"Our land is imperial. It is illegal to attack a sovereign state only because it grants asylum to people who have been expelled from Bolognese land, all the more so by the Church, which should have received from God the faculty of guaranteeing people the right to land."
"This is false. That land no longer belongs to you. Your emperor Rudolph of Habsburg, the legitimate heir of Frederick II and his dynasty, gave them to us in exchange for his being crowned King of the Romans by Pope Nicholas III5 a few years ago, and you should have given them to us some time ago and put yourself at our service. Furthermore, the right to land can only be granted to baptized Christians and not to apostates as are so many Ghibellines," answered a papal legate.
"The gift Rudolf made is not valid, since he never came to claim and take possession of our land as emperor, after the death of Frederick II. Nor did he ever come to Italy to be crowned King of the Romans, so the land does not belong to him. That land was given to us by Frederick II, which means it is ours, we governed and defended the land of the empire and since then it has belonged to us and we intend to defend it," replied the delegation from Forlì.
"That gift, on the other hand, is valid and legitimate since Rudolf gave that land to the pope. If he abandoned you it is not our fault and you should blame him, not us," replied the papal legate.
"How things really went, and what the truth was, is not your unique privilege to show here. You tried to fight us because you are faithful to the empire and we attempted to defend ourselves according to our inherited imperial military traditions, not to fear and never give up in front of the enemy and now, after we have beaten the Bolognese repeatedly and faithfully in all places in Romagna, you have been forced to turn to the King of France to send an army of fanatics to destroy us as they did the Albigensian heretics. This does you no honor," replied the Ghibelline Guido Bonatti.
"This is false, we were defeated because we were betrayed by the Lambertazzi, who made secret agreements with you while they were in Bologna and that is why we chased them from our city and now we will pursue you and them off the land as well. The land belongs to us because it was a gift from Rudolf I Habsburg," replied an angry Guelph noble from the Geremei family.
"You speak with hatred of people who were defeated in battle. You tried to attack us on the plains and in the mountains, you were defeated repeatedly and now you are here requesting assistance from the Pope and the French, thinking you will intimidate us, but you have underestimated our imperial military traditions and the skills of our captain Guido da Montefeltro, which date back to the old military school of Frederick II. We only ask to speak with the pope to halt this army, make peace with Bologna, permit the Lambertazzi to return again to their rightful city and prevent the spilling of more blood on both sides," replied Guido Bonatti.
Voices and whispers of dissent rose instantly from the Bolognese delegation.
"We have already defeated your imperial military traditions in Tagliacozzo and Benevento.6 As for you, you have only barbarously attacked and razed the castle of Calboli7 to the ground, after they requested a truce in Romagna, and I see no great military traditions in this. As for the Lambertazzi, they will never return to Bologna. And you who protect them only want a safe place to go because you will be banished and banned together with them," replied the noble Guelph of the Geremei.
"You shouldn't believe all the nonsense the losers tell you. The Calboli had requested a truce only after they had failed to hand Romagna over to you. I repeat that you are speaking out of anger and defeat as you were not able to conquer our land, but we are here to resolve these issues. If necessary, we will not give up even in front of the French, but first we want to talk to the new pope so as to prevent more bloodshed and to tell him not to listen to the complaints of defeated people who have no other way to fight us," replied Guido Bonatti firmly.
"No. You won't speak to the pope. The pope, like his predecessor, is tired of hearing your speeches and explanations. You have damaged and destroyed the castle of the Calboli in Romagna, caused the fall of Cesena and Ravenna with your terror, and you have already been excommunicated and banned by the bishop of Ravenna. And now you must submit and expel all the Lambertazzies and Ghibellines from your land, who fervently hate the Guelphs and the church," replied the Geremei noble.
"You have banished the Lambertazzi from everywhere you reign and even if we wished it, we could not send them anywhere that they have not been banned and excommunicated by you. Recognize Forlì to be a free Ghibelline city and we will have lasting peace between us. Let us talk about this with the pope immediately," stated Guido Bonatti resolutely.
"No. Pope Martin has already left for Avignon and your emperor Rudolph of Habsburg gave us that land and therefore it already belongs to us.
If you really want peace, give yourselves up to us and expel the Lambertazzi and all the tumultuous Ghibellines from your land," concluded the Geremei noble with the consent of the papal legate.
3. Pagan Romagna
Avignon 1281. Pope Martin IV and his military and papal legates speak of the papacy's plans for expansion in Romagna.
A legate told the Pope, "Excellence. It is extraordinary that more than thirty years after the death of Frederick II there are still places in Italy where pagan traditions are being followed that prevent Christian expansion and subjugation."
"Where are you talking about?" asked the Pope.
"About Foro Livii and Romandiola.8 Not only do they claim the land is theirs, the site of the ancient Roman Empire, but they also believe they were founded by a famous pagan priestess and still celebrate festivals in her honor that seem more pagan than Christian," replied the legate.
"What kind of celebrations do they perform?" asked the Pope.
The legate attempted to explain as best he could, "They have a kind of festival where a woman is dressed as the queen of fire, amidst lights and flames of all kinds."
"Are you talking about a woman or a fiend?" asked the Pope a little surprised.
"No, wait, Your Holiness. Perhaps it will be best if I explain everything," intervened a pontifical historian who was present at the meeting.
"Tell us about this," said the Pope.
"They celebrate a kind of golden calends,9 that is amburbal festivities,10 which are secretly dedicated to an ancient Roman priestess who was patron of that location, where they toast loaves of millet and spelt with grains of sacred salt, which come from the nearby Cervia11 saltpans, complete with rites and fires along the roads that lead to Forum Livii, while the sacred salt is carried by," explained the papal historian.
"I've heard of something like this before. In various places the golden calends are still celebrated, but I did not know of this story of the spelt and salt loaves," said the Pope.
"In fact, there are many other cities and places that still celebrate the golden calends, and it will not be difficult to transform these feasts into Candlemas dedicated to Our Most Holy Mother," the papal legate suggested to the pope.
"That's true!" As far as I remember, the golden calends are celebrated in several places even in France. For example, in various locations they toast crêpes and savory griddle cakes instead of loaves of spelt and salt," said the French pope.
"Why do you think they still do these things?" asked the historian.
"As far as we know, it was handed down from Pope Gelasius in the distant fifth century, the golden calends were celebrated during the first days of February with fires and lights in the streets, which were usually celebrations dedicated to a priestess or goddess who had been elected patron or protector of a site at the time of Rome and the Caesars. Then someone tried to transform them into Candlemas or the feast of illuminated candles," replied the papal historian.
"Female pagan patrons?" asked the Pope in surprise.
"Yes, your Eminence. You are French