READING HALL

DOORS OF WISDOM

HISTORY OF THE POPES FROM THE GREAT SCHISM TO THE SACK OF ROME

BOOK I.

THE GREAT SCHISM. 1378-1414

CHAPTER 1.

URBAN VI, CLEMENT VII

AND THE AFFAIRS OF NAPLES.

1378—1389.

When Gregory XI laid upon his death-bed all men in Rome felt that a great crisis was at hand. Among the citizens the ideas of the days of Rienzi and the aspirations of Catharine of Siena passed from mouth to mouth, and the Cardinals were busy consulting on the steps which they could possibly take. The government of Rome was at that time vested in a Senator and thirteen Banderisi, or Bannerets, who commanded the thirteen levies of the thirteen regions into which the city was divided. Already, before Gregory XI’s eyes were closed in death, the Romans urged upon the Cardinals the election of a Roman Pope who might introduce order into the States of the Church; and during the funeral rites of Gregory their representations were renewed with increasing persistency. The Banderisi watched the Cardinals to prevent them fleeing from the city, and at the same time took measures to show that they were able and willing to maintain order within the walls. The gates were strictly guarded; the Roman barons were ordered to withdraw; and bands of armed militia were summoned from the country to protect the city against the danger of surprise by the soldier hordes who were prowling in the neighborhood. A marble column was erected in the middle of the Piazza of S. Peter’s, bearing an axe and a block; and three times a day proclamation was made that anyone who injured the Cardinals or their attendants would instantly be beheaded. The Cardinals could find no pretext for refusing to proceed to an election at Rome; but they took such precautions as they could on their own account. They sent their valuables and all the Papal jewels for safe keeping into the Castle of S. Angelo, where the Papal Chamberlain, the Archbishop of Arles, went to secure the governor and the garrison. They accepted the Banderisi as guardians of the Conclave, but added to them two Frenchmen, and the Bishops of Marseilles, Todi, and Tivoli.

Of the twenty-three Cardinals who at that time represented the Church, six had remained in Avignon, and one was absent as legate in Tuscany. Of the sixteen who were in Rome, one was a Spaniard, four were Italians, and eleven were French. The great question to be decided at the coming election was, whether by choosing an Italian the Cardinals would assure the return of the Papacy to Rome; or by choosing a French-man they would strive to perpetuate its residence at Avignon. The French Cardinals looked upon Rome with disgust as squalid and barbarous; they sighed to return to the luxurious ease of Avignon. If they had been united, they would have secured the majority of two-thirds which was necessary for the election of a Pope. But the French were divided amongst themselves on grounds which awakened amongst them feelings as intense as could inspire the Italians. Clement VI and his nephew Gregory XI were both Limousins, and had shown marked preference for their fellow-countrymen. Of the eleven French Cardinals, six belonged to a Limousin party, four were pitted against them as a Gallican party, and one seems to have been doubtful. Rather than submit to the election of another Limousin, the Gallican Cardinals were ready to join with the Italians.

In this state of things it was clearly necessary to try and arrange a compromise, and conferences were held before entering into the Conclave. At first the Limousins tried to take advantage of their numerical majority over any other party, and boldly put forward Jean du Cros, Cardinal of Limoges; when told that he was impossible, they proposed Pierre de Bernier, Cardinal of Viviers, who was a native of Cahors, and therefore slightly removed from the dreaded neighborhood of Limoges. The four Gallican Cardinals, joined by the Spaniard Peter de Luna, declared that they would never agree to this. The Italians meanwhile held by themselves, and demanded the election of an Italian. The Gallican party affirmed that they would make common cause with the Italians rather than give way to the Limousins; and the Limousins, before they entered the Conclave, were prepared to propose a compromise if they found it impossible to carry the Cardinal of Viviers. For this purpose they thought of an Italian outside the College, whose election would not be a decisive triumph to any party, and would leave open all the questions which were involved in their struggle. They fixed on Bartolommeo Prignano, Archbishop of Bari, a man of humble origin, who had risen to eminence through the patronage of Pierre de Monterac, Cardinal of Pampeluna, a Limousin, who had remained at Avignon. Prignano had come to Rome as his deputy and exercised in his stead the office of Vice-Chancellor in the Curia. He seems to have acquired considerable influence in Rome, was in the confidence of the Banderisi, and had shown much skill in arranging with them the measures for the security of the Conclave. Thus he was likely to be acceptable as an escape from the jealousies within the College, while he would satisfy the demands of the Roman people. The Limousins determined that, if a compromise were necessary, it had better proceed from their side. They fixed on a man already connected with their own party, and trusted that gratitude for their good offices would bind him still more securely to their interests. Under ordinary circumstances the idea of a compromise would not so soon have taken shape, and a long vacancy would have been the most probable consequence of the divided condition of the College. But under the novel circumstances of an election in Rome, especially in the ferment of popular excitement, long delay was impossible, and a compromise to be effective must be put forward at once.

When the time came for the Cardinals to enter the Conclave an excited crowd accompanied them to the chamber in the Vatican. It might well be that, after so many years of disuse, the Romans had forgotten the general decorum which was supposed to attend the solemn ceremony. The crowd pressed into the room with the Cardinals, and peered into every corner to convince themselves that the Cardinals were really to be left alone. It was with difficulty that the room was cleared by the Banderisi, who before withdrawing addressed another exhortation to the Cardinals to elect a Roman Pope. It was late in the evening of April 7 when the Conclave was closed, and the repose of the Cardinals was troubled all night by the shouts of the mob, who stood around the palace exclaiming, “A Roman, a Roman, we want a Roman for Pope, or at least an Italian”. As the morning drew near the tumult outside increased; the campanile of S. Peter’s was broken open, and its bells clanged out a summons to a greater crowd. The Cardinals saw that it would be well to lose no time, and the compromise projected by the Limousins began to assume a very definite shape.

On the morning of April 8, after mass had been said, the Cardinals proceeded to vote. The Cardinal of Florence, as the senior, voted first, and expressing his real desire, gave his voice in favor of Tebaldeschi, Cardinal of S. Peter’s, a Roman. Next followed the Cardinal of Limoges, who expressed the general opinion of the French party when he said that there were two objections to the Cardinal of S. Peter’s: first, that he was a Roman, and it was undesirable to elect a Roman, lest they should seem to have done so through fear; secondly, that he was too infirm for the labors of the Papacy. “The Cardinal of Florence”, he proceeded, “belongs to a people who are enemies to the Church; the Cardinal of Milan comes from a land of tyrants who oppose the Church; Cardinal Orsini is a Roman, and also is too young and inexperienced. I give my voice for the Archbishop of Bari”. It was found that there was a general consent; two demurred on the ground that the election was being hurried through fear, and Cardinal Orsini is even said to have proposed that the College should pretend to elect some obscure friar, invest him with the Papal robes to deceive the people, and in the confusion make their escape and proceed to a real election. This proposal was at once rejected. It would seem that there was some sense of popular pressure, but not enough to influence the conduct of the Cardinals.

The election of the Archbishop of Bari had been determined, but before proceeding to the formal act the Cardinals retired to breakfast. The tumult outside was raging furiously; the mob had broken into the Pope’s cellars, and the Papal wine had increased their patriotism. The Cardinals hesitated to face them with the news that they had not elected a Roman Pope; the man whom they had chosen was not a member of the Sacred College; he was not there, and they had no one to present for the reverence of the crowd. They sent a messenger to summon the Archbishop of Bari and some other ecclesiastics; they also used this opportunity of sending to the Castle of S. Angelo the plate and jewels which they had with them, as they feared that the Conclave chamber would be sacked according to old custom. When the mob saw the prelates arrive, they suspected that an election had been made, and clamored to be informed. When they found that the vessels of the Cardinals were being carried away, they grew still more suspicious and indignant. No longer able to endure suspense, they rushed to the door which had been already broken down to admit the prelates, and the Cardinals were now genuinely terrified at the prospect of facing the mob with the tidings that they had not elected a Roman. Already steps were heard along the passages, and as the crowd burst in, terror inspired one of the Cardinals to deceive them. “The Cardinal of S. Peter’s is Pope”, was exclaimed by someone; and as the eager throng rushed to do reverence to the old Tebaldeschi, the Cardinals hastened to make their escape. As the rude artisans seized Tebaldeschi’s gouty hands to kiss them, it was in vain that the agonized old man screamed out, “I am not the Pope, but a better man than me”. Few heard him, and those who heard thought it was his humility that spoke. The Cardinals succeeded in getting away before the cries of Tebaldeschi at length convinced his persecutors of the truth. Then a wild search was made for Prignano throughout the palace. If the disappointed mob could have found him, they would have torn him in pieces; but he hid himself in the Pope’s most private chamber till the search was abandoned as useless.

Meanwhile the Cardinals who had escaped, when they saw the excitement of the people whom they had deceived, dreaded the consequences to themselves when the truth was known. Some fled from Rome in fright; some took refuge in the Castle of S. Angelo; five only dared to remain in their own palaces; the Cardinal of S. Peter’s alone remained with Prignano in the Vatican. Next day the tumult had ceased. The Roman people magnanimously forgave their disappointment, and the Banderisi loyally accepted the election of the Archbishop of Bari. The new Pope summoned the Cardinals to his side, and the five who were in the city ventured to return to the Vatican; it needed, however, repeated messages, even the entreaties of the Banderisi, before those who were in the castle dared to come forth. At last they assembled, went through the customary formalities, and on Easter Sunday, April 18, crowned the new Pope, who took the name of Urban VI. Next day they wrote to the Cardinals at Avignon announcing their election, and saying that their votes had been given “freely and unanimously”.

The Cardinals had elected Prignano as a respectable figure-head, who would prove amenable to their wishes. He had a reputation for theological and legal learning; he was well versed in the business of the Curia; he knew the charms of Avignon, and was likely to find a good excuse for returning there and carrying on the traditions of the Avignonese Papacy. Great was their disappointment when they found that one whom they regarded as insignificant was resolved to make himself their master. Urban VI had never been a Cardinal, and so was untouched by the traditions of the order. Like many men whose presumed insignificance has raised them unexpectedly to high position, he longed to assert his authority roundly over his former superiors. He had long held his tongue and allowed others to lord it over him; now that his turn was come he was resolved to use his opportunity to the full. He was a short, stout man, with a swarthy face, full of Neapolitan fire and savagery. His monkish piety burned to distinguish itself by some striking measures of reform; but he was without knowledge of himself or of the world, and knew nothing of the many steps to be taken between good intentions and their practical execution. He thought that he could enforce his will by self-assertion, and that the Cardinals could be reduced to absolute obedience by mere rudeness. Already on Easter Monday he began to inveigh against the conduct of the bishops, and said that they were perjured because they deserted their sees and followed the Curia. He tried to enforce sumptuary regulations upon the Cardinals, and ordered that they should make their meals of one dish only. He had no tact, no sense of dignity or decorum. He sat in the consistory and interrupted speakers with remarks of “Rubbish”, “Hold your tongue, you have said enough”. His anger found vent in unmeasured language. One day he called Cardinal Orsini a fool. Seeing the Cardinal of Limoges turn away his head and make a face at something that he said, he bade him hold up his head and look him in the face. Another day he grew so angry with the same Cardinal that he rushed at him to strike him, but Robert of Geneva pulled him back to his seat, exclaiming, “Holy Father, Holy Father, what are you doing?”

These were personal matters, intensely galling to the Cardinals, who, under the last Popes, had been richly endowed with ecclesiastical revenues, had lived in luxury, accustomed to treat kings as their equals, and to meet with nothing but consideration and respect. Still Urban VI’s personal conduct gave them no ground for action, till they found to their dismay that the Pope had no intention of returning to Avignon; he openly told the Banderisi that he purposed to remain at Rome and make a new creation of Roman and Italian Cardinals. The College felt itself seriously menaced; the Frenchmen saw that they would be reduced to a minority, and then would be entirely neglected. Before this common danger all differences disappeared. Galileans and Limousins were reconciled and prepared to resist the Pope, whom their dissensions had set over them. One day after the Pope had furiously attacked the Cardinal of Amiens, Robert of Geneva said to him openly, “You have not treated us Cardinals with the honor due to us, as your predecessors used to do, and you are lessening our dignity. I tell you truly that the Cardinals on their side will try to lessen your dignity also”. Urban VI found that this was no empty menace, and that the hostility of his Cardinals had power even in Rome. The French governor of the Castle of S. Angelo refused to surrender it to the Pope, who, consequently, could not make himself master of the city. The Cardinals knew that they could rely on the support of the King of France against a Pope who avowed his intention of rescuing the Papacy from French influence. Urban’s conduct gave them an unexpected ally in Queen Giovanna I of Naples, who had at first hailed with delight the election of one of her subjects to the Papacy. Counting on the pliancy of the new Pope, her fourth husband, Otto, Duke of Brunswick, hastened to Rome to receive at the Pope’s hands his coronation as King of Naples. But Giovanna I was childless, and Urban VI did not choose that at her death Naples should pass into the hands of Germans; he refused Otto’s request, and even treated him with haughty insolence. One day Otto acted as the Pope’s cup-bearer at a banquet, and, as the custom was, presented the cup on bended knee. Urban for some time pretended not to see him, till one of the Cardinals called out, “Holy Father, it is time to drink”. Giovanna’s ambassadors, who were sent to congratulate Urban on his election, were treated to a scolding on the evil state of Naples, which the Pope threatened to amend. After this it was but natural that Giovanna I, who had been a firm ally of the Avignonese Popes, should be willing to join a party which aimed at the restoration of the old state of things.

The shouldering discontent was not long in breaking out. At the end of May the Cardinals obtained leave from the Pope to retire before the heats of Rome to Anagni, which had been the summer residence of Gregory XI, where they had houses and stores of provisions. At Anagni the Cardinals found a new ally, whom the Pope’s conduct had estranged. Onorato, Count of Fondi, who was Lord of Anagni, had been appointed by Gregory XI Governor of Campania, and had lent the Pope 20,000 florins. The headstrong Urban refused to pay his predecessor’s debts, and after offending Onorato by his refusal, judged it safer to deprive him of his office and confer it upon his enemy, Tommaso of San Severino. After this he grew suspicious of the intercourse of the Cardinals with Onorato; he determined to go to Tivoli for the summer, and ordered the Cardinals to join him there. The Cardinals raised difficulties about leaving their houses, which they had provisioned for the season. The Archbishop of Arles, Gregory XI’s chamberlain, joined them at Anagni, bringing with him the Papal jewels; the Pope ordered his arrest, and the Cardinals feigned to comply with the Pope’s order. The Cardinals at Anagni and the Pope at Tivoli each professed to invite the other, and feigned to wonder at the delay to accept the invitation.

At last the Cardinals let their intentions be seen. They summoned to their aid a band of Bretons and Gascons which had been taken into the service of the Church by Gregory XI, and had served under Robert of Geneva in the year before. These adventurers advanced, plundering the Roman territory, and defeated by Ponte Salaro the Romans who went out against them. The Breton company pursued its way to Anagni, and Urban, at Tivoli, begged for help from the Queen of Naples, who had not yet declared herself against him, and sent Duke Otto, with 200 lances and 100 foot, to guard his person. Otto, who was a shrewd observer, gave it as his opinion that the Pope’s name should be “Turbanus” instead of “Urbanus”, as he seemed likely to upset everything, and bring himself into many difficulties.

The Cardinals at Anagni now found themselves strong enough to proceed to open measures against Urban. On July 20 they wrote to the four Italian Cardinals, who were still with Urban, setting forth that his election had been forced upon them by the Roman mob, and so had not been made freely; they required them to appear at Anagni within five days, to deliberate upon the steps to be taken to obviate this scandal. They wrote also to the University of Paris and to the King of France demanding their assistance. Urban on his part showed himself alive to the importance of the crisis. He sent the three Italian Cardinals who were with him (the Cardinal of S. Peter was ill, and died in August, declaring the validity of Urban’s election), to negotiate at Palestrina with those at Anagni; he empowered them to offer to submit the question to the decision of a General Council. The Ultramontanes refused this offer, and urged the Italian Cardinals to join them at Anagni; the Italians wavered, and retired to Genazzano to wait the turn of affairs. The King of France, Louis of Anjou, and Giovanna of Naples, openly declared themselves in behalf of the rebels, who on August 9 issued an encyclical letter to the whole of Christendom. They declared that the election had been made under violence; through fear of death they had elected the Archbishop of Bari, in the expectation that his conscience would not allow him to accept an election made in such a way; he had been ensnared by ambition to the destruction of his soul; he was an intruder and deceiver; they called upon him to give up his delusive dignity, and they summoned all Christians to reject his authority.

War was now declared; but it was at first a war of pamphlets. Learned legists gave their opinions, and Legal universities examined the question. There were two nice points to be determined, and arguments could readily be obtained on either side, (1) Did the tumult of the Romans amount to actual violence sufficient to do away with the freedom of the electors? (2) If so, did not the subsequent recognition of Urban by the Cardinals, a recognition which lasted for three months, supply any defect which might have been in the original election? It is clear that these questions might be settled according as prejudice or interest directed. There had been enough irregularity in the election to give the Cardinals a fair plea for their proceedings; but the formal plea was a mere cloak to political motives. The significance of Urban’s election lay in the fact that it restored the Papacy to Rome, and freed it from the influence of France. It was not to be expected that the traditions of the seventy years’ captivity could be set aside at once; it was not natural that France should let go her hold without a desperate effort. The rebellion of the irritated Cardinals against a Pope who paid no heed to their privileges combined with deep-seated motives of political interest and produced a schism.

The Cardinals at Anagni found that their soldiers consumed all the provisions, so that they were driven to change their abode. They therefore transferred themselves to Fondi, where they were safer under the protection of Count Onorato. The Italian Cardinals went from Palestrina to Sessa, that they might continue their negotiations; soon, however, they were persuaded to join the other rebels at Fondi. It is said that they were won over by a promise that one of them should be elected Pope in Urban’s stead. The Cardinals could now point to Urban’s helplessness; the whole body of his electors was united in opposition to him. In truth, Urban found himself almost entirely deserted, and when it was too late he repented bitterly of his first rashness. For a time his spirit was crushed, and his secretary, Dietrich of Niem, tells us that he often found him in tears. But he soon plucked up courage, and on September 18 created twenty-eight new Cardinals. This resolute step of Urban’s hastened the proceedings of the rebels at Fondi, who, on September 20, elected as their Pope, Robert of Geneva, who took the name of Clement VII. The Italian Cardinals took no part in this election, nor did they repudiate it. They returned to Sessa, and thence retired to a castle of the Orsini at Tagliacozzo. There Cardinal Orsini died in 1380, and the two others, feeling that it was too late for reconciliation with Urban, joined the party of Clement.

In their election of Robert of Geneva, the Cardinals had Previous chosen the man whom they thought best fitted to fight a hard battle. Robert was brother to the Count of Geneva, and so was allied with many noble houses. He was in the vigor of manhood, at the age of thirty-six, and had already shown great force of character, and practical skill in business. His fierce determination had been seen in his conduct as Legate in North Italy in 1377, where a rising of Cesena against his soldiers was avenged by a pitiless massacre of the whole city. Even the hardened leader of the savage mercenary band shrank at first from fulfilling Robert’s orders, but was urged by the imperative command, “Blood, blood, and justice”. For three days and three nights the carnage raged inside the devoted city; the gates were shut and no one could escape; at last despair lent strength to feeble arms and the gates were forced open, but the unhappy victims only found another band of soldiers waiting outside to receive them. Five thousand perished in the slaughter, and the name of Cesena would have been destroyed if the barbarous general, Hawkwood, had not been better than his orders, saved a thousand women, and allowed some of the men to escape. This exploit had awakened in Italy the deepest detestation against Robert, but now seems to have stood him in good stead, as convincing his electors of the promptitude and decision which he possessed in emergencies. Moreover, Robert had all the qualities which Urban VI lacked. He was tall and of commanding presence; his manner was agreeable; he was a favorite with princes and nobles, and knew how to conciliate them to his interests; he had all the suavity and knowledge of the world which were so conspicuously wanting in Urban VI. The Cardinals could not have chosen a better leader of revolt.

When the schism was declared and the two parties stood in avowed opposition, allies began to gather round each from motives which were purely political. Italy took the side of the Italian Pope, except the two kingdom of Naples, which had been closely connected with the Papacy at Avignon, and so maintained its old position. France labored for Clement VII, to assert its former hold upon the Papacy. England, through hostility to France, became a staunch partisan of Urban, when Scotland declared itself on the side of Clement. If Urban, by his unyielding behavior to Giovanna, had estranged Naples, he had by his complacency secured Germany. One of his first acts had been to accede to the request of the Emperor Charles IV that he would recognize his son Wenzel as King of the Romans: the death of Charles IV on November 29, 1378, set Wenzel on the throne of Germany. Hungary took the side opposed to Naples; the northern kingdoms went with Germany; Flanders followed England through its hostility to France; the Count of Savoy adhered to Clement, whose kinsman he was. The Spanish kingdoms alone remained neutral, though in the end they fell into the allegiance of Clement.

In Italy Urban’s position was certainly the strongest. He had in July made peace with Florence and Perugia; but he had not entire possession of Rome; as the French captain of the Castle of S. Angelo resisted all the onslaughts of the Romans. They broke down the bridge and erected earthworks and palisades, but the castle was well supplied with provisions and guns; for the first time the Romans heard the sound of cannon from its ramparts, and saw the balls shatter their houses. The Borgo of San Pietro was set on fire and destroyed; everywhere in the city was confusion. Outside the walls the Orsini and the Count of Fondi laid waste the Roman territory and cut off their supplies. The position of Urban at the end of 1378 was gloomy enough. He was endeavoring to gather round him the Cardinals whom he had nominated, though some of them declined to accept the dignity at his hands. He found also some satisfaction in excommunicating Clement and his supporters, and in gathering testimonies and writing letters in support of the validity of his own election.

But he did not disregard the measures necessary to secure his safety. Against the Breton band, which was now under the command of Clement VII’s nephew, Count Montjoie, Urban summoned the aid of a band of adventurers under the leadership of a young Italian general, Alberigo da Barbiano. In the course of the thirteenth century in Italy the old communal militia had declined. The war of the Papacy against Frederick II and his house made Italy the battlefield of foreign forces, and foreign mercenaries had taken the place of the civic levies. During the fourteenth century Italy had been the prey of German, Hungarian, Provençal, English, and Breton bands, who preyed upon the country and perpetuated the anarchy on which they prospered. But the spirit of adventure had at last awakened among the Italians themselves; and to Alberigo da Barbiano belongs the fame of having first gathered together the company of S. George, composed of soldiers who were almost entirely Italian. The growing national feeling which had drawn such a band together found a worthy object for its first exploit in upholding the cause of the Italian Pope against his French opponents. Italian piety, as embodied in the mystic maid, Catharine of Siena, sent forth its imploring cry to Italian patriotism. “Now”, she exclaims, “is the time for new martyrs. You are the first who have given your blood; how great is the fruit that you will receive! It is eternal life ... We will do like Moses, for while the people fought Moses prayed, and while Moses prayed the people conquered”. It is significant to note how round this war of the rival Popes gathered the first enthusiasm of a new national feeling in Italy.

No sooner had Alberigo arrived in Rome and received the Papal benediction than he set out against the enemy, who were besieging Marino, only twelve miles distant from Rome, April 29, 1379. He drew up his forces in two squadrons, while Montjoie arranged his in three. Alberigo sent out his first squadron under one of his captains, but it was discomfited by the opposing squadron of the foe. Then Alberigo himself charged, drove back the pursuers in disorder upon their second squadron, routed that also, and charged the third division, which was commanded by Montjoie. The battle was long and desperate, but the Italians won the day. Great was the joy in Rome; Urban dubbed Alberigo knight, and presented him with a banner emblazoned with a red cross, and bearing the inscription, “Italia liberata dai barbari”. It was a national as well as a Papal victory.

On the same day the Castle of S. Angelo capitulated, and the Roman people, in their hatred of this terrible fortress, which had so often held them in subjection, set themselves to work to destroy it. But this mighty structure of Roman masonry, the tomb of Hadrian, which had been transformed into a castle, and was bound up with the most glorious memories of the city, withstood even the fury of the people. They tore off its marble covering, but the mass of the interior buildings still resisted their efforts. It remains to this day a mutilated monument of its former greatness.

In the first flush of his victory at Marino, Alberigo had not bethought himself of pressing on to Anagni. But Clement VII found it no longer a safe place of residence. He hastily retreated to Sperlonga, and thence to Gaeta, where he took ship to Naples, and was received with royal pomp by Queen Giovanna I. But the people viewed his presence with dislike: their sympathies naturally went with their fellow-countryman Urban. A tumult arose in the city; the mob rushed through the streets with cries of “Viva Papa Urbano!” and pillaged the houses of the Ultramontanes. Clement VII saw that there was no safe resting-place for him in Italy. He took ship for Avignon, where he arrived on June 10, and was received with reverence by the five Cardinals who, during these stormy scenes, had remained there in peace. Avignon was the only place outside Rome where a Pope could find a resting-place, and there Clement VII. was secure in the allegiance of France. It is true that at first the University Paris held aloof; some were for Urban, the majority were in favor of neutrality. But Charles V paid little heed to the scruples of canonists or theologians in a matter that involved the national dignity. He urged on the University the recognition of Clement VII; it was forced to give way, and reported that a majority of the faculties assented to the decree in Clement VII’s favor.

Urban VI was not so free as Clement VII from dangerous neighbors. He bitterly resented the defection of the kingdom of Naples, his native country, and the condition of the land soon gave him grounds to interfere in its affairs. Since the fall of the Roman Empire, Southern Italy had been the battlefield of contending powers. Greeks, Lombards, and Saracens in turns prevailed, until a band of Norman adventurers brought order into those fair provinces, gradually founded a kingdom of the two Sicilies, and obtained from Papal recognition a title to legitimacy. The Norman dynasty handed on its claims by marriage to the Swabian Emperors, whose line died out in war against the Papacy, which transferred the kingdom to Charles of Anjou. But before his death Charles lost Sicily, which went to the house of Aragon; and in Naples itself the house of Anjou fell into disunion. Charles II of Naples gained by marriage the dowry of Hungary, which passed to his eldest son, Charles Martel, while his second son, Robert, ruled in Naples. But Robert survived his only son, and left as heiress of the kingdom his grand-daughter Giovanna. The attempt to give stability to the rule of a female by marriage with her cousin, Andrew of Hungary, only aroused the jealousy of the Neapolitan nobles and raised up a strong party in opposition to Hungarian influence. Charles II of Naples, Giovanna’s great-grand-father, had left many sons and daughters, whose descendants of the great houses of Durazzo and Tarento, like those of the sons of Edward III in England, hoped to exercise the royal power. When, in 1345, Pope Clement VI was on the point of recognizing Andrew as King of Naples, a conspiracy was formed against him, and he was murdered, with the connivance, as it was currently believed, of the Queen. Hereon the feuds in the kingdom blazed forth more violently than before; the party of Durazzo ranged itself against that of Tarento, and demanded punishment of the murderers. Giovanna I, to protect herself, married Lewis of Tarento in 1347. King Lewis of Hungary, aided by the party of Durazzo, entered Naples to avenge his brother’s death, and for a while all was confusion. On the death of Lewis of Tarento (1362), Giovanna married James, King of Majorca, and on his death (1374), Otto, Duke of Brunswick. Giovanna was childless, and the slight lull which in the last years had come over the war of factions in Naples was only owing to the fact that all were preparing for the inevitable conflict which her death would bring.

It was easy for Urban VI to awaken confusion in Naples, and precipitate the outbreak of war. At first Giovanna seems to have been alarmed after the departure of Clement VII; she made overtures to Urban and promised to send ambassadors to arrange the terms of her submission. Soon, however, she changed her mind, recalled her ambassadors, and is said to have set on foot a conspiracy to poison Urban. The Roman people, free from the dread of Clement’s neighborhood, found themselves more at leisure to criticize Urban’s behavior, and began to assert their freedom by seditious outcries. So alarming were their threats, that the holy maiden, Catharine of Siena, who stood by the Pope with enthusiastic devotion, betook herself to earnest prayer as a means of averting from him impending calamity. She saw the whole city filled with demons who were inciting the people to crime, and who gathered with loud clamor round the praying saint to terrify her from her pious work, which was baffling their endeavors. Urban VI showed his courage by ordering the doors of the Vatican to be thrown open to the clamorous mob. When they rushed in they found the Pope seated on his throne in full pontificals. He calmly asked them what they wanted, and they, abashed by his display of dignity, retired in peace. After this the tumult in Rome settled quietly down; and when Giovanna I stirred up Rainaldo degli Orsini to lead a troop against Rome, the Romans repulsed them, and left their captives bound to trees to perish with hunger.

The legend goes on to say that some of those who called on Catharine of Siena were miraculously released. It was the last miracle wrought by the saint in the flesh, as she died on April 29, 1380. In the dismal history of these gloomy times, she presents a picture of purity, devotion, and self-sacrifice, to which we turn with feelings of relief. In her intense and passionate desire for personal communion with Jesus, Catharine resembled the fervent nature of S. Francis of Assisi. But her lot was cast in times when zeal had grown cold in high places, and she spent her energy in agonized attempts to heal the breaches of the Papal system. A simple maiden of Siena, she ventured in her Master’s name to try and redress the evils which were so open and avowed. She saw Italy widowed of its Pope: she saw the Church venal and corrupt; and though she was inspired by mystic enthusiasm, she worked with practical force and courage to restore the Papacy to Italy and to inaugurate an era of reform. In urgent tones she summoned the Popes from Avignon, and Urban V answered to her call. She went from city to city pleading for peace, and in the discharge of her mission shrank neither from the fierce brawls of civic passion nor the coarse brutality of the condottiere camp. Before her eyes floated the vision of a purified and reformed Church, of which the restoration of the Papacy to its original seat was to be at once the symbol and the beginning. Blinded by her enthusiasm, she hailed with delight the accession of Urban VI, and by the side of the violent and vindictive Pope, her pure and gentle spirit seems to stand as an angel of light. She did not long survive the disappointment of the Schism, and though she remained constant in her allegiance to Urban VI, his character and actions must have been a perpetual trial to her faith. She died at the age of thirty-three, and the removal of her influence for mercy is seen in the increased vindictiveness of Urban’s measures. Canonized by Pius II, Catharine of Siena has a claim upon our reverence higher than that of a saint of the mediaeval Church. A low-born maiden, without education or culture, she gave the only possible expression in her age and generation to the aspiration for national unity and for the restoration of ecclesiastical purity.

Urban VI, finding himself menaced by Giovanna of Naples, did not hesitate to accept the challenge, and on April 21 declared her deposed from her throne as a heretic, schismatic, and traitor to the Pope. He looked for help in carrying out his decree to King Lewis of Hungary, who had for a time laid aside his desire for vengeance against Giovanna, but was ready to resume his plans of aggrandizement when a favorable opportunity offered. He had brought into subjection his powerful nobles, and had consolidated Hungary into a strong and aggressive power: when Urban’s messengers reached him he was at war with Venice for the possession!, of Dalmatia. Lewis was not himself disposed to leave his kingdom; but he had at his court the son of his relative, Lewis of Durazzo, whom he had put to death in his Neapolitan campaign for complicity in Andrew’s murder. After his father’s death the young Charles was brought to Hungary, and educated at court. As Giovanna was childless, Charles of Durazzo, or Carlo della Pace, as he was called in Italy, had a strong claim to the Neapolitan throne at her death. Lewis, who had only a daughter to succeed him in Hungary, was not sorry to rid himself of one who was conspicuous for military and princely qualities. He furnished Charles with Hungarian troops for an expedition against Naples, after exacting from him a promise that he would put forward no claim to the thrones of Hungary and Poland. In November Charles made his entry into Rome. He was a little man, with fair hair, of princely bearing, well qualified to win men’s goodwill by his geniality, and by his courage to make the most of his opportunities. He was also a friend of learning and a man of keen political intelligence. He was one of the earliest of Italian rulers who combined a love for culture with a spirit of reckless adventure.

Clement VII on his side bestirred himself in behalf of his ally Giovanna, and for this purpose could count on the help of France. Failing the house of Durazzo, the house of Valois could put forward a claim to the Neapolitan throne, as being descended from the daughter of Charles II. The helpless Giovanna in her need adopted as her heir and successor Louis, Duke of Anjou, brother of the French king, and called him to her aid. Clement VII hastened to confer on Louis everything that he could. He even formed the States of the Church into a kingdom of Adria, and bestowed them on Louis; only Rome itself, and the adjacent lands in Tuscany, Campania Maritima, and Sabina were reserved for the Pope. The Avignonese pretender was resolved to show how little he cared for Italy or for the old traditions of the Italian greatness of his office.

Charles of Durazzo vas first in the field, for Louis of Anjou was detained in France by the death of Charles V in September, 1380. The accession of Charles VI at the age of twelve threw the government of the kingdom upon the Council of Regency, of which Louis of Anjou was the chief member. He used his position to gratify his chief failing, avarice, and gathered large sums of money for his Neapolitan campaign. Meanwhile Charles of Durazzo was in Rome, where Urban VI equipped him for his undertaking. He made Charles Senator of Rome, that he might call out the levies of the Roman people; he exhausted the Papal treasury, and even laid hands on the sacred vessels and images of the Roman churches, to supply pay for the troops of Alberigo da Barbiano, which were summoned to swell the ranks of Charles. But the Pope’s zeal for Charles was tempered by attention to his own interests, and though willing to invest Charles with the kingdom, he demanded a high price for his services. Charles found the Pope’s terms exorbitant, and the differences between them were only settled by an arbitration, conducted on the Pope’s side by five Cardinals, and on the part of Charles by a learned Florentine lawyer, Lapo da Castiglionchio. Ultimately Charles agreed to confirm grants which the Pope claimed to have made in the vacancy that, according to him, followed on Giovanna’s deposition. The grants were all in favor of Urban’s nephew, Francesco Prignano, nicknamed Butillo, and conferred on him Capua, Amalfi, Caserta, Fondi, Gaeta, Sorrento, and other towns, all the richest part of the Neapolitan kingdom. This unblushing nepotism of Urban VI was not justified by anything in the capacities or character of his nephew, who was a rude and profligate ruffian, with no ability to redeem his vices from infamy .When this matter had been arranged to Urban’s satisfaction, he conferred on Charles the investiture of Naples, in June, 1381. He was proud of his triumph over Charles, and was determined to read him a lesson on the necessity of obedience. He sent for Lapo da Castiglionchio in the presence of the Cardinals and of the King’s attendants, and as he knelt before him, proudly said, “King Charles, King Charles, make much of Lapo, for it is he who has made you king”. The coronation of Charles was performed with due pomp and ceremony. Urban, in a sermon of two hours’ length, praised his virtues and published a crusade in his favor; with his own hands he fastened the red cross on Charles’s breast.

Charles, who had been fretting under his long delay, hastened to leave Rome on June 8, and marched of against Naples, where he had not many difficulties to encounter. The Neapolitan barons were for the most part on his side; they preferred a native ruler to a foreigner who would bring with him a train of French followers. Moreover, Urban VI, as a Neapolitan, had the popular sympathies in his favor; he had raised many Neapolitans to the Cardinalate, while Clement VII had chosen only Frenchmen. The cause of Charles and Urban was the national side, and Giovanna found herself in great straits. Yet her husband Otto was a brave soldier and went out to meet the foe. His first effort to check him on the frontier was unsuccessful; he was repulsed from San Germano on June 28, and Charles pressed on to Naples. Otto hurried after him, and the armies were face to face outside the walls; but a rising within the city opened the gates to Charles on July 16, and Giovanna was driven to take refuge in the Castel Nuovo while Otto retreated to Aversa. Charles vigorously pressed the siege of the castle, which was ill supplied with provisions; he neglected no means of bombardment to terrify the garrison, for he was anxious to get the Queen into his hands before reinforcements could arrive from Provence. It was to no purpose that Giovanna scanned the waters to catch sight of the sails of Provençal galleys; provisions failed, and on August 20 she was driven to open negotiations with Charles. A truce was made for five days, at the end of which the Queen was to surrender if no help came. On the morning of the 24th, Otto resolved to make a last desperate effort; gathering his forces, he advanced against Charles. But his troops were half-hearted, and when Otto rushed upon the foe they did not follow him; he was surrounded and made prisoner. Giovanna’s last hopes were gone, and on August 26 she surrendered the castle to Charles, who in a few days received the submission of the whole kingdom. No sooner was Charles in possession of Naples than Urban’s legate, Cardinal de Sangro, proceeded to treat the clergy as a barbarous conqueror dealing with defeated rebels. The unhappy prelates, who had only obeyed their Queen in recognizing Clement VII, were deprived of their possessions, imprisoned, and tortured without regard to their rank or dignity. Urban is said to have appointed on one day thirty-two archbishops and bishops for the Neapolitan kingdom.

Louis of Anjou had delayed to help Giovanna I while she was still in possession of the kingdom; his help when she was in captivity only hastened her death, May 12, 1382. At first Charles hoped to obtain from Giovanna the adoption of himself and a revocation of her previous adoption of Louis, so as to secure for himself a legitimate title. He treated the Queen with respect till he found that nothing could overcome her indomitable spirit; then he changed his policy, imprisoned her closely, and in view of the approaching invasion of Louis, judged it wise to remove her from his path. She was strangled in her prison on May 12, 1382, and her corpse was exposed for six days before burial, that the certainty of her death might be known to all. Thenceforth the question between Charles III and Louis was not complicated by any considerations of Giovanna’s rights. It was a struggle of two dynasties for the Neapolitan crown, a struggle which was to continue for the next century.

Crowned King of Naples by Clement VII, Louis of Anjou quitted Avignon at the end of May, accompanied Louis of by a brilliant array of French barons and knights. He hastened through North Italy, and disappointed the hopes of the fervent partisans of Clement VII by pursuing his course over Aquila, through the Abruzzi, and refusing to turn aside to Rome, which, they said, he might have occupied, seized Urban VI, and so ended the Schism. When he entered the territory of Naples he soon received large accessions to his forces from discontented barons, while twenty-two galleys from Provence occupied Ischia and threatened Naples. Charles was unable to meet his adversary in the field, as his forces were far inferior in number to those of Louis, which were estimated by contemporaries at 40,000 horse. He was compelled to act on the defensive, but showed such tactical skill that Louis, in Maddaloni, could obtain no fodder for his horses, which died miserably, while his men suffered from the hardships of a severe winter, and no decisive blow could be struck. Throughout the winter and the following spring Charles acted strictly on the defensive, cutting off supplies, and harassing his enemy by unexpected sallies. The French troops perished from the effects of the climate; the Count of Savoy died of dysentery, on March 1, 1383; Louis saw his splendid army rapidly dwindling away.

But Urban VI was already discontented with Charles. His fiery temper wished to see the invaders swept away from the land, and he resolved to give his cautious vassal a lesson in generalship. Moreover, Charles already showed signs of ingratitude, and took no steps to hand over to the nephew Butillo his share of the spoil. Urban resolved to go in person to Naples, and there settle everything that was amiss. In vain the six Cardinals who were with him protested against the dangers of such a course; in vain some of them pleaded poverty as a reason why they should remain behind. Urban threatened them with immediate deposition unless they followed him, and they were compelled to obey. Taking advantage of a pestilence which was raging in Rome, Urban withdrew to Tivoli in April without exciting the suspicion of the people; thence he advanced to Valmontone, through Ferentino and San Germano to Suessa, and so to Aversa.

Charles was naturally disturbed at the news of the Pope’s arrival in his territory. He was sufficiently employed by his contest with Louis, without being exposed to the complications which might arise from the presence of the suzerain in a kingdom whose possession was yet ill assured. He resolved at once to give the Pope a lesson, and show him his real powerlessness. He accordingly went to meet the Pope at his entry into Aversa. Urban VI attired himself in full pontificals; but Charles came dressed in a simple suit of black, and, instead of advancing in state along the road, came across country, so as to give the meeting an accidental appearance. Still he showed all signs of dutiful respect. But, as he was leading the Pope’s palfrey towards the castle of Aversa, Urban expressed his desire to take up his quarters in the Bishop’s palace. Charles at once gave way; but Urban’s followers observed with terror that the city gates were shut after they entered. The following night Charles sent orders to Urban to come to the castle. The Pope replied that it was the same hour as that in which the Jews had seized Christ; he was hurried away by armed men, passionately declaring them excommunicated as he went, and assuring them of the certainty of their damnation. After three days spent with Charles in Aversa, the King and the Pope journeyed amicably together to Naples, where they made their solemn entry on November 9. Again the Pope wished to take refuge in the Archbishop’s palace. “Nay, Holy Father”, exclaimed the King, “let us go to the castle”. There for five days the Pope was kept in honorable custody till an agreement was made between him and the King, that the nephew Butillo was to have Capua, Amalfi, Nocera, and other places, as well as a revenue of 5000 florins; and the Pope, on his part, was not to interfere in the affairs of the kingdom. This compact, made by the intervention of the Cardinals, was celebrated by rejoicings, and the Pope took up his residence in the Archbishop’s palace in peace. Yet his desire to enrich his relatives was insatiable, and two of his nieces were married with great pomp to Neapolitan nobles. The parade of Papal ceremonial was welcomed by the Neapolitans, though the religious impression produced by the Pope’s ecclesiastical solemnities was somewhat marred by the misconduct of his nephew. On Christmas Eve, as the Pope was present at vespers in the cathedral, a rumor was suddenly brought that Butillo had forcibly entered a nunnery and violated a sister of noble birth, remarkable for her beauty. Charles was glad to make use of this scandal, and called Butillo to trial. Urban VI excused his nephew on the ground of youth (he was forty years old), and urged his rights as suzerain of Naples to stop the proceedings. Charles gave way, after remodeling his agreement with the Pope, and as a punishment for his offence Butillo was condemned to matrimony. He wedded a lady related to the King, and received in dowry the castle of Nocera, and a promise of a revenue of 7000 florins, so long as the domains which Charles had granted him remained in the possession of Louis. After this settlement of affairs, Urban, on January 1, 1384, proclaimed a crusade against Louis as a heretic and schismatic, and Charles unfurled the banner of the Cross.

The presence of the Pope gave fresh vigor to the efforts of Charles, for it made him anxious to rid himself of Louis before turning against Urban VI, whose presence in his kingdom was intolerable to him. He followed up the Papal proclamation of a crusade by a royal edict (January 15), summoning all his counts and barons to prepare for an expedition in the spring. Meanwhile he raised supplies from every quarter; the finest horses of the Cardinals disappeared from their stables, and men said that the King knew where they had gone. The cloths of the Florentine, Pisan, and Genoese merchants, which were in the custom-house, were seized and appropriated to the royal service. On April 4 Charles led out his army to Barletta, whither Louis advanced, and offered battle. Charles took counsel of his prisoner, Otto of Brunswick, who advised him not to risk battle, but to act on the defensive, as Louis would not long be able to keep the field. His advice proved wise; after a few skirmishes Louis was compelled to fall back upon Bari. As a token of his gratitude, Charles set Otto at liberty, and remained at Barletta watching Louis.

Meanwhile, Urban had determined to withdraw himself Urban from the power of Charles, and take up a strong to Nocera position against him. In spite of the King’s promises, Capua had not yet been handed over to the Pope’s nephew, and Nocera was the only place which Butillo could call his own. Hither Urban retired during the King’s absence from Naples. The castle of Nocera was strong, and Urban caused it to be well provisioned; but the town that gathered round it did not contain seventy habitable houses, and the Curia found Nocera a most uncomfortable residence when Urban, in the middle of May, transferred his court thither. He was resolved to make Nocera the capital of the Papacy till he had settled at his will the affairs of Naples, and he conferred upon the town the title of “Luceria Christianorum”. The Cardinals shuddered at the horrors of the life they led in Nocera, and longed for an opportunity to escape. In the middle of August some smoke in the distance caused an alarm that the enemy was advancing against the city. There was a general flight, in which some of the Cardinals took refuge in Naples, and showed no disposition to listen to the Pope’s summons to return. Strengthened by their presence Queen Margaret, who was Regent in Naples, forbade the supply of provisions to the Pope, on which Urban retaliated by asserting his claims as suzerain to interfere in the affairs of the kingdom. He abolished the impost on wines, and forbade its payment to the royal officers, under pain of excommunication.

It was clear to Charles that Urban was a more serious adversary than Louis; but Charles lay helpless, his army was attacked by the plague, and he himself was stricken down by it. It spread to the army of Louis, which was already worn out by hardships and by want of food, and proved more fatal than in the camp of Charles. In September Louis himself died, leaving behind him a will by which he bequeathed his claims on Naples to his eldest son. Louis was a brave and skillful general and a sensible politician; in France he might have played a useful part: as it was he wasted his own life and that of many noble followers in the useless pursuit of a kingdom. Naples was to prove hereafter the destruction of his race, and his own fortunes were but a symbol of the fate of those who were to follow in his steps.

On the death of Louis the remnant of his army dispersed, and Charles was free from one antagonist. Still suffering from the effects of the plague, he returned to Naples on November 10, and at once proceeded to bring matters to a crisis with the Pope. He sent to enquire courteously the reason why the Pope had quitted Naples, and invited him to return thither. Urban haughtily answered that kings were wont to come to the feet of popes, not popes at the command of kings. He went on to assert his right as suzerain to interfere in the affairs of Naples. “Let the King”, he said, “if he wishes for my friendship, free his kingdom from oppressive imposts”. He seems to have wished to gather round himself a popular party, and it was believed that he had formed the wild idea of setting his worthless nephew Butillo on the throne of Naples. The answer of Charles was equally clear and decided. The kingdom, he said, was his own; he had won it by his own arms and labors. As to taxation, he would impose as many taxes as he chose; let the Pope busy himself with his clergy, and not meddle with things that did not concern him. War was now declared between the Pope and the King; and both sides prepared for the conflict.

Charles found adherents amongst Urban’s Cardinals, who repined at the discomforts of Nocera, and there were few who could sympathize with Urban’s schemes. He had been elected Pope that the Papacy might be restored to its old seat at Rome. It was more intolerable that Nocera should be the head-quarters of the Papacy than Avignon. Urban’s designs to establish his nephew in Naples interested no one but himself; and the Cardinals stood aghast at the stubbornness and recklessness of the intractable Pope. It was monstrous that they should submit to be dragged helplessly from place to place as the whim of the passionate old man might dictate. It was natural that they should take counsel together how they could rid themselves from this intolerable yoke. They consulted a learned lawyer, Bartolino of Piacenza, and submitted a case for his opinion. They wished to know if a Pope who was imperiling the Church, and ruling at his own will without paying any heed to the Cardinals, might be compelled to accept a council elected by the Cardinals to regulate his doings. Their plan was to set up a body of commissioners by the side of an incapable Pope; the Papal monarchy as exercised by a mad despot was to be limited by a permanent council of the ecclesiastical aristocracy. The plan was ingenious, and the constitutional question which it raised was of great importance for the future of the Papacy. But the Cardinal Orsini of Manupello revealed it to Urban before it had been brought to maturity, and the Pope lost no time in crushing it. On January 2, 1385, he called to a consistory the six Cardinals whom he most suspected; his nephew Butillo seized them, and cast them into a loathsome dungeon made in a broken cistern. The Pope accused them of a plot to seize his person, compel him to confess himself to be a heretic, and then burn him. They were left in their horrible dungeon to suffer from cold, hunger, and loathsome reptiles. Dietrich of Niem, who was sent to examine them, gives us an account of their sufferings and of the Pope’s vindictive fury. It was in vain that the unhappy men pleaded their innocence; in vain Dietrich of Niem entreated the Pope to be merciful. Urban’s face glowed with anger like a lamp, and his throat grew hoarse with furious maledictions. The accused were dragged before a consistory and were urged to confess; when they still pleaded innocence, they were again plunged into their dungeon. Three days afterwards they were submitted to torture, elderly and infirm as many of them were. The brutal Butillo stood by and laughed at their sufferings, while the Pope himself walked in a garden outside, listening with satisfaction to their shrieks of agony, and reading his hours from the Breviary in a loud voice that the torturer might display more diligence when he knewthe Pope was at hand. After this the unhappy Cardinals were again carried back to their prisons. With his College of Cardinals thus crippled Urban proceeded to strengthen it by new nominations, amongst whom were many Germans. We are not surprised to find that they all refused the dangerous honor, and only a few Neapolitans could be found to accept it. Five of his Cardinals left him, and wrote to the Roman clergy declaring that they could no longer recognize Urban as Pope; they told the story of his recent cruelty; they complained of his stubborn, intractable, perverse and haughty character, which reached almost to the pitch of madness; his conduct was ruining the Church; his orthodoxy was doubtful; they declared their intention of coming to Rome and there summoning a General Council to consider how the dangers which threatened the Church might be averted.

Urban VI, however, was undaunted. His arrogance and recklessness were thorough, and admitted as little consideration for the future as for the present. He excommunicated the Abbot of Monte Casino, who showed signs of following in the line suggested by the letter of the Cardinals, and was accused of stirring up a disturbance in Rome. He excommunicated the King and Queen of Naples, and laid their land under an interdict. It is needless to say that the Neapolitan clergy stood in greater awe of Charles than of Urban, and the Papal thunders produced no effect beyond raising a persecution against such of the clergy as were suspected of being partisans of Urban; they were tortured, imprisoned, and some were even thrown into the sea. It was one horrible feature of the Schism that it called forth the spirit of persecution and intolerance as much as if some great principle had been at stake.

Charles III had no longer any compunctions about proceeding against the Pope, and sent to the siege of Nocera the Constable of Naples, Alberigo da Barbiano, the condottiere general who six years before had secured Urban VI in the Papacy by his victory at San Marino; since then his fidelity to Charles had won for him nobility and high office in the kingdom. Alberigo had no more scruples in attacking the Pope than if he had been a Saracen. The town of Nocera was soon taken, but the castle was on a steep rock and was well fortified; its outer wall was thrown down by bombardment, but the citadel remained impregnable. Three or four times a day the dauntless Pope appeared at a window, and with bell and torch cursed and excommunicated the besieging army. He issued a Bull freeing from ecclesiastical penalties all clergy who might kill or mutilate the partisans of Charles. Alberigo replied by a proclamation offering a reward of 10,000 florins to anyone who would bring the Pope alive or dead into the camp. Never had Pope used his ecclesiastical authority so profusely; never had Pope been treated with such contumelious contempt.

Yet Urban VI still had friends, and Charles III had foes. A fleet of ten Genoese vessels lay off the coast, to aid Urban if they saw an opportunity. Raimondello Orsini, son of the Count of Nola, who had been an adherent of Clement VII and Louis of Anjou, was willing to sink his ecclesiastical in his political quarrel, and to help Urban against Charles. Taking under his command a band of mercenaries, he hastened to Nocera; but his mercenaries thought that they would gain more from Charles than from Urban. When the royal troops came out to meet them they fled in pretended fear. Raimondello, finding himself deserted, dashed with furious courage through his enemies, and with a few followers escaped into the castle. Meanwhile his traitorous soldiers succeeded in capturing the Pope’s nephew, Butillo, who had unsuspectingly given them shelter in their flight. He was carried off a prisoner to Charles. Raimondello remained only long enough to concert measures with the Pope. By night he again made his escape through the besieging army, and went to summon the remnants of the army of Louis, which still remained under the leadership of Tommaso of Sanseverino. After this the blockade of Nocera was made more rigid. The arrival of the Abbot of Monte Casino in the royal camp inspired greater savagery into the war. All who were discovered approaching the castle, or trying to introduce supplies or letters, were cruelly tortured. A messenger of the Pope, who was taken prisoner, was hurled from a catapult and was dashed to pieces against the castle walls. Yet, even in his extremities, Urban VI showed a touching solicitude for his successors; and framed a Bull for future occasions of Papal captivity, denouncing penalties on all resident within ten days’ journey who did not hasten to succor a Pope, and promising to those who aided him the same indulgences as if they had gone on a crusade to the Holy Land.

Urban’s troops were sorely pressed by famine, when at length, on July 5, Raimondello Orsini and Tommaso of Sanseverino broke through the camp of the besiegers and carried provisions into the castle. Two days afterwards they rescued the Pope with all his baggage, and the captive Cardinals, whom he refused to let go even in his flight. The horse on which one of them, the Bishop of Aquila, was mounted went lame; whereon Urban ordered the Bishop to be put to death, and his corpse was left unburied by the roadside. The royalist troops, who were not strong enough to prevent the escape, hung on the rear and harassed the retreat. The confusion that arose gave the Pope’s deliverers an opportunity of pillaging his baggage, for the majority of the motley army consisted of Breton adventurers and the French soldiers of Louis, who looked with contempt on Urban as the anti-Pope, and had no motive for rescuing him but a desire for gain. As they drew near to Salerno, a proposal was made to carry off Urban to Avignon, and hand him over to Clement, unless he gave them money enough. The Germans and Italians had some difficulty in defeating this project, and Urban had to pay down 11,000 florins, and give his bond for 24,000 more. After this, it was thought wise to get rid of the French soldiers, and Urban, with 300 Germans and Italians, hurried on to Benevento.

During this retreat we feel that Urban VI was in his proper sphere. Surrounded by a band of reckless ruffians, himself as reckless and as ruffianly as the worst of them, Urban showed courage equal to any danger, and his spirit was undaunted amidst all hardships. He made for Benevento, and when the inhabitants refused to receive him, he professed to lay aside his intention of going there, and then suddenly appeared before the gates and forced an entrance. Thither he summoned the captains of the Genoese galleys which were still anchored off Naples, and arranged with them that they should convey him to Genoa. He exacted from the Beneventans 1.000 florins, bestowed the rule of the city on Raimondello as a reward for his services, and then commenced his journey to the eastern coast, which still held for the Angevin party, where the Genoese galleys were to meet him. Gobelin of Paderborn, who accompanied Urban in his flight, gives a vivid account of the sufferings experienced in crossing the Apennines in the full blaze of the fierce summer sun. For three months there had been no rain, so that the ground was parched up, and water was scarcely to be found; from before sunrise till after sunset the resolute Urban pressed on, with only an hour’s rest at midday. When at length the sea came in view, not far from Barletta, the sight was hailed by joyous blasts of the trumpets. But the galleys were not visible, and Barletta held for Charles III. They were obliged to make a circuit, and direct their weary steps towards Trani, with many an anxious glance over the waters. At length the longed-for sails were seen; with shouts of joy they hastened to the shore, and were picked up by the galleys on August 21. Their voyage was not without perils, but at last they landed in Genoa on September 23. The Genoese had not served Urban for nothing; they sent in a bill for their kind protection — the cost of ten galleys for four months, which amounted to 80,000 florins. Urban made over to them as payment the seaport town of Cometo, which lay in the Patrimony.

Though Urban VI was in safety at Genoa, his haughty spirit did not relish a residence in a city where opinion was so freely expressed. The Doge, Antoniotto Adorno, was a man of large views and enterprising character, who soon showed the Pope that he was by no means ready to obey his behests. He wrote to the Emperor and to other princes, inviting them to co-operate with him in taking measures to end the Schism. The people of Genoa did not show the Pope the respect which he considered his due, and during his residence in Genoa, Urban never went beyond the precincts of the Hospital of S. John, where he had taken up his abode on landing. Yet the ferocity of his temper was in no way abated. One day there appeared before him a crazy hermit — for crazy indeed he must have been to come on such an errand to such a man — a Frenchman who claimed to have had a revelation from heaven that Clement was the true Pope; he charged Urban, as he loved the Church and valued his own salvation, to lay aside his office. Urban was so amazed at this audacity, that he was driven to account for it by the supposition of diabolical instigation. Seeing a ring on the hermit’s finger, an unwonted ornament, he assumed that it was the abode of the evil spirit. He asked, jokingly, to be allowed to look at it; and as soon as it was in his hand, ordered his attendants to seize the hermit and put him to torture. The poor wretch, of course, confessed that his pretended revelation was diabolic and not divine. The Pope wished to put him to death; but his Cardinals pleaded that the French King might take an unpleasant revenge on several of their relatives who were still in France. The hermit’s head was shaved in mockery; he was compelled to take an oath of allegiance to Urban, and publicly to recant his words; at length he was allowed to go back to France.

After a residence of rather more than a year in Genoa, Urban received a courteous but decided hint from the Doge that he had better seek another place of sojourn; the Genoese did not like his presence, and there were frequent tumults between them and the followers of the Pope. Before his departure the captive Cardinals were put to death, and buried in a stable, because the Pope no longer wished to be troubled by the custody of prisoners. One only was released — an Englishman, Adam Easton, who owed his safety to the special entreaties of King Richard II.

At the end of his stay in Genoa Urban saw a new opportunity for prosecuting his designs on Naples by the untimely death of King Charles III. No sooner Charles had that adventurous prince freed himself from Urban than he plunged into new schemes of aggrandizement. The death of King Lewis of Hungary in 1382 left his kingdom to his daughter Mary, a girl of twelve years old, who was betrothed to Sigismund, second son of the Emperor Charles IV, a boy of fifteen. The regency was in the hands of the widowed Queen Elizabeth, whose preference for Nicolas Gara, one of the ministers of the late King, awoke the jealousy of the Hungarian barons. Wishing for a leader of revolt, they sent to Charles of Naples and offered him the Hungarian crown; and the ambition of Charles outweighed the promises which he had made to Lewis and prevailed over the entreaties of his wife. It would almost seem that Charles ordered his general to connive at Urban’s escape from Nocera as being the simplest means of freeing himself from difficulties at home. No sooner was Urban fairly embarked on the Genoese galleys than Charles, with a few followers, hurried off to Hungary, where he found much dissatisfaction with the rule of women, and had no difficulty in gathering a strong party round him. At first he declared that he only came to pacify Hungary: but gradually he assumed to himself a kingly position. Elizabeth deemed it wisest to yield: in behalf of herself and her daughter she resigned the crown and besought Charles to take it. But a reaction soon set in, and popular sympathy arose for the dispossessed queens, who attended the coronation of Charles with tears streaming down their cheeks and eyes fixed on the tomb of the great Lewis, whose favors had been so soon forgotten, and whose wife and daughter had been so traitorously abandoned. Charles was naturally of a mild disposition, and every motive of policy combined to lead him to treat with kindness Elizabeth and her daughter, in the hopes of uniting the contending factions in the kingdom. Elizabeth used her opportunity, and plotted the death of Charles. She invited him to a conference, and managed that it lasted so long as to weary out the patience of Charles’s Italian followers, who gradually dispersed. When Charles was thus left alone, Nicolas Gara drew near as though to take leave of the Queen; a man followed him, who, suddenly drawing his sword, aimed a blow at the head of the unsuspecting Charles. Though sorely wounded, Charles could still stagger from the room, but his attendants fled. He was a prisoner in the hands of Elizabeth and Nicolas Gara, and when his wounds showed signs of healing, he was put to death in prison on February 24, 1386.

The death of Charles III again plunged the kingdom of Naples into confusion. The Angevin party, which had been powerless against Charles, raised against his son Ladislas, a boy of twelve years old, the claims of Louis II of Anjou. The exactions of the Queen Regent Margaret awoke dissatisfaction, and led to the appointment in Naples of a new civic magistracy, called the Otto di Buono Stato, who were at variance with Margaret. The Angevins rallied under Tommaso of Sanseverino, and were reinforced by the arrival of Otto of Brunswick. The cause of Louis was still identified with that of Clement VII, who, in May, 1385, had solemnly invested him with the kingdom of Naples. Urban, however, refused to recognize the claims of the son of Charles, though Margaret tried to propitiate him by releasing Butillo from prison, and though Florence warmly supported her prayers for help. Ordinary motives of expediency did not weigh with Urban, who still hoped to bring Naples immediately under himself by setting Butillo upon the throne. When he left Genoa he resolved to move southwards towards Naples, where he had hopes of acceptance from the Otto di Buono Stato.

Urban could not leave Genoa hurriedly, for it was difficult for him to find anywhere else to go. The Italian cities were not anxious for the expensive at honor of entertaining a Pope of Urban’s overbearing disposition. At last, after meeting with many refusals from other cities, he prevailed on Lucca to receive him. On December 16, accompanied by twelve Cardinals, he left Genoa by sea and journeyed to Lucca; though he had promised the citizens of Lucca not to stay longer than fifteen days, he remained there till the following September. Things in Naples went badly for his plans; his refusal to recognize Ladislas necessarily tended to strengthen the party of Louis, which found in Otto of Brunswick a skillful general; the dissensions in the city of Naples between the Queen and the magistracy gave an opportunity for a successful attack. On July 8, Margaret was driven out of Naples, which fell into the hands of the Angevin party, and she had to take refuge in the impregnable Castle of Gaeta. Fierce vengeance was wreaked by the conquerors, who had personal, political, and religious differences to settle. Clement VII gave the Papal permission to sell the gold and silver vessels of the Neapolitan churches as a means of providing pay for the soldiers. Though Urban might not wish to see Ladislas established in Naples, still less could he wish to see there a king who owed his title to Clement. On August 30 he issued an encyclical letter, calling on the faithful to follow the banner of the Church in driving out the schismatics from Naples. But he had no notion of drawing nearer to Ladislas. On September 6 he appointed the Archbishop of Patras guardian of Achaia on behalf of the Church; Ladislas, through his father, had some claim to the succession, and Urban took, in the name of the Church, the heritage of an excommunicated heretic. Both these letters of Urban’s were equally without effect. No army gathered at the Pope’s command to invade Naples; the Church got no hold of Achaia.

The proceedings of Urban VI created uneasiness in Florence. The Republic, in its wish for peace, strove to reconcile Urban with the party of Ladislas: when Urban showed himself inexorable, the Florentines tried to make peace by other means. They sent an embassy to France, and proposed a reconciliation of the two factions in Naples by a marriage of Louis of Anjou with Giovanna, the sister of Ladislas. Their proposal came to nothing; but on their way home the ambassadors paid a visit to Clement VII at Avignon, and were by him received with great respect. Urban’s conduct, especially his execution of the captive Cardinals, awakened disgust throughout Europe. Clement was anxious, when he saw his rival’s unpopularity, to submit his claims to a General Council. He sent an embassy to Florence to urge them to take a leading part in summoning a Council. But the Florentines were too entirely Italian to wish to help a Pope at Avignon: they answered that it was for kings and princes to summon Councils, not for them. They contented themselves with trying to neutralize the ill effects of Urban’s presence in their neighborhood; party spirit waxed high at Bologna, and a faction was desirous of calling in the Pope to their aid. Florence was afraid of the power of Gian Galeazzo Visconti of Milan, and feared lest the Pope should add another to the disturbing causes which were already at work.

Events near Rome tended to call Urban southwards. On May 8 a powerful foe of Urban and of the Roman people, Francesco da Vico, was put to death at Viterbo. He was one of the most powerful and of the most cruel and oppressive amongst the tyrants who had made themselves masters of the States of the Church, and his death was the cause of great rejoicing to le Roman citizens. His relatives, however, were powerful; and the people of Viterbo, after slaying their tyrant, were driven to put themselves under the Papal protection, and receive as Papal legate Cardinal Orsini of Manupello. Encouraged by his success, Urban began to draw nearer Rome, and on September 23 left Lucca for Perugia. The Florentines tried to persuade the Perugians not to receive him; and the Perugian magistrates so far listened to them that, when they met the Pope on his entry into their city, they urged on him a pacific policy, particularly towards Florence. Urban briefly answered that peace no doubt was good thing, but he wanted the lands of the Church; it was not for them to dictate to him in his dealings with Florence. He hoped to have brought Perugia under his rule; but the Perugians showed no signs of submission, nor did they pay fitting respect to the nephew Butillo, who had grown no wiser by previous experience, and conducted his amours with a Perugian lady in such a way as to awaken the anger of her brothers, who laid in wait for the imprudent lover by light and ignominiously flogged him. The Pope was full of wrath at this insult to his favorite, but his wrath was directed to another quarter. On some trivial cause he called Cardinal Orsini from Viterbo; but the people held by the Cardinal, and refused to admit the new legate whom Urban sent in his place. Furious at this insult Urban summoned Cardinal Orsini to Perugia, and could not await is arrival, but sent soldiers to arrest him on the way. This aroused the anger of the Cardinal’s brother, Cola Orsini, who sized upon the towns of Narni and Terni. Urban was driven to liberate the Cardinal and end this unprofitable quarrel.

But all this while the Pope’s eyes were fixed on Naples, and he saw in the varying successes of the two contending parties and in the miseries of the land a means of asserting his own claims. He declared that the kingdom had lapsed to the Holy See, and even wrote from Perugia, on May 1, appointing a governor of Calabria. He labored to gather together troops for an expedition into Naples, and called upon Sicily to provide him with ships and men in accordance with an old treaty which bound Sicily to furnish aid to Naples when it was in extreme peril; as rightful lord of Naples, Urban declared its peril to be extreme. All the army that Urban could raise was a band of mercenaries, who, under the command of an Englishman, Beltot, had been ravaging Tuscany. On August 8, 1388, Urban put himself at the head of this lawless company and departed from Perugia. He had not gone far before his mule stumbled and he fell. Though so severely shaken that he had to be carried in a litter, he still refused to go to Rome, and continued his course to Naples. A hermit came to meet him on his way, and prophesied: “Whether you will or no, you will go to Rome and there die”. The prophecy came true. At Narni his reckless soldiers began to doubt about their chances of receiving pay, the Florentines, anxious to avert war, had made them tempting offers if they would enter their service, and they began to think that the money of Florence was surer than that of the Pope. Two thousand of them left him and went back to Tuscany. Though Urban was left with only two hundred men, he still went on his way to Ferentino. There he waited for reinforcements, but only a thousand men gathered round him. He saw that his expedition was useless, and gloomily retired to Rome, which he had not seen for five years. He was received by the Romans on September 1 with outward respect, but with suspicion and dislike. They insisted that he should send away the soldiers whom he had brought with him, and he was obliged to dismiss them to Viterbo.

Yet Urban’s mind was still set upon an expedition to Naples, and for that purpose money must be raised. He hit upon the happy expedient of hastening on the year of jubilee, which had been established by Boniface VIII, in 1300, as an anniversary to be held every hundred years, when pilgrims might visit Rome and gain indulgences by prayers at the graves of the Apostles. This jubilee had been found so profitable that Clement VI enacted that it should be held every fiftieth year. Urban VI went further, and ordered that the year 1390 should be a year of jubilee, and that henceforth it should be held every thirty-third year. Of course there were excellent reasons for this change. Thirty-three was the number of years of the Redeemer’s life on this earth; it was also the duration of a generation of men, and gave all who wished it a fair chance of obtaining inestimable privileges. The proclamation of a jubilee was Urban’s last desperate step to obtain supplies for his projected invasion of Naples. Meanwhile it gave him a powerful means of keeping in order the refractory Romans. Their city was desolate; they had suffered from the incursions of bands of plunderers of every sort; poverty, beggary, and famine were rife. Urban found it even necessary to issue a decree forbidding the people to dismantle the empty palaces of the Cardinals that they might use the materials for building. Rome hailed with joy the promise of a jubilee, which would again bring crowds of pilgrims and make money flow into their beggared city. Urban saw and used his opportunity to strike a blow at the power of the magistracy, who, since his departure, had ruled the city. He appointed a senator by his own powers: the people rose in uproar and rushed clamorous to the Vatican. But the Papal excommunication again had power in Rome when anything was to be gained from the Papacy. In a few days the Roman Magistrates, barefooted, in the garb of penitence, with ropes round their necks and candles in their hands, sought the Pope’s absolution. Urban’s indomitable spirit had still some ground to triumph before it passed away. He reduced to obedience the people of Rome, and he heard of the failure of an attempt made by his foe, Cardinal Pileo of Ravenna, to create a diversion in favor of Clement in North Italy. On August 25 Urban fulminated is anathemas against him as a child of wickedness. On October 15 he died in the Vatican, and was buried in the chapel of S. Andrew, whence his bones were afterwards transferred into the main church.

Urban VI’s pontificate is one of the most disastrous in the whole history of the Papacy. Many other Popes have been more vicious, but none showed less appreciation of the difficulties, the duties, the traditions of his office. The private vices of a man are known for certain only to a few, and entire incompetence, if a dignified exterior be preserved, may escape detection. But at a most critical moment in the history of the Papacy, when tact, discretion, and conciliatory prudence were above all things necessary. Urban showed to his astonished adherents nothing save furious self-will, unreasoning ambition, and a wild savageness of disposition, which removed his actions from all possibility of calculation. He excited bitter hatred, all the more bitter because his followers could not choose but submit. Urban was at the head of a party bound together by many different interests; but he was a necessary head, and men could not dispense with him if they would. Revolt against Urban meant acceptance of Clement, and all the political consequences which a Pope under French influence necessarily involved. Men followed Urban in helpless terror and disgust, for his wild energy and ferocity prevented them from regarding him with contempt; only a man like Charles of Naples, strong and unscrupulous as himself, could beat him back. Men said that he was mad, that his head had been turned by his unexpected elevation to the Papacy. In truth, Urban is an example of the wild excesses of an adventurous spirit, which had been in early years repressed, but not trained by discipline. When he became Pope he wished to compress into a few years the gratification of the desires of a lifetime. He fancied that his office in itself afforded him the means of giving effect to his personal schemes and caprices. The traditions of the Papacy, the policy of his predecessors, the advice and the entreaties of his Cardinals, weighed equally little with him. His very virtues only lent intensity to the evil which he wrought; his personal uprightness, straightforwardness, and piety only tended to give strength to his pride and obstinacy. He was so confident in the rightness of his own opinion, that he regarded all advice with contempt; he was so determined to move directly to his end, that he never reasonably considered the difficulties in the way. He was so convinced that his cause was the cause of heaven, that he had no place for the hesitation or the wisdom of humility. He formed no large plans; he can scarcely be said to have had a policy at all. Being a Neapolitan by birth, he seems to have burned with desire to make his power felt in his native land. This he hoped to do by the mere assertion of the old claims of the Papacy, which he wished to use solely in the interests of his own family. His attempt would have been ludicrous if it had not been carried on with a fiery and passionate persistency that made it tragic. Still even in this attempt, unreflecting as it was, we see the beginnings of the obvious policy which the conditions of Italy forced upon the restored Papacy — the policy of founding itself upon a basis of temporal sovereignty, and taking place among the vigorous rulers who had sprung up in every part of Italy. Urban saw the need of this, and saw also that the end could only be reached by employing the Papal power to promote the Pope’s relatives. The rash endeavors of Urban VI are but a grotesque forecast of the subtler and more far-seeing policy of his successors in the fifteenth century.

CHAPTER II.

CLEMENT VII. BONIFACE IX.

RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS IN OXFORD AND PARIS.

1389—1394