In 1342, after the election of Clement VI in Avignon, the thirteen good men who ruled Rome sent orators to the new pope asking him to return to St. Peter’s seat. They had done the same at the election of Clement V, John XXII, and Benedict XII. A young Roman, born to a tavern-keeper and a washerwoman about the time of the coronation of Henry VII, took part in the embassy. He was learned in Livy, Seneca, Cicero, and Valerius; he was enthusiastic over the deeds of Julius Cæsar; he had learned to read the ancient inscriptions which were no longer understood, and he loved to expound them to the degenerate citizens; and, whilst telling them of the good Romans and their great justice, he regretted not having been born in their time. He either did not know or he forgot the stormy scenes of the republic, the pusillanimity and the iniquity of the empire, and ignored the virtues and the victories of that Rome which now lay abandoned not only by her emperor, but even by her pope.
Being presented to Clement VI, Rienzi described to him the robberies of the lords at Rome, their misdeeds, and the desolation of the city; he spoke in such forcible words that Clement was astonished, and the elegance of the Latin language used by the gifted citizen seemed extraordinary. Petrarch also, who a few years previously had pressed Benedict XII to return to Rome, represented to the new pope the city that invited his return.
But Clement, more impressed by the miserable condition of Rome and the states of the church than by the ardent words of poet or orator, had no wish to leave Avignon. He authorised the jubilee for the year 1350, and he deputed the young Stefano Colonna and Bertoldo Orsini to be his vicars in Rome. He complimented Cola and appointed him notary of the chamber; but the latter now began to show his teeth. The murder of a brother for which he was unable to obtain justice had exasperated him against the bad judges of Rome; so now returning from Avignon in favour with the pope, he took courage to reprove them as kings of the “blood of the poor people”; he admonished them with mysterious pictures; and he had a presentment made of a ship about to sink in a stormy sea, under which was written: “This is Rome.”
In his increasing assurance, and ascendency over the people, Cola convoked them one day to the Lateran when he spoke in the vulgar tongue so as to be understood by all. He showed the people the Lex Regia of Vespasian, which he had brought to light for the first time, and which he thought had been hidden by Boniface VIII out of hatred of the empire. In this the senate in the ancient Roman forms conferred the imperial power on Vespasian. Cola, who took it literally, extolled the authority of the Roman people: “See how fine the senate was, what authority it gave to the empire;” and he lamented the loss of so much greatness, and deplored above all the present desolation of the city, and implored the people not to disgrace themselves before the pilgrims who would come to Rome for the jubilee of 1350.
Ruins of the Temple of Venus, Rome
All the people applauded, and the nobles scoffed, but he replied in allegorical pictures and discourses. Rome was in a miserable condition; murder and rapine were practised on the highways with impunity, pilgrims were robbed and wounded, and honesty was out of court. Robert and Peter Colonna were senators, but they were not sufficient to restrain anarchy. Stefano Colonna, the elder, the valorous and terrible head of the powerful family of that name, was a cornet in the Roman military; and Cola thought that the time had arrived to summon the people to reorganise the city and to substitute the “good state” for the present disorder.
On the 20th of May, 1347, he assembled the populace and addressed it from the Campidoglio. Three standards were displayed before him—on the one was depicted Rome, and signified Liberty; upon another was St. Paul, who represented Justice; and upon the third was St. Peter, indicating Peace and Concord. He was accompanied by Raymond, bishop of Orvieto, the pope’s vicar in Rome for ecclesiastical matters. Cola spoke of the misery and servitude of the people of Rome, and as “he for the love of the pope and the salvation of the people exposed his person to every danger,” he then published his decrees for the prevention of murder, for the right distribution of justice, the organisation of the soldiery of the corporation and for the assistance of widows, orphans, and monasteries—the barons were to maintain the security of the thoroughfares and not to favour any malefactor. Stefano Colonna returned to Rome in indignation, but as he heard the sound of uproar and saw the people bearing arms, he fled to Palestrina and shut himself up in his family castle. The Orsini, Colonnas, and other barons who caused the desolation of the city by their incessant strifes were expelled. Those who had fled in terror at the sudden revolution responded to Cola’s invitation and gradually returned, took the oath, and offered their assistance to the city.
Cola di Rienzi hastened to restore peace by punishing the evil-doers, and reinstating justice and security. He then took the title of tribune, as head of the people. The pontifical vicar had been appointed his colleague; but this was only nominal, for the true and sole head of Rome was Cola.
The distance of the pope from Rome gave the tribune freedom to establish his authority. Neither he nor the Roman people would have thought of the tribunate if the pope had been there; but his absence, and the faint hope of his return after his recent refusal, made a profound impression upon the Romans.