00000047 |
Previous | 47 of 445 | Next |
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large
Extra Large
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
All (PDF)
|
34 FIRST PERIOD.
§ xi. But the clergy of St. Stef ano were indomitable. At
the very moment when their adversaries had received this formidable accession of strength, they had the audacity " adonta
de' replicati giuramenti, e dell' inveterata consuetudine," * to
refuse to continue in the obedience which they had vowed to
their mother church. The matter was tried in a provincial
council; the votaries of St. Stephen were condemned, and remained quiet for about twenty years, in wholesome dread of
the authority conferred on the abbot of St. Donato, by the
Pope's legate, to suspend any of the clergy of the island from
their office if they refused submission. In 1172, however, they
appealed to Pope Alexander III., and were condemned again :
and we find the struggle renewed at every promising opportunity, during the course of the 12th and 13th centuries; until at last, finding St. Donato and the dragon together too
strong for him, the abbot of St. Stefano " discovered " in his
church the bodies of two hundred martyrs at once!—a discovery, it is to be remembered, in some sort equivalent in those
days to that of California in ours. The inscription, however,
on the facade of the church, recorded it with quiet dignity:—
"mccclxxiv. a di xiv. di Aprile. Furono trovati nella presente
chiesa del protomartire San Stefano, duecento e phi corpi de'
Santi Martiri, dal Ven. Prete Matteo Fradello, piovano della
chiesa." f Corner, who gives this inscription, which no longer
exists, goes on to explain with infinite gravity, that the bodies
in question," being of infantile form and stature, are reported
by tradition to have belonged to those fortunate innocents who
suffered martyrdom under King Herod; but that when, or by
whom, the church was enriched with so vast a treasure, is not
manifested by any document." $
* Notizie Storiche delle Chiese di Venezia, illustrate da Flaminio Corner (Padua, 1758), p. 615.
f "On the 14th day of April, 1374, there were found, in this church
of the first martyr St. Stefano, two hundred and more bodies of holy
martyrs, by the venerable priest, Matthew Fradello, incumbent of the
church."
t Notizie Storiche, p. 620.
| Title | The stones of Venice - 2 |
| Creator | Ruskin, John |
| Publisher | J. Wiley |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1889 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000047 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 34 FIRST PERIOD. § xi. But the clergy of St. Stef ano were indomitable. At the very moment when their adversaries had received this formidable accession of strength, they had the audacity " adonta de' replicati giuramenti, e dell' inveterata consuetudine," * to refuse to continue in the obedience which they had vowed to their mother church. The matter was tried in a provincial council; the votaries of St. Stephen were condemned, and remained quiet for about twenty years, in wholesome dread of the authority conferred on the abbot of St. Donato, by the Pope's legate, to suspend any of the clergy of the island from their office if they refused submission. In 1172, however, they appealed to Pope Alexander III., and were condemned again : and we find the struggle renewed at every promising opportunity, during the course of the 12th and 13th centuries; until at last, finding St. Donato and the dragon together too strong for him, the abbot of St. Stefano " discovered " in his church the bodies of two hundred martyrs at once!—a discovery, it is to be remembered, in some sort equivalent in those days to that of California in ours. The inscription, however, on the facade of the church, recorded it with quiet dignity:— "mccclxxiv. a di xiv. di Aprile. Furono trovati nella presente chiesa del protomartire San Stefano, duecento e phi corpi de' Santi Martiri, dal Ven. Prete Matteo Fradello, piovano della chiesa." f Corner, who gives this inscription, which no longer exists, goes on to explain with infinite gravity, that the bodies in question," being of infantile form and stature, are reported by tradition to have belonged to those fortunate innocents who suffered martyrdom under King Herod; but that when, or by whom, the church was enriched with so vast a treasure, is not manifested by any document." $ * Notizie Storiche delle Chiese di Venezia, illustrate da Flaminio Corner (Padua, 1758), p. 615. f "On the 14th day of April, 1374, there were found, in this church of the first martyr St. Stefano, two hundred and more bodies of holy martyrs, by the venerable priest, Matthew Fradello, incumbent of the church." t Notizie Storiche, p. 620. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| B |
|
| C |
|
| G |
|
| H |
|
| M |
|
| T |
|
| U |
|
| Y |
|
|
|
