Early chroniclers of Europe : Italy

Front matter

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EARLY CHRONICLERS OF ITALY.

EARLY CHRONICLERS OF EUROPE,

Preface

In attempting to give a popular account of the Italian chroniclers of the Middle Ages, I have tried to avoid all unnecessary display of erudition, and to present the book in as simple a form and as free from quotations and notes as possible. If I have not been able to keep myself rigorously to this rule, it has been because I desired as far as I could to make the book not wholly without value to more special students, since, if I am not mistaken, this is the first work which professes expressly to narrate the history of medieval Italian chronography. Hence I have made a diligent study in the best editions of the text of all the authors mentioned in this book, and before passing judgment upon them have tried to see all that others had thought and written on the same points.

VI preface.

As for the general structure of the book, if I have been sometimes rather diffuse in treating of the various historic periods which it traverses, I trust that I may be forgiven for this, considering that it is not easy, nor would it be a good plan, to speak of historical writers, without taking into account the times in which they lived and of which they wrote. Thus I have often been led to enlarge on the lives of the writers whose works I wras examining, and this I have done because it seemed to me that in no other way could I give so clear an idea of the times described by them, and of the reasons why they wrote. In Italy more than elsewhere the history of the Middle Ages was related by men who took an active part in the events which they recorded, from the earliest to the latest times, from Cassiodorus and Gregory the Great to Albertinus Mussatus, Dino Compagni and Giovanni Villani. Also, in order to make the reader better acquainted with the disposition, nature, and style of the various chronicles, I have introduced long and numerous extracts from them, translated from the Latin, Greek, or Italian originals. These passages have been translated by my wife, who has also given its English garb to the preface.

vii rest of the book, sharing with me the labour and the interest of compilation. In rendering these fragments the translator has striven to be true to the letter of the originals, but where some, from their obscure and confused Latin, made a literal translation impossible, she has done her best to adhere closely to the intention of the authors. The number of books which I had to consult is too great for me to mention them all, but I have tried to acknowledge those which have rendered me more special service, both from gratitude, and in order that any reader wishing to push his inquiries further may know where to turn for information. The first chapters w'ere printed (through involuntary delay on my part) many months before the last. For this I am sorry, as it has prevented me from making use of two recent publications — the edition of the Acts of the Neapolitan Bishops, made by Signor Capasso of Naples, and the edition of Jordanes, by Theodor Mommsen ; yet neither would have changed substantially what I had already written. What those first chapters, however, do recall is a memory bringing with it a sense of regret. Before they were sent to be printed, they had been read by the late

Vlll preface.

Canon Robertson, of Canterbury, and honouied with his suggestions and approval. I hoped to have been able to express to him in this place my gratitude, whereas I can only place it on lecoid, as a poor tribute to one for whom I feel deep reverence. Assuredly he is missed by many in England, as he is by me, for the generous and gentle qualities of his heart, while he is regretted by all, whether in England or Italy, who have studied his works and admired that calm and keen serenity of judgment which is one of the highest attributes of a faithful historian.

UGO BALZANI.

Rome,

December , 1882.

Chapter I

Decline of History with tiie Decline of Rome— Its Revival in the Time of tiie Goths— Cassiodorus— His Honours and the Political Tendency cf his Works— His Lost History of the Goths and the “ Libri Epistolarum Variarum ” — Compendium by THE Gotii Jordanes of the History of Cassiodorus— The Divisions between Romans and Goths fomented at Constantinople-Gothic War narrated by Procopius of C.esarea-Merits and Importance of this Author-Minor Writers

CHAPTER IT.

Sad Condition of Italy in the Early Period of the Lombard Invasion— Gregory the Great— Collection of ms Letters-Their Great Importance for the History of Italy-The Book of Dialogues- The Edict of Rothari-The “ Origo Langobardorum ’ —And Minor Writings up to Paulus Diaconus-His Life-IIis Works and Especially his

HrSTORY OF TIIE LOMBARDS

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PAGE

I

X

(Contents.

CHAPTER HI.

PAGE

Decay of Italian Chronograpily— The “Liber Pontificalis ” — The Acts of the Neapolitan Bishops — Agnellus of Ravenna— Polemical Writings of Auxilius and Vulgarius— The Monasteries and the Saracen Invasions— Farfa : the “Constructs Lives of the Saints of St. Vincent on the Volturno — The “ Destructio ” — Montecassino :

Chronicle of St. Benedict— Catalogues— Translations of Relics— “ Historia ” of Erciiempert- Chronicle of Salerno— Andrew of Bergamo— Panegyric of Berengarius— State of Lay Edi cation in Italy— Political Conditions— Liutprand — Imperialist Writings — Benedict of Soracie Venetian Chronicle of Johannes Diaconus

CHAPTER IV.

Intellectual Movement in the Eleventh and Twelfth Centuries— Reforms in the Church and the Contests Regarding the Investitures Revival of Ecclesiastical Culture and of Historical Research in the Monasteries— Monastic Registers and Chronicles — The Monastery of Farfa and the Works of Gregory ofCatino The “ Ciironicon Vulturnense ” — Renaissance of Arts and Letters at Montecassino tromoied by tiie Abbot Desiderius-Tiie Monk Amatus and his History of the Normans — Leo Ostiensis and Petrus Diaconus, Historians of Montecassino— Historical Writings of Southern Italy— Legendary Chronicle of the Monastery of the Nova-

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XI

CHAPTER V.

PAGE

Tiie Later Contributions to the “ Pontifical Book ” —Bruno of Segni— Wibert of Toul — Paul of Bernried — “ Annales Romani ” — Petrus Pisanus — Pandulth — Boso — Polemical Writings — St. Peter Damiani— Bonizo’s “ Liber ad Amicum ” —

The Life of Anselm of Lucca — Domnizo’s Life of the Countess Matilda — The Letters of Gregory

CHAPTER VI.

New Phases of Italian Thought from the Twelfth to the Fourteenth Centuries — Southern Writers of the Norman and Suabian Times—

Saba Malaspina — PIistorians of the Sicilian Vespers — Lives of the Popes — Life of Cola di Rienzo — Lombard Municipal Writers of the First Period — Otiio of Freising — General Histories — Municipal Writers of the Second Period— Fra Salimbene of Parma — Chroniclers of Various Cities of Central and Northern Italy — Chroniclers of Lombardy and of the Marca Trivigiana — Albertinus Mussatus ... ... ... 226

CHAPTER VII.

The Chroniclers of the Maritime Republics : Venetian Chronicles — Martin da Canale - Andrea Dandolo— The Genoese Annalists from Caffaro to James D’Oria — Pisa : Petrus Pisanus — Bernard Marango — The Chroniclers of the Rest of Tuscany and Principally the Florentines — Dino Compagni— The Villani ... ... ... 292

EARLY CHRONICLERS OF EUROPE.

I T A L Y.

CHAPTER I.

DECLINE OF HISTORY WITH- TIIE DECLINE OF ROME — ITS REVIVAL IN THE TIME OF THE GOTHS — CASSIODORUS — HIS HONOURS AND

THE POLITICAL TENDENCY OF HIS WORKS

IIIS LOST HISTORY OF THE GOTHS AND THE “ LIBRI EPISTOLARUM VARIARUM ” — COMPEN- DIUM BY THE GOTH JORDANIS OF TIIE HISTORY OF CASSIODORUS — THE DIVISIONS BETWEEN ROMANS AND GOTHS FOMENTED AT CONSTANTINOPLE — GOTHIC WAR NARRATED BY PROCOPIUS OF CAESAREA — MERITS AND IMPORTANCE OF THIS AUTHOR — MINOR WRITERS.

In the decline of Rome, and the slow dissolution of Latin unity, not only was all national feeling' and life destroyed, but also the art— almost the will— r it.

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of writing history was lost. The old world was dying in the West, and with it were fading away the last gleams of the old civilization. The grand inspiration of Livy, and the powerful utterances of Tacitus, had ceased ages before, and gradua y every spring was drying up, so that in the fift 1 century the story of that dark and uncertain period must be laboriously sought for among the few writers with whom we still meet, and who, with the exception of Ammianus Marcellinus, were not generally historians even in name. Prudentius, Claudianus, Rutilius Numatianus, St. Jerome and the principal fathers of the Chuich such aic t ic insufficient sources to which the historical stuc cn of this age must turn; and the reason foi t us is no far to seek. Where public life languished, it was natural that the records of the life itself shoul languish also. And while history was dying out among the natives of Italy, it could not spring all at once into life among the first invaders. To them the art was wanting, nor could the wish to turn t ic living traditions of their songs into history come to them naturally, unless they first learnt this ait in Italy, or at least found some one among the

vanquished disposed to write the narrative of tic,,

deeds But for this end, it was necessaiy first that vanquished and victors should commingle and learn to feel in common, so that while one bioug 1 blood and energy to the enervated country the other infused into these new elements what leiScbtbal of

maincd of former learning. Such a commingling was not to be expected in the case of the firs°t invaders who swept down from the Alps rather for rapine than for conquest, but appeared for a moment to be possible with the Goths ; and it is indeed in their time that the devotion to past memories temporarily revives, and that, so to speak, the narratives and historical documents of the Middle Ages begin.

Certainly of all the German nationalities the Goths were the most open to civilizing influences, and most capable of assimilating Latin culture and of identifying themselves with the old races among whom they had come down, while bringing into them new and salutary elements of vitality. Even to-day the German language has to refer for its origin to the Gothic translation of the Bible left by Ulphilas, and to the fragments of a harmony of the Gospels. A strong people of distinct originality, they could not, after their long contact with the Latin and Greek nations, neglect such rich intelcctual traditions, nor treat with contempt the exquisite creations of classic art and the legislative wisdom, which in the Justinian code presented a synthesis of the work of many ages. And if the Goths were capable of appreciating the traditions of antiqinty, these traditions, on the other hand, had still life enough in them to command the respect and admiration of their vigorous foes. If a strong nation could ever have been formed out of the two

elements, the Roman and the barbarian, it could only have happened with the Goths, and at that time. The majesty of the Empire still survived, and still the Latin element was so strong as to offer the barbarians more hope of union than of conquest. Later, after many struggles, after long and disastrous wars, impoverished, exhausted, and depopulated, while her Grecian rulers thought less of defending her than of satisfying their greed, Italy had grown powerless, and the new invaders regarded with contempt what remained of the old authority and the old civilization of Rome. But it was different during the Gothic period, and the reign of Theodoric (a.d. 493-526) shows a continual desire to unite the German and Roman elements, and to join the two people in a common brotherhood of feeling and of thought. Cassiodorus, who held the highest offices of the State during a very long part of the Gothic dominion— from the reign of Theodoric to that of Vitiges— directed all his efforts towards this object, and did all that lay in his power to root firmly in the soil this new kingdom. “ What we aim at, with God’s help, is that our subjects should lament the not having come sooner under our rule.” These words which Cassiodorus puts into the mouth of Theodoric, seem to express a fixed purpose, and to explain whither his actions tended.

And while he was at the head of public affairs, his literary labours were conceived in the same spirit, and assisted him in this object. He may

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well be said to have represented his age in letters as well as in politics. The court of Theodoric had become a centre round which the survivors of the ancient civilization clustered, and there many works originated which carried on the memory of this culture into the Middle Ages. And in truth the school of the grammarians— Donatus, Macrobius, Marcianus Capella — finds its descendants about this time in Priscianus and Cassiodorus, whose confused style and obscure and inflated Latin was to win the admiration of a later age. The Aristotelian philosophy owed much of its influence on mediaeval thought to the greatest scholar then living, Severinus Boetius, a man of noble character, made famous by his misfortunes and by the book which he wrote under their inspiration. The old pagan learning was never destroyed, notwithstanding the comt plete victory of Christianity ; and these men, by christianizing it to a certain extent, made it more acceptable to later generations. Nor were the Goths altogether strangers to this intellectual movement, for some of them in the court of Ravenna allied themselves to the learned Romans, and followed their studious example. The existence of the Gothic philosophers, Athanarid, Hildebald, and Marcomir, has not been established with certainty, although they are mentioned in an ancient document; but there is no doubt that Thcodatus, a relation of Theodoric and later himself king of the Goths, was much given to philosophical studies, lEadj) ^rontclcrs of Italg.

and styled himself a follower of Plato. The highminded and unfortunate Oueen Amalasuntha had an amount of culture rare for her time and in her sex, and we shall presently have occasion to speak of the Goth Jordanes, who fortunately made a compendium of the history of the Goths by Cassiodorus,

the history itself being lost.

Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus, born in Samnium, of a noble family, and early initiated into public life, sided with those of the Roman patricians who thought it advisable that their country should cast in its lot with the barbarians, and thence form a kingdom, to which the twofold element might insure unity and strength. During the reign of Odoacer (A.D. 476-493) he held various public offices, and Theodoric not only confirmed him in them, but raised him to the highest dignities and entrusted to his care the most important State questions. We have already said how the writings of Cassiodorus, which have a direct or indirect historical aim, arc in accord with his public life, and are all calculated to draw closer the bonds of brotherhood between Romans and Goths. Indeed, he wiotc a short chronicle with the special object of glorifying Theodoric; but this work, full of inflated praises, is a very poor thing, and consists only of a chronological sketch badly put together and full of errors, which have been pointed out and severely commented upon by Theodor Mommsen. On the other hand his history of the Gothic people,

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divided into twelve books, appears to have been a work of much greater value, and to have been more in harmony with the learned and scholastic tendencies of that day. But this work was soon lost, and we can only judge of it, and that but imperfectly, from the compendium of Jordanes. The spirit of this history is sufficiently indicated by the words with which the King Athalaric announced to the Roman Senate the appointment of Cassiodorus as Prefect of the Praetorium. “Not only,” he says, “has Cassiodorus magnified his present lords, but going backwards he has extended his inquiries into the ancient cradle of our race, discovering from his researches in documents what was hardly any longer remembered, even by the hoary traditions of our old men. He brought forth the kings of the Goths from the oblivion wherein they lay in the remote hiding-places of antiquity. He established the illustrious lineage of the Amali, proving clearly that our race has been royal for seventeen generations. He made the origin of the Goths part of Roman history, collecting as it were into one garland the hardy plants which he found dispersed throughout the fields of literature. Consider how much affection he showed you in praising us, by teaching that your prince’s family had been distinguished from remote ages, and that as you were always held to be noble, so you should be ruled over only by an ancient race of kings.” Plere we see clearly the

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political aim of the book. To the Roman whose pride in his country’s history increased as its power diminished, it was desirable to show that these barbarians who had come down from the North to divide the land with him were also of noble extraction and could boast of a glorious history. For this end, says Wattenbach, did Cassiodorus employ all his learning. “It had long been easy to believe that the Goths and Gaet^e were all one people, but no one had yet tried to demonstrate the relationship. This was done by Cassiodorus. He wove together the special historical recollections of the Goths, and the contents of their ballads, with what he found about the Gaeti in Greek and Roman records ; and because the Greeks constantly called both Goths and Gaeti Scythians, he brought in the whole of the primitive history of the Scythians and did not hesitate to call the Amazons also Goths. In the same way the Amali ” (this was the name of Theodoric’s family), “whose greatness was celebrated in the Gothic Sagas, were represented as being the immediate descendants of Zamolxis and Sitalkes, and the Romans were left to find some consolation in this for the bitterness of a foreign yoke.”* 1

We have quoted above some words addressed to Cassiodorus by the Kings Theodoric and Athalaric. These words written by Cassiodorus himself are contained in a collection of letters which, during

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his public life, he was called upon to write in the names of the sovereigns whom he served. This collection is divided into twelve books, and the letters being addressed principally to important personages or to great institutions of the State, may be said to contain in order all the acts of government by which the Gothic kings and their ministers regulated public affairs in Italy until the beginning of the reign of Vitiges. Their importance for Italian history is incalculable. The lost history of the Goths could not itself have given such clear evidence as to the moral and political conditions of the Italians, or as to the relations existing between them and their invaders, nor could it have given so much information with regard to the life of that day and the state of men and things. Such documents speak to posterity with an eloquence which mere contemporary history can ncvei reach. Thus when Theodoric announces to the Roman Senate the elevation of Cassiodorus to the dignity of Patrician, and praises his merits and those of his ancestors, we may from his words infer the respect still felt for the name of Rome, and the Roman point of view from which the Gothic king regarded the invasions of Attila :

. “ But what we most especially desire is that the light of dignity should shine upon your assembly.

. . . Foi the father of this candidate [Cassiodorus] was associated with the Patrician ^Etius for the assistance of the Commonwealth. ... He was sent,

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and not in vain, to Attila as ambassador. He regarded him without alarm whom the Empire feared, and heeded not, being shielded by the truth, those terrible and threatening faces, nor hesitated to reply to the arguments of him who, seized by I know not what fury, seemed to seek the dominion of the world. He found the king severe, he left him pacified. ... He sustained by his courage those who were timid, nor were those imagined to be unwarlike who were represented by such ambassadors. He brought back a peace which had been despaired of.”

And these other words very clearly establish what were the judicial conditions of the two nations united under Theodoric’s sceptre, as well as giving a true though sad picture of the degenerated manners of the Roman nobility. In one of those tumults which a bad habit introduced from Constantinople rendered frequent in the party strifes of the amphitheatre, a patrician of the name of Theodoiic and the consul Importunus had acted unjustly to some of the populace who belonged to the party opposed to them in the games, and caused one of them to be killed. Cassiodorus, speaking in the person of the king, wrote about it to the magistiate in the following severe and resolute manner : —

«If we moderate the manners of foreign nations who are under our law, if all that is associated \\ ith Italy must submit to Roman law, how much moie should the capital of the State show greater rever-

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1 1 cnce for the laws, since the grace of dignity should shine as an example of moderation? For where can a modest spirit be found, if violent acts disgrace the nobles ? . . . But lest the gossip of the populace should offend distinguished men, some account must be kept of this presumption. If any one impudently use injurious language against a most reverend senator when he is passing, let it be held a crime to have preferred speaking evil to speaking well. But who can insist on . serious manners at a spectacle ? Those who go to the circus are not Catos. Whatever is said there by the people in their gaiety should not be regarded as abusive language. It is the place which excuses a certain excess. And if their garrulity is patiently borne, it will be found to be an honour to the princes.”

Temperate and generous words which are in harmony with these others, addressed to the Senator Sunivadus, sent by King Theodoric into Samnium to settle some disputes between the Romans and Goths :

“Enter therefore the province of Samnium. If any dispute has arisen between any Roman and the Goths, or between any Goth and the Romans, thou shalt decide upon it with due consideration of the laws, nor can we permit that those shall live under an unequal law whom we wish to protect with a single judge. Thou shalt therefore decide on both sides what is just, for he who merely thinks of equity must not respect persons.”

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It was, therefore, with good reason that Theodoric praised Cassiodorus for having made his reign famous by introducing integrity of conscience into the court, and profound tranquility among the people.1 Here, at the entrance of the Middle Ages, we feel still in the letters of this last of Roman statesmen, that the ancient order of things is not yet extinct, and that there is still some life and vigour left in Roman civilization. And in truth no

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civilizing element is neglected in them. As in the maintenance of the Roman laws, so also we see a constant watchfulness for the preservation of the monuments and works of art scattered throughout Italy. In these letters we find him at one time intent on recovering for the public enjoyment a bronze statue stolen at Como ; at another, on restoring the baths of Spoleto, or on rebuilding dilapidated aqueducts, or on sending to Ravenna the columns and marbles lying unused in Rome which might serve to adorn new monuments there, since the degenerate condition of art was unfavourable to new ornamental work. In one letter

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to Boetius there is honourable mention made of music, while in another addressed to the same there is interesting evidence of the condition of mechanical studies at that time, and from this latter are made the following extracts : —

“ So the lord of the Burgundians has earnestly begged of us to send him a clock worked by water flowing under the wheel, and which is also marked by the whole light of the great sun, as well as the workmen for putting it up. So that what we are daily accustomed to, may, if they can obtain this thing of delight which they ask for, seem to them a miracle. . . . The mechanician is, if we may say so, almost an associate of nature, disclosing what is hidden, altering what is manifest, playing with miracles, imitating so well that the imitation is not suspected but is supposed to be genuine. Thou wilt prepare for us, therefore, this aforesaid clock as soon as possible, because we know that thou art specially expert in these matters, in order that thou mayest become known in that part of the world whither otherwise thou couldst not reach. So may foreign nations recognize through thee that we have such distinguished men of science as are read of. How often they will not be able to believe what they see! how often they will think that the truth is but a deceptive dream ! And when they have recovered from their astonishment, they will not dare to think themselves our equals, when they know that we have wise men who invent such wonders.”

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It is painful, however, to find Theodoric staining the glory of his reign in his last years by cruelly putting to death this very Boetius so glorified in this letter, as well as his illustrious father-in-law, Symmachus. Perhaps this unjust sentence is a sign that the Roman patriciate was beginning to separate itself from the Goths, and that the agreement between the two nationalities was less easy than had been hoped at first. Unfortunately the official letters of Cassiodorus can throw no light upon this, and the absence of positive historical data obliges us to content ourselves with hypotheses. At any rate, whatever turn events may have taken, and whatever may have been the spirit of the Roman nobles, Cassiodorus was faithful to his ideas of reconciliation, and at the death of Theodoric he remained in his post near Amalasuntha, who reigned for some years in the name of her son Athalaric, then a child. During this regency the divisions between the Goths and Romans grow more evident, especially touching the education of the young king, which the principal Goths wished should be free from any literary tendency, and entirely devoted to bodily exercise and warlike arts. In the mean while the imperial Government at Constantinople added to the flame, and by encouraging these discords between the two races, as also those of the Goths among themselves, hoped to be able to take advantage of them in order to recover the Italian provinces. After the death of the young

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Athalaric, his mother, Amalasuntha, reigned' for some time by herself ; but neither her great intelligence, nor the fact of her being Theodoric’s daughter, could save her from the suspicions of the Goths, so that at one moment finding herself in danger she entered into treaty with the Emperor Justinian with the object of escaping from Italy and seeking an asylum at Constantinople. Afterwards, however, flattering herself that she might thus retain her hold upon the throne, she gave her hand in marriage to Theodatus, a cousin of her own and a descendant of the Amali, who had formerly been her enemy, but whom she hoped to conciliate by associating him in the kingdom. Theodatus, a mean and cowardly man, as soon as he had ascended the throne, confined Amalasuntha in an island of the lake of Bolsena ( Vulsiniitm ), and there afterwards had her murdered. He reigned alone for some time, but finding his position a precarious one, and desirous above all of leading a quiet life, he offered to give up the kingdom to Justinian, asking in exchange riches and peaceful honours on the Bosphorus. But when the Goths perceived that their cowardly king had betrayed them, they deposed him, and overtaking him as he was escaping to Ravenna, stabbed him to death. Then lifting Vitiges, one of their valiant warriors, on their shields, they proclaimed him king ; and Cassiodorus, who during all these events had remained in office, wrote in the name of the new king the following letter, i6 lEarlj) ©fjrontclers of Haig, which we quote at length because it seems to us like a trumpet-call, ushering in the fateful and adventurous war which was at hand.

“Vitiges the king to all the Goths. Although every good fortune is to be considered as a gift from the Deity, nor is there any good thing but we know that it comes direct from Him, yet more especially we should refer the source of royal dignity to superior judgments, which have ordained whom He would that His people should obey. Hence, rendeiing gratefully most humble thanks to Chiist, the Author of all things, we announce that the Goths’ own kinsmen, amidst drawn swords, and according to the manner of our ancestors raising us on their shields, have conferred on us with God’s approval the kingly dignity, that arms might bestow that honour to which war had already given a claim. For behold I was elected not in secret chambers, but in the midst of the open camp ; I was sought not with delicate discourse of flatterers, but with clashing trumpets, that the Gothic people, roused by such sounds to the desire of native valour, might find a martial king to reign over them. And indeed how long could men of valoui, bi ought up amidst raging wars, endure a prince whose fame was insecuic, however much he might presume on his prowess ? It follows necessarily that the reputation which a nation enjoys depends on the leader whom it has deserved to have. For, as you may have heard, I carne, called forth by the danger of my kinsmen,