_CHAPTER XXVIII_.
_THE POPULACE IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY_.
The Milanese were profoundly discouraged by the Chancellor's disloyalconduct and the forcible abduction of their consuls; while the rigidenforcement of the blockade by the Imperial troops rendered theintroduction of supplies a matter of impossibility.
The people, full of courage and fortitude, so long as they possessed anabundance of everything, began to murmur, when they became aware thattheir provisions were nearly exhausted, and even the Archdeacon Sala,once revered almost as a saint, lost his influence, and, with theArchbishop and the other ecclesiastics, was obliged to seek an asylumwithin the walls of Genoa. With them, all organization disappeared, andthe angry crowd threatened to open the city gates to the enemy.Thousands of infuriated men and women assembled before the palaces ofthe consuls Nigri and Oberto, demanding food, and the magistrates wereunwillingly obliged to yield, and on the last day of February, 1162,convoked an assembly of the people.
The multitude flocked together on the public square, in the centre ofthe town, their hollow eyes, pallid cheeks, and trembling limbs givingproof of the bitter pangs of hunger. One member alone had lost none ofits energy; it was the tongue, which railed out violently against theconsuls, who were accused of everything dishonorable and unjust. Theboldest of the mob got as close as possible to the tribune, from whichthe magistrates were to harangue the people, in order that they mightinterrupt the speakers at their pleasure.
"Trust me, my friends," said a cobbler, with wan cheeks and a hungryair; "I have been obliged to give up mending shoes, and do you knowwhy? It was because my children have eaten the last piece of leatherthat there was left in the house."
"Leather! why, that's food for a king," interrupted another speaker."We eat things that I won't name! We must all die, miserably, ofhunger, if the gates are not soon opened to the besiegers."
"Certainly we must!" cried a third. "If our consuls were as hungry aswe are, they would soon stop talking about courage, and patrioticdevotion, and heroic patience, and other beautiful things of the sort.However, they can say what they please, comrades, for they have plentyto eat and drink."
"Consul Boriso's red nose, and Grillo's big belly, have made me reflectvery seriously for some time past," said a butcher. "We all lookawfully, as if we were going to die of starvation to-day. A man can'tlive on liberty and patriotism; for we have not got cellars and winevaults as well filled as our consuls."
"Barbarossa will not treat us as badly as the famine will," addedanother. "What is the use of freedom, if we are to perish with hunger?"
"It is all folly! Look, if you please, to what this freedom has broughtus? If we taste its sweets ten days longer, we will all be in thegrave-digger's hands."
"Hurrah for bread! Down with liberty!" screamed a thousand voices, asthey caught sight of the consuls. Oberto ascended the tribune, and theyells and murmurs gradually subsided as they looked upon the old man,who, sad and dejected, gazed upon the crowd, and thought of the timewhen he used to speak to the Milanese, once so brave and valiant.
"Fellow-citizens," he said, "it is now a year that you have borne, witha courage and a patience worthy of your ancient renown, all the rigorsof a siege. Barbarossa hems us in more closely every day. He desiresthe destruction of our free institutions; his aim is to humble ournoble city, and reduce her citizens to vassalage."
A succession of savage yells interrupted the orator.
"Bread! Bread!" was cried on all sides.
"Open the gates! Down with the ranter!"
"Brothers, fellow-countrymen," resumed Oberto, "think of the glories ofthe past! Are you willing to wear the yoke of slavery?"
"Ah! our past glories. We are too wretched and humble now; it will doto talk of that when we are in prosperity. Give us food!"
"Fellow-citizens, do not torture me with your reproaches. I suffer fromhunger, like yourselves; but I prefer death to the loss of that libertywhich our ancestors have bequeathed to us."
"Bah! we are not such fools!" yelled the crowd. "Life is better thanliberty!"
"The man is mad!" cried a voice; "he advises us to die of starvation!"
"He is mad! Yes, the gold paid him for his treason inspires his tongue!Comrades, let us go and open the gates!"
"Long live the Emperor! Hurrah for bread!"
Oberto turned, appealingly, towards his audience,--
"Fellow-citizens," he resumed, "your desires shall be gratified; youshall have all that you ask. To-day a delegation will leave Milan totreat for the surrender of the city; but the consequences must rest onyour own shoulders; you will regret and bewail them. If the Lombardrace is degenerate, if it courts its own slavery with eagerness, letits wishes be accomplished."
There was for a moment a profound silence. Oberto had spoken so sadly,his features expressed such bitter anguish, that the sympathy of manywas awakened, but the ringleaders were firm.
"These are only fine words, comrades!" they said. "Barbarossa won't eatus; he may shave off a little of our liberty, and force us to pay theexpenses of the war; he will demolish some of the forts, which we canbuild again when we please; all the rest will be as it was before!"
"Certainly! certainly!" cried many voices.
"Brothers, let us go to the municipal palace!" was yelled out; "let ussee whether the consuls will keep their promise!"
"Yes, yes! let us go there at once!"
The mob rushed to the official residence and surrounded the building,until the delegation, preceded by a herald bearing a white flag,appeared upon the steps of the palace; and then, as though fearing sometrickery, accompanied the commissioners to the city gates, where theywatched them enter the enemy's camp. About two hours afterwards, theenvoys returned with a message that, on the ensuing day, the Emperorwould receive and consider the terms offered by the besieged. Still thenews did not give universal satisfaction; for, although the rabble wasdelighted, the more respectable class of the citizens and the nobilitywinced under the disgrace. On the next day, four of the consulsrepaired to the Imperial camp, where they met with a reception whichforetold clearly the probable fate of their city. They were notadmitted to the Emperor's quarters, but obliged to await his pleasurein the open air, exposed to all the severity of the weather. A violentstorm burst forth meanwhile, accompanied by thunder and lightning andtorrents of rain, and in a few moments the unfortunate consuls,drenched to the skin, and with their costly robes clinging to theirpersons, sought in vain a shelter, which was refused to them, amid thejeers and mockeries of the insolent lackeys.
They felt deeply humbled by this treatment, so different to what theyhad been accustomed to in their native city, where they had alwaysoccupied the first place in the public estimation. With bent heads andclothes soiled with water and mire, their faces expressive of sadnessand resignation, these noble old men looked like statues--strangers toall the concerns of earth.
At last they were admitted to the council-hall, where Frederic wasseated, surrounded by all the dignitaries of the Empire and the consulsof the allied towns. The Milanese threw themselves at the Emperor'sfeet, and then Gherardo Nigri laid before him the terms which they werecommissioned to propose.
"Sire, illustrious princes, noble lords," he said, "the disasters of aprotracted siege have at last inclined my countrymen to submission andpeace. It is true that our formidable works would have enabled us forsome time to resist the enemy's attacks--"
"Enough!" interrupted Barbarossa, abruptly. "State simply the terms ofsurrender, without any commentaries."
"I obey," replied Nigri, mortified that he should be obliged to submittamely to his country's humiliation. "Our terms embrace everythingwhich could possibly be demanded; even were the city taken by storm,your Majesty could exact little more. Milan will demolish herfortifications and build an Imperial citadel at her own expense; shewill annul all her treaties of alliance; will admit your army withinthe walls; will give three hundred hostages to be held for
three years;will recognize the supremacy of the German functionaries over allothers; will acknowledge fealty to your Majesty, and will pay a tributewhich shall be established at a future period."
The German nobles appeared satisfied, but the consuls of the alliedtowns shook their heads in token of their disapproval.
"Duke," said Frederic to Henry the Lion, "what think you of thesepropositions?"
"I think that nothing more can be asked for," replied Henry. "Iconfess, however, to my surprise, that the haughty city of Milan shouldhave consented to draw them up."
The other nobles, as well as the bishops of the Empire, were of asimilar opinion.
"However," observed the Bishop of Munster, "should His Majesty considerthe chastisement as insufficient, I am opposed to the adoption of theenemy's conditions."
"It is well known," said the Pavian consul, "that the Milanese arealways as willing to make as they are to break their engagements. Sire,reflect upon the treachery of the past, and do not allow them to renewit."
"Milan destroyed our city and led away her inhabitants as captives; letthe same fate be inflicted upon her," urged the consul of Lodi.
"Unexampled confiscations have filled the Milanese treasury; it willnot be difficult for the city to pay a heavy tribute," added the Consulof Novara. "When, after three years' absence, her hostages return, itwill be easy to rebuild the fortifications which she now promises todemolish. She will again destroy the Imperial citadel, make newalliances, and put herself at the head of a new league against theEmperor and the Empire. The propositions now submitted to your Majestyoffer an insufficient guaranty against a relapse into her formertyranny."
"So long as Milan exists, the safety and peace of Lombardy cannot beassured on a solid basis," said the consul of Vercelli. "Your Highnessmust not only perform an act of justice, but also protect the interestsof the Italian cities. Not a stone should be left upon another inMilan!"
The nobles seemed to dissent; but Frederic, who had silently listenedto the various arguments, gave no intimation of his own sentiments,whether they were in favor of moderation or anger.
"The opinions are divided," said he, at length; "my Lord Chancellor, beso kind as to give us your advice."
"It seems to me," answered Rinaldo, "that the grave outrages committedagainst your Imperial Majesty, can only be expiated by an unreservedsubmission. If Milan has decided to cease her resistance, let her yieldto the Emperor unconditionally; it should depend upon his generositywhether the voice of pity or of vengeance is to prevail."
"We agree with you, my lord," said Frederic; "your words decide thequestion. It is not the besieged, but the victor, who should dictatethe conditions. Whenever Milan shall have surrendered at discretion, wewill make known our intentions."
"Our powers scarcely go so far," replied Nigri.
"You can inform your countrymen of our pleasure. Lose no time here,that your delay may not retard the destiny of your city."
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