Rienzi

re-en'zee (1313-1354), an Italian patriot. His father was a tavern keeper, his mother a washerwoman. The assassination of his brother by a Roman noble, and the impossibility of bringing the murderer to punishment, is said to have fired Rienzi with the ambition of rescuing Rome from the misgovernment and tyranny of a dissolute nobility. He appears in some way to have received a liberal education, including grammar, rhetoric, and the classic poets. He made himself the advocate of orphans, widows, and the poor. The pope at this time resided at Avignon, France. Rienzi went thither in hope of receiving his assistance, or at least countenance, in renovating Rome. Here he formed a close friendship with the poet Petrarch. On his return to Rome, he succeeded in instituting a popular revolution. He surrounded himself with a bodyguard and drove the nobles from power. The people clothed him with the powers of a dictator. The favor of the populace is proverbially fickle. Although a man of integrity and an ardent advocate of popular liberty, there is no doubt that he became arbitrary and permitted himself to be surrounded with too much pomp and circumstance. A congress of 200 delegates assembled by him from all parts of Italy created alarm. The pope withdrew his moral support. Rienzi was driven from Rome after a tenure of power lasting only seven months. Three years later he endeavored to interest the powers of Europe in the affairs of Rome. He was summoned to Avignon and condemned to death by a papal court of inquiry. His life was spared at the entreaty of Petrarch. In the meantime, disorder at Rome became worse. Rienzi was sent with a representative of the pope to restore order. He entered Rome in a triumphal procession and was again received with acclamation by the populace. Again, as before, the nobles defied his government and shut themselves up in their castles. The people grumbled at the necessity for taxation. Rienzi became suspicious and severe. In two short months a riot broke out, a crowd drew him from the capitol, put him to death with indignity, and dragged his body through the streets. Bulwer-Lytton has followed the facts of his life with historical accuracy in his Rienzi, the Last of the Tribunes. See Rome