46

The tremendous news swept Bologna that Ladislas: was dead and that the papal troops had captured Rome. An hysteria of elation shook the city. Cossa seized upon the opportunity to cancel all plans for the Council of Konstanz. `Rome is returned to us,' he said to the marchesa. `At long last, as Christendom expects of him, the pope will reign from the Eternal City. There will be no need to have the Council in Konstanz. I have never trusted the idea, because councils breed reformers, but I was threatened by Ladislas. Now Ladislas is dead, I don't need Sigismund. I shall proclaim that Konstanz is postponed indefinitely.'

`You must go to Konstanz,' the marchesa said, grimly.

`Are you deaf?'

`Are you in your dotage?'

'Konstanz is nothing but a trap. They will take everything away from us if we go there.

'You are over-excited,' Cossa. You have forgotten that you have summoned the leaders of Christendom, prelates and princes, the great bankers and the businessmen, the owners of Europe, to a great council which you have long since proclaimed. Even if there were any logic to it and your notion that Konstanz is a trap is not logical – there is no way to turn such men back now. Whether you go there or remain in Rome, the council will be held.'

He stared at her dumbfounded. `I cannot see what could be better for the Medici: than to have me firmly on the throne of St Peter, but I have long since given up trying to keep up with either of you."

'There is four hundred and fifty thousand gold florins to be made out of Konstanz. Have you forgotten that? My share is only ten per cent. When the bank loan interest has been paid on the money which bought all the leases for us, you will make nearly four hundred thousand gold florins while you consolidate your position, with, the princes, of Europe.'

`You and Cosimo always look out for me, don't you, Decima?'

`You must be very tired Cossa You know I would die for you. You know Cosimo is your best friend, and surely you can see that only if you preside over every meeting of that council will your interests in the Church be, protected. The pope has proclaimed a universal council of the Church. It. will begin in just a few months' time. If you are not there, the first thing the reformers will do – and there will be nothing Cosimo or anyone else can do to stop them – will be to call upon the council to depose you.'

'But I would be the pope in Rome!' he said hoarsely. `They could never dig me out of Sant Angelo, and during the months they tried to do such a thing the people of Christendom would rise up and march upon Rome to bring them down.'

'The world is changing,' she sighed. `Nations act in their own interests now.'

.'I cannot go; to Konstanz, Decimal' -

`If you deny the council; my dearest, there is no way that anyone or anything can help you. Listen to me, my darling. Do you think the princes, who will arrive at Konstanz with separate armies will care one whit about discussing the affairs of the Church? There will be hundreds of private concerns which will smother every question concerning the Church. The French will be at Konstanz to secure the conviction of the Duke of Burgundy for the tyrannicide of the Duke of Orleans. The King of Poland and the Teutonic knights will merely be moving their conflict to Konstanz. The Swedes will be seeking another canonization of their Brigid. The English king will look for official justification of his newest invasion of France. The Count of Cleves and the Lords of Rimini want to be created dukes. Every nation is shouting for the reform of coinage to stop the floods of bad money. The Julian Calendar is a complete confusion because it doesn't conform to solar facts. The great imperial towns are groaning under the burden of exorbitant tolls. Sigismund seeks the glory of organizing help for the Greeks against the advancing Turks. The burgesses of Lubeck have risen against their magistrates and banished them. All these causes and many, many more will bring huge sums of money to Konstanz to win their cases. Are you going to turn your back upon such a treasury of gold in which you rightfully have the lion's share? Europe has so much oil its plate which cannot be swallowed, much less digested, that the council will hardly have time to discuss religion, much less the reform of the Church. And remember this, Cossa, Giovanni di Bicci di Medici and his son Cosimo have only one cause the unity of' the Christian Church under the papacy of John XXIII.

Cossa and I sat up half the night discussing what be should do. I read everything wrong. The way I saw it, he had sent me to join the marchesa at Chur so that I could have indirect knowledge of his real plans which, for whatever reason, he could not discuss with me openly. This, in the end, is what must happen to all such devious people. I am not excusing myself I had been around Cossa's deviousness all my life, so I should have been able to grasp what he really meant, even if he didn't know: what he meant himself. I decided that he merely wanted me to provide him with reasons for going to Konstanz which he could store with all the other reasons he had accumulated. I agreed therefore with the marchesa that he could not cancel the council which he had had announced from every pulpit in Christendom. Then I said to him, `Konstanz will have its great advantages for us Cossa. The heads of nations and states and their ambassadors will attend this meeting because their national interests are involved. If you invite him, there is no way that the young Duke of Milan can stay away. Either he or his envoys must be there, but if you invite him for special honours then he must go to Konstanz and, once he enters your house there, he will be at your mercy.’

His eyes brightened. He lifted his head high and distended his nostrils. `We will go to Konstanz,' he said,

The marchesa left Bologna with Bernaba and a household of 119 people, including 37 of Bernaba's most costly courtesans collected from Bologna, Florence, Perugia, Parma, Lodi, Modena and Siena, to cross the Alps to Konstanz to inspect the properties and arrangements which her daughters had opted, to control,, and to get Bernaba started on the organization of courtesans, gambling and entertainment.

Cossa refused to as much as consider starting the journey until it had been confirmed that Sigismund had signed a treaty with the burgomaster and city magistrates of Konstanz guaranteeing his reception in the city with all honour and ceremony, and had set forth in writing that no one from any nation or of any rank was to take precedence over him. He insisted that the treaty recognize his full spiritual and temporal jurisdiction in Konstanz for as long as he chose to remain with the council. `They must defend these matters against any citizens or visitors to Konstanz while I am there. My dominance of the council must be assured. The safe conducts which I issue must be respected.'

The marchesa sent a copy of the treaty from Konstanz. It arrived in Bologna at the end of the third week of September. On 1 October, Pope John XXIII left Bologna with a household of 582 people and 619 camp followers. He journeyed down the Reno river to where it joined the Po, then was floated up the Po to Ferrara, where he rested with the Marquess of Este. The papal party moved along the river to Verona. Ahead of them lay the valley of the Adige, through which German Groups had marched with the many Kings of the Romans on their way to be crowned emperors in Rome. Ten miles further up the river the great procession halted at the village of St Michael, where there was a rich monastery. A note from the marchesa, enclosing a letter from her daughter Rosa in, Prague, was waiting for Cossa.

`Dear Mama,' Rosa's letter read. `John Hus is the hero of this nation. He is rare among heroes. He has the character of an amiable angel and is perhaps the most lovable man to whom Pippo and I have ever spoken. His kindliness and gentle nature win the love and sympathy and support of even those who first approach him as enemies. Sigismund will make the greatest capital by supporting this fellow in Bohemia against the archbishop and against the Teuton nobility because the rest of this nation is on the side of Hus.