Frangipani's Ring

UNjVERSITV OF CALIFORNIA. SAN DIEGO 3 1822 00796 6039 ^R QyeRG iR CRG Hwe OH iienrtj S)^hobe, iRSlTY OF iFGRNIA ^ DIEGO RSITY OF CALIFORNIA. W'^'lj'f SAN DIEGO OVE ; 3 1822 00796 6039 Ti Frangipani's Ring An Event in the Life of Henry Thode "Here changeth Time to Space.' Parsifal. Translated by J. F. C. L. With Marginal Designs by Hans Thoma 2nd Edition London : John Macqueen MDCCCCIV From One to his Own. 1 2th October 1894. — Contents. Chap. Page Introduction : How 1 came to possess the Ring i I. The Germans in Pordenone 9 II. The Race of the Frangipani 15 III. Christoph Frangipani in the War with Venice 24 IV. The Langs of Wellenburg 31 V. The Combats in Friuli, 1514 38 VI. In the Torresella 49 VII. Disappointed Hopes 64 VIII. WilHngly Thine Own TJ IX. The Lost Ring 86 X. Companions in Suffering 94 XI. "Ready to endure the Uttermost!" 106 XII. Christoph's End 112 Finale: In Ober-Vellach 126 Appendix Preface 139 I. Documents A. Abstracts relating to the Discovery of the Ring . 141 B. Abstracts from the State Archives of the City of Venice 142 C. Letters I47 D. Abstracts relating to the Lang Family of Wellenburg 154 II. Maximilian and Apollonia 163 III. The Germano-Roman Breviary of 1518 165 IV. The Oration of Count Christoph to Pope Hadrian VI. 168 Literature 176 " Introduction. How I came to possess the Ring. "He, by this ring, shall call me to remembrance.'' Lohengrin. 5T was a morning hour of the 17th of February, in the year 1892, when I entered the quiet little corner room of St. Mark's Library set apart for those studying its ancient manuscripts. I asked for the old Chronicle of Daniele Barbaro, and was lost to my surroundings in his vivid descriptions of the glories of Venetian life during the Middle Ages, when the approaching voice of the librarian, Count C. Soranzo,—so well known to all visitors at the Library for his unwearied, instructive, and manifold counsel,—recalled me abruptly to the present. " Only look at what has just been brought me. An old ring, found by peasants while digging out a ditch ; a ring with finely incised ornament and a legend in Gothic script. The device is possibly it certainly German ; can you decipher for me ? I took the hoop from his hand, and the first glance at it showed me that it was the work of a German goldsmith of the late Gothic period, about the year 1500; possibly, also, from the shop of one of the Augsburg Masters who gave so much beautiful art-work to the world. It — — " — was remarkably well preserved, and the slight—almost imperceptible abrasions clearly indicated that it could only have been worn for a very short time. The inner side of the ring was highly polished, and the outer, which was rounded, showed two intertwined ribands passing diagonally across the surface ; one of them bearing a design in waving outlines, and the other the words of a motto in Gothic script, terminated in the corners by delicate curling foliage. The lettering was sharply and clearly cut, yet in spite of this I had some difficulty in reading it, and I paused in the endeavour to ask the bringer of the jewel from whom he had received it. On being informed that its present owners—two peasants—were waiting in the anteroom, I hastened thither, and from them learned that a work- man, Antonio Meneghel fu Paolo, on the 8th of January 1892, while digging out a ditch in the neighbourhood of Prata, near Pordenone in Friuli, in a place named Castellat, had found the ring lying some six or seven feet below the surface of the ground — in the old weir formerly used for damming back the waters of the Meduna River. After a short parley with the peasants, who had full authority from the fortunate discoverer and were come to Venice with the intention of selling the ring, I took it for my own, with the feeling that destiny had made me the inheritor of a mysterious treasure which had been brought to light after having lain hidden for centuries. Slipping the ring on my finger I was soon lost in scrutinising it, and as my eye followed the delicate play of the lines, the letters of the inscription began to take definite shape and to group themselves together into words—following one another in legible form—and I read "(gttf njgffcn i)gn cggcn"— " " Willingly thine own ! I read the words—no ! I heard them ! Out of a distant past over which four hundred years had rolled there rang clear and distinct in my ears the sweet tones of a woman's voice as she entrusted the wonders of her heart to her beloved, and gave herself and her spirit in blessed renunciation into his care and keeping, not through the constraining will of another but from the depths of inmost " "— necessity mit Willen dein eigen " Willingly thine own I And touched as was he to whom this voice promised the joy of the whole earth, I listened silently for its echo in myself So I returned home in the bonds of an enchantment that had broken down the barriers of Time and of Space, and was drawing me farther and farther into an unknown world. There, in a grey twilight that had not as yet brightened into morning, shadowy forms drew near and floated past in ever-changing variety ; and there I lingered, seeking and waiting, listening and hoping that one of them would hear, recognise, and follow the mighty words—" mit Willen dein eigen." Not singly, but in multitudes did these alluring shades wreathe themselves about me ; but whenever I strove to stay their flight they vanished into cloudy air that only darkened my vision, till at last, weary of seeking and finding and losing again, I was forced to desist from my quest. Did the ring then come to me as the bringer of confused dreams, of unfulfilled presentiment, of unsatisfied longing? Or does it conceal quite another promise, a mysterious meaning? Who sent it me then —and how shall I solve its enigma ? 'mi At a later evening hour I returned to my accustomed study of Romanin's History of Venice. I took up the fifth volume and threw it open at the fifth chapter—the point where a few days previously I had been interrupted in my reading. To the sufferings of Venice there appears to have been no end. After the frightful battles against the League of Cambray, Leo's ascent of the Papal chair awakened a hope that the end of the war was near : the alliance with France was concluded, but the Emperor Maximilian's hostile intentions remained unchanged. On the 15th of May, in the year 1513, Bartolommeo d'Alviano was appointed Commander in Chief of the Venetian battalions. In gold brocaded attire, followed by a retinue of servants and pages, and surrounded by a glittering company of Condottieri, he received from the Doge in the Cathedral of St. Mark, after High Mass had been celebrated by the patriarch, the standard with the emblem of the lion under which he should successfully protect the State and recover the lost possessions. A few days later one half of Lombardy was covered this rapid success by the French and the other half by the Venetians ; but was followed by the fatal defeat near Novara, where the Swiss under Maxi- milian Sforza conquered the Allies. Venice was now in imminent danger. The Spanish forces under Cardona were on the way to Padua, and with their cannon from Malghera menaced the City of Lagoons itself. Alviano's desperate attempt to crush Cardona near Vicenza miscarried, and only a lack of discipline among the Spanish troops prevented their profiting by the temporary victory. The moment of deepest need, however, brought also a change of prospects. Leo X., through anxiety at the growing power of the Emperor Maximilian and the menaces of the Turks, expressed sympathy with the Venetians. The next task of the latter was combating the troops of the Emperor, which—led by Count Christoph Frangipani—had fallen upon Friuli from Gorizia in the autumn of 15 13, had besieged Osopo, had taken Marano, and had then pressed forward beyond Udine. Here I pause in my reading. German troops in Friuli, in Udine ! Possibly also in the neighbouring Pordenone?— in the years 15 13 and 15 14—the time would agree with that indicated by the artistic style of the ring. So far as can be learned, except at this period, no German troops were during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in possession of these places, which were then inhabited solely by the Italians : —was it possible that the German ring might have been lost by an officer during the occupation of Friuli by the Germans? The device and fine workmanship indicate that it must certainly have belonged to a man of rank. But did the Germans then overrun the country as far as Pordenone to the very neighbourhood of Castell Prata where the ring was found lying in the earth ? And if this was the case, is there a possibility of learning the name of their Com- mander ?—of obtaining a more definite account of their fortunes ? Perhaps in one of the Chronicles of Pordenone ? In the Diaries of Marino Sanuto? These suggestions follow one another like lightning-flashes in the night, and brighten for an instant a hitherto unknown landscape; but before my eye can succeed in grasping one of its salient features it vanishes again in the folds of impenetrable darkness.

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