Giornalisti
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THE EMPEROR’S MANUSCRIPT
A contended manuscript, capable of modifying the Medieval political balance
“… and so this is my command. I expect you to see to it with the greatest urgency. If you should need to recur to violence to retrieve the manuscript, do not hesitate to do so…”
1249. The treatise on the art of falconry written by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II himself has been stolen. Since he is aware of having written a scientific work that could arouse the Pope’s fury, Frederick entrusts his vicar, Ezzelino da Romano, to find it quickly, before Innocenzo IV can get a hold of it. Ezzelino, powerful and ferocious lord of the March of Treviso, discovers that the manuscript has fallen into the hands of a merchant willing to sell it to the highest bidder. Having charged Gualdo, one of his lieutenants, with the task of retrieving it, he involves the young French illuminator Simone from Aix in the mission, too. Following the tracks of the merchant, the two men reach the castle of San Martino, not far from Lodi. This is the home of Alisa, living under the custody of the ghibellino aristocrat Bonizzo: the girl, promised in marriage to a fallen noble man, studies grammatical arts with her tutor, Matthew from Willingtham. Within the well-protected castle walls, each day is the same as the next. The peace and quiet is disturbed only by Bernarda’s inhuman screams: the old woman, the head of the family, has lost her mind, many years ago. While Gualdo is still studying a way to get the manuscript away from the merchant, the Pope comes to know of the existence of the scrolls. He is furious. He is sure that those illuminated pages are the billionth piece of evidence that would prove the Emperor’s heresy: with his raving statements, Frederick has once again dared to challenge the authority of the Church. Innocenzo IV assigns an inquisitor the task of retrieving the treatise and the castle is put under siege. The tortures the merchant is put through are useless, because he no longer has the manuscript: somebody has stolen it from him, too. Ezzelino’s lieutenant mysteriously disappears and the unexpected attack of unknown soldiers results in a slaughter in the woods surrounding San Martino. Within the castle, the search for the manuscript becomes frantic. While somebody discovers a secret passage that connects the dungeons with the countryside, Alisa and Simone fall in love. The events follow one another in a crescendo of treachery and violence, but the manuscript is nowhere to be found. Governed by unfathomable laws, in the end it will be the same nature so dear to the Emperor that will decide the destiny of the manuscript.
