Vercelli

And there were also present some monks of Apollinarius the bishop, sent by him for this purpose.

Now the above-named bishops to whom the letter was written are Eusebius of the city of Vercellae, in Gaul; Lucifer on the island of Sardinia; Asterius of Petra in Arabia; Symmacheus of Paltum in Coelesyria; Anatolius of Ubba.

And those who wrote the letter are the pope Athanasius, and those who were with him in Alexandria, and Eusebius himself and Asterius; and the rest, Caius of Praetonium, near to Libya; Agathus of Phrygonis, and of a part of Eliarchia in Egypt; Ammonius of Pachnamunis, and of the other part of Eliarchia; Agathodaemon of Sceta and Menelaetis; Dracontius of Little Hermopolis; Adelphius of Onuphis, in Lychna; Hermion of Tanis; Mark of Zygra near to Libya; Theodore of Athribis; Andrew of Arsenois; Paphnutius of Sais; Mark of Philae; Zoilus of Andro; Menas of Antiphra.

To this Eusebius added his signature thus in Latin, of which the following is a translation: "I, Eusebius, bishop, according to your accurate profession of doctrine made by both parties, when you agreed together on the subject of the hypostases, did also agree.

Gallia Cisalpina contained many flourishing towns.

North of the Padus were Verona, Mediolanum, Milan, Cremona, Mantua, Andes, Vercellae, a noted battlefield.

South of this river were Augusta Terrinorum, Turin, Placentia, Parma, Mutina, and Ravenna.

The Rubicon, a little stream flowing into the Adriatic, bounded Gallia Cisalpina on the southeast.

There were existing before this time some universities, notably at Paris and Bologna, Oxford and Uppsala; but it was only at this period that they were organized into faculties in the way in which we know them.

The popes, notably Innocent III, Gregory IX, and Honorius IV, played a large part in the foundation of universities, more particularly in Italy, where they were established before the end of the century in Vicenza, Arezzo, Reggio, Padua, Naples, Vercelli, Siena, Piacenza, and Perugia.

In France, besides that at Paris, the medical school of Montpellier became a university, as did the law school of Orleans, while new ones were erected at Angers and Toulouse.

In Spain there were universities at Salamanca, Valencia, Valladolid and Lerida.

Thus Savoy and Milan were united under the protection of the Emperor against Venice and Florence.

The Duke of Milan was to marry Maria, the daughter of the Duke of Savoy, and to receive the town of Vercelli as her dowry.

The second wife of Filippo Maria was the unfortunate Beatrice di Tenda, the widow of Facino Cane.

The Duke had married her from motives of policy, but at first loved her dearly and gave her the city of Monza.

Lampugnano and Olgiate found an ally in Carlo Visconti.

They met in the garden of the church of Sant'Ambrogio, devoted themselves under a solemn compact to the holy work, and called upon the saint to assist them in their enterprise.

The Duke Galeazzo Maria had just been engaged in a military expedition in the territory of Vercelli and had concluded a league with Louis XI of France with the assistance of Philippe de Comines, the celebrated historian.

He returned to Milan on December 20, 1476, the eve of St. Thomas's day, and had passed the season of Christmas in the usual festivities.

The Jugurthine War in North Africa, where Marius defeated the cunning King Jugurtha, and soon after the terrifying invasions of the Cimbri and Teutones, migrating tribes from the north.

At Aquae Sextiae in one hundred and two BCE, and Vercellae in one hundred and one BCE, Marius' soldiers annihilated their foes, saving Italy from destruction.

He was hailed as the third founder of Rome after Romulus and Camillus.

Yet the seeds of future turmoil had been sown, for Marius' soldiers were bound to him by gratitude, and the precedent of armies loyal to generals rather than the Republic would prove fatal.

There were many celebrated and saintly men trained by the cardinal in what to the superficial observer was only the commonplace household of an ordinary archbishop, but was really a school of perfection directed by an heroic saint.

Among the foremost of these friends and disciples of Charles were Nicholas Ermanito, afterwards Bishop of Padua, and legate to the court of Madrid during the pontificate of Gregory XIII, John Baptist Castelle, Bishop of Rimini, and legate to the court of France, John Francis Bonomi, who was several times legate in Belgium, Germany, and Switzerland, and was Bishop of Vercelli, Jerome Frederick Trilzio, Bishop of Lodi, envoy to the Duke of Savoy, and governor of Rome, and, greatest and most famous of all, Cesare Speciano.

He was, perhaps, the nearest and dearest to the heart of Charles, that is, if the austere cardinal allowed himself a preference.

Cesare was the favorite.

Bells were rung, salvos of artillery were fired.

The prince, the nobles, and citizens went forth to meet the humble pilgrims, greeting them with enthusiasm and veneration.

Charles had divested himself of all the insignia of his high rank when passing under the Porta Vercelli at Milan, so there was nothing about him to distinguish him from his companions, but princes and people at once recognized him.

All saw at a glance that the fragile, emaciated man with the slightly round shoulders, the worn face, in which the deep-set eyes burned with a light that is not of earth, but of heaven, was the leader, the hero, and the saint.

The Exeter Book.

The Vercelli Book.

The book containing the poems of Beowulf and Judith in the Cotton Library at the British Museum.

End footnote.

The Ruthwell verses are Northumbrian.

They were at first misinterpreted in various ways by antiquaries, till John Kemble the historian read them truly.

Some time after, an Anglo-Saxon manuscript was found at Vercelli in the north of Italy, a regular station on the old main road which crosses the great St. Bernard, and which was commonly used by Englishmen, Danes, and other peoples of the north when travelling to Rome.

In this Vercelli book, the Dream of the Rood is contained, nearly in full, but written in the language of Wessex, i.e. the language commonly called Anglo-Saxon, the language not of Bede but of Alfred.