22.The Sentence of Relegation(p.106) for three years in Civita Vecchia was decreed against Caponsacchi at the close of the Process of Flight in September, 1697. It is commensurate with priestly indiscretion rather than with crime.
23.The Account of Fact(Pamphlet 10). This anonymous Italian pamphlet is not at all a part of the official record of the murder case. It has no imprint and is in entirely different face of type, and must have been printed privately for circulation outside the courts. While much less technical and formal than the arguments of the lawyers, and much more studious of popular effects, it slips back repeatedly into the thought and the language of Arcangeli, the defender of Guido. It probably suggested Half-Rome inThe Ring and the Book.
24.The Response(Pamphlet 15)is a highly rhetorical, but effective, retort to the anonymous writer. It was written during the later stage of the murder trial, and was probably the work of Signor Bottini. It likewise is without imprint and signature, but may have been broadly scattered throughout Rome.
25. "To keep to this home of Pietro ... as a prison,"Domus pro Carcere(p.159). For a month after the sentence against Caponsacchi, Pompilia was kept prisoner in the refuge called theScalette—a provision for her safekeeping, not a punishment. On October 12, she was permitted to give bond to keep the home of her foster parents, the Comparini, as a prison,Domus pro carcere, sentence against her being suspended.
26.The Scalette.TheConservatorio di S. Croce della Penitenza alla Lungarawas an institution for penitent women, founded 1615, and popularly calledScalette, because of the two adjoining stairways. Browning confuses this institution with the Convertites (Note 10).
27.Baptismal Record of Pompilia(p.159). This note, taken from the parish record of San Lorenzo, in Lucina, enables Browning to make the exact statement of Pompilia's age and her full name, as given in the opening lines of her monologue.
28.Pompilia's Letter(p.160) to her foster parents, written from prison at Castelnuovo only two days after her arrest, is her plea to themfor assistance. It was probably cited as evidence in the Process of Flight.
29.The Will of Pietro Comparini(pp.160-1), evidently drawn up after he had learned Pompilia was not his own daughter, and before her return to Rome, aimed to prevent her being disinherited for that reason. Its personal tone is good, and it is almost the only first-hand evidence of the character of Pietro to be found in theBook.
30.Power of Attorney(p.162). Under date of October 7, 1694, Guido grants full power of attorney to Abate Paolo, who was representing him in the lawsuits in Rome and in other matters of business.
31.Arcangeli's Manuscript Letter(pp.235-6). On February 22, 1698, only a few hours after the execution of Guido, Signor Arcangeli, his legal defender, announces the end of the case to Signor Cencini, the Florentine lawyer who collected theBook, and who seems to have been professionally related to the Franceschini family, as he had sent certain "proofs" to assist the cause of Guido, probably including the report of the criminal condemnation of Pompilia in the Tuscan courts. (SeeNote 3). This letter is reproduced by Browning,R. B.XII. 239-98.
32.The Other Letters(pp.237-8), written on the same day and to Signor Cencini, give a few additional details. The writers seem to have been professionally associated with the Franceschini family.
33.Francesca Pompilia, foster daughter of the Comparini,b.July 17, 1680; was married to Guido Franceschini, December 1693; fled from her husband's home in Arezzo, April 29, 1697; arrested at Castelnuovo, May 1; wrote to her foster parents from her prison at Castelnuovo, May 3; made deposition in Rome concerning her flight, May 13; was on trial for flight and adultery during the summer of 1697; was placed in the convent of theScalette, September 1697; removed to the home of the Comparini as prison, October 12, 1697; gave birth to a son, Gaetano, December 18, 1697; was assassinated January 2, 1698; died January 6.
34.Giuseppe Maria Caponsacchi,b.May 26, 1673, was invested Canon of the Church of Santa Maria della Pieve, November 26, 1693, and resigned "of his own accord," May 15, 1702. He is referred to in theBookas a man of courage, and his words as he faced Guido at Castelnuovo are significant: "I am a man, and have done what I have that I might save your wife from death." His affidavit is convincingly straightforward, in spite of certain discrepancies with Pompilia's statements, and there is evident moral indignation in his replies under cross-examination. His participation in the dangerous flight in mere amorous intrigue seems unbelievably foolish, and could hardly have been carried through save on the motive he assigns, courageous "Christian compassion." In September 1697 he went to Civita Vecchia under sentence of three years' relegation.
35.Canon Conti, called the "mediator in the flight," was brother of Count Aldobrandini, who had married Guido's sister, and Conti is accordingly spoken of as a "relative and frequenter of the Franceschini home." He had been invested Canon of the Pieve, August 14, 1692. He must have been fully informed of Pompilia's sufferings, and to him she turned at last for help. Deeming it improper for himself to afford her relief, he urged his friend Caponsacchi to accompany her. No criminal procedure was instituted against him in Arezzo when Pompilia and Guillichini were accused. He died January 1698, and the Second Anonymous Pamphleteer hints that this was due to foul play.
36.Guido Franceschini,b.January 24, 1658, the youngest son of an impoverished, second-rate, noble family of Arezzo, had sought his fortunes in Rome, where he became secretary of Cardinal Nerli. He dropped out of this service in middle life, with hardly a dollar in his pocket, and plannedto recoup his fortunes by marriage with Pompilia, the heiress of the well-to-do Comparini. After the marriage in December 1693, the Comparini accompanied him back to Arezzo. He seems to have been unattractive and saturnine, and later on proved himself both crafty and brutal.
37.Abate Paolo Franceschini,b.October 28, 1650, the older, shrewder, and more able brother of Guido, was more successful in seeking his fortunes in the official world of Rome. He became secretary of the powerful Cardinal Lauria, and on the death of the latter, November 30, 1693, obtained the lucrative office of Secretary of the Order of St. John of Malta. He assisted Guido in effecting the marriage with Pompilia, and was his active agent in Rome during the lawsuits which followed. In 1697 he lost his secretaryship because of the ignominy which had come upon him in Guido's shameful troubles, and left Rome, possibly, as he is accused by the Second Anonymous Pamphleteer, to assist in planning the murder of the Comparini.
38.Honoris Causa.As the fact of the murders by Guido and his cut-throats was subject to no dispute, the whole law case turns on the question whether these murders had beenfor the sake of honour, the ever repeated plea of the unwritten law for the right of the husband to slay a wife sinning against her wifehood. The lawyer's devote themselves to ascertaining the limitations and privileges of this plea.
39.Incontinenti, Ex Intervallo.There is much argument on the justification for honour's sake in murder doneimmediatelyafter the insult, orafter an intervalof time has elapsed. In the latter case, the murder becomes premeditated, and is not justifiable on the ground of excusable heat of passion at an insult.
40.The Aggravating Circumstances.The prosecution makes much of the attendant criminal circumstances which surrounded the main crime of murder. These are first, the assembling of a band of armed men, constituting the crime of rebellion; second, the murder of a prisoner while under the care of the courts, Pompilia being technically a prisoner detained in the Process of Flight; third, the assault upon opponents in a pending lawsuit, the Comparini then being at law with Guido; fourth, the violent breaking into a private home; fifth, the commission of crime under cover of disguise; sixth, the use of certain types of barbarous weapon, the very possession of which was a capital offence. The first three of these werelaesa majestas, criminal insult to the majesty of the law.
41.San Lorenzo in Lucina.This church in the heart of Rome just off the Corso, and not very far from the home of the Comparini at the corner of Via Vittoria, and Strada Paolina, was evidently the parish church of the Comparini, as both the birth and death of Pompilia are entered in its register.
42.Castelnuovo.A village of but a few houses, fifteen miles north of Rome. The inn and posthouse where Pompilia and Caponsacchi were overtaken by Guido thus became one of the most important scenes in the tragedy.
43.Torture of the Vigil.Guido and his companions were tortured thus, to get fuller testimony from them. This torture consisted originally in merely keeping the victim awake until he told his crime. Later on his confession was accelerated by auxiliary devices for intensifying the suffering of the subject.
44. Browning has taken the peroration used in the first lawyer's monologue,R. B.VIII. 1637-1736, directly from the peroration of Arcangeli inPamphlet 8, p.130.
45. The description of the execution as given inR. B.XII. 113et seq., is taken from the additional Italian pamphlet, pp.265-6.
46. In like mannerR. B.VIII. 587-683, is closely drawn from theBook, pp.153-4, with an interpolation in lines 640-57 from page226. More than fifty of such word to word borrowings from theBookare made in this monologue.
Minute of the Definite Order of Events in the Case
July 17, 1680. Pompilia born. (Note 27).
December (?) 1693. Pompilia married to Guido Franceschini.
December 1693. The Comparini accompany the bride to Arezzo.
Four months residence together in Arezzo.
Domestic broils in Arezzo, January and February, 1694.
March 1694. The Comparini return to Rome.
April or May 1694. Violante reveals base parentage of Pompilia.
June 14, 1694. Pompilia's letter to Abate Paolo. (Note 16).
June 24, 1694. Affidavit of Angelica. (Note 13).
Summer of 1694. Pietro Comparini prosecutes suit to recover dowry.
August 2, 1694. Letter of the Governor to Abate Paolo.
September 15, 1694. Letter of the Bishop of Arezzo to Abate Paolo.
March 1697. Pompilia seeks aid of Confessor Romano.
April, 1697. Seeks aid of Guillichini, Conti, and Caponsacchi.
April 29 (1 a.m.). Pompilia flees.
April 30 (in the evening). Fugitives arrive at Castelnuovo.
May 1 (early in the morning). Guido overtakes fugitives and has them arrested.
May 3. Pompilia writes from the prison of Castelnuovo.
May 13. Pompilia makes her deposition. (Note 19).
May 21. Pompilia is further cross-examined.
June 17, 1697. Certain persons in Arezzo make affidavit in Pompilia's behalf. (Note 14).
Summer of 1697. The Process of Flight. (Note 18).
September 24, 1697. Caponsacchi sentenced to relegation. (Note 22).
October 12. Pompilia permitted to return home under bond. (Note 25).
Fall of 1697. Pompilia institutes suit for divorce.
Fall of 1697. The Franceschini push a criminal suit against Pompilia in the criminal courts of Arezzo. (Note 3).
Fall of 1697. Abate Paolo loses his secretaryship of the Order of St. John.
December 18, 1697. Pompilia gives birth to a son.
December 24, 1697. Guido and his cut-throats arrive in Rome.
January 2, 1698. Guido murders his wife and the Comparini.
January 3. Guido and his associates arrested and imprisoned.
January 6. Pompilia dies.
January 19. Fra Celestino makes affidavit. (Note 17).
January 1698. The murder trial begins.
January 1698. Conti dies in Arezzo.
January 1698. Sta. Maria Maddalena delle Convertite institutes suit to gain Pompilia's estate. (Note 10).
End of January. The torture of the Vigil. (Note 43).
February 1698. The second stage of the murder trial.
February 9. Certificate of the baptismal record of Pompilia obtained. (Note 27).
February 15. Certificate of the Tuscan criminal prosecution of Pompilia obtained. (Note 3).
February 18. Guido declared guilty, but a stay of sentence granted.
February 21. Execution set for following day. The Pope overrules delay.
February 22, 1698. The murderers are executed.
Spring of 1698. The Franceschini bring suit to recover Pompilia's property.
May 17. The criminal court decides in favour of Pompilia's executor.
September 1-9, 1698. Final decree of court, utterly clearing Pompilia's reputation.
Browning uses all the above chronology with scrupulous accuracy, save when, for good artistic reasons, he changes the flight from April 29 to the 23rd, St. George's day.
Minute of the Personal Names found in the Book and Pamphletand used by Browning in His Poem