Chapter XVI · THE EMPEROR'S SLAVE.

The first service which Barbarossa exacted of Victor, was the solemn excommunication of Alexander III., and his partisans, in presence of the army, and in front of the walls of Milan. A few days after his arrival at the Camp, an immense tribune, draped with black cloth, and provided with numerous seats, was erected at a safe distance from the city. In the centre was an elevated platform, and behind this a throne for the Emperor, whence he could communicate his desires to the various speakers. Thousands of soldiers from all parts of the Camp surrounded the tribune, and a crowd of curious spectators lined the towers and walls of the city.

At the appointed hour, the Emperor, the nobles, the false Pope, and the prelates, ascended the platform and took seats according to their respective rank. Alberic, the Pope's chaplain, first, in a noisy harangue, explained the object of the assembly. He denounced Alexander and his adherents as heretics, and extolled Victor as the legitimate Pope.

Lighted tapers were then handed to the nobles and the clergy; and Octavian, mounting the pulpit, began to recite, in a voice trembling with passion, the usual lengthy formula of excommunication, at the close of which, as the sentence of malediction was thundered out, the Emperor, nobles, and clergy extinguished their candles.

This solemn farce, enacted by Frederic's orders, in the immediate vicinity of a city whose inhabitants were enthusiastic partisans of the cause of Alexander, was received by the Milanese with shouts of derision; and scarcely had the anathema been uttered when a speaking-trumpet was heard upon the walls.

"Octavian," it cried, "wrongfully surnamed Victor, slave of the Emperor, we scorn your maledictions.--Heaven blesses whom you curse, and curses whom you bless!"

Few of the soldiers present had ever before heard a speaking-trumpet, and these words seemed supernatural, while the distant echo gave credence to the speedy realization of the prophecy. But Frederic, more enlightened, skilfully parried the blow, and aware of a report which had been circulated latterly, that an angel had descended from heaven to curse Victor and his partisans, he looked on in scornful silence, while the crowd broke out in clamorous surprise.

Suddenly a straw effigy of the Pope, crowned with rags, with a paper mitre on its head, and a scroll with the inscription, in large letters, of "Pope Victor" in its hand, was hurled from the walls by a catapult, and fell close to Octavian's feet, while, amid a burst of contemptuous laughter, the voice again shouted through the trumpet, "Straw Pope! Straw Pope!"

Octavian was thunderstruck, and stood gazing with a wild stare upon the effigy, and his face assumed an expression so ridiculously stupid, that Rinaldo and the bystanders, remarking the absurd resemblance between it and the figure, could with difficulty restrain their mirth.

Frederic reflected grimly for a moment, but soon found means to turn this incident to profit.

"Resume your seat!" he said to Victor, and then rising with the fierce and decided manner which so well became him, he commanded silence. Even Rinaldo's face wore a serious expression, and all awaited, breathlessly, the monarch's harangue.

"What means all this? What seeks Milan with these sinful mockeries? Will that accursed city never respect anything? She turns into ridicule even the holy symbols of spiritual power; she mocks at the legitimate Head of the Church; and that her insults may be the better heard, a miserable speaking-trumpet cries them from the walls! Remember the tyranny which reigns in Milan, think of the destruction of Lodi and the misfortunes of Como; think of all those things, and then tell me if that city does not merit destruction!"

Frederic ceased, but his words had produced the desired effect.

"She deserves her fate!" cried, eagerly, the soldiers of Lodi and Como who were present; "she deserves her fate; down with Milan!"

"Yes, she deserves it," resumed the Emperor, "and this time we ourselves will execute the decrees of justice!" He paused, and raising his hand to his brow, took off the crown. Then, his eyes raised to heaven, and his right hand extended, he cried, with a loud voice,--

"I, Frederic of Hohenstauffen, king of the Germans and Emperor of Rome, do swear before Almighty God and the ever blessed Virgin Mary, by the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the Saints of Paradise, that this crown will no more grace my brow until the city of Milan shall have been destroyed in chastisement for her crimes!"

The Emperor made the sign of the cross, and delivered the diadem into the keeping of the Imperial Chancellor.

This solemn oath electrified the Italians.

"Long live the Emperor!" shouted a thousand voices. "Long live the Emperor! Down with Milan!"

In the midst of the applause, Barbarossa, well satisfied with the result of his harangue, left the tribune, followed by his nobles. Meanwhile Victor, who had returned to his tent, gave free vent to his anger, and while Alberic was divesting him of his mantle, shook his head with most unequivocal marks of resentment.

"Straw pope!" he exclaimed; "straw pope! the wretches, to compare me, the legitimate Head of the Church, to a man of straw!"

"It is most infamous!" replied the chaplain; "it merits the vengeance of heaven."

"Patience, the Milanese will pay dearly for their insolence. It needed but this to fill the cup of Imperial anger. This city must be destroyed and levelled with the earth. Henceforth whoever dares to intercede for this new Nineveh, is the foe of the Church, of the Pope, and of the Emperor."

"And the speaking-trumpet," added Alberic; "that abominable speaking-trumpet!"

"True, I had almost forgotten that," replied Victor. "What was it they called me? Straw Pope!--the villains! I am the true Pope, both by the choice of the people and Imperial sanction. Yes, of course I am," he repeated, as though wishing to persuade himself that it really was so. "Alexander can never be more than the Cardinal Roland, for he was neither elected by the people nor confirmed by the Emperor."

"Most certainly, there is no doubt of the fact," added Alberic, quickly, for he knew Victor's anxiety in the matter.

"But what was it they really called me?--I think I heard the words 'Slave of the Emperor'!"

"That was what they said," my lord. "It was a ridiculous epithet, for you, who seek to defend the prerogatives of the Church, can be slave to no one."

These words were bitterly ironical, for Octavian remembered his base servility to the wishes of his master Barbarossa, and he moved uneasily upon his chair, as he resumed,--

"I give to the Emperor what is his by right, and in this I obey the commands of our Lord; but in all that concerns the Church, I am inflexible and yield obedience to no earthly power. Have I not often given proofs of this? Did I not do so only on the day before yesterday, when the Emperor urged me to pronounce the separation of Henry and Clemence? And did we not, in virtue of our sacred office, refuse the demand?"

"I admired your energy, my lord."

"There are no excuses, no threats which can decide us to annul this marriage!" continued Octavian. "If monarchs could, at their pleasure, divorce their wives, we should have little justice and order. No, by the eternal salvation of my soul, to which may God be merciful, I will never countenance a like enormity!"

As Victor finished, Rinaldo entered the room. Octavian's tirade had not escaped the watchful observation of the courtier. Indeed, although rarely bold enough to resist the Emperor's commands, there were times when Octavian, either through shame or anger, refused obedience. Like all men of contracted and timid ideas, he sometimes tried to show proof of energy. Deploring his position, but without greatness of soul enough to consent to break his chains and retire to a subordinate capacity, he gave full vent to his ill-temper against all whom he had no especial cause to fear. Humble and submissive towards the Emperor and his ministers, he was disdainful and supercilious to his inferiors.

For once, Victor seemed decided to give an evidence of character. He remained seated, and replied coldly to the salutations of the Chancellor. But the wily courtier paid no attention to his insolence; and seating himself quietly, he began,--

"Before submitting to your Holiness the message intrusted me by our sovereign lord the Emperor, I desire to offer my sincere regrets for the grave scandal caused by the Milanese."

"The devilful blindness of these Godforsaken people is the surest proof of our legitimacy," interrupted Victor; "we have therefore no need either of your commiseration or your sympathy. You will communicate this reply to the Emperor. We will now examine whether this message, in case it should be a petition, merits our consideration."

It needed all Rinaldo's self-command to remain serious at Octavian's speech, and particularly at the air with which it was uttered. If Victor really were what he tried to seem, the Count of Dassel would have had good reason to be provoked; but as he had known the Pope for many years, his arrogance only excited a smile, as he answered,--

"In this business, I am well aware that the well known wisdom of your Holiness has no need of my sympathy. I will therefore, as such is your desire, explain the purport of the Emperor's communication. It concerns the rupture of the marriage between the Duke of Saxony and his wife Clemence."

"We have already expressed our opinions decidedly on that point," replied Octavian.

"True, a few days ago," said Rinaldo; "but at present His Majesty desires to terminate the matter without delay, and requests you to appoint a time when the divorce shall be solemnly pronounced in public."

"Must I then repeat what I have already said?" replied Victor, with surprise. "The marriage is legal, and cannot be annulled. The question of consanguinity is, by no means, clearly established, and the degree is too remote."

"Nevertheless, the Emperor desires the divorce for grave political reasons," said Rinaldo, quietly.

"Political reasons! What have we to do with politics?"

"Very true, affairs of state are not your province, still, your Holiness might have some consideration for the Emperor's wishes."

"Very well, my lord chancellor! you say that the affairs of state are not our province, and yet in the affairs of the Church we must consult the Emperor's wishes. If that were so, what position should we occupy? The Milanese have defined it perfectly: 'the base slave of the Emperor'!"

"Your Holiness should remember that you owe everything to the Emperor."

"I beg your pardon, my lord chancellor; I hold my power in virtue of my election by the Cardinals and the people."

"The Cardinals!" Dassel cried, ironically; "how many of them voted for you? if I remember rightly, only two. And you speak of the people's choice? The pagan Jugurtha reproached the Roman people with its corruption; yet, without the rich bribes paid by your friends, even that venal people would not have pronounced in your favor."

Octavian colored violently at the insult.

"I have no wish to wound your Holiness," continued Dassel, "but simply to warn you against any feelings of ingratitude to the Emperor."

"Admitting what you have said to be true, was not our election ratified by four plenary councils?"

"Four plenary councils!" sneered Rinaldo. "There should have been four, but the Emperor has never been able to bring the Bishops together. You should know of what value is a plenary council where there are no Bishops! But let me beg you to put an end to this useless discussion. I only wish to transmit the Emperor's orders and carry back to him your answer."

"The Emperor's orders! Oh! this is too much, my lord!"

"Yes; but if you prefer, we will call it the Emperor's request," said the minister, rising as he spoke; "orders or request, it matters little! since the Emperor insists upon implicit obedience to the one, as to the other. Perhaps, upon reflection, you will perceive that your disobedience may possibly have most disagreeable consequences."

"For the love of God! do not leave me," cried the alarmed Victor. "Only show me how I can, in defiance of my duty and my conscience, annul a legal marriage? I am always ready to show my obedience to His Majesty; I only implore him not to insist upon this flagrant violation of divine and ecclesiastical laws."

"Have you the power to loose?"

"Yes; but not the bonds of an indissoluble marriage."

"The consanguinity between Henry and Clemence is a valid cause of divorce. Their genealogical tree shall be submitted for your examination; you can then conscientiously annul the marriage."

Victor was dreadfully embarrassed, and sought in vain an escape from the dilemma. On the one side, he felt ashamed of his weakness, and his conscience reproached him bitterly; but on the other, he saw that most disagreeable consequences would result from his refusal. The tone of the Chancellor, his gloomy and threatening demeanor, his readiness to leave the apartment, alarmed Octavian, on whose forehead stood great drops of perspiration, a striking proof that bad actions are often more painful in their accomplishment than those dictated by a worthy motive.

"May I then announce to the Emperor, that you will obey him?" resumed Dassel; "or shall I transmit your refusal, so that His Majesty can at once proclaim the illegality of your claims to the Papal throne?"

"I will obey," faltered Victor.

"At last you have come to a wise decision," said the courtier, whose face immediately resumed its cordial expression. "May I ask when your Holiness will fulfil your promise?"

"Whenever it may so please the Emperor."

"Your visit will be most agreeable to His Majesty," Dassel resumed. "I have only now to request your Holiness to confer the Episcopal mitre upon some young man, high in favor with His Majesty, to whom he wishes to offer this mark of his confidence. He thinks that it would be well for the ceremony to take place next week, in the Cathedral of Pavia. One of the candidates is the young Count Biandrate, whose nomination to the Archbishopric of Ravenna was delayed, owing to some objections on the part of your predecessor, Pope Adrian."

"I must confirm His Majesty's choice, and will be at Pavia on the day mentioned."

The Chancellor bowed and withdrew. Ashamed and cast down, the Pope stood motionless, gazing at the door through which Dassel had disappeared. He seemed scarcely to credit his humiliation, as he murmured,--

"Aye, I am the Emperor's slave, naught but his miserable, degraded slave!"