.  But  the  reception  which  both  received  proved  that 
Rome  was  no  safe  place  for  them  to  live  in.  They  conse- 
quently made  up  their  minds  for  flight. 

A  chronic  illness  from  which  Bracciano  had  lately  suffered 
furnished  a  sufficient  pretext.  This  seems  to  have  been 
something  of  the  nature  of  a  cancerous  ulcer,  which  had  to  be 
treated  by  the  application  of  raw  meat  to  open  sores.  Such 
details  are  only  excusable  in  the  present  narrative  on  the 
ground  that  Bracciano' s  disease  considerably  affects  our  moral 
judgment  of  the  woman  who  could  marry  a  man  thus  physi- 
cally tainted,  and  with  her  husband's  blood  upon  his  hands. 
At  any  rate,  the  Duke's  lupa  justified  his  trying  what  change 
of  air,  together  with  the  sulphur  waters  of  Abano,  would  do 
for  him. 

The  Duke  and  Duchess  arrived  in  safety  at  Venice,  where 
they  had  engaged  the  Dandolo  palace  on  the  Zueca.  There 
they  only  stayed  a  few  days,  removing  to  Padua,  where  they 
had  hired  palaces  of  the  Foscari  in  the  Arena  and  a  house 
called  De'  Cavalli.  At  Salo,  also,  on  the  Lake  of  Garda,  they 
provided  themselves  with  fit  dwellings  for  their  princely  state 
and  their  large  retinues,  intending  to  divide  their  time  between 
the  pleasures  which  the  capital  of  luxury  afforded  and  the 
simpler  enjoyments  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  Italian  lakes. 
But  la  gioia  del  profani  e  un  fumo  j)'^^^ saggier.  Paolo 
Giordano  Orsini,  Duke  of  Bracciano,  died  suddenly  at  Salo  on 
November  10,  1585,  leaving  the  young  and  beautiful  Vittoria 
helpless  among  enemies.  What  was  the  cause  of  his  death? 
It  is  not  possible  to  give  a  clear  and  certain  answer.  We 
have  seen  that  he  suffered  from  a  horrible  and  voracious 
disease,  which  after  his  removal  from  Rome  seems  to  have 
made  progress.     Yet,  though  this  malady  may  well  have  cut 


MUKDER   OF   VITTORIA  285 

his  life  short,  suspicion  of  poison  was  not,  in  the  circumstances, 
quite  unreasonable.  The  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany,  the  Pope, 
and  the  Orsini  family  were  all  interested  in  his  death.  Any- 
how, he  had  time  to  make  a  will  in  Vittoria's  favour,  leaving 
her  large  sums  of  money,  jewels,  goods,  and  houses — enough, 
in  fact,  to  support  her  ducal  dignity  with  splendour.  His 
hereditary  fiefs  and  honours  passed  by  right  to  his  only  son, 
Virginio. 

Vittoria,  accompanied  by  her  brother,  Marcello,  and  the 
whole  court  of  Bracciano,  repaired  at  once  to  Padua,  where 
she  was  soon  after  joined  by  Flaminio,  and  by  the  Prince 
Lodovico  Orsini.  Lodovico  Orsini  assumed  the  duty  of 
settling  Vittoria's  affairs  under  her  dead  husband's  will.  In 
life  he  had  been  the  Duke's  ally  as  well  as  relative.  His 
family  pride  was  deeply  wounded  by  what  seemed  to  him  an 
ignoble,  as  it  was  certainly  an  unequal,  marriage.  He  now 
showed  himself  the  relentless  enemy  of  the  Duchess.  Dis- 
putes arose  between  them  as  to  certain  details,  which  seem  to 
have  been  legally  decided  in  the  widow's  favour.  On  the 
night  of  December  22,  however,  forty  men,  disguised  in  black 
and  fantastically  tricked  out  to  elude  detection,  surrounded 
her  palace.  Through  the  long  galleries  and  chambers  hung 
with  arras,  eight  of  them  went  bearing  torches,  in  search  of 
Vittoria  and  her  brothers.  Marcello  escaped,  having  fled 
the  house  under  suspicion  of  the  murder  of  one  of  his  own 
followers.  Flaminio,  the  innocent  and  young,  was  playing 
on  his  lute  and  singing  '  Miserere  '  in  the  great  hall  of  the 
palace.  The  murderers  surprised  him  with  a  shot  from 
one  of  their  harquebusses.  He  ran,  wounded  in  the  shoulder, 
to  his  sister's  room.  She,  it  is  said,  was  telling  her  beads 
before  retiring  for  the  night.  When  three  of  the  assassins 
entered,  she  knelt  before  the  crucifix,  and  there  they  stabbed 
her  in  the  left  breast,  turning  the  poignard  in  the  wound,  and 
asking  her  with  savage  insults  if  her  heart  was  pierced.     Her 


,286  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

last  words  were,  '  Jesus,  I  pardon  you.'  Then  they  turned  to 
Flaminio,  and  left  him  pierced  with  seventy-four  stiletto 
wounds. 

The  authorities  of  Padua  identified  the  bodies  of  Vittoria 
and  Flaminio,  and  sent  at  once  for  further  mstructions  to 
Venice.  Meanwhile  it  appears  that  both  corpses  were  laid 
out  in  one  open  coffin  for  the  people  to  contemplate.  The 
palace  and  the  church  of  the  Eremitani,  to  which  they  had 
been  removed,  were  crowded  all  through  the  following  day 
with  a  vast  concourse  of  the  Paduans.  Vittoria's  dead  body, 
pale  yet  sweet  to  look  upon,  the  golden  hair  flowing  around 
her  marble  shoulders,  the  red  wound  in  her  breast  uncovered, 
the  stately  limbs  arrayed  in  satin  as  she  died,  maddened  the 
populace  with  its  surpassing  loveliness.  '  Dcntibiis  freme- 
bant,'  says  the  chronicler,  when  they  beheld  that  gracious 
lady  stiff  in  death.  And  of  a  truth,  if  her  corpse  was  actually 
exposed  in  the  chapel  of  the  Eremitani,  as  we  have  some 
right  to  assume,  the  spectacle  must  have  been  impressive. 
Those  grim  gaunt  frescoes  of  Mantegna  looked  down  on  her 
as  she  lay  stretched  upon  her  bier,  solemn  and  calm,  and,  but 
for  pallor,  beautiful  as  though  in  life.  No  wonder  that  the 
folk  forgot  her  first  husband's  murder,  her  less  than  comely 
marriage  to  the  second.  It  was  enough  for  them  that  this 
flower  of  surpassing  loveliness  had  been  cropped  by  villains 
in  its  bloom.  Gathering  in  knots  around  the  torches  placed 
beside  the  corpse,  they  vowed  vengeance  against  the  Orsini ; 
for  suspicion,  not  unnaturally,  fell  on  Prince  Lodovico. 

The  Prince  was  arrested  and  interrogated  before  the  court 
of  Padua.  He  entered  their  hall  attended  by  forty  armed 
men,  responded  haughtily  to  their  questions,  and  demanded 
free  passage  for  his  courier  to  Virginio  Orsini,  then  at 
Florence.  To  this  demand  the  court  acceded  ;  but  the  precau- 
tion of  waylaying  the  courier  and  searching  his  person  was 
very  wisely  taken.     Besides  some  formal   despatches  which 


LODOVICO   ORSINI  287 

announced  Vittoria's  assassination,  they  found  in  this  man's 
boot  a  compromising  letter,  declaring  Virginio  a  party  to  the 
crime,  and  asserting  thatLodovico  had  with  his  own  poignard 
killed  their  victim.  Padua  placed  itself  in  a  state  of  defence, 
and  prepared  to  besiege  the  palace  of  Prince  Lodovico,  who 
also  got  himself  in  readiness  for  battle.  Engines,  culverins, 
and  fire-brands  were  directed  against  the  barricades  which  he 
had  raised.  The  militia  was  called  out  and  the  Brenta  was 
strongly  guarded.  Meanwhile  the  Senate  of  S.  Mark  had 
despatched  the  Avogadore,  Aloisio  Bragadin,  with  full  power, 
to  the  scene  of  action.  Lodovico  Orsini,  it  maybe  mentioned, 
was  in  their  service ;  and  had  not  this  affair  intervened,  he 
would  in  a  few  weeks  have  entered  on  his  duties  as  Governor 
for  Venice  of  Corfu. 

The  bombardment  of  Orsini's  palace  began  on  Christmas 
Day.  Three  of  the  Prince's  men  were  killed  in  the  first 
assault ;  and  since  the  artillery  brought  to  bear  upon  him 
threatened  speedy  ruin  to  the  house  and  its  inhabitants, 
he  made  up  his  mind  to  surrender.  '  The  Prince  Luigi,' 
writes  one  chronicler  of  these  events,  '  walked  attired  in 
brown,  his  poignard  at  his  side,  and  his  cloak  slung  elegantly 
under  his  arm.  The  weapon  being  taken  from  him  he  leaned 
upon  a  balustrade,  and  began  to  trim  his  nails  with  a  little 
pair  of  scissors  he  happened  to  find  there.'  On  the  27th  he 
was  strangled  in  prison  by  order  of  the  Venetian  Republic. 
His  body  was  carried  to  be  buried,  according  to  his  own  will, 
in  the  church  of  S.  Maria  dell'  Orto  at  Venice.  Two  of  his 
followers  were  hanged  next  day.  Fifteen  were  executed  on 
the  following  Monday  ;  two  of  these  were  quartered  alive  ; 
one  of  them,  the  Conte  Paganello,  who  confessed  to  having 
slain  Vittoria,  had  his  left  side  probed  with  his  own  cruel 
dagger.  Eight  were  condemned  to  the  galleys,  six  to  prison, 
and  eleven  were  acquitted.  Thus  ended  this  terrible  affair, 
which  brought,  it  is  said,  good  credit  and  renown  to  the  lords 


288  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

of  Venice  through  all  nations  of  the  civilised  world.  It  only 
remains  to  be  added  that  Marcello  Accoramboni  was  sur- 
rendered to  the  Pope's  vengeance  and  beheaded  at  Ancona, 
where  also  his  mysterious  accomplice,  the  Greek  sorceress, 
perished. 

The  Duchess  of  Palliano. 

It  was  the  custom  of  Italians  in  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth centuries  to  compose  and  circulate  narratives  of  tragic 
or  pathetic  incidents  in  real  life.  They  were  intended  to  satisfy 
curiosity  in  an  age  when  newspapers  and  law  reports  did  not 
exist,  and  also  to  suit  the  taste  of  ladies  and  gentlemen 
versed  in  Boccaccio  and  Bandello.  Eesembling  the  London 
letters  of  our  ancestors,  they  passed  from  hand  to  hand, 
rarely  found  their  way  into  the  printing  office,  and  when 
they  had  performed  their  task  were  left  to  moulder  in  the 
dust  of  bookcases.  The  private  archives  of  noble  families 
abound  in  volumes  of  such  tales,  and  some  may  still  be  found 
upon  the  shelves  of  public  libraries.  These  MS.  collections 
furnish  a  mine  of  inexhaustible  riches  to  the  student  of 
manners.  When  checked  by  legal  documents,  they  frequently 
reveal  carelessness,  inaccuracy,  or  even  wilful  distortion  of 
facts.  The  genius  of  the  Novella,  so  paramount  in  popular 
Italian  literature  of  that  epoch,  presided  over  their  composi- 
tion, adding  intreccio  to  disconnected  facts,  heightening 
sympathy  by  the  suggestion  of  romantic  motives,  turning  the 
heroes  or  the  heroines  of  their  adventures  into  saints,  and 
blackening  the  faces  of  the  villains.  Yet  these  stories,  pre- 
tending to  be  veracious  and  aiming  at  information  no  less 
than  entertainment,  present  us  with  even  a  more  vivid  picture 
of  customs  than  the  Novelle.  By  their  truthful  touches  of 
landscape  and  incident  painting,  by  their  unconscious  revela- 
tion  of    contemporary   sentiment    in    dialogue    and  ethical 


VIOLANTE,    DUCHESS   OF  PALLIANO  289 

analysis  of  motives,  they  enable  us  to  give  form  and  sub- 
stance to  the  drier  details  of  the  law  courts.  One  of  these 
narratives  I  propose  to  condense  from  the  transcript  made  by 
Henri  Beyle,  for  the  sake  of  the  light  it  throws  upon  the 
tragedy  of  the  Caraffa  family.^  It  opens  with  an  account  of 
Paul  IV.'s  ascent  to  power  and  a  description  of  his  nephews. 
Don  Giovanni,  the  eldest  son  of  the  Count  of  Montorio,  was 
married  to  Violante  de  Cardona,  sister  of  the  Count  Aliffe. 
Paul  invested  him  with  the  Duchy  of  Palliano,  which  he 
wrested  from  Marc  Antonio  Colonna.  Don  Carlo,  the  second 
son,  who  had  passed  his  life  as  a  soldier,  entered  the  Sacred 
College ;  and  Don  Antonio,  the  third,  was  created  Marquis  of 
Montebello.  The  Cardinal,  as  prime  minister,  assumed  the 
reins  of  government  in  Eome.  The  Duke  of  Palliano  disposed 
of  the  Papal  soldiery.  The  Marquis  of  Montebello,  com- 
manding the  guard  of  the  palace,  excluded  or  admitted 
persons  at  his  pleasure.  Surrounded  by  these  nephews,  Paul 
saw  only  with  their  eyes,  heard  only  what  they  whispered  to 
him,  and  unwittingly  lent  his  authority  to  their  lawlessness. 
They  exercised  an  unlimited  tyranny  in  Eome,  laying  hands 
on  property  and  abusing  their  position  to  gratify  their  lusts. 
No  woman  who  had  the  misfortune  to  please  them  was  safe  ; 
and  the  cells  of  convents  were  as  little  respected  as  the  palaces 
of  gentlefolk.  To  arrive  at  justice  was  impossible ;  for  the 
three  brothers  commanded  all  avenues,  civil,  ecclesiastical, 
and  military,  by  which  the  Pope  could  be  approached. 

Violante,  Duchess  of  Palliano,  was  a  young  woman  dis- 
tinguished for  her  beauty  no  less  than  for  her  Spanish  pride. 
She  had  received  a  thoroughly  Italian  education  ;  could  recite 
the  sonnets  of  Petrarch  and  the  stanzas  of  Ariosto  by  heart, 
and  repeated  the  tales  of  Ser  Giovanni  and  other  novelists 

'  *  La  Duchesse  de  Palliano,'  in  Chroniques  et  Kouvelles,  De  Stendhal 
(Henri  Beyle). 

VI  U 


290  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

with  an  originality  that  lent  new  charm  to  their  style.'  Her 
court  was  a  splendid  one,  frequented  by  noble  youths  and 
gentlewomen  of  the  best  blood  in  Naples.  Two  of  these 
require  particular  notice  :  Diana  Brancaccio,  a  relative  of  the 
Marchioness  of  Montebello  ;  and  Marcello  Capecce,  a  young 
man  of  exceptional  beauty.  Diana  was  a  woman  of  thirty 
years,  hot-tempered,  tawny-haired,  devotedly  in  love  with 
Domiziano  Fornari,  a  squire  of  the  Marchese  di  Montebello's 
household.  Marcello  had  conceived  one  of  those  bizarre 
passions  for  the  Duchess,  in  which  an  almost  religious  adora- 
tion was  mingled  with  audacity,  persistence,  and  aptitude  for 
any  crime.  The  character  of  his  mistress  gave  him  but  little 
hope.  Though  profoundly  wounded  by  her  husband's  in- 
fidelities, insulted  in  her  pride  by  the  presence  of  his  wanton 
favourites  under  her  own  roof,  and  assailed  by  the  impor- 
tunities of  the  most  brilliant  profligates  in  Eome,  she  held 
a  haughty  course,  above  suspicion,  free  from  taint  or  stain. 
Marcello  could  do  nothing  but  sigh  at  a  distance  and  watch 
his  opportunity. 

At  this  point,  the  narrator  seems  to  sacrifice  historical 
accuracy  for  the  sake  of  combining  his  chief  characters  in  one 
intrigue.^  Though  he  assumes  the  tone  of  a  novelist  rather 
than  a  chronicler,  there  has  hitherto  been  nothing  but  what 
corresponds  to  fact  in  his  description  of  the  Carafifa  cabal. 
He  now  explains  their  downfall ;  and  opens  the  subject  after 
this  fashion.  At  the  beginning  of  the  year  1559,  the  Pope's 
confessor  ventured  to  bring  before  his  notice  the  scandalous 
behaviour  of  the  Papal  nephews.  Paul  at  first  refused  to 
credit  this  report.     But  an  incident   happened  which  con- 

'  This  touch  shows  what  were  then  considered  the  accomplishments 
of  a  noble  woman. 

^  It  was  a  street-brawl,  in  which  the  Cardinal  Monte  played  an 
indecent  part,  that  finally  aroused  the  anger  of  Paul  IV.  De  Stendhal's 
MS.  shifts  the  chief  blame  on  to  the  shoulders  of  Cardinal  Caraffa, 
who  indeed  appears  to  have  been  in  the  habit  of  keeping  bad  company. 


MARCELLO   CAPECCE  291 

vinced  him  of  its  truth.     On  the  feast  of  the  Circumcision — 
a  circumstance  which  aggravated  matters  in  the  eyes  of  a 
strictly  pious  Pontift" — Andrea  Lanfranchi,  secretary  to   the 
Duke  of  PalHano,  invited  the  Cardinal  Caraffa  to  a  banquet. 
One  of  the  loveliest  and  most  notorious  courtesans  of  Kome, 
Martuccia,  was  also  present ;  and  it  so  happened  that  Mar- 
cello  Capecce  at  this  epoch  believed  he  had  more  right  to  her 
favours  than  any  other  man  in  the  capital.     That  night  he 
sought  her  in  her  lodgings,  pursued  her  up  and  down,  and 
learned  at  last  that  she  was  supping  with  Lanfranchi  and 
the  Cardinal.     Attended  by  armed  men,  he  made  his  way  to 
Lanfranchi's  house,  entered  the  banquet  room,  and  ordered 
Martuccia  to  come  away  with  him  at  once.     The  Cardinal,  who 
was  dressed  in  secular  habit,  rose,  and,  drawing  his  sword, 
protested  against  this   high-handed  proceeding.     Martuccia, 
by  favour  of  their  host,  was  his  partner  that  evening.     Upon 
this,  Marcello  called  his  men  ;  but  when  they  recognised  the 
Cardinal  nephew,  they  refused  to  employ  violence.     In  the 
course  of  the  quarrel,  Martuccia  made  her  escape,  followed  by 
Marcello,  Caraffa,  and  the  company.     There  ensued  a  street - 
brawl  between  the   young  man  and  the  Cardinal ;  but  no 
blood  was  spilt,  and  the  incident  need  have  had  but  slight 
importance,   if  the   Duke   of  Palliano   had  not   thought  it 
necessary  to  place  Lanfranchi  and  Marcello   under   arrest. 
They  were  soon  released,  because  it  became  evident  that  the 
chief  scandal  would  fall  upon  the  Cardinal,  who  had  clearly 
been    scuffling   and   crossing   swords   in   a  dispute   about  a 
common  prostitute.     The  three  Caraffa  brothers  resolved  on 
hushing  the  affair  up.     But  it  was  too  late.     The  Pope  heard 
something,  which  sufficed  to  confirm  his  confessor's  warnings  ; 
and  on  January  27,  he  pronounced  the  famous  santence  on 
his  nephews.     The  Cardinal  was  banished  to  Civita  Lavinia, 
the   Duke   to   Soriano,   the    Marquis    to    Montebello.     The 
Duchess  took  up  her  abode  with  her  court  in  the  little  village 

u  2 


292  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

of  Gallese.     It  was  here  that  the  episode  of  her  love   and 
tragic  end  ensued. 

Violante  found  herself  almost  alone  in  a  simple  village 
among  mountains,  half-way  between  Eome  and  Orvieto, 
surrounded  indeed  by  lovely  forest  scenery,  but  deprived  of 
all  the  luxuries  and  entertainments  to  which  she  was 
accustomed,  Marcello  and  Diana  were  at  her  side,  the  one 
eager  to  pursue  his  hitherto  hopeless  suit,  and  the  other 
to  further  it  for  her  own  profit.  One  day  Marcello  com- 
mitted the  apparent  imprudence  of  avowing  his  passion. 
The  Duchess  rejected  him  with  scorn,  but  disclosed  the 
fact  to  Diana,  who  calculated  that  if  she  could  contrive  to 
compromise  her  mistress,  she  might  herself  be  able  to  secure 
the  end  she  had  in  view  of  marrying  Domiziano.  In  the 
solitude  of  those  long  days  of  exile  the  waiting-woman 
returned  again  and  again  to  the  subject  of  Marcello's 
devotion,  his  beauty,  his  noble  blood  and  his  manifold 
good  qualities.  She  arranged  meetings  in  the  woods 
between  the  Duchess  and  her  lover,  and  played  her  cards 
so  well  that  during  the  course  of  the  fine  summer  weeks 
Violante  yielded  to  Marcello.  Diana  now  judged  it  wise 
to  press  her  own  suit  forward  with  Domiziano.  But  this 
cold-blooded  fellow  knew  that  he  was  no  fit  match  for  a 
relative  of  the  Marchioness  of  Montebello.  He  felt,  besides, 
but  little  sentiment  for  his  fiery  innamorata.  Dreading  the 
poignard  of  the  Caraffas,  if  he  should  presume  to  marry 
her,  he  took  the  prudent  course  of  slipping  away  in  disguise 
from  the  port  of  Nettuno.  Diana,  maddened  by  disappoint- 
ment, flew  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Duchess  had  planned 
her  lover's  removal,  and  resolved  to  take  a  cruel  revenge. 
The  Duke  of  Palliano  was  residing  at  Soriano,  only  a  few 
miles  from  Gallese.  To  bring  him  secret  information  of 
his  wife's  intrigue  was  a  matter  of  no  difficulty.  At  first 
he  refused  to  believe  her  report.     Had  not  Violante  resisted 


i 


MARCELLO   AND   VIOLANTE   MURDERED  293 

the  seductions  of  all  Eome,  and  repelled  the  advances  even 
of  the  Duke  of  Guise  ?  At  last  she  contrived  to  introduce 
him  into  the  bedroom  of  the  Duchess  at  a  moment  when 
Marcello  was  also  there.  The  circumstances  were  not  pre- 
cisely indicative  of  guilt.  The  sun  had  only  just  gone 
down  behind  the  hills  ;  a  maid  was  in  attendance  ;  and  the 
Duchess  lay  in  bed,  pencilling  some  memoranda.  Yet  they 
were  sufficient  to  rouse  the  Duke's  anger.  He  disarmed 
Marcello  and  removed  him  to  the  prisons  of  Soriano,  leaving 
Violante  under  strict  guard  at  Gallese. 

The  Duke  of  Palliano  had  no  intention  of  proclaiming 
his  jealousy  or  of  suggesting  his  dishonour,  until  he  had 
extracted  complete  proof.  He  therefore  pretended  to  have 
arrested  Marcello  on  the  suspicion  of  an  attempt  to  poison 
him.  Some  large  toads,  bought  by  the  young  man  at  a 
high  price  two  or  three  months  earlier,  lent  colour  to  this 
accusation.  Meanwhile  the  investigation  was  conducted  as 
secretly  as  possible  by  the  Duke  in  person,  his  brother- 
in-law  Count  Aliffe,  and  a  certain  Antonio  Torando,  with 
the  sanction  of  the  Podesta  of  Soriano.  After  examining 
several  witnesses,  they  became  convinced  of  Violante's  guilt. 
Marcello  was  put  to  the  torture,  and  eventually  confessed. 
The  Duke  stabbed  him  to  death  with  his  own  hands,  and 
afterwards  cut  Diana's  throat  for  her  share  in  the  business. 
Both  bodies  were  thrown  into  the  prison-sewer.  Meanwhile 
Paul  IV.  had  retained  the  young  Cardinal,  Alfonso  Caraffa, 
son  of  the  Marquis  of  Montebello,  near  his  person.  This 
prelate  thought  it  right  to  inform  his  grand-uncle  of  the 
occurrences  at  Soriano.  The  Pope  only  answered  :  '  And 
the  Duchess  ?  What  have  they  done  with  her  ?  '  Paul  IV. 
died  in  August,  and  the  Conclave,  which  ended  in  the 
election  of  Pius  IV.,  was  opened.  During  the  important 
intrigues  of  that  moment,  Cardinal  Alfonso  found  time  to 
write  to  the  Duke,  imploring   hiin  not  to  leave   so   dark   a 


294  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

stain  upon  his  honour,  but  to  exercise  justice  on  a  guilty 
wife.  On  August  28,  1559,  the  Duke  sent  the  Count  Ahffe, 
and  Don  Leonardo  del  Gardine,  with  a  company  of  soldiers, 
to  Gallese.  They  told  Violante  that  they  had  arrived  to 
kill  her,  and  offered  her  the  offices  of  two  Franciscan  monks. 
Before  her  death,  the  Duchess  repeatedly  insisted  on  her 
innocence,  and  received  the  sacrament  from  the  hands  of 
Friar  Antonio  of  Pavia.  The  Count,  her  brother,  then 
proceeded  to  her  execution.  '  He  covered  her  eyes  with  a 
handkerchief,  which  she,  with  perfect  sang  froid,  drew  some- 
what lower  in  order  to  shut  his  sight  out.  Then  he  adjusted 
the  cord  to  her  neck  ;  but  finding  that  it  would  not  exactly 
fit,  he  removed  it  and  walked  away.  The  Duchess  raised 
the  bandage  from  her  face,  and  said  :  "  Well !  what  are  we 
about  then?"  He  answered:  "The  cord  was  not  quite 
right,  and  I  am  going  to  get  another,  in  order  that  you 
may  not  suffer."  When  he  returned  to  the  room,  he 
arranged  the  handkerchief  again,  fixed  the  cord,  turned 
the  wand  in  the  knot  behind  her  neck,  and  strangled  her. 
The  whole  incident,  on  the  part  of  the  Duchess,  passed  in 
the  tone  of  ordinary  conversation.  She  died  like  a  good 
Christian,  frequently  repeating  the  words  Credo,  Credo.' 

Contrary  to  the  usual  custom  and  opinion  of  the  age, 
this  murder  of  an  erring  wife  and  sister  formed  part  of  the 
accusations  brought  against  the  Duke  of  Palliano  and  Count 
Aliffe.  It  will  be  remembered  that  they  were  executed  in 
Rome,  together  with  the  elder  Cardinal  Caraffa,  during  the 
pontificate  of  Pius  IV. 

Wife-Miirders. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  give  any  adequate  notion  of  the 
frequency  of  wife-murders  at  this  epoch  in  the  higher  ranks 
of  society.     I  will,  however,  mention  a  few,  noticed  by  me 


FKEQUENCY   OF   WIFE-MURDERS  295 

in  the  course  of  study.  Donna  Pellegrina,  daughter  of 
Bianca  Capello  before  her  marriage  with  the  Grand  Duke  of 
Tuscany,  was  killed  at  Bologna  in  1598  by  four  masked 
assassins,  at  the  order  of  her  husband.  Count  Ulisse  Benti- 
voglio.  She  had  been  suspected  or  convicted  of  adultery ; 
and  the  Court  of  Florence  sent  word  to  the  Count,  '  che 
essendo  vero  quanto  scriveva,  facesse  quello  che  conveniva 
a  cavaliere  di  honore.'  In  the  light  of  open  day,  together 
with  two  of  her  gentlewomen  and  her  coachman,  she  was 
cut  to  pieces  and  left  on  the  road.'  In  1590  at  Naples  Don 
Carlo  Gesualdo,  son  of  the  Prince  of  Venosta,  assassinated 
his  wife  and  cousin  Donna  Maria  d'  Avalos,  together  with 
her  lover,  Fabricio  Caraffa,  Duke  of  Andri.  This  crime  was 
committed  in  his  palace  by  the  husband,  attended  by  a  band 
of  cutthroats.-  In  1577,  at  Milan,  Count  Giovanni  Borromeo, 
cousin  of  the  Cardinal  Federigo,  stabbed  his  wife,  the  Countess 
Giulia  Sanseverina,  sister  of  the  Contessa  di  Sala,  at  table, 
with  three  mortal  wounds.  A  mere  domestic  squabble  gave 
rise  to  this  tragedy.^  In  1598,  in  his  villa  of  Zenzalino  at 
Ferrara,  the  Count  Ercole  Trotti,  with  the  assistance  of  a 
bravo  called  Jacopo  Lazzarini,  killed  his  wife  Anna,  daughter 
of  the  poet  Guarini.  Her  own  brother  Girolamo  connived 
at  the  act  and  helped  to  facilitate  its  execution.  She  was 
accused — falsely,  as  it  afterwards  appeared  from  Girolamo's 
confession — of  an  improper  intimacy  with  the  Count  Ercole 
Bevilacqua.  I  may  add  that  Count  Ercole  Trotti's  father, 
Alfonso,  had  murdered  his  own  wife,  Michela  Granzena,  in 
the  same  villa.^ 

'  Mutinelli,  Storia  Arcana,  vol.  ii.  p.  64. 

^  lb.  vol.  ii.  p.  1G2.  '  lb.  vol.  i.  p.  343. 

'  I  Guarini  Famiglia  Nobile  Fcrraresc  (Bologna,  Komagnoli,  1870), 
pp.  83-87. 


296  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

The  Medici. 

The  history  of  the  Medicean  family  during  the  sixteenth 
century  epitomises  the  chief  features  of  social  morality  upon 
which  I  have  been  dwelling  in  this  chapter.  It  will  be  re- 
membered that  Alessandro  de'  Medici,  the  first  Duke  of 
Florence,  poisoned  his  cousin  Ippolito,  and  was  himself 
assassinated  by  his  cousin  Lorenzino.  To  the  second  of 
these  crimes  Cosimo,  afterwards  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany, 
owed  the  throne  of  Florence,  on  which,  however,  he  was  not 
secure  until  he  had  removed  Lorenzino  from  this  world  by 
the  poignard  of  a  bravo.  Cosimo  maintained  his  authority 
by  a  system  of  espionage,  remorseless  persecution,  and  assas- 
sination, which  gave  colour  even  to  the  most  improbable  of 
legends.^  But  it  is  not  of  him  so  much  as  of  his  children 
that  I  have  to  speak.  Francesco,  who  reigned  from  1564  till 
1587,  brought  disgrace  upon  his  line  by  marrying  the  infamous 
Bianca  Capello,  after  authorising  the  murder  of  her  previous 
husband.  Bianca,  though  incapable  of  bearing  children, 
flattered  her  besotted  paramour  before  this  marriage  by  pre- 
tending to  have  borne  a  son.  In  reality,  she  had  secured  the 
co-operation  of  three  women  on  the  point  of  childbirth  ;  and 
when  one  of  these  was  delivered  of  a  boy,  she  presented  this 
infant  to  Francesco,  who  christened  him  Antonio  de'  Medici. 
Of  the  three  mothers  who  served  in  this  nefarious  transaction, 
Bianca  contrived  to  assassinate  two,  but  not  before  one  of 
the  victims  to  her  dread  of  exposure  made  full  confession 
at  the  point  of  death.  The  third  escaped.  Another  woman 
who  had  superintended  the  affair  was  shot  between  Florence 
and  Bologna  in  the  valleys  of  the  Apennines.  Yet  after  the 
manifestation  of  Bianca's  imposture,  the  Duke  continued  to 

'  In  addition  to  the  victims  of  his  vengeance  who  perished  by  the 
poignard,  he  publicly  executed  in  Florence  forty-two  political  offenders. 


COSBIO   DE'   MEDICI'S   FAMILY  297 

recognise  Antonio  as  belonging  to  the  Medicean  family  ;  and 
his  successor  was  obliged  to  compel  this  young  man  to  assume 
the  Cross  of  Malta,  in  order  to  exclude  his  posterity  from  the 
line  of  princes.'  The  legend  of  Francesco's  and  Bianca's 
mysterious  death  is  well  known.  The  Duchess  had  engaged 
in  fresh  intrigues  for  palming  off  a  spurious  child  upon  her 
husband.  These  roused  the  suspicions  of  his  brother  Cardinal 
Ferdinando  de'  Medici,  heir  presumptive  to  the  crown.  An 
angry  correspondence  followed,  ending  in  a  reconciliation 
between  the  three  princes.  They  met  in  the  autumn  of  1587 
at  the  villa  of  Poggio  a  Cajano.  Then  the  world  was  startled 
by  the  announcement  that  the  Grand  Duke  had  died  of  fever, 
after  a  few  days'  illness,  and  that  Bianca  had  almost  imme- 
diately afterwards  followed  him  to  the  grave.  Ferdinand,  on 
succeeding  to  the  throne,  refused  her  the  interment  suited  to 
her  rank,  defaced  her  arms  on  public  edifices,  and  for  her 
name  and  titles  in  official  documents  substituted  the  words, 
'  la  pessima  Bianca.'  What  passed  at  Poggio  a  Cajano  is  not 
known.  It  was  commonly  believed  in  Italy  that  Bianca, 
meaning  to  poison  the  Cardinal  at  supper,  had  been  frustrated 
in  her  designs  by  a  blunder  which  made  her  husband  the 
victim  of  this  plot,  and  that  she  ended  her  own  life  in  despair 
or  fell  a  victim  to  the  Cardinal's  vengeance.  This  story  is 
rejected  both  by  Botta  and  Galluzzi ;  but  Litta  has  given  it  a 
partial  credence.^  Two  of  Cosimo's  sons  died  previously,  in 
the  year  1562,  under  circumstances  which  gave  rise  to  similar 
malignant  rumours.  Don  Garzia  and  the  Cardinal  Giovanni 
were  hunting  together  in  the  Pisan  marshes,  when  the  latter 
expired  after  a  short  illness,  and  the  former  in  a  few  days 

'  See  Mutinelli,  Storia  Arcana,  vol.  ii.  pp.  54-56,  for  Antonio's 
reception  into  the  Order. 

^  I  refer,  of  course,  to  Galluzzi's  Storia  del  Gran  Ducato,  vol.  iv. 
pp.  241-244.  Botta's  Storia  d'  Italia,  Book  xiv.,  and  Litta's  Famiglie 
Cclebri  under  the  pedigree  of  Medici. 


298  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

met  witli  a  like  fate.  Eeport  ran  that  Don  Garzia  had 
stabbed  his  brother,  and  that  Cosimo,  in  a  fit  of  rage,  ran  him 
through  the  body  with  his  own  sword.  In  this  case,  although 
Litta  attaches  weight  to  the  legend,  the  balance  of  evidence 
is  strongly  in  favour  of  both  brothers  having  been  carried  oft" 
by  a  pernicious  fever  contracted  simultaneously  during  their 
hunting  expedition.^  Each  instance  serves,  however,  to  show 
in  what  an  atmosphere  of  guilt  the  Medicean  princes  were 
enveloped.  No  one  believed  that  they  could  die  except  by 
fraternal  or  paternal  hands.  And  the  authentic  crimes  of  the 
family  certainly  justified  this  popular  belief.  I  have  already 
alluded  to  the  murders  of  Ippolito,  Alessandro,  and  Lorenzino. 
I  have  told  how  the  Court  of  Florence  sanctioned  the  assas- 
sination of  Bianca's  daughter  by  her  husband  at  Bologna. - 
I  must  now  proceed  to  relate  the  tragic  tales  of  the  princesses 
of  the  house. 

Pietro  de'  Medici,  a  fifth  of  Cosimo's  sons,  had  rendered 
himself  notorious  in  Spain  and  Italy  by  forming  a  secret 
society  for  the  most  revolting  debaucheries.^  Yet  he  married 
the  noble  lady  Eleonora  di  Toledo,  related  by  blood  to 
Cosimo's  first  wife.  Neglected  and  outraged  by  her  husband, 
she  proved  unfaithful,  and  Pietro  hewed  her  in  pieces  with 
his  own  hands  at  Caffaggiolo.  Isabella  de'  Medici,  daughter 
of  Cosimo,  was  married  to  the  Duke  of  Bracciano.  Educated 
in  the  empoisoned  atmosphere  of  Florence,  she,  like  Eleonora 
di  Toledo,  yielded  herself  to  fashionable  profligacy,  and  was 
strangled  by  her  husband  at  Cerretto."*     Both  of  these  mur- 

'  See  Galluzzi,  op.  cit.  vol.  iii.  p.  25,  and  Botta,  op.  cit.  Book  xir. 

^  See  above,  p.  295. 

'  Litta  may  be  consulted  for  details ;  also  Galluzzi,  op.  cit.  vol.  v. 
p.  174. 

■•  It  may  be  worth  mentioning  that  Virginio  Orsini,  Bracciano's 
son  and  heir,  married  Donna  Flavia,  grand-niece  of  Sixtus  V.,  and 
consequently  related  to  the  man  his  father  murdered  in  order  to 
possess  Vittoria  Accoramboni.  See  Mutinelli,  Storia  Arcana,  vol.  ii- 
p.  72. 


THE   MEDICEAN   TEAGEDIES  299 

ders  took  place  in  157G.  Isabella's  death,  as  I  have  elsewhere 
related,  opened  the  way  for  the  Duke  of  Bracciano's  marriage 
with  Vittoria  Accoramboni,  which  had  been  prepared  by  the 
assassination  of  her  first  husband,  and  which  led  to  her  own 
murder  at  Padua.'  Another  of  Cosimo's  daughters,  Lucrezia 
de'  Medici,  became  Duchess  of  Ferrara,  fell  under  a  suspicion 
of  infidelity,  and  was  possibly  removed  by  poison  in  15G1.''* 
The  last  of  his  sons  whom  I  have  to  mention,  Don  Giovanni, 
married  a  dissolute  woman  of  low  birth  called  Livia,  and 
disgraced  the  name  of  Medici  by  the  unprincely  follies  of  his 
life.  Eleonora  de'  Medici,  third  of  his  daughters,  introduces 
a  comic  element  into  these  funereal  records.  She  was  affianced 
to  Vincenzo  Gonzaga,  heir  of  the  Duchy  of  Mantua.  But 
suspicions,  arising  out  of  the  circumstances  of  his  divorce 
from  a  former  wife,  obliged  him  to  prove  his  marital  capacity 
before  the  completion  of  the  contract.  This  he  did  at  Venice, 
before  a  witness,  upon  the  person  of  a  virgin  selected  for 
the  experiment."*  Maria  de'  Medici,  the  only  child  of  Duke 
Francesco,  became  Queen  of  France.  The  history  of  her 
amours  with  Concini  forms  an  episode  in  French  annals. 

If  now  we  eliminate  the  deaths  of  Don  Garzia,  Cardinal 
Giovanni,  Duke  Francesco,  Bianca  Capello,  and  Lucrezia  de' 
Medici,  as  doubtful,  there  will  still  remain  the  murders  of 
Cardinal  Ippolito,  Duke  Alessandro,  Lorenzino  de'  Medici, 
Pietro  Bonaventuri  (Bianca's  husband),  Pellegrina  Bentivoglio 
(Bianca's  daughter),  Eleonora  di  Toledo,  Francesco  Casi 
(Eleonora's  lover),  the  Duchess  of  Bracciano,  Troilo  Orsini 

•  See  above,  pp.  279-285. 

-  Galluzzi,  vol.  iii.  p.  5,  says  that  she  died  of  a  putrid  fever.  Litta 
again  inclines  to  the  probability  of  poison.  But  this  must  be  counted 
among  the  doubtful  cases. 

^  See  Galluzzi,  op.  cit.  vol.  iv.  pp.  195-197,  for  the  account  of  a 
transaction  which  throws  curious  light  upon  the  customs  of  the  age. 
It  was  only  stipulated  that  the  trial  should  not  take  place  upon  a 
Friday.     Otherwise,  the  highest  ecclesiastics  gave  it  their  full  approval. 


300  EE^IATSSANCE   IN   ITALY 

(lover  of  this  Duchess),  Felice  Peretti  (husband  of  Vittoria 
Accoramboni),  and  Vittoria  Accoramboni — eleven  murders,  all 
occurring  between  1535  and  1585,  an  exact  half-century,  in  a 
single  princely  family  and  its  immediate  connexions.  The 
majority  of  these  crimes,  that  is  to  say  seven,  had  their  origin 
in  lawless  passion,' 

'  I  have  told  the  stories  in  this  chapter  as  drily  as  I  could.  Yet  it 
would  be  interesting  to  analyse  the  fascination  they  exercised  over  our 
Elizabethan  playwrights,  some  of  whose  Italian  tragedies  handle  the 
material  with  penetrative  imagination.  For  the  English  mode  of 
interpreting  southern  passion  see  my  Italian  Byways,  pp.  1G9  et  seq. 
and  a  brilliant  essay  in  Vernon  Lee's  Euphorion, 


301 


CHAPTER   VI 

SOCIAL   AND    DOBIESTIC   MORALS  :    PART    II 

Tales   illustrative   of   Bravi   and   Banditti— Cecco    Bibboni — Ambrogio 
Tremazzi— Lodovico  dall'  Armi— Brigandage— Piracy — Plagues — The 
Plagues  of   Milan,  Venice,  Piedmont— Persecution  of  the  Untori — 
Moral   State  of   the  Proletariate — Witchcraft — Its   Italian   Featur 
— History  of  Giacomo  Centini. 

The  stories  related  in  the  foregoing  chapter  abundantly 
demonstrate  the  close  connexion  between  the  aristocracy  and 
their  accomplices — bravos  and  bandits.  But  it  still  remains 
to  consider  this  connexion  from  the  professional  murderer's 
own  point  of  view.  And  for  this  purpose,  I  will  now  make 
use  of  two  documents  vividly  illustrative  of  the  habits,  senti- 
ments, and  social  status  of  men  who  undertook  to  speculate 
in  bloodshed  for  reward.  They  are  both  autobiographical ; 
and  both  relate  tragedies  which  occupied  the  attention  of  all 
Italy. 

Cecco  Bihhoni. 

The  first  of  these  documents  is  the  report  made  by  Cecco 
Bibboni  concerning  his  method  adopted  for  the  murder  of 
Lorenzino  de'  Medici  at  Venice  in  1546.  Lorenzino,  by  the 
help  of  a  bravo  called  Scoroncolo,  had  assassinated  his  cousin 
Alessandro,  Duke  of  Florence,  in  1537.  After  accomplishing 
this  deed,  which  gained  for  him  the  name  of  Brutus,  he 
escaped  from  the  city ;  and  a  distant  relative  of  the  murdered 
and  the  murderer,  Cosimo  de'  Medici,  was  chosen  Duke  in 
Alessandro's  stead.     One  of  the  first  acts  of  his  reign  was  to 


302  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

publish  a  ban  of  outlawry  against  Lorenzino.  His  portrait 
was  painted,  according  to  old  Tuscan  usage,  bead-downwards, 
and  suspended  by  one  foot,  upon  the  wall  of  Alessandro's 
fortress.  His  house  was  cut  in  twain  from  roof  to  pavement, 
and  a  narrow  passage  was  driven  through  it,  which  received 
the  name  of  Traitor's  Alley — Chiasso  del  Traditore.  The 
price  put  upon  his  head  was  enormous— four  thousand  golden 
florins,  with  a  pension  of  one  hundred  florins  to  the  murderer 
and  his  heirs  in  perpetuity.  The  man  who  should  kill 
Lorenzino  was,  further,  to  enjoy  amnesty  from  all  offences 
and  to  exercise  full  civic  rights  ;  he  was  promised  exemption 
from  taxes,  the  privilege  of  carrying  arms  with  two  attendants 
in  the  whole  domain  of  Florence,  and  the  prerogative  of 
restoring  ten  outlaws  at  his  choice.  If  he  captured  Lorenzino 
and  brought  him  alive  to  Florence,  the  reward  would  be 
doubled  in  each  item.  There  was  enough  here  to  raise 
cupidity  and  stir  the  speculative  spirit.  Cecco  Bibboni  shall 
tell  us  how  the  business  was  brought  to  a  successful  ter- 
mination.' 

'  When  I  returned  from  Germany,'  begins  Bibboni, '  where 
I  had  been  in  the  pay  of  the  Emperor,  I  found  at  Vicenza 
Bebo  da  Volterra,  who  was  staying  in  the  house  of  M.  Antonio 
da  Eoma,  a  nobleman  of  that  city.  This  gentleman  employed 
him  because  of  a  great  feud  he  had  ;  and  he  was  mighty 
pleased,  moreover,  at  my  coming,  and  desired  that  I  too 
should  take  up  my  quarters  in  bis  palace.' 

Bibboni  proceeds  to  say  how  another  gentleman  of  Vicenza, 
M.  Francesco  Manente,  had  at  this  time  a  feud  with  certain 
of  the  Guazzi  and  the  Laschi,  which  had  lasted  several  years, 
and  cost  the  lives  of  many  members  of  both  parties  and  their 
following.  M.  Francesco,  being  a  friend  of  M.  Antonio, 
besought  that  gentleman  to  lend  him  Bibboni  and  Bebo  for  a 

'  For  the  Italian  text  see  Lorenzino  de'  Medici,  Daelli,  Milano,  1862. 
The  above  is  borrowed  from  my  Italian  Byiuays. 


BEBO   AND   BIBBONI  303 

season ;  and  the  two  bravi  went  together  with  their  new 
master  to  Celsano,  a  village  in  the  neighbourhood.  '  There 
both  parties  had  estates,  and  all  of  them  kept  armed  men  in 
their  houses,  so  that  not  a  day  passed  without  feats  of  arms, 
and  always  there  was  some  one  killed  or  wounded.  One 
day,  soon  afterwards,  the  leaders  of  our  party  resolved  to 
attack  the  foe  in  their  house,  where  we  killed  two,  and  the 
rest,  numbering  five  men,  entrenched  themselves  in  a  ground- 
floor  apartment ;  whereupon  we  took  possession  of  their  harque- 
busses  and  other  arms,  which  forced  them  to  abandon  the 
villa  and  retire  to  Vicenza  ;  and  within  a  short  space  of  time 
this  great  feud  was  terminated  by  an  ample  peace.'  After 
this  Bebo  took  service  with  the  Kector  of  the  University  in 
Padua,  and  was  transferred  by  his  new  patron  to  Milan. 
Bibboni  remained  at  Vicenza  with  M.  Galeazzo  della  Seta, 
who  stood  in  great  fear  of  his  life,  notwithstanding  the  peace 
which  had  been  concluded  between  the  two  factions.  At  the 
end  of  ten  months  he  returned  to  M.  Antonio  da  Koma  and 
his  six  brothers,  '  all  of  whom  being  very  much  attached  to 
me,  they  proposed  that  I  should  live  my  life  with  them  for 
good  or  ill,  and  be  treated  as  one  of  the  family  ;  upon  the 
understanding  that  if  war  broke  out  and  I  wanted  to  take  part 
in  it,  I  should  always  have  twenty-five  crowns  and  arms  and 
horse,  with  welcome  home,  so  long  as  I  lived  ;  and  in  case  I 
did  not  care  to  join  the  troops,  the  same  provision  for  my 
maintenance.' 

From  these  details  we  comprehend  the  sort  of  calling 
which  a  bravo  of  Bibboni's  species  followed.  Meanwhile 
Bebo  was  at  Milan.  '  There  it  happened  that  M.  Francesco 
Vinta,  of  Volterra,  was  on  embassy  from  the  Duke  of  Florence. 
He  saw  Bebo,  and  asked  him  what  he  was  doing  in  Milan, 
and  Bebo  answered  that  he  was  a  knight  errant.'  This  phrase 
— derived,  no  doubt,  from  the  romantic  epics  then  in  vogue — 
was  a  pretty  euphemism  for  a  rogue  of  Bebo's  quality.     The 


30-t  KENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

ambassador  now  began  cautiously  to  sound  his  man,  who 
seems  to  have  been  outlawed  from  the  Tuscan  duchy,  telling 
him  he  knew  a  way  by  which  he  might  return  with  favour  to 
his  home,  and  at  last  disclosing  the  affair  of  Lorenzo.  Bebo 
was  puzzled  at  first,  but  when  he  understood  the  matter,  he 
professed  his  willingness,  took  letters  from  the  envoy  to  the 
Duke  of  Florence,  and,  in  a  private  audience  with  Cosimo, 
informed  him  that  he  was  ready  to  attempt  Lorenzino's 
assassination.  He  added  that  '  he  had  a  comrade  fit  for  such 
a  job,  whose  fellow  for  the  business  could  not  easily  be 
found.' 

Bebo  now  travelled  to  Vicenza,  and  opened  the  whole 
matter  to  Bibboni,  who  weighed  it  well,  and  at  last,  being 
convinced  that  the  Duke's  commission  to  his  comrade  was 
bona  fide,  determined  to  take  his  share  in  the  undertaking. 
The  two  agreed  to  have  no  accomplices.  They  went  to  Venice, 
and  *  I,'  says  Bibboni,  '  being  most  intimately  acquainted  with 
all  that  city,  and  provided  there  with  many  friends,  soon 
quietly  contrived  to  know  where  Lorenzino  lodged,  and  took  a 
room  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  spent  some  days  in  seeing 
how  we  best  might  rule  our  conduct.'  Bibboni  soon  dis- 
covered that  Lorenzino  never  left  his  palace  ;  and  he  therefore 
remained  in  much  perplexity,  until,  by  good  luck,  Euberto 
Strozzi  arrived  from  France  in  Venice,  bringing  in  his  train  a 
Navarrese  servant,  who  had  the  nickname  of  Spagnoletto. 
This  fellow  was  a  great  friend  of  the  bravo.  They  met,  and 
Bibboni  told  him  that  he  should  like  to  go  and  kiss  the  hands 
of  Messer  Euberto,  whom  he  had  known  in  Rome.  Strozzi 
inhabited  the  same  palace  as  Lorenzino.  '  When  we  arrived 
there,  both  Messer  Ruberto  and  Lorenzo  were  leaving  the 
house,  and  there  were  around  them  so  many  gentlemen  and 
other  persons,  that  I  could  not  present  myself,  and  both 
straightway  stepped  into  the  gondola.  Then  I,  not  having 
seen  Lorenzo  for  a  long  while  past,  and  because  he  was  very 


TRACKING   AN   OUTLAAV  30,5 

quietly  attired,  could  not  recognise  the  man  exactly,  but  only 
as  it  were  between  certainty  and  doubt.  Wherefore  I  said 
to  Spagnoletto,  "I  think  I  know  that  gentleman,  but  don't 
remember  where  I  saw  him."  And  Messer  Euberto  was 
giving  him  his  right  hand.  Then  Spagnoletto  answered, 
*'  You  know  him  well  enough  ;  he  is  Messer  Lorenzo.  But 
see  you  tell  this  to  nobody.  He  goes  by  the  name  of  Messer 
Dario,  because  he  lives  in  great  fear  for  his  safety,  and  people 
don't  knoAV  that  he  is  now  in  Venice."  I  answered  that  I 
marvelled  much,  and  if  I  could  have  helped  him,  would  have 
done  so  willingly.  Then  I  asked  where  they  were  going,  and 
he  said,  to  dine  with  Messer  Giovanni  della  Casa,  who  was 
the  Pope's  Legate.  I  did  not  leave  the  man  till  I  had  drawn 
from  him  all  I  required.' 

Thus  spoke  the  Italian  Judas.  The  appearance  of  La 
Casa  on  the  scene  is  interesting.  He  was  the  celebrated 
author  of  the  '  Capitolo  del  Forno,'  the  author  of  many 
sublime  and  melancholy  sonnets,  who  was  now  at  Venice 
prosecuting  a  charge  of  heresy  against  Pier  Paolo  Vergerio, 
and  paying  his  addresses  to  a  noble  lady  of  the  Quirini 
family.  It  seems  that  on  the  territory  of  San  Marco  he  made 
common  cause  with  the  exiles  from  Florence,  for  he  was 
himself  by  birth  a  Florentine,  and  he  had  no  objection  to 
take  Brutus-Lorenzino  by  the  hand. 

After  the  noblemen  had  rowed  off  in  their  gondola  to  dine 
with  the  Legate,  Bibboni  and  his  friend  entered  their  palace, 
where  he  found  another  old  acquaintance,  the  house-steward, 
or  spenditore  of  Lorenzo.  From  him  he  gathered  much 
useful  information.  Pietro  Strozzi,  it  seems,  had  allowed 
the  tyrannicide  one  thousand  five  hundred  crowns  a  year, 
with  the  keep  of  three  brave  and  daring  companions  {tre 
comjjagiii  bravi  c  facinorosi),  and  a  palace  worth  fifty  crowns 
on  lease.  But  Lorenzo  had  just  taken  another  on  the  Campo 
di  San   Polo   at  three   hundred   crowns   a   year,   for  which 

VI  X 


S06  RENAISSANCE  IN   ITALY 

swagger  {altura)  Pietro  Strozzi  had  struck  a  thousand  ci'owns 
off  his  allowance.  Bibboni  also  learned  that  he  was  keeping 
house  with  his  uncle,  Alessandro  Soderini,  another  Florentine 
outlaw,  and  that  he  was  ardently  in  love  with  a  certain 
beautiful  Barozza.  This  woman  was  apparently  one  of  the 
grand  courtesans  of  Venice.  He  further  ascertained  the  date 
when  he  was  going  to  move  into  the  palace  at  San  Polo,  and, 
'  to  put  it  briefly,  knew  everything  he  did,  and,  as  it  were, 
how  many  times  a  day  he  spit.'  Such  were  the  intelligences 
of  the  servants'  hall,  and  of  such  value  were  they  to  men  of 
Bibboni's  calling. 

In  the  Carnival  of  1546  Lorenzo  meant  to  go  masqued  in 
the  habit  of  a  gipsy  woman  to  the  square  of  San  Spirito, 
where  there  was  to  be  a  joust.  Great  crowds  of  people  would 
assemble,  and  Bibboni  hoped  to  do  his  business  there.  The 
assassination,  however,  failed  on  this  occasion,  and  Lorenzo 
took  up  his  abode  in  the  palace  he  had  hired  upon  the  Campo 
di  San  Polo.  This  Campo  is  one  of  the  largest  open  places 
in  Venice,  shaped  irregularly,  with  a  finely  curving  line  upon 
the  western  side,  where  two  of  the  noblest  private  houses  in 
the  city  are  still  standing.  Nearly  opposite  these,  in  the 
south-western  angle,  stands,  detached,  the  little  old  church  of 
San  Polo.  One  of  its  side  entrances  opens  upon  the  square  ; 
the  other  on  a  lane  which  leads  eventually  to  the  Frari. 
There  is  nothing  in  Bibboni's  narrative  to  make  it  clear 
where  Lorenzo  hired  his  dwelling.  But  it  would  seem  from 
certain  things  which  he  says  later  on,  that  in  order  to  enter 
the  church  his  victim  had  to  cross  the  square.  Meanwhile 
Bibboni  took  the  precaution  of  making  friends  with  a  shoe- 
maker, whose  shop  commanded  the  whole  Campo,  including 
Lorenzo's  palace.  In  this  shop  he  began  to  spend  much  of 
his  time  ;  '  and  oftentimes  I  feigned  to  be  asleep  ;  but  God 
knows  whether  I  was  sleeping,  for  my  mind,  at  any  rate,  was 
wide-awake.' 


BEBO   AND   BIBBONI   ON   WATCH  307 

A  second  convenient  occasion  for  murdering  Lorenzo 
soon  seemed  to  offer.  He  was  bidden  to  dine  with  Monsignor 
della  Casa  ;  and  Bibboni,  putting  a  bold  face  on,  entered  the 
Legate's  palace,  having  left  Bebo  below  in  the  loggia,  fully 
resolved  to  do  the  business.  '  But  we  found,'  he  says,  '  that 
they  had  gone  to  dine  at  Murano,  so  that  we  remained  with 
our  tabors  in  their  bag.'  The  island  of  Murano  at  that 
period  was  a  favourite  resort  of  the  Venetian  nobles,  especially 
of  the  more  literary  and  artistic,  who  kept  country-houses 
there,  where  they  enjoyed  the  fresh  air  of  the  lagoons  and  the 
quiet  of  their  gardens. 

The  third  occasion,  after  all  these  weeks  of  watching, 
brought  success  to  Bibboni's  schemes.  He  had  observed  how 
Lorenzo  occasionally  so  far  broke  his  rules  of  caution  as  to 
go  on  foot,  past  the  church  of  San  Polo,  to  visit  the  beautiful 
Barozza  ;  and  he  resolved,  if  possible,  to  catch  him  on  one  of 
these  journeys.  '  It  so  chanced  on  February  28,  which  was 
the  second  Sunday  of  Lent,  that  having  gone,  as  was  my 
wont,  to  pry  out  whether  Lorenzo  would  give  orders  for 
going  abroad  that  day,  I  entered  the  shoemaker's  shop,  and 
stayed  awhile,  until  Lorenzo  came  to  the  window  with  a 
napkin  round  his  neck — for  he  was  combing  his  hair — and 
at  the  same  moment  I  saw  a  certain  Giovan  Battista  Martelli, 
who  kept  his  sword  for  the  defence  of  Lorenzo's  person,  enter 
and  come  forth  again.  Concluding  that  they  would  probably 
go  abroad,  I  went  home  to  get  ready  and  procure  the 
necessary  weapons,  and  there  I  found  Bebo  asleep  in  bed,  and 
made  him  get  up  at  once,  and  we  came  to  our  accustomed 
post  of  observation,  by  the  church  of  San  Polo,  where  our 
men  would  have  to  pass.'  Bibboni  now  retired  to  his  friend 
the  shoemaker's,  and  Bebo  took  up  his  station  at  one  of  the 
side  doors  of  San  Polo ;  '  and,  as  good  luck  would  have  it, 
Giovan  Battista  Martelli  came  forth,  and  walked  a  piece  in 
front,  and  then  Lorenzo  came,  and  then  Alessandro  Soderini, 

x2 


308  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

going  the  one  behind  the  other,  Hke  storks,  and  Lorenzo,  on 
entering  the  church,  and  hfting  up  the  curtain  of  the  door, 
was  seen  from  the  opposite  door  by  Bebo,  who  at  the  same 
time  noticed  how  I  had  left  the  shop,  and  so  we  met  upon 
the  street  as  we  had  agreed,  and  he  told  me  that  Lorenzo  was 
inside  the  church.' 

To  anyone  who  knows  the  Campo  di  San  Polo,  it  will  be 
apparent  that  Lorenzo  had  crossed  from  the  western  side  of 
the  piazza  and  entered   the  church  by  what  is  technically 
called  its  northern  door.     Bebo,  stationed  at  the  southern 
door,   could   see  him   when   he  pushed  the   heavy  stoia  or 
leather  curtain  aside,  and  at  the  same  time  could  observe 
Bibboni's   movements    in    the    cobbler's    shop.     Meanwhile 
Lorenzo   walked  across  the  church  and  came  to  the   same 
door  where  Bebo  had  been  standing.     *  I  saw  him  issue  from 
the  church  and  take  the  main  street;  then  came  Alessandro 
Soderini,  and  I  walked  last  of  all ;  and  when  we  reached  the 
point  we  had  determined  on,  I  jumped  in  front  of  Alessandro 
with  the  poignard  in  my  hand,  crying,  "  Hold  hard,  Ales- 
sandro, and  get  along  with  you,  in  God's  name,  for  we  are 
not   here   for   you  ! "     He   then   threw  himself  around  my 
waist,  and  grasped  my  arms,  and  kept  on  calling  out.     Seeing 
how  wrong  I  had  been  to  try  to  spare  his  life,  I  wrenched 
myself  as  well  as  I  could  from  his  grip,  and  with  my  lifted 
poignard  struck  him,  as  God  willed,  above  the  eyebrow,  and  a 
little  blood  trickled  from  the  wound.     He,  in  high  fury,  gave 
me  such  a  thrust  that  I  fell  backward,  and  the  ground  besides 
was  slippery  from  having  rained  a  little.     Then  Alessandro 
drew  his  sword,  which  he  carried  in  its  scabbard,  and  thrust 
at  me  in  front,  and    struck    me  on  the  corslet,   which  for 
my  good   fortune   was   of  double  mail.     Before  I  could  get 
ready  I  received  three  passes,  which,  had  I  worn  a  doublet 
instead  of  that  mailed  corslet,  would  certainly  have  run  me 
through.     At  the  fourth  pass  I  had  regained  my  strength  and; 


MURDER  OF  I.ORENZINO  "    309 

spirit,  and  closed  with  him,  and  stabbed  him  four  times  in 
the  head,  and  being  so  close  he  could  not  use  his  sword,  but 
tried  to  parry  with  his  hand  and  hilt,  and  I,  as  God  willed, 
struck  him  at  the  wrist  below  the  sleeve  of  mail,  and  cut 
his  hand  off  clean,  and  gave  him  then  one  last  stroke  on 
his  head.  Thereupon  he  begged  for  God's  sake  spare  his 
life,  and  I,  in  trouble  about  Bebo,  left  him  in  the  arms  of  a 
Venetian  nobleman,  who  held  him  back  from  jumping  into 
the  canal.' 

Who  this  Venetian  nobleman,  found  unexpectedly  upon 
the  scene,  was,  does  not  appear.  Nor,  what  is  still  more 
curious,  do  we  hear  anything  of  that  Martelli,  the  bravo, 
'  who  kept  his  sword  for  the  defence  of  Lorenzo's  person.' 
The  one  had  arrived  accidentally,  it  seems.  The  other  must 
have  been  a  coward  and  escaped  from  the  scufHe. 

'  When  I  turned,'  proceeds  Bibboni,  '  I  found  Lorenzo  on 
his  knees.  He  raised  himself,  and  I,  in  anger,  gave  him  a 
great  cut  across  the  head,  which  split  it  in  two  pieces,  and 
laid  him  at  my  feet,  and  he  never  rose  again.' 

Bebo,  meanwhile,  had  made  off  from  the  scene  of  action. 
And  Bibboni,  taking  to  his  heels,  came  up  with  him  in  the 
little  square  of  San  Marcello.  They  now  ran  for  their  lives 
till  they  reached  the  Traghetto  di  San  Spirito,  where  they 
threw  their  poignards  into  the  water,  remembering  that  no 
man  might  carry  these  in  Venice  under  penalty  of  the  galleys. 
Bibboni's  white  hose  were  drenched  with  blood.  He  therefore 
agreed  to  separate  from  Bebo,  having  named  a  rendezvous. 
Left  alone,  his  ill  luck  brought  him  face  to  face  with  twenty 
constables  {sbiii-i).  '  In  a  moment  I  conceived  that  they 
knew  everything,  and  were  come  to  capture  me,  and  of  a 
truth  I  saw  that  it  was  over  with  me.  As  swiftly  as  I  could 
I  quickened  pace  and  got  into  a  church,  near  to  which  was 
the  house  of  a  Compagnia,  and  the  one  opened  into  the  other, 
and  knelt  down  and  prayed,  commending  myself  with  fervour 


310  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

to  God  for  my  deliverance  and  safety.  Yet  while  I  prayed,  I 
kept  my  eyes  well  open  and  saw  the  whole  band  pass  the 
church,  except  one  man  who  entered,  and  I  strained  my 
sight  so  that  I  seemed  to  see  behind  as  well  as  in  front,  and 
then  it  was  I  longed  for  my  poignard,  for  I  should  not  have 
heeded  being  in  a  church.'  But  the  constable,  it  soon 
appeared,  was  not  looking  for  Bibboni.  So  he  gathered  up 
his  courage,  and  ran  for  the  Church  of  San  Spirito,  where 
the  Padre  Andrea  Volterrano  was  preaching  to  a  great  con- 
gregation. He  hoped  to  go  in  by  one  door  and  out  by  the 
other,  but  the  crowd  prevented  him,  and  he  had  to  turn  back 
and  face  the  sbirrL  One  of  them  followed  him,  having 
probably  caught  sight  of  the  blood  upon  his  hose.  Then 
Bibboni  resolved  to  have  done  with  the  fellow,  and  rushed  at 
him,  and  flung  him  down  with  his  head  upon  the  pavement, 
and  ran  like  mad,  and  came  at  last,  all  out  of  breath,  to  San 
Marco. 

It  seems  clear  that  before  Bibboni  separated  from  Bebo, 
they  had  crossed  the  water,  for  the  Sestiere  di  San  Polo  is 
separated  from  the  Sestiere  di  San  Marco  by  the  Grand 
Canal.  And  this  they  must  have  done  at  the  Traghetto  di 
San  Spirito.  Neither  the  church  nor  the  traghetto  are  now 
in  existence,  and  this  part  of  the  story  is  therefore  obscure.' 
Having  reached  San  Marco,  he  took  a  gondola  at  the  Ponte 
della  Paglia,  where  tourists  are  now  wont  to  stand  and  con- 
template the  Ducal  Palace  and  the  Bridge  of  Sighs.  First, 
he  sought  the  house  of  a  woman  of  the  town  who  was  his 

'  So  far  as  I  can  discover,  the  only  church  of  San  Spirito  in  Venice 
was  a  building  on  the  island  of  San  Spirito,  erected  by  Sansovino, 
which  belonged  to  the  Sestiere  di  S.  Croce,  and  which  was  suppressed 
in  1656.  Its  plate  and  the  fine  pictures  which  Titian  painted  there 
were  transferred  at  that  date  to  S.  M.  della  Salute.  I  cannot  help 
inferring  that  either  Bibboni's  memory  failed  him,  or  that  his  words 
were  wrongly  unlerstcod  by  printer  or  amanuensis.  If  for  S.  Spirito  we 
substitute  S.  Ste'ano,  the  account  would  be  intelligible. 


FLIGHT   OF   THE   ASSASSINS  311 

friend ;  then  changed  purpose,  and  rowed  to  the  palace  of 
the  Count  Salici  da  Collalto.  '  He  was  a  great  friend  and 
intimate  of  ours,  because  Bebo  and  I  had  done  him  many 
and  great  services  in  times  past.  There  I  knocked ;  and 
Bebo  opened  the  door,  and  when  he  saw  me  dabbled  with 
blood,  he  marvelled  that  I  had  not  come  to  grief  and  fallen 
into  the  hands  of  justice,  and,  indeed,  had  feared  as  much 
because  I  had  remained  so  long  away,'  It  appears,  therefore, 
that  the  Palazzo  Collalto  was  their  rendezvous.  '  The  Count 
was  from  home ;  but  being  known  to  all  his  people,  I  played 
the  master  and  went  into  the  kitchen  to  the  fire,  and  with 
soap  and  water  turned  my  hose,  which  had  been  white,  to  a 
grey  colour.'  This  is  a  very  delicate  way  of  saying  that  he 
washed  out  the  blood  of  Alessandro  and  Lorenzo  ! 

Soon  after  the  Count  returned,  and  '  lavished  caresses  ' 
upon  Bebo  and  his  precious  comrade.  They  did  not  tell  him 
what  they  had  achieved  that  morning,  but  put  him  off  with  a 
story  of  having  settled  a  sbirro  in  a  quarrel  about  a  girl. 
Then  the  Count  invited  them  to  dinner ;  and  being  himself 
bound  to  entertain  the  first  physician  of  Venice,  requested 
them  to  take  it  in  an  upper  chamber.  He  and  his  secretary 
served  them  with  their  own  hands  at  table.  When  the 
physician  arrived,  the  Count  went  downstairs  ;  and  at  this 
moment  a  messenger  came  from  Lorenzo's  mother,  begging 
the  doctor  to  go  at  once  to  San  Polo,  for  that  her  son  had  been 
murdered  and  Soderini  wounded  to  the  death.  It  was  now 
no  longer  possible  to  conceal  their  doings  from  the  Count, 
who  iold  them  to  pluck  up  courage  and  abide  in  patience. 
He  had  himself  to  dine  and  take  his  siesta,  and  then  to  attend 
a  meeting  of  the  Council. 

About  the  hour  of  vespers,  Bibboni  determined  to  seek 
better  refuge.  Followed  at  a  discreet  distance  by  Bebo,  he 
first  called  at  their  lodgings  and  ordered  supper.  Two  priests 
came  in  and  fell  into  conversation  with  them.     But  something 


312  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

in  the  behaviour  of  one  of  these  good  men  roused  Bibboni's 
suspicions.  So  they  left  the  house,  took  a  gondola,  and  told 
the  man  to  row  hard  to  S.  Maria  Zobenigo.  On  the  way  they 
bade  him  put  them  on  shore,  paid  him  well,  and  ordered  him 
to  wait  for  them.  They  landed  near  the  palace  of  the  Spanish 
embassy  ;  and  here  Bibboni  meant  to  seek  sanctuary.  For  it 
must  be  remembered  that  the  houses  of  ambassadors,  no  less 
than  those  of  princes  of  the  Church,  were  inviolable.  They 
offered  the  most  convenient  harbouring-places  to  rascals. 
Charles  V.,  moreover,  was  deeply  interested  in  the  vengeance 
taken  on  Alessandro  de'  Medici's  murderer,  for  his  own 
natural  daughter  was  Alessandro' s  widow  and  Duchess  of 
Florence.  In  the  palace  they  were  received  with  much 
courtesy  by  about  forty  Spaniards,  who  showed  considerable 
curiosity,  and  told  them  that  Lorenzo  and  Alessandro 
Soderini  had  been  murdered  that  morning  by  two  men 
whose  description  answered  to  their  appearance.  Bibboni 
put  their  questions  by  and  asked  to  see  the  ambassador. 
He  was  not  at  home.  In  that  case,  said  Bibboni,  take  us 
to  the  secretary.  Attended  by  some  thirty  Spaniards,  '  with 
great  joy  and  gladness,'  they  were  shown  into  the  secretary's 
chamber.  He  sent  the  rest  of  the  folk  away,  '  and  locked 
the  door  well,  and  then  embraced  and  kissed  us  before  we 
had  said  a  word,  and  afterwards  bade  us  talk  freely  without 
any  fear,'  When  Bibboni  had  told  the  whole  story,  he  was 
again  embraced  and  kissed  by  the  secretary,  who  thereupon 
left  them  and  went  to  the  private  apartment  of  the  am- 
bassador. Shortly  after  he  returned  and  led  them  by  a 
winding  staircase  into  the  presence  of  his  master.  The 
ambassador  greeted  them  with  great  honour,  told  them  he 
would  strain  all  the  power  of  the  empire  to  hand  them  in 
safety  over  to  Duke  Cosimo,  and  that  he  had  already  sent  a 
courier  to  the  Emperor  with  the  good  news. 

So  they  remained  in  hiding  in  the  Spanish  embassy  ;  and 


EEBO  AND   BIBBONI  KEACH   PISA  313 

in  ten  days'  time  commands  were  received  from  Charles  him- 
self that  everything  should  be  done  to  convey  them  safely  to 
Florence.  The  difficulty  was  how  to  smuggle  them  out  of 
Venice,  where  the  police  of  the  Republic  were  on  watch,  and 
Florentine  outlaws  were  mounting  guard  on  sea  and  shore  to 
catch  them.  The  ambassador  began  by  spreading  reports  on 
the  Rialto  every  morning  of  their  having  been  seen  at  Padua, 
at  Verona,  in  Friuli.  He  then  hired  a  palace  at  Malghera, 
near  Mestre,  and  went  out  daily  with  fifty  Spaniards,  and  took 
carriage  or  amused  himself  with  horse  exercise  and  shooting. 
The  Florentines,  who  were  on  watch,  could  only  discover  from 
his  people  that  he  did  this  for  amusement.  When  he  thought 
that  he  had  put  them  sufficiently  off  their  guard,  the  ambas- 
sador one  day  took  Bibboni  and  Bebo  out  by  Canaregio  to 
Malghera,  concealed  in  his  own  gondola,  with  the  whole 
train  of  Spaniards  in  attendance.  And  though,  on  landing, 
the  Florentines  challenged  them,  they  durst  not  interfere  with 
an  ambassador  or  come  to  battle  with  his  men.  So  Bebo  and 
Bibboni  were  hustled  into  a  coach,  and  afterwards  provided 
with  two  comrades  and  four  horses.  They  rode  for  ninety 
miles  without  stopping  to  sleep,  and  on  the  day  following  this 
long  journey  reached  Trento,  having  probably  threaded  the 
mountain  valleys  above  Bassano,  for  Bibboni  speaks  of  a 
certain  village  where  the  people  talked  half  German.  The 
Imperial  Ambassador  at  Trento  forwarded  them  next  day  to 
Mantua ;  from  Mantua  they  came  to  Piacenza  ;  thence  pass- 
ing through  the  valley  of  the  Taro,  crossing  the  Apennines 
at  Cisa,  descending  on  Pontremoli,  and  reaching  Pisa  at  night, 
the  fourteenth  day  after  their  escape  from  Venice. 

When  they  arrived  at  Pisa,  Duke  Cosimo  was  supping. 
So  they  went  to  an  inn,  and  next  morning  presented  them- 
selves to  his  Grace.  Cosimo  welcomed  them  kindly,  assured 
them  of  his  gratitude,  confirmed  them  in  the  enjoyment  of 
their  rewards  and  privileges,  and  swore  that  they  might  rest 


■814  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

secure  of  his  protection  in  all  parts  of  his  dominion.  We 
may  imagine  how  the  men  caroused  together  after  this  recep- 
tion. As  Bibboni  adds,  'We  were  now  able  for  the  whole 
time  of  life  left  us  to  live  splendidly,  without  a  thought  or 
care.'  The  last  words  of  his  narrative  are  these  :  '  Bebo  from 
Pisa,  at  what  date  I  know  not,  went  home  to  Volterra,  his 
native  town,  and  there  finished  his  days  ;  while  I  abode  in 
Florence,  where  I  have  had  no  further  wish  to  hear  of  wars, 
but  to  live  my  life  in  holy  peace.' 

So  ends  the  story  of  the  two  bravi.  We  have  reason  to 
believe,  from  some  contemporary  documents  which  Cantu  has 
brought  to  light,  that  Bibboni  exaggerated  his  own  part  in 
the  affair.  Luca  Martelli,  writing  to  Varchi,  says  that  it  was 
Lebo  who  clove  Lorenzo's  skull  with  a  cutlass.  He  adds  this 
curious  detail,  that  the  weapons  of  both  men  were  poisoned, 
and  that  the  wound  inflicted  by  Bibboni  on  Soderini's  hand 
was  a  slight  one.  Yet,  the  poignard  being  poisoned,  Soderini 
died  of  it.  In  other  respects  Martelli's  brief  account  agrees 
with  that  given  by  Bibboni,  who  probably  did  no  more,  his 
comrade  being  dead,  than  claim  for  himself,  at  some  expense 
of  truth,  the  lion's  share  of  their  heroic  action. 

Amhrogio  Tremazzi. 

In  illustration  of  this  narrative,  and  in  evidence  that  it 
stands  by  no  means  solitary  on  the  records  of  that  century, 
I  shall  extract  some  passages  from  the  report  made  by 
Amhrogio  Tremazzi  of  Modigliana  concerning  the  assassina- 
tion of  Troilo  Orsini.'  Troilo,  it  will  be  remembered,  was 
the  lover  of  the  Medicean  Duchess  of  Bracciano.  After  the 
discovery  of  their  amours,  and  while  the  lady  was  being 
strangled  by  her  husband,  with  the  sanction  of  her  brother, 

'  The  text  is  published,  from  Florentine  Archives,  in  Gnoli's  Vittoria 
Accoramboni,  pp.  404-414. 


TRUILO    ORSINO'S   MURDERER  31.5 

Troilo  escaped  to  France.  Anibrogio  Tremazzi,  knowing  that 
his  murder  -would  be  acceptable  to  the  Medici,  undertook  the 
adventure  ;  moved,  as  he  says,  '  solely  by  the  desire  of  bring- 
ing myself  into  favourable  notice  with  the  Grand  Duke  ;  for 
my  mind  revolted  at  the  thought  of  money  payments,  and  I 
had  in  view  the  acquisition  of  honour  and  praise  rather,  being 
willing  to  risk  my  life  for  the  credit  of  my  Prince,  and  not 
my  life  only,  but  also  to  incur  deadly  and  perpetual  feud 
with  a  powerful  branch  of  the  Orsini  family.'  On  his  return 
from  France,  having  successfully  accomplished  the  mission, 
Ambrogio  Tremazzi  found  that  the  friends  who  had  previously 
encouraged  his  hopes,  especially  the  Count  Eidolfo  Isolami, 
wished  to  compromise  his  reward  by  the  settlement  of  a 
pension  on  himself  and  his  associate.  Whether  he  really 
aimed  at  a  more  honourable  recognition  of  his  services,  or 
whether  he  sought  to  obtain  better  pecuniary  terms,  does  not 
appeal.  But  he  represents  himself  as  gravely  insulted ; 
'  seeing  that  my  tenor  of  life  from  boyhood  upwards  has  been 
always  honourable,  and  thus  it  ever  shall  be.'  After  this 
exordium  in  the  form  of  a  letter  addressed  to  one  ^ignor 
Antonio  [Serguidi],  he  proceeds  to  render  account  of  his 
proceedings.  It  seems  that  Don  Piero  de'  Medici  gave  him 
three  hundred  crowns  for  his  travelling  expenses ;  after 
which,  leaving  his  son,  a  boy  of  twelve  years,  as  hostage 
in  the  service  of  Piero,  he  set  off,  and  reached  Paris  on 
August  12,  1577.  There  he  took  lodgings  at  the  sign  of 
the  Red  Horse,  near  the  Cordeilliers,  and  began  at  once  to 
make  inquiries  for  Troilo.  He  had  brought  with  him  from 
Italy  a  man  called  Hieronimo  Savorano.  Their  joint  in- 
vestigations elicited  the  fact  that  Troilo  had  been  lately 
wounded  in  the  service  of  the  King  of  France,  and  was 
expected  to  arrive  in  Paris  with  the  Court.  It  was  not 
until  the  eve  of  All  Saints'  day  that  the  Court  returned. 
Soon   afterwards,   Ambrogio  was  talking   at   the   door  of  a 


316  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

house  with  some  ItaHan  comedians,  when  a  young  man, 
covered  with  a  tawny-coloured  mantle,  passed  by  upon  a 
brown  horse,  bearing  a  servant  behind  him  on  the  crupper. 
This  was  Troilo  Orsini ;  and  Ambrogio  marked  him  well. 
Troilo,  after  some  minutes'  conversation  with  the  players, 
rode  forward  to  the  Louvre.  The  bravo  followed  him  and 
discovered  from  his  servant  where  he  lodged.  Accordingly, 
he  engaged  rooms  in  the  Eue  S.  Honore,  in  order  to  be 
nearer  to  his  victim. 

Some  time,  however,  elapsed  before  he  was  able  to  ascer- 
tain Troilo's  daily  habits.  Chance  at  last  threw  them  together. 
He  was  playing  inimicro  one  evening  in  the  house  of  an 
actress  called  Vittoria,  when  Troilo  entered,  with  two  gentle- 
men of  Florence.  He  said  he  had  been  absent  ten  days  from 
Paris.  Ambrogio,  who  had  left  his  harquebuss  at  home,  not 
expecting  to  meet  him,  'was  consequently  on  that  occasion 
unable  to  do  anything.'  Days  passed  without  a  better  oppor- 
tunity, till,  on  November  30, '  the  feast  of  S.  Andrew,  which 
is  a  lucky  day  for  me,  I  rose  and  went  at  once  to  the  palace, 
and,  immediately  on  my  arrival,  saw  liim  at  the  hour  when 
the  King  goes  forth  to  mass.'  Ambrogio  had  to  return  as  he 
went ;  for  Troilo  was  surrounded  by  too  many  gentlemen  of 
the  French  Court ;  but  he  made  his  mind  up  then  and  there 
'  to  see  the  end  of  him  or  me.'  He  called  his  comrade  Hiero- 
nimo,  posted  him  on  a  bridge  across  the  Seine,  and  proceeded 
to  the  Court,  where  Troilo  was  now  playing  racquets  with 
princes  of  the  royal  family.  Ambrogio  hung  about  the  gates 
until  Troilo  issued  from  the  lodgings  of  Monseigneur  de 
Montmorenci,  still  tracked  by  his  unknown  enemy,  and  thence 
returned  to  his  own  house  on  horseback,  attended  by  several 
servants.  After  waiting  till  the  night  fell,  Troilo  again  left 
home  on  horseback  preceded  by  his  servants  with  torches. 
Ambrogio  followed  at  full  speed,  watched  a  favourable  oppor- 
tunity, and  stopped  the  horse.     '  AVhen  I  came  up  with  him, 


THE   BRAVO   AS   POLITICAL   AGE.NT  317 

I  seized  the  reins  with  my  left  hand,  and  with  the  right  I  set 
my  harquebuss  against  his  side,  pushing  it  with  such  violence 
that  if  it  had  failed  to  go  off  it  would  at  any  rate  have  dis 
lodged  him  from  his  seat.  The  gun  took  effect,  and  he  fell 
crying  out  "Eh!  Eh!"  In  the  tumult  which  ensued,  I 
walked  away,  and  do  not  know  what  happened  afterwards.' 
Ambrogio  then  made  his  way  back  to  his  lodgings,  recharged 
his  harquebuss,  ate  some  supper  and  went  to  bed.  He  told 
Hieronimo  that  nothing  had  occurred  that  night.  Next  day 
he  rose  as  usual,  and  returned  to  the  Court,  hoping  to  hear 
news  of  Troilo.  In  the  afternoon,  at  the  Italian  theatre,  he 
was  informed  that  an  Italian  had  been  murdered,  at  the 
instance,  it  was  thought,  of  the  Grand  Duke  of  Florence. 
Hieronimo  touched  his  arm,  and  whispered  that  he  must 
have  done  the  deed  ;  but  Ambrogio  denied  the  fact.  It  seems 
to  have  been  his  object  to  reserve  the  credit  of  the  murder, 
for  himself,  and  also  to  avoid  the  possibility  of  Hieronimo's 
treachery  in  case  suspicion  fell  upon  him.  Afterwards  he , 
learned  that  Troilo  lay  dangerously  wounded  by  a  harquebuss. 
Further  details  made  him  aware  that  he  was  himself  suspected 
of  the  murder,  and  that  Troilo  could  not  recover.  He  there- 
fore conferred  upon  the  matter  with  Hieronimo  in  Notre 
Dame,  and  both  of  them  resolved  to  leave  Paris  secretly. , 
This  they  did  at  once,  relinquishing  clothes,  arms,  and 
baggage  in  their  lodgings,  and  reached  Italy  in  safety. 

Lodovico  dalV  Armi. 

The  relations  of  trust  which  bravi  occasionally  maintained 
with  foreign  Courts,  supply  some  curious  illustrations  of  their 
position  in  Italian  society.  One  characteristic  instance  may 
be  selected  from  documents  in  the  Venetian  Archives  referring 
to  Lodovico  dair  Armi.'     This   man   belonged   to   a  noble ' 

'  See  Eawdon  Brown's  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  vol.  iv. 


318  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

family  of  Bologna ;  and  there  are  reasons  for  supposing  that 
his  mother  was  sister  to  Cardinal  Canipeggi,  famous  in  the 
annals  of  the  English  Eeformation.  Outlawed  from  his 
native  city  for  a  homicide,  Lodovico  adopted  the  profession  of 
arms  and  the  management  of  secret  diplomacy.  He  first 
took  refuge  at  the  Court  of  France,  where  in  1541  he  obtained 
such  credit,  especially  with  the  Dauphin,  that  he  was  en- 
trusted with  a  mission  for  raising  revolt  in  Siena  against  the 
Spaniards.'  His  transactions  in  that  city  with  Giulio  Salvi, 
then  aspiring  to  its  lordship,  and  in  Rome  with  the  French 
ambassador,  led  to  a  conspiracy  which  only  awaited  the 
appearance  of  French  troops  upon  the  Tuscan  frontier  to 
break  out  into  open  rebellion.  The  plot,  however,  transpired 
before  it  had  been  matured  ;  and  Lodovico  took  flight  through 
the  Florentine  territory.  He  was  arrested  at  Montevarchi 
and  confined  in  the  fortress  of  Florence,  where  he  made  such 
revelations  as  rendered  the  extinction  of  the  Sienese  revolt 
an  easy  matter.  After  this  we  do  not  hear  of  him  until  he 
reappears  at  Venice  in  the  year  1545.  He  was  now  accredited 
to  the  English  ambassador  with  the  title  of  Henry  VIII.'s 
'  Colonel,'  and  enjoyed  the  consideration  accorded  to  a  power- 
ful monarch's  privy  agent.  His  pension  amounted  to  fifty 
crowns  a  month,  while  he  kept  eight  captains  at  his  orders, 
each  of  whom  received  half  that  sum  as  pay.  These  sub- 
ordinates were  people  of  some  social  standing.  We  find 
among  them  a  Trissino  of  Vicenza  and  a  Bonifacio  of 
Verona,  the  one  entitled  Marquis  and  the  other  Count.  What 
the  object  of  Lodovico's  residence  in  Italy  might  be,  did  not 
appear.  Though  he  carried  letters  of  recommendation  from 
the  English  Court,  he  laid  no  claim  to  the  rank  of  diplomatic 
envoy.  But  it  was  tolerably  well  known  that  he  employed 
himself  in  levying  troops.     Whether  these  were  meant  to  be 

'  See  Botta,   Book   iv.,   for  the   story   of  Lodovico's   intrigues    at 
Siena. 


LODOVICO   DALL'   ARMI'S    CAEEER  31U 

used  against  France  or  in  favour  of  Savoy,  or  whether,  as  tlie 
Court  of  Kome  suggested,  Henry  had  given  orders  for  the 
murder  of  his  cousin,  Cardinal  Pole,  at  Trento,  remained  an 
open  question.  Lodovico  might  have  dwelt  in  peace  under 
the  tolerant  rule  of  the  Venetians,  had  he  not  exposed  him- 
self to  a  collision  with  their  police.  In  the  month  of  August 
he  assaulted  the  captain  of  the  night  guard  in  a  street  brawl ; 
and  it  was  also  proved  against  him  that  he  had  despatched 
two  of  his  men  to  inflict  a  wound  of  infamy  upon  a  gentleman 
at  Treviso.  These  offences,  coinciding  with  urgent  remon- 
strances from  the  Papal  Curia,  gave  the  Venetian  Government 
fair  pretext  for  expelling  him  from  their  dominions.  A  ban 
was  therefore  published  against  him  and  fourteen  of  his 
followers.  The  English  ambassador  declined  to  interfere  in 
his  behalf,  and  the  man  left  Italy.  At  the  end  of  August  he 
appeared  at  Brussels,  where  he  attempted  to  excuse  himself 
in  an  interview  with  the  Venetian  ambassador.  Now  began 
a  diplomatic  correspondence  between  the  English  Court  and 
the  Venetian  Council,  which  clearly  demonstrates  what  kind 
of  importance  attached  to  this  private  agent.  The  Chancellor 
Lord  Wriothesley,  and  the  Secretary  Sir  William  Paget,  used 
considerable  urgency  to  obtain  a  suspension  of  the  ban  against 
Dair  Armi.  After  four  months'  negotiation,  during  which 
the  Papal  Court  endeavoured  to  neutralise  Henry's  influence, 
the  Doge  signed  a  safe-conduct  for  five  years  in  favour  of  the 
bravo.  Early  in  1546  Lodovico  reappeared  in  Lombardy. 
At  Mantua  he  delivered  a  letter  signed  by  Henry  himself  to 
the  Duke  Francesco  Gonzaga,  introducing  '  our  noble  and 
beloved  familiar  Lodovico  dall'  Armi,'  and  begging  the  Duke 
to  assist  him  in  such  matters  as  he  should  transact  at  Mantua 
in  the  King's  service.'  Lodovico  presented  this  letter  in 
April ;  but  the  Duchess,  who  then  acted  as  regent  for  her 
son  Francesco,  refused  to  receive  him.  She  alleged  that  the 
'  This  letter  is  dated  February  16,  154G. 


320  EENAISSANCE   IX   ITALY 

Duke  forbade  the  levying  of  troops  for  foreign  service,  and 
declined  to  complicate  his  relations  with  foreign  powers.  It 
seems,  from  a  sufficiently  extensive  correspondence  on  the 
afi'airs  of  Lodovico,  that  he  was  understood  by  the  Italian 
princess  to  be  charged  with  some  special  commission  for 
recruiting  soldiers  against  the  French.  The  peace  between 
England  and  France,  signed  at  Guines  in  June,  rendered 
Lodovico's  mission  nugatory;  and  the  death  of  Henry  VIII. 
in  January  1547  deprived  him  of  his  only  powerful  support. 
Meanwhile  he  had  contrived  to  incur  the  serious  displeasure 
of  the  Venetian  Republic.  In  the  autumn  of  1546  they  out- 
lawed one  of  their  own  nobles,  Ser  Mafio  Bernardo,  on  the 
charge  of  his  having  revealed  State  secrets  to  France.  About 
the  middle  of  November,  Bernardo,  then  living  in  concealment 
at  Ravenna,  was  lured  into  the  pine  forest  by  two  men  fur- 
nished with  tokeiis  which  secured  his  confidence.  He  was 
there  murdered,  and  the  assassins  turned  out  to  be  paid 
instruments  of  Lodovico.  It  now  came  to  light  that  Lodovico 
and  Ser  Mafio  Bernardo  had  for  some  time  past  colluded  in 
political  intrigue.  If,  therefore,  the  murder  had  a  motive, 
this  was  found  in  Lodovico's  dread  of  revelations  in  the 
event  of  Ser  Mafio's  capture.  Submitted  to  torture  in  the 
prisons  of  the  Ten,  Ser  Mafio  might  have  incriminated  his 
accomplice  both  with  England  and  Venice.  It  was  obvious 
why  he  had  been  murdered  by  Lodovico's  men.  Dall'  Armi 
was  consequently  arrested  and  confined  in  Venice.  After 
examination,  followed  by  a  temporary  release,  he  prudently 
took  flight  into  the  Duchy  of  Milan.  Though  they  held  proof 
of  his  guilt  in  the  matter  of  Ser  Mafio's  murder,  the  Venetians 
were  apparently  unwilling  to  proceed  to  extremities  against 
the  King  of  England's  man.  Early  in  February,  however, 
Sir  William  Paget  surrendered  him  in  the  name  of  Lord 
Protector  Somerset  to  the  discretion  of  S.  Mark.  Furnished 
with  this  assurance  that  Dall'  Armi  had  lost  the  favour  of 


LODOVICO'S   DOWNFALL  321 

England,  the  Signory  wrote  to  demand  bis  arrest  and  extra- 
dition from  the  Spanish  governor  in  j\Iilan.  He  was  in  fact 
arrested  on  February  10.  The  letter  announcing  his  capture 
describes  him  as  a  man  of  remarkably  handsome  figure, 
accustomed  to  wear  a  crimson  velvet  cloak  and  a  red  cap 
trimmed  with  gold.  It  is  exactly  in  this  costume  that  Lodo- 
vico  has  been  represented  by  Bonifazio  in  a  picture  of  the 
Massacre  of  the  Innocents.  The  bravo  there  stands  with  his 
back  partly  turned,  gazing  stolidly  upon  a  complex  scene  of 
bloodshed.  He  wears  a  crimson  velvet  mantle,  scarlet  cap 
and  white  feather,  scarlet  stockings,  crimson  velvet  shoes,  and 
rose-coloured  silk  underjacket.  His  person  is  that  of  a  gallant 
past  the  age  of  thirty,  high-complexioned,  with  short  brown 
beard,  spare  whiskers  and  moustache.  He  is  good  to  look  at, 
except  that  the  sharp-set  mouth  suggests  cynical  vulgarity 
and  shallow  rashness.  On  being  arrested  in  Milan,  Lodovico 
proclaimed  himself  a  privileged  person  {persona  ])uhhlica), 
bearing  credentials  from  the  King  of  England ;  and,  during 
the  first  weeks  of  his  confinement,  he  wrote  to  the  Emperor 
for  help.  This  was  an  idle  step.  Henry's  death  had  left  him 
without  protectors,  and  Charles  V.  felt  no  hesitation  in 
abandoning  his  suppliant  to  the  Venetians.  When  the  usual 
formalities  regarding  extradition  had  been  completed,  the 
Milanese  Government  delivered  Lodovico  at  the  end  of  April 
into  the  hands  of  the  Eector  of  Brescia,  who  forwarded  him 
under  a  guard  of  two  hundred  men  to  Padua.  He  was  hand- 
cuffed ;  and  special  directions  were  given  regarding  his  safety, 
it  being  even  prescribed  that  if  he  refused  food  it  should  be 
thrust  down  his  throat.  What  passed  in  the  prisons  of  the 
State,  after  his  arrival  at  Venice,  is  not  known.  But  on 
May  14  he  was  beheaded  between  the  columns  on  the  Molo. 

Venice,  at  this  epoch,  incurred  the  reproaches  of  her 
neighbours  for  harbouring  adventurers  of  Lodovico's  stamp. 
One  of  the  Fregosi  of  Genoa,  a  certain  Valerio,  and  Pietro 

VI  Y 


322  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

Strozzi,  the  notorious  French  agent,  all  of  whom  habitually 
haunted  the  lagoons,  roused  sufficient  public  anxiety  to 
necessitate  diplomatic  communications  between  Courts,  and 
to  disquiet  fretful  Italian  princelings.  Banished  from  their 
own  provinces,  and  plying  a  petty  condottiere  trade,  such 
men,  when  they  came  together  on  a  neutral  ground,  engaged 
in  cross-intrigues  which  made  them  politically  dangerous. 
They  served  no  interest  but  that  of  their  own  egotism,  and 
they  were  notoriously  unscrupulous  in  the  means  employed 
to  effect  immediate  objects.  At  the  same  time,  the  protection 
which  they  claimed  from  foreign  potentates  withdrew  them 
from  the  customary  justice  of  the  State.  Bedmar's  con- 
spiracy in  1C17-18  revealed  to  Venice  the  full  extent  of  the 
peril  which  this  harbourage  of  ruffians  involved  ;  for  though 
grandees  of  the  distinction  of  the  Duke  of  Ossuna  were  in- 
volved in  it,  the  main  agents,  on  whose  ambition  and  audacity 
all  depended,  sprang  from  those  French,  English,  Spanish, 
and  Italian  mercenaries,  who  crowded  the  low  quarters  of  the 
city,  alert  for  any  mischief,  and  inflamed  with  the  wildest 
projects  of  self-aggrandisement  by  policy  and  bloodshed. 
Nothing  testifies  to  the  social  and  political  decrepitude  of 
Italy  in  this  period  more  plainly  than  the  importance  which 
folk  like  Lodovico  dall'  Armi  acquired,  and  the  revolutionary 
force  which  a  man  like  Jaffier  commanded. 

Brigands,  Pirates,  Plague. 

After  collecting  these  stories,  which  illustrate  the  manners 
of  the  upper  classes  in  society  and  prove  their  dependence 
upon  henchmen  paid  to  subserve  lawless  passions,  it  would 
be  interesting  to  lay  bare  the  life  of  the  common  people  with 
equal  lucidity.  This,  however,  is  a  more  difficult  matter. 
Statistics  of  dubious  value  can  indeed  be  gathered  regard- 
ing  the  desolation  of  villages  by  brigands,  the  multitudes 


I 


BRIGANDS   AND   PIRATES  323 

destroyed  by  pestilence  and  famine,  and  the  inroads  of  Medi- 
terranean pirates.  I  propose,  therefore,  to  touch  hghtly  upon 
these  points,  and  specially  to  use  our  records  of  plague  in 
different  Italian  districts  as  tests  for  contrasting  the  condition 
of  the  people  at  this  epoch  with  that  of  the  same  people  iu 
the  Middle  Ages. 

Brigandage,  though  this  was  certainly  a  curse  of  the  first 
magnitude    to     Central    and     Southern    Italy,    cannot     be 
paralleled,   either  for   the   miseries   it  inflicted,   or  for   the 
ferocity  it  stimulated,  with  the   municipal   warfare   of    the 
twelfth,    thirteenth,    and   fourteenth    centuries.      In    those 
internecine  struggles   whole   cities   disappeared,   and    fertile 
districts  were  periodically  abandoned  to  wolves.     The  bands 
of   an  Alfonso  Piccolomini  or  a  Sciarra  Colonna  plundered 
villages,  exacted  black  mail,  and  held  prisoners  for  ransom.^ 
But  their  barbarities  were  insignificant,  when  compared  with 
those  commonly  perpetrated   by    wandering    companies    of 
adventure  before  the  days  of  Alberigo  da  Barbiano  ;  nor  did 
brigands  cost  Italy  so  much  as  the  mercenary  troops,  which, 
after  the  condottiere  system  had  been  developed,  became  a 
permanent   drain  upon  the  resources  of  the  country.     The 
raids  of  Tunisian  and  Algerian  corsairs  were  more  seriously 
mischievous  ;  since  the  whole  sea-board  from  Nice  to  Eeggio 
lay  open  to  the  ravages  of  such  incarnate  fiends  as  Barbarossa 
and  Dragut,  while  the  Adriatic  was  infested  by  Uscocchi,  and 
the  natives  of  the  Eegno  not  unfrequently  turned  pirates  in 
emulation  of  their  persecutors.^     Yet  even  these  injuries  may 
be  reckoned  light,  when  we  consider  what  Italy  had  suffered 
between  1494  and  1527  from  French,  Spanish,  German,  and 

'  See  Mutinelli,  Storia  Arcana,  vol.  ii.  p.  167,  for  the  pillage  of 
Lucera  by  Pacchiarotto. 

-  Sarpi's  History  of  the  Uscocchi  may  be  consulted  for  this  singular 
episode  in  the  IHad  of  human  savagery.  See  Mutinelli,  ojj.  cit.  vol.  ii. 
p.  182,  on  the  case  of  the  son  and  heir  of  the  Duke  of  Termoli  joining 
them ;  and  ibid.  p.  180  on  the  existence  of  pirates  at  Capri. 

y  2 


324  EENAISSANOE  IN  ITALY 

Swiss  troops  in  combat  on  her  soil.  The  pestilences  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  notably  the  Black  Death  of  1348,  of  which 
Boccaccio  has  left  an  immortal  description,  exceeded  in  viru- 
lence those  which  depopulated  Italian  cities  during  the  period 
of  my  history.  But  plagues  continued  to  be  frequent  ;  and 
some  of  these  are  so  memorable  that  they  require  to  be 
particularly  noticed.  At  Venice  in  1575-77,  a  total  of  about 
50,000  persons  perished ;  and  in  1630-31,  46,490  were 
carried  off  within  a  space  of  sixteen  months  in  the  city,  while 
the  number  of  those  who  died  at  large  in  the  lagoons 
amounted  to  94,235.^  On  these  two  occasions  the  Venetians 
commemorated  their  deliverance  by  the  erection  of  the 
Eedentore  and  S.  Maria  della  Salute  churches,  which  now 
form  principal  ornaments  of  the  Giudecca  and  the  Grand 
Canal.  Milan  was  devastated  at  the  same  periods  by  plagues, 
of  which  we  have  detailed  accounts  in  the  despatches  of 
resident  Venetian  envoys.^  The  mortality  in  the  second  of 
these  visitations  was  terrible.  Before  September  1629,  four- 
teen thousand  had  succumbed ;  between  May  and  August 
1630,  forty-five  thousand  victims  had  been  added  to  the  tale.^ 
At  Naples,  in  the  year  1656,  more  than  fifty  thousand 
perished  between  May  and  July ;  the  dead  were  cast  naked 
into  the  sea,  and  the  Venetian  envoy  describes  the  city  as 
'  non  2)iil  cittd  ma  syelonca  cli  viortL'  ■*  In  July  his  diary  is 
suddenly  interrupted,  whether  by  departure  from  the  stricken 
town,  or  more  probably  by  death,  we  know  not.  Savoy  was 
scourged  by  a  fearful  pestilence  in  the  years  1598-1600.  Of 
this   plague  we  possess  a  frightfully  graphic  picture  in  the 

'  Mutinelli,  Annali  Urbani  di  Venezia,  pp.  470-483,  549-550. 

-'  Mutinelli,  Storia  Arcana,  vol.  i.  pp.  310-340,  and  vol.  xiv.  pp. 
30-65. 

^  It  is  worth  mentioning  that  Eipamonte  calculates  the  mortality 
from  plague  in  Milan  in  1524  at  140,000. 

*  Mutinelli,  op.  cit.  vol.  iii.  pp.  229-233.  Botta  has  given  an  account 
of  this  plague  in  the  twenty-sixth  book  of  his  History. 


PLAGUES  325 

same  accurate  series  of  State  documents.'  Simeone  Con- 
tarini,  then  resident  at  Savigliano,  relates  that  more  than 
two-thirds  of  the  population  in  that  province  had  been  swept 
away  before  the  autumn  of  1598,  and  that  the  evil  was 
spreading  far  and  wide  through  Piedmont.  In  Alpignano, 
a  village  of  some  four  hundred  inhabitants,  only  two  re- 
mained. In  Val  Moriana,  forty  thousand  expired,  out  of 
a  total  of  seventy  thousand.  The  village  of  San  Giovanni 
counted  but  twelve  survivors  from  a  population  of  more 
than  four  thousand  souls.  In  May  1599,  the  inhabitants  of 
Turin  were  reduced  by  flight  and  death  to  four  thousand ; 
and  of  these  there  died  daily  numbers  gradually  rising 
through  the  summer  from  50  to  180.  The  streets  were  en- 
cumbered with  unburied  corpses,  the  houses  infested  by 
robbers  and  marauders.  Some  incidents  reported  of  this 
j)lague  are  ghastly  in  their  horror.  The  infected  were  treated 
with  inhuman  barbarity,  and  retorted  with  savage  fury, 
battering  their  assailants  with  the  pestiferous  bodies  of 
unburied  victims. 

To  the  miseries  of  pestilence  and  its  attendant  famine 
were  added  lawlessness  and  license,  raging  fires,  and,  what 
was  worst  of  all,  the  dark  suspicion  that  the  sickness  had 
been  introduced  by  malefactors.  This  belief  appears  to  have 
taken  hold  upon  the  popular  mind  during  the  plague  of  1598 
in  Savoy  and  in  Milan. ^  Simeone  Contarini  reports  that 
two  men  from  Geneva  confessed  to  having  come  with  the 
express  purpose  of  disseminating  infection.  He  also  gives 
curious  particulars  of  two  who  were  burned,  and  four  who 
were  quartered  at  Turin  in  1600  for  this  oft'ence.-''  '  These 
spirits  of  hell,'  as  he  calls  them,  indicated  a  wood  in  which 

>  Mutinelli,  op.  cit.  vol.  ii.  pp.  287-307. 

"^  See  Mutinelli,  op.  cit.  p.  241  and  p.  289.     We  hear  of  the  same 
belief  at  Milan  in  1576,  op.  cit.  vol.  i.  pp.  311-315. 

^  Ihid.  p.  309.     See  also  vol.  iii.  p.  254  for  a  similar  narration. 


326  EENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

they  declared  that  they  had  buried  a  pestilential  liquid 
intended  to  be  used  for  smearing  houses.  The  wood  was 
searched,  and  some  jars  were  discovered.  A  surgeon  at  the 
same  epoch  confessed  to  having  meant  to  spread  the  plague 
at  Mondovi.  Other  persons,  declaring  themselves  guilty  of  a 
similar  intention,  described  a  horn  filled  with  poisonous  stuff 
collected  from  the  sores  of  plague-stricken  corpses,  which 
they  had  concealed  outside  the  walls  of  Turin.  This  too 
was  discovered ;  and  these  apparent  proofs  of  guilt  so  in- 
furiated the  people  that  every  day  some  criminals  were 
sacrificed  to  judicial  vengeance. 

The  name  given  to  the  unfortunate  creatures  accused  of 
this  diabolical  conspiracy  was  Untori,  or  the  Smearers.     The 
plague  of  Milan  in  1629-30  obtained  the  name  of  '  La  Peste 
degli  Untori '  (as  that  of  1576  had  been  called  '  La  Peste  di 
S.  Carlo '),  because  of  the  prominent  part  played  in  it  by  the 
smearers.^     They  were  popularly  supposed  to  go  about  the  city 
daubing  walls,    doors,    furniture,   choir-stalls,   flowers,   and 
articles  of  food  with  plague  stuff.     They  scattered  powders  in 
the  air,  or  spread  them  in  circles  on  the  pavement.     To  set  a 
foot  upon  one   of  these  circles  involved  certain  destruction* 
Hundreds  of  such  untori  were  condemned  to  the  most  cruel 
deaths  by  justice  firmly  persuaded  of  their  criminality.     Ex- 
posed to  prolonged  tortures,  the  majority  confessed  palpable 
absurdities.     One  woman  at  Milan  said  she  had  killed  four 
thousand    people.     But,    says    Pier    Antonio    Marioni,    the 
Venetian  envoy,  although  tormented  to  the  utmost,  none  of 
them  were  capable  of  revealing  the  prime  instigators  of  the 
plot.     So  thoroughly  convinced  was  he,  together  with  the 
whole  world,  of  their  guilt,  that  he  never  paused  to  reflect 
upon  the  fallacy  contained  in  this  remark.     The  rack-stretched 
wretches  could  not  reveal  their  instigators,  because  there  were 
none ;  and  the  acts  of  which  they  accused  themselves  were  the 
'  Mutinelli,  op.  cit.  vol.  ii.  pp.  51-65. 


THE   UNTORI  327 

delirious  figments  of  their  own  torture-fretted  brains.  We 
possess  documents,  relating  to  the  trial  of  the  Milanese 
Untori,  which  make  it  clear  that  crimes  of  this  sort  must  have 
been  imaginary.  As  in  cases  of  witchcraft,  the  first  accusa- 
tion was  founded  upon  gossip  and  delation.  The  judicial 
proceedings  were  ruled  by  prejudice  and  cruelty.  Fear  and 
physical  pain  extorted  confessions  and  complicated  accusations 
of  their  neighbours  from  multitudes  of  innocent  people.' 
Indeed  the  parallel  between  these  unfortunate  smearers  and 
no  less  wretched  witches  is  a  close  one.  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that,  as  some  crazy  women  fancied  they  were  witches, 
so  some  morbid  persons  of  this  period  in  Italy  believed  in 
their  power  of  spreading  plague,  and  yielded  to  the  fascination 
of  malignity.  Whether  such  moral  mad  folk  really  extended 
the  sphere  of  the  pestilence  to  any  appreciable  extent  remains 
a  matter  for  conjecture ;  and  it  is  quite  certain  that  all  but  a 
small  percentage  of  the  accused  were  victims  of  calumny. 

After  taking  brigandage,  piracy,  and  pestilence  into 
account,  the  decline  of  Italy  must  be  attributed  to  other 
causes.  These  I  believe  to  have  been  the  extinction  of 
commercial  republics,  the  decay  of  free  commonwealths, 
iniquitous  systems  of  taxation,  the  insane  display  of  wealth  by 
unproductive  princes,  and  the  diversion  of  trade  into  foreign 
channels.  Florence  ceased  to  be  the  centre  of  wool  manu- 
facture, Venice  lost  her  hold  upon  the  traffic  between  East 
and  West.2  Stagnation  fell  like  night  upon  the  land,  and  the 
population  suffered  from  a  general  atrophy. 

'  Cantu's  Ragionamenti  sulla  Storia  Lomharcla  del  Secolo  XVII. 
(Milano,  1832).  The  trial  may  also  be  read  in  Mutinelli,  Storia  Arcana, 
vol.  iv.  pp.  175-201.  Mutinelli  inclines  to  believe  in  the  Untori.  So 
do  many  grave  historians,  including  Nani  and  Botta.  See  Cantu, 
Storia  degli  Italiani  (Milano,  1876),  vol.  ii.  p.  215. 

*  Mr.  Euskin  has  somewhere  maintained  that  the  decline  of  Venice 
was  not  due  to  this  cause,  but  to  fornication.  He  should  read  the 
record  given  by  Mutinelli  {Diari  IJrhani,  p.  157)  of  Venetian  fornication 


328  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

The  Proletariate. 

In  what  concerns  social  morality  it  would  be  almost  impos- 
sible to  define  the  position  of  the  proletariate,  tillers  of  the  soil, 
and  artisans,  at  this  epoch.  These  classes  vary  in  their  goodness 
and  their  badness,  in  their  drawbacks  and  advantages,  from  age 
to  age,  far  less  than  those  who  mould  the  character  of  marked 
historical  periods  by  culture.  They  enjoy  indeed  a  greater  or 
a  smaller  immunity  from  pressing  miseries.  They  are  in- 
nocent or  criminal  in  different  degrees.  But  the  groundwork 
of  humanity  in  them  remains  comparatively  unaltered ;  and 
their  moral  qualities,  so  far  as  these  may  be  exceptional, 
reflect  the  influences  of  an  upper  social  stratum.  It  is  clear 
from  the  histories  related  in  this  chapter  that  members  of  the 
lowest  classes  were  continually  mixing  with  the  nobles  and  the 
gentry  in  the  wild  adventures  of  that  troubled  century.  They 
like  their  betters,  were  undergoing  a  tardy  metamorphosis 
from  mediaeval  to  modern  conditions,  retaining  vices  of 
ferocity  and  grossness,  virtues  of  loyalty  and  self-reliance, 
which  belonged  to  earlier  periods.  They,  too,  were  now 
infected  by  the  sensuous  romance  of  pietism,  the  supersti- 
tious respect  for  sacraments  and  ceremonial  observances, 
which  had  been  wrought  by  the  Catholic  Eevival  into  ecstatic 
frenzy.  They  shared  those  correlative  yearnings  after  sacri- 
legious debauchery,  felt  those  allurements  of  magic  arts, 
indulged  that  perverted  sense  of  personal  honour  which  con- 
stituted psychological  disease  in  the  century  which  we  are 
studying.  It  can,  moreover,  be  maintained  that  Italian 
society  at  no  epoch  has  been  so  sharply  divided  into  sections 
as  that  of  the  feudalised  races.     In  this  period  of  one  hundred 

in  1340,  at  the  time  when  the  Ducal  Palace  was  being  covered  with  its 
sculpture.  The  iDublic  prostitutes  were  reckoned  then  at  11,654. 
Adulteries,  rapes,  infanticides  were  matters  of  daily  occurrence.  Yet 
the  Renaissance  had  not  begun,  and  the  expansion  of  Venice,  which 
roused  the  envious  hostility  of  Europe,  had  yet  to  happen. 


MORALS   OF  THE   PEOPLE  329 

years,  from  1530  to  1630,  when  education  was  a  privilege 
of  the  few,  and  when  Church  and  princes  combined  to  retard 
intellectual  progress,  the  distinction  between  noble  and 
plebeian,  burgher  and  ploughman,  though  outwardly  defined, 
was  spiritually  and  morally  insignificant.  As  in  the  Renais- 
sance, so  now,  vice  trickled  downwards  from  above,  infiltrat- 
ing the  masses  of  the  people  with  its  virus.  But  now,  even 
more  decidedly  than  then,  the  upper  classes  displayed  obliqui- 
ties of  meanness,  baseness,  intemperance,  cowardice,  and 
brutal  violence,  which  are  commonly  supposed  to  characterise 
villeins. 

I  had  thought  to  throw  some  light  upon  the  manners  of 
the  Italian  proletariate  by  exploring  the  archives  of  trials  for 
witchcraft.  But  I  found  that  these  were  less  common  than  in 
Germany,  France,  Spain,  and  England  at  a  corresponding 
period.  In  Italy,  witchcraft,  pure  and  simple,  was  confined, 
for  the  most  part,  to  mountain  regions,  the  Apennines  of  the 
Abruzzi,  and  the  Alps  of  Bergamo  and  Tyrol.'  In  other 
provinces  it  was  confounded  with  crimes  of  poisoning,  the 
procuring  of  abortion,  and  the  fomentation  of  conspiracies 
in  private  families.  These  facts  speak  much  for  the  superior 
civilisation  of  the  Italian  people  considered  as  a  whole.  We 
discover  a  common  fund  of  intelligence,  vice,  superstition, 
prejudice,  enthusiasm,  craft,  devotion,  self-assertion,  possessed 
by  the  race  at  large.  Only  in  districts  remote  from  civil  life 
did  witchcraft  assume  those  anti-social  and  repulsive  features 
which  are  familiar  to  Northern  nations.  Elsewhere  it 
penetrated,  as  a  subtle  poison,  through  society,  lending  its 
supposed  assistance  to  passions  already  powerful  enough  to 
work  their  own  accomplishment.  It  existed,  not  as  an 
endemic  disease,  a  permanent  delirium  of  maddened  peasants, 

'  Dandolo's  Sfreghe  Tirolesi,  and  Cantu's  work  on  the  Diocese  of 
Como,  show  how  much  subalpine  Italy  had  in  common  with  Northern 
Em'ope  in  this  matter. 


3S0  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

but  as  a  weapon  in  the  arsenal  of  malice  on  a  par  with  poisons 
and  provocatives  to  lust. 

I  might  illustrate  this  position  by  the  relation  of  a  fantastic 
attempt  made  against  the  life  of  Pope  Urban  VIII. ^     Giaconio 
Centini,  the  nephew  of  Cardinal  d'Ascoli,  fostered  a  fixed  idea, 
the  motive  of  his  madness  being  the  promotion  of  his  uncle  to 
S.  Peter's  Chair.     In  1633  he  applied  to  a  hermit,  who  pro- 
fessed profound  science  in  the  occult  arts  and  close  familiarity 
with  demons.     The  man,  in  answer  to  Giacomo's  inquiries, 
said  that  Urban  had  still  many  years  to  live,  that  the  Cardinal 
d'Ascoli  would  certainly  succeed  him,  and  that  he  held  it  in 
his   power   to   shorten   the   Pope's   days.     He  added  that  a 
certain  Fra  Cherubino  Avould  be  useful,  if  any  matter  of  grave 
moment  were  resolved  on  ;  nor  did  he  reject  the  assistance  of 
other  discreet  persons.     Giacomo,  on  his  side,  produced  a  Fra 
Domenico  ;  and  these  four  accomplices  set  to  work  to  destroy 
the  reigning  Pope  by  means  of  sorcery.     They  caused  a  knife 
to  be  forged,  after  the  model  of  the  Key  of  Solomon,  and  had 
it  inscribed  with  Cabbalistic  symbols.     A  clean  virgin  was 
employed  to  spin  hemp  into  a  thread.     Then  they  resorted  to 
a  distant  room  in  Giacomo's  palace,  where  a  circle  was  drawn 
with  the  mystic  thread,  a  fire  was  lighted  in  the  centre,  and 
upon  it  was  placed  an  image  of  Pope  Urban  formed  of  purest 
wax.     The  devil  was  invoked  to  appear  and  answer  whether 
Urban  had  deceased  this  life  after  the  melting  of  the  image. 
No  infernal   visitor  responded  to  the  call ;  and  the  hermit 
accounted  for  this  failure  by  suggesting  that  some  murder  had 
been  committed  in  the  palace.     As  things  went  at  thatperiod^ 
this  excuse  was  by  no  means  feeble,  if  only  the  audience,  bent 
on  unholy  invocation  of  the  power  of  evil,  would  accept  it  as 
sufficient.     Probably  more  than  one  murder  had  taken  place 
there,  of  which  the  owner  was  dimly  conscious.     The  psycho- 
logical curiosity  to  note  is  that  avowed  malefactors  reckoned 
'  See  Bassegna  SettimanaU,  September  18,  1881. 


AVITCHCRAFT  331 

purity  an  essential  element  in  their  nefarious  practice.  They 
tried  once  more  in  a  vineyard,  under  the  open  heavens  at 
night.  But  no  demon  issued  from  the  darkness,  and  the 
hermit  laid  this  second  mischance  to  the  score  of  bad  weather. 
Giacomo  was  incapable  of  holding  his  tongue.  He  talked 
about  his  undertaking  to  the  neighbours,  and  promised  to 
make  them  all  cardinals  when  he  should  become  the  Papal 
nephew.  Meanwhile  he  pressed  the  hermit  forward  on  the 
path  of  folly ;  and  this  man,  driven  to  his  wits'  ends  for  a 
device,  said  that  they  must  find  seven  priests  together,  one 
of  whom  should  be  assassinated  to  enforce  the  spell.  It  was 
natural,  while  the  countryside  was  being  raked  for  seven 
convenient  priests  by  such  a  tattler  as  Giacomo,  that  suspicions 
should  be  generated  in  the  people.  Information  reached 
Eome,  in  consequence  of  which  the  persons  implicated  in  this 
idiotic  plot  were  conveyed  thither  and  given  over  to  the 
mercies  of  the  Holy  Office.  The  upshot  of  their  trial  was 
that  Giacomo  lost  his  head,  while  the  hermit  and  Fra 
Cherubino  were  burned  alive,  and  Fra  Domenico  went  to  the 
galleys  for  life.  Several  other  men  involved  in  the  process 
received  punishments  of  considerable  severity.  It  must  be 
added  in  conclusion  that  the  whole  story  rests  upon  the 
testimony  of  Inquisitorial  archives,  and  that  the  real  method 
of  Giacomo  Centini's  apparent  madness  yet  remains  to  be 
investigated.  The  few  facts  that  we  know  about  him,  from 
his  behaviour  on  the  scaffold  and  a  letter  he  wrote  his  wife, 
prejudice  me  in  his  favour. 

Enough,  and  more  than  enough,  perhaps,  has  been  collected 
in  this  chapter,  to  throw  light  upon  the  manners  of  Italians 
during  the  Counter-Reformation.  It  would  have  been  easy  to 
repeat  the  story  of  the  Countess  of  Cellant  and  her  murdered 
lovers,  or  of  the  Duchess  of  Amalfi  strangled  by  her  brothers 
for  a  marriage  below  her  station.  The  massacres  committed 
by  the  Easpanti  in  Ravenna  would  furnish  a  whole  series  of 


332  KENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

illustrative  crimes.  From  the  deeds  of  Alfonso  Piccolomini, 
Sciarra  and  Fabrizio  Colonna,  details  sufficient  to  fill  a  volume 
with  records  of  atrocious  savagery  could  be  drawn.  The 
single  episode  of  Elena  Campireali,  who  plighted  her  troth  to 
a  bandit,  became  Abbess  of  the  Convent  at  Castro,  intrigued 
with  a  bishop,  and  killed  herself  for  shame  on  the  return  of 
her  first  lover,  would  epitomise  in  one  drama  all  the  principal 
features  of  this  social  discord.  The  dreadful  tale  of  the  Baron 
of  Montebello  might  be  told  again,  who  assaulted  the  castle 
of  the  Marquis  of  Pratidattolo,  and,  by  the  connivance  of  a 
sister  whom  he  subsequently  married,  murdered  the  Marquis, 
with  his  mother,  children,  and  relatives.  The  hunted  life  of 
Alessandro  Antelminelli,  pursued  through  all  the  States  of 
Europe  by  assassins,  could  be  used  to  exemplify  the  miseries 
of  proscribed  exiles.  But  what  is  the  use  of  multiplying 
instances,  when  every  pedigree  in  Litta,  every  chronicle  of  the 
time,  every  history  of  the  most  insignificant  township,  swarms 
with  evidence  to  the  same  purpose  ?  We  need  not  adopt  the 
opinion  that  society  had  greatly  altered  for  the  worse.  We 
must  rather  decide  that  medieval  ferocity  survived  throughout 
the  whole  of  that  period  which  witnessed  the  Catholic  Revival, 
and  that  the  piety  which  distinguished  it  was  not  influential 
in  curbing  vehement  passions. 

The  conclusions  to  be  drawn  from  the  facts  before  us  seem 
to  be  in  general  these.  The  link  between  government  and 
governed  in  Italy  had  snapped.  The  social  bond  was  broken ; 
and  the  constituents  that  form  a  nation  were  pursuing  divers 
aims.  On  the  one  hand  stood  Popes  and  princes,  founding 
their  claims  to  absolute  authority  upon  titles  that  had  slight 
rational  or  national  validity.  These  potentates  were  ill 
combined  among  themselves,  and  mutually  jealous.  On  the 
other  side  were  ranged  disruptive  forces  of  the  most  hetero- 
geneous kinds — remnants  from  antique  party-warfare,  frag- 
ments of  obsolete  domestic  feuds,  new  strivings  after  freer  life 


ANARCHICAL   CONDITIONS  333 

in  mentally  down-trodden  populations,  blending  with  crime 
and  misery  and  want  and  profligacy  to  compose  an  opposition 
which  exasperated  despotism.  These  anarchical  conditions 
were  due  in  large  measure  to  the  troubles  caused  by  foreign 
campaigns  of  invasion.  They  were  also  due  to  the  Spanish 
type  of  manners  imposed  upon  the  ruling  classes,  which  the 
native  genius  accepted  with  fraudulent  intelligence,  and  to 
which  it  adapted  itself  by  artifice.  We  must  further  reckon 
the  division  between  cultured  and  uncultured  people,  which 
humanism  had  effected,  and  which  subsisted  after  the  benefits 
conferred  by  humanism  had  been  withdrawn  from  the  race. 
The  retirement  of  the  commercial  aristocracy  from  trade,  and 
their  assumption  of  princely  indolence  in  this  period  of 
political  stagnation,  was  another  factor  of  importance.  But 
the  truest  cause  of  Italian  retrogression  towards  barbarism 
must  finally  be  discerned  in  the  sharp  check  given  to  in- 
tellectual evolution  by  the  repressive  forces  of  the  Counter- 
Reformation. 


334  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 


CHAPTER    VII 

TOEQUATO     TASSO 

Tasso's  Eelation  to  his  Age — Balbi  on  that  Period— The  Life  of 
Bernardo  Tasso — Torquato's  Boyhood — Sorrento,  Naples,  Bome, 
Urbino-  His  first  Glimpse  of  the  Court — Student  Life  at  Padua 
and  Bologna — The  '  Einaldo  ' — Dialogues  on  Epic  Poetry — Enters 
the  Service  of  Cardinal  d'  Este — The  Court  of  Ferrara— Alfonso  II. 
and  the  Princesses — Problem  of  Tasso's  Love — Goes  to  France 
•with  Cardinal  d'  Este — Enters  the  Service  of  Duke  Alfonso — The 
'  Aminta  ' — Tasso  at  Urbino — Keturn  to  Ferrara — Eevision  of  the 
'  Gerusalemme ' — Jealousies  at  Court — Tasso's  Sense  of  His  own  Im- 
portance— Plans  a  Change  from  Ferrara  to  Florence — First  Sym- 
ptoms of  Mental  Disorder — Persecutions  of  the  Ferrarese  Courtiers 
-  -Tasso  confined  as  a  Semi-madman — Goes  with  Duke  Alfonso  to 
Belriguardo — Flies  in  Disguise  from  Ferrara  to  Sorrento — Eeturns 
to  Court  Life  at  Ferrara — Problem  of  his  Madness — Flies  again — 
Mantua,  Venice,  Urbino,  Turin — Eeturns  once  more  to  Ferrara — 
Alfonso's  Third  Marriage — Tasso's  Discontent — Imprisoned  for 
Seven  Years  in  the  Madhouse  of  S.  Anna — Character  of  Tasso — 
Character  of  Duke  Alfonso — Nature  of  the  Poet's  Malady — His 
Course  of  Life  in  Prison — Eeleased  at  the  Intercession  of  Vin- 
cenzo  Gonzaga — Goes  to  Mantua — The  '  Torrismondo  ' — An  Odyssey 
of  Nine  Years— Death  at  Sant  Onofrio  in  Eome — Costantini's 
Sonnet. 

It  was  under  the  conditions  which  have  been  set  forth  in  the 
foregoing  chapters  that  the  greatest  hterary  genius  of  his 
years  in  Europe,  the  poet  who  ranks  among  the  four  first  of 
Italy,  was  educated,  rose  to  eminence,  and  suffered.  The 
poHtical  changes  introduced  in  1530,  the  tendencies  of  the 
Catholic  Revival,  the  terrorism  of  the  Inquisition,  and  the 
educational  energy  of  the  Jesuits  had,  each   and  all,  their 


ITALIAN   DECADENCE  33.3 

manifest  effect  in  moulding  Tasso's  character.  He  represents 
that  period  when  the  culture  of  the  Renaissance  was  being 
superseded,  when  the  caries  of  court-service  was  eating  into 
the  bone  and  marrow  of  Italian  life,  when  earlier  forms  of 
art  were  tending  to  decay,  or  were  passing  into  the  new  form 
of  music.  Tasso  was  at  once  the  representative  poet  of  his 
age  and  the  representative  martyr  of  his  age.  He  was  the 
latter,  though  this  may  seem  paradoxical,  in  even  a  stricter 
sense  than  Bruno.  Bruno,  coming  into  violent  collision  with 
the  prejudices  of  the  century,  expiated  his  antagonism  by  a 
cruel  death.  Tasso,  yielding  to  those  influences,  lingered  out 
a  life  of  irresolute  misery.  His  nature  was  such,  that  the 
very  conditions  which  shaped  it  sufficed  to  enfeeble,  envenom, 
and  finally  reduce  it  to  a  pitiable  ruin. 

Some  memorable  words  of  Cesare  Balbi  may  serve  as 
introduction  to  a  sketch  of  Tasso's  life.  *  If  that  can  be 
called  felicity  which  gives  to  the  people  peace  without  activity ; 
to  nobles  rank  without  power  ;  to  princes  undisturbed  autho- 
rity within  their  States  without  true  independence  or  full 
sovereignty ;  to  literary  men  and  artists  numerous  occasions 
for  writing,  painting,  making  statues,  and  erecting  edifices 
with  the  applause  of  contemporaries  but  the  ridicule  of 
posterity;  to  the  whole  nation  ease  without  dignity  and 
facilities  for  sinking  tranquilly  into  corruption ;  then  no 
period  of  her  history  was  so  felicitous  for  Italy  as  the  140 
years  which  followed  the  peace  of  Cateau-Cambresis.  Inva- 
sions ceased  :  her  foreign  lord  saved  Italy  from  intermeddling 
rivals.  Internal  struggles  ceased :  her  foreign  lord  removed 
their  causes  and  curbed  national  ambitions.  Popular  revolu- 
tions ceased  :  her  foreign  lord  bitted  and  bridled  the  popula- 
tion of  her  provinces.  Of  bravi,  highwaymen,  vulgar  acts  of 
vengeance,  tragedies  among  nobles  and  princes,  we  find 
indeed  abundance  ;  but  these  affected  the  mass  of  the  people 
to  no  serious  extent.     The  Italians  enjoyed  life,  indulged  in 


336  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

the  sweets  of  leisure,  the  sweets  of  vice,  the  sweets  of  making 
love  and  dangling  after  women.  From  the  camp  and  the 
council-chamber,  where  they  had  formerly  been  bred,  the 
nobles  passed  into  petty  courts  and  mouldered  in  a  multitude 
of  little  capitals.  Men  bearing  historic  names,  insensible  of 
their  own  degradation,  bowed  the  neck  gladly,  grovelled  in 
beatitude.  Deprived  of  power,  they  consoled  themselves  with 
privileges,  patented  favours,  impertinences  vented  on  the 
common  people.  The  princes  amused  themselves  by  debasing 
the  old  aristocracy  to  the  mire,  depreciating  their  honours  by 
the  creation  of  new  titles,  multiplying  frivolous  concessions, 
adding  class  to  class  of  idle  and  servile  dependents  on  their 
personal  bounty.  In  one  word,  the  paradise  of  mediocrities 
came  into  being.' 

Tasso  was  born  before  the  begiiming  of  this  epoch.  But 
he  lived  into  the  last  decade  of  the  sixteenth  century.  In 
every  fibre  of  his  character  he  felt  the  influences  of  Italian 
decadence,  even  while  he  reacted  against  them.  His  mis- 
fortunes resulted  in  great  measure  from  his  not  having  wholly 
discarded  the  traditions  of  the  Renaissance,  though  his  tem- 
perament and  acquired  habits  made  him  in  many  points 
sympathetic  to  the  Counter-Reformation.  At  the  same  time, 
he  was  not  a  mediocrity,  but  the  last  of  an  illustrious  race  of 
nobly  gifted  men  of  genius.  Therefore  he  never  patiently 
submitted  to  the  humiliating  conditions  which  his  own  con- 
ception of  the  Court,  the  Prince,  the  Church,  and  the  Italian 
gentleman  logically  involved  at  that  period.  He  could  not  be 
contented  with  the  paradise  of  mediocrities  described  by  Balbi. 
Yet  he  had  not  strength  to  live  outside  its  pale.  It  was  the 
pathos  of  his  situation  that  he  persisted  in  idealising  this 
paradise,  and  expected  to  find  in  it  a  paradise  of  exceptional 
natures.  This  it  could  not  be.  No  one  turns  Circe's  pigsty 
into  a  Parnassus,  If  Tasso  had  possessed  force  of  character 
enough  to  rend  the  trammels  of  convention,  and  to  live  his 


BERNAEDO  TASSO  337 

own  life  in  a  self-constructed  sphere,  he  might  still  have  been 
unfortunate.  Nature  condemned  him  to  suffering.  But  from 
the  study  of  his  history  we  should  then  have  risen  invigorated 
by  the  contemplation  of  heroism,  instead  of  quitting  it,  as 
now  we  do,  with  pity,  but  with  pity  tempered  by  a  slight 
contempt. 

Bernardo,  the  father  of  Torquato  Tasso,  drew  noble  blood 
from  both  his  parents.  The  Tassi  claimed  to  be  a  branch  of 
that  ancient  Guelf  house  of  Delia  Torre,  lords  of  Milan,  who 
were  all  but  extirpated  by  the  Visconti  in  the  fourteenth 
century.  A  remnant  established  themselves  in  mountain 
strongholds  between  Bergamo  and  Como,  and  afterwards 
took  rank  among  the  more  distinguished  famiUes  of  the 
former  city.  Manso  affirms  that  Bernardo's  mother  was  a 
daughter  of  those  Venetian  Cornari  who  gave  a  queen  to 
Cyprus.^  He  was  born  at  Venice  in  the  year  1493  ;  and, 
since  he  died  in  1569,  his  life  covered  the  whole  period  of 
national  glory,  humiliation,  and  attempted  reconstruction 
which  began  with  the  invasion  of  Charles  VIII.  and  ended 
with  the  closing  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  Born  in  the 
pontificate  of  Alexander  VI.,  he  witnessed  the  reigns  of 
Juhus  II.,  Leo  X.,  Clement  VII.,  Paul  IV.,  Pius  IV.,  and 
died  in  that  of  Pius  V. 

All  the  illustrious  works  of  Italian  art  and  letters  were 
produced  while  he  was  moving  in  the  society  of  princes  and 
scholars.  He  saw  the  Renaissance  in  its  splendour  and 
decline.  He  watched  the  growth,  progress,  and  final  triumph 
of  the  Catholic  Revival.  Having  stated  that  the  curve  of  his 
existence  led  upward  from  a  Borgia  and  down  to  a  Ghislieri 
Vicar  of  Christ,  the  merest  tiro  in  Italian  history  knows 
what  vicissitudes  it  spanned.  Though  the  Tassi  were  so 
noble,  Bernardo  owned  no  wealth.     He  was  left  an  orphan 

'  This  is  doubtful.  Serrassi  believed  that  Bernardo's  mother  was 
also  a  Tasso. 

VI  z 


338  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

at  an  early  age  under  the  care  of  liis  uncle,  Bishop  of 
Eecanati.  But  in  1520  the  poniard  of  an  assassin  cut  short 
this  guardian's  life  ;  and,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  he  was 
thrown  upon  the  world.  After  studying  at  Padua,  where  he 
enjoyed  the  patronage  of  Bembo,  and  laid  foundations  for  his 
future  fame  as  poet,  Bernardo  entered  the  service  of  the 
Modenese  Eangoni  in  the  capacity  of  secretary.  Thus  began 
the  long  career  of  servitude  to  princes,  of  which  he  frequently 
complained,  but  which  only  ended  with  his  death. ^  The 
affairs  of  his  first  patrons  took  him  to  Paris  at  the  time  when 
a  marriage  was  arranged  between  Eenee  of  France  and  Ercole 
d'  Este.  He  obtained  the  post  of  secretary  to  this  princess, 
and  having  taken  leave  of  the  Eangoni,  he  next  established 
himself  at  Ferrara.  Only  for  three  years,  however;  for  in 
1532  reasons  of  which  we  are  ignorant,  but  which  may  have 
been  connected  with  the  heretical  sympathies  of  Eenee,  in- 
duced him  to  resign  his  post.  Shortly  after  this  date,  we  find 
him  attached  to  the  person  of  Ferrante  Sanseverino,  Prince  of 
Salerno,  one  of  the  chief  feudatories  and  quasi-independent 
vassals  of  the  Crown  of  Naples.  In  the  quality  of  secretary 
he  attended  this  patron  through  the  campaign  of  Tunis  in 
1535,  and  accompanied  him  on  all  his  diplomatic  expeditions. 
The  Prince  of  Salerno  treated  him  more  as  an  honoured  friend 
and  confidential  adviser  than  as  a  paid  official.  His  income 
was  good,  and  leisure  was  allowed  him  for  the  prosecution  of 
his  literary  studies.  In  this  flourishing  state  of  his  affairs, 
Bernardo  contracted  an  alliance  with  Porzia  de'  Eossi,  a  lady 
of  a  noble  house,  which  came  originally  from  Pistoja,  but  had 
been  established  for  some  generations  in  Naples.  She  was 
connected  by  descent  or  marriage  with  the  houses  of  Gamba- 
corti,  Caracciolo,  and  Caraffa.     Their  first  child,  Cornelia,  was 

'  He  speaks  in  his  letters  of  the  difficulty  '  di  sottrarre  il  collo  al 
difficile  noioso  arduo  giogo  della  servitu  dei  Principi.'  Lettere  Ined. 
(Bologna:  Eomagnoli),  p.  34. 


BERNARDO'S   MISFORTUNES  339 

born. about  the  year  1,537.  Their  second,  Torquato,  saw  the 
hght  in  March  1544  at  Sorrento,  where  his  father  had  been 
Hving  some  months  previously  and  working  at  his  poem,  the 
'  Amadigi.' 

At  the  time  of  Torquato's  birth  Bernardo  was  away  from 
home,  in  Lombardy,  France,  and  Flanders,  travelling  on 
missions  from  his  prince.  However,  he  returned  to  Sorrento 
for  a  short  while  in  1545,  and  then  again  was  forced  to 
leave  his  family.  Married  at  the  mature  age  of  forty-three, 
Bernardo  was  affectionately  attached  to  his  young  wife,  and 
proud  of  his  children.  But  the  exigencies  of  a  courtier's  life 
debarred  him  from  enjoying  the  domestic  happiness  for  which 
his  sober  and  gentle  nature  would  have  fitted  him.  In  1547 
the  events  happened  which  ruined  him  for  life,  separated  him 
fer  ever  from  Porzia,  drove  him  into  indigent  exile,  and 
marred  the  prospects  of  his  children.  In  that  year,  the 
Spanish  viceroy,  Don  Pietro  Toledo,  attempted  to  introduce 
the  Inquisition,  on  its  Spanish  basis,  into  Naples.  The 
population  resented  this  exercise  of  authority  with  the  fury 
of  despair,  rightly  judging  that  the  last  remnants  of  their 
liberty  would  be  devoured  by  the  foul  monster  of  the  Holy 
Office.  They  besought  the  Prince  of  Salerno  to  intercede  for 
them  with  his  master,  Charles  V.,  whom  he  had  served  loyally 
up  to  this  time,  and  who  might  therefore  be  inclined  to  yield 
to  his  expostulations.  The  prince  doubted  much  whether  it 
would  be  prudent  to  accept  the  mission  of  intercessor.  He 
had  two  counsellors,  Bernardo  Tasso  and  Vincenzo  Martelli. 
The  latter,  who  was  an  astute  Florentine,  advised  him  to 
undertake  nothing  so  perilous  as  interposition  between  the 
viceroy  and  the  people.  Tasso,  on  the  contrary,  exhorted 
him  to  sacrifice  personal  interest,  honours,  and  glory,  for 
the  duty  which  he  owed  his  country.  The  prince  chose 
the  course  which  Tasso  recommended.  Charles  V.  disgraced 
him,  and  he  fled  from  Naples  to  France,  adopting  openly  the 

z2 


340  EENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

cause  of  liis  imperial  sovereign's  enemies.  He  was  im- 
mediately declared  a  rebel,  with  confiscation  of  his  fiefs  and 
property.  Bernardo  and  his  infant  son  were  included  in  the 
sentence.  After  twenty-two  years  of  service,  Bernardo  now 
found  himself  obliged  to  choose  between  disloyalty  to  his 
prince  or  a  disastrous  exile.  He  took  the  latter  course,  and 
followed  Ferrante  Sanseverino  to  Paris.  But  Bernardo 
Tasso,  though  proving  himself  a  man  of  honour  in  this 
severe  trial,  was  not  of  the  stuff  of  Shakespere's  Kent ;  and 
when  the  Prince  of  Salerno  suspended  payment  of  his  salary 
he  took  leave  of  that  master.  Some  differences  arising  from 
the  discomforts  and  irritations  of  both  exiles  had  early 
intervened  between  them.  Tasso  was  miserably  poor.  'I 
have  to  stay  in  bed,'  he  writes,  '  to  mend  my  hose  ;  and  if 
it  were  not  for  the  old  arms  I  brought  with  me  from  home, 
I  should  not  know  how  to  cover  my  nakedness.'  ^  Besides 
this,  he  suffered  grievously  in  the  separation  from  his  wife, 
who  was  detained  at  Naples  by  her  relatives — '  brothers  who, 
instead  of  being  brothers,  are  deadly  foes,  cruel  wild  beasts 
rather  than  men  ;  a  mother  who  is  no  mother,  but  a  fell 
enemy,  a  fury  from  hell  rather  than  a  woman.'  ^  His 
wretchedness  attained  its  climax  when  Porzia  died  suddenly 
on  February  3,  1556.  Bernardo  suspected  that  her  family 
had  poisoned  her ;  and  this  may  well  have  been.  His  son, 
Torquato,  meanwhile  had  joined  him  in  Eome ;  but  Porzia's 
brothers  refused  to  surrender  his  daughter  Cornelia,  whom 
they  married  to  a  Sorrentine  gentleman,  Marzio  Sersale, 
much  to  Bernardo's  disgust,  for  Sersale  was  apparently  of 
inferior  blood.  They  also  withheld  Porzia's  dowry  and  the 
jointure  settled  on  her  by  Bernardo — property  of  considerable 
value,  which  neither  he  nor  Torquato  were  subsequently  able 
to  recover.      In  this  desperate  condition  of  affairs,  without 

»  Lett.  hied.  p.  100. 

"^  Lettere  di  Torquato  Tasso,  February  15,  1556,  vol.  ii.  p.  157. 


BERNARDO'S  CHARACTER  341 

friends  or  credit,  but  conscious  of  his  noble  birth  and  true 
to  honour,  the  unhappy  poet  bethought  him  of  the  Church. 
If  he  could  obtain  a  benefice,  he  would  take  orders.  But  the 
King  of  France  and  Margaret  of  Valois,  on  whose  patronage 
he  relied,  turned  him  a  deaf  ear ;  and  when  war  broke  out 
between  Paul  IV.  and  Spain,  he  felt  it  prudent  to  leave 
Rome.  It  was  at  this  epoch  that  Bernardo  entered  the 
service  of  Guidubaldo  della  Rovere,  Duke  of  Urbino,  with 
whom  he  remained  until  15G3,  when  he  accepted  the  post 
of  secretary  from  Guglielmo,  Duke  of  Mantua.  He  died  in 
1569  at  Ostiglia,  so  poor  that  his  son  could  scarcely  collect 
money  enough  to  bury  him  after  selling  liis  effects.  Manso 
says  that  a  couple  of  door-curtains,  embroidered  with  the 
arms  of  Tasso  and  De'  Rossi,  passed  on  this  occasion  into 
the  wardrobe  of  the  Gonzaghi.  Thus  it  seems  that  the  needy 
nobleman  had  preserved  a  scrap  of  his  heraldic  trophies  till 
the  last,  although  he  had  to  patch  his  one  pair  of  breeches  in 
bed  at  Rome.  It  may  be  added,  as  characteristic  of  Ber- 
nardo's misfortunes,  that  even  the  plain  marble  sarcophagus, 
inscribed  with  the  words  '  Ossa  Bernard!  Tassi,'  which  Duke 
Guglielmo  erected  to  his  memory  in  S.  Egidio  at  Mantua, 
was  removed  in  compliance  with  a  papal  edict  ordering  that 
monuments  at  a  certain  height  above  the  ground  should  be 
destroyed  to  save  the  dignity  of  neighbouring  altars  ! 

Such  were  the  events  of  Bernardo  Tasso's  life.  I  have 
dwelt  upon  them  in  detail,  since  they  foreshadow  and  illustrate 
the  miseries  of  his  more  famous  son.  In  character  and 
physical  qualities  Torquato  inherited  no  little  from  his  father. 
Bernardo  was  handsome,  well-grown,  conscious  of  his  double 
dignity  as  a  nobleman  and  poet.  From  the  rules  of  honour, 
as  he  understood  them,  he  deviated  in  no  important  point  of 
conduct.  Yet  the  life  of  Courts  made  him  an  incorrigible 
dangler  after  princely  favours.  The '  Amadigi,'  upon  which  he 
set  such  store,  was  first  planned  and  dedicated  to  Charles  V., 


342  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

then  altered  to  suit  Henri  II.  of  France,  and  finally  adapted 
to  the  flattery  of  Philip  II.,  according  as  its  author's  interests 
with  the  Prince  of  Salerno  and  the  Duke  of  Urhino  varied. 
No  substantial  reward  accrued  to  him,  however,  from  its 
publication.  His  compliments  wasted  their  sweetness  on  the 
dull  ears  of  the  despot  of  Madrid.  In  misfortune  Bernardo 
sank  to  neither  crime  nor  baseness,  even  when  he  had  no 
clothes  to  put  upon  his  back.  Yet  he  took  the  world  to 
witness  of  his  woes,  as  though  his  person  ought  to  have  been 
sacred  from  calamities  of  common  manhood.  A  similar  de- 
pendent spirit  was  manifested  in  his  action  as  a  man  of 
letters.  Before  publishing  the  '  Amadigi '  he  submitted  it  to 
private  criticism,  with  the  inevitable  result  of  obtaining  feigned 
praises  and  malevolent  strictures.  Irresolution  lay  at  the 
root  of  his  treatment  of  Torquato.  While  groaning  under  the 
collar  of  courtly  servitude,  he  determined  that  the  youth 
should  study  law.  While  reckoning  how  little  his  own  literary 
fame  had  helped  him,  he  resolved  that  his  son  should  adopt 
a  lucrative  profession.  Yet  no  sooner  had  Torquato  composed 
his  '  Rinaldo,'  than  the  fond  parent  had  it  printed,  and  im- 
mediately procured  a  place  for  him  in  the  train  of  the  Cardinal 
Luigi  d'  Este.  It  is  singular  that  the  young  man,  witnessing 
the  wretchedness  of  his  father's  life,  should  not  have  shunned 
a  like  career  of  gilded  misery  and  famous  indigence.  But 
Torquato  was  born  to  reproduce  Bernardo's  qualities  in  their 
feebleness  and  respectability,  to  outshine  him  in  genius,  and 
to  outstrip  him  in  the  celebrity  of  his  misfortunes. 

In  tlie  absence  of  his  father  little  Torquato  grew  up  with 
his  mother  and  sister  at  Sorrento,  under  the  care  of  a  good 
man,  Giovanni  Angeluzzo,  who  gave  him  the  first  rudiments 
of  education.  He  was  a  precocious  infant,  grave  in  manners, 
quick  at  learning,  free  from  the  ordinary  naughtinesses  of 
childhood.  Manso  reports  that  he  began  to  speak  at  six 
months,  and  that  from  the  first  he  formed  syllables  with  pre- 


TOEQUATO  TASSO'S  BOYHOOD  343 

cision.  His  mother  Porzia  appears  to  have  been  a  woman  of 
much  grace  and  sweetness,  but  timid  and  incapable  of  fighting 
the  hard  battle  of  the  world.  A  certain  shade  of  melancholy 
fell  across  the  boy's  path  even  in  these  earliest  years,  for 
Porzia,  as  we  have  seen,  met  with  cruel  treatment  from  her 
relatives,  and  her  only  support,  Bernardo,  was  far  away  in 
exile.  In  1552  she  removed  with  her  children  to  Naples, 
where  Torquato  was  sent  at  once  to  the  school  which  the 
Jesuits  had  opened  there  in  the  preceding  year.  These  astute 
instructors  soon  perceived  that  they  had  no  ordinary  boy  to 
deal  with.  They  did  their  best  to  stimulate  his  mental 
faculties  and  to  exalt  his  religious  sentiments  ;  so  that  he 
learned  Greek  and  Latin  before  the  age  of  ten,  and  was  in  the 
habit  of  communicating  at  the  altar  with  transports  of  pious 
ecstasy  in  his  ninth  year.'  The  child  recited  speeches  and 
poems  in  public,  and  received  an  elementary  training  in  the 
arts  of  composition.  He  was  in  fact  the  infant  prodigy  of 
those  plausible  Fathers,  the  prize  specimen  of  their  educa- 
tional method.  As  might  have  been  expected,  this  forcing 
system  overtaxed  his  nerves.  He  rose  daily  before  daybreak 
to  attack  his  books,  and  when  the  nights  were  long  he  went 
to  morning  school  attended  by  a  servant  carrying  torches. 
Without  seeking  to  press  unduly  on  these  circumstances,  we 
may  fairly  assume  that  Torquato's  character  received  a  per- 
manent impression  from  the  fever  of  study  and  the  premature 
pietism  excited  in  him  by  the  Jesuits  in  Naples.  His  servile 
attitude  toward  speculative  thought,  that  anxious  dependence 
upon  ecclesiastical  authority,  that  scrupulous  mistrust  of  his 
own  mental  faculties,  that  pretence  of  solving  problems  by 
accumulated  citations  instead  of  going  to  the  root  of  the 
matter,  whereby  his  philosophical  writings  are  rendered 
nugatory,  may  with  probability  be  traced  to  the  mechanical 

'  '  Sentendo  in  me  non  so  qual  nuova  insolita  contentezza,'  '  non  so 
qual  segreta  divozione.'     Lettere,  vol.  ii.  p.  90. 


344  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

and  interested  system  of  the  Jesuits.  He  was  their  pupil  for 
three  years,  after  which  he  joined  his  father  in  Eome.  There 
he  seems  to  have  passed  at  once  into  a  healthier  atmosphere. 
Bernardo,  though  a  sound  Catholic,  was  no  bigot ;  and  he 
had  the  good  sense  to  choose  an  able  master  for  his  son — 
'  a  man  of  profound  learning,  possessed  of  both  the  ancient 
languages,  whose  method  of  teaching  is  the  finest  and  most 
time-saving  that  has  yet  been  tried ;  a  gentleman  withal, 
with  nothing  of  'the  pedant  in  him.'  ^  The  boy  was  lucky 
also  in  the  companion  of  his  studies,  a  cousin,  Cristoforo 
Tasso,  who  had  come  home  from  Bergamo  to  profit  by  the 
tutor's  care. 

The  young  Tasso's  home  cannot,  however,  have  been  a 
cheerful  one.     The  elderly  hidalgo  sitting  up  in  bed  to  darn 
his  single  pair  of  hose,  the  absent   mother  pining   for  her 
husband  and  tormented  by  her  savage  brothers'  avarice,  en- 
vironed the  precocious  child  of  ten  with  sad  presentiments. 
That   melancholy   temperament    which    he    inherited    from 
Bernardo  was  nourished  by  the  half-concealed  mysteriously 
haunting  troubles  of  his  parents.     And  when  Porzia  died  sud- 
denly, in  1550,  we  can  hardly  doubt  that  the  father  broke  out 
before  his  son  into  some  such  expressions  of  ungovernable  grief 
as  he  openly  expressed  in  the  letter  to  Amerigo  Sanseverino."^ 
Is  it  possible,  then,  thought  Torquato,  that  the  mother  from 
whose  tender  kisses  and  streaming  tears  I  was  severed  but  one 
year  ago,^  had  died  of  poison — poisoned  by  my  uncles  ?   Sinking 
into  the  consciousness  of  a  child  so  sensitive  by  nature  and  so 
early   toned   to  sadness,  this   terrible   suspicion  of  a  secret 
death  by  poison  incorporated  itself  with  the  very  essence  of 
his  melancholy  humour,  and  lurked  within  him  to  flash  forth 

'  Bernardo's  Letter  to  Cav.  Giangiacopo  Tasso,  December  6,  1554. 
■'  Dated  February  13,  1556. 

^  See  Opere,  vol.  iv.  p.  100,  for  Tasso's  description  of  the  farewell  to 
his  mother,  which  he  remembered  deeply,  even  in  later  life. 


TASSO'S  EDUCATION  345 

in  madness  at  a  future  period  of  life.  That  he  was  well 
acquainted  with  the  doleful  situation  of  his  family  is  proved 
by  his  first  extant  letter.  Addressed  to  the  noble  lady  Vittoria 
Colonna  on  behalf  of  Bernardo  and  his  sister,  this  is  a  re- 
markable composition  for  a  boy  of  twelve.'  His  poor  father, 
he  says,  is  on  the  point  of  dying  of  despair,  oppressed  by  the 
malignity  of  fortune  and  the  rapacity  of  impious  men.  His 
uncle  is  bent  on  marrying  Cornelia  to  some  needy  gentleman, 
in  order  to  secure  her  mother's  estate  for  himself.  '  The  grief, 
illustrious  lady,  of  the  loss  of  property  is  great,  but  that  of 
blood  is  crushing.  This  poor  old  man  has  naught  but  my 
sister  and  myself ;  and  now  that  fortune  has  deprived  him  of 
wealth  and  of  the  wife  he  loved  like  his  own  soul,  he  cannot 
bear  that  that  man's  avarice  should  rob  him  of  his  beloved 
daughter,  with  whom  he  hoped  to  end  in  rest  these  last  years 
of  his  failing  age.  In  Naples  we  have  no  friends ;  for  my 
father's  disaster  makes  everyone  shy  of  us  :  our  relatives  are 
our  enemies.  Cornelia  is  kept  in  the  house  of  my  uncle's 
kinsman  Giangiacopo  Cosoia,  where  no  one  is  allowed  to  speak 
to  her  or  give  her  letters.' 

In  the  midst  of  these  afiflictions,  which  already  turned  the 
future  poet's  utterance  to  a  note  of  plaintive  pathos  and 
ingenuous  appeal  for  aid,  Torquato's  studies  were  continued 
on  a  sounder  plan  and  in  a  healthier  spirit  than  at  Naples. 
The  perennial  consolation  of  his  troubled  life,  that  delight  in 
literature  which  made  him  able   to   anticipate   the   lines  of 

Goethe — 

That  naught  belongs  to  me  I  know 
Save  thoughts  that  never  cease  to  flow 

From  founts  that  cannot  perish. 
And  every  fleeting  shape  of  bliss 
Which  kindly  fortime  lets  me  kiss 

Or  in  my  bosom  cherish — 


'  Lettere,  vol.  1.  p.  6. 


346  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

now  became  the  source  of  an  inner  brightness  which  not  even 
the  '  maHgnity  of  fortune,'  the  'impiety  of  men,'  the  tragedy 
of  his  mother's  death,  the  imprisonment  of  his  sister,  and  the 
ever-present  sorrow  of  his  father,  *  the  poor  gentleman  fallen 
into  misery  and  misfortune  through  no  fault  of  his  own,' 
could  wholly  overcloud.  The  boy  had  been  accustomed  in 
Naples  to  the  applause  of  his  teachers  and  friends.  In  Rome 
he  began  to  cherish  a  presentiment  of  his  own  genius.  A 
*  vision  splendid '  dawned  upon  his  mind ;  and  every  step  he 
made  in  knowledge  and  in  mastery  of  language  enforced  the 
delightful  conviction  that '  I  too  am  a  poet.'  Nothing  in  Tasso's 
character  was  more  tenacious  than  the  consciousness  of  his 
vocation  and  the  kind  of  self-support  he  gained  from  it.  Like 
the  melancholy  humour  which  degenerated  into  madness,  this 
sense  of  his  own  intellectual  dignity  assumed  extravagant 
proportions,  passed  over  into  vanity,  and  encouraged  him  to 
indulge  fantastic  dreams  of  greatness.  Yet  it  must  be 
reckoned  as  a  mitigation  of  his  suffering  ;  and  what  was  solid 
in  it  at  the  period  of  which  I  now  am  writing,  was  the 
certainty  of  his  rare  gifts  for  art. 

The  Roman  residence  was  broken  by  Bernardo's  journey 
to  Urbino  in  quest  of  the  appointment  he  expected  from  Duke 
Guidubaldo.  He  sent  Torquato  with  his  cousin  Cristoforo 
meanwhile  to  Bergamo,  where  the  boy  enjoyed  a  few  months 
of  sympathy  and  freedom.  This  appears  to  have  been  the  only 
period  of  his  life  in  which  Tasso  experienced  the  wholesome 
influences  of  domesticity.  In  1557  his  father  sent  for  him.  to 
Pesaro,  and  Tasso  made  his  first  entrance  into  a  Court  at  the 
age  of  thirteen.  This  event  decided  the  future  of  his  existence. 
Urbino  was  not  what  it  had  been  in  the  time  of  Duke  Federigo, 
or  when  Castiglione  composed  his  '  Mirror  of  the  Courtier  '  on 
its  model.  Yet  it  retained  the  old  traditions  of  gentle  living, 
splendour  tempered  by  polite  culture,  aristocratic  urbanity 
refined  by  arts  and  letters.     The  evil  days  of  Spanish  manners 


THE   COUKT  OF   UEBINO  347 

and  Spanish  bigotry,  of  exhausted  revenues  and  insane  taxa- 
tion, were  but  dawning;  and  the  young  prince,  Francesco 
Maria,  who  was  destined  to  survive  his  heir  and  transfer  a 
ruined  duchy  to  the  mortmain  of  the  Church,  was  now  a  boy 
of  eight  years  old.  In  fact,  though  the  Court  of  Urbino 
laboured  already  under  that  manifold  disease  of  waste  which 
drained  the  marrow  of  Italian  principalities,  its  atrophy  was 
not  apparent  to  the  eye.  It  could  still  boast  of  magnificent 
pageants,  trains  of  noble  youths  and  ladies  moving  through 
its  stately  palaces  and  shady  villa-gardens,  academies  of 
learned  men  discussing  the  merits  of  Homer  and  Ariosto  and 
discoursing  on  the  principles  of  poetry  and  drama.  Bernardo 
Tasso  read  his  '  Amadigi '  in  the  evenings  to  the  Duchess.  The 
days  were  spent  in  hunting  and  athletic  exercises  ;  the  nights 
in  masquerades  or  dances.  Love  and  ambition  wore  an 
external  garb  of  ceremonious  beauty  ;  the  former  draped  itself 
in  sonnets,  the  latter  in  rhetorical  orations.  Torquato,  who 
was  assigned  as  the  companion  in  sport  and  study  to  the  heir- 
apparent,  shared  in  all  these  pleasures  of  the  Court.  After 
the  melancholy  of  Kome,  his  visionary  nature  expanded  under 
influences  which  he  idealised  with  fatal  facility.  Too  young 
to  penetrate  below  that  glittering  surface,  flattered  by  the 
attention  paid  to  his  personal  charm  or  premature  genius, 
stimulated  by  the  conversation  of  politely  educated  pedants, 
encouraged  in  studies  for  which  he  felt  a  natural  aptitude, 
gratified  by  the  comradeship  of  the  young  prince  whose  tem- 
perament corresponded  to  his  own  in  gravity,  he  conceived 
that  radiant  and  romantic  conception  of  Courts,  as  the  only 
fit  places  of  abode  for  men  of  noble  birth  and  eminent  abilities, 
which  no  disillusionment  in  after  life  was  able  to  obscure. 
We  cannot  blame  him  for  this  error,  though  error  it  indubit- 
ably was.  It  was  one  which  he  shared  with  all  men  of  his 
station  at  that  period,  which  the  poverty  of  his  estate,  the 


348  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

habits  of  liis  father,   and  his   own   ignorance   of  home-hfe 
almost  forced  upon  his  poet's  temperament. 

At  Urbino  Tasso  read  mathematics  under  a  real  master, 
Federigo  Comandino,  and  carried  on  his  literary  studies  with 
enthusiasm.     It  was  probably  at  this  time  that  he  acquired  the 
familiar  knowledge  of  Virgil  which  so  powerfully  influenced 
his  style,  and  that  he  began  to  form  his  theory  of  epic  as 
distinguished  from  romantic  poetry.     After  a  residence  of  two 
years  he  removed  to  Venice,  where  his  father  was  engaged  in 
polishing  the  '  Amadigi '  for  publication.     Here  a  new  scene  of 
interest  opened  out  for  him  ;  and  here  he  first  enjoyed  the 
sweets  of  literary  fame.     Bernardo  had  been  chosen  secretary 
by  an  Academy,  in  which  men  like  Veniero,  Molino,  Gradenigo, 
Mocenigo,  and  Manuzio,  the  most  learned  and  the  noblest 
Venetians,  met  together  for  discussion.     The  slim  lad  of  fifteen 
was  admitted  to  their  sessions,  and  surprised  these  elders  by 
his   eloquence   and   erudition.     It  is  noticeable  that  at  this 
time   he   carefully   studied   and   annotated  Dante's   '  Divine 
Comedy,'  a  poem  almost  neglected  by  Italians  in  the  Cinque 
Cento.     It  seemed  good  to  his  father  now  that  he  should 
prosecute  his  studies  in  earnest,  with  a  view  of  choosing  a 
more  lucrative  profession  than  that  of  letters  or  Court- service. 
Bernardo,  while  finishing  the '  Amadigi,'  which  he  dedicated  to 
Philip  II.,  sent  his  son  in  1560  to  Padua.     He  was  to  become 
a  lawyer  under  the  guidance  of  Guido  Panciroli.     But  Tasso, 
like  Ovid,  like  Petrarch,  like  a  hundred  other  poets,  felt  no 
inclination   for  juristic  learning.       He   freely    and    frankly 
abandoned  himself  to   the   metaphysical   conclusions  which 
were  being  then  tried  between  Piccolomini  and  Pendasio,  the 
one  an  Aristotelian  dualist,  the  other  a  materialist  for  whom 
the  soul  was  not  immortal.     Without  force  of  mind  enough 
to  penetrate  the  deepest  problems  of  philosophy,  Tasso  was 
quick  to  apprehend  their  bearings.     The  Paduan  school  of 
scepticism,  the   logomachy   in    vogue    there,   unsettled    his 


TASSO  AT  TADUA  349 

religious  opinions.  He  began  by  criticising  the  doubts  of 
others  in  his  light  of  Jesuit-instilled  belief ;  next  he  found  a 
satisfaction  for  self-esteem  in  doubting  too  ;  finally  he  called 
the  mysteries  of  the  Creed  in  qviestion,  and  debated  the  articles 
of  creation,  incaniation,  and  immortality.  Yet  he  had  not  the 
mental  vigour  either  to  cut  this  Gordian  knot,  or  to  untie  it 
by  sound  thinking.  His  erudition  confused  him ;  and  he 
mistook  the  lumber  of  miscellaneous  reading  for  philosophy. 
Then  a  reaction  set  in.  He  remembered  those  childish 
ecstasies  before  the  Eucharist ;  he  recalled  the  pictures  of  a 
burning  hell  his  Jesuit  teachers  had  painted ;  he  heard  the 
trumpets  of  the  Day  of  Judgment,  and  the  sentence  '  Go  ye 
wicked  ! '  On  the  brink  of  heresy  he  trembled  and  recoiled. 
The  spirit  of  the  coming  age,  tlie  spirit  of  Bruno,  was  not  in 
him.  To  all  appearances  he  had  not  heard  of  the  Copernican 
discovery.  He  wished  to  remain  a  true  son  of  the  Church, 
and  was  in  fact  of  such  stuff  as  the  Catholic  Eevival  wanted. 
Yet  the  memory  of  these  early  doubts  clung  to  him,  princi- 
pally, we  may  believe,  because  he  had  not  force  to  purge  them 
either  by  severe  science  or  by  vivid  faith.  Later,  when  his 
mind  was  yielding  to  disorder,  they  returned  in  the  form  of 
torturing  scruples  and  vain  terrors,  which  his  fervent  but 
superficial  pietism,  his  imaginative  but  sensuous  religion,  were 
unable  to  efface.  Meanwhile,  with  one  part  of  his  mind 
devoted  to  these  problems,  the  larger  and  the  livelier  was 
occupied  with  poetry.  To  law,  the  Brod-Studium  indicated 
by  his  position  in  the  world,  he  only  paid  perfunctory  attention. 
The  consequence  was  that  before  he  had  completed  two  years 
of  residence  in  Padua,  his  first  long  poem,  the '  Einaldo,'  saw 
the  light.  In  another  chapter  I  mean  to  discuss  the  develop- 
ment of  Tasso's  literary  theories  and  achievements.  It  is 
enough  here  to  say  that  the  applause  which  greeted  the 
'  Einaldo '  conquered  his  father's  opposition.  Proud  of  its 
success,  Bernardo  had  it  printed,  and  Torquato  in  the  begin- 


350  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

ning  of  his  nineteenth  year  counted  among  the  notable 
romantic  poets  of  his  country. 

At  the  end  of  1563,  Tasso  received  an  invitation  to  transfer 
himself  from  Padua  to  Bologna.  This  proposal  came  from 
Monsignor  Cesi,  who  had  recently  been  appointed  by  Pope 
Pius  IV.  to  superintend  public  studies  in  that  city.  The 
university  was  being  placed  on  a  new  footing,  and  to  secure 
the  presence  of  a  young  man  already  famous  seemed  desirable- 
All  exhibition  was  therefore  offered  as  an  inducement ;  and 
this  Tasso  readily  accepted.  He  spent  about  two  years  at 
Bologna,  studying  philosophy  and  literature,  planning  his 
Dialogues  on  the  Art  of  Poetry,  and  making  projects  for  an 
epic  on  the  history  of  Godfred.  Yet  in  spite  of  public  admira- 
tion and  official  favour,  things  did  not  go  smoothly  with 
Tasso  at  Bologna.  One  main  defect  of  his  character,  which 
was  a  want  of  tact,  began  to  manifest  itself.  He  showed 
Monsignor  Cesi  that  he  had  a  poor  opinion  of  his  literary 
judgment,  came  into  collision  with  the  pedants  who  despised 
Italian,  and  finally  uttered  satiric  epigrams  in  writing  on 
various  members  of  the  university.  Other  students  indulged 
their  humour  in  like  pasquinades.  But  those  of  Tasso  were 
biting,  and  he  had  not  contrived  to  render  himself  generally 
popular.  His  rooms  were  ransacked,  his  papers  searched ; 
and  finding  himself  threatened  with  a  prosecution  for  libel, 
he  took  flight  to  Modena.  No  importance  can  be  attached  to 
this  insignificant  aft'air,  except  in  so  far  as  it  illustrates  the 
unlucky  aptitude  for  making  enemies  by  want  of  savoir  vivrc 
which  pursued  Tasso  through  life.  His  real  superiority 
aroused  jealousy ;  his  frankness  wounded  the  self-love  of  rivals 
whom  he  treated  with  a  shadow  of  contempt.  As  these  were 
unable  to  compete  with  him  in  eloquence,  or  to  beat  him  in 
debate,  they  soothed  their  injured  feelings  by  conspiracy  and 
calumny  against  him. 

In  an  age  of   artifice   and  circumspection,  while  paying 


SPECULATIONS   UPON   POETRY  351 

theoretical  homage  to  its  pedantries,  and  following  the  fashion 
of  its  compliments,  Tasso  was  nothing  if  not  spontaneous  and 
heedless.  This  appears  in  the  style  of  his  letters  and  prose 
compositions,  which  have  the  air  of  being  uttered  from  the 
heart.  The  excellences  and  defects  of  his  poetry,  soaring  to 
the  height  of  song  and  sinking  into  frigidity  or  baldness  when 
the  lyric  impulse  flags,  reveal  a  similar  quality.  In  conduct 
this  spontaneity  assumed  a  form  of  inconsiderate  rashness, 
which  brought  him  into  collision  with  persons  of  importance, 
and  rendered  universities  and  Courts,  the  sphere  of  his  adop- 
tion, perilous  to  the  peace  of  so  naturally  out -spoken  and  self- 
engrossed  a  man.  His  irritable  sensibilities  caused  him  to 
suffer  intensely  from  the  petty  vengeance  of  the  people  he 
annoyed ;  while  a  kind  of  amiable  egotism  blinded  his  eyes  to 
his  own  faults,  and  made  him  blame  fortune  for  sufferings  of 
which  his  indiscretion  was  the  cause. 

After  leaving  Bologna,  Tasso  became  for  some  months 
house-guest  of  his  father's  earliest  patrons,  the  Modenese 
Rangoni.  With  them  he  seems  to  have  composed  his  Dia- 
logues on  the  Art  of  Poetry.  For  many  years  the  learned 
men  of  Italy  had  been  contesting  the  true  nature  of  the  Epic. 
One  party  affirmed  that  the  ancients  ought  to  be  followed ; 
and  that  the  rules  of  Aristotle  regarding  unity  of  plot,  dignity 
of  style,  and  subordination  of  episodes,  should  be  observed. 
The  other  party  upheld  the  romantic  manner  of  Ariosto, 
pleading  for  liberty  of  fancy,  richness  of  execution,  variety  of 
incident,  intricacy  of  design.  Torquato  from  his  earliest 
boyhood  had  heard  these  points  discussed,  and  had  watched 
his  father's  epic,  the  '  Amadigi,'  which  was  in  effect  a 
romantic  poem  petrified  by  classical  convention,  in  process 
of  production.  Meanwhile  he  carefully  studied  the  text  of 
Homer  and  the  Latin  epics,  examined  Horace  and  Aristotle, 
and  perused  the  numerous  romances  of  the  Italian  school. 
Two  conclusions  were  drawn  from  this  preliminary  course  of 


352  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

reading :  first,  that  Italy  as  yet  possessed  no  proper  epic  ; 
Trissino's  '  Italia  Liberata '  was  too  tiresome,  the  '  Orlando 
Furioso '  too  capricious  ;  secondly,  that  the  spolia  opima  in 
this  field  of  art  would  be  achieved  by  him  who  should  com- 
bine the  classic  and  romantic  manners  in  a  single  work, 
enriching  the  unity  of  the  antique  epic  with  the  graces  of 
modern  romance,  choosing  a  noble  and  serious  subject, 
sustaining  style  at  a  sublime  altitude,  but  gratifying  the 
prevalent  desire  for  beauty  in  variety  by  the  introduction 
of  attractive  episodes  and  the  ornaments  of  picturesque 
description.  Tasso,  in  fact,  declared  himself  an  eclectic ; 
and  the  deep  affinity  he  felt  for  Virgil  indicated  the  lines 
upon  which  the  Latin  language  in  its  romantic  or  Italian 
stage  of  evolution  might  be  made  to  yield  a  second  Aeneid 
adapted  to  the  requirements  of  modern  taste.  He  had, 
indeed,  already  set  before  himself  the  high  ambition  of 
supplying  this  desideratum.  The  note  of  prelude  had  been 
struck  in  '  Riualdo  ; '  the  subject  of  the  '  Gerusalemme  '  had 
been  chosen.  But  the  age  in  which  he  lived  was  nothing  if 
not  critical  and  argumentative.  The  time  had  long  gone  by 
when  Dante's  massive  cathedral,  Boccaccio's  pleasure  domes, 
Boiardo's  and  Ariosto's  palaces  of  enchantment,  arose  as 
though  unbidden  and  unreasoned  from  the  maker's  brain. 
It  was  now  impossible  to  take  a  step  in  poetry  or  art  without 
a  theory  ;  and,  what  was  worse,  that  theory  had  to  be  exposed 
for  dissertation  and  discussion.  Therefore  Tasso,  though  by 
genius  the  most  spontaneous  of  men,  commenced  the  great 
work  of  his  life  with  criticism.  Already  acclimatised  to  courts, 
coteries,  academies,  formed  in  the  school  of  disputants  and 
pedants,  he  propounded  his  '  Ars  Poetica  '  before  establishing 
it  by  an  example.  This  was  undoubtedly  beginning  at  the 
wrong  end ;  he  committed  himself  to  principles  which  he  was 
bound  to  illustrate  by  practice.  In  the  state  of  thought  at 
that  time  prevalent  in  Italy,  burdened  as  he  was  with   an 


I 


TASSO'S  THEORY  OF  THE   EPIC  353 

irresolute  and  diffident  self-consciousness,  Tasso  could  not 
deviate  from  the  theory  he  had  promulgated.  How  this 
hampered  him,  will  appear  in  the  sequel,  when  we  come  to 
notice  the  discrepancy  between  his  critical  and  creative 
faculties.  For  the  moment,  however,  the  Dialogues  on  Epic 
Poetry  only  augmented  his  fame. 

Scipione  Gonzaga,  one  of  Tasso's  firmest  and  most  illus- 
trious friends,  had  recently  established  an  Academy  at  Padua 
under  the  name  of  Gli  Eterei.  At  his  invitation  the  young 
poet  joined  this  club  in  the  autumn  of  1564,  assumed  the  title 
of  II  Pentito  in  allusion  to  his  desertion  of  legal  studies,  and 
soon  became  the  soul  of  its  society.  His  dialogues  excited 
deep  and  wide-spread  interest.  After  so  much  wrangling 
between  classical  and  romantic  champions,  he  had  trans- 
ferred the  contest  to  new  ground  and  introduced  a  fresh 
principle  into  the  discussion.  This  principle  was,  in  effect, 
that  of  common  sense,  good  taste  and  instinct.  Tasso  meant 
to  say :  there  is  no  vital  discord  between  classical  and 
romantic  art ;  both  have  excellences,  and  it  is  possible  to 
find  defects  in  both ;  pedantic  adherence  to  antique  precedent 
must  end  in  frigid  failure  under  the  present  conditions  of 
intellectual  culture ;  yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  cycle  of 
Eenaissance  poetry  was  closed  by  Ariosto  ;  let  us  therefore 
attempt  creation  in  a  liberal  spirit,  trained  by  both  these 
influences.  He  could  not,  however,  when  he  put  this  theory 
forward  in  elaborate  prose,  abstain  from  propositions,  dis- 
tinctions, deductions,  and  conclusions,  all  of  which  were 
discutable,  and  each  of  which  his  critics  and  his  honour 
held  him  bound  to  follow.  In  short,  while  planning  and  pro- 
ducing the  '  Gerusalemme,'  he  was  involved  in  controversies 
on  the  very  essence  of  his  art.  These  controversies  had  been 
started  by  himself  and  he  could  not  do  otherwise  than  main- 
tain the  position  he  had  chosen.  His  poet's  inspiration,  his 
singer's  spontaneity,  came  thus  constantly  into  collision  with 

VI  A  A 


354  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

his  own  deliberate  utterances.  A  perplexed  self-scrutiny  was 
the  inevitable  result,  which  pedagogues  who  were  not  inspired 
and  could  not  sing,  but  who  delighted  in  minute  discussion, 
took  good  care  to  stimulate.  The  worst,  however,  was  that 
he  had  erected  in  his  own  mind  a  critical  standard  with  which 
his  genius  was  not  in  harmony.  The  scholar  and  the  poet 
disagreed  in  Tasso ;  and  it  must  be  reckoned  one  of  the 
drawbacks  of  his  age  and  education  that  the  former  preceded 
the  latter  in  development.  Something  of  the  same  discord 
can  be  traced  in  contemporary  painting,  as  will  be  shown 
when  I  come  to  consider  the  founders  of  the  Bolognese 
Academy. 

At  the  end  of  1565  Tasso  was  withdrawn  from  literary 
studies  and  society  in  Padua.  The  Cardinal  Luigi  d'  Este 
offered  him  a  place  in  his  household  ;  and  since  this  opened 
the  way  to  Ferrara  and  Court-service,  it  was  readily  accepted. 
It  would  have  been  well  for  Tasso,  at  this  crisis  of  his  fate,  if 
the  line  of  his  beloved  Aeneid — 

Heu,  fuge  crudeles  terras,  fuge  littus  avarum — 

that  line  which  warned  young  Savonarola  away  from  Ferrara, 
had  sounded  in  his  ears,  or  met  his  eyes  in  some  Virgilian 
'  Sortes.'  It  would  have  been  well  if  his  father,  disillusioned 
by  the  '  Amadigi's  '  ill-success,  and  groaning  under  the  galling 
yoke  of  servitude  to  princes,  had  forbidden  instead  of  en- 
couraging this  fatal  step.  He  might  himself  have  listened  to 
the  words  of  old  Speroni,  painting  the  Court  as  he  had  learned 
to  know  it,  a  Siren  fair  to  behold  and  ravishing  of  song,  but 
hiding  in  her  secret  caves  the  bones  of  men  devoured,  and 
'  mighty  poets  in  their  misery  dead.'  He  might  even  have 
turned  the  pages  of  Aretino's  *  Dialogo  delle  Corti,'  and  have 
observed  how  the  ruffian  who  best  could  profit  by  the  vices  of 
a  Court,  refused  to  bow  his  neck  to  servitude  in  their  corruption. 
But  no  man  avoids  his  destiny,  because  few  draw  wisdom  from 


TASSO   SERVES   LUIGI   D"  ESTE  355 

the  past  and  none  foresee  the  future.  To  Ferrara  Tasso  went 
with  a  blithe  heart.  Inclination,  the  custom  of  his  country, 
the  necessities  of  that  poet's  vocation  for  which  he  had  aban- 
doned a  profession,  poverty  and  ambition,  vanity  and  the 
delights  of  life,  combined  to  lure  him  to  his  ruin. 

He  found  Ferrara  far  more  magnificent  than  Urbino. 
Pageants,  hunting  parties,  theatrical  entertainments,  assumed 
fantastic  forms  of  splendour  in  this  capital,  which  no  other 
city  of  Italy,  except  Florence  and  Venice  upon  rare  occasions, 
rivalled.  For  a  long  while  past  Ferrara  had  been  the  centre 
of  a  semi-feudal,  semi-humanistic  culture,  out  of  which  the 
Masque  and  Drama,  music  and  painting,  scholarship  and 
poetry,  emerged  with  brilliant  originality,  blending  medieval 
and  antique  elements  in  a  specific  type  of  modern  romance. 
This  culminated  in  the  permanent  and  monumental  work 
began  by  Boiardo  in  the  morning,  and  completed  by  Ariosto 
in  the  meridian  of  the  Eenaissance.  Within  the  circuit  of 
the  Court  the  whole  life  of  the  Duchy  seemed  to  concentrate 
itself.  From  the  frontier  of  Venice  to  the  Apennines  a  tract 
of  fertile  country,  yielding  all  necessaries  of  life,  corn,  wine, 
cattle,  game,  fish,  in  abundance,  poured  its  produce  into  the 
palaces  and  castles  of  the  Duke.  He,  like  other  princes  of 
his  epoch,  sucked  each  province  dry  in  order  to  maintain  a 
dazzling  show  of  artificial  wealth.  The  people  were  ground 
down  by  taxes,  monopolies  of  corn  and  salt,  and  sanguinary 
game-laws.  Brutalised  by  being  forced  to  serve  the  pleasures 
of  their  masters,  they  lived  the  lives  of  swine.  But  why 
repaint  the  picture  of  Italian  decadence,  or  dwell  again  upon 
the  fever  of  that  phthisical  consumption  ?  Men  like  Tasso 
saw  nothing  to  attract  attention  in  the  rotten  state  of  Ferrara. 
They  were  only  fascinated  by  the  hectic  bloom  and  rouged 
refinement  of  its  Court.  And  even  the  least  sympathetic 
student  must  confess  that  the  Court  at  any  rate  was  seductive. 
A  more  cunningly  combined  medley  of  polite  culture,  political 


355  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

astuteness,  urbane  learning,  sumptuous  display,  diplomatic 
love  intrigue,  and  genial  artistic  productiveness,  never  before 
or  since  has  been  exhibited  upon  a  scale  so  grandiose  within 
limits  so  precisely  circumscribed,  or  been  raised  to  eminence 
so  high  from  such  inadequate  foundations  of  substantial 
wealth.  Compare  Ferrara  in  the  sixteenth  with  Weimar  in 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  reflect  how  wonderfully  the 
Italians  even  at  their  last  gasp  understood  the  art  of  exquisite 
existence ! 

Alfonso  II.,  who  was  always  vainly  trying  to  bless  Ferrara 
with  an  heir,  had  arranged  his  second  sterile  nuptials  when 
Tasso  joined  the  Court  in  1565.  It  was  therefore  at  a  moment 
of  more  than  usual  parade  of  splendour  that  the  poet  entered 
on  the  scene  of  his  renown  and  his  misfortune.  He  was 
twenty-one  years  of  age  ;  and  twenty-one  years  had  to  elapse 
before  he  should  quit  Ferrara,  ruined  in  physical  and  mental 
health — quantum  mutatus  ah  illo  Torquato  !  The  diffident 
and  handsome  stripling,  famous  as  the  author  of '  Einaldo,' 
was  welcomed  in  person  with  special  honours  by  the  Cardinal, 
his  patron.  Of  such  favours  as  Court-lacqueys  prize,  Tasso 
from  the  first  had  plenty.  He  did  not  sit  at  the  common 
table  of  the  serving  gentlemen,  but  ate  his  food  apart ;  and 
after  a  short  residence,  the  Princesses,  sisters  of  the  Duke, 
invited  him  to  share  their  meals.  The  next  five  years  formed 
the  happiest  and  most  tranquil  period  of  his  existence.  He 
continued  working  at  the  poem  which  had  then  no  name,  but 
which  we  know  as  the  '  Gerusalemme  Liberata.'  Envies  and 
jealousies  had  not  arisen  to  mar  the  serenity  in  which  he 
basked.  Women  contended  for  his  smiles  and  sonnets.  He 
repaid  their  kindness  with  somewhat  indiscriminate  homage 
and  with  the  verses  of  occasion  which  flowed  so  easily  from 
his  pen.  It  is  difficult  to  trace  the  history  of  Tasso's  loves 
through  the  labyrinth  of  madrigals,  odes,  and  sonnets  which 
belong  to  this  epoch  of  his  life.     These  compositions  bear, 


TASSO'S   LOVE   AFFAIRS  857 

indeed,  the  mark  of  a  distinguished  genius  ;  no  one  but  Tasso 
could  have  written  them  at  that  period  of  Italian  literature. 
Yet  they  lack  individuality  of  emotion,  specific  passion,  insight 
into  the  profundities  of  human  feeling.  Such  shades  of 
difference  as  we  perceive  in  them,  indicate  the  rhetorician 
seeking  to  set  forth  his  motive,  rather  than  the  lover  pouring 
out  his  soul.  Contrary  to  the  commonly  received  legend, 
I  am  bound  to  record  my  opinion  that  love  played  a  secondary 
part  in  Tasso's  destinies.  It  is  true  that  we  can  discern  the 
silhouettes  of  some  Court  ladies  whom  he  fancied  more  than 
others.  The  first  of  these  was  Laura  Peperara,  for  whom  he 
is  supposed  to  have  produced  some  sixty  compositions.  The 
second  was  the  Princess  Leonora  d'  Este.  Tasso's  attachment 
to  her  has  been  so  shrouded  in  mystery,  conjecture,  and  hair- 
splitting criticism,  that  none  but  a  very  rash  man  will  pro- 
nounce confident  judgment  as  to  its  real  nature.  Nearly  the 
same  may  be  said  about  his  relations  to  her  sister,  Lucrezia. 
He  has  posed  in  literary  history  as  the  Rizzio  of  the  one  lady 
and  the  Chastelard  of  the  other.  Yet  he  was  probably  in  no 
position  at  any  moment  of  his  Ferrarese  existence  to  be  more 
than  the  familiar  friend  and  most  devoted  slave  of  either. 
When  he  joined  the  Court,  Lucrezia  was  ten  and  Leonora 
nine  years  his  senior.  Each  of  the  sisters  was  highly  accom- 
plished, graceful,  and  of  royal  carriage.  Neither  could  boast 
of  eminent  beauty.  Of  the  two,  Lucrezia  possessed  the  more 
commanding  character.  It  was  she  who  left  her  husband, 
Francesco  Maria  della  Rovere,  because  his  society  wearied  her, 
and  who  helped  Clement  VIII.  to  ruin  her  family,  when  the 
Papacy  resolved  upon  the  conquest  of  Ferrara.  Leonora's 
health  was  sickly.  For  this  reason  she  refused  marriage, 
living  retired  in  studies,  acts  of  charity,  religion,  and  the 
company  of  intellectual  men.  Something  in  her  won  respect 
and  touched  the  heart  at  the  same  moment ;  so  that  the 
verses  in  her  honour,  from  whatever  pen  they  flowed,  ring 


358  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

with  more  than  merely  ceremonial  compliment.  The  people 
revered  her  like  a  saint ;  and  in  times  of  difficulty  she  dis- 
played high  courage  and  the  gifts  of  one  born  to  govern. 
From  the  first  entrance  of  Tasso  into  Ferrara,  the  sisters  took 
him  under  their  protection.  He  lived  with  them  on  terms  of 
more  than  courtly  intimacy  ;  and  for  Leonora  there  is  no 
doubt  that  he  cherished  something  like  a  romantic  attach- 
ment. This  is  proved  by  the  episode  of  Sofronia  and  Olinto 
in  the  '  Gerusalemme,'  which  points  in  carefully  constructed 
innuendoes  to  his  affection.  It  can  even  be  conceded  that 
Tasso,  who  was  wont  to  indulge  fantastic  visions  of  unattain- 
able greatness,  may  have  raised  his  hopes  so  high  as  some- 
times to  entertain  the  possibility  of  winning  her  hand.  But 
if  he  did  dally  with  such  dreams,  the  realities  of  his  position 
must  in  sober  moments  have  convinced  him  of  their  folly. 
Had  not  a  Duchess  of  Amalfi  been  murdered  for  contracting 
marriage  with  a  gentleman  of  her  household  ?  And  Leonora 
was  a  granddaughter  of  France ;  and  the  cordon  of  royalty 
was  being  drawn  tighter  and  tighter  yearly  in  the  Italy  of  his 
day.  That  a  sympathy  of  no  commonplace  kind  subsisted 
between  this  delicate  and  polished  princess  and  her  sensitively 
gifted  poet,  is  apparent,  But  it  may  be  doubted  whether 
Tasso  had  in  him  the  stuff  of  a  grand  passion.  Mobile  and 
impressible,  he  wandered  from  object  to  object  without  seeking 
or  attaining  permanence.  He  was  neither  a  Dante  nor  a 
Petrarch ;  and  nothing  in  his  '  Rime '  reveals  solidity  of 
emotion.  It  may  finally  be  said  that  had  Leonora  returned 
real  love,  or  had  Tasso  felt  for  her  real  love,  his  earnest  wish 
to  quit  Ferrara  when  the  Court  grew  irksome,  would  be  in- 
explicable. Had  their  liaison  been  scandalous,  as  some  have 
fancied,  his  life  would  not  have  been  worth  two  hours'  purchase 
either  in  the  palace  or  the  prison  of  Alfonso. 

Whatever  may  be   thought   of  Tasso's   love-relations   to 
these  sisters — and  the  problem  is  open  to  all  conjectures  in 


DEATH   OF   BERNARDO   TASSO  359 

the  absence  of   clear  testimony — it  is  certain  that  he  owed 
a   great   deal   to   their   kindness.     The  marked  favour  they 
extended  to  him  was  worth  much  at  Court ;  and  their  maturer 
age  and  wider  experience  enabled  them  to  give   him  many 
useful   hints   of   conduct.     Thus,   when   he    blundered    into 
seeming  rivalry  with  Pigna  (the  duke's  secretary,  the  Cecil 
of  that  little  State),  by  praising  Pigna's  mistress,  Lucrezia 
Bendidio,  in  terms  of  imprudent  warmth,  it  was  Leonora  who 
warned  him  to  appease  the  great  man's  anger.     This  he  did 
by  writing  a  commentary  upon  three  oi  Pigna's  leaden  Can- 
zoni,  which  he  had  the  impudence  to  rank  beside  the  famous 
three   sisters  of    Petrarch's   Canzoniere.     The    flattery  was 
swallowed,  and  the  peril  was  averted.     Yet  in  this  first  affair 
with  Pigna  we  already  hear  the  grumbling  of  that  tempest 
which  eventually  ruined  Tasso.   So  eminent  a  poet  and  so  hand- 
some a  young  man  was  insupportable  among  a  crowd  of  literary 
mediocrities   and   middle-aged    gallants.     Furthermore,   the 
brilliant  being,  who  aroused  the  jealousies  of  rhymesters  and 
of  lovers,  had  one  fatal  failing — want  of  tact.     In  1568,  for 
example,  he  set  himself  up  as  a  target  to  all  malice  by  sus- 
taining fifty  conclusions  in  the  Science  of  Love  before  the 
Academy  of  Ferrara.     As  he  afterwards  confessed,  he  ran  the 
greatest  risks  in  this  adventure  ;  but  who,  he  said,  could  take 
up   arms   against   a   lover  ?     Doubtless,   there   were    many 
lovers  present ;  but  none  of  Tasso's  eloquence   and  skill  in 
argument. 

In  15G9,  Tasso  was  called  to  his  father's  sick-bed  at 
Ostiglia  on  the  Po.  He  found  the  old  man  destitute  and 
dying.  There  was  not  money  to  bury  him  decently ;  and 
when  the  funeral  rites  had  been  performed  by  the  help  of 
money-lenders,  nothing  remained  to  pay  for  a  monument 
above  his  grave.  What  the  Komans  called  inetas  was  a 
strong  feature  in  Torquato's  character.  At  crises  of  his  life 
he   invariably  appealed   to   the  memory  of  his  parents   for 


360  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

counsel  and  support.  When  the  Delia  Cruscans  attacked 
his  own  poetry,  he  answered  them  with  a  defence  of  the 
'  Amadigi ; '  and  he  spent  much  time  and  pains  in  editing  the 
'  Floridante,'  which  naught  but  filial  feeling  could  possibly 
have  made  him  value  at  the  worth  of  publication. 

In  the  spring  of  the  next  year,  Lucrezia  d'  Este  made  her 
inauspicious  match  with  the  Duke  of  Urbino,  Tasso's  former 
playmate.  She  was  a  woman  of  thirty-four,  he  a  young  man 
of  twenty-one.  They  did  not  love  each  other,  had  no  children, 
and  soon  parted  with  a  sense  of  mutual  relief.  In  the  autumn 
Tasso  accompanied  the  Cardinal  Luigi  d'  Este  into  France, 
leaving  his  MSS.  in  the  charge  of  Ercole  Rondinelli.  The 
document  drawn  up  for  this  friend's  instructions  in  case  of 
his  death  abroad  is  interesting.  It  proves  that  the  '  Geru- 
salemme,'  here  called  '  Gottifredo,'  was  nearly  finished  ;  for 
Tasso  wished  the  last  six  cantos  and  portions  of  the  first  two 
to  be  published.  He  also  gave  directions  for  the  collection 
and  publication  of  his  love-sonnets  and  madrigals,  but  re- 
quested Rondinelli  to  bury  '  the  others,  whether  of  love  or 
other  matters,  which  were  written  in  the  service  of  some 
friend,'  in  his  grave.  This  last  commission  demands  com- 
ment. That  Tasso  should  have  written  verses  to  oblige  a 
friend,  was  not  only  natural  but  consistent  with  custom. 
Light  wares  like  sonnets  could  be  easily  produced  by  a 
practised  man  of  letters,  and  the  friend  might  find  them 
valuable  in  bringing  a  fair  foe  to  terms.  But  why  should 
anyone  desire  to  have  such  verses  buried  in  his  grave  ?  The 
liypothesis  which  has  been  strongly  urged  by  those  who 
believe  in  the  gravity  of  Tasso's  liaison  with  Leonora,  is  that 
he  used  this  phrase  to  indicate  love-poems  which  might  com- 
promise his  mistress.  We  cannot,  however,  do  more  than 
speculate  upon  the  point.  There  is  nothing  to  confirm  or  to 
refute  conjecture  in  the  evidence  before  us. 

Tasso  metwithhiausual  fortunes  at  the  Court  of  CharlesIX. 


VISIT   TO   PARIS  361 

That  is  to  say,  he  was  petted  and  caressed,  wrote  verses, 
and  paid  compliments.  It  was  just  two  years  before  the 
Massacre  of  S.  Bartholomew,  and  France  presented  to  the 
eyes  of  earnest  Catholics  the  spectacle  of  truly  horrifying 
anarchy.  Catherine  de'  Medici  inclined  to  compromise  matters 
with  the  Huguenots.  The  social  atmosphere  reeked  with 
heresy  and  cynicism.  In  that  Italianated  Court,  public  affairs 
and  religious  questions  were  treated  from  a  purely  diplomatic 
point  of  view.  Not  principle,  but  practical  convenience,  ruled 
conduct  and  opinion.  The  large  scale  on  which  Machiavell- 
ism  manifested  itself  in  the  discordant  realm  of  France,  the 
apparent  breakdown  of  Catholicism  as  a  national  institution, 
struck  Tasso  with  horror.  He  openly  proclaimed  his  views, 
and  roundly  taxed  the  Government  with  dereliction  of  their 
duty  to  the  Church.  An  incurable  idealist  by  temperament, 
he  could  not  comprehend  the  stubborn  actualities  of  politics. 
A  pupil  of  the  Jesuits,  he  would  not  admit  that  men  like 
Cohgny  deserved  a  hearing.  An  Italian  of  the  decadence,  he 
found  it  hard  to  tolerate  the  humours  of  a  puissant  nation  in 
a  state  of  civil  warfare.  But  his  master,  Luigi  d'  Este,  well 
understood  the  practical  difficulties  which  forced  the  Valois 
into  compromise,  and  felt  no  personal  aversion  for  lucrative 
transaction  with  the  heretic.  Though  a  prince  of  the  Church, 
he  had  not  taken  priest's  orders.  He  kept  two  objects  in  view. 
One  was  succession  to  the  Duchy  of  Ferrara,  in  case  Alfonso 
should  die  without  heirs. ^  The  other  was  election  to  the 
Papacy.  In  the  latter  event,  France,  the  natural  ally  of  the 
Estensi,  would  be  of  service  to  him,  and  the  Valois  monarchs, 
his  cousins,  must  therefore  be  supported  in  their  policy. 
Tasso  had  been  brought  to  Paris  to  look  graceful  and  to  write 
madrigals.     It  was  inconvenient,  it  was  unseemly,  that  a  man 

'  Cardinal  Ferdinando  de'  Medici  succeeded  in  a  like  position  to 
the  Grand  Duchy  of  Tuscany.  But  Luigi  d'  Este  did  not  survive  his 
brother. 


362  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

of  letters  in  the  Cardinal's  train  should  utter  censures  on  the 
Crown,  and  should  profess  more  Catholic  opinions  than  his 
patron.  Without  the  scandal  of  a  public  dismissal,  it  was 
therefore  contrived  that  Tasso  should  return  to  Italy ;  and 
after  this  rupture,  the  suspicious  poet  regarded  Luigi  d'  Este 
as  his  enemy.  During  his  confinement  in  S.  Aima  he  even 
threw  the  chief  blame  of  his  detention  upon  the  Cardinal.' 

After  spending  a  short  time  at  Rome  in  the  company  of 
the  Cardinals  Ippolito  d'  Este  and  Albano,  Tasso  returned  to 
Ferrara  in  1572.  Alfonso  offered  him  a  place  in  his  own 
household  with  an  annual  stipend  worth  about  88L  of  our 
money.  No  duties  were  attached  to  this  post,  except  the 
delivery  of  a  weekly  lecture  in  tbe  university.  For  the  rest, 
Tasso  was  to  prosecute  his  studies,  polish  his  great  poem,  and 
augment  the  lustre  of  the  Court  by  his  accomplishments.'^ 
It  was  of  course  understood  that  the  *  Gerusalemme,'  when 
completed,  should  be  dedicated  to  the  Duke  and  shed  its 
splendour  on  the  House  of  Este.  Who  was  happier  than 
Torquato  now  ?  Having  recently  experienced  the  discomforts 
of  uncongenial  service,  he  took  his  place  again  upon  a  firmer 
footing  in  the  city  of  his  dreams.  The  courtiers  welcomed 
him  with  smiles.  He  was  once  more  close  to  Leonora,  bask- 
ing like  Rinaldo  in  Armida's  garden,  with  golden  prospects 
of  the  fame  his  epic  would  achieve  to  lift  him  higher  in  the 
coming  years.  No  wonder  that  the  felicity  of  this  moment 
expanded  in  a  flower  of  lyric  beauty  which  surpassed  all  that 
Tasso  had  yet  published.  He  produced  'Aminta  '  in  the  winter 
of  1572-3.  It  was  acted  with  unparalleled  applause  ;  for  this 
pastoral  drama  offered  something  ravishingly  new,  something 
which  interpreted  and  gave  a  vocal  utterance  to  tastes  and 

'  See  Letfa-e,  vol.  ii.  p.  80  :  to  Giacomo  Buoncompagno. 
*  '  Egli   mi  disse,  allor  die  suo  mi  fece  :  Tu  caiita,  or  che  se'  'n 
ozio.' 


THE   AMINTA   AND   LUCREZIA   D' ESTE  363 

sentiments  that  ruled  the  age.  While  professing  to  exalt  the 
virtues  of  rusticity,  the  '  Aminta '  was  in  truth  a  panegyric  of 
Court  life,  and  Silvia  reflected  Leonora  in  the  magic  mirror  of 
languidly  luxurious  verse.  Poetry  melted  into  music.  Emo- 
tion exhaled  itself  in  sensuous  harmony.  The  art  of  the  next 
two  centuries,  the  supreme  art  of  song,  of  words  subservient 
to  musical  expression,  had  been  indicated.  This  explains  the 
sudden  and  extraordinary  success  of  the  '  Aminta.'  It  was 
nothing  less  than  the  discovery  of  a  new  realm,  the  revelation 
of  a  specific  faculty  whicii  made  its  author  master  of  the  heart 
of  Italy.  The  very  lack  of  concentrated  passion  lent  it  power. 
Its  suffusion  of  emotion  in  a  shimmering  atmosphere  toned 
Avith  voluptuous  melancholy,  seemed  to  invite  the  lutes  and 
viols,  the  mellow  tenors,  and  the  trained  soprano  voices  of 
the  dawning  age  of  melody.  "We  may  here  remember  that 
Palestrina,  seven  years  earlier  in  Rome,  had  already  given  his 
'  Mass  of  Pope  Marcello  '  to  the  world. 

Lucrezia  d'  Este,  now  Duchess  of  Urbino,  who  was  anxious 
to  share  the  raptures  of  '  Aminta,'  invited  Tasso  to  Pesaro  in 
the  summer  of  1573,  and  took  him  with  her  to  the  mountain 
villa  of  Casteldurante.  She  was  an  unhappy  wife,  just  on  the 
point  of  breaking  her  irksome  bonds  of  matrimony.  Tasso, 
if  we  may  credit  the  deductions  which  have  been  drawn  from 
passages  in  his  letters,  had  the  privilege  of  consoling  the 
disappointed  woman  and  of  distracting  her  tedious  hours. 
They  roamed  together  through  the  villa  gardens,  and  spent 
days  of  quiet  in  the  recesses  of  her  apartments.  He  read 
aloud  passages  from  his  unpublished  poem,  and  composed 
sonnets  in  her  honour,  praising  the  full-blown  beauty  of 
the  rose  as  lovelier  than  its  budding  charm.  The  Duke  her 
husband,  far  from  resenting  this  intimacy,  heaped  favours 
and  substantial  gifts  upon  his  former  comrade.  He  had  not, 
indeed,  enough  affection  for  his  wife  to  be  jealous  of  her. 
Yet  it  is  indubitable  that  if  he  had  suspected  her  of  infidelity, 


364  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

the  Italian  code  of  honour  would  have  compelled  him  to  make 
short  work  with  Tasso.' 

Meanwhile  it  seemed  as  though  Leonora  had  been  for- 
gotten by  her  servant.  We  possess  one  letter  written  to  her 
from  Casteldurante  on  September  3,  1573,  in  which  he 
encloses  a  sonnet,  disparaging  it  by  comparison  with  those 
which  he  believes  she  has  been  receiving  from  another  poet 
(Guarini  probably),  and  saying  that,  though  the  verses  were 
written,  not  for  himself,  but  '  at  the  requisition  of  a  poor 
lover,  who,  having  been  for  some  while  angry  with  his  lady, 
now  is  forced  to  yield  and  crave  for  pardon,'  yet  he  hopes  that 
they  'will  effect  the  purpose  he  desires.'^  Few  of  Tasso's 
letters  to  Leonora  have  survived.  This,  therefore,  is  a  docu- 
ment of  much  importance ;  and  it  is  difficult  to  resist  the 
conclusion  that  he  was  indirectly  begging  Leonora  to  forgive 
him  for  some  piece  of  petulance  or  irritation.  At  any  rate, 
his  position  between  the  two  princesses  at  this  moment  was 
one  of  delicacy,  in  which  a  less  vain  and  more  cautious  man 
than  Tasso  might  have  found  it  hard  to  keep  his  head  cool. 

Up  to  the  present  time  his  life  had  been,  in  spite  of 
poverty  and  domestic  misfortunes,  one  almost  uninterrupted 
career  of  triumph.  But  his  fibre  had  been  relaxed  in  the 
irresponsible  luxurious  atmosphere  of  Courts,  and  his  self- 

'  This  is  how  he  wrote  in  his  Diary  about  Lucrezia.  'Finally  the 
Duke  decided  upon  his  marriage  with  Donna  Lucrezia  d'  Este,  which 
took  place,  though  little  to  his  taste,  for  she  was  old  enough  to  have 
been  his  mother.'  '  The  Duchess  wished  to  return  to  Ferrara,  where 
she  subsequently  chose  to  remain,  a  resolution  which  gave  no  annoy- 
ance to  her  husband  ;  for,  as  she  was  unlikely  to  bring  him  a  family, 
her  absence  mattered  little.'  '  February  15, 1598.  Heard  that  Madame 
Lucrezia  d'  Este,  Duchess  of  Urbino,  my  wife,  died  at  Ferrara  during 
the  night  of  the  11th.'  (Dennistoun's  Dukes  of  Urbino,  \ol.  iii.  pp.  127, 
14G,  156.)  Francesco  Maria  had  been  attached  in  Spain  to  a  lady  of 
unsuitable  condition,  and  his  marriage  with  Lucrezia  was  arranged  to 
keep  him  out  of  a  misalliance. 

^  Lettere,  vol.  i.  p.  47.     The  sonnet  begins,  '  Sdegno,  debil  guerrier.' 


EEVISION   OF   THE    GERCSALEMME  36-5 

esteem  had  been  inflated  by  the  honours  paid  to  him  as  the 
first  poet  of  his  age  in  Europe.  Moreover,  he  had  been  con- 
tinuously over-worked  and  over-wrought  from  childhood 
onwards.  Now,  when  he  returned  to  Ferrara  with  the 
Duchess  of  Urbino  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine,  it  remained  to 
be  seen  whether  he  could  support  himself  with  stability  upon 
the  slippery  foundation  of  princely  favour,  whether  his  health 
would  hold  out,  and  whether  he  would  be  able  to  bring  the 
publication  of  his  long-expected  poem  to  a  successful  issue. 

In  1574  he  accompanied  Duke  Alfonso  to  Venice,  and 
witnessed  the  magnificent  reception  of  Henri  III.  on  his 
return  from  Poland.  A  fever,  contracted  during  those  weeks 
of  pleasure,  prevented  him  from  working  at  the  epic  for  many 
months.  This  is  the  first  sign  of  any  serious  failure  in 
Tasso's  health.  At  the  end  of  August  1574,  however,  the 
'  Gerusalemme '  was  finished,  and  in  the  following  February  he 
began  sending  the  MS.  to  Scipione  Gonzaga  at  Eome.  So 
much  depended  on  its  success  that  doubts  immediately  rose 
within  its  author's  mind.  Will  it  fulfil  the  expectation 
raised  in  every  Court  and  literary  coterie  of  Italy  ?  Will  it 
bear  investigation  in  the  light  of  the  Dialogues  on  Epic 
Poetry  ?  Will  the  Church  be  satisfied  with  its  morality  ;  the 
Holy  Office  with  its  doctrine  ?  None  of  these  diffidences 
assailed  Tasso  when  he  flung  '  Aminta  '  negligently  forth  and 
found  he  had  produced  a  masterpiece.  It  would  have  been 
well  for  him  if  he  had  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  doubting  voice 
on  this  occasion  also.  But  he  was  not  of  an  independent 
character  to  start  with  :  and  his  life  had  made  him  sensi- 
tively deferent  to  literary  opinion.  Therefore,  in  an  evil 
hour,  yielding  to  Gonzaga's  advice,  he  resolved  to  submit  the 
'  Gerusalemme  '  in  MS.  to  four  censors — II  Borga,  Flaminio  de 
Nobili,  vulpine  Speroni  with  his  poisoned  fang  of  pedantry, 
precise  Antoniano  with  his  inquisitorial  prudery.  They  were 
to   pass   their   several   criticisms    on    the    plot,   characters, 


366  KENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

diction,  and  ethics  of  the  *  Gerusalemme  ; '  Tasso  was  to  en- 
tertain and  weigh  their  arguments,  reserving  the  right  of 
following  or  rejecting  their  advice,  but  promising  to  defend 
his  own  views.  To  the  number  of  this  committee  he  shortly 
after  added  three  more  scholars,  Francesco  Piccolomini, 
Domenico  Veniero,  and  Celio  Magno.^  Not  to  have  been 
half  maddened  by  these  critics  would  have  proved  Tasso 
more  or  less  than  human.  They  picked  holes  in  the  struc- 
ture of  the  epic,  in  its  episodes,  in  its  theology,  in  its  inci- 
dents, in  its  language,  in  its  title.  One  censor  required  one 
alteration,  and  another  demanded  the  contrary.  This  man 
seemed  animated  by  an  acrid  spite  ;  that  veiled  his  malice 
in  the  flatteries  of  candid  friendship.  Antoniano  was  for 
cutting  out  the  love  passages :  Armida,  Sofronia,  Erminia, 
Clorinda,  were  to  vanish  or  to  be  adapted  to  conventual  pro- 
prieties. It  seemed  to  him  more  than  doubtful  whether  the 
enchanted  forest  did  not  come  within  the  prohibitions  of  the 
Tridentine  decrees.  As  the  revision  advanced,  matters  grew 
more  serious.  Antoniano  threw  out  some  decided  hints  of 
ecclesiastical  displeasure ;  Tasso,  reading  between  the  lines, 
scented  the  style  of  the  Collegium  Germanicum.  Speroni 
spoke  openly  of  plagiarism — plagiarism  from  himself  for- 
sooth ! — and  murmured  the  terrible  words  between  his  teeth, 
*  Tasso  is  mad  !  '  He  was  in  fact  driven  wild,  and  told  his 
tormentors  that  he  would  delay  the  publication  of  the  epic, 
perhaps  for  a  year,  perhaps  for  his  whole  life,  so  little  hope 
had  he  of  its  success. ^  At  last  he  resolved  to  compose  an 
allegory  to  explain  and  moralise  the  poem.  When  he  wrote 
the  '  Gerusalemme  '  he  had  no  thought  of  hidden  meanings ; 
but  this  seemed  the  only  way  of  preventing  it  from  being 

'  Tasso  consulted  almost  every  scholar  he  could  press  into  his 
service.  But  the  official  tribunal  of  correction  was  limited  to  the  above- 
named  four  acting  in  concert  with  Scipione  Gonzaga. 

^  Letterc,  vol.  i.  p.  114. 


TASSO'S   SENSE    OF   HIS   IMPORTANCE  3C7 

dismembered  by  hypocrites  and  pedants.*  The  expedient 
proved  partially  successful.  When  Antoniano  and  his  friends 
were  bidden  to  perceive  a  symbol  in  the  enchanted  wood  and 
other  marvels,  a  symbol  in  the  loves  of  heroines  and  heroes, 
a  symbol  even  in  Armida,  they  relaxed  their  wrath.  The 
'  Gerusalemme  '  might  possibly  pass  muster  now  before  the 
Congregation  of  the  Index.  Tasso's  correspondence  between 
March  1575  and  July  1576  shows  what  he  suffered  at  the 
hands  of  his  revisers,  and  helps  to  explain  the  series  of 
events  which  rendered  the  autumn  of  that  latter  year  cala- 
mitous for  him.'^  There  are,  indeed,  already  indications  in 
the  letters  of  those  months  that  his  nerves,  enfeebled  by  the 
quartan  fever  under  which  he  laboured,  and  exasperated  by 
carping  or  envious  criticism,  were  overstrung.  Suspicions 
began  to  invade  his  mind.  He  complained  of  headache.  His 
spirits  alternated  between  depression  and  hysterical  gaiety. 
A  dread  lest  the  Inquisition  should  refuse  the  imprimatur  to 
his  poem  haunted  him.  He  grew  restless,  and  yearned  for 
change  of  scene. 

The  events  of  1575,  1576,  and  1577  require  to  be  minutely 
studied  ;  for  upon  our  interpretation  of  them  must  depend 
the  theory  which  we  hold  of  Tasso's  subsequent  misfortunes. 
It  appears  that  early  in  the  year  1575  he  was  becoming  dis- 
contented with  Ferrara.  A  party  in  the  Court,  led  by  Pigna, 
did  their  best  to  make  his  life  there  disagreeable.  They  were 
jealous  of  the  poet's  fame,  which  shone  with  trebled  splen- 
dour after  the  production  of  '  Aminta.'  Tasso's  own  behaviour 
provoked,  if  it  did  not  exactly  justify,  their  animosity.  He 
treated  men  at  least  his  equals  in  position  with  haughtiness, 
which  his  irritable  temper  rendered  insupportable.  We  have 
it  from  his  own  pen  that  '  he  could  not  bear  to  live  in  a  city 
where  the  nobles  did  not  yield  him  the  first  place,  or  at  least 
admit  him  to  absolute  equality ;  '  that  '  he  expected  to  be 
'  Lettere,  vol.  i.  p.  192.  -  lb.  vol.  i.  pp.  55-215. 


368  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

adored  by  friends,  served  by  serving-men,  caressed  by  domes- 
tics, honoured  by  masters,  celebrated  by  poets,  and  pointed 
out  by  all.' '  He  admitted  that  it  was  his  habit  '  to  build 
castles  in  the  air  of  honours,  favours,  gifts,  and  graces, 
showered  on  him  by  emperors  and  kings  and  mighty  princes  ; ' 
that  '  the  slightest  coldness  from  a  patron  seemed  to  him  a 
tacit  act  of  dismissal,  or  rather  an  open  act  of  violence.'^ 
His  blood,  he  argued,  placed  him  on  a  level  with  the  aris- 
tocracy of  Italy  ;  but  his  poetry  lifted  him  far  above  the 
vulgar  herd  of  noble  men.  At  the  same  time,  while  claiming 
so  much,  he  constantly  declared  himself  unfit  for  any  work 
or  office  but  literary  study,  and  expressed  his  opinion  that 
princes  ought  to  be  his  tributaries.^  Though  such  pre- 
tensions may  not  have  been  openly  expressed  at  this  period 
of  his  life,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  Tasso's  temper  made 
him  an  unpleasant  comrade  in  Court-service.  His  sensitive- 
ness, as  well  as  the  actual  slenderness  of  his  fortunes, 
exposed  him  only  too  obviously  to  the  malevolent  tricks  and 
petty  bullyings  of  rivals.  One  knows  what  a  boy  of  that 
stamp  has  to  suffer  at  public  schools,  and  a  Court  is  after  all 
not  very  different  from  an  academy. 

Such  being  the  temper  of  his  mind,  Tasso  at  this  epoch 
turned  his  thoughts  to  bettering  himself,  as  servants  say. 
His  friend  Scipione  Gonzaga  pointed  out  that  both  the 
Cardinal  de'  Medici  and  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany  would 
be  glad  to  welcome  him  as  an  ornament  of  their  households. 
Tasso  nibbled  at  the  bait  all  through  the  summer ;  and  in 
November,  under  the  pretext  of  profiting  by  the  Jubilee,  he 
travelled  to  Rome.  This  journey,  as  he  afterwards  declared, 
was  the  beginning  of  his  ruin.''     It  was  certainly  one  of  the 

'  Lettere,  vol.  iii.  p.  41,  iv.  p.  332. 

^  lb.  vol.  iii.  p.  164,  v.  p.  6. 

'  lb.  vol.  iii.  pp.  85,  86,  88,  163,  iv.  pp.  8,  166,  v.  p.  87. 

*  Letter  to  Fabio  Gonzaga  in  1590  (vol.  iv.  p.  296). 


TASSO   COURTS   THE   MEDICI  3C9 

principal  steps  which  led  to  the  prison  of  S.  Anna.  There 
were  many  reasons  why  Alfonso  should  resent  Tasso's 
entrance  into  other  service  at  this  moment.  The  House  of 
Este  had  treated  him  with  uniform  kindness.  The  Cardinal, 
the  Duke,  and  the  princesses  had  severally  marked  him  out 
by  special  tokens  of  esteem.  In  return  they  expected  from 
him  the  honours  of  his  now  immortal  epic.  That  he  should 
desert  them  and  transfer  the  dedication  of  the  '  Gerusalemme  ' 
to  the  Medici,  would  have  been  nothing  short  of  an  insult ; 
for  it  was  notorious  that  the  Estensi  and  the  Medici  were 
bitter  foes,  not  only  on  account  of  domestic  disagreements 
and  political  jealousies,  but  also  because  of  the  dispute 
about  precedence  in  their  titles,  which  had  agitated  Italian 
society  for  some  time  past.  In  his  impatience  to  leave 
Ferrara,  Tasso  cast  prudence  to  the  winds,  and  entered  into 
negotiations  with  the  Cardinal  de'  Medici  in  Kome.  When 
he  travelled  northwards  at  the  beginning  of  1576,  he  betook 
himself  to  Florence.  What  passed  between  him  and  the 
Grand  Duke  is  not  apparent.  Yet  he  seems  to  have  still 
further  complicated  his  position  by  making  political  dis- 
closures which  were  injurious  to  the  Duke  of  Ferrara.  Nor 
did  he  gain  anything  by  the  offer  of  his  services  and  his 
poem  to  Francesco  de'  Medici.  In  a  letter  of  February  4, 
1576,  the  Grand  Duke  wrote  that  the  Florentine  visit  of  that 
fellow,  '  whether  to  call  him  a  mad  or  an  amusing  and  astute 
spirit,  I  hardly  know,'  had  been  throughout  a  ridiculous 
affair  ;  and  that  nothing  could  be  less  convenient  than  his 
putting  the  'Gerusalemme'  up  to  auction  among  princes.' 
One  year  later,  he  said  bluntly  that  '  he  did  not  want  to  have 
a  madman  at  his  Court.'  ^  Thus  Tasso,  like  his  father,  dis- 
covered that  a  noble  poem,  the  product  of  his  best  pains,  had 
but   small   substantial    value.     It   might,  indeed,  be   worth 

'  Lettcre,  vol.  iii.  p.  viii. 
-  lb.  vol.  iii.  p.  XXX.  note  34. 
VI  B  B 


370  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

something  to  the  patron  who  paid  a  yearly  exhibition  to  its 
author ;  but  it  was  not  a  gem  of  such  high  price  as  to  be 
wrangled  for  by  dukes  who  had  the  cares  of  State  upon  their 
shoulders.  He  compromised  himself  with  the  Estensi,  and 
failed  to  secure  a  retreat  in  Florence. 

Meanwhile  his  enemies  at  Ferrara  were  not  idle.  Pigna 
had  died  in  the  preceding  November.  But  Antonio  Monte- 
catino,  who  succeeded  him  as  ducal  secretary,  proved  even  a 
more  malicious  foe,  and  poisoned  Alfonso's  mind  against 
the  unfortunate  poet.  The  two  princesses  still  remained  his 
faithful  friends,  until  Tasso's  own  want  of  tact  alienated  the 
sympathies  of  Leonora.  When  he  returned  in  1576,  he 
found  the  beautiful  Eleonora  Sanvitale,  Countess  of  Scan- 
diano,  at  Court.  Whether  he  really  fell  in  love  with  her  at 
first  sight,  or  pretended  to  do  so  in  order  to  revive  Leonora 
d'  Este's  affection  by  jealousy,  is  uncertain.'  At  any  rate  he 
paid  the  Countess  such  marked  attentions,  and  wrote  for  her 
and  a  lady  of  her  suite  such  splendid  poetry,  that  all  Ferrara 
rang  with  this  amour.  A  sonnet  in  Tasso's  handwriting, 
addressed  to  Leonora  d'  Este  and  commented  by  her  own 
pen,  which  even  Guasti,  no  credulous  believer  in  the  legend 
of  the  poet's  love,  accepts  as  genuine,  may  be  taken  as 
affording  proof  that  the  princess  was  deeply  wounded  by  her 
servant's  conduct.'* 

It  is  obvious  that,  though  Tasso's  letters  at  this  period 
show  no  signs  of  a  diseased  mind,  his  conduct  began  to 
strike  outsiders  as  insane.  Francesco  de'  Medici  used  the 
plain  words  matto  and  pazzo.  The  courtiers  of  Ferrara, 
some  in  pity,  some  in  derision,  muttered  '  Madman,'  when  he 
passed.     And  he  spared  no  pains  to  prove  that  he  was  losing 

'  Guarini,  in  a  sonnet,  hinted  at  the  second  supposition.  See 
Rosini's  Saggio  sugli  Anwri,  &c.  ;  vol.  xxxiii.  of  his  edition  of  Tasso, 
p.  51. 

'  Lettere,  vol.  iii.  p.  xxxi. 


DREAD   OF   THE   INQUISITION  371 

self-control.  In  the  month  of  January  1577  he  was  seized 
with  scruples  of  faith,  and  conceived  the  notion  that  he 
ought  to  open  his  mind  to  the  Holy  Office.  Accordingly,  he 
appeared  before  the  Inquisitor  of  Bologna,  who,  after  hearing 
his  confession,  bade  him  be  of  good  cheer,  for  his  self-accusa- 
tions were  the  outcome  of  a  melancholy  humour.  Tasso 
was,  in  fact,  a  Catholic  moulded  by  Jesuit  instruction  in  his 
earliest  ohildy'ood  ;  and  though,  like  most  young  students,  he 
had  speculated  on  the  groundwork  of  theology  and  metaphysic, 
there  was  no  taint  of  heresy  or  disobedience  to  the  Church 
in  his  nature.  The  terror  of  the  Inquisition  was  a  morbid 
nightmare,  first  implanted  in  his  mind  by  the  exj^erience  f 
his  father's  collision  with  the  Holy  Office,  enforced  by 
Antoniano's  strictures  en  his  poem,  and  justified  to  some 
extent  by  the  sinister  activity  of  the  institution  which  had 
burned  a  Carnesecchi  and  a  Paleario.  However  it  grew  up, 
this  fancy  that  he  was  suspected  as  a  heretic  took  firm 
possession  of  his  brain,  and  subsequently  formed  a  main 
feature  of  his  mental  disease.  It  combined  with  the  sus- 
piciousness which  now  became  habitual.  He  thought  that 
secret  enemies  were  in  the  habit  of  forwarding  delations 
against  him  to  Rome. 

All  through  these  years  (1575-1577)  his  enemies  drew 
tighter  cords  around  him.  They  were  led  and  directed  by 
Montecatino,  the  omnipotent  persecutor,  and  hypocritical 
betrayer.  In  his  heedlessness  Tasso  left  books  and  papers 
loose  about  his  rooms.  These,  he  had  good  reason  to  suppose, 
were  ransacked  in  his  absence.  There  follows  a  melancholy 
tale  of  treacherous  friends,  dishonest  servants,  false  keys, 
forged  correspondence,  scraps  and  fragments  of  imprudent 
compositions  pieced  together  and  brought  forth  to  incriminate 
him  behind  his  back.  These  arts  were  employed  all  through 
the  year  which  followed  his  return  to  Ferrara  in  1576.  But 
they  reached  their  climax  in  the  spring  of  1577.     He  had  lost 

B  B  2 


372  EENAISSANCE  IN  ITALY 

his  prestige,  and  every  servant  might  insult  him,  every  cur 
snap  at  his  heels.  Even  the  *  Gerusalemme '  became  an 
object  of  derision.  It  transpired  that  the  revisers,  to  whom 
he  had  confided  it,  were  picking  the  poem  to  pieces  ;  and 
ignoramuses  who  could  not  scan  a  line,  went  about  parroting 
their  pedantries  and  strictures.  At  the  beginning  of  1576 
Tasso  bad  begged  Alfonso  to  give  him  the  post  of  historio- 
grapher left  vacant  by  Pigna.  It  was  his  secret  hope  that 
this  would  be  refused,  and  that  so  he  would  obtain  a  good 
excuse  for  leaving  Ferrara.^  But  the  Duke  granted  his 
request.  In  the  autumn  of  that  year,  one  of  the  band  of  his 
tormentors,  Maddalo  de'  Frecci,  betrayed  some  details  of 
his  love  affairs.  What  these  were,  we  do  not  know.  Tasso 
resented  the  insult,  and  gave  the  traitor  a  box  on  the  ears  in 
the  courtyard  of  the  castle.  Maddalo  and  his  brothers,  after 
this,  attacked  Tasso  on  the  piazza,  but  ran  away  before  they 
reached  him  with  their  swords.  They  were  outlawed  for  the 
outrage,  and  the  Duke  of  Ferrara,  still  benignant  to  his 
poet,  sent  him  a  kind  message  by  one  of  his  servants.  This 
incident  weighed  on  Tasso's  memory.  The  terror  of  the 
Inquisition  blended  now  with  two  new  terrors.  He  conceived 
that  his  exiled  foes  were  plotting  to  poison  him.  He  won- 
dered whether  Maddalo's  revelations  had  reached  the  Duke's 
ears,  and,  if  so,  whether  Alfonso  would  not  inflict  sudden 
vengeance.  There  is  no  sufficient  reason,  however,  to 
surmise  that  Tasso's  conscience  was  really  burdened  with  a 
guilty  secret  touching  Leonora  d'  Este.  On  the  contrary, 
everything  points  to  a  different  conclusion.  His  mind  was 
simply  giving  way.  Just  as  he  conjured  up  the  ghastly 
spectacle  of  the  Inquisition,  so  he  fancied  that  the  Duke 
would  murder  him.  Both  the  Inquisition  and  the  Duke 
were  formidable  ;  but  the  Holy  Office  mildly  told  him  to  set 
his  morbid  doubts  at  rest,  and  the  Duke  on  a  subsequent 
'  Lcttcre,  vol.  i.  p.  139. 


OUTBREAK   OF   MENTAL  MALADY  373 

occasion  coldly  wrote  :  '  I  know  he  thinks  I  want  to  kill  him. 
But  if  indeed  I  did  so,  it  would  be  easy  enough.'  The  Duke, 
in  fact,  had  no  sufficient  reason  and  no  inclination  to  tread 
upon  this  insect. 

In  June  1577  the  crisis  came.  On  the  seventeenth  evening 
of  the  month  Tasso  was  in  the  apartments  of  the  Duchess  of 
Urbino.  He  had  just  been  declaiming  on  the  subject  of  his 
imaginary  difficulties  with  the  Inquisition,  when  something  in 
the  manner  of  a  servant  who  passed  by  aroused  his  suspicion. 
He  drew  a  knife  upon  the  man — like  Hamlet  in  his  mother's 
bedchamber.  He  was  immediately  put  under  arrest,  and 
confined  in  a  room  of  the  castle.  Next  day  Maffeo  Veniero 
wrote  thus  to  the  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany  about  the  incident. 
'  Yesterday  Tasso  was  imprisoned  for  ha\nng  drawn  a  knife 
upon  a  servant  in  the  apartment  of  the  Duchess  of  Urbino. 
The  intention  has  been  to  stay  disorder  and  to  cure  him, 
rather  than  to  inflict  punishment.  He  suffers  under  peculiar 
delusions,  believing  himself  guilty  of  heresy,  and  dreading 
poison  ;  which  state  of  mind  arises,  I  incline  to  think,  from 
melancholic  blood  forced  in  upon  the  heart  and  vapouring  to 
the  brain.  A  wretched  case,  in  truth,  considering  his  great 
parts  and  his  goodness  !  ' ' 

Tasso  was  soon  released,  and  taken  by  the  Duke  to  his 
villa  of  Belriguardo.  Probably  this  excursion  was  designed  to 
soothe  the  perturbed  spirits  of  the  poet.  But  it  may  also  have 
had  a  different  object.  Alfonso  may  have  judged  it  prudent  to 
sift  the  information  laid  before  him  by  Tasso's  enemies.  We 
do  not  know  what  passed  between  them.  Whether  moral 
pressure  was  applied,  resulting  in  the  disclosure  of  secrets 
compromising  Leonora  d'  Este,  cannot  now  be  ascertained  ; 
nor  is  it  worth  while  to  discuss  the  hypothesis  that  the  Duke, 
in  order  to  secure  his  family's  honour,  imposed  on  Tasso  the 

1  Lcttere,  vol.  i.  p.  228. 


374  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

obligation  of  feigning  madness.'  There  is  a  something  not 
entirely  elucidated,  a  sediment  of  mystery  in  Tasso's  fate, 
after  this  visit  to  Belriguardo,  which  criticism  will  not  neglect 
to  notice,  but  which  no  testing,  no  clarifying  process  of  study, 
has  hitherto  explained.  All  we  can  rely  upon  for  certain  is 
that  Alfonso  sent  him  back  to  Ferrara  to  be  treated  physically 
and  spiritually  for  derangement ;  and  that  Tasso  thought  his 
life  was  in  danger.  He  took  up  his  abode  in  the  Convent  of 
S.  Francis,  submitted  to  be  purged,  and  began  writing  eloquent 
letters  to  his  friends  and  patrons.  Those  which  he  addressed 
to  the  Duke  of  Ferrara  at  this  crisis,  weigh  naturally  heaviest 
in  the  scale  of  criticism.^  They  turn  upon  his  dread  of  the 
Inquisition,  his  fear  of  poison,  and  his  diplomatic  practice 
with  Florence.  While  admitting  '  faults  of  grave  importance  ' 
and  '  vacillation  in  the  service  of  his  prince,'  he  maintains  that 
his  secret  foes  have  exaggerated  these  ofitences,  and  have 
succeeded  in  prejudicing  the  magnanimous  and  clement  spirit 
of  Alfonso.  He  is  particularly  anxious  about  the  charge  of 
heresy.  Nothing  indicates  that  any  guilt  of  greater  moment 
weighed  upon  his  conscience.^  After  scrutinising  all  accessible 
sources  of  information,  we  are  thus  driven  to  accept  the  prosaic 
hypothesis  that  Tasso  was  deranged,  and  that  his  Court-rivals 
had  availed  themselves  of  a  favourable  opportunity  for  making 
the  Duke  sensible  of  his  insanity. 

After  the   middle   of    July,   the   Convent  of    S.    Francis 

'  This  is  Eosini's  hypothesis  in  the  Essay  cited  above.  The  whole 
of  his  elaborate  and  ingenious  theory  rests  upon  the  supposition  tliat 
Alfonso  at  Belriguardo  extorted  from  Tasso  an  acknowledgment  of  his 
liaison  with  Leonora,  and  spared  his  life  on  the  condition  of  his  playing 
a  fool's  part  before  the  world.  But  we  have  no  evidence  whatever 
adequate  to  support  the  supposition. 

-  Lettere,  vol.  i.  pp.  2o7-!i62. 

^  Those  who  adhere  to  the  belief  that  all  Tasso's  troubles  came  upon 
him  through  his  liaison  with  Leonora,  are  here  of  course  justified  iu 
arguing  that  on  this  point  he  could  not  write  openly  to  the  Duke.  Or 
they  may  question  the  integrity  of  the  document. 


ESCAPE   TO   SOERENTO  375 

became  intolerable  to  Tasso.  His  malady  had  assumed  the 
form  of  a  multiplex  fear,  which  never  afterwards  relaxed  its 
hold  on  his  imagination.  The  Inquisition,  the  Duke,  the 
multitude  of  secret  enemies  plotting  murder,  haunted  him  day 
and  night  like  furies.  He  escaped,  and  made  his  way,  dis- 
guised in  a  peasant's  costume,  avoiding  cities,  harbouring  in 
mountain  hamlets,  to  Sorrento.  Manso,  who  wrote  the 
history  of  Tasso's  life  in  the  spirit  of  a  novelist,  has  painted 
for  us  a  romantic  picture  of  the  poet  in  a  shepherd's  hut.^  It 
recalls  Erminia  among  the  pastoral  people.  Indeed,  the 
interest  of  that  episode  in  the  '  Gerusalemme '  is  heightened 
by  the  fact  that  its  ill-starred  author  tested  the  reality  of  his 
creation  ofttimes  in  the  course  of  this  pathetic  pilgrimage. 
Artists  of  the  Bolognese  Academy  have  placed  Erminia  on 
their  canvases.  But,  up  to  the  present  time,  I  know  of  no 
great  painter  who  has  chosen  the  more  striking  incident  of 
Tasso  exchanging  his  Court-dress  for  sheepskin  and  a  fustian 
jacket  in  the  smoky  cottage  at  Velletri. 

He  reached  Sorrento  safely — '  that  most  enchanting  region, 
which  at  all  times  ofiers  a  delightful  sojourn  to  men  and  to 
the  Muses ;  but  at  the  warm  season  of  the  year,  when  other 
places  are  intolerable,  affords  peculiar  solace  in  the  verdure 
of  its  foliage,  the  shadow  of  its  woods,  the  lightness  of  the 
fanning  airs,  the  freshness  of  the  limpid  waters  flowing  from 
impendent  hills,  the  fertile  expanse  of  tilth,  the  serene  air, 
the  tranquil  sea,  the  fishes  and  the  birds  and  savoury  fruits 
in  marvellous  variety  ;  all  which  delights  compose  a  garden 
for  the  intellect  and  senses,  planned  by  Nature  in  her  rarest 
mood,  and  perfected  by  art  with  most  consummate  curiosity.'^ 
Into  this  earthly  paradise  the  wayworn  pilgrim  entered.  It 
was  his  birthplace  ;  and  here  his  sister  still  dwelt  with  her 
children.     Tasso  sought  Cornelia's  home.     After  a  dramatic 

'  Eosini's  edition  of  Tasso,  vol.  xxx.  p.  144. 
*  Manso,  ib.  p.  4G.     . 


376  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

scene  of  suspense,  he  threw  aside  his  disguise,  declared  him- 
self to  be  the  poet  of  Italy  and  her  brother  ;  and  for  a  short 
while  he  seemed  to  forget  Courts  and  schools,  pedants  and 
princes,  in  that  genial  atmosphere. 

Why  did  he  ever  leave  Sorrento  ?  That  is  the  question 
which  leaps  to  the  lips  of  a  modern  free  man.  The  question 
itself  implies  imperfect  comprehension  of  Tasso's  century 
and  training.  Outside  the  Court,  there  was  no  place  for  him. 
He  had  been  moulded  for  Court-life  from  childhood.  It  was 
not  merely  that  he  had  no  money ;  assiduous  labour  might 
have  supplied  him  with  means  of  subsistence.  But  his  friends, 
his  fame,  his  habits,  his  engrained  sense  of  service,  called  him 
back  to  Ferrara.  He  was  not  simply  a  man,  but  that  specific 
sort  of  man  which  Italians  call  gentiluomo — a  man  definitely 
modified  and  wound  about  with  intricacies  of  association. 
Therefore,  he  soon  began  a  correspondence  with  the  House  of 
Este.  If  we  may  trust  Manso,  Leonora  herself  wrote  urgently 
insisting  upon  his  return.^  Yet  in  his  own  letters  Tasso  says 
tbat  he  addressed  apologies  to  the  Duke  and  both  princesses. 
Alfonso  and  Lucrezia  vouchsafed  no  answer.  Leonora  replied 
coldly  that  she  could  not  help  him.^ 

Anyhow,  Ferrara  drew  him  back.  It  is  of  some  importance 
here  to  understand  Tasso's  own  feeling  for  the  Duke,  his 
master.  A  few  months  later,  after  he  had  once  more  ex- 
perienced the  miseries  of  Court-life,  he  wrote  :  '  I  trusted  in 
him,  not  as  one  hopes  in  men,  but  as  one  trusts  in  God.  .  .  . 
I  was  inflamed  with  the  affection  for  my  lord  more  than  ever 
was  man  with  the  love  of  woman,  and  became  unawares  half 
an  idolater.  ...  He  it  was  who  from  the  obscurity  of  my  low 
fortunes  raised  me  to  the  light  and  reputation  of  the  Court ; 
who  relieved  me  from  discomforts,  and  placed  me  in  a  position 
of  honourable  ease ;  he  conferred  value  on  my  compositions 
by  listening  to  them  when  I  read  them,  and  by  every  mark  of 

'  Manso,  ib.  p.  147.  ^  Lettere,  vol.  i.  p.  275. 


HANKERING   AFTEE   FERRARA  377 

favour  ;  he  deigned  to  honour  me  with  a  seat  at  his  table  and 
with  his  famiHar  conversation ;  he  never  refused  a  favour 
which  I  begged  for  ;  lastly,  at  the  commencement  of  my 
troubles,  he  showed  me  the  affection,  not  of  a  master,  but  of  a 
father  and  a  brother.'  ^  These  words,  though  meant  for  pub- 
lication, have  the  ring  of  truth  in  them.  Tasso  was  actually 
attached  to  the  House  of  Este,  and  cherished  a  vassal's  loyalty 
for  the  Duke,  in  spite  of  the  many  efforts  which  he  made  to 
break  the  fetters  of  Ferrara.  At  a  distance,  in  the  isolation 
and  the  ennui  of  a  village,  the  irksomeness  of  those  chains  was 
forgotten.  The  poet  only  remembered  how  sweet  his  happier 
years  at  Court  had  been.  The  sentiment  of  fidelity  revived. 
His  sanguine  and  visionary  temperament  made  him  hope  that 
all  might  yet  be  well. 

Without  receiving  direct  encouragement  from  the  Duke, 
Tasso  accordingly  decided  on  returning.  His  sister  is  said  to 
have  dissuaded  him  ;  and  he  is  reported  to  have  replied  that 
he  was  going  to  place  himself  in  a  voluntary  prison.^  He 
first  went  to  Rome,  and  opened  negotiations  with  Alfonso's 
agents.  In  reply  to  their  communications,  the  Duke  wrote 
upon  March  22,  1578,  as  follows  :  '  We  are  content  to  take 
Tasso  back  ;  but  first  he  must  recognise  the  fact  that  he  is 
full  of  melancholic  humours,  and  that  his  old  notions  of 
enmities  and  persecutions  are  solely  caused  by  the  said 
humours.  Among  other  signs  of  his  disorder,  he  has  con- 
ceived the  idea  that  we  want  to  compass  his  death,  whereas 
we  have  always  received  him  gladly  and  shown  favour  to  him. 
It  can  easily  be  understood  that  if  we  had  entertained  such  a 
fancy,  the  execution  of  it  would  have  presented  no  difficulty. 

'  Lettere,  vol.  i.  p.  278,  ii.  p.  26. 

2  Manso,  p.  147.  Here  again  the  believers  in  tne  Leonora  liaison 
may  argue  that  by  prison  he  meant  love-bondage,  hopeless  servitude  to 
the  lady  from  whom  he  could  expect  nothing  now  that  her  brother  was 
acquainted  with  the  truth. 


378  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

Therefore  let  him  make  his  mind  up  well,  before  he  comes,  to 
submit  quietly  and  unconditionally  to  medical  treatment. 
Otherwise,  if  he  means  to  scatter  hints  and  words  again  as  he 
did  formerly,  we  shall  not  only  give  ourselves  no  further 
trouble  about  him,  but  if  he  should  stay  here  without  being 
willing  to  undergo  a  course  of  cure,  we  shall  at  once  expel 
him  from  our  State  with  the  order  not  to  return.' '  Words 
could  not  be  plainer  than  these.  Yet,  in  spite  of  them,  such 
was  the  allurement  of  the  cage  for  this  clipped  singing-bird, 
that  Tasso  went  obediently  back  to  Ferrara.  Possibly  he  had 
not  read  the  letter  written  by  a  greater  poet  on  a  similar 
occasion  :  '  This  is  not  the  way  of  coming  home,  my  father  ! 
Yet  if  you  or  others  find  one  not  beneath  the  fame  of  Dante 
and  his  honour,  that  will  I  pursue  with  no  slack  step.  But  if 
none  such  give  entrance  to  Florence,  I  will  never  enter 
Florence.  How  !  Shall  I  not  behold  the  sun  and  stars  from 
every  spot  of  earth  ?  Shall  I  not  be  free  to  meditate  the 
sweetest  truths  in  every  place  beneath  the  sky  unless  I  make 
myself  ignoble,  nay,  ignominious  to  the  people  and  the  state 
of  Florence  ?  Nor  truly  will  bread  fail.'  These  words,  if 
Tasso  had  remembered  them,  might  have  made  his  cheek 
blush  for  his  own  servility  and  for  the  servile  age  in  which 
he  lived.  But  the  truth  is  that  the  fleshpots  of  Egyptian 
bondage  enticed  him  ;  and,  moreover,  he  knew,  as  half -insane 
people  always  know,  that  he  required  treatment  for  his  mental 
infirmities.  In  his  heart  of  hearts  he  acknowledged  the  justice 
of  the  Duke's  conditions. 

An  Epistle  or  Oration  addressed  by  Tasso  to  the  Duke 
of  Urbino,  sets  forth  what  happened  after  his  return  to  Fer- 
rara in  1578.^  He  was  aware  that  Alfonso  thought  him  both 
mahcious  and  mad.  The  first  of  these  opinions,  which  he 
knew   to   be   false,  he   resolved   to  pass  in  silence.     But  he 

'  Leltere,  vol.  i.  p.  233.  -  lb.  vol.  i.  pp.  271-290. 


EETUEN  TO  FEREARA  IN  1578  379 

openly  admitted  the  latter,  '  esteeming  it  no  disgrace  to  make 
a  third  to  Solon  and  Brutus.'  Therefore  he  hegau  to  act  the 
madman  even  in  Rome,  neglecting  his  health,  exposing  him- 
self to  hardships,  and  indulging  intemperately  in  food  and 
wine.  By  these  means,  strange  as  it  may  seem,  he  hoped  to 
win  back  confidence  and  prove  himself  a  discreet  servant  of 
Alfonso.  Soon  after  reaching  Ferrara,  Tasso  thought  that  he 
was  gaining  ground.  He  hints  that  the  Duke  showed  signs  of 
raising  him  to  such  greatness  and  showering  favours  upon 
him  so  abundant  that  the  sleeping  viper  of  Court-envy  stirred. 
Montecatino  now  persuaded  his  master  that  prudence  and  his 
own  dignity  indicated  a  very  different  line  of  treatment.  If 
Tasso  was  to  be  great  and  honoured,  he  must  feel  that  his 
reputation  flowed  wholly  from  the  princely  favour,  not  from 
his  studies  and  illustrious  works.  Alfonso  accordingly  affected 
to  despise  the  poems  which  Tasso  presented,  and  showed  his 
will  that :  '  I  should  aspire  to  no  eminence  of  intellect,  to  no 
glory  of  literature,  but  should  lead  a  soft  and  delicate  and  idle 
life  immersed  in  sloth  and  pleasure,  escaping  like  a  runaway 
from  the  honour  of  Parnassus,  the  Lyceum)  and  the  Academy, 
into  the  lodgings  of  Epicurus,  and  should  harbour  in  those 
lodgings  in  a  quarter  where  neither  Virgil  nor  Catullus  nor 
Horace  nor  Lucretius  himself  had  ever  stayed.'  This  excited 
such  indignation  in  the  poet's  breast  that :  '  I  said  oftentimes 
with  open  face  and  free  speech  that  I  would  rather  be  a 
servant  of  any  prince  his  enemy  than  submit  to  this  indignity, 
and  in  short  odia  verbis  aspera  movi.'  Whereupon,  the  Duke 
caused  his  papers  to  be  seized,  in  order  that  the  still  imperfect 
epic  might  be  prepared  for  publication  by  the  hated  hypo- 
critical Montecatino.  When  Tasso  complained,  he  only  re- 
ceived indirect  answers  ;  and  when  he  tried  to  gain  access  to 
the  princesses,  he  was  repulsed  by  their  doorkeepers.  At  last : 
'  My  infinite  patience  was  exhausted.  Leaving  my  books  and 
writings,  after  the  service  of  thirteen  years,  persisted  in  with 


380  RENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

luckless  constancy,  I  wandered  forth  like  a  new  Bias,  and 
betook  myself  to  Mantua,  where  I  met  with  the  same  treatment 
as  at  Ferrara.' 

This  account  sufficiently  betrays  the  diseased  state  of 
Tasso's  mind.  Being  really  deranged,  yet  still  possessed  of 
all  his  literary  faculties,  he  affected  that  his  eccentricity  was 
feigned.  The  Duke  had  formed  a  firm  opinion  of  his  madness  ; 
and  he  chose  to  flatter  this  whim.  Yet  when  he  arrived  at 
Ferrara,  he  forgot  the  strict  conditions  upon  which  Alfonso 
sanctioned  his  return,  began  to  indulge  in  dreams  of  greatness, 
and  refused  the  life  of  careless  ease  which  formed  part  of  the 
programme  for  his  restoration  to  health.  In  these  circum- 
stances he  became  the  laughing-stock  of  his  detractors  ;  and 
it  is  not  impossible  that  Alfonso,  convinced  of  his  insanity, 
treated  him  like  a  Court-fool.  Then  he  burst  out  into 
menaces  and  mutterings  of  anger.  When  he  had  made  him- 
self wholly  intolerable,  his  papers  were  sequestrated,  very 
likely  under  the  impression  that  he  might  destroy  them  or 
escape  with  them  into  some  quarter  where  they  would  be  used 
against  the  interests  of  his  patron.  Finally,  he  so  fatigued 
everybody  by  his  suspicions  and  recriminations  that  the  Duke 
forbore  to  speak  with  him,  and  the  princesses  closed  their 
doors  against  him. 

From  this  moment  Tasso  was  a  ruined  man ;  he  had 
become  that  worst  of  social  scourges,  a  courtier  with  a 
grievance,  a  semi-lunatic  all  the  more  dangerous  and  tire- 
some because  his  mental  powers  were  not  so  much  impaired 
as  warped.  Studying  his  elaborate  apology,  we  do  not  know 
whether  to  despise  the  obstinacy  of  his  devotion  to  the  House 
of  Este,  or  to  respect  the  sentiment  of  loyalty  which  survived 
all  real  or  fancied  insults.  Against  the  Duke  he  utters  no 
word  of  blame.  Alfonso  is  always  magnanimous  and  clement, 
excellent  in  mind  and  body,  good  and  courteous  by  nature, 
deserving  the  faithful  service  and  warm  love  of  his  dependents. 


TASSO   AT  VENICE   AND   UEBINO  381 

Montecatino  is  the  real  villain.     '  The  princes  are  not  tyrants 
— they  are  not,  no,  no  :  he  is  the  tyrant.' ' 

After  quitting  Ferrara,  Tasso  wandered  through  Mantua, 
Padua,  Venice,  coldly  received  in  all  these  cities ;  for  '  the 
hearts  of  men  were  hardened  by  their  interests  against  him.' 
Writing  from  Venice  to  the  Grand  Duke  in  July,  Maffeo 
Veniero  says  :  '  Tasso  is  here,  disturbed  in  mind ;  and  though 
his  intellect  is  certainly  not  sound,  he  shows  more  signs  of 
affliction  than  of  insanity.'  ^  The  sequestration  of  his  only 
copy  of  the  '  Gerusalemme '  not  unnaturally  caused  him  much 
distress  ;  and  Veniero  adds  that  the  chief  difficulty  under 
which  he  laboured,  was  want  of  money.  Veniero  hardly 
understood  the  case.  Even  with  a  competence,  it  is  incredible 
that  Tasso  would  have  been  contented  to  work  quietly  at 
literature  in  a  private  position.^  From  Venice  he  found  his 
way  southward  to  Urbino,  writing  one  of  his  sublimest  odes 
upon  the  road  from  Pesaro.''  Francesco  Maria  della  Eovere 
received  him  with  accustomed  kindness ;  but  the  spirit  of 
unrest  drove  him  forth  again,  and  after  two  months  we  find 
him  once  more,  an  indigent  and  homeless  pedestrian,  upon 
the  banks  of  the  Sesia.  He  wanted  to  reach  Vercelli,  but  the 
river  was  in  flood,  and  he  owed  a  night's  lodging  to  the 
chance  courtesy  of  a  young  nobleman.  Among  the  many 
picturesque  episodes  in  Tasso's  wanderings  none  is  more 
idyllically  beautiful  than  the  tale  of  his  meeting  with  this 
handsome  youth.     He  has  told  it  himself  in  the  exordium  to 


'  Lettere,  vol.  i.  p.  289.  =  Ih.  vol.  i.  p.  233. 

^  Tasso  declares  his  inability  to  live  outside  the  Court.  '  Se  fra  i 
mali  de  1'  animo,  uno  de'  piu  gravi  ^  1'  ambizione,  egli  ammalo  di 
questo  male  gia  molti  anni  sono,  n^  raai  e  risanato  in  modo  ch'  io  abbia 
potuto  sprezzare  affatto  i  favori  e  gli  onori  del  mondo,  e  chi  puo  dargli  ' 
{Lettere,  vol.  iii.  p.  56).  '  Io  non  posso  acquetarmi  in  altra  fortuna  di 
quella  ne  la  quale  gia  nacqui '  (Ibid.  p.  243). 

*  It  is  addressed  to  the  Metaurus,  and  begins  :  '  0  del  grand' 
Apennino.' 


382  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

his  Dialogue  '  II  Padre  di  Famiglia.'  When  asked  who  he 
was  and  whither  he  was  going,  he  answered  :  '  I  was  born  in 
the  realm  of  Naples,  and  my  mother  was  a  Neapolitan  ;  but 
I  draw  my  paternal  blood  from  Bergamo,  a  Lombard  city. 
My  name  and  surname  I  pass  in  silence  :  they  are  so  obscure 
that  if  I  uttered  them,  you  would  know  neither  more  nor  less 
of  my  condition,  I  am  flying  from  the  anger  of  a  prince  and 
fortune.  My  destination  is  the  state  of  Savoy.'  Upon  this 
pilgrimage  Tasso  chose  the  sobriquet  of  Omero  Fuggiguerra. 
Arriving  at  Turin,  he  was  refused  entrance  by  the  guardians 
of  the  gate.  The  rags  upon  his  back  made  them  suspect  he 
was  a  vagabond  infected  with  the  plague.  A  friend  who  knew 
him,  Angelo  Ingegneri,  happened  to  pass  by,  and  guaranteed 
his  respectability.  Manso  compares  the  journey  of  this  penni- 
less and  haggard  fugitive  through  the  cities  of  Italy  to  the 
meteoric  passage  of  a  comet.  ^  Wherever  he  appeared,  he 
blazed  with  momentary  splendour.  Nor  was  Turin  slow  to 
hail  the  lustrous  apparition.  The  Marchese  Filippo  da  Este 
entertained  him  in  his  palace.  The  Archbishop,  Girolamo 
della  Eovere,  begged  the  honour  of  his  company.  The  Duke 
of  Savoy,  Carlo  Emanuele,  offered  him  the  same  appointments 
as  he  had  enjoyed  at  Ferrara.  Nothing,  however,  would  con- 
tent his  morbid  spirit.  Flattered  and  caressed  through  the 
months  of  October  and  November,  he  began  once  more  in 
December  to  hanker  after  his  old  home.  Inconceivable  as  it 
may  seem,  he  opened  fresh  negotiations  with  the  Duke ;  and 
Alfonso,  on  his  side,  already  showed  a  will  to  take  him  back. 
Writing  to  his  sister  from  Pesaro  at  the  end  of  September, 
Tasso  says  that  a  gentleman  had  been  sent  from  Ferrara 
expressly  to  recall  him.^  The  fact  seems  to  be  that  Tasso 
was  too  illustrious  to  be  neglected  by  the  House  of  Este. 
Away  from  their  protection,  he  was  capable  of  bringing  on 

'  Op.  cit.  p.  143.  ^  Lettere,  vol.  i.  p.  268. 


RETURN   TO   FERRARA   LN    lo79  383 

their  name  the  slur  of  bad  treatment  and  ingratitude.  Nor 
would  it  have  looked  well  to  publish  the  '  Gerusalemme  '  with 
its  praises  of  Alfonso,  while  the  poet  was  lamenting  his  hard 
fate  in  every  town  of  Italy.  The  upshot  of  these  negotiations 
was  that  Tasso  resolved  on  retracing  his  steps.  He  reached 
Ferrara  again  upon  February  21,  1579,  two  days  before 
Margherita  Gonzaga,  the  Duke's  new  bride,  made  her  pomp- 
ous entrance  into  the  city.  But  his  reception  was  far  from 
being  what  he  had  expected.  The  Duke's  heart  seemed 
hardened.  Apartments  inferior  to  his  quality  were  assigned 
him,  and  to  these  he  was  conducted  by  a  courtier  with  ill-dis- 
guised insolence.  The  princesses  refused  him  access  to  their 
lodgings,  and  his  old  enemies  openly  manifested  their  derision 
for  the  kill -joy  and  the  skeleton  who  had  returned  to  spoil 
their  festival.  Tasso,  querulous  as  he  was  about  his  own 
share  in  the  disagreeables  of  existence,  remained  wholly 
unsympathetic  to  the  trials  of  his  fellow'-creatures.  Self- 
engrossment  closed  him  in  a  magic  prison-house  of  discontent. 
Therefore,  when  he  saw  Ferrara  full  of  merry-making  guests, 
and  heard  the  marriage  music  ringing  through  the  courtyards 
of  the  castle,  he  failed  to  reflect  with  what  a  heavy  heart  the 
Duke  might  now  be  entering  upon  his  third  sterile  nuptials. 
Alfonso  was  childless,  brotherless,  with  no  legitimate  heir  to 
defend  his  duchy  from  the  Church  in  case  of  his  decease. 
The  irritable  poet  forgot  how  distasteful  at  such  a  moment  of 
forced  gaiety  and  hollow  parade  his  reappearance,  with  the 
old  complaining  murmurs,  the  old  suspicions,  the  old  restless 
eyes,  might  be  to  the  master  who  had  certainly  borne  much 
and  long  with  him.     He  only  felt  himself  neglected,  insulted, 

outraged : 

Questa  e  la  data  fede  '? 
Son  questi  i  miei  bramati  alti  ritorni  ?  ' 


'  From  the  sonnet,  Sposa  regal  (Opere,  vol.  iii.  p.  218). 


384  KENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

Then  be  burst  out  into  angry  words,  which  be  afterwards 
acknowledged  to  have  been  '  false,  mad,  and  rash.' '  The 
Duke's  patience  bad  reached  its  utmost  limit.  Tasso  was 
arrested,  and  confined  in  the  hospital  for  mad  folk  at  S. 
Anna.  This  happened  in  March  1579.  He  was  detained 
there  until  July  19,  1586,  a  period  of  seven  years  and  four 
months. 

No  one  who  has  read  the  foregoing  pages,  will  wonder 
why  Tasso  was  imprisoned.  The  marvel  is  rather  that  the 
fact  should  have  roused  so  many  speculations.  Alfonso  was 
an  autocratic  princeling.  His  favourite  minister,  Monte- 
catino,  fell  in  one  moment  from  the  height  of  power  to 
irrecoverable  ruin.  The  famous  preacher,  Panigarola,  for 
whom  he  negotiated  a  Cardinal's  bat,  lost  bis  esteem  by 
seeking  promotion  at  another  Court,  and  had  to  fly  Ferrara. 
His  friend,  Ercole  Contrario,  was  strangled  in  the  castle  on 
suspicion  of  having  concealed  a  murder.  Tasso  had  been 
warned  repeatedly,  repeatedly  forgiven ;  and  now  when  be 
turned  up  again  with  the  same  complaints  and  the  same 
menaces,  Alfonso  determined  to  have  done  with  the  nuisance. 
He  would  not  kill  him,  but  be  would  put  him  out  of  sight 
and  hearing.  If  he  was  guilty,  S.  Anna  would  be  punish- 
ment enough.  If  he  was  mad,  it  might  be  hoped  that  S. 
Anna  would  cure  him.  To  blame  the  Duke  for  this  exercise 
of  authority,  is  difficult.  Noble  as  is  the  poet's  calling,  and 
faithful  as  are  the  wounds  of  a  devoted  friend  and  servant, 
there  are  limits  to  princely  patience.  It  is  easier  to  blame 
Tasso  for  the  incurable  idealism  which,  when  be  was  in 
comfort  at  Turin,  made  him  pine  '  to  kiss  the  band  of  big 
Highness,  and  recover  some  part  of  his  favour  on  the  occasion 
of  his  marriage.'  ^ 

Three  long  letters,  written  by  Tasso  during  the  early 
months  of  his  imprisonment,  discuss  the  reasons  for  his 
'  Lctterc,  vol.  ii.  p.  67.  ^  Ibid.  vol.  ii.  p.  34. 


CAUSES   OF   TASSO'S   DETENTION  3S5 

arrest.'  Two  of  these  are  directed  to  his  staunch  friend 
Scipione  Gonzaga,  the  third  to  Giacomo  Buoncompagno, 
nephew  of  Pope  Gregory  XIII.  Partly  owing  to  omissions 
made  by  the  editors  before  pubhcation,  and  partly  perhaps  to 
the  writer's  reticence,  they  throw  no  very  certain  light  even 
on  his  own  opinion. ^  But  this  much  appears  tolerably  clear,- 
Tasso  was  half-mad  and  altogether  irritable.  He  had  used 
language  which  could  not  be  overlooked.  The  Duke  con- 
tinued to  resent  his  former  practice  with  the  Medici,  and 
disapproved  of  his  perpetual  wanderings.  The  courtiers  had 
done  their  utmost  to  prejudice  his  mind  by  calumnies  and 
gossip,  raking  up  all  that  seemed  injurious  to  Tasso's  repu- 
tation in  the  past  acts  of  his  life  and  in  the  looser  verses 
found  among  his  papers.  It  may  also  be  conceded  that  they 
contrived  to  cast  an  unfavourable  light  upon  his  affectionate 
correspondence  with  the  two  princesses.  Tasso  himself  laid 
great  stress  upon  his  want  of  absolute  loyalty,  upon  some 
lascivious  compositions,  and  lastly  upon  his  supposed  heresie?. 
It  is  not  probable  that  the  Duke  attached  importance  to  such 
poetry  as  Tasso  may  have  written  in  the  heat  of  youth  ;  and 
it  is  certain  that  he  regarded  the  heresies  as  part  of  the  poet's 
hallucinations.  It  is  also  far  more  likely  that  the  Leonora 
episode  passed  in  his  mind  for  another  proof  of  mental 
infirmity  than  that  he  judged  it  seriously.  It  was  quite 
enough  that  Tasso  had  put  himself  in  the  wrong  by  petulant 
abuse  of  his  benefactor  and  by  persistent  fretfulness.  More- 
over, he  was  plainly  brain-sick.  That  alone  justified  Alfonso 
in  his  own  eyes. 

'  Lettere,  pp.  7-62,  80-93. 

*  We  are  met  here  as  elsewhere  in  the  perplexing  problem  of  Tasso's 
misfortunes  with  the  difficulty  of  having  to  deal  with  mutilated  docu- 
ments. Still  the  mere  fact  that  Tasfo  was  allowed  to  correspond  freely 
with  friends  and  patrons,  shows  that  Alfonso  di'eaded  no  disclosures, 
and  confirms  the  theory  that  he  only  kept  Tasso  locked  up  out  of 
harm's  way. 

VI  C  C 


386  RENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

And  brain-sick  Tasso  was,  without  a  shadow  of  doubt.' 
It  is  hardly  needful  to  recapitulate  his  terror  of  the  Inqui- 
sition, dread  of  being  poisoned,  incapacity  for  self-control  in 
word  and  act,  and  other  signs  of  incipient  disease.  During 
the  residence  in  S.  Anna  this  malady  made  progress.  He 
•v\'as  tormented  by  spectral  voices  and  apparitions.  He 
believed  himself  to  be  under  the  influence  of  magic  charms. 
He  was  haunted  by  a  sprite,  who  stole  his  books  and  flung 
his  MSS.  about  the  room.  A  good  genius,  in  the  form  of  a 
handsome  youth,  appeared  and  conversed  with  him.  He  lost 
himself  for  hours  together  in  abstraction,  talking  aloud, 
staring  into  vacancy  and  expressing  surprise  that  other 
people  could  not  see  the  phantoms  which  surrounded  him. 
He  complained  that  his  melancholy  passed  at  moments  into 
delirium  (which  he  called  frenesia],  after  which  he  suffered 
from  loss  of  memory  and  prostration.  His  own  mind  became 
a  constant  cause  of  self-torture.  Suspicious  of  others,  he 
grew  to  be  suspicious  of  himself.  And  when  he  left  S.  Anna, 
these  disorders,  instead  of  abating,  continued  to  afilict  him,  so 
that  his  most  enthusiastic  admirers  were  forced  to  admit  that 
'  he  was  subject  to  constitutional  melancholy  with  crises  of 
delirium,  but  not  to  actual  insanity.'  ^     At  first,  his  infirmity 


'  A  letter  written  by  Guarini,  the  old  friend,  rival,  and  constant 
Court-companion  of  Tasso  at  Ferrara,  upon  the  news  of  his  death  in 
1595,  shows  how  a  man  of  cold  intellect  judged  his  case.  '  The  death 
by  which  Tasso  has  now  paid  his  debt  to  nature,  seems  to  me  like  the 
termination  of  that  death  of  his  in  this  world  which  only  bore  the  outer 
semblance  of  life.'  See  Cacella's  Pastor  Fido,  p.  xxxii.  Guarini  means 
that  when  Tasso's  mind  gave  way,  he  had  really  died  in  his  own  higher 
self,  and  that  his  actual  death  was  a  release. 

^  Tasso's  own  letters  after  the  beginning  of  1579,  and  Manso's  Life 
iop.  cit.  pp.  156-176),  are  the  authorities  for  the  symptoms  detailed 
above.  Tasso  so  often  alludes  to  his  infirmities  that  it  is  not  needful 
to  accumulate  citations.  I  will,  however,  quote  two  striking  examples. 
'  Sono  infermo  come  soleva,  e  scanco  della  infermita,  la  quale  e  7ion  sol 
vialattia  del  corpo  ma  de  la  mcnte  '  (Lettere,  vol.  iii.  p.  160).     '  lo  sono 


'lASSO'S   IMPRISONMENT  387 

did  not  interfere  with  intellectual  production  of  a  high  order, 
though  none  of  his  poetry,  after  the  '  Gerusalemme '  was  com- 
pleted in  1574,  rose  to  the  level  of  his  earlier  work.  But  in 
course  of  time  the  artist's  faculty  itself  was  injured,  and  the 
creations  of  his  later  life  are  unworthy  of  his  genius. 

The  seven  years  and  four  months  of  Tasso's  imprisonment 
may  be  passed  over  briefly.  With  regard  to  his  so-called 
dungeon,  it  is  certain  that,  after  some  months  spent  in  a 
narrow  chamber,  he  obtained  an  apartment  of  several  rooms. 
He  was  allowed  to  write  and  receive  as  many  letters  as  he 
chose.  Friends  paid  him  visits,  and  he  went  abroad  under 
surveillance  in  the  city  of  Ferrara,  To  extenuate  the  suffer- 
ing which  a  man  of  his  temper  endured  in  this  enforced 
seclusion  would  be  unjust  to  Tasso.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
he  was  most  unhappy.  But  to  exaggerate  his  discomforts 
would  be  unjust  to  the  Duke.  Even  Mg^nso  describes  '  the 
excellent  and  most  convenient  lodgings  '  assigned  him  in 
S.  Anna,  alludes  to  the  provision  for  his  cure  by  medicine, 
and  remarks  upon  the  opposition  which  he  offered  to  medical 
treatment.  According  to  this  biographer,  his  own  endeavours 
to  escape  necessitated  a  strict  watch  upon  his  movements.' 
Unless,  therefore,  we  flatly  deny  the  fact  of  his  derangement, 
which  is  supported  by  a  mass  of  testimony,  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  Tasso  was  more  miserable  in  S.  Anna  than  he  would 
have  been  at  large.  The  subsequent  events  of  his  life  prove 
that  his  release  brought  no  mitigation  of  his  malady. 

It  was,  however,  a  dreary  time.  He  spent  his  days  in 
writing  letters  to  all  the  princes  of  Italy,  to  Naples,  to 
Bergamo,  to  the  Roman  Curia,  declaiming  on  his  wretched- 
ness and  begging  for  emancipation.  Occasional  poems 
flowed  from  his  pen.      But   during  this  period  he   devoted 

poco  sano  e  tanto  maninconico  che  sono  riputato  viatto  da  gli  altri  e 
da  me  stesso  '  (16.  p.  262). 
'  Op.  cit.  p.  155. 

c  c  2 


388  EENAISSANCE   IN   ITALY 

his  serious  hours  mainly  to  prose  composition.  The  bulk  of 
his  Dialogues  issued  from  S.  Anna.  On  August  7,  1580, 
Celio  Malaspina  published  a  portion  of  the  '  Gerusalemme  ' 
at  Venice,  under  the  title  of  '  II  Gottifredo  di  M.  Torquato 
Tasso,'  In  February  of  the  following  year,  his  friend  Angelo 
Ingegneri  gave  the  whole  epic  to  the  world.  Within  six 
months  from  that  date  the  poem  was  seven  times  reissued. 
This  happened  without  the  sanction  or  the  supervision  of 
the  luckless  author ;  and  from  the  sale  of  the  book  he 
obtained  no  profit.  Leonora  d'  Este  died  upon  February  10, 
1581.  A  volume  of  elegies  appeared  on  this  occasion  ;  but 
Tasso's  Muse  uttered  no  sound.^  He  wrote  to  Panigarola 
that  '  a  certain  tacit  repugnance  of  his  genius '  forced  him  to 
be  mute.'^  His  rival  Guarini  undertook  a  revised  edition  of 
his  lyrics  in  1582.  Tasso  had  to  bear  this  dubious  compli- 
ment in  silence.  All  Europe  was  devouring  his  poems ; 
scribes  and  versifiers  were  building  up  their  reputation  on 
his  fame.  Yet  he  could  do  nothing.  Embittered  by  the 
piracies  of  publishers,  infuriated  by  the  impertinence  of 
editors,  he  lay  like  one  forgotten  in  that  hospital.  His 
celebrity  grew  daily ;  but  he  languished,  penniless  and 
wretched,  in  confinement  which  he  loathed.  The  strangest 
light  is  cast  upon  his  state  of  mind  by  the  efforts  which 
he  now  made  to  place  two  of  his  sister's  children  in  Court- 
service.  He  even  tried  to  introduce  one  of  them  as  a  page 
into  the  household  of  Alfonso.  Eventually,  Alessandro 
Sersale  was  consigned  to  Odoardo  Farnese,  and  Antonio  to 
the  Duke  of  Mantua.  In  1585  new  sources  of  annoyance 
rose.      Two    members    of    the    Delia    Crusca   Academy   in 

'  Lacrime  di  diversi  pocti  volgari,  &c.  (Vicenza,  1585). 

^  Lettere,  vol.  ii.  p.  103.  The  significance  of  this  message  to 
Panigarola  is  doubtful.  Did  Tasso  mean  that  the  contrast  between  past 
and  present  was  too  bitter  ?  '  Most  friendship  is  feigning,  most  loving 
mere  folly.' 


LIFE    IX   THE   nOsriTAL  389 

Florence,  Leonardo  Salviati  and  Bastiano  de'  Eossi,  at- 
tacked the  *  Gerusalemnie.'  Their  malevolence  was  aroused 
by  the  panegyric  written  on  it  by  Cammillo  Pellegrini,  a 
Neapolitan,  and  they  exposed  it  to  pedantically  quibbling 
criticism.  Tasso  replied  in  a  dignified  apology.  But  he 
does  not  seem  to  have  troubled  himself  overmuch  with  this 
literary  warfare,  which  served  meanwhile  to  extend  the  fame 
of  his  immortal  poem.  At  this  time  new  friends  gathered 
round  him.  Among  these  the  excellent  Benedictine,  Angelo 
Grillo,  and  the  faithful  Antonio  Constantini  demand  com- 
memoration from  all  who  appreciate  disinterested  devotion 
to  genius  in  distress.  At  length,  in  July  1586-,  Vincenzo 
Gonzaga,  heir-apparent  to  the  Duchy  of  Mantua,  obtained 
Tasso's  release.  He  rode  off  with  this  new  patron  to  Mantua, 
leaving  his  effects  at  S.  Anna,  and  only  regretting  that  he 
had  not  waited  on  the  Duke  of  Ferrara  to  kiss  his  hand  as 
in  duty  bound.'  Thus  to  the  end  he  remained  an  incorrigible 
courtier;  or  rather  shall  we  say  that,  after  alibis  tribulations, 
he  preserved  a  dog-like  feeling  of  attachment  for  his  master  ? 
The  rest  of  Tasso's  life  was  an  Odyssey  of  nine  years.  He 
seemed  at  first  contented  with  Mantua,  wrote  dialogues,  com- 
pleted the  tragedy  of  '  Torrismondo  '  and  edited  his  father's 
'  Floridante.'  But  when  Vincenzo  Gonzaga  succeeded  to  the 
dukedom,  the  restless  poet  felt  himself  neglected.  His  young 
friend  had  not  leisure  to  pay  him  due  attention.  He  there ^ 
fore  started  on  a  journey  to  Loreto,  which  had  long  been  the 
object  of  his  pious  aspiration.  Loreto  led  to  Kome,  where 
Scipione  Gonzaga  resided  as  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  and  Car- 
dinal. Rome  suggested  Southern  Italy,  and  Tasso  hankered 
after  the  recovery  of  his  mother's  fortune.  Accordingly  he 
set  oft'  in  March  1588  for  Naples,  where  he  stayed,  partly 
■with   the    monks   of    Monte   Oliveto,    and  partly  with   the 

'  All  the  letters  written  from  Mantua  abound  in  references  to  this 
neglect  of  duty. 


S90  KENAISSAKCE   IN   ITALY 

Marchese  Manso.  Eome  saw  him  again  in  November ;  and 
not  long  afterwards  an  agent  of  the  Duke  of  Urbino  wrote 
this  pitiful  report  of  his  condition :  '  Everyone  is  ready  to 
welcome  him  to  hearth  and  heart ;  but  his  humours  render 
him  mistrustful  of  mankind  at  large.  In  the  palace  of  the 
Cardinal  Gonzaga  there  are  rooms  and  beds  always  ready  for 
his  use,  and  men  reserved  for  his  especial  service.  Yet  he 
runs  away  and  mistrusts  even  that  friendly  lord.  In  short,  it 
is  a  sad  misfortune  that  the  present  age  should  be  deprived 
of  the  greatest  genius  which  has  appeared  for  centuries. 
What  wise  man  ever  spoke  in  prose  or  verse  better  than  this 
madman  ?  ' '  In  the  following  August,  Scipione  Gonzaga's 
servants,  unable  to  endure  Tasso's  eccentricities,  turned  him 
from  their  master's  house,  and  he  took  refuge  in  a  monastery 
of  the  Olivetan  monks.  Soon  afterwards  he  was  carried  to 
the  hospital  of  the  Bergamasques.  His  misery  now  was 
great,  and  his  health  so  bad  that  friends  expected  a  speedy 
end.''^  Yet  the  Cardinal  Gonzaga  again  opened  his  doors  to 
him  in  the  spring  of  1590.  Then  the  morbid  poet  turned 
suspicious,  and  began  to  indulge  fresh  hopes  of  fortune  in 
another  place.  He  would  again  offer  himself  to  the  Medici. 
In  April  he  set  off  for  Tuscany,  and  alighted  at  the  convent 
of  Monte  Oliveto,  near  Florence.  Nobody  wanted  him ;  he 
wandered  about  the  Pifcti  like  a  spectre,  and  the  Florentines 
wrote  :  *  actum  est  dc  eo.'  ^  Some  parting  compliments  and 
presents  from  the  Grand  Duke  sweetened  his  dismissal.  He 
returned  to  Rome  ;  but  each  new  journey  told  upon  his  broken 
health,  and  another  illness  made  him  desire  a  change  of  scene. 
This  time  Antonio  Costantini  offered  to  attend  upon  him. 
They  visited  Siena,  Bologna,  and  Mantua.  At  Mantua,  Tasso 
made  some  halt,  and  took  a  new  long  poem,  the '  Gerusalemme 
Conquistata,'  seriously  in  hand.     But  the  demon  of  unrest 

'  Lctterc^  voK  iv.  p.  147. 
«  Ibid.  p.  229.  '  Ibid.  p.  815. 


LA8T   YEARS   AT   NAPLES   AND   EOME  S91 

pursued  bim,  and  in  November  1591  be  was  off  again  witb 
tbe  Duke  of  Mantua  to  Rome.  From  Rome  be  went  to  Naples 
at  tbe  beginning  of  tbe  following  year,  worked  at  tbe  '  Con- 
quistata,'  and  began  bis  poem  of  tbe  '  Sette  Giornate.'  '  He 
was  always  occupied  witb  tbe  vain  bope  of  recovering  a 
portion  of  bis  motber's  estate.  April  saw  bim  once  more 
upon  bis  way  to  Rome.  Clement  VIII.  bad  been  elected, 
and  Tasso  expected  patronage  from  tbe  Papal  nepbews.'^  He 
was  not  disappointed.  Tbey  received  bim  into  tbeir  bouses, 
and  for  awbile  be  sojourned  in  tbe  Vatican.  Tbe  year  1593 
seems,  tbrougb  tbeir  means,  to  bave  been  one  of  comparative 
peace  and  prosperity.  Early  in  tbe  summer  of  1594  his 
bealtb  obliged  bim  to  seek  cbange  of  air.  He  went  for  tbe 
last  time  to  Naples.  Tbe  Cardinal  of  S.  Giorgio,  one  of  tbe 
Pope's  nepbews,  recalled  bim  in  November  to  be  crowned 
poet  in  Rome.  His  entrance  into  tbe  Eternal  City  was 
honourable,  and  Clement  granted  bim  a  special  audience  ; 
but  tbe  ceremony  of  coronation  bad  to  be  deferred  because  of 
tbe  Cardinal's  ill  bealtb. 

Meanwhile  bis  prospects  seemed  likely  to  improve. 
Clement  conferred  on  bim  a  pension  of  one  hundred  ducats, 
and  tbe  Prince  of  Avellino,  who  bad  detained  his  motber's 
estate,  compounded  with  bim  for  a  life-income  of  two  hundred 
ducats.  This  good  fortune  came  in  tbe  spring  of  1595.  Bat 
it  came  too  late ;  for  bis  death-illness  was  upon  bim.  On  tbe 
first  of  April  be  bad  himself  transported  to  tbe  convent  of 
S.  Onofrio,  which  overlooks  Rome  from  tbe  Janiculan  bill. 

'  Yet  he  now  felt  that  his  genius  had  expired.  '  Non  posso  piii 
fare  un  verso  ;  la,  vena  6  secca,  e  1'  ingegno  e  stanco '  {Lettere,  vol.  v. 
p.  90). 

^  During  the  whole  period  of  his  Roman  residence,  Tasso,  like  his 
father  in  similar  circumstances,  hankered  after  ecclesiastical  honours. 
His  letters  refer  frequently  to  this  ambition.  He  felt  the  parallel 
between  himself  and  Bernardo  Tasso  :  '  La  mia  depressacondizione,  e  la 
mia  infelicitil,  quasi  ereditaria  '  (vol.  iv.  p.  288). 


392  EENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

'  Torrents  of  rain  were  falling  with  a  furious  wind,  when  the 
carriage  of  Cardinal  Cinzio  was  seen  climbing  the  steep  ascent. 
The  badness  of  the  weather  made  the  fathers  think  there  must 
be  some  grave  cause  for  this  arrival.  So  the  prior  and  others 
hurried  to  the  gate,  where  Tasso  descended  with  considerable 
difficulty,  greeting  the  monks  with  these  words  :  "  I  am  come 
to  die  among  you."  '  ^  The  last  of  Tasso's  letters,  written  to 
Antonio  Costantini  from  S.  Onofrio,  has  the  quiet  dignity  of 
one  who  struggles  for  the  last  time  with  the  frailty  of  his 
mortal  nature.^ 

'  What  will  my  good  lord  Antonio  say  when  he  shall  hear 
of  his  Tasso's  death  ?  The  news,  as  I  incline  to  think,  will 
not  be  long  in  coming ;  for  I  feel  that  I  have  reached  the  end 
of  life,  being  unable  to  discover  any  remedy  for  this  tedious 
indisposition  which  has  supervened  on  the  many  others  I  am 
used  to — like  a  rapid  torrent  resistlessly  sweeping  me  away. 
The  time  is  past  when  I  should  speak  of  my  stubborn  fate,  to 
mention  not  the  world's  ingratitude,  which,  however,  has 
willed  to  gain  the  victory  of  bearing  me  to  the  grave  a 
pauper  ;  the  while  I  kept  on  thinking  that  the  glory  which, 
despite  of  those  that  like  it  not,  this  age  will  inherit  from  my 
writings,  would  not  have  left  me  wholly  without  guerdon. 
I  have  had  myself  carried  to  this  monastery  of  S.  Onofrio  ; 
not  only  because  the  air  is  commended  by  physicians  above 
that  of  any  other  part  of  Eome,  but  also  as  it  were  upon  this 
elevated  spot  and  by  the  conversation  of  these  devout  fathers 
to  commence  my  conversation  in  heaven.  Pray  God  for  me  ; 
and  rest  assured  that  as  I  have  loved  and  honoured  you 
always  in  the  present  life,  so  will  I  perform  for  you  in  that 
other  and  more  real  life  what  appertains  not  to  feigned  but  to 

'  Manso,  op.  cit.  p.  215. 

-  This  letter  proves  conclusivelj'  that,  whatever  was  the  nature  of 
Tasso's  malady,  and  however  it  had  enfeebled  hie  faculties  as  poet,  he 
was  in  no  vulgar  sense  a  lunatic. 


DEATH   AT   S.   ONOFRIO  393 

veritable  charity.  And  to  the  Divine  grace  I  recommend  you 
and  myself.' 

On  April  25,  Tasso  expired  at  midnight,  with  the  words 
In  manus  tuas,  Doynine,  upon  his  lips.  Had  Costantini,  his 
sincerest  friend,  been  there,  he  might  have  said  like  Kent : 

O,  let  him  pass !  he  hates  him  much 
That  would  upon  the  rack  of  this  tough  world 
Stretch  him  out  longer. 

But  Costantini  was  in  Mantua  ;  and  this  sonnet,  which  he 
had  written  for  his  master,  remains  Tasso's  truest  epitaph, 
the  pithiest  summary  of  a  life  pathetically  tragic  in  its  adverse 

fate  — 

Friends,  this  is  Tasso,  not  the  sire  but  son ; 
For  he  of  human  offspring  had  no  heed. 
Begetting  for  himself  immortal  seed 
Of  art,  style,  genius  and  instruction. 

In  exile  long  he  lived  and  utmost  need ; 

In  palace,  temple,  school,  he  dwelt  alone  ; 

He  fled,  and  wandered  through  wild  woods  unknown ; 

On  earth,  on  sea,  suffered  in  thought  and  deed. 

He  knocked  at  death's  door  ;  yet  he  vanquished  him 
"With  lofty  prose  and  with  undying  rhyme  ; 
But  fortune  not,  who  laid  him  where  he  lies. 

Guerdon  for  singing  loves  and  arms  sublime, 
And  showing  truth  whose  light  makes  vices  dim, 
Is  one  green  wreath  ;  yet  this  the  world  denies. 

The  wreath  of  laurel  which  the  world  grudged  was  placed 
upon  his  bier ;  and  a  simple  stone,  engraved  with  the  words 
Hie  jacet  Torquatus  Tassus,  marked  the  spot  where  he  was 
buried. 

The  foregoing  sketch  of  Tasso's  life  and  character  differs 
in  some  points  from  the  prevalent  conceptions  of  the  poet. 
There  is  a  legendary  Tasso,  the  victim  of  malevolent  persecu- 
tion by  pedants',  the  mysterious  lover  condemned  to  misery  in 


394  KENAISSANCE   IN  ITALY 

prison  by  a  tyrannous  duke.  There  is  also  a  Tasso  formed 
by  men  of  learning  upon  ingeniously  constructed  systems  ; 
Rosini's  Tasso,  condemned  to  feign  madness  in  punishment 
for  courting  Leonora  d'  Este  with  lascivious  verses  ;  Capponi's 
Tasso,  punished  for  seeking  to  exchange  the  service  of  the 
House  of  Este  for  that  of  the  House  of  Medici ;  a  Tasso  who 
was  wholly  mad ;  a  Tasso  who  remained  through  life  the 
victim  of  Jesuitical  mfluences.  In  short,  there  are  as  many 
Tassos  as  there  are  Hamlets.  Yet  these  Tassos  of  the  legend 
and  of  erudition  do  not  reproduce  his  self-revealed  lineaments. 
Tasso's  letters  furnish  documents  of  sufficient  extent  to  make 
the  real  man  visible,  though  something  yet  remains  perhaps 
not  wholly  explicable  in  his  tragedy. 


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A  SELECTION   FROM  THE    POETRY  OF 
ELIZABETH   BARRETT   BROWNING. 

FiKsr  Series,  crown  8vo.  y.  6d.     Second  Series,  crown  Svo.  2,s.  6(/. 


POEMS. 

Small  fcp.  8yo.  half-cloth,  cut  or  uncut  edges,  is. 

EXTRACT  FROM  PREFATORY  NOTE  BY  MR.  ROBERT  BROWNING. 

'In  a  recent  "  Memoir  of  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning,"  by  John 
H.  Ingram,  it  is  observed  that  "such  essays  on  her  personal  history 
as  have  appeared,  either  in  England  or  elsewhere,  are  replete  with 
mistakes  or  misstatements."  P'or  these  he  proposes  to  substitute  "a 
correct  if  short  memoir:"  but,  kindly  and  appreciative  as  may  be 
Mr.  Ingram's  performance,  there  occur  not  a  few  passages  in  it  equally 
"  mistaken  and  misstated."' 


London:  SMITH,  ELDER,  &  CO.,  15  Waterloo  Place. 


ROBERT  BROWNINC^S  WORKS 

AND    'LIFE   AND    LETTERS.' 


THE    COMPLETE   WORKS    OF   ROBERT   BROWNING. 

Edited  and  Annotated  by  Augustine  Birrell,  Q.C,  M.P.,  and  Frederic  G. 
Kenyon.     In  2  vols,  large  crown  8vo.  bound  in  cloth,  gilt  top,  with  a  Portrait- 
Frontispiece  to  each  volume,  7.?.  6d.  per  volume. 
*»,*  An  Edition  has  also  been  printed  on  Oxford  India  Paper.     This  can  be  obtained 
only  through  booksellers,  who  will  furnish  particulars  as  to  price,  &c. 

UNIFORM    EDITION    OF    THE    WORKS   OF   ROBERT 

BROWNING.     Seventeen  Volumes,  small  crown  Svo.,  lettered  separately,  or  in 
set  binding,  price  5^.  each. 
This  Edition  contains  Three  Portraits  of  Mr.  Browning,  at  different  periods  of  life, 
and  a  few  Illustrations. 


1.  PAULINE  :  and  SORDELLO. 

2.  PARACELSUS:  &  STRAFFORD. 

3.  PIPPA  PASSES:   KING  VICTOR 

AND  KING  CHARLES  :  THE 
RETURN  OF  THE  DRUSES: 
and  A  SOUL'S  TRAGEDY.  With 
a  Portrait  of  Mr.  Browning. 

4.  A  BLOT  IN  THE  'SCUTCHEON  : 

COLOMBE'S  BIRTHDAY:  and 
MEN  AND  WOMEN. 

5.  DRAMATIC     ROMANCES:     and 

CHRISTMAS  EVE  &  EASTER 
DAY. 

6.  DRAMATIC  LYRICS: and  LURI A. 

IN  A  BALCONY:  and  DRAMATIS 
PERSONS.  With  a  Portrait  of 
Mr.  Browning. 

8.  THE    RING   AND    THE    BOOK. 

Books  I  to  4.  With  Two  Illustra- 
tions. 

9.  THE    RING    AND    THE    BOOK 

Books  5  to  8. 
ij.  THE    RING   AND    THE    BOOK. 
Books  9  to  12.     With  a  Portrait  of 
Guido  Franceschini. 


THE     "VOLXJ3S/rES. 

11.  BALAUSTION'S    ADVENTURE: 

PRINCE  HOHENSTIEL- 
SCHWANGAU,  Saviourof  Society: 
and  FIFINEATTHE  FAIR. 

12.  RED    COTTON    NIGHTCAP 

COUNTRY:  and  THE  INN 
ALBUM. 

13.  ARIS-TOPHANES'  APOLOGY,   in- 

cluding a  Transcript  from  Kuri 
pides,  being  the  Last  Adventure  of 
Balaustion:  and  THE  AGAMEM- 
NON OF  /ESCHYLUS. 

14.  PACCHIAROTTO,     and    How     he 

Worked  in  Distemper  ;  with  other 
Poems:  LA  SAISIAZ:  and  THE 
TWO  POETS  OF  CROISIC. 

15.  DRAINIATIC    IDYLS.     First  Series: 

DRAMATIC  lUYLS,  Second 
Series  :  and   TOCOSERIA. 

16.  FERISHTAH'S     FANCIES:      and 

PARLEYlNGS      WITH       CER- 
TAIN   PEOPLE    OF    IMPORT- 
•    ANCE  IN   THEIR   DAY.     With 
a  Portrait  of  Mr.  Browning. 

17.  ASOLANDO:    Fancies   and    Facts; 

and  BIOGRAPHICAL  AND  HIS- 
TORICAL NOTES  TO  THE 
POEMS. 


A    SELECTION    FROM   THE    POETICAL   WORKS    OF 

ROBERT  BROWNING.    First  Series.    Crown  Svo.  ^s.  6d.    Second  Series. 
Crown  Svo.  3^.  dd. 

POCKET     VOLUME     OF     SELECTIONS    FROM    THE 

POETICAL  WORKS  OF  ROBERT   BROWNING.     Small  fcp.    Svo.  bound 
in  half-cloth,  with  cut  or  uncut  edges,  price  One  Shilling. 


THE  LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  ROBERT  BROWNING. 

By  MRS.   SUTHERLAND  ORR.     With  Portrait,  and  Steel  Engraving  of  Mr. 
Browning's  Study  in  De  Vere  Gardens.      Second  Edition.    Crown  Svo.  12 j.  6rf. 


London:  SMITH,  ELDER,  &  CO.,   15  Waterloo  Place. 


NEW  EDITION  OF  W.  M.  THACKERAY'S  WORKS. 


TO  BE  ISSUED  IN  THIRTEEN  MONTHLY  VOLUMES. 

Large  Crown  8vo.  cloth,  gilt  top,  6s.  each. 

THE  BIOGRAPHICAL  EDITION 

W,  M.  THACKERAY'S'COMPLETE  WORKS. 

THIS  NEW  AND  REVISED  EDITION 

COMPRISES 

ADDITIONAL    MATERIAL    and    HITHERTO    UNPUBLISHED 
LETTERS,    SKETCHES,    and    DRAWINGS 

Derived  from  the  Author's  Original  Manuscripts  and  Note-Books. 

AND     EACH    VOLUME    WILL     INCLUDE    A    MEMOIR,     IN     THE    FORM     OF 
AN     INTRODUCTION, 

BY    MRS.    RICHMOND    RITCHIE. 


Ihefolloioiug  will  be  the  order  of  the  volumes : — 

1.  VANITY  FAIR.     With  20  Full-page  Illustrations,   11  Woodcuts,  a 

Facsimile  Letter,  and  a  new  Portrait.  [Ready. 

2.  PENDENNIS.     With  20  Full -page  Illustrations  and  10  Woodcuts. 

[  Ready. 

3.  YELLOWPLUSH  PAPERS,  &e.    With  24  Full-page  Reproductions 

of  Steel  Plates  by  George  Cruikshank,   ii   Woodcuts,  and  a  Portrait  of  the 
Author  by  Maclise.  [O71  Ju'ie  15. 

4.  THE  MEMOIRS   OF   BARRY   LYNDON:  The  FITZBOODLE 

PAPERS,  &c.     With  16  Full-page  Illustrations  by  Sir  J.  E.   Millais,  P.R.A., 
Luke  Fildes.  A.R.A.,  and  the  Author,  and  14  Woodcuts. 

5.  SKETCH  BOOKS,  &e.  |     9-  CHRISTMAS  BOOKS,  &e. 

6.  CONTRIBUTIONS   TO  !    10.  VIRGINIANS. 

'PUNCH.'  II.  PHILIP,  &e. 

7.  ESMOND,  &e.  12.  DENIS  DUVAL,  &e. 

8.  NEWCOMES.  I   13-  MISCELLANIES,  &C. 


From  the  DAILY  CHRONICLE.—'  We  shall  have,  when  the  thirteen  voliimes  of 
this  edition  are  issued,  not  indeed  a  biography  of  Thackeray,  but  something  which  wi]l 
delightfully  supply  the  place  of  a  biography,  and  fill  a  regretable  gap  in  our  literary 
records.' 

From  the  ACADEMY. — 'Thackeray  wished  that  no  biography  of  him  shoiild 
appear.  It  is  certain  that  the  world  has  never  ceased  to  desire  one,  hence  the  compromise 
effected  in  this  edition  of  his  works.  Mrs.  Ritchie,  his  daughter,  will  contribute  to  each 
volume  in  this  edition  her  memories  of  the  circumstances  under  which  her  father  produced 
it.     Such  memoirs,  when  complete,  cannot  fall  far  short  of  being  an  actual  biography.' 

From  the  GUARDIAN.—'  Messrs.  Smith,  Elder,  &  Co.  have  done  well  to  eive  a 
thoroughly  "  holdable"  as  well  as  readable  form  to  the  BIOGRAPHICAL  EDITION 
OF  THACKERAY.  The  new  "Vanity  Fair  "  is  handsome  enough  for  dignity,  and  yet 
light  enough  to  be  read  with  comfort.' 


A  Prospectus  of  the  Edition,  with  Specimen  Pages,  will  be  sent  post  free 
on  application. 


London:  SMITH,  ELDER,  c^  CO.,   15  Waterloo  Place. 


DATE  DUE 

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