Villani's Chronicle / Being Selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni Villani

by Giovanni Villani

1268 a.d.

Conradino, with the duke of Austria and with many others, which were fled from the field with him, arrived at the beach towards Rome upon the seashore hard by a place which is called Asturi, which pertained to the Infragnipani, noblemen of Rome; and when they were come thither, they had a pinnace furnished to pass into Sicily, hoping to escape from King Charles; and in Sicily, which had almost all rebelled against the king, to recover state and lordship. They having already embarked unrecognised on the said vessel, one of the said Infragnipani which was in Asturi, seeing that they were in great part Germans, and fine men and of noble aspect, and knowing of the defeat, was minded to gain riches for himself, and therefore he took the said lords prisoners; and having learnt of their conditions, and how Conradino was among them, he led them captive to King Charles, for which cause the king gave him land and lordship at Pilosa, between Naples and Benivento. And when the king had Conradino and those lords in his hands, he took counsel what he should do. At last he was minded to put them to death, and he caused by way of process an inquisition to be made against them, as against traitors to the Crown and enemies of Holy Church, and this was carried out; for on the . . . day were Purg. xx. 68. beheaded Conradino, and the duke of Austria, and Count Calvagno, and Count Gualferano, and Count Bartolommeo and two of his sons, and Count Gherardo of the counts of Doneratico of Pisa, on the market place at Naples, beside the stream of water which runs over against the church of the Carmelite friars; and the king would not suffer them to be buried in a sacred place, but under the sand of the market place, forasmuch as they were excommunicate. And thus with Conradino ended the line of the house of Suabia, which was so powerful both in emperors and in kings, as before we have made mention. But certainly we may see, both by reason and by experience, that whosoever rises against Holy Church, and is excommunicate, his end must needs be evil for soul and for body; and therefore the sentence of excommunication of Holy Church, just or unjust, is always to be feared, for very open miracles have come to pass confirming this, as whoso will may read in ancient chronicles; as also by this present chronicle it may be seen with regard to the emperors and lords of past times, which were rebels and persecutors of Holy Church. Yet because of the said judgment King Charles was much blamed by the Pope and by his cardinals, and by all wise men, forasmuch as he had taken Conradino and his followers by chance of battle, and not by treachery, and it would have been better to keep him prisoner than to put him to death. And some said that the Pope assented thereto; but we do not give faith to this, forasmuch as he was held to be a holy man. And it seems that by reason of Conradino's innocence, which was of such tender age to be adjudged to death, God showed forth a miracle against King Charles, for not many years after God sent him great adversities when he thought himself to be in highest state, as hereafter in his history we shall make mention. To the judge which condemned Conradino, Robert, son of the count of Flanders, the king's son-in-law, when he had read the condemnation, gave a sword-thrust, saying that it was not lawful for him to sentence to death so great and noble a man, from which blow the judge died; and it was in the king's presence, and there was never a word said thereof, forasmuch as Robert was very high in the favour of the king, and it seemed to the king and to all the barons that he had acted like a worthy lord. Now Don Henry of Spain was likewise in the king's prison, but forasmuch as he was his cousin by blood, and because the abbot of Monte Cascino, which had brought him prisoner to the king, to the end he might not break his rule, had made a compact with him that he should not be put to death, the king would not condemn him to death, but to perpetual imprisonment, and sent him prisoner to the fortress in the hill Sanctæ Mariæ in Apulia; and many other barons of Apulia and of Abruzzi, which had opposed King Charles and been rebellious against him, he put to death with divers torments.

§ 30.—How King Charles recovered all the lands in Sicily and in 1268 a.d. Apulia which had rebelled against him.

§ 31.—How the Florentines defeated the Sienese at the foot of Colle di Valdelsa.

1269 a.d.

In the year of Christ 1269, in the month of June, the Sienese, whereof M. Provenzano Salvani, of Siena, was governor, with Count Guido Novello, with the German and Spanish troops, and with the Ghibelline refugees from Florence and from the other cities of Tuscany, and with the forces of the Pisans, to the number of 1,400 horse and 8,000 foot, marched upon the stronghold of Colle di Valdelsa, which was under the lordship of the Florentines; and this they did because the Florentines had come in May with an army to destroy Poggibonizzi. And when they had encamped at the abbey of Spugnole, and the news was come to Florence on Friday evening, on Saturday morning M. Giambertaldo, vicar of King Charles for the league of Tuscany, departed from Florence with his troops which he then had with him in Florence to wit 400 French horse; and sounding the bell, and being followed by the Guelfs of Florence on horse and on foot, he came with his cavalry to Colle on Sunday evening, and there were about 800 horsemen or less with but few of the people, forasmuch as they could not reach Colle so speedily as the horsemen. It came to pass that on the following Monday morning, the day of S. Barnabas, in June, the Sienese, hearing that the horsemen had come from Florence, broke up their camp near the said abbey and withdrew to a safer place. M. Giambertaldo, seeing the camp in motion, without awaiting more men passed the bridge with his horse and marshalled his troops with the cavalry of Florence and such of the people as had arrived together with them of Colle (who by reason of the sudden coming of the Florentines were not duly arrayed either with captains of the host or with the standard of the commonwealth); and M. Giambertaldo took the standard of the commonwealth of Florence and requested of the horsemen of Florence, amongst whom were representatives of all the Guelf houses, that one of them should take it; but none advanced to take it, whether through cowardice or through jealousy, one of the other; and after they had been a long time in suspense, M. Aldobrandini, of the house of Pazzi, boldly stepped forward and said: "I take it to the honour of God and of the victory of our commonwealth;" wherefore he was much commended for his boldness; and straightway he advanced, and all the horsemen followed him, and struck boldly into the ranks of the Sienese; and albeit it was not held to be very wise and prudent leadership, yet as it pleased God these bold and courageous folk with good success broke up and defeated the Sienese and their allies, which numbered well-nigh twice as many horse and a great number of foot, whereof many were slain and taken; and if on the Florentine side the foot had arrived and had been at the battle, scarce one of the Sienese would have escaped. Count Guido Novello fled, and M. Provenzano Salvani, lord and commander of Purg. xiii. 115-119. the host of the Sienese, was taken prisoner; and they cut off his head and carried it through all the camp fixed on a lance. And truly thus was fulfilled the prophecy and revelation made to him by the devil by means of incantation, though he did not understand it; for having invoked him to learn how he would fare in that expedition, he made a lying answer and said, "Thou wilt go and fight; thou goest to conquer not to die in the battle, and thy head shall be the highest in the field;" and he, thinking to have the victory from these words, and thinking he would remain lord over all, did not put the stop in the right place and detect the fraud, where he said, "Thou goest to conquer not, to die," etc. And therefore it is great folly to believe in such counsel as is that of the devil. This M. Provenzano was a great man in Siena in his day after the victory which he gained at Montaperti, and he ruled all the city; and all the Ghibelline party in Purg. xi. 109-114, 120-123. Tuscany made him their head, and he was very presumptuous in will. In this battle the said M. Giambertaldo bore himself like a valiant lord in fighting against his enemies, and likewise did his followers and all the Guelfs of Florence, making great slaughter of their enemies to avenge their kinsfolk and friends which were slain at the defeat of Montaperti; and none, or scarce any, did they lead to prison, but put them all to death and to the sword; wherefore the city of Siena, in comparison with the number of its inhabitants, suffered greater loss of its citizens in this defeat than Florence did on the day of Montaperti; and they left on the field all their belongings. For the which thing a little while after, the Florentines restored the Guelf refugees to Siena and drave out the Ghibellines and made peace between one commonwealth and the other, remaining ever after friends and allies. And in this manner ended the war between the Florentines and the Sienese which had endured so long.

§ 32.—How the Florentines took the castle of Ostina in Valdarno. 1269 a.d. § 33.—How the Florentines, serving for the Lucchese, marched upon Pisa.

§ 34.—How there was a great flood of waters which carried away the Santa Trinita Bridge and the Carraia Bridge.

1269 a.d.

In the said year 1269, on the night of the first of October, there was so great a flood of rain and waters from heaven, raining down continually for two nights and one day, that all the rivers of Italy increased more than had ever been known before; and the river of Arno overflowed its borders so beyond measure that a great part of the city of Florence became a lake, and this was by reason of much wood which the rivers brought down, which was caught and lay across at the foot of the Santa Trinita Bridge in such wise, that the water of the river was so stopped up that it spread through the city, whence many persons were drowned and many houses ruined. At last so great was the force of the river that it tore down the said bridge of Santa Trinita, and again by the disgorging thereof the rush of the water and of the timber struck and destroyed the Carraia Bridge; and when they were destroyed and cast down the height of the river, which had been kept up by the said retention and damming of the river, went down, and the fulness of the water ceased which had spread through the city.