Pietro della Vigna (also Pier delle Vigne, Petrus de Vineas or de Vineis;

Capua Capua ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, located on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etruscan ''Capeva''. The ...

, ca. 1190 –

San Miniato San Miniato is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Pisa, in the region of Tuscany, Italy. San Miniato sits at a historically strategic location atop three small hills where it dominates the lower Arno valley, between the valleys of the E ...

, 1249) was an Italian jurist and diplomat, who acted as chancellor and secretary (

logothete Logothete (, ''logothétēs'', pl. λογοθέται, ''logothétai''; Med. , pl. ''logothetae''; ; ; ; , ''logotet'') was an administrative title originating in the eastern Roman Empire. In the middle and late Byzantine Empire, it rose to become ...

) to

Emperor Frederick II Frederick II (, , , ; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jerusalem from 1225. He was the son of Emperor Henry VI of the Ho ...

. Falsely accused of ''

lèse-majesté ''Lèse-majesté'' or ''lese-majesty'' ( , ) is an offence or defamation against the dignity of a ruling head of state (traditionally a monarch but now more often a president) or of the state itself. The English name for this crime is a mod ...

'', he was imprisoned and blinded, committing suicide soon after. He appears as a character in the '' Inferno'' of the ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poetry, narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of ...

'' by

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

Life and work

Pietro della Vigna was born in 1190 in

under humble circumstances. He went on to study law at

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

. Through his classical education, his ability to speak Latin and his poetic gifts, he then gained the favour of Emperor Frederick II, who made him his secretary, and afterwards ''judex magnae curiae'', councillor, governor of

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

prothonotary A prothonotary is the "principal clerk of a court," from Late Latin, L.L. ''prothonotarius'' (Wiktionary:circa, c. 400), from Greek ''protonotarios'' "first scribe," originally the chief of the college of recorders of the court of the Byzantine E ...

and chancellor. The emperor sent him to Rome in 1232 and 1237 to negotiate with the pope; to

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

in 1239 to induce the citizens to accept imperial protection; and to England in 1234–1235 to arrange a marriage between Frederick II and

Isabella of England Isabella of England (1214 – 1 December 1241) was an English princess of the House of Plantagenet The House of Plantagenet (Help:IPA/English, /plænˈtædʒənət/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''plan-TAJ-ə-nət'') was a royal hou ...

, the sister of

King Henry III of England Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry assume ...

. Della Vigna proved a skillful and trustworthy diplomat, and he persistently defended the emperor against his traducers and against the pope's menaces. But at the

First Council of Lyon The First Council of Lyon (Lyon I) was the thirteenth ecumenical council, as numbered by the Catholic Church, taking place in 1245. This was the first ecumenical council to be held outside Rome's Lateran Palace after the Great Schism of 1054. ...

(1245), which had been summoned by

Pope Innocent IV Pope Innocent IV (; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254. Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universities of Parma and Bolo ...

, della Vigna entrusted the defense of his master to the celebrated jurist Taddeo da Suessa, who failed to prevent his condemnation. Della Vigna was a distinguished man of culture. He encouraged science and the fine arts, and contributed much to the welfare of Italy by his legislative reforms. He was also the author of some vernacular poetry, of which two ''canzoni'' and a

sonnet A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...

are still extant. His letters, mostly written in the name of the emperor and published by

Iselin Iselin may refer to: People with the family name * Adrian G Iselin (1818–1905), American banker, businessman & millionaire * Charles Oliver Iselin (1854–1932), American banker and yachtsman * Columbus O'Donnell Iselin (1904–1971), American oc ...

(''Epistolarum libri'' vi, 2 v., Basel, 1740), contain much valuable information on the history and culture of the 13th century. A collection of the laws of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, a ''Tractatus de potestate imperiali'', and another treatise, ''On Consolation'', in the style of

Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known simply as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480–524 AD), was a Roman Roman Senate, senator, Roman consul, consul, ''magister officiorum'', polymath, historian, and philosopher of the Early Middl ...

, are also attributed to him. The

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

ic tradition accuses della Vigna, as well as the emperor and his court, of

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

. It was even stated, probably without any foundation, that they were the authors of the famous work '' De Tribus Impostoribus'', wherein

Moses In Abrahamic religions, Moses was the Hebrews, Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of slavery in the The Exodus, Exodus from ancient Egypt, Egypt. He is considered the most important Prophets in Judaism, prophet in Judaism and Samaritani ...

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

and

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

are criticised and their teachings are rejected.

Imprisonment and supposed suicide

Della Vigna was arrested in

Cremona Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

in March 1249 as a traitor (proditor). The reasons for the arrest have never been clarified; a conspiracy or accusation of corruption has been suggested. He was blinded by Frederick II in

Pontremoli Pontremoli (; local ; ; ) is a small city, ''comune'' former Latin Catholic bishopric in the province of Massa and Carrara, Tuscany region, central Italy. Literally translated, Pontremoli means "Trembling Bridge" (from ''ponte'' "bridge" and ''tre ...

in the Piazzetta of San Geminiano. The exact circumstances of della Vigna's death, which occurred shortly after his downfall, are unknown; some sources claim that he may have been tortured to death or died as a result of being blinded, while others insist that he committed suicide in a prison tower of

In the ''Divine Comedy''

As a suicide, he appears as one of the damned in the Woods of Suicide in Dante's ''Inferno'', Circle VII, Ring II, Canto XIII: Violent against the self: suicides and profligates. Della Vigna reveals his identity to the travelers Dante and Virgil: "I am himself that held both keys of Frederick's heart / to lock and unlock and well I knew / to turn them with so exquisite an art." Dante's portrayal of della Vigna emphasises his skill as a

rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...

ian. His syntax is complex and tangled, like the thornbushes. At one point, Dante echoes it: "I think he thought that I was thinking", according to

John Ciardi John Anthony Ciardi ( ; ; June 24, 1916 – March 30, 1986) was an American poet, translator, and etymologist. While primarily known as a poet and translator of Dante's ''Divine Comedy'', he also wrote several volumes of children's poetry, pursu ...

's translation. In placing him among the suicides rather than the traitors, Dante affirms that della Vigna was falsely or wrongly accused, in other words, being framed. In the 19th century,

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...

illustrated the ''Divine Comedy'' and depicted della Vigna in '' The Wood of the Self-Murderers: The Harpies and the Suicides''.

Notes

References

* Huillard-Bréholles, ''Vie et correspondence de Pierre de la Vigne'' (Paris, 1864) *Presta, ''Pier delle Vigne'' (Milan, 1880) *Capasso and Ianelli, ''Pier delle Vigne'' (Caserta, 1882) *
Peter de Vinea
- Catholic Encyclopedia article

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Della Vigna, Pietro

Pietro della Vigna Pietro della Vigna (also Pier delle Vigne, Petrus de Vineas or de Vineis; Capua, ca. 1190 – San Miniato, 1249) was an Italian jurist and diplomat, who acted as chancellor and secretary ( logothete) to Emperor Frederick II. Falsely accused of ''l� ...

People from Caserta 13th-century Italian jurists Prothonotaries 13th-century Italian poets Italian male poets Vigna, Pietro della 13th-century Italian diplomats Sicilian School poets 13th-century writers in Latin Medieval suicides Characters in the Divine Comedy Court of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor University of Bologna alumni Italian letter writers Medieval letter writers