Chapter IV: Part 4

But there was another urgent cause for her eagerly desiring to seek her father's hearth, namely the ill-health of her father. She speaks of this in the letter which mentioned that she cannot look for the company of Gregorio Guillichini, and that this task had to be remitted to the Canon [Caponsacchi]. Hence we can well infer that she was arranging for the flight for legitimate reasons.

No reliance whatever can be placed in the letter written by this same wife to Abate Franceschini. In that she thanks him for having joined her in marriage with the Accused, his brother. And she also acknowledges therein that, since the departure of her parents, she was living a life of utter tranquillity; because their evil persuasion, which was alienating her from her husband, had ceased. She also reveals a very base plan that had been proposed to her, namely, to destroy the entire household. Now the wife in her sworn statement frankly confesses that she wrote this letter to appease her husband, and that he had marked the characters, which she had afterwards traced with a pen. This statement is found in an extract from her sworn testimony as given in our Summary, No. 3. And a mere reading of the said letter so thrills one with horror that it is incredible that the luckless girl could have written such matters to the injury and detraction of her own parents, unless she had been compelled thereto by fear of her husband. For this reason the same letter is given in our Summary, No. 4.

But even just ground of fear, because of which the luckless girl was moved to flee, has come to light, namely, the lawsuit brought by her father against the Accused for the nullification of the dowry contract. This contract had been made on false grounds; for Pietro had believed that he was promising the dowry to his own daughter, but then, from a confession made by the mother, he had found out that she was none such and that Violante had made pretence of giving birth to the child for the purpose of deceiving her husband and barring his creditors. Since Pietro had assigned all his property as dowry (and indeed it was of considerable value when we consider the quality of the persons concerned) he soon raised a dispute about it. And we may well fear that very grave and even deadly hatred arose therefrom. Thereby the conjugal peace, which had been disturbed by long-continued altercation, was utterly destroyed by recrudescent hatred. For a lawsuit as to a considerable amount of money, much more as to an entire property, would produce this effect, as daily experience well teaches us and as Grammaticus and others assert. [Citations.]

Such just fear should be well considered by a prudent judge, who will take into account the circumstance of the persons and of the time. [Citation.] In our case it may be absolutely affirmed that these matters should be so considered, inasmuch as not merely a girl of tender age (as was the unfortunate wife, who was destitute of all aid and exposed to the severity of the husband, who had sought her life with a pistol and had threatened her with death on trivial suspicions), but even a woman of greatest fortitude would be unable to bear being exposed to such constant risk of her life and would see the necessity of taking care of herself. And whatever the cause, even if it were merely supposititious, it would be enough to excuse her according to the text. [Citations.] And Canon Rainaldi holds, that it is enough if one see the signs or acts of manifest desire, or preparations thereto. How much more excusable and how worthy of pity should Francesca be considered, since she had such an urgent and such a well-verified cause for fleeing? Mogolon holds that the mere sight of arms, even though the one having them does not use them nor unsheathe them, is just cause for fear.

Nor can presumption of dishonour and of violated conjugal faith arise from the company of Canon Caponsacchi, with whom she fled, and for which flight he was condemned to three years' banishment in Civita Vecchia. For the luckless girl was destitute of all aid, and the demands of her age, of her sex, and of her station in life, did not admit of her undertaking so perilous a journey either alone, or in company with any baseborn woman. For then, in escaping dangers at home, she might incautiously expose herself to even graver perils; as might have happened if while alone she had been overtaken by her husband in the journey. Nor could she find any safer companion than this very Canon, who was bound by friendship to the Canon Conti. And the latter, who was a familiar friend and blood-relative of the Accused, although he had great pity upon her condition, judged it safer for her to flee with Caponsacchi, whom he believed to be apt and far-seeing to bring about the desired end. Otherwise she would have undertaken this flight with even greater risk. Therefore this necessary and prudent choice of the lesser evil excludes all suspicion of pretended dishonour. [Citations.]

This suspicion is also excluded by the manner in which the flight was put into effect, namely in hurrying to the City by the direct route and with the greatest possible speed. For if the unfortunate girl had fled for the purpose of satisfying her lust with the same lover, the Canon Caponsacchi (as was charged elsewhere and as is repeated now even more bitterly to prove the plea of injured honour), she would either have delayed somewhere out of the public highways, where she could not be seized by the Accused, or she would not have approached the City with such great speed. She would have done neither of these, unless she were making the journey for the purpose of seeking again her father's hearth, where she hoped to find security for her life and her honour. It would be far too imprudent a plan for a lover to take a wife from the home of her husband to some other place where he could not possibly satisfy his lust. This improbability alone would be enough to prove the truth of the cause given by the wife in her affidavit--namely, that she had fled to avoid the deadly peril in which she feared she was placed, and that she might return to her father's hearth. The Canon also gave her his aid and companionship out of mere pity, and her honour was kept entirely untouched. The probabilities are always to be very much observed in arguing about a crime, or in excluding it, as the following hold. [Citations.]

Still less firmly established is the other ground for the asserted plea of injured honour, which has been offered elsewhere by the Accused on the basis of the asserted love-letters. These letters, it was pretended, had been written in part by that most wretched girl to the Canon, and in part by the Canon himself. All these, it was claimed, had been found in the privy of the inn at Castelnuovo, where they were said to have been cast for the purpose of hiding them. Response was indeed then given by the Procurator of the Poor that the identity of the handwriting was unproved and uncertain; for the letters did not show to whom they were directed. And these responses were indeed admitted, since no punishment was inflicted upon Francesca, and she was simply dismissed with the precaution of keeping her home as a prison. And even though these letters, when we investigate their hearing, seem to give proof of excessive goodwill, yet Francesca could have made pretence of this for the purpose of winning over the Canon, who was reluctant (as she herself acknowledges in her affidavit), to afford her aid by giving her his company back to the City in the execution of her premeditated flight. It is indeed quite evident that the letters were prepared for this purpose. (Summary, No. 5.) And therefore this wretched girl, who was destitute of all aid and was placed in imminent risk of her life, should be judged worthy of all pity, if with gentle and even with loving words she tried to entice the Canon, whom she believed was well suited to afford her aid. Nor can stronger proof of violated modesty be drawn from these letters written for the purpose of the flight than from the flight itself. Nor is it a new thing for the most chaste of women to use similar arts sometimes for quite permissible ends. In the sacred Scriptures we read that Judith did so to deceive Holofernes, for the purpose of freeing her country. This luckless girl could therefore do so without any mark of dishonour, for the purpose of escaping deadly peril.

We may speak still further of her confidence in her own continence as well as in the integrity of the Canon. Concerning this, a certain witness, examined by the Fisc in the said prosecution at the instance of Count Guido, who was then present, testifies to hearing from Gregorio Guillichini (likewise a relative of the Accused) as follows: "Signor Gregorio then added that the Signor Canon was going there for a good reason, and that therefore Signora Francesca had desired to go to Rome. And he told me also that no ill could arise from it, because there was not the slightest sin between them." The deposition of this witness, which is directly contrary to the party who had brought her into court, fully proves our point as the following hold. [Citations.] And therefore, since the luckless girl can be suspected of no evil from her association with Canon Caponsacchi, and since she had no other help more suitable for carrying out her plan, her dealings with him by letter ought to be excused as ordered to this end, even though we may read certain loving expressions in them. The latter, indeed, should be considered rather as courtesies adapted to winning his goodwill, and they should always be interpreted according to the thought of the one proffering them. [Citations.]

Still further, there is added the participation of the Canon Conti, a nobleman and a relative of the Accused, who forwarded the attempt. It is incredible that he would have been willing to plot against the honour of Guido, but he would merely wish to snatch that wretched girl from imminent death because of his pity of her. And such participation is made clearly evident from the very letters which it is pretended were written by Caponsacchi.

Of lighter weight still are the other proofs of pretended dishonesty; [first] the approach of the Canon to the home of the Accused at night time, for the purpose of speaking with the wife who was slain; [secondly] the kissing on the journey to Rome, concerning which Francesco Giovanni Rossi, driver of the carriage (commonly called calesse) bears witness; and [third] the pretended sleeping together in the same bed at the inn of Castelnuovo. As regards the first of these three, there is defect of proof; for it rests upon the word of a single witness only, Maria Margherita Contenti, and she endures the most relevant exception of being a public harlot, and so she alone can prove nothing. [Citations.] And since such approaching of the house was ordered to the permissible end of removing the wretched girl from the imminent peril of death, by taking her back to her father's house, it cannot be brought as a proof of illicit commerce. For the mere possibility that it was done for this purpose is enough to oblige us to take it in good part, according to the text. [Citations.]

This is especially so since the very witness who swears to this approach of the home states, by hearsay from the said Gregorio Guillichini, that it was to a good end, and that no sin was taking place between the Canon and the wife who is now slain. And, as Guillichini was better informed, and was indeed a friend and, as I understand, a relative of the Accused, this excludes all suspicion to the contrary. With this testimony another deposition seems to agree, namely, that of the Canon Franceschini, brother of the Accused, who when questioned as to whether he knew if any intimacy had existed between Canon Caponsacchi and Francesca, replied: "This we never knew of beforehand; but after the criminal flight the whole town said that there must surely have passed some correspondence between them." His ignorance quite excludes and renders improbable any furtive and illicit approach to the home by the Canon Caponsacchi. For if the Accused had indeed threatened to kill his wife on account of unjust suspicion of Caponsacchi, we may well believe that Guido himself, his brother, and all the household would have kept guard for her safe keeping with all their might. And so, the said approach to the home, if it had been frequent (as is alleged), or if it had been for an ill end, would have been observed by them.

[Secondly] under this same defect of proof lies the pretended kissing of each other on the journey. As to this matter only a single witness testifies, whose excessive animus is shown by his assertion, for he asserts that he saw this at night; nor does he give any reason for his seeing it, such as that the moon was shining, or that he could see because some artificial light was dispelling the gloom. As no such reason is given, he deserves no credence, as the following observe. [Citations.] Another very great improbability is added thereto--namely, that while he was driving the carriage with such velocity that it rather seemed to fly than advance swiftly, he could not have looked back to see such mutual kissing. This improbability likewise takes away from him all right to belief, according to what the following hold. [Citations.]

But the assertion of that most wretched girl herself is also well suited to exclude all suspicion of her pretended unchastity. This was made by her after she had suffered many severe wounds in the very face of death itself, at the demand of the priests and other persons ministering to her. For, according to their attestation, she asserted that she had never sinned against her conjugal faith and had always conducted herself with all chastity and shame: "We were present and assisted at the last illness from which Francesca Pompilia, wife of Guido Franceschini, died. She was often asked by her confessors and other persons whether she had committed any offence against the said Guido, her husband, whereby she might have given him occasion to maltreat her in such a manner as to cause her death. And she always responded that she had never committed any offence, but had always lived with all chastity and modesty." And Fra Celestino Angelo of St. Anna, of the order of barefooted Augustinians, in his testimony, bears even more exact witness to this constant assertion of her innocence, where he writes: "She always said, 'May God pardon him in heaven, as I pardon him on earth, but as for the sin for which they have slain me, I am utterly innocent': in proof whereof she said that God should not pardon her that sin, because she had never committed it." An assertion like this, indeed, given in the very face of death, deserves all credence, since no one is believed to lie at such a time, as the following assert. [Citations.] Menocchius speaks in these very circumstances of one suspected of heresy, saying that such suspicion is removed if in the hour of death the accused say and protest that he had lived and wished to die and to trust according to what is pleasing to the Sacred Roman Church, etc. [Citation.] And Decianus cites the opinion of Albericus, who declares that by means of an assertion of this kind, made before the Cardinals, the memory of Pope Boniface had been defended, and that this very Albericus had in this way defended Gian Galeazzo Visconti of Milan.

And this is more especially true since all the said witnesses agree that this most wretched girl died with the highest edification of the bystanders, and that she had always shown the deeds of Christian perfection, as we find in the said attestations, where we read: "And from having seen her die the death of a saint." And there is another statement of the said Father Celestino Angelo, which infers the innocence of her past life from her conduct just before death. All these matters are given in our Summary, No. 6.

But, however rightly the Accused might draw some suspicion of his wife's dishonesty from her flight and from these letters, the tenor of which seems to prove them love-letters (which suspicion could excite due anger), yet this would not make excusable such truculent vengeance, taken after so great an interval. For this vengeance was taken, not merely upon his most wretched wife, but also upon her parents, who were entirely off their guard and quite undeserving of such a fate. And these murders were attended with such grave circumstances, aggravating the crime, that he would have to be punished with death even if he had not confessed the murders. For although just anger because of violated conjugal faith usually moderates the penalty for a husband killing his adulterous wife, yet one can no longer argue for total impunity after an opportunity to take vengeance on the adulterer and adulteress has been thrown away. [Citations.]

But an especial and indispensable requisite is that the wife be taken in adultery, according to the text. [Citation.] "For thus it wishes this power to lie with the father, if he take his daughter in her very sin." Labeo also approves this, and Pomponius writes that she may be killed when taken in very licentiousness, and this is what Solon and Draco say. [Citations.] Much more does this hold good in the case of a husband, whose wrath may be kindled much more easily against a wife by sinister and unjust suspicion conceived about her. For the husband is not always accustomed to take good counsel for the wife, which the law presumes that the father does by natural instinct, etc.; and it excuses the father only when he kills his daughter along with her defiler, or inflicts wounds unhesitatingly upon her.

And this is so true that it is not enough if the wife be found only in acts that are remote from, or merely preparatory to adultery, as authorities commonly affirm. [Citations.] John Teitops holds thus, and I think it well to quote his words, since the Judges may not have him at hand, and he thus explains the words of the said text: "Therefore they argue that acts preparatory to adultery do not suffice, but the obscene commingling of limbs is required." And after citing his authorities, he adds: "And this is more clearly evident from the words of Solon as given by Lucian, the Eunuch," where we read: "Unless they lie who say that he was taken in adultery." And then he criticises the opinion of Accursius, who asserts that acts preparatory for adultery are enough. And in the second paragraph after this decision is given he asserts that his opinion should be understood to be concerning immediate preparations, and he so explains his decision, where he says: "From the taking of the adulterer alone and naked with her alone and naked, and lying in the same bed, violent and certain suspicion of adultery arises, wherefrom the sentence of divorce may be granted."

But the laws adduced (at letters I & J) show that strong suspicion does not indeed suffice. For this sort of discovery is the true taking in the act of adultery. And from a civil case under the said letter, one argues weakly for proof in a criminal cause. For no one can be condemned, much less killed, on suspicions alone in the absence of law. And violent suspicion is not indubitable ground for proof, such as is required in criminal cases. But indeed such suspicion is fallacious, because persons might be found to act thus for the purpose of committing adultery, and yet not actually to have committed the adultery, as Gravetta and others say.

The Accused might indeed have contended merely for the tempering of the penalty if he had killed his fugitive wife in the act of taking her at the inn of Castelnuovo in company with Canon Caponsacchi. But when he neglected to take vengeance with his own hand and preferred to take it by law, he could not then kill her after an interval. This is according to the text [Citation], which affirms that one can put off the vengeance from day to day. [Citations.] Farinacci asserts that it was so held in practice, lest men should be given the opportunity of avenging their own wrongs. And he confutes Bertazzolus, who places on the same footing a case of taking in adultery, and says that the wife may be convicted of it provided that there be no doubt of it. Nor may the suspicion of the husband, which gave a strong ground for the difference, be unjust or too ready. Because just grievance, exciting a wrath which usually disturbs the mind of the husband, is verified by the actual taking of the wife in adultery, or in acts very near to it and not after an interval, although his suspicion may be very strong. And so the laws which excuse a husband because of just and sudden anger cannot be extended to cover vengeance taken after an interval. For in the latter case neither the impetuosity nor the suddenness of the anger is proved, but the murder is said to be committed in cold blood. But if for the purpose of restraining the impetus of raging anger, lest the husband take vengeance on his own authority, he is not excused from the penalty of the _Lex Cornelia de Sicariis_, provided he kill his wife after an interval, how much less excusable will he be if, after choosing the way of public vengeance by imprisoning his wife and her pretended lover, he shall, after a long intervening time, slaughter her and her parents so brutally?

It should be added, for increasing his penalty, that as regards the unfortunate parents there was no just cause for killing them unless he wishes to consider as such the lawsuit which they brought for the nullification of the dowry contract because of the detection of her pretended birth. But this cause rather increases the offence to the most atrocious crime of _læsa majestas_, because of the utter security which the Pontifical Majesty wishes to afford to all litigants in the City. This point is found in the well-known decree of Alexander VI. where we read: "The inhumanity and savagery which thirsts for the death of others is horrible and detestable," and in the end we read: "In offence of the jurisdiction of his Divine Majesty, and to the injury of the Apostolic Authority." And, "They incur _ipso facto_ the sentence of the crime of _læsa majestas_." And a little later: "And they may always be distrusted in all their good deeds by every one, and may be held as banditti and as infamous and unfit."

Very worthy of consideration, also, is that other aggravation of this inhuman slaughter, namely, that it was committed in their own home, which ought to be for each person the safest of refuges, according to the text. [Citations.] And Cicero elegantly says: "What is more sacred, what is more guarded by all religious feeling, than the home of each of our Citizens! Here are our altars, here are our hearths, here are our household gods, and here the sacred ceremonies of our religion are contained. This refuge is so sacred to all that it would be base for any one to be snatched hence." Much more is this true as regards the wretched wife, who was held in that place as a prison, with the approval also of the Abate Franceschini. And hence the public safekeeping may be said to be violated thereby, and the majesty of the Prince wounded, since the same reasoning is observed as regards a true and formal prison, and a prison assigned by the Prince, as the following assert. [Citations.]

Finally, we should also consider the aggravation of "prohibited arms," with which the crime was committed. This of itself demands the death penalty, even though the principal crime should otherwise be punished more mildly, as Sanfelicius advises, stating that it was so adjudged. [Citation.]

GIOVANNI BATTISTA BOTTINI,
_Advocate of the Fisc and of the Apostolic Chamber._

[File-title of Pamphlet 7.]

_By the Most Illustrious and Most

Reverend Lord Governor of the

City in Criminal Cases_:

_ROMAN MURDER-CASE._

_For Count Guido Franceschini
and his Associates, Prisoners._

_Summary._

_At Rome, in the type of the Reverend Apostolic Chamber_,
1698.

SUMMARY

[PAMPHLET 7.]

_No._ 1.--_Letter of the Honourable Marzi-Medici, Governor of Arezzo._

My most Illustrious and Dearly Beloved Master:

Your favoured letter of the twenty-fourth of last month has reached me, and I am exceedingly sorry for the uneasiness in which you hint you are placed by the maledictions which Signor Pietro Comparini and his wife have disseminated throughout Rome, concerning the ill-treatment they say they suffered in your home while staying in Arezzo. As your letter questions me for true information, I answer with all frankness, that both among the noble connection and in Count Guido's home they were treated with all respect and decorum. The cause of the first disturbance which sprang up between them and your mother and brothers was that Signora Violante, a few days after her arrival, presumed to domineer over the house and to keep the keys of everything, and in fact to turn out of house and home Signora Beatrice, your mother. With good reason, neither of the brothers was willing to consent thereto, and this gave occasion for the first insults and domestic broils. These afterwards increased when they saw that Signor Pietro had given over the company and conversation of the best people of the city, and had struck up acquaintance with the most vulgar. And with them he began to frequent daily all the taverns here. This cast discredit upon him, and was little for the good name of the Franceschini. Of much greater scandal were the many flights and petitions made by Guido's wife, their daughter, to Monsignor the Bishop. These were made for no other reason than that neither she nor her parents wished to stay any longer in Arezzo, but desired to return to Rome. When she had been rebuked by that most prudent Prelate, he always sent her home in his carriage. It is true that ever since the Comparini left this City until the present time the Signora has conducted herself with much modesty and prudence. From this fact every one infers that the poor child was led to such excesses by her parents, as she herself declares to everybody. Now she detests even the memory of them. Therefore, she is getting back into the good opinion of every one, and especially of those ladies of the city who had ceased having anything to do with her. Finally, these same Comparini had taken away all her jewellery from the Signora, which I forced them to restore. Altogether, such and so great are the scandals to which they have given rise before the whole city in the lapse of the few months they have stayed here, that I write you only a few of them. I assure you that with them your brothers have had the patience of martyrs. Accordingly when I saw that they had become incorrigible, and were the talk of the town, and that they might force your brothers to commit some excess against them, for the maintenance of good discipline, I availed myself of the authority vested in me by His Serene Highness, and threatened them with prison and punishment unless they behaved themselves. After these threats, which they evidently merited and which might have overtaken them, they decided to go to Rome, as they did a little later, leaving behind them in this city a very bad reputation.

As for the rest, there is now in your home an utter quietude, and the Signora lives with exemplary prudence, detesting the ill example she had shown the ladies of this city, and she confesses freely that it was so commanded by her parents. In my judgment, it is the hand of God that has freed your family from such turbid heads. This is all I can here put down, out of much else there is to say about it. Therefore rest at ease, and believe me that the discredit has been entirely their own. I need only sign myself, with all my heart, to your most illustrious self,

Your most devoted and obliged servant,
VINCENZO MARZI-MEDICI.
AREZZO, _August 2, 1694_.

To Signor Abate Paolo Franceschini, Rome.

No. 2.--_Deposition of Francesca._

I will tell your Excellency why I have fled from the home of my husband. Here in Rome, three years ago, I was married by my father and mother to the said Franceschini, and after I was engaged to him he stayed here in Rome for two months without consummating the marriage. Then with my father and my mother I was taken by my husband to Arezzo, because in the marriage contract it was agreed that my father and mother should go and live in Arezzo, as they did. After they had remained there four months, they departed and returned to Rome, because of the ill-treatment they suffered, at the hands not only of my husband, but of the others in his house.

I was left behind in Arezzo, and when about a year had passed after the consummation of the marriage, as I did not become pregnant my husband and my mother-in-law Beatrice began to turn against me, because I had no children. He said that because of me their house would die out and that he could not hope for an heir by me after a while; for by chance he had heard my father say, that during a girlhood sickness certain seeds had been given to me as medicine, which possibly hindered me from having children. For that reason I came to be continually mistreated by my husband and mother-in-law, though I answered that I was not to blame for that. Yet they continued always to threaten my life, and, without any real occasion, they sought every pretext to maltreat me.

Then my husband began to be jealous of me, and forbade me to show my face at the window. And to remove that occasion of jealousy I never showed my face save when it was absolutely necessary. So one day, while we were on the loggia, he said to me that I was staying up there to make love, without telling me with whom. I replied that these were mere pretexts, and that from that place one could see only the street, without looking into the windows of the houses; for the loggia was entirely on the roof.

[Sidenote: A.
She tells of her husband's threats because of her ardour for her
lover.]

And then because the Canon Caponsacchi, with other young men of the place, used to pass before our house and stop to talk with certain hussies, who were standing there in front, my husband began to fume with anger at me because the said Canon kept passing there as above, although I was not at all to blame. His suspicion increased all the more because, while we were in a great crowd at the play one evening, Canon Conti, the brother of the husband of my sister-in-law, threw me some confetti. My husband, who was near me, took offence at it--not against Conti, but against Caponsacchi, who was sitting by the side of the said Conti. Then because Conti frequented our house, as a relative, my husband took offence at him likewise; and this so much so that I, being aware of it, retired to my room whenever he came to our house, that I might not have to take even more trouble; but my husband was not thereby appeased, but said that I did this as a trick, and that his suspicions of me were not removed. He began anew to torment me so, on account of Caponsacchi, that I was reduced to desperation and did not know what to say. Then to remove that occasion for his ill-treatment, I spoke to the said Caponsacchi one day as he was passing our house and begged him not to pass that way, that he might relieve me from all the distresses I suffered at the hands of my husband on that account. He replied that he did not know whence my husband had drawn such a suspicion, as he used to pass along there on other affairs, and that, in short, Guido could not stop his passing along the street. And although he promised me not to pass along there, he continued to do so. But I did not show my face at the window. Yet with all this my husband was not appeased, but continued to maltreat me and to threaten my life, and he said that he wished to kill me.

At the time of the affair of the play told above, as soon as we had returned home, he pointed a pistol at my breast saying: "Oh, Christ! What hinders me from laying you out here? Let Caponsacchi look to it well, if you do not wish me to do so, and to kill you."

[Sidenote: B.
She died asserting that she did not know how to write.]

Furthermore at the beginning of these troubles, I went twice to Monsignor the Bishop, because he might have remedied it in some way; but this did no good, because of his relation with the house of my husband. And so as I was a stranger in that city and did not know how to free myself from these perils and abuses, and as I feared that if Guido did not slay me with weapons he might poison me, I planned to run away and go back to Rome to my father and mother. But as I did not know how to accomplish this, I went about a month later to confession to an Augustinian Father, whom they call Romano. I told him all my distresses, imploring him to write to my father in my name, as I do not know how to write, and to tell him that I was desperate, and must part from my husband and go to him in Rome. But I had no response.

[Sidenote: C.
She confesses the strength and audacity of her lover.]

[Sidenote: D.
She confesses a conversation with her lover.]

[Sidenote: E.
She confesses a new conversation with her lover.]

Therefore, not knowing to whom I might turn to accomplish my desire, and thinking that no one in the place would assist me, because of their relationship or friendship to my husband, I finally resolved to speak of it to the said Caponsacchi, because I had heard said that he was a resolute man. Accordingly, as he was passing one day before our house, at a time when my husband was out of the city, I called him and spoke to him from the stairs. I told him of the peril in which I found myself on his account, and begged him to bring me here to Rome, to my father and mother. He replied, however, that he did not wish to meddle at all in such an affair, as it would be thought ill of by the whole city, and all the more so as he was a friend of the house of my husband. But I implored him so much and told him it was the duty of a Christian to free from death a poor foreign woman. At last I induced him to promise me that he would accompany me as above. Then he told me he would secure the carriage, and when that had been arranged he would give me a signal by letting his handkerchief fall in passing before our house, as he had done before. But the next day went by, and although I stood at the blinds, he did not give the signal. When the day following had also passed, I spoke to him again as above, and complained to him that he had broken the word he had given me. And he excused himself, saying that he had not found a carriage in Arezzo. I answered him that, at any rate, he should have procured one from outside, as he had promised to do. Then the last Sunday of the past month, he went by our house again and made the signal with the handkerchief, as he had promised. And so I went to bed with my husband that evening, and when I had assured myself that he was asleep I arose from bed and clothed myself. I took some little things of my own, a little box with many trifles inside, and some money, I know not how much there was, from the strong-box. These were, moreover, my own, as is evident from the list of things and moneys made by the treasurer of Castelnuovo. Then I went downstairs at dawn, where I found Caponsacchi, and we went together to the Porta San Spirito. Outside of it stood a carriage with two horses and a driver, and when we had both entered the carriage we journeyed toward Rome, travelling night and day without stopping until we reached Castelnuovo, except for them to take refreshment and to change the horses. We arrived at dawn, and were there overtaken by my husband as I have told heretofore to your Honour. The said Caponsacchi is not related in any degree to my husband, but was certainly a friend.

[Sidenote: F.
The lie about the arrival at Castelnuovo.]

[Sidenote: G.
The lover is not a relative of her husband.]

The said Caponsacchi, before the said affair, did not send me any letter, because I do not know how to read manuscript, and do not know how to write.

[Sidenote: H.
New lies, that she did not receive letters from her lover, and that
she does not know how to write.]

Before the said affair, I did not at all send a letter of any sort to the said Caponsacchi.

[Sidenote: I.
Another lie, that she did not send letters to her lover.]

[Sidenote: K.
She does not know how to write, and her husband had traced the
letter.]

When again put under oath, she responded: While I was in Arezzo, I wrote at the instance of my husband to Abate Franceschini, my brother-in-law here in Rome. But as I did not know how to write, my husband wrote the letter with a pencil and then made me trace it with a pen and ink it. And he told me that his brother had much pleasure in receiving such a letter of mine, which had been written with my own hand. And he did this two or three times.

If your Honour should cause me to see one of the letters written by me as above, and sent to Abate Franceschini, I should clearly recognise it.

And when it was shown, etc., she responded: "I have seen and carefully examined the letter shown me by the order of your Honour, which begins--_Carissimo Sig. Cognato, sono con questa_--and ends _Francesca Comparini ne Franceschini_, and having examined it, it seems to me, but I cannot swear to it as the truth, that it is one of the letters written by me to Abate Franceschini, my brother-in-law, in conformity to my husband's wishes, etc."

And after a few intervening matters, etc., when questioned, etc., she replied: "I have never sent letters of any sort by the said Maria to any one."

[Sidenote: L.
Another lie about the arrival at the tavern of Castelnuovo.]

In all truth, I arrived at Castelnuovo at the blush of dawn.

We shut ourselves in there at the tavern of Castelnuovo for the space of more than an hour. During that time we stayed in a room upstairs.

[Sidenote: M.
New lies that she did not lie down to sleep at the Inn of
Castelnuovo.]

And after a few other matters, when questioned, she replied: "I did not go to sleep, nor lie down to rest in the tavern at Castelnuovo during the time I stopped there, as above."

I know that your Honour tells me that the authorities pretend further that I slept all night in the abovesaid tavern of Castelnuovo in an upstairs room, in which Canon Caponsacchi also slept. And I say and respond that no one can truly say so, because I did not rest at all in the said tavern, and stopped there only for the time stated above.

[The letter of Pompilia to Abate Franceschini occurs both here and in the summary of the Defence. It is translated on pp. 56, 57.]

No. 4.--_A letter of Francesca written to Abate Franceschini._

Outside: To Abate Paolo Franceschini, Rome; but inside:

My very dear Sir and Brother:

I have received the fan which you sent, which has been most welcome to me. I accept it with pleasure and thank you for it. It displeases me that, without reason, my parents wound the honour of our house. I for my part am well and am happy in not having them now to stir me to evil. I wish well to all our house, in the sacred fear of God. In fact you may well laugh at the maledictions of my parents. Command me, who reverence you from the bottom of my heart.

Your deeply obliged servant and sister-in-law,
FRANCESCA COMPARINI FRANCESCHINI.
AREZZO, _July 19, 1694_.

No. 5.--_The examination of Canon Caponsacchi._

I had to go to Rome on my own business, and as I told my secret to Giovanni Battista Conti, a relative of Franceschini, who frequented the home of the latter, Francesca might have learned about it from the same Canon, although there was talk about town of my coming to Rome, which was to follow soon. Hence a letter, sent to me by the said Francesca, was brought one day by a certain Maria, then a servant of the Franceschini. In it she told me that she had heard of my going to Rome, and that, as her husband wished to kill her, she had resolved to go to Rome to her father; and not knowing with whom she might intrust herself, she asked me to do her the service of accompanying her as above. I answered her that I was unwilling to do anything of that kind, or to expose myself to such a risk; and I sent her a reply by the same servant. I do not remember the precise time that she sent me the above letter. Thereafter, when I passed the house, she continued making the same request to me, by flinging from time to time from the window a note that repeated the request. And I replied to her, sending the response by the same servant, and telling her that I did not care to involve myself in such affairs. And therefore she finally cast me another note from the window, which, as I learned, was seen by a working-woman living across the street, whose name I do not know, and she carried it to the husband. The same servant was then commissioned to tell me that there had been a great commotion in the house because of it, and that the sister of Guido, who had been married into the house of Conti, had declared furthermore that that servant had carried the letter to me. She also told me that Guido said he was going to kill his wife in some way after a little while, and that he would also be avenged on me. Accordingly, with this purpose, to free myself from every difficulty and danger, and also to save from death the said Francesca, I resolved to leave for Rome and to accompany her thither, conducting her to her father. And so one evening--I do not remember the exact time--as I was passing their house I gave her a letter, which she drew up to the window with a string. In it I told her that to free her from death I would accompany her as above. Another evening she threw to me from the window a letter in which she renewed the above insistence, declaring to me that her husband was always threatening to kill her; she would therefore have to receive the favour of my company as above, of which I had spoken. And finally, the last Sunday of the past month of April, while I was going by their house and she was standing at the window, I told her that I had secured the carriage for early the following morning, and that I would have it await her at the gate of San Clemente. Accordingly, at about one o'clock in the morning, she came alone to the said gate. We entered the carriage and turned along outside of the city wall to go to the gate of San Spirito, which is in the direction of Perugia. This carriage belonged to Agostino, tavern-keeper in Arezzo, and a driver, surnamed Venarino, the servant of the said Agostino, drove it. I had had him leave the city Sunday evening at the Ave Maria. Then we pursued our journey without stopping to spend the night anywhere, and we paused only as it was necessary for refreshing ourselves and changing horses, until we reached Castelnuovo on Tuesday evening, the last day of the said month of April. Then because Francesca said that she was suffering some pain, and that she did not have the fortitude to pursue the journey further without rest, she cast herself, still clothed, upon a bed in a chamber there, and I, likewise clothed, placed myself on another bed in the same chamber. I told the host to call us after three or four hours, for resuming our journey. But he did not call us, and the husband of the said Francesca arrived in the meantime, and had both of us arrested by the authorities, and from there we were taken to Rome.

I have not spoken in Arezzo to Francesca at other times than those I have recounted above to yourselves.

[Sidenote: E.
The lover is not related to Count Guido.]

The husband of the said Francesca is not related to me in any degree whatsoever.

I have no profession at all, but am a Canon of the Pieve, of Santa Maria of Arezzo, and am merely a subdeacon.

When I was imprisoned at Castelnuovo certain moneys, rings, and other matters were found, of which a memorandum was made by the authorities.

I have never written any letter to the said Francesca, except as stated by me above.

The letters sent to me as above by the said Francesca were burned by me in Arezzo.

Although in the prison of Castelnuovo, where I was placed, a diligent search was made by the authorities and also by the husband of the said Francesca, nothing at all was found there.

The said Francesca when leaving Arezzo carried with her a bundle of her own clothing and a box, in which she said there were some trinkets, but I did not see them. And she had it in a handkerchief with certain coins, which were then described at Castelnuovo by the Treasurer.

I do not know precisely by whom the letters sent to me by the said Francesca were written, but I suppose that they may have been written by her, but I do not know whether she knows how to write.

In the chamber of the inn at Castelnuovo where we stopped, as I said in my other examination, there were two beds. Only one of these was provided with sheets by the servant of the tavern, that it might serve for Signora Francesca. I did not have sheets placed on the other, because I did not care to undress myself. Nor did she undress herself, as I said in my other examination.

If I should see one of the letters written by me to Signora Francesca, I would know it very well.

I have seen and I do see very carefully these two letters which have been offered as evidence in this suit and have been shown to me by the order of your Honour. One of them begins _Adorata mia Signora, vorrei sapere_, etc., and ends _mi ha detto il Conti_. Having well considered this letter, I declare that it was not written by me, though the handwriting of the same has some resemblance to my own. I have also seen the other letter, which begins _Amatissima mia, Signora, Ricevo_, etc., and ends _questa mia_, and having well examined it I say that the same was not at all written by me, and is not in my handwriting. Furthermore, it has not the slightest resemblance to my handwriting.

I have never spoken in Arezzo to Signora Francesca, except when I spoke to her at the window, as I said in my other examination.

I have never received other letters from the said Signora Francesca concerning other matters than her flight to Rome, as I have said in my other examinations.

I marvel that the Fisc pretends that, before the flight, several other love-letters had been sent to me by the said Signora Francesca; for she was a modest young woman and such actions would be out of keeping with her station and her birth. And therefore I declare that the abovesaid pretence is false and without foundation.

I turn back to say to your Honour that in the prison of Castelnuovo there was not found by the authorities anything whatsoever. And if your honour tells me that certain love-letters were found, which the Fisc pretends are those sent me by Signora Francesca, I say and respond that it is not at all true.

No. 6.--_Letter of the Most Reverend Bishop of Arezzo._

Outside: To the Most Illustrious and Most Respected Signor Paolo Franceschini, Rome.

And inside:

My Most Illustrious and Respected Signor:

I understand why you desire to tell me about the quarrels which have arisen between Signor Guido, your brother, and Signor Comparini. And I cannot but pity you for the trouble you have had in a case so rare, and indeed so unprecedented. The Signora, your sister-in-law, had some recourse to me, but her great excitement, taken along with the excessive passion of her mother, revealed to me that the daughter had taken this step entirely by instigation. So I tried to make peace between them, thinking that when the instigations of the parents were removed she might be brought to right reason. I believed this the more readily, as she was of tender age. And the more she spoke, and the more she made outcry, that much the more had she been urged thereto by the instigation of her mother. And that she might not be excited even more, I had her taken home in my carriage twice. I have some knowledge of this because Signor Senator Marzi-Medici, who presides over the laic government of this town for our Most Serene Grand Duke, has told me all. And I need only add that I reaffirm what I have written with entire sincerity. Wishing for new chances to serve you, I affirm myself to you, Sir,

Your Most Obedient Servant,
THE RIGHT REVEREND BISHOP OF AREZZO.
AREZZO, _September 15, 1694_.

No. 7.--_Reciprocal love-letters._

My dear Sir:

I do not multiply my assertions for the purpose of proving my love to you, because my resolution and your desert is enough proof of it. My affection no longer has any rein, etc. May grace be to him who gives grace.

My own Signor:

I tell you, do not be surprised if my mother was at the window, because she was looking at the one who was setting the sofa in order. And therefore you can pass here without fear. When more at my leisure, I will write you some fine matters, etc. When they tell me anything, I will advise you of it.

My Adored Mirtillo, My own Life:

I pray you pardon me that I did not look at you yesterday when I was at the Cappucchini, because I saw that the two were watching to see if I would look at you. Therefore I suffered much pain in not being able to look at my Sun. But I saw mine own with my heart, in which I have you engraved. I remain as I am and shall be

Your devoted servant and faithful sweetheart,
AMARILLIS.

My well-beloved: