finally returned to publish, today I decided after a long time to leave this gem for you, it is a special chapter concerning only one year in particular ( in the next few days I should be able to publish the other parts in pieces concerning the years from 1495 to 1515 ) Having said that, happy reading, Unfortunately I decided to divide it into two parts, otherwise it's too long to read
Like Caesar part 1
Pavia
after all the ambassadors of Italian princes have arrived in Pavia, the imperial court meets to decide what to do: there are those who claim to have the coronation in Monza in the church of San Michele Arcangelo as per tradition, there are those who he says to do it directly in Rome, but Maximilian deems it appropriate that it is right to do it here in Pavia, because it was the ancient capital of the Lombard kingdom and it would be very symbolic to be officially king of Italy in the place where the iron crown was born and its first uses, many point out to the sovereign that there is no suitable place to host this great event, but during the discussion Prince George and the young archduke Max jr intervene, returning from their adventure in the narrow streets of the city , the two point out that near the main church there is a large square that can easily accommodate those present, it would be enough for the ceremony to be divided into two parts, the first in the church while the second in the crowd, Maximilian hearing this is very happy, because he really wants to be crowned here in the city, the only hitch left would be to fix the place but to solve the problem Emma offers herself immediately and since she arrived she has been checking and preparing everything, Max can't help but smile watching his wife bend over backwards but wisely makes him remember that even she will be part of the ceremony so she won't be able to supervise it as she wants and furthermore, needing to rest, Emma tries to retort that she can do both very well : "after all, I managed several delicate diplomatic meetings while I was pregnant, and once I had ahead of the entire imperial court while you darling, young Rodolfo and your father were unavailable due to fever, so dear husband what do you want for me to organize a public ceremony down to the smallest detail to make it perfect and at the same time take part in it ? eh " our future emperor had no words to counter but luckily his younger brother, the archduke Rudolf, and recently recognized as prince of Bohemia, came to his aid, who convinced his sister-in-law to trust him, who would watch over the preparations for the coronation while she took time to rest and if something had to be changed along the way, Emma would be the first to be informed immediately, in the end the queen gave in and agreed to this, while the three episcopal prince-electors on behalf of the Rex Romanorum visited the church and helped the family members of the Royal couple to prepare everything for the big event
2 days later near the Cathedral of Pavia at 10
everything is ready, the cathedral, which for centuries has not seen a coronation of the kings of Italy, anxiously awaits the arrival of its two main guests, all the highest officials of the empire following the procession are gathered in the church : from all 7 prince electors in person, passing through the various dukes, margraves, counts, bishops and princes of the empire up to the numerous representation coming from the Italian courts, we see the looks that the closest collaborators of the Habsburg family exchange, a mixture of apprehension and joy contained with difficulty, but it is not only inside the church that Max and Emma are expected, also all citizens have arrived near the square and await with trepidation the arrival of the imperial family ( most of them have been here since the evening Before ) suddenly a trumpet call in the distance warns everyone present, we begin to hear the noises of a large mass of people marching, coming from the royal palace, we decide that we cannot wait for them, and so, passing through side streets, we run towards the palace, we notice that many people are looking out of the windows or balconies and we know that they are lucky enough to witness the passage of the royal procession from above, and they will be able to see how much it looks like a painting in motion, given its extremely colorful nature we arrive at the procession that has unfortunately begun, but the spectacle we see is worth the breath we have, more than a hundred people are passing in front of us all dressed in fantastic and richly decorated clothes, the first part of the procession is made up of the band who, to the sound of trumpets and drums dictate the rhythm, then we see the heraldic banners that accompany the imperial family : the first obviously is the black two-headed eagle on a yellow background, the symbol of the empire, immediately following we see the papal symbol which is flanked by a group of clerics holding a huge cross on their shoulders, after them we find the black and gold Hapsburg flag, which paves the way for the royal family, we try to see them but we can't manage among all these colors and noises, to close the procession there are all the flags of the Italian cities that joined their entourage on the journey towards Rome, for the moment
the procession finally arrives in the square, where it is greeted by a great shouting of the people in celebration, the procession begins to open near the entrance of the Cathedral, we see the band waiting outside as well as the heralds in tow, while the rest of the procession enter the church, after a few seconds the music of the organs and religious choirs spreads in the square, the ceremony officially begins, unfortunately we cannot see it with our own eyes as by deciding to see the arrival of the procession we certainly lost our place in the cathedral, but fortunately we have Prince George who gave an account of the events in a letter to be sent to his brother-in-law Prince Felix, George describes the events like this : dear Felix, I'm sorry you weren't able to personally come and witness the happy event here in Pavia, but I'm sure you'll answer me with a superior attitude that you didn't miss much, after all you'll see the most important ceremony in Rome, I'll answer that it's true but your sister here on the side doesn't agree very much with this, she claims that you could very well have come, after all, the pope doesn't need you, does he have to be their babysitter ? isn't it true ?, I avoided misunderstandings, I don't want to know anything about it, understood !..... we were sitting in the front row, next to my cousin Rudolf, he is like all the others present, we waited with growing anxiety, the arrival of Maximilian, Emma and their children and their entry into the church, we felt the arrival of the procession due to the music that anticipated them the music was getting closer and closer, when suddenly it ceased completely, the archbishop of Milan, who had come especially for the ceremony, gave the order to start the sacred music to accompany the guests entering the church, the first thing that I saw enter was this huge cross supported by 8 clerics, following them were the banners of the most holy mother church, of the empire and of the Habsburgs, then it was finally the long-awaited moment, the entrance on the scene of the August figures of Maximilian and Emma ( with the children following them a couple of meters after them ), the music increased dramatically as they approached the altar, once they arrived they knelt before the archbishop and the princes of the church of Mainz, Trier and Cologne ( who assisted their colleague in the function ), almost all my grandchildren came to sit between me and Rudi ( yes, it's his nickname, we decided it with Max years ago, because it looks too much like a painting depicting the first archduke whose the name ) the only one that remained with Emma and Max was his young namesake, because his parents wanted to prepare him for the ceremony in Rome, where he would be recognized as their direct heir by popular acclaim and blessed by the pontiff in person, I don't want to bore you with my story of the rest of the religious function, I know that by now living on a permanent basis in Rome you would be able to describe and preside over many different types, including this one too, so I'll go directly to describing the rest of the events : the archbishops after asking Max and Emma if they will be willing to defend and protect the church and their future subjects with their lives, and receiving an immediate yes from them, began to bless them with sacred anointings, they were anointed on the forehead, on the hands , in the feet, furthermore Maximilian was further anointed also in the chest, once this was completed it was the turn of little Max jr who was blessed in the hands and in the forehead, then the iron crown was introduced, which was made with a nail from the real cross, as he entered we all stood up while Max and Emma bowed, the archbishop of Cologne took the crown è after having blessed it with incense and sacred oil I pass it on to his Milanese namesake, here as he lifted the crown he started a prayer in which all those present took part è after the Amen he was about to give it to the future monarch, I could see Max's hands trembling, his face was stoic but it was only a mere appearance, Rudi and I wanted to get up to give him support but Emma was faster as usual and gave him that courage that he missed, thanks to a simple handshake ( I still don't understand how strong and solid their bond is, it almost seems that we don't need to talk to be able to understand each other instantly ) In the end Maximilian with Emma's help put on the Crown and then humbly asked the bishop to be able to crown his wife as well, the cardinal had no problems and agreed ( yes, Felix, we found out after he was a cardinal, at least apparently only Rudi and I of the family didn't know, when I asked Max why he hadn't told me ?, he answered me with a smile that was not at all reassuring " so you learn to hang around the city without me !, I wanted to do the same thing to Maxi but he was pardoned because of his mother, you on the other hand have no one to protect you from me " ) once Emma too was crowned, a cry of jubilee arose from those present, the archbishops officially consecrated them as lawful and blessed by God sovereigns of Italy, all this was framed by the sound of organ music and trumpet blasts, when we all leave the cathedral following the two new monarchs we were greeted by the cheerful shouting of the population, who accompanied by the sound of drums, shouted " long live the king and queen of Italy !, thank you for bringing the light back to Pavia !, Now everyone is in Rome with the pope !, may God be with you, long live the future emperor and his family " when Emma decided to answer those present to thank them for their welcome, the applause increased even more so as to drown out the sound of the instruments
after having surrounded the heads of Maximilian and Emma with the crown of the kings of Italy, the group continues its march towards the Urbe passing through the few territories left in the hands of the Este family and Tuscany, they are welcomed with extreme jubilee in the cities where they pass: Piacenza, Massa, Carrara, Pisa and finally Siena, the latter in particular are interesting because they represent the imperial policy that Maximilian and Emma want to undertake, the couple decides to stop for three days in the city of Pisa officially to pay homage to the tomb of their imperial predecessor, the emperor Henry VII of Luxembourg who died falling from his horse in 1313 while he was going down to Italy ( which they will do later also with another emperor, known without equal
throughout Italy compared to his predecessors or successors ) Max and Emma go to the piazza dei miracoli ( a symbol of the wealth and power of the former maritime republic ) to pray near the external walls of the cathedral ( where Enrico's tomb lies ) here the emperor decided to make a solemn promise to the deceased sovereign, but unfortunately no one has kept track of what he really said at that moment, we only have the popular legends told between generations of Pisans ( 1 ) combined with an anecdote also transmitted of generation among the Habsburgs where the worried Prince George approaches his cousins and once in their vicinity remains as if frightened because he said he had heard Max and Emma talking to someone, we know that after the event ( any version you want to believe ) the royal couple decided to create a duplicate of the emperor's statue to take it with them to Rome ( where it will be placed in the mausoleum of the emperors ) as well as wanting to organize parties in his honor on the days they stayed in the city which were welcomed with satisfaction by inhabitants ( so much so that the Pisans were the second largest group of the Italian companions of the two towards Rome, if taken individually )
Rome February 1494
near imperial forums
heading towards the Holy See, through the forum, we immediately notice that the construction works on the monument of the emperors are almost complete, the finishing touches of a purely aesthetic nature are now missing, from the outside it appears to us like a miniature of the Ara Pacis, but much more splendid due to the beautiful frescoes and colorful bas-reliefs present along the entire external edge of the building, we know that to please the future emperor, Augustine spared no expense ( in terms of size and cost it is by far the second most important construction site of the city, for some years now ) furthermore, at the behest of the Pope, the non plus ultra of Italian artists and masters took part in the project, personally chosen by the site manager Leonardo himself, of two of them in particular, there are rumors absurd stories about their skill in the city: they are two young people who many believe will engrave their name in history, they are a certain Michelangelo and a young boy of just 17 years old named Raphael, who have made a huge impression with their works. da Vinci himself (who by now was considered difficult to amaze, given his particular character), not resisting the temptation, we ask to be able to take a quick little peek at the construction site, the workers don't want to let us pass, because they fear an outburst from the their boss, but in the end, we managed to get in thanks to a good word from Pinturicchio about us ( who, to our pleasant surprise, also works here! ), we begin to approach the building slowly, around us we see many tools of the trade, as well as many statues and entire pieces of marble, Pinturicchio explains to us that he can only show us a very small part, unfortunately, but that's fine for us ; as we follow him, we pass behind large wooden scaffolding, where many craftsmen are attaching bas-reliefs to the walls, once we pass this area, we remain with our mouths wide open, not even a word comes out of our mouths, due to the magnificence we are looking at : a room entirely frescoed and with entire life-size and perfectly restored statues inside, we recognize only some of them ( one of Trajan, the other of Marcus Aurelius on horseback, a bust of the Empress Theophanu with her son Otto III , a bas-relief of Lothair I, one of Majorian with his name still engraved in Latin beneath it, and finally, what we believe to be the real jewels here, a statue of Justinian from Greece and a gold statue of Augustus in person, which Leonardo himself repaired after finding her while digging in the domus aurea )
Siena February 15th
the arrival in the city is anticipated by the frightening spread of the news of Maximilian's actions along his journey ( in particular his public demonstrations of homage to the most important saints of the peninsula and the stories of his events concerning Henry VII and Frederick II ) moreover there are many Sienese who would like to see the entire imperial family this time, also because the period in which the royal couple had stayed in the city has created a beautiful memory in the population, above all for how they had contributed to solving some of the problems that had gripped Siena for a long time ( also promising a solution to obtain the peace and tranquility so longed for by the citizens ) many are happy with their return because coincidentally it coincides with the end of the expansion works of the Cathedral ( 2 ), continued by Maximilian as a gift to the city for the splendid welcome given to it, in the council of nine ( historic body but with a main role in the government of the Republic ) we try to think about how to welcome the entire imperial family this time and to find a way to surpass ourselves, some suggest donating an entire district ( 3 ) of the city to the imperial family, the stay in the Tuscan city lasts a long time, almost two weeks in which Maximilian and Emma decide to administer justice and listen to the population personally, while Max Jr gains experience entertaining the young people of the Sienese nobility in a tournament organized by his father to celebrate Santa Caterina ( became doctor of the church by order of the Pope, which fills the Sienese with great pride and for a day makes them forget the divisions and hostilities between the contrade ) where a re-enactment of the historic victory of Montaperti in 1260 over the hated Guelph troops camped in Florence is celebrated, this re-enactment is so adored by Maximilian that he decides to ennoble the districts of the Goose and the Eagle ( those who organized the whole thing ( 5 ) with the title and imperial insignia that they will be able to show off both in war and during city festivals
from 2 to 4 March
the journey of the Imperial procession towards Rome proceeds at a rapid pace, in every city that is touched by its transit new banners are added to its entourage ( among which Assisi, Grosseto, Viterbo, Civitavecchia and Orvieto should now be included ) which increase the large number of Italians who follow the future emperor ( mostly Tuscans ), now everyone is anxiously waiting to glimpse the walls of the Urbe, the capital of Christianity, the cradle of European civilization bathed by the Tiber, the eternal Rome of the emperors and dads
in the capital meanwhile
the final preparations are being completed in view of the imminent arrival of the royal couple, every district of the city is sprucing up to strike the minds of the future August sovereigns, even the Tiber itself is being cleaned to avoid the proliferation of mosquitoes or its flooding unexpectedly, an extraordinary meeting is being held in St. Peter's to decide who will participate in the welcoming embassy for the sovereigns, established as a protocol about 12 kilometers from the city center ( as per the ancient Roman custom first in the republic and then in the empire ) The expedition ( we are talking about at least more than 300 people ) will naturally be led by the pontiff himself followed by two consuls and two patricians chosen from among the people and the Roman nobility
1) there are three legends in particular, but the most famous are only the first two, i.e. the oldest ones, but no one can say which facts told in them are reliable or not: all are more or less in agreement that the imperial couple once they arrived in the square of miracles to pray at the tomb, they asked to have a moment alone, they knelt in front of the crowd in rigorous silence, after a few moments of tranquility a bizarre thing happens: suddenly the imperial couple stopped in the pray and immediately got up to look around, the new empress clearly shocked while Caesar with his sword already drawn in his hand ready to stand in front of her to defend her, but then as if they were bewitched they calmed down and turned in unison towards the statue of the Ghibelline emperor they made a public reverence and ode to Henry VII in front of the whole city (here we find the first notable differences, there are those who maintain that Maximilian speaks with a voice that is not his, telling things he could not have known (there are who says that it was the spirit of the deceased Enrico who spoke through him, telling of his hopes, his failures and thanking the city for having remembered him) or who says that it was Emma herself who behaved in a strange way by starting to talk about the relationship between the Italy and the empire and how this has weakened greatly over the years, to the point of almost disappearing, and how the Italians are always looking for a new Augustus to bring peace between them but unfortunately they have not been able to obtain it and for this reason they had distant sovereigns who neither understood nor wanted to understand Italy and its people but rather often argued with their representative and equal: the Pope instead of collaborating to bring harmony (many see in this piece a clear reference to the treaty Dante Alighieri's politician, De Monarchia) we then know that Maximilian later (again according to legend) wanted to enter the Cathedral to test his faith, leaving his iron crown on the head of the statue as a sign of profound respect
2) Otl the expansion works on the Cathedral were never resumed after the plague epidemic of 1300 halved the population, but here thanks to a "collection" between Maximilian and the papacy the works resumed and also the city little to time is starting to grow again
3) special administrative division of Siena, similar to our neighborhoods but at the same time completely different
4 ) at the time what we know as the Palio did not yet exist, rather there were various competitions of different kinds (including equestrian competitions, bullfighting, Florentine football, simulation of wars, etc.) only in 1600 was the Palio legalized as we know it Otl, but the districts already existed since at least around 1280
5 ) During the conflict between the papacy and the empire, Siena was notoriously a strongly Ghibelline city, as well as one of the major supporters of Frederick II ( and his descendants ) and Henry VII, therefore it was part of the same Habsburg faction
