ANST - FW: Musing on September 27th -- Ezze Bad?

Thu Sep 28 08:19:23 PDT 2000

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From: Ellsworth Weaver [mailto:astroweaver at yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 27, 2000 23:47
To: 2thpix at surfari.net
Subject: Musing on September 27th -- Ezze Bad?

Dear Folk,

On September 27, 1259 one of the prototypically baddest men who ever
lived died. Now I know you must be thinking that I am forgetting the
likes of Hitler and Stalin. Not even. I will give you that they were
horrible tyrants who killed many of their citizens. Instead I want
you
to know about a guy who sort of wrote the book on Italian bad,
Ezzelino
da Romana.

Ezzelino was born on April 25, 1194 around 12 noon in Bassono del
Grappa in what is now Italy. That Italy was in the umbra of the reign
of rival political factions, bloody hits, and vendettas. This was an
Italy of city states and communes and kings who ruled them. This was
an
era of Guelph and Ghibelline. You may remember from an earlier column
that the Guelphs were supporters of the Pope and the Roman Catholic
Church. The Ghibellines were supporters of the Emperor. The tragedy
of
Romeo Montecchi and Juliet Capuleti (a real life story made famous by
Francis Bacon’s , er Shakespeare’s play) took place during this era.
Montecchis were Ghibellines and the Capuletis were Guelphs.

There was even two kinds of Guelphs – Blacks (extremists, upper
middle
class) and Whites (moderates, lower middle class). The Ghibellines
were
generally nobles. Although it may have started as a class war, it
quickly degenerated into thugs with clubs. Local racketeering was all
the push they needed. A little protection, a little numbers running,
it
was good business.

In this time, northern Italy, what was called "The Kingdom of Italy,"
was about sixty independent city states. There was Venice as its own
kingdom. Central Italy was ruled by the Pope as the "Papal States."
Southern Italy and Sicily was the Kingdom of Sicily ruled by the
Swabians. There was a small town Lucera which actually was an
autonomous Islamic republic inside of Sicily. They were allied with
the
Swabians. The Swabians were murdering thugs who had killed off the
Norman Altavilla ruling dynasty.

After 1232 Ezzelino became a faithful supporter of Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II against the pope. In return Frederick made sure Ezzelino
held Verona, Vicenza, Padua, and other cities. Frederick became
Ezzelino’s tutor. There is a charming story about how Frederick took
Ezzelino out into the garden to show Ezzelino how to govern his
subjects. Frederick quietly unsheathed his knife and cut the heads
off
all the tallest plants. Ezzelino learned quickly. As soon as he took
control he arrested, tortured and executed the leading citizens of
each
city, the tallest plants. Hey, he was as good as the USA about
imprisoning folks. He kept eight prisons full to hot bunking in Padua
alone. And that was with paying executioners overtime.

The absolute barbarity actually shocked the Italians, and they had
folk
like Caligula in their history. It got worse. After a bit, the
relatives of the folk he had whacked must be angry enough, Ezzelino
reasoned, so they should be executed too. The garden was getting
short
of any sized flowers in a hurry.

When Frederick defeated the Lombard League  at Cortenuova (1237),
Ezzelino became the greatest power in Northern Italy. The former
Lombard League states were mostly communes who had steadfastly
resisted
the Emperor. Now under Ezzelino, they were ruled by his mad puppet.
In
1238 he married an illegitimate daughter of Frederick. Now it was
officially sealed: Ezzelino was family. Continuously at war with the
Guelphs, he was excommunicated (1254) by Pope Innocent IV. Unkind
folk
called him "Son of the Devil" but never to his face.  He even had
eighteen people executed for talking with a suspicious man.

In 1258 a new power rose in the Ghibelline Party, King Manfredi I,
Frederick’s illegitimate son. He ruled both Southern and Northern
Italy. He was supposed to be Ezzelino’s ally. He had designs on
getting
all of Sicily away from rivals and take Germany in the bargain.
Frederick’s daughter was Swabian. Hmmm. Well, being the head
Ghibelline
might be a great bargaining chip. He let Pope Alexander VI know that
he
was tired of Ezzelino and maybe they could just whomp up on him
together.  Sure Manfredi was Ezzelino’s brother-in-law but this was
business, nothing personal.

The Guelphs' crusade against Ezzelino, whom they represented as a
tyrant who scorned God and all human beings, was made up of the
Papacy,
Venice, Milan, Ferrara, Padua, Mantua and Cremona. At the Battle of
Cassano d'Adda, fought on September 19, 1259, Ezzelino was wounded,
defeated and arrested. He died in the prison of Soncino on September
27, 1259. His entire family was subsequently killed. That was
business,
too. Dante thought so much of Ezzelino’s evil power, he put him in
"The
Inferno." All press is good press I suppose.

Ezzelino, as the first of a series of bloody despotic tyrants, was a
figure of cardinal importance as Jacob Burkhardt, the great historian
of the Renaissance says: "The conquest and usurpations which had
hitherto taken place in the Middle Ages rested on real or pretended
inheritance and other such claims... Here, for the first time the
attempt was openly made to found a throne by wholesale murder and
endless barbarities... None of his successors, not even Cesare
Borgia,
rivaled the colossal guilt of Ezzelino, but the example once set was
not forgotten, and his fall led to no return of justice among the
nations, and served as no warning to future transgressors."

Now that you know something about Ezzelino, perhaps tomorrow we shall
look at his natal astrology chart and see if we can pick out anything
about him in the stars. Some of you have said that you like such an
exercise. I shall try to oblige you.

What have we learned? If you start chopping at the top, pretty soon
you
have to chop the bottom, too? Business is business? Romeo and Juliet
had more going on that just teenage hormones? How about never trust
your brothers-in-law ?

If you are out there, overthrowing a dynasty, subverting a commune,
whacking your brother-in-law or just separating love-struck kids, and
you want to forward this message, please keep my name and sig.
attached. Just business, you understand? Tune in tomorrow for some
astrology.

Trying not to harm any flowers,
J. Ellsworth Weaver

SCA – Sir Balthazar of Endor
AS – Polyphemus Theognis
AOL IM – GabbyBadger

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