Italy In The Thirteenth Century - Volume I

ITALY IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY BT IIENKY DWIGHT SEDGWICK y 01 credcte f oree die fiiamo eaperti d eeto loco ma noi smm peregzin, come voi nete. PUBCI. II, Cl- 3, VOLUME I BOSTON AJCO NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPAKT 1012 PREFACE TUB thirteenth century has always held its head high among its fellows. Ernest Renan calls it le plus grand siecle du moyen age, and John Fiske the glorious century. Its predecessors, the eleventh and twelfth, have their devotees and rightly, for one is the morning twilight, the other the dawn, of our modern civilization but in the thirteenth the sun is high in heaven, Europe resounds with happy anima tion, the days work has begun. Each country con tributes to the riches of the century England brings Magna Charta, the beginnings of Parliament, Bishop Grossetoste, Roger Bacon, and Simon of Montfort France, the cathedrals of Paris, Rheims, and Amiens, her university, her literature, her gentlemen advent urers, and St. Louis the Iberian Peninsula adds the culture of Moor and Jew at Cordova and Seville, Alphonso the Wise of Castile, James of Aragon the Conqueror, and St. Dominic Germany, her victories over the heathen of the East, the Hanseatic towns, Walther von der Vogelweide, Albertus Magnus, Ru dolph of Habsburg. But Italy shows more energy, more productive power, more many-sided genius than any of them no other country can produce a list of men to matcli Innocent III, Frederick II, St. Fran cis, Ezzelino da Romano, Thomas Aquinas, Niccola Pisano, Giotto, and Dante, nor matters of such world-wide concern as the Papacy, the Holy Roman Empire, or the Franciscan movement. viii PEEFACE The history of Italy iu this century is so crowded with affairs of moment, andwith memorable men, original documents are so abundant, histories, bio graphies, monographs are so numerous, that it is dif ficult to present in mere outline a true picture of men and events. Lack of agreement among scholars ag gravates this difficulty controversies are thick aw blackberries, and prickly as their thorns. In a book such as this is, I have been obliged to state many doubtful facts as if they were free from doubt, uud to omit many things of interest. The reason that there is little uniformity as to grammar and spoiling in the Italian poetry that I quote is that the editors of different poets havo adopted different systems, and I take the verses as I find them in print without going on a laborious quest of the original Tnauu cripts in snob original manuscripts I should probably find still I ISK uni formity. And as an excuse for the apparent, patch work of the book, I plead the variety of mntturs that I have put together, politics, secular and ccc. Icsi astical, religion, literature, painting, sculptures trado guilds and other subjects not of apiece. I may add, that I have introduced, BO far as I could, thoporHon ages of the Dhnna Cbmwiedm in order that the book may serve after a fashion as an historical in troduction to Dante that I have laid stress on those matters that seem to me most interesting that whore scholars are at odds I follow those whom T juclgo most learned or wisest and that I have tried to write without bias. HJENRY DWIGIIT SKIXJWTCK. YORK, March 13, 1912. CONTENTS I. AN INTRO DUOTORY CHAPTER 1 II. INNOCENT III, THE PRIEST 11007-1216 .... 12 III. INNOCENT, THE PREACHER 24 IV. JOACHIM, TUB PROPHET 11327-1202 36 V. PAPAL JURISPRUDENCE 48 VI. INNOCENT, DOMINUSDOMINANTIUM 1198-1216 . . 60 VII. ST. FRANCIS 1182-1226 74 VIII. THE FIRST DISCIPLES 1209-1220 86 IX, THE EMPEKOR FREDERICK II 1104-1250 .... 97 X. GREGORY IX AND FREDERICK II 1227-1230 . . 109 XJ. PROVENCAL POETRY IN ITALY 131 XII. THE SICILIAN SCHOOL OF POKTRY 1225-12CG . 144 XIII. THE LOMBARD COMMUNES 102 XLV. BOLOGNA 182 XV. THE CONSTITUTION OF BOLOGNA 194 XVI. THE UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA 210 XVII. ON SOME UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS 227 XVIII. THE NOBLES OF THK NORTH 1230-12i3 .... 245 XIX...