The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume II / Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from Prussia Thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, England, &c. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several Courts.

by Freiherr von Karl Ludwig Pöllnitz

The Governor of Rome is always a Prelate, and commonly an Archbishop in partibus; his Post gives him the Rank immediately after the Cardinals, and he challenges Precedency of the Ambassadors of crown’d Heads[15]; tho’ I cannot positively say whether these yield it to him, because I never yet saw them appear at any public Ceremony. This Governor is the Sovereign Judge of Criminal Causes, and takes Cognisance of all Civil Causes, that require a speedy Issue: He has under him a Lieutenant and an Auditor Civil, a Lieutenant and two Judges Criminal, with a Multitude of Subaltern Officers; and the Provost, who is call’d the

Barrigello, with 300 Sergeants, or Sbirri. When he goes abroad, he is attended by his Guards, who are ten or a dozen old Halbardiers, more ragged than any that you ever saw; he causes his Horses to wear Tufts of black Feathers; for you must know, that there are four Sorts of Plumes; the Cardinals who are Princes by Birth, or the Ambassadors, have them of Red and Gold; those of the Cardinals, who are not Princes, are plain Red; the Princes have theirs of Gold Colour: The Governor of Rome, and the other Prelates, as the Major Domo, cause their Horses to wear black ones: The Governor always goes abroad with two Coaches, and has an Umbrella carried before him as the Cardinals have: He goes twice a Week to an Audience of the Holy Father, to give him an Account of what passes, but particularly to make a Report of the condemn’d Malefactors; and he must never be absent from Rome: One of the noblest Prerogatives belonging to his Office, is, that he never quits it but to be made a Cardinal.

Another Magistrate of Note at Rome is the Senator: The Romans pretend that he represents the ancient Senate of Rome; if so, ’tis but a poor Epitome of it. He lives in the Capitol, and must always be born out of Rome. He holds his Office by Patent from the Pope, and has it for his Life. He has under him several Subaltern Officers; two Lieutenants Civil, styl’d Collaterals; a Judge, intitled Captain of the Appeals; a Lieutenant Criminal, or Fiscal, who passes Sentences of Death; and he has a Right to take Cognisance of all Causes Civil and Criminal, that happen to arise between the Citizens and Inhabitants of Rome: For this End he has also under him 30 Notaries or Commissaries, and the Prisons of the Capitol are at his Disposal: When he appears at any public Ceremony, he is dress’d in a long Robe of Gold Brocade lin’d

with red Taffeta, and a Cap of black Velvet: He has a Seat to himself in the Pope’s Chapel, and goes, like the Governor of Rome, twice a Week, to give an Account to the Pope and the Cardinal Nephew of what has pass’d at his Bar; he is then dress’d in a long Simar, or Robe of Velvet, or black Mohair. When he enters into his Office, he takes an Oath to the Pope, and his Holiness gives him the Staff of Command, which is a Sceptre of Ivory; he is afterwards conducted with great Ceremony to the Capitol, guarded by all the Nobility of Rome on Horseback, and by all the Militia of the City.

Their Manner of executing Criminals is very singular. They have but two Sorts of Punishments here, viz. the Strappa Corda, and the Gibbet. The first, tho’ ’tis not mortal, seems to my Mind more terrible than Death itself; the Malefactor being ty’d with his two Hands together to a Rope, by which he is hoisted 15 or 16 Feet from the Ground, and then let fall on a sudden, so that he generally becomes a Cripple for Life. When a Man is to be hang’d, they talk of it a Week beforehand, as if it was the finest Holiday in the World: The Night before the Execution, several Prelates, Princes, and others of Quality admitted into the Confraternity of Comforters, repair at Midnight to the Prison. When they come near the Dungeon, they make a great Noise, and with a loud Voice ask the Gaoler, Where is such a one? naming the Criminal that is to be condemn’d. Here he is, says the Man, loud enough to be heard by the Criminal. Open the Doors to us, say the Comforters; he is in a bad State there, we will remove him to a Place where he shall be better. The Turnkey opens the Dungeon, and lets in the Comforters, who exhort the Criminal to go along with them; and being guarded by a Company of the Sbirri, they put him

in the middle, and carry him thro’ several Galleries and Turnings towards the Door of a Chapel, before which is hung a Piece of black Cloth. Just as the Criminal is preparing to enter it, the Fiscal, calling him by his Name, says to him, You—there is your Sentence; and at the same time throws him a Paper, in which the Sentence is written: The Criminal reads it, or else one of the Comforters does that Office for him: That very Moment the Sbirri withdraw, and the Comforters remain alone with the Criminal: Then the Cloth hung before the Chapel Door is lifted up, and the Patient is led to an Altar at the End of it, with a Crucifix upon it, in the middle of six lighted Wax Candles, where the Question is put to him, If he is willing to confess: If he says, Yes, as very few Italians die willingly without Confession, a Confessor is allotted him, who gives him the best Advice that he can.

The Italians generally make their Exit like good Christians, but ’tis with very great Reluctance. A Man, who was condemn’d to die some Years ago for the Crime which brought down Fire from Heaven upon Sodom, would not hear any Talk of Confession; upon which Cardinal Banchieri, at that time only a Prelate, being one of his Comforters, and exhorting him to beg of God to pardon his Sins; What! said the Criminal to him, Would you have me die for a Crime, of which you Priests are all guilty to a Man? I don’t know, said the Cardinal, of any Priests that are so unhappy as to commit such a Crime; but if there are, they don’t plead guilty in the Face of Justice. Another Malefactor being very loth to die, a Comforter said to him, that Kings and Popes must all submit to Death. True, reply’d the Convict, but they are not all hang’d.

After a Criminal has confess’d, he receives the Sacraments, and the Comforters continue with him

till the next Day. At Ten o’Clock, which is the Hour of Execution, he is convey’d in a Cart to the Gallows, to which he rides backwards, attended by two Priests, and two Comforters. When they are come to the fatal Place, they set him down out of the Cart before a Chapel to say his Prayers; and then they make him walk backwards to the Foot of the Ladder, which he always mounts with his Back to it; when the Hangman, who is at the Top of it, fastens the Rope about his Neck, and then leans with all his Weight upon his Shoulders, to put him out of his Pain. After he is expir’d, Masses are said in all the Churches, and even in the Pope’s Chapel, for the Repose of his Soul; and for this End a Collection is made, to which the poorest People contribute something; at length, after he has hung four or five Hours, he is bury’d like another Man.

You’ll excuse me, Sir, for concluding my Letter with such a dismal Subject: The Post is just going off, and I have many other Letters to write, so that I hope you won’t take it ill that I add no more to this. I am, &c.