Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/342

326 RIENZI his acts were inspired, and at 10 in the morn- ing issued forth in complete armor, bare-head- ed, and surrounded by 25 sworn confederates. By his side was the bishop of Orvieto, the pope's vicar, and he was followed by a guard of 100 men-at-arms. The procession, escorted by shouting multitudes of citizens, ascended the capitol, where the " laws of the good es- tate" were read to the people, providing for the public security in general. A guard was established for the protection of the citizens, and of the shipping and commerce on the Ti- ber; the right of the nobles to keep strong- holds within the city was abolished ; all places of defence were to be delivered to the dele- gates of the people; granaries were to be opened; the poor were assured of alms, and the magistrates were bound to administer jus- tice according to law.' The people adopted the constitution by acclamation, and Rienzi, being invested with power to establish the good estate, assumed the title of tribune in the following words : " Nicholas, by the grace of Jesus Christ, the severe and merciful, tri- bune of freedom, peace, and justice, the de- liverer of the Roman republic. The nobles, awed by this sudden revolution, surrendered their fortresses, and gave in their submission. Embassies from Florence, Perugia, Siena, and many other cities of Italy were sent to Rome to congratulate Rienzi on his good work, and to offer substantial assistance; and several powerful Christian sovereigns paid him equal deference. He himself sent an embassy to the pope to ask his approbation; and as an evidence of his submissive reverence for the papal authority, he associated the bishop of Orvieto in office with him, taking care how- ever that the honor should not be accompanied by any control of the affairs of government. Rienzi strove to augment his importance by processions, pageants, and public spectacles; spared nothing which would minister to his pomp and private luxury ; and caused himself and his wife to be waited upon by the lords and ladies of his court. On Aug. 1 he was knighted in the Lateran church, and after the ceremony summoned all potentates, ecclesias- tical or secular, who presumed to contest the prerogative of Rome to elect the emperor, to appear in the city at the ensuing Pentecost. On Aug. 15 he caused himself to be crowned in the church of Sta. Maria Maggiore with seven crowns, symbolizing the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, under whose special influence he still claimed to act. His splendid processions gradually palled upon the public taste, and the populace began to murmur at the large expen- ditures from the public treasury to support the extravagance of their tribune. The nobles, whom he alternately threatened and caressed, finally banded together, and, having recovered several of their strongholds, appeared in arms before the city. By the imprudence of his enemies he gained a victory as surprising to himself as to others, and more than 20 of the Colonnas, Orsinis, Savellis, and other noble families perished in battle or in flight. Instead of following up his advantage, he allowed his enemies to gather strength while he wasted his time in idle pageantries. The pope de- clared against him, and the people, alarmed by their rapidly increasing taxes, broke forth into open murmurs, which he was unable to quell, notwithstanding he restricted his extravagance and dropped his most ostentatious titles. At this juncture the freebooting count of Minor- bino entered the city and fortified himself in one of the palaces of the Colonnas, whence he refused to retire when summoned by Rienzu The latter called the armed citizens to his assis- tance, and, meeting with no response, solemn- ly abdicated his power, and took refuge in the castle of Sant' Angelo, Dec. 15, 1347, whence he escaped in the disguise of a monk. He took refuge among the Franciscans in the fast- nesses of the southern Apennines, with whom he remained two years and a half as a tertiary of the order. During the jubilee celebrated in 1350 he is said to have appeared in the dis- guise of a pilgrim among the multitudes who- flocked to Rome ; and soon after, at the insti- gation, he tells us, of Fra Angelo, an inspired hermit, who informed him that the Father and the Son had ceased to rule in the world, and that the age of the Holy Ghost was at hand, he went to the court of Charles IV. at Prague, and exhorted him, in accordance with the prophecy of Fra Angelo, to undertake the conquest of Italy, in which he assured him none could be of so much service as himself. The emperor, amazed at the ambitious schemes and hereti- cal doctrines of Rienzi, ordered him into cus- tody, and finally sent him a prisoner to the pope at Avignon. A commission of ecclesi- astics was appointed to try him, but their la- bors seem never to have been prosecuted with energy. Meanwhile Rome had returned to its former state of anarchy, and Innocent VI., the successor of Clement, determined, as a means of restoring the papal authority in the city, to send Rienzi thither. In the summer of 1854 he regntered Rome in the capacity of a senator, by the appointment of Cardinal Al- bornoz, the papal legate. Unwarned by ad- versity, he returned to his old pomp and lux- ury, and established an unmitigated tyranny^ He was defied by the refractory Colonnas in their castle of Palestrina, against which he conducted a tedious and expensive but unavail- ing siege. The execution of Fra Moneale, a well known captain of a free company, from whose family he had received pecuniary assis- tance, and whose property he appropriated to- his own use, filled the citizens with horror; and on his attempting to levy a fresh tax to pay his troops, a popular insurrection burst forth. Rienzi took refuge in the capitol, and, being- deserted by his guards, appeared upon a bal- cony in armor, grasping the standard of the people, but was driven back by a shower of stones. Finally, in the disguise of a door-