*CHAPTER IX*
*THE SERMON IN THE GHETTO*
The Contubernium Hebraeorum, as it is loftily styled in the pontificaledicts of the time, the Roman Ghetto, was a district of considerableextent, reclaimed originally from the swamps of the Tiber at the foot ofthe Capitoline Hill, and surrounded either by lofty walls, or houseswhich were not permitted to have even a loop-hole to the exterior. Fivemassive gates, guarded by the halberdiers of the Roman magistrate wereopened at sun-rise and closed at sun-set to emit and to receive backtheir jealously guarded inmates, objects of unutterable contempt andloathing with the populace, into whose heart the Catholic Church of theMiddle Ages had infused a veneration and love for the person of theRedeemer rather than for his attributes, and whose passions anddevotions were as yet unalloyed by the skepticism and indifference whichbegan to pervade the higher ranks of society in the century of theRenaissance.
Three or four times a year, a grand attempt at conversion was made, thePope appointing the most renowned ecclesiastics to deliver the sermons.
On the occasion about to be described towards the end of the year 999,the Jews had good reason to expect a more than commonly devout throng inthe train of the pontifical delegate. They had prepared accordingly.Upon entering the gates of the Ghetto the beholder was struck with thedreary and melancholy aspect of the houses and the emptiness of thelittle shops which appeared like holes in the walls. Such preciouswares as they possessed had been as carefully concealed as those theyhad abstracted on the eve of their departure from Egypt. The exceedingnarrowness of the streets, which were in some parts scarcely wide enoughto allow two persons to walk abreast, and seemed in a manner arched,in-as-much as one story extended above the others, increased thedisagreeable effect. Noisome smells greeted the nostrils on every turnand the flutter of rags from numerous dark lattices seemed to testify tothe poverty within.
Such the Roman Ghetto appeared on the eve of the great harangue forwhich the reigning Pontiff, Gregory V, had, in accordance with thetradition of the Holy See, delegated the most renowned light of thechurch. Not a Jew was to be seen, much less a Jewess, throughout thewhole line of march from the gates of the Ghetto to the large opensquare where they held their markets, and where they had been summonedto assemble in mass. The long narrow and intricate windings misled manywho did not keep pace with the Pope's delegate and his attendants, butthe greater part of the rabble rushed into the square like a mountainstream, leaping over opposing boulders, shouting, laughing, yelling andcrushing one another, as if they were taking possession of a conqueredcity.
The square itself was paved with volcanic tufa, very unevenly laid. Inthe center was a great fountain of granite without the least ornament,intended exclusively for the use of the inmates of this dreary quarter.Into this square radiated numberless streets and alleys giving itsdisordered architecture the appearance of being reft and split intochasms, some of the houses being doubtfully propped with timbers.
Round the fountain stone benches had been arranged with tables ofsimilar crude material, at which usually sat the Elders, who decided alldisputes, regulated the market and governed this inner empire partly bythe maxims of common sense and justice, partly by the laws prescribed bytheir sacred books, severe indeed and executed with rigour, withoutprovoking a thought of appeal to the milder and often opposing Christianjudicature.
But now this Sanhedrim was installed in its place of honour for adifferent purpose; to hear with outward complacency and inner abhorrencetheir ancient law denounced and its abolition or reform advocated. Forthis purpose a movable pulpit, which resembled a bronze caldron on atripod, carried by four Jewish converts, was duly planted under thesupreme direction of the companion friar of the pontifical delegate, whoordered its position reversed several times, ere it seemed to suit hisfancy.
The delegate of the Pope himself, surrounded by the pontifical guards,was still kneeling in silent prayer, when a stranger, who had followedthe procession from afar, entered the Ghetto, unremarked in the generaltumult and ensconced himself out of observation in a dark doorway. Fromhis point of vantage, Eckhardt had leisure to survey the wholepandemonium. On his left there rose an irregular pile of wood-work,built not without some pretentions to architecture, with quaint carvingsand devices of birds and beasts on the exposed joints and window-frames,but in a state of ruinous decay. About midheight sloped a pent-housewith a narrow balcony, supported like many of the other buildings byprops of timber, set against it from the ground. The lower part of thehouse was closed and barred and had the appearance of having beenforsaken for decades.
While, himself unseen Eckhardt surveyed every detail of hissurroundings; the preparations for the sermon continued. Beyond theseats of the Elders was assembled the great mass of those who were toprofit by the exhortation, remarkable for their long unkempt beards,their glittering eyes and their peculiar physiognomies.
Beyond the circle of these compelled neophytes a tumultuous mobstruggled for the possession of every point, whence a view of theproceedings could be obtained, quarrelling, scoffing and buffeting theunresisting Jews, whose policy it was not to offer the least pretext forpillage and general massacre, which on these occasions hovered overtheir heads by a finer thread than that to which hung the sword ofDamocles. Without expostulations they submitted to the rude swaying ofthe mob, to their blows and revilings, opposing to their tormentors aseemingly inexhaustible endurance. But the horror, anxiety, and ragewhich glowed in their bosoms were strongly reflected in their faces,peering through the smoky glare of innumerable torches, which they werecompelled to exhibit at all the windows of their houses. Engaged inthis office only now and then a woman appeared for a brief instant, forthe most part withered and old, or veiled and muffled with more thanTurkish scrupulousness.
At last the pulpit was duly hoisted and placed to the satisfaction ofthe attending friar. The Pope's delegate having concluded his prayerarose and two of the Elders advanced, to present him with a copy of theOld Testament, for from their own laws were they to be refuted. Theyoffered it with a deep Oriental bend and the humble request, that therepresentative of his Holiness, their sovereign, would be pleased todeliver his message. The monk replied briefly that it was not themessage of any earthly power which he was there to deliver and thenmounted the pulpit by a ladder, which his humbler associate held forhim. The attendant friar then sprinkled a lustration round the pulpitwith a bunch of hyssop, which he had dipped in an urn of holy water.This he showered liberally upon the Elders who dared not resent it, andground their teeth in impotent rage.
Strangely interested, as Eckhardt found himself in the scene about to beenacted, watching the rolling human sea under the dark blue night-sky,he found his own curiosity shared by a second personage, who had takenhis position immediately below the door-way, in which he stoodconcealed. This worthy wore a large hat, slouched over his face, whichgave him the appearance of a peasant from the marshes; but his dirtygray mantle and crooked staff denoted him a pilgrim. Of his featuresvery little was to be seen, save his glittering minx-eyes. These hekept fixed on the balcony of the ruined house, which had also attractedEckhardt's attention. At other times that worthy's gaze searched theshadows beneath the gloomy structure with something of mingled scrutinyand scorn.
"Surely this boasted steel-hearted knave of yours means to play usfalse? Where is the rogue? He keeps us waiting long."
These words, as Eckhardt perceived, were addressed to an individual,who, to judge from the mask he wore, did not wish to be recognized.
"Were it against the fiend, I would warrant him," answered a hushedvoice. "But folks here have a great reverence for this holy man, whogoes to comfort a plague-stricken patient more cheerfully than anothervisits his lady-love. And, if he needs must die, were it not wiser toventure the deed in some of the lonely places he haunts, than here inthe midst of thousands?"
"Nay," replied his companion in an undertone, every word of which wasunderstood by h
is unseen listener. "Here alone can a tumult be raisedwithout much danger, and as easily quelled. I do not set forests onfire, to warm my feet. Here they will lay the mischief to theJews--elsewhere, suspicion would be quickly aroused, for what bravowould deem it worth his while to slay a wretched monk?"
Again the pseudo-pilgrim's associate peered into the shadows. Then heplucked his companion by the sleeve of his mantle.
"Yonder he comes--and by all my sins--streaming like a water-dog! Raiseyour staff, but no--he sees us," concluded the masked individual,shrinking back into the shadows.
Presently a third individual joined the pilgrim and his friend.
"Don Giovan! Thou dog! How long hast kept me gaping for thee!" theprincipal speaker hissed into the bravo's face as he limping approached."But, by the mass,--who baptized thee so late in life?"
There was something demoniacal in the sunken, cadaverous countenance ofJohn of the Catacombs, as he peered into the speaker's eyes. Hisashen-pale face with the low brow and inflamed eyelids, never morefittingly illustrated a living sepulchre. He growled some inarticulateresponse, half stifled by impotent rage and therefore lost upon hislistener. For at this moment the voice of the preacher was heard aboveall the confused noise and din in the large square, reading a Hebrewtext, which he subsequently translated into Latin. It was the powerfulvoice of the speaker, which prevented Eckhardt from distinctly hearingthe account which the bravo gave of his forced immersion. But towardsthe conclusion of his talk, the pilgrim drew the bravo deeper into theshadows of the overhanging balcony and now their conversation becamemore distinct.
"Dog of a villain!" he addressed John of the Catacombs. "How dare yousay that you will fail me in this? Have you forgotten our compact?"
"That I have not, my lord," replied the bravo, shuddering with fear andthe cold of his dripping garments. "But an angel was sent for theprevention of the deed! No man would have braved John of the Catacombsand lived."
"Thou needest not proclaim my rank before all this rabble," growled thepseudo-pilgrim. "Have I not warned thee, idiot? Deemest thou an angelwould have touched thee, without blasting thee? What had thineassailant to do to stir up the muddy waves? An angel! Coward? Is thebribe not large enough? Name thine own hire then!"
"A pyramid of gold shall not bribe me to it," replied the bravodoggedly. "But I am a true man and will keep no hire which I have notearned. So come with me to the catacombs, and I will restore all I havereceived of your gold. But the saints protect that holy man--I will nottouch him!"
The pilgrim regarded the speaker with ill-repressed rage.
"Holy--maybe--," he sneered, "holy, according to thy country's proverb:'La Cruz en los pechos, el diablo en los hechos.' Thou superstitiousslave! What has one like thou to fear from either angel or devil?"
"May my soul never see paradise, if I lift steel against that holy man!"persisted the bravo.
"Fool! Coward! Beast!" snarled the pilgrim, gnashing his teeth like abaffled tiger. "You refuse, when this monk's destruction will set themob in such roaring mutiny as will give your noble associates, whom Isee swarming from afar, a chance to commence a work that will enrich youfor ever?"
"For ever?" repeated the bravo, somewhat dubiously. "But--it isimpossible. See you not he is surrounded by the naked swords of theguards? I thought he would have come darkling through some narrow lane,according to his wont, else I should never--moreover I have taken anoath, my lord, and a man would not willingly damn himself!"
"Will you ever and ever forget my injunction and how much depends uponits observance?" snarled the disguised pilgrim, looking cautiouslyaround. "I warn you again, not to proclaim my rank before all yourcut-throats! You swore," he then continued more sedately, "not to liftsteel against him! But have I not seen you bring down an eagle's flightwith your cross-bow? Where is it?"
"I have sold it to some foreign lord, from beyond the Alps, where theylove such distant fowling," the bravo replied guardedly. "I for my partprefer to steal my game with a club, or a dagger."
"You have no choice! Wait! I think I can yet provide you with a weaponsuch as you require! I have for some time observed yonder worthy,whoever he may be, staring at that old bower, as if it contained someenchanted princess," said the pilgrim, emerging slightly from under theshadows of the doorway and beckoning John of the Catacombs to his side.This movement brought the two--for the third seemed to be engaged in alook-out for probable danger--closer to Eckhardt, but luckily withoutcoming in contact with him, for it may be conjectured that he had nodesire to expose himself to a conflict in the dark, with three suchopponents.
The personage indicated by the disguised pilgrim had indeed for sometime been engaged in scrutinizing the form of a young girl, who,seemingly attracted by the novelty of the scene below had appearedbehind a window of the apparently deserted house, vainly soliciting herattentions with gestures and smiles. He was of middling height, butvery stout and burly of frame, a kind of brutal good humour andjoviality being not entirely unmingled with his harsher traits.
"By the mass!" the disguised pilgrim turned to the object of hisscrutiny, in whom we recognize no lesser a personage than GianVitelozzo, as he cautiously approached and saluted him. "I see youreyes are caught too!"
He winked at the window which seemed to hold the fascination for theother, then nodded approval.
"Saw you ever a prettier piece of flesh and blood?"
"Yet she looks more like a waxen image than a woman of the stuff youmention, Sir Pilgrim," returned the nobleman in a barbarous jargon oftenth century Latin.
"She is poisoned by the stench amid which she lives, and it were charityto take her out of it," replied the pilgrim, with a swift glance at thecross-bow slung over the other's shoulders.
"Ay, by the mass! You speak truth!" affirmed Vitelozzo, while a fourthpersonage, whom he had not heretofore observed, had during theirdiscourse emerged from the shadows and had silently joined the survey.
"Would the whole Ghetto were put to plunder!" sighed the baron, turningto the pilgrim, "but I am under severe penance now by order of the Vicarof the Church."
"You must indeed have wrought some special deed of grace, to need hisintercession," the pilgrim sneered with disgusting familiarity.
Vitelozzo peered into the face of his interlocutor, doubtful whether toresent the pleasantry or to feel flattered. Then he shrugged hisshoulders.
"'Twas but for relieving an old man of some few evil days of pains andaches," he then replied carelessly. "But since we are atquestioning,--what merit is yours to travel so far with thecockle-shells? Surely 'twas not just to witness the crumbling of thisplanet into its primeval dust?"
"They say--I killed my brother," replied the disguised pilgrim coldly.
"Mine was but my uncle," said Vitelozzo eagerly, as if rejoicing in thecomparative inferiority of his crime. "'Tis true he had pampered me,when a child, but who can wait for ever for an inheritance?"
"Ay--and old men never die," replied the pseudo-pilgrim gloomily. "Youare a bold fellow and no doubt a soldier too," he continued, simulatingignorance of the other's rank, in order to gain his point. "I have beena good part of mine a silly monk. As you see, I am still in the weeds.Yet I will wager, that I dare do the very thing, which you are even nowbut daring to think."
"What am I thinking then? I pray your worship enlighten my poorunderstanding," replied the nobleman sarcastically.
"You are marking how conveniently those timbers are set to the balconyof yonder crow's nest, for a man to climb up unobserved, and that youwould be glad if you could summon the courage to scale it to the scornof this circumcized mob," said the pilgrim.
Vitelozzo laughed scornfully.
"For the fear of it? I have clambered up many a strong wall with onlymy dagger's aid, when boiling lead poured down among us like meltingsnow and the devil himself would have kept his foot from the ladder.But," he concluded as if remembering that it behooved not his owndignity to continue parley with the pilgrim
, "who are you, that you darebandy words with me?"
The pilgrim considered it neither opportune nor discreet to introducehimself.
"My staff against your cross-bow," he replied boastfully instead. "Youdare not attempt it and I will succeed in it!"
"By the foul fiend! Not until I have failed," replied Vitelozzo,colouring. "Hold my cross-bow while I climb. But if you mean mischiefor deceit, know better than to practise it, for I am not what I seem,but a great lord, who would as soon crack your empty pate as an egg!"
The pseudo-pilgrim replied apparently with some warmth, but as thepreacher's tone now rose above the surrounding buzz only the conclusionof his speech was audible, wherein he declared that he would restore thenoble's cross-bow or rouse his friends to his assistance in the event ofdanger. This compact concluded Eckhardt noted that the Roman baron gavehis helmet, cross-bow and other accoutrements, which were likely toprove an impediment, into the care of the pilgrim, and prepared toaccomplish his insolent purpose.
The disguised pilgrim, whose identity Eckhardt had vainly endeavoured toestablish, now retired instantly and rejoined his companions, who hadbeen eagerly listening in their concealment under the doorway. Thenewcomer, who had for a time swelled their number, had retreatedunobserved after having concluded his observations, as it seemed, to hissatisfaction, for Eckhardt saw him nod to himself ere he vanished fromsight.
"Here then is a weapon, Don Giovan, if you would not rather have thepoint in your own skull," the pilgrim said, handing the bravo a smallbow of peculiar construction which Vitelozzo was wont to carry on hisfowling expeditions, as he styled his nightly excursions.
"Moreover," the pilgrim continued encouragingly, noting the manifestreluctance on the part of the bravo, "I have caused you a prettydiversion. When the tumult, which this villain will raise, shall begin,you have but to adjust the arrow and watch the monk's associate. Whenhe raises his hand--let fly!"
John of the Catacombs shivered, but did not reply, while Eckhardtscrutinized the monk indicated by the pilgrim, as well as the glare ofthe torches and their delusive light would permit. But his face beingaverted, he again turned his attention to the trio in the shadows below.
The pontifical delegate meanwhile continued his sermon as unconcerned asif his deadliest enemy did not stand close beside him ready to imprinton his brow the pernicious kiss of Judas.
"Fear you aught for your foul carcass and the thing you call your soul?"the pilgrim snarled, seemingly exasperated by the reluctance of theinstrument to obey the master's behest. "Fear you for your salvation,when so black a wretch as Vitelozzo--for I know the ruffian, who slewhis benefactor,--hazards both for a fool's frolic? The monk is a fairmark! Look but at him perched in the pulpit yonder, with his arms spreadout as if he would fly straightway to heaven!"
"He looks like a black crucifixion," muttered the bravo with a shudder.
"Tush, fool! You can easily conceal yourself in these shadows, for theblame will fall on the Jews and the uproar which I will raise atdifferent extremities of the crowd will divert all attention from theperpetrator of the deed!"
John of the Catacombs seemed to yield gradually to the force of theother's arguments. The deed accomplished, it had been agreed that theywould dive into the very midst of the congested throngs and urge theinflamed minds to the extermination of the hated race of the Ghetto.
Eckhardt's consternation upon listening to this devilish plot was sogreat, that for a time he lost sight of the would-be assailant of theyoung girl, whom he was unable to see from his concealment almostdirectly beneath the balcony. Again he was staggered by the dilemmaconfronting him, how best to direct his energies for the prevention ofthe double crime. To rush forth and, giving a signal to the pontificalguards, to proclaim the intended treachery, would perhaps in any othercountry, age or place have been sufficient to counteract the plot. Butin this case it was most likely to secure the triumph of the offenders.It was far from improbable, that the projectors of this deed ofdarkness, upon finding their sinister designs baffled, would fallcombined upon whosoever dared to cross their path, and silence him forever ere he had time to reveal their real purpose. In the rancorousirritation and mutually suspicious state of men's minds the least sparkmight kindle a universal blaze. The fears and hatred of both partieswould probably interpret the first flash of steel into a signal forpreconcerted massacre and the very consequences sought to be avertedwould inevitably follow.
A further circumstance which baffled Eckhardt was the cause of theimplacable hatred, which the moving spirit of the trio seemed to bearthe pontifical delegate. But the sagacious intellect of the man intowhose hands fate had so opportunely placed a lever for preventing acrime, whose consequences it was difficult to even surmise, suggestedthese dangers and their remedies almost simultaneously. Thus hepatiently awaited the separation of the colleagues on their severalenterprises, regarding the monk with renewed interest in this new andappalling light.
His tall and commanding form was to be seen from every point. Theausterity and gloom of the speaker's countenance only seemed to aid indisplaying more brilliantly the irradiations of the mind which illuminedit. His harangue seemed imbued with something of supernaturalinspiration and dark as had appeared to Eckhardt the motive for thecontemplated crime, the probable reason suddenly flashed through hismind. For in the pulpit stood Gerbert of Aurillac, Archbishop ofRheims, Bishop of Ravenna, the teacher of the Emperor, the friend of thePontiff, he who was so soon as Sylvester II to be crowned with theTriple Tiara of St. Peter.
But there was no time for musing if the double crime was to beprevented. For John of the Catacombs, who had now turned his back onthe crowds, had possessed himself of Vitelozzo's cross-bow and wastightening the bow-strings. With equal caution, to avoid betraying hispresence, Eckhardt unsheathed his sword. But the jar of the bladeagainst the scabbard, though ever so slight, startled the outlaw'sattention. He paused for a moment, listening and glancing furtivelyabout. Then he muttered to himself: "A rat," and resumed hisoccupation, while Eckhardt slowly stepped from his concealment, takinghis station directly behind the kneeling bravo, unseen by the pilgrimand the latter's silent companion.
A brilliant glow, emanating from some mysterious source near the monkand which many afterwards contended as having proceeded directly fromhis person, suddenly illumined not only the square, the pontificaldelegate, and the monk, who held his arms aloft as if imploring abenediction, but likewise the towering form of Eckhardt, leaning on hisbare and glittering brand.
With a yell as if he had seen a wild beast crouching for its deadlyspring, John of the Catacombs sprang up, only to be instantly struckdown by a mighty blow from the commander's gauntleted hand. He laysenseless on the ground, covered with blood. The bow had fallen fromhis grasp. Setting his foot on the outlaw's breast, Eckhardt hesitatedfor a moment whether to rid Rome of so monstrous a villain, or sparehim, in order to learn the real instigators of the crime, when apiercing shriek from above convinced him that while the bravo hadfailed, the high-born ruffian had been more successful.
There was no time for parley.
Trampling with his crushing weight over the bravo's breast Eckhardtturned towards the spot whence the cry of distress had come. An intensehush fraught with doubts and fears had fallen upon the monk's audienceat the ominous outcry,--a cry which might have been but the signal forsome preconcerted outrage, and the hush deepened when the tall powerfulform of the German leader was seen stalking toward the deserted houseand entering it through a door, which Gian Vitelozzo had forced, theobstacle which had luckily prevented him from reaching before hisunsuspecting victim. The ruffian could be seen from below, holding inhis arms on the balcony the shrieking and struggling girl, disregardingin his brutal eagerness all that passed below. Suddenly his shoulderwas grasped as in the teeth of a lion, and so powerful was the pressurethat the noble's arms were benumbed and dropped powerlessly by his side.Before he recovered from his surprise and could make one single effortat resistance, Eck
hardt had seized him round the waist and hurled himdown on the square amidst a roaring thunder of applause mingled withhowls of derision and rage. Those immediately beneath the balcony,consisting chiefly of the scum and rabble, who cared little for themonk's arguments, rejoiced at the prompt retribution meted out to one oftheir oppressors, though the discomfiture of the hapless victim had leftthem utterly indifferent. Why should they carry their skin to market toright another's wrong?
Thus they offered neither obstacle nor assistance when the Roman baron,in no wise hurt by his fall, as the balcony was at no great height fromthe ground, rose in a towering rage and challenged his assailant todescend and to meet him in mortal combat. But by this time thedisturbance had reached the monk's ears, and at once perceiving thecause from his lofty point of vantage, Gerbert shouted to his audienceto secure the brawler in the name of God and the Church. The mobobeyed, though swayed by reluctance and doubts, while the pontificalguards closed round the offending noble to cut off his escape. But GianVitelozzo seemed to possess sovereign reasons for dreading to findhimself in the custody of the Vicar of the Church and promptly took toflight.
Overthrowing the first who opposed him, the rest offering no seriousresistance, he forced his way to one of the narrow passages of theGhetto, fled through it, relinquishing his accoutrements and vanished inthe shadows, which haunted this dismal region by day and by night. ButGerbert of Aurillac was not to be so easily baffled. He had recognizedthe Roman baron despite his demeaning attire. With a voice of thunderhe ordered his entire following to the ruffian's pursuit, and noting thedirection in which Vitelozzo had disappeared, he leaped, despite hisadvanced years, from his pulpit and waving a cross high in the air, ledthe pursuit in person, which inaugurated a general stampede of nobles,Jews, pilgrims, monks and the ever-present rabble of Rome.
This unforeseen incident having drawn off the crowd, which had invadedthe Ghetto, in the preacher's wake, the great square was quicklydeserted and the torches in the high windows were extinguished as if asudden wind-storm had snuffed out their glowing radiance.