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COLA DI RIENZI (c. 1313–1354)

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Originally appearing in Volume V23, Page 324 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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COLA DI See also:

RIENZI (c. 1313–1354)  , See also:tribune of the See also:Roman ridicule . His See also:government was costly, and to meet its many See also:people, was See also:born in See also:Rome, being the son of a See also:tavern-keeper expenses he was obliged to See also:lay heavy taxes upon the people. named Lorenzo Gabrini . His See also:father's See also:Christian name was He offended the See also:pope by his arrogance and See also:pride, and both pope shortened to Rienzo, and his own, See also:Nicholas, to Cola; hence the and See also:emperor by his proposal to set up a new Roman See also:empire, Cola di See also:Rienzi, or Rienzo, by which he is generally known . His the See also:sovereignty of which would See also:rest directly upon the will of See also:early years were passed at Anagini . Having devoted much the people . In See also:October See also:Clement gave See also:power to a See also:legate to See also:time to the study of the Latin writers, historians, orators and depose him and bring him to trial, and the end was obviously poets, and filled his mind with stories of the glories and the in sight . Taking See also:heart, the exiled barons gathered together power of See also:ancient Rome, he turned his thoughts to the task of some troops, and See also:war began in the neighbourhood of Rome. restoring his native See also:city to its pristine greatness, his zeal for Rienzi obtained aid from See also:Louis of See also:Hungary and others, and this See also:work being quickened by the See also:desire to avenge his See also:brother, on the loth of See also:November his forces defeated the nobles in a who had been killed by a See also:noble, a member of the ruling class. See also:battle just outside the See also:gates of Rome, a battle in which the He became a See also:notary and a See also:person of some importance in the tribune himself took no See also:part, but in which his most distinguished city, and was sent in 1343 on a public errant to Pope Clement foe, See also:Stephen See also:Colonna, was killed . But this victory did not VI. at See also:Avignon . He discharged his duties with ability and See also:save him . He passed his time in feasts and pageants, while success, and although the boldness with which he denounced in a See also:bull the pope denounced him as a criminal, a See also:pagan and the aristocratic rulers of Rome See also:drew down upon him the enmity a heretic, until, terrified by a slight disturbance on the 15th of of powerful men, he won the favour and esteem of the pope, who See also:December, he abdicated and fled from Rome . He sought See also:refuge gave him an See also:official position at his See also:court . Returning to Rome in See also:Naples, but soon he See also:left that city and spent over two years about See also:April 1344 he worked for three years at the See also:great See also:object in an See also:Italian See also:mountain monastery .

of his See also:

life, the restoration of the city to its former position of Emerging from his solitude Rienzi journeyed to See also:Prague, power . He gathered together a See also:band of supporters, plans which he reached in See also:July 1350, and threw himself upon the were See also:drawn up, and at length all was ready for the rising . On See also:protection of the emperor See also:Charles IV . Denouncing the temporal the 19th of May 1347 heralds invited the people to a See also:parliament power of .the pope he implored the emperor to deliver See also:Italy, on the Capitol, and on the loth, the See also:day being Whit-See also:Sunday, and especially Rome,. from their oppressors; but, heedless of the See also:meeting took See also:place . Dressed in full See also:armour and attended his invitations, Charles kept him in See also:prison for more than a See also:year by the papal See also:vicar, Cola headed a procession to the Capitol; in the fortress of See also:Raudnitz, and then handed him over to here he addressed the assembled See also:crowd, speaking " with Clement, who had been clamouring for his surrender . At fascinating eloquence of the See also:servitude and redemption of Avignon, where he appeared in See also:August 1352, Rienzi was tried Rome." A new See also:series of See also:laws was published and accepted by three cardinals, and was sentenced to See also:death, but this See also:judgment with acclaim, and unlimited authority was given to the author was not carried out, and he remained in prison in spite of of the revolution . Without striking a See also:blow the nobles left appeals from See also:Petrarch for his See also:release . Freedom, however, was the city or went into hiding, and a few days later Rienzi took at See also:hand . In December 1352 Clement died, and his successor, the See also:title of tribune (Nicholaus, See also:severus et clemens, libertatis, See also:Innocent VI., anxious to strike a blow at the baronial rulers pacis justiciaeque tribunus, et sacre Romane Reipublice liberator). of Rome, and seeing in the former tribune an excellent See also:tool His authority quickly and quietly accepted by all classes, for this purpose, pardoned and released his prisoner . Giving him the new ruler governed the city with a stern See also:justice which was the title of senator, he sent him to Italy with the legate, See also:Cardinal in marked contrast to the See also:recent reign of See also:licence and disorder . See also:Albornoz, and having collected a few See also:mercenary troops on the In great See also:state the tribune moved through the streets of Rome, way, Rienzi entered Rome in August 1354 . He was received being received at St See also:Peter's with the hymn Veni Creator spirilus, with great rejoicings and quickly regained his former position while in a See also:letter the poet Petrarch urged him to continue his of power .

But this latter See also:

term of See also:office was destined to be great and noble work, and congratulated him on his past even shorter than his former one had been . Having vainly achievements, calling him the new See also:Camillus, See also:Brutus and besieged the fortress of See also:Palestrina, he returned to Rome, where See also:Romulus . In July in a sonorous See also:decree he proclaimed the he treacherously seized the soldier of See also:fortune, Fra See also:Monreale, sovereignty of the Roman people over the empire, but before who was put to death, and where, by other cruel and arbitrary this he had set to work upon his task of restoring the authority deeds, he soon lost the favour of the people . Their passions of Rome over the cities and provinces of Italy, of making the were quickly aroused and a tumult See also:broke out on the 8th of city again caput mundi . He wrote letters to the cities of Italy, October . Rienzi attempted to address them, but the See also:building asking them to send representatives to an See also:assembly which in which he stood was fired, and while trying to See also:escape in would meet on the 1st of August, when the formation of a great disguise he was murdered by the See also:mob . Rienzi was the See also:hero federation under the headship of Rome would be considered. of one of the finest of Petrarch's odes, Spirito gentil, and also On the appointed day a number of representatives appeared, of some beautiful verses by See also:Lord See also:Byron . He was a See also:man of and after some elaborate and fantastic ceremonials Rienzi, as vivid, but disordered, See also:imagination, without possessing any See also:dictator, issued an See also:edict citing the emperor Louis the Bavarian conception of. statesmanship . In 1887 a statue of the tribune and his See also:rival Charles, afterwards the emperor Charles IV., and was erected at the See also:foot of the Capitoline See also:Hill in Rome . also the imperial See also:electors and all others concerned in the dispute, Rienzi's Inc fand See also:fate have formed the subject of a famous novel to appear before him in See also:order that he might pronounce judgment by Bulwer See also:Lytton, of an See also:opera by See also:Wagner and of a tragedy by in the See also:case . On the following day the festival of the unity of See also:Julius See also:Mosen . His letters, edited by A .

Gabrielli, are published in Italy was celebrated, but neither this nor the previous meet- vol. vi. of the Fonti per la storia d'Italia (Rome, 189o) . See also See also:

ing had any See also:practical result . Rienzi's power, however, was Papencordt, Cola di Rienzo and See also:seine Zeit (See also:Hamburg, 1841) ; Auriac, recognized in Naples, whence both and her Etude historique sur N . Rienzi (See also:Amiens, 1885) ; E . Rodocanachi, rQueen See also:Joanna aCola di Rienzi (See also:Paris, 1888) ; See also:Kuhn, See also:Die Entwickelung der Biindnis- See also:bitter foe, See also:King Louis of Hungary, appealed to him for See also:pro- See also:plane Cola di Rienzos See also:im Jahre 1347 (See also:Berlin, 1905) ; A. von See also:Reumont, tection and aid, and on the 15th of August he was crowned Geschichte der Stadt Rom (1867–7o) ; and F . See also:Gregorovius, Geschichte tribune with great pomp, wreaths of See also:flowers being placed on der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter, vol. vi . (Eng. trans., by* A. his See also:head . Gregorovius says this ceremony " was the fantastic See also:Hamilton, 1898) . (A . W . H . ) See also:caricature in which ended the imperium of Charles the Great .

RIESA, a See also:

town of See also:Germany, in the See also:kingdom of See also:Saxony, A See also:world where See also:political See also:action was represented in such See also:guise pleasantly situated on the left See also:bank of the See also:Elbe, 30 M . N.W. of was ripe for overthrow, or could only be saved by a great See also:Dresden, on the See also:main See also:line of railway to See also:Leipzig, and at the See also:mental See also:reformation." He then seized, but soon released, junction of lines to See also:Chemnitz, Elsterwerda and See also:Nossen . Pop . Stephen Colonna and some other barons who had spoken (1905) 14,073 . The See also:river is here crossed by a See also:fine See also:bridge, a See also:sandstone and See also:iron- structure, carrying both railway and road, and replacing the one carried away by floods in 1875 . The town contains two Evangelical churches, a See also:castle, formerly a See also:convent and now used as a town See also:hall, and several See also:schools . There is a See also:harbour with quays and a dockyard, also See also:rolling-See also:mills and saw-mills, ironworks and sandstone quarries . Other See also:industries are the manufacture of See also:furniture, See also:beer, See also:soap, carriages and bricks . The most important See also:shipping station on the Elbe in Saxony, Riesa is the See also:lading-place for goods to and from See also:Bavaria, and a mart for See also:herrings, See also:petroleum, See also:wood, See also:coal and See also:grain . A See also:constant passenger steamboat communication is maintained with See also:Meissen and Dresden; and, owing to the See also:artillery practice ranges at Zeithain, on the right bank of the Elbe, Riesa has become of recent years one of the See also:chief depots of the Saxon See also:army . Riesa •received municipal rights in 1632, and after a See also:period of decay was again raised to the See also:rank of a town in 1859 .

End of Article: COLA DI RIENZI (c. 1313–1354)
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JEAN HENRI RIESENER (1734-1806)

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