Vita Caroli
The Empire Divided
Charles recounts the contested election of Louis of Bavaria as Holy Roman Emperor, the factions that supported him and his rival Frederick of Austria, and Louis's subsequent break with Pope John XXII.
So on my return from France I found my father in the county of Luxembourg, at a time when Louis of Bavaria held the empire. He called himself Louis the Fourth, who after the death of Henry the Seventh, my grandfather, was elected in disputed fashion as King of the Romans against Frederick, Duke of Austria. This Louis they elected, and they stood by him all the way to his triumph, in which he captured that same Frederick, Duke of Austria, his adversary. Among them were John, King of Bohemia, my father, the Archbishop of Mainz, the Archbishop of Trier, and Waldemar the Last of Brandenburg. With Frederick, however, were the Archbishop of Cologne, the Duke of Saxony, and the Count Palatine. This Louis had afterwards gone to Rome and received the imperial diadem against the will of Pope John XXII, from the Bishop of the Venetians, along with the gift of consecration. And after this he had created an antipope, Nicholas by name, of the Order of Minors, who afterwards was handed over into the hands of the pope and died in penitence. And he had already returned to Germany, as appears more fully in the chronicles of the Romans.
A Father's Diplomacy and a Mother's Death
John of Bohemia reconciles warring dukes, acquires Italian cities for his son, and settles in Parma, while Charles's mother dies in Prague.
At that time, indeed, when I had returned from France to the county of Luxembourg and had found my father there, the duke of Austria had besieged the city of Colmar in Alsace, and Louis was not able to free it. My father went to them and reconciled the aforementioned duke with Louis. Then he went to the county of Tyrol, to the duke of Carinthia, whom he had driven out of the kingdom of Bohemia. The first wife of this duke had been my mother's sister; at last, nevertheless, he had taken another wife, the sister of the duke of Brunswick, by whom he had an only daughter, whom he married to my brother John as his wife, and after his death he appointed to himself all his principalities.1 Then my father arrived in the city of Trent. And at that time my mother died on the feast of the blessed martyr Wenceslaus, in Prague. While my father prolonged his stay in Trent, the following cities were given to him in Lombardy: the city of Brescia, Bergamo, Parma, Cremona, Pavia, Reggio, Modena; and in Tuscany, indeed, Lucca, with all the districts and counties belonging to it. Going to these cities after this, my father made his residence in Parma.
The Visconti Encroachment
Azzo Visconti absorbs the Milanese and Novara territories that John had previously held in vicariate.
The viscount, Akzo of Milan, later took them into his own domain; at that time he was governing the cities of Milan and Novara, which he had received from my father in the same vicariate at the same time.
Journey into Italy and the Poisoning at Pavia
Charles travels from Luxembourg through France and over the Alps to Pavia, where his household is poisoned on Easter Day; he survives because he had received Communion and refused to eat, and a suspicious stranger is seized.
At that time my father sent me into the county of Luxembourg on his behalf. I, however, set out on a journey through the city of Metz, through the duchy of Lorraine, through Burgundy and Savoy, all the way to the city of Lausanne on the lake. Then I crossed the mountains of Brige and came into the territory of Novara, and from there I came on the day of preparation into the city of Pavia, which my father held. On the day of Easter — that is, the third day after I had arrived — my household was poisoned, and I escaped, with divine grace protecting me, because a long and solemn Mass was being celebrated, and I had received Communion at that same Mass and did not wish to eat before Mass. When, however, I was about to go to lunch, it was told me that my household had suddenly fallen ill, and especially those who had eaten before the meal. I, however, was sitting at the table and refused to eat, and we were all terrified. And so, looking up, I saw a handsome and nimble man whom I did not recognize, walking back and forth before the table, pretending to be mute. Suspicion having been formed about him, I had him seized.
Torture, Confession, and the Dead
Under torture the accused confesses that Azzo Visconti ordered the poisoning, and several named members of Charles's court die from it.
After many tortures, on the third day he spoke and confessed that he himself had mixed poison into the food in the kitchen, by the order and procurement of Azzo, Viscount of Milan. From that poison the following died: John, lord of Berge, master of my court; John of Honkirin; Simon of Keyla, who served at my table; and very many others.2
The Augustinian Monastery Restored
Charles recalls the Augustinian canons expelled by Louis of Bavaria from the monastery of Saint Augustine in Pavia, and Pope John later grants the monastery to the Augustinians.
But at that time I was staying in the monastery of Saint Augustine, where his body lies in Pavia — the monastery from which Louis of Bavaria had expelled the abbot and the canonici regulares of that monastery, whom I recalled and introduced into the aforementioned monastery. After the death of those brothers, Pope John conferred that monastery on the Augustinians — the order that holds it to this day — while my father was in control, to whom my father handed over possession of it.3
A Guardian Betrayed and a Sister Wed
Charles joins his father in Parma at age fifteen; John entrusts Charles's safety to Count Ludwig of Savoy, then goes to France to arrange royal marriages for Charles's sisters.
Then I went to my father in the city of Parma, and I was entering my sixteenth year. My father, however, entrusted the governance of all those territories and the protection of my person to Lord Ludwig, Count of Savoy, who was the father-in-law of Azzo Visconti and of the Governor of Milan. Departing from Parma, he went into France and gave in marriage his second-born daughter, my sister, named Guta, to John, the firstborn son of Philip, King of France. His firstborn, Margaret, was wed to Henry, Duke of Bavaria.
The Great Betrayal
A secret league of Italian princes and cities conspires to seize Charles's territories; despite sworn treaties, they attack from all sides, his guardian abandons him, but loyal citizens rally to his cause.
At the time when I had remained with the aforementioned Lord Ludovicus of Savoy in Italy, they formed a secret league against me and my father: Robert, king of Apulia, the Florentines, the viscount Aczo, governor of Milan, the governor of Verona, who at that time held the cities of Padua, Treviso, Vicenza, Feltre, and Belluno, the governor of Mantua, who had previously promised loyalty to us, the governor of Ferrara, and they secretly divided among themselves the cities I held: to the Veronese, Brescia and Parma; to the Mantuan, Reggio; to the Ferrarese, Modena; to the Milanese, Pavia, Bergamo, and Cremona; to the Florentines, Lucca. And so all of them, having secretly arranged betrayals in the cities before they openly defied us, rushed against us. We had no fear of them at that time, because they had made a treaty with us and had sworn to us, and by letters they had confirmed to my father and to us that they would faithfully stand by us. The governor of Verona entered Brescia, and the governor of Milan besieged Bergamo and took it by surprise. The people of Pavia revolted against us and took control for themselves—namely those of the Beccaria family, on whom we had relied more than on anyone else in that city. And so all those allies waged the most powerful war against us from every direction. Lord Ludovicus of Savoy, our aforementioned commissioner and guardian, could well have foreseen some dangers, but he did not apply a remedy. I do not know by what spirit he was moved—perhaps by love for his son-in-law Aczo, the aforementioned viscount—but he withdrew from Parma, leaving us in distress.4 Those of the Rossi family, citizens of Parma, and those of Fuliano, and the Manfredi of Reggio, and the Pii of Modena, and the Ponzoni, the Sienese of Cremona, and the lords Simon and Philip of Pistoia, the captain of Lucca, faithfully took up my cause and applied every counsel and aid they could, as is more clearly described in the following page.
Read the original Latin
Reversus itaque de Francia inveni patrem meum in comitatu Luczemburgensi, occupante temporibus illis imperium Ludovico de Bavaria, qui se scripsit Ludovicus quartus, qui post mortem Henrici septimi, avi mei, in Romanorum regem in discordia fuit electus contra Fridricum, ducem Austrie. Quem Ludovicum elegerunt et cum eo steterunt usque ad suum triumphum, quo captivavit eundem Fridericum, ducem Austrie, suum adversarium, Johannes, rex Boemie, pater meus, Maguntinensis, Treverensis et Waldemarus ultimus Brandenburgensis. Cum Fridrico autem fuerunt: Coloniensis, dux Saxonie et comes Palatinus. Qui Ludovicus Romam postea accesserat; et diadema imperiale contra voluntatem pape Johannis XXII ab episcopo Venetorum et munus consecracionis recepit. Et post hoc creaverat antipapam nomine Nicolaum, ordinis Minorum, qui post hoc traditus fuit ad manus pape et in penitentia mortuus fuit. Et iam reversus fuit in Germaniam, prout in cronicis Romanorum plenius apparet.
Illo vero tempore cum reversus fueram de Francia in comitatum Luczemburgensem et inveneram patrem meum ibidem, obsederat dux Austrie civitatem Columbariensem in Alzacia, et Ludovicus eam liberare non poterat. Accessit pater meus ad eosdem, et concordavit dictum ducem cum Ludovico. Deinde ivit in comitatum Tyrolis ad ducem Karinthie, quem expulerat de regno Boemie. Cuius uxor prima mortua fuerat, soror matris mee; demum tamen acceperat aliam uxorem, sororem ducis de Brunswych, cum qua habuit unicam filiam, quam copulavit fratri meo Johanni in uxorem et post mortem suam constituit sibi omnes suos principatus. Deinde pervenit pater meus in civitatem Tridentinam. Et illo tempore mortua est mater mea in die beati Wenceslai martiris in Praga. Moram autem in Tridento patre meo trahente date fuerunt sibi in Lombardia civitates: Brixiensis civitas, Pergamum, Parma, Cremona, Papia, Regium, Mutina; in Tuscia vero Luca cum omnibus districtibus et comitatibus ad eandem pertinentibus. Ad quas pater meus accedens post hec mansionem fecit in Parma.
Vicecomes [postea] eas in suum suscepit regnum Akzo de Mediolano, qui regebat pro tunc civitates Mediolanum [et] Novariam, quas in vicariatu eodem tempore a patre meo susceperat.
Tempore illo misit pater meus in comitatum Luczemburgensem pro me. Ego autem arripui iter per civitatem Metensem, per ducatum Lothringie, per Burgundiam et Sabaudiam usque in civitatem Lausanensem super lacu. Deinde trasivi montes Brige, et veni in territorium Novariense, et abinde veni in parasceve in civitatem Papie, quam tenebat pater meus. In die autem pasche, scilicet tercia die postquam veneram, intoxicata fuit familia mea, et ego divina me gracia protegente evasi, quia missa magna prolixe agebatur, et communicaveram in eadem et nolui comedere ante missam. Cum autem irem ad prandium, dictum fuit michi, quod familia mea subito in infirmitatem ceciderit, et specialiter illi, qui ante prandium comederant. Ego autem sedens in mensa comedere nolui, et eramus omnes territi. Et sic aspiciens, vidi hominem pulchrum et agilem, quem non cognovi, qui deambulabat coram mensa fingens se mutum. De quo habita suspicione ipsum captivare feci.
Qui post multa tormenta tercia die locutus est, et confessus fuit, quod ipse in coquina cibariis toxicum immiserat de iussu et procuracione Azzonis, Vicecomitis Mediolanensis. De illo autem toxico fuerunt mortui: Johannes dominus [de] Berge, magister curie mee, Johannes de Honkirin, Symon do Keyla, qui deserviebat mense mee, et quam plures alii.
Ego autem manebam illo tempore in monasterio sancti Augustini, ubi corpus suum iacet in Papia, de quo monasterio expulerat Ludovicus de Bavaria abbatem et canonicos regulares illius monasterii, quos ego revocans in predictum monasterium introduxi. Quod monasterium post obitum illorum fratrum papa Iohannes Augustinensibus, quorum ordo hodierna die possidet, contulit, dominante patre meo, quibus pater meus possessionem tradidit.
Deinde ivi ad patrem meum in civitatem Parmensem, et eram intrans annum sextum decimum. Pater autem meus commisit regimen omnium illorum et tuicionem mei domino Ludovico de comitibus Sabaudie, qui erat socer Aczonis Vicecomitis et gubernatoris Mediolanensis. Recedens de Parma ivit in Franciam, et tradidit filiam suam secundogenitam, sororem meam, nomine Gutam Iohanni, filio primogenito Philippi, regis Francie. Primogenitam autem Margaretam habebat Henricus, dux Bavarie.
Tempore illo, quo remanseram cum dicto domino Ludovico de Sabaudia in Italia, fecerunt ligam secrete contra me et patrem meum Robertus, rex Apulie, Florentini, Vicecomes Aczo, gubernator Mediolanensis, gubernator Veronensis, qui tempore illo tenebat Paduam, Trevisum, Vincenciam, Feltrensem et Belunensem civitates, gubernator Mantuanus, qui ante nobis promiserat fidelitatem, Ferariensis gubernator et diviserunt inter se occulte civitates, quas tenebam: Veronensi Brixensem et Parmensem civitates, Mantuano Regium, Ferrariensi Mutinam, Mediolanensi Papiam, Pergamum et Cremonam, Florentinis Lucam. Et sic omnes, subito habentes prodiciones occulte in civitatibus, antequam diffidarent, irruerunt in nos. De ipsis nullum timorem pro tunc habebamus, quia pepigerant fedus nobiscum et iuraverant nobis litterisque firmaverant patri ac nobis fideliter assistere. Et intravit Veronensis in Brixiam, Mediolanensis obsedit Pergamum et habuit illam subito. Papienses rebellaverunt contra nos et receperunt dominium per se videlicet illi de Beccaria, de quibus magis resumebamus quam de aliquibus in illa civitate. Et sic omnes isti colligati fecerunt validissimam guerram ex omnibus partibus contra nos. Dominus autem Ludovicus de Sabaudia predictus, commissarius noster et tutor, bene previdisset aliqua pericula, sed non apposuit remedium, et nescio, quo motus spiritu, forte amore generi sui Aczonis Vicecomitis supradicti, recessit de Parma, nos relinquens in angustia. Illi autem de Rubeis, cives Parmenses, et illi de Fuliano et de Manfredis de Regio, et illi de Piis de Mutina, et illi de Punczonibus, Senibus de Cremona, et domini Symon et Philippus de Pistorio capitaneus Lucce assumpserunt factum meum fideliter et apposuerunt omne consilium et auxilium, quod poterant, prout in sequenti pagina clarius describitur.
Notes
- 1 ↩principatus rendered as 'principalities' — could also mean 'lordships' or 'territorial holdings' depending on the political sense intended.
- 2 ↩The bracketed [de] in 'dominus [de] Berge' reflects editorial uncertainty in the normalized text; rendered as 'lord of Berge' following the most natural reading.
- 3 ↩The repeated 'pater meus' (my father) in the ablative absolute 'dominante patre meo' and the dative 'quibus pater meus' likely refers to two different people or two distinct roles of the same person; the ablative absolute sets the temporal/political context (my father being in power), while the dative clause indicates the father who transferred possession. The ambiguity is preserved as in the source.
- 4 ↩The phrase 'quo motus spiritu' ('by what spirit he was moved') carries a deliberate ambiguity between natural impulse and spiritual motion, echoing the discernment-of-spirits tradition. The narrator leaves the question open.
Vita Caroli (Autobiography of Emperor Charles IV) companion
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