Villani's Chronicle Part 27

[Sidenote: Purg. xiv. 58-66.]

In the said year 1302, Folcieri da Calvoli of Romagna, a fierce and cruel man, had been made Podesta of Florence, by the influence of the leaders of the Black party. Now the said leaders lived in great trepidation, forasmuch as the White and Ghibelline party was very powerful in Florence, and the exiles were plotting every day in treaty with their friends which had remained in Florence. Wherefore the said Folcieri suddenly caused certain citizens of the White party and Ghibellines to be taken; which were, M. Betto Gherardini, and Masino de' Cavalcanti, and Donato and Tegghia his brother, of the Finiguerra da Sammartino, and Nuccio Coderini de' Galigai, which was but half-witted, and Tignoso de' Macci; and at the pet.i.tion of M.

Musciatto Franzesi, which was among the lords of the city, there were to have been taken certain heads of the house of the Abati his enemies, but hearing this they fled and departed from Florence, and never afterwards were citizens thereof. And a certain s.e.xton of the Calze was among the prisoners. They were charged with plotting treachery in the city with the exiled Whites; and whether guilty or not, were made to confess under torture that they were going to betray the city, and to give up certain gates to the Whites and Ghibellines; but the said Tignoso de' Macci, through weight of flesh, died under the cord. All the other aforesaid prisoners he judged, and caused them to be beheaded, and all of the house of the Abati he condemned as rebels, and destroyed their goods, whence the city was greatly disturbed, and there followed many evils and scandals. And in the said year there was much scarcity of victuals, and grain was sold in Florence at twenty-two s.h.i.+llings the bushel, reckoning fifty-one s.h.i.+llings to a golden florin.

-- 60.--_How the White party and the Ghibelline refugees from Florence came to Puliciano and departed thence in discomfiture._

[Sidenote: 1302 A.D.]

In the said year, in the month of March, the Ghibelline and White refugees from Florence, with the forces of the Bolognese whose government was of the White party, and with the aid of the Ghibellines of Romagna and of the Ubaldini, came to Mugello with 800 horse and 6,000 foot, whereof Scarpetta degli Ordilaffi of Forl was captain.

And they took the village and stronghold of Puliciano without opposition, and besieged a fortress which was there held by the Florentines, thinking there to make a great head, and gather Mugello under their rule, and afterwards to extend their forces as far as the city of Florence. When the tidings come to Florence, immediately they rode to Mugello, gentle and simple, with all the forces of the city; and when they were come to the village, and the Lucchese and other friends were come also, they sallied forth in array and order against the enemy; and when the hors.e.m.e.n of Bologna heard of the sudden coming of the Florentines, and found themselves deceived by the White refugees from Florence, which had given them to understand that the Florentines for fear of their friends which remained within the city would not venture to sally forth from the city, they held themselves to be betrayed, and in great fear without any order they departed from Puliciano of Mugello, and came to Bologna; wherefore the White and Ghibelline refugees were routed and dispersed, and departed by night without stroke of sword as if defeated, leaving all their harness, and many of them threw away their arms, and some of the best of them were slain, or taken by certain scouts which were sent on in advance. Among the other notable and honourable citizens and ancient Guelfs which had become Whites, there was taken M. Donato Alberti, the judge, and Nanni de' Ruffoli of the Porte del Vescovo. After Nanni had been taken, he was slain by one of the Tosinghi; and Donato Alberti had his head cut off, by that same law which he had made and introduced into the Ordinances of Justice, when he was ruling and was prior. And with the said M. Donato Alberti were taken prisoner and beheaded two of the Caponsacchi, and one of the Scogliari, and Lapo di Cipriani, and Nerlo degli Adimari, and about ten others of little account; by reason of which rout the White and the Ghibelline refugees were much cast down.

-- 61.--_Incident, relating how M. Maffeo Visconti was driven from Milan._

[Sidenote: 1302 A.D.]

[Sidenote: Purg. viii. 73-75.]

In the said year 1302, on the 16th day of June, M. Maffeo Visconti, captain of Milan, was driven from his lords.h.i.+p; and this was the cause: he and his sons desired to govern Milan entirely, and to give no share of honour to M. Piero Visconti, and to others his kinsmen, and to other cattani and feudatories. For the which cause scandal arose in Milan, and the lords della Torre, with the forces of the patriarch of Aquilea, came with a great host against Milan, and with them M. Alberto Scotti da Piacenza, and Count Filippone da Pavia, and M. Antonio da Foseraco of Lodi. M. Maffeo sallied forth against them, but because of the strife which he had with his kinsmen, he was ill-supported, and had not sufficient power against his enemies; wherefore M. Alberto Scotti undertook the office of mediator to make peace, and deceived and betrayed M. Maffeo, who trusted himself to him; for he deposed him from the office of captain, wherefore M.

Maffeo for shame would not return to Milan; but the lords della Torre were restored to Milan without a battle, and M. Mosca and M. Guidetto di M. Nappo della Torre remained lords of Milan. And M. Mosca dying a little while after, the said M. Guidetto caused himself to be proclaimed captain of Milan, and ruled harshly, and was much dreaded and feared, and so persecuted the said M. Maffeo and his sons that he brought them well nigh to nought, and they were fain to go begging through many places and countries; and in the end for their security they took refuge in a little castle in the territory of Ferrara, which pertained to the marquises of Este, their kinsfolk, inasmuch as Galea.s.so, son to Maffeo, had for wife the sister of the marquis. And when M. Guidetto della Torre, which was captain of Milan, and his enemy heard this, he desired news of him and of his state, and said to a wise and clever jongleur: "If thou desirest to gain a palfrey and a mantle of vair, go to the place where M. Maffeo Visconti abides, and spy out his state." And in mockery of him he said: "When thou takest leave of him, ask him two questions: first, ask him how he fares and what manner of life is his; secondly, when he thinks to return to Milan." The minstrel departed and came to M. Maffeo, and found him very meanly furnished, compared with his former state; and on departing from him, he asked his aid in getting a palfrey and a mantle of vair; and he answered, he would aid him gladly, but he might not have them from him, for he had none such. Then he said: "It is not from you that I would have them, but answer me two questions which I shall put to you"; and he told the two questions wherewith he had been charged. The wise man understood from whom they came, and straightway made answer very wisely. To the first he said: "Methinks I fare well, forasmuch as I know how to live after the times"; to the second he answered and said: "Thou shalt say to thy lord, M. Guidetto, that when the measure of his sins is greater than mine, I will return to Milan." And when the jongleur was come back to M. Guidetto, and had brought the answer, he said: "Aye, thou hast earned the palfrey and the mantle, for those are the words of none other than the wise M.

Maffeo."

-- 62.--_How there arose strife and enmity between Pope Boniface and King Philip of France._

[Sidenote: 1302 A.D.]

[Sidenote: Cf. Purg. x.x.xii. 148-160.]

[Sidenote: Cf. Purg. vi. 97-117.]

In the said time, albeit some while before the defeat of Courtray, the king of France had become angered against Pope Boniface, by reason of the promise which the said Pope had made to the king, and to M.

Charles of Valois, his brother, to make him Emperor, when he sent for him, as afore we made mention; which thing he did not fulfil, be the cause what it might. Nay, rather in the same year he had confirmed as king of the Romans Albert of Austria, son of King Rudolf, for the which thing the king of France held himself to be greatly deceived and betrayed by him, and in his wrath he entertained and did honour to Stefano della Colonna, his enemy, which was come to France on hearing of the discord which had arisen; and the king to the best of his power favoured him and his followers. And beyond this, the king caused the bishop of Pamiers, in the district of Carca.s.sone, to be taken prisoner on charge of being a Paterine; and he spent the revenues of every vacant bishopric, and would confer the invest.i.tures himself. Wherefore Pope Boniface, which was proud and disdainful, and bold in doing all great things, of high purposes and powerful, as he was and as he held himself to be, beholding these outrages on the part of the king, added indignation to ill-will, and became wholly an enemy to the king of France. And at first, to establish his rights, he caused all the great prelates of France to be invited to his court; but the king of France opposed them, and would not let them go, wherefore the Pope was the more greatly incensed against the king, and would have it, according to his privilege and decrees, that the king of France, like other Christian princes, ought to acknowledge the temporal as well as the spiritual sovereignty of the Apostolic Chair; and for this he sent into France as his legate a Roman priest, archdeacon of Narbonne, that he might protest against and admonish the king under pain of excommunication to comply thereto, and acknowledge him; and if he would not do this, he was to excommunicate him and leave him under an interdict. And when the said legate came to the city of Paris, the king would not allow him to publish his letters and privileges, nay rather they were taken from him by the king's people, and he himself was dismissed from the realm. And when the said papal letters came before the king and his barons in the temple, the Count d'Artois, which was then living, threw them into the fire and burnt them in despite, whence great judgment came upon him; and the king ordered that all the entrances to his kingdom should be guarded, so that no message nor letter from the Pope should enter into France. When Pope Boniface heard this, he p.r.o.nounced sentence of excommunication against the said Philip, king of France; and the king of France to justify himself, and to make his appeal, summoned in Paris a great council of clerics and prelates and of all his barons, excusing himself, and bringing many charges against Pope Boniface of heresy, and simony, and murders, and other base crimes, by reason whereof he ought to be deposed from the papacy. But the abbot of Citeaux would not consent to the appeal, rather he departed, and returned into Burgundy in despite of the king of France. In such wise began the strife between Pope Boniface and the king of France, which had afterwards so ill an end; whence afterwards arose great strife between them, and much evil followed thereupon, as hereafter we shall make mention.

In these times there came to pa.s.s a very notable thing in Florence, for Pope Boniface having presented to the commonwealth of Florence a fine young lion, which was confined by a chain in the court of the palace of the Priors, there came in thither an a.s.s laden with wood, which when it saw the said lion, either through the fear he had of him or through a miracle, straightway attacked the lion fiercely, and so struck him with his hoofs that he died, notwithstanding the help of many men which were there present. This was held for a sign of great changes to come, and such like, which certainly came to pa.s.s to our city in these times. But certain of the learned said that the prophecy of the Sibyl was fulfilled where she said: "When the tame beast shall slay the king of beasts, then will begin the destruction of the Church"; and this was shortly made manifest in Pope Boniface himself, as will be found in the chapter following.

-- 63.--_How the king of France caused Pope Boniface to be seized in Anagna by Sciarra della Colonna, whence the said Pope died a few days afterwards._

[Sidenote: 1303 A.D.]

[Sidenote: Purg. xx. 85-90.]

[Sidenote: Inf. xix. 52-57.]

After the said strife had arisen between Pope Boniface and King Philip of France, each one sought to abase the other by every method and guise that was possible: the Pope sought to oppress the king of France with excommunications and by other means to deprive him of the kingdom; and with this he favoured the Flemings, his rebellious subjects, and entered into negotiations with King Albert of Germany, encouraging him to come to Rome for the Imperial benediction, and to cause the Kingdom to be taken from King Charles, his kinsman, and to stir up war against the king of France on the borders of his realm on the side of Germany. The king of France, on the other hand, was not asleep, but with great caution, and by the counsel of Stefano della Colonna and of other sage Italians, and men of his own realm, sent one M. William of Nogaret of Provence, a wise and crafty cleric, with M.

Musciatto Franzesi, into Tuscany, furnished with much ready money, and with drafts on the company of the Peruzzi (which were then his merchants) for as much money as might be needed; the Peruzzi not knowing wherefore. And when they were come to the fortress of Staggia, which pertained to the said M. Musciatto, they abode there long time, sending amba.s.sadors and messages and letters; and they caused people to come to them in secret, giving out openly that they were there to treat concerning peace between the Pope and the king of France, and that for this cause they had brought the said money; and under this colour they conducted secret negotiations to take Pope Boniface prisoner in Anagna, spending thereupon much money, corrupting the barons of the country and the citizens of Anagna; and as it had been purposed, so it came to pa.s.s; for Pope Boniface being with his cardinals, and with all the court, in the city of Anagna, in Campagna, where he had been born, and was at home, not thinking or knowing of this plot, nor being on his guard, or if he heard anything of it, through his great courage not heeding it, or perhaps, as it pleased G.o.d, by reason of his great sins,--in the month of September, 1303, Sciarra della Colonna, with his mounted followers, to the number of 300, and many of his friends on foot, paid by money of the French king, with troops of the lords of Ceccano and of Supino, and of other barons of the Campagna, and of the sons of M. Maffio d'Anagna, and, it is said, with the consent of some of the cardinals which were in the plot, one morning early entered into Anagna, with the ensigns and standards of the king of France, crying: "Death to Pope Boniface! Long life to the king of France!" And they rode through the city without any hindrance, or rather, well-nigh all the ungrateful people of Anagna followed the standards and the rebellion; and when they came to the Papal Palace, they entered without opposition and took the palace, forasmuch as the present a.s.sault was not expected by the Pope and his retainers, and they were not upon their guard. Pope Boniface--hearing the uproar, and seeing himself forsaken by all his cardinals, which were fled and in hiding (whether through fear or through set malice), and by the most part of his servants, and seeing that his enemies had taken the city and the palace where he was--gave himself up for lost, but like the high-spirited and valorous man he was, he said: "Since, like Jesus Christ, I am willing to be taken and needs must die by treachery, at the least I desire to die as Pope"; and straightway he caused himself to be robed in the mantle of S. Peter, and with the crown of Constantine on his head, and with the keys and the cross in his hand, he seated himself upon the papal chair. And when Sciarra and the others, his enemies, came to him, they mocked at him with vile words, and arrested him and his household which had remained with him; among the others, M. William of Nogaret scorned him, which had conducted the negotiations for the king of France, whereby he had been taken, and threatened him, saying that he would take him bound to Lyons on the Rhone, and there in a general council would cause him to be deposed and condemned. The high-spirited Pope answered him, that he was well pleased to be condemned and deposed by Paterines such as he, whose father and mother had been burnt as Paterines; whereat M.

William was confounded and put to shame. But afterwards, as it pleased G.o.d, to preserve the holy dignity of the Popes, no man dared to touch him, nor were they pleased to lay hands on him, but they left him robed under gentle ward, and were minded to rob the treasure of the Pope and of the Church. In this pain, shame and torment the great Pope Boniface abode prisoner among his enemies for three days; but, like as Christ rose on the third day, so it pleased Him that Pope Boniface should be set free; for without entreaty or other effort, save the Divine aid, the people of Anagna beholding their error, and issuing from their blind ingrat.i.tude, suddenly rose in arms, crying: "Long live the Pope and his household, and death to the traitors"; and running through the city they drove out Sciarra della Colonna and his followers, with loss to them of prisoners and slain, and freed the Pope and his household. Pope Boniface, seeing himself free, and his enemies driven away, did not therefore rejoice in any wise, forasmuch as the pain of his adversity had so entered into his heart and clotted there; wherefore he departed straightway from Anagna with all his court, and came to Rome to S. Peter's to hold a council, purposing to take the heaviest vengeance for his injury and that of Holy Church against the king of France, and whosoever had offended him; but, as it pleased G.o.d, the grief which had hardened in the heart of Pope Boniface, by reason of the injury which he had received, produced in him, after he was come to Rome, a strange malady so that he gnawed at himself as if he were mad, and in this state he pa.s.sed from this life on the 12th day of October in the year of Christ 1303, and in the church of S. Peter, near the entrance of the doors, in a rich chapel which was built in his lifetime, he was honourably buried.

-- 64.--_We will further tell of the ways of Pope Boniface._

[Sidenote: 1303 A.D.]

[Sidenote: Par. x.x.x. 148.]

This Pope Boniface was very wise both in learning and in natural wit, and a man very cautious and experienced, and of great knowledge and memory; very haughty he was, and proud, and cruel towards his enemies and adversaries, and was of a great heart, and much feared by all people; and he exalted and increased greatly the estate and the rights of Holy Church, and he commissioned M. Guglielmo da Bergamo and M.

Ricciardi of Siena, who were cardinals, and M. Dino Rosoni of Mugello, all of them supreme masters in laws and in decretals, together with himself, for he too was a great master in divinity and in decretals, to draw up the Sixth Book of the Decretals, which is as it were the light of all the laws and the decretals. A man of large schemes was he, and liberal to folk which pleased him, and which were worthy, very desirous of worldly pomp according to his estate, and very desirous of wealth, not scrupulous, nor having very great or strict conscience about every gain, to enrich the Church and his nephews. He made many of his friends and confidants cardinals in his time, among others two very young nephews, and his uncle, his mother's brother; and twenty of his relations and friends of the little city of Anagna, bishops and archbishops of rich benefices; and to another of his nephews and his sons, which were counts, as we afore made mention, to them he left almost unbounded riches; and after the death of Pope Boniface, their uncle, they were bold and valiant in war, doing vengeance upon all their neighbours and enemies, which had betrayed and injured Pope Boniface, spending largely, and keeping at their own cost 300 good Catalan hors.e.m.e.n, by force of which they subdued almost all the Campagna and the district of Rome. And if Pope Boniface, while he was alive, had believed that they could be thus bold in arms and valorous in war, certainly he would have made them kings or great lords. And note, that when Pope Boniface was taken prisoner, tidings thereof were sent to the king of France by many couriers in a few days, through great joy; and when the first couriers arrived at Sion, beyond the mountain of Brieg [Sion under Brieg], the bishop of Sion, which then was a man of pure and holy life, when he heard the news was, as it were, amazed, and abode some while in silent contemplation, by reason of the wonderment which took him at the capture of the Pope; and coming to himself he said aloud, in the presence of many good folk: "The king of France will rejoice greatly on hearing these tidings, but I have it by Divine inspiration, that for this sin he is judged by G.o.d, and that great and strange perils and adversities, with shame to him and his lineage, will overtake him very swiftly, and he and his sons will be cast out from the inheritance of the realm." And this we learned a little while after, when we pa.s.sed by Sion, from persons worthy of belief, which were present to hear. Which sentence was a prophecy in all its parts, as afterwards the truth will show, in due time, when we narrate the doings of the said king of France and of his sons. And the judgment of G.o.d is not to be marvelled at; for, albeit Pope Boniface was more worldly than was fitting to his dignity, and had done many things displeasing to G.o.d, G.o.d caused him to be punished after the fas.h.i.+on that we have said, and afterwards He punished the offender against him, not so much for the injury against the person of Pope Boniface, as for the sin committed against the Divine Majesty, whose countenance he represented on earth. We will leave this matter, which is now ended, and will turn back somewhat to relate of the doings of Florence and of Tuscany, which were very great in those times.

[Sidenote: 1303 A.D.]

-- 65.--_How the Florentines had the castle of Montale, and how they marched upon Pistoia together with the Lucchese._ -- 66.--_How Benedict XI. was elected Pope._

-- 67.--_How King Edward of England recovered Gascony and defeated the Scots._

[Sidenote: 1303 A.D.]

[Sidenote: Par. xix. 121-123.]

In this year Edward, king of England, made peace with King Philip of France, and recovered Gascony, doing homage to him therefor; and to this the king of France consented, by reason of the contest which he had with the Church after the capture which he had made of Pope Boniface, and by reason of the war in Flanders, to the intent the said king of England might not be against him. And in this same year, the said King Edward being ill, the Scots marched into England, for which cause the king had himself borne in a litter, and went out with the host against the Scots, and defeated them, and became lord over all the lands of Scotland, save only the marshes and rugged mountains, wherein the rebel Scots had taken refuge with their king, which was named Robert Bruce, which, from lowly birth, had risen to be king.

-- 68.--_How there were in Florence great changes and civic battles through desire that the accounts of the commonwealth should be examined._

[Sidenote: 1303 A.D.]

In the said year 1303, in the month of February, the Florentines were in great discord among themselves, by reason that M. Corso Donati did not consider that he was so great in the commonwealth as he desired, and thought himself worthy to be; and the other magnates and powerful popolani of his Black party had gotten more authority in the commonwealth than seemed to him good; and being already at enmity with them, either through pride, or through envy, or through desire of lords.h.i.+p, he made a new faction, leaguing himself with the Cavalcanti, whereof the most part were Whites, saying that he desired that the public accounts of those which had held office, and had administered the monies of the commonwealth, should be examined; and they made their head M. Lottieri, bishop of Florence, which was of the family of the Tosa of the White branch, with certain magnates, against the priors and the people; and there was fighting in the city in many places and for many days, and they set engines in many towers and strongholds of the city after the ancient manner, which should hurl missiles and shoot at each other; and upon the towers of the Bishop's Palace they raised a mangonel directed against his enemies hard by.

The priors strengthened themselves with people and men-at-arms of the city and of the country, and boldly defended the palace, for many a.s.saults and attacks were made upon them; and the house of the Gherardini held with the people, with a great following of their friends from the country; and likewise the house of the Pazzi, and of the Spini and M. Tegghiaio Frescobaldi with his branch of the family, which were a great aid to the people; and M. Lotteringo de' Gherardini was slain by an arrow in a battle which was fought in Porte Sante Marie. Other houses of the magnates did not hold with the people, but some were with the bishop and with M. Corso, and some which liked him not stood apart from the strife. For the which dissension and civil fighting much evil was committed in the city and in the country, of murders, and burnings, and robberies, as in a city ungoverned and disordered, without any rule from the government, save that each should do all possible harm to the other; and the city was all full of refugees, and strangers, and folk from the country, each house with its own following; and the city would have utterly destroyed itself had not the Lucchese come to Florence at the request of the commonwealth, with great number of foot and horse; who took in hand the matter, and the guardians.h.i.+p of the city, and general authority was of necessity given to them, so that for sixteen days they freely ruled the city, issuing a proclamation on their own authority. And when the proclamation was made throughout the city in the name of the commonwealth of Lucca, it seemed evil to many Florentines, and a great outrage and wrong; wherefore one Ponciardo de' Ponci di Vacchereccia struck the herald from Lucca in the face with his sword while he was reading the proclamation, for which cause afterwards they sent forth no more proclamations in their own name; but so wrought that at last they quieted the uproar and caused each party to lay down arms, and restored the city to quiet, calling for new priors to promote peace, the people remaining in its estate and liberty; and they inflicted no punishment for misdeeds committed, but whoever had suffered wrong had to bear his loss. And in addition to the said plague there was great famine that year, and grain was worth more than twenty-six s.h.i.+llings the bushel, level measure, of fifty-two s.h.i.+llings to the golden florin; and if it had not been that the commonwealth and the rulers in the city had made provision beforehand, and had caused to be brought by the hand of the Genoese from Sicily and from Apulia full 26,000 bushels of grain, the citizens and the country people could not have escaped from famine: and this traffic in grain was, with others, one of the causes why they desired to examine the accounts of the commonwealth, by reason of all the money which was pa.s.sing; and certain, whether rightly or wrongly, were spoken evil of and blamed thereanent. And this adversity and peril of our city was not without the judgment of G.o.d, by reason of many sins committed through the pride and envy and avarice of our then living citizens, which were then ruling the city, and alike of the rebels therein, as of those which were governing, for they were great sinners, nor was this the end thereof, as hereafter in due time may be seen.

-- 69.--_How the Pope sent into Florence as legate the Cardinal da Prato to make peace, and how he departed thence in shame and confusion._

[Sidenote: 1303 A.D.]

[Sidenote: Cf. Epistola i.]

[Sidenote: Cf. Inf. x. 79-81.]

During the said discord among the Florentines, Pope Benedict, with good intent, sent to Florence the Cardinal da Prato as legate to set the Florentines at peace one with another, and likewise with their exiles and all the province of Tuscany; and he came to Florence, on the tenth day of the month of March, 1303, and was received by the Florentines with great honour and with great reverence, as by men who felt themselves to be divided and in evil state; and those which had the disposition and desire to live rightly, loved peace and concord, and it was the contrary with the others. This Cardinal Niccolo, of the city of Prato, was a preaching friar, very wise in learning, and of natural intelligence, subtle and sagacious, and cautious, and very experienced; and by descent he was of the Ghibellines, and it was afterwards seen that he favoured them greatly; albeit at the first he showed good and impartial intentions. When he was in Florence, in a public sermon and discourse in the piazza of San Giovanni, he showed forth his privileges as legate, and made manifest his intention, by command of the Pope, of setting the Florentines at peace one with another. The good popolani which ruled the city, seeing themselves in evil estate by reason of the disturbances and riots and strifes, brought about in those times by the magnates against the people to abase and undo them, took part with the cardinal in the desire for peace; and by way of reconstruction of the Occasional Councils, they gave him full and free right to set the citizens at peace one with another within the city, and with their exiles without, and to appoint the priors and gonfaloniers and rulers of the city at his pleasure. And this done, he gave his mind to making peace among the citizens, and renewed the order of the nineteen gonfaloniers of the companies after the fas.h.i.+on of the ancient Popolo of old, and he summoned the gonfaloniers and gave them the banners after the fas.h.i.+on and devices that still are, save that they bore not the label of the arms of the king in chief. And by reason of these reforms of the cardinal the people were much heartened and strengthened, and the magnates were brought low, so that they never ceased trying to bring about changes and to hinder the cardinal to the end they might disturb the peace, that the Whites and the Ghibellines might not have state nor power to return to Florence, and that they themselves might enjoy their goods which had been confiscated as of rebels, both in the city and in the country. For all this the cardinal did not cease from pursuing peace, with the aid and favour of the people, and he caused twelve plenipotentiaries of the exiles to come into Florence, two for each sesto, one from amongst the chief Whites and one Ghibelline; and he had them to sojourn in the Borgo di San Niccolo, and the legate sojourned in the palaces of the Mozzi of S. Gregorio, and often he had them to take counsel with the leaders of the Guelfs and of the Blacks in Florence to find out means and security of peace, and to order alliances between the exiles, and the n.o.bles within. In these negotiations it seemed to the powerful Guelfs and Blacks that the cardinal was too much supporting the side of the Whites and of the Ghibellines, and they took counsel subtly to the end they might disturb the negotiations, to send a counterfeit letter, with the seal of the cardinal, to Bologna and into Romagna, to his friends the Ghibellines and the Whites, that they should, without any hindrance or delay, come to Florence with men in arms on horse and on foot to his aid; and some say withal that it was true that the cardinal sent it; wherefore some of those people came as far as Trespiano and some to Mugello. By which coming there arose in Florence great murmuring and ill-feeling, and the legate was much blamed and reproached therefor; and he, whether he were guilty or no, denied it to the people. Through which ill-feeling, and also through fear of suffering harm, the twelve White and Ghibelline plenipotentiaries departed from Florence and came to Arezzo, and the people which had come to the legate, by his command returned to Bologna and to Romagna, and the ill-will was somewhat quieted in Florence. Those which were ruling the city counselled the cardinal that, to avoid suspicion, he should go to Prato, and should reconcile the citizens thereof among themselves, and likewise the Pistoians, and in the meanwhile in Florence a way might be found of making general peace with the exiles. The cardinal, not being able to do otherwise, did this, and, whether in good faith or no, went to Prato and requested the inhabitants to trust in him, and he would reconcile them. Now the leaders of the Black party and of the Guelfs of Florence marked the ways of the cardinal, how that he greatly favoured the Ghibellines and Whites and would fain restore them to Florence, and saw likewise that the people followed him; wherefore they feared it might turn out perilous to the Guelf party, and ordained with the Guazzalotti of Prato, a powerful house of the Black party, and strong Guelfs, to bring to pa.s.s in Prato a schism and riot against the cardinal, and to raise a tumult in the city; wherefore the cardinal, seeing the inhabitants of Prato to be ill-disposed, and fearing for his person, departed from Prato, and excommunicated the inhabitants, and laid the city under interdict, and came to Florence, and proclaimed war against Prato, and offered remission of sins and of penalties to whosoever would march against Prato; and many citizens prepared to go thither on horse and on foot, folk that were, in faith, more Ghibelline than Guelf, and they went as far as Campi. In this a.s.sembling of the host much folk gathered in Florence of folk from the country and foreigners, and the fear and jealousy of the Guelfs began to increase; wherefore many which at the first had held with the cardinal, changed their purpose through the turbulence which they observed; and the magnates of the Black party, and likewise they which were temporising with the cardinal, furnished themselves with arms and with men, and the city was all in disorder, and they were ready to fight one another. The cardinal legate, seeing that he could not carry out his purpose of leading an army against Prato, and that the city of Florence was disposed to civil strife, and that of those which had held with him, some were now against him, became fearful and uneasy, and suddenly departed from Florence on the 4th day of June, 1304, saying to the Florentines: "Seeing that ye desire to be at war and under a curse, and do not desire to hear or to obey the messenger of the vicar of G.o.d, or to have rest or peace among yourselves, abide with the curse of G.o.d and of Holy Church"; thus he excommunicated the citizens, and left the city under an interdict, whence it was held, that by this curse, whether just or unjust, there fell judgment and great peril on our city through the adversities and perils which came to pa.s.s therein but a short time after, as hereafter we shall make mention.

-- 70.--_How the bridge of Carraia fell, and how many people died there._

[Sidenote: 1304 A.D.]

[Sidenote: Cf. Inf. vi. 36.]