RIENZI
53
RIENZI
of the means of breaking the power of the barons.
To accompUsh this he had first to win the favour of
the populace by upholding the cause of the oppressed.
In consequence of this and on account of the elo-
quence with which he sjioke in Latin, he was sent to
Avignon in 1343 to Clement VI, by the captain of the
people, to ask him to return to Rome and grant the
great jubilee every five years. Cola explained to the
pope the miserable condition of Rome. Clement was
much impressed, and appointed him to the office of
notary (secretary) of the Camera Capitolina, in which
position he could gain a better knowledge of the mis-
fortunes of the city. Cola then by his public dis-
courses and private conversations prepared the peo-
ple; a conspiracy was fr)rmod, and on 19 May, 1347,
I
Statue of Cola
G. Masini, Gradinata del Campidoglio
he summoned the populace to assemble the follow- ing day in the Campidoglio. There Cola explained his plans and read a new democratic constitution which, among other things, ordained the establish- ment of a civic militia. The people conferred abso- lute power on him; but Cola at first contented him- self with the title of tribune of the people; later, how- ever, he assumed the bombastic titles of Candidatus Spiritus Sancli, Imperalor Orbis, Zelator Italia-, Atna- tor Orbis el Tribunus Auguslus (candidate of the Holy Spirit, emperor of the world, lover of Ital}', of the world, august tribune). He was wise enough to select a colleague, the pojic's vicar, Raimondo, Bishop of Orvieto. The success of the new regime was wonder- ful. The most powerful barons had to leave the city; the others swore fealty to the popular government. An era of peace and justice seemed to have come. The pope, on learning what had happened, regretted that he had not been consulted, but gave Cola the title and office of Rector, to be exercised in conjunc- tion with the Bishop of Or\'ieto. His name was heard everywhere, princes had recourse to him in their dis- putes, the sultan fortified his ports.
Cola then thought of re-establishing the liberty and independence of Italy and of Rome, by restoring the
Roman Empire with an Italian emperor. In August,
1347, two hundred deputies of the Italian cities as-
sembled at his request. Italy was declared free, and
all those who had arrogated a lordship to themselves
were declared fallen from power; the right of the peo-
ple to elect the emperor was asserted. Louis the
Bavarian and Charles of Bohemia were called upon to
justify' their usurpation of the imperial title. Cola
flattered himself secretly with the hope of becoming
emperor; but his high opinion of himself proved his
ruin. He was a dreamer rather than a man of action;
he lacked many qualities for the exerci.se of good gov-
ernment, especially foresight and the elements of po-
litical prudence. He had formed a most puerile con-
cept of the empire. He surrounded himself with
Asiatic luxury, to pay for which he had to impose new
taxes; thereupon the enthusiasm of the people, weary
of serving a theatrical emperor, vanished. The barons
perceived this, and forgetting for the moment their
mutual discord, joined together against their common
enemy. In vain the bell summoned the people to
arms in the Campidoglio. No one stirred. Cola had
driven out the barons, but he had not thought of re-
ducing tliom to inaction; on the contrary he had ren-
dered them more hostile by his many foolish and hu-
miliating acts. Lacking all military knowledge he
could ofifer no serious resistance to their attacks. The
discontent of the people increased; the Bishop of
Orvieto, the other Rector of Rome, who had already
protested against what had occurred at the conven-
tion of the Italian deputies, abandoned the city; the
poi)e repudiated Cola in a I3ull. Thus deserted, and
not believing himself safe, he took refuge in the Castle
of 8. Angelo, and three days later (18 Dec, 1347) the
barons returned in triumph to restore things to their
former condition.
Cola fortunately succeeded in escaping. He sought refuge with the Spiritual Franciscans living in the hermitages of Monte Maiella. But the plague of 1348, the i)re.sence of bands of adventurers and the jubilee (jf i:>.")0 had increased the mysticism of the people and still mcjre of the Spirituals. One of the latter, l'"ra Angelo, told Rienzi that it was now the proper moment to think of the common weal, to co-operate in the restoration of the empire and in the puri- fication of the Church: all of which had been pre- dicted by Joachim of Flora, the celebrated Calabrian abbot, and that he ought to give his assistance. Cola betook himself thence to Charles IV at Prague (1350), who imprisoned him, either as a madman or as a heretic. After two years Cola was sent at the request of the pope to Avignon, where through the interces- sion of Petrarch, his admirer, though now disillu- sioned, he was treated better. When Innocent VI sent Cardinal Albornoz into Italy (at the beginning of 1353) he allowed Cola di Rienzi to accompany him. The Romans, who had fallen back into their "former state of anarchy, invited him to return, and Albornoz consented to appoint him senator (sindaco) of Rome. On 1 Aug., 1354, Rienzi entered Rome in triumph. But the new government did not last long. His luxury and revelry, followed by the inevitable taxation, above all the unjust killing of several persons (among whom waa Fra Moriale, a brigand, in the service of Cola), pro- voked the people to fury. On 8 Oct., 1354, the cry of "Death to Rienzi the traitor!" rose in the city. Cola attempted to flee, but was recognized and slain, and his corpse dragged through the streets of the city. Cola represented, one might say, the death agony of the Guelph (papal-national-democratic) idea and the rise of the classical (imperial and ajsthetic) idea of the Renaissance.
Vita Kicolai Laurenlii in Muratori, Antiquitates; Vita Nicolai Laurentii, ed. del Re (Florence, 1854) ; Gabrielli, Epistolario di Cola Rienzo (Rome, 1890) ; Papencordt, Cola di Rienzo und seine Zeit (Hamburg, 1841); Rodocanachi, Cola di Rienzo (Paris, 1888).
U. Benigni.
