This is the Chronicle that has come down to posterity, of an anonymous Roman writer, who decided to put on paper the vicissitudes that he saw happening around him, in our journey into history, we will make much use of his notes, to understand how everything changed in the European politics of the 14th century, it's like the lives, choices and passions of aspiring Kings, Emperors, Popes and Princes have all converged into a single great chronicle, with the flavors almost of a Hollywood bestseller.....Welcome to a new episode of " Discovering Knowledge ", I, your host, Alessio, will be happy to accompany you on this tortuous journey, but leaving aside the hesitation, let's begin our exploration of the " Acta Diurna Chronica Romanae "
the text begins by informing us that it all starts from a small town in the south of France, which for about 60 years has found itself becoming the heart of Latin Christianity, even if completely unprepared for this, we are talking about the city of Avignon, a small village of 10 thousand souls at the time, which starting from 1309 became the temporary residence of the papal court ( 1 ), but which with the passing of the decades almost seemed to be moving towards a more definitive role, given the numerous and all failed expeditions to regain control of the papal territories, so much so that many began to say that "Ibi Roma, Ibi Papam" ( Rome is where the Pope is ), but things were about to take a very different turn....
1365 A. D.
before our eyes we see an area view of the Venassine countryside, to be precise of its most important city, Avignon, which from a small country village has become the headquarters of one of the most important organizations in human history... the Catholic Church , it is in fact here that the popes who succeeded Clement V decided to put down roots, given the impossibility of being able to stay safe in the old Urbe, as we move we see enormous construction sites full of workers at work, the city is in full ferment and expansion, also because it is not capable of supporting the immense mass of people who storm it due to the simple fact that the papal court is located here, making it seem to visitors to the town that it is more of an enormous open-air market which is the main seat of the Holy Father
among the various building works in progress that scatter the urban landscape, one stands out in particular, perhaps due to its elevated position, in fact it is built on a very high rock face, by the people it is called " Rocher des Doms " , and it is there that currently "Roma" is located in the majestic Gothic style building commonly known as the " Palais des Papes "
his holiness had gathered us all in the great hall, without exception, from the great princes of the church to the simplest servant or scribe, each of us was in religious silence waiting for our beloved pontiff, Urban V, to explain to us the reason for this summons, in While we were waiting for his arrival, the most absurd rumors began to circulate among the crowd : some claimed that the Pope was about to die, some said he wanted to resign, others spoke of his plans for the long-awaited crusade, some instead had the fear that the King of France was marching against us, because the Pope had tried to seek a just peace between him and King Edward, without his consent, others even began to shout that Constantinople and Rome had fallen into the hands of the Turks and their Saracen allies, and so continuing
but this chaos of madness was silenced by the speaking of the pontiff himself : "my dear brothers, today we have gathered you so quickly in this room, to discuss one of our always dear ambitions, the return to our beloved Rome, finally God has given us a chance at this time, since the immoderate ambition of the princes of Europe for the control of France, does not make our stay in this place any safer, we invite you to begin preparations to go and supervise how the situation in our dear city is progressing, a welcome word has reached us, that our return is now almost there, and that our people are finally about to obtain the peace and justice they have longed for for decades, who among you feels ready to represent us on this mission ? ", this request from the supreme pontiff greatly shocked everyone among us present, even I, a humble notary, wanted to respond to the call of the vicar of Christ, but I was slow in doing so, when I finally made up my mind, two illustrious cardinals, various prelates had already come forward minors and some administrators of justice, but by a twist of fate, I was suddenly included in the expedition too, thanks to the intercession of a prelate, a relative of mine...
.. I didn't know that all this would totally change my life
Milan
we are in the beating heart of northern Italy, both from an economic and political point of view, the huge city of Milan, which after its glorious past as a municipality and natural leader of the Lombard league against the aspirations of the Hoffenstaufen emperors, is also located like the rest of the peninsula, embroiled in the bloody and violent civil war between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines, but where in other parts the former famously won, here we find the latter firmly in power, thanks to the Visconti family, who over the course of the century succeeded to gain power in the municipal institutions and in the local church, in fact it is under them that Milan is reaching heights never reached before, thanks to the military ability and political unscrupulousness of Bernabó Visconti, the current lord of the city and of many other locations in the Po Valley
but this is not yet what we need to talk about, rather about the meeting that is taking place in the city's palaces of power, which will change the future destiny of the city and not only that, here we get to know the so-called "Archduke" Rudolph IV of Austria, belonging to the very famous ruling family of the Habsburgs ( currently still in office ), who after having miraculously escaped certain death ( a strange disease had struck him as soon as he arrived in the city, but still no one can understand what it was, many maintain that he had contracted a mild version of bubonic plague ), once he had fully recovered, the young duke began to discuss political affairs with Barbabó, in particular an alliance between the two families and the possibility of pleading the latter's cause in the court of Charles IV, in the hope that the Emperor as king of Italy could recognize him as his vassal sovereign, so as to legitimize his conquests towards his political opponents whether they were other Italian potentates or within his court, the archduke stayed in Milan for another ten days to better refine the agreements
Papal State , to be precise between present-day Lazio and Umbria
it is here that the highest office of the provisional pontifical government currently resides, the vicar general, in the place of Cardinal Egidio Albornoz, sent by express papal will in 1353 to try to bring order to the state administration, but once he arrived on site, he found himself faced with a situation which to say is desperate is an understatement, in fact when he communicated to the Pope ( in the same year ) that more than a state maintainer, believed that a military man was needed, given the level of chaos, political insubordination, absence of a vague central authority, infighting between factions and the local nobility themselves that you have to witness, the cardinal spent the rest of the years doing military campaigns against the rebels and at the same time to rebuild the state where it was possible, but in all this there were two enormous obstacles, in the guise of the urban prefect of Rome, Giovanni di Vico and in the Visconti family who unrestrainedly supported the rebel factions and the states that became pseudo independent within the Papal States, they were tiring and very exhausting campaigns, but little by little most of the regions that had rebelled were brought back under state control, thanks to the ability of the cardinal and his policy of compromise, but like an annoying ulcer, the prefect with very clear Ghibelline sympathies, always managed to ruin Albornoz's plans, he had defeated him on the battlefield several times, but Giovanni di Vico seemed to have nine lives like cats, and every time seemed definitively reduced to impotence, like a phoenix rising again to spread discord wherever it went, devastating a region between lower Tuscany, Lazio, Umbria, Romagna and the Marche, and then hastily returned to take refuge behind the walls of his stronghold of Viterbo, every time the cardinal's army came out to hunt him down, it had now become a rat hunt between the two men, with neither wanting to back down from the other, but this time it seemed like the right time, Albernoz had managed to put Giovanni in check, making him believe he was chasing him, when in reality he had been waiting for him near Viterbo for days, now if the prefect wanted to find safety he had to risk a discount in the open air in clear numerical inferiority, things were not going well for him at all
Florence
in the rich Tuscan city, important transformations are taking place at a social level, which especially affect the poorer classes who see in the fat people ( commonly called by the people, which includes the high nobility, the clergy, the rich rising bourgeoisie ) an increase in their feeling of superiority and greed, without however seeing an improvement in other fields of their competence, it is in many three poorer populations that incite a change, finally the lost wars against the Milanese expansion and the aggression coming from the papal territories, they increase the feeling among the people that their governments are a mass of incompetents
Rome
what was once the heart of a great empire, which ruled over the entire Mediterranean, and which extended from Scotland to Persia, passing from the Rhine to Nubia, and then became the seat of Latin Christianity, was now a desolate land and left to itself, the ancient ruins merged with the new ones, the usual chatter of its noisy population has long since been replaced with a sinister and unnatural silence, no one has the courage to leave the house, everyone is safely enclosed within their home walls , hoping not to become the next target of revenge or city guerrilla warfare between the various factions loyal to the warlike Roman nobility, only on the few occasions in which the vicar general manages to reside in the city, that peace and some semblance of normality is achieved to glimpse, but they are very fleeting moments, the powerful baronial families have divided the neighborhoods of the city among themselves, on each of the seven famous hills, there is a stronghold made as best they can by their supporters, the the only thing that in some way, even if limping, continues to hold up, is the city assembly ( which has elected its tribunes, 7 in total, as its main political exponents ) which when Albernoz is present manages to enforce the law, but a new air spreads among the plebs, with it also a voice, which as if by magic gives hope to the people, "the Pope is coming back" is no longer whispered in a low voice as the days pass, in particular after the news that the the prefect's army has been defeated ( even if he escaped capture again ) and the imminent arrival of a diplomatic mission coming directly from Avignon, the Romans are starting to hope, but at the same time they are also tired of the abuses they have suffered, and they prepare the their revenge...
1 ) in Otl, the French influence in the Roman curia really began to grow exponentially from 1268, the year in which the papacy allied itself with the Angevins to definitively depose the heirs of Frederick II, but the growing conflict between Guelphs and Ghibellines, the frictions that never completely disappeared between the municipal aspirations of the eternal city and the policies of some popes in this regard, the struggle between the Roman noble families for the control of power in the curia, caused a profound fracture in the system of papal government, creating the conditions due to the fight between Boniface VIII and Philip IV of France and the resulting result, in the end with the election of Clement V ( originally from Bordeaux, a possession of the king of England but located in France ) a difficult compromise was sought to reconnect the relations between Paris and Rome, which saw the Pope decide to temporarily move to France to be able to better manage the issue personally, finally it should be noted that Avignon was chosen because it belonged to a direct papal vassal, namely the Angiolini, who as king of Naples ceded the territory to him, furthermore it also bordered the possessions of the king of France and the duchy of Aquitanie, the city saw its population almost quadruple, due to the people who tried to enter the papal court to make a career, it was thus inundated by shopkeepers, merchants, pilgrims, clergy of all social backgrounds, artists of all kinds, etc., who in the long run contributed to the city's unflattering notoriety
well this is my introduction to the story, I hope you like it, in the following days the other years will arrive too, don't worry, if by any chance you have any questions I'm at your disposal
