ine, were built and provided to sustain a three
years' siege against a royal army. But his defence in this
world was less burdensome to a wealthy lord than his
salvation in the next; the demands of his chapel, his
priests, his alms, his offerings, his pilgrimages were
incessantly renewed; the monastery chosen for his sepulchre
was endowed with his fairest possessions, and the naked heir
might often complain that his father's sins had been
redeemed at too high a price. The Marquis Azo was not exempt
from the contagion of the times; his devotion was animated
and inflamed by the frequent miracles that were performed in
his presence; and the monks of Vangadizza, who yielded to
his request the arm of a dead saint, were not ignorant of
the value of that inestimable jewel. After satisfying the
demands of war and superstition he might appropriate the
rest of his revenue to use and pleasure. But the Italians of
the eleventh century were imperfectly skilled in the liberal
and mechanical arts; the objects of foreign luxury were
furnished at an exorbitant price by the merchants of Pisa
and Venice; and the superfluous wealth which could not
purchase the real comforts of life, were idly wasted on some
rare occasions of vanity and pomp. Such were the nuptials of
Boniface, Duke or Marquis of Tuscany, whose family was long
after united with that of Azo by the marriage of their
children. These nuptials were celebrated on the banks of the
Mincius, which the fancy of Virgil has decorated with a more
beautiful picture. The princes and people of Italy were
invited to the feasts, which continued three months; the
fertile meadows, which are intersected by the slow and
winding course of the river, were covered with innumerable
tents, and the bridegroom displayed and diversified the
scenes of his proud and tasteless magnificence. All the
utensils of the service were of silver, and his horses were
shod with plates of the same metal, loosely nailed and
carelessly dropped, to indicate his contempt of riches. An
image of plenty and profusion was expressed in the banquet;
the most delicious wines were drawn in buckets from the
well; and the spices of the East were ground in water-mills
like common flour. The dramatic and musical arts were in the
rudest stat