Vita Caroli
The Siege of Saint Felix
Enemy forces encircle Modena and threaten the fortress of Saint Felix, while allies beg for relief.
Then the conspirators I mentioned earlier raised a strong army before our city of Modena and stayed there for six weeks — namely, the Milanese, the Veronese, the Ferrarese, and the Mantuan. When six weeks had passed, after they had laid waste to the dioceses and counties of Modena and Reggio and the cities, they withdrew and positioned their forces and army before the castle of Saint Felix in the diocese of Modena. And since the army had been encamped there for a long time, those in the castle made an agreement with them: that if within a month — namely, up to the feast of Saint Catherine, which fell on that very day — no help was sent to them by us, the castle would be handed over to them.1 But the Parmese, the Cremonese, the Modenese, and those from Reggio, hearing this, gathered their forces and came to us, saying: 'Lord, let us go out to meet our destruction before we are wiped out entirely.'2
The Battle at Saint Catherine's Feast
Charles rides to relieve the fortress, fights a desperate battle, and witnesses a divinely granted victory.
Then, having received counsel, we went out into the fields and measured out a camp, and from the city of Parma on the day of blessed Catherine we arrived at that same place, on which day the fortress was about to be handed over to the hands of the enemies. And around the ninth hour, with one thousand two hundred helmeted men and with six thousand foot soldiers, we engaged the enemy in battle — who were fully as many or even more. And the battle lasted from the ninth hour all the way until after sunset. And on both sides almost all the war-horses were killed, along with some other horses, and we were nearly defeated — and the war-horse on which we were riding was also killed. And when we had been lifted up by our men, standing and looking back in this way — because we were nearly overcome, and by now had almost been placed in despair — we caught sight of something. And behold, in that same hour the enemies began to flee with their banners — the Mantuans first, and then many others followed after them. And so through the grace of God we obtained victory over our enemies — capturing eight hundred helmeted men in their flight and killing five thousand foot soldiers. And so through this victory the fortress of Saint Felix was freed.
Spoils, Promotion, and Mount Charles
After the victory, Charles receives military rank, returns in triumph, campaigns in Tuscany, builds Mount Charles, and retreats under winter pressure.
In this war, together with two hundred valiant men, we received military rank. The following day, we returned with great joy to Modena with plunder and captives. And after dismissing our allied forces, we returned to Parma, where we were then holding our court. Afterward we crossed into Lucca in Tuscany, and arranged for a war against the Florentines, and built a fine fortress with a walled town on the summit of a mountain that lies ten miles from Lucca toward the valley of Nebula, and we gave it the name Mount Charles. And after this we returned to Parma, having handed over the governance to Lord Simon Philip of Pistoia, who previously on our behalf had governed well and had won the town of Barcza in Garfagnana from the enemies, and had done many other good things in his governance. But when we had arrived at Parma, we were hard-pressed on every side, from the enemies' side, most fiercely. But the harshness of winter benefited us, because it had grown so severe that no one could hold out in the open fields.
Darkness Over the Conspirators' Mass
Conspirators gather to swear a treacherous oath during Mass, but a Eucharistic miracle exposes their sin and dissolves the plot.
At the same time, negotiations were begun between the Veronese and our enemies on the one side, and Marsilius of Rubeis, Gibertus of Fulianus, Manfredus of Piis, and the leading men of Parma, Reggio, and Modena, who were, as it were, their governors. Then they themselves also gathered, with the most powerful counsel of the Veronese, in a small church of the diocese of Reggio, and plotted against me, in order to hand me over and unite themselves to one another. And they had Mass read, wanting to swear upon the Body of Christ that they would hold to those treaties firmly. And so it happened that after the priest had consecrated the Sacrament, following the elevation, during that same Mass a darkness came upon the church with a great whirlwind of wind, so fierce that everyone was terrified. And after the light returned, the priest did not find the Body of Christ before him on the altar. Then all stood in sorrow, stunned, looking at one another — and the Body of the Lord was found at the feet of Marsilius of Rubeis, who was the head and instigator of that treaty. And then all said with one voice: 'What we have resolved to do is not pleasing to God.' And so, the council having been dismissed, each one returned to his own affairs. Then the priest who had celebrated the Mass went into the city of Reggio and reported to the bishop the things that had been done.
Mercy Toward the Repentant
The miracle is reported to ecclesiastical authorities, yet the conspirators repent and are received back in silence and mercy.
The bishop sent him to the Cardinal of Hostia, then legate of Lombardy, who was in Bologna. Now when the legate and the bishop had made these things known to my vicar, Egidus of Berlario, a Frenchman, in the city of Reggio, he was to forewarn me so that I might beware of the aforementioned conspirators. But those who had been striving to conspire in this way, led by repentance, stood by me all the more faithfully and remained firmly with me as brothers, hiding nothing in their hearts. One day Gibertus of Fuliano, the seventh of their number, said: "I could never be glad if the Body of Christ had been found before my feet, just as it was found before the feet of Marsilius of the Rossi. And God warned us well, so that we would not do those things which we would sooner die than do." I, however, passed over the matter in silence, as if I knew nothing of it.
The French Army Crosses the Alps
Charles's father summons a great host in France and leads them across the Alps to his aid.
In those days, my father, hearing about the oppression I was suffering at the hands of his enemies, called together an assembly in France with many men, including the leaders: the Bishop of Beauvais, the Count of Eu, the Constable of the Kingdom of France, the Count of the Holy Caesariate, and as many other counts and barons as could be gathered. And they crossed from France into Savoy, then through the Alps as far as the marquisate of Montferrat, and from the marquisate they crossed through Lombardy as far as Cremona, and from Cremona as far as Parma.
The Siege of Piacenza
With French reinforcements, Charles besieges Piacenza, resupplies its fortress, devastates Milanese territory, and withdraws.
And the number of helmeted soldiers who had come to our aid was around sixteen hundred. Then our father, with the army assembled, went to bring aid to the fortress of Piacenza, which still held out against the city on our behalf. And we pitched camp and besieged the city of Piacenza, and we were a good three thousand helmeted soldiers. And we destroyed the suburbs and the monasteries of the suburbs, and we filled the fortress — the one we had come to aid — with supplies and men, restoring it; but we could not take the city through the fortress, because the citizens had built ditches and ramparts between the city and the fortress, so that no approach lay open to them, and they themselves had a thousand helmeted soldiers from the Milanese as their own reinforcement. And after we had stayed there ten days, we withdrew from there, making camp near Milan, and we laid waste severely to the county and district of the Milanese.
The Failed Coup at Pergamum
A plan to seize Pergamum by a gate-opening ruse fails when allies do not follow, leading to executions and a sorrowful retreat.
And from there we moved on toward Pergamum, where we had dealings through certain friends of ours who were supposed to open one of the city gates for us. And so it had been arranged that at dawn some part of our forces was to enter, and after that a great battle line was to follow them and enter after them and hold the city, until our father, together with us, could come with the whole army the same day. And so it happened that our friends in the city of Pergamum — those of the Collisiones, that is — opened the gate and our men were the first to enter. But the second battle line refused to follow them, moved by I don't know what impulse, and then the first group, who had held their position in the city for the time being, came out of the city because they could not by themselves resist the enemies, and many of our friends escaped with them; but the rest, who had stayed behind, were captured and hanged beyond the walls, and their number was over fifty. And when our father had arrived with us, seeing what had been done and what had been left undone, we were deeply troubled, along with our whole army. After a few days, crossing the river Adda, we made our way back through Cremonese territory to the city of Parma.
Read the original Latin
Tunc prenominati coniuratores fecerunt validum exercitum ante civitatem nostram Mutinam et steterunt ibi per sex septimanas, scilicet Mediolanensis, Veronensis, Ferariensis et Mantuanus. Elapso tempore sex septimanarum, cum devastassent dioceses et comitatus Mutinensis et Regii civitatum, recesserunt et posuerunt potenciam eorum et exercitum ante castrum sancti Felicis Mutinensis diocesis. Et cum ibi exercitus diu stetisset, pactaverunt illi de castro cum eis, quod si infra mensem, videlicet usque in diem beate Katherine, qui expirabat eodem die, ipsis non succurreretur per nos, eis castrum traderetur. Parmenses vero, Cremonenses, Mutinenses et de Regio hoc audientes congregaverunt potenciam eorum, accesseruntque ad nos dicentes: Domine, obviemus destruccioni nostre prius, quam in toto deleamur.
Tunc accepto consilio exivimus ad campos castraque metati sumus, et de civitate Parmensi in die beate Katherine pervenimus ibidem, quo die castrum dedebat tradi ad manus inimicorum. Et circa horam nonam cum mille et ducentis galeatis et cum sex milibus peditum contra inimicos, qui bene totidem vel plures fuerant, pugnam arripuimus. Et duravit bellum ab hora nona usque post occasum solis. Et ex utraque parte fuerunt interfecti quasi omnes dextrarii et aliqui equi, et eramus quasi devicti, et dextrarius, in quo residebamus, eciam interfectus est. Et relevati a nostris sic stando et respiciendo, quod eramus quasi superati, iamque pene in desperacione positi aspeximus. Et ecce eadem hora inimici fugere inceperunt cum vexillis eorum, et primo Mantuani, demum plures eos sunt secuti. Et sic per dei graciam victoriam obtinuimus de inimicis nostris, octingentos galeatos in fuga captivando et quinque milia peditum interficiendo. Et sic per hanc victoriam liberatum fuit castrum Sancti Felicis.
In hoc bello accepimus cum ducentis viris strenuis militarem dignitatem. Sequenti vero die reversi sumus cum magno gaudio in Mutinam cum preda et captivis. Et dimissis gentibus nostris reversi sumus in Parmam, ubi curiam nostram pro tunc tenebamus. Post transivimus in Luccam in Tuscia, et ordinavimus guerram contra Florentinos et edificavimus castrum pulchrum cum oppido muris vallato in cacumine montis, qui distat decem miliaribus a Lucca versus vallem Nebule, et imposuimus ei nomen Mons Karoli. Et post hec reversi sumus ad Parmam, dimisso regimine domino Symoni Philippi de Pistorio, qui ante ex parte nostra bene rexerat et oppidum Barcze in Garimano super inimicos acquisierat et multa alia bona in suo regimine fecerat. Cum autem Parmam pervenissemus, aggravati eramus ex parte inimicorum ex omni parte validissime. Sed hiemis austeritas nobis profuit, que tantum invaluerat, quod nemo in campis persistere valebat.
Eodem tempore incepti fuerunt tractatus inter Veronenses ac inter inimicos nostros ex parte una, et Marsilium de Rubeis, Gibertum de Fuliano, Manfredum de Piis, Parme, Regii et Mutine pociores, qui quasi gubernatores erant earum. Deinde eciam convenerunt ipsi cum pociori consilio Veronensium in quadam ecclesia parva diocesis Regii, et contra me tractaverunt, ut me traderent et se unirent, fecerunt[que] legere missam volentes iurare super corpore Christi, illos tractatus firmos tenere. Actumque est, cum sacerdos sacramentum confecisset, post elevacionem in eadem missa obscuritas cum turbine venti valde magna facta est in ecclesia, ita quod omnes territi fuerunt. Et postquam lux reversa fuit, sacerdos ante se in altari corpus Christi non reperit. Tunc dolenter stabant omnes obstupefacti, et sic alter alterum inspicientes, inventum est corpus domini ante pedes Marsilii de Rubeis, qui erat caput et doctor istius tractatus. Et tunc omnes una voce dixerunt: Quod facere decrevimus deo non placet. Et sic [consilio] dimisso quilibet ad propria remeavit. Tunc sacerdos, qui missam celebravit, ivit in civitatem Regii et nunciavit episcopo ea, que gesta fuerant.
Episcopus misit eum ad Hostiensem cardinalem, legatum tunc Lombardie, qui erat in Bononia. Legatus autem cum episcopo ista intimaverunt vicario meo Egidio de Berlario Francigene in civitate Regii, ut me premuniret, quatenus michi caverem de hiis conspiratoribus prenominatis. Qui vero sic conspirare nitebantur, penitencia ducti michi amplius fideliter astiterunt et firmiter mecum quasi fratres permanserunt nichil in cordibus suis abscondendo. Una dierum Gibertus de Fuliano septimus de ipsis dixit: Nunquam possem letus esse, si corpus domini ante pedes meos fuisset inventum, sicut ante pedes Marsilii de Rubeis, et bene deus precavit nos, ne faceremus ea, que pocius quam faceremus mori vellemus. Ego autem sub silencio pertransivi tamquam inde nichil scirem.
In illis temporibus audiens pater meus oppressiones, quas paciebar ab inimicis, fecit congregacionem cum multis in Francia, de quibus erant capitanei episcopus Beluacensis, comes de Eu, constabilis regni Francie, comes Sacri Cesarii et quam plurimi alii comites et barones. Et transierunt de Francia in Sabaudiam, deinde per Alpes usque in marchionatum Montis Ferrati, et de marchionatu transierunt per Lombardiam usque in Cremonam et de Cremona usque in Parmam.
Et erat numerus galeatorum circa mille sexcentos, qui nobis venerant in adiutorium. Deinde pater noster cum exercitu congregato [ivit] ad succurrendum castro Papiensi, quod se adhuc tenebat contra civitatem nostro nomine. Et posuimus castra et obsedimus civitatem Papie et eramus bene tria millia galeatorum. Et destruximus suburbia et monasteria suburbiorum et replevimus castrum, cui in auxilium veneramus, victualibus et hominibus ipsum renovando; sed civitatem per castrum non potuimus obtinere, quia fossata et propugnacula inter civitatem et castrum cives fecerant, ita quod ingressus ad eos non patebat, et ipsi habebant mille galeatos de Mediolanensibus in suum auxilium. Et postquam ibi stetimus decem diebus, inde recessimus castra metantes prope Mediolanum et devastavimus valde comitatum et districtum Mediolanensem.
Et abinde transivimus versus Pergamum, ubi habuimus per quosdam amicos nostros tractatus, qui debebant nobis aperire unam portam civitatis. Et sic ordinatum fuerat, quod in aurora deberet intrare aliqua pars gentis nostre, et post hec deberet eos sequi una acies magna et intrare post eos et retinere civitatem, donec pater noster una nobiscum cum toto exercitu eadem die veniremus. Et sic factum est, quod amici nostri in civitate Pergami, scilicet illi de Collisionibus, aperuerunt portam et primi nostri intraverunt. Secunda vero acies noluit eos sequi, nescio quo mota spiritu, et tunc primi, qui pro tempore steterunt in civitate, exierunt civitatem, quia non poterant soli resistere inimicis, et multi amici nostri cum eisdem evaserunt; residui vero, qui remanserant, captivati sunt et suspensi sunt ultra muros, quorum numerus erat ultra quinquaginta. Cumque pater noster nobiscum supervenissemus, videntes, que gesta fuissent et neglecta, turbati sumus valde cum toto exercitu nostro. Post aliquos dies transeuntes flumen Ade reversi sumus per territorium Cremonense in civitatem Parme.
Notes
- 1 ↩The relative clause 'qui expirabat eodem die' is rendered as 'which fell on that very day' to convey the sense that the feast day was ending/arriving on that date; the Latin 'expirabat' can mean 'was coming to an end' or 'was expiring,' here used of the day's arrival.
- 2 ↩The phrase 'obviemus destruccioni nostre' is rendered literally as 'let us go out to meet our destruction,' preserving the dramatic, almost paradoxical tone of the speakers who prefer to face the enemy in battle rather than be destroyed through inaction.
Vita Caroli (Autobiography of Emperor Charles IV) companion
Charles opened his memoir with a devotional, not a battle. Start your days the same way.
Chosen Portion gives you the practice Charles commended to his sons: a short reading on the things that outlast thrones, every morning.
Charles IV began his autobiography by commending Scripture meditation to his heirs before recounting a single battle; Chosen Portion makes that same meditation the first act of your day.
- A daily 5-10 minute reading from texts that formed Christian rulers
- The complete 20-chapter Vita Caroli, modern readable, on your phone
- A consistent morning routine within 2 weeks of installing