The Wolf and the Snake (English version)

Chapter 19

The old blind man died during the night.

His passing doesn't sadden me, but I don't shout it.

The lamentations of the mourning disciples echo throughout the citadel!

And at the same time, there's a great effervescence because a powerful character honors us with his presence. He's Ottone Visconti, Countess Beatrice's brother and Eriprando's uncle. When he arrived, he asked to meet me.

He has the deep, dark eyes of the Visconti, and this is enough to give him a pleasant appearance. He's dressed with the humility befitting a clergyman, not allowing himself the luxury of colorful fabrics. However, one can guess the musculature of a warrior under the clergyman's outfit.

It's recognized that clerics can carry the sword and lead armies. And Ottone Visconti is undoubtedly one of those prelates capable of cruelly killing their enemies, one after the other and even the last of them.

According to Eriprando, his uncle is close to Cardinal Ottaviano Ubaldini, a Holy Father's legate. He has thus his entries with the papal court.

Ottone just arrived from Milan. He took one of the many canals crossing the city to Lake Maggiore, whose banks are the cradle of the Visconti family. Ottone and Beatrice's father, the old Uberto, retired to Massino's castle, a strategic stronghold overlooking the lake. Berta Pirovano, his wife, hasn't been by his side for several years.

Eriprando has confided in me how much his grandfather abhors this heresy which first stole his wife, then his daughter. Now alone, the old Visconti lion wanders in the gardens of his castle from where he can contemplate high mountains covered with dark forests. In the past, the laughter of children and Berta, his young wife, enchanted the place with a carefree joy, promising a bright future.

But the heretics spared by the crusaders' swords and the Inquisition's stakes had fled to Lombardy, their faces as pale as those of the dead, their bodies emaciated and sickly. Nevertheless, they had walked with courage, barefoot or in clogs, like holy sheep among wolves.

For the Lombards, these unfortunate people had the virtues of the early Christians who had been delivered to wild beasts by the Romans.

Berta Pirovano and her daughter wanted to illuminate their spirit and revolutionize their faith. But for Uberto Visconti, they had broken unclouded happiness, and his lovely Beatrice had followed her mother into what they both called the true church.

The old Visconti lion was forced to surrender before a power too strong. Then, with tears in his eyes, Uberto entrusted his son and son-in-law to protect Beatrice and her mother from the great dangers lurking among heretics.

***

Standing opposite each other, Ottone Visconti observes me as much as I observe him.

"Do you like Lombardy?" he asks cordially.

"Very much! Beautiful landscapes, inhabitants so full of charm and surprises."

"Our unfortunate lost lambs are so amazing. But sooner or later, they will return to the Lord's fold, without needing to be mistreated and even less be burned," he answers with malice.

It's obvious! Since his mother and sister are part of this strange flock.

"The comeback of His Holiness to Italy has ignited our Lombardy republics, and bloody clashes are multiplying," he admits. "Those of the emperor's party saw fit to shelter the heretics, great families such as the Manfredi di Sesto, the Confalonieri di Alliate, the Pallavicini, and the Cortevona, of course."

"As well as the Visconti!"

The little phrase escaped me. Ottone doesn't take offense and questions me with a suave voice, "Your husband is French from what I've been told?"

I nodded silently.

"The French presence in Lombardy is hardly desirable," he adds. "Charles of Anjou is ambitious, like all Capetians. But, for now, Provence is in revolt, and fortunately, an alliance is planned between Marseille, Pisa, and the empire's supporters against the count."

It's disturbing news, to say the least, and could herald a war between the French and the Lombards.

I curse Charles of Anjou!

"The pope didn't appreciate that Manfred, the illegitimate son of Emperor Frederick, was installed on the throne of Sicily," he explains. "The king of England refused to engage against him the crusade requested by His Holiness, but the Capetian seems to find Provence too narrow. To expand his county towards Italy, he has recently acquired territories at the edge of Venaissin and Haut-Folcaquero. I learned from reliable sources that he wanted to own suzerainty of important seigneuries from Monaco to San Remo, as the valleys of the Vésubie and the Roya, with the high mountain regions up to the pass of Tende, on the border with Italy. Plus, Charles of Anjou organized active propaganda in his favor to seduce cities of Piedmont such as Cuneo, Alba, Cherasco, Saorge, and Mondovi."

It's enough to make your head spin!

The pope must agree with Charles's schemes, and Ottone seems to have guessed my thoughts. "I battled Manfred on the side of the papal legate. But the Count of Provence is an opponent for me, even if His Holiness sees him as an ally," he says.

Ottone thus is engaged in a double game. He protects heretics and watches Charles of Anjou while fighting against Manfred, the illegitimate son of Frederick that many consider his worthy successor.

"Why are you telling me all this? I don't know much about politics, and my husband neither do I."

My question doesn't surprise him. "You're a Visconti, although you're a Frenchman's wife. And my spies have learned that the Count of Provence wishes to hire good soldiers with whom he fought in Palestine."

I cut him off at once, "Reyn won't be interested. When we return to Champagne, he plans to administer his lands and his cousin's."

I left Ottone Visconti without any sympathy for him, and words spoken by the clergyman were slowly beginning their disturbing work.

I was far from suspecting how much.

***